A Di Di for Avery

Christmas Card 2010

2010-12-07T11:27:00.001-07:00

Holiday Berries Christmas 5x7 folded card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Long Overdue Update

2008-12-24T07:48:00.001-07:00

Cai is doing very well. It’s amazing how much English he speaks already. He is learning new words everyday and is now speaking English in sentences. I wish there was a way we could keep his Chinese too.
Cai and his sister, Avery, are now good buddies. They still fight, but they play together just as much. Their favorite is to take all the cushions off the couch and build a fort. They bring a bunch of toys in there and play. They also ask their Dad to play monster so they can hide in the fort. The other night Cai and I were playing on his bed and I was hiding under the covers. He decided to be a monster and made the funniest “scary” face and roared at me. I almost died laughing.
Cai loves baby dolls. He loves to carry them around or push in a stroller. He is also really into zebras, Shamu, and books. We took the kids to Sea World in October and since then, Cai just loves Shamu. Every night, he sleeps with Shamu, 2 zebras and his favorite baby doll.
Cai is such a happy boy. Even if he is upset or mad about something, it doesn’t take much to turn his frown into a smile. I think it’s just his nature to laugh and be happy. He loves to snuggle. He’ll pat the seat next to him, and say “I want to snuggle, Mama”. Then he’ll get as close as possible, pop his thumb in his mouth and snuggle away. I love it. I tell him I love him every day and every night and he always says it back to me. A couple nights ago he came up to me and said it first. It was so sweet.
The little things give him so much joy. When he sees the snow falling, he gets so excited and yells, “Snow Mama! Snow!” If he finds a zebra in a book, he can’t wait to show someone. We read “Goodnight, Gorilla” all the time and he loves finding the banana on each page.
Music and dancing… this boy loves to dance. Any time he hears music that strikes his fancy, he flings his arms in the air and starts moving to the music. He also has a good head bob going.
Cai started school when I went back to work. Although he still cries at drop-off, it only lasts a few minutes. He makes so many neat art projects at school, which he is so proud of. Actually, he is so proud to go to school in general. Every night when we first see each other, he proudly announces, “I went to school!” He even tells me that when I am picking him up from school. He and Avery both go to Primrose. They are in different classrooms, so I don’t’ think they get to see each other much during the day. His teachers say he is friendly and happy every day.
We were expecting a rough transition, and it has not been that at all! We are so thankful that we have the opportunity to be Cai’s parents. He is a joy.

Going Private

2008-12-02T08:58:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure I'm going to keep this blog going -- but if you wan't access to it while I decide, shoot me an email or comment and I'll add you to the list. I'll probably go private next week.

Red Couch Photos

2008-09-30T10:56:00.003-06:00

Cai started out happy, but by the end of the "photo session", he was very unhappy. From these pictures, he has been nicknamed "the chairman". The resemblence is quite strong. Hehe.

Going Home

2008-09-19T04:49:00.000-06:00

We leave for home tomorrow. I have some red couch etc photos to upload... will try to do that during our layover in Seoul tomorrow. We arrive in LA on Saturday night and spend the night there and fly home to Denver early Sunday morning.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and emails -- sorry we haven't had a chance to reply to everyone.

We can't wait to get home and get back to real life. It's been an awesome trip -- but very exhausting.

I will do my best to do a real update tomorrow.

Here's a picture to tide you over.

Medical Exam

2008-09-16T21:19:00.006-06:00

Yesterday (Tuesday) Cai had his medical exam which allows him to get a Visa to enter the US. It went fine, except he cried when any doctor approached him.

Visa Photo

We also have taken the kids to the pool at the White Swan a couple times. At first, Cai was terrified to get his face wet. If he got splashed, he wasn't happy at all. By the time we left the pool, we was jumping from the side of the pool to Dave. He seems to really love the water now.

In the Playroom at the White Swan

Chen House

2008-09-14T20:56:00.000-06:00

After the Buddhist Temple, we visited the Chen House. All the carvings on the building were amazing.

Our GZ Guide, Grace, with the kids

Starting to understand why the beds in China are so hard.... check out the porcelin pillows they used back in the day.

Cai and Avery are still fighting like cats and dogs. Although they are also starting to play together too. They both have a hard time sharing, so I guess it will just take time.

Cai is not used to hearing the word NO or being told NO. He throws tantrums all the time when he doesn't get what he wants. Funny though, he must remove his shoes before he can begin the tantrum in earnest. He must've been spoiled at the orphanage, which is better than being neglected. So he is challenging us a lot. He is also very stubborn. He is still learning that we are in charge and we set the rules. He is very affectionate and likes to hold hands and snuggle. He is giving us kisses when we ask for them.

The language barrier is not a big deal. He is already saying some things in English and understands many things I say to him. (Like get your shoes, put on your shoes, throw this in the trash). He uses his right hand all the time and people barely seem to notice his little hand.

Avery is very ready to come home and to see her dogs and her friends. She is very excited to go back to school. Actually, we are all ready to come home. Living for 3 weeks in hotel rooms is tough. And eating out 3 meals a day with 2 toddlers is not too much fun. We are looking forward to all the comforts of home.

Buddhist Temple

2008-09-14T20:47:00.000-06:00

After we finally arrived in GZ, we settled into our hotel room and then went to Lucy's for dinner with another couple and their girl. We had hamburgers, but by my 4th bite, something tasted off and I stopped eating.

The next morning we went to the Buddhist Temple. It was pretty cool. Since it is the Moon Festival Holiday here, it was super crowded and busy.

