The Zoo

I really wanted to bring the girls to the zoo again this summer. My summers are so busy at work that I just thought that we wouldn't make it again this year. But I have been watching this beautiful weekend coming up and thought if the nice weather happens we will go.  It did and we did. We went on Sunday and we had fun!

The girls' favorite, I think.  Here's Mei looking in on the Polar Bears.



My favorite Polar Bear!

There were also brown bears and grizzlies.

The Cats...

Female Lion

I told Bee that this one is going to have babies.  She thought we should go back to the zoo the next day to see if we could see the babies. 

Snow Leopard

Giraffes

Blast from the past...August 2008.  See how little they are!

Tortoises (giant turtles)

They look so small from 3 years ago.

Here's the real thing. I wish I would have gotten it with one of the girls in front of him.  He's huge!

The 'Birds'

So beautiful and graceful looking, the Flamingos.

We had to see the Penguins.

Time to sit down for a little break.

And last but certainly not least...

...the monkeys.

They were hard to get good pictures of - they were so active. Mei's favorite monkeys were the Spider Monkeys.  I didn't get any pictures of them, as they never stopped moving.

We all loved watching the Orangutans.

 Here baby is teasing dad. 

He keeps going after dad and dad pushes him away.

Here's baby again

We can't leave the zoo without a few rides.

Sorry...just had to do one more from August 2008.

 
 

You Wanna Hold Him?

Here Mama, you wanna hold 'im?

Aaaa...no thanks, sweety. But thanks for asking.

20 Days & Riding in Style

Well I'm trying not to count...but it's been 20 days now.  I'm officially 20 days into the wait for my LOA.  It's really REALLY hard not to think about the fact that just recently lots of people have gotten their LOA on day 40 of their wait.  I can't, I just can't think about that, because I know that it could just as easily be 100 days of waiting.  I pray it's not that long, but it could be.

Anyway, thought I'd let you see, he'll be riding in style when he finally gets here. 

~*~ L*I*D ~*~

Well, can you say - Have a nice weekend!? 

I am LID!! 

I got an email today from Heidi telling me that my dossier has an official log in date of 9/1/2011.  One step closer to you my precious boy.

Care Package Pictures

Well, I've sure been one happy mama with the new pictures and updated info on my little man. 

Willem 9/14/2011

Here are pictures of what was in the package that Ann put together for me and sent to Willem. 

Oh, My Handsome Boy!

I got an update!  I got an update!  Oh, my gosh! I got an update!

He's even cuter than in the last pictures I saw from a month ago!  I got 8 pictures!  Also got some sizes, but I have to show the picture before the other info! In my humble mama opinion, he is one handsome boy!

 

Here is the rest of the update I got.

 

Height:86.5cm (34") 5th percentile on American growth chart

Weight:12kg (26.5 lbs) A bit over 10th percentile on American growth chart
Chest:50.8cm (20")
Head:49cm (19.3")
Foot:10.2cm (4")

He is quite healthy so far, he had good appetite, he is not picky with his food, eat like adults, he can walk by himself, he can speak some simple words, he understand what nannies talk to him, he also would like to help his nanny catch stuff, he likes to play with this little friends too, but he scares (is scared with?) strangers but he will be fine after he gets to know that stranger !!!

Wig joke

(Not me in the picture-sorry didn't think to take picture of me in the wig:)

I hear the girls coming in and they did the same thing they always do when they come home if I wasn't with them. "Mom, where are you?"  I called, "I'm up here."  So Bee chatters all the way up the stairs and half way across the living room and then stops. "Mom? Mom, is that you?" I turn to her and say, "Yes?"  She turns her head side ways and peers into my face and says, "Mom?  (raising her voice a bit and a wee bit squeeky) Kristin, is that you?  Are you Kristin?" And of course she's giggling/laughing all this time.  I said, "Yes, it's me - Mom."  She giggles some more.  I ask her, "What, don't you like my hair cut?"  She says, "What did they do? (with her fingers in the air like scissors) Chop chop, clip clip?" 

Of course we're both giggling, and finally Mei catches on that something's going on.  So she asks, "What?"  I told her to come see that I got my hair cut.  She comes up and with undisguised horror she says, "What did you do!?"  I told her, I got my hair cut. Do you like it?"  She says, "You're not gonna go outside like that, are you?"

Care Package

Last night I finally got to order up a care package to send to Willem. 

