a busy last week of Freedom!

Well, I took the winter off to be ready to travel at any time, so when should we be traveling but during the busiest time of the garden center year. We should be leaving on the 9th and returning on the 24th or 25th of May. Supposedly our Travel Approvals are in the mail from Beijing to St Louis as I type. As soon as the travel co-ordinator receives them, she'll call for our consulate appointments and that will determine when exactly we travel. Tentatively it's set up as follows...
VERY TENTATIVE TRAVEL DATES:
Thurs, May 10th, Leave the US
Fri, May 11th: Arrive in Beijing
Sat, May 12th: Sightseeing in BJ (TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City, & the Great Wall (Juyongguan); Lunch is included.; & CHI Orientation
Sun, May 13th: Fly to your child’s Province (if you want to skip BJ, arrive in your child’s province this afternoon)
Mon – Fri, May 14th – May 18th: Receive your child and go through adoption processes
Sat, May 19th: Fly to Guangzhou
Sun, May 20th: Free day
Mon, May 21st: Medical exam
Tues, May 22nd: ACS appointment first choice (second choice: May 23rd, third choice: May 21st or May 24th)
May 23rd: Go to ACS to take oath and get visa late in the afternoon (around 6:00pm),
Departure to US in evening after 8:00pm OR next morning, May 24th (depending on date of the ACS appt)

We should get Acer the week of the 14th. If we actually get him on the 14th, it might still be the 13th at home, which means we MAY have him on Mother's day (or not, but at least it'll be that week)

Also this week, my best friend Jeni and her 5 year old daughter flew in from NM, always good to see her. I've been blessed to have a friend like her. Whenever we get together, it's like we were never apart.

We also, after an extremely long time, have finished the parquet floor in the dining room. It's a lovely pattern designed by my best friend's husband, dark outer border, light inner border, checkerboard in the center. We use this room as our main socializing room and the floor has been under construction for literally years. We've tried various things and thought of different ways to make the floor happen and now it finally has - Yeah Us! Thank you Brandon, Alex, Will and Beq for your assistance with the gluing and laying of the floor.

We also had a great dinner out with 2 couples from our Chinese Lang & Culture class from last summer. Good food & conversation, much laughter.

I went to Beq's house on Thursday to help her, in our standard housework exchange, her Mom Martha was also there and Martha and I harassed Beq unmercifully while we worked on our projects. I don't think she'll get the two of us together again anytime soon!

SIL Kerry, Nephew Oliver and Niece Lulu visited Friday and had a great time playing with the dogs. We wandered to different stores locally and the three of them rode the double decker carousel at the local mall.

Today's my first day back at work. I'll arrive at 11 and start my first seminar at 11:30. Jumping right into spring with a vengenance!
Heather

More Pictures coming soon

The Ass't director of Acer's orphanage sent us new pictures of him today. Too cute! Bill will be adding them to the picture slide show later today, be sure to check back tonight to see the little guy in action.
Good news, he appears NOT to be wearing a diaper. This was expected as they potty train very early, but confirmation was welcome.
Heather

Oh Yes, there's still more paperwork!

Just when we thought we were done with paperwork.....
Travel Paperwork!
We just received our latest and biggest batch from Children's Hope yet. This includes the pins to wear so we can be identified and three seperate packets of other stuff and explicit directions to dot this i and cross this t.
Guess I know what my project for the week is.

