Ok well here are some of the things David learned at the conference. First we discovered that his sessions covered many similar things to mine... but here are some interesting things he found out.
From his notes...
-bring home a treasure box...to put important things from China and her life...
-Find a Balance.. meaning make sure to keep her Chinese culture alive as well as American.
-Learn as much as you can about the province they are from.
-Save everything from Gotcha day...they'll ask about that alot!
-Get some Chinese coloring books while there.. I thought that was great idea! I also saw a puzzle of China that is like the US where you put the states.. only it was the provinces..
-Get some basic phrase CDs for Chinese.. trying to do that now!
-Bring powdered Gatorade.. sorry Bulldog fans.. but this is to help when in China if ya don't feel good.. and it makes sense.. keep up the electrolights and all that.
-Check out Yahoo Groups.. will have to do that soon.
-take advantage of street merchants in Guangdong.. that's where the US Consulate is in China. Have hear this from several families.. you can get some awesome deals on all sorts of stuff there.!
And he had a few other things that we had heard in the other sessions about to be aware that it'll be tougher with attachment if your child was in a foster home instead of an orphanage.. which makes total sense. Show her how proud you were of having her. One person said .. explain that we planned and planned this for years.. it wasn't just a quick decision. Most of this is just is common sense.. Thankfully we both have that!
So that was the conference.. it was great! hopefully there are more of these type of events to help us thru the long waiting period. I just keep telling myself we'll have her after 2 Christmases.. This one then another.. and that's it. Kinda makes the time not seem so long. Just keep praying to speed up the Chinese Adoption folks... :)
Zai Jian
~Donna
Friday, November 23, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Tax Credit...$$$
That was one of the other sessions I did at the Conference.. all sorts of info on how the Adoption Tax Credit works.. and it's a CREDIT.. not a deduction.. dollar for dollar. for 2007 it's 11,390.00 for 2008 11,650... so I figure it'll be around 12, 000.00 come 2009 for us. And if you can't use all the tax credit in one year you can spread it out over 6 years!! BUT the credit disappears after 2010!.. apparently there is a bill in Congress to renew it. So let your representatives know.. we need that credit to stay! It covers all Adoption Expenses.. fees from agencies, travel, food while overseas.. pretty nifty. We also are eligible for up to $6,000 in help from Disney. We can't apply for that until we have our little girl. (same for the tax thing.. you can back date stuff)..
The other session I did was how to handle questions from your daughter on why she doesn't look like you and all the adoption questions she will ask. I think the best advice the presenter gave was to be prepared... the more prepared you are.. the more relaxed and natural your answers will be. Your child will not only be listening to what you say, but how you say it and what your body language is. A few things we learned..
Do not refer to her biological mother as her "real" mother.. I AM HER REAL MOTHER.. she is her "birth" mother.. important stuff...
Don't say... "Your birth mother loved you.. BUT.." she said to stay away from BUT.. it puts contingency on why she is with us.. Say.. your birth mother loved you but she wasn't able to be your parent.. then remind her what it is to be a parent.. you feed her, take care of her.. take her to the doctor.. to school.. stuff like that.
Keep it the truth..made up stories, tales only come back to bite you.. if ya don't know.. tell her. I'm sorry I don't know.
Stay away from "She couldn't keep you because she was poor".. the lady said.. what if one day you loose your job and things are a bit tight for a bit.. a young child is going to start thinking.. are we poor?.. am I going to have to leave? That sounds crazy as an adult.. but to a child it is very real.
There's more.. and a few great books we'll need to read. Some children experience survivor's guilt.. oh so much to learn. But it's all good and TOTALLY worth it we feel! She did say to tell her her story over and over.. Things like your adoption was something that was planned for years and years .. we prayed and God brought you into our lives.. which is true.. heavy stuff ya know!
Well next time I'll share what David learned in his sessions..
for now.. Happy Thanksgiving!!! may we all have too much turkey.. and get nice and sleepy!
Zai Jian.
The other session I did was how to handle questions from your daughter on why she doesn't look like you and all the adoption questions she will ask. I think the best advice the presenter gave was to be prepared... the more prepared you are.. the more relaxed and natural your answers will be. Your child will not only be listening to what you say, but how you say it and what your body language is. A few things we learned..
Do not refer to her biological mother as her "real" mother.. I AM HER REAL MOTHER.. she is her "birth" mother.. important stuff...
Don't say... "Your birth mother loved you.. BUT.." she said to stay away from BUT.. it puts contingency on why she is with us.. Say.. your birth mother loved you but she wasn't able to be your parent.. then remind her what it is to be a parent.. you feed her, take care of her.. take her to the doctor.. to school.. stuff like that.
Keep it the truth..made up stories, tales only come back to bite you.. if ya don't know.. tell her. I'm sorry I don't know.
Stay away from "She couldn't keep you because she was poor".. the lady said.. what if one day you loose your job and things are a bit tight for a bit.. a young child is going to start thinking.. are we poor?.. am I going to have to leave? That sounds crazy as an adult.. but to a child it is very real.
There's more.. and a few great books we'll need to read. Some children experience survivor's guilt.. oh so much to learn. But it's all good and TOTALLY worth it we feel! She did say to tell her her story over and over.. Things like your adoption was something that was planned for years and years .. we prayed and God brought you into our lives.. which is true.. heavy stuff ya know!
Well next time I'll share what David learned in his sessions..
for now.. Happy Thanksgiving!!! may we all have too much turkey.. and get nice and sleepy!
Zai Jian.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
About our Conference...
Here's another article.. but this time I'm just going to post the link.
http://library.adoption.com/Answering-Adoption-Questions/Gracious-Answers-to-Awkward-Questions-About-Our-Adopted-Kids/article/455/1.html
We learned a lot at the East West Conference in Tampa yesterday. Will put my thoughts together and update the blog. Maybe one blog per session we did. We did two together and two apart. We learned some GREAT stuff. Some of which is in that article above. OK will start with one session we did together. How to handle questions and comments from strangers. That article covers many we heard in the session. A few questions that were not mentioned that we heard and got some ideas on how to respond are below. The two women, who have Chinese children of their own, said it's best to be prepared with answers.. because your kids will be right there and HEAR how you answer.. read your body language and all that stuff.
1. Actually got this 3 times today!! "Watch, now you'll get pregnant"... ok well gee thanks.. what about my little girl who is waiting for me in China. Lately I've been saying.. well I don't see it happening given our situation.. but thank you.
2. another we get. "Why are you not adopting domestically?" the two ladies at the conference had a nice answer and a not so nice one! Nice.. is actually from Wendy's founder Dave Thomas. Every Child Deserves a Family. Which is what we'll probably use.. one woman.. said she REALLY wanted to say.. "well how many domestic children have YOU adopted?".. which would put anyone back! David liked it, of course! my luck the person would say.. "two" .. and then you're like.. "ummm". so we'll stick with Dave Thomas' response..
3. One question one lady got, from her mother no less. "are you sure she is from China!" made everyone laugh!.. she was like um yea.. flew there..!
4. "oh bless you for rescuing her".. This one .. from what we learned.. you need to be REALLY careful in how you respond .. once she is old enough to understand. Most say.. 'no we are the ones who are blessed and lucky'... God let US to her. stuff like that.
There was more.. but I can't remember anything else off the top of my head. The other sessions we attended were..
How the Adoption Tax Credit works.
there was a session for Dads, David attended
how to answer questions from your child.. once they start figuring it out that they don't look like you.
David had one too.. can't remember what his other one was about.
and the last was one woman's experience on the day she got her daughter.
The final session was for everyone and involved an actual Chinese foster family, not all the children are in orphanages, and they told us about themselves.. as someone translated for them. Very cool.. and got us all teary eyed!
Well it's late...
Zai Jian.
~Donna
http://library.adoption.com/Answering-Adoption-Questions/Gracious-Answers-to-Awkward-Questions-About-Our-Adopted-Kids/article/455/1.html
We learned a lot at the East West Conference in Tampa yesterday. Will put my thoughts together and update the blog. Maybe one blog per session we did. We did two together and two apart. We learned some GREAT stuff. Some of which is in that article above. OK will start with one session we did together. How to handle questions and comments from strangers. That article covers many we heard in the session. A few questions that were not mentioned that we heard and got some ideas on how to respond are below. The two women, who have Chinese children of their own, said it's best to be prepared with answers.. because your kids will be right there and HEAR how you answer.. read your body language and all that stuff.
1. Actually got this 3 times today!! "Watch, now you'll get pregnant"... ok well gee thanks.. what about my little girl who is waiting for me in China. Lately I've been saying.. well I don't see it happening given our situation.. but thank you.
2. another we get. "Why are you not adopting domestically?" the two ladies at the conference had a nice answer and a not so nice one! Nice.. is actually from Wendy's founder Dave Thomas. Every Child Deserves a Family. Which is what we'll probably use.. one woman.. said she REALLY wanted to say.. "well how many domestic children have YOU adopted?".. which would put anyone back! David liked it, of course! my luck the person would say.. "two" .. and then you're like.. "ummm". so we'll stick with Dave Thomas' response..
3. One question one lady got, from her mother no less. "are you sure she is from China!" made everyone laugh!.. she was like um yea.. flew there..!
