Our China Adventure

Two Years

2010-10-16T15:20:00.003-05:00

Wow! Mahli has been home for two years this month. We celebrated Gotcha day earlier this month and today was the day that Mahli to her oath. It does not seem like that was two years ago. How time flies.

Mahli is doing well. She is in pre-school two days per week and is loving it. She has wonderful teachers and they work with her very well. They have her whole class working with her. She still tends to be very bossy and loud, and the class will remind her to use her inside voice. It is very cute to see. She looks forward to her days at school. Her therapies are going well, she tested out of physical therapy. So now she is just doing O/T, speech, and attachment therapy. One day a week she does hippotherapy and she loves that. Amazingly, she is very good on the horse. She is not very good with our dogs, she like to hit them, so it always surprises me that she is very gentle with the horses.

Mahli is growing like a weed. She is still only 32 pounds but she is very tall. It is hard to find clothes for her long legs. She is wearing a size 5, which is much too big in the waist but fits perfect in length.

I have met several people in the community with adopted children and all have interesting stories. It is amazing to me that college campuses seem to bring adoptive people together. I have been quite busy and not keeping up with people the way I should :-( Maybe once graduate school is done.....

Anyone who wants to keep in touch, feel free to friend me on facebook Heather Shull Franks, just attach a note to the request letting me know who you are.

Mahli and my niece

2009-12-08T19:20:00.003-06:00

Well Mahli has really settled in well. She has been receiving many therapies including physical, occupational, speech, developmental, and behavioral. She is progressing at great speed. She has adapted well to her therapists and loves her occupational therapy. She loves all her therapies. We went to Little Rock last week to have a swallow study and upper GI. The upper GI came out fine, but the swallow study showed that she had deep penetration with both normal liquid and nectar thick liquid. What that means is that she has most likely been aspirating liquids. We now have to thicken all of her drinks to honey consistency. She will have another swallow study in 9 months.

I have also moved into the world of facebook. If you would like to see my facebook pictures, send me a friend request. Heather Shull Franks. Make sure you send me a note and say you follow my blog.

Update

2009-09-08T13:53:00.002-05:00

It is Mahli's Birthday!! She is four years old today! She has been a busy little girl. We have had a busy summer and have now gotten her big brothers back in school.

Rob has moved off to college for a year, he will be back in May. He is going to do a year at the community college where his Dad lives and then he will transfer back here to finish up at our University here. We are so proud of him!

Dayton started 7th grade this year and is doing well. He is taking band again this year and really enjoying it. Jaxxon is in 3rd grade and although he grumbles about it, he really likes school. Indy is in second grade and loves his teacher this year, Amen!

Mahli has started speech therapy twice a week, physical therapy twice a week, and occupational therapy three times a week, but her therapist would like her to come four times a week. We went last Friday for psychological and further developmental testing and go back to see Dr. Bellando on the 17th. They are recommending developmental and behavioral therapy as well. I am not sure when we are supposed to fit all these therapies in.

Mahli does not particularly like any of the therapy and does not cooperate well. She is very impulsive and does not like to do anything that is not her idea. So she does not have an easy time with therapy.

On a brighter note, she did enjoy her birthday party. We had it yesterday while her big brother was home from college. We got her several toys that will help with her Sensory Integration issues. She loves her tricycle, hippity hop, and her sit-n-spin. She did not so much like her birthday cake. She did like the tinkerbell rings that we on top of the cake.

I will try to get some good pictures of her later today. She does not like to have her picture taken, so this is not an easy task. You will be amazed by how much she has grown!

Quarterly Update

2009-05-15T15:53:00.002-05:00

Ok. So Maybe I will make this a quarterly update. I don't seem to be able to get around to updating any more often....

Well..school is almost out. Rob graduates next Tuesday. He is moving out the week after that to start college life. I am not ready for that! He is going to move off for the first year and then will return back here to finish up his degree.

I am hoping to put the boys on the swim team this summer, they are excited about that. Me not so much. Practice is from 7AM to 9AM everyday. Yes that is 7AM..... For those that know me well, you know I am NOT a morning person! The activity will be good for the boys.

Mahli is doing well. She is picking up more English everyday. She has adjusted very well, you would never know that she has only been here for 7 months. She is almost completely potty trained! Yay for Mahli!! She loves to jump on the bed, but is absolutely terrified of the trampoline! hmmmm... She has such a cute little personality and shows it to everyone. She has almost quit melting down every time we go out in public. She is still quite OCD about having ANYTHING on her that does not belong, it must come off immediately!

She gets along great with the boys and you can hear her yelling for them or the dogs at any given moment. We have recently had a new addition to the house. Rosie is a 120 lbs, 20 month old Mastiff. Mahli loves Rosie just as long as Rosie does not slobber on her! When Rosie gets a drink, Mahli heads for higher ground!

I will post some pictures later this weekend. We are hoping to meet some friends at the zoo in the next couple weeks and maybe will have some pictures from there soon!

Bad Mama

2009-02-02T21:25:00.003-06:00

I know, I know.....I have been very bad. I have not posted in a loooong time. We have been so busy and trying to get everyone settled in. Then came the holidays and then my return to work. Anyway, excuses aside, we are all doing well.

Mahli had some regression when I returned to work, but she is doing better now. We have gotten results from most of her testing. Her blood work was all good, except for a low platelet count. That is being followed up on. We have repeated all her vaccinations. We have her MRI results and are now working on a plan for follow up of that.

She has an EEG scheduled later this month and I am waiting to hear from the Dennis Development Center at UAMS/Arkansas Children's Hospital about her referral to them. She will need developmental testing from them.

I am looking for a part time developmental daycare in Little Rock where she can attend maybe two days a week. I really have mixed feelings about putting her in daycare. I really think she may feel like she is back in an orphanage setting. She does not react well to pictures from her orphanage or of the Aunties. However, our international adoption doctor is really pushing for the daycare setting. She feels she needs the socialization. Her condition affects her ability to control her impulses and I think this may be very hard for her. I do think it would be better for her to receive all her therapy in once place though. She will need OT, speech/language, and behavioral therapies.

She has gained weight and gotten taller since we have been home. She is now 30 lbs and 36 inches tall. She is still in 24m clothes though. I am having a hard time with pants as she has long legs. She is so skinny the waist just falls off if the legs are long enough. Guess she will wear lots of dresses! She does not mind as long as I don't try to put anything in her hair to match! She loves her beads, but other than that is NOT a girly girl.

She has settled in pretty well. She still has issues with me giving anyone but her attention. It does not matter that she did not want my attention until one of the boys has it! She does get along well with her brothers though. She is still not playing well with toys, she is just not really interested. She has learned to ride her brothers scooter, that is pretty funny. Of course, she only wants to ride it when he is on it!

She is not really speaking very well yet. She will repeat what you say, but does not say a lot on her own. If you tell her to say something, she will repeat it. Hopefully, this will improve with therapy.

We finally got what I think is the right diagnosis for the rash she has had since we received her. Pityriasis rosea, is what Dr. Baldwin says she has. She has been misdiagnosed with allergies and ringworm, which it does look a lot like ringworm. She has the rash all over her back and a little on her arms and legs. She now has some oral meds for itching and we are keeping her well covered with lotion and we are using Selsan Blue as a body wash. This seems to be helping a little. I know she had the rash in the orphanage as she has the scars to prove it.

We gave up on the potty training and we just put her on the potty when she gets up in the morning and after her nap. We also put her on before her bath. She has some major sensory integration issues, expected with her condition, and does not seem to know when she pees. She is excited when she gets off the potty and can see the pee, but does not know until then that she has gone.

We are still working with the rocking. She still does this a lot and we are trying to distract her when we see her doing it. There are some OT techniques to help with this as well.

Luckily one area we do not have any trouble with is sleeping. When we put her to bed at night, she climbs up in her little bed and wants all four of her blankets on her. We tuck her in, and she is usually good for the night. I am not sure why she wants all the blankets as she kicks them all off during the night, but I am happy to put them on her anyway. She has only had one night that she woke up crying. That was right after we came home. I did have to take her night light out of her room. If I turn it on, she will DESTROY her room. I also close her door. If she does happen to wake up at night, she will wander the house.....very quietly. So I close her door for her safety.

She is learning to like many foods. She hated french fries while we were in China. Now she loves them. She still does not care much for cold food, but will eat very hot food with no response if I do not stop her. She loves spaghetti, and basically any type of pasta. She does not like chicken. She would snack all day if I let her. She is always pointing to something and wanting to eat it. She does not horde her food in her mouth anymore.

Well I think I have written a book. Hopefully, I will get back to posting regular and they will not be so long.....

Time Goes By......

2008-11-20T13:15:00.002-06:00

Time goes by way to fast. Seems like we just got home, and we were home a month on Tuesday. Mahli is quickly picking up English words. She can count, mostly from me saying one.....two....three..... She still speaks a lot of Mandarin, but has picked up many English words such as:

Hi
Bye
Cya Later
Night Night
Please.....sounds more like peaaa
Thank You
Yes
No
Jaxxon
Daddy
Drink
Yum Yum.....This when she wants to eat
Diaper
Puppy
Pretty
and she can name most of her body parts.

I do believe that she is left handed as this is the hand she "chooses" to use. We tried to begin potty training and she just was not getting it. Although, she will tell you after she has gone pee. So we have stopped that for the time being...see below for the explanation.

I took her Monday to see a pediatrician in Little Rock who has experience with international adoption. Dr. Baldwin was very nice and spent about two hours with us. She completely checked Mahli out and we spent about 45 minutes trying to get enough blood to run all the tests she wanted to do. She also started her over on her vaccinations. She got two on Monday and will receive more later. Dr. Baldwin felt that she was not ready to be potty trained and recommended that we hold off for another 3 to 6 months. She felt she might regress with all the changes. She scheduled Mahli for an MRI just to see what it shows. She did not feel that anything was wrong, but wanted to see what her diagnosis was all about. Mahli is in the 25th percentile in both height and weight. She is 27 lbs, up 5 pounds from her exam in China!, and 34 inches.

Mahli is still exhibiting some behavior issues, but these seem to be less frequently. She still has a fit when you tell her no, and is still pushing boundaries to see how far she can get, but that is typical for her age. She still hates to have anything on her head or in her hair. She will not wear socks if she does not have her shoes on, and refuses to sleep with covers.

The boys are still loving their little sister. They have all had me bring her to school for different functions. She is still dragging them all over the house. I believe she thinks she is the boss!!

Settling In

2008-11-06T07:42:00.002-06:00

Well the title says it all. We are just settling in. Mahli is doing great and acclimating well. The boys are doing wonderful. She drags them around wherever she wants them to go. We all had fun trick or treating. I have pictures that I promise I will upload today. Pictures of homecoming, Halloween, etc. It is hard to get pictures of my boys in anything but their underwear. As soon as they walk through the door the clothes come off.