Long awaited step in the right direction

I will admit, I did some retail therapy, especially back in Jan. when the winter sales were on. Well, I kept the receipts, and kept all the tags on, just in case. I didn't want to jinx us, I figured if I took the tags off too early, we would be turned down. so today I took the tags off, sorted stuff, chose 6 outfits to take with us and put them all in the wash. Then I'll pack up 3 in each piece of luggage, and have one minor step down for our trip in May. Yes, I do anticipate more clothing from our toddler showers, but I want to take items I chose myself when we go over. He can wear the other clothing when we get back, plenty of time for that. I'll also be packing Acer's monkey backpack of toys and blanket. Maybe tomorrow I'll pack a bag of toiletries for us. If I just pack a little each week, it will slow the process down enough that it will take us until May. I'm really looking forward to having a child in my care on Mother's day this year!
H

Toddler Registry

Here's a listing of various things we'd like for Acer. We have registered at Babies R Us/Toys R Us but some are from Ikea and they don't have a registry so I thought I'd create my own. We also have a list of stuff you could find anywhere. If you buy something, please add a comment to the bottom to say what you've purchased, that way we might avoid duplicates and I promise not to look! Also, as we won't know the amount of vision he'll have nor exactly what size he is, gift cards to Ikea, Toys/Babies R Us, Kohls, and Target are always welcome.
In general we're REALLY trying to avoid all the commercial TV & movie based items like Thomas and Dora. We like animals, Fantasy (dragons etc) and space themes. We prefer good old fashioned make your brain work toys, wood is good, compared to toys that don't encourage imagination. In clothing, I know that most little boys clothing is far more subdued than girls' but we're trying for bright colors in the same themes as his toys. We're guestimating that He'll be in size 2T when we get him, but 3T and 4T clothing would definitely be safe.

Ergo carrier and waist extender strap info at http://www.ergobabycarriers.com color cranberry w/cranberry lining

Ikea Ideas
Minnen (several types of Minnen, we like the Drake/dragon ones)
Drake Soft toy, Bard Quilt cover & sham, drake quitcover & pillow case, drake wallpockets, drake bedspread/blanket.
Bygga construction set
Klappa Apa soft toy sey of 2
Barnslig Apa soft toy
Lillado train series, anything
PS Lomsk swivel chair
Vimsig Hanging Decoration
Noje Corner Wallbasket
Mula toy series, any
Lekplats playmat
Blimp Pendant Lamp

From Target, Fisher Price Stacking cups/balls

General Toy Ideas
Below is a list of parent recommendations for toys for Visually Impaired children.
Toys R Us also has a differently abled toys catalog availble on line
BALLS
Balls on spindles
Physioballs (or any large balls)
Gertie Balls (soft and easy for little hands to grasp)
Sit on bouncing balls with handles

BLOCKS and PUZZLES
Stacking toys
Nesting toys
Peg boards
Magnetic blocks
Bristle blocks
Mega Blocks
Wooden Braille blocks
Shape toys in graduated sizes that fit into a base
Wooden puzzles with knobs
Lauri puzzles
Duplo Blocks
Waffle Blocks
Velcro Blocks
Large cardboard blocks

DOLLS and KITCHEN TOYS
Lauri Lacing Bears
My Buddy doll (good for practicing zipping, buttoning, etc.)
Play Sink and dishes
Play oven and skillet by Fisher-Price
Little people and school house by Fisher-Price
Velcro fruits and vegetables with plastic or wooden knife

MUSICAL and TALKING TOYS
Music and story tapes
Floor Piano (a soft mat with "keys" you step on)
Talking toys
Golden Sound Story Books
Musical instruments
Plastic music boxes with easy to turn knobs
Tomy and Shelcore action, noise, and music toys
Sparkling Symphony Gym
Sight, Sound, and Touch Bugs by Fisher-Price (they sing and wiggle)
1-2-3 Sing-Along Puppy

MISCELLANEOUS TOYS
Play Doh Fun Factory (also use with cookie cutters, small rolling pin, plastic knife)
Scented markers
The Wonderhorse Spring Action Riding Horse
Sit and Spin by Today's Kids
Garage by Fisher-Price
Riding toys
Happy Vehicles
Magnetic fridge letters with braille

More news from a great day

I didn't post this yesterday because I thought it deserved its own post. We've been preparing for a totally blind Acer after the people who've met him have referred to him simply as blind. The medical reports indicated that his vision would be somewhat correctable with super thick lenses, but we were preparing for the worst. A lady whose husband was picking up their daughter from Acer's orphanage had him ask about Acer for us. I had no idea she was doing this until she emailed me the following report yesterday.