I was going to go shopping and pick some stuff out and mail it to his orphanage for him.  But there are web site services out there where you can pick out a care package and it is sent for you.  I have looked at these sites before and what I've seen in the past have been a bit expensive.  But, I was referred to a website where the cost of the care package was probably less than if I would have gone and bought each item and then mailed it. 

Besides being very reasonably priced, there are several other advantages of doing it this way versus doing it on my own.  Ann, who purchases the items and puts the package together is from China.  Before she mails the package she calls the orphanage to try get an update on size and also some pictures.  She will then email whatever she gets to me.  Fun!  I have heard that this orphanage will almost always give an update.  So crossing my fingers that I will get his updated size and maybe, just maybe some pictures.  Another advantage is that Willem will get his package much quicker this way than if I mailed it on my own.

I picked a care package that contains pajamas, a soft blanket, and a toy for Willem.  Then I added a book, and another soft cotton outfit to the package.  Included in the package is a camera so they can take pictures of Willem at the orphanage, and candies that will be shared by nannies and the other kids.  I also got to send a letter to the director/nannies to include in the package and this will be translated for me as part of the package. 

When the package is ready to go Ann will email me pictures of what is included in the package.  I will post those when I get them. 

When is LID?

I'm waiting and waiting for LID, the official log in date of my dossier in China.  I do know that my dossier did arrive in China, as Heidi at CHI told me they can see that the package was signed for when it arrived there.  CHI just has not received the official word yet that it has been logged in. 

Will I hear this week?  I don't know, but just as I finished typing the first sentences of this post a Lady Bug came crawling across the floor toward me.  :)

*DTC*DTC*DTC*DTC*

Guess what!  I'm DTC (Dossier docs to China)!  I was actually DTC on 8/25, but Heidi (who would have let me know) was on vacation all last week and I'm sure everyone was extra busy at CHI. 

I emailed them yesterday and told them I'm trying really hard to be patient, but is there any word on my DTC date.  Heidi emailed me back and said, "This waiting and not knowing is for the birds...but we're checking daily to see if China has logged it yet."  Well, to me that sounds like my paperwork is in China! So I emailed back and said, "From what you say here, my docs did go to China? Can you tell me what day? You know we waiting parents have to have that DTC date!"  So she told me, "It went to China last Thursday."  Oh that put a BIG smile on my face!

So now I'm waiting for my LID (my log in date).  When my dossier is 'logged in' then I am officially waiting.  I know, I know more waiting.

So one day less than six years after I was DTC for my sweet and spicy little Bee, I am DTC for my little Emperor.

Comeon already DTC...

...I need my mama to come get me!

The Journey

I think so much of my little boy, waiting for me on the other side of the earth.  I'm so anxious for him to be home here with us.  But is this his home?  Yes, it will be, one day it will be.  But what journey for him to be here, at home - his home? 

I know my journey.  Thinking again of adoption, looking at those children, those beautiful children, waiting, waiting for families. 

Then just for the fun of it researching agencies.  No, I can't adopt again - I'm just thinking about it.  How could I?  One big reality of adoption is - it does cost a lot of money.  It does, that's reality.  Just looking, looking at the beautiful children, waiting. 

Oh, what about that old retirement fund from my old job that I was going to one day add to my current retirement fund.  One day I'll do that.  Ok, today I'll do it - I have the paperwork, I just need to get it filled out.  But never getting it transferred.  I could use that.  It's just the amount I need for an adoption from China.  Is that a sign? But I can't adopt from China - singles can't adopt from there any more.  Ok, I'll adopt from another country, but I don't have enough money.  Looking, looking at those beautiful children, waiting, waiting for a family. 

Faith.  It'll come, the money will come.  Just do it.  Start the process.  Looking and seeing those beautiful children waiting.

What!?  China!  China is opening up to singles again!  Looking, looking at those beautiful children.  That's him!  He's my boy!  So it's off to the paper race! Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up and wait! Oh, the agony of waiting.  How can I wait for him to be home and in my arms, my little boy.  My precious little boy.  My journey.

But his journey.  My little boy's journey. His is a whole different journey. 

So snug and warm in his mother's womb his journey begins. For nine months he's carried, so safe, snug and warm.  Then his birth day. Of course we don't know the circumstances of his birth and we likely never will.  But we can safely I think, surmise a bit.  Oh, the joy of the birth of a boy, a boy needed by his parents in their old age to care for them.  Then the agony of knowing that this boy, this beautiful baby boy born in this country, will not be able to care for himself, much less his parents in their old age, without proper medical care.  This is his journey.

