Amazing!

Ok, didn't I just write here yesterday, saying we were waiting for our Letter of Approval (LOA) and asking people to pray???!!!  How does this all happen? I don't know, but if you did pray, thank you!

Today, our agency called and told me they received the LOA!  They are Fedexing it to us and we should have it tomorrow.  We sign it and make copies and then send it back so they can return it to China.  Then, we file a few more things and we can apply for our visas.  Hopefully, we may see travel after the holidays.  Hooray!  We're getting there--one big step closer today!

We had a great Halloween this year.  Caleb couldn't decide what he wanted to be, and then finally settled on being a doctor.  He's been really into ambulances and emergency vehicles lately.  Hmm...

In keeping with tradition (well, for the 2nd year in a row, anyway), Russ and I also dressed up as part of the theme.  So, Caleb was our doctor, Russ was a patient, and I was a nurse.  I dug out my old nursing dress that I wore at graduation 10 years ago--still fits!!

We went to the Shriner's Halloween party on Friday night: great for food and games and a little haunted walk-through area that was just spooky enough for Caleb without going overboard.  Then, Saturday night, we went trick-or-treating with my sister and my niece, Maesa.  My sister lives in a small town nearby our city, in one of the newly developed areas of town.  Believe me when I say that it was the place for trick-or-treating.  I have never had so many kids come to our house for Halloween as what went on in this neighborhood.  We showed up and there was candy on hand, then my mom and I made a run to the store for 4 more bags, and then we finally had to shut the door and turn off the light because we ran out of everything.  I guess I know where we are going next year!

Tomorrow is Russ' birthday.  He has mentioned that he pretty much just wants news of Asher as a gift--and I can't give it to him.  Without going into a long and confusing explanation of the situation, we sent our papers to China in August and are currently waiting to hear back (our LOA for those reading this who are familiar with it all).  It is taking longer this time than it did with Caleb, and lately we have been hearing rumors that it is going long for many families--for various reasons out of our control.  I'm having a bit harder time of it this time around.  I think with Caleb, I had never been a parent before, so I worried a little, but I just didn't know much of anything anyway.  Now that I am a parent, I'm aware of all these things that could happen.  H1N1, lead poisoning, bad weather, earthquakes, and any number of things.  Call me crazy, I know it will be fine.  But for anyone out there who prays.....we could use some right now.  Thanks!

Octoberfest

Despite our early snow for the season, followed by way too much rain, we otherwise have been having a beautiful fall season.  This is absolutely my favorite time of year.  It's why we got married in October and why we went to Banff in Canada for our honeymoon instead of Jamaica (Ok, so Russ had a lot of say in those things, too).

Last night, we went to my parents to celebrate my sister's birthday.  The theme was Octoberfest.  Our family Irish Stew consists of Russ' Irish background, Caleb and Asher's Chinese background, then me, who is German-and-a-couple-other-things background.  So, last night we celebrated a birthday with bratwurst, German potato salad, spaetzle, and sauerkraut.  Yum! I guess when it comes down to it, my family really is just a bunch of foodies. My sister is a fabulous cook, and she and my mom prepared much of the food. 

 

I wish I could take credit for this apple dessert.

 Russ and I had brewed some homemade beer for the occasion.

  

Caleb has been working very hard on his speech at school, and we are definitely seeing progress.  We have made a book at home of pictures of things he likes so he can practice the words.  Then, when we work on a new word, we add the picture to the book.  This week, we added pictures of 'waffles' and 'water', since we have been practicing saying W's.  It's slowly coming along, almost like learning to say every word as if it is brand new.  Many of the pictures we started with were of family.  For a long time, Caleb has talked mostly with vowels, so we have needed to work on the consonants.  For instance, my brother Matt would be called "aa", and my neice Maesa was referred to as "ay-ah".  My family is one of those whose names all start with the same letter: M.  So, we have had great practice with our M's.  Anyway, my birthday sister's name is Martha, but for years, we have called her by her nickname, Marf (don't even ask how this started, I have no idea).  Caleb would always call her "ar".  Since practicing his letters, though, the other day we were looking at pictures and he was sounding something out:  Mmm-aarr-fff.  Marf!  We were so happy to hear a full and complete word, very clearly.  So now, it's Marf-this and Marf-that all day, since he loves to say the name.  And, I'm pretty sure he loves her quite a bit, too. 

It's officially been fall for only about 18 days and it's supposed to snow here tomorrow. So much for that lovely autumn weather, I guess. I've been trying to do some of these seasonal things but apparently we are running out of time. Even the stores have almost moved beyond Halloween to Christmas. I just can't keep up. But I really do love this time of year. Caleb and I made caramel apples yesterday and we're getting ready for Halloween costumes. He has told us that he wants to be a puppy this year, but I don't know if that is a definite thing. Being 3 years old means that you change your mind every 5 minutes (or less) so we'll actually commit to something for a costume in a couple more weeks.

