The Fabric of Adoption

Through some internet exchanges, I recently "met" another American adoptive mom who lives in China and who met Megan Ling last July and had taken some video and photos of her. Here are a few of my favorites. It is amazing to me how the adoption community is so interwoven. Thank you, Brenda, for bringing even more joy to me!

10 Days Left!!!

10!!!!!!

4/27/08 A Beautiful Day

The weather was nice and sunny, so we got up early and headed out by 9:30 AM, to a local wildlife refuge. Mary Alice tried her hand at paddling (I enjoyed relaxing in the center of the canoe during that part) and she and Matthew fished. Everyone enjoyed themselves, except that Matthew was disappointed with his catch (or lack of :)). I kept thinking about Megan Ling and what she would think of the whole thing. I can't wait to have her share these fun family times with us. Her life jacket is waiting for her!

4/26/08 A Letter to Ling

Dear Ling,

This is a picture of me, your silly mother! I was trying on my new bike helmet, when I got an e-mail from my dear friend, Stacey, who is going to be your freind, Sofia Bao's new mommy. Stacey had written something very funny in her e-mail and I started laughing, and forgetting I had my new helmet on (with a visor I wasn't used to) dropped my head forward and BONKED it on the computer! Matthew, Mary Alice and Daddy all thought I was very weird, so we decided to take a picture for you to see it. I can show you when I get there, in 13 days! Well, 12 really, if you don't count today, because it's almost over anyway.

I hope you are ready for us to come. We are sooooo super busy trying to get all of our little (and big projects) done before you get here. Yesterday, I took my bike for a tune up, and today we bought a new 3rd wheel trailer for you to ride on Daddy's bike so we can all ride together. Daddy put up a mirror on your bedroom door so you could see how beautiful you are! Jasmine, our cat, has been curled up on your rocking chair every day, waiting for you.

Our dining room table is piled high with things we are gathering to bring to China. It is getting very exciting.

Matthew is working hard at his school leading a fundraiser for your Chaoyang sisters and brothers. He is so proud of his new sister!

I hope you are well and happy, Sweet Ling.

Love, Mama

15 Days to China!

Cribs for Chaoyang!

We are teaming together with the Visiting Orphans Chaoyang Mission Group to raise money to buy new cribs for the Children of Chaoyang Social Welfare Institute. We are hoping to raise enough to sponsor 2-4 cribs at $150 each. As you can see in the photo above, taken July 2007, the cribs they have now are very old, peeling and battered, and likely painted with lead-based paint. Some of the cribs do not have mattresses and lack proper bedding. The mission group, led by my friend, Elizabeth, will be purchasing the cribs, bedding and some toys in Beijing in July, then going to Chaoyang and setting up the cribs for the Children. The group will take photos of the kids in their new cribs so we can see them in use!

If you are interested in donating to this cause, you may contact me for more info in the comments section or visit the Visting Orphans Chaoyang Blog. People who know me personally are welcome to e-mail or call.

Megan Ling says "Xie Xie Ni!" Thank you!

16 Days!!!!

The kids have a ball making these!

Seventeen Days to China!

18 Days and Counting

There isn't really much to report, except that the kids are making these "countdown" markers for the blog. They are very excited about them and are enjoying finding new ways to express the number of days remaining. This one has the "Mole Sisters" in the bottom corner. Mary Alice could not get them any bigger without blurring them. They are very cute, but the small picture does not do them justice.

We have finalized our flights, hotels and even our seat assignments! Our dining room table is piled high with "possible" and "essential" items that we will need for China. We have been persistently finishing projects that have eluded completion for a LONG time. Eric's "honey-do" list was a mile long on Saturday, and mid-day Matthew jokingly asked him if his list was a half mile long now. Eric is such a great husband. His patience with me is amazing.

I also wanted to share with anyone who might need this info, that I have Peanut Allergy Alert Cards in Chinese and English for us to use for Matthew's peanut allergy. I will be happy to e-mail them to anyone who might need this info for their trip. I also have them for shellfish.

21!!!!!!!!!!

22!!!!!!!!

22!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4/16/08 23 Days to China!!!

4/15/08 100 Wishes Quilt

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China (where Ling is from) to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a piece of fabric with a wish for the baby. Some of the fabric goes into the quilt for the baby, and a small piece can go into a memory book with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. I plan on gathering the pieces now and making it with Ling in a few years. If you want to see a beautifully done, completed 100 Wishes Quilt, Go to Baby Grace King. It's lovely.

4/14/08 A Welcome Surprise!

As it turns out, we are traveling a week earlier than previously thought. Our Consulate Appointment was confirmed for the 21st of May, which means that we have to be in the Liaoning Province, where Ling lives, the week before. Our "Gotcha Day", the day we finally meet Ling, is to be either on May 11th (Mother's Day) or Monday, May 12th. She will be with us from that day forward, forever. The following days will be spent filling out paperwork and completing interviews, along with more waiting, shopping and sight seeing.