4. "oh bless you for rescuing her".. This one .. from what we learned.. you need to be REALLY careful in how you respond .. once she is old enough to understand. Most say.. 'no we are the ones who are blessed and lucky'... God let US to her. stuff like that.
There was more.. but I can't remember anything else off the top of my head. The other sessions we attended were..
How the Adoption Tax Credit works.
there was a session for Dads, David attended
how to answer questions from your child.. once they start figuring it out that they don't look like you.
David had one too.. can't remember what his other one was about.
and the last was one woman's experience on the day she got her daughter.
The final session was for everyone and involved an actual Chinese foster family, not all the children are in orphanages, and they told us about themselves.. as someone translated for them. Very cool.. and got us all teary eyed!
Well it's late...
Zai Jian.
~Donna
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Good Article
This from the Orlando Sentinel... November is National Adoption Month.
For foster-care kids, adoption remains elusive
Many adoptive parents opt for foreign children, a process that can be faster, a new survey finds.
Kate Santich
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 3, 2007
Most Americans think the country should be doing more to encourage the adoption of children in foster care, and a whopping 48 million adults have even considered such adoptions. But numerous roadblocks -- red tape, a lack of infants available for adoption and misconceptions about children in foster care -- scare off all but a very few of those potential adoptive parents from ever taking the first step.
Those findings come from a national Foster Care Adoption Attitudes Survey released this week by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a creation of the late titan of the Wendy's hamburger chain.
"What surprised us most was that out of those adults who have considered adopting, a majority of them have considered foster-care adoptions -- more than international adoptions, more than private infant adoptions," said Rita Soronen, the foundation's executive director. "So then we wanted to find out what the barriers are."
The number of children growing up in foster care never to find a permanent home has become an increasing concern among child-welfare workers and civic leaders. In Florida, there are more than 11,000 children in foster care. Nationwide, an estimated 114,000 foster children are currently available for adoption -- a number that has remained stagnant for five years despite a recent push to increase adoption rates.
Yet foreign adoptions have doubled in the past decade, thanks to backing by church groups, international charities and celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
"There's a perception that adopting internationally will be easier to do and perhaps the children won't be as stigmatized because they haven't been in foster-care systems there," said Gregory Kurth, chief executive officer of Family Services of Metro Orlando, the agency that handles foster-care adoptions in Orange and Osceola counties.
The truth is, while they often can be faster, they are not always easier. But it is possible to get infants through international adoptions -- and extremely difficult to adopt infants through local foster-care agencies. Under the law, social workers first have to try to reunite children with their biological families, then terminate parental rights before making the children available for adoption. That can take more than a year.
Searching for a baby
"When we were looking at adding another child to our family, we felt it would be great for it to be a baby," said Tracy Matheson, 41, of Winter Park, who ultimately adopted two boys -- a baby and a toddler -- from South Korea.
She and her husband already had two children in elementary school when they made the decision. And though they seriously considered becoming foster parents, their conversations with other foster parents dissuaded them.
"Because the kids here are older and have been through so much, you can end up with a child who is very wounded, and that requires parenting skills that not everyone has," Matheson said. "I had an obligation to the children I already had -- I couldn't knowingly put them in a situation with another sibling that could bring them harm."
Too many Americans, though, confuse the child-welfare system with the juvenile-justice one. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 45 percent of adults wrongly believe that children in foster care enter the system because they have been arrested. In fact, nearly all of them enter through no fault of their own: They have been neglected, abused or abandoned.
Part of the solution, Soronen said, is education. But child-welfare workers also need to offer better "customer service" -- some parents interviewed said they couldn't get the agencies to call them back. Parents also need to know they won't be forgotten once the ink dries on the final papers.
"Indeed, a lot of these children have issues -- of course," Soronen said. "But we've got to insist as a nation that parents are provided the support and resources -- whether they're emotional or financial -- to make sure that they can work things out."
U.S. or foreign adoption?
Of course, like most of the issues surrounding adoption, the choice between bringing in an American or foreign child is a highly sensitive and complicated one. Some parents think they can offer more to a child from another country -- one who may literally die without them.
Jenifer Davis, now an Orange Circuit Court judge, adopted two children from Russia about six years ago, in part because the process seemed to afford her a greater sense of control than going through the government here. Once she had the children in her arms, she didn't worry that the biological mother or the Russian government would try to take them away.
"I had already been through five to seven years of medical stuff trying to have a child on my own by the time I reached the point of adoption," she said. "I didn't want to wait any more."
For foster-care kids, adoption remains elusive
Many adoptive parents opt for foreign children, a process that can be faster, a new survey finds.
Kate Santich
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 3, 2007
Most Americans think the country should be doing more to encourage the adoption of children in foster care, and a whopping 48 million adults have even considered such adoptions. But numerous roadblocks -- red tape, a lack of infants available for adoption and misconceptions about children in foster care -- scare off all but a very few of those potential adoptive parents from ever taking the first step.
Those findings come from a national Foster Care Adoption Attitudes Survey released this week by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a creation of the late titan of the Wendy's hamburger chain.
"What surprised us most was that out of those adults who have considered adopting, a majority of them have considered foster-care adoptions -- more than international adoptions, more than private infant adoptions," said Rita Soronen, the foundation's executive director. "So then we wanted to find out what the barriers are."
The number of children growing up in foster care never to find a permanent home has become an increasing concern among child-welfare workers and civic leaders. In Florida, there are more than 11,000 children in foster care. Nationwide, an estimated 114,000 foster children are currently available for adoption -- a number that has remained stagnant for five years despite a recent push to increase adoption rates.
Yet foreign adoptions have doubled in the past decade, thanks to backing by church groups, international charities and celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
"There's a perception that adopting internationally will be easier to do and perhaps the children won't be as stigmatized because they haven't been in foster-care systems there," said Gregory Kurth, chief executive officer of Family Services of Metro Orlando, the agency that handles foster-care adoptions in Orange and Osceola counties.
The truth is, while they often can be faster, they are not always easier. But it is possible to get infants through international adoptions -- and extremely difficult to adopt infants through local foster-care agencies. Under the law, social workers first have to try to reunite children with their biological families, then terminate parental rights before making the children available for adoption. That can take more than a year.
Searching for a baby
"When we were looking at adding another child to our family, we felt it would be great for it to be a baby," said Tracy Matheson, 41, of Winter Park, who ultimately adopted two boys -- a baby and a toddler -- from South Korea.
She and her husband already had two children in elementary school when they made the decision. And though they seriously considered becoming foster parents, their conversations with other foster parents dissuaded them.
"Because the kids here are older and have been through so much, you can end up with a child who is very wounded, and that requires parenting skills that not everyone has," Matheson said. "I had an obligation to the children I already had -- I couldn't knowingly put them in a situation with another sibling that could bring them harm."
Too many Americans, though, confuse the child-welfare system with the juvenile-justice one. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 45 percent of adults wrongly believe that children in foster care enter the system because they have been arrested. In fact, nearly all of them enter through no fault of their own: They have been neglected, abused or abandoned.
Part of the solution, Soronen said, is education. But child-welfare workers also need to offer better "customer service" -- some parents interviewed said they couldn't get the agencies to call them back. Parents also need to know they won't be forgotten once the ink dries on the final papers.
"Indeed, a lot of these children have issues -- of course," Soronen said. "But we've got to insist as a nation that parents are provided the support and resources -- whether they're emotional or financial -- to make sure that they can work things out."
U.S. or foreign adoption?
Of course, like most of the issues surrounding adoption, the choice between bringing in an American or foreign child is a highly sensitive and complicated one. Some parents think they can offer more to a child from another country -- one who may literally die without them.
Jenifer Davis, now an Orange Circuit Court judge, adopted two children from Russia about six years ago, in part because the process seemed to afford her a greater sense of control than going through the government here. Once she had the children in her arms, she didn't worry that the biological mother or the Russian government would try to take them away.
"I had already been through five to seven years of medical stuff trying to have a child on my own by the time I reached the point of adoption," she said. "I didn't want to wait any more."
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Learn Chinese!!
hello all! Ni Hao.
A few months ago I heard about a new show that was going to be on Nickelodeon that is like Dora the Explorer.. but with Chinese!! The show is called Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. Here is a link to the Nick Jr. Site. http://www.nickjr.com/shows/ni-hao-kai-lan/index.jhtml It doesn't start till Februrary.. but for sure we'll be recording each one! Looks really cute!
Zai Jian.
~Donna
A few months ago I heard about a new show that was going to be on Nickelodeon that is like Dora the Explorer.. but with Chinese!! The show is called Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. Here is a link to the Nick Jr. Site. http://www.nickjr.com/shows/ni-hao-kai-lan/index.jhtml It doesn't start till Februrary.. but for sure we'll be recording each one! Looks really cute!
Zai Jian.
~Donna
Thursday, October 18, 2007
WE GOT IT!!!!
The magic date is ..... OCTOBER 17, 2007!!!!!! That is our LID.. wahooo!!! we are done for now!! No more paperwork for a bit! We'll probably have to resubmit our I171-H and redo our fingerprints before we go.. but that's it's folks. I can't believe we are finally to this point! We have our place in line.. no more people cutting in .. in front of us!! YIPPEEE!!!
