Sophia's quilt

I finished the quilt for Sophia's crib today, perfect timing!! I am really pleased with the way it turned out.

Nick's 19th Birthday

Today we went to New Jersey to take Nick out to lunch for his 19th birthday. We had a nice afternoon. Hard to believe Steve has a 19 year old son, 10 year old daughter and will have a 9 month old daughter next week.

We are leaving August 9th

Things are really moving fast. We got our travel approval onTuesday and Thursday found out that we have our consulate appointment on August 22, which means we leave on August 9th. We will meet Sophia on August 14th.

We will be coming on on August 24, if we can get a flight back that day. It seems that everyone is leaving China on August 24th. We are looking into flight options and should have everything set for our trip to and from China today. Once we are in China our agency takes care of everything. They will send us our itinerary on Monday.

We leave in FIVE days.

We got our TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!

Our agency emailed us shortly after 1 PM today, August 1. They just got our travel approval. They have emailed the US Consulate for an appointment. We should know our travel dates tomorrow or Thursday. I am thrilled beyond words. Soon this wait will be over and we will have our daughter in our arms!!!!

Sophia's storybook

On Sunday Diana, Ariel and I had a scrapbooking day. We started at 9 AM and finished up about twelve hours later. I made a story book for Sophia. I used some lifebook ideas I have found and created a very simple story to read to her. I will make a lifebook with more details as she gets a little older. For now this is her story. I will add pictures that we take in China to complete the book. I am very pleased with the way it came out.

Our Last WAITING Parents Meeting!!!

Last week we went to our last waiting parents meeting. I have been going to these almost every month. It has been a wonderful support and resource. It is held at the adoption agency. The coordinator of the China program brings different people in to talk. Mostly the guest have been parents who have recently adopted. They bring their daughters and talk about the entire experience. It is always good to see how well the children are doing and to hear about the whole adoption process.

We brought Sophia's picture to show everyone. We also brought the book that Steve and I made for the care package. Actually I should not take much credit on this book. I copied the pictures for it and then Steve did all the work. He found the Chinese characters for mom, dad, big sister, big brother, dogs and cats and labeled each picture. It came out great.

It was nice to be there at the waiting parents meeting knowing this was our last meeting. I hope to some day go back to those meetings as the invited guests with Sophia. These meetings were a great help for me. I hope that I may have the opportunity to help others.

The high has not worn off

Many people have told us that the waiting after the referral is actually worse than the wait before you see your child's face. Both Steve and I were talking last night and agreed that wasn't the case yet. Perhaps the high of seeing Sophia's sweet, round face has not worn off yet. Maybe it is because we are busying making a book to send her in a care package we hope to mail to China this week. Maybe it is because we are getting things ready for the trip such as picking out the clothes we will bring for the baby, buying hairbows, and buying all the necessary "stuff" (advil, saline spray, sunscreen, etc) to bring on our trip. Whatever the reason, we are not complaining!!!!

We hope that our travel approval comes quickly. Once it does the agency will get our consulate appointment and we will know when we will be in China. I am hoping that we will have our travel approval in two weeks and travel by August 14th. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Anne

Introducing Sophia LiHua

We are very pleased to announce our daughter Sophia you. She was born on November 1, 2005. Her given name is Qian Li Hua. Qian is where she is from. Li means pretty and Hua means flower. We are thrilled to find out she has been in foster care. She obviously is well fed! She weighed 18 pounds and was 27 inches long on April 27. She is described as quiet girl and a deep sleeper. She holds her head up while lying on her stomach, rolls, grasps for a toy near her hand, and sits alone. She has a ready smile and laughs aloud. She is fond of music, TV and her favorite toy is a bell.

We are still waiting on the full referral summary to be translated. Check back for that update. We are planning on updating this blog with pictures and stories even while we are in China. We hope to travel mid to late August to bring Sophia home.

The photos are also posted on www.flickr.com/photos/annesteve

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!

In just a few hours we will get our referral. The arrived in the US yesterday afternoon and were translated last night. We are able to go to the office today after 1 Pm to pick up the referrals. If I understand it right all the important information will be translated today and then we will get the entire translated referral next week. Today is the day we first see her face!!! The flood of emotions is already overwhelming.

Finally some news!!!

On Wednesday, June 28 I got a call from Sandy. I was still interpreting so I could not answer my phone but I did peak at it mid-sentence and saw the agencies number. I could hardly concentrate. Not two minutes later Steve called me 4 times in a row. I knew this was some good news but could not get to the phone for 10 minutes. I don't know how I was able to finish the job but I did manage. Once I called Steve back he told me that Sandy contacted him to let us know that referrals were in the mail and should arrive in the US on Thursday and we may get them on Saturday. I was thrilled.

Fast forward to Thursday when we get an email from Sandy stating the referrals had not arrived yet. She called to check in and told us it would really be happening very soon.

On Friday at 1:4o I was interpreting again. Sandy calls. I missed the call. I couldn't get out a thought. Thank goodness I was able to finish up in about two minutes and call Sandy back. She told me that referrals were not yet in but Xiumin called from China with some information. We are going to Sichuan to meet our daughter. She was born in November and is residing at the Chongqing Social Work Institute. This all feels surreal. Our referral paperwork has not arrived yet so we don't know any more details but we will hear very soon. Sandy is hoping that they arrive today and can be translated tonight. If so we will pick up the referrals (and a picture of Sophia!!!!!!) on Saturday afternoon. If not we will have to wait until Monday. I can't believe this is all happening. We are all overjoyed. Sichuan is in Southwest China. It is beautiful. It is also the home of the Giant Panda Reserve. We all can't wait to travel to see this beautiful country and to bring Sophia home.