Steven went back to work part time this week. Mahli was not too sure about that. She keeps looking for him and goes to his chair, then she yells Daadeeee. I tell her he is at work and will be home soon and she is good for awhile, then we start all over.

I want to ask everyone to please pray for Mahli's friend Susannah's family. Susannah's Papa fell from a ladder and is in the hospital. Also, for Liesl and Steve, they are leaving today to go to Kunming to get their little girl. We were supposed to travel together, but things did not work out. They have had a very stressful six weeks and are going to be gone for 18 days. I thought our trip was long.........

I took Mahli up to the boys school for their fall parties. One of our favorite teachers, the one Indy should have had this year, but our principal decided she would "change things up", asked me to get her more information on adoption!! She wants to adopt a little girl. It makes you feel good to know that you have helped another child find a forever family. It is also good that you can help someone else just starting out and tell them how you would do it, if you had it to do over again. There are definitely things I would do differently.

CHI got referrals yesterday for February 17, 2006. Not sure yet what the cut off date is, but CHI's next log in date is 3/2/06. I just can not imagine what those families are going through. These referral families waited 33 months. Which may not seem that long to some of you who are not in the adoption world, but they were told the wait would be 12 to 14 months. Quite a difference!

Ok I am going to upload pictures now. Hopefully, they will be on here before long.

Home Update

2008-10-22T17:45:00.002-05:00

Mahli had her first doctor's appointment today. She did not like them taking blood, but other than that she did fine. Everyone in our doctors office, and the other doctors in his practice, had to come and see her. She was blowing kisses left and right. Dr. Kaploe said she looks very healthy. He did take blood to test for all vaccinations, as well as syphilis and kidney function. We should hear back next week on all the blood work.

Mahli is settling in very well. She loves the boys and they can't get enough of her. She is picking up English pretty well and can get her point across. We are all having a bit of trouble getting back on a correct sleeping schedule. We still feel like we should sleep all day and be up all night. She is sleeping two to three hours at a time and then is up for several hours. Hopefully, we can get this corrected in the very near future. She is doing great in her own bed and will go straight in to her room and get in bed when I say it is night-night time. She repeats night-night and rolls over to go to sleep.

She is still stubborn as ever, but is realizing that the rules apply. She is happy as long as she has food, and does not like having it taken away. She is fascinated by the dogs and can stand at the window for hours and watch them. She is losing some of her destructive behavior, I think she has realized that biting herself is not going to get her attention.

I have some more pictures I will go through sometime this week or next and get posted.

We are Home

2008-10-19T15:09:00.002-05:00

We finally made it home about midnight last night, and got into bed about 2am. Mahli was as excited as the boys. The boys were glad we were home and very excited about Mahli. We are all still very tired and I will post more later.

Last post from China

2008-10-17T07:49:00.002-05:00

This is our last post from China. We leave in the morning and will be home about 10pm Saturday night. We have really enjoyed our time here and in a way it is sad to leave Mahli's homeland and all she knows, but we are happy to be going home. We miss the boys and can't wait for them to meet Mahli.

I am praying that we have a peaceful flight. Fifteen hours is a long time for a little girl to be good. I am hopeful that she will take a long nap. We have a four hour layover in Shanghai and a three hour layover in Atlanta. That will at least break up the flights some.

We will post again after we get home.

Oath and Visa

2008-10-16T06:21:00.002-05:00

We have taken the oath and we have her visa. Now if we could just come home. Not yet. Our flights are confirmed for Saturday morning. We leave Guangzhou at 9:35am and arrive Little Rock at 10:02 pm. All told, it is about 28 hours including the 15 hour flight from Shanghai to Atlanta. We have a four hour layover in Shanghai, which is not bad as their airport is like two miles long and you have to walk from one end to the other with your luggage. Then we have a three hour layover in Atlanta which is probably not long enough as we have to go through customs. We will make it home.

Mahli is doing great, other than her temper tantrums. She is picking up a few English words, but understands quite a bit. She does not like to be told no and still bites herself when she gets mad. She will at least point at me now when you ask who her Mama is. She converses very well with everyone in Mandarin. She loves to be outside and loves her stroller. She also loves the bath and will play as long as you will let her.

She still eats non stop and seems to horde food in her mouth. You have to be careful feeding her as she will keep opening her mouth for more, even though she already has a mouth full. She likes bananas, Chinese noodles, rice, and is starting to like Sprite.

We have another free day tomorrow and may go to the open air market on the mainland. One more day..................................

Another Free Day

2008-10-15T05:39:00.003-05:00

We had another free day today. We slept in and went to breakfast around 9:30. Mahli ate a full plate of Chinese noodles, she loves them. Last night Mahli and I went to the farewell dinner at one of the local restaurants. The food was very good. I was adventurous and tried most everything. After, we returned to the room and took Steven to Lucy's for his nightly steak. Mahli ate at Lucy's also.

After breakfast Steven's back was hurting so we took him to a local clinic. He got "cup treatment", not sure exactly what that is as I did not go in with him. However, he came out with big circles on his back. Looks like he was attacked by a giant octopus. He will not let me post the picture. He did say that his back feels better. I believe this was some type of massage treatment. He said something about her "climbing an 8 foot ladder, jumping off, and hitting him in the back with her elbow." Hmmmm.....sounds painful to me.

We are trying to finish up gift buying and, of course, ate at Lucy's for dinner. At least they have a lot on the menu. I have had something different every night. Steven is still eating the steak. He asked for it medium well the first night, medium the second night, well the third night and finally tonight he asked for it to be super well done and it was not bleeding. I think they just accidentally dropped it on the grill on the way by. That is about what it looked like.

I have posted new pictures of Guangzhou or at least Shaiman Island. Tomorrow we have our consulate appointment and our swearing in. Looks like we may be able to get Mahli's visa tomorrow also, not sure yet. We will have a free day on Friday and may go to the zoo. Then we fly out Saturday morning. I am not looking forward to the flight home, but I am looking forward to getting home.

Pictures

2008-10-14T03:44:00.002-05:00

We have taken the red couch pictures. I believe the Mahli was playing with Elsie's phone in all of them. Oh, and screaming in the group photos. We are about to go to the farewell dinner. I am afraid that Steven will not be eating anything and we may have to come back by Lucy's after dinner.

Several people have asked when we are coming home. We will land in Little Rock at 10pm on Saturday night. Big Steve is coming to pick us up. We will make it home, if I can keep Steven away from the burger joints.

I think we may have to buy another suitcase to haul home all of our gifts. I came to China with a whole suitcase of presents and still don't seem to have room for just the things we brought! Not sure how that happened. Other than the diapers, which we did not bring, but will be taking with us. Anybody who wants a particular something brought back had better speak now, only two shopping days left.

Mom, if you are reading, I finally decided on a tea set. I was assured this was a very popular tea set. Hope it was what you wanted. I also got you some jasmine tea to go in it. Maybe it will keep you warm in that four foot of snow I hear you have.

Time for dinner, I will download pictures when we get back and put them in a new slide.

Medical Exam

2008-10-13T21:10:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went for the medical exam. Ughh!!!! That is what I have to say about that. Two hours and 30 minutes in one line after another, in crowds of people and it was hot! Standing in line with a child who does not want to wait in line, babies crying and many people sweating in a small confined space. Not my idea of fun. However, we survived and that is done. We came back from there to complete our Visa paperwork.

I went on an did the paperwork and Steven and Mahli took a nap. Once they got up we ventured out. It was raining. This is the first rain we have had in China. It rained all afternoon and into the evening. That, of course, did not stop my shopping. We went to the Deli shop to see what they had to eat. There was not much there that interested us, so we headed back to Lucy's. Steven tried the T-Bone and said is was akin to eating shoe leather. He is going to stick with the Fillet. I got spaghetti and it was not bad. Mahli liked it as long as she did not get any meat in her mouth. She does not like meat. I also tried to give her broccoli, she did not like that either. She ate her plate of steamed rice and most of my spaghetti.

We left there and went to Jordan's shop. I got a couple of neat gifts there. Steven and Mahli headed back to the room and I went to a couple of shops by the hotel. I did get Mahli a blanket. One of the embroidery shops had some beautiful queen size silk blankets, but I don't think I have room in my luggage for that. I went back to the deli shop and got a cheese puff sandwich for Steven for later (he did not like it) and some ice cream. Mahli ate the sandwich, the whole thing. It was a slice of cheese on a sandwich bun. The bread here is almost all sweet, and Steven does not care for that. I gave Mahli some ice cream and boy what a face. She did not like it at first. Then it grew on her and she took mine and ate it. That reminds me, she does NOT like carbonated beverages. She wanted some of my Sprite, so I gave her a sip. That caused a all over body wiggle and a scream to get it off her tongue!

We are in our room right now waiting to see if there are any questions on our Visa paperwork. Then I am going out. Steven said he is done, even though he keeps saying we don't have to look right now, we have all week. So I am leaving Mahli here with him and I am going out. Most of the shops are fairly close.

I just have a few more gifts to find and I will be done too. I think this evening we have the famous "red couch pictures" and then the farewell dinner for CHI. Most of the families are leaving on Thursday. We are the only family staying until Saturday. Lucky us. I am wondering how the trade fair is going to effect everything here. Guess we will see.

Free Day

2008-10-12T08:01:00.003-05:00

We had a free day today. We had breakfast with two other families and then attended the local bilingual church service. Mahli was not very cooperative and made a LOT of noise during the service. I finally had to get up and leave. The service was ninety minutes and that is a long time to expect her to sit quietly.

We came back and Mahli had a nap and then we set out to look for the Cow and Bridge, which is supposed to be a good place to eat. We found Sherry's place and bought some squeaky shoes and outfits for Mahli. Then we went to Jenny's place and got some more squeaky shoes and some other gifts.

We then set out once again to find the Cow and Bridge, we walked all over and found a playground. We also saw lots of wedding pictures being taken. Lots of people were out and about. We found another shop and got Mahli some bilingual books. Everywhere we have gone everyone has been giving Mahli gifts. Noisy gifts........

We never did find the Cow and Bridge, and finally walked back to Lucy's. Steven tried a steak tonight and they brought him two!!! He could hardly eat it all, but said it was very good. Finally, something he likes!! We also found out that they make their ice out of bottled water, so we got ice in our drinks. Doesn't sound like much, but we have not had ice in over a week and I am an ice-aholic!!

Mahli loves new shoes and is having the time of her life in her squeaky shoes. For those who do not know, they squeak like a toy every step you take. I bought her several pairs in several sizes as I only paid 25 yuan, which is about $3.50.

