Care Package # 1

On Monday, April 13, 2009 we mailed a care package for our precious daughter Laney waiting in The Fuzhou City Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi, China. (if you click on a photo you can see it larger)

The memory book in the care package has an exact duplicate that is being kept here at home. We hope Laney & her Nannies will enjoy looking through this book & seeing Laney’s Momma, Poppy, nursery, playroom, clothes, toys & of course pictures of her beautiful self. Also in her care package was a letter to the Orphanage Director & Nannies, our acceptance letter, Jelly Belly Beans & Ghirardelli Chocolates for her Nannies. Also 2 disposable cameras with her Chinese name & a small picture of her taped to them, a pink bear blanket & musical keys with inserted pictures of Momma & Poppy in each key. We love you Laney Yan Ge! Thank you Terry for spending 10 hours with me on April 10, 2009 creating 2 amazing books.

Some Gifts, Congrats and Well wishes

We have amazing people in our lives. Gifts, Congrats and Well wishes have been pouring in for years. I have not taken pictures of everything (I am not that organized) but sporadically I have remembered to snap photos. We thank everyone for everything and think the people that surround us in our lives just ROCK! Here are a few snap shots.

The B family - OHHHHHH how sweet! Thank you!

The K family - OHHHHH Thank you so much!

The H family! WOW - Thank you!!!

The L family! LOVE IT!

The T family! AWESOME. Thank you!

The C family! YAHOO. Let's play!

Guess what - WE HAVE A BABY

We are shaking with excitement posting on the blog (scroll down to see 3 pictures).

Blogging/e-mail seems to be the best way in this day and age to shout from the rooftops! So here we go………we are shouting……………………….…..WE ARE GLADLY CHANGING OUR NAMES TO MAMA AND POPPY! WE FINALLY HAVE NEWS ON US BECOMING PARENTS!
WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did not expect our call until Monday but we got a big surprise when the phone rang and Beth said “IT’S A GIRL”. So Friday night, April 03, 2009 we got news of our baby.

Currently living: In Fuzhou City Welfare Institute which is an orphanage.
Where in China: The Jiangxi Province in southeastern China.
Her date of birth: April 28, 2008 (she is 11 ½ months old).

This info was taken on January 12, 2009 (when she was 8 ½ months):
Inches: 27.5
Weight: 19.8 lbs (we wonder how many pounds of clothes she has on)?

Other cute facts:
Laughs out loud (Poppy was thrilled with this one)
Likes games w/ adults
Close to caregiver
Loves to imitate
Loves music

Given name:
Fu (last name given to all babies in that orphanage)
Yan (first name - means = Beautiful)
Ge (middle name – means = Song)
Fu Yan Ge
Soon to be Laney Yan Ge which means Laney Beautiful – LOVE IT!!!

We are head over heels in love,our dreams are coming true.

Stork Alert (thanks Kristin)

Hush little Laney….I am flying as fast as my wings can go!! Your Mommy and Daddy are going to be soooo HAPPY!!!

Surprise Baby Shower

We have to chuckle about the weather. A stormy unpredictable wild ride to parenthood it has been so why would we expect anything else from mother nature on the day of our babies shower. The snow, the ice, the cold but all the love and generosity warmed the house. Truly amazing (my in laws pulled off an amazing surprise).



Baby shower look - LOVE IT!










Coy Pond filled with wishes-WOW!

STORK Alert

April Yet?

Wow this is a tough week of waiting for news!

Elephant Pregnancy

The elephant is the mammal with the longest gestation period - 22 months - but for those of us adopting from China, we can prove otherwise! YES it has been 36 months (37 next week) since China logged in our paperwork. What was to be a 6 month wait went well beyond.

Get the video camera ready

When that phone call finally comes I may just PASS OUT! Wow after waiting so long for someone to finally call and say 'IT'S A GIRL" we are getting the video camera ready because we will be recording it, just in case I do pass out.

Happy Birthday Poppy

The good news is this is his last birthday without Laney. The bad news is we do not have her referral yet. I had hoped for an R5 (fellow adoption roller coaster riders you know what I mean by that) R5 for those who are watching the roller coaster ride but not on this stomach turning ride an R being equal to = Rumor, 5 being equal to = 1 the lowest and least confirmed, 5 being the highest and closest to becoming a fact. The rumor could be telling us we are rumored to be in this upcoming batch of families being matched with their babies or the rumor could be that packages are on the way or have arrived etc. I told Poppy I got a whisper from China and Laney told me what to write on his birthday cake...So it said...... "SEE YOU SOON POPPY".

P.S. Babe I love you! You are the most amazing husband and friend. WOW you are going to be a kick butt POPPY and I can't wait!

Longest Month Ever

We are still hoping to see our babies face in April so March can you hurry up and end PLEASE!

Quote says it all (thanks Kristin)

Maui and Tiki

Here are a few of our favorite photos of the girls. They bring smiles to our faces everyday!

Getting closer #2

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Poppy I know you like that movie

THE GOOD = China has moved a few steps forward and matched more children with families which in turn brings us closer to our baby.
THE BAD = It is still not our turn (grrrrrrrr).
THE UGLY= There is no guarantee we are in next month.

So let me break it down. Our LID (log in date, that date China logged in our dossier) is 03/08/2006. As of today it looks like China has matched Children with families who had their dossier logged in on or before 03/06/2006. So now we are 2 days away from it being our turn. China only does this matching once a month so we will not get our next update until April. Now, one would think China could get through 2 days of dossiers next month right??? Well normally yes that would be true but remember this is the roller coaster ride of adoption so NO, it is not that easy. The LID b/4 ours is very large (much larger than normal) so it is still unknown if we are in next month. What could happen? In April if China gets through 2 days then we will do the happy dance as we see our precious baby’s picture! If China gets through only the 1 enormous day then we are not included in the April batch which would obviously push us back by another month! Only time will tell.
Positive thoughts out, positive results in!