Blogspot.com is broken in China

I'm a part of a couple of different Yahoo groups. These are groups that you can join when you have similar goals in mind. Most of my Yahoo groups center around our adoption from China. Anyways, a couple of weeks ago, one person started a discussion that basically says that you can't use Blogger to post from China. This means that this website that you're reading right now won't be able to work.

I'm bummed. I really wanted to post journal entries and pictures so that people could keep up with our trip. Mostly, I wanted an easy way for my Grandparents and my kids and other family members to see what we've been doing a half a world away. Now...my plan is foiled. I've found another website that isn't too expensive and could work for the couple of months that I need it...it's called Baby Jelly Beans and is used for many different families waiting to share their "baby stories" with people. I'll let you know when I get it up and running.

"Outcome Looks Good" - a quick message from the 8-ball.

Patience...

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”-Romans 8:25

Patience stinks! I'm not good at being patient. But...I only have to be patient for 40 more days!

A Visit with Great-Grandma

Last Monday, we went to visit Stephen's Grandmother. LaVonia is an amazing Grandmother and we love her so much. We were supposed to go for a picnic...at a park...something we do quite often in our family. However, this was no ordinary picnic. From now on, my kids will expect an amazing picnic.

When we were planning on the food, Grandma said, "I'll bring some sandwiches and fruit and juice. If there is anything else that the kids will need, you can bring that." So...I brought nothing. I figured that if my kids needed more than that then that would just be too bad. When we went to pick up Grandma, she came into the car with a cooler and a picnic basket. As soon as we got to the park, she put out a tablecloth. Hmmmm...nice touch, I thought. Then came the individualized place mats for each child. Hmmmmm...really nice tough.

Then came the sandwiches out of the cooler. There were four kinds for the kids. Ice cream cone shaped sandwiches with meat and cheese. Elephant cut sandwiches with Ham and Cheese. There were star shaped sandwiches with plain turkey and then circle shaped sandwiches with PB&J. Sandwich heaven! Twerp #1 couldn't get enough. He ate so many sandwiches that he gave himself a stomach ache. Twerp #2 loved the variety and the cute shapes. She ate one, maybe two and was full. Twerp #3 wanted to try one of each of them. As for us adults, we each had a turkey and cheese sandwich complete with lettuce. They were cut on the diagonal. I never cut on the diagonal. But somehow, it made them more yummy. I'll be cutting on the diagonal more from now on!



She had carrots with a raspberry dipping sauce. She had apples and a apple slicer that she brought. The apple juice was frozen in paper cups with a straw stuck in the middle. They had been thawing just enough to make a perfect slushy. She even brought chocolate pudding for dessert. Yummy.

How can my picnic's compare in the future?!? I just throw a few PB&J sandwiches in a big bag - sometimes even the leftover bag that the bread came in if I use all the pieces. Not particularly attractive. I bring the entire bag of pretzels and just throw some on the paper towel we use for a plate. It's very minimal and very "throw it all in the trash when we're done." But...and this is a huge but...my kids will never forget Grandma LaVonia's picnic.

Grandma, you're amazing! We love you and we love the way that you make each of us feel so very special! Thank you for being in our lives!

Letter of Seeking Confirmation from Adopter (LOA)

This is what we've been waiting for...the letter that we've been waiting three years to get. It's the letter that says that we are officially invited to China to adopt Huan Qin Li. It's priceless. And, like most priceless things, I got rid of it as quickly as I could. I could loose it or it could get scribbled on by one of the kids. It could get ripped by two of the kids wanting to look at it at the same time or it could get eaten by the dog. Either way...I wanted it back to China.




So, I signed it.

Stephen signed it. We dated it and we sent it by FedEx back to Sabrina where it will quickly make it's way back to China so we can get our Travel Approval (TA). We can't wait for that so we can finally buy our tickets.

Visa...it's not just a credit card anymore!

We finally sent in our check, passports and updated passport photos to get our Visa's. Yep, our visa's for China! We're still waiting for our Travel Approval to come in...but we sent back our LOA so it should come at the end of July. I've never had to get a Visa before. Heck, you don't need one to get to Minnesota. Nor do you need one to go through all the states West of the Mississippi. Yeah, that's where I've been. Name a state West of the Mississippi and I've probably driven through it. Can't wait to get my passport back with my Visa stamped inside. I just hope I don't loose my passport after I get that expensive stamp! Next stop, China!

WE'RE GOING TO CHINA!