We finally found a place to get the laundry done, so will take our laundry by there tomorrow. We have Mahli's medical exam at 9am and then we fill out Visa paperwork at 11. Then we have free days on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our consulate appointment is on Thursday and then we have the afternoon free and then Friday I believe we are free most the day and then pick up her Visa Friday evening. We fly out Saturday morning.

The gives us at least 3 more days for shopping! There are a lot of shops that we passed that we want to stop in and look. We are comparing prices and bargaining. Most of the shops have the same items, maybe only in a different color and material. I have seen a lot of Christmas ornaments and they are quite cheap, I am going to pick up some of those before we go.

I got the cutest shoes they are white and black polka dots. Heather if you are reading this, I thought of you when I got them. They also have little bows on the front. I may post a picture of them tomorrow. Right now I am tired and going to bed.

We made it to Guangzhou

2008-10-11T03:56:00.002-05:00

We made it!! Steve got a hamburger at Lucy's!!! He did not like it. Oh well, at least it was a hamburger. We got in about 12:30 and once we made it to our room, we got settled and headed out to Lucy's. We got back about 30 minutes ago and now we are taking a nap. We have a free day tomorrow and will post more then.

Orphanage Visit

2008-10-09T23:56:00.003-05:00

We visited the orphanage today. It was a very clean, very well maintained place. We met and spoke with the director who thanked us for adopting Mahli. We, of course, told her that we thanked her for taking care of her until we came.

We also met a Dutch volunteer. He actually worked in the rooms with the SN kids. He should be highly praised for the work he does. We were so glad to get to talk to him.

I have many pictures, but I am not going to post them on the blog. I will add them to the Yunnan group photo place, snapfish I think??, when I get home. I will add one picture of us with the director and one of the aunties. Mahli's main auntie was on the night shift today and so was not there when we visited. This was probably a good thing. When we visited Mahli's class it was lunch time and the auntie put her up in a highchair and began feeding her. She did NOT want to leave. She had a complete fit when I pulled her out of the chair to take her away. She seems to be fine now.

This will most likely be our last post from Kunming. We leave in the morning for Guangzhou.

The Stone Forest

2008-10-09T17:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Stone Forest. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was the first day that they sun has been out since we have been here. There was a cool breeze blowing and it was in the 70's. I have added some pictures. I just grabbed a few as Steven took 219.

We had a great time. It was a 3 hour round trip to the Stone Forest and we really got to experience traffic. Our driver was great. He insisted on pushing Mahli the whole time we were in the park. When we came to stairs he picked her up stroller and all and carried her up. Mahli loves her stroller. She did really well on the ride there and back. Not sure how well she will do when she is in a car seat.

She is still having some major temper tantrums when she does not get her way. We came back and took a nap, we were all worn out.

Today we visit the orphanage and then pack. This is our last day in Kunming. We leave tomorrow morning for Guangzhou. Steven will be thrilled, he can actually find something to eat. We have been eating a big breakfast and skipping lunch, then ordering room service. They have a steak sandwich that he will eat and Mahli and I get fried rice. I have told him about Lucy's and he can't wait. I must say that the cheerios and teddy grahams have been a life saver.

In case I did not mention it before, Mahli is not potty trained. Not even acting like she wants to be. She definitely acts more like two than three. Although, she does have a very large vocabulary in Mandarin.

Need to get ready for breakfast, more later.

ok a little more

2008-10-08T08:20:00.002-05:00

Finally got Mahli settled down so I can post a little more. We had a good time today at Da Guan Lou. It is a park in Kunming that is on Lake Dian and full of flowers and walkways. Many people come to Da Guan Lou for daily exercise or to eat their breakfast and enjoy the peacefulness of their surroundings. It was very beautiful. There were many sculptings and many, many different kinds of flowers. I did not post pictures of all of them. There were many people doing their daily exercise in groups of two or three. There was also a group of ladies in one of the pavilions who were doing group exercise. It was very quite and peaceful. The lake, at that end, is only about 2 meters deep and they do not allow fishing in the park. We did see some fish jumping.

We left Da Guan Lou and went across town and into the mountains to Dragon Gate. It was quite a ride. I think only those who have been in China traffic can appreciate the meaning here. The drive up the mountain was beautiful. There were people walking everywhere and also riding up the mountain on bicycles. I think I would have died if I had to do either. Many people were carrying big bottles to collect water at the spring up there. I am glad that I got to see Dragon Gate on the travel channel this summer, cause there was no way I was going to make it up all those stairs. Mahli was having a fit and wanted to walk, but when I put her down she wanted right back up. Then she would squirm and have a fit to get down. Not easy to haul that up very steep stairs.

Anyway, someone had missed their nap and was not having anymore of it. We headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. We ordered room service for dinner and just stayed in. Need our rest for the Stone Forest tomorrow.

Da Guan Lou and Dragon Gate

2008-10-08T04:57:00.003-05:00

We had a fun trip sight seeing today. We went to Da Guan Lou which was absolutely beautiful and then to the Dragon Gate. I thought I did really well, I made it to the third landing. That is about 200 stairs, and they are straight up and not even. The stairs were hand carved. It was very beautiful, but as my knees do not do stairs well and I was carrying 26 lbs of squirming girl, I could not go any further. Then I had to go back down.....

I have put some pictures in a new slide, check them out. Mahli is having a fit cause I am not picking her up. Will post more later.

2008-10-07T00:20:00.002-05:00

We are back from shopping and Mahli is taking a nap. We did get good news, we are going to get to visit the orphanage on Friday morning. So for all of you who I told I would pass on messages or look for your children, I will get to do that on Friday.

I also forgot to mention earlier that Mahli arrived with her bear that we had sent in the care package. It was well used. We also got back her photo album and her camera with all the pictures taken!! Can't wait to have those developed.

We are off early in the morning for sightseeing. I think the Dragon Gate tomorrow and the Stone Forrest on Thursday.

I added the video

2008-10-06T20:56:00.001-05:00

I added the video back on my last post. A friend said she thought you guys could see it even though I can't, I hope it works.

Thanks for all the comments, keep em coming!

2008-10-06T18:45:00.004-05:00

I am trying this video of gotcha again. For some reason it does not want to load. Mahli and Steven are still sleeping. I did not have so much trouble getting her to sleep last night. Of course, she is not even sticking to her schedule. Go to bed at 7, I don't think so. We have discovered that she loves mirrors, shoes, and of course food. She will NOT let you put anything on her head, and boy does she have a temper. She bites herself when she gets really mad. We will have to work on that.

It is looking like we are not going to get to visit the orphanage. Not quite sure why, but our guide says the director is not allowing visitors right now. Not sure on that, guess we will wait and see. Today is a free day and we are hanging out here until about 11:30 then we are going to go do some shopping. We need to get Mahli a stroller and some more diapers. Also some more onesies if I can find them. I have had many conversations about layering clothes. It has been cool here in the mornings and evenings. Nothing that we would wear even a jacket for, but everyone here has on coats.

I need to call the boys now, will post more later.

Ok I removed the video, it is still not working.

We Love Baths!

2008-10-06T06:35:00.004-05:00

Well actually showers as we don't have a tub! The first time I put her in there she had a fit, now I can't keep her out! We also love FOOD! Cheerios, froot loops, and anything Mama or Baba are eating. She is already picking up many English words. She has a very large Mandarin vocabulary. Of course I understand very little of it.

She also has a very bad rash. It appears to be an allergic reaction to something, so I am cutting stuff out one by one to see what happens. Meanwhile, she is taking Benadryl.

Well need to put a movie on for Mahli! Post more later.

Gotcha!

2008-10-06T00:33:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the delay, we had a converter problem and have just resolved it. We went yesterday afternoon to get Mahli! She is absolutely adorable, and I am not at all biased. I won't say that she came right to us, she was a bit shy. But, once we coaxed her over she has been happy since. She did not want to sleep much last night, but she did not cry. She work up today with a big smile. She laughs all the time and is just a happy little girl.

For those of you who though she was big.....Her 24 month sizes I brought are a wee bit big. I brought a few 18m sizes to donate to the orphanage and she is wearing them.

She has a "cold" for which she is taking amoxicillian and some other medication. I am not sure what it is. I have noticed a slight runny nose.

She is quite vocal. Her nanny said she was a leader and told everyone else what to do. I believe it. She will not hesitate to tell you if she does not like something. For example, we tried watermelon at breakfast today....she did not like it and would not do anything until I wiped it off her lips! She just yelled.

I am working on attaching some pictures. We just got back from doing all the paperwork and she is officially ours in the eyes of China. We have a free day tomorrow and then sightseeing on Wednesday and Thursday.

I will post more later.

We made it to China!

2008-10-04T20:59:00.002-05:00

We made it to Kunming about 9PM China time on Saturday night. We both slept very little on the plane rides and were exhausted. We came in and fell asleep. We have met Chloe, our guide, and she is wonderful. We called home this morning and everything is ok there. We are leaving in about an hour to go shopping and get some provisions. We meet Mahli at about 4:30 local time. We get to take a cab!!! I am NOT looking forward to that. But I am very excited about getting Mahli.

Our flights were pretty uneventful. We did have some trouble in the Shanghai airport. We were told that our bags had been checked all the way to Kunming. However, we stopped to ask how to get to the China Southern counter and discovered we had to get our bags. We then walked at least two miles to find the China Southern gates. We had a long, 4 hour, layover in Shanghai and we both went to sleep! I think we both slept through the flight from Shanghai to Kunming also.

The weather is very nice here. It is cool and overcast today. Our hotel is nice and the bed is not too bad. Chloe is out doing paperwork now and we will meet up with her in the lobby about 11:30. We need water!!!! She is going to take us to a large grocery store and hopefully we can get what we need there. I also need to get another adaptor for the computer and the power cable will not plug into the one I got.

We should be back to our room by about 2:30 and can clean up before leaving to go get Mahli. We do official paperwork tomorrow and then in China's eyes she will be ours. Yippee!!

Thanks to everyone who has left comments. Next post we will have Mahli!!!

Here We Go!

2008-10-03T02:05:00.002-05:00

We are all packed and are ready to go. Here is a picture, for those who can't believe I finally got everything packed!! We will see when we get to the airport, hopefully the weight is good.

We Leave Tomorrow!!

2008-10-02T14:20:00.002-05:00

We are leaving here at 2:30AM to get to the airport by 4AM. Our flight leaves at 6:00AM.

Good News!!! I just spoke with the National Visa Center and they got the cable from Immigration and forwarded it on to Guangzhou!! Fingerprints taken care of. I also went to the bank today and they finally had our $100 bills.

