Our adoption journey

Almost 3 months LID

2006-09-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I have been thinking about posting for a few days now and our website is down at work so I finally have some time to think and write. BTW- Hi Germ! I just found out yesterday that you knew I had a blog from the grapevine and YES I
amazingly do know what a blog is - smart a**! :-)

So, on Saturday our neighbor Laura who went with her sister-in-law last year to pick up her nephew Zoe in China invited us over for a bbq and to meet Zoe. I couldn't help but touch her hair. She could be a poster baby for a beautiful Chinese baby. They also shared their pictures with me, that were so amazing. Lexi of course was a little jealous from all the attention I must have been giving Zoe, but it was so hard not too. I was just captivated by her and the thoughts of what was in store for our family!

I'm so glad that I have this blog! I just read my last entry and I had already forgotten about my grandma Elva story! Crazy, how life is just so full that it is hard to keep it all at the front of our minds.

Referral wait times have increased to 13-14 months as of last month. Therefore, I have decided to wait on setting up the girls rooms until we are only approx. 3 months out. I am still hoping to go to China next May but until then I am refusing to worry about it- atleast for now anyway :-) However, seeing little Zoe did make me sooooooo excited.

We have tried to explain to Lexi that you will come from China and that she is going to stay with Nanna while we bring you home. She LOVES her Nanna but for some reason does not want to stay home while we go and bring you HOME. I have always said that "I am on the fence" about taking Lexi with us and Dad keeps saying no-way but I know in my heart that if we have to stay in China 18-days and Lexi is close to 4 years old she'll be going with us. Start packing Nanna! It's really interesting that Lexi is so bent on going as she usually would always pick to go to Nanna's. Hmmmmm, maybe she is as excited as we are! I know it will be hard to travel with her, but this is such a "family" experience that I can't imagine not having her there! Plus, she really has traveled quite a bit for her age. Look at me convincing myself to take her! Hmmmm.....

My good friend Mette from Denmark is coming to visit us next week! We are so excited to meet her kids and see her again as it has been 10 years. Her kids do not speak English so I am really excited to see how Lexi interacts with them. What a great experience this will be for them all AND I am going to St. George to stay in a condo with them (just Lexi and I) for 2 days and then 2 days at Momma Johnny's! I haven't been to St. George for 4 days FOREVER- can't wait!

5 Oregonians came to visit us 2-weeks ago! Your Aunt Sara, Uncle Eric, Mat, Bevin and Marc. It was so fun! Sara is already planning when she will come to meet you for the 1st time. She is sooooo excited and Lexi loves her so much and I know you will too. Plus, she has agreed to be your godmother. :-) She has beautiful dark hair like you & I know she will always be your special friend!

O' I just remembered something Lexi said yestereday. We were at her playmate Megans and Krista was asking about China and I asked Lexi if she was getting a little sister and she said "NOT YET" like maybe you weren't born yet! She said it with determination like duh' Mom.... I wonder......

Well, Happy Fall to all! It is definately feeling like fall here although I'm sure it won't in St. George next week. I think that will be my farewell to summer weekend. Change is good and I am excited to see what it will bring us. I got out my scrapbooks yesterday and am making the plunge of getting caught up. I have this table in my office that is OVERFLOWING with scrapbook crap-it has got to the point of embarassing and overwhelming but should be a nice fall activity.

We have also decided to go to Eugene for a week for Thanksgiving! Wohoo - Plane tix are so expensive anymore that 4 days is just not enough to spend any quality time with all the people that we love there. I feel so fortunate that we are able to do all that we do- we truly are lucky.

Your great grandpa Larry is in the hospital but he is doing better now. He too is excited to meet you!

All my love,
MOM

Grandma Elva

2006-08-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

I had a dream last night that we got your picture and you had a really round face and were o' so cute. The thing I want to remember most about this dream is that your middle name was Mei which was pronounced Mae and it was so cool because that was my Grandma Elva's middle name and your 2 cousins middle name now too! I wonder if that will really be part of your Chinese name......
I think you may also have had a club foot or something but in the dream I kept
forgetting to look and see which one it was. Everyone loved you so much!

We are almost LID for 2 months now! Yea- I can't believe it.
It has been a super hot summer up until this week and now it already feels like fall to me. I am looking forward to Halloween and even Sundance. I love summer and never look forward to it ending but I think it might be because it
will bring us closer to bringing you home.
Yesterday they stopped a terrorist attack with international flights.
Ukkkk-I can not even think about that. I know I will be so scared to fly so far
and leaving Lexi at home but I know it will all be worth it too. It's hard to picture what your country will really be like.

We are keeping busy with projects, projects, projects. I have decided we simply just need a hot tub so we are going to get one! Yea- you girls will have fun in it too.

More later,
Melissa

Friday 11/14/06

2006-07-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

A short note today, I did NOT see Chloe on the WC list.
However, it is so neat to see that many of the children already
have REVIEWED under them. It is awesome that there are so many
people considering adopting these precious cuties! The whole list thing
is kind of a nightmare. There server went down, so people were going crazy
trying to see the kids. The system is that once you are approved by CHI you have a password to log in then whenever new WC are available they let you know a few days beforehand then when the time comes everyone tries to get on
to see the WC and it's first come 1st serve to REVIEW a file if there is a WC you are interested in. I guess one baby had 60 requests yesterday! Hmmm....
If we did find a WC I think we would probably be going over in about 5-6 months. Right now, I am just keeping this option open and will keep looking each month. :-)

Until I can figure out a better way, here are some precious video's
http://heartborn.blogspot.com/2006/07/star-thrower.html

and
http://heartborn.blogspot.com/2006/07/when-love-takes-you-in-steven-curtis.html

Well, it's Friday and we are working on our yard this weekend!
I feel like there is so much to do before our baby gets here and I have a year to do it! It is weird seing my sister-in-law pregant yesterday as she is already in her 3rd trimester and I knew we were "pregnant" before they did. However, I'm not feeling jealous at all right now which is good because I thought I might. I think because "the wait" is so long I just have not mentally prepared for our baby to get here yet. I can't imagine if she was coming in Oct.! Even though, I had those dreams, I still kind of think she has not been born yet.
It is great for Lexi to see her auntie's belly, so she doesn't think all babies come from the internet!

