Almost Outta Here!

We're almost all packed and ready to leave for Utah/Yellowstone on Saturday. Interspersed between the long car rides where I get to serve as stewardess to 4 children will be calm relaxing days of hiking, waterfalls, horse-back riding, dutch oven cooking! and catching up with old friends. We moved to Tucson from Salt Lake about 2 1/2 years ago. It will be nice to go back and see all the things that we miss! I'll be away from the computer for the entire trip which probably isn't a bad thing... I'm counting on Lisa to fill me in on the latest referral news when we meet for bagels on the 29th! Back on the 30th-better be some good news in the adoption world when I return!!!

Look What Came in the Mail!

I am loving this Secret Pal thing! July's theme was 'Something for the Nursery.' Check this out...so cute-and the picture really doesn't do it justice. The lavender silk pajamas are sooo soft and girly and the rabbit security blanket is just perfect! Audrey and I have been looking for something snuggly to send in a care package to China once we finally receive Meili's referral. We've only found blankets like these with blond-haired girl heads attached to them. Since we're fairly certain that Meili won't have blond hair, we knew that they just wouldn't do! ;o) Now a bunny...that's universal! Thanks secret pal! You've done it again!

Wanna Get Really Depressed???

According to www.chinaadoptionforcast.com ...

Our prediction for LID 2006-03-10
We can now extrapolate a few different possible dates when you might get your referral:
Worst case - if CCAA does future referrals at the SLOWEST velocity we've ever seen from them - your referral is very likely to come SOONER than this: 2010-05-24
Best case - if CCAA does future referrals at the FASTEST velocity we've ever seen from them - your referral is very likely to come LATER than this: 2007-02-15
Our best guess - a weighted average of recent CCAA velocities, guessing that CCAA will perform about as well in the future as they are performing now, but might return to previous trends: 2007-11-27
Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch.

I think that the best case prediction is palatable. The others make me want to eat a king sized almond Snicker bar...whole! Only time will tell...

Calling All Quilt Squares!

If any of you out there in blogland care to swap fabric squares and wishes with me, please contact me asap at azboutons@comcast.net We are up to 64 squares and holding. I'm eager to get started on the quilt-going with the lantern pattern, I think. Meili's likely to find out one day that the quilt is supposed to have 100 squares. I certainly don't want her to think that the CCAA matched her with a bunch of losers for a family so please help if you can!!! I'm getting ready to send out my next batch...Rebecca, Julie, Lisa P., Victoria and SusanA.-your squares are coming soon!

What Next?

Our agency confirms that starting August 1st ( wow-a whole 2 weeks notice for families getting ready to travel there...how kind.) adoptions from the Guangdong province will now require a 16-17 night trip instead of the requisite 11-12. I'm all for exploring the country and learning about the culture, but to be stuck in one place (and a fairly westernized one at that) for an extended amount of time doesn't sound like fun to me. We have been debating about whether or not to take our oldest two with us to China. I don't think that our oldest could academically afford to miss 17+ days of school-and he's a straight A student! Not to mention, the additional travel expense would eat into their potential airline ticket fund. Also, bad enough to have to worry about who can help watch the kids while we are gone for two weeks. An extra 5 days might put someone over the edge and into a mental institution! So, bad news for prospective adoptive parents whose children are from that province and good news for the hotel industry in that area...Better start pinching pennies a little tighter just in case!

CCAA is on the move!!!

This is info that applies to the China Adoption community in general. I don't think that my agency would skewer and BBQ me for posting this...or would they?

From a reliable agency:

We have confirmation that the China Center for Adoption Affairs has begun their move to a new office in Beijing. This move has been well planned by the CCAA to ensure that their change in address does not impact the adoption process, i.e. registration, review, matching, etc. The CCAA will not be closing; they will simply be moving each department one by one. In the weeks ahead we will be in constant communication with the CCAA through our office in Beijing to continue to provide information regarding the registration and review of dossiers and, of course, the arrival of the Stork. We will keep you informed as we receive news from Beijing.