We are now ready to go, just need to repack again.

Two days....

2008-10-01T20:09:00.002-05:00

And still no answer on our fingerprints. I have again contacted the National Visa Center....they said call back tomorrow afternoon, or after I have spoken with CIS and have the date they sent the new cable. If I could talk to CIS I would not need to talk to NVC!!!! I called Senator Pryor's aide, I am sure she is tired of hearing from me, she has sent an e-mail to the consulate in Guangzhou, but has not heard back. She said "Hang in there, I know you are leaving Friday, MAYBE will we get a response tomorrow." MAYBE, MAYBE!!!!!

I tried to contact our agency all day, could not get the person I needed. I guess all I can do is start again tomorrow.

At least Steven got sent home. I hate that he is in pain, but I am so glad he is home. I feel much better not having to worry about him making it home in time.

I am off to repack the suitcases.....AGAIN.

Three Days to go!

2008-09-30T22:39:00.003-05:00

I am asking everyone to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We leave in three days and the American Consulate in Guangzhou still does not have our fingerprints. Senator Pryor's office is still working on this and I have e-mailed CIS, but so far nothing has been done. We need to have this taken care of before we leave. If the can not "find" our fingerprints at the consulate then they will not issue Mahli a Visa and we can not bring her home.

Four days and counting down!

2008-09-29T22:16:00.002-05:00

I can not believe that we leave in four days!! This is beginning to be surreal. Although, I have plenty of reality checks from our agency. One first thing this morning, "Please contact your Congressman and see if they can help with the fingerprint situation." That will wake you up. So I have contacted Senator Pryor's office. I have also sent and e-mail to Ft. Smith CIS, they evidently don't have a phone that actually allows you to speak to a real person. I am hoping to hear back from one of the two tomorrow.

Reality check number two.....Agency---The bottom line is, if the American Consulate in Guangzhou does not have your fingerprints, they will not issue your daughter a Visa---Great. Of course they have the fingerprints.....somewhere. Evidently, not with our I171H.

Reality check number three....Not from our agency. Steven called in the middle of the day. Ok, what is wrong??? His back is still hurting from the bug he had on Friday, can he go to the ER? Yes go to the ER..DO NOT LET THEM GIVE YOU A STEROID INJECTION IN YOUR BACK. Most ER docs are not trained in this and the results can be worse than the pain you had to start with.

He finally called at 10:15PM, he got a steroid shot in his hip...this is ok. Also got something for pain and is feeling better. Although, he evidently had to drive a few hours to find an ER.

I now have three suitcases, two of them new, and I am still pushing the weight limits. Hmmmm. Maybe there is something I could leave at home....the kitchen sink??? You just never know what you might need!! I will have to think about this. Maybe the 8 lbs of cool-aid and Gatorade packets?? No I am not exaggerating. I hate water.

Well now I am off to bed to think up new lists and more stuff that I forgot to pack.

Stomach Flu, Visas, and Packing

2008-09-27T14:57:00.002-05:00

We have had a busy week. In the midst of everything else, Thursday I came down with the stomach flu. I was, of course, nice enough to share.....So Steven was sick on Friday. Jaxxon came home from school on Thursday sick also. I woke up long enough to answer the phone call from the school nurse..."Jaxxon is throwing up", great. I call my mother in law, who is a lifesaver, and croak out "could you pick Jaxxon up, he is sick." I am sure they came in sometime after that, but I was not aware of it. I did not know until Friday morning, that Dayton had missed the bus. BAD MAMA.... Of course, Steven woke up Friday morning not feeling so well. I was feeling better....only half dead. Lucky for him, we had a doctors appointment to get our antibiotics for the trip. So Dr. Kaploe, love the man, gave him some Phenergan and Cipro. I don't think he suffered quite as much as I did. Although, he did have to get up today and be at work at 8AM. So he is off on the Mississippi until late Thursday, which is the DAY before we leave.

I do finally have confirmation that our Visas have been approved and are on their way westward. According to Fedex we should received them on September 30th. Not a day too soon for me. Although I understand that there are still people who are waiting on the Houston Consulate to regain their computer systems. Maybe they have by now. I sure hope so.

I have packed, repacked, and packed some more and still have not packed any clothes for myself or Steven. I did buy him some new t-shirts today and I sure hope they fit cause that is what I am packing for him to where. I made a list of last minute stuff I thought of to pack and it was a page long!!! Another trip to wal-mart.... Picked up a few things today at Toys R Us and Sam's.

I also got an e-mail yesterday telling me that my toddler medical kit from Orphan Allies was on the way. Fedex will be visiting my house a lot next week. At least it is not UPS. Our UPS driver will not even get out of his truck. If he sees that no one is home, he goes to my in laws and leaves our packages there! I told him the dogs won't bother him as long as we are home, he said "I am not taking any chances....If they will get me when you are not here, then they may get me when you are", poor guy. Little does he know, the big Rhodesian Ridgeback he is afraid of would only lick him to death. It is the little mutt you have to watch out for.

In closing, I want to ask everyone to keep praying and thinking good thoughts for little Susannah and for Leslie. They are still having a hard time. Susannah is having open heart surgery on Tuesday, and needs everything we can give. Her heart cath yesterday went good and things are going as well as can be expected. I look forward to the day that she and Mahli can meet outside the orphanage.

We are on a Roller Coaster!

2008-09-24T19:11:00.003-05:00

I think I missed the gate where I got on this Roller Coaster. I WANT OFF. We got word from our agency today that the consulate in Guangzhou has not received our updated fingerprints. I had to call the National Visa Center and try to get them to resend our information to the consulate. They, of course, told me they don't have it. "The information we get from CIS is forwarded on to the Consulate and we do not keep a record of it." I called our agency and was told to e-mail what I was told by the Visa Center to them. I was cc'd on an e-mail to the consulate asking them to look for our fingerprints.

I am not sure how much more of this I can handle. Still wondering if our Visas are going to make it in time, now I am wondering if we will still have a consulate appointment when we get there, and I still have not received my medical kit from Orphan Allies. I ordered this a month ago and after a week of my card not being charged I sent an e-mail. I got an e-mail back stating they needed the 3 digit code from the back of my card!! I sent that back and still my card has not been charged. I fired off another e-mail to them today. I go to the doctor on Friday for antibiotics to take with us and I am thinking of just having him prescribe the stuff in the kit.

I don't have much hair left to pull out!!!

More Stressing News

2008-09-23T19:27:00.003-05:00

I received a call today from the courier that I had sent our Visa application to. She said the Houston Consulate is still not operational. They are not sure when their systems will be back up. We leave in 9 days!!! They are going to over night our applications to another courier in DC who is going to the embassy to try to get the Visas. Hopefully, we will get them by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week!! That is just too close for me.

Until then I will be stressing in Arkansas.............

10 days and counting down!

2008-09-22T19:50:00.002-05:00

Well first off.......Susannah is coming home!!!!! She was finally well enough to leave the hospital and the China officials completed their paperwork. Charlie and Leslie now have her Visa and are headed home. Please keep praying for Susannah's health, it is a long trip.

In other news, we have sent off for our final paperwork......our Visas. The power has been out at the Houston Consulate due to Ike, and I am just a little worried about getting them back in time. Although, our agency and the courier both tell me not to worry we have plenty of time. Sure I will just relax and sit back and wait. Did I mention I am just a little worried??

I got notice from our agency on Friday that the orphanage fee had increased, no problem we were prepared. I got notice today that the information they received on Friday was inaccurate. Ok, no problem, we are still prepared. I hope, the bank is supposed to be getting me the fresh $100's. I only had to go to every branch in town before I found someone who would call the Fed and order them. Now, I was supposed to get a call from them last week and have not gotten one yet...hmmmmm.

I went on Friday to the health department, per my physicians request, to get my Hep A shot. I am not really excited about this as I HATE needles. They told me that I have to work for a school or certain company in order to get a shot there. They told me to go to my doctor. I called the doctor and he has to write a prescription, which I have to pick up, and then bring back to him so they can give me the shot. Good thing I don't have some life threatening disease!!! Geez, all this for something I would rather not have.

Leslie posted that Susannah is falling out of her 18m and 24m pants. I sure hope Mahli is bigger as I have packed 2t's. Guess we will be buying clothes there if her little bum is that small.

Update on Susannah

2008-09-20T10:42:00.001-05:00

She is out of the hospital! She is that much closer to being home. Please keep praying for her and her family.

An answer to our prayers

2008-09-18T22:16:00.003-05:00

Praise be, Susannah is getting better. I can not be thankful enough. Please continue to pray for her, she is on the road to recovery! I can not imagine how Charlie and Leslie are feeling right now! This has had to be one of the hardest roads they have ever walked, but they are not alone. Please, please keep them in your thoughts are prayers. I will feel much better when she is home.

On another note, as you all know we leave for China and Mahli on October 3rd. Steven was scheduled to leave Saturday for a work related trip. We found out today that it has been postponed until next Saturday. He will be returning home on Thursday, October 2nd. At this time, we are planning on getting a hotel room by the airport and staying the night in Little Rock. I will have a friend drive me down after I put the boys in bed. We have to be at the airport at 4am. That will save Steven from driving home only to turn around and go right back to LR to catch the plane. He will, however, not see the boys for three weeks instead of two. This is going to be hard on everyone. Not to mention, he is going to be tired and grouchy. That makes for a great flying companion. Especially for a 26 hour trip. Our flight leaves LR at 6am Friday morning and we land in Kunming at 8:45 pm on Saturday. Only to get up Sunday to go meet Mahli in the afternoon. Oh boy is he going to be cranky! And I am going to be stressed......

Update

2008-09-17T19:28:00.003-05:00

We got an update from our friends in China. Nothing new on Susannah, we are still praying for her and for Leslie and Charlie. We are asking for everyone to continue to pray for them. They visited the orphanage today and saw Mahli!! We are so grateful to them for the update. Mahli is happy and appears to be healthy. We could not ask for more.

I am happy to have news on Mahli, but still very worried for little Susannah. The orphanage staff confirmed that they were best friends. I am so happy they were there for each other. I know that Susannah will persevere and they will meet again outside the orphanage. Won't that be a wonderful day!

We leave in 16 days!!

Here is our itinerary:

October 4 Arrive in Kunming
October 5 Get Mahli in the afternoon
October 6 Adoption process (registration and notary)
October 7 Free Day
October 8 Sightseeing: Dragon Gate; Da Guan Lou
October 9 Sightseeing: Stone Forest
October 10 Get paper work back, complete forms for ACS appt
October 11 Fly to Guangzhou
October 12 Free Day
October 13 Medical Exam
October 14 Free Day
October 15 Free Day
October 16 Consulate Appt
October 17 Get Mahli's Visa
October 18 Fly Home

Please continue to pray

2008-09-16T19:29:00.003-05:00

Please continue to pray for Susannah. She is still holding on, but there are many obstacles in her path right now. For those that don't know, Susannah and Mahli are from the same orphanage and are friends. Please pray for Charlie and Leslie that they can continue to be strong and that He will show them the way and open the doors for them to bring Susannah home as quickly as possible.