Love,
Melissa

11-months to go---maybe!

2006-07-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

We have officially been LID for 1 month. Wohoo it went by fast!

So, last night I was showing Dad these awesome videos on adoption and then Lexi wanted to see and I explained that her sister was going to be from China like the girls in the video and she kept saying "is that my sister", - "is that my sister", when the babies would come up. Then, after a few minutes of looking at the babies, she said"where's my OTHER sister!" O my! does she know something we don't know? Dad was quick to say, don't you mean brother? :-) I am so excited for our journey that lies ahead. We truly are blessed.
Lexi -went to another birthday party last night and I was talking to our neighbor/friend about how much she LOVES birthdays and we concluded how fortunate all our kids are. It's almost not like real life on this street but luckily it is our life! However, I can't help but analyze the price we are paying to stay here. A house just went up across the street from us for a ridiculous amount! I wish there was somewhere we could all move that was reasonable and put that $ away for retirement. I brought this up last night, that everyone has a price but honestly I think I may be the only one that feels that way. (As I am playing poker on a Wed night 2 doors down.) :-)
Maybe I worry about $ too much -- O well, that's a whole other blog!

Back on the subject- Waiting Children come out today! (FYI- WC or "Waiting Children are children that have minor disabilities such as a club foot) I can't wait to see their faces. I am really considering looking into this further. I hear if you see your child "you will know".One of the reasons we originally chose international adoption was because we did not want to "fight" for a caucasion baby but give another baby in the world a chance to a better life-however with the wait for China babies getting longer and longer I feel again we are competing for a baby. Honestly, I am really interested in looking into a waiting child and Dad even said last night that he knew I was into it. He does listen to me after all!
Well, I want to figure out how to link to these precious video's so I'm off.
BTW- please feel free to leave me a comment if you read this. I am thinking of sharing this with others. It is extremely personal but I love looking back at where we've been in this process so maybe you will too.
Have a great day!
Love,
MM
PS Lexi is going to be late for school today- as I want her to see the waiting children with me!

Pregnant!

2006-07-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

So, on the night of July 5th- I had a "Dream/nightmare" that I was pregnant and it was my due date and I was freaking out that I did not want to be "overdue" again and relentlessly pressuring everyone to give blood because I knew I was going to need it. :-(
It was really weird, because since the hysterectomy I really have not had any dreams/nightmares (that I can recall) about childbirth. Anyway, I wonder if it means that you have been born? Last week, I had a similar dream on 07/28 (again on a Wednesday) that you were born or I was pregnant or something. I can't believe I can't remember - Liz reminded me to write down this date and helped me figure out it was the night before we went to "My Girlfriends Kitchen" I'll have to ask her what I told her about the dream because I seriously can't remember. Weird!

I am feeling really grateful today that we have our LID. Our friend emailed me this AM that she has still not got her 171 back and she got fingerprinted just 3 weeks after us. We are so lucky that ours came back in just 8-weeks and hers has already been over 3-months! I hope her mailbox is filled with a surprise today!

Lexi & I finished her Mandarin classes yesterday. She finally started saying a few things in Chinese too! I hope that we can continue with this, however I have not yet come up with a plan to do so. I also found out our neighbor across the street speaks fluent Mandarin! So, cool...

This weekend we are running the Canyon to Canyon 10K. I am excited. Dad is super excited because he thinks he's going to kick my butt. I beat him last year in Eugene but I was training for a triathalon then and he is training harder than me now, so we'll see.....

We have also been kicking around the idea of doing a "team in training" Marathon in Honolulu. It is Dec. 10th. I think it would be great, but I am unwilling to fully commit right now as I have this weird "lung/allergy/cold" infection. I finally went to the Dr. on July 4th and got an inhaler. We think it may be from sanding those stupid chairs and not wearing a respirator. I'm so over the chairs. Poor Dad is going to have to finish yet another project that I started but did not complete :-(

Well, I best get to work- I can't believe next week we'll have 1 month behind us for our LID. Summer is going fast! I am busy just trying to enjoy myself :-)

LID June 13th!!!!

2006-06-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we FINALLY got our LID and I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I posted. Quite a bit has been going on with Lexi and traveling so I think I just needed some "quiet time" to process it all....
Sorry, everyone for the delay!

However, we now only have "approximately 50 more weeks to wait! :-) For some reason, that sounds faster than a year.
I've spent a bunch of time watching other "gotcha day" videos online today- they are so amazing & make me really feel that this was meant for our family!

So here's an update on what we have been up too, now that we aren't paperchasing any more!

YOUR sister has been very challenging lately. It's like she knew to be good until we got all our paperwork done or I might have questioned our ability to ever parent 2 girls! However, it is not all her fault though..... At the suggestion of her teachers at school we had her throw away her binkey for good on Thursday 06/22. I'm still not really convinced that we made the right decision but we are certainly not going back now. It seems that now that she is "supposed" to take a nap at her summer school she has decided that "she doesn't want to" and the teachers thought it was because she didn't have her binkey there. I don't know- but I do feel mean for taking away her beloved bink AND I miss my restful nights, she was always such a fabulous sleeeper and now she is up several times each night. What have we done! I know she is getting to be a big girl but she is still my baby - another big event is that she now know's how to climb out of her crib AND we lost her favorite beloved Asian baby "Sara" that Grandma Marsha sent her from Oregon this weekend! Poor Lexi is having a hard week.

