We are anxiously waiting for our TA (travel approval) from China granting us permission to come and get Madeline. Once we receive this approval, it will only be 2-5 weeks until we meet Maddy.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch here in Oregon, we have been spending every spare minute we have preparing for our trip and Madeline's room. I think we have the majority of the supplies needed for our trip. The last things we need to buy are diapers, formula and rice cereal so I will consult with my knowledgeable friend this weekend who went through this not too long ago. Most of our suitcases will be filled with over the counter/prescription meds for us, clothes and toys for Maddy as well as misc supplies. We are taking a minimal amount of clothes for 2 weeks worth of travel. 3-5 shirts per person, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes, etc. We will have our laundry done there when need be. Of course we will have our digital camera, laptop and camcorder so be sure to check the blog for updates as we travel.
We will fly from Portland to Tokyo non-stop and then to Beijing (about 14 hours or so). We will spend 4 days there. Siteseeing and this is where we will have our orientation with our agency, Holt. We will hopefully get updated info about Maddy. It will be interesting to experience Beijing pre Olympics. The air quality and the water are supposed to be better than it ever has been, but I will let the locals vouch for the water quality via word of mouth. Then it is off to Guangzhou (southern China next to Hong Kong) to meet Maddy. We will hang out there to get her visa, etc. and then come home. We will spend our time in Guangzhou siteseeing and shopping. There is supposed to be some good shopping there!
Jim is almost done painting Maddy's room. It looks great. Now comes the fun part decorating! Yay! Good job dad!
Jim is feeling almost back to 100%. He is now working 4 - 10 hour days and he now has Wednesdays off from work. This will work out great as he will be home with Maddy and Abby on his day off and I will be home with them on Fridays. My parents will be with Maddy the rest of the work week. Grandpa and Grandma Downie will be here for frequent visits.
We are going to North Carolina next week for a work convention for me and Jim is going to play golf. It will be nice to get away as we have been so busy and need a break. We hope we will get the call for our TA while we are away.
Congrats to our friends, Shawna and Keith Green. They have a beautiful son, Braeden. He is adorable and came into the world at 9.5lbs. He is going to be as big as Maddy before we know it. Future line backer in the making.
Also, welcome home to our friends Rachael and Patrick. They just moved back home from New Mexico. We are so excited you are home!
Thanks to our family and friends for their continued support -- we are so lucky that we are so close to making our dream come true of having our daughter join our family from around the world.
Let's pray for TA! Later Crystal
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Madeline, We are coming to pick you up soon!
Now, that we received our Letter of Approval from China to "officially" adopt Madeline we need to get into full gear mode and get our acts together. Madeline, I am not sure how much you are going to like your new stressed out, sleep deprived parents who do not have a clue as what we are doing but we will do our very best to provide you with plenty of hugs and kisses. Abby will too. Try not to pull on her tail and ears too much at first please because she is a delicate flower. Give her a couple of months and then she will let you ride her like a pony around the house.
I went to the store this week and luckily with grandma and grandpa Miyake's help we bought a lot of medicines and general supplies for our trip to come and pick you up. Good thing they were with me because I needed some advice on some of the stuff as being a first time mommy, I had a tough time trying to figure out what to buy. Also, we went to the Carter's outlet and we bought some clothes for you. Some very cute matching outfits. We can't wait to see you in them.
We need to paint your room, decorate, and get our stuff together to come and pick you up. We need to make sure that your home is safe so that no one shocks themselves by doing things like putting forks into the light sockets (remember, Justin) or have dressers fall on them (I did that and gave my parent's a heart attack). We went to REI last weekend to look at clothes that would "breathe" well while we are in China. It is going to hot and humid. The average temp right now is in the 80's so we are anticipating that it will be very warm while we are in China but it is better than going in the latter part of the summer when it is typhoon season.
We are looking forward to siteseeing and have been reading up on our info about China (history, current info, narratives, etc). Hopefully we have a descent grasp on Chinese culture. We are going to try to learn Chinese as well.
