Magical Day

We had a great day today at Hong Kong Disneyland! First of all, we managed to get ourselves to Disney all on our own. This even included a taxi ride and the MTR (Marta train) and a transfer on the MTR. We were all pretty impressed with ourselves.

We arrived at the park around 10AM. It was SO worth it. We all had a terrific day. You can see in one of the pics that there weren't too many people here especially not compared to Disney World. More people showed up around noon, but when we first arrived it was pretty empty. So we were able to do everything in the park and we left around 7PM with all the kids completely wiped out!

It was really great today to watch Shelby and Travis at Disney. Travis is at the age where everything is questioned in his head, but his little heart still believes in all the magic. I loved to watch his eyes today light up when he would see something new and exciting. His favorite ride was the Jungle Cruise-we rode it twice :)

I was especially moved today just sitting and watching the Lion King Show. I know that sounds pretty silly, but it really was a moment to me of East meets West. Here we were surrounded by all these people who look like my daughters, who speak Chinese, and who live where my daughters were born. The performers would sing a song in English and then sing a song in Chinese. Everything seemed so perfectly blended, so incredibly RIGHT. I felt as though Shelby felt complete. I know all that sounds weird, but I understand every thought and I don't want to forget it. It was a great feeling.

Tomorrow we will cruise more of Hong Kong and then we are off to Guangzhou at 2:30pm with our guide Jophy. We had our guide Jophy last year too. We are her last family that she will help guide for adoption. Since Hope is no longer open, she will not be doing this work anymore. Very weird considering that she has been doing adoptions for over 10 years and now we are her last family. She will ride the train with us tomorrow to Guangzhou, so no worries for us on getting there!

Oh and yes Shelby finally was able to see her favorite princess Snow White in person during the parade. It was truly a magical moment to see her so excited as Snow White appeared in the distance. "Look Mommy Snow White, it's Snow White!" One mommy was a bit teary eyed witnessing the magical moment :)

Oatmeal at 4AM

Hmmmm what does a 3 year old do at 4AM in the morning in China....

Eat oatmeal and watch Curious George of course!

How the Other Half Lives

Well we struck out this morning around 9am to tour Hong Kong on our own. I think we are in New York City. Not that I have ever been to New York, but at least what NY looks like on TV. Let's see the stores we walked passed today included Armani, Gucci, Coach, Rolex, Louis Vutton, etc etc. I probably didn't even spell some of those right since they aren't located at my local thrift store ;) Needless to say this isn't China!

We did have a good day checking out the city and we met up with our guide Jophy at 2:30. She took us to the highest point in HK to see the city from above. Unfortunately I forgot my camera for that trip. We rode the ferry and the famous MRT (HK Marta Train) and have walked all over the city. These are the few pics from the day. The weird M coffee thing was a McDs cappuccino Sheila ordered-coffee pudding was a better description. We ate at McDs for breakfast and KFC for lunch, Starbucks and McDs for snacks-Caleb is happy!

Tomorrow we are going to Disneyland!! Thanks for all the great comments. It is good to hear you guys are out there "watching" over us. Only 3 more sleeps to our baby girl. Shelby keeps saying she is ready to go to China to get Faith-too sweet. Let's just hope she still thinks this way in about 5 days ;)

Loooonnnnggggg Flight

I think I forgot to tell you all or remind you all (whichever applies) of how incredibly LONG the flights are to China! I would love to sugar coat it for all my digit friends who are returning soon-BUT I can't do that for you. It must be like labor pains in the fact that you forget what it is really like until you are there doing it again. Thank goodness for selective memory! I really really hope Faith does as well as the others did on the flight home. I can't even imagine the long leg of the flight with a screaming baby :(

Fortunately we had ZERO meltdowns and no crying (except for me on the inside I think) all the way here. Our flights were 2.5 hours, then 13.5 hours, then 5 hours and arrived in Hong Kong. The hardest part was about hour 6, 7, & 8 on the 13.5 hour flight. You feel like you are going to jump out of your skin-ugghhh. So glad we are here and off that plane!