Uncle Chris said to me camping just wait when you have 2 kids everyone will run! Ukkk, I made Nanna promise that she would babysit you both just like she does Lexi and she reassured me that she will. Whew!

So, we went to Oregon for Father's Day and had a really good time. It is so weird to think next time we go swimming at Grandpa Larry's pool we will have you with us! Special Hi to Sara's Mom and Warren who dropped everything to come see Lexi for pizza and hear all about our adoption process! :-) I really appreciate their thoughts and support.

Well, that is all for today. It is really hot here & I'm so glad that it is finally summer! O and Aunt Sara and Uncle Eric are planning a trip out to visit us in August! We are very excited! We told them this summer would be best because next summer we will be so busy with you!

Lexi's new word this week is "already". She likes to use it when we ask her if she needs to go potty or we want her to do anything she is happy to inform us with simply "already"! :-) :-)
xoxoxo

June!!

2006-06-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well we are officially DTC 05/26/06.
I am sooooo happy to be done with the initial"paperchase"!
Now, of course I'm obsessing a little about when our official LID will be.
They have been happening very fast so I'm hoping for 06/09 - I can't
believe it's been a week already!

I actually feel a little down right now. Not really sure why - might be Chris's
health issues or settling into the "official" wait or ?
We have a lot going on as usual- I'm currently trying to figure out how to make
a "playlist" for my IPOD for the slc 5k tomorrow AM (that I now have to do by
myself since Chris is unable and Jen is to busy with Braxtons birthday).

Lexi and I started Mandarin classes yesterday! As I knew it would be, it is very
hard and Lexi seems way to young but I think it is really good for her just to be
exposed to the language. She identified with who the teacher was right away and
when it was her turn she did try to say "she she" which is thank you (I'm sure I butchered
the spelling). It is actually a kids class but I'm going to go to as I really want to know how
to say a few things! However, I guess that Mandarin is not spoken all through China
so if we go to a village in the countryside it might not be the language but I imagine it
will be in the main cities that we will visit.

I have started looking at bath decor as I'm going to redecorate "the girls" bathroom
with ladybugs! Can't wait. Lexi is playing more and more with Abby next door and I
love to hear them giggling together- Lexi has brought us so much joy in our lives, I can't
even imagine life before her. I can't imagine having twice the fun with 2 little angels but
I know we are going too!
Love,
Mom

DTC = tomorrow 05/26/06

2006-05-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

Well, unless there is something else wrong with our paperwork it SHOULD
all go to CHINA tomorrow! Please keep your fingers crossed for us. I am really
surprised this worked out as Chris spent Tues. night in the hospital so it has been
a wild, wild week. Kudos to Jennifer at PC Health Care who really helped our paperwork
get finished yesterday by 5:00 for the fed-x man!!!!!

More about Chris......
On our way home from our annual family houseboat trip in Lake Powell, (Monday the 22nd)
his calf was really bothering him. So, much that by the time he was at work on Tuesday he could barely walk and decided to go to the PC clinic. LUCKILY the DR. was awesome and diagnosed a possible clot right away and sent him to UofU immediately for an ultrasound where they found a clot and admitted him for the night. He is now home and resting on pain killers and 2 shots of blood thinner meds per day. We are going back to the dr. today at 4 to have his blood tested and meet the dr. that will now oversea his "treatment" for the next 3-6 months! Scary! Chris, is pretty bummed about this ruining his summer but I'm sure we can find lots of things to keep us busy......

Well, I will write more hopefully soon- very worn out from this crazy yet exciting week.
O but I almost forgot- Aunt Brandie and Uncle Josh found out TODAY they are having a girl!!!!
We are going to have 5 girlies in our family by this time next year with Lexi being the oldest.
O boy- super-super cute- I can't wait! Chloe and Kayli's sister could actually be so close in age but I'm actually hoping that Chloe is born in Jan. - It's a good Month for a bday and that just means she won't have to wait for us as long. Referrals jumped up to 12 months yesterday- so this means IF EVERYTHNG STAYS THE SAME as it is right now- we should get Chloes referral or picture next mid-June. However, this process changes constantly so this doesn't really mean much. I know she will come home when she is supposed to come home! :-)

Best to all!
MM

Dossier part 1 is off!!!!!!

2006-05-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yahooo!
I just mailed off everything I have collected for our dossier to CHI this AM.
AND I didn't know it at the time but I met "Treat Williams" at the postal stop
store while I was sending it. The postal stop guy had a huge spanish accent and I
couldn't understand him, so I kept saying what, what, what and finally Treat who
was behind me translated for me. (Chris says I'm a tool!- O well) It makes for a good
story and I feel really good about all the paperwork. If you don't know who Treat is
click here for a treat: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001852/
Chris emailed this to me and Aunt Sara (fellow celbrity stalker) hee-hee
I am in a goofy mood. :-)

I can't wait for tomorrow night- everything will be done and we'll be en route
to Moab to catch up with the St. George gang. So perfect! Life is good-good-good.

It is going to be so nice, to be able to "relax" a little now and focus on other things
besides the adoption. 1. like making $ to afford this soon to be family of four! 2. Organizing
all our finances and paperwork. 3. scrapbooks, scrapbooks, scrapbooks. 4. Lexi's big girl room
and bath etc. etc.

I went to My Girlfriends Kitchen last night with Liz and Shannon. We loved it! We
are trying our 1st meal tonight.

Well, I gotta start packing for the desert. It is going to be in the 90's!!

Bless the Post Office and every fed-x guy you see- please don't loose our paperwork!

I'll post on Monday on how it all goes.

