Our agency received our TA (travel approval) today! Now they can schedule our consulate appointment (CA) and we will know the exact dates of our travel and can book our flights to and from China. Right now it lookds like we'll be leaving Sept. 11th and returning about the 27th. That means we could be holding Alyssa in our arms in just 3 weeks! (How awesome is that???)
Now it seems like we'll have to really rush to get everything done before we travel. We've been putting the finishing touches on Alyssa's room. Hanging things on the wall and organizing her closet. We put the new matress in the crib and washed the sheets and crib set.
I'm starting to create a packing list for us. Fortunately, there have been a lot of families who went through this before us, and I can use their lists as a starting point for ours. When we started this process, I thought it was funny when I heard people talk about practicing their packing for thier trip. I thought that they must be really "anal" people. Now, I'm thinking it's not such a bad idea when you consider the tight luggage restrictions on international flights and the 44 pound limit on our checked bags. Combine this with the fact that most people want to take just about everything they might possibly need to care for their child in China, and the idea sounds even better. I'm sure the list will need to be "tweeked" several times with intermittent discussions about what can and can't go. (I'm sure my personal stuff will be the first things to be cut from the list.)
When you add all the other things that need to done around the house like cleaning the garage, baby-proofing the living room and kitchen, Gathering all our adoption documents, mowing, booking our airfare, etc., it seems like we're no where near ready for all of this. I know we'll get it all done, because we've got a beautiful baby in China depending on us. I'm focusing on the bright side of all this. Once we get on the first plane, and our journey begins, we'll be able to relax and treat the whole trip like a big vacation. And when we finally get to hold Alyssa for the first time, it will all seem worth it.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Our Daughter Turns 9 Months Old Today!
It's funny how things change once you receive your referral and have pictures and medical information about your child. It seems more real to you when you can put a face and other details to your adoption. Before the referral, I'd have occaisional thoughts about if she's been born yet, or where in China she might be, why she was given up by her mother, etc. Now, I think about her everyday and it all seems so much more real to us. Today Alyssa turns 9 months old and we expect to have her with us before she turns 10 months old. I hope she has an extra special day today, or maybe our care package we sent for her will arrive for her.
I finally got the shelves hung in her room the other night. Shawn and her sister organized the closet after the baby shower and the room is almost complete. Yesterday Shawn got the cash we need to complete the adoption and we rented a safe deposit box at the bank to keep it in. She was able to get most of it (at least the part for the orphange donation and our miscellaneous adoption fees) in new money. The rest was in very good condition, but as picky about their money as the Chinese people are, we may exchange some of the circulated money for some that is in even better shape. Our next big challenge will be with making a packing list for our trip and making sure we can keep our bags withing the 44 pound weight limit.
Some agencies have received travel approvals already, so we expect ours tomorrow or Monday. We've been told as long as it gets here by the end of the month, we should still be able to travel in September.
I finally got the shelves hung in her room the other night. Shawn and her sister organized the closet after the baby shower and the room is almost complete. Yesterday Shawn got the cash we need to complete the adoption and we rented a safe deposit box at the bank to keep it in. She was able to get most of it (at least the part for the orphange donation and our miscellaneous adoption fees) in new money. The rest was in very good condition, but as picky about their money as the Chinese people are, we may exchange some of the circulated money for some that is in even better shape. Our next big challenge will be with making a packing list for our trip and making sure we can keep our bags withing the 44 pound weight limit.
Some agencies have received travel approvals already, so we expect ours tomorrow or Monday. We've been told as long as it gets here by the end of the month, we should still be able to travel in September.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Baby Shower!!!
On Saturday, Shawn's sister Vickie and her good friend Melissa, who also adopted a girl from Chongqing, hosted a baby shower for us. They really did a fantastic job of planning all the details of the party. Vickie made us a diaper cake with lots of diapers that we'll put to good use very soon. Melissa made a Ladybug cake that we all ate, and it tasted as good as it looked! They did a great job planning all the details from the tasty lunch, down to all the decorations and games. The turnout was great, and we really filled up the room nicely.
My mom and sister-in-law drove up from Oklahoma City to attend, and so many of our friend from the local FCC came, and we felt so blessed to have so many great friends who have helped us through this very long wait. There were lots of adopted girls from China there, which we love to see. They give us a little glimpse of the joy Alyssa will bring to our lives very soon.
