City Tour

This is the bed they used to sleep in 100's of years ago. The mattress was wood and the pillows were made of porcelain!!




This is our travel mates little girl!



Today we went on the city tour. We visited the Chen house where I got some paintings, another temple with a pagoda, and a shopping area. At the shopping area I got a beautiful hand painted tea set, a bottle with 100 children painted on the inside and a beautiful marble screen with the 4 lucky ladies of China hand painted on it. Sorry Big T - I just couldn't help myself. They were beautiful. I could have spent more than I did but L kept telling me we are broke!!

After we got back Little T took an hour nap and then we went swimming. The little 2 piece swimsuit I put on her is too big and she kept showing her little crack to everyone, just like her daddy!! She loved the water, kicking her feet and putting her face in it. I hope Big T got the pool fixed because it looks like we'll be using it quite a bit this summer.

Little T has not cried today at all. She is very happy as long as I hold her or she can see me. If someone else picks her up she will start to cry. Last night I went potty and shut the door. She sat right down and cried those big alligator tears! Poor baby!

We leave in one week. We can't wait and wish we were leaving tomorrow! Today's weather was beautiful and I hope it is nice tomorrow too - we've seen enough rain!

Zoo Visit

We all (well, not me) slept until 7:30, got up, ate some breakfast and met our group for our zoo visit. I'm glad we went at 9:30 because within 1/2 hour of walking around the zoo my head was soaked! ugh - it's hot and humid here! Nothing like back home. We saw elephants, bears, pandas, lions, tigers, girafes, monkeys, rhinos, and a hippo. They were all laying down though because it was just too hot to do anything else!

Oh - here's the poop, I mean scoop on the poop. Little T is a perfect match for our family because from day one she has been full of it! Infact, she pooped 3 times today. Her daddy will be so proud!!

For lunch today we went to a new restaruant - Lucy's! Oh wait - we've been there! Actually, we just had some onion rings and fries because we were going to meet some of our group at the italian restaurant. Yes, I wrote that right - we went to an Italian restaurant here on Shamin Island in China - how funny is that?!! It was actually very good.

Little T is doing great. She did grieve a little today during her nap. She cried for about 20 minutes and kept her eyes closed the whole time. Poor little thing - I ended up just holding her and rubbing her little belly. Other than that she smiles most of the time. She has the cutest little personality - loves to play games! Right now she is playing with her glow worm - by stepping on it so that it plays music.

This morning I had L put her shoes on and when we got to the White Swan I looked down at her feet in the stroller and busted out laughing...he had them on the wrong feet!!! Oh my....

Tomorrow we are going to go on the city tour in the morning and then relax in the afternoon. I think we get to go to the Pearl market on Saturday or Sunday - I can't wait!!!

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!!

Better late than Never!!

Sorry everyone! We've been busy with appointments. Yesterday we had 2 interviews. They asked me if I was happy with T - umm...yep, think so!! They also asked why Big T didn't come and if he agreed that we adopt her. It wasn't too hard to explain why.

Today we went to get her passport. She did very well for me. She loves her squeaky shoes and will run the minute I put her down. We also ate some local food tonight. It was very good. J had the noodles and I actually like them. Little T did too - she eats so well. Anything I give her she'll try.

She is coming out of her shell now. It's great seeing her laugh! Every where we go people comment on how good she is and how tiny she is. Like I said, she is wearing 12 month clothes - very small. We'll work extra hard to get some weight on her! She's not talking yet - just some little grunts and laughs. I learned tonight that she knows cantonese and not manderian. Hmmm...no wonder when I say boo (no in manderian) she just looks at me and smiles!

Oh - would you like to see some pictures of our little cutie pie?? Well, I guess I'll go ahead and show you some.

Litte T running to me




Big brother playing with me - see that tongue? Wonder who she reminds me of D??!!



This is L - she is the beautiful daughter of a friend I met on line and now in person. She loves hats! This is her smile when I put the hat on her head:

And this is what Little T looks like when I put the hat on her...not too happy!!

Here's one last picture - our angel sleeping! Everyone say awwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!

She's in our Arms!!

What an amazing day! We spent the morning walking around the island and getting a foot massage. Then we met our guide and the other family and traveled over to the Civil Affairs office where we went up to the 8th floor. There is a little play room there and there were nannies and babies playing. We couldn't see anyone but we could hear them. When our turn came they walked Little T out. She just came to me and just looked around. No tears, no nothing. She's very quiet and very very tiny. After signing some paperwork we went back to our hotel and I showed her the stacking cups which she absolutely loves. She also loves her glow worm!!