Love,
Melissa

PS We are getting our back fence put in right now- Yea - no more dogs on the loose!

Not for the faint of heart!

2006-05-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

I/We survived the meeting with the Lt. Governors office yesterday!

I was such a wreck before that I forgot my email address! However, it was a good thing that I checked and rechecked everything as I found 2 errors in our paperwork, which resulted in a stop to get a new notary and at Suzannes before our 1:00 appt but we made it.

Chris went with me-yea! I think I would have had a nervous break down if I had to go alone dealing with finding the building and the parking and everything. The meeting itself was actually really cool. The guy was young and nice! Of course, 2 of our documents were "Rejected" meaning Chris is running down the 2 notaries here in PC that did it wrong and getting them to fill out an ammendment. (This is my Mothers day present!) I am so glad he is doing this as I hate going into banks anyway... Anyway, as long as we can get both notaries signatures before Friday then we have a meeting back at the gov. office at 2 on Friday where we should have all 11 of our Utah documents AUTHENTICATED which then we will rush over to Kinko's/Fed X to have them all sent to "The ASST Stork" is Wa DC.!

I can't believe it but possibly by the end of the month, all we will have to do is wait. I can't wait! I am actually welcoming the waiting.... (I know I'll regret saying that) but seriously I can NOT believe this process. I know it will be worth it but I do not know that we will do it again. It is insane all the hoops you have to jump through when these babies need families! The thing that is most disturbing is it's not that the steps are really ensuring that the babies are going to good homes, I think it's just to weed out the people that are not insanely committed to this process. I can totally see how some people probably start this process and even are into it some $ but do not finish. Maybe, that is part of their plan though, to see how bad you really want to adopt and what you will go through to get your baby.....
I see the light at the end of the tunnel - I know we are close now.

I want to write more about this Asst. Stork business but I'll save it for another day- what a $ maker these people have!

All, I know is Friday will be WILD. We are going on our annual St. George friends camp out to Moab directly after we get our papers mailed off- I am imagining Chris, Lexi and the dogs circling the capital bldg while I frantically try not to have a nervous break down making sure everything is correct to go to WA. I think we are actually going to leave the dogs home as I can only imagine this scene!

On another note, I did NOT get into the St. George Marathon. What a bummer! I was SO looking forward to having this to focus on. However, I do feel that it must not have been meant to be for me this year. I will do it one day though! Maybe when I'm 40 and the girls are older! ha-ha

Better get to work- thanks for all your thoughts everyone!
Love,
Melissa

HUGE DAY!

2006-05-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

Our Form 171-H came today and our completed homestudy and our certified papers from the China consulate in San Francisco!!!!
I can't believe it! 3 things in one day is really huge!!!!My calendar had today marked as 8 weeks since we got fingerprinted for the 171. (I'm not sure if my friend Teri said it would be 8-weeks or Suzanne) but it was true!
So, it was 4:56 when I called the Utah Secretary of State which apparently is the Lt. Governor because we don't have a Secreatry of State (Don't really know and don't really care) and got an appt for Tues at 1! It could be worse, but I hate that these documents are sitting here doing nothing for the extra 2-days. HOPEFULLY they will all be notorized perfectly and he can certify them all!!!!!!! The secretary had her doubts which is why she "strongly advised" that we have an appt. So, what's next.... Once he certifies them then I send them all to Washington DC to be authenticated, then to the Chinese Embassy then to CHI with a fat check who will translate and send them to China.
Well, I have calmed down a little -
Chris told me NOT TO FREAK OUT when I saw all the mail today and of course I did/am.
Felt like crying I was/am so excited but didn't. However, I can't reach my Mom so that's probably the only reason I haven't yet....
I have been in bed for the last day and a half sick too and we didnt get any mail yesterday which is weird as our newspaper is STILL missing! Yet, miraculously all our documents made it to us today. All day I kept thinking about the mail, telling Chris to go get it cause I've been sick in bed.
Well, I'm feeling better now! What an adrenaline rush. It is weird as now it feels surreal that this is going to really happen. I've been checking the stgeorgemarathon website all day to see if the results are in. The lottery was supposedly yesterday! I guess, I've been focused on the wrong thing..
Sorry this is jumbled - I am too excited and it's hard because it feels like nobody really understands, (not even Chris-since he just knows I will make this happen - he doesn't have the stress that I do.) how exciting each step is. I need to join an adoption support group or online group or something!
Thanks to everyone for listening to me and being a part of this experience.
I am thinking of having a party when we get our LID!!!!
Love,
Melissa

Oregon Fingerprints are IN!

2006-04-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I just got a call from our social worker and our fingerprints came today!
Wohoo-woohooo.
So, she is sending our completed homestudy to INS and emailing Vivianne
right now. Not sure, what we are really looking at now time wise but I
feel hopeful AGAIN that our LID by the end of May might come true.
Wow!
Gotta work now but will write more soon,
Melissa
PS I registered to run the St. George Marathon on Oct. 7th. I won't know
for sure until May 8th if I get picked or not but I am stoked to have something
else to focus on for these next few months plus hopefully meet this personal goal.
PSS Lexi is officially potty trained! She wore underwear to school today- what a
great week this is- good thing we are having "date night" to celebrate tonight!