I received a couple of emails from people who had information for me about the Shantou orphanage where Asher is currently living. I guess the group Love Without Boundaries has done a lot of work there, as well as other orphanages in China. They have a nutrition program that our son is most likely a part of, and I'm told that we could maybe get some pictures of him, but not until after we have adopted him. Still, it would be nice to have pictures of this time when we are not able to see him.

Today is also Russ' and my 5th wedding anniversary. Wow, that has gone fast. I was thinking that 5 years ago today I was up very early and running errands before getting ready. I remember thinking that it was so weird that it was my wedding day--a day that I had pictured and dreamed of since I was a little girl, and I wanted it to be very special. I thought about all of this as I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning, seeing toys strewn all over the floor, dishes in the sink, and my reading material was an ad for a sale at Ace Hardware. Hmm. Things really do change in 5 years. Of course, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I managed to dig up this picture that my sister sent me, a photo taken in our little dressing area of the church on our wedding day. I was waiting around in my huge, fluffy dress for the big moment when I was going to see my Groom:

That's a keeper, isn't it?

Tonight, Caleb is staying at Grandma's and Russ and I are going out to celebrate our years that we have built together. Here's to many more!

Birthday Wishes

Our little boy in China, Asher, turns one today. I've been a little sad about this for the past week. I remember celebrating Caleb Wu's first birthday and we felt so excited. But today, it's different. Our papers have been sitting in China for over a month and we still have a long way to go. I hope that someone gave him a hug today.
We chose the name "Asher" because part of his Chinese name, Ji, means happy. When we found out that we were getting another little boy, I was beyond happy. I love boys. They make up the majority of my family, between my husband, son, and dog. I'm the only female around here. But it's kind of nice. I get to be the yin for everyone else's yang. I get to have my own stuff that I don't have to share with anyone else.
So, we were extremely happy to find out that we would have another boy in our family. We wanted to use a name that meant "happy" or "blessed" and that is the meaning of Asher. His middle name is Shan (pronounced "Shawn"), based on the city of his birth, Shantou, in Guangdong province. For anyone who remembers when Caleb was still just "Wu", he was so named by the Chinese because the hometown of his birth was Wuwei City. So, we decided to keep the Wu part, to remember.
So, Asher Shan, happy birthday.
I wish that you will have happiness today. I wish that you will be growing and healthy and strong. I wish that you will be safe and content. I wish that you will slowly be turning into the little guy who will be prepared to join our family. And, these aren't just my wishes, they are my prayers.
We'll see you soon.

Happy Birthday!

Three years ago today, a woman in China was headed off to work in the morning.  She took the road that leads up to the back of the orphanage where she worked.  There along the road, placed so he would be seen, was a small Bundle of Joy who was 1 day old.  He was wrapped in a red cotton jacket and swaddled in a quilt.  The woman picked him up and took him with her to her job at the orphanage, where she knew he would be well cared for.

The woman's name is Zhao Shu Ping, and the little package she found was our little Caleb at one day old, waiting there to be found.

Caleb turned three yesterday.  He is currently playing with a new toy rescue station that he got as a gift, and he and his dad are putting it together.  He's been going to preschool for the last week and it's been going very well (although just today I learned that he had to sit in the Safe Chair because he was hitting other students....).  I'm still amazed all the time at what a great kid he is.  We couldn't have known what we were in for....yet he is so happy and thriving now.

I'm so thankful for that Hand that stayed with him while he sat there on that road 3 years ago.  A vulnerable newborn that could have been found by anyone, but he went to the right place.  

It may have been his birthday yesterday, but Russ and I are the ones who got the best gift.

We are DTC

There has been an amazing turn of events in the last few days regarding our paperwork.  Let me pose a question here: does anyone believe that acting faithfully toward something ends up producing positive results?  For instance, I was debating my post about our new son, Li.  Specifically, I was wondering whether I should post at all or wait longer, say, closer to the time that our paperwork got to China.  At least I could say that we were that much closer to this little boy.  But, I didn't wait.  Even as I wrote it, our paperwork sat in Washington DC (or so I believed), but I assumed it would move.  I told our news anyway, hoping that said paperwork would be moving soon.  I published the post, went to a birthday party, and didn't think about it for several hours.  At 10pm, I decided to check Fedex (not obsessively at all) to see if it was all still sitting at the Chinese embassy in Washington DC.  Before my eyes....I saw, no it was not! It was being sent back to Oregon where our agency is located.  The next day, Oregon notified us that our paperwork would be on it's way to China on Friday, August 14th.  Yesterday.  We are DTC.

