Sunday, December 4, 2011
Christmas Stockings~
This year we hung an extra stocking with mommy's. When you ask Connor whose stocking this is, he says "my baby sister's."
Friday, December 2, 2011
The Start of a Lifebook~
So far in our journey, we have been fortuante enough to come in contact with some really great people. Peggy being one and also Dr. Seaton, the psychologist we visited. They both removed us from the paperwork mindset to thinking about our daughter's feelings as her world will be turned upside down. Initally, attachment may be difficult for her. Later, she may mourn. To help her later with mourning, or to help answer any questions about her past, lifebooks are often made to give to the child.
A lifebook is just what the name says. It is a compilation of any information about our daughter's life in China. Letters from birthparents or cavegivers, pictures of her home city and orphanage, stories of her birth, medical documents and birth certificate. Basically, anything we can get our hands on that will help her later in life to figure out her history. Obviously, I will be able to gather this information the closer we are to getting her, but I have found the most beautiful paper to use in her Lifebook that I wanted to share~
Home Study Jitters~
The amount of paperwork and office visits we have had to make for our adoption and home study have been numerous! This is a full time job getting everything taken care of, filled out, certified...wow!
The part that I was most anxious about in this inital process was the home study. Since All God's Children is located in Portland, we had to use another agency to complete the home study. We chose International Child Foundation because it was Hague accredited for China. Well, as it turned out, we got the BEST social worker I could have ever wished for. Her name is Peggy, and she is known as "our good friend, Peggy" here in this house! She was GREAT. She and Connor really hit it off, too...so cute!
Talking to Peggy during our home study visists was like talking to an old friend. It was that kind of a feeling. Comfortable, warm, genuine. She gave us tips on places to visit here in Phoenix~ LeeLee's Market, the Chinese Cultural Center. She helped us to imagine what our little girl will want to see and smell once she gets here. She encouraged us to get involved with cooking Chinese cuisine, to celebrate the major Chinese holidays, and to absorb the culture as best we can. This will help us to raise a confident daughter, one that is in tune with her heritage.
One other valuable idea Peggy left me with was the idea of making ( or Mimi making ) a 100 Wishes Quilt, also known as Bai Jia Bei. This is a quilt in which friends and family all donate a piece of material for the quilt. Upon donating, they are to make a wish for our daughter. I can't wait to see how this turns out. Mimi has agreed to take on the project! Visit this link to learn more about Bai Jia Bei
Lastly, I will leave you with a picture of our new pool fence. The court had to see we fenced in our pool in order to move forward with the adoption.
All in all, we realized there was really no reason for the home study jitters...everything went well!
The part that I was most anxious about in this inital process was the home study. Since All God's Children is located in Portland, we had to use another agency to complete the home study. We chose International Child Foundation because it was Hague accredited for China. Well, as it turned out, we got the BEST social worker I could have ever wished for. Her name is Peggy, and she is known as "our good friend, Peggy" here in this house! She was GREAT. She and Connor really hit it off, too...so cute!
Talking to Peggy during our home study visists was like talking to an old friend. It was that kind of a feeling. Comfortable, warm, genuine. She gave us tips on places to visit here in Phoenix~ LeeLee's Market, the Chinese Cultural Center. She helped us to imagine what our little girl will want to see and smell once she gets here. She encouraged us to get involved with cooking Chinese cuisine, to celebrate the major Chinese holidays, and to absorb the culture as best we can. This will help us to raise a confident daughter, one that is in tune with her heritage.
One other valuable idea Peggy left me with was the idea of making ( or Mimi making ) a 100 Wishes Quilt, also known as Bai Jia Bei. This is a quilt in which friends and family all donate a piece of material for the quilt. Upon donating, they are to make a wish for our daughter. I can't wait to see how this turns out. Mimi has agreed to take on the project! Visit this link to learn more about Bai Jia Bei
Lastly, I will leave you with a picture of our new pool fence. The court had to see we fenced in our pool in order to move forward with the adoption.
All in all, we realized there was really no reason for the home study jitters...everything went well!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The First Pictures Sent In To Begin the Paperwork~
Here are the very first photos we sent into the agency to begin our adoption~
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
We Have An Announcement~
After Scott and I had made our decision to move forward with our adoption, we chose All God's Children International adoption agency, which was the agency our family friends had used. We were told that we needed to wait to begin the process until our baby, Hayden, was one year old. So, we waited....
Fast forward a few months to August. This is when we applied to be accepted into All God's Children China program. For those of you know may know, I have ALWAYS, yes ALWAYS, wanted to adopt a Chinese baby girl. Now, here is our opportunity. Scott, on the other hand, agreed to China due to it's stability in international adoptions. Perfect!
It has become a tradition in our family to announce an arrival of our next child on the previous siblings first birthday. On March 25, 2010 ( Connor's first birthday ), we announced we were 3 months pregnant with Hayden. So, it should have been no surprise that on Hayden's first birthday, Scptember 25, 2011, that we announced the adoption of our next baby!
Fast forward a few months to August. This is when we applied to be accepted into All God's Children China program. For those of you know may know, I have ALWAYS, yes ALWAYS, wanted to adopt a Chinese baby girl. Now, here is our opportunity. Scott, on the other hand, agreed to China due to it's stability in international adoptions. Perfect!
It has become a tradition in our family to announce an arrival of our next child on the previous siblings first birthday. On March 25, 2010 ( Connor's first birthday ), we announced we were 3 months pregnant with Hayden. So, it should have been no surprise that on Hayden's first birthday, Scptember 25, 2011, that we announced the adoption of our next baby!
Our Journey Has Just Begun~
The date was April 10th, 2011, and I had taken Scott out on a much-needed, surprise dinner date. We ate at the best Italian restaurant in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Tutti Santi. Connor and Hayden were hanging out at home with our dear friend, Neda.
About half way thru dinner, the topic of adopting a little girl came up. I had been thinking about this for quite awhile now. With all of our infertility problems, we had briefly looked into adoption several years ago. More recently, family friends of ours were in Taiwan bringing their little boy home. I was following their blog each day, and as I read their story, I knew in my heart that is was the path we were going to take to bring home our little girl!
Well, as it turns out, Scott was in agreement! I couldn't believe it. Here we are, with two adorable little boys, and we were going to ~ one day ~ have a little girl to raise. Even though I knew the wait would be years, my mind was racing just thinking about "gotcha day."
About half way thru dinner, the topic of adopting a little girl came up. I had been thinking about this for quite awhile now. With all of our infertility problems, we had briefly looked into adoption several years ago. More recently, family friends of ours were in Taiwan bringing their little boy home. I was following their blog each day, and as I read their story, I knew in my heart that is was the path we were going to take to bring home our little girl!
Well, as it turns out, Scott was in agreement! I couldn't believe it. Here we are, with two adorable little boys, and we were going to ~ one day ~ have a little girl to raise. Even though I knew the wait would be years, my mind was racing just thinking about "gotcha day."
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