Now we just gotta get her room ready, get the girl some stuff to wear and all that fun house child-proofing fun! We've got time, that's for sure!
So... for the blog. I'll probably update it every other week or so.. I'll get that information on that bill in Congress we'd love everyone to call or write their Rep about and post that soon. It's still wierd.. I feel like I need to be doing something. I hope this time flies by. I figure we have two Christmases before we have her home. First one is in just over 2 months.. then one more! If you think of it that way.. kinda lessens the impact!
Thanks everyone for your support during this part of the process... we'll keep ya'll updated!
And of course post pics as we finish her room!
~Donna
Now we just gotta get her room ready, get the girl some stuff to wear and all that fun house child-proofing fun! We've got time, that's for sure!
So... for the blog. I'll probably update it every other week or so.. I'll get that information on that bill in Congress we'd love everyone to call or write their Rep about and post that soon. It's still wierd.. I feel like I need to be doing something. I hope this time flies by. I figure we have two Christmases before we have her home. First one is in just over 2 months.. then one more! If you think of it that way.. kinda lessens the impact!
Thanks everyone for your support during this part of the process... we'll keep ya'll updated!
And of course post pics as we finish her room!
~Donna
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Dossier at CCAA!!!
Just got this email yesterday...
To: David & Donna Foster
From: CCAI Dossier & China Departments
Congratulations! Your dossier has been delivered to the China Center of Adoption Affairs.
We will notify by email as soon as we receive your official log-in date (LID) from CCAA, and then you can go to the CCAI website to download Dossier Log-In Date Packet. This can take approximately up to 2 weeks from now. Please notice that this wait time can vary due to CCAA’s LID processing speed.
So... isn't that COOL!!! Ok.. We've been getting a lot of questions about the LID or Log in Date. That is the date the Chinese Gov. assigns our Dossier.. it basically marks our place in line. It's first in.. first out. So our date will be October something.. once we know our date.. everything is referenced by that LID. so.. if you go to this website... http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp And look down on the right you'll see this..
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 30, 2005.
That is the Log In Date the Chinese Gov is currently matching children to. Sooo folks that turned in their dossier back in Nov of 2005 are getting sent a picture of the child CCAA has choosen for them.. Based on their dossier and the child.
Hope that explains all that for everyone. And yes... we have a while to wait. Just keep praying that they speed up some... so we can bring our little girl home soon.
Will update once we get our official LID!
~Donna
To: David & Donna Foster
From: CCAI Dossier & China Departments
Congratulations! Your dossier has been delivered to the China Center of Adoption Affairs.
We will notify by email as soon as we receive your official log-in date (LID) from CCAA, and then you can go to the CCAI website to download Dossier Log-In Date Packet. This can take approximately up to 2 weeks from now. Please notice that this wait time can vary due to CCAA’s LID processing speed.
So... isn't that COOL!!! Ok.. We've been getting a lot of questions about the LID or Log in Date. That is the date the Chinese Gov. assigns our Dossier.. it basically marks our place in line. It's first in.. first out. So our date will be October something.. once we know our date.. everything is referenced by that LID. so.. if you go to this website... http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp And look down on the right you'll see this..
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 30, 2005.
That is the Log In Date the Chinese Gov is currently matching children to. Sooo folks that turned in their dossier back in Nov of 2005 are getting sent a picture of the child CCAA has choosen for them.. Based on their dossier and the child.
Hope that explains all that for everyone. And yes... we have a while to wait. Just keep praying that they speed up some... so we can bring our little girl home soon.
Will update once we get our official LID!
~Donna
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
OFF TO CHINA IT GOES!!!!
Wahooo.. another milestone. Our Dossier has been all translated into Chinese and was sent off to China.. TODAY>>> here is the email we received from our Agency..
CONGRATULATIONS, David & Donna,
Here’s the news you’ve long been waiting for—your dossier was sent to China today (10/10/2007)! :)
Here’s what to expect for the next month:
The CCAA will receive your dossier in approximately 3-5 days. Our China Department will contact you by email once your dossier has been received by our representatives in China and hand-delivered to the CCAA.
The CCAA usually logs in dossiers within 4 weeks of their receipt. This Log-In Date is called your LID, the date that you may “count down” to your referral. As the CCAA is the ultimate authority in logging in your dossier, we are unable to estimate your LID. The CCAA should notify us of your LID within the next 8 weeks.
Reminder--CCAA is the Chinese Government office that handles all their adoptions. So the next big thing is our LID date.. then we watch for our date to come up on that website I posted on the last post in Sept!!!
Everyone pray our documents arrive safely in China and we hear about our LID soon. My local agency lady said that lately the CCAA has been really nice and telling folks their dates in less than 8 weeks.. so let's hope for that!
Later
~Donna
CONGRATULATIONS, David & Donna,
Here’s the news you’ve long been waiting for—your dossier was sent to China today (10/10/2007)! :)
Here’s what to expect for the next month:
The CCAA will receive your dossier in approximately 3-5 days. Our China Department will contact you by email once your dossier has been received by our representatives in China and hand-delivered to the CCAA.
The CCAA usually logs in dossiers within 4 weeks of their receipt. This Log-In Date is called your LID, the date that you may “count down” to your referral. As the CCAA is the ultimate authority in logging in your dossier, we are unable to estimate your LID. The CCAA should notify us of your LID within the next 8 weeks.
Reminder--CCAA is the Chinese Government office that handles all their adoptions. So the next big thing is our LID date.. then we watch for our date to come up on that website I posted on the last post in Sept!!!
Everyone pray our documents arrive safely in China and we hear about our LID soon. My local agency lady said that lately the CCAA has been really nice and telling folks their dates in less than 8 weeks.. so let's hope for that!
Later
~Donna
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
All Done!!!
Yup can ya believe it?!?!? Our Dossier is done, completely and totally finished. I can't believe it myself! I picked up the last two documents at the post office this morning. The same ones we sent to Houston when we were in Tallahassee last Monday!! And took the whole kit-n-caboodle to the agency up in Altamonte Springs.. thanks to my wonderful boss I was able to leave early and get to their office before the traffic got bad!!
Actually I discovered yesterday afternoon that the envelope had left Houston on Monday....we never turned on the computer Monday night to check! David worked late and .. dang Dancing with the Stars was on!! So we missed it being delivered here at the house yesterday.. thus me going this morning to the post office to pick it up.
Last night after dinner we went to Office Max to make copies of everything.. We have to give the agency a set...which begs the question.. Why can't they make copies? You'd think it would be part of the fees?? who knows.. anyway it was tedious but easier with the two of us there to keep everything straight. We got the corporate rate of only 4cents a copy and made 111 copies!! not too bad!
Our Agency thinks we should have our critical review done by this Friday and should be Denver next week for Translation & Binding and soon in China.. so mid Oct for LID date. Will definitely let everyone know once we have that MAGIC date! It's all about the LID(Log in Date)..
To see what LIDs the Chinese Goverment are at goto this page.http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp scroll down a bit and on the right under Documents Processing you see two dates.. first is the LIDs that are under first review(they do a first pass to make sure everything is in order) the second date are the LIDs they are currently matching Children to Families. As of today the date is Nov 25, 2005. So that means those Dossiers that were received in 11/05 are now being matched to a child. You can see that it's gonna be a while before we hear anything. Spoke with the Dossier gal at the agency when I was dropping off our stuff and she said that things should speed up a little bit..Nov '05 was a busy month...and typically Dec-Feb there are less Dossiers to process... then when the Olympics are in Beijing (Summer '08)we may see a slow down again.. but it was her feeling that after that things should really start moving along again. Everyone pray that the Chinese work thru all the Dossiers ahead of ours quickly so we can bring our daughter home soon!
So that's it for now. Will update the blog once it's off to Denver (our agency's main office) and then when it's off to China. Actually our agency sends it to one of their folks in Beijing who will then personally walk it over to the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) office and turn it in. Which is really cool!
Zai Jian
pronounced “zay je-an” 再见... Goodbye in Chinese.
Actually I discovered yesterday afternoon that the envelope had left Houston on Monday....we never turned on the computer Monday night to check! David worked late and .. dang Dancing with the Stars was on!! So we missed it being delivered here at the house yesterday.. thus me going this morning to the post office to pick it up.
Last night after dinner we went to Office Max to make copies of everything.. We have to give the agency a set...which begs the question.. Why can't they make copies? You'd think it would be part of the fees?? who knows.. anyway it was tedious but easier with the two of us there to keep everything straight. We got the corporate rate of only 4cents a copy and made 111 copies!! not too bad!
Our Agency thinks we should have our critical review done by this Friday and should be Denver next week for Translation & Binding and soon in China.. so mid Oct for LID date. Will definitely let everyone know once we have that MAGIC date! It's all about the LID(Log in Date)..