Things happen so quickly with email. I emailed Sabrina and asked her when the earliest possible dates to travel to China would be. This was the email that I just got:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!Yes, traveling to China in early August is doable. Let's plan on leaving on the 5th so that you will be able to tour Beijing a bit before you meet Huan Qin on 8/10/2009. If you leave on the 5th of August, you will be on home on 8/19/2009.
Sabrina

It's amazing that when we pray for something, God answers in an even more perfect way than what we originally thought to ask. Stephen and I were praying that we would get our LOA before we had to leave for MN. We were praying that the swine flu wouldn't affect our travel plans and that our trip to China wouldn't be delayed for months on end (like what happened during the SARS time). We were praying that we could bring home Aaselia sooner rather than later. Sure enough, we can go way before we thought it was even possible.

My kids will be traveling to MN with my sister for the family reunion. They won't miss us a bit! They'll have so much fun with their cousins that they won't even realize that I won't be there.

August 10th is the day that we'll hold Aaselia Ruth Huanqin Margala for the first time. That's less than 2 months away. It'll fly by. Stay tuned for further information.

We Got Our LOA!

YEAH! We've been officially confirmed as Huan Qin Li's parents. We'll get our LOA paperwork on Monday and we have to sign it and send it back by Federal Express. We have to sign on the dotted line that we accept the referral for Huan Qin and that we want to come to China and bring her home! And really, who wouldn't want to love this little face!!!

Then, Sabrina asked me when the earliest we could travel would be...looks like we can travel to China at the early part of August and come back in time to get rid of our jet lag and then get the kids ready for school. We might be going to China at the same time our kids are in Minnesota for the family reunion. They won't miss us quite as much if they're with all their cousins. We might just be a distant memory for them. We'll still have to arrange a time to Skype with them a few times while we're in China. Aaselia will be able to talk with her brothers and sister. Ni Hao Twerps!

I'll let you all know as soon as we can figure out travel dates. Until then...Ni Hao from California.

New Pictures!

I love that we can get new pictures overnight! I emailed our China coordinator a couple of nights ago and she said that she'd get us updated information. Sure enough...these were in our inbox by the time we got home from our movie tonight.

Aaselia is 29 inches tall, 23 pounds and has a 18 inch head circumference. That puts her below the 5th percentile for height, the 10th-20th percentile for weight and the 5-10th percentile for head size. She's just perfect - proportional all around.

I think in this picture her ears were burning cause we're talking about her all the time! :)












Ugh. She's just waiting for us. I can't wait to bring her home...to her forever family!

I can't wait until we see her smile at us. It might take a few days, but when she does, I'll probably cry with joy.

Stephen and I went out on a date tonight to dinner and a movie. It's not very often we get the chance to do that! We talked about our trip and how excited I am to go to China. I can't believe that I'll be able to go on a trip like that this summer! It's already 12:15 am and I can't even fall asleep. I feel like I'm the kid whose waiting for morning to go on a trip to Disneyworld, except I'm that kid on speed! I am THAT excited. (Not that I'm actually using drugs, Grandma...it's just an expression!)

Enjoy the pictures ya'll. We'll be home with her soon enough. Keep Aaselia in your prayers as well as our family as we prepare our home and our children to bring her home...forever.

A goal...

I have a good sized pantry. Most of it is full of stuff. Stuff that I bought for a particular recipe and then didn't make and I still have the stuff. My goal for this summer is to eat my pantry. You know, use up the stuff that I already have instead of buying new stuff to eat. It's such an odd assortment of stuff too. I found a website called allrecipes.com. You can go to their ingredients link (just above the search bar) and type in the ingredients that you have and the ingredients that you don't want. They'll bring up a list of recipes that you can make so you can "eat your pantry." I made my list this morning. There are 11 things on my list and I'll make 4 dinner meals complete with sides. I still need to get the basics like fruit and milk and bread, but my grocery bill will be so much smaller if I eat my pantry this summer. I spent $29 on groceries for the week for my dinners and fruit this week. Hopefully we can get the pantry cleaned and our tummies full for a lot less this summer!

Care Package...

We sent a care package to Aaselia a couple of weeks ago and I just downloaded the pictures to my computer. It's amazing with my new camera on how many pictures can stay on my disk until I download them.

Anyways, we sent Aaselia a pink bunny that giggles, a photo album of our family pictures...hopefully she'll recognize us when we bring her home...and a pink blanket that is super soft. We sent her caretaker (Auntie) a bracelet with pictures of Aaselia, a heart shaped mirror with the inscription "Love, Huan Qin Li" on the front, two cameras for her to take pictures of Aaselia before we get there. Hopefully we get the cameras back when we pick her up. We also sent cards to the Auntie and Aaselia.

