This Is a Test...

This is an attempt to post to the blog directly from our email account.  If this works, it will be a great way to post to the blog when we are in China through the back door (seeing as how the front door is blocked by 'Big Red.')  One week from tomorrow we are out of here!!!  :)

July 26th, 2009

That's Meili Day! We received an updated itinerary from our agency late last week and Meili Day has been moved up two days. We'll take it! So, 11 days till we leave for China and two weeks from today we'll FINALLY have Meili in our arms!!!

And the Winner is...

So sorry to those of you who were waiting in suspense. This post is long overdue! We printed out the comments from the giveaway post and put them in a basket. Xander shut his eyes and picked....
'Thinking of you' as the winner of the My Adoption Website! Congratulations Elisabeth and Sean! We'll put the certificate in the mail to you first thing Monday morning. We hope that you are on your way to get your little one very soon! Enjoy!!!

Fun With China Adoption Friends...

A few weeks ago, Dana organized a lunch get-together with our China adoption friends. I was eager to meet with her and benefit from her BTDT advice for our upcoming trip to China!

Dana and Heather surprised Shannon and I with gifts!

So fun to get girly things!

Still lovin' the ladybugs!

Thank you ladies! It has been wonderful to share the LOOOOONG journey with you!

Baby Shower!

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend, Shana, hosted a shower for Meili! All through the festivities, I kept saying to myself, 'This is really real! We're actually about to bring our baby home!' It was awesome!

The shower started at 9am. Here we are enjoying a scrumptious breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, fruit, yogurt parfaits and a delicious breakfast casserole. My mouth is watering just thinking about it... :oP The table centerpieces were baby wipe packages wrapped in black tulle with yellow daisies-beautiful AND practical!

Audrey with Olivia and Morgan
Addie and LaWana

Polly (You may recognize her as one of the MJ mourners)

Suzanne, Kay and Judy

Patty, Chloe and Ronda

Dianna, Radonna and Addie

Shana-The Fabulous Hostess

Great neighbors, Keira and Torrey. Are you sure you don't want to move to FL with us???
Me and Shannon (in China now and should be getting her Avery very soon!) We're both wearing our referral photos around our necks!
Watching the Referral Call Video. I had to leave the room-I still cry when I watch it!

So many wonderful gifts! According to Taylor, Meili now has more clothes than Paris Hilt*n! Can't wait to dress her up in all the cute outfits. It's been a LONG time since I've dressed a baby girl! Thank you, ladies!

The China Adoption Matching Game

Thank you, Shana for a wonderful shower. You are a dear friend!

Care Package #2

Shortly after we received our referral, we were thrilled to be contacted by a family (Hi, Cathy!) that was preparing to take a birthland tour to China and specifically to Meili's province and orphanage. They very kindly offered to take a package to her for us! We put together a package that included two cameras (labeled with Meili's picture and the Chinese characters for her name), a blanket (washed with our usual detergent and sprayed with a little of my perfume), a snuggle bunny that was a secret pal gift, a photo album with pics of each family member holding Meili's referral picture, some Jelly Bellys for the nannys, and Saf-T-Pops for the orphanage children. Instead of having to send the package all the way to China, we only had to send it to a city about an hour and a half from us and they placed it directly into the orphanage director's hands. What a blessing!

You can read about the family's experience in Meili's province here. I really enjoyed reading Cathy's posts and getting a feel for Jiangxi province and for the experience of a China birthland tour. I really hope we can return to China with Meili one day! Thank you Cathy and family. We are so grateful!

I've been an adoption social worker for about 3 and a half years now and I've made several observations based on my experiences. One of them is that there is just something very special and cohesive about the China adoption community. This is one example out of many of folks being willing to go out of their way for one another. I hope we can pay it forward to another family one day.

Care Package #1

I've been asked about Meili's carepackages and the letter that we sent along with it. I've raved about her before but can't say enough how helpful, prompt and generally wonderful Ann at http://www.redthreadchina.org/ was to work with. As part of her packages, she will translate a letter for you. That in and of itself made the whole process worthwhile. As far as the letter goes, sometimes it helps to look at an example. In fact, I'm sure that the letter we ended up with was crafted from several others that I have peeked at over the years. Ours is below:

(Part of me hopes that the cake is actually average size and Meili is really, really petite but I'm sure that's just one freaking huge cake!)