Our last day in ZZ

2008-09-14T16:37:00.002-06:00

Our last day in ZZ was filled with drama and stress. Our bus driver who was supposed to take us to the airport showed up about 30 minutes late. So the whole way to the airport, our rep was telling us we had to really hurry etc. She still had to go buy all the newly adopted kids airplane tickets so we were in charge of luggage. She collected all our passports and we were all ready to roll. We were less than 5 minutes from the airport and all of a sudden I saw this moped go flying. This old man carrying vegetables on his moped had hit our bus. Our bus driver had changed lanes to avoid him, but the old man was coming right at us. We were on quite a busy street (maybe a highway?) and we couldn't understand why he didn't see the bus. Well, I'm sure you can imagine the scene... moped vs. bus. Yisha and the bus driver jumped out and ran back to check on the old man. And Dave soon followed. The guy couldn't get up, but he was OK. Dave thinks he probably broke some bones. A few minutes after the accident, a police car drove by, slowed down to look, and kept on driving. I guess about 5 police cars drove by without stopping. Finally a ambulance showed up and took the guy to the hospital. By this time, we knew we had missed our flight. All these passerbys who had stopped were yelling at Yisha and getting in her face. I imagine she was telling them that is wasn't the bus driver's fault; the moped had hit us.
Another bus came for us and we quickly transferred all our luggage and children to the new bus. Yisha told us she had called the airline and they were holding the plane for us but we had to hustle. Of course, all the security people decided to give us a hard time and were inspecting every piece of carry on luggage. One lady was actually smelling my Benadryl cream and my chapstick.
We finally made it through security and literally had to run to our gate. I was carrying Cai and pulling a carryon. Not fun. By the time we made it on the plane, I was a sweaty mess. But we made it out of ZZ and into Guangzhou. Our GZ rep talked to Yisha who reported the old man on the moped was not seriously injured.

Avery just woke up and is sitting on my lap, so I'll tell you about GZ in my next post.

Picutres from the Park

2008-09-12T14:57:00.010-06:00

I finally uploaded the pictures we took in the park (Thursday). We call it DNA park, but I'm sure it has a proper Chinese Name. Besides the Henan Musuem, this is the only other beauty I've seen in the city.

We found a little kid's play area and Avery and Cai had fun putting on a "Circus Show" for us. And all the curious Chinese parents in the park.

The Tangled Trees

Big Sister

This is our last post from ZZ. Our flight leaves about 10:30 AM for Guangzhou. I have been hearing that it is very hot and humid there. But a change of scenery is very welcome.

Squatty Potty

2008-09-12T09:13:00.005-06:00

Friday, Sept 12

I have tried to avoid using the squatty potty as much as possible. Usually, the public restrooms have at least 1 toilet for us westerners who are used to sitting. Well, today both Avery and I had to go and we were too far from the hotel to go back. And we were in a fancy department store, so I thought we could find a toilet. No such luck. As I was helping Avery get situated over the potty hole, my sunglasses that had been on top of my head fell off and landed in the pit. Avery wanted me to get them out. Heh, not even. So she peed on them. And then I peed on them and also on my leg. I don't know how it's done. Obviously, I need to practice ... or just stick to what I know.

This picture was taken before Avery and I peed on them. Would you have dug them out?

And my damp leg.

Street scenes in ZZ

2008-09-12T09:00:00.004-06:00

Here are some daily sights we see here:

Avery and Cai sharing the stroller. Cai is loving it, Avery is not.

Cai's first McDonalds experience.

We didn't end up going to Cai's orphanage. It is a 3 hour car ride each way. And both the kids have the cha cha chas. Not good timeing to be spending at least 6 hours driving to the countryside.

Bullets and visiting Zhengzhou

2008-09-11T16:47:00.006-06:00

* SPEECH: The language difference is not a big issue with Cai. We only know about 10 phrases in Chinese and he knows no English. But it is not a problem. He definitely lets us know what he wants and lets us know what he doesn't want. He is mimicking our speech already and I wouldn't be surprised to hear his own first English word soon.

*ATTACHMENT: Cai is attaching well to both of us. He loves to run and give my legs a big hug, calling me Mama while running towards me. He holds his arms up to be picked up. If he is upset he lets us hold and comfort him. He is always reaching out to hold my hand when we are walking. He lets us give him kisses, but we are still waiting for him to give us kisses. He is doing very well and isn't showing any worrisome signs.

*TANTRUMS: Cai usually throws a tantrum only when food or drink is removed from him. He also got mad when we put the DVD player away because Avery and Cai were fighting over it. His tantrums don't last very long. He will let us pick him up and soothe him. It's pretty easy to distract him with a toy or a book. I think that as he realizes that there will always be plenty of food and drink, he won't be so concerned about them.

Zhengzhou
For those traveling to Zhengzhou soon, be prepared. We are so bored. There is a lot of downtime with nothing to do. We’ve spent so many hours hanging out in the hallways of our hotel with the other families and letting the kids play. Which is great, but after awhile, that gets old too.
On our last trip to China, we were in Chongqing. We had fun stuff to do every day. I don’t remember ever being bored.

Also, we are not going to visit the Luoyang orphanage. It is a 3 hour drive each way. And both kids have the cha cha chas. I am disappointed not be able to go, but I think it's better this way. A 6 hour drive with 2 very active kids who frequently need to use the restroom just sounds like an awful idea.