They said he is a delightful child. Very very smart and a
pleasure. They didn't comment too much on the extent of his vision
impairement, but did say that he has made great progress. He is
very aware of the placement of things, and is very able to discern
when things are on the table, people come into a room, etc. They
also described him as playful and active. Not completely verbal
yet - conversational, but has a good command of what language he has
already acquired. They said he is a very happy child.

He has more vision than I'd hoped, I'm overjoyed. I was over the moon yesterday already, this sent me off to Saturn I think.

Finally we can post pictures!

We weren't supposed to post pictures until we'd gotten approved, but now we have so here they are.
The five Pictures of the very young Acer are from June of 2005, then there's the young Acer with His foster Mother from July of '05. There are 3 pictures of Acer from April '06, 2 pictures from June '06 and one picture from October '06.
He's 50th percentile height on the Chinese growth charts and 90% weight, as of last June. We're hoping for an update before we go over to be able to have clothing that fits him.
Now we can start the serious preparations, I haven't really done much because I didn't want to jinx us.
Heather
Okay, it seems that despite my best efforts, I can't post pictures, I'll have to wait until Bill gets home :(

SCL Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case Heather forgets to call/email/IM/post to anyone, I just wanted to let anyone reading this know that we got our Last Letter(Seeking Confirmation Letter) today. This makes it official! We have been approved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would like to thank anyone and everyone that has been listening, reading and asking "Any news?" Because now, THERE IS!!!!!!!!

Joyful news for 2 wonderful families

This has been about as good an adoption news week as we can get without actually getting good news ourselves. Our friends Mark & Kristen, whom we met last summer in Chinese language & culture class got their referral for Kiera, and Jo has received her Travel Approval For Hannah! Hurrah to both couples on their upcoming journeys.
As there is a 2 week block, April 14-30th, when we wouldn't be able to get hotel rooms in Gaungzhou because of a trade fair, I'm now sure we're going to be traveling in May, the height of the busy season for Garden Center business. Work'll just love that.

Still waiting

I'm not sure how others cope with waiting for the "last" piece of mail. We are waiting on a letter now for the last couple of months, and with absolutely NO responses, NO anything, it is starting to get maddening.

Almost every day I get the question "Any news on the baby?" and I have to tell them "No, less than nothing." This is getting frustrating!

Well, I know, short rant, but I haven't posted much at all.

B

Practice and the joys of sharing.