Dear Fu Zhou Social Welfare Institute Director and/or Caregiver of Fu Yan Cong,

We are looking forward to visiting China and becoming parents to our little girl currently in your care. We have attached our Letter Seeking Confirmation showing our Daughter’s name and our desire to make her part of our family. We eagerly look forward to adopting Fu Yan Cong. Thank you for all the love and care you have given her. We are more grateful than can ever be expressed.

Fu Yan Cong not only has a mother and father waiting for her in the United States, but also three older brothers (ages 13, 8 and 5) and an older sister (age 11) who has been wishing for a baby sister since she was old enough to speak. Even though we have a large family by many standards, we have had room in our hearts for another child for many years. We feel blessed beyond measure to be given the opportunity to welcome Fu Yan Cong to our family.

We feel that children are a most precious gift and we take our role and responsibility as parents very seriously. Please know that we will love and care for Fu Yan Cong just as we do our other children. We also want you to know that as we welcome our new daughter into our family, we also welcome the opportunity to celebrate and honor the culture of her native country. We have been studying Chinese language and culture and have developed a love for China and its people. We hope to give our daughter many opportunities to learn about and explore the land of her birth throughout her life. It is our goal to return to China with our daughter one day when she is older and to be able to sit down with you and have a conversation without the need of a translator. We will do our best!

In the report that we have received about Fu Yan Cong, it states that she is fond of foods that are sweet. We hope that she enjoys the birthday cake that we have sent to her and is able to share it with some of her friends. We will be thinking of her on her special day and are saddened that we can’t be there to celebrate with her. Please give her a kiss on the cheek and a hug from us and tell her that we will be together soon.

We are enclosing a disposable camera in this package, hoping you might be able to take some photographs of Fu Yan Cong at the orphanage, with her caregivers and cribmate, (or with her foster family if she is in foster care) and anything that you feel may be important to us or her in the future. We will keep these pictures to share with her when she is older so we can tell her about her first home. They will mean so much to us.

Enclosed is a list of questions. We know that the answers to these questions will help us to make the transition easier for her. Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to answer these questions.

Thank you for all you have done for Fu Yan Cong. We will forever be grateful. Please hug and care for her until we can be united with her.

Sincerely,
The Bouton Family
Mathew, Jennifer, Taylor, Audrey, Noah and Xander

Questions about Fu Yan Cong:
Does Fu Yan Cong’s name have any special meaning?
Who chose her name, and why was that name chosen?
Does she have a nickname/petname?
Please tell us about when, how and where she was found. Can you tell us who found her? How old do you think she was when she was found? What was she wearing?
Was there a note found with her, or any other memento? If there was a note/memento, could we have a copy of it?
Do you have her finding ad? Could we have a copy of her finding ad?
Has Fu Yan Cong been at FuZhou SWI since she was found? Has she been in other orphanages or in foster care?
Is she close to a particular caregiver? What is that caregivers’s name? What (if anything) does she call her caregiver?
Does she have a special friend or cribmate in the orphanage? (Or, if she is in foster care, does she have any foster siblings?) What is that child’s name? Has that child been adopted?
Is Fu Yan Cong accustomed to hearing Cantonese or Mandarin Chinese language? We have been studying Mandarin and hope that we have made a good choice!
How would you describe her personality?
What makes her happy? What makes her angry or upset?
What are the best ways to soothe her?
What are her favorite activities?
Has she had health problems or allergies? What kinds of medical treatments has she had?
What kind of food is she eating now? Does she have any particular likes or dislikes? What is her favorite food?
What else would you like to tell us about her?
Does the orphanage or caregivers need anything in particular?
Is there a telephone number or email address so we can contact you about the orphanages’ future needs or send updates about Fu Yan Cong as she grows?

