Travel Date!

Hi Everyone!

It has been one crazy week! The good news is we finally have our travel date-- we leave for China on March 19th!

Here is the quick rundown:

Monday received an email from our agency around 6:00 pm that said:

1. Our Consulate Appointment is set for April 7th,

2. We are to leaving for China no later than March 20th,

3. Delight Travel will be emailing you flight schedules and need to book you by tomorrow,
4 PM Pacific time.

4. The US Consulate in Guangzhou does not have a record that our fingerprints were updated and we need to contact our local immigration office to get this resolved.

Response to #1 YIPPEEE!!

Response to #2 Holy Crap! That means we are in China for 3 weeks!

Response to #3- OK

Response to #4-- WTH?! That is as clean as I can keep it-- sorry.

We received our paperwork that our fingerprints were all set and documented (for the second/third time around) on February 4th!

Needless to say, I spent some time Tuesday morning calling the National Visa Center, emailing USCIS, and then I discovered I could make an appointment with USCIS in Providence. So I did, and was able to talk to someone in person. We are pretty sure that everything is worked out now.

The three week trip-- Wim and I felt this was too long for him to be away-- between the kids and his job, we have decided that he will fly home after two weeks and Josie and I will return on the 9th as scheduled.

Wim will have been with Josie long enough so that the adoption will still be treated as both parents attending (basically-- less paperwork stuff to do when we return home).

Next Drama--Tuesday night-- our dog sitter decided that she wanted to charge us 25% more than we had originally agreed to--- months ago! After everything else we had to deal with, I am sure that those of you who know me well have a pretty good idea how I responded.

Never fear-- we found someone else for our pet sitting needs and the new dog sitter will be an even better fit for Phoebe. So, all is well that ends well.

We've booked our flights, secured our travel arrangements with our agency, and now all we have to do is pack. Flights in China are limited to one checked bag per person, 44 lbs max. I've started working on this and I think it is going well. I also think there are a few things that will get pulled from the pile.

This will likely be my last post from the US. We are taking my very old lap top with us and have discovered a few kinks-- but thanks to Uncle Earl it appears that the kinks are worked out.

I am using the laptop to post this blog, download the photos below from the camera and upload them to here. So, if you are reading this-- all has gone well. If you are not reading this, I am likely on my way to the liquor store to get a shot of whiskey! Just a little stress!!!!


It appears that this is as good as posting the pictures will get without a mouse, which we are not planning to bring. These are pictures of Josie's room and play area in the living room. The final picture, which was suppose to be first is of our stork-- the FedEx Delivery man who brought us our referral.

You should have seen the look on his face when I asked him how many babies had he delivered.

Next Post-- Beijing China!

WOOO-Hooo!

Waiting for Travel Approval

Just when we thought we were done waiting . . . here we are again, waiting for travel approval from China so we can actually fly there to complete the adoption.

In the meantime, we have been and are very busy and have had a very nice surprise this week. We used an organization called Blessed Kids to ship a care package to Josie. Nothing really big, a little panda snuggli that Wim and I have been sleeping with and a baby photo album with pictures of us in it.

This past week I received word from Blessed Kids that the Orphanage had received our care package and that they were able to get four more pictures of Josie! We were so surprised, not to mention thrilled that we were able to get a few more pictures of her. We don't have any more information and we don't know her age in these photos, but we think the first one was taken around the same time as the referral photos we already received and that the last three are more recent (she has slightly longer hair).

Wim and I cannot believe how incredibly lucky we are to be adopting such a beautiful little girl. She really seems to be very inquisitive based on the pictures we have gotten.

We are very anxious to get our travel approval and get the show on the road.

Once our adoption agency receives this, they can make appointments for us with the US Consulate and then we will know our travel dates. Our agency is still shooting for the week of March 16th, but we will see. That is right around the corner!

We've already started packing-- mostly stuff for Josie. China is more restrictive about baggage than the US so we really need to economize on the packing space.

We will keep you posted-- hopefully, we will have more definitive travel dates by the end of this week.

Introducing Our Little Girl

Here she is!

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she precious?

Isn't she wonderful?

Chinese Name: Shao Fu Dong (last name, First name, middle name)

Soon to be: Josie Orangelee FuDong Chase

Birthdate: November 10, 2006, she is 15 months old.

Province: Guang Dong

Measurements taken on 11/23/2007:

Weight: 19.8 lbs. (this likely includes several layers of clothes to keep warm)

Length: 27.56 in

Head: 17.23 in

Chest: 18.11 in

Other information:

She is starting to teeth, is a moderate sleeper, actively crawls, walks while holding onto something, can pick up small objects with her thumb and index finger, imitates words, responds to people when spoken to, likes toys and loves to play.

