Tarico Times

4 Months

2009-11-13T14:12:00.003-07:00

I can't believe that today marks 4 months since Avery came into our life and we became a family of four. Time sure does fly!

Avery, you are a precious child of God. Even though these first four months haven't been easy, we thank God for them and the blessing of you becoming a part of our family. We love you sweet girl!

Continuing the Tradition

2009-11-02T16:08:00.006-07:00

We have a tradition that each year we attend the UA basketball Red & Blue srimmage. Unless friends take pity on us and offer us tickets to a game, this is the only game we go to each year. But we have attended this one every year since we returned to Tucson and this year marks 12 years. Camden's first time was when he was a mere 5 1/2 weeks old and this year we finally got to bring Avery who at nearly 16 months old did very well and wasn't at all fazed by all the buzzers, band etc. Quite unlike her big brother.

Camden & Wilbur:

Doug, Camden & Avery (& Obiwan):

Avery & I:

Avery & her Daddy:

Camden using Avery's shoe as a speeder for Obiwan. The Lego Star Wars fellas seem to go everywhere with us these days.

Halloween 2009 - Our Jedi Masters

2009-11-01T13:16:00.002-07:00

This year we went with a Star Wars theme for Halloween. Camden's good buddy had a Star Wars birthday party last Spring and they had made cool Jedi robes for all the boys (Perry's...you guys rock!) So Camden wanted to be a Jedi Master (Kid Fisto to be exact) and wear his. For Avery...we debated. My thought was that for our precious daughter on her very first Halloween with us she should be something like a flower, a butterfly or perhaps a ladybug. But in the end we decided that Yoda was a better fit for our family this year. :) Camden was so excited that she would be a Jedi Master like him and Avery just loves the little mini light saber which is actually one end of Camden's double light saber. In fact (sadly) she is starting to throw little tantrums when she see's it because she wants to have it. It's pretty cute...she loves to dual with Camden and even tries to make the light saber noises. Too funny! Hopefully in 5 years she won't be unhappy with us for dressing her as Yoda. Besides, there is plenty of time for her to be flowers, ladybugs and other girl stuff, right? ;)

Our Jedi Masters:

Avery striking a pose.
It's pretty cute...she can't walk yet but she can stand up without holding on to anything and stand unassisted for quite awhile as she is doing here:

My handsome boy striking a pose:

The many looks of Yoda (aka Avery) or Yodissa as Camden called her. Sorry Star Wars purists...hopefully we aren't offending you with the bows!

Doug & Avery at our neighbors shindig. After the party we headed out with some neighbors for some trick or treating. It was a fun night!

How to Stay Young

2009-10-10T13:44:00.008-07:00

1. Throw out nonessential numbers.

This includes age, weight, height, calories, etc.

Let the doctors worry about the numbers, that’s why you pay them

2. Keep only cheerful friends.

3. Keep learning.

Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, etc.

Never let the brain idle.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh

Often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath, start crying or fluid comes out of something it’s not supposed to come out of

6. The tears happen.

Endure, grieve and consider yourself fortunate to have cared enough to cry.

7. Surround yourself with what you love.

Family, friends, pets, hobbies, keepsakes, music, plants, again etc..
8. Value your health:

If it’s good, preserve it... if it’s unstable, improve it….if it’s beyond what you can improve, get help and trust the Lord to guide you.

9. Don't take guilt trips.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sins from us, so take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
and

Worry about nothing, pray about everything!!!

Avery's First Photo Shoot

2009-10-05T13:26:00.016-07:00

I took Avery to get some professional photos done today. Sadly we have had her for almost 3 months and this is the first "real" photos we have had taken of her. Anyway she did so great. I was very impressed. It amazes me...she seems to take such things in stride.

Here she is with her 100 Wishes Quilt as the background.

She sleeps

2009-10-04T14:10:00.003-07:00

This is one of Avery's favorite sleeping positions. We find her with her leg through the slates quite often.
Oh and I do clean my floors even though her knees seem to tell a different story.

