We got word today that we have received approval from China to travel. We have been expecting to travel around October 5th but we could go as early as SEPTEMBER 13. Oh my, freaking out!
Our agency will provide the US Consulate with several date options for our appointment and that will determine when we actually go. Hopefully we will know that within a few days. Stay tuned!
Banner pictures
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
care package ready to go!
We've been a bit delayed with Emerson's care package because we wanted to fill the little baby picture book with pictures of us - we couldn't find pictures so yesterday we visited my Mom and she pulled it all together. Thanks Mom.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
New books
Got a few new books last night:
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adopted Parents Knew
Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child
Baby We Were Meant for Each Other (by NPR's Scott Simon)
I started with the light reading and Brian started with the heavy one. My choice is impossible to read in my own voice at my own pace - Scott Simon is filling my head (I listen to him every Saturday morning and heard him reading passages from this book last week so I've got it down perfectly). There is some controversy about his book, mainly about the title I think, but I'm gonna give it a read before I decide. It's about his personal experience adopting 2 baby girls from China as well as other adoption stories from people he met along the way.
A few non-Emerson comments: the book store was having some sort of Star Wars gathering so we were surrounded by storm troopers, jedi knights, bounty hunters, and DARTH VADER. I walked behind Darth Vader and felt a little ping of terror, for real. Then I worked up my courage and took a picture with him. Just a little scary. And, to be honest, the trip to the book store was my ruse to get near Yogurt Land, which we visited afterwards (yum!). Luckily we came away with some great books.
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adopted Parents Knew
Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child
Baby We Were Meant for Each Other (by NPR's Scott Simon)
I started with the light reading and Brian started with the heavy one. My choice is impossible to read in my own voice at my own pace - Scott Simon is filling my head (I listen to him every Saturday morning and heard him reading passages from this book last week so I've got it down perfectly). There is some controversy about his book, mainly about the title I think, but I'm gonna give it a read before I decide. It's about his personal experience adopting 2 baby girls from China as well as other adoption stories from people he met along the way.
A few non-Emerson comments: the book store was having some sort of Star Wars gathering so we were surrounded by storm troopers, jedi knights, bounty hunters, and DARTH VADER. I walked behind Darth Vader and felt a little ping of terror, for real. Then I worked up my courage and took a picture with him. Just a little scary. And, to be honest, the trip to the book store was my ruse to get near Yogurt Land, which we visited afterwards (yum!). Luckily we came away with some great books.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
mailed travel docs (days ago)
I have been out of town this week, not far, but still out of town. It was hard to be away from home when I have so much to think about: when are we going to China, when are we going to China, when are we going to China, when are we going to China??????
As you can tell, we don't know when we are going to China yet. Waiting for travel authorization (TA) from China and for an appointment with the US embassy in Guangzhou. We expect to have all this in about a week which means we can book our flights. We did take care of all the required travel paperwork for our agency - had to squeeze in a trip to the bank for notarizing on Monday morning and it all went into the mail that day.
Emerson's space in my heart is growing each day.
As you can tell, we don't know when we are going to China yet. Waiting for travel authorization (TA) from China and for an appointment with the US embassy in Guangzhou. We expect to have all this in about a week which means we can book our flights. We did take care of all the required travel paperwork for our agency - had to squeeze in a trip to the bank for notarizing on Monday morning and it all went into the mail that day.
Emerson's space in my heart is growing each day.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
new pictures posted!
Top errand of the day is complete... our other two pictures are scanned and shared!
imagining where she is right now
I am supposed to be somewhere at 9:30 but not sure I'm gonna make it...
Reading about her Province and City and I came across a few pictures taken at her orphanage, the Yangxi County Welfare Institute, so one of these cribs could be where she is sleeping right this second. This came from another blog, so I sure hope I didn't break any rules by doing this. Had to share.
first visit to Babies R Us
We went to Babies R Us last night to buy the things we want to put into her care package. I thought it would be completely overwhelming but it wasn't at all. We walked every inch of the store and thought about all the things we were going to need. No decisions, no big purchases, just taking it all in.
We did buy a few things for her care package which we will mail to her next week, following the very specific guidelines that exist for care packages. Have to make sure it fits into a shoe size box:
-baby photo book which we'll fill with pictures of ourselves and our 4-legged babies. It's soft and crinkly with handle perfect for teething so hopefully she'll like playing with it and get time to look at us too :)
-two little stuffed guys that make noises. According to her records, she likes toys that make noise (and so do I) so I picked the ones that had the noise I most enjoyed.
-a little blanket stuffed animal. I don't know what these things are called but my nieces had one that they were completely attached to. This one has a monkey head, soft top, satin underneath.
-a blanket - light green like her rooom with a few fish pictures like we plan for her room. Not sure this will fit in the box, we'll see.
We still want to get a stuffed animal so that's another errand for the day.