We Made It!

We are here in Hong Kong! It is 2AM so not going to post much right now until I get everyone in the bed. Just wanted to let you all know we are here :)

UPDATED: Ok I have the kids in Sheila's room now supposedly going to go to sleep. I guess she will have to knock them out since they are still wound up. Thank goodness for kid's Melatonin pills! Shelby is already asleep in our room. These have to be the smallest hotel rooms I have ever stayed in. The really bad part is that they are also the most expensive rooms I have ever stayed in! Oh well, at least they are nice rooms and we feel very safe here.

The flights were uneventful thank goodness. The kids did really well and slept alot on the plane. Now not so much sleep for us adults, but hoping to make up for that in a few minutes. Thank you to everyone for all the prayers as they seem to be already working.

Here are some pics-of course for your viewing pleasure. Oh to explain some of them...Since we MUST keep up with Red, Shelby now gets "her Red On" anytime we have to move from place to place. This way we see it at all times :) I think it is almost as important as our passports! So here she is with her Red On. And the Oreos...Sheila is eating them, but I left mine in the tray on the plane-yeah! I am sure the Big Macs in my future will make up for these left behind though :)

"Special Needs"

I just wanted to give out a website to any of you out there who may be considering going the "special needs" route from China. You can visit this new website to find out more information about some of the things that China considers "special needs". To me both of my girls are just SPECIAL because we NEED them home with us FOREVER :)

So happy to see some of you lurkers coming out and posting comments. I will really be looking forward to hearing from all of you while we are in China. I will do my part and blog, but only if you do your part and comment ;) See you soon from the other side of the world!

Oh My Goodness

Passports and...

Paperwork...

and Luggage...

OH MY!

Remebering the Important Things

Over the last couple of weeks, my focus has some what shifted from Faith to the trip to China. I really want to stay focused on the reasons we are going to China and this little girl who is about to have her whole life changed. I stumbled across this letter from from Amy Eldridge (of Love Without Boundaries) that I think every adoptive parent should read. I actually posted it last year. It is truly what I am trying to do as to prepare for the worst, and at the same time, continue to hope for the best!

I most definitely wish there was a way to educate ALL adoptive parents about the truths of institutional care, however I have come to realize in my daily work that just as many parents are not online reading everything they can find on adoption as are reading.There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of parents out there who have no idea what life is like for a child in an orphanage, and who head overseas to pick up their "China doll" only to be handed a baby who is unresponsive, thin, unable to eat...and on and on and on.

While adopting my son last month, I walked several times over to the White Swan (Hotel where parents stay in China) to talk to parents, and over and over I spoke with moms and dads who had no clue whatsoever about the issues their kids were having. I heard so many times things like, "she won't eat solid foods" (oral aversion), "she has no muscle tone" (muscle atrophy from lying in a crib all day), "she won't smile" (pure grieving from being taken from her foster mom). I guess since I live China 24/7, I assume everyone adopting does, too, which is not the case.

I was trying to process how many parents get all the way to China without ever reading about post-institutional issues. It was sobering to me. Babies in the NSN (non-special needs) as well as the SN (special needs) path can have issues with attachment, motor skills, emotional issues and more. Again, I am often surprised to talk to parents leaving soon and to realize they are not prepared. One family was adopting from our foster care program, and when I told them that the child was DEEPLY attached to the mom,the father said, "guess she might cry for an hour or so then?" An hour or so? She had been in foster care for over a year! I tried to explain that this little girl was about ready to lose everything she had ever known, and that they should not expect her to be sunny, happy, and full of personality after an hour.
I told them to please remember the 72 hour rule.......that after 72 hours they would probably see her spark, but that she would probably grieve for a long time after that as well.

