Friday, February 29, 2008
Good news!
Yesterday we received word that our travel approvals have arrived. Today I received notice from the center of immigration services that our fingerprints have been updated. (This was after I sent their office a desperate sounding plea asking them to please speed up the process)We are now ready to make those plane reservations! The hard part is finding time for John and I to actually sit down together and decide when to leave, it seems we are like ships passing in the night these days. He is busy trying to get ahead and train the person taking over his classes while we are gone and I am busy at work planning how my territory will be covered while I am off for 6 weeks. All that combined with running three kids around to various events and activities does not leave much extra time. Tomorrow we are celebrating Lily's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. There will be 5 little girls and around 9 adults all watching a rather large mouse dance around. I'll be sure and take some photos to post. In four very short weeks we will be in China, hard to believe.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
New Pictures!
Yesterday, out of the blue came new photos of Luke. These were unexpected as new ones were just posted in November. Along with pictures came new measurements. Turns out Lily's "little" brother is one inch taller. He's 40" and weighs 35#. The height should be pretty accurate but I figure they weigh these guys with all their many layers of clothes on so I'm guessing he is probably closer to 33-34# which means all the 4-5T clothes I have purchased should be right on target! The new photos make Luke's face appear a little more grown up. When I showed Lily the photos she just went on and on about how "cute" he was. I'm really more curious about his personality and how the two of them will get along, but they can't show me that in a photo. I just wish I could be a bug on the wall in his classroom or foster home so I could observe his personality before we get him. I know we won't see that shine through for probably the first several days at least, and not his true self until long after we return home.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
So Much to do and so little time!
We have now received our tentative travel dates: March 27-April 10th. There is a huge trade fair in Guangzhou the last half of April so they have to get us out of there before it hits. This was exactly the same time of year we traveled to pick up Lily in 05. You could really tell the clientel of the White Swan was changing from Caucasion families with Chinese babies to business men in three piece suits the last couple of days we were there. Our travel family list shows that the Budges will be in our group once again. Sherry and Roger traveled with us back in 05. They are getting a waiting child in a different province but we should all meet up at the White Swan. They are not bringing Natalie on the trip. There are 25 families in all and four of the families will be traveling with us to all three provinces. We have already met each other on line and we all sound a little panicy at this point trying to decide what to bring. Another family is briging their 3 year old daughter so we won't be the only ones.
Now the clock is really ticking loudly. We had to redo the homestudy addendum to include all of Luke's specific information and approving our family to be appropriate for him. We are sending off for our visas today. I'm busy shopping and taking advantage of the winter clothing sales for Luke. His last measurements were taken when he was 18 months old and now he is 45 months old so it is purely a guess at this point. The clothes I have been getting are such good deals that I don't really mind if they don't fit, but I'm still hoping they do.
We have to pack a variety of clothes. Temperatures in Beijing and Urumqi will be chilly, probably highs in the 30s-40s, while in Guangzhou the climate is similar to South Florida.
I have sent off a care package to Luke containing a beanie panda bear, a disposable camera and a small photo album of our family. The nice part about having a live-in Chinese exchange student is that she was able to translate a letter I wrote to Luke's foster Mom. I told her I know this transition must be difficult for her but that if Luke bonded well with her there is great hope that he will bond with us. I also asked her to take pictures of Luke with her family and in his everyday surroundings. I sent her some locally made soaps and hand creams. I just hope that Luke is still in her care. Sometimes they pull the kids out of foster care several weeks before the adoption and sometimes they wait until the last minute.
I'm reading a great book about toddler adoption which Jessica loaned me. It really gives some good tips about bonding and what to expect. It was completely different getting a 13 month old who could not walk to this time around of expecting a fully functioning very active 3 year old boy! If anyone has any good tips about play items to bring on the trip to help us all bond, please let me know. I'm already bringing beach balls and bubbles and I figure we can take the kids to the nearest park for some active play.
Steven has agreed to stay at our house while we are gone to babysit all the critters and Yue Jia is going to spend the time with Jessica's family.
In the meantime I have Lily's birthday party to plan (March 4th she will be 4!) and lots of inspections to get done at work. I plan on taking 5 full weeks off and then do a week of half days while I get Luke settled in at Carol's home daycare and then I will take off one day a week for the rest of my 12 weeks on family medical leave. It will be nice to have the extra day off during the week to spend extra time with the kids especially in the summertime.
Now the clock is really ticking loudly. We had to redo the homestudy addendum to include all of Luke's specific information and approving our family to be appropriate for him. We are sending off for our visas today. I'm busy shopping and taking advantage of the winter clothing sales for Luke. His last measurements were taken when he was 18 months old and now he is 45 months old so it is purely a guess at this point. The clothes I have been getting are such good deals that I don't really mind if they don't fit, but I'm still hoping they do.