Shawn got a little emotional at the party thinking about how nice the shower was that Melissa and Vickie planned. And also, thinking about all the great friends we've made among the local families who've also adopted from China.
Here's a picture of the cake that Melissa made. Not only did it look like it was made by a professional, it had a layer of strawberry filling inside and was one of the best cakes I've ever eaten.
Next is a picture of the diaper cake that Shawn's sister Vickie made. It looked great and I'm sure she spent a lot of time making it.
Here's a picture of Shawn holding the cake. The picture also includes Melissa, who made the cake, and Meghan and Rachael, who helped retrieve gifts for Shawn to open.
This is Shawn holding the blanket that her mom crocheted for Alyssa. We love it!
The last picture was taken at home and has all of our gifts in it. It took a bit of arranging to get everything where it could be seen in one picture. We wanted to have a picture we could show Alyssa one day. All the great gifts we recieved were truly amazing.
My mom bought us a matress for the crib that we still needed. We got an autograph frame that everyone signed at the shower, which will have a nice picture of Alyssa in it very soon. There are seveal books, especially ones specifically related to adoption. Lots of great clothes and toys that Alyssa will put to good use. We now, need to get busy writing thank you notes to everyone.
My mom and sister-in-law drove up from Oklahoma City to attend, and so many of our friend from the local FCC came, and we felt so blessed to have so many great friends who have helped us through this very long wait. There were lots of adopted girls from China there, which we love to see. They give us a little glimpse of the joy Alyssa will bring to our lives very soon.
Shawn got a little emotional at the party thinking about how nice the shower was that Melissa and Vickie planned. And also, thinking about all the great friends we've made among the local families who've also adopted from China.
Here's a picture of the cake that Melissa made. Not only did it look like it was made by a professional, it had a layer of strawberry filling inside and was one of the best cakes I've ever eaten.
Next is a picture of the diaper cake that Shawn's sister Vickie made. It looked great and I'm sure she spent a lot of time making it.
Here's a picture of Shawn holding the cake. The picture also includes Melissa, who made the cake, and Meghan and Rachael, who helped retrieve gifts for Shawn to open.
This is Shawn holding the blanket that her mom crocheted for Alyssa. We love it!
The last picture was taken at home and has all of our gifts in it. It took a bit of arranging to get everything where it could be seen in one picture. We wanted to have a picture we could show Alyssa one day. All the great gifts we recieved were truly amazing.
My mom bought us a matress for the crib that we still needed. We got an autograph frame that everyone signed at the shower, which will have a nice picture of Alyssa in it very soon. There are seveal books, especially ones specifically related to adoption. Lots of great clothes and toys that Alyssa will put to good use. We now, need to get busy writing thank you notes to everyone.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Care Package
I mailed a care package that we put together to send to Alyssa's orphanage today. We filled it with a photo album we bought and filled with pictures of us, our dogs, our house, etc. It's made of plastic to protect the pictures, but made for a baby to hold. The handle is also a teething ring. We also sent her a blanket and a teddy bear. We put 2 disposable flash cameras for them to take pictures with. Most of the other families that adopted children from the same orphanage, and who sent cameras, got a lot of good pictures taken with them. I hope we have the same luck and get several good pictures of her and the orphanage she's living in. They'll be nice to show her when she's older. We put a couple of bags of candy for the nannies. (nothing that will melt, it is August after all) We also put some clothes and socks they can use to put on all the babies. The postage is a bit shocking, though. Our little box, that weighed less than 5 1/2 pounds, cost us $41.60 to mail to China.
I also have a new picture of our nursery to post. We finally finished our letters and got them on the wall.
I also have a new picture of our nursery to post. We finally finished our letters and got them on the wall.
Monday, August 6, 2007
The FedEx Stork Arrived
Our FedEx package finally arrived. It was almost an hour after the guaranteed 10:30 delivery time that our agency paid for. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who gets pissed off about things that are late like this. Walmart is like this with their 1 hour photos sometimes too. Do they give you a break on the price when it's late??? I've never seen it happen. When they don't deliver on their promises, they should reduce the price to the next level of service. I'll get off my soapbox now.
I'm just glad that we finally have it. We've pretty much decided that we're signing and returning it immediately rather that taking it to be looked at by the doctor first. There's no way he'd talk us out of keeping this referral anyhow.