This beautiful country which has so many beautiful people, people who do love their children, but don't have the financial means to care for a child born to them with severe medical needs. And of course I don't 'know' this either, but I have a mother's heart and I can't fathom the agony the first mother of this beautiful baby boy went through knowing that she cannot keep him and then someone making that agony final.  That all is part of his journey. The pain and grief of that first loss, the loss of his first mother, first family.  And it is a grief that he will always have with him.  Maybe not always outwardly showing, but there nonetheless.  I know that.  That, that loss is part of his journey. 

Then losing another family, a foster family.  And eventually losing another family, his orphanage family.  These are all losses for him and with this mother's heart I grieve for him already. I know that grief, I've felt it before. It breaks my heart, the grief of those little hearts and in those beautiful eyes as once again his family walks away from him and this time leaves him with someone who looks like no-one he has ever seen before and who smells funny too.  This is part of his journey.

Then he smiles, tentatively, and starts to warm up to us.  We get to know each other a bit more each day.  This beautiful boy, learning who we are, these strange people who he doesn't know yet, but will be his forever family.  This is part of his journey. 

Is this my new home?  Here in this hotel with these people?  No, we move on and he faces another loss, the loss of his province, where he's been since he was born.  His place, what he was named for.  This is part of his journey. 

We arrive at another place and get settled in and we continue to get to know each other a bit more each day. We play and we shop and we enjoy this beautiful place.  Is this my home?  Is this where I will be forever?  No, yet again we take him away.  This time he loses his country.  His country of birth. The country where everyone except his new mother looks like him.  This is part of his journey.

But finally we arrive, we're home.  We're home!  We're finally home! This is his journey home.

Yes, I think of him a lot - my little boy, waiting for me on the other side of the earth.  And I think of the journey he will make to come home.

Oh, Boy!

Here's another email from the wonderful angel lady.  Wow!  Am I ready for a boy?  Yes, I am.  I can't wait til he's here. 

"Happy birthday and hope your travel comes soon...yes we certainly know what it means...I also have a daughter 9 yrs from Hubei province. Your son walked well and was very mobile...in fact he was interested in everything going on and had that very boy energy and curiousity which we have learnt about in the last few years...Feel free to use the photos in any way you wish..I am am amazed that I actually took so many photos of him - he ended up being in so many, it does give you an indication as to how well he moved about!!

best wishes for speedy travel.."

Here's a couple of pictures of him going after the food.

Happy Birthday Mama!

What a wonderful birthday I had.  I got to celebrate it over the weekend and right on into my day.  We did all kinds of fun family kinds of things on Sunday.  We went to a huge furniture store and wandered around for a couple of hours looking for a rocker/recliner for this mama and bunkbeds for the girls. 

Then we went to the beach.  I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time there this summer.  Summer is busy at work, and with a big brother here who wants to do things with mom!

Then in the evening we all went to eat at Space Aliens.  The food was awesome and the kids had a blast. 

I got some beautiful bracelets from the girls.  They each made me one.  Meikiina also bought me one and she spent her own money to buy it.  What special and precious girls I have.

I also got another wonderful present today.  I got an email from a lady from Australia that has been to Willem's orphanage in the last few weeks.  She got pictures of Willem and emailed me today telling me that it is my baby boy in the pictures!

Here are some excerpts from her emails. 

"Yes Kristen, he was definitely there , I remember the club feet. He was definitely in the room upstairs ( where they would not allow us to take any pictures) and I am fairly certain he was also downstairs with the others before eating watermelon. He was quite curious and followed us and interested in what we were doing. He seemed very alert and attentive to what was going on. He also made sure he had some watermelon!! I will scroll through my photos on my other computer and get back to you. It may not be until this evening though. His face is very familiar and he is lovely - a beautiful looking boy...yes he looked about 2.5 yrs..."

Another email...

"...the faces are the same and if you look at photo 3553 you can see his feet turned under the table. We do remember him being downstairs eating the watermelon ... There are no other children in the SWI in that age group. Happy Happy birthday to you and hope you get to be with him soon. He is a lovely little boy and was certainly into the watermelon and whatever was going on. He is in a fair few of the photos which is quite a coincidence really! I dont have any others of him which I havent posted already posted.

Happy happy birthday to you... I remember him walking up to me so he is quite mobile and as you can see it certainly didnt stop him getting around the table or into the food! "

And here he is.  Not a super good quality.  The wonderful lady sounds very busy with work, but maybe I will see if she will email me the originals so that I can have a better quality photo.  I am very happy tho, to have this.  I also got others but will just post this one for now. (Edited post to add original picture from angel woman.)

