The "Before" picture

Sure, you've seen all those other blogs, from creative parents who already have their child's room already painted and thoughtfully decorated with lovely motifs. This is ours. We are in packing and planning mode. It's a war zone really, with strategies being plotted, decisions being made, supply lines considered.

It will look a lot better after the Target delivery guy gets here.

TRAVEL UPDATE 10/1/07

Estimated day to leave for China is October 25th. Our agency is hoping to book our consulate appointment for the week of November 5th. Earlier it is booked, earlier we get to return home. The way it works is once they notify us of the consulate appointment, we get sent tentative airline bookings from our travel agency. We have 24 hours to select and pay for our travel. We do not know exactly what hotel in Beijing or Nanchang we will be staying until 5 days before we leave. I've also started to pack. I've been relying heavily on those who just returned this week; known as the BTDT (been there done that) group. Suggestions for baby: Bring meds, a few diapers, bottles and packs of formula to get started, and buy everything else there. Leave Lice treatment at home. Adults: pack light. Lots of rave reviews from folks who just returned, saying everything was great. We checked all of our paperwork, and good thing because the one thing I had to get notarized turned out to be an outdated version of the form, so I need to do that over. (Yeah, think of it, stuck in China because my Affidavit to Get My Kid Her Shots was on the outdated version--probably was updated when I STARTED this thing back in 05, right?) There has also been controversy on our daughters Chinese name. Our agency informed us that (as usual) paperwork has to be exactly right on baby names, so I emailed back with the question, is our child named ///  It was both ways on our referral paperwork. Stay tuned.

So, we were so busy getting ready for China, we went on vacation

First of all, congrats to Todd & Brandi who made it home. The pictures are great. Thanks for allowing us to share on your adventure.

Summer flew by and we forgot to vacation. Actually the main one (to DC -which included work for me, but fun for David) was cancelled due to that Yukon that blew though that intersection at 60 mph and put David in the hospital in June...but I digress...anyway, David decided last month that now was a very good time to go to our favorite spot in the world, Cambria... which also has my favorite restuarant in the world, Robins. It is a very happy place. Today, we took a long walk along the beach, then we spent several hours in San Luis Obispo. Shopping and seeing the local sights. Tomorrow, we plan on hitting the wineries. Our last vacation as a couple and all we can talk about is how we will bring our little one here on vacation And while we are here we can practice on the blog... here is some photos from Moonstone Beach with David on the cell to his mom in front of perfect beach homes we could never afford --and the link to Robins,

http://www.robinsrestaurant.com

CHINA - When?? Update 9-17-07

We heard from our travel team today. We may go to China as early as October 20th! This is after they said there was NO WAY we'd be traveling in October. I guess that trade fair that fills the hotels will be rolling out of Guangzhou about the time we roll in if we leave around the 20th. We will know in a few weeks exactly when....

We did send out a care package over the weekend. That was fun. (Not). We found it very ironic that alot of stuff gets shipped to the United State FROM China, but shipping to China is confusing and expensive. We will not know 'til we get there if our package makes it. While we really wanted to send a HUGE package of stuff, it just isn't done, due to taxes the orphanage must incur. So like all care packages to Chinese orphanages, it was small and hopeful. We packed a toddler chewable photo album of us (including the dog), plus included her picture on front, 2 outfits,2 pairs of socks, soft cuddly bunny, disposable camera, toddler apple snacks, and two packages of Harry & David "Moose Munch"for the orphanage staff ( which is basically carmel corn, and also served nicely as padding). It was the size of a shoebox. For her name, I scanned her name in Chinese from her adoption paperwork and taped it on the letter in Chinese explaining what the package is and who we are from the agency. The best we can hope for is that someone feeds her some of those toddler snacks and shows her the photo album of us, and maybe take some photos of her life in the Orphanage. Actually, the chances are good if the package gets there, they will take the photos for us, and we will get the camera back when we get her. Sometimes when you pick your child up, she is wearing the clothes you sent, but more often than not, the clothes just go to any child that needs them in the orphanage. Yeah, if I were a good scrapbooking kind of parent, I'd would've taken photos of what we sent, just to document the event. But only thought of that a day later.

Travel Team from adoption now has us paranoid about paperwork again. Warning us that if we mess up now - Everything grinds to a halt, and you get stuck in China without your child.--so we need to check to be sure our names are spelled EXACTLY the same as it is on our passports as on the 171-H. Make sure we have BOTH copies of the homestudy and updates are notarized, (which is really funny because we don't get these directly from our Nevada homestudy agency -- and actually have to get them from the agency in Texas--long story there) Make sure your Visa is correct. Make sure you bring 7 copies of your passport. Ironically, everyone from Guangzhou to USCIS to Texas has these forms already, but I think they figure everyone else will lose them so you better be responsible and bring them yourself.

Back to happier stuff: our phone call last week with doctor was brief and reassuring. So here we are on the phone, she just says, what do you want to know? Me: Anything we need to do special due to her malnutrition problems? No, just feed her as you normally would do with snacks, three meals, etc. Take her for walks. Get her some sun. Me: Should we worry about the 'no teeth' thing? Nope. Seen lots of kids without teeth even at 15 months. Me: Will she always be small? No, probably not. Me: Can we send her big bowls of pasta and meatballs ahead of time to help fatten her up? Nope. Don't bother. Anyway, that was it. It is all good. David just said. OK. Let's go get her.

It's a Girl!

Name: ////
Date of Birth: XXXX, 20
////
/////

Nine month report weight:15.4 lbs

"Quiet, fond of listening to music, no teeth, likes to imitate...and fond of quietness...a deep sleeper" She is a quiet baby. (Wait 'til she gets home!)
We think she's very cute and looks alot like David's sister Emily, and her son Vincent. /// can also eat biscuits without help, pick up small beans and likes playing with toys--just like David. Medical report will be going out to her doctor this week. We'll report more when we hear back.

Update 8/7/2007:
We got her detailed information very quickly! She had a birth note with her birthday and was left at the //// orphanage gates and found by 4:30 am. She was just under 5 lbs when found, so they treated her as a premature infant. Her growth is going well. Her nickname is /// (pronounced ///) and she is an active baby, but thin. Her report stated that she will come to you quickly in her walker when called, and she likes playing with toys and going outside. They sum up her growth history by stating,"She is pretty, clever and active." We think she's terrific. On review of her medical, Dr. has identified a few medical issues that we need to address. We'll spend next week getting our paperwork back to our agency, and consulting with Dr. Aronson. (www.orphandoctor.com). We want to get some vitamin supplements out to our kid right away! We hope to send a care package soon. Our travel time guestimate is between October 25 and November 5, with travel to Beijing, Nanchang (we'll pick up ///  there) and then on to Guangzhou then home...
Update 8/9/2007
We mailed off our acceptance letters today. We have a phone conference with Dr. Aronson on Wednesday. The staff at our agency called today and said they will try to contact the orphanage to check for updated medical information. We want to know if her teeth are coming in! David is making some sketches to paint the room.

Referrals are on the Way!

FINALLY ! We just got word that referrals have been matched through 11/25/2005. Our LID (Log In Date) is 11/22/05. Last month, referrals went to 11/21/05, so we knew we were next. We are excited, thrilled, and nervous...of course. We should get word during the next day or two. Want to take a guess? See poll below. We are keeping busy today painting doors and baseboards, and trying to get most of it done before it hits 105. For fun, check out the blog on NevadaClan from Henderson. This is another family who waited over 2 months for their Federal paperwork, just like us. They just arrived in Beijing today!