Please Pray for Susannah

2008-09-16T05:18:00.002-05:00

I am asking everyone to please pray for my friend Leslie and her family. They are in China adopting their little girl who is very ill. She is in the hospital now and they really need to bring her home. Please pray for them today, that Susannah can be strong and her heart will hold out. They also need to get an expedited Visa for Susannah, not easy as Susannah is too sick to leave the hospital right now. Please, please keep them in your thoughts today.

New Doll

2008-09-14T22:10:00.002-05:00

I have updated the pictures. I added some at the end of Mahli's new doll. I think she is absolutely beautiful. I got her from friends2bmade.com, which is a sister site to build a bear. They have all different types of dolls and many choices in clothing. She is very soft and her clothes are easily changed, I think Mahli will love her. Take a look.

Change in Plans!

2008-09-12T18:59:00.002-05:00

After all day of going back and forth between our agency and travel agent, we finally have plans. We are leaving on October 3rd and returning on the 18th. We will arrive Kunming on October 4 and get Mahli on October 5.

We will have to spend three night in Guangzhou during the trade fair. The room rates are $360 per night!! But we weighted all flights, hotel rentals, trains, and taxi's and this was still the best way to go. Of course, airfare went up over night.

Our consulate appointment is October 16th, we will get Mahli's Visa on October 17th and will leave Guangzhou on October 18th.

Now I am frantically running around trying to finish up all the stuff I had six weeks left to do. We leave three weeks from today!

More Changes!!

2008-09-11T22:25:00.002-05:00

I called our agency today and they have sent our request for consulate appointment. We are waiting to hear what day we will be scheduled for. It looks like we may be leaving on October 2 or 3!! That is only three weeks!! Now I am stressed over getting everything done. I am applying for our Visa's tomorrow, hopefully. We have to have our travel itinerary before we can get our Visa's.

On a sad note, we will not be able to travel with our agency buddy. They will not have their paperwork back in time. I am quite down about this. However, as our buddy pointed out, Mahli has waited long enough.

I will keep you updated.

We Got I171H

2008-09-10T18:33:00.002-05:00

We got our I171H today!! Only four business days after taking it to the Ft. Smith office. I can not believe we got it back so quick! Thank you Lord!!!! Now I can fax that to our agency tomorrow and they can confirm our consulate appointment. We can then get our Visa and make travel arrangements! I just can not believe that we have already received it. It is a prayer answered. Now I am praying hard for my travel buddy to get theirs!

Mahli here we come!!

TA IS HERE!!!!

2008-09-09T18:53:00.002-05:00

I got an e-mail from our agency today......our TA is here, in only 16 days!!!! Now if we can just get our new I171H we will be ready to go. We got a tentative schedule to fly out on October 30 and return on November 14. We are over the moon with excitement!!!!!!!

Here is our tentative schedule:

Tentative travel dates: October 30 thru November 14
Thurs, Oct 30, leave the US
Fri, Oct 31, arrive in BJ
Sat, Nov 1, sightseeing in BJ
Sun, Nov 2, fly to your child’s provincial capital city (if you do not want to travel to BJ, you can arrive in your child’s provincial capital city this afternoon) Kunming families might meet children on Sunday and would need to be in Kunming on Sat. or early Sunday morning.
Mon, Nov 3, meet your child
Tues-Fri, Nov 4 – Nov 7, do adoption process
Sat, Nov 8, Fly to Guangzhou
Sun, Nov 9, free day
Mon, Nov 10, medical for children
Tues, Nov 11, free day (Holiday at ACS)
Wed, Nov 12, first choice for ACS appt
Thurs, Nov 13, take oath at the ACS and get child’s visa late in the day (depending on confirmed date at the ACS)
Fri, Nov 14, return to US.

Mahli here we come!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAHLI!!

2008-09-08T00:14:00.003-05:00

Today is Mahli's third birthday! We are sad that she is spending it at the orphanage and we can not celebrate with her. But, she will soon be home and we have many more birthday's in the future. We are going to have a party for her here tonight and celebrate. Her birthday presents are wrapped and waiting for her to arrive home to open them.

So although she is half a world away, we are waiting and celebrating for her! I have a cyber buddy who is leaving on the 11th to bring her daughter, Mahli's friend, home. Good Luck to her family and we are continuing to pray. Hopefully, she will be able to see Mahli when she visits the orphanage. We also have an agency buddy, with whom we will hopefully travel, whose daughter will soon be returned from foster care to await her new family. I am sure she and Mahli will be friends.

So that said, the next few months are ones of change for all our little girls.......

Paperwork Delivered

2008-09-05T12:59:00.003-05:00

We drove to Ft. Smith today and turned in our application for our new I171H. I talked with the clerk who took our paperwork and she seemed very familiar. She asked me why we were renewing now, when our paperwork does not expire for another 5 weeks! I explained the situation with getting a consulate appointment and she told me that we should have our new I171H in hand within 2 weeks. She said it only takes them about 1 week to process it! So with any luck we should have our paperwork back around the same time our TA gets here!

I have it all now!

2008-09-03T22:04:00.002-05:00

I have everything I need to file for our new I171H. The home study update arrived in the mail today. I am going to hand deliver the application to the Ft. Smith CIS office on Friday. I think I will plead and beg with them to expedite our paperwork. I got an e-mail from our agency today and there are a few appointments left for the consulate in mid October. So if we can get our application approved and back about the same time as our travel approval comes, then we may be able to make the earlier October date.

However, I believe we will be leaving on October 30 and returning on November 14th. That is the day before Rob's 18th birthday. If this is the case, then with any luck we will get Mahli on November 2nd which will be our 12th wedding anniversary! Wouldn't that just be amazing.

I will post more later if we don't get washed away by Gustav!

New I171H

2008-09-02T19:43:00.003-05:00

Ok. I finally got in touch with our SW today and she is sending me our updated home study. I am going to gather all the other necessary information - birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decree, copy of original home study, and a copy of our original I171H - and compose a letter to USCIS pleading for them to expedite our information. I think I will take it to Ft. Smith on Friday, providing we have not floated away by then, lol.

Evidently, Gustav is going to stall over Arkansas and we are expecting 9 to 15 inches of rain in the next two days. Steven, and everyone else in the Survey, was sent out today to wait for the flooding. He is about 40 miles away in Clarksville and he is teamed up with a guy from Fayetteville. They are waiting for the call (about 4am he said) to be sent where the flooding is the worst. There are other crews from the office stationed around the state to do the same.

Anyway, back to our I171H. Hopefully, this will only take a couple of weeks and we will still be on for the end of October. Our agency received 22 referrals today for NSN kids. I think this group will be traveling around the same time we do. The CCAA has processed referrals through 2-9-06.

The girls at the office are giving Mahli a toy shower on the 16th. That should be fun. I think they are vying to see who can get the loudest toy! Anyway, I am sure when all is said and done I will not need to get Mahli anymore toys.

Well I need to put the kids to bed. I will update when I have more information.

Another Delay

2008-08-31T23:00:00.003-05:00

Well we got more information on our travel on Friday. Our travel coordinator at our agency e-mailed to let us know that she can not schedule our consulate appointment with our new I171H. This is the US form allowing us to adopt. This is the paperwork that I have been referring to that expires on 10/12. Since we will not be traveling prior to 10/12, she must have our new paperwork before scheduling our consulate appointment.

So, we have already had our home study updated but have not yet received it from our social worker. We have to send that to USCIS along with a letter requesting our one time free extension. They will then process that and send us our new I171H. I have of course put in a desperate call to our social worker, but have not heard back from her.

The processing time for our USCIS office is about two to three weeks. So even if we get our TA, we still can not make travel plans until we have this paperwork. I am really hoping to get it all together and still be able to travel at the end of October.

I will keep you posted.

LOA Returned

2008-08-22T22:29:00.002-05:00

We returned our Letter of Acceptance today to our agency. All papers signed and travel information returned. Now we wait for our Travel Approval. I called the agency today and spoke with the travel coordinator. She said we most likely will not travel until the end of October or beginning of November. That seems like a long time, but I know it will be here before we know it and there is a lot to be done between now and then.

I have volunteered to work this weekend for Rhea Lana's. That is a consignment sale that is open for only a week during the spring and fall. They have kids clothes, toys, furniture, strollers, car seats, etc. Since I am working the sale, I get to shop before the public. I am hoping to get Mahli a car seat and some shoes. Now that we know what size she wears. I am also getting some pajamas. My boys do not like pajamas, but I have learned that the orphanage does not have a/c and so I feel that Mahli will be very cold in the hotel and when we bring her home.

We did get her measurement update from the orphanage today. They gave the same measurements as I got from Ladybugs N Love. So I feel very confident that this is accurate. I was shocked to see that she was in a diaper. However, I think we can get her potty trained very quickly once home.

Ok. Off to bed so I can work early in the morning! Then to Little Rock to drop Steven off for his trip this week.

WE GOT IT!!!!

2008-08-20T19:05:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it. I was sitting in a meeting today when my phone started ringing. My ringtone for CHI is Amazing Grace. I knew what it was. I could hardly answer the phone. Everyone in the meeting (work) knew the ringtone and everyone stopped talking while I answered the phone. It was Christine and she said "Hi Heather. We have good news today!" At this point all I could do was smile. They have our LOA and are overnighting it to us. We will have the paperwork tomorrow and will overnight it back on Friday. They will receive it Monday and send our acceptance to China. Then we wait for our Travel Approval.

God is good. He knew I could not handle anymore. I turned everything over to him and just said when you are ready, let me know. So hopefully our TA will come soon and we can bring her home in October.

I have posted an updated picture we received today. Boy has she grown!!!

Thanks to everyone who has sent me supportive e-mails, they have really helped. She will be home soon!!

Nothing Today

2008-08-14T22:13:00.002-05:00

Once again, another day with no word on LOA. I did speak with our agency again today and they are requesting a new update on Mahli. I am not holding out hope for any new information. By that I mean information different than what we got from Ladybugs N Love.

I think I am going to take a few days away from the computer and try to put our LOA out of my mind as best I can. The boys start back to school on Monday and I am going to focus on them this weekend. I have attended two orientations this week and have one tomorrow for Indy. I can't believe the summer is already gone. I also can't believe that this is Rob's senior year! Where does time go???

I will check back in sometime next week.