Our Beautiful Daughter

Yesterday, we received an email with this pic of Meili from our travelmates. What a gift! Micalee celebrated her 2nd birthday a couple of days ago and was kind enough to share her cake with her little friends. I think Meili remembered her cake from a little over a month ago and this time knew exactly what to do with it. In most of the pictures, she is either diving into the cake or seriously thinking about it. All previous pics we have of her show a shy and timid little girl so it's nice to see some spunk in her.

Grandma Judy noticed from the pics that Meili is feeding herself with her left hand. Not sure if it's because there is a toy or something (choking hazard if you ask me) in her right hand or if we truly may have a lefty on our hands. That would make her left-handed Daddy very proud. I've also added hair clips and 'socks that match' to the packing list.

Last night, Matt came home from a meeting, sat down at the table and said, 'I'm in love with that baby!' She's already got Daddy wrapped around her little finger and he hasn't even met her yet. Two weeks from tomorrow, we'll board the plane to China. Time seems to be moving slower than ever. This is by far the worst part of the wait.

We Have Travel Dates!!!

Our agency emailed this morning with confirmed travel dates. We REALLY wish that we were going sooner. Our kids start school on August 6th so Taylor and Audrey will miss their first days of HS and Jr. High along with all of the associated registrations and orientations. We'll also miss Xander's first day of kindergarten which breaks my heart but Papa Jim Jim and Grandma Judy will be here to see him off. We'll do what we have to do to get our girl HOME! Our travel schedule looks something like this:

7/23 - Depart U.S.
7/24 - Arrive in Beijing
7/25 - Beijing Tour
7/26 - Fly to Jiangxi-Meili's Province
7/28 – MEILI DAY!!!
7/31 - Fly to Guangzhou in the morning
8/4 - Consulate appointment
8/5 - Go to consulate to pick up passport with visa and take oath in the afternoon
8/7 – Earliest you can depart from China

It's later than we hoped but at least we know when we are leaving! :)

You Know You Are a SERIOUS Michael Jackson Fan When...

• As a child, you would cue a cassette tape to record any MJ song that might come in over the radio and owned enough buttons, posters and MJ paraphernilia to fill a small museum.
• As a sophomore in hs, you cried until your 9 months pregnant mother drove you into South Central Los Angeles to see MJ at a school dedication ceremony. You went, saw him from behind a chain-link fence and had callouses on your hands for months from the death grip you held on the fence while you screamed his name. Thanks, Mom. :)
• Your family went to the Bad Tour in 1988 and you're pretty sure that was the family vacation that year.
• As an adult, a friend once brought dinner and phoned in your regrets to a church obligation so that you could stay home and watch the 2 hour MJ/Martin Bashir interview.
• Your kids know every word to most MJ songs, but still ask every once in a while if he is a boy or a girl.
• You once showed up to hip hop dance class and the teacher turned the class over to you to teach the Thriller routine...and you did it...and not as a teen-this was about 18 months ago.
• There is a pair of Michael Jackson LA Gears in the closet that you can't seem to part with.
• You have a dog named Jackson.
• When he passes away, your phone starts ringing off the hook with calls-including one from your brother checking to make sure you haven't committed suicide over the news.
• And your friends show up at your doorstep wearing black , carrying candles and a makeshift shrine...

Unfortunately, I wasn't home when they arrived. (I had put on my Bad Tour concert T and headed out to a candlelight vigil-wish I was joking.) Taylor took this pic and showed it to me when we got home. Seriously, ladies-I laughed so hard I almost peed. Good friends. :)

Michael Jackson-The King of Pop 1958-2009

Thanks, Michael for the music and the memories.

WE HAVE TA!!!

Halle-FREAKING-leujia!!! Our agency was apparently caught off guard with a 'surprise package' that contained our travel approval this afternoon! They are currently requesting a consulate appointment and checking guide availability. They hope to have travel dates for us early next week. In the meantime, everybody chant with me, "CHEAP AIR FARE, CHEAP AIR FARE, CHEAP AIR FARE!"

There are so many other aspects of our life that are on hold right now until we know those dates so it is exciting to almost have that piece of the puzzle in place. Plus, we are one step closer to meeting our baby girl!!!

The Call!