Republic of China in SF

2006-04-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

Yea!
Today I mailed our 1st batch of paperwork to somewhere with China in the subject, so that's got to be a good thing. I just hope I did it right! Not sure, what is wrong with me as I got a 2nd money order for $65 forgetting that I had already got one a week ago- Hopefully, I can deposit the extra one into our checking acct even though I already made it out to Republic of China...Hmmm
I was really disapointed that our fingerprints did not come while we were in Hawaii. I was sure they would but we are STILL waiting for OR.
I can't believe that I didn't always KNOW we were going to have another baby. Lexi was great in Hawaii but I know she will love having her own sister to play with so much! She is now asking for us to "play with her" and she even talked about her school mates while we were gone and how she wanted to go to their house when we got back.
Well, I'm off to search the adoption agency website for some more info.
:-)

Waiting for May - Adoption Book

2006-03-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

I bought this book online last week, due to a recommendation from a friend and it came in the mail yesterday. It is geared towards much older children than Lexi, but I still read it to her and I was amazed that she sat through it and even wanted me to read it again. It explains the whole adoption process in kids terms and is about a big brother who is getting a new baby sister,
"May" from China. Lexi was upset when the baby was crying when she first met her family. I think she is really understanding more of this process than we give her credit for and of course Mom can't read it without tears too.
I did my 2nd platelet donation last night! It went better than the first but unfortunately, the way the needle was put in gave the vein a small leak so they had to stop the process early but they still got enough blood for the donation! Of course, they said this only happens like once every 6-months- what the heck is wrong with me? Medically, if there is anything weird that can happen it seems it happens to me. O well, at least this was minor :-)I talked to the coordinator about "my plan" and of course he was stoked. So, every other Wed. at 6 pm that is where I'll be!
I also found out they wouldn't let you donate platelets if they didn't need them. So, I know my donation is really going to help someone within the next 5-days. I was going to cancel last night but I'm so glad I didn't. I'm sure the people in the hospital have other places they would rather be too but they don't have a choice so it feels so good to be helping.

I got our petition letter done yesterday and I called my Dr. to notorize my medical letter today.
I keep puttin off choosing our photo's to go to China. They say they choose your baby based on your photos to some degree-what pressure!
Well, mail will be here soon- if the document from OR comes, I will post as soon as I get back from the post office! Horrah!

6-month old Chloe!

2006-03-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

I was just reading the CHI newsletter and there is a picture of an adorable little girl who was just brought home who is 6-months and named Chloe! Yea! I'll take that as a good sign :-)

I feel like things are really moving again. Suzanne is back from vacation and emailed our homestudy to us for corrections yesterday! Yea- I don't have to go to her house afterall. :-)
I also have our 1st pkg ready to go the Chinese consulate in SF. All I'm waiting is for 1 document
back from OR which I expect this week and i'ts outta here. This is one of the final steps, so its very exciting. However, I still can't do anything with the WA DC consulate until OR fingerprints and FBI clearance is back but I really think they will both be back by the end of April! So, May will be just for mailing documents. Yea-Yea!

My friend Teri who has a LID of 02/28 is starting a quilt for her daughter to be that sounds really neat- I think I may do one too once the real waiting begins. You ask everyone to send you a square and a wish for the child to make this great keepsake quilt.

Well, its raining and we are getting ready for our trip to Kauai next week! Can't wait- Dad is taking an ARE test today- He will be completely licensed soon, which will be really nice- well better get some work done until the mail gets here. I actually warned the mail lady the other day that I would probably be driving her crazy for the next month as every day I can't wait to see if any NEWS comes in the mail!

PS I forgot our passports came on Saturday! The exact day the US postal website said they would. Go Post Office! :-)

Missing Social Worker!

2006-03-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

AHHHHH
So, I was so excited a few days ago because ViVianne (CHI) said she could track down our OR fingerprints if we got the exact address to where they were mailed by our social worker. Well, wouldn't that be fine and dandy but our social worker is not responding to emails and both of her phone #'s are full! Chris says she's probably out of town but how hard would it have been for her to send out a mass email letting all her clients know? She is such a vital piece to this process right now that I am really frustruated, scared and therefore irritated!!! At least I know where she lives, if I can't get a hold of her Monday I will call the lady who referred her to us and if necessary drive to her house. Our fingerprints could be sitting in her mailbox!
The only thing that really happened this week, was grandpa Steve was awesome at returning my employment letter, so I was able to get that back out to the state of OR yesterday at 5:00!
Atleast, I did something....
Well, going skiing today with Nanna and Grandpa at Deer Valley- it's supposed to be the nicest day of the year so, I know we are going to have a great time. Next year, sister Lexi will be learning how to ski and you will only be a year or two behind her.
Fingers crossed and thoughts still with OR fingerprints!
Our passports are technically supposed to arrive today too! :-)

Ahhh Oregon!

2006-03-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

So, here is where we are in the "paperchase"
I just found out, that my "employment letter" must be on company letterhead.
It did not say this in our packet, but I was suspicioius when Chris's letter was on letterhead, so luckily I asked before sending another $10 in to get this document state certified. So, busy grandpa Steve is going to have to back to the bank again to get a new letter notarized. Arggg, I know I'll hear about this one - but I know he will think it's worth it too!

Your dad talked to great grandpa Larry a few nights ago and he was asking all about you! I hope that you will get the chance to meet him. (He is not very healthy.) I'm sure, we will take you to OR as soon as possible as everyone will be dying to meet you. Don't worry, it's lots of fun, as grandpa Larry has a pool and we can go to the beach too. I guess this is another good thing about bringing you home in the spring/summer as it is always best to go to OR in the summer/fall to avoid rain and run rivers and see DUCK games! BTW you have to be a Duck fan and you'll probably have to go to U of O too but we can discuss that later:-)

The good news is, (or I hope anyway) is our agency representative ViVianne told me she would check on our fingerprints that we sent to OR 6-weeks ago and have not heard back yet. Yea! At least if I know they have them, I will feel better. I am extremely apprehensive about them because our social worker is the one who mailed them so I don't "know for sure" that they were mailed and she keeps telling me it could take up to 6-months! No way- I will seriously go to OR and knock on doors before we wait that long.

