Alan's Adoption Blog

Our Journey To Caitlin

2011-09-07T16:06:00.002-05:00

We are adopting, again, from China!

I've created additional pages on a website to document our trip to China, while we are travelling. In the case that we cannot access that site while we are in China, the blog, will be "the backup plan" for posting updates. The new pages for our current adoption can be found here:

http://home.windstream.net/ba_joker/cindex.html

Swon Brothers Concert

2008-12-13T23:41:00.002-06:00

We went to see the Swon Brothers perform tonight in Wagoner at the Community Center. Colton Swan made the top 50 in a recent season of American Idol. Zach Swon competed in KOTV's "Gimme the Mike!" show (our local station's version of American Idol) and was beaten in the finals. (undeservingly in my opinion) They have performed together, locally around Muskogee and Wagoner for several years. Each year they put on a Christmas show in Wagoner, and this is the show we went to. Here's a picture of them performing on stage.

Alyssa has always loved music, and seems to enjoy it even more when it's live, much like me. She did lots of clapping and dancing to the music. Here's a picture of her sitting with her cousin and clapping.

Alyssa was wearing her Christmas dress tonight and looking absolutely adorable, as usual. Then they asked if there were any kids in the audience who would like to come on stage and sing. After getting a volunteer, they noticed Alyssa standing up in her dress and said she should come on stage too. The backup singer picked her up and took her on stage with her. We were surprised that she wasn't frightened by this. But, I think she liked the music and being so close to it that she enjoyed it. Here's a picture of her on stage. It was hard to get a good picture with all the mic stands and being behind the sax player, but this one was not too bad.

The concert lasted about 2 1/2 hours and was really good, and for $2 a ticket, there were no complaints.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-21T13:33:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, we took Alyssa to the pumpkin patch in Bixby. We got several good pictures and she got to see lots of animals, ride a pony, and found a tiny pumpkin she really likes. She wouldn't quite get close enough to feed the goats, but she liked seeing them.

The Last of Our Vacation Pictures, Finally

2008-10-21T13:18:00.002-05:00

It's only taken 2 1/2 weeks, but here's the last of the vacation photos.

This pigeon hung around us on the boat during our harbor cruise we took. Alyssa had a good time feeding it some pretzels we had with us.

This ship sailed past us, during our harbor cruise. It was returning to port from a long deployment.

This statue is titled "Unconditional Surrender" and shows a sailor kissing a nurse.

This is a picture of Alyssa riding the merry-go-round at Seaport Village.

Calendar Giveaway

2008-10-15T13:00:00.002-05:00

For anyone iterested in winning a cool China calendar, visit Sea Glass & Jade to enter.

Sea World Pictures

2008-10-11T23:45:00.001-05:00

Here's a few of our pictures from our visit to Sea World on October 2nd.

San Diego Harbor & Ferry Boat Ride to Coronado

2008-10-11T23:28:00.002-05:00

These pictures were from October 1st, when we went down to the harbor and took the ferry boat to Coronado.

San Diego Zoo

2008-10-08T23:03:00.001-05:00

It may take me a few days to get all our vacation photos posted that I'm going to post. But, I'll get to them when I can. Here's some pictures from the San Diego Zoo.

More Vacation Pics

2008-09-30T01:26:00.001-05:00

Today we went to Los Angeles to see Chinatown. We ate lunch there and did lots of shopping. Here's a few pictures in China town.

Then we went to Hollywood to check out the Walk of Fame.

San Diego Vacation Pictures

2008-09-29T00:17:00.002-05:00

Here's a picture shot from the top of the cliff between the ocean and the Solana Beach and Tennis Club. We stayed in a rental in this complex during our vacation.

Here's a picture of Alyssa playing in the ocean.

This is the Point Loma Lighthouse:

Here's downtown San Diego, shot from across the harbor.

Here's some pictures from our visit with Dan, Shannon, & Landree:

A Few More Pictures

2008-04-19T22:08:00.001-05:00

In my previous post, I forgot to mention her most often used word that she speaks, uh-oh. She doesn't realize this is only for accidents because she'll use it after throwing something on the ground, on purpose. There's also another word she uses, that were not too crazy about, especially when she's playing with her cousins. MINE

Here's a few more pictures I wanted to post, but didn't have at the time of my last post.

The next 3 pictures were taken around Easter. The first of these 3 is with Natalie, who is also from China. Her parents live in Owasso and travelled right after we did. You can find there blog here.