Avery's sleep issues have improved dramatically. She goes down easily at night in her crib which continues to be in our room. Sometimes she sleeps through the night but most of the time she wakes up once or twice a night but goes back down easily. It is wonderful to see that she is feeling more and more secure in our little family.

Cool Chick

2009-10-03T23:31:00.003-07:00

A Favorite Position

2009-10-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

Avery is so flexible. I know most kids at this age are but she seems to be more flexible then the average or at least more flexible than Camden ever was. This continues to be a favorite position of hers. She briefly had both feet up there the other day but I wasn't quick enough with the camera. I can't help but wonder if we have a little Chinese acrobat on our hands. :)

Family Visit

2009-09-28T23:21:00.001-07:00

Doug's Mom and niece, Marissa came down to visit and meet Avery for the first time. We had a great time swimming and just hanging out and visiting.

It was neat to see Avery warm to Grandma so quickly.

Lego Birthday Party

2009-09-26T21:00:00.043-07:00

Today we had nine of Camden's buddies over to celebrate his 8th birthday.

Camden has been all about Lego's for quite awhile now so it made perfect sense for that to be the theme for his party. Following is a photo of Cam and one of his creations. He calls it a futuristic bus station. It was so cute...he wanted us to take a picture so we could send it in to Brickmaster magazine as sometimes they put the photos in the magazine. We did just that but have yet to see it in the magazine but we did use it as the front of the birthday invitation.

Here is my attempt at a Lego birthday cake. Actually it's kind of a cross between regular Lego's and Lego Star Wars. Even though Camden has yet to see the last Star Wars movie he knows all about the battle between Annikan and Obiwan and asked if that could be on the cake. This cake didn't turn out quite as I had planned. I really didn't leave myself enough time (as usual) to do it properly but at least it resembled Lego bricks or at least Duplos! :)

The birthday boy:

An attempt at decorations and for the record those rectangles are supposed to look like Lego bricks:

Camden created some Lego centerpieces for the party:
We had only three planned games at the party. I find that boys (or at least my boy) enjoy being able to make their own fun and this time was no exception. As the boys waited for everyone to arrive, they played good guys and bad guys. At one point every boy had some kind of weapon in their hand. I'm embarrassed to say that we had enough weapons for every boy to have at least one.

The first game we had was guess how many bricks are in the jar. The other two games were timed Lego building games. The first one was who could build the tallest freestanding tower in 10 minutes and the last game was see how creative you can be in 15 minutes.

Lego candy...and amazingly they actually stack!

The boys hard at work on their creations:

The boys and their creations:

Here's me and my first attempt at a Pinata. It was fun creating it and the smell of the paper mache brought me back to Second Grade. Camden asked if the pinata brick could be gold as "Gold is a REALLY rare brick Mom!" :)

A party at our place isn't complete without a little swimming. Here's the boys enjoying our floating volcano.

Birthday Fun

2009-09-22T21:47:00.009-07:00

We had a great day celebrating with Camden. Avery and I brought his treat of choice, ice cream bars to have with his class and then Doug brought McDonald's (Camden's lunch choice) to school and we all had lunch together. Late in the afternoon we met good Friends, the Lowell's at Chuck E Cheese for dinner and some over stimulation.

Here's the birthday boy with his class. Sadly 31 in all!

As his class filed out and took a seat at the table, Camden went right over to Avery to greet her. He then announced that he wanted to sit by his sister so everybody scooted down so he could have the seat next to her. He then preceded to feed her. This was a big step for Cam and it melted my heart to see it.

Camden with his best buddies, Rob & Ted.
This was Avery's first visit to such a place. I was a little nervous about how she would react but she did great and wasn't even scared of the dancing, singing characters. In fact, she really seemed to have a great time!

After Chuck's we gave Camden the gifts we had for him. Here's Camden doing a great job sharing his new (cheap) keyboard with his sister. Avery LOVES music and couldn't be kept away.

My baby is 8!!!