She's very tiney - wearing 12 months and she's also already had her heart surgery. This occured a few months ago.

Okay - I know what you guys want! Pictures!! Here you go!

Last day in Hong Kong

Yesterday we went on a tour with our CCAI group. We visited a fishing village, a jewelery factory, a shopping area and Victoria Peak. It was all fun and we enjoyed ourselves. Before our tour we went to a Dim Sum lunch. This consisted of may different types of dumplings. Some had shrimp in them, some beef, and one even had some crab eggs on top of it. L wouldn't even try that one. They also served some sweet and sour pork along with some fried rice.

At the jewelery factory I was looking at some jade for Little T. L kept coming over to me and saying "no mom...we're broke mom...no, she doesn't need it". I was really thinking about getting a bracelet for her and as I'm looking at it another salesman calls L away from me, puts his arm around him and whispers something in his ear. I thought he was just getting him away so that I would maybe buy the jade. I ended up NOT buying it and as we got on the bus I asked L what they guy said to him. He just smiled and said he that his fly was down! hehe....that's my L!!

Right now we are in Guangzhou waiting out the rain. Our flight over was very short, just 30 minutes! We are staying at the Victory and I'm so glad we got a suite. It's nice and roomy. It has 2 separate areas, one bedroom and the other a sort of living room. J and I just finished up getting the money and gifts ready - oh, I ended up buying some more lotion while in Hong Kong. Our guide said that would be fine.

I've got so many pictures (yes, I bought a card reader yesterday for 10 bucks - great prince)that I've decided to put them on flicker. Just click here for the slideshow or here if you want the thumbnails.

Tomorrow we get Little T!! We are sooo excited.

Kowloon Tour and What else did I forget??

Today we decided to splurge and do a tour of Kowloon since we tour Hong Kong tomorrow. We visited a Buddist temple, Kam Tin Walled Village, Lok Ma Chau Lookout (we were able to see China from here), the Wishing Tree, and a jewelery factory. Calm down Big T! I only spent a little. L kept telling me to remember that we were broke! You taught him well!!

For dinner tonight we decided to get adventerous. Oh man - that was fun. We were seated and noticed right away that there were only chop sticks. Then we were served tea, our drinks, and some peanuts with a side of some type of hot sauce. J tried the peanuts with the sauce and almost lost it the sauce was so hot. She even used her chopsticks! I was so proud. After we all decided what to get (hey Big T...guess what I was going to get?!!) we sat there and played with our chopsticks and waited...and waited....and waited...and, yep, you guessed it, waited some more. At one point I looked down at the plate in front of me and noticed a live fly on its back...lovely! Well, after we waited some more we decided to just forget it and leave. I told L to finish up his drink and went to say something to J and she was gone!! That girl booked out of that restaurant so fast and left me and L just sitting there with our jaws dropped. We finally ended up at another restaurant and then came back to the hotel. L is already asleep and we will be following closely behind. Tomorrow we tour Hong Kong.

I know you guys want pictures but as the title of the post foretells I forgot the card reader! I'm sure someone in my group has one but I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, I also forgot all of the gifts at home!! Hey you BTDT folks - what am I going to do?? I'm just a tad bit stressed about that. Any suggestions?

Shops and Drivers

It's amazing to me how we can go into one small doorway and it opens to a whole new shopping area. You would never know that there were many different shops in a building just from looking at the outside. We are in Kowloon with Hong Kong Island across the bay.

This morning I woke up at 4 with J following quickly around 4:30. We just laid in bed wide awake and talked and giggled until L finally woke up. Once we all took showers we went down to breakfast which was very good but pretty expensive. We will NOT be eating there tomorrow! After that we started to explore. We walked down by the bay, watched the boats, and learned Tai Chi (well, we attempted to learn it!) There were not a lot of people around at 7 or so am. We ended walking down to the end by the ferries and went into the New World center which is just a huge shopping mall. Of course, it was before 10 so nothing was open. After cooling off for a bit we ended up going back to the hotel.

Around 12:30 or so we ended up walking back outside and all the way back to the New World Center. We ate lunch at McD's (yeah - I know, not very adventerous yet!) and looked around abit. L wanted to go to ToysRUs to check out how much a WII would cost. He was surprised that it was actually more than what it would cost in the US. He then looked at the Xbox 360 and saw it was less than it would be in the us.

We came back to the hotel again and took a quick nap and went back out for a bit in the evening. The traffic here cracks me up. I swear that J almost got hit a few times. There doesn't seem to be any type of speed limit here and the cars, taxis and buses zoom by you. We've learned pretty quick to run across the street and pray that you make it. I'm told that this area is pretty tame and nothing compared to mainland China. Hmmm....I'll have to hold J's hand walking across when we get there.