The last picture is of Alyssa feeding the ducks.

Long Overdue Update

2008-04-18T14:14:00.001-05:00

Since I started my A Photo A Day blog, I've neglected to update this blog. Alyssa has done a lot of growing up since then. So, I'll try to update everyone in one big posting.

Alyssa is sleeping through the night. She's been doing this for quite a long time now and we're greatful to be getting our sleep too. She always seems to wake up in a good mood, and sometimes she'll play quietly by herself in bed before we notice that she's awake.

We had a new social worker for our 6 month post placement report and that went smoothly. Our previous social worker was VERY difficult to get in touch with and tended to drag her feet with everything she did. The new social worker was pretty easy to reach and the whole thing went quickly. When she visited, Alyssa went right to her and sat in her lap for quite some time. She was impressed with how well Alyssa was doing and didn't feel that she was delayed at all.

We've taught Alyssa a few bits of sign language for things like "all done", "eat", and "more". It's been nice for her to be able to tell us these things until she learns to speak them. Here's a picture of Alyssa giving the "more" sign.

She loves music and often will break into a dance when she hears something she likes. We'll be watching TV and a commercial will come on or a show's theme music and Alyssa will start boppin' up and down and leaning to one side. It cracks us up sometimes.

She's also saying a few words now. She can say mama and daddy. She calls Shawn's dad "papa", and she usually whispers this for some reason. Since Shawn's mom keeps her while we're at work, she's sees her papa a lot. We're quite certain that her papa is going to spoil her rotten. She says a few other words that we recognize and there's some words that we don't quite understand too.

I'll end this post with some more pictures of Alyssa, starting with her Easter picture with a live bunny.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

Today is the Chinese New Year. This is the year of the rat, and I hope it brings good fortune to all our family and friends. We already feel like we've won the lottery having Alyssa. She's been doing great and is the best baby ever.

Here's a couple of pictures we took while out to dinner one night.

I've started a new blog, where I plan on posting a new picture every day for a full year. I've had a few friends who did this and thought it would be good motivation to get out the camera more often. Also, Alyssa makes a great subject for these photos and I should probably take more pictures of her. This next picture is one I took as the first picture in this effort.

My last new picture is one we took at a Chinese New Year celebration hosted by the Chinese American Association of Tulsa. Alyssa is wearing one of the dresses we bought her in china.

Big Weekend

2008-01-28T15:02:00.001-06:00

On Saturday we went to see Donkey Basketball in Wagoner, OK. How often do you get a chance to see Donkey Basketball??? We arrived early, since Shawn was helping them raise money by selling T-shirts. Alyssa got to walk all over the basketball court in her squeeky shoes before the crowd arrived. Here's a few pics of the Donkey Basketball.

Before the night was over, Alyssa went to sleep on us.

On Sunday, we decided to take Alyssa to the zoo because the weather was unseasonably nice for January. The Tulsa Zoo was voted "America's Favorite Zoo", and we have a zoo membership for free admission. Here's a picture of Alyssa and me just monkeying around.

We also stopped for a few minutes in the playground to let Alyssa out of the stroller and see how she liked some of the playground equipment. Here she is, standing up, on the giant teeter totter.

Here's a couple of pictures I snapped of the animals.

Before we got through the rain forrest exhibit, Alyssa went to sleep on us. We're not sure if it was the warm, humid climate inside, or that it was naptime.

An Overdue Update

2008-01-21T14:50:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since my last post. We've been keeping pretty busy lately. My recliner, that Shawn bought before I even met her, is old and has a sharp wood corner that seemed to always poke me in the leg when I sat down. I finally got tired of it, and we went shopping for a new one.

While we were shopping, we also were looking for a rocking chair of glider to put in the nursery for rocking Alyssa to sleep when she wakes in the middle of the night. Up untill now we never found any that we both liked. When we decided on the recliner, we asked the salesman if he had any rocking chairs and he showed us a few that they had, but again we didn't really like any of them. When we went to pay for the recliner, there was a wooden rocking chair directly in front of the cashier and we looked it over and decided that we wanted it too.

I also have a couple of pictures of Alyssa to post. This first picture is one we took at home with Shawn's new digital camera of Alyssa playing with one of her books.

The last picture is one we took on the way home from Edmond. Our van has a DVD player with wireless headphones and Shawn sometimes sits in the back next to Alyssa and watches a DVD while I chauffeur them around. In this picture, Alyssa is sitting in her car seat with a set of the headphones on. The first time Shawn tried them on Alyssa, we both said we've got to get a picture of her like this.