So, to keep me from going too crazy, I have come up with a new "campaign" for myself. (That is what I'm calling these obsessive chases I tend to get on sometimes). Anyway, since I had to get 25 units of blood with the birth of Lexi. I would like to give back all 25 myself before we bring you home! It seems like the grateful thing to do, plus I can't donate for a whole year after going to China due to malaria risks so I will feel good about "doubling up" so to speak before hand.
I have donated 6 times in my life. SO, I figured I can donate platelets every 2-weeks through the end of the year and I would have reached my goal. My friend Krista, told me last night some people run marathons and I donate blood. I guess I can officially put this down as one of my new hobbies now! Funny, that I am still contemplating running the St. George marathon in Oct. too but not fully commited at this point.
I went through Lexi's closet yesterday and packed away a lot of her clothes she has outgrown. She kept grabbing them out of the bag, and I would tell her no those are for your little sister and she would thoughtfully say "little sister". I think she is catching on more and more each day. Today she has started distinguishing the difference between "girls" and "boys". I name off everyone she knows and she will tell me if they are a girl or a boy. The only one she missed is her good friend Rory at school that she is convinced is a girl. Interesting..

She is going to love you so much! I just cant wait for you guys to play together and have fun together.

I'm also going to get a fireproof safe today. It would be so so so terrible if all these documents we have already collected were destroyed. I can't even imagine having to start over. I don't know that I could...... Actually, I'm sure I would but I can't imagine.....

Well, I better be off. Lots to do today as big siser is staying at daycare all day as I have a zillion errands to run. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for a MAY LID for us! I can't believe when we first started this process I thought it would only take a year. DENIAL is all I have to say. I am realistically thinking its going to be June now but I hope, hope, hope for April so that you will be here to go on the houseboat with the whole family in May!

Oh,,, I almost forgot. Grandpa Steve is giving us his miles for us to come to China! It will be $120,00 miles and save us over $2000 so we are really excited! I just hope it will work out as we won't have a ton of time before we need to travel when it will be time to get the tickets. However, if it doesn't work out I'm sure $ will be the last thing on our minds at that point!

Police Report Done

2006-03-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

So, getting our police report clearance was about the easiest thing we have done so far and it was FREE! Amazing- as everything else has cost something. It was right by our house, so we just ran over during lunch on Tuesday and the whole process took less than 30-minutes. Yea!

I was feeling so optimistic I decided to start putting together our Dossier that same day. Good thing that I did as I then found out that Chris's birth certificate and our marriage certificate would both need to be mailed to the states they were issued in for authentication. So, I got those off in the mail as well, along with a $44 fee! Also really glad, we've already applied for our passports as we'll need copies of them for our dossier as well. (Website says they should be here by March 25th.) I wish our fingerprints would get here from OR! They are taking forever as we sent them off right after superbowl weekend! I remember because Suzanne called me on cell when we were driving home from St. George.

So, if you are reading this send good speedy thoughts to the Oregon fingerprinting place :-)

We also got grandpa Steve to notorize and mail my employment form so that should be here probably tomorrow! waiting, waiting, waiting....
Lexi has somehow put together the idea of what a sister really is as last night Chris asked her if she wanted a sister and she actually responded with No a brother! Usually she thinks "sister" means babysitter so we are making progress! :-)

Police Report Day

2006-03-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

Today we are going to get our official Park City police reports that will hopefully state we are not wanted here :-)

I am also thinking of putting a folder together of all our "official dossier" paperwork so it will be immediately ready to go once
a. Our fingerprints from OR get back so our homestudy can be completed and
b. our CIS 171H approval is sent to us.
It's like I am afraid to get everything done all at once, because then I'll really have nothing to do but wait. It's a weird feeling. This process will definately teach me a lot about patience!

Just when I think we are moving so fast, I look at the paperwork more carefully and get overwhelmed at how long this process could really take! Even after the above 2 things come back to us, we still have to send all our paperwork to 2 different govt agencies to get the paperwork "authenticated" so I can't imagine that this will be "speedy" but I can hope....
I am just so glad that we finally decided to adopt and that we are where we are, (in the process).

We still have a lot of waiting to do and this is before the "real waiting" begins once our paperwork is sent to China. (Approx 9-months) So, I ordered a book just now called "Waiting for May" about Chinese adoption that my friend Krista saw at the bookstore and called us immediately telling us that she thinks it will be great help for Lexi to learn about her new sister!

I can't believe just last week, I was worried that we were moving too fast because I don't want to have to send you to PCHS daycare for just a few months and then another daycare in the summer as I think the changing might be hard for you. I really wish I could take all summer off when you arrive but unless something changes drastically unfortunately I don't think that's a posibility :-)
So, as of now my daycare plan is to keep you home for at least a month and have grandma Marsha come and help for at least a week and Nanna come and help too and Dad can work a creative schedule until mid-August when PCHS starts up again. If needed I can get a helper to come here for a few hours during the day too. I guess it will depend on how good of a baby and sleeper you are but Lexi stayed home for the first 10-months and we managed to work it out. I was completely loosing it for that last month but I did survive :-) Plus, we will have a lot of catching up to do!

There was a great snowsuit on sale at REI on Sunday that was a size 18 months that was a super deal and I did have this quick thought of buying it for you but I didn't. I can't start that business yet but once we get your picture it will be so fun to start getting everything we will need for a new little one again. However, in reality I'm sure we could buy nothing and you would be just fine as our house is so full of baby girl stuff already. However, I know we will end up buying you a lot of stuff just for you too. And your Nanna will go crazy as usual! :-)

Your dad is saying he doesn't really want to move now so although I'm still looking for a place that would be a little bigger for us all we may all be here when you arrive. We told some more neighbors about you at Dad's birthday party. Everybody was so supportive. It is interesting to me that everyone thinks adoption is so expensive. I did at first too but now, I feel like it's not even an issue and actually so inexpensive in comparison to what we are getting! I can't think of a better way to spend any $ than having a new addition to our family to love and laugh and tuck in at night. :-)

My last worry for the day is bird flu! When I was working out this AM there was a story about it and I sure hope there isn't some epidemic or scare so we wouldn't be able to come to China when scheduled. BTW- unfortunately, you are coming into a family of worriers but don't worry your Dad tries to keep all us girls in check. :-)

I lied one more worry- I just read that we needed 4 face to face visits with our social worker but we only had 2 and she acted like that was it! Hmmmm, I'd rather just follow the rules as I don't want to run into issues later maybe when I call her tomorrow and bug her about faxing over our homestudy I should bring this up?