Tomorrow the rest of our group will get in. We have to check out of our room and then check back in. On Saturday we tour Hong Kong and Sunday we fly to Guangzhou so we can finally get Little T on Monday!!!

Sorry no pictures. I'll take more when the group gets here.

Hong Kong!!

Well, we made it to Hong Kong after a day long day of traveling. All 3 of us are pretty tired and getting very silly. We are at the Regal Kowloon and went for a little walk around tonight. There is so much going on even here in this little block!! I think there was a 7-11 on every corner. There were a few Starbucs and an Outback. Feels like home. L cracked me up though. While we were walking it kept going "ewwwwwwwwwwwww" it smells like turd, then his very next step he'd say "oh, now it smells like sweet tarts" and then on the next step he'd say "nope, now its turd again." I tried to warn him that the smells would be different here.

Poor J had a rough trip over. I think she got sick once and her head was killing her. Plus we weren't able to sit together on the plane. I'm hoping we can when we fly to Guangzhou and then back home. She cracked me up on the train over from the airport. She said that she has to keep reminding herself that in less than a week we'll be 4 instead of just 3! :) J is a trooper and I just love her to death!!

L slept a lot on the plane. Not only that but he slept ON ME! He would put his pillow on my shoulder and lay his head down and sleep. At one point he even drooled on me! yuck! I really didn't mind though - he's 15 so when I get a cuddle like that I grab it! Right now he's watching tv and about asleep. It's almost 11 at night here so I'm going to sign off. Tomorrow we'll check out the weather and if it looks good we'll head over to Guangzhou and check that amusement park.

Itinerary for China

Ok everyone, here's the where and when of our China trip.

June 10th - Fly to Hong Kong
June 11th - enter Hong Kong (6:50pm)
June 12th - possible amusement park - tour Hong Kong on our own
June 13th - meet with travel group
June 14th - tour Hong Kong with group
June 15th - fly to Guangzhou
June 16th - Little T day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 17th - paperwork (registration/notarization)
June 18th - passport for Little T
June 19th - physical
June 20th - FREE DAY!
June 21st - FREE DAY!
June 22nd - notary certificates
June 23rd - FREE DAY!
June 24th - receive passport
June 25th - Consulate appointment
June 26th - take train to Hong Kong
June 27th - fly home

Whew - that will be a very long trip!! Here it is almost midnight and I'm still up doing last minute things. I'm all packed, documents are ready, got tickets and reservations, so it looks like I can go to bed and try to get some sleep...yeah right!!

4 more days!

That's 4 days until we leave to go to China and get Little T!!! Wow - this week has really flown by. We've been busy getting ready for the graduation party tomorrow, busy getting ready for the trip, just plain busy!! L has baseball on top of all this so we are out in this awful heat cheering him on. T graduates tomorrow at 9 am (thank goodness it's early and it will only be about 80 out). Then everyone is coming to the house for the party! The pool is ready, the deck is ready and we're ready.

I also got his graduation gift today. I think he'll be very surprised. I can't say what it is here because he checks the blog out but I know he'll like it - plus I'm going to take it to China with me...!!

Big T said he'll be lonely for the next few weeks without us...yeah, right! He's going to putter around the house, paint Little T's room a very pretty pale yellow, set up her crib, and enjoy the peace and quiet while he can. I just set up a short cut for him for the blog so he can keep track of it. I named it "T CLICK HERE!" - he can't miss it! :)

Ok - time for another ballgame and then back home to vacuum one last time!

So Sweet

8 Days Folks!!

Only 8 days until we leave for China!! I never dreamed I'd be typing that - what a rush.

My bff is packed and ready to go - she makes me sick she's so organized! Ugh. I haven't packed YET! I have gotten pretty much everything together. It's all in Little T's room waiting to be put in a suitcase. I've booked our hotel in Hong Kong because we will get there a few days before our group has to meet. Here's our itinerary so far:

June 10th Leave
June 11th - Arrive Hong Kong 7:00 pm
June 12th - possible amusement park day!
June 13th - meet with group -
June 14th - 1 day tour of Hong Kong
June 15th - fly to Guangzhou and check into Victory Hotel

I don't have a clue about the rest of the week yet. We haven't received anything back from our agency - hopefully today or tomorrow.