So, they won't be shutting down. Great news! I'm swearing myself off of the Rumor Queen site!

Meili's Blessing Dress

I ordered this for Meili the other day. It should arrive any time now. I guess that I had so much fun finding Audrey's baptism dress that with that event over with, I had to move on the the next event apparel. My parents and littlest brother (he's 13) returned from a trip to China about 6 months ago. They covered the major highlights in a good portion of the country. Per my request, my mom searched for a Meili sized, white Chinese silk dress wherever she went and didn't find one (probably because white is considered a color of mourning in China.) I've since learned that you can probably find one in Guangzhou where many of the shops cater to crazy Americans like myself who want a white dress for their daughters' religious ceremonies. When I saw this on the China Sprout website for $17.00 (on clearance, of course!), I couldn't pass it up. So not only am I off the hook for tracking one down in China, but I also get to buy something else while there to fill the space that this dress won't be taking up! Next shopping pursuit: We are going to Yellowstone via Utah (aka Land of the Big Bow) and plan to hit the craft shops and pick up as many headband bows in as many colors as a baby's head can handle...can't wait to see my husband roll his eyes!

My Seven Things...

Ok, I've been tagged by Erin! I am supposed to list seven things about myself under seven headings then tag seven people. I think that I am the last person to finally post mine so if you are reading this and haven't been tagged...well, now you are!

7 Things I Would Like to Do Before I Die:

-Turn 100!..better lay off of the potato chips, I guess
-Learn to play the piano well enough to play at church
-Serve an LDS mission to China with my husband
-See my kids grow up to be happy and successful
-Climb the Great Wall...working on that one!
-complete baby books and videos for all of my children
-Get a Master's degree. Not sure in what yet-Social Work, Education, or Communication/Broadcast Journalism...still have that unfulfilled desire to be a news chick...

7 Things I Cannot Do

-Tolerate stupidity
-Drink liquid until I am finished with a meal
-Post a picture of the inside of my fridge or pantry on my blog
-Relax without worrying about what I am not accomplishing while I am trying to relax
-Go to the grocery store without a list-I'm a list freak
-Let my kids wear clothing with iron-on cartoon characters on them-unless it's underwear
-Potty train Xander. Have I really done this 3 times before?

7 Things I Can Do

-Find a bargain on ANYTHING
-tell anybody their business
-Make balloon animals, a useless talent that comes in handy at my kids b-day parties
-can peaches-It's almost peach season, can't wait!
-regrout tile in a shower-surround while breastfeeding-We managed and maintained apartments when we were starving college students with our first child...awkward but it worked! I can also breastfeed a child in the car without removing them from their carseat. (If the women in the National Geographic magazines had cars, they could do it too...)
-Multitask. I believe that the ability to do so is the primary distinction between the genders
-Be a mom to five children

7 Things That Attracted Me To My Husband

-His intelligence
-His kindness and compassion for others
-His Opal Manta!
-Definitely NOT his crotch length OP cords-When I think back to seeing him in those back in 1987 (we were 12!) I can't believe that we have since mated... It was not a pretty picture.
-His muscular biceps-and he's still got 'em!
-His 6-pack. It's in there somewhere, I'm sure but I can't talk-I never had one to begin with!
-His self-motivated nature and ability to finish what he starts.

7 Things I Say Most Often:

-"Go somewhere!" when all 4 kids are hovering within a 5 foot radius for no particular reason
-"Are you dry?"...trying to potty train Xander
-"Get your chores done!"
-"I love being your mother."
-"You're my favorite (insert age of child) year-old."
-"LOAD UP!!!" when its time to get all of us out the door.
-"Let me eat in peace!!!" according to Taylor

7 Books I Love:

-The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
-The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
-To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
-The Professor's House by Willa Cather
-The Waiting Child by Cindy Champnella-If there's any question in your mind about whether you are ready to adopt a child from China, read this book. If you about have an aneurism trying not to bawl your eyes out while reading it, then you're ready. If you don't, then you need to check yourself for a pulse. ;o)
-The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by Barbara Park-This is the original Super Nanny...Great for kids of all ages!
-The Book of Mormon (Hey, its my list!)

