One more {half} sleep!!!

 This is it, we're ready to go!!  Do I feel ready?  Absolutely not!!  My stomach is in knots, I can't think straight and I'm already shaking.  I've concluded that I'd never "feel" ready, so I just need to get on that plane, breathe deep and go.

 I'm definitely not ready with the whole technical aspect.....I'm afraid I don't know what I'm doing and not sure if I'll be able to post to my blog.  VPN, adapters, electrical converters, an unfamiliar laptop (Ethan's) which alone is enough to send me over the edge, hubby's ipad (I never use these things, love my trusty desktop, but I've been practicing:), no phone service and I forgot to look into the panda-phone-thingy, whatever that is...hopefully I won't need one.  But I do know how to Facetime on my iphone!:)  All that to say, not sure how the posting will go, I certainly hope I can {please don't get mad if I don't} and if I do, it will be a miracle! lol 

 Have to say I am so tired of packing and repacking and weighing our bags.

I finally just gave up (enough is enough) and am heading out the door

with one 45.0 lbs and another 47.8, just a tad over the limit of 44.

How I spent the last day before our trip ~

A final stop at the bank (newspaper in lobby)

Then time for some much needed pampering.

Drooling over the latest J. Crew catalog ~ love!

(Photographed in Tanzania, which got me excited for watching my favorite movie Out of Africa on the plane (something I've been looking forward too for awhile)

Admiring the beautiful chinoiserie (?) bracelet my friend Michelle recently made me

and a leisurely bike ride to the pool for some last minute relaxation. 

Old phone pics of the "hidden messages" we left while painting B's room:)

~ ~ ~~

Thanks for all the lovely comments, thoughts, prayers and words of wisdom sent our way in the last few weeks.  Thanks for the love & encouragement you have shown over the years ~ You all have been such a source of faith and hope as we've waited this out, and to be at this point is so unbelievably surreal.  Thanks for sharing in our joy and thank you for the prayers ~ it has meant the world to us!!

Preparing Family & Friends

(A letter sent to family & friends at the recommendation of our agency and social worker)

Dear Family & Friends,

As we get ready to embark on one of the most exciting events in our lives, we are thinking about the people around us and how much our lives are going to change.  We are so fortunate to have such loving family and friends, and we appreciate the support and excitement that you all have shown us!  We've done a lot of reading, research and asked a lot of other adoptive parents about this process and we feel prepared to help our daughter become a well-adjusted member of our family.

There are some things about adoptive parenting that are the same as parenting a biological child.  There are also quite a few areas that we have learned are different.  Through our adoption agency, books, adoptive social workers, psychologists and more, we have learned that our baby needs a specific type of environment and parenting when she first comes home in order to feel safe and secure and to learn how to live successfully in our family.

While we know that every child is different, we also understand that there are many possible things that will impact our child's beliefs and behavior when she gets home.  These include how much nurturing she's received, if there was neglect, the amount and quality of food received, the quality of care and our child's unique temperament and personality.  The result of these things can include behavioral issues, emotional disorders and a sense of grief and loss from being separated from the only home and caregivers our little one has ever known.  Adoption is a traumatic and scary event for any age child.  They're being removed from all of their routines and familiar surroundings.  Even babies will feel grief and sadness at an event like this.  In order to help our child feel safe and learn that we are her parents, we are creating the type of environment that will help promote security during this stressful time.

When our child gets home, at the recommendation of experienced adoption professionals, we need to implement specific parenting approaches to help encourage a strong, attached, emotionally healthy family member.  Our child needs to learn that we're the parents.  She needs to feel nurtured and safe.  She will not be used to having parents to love and care for her.

Here are some things that we will be doing for our child.  We'll be living a very quiet life with limited trips out and few visitors in for a little while.  Social workers and psychologists tell us that when children are first adopted, they may be overwhelmed, scared, and nervous.  By keeping our lives very boring at first, we'll be helping her feel safe.  This does not mean that we do not want visitors coming to see her for the first time.  We will just have to limit it a little so it is not overwhelming.  We know a few of you are planning to meet us at the airport when we arrive home.  That will be wonderful and touching for us to see familiar and supportive faces.  We do not want people to stay away from us, we just can't pass our new baby around for everyone to hold a lot and we will have to be mindful of overloading her with new things and people.

We know you all are excited to hug, kiss and help spoil our sweet Brinkley, but it is recommended that we be the only ones to do that at first to improve her chances of attaching strongly to us.  Until we feel she has attached and clearly knows we are her parents, we'll need to be the ones to feed, change and take care of her.

As strange as it may seem, adopted children who act very outgoing and affectionate with strangers is not a healthy thing.  It is called "indiscriminate affection" and can mean that they haven't really attached to anyone.  It would not be a good sign that our baby has attached to us if during her first months home she will let just anyone take her and hold her without searching for her mom and dad.

She will be adapting to a lot of new things...new parents, new family, new home, new foods, new time zone (totally opposite than what she's used to).  That's a lot to swallow at one time.

For sure it is going to be a different yet wonderful experience for us.  We are so excited and can't wait to bring her home!

We appreciate your understanding.  We're giving you this letter so that you will understand how dedicated and committed we are to helping our daughter adjust and adapt during this stressful time in her life.  We feel confident that everything will smooth out quickly to be on a more normal schedule.

1 day, 19 hours, 35 minutes and 6 seconds until we leave!!!

 

Two Days!

We finally received our passports back ~ what a huge relief!!  Now we are truly ready

to go.  I've had a heck of a time with our bags and trying to stay below the weight limit

of 44lbs.  I've rearranged them so many times and last night finally took out every possible thing I could.  I haven't weighed them again (I'm afraid too:),

and at this point might be willing to just pay the fees.