We have to pack a variety of clothes. Temperatures in Beijing and Urumqi will be chilly, probably highs in the 30s-40s, while in Guangzhou the climate is similar to South Florida.
I have sent off a care package to Luke containing a beanie panda bear, a disposable camera and a small photo album of our family. The nice part about having a live-in Chinese exchange student is that she was able to translate a letter I wrote to Luke's foster Mom. I told her I know this transition must be difficult for her but that if Luke bonded well with her there is great hope that he will bond with us. I also asked her to take pictures of Luke with her family and in his everyday surroundings. I sent her some locally made soaps and hand creams. I just hope that Luke is still in her care. Sometimes they pull the kids out of foster care several weeks before the adoption and sometimes they wait until the last minute.
I'm reading a great book about toddler adoption which Jessica loaned me. It really gives some good tips about bonding and what to expect. It was completely different getting a 13 month old who could not walk to this time around of expecting a fully functioning very active 3 year old boy! If anyone has any good tips about play items to bring on the trip to help us all bond, please let me know. I'm already bringing beach balls and bubbles and I figure we can take the kids to the nearest park for some active play.
Steven has agreed to stay at our house while we are gone to babysit all the critters and Yue Jia is going to spend the time with Jessica's family.
In the meantime I have Lily's birthday party to plan (March 4th she will be 4!) and lots of inspections to get done at work. I plan on taking 5 full weeks off and then do a week of half days while I get Luke settled in at Carol's home daycare and then I will take off one day a week for the rest of my 12 weeks on family medical leave. It will be nice to have the extra day off during the week to spend extra time with the kids especially in the summertime.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
Earlier photo of Luke Tian Bo
This was the image posted on the waiting child list with Children's Hope International back in Oct. Poor Luke is dressed head to toe in traditional "girl" colors (remember girls make up around 95% of the orphanage population) and standing out in the snow. He is dressed in so many layers he can hardly move. Notice the hat with Snoopy. It appears that Snoopy is smoking a pipe (probably to stay warm in Urumqi!) I think these first pictures is the reason that no one selected Luke. I read his files and looked at his picture often. He has an identified medical need that sounded a little scary. Later new photos were posted and we see a totally different little boy, all medical reports look good. Our pediatrician read over the reports and said it sounded like he was in fine health. Of course we know things may be different when we get him but we are hoping for the best.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Fingerprinted again
Yesterday we made a mad dash to Kansas City to get fingerprinted again with immigration. Our current fingerprints are going to expire in mid March and we are not sure we will be back from China by then.
When we arrived home our referral was waiting for us, delivered by UPS. There was no new information on Xin Tian Bo but I wasn't counting on any since the last update was in late October 07. The report on his health sounds very good and he sounds like a very active outgoing all boy, boy.
I have to fill out a bunch of forms and get them back to Children's Hope tomorrow. I'm getting a care package ready to send to "Bo Bo" (his nickname in China). In the package is a Panda beanie baby, a disposable camera and a photo album with pics of the family. I am having our exchange student Yue Jia transcribe a letter I have written to Bo Bo's foster Mom. I am hoping she will use the camera to take pics of BoBo with his foster family and his surroundings. I am also sending her some small gifts in appreciation for taking care of BooBo until his forever family could be found.
When we arrived home our referral was waiting for us, delivered by UPS. There was no new information on Xin Tian Bo but I wasn't counting on any since the last update was in late October 07. The report on his health sounds very good and he sounds like a very active outgoing all boy, boy.
I have to fill out a bunch of forms and get them back to Children's Hope tomorrow. I'm getting a care package ready to send to "Bo Bo" (his nickname in China). In the package is a Panda beanie baby, a disposable camera and a photo album with pics of the family. I am having our exchange student Yue Jia transcribe a letter I have written to Bo Bo's foster Mom. I am hoping she will use the camera to take pics of BoBo with his foster family and his surroundings. I am also sending her some small gifts in appreciation for taking care of BooBo until his forever family could be found.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Happy Referral Day
I was sitting at my desk at work when the call came in. Children's Hope International called from the Kansas City office to report that our SCL had just arrived. What is an SCL you ask? It means "seeking confirmation letter" and it is our official referral for our son Xin Tian Bo. This means our dossier has been reviewed by CCAA and found acceptable and our match has been made (with our help with go-round) Lets hope we did half as good a job matching as China did when they matched us with Lily three years ago.
On Tuesday the UPS man/woman will deliver our very special referral. I am hoping for a more recent update on Tian Bo but since the last one was in 11/07 there probably won't be.
Now the clock starts ticking in a very fast way!
On Tuesday the UPS man/woman will deliver our very special referral. I am hoping for a more recent update on Tian Bo but since the last one was in 11/07 there probably won't be.
Now the clock starts ticking in a very fast way!
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