Henan Musuem Photos:

Zhengzhou is very dirty, polluted and industrial. There are few tourist attractions. We did visit the Henan Museum one afternoon, which was cool. Yesterday, it finally stopped raining and we walked to the park. (If you are staying at the Crowne Palace, walk out of hotel, turn left, walk about 10 minutes and the park is on the left). It is a beautiful park with lakes and a kid’s play area (bring socks as they make you take off your shoes).
We brought lots of toys for the kids, but they're already getting bored with them. I finished my book, thankfully I have another to read. The TV has about 5 English Channels, 3 of which are CNN/News Channels.
The Crowne Palace is nice, but not that nice. I would check the price difference with the Sofitel.

I am excited to start packing today and get to Guangzhou tomorrow. I miss home. I really miss our dogs. I am looking forward to getting back to real life, with Cai in it.

Here are some more pictures from our museum trip:

Amy, Andy and Moriah live in Colorado Springs:

A couple videos of this morning

2008-09-10T18:01:00.000-06:00

I think Cai is going to like our doggies (goo goo).

Cai being cute.

Getting to know Cai and Avery update

2008-09-10T09:00:00.002-06:00

Wed, Sept 10

Cai is such a sweet and happy little boy. We are so lucky.

He likes everything to be neat and orderly. If he finds little pieces of paper or food on the floor, he either hands them to me or throws it in the trash. He wipes his mouth after every bite. If he gets his hands dirty, he immediately holds them up for me to wipe.

Cai loves food. He will eat and eat and eat. He gets very upset when we finally take the food away from him. He eats very daintily. Last night at dinner, he was having a hard time with his fork. So he would pick up a piece of meat and carefully place it on his fork. Then he would pick up the fork and try and get it to his mouth. He likes to do things himself and only occasionally would let us help.

Cai is very observant. He has a hard time with sippy cups, but is great with a straw. Luckily I brought a bunch of them. I've been keeping them in the desk drawer and when it's time for a drink, or before we leave for the restaurant, I grab a straw from the drawer. Yesterday, as I was getting some milk from the refrigerator, he went to the drawer and got his own straw. I was very surprised.

Cai is a good sleeper (Thank the Lord)! I have been terrified of having another child who is a horrid sleeper. Cai goes to bed with little drama and sleeps all night. Yesterday he woke up with a big smile. I just hope it continues. Maybe he will rub off on Avery.

Cai loves books.

Cai does not like mashed potatoes. Enough said.

Cai does not like to share. In the orphanage he probably had to protect what was his, or what he was eating/playing with. We need to work on that.

Cai does not like to be barefoot. Probably didn't get to do that at all in the orphanage.

Cai does not like Dave's monkey imitation. It will make him cry, which he rarely does.

Cai doesn't like toothpaste. He doesn't mind the brushing, but add toothpaste to the mix and it's a no go.

Every day we are learning more and more about our little dude. He is so much fun.

Avery is not digging being a big sister. She is super jealous. There are times where she tries to engage Cai in play, but he really just wants to be with us. He won't let her play or touch anything he is playing with. I've tried to explain to Avery that it will take some time for him to learn to share. She also does not like it when Cai gets to ride on Daddy's shoulders. That is her spot and has been for as long as she can remember. Thank goodness Melissa and Shawn brought their kids. Lily is 7 and she and Avery have become fast friends. Jonah is older (17?) and gives Avery "shouldie rides" when Dad's shoulders are occupied.
Yesterday, Cai had his first meltdown (thanks to Dave's monkey imitation). Both Dave and I were trying to comfort him and get him to stop crying. As he stopped crying, I was walking Yisha to the door and I heard someone crying quitely in the bathroom. Poor Avery was sitting on the edge of the bathroom just sobbing her little heart out. It brings tears to my eyes just to think about it. She said she was sad because she misses Mama and I'm always holding Cai. Today we are going to have some special Mama and Avery time and I hope she starts to feel happier soon.
We are going to the museum later today... it will be good to get out of this hotel. We are pretty bored. Thank goodness our travel group is so awesome. We feel like we've made lifelong friends.
I think we are visiting Cai's orphanage on Friday. And then we leave for Guangzhou on Saturday. Yay!

Details about Cai Day

2008-09-08T23:29:00.003-06:00

Our guide had told us that Cai would come to us about 10 AM on Monday. The other 2 families were expecting their girls around 9. Andy and Amy met their girl, Moriah, first. She is just adorable and the youngest of the 3. So we were expecting Sean and Melissa's girl, Emma, to come next. We were hanging out in our room when I heard Melissa call my name and tell me to hurry. I ran out into the hallway and saw 2 nannies, our CCAI rep, Yisha, and Cai coming towards us. I called out to Dave to hurry and come out. Avery ran all the way down the hallway and was the first to reach him.
Cai looked scared and was very quiet. When they put him down, Avery tried to pick him up. He weighs only 5 lbs less than Avery, so she wasn’t too successful. Cai let both Dave and I hold him but seemed dazed and numb.
We brought him into our room with the nannies and Yisha. We signed some guardianship paperwork. The nannies had to deliver 5 other children to their families, so we didn't have a chance to ask any questions then. As soon as they left the room, Cai just lost it. He looked terrified. It just broke my heart. I have never seen such a look of terror on a child. He didn't exactly cry, but was more like moaning and shaking. Dave and my Mom were both trying not to cry. Avery, being a typical 4 year old, thought it was funny and started to laugh. Once I told her that he was really really scared, she stopped.
I tried to give him a cracker with no luck. Then I tried an Oreo. Success! He took the Oreo, started eating it, and relaxed into Dave's arms. By his third Oreo, he was giving us little bites of it and smiling.
Soon after, we were told to bring our money and passports and meet in the hotel lobby. Once we got down there, we realized we were going to get pictures taken and go to the registration office to sign some adoption paperwork. We had no idea we were leaving the hotel when we left our room. We didn't bring diapers, snacks, umbrellas... anything. We were also walking to our destinations. When we left the hotel, it wasn't raining. But it began raining hard on our walk. None of the families were prepared and the only one with an umbrella was our rep, Yisha. By the time we got back, we were all soaked, and not too happy.
Later in the day, we had to go to the notary office and back to the registration office to finalize the adoption. This time we went prepared (although of course it didn't rain on this trip).
So then the adoption was legal and final. Once Cai sets foot on American ground in LAX he will become a US citizen. We also had a chance to ask his nannies some questions about his schedule etc. Cai seemed happy to see them again, but when we left, he wasn’t upset to say goodbye.
It was an exhausting and emotional day. It's a bit overwhelming how fiercely and instantaneously we love this little man. I know this doesn’t happen with all parents when they meet their children, and since it had happened so instantly with Avery, I was scared that I wouldn’t feel this way about Cai. But I do. We do…. So much.

Cai Day

2008-09-08T14:06:00.004-06:00

Cai was brought to our hotel room at about 10 AM Monday morning. He is doing great. He is so happy and giggly. He loves to sing his own made up songs. He is already calling us Mama and Baba (Dad in Chinese). He is a huge eater (we have to watch that). Cai loves to ride on his Daddy's shoulders and laughs the whole time. We are head over heels in love. Here are the photos you've been waiting for. We feel so lucky and honored to be Cai's parents. He is truly a special and brave little man.

I'll post more about Cai later...

Travel Day

2008-09-06T17:56:00.002-06:00

Today (Sunday) it is very rainy and wet. It's also thundering and there is lots of lightning. Our flight to Zhenghzou is supposed to leave at noon. I hope it isn't delayed because of the weather. We are also going by the Bird's Nest and the Olympic Village if we can. Since the Paraolympics started last night, we may not be able to get to the area, but we are going to try.

If we get photos, I'll try to post them later. Otherwise, our next post will probably include Cai! We don't know what time tomorrow, but tomorrow for sure.

We can't wait!

Grammie, Come Down the Wall!

2008-09-06T14:58:00.016-06:00

On Saturday, we went to the Great Wall of China. This is what I personally have been looking forward to seeeing in Beijing. It was a beautiful drive, very green and lush. We stopped at a Jade factory on the way. It was really amazing to watch how they carve the jade.

Once we got the Badaling section of the Great Wall, our guide told us to be back in two hours. We started the trek up the wall. For most of our group, our goal was to go to the first tower. It was pretty hot, and very humid and muggy. All the steps are different sizes, so besides climbing straight up, some steps are short and some are tall. And they are different widths too. So you really have to pay attention, or you'll go tumbling down.

View when climbing up:

Avery and her new buddy, Lily, were like two little monkeys, climbing with hands and feet straight up. Dave was struggling to keep up with them. The rest of us took our time and enjoyed the scenery.

Here comes Grammie. Once at the first tower, Grammie decided to go check out the next one, which didn't look too far away.

Avery and Lily

We hung out at the first tower for awhile, and then decided to wait for her back at the bottom. Going down is harder than going up. Especially on the knees. But we all made it down OK. The girls played around and ate ice cream. It was about time to go and we were still missing 3 from our group... mom, Andy and our guide's uncle. Our guide, Helen, called her Uncle and all 3 were making their way down the wall.

Grammie made it all the way to the Fourth and highest tower! She was the only one in our group to do that. The other guys stayed a bit lower and watched her touch the fourth tower and turn around to start her way down. She is the hero of our group. In the photo above, the fourth tower is at the top of the picture, on the right. The place with the flags is the bottom, so the rest of us made it to the next tower up.

Mom also had her first massage ever in honor of climbing the Great Wall of China.

Avery and Dave dressing us as a Chinese warrior and a little chinese princess (tourist trap).

Grammie! Come Down the Wall!

Avery and our guide, Helen. Avery loves Helen. She is going to be very sad to say goodbye to her.

Beijing

2008-09-05T17:29:00.014-06:00

updated....

We arrived in Beijing on Thursday morning after 24.5 hours of travel. Avery was really really great during our travels. She slept, watched shows, did playdoh and played card games with Grammie. Before we were going to sleep, she put her towel (her lovie) on the floor and announced that big sisters didn't need towels. I told her that since we were sleeping somewhere different, it would be just fine if she snuggled with her towel. She scurried to pick it up and then gave it a big hug. Also, once in our hotel, she put the towel in Cai's suitcase and told me it was for him. Isn't that sweet that she want to pass on her most treasured snuggly to her little brother? (Of course, she is sleeping with it right now).

We were a bit loopy to say the least. Since we arrived at 9:30 AM, we were encouraged to stay up all day to try and get adjusted to the new time. I was doing OK until I had a massage and then I was out. And couldn't stay awake after that. Avery was asleep by 7 and the rest of us soon followed.

Friday morning we went to breakfast (very good) and then met up with the rest of our travel group. There are 2 other families, one from Colorado Springs and one from Texas. Both families seem really nice.

We had the busiest day yesterday. First we went to Tiananmen Square and then to the Forbidden City. Both are huge.
Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square

And here are some from the Forbidden City.

After the Forbidden City, we went to lunch at a restuarant that is 400 years old. We also visited a silk factory and a tea house.

We got to go on a rickshaw ride and visit the Hutong area of Beijing. A family was gracious enough to invite us into their home so we could see their home.

kitchen
bathing area?

We then went to an acrobat show, which Avery loved. Then Peking Duck dinner. Then passout in bed.

Awesome Info about Cai!