A Classy Party
After our pool party in Oklahoma City, we rushed back to Tulsa to attend a wedding reception for one of my co-workers. Fitting all of this into one day was a bit of a squeeze, so we were running a little behind. We arrived at about 6:10 and the invitation said 6:00. Since they were serving dinner, I'd imagined walking in to find everyone already seated for dinner, but that wasn't the case. (in fact, we could have shown up an hour late and it wouldn't have been a big deal)
The actual wedding was in Bermuda, so I'm sure this reception was for all their family and friends that couldn't attend the wedding due to it's location. This was the nicest and classiest party that me or my wife had ever attended and there was probably about 400 people there. It was held at the Philbrook Museum of Art. When we pulled in our first surprise was the valet parking. I had my camera in the car with us and took it inside more because I was afraid to leave it with the valet when we went in. (even though I had it, I didn't snap a single picture) We walked through the museum and out onto a balcony that overlooked the grounds of the museum where they were serving champagne, wine and hors d'oeuvres. The view from the balcony was incredible. The grounds of the museum are immaculate and very picturesque. Since I didn't take any pictures, I found this picture online of the view from the balcony.
The only down side to this was the heat. This was August in Oklahoma and even though there was a slight breeze, it was still pretty darn hot. After a few minutes, we went back inside to look at some of the art in the museum where there was air conditioning. After about an hour, everyone moved to the room that had been set up for the dinner.
The dinner was incredible too. I told my wife that this was exactly the type of party those guys in the movie "Wedding Crashers" would have been looking for. The buffet line had an amazing selection of fresh fruit and cheeses. There was a mashed potato bar with sour cream, chives, bacon, etc. to go with it. At the end of the line they had servers slicing roast beef. There were two tables to the sides of the buffet line with seafood and sushi. The highlight of these were ice sculptures that included bowls for holding shrimp and crab claws. The crab claws were cut open, so you just took out the meat and ate it. And the shrimp were not what you typically see, these were the really big ones that were already peeled and ready to eat. All the food was superb and waiter kept everybody with an assortment of wine and rasbery iced tea to drink.
After the dinner, they went downstairs to cut their cake. It was about 4 feet tall and very well decorated. I saw people standing on their toes removing some of the upper layers. They sliced it up, put it on plates and delivered it to all the tables downstairs and up. There was a live band and a dance floor downstairs as well as frozen drink machines with pina coladas and strawberry daqueris and a full bar. I had one pina colada, but cut myself off there, since I had to drive home. On the way out there was a chocolate bar with an assortment of candies and chocolates to take with you. They had cellophane bags with stickers containing their names so everyone could take the candy home with them as a party favor. They had pink and white m&ms, white chocolate peanut butter cups, mint meltaways, jordan almonds, pretzels dipped in almond bark, hersheys kisses, just to name a few.
The party was first class all the way, and we really enjoyed ourselves.
The actual wedding was in Bermuda, so I'm sure this reception was for all their family and friends that couldn't attend the wedding due to it's location. This was the nicest and classiest party that me or my wife had ever attended and there was probably about 400 people there. It was held at the Philbrook Museum of Art. When we pulled in our first surprise was the valet parking. I had my camera in the car with us and took it inside more because I was afraid to leave it with the valet when we went in. (even though I had it, I didn't snap a single picture) We walked through the museum and out onto a balcony that overlooked the grounds of the museum where they were serving champagne, wine and hors d'oeuvres. The view from the balcony was incredible. The grounds of the museum are immaculate and very picturesque. Since I didn't take any pictures, I found this picture online of the view from the balcony.
The only down side to this was the heat. This was August in Oklahoma and even though there was a slight breeze, it was still pretty darn hot. After a few minutes, we went back inside to look at some of the art in the museum where there was air conditioning. After about an hour, everyone moved to the room that had been set up for the dinner.
The dinner was incredible too. I told my wife that this was exactly the type of party those guys in the movie "Wedding Crashers" would have been looking for. The buffet line had an amazing selection of fresh fruit and cheeses. There was a mashed potato bar with sour cream, chives, bacon, etc. to go with it. At the end of the line they had servers slicing roast beef. There were two tables to the sides of the buffet line with seafood and sushi. The highlight of these were ice sculptures that included bowls for holding shrimp and crab claws. The crab claws were cut open, so you just took out the meat and ate it. And the shrimp were not what you typically see, these were the really big ones that were already peeled and ready to eat. All the food was superb and waiter kept everybody with an assortment of wine and rasbery iced tea to drink.