2009-09-22T07:40:00.004-07:00

I can't believe that 8 years ago today (after 27 hours of labor I would like to mention) God blessed us with a beautiful baby boy. You are such a joy Camden..truly a blessing from God.

Happy Birthday Sweettart! Mom & Dad (Avery too) love you so very much!

P.S. Please stop growing so fast!

Shark & Duck

2009-09-18T13:47:00.004-07:00

Ahh...aren't they cute??? Our friend, Robin makes these wonderful animal towels. Right before Camden was born 8 years ago she gave us the shark towel. He still loves it and uses it to this day even though he has nearly grown out of it. Before we brought Avery home just a few months ago she blessed us again, this time with a duck. Avery still has to grow into it a bit but we were thrilled to have another one of her creations. Thanks so much Robin!

We have a cub scout!

2009-09-14T20:39:00.003-07:00

Camden starts Cub Scouts this year. He is so excited. Look how cute he is in his uniform...

Two Months Today

2009-09-13T14:44:00.008-07:00

I can't believe that it's been two months since this special child was placed in our arms and we became a family of four. Time sure does fly by. You have changed so much in that short time beautiful girl. We love you so very much and look forward to seeing what God has planned for you.

Camden's version of our family:

Another Soccer Season Begins

2009-09-12T22:57:00.001-07:00

Another soccer season is underway. This is Camden's fourth season (2nd with AYSO) and he loves it more and more every year. This season he is a Scorpion and is playing for Coach Foley.

Four Years Ago ...

2009-09-11T12:45:00.034-07:00

Four years ago today we signed officially with our adoption agency, America World to bring home our sweet Avery. We had decided in the Spring of that year (2005) that we would adopt but spent the next several months deciding between Korea and China and then what agency to work with. It is still amazing to me where this journey has taken us. Who would have thought that we would start the adoption process and begin praying for our daughter three years before she was even born? We never imagined. In fact we thought we thought we were going to bring her home years before the Olympics even took place in Beijing and that was over a year ago now. But God had a completely different plan for our family. Although I am still saddened by the age difference between Camden and Avery and honestly can't help but wonder if Camden's transition would be just a little bit easier (although not easy mind you) had he been 4 or even 5 years of age instead of the nearly 8 year old boy he is. However, I continue to choose to trust God's plan for our little family and know God will bring us through this mighty transition.

To you faithful readers (or not so faithful if we've lost you) I am sorry that I haven't posted much since returning home. Life has been busy and quite overwhelming at times. Not only are we trying to figure out life again with a young toddler (and we are old now!), this transition to a family of four has not been an easy one for us and quite frankly has brought us to our knees before the Lord (which is always a good place to be) many times. Avery continues to blossom. With the exception of teething (4 teeth have broke through since we received her 7 weeks ago), she is quite the happy baby during the day. She has such a sweet personality and smiles and laughs easily. Her belly laugh is just about the cutest thing ever. She says Dada, Mama and Baba (bottle) and seems quite close to many others. She is also a brilliant mimic and quickly learns new things. The other night we were watching Flipper and after Flipper would do his squeal, Avery would try to emulate it and squeal to. It was too funny! She loves peekaboo and to blow kisses. She is really affectionate and just loves to be played with, hugged and kissed. She is quite the fast crawler now and is pulling up and now likes to put her butt against the wall (or something else to balance herself) and stand up. She is into everything and although she still loves her stacking cups and musical toys (she loves to dance to them), she is quite enthralled with everything that is not a toy such as cabinets, power cords, electrical outlets and vents. Much to Camden and my dismay, she still abhors stuffed animals and dolls. She is somewhat intrigued by our cat but mostly just puts up with her hanging out by her. We are a big cat and stuffed animal family so hopefully she will come to love them as we do. The nights continue to be at times difficult. There are many nights that she will wake numerous times. We have tried many many different approaches to it but nothing seems to really help which leads me to believe most of it is emotional. At times they seem like perhaps night terrors but other times she seems to wake just to make sure we are still there. It breaks me heart to think that she may be scared or worried of being abandoned again. It certainly makes me wonder if she has an unconscious memory of her abandonment which took place (we believe) on the day of her birth in the middle of the night or in the very early morning. We are praying that in time she will grow more secure. On the bright side, she is out of our bed and sleeping in her crib which is in our room. She also goes to sleep pretty easily both for a nap and at night so progress is being made. :)