-7 Movies That I Love:

-The Wedding Singer (the greatest movie of all time if you are 'preoccupied with 1985' like I am!)
-The latest Pirates of the Caribbean
-Independence Day-have to watch it every July 4th
-China's Lost Girls-not really a movie, but so well-done
-50 First Dates-yep, love Adam Sandler
-Armageddon-Love anything with Steve Buscemi in it! He is my favorite actor, hands down...so weird-looking, you just have to watch.
-The Cheaper by the Dozen movies-not gonna win any Oscar's and not a big fan of Steve Martin but makes me feel oh so much better about the chaos in my own home!

Four Months Since LID!

Can you believe that??? If (the big if) current trends hold then we are 1/3 of the way there. I can't tell if I think that the time has dragged on or if I think that it has flown by. I guess it would depend on my emotional state on a given day. Some days I am content knowing that one day we will in fact have Meili home with us when the time is right...and others I am a basket case until I just resign myself to fact that there is nothing that I can do but wait. Yesterday, my neighbor mentioned that she doesn't know how we can stand to wait when she is getting anxious to get Meili home herself and it isn't even her baby! I think it's wonderful that Meili will have so many wonderful people in her life!

Waiting For Meili

Ok, lets see if You Tube will let me have the whole thing...

Thank You Karen of Gwen Blog!

I finally found some video/photo slideshow software (thanks to Karen) that I can manage. It's detailed enough to be able to add title pages at the beginning and throughout the video, add text/captions to photos as well as manipulate transitions and add music easily. All this can be accomplished with the little computer saavy that I posess! The great news is that I already had the software and didn't know it! It's Windows Movie Maker-already part of the Windows XP package installed on our computer. I put together a video of Audrey's 8th birthday and the related festivities as a starter video. Coming soon are baby videos for each of the children-I feel like it is only fair that I do these now before Meili's adoption video so my existing kiddos don't feel jipped! Ok, stay tuned while I try to figure out how to add the video to my blog with dropshots. Cross your fingers!

Our 5 Seconds of Fame-Update

Today the international adoption article that I was interviewed for was published in a local paper. You can take a peek at it online here. The hard copy of the article includes a picture of the whole brood around the dinner table(you can see the top of my head as I am hunched over scooting in Xander's booster seat-quite attractive...) with the caption, "It's a full table at the household of Matt and Jennifer Bouton, but the couple says there's room for one more. After all the paperwork, they are now waiting for a referral so they can adopt a Chinese baby."

I was under the impression that the experiences of several pre and post-adoptive families would be included in the article but there were only two, including us. I really enjoyed reading about the other family who has been blessed by adoption many times over, both internationally and domestically. I was particularly pleased to see that they offered a hefty dose of reality and acknowledged the potential bonding and attachment challenges that adoptive families often face.
I'm left feeling a little bit as though I had much more important/interesting things to say regarding our adoption experience thus far but it would have been inappropriate to offer a soliloquoy on the subject; I could only answer the questions that were asked. Overall, the reporter did a fairly good job, especially for someone with zero adoption knowledge before the article was researched and written.

The article mentions that I once taught 7th grade English and am now working in the adoption field as a home study case worker. I just love (not) that I am quoted as saying, "Coaching eager and receptive families beats convincing apathetic 12-year-olds of the importance of literature." I did say that, more or less, but the comment was preceded by, "Don't print this, but..." I guess she forgot that part. ;0) Oh well, it's true!

Audrey's New Haircut

Audrey has been asking for a shorter haircut for some time now. I've been a bit reluctant to let her cut it because I knew she would look much older with a shorter 'do. With all the time we spend in the pool lately, her hair had started to look and feel more like a stack of hay than a head of hair, so this morning I finally gave in. Here she is!

