100 Wishes Quilt

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 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 goes 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. 

We collected these squares before we traveled to adopt Megan, and this summer Mary Alice and I cut and sewed them all together. We added some solid squares, which gave us enough fabric to make two matching quilts, one for Megan and one for Shanna. Eric's mother then quilted and backed them. Mary Alice suggested we add a red thread around the edge. There is an ancient Chinese belief which states that there is an invisible red thread that connects each of us to all of the individuals who have been, currently are, and will in the future be important to us in our lives. This red thread can stretch, twist, and bend… but will never break. Marion added a bow in the corner to represent the adoption. 

A Wonderful Birthday Gift

Linda, about 6 months old, 1968

I will celebrate my 43rd birthday in a very special way. On November 29th our family will  be in China, meeting our nine year old daughter, Shan AnShuang. To say we are all excited is such an understatement.  The truth is; my brain is mush. We just found out Monday that our official Notice of Coming to China, or Travel Approval (TA) was received by our agency. We found out Tuesday that our Consulate Appointment was confirmed for 12/8, which means we are leaving for China NEXT WEEK!!! Friday, 11/26!!!! and arriving in Guangzhou on 11/27. We will have one day to rest from jet lag (Eric's good idea) and then meet Shanna on Monday. Our family of 5, plus Gramma Marion are all going.

Here is a map of China. Guangzhou is in the South, near Hong Kong. We fly from Newark to Beijing, then to Guangzhou (pronouced Gwan-joe). For those of you who followed Megan's adoption in 2008, we traveled then to Shenyang, in the Northeast, by North Korea.

View Larger Map

I think Shanna will be brought to Guangzhou on Sunday, as it is about a 6 hour drive by van. She lives in Shantou.

View Larger Map

Can you imagine her feelings right now??

Hope, apprehension, wonder, fear, excitement, confusion, curiosity.

Everything we are feeling and more.

Because my last letter to her was in September, I wanted to connect with her one more time before we arrive, so that she has happy thoughts in her mind as she travels that long van ride, so I sent her a cake and a translated letter, through a package service in China, called Ladybugsnlove. 

Here is what I wrote:

Dear AnShaung,

We are all coming to China soon; mom, dad, older brother, older sister, younger sister and grandmother and we are so excited to meet you. Your younger sister is especially happy to share her room. 

We have everything all ready for you. It won’t be long, now. We are hoping that we will be there by the end of November.

We are sending you a cake to share with your friends and celebrate your life together. By giving this party to them, you can thank all of your friends and nannies for the good care and love you received from them.

We will see you soon. 

Love, Mama

So what next?? Well, I have a list a mile long. I was feeling so ready, and now!! Well, NOW I have to kick into high gear. Even though my brain is mush. Labor has begun.......stay tuned!!

I Just Love My Girls

Just sitting here with dinner ready to serve, but delaying it a bit as the girls are in the basement playing dolls. I can hear them laughing and talking, and singing a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". I just love my girls and can't wait until there is one more.

October Activities

Gosh, things are busy here. We go from one activity to the next, with never a dull moment, and in between it all, I am constantly thinking about Shanna, how she is, what she is doing, what she is thinking, how she would fit in to each and every activity that we do, and of course, when will we meet her! I am pricing tickets to China on a daily basis, praying that the prices will not go up too much, as we cannot purchase our tickets until we have our official Travel Approval from the Chinese Government and our Consulate Appointment date to get her visa.

I am pretty sure that we will get our approval soon, in time for travel right after Thanksgiving.

These are the cutest little pumpkins that Mary Alice made.

Snuggle and Reading Time

This is a recent photo of Sophia (Bao Bao), Megan's dear friend from Chaoyang. Sofia is now 5 years old, and showing off her new room!

Megan & Madeline, her friend from the bus!

 

I have no idea why this video has music.

Somehow Youtube added it and I don't know how to get rid of it! :)

Megan at Madeline's Birthday Party

Megan and Mary Florence- her friend from Soccer!

Way to go, Alex (nephew). Graduation from College!

3 Generations

Happy Birthday, Mary Alice!

