Crib bedding

This is the crib bedding I have chosen to use for Abby's crib. It will be pink. I have picked out two others but keep changing my mind.. I think this is really my final choice.

Abby's Crib

Yesterday Mom and I went to Burlington Coat Factory and she bought Abby her crib. It is my birthday present. It is a 3 in 1 crib and converts from a crib to toddler bed and last of all to a double bed. I love it! Thank you Mom and Hugh!!!! Now Uncle Pete needs to put it togeather for me......

They are in my thoughts......

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Stacking Cups

After reading numerous Chinese adoption blogs I have concluded that stacking cups are a big favorite among the babies. I found these the other day and had to get them for Abby. I will play with them untill she gets here (SMILE).

Abby's Cousins

Jack, Christopher, Virginia, Zackary and Erin

They can't wait to meet their newest cousin!

My first babies

Here are my first 2 babies-Cassie and Quackers. Unfortunately for me they are not the best of friends! They have been seperated mostly for the last 5 years. Cassie stays in my room and Quackers gets the rest. When I do leave my bedroom door open I have herd some horrific fighting. I have never actually seen who initiates the conflicts but based on Cassies battle wounds I have my suspicions. They are both sweet on their own but can't seem to get along. This will only become more complicated once I add a baby to the mix. Soooooo... It is my goal to get the 2 of them togeather before Abby comes home. Please pray for us and a successful union.

Still Waiting.........

Still waiting for that Darn I 171.............

The Great Wall in China-I plan on climbing it!!

Ladybug luck!

Ladybugs are the unofficial Good luck sign for Americans adopting children from China. You will often hear of ladybug sightings actual or wished for shortly before families obtain their referral.

On July 1, 2005 at 9:48 pm I was on my computer laptop (like every night-checking my message boards on adoption. ) Something caught my eye just below the keypad. Sure enough it was a ladybug! I carefully caught it and placed it outside on one of my plants. I am saving this date because wouldn't it be neat If this date ended up being her Birthday? Or maybe it was her spirit visiting me? Who knows but I like to think that this might have been a significant moment. We will have to wait and see........

My baby needs some clothes.

Here is a picture of Abby's closet. (It needs to be organized) Clearly my child will be lacking in the clothing department :D Alot of the outfits were sissy's first and alot of them also belonged to Lohgan. Mema has also contributed. Thanks guys! Even though I have all these outfits I am still having a hard time not buying anymore. Baby clothes are so much fun to buy.

Paperchasing

Well I got my fingerprints done today. What a experience. Seems there is more to it then just placing your finger on a ink pad then on paper. Your fingers have to be very relaxed. (How do you relax your fingers???) Needless to say I had to do some of them over. I was a little uptight. Now I wait for my I-171H. This is the final form that gives me approval to adopt an orphan from abroad. When I finally get it then all of my paperwork has to be authenticated by the Virginia and D.C. Secretary's of state and last of all by the Chinese Embassy...If all goes well I hope to be done sometime in September. At that time I will be DTC (Dossier to China) and hopefully soon there after I will receive my LID (Log in Date by China). Once I am logged in by China I will be officially "Paper Pregnant"!! Currently it is taking 6 -7 months for waiting familes to receive their referrals. Once I get my referral I can expect to travel to China aproximately 6-8 weeks after that So this means that I could possibly expect a March or April referral.

The above pictures show you some of my paperwork and where it will finally end up once it is officially logged in to china. These are pictures of the actual matching room in China. You can see all the other dossiers that are already waiting to be matched!
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A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE

Some of the population in China.

http://www.newsok.com/more/adoption

Click in the above link to learn more about why china adoptions occur.

Which province will my baby come from?

This is a map of China with all of it's provinces. My baby could come from any of them.

Waiting babies in a chinese orphanage.

Waiting............What's this all about??? Introduction post.

Hey everybody!! By now you all know that I am adopting a baby from China. I have been considering this for a long time. Mr Right has not happened for me (YET) but I have decided I am not waiting for my baby any more. Why China? I have researched Chinese baby adoptions for a long time. I have also researched adoptions from other countries as well but have always returned to China. There are many babies waiting for homes and besides being adorable, most of them are pretty well taken care of. China fosters out as many of their children that are available for adoption as possible so these children are at lower risk for bonding disorders. The Chinese adoption program has become well established and has become for the most part pretty predictable.

The process.......Because I am currently single it is a little more challenging. Currently China only allows 8% of the yearly adoptions by Americans to come from singles. This results in LONG LONG LONG waiting lists for singles wishing to apply. It is not unusual to be told to expect a 1 to 2 year wait before you can start your paper work, and that comes after the difficulty of finding an adoption agency that will even place you on their waiting list!

I have always said that if I am not married by the time I am 40 I would adopt (I really thought I would be married and have a family by now). Once I started researching the process more extensively and knew that China was my adoptive country of choice I learned of all the difficulties encountered by singles as noted above. I found that If I had waited until I was 40 then my adoption was most highly likely not to occur until I was 42 or 43! That said it was time to get serious and to get started.

Here is where things started to fall into place....I started e-mailing all the various adoption agencies and requested to be placed on their waiting list. I was told by many of them that their waiting list was to long. I became discouraged but kept trying anyway. Late this past March one of the agencies that I had e-mailed replied that their singles waiting list would be opening April 1st and all I had to do was get my application along with a 250$ non refundable application fee in by then. After a lot of thought I decided to take a chance. ---I believe in signs and while I was in the UPS store overnighting my application they had a radio playing. As I waited a commercial for adoption came on. Now really- How often do you hear that type of commercial on the radio? I for one never have until then.---Anyway I waited almost 2 weeks and then called the Agency I was then told I was # 1 or # 2 on the waiting list. The adoption coordinator told me they usually move a single of the wait list to start the paper work every 3 months. So I waited.

On Saturday April 29th I returned home from work that night after picking up Chinese food (I rarely get it) for dinner. As I checked my e-mail there it was- notification from my agency that I was off the waiting list and officially told to get started! Wow that was QUICK!!!

The paper work phase is called the paperchase. It involves obtaining various documents. And filling out a lot of paperwork. I also had to have a homestudy done and go through numerous back round checks. The paperchase period usually takes around 3 to 6 months as long as everything goes along smoothly. I am nearing the end of my paperchase phase. Once I am done I will be OFFICIALLY PAPER PREGNANT!

Check in often as I plan to update this site frequently as my adoption journey continues......