Christmas Pics From Edmond

2007-12-26T23:35:00.000-06:00

All of the following pictures were taken the weekend before Christmas at my parent's home in Edmond. Here's a pic of me and Alyssa playing.

Here's a picture of Alyssa getting a bath in the sink. Shawn likes to give her a mohawk when she washes her hair.

Here's a picture of Alyssa being her happy self. (probably because we're in the middle of opening Christmas gifts)

Alyssa had about as much fun playing with the bows and the gift bags as she did with all of her new toys. Here's a picture of her with a bow.

And, here's a picture of her playing with a gift bag.

And, one more picture playing with a bow.

My last picture is Alyssa in her Christmas dress with her grandma.

Ice Storm

2007-12-12T21:42:00.000-06:00

For that last several days, we've been without electricity due to an ice storm. I've been trying to update the blog with several pictures that I've accumulated over the past week or two. Despite the power outage, staying in a hotel and all, this post should have me up-to-date.

I took a number of pictures in our neighborhood and thought I'd include a link to them here.

Ice Storm Pics

Vickie's Pictures

2007-12-12T21:39:00.000-06:00

The Following pictures were all taken by Shawn's sister Vickie. The first pic was snapped before we went to a Christmas Dinner for Shawn's work. This was her first time to wear her Christmas dress.

The next two pictures were taken at a Christmas parade held in Wagoner, OK. It was pretty cold that night, but we had Alyssa bundled in a pink snow suit that she got for her first birthday. Here's a picture of all three of us.

And here's a picture of just Alyssa.

More Pictures

2007-12-11T09:36:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture we took during our Thanksgiving visit to my parents house. My dad gave her a bottle and she fell asleep. My dad fell asleep too, and we snapped this pic.

In this picture, Alyssa is waering a santa hat at a party with some of Shawn's co-workers.

This picture is Alyssa wearing the Christmas dress we bought her before going to a Christmas party.

Video Of Alyssa Walking

2007-12-10T20:46:00.000-06:00

click here

Alyssa's "Second" Birthday Party

2007-11-26T14:16:00.000-06:00

On Saturday morning we drove back home so we could have another birthday party for Shawn's family. Alyssa's "second" party was held at Incrdible Pizza in Tulsa. Having the party at Incrdible Pizza made it much easier on us. We picked up a cake we ordered from Sam's and just showed up with the birthday girl. The birthday package we purchased included the all you can eat buffet for everyone and a game card that allowed everyone to play all the games they wanted for an hour.

This picture is Alyssa with her cousins. (L-R Rhianon, Erica, Lilly, & Gwen)

After everybody ate, we opened gifts. Most of the bows ended up being worn by Alyssa on her head, as you can see in the next picture.

Then we cut the cake and ate it with some ice cream from the buffet. This cake had strawberry filling and was very tasty.

After eating cake, we all went to the game room to play. Everyone had a good time playing, including me and Shawn.

Alyssa's "First" Birthday Party

2007-11-26T13:51:00.000-06:00

Alyssa's first birthday fell on the Friday after Thanksgiving and most of our relatives who came to my parent's house for Thanksgiving, stayed for the birthday party on Friday. Shawn bought about every first birthday item that could be found for the occaision. Alyssa had a first birthday bib, a first birthday sippy cup, and a first birthday hat. Her highchair was decorated, including a plastic mat for the floor and helium filled balloons. There were balloons tied to the backs of all the chairs. Her cake was made at Sam's with a printed top that included a picture of Alyssa that we took while we were in China. The cake also had a birthday candle that we bought in Chongqing, as well. We had first birthday, plates, cups, and napkins. There was even a first birthday party sign in the front yard!

Shawn dressed Alyssa in a purple outfit that we bought in China and Alyssa showed-off to everyone by showing how she can walk.

Then Shawn helped her open all of her presents in the living room. I have to say that she got a lot of really great stuff, too.

Next, we lit the candles on her cake. The candle we bought in Chongqing is more like a firework, since it starts out by shooting sparks straight up from the middle. This lights all the candles on the petals of a lotus blossom that opens up as the whole thing rotates and plays the Happy Birthday tune.

We stripped Alyssa down to her diaper and bib before putting her in the highchair and turning her loose with a piece of cake. The cake started out on a plate, but she turned it upside-down, dumping the piece of cake onto the tray. She also drank milk from her sippy cup and enjoyed some homemade ice cream. She didn't get real messy at first, but after the ice cream, spilling her milk and coaxing from others, she got pretty messy.