Anne

Too Good to be True?

First thing this morning I checked the CCAA website and found that they have matched families with paperwork sent to their office before June 28, 2005. While our agency never seems to get the referrals as quick as all the other larger agencies get them this COULD mean our referrals are on their way soon. I do hope we will see Sophia's face before the end of this month.

June 20th and still no word!!

The projected referral dates of June 5th or June 12th given at our travel meeting have come and gone without a referral. Our agency has backed up those dates to either late in the week of June 12th or during the week of June 19th but I don't feel that will pan out. It seems there is no rhyme or reason behind this referral pattern and everyone is just making best guesses.

Katie and I went to a waiting parent's meeting last night. There were two girls there, one adopted a year ago and another adopted 2 months ago. Katie was a natural. She got on the floor and played with both kids. She brought a ball which was a big hit. She helped the youngest hold on to a baby doll stroller and walk across the room. She was told by the 21 months old mother that she is going to be a great big sister and it is clear that she will be.

An adoption video

An adoption video
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/16379

Good Luck

I’m SO excited! I’ve recently been told that I might go to China with Dad & Anne!!!!
Sure, the plane ride (20 hours, approximately) will be long, but meeting my sister is all I care about. I hope the heat won’t affect us too much, though. Hopefully, we’ll get to climb the great wall, see some temples, and statues. Also, yesterday I saw a bunch of ladybugs. A couple of them crawled on me! We even have picture proof. With the adoption from China, ladybugs are signs of good luck! YAY!!!
-Katie

The Rollercoaster Ride

I sent a email to my agency asking if they thought we would get our referrals in the beginning of June. They told me that they know group 28 (our group of two families) and group 29 are together. I am not sure what that means. Our log in date was June 13 which means we would get our referrals with this bunch. Group 29 has a June 17 log in date which means they get their referrals in the next batch.... next month (beginning of July.)

Sandy thinks we are not in this batch but in the next one. However, she still expects us to get our referrals around the second week in June. It was my understanding that the CCAA only matched once a month, towards the end of each month. What a downer. If we do not get our referral until the beginning of July we will not travel until mid to late August. I sure hope she is right about the referral coming mid June. I am going out of my mind!!!!!

Could it be?????????

The website has changed!!!!!!!! Does this mean we have been matched??
Our documents were registered (logged in) on June 13, 2005. I am trying not to get too excited seeing referrals don't always seem to match what the CCAA website states. The families that got their referrals the beginning of May should have received their the beginning of April according to the website ........ but then other groups in the past got them right on time. I am besides myself. I am so excited but trying to be realistic. The CCAA should be starting to mail out referrals at the end of the week. This may mean we will learn about Sophia at the beginning of June.

I can't even think straight right now. Please pray that we will get our referral soon.

Travel Meeting!!

We finally had our travel meeting on May 12th. It was great to see Heather and Todd, the couple we will be traveling with and a few other couples who may join us in China. Sandy explained the whole process from referral to bringing Sophie home. She told us that she hopes that we will have our referral in the beginning of June, maybe June 5th or 12th. She will call letting us know that referrals have arrived. We will go to the office the next day after the documents have been translated. We will get three pictures of the baby and her medical information. Hard to believe that this is going to happen.

We then will wait about 4-6 weeks for travel approval. Once we get our travel approval we have to be ready to go seeing once we get our Consulate appointment we will travel. We might have two weeks from our travel approval to departure. She thinks we will be traveling at the end of July. Seeing Katie will be with us during the summer she will be traveling with us to China. Flights are very expensive during the summer so Steve and I are trying to work a little extra to come up with the extra money. We are going to be checking into adoption fares with the major airlines soon.

We were told what we would be doing in China and what to expect in terms of transitioning with the baby. We will be in Beijing for three days, travel to the place where Sophie is and then end up in Guangdong. We were told it will be very HOT in China. Many places will not have air conditioning. Thank goodness all our hotel rooms will have AC. We were told about bonding and that sometimes the baby will bond with one parent (the chosen one) and cry anytime the other parent comes near. Sandy said this is normal but doesn't last long. I certainly hope I am not the unchosen one.

We will need to have our homestudy updated and our fingerprints re-done seeing both have expired. This whole process is overwhelming but we are getting closer. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I am really hoping to be included in the next referral batch that goes out the end of this month. If not, I am not sure what I am going to do.

Even the animals are waiting for Sophie to come home

Gir (on left) and Kaegogi (on right) are not unlike us. They are both longing for the day that Sophie comes home. They are in the window, on the look out. Should be soon, right?

Mother's Day

When this all started I had hoped we would have Sophia home by Mother's Day. I guess nothing goes as planned once children are involved! Katie gave me the beautiful flowers. Steve gave me a great Mother's Day card (with a note from Sophia) and T-shirt for Sophia to wear once we get her. It was a beautiful Mother's Day.

Travel Meeting Scheduled

On April 10th we received an email from our agency saying it was time to schedule our travel meeting. The travel meeting will address what to expect during the trip, how to facilitate bonding, what will happen each day while in China , how to make travel arrangements for our trip, discuss paperwork to bring/do ahead, shots, packing tips, etc. The agency suggested several days and asked all the families which one was best. May 12th was selected which unfortunately is one of the worst days of the year to take off with the board of trustee's meeting and graduation. Thankfully, my boss was supportive when I told her I would need off that day.

I am looking forward to this meeting because it will answer lots of questions but also mean we are one step closer to Sophia. The agency expects that we will get our referral late May or early to mid June. Pray for the end of May date. This waiting is incredibly hard.

Anne