Last Post Placement Visit for Saiya

On Friday we had the last post placement visit with Lori for Saiya’s adoption.  It was bitter sweet as we really like Lori and enjoyed seeing her, but at the same time, we are so glad it is over and we are completely DONE with Saiya’s adoption processes.  The visit went really well, Lori was so impressed with how adjusted Saiya is and how outgoing she is.  We talked about her school and how smart she is and how we are incorporating her culture into our everyday lives.  We told her about dance class and violin lessons and how she interacts with her cousins.  We also told her about our decision to adopt another little girl from China.  She was thrilled!

On Friday, we also applied for Saiya’s passport and took her to meet her teacher and drop off all of her school supplies.  She starts school on Monday.  Her teachers absolutely LOVE her!  Her being Chinese really helps and they kept telling me how pretty she was and speaking to her in Chinese.  I know she is going to excel in this program!  She also saw the doctor and had a few shots, which she was not too thrilled about.  She did great and proceeded to milk it all afternoon!  She has grown 5 inches and gained 6 pounds since we came home from China almost a year ago.  She is still much smaller than all the kids in her class, but she is doing great!

Social Worker Visit take 2

We had our (hopefully) final visit with our social worker Amber on Thursday evening.  We drove to Ormond Beach to meet with her at her office.  It was much better than paying her to travel to see us.  The visit went well, we met at 7pm and didn’t leave until about 9pm.  She asked more follow-up questions about our families, what life was like growing up as kids, etc.  We turned in our background checks and some other paperwork.  She gave us some adoption homework to read through, most of it was great, some of it, not so much, but I read through it anyhow.  Overall, the visit went great!  We will be with Amber for at least 5 more years (because China now requires post placement visits up to 5 years after we come home).  It’s a long time, but we like her, so it makes things much easier.  I'm just glad that the Home Study process is over with.  As soon as she gets us a final copy, we can apply to the USCIS.  I am hoping to do that by the beginning of September.

Now all we have to do is some research to find some special needs adoption training to bring our hours up to the new minimum for China, which is 12 hours.  We already had 10 from the Heart of the Matters, but now we need to find two more hours of Hague Accredited training, which shouldn’t be too hard.  WIsh us luck!

The End of Summer

I’m not sure where the summer went, but today I submitted the withdrawal paperwork for Saiya’s school. She starts school on August 15 and we will be moving her from Pineapple Cove Academy to Space Coast Montessori for daycare and after care since that school is attached to her new “Big Girl School”. She is very excited about school! We have her registered for the Chinese language immersion program. This is a program that starts in kindergarten and goes to 5th grade. The teachers teach half the day in a different language (you have your choice of Chinese or Spanish). The fourth graders are already reading Chinese books! I was very impressed with the program and I’m very happy that Saiya will be challenged and I’m sure that she will pick up her Chinese in no time! Of course, now that means I have to get going on working with the Rosetta Stone so that I can help her with her school work.

We have our final home study visit with Lori next friday. This is our last post placement visit for Saiya's adoption. We are so happy to have Saiya home and she is adjusting so well! I can't believe how far she has come in just a very short year. I know Lori is going to be impressed. It is a little sad since we really like Lori and we enjoy seeing her. I'm glad that Saiya is acclimating so well and we can only hope that our second child will adjust just as well. More on the post placement visit next friday.

Adoption Home Study - The Day After

The home study went really well!  Amber is really nice and we are glad to be on our way through the beginning of the process.  We handed in all of the paperwork on our agency's list except for the local background checks which we have to complete this friday.  Amber gave us a few things from her agency that we have to fill out, but at least the paper collecting part is done!  Now we have three more meetings with Amber and then the approval of the home study report and once that is completed, we can file with the USCIS.  This time around, the process seems much easier!

Amber absolutely LOVED Saiya.  She turned on the charm and showed Amber her room and all her toys and pointed out her sister's bed and all the things that are her sister's.  It was cute.  Once she got more comfortable, she was all smiles.

We should be meeting with Lori (Saiya's social worker) sometime in the next couple of weeks before we leave for New York.  Our one year post placement visit is due in China by the end of August, so we are hoping to have that completed soon.  I know Lori is going to be impressed with Saiya.  I know Amber was!  Even she remarked at how well adjusted Saiya was.

One down, two to go!

Here we go again!!

Our first home study visit is scheduled for this coming Monday.  Our social worker, Amber, is traveling all the way from Ormond Beach.  We really appreciate her taking the time to come and see us and for her agency (Embraced by Grace) doing the home study for us.  The new Chinese regulations have certainly made things more difficult and slightly more expensive for us this time around.

I started on the major cleaning yesterday, and because I am gone for the weekend with my sister and her other bridesmaid celebrating her bachelorette party, we will have to complete ALL of the cleaning of the house this week and then hope and pray that is stays clean for the entirety of the weekend...

Back to cleaning I go!!  Wish us luck!!

Happy Fourth of July!

Sunday night we took Saiya to our town’s Fourth of July celebration.  They had a live band and tons of food and fun for all.  Saiya was having a blast dancing to the music and chowing down on ice cream and mini corn dogs.  I even managed to buy one of those glowy butterfly wands for $2 for her (they usually cost $5).  The lady said it was broken, but we got it to work, so good deal!  Once the sun went down and the fireworks started, Saiya was a grumpy monkey.  She doesn’t really like loud noises, and I figured she would hate the fireworks, but it was her first July 4^th, so we had to try.  She started to cry while the fireworks were going off and kept complaining that she wanted to go home.  Poor kid.  I covered her ears with my hands and let her sit on my lap, then she promptly fell asleep.  She was a sack of potatoes the rest of the night.  Even after it took us 45 minutes to even get out of the parking lot!  She had a really long, tiring weekend.

Prepping the Nest

Last week Chris and I looked around online and at a few used-furniture stores for new beds for Saiya and her new sister.  My sister was having a garage sale this weekend and I really wanted to put Saiya’s old mattresses and stuff in it, so we were a little pressed to find new beds before then.  I randomly went to goodwill on Tuesday and found two ADORABLE beds with rails included!  The wooden one was $25 and the metal one was $15.  I sent pictures of them to Chris and stood around like an idiot for about ten minutes waiting for him to respond on whether or not he liked them.  Finally, after what seemed like forever, he said sure.

We already had box springs from my mom’s old King bed, so all we needed were mattresses, which I decided to purchase new for the girls.  Well, I was so excited, we went to Walmart to buy bedding (we had no twin sized sheets or anything).  When I finally got everything home, we found out that the box springs for a king bed are a good 4 inches longer than a standard twin….  Who knew?  I was so mad!  So on Wednesday and Thursday, I found fairly good box springs on Craigslist for $20 each.  So, after a few days of frustration, Saiya’s room is finally back together and looking more adorable than ever!!

Yay!! New beds!!  Saiya LOVES her new bed, although she already fell off once.  She is still getting used to having less space.  She is definately excited, she tells everyone who comes over that the other bed in her room is for her sister!