Maybe Tomorrow

2008-08-13T20:54:00.002-05:00

Still no word on LOA. I just don't understand it. I have heard from several families who were LOI after us and had LID's after us and they have received their LOA. It is starting to worry me.

I have been praying for patience and asking "Lord if you can not grant me patience, then could you please send our LOA!" LOL I am sure He is tired of hearing from me on this subject.

I spoke with our agency on Tuesday and they received our care package and will forward that on to our Beijing office for translation and then on to the orphanage. There is no guarantee that the orphanage will give it to Mahli, but we can hope. I was also told there is a possibility of a package coming in on Thursday or Friday. Hopefully our LOA will be in that.

Waiting.........

No News

2008-08-07T21:34:00.003-05:00

Well first when I posted my last post I miscalculated the days! We are actually on day 78. I called our agency today and talked to one of our reps, she said anyday. I told her I was really expecting it today, but they did not get a package today. Some families with LOI and LID after ours have already gotten their LOA's.

But tomorrow is another day, and maybe we will get the call.......

day 76 on wait for LOA

2008-08-07T00:08:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note asking everyone to keep their fingers and toes crossed for us and pray. I really expect to get our LOA today. We are on day 76 since LOI and LOA's have been coming around days 70-80. Some are taking a little longer, but I really hope that ours is not one of them.

I will post later tonight with news.

New Pictures

2008-08-02T15:34:00.001-05:00

Just a short note. No further information on adoption. I added some new pictures and changed some others out. Pop down and watch if you are so inclined.

We Got An Update

2008-07-30T03:59:00.002-05:00

I don't remember if I told everyone that I had requested information through Ladybugs N Love. We I did. Request might be to light a word. I paid for them to get me information from the orphanage. I was allowed to ask 10 questions. Well I got an update from them. I checked my e-mail about 3am, I couldn't sleep. There was an update!!!!

Here is some of the information.....

Her language development and perceive are a little delayed. She can walk alone, she can run and jump. She can go up and down stairs alone. She can take off socks, shoes, clothes and pants on her own. She can put on shoes(but can’t tell right and left), clothes (slow), feed herself (but still need help to feed her until she is full). She likes her nannies and teachers. She’ll be upset for several days if some other children who used to live with her were sent to foster care. She feeds children younger than her. She can say fish, shoe, flower, egg, doggy, car, sun, bird, fly, carry,take and some other words and phrases. She likes to says other children’sand nannies’ name. She is very obedient when she is in good mood, such as bring a chair. She can express her needs sometimes, but most of the time she will just solve problem on her own. For example: if she needs something on high, she will bring a chair herself and stand on the chair to get what she wants; when she wants to have some carrot soup, she’ll go to table use spoon get some into a bowl and feed herself. She can tear paper, and doodle on paper. She can recognize facial features; she can find some toys and play. She likes to imitate, too. She imitates adults' movement. She waves for goodbye. She imitates adult talking on a phone and turn over book pages.She can pick up little bean with her thumb and index finger, put the bean into a small bottle and take it out again. She can build towers of 7-8blocks. She will scream and go get it when she doesn’t get what she wants.She knows many things and can express them. She understands “No”, likes out door activity, likes to play with other children. She sometimes grabs other children’s toys, likes to play lips with her finger. She screams when she is happy, likes new toys that she has never seen before, especially love toy phone. She likes carrot, likes to explore new things, and cares about changing of people and things around her.
Height: 88cm; Weight: 12kg; Head: 45cm; Chest: 47cm; Teeth: 20; Foot: 14cm.
Is she is foster care? No.
her personality? She is fairly extroverted, active, and not afraid of strangers.
I am so excited.....We were prepared for many more delays.

Now I will never be able to sleep. I am getting information from other agency families that leads me to believe that even if we get our Letter of Acceptance tomorrow, it will most likely be November before we can travel. So that has me down, but I feel much better now with this bit of information.

No news

2008-07-25T22:34:00.002-05:00

No news on the adoption front. We are still waiting on LOA. I have seen some other families who have recently received their LOA with a log in date after ours and a LOI a week or so before ours. So I am expecting our LOA anytime. We are going ahead with renewing our I171, it expires October 12th.

I did get a call today from A child waits foundation requesting additional information on Mahli's special needs. So at least I know we are being considered for a grant!! WooHoo!!

My Mom arrived yesterday for a 10 day visit. She is enjoying the kids!!! and the swimming pool. Phil I wish you were here to see her fall in! I laughed until I cried, and am laughing again just thinking about it.

Steve leaves again tomorrow for another week on the Mississippi. I am off work next week and hope to catch up on some things. Hopefully, I can put the finishing touches on Mahli's room and get her care package sent. I am shopping for a new dresser for her room and not having much luck finding what I want.

Well Mom wore me out today, so it is time for bed.

Pictures

2008-07-16T19:15:00.001-05:00

I have added a short slideshow of pictures. You can find them about the middle of the page. These are mainly of Mahli's Room, but there is one of Jaxxon. He is so proud that he lost his top tooth! You would think it was the first one he lost! Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

We have decided!

2008-07-12T10:40:00.002-05:00

We have decided on the name and spelling. She will be Mahli Loren Shunhua Franks. We decided to incorporate her orphanage name as a second middle name. That will make it easier for her to use later on if she so chooses.

Still waiting on LOA. Maybe this week.

New Information

2008-07-09T21:59:00.002-05:00

We got news today from a fellow adoptive mother (Thanks Birna!!!). She checked with the orphanage when she made her visit and she was told that Molly is in foster care in Anning. This is good news. That means that her development delays are not severe. They do not place children with severe conditions in foster care, or so I am told.

Now if the CCAA would just cooperate and send us our LOA, we could get this show on the road.

On a sadder note, another fellow adoptive mother found out today that her child is going to have to have heart surgery in China. They had hoped to bring her home for the surgery. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Naming our girl

2008-07-04T23:34:00.004-05:00

Ok. So we had the name all picked out. Then Steven said, "What if we spelled it Mahli". Well of course all of you who know me, know I like to be different. So I thought this was a great idea. Of course, now he can not decide if he likes it or not. What do you think? Molly or Mahli??? I am going to post one of the pictures taken by another family and one of her referral pictures. See what you think..

I290B

2008-07-03T22:47:00.002-05:00

I just got e-mail passed on from our agency. The USCIS is not requiring that we file an I290B. That makes me very happy. Now if we are unable to travel before our paperwork expires, we will just need an updated home study. Of course, we will still need new background checks, physicals, and financials. But all we have to do is send a letter with our updated home study and we can get our I600A renewed.

We had several families receive their LOA's yesterday. So hopefully, we will be in the next batch. I have not heard anything on referrals yet this month. Our agency does not have any LID's until 2/14/06 I think. So we will most likely not get any referrals this month, but I usually see something on APC where other agencies are getting their referrals.

Maybe on Monday.

I have found some pictures posted by another family that I am sure are of Molly. They were taken a year ago when this family was at the orphanage adopting their child. She looks wonderful. I have had several people look at the photos and they agree it is her. In one of the pictures she is walking by herself! This is something we were not sure she could do well. Another wonderful lady who is going to be there next week to get her son, said she would ask about Molly and see if she could get any information on her! So maybe we will have an update next week.

Renewing I171H

2008-06-30T20:11:00.002-05:00

I called CHI today to get a timeframe for renewing our I171H or I600A to get the I171H. We have to have an updated homestudy along with new background checks, new physicals, and new financials. She also mentioned as a side comment, that we would need to file and pay the fee for a I290B. However, she did not know what that was. I don't either. I am trying to get information on that. Seems to me just another form to be paid for.

Anyway, day 11 of wait for LOA.

PA IS HERE!!!

2008-06-19T19:59:00.002-05:00

I received our PA by e-mail at work today!! Finally!! Now we wait for LOA. However, what I was told two weeks ago was that the CCAA had already reviewed our dossier. So that just means getting the LOA information together and sending it!! It may be sooner than we thought.

Thanks to all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers. Also, for those who stopped on the way home from work to light candles. You know who you are. We will have her home before you know it.

Now it is time to get serious with the fund raising. I need to get all my ideas together and see what works.

I guess I will spend this weekend taking snapshots to put in Molly's photo album. Need to get started on her room. The pool house is NEVER going to be done. I have all but given up on it. However, I am hoping that enough of it is enclosed so that I can at least use the storage room and clean out the computer room that we are converting into the nursery.

Lots to do and so little time..

Finally!

2008-06-17T21:39:00.002-05:00

I finally got the letter from my doctor today. He made it quite clear in the letter that I have never been diagnosed with cancer. He explained the procedure very well and in detail and also told what the findings were.

I scanned it as soon as I got home and sent it to our agency. I got an e-mail back just now stating that they had sent it on to the Beijing office. It will be translated and sent over to the CCAA. Maybe today (it is almost 11 AM in China)! Hopefully we will hear back about our PA very soon.

In other news..... I have been waiting for a written report from the pediatric neurologist who reviewed Molly's records. She called me last Tuesday and told me she was going to dictate her report and express mail it to me on Wednesday. Well about Friday I got to thinking.....I don't think she has my address!!! So I called her office and gave them my address. I called again on Monday just to check and they had sent the report out on Friday. However, they sent it to my business address. We don't actually have mail delivered to our physical mail address at work. So now I have no idea where it is. I have been trying to get someone over there to call me back so I can either have them fax me the records, or I can go by and pick them up. I have not gotten a call back from her office yet.

At least I feel like we are moving now. The last week has been fraught with stress over my inability to do anything. So now all I can say is ........ Come on PA and LOA and TA!!!!

Still No Word

2008-06-16T22:15:00.002-05:00

I still have not heard from my doctor. His nurse told me on Wednesday that he would dictate a letter for me. I faxed all the pertinent records first thing Thursday morning. I called today and left a message and still have not heard. Our agency contacted me today inquiring about the letter and I said hopefully I would have it tonight. Well I don't. Guess I will call again tomorrow and see what I can find out. I hate to have to take a day off work just to go get the letter.

We received our package today for our parenting education. We are required to have 10 hours of education and the DVD we got today will accomplish that. We watch the DVD and then both take a test on line. The package also included an adoption book that I have been meaning to pick up, so will have some reading to do this weekend. I am really looking forward to it.

I am headed to bed 4:00 AM comes early.

We have News

2008-06-11T19:26:00.002-05:00

Not of the good kind. I got word today that the CCAA does not understand the LEEP procedure that I had in 1996. It was done for cervical dysplasia. They believe that it is cancer. I have to have my doctor (not the one who did the procedure, as that was the ob/gyn we sued over Jaxxon) write a letter explaining the procedure and indicating that it was not due to cancer. The CCAA has very strict rules about cancer and if they perceive this as cancer, we will be unable to adopt from China.