As soon as we took her out of the highchair, she got a bath in the kitchen sink. The party went very well and it was great having so many family members there to celebrate it with us.

New Pictures

2007-11-20T15:53:00.000-06:00

Alyssa has been doing great. I have a couple of new pictures of her to post. We still haven't had much luch getting good pics of her, so I think we're going to try to take some on our own. This first picture was taken with the santa at the mall. She's not smiling, but at least she's not screaming bloody murder.

This next picture was taken at a local store. This print was included with the sitting fee, but the additional pages were unbelievably expensive, and again, she wasn't really smiling in any of them. We liked all the props, but she was in a strange place with lots of strangers around and had had about all she could take before it was over.

We bought a few items to take pictures with and hopefully in the next couple of week can get some good pictures of Alyssa. Alyssa is still very very close to walking, but hasn't taken off yet. We're hoping to get some video of her when she does. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.

Swinging & Walking (almost)

2007-11-09T11:00:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we took Alyssa to the playground at Lake Keystone to let her play a little and to get some pictures of her. We've tried taking her to get some pictures at the mall, but you can never get in without an appointment and making an appointment never works because you never know what kind of mood she'll be in when the appointment rolls around.

Alyssa really enjoyed the swings here. That's not really surprising, since she loves being turned upside down and swung around at home. They have a material that appears to be shredded tires on the ground under the swings which was very soft to walk on. Alyssa didn't want to touch it at all. She's not crazy about touching grass or leaves, either. I'm sure she will in time.

We also let her try the slide. It's too big to let her slide all the way down, so we started her in the middle and kept our arms around her so she wouldn't fall backwards. Her shoes kept catching on the slide and once we took them off, it went much better.

Next, we put her in the middle of a jungle gym, which yeilded a few good pictures. She loved having something to hold onto to stand with. If the bars weren't so far apart for her, she probably would have climbed to the top of it, since she climbs on every box and suitcase that happens to get in her way at home. I even got on it with her and hung upside down in the middle of it. She thought that was pretty funny. When everything started to fall out of my pockets and I was barely able to get myself back up without falling, I decided that was enough for me.

Alyssa has been getting more and more confident with her balance and standing without holding on to anything. Earlier this week, she took a few steps toward Shawn's neice and we've been working with her to teach her to walk every night since then. She can usually put 3 or 4 steps together at one time, but I'm not quite ready to say that she's walking. It's only a matter of days now, before she'll be getting into everything. It been a lot of fun watching her do this.

Halloween Costumes

2007-11-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

Having a new baby at home has made it a lot harder to post to my blog regularly, exercise, and a few other things, but I'm not complaining. Alyssa has been such a joy and a blessing to us. When she's happy and being such a sweetie, it's the best feeling ever.

I was planning on posting these photos last week, but I guess it's better late than never. These photos were taken the weekend before last when we went to Edmond to visit my parents. They were having a Halloween party at their church and we dressed Alyssa as a ladybug for it. She was wearing a black, short-sleeved onsie, with black tights under her costume. We thought she looked like a ninja before the costume went on. When it started to get hot in her costume, we took it off and she became the ninja and we said the ladybug was just one of the ninja's many disguises.

Here's a picture of Alyssa as a ladybug:

Here's a picture of Alyssa as a ninja:

Here's one more picture of Alyssa just being her cute self:

We're Home!

2007-10-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

My plan was to update our adoption website, while we were in China, and then to resume blogging here, when we returned. Well, we've been home for about 3 weeks now, and I'm finally adding a new post. My home PC has contracted a virus that I've been trying to get rid of, and have not had much luck. It's affected part of the operating system, and it looks like I'm going to have to reformat the drive and start over. I won a free computer at the Tulsa Tech Fest, so I'm moving files to it now and will let it replace my other machine, which I'll redo later.

A lot has happened since we've returned. I've learned that people are more interested in seeing pictures of the baby than hearing about me, so I'm going to post lots of pictures on this posting. My first set of pictures are from our airport party. These were all taken by our friend Melissa. The girl in the last picture is Melissa's daughter who is about 1 month older than Alyssa.

In the next set of pictures, we are swimming at a hotel pool with Alyssa's older brother, Greg.

The next set of pictures is of Alyssa and me taking a dip in the hot tub, just before bedtime. Alyssa really enjoys pools and hot tubs. We don't keep our hot tub as hot as most people do.