2008-08-30T11:05:00.006-06:00

The most amazing thing happened yesterday. A Harvard student who had volunteered at Cai's orphanage over the summer contacted me. I was literally in tears as I read her email. She told me she knows Cai and was a awesome little boy he is.

I found out on my last day that my favorite toddler, Fu Cai, was being adopted. Obviously I was overwhelmed with excitement and went straight to this group to see if I could find any information on his new family. That is how I came upon your email and thought that I would try contacting you. Fu Cai is the most adorable child I have ever encountered and I fell in love with him the moment he smiled and jumped into my arms. He is so sweet and happy-go-lucky and is very good natured. All the teachers love him, as it is impossible not to fall in love with him. He has a contagious laugh and a beautiful smile. He is very adventurous and one of the most active kids in the class. He has completely adapted to life with his right hand is fully functional and has no real problems at all. Just plain and simple, he is a wonderful child and joy to be around. Also, I have tons of pictures of him and would love to send them to you. I hope that we can stay in contact in the future. Fu Cai touched my life and I would love to see him grow up.

So, of course, I immediatly emailed her back and then last night I received more pictures of Cai. She also told me a funny story describing how cute Cai is.

The pictures outside, those are taken by a canal very close to the orphanage. About 2 or 3 times a week the teachers take the kids outside to play in the grass. They go out with the older kids as well and Cai is a favorite among them. The older kids like to hold Cai and play with him, as do the teachers. He's a popular little guy.
One of my favorite memories of Cai occurred one morning when we entered the classroom. He and I made eye contact and he smiled and hopped toward me like a rabbit and literally fell into my lap giggling. Also, on my last day I went to their room to say goodbye and Cai absolutely made my day. When I came in the room the kids all said 'jeje' (big sister in Chinese) but one yelled it the loudest with a laugh. I turned to see Cai giggling and jumping up and down in his bed with his arms outstretched for a hug. He is so full of love and will make you feel so good every time you hold him. Congratulations, you and Cai are both very lucky.

We feel so lucky and fortuate to have received this extra information about Cai. I am so relieved that he is loved and taken care of. I am so happy that he is happy. Man, I just can not WAIT to hug my little dude. Enjoy the pictures.

Cai's second Care Package

2008-08-29T11:17:00.003-06:00

I mailed Cai another care package a couple weeks ago.

Included was:
Drawing of Avery and Cai (by Avery)

Teddy Bear

Stacking Toy

Crayons

Thomas the Train coloring book

Truck puzzle

Hot Wheel Cars

Tic Tacs

Gold Fish crackers

Animal crackers

Disposable camera

Nuts for the Nannies

Photo album with more pictures of us, the dogs and his room

Itinerary

2008-08-25T13:15:00.002-06:00

9.2 - Leave Denver
9.4 - Arrive in Beijing
9.4 - 9.6 - Tour Beijing
9.7 - Fly to Zhengzhou
9.8 - MEET CAI!
9.13 - Fly to Guangzhou
9.17 - Appointment with US Consulate
9.18 - Take oath at US Consulate
9.20 - Fly to LA and spend night
9.21 - Fly to Denver

News... and more news

2008-08-19T10:43:00.002-06:00

We are leaving for China in 2 weeks from today. EEEKS!
We received our Travel Approval on 8/15 and then received our confirmation of Consulate Appt yesterday.
So we are leaving Denver on 9/2, arriving in Beijing on 9/4. We won't be back in Denver until the 21st.
We think we'll meet Cai on 9/8, but it's not confirmed yet.
It's time to get serious about packing.

We are so EXCITED!!!

Cai's Room

2008-08-11T08:09:00.006-06:00

We finally finished Cai's room. Now we just need Cai.

We got the super cute wall letters here.

I absolutely love the sock monkey print. I found it on Etsy.

Letter of Acceptance

2008-07-31T10:57:00.001-06:00

YAY! We received our Letter of Acceptance today. This means that the CCAA accepts our request to adopt Cai.
Our next step is to wait for Travel Approval (TA). CCAI told us to expect to travel in 5-8 weeks, depending on how fast our TA is issued.

Couldn't be more excited!

More Pictures

2008-07-25T10:35:00.002-06:00

Care Package for Cai

2008-07-11T12:38:00.004-06:00

Today I mailed a care package to Cai. It included a tshirt, match cars, play doh, stickers, an etch-a-sketch, candy for the nannys, a disposable camera and a photo album. He will get it in about a week.

Here are a couple pictures with labels that I included in the photo album.

Introducing Cai!

2008-07-10T10:59:00.008-06:00

Referral photos (taken January 2008)

For the past week or so we have been waiting for our PA (pre-approval from China). We finally received it, so now I can announce that we have a son!

His name is “党福才”. (党-Dang, 福-Fu, 才-Cai). Dang is his last name. Dang means Chinese Communist Party. To be grateful to Chinese Communist Party, the orphanage staff has used Dang as last name for a child if the child was found without a name. All the children at this orphanage have the last name of Dang.

Both Fu and Cai are his first names. Fu means good luck and Cai means being talented and gifted.

Once we adopt him, his name will be Cai Bennett.

He is a little over 2 years old and is currently living at the Luoyang City Children’s Welfare Institute in the Henan Province.

Avery super excited to meet her little brother, although she is having a bit of trouble accepting that he is not a baby. Or a girl. Heehee. She told me the other day that she is excited to have a brother but still wants a baby sister. Hm.

If it weren't for the Olympics, we would probably be traveling next month. But we are planning on September travel.

We are so excited to meet Cai. We are also doing a lot of reading about toddler adoption. It will be very different from when we adopted Avery.