My Adoption Website Giveaway!

So, here's the scoop! I have a certificate for a My Adoption Website, Package A ($150 value!) Matt and I won this eons ago at a China adoption conference. We fully intended to use it but I have become quite attached to our little spot here in the blogosphere and it is meeting our needs. I don't have the time or the energy to set up another website right now. The good news is that the certificate says that it never expires and can be transferred to another family.

If you are interested, here's what you need to do: Leave a comment on this post and include your first name, Log In Date and email address so I can hunt you down easily if you are the winner. Next Monday, the 22nd, I'll number the blog comments from first to last. I'll have one of my children pick a number at random or from a hat. If the drawn number corresponds to your post on the blog, then you are the winner! My adoption website donates 10% of the fee for each website to Half the Sky. Since Meili is benefitting from their services right now, may I suggest that if you win, you donate 10% of the fee ($15) to that organization. Thanks and good luck!

ps-I realize that most of my blog friends are already home with their kiddos. Feel free to pass the word along to anyone that you know that may be able to use this adoption website service!

Audrey Seeing Meili's Pic for the First Time

We showed up at school on the last day with a surprise for Audrey (aka 'Drama Queen') as well:

Noah Sees Meili's Pic for the First Time

We are about to crawl out of our skin waiting for Travel Approval over here!

In the meantime, we have been reliving referral day by watching some of the video that was taken. Here's what happened when we surprised Noah in his classroom on the last day of school with Meili's referral pic-I just love his classmates' reaction to seeing her photo!:

Taylor and Audrey are Going to China!

We have always wanted to take our oldest two children to China with us. However, we had not made them any promises. We thought we could wait until we saw what airfare looked like once we had travel dates to decide but found ourselves looking at a visa application last week and realized that a decision had to be made that day.

Matt and I came home from a weekend getaway last September with a scorpion sucker for Taylor. We told him that we didn't know if we could take him to China with us since he is such a picky eater and we were concerned that he might starve to death. We showed him the sucker and told him that if he could eat the whole thing, then he could go to China. The sucker has stayed on a shelf in a cupboard for the last 9 months. So, last Monday we told him that this was it-eat the sucker and go to China or don't. It was of course a joke but it was fun to see just how far he was willing to go to meet his sister in China. Enjoy the video!

"Seriously, folks. Get that TA to my family already or I'm driving there myself."

Updated Pics of Meili!

I can't think of a better way to start a Monday morning than THIS! These are pics of our girl taken just YESTERDAY!!! She looks great-big, healthy and sitting up on her own!. I am fascinated by her porcelain skin. What I find really comforting is the Half the Sky logo on the nanny's shirt. If she has been in an orphanage for all of this time, at least she has likely received a little extra tlc and some attention to her development as a part of their program.

Check out the size of that CAKE! I hope they shared with all of her little friends!

I can't say it enough. Ann is amazing!

Meili's Birthday on This Side of the World...

We celebrated Meili's birthday this evening by wrapping a few gifts, eating Chinese food, and having a ladybug cake.

Sunday is one of the only times of the week that all 6 of us are showered and dressed in clothes that match all at the same time so we took the opportunity to snap these photos for Meili's care package photo album right when we got home from church.

We can hardly take our eyes off of her pictures. Can't wait to celebrate Meili's birthday next year with the real deal!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Today, our baby girl turns one year old in an orphanage on the other side of the world. It's hard to wrap my brain around that but it is what it is.

We have sent a birthday care package to Meili via Ann at www.redthreadchina.com She has been truly amazing to work with-prompt in returning emails and was able to quickly verify that Meili is indeed in the orphanage (as opposed to foster care.) She also sent us updated measurements (looks like Meili will be 20 pounds by Gotcha Day!) If we are lucky, we might receive some updated pics soon. Those would do this momma's heart some good so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Tonight, we'll be having a birthday celebration complete with Chinese food, presents and a ladybug cake. The only thing missing will be the guest of honor. In the letter we sent along with her birthday cake, we asked her caretaker to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek from us. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer until we can do it ourselves!

Happy First Birthday, Meili! We are so ready to bring you home!