Oh - get this. When we got our referral for Little T I went to the bank and asked them about new 100 dollar bills. They can't order them but they said they would start looking for some nice ones. That was a month ago. I called twice last week to the teller and she never called me back. I finally get a hold of her today and she said she couldn't order them. Huh? I know that!! I asked if she was holding any out for us and she says the ones they received last week were pretty beat up. OK...what about the week before that? No response - she hasn't been looking!! Good grief. So now I've got to run around town and find some good bills. Wonderful!

8 days Little T!!!

A couple of things

First - my Pay if Forward folks - I haven't forgotten about you!! Please bare with me. I WILL get those gifts out but right now things are a little crazy here!!

I'm trying to get our flights booked but feel like I'm behind the eight ball! I've called Lotus and was quoted a price that included the hotel and air fare. I've spoken to Sue and she's getting back with me and I just got off the phone with JC Travel to see what they have. We are looking at flying from Hong Kong to Syracuse to visit some family - not sure yet though - I'm concerned how Little T is going to handle a 12 hour drive from NY back down to where we live!

And on top of that we still don't have our Visas. Good grief! I have one more piece of paperwork to get authenticated and that part will be done. I've also started packing for Little T. My girlfriend who is going with me just laughed at all the stuff I have. She's right - I need to put the stuff in a pile and cut it in half! I haven't even started to pack yet for myself and L! Oh man....I'm in so much trouble!

The final "A"

Our consulate appointment is June 25th! We need to be in Hong Kong by June 13th. Finally - this is happening! We are so excited. I can't believe we are leaving in 2 weeks!!!! OMG! I have so much to do. I'm trying to get flights now, comparing Lotus and JC Travel. 2 weeks folks! We fly to Guangzhou on the 15th from Hong Kong. I'm sad that we will not be visiting Beijing but so excited thinking that we'll be able to give Little T a hug soon!!

Give me a T....Give me an A!!!

What's that spell?? TA!!! Yep, I just got off the phone with our agency! We got TA!! OMG...I'm so excited! They are asking for CA on the 24, 25, or 26 so that means travel June 11 or 12!! I don't even have our Visa's yet. I did just get our updated I171 from Homeland Security - that's one good thing. Oh jeez...I have so much to do!

Here we come Little T!!!

L wrote "Here we come" on her picture! He's so excited to be a big brother and can't wait to hug his little sister. T is just as excited. He would love to go to China with us but with the new baby it's impossible.

Sweet Pictures

T & T took their little girl to Sears and had some pictures taken. Here are 2 of them...isn't she just the sweetest??

Pay It Forward

Michelle over at Day by Day had a wonderful idea to Pay It Forward. This is just about random acts of kindness in every day life. Paying for the person's toll behind you, stopping and helping an elderly person, charity work, even letting a car in line in front of you even though you have been waiting for quite a while. Paying It Forward - a great and simple concept.

So, here's my part. I will send a gift to the first 3 people that respond to this post. If you are one of the 3 people how about putting this pledge on your blog and lets keep this rolling!!

Who wants to play??

Beware the cuteness!!!

Little T news!! We received our "travel call" today. Our agency feels like we will get our TA (travel approval) by the end of this week or beginning of next week. They think we will be travel around June 4th or 5th. Sounds great? Well, not quite. My oldest son graduates from highschool on June 7th and my best friend's daughter graduates on June 9th! So, we will be hopping on a plane right after the ceremony!

We also received some updated measurements and boy is Little T tiny! She's 25 months old tomorrow and weighs 19.8 lbs! She likes to turn TV on and off, play with toys that make noises, and play with toy cars. What's up with the toy cars??!! Her favorite toy is a rattle and she enjoys listening to music, clapping her hands, and playing games with other children.

Another surprise came in today! One of the Yahoo groups I'm a member of is for Little T's orphanage. A couple is picking up their daughter this week and she took a picture of Little T for us. This picture was just taken!! Go check out this couples site at Katherine Yu and give them some love!!

Look at her hair! It's standing straight up!! hehe!! I can't wait to go get her! Enjoy!!

New Pictures!!

I was checking my email this afternoon and there's one from Pam with the heading of NEW PICTURES!! Oh my! So, without further ado, here she is!! (yeah, she has hair!!)






Yes, we need to go get her quickly and put a smile on that adorable face!!

Introducing the newest edition to the family!!

Changes

I'm changing my blog around but blogger isn't being very cooperative so the odd colors will have to stay for a bit!!

Wow!!!!!!!! LOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sitting here listening, reading to some training materials, and waiting for more training materials to download to my pc (multi-tasking at it's best!) I decided to check one of my Yahoo groups. Well one of the girls who just got PA on Monday got LOA TODAY!!! I'm excited for her but then I see where another says they got one too and they were told that our agency received about 30 LOA's!! I quickly went to my email and guess what I found??!! LOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We should be traveling in 5 to 8 weeks!!!