DTC stands for "Dossier to China", the "dossier" being another fancy word for paperwork.  Stuff we have gathered for 6 months.  Stuff that was signed, notarized, copied, certified, authenticated, etc, etc, etc.  Replaceable, yes, but not without another significant amount of work.  Not without making our new son wait even further while we fixed things.  So, thankfully, thankfully, we can say we are DTC!  Now what?  Oh yeah, we continue to wait.  More news will be added when it comes, I guess.

On another note, I found myself in a situation a couple of days ago where I had to stop and consider my own behavior.  I don't mind doing this, except sometimes it makes me feel bad because I realize that I was probably not acting the best.  Anyway, Caleb and I went to the bank to deposit some money and it was a different branch than I had been to before, as we were on the other side of town.  While the woman behind the counter was processing the transaction, she said to me, "do you mind if I ask you something?  Is he yours?"  (Referring to Caleb).  For anyone who has read past posts-- I  have mentioned situations about people putting their feet in their mouths, or maybe just being plain rude about this.  There have been multiple interactions that I have never mentioned at all.  So, politely or not, when someone asks me such a question, it gets my hackles raised.  I can't help it.  So, I answered "uh, yeah," in a semi-snotty/not that friendly of a way.  Already defensive.  And she answered, "oh!  I was just wondering because I have 4 adopted children from Korea!"  And then she proceeded to ask me about our agency, gave me information about a local group specifically for adopted kids and their families, etc, etc, while I halfway hung my head in shame.  The truth is, sometimes, I am simply a big, fat jerk. Sometimes, people just ask because they care or they have something in common.  Sometimes, people are just being NICE.  Quite a concept, I know.  

So, from now on, I'm going to be trying a little harder to give the benefit of the doubt.  Get over my extra sensitivity to a subject that isn't always a big deal.  Remember that many people are very nice.  (But still keep my handy comebacks, just in case).

And, speaking of nice, we are so appreciative of all the kind words and good wishes received from everyone about this process and our boys.  Thank you!  It means a lot to us that so many people care and are there to show their support in this.  And I will be happy to respond in a very positive way back by showing pictures and continuing to write about it all.  All in a very nice way.

 But, of course, you already knew that.

It's A...

At what stage of gestation does a person announce a pregnancy?

I think it varies depending on whose opinion you are seeking. I have known people who have told me they were expecting almost immediately after finding out themselves. Others wait a while before saying anything. I even once worked with someone who hid her pregnancy so well that when she finally told me, she said something like, "by the way, I'm pregnant and my due date is this Sunday."

So, there are all kinds. I'm sure that people tell or do not tell based on their experience and maybe some fears. A new child joining a family must be announced in its own way. I do not share in the pregnancy issue. But, I have wondered when it is "safe" to announce our new child and who they are. When we were matched with Caleb, we basically hung up the phone from talking to our agency, spent a few minutes jumping up and down, and then picked up the phone again and started calling people to tell them about our son (see post from July 27, 2007). We were so ecstatic that we could not wait to start telling people. We finally had a person to tell about! Fast forward eight months to March 11, 2008. The day we actually left for China to get Caleb. The process is so long. Different from a pregnancy at least in the fact that most people can assume it will be about 9 months. Adoption varies. Referral times vary. Travel approval, paperwork, everything can take it's own sweet time regardless of if there is a child waiting on the other side or not. Waiting definitely isn't my strong suit. I really struggled last time because, many times I doubted the process and how long it was all taking. Additionally, it was difficult to also have to defend that same process for those who didn't understand and wanted to complain about it. But I can't overlook those who celebrated with us in our wait and helped us along every step of the way.

So, here it is. I face the same struggle. I have good news. I am announcing it today, but I still don't know how long it will be until we see China again. Our paperwork is still in Washington DC, for Pete's sake. But, we have news all the same that I'm ready to announce and face the wait again.

It's a boy!

We've been matched with a little boy who is waiting for us in China as we speak! His Chinese name is Li Ji De and he is almost 11 months old. He has a cleft lip and palate that have been repaired. We had told our agency that we would interested in adopting another child with the same condition as Caleb, since we have the experience already. We had also said we would be open to either a boy or a girl, and this is our boy! He is currently living in an orphanage in Shantou City in Guangdong, China. We are so excited to meet him and ready for him to join our family!

Meet Caleb's little brother...

6 months (March 2009)

9 months (June 2009)

I'm coming to the USA !

Ok, so I haven't been the greatest at keeping up with this blog lately.  And I won't make excuses for being so busy because I know that everyone has that same excuse.  That being said, I am finally trying to update and post a few things about what's been happening around here this summer.

