"Waiting For May"

At bedtime tonight, Jorie asked to read "Waiting For May", a great children's book about adoption. The story is told by a little boy waiting to travel to China to bring home his little sister, May. Jorie loves the story. She loves to hear how he waited for a long time and asks how much longer we have to wait. I love the part when the family actually travels to China to bring May home. I get a little teary-eyed every time I read the story, thinking about our own travel date and wishing Terra could be in our arms, but also knowing what an incredibly scary time it will be for Terra. Can you imagine if one day someone showed up at your house, picked you up with nothing but the clothes on your back and moved you to a completely different country with a new family that speaks a strange language?! How will her brain ever make sense of what has happened in her world? We've been trying to prepare Jorie for the prospect that her new little sister will probably be terrified of us and cry for several days (maybe weeks) before she gets to know us and decides that we're safe enough for her to love. Somedays winning the heart of a child seems like an insurmountable task, other days it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Whatever happens, I can't wait for the journey as we build our family of four.

Next Round of Paperwork Complete!

We finally made it through the three new folders of paperwork and mailed our signed copies back to the adoption agency yesterday - one step closer! :) The next thing we expect to hear is our official log-in date (which should be coming any day now). Our log-in date is the date that the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs officially processes our dossier and puts it in their cue for translation.
I'm continuing to work on Terra's quilt. I'm up to 35 squares - only 65 to go! I've heard from many friends and family that they'll be sending fabric soon, so I'm hoping I might get close to 100 squares.
'Til next time...

Ice Cream

After dinner tonight, Jorie's first question was, "Can I have ice cream for dessert?" She begged for ice cream cones at the grocery store today - she's had her share of ice cream in the past, but she's never had a cone. So, I figured we might as well give it a try. As you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed her first ice cream cone and went straight to the bath when she was done! All this left me wondering if Terra has ever had ice cream. I'm guessing she hasn't - one more thing we can introduce her to when she comes home. Let's hope she likes it!!

The Big Packet

I tracked our "big packet" today and discovered it was at the local FedEx, though it was not scheduled to be delivered for another two days. My loving husband offered to drop by FedEx to pick up the packet on his way home. It was not our travel papers, just three HUGE folders of more paperwork! So, we'll get started on the new papers as we wait to bring Terra home. It was fun to see an estimated travel date on the papers though - July 20, 2008. The agency was clear to state that this is just an estimate, not a definite date, but it's fun to have a travel date in mind. We'll keep you posted!

Status Quo

Hi Everyone,
I haven't posted in a while - we've been busy with family things like Easter festivities and checking on my mom, who wasn't feeling well last week. I received a few more squares for Terra's quilt, we're up to 32! I mailed Terra's care package yesterday and it wasn't nearly as complicated as I imagined. I was amazed when the postal worker told me it would only take 7-10 business days to get there, I fully expected it to take at least a month! I received an email from the adoption agency on Friday that said, "I FedExed a big packet to you today, you should have it by Wednesday. Have a great weekend!" So, of course, we're wondering what on earth is in this big packet. My curiosity is killing me, but I don't want to bother the adoption coordinator with asking what she's sending, when we'll find out soon enough. Jeff said, "Is it our travel papers?" That would be an incredible surprise, we were told it would take 3-6 months to get those and it's been less than a month. I'm inclined to believe it's more paperwork that has to be done now that our other documents are in China. Or, perhaps it's information on preparing for our trip - who knows, we'll have to wait and see. 'Til next time...

Bai Jia Bei

I've been working on Terra's 100 Good Wishes quilt. This is the first quilt I've ever made and I'm having a lot of fun so far. I started with appliqueing turtles (made out of fabric that is special to our immediate family) to large squares that will make up the center part of the quilt. So far, we've received 27 squares of fabric for the remaining squares - just 73 more to go!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Here are some pictures of our little leprechaun. We hope everyone has a very Happy Saint Patrick's Day and spends the day with friends and family!
We're putting together a care package to send to Terra, who knew sending a package could be so complicated?! My first question, of course, was what's the address for the orphanage? Once I figured that out, I realized that I should probably send it to someone specific, I'm thinking Terra might not be able to receive packages, so I'll have to find the name of someone I can send it to. Then I realized, do I address the package in English, Chinese or both? If I address it in English, will the Chinese postal system know where to deliver it? If I address it in Chinese, will the US postal system know where to send it? I'm probably putting way too much thought into all of this. Once I figure all this out, we'll head to the post office. Then, I'll just hope that the package gets there before we do! :)