Camden continues to struggle with being dethroned as the only child. At times he seems to be doing better and realizes the power he posses as Avery just adores him and he can get quite the belly laugh out of her. But then there are days that are so difficult and I wonder who this child is as I never seen him act that way before. I know a lot of it is normal but it is really painful to see him struggle so much and be so unhappy. In addition, his second grade year is not off to a great start and we have been praying about whether or not to change schools. So there is much we are trying to help our sweet boy through.

Putting aside the severe sleep deprivation Doug & I are feeling at times, we are doing pretty well. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? =) Truthfully this transition has brought us closer together. We are still in a state of disbelief that we are a family of four and that Avery is actually here. We are greatly enjoying getting to know our little lady. Here 's a few pics of our sweet girl that melts our hearts with her smile and laugh.

Avery enjoying her rocking chair:

Peace sister...

It seems Avery already likes to be photographed. Although at times she will wait till after she sees the flash or hears the click to give her best smile.

She has quite the impressive tongue. She can do all sorts of things with it. It's actually pretty cute...it seems when she is really happy and content she will stick her tongue out.

Another cheesy grin:

She laughs so easily especially when you get down and crawl around with her. She just loves that!

She loves the water...bath or pool.

What did my brother do to my hair?

2009-09-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

Oh and I think you have been feeding me a few too many orange vegetables!

Second Grade

2009-08-16T20:46:00.003-07:00

Oh how I wish I could stop time just for awhile. My baby boy is starting Second Grade today and I am dumfounded by it. Wasn't it just yesterday that he was learning to talk? Life truly does go by in a flash.

Two Weeks Today

2009-07-27T23:45:00.041-07:00

I can't believe it...two weeks ago today this beautiful, amazing child that I had longed for and dreamed about for so many years was put into my arms and we became a family of four (or five as Camden calls us including the cat). She was not at all happy about life that day, but just two weeks later she has blossomed and is a completely different child. She has come a long way and every day we see her open her heart more and more to her Daddy and get more and more curious and playful with her toys (although she still dislikes all stuffed animals and our cat) and comfortable with me stepping away for a few minutes at a time and just acting like a regular one year old child. She smiles and laughs easily with us (but not others) and giggles when she sees herself in a mirror. She loves to interact and play with us and would do it all day long if she could. She loves to hug and kiss, babble and blow raspberries. She is even beginning to crawl although she is still tentative. She is happy and content during the day. The nights have been a different story but are improving. After trying many different approaches to her sleep, we have had to embrace the family bed idea, which has not been easy for me but seems like the best thing for her at this point. She needs us to be near her right now. The night seems to bring anxiety for her. It really has been interesting (and taxing) trying to figure it all out. Does she have trouble sleeping because she continues to be constipated most of the time or because she has what looks to be Eczema or heat rashes (looking forward to our first Dr's appointment this week to ask). Or is it emotional? What was it like for her in the orphanage at night? We know she was abandoned (they believe) on the day of her birth either during the night or early in the morning as she was found at 7:30 am. Is this part of the difficulty of the night? Either way, this seems to be what she needs and we will do whatever it takes to continue to grow her trust in us and make her feel secure. She did have her first good stretch of restful sleep last night which we were all so thankful for as we really needed a good night sleep and we are hopefully for tonight as well. :)

Camden on the other hand has been struggling. After having one of those most difficult days with him to date yesterday, he is doing much better today. Thanks for praying! He has had quite a few meltdowns, severe defiance and has really been pushing the boundaries. Doug and I have more of a game plan with him and are being more intentional with carving out time for him so I think things will continue to slowly get better. Avery has been doing so much better with Doug which has allowed me a little more time with Camden which I think has really helped.