To see what LIDs the Chinese Goverment are at goto this page.http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp scroll down a bit and on the right under Documents Processing you see two dates.. first is the LIDs that are under first review(they do a first pass to make sure everything is in order) the second date are the LIDs they are currently matching Children to Families. As of today the date is Nov 25, 2005. So that means those Dossiers that were received in 11/05 are now being matched to a child. You can see that it's gonna be a while before we hear anything. Spoke with the Dossier gal at the agency when I was dropping off our stuff and she said that things should speed up a little bit..Nov '05 was a busy month...and typically Dec-Feb there are less Dossiers to process... then when the Olympics are in Beijing (Summer '08)we may see a slow down again.. but it was her feeling that after that things should really start moving along again. Everyone pray that the Chinese work thru all the Dossiers ahead of ours quickly so we can bring our daughter home soon!
So that's it for now. Will update the blog once it's off to Denver (our agency's main office) and then when it's off to China. Actually our agency sends it to one of their folks in Beijing who will then personally walk it over to the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) office and turn it in. Which is really cool!
Zai Jian
pronounced “zay je-an” 再见... Goodbye in Chinese.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Check that off the list!!
We got back home today at 4:30pm from a whirlwind trip to my folks and Tallahassee. We left yesterday and visited with them (they only live an hour from Tally) had some great dinner and checked out my dad's model train set .. TOTALLY COOL! SEE PIC...
This morning we left their house at 9:40am to head to Tallahassee.. we got to the Sec of State office building, not an exciting looking building, and walked in. There is nothing marked anywhere as to where to go.. There was this desk.. but the only signs around were to please not talk on your cel while at the counter! We went in and asked if this is where we get stuff certified and she said yes here and handed me a simple form to fill out. I wrote out a check for $20 bucks and we waited 10mins.. the gentleman handed us our stuff and we were done.. kinda anti-climatic after all that driving! We found the post office, made copies and sent our stuff to the Consulate in Houston via express mail. The post guy said it'll be there by noon tomorrow!! I'm really hoping it comes in this Sat..then we'd be done! Then the only thing we need to to is make copies of EVERYTHING!! Then I plan on driving it all up to the agency and personally hand them everything.. wahooo!!! Then they will do a critical review and make sure everything is in order and translate it into Chinese. Then mail it off to China. Then comes the big wait....
I still can't believe we are finally at this point.. how cool! Will update once we get those two docs back!
~Donna
Friday, September 14, 2007
I-171H BABY!!
We got it!!! our very LAST document.. wahoooo!!!!!! It's all ready for certification!!! We are going to take a quick trip to Tallahassee and take care of that in person..that'll save 7-10days... then mail the forms to the Houston Consulate from there!! The I-171H is the approval from the Good 'ol U S of A letting us bring a foreign orphan into the country. We'll probably have to get another one.. it's only good for 18months. There is a bill in Congress to get it extended to 2yrs.. I'm going to have David put a post on here on information for everyone to use to contact their Congressman to push this sucker thru! It costs over$600 for this form. yes Cha ching..
I can't believe we are done! It'd be cool if our LID was close to our Anniversary! (9/23).. that would be nifty. For you non-adopt types.. LID is Log In Date.. that's when the Chinese LOG IN our Dossier! yippeee!!!
Nothing more to update.. sorry for the sports stuff last post.. been bored waiting on this sucker and the new TV season! I myself am half tempted to watch Survivor.. only because it is in China this season. I have not watched the last two, David has.. not me. It just feels like the same thing over and over.. I know there have been twists.. but seriously. The only thing that I really like on that show is the photography.. when they do the scenery shots.. beautiful work!
Will update when we get back from Tally!! Randy is there any cheap good places to grab some lunch? let me know!
~Donna
I can't believe we are done! It'd be cool if our LID was close to our Anniversary! (9/23).. that would be nifty. For you non-adopt types.. LID is Log In Date.. that's when the Chinese LOG IN our Dossier! yippeee!!!
Nothing more to update.. sorry for the sports stuff last post.. been bored waiting on this sucker and the new TV season! I myself am half tempted to watch Survivor.. only because it is in China this season. I have not watched the last two, David has.. not me. It just feels like the same thing over and over.. I know there have been twists.. but seriously. The only thing that I really like on that show is the photography.. when they do the scenery shots.. beautiful work!
Will update when we get back from Tally!! Randy is there any cheap good places to grab some lunch? let me know!
~Donna
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Home Stretch..well paperwork wise
Wow I can't believe it I was actually home to SIGN for my mail.. no trip to the post office this week! We got our copy of our home-study yesterday and it's all notarized.. it just needs the certified and authentication stuff. We will be holding off on that and wait for our I-171H to show up. yes lucky us we are now waiting on good 'ol Uncle Sam. As soon as the US Government sends us our 171 thingy then we are going to drive up to Tallahassee to get our stuff certified and then mail these last two documents to the Houston Consulate. By driving up we'll knock off a week or two in waiting time. Plus my folks are dying to have us come visit.. they only live an hour north of Tallahassee...
So that's where we are at. I did buy.. yes I know.. another stuffed animal for her last week! SO cute a baby Eeyore with a little blanket! soo cute! And a shirt for me! David got this cool book over at the American Adventure shop on important and influential speeches in American History.. Some neat stuff in it! Good bathroom book! tee hee. I did mention last post that we were gonna take a Friday off to see the Bucs and go to EPCOT.. WELLLL come to find out that the Bucs broke training camp the day before :( so we missed it this year. bummer. So instead we slept in.. ahhh... and went to lunch at the Garden Grill and realized what an idiot I am for forgetting our camera.. helloo... Character meal. I don't remember this stuff! oh well. next time. The food was good! Esp the little yellow squash things.. and the dessert.. yum.
Talking about the Bucs.. last night was a very difficult night for me. There were like 4-5 sports things on that I like ALL AT ONCE!! and most were in HDTV! First the Bucs pre-season game.. mind you the starters left early. Then the Braves were playing St. Louis.. then The NASCAR race.. which I would have not normally watched because I am not a SHORT track fan.. but Kasey was actually leading the RACE!! seriously! he has stunk up the tracks lately and it was just nice to see his car on the TV for a change instead of trying to find him in the back of the pack as they shoot other cars! THEN the Devil Rays were playing.. so tuff to flip around! Then I fell asleep watching.. oh jeez I don't even remember which event I had on the TV.. So I still haven't checked to see who won what.. ok let me go look.
OK Atlanta Lost.(and dang the Mets won)
OH MAN! Edwards won the race and Kasey was in second!! that's ok Edwards is my other favorite driver!! both have a nines as their car number! Kasey is 9... Edwards 99
Yey the Bucs won!
oh forgot the check the Rays..They won soundly.. 14 to 3 over Oakland!
OK Sports stuff over!
Will update more soon.. but probably won't hear about our 171H for at least a week or two. Then once we get that stuff certified and authenticated our Dossier is done! can ya believe it?!?!?
Later
~Donna
So that's where we are at. I did buy.. yes I know.. another stuffed animal for her last week! SO cute a baby Eeyore with a little blanket! soo cute! And a shirt for me! David got this cool book over at the American Adventure shop on important and influential speeches in American History.. Some neat stuff in it! Good bathroom book! tee hee. I did mention last post that we were gonna take a Friday off to see the Bucs and go to EPCOT.. WELLLL come to find out that the Bucs broke training camp the day before :( so we missed it this year. bummer. So instead we slept in.. ahhh... and went to lunch at the Garden Grill and realized what an idiot I am for forgetting our camera.. helloo... Character meal. I don't remember this stuff! oh well. next time. The food was good! Esp the little yellow squash things.. and the dessert.. yum.
Talking about the Bucs.. last night was a very difficult night for me. There were like 4-5 sports things on that I like ALL AT ONCE!! and most were in HDTV! First the Bucs pre-season game.. mind you the starters left early. Then the Braves were playing St. Louis.. then The NASCAR race.. which I would have not normally watched because I am not a SHORT track fan.. but Kasey was actually leading the RACE!! seriously! he has stunk up the tracks lately and it was just nice to see his car on the TV for a change instead of trying to find him in the back of the pack as they shoot other cars! THEN the Devil Rays were playing.. so tuff to flip around! Then I fell asleep watching.. oh jeez I don't even remember which event I had on the TV.. So I still haven't checked to see who won what.. ok let me go look.
OK Atlanta Lost.(and dang the Mets won)
OH MAN! Edwards won the race and Kasey was in second!! that's ok Edwards is my other favorite driver!! both have a nines as their car number! Kasey is 9... Edwards 99
Yey the Bucs won!
oh forgot the check the Rays..They won soundly.. 14 to 3 over Oakland!
OK Sports stuff over!
Will update more soon.. but probably won't hear about our 171H for at least a week or two. Then once we get that stuff certified and authenticated our Dossier is done! can ya believe it?!?!?
Later
~Donna
Sunday, August 12, 2007
He finished!!
No need to pester David! He finished his autobiography this afternoon and we emailed it to our social worker already. whew! He did a good job..got me all teary eyed!
So now we wait. I'll email her later this week and see where we are at. Now it's waiting on documents I have no control over. yuk.
Next thing.. David is going to put together some stuff.. (maybe I'll have him post here too)... actually information on a bill in Congress that has to do with Foreign adoptions. It's a long story.. so will have him update everyone soon.
Taking Friday off this week!! yippeee!! We plan on going to the Sports Complex to watch the Bucs practice and then we are having lunch at EPCOT at the Garden Grill. Need to use our 50% off meal coupons!
Later
~Donna
So now we wait. I'll email her later this week and see where we are at. Now it's waiting on documents I have no control over. yuk.
Next thing.. David is going to put together some stuff.. (maybe I'll have him post here too)... actually information on a bill in Congress that has to do with Foreign adoptions. It's a long story.. so will have him update everyone soon.
Taking Friday off this week!! yippeee!! We plan on going to the Sports Complex to watch the Bucs practice and then we are having lunch at EPCOT at the Garden Grill. Need to use our 50% off meal coupons!
Later
~Donna
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Slacker..
I know.. I'm a slacker!! BUT have news!!! We sent off 10 documents to the Chinese Consulate in Houston on July 25th and I picked them up last Saturday at the post office. All beautifully authenticated!! WAHOOO 11 down two to go!! Then on Aug 1st we went down the the USCIS office in Tampa to be fingerprinted. Wow I was totally impressed with how organized the entire experience was! We were 20mins early for our 11am appts. We filled out this form and I was taken back first. It's that nifty new electronic finger printing machine! They roll your finger on a glass window and it comes up on the computer screen! VERY cool! I was done at 10:58am..2 mins before my actual appt time!! Then it was David's turn.. we were all done by 5-10after eleven!! now what do we do??? The baseball game wasn't till 3pm! We took our time and drove down to St. Pete. Stopped at a most AWESOME Publix. I told David.. we need to move here!! We decided that we would have to stop here on our way home and pick up a few things! We ate lunch at this nice little Greek restaurant and got the the stadium around 2pm. It was raining everywhere this day!! We watched the Blue Jays do BP and hung out. We got our seats in the Club Level..figured what the heck! I forgot how cold it can be up there... brrrr!
This was one of those days we were glad the D-Rays play in a dome.. it POURED OUTSIDE!! We could hear it on the dome!! First it would get dark, then you'd hear the rain then it'd get light again and get dark.. and pour! crazy weather! Oh and wow the Rays won! They hardly ever win when we go see a game! It was a very exciting game too!!
On the way home we got David some new windshield wipers.. those teflon ones.. SUCK! Then of course stopped at that Publix! They had nuts in bulk! We got some raw cashews for Murphy and some unsalted pistachios for Chester! and picked up some ravioli for dinner. We didn't get home till 8:30pm or so.. geez what a long day! It rained rained all the way home.. ug... I was glad David drove.. Thanks sweetie!
OK. so back to the adoption stuff.. I asked my sister if they would be our Just in CASE anything happened to us for our daughter and she said yes.. Thanks Carol!! You guys are the best! We sent that information to our social worker.. now the only thing holding us up is David's autobiography!!!! He NEEDS TO GET THAT DONE and off to the social worker so she can put the home study together and send to the USCIS!!! I have been the biggest NAG!! All I can say is.. He BETTER finish it up today! IF anyone talks to him... bug him about it for me.. please!
Well that's where we are.. doing pretty good!!! Soon our Dossier will be in China and the big Wait begins...
Later everyone!
~Donna
This was one of those days we were glad the D-Rays play in a dome.. it POURED OUTSIDE!! We could hear it on the dome!! First it would get dark, then you'd hear the rain then it'd get light again and get dark.. and pour! crazy weather! Oh and wow the Rays won! They hardly ever win when we go see a game! It was a very exciting game too!!
On the way home we got David some new windshield wipers.. those teflon ones.. SUCK! Then of course stopped at that Publix! They had nuts in bulk! We got some raw cashews for Murphy and some unsalted pistachios for Chester! and picked up some ravioli for dinner. We didn't get home till 8:30pm or so.. geez what a long day! It rained rained all the way home.. ug... I was glad David drove.. Thanks sweetie!
OK. so back to the adoption stuff.. I asked my sister if they would be our Just in CASE anything happened to us for our daughter and she said yes.. Thanks Carol!! You guys are the best! We sent that information to our social worker.. now the only thing holding us up is David's autobiography!!!! He NEEDS TO GET THAT DONE and off to the social worker so she can put the home study together and send to the USCIS!!! I have been the biggest NAG!! All I can say is.. He BETTER finish it up today! IF anyone talks to him... bug him about it for me.. please!
Well that's where we are.. doing pretty good!!! Soon our Dossier will be in China and the big Wait begins...
Later everyone!
~Donna
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Off they Go....
Ok.. so the Friday before last I sent off 8 docs to the Sec Of State for Florida to be certified. The post office tried to deliver our express envelope on Sat (we were at the beach). I picked up the envelope yesterday at the post office.. and screamed in delight!! wahooo! Tomorrow David is off and he will get the honor of going to the post office to send those 8 docs plus his BC & our ML off to the Chinese Consulate in Houston for Authentication!! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter! And then next Wed we are off to Tampa for our fingerprints for the USCIS! I can't believe we are about done with our Dossier!! Wahooo....
Back to the beach... Last weekend I mentioned to David that it would be nice to go to the beach! So this past Saturday we went to Fort DeSoto beach in St. Pete.. yes I LOVE the Gulf.
I grew up going to the Atlantic side beaches.. but I've been converted to a gulf gal! We got one of those half tent things for the beach at SAMs.. um how did I live with out it!! It was great!! Totally worth the $25 bucks we paid for it! Here are some pics from the beach.. One of a nifty storm we watched build off shore and a sand dollar. I've never seen one alive! They were all over the bottom of the gulf.. especially out at the sand bar. Don't worry we put it back in the water!
I grew up going to the Atlantic side beaches.. but I've been converted to a gulf gal! We got one of those half tent things for the beach at SAMs.. um how did I live with out it!! It was great!! Totally worth the $25 bucks we paid for it! Here are some pics from the beach.. One of a nifty storm we watched build off shore and a sand dollar. I've never seen one alive! They were all over the bottom of the gulf.. especially out at the sand bar. Don't worry we put it back in the water!
Anyway on the way back from St. Pete the traffic was all backed up at I-4 & I-75 so we hopped off I-4 and took 75 down to SR 60 to cut around the traffic. We were gonna cut thru Plant City and head back up. Just as we got to the road to head north back up to I-4, we saw a roadside veggie stand with a big sign...BOILED PEANUTS.. yum We got 2 bags and munched on them all the way home.. yum yum.. The beach was great. I highly recommend Fort DeSoto.. great beach! and man the water was warm!!!
Well that'll do for now. Will update next week after our adventures in government fun at the USCIS. After we do our fingerprints.. we're gonna go the the Devil Rays game!! yey! Also will update when we get all our docs back from the Chinese Consulate. Wow only 2 docs to go the I171H and our home study!! Wahooo.
Bye for now
~Donna
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
One Down.. Eleven to Go...
Yay....We have one document that is all ready for the Dossier!! My birth certificate has a nifty square sticker thing on the back with some more sparkly stickers and seals! Mostly in Chinese we have no idea what it says!! very cool.
We've been crazy busy.. thankfully everyone is healthy!! Though Chester still makes some sad sounding chirps now and then. He must have allergies.. I know mine are driving me crazy. It's been pretty miserable and dang hot here. Well it IS Summer in Central Florida!!! whaddya expect!?!?! Anyway David started his new job today so we haven't gotten much else done with our documents. Just have a bunch to notarize. The agency is sending the original Employment Verification letters to us. I'm hoping they notarize it for us.. that would be nice.
Not much else going on. Got some stuff to mail down to my nephew, Nicholas, he turns 5 next week!! wow he's getting so big. Starts school soon! How exciting!
Well that's my measly update.... which is OK BY ME!!! calm is good.
~Donna
We've been crazy busy.. thankfully everyone is healthy!! Though Chester still makes some sad sounding chirps now and then. He must have allergies.. I know mine are driving me crazy. It's been pretty miserable and dang hot here. Well it IS Summer in Central Florida!!! whaddya expect!?!?! Anyway David started his new job today so we haven't gotten much else done with our documents. Just have a bunch to notarize. The agency is sending the original Employment Verification letters to us. I'm hoping they notarize it for us.. that would be nice.
Not much else going on. Got some stuff to mail down to my nephew, Nicholas, he turns 5 next week!! wow he's getting so big. Starts school soon! How exciting!
Well that's my measly update.... which is OK BY ME!!! calm is good.
~Donna
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Scary Weekend...
Let's just say I could do without another Sunday like we had this past weekend! Had a bit of a scare..David woke me about midnight to tell me he was having tightness in his chest, his heart was racing and tingling in his arm. OFF to the Emergency Room.. after several hours in the ER ..first blood tests came back negative. They admitted him and did all sorts of heart Stress tests and pictures.. and finally was released around 3:45pm on Sunday. His heart was fine! Whew. Given David's family history (his father died of his 3rd heart-attack) every person in the hospital said it was wise for him to come in. He saw our primary care dr today and he thinks it was the heavy excercise he did in the pool..and pulled the muscles that surround your ribs. They are actually pretty wimpy muscles and when they ache it can feel like chest pain.. that probably started a bit of an anxiety attack.. well you get the idea. I'm just sooo glad he is ok! whew!
Last night we had our interview with the Social Worker. It went really well. She is VERY easy to talk to and we realized there was nothing really to be worried about. She did say something that really put the whole Adoption thing in perspective for me. She called it the "Great Kidnap". And to not forget that. It will help you understand your child's fears and why she cries and all that. I mean you are taking them from all they've ever known and then to boot to another country. Wow.. heavy. Good to know! She also recommended Adoptive Families magazine which we already ordered last night! She and her husband adopted 2 girls from China and a little one from Guatamala.. so it was great to not only have her experience as a Social Worker.. but she has lived it... a few times! Neat person! So glad we have her. Ya know everyone, whether you are adopting or not, should see a Social Worker.. just that short time with her was great. And she said we can call her ANYTIME with questions, even if it's months after we have the baby home. How cool.. and very reasuring.
Paperwork.. well I think I mentioned that I had to fight Disney.. still haven't gotten those Employment Verificiations back yet. Got David's medical form.. so we are done there. Sooo freakin Disney is holding us up. As soon as we get those we are thinking of driving up to Tallahassee to get the 8 docs I think... certified at once. Then visit my folks! They only live an hour from the capitol.
I mailed my BC to the Chinese Consulate in NY.. they got it last Monday.. hope they send it to me soon. Argh.. maybe the Houston Consulate will be is faster?!?! I hope. Only my NY Doc had to go to the NY Consulate.. the rest of our stuff goes to Houston
Oh.. I was bad. I spent money on the baby. Well.. the original agreement was not to buy anything until our Dossier was in China.. I couldn't help it. I found the perfect quilt for the bedroom and also broke down and got a Chinese Barbie!! ain't she cool.
Well I hope everyone has a safe and fun Independance Day. David hates it when people say Happy 4th of July.. I agree with him...
Happy Independance Day!!! USA USA USA.. USA...
~Donna
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Update.. shmup-date
Ok.. so it's been a rough week. Last week our bird Chester was not doing well. He wasn't chirping like he normally does and we took him to the Vet on Thursday. He was not happy! They took a culture from his throat(no results yet) and gave us antibiotics to give to him. He seems much better. Still can't do some of his normal chirp noises clearly.. but he is at least eating more now and much more like his normal rambunctious self. Me.. I was a mess. Geez if I am this way with a bird.. what am I gonna do when I have a little girl?!?! Things to think and pray about. I'm just so glad he is better and neither of the other two birdies got sick. I don't know what I'd do if anything were to happen to any of them.
Ok.. adoption update... We have our Social Worker coming over next Monday night.. She seems like a really fun person! So it should go well. We got our employment verifications(well a copy) from Disney on Friday and they didn't look correct. They put how much we earn per hour/week then how much we've earned YTD.. NO NO NO.. I needed an estimated yearly salary!! ARGH>> freakin' Disney sometimes. Luckily I have a contact and I IM'd her yesterday and she got with the person who did our letter. And at first they wouldn't put an estimate on it. The reason I was given.. that Disney doesn't like to do that.. because they don't want to put a number that a cast member might not make and folks might get all up in arms or whatever.. oh please... just put ESTIMATED on the letter!! I explained that any other number would literally get lost in the translation when our stuff would be translated into Chinese!!! Sooo... my friend asked again and the person agreed to write the letters as requested.. hopefully we'll get them by next week. Figures.. Disney gives us crap.
Ok.. I called sick on Monday.. NOTE to SELF.. do not eat Egg-salad sandwiches made by little old church ladies.. yes it was not fun : ( Coincidentally I had my follow-up appt on Monday with the doc to get my lab results and my Medical Exam form for the Dossier... HEY.. my Cholesterol is only 122!!! how cool is that.. then he ratted off some other numbers.. I asked what do they all mean. He said.. well you are not at risk for Heart Disease. good I thought.. Then I said.. so I take it, you don't see numbers like that often.. He said.. only when someone is on Cholesterol medication! How cool is that!!! Seems like eating all this good food pays off!!! yippee! And all the other stuff was good too! iron was good, no anemia, no Hepatitis, my liver is working, kidneys.. all that stuff. David goes for his next Tuesday, July 3rd.. on my birthday!!! I'll be working.. that's ok. Maybe they'll take me out to lunch!
Well dinner is ready and I'm hungry.
Bye for now
~Donna
Ok.. adoption update... We have our Social Worker coming over next Monday night.. She seems like a really fun person! So it should go well. We got our employment verifications(well a copy) from Disney on Friday and they didn't look correct. They put how much we earn per hour/week then how much we've earned YTD.. NO NO NO.. I needed an estimated yearly salary!! ARGH>> freakin' Disney sometimes. Luckily I have a contact and I IM'd her yesterday and she got with the person who did our letter. And at first they wouldn't put an estimate on it. The reason I was given.. that Disney doesn't like to do that.. because they don't want to put a number that a cast member might not make and folks might get all up in arms or whatever.. oh please... just put ESTIMATED on the letter!! I explained that any other number would literally get lost in the translation when our stuff would be translated into Chinese!!! Sooo... my friend asked again and the person agreed to write the letters as requested.. hopefully we'll get them by next week. Figures.. Disney gives us crap.
Ok.. I called sick on Monday.. NOTE to SELF.. do not eat Egg-salad sandwiches made by little old church ladies.. yes it was not fun : ( Coincidentally I had my follow-up appt on Monday with the doc to get my lab results and my Medical Exam form for the Dossier... HEY.. my Cholesterol is only 122!!! how cool is that.. then he ratted off some other numbers.. I asked what do they all mean. He said.. well you are not at risk for Heart Disease. good I thought.. Then I said.. so I take it, you don't see numbers like that often.. He said.. only when someone is on Cholesterol medication! How cool is that!!! Seems like eating all this good food pays off!!! yippee! And all the other stuff was good too! iron was good, no anemia, no Hepatitis, my liver is working, kidneys.. all that stuff. David goes for his next Tuesday, July 3rd.. on my birthday!!! I'll be working.. that's ok. Maybe they'll take me out to lunch!
Well dinner is ready and I'm hungry.
Bye for now
~Donna
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Holy Cow!!
We are talking a major "moo" here. I got my passport back already!!!!! It came in yesterday's mail!! I am still so surprised that I got it especially after hearing on the news about how long it's taking for everyone and all that. I did send in the extra $$$ to have it expidited but as I'm sure you all heard on the news lately I was not optimistic!! I think the reason mine came so quickly (I mailed it June 5 and got it June 16) is because it was just a renewal and not an original application. It's gotta be. I was hoping for the new E-pass port. check it out here on the Sec of State site. http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/epptnew_2807.html Seems only the Colorado office is issuing them. Totally cool! I got the old design, oh well.. I'm just so happy I got it that it's okay!
Oh yesterday we went to the Salvation Army to look around. Wow good deals! Saw some dressers and bedroom sets that had promise! With some paint and new knobs we could've done well! But we aren't ready for that stuff yet, just looking around for ideas right now. We made a pack to not buy anything big until the Dossier is in China. We did get some children's books for 99 cents & 49 cents! what a bargin!
Dang it's Sunday already.. weekends are just too short
Have a great week!
~Donna
Oh yesterday we went to the Salvation Army to look around. Wow good deals! Saw some dressers and bedroom sets that had promise! With some paint and new knobs we could've done well! But we aren't ready for that stuff yet, just looking around for ideas right now. We made a pack to not buy anything big until the Dossier is in China. We did get some children's books for 99 cents & 49 cents! what a bargin!
Dang it's Sunday already.. weekends are just too short
Have a great week!
~Donna
Friday, June 15, 2007
Yippeee!
Holy cow! I got my stuff from the State of NY today!! I can't believe it .. it only took a week! We got our Marriage license stuff from Florida last Friday! Wahoo. now we have to send them to the Chinese Consulate for Authentication..funfun. The folks from our agency are out of town celebrating the 15yr anniversary of the company! I'll have to call them on Monday..and find out what other docs need all those steps. Just getting a bit confused.. there is so much to put together for the Dossier.
Not much else going on.. just work work work. I did my blood work this week and I'll remind David to do his.. so it's just moving along!
This will be a short post.. just been a long week and I am very tired.
Later
~Donna
Not much else going on.. just work work work. I did my blood work this week and I'll remind David to do his.. so it's just moving along!
This will be a short post.. just been a long week and I am very tired.
Later
~Donna
Saturday, June 9, 2007
GOT ONE!!
I LOVE the state of Georgia! Mostly because that is were David is from and his family is there (and now my folks) but also because we are all done with his birth certificate certification!! How easy!! It was very cool and official with the Seal of the State and nifty language like..."Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State at the Capitol in Atlanta, this, the fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Seven and of the Independence of the United States of America, the Two Hundred and Thirty-First." >>Isn't that cool!! ok so I'm a geek! In my job and such I am not exposed to such language. It's about Mickey Mouse and who is scheduled Pooh and stuff like that!!
Ok now New York...ok first I really dislike the Yankees.. but besides that.. It was determined that I had to send my BC to be certified by the County I was born in before I could send it to the Sec of State. Well I got it back from the county this week with a note stating that I didn't need it done because the signature I had on my BC was enough.. ARGGH!!! So I sent it off to the Sec of State for NY.. let's see how long that takes.. tick tock.