I think for many adoptive parents, they just don't want to read the "bad stuff", and so I do think that ultimately it is the parents who are at fault for not doing more to educate themselves. There certainly are books galore out there about post-institutional issues. I think adoption from China is very similar togiving birth.. it is much more rosy to only read the happy stories on APC (another website for adoptive parents), but I now encourage every family I meet to read the harder ones as well.

It is always a very sad day for the orphanage and everyone involved when a child that they know is absolutely fine, but perhaps thin and grieving, is returned by their new parents for being "delayed".I think far too many people believe their child's life is going to begin the moment they meet them. The truth is, and everyone must realize it...a child's life is going on RIGHT NOW in China, and all of their experiences are shaping who they are. The one thing I have learned over and over again about the kids in China is that they are fighters and survivors. But for some reason, people seem to want to ignore these issues in public forums.

Recently, one of our medical babies that we had met several times in person was adopted, and we all knew that this child was a "spitfire". When the family arrived and spent a few days with her, they decided she was too much of a handful for them and they wanted to disrupt. She absolutely was not what they expected. I think all of us, who do realize that delays occur and that babies can usually overcome them, should be these children's advocates by continually trying to educate new parents on what to expect in China. By helping them be better prepared, we just might help stop a disruption in the future.

I love Chinese adoption with my whole heart, and it is my life's work…but I also want every family who goes to get their baby to go with their eyes open and to be as emotionally prepared as possible, for the child's sake. Amy E-Love Without Boundaries"

Few Changes

Well just to keep my life interesting, I found out today that we don't have our reservations in Hong Kong! It seems now that everything is booked up in the city we want to stay in. I have to wait and see if my travel agent can pull a rabbit out of her hat tomorrow. Nothing like last minute travel across the WORLD- ugghh.

I did however get confirmation from my adoption agency that we are adding a few more kid friendly things to do onto the itinerary. We will be going to the zoo and the children's amusement park. We will not be able to visit Wuchuan orphanage since it is about 5-6 hours ONE way. Unfortunately after the 20 hour plane ride, I don't think we will be up for that. I am going to see if we can tag along with another group though to at least get to visit an orphanage while we are there.

A few more errands to run tomorrow and of course more paperwork to get in order. Won't be long now!

Only 2 More Sleeps

We have been busy as can be getting ready for the trip. We started yesterday off at church with an adoption promo that I put together and used this great video to make some of the women in the congregation cry. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcmz_adoption1

Who knows maybe it touched someone's heart to take the leap of faith. I know we are so thankful that we took the leap of faith last year. And now this year we are truly taking a leap TO Faith!

We had our official packing intervention from the Perry's last night. I think I have everything I need after my last trip to Wally world today. We are getting closer and closer. Here are some pics I haven't shared yet for your viewing pleasure. Man, I sure do have some cute kids :)

A Little Harder This Year

Here is a glimpse into why packing seems to be a little harder this year and taking a bit longer ;)

Counting Down

Only FOUR more sleeps until we board the plane! Oh my goodness I have alot to do before I get to squeeze these chubby cheeks :)

Official Itinerary

Here is our itinerary for our trip from my agency. I have asked to add some stuff on here considering that we want to see as much as China as possible especially since this is our last adoption trip! I will see what they say. With 4 kids in tow, I hope to stay busy. Even if Faith doesn't "want" to go out and about, I am sure CJ or I will be able to stay behind with her in the hotel since my sister can help out on the outings. If any of you experienced traveler's would like to recommend an outing to add to the list of things we should do, please let me know!