We have walked a long, amazing road in these two weeks (and six years)....which honestly has been one of those most difficult two weeks we've had but also one of the most amazing ones as well. I feel blessed and thankful in so many ways. Thank you all for your encouragment and prayers...it has made a huge difference!

I am reminded of something that J. Hudson Taylor once said, " I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: First, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done."

Yep, that's a bow on her head. Not enough hair to make a "whale spout", so we call it more of a "spit".

Here were are getting ready to head out for the first time. It's only taken us 5 days to get out of the house. Our destination of choice??? Costco and yes it was great fun! Hot dogs & Berry Sundae...what could be more fun than that?

Look what we just received.

Avery helping Dad assemble the car seat.

Avery in the car seat for the first time. She did great and in fact she loved it and fell asleep on the way home from Costco.

It was her first time in a grocery cart and she seemed to really enjoy that as well. (She's giggling here, not crying.)

Home Sweet Home

2009-07-24T23:38:00.013-07:00

After 27 hours of traveling we arrived home around 9:30 pm on Wednesday night. Our friends, The Lowells were so sweet and picked us up at the airport. Camden was especially thrilled as he just adores Rob & Ted. But not only did they pick us up but they blessed us with a yummy meal of Lasagna, bread and Blueberry pie. Boy did that hit the spot (at about 11:00 that night) and we are still enjoying it a couple of days later (thanks friends)!

Unfortunately, the trip home was somewhat painful. Doug & I were already on Day 9 of very little sleep (Avery does not sleep well) before traveling so we were completely exhausted and were only able to grab about 2 hours sleep over our travel day. Doug is also sick (and I am fighting something as well). However, Avery did do very well which was such a blessing. She didn't cry even once as she was held almost the whole time which is her favorite thing. Camden on the other hand had a little bit rougher time as he got sick on the 12 hour flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco and threw up a few times. Our flight from San Francisco to Denver was canceled due to fog and we had to wait a few hours for the next flight which was also delayed due to an instrument problem. We arrived in Denver, missing our connecting flight to Tucson by a mere 20 minutes so we had to wait for a few hours for the next flight to Tucson. Upon arriving home, I had an an interesting mix of emotions. Our time in China went so fast and felt so busy. The traveler part of me wished we had had a little more time to take in and explore China...spend more time in Guangzhou and a few days in Hong Kong before flying home. But the other part of me knew that wasn't what this trip was all about. Hopefully we will return to China someday with Avery to explore her birth country and get a better grasp of the complexities of the people and the culture. But after an exhausting trip, emotionally and physically, and such a long travel day, I knew it was best to get our family home. Our transition as a family of four continues to be rougher than I had hoped and it is nice to be back in familiar territory. As I have mentioned, Avery continues to be quite happy and content as long as we (mostly me) is holding her. She will play a bit with toys on her own next to me, but if I move away from her (even when she can still see me) she will cry. I know we need to continue to earn her trust but this is so draining and she is not sleeping well at night so I can't seem to catch my breath so to speak. Camden on the other hand went from happy to finally have Avery (the first day) to saying sadly tonight that he likes Uhura (our cat) a little bit more than her. He also said after listening to Avery cry for a while, Dad can you just give her Mom so she will stop crying. This has been really hard on him. He has been crying a bit as well and is complaining about being left out and not enough time with me. I knew of course that this transition would be tough on him. He is a Mommy's boy and has been the center of it all for far to long. But I had hoped and prayed that it would go better than I thought. Unfortunately it has not. I don't want to be a downer... just wanted to give you all the real deal. We are in survival mode right now. We are happy to finally have Avery and we know she was meant to be in our family (she feels like ours already) but are struggling during this transition. We know it will get better but would appreciate your continued prayers for our family. When things settle down a bit for us I will post more photos and thoughts of our time in China.

Thanks again dear friends for all your encouraging comments and prayers. They been a tremendous blessing and are most appreciated!

