A Walk in The Park

The last two mornings, Allissa, Jade, and I, went for an early morning walk in the park. The West Lake Park is beautiful and filled with beautiful people. Every morning there are hundreds of people out doing Tai Chi and dancing. We seem to draw a crowd of curious people when we are out. The Chinese ladies are very interested in us with Jade, and the American culture. They say we have very big hearts and that she is a lucky baby.You can see in the photos the crowd that we attract. It was an awesome experience speaking with these ladies.They were simply precious. There would always be one English speaking lady that would translate the questions for the rest of the ladies. We are the only Americans here in Fuzhou. Our guide teases us and says we are like "pandas in the zoo", for every one to look at. Its an interesting experience being the minority.

We're doing good.

Hello, I'm sorry it took so long to post photos. I'm sure everyone back in our hometown is very unhappy with me. But it has just been a whirlwind of activity, and this time zone change really wore us out. Jade is doing pretty good with adjusting. She has meltdowns, but only when she's really tired. She's full of spirit, and loves to laugh and tease us. Even though we have a communication gap with language, she's doing a really good job of communicating to us by pointing and showing us want she wants. She's a very bright little girl and quick to pick up on things. She's really trying hard to mimic us. She's pretty much potty trained, but I have been keeping a diaper on her because of all the touring we're doing. She just went down for a nap, so...(I cant believe I'm saying this), but I'm stuck in the room!! Everyone else is at the pool. It's been a long time since I have been "stuck in a room" so to speak. LOL It's kinda of weird. Another adjustment we'll have to make. LOL We have been touring and having breakfast and lunch with Sheri and her family (another Heritage Adoption Family that I have been corresponding with since last December via email) since we have arrived in Fuzhou. We have really been enjoying their company! It is so nice to share this experience with them. And it has really worked out well for our teenagers to have someone else to socialize with! The kids are enjoying each others company as well. I think I mentioned this already, but our guide Katherine is awesome and Fuzhou is a very friendly and beautiful place. It is extremely HOT and HUMID. Today we went to the Panda Zoo and a formal Tea ceremony. Tomorrow we visit the orphanage and donate the suitcase full of clothing, slippers, crayons, markers, stickers, suckers, ect. that we purchased for the orphanage children. Nancy

Gotcha Day

August 17th we received our daughter! She is more than words can describe. She is bright, beautiful and full of spirit. Not to mention she is quite the character.

Moments Thought

We are less than 1 hour away from receiving our daughter! Emotions are high and many. This is one of those moments in life that take your breath away!

Embrace Change: Temperatures will rise and fall. Winds will shift. Leaves will drop and buds will form. And with every transition new beginnings will be revealed.

Excellence: Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.

We're in China

Hello, Just a quick post to let everyone at home know that we arrived safely. Five airports, 7500 miles, and 2 and a half days later. We are in Fuzhou, our little girls home town. Our heads are spinning. Lack of sleep and more emotions then we ever thought possible at one time! We are checked into a very nice hotel. West Lake. The weather is unbelievably hot and humid. We also were told, we are receiving our little girl tomorrow on Sunday instead of Monday! O.K. We're off to see China. I'll post again later! Zaijian! (goodbye)

Jade's Bribe Bag

We're making progress in packing. This is no easy task! I thought I would post a picture of Jade's backpack. This will be for her on "Gotcha Day" to help her ease into her new family. A sort of temporary deterrent!

We have our Itinerary!

Crunch time is here! Pressure is on! We received our itinerary for China and it is 3 pages long, so I will be condensing this version. But here it is:
Aug. 14th : Nonstop flights Chicago to Shanghai. Catch another flight to Fuzhou.
Aug. 16th : Shopping in nearby market and visit Drum Hill.
Aug. 17th : Visit Lakeside Park
Aug. 18th : Receive our daughter!! Also known as "Gotcha Day" in the Adoption world.
Aug. 19th : Paperwork.
Aug. 20th : Visit Panda World. After all, who doesn't relate Pandas with China?
Aug. 21st : Visit the orphanage and see Jades finding spot.
Aug. 22nd : Paperwork. Depart for Guangzhou by plane.
Aug. 23rd : Jade's medical exam, paperwork, visit Pearl Market, Pearl River Night Cruise
Aug. 24th : Visit Six Banyan Temple and Chen Clay Temple.
Aug. 25th : Visa appointment. (CA)with the US Embassy
Aug. 26th : Oath taking
Aug. 27th : Depart Guangzhou for Guilin by plane.
Aug. 28th : Boat cruise on the Li River, tour Yangshuo West Street in Yangshou.
Aug. 29th : Sightsee Longsheng Terrace (tiered rice paddy fields), Zhuang Minority Village
Aug. 30th : Tour Reed Flute Cave. Depart for Shanghai by plane.
Aug. 31st : Depart for the U.S.A.
Well that's it in a nutshell! We get overwhelmed by just looking at our itinerary! Wait till we actually live it! What a trip! So if you don't hear from us on a regular basis, you'll know why! My next post will be from China with our daughter! Please pray for us all to have safe travels on our journey of a life time. Thank you.

CA Confirmed

O.K. So I didn't post right away. But now all of a sudden, it seems like crunch time! How is it we go from whining because its taking so long with all the time in the world, to no time to spare and feeling LOTS of PRESSURE? Anyways, we received our CA (consulates appointment) on Thursday July 31st. This is the last step in the paperwork process (on U.S. soil that is) for being able to travel and receive our daughter. We will have lots more paperwork to fill out in China,(looking forward to that... not). It's hard for us to believe we're at this point after almost 2 years of anticipation! Our CA is for August 25th @ 9:00AM! At that point Jade Ariel Yu, will receive her visa to enter the U.S. as an American Citizen and more importantly, our daughter!

Travel Approval is Here!

Well, this is the moment we have been waiting for, the arrival of our TA (travel approval)!!! It gives us permission to travel to China and pick up our daughter! We have one more important step though, that we are waiting on, and that is our CA. (consulates appointment at the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China) This appointment should only take a few days to receive. Technically we are supposed to wait to make flight arrangements till we have CA, but.... I just couldn't do it! With the Olympics being the same time as our travel, all the nonstop flights are booking quickly. Sooo...we have tickets!!! I'll post again when we receive CA!

Fuzhou Fujian China

This is where our little girl was born.
We will be staying in Fuzhou for about 8
days, then we will be going to Guangzhou
to apply for the US Visa. This is where
the US Embassy is located. Once the adoption
process is complete, we will be touring on to
Guilin, Guangxi to see the beautiful Liang River.
This journey is anticipated to be surreal!

Waiting Isn't Easy

And we all deal with it our own way! I think Allissa is getting impatient while waiting for Jade! Poor Snowflake!

Waiting Isn't Easy

But I have plenty to keep me busy!
I love working in the gardens.

My 5 German Shepherds. Here's Cloe, Joe Cool,
Romeo, Merecedes, and Detour. Won't Jade have fun with these
big guys! Romeo weighs in at 130lbs.

Update on Jade July 7 2008

July 7th was a good day. Not only did we receive our LOA, but we also received an update on Jade. Here's a little bit about her!

Height: 31.5 inches
Weight: 26lbs wow My arms are going to get a work out!
Head circumference: 18.1 inches
Chest circumference: 18.2
Foot length: 4.9 inches
Teeth: 6 up 8 bottom

She likes sleeping on her back.
She's been in fostercare since she was 4 months old.
She is fond of listening to childrens music.
She likes to watch Childrens Channels.
She can understand Mandarin and can speak the local dialect, Mama (mother), and Jie (older sister). Which tells me she has a big sister at the fosterhome.
When she is angry, hold her up.
She is afraid of fireworks and thunder.
She is out going and active. (perfect)
Now this is the funny part: She wears diapers at nite, daytime she wears split pants and pees on the ground. (Not here honey!) Diapers will be in order for a while I see!

LOA in Hand

We received a phone call from our Agency on July 3rd letting us know that our LOA
(letter of acceptance) had arrived. We received it by DHL, on July 7th, day 75. But would you believe that they didn't even ring the door bell!! An important document like that and it was left on the door step. Yikes! It's a good thing it hadn't started raining yet! And thank you to my daughter, with "inquiry minds" who wanted to know where it was. But that baby was signed and sent back within hours!! Next stop....TA (travel approval). With that, we have permission from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) to travel to China and bring our daughter home!! We're hoping we get TA by the end of July.

Shortly and Soon

O.K. Any parent that has gone through adoption, knows these two familiar "S" words. And yes, they are used quite frequently in the adoption world when you are waiting for that next important paper step. (Very general words that can mean almost anything.) Words that give you hope. Hope that your going to hear something "soon".
We are on day 67 waiting on that LOA. (letter of acceptance) And we are expecting it "shortly"!!

Our Time Line to Jade

November 14th 2006: Jade is given life by her birthmother somewhere in Fuzhou, Fujian China.

December 1st 2006: Our red thread journey began when our path intermingled with another family who had just recently adopted a little girl from China. I believe they were our messengers from above, letting us know that our little girl was waiting for us.

March 3rd 2007: Went to a Chinese New Year Party for familys with Chinese Children.
Met our Social Worker there and had our first meeting for the homestudy.

April 20th 2007: Sent in our adoption application to agency #1.

May 2007: Started collecting paperwork for our dossier and setting up appointments for physicals, ect.

October 2007: Waiting on our Homestudy and getting anxious to be DTC.(Dossier to China) Reading and researching everything out there on the internet.

November 1st 2007: Saw first draft of the Homestudy.

November 12th 2007: Saw Wang You's referral listed with another agency. We knew she was the one meant for us! Shes ours!! Thank you Heritage! We switch agencys immediately.

January 23rd 2008: Homestudy complete! Finally feel like we're making progress.

January 29th 2008: Sent in the I 600 A (immigration paperwork)

February 26th 2008: Fingerprinted at the USCIS

April 3rd 2008: Received the 171 H in the mail!!

April 10th 2008: DTC!!! (dossier to China)

April 24th 2008: LID!! (log in date)

June 22nd 2008: Here we are on day 60 waiting for our LOA. (letter of acceptance)
Yes, waiting some more and not so patiently!!

Here is the journey of a little girl who has stolen our hearts.

Where it all began. Many years ago when I was a child of 12 years, I witnessed many Vietnamese orphans land in the USA, "Operation Baby Lift", during the Vietnam War looking for homes. I begged my mother to go and give a child a home and family. (I also wanted a little sister very badly, being the youngest of six), but my mother and father were all ready done creating their family. But my heart went out to these children who needed a family. AS the years past, I married and had 3 beautiful biological children. Our life was full and complete, or so we thought. Then one day, God planted that seed back into my heart about adoption. I came across a couple who had recently adopted from China, and wow, let me tell you, I just knew it was right. I started discussing it with my husband and doing research. After many months of research, we just knew our daughter was in China waiting for us. We both could feel it so strongly, as this was something we had talked about on and off through out the years. And now, the journey begins....