Dec 4 (Thu) - Jophy will meet you at the HK airport and escort you to your hotel.
Dec 5 (Fri) - Rest in the morning. You will have a city tour in the afternoon and evening.
Dec 6 (Sat) - Go to Disneyland
Dec 7 (Sun) - Free in the morning. We go to Guangzhou in the afternoon. The train to be confirmed later.
Dec 8 (Mon) - You will pick up your daughter and prepare the necessary adoption documents,take family picture. Then arrange to go to a big supermarket to buy some daily stuff.
Dec 9 (Tue) - do adoption registration and Notarization, etc.
Dec 10 (Wed) - go to Security Dept for the child's passport.
Dec 11 (Thu) - Visit the Wuchuan orphanage.
Dec 12 (Fri): Free.
Dec 13 (Sat): Sightseeing at the Baiyun Mountain Park.
Dec 14 (Sun): Sightseeing in the Guangxiao Temple & Chen Clan Academy.
Dec 15 (Mon): Your daughter has a physical examination & vaccination shots if necessary and then one parents does USCIS paperwork to get ready for your CA.
Dec 16 (Tue): You will be free. Grace will go to get your daughter's passport and notary certificate.
Dec 17 (Wed) : Your Consulate Appointment at 9am.
Dec 18 (Thu): Go to the Consulate for oath swearing ceremony and get your daughter's visa in the afternoon.
Dec 19 (Fri): - Go home in the morning from Guangzhou to ATL

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my bloggy friends today. I hope you had a wonderful day filled with family and friends. I know we did! We have SO much to be thankful for in this country. I can't help but think of all the things we have and take for granted as I make out my "shopping lists" for 5AM shopping tomorrow morning. Things here are SO different than life in China. We are so very blessed. Praying my littlest one received a hug from someone today and a full belly.

"Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100: 4-5

Last Working Day of 08'

Today was busy busy busy at work! It was my last day of work until around mid January. I wrapped up some of the training and loose ends. I am sure they will be fine as this is my FOURTH maternity leave. I am so lucky to have such a great employer who understands how important family is :)

I also met with my agency today and received all the final paperwork we need to take on our trip. I am still waiting for our final itinerary though. I hope to have that on Friday. I can't wait to have all the "planning" done and settled. Looking forward to seeing the set schedule in stone. I will post when I have it. Won't be long now baby girl!

New Pictures

Look what I just got courtesy of Lady Bugs N Love. They run an AWESOME service that has truly been a blessing to me on this adoption journey to our baby girl. Look how much she has grown over the last couple of months. And she has hair!! She looks so healthy :)

I am thrilled to be getting on a plane next week to get her and finally put a smile on those sweet chubby cheeks!!

Family Pic Changing Soon

I just had to share Travis' picture he drew of our family the other day at school. I told him it won't be long and he will need to add another sister to the drawing. He said "OK"!

Busy making my lists today and checking them twice ;)

Amazing Video

Here is a video that circulated a while back. However, watching it again it was still just as POWERFUL to watch as it was the first time. Take 5 minutes to watch the whole thing!

Song so Special To Me

Santa Claus is coming...

to town! I know some of you may think it is a little early, but our "commercialized" Christmas season will be cut a little short this year. We have a small trip to China in between :) So look what we did today:

Oh and here is the picture of our digit friends from last year. What a fun day shared with friends :)

Tickets-CHECK!

WOOHOO! Finally we have confirmed CA appointment and we are cleared for take-off! We are headed to get our baby girl :0)

We will have her in our arms on Monday, December 8!! We will leave for Hong Kong out of ATL on December 3. We will be returning home to ATL on December 19th. I am so darn excited I can hardly stand it!!

Hmmm....only 3 more day of work, I guess I better get busy ;)

Waiting Impatiently

We did not get our CA (Consulate Appointment) confirmed yesterday. And I haven't heard anything from my agency today-UGHHHGGHHHH! Can't book tickets until I have CA-sigh.

Move A Mountain

Well as I said below, yesterday was a CRAZY day. Here is how my day began. I opened a email from my adoption agency that said this:

"HOPE for Children, Inc. has seen a dramatic drop in the number of families willing to adopt during these difficult times. Due to these extremely challenging financial times, HOPE for Children Inc. has concluded that we cannot continue to operate."