We have been reading up on our child rearing books but we are not so sure that we have done such a good job comprehending the information. Madeline, you will have to let us know. Also, I have been a very studious student and watching Super Nanny every Wednesday night (ABC). After I watch every episode, I go to bed thinking to myself or every so often waking your daddy up and exclaiming: "Supper Nanny may be making a visit or two to our house." Maddy, just so you know Dad rules with an iron fist. I wanted to be the first one to warn you do not cross him. He won't let you get away with anything. I, however am the softie in the family so you can come to me about anything. =) Okay, we can all joke about it but everyone who really knows your mom and dad know that it is the other way around. Abby is your father's little girl. She follows him everywhere. I just exist so if you are partial to daddy I will not be too jealous since I am already used to it. Daddy will have his own little parade of followers.
This weekend while your dad is with grandma Downie as she is recovering from her second knee surgery. Yay!! She will be able to keep up with you and take you to the beach since daddy, grandpa and uncle mikey do not like to get sand in their shoes. I will be with grandma Miyake as it is her birthday and I will be trying to get some stuff together for our trip to come get you and also get your room and the house ready as well.
Since it looks like we will be traveling before the Olympics it looks as if we will make it to the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc. in Beijing. Then we are to Guangzhou to meet Madeline.
Yesterday, we received a video from Yangdong that I ordered. Yangdong is where we think Madeline is from. She is at the orphanage in Yangdong county. The video was fabulous! We learned a lot about the area that Madeline is from -- it looks as if there is a lot of farming. The video showed the hospitals, civil affairs office, frequent finding places, orphanage, etc. It was very beautiful and scenic. This area of China was very green and lush!!
We are very excited that we will be traveling in 10 weeks or so and we can not wait to meet Madeline so our family will be forever together.
I went to the store this week and luckily with grandma and grandpa Miyake's help we bought a lot of medicines and general supplies for our trip to come and pick you up. Good thing they were with me because I needed some advice on some of the stuff as being a first time mommy, I had a tough time trying to figure out what to buy. Also, we went to the Carter's outlet and we bought some clothes for you. Some very cute matching outfits. We can't wait to see you in them.
We need to paint your room, decorate, and get our stuff together to come and pick you up. We need to make sure that your home is safe so that no one shocks themselves by doing things like putting forks into the light sockets (remember, Justin) or have dressers fall on them (I did that and gave my parent's a heart attack). We went to REI last weekend to look at clothes that would "breathe" well while we are in China. It is going to hot and humid. The average temp right now is in the 80's so we are anticipating that it will be very warm while we are in China but it is better than going in the latter part of the summer when it is typhoon season.
We are looking forward to siteseeing and have been reading up on our info about China (history, current info, narratives, etc). Hopefully we have a descent grasp on Chinese culture. We are going to try to learn Chinese as well.
We have been reading up on our child rearing books but we are not so sure that we have done such a good job comprehending the information. Madeline, you will have to let us know. Also, I have been a very studious student and watching Super Nanny every Wednesday night (ABC). After I watch every episode, I go to bed thinking to myself or every so often waking your daddy up and exclaiming: "Supper Nanny may be making a visit or two to our house." Maddy, just so you know Dad rules with an iron fist. I wanted to be the first one to warn you do not cross him. He won't let you get away with anything. I, however am the softie in the family so you can come to me about anything. =) Okay, we can all joke about it but everyone who really knows your mom and dad know that it is the other way around. Abby is your father's little girl. She follows him everywhere. I just exist so if you are partial to daddy I will not be too jealous since I am already used to it. Daddy will have his own little parade of followers.
This weekend while your dad is with grandma Downie as she is recovering from her second knee surgery. Yay!! She will be able to keep up with you and take you to the beach since daddy, grandpa and uncle mikey do not like to get sand in their shoes. I will be with grandma Miyake as it is her birthday and I will be trying to get some stuff together for our trip to come get you and also get your room and the house ready as well.
