Happy New Year and Happy Birthday

Wishing everyone a happy new year!

Jake and I are justing relaxing together tonight, Emma did not sleep well last night and we are tired. Lets just say we did an emergency load of laundry.

And happy birthday Honey. Jake is 31 years old today. I will miss you when you go back to school.

We're Home

We arrived home on Christmas Eve. Emma slept most of the flight and played the rest of the time. We are so thankful.

Leah's Mom, Dad, sister and brother-in-law came down for lunch on Christmas day then Emma opened Christmas presents. Thank you Kim!

Since we have been home Emma has been great. It is almost like she knows that she is home and we are all more relaxed. She plays with me all day long and is so giggly. There are a few lasting effects of her past, but we are amazed at the progress she has made so far. She has even started to imitate some words.

Unfortunately, Jake seems to have mutated what Emma and I had in China. We spent a long time in the ER this morning to find out that he has the beginnings of pneumonia. He is all drugged up now and hopefully starts to feel better soon.

Sorry for the Delay

We are now in Guaongzhou where the US Consolate is. At the medical exam, a requirement for the US Consolate, they found two ulcers in her mouth. We were given some herbs to help them heal, but Emma won't drink it. So, she is just eating bland food until her mouth is better. Her temperature finally broke right before we flew here. She is feeling better, but is still not 100%. She has finally got her appetite back also. She went almost 24 hours without eating.

We are very happy that she is feeling better so now we can focus on her opening up to us. She has been snuggling with us the whole time, which we love, but she hasn't tried to talk to us/babbling and she hasn't showed us her crawling (she has thrown herself at me).

Here are some photos...

A sick day

Yesterday Emma was feeling pretty bad so we decided to stay in our hotel and let her rest. Here are some photos from the lake here in Taiyuan. We walked around the lake while waiting to meet Emma on Monday.

Yesterday was so much better than we ever imagined

Jake and I had discussed so many times the different ways Emma could react when we got her. She could cry for days, she could shut down and show no emotion or sleep to avoid the whole situation. But instead we got a happy, smiley, laughing girl.

This is what we know so far about Emma...

*she loves chocoloate chips cookies

*she does not like to share said cookies with other children and will let them know

*she likes to sing and sings whenever we walk

*she is very observant and likes to watch other children

Today I think the excitement from yesterday has taken its toll. She woke up with a slight fever and has been exhausted the whole day.

Tomorrow we are planning a trip to a temple just outside of town.

Here is what you have been waiting for, pictures...

A little about Taiyuan...

Taiyuan is the capital of Shanxi province. It is a city of 3 million people and its largest industry is coal mining. The weather is sunny, but there is an obvious haze in the sky. This area has the highest cancer and black lung rate in the country.

Yesterday we went shopping at the open market. We bought some odds and ends for cheap. We are going back today with Emma (so exciting!) to get some clothes for her.

We are scheduled to get Emma at 3pm today. Our goal is to stay as busy as possible until it is time to go get here. The only problem is that it is 4am now. That is a long time to fill!

Here are some photos of the city last night.

Our hotel

Christmas decorations

flower lights at the city park

bicycles

gifts for the orphanage Director and nannies

Emma's crib

December 12th & 13th

We are in Taiyuan (where we get Emma)!

Our "day" started at 4:00am Friday when we checked in at Sea Tac and ended at 9:30pm Saturday night when we landed at the Taiyuan airport.

Today we are going shopping to get last minute stuff and hopefully meet up with the other family that is adopting the same day we are.  

I need a nap.

A Good Cause

Robeez, a company that makes shoes for infants and toddlers, is donating up to $250,000 in shoes to the organization Kids in Distressed Situations. All you have to do is go to www.seasonofgiving.robeez.com and send e-cards to friends and families. You will also be entered into a drawing to win a shoes and socks set, which would look great on Emma.

I do not like cold!

It is supposed to be 28 degrees when we arrive in Taiyuan. We will be in Taiyuan for 6 days then we move onto Guangzhou where the weather is sunny and 75 degrees. Can you say packing dilemma? How do you pack for a 50 degree difference?

Any suggestions?

We are FINALLY going to China!

Here is our itinerary...

December 12th - Leave Seattle at 7:30 am

December 13th - Arrive in Shanghai at 5:45 pm (Spend the night in Shanghai)

December 14th - Leave Shanghai at 10:35 am and arrive in Taiyuan at 12:30 pm

Try to relax!

December 15th - Get our daughter!!!!!!!

December 16th - Interview with Civil Affairs and Justice Dept and apply for Emma's passport

December 17th - Tour of Taiyuan and shopping

December 18th - Pick up our notary documents

December 19th - My birthday! Pick up Emma's passport and fly to Guangzhou at 4:00 pm

December 20th - Emma's medical check up

December 21st - Guangzhou Zoo

December 22nd - Interview with US Consulate

December 23rd - Pick up Emma's visa

December 24th - Free Day

December 25th - Leave Guangzhou at 8:00 am

Arrive in Shanghai at 10:00 am

Leave Shanghai 1:45 pm

Arrive in San Francisco 8:00 am

Leave San Francisco 10:30 am

Arrive in Seattle 12:45 pm (yeah home)

We are going to go get this cutie!

The end is in sight

I spoke with our woman at the adoption agency yesterday and we should be traveling in about two months!