Caleb has 2 more weeks at his current daycare before being home for a couple weeks with Mom, before starting preschool at the end of August.  He will be going half days to preschool, allowing me to sleep after coming home from work in the morning.  At least, that's our theory.  We'll see how it all goes.  I'm sad to see him leave his current daycare, in some ways, because our provider, Tina, has been absolutely wonderful.  For the past year, he has gone to her house on many days and happily played with the other kids who attend.  He has learned so many social skills, language, numbers, letters, and songs, among many other things.  And during our first year as brand new parents to our "instant toddler" family, Tina has given us a lot of help along the way with stuff that we simply just haven't known how to do.  So, we're thankful for her help this past year.

Now, being the seasoned parents that we are (that's a joke, folks), we are moving on and our little guy is growing. Soon to be a big brother, and he's excited about it so far.  We'll see what really happens when the new baby actually appears.  I think Caleb is more excited about flying in an airplane at this point--more than having a new baby in the house.  Every time we see a plane, he gets very excited and says, "mine!", as in, "that's going to be me up there someday!"  

A couple of weeks ago, we attended a picnic that was hosted by our agency, Holt International.  It was a great time to meet some other adoptive parents in our area and it was for anyone in any stage of adoption: just starting out all the way to families who had adult children that had been adopted through Holt.  We saw our social worker again and a local Korean church cooked all the food as a Korean BBQ.  We really enjoyed ourselves and continue to be excited for our future plans for China.

On a final note, the other thing that has been keeping me busy this summer has been cakes.  What I once started out doing as a teenager in a local bakery turned to decorating that I did for several years before quitting to become a nurse.  Recently, I have been doing a few more cakes again on the side for weddings and birthdays, and it's been a lot of fun.  So, I have decided to start doing this more often and get a small business going.  Check out my new blog MegBakesCakes for some pictures and updates.

That's all for now!  I hoping to post again soon when I actually have news about some movement of paperwork in the general direction of China.  Could it be?  It's currently stuck in Washington DC, but we'll keep praying.

I see the first official day of summer coming quickly and the hot weather is now here as well. It's supposed to be 92 today. Yuck. Time to settle in for some air conditioning.
Since life is in fast forward these days, I can see how almost a month can go by without having time to post anything. There's been a lot to do. We've had family visiting, a wedding, barbeques, graduations, and birthday parties. At least, that's been our weekend activities when I haven't been working, and some of it when I have been, too.
We have decided that our Caleb Wu is going to be starting preschool this fall. The main reason is that he will receive a lot more speech therapy than he is getting now. We took him to Boystown for another follow up appointment--we usually go about every 6 months--and they checked his hearing and we talked with the pediatrician there and the speech therapist. Both were a little concerned about his lack of language. Obviously, being 2-3 years old, he's not going to be a linguist right now. I've had many people say things to try and explain it away, trying to be nice, and say things like, "he's probably still speaking Chinese!" Ok, no. Actually, Caleb has been in the US almost as long as he lived in China. And, he was never babbling "in Chinese" at all. I know that he heard a different language for the first 18 months, but he completely understands English. He just can't say the words. I thought it was maybe related to the cleft, but the craniofacial team didn't seem to think so. Without a lot of extensive testing, it's hard to diagnose exactly what is going on. So, we'll just bump up the speech therapy for a while and go from there.
The process for Baby 2 is coming along also. A month ago, we mailed our immigration paperwork, and two weeks later received a letter confirming that it had been received. The letter basically said something like: thanks for applying, your application has been received. It hasn't been approved and it hasn't been denied. We're just telling you that we got it (so, I'm paraphrasing a little here). Please wait some more and, if we do approve it, we'll let you know when you can go to be fingerprinted. The next day, we received another letter from immigration: your application has been accepted. That's quite a turn around! Our fingerprint appointment at the Department of Homeland Security is a week from today.
Someone recently complained to me that "they make it so difficult for anyone to adopt! Why do you have to do all that stuff again!?" I find myself having to defend the process. We get fingerprinted again in case we decided to commit a felony since the last time we did it. We know we haven't, but the US government does not. Also, I know the whole thing sounds drawn out and frustrating, but obviously, it's worth it. We get to see this smiling face daily:

So, I will keep defending the process, although I wish I didn't have to. And we'll keep going, because it's not too bad, and some day it will be done.
Finally, my niece, Maesa turns 4 today. We went to my sister's new house last night for her birthday party. They had a great turnout and my other sister made all the very tasty food. I got to make her cake and I had fun putting it together:

Maesa was very excited and, since it wasn't her birthday yet, still telling people she was 3. ("I'm not 4 until tomorrow!") I will reminisce here for a minute and say that I remember very well the night she was born. My sister was in labor at our hospital and she had a small complication that required a NICU nurse to be present at the delivery. I was still working on the transport team then, and, it was my sister, so I went to stand by at the delivery. It seemed that there were a thousand staff people in the room, between the doctor, labor nurses, nursery nurses, and NICU nurses. A little overkill in my opinion. But she was great, and a cutie from the first moment:



And still a cutie today. Happy Birthday kiddo!