We are more than ecstatic to say the least!

We will get the formal adoption package in the mail on Wednesday. Needless to say, I am taking that day off from work (Have I ever mentioned that I have a pretty cool boss?).

We do not know when we will travel yet. There is more paperwork that needs to be completed. It will likely be about 6-weeks from now.

Stay tuned for future updates!

Stork Landing

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update-- our agency received the package and we have received our referral. I am still waiting for them to email us a picture. I will wait until after Wim gets home to post the picture.

Some teasers for now:

She is 15 months old and likes to play.

More info to follow!!!!

Stork Hits Wall!!!

There is our stork . . . . flat on its back at CUSS-TOMBS.

Yes, this is the reality.

While several other waiting families with different adoption agencies are receiving their referral calls today . . . .

our agency emailed us today that the package they are waiting for has been delayed at customs--

or as I have ever so endearingly re-named them,

CUSS-TOMBS!

Now we have to wait until Monday-- hopefully, no longer than that.

Customs, to whom my tax dollars help pay their salaries. My tax dollars are helping to pay for the delay in my own referral.

That is ever so special.

My feelings about this are best expressed in the following picture . . .

Look! In the Sky . . .Do You See It?

Is that the stork flying toward us from China? We think it might be!!!

Rumors are going wild crazy mad this month regarding referrals. We were notified by our agency this afternoon that they are expecting a package from China tomorrow!!! They cannot confirm that the package contains referrals.

However, we really think that this it. Several other waiting families with other agencies who post on some of the list serves were told by thier agencies that the referral cutoff this month is December 27, 2005. This is coming from a couple different agencies in the US, Canada, and Europe. Since we have these reports coming-in, it is a good sign that referrals are in the mail!

If our agency does get referrals tomorrow, they will email us Josie's picture and her basic information. Josie's full packet of information will not arrive until Tuesday. But, at least we will get the best part of the information right away!!!!

We'll keep you posted!

Matching Has Begun

Hi Everyone,

I hope that time doesn't feel, for you, like it is at a deathly standstill, like it does for us. We know that we will be in the next batch of referrals and this month is going oh sooooo slow!

We got a bit of a lift late yesterday. Our adoption agency emailed us that their contact person in China notified them that matching has begun. This is the part of the process where adoption personnel in China match babies who legally available for adoption with the parents. It is so surreal to imagine that somewhere, on the other side of this world, someone is matching us with our baby!

Referrals are *usually* mailed about a week after the matching process begins, but Chinese New Year (CNY) begins on February 7th. Everyone in China takes off the week of CNY and in year's past, referrals were mailed the day before CNY-- so we may be waiting a little longer. I really hope not!!

I've been trying to keep busy to pass the time, but it is really hard. I went consignment shopping with a friend last week (one of my favorite hobbies!) and I found this adorable little gal:

I'm not the only one who thinks she's cute. Phoebe went absolutely bananas over the new little pet I brought home. Here are some picts of her trying to make friends with her new roommate and pal . . .

At First she wasn't sure about the caterpillar and approached with caution, but wanted it to play with her. In frustration with the caterpillar's lack of play, Phoebe does what she does to us when we don't want to play with her-- she barked at it.

Next, Phoebe tried giving the caterpillar a few doggie kisses to let it know that she likes it and wants to be friends. After the kisses, Phoebe pranced half of her toys over the caterpillar to show her how to play with them-- see them all? Phoebe's baby doggie-doll is in the front, her Patriots foot ball is in the middle, she is taunting the caterpillar with her ever favorite chewing stick, and her green Christmas reindeer is in the back. I am sorry to report, with regard to the reindeer that its head has been severed since this photo shoot. Not by the caterpillar, but by Phoebe. May it rest in peace.

Xavier participated in a soapbox car race in his scouting club, which I was very sorry to have missed. He whittled his very own car-- pretty much all by himself-- he wouldn't let Wim do a whole lot to help him nor was he receptive to Wim's ideas. Xavier even made his own design for the car instead of using one of the pre-made designs that was offered to all the kids. It all paid off for him-- he came in 3rd place in the pine wood car derby.

We ALL know that this means that Xavier's car actually beat several adults-- as we are sure that the first and 2nd place winners (as well as a number of other entries) were really made by the dads-- and not the boys as it is suppose to be. We are all very proud of Xavier. I wish we had pictures to share-- but Wim, being the typical man, forgot to take the camera with him to the event.

Everyone else has been taking it easy this month. The kids have each had some winter colds and such the last few weeks as well as some some snow days. Everyone seems to be taking it easy . . .

Except for me-- I feel like I am on pins and needles! Hopefully, it won't be too much longer!