Way Across Country to Washington State

And now that lone document is winging its way all the way across the country to Washington state.  It is scheduled for arrival at CHI on Monday 8/22!

It's Off to Washington DC

My last document is off to Washington DC.  It's scheduled to be at the courier's house on Monday the 15th.  First (probably not til Tuesday) it goes to the State Department and they wait for it there while it's being authenticated.  Then if it's early enough they bring it to the Chinese Embassy the same day.  I did pay the extra fee for the overnight turnaround at the Embassy. 

It's getting closer!

I Got It! I Got It!

I got the corrected I-800A approval today!  And I got it sealed by the Secretary of State!  I drove down to St. Paul and they did the seal for me as I waited. 

It's off in the mail tomorrow to Washington DC for authentication by the State Department and the Chinese Embassy.

It should for sure be at my agency by the end of next week and they have all the rest of my documents ready to go.  They just have to translate this one and they can send them off to China! 

So will I be DTC by my birthday?  What a gift that would be.  :)

I'm coming baby boy!

Party at the Park

Miss Mei wanted to have a party at the park for her birthday and invite her cousins and aunts and uncles ~ so we did.  It was so SO HOT that day that I told the girls to go in swimsuits and they could play in the water while we were there.  Plus I figured it would just be a bit cooler with swimsuits on.  And tho it was so hot I think we all had a good time.   

Happy Birthday to my big girl!

 Some of the guests in attendance ~

There was lunch in the park...

kick back after the lunch

too tired for lunch

ladies after lunch

and there was playing after lunch

and more playing after lunch

and this one's so cute I wanna just eat her for lunch

and this one for dessert

Approval Update

Well, I called my super sweet US CIS case manager down in TX this morning. I started calling at 8:00 on the dot and finally got her at 8:15.  She hadn't even booted up her computer yet.  I told her the story and she pulled up my case and looked.  First she jokingly said, "What's the big deal? It's only a year different."  She then promptly corrected it and told me that it will be in the mail today USPS. She even pdf'd me a copy via email after I begged her. 

Last night I had emailed my agency and verified that I would need to have it corrected.  This morning I emailed the pdf to my agency and Heidi told me, "Look at you girl!  You moved the FEDERAL government - in one day!"

I don't actually have to have the I-797 document state sealed.  What is sealed by the state is a notarized paper stating that the I-797 is a true original.  So...tomorrow I believe I will drive to St. Paul and have them state seal that notarized document.  Then when the I-797 approval comes I can turn around and have it in the mail to Washington DC right away.  I also believe I will pay the extra $20 and have the 1 day turnaround at the Chinese consulate.

I hardly dare to say this, but I'm starting to believe I will be DTC in August!

I-800A Approval?

Well, the day finally came.  Can you hear my excitement? I got my long awaited I-800A approval and verified my name and address, birthdate etc.  It all looked good.  I scanned it to my agency and then I noticed that the approval date was 2012 instead of 2011.  I'm sure I will have to wait for a new approval. 

I do have an officer assigned to me that I called today to find out where in the process I was.  I will call her again tomorrow and find out if it needs to be reissued.  From fingerprints to getting this was very fast so hopefully if it does need to be reissued, (which I'm afraid it will have to be) it'll be quick.  I'm so tired of waiting.

On another note we did buy Willem his first pair of pajamas.  Well you know, his first pair of pajamas from us.

Willem's 1st PJs

Happy Birthday (a bit late)

Well I'm a bit late, but Happy Birthday to you my sweet 10-year old!  I can hardly believe you're 10!  Ten?! Ten years old! 

We did not have a party right on your birthday.  You wanted to invite your cousins and aunts and uncles to a party at a park.  It worked to have a party the weekend after your birthday so that is what we did.

But you did open some presents at home on your birthday. 

Jia says, "Do you want my help?" 

Opening cards from Grandpa Jack and Uncle Irv and Auntie Jen.

Present from family.  It looks like a ...!

Is it really a ...?

Yes, it is!

A phone! :) Thank you!

 

This is what you do...

Well, I guess if they don't want my help I'll just dream about chasing bunnies.

Figuring it all out.

Biometrics - Check

Well, today I finally had my biometrics appointment and had my fingerprints done one last time. 

Here's hoping for a speedy approval from  US CIS so that I can get that document authenticated and get my dossier sent off to China!