The last set of pictures are of Alyssa taking a bath in her rubber duckie shaped baby tub.

Hopefully, I'll be able to start blogging here on a more regular basis.

Flights Booked; Partial Itenerary

2007-09-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

Shawn worked very hard at getting all our flights booked for our international travel. I'm glad she took charge of this because frankly, I would have messed them all up. Also, she's the best bargain shopper I've ever met, hands down. She made sure our longest flights, from LAX to PEK and HKG to LAX were on EVA Air's Elite Class, which is comparable to business economy class. I'm 6'3" tall, and would not have been able to handle the REALLY LONG flights in coach.

I'm posting a partial itenerary for us below. It still has a few holes to fill, but if I waited until it was finished, I probably wouldn't get it up before we left. We've been keeping really busy trying to get ready for the trip. Things have moved really fast since we got our CA. It's a little hard to believe that we're leaving in just 5 days and will have Alyssa as part of our family in 11 days. I'm looking forward to the trip and will be glad when all the preparation is over.

09/16/2007 13:30 - Arrive CKG - Flight 3U8830

09/16/2007 - Hotel - Holiday Inn Yangtze Chongqing (+8623 62808888)

09/17/2007 14:30 - Meet Alyssa! - Civil Affairs/Notary/Police Bureau for paperwork

09/18/2007 14:00 - Paperwork - More Paperwork

09/19/2007 09:00 - Shopping - Shopping for babies

09/20/2007 09:30 - Chongqing - Tour CiqiKou Ancient Architecture Street

09/21/2007 09:00 - Chongqing - Tour to E'Ling Park

09/21/2007 16:00 - Chongqing - Get Alyssa's Passport

09/22/2007 07:40 - Depart CKG - Flight 3U8741

09/22/2007 09:25 - Arrive CAN - Flight 3U8741

09/22/2007 - Hotel - Holiday Inn Shifu ()

09/23/2007 09:00 - Guangzhou - Tour to Chen Family Temple

09/24/2007 10:00 - Guangzhou - Shopping for babies

09/25/2007 09:00 - Guangzhou - Alyssa's Visa Photo & Medical Exam

09/26/2007 10:00 - Guangzhou - Tour to Yuntai Park

09/27/2007 10:00 - Guangzhou - Consulate Appointment

09/28/2007 15:00 - Guangzhou - Interview & Pickup Visa at American Consulate

09/29/2007 09:40 - Depart CAN - Train to Hong Kong

09/29/2007 ??:?? - Arrive HKG - Train to Hong Kong

10/02/2007 21:00 - Depart HKG - Flight 858 EVA Air

10/02/2007 22:40 - Arrive TPE - Flight 858 EVA Air

10/02/2007 23:55 - Depart TPE - Flight 16 EVA Air

10/02/2007 20:50 - Arrive LAX - Flight 16 EVA Air

10/03/2007 10:15 - Depart LAX - Flight 324 Southwest Airlines

10/03/2007 11:30 - Arrive PHX - Flight 324 Southwest Airlines

10/03/2007 13:15 - Depart PHX - Flight 1131 Southwest Airlines

10/03/2007 17:30 - Arrive TUL - Flight 1131 Southwest Airlines

Key to Airport Codes:
---------------------
LAX = Los Angeles International Airport
TPE = Taoyuan International Airport (Taipei, Taiwan)
HKG = Hong Kong International Airport
PEK = Beijing Capital Airport
CKG = Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport
CAN = New Baiyun Airport, Guangzhou (Canton)
PHX = Sky Harbor International Airport (Pheonix)
TUL = Tulsa International Airport
DEN = Denver International Airport

Our TA Is Here !

2007-08-27T14:13:00.000-05:00

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.

Our Daughter Turns 9 Months Old Today!

2007-08-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

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.

Baby Shower!!!

2007-08-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

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.

Care Package

2007-08-10T15:40:00.000-05:00

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.

The FedEx Stork Arrived

2007-08-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

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.

A "Deathtrap For Kids"

2007-08-05T22:24:00.000-05:00

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!

Our Referral Is Finally Here ! ! !

2007-08-03T09:09:00.000-05:00

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.

Our Visas Are Here

2007-07-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

Our visas arrived on Friday. This allows us to enter China to get our baby. It's almost time for referrals to arrive for this next batch and we are starting to get excited. Some of the rumors going around the internet right now say we might see our referral as soon as Monday. We can't wait to see her picture and finally be able to show it off. Hopefully my next post will include pictures of our new daughter.

