Readopt Hearing

Yesterday we drove to Jacksonville for Saiya’s readopt hearing.  We met with the Honorable Linda McCallum who presided over our hearing.  The lawyer asked us a few questions about our family and our daughter and the judge even asked Saiya a few questions.  The hearing was brief, but so important!

After the hearing we headed home.  We planned a big party for Saiya with skewers from the grill and a huge ice cream-cookie cake I had specially made for her.  Both Chris’s family and mine were there!  It was definitely a happy, wonderful day!!

A funny story:  the night before we went to Jacksonville for the readopt hearing, Saiya told me that she wanted to go back to china to see all of her friends.  She misses them.  I told her that she has lots of friends here who love her.  She said they don’t count because they don’t live with us.  Then she said… Mama, I want a baby sister!  HAHA!  We are just now getting through this adoption and we haven’t really thought about going back to China for a second child, but there you have it.  My daughter is lonely and wants a friend who will live with us (aka, a baby sister).  I think also, she doesnt want to be the youngest anymore.  Syrafina is 18 months older and when they play together, she is always the baby while Syrafina gets to play the mommy.  She wants to be the older child for a change.  The same thing happens at school because she is the smallest one in her class.  She loves to help cook and clean and take care of people/pets, but she never really has the opportunity to do so because of her age/size in relation to the kids she is playing with.

Missing China

Saiya is so well adjusted its hard to believe she was adopted from China! She is such a happy girl! We ask her sometimes if she remembers China (which she says she does). Last night she told me that she missed her friends at the orphanage and that she wanted to visit with Wen Wen and Wei Ying again (both children adopted around the same time as her from the same SWI whom we have had the pleasure of meeting up with over the last 8 months here in the States). She went on to tell me that she wanted to take a trip back to China, by herself. And mama and baba can sleep while she is gone. HAHA! After a long moment of thinking she changed her mind about going alone and said that mama and baba can come too.  It was cute!

We know she misses her friends and all of the caretakers over there, but at the same time, she is happy here at home with us. This is the first time since she came home that she has mentioned missing them. I was thinking that she could help us put together a box of pictures and clothes and other items to send the SWI. Maybe that will help her grieve for losing them. We have been doing so amazingly well that we didnt think about this before. I guess now that she has the words/language to express herself that she is becoming more open about how she feels about her adoption, which is a good thing. We are all so happy that she is a part of our family and I know she is too.

I told her when she is older we will take a trip back to China so she can visit where she is from. I also told her that we will try very hard to see Wen Wen and Wei Ying again this year around Christmas time (making sure we are home for Santa, of course!).  She was happy with that resolution.

Hearing Date for Saiya's Re-Adopt

Our hearing is scheduled for April 19, 2011 at 10:45am in the Duvall County Courthouse.  This is in Jacksonville (about 3 hours away from where we live).  We had the option to do the re-adopt here, over the phone, but we really want a picture with the judge for Saiya.  I am very shocked that the process to re-adopt went by so quickly.  We just barely sent out our paperwork to the lawyer about three weeks ago.  We received Saiya's Social Security card in the mail this week and I will be applying for a US passport for her as soon as I get it back from my husband.... HA!

We are so excited and thrilled that this whole process is finally coming to a close.  We have plans to head to Boston in August to visit with our agency so that they can meet Saiya.  :)

We are one happy family!!

Just for fun... Tony the Tiger was at Walmart!!  We just had to get a picture!

A Prodigy? Maybe...

Saiya's purple violin came in last week.  She didnt have class last Monday because her teacher was sick.  So, yesterday was her first class with her new violin.  Up to this point she has not really been able to use the one we borrowed from the music store because it was far too big for her.  She had the chance yesterday to pull the bow across the strings for the first time at last nights class.  She did GREAT!!  I am so proud of her!  She loves her new violin and is really beginning to love music.  Its not easy, but she begs to practice at home and she really seems to enjoy it.  I was a little surprised that she could pull the bow across the strings without making it sound screetchy...  well, mostly not screetchy.  HAHAHA!!  She is doing so well!

Re-Adopt Process

On Wednesday, we sent out the paperwork (and payment) to an adoption attorney in Jacksonville to start the re-adopt process for Saiya.  This process can be complicated, which is why we hired a lawyer.  After the paperwork required for the actual adoption, we are ready for a break and so, we paid the fee for someone else to do the paper-chase.  It wasnt that expensive and saves us alot of headache.

The re-adoption process is simply a re-legalization of our adoption of Saiya.  What this means is that, although our adoption was legalized in China, we would have a hard time getting records and other documents should we ever need copies of things like birth certificates and her adoption certificate.  The re-adoption would allow us to get a Florida State issued birth certificate and adoption certificate.  It makes things MUCH easier for her in the long run if we ever needed copies of her paperwork for any reason.

Once our paperwork is filed with the state and we get a court date, we will drive to Jacksonville to meet the judge and maybe take another oath in court.  Afterwards, we can have a picture of our family with the judge for Saiya to keep.

This is the very last step in a long process and we could not be happier with our daughter and the joy and love she brings to our family!

Saiya’s Pony Party

This Saturday we had Saiya’s birthday party at Happy Hooves horse ranch.  The party started at 2:30 and we had five kids there.  A couple of girls from Saiya’s dance class were there and she had a blast!  I think she had more fun playing on the play sets than actually petting/feeding/riding the animals on the farm.

Overall, she had a great time.  She did not really like feeding the animals that much.  She doesn’t like them slobbering on her and she was afraid they would bite her.  Most of the time we fed the animals, she was in our arms and we fed the animals while she pet them.  There were a few moments where the goats and sheep thought she had food and would nose her.  She didn’t like that.

She liked the pony ride and had a blast with the hand painting and present opening (of course!).  We had a hot dog feast for the kids and a cup-cake-cake with a My Little Pony on it.  Saiya had a great day and promptly fell asleep in the car ride home.

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Next year, though, I think we will just do something small with our family and one or two friends of Saiya’s at Chuck E Cheese.  No more big parties for us for a little bit.

Are you Happy?

This weekend I worked while Chris watched Saiya. She was being difficult most of Sunday, so Chris let my sister take her for a few hours so that she could burn off some energy playing with her cousins. When I got home last night, we met my sister at the store to pick up Saiya and she was back to being her difficult self. I scolded her several times in the store and again when we got home. Finally when I was putting her to bed, she looked at me and said:

Saiya: Mama, are you happy?
Me: Yes, mama’s happy.
Saiya: Then why you scream at me?
Me: Mama didn’t scream at you, mama scolded you because you were misbehaving at the store.
Saiya: Does mama still love Saiya?

Of course at this point in the conversation, my heart was breaking! She has been with us for six months and 5 days and has never needed reassurance from us that we love her and we are happy that she is a part of our family. Truthfully, we never really thought she needed it as she is adjusting so well. I think sometimes we forget that adopted children can have those kinds of issues. The conversation continued:

Me:  Of course mama loves Saiya! No matter if Saiya is being good or bad or silly or sad, Mama will ALWAYS love Saiya!
Saiya:  Because I'm pretty?
Me:  Aww, baby, you are pretty, but thats not why we love you.  We love you because you are our little girl!

The conversation went on like that for about another 20 minutes until she was certain that we loved her. Poor girl. After about 10 minutes of being in bed, she was back to her old silly self, putting her stuffed animals to sleep and calling to me a million times for kisses and hugs. It was a very strange half an hour conversation with my daughter that I mistakenly assumed we wouldn’t need.

Here’s to learning something new everyday!