What a busy couple weeks we've had. Okay, maybe not that busy, but as I seem to be sharing the family cold/sinus infection crud, it seems much busier because I'm so much more wiped out. I seem to catch whatever the children in the family get, so I'm actually looking forward to Acer's being exposed to these things so that I'm exposed to these things in small doses instead of sudden sledgehammer doses.
Poor Bill, I've been boiling him at night because the higher temperatures keep my coughing down. Normally our heat stays about 60 degrees at night, but with the crud, I've had to keep it about 70 to stop the hacking. I'm not sure which is worse for him, not sleeping well because I'm not sleeping well or not sleeping well becuase he's being baked; then there are the times I can't catch my breath & whack him one with a flailing arm! Thankfully this should be over soon and we can go back to sleeping in our lovely cooler temperatures.
I volunteered to babysit our youngest nephew Crash (or CJ). Crash is the baby my brother was babysitting the night before I had to take him to the hospital. So he did in one Tomlinson, then I babysat 2 Saturdays ago. I haven't changed a boy diaper since I was 12, watching a 2 year old at a camp in the UP. This little 4 month old would be good practice for Acer, we wouldn't be able to communicate and I'd have to change diapers. I'm usually pretty good at discerning diaper change cry vs hungry vs tired cry, but not with Crash. He cried, arching back, red face, the whole deal for almost 3 hours straight. Thank heavens for the baby in the mirror, for brief respites from the chaos. I wasn't really trying to torture the poor little guy, it just turned out that way. So he did in two Tomlinsons.
Last Saturday I went back for round 2, armed with new information like - his bottles should be HOT (body temperature) because his mom breastfeeds he's used to warmer stuff, not just above room temp. and that he likes to stand & jump and other little things like that. He was also awake and in my arms when Mom left so there was no sudden who the heck are you shock. We had had a much better time, older brother Logan (5) was there also but I managed to not only feed him and change him twice, but also to get him down for a nap long enough to do the dishes and feed Logan.
I tried to fold laundry but was defeated in the sock matching because Joe has too many almost the same socks. Crash was back awake by this time and he didn't think I should be looking that intently at anything but him.
One funny thing was, when I changed him into a new non drool soaked outfit, I chose one, carefuuly looked it over & then just as carefully put it on him backwards ! Oh well. At least Acer will be in mini adult clothing so that I shouldn't run into these problems theoretically.
I was also able to get a load of stuff to a very nice lady who is going over to pick up her daughter on the 23rd. Because she's flying on an adoption ticket, she has an extra luggage allowance (I HAVE to look into this!) so I packed up donations to the CHI rehab center and took her a full suitcase. Through a connection at Bill's work, this cause has been taken up by a group of Red Hat ladies so we had a variety of donations. Some we just won't be able to get over to China because of size issues, but we'll donate them to an at risk pregnancy center locally.
If you have new or like new baby items you'd like to donate to either cause, just let me know & I'll get them where they're needed.
One thing we really need prayers on is finances. We've taken a couple unexpected hits lately and need to be able to get back on track quickly.

Glass

I love glass, it has always been my favorite art material. I love the way it feels, looks, everything about it. So when I decided to finally take those glass blowing lessons I'd always wanted, I was overjoyed to find out it was an art form I could actually do. The Good Lord blessed me with many abilities, few of them artistic. Okay, actually aside from singing and writing bad funny songs he hasn't blessed me with much out of the fine arts world. Then I discovered glassblowing, the dangerous, pigsweat hot, exhausting art of glass blowing. I love it. Few pieces I make actually turn out exactly the way I expect, and the few 'twin' pieces that my friend Leigh and I have tried to make alike definitely don't turn out anything alike. But I love it. So I'm putting my website up for other people to enjoy them too.
http://homepage.mac.com/heatherbt/PhotoAlbum14.html
And, Yes, I do know what a few of the pieces look like, they weren't supposed to look like that, but they do.
Heather

Multiple subjects

Well, our (hopefully) next to the last last piece of paperwork left on its way to St. Louis yesterday. As expected, I have neither HIV or Hep issues, which obviously is good. The last piece of paperwork should be our SCL, and then we just wait for our TA.

My good friend Jo, who is adopting Hannah out of Acer's group of waiting children, got her seeking confirmation letter from the CCAA yesterday. This will be sent right back to Beijing and then the CCAA will issue a travel approval. We were hoping to travel together because many of our paperwork dates are the same, but the three requests for more information of one sort or another, including this last one, have slowed us down. So now our only hope to travel together is there to be a Chinese New Year slow down, but that would delay her and I don't wish that for her.

I spent most of the day Sunday and half the day Monday at the hospital with my brother James. They still aren't sure what happened, but as he was feeling better they sent him home with a 'follow up with your Dr.' We figure it was a combo of his hurt back, that section of back having the nerves that go to the stomach, having a high blood pressure migraine and then it went from there. The great news is, he didn't have a heart attack and I didn't lose one of my favorite people in the whole world.

My brother and I have (I think) a very unique relationship. We're ALOT alike, our likes & dislikes (but not food ones) our senses of humor, thought processes, and looks. Despite the fact that he's 3 years older, we're often mistaken for twins (why he had to get the tall skinny genes and I the teddy bear genes I just don't know). He's one of my best friends and I was really really scared I would lose him. It really makes me glad that we have the habit of saying I love you. I wouldn't have wanted him dying without knowing that he's my brother and a huge part of my life and I love him for it.