Yellow Water

2007-07-26T22:27:00.001-05:00

When we came home from Branson, the water coming out of our tap was Yellow! I called the city to see what was going on. Their first response was to play dumb and say "What do you mean? What's wrong with it?". Only after I tell them it's yellow, will they admit that they've had to repair 2 broken water mains recently. They tell me to turn on all my faucets and flush all my toilets and that should clear it up. (yeah, right) It's been 2 more days and it's still not clear yet. I'm thinking this might be a good time to practice brushing my teeth with bottled water. (This is something we'll have to do when were in China)

Yesterday, I was mowing the yard and the tire on the mower went flat. It turned out that I'd got a little too close to the gate and poked a hole in the side of it. I knew it couldn't be patched or plugged. I had to remove it and try to find someone who carried an odd sized tire, so I could finish mowing. I was hot, and sweaty, and mad. And if that wasn't enough, as I was getting tools to work on the riding mower, I found water on the floor of the garage. After moving a bunch of junk and opening the utility closet, I found that the drain for the condensation from the AC and overflow for the hot water tank was clogged and water was all the way to the top and dripping from it. When it rains it pours.

Pictures From Branson Trip

2007-07-24T00:22:00.000-05:00

We had a great time in Branson. I'm posting a number of pictures that I took. You can click on the pictures to see the full sized image.

Heading For Branson

2007-07-19T10:39:00.001-05:00

I decided to install the new blinds in the baby's room last night. When I got everything out of the box, I discovered that somebody had raided the hardware box and removed all of the critical parts from it. I didn't even have an instruction sheet. So I'm going to have to go back to Lowe's and swap this box for one that has everything in it.

Tonight we're going to a "Waiting Families Dinner", which should be our last one, if our referral arrives next month as we expect.

In the morning we are leaving for a weekend trip to Branson, MO. This should be our last weekend trip we make before going to China. Our plan is to leave first thing in the morning and eat lunch at Lambert's Cafe. I'm sure I'll put on a few pounds this weekend. We're going with my wife's sister and her daughter. They were already planning on going and talked us into going with them. (They had to twist my arm really hard to talk me into it)

Car Trouble

2007-07-14T23:56:00.000-05:00

Not much more has happened in the baby's room. I've been dealing with car troubles. It seemed to be a strange and unpredictable electrical problem that would be hard to diagnose, since it was sporadic. After not being able to start it when I was ready to leave from work, having it jump started a few times, and almost having it towed to the shop, I realized it was all caused by a bad battery. The good news to all this is that the battery was still in it's free replacement period and it didn't cost me a thing to get a new one. I did spend $40 to get new lifts for the hood (so it will no longer be falling on my head) and I replaced one of the battery connectors with a new brass one, since the old one would no longer tighten onto the post like it should. Tonight we decided to go to the casino to eat at the buffet and gamble a little.

More Work On The Baby's Room

2007-07-08T20:50:00.001-05:00

We finished up the 2nd mural in the room. Here's a picture of it.

Now that the mural is done, we had to get some more projects going, so off to Lowe's we went. We bought some blinds for the window that are cordless. We got a play rug for her floor. We got some paint to work on some letters that spell "Alyssa" to hang on the wall. We also bought some new knobs for the drawers and cabinets in her bathroom. My dad cut out the letters for us and we're planning on painting them and covering the top side with scrapbook paper and hanging them on the wall. Here's a picture of the letters, which are a work in progress.

July Referrals Are In

2007-07-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

The July referrals are now coming in. They went through the 14th of Nov., which was only 7 days. Our agency didn't recieve any referrals this month, something that hasn't happened for a long time. It's tough seeing all the other people in our November groups get referrals, when we didn't. The good news is that we are so close now, it would be almost impossible to not get our referral next month. I guess I'll spend some time learning to use the camcorder.

4th of July Holiday

2007-07-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty nice 4th of July holiday. On Tuesday, we both took off early from work and drove to Oklahoma City to see America and Chicago in concert at the zoo amphitheater. We got tickets for my parents to go with us and the concert was awesome.

On Wednesday (4th of July), my mom to us shopping for my wife's upcoming birthday. We drove back home that afternoon, went out to eat, and then watched some fireworks before calling it a night.

First Post

2007-07-02T07:33:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my new adoption blog. This is my first post, just to get things started.