So did your jaw drop like mine?! Yeah exactly. So you ask like me...now what? Well, I of course was in complete panic and shock all at the same time. I hopped in my car and went to the agency. Knocked on the doors and...nothing. No one answered.

I went back to my car and I was devastated. I knew that my TA should arrive anyday and what in the world would happen if DHL sent the package back to China since nobody was there to receive it?? Needless to say all I knew to do was sit in my car in desperation and pray.

Before leaving the parking lot, I thought well I will just try to call again to just leave a message on the answering machine. Low and behold...Aisha (my agency contact) answered the phone!! I was stunned and absolutely estatic that she was on the other end of my cell phone. We discussed how crazy this was and how sorry I was to hear the info, etc etc.

Then she finally said, "Well you know you got your TA today, don't you?". What?!? No I didn't know that how would I know that?! Needless to say, my saving grace, Aisha came into the office that morning and was able to receive my TA from China!

Now considering the timing and that basically the TA is the absolute last thing I needed to complete this, I have been assured that they (Hope for Children) will see me through to China and back to bring home our baby girl Faith. If I had not received TA yesterday, I would have had to "transfer" my file to another agency and who knows when I would have been able to get my girl.

So back to my title of the day...Mountains were moved yesterday by our one and only Savior! As you can see by this chart that was posted yesterday after all the TAs came in, it was a miracle that mine showed up yesterday. On this chart, I am listed as "Mom23now". Obviously I am very very blessed!

“For this child I prayed,and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.”~I Samuel 1:2

Look Who's Going to China!

Oh yeah Baby!! We officially have TA!!! This means we have Travel Approval from China telling us we can come get our sweet baby girl :)

Hoping to book our tickets tomorrow once we get our CA (Consulate Appointment) approved. Today has been one heck of a day and I will have to post the details tomorrow when I get time. But for now, I plan to start celebrating!!!

OH and just for the record, Shelby pointed out a ladybug INSIDE my van this morning crawling up the window beside her. I thought she was saying "Race car mommy race car" and finally I said where. She was saying "Ladybug mommy Ladybug". I looked back to see the ladybug inside the van on the window. Talk about a sign!

Ode to RED

I feel it is really important to document some of the important stuff on the blog so that we will always have the memories recorded. Looking over the blog, I see I have never paid tribute to the one and only...RED! Now any of you who have spent anytime with Shelby, knows who RED is. You know that you you better not ever lose RED, misplace RED, damage RED, or any way harm RED. No one ever wants to think what would happen-without RED?!?!

Needless to say I did not have any trouble putting together a collage of Shelby and RED. You will notice everywhere Shelby goes...so does RED. Please keep RED in your thoughts and prayers while we are in China. We can NOT lose RED in China!!

I think I will staple a hotel business card onto RED while we are there. Hey if someone can find my wallet and mail it back to the hotel, surely they would return RED :)

Still Waiting...

Do any of you have any idea how HARD this waiting is?!?! This is crazy, my head is about to explode. I just want to know if I get to go to China in 2 weeks or what?!?! Come on TA!

Last Single Digit Bday

Happy happy birthday to my oldest baby today! Caleb turns 9 years old today. Where o where has my little boy gone?!?!

Oh what a joy it has been to parent such a special little boy. He is truly a delightful kid. And I'm not even being bias, he REALLY is a wonderful boy-ask anyone :)

Happy Birthday HotRod! I hope you have a special day!!

Perfect :)

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Week through pictures

Well it has been a while since I posted pics of my crew. So here you go for your viewing pleasure... This collage is made up of pics from the Adoption Option meeting that we hosted last Friday. I forgot to whip out the camera until the meeting was really over. Oh well, you can still see a few of the guests. We had a terrific time and had a great topic: Travel! I even picked up a few tips from others. I think it was a very good meeting.