Now all of those things that I said I wanted to do before she arrives, I really have to get started on.

Here is my list (This way it is written for the world to see so now I really have to do them)

1. paint and add a pad to the top of Emma's toy chest
2. refinish the rocking chair (it is the one from when I was a baby and is 1970's dark brown)
3. paint Emma's room and put it all together
4. finish her blanket (I just need to put the finishing touches on it)

And put the rest of our new house together. Oh by the way, we've moved.
Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.

Thank you so very, very much!

I received almost 120 fabric squares for Emma's quilt. Thank you so much! I just finished figuring out the placement for the squares and we will, hopefully, sew it all up this weekend. I will definitely post the quilt when we finish.

It was very exciting to see people really getting into the process and writing wonderful wishes & prayers for Emma.

On the timeline front, it seems that it is getting pushed back. I don't know if things are slowing down or if the Olympics are messing with things, but depending on who I speak with at the adoption agency we will be able to travel sometime between June and September. We'll see.

We are staying busy though. We need to move closer to Ft. Lewis for Jake's new job in the Army, so we have put an offer on a house in Fife. Yes, Fife. We decided that it would be better to move before Emma comes home so we are trying to get everything in order as soon as possible. So, if you know of anyone looking to rent a house in Kenmore. Send them our way.

As soon as all of the papers are signed for the home, I'll post pics. It really is very nice. I think it will take awhile to get used to the idea that I live in Fife. I am such a north-end snob!

It's nice to get away.

I went on vacation last week with my mom, sister and brother-in-law to Hawaii. It was very warm and we were very lazy, which was nice. We saw lots of waterfalls and went to a botanical garden full of beautiful tropical flowers. And I ate many, many cups of shaved ice.

Have you ever seen berries like these before?

And look what I came home to!! I love my husband.

Some of you may know that we were having problems getting our I-171H form. This was the last form that we needed to get before our paperwork was sent to China. We were given the run around for over a month, but while I was on vacation Jake drove over to Yakima and asked them in person for the form and they completed it for him, then and there. We were told we weren't supposed to do this, but desparate times call for desparate measures. We are already on a pretty tight timeline with Jake going to school and this month long delay did not help matters. Again, I love my husband.

Thank You!

I have already received almost 30 pieces of fabric. Thank you very much!

All of the pieces are so different, just like the people who have contributed. And some of the notes are so sweet. I really appreciate you guys so much. I am excited to start putting it all together. If you haven't sent a piece yet, don't worry, you still have two weeks before my Mom and I get started.

When I finish, I mean when my Mom and I are finished I will post the finished project.

Thank you again.

Here is a photo of the fabric Jake picked out to represent himself. Yes, it is pink and purple Superman fabric.

A Project

I went forever with no adoption updates and now I have projects and things to share. How exciting.

First off though, there is a non-profit organization that assists Social Welfare Institutes (orphanages) in China and they are asking for help. This has been a very hard winter in China and many SWIs have lost electricity. If you would like to help, here is their website http://www.halfthesky.org/.

Now for my project. It is tradition in nothern China to make a Bai Jia Bei or 100 Good Wishes Quilt to celebrate a new life. The concept of Bai Jia Bei is that 100 friends and family members of the child and their parents contribute one square of fabric which will be sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy and good wishes from everyone who contributes.

A book is also made from the good wishes and prayers each person sends with their square of fabric. I am in the process of sending out invitation cards to friends and family with instructions on how to participate. If for some reason you do not receive a card and you would like to participate please let me know. I would really like to get 100 participants.

Thank you very much!

Here is what the invitation cards look like. Keep an eye out for it in you mail box.

Good Things

There wasn't much to report on for awhile, now there is a lot.

#1 The most important!

Jake and I switched from trying to adopt from Viet Nam to China. More accurately, we have switched back to China.

We had originally looked at China, but since Jake wasn't 30 yet and I know the Viet Namese culture more we decided on Viet Nam. But then stories of corruption surfaced and the future of adoption in Viet Nam is shakey so we were uncomfortable with the situation. Since Jake was so close to turning 30 we talked to our agency which also works with China and we ended up looking at their Waiting Child list, which means that the children have special needs and we fell in love. Jake is completely and totally smitten.

We sent a letter of intent to adopt to China at the beginning of December saying that we wanted to adopt this specific child and today we got the authorization letter from China saying that she is ours!!!

We should be traveling in 4 to 6 months. Which is great because Jake is leaving for Alabama in 6 months, so he should be able to travel to China with me. Which brings me to #2.

#2 Jake is going to Alabama

Jake is changing his MOS or job in the Army. He has been a medic since he joined and now he will be going to EOD school in Alabama for 2 1/2 months then on to Florida for 6 months. Which means that as soon as we get home from China with our daughter Jake will be leaving for school for 9 months.

#3 Leah is going to school also

I have been accepted into a program that is sponsored or funded (I'm not exactly sure) by the state for leaders in early childhood education. It is a six month program that is mostly on-line, but I have to attend three three day trainings around the state during that time.

#4 And if that wasn't enough

I will be sending out invitations to participate in a project that I will be starting soon. It is a Chinese tradition to put together a 100 wish quilt before a baby arrives. I will be starting this in about a month or so.

I cannot post a full picture of our daughter yet, since she is not officially our daughter until we sign the paperwork in China, but here is a glimpse. If you email me privately, I will be able to send a full photo to you.