Cai has a malformed right hand due to what our doctors think is Amniotic band syndrome (ABS). They can't diagnose it until he comes home. He may or may not need surgery one day, but we aren't going to worry about that for awhile. His reports say that although all of his right fingers are short and small, with the help of his left hand, his actions are nimble. His records indicate that he is a very healthy little boy who likes to play and is closest with the orphanage grandma.

He seems like such a sweetie and we love him so much already.

Turns out it may be a DiDi

2008-01-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

With 20 months of waiting under our belt and probably 24 months to go, we've made some different plans. We have turned in our Medical Checklist to CCAI and are now expecting to receive a referral for a special needs child. And by child we mean a girl OR a boy. I really think it will be a boy since most people request girls.
We put a lot of thought and research into this decision. We only agreed to medical needs that we beleive we can handle. It is a bit scary, but there are no guarantees in life. Many people adopt (or give birth to) what they beleive to be healthy babies and later find out that is not the case. We know that this second adoption won't go as easily as Avery's did, but we are up for the challenge. And we won't take on anything we can't handle. We've heard and seen of many happy adoptions of special needs kids. Some examples of special needs: cleft palate, heart disease, hearing loss, physical development delay, anemia, eczema, vision problems....
So you see, they range from the serious to mild. They even lump older kids into this catergory. So hopefully in 6 months or so, we will receive a referral for a little boy or girl... or maybe a baby. We are super excited about the prospect of having a little boy in our family! Once we receive the paperwork, it is translated by CCAI and then we must have our doctor (and a specialist if we choose) look it over and give us the low down.
Avery says a little brother will be neat, but she also wants a little sister too. Hmmmm... she may be disappointed because I think we're done after #2.

New I-174H

2007-08-03T17:50:00.000-06:00

So, it's not really "news", but we are in the process of updating our I-171H. For those of you not in the know, it's the most important part of the adoption paperwork. And since it is taking so darn long this time around, we have to renew it. That means re-doing a bunch of paperwork and re-doing our homestudy with our social worker. Oh well, we were so lucky with Avery's adoption (only taking 6 months of waiting), so I can't complain too much.
At least all of our ducks are in order and hopefully we will get a referral for Miss Delaney in 2008.

May is Out of the Review Room

2007-07-05T08:16:00.000-06:00

YAY for us! Now we can breathe just a little bit easier.

One Year LID Anniversary

2007-05-29T13:28:00.000-06:00

As of today our dossier has been logged in at the CCAA for one year. And honestly, I think we have at least one more year of waiting. So I'm putting this blog on hold for now... there just isn't anything to say about the adoption of baby #2.
I will continue to update Miss A's blog, so check us out here.

Review room and other random stuff

2007-03-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

The CCAA has officially announced that they've finished reviewing applications with a March 31, 2006 LID. We've also heard rumors that May is now being reviewed. I will sigh a big sigh of relief once May is out of the review room. We'll still have a long wait in front of us, but at least it's one less thing to worry about.

We leave tomorrow morning for Phoneix to visit Aunt Reebs! Avery is super excited to see her aunt, fly on the airplane, and go to the pool. I'm super excited about our trip also! Although the weather has finally started to warm up here, Phoenix will be in the upper 80's -- perfect!
We are also taking Avery to the Out of Africa Park while we are there. I think she will love it!

**UPDATE: I've started uploading pictures from our trip here. **

The Mystery of the Chinese Baby Shortage

2007-01-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to an interesting article in the New York Times about the "shortage" of babies in China.

TWO YEARS

2006-09-29T09:24:00.000-06:00

After hearing some crazy rumors that we might have to wait 32 months for a referral, I decided to call our adoption agency. Of course they couldn’t give me any definate information, but they said to probably expect to wait about 2 years for a referral. If the CCAA continues at this pace, that is how long it may take. Although, who knows, they could start picking it up again. It’s still amazes me to think that we only had to wait 6 months for Avery’s referral. We were very lucky. I feel very sad for all the first time parents who have to endure this loooong wait. For us, six months was unbearable… I can’t imagine 2 years. So, MAYBE, we’ll receive a referral in the Spring of 2008. God, that’s a long time away….

China’s One-Child Policy

2006-09-13T14:36:00.000-06:00

Understanding the one-child policy in China:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s_One_Child_Policy

Three Months

2006-08-29T08:57:00.000-06:00

It has now been 3 months since our dossier was logged in at the CCAA in China. And oh boy, we have a long time left to wait. The CCAA just recently sent referrals to people who had their paperwork logged in back in July 2005. They seem to be matching about 7 - 10 days per month. If you do the math…well, it’s pretty disheartening. I think 18 months is optimistic, we very well might be going on 2 years (or more). It’s crazy to think that we only waited 6 months for Avery’s referral. I can’t imagine if we had to wait this long for our first child. Six months seemed like an eternity. Hopefully things will change in China, and we can be pleasantly surprised.

On a happier note, we are off to FL on Thursday! We are taking Avery to Disney World and then driving up to Gainesville to see the fam. We hope Hurricane Ernesto doesn’t mess up any plans. (Oh, and Hurricane John should also vacate, so as not to mess up Rebecca’s vacation plans in Cabo!)

Vacation, HERE WE COME!

Delaney

2006-07-26T10:32:00.000-06:00

I wish I had something new and exciting to report, but no such luck. Although we did decide that Avery’s little sister will be named DELANEY. Delaney means “The challenger’s descendant; Angel from heaven”.
It feels more real now that she has a name, but it’s still so far away that we can’t even think about getting too excited. Maybe August will be more exciting…

New Referrals!