Get Your Referral Fix Here!

Here's a link to the June Jitterbugs site. This is the website for families who sent their dossiers to China in June of 2005. Most of them have received their referrals so there's lots of pictures here and more on the way! Congratulations to these families!!!

Our 5 Seconds of Fame

Our local newspaper is working on an article about international adoption and you will never guess who was interviewed for the article... The reporter is interviewing families that are considering adoption, in the process of adoption and a few that have completed their adoptions. We are the "in the process" family. I think that the reporter thought she was getting a "two-fer" interviewing me since we are a waiting family and I also work in the adoption field. She asked some interesting questions that you just can't respond to with a short answer and wanted a lot of speculation on my part about what is going on in China. She was probably a bit disappointed that I wasn't willing to speak for the CCAA. I did ask to review the copy before it is printed just to make sure that I wasn't misunderstood or misquoted but I anticipate a positive article. If anything, we'll end up with a little momento for Meili's lifebook. To top it off, we have had a photographer at our house twice. Once, to photograph the interview and again to photograph our whole brood around the dinner table. I was tempted to serve Cheerios for dinner just for fun!

I Swore I Wouldn't Do This...

I swore to myself that I wouldn't do any serious clothes shopping for Meili until closer to referral time but the picture speaks for itself. I haven't quite stuck to the plan! It's hard not to pick up a few items of clothing when really there is not much else to buy. There is no nursery to decorate! With the exception of a pack and play, we have all of the necessary baby gadgets known to mankind. The crib is under Taylor's bed and the mattress is under Noah's bed. Of course, in my defense, I am an avid clearance rack shopper and I've only spent an average of about $3 per article of clothing. Just last week, I hit the Monster Sale and The Children's Place and found outfits for $1.99 and .99 a piece. So, I'm not breaking the bank here! What scares me is that we could still be almost a year away from bringing Meili home. What is her closet (really she just has 1/2 of Audrey's closet) going to look like by then?

Stork Alert!!!

The CCAA website has changed! They have issued referrals for families with log-in dates from June 16-28. That's 13 days worth which is up from 9 last month and 7 and 5 days the months before that. I'm dying to find out what happens in the next month or two! Will the wait continue to lengthen or hover at about the 12 month mark??? We started our adoption process expecting a 6-7 month wait. It's hard to now believe that a 12-month wait would be good news!!! Congratulations to all of the families who get to see their babies' precious faces this week!!!

I Think I May Have a Problem...

After dinner last night, we cleaned up a bit and headed out to the community pool for a swim. About 2 seconds after entering the pool area, I noticed a little Chinese baby girl and her family poolside. This shouldn't be a big deal, but unfortunately there just aren't many Chinese families in our area. She must have been just about a year old-not a lot of hair and walking a little unsteady on her feet. And yes, she was a doll!...And yes, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. I think I am obsessed. I couldn't help but wonder what Meili will look like, what size she will be when we bring her home, will she be a happy baby or one of the quiet, brooding types?

Then, another little Chinese girl joined them. She was a little older, under two I would guess but old enough to notice that we were looking at her and my kids were smiling at her. She thought they wanted to play and came over to us. Her mother of course followed. I commented about how beautiful her daughter was and had a little chat with her. I wanted so badly to blurt out our apologies for staring at her daughter and explain our reasons why..but I didn't. So they probably went home thinking that Tucson now has an official Chinese baby-stalker! I think it does. ;o)

Thank You, Secret Pal!!!

I was shampooing the carpets and upholstery in my Suburban on Saturday in 108 degree heat when the mail-lady walked up to my garage with a package. My secret pal had done it again!!! She sent an insulated cooler filled with fun summer things: cute Meili-sized pink and orange (my favorite colors this time of year!) water bottles, a jump rope with ladybug handles (kids had to try this out-see pics) and the most adorable ladybug bathing suit I've ever seen. Audrey ooohed and aahed thinking about seeing a little sister running around in it. Thank you secret pal! You're the best!!!