The Friday before Dad's Birthday!

2006-03-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it's your Dad's birthday tomorrow and we are going all out as I think
next year we will be so busy with our brand new addition to our family, YOU!

One thing you shoud know about your Dad is he LOVES his birthday. The celebration
starts 5 days before and ends 3-days after, (he actually reminded me of this yesterday).
So, if by chance we are in China for his birthday, I hope you won't mind a little celebration :-)
haha. That reminds me, I've decided that we will have a yearly "Happy Family day" celebration on the 1st day that we bring you home. That way, we can always celebrate your 1st day in America and the 1st day you meet your sister Lexi and the rest of your entire family. :-)

Your sister Lexi is getting so big- she is truly no longer our baby in the family and I'm so glad that you are on your way to join us. You guys are going to have so much fun together. I know she will be a big helper and want to show you everything and be so glad to have a friend "at her home". (Everything she likes lately, she wants at her home.)

Well, we are on our way down to Uncle Josh's & Aunt Brandi's and Baby K's for a family party with the Caziers, (your extended cousins from Spokane) I'm sure they will all be excited to hear about you- I can't wait until we get your photo to share. You really have no idea how many people will love you and worry about you and want to meet you before you even get here. I hope that you will somehow know this when you are waiting for us to come and get you at the orphanage. It may be hard and lonely for you those first few months but we will make it up to you and I just hope that you will know in your heart that we are coming to get you!
Love,
Mom

Homestudy!

2006-03-08T18:10:00.000-08:00

Yahooo! I think we completed our homestudy today!
I was stressing all afternoon about how everything "looked"
at our house and everything was fine!
Even our dogs were team players and stayed in the garage the
whole time without even barking. (They are excited to meet you too!)
However, I hope they both live that long, but I think that they will.....

Today, I am thinking we are farther along in the process than I thought.
Our social worker is going to call on our fingerprints tomorrow.
Yahoo!
A couple of weird things have happened...
This AM when dropping Lexi off at school I saw Olivia's Mom (Olivia
is 3 and adopted from China) so I turned back around and asked her
if I needed to worry if there was beer in our fridge. (I am a Utahn through
and through- she assured me that her social worker did NOT go through
their fridge so I felt a litttle more confident.) and just hid our kegs! ha-ha

Also yesterday, I called Delta trying to figure out their Mileage plus program
to accrue miles for China and the reservationist just happened to have adopted
3 girls from China and they were 8, 10 and 12 now!

So, tomorrow we go get fingerprinted again at 8AM and then I think I'll go get our
police report while I'm at it!
Lexi was calling Braxton her brother yesterday since Makayla calls him that.
I kept trying to explain that she would have a sister of her own soon.

Ladybugs

2006-02-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Ladybug is considered good luck in various cultures

Just a few notes more on ladybugs-
I'm currently looking for a webpage that explains ladybugs and Chinese adoption but unfortunately, I keep reading other people's stories which brings me to tears so it might be awhile.....

However, I remembered today that when Lexi was first born I called her my "lovebug" so soon I will have my Lovebug and my Ladybug girls! I can't wait! Another random coincidence...
Now, I wonder if I should think about a name that starts with L..... instead of Chloe?

Also, I was telling Nanna on Sunday about her Ladybug Valentine bag and how I think it's a sign that we will meet you on Valentines next year and she told me that she actually had bought 4 bags this year on accident. So, she was thinking about you already!

-An ancient Chinese belief-“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.”

Leters in the mail

2006-02-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

My friend Sara reminded me today, that I've been slacking in my posts, so here goes!
Thanks Aunt Sara:-)

I came home from NY with our paperwork from the deparment of National Security returned to us! Uggg... They wouldn't accept our personal check,(which I thoroughly had researched on their website and it said no such thing) 2. They didn't like our marriage license. Hopefully, they'll like an original I resent them that has the official stamp! At least, I am greatful that they were quick to return what they couldn't accept, (only took about 1-week) I had sent it certified mail so I did that again with the 2nd batch just in case that helps it get opened faster. :-)

We also got a couple letters this week from CHI, (our adoption agency) the exciting one today is that referrals are ranging from 6-months - 13 months right now. I am excited as I would love to get our baby when she is just 6-months! The other good news is that referrals are taking 9-months after LID. I have to hurry if we are really going to get her over Valentines next year! Nanna gave Lexi a valentine present this year in a darling lady bug bag so I felt like that was a sign that we would be getting our baby next Valentines. There is some "folklore" with ladybugs and China- I'm not really sure of the details, I still need to research it but they say the day you get your referral you will see ladybugs or something like that. So of course, I'm now obsessed over ladybugs! Lexi strangely already got a ladybug backpack for Christmas before we had officially decided to adopt and she is going to get this adorable ladybuy swimsuit if I can find it in her size soon :-)

Chris of course thinks all of this is ridiculous and I get a big eye roll from it all but that's ok. I truly know in my heart that we will get the baby we are supposed to get :-) But, I definately feel a sense of urgency like I wouldn't want to miss getting "our" daughter because of paperwork- silly I know!