2006-06-28T14:55:00.000-06:00

The CCAA matched 13 days worth of referrals. The last time they made matches, in late May, it was for only 9 days. So at least it’s heading in the right direction.Our friends and neighbors, who have been waiting for over a year, received their referral yesterday. Cassidy is so cute and I can’t wait to meet her. She is from the same province as Avery (Chongqing) and I am sure they will be great buddies.

Some things never change…

2006-06-07T09:52:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken on Memorial Day....

This picture was taken last year at the pool....

LID

2006-05-30T09:45:00.000-06:00

We have a Log In Date (LID). It is 5.29.06. Now we can start counting. I heard from someone with a similar LID that CCAI says to expect an 18 month wait. So it looks like winter 2007 before we’ll meet Avery’s little sister. But who knows, the CCAA could speed things up again. It’s happened before. At least it gives us plenty of time to convert the loft into a bedroom and to save up some money for China.

Dossier to China!

2006-05-22T13:42:00.000-06:00

An email from our agency….

CONGRATULATIONS, David & Laura,
Your dossier was sent to China late Friday afternoon (5/19/2006)!
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. We will e-mail you as soon as we have confirmation of your LID and will then give you instructions on how to download your LID Packet. Your LID will also be posted on your personal online Parent Access Network (PAN) page of the CCAI website, www.chinesechildren.org, the instant we are notified of it.Again, congratulations! If you have any questions about this e-mail, please do not hesitate to contact me.Congrats on hitting this milestone,

Dossier STILL in critical review

2006-05-11T12:14:00.000-06:00

I thought I’d better check in with CCAI before we leave for Mexico and see what the status is of our dossier.This is what they said:“The critical review of your dossier is not yet complete, but as soon as it has been completed we will contact you to let you know where your dossier stands. You should be hearing from us soon.”Boo. It’s been 2 weeks since we turned it in. And it still has to be translated. We’ll be lucky to have a May DTC date.Oh well, we are off to Mexico and there will be no more dossier worries for the next 8 days!Adios!

Done!

2006-04-28T16:59:00.000-06:00

Good news! We received our authenticated I-171H back from Chicago today. So Dave is going to take all our dossier paperwork down to CCAI this afternoon! We are officially done with dossier paperwork and can start waiting. CCAI will translate the documents, mount the pictures and make the dossier all pretty. Then they’ll send it off to China. I think it takes a couple weeks for CCAI to do this. Once our dossier is logged in with the CCAA in China, we’ll get our LID (log in date). I am pretty proud of us for completing our paperwork in just 11 weeks. Last time, it took us 6 months. Of course, we had a full home study and some of the paperwork (I-171H) took forever to get from the government.Today is referral day at CCAI too. Dave will probably run into lots of excited new parents. I am looking forward to that day that we become parents for the 2nd time.

Nothing new...

2006-04-26T14:01:00.000-06:00

…Just waiting for the I-171H to come back from Chicago. I’m anxious to get all our paperwork turned in.

I-171H

2006-04-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

It came in the mail yesterday. The I-171H form is from USCIS and it is the “Notice of favorable determination concerning application for advance processing of orphan petition”.
So today Dave is taking it to be notarized and dropping it off at the Secretary of State to be certified. Tomorrow, we’ll FedEx it to Chicago for authentication. It looks like we should have a Log In Date (LID) before we go to Mexico. The LID is the all important date which everything from now on will revolve around. When our dossier (all the paperwork and photos) arrives in China, and they log it in, we will receive a notification. That’s the date you use to count how long you have been waiting for a referral. They also give out referrals according to LIDs. The last batch of referrals was for people with LIDs of 5.27.05. CCAI has posted on their website that it will take 10 to 14 months from LID to Referral. With Avery, we only waited for 7 months. This may be really hard!

Paperwork

2006-04-07T14:08:00.000-06:00

Here is what 2 months of paperwork looks like. We got all our authenticated documents back from the Chinese Consulates in Chicago and Washington D.C. Just one more and we are DONE with paperwork!! (for awhile, at least).

Getting Close!

2006-03-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

We are really starting to get close to the end of the paperchase. Right now all our documents are being authenticated by the Chinese Consulate (which is the last step before we turn them in to CCAI).
This morning Dave and I went to USCIS to be fingerprinted. It took them an hour to get mine done correctly. Apparently, my “deltas” don’t show up very well. It only took Dave 5 minutes. He must have nice “deltas.”
Now they’ll send our fingerprints to USCIS, along with our home study, and they’ll approve us to adopt internationally. They’ll send us a form, the infamous I-717H. For our last adoption, it took USCIS about 9 – 10 weeks to send out the document. We sure hope it doesn’t take that long this time. I’ve heard it’s taking about 3 weeks, which is much better.
I also picked out 11 photos for our dossier and had my passport photos taken. So, we are all ready to receive back our I-717H and submit the whole mess to CCAI.
And then we start waiting…..

