Our Trip to Boston

We spent the weekend in Boston last weekend. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. We spent some time touring the city, seeing the New England Aquarium, and taking in the sights before we had to meet with CAWLI. We spent Sunday with some good friends of ours at a cookout just outside the city. They adopted two of their children from China through the same agency we are using and it was a really great experience to be able to speak with them about their adoptions and how they handled their children in China. It made both of us feel so much better to know what types of things we should expect.

Our meeting with CAWLI was great! Meg is awesome and we did get the chance to meet with Lillian. Lillian’s first comment to us was that we were so young! But she was thrilled to hear that we were looking to adopt an older child rather than a baby. I feel very secure with her at the head of the agency and I know that she will do everything she can for us. We spoke with Meg for about two hours. She told us stories about some of the adoptions she has placed through the agency and gave us a lot of insight into the orphanages and foster homes in China, as well as what we can expect from children who have been in the Chinese system for any length of time. She also explained how the orphanage system works as well as what we should expect while we are in China. We know its going to be a challenge, but I’m glad that we had the opportunity to hear about both the good things and the bad things so at least we have an idea of what to expect. She also explained the Waiting Child program a little bit more and I think that we have opened a few more doors as to children with special needs. It is definitely food for thought. Both Chris and I came to the conclusion that we would be more than happy to adopt a child with a minor, repairable/repaired heart defect (ASD or VSD). We know a family here who adopted a son with the same condition and I’m glad that we had the opportunity to speak with them about their experiences. After some extensive discussion with Meg and our friends, we are very confident that we can handle something like that.

Overall, it was an awesome trip. We even got to travel through Chinatown and enjoy some really GOOD Chinese food. I’m glad that Chris is being more open to yummy foreign foods! At least we know he won’t starve in China!

Home Study- the Aftermath!

After a full week of cleaning and scrubbing and driving everyone crazy, we finally calmed down...

A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped get the house clean! Special thanks to James and my sister for taking the time to dance around with the water hose and scrub the orange stains off the fence!

Our home study visit was on Friday. Overall, it went well. It was not nearly what we were expecting. Lori, our social worker, was super nice and very easy to talk to. She fell in love with our animals at first sight! She spent the first 20 minutes there petting Rhaina and Nike, and of course, they were all about the LOVE!

We handed over all of the paperwork we have been collecting for CAWLI and we hope that it will make it to the adoption agency in one stack. We have a few minor items that we were waiting on the social worker for and then we are off to USCIS for fingerprinting and government approval. After that, the paperwork is OFF TO CHINA!! And then the real waiting starts. We hope to have the paperwork process and USCIS approval completed by the end of December.

So, the social worker asked us pages of questions about how we grew up, what our relationships were like with family members, and how we were disciplined. She asked how we plan on raising our own child in reference to religion, discipline, school, and support networks. She looked at the house, the room for Saiya, and went over some of our finances. Much of the paperwork she had brought with her was duplicated from what we already filled out for CAWLI. So, I tried to let her know as much as possible so she didn’t have to make double work for herself or us.

She seemed very competent, but not that informed on China’s adoption regulations. I got the feeling she has done most of her work with South America. I can only hope that she is in constant contact with Meg from CAWLI so that we all know what has to happen next. All in all, the home study visit went really well. We are almost done with paperwork and super excited about that! All we have left to do is send out the reference letter forms and get a physical exam along with completing the adoption education video course.

After that, we are DONE!

Busy Busy Busy!!

Our Home Study is scheduled for this Friday and we are slowly getting the house in order for our social worker. I was away last weekend helping my sister move and while I was gone, Chris weeded the garden, hung the chandelier in the entry way, and swept the house. (Did I mention that I have the GREATEST husband in the WORLD!!) So now all we have left to do is dust the ceiling fans and sweep (yes again) and vacuum the carpets. I might give the dogs another bath before she gets here.

My sister registered her children in the same school that our little girl will be attending. I think it’s a great idea to have them all in the same school. This way our daughter will have cousins she knows at the school. Of course, by the time she gets here, Sebastian may be in middle school, but at least Syrafina will still be in the same school. At the same time, it makes it easier for pick-up after school.