We did buy a few things for her care package which we will mail to her next week, following the very specific guidelines that exist for care packages. Have to make sure it fits into a shoe size box:
-baby photo book which we'll fill with pictures of ourselves and our 4-legged babies. It's soft and crinkly with handle perfect for teething so hopefully she'll like playing with it and get time to look at us too :)
-two little stuffed guys that make noises. According to her records, she likes toys that make noise (and so do I) so I picked the ones that had the noise I most enjoyed.
-a little blanket stuffed animal. I don't know what these things are called but my nieces had one that they were completely attached to. This one has a monkey head, soft top, satin underneath.
-a blanket - light green like her rooom with a few fish pictures like we plan for her room. Not sure this will fit in the box, we'll see.
We still want to get a stuffed animal so that's another errand for the day.
starting her room
Emerson's room has been waiting for her for 5 years, since we moved into this house. About 3 years ago, we painted the walls light lime green in an attempt to speed up the wait (ha!). That is where we stopped. We did not want to set up a room that we might have to take back apart if something were to interfere with our adoption.
What we have today is a brightly painted room stuffed full of the things my sister has dropped off as her daughters grew out of the baby stuff - crib in pieces, high chair, bags of clothes, mobile, toys, and even a potty training chair (which the nieces like to sit on when they visit).
I will take a few "before" pictures when we start getting it ready this afternoon. And, I can't wait to start, now that I know something about the little person who will live in this room. Yeah!
What we have today is a brightly painted room stuffed full of the things my sister has dropped off as her daughters grew out of the baby stuff - crib in pieces, high chair, bags of clothes, mobile, toys, and even a potty training chair (which the nieces like to sit on when they visit).
I will take a few "before" pictures when we start getting it ready this afternoon. And, I can't wait to start, now that I know something about the little person who will live in this room. Yeah!
waiting for travel info
We expect to go to China in 7 weeks so we are counting on Oct 5th. It's a little complicated:
Our US authorization to immigrate an orphan (I-171H) expires on Oct 23. That means that we have to meet with the US Consulate in Guangzhou before Oct 20 to process her paperwork, which we'll do at the end of our 2 week trip. Our agency has told us over and over that we shouldn't need to extend that paperwork (it's a big head-ache) so we are trusting that all will work out. Rumor Queen posted yesterday that the US Consulate is backed up with appointments.
Of course I'm worried sick and ready to walk into our Congressman's office today to ask for help (RQ suggests writing) but I'll sit tight for a few days.
As our agency works on making our US Consulate appointment, we also wait for authorization to travel from China. As soon as both of those are set, we'll get visa's.
We do have a stack of documents from our Agency that we have to review & sign this week-end. Out of paper in the house so second errand today will be for printer paper. First errand is to go get her 2 additional pictures scanned since I am unable to get ours to work!
Our US authorization to immigrate an orphan (I-171H) expires on Oct 23. That means that we have to meet with the US Consulate in Guangzhou before Oct 20 to process her paperwork, which we'll do at the end of our 2 week trip. Our agency has told us over and over that we shouldn't need to extend that paperwork (it's a big head-ache) so we are trusting that all will work out. Rumor Queen posted yesterday that the US Consulate is backed up with appointments.
Of course I'm worried sick and ready to walk into our Congressman's office today to ask for help (RQ suggests writing) but I'll sit tight for a few days.
As our agency works on making our US Consulate appointment, we also wait for authorization to travel from China. As soon as both of those are set, we'll get visa's.
We do have a stack of documents from our Agency that we have to review & sign this week-end. Out of paper in the house so second errand today will be for printer paper. First errand is to go get her 2 additional pictures scanned since I am unable to get ours to work!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
she is living in Yangxi
So, she is living in the Yangxi County Social Welfare Institution in Guangdong Province. Guangzhou, where the US Consulate is located, is also in this province and it's very close to Hong Kong. The map is probably impossible to read here but the Province is along the coast smack in the middle of this particular view.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
her Chinese name
I was very lucky to speak with several of my colleagues from China today. I learned a lot about her name and now understand that both parts of her given name, Xiao Hong, are important. The translation is a little up in the air since what we got from the agency does not make sense to my Chinese-speaking friends but it can be:
little red
little rainbow
moon at dawn
We'll resolve this eventually but the funny part was when I mentioned that we would use Xiao as her middle name, following our American name for her, Emerson. I got a very puzzled look and then learned that Xiao is a common "space filler" in names - and that makes sense since so many of the babies we see have Xiao in their name. So we have decided that her name will be Emerson Xiao Hong Utley. A little long, but the best way to preserve her heritage in her name. And, I think it's a beautiful mouthful. Guess "Ruth" is definitely out now.
little red
little rainbow
moon at dawn
We'll resolve this eventually but the funny part was when I mentioned that we would use Xiao as her middle name, following our American name for her, Emerson. I got a very puzzled look and then learned that Xiao is a common "space filler" in names - and that makes sense since so many of the babies we see have Xiao in their name. So we have decided that her name will be Emerson Xiao Hong Utley. A little long, but the best way to preserve her heritage in her name. And, I think it's a beautiful mouthful. Guess "Ruth" is definitely out now.
new pictures
The package arrived today on schedule and we have 2 more pictures of our precious baby! Unfortunately, I can't get the scanner to work so I am unable to post them here just yet. Will get that resolved soon!