No excitng news…

2006-03-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Our adoption progress is not too excitng yet…we have little to report. We’ve both had our physicals and the doctors have sent the forms back to us. We are almost ready to have everything notarized. Then we’ll have to take every document to the Secretary of the State to have them all certified.We are still waiting on our marriage certificate, but CCAI has told us that we can use a copy for now and move ahead. We just have to make sure they get an original in their file at some point. We are also still waiting on Dave’s Birth Certificate and my Birth Certificate. So we are getting close to being done with the paperwork. It would be nice to have it all turned in to CCAI before we go on our vacation in May. Ahhhh… vacation…

Homestudy

2006-02-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

We had our homestudy last week. It was actually a combo of Avery's final 12 month update and then we were able to do everything for the second adoption in that visit also. It went well, except when Alabama decided she was feeling frisky and started humping Avery right in front of the social worker. OOPS! So I threw a book at Alabama and laughed it off. Dumb dog.
We are in limbo right now... just waiting to receive our birth certificates and we are STILL working on getting our marriage certificate from Mexcio. The lady in Mexico isn't being much help except to send me an email about once a week saying she hadn't gotten it yet. So I found another service online and they say they can get it for us in a matter of days. It is about twice as expensive, but I think it will be worth it. I'll give our contact a few more days, and then if she still hasn't been able to help, we'll just have to suck it up and pay for this other company to do it. Or maybe Dave and I need to go down personally and get it. Heehee..... I wish. I could use a trip to Cabo right now.
So we've done all we can do for now and are just waiting for all our documents to come in, and then we can start the process of notarizing, certifying, and authenticating everything.

Married in Mexico

2006-02-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

It's not that I regret getting married in Mexico, it is just a real pain to get our marriage certificates now. I've been stalking La Concha Beach Resort to have someone there help us out. Two years ago when we did this, there was a very nice woman there who did all the work for us and we only had to pay her $50. Now the Beach Club is gone and they've built a resort there. Sad.
Dave thinks that word got out about their $600 wine.
Anyway, I think I've finally got ahold of someone there who can get the marriage certificates for us. But once we actually get them, we have to get them translated into English. And then we have to get the translation certified for accuracy. I can't even remember what we have to do to the documents after that.
It would have really been a good idea for Dave and I to have gone to the Justice of the Peace and been re-married in the USA, just so this wouldn't be such a hassle. It crossed my mind when we were going through this last time, and then I promptly forgot about it. Darn! And now it's too late because we must be married for six months when we apply for adoption. So oh well, here we go.
And, since I was born in Venezuela, there is some extra fun stuff I get to do to obtain my birth cerficate. But I'll save that for another time.
As hard as all the paperwork is, at least it gives us something to work on. I remember that once we finished the paperwork for Avery, then the real hard part began. Which was the waiting. Hopefully the waiting won't be so hard this time because we'll have Miss A to keep us busy!

The Legacy of an Adopted Child

2006-02-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Legacy of an Adopted Child

Once there were two women
Who never knew each other
One you do not remember
The other you call mother.

Two different lives shaped to make yours one
One became your guiding star
The other became your sun.

The first gave you life
And the second taught you how to live it
The first gave you a need for love
And the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality
The other gave you a nameOne gave you the seed of a talent
The other gave you an aim.

One gave you emotions
The other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile
The other dried your tears.

One gave you up -it was all that she could do
The other prayed for a child
And God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears
The age old question through the years
Heredity or environment - which are you the product of?
Neither my darling, neither
Just two different kinds of love.

Author Unknown

Our Timeline

2006-01-20T10:59:00.007-07:00

01.20.06: Requested application packet from our adoption agency, CCAI
01.31.06: Mailed application to CCAI
02.01.06: CCAI accepted our application and received our 3 references (Thank you to the Burtons, the Dawsons and the Reckers!)
02.11.06: Orientation meeting at CCAI
02.22.06: Homestudy with our social worker
03.22.06: Sent Laura’s Certification of Report of Birth to the Chinese Consulate in Washington D.C. for authentication
03.23.06: Had the remaining 10 documents notarized
03.23.06: Took the remaining 10 documents to the Colorado Secretary of State to be certified
03.27.06: Sent the 10 documents to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for authentication
03.29.06: CCAI turned in our home study to Adoption Alliance
03.29.06: Received our marriage certificate from Mexico!!
03.30.06: Dave and I were fingerprinted at USCIS
04.03.06: Received my authenticated Certification of Report of Birth from the Chinese Consulate in D.C.
04.05.06: CCAI completed our 2nd filing with Immigration (USCIS)
04.06.06: Received our 10 authenticated documents back from Chinese Consulate
04.18.06: Received the I-171H form from USCIS
04.28.06: Received the authenticated I-171H form back from the Chinese Consulate
04.28.06: Turned in our dossier to CCAI
05.19.06: Dossier to China
05.29.06: Dossier logged in at CCAA (LID)
05.29.07: One Year Down
08.30.07: Re-apply for our I171-H
11.07.07:Turned in Medical Conditions Checklist to CCAI for a Waiting Child
01.16.08: Re-fingerprinted
5.29.08:Two Years Down
6.25.08:Received Cai's referral
6.27.08:Submitted Letter of Intent to CCAI
7.10.08:Received Pre-Approval to adopt Cai
7.31.08: Received Letter of Acceptance from China to adopt Cai
8.15.08: Received Travel Approval
8.18.08: Consulate Appointment Confirmed
9.2.08: Fly to Beijing
9.7.08: Fly to Zhenghzou
9.8.08: CAI DAY

About our family

2006-01-01T13:36:00.002-07:00

We are adopting another child from China!!

We adopted Avery FuMeng on March 23, 2005. She was born in YouYang, China (Chongqing Municipality) on May 13, 2004. We started the paperwork process for the first adoption in January 2004, so it was a fairly quick process. You can read all about our trip to adopt her here: Avery FuMeng’s Trip Home

Since the process is taking longer now, we’ve decided to get going with the second adoption. We think it will take about 18 - 24 months and we’ll be traveling to China in the spring/summer/fall of 2008. Avery will be about 4 years old then, and we think that will be a good age difference. We truly wish to thank you, our family and friends, for your and support while we work to complete our family.