We got our appts for our Fingerprinting for our 600A/171H thingy. It's August 1st at 11am in Tampa!! yikes! So the first thing I did was grab the Devil Rays schedule off the fridge and WAHOO they have a day game at 3pm that day!! So the drive to Tampa isn't wasted! Well even if there wasn't a day game I think we'd just go to the beach or something. It's great to live in Florida!
Let's see.. we had our physicals this week and got the big list of lab stuff we'll need to get done. So one day next week we'll have to fast and head off to a lab in the morning so they can take blood and pee and all sorts of fun stuff like that. I also had my OB appt this week and now I'm at the age where I have to get a mamogram.. : ( isn't getting older fun?!?! Then next week I have my dental appt. Ya see this will be the first time I'll have someone else take care of my teeth that's not my mom!! Dang her and her retirement.. what was she thinking?!? Ha ha... just kidding Mom!! Just know that no one will ever measure up to your work!
Oh... We should see our Marriage license from the Sec of State in FL soon.. Then let's hope NY isn't too far behind. Then I'll be sending my BC out to the Chinese Consulate right after. Each Chinese Consulate is over a region and I only have one doc for the one in NY to authenticate.. which happens to be in NY. But the rest of our stuff will go the the Houston one for our FL & GA documents. Isn't this FUN?!?!?!?
Have a great week! We will now that it's started to rain here..whew.. dang it was getting a bit scary with all the fires.. we got another 1.5" yesterday.. and some VERY close lightening! yikes!
Later. ~Donna
Ok now New York...ok first I really dislike the Yankees.. but besides that.. It was determined that I had to send my BC to be certified by the County I was born in before I could send it to the Sec of State. Well I got it back from the county this week with a note stating that I didn't need it done because the signature I had on my BC was enough.. ARGGH!!! So I sent it off to the Sec of State for NY.. let's see how long that takes.. tick tock.
We got our appts for our Fingerprinting for our 600A/171H thingy. It's August 1st at 11am in Tampa!! yikes! So the first thing I did was grab the Devil Rays schedule off the fridge and WAHOO they have a day game at 3pm that day!! So the drive to Tampa isn't wasted! Well even if there wasn't a day game I think we'd just go to the beach or something. It's great to live in Florida!
Let's see.. we had our physicals this week and got the big list of lab stuff we'll need to get done. So one day next week we'll have to fast and head off to a lab in the morning so they can take blood and pee and all sorts of fun stuff like that. I also had my OB appt this week and now I'm at the age where I have to get a mamogram.. : ( isn't getting older fun?!?! Then next week I have my dental appt. Ya see this will be the first time I'll have someone else take care of my teeth that's not my mom!! Dang her and her retirement.. what was she thinking?!? Ha ha... just kidding Mom!! Just know that no one will ever measure up to your work!
Oh... We should see our Marriage license from the Sec of State in FL soon.. Then let's hope NY isn't too far behind. Then I'll be sending my BC out to the Chinese Consulate right after. Each Chinese Consulate is over a region and I only have one doc for the one in NY to authenticate.. which happens to be in NY. But the rest of our stuff will go the the Houston one for our FL & GA documents. Isn't this FUN?!?!?!?
Have a great week! We will now that it's started to rain here..whew.. dang it was getting a bit scary with all the fires.. we got another 1.5" yesterday.. and some VERY close lightening! yikes!
Later. ~Donna
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Oh boy..
So this weekend was crazy. First my sister and her family and my mom were in town to visit. Dad couldn't come, he was on firewatch up at their place. It's been so dry!! ANYWAY..We had a lot of fun having dinner with them and the kids on Friday. Unfortunately we didn't get to see them much, Saturday was our information session with the Agency. Wow there is so much to get together for our Dossier and stuff for the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Imigration Service, old INS) form. That sucker is gonna cost us over $600 bucks for the form fee. Yikes! that includes the hightech fingerprints we have to get.. yup didn't need to go thru all that last month down at the Courthouse. oh well. Anyway at the session a couple that came back in January from China brought their daughter in and she is just ADORABLE!! And they told us about their experience overseas and how great the agency staff was..we got to ask questions. It was great to see a couple who was all done!
Come to find out that it's taking a long time. China is behind.. some sort of filing problem or something. So we just have to be patient. We don't even have our Dossier over there and I have good moments and bad. There is so much to do at the house that it'll be good to have LOTS of time. And it will give us time to pay off the first part of the fees before the second part are due! I think my folks said they'd help with the airfare and anything else we may need. Aww.. thank you sooo much Mom & Dad! Mom already bought her cute shoes!! size 7! so it'll be awhile before she can wear them! oh they are cute!
Well that's this week's update. This Friday we are taking David out for his 40th birthday, which is next Wed. Going to Buca di Beppo... yum yum!!
~Later
Come to find out that it's taking a long time. China is behind.. some sort of filing problem or something. So we just have to be patient. We don't even have our Dossier over there and I have good moments and bad. There is so much to do at the house that it'll be good to have LOTS of time. And it will give us time to pay off the first part of the fees before the second part are due! I think my folks said they'd help with the airfare and anything else we may need. Aww.. thank you sooo much Mom & Dad! Mom already bought her cute shoes!! size 7! so it'll be awhile before she can wear them! oh they are cute!
Well that's this week's update. This Friday we are taking David out for his 40th birthday, which is next Wed. Going to Buca di Beppo... yum yum!!
~Later
Friday, May 18, 2007
Awww...
Her first stuffed animal gift from my sister...
It's a dog? or angel with long ears! so cute! Tomorrow is our Info session at the Agency. We'll learn about all the paperwork and stuff we'll need to do over the coming months.. and probably have to write a check or two!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Celebrate!
OK.. don't have much to update.. but..one fun thing and a milestone for me!
First I thought it was sweet in his own way... that David bought some special beer last week..
It's the offical beer of China!! Yangjing Beer!
We were going to go up to my folks to visit them today and see the Peacock festival in their town. We are a bit bummed that we didn't go.. but we just watched CNN and saw that sections of I-75 are shut down because of the Bugaboo fire.. which one official quoted as the Fire of a lifetime and he couldn't believe he was saying that he couldn't wait for hurricane season. wow.. bad fire. Pray for all those folks and animals as nature does it what it does. No matter how much we dislike it, fire is necessary.
First I thought it was sweet in his own way... that David bought some special beer last week..
It's the offical beer of China!! Yangjing Beer! Also I FINALLY finished my barn of animals!! I made one for my nephews back in 1997 and had cut out two of everything. Well I finally finished ours! I did work on it some last year when we were doing the infertility stuff.. and stopped well.. you can guess why. ANYWAY...I finally finished it up today! just had the sheep to do and finish up the duck! Tada!!
We were going to go up to my folks to visit them today and see the Peacock festival in their town. We are a bit bummed that we didn't go.. but we just watched CNN and saw that sections of I-75 are shut down because of the Bugaboo fire.. which one official quoted as the Fire of a lifetime and he couldn't believe he was saying that he couldn't wait for hurricane season. wow.. bad fire. Pray for all those folks and animals as nature does it what it does. No matter how much we dislike it, fire is necessary.Wednesday, May 9, 2007
ADVENTURES IN BUREAUCRACY
We had to get copies of a clear police report from our county and fingerprints. (we thought) So one morning we worked it out with our jobs to go to Bartow (our county seat) to get this stuff. First, we live in the tippy top of Polk County, as some of you know, and Bartow is 40mi one way! We get to the Sheriff’s office and say ok we are here for our clearance thingy and we need fingerprints for adoption paperwork. The lady asks if we have a card.. a wah? A card.. .. A card for what.. She finally explains, the card to put the prints on.. Oh that.. no, we thought you had them. She says no we don’t, but you can get them over at the Courthouse (which luckily is right next door!) ok. So we walk over. And
>>side note<<>Have you been sniffed? No, not by your dog.. but by a bomb sniffer machine! Very interesting… it looks like a metal detector on steroids! You walk in and it shoots all this air at ya.. then you just stand there and wait for the light to turn green. David says ut oh as we walk in the door.. what do you mean ut oh? Then I remember.. that’s right this man works with Pyro on occasion.. turns out it was ok..(he had clean clothes on and his shoes were pyro-free!) whew!
Then I get up to the metal detector and the guy asks.. “you have any electronic devices in your purse”.. oh um.. sure.. here’s my phone, my blackberry and my portal XM radio..(dang should have left it in the car) he was like.. cool XM! We walk up to the Information Desk and ask where to get the cards and the lady tells us the Sheriff’s office, um no they sent us here. She gets a bit exasperated and directs us to the first double doors on the left, TRY there.. well no it was the second door the first set were Admin offices! So we go to the Clerk of Court area, where folks pay their fines and stuff like that. And ask for the cards, the woman says.. you get those at the Sheriff’s office..um no they sent us here. (We tried to be really nice about it!! People tend to help you more if you aren’t nasty!)
So her supervisor calls the Sheriff’s office.. then after several minutes they want to talk to us! So they hand David the phone and after David talks with them he says that the Sheriff’s Office has the Crimnal cards.. not the adoption ones and they are here in the Courthouse.. somewhere! OK.. well the lady at the teller says.. why don’t you try Civil. Um ok. Where is that? Luckily it’s just down the hall!