Next weekend is our trip to Boston. I am really excited about that trip as well. It’s almost like a mini vacation! We are meeting up with a friend of ours while we are there and we are going to tour the town and the New England Aquarium. It’s the perfect time of year for a walk in the park! And on Tuesday, we get to meet with the CAWLI staff and they can answer any questions we have as well as collect some of the paperwork we have gathered.

Ok, back to cleaning!

Today is a Great Day! Pictures as promised...

The blanket for the room came in yesterday and the room looks BEAUTIFUL! The first pictures at the top of the post are the before pictures and the pictures at the bottom are the after pictures. Panda bears EVERYWHERE!! I think the room is almost done. Because I already have a quilt in the works, my mom offered to take some of the left over fabric and make curtains and a window ruffle to match the quilt. Also, at the bottom is a picture of the panda lanterns I made. They are battery operated and make great night lights! The two in the picture are in the opposite corner from the single lantern in the pictures of the bed. So the room is framed with panda lanterns.

Also, I heard back from the social worker on the paperwork and she said that we can turn in our paperwork according to CAWLI procedures. So no extra notarization! YAY! I’m so excited about next Friday!

Let me know what you think about the room. The quilt I am making is very purple, so don’t worry if the room looks too blue and green. It is actually very girly. :)

Our First Home Study Visit!!

Our first home study visit is scheduled for next Friday, August 28, 2009!!!! I am a mess (so is the house!) I really need to take a deep breath….

Ok…

We have plenty of time to clean the house and get stuff together. We have most of the paperwork ready to go. The social worker (Lori) was talking about all sorts of paperwork needing to be notarized and such (for example, the physical exam, letters of employment, etc). I hope that she is wrong in that respect, because that will mean that we have to redo some of the paperwork we already have completed. Our agency didn’t say anything about those items needing notarization, so I’m hoping…

That actually has me a little worried. Chris’s HR department already had to do his employment letter twice. I would hate to make them do it a third time, and where are we going to find a notary who will follow us around to get paperwork signed? If she is correct, it would almost be like starting all over again with the paperwork… UGH!

I gave her Meg’s number (from CAWLI) and hopefully she can clarify some of the paperwork needed for the home study. Keep your fingers crossed!

YAY!! We are finally getting started!

Panda Lamps and Nesting

Well, we received the contract and invoice from Florida Home Studies and Adoption. I sent that in on Tuesday. I was hoping they would have processed it by now, but the check has still not cleared my account. Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday we will hear from the social worker and get the process underway. We have most of the paperwork ready to go, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

In the mean time, I put together three of those ADORABLE panda lanterns and hung them up in the room. The room needed color so I added pastel ribbons to the ceiling hook and they look awesome! We also ordered a Korean mink Panda blanket for the bed. I am waiting to take pictures of the room until the blanket comes in (which should be Monday). I promise to take pictures of the room as soon as the blanket gets here. I also bought some panda fabric so I can start a handmade quilt, too. If I have enough fabric, I will make one for her bed and one smaller blanket to take to China when we go to pick her up. That should keep me plenty busy!

So as we are waiting for the home study, I am noticing all sorts of imperfections around the house. For example, the molding on the top of the cabinets was knocked down by the cats, I fixed that on Wednesday. The wall in the kitchen needs spackle from when we replaced the cabinets. The dogs need baths, the cat litter drives me crazy, there are cob webs on the chandelier in the dining room, dust on the ceiling fans…. The list goes on and on. Maybe I am just panicking?

…..no “maybe” about it… I am panicking!

Ugh! We need a maid!

Panda Lanterns to Pass the Time!

Hello Again! Nothing new to report, yet. We are waiting for Florida Home Studies and Adoption, Inc. to contact us about starting our home study. They should have received the application fee and paperwork by now (I sent it out on Friday). So, as soon as that is processed, we will hear from our social worker and get the ball rolling on the home study. We are very excited.

In the mean time, I am going to work on a mini project my friend suggested. There are these SUPER CUTE panda lamps you can make out of those Chinese lanterns. The template is pretty simple and I have a TON of those little ball-shaped lamps at home left over from our wedding, so I can hang those in her room all over the place!

To see how the lamps are created, click the link. Thanks Denise!!!

http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/panda-lanterns.jhtml?path=/crafts/ni-hao-kai-lan/all-themes/all-ages/index.jhtml

I will post pictures when I have them made and hung up in the room! I’m so excited!