So I am on pins and needles waiting to see what our doctor has to say in his letter. He has been very supportive of the adoption and with us every step of the way, so I think he will be very careful how he words his letter.

If the CCAA turns us down, I am not sure what we will do. I don't think we will be able to afford to start over with another country and will have to redo all our paperwork.

Mulling it over in Arkansas..........

Referrals are in

2008-06-10T19:59:00.002-05:00

Referrals came yesterday. They covered 1-13-06 to 1-20-96. That doesn't sound like much, but is more days that we have seen in the last few months. Our agency had 15 referrals. Still no PA for us though.

I am going to call tomorrow and see if I can learn anything. I am getting a little worried as everyone else seems to be getting their PA rather quickly and we will be waiting 3 weeks on Thursday. I did get a call from the pediatric neurologist last night and we should get her written report tomorrow. I am looking forward to that.

Nothing else to report now.

No Referrals Yet

2008-06-06T23:19:00.002-05:00

It is June 6th and no referrals yet. I was surprised that they did not come today. Of course, I was hoping for our PA :-( Well there is always next week.

We went to Ft. Smith today to have our fingerprints renewed. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. It took us longer to get there than it did to get our prints done. Anyway, they are good for another 13 months. Hopefully, we will be long home by then.

I am anxious to get the LOA and maybe some updated information on Molly. We are still not sure that we have an accurate diagnosis from the paperwork we received. For now all we can do is wait.

Still no word

2008-06-03T19:42:00.002-05:00

We do not have our PA yet. However, I did speak with our agency today and was told to expect it late this week or early next week. I was also told that contrary to my belief, our LOA could come very soon. They said that some families have gotten their LOA the same week as their PA! I am still thinking it will take a couple of months, that way I will not be disappointed if it does. I still think we will travel in September or October. We go Friday to renew our fingerprints.

I am learning quite a bit about Kunming and the surrounding area, a little bit about the orphanage, and some about the process when you get there. Evidently, from what I am reading, the process can be quite different from that in Beijing. So I think we should be prepared for whatever might happen. We do have a ray of hope that she may not actually be in the orphanage but in foster care. That would be wonderful. I believe it would make things so much easier for her. I am afraid that when we bring her home, she is going to be on sensory overload with all the boys!!

We will have a guide from the agency the whole time we are in China, so hopefully we will not get too lost. He/She will be very familiar with the process and will be able to guide us through what we do not know.

I am hoping to find families on the boards who might be traveling around the same time that we are. It would be nice to know some people in advance!

No Word Yet

2008-05-30T11:34:00.002-05:00

Well we do not have a PA yet. I am not surprised. I think it will be about another 3 weeks or so. I did get a request for some further medical information last week. I answered that and sent it back the same day. So now we continue to wait.

We did decide on a name finally. Her name is Molly Lauren Franks. I can't believe I got an agreement out of Steven so quickly! Anyway we are now gearing up for the trip. I am making packing lists so that we can go carry on only and looking for travel clothes, the ones you can roll up and they don't wrinkle. I am hoping for an update on Molly so I know what size clothes to take for her.

I am trying to work on the nursery. However, I need to move the computers out of that room and Steven is not in any hurry to do that. I am also trying to decide on crib versus bed. She will be three when we come home, but used to being in a crib, so I am told. Hmmmm that is a decision for later.

The kids are all glad to be out of school. Me too.....No more homework, packing lunches, laying out clothes. I can sleep in on Friday. WoooHoooo.

I will update when we have some news.

We have submitted LOI!!!!

2008-05-19T19:28:00.002-05:00

Today we submitted our LOI for a little girl who just came on the list on Friday. She is a beautiful little girl who will be 3 in September. We have all our paperwork completed and our information should be on its way to China tomorrow. I am so EXCITED!! I can't post pictures until we have received our approval from the CCAA.

Steven in out of town. He is in Tunica, MS for "training". I swear I want a federal job... Anyway, I called him to tell him that we had her file locked and were submitting our information. He is pretty excited too.

So now we will be on pins and needles waiting for our LOA. Not sure on the time frame for that as we have not yet made it through review room 1. I am thinking we will probably travel in October or November. That will give us time to raise the rest of the money. I really did not think we would find our daughter this soon!

I will update when I have more information.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T11:13:00.003-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! It is a beautiful day here, sunny and breezy. The boys are outside playing. Rob has his baby for his parenting class this weekend. It has been rather amusing. The baby seems to wake up about every two hours and cries. We went out to eat for mothers day last night, and the baby cried three times while we were eating. Guess he was hungry too! The people at the next table over were very amused. Of course, seeing Rob walking through the restaurant feeding a doll with a bottle was quite funny too! He was taking it all in stride though.

No news on a new WC list. Referrals came out the first of the month and covered three days. We have now made it to 1-12-06. Our agency did not have any referrals during that time. So still we wait.

Indy will graduate kindergarten on May 20. The rest of the kids are out of school on May 28. Doesn't seem possible that another year has passed. The kids are growing up too fast. Rob will be a senior in the fall and then off to college!

Well the kids are calling for me to pitch the ball!

Sad News Again

2008-04-24T20:54:00.002-05:00

Once again we had to decline to go further with the little girl we were reviewing. We reviewed the medical information from the CCAA. It was a little sketchy. There was a tentative diagnosis. We contacted our doctor and his report at least gave us a little hope. So then I turned to the adoption forums. I asked if anyone had adopted a child with her diagnosis. Through this I found out that she had a condition that we did not feel we could handle. She would need more care than we felt we had the ability to give. We don't want to stretch ourselves to thin with Jaxxon's therapy and that of another child, we don't want the rest of the boys to feel that we don't have time for them also.

I was so excited yesterday, I got the call that she had been unlocked by the other agency. It was all I could do to sit still until I heard from the doctor. But the vital question that we had, he could not answer. He told us to expect the worst and then we would not have any surprises. Even with that, I still held out hope that her condition would not be as bad as that.

She is a beautiful little girl. I will pray that she will find her forever family. I believe that she is a very smart and happy little girl. I have advocated for her on the forums and I hope that someone will soon look at her and see what I see.

Until next time...

We got the Call!

2008-04-21T18:17:00.002-05:00

We got the call today. Steven and I happened to be at lunch together (a rarity for a work day). One of the girls we applied for was available. However, when I went online to check her information it said the dreaded words....."locked by another agency". So now we have her information and are reviewing it while trying to find out if we even have a chance. I will keep you updated on what happens.

New MA list

2008-04-15T19:31:00.002-05:00

We received the new Multiple Agency list today. We have applied for two girls from the list. Both of them are adorable and hopefully we should hear by tomorrow. So keep your fingers crosses and pray for us.

Still No News

2008-04-14T19:47:00.002-05:00

We are still waiting for the next agency only list, or even more multiple agency children. We have not had word of either. The waiting is really getting to me for some reason this time. I just seem to be getting more impatient as time goes on.

We are doing some remodeling in the house to pass the time. I decided to put down hardwood floors before starting on the nursery. We started this weekend and Steven and our friend Steve got the floor laid in the living room. Now for the hallway, nursery, and Rob's bedroom. We decided against doing the boys room. We put vinyl flooring in there about a year ago and I think I will leave that until they get a little older. Once the flooring is done in the nursery I think I will go ahead and paint and move in the furniture. I have a lot of things I have been accumulating to finish out the room.

Maybe after we get that done, we will actually be able to get the pool house finished in time for summer. It would sure be nice to be able to swim this summer.

I will post when I have more news.

Referrals Are Here

2008-04-06T22:58:00.002-05:00

Referrals came on Friday. We had 7 referrals this batch. The CCAA updated their information this evening. The referral cut off date was 1-09-06. At least we are in 2006. I don't look for things to really speed up, but at least we are moving forward.

No word yet on a new SN list. Maybe we will get some information this week. I will keep you posted.

Referrals this week?

2008-04-02T04:32:00.002-05:00

Well, as yesterday was the first of April, we should be getting referrals this week. Our last agency list wc list, the one we received in January, was returned to the CCAA yesterday. All but two children were placed. I am hoping for a new list soon. The CCAA has also removed the multi-agency January children. Hopefully, we will also get some new multi-agency wc soon also. Meanwhile, we are patiently waiting. I have been following the blog of a family who adopted one of the girls that we applied for. They are in China now. I am happy that she found a wonderful home. I wish it was that easy to place all the kids on the lists.

We did get information on more training for the multi-agency lists. There were 5 more orphanages (I think that is the right number) who now have people trained to get their SN kids listed. So hopefully their will be more children who are able to be adopted.

In other news, it continues to rain here. So far, Steven has not been called back out for flood measures. His video of the house hitting the bridge in the river has sure gotten a lot of air time. Well, better him than me, I will stick with my nice office and let him play outside.

Gotta run and get ready for work and get the kids ready for school. Hopefully, there will be more news to post at the end of the week.

New children

2008-03-17T17:07:00.002-05:00

There were a few more children added to the multiple agency list on Saturday. I applied for two more little girls. However, as always with this list, they have already been locked by another agency. The speculation is that there is an agency that is locking files before they even have applicants. The files are not supposed to be locked until a family submits a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the CCAA. These files are being locked immediately, so it is not possible to have submitted the LOI.

This is very depressing and I am not sure that I will even continue to view the listing. I think I will wait for our agency only listing. That should be out sometime in April. That to is a lottery though. Names are drawn at random from the applicants. We have applied for several girls in the past and have not gotten to review any of them.

Guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

More WC

2008-03-15T11:24:00.002-05:00

We received more waiting children on Thursday. Unfortunately, I was not able to read e-mail and did not know about it until about 9pm. Anyway, I did apply for two little girls. One is already locked by another agency and the other is being reviewed by a family in our agency. If one of the families decides to pass, then we may receive a call to review her. So we are once again waiting.

Meanwhile, spring break starts here on the 21st. The boys are excited. I can't believe this school year is almost over! Time is flying by. Rob will be a senior next year and is scoping out colleges. He scored very well on his ACT and has information coming in from all over. I think he is going to stay here and attend Arkansas Tech University. He has changed his mind many times regarding his field of study. All seem to stay within the healthcare field though.

The rest of the boys are all well and growing to quickly. Indy is excited about kindergarten graduation, and Dayton has a camping trip coming up at the end of the school year. He is excited about that. Jaxxon, on the other hand, loves his 1st grade teacher and is not sure he is ready for the year to end.

Well it is Saturday and I need to do the Saturday Thing (groceries, cleaning, etc.).