In the meantime, here is what else we know. In June, at 4 months:
she weighed 11.66 lbs
measured 23 inches
she was eating every 4 hours and had a normal appetite
appeared to sleep from 8:30pm to 6 am and is a deep sleeper (like her mom)
she enjoys playing with people and likes toys that make noise (like her mom)
and she smiles a lot!
Perfect.
We signed and mailed our "acceptance" tonight, which goes to China (via our agency) so our travel can be authorized. It's been a while (44 months to be exact) since the paper chase and all the FedEx activity so we were rusty. Told the guy at Kinkos: "We are mailing the most important thing we will ever mail in our lives." He took care of it and we checked item 1 off the list. Now on to the rest of that list!
In the meantime, here is what else we know. In June, at 4 months:
she weighed 11.66 lbs
measured 23 inches
she was eating every 4 hours and had a normal appetite
appeared to sleep from 8:30pm to 6 am and is a deep sleeper (like her mom)
she enjoys playing with people and likes toys that make noise (like her mom)
and she smiles a lot!
Perfect.
We signed and mailed our "acceptance" tonight, which goes to China (via our agency) so our travel can be authorized. It's been a while (44 months to be exact) since the paper chase and all the FedEx activity so we were rusty. Told the guy at Kinkos: "We are mailing the most important thing we will ever mail in our lives." He took care of it and we checked item 1 off the list. Now on to the rest of that list!
the day after match day
Today the official package will arrive, with 2 more pictures and more information about Emerson Xiao. I am going to float through the day. Brian's parents will be in town so they will celebrate over lunch.
Besides being absolutely adorable, it's amazing that we've found a few similarities:
-her eyes look a bit like Brian's
-her mouth looks just like mine did when I was a baby
-she has the same wrinkled brow that runs on my side of the family, we call it the worried look (hi Uncle Marcus)
It may just be this picture so time will tell, but a few people noticed these things right off the bat. They say that during the matching process they try and match physical characteristics with the parents. We always thought that was funny and have made more than one joke about it during the last 5 years.
Off to the grindstone where my goal is to get some work done although I have a feeling lots of my day will be consumed with sharing this amazing news.
Besides being absolutely adorable, it's amazing that we've found a few similarities:
-her eyes look a bit like Brian's
-her mouth looks just like mine did when I was a baby
-she has the same wrinkled brow that runs on my side of the family, we call it the worried look (hi Uncle Marcus)
It may just be this picture so time will tell, but a few people noticed these things right off the bat. They say that during the matching process they try and match physical characteristics with the parents. We always thought that was funny and have made more than one joke about it during the last 5 years.
Off to the grindstone where my goal is to get some work done although I have a feeling lots of my day will be consumed with sharing this amazing news.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Match Day
We didn't make it through the day as planned - had a conference call with our Agency around 1:30pm and have been swooning ever since. We just have this one picture so far - more on the way with the full package tomorrow.
My parents came over as soon as they could (with my perfect nieces in tow) for a big picture reveal. We met my sister and celebrated over Chinese food.
It's hard to describe how we are feeling tonight. Like a huge weight has been lifted and life just got a little bit clearer and brighter.
My parents came over as soon as they could (with my perfect nieces in tow) for a big picture reveal. We met my sister and celebrated over Chinese food.
It's hard to describe how we are feeling tonight. Like a huge weight has been lifted and life just got a little bit clearer and brighter.
call confirmed for today
Our agency confirmed that they have referrals and are making calls to all their families today.
def: the call
Our agency will call us and share all the details that they have about our daughter including name, age, region, size, medical exam, habits, etc. During the call, they will e-mail her picture to us. After the call they will Fedex the package with all the translated information.
We have agreed to take the call together and since Brian works today and has a job that he can not leave, that means tonight. Our plan is to ask them to call us at 7pm tonight (CST). Sounds like a reasonable and rational plan. We'll see if we can stick to it.
I didn't sleep well last night and actually had a dream about a stork. (technically I think it was a pelican, but same thing)
def: the call
Our agency will call us and share all the details that they have about our daughter including name, age, region, size, medical exam, habits, etc. During the call, they will e-mail her picture to us. After the call they will Fedex the package with all the translated information.
We have agreed to take the call together and since Brian works today and has a job that he can not leave, that means tonight. Our plan is to ask them to call us at 7pm tonight (CST). Sounds like a reasonable and rational plan. We'll see if we can stick to it.
I didn't sleep well last night and actually had a dream about a stork. (technically I think it was a pelican, but same thing)
Monday, August 16, 2010
Days away
Guess I wasn't ready to actually start a blog last December. Now the time has come - we are DAYS AWAY from receiving our referral. Expecting 3 pictures of our baby girl to arrive on Wednesday. We have no informaion from our agency, still relying on Rumor Queen, but there is no doubt that we are in this batch. This is the hardest part of the wait so far.
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