I bought Brinkley and her "sisters' each a set of 'Chinese Blessing' bracelets,

though the other mom we're traveling with is on her way to the airport now

so she'll not receive them today when they're delivered :(

It's been like Christmas around here with packages being delivered

almost daily for Miss B ~ she is already so adored!!

(Her kitchen set was delivered today!!:)

A darling touch & feel book

and the sweetest tutu ever!!

We're less than two days away from our departure!!
There are still a few things left to do, but the most important are done.
I'm scared out of my mind that I'll forget something important or that something
will go wrong!  My friend Jennifer said that when our plane takes off for China,
some of the weight will lift from my shoulders ~ I cannot wait for that!!

Baby Shower

I was 'showered' on Saturday by some dear friends ~ amazing women who planned
the most beautiful celebration for Brinkley!  I'm encouraged and blessed and so
grateful for these women making everything lovely and special
and mostly for sharing in the joy of our daughter!

We got beautiful dresses, puzzles, books, darling outfits and accessories,
diapers, pjs, more books, more darling clothes, blankets, bath towel,
a gift card and lots & lots of words of encouragement and joy

~ so grateful!!

Poolside

Needless to say, things have been nuts around here!  We're still waiting on our visas and power of attorney ~ should have them in our hands on Monday!!  Which is just a little too close for comfort for me.  By midweek I was getting quite nervous so I paid the
extra $20 to have them expedited, which turned out to be a very smart move.
The recent debacle at the (hinese Embassy has been causing delays.

In the week since I last posted, I picked up all the gifts for the officials, guides, and aunties, notified our bank, got diapers, picked up my new contacts, submitted our end-of-year report to the homeschooling association, took care of some baby registry stuff, bought more food items for the trip, put together a small album for Brinkley, bought a backpack (finally), notified our insurance, completed my China shopping list, stocked the freezer with meals, and re-checked our bags for the umpteenth time.  Believe it or not, there is still so much to do, but I'm taking it one day at a time

and making myself enjoy some downtime poolside:)

(Sometimes I feel guilty relaxing when there is still so much to do:)

It's taken me about two weeks (glad I started early:), but I finally managed to fill the freezer with meals for when we return.  I made lasagna, veggie-fried rice, cinnamon rolls, vegetable soup, chili and chocolate chip cookie dough.  It took awhile because the boys were eating things as quickly as I made them. lol  Once I put a stop to that,

meals started accumulating and we now have a freezer full for when we return.

 

 
 






 Still have to sign up for VPN, upload movies onto the iPad, make copies of visas

(when we finally get them), buy a gift for a friend whose shower I'll be missing,

send Grammy's birthday card and print out the questions for the aunties.

Still so much to do ~ only six days to go!!!

"We are family ~

I got all my sisters with me..."
 
When we started this journey way back when, there were 15 of us families (just with our agency) that shared the same LID (logged-in-date).  Over the years, as the wait grew, that number dwindled and each time our agency updated us, I'd adjust my log to reflect that.  The last time I updated it, I showed four of us families still waiting.  I had no idea who these other families were and I certainly had no idea that we'd forever be linked to each other through our daughters.  When we received our referral for Chen You, there were actually just three of us left and we were all matched with these sweet girls that
are together in the same place.  Aren't they just so precious?!!  Anna's family is in Louisiana and Elora's is in Missouri.  We're so grateful that they have each other!!
 

With bells on!!

We received a copy of our Travel Authorization today in the mail ~
loved reading these words!!

 
 
In accordance with the Adoption Law of the People's Republic of China and the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, we agreed that the child, Chun You, who is in the care of SWI of Xingye County Guangxi Province, be placed with you for adoption.  Please travel in person with this notice to the adoption registry office within the Civil Affairs Department
of Guangxi Province in China to proceed the registration formalities.

 

We will be there with bells on!!!
 

Beachschool

Spring has finally made it's arrival ~

so we've been taking in as much of the outdoors as we can!! 

 Today we jumped on our bikes with a blanket, a book and some lunch and headed to the beach ~ it was so good to finally feel the sun on our backs!!  We lazily read through several chapters of our current classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
played in the sand, enjoyed some lunch and then headed home.
(Ladybugs were everywhere at the beach today & I couldn't resist the wild jasmine:)
 {Ladybugs are a universal sign of good luck, especially in the Chinese adoption world}

The boys have been such troopers through all the crazy adoption paperwork and runaround we've had to do since February.  I'm sure they've gotten the short end of the stick many times, and I know for sure our homeschooling has suffered.  I'm so proud of them though for their positive, helpful, and happy hearts.  I can't wait to see them
with their little sister, they are going to be so wonderful with her!

 

Travel Itinerary!

We got our travel itinerary today!!  Reading through it was SO incredibly exciting!!

To see where we're going and what we're doing each day (our agency organizes the trip)....and then to read  the words "meet your child" ....I must've read those words a hundred times.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  To see everything on paper

made it the most real that it's ever been.  I still can't believe this is all happening.....

We are leaving Thursday May 23rd ~  that's in 16 days?!!!

 Beautiful cards from Linda and Melissa ~ thanks sweet friends!!

Call Me Maybe?

 
We finally got an update (with pictures) on our girl today!!

Height 30"

Weight 21lbs

She can crawl, walk and climb, cannot talk in sentences

or sing, but says "mama", baba", "ayi" and "byebye".
 (Don't worry sweet girl, your mama can't sing either:)

Her favorite toys are cloth dolls and sound toys.

"She is active, lively and open girl".

Cannot wait to scoop her up in my arms!!