Off we go down the hall. Two women at the desk ask if they can help us.. I exclaim.. Yes we are on a scavenger hunt!!! Do you have the fingerprint cards for Adoption here.. Yes, she replies.. Eureka! How much? Oh they are free!! Even better! How many do we want? Two please! So after we left that office, we made a point to tell the folks in the Clerk’s office AND the Information desk where the cards are so the next couple doesn’t have to go thru all that!
Next stop is the Passport office (I need to fix the name on my passport.. long story) Turns out they don’t do that.. I just have to mail it to Miami with my old passport and a Certified copy of our marriage license.. I hesitate.. I only have one extra copy and it’s for the Adoption Agency.. no prob we do that right here! So for only $2.50 she got us another copy. I had one with me so it had all the codes on it .. so it was a quick and easy thing..
Now it’s back to the Sheriff’s office where we fill out our cards and pay for our background checks (only $13) and get fingerprinted.
This whole process took .. oh about an hour! Seemed longer at the time.. then we drove back to work. Fun fun. And It turns out.. we didn’t need the fingerprints for the application!!! We’ll have to do it again for the USCIS(new INS) for our Federal paperwork and it’s not free!! Argh.
Whew.. now you are all up to date!
>>side note<<>Have you been sniffed? No, not by your dog.. but by a bomb sniffer machine! Very interesting… it looks like a metal detector on steroids! You walk in and it shoots all this air at ya.. then you just stand there and wait for the light to turn green. David says ut oh as we walk in the door.. what do you mean ut oh? Then I remember.. that’s right this man works with Pyro on occasion.. turns out it was ok..(he had clean clothes on and his shoes were pyro-free!) whew!
Then I get up to the metal detector and the guy asks.. “you have any electronic devices in your purse”.. oh um.. sure.. here’s my phone, my blackberry and my portal XM radio..(dang should have left it in the car) he was like.. cool XM! We walk up to the Information Desk and ask where to get the cards and the lady tells us the Sheriff’s office, um no they sent us here. She gets a bit exasperated and directs us to the first double doors on the left, TRY there.. well no it was the second door the first set were Admin offices! So we go to the Clerk of Court area, where folks pay their fines and stuff like that. And ask for the cards, the woman says.. you get those at the Sheriff’s office..um no they sent us here. (We tried to be really nice about it!! People tend to help you more if you aren’t nasty!)
So her supervisor calls the Sheriff’s office.. then after several minutes they want to talk to us! So they hand David the phone and after David talks with them he says that the Sheriff’s Office has the Crimnal cards.. not the adoption ones and they are here in the Courthouse.. somewhere! OK.. well the lady at the teller says.. why don’t you try Civil. Um ok. Where is that? Luckily it’s just down the hall!
Off we go down the hall. Two women at the desk ask if they can help us.. I exclaim.. Yes we are on a scavenger hunt!!! Do you have the fingerprint cards for Adoption here.. Yes, she replies.. Eureka! How much? Oh they are free!! Even better! How many do we want? Two please! So after we left that office, we made a point to tell the folks in the Clerk’s office AND the Information desk where the cards are so the next couple doesn’t have to go thru all that!
Next stop is the Passport office (I need to fix the name on my passport.. long story) Turns out they don’t do that.. I just have to mail it to Miami with my old passport and a Certified copy of our marriage license.. I hesitate.. I only have one extra copy and it’s for the Adoption Agency.. no prob we do that right here! So for only $2.50 she got us another copy. I had one with me so it had all the codes on it .. so it was a quick and easy thing..
Now it’s back to the Sheriff’s office where we fill out our cards and pay for our background checks (only $13) and get fingerprinted.
This whole process took .. oh about an hour! Seemed longer at the time.. then we drove back to work. Fun fun. And It turns out.. we didn’t need the fingerprints for the application!!! We’ll have to do it again for the USCIS(new INS) for our Federal paperwork and it’s not free!! Argh.
Whew.. now you are all up to date!
It all started..
We’ve been thinking adoption for a while now….We did the invitro, insemination and all that stuff…and finally we came to terms that it just wasn’t meant to be for us to have a biological child. But we still really wanted to share our lives with a little one. We did a lot of praying and talking and thinking. We decided to go with China because with domestic adoption there is always that risk that the mother will change her mind.. and with all the pain and heartache thru the infertility stuff … neither of us were willing to risk that kind of heartache.. And now..we can’t wait to get our little “fortune cookie” and share our beliefs, feelings, stuff(he he) but most of all our love with her. Aww
So.. on the night of March 19th David was reading thru his Forward Day by Day prayer book. (That particular week we REALLY started getting serious about starting the whole process)…. he reads to me that March 19 is St. Joseph’s day. Jospeh was the be all end all of adoptive fathers. The author reminds of what Joseph did for Mary and Jesus. And that was the sign for us.. or more like God put it in BIG BLINKING LIGHTS! Cool huh! So on March 31st we went to an information session. Brenda, who did the presentation was wonderful.. she told us all about the program and the folks who started the agency. (http://www.chinesechildren.org/) She had pictures of her daughter and showed us the agency video(we all sniffled). Then towards the end her husband came in and her daughter Hannah came running in and well.. that just made the whole thing real for me! There she was, her little girl..clinging to her leg! Just about everyone who works for the agency has adopted a child from China! Ok where do we sign up?!?!
Ok so we got the application.. they want to know our BMI? Really.. um ok and expenses.. net worth… medical stuff.. We needed to sign all sorts of paperwork and have it Notarized.. Luckily working at Disney, Notaries are easy to find! Now we just need David to READ the dang paperwork. He signed one in the wrong place.. and I’m like.. so you MIGHT have committed a felony? And he’s like.. um no.. and I’m like.. um dude you signed the wrong section.. He says.. no I didn’t. I’m like.. well did ya READ it. He hesitates.. well I scanned thru.. but no ya didn’t READ it did ya.. well no.. ARGH.. so he had to do that one over!
So.. on the night of March 19th David was reading thru his Forward Day by Day prayer book. (That particular week we REALLY started getting serious about starting the whole process)…. he reads to me that March 19 is St. Joseph’s day. Jospeh was the be all end all of adoptive fathers. The author reminds of what Joseph did for Mary and Jesus. And that was the sign for us.. or more like God put it in BIG BLINKING LIGHTS! Cool huh! So on March 31st we went to an information session. Brenda, who did the presentation was wonderful.. she told us all about the program and the folks who started the agency. (http://www.chinesechildren.org/) She had pictures of her daughter and showed us the agency video(we all sniffled). Then towards the end her husband came in and her daughter Hannah came running in and well.. that just made the whole thing real for me! There she was, her little girl..clinging to her leg! Just about everyone who works for the agency has adopted a child from China! Ok where do we sign up?!?!
Ok so we got the application.. they want to know our BMI? Really.. um ok and expenses.. net worth… medical stuff.. We needed to sign all sorts of paperwork and have it Notarized.. Luckily working at Disney, Notaries are easy to find! Now we just need David to READ the dang paperwork. He signed one in the wrong place.. and I’m like.. so you MIGHT have committed a felony? And he’s like.. um no.. and I’m like.. um dude you signed the wrong section.. He says.. no I didn’t. I’m like.. well did ya READ it. He hesitates.. well I scanned thru.. but no ya didn’t READ it did ya.. well no.. ARGH.. so he had to do that one over!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Wow a Blog!
Well here goes nothing! Welcome to our blog!! First let me say.. it's a bit overwhelming.. there is this blank box and geez what do I put.. so let's get to it!
Well it's official.. we were approved yesterday to adopt a little girl from China!! We can't believe it..it's very unreal and so exciting. We've had soo much disappointment in our lives around trying to have a child it's wierd to get good news.. really... really.. you mean we REALLY are gonna have someone to share our lives with! Our prayers have finally been answered! Wow!
I have so much to say.. but I'll fill in all the details later! I want to share how fun it was just to get the application together!! And that seems to have been the easy part! Next it's, US government paperwork, China stuff, autobiographies (ug I hate writing formal stuff!), a floor plan of our house!(actually have that!) and all sorts of other stuff. My brain was just working over and over last night that it was hard to get to sleep.. then my tummy revolted..excitement!
Anyway just wanted to get the page going.. I plan on spending the time between our dossier being completed and our Match day getting the blog all pretty.. It's a start! and we've got a long way to go!
Thank you everyone for all your prayers, positive vibes and love.
~Donna
Well it's official.. we were approved yesterday to adopt a little girl from China!! We can't believe it..it's very unreal and so exciting. We've had soo much disappointment in our lives around trying to have a child it's wierd to get good news.. really... really.. you mean we REALLY are gonna have someone to share our lives with! Our prayers have finally been answered! Wow!
I have so much to say.. but I'll fill in all the details later! I want to share how fun it was just to get the application together!! And that seems to have been the easy part! Next it's, US government paperwork, China stuff, autobiographies (ug I hate writing formal stuff!), a floor plan of our house!(actually have that!) and all sorts of other stuff. My brain was just working over and over last night that it was hard to get to sleep.. then my tummy revolted..excitement!
Anyway just wanted to get the page going.. I plan on spending the time between our dossier being completed and our Match day getting the blog all pretty.. It's a start! and we've got a long way to go!
Thank you everyone for all your prayers, positive vibes and love.
~Donna
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