Not Much to Report

2008-03-09T22:10:00.002-05:00

Well there is not much to report. Our agency received news of March referrals. They included December 28th, 2005 to January 4th, 2006. Our agency did not have anyone logged in during that time span. At least we are out of 2005.

We are still waiting on more SN children. The last list that came out had several we applied for, but evidently some other agency locked all the kids that had the slightest chance of being adopted. I don't believe they were playing fair. However, nothing we can do about that. So still we wait.

Steven has been out of town on work for the last two weeks. The first week he was in Orlanda, FL and last week was spent in Fayetteville, AR. We got snow last week!! Not only once, but twice. We got about 11 inches on Tuesday and another 8 or 9 on Thursday. It is mostly gone now. Everything is very wet and muddy :-(

The boys loved the snow. We don't get snow very often and usually not even close to that much. They were out of school both Tuesday and Friday. I got them a snowboard and they had a blast sledding down the hill behind the pool house. Luckily nobody hit the pool house.

Well I will post again when we have some news.

TaTa for now.

Sad News

2008-02-18T18:45:00.002-06:00

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you we turned down the little girl that we were reviewing. After speaking with several medical professionals, we determined that her condition was too severe for what we believe we can handle at this point in our lives. I sincerely hope that someone out there has been waiting for her. I hope that she soon finds her forever family.

News!!

2008-02-08T05:13:00.000-06:00

We have received a requested file on a little girl we are hoping to adopt!!! I received the file yesterday. I had trouble sleeping Tuesday night and came in to check up on the waiting children one more time and there she was. She was no longer in review by someone else. So I held my breath and applied for her. I got the call about 10:00 yesterday morning. She has some pretty serious conditions, so we are carefully reviewing her records. A friend at work (she is the CNS for our pediatric orthopedic physician) was going to have a pediatric neurologist she knows look at her CT scans. Hopefully, she will have some news for me today. She said it appears that this child has met all her milestones for her age and that is a good sign. Since China is on their New Year holiday, it gives us a week before they will be back to gather up any questions or requests for information to submit to them.

So I will keep you updated on our progress. She is such a little doll. I hope the news that we get on her diagnosis is something we feel we can live with. I am trying not to get my hopes up to much. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

We are OK!!

2008-02-05T22:27:00.000-06:00

For those of you checking up on us.....We are ok. We weathered the storm and the tornado missed us by a couple miles. We had some wind damage, but not bad. I have not yet seen the news reports of the damage, but we were stuck on I40 coming home. There were several 18 wheelers that had been blown off the road and lost their loads. As the tornadoes here usually do, it ran across I40. Sadly, I did here that there was a family caught on the road by the tornado. They did not survive. We were on our way home from work when the storm hit. My mother in law took the kids to the storm shelter.

In other news, the referrals did come out yesterday. Congratulations to all the happy families. The CCAA is now working from December 28, 2005 forward. So here we wait.....

New Referrals

2008-02-03T22:55:00.000-06:00

Well it is February. I have heard that the CCAA has sent out referrals from 12-20-05 to 12-27-05. So maybe next month they will clear 2005 and move into 2006. I have also heard that Reveiw Room 1 has finished reviewing October 2006. I thought we were through October already. So maybe they finished November 2006. I will know more tomorrow.

In other news, there were more kids added to the hard to place childrens list last week. There were two we would have applied for, but I did not have internet access. Our power was out for three days due to a wind storm. We tried to get a hotel, as we did not have any heat, but they were all taken by the crews coming in to work on the power outages! Anyway, I had to throw out almost everything in our fridge and freezer. Luckily, my father in law hooked a generator up to our big chest freezer and everything in there made it.

So now we are waiting to see if we get more SN children on our list. CHI has placed all but 3 out of the 18 that were on our agency only list. So we are hopeful we should get more soon.

Not This Time

2008-01-23T22:31:00.000-06:00

The last little girl that we applied for has been placed. Out of 18 children on this list, 11 have been placed and 5 are still being reviewed. Our agency has placed several children from the "all agency" group also.

We are still not sure on a time frame for the next group of children. So we are back to waiting. I do hear that review room 1 is moving forward. They are working on November 2006 dossiers now. So we do have that to look forward to in the coming months. The referrals for February should be out maybe next week. If not it will probably be the third week of February.

I will post when there is more news.

No Luck

2008-01-16T21:04:00.001-06:00

Well so far no luck on this set of WC. There were three that we applied for and two of them have been placed. Our agency is not sure when we will get another list. Since this is the first electronic list they have received from the CCAA, they are not sure what the timeline will be. So we still have our fingers crossed on the one little girl that has not yet been placed. If we do not hear on her, then we will again be waiting. Maybe the wait will not be as long as it has been previously.

When you accept a SN child from the list, you send a Letter Of Intent (LOI) to the CCAA. This used to take quite some time. It is now sent and received within 24 hours. So that should speed up the process considerably. The CCAA will know much quicker how many of the children have been placed. I am hoping this will lead to them sending more children, more frequently.

Cross your fingers....We will wait and see.

January referrals and more....

2008-01-12T02:27:00.000-06:00

Well we received January referrals on December 31st. They went through December 19, 2005. Currently November 2006 is in review room one. Our agency is participating with the CCAA in a new special needs program. They are sending our agency files electronically now. What that means is when our agency gets the files they are already translated. So our agency does not have to spend two weeks translating. We received 18 children altogether. We applied for three and if we are chosen to review any of them we will hear on 1/14/08. So keep your fingers crossed for us. Our agency also received another list of children that are available to all agencies. We can review these children, but other people may be reviewing them also. They are on a "first come, first serve" basis. This list is children that the CCAA deems to be very hard to place. Most of them have more serious conditions or are older children. Hopefully, we will hear from our agency on Monday. I am not sure how this system will work in the future. I don't know if we will get new children more often or on the same schedule we have been getting them. We will see.

In other news, Dayton won third place in the school spelling bee. The first place winner will go on to compete in the state championship. Dayton was very proud that he came in third. We are very proud of him.

Next Thursday is Indy's 6th birthday. He is trying to decide what kind of cake he wants and where he wants to celebrate. Jaxxon wants to go eat at one of the local Chinese places. He thinks he can use chopsticks!! That should be an experience. Then again, as he is used to only using one hand, he probably has a great advantage over the rest of us!

Well I will post what we hear, or don't hear, from our agency on Monday.

December Referrals

2007-12-06T05:15:00.000-06:00

December referrals are here! The CCAA updated their website yesterday to show referrals through December 14, 2005. They have also completed reviewing dossiers through September 30, 2006. We have one group of dossiers during this referral period.

The current batch of special needs children will be returned to CCAA at the end of the month. All but 8 children have been placed. The remaining children are boys. Hopefully, someone will see these boys and find their son before this list is returned. We should have a new list by February or March.

On a different note, our oldest son had a car accident yesterday. He is ok. Has some bruises and swelling over his collarbone, but otherwise is fine. His vehicle is totaled. Guess what he is getting for Christmas?? The accident happened as he was leaving our driveway. We live on a blind curve and the boy that hit him, said he was doing the speed limit, 45, but it totaled both our pathfinder and his explorer. We were very lucky as he hit the pathfinder in the drivers side back door. If the impact had been a few seconds sooner, he would have hit the driver door. Anyway, the car can be replaced.

Well just in case I don't get around to posting before, I hope everyone has aVery Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Update

2007-11-14T20:24:00.001-06:00

The final girl of the four we applied for has been placed. I have been in contact with CHI and has some promising news for the special needs program. Hopefully, in the near future we may have more children to choose from. The CCAA holds an annual adoption meeting in December. It will be interesting to see what comes out of that. We are looking ahead to January to see what changes might be made.

On the home front, Rob has a new girlfriend. We all just love her. I will try to post some new pictures soon.

No News

2007-11-08T22:00:00.000-06:00

Not much news to report. We have not received a call on any of the four girls we applied for. Three have been placed. One is still being reviewed. Referrals came last week. The CCAA processed dossiers from 12/01/05 to 12/08/05. Our agency received 10 referrals. So we are still waiting...

Notification

2007-10-22T13:53:00.001-05:00

We got e-mail that all families have been notified. We were not. There were not that many applicants for this list. All the girls that we applied for had less than 20 except one who had 36. We still have a chance to be called if someone turns down the referral. I am not holding my breath for that to happen. We will wait for the next list......

Waiting Children

2007-10-21T00:32:00.000-05:00

Well we did receive the list. There are a lot of older children. There are some really cute boys as well. We have picked four girls that we are interested in. Two have cleft lip and palates, one repaired and one not. Of the other two, one is hep B positive and the other one has some cognitive delays. All four girls range from 21 months to almost 4 years old. I sent our applications on Wednesday and we should hear on Monday if we are chosen for one of these girls. So keep your fingers crossed and I will update next week.

Waiting Child List

2007-10-11T12:56:00.000-05:00

Well what an exciting month. CCAA finally updated their website. They completed referrals through 11/30/07. We got an update on the waiting child list. We originally got a list of 30 children, but the CCAA has sent 5 more. So we will have 35 children total on this list. The list will be available on Monday, October 15th. We will be able to apply for children starting Wednesday, October 17th and phone calls will go out to selected families on October 22nd. We were told that the list contains 21 boys and 14 girls. So keep your fingers crossed that our daughter is waiting on that list.

I will keep everyone updated after we see the list.

Referrals

2007-10-02T19:41:00.000-05:00

Referrals came today! This month referrals covered 11/26/07 to 11/28/07 for our agency. CCAA has not updated their website so I don't know what day that actually ended on. We had twelve referrals. We also received 10 SCL's (seeking letter confirmations) these are for families adopting special needs children. CHI also received the next bunch of waiting children!! There are 30 children on this list. I am so excited. They are translating the documents now. So we should have a list out next week for viewing. We can then apply!! Hopefully, we will find our daughter on this list.

I will keep you updated!

Review Room

2007-09-27T19:58:00.000-05:00

The CCAA updated their web-site today. They have finished reviewing dossiers that were logged in through 8/31/06. That means we only have 10 months worth of dossiers in front of ours. That is just for review, not for referral. We are expecting referrals next week. Hopefully, they will cover more than a couple of days this time. I will post as soon as I have that information.

CCAA Update

2007-09-02T23:52:00.000-05:00

The CCAA updated their website tonight. Referrals for the month of September cover 11/22/05 to 11/25/05. Four days! I was hoping for a speed up, but looks more like a slow down. I did hear that the last batch of special needs children have been returned. There should be a new batch here in October. I am looking forward to that. All but 6 children were placed off the last list.

Maybe our daughter will be on that list. Just a month away. I really feel for the parents who are LID the last week in November 2005. They have been waiting so long and everything just keeps going even slower. I just have to keep in mind their time will come.