This is the photo album that we sent Aaselia. It was so cool that it said Photos in Mandarin, Spanish and English. 6 photos were able to fit in the album. We put one of her in the front pocket. There was one of Daddy, one of Mommy, one of the boys together, one of Twerp #2 and one family picture on the back.

This was the card that Twerp #2 gave to Aaselia's auntie. She drew a picture of herself...missing teeth included. On the inside, she drew a picture of what looked to be like jail. It was actually the top bunk and crib in Aaselia's new room. She wrote (in kindergarten spelling) "This is where you will sleep..."

Very cute. I hope the Auntie loves it.

The Tooth Fairy came for a visit!

Yes, we had a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night. She left gold dust on Twerp #2's pillow and generally made a mess in her room. She also left $2.00. Ugh...I never got $2 when I was 6! She said that she's gonna take me to Yogurtland for a date this weekend. Yes! I can't get used to this face. She tells me that I stare at her too much. Whatever. My response is "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit." She just grunts at me and moves on with what she was doing before I started staring at her. She's still beautiful though. I just love her eyes. I'd like to think that I was staring at her eyes...but it's really that red gap in her mouth. A fresh tooth space. They creep me out.

2 weeks...

It's been 2 weeks since we have heard of our Pre-Approval. We're hoping it's only another 2-3 weeks before we have our LOA - Letter of Acceptance in our hands. We'll need to sign it and send it back to China..then it's only 6-8 weeks before we travel.

On another note, I'm going to Minnesota for a family reunion in August. I didn't think I'd be able to go with the kids, but I have an amazing husband who wants us to be able to go. I'll be in MN for most of August...so I hope that we get our LOA before my trip to MN. I really want to be able to sign our LOA as soon as it arrives. I still check every night before bed to see if I've gotten an email from Sabrina...I'll let you all know when it arrives!

A Mother's Day Song...

I know it's WAY past Mother's Day, but since it's not yet Father's Day, I feel justified in writing this post. Twerp #3 had all the mom's come for a Mother's Day celebration at his preschool. The kids all learned a song and sang for us Mom's. It might be a little hard to hear, but sure is fun to watch my Twerp try to do hand motions! :)



Mother's are flowers. Beautiful flowers. Mother's are flowers in the garden of life.

Lady Bug in my Pants!

We went camping in May up to the mountains. There were TONS of lady bugs flying around and they were the thing to be treasured...fought over...caught...put into a trap...basically anything you can do to a lady bug...it was done! However, when I was taping Twerp #3, I never thought I'd hear this...



Just notice how dirty his hands are from camping! Gross...Twerp #2's hands didn't look like this. I hope it's a boy thing.

What we're waiting on...

We received our pre-approval on the 27th of May. Now we are waiting on our Letter of Acceptance (LOA). Once we get that, we'll be traveling to China within 6-8 weeks. After we sign and return our LOA, we will be waiting for our Travel Approval (TA). After we get our TA, we can make our Consulate Appointment (CA)...that will determine the dates in which we travel. It will also determine our Gotcha Day. If you want to view a Gotcha Day video from another family that traveled with our Adoption Agency, you can view it here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck4APPgOzFg

Get your box of tissues ready!

A Little Bit About Aaselia...

I thought that today I'd share a little bit about our daughter, Aaselia. There was a little bit of paperwork that was sent along with her file that tells about her growth and personality...a little bit of what we can expect when we bring her home.

As far as motor development: she can sit steadily, can tear paper, clawing, using thumbs and index fingers deftly, crawls and walks with assistance or being held of one hand. She can also take a toy out of the cup, banging 2 blocks together, and throw a toy far away.

Language and social ability: responding to the facial expression of adults, laughing aloud, feeding herself cookies, imitating words and being able to call mom, aunt, knowing what “NO” means, responds to other's asking for her objects, being active, restless, quick in reaction, energetic, fairly extroverted, fond of watching TV, enjoys playing with toys. She is active and restless (sounds like a couple kids I know...), she is fond of playing with toys She has a ready smile and gets along well with others.

Living habits: get up at 6:30, nap from 12:00 to 2:00, go to bed at 8:00; mealtimes: 7:00, 11:00, 5:00 with moderate amount of soft rice and minced vegetable, meat as well as fish. She is not a picky eater! She has milk at 2:00 and 7:30 with 250cc per time. She is a sound sleeper.

I'm sure she has grown a lot since these observations were made. There wasn't an exact date on the paperwork, so I don't know how old she was when the caretaker noted all these things. She is healthy and smiley and beautiful. We can't wait to bring her home.