Last week we celebrated Mary Alice's 12th birthday. Time flies so fast.

Abby (left) and Mary Alice (right) in 2002, age 3

The Beautiful Birthday Girl Now!

She had a small party with a few close friends and had a separate sleepover with her best buddies from church. She had a good time with all. Here are some highlights. Unfortunately, I missed out on taking photos from the sleepover. Too bad, but maybe next time.

Gorgeous Girlfriends

Winking Girls

Creations: The Rock Family

Iron on Beads

Requires time and patience to do

Cake made by Mom

Special Cake from Dr. Chen. It says "Happy Birthday" in Chinese!

I-800 Approved 9/24!

One step closer!!

We expect a November travel plan!!!!

September Letter to Shanna, delivered by another family recently adopting

2010年9月

September 2010

Dear Shanna ( 亲爱的祥娜  )  汕安爽,

你好吗？我们认为你的每一天。你的卧室都为你准备好。妹妹很高兴能够分享。你看大姐姐，与妹妹读书吗？

How are you? We think of you every day. Your bedroom is all ready for you. Younger sister is very excited to share. Do you see older sister, reading to younger sister?

这是在您的卧室墙上的画。我们有一个艺术家用油漆把妹妹，姐姐，哥哥你的图片。您是在左侧的蓝色衣服。

This is a picture on the wall of your bedroom. We had an artist paint you into the picture with younger sister, older sister, and older brother. You are on the left side in the blue dress.

下面是我们的暑假一些照片。

Here are some photos of our summer vacation.

好友 Friends

家庭（父亲的弟弟）
Family (father’s younger brother)

这是我的哥哥和姐姐。

This is my older brother and older sister.

我们喜欢看到你的图片打开你的礼物。.你看起来可爱戴着墨镜.

我很高兴的衣服是适合您的尺寸。你很美丽，尤其是当你微笑。

We loved seeing the pictures of you opening your gifts. You look cute wearing sunglasses.

I am glad the clothes are the right size for you. You are very beautiful, especially when you smile.

我们感谢善良的人们谁给你带来这些笔记。我们希望您了解我们的中国。

我们使用计算机翻译。我们不能等待，以满足你。

我们爱你，妈妈和爸爸。

We thank kind people who bring these notes to you. We hope you understand our Chinese.

We use computer to translate. We cannot wait to meet you.

We love you, Mom and Dad.

Catalano Picnic

The whole clan, blocking the amazing flowers that Bill and Janis grow all over their property, not to mention the incredible produce, of which we went home with 2 grocery bags, including zucchini, grapes, eggplant, pears, apples, gourds and  bouquets of Dinner Plate Dahlias!! Thank you!!

This was really cute, but of course once I noticed and brought out the camera, Megan got very shy and wouldn't look. She had so much fun pulling Shelly around and playing with her. Thanks Shelly for all your patient attention!

Finally, she did pose, with a beautiful and natural smile.

Matthew's photo. Loves to take pictures of flowers. Someday I will post a slide show of his work.

Full Swing

September is in full swing. Open houses, homework, new clothes needed at the last minute, car repairs, soccer games, minor medical/dental issues, Eric traveling for work. You name it- we're doing it. Yet, all is going well. Everyone is adjusting well to new schedules, earlier bedtimes, 6:00 wake up times (Megan is the only one who hops out of bed well before she needs to),  and generally remembering what is needed to get out the door in the morning. We are in a waiting pattern now with the adoption- nothing to do but wait for others to do their work.

Me with the Fed Ex man, posing with my LOA, just delivered.

The official LOA

Baskets created by Mary Alice and her friends

Matthew's math homework. Glad it's not me.

We Have Our LOA!

I woke up this morning to find a very exciting e-mail from our agency that says our official Letter of Acceptance (LOA) is on its way from China and will arrive very soon. This is the final step that will allow us to accept the referral of Shanna and send it off to our government to process her immigration to the US paperwork. China will continue to process paperwork on their end and issue a Travel Approval in about 4-6 weeks. After that, we can make our arrangements to go to China. We are not sure when we can travel but at this point are anticipating around early December.