Last Sunday, the boys had a real treat from our friend Mike. He took the kids up in his helicopter for a trip around Woodstock. Oh what fun! The boys had a great time and Shelby decided it was much too loud, so she stayed in the van with mommy :)

Oh and then here are some random pics of cuteness!

Ordered Cake

I ordered a "celebration" cake yesterday for Faith from Lady Bugs N Love. I am hoping that we will be able to get some new pictures of our little one. I realize that Faith has probably never been fed solid food, but I can't think of anything better than sugar and frosting for her first taste :) So maybe I will hear back early next week if she got the cake and if they are sending me the new pictures.

Only 3 weeks until we HOPEFULLY get on a plane to get our girl. Keep praying for TA to arrive soon!! Have I told you how absolutely adorable my littlest one is lately??!?!

More Checks off the List

Let's see what have I accomplished today so far:

• Called our doctor and got the prescriptions for Z-Packs and Cipro for adults
• Contacted pediatrician for antibiotics for all 3 kids, plus eye drops and Nystatin for Faith
• Already have scabies and lice meds unused from last year
• Emailed my bank about ordering "new" money
• Left message to make appointment at Sibley Heart Center
• Trying to get final cleft team appointment for Shelby for the year (no need in wasting up a paid in full deductible)
• Ordered No-Jet Lag Meds and Melatonin for the kids from drugstore.com
• Had lunch with my sister to discuss our trip
• Oh and I have managed to squeeze in some real work to keep making a living :)

Received second to last approval

We received our final piece of approval from the US side of the adoption to go get Faith. It was the approval of the I-800 form that I applied for when we received our LOA on 10/31. This was the final part of the new Hague requirements that the US implemented this year. Needless to say we are done on the US side, so now we just sit a wait for China to send TA (Travel Approval)! So here is the specific prayer request-we need TA to arrive before 4PM on the 21st. This is what we need in order to book CA, which then will allow us to book our flights for leaving Atlanta on December 3rd. Yes that is only 3 weeks away!! We are so close to our baby girl that I am almost getting nervous ;)

Hosting AO meeting tonight

I get the privilege of hosting this month's Adoption Option meeting tonight at my house! I am looking forward to seeing everyone. I really love seeing all the great kids that have finally come home. Adoption truly is a miracle. When you see these kids and how each one seems to "fit perfectly" into their families, you really understand that God is so in control.

We are planning to discuss travel issues, just in time for my upcoming travel. Can you tell that the host gets to pick the topic?! I am sure we are going to have a great evening. If you are interested in coming and are in the Atlanta area, please join this Yahoo Group for more information.

Speaking of support groups. Click here to see the most "famous" post on my blog to date. This was my cry for help post when I was in China last year. I had over 50 comments that were truly my lifeline of support while on the other side of the world. The adoption community (and of course my family and friends) really showed up when I needed them the most. THANK YOU!

PS-If you weren't around then and you read that post and wonder what decision we made, here are the pictures of the best decision we ever made in China...

All About Faith

This post is mainly for my Rumor Queen friends to introduce to you our newest addition:

Miss Faith Leeann ChunZhen

She was born on July 15, 2007 and is currently residing in the Guangdong Province at the Wuchuan SWI. She was on the shared waiting child list and has a repaired VSD, ASD, and PDA. So she is what some would call a "heart baby". She certainly has stolen my heart and we hope to travel for her next month!

Gotcha! 1st Anniversary

Today is the 1st of many Gotcha and Forever Family Day celebrations! You can see the actual Gotcha Day post here if you want to visit memory lane.

What an amazing year it has been with our little girl. Our family has had a wonderful year as a family of 5. Of course we have had our ups and downs, but I must say that there have been many more ups than downs.

Shelby came to us as a frightened terrified toddler. She has now become a confident, spunky, full-of-live little girl :) Here are some pics taken over the last year. You can see for yourself how she has blossomed.

Shelby is truly a perfect fit into our family. We are so very blessed to be HER family!!

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him." - I Samuel 1:27