For those of you that know me (as a highly productive and goal directed person) you would be surprised at how non-productive I have been the last few days since we have heard our travel news. I am absolutely numb (with joy) and overwhelmed with all the emotion. We had to make decisions about our airline tickets, the number of rooms we wanted in China, and how Marty & Cindy (my brother and sister-in-law) will join us in Province. It is a complex process with so many things to think about. Eric has actually done all of the travel arrangements and I am still the one that's exhausted. I have been managing to put dinner on the table and keep the house in some semblance of order.

I received an unexpected call from our agency today with new measurements for Ling. She is 37.8 inches tall and weighs 33 lbs. Her foot length is 5.71", but I have no idea what shoe size that translates to. I will wait to see her to buy her new clothes and shoes. There is a big Wal-Mart in Shenyang where we will go for supplies and such (sorry folks out there who are Anti-WM-you know who you are :)) but that's pretty much the main place to go. Mary Alice insisted that I allow Ling to pick out her own toothbrush at WM. She said that if she were coming from China, that's what she would want.

I have been spending a great deal of time reading other people's blogs who have recently been to China like Somewhere In the Sun or are even in China right now, like A Lady Blog, who just received her daughter today. These people are amazing and reading about them is both inspiring and awesome. I have learned so much from them, although keeping it organized and retrievable for later is very difficult. I know that sounds odd, given that I run a professional organizing business, but for some reason all of this info is so random and in little pieces, it just doesn't fit together. For example, one blogger suggested to bring your own chopsticks (for cleanliness), another said they all needed to have bathing caps for the pool, and another said we need to use a certain website address to view other blogs while in China. All of this is wonderful, useful info, but certainly overwhelming to process. I am just writing list after list and hoping it all comes together.

Thank goodness the kids are on Spring Vacation this week, as I don't have to worry about anything related to school work!!!

Did I mention that we are leaving for China in 24 days????

4/10/08 Finally! We have Travel Approval!!

It’s here!!! Our long awaited TA has finally arrived! That means that we are going to China! We are planning to travel with Stacey and John from New Jersey, who are adopting from the same orphanage (Chaoyang SWI) and are also with Great Wall China Adoption, and my brother, Marty and his wife, Cindy who are coming with us for physical and emotional support.

We will now wait for the confirmation of our American Consulate Appointment in Guangzhou (to get Ling’s visa to enter the USA) before we secure our plane tickets. We’re aiming for travel around May 15th!

I am so relieved! Can you believe that?? Eric is busy searching out Frequent Flyer miles ticket and options!

No TA yet, but here's a story.....

Dear Ling,

Here is the story about why we decided to adopt, and how we came to find you.

Daddy and I felt we wanted to have a third child. Approaching my 39^th bday, I felt woozy with the thought of another pregnancy and breastfeeding and newborn sleepless nights….. One day, I woke up with the urge to explore adoption. I talked with Daddy, and he was willing to learn more about it, so in my usual fashion, I started reading books. In four days I had read five books and “knew” that we were meant to adopt from China. So we started the process, and then “the wait”. Early on, I had looked at Waiting Child lists, which are lists of available children who are either older and/or have special needs, but the lists gave me way too much anxiety, so I stopped for a LONG time. Then Great Wall (our agency) stopped putting the pictures of the children on the lists and without that, it was too scary and daunting. Then we went to the Great Wall conference in Tampa in November 2007. I met a woman there who was just about to travel to her daughter who was 4 ½ and was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus. She explained what it was and I found it amazing that she was able to deal with all of that (as well as her 11 year old autistic son).Through her experience, she gave me courage and inspiration and I thought "maybe I could do that, too". I went to a Waiting Child session at the conference and learned more about the program.

Shortly after that we had to renew our home study because our I-171H was going to expire (we had been waiting 18 months at that point). I talked with Daddy (who is a such a great guy) and he agreed to allow me to follow my heart and expand the language of our update to include mild special needs as well as a healthy child. After the final copy of the update was delivered, and I read it, I was very stuck on the fact that it stated ages 0-2 years old. Again, I told Daddy that I felt the need to change that, and asked if he minded if I called our agency and asked them to expand it to age 6, which they did and I had it in my hand by the end of that day.

About two weeks later, I received a link to a new Waiting Child list. I was interested because one had not been posted in months, and I had recently felt like looking again. As usual, after I opened it, it filled me with anxiety, so I deleted it. A few days later I got the same link again, and again I deleted it! The weekend went by and the next week I felt I was supposed to look at it again. I pulled it out of the delete box and clicked, and found you, 3 ½ year old Ling! I knew at that moment that you were my child. I don’t know if I just didn’t see you before or if you had been added to the list since I had looked last, but there you were. I was applying for more info before I could even think about it. It was scary, because you was on a “shared agency list” and your file could not be locked until we had reviewed all of your medical records, made the final decision and gotten our Letter of Intent accepted by the China Center for Adoption Affairs. But it all worked out and we had our Letter of Acceptance on Daddy's birthday a day or so later. Since then, we have fallen in love with you, little sweetheart and cannot wait to see you and hold you. What on earth is taking so long??