1 set of paperwork on the way

Our ammended dossier items are on their way to Beijing today - Yeah! They've been MIA for a couple days as I forgot to put an Attention: on the 3x5 card I wrote the address on & gave to Bill. Thankfully, I remembered I'd forgotten and alerted our caseworker and she went on a hunt for them.
One of my best email adoption friends whose daughter is from the same batch of waiting children and whose LOI & LID dates about about the same as ours, got her seeking confirmastion letter this week. While I'm sad it doesn't look like we'll be traveling together, I'm happy for them and hopeful for us. It means that (probably) as soon as we get our latest info (my new HIV & HEP tests) back to Beijing, we should get our SCL in that very next batch.
BIG PRAYER NEED - that we would be able to travel & be back by 4/1 before I have to go back to work.

More Paperwork!

Yes, yes indeed, I did just get off the phone with an agency rep. who said that because my HIV and Hep tests were not completed on the day the Dr signed the rest of the paperwork, they had expired and I have to get new ones. I can't get in to see the Dr until next Tuesday. Then it will take time for the results to get back & then time to get over to Beijing. ARRRGGH!!!!!
For anybody who ever doubts, adoption is not getting a child the easy way. There is far more work, and much less pleasant work involved in adopting than natural child production.
Hold on Acer, We're coming for you - really.

Things I've learned this week

Well, nothing too exciting on the adoption front this week, So I thought I'd recap some things that I've learned. I shall pass on my hard won wisdom so that you too may learn Grasshopper.
1) Diet Mountain Dew and keyboards are not compatible. As this was my second experiment along these lines, once on a PC and once on a Mac, I'd say that this incompatability goes across standard technological boundaries.
2) Cleaning keyboards with q-tips and safe cleaning agents doesn't necessarily mean that the keyboard will work once it's clean.
3) If you are trying to teach a small child not to grab things away from others, grabbing things away from her is counter-productive.
4) If it takes 2 people to work a restaurant soda machine, there's probably something wrong with you, not the machine.
5) A sense of humor is the best tool for keeping a friendship alive. Thank you Vicki, friend of 37 years.
6) Keys on your new keyboard are never spaced exactly the same way keys on your old keyboard were.
7) It is extremely good to have a husband with a great sense of humor, when something strikes you ROFL at midnight when you're both already in bed trying to sleep.

To all my fellow waiting parents

Howdy,
Most of you know about the Paula Zahn programs and issues the adoptive community hand with them. Part of the problem with the program was the research used to back up various people's points. We can only blame ourselves if the research out there doesn't express our lives and feelings, because we don't participate in the research. The following is a blatent plug for a research project that Bill & I participated in, and will answer questions again after we bring Acer home and after he's been home for a little while. This took 45 minutes on the phone and a half hour to fill out a paper questionairre; not really all that long. Abbie also periodically puts out a newsletter which also includes other research being done and talks about issues adoptive families may have.
contact AbbieGoldberg at
http://www.clarku.edu/faculty/goldberg/index.html
Or email her at
agoldberg@clarku.edu

I am superman

Ok, not really but this site says I am. check it out yourself & tell me what you are.
Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 90% Supergirl 85% Spider-Man 80% Green Lantern 70% Robin 65% Wonder Woman 60% The Flash 50% Catwoman 45% Hulk 40% Batman 40% Iron Man 25%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

More Help for the house (and me)

just visited this site, seems pretty cool (and helpful)
www.flylady.com
I like sites like this where they can help you without demanding that you get yourself, or your house perfect first.

Ice is not Nice

It's the middle of January in Michigan. There is no snow on the ground. It has rained and rained and now the rain has frozen. This is not normal, I want snow. This ice is just odd.
Bill had no power at work today, a pole at the end of the street was sheared off about 10' from the top. Thank Heavens they have a generator to get the servers up and running and that they tested it a few weeks ago.