Today, I took Lexi to the zoo and saw a Chinese little girl there. It is so weird as it feels like unconsciously I'm always on the lookout for China girls and then for their parents - like seeing them will help me visualize our future or something....
Some of the "newness" has worn off for me that we are adopting & it now feels "normal" like we have known this was going to happen forever. At first, it was so overwhelming I could barely sleep or think or talk of anything else but now it is just part of my heart.

Grandma Marsha bought Lexi an Asian baby doll in Eugene today! I am so excited to see her. I have been looking online and even in NY for an Asian baby and have not been able to find one. Was kind of weird that I couldn't find one in NY - Utah I can understand but NY? It brought up some awareness of this journey we are embarking on & some of the challenges we will face.

Not doing so well, keeping this adoption from Lexi! Sorry Nanna! She has heard Chris & I talk to each other & friends & family about it & our occasional "won't this be great, when you have a sister" that slips out. I think kids absorb so much more than you think so really to keep it from her would have required impossible secrecy. Even going to the zoo today, we went with a friend and she had so much fun. I think she will have so much fun having a sibling. I know she has fun with us but I'm so glad that she is going to have someone to share her childhood with.

Lastly, we met our social worker, (Suzanne) for the first time last week. She seems very nice and like an amazing person! She has 10 kids with some & maybe even all are adopted and some are special needs. She is in Cambodia for a week doing a homestudy for a family with a special circumstance right now. She comes to our house on March 8th! We can't wait. Hopefully, she likes dogs! She seems really understanding that I want our homestudy DONE asap even if we have to wait weeks/months for our fingerprints to come back. The day the fingerprints come back is the day I want the homestudy mailed in :-) That is ambitious I know but from my view, I don't see why it couldn't be that way......

During our1st meeting with Suzanne, she asked if we have any Chinese friends that will be good role models for our daughter. Yikes! Uggg-no-we do not. She talked to us about when she adopted her black son, she felt like she loved black people but then she realized she really did not even know any! I feel this same way about us and it made me feel a little hypocritcal that we think we love China - and can't wait to adopt our daughter from China and then realizing we don't even know any Chinese people! I was really kind of upset about this at first but then I realized I was putting too much into it. We love children and human beings and we are all really from the same place anyway. However, my heart & awareness is open and I do hope that we will have some Chinese friends in the future to share their insights with us.

We do have 2 Taiwanese friends and 1 Mongolian friend - I can't wait to talk to them about this...
Well, Lexi is waking up from nap- gotta run :-)

Medical Done

2006-02-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

Today I had my medical exam, all was easy and well and Chris's birth certificates came in the mail! I am feeling super anxious right now cause I'm not sure what to do! I want to do something
everyday to get this process going. I think the "waiting" is going to be harder than I had thought. I feel a little relieved because I just realized that we can go apply for our passports now.
Something to do to help the process! Yea!
The word is pretty much out...we have told a lot of family and friends and neighbors. Everyone has been supportive. I did just get a book I ordered online that maybe I will start reading now....
I'm a little worried, because I have just realized that when my brother has his baby in Oct. our baby will most likely have been born too but we won't have her yet. I think it might be hard to see their baby and know ours is the same age, doing the same things but 1/2 a world away. I think this is why I am having this sense of urgency today! O'well- I know it will all work out. :-)

Application done!

2006-01-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I just sent our application to our new & official homestudy social worker, (pending final approval from our agency worker Vivianne that doesn't get back from vacation until Tuesday.)

I feel like I have got so much done but yet there is still so much more to do. I think I might
be done with step 1 out of the 5 big steps! crazy!

Today I am worrying about not getting our baby till next April or so.... It seems like everyone tells you a different time frame for receiving, "your referral". Our paperwork says 6-months (which I do think is OPTIMISTIC) but today someone told me 12-14 months. I know all in all it will work out fine but that does seem looooooonnnnnnnnggggggggggggg. I am trying to tell myself to enjoy "this pregnancy" since my last one was SOOOOOOOOOOO stressful from 10-weeks onward. I keep looking at pictures of the babies in all the paperwork that I've received and it so weird to know that soon a baby that looks like one of those babies will be ours. I also wonder if I will "know" the day that she is born. I think I should keep a journal, so later when I do find out her birthday, I'll be able to look back and know what I was doing that day! :-) That would be cool. I can't wait to be done with all the paperwork, so I can start researching the culture of China and all the fun stuff! I've put myself on "restriction" that I can only focus on what needs to be done right now :-) Well, Lexi & Dad fell asleep downstairs watching "Jungle book" so I'm off to get them both to bed. Can't wait for tomorrow, for our 1st adoption seminar to meet people from our agency and learn more! Good Night****

"The" process

2006-01-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our journey of adoption!

Warning! This is my 1st ever blog, so I'm not sure how this will really work but I've ran across a few others while doing research on adoption and it seems like a great idea to keep all of our friends and family involved & up to date on our journey. We welcome any comments that you have and hope to hear from you :-)

Here goes! We have decided to adopt our next baby from CHINA! We chose China mostly for healh reasons and actually just decided on China about 10-days ago! It already feels like forever. We've applied with CHI (Children's Hope International) due to a referral from a little girls family at Lexi's school and CHI felt like a good match when we found out their regional office we would be working with is in Oregon.

I also "think" today that I have finally chosen a person to do our homestudy. It is really confusing as the person who was recomended to us by several people was actually almost double the price of the person that I just got referred to yesterday. Of course, I had just completed all the paperwork for the 1st person too but for $1000 I think I can spend a few hours of cutting and pasting. This has been pretty intense as you don't want to pick someone "bad" who either will be slow or won't approve you. Of course, I've checked on her references and I "think" (i.e. hope and pray that she is a good one for us! :-)