Since it looks like we will be traveling before the Olympics it looks as if we will make it to the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc. in Beijing. Then we are to Guangzhou to meet Madeline.
Yesterday, we received a video from Yangdong that I ordered. Yangdong is where we think Madeline is from. She is at the orphanage in Yangdong county. The video was fabulous! We learned a lot about the area that Madeline is from -- it looks as if there is a lot of farming. The video showed the hospitals, civil affairs office, frequent finding places, orphanage, etc. It was very beautiful and scenic. This area of China was very green and lush!!
We are very excited that we will be traveling in 10 weeks or so and we can not wait to meet Madeline so our family will be forever together.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
some new news
Madeline, we are getting closer. Your Mom and I received our LOA (Letter Of Acceptance) today from China. Now, I believe we will be waiting for our travel approval which will be approximately 2-5 weeks. Then we can make our travel arraignments which will also be around 2-5 weeks then we are off to meet you.
We need to get busy now. We have so much stuff to do to prepare our home up to your standards. We know you will like it.
See you soon. Love Mom and Dad
We need to get busy now. We have so much stuff to do to prepare our home up to your standards. We know you will like it.
See you soon. Love Mom and Dad
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
It has been about a month since the referral of Madeline to Crystal and I. A lot has changed in this time. We have recently been informed that Madeline is just over 25 inches tall and weights almost 19 pounds. She has 4 teeth. She can sit well, can stand by holding and is learning to walk by holding. She responds when she is called. She likes colorful toys and she prefers to play ball, which I like to do as well. A perfect match.
As for Crystal and I, I have been released from my second stay in the hospital due to complications from my appendectomy. I am still not feeling normal, however, I do feel better everyday. I even returned to work full time last week, Thursday February 28th. Crystal is finally beginning to relax. She has completed the additional paperwork we received required to allow our adoption of Madeline to proceed and her nursing care duties for me have ended as I am now almost able to take care of myself. My reliance upon her will never end.
We may not receive any additional information or photos regarding Madeline until we actually go to China to pick her up however if we may hear something new we will add it to this blog.
I want to Thank everyone who has assisted us in our application for this adoption. Crystal and I are both very excited and somewhat in shock after receiving the referral. We can not believe we are parents of a girl who doesn’t know we exist. How are we doing? Are we parenting right? Maybe when she actually gets physical possession of us she will give us some feedback.
Oh!! We have learned that a possible meaning of Madeline’s Chinese name “Xiao Xing” is Morning Star, as she was found in the morning. We will have to wait until we are provided with the actual Chinese characters before we know if this an accurate translation. It seems reasonable and for now this is what we are going with.
We hope everyone is well and we look forward to keeping everyone updated. - Jim “Dad”
As for Crystal and I, I have been released from my second stay in the hospital due to complications from my appendectomy. I am still not feeling normal, however, I do feel better everyday. I even returned to work full time last week, Thursday February 28th. Crystal is finally beginning to relax. She has completed the additional paperwork we received required to allow our adoption of Madeline to proceed and her nursing care duties for me have ended as I am now almost able to take care of myself. My reliance upon her will never end.
We may not receive any additional information or photos regarding Madeline until we actually go to China to pick her up however if we may hear something new we will add it to this blog.
I want to Thank everyone who has assisted us in our application for this adoption. Crystal and I are both very excited and somewhat in shock after receiving the referral. We can not believe we are parents of a girl who doesn’t know we exist. How are we doing? Are we parenting right? Maybe when she actually gets physical possession of us she will give us some feedback.
Oh!! We have learned that a possible meaning of Madeline’s Chinese name “Xiao Xing” is Morning Star, as she was found in the morning. We will have to wait until we are provided with the actual Chinese characters before we know if this an accurate translation. It seems reasonable and for now this is what we are going with.
We hope everyone is well and we look forward to keeping everyone updated. - Jim “Dad”
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