After the dinner, they went downstairs to cut their cake. It was about 4 feet tall and very well decorated. I saw people standing on their toes removing some of the upper layers. They sliced it up, put it on plates and delivered it to all the tables downstairs and up. There was a live band and a dance floor downstairs as well as frozen drink machines with pina coladas and strawberry daqueris and a full bar. I had one pina colada, but cut myself off there, since I had to drive home. On the way out there was a chocolate bar with an assortment of candies and chocolates to take with you. They had cellophane bags with stickers containing their names so everyone could take the candy home with them as a party favor. They had pink and white m&ms, white chocolate peanut butter cups, mint meltaways, jordan almonds, pretzels dipped in almond bark, hersheys kisses, just to name a few.
The party was first class all the way, and we really enjoyed ourselves.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
A "Deathtrap For Kids"
We went to a pool party in Oklahoma City with other families from our adoption agency. One of the guests called before coming and asked the host if her house was kid friendly because she was thinking of coming to the party with her kids. After the host assured her that it was, she told her that was a good thing, because the house it was held at last year was a deathtrap for kids. Here's the puchline to this story: Last year's party was held at the same home. I would have made a smart-ass comment like "Well, you probably remember the way here". I never saw anything wrong with the house and everyone was having a good time, young and old.
We like going to these events to see all the other kids that were adopted from China. It makes us feel good about our decision to adopt and helps us get through the long wait. After getting our referral the other day, it was also the perfect opportunity to show off our pictures of Alyssa.
Below I'm including a picture of Joe. He was adopted at the age of 7. It's amazing how well he's adapted to living here and it sounded like he's doing great in school. It takes special people to take on the task of adopting a 7 year old, when you think about having to teach him a completely different language and put him in a completely different environment and culture. I'm amazed at how well he's done. He loved to swim because with a couple of times he got out for a drink or some lunch, I think he spent every bit of the remaining time in the pool.
We also got to see a video of baby Bria, who came from the same province as Alyssa is from. As you can see in the picture below, she is the just the cutest thing. In the picture below, you can see the video playing in the background behind her.
Right now, we just want to go get our baby, so we can take her to pool parties and Chinese New Year celebrations. It's great to have so many people who've done this before to help us out with tips and suggestions. We are sooooo ready to go!
We like going to these events to see all the other kids that were adopted from China. It makes us feel good about our decision to adopt and helps us get through the long wait. After getting our referral the other day, it was also the perfect opportunity to show off our pictures of Alyssa.
Below I'm including a picture of Joe. He was adopted at the age of 7. It's amazing how well he's adapted to living here and it sounded like he's doing great in school. It takes special people to take on the task of adopting a 7 year old, when you think about having to teach him a completely different language and put him in a completely different environment and culture. I'm amazed at how well he's done. He loved to swim because with a couple of times he got out for a drink or some lunch, I think he spent every bit of the remaining time in the pool.
We also got to see a video of baby Bria, who came from the same province as Alyssa is from. As you can see in the picture below, she is the just the cutest thing. In the picture below, you can see the video playing in the background behind her.
Right now, we just want to go get our baby, so we can take her to pool parties and Chinese New Year celebrations. It's great to have so many people who've done this before to help us out with tips and suggestions. We are sooooo ready to go!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Our Referral Is Finally Here ! ! !
It's been a really long wait, but we got the call we've been waiting for yesterday afternoon. When we realized that we would be getting the call and Shawn left work to go to lunch with me and wait for the call together, I had the shakes. Yesterday and today have been very busy, with all the calls to family and emails, sending a link to all our friends, family, and coworkers so they could see our referral. In all the rushing around and excitement, it looks like my blog is going to be the last thing that gets updated.
I'm including pictures below, but the link above will have more details. You can click on these images to view the full-sized images. We think she's absolutely adorable and feel truly blessed. We can't wait to travel to China to go get her.
I'm including pictures below, but the link above will have more details. You can click on these images to view the full-sized images. We think she's absolutely adorable and feel truly blessed. We can't wait to travel to China to go get her.
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