Here are a few photos from our last few days:

Our last day in Guangzhou:

The Chongqing part of our travel group. All of these families adopted children from our same orphanage:

Doug & Avery snoozing at the San Francisco airport:

Passing time at the Denver airport:

Camden snoozing at the Denver airport. I think he slept for about two hours in that spot.

Looking good after 27 hours of travel, but oh so happy to be back in Tucson:

Our friends, the Lowells, who were so kind in picking us up from the airport:

Arriving at home:
Avery meeting our kitty, Uhura for the first time. She wasn't impressed, in fact she was quite scared of her. Hopefully she will warm to her as Uhura is quite curious.

Getting ready to show Avery her room:

Avery checking out her room:

First time in our high chair. Poor thing...she can barely see over the tray! :)

Pete's Climbs the Great Wall and Meets Avery

2009-07-20T00:02:00.009-07:00

Climbing up the Great Wall. The steps are big and steep, but Pete says it's no problem for a tough guy like him.

Taking a breather. Getting a little tired, but must press onward. Can't be outdone by a 7-year-old.

Making progress ... and praying that the wind doesn't kick up suddenly. Pete drams of being the ruler of all that he surveys. Too bad the air is so hazy, he can't survey much today.

Can't ... go ... any ... futher ... gasps Pete, while panting and sweating profusely. We try to comfort him and reassure him that we still think he's tough.

Yeah, going back down is easier than going up! Pete regains his composure and self confidence.

Pete has been consipcuously asbsent for a few days. Perhaps he was embarassed to admit that after the Great Wall, his legs were so sore that he could hardly walk. Or maybe that was Doug. Anyway, when Pete reemerges, he finds this strange new creature in our hotel room. It's small and cute, so he offers his services as a body guard. Here he's standing his post and keeping a watchful eye. He doesn't know it, but Avery is dreaming about chewing on his head.

Pete at the Chongqing zoo. He felt a natural kinship with this critter. Can't you see their resemblance? Pete want's to get his new buddy a blaster rifle and a cape and then he'll really be ready to rumble.

Catching a cat nap while keeping watch. Unlike humans, Pete can do both at the same time. He wishes that his little Lego arms had elbow joints so that he could try the finger sucking thing. It looks strangely comforting.

More & More Baby Steps

2009-07-18T06:03:00.048-07:00

We continue to take more baby steps forward with Avery and things continue to get a little better each day. There has been a few rough nights with one particular one (last Wednesday) that was one of those most difficult one's I've experienced. Avery was up just about every hour. We both finished the night in tears (again) and just about two hours of sleep (yep...we are still both a little fragile). Since then things have gotten A LOT better. Her trust in us continues to grow and you can see her personality really emerging. She is babbling, spitting and making all sorts of noises. She loves to stare at my face and play with my mouth and nose. She also smiles and giggles pretty easily and is generally happy and content as long as we are holding her or right next to her when she is playing. When we are in the hotel room she still doesn't want me out of her sight and will cry if walk even a step away (which makes things difficult to do). Outside the room she is tolerating Doug more and is pretty content with him when we are out and about. However, in the room she will still refuse a bottle from him and doesn't want him to hold her if I am there. We still haven't been able to get her to eat any table food but we did get her to take a taste of ice cream we had at McDonald's today. (I still can't believe we offered it too her. I think Camden was closer to three before he was offered some). She wasn't sure she loved it but she kept sticking out her tongue and then opening her mouth for a little. Sadly, she refused to take a taste from Doug and even when I took a bit from my ice cream and handed it to Doug, she refused it but when he handed the spoon back to me and I would offer it she would take it. Too funny...she is a stubborn little one!

Our last couple of days in Chongqing were very low key. We did just a little shopping and sightseeing. But mostly spent time just continuing to get to know each other. One evening we ventured out to a pedestrian mall. There were sure some interesting sights to take in. Some of the street vendors were doing "Hot Pots" which is basically pick what you want and they cook it up for you. Some of the choices were duck and rabbