Wedding Crazies and Stuff

Last week we flew to New York for my sister’s wedding (pictures to come soon). Saiya did great on the plane, as usual. We spent a few days in Boston with Chris’s cousin and took a day trip to the New England Aquarium. We met up with Jeanne and Annie (Wei Ying) and her family at the Aquarium. All the kids had a blast! I am so amazed at Annie’s progress! She has come so far developmentally since the last time we saw her. She and Saiya had a great time. Poor Saiya fell asleep on the way back to the Aquarium from our favorite little Chinese place in Chinatown.

We also stopped by our agency, CAWLI, for Lillian to meet Saiya. I can imagine that she places dozens of children out of state that she never has the pleasure of meeting. So we stopped by and spoke with her about our second adoption and what we are looking for. She showed us how the Chinese system works and we sorted through some potential referrals.

I was a little shocked that none of her other families are looking at the same age group as we are. According to Lillian, they are all looking for babies. It’s such a shame since adopting an older child can be an amazing experience. The Chinese child referral system is vast and complicated. I do not envy Lillian’s position. She tries very hard to match families with suitable children. The whole time we were there, she kept thanking us for understanding how difficult her job can be. I’m shocked that people DON’T understand how hard her job can be.

After Boston, we headed to Albany for my sister’s wedding. We rented a house in Warrensburg which we shared with my sister, mom, brother, our friend Melissa and her son, and my sister’s two kids. It was very comfortable! Much better than getting four or five hotel rooms. The wedding was beautiful and Saiya did a great job as a flower girl!

We took the train home. All the kids were great, but I don’t think we will be doing that again anytime soon! Three adults and four children on a train for 24+ hours is way too much!

While we were on the train, Chris received news that his grandfather passed away. So he is leaving today to head to Indiana for the funeral. So we went from a wedding to a funeral in the period of a week. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon, this month has been hectic, stressful, and sad. I’m ready for September!

First Day of School

Sorry this post is so late, but last week was crazy!

Saiya’s first day of school was last Monday (August 15).  We were up early, I packed her lunch, and dressed her in her uniform and off to school we went.  Dropping her off was a little crazy.  There were a lot of parents there all trying to tell the teacher something different about their child.  We were there on Friday for the “meet the teacher” day, so I managed to tell the teacher most of what I had to tell her.  I did want to remind her that we were going out of town, so I needed any extra work/homework for her to complete while we were gone.  I also had to let her know that Saiya was not supposed to go to after care that day.  She seemed a little overwhelmed, so I quickly told her what I had to say, kissed Saiya goodbye and wished her luck and left hoping and praying that the teacher remembered what I said.

Saiya had a great time at school.  When my mother picked her up, she asked about her first day and Saiya replied with, “I want to tell my mommy first!”.  Hahahaha!!  Poor Nana!  She had a great day!  I’m so glad she likes her teachers and I know she is going to do well in this program!

Trip Down South and Monday Morning Maddness

We headed to Ft. Lauderdale for the weekend to spend some time with friends and give Saiya the opportunity to play with Connor before his little brother gets here in two weeks.  We also delivered our old grill and a rocking chair to our friends.  Saiya had a blast running around with Connor and we really enjoyed the time we got to spend with our friends.

Today was Saiya’s first day at her new daycare/aftercare place.  On the way there she looked a little nervous so I asked her.

Me:  “You excited baby doll?”

Saiya:  “yup!”

Me:  “Nervous?”

Saiya:  “little bit”

Me:  “Scared?”

Saiya:  “No, I’m not scared of ANYTHING!”

Me:  “there’s my brave girl!”

She took the change really well.  When we walked in, there was another little girl, obviously older than Saiya, who was kicking and screaming for her father not to leave her there.  Saiya took it all in stride and stared blankly at the girl, kind of like “what’s your problem, its only daycare…”.  I am still amazed at how resilient my daughter can be.  She is at this daycare all week, then she starts school and will be going there only in the afternoons for aftercare.  I have no doubt that she will do just fine.

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!