People, I'm totally freaking out here!! We were not expecting this referral so quickly and then to have the LOA happen in just 4 days??!!! Unheard of!! My head is just spinning. I called my girlfriend J who is traveling with me and starting babbling like an idiot!

So..we got LOA!! Can you tell how my brain is reacting right now? This post is all over the place!

Where in China is Little T??

Dongguan City is in Guangdong Province which is in the southern part of China. The US Consulate is in Guangzhou which is just about 31 miles or so from Dongguan City.

I joined the Yahoo group for her orphanage and there are some people traveling soon. I've asked them to please see if they can take her picture if they visit the orphanage! Wow - wouldn't that be just amazing?? I would love to see how big she is now. The report we had was done back in July of 2007 so it's old. I misread it also - I thought she weighed 17 pounds but actually only weighed 15 pounds. What a peanut!!

Her care package will be ready to mail by this weekend. I've put in a few 18 month size dresses, a plush toy, a "who loves you" book with our pictures, and some candy for the nannies. I need to get some stickers and stuff for the other babies and I'll probably put a blanket in it for her too.

Here is a map and some pictures of her orphanage.

Here She Is!!!

We recevied PA today! I can finally tell the world about our daughter.

Back!

Ok, I'm back from Lombard! I was supposed to have flown out of Chicago Friday night but after 2 flight cancellations I ended up staying and flying out Saturday. I finally got home Saturday afternoon and was completely bushed. My suitcase is still sitting on my bedroom floor waiting to be unpacked!!

I enjoyed meeting my new team and manager. They all seem very nice and welcoming. They have me set up for almost 15 weeks worth of training but I should be able to skim through most of it because I already know the system.

Oh gosh, I'm so ready to burst with my exciting news but I can't yet. This is so hard!!! I really don't know if I can keep this in much longer.....so here's a quick peek...

Next week

I'll be in Lombard IL having a very busy week at my new job. I'm really looking forward to it though. This will be a much needed change and challenge. I should also be able to tell you guys about something else that has been going on in our lives. It's amazing, incredible, awesome, spectacular, and unexpected - yep, it's that good!! What? You want a hint? Hmmm....I suppose I can give you a small one...




That's about all I can do right now!!! I'm not sure if I'll be able to get to my blog next week or not, let alone my other email address. So, I'll see you guys in a week!! heh...

Exciting times!

Yep, very exciting times around here. Lots of stuff happening very quickly. That's all I can say right now. Please keep our family in your prayers!

Scrap Pics

Not a ton of stuff to blog about. T's girlfriend is due in a about 3 weeks. The adoption is still in the waiting mode. Oh - I have a new job!!!! Yeah! I start on the 21st of this month and I will be working from home everyday!! I'm very exicted about it. My last day at my current job is Wednesday so I'll have a few days off. The new job will supply me with all office supplies that I need including a laptop with accessories. I should be going to IL next week to pick up the laptop and the other items will ship later.

I'm sad about leaving my current job. I've been there for 7 years now and have made some good friends - and enemies!! Ha! We are smack in the middle of an implementation to a new product and I had a key role in it. Yes, I feel bad but I have to look out for me and do whats best for my family. Maybe if the higher ups would have been more open and communicative with us little peons I could have stayed. As it is we were finding things out through the rumor mill. Not good people!!

Ok - enough about the job. Here are 2 pages I did tonight. The first one was a quickpage but the second one I did all by myself!!

5 days

4/7/2008
Dossier and Child Match Update from CCAA's Intranet



The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with the CCAA office before October 31, 2006.

The CCAA has finished the placement of the children for families whose application documents were registered with the CCAA office before January 9, 2006.

5 lousy days. 2 days were the weekend.

154-5 is 149 days until our referral.

Just Scrapping

Sewing away!

I've sewed a few more little dresses. The green ladybug dress is for our granddaughter and the other one is for Little T. I'm really enjoying this and have started on 2 more dresses similar to the ladybug one. There is a hat and little pants for the ladybug dress. When I showed Big T the material for Little T's he was like "I hate to tell you this but those 2 materials do not go together.". Ha! I showed him! I wanted contrasting materials which is why I picked those two out. That dress cost me a total of $3.00 including the pattern!!







One more picture for you! T turned 18 yesterday!! Good God - where does the time go?? We gave him some cash and some tools for his car and took him to dinner last night. (Family tradition) After dinner he came over and was messing around with L and I was taking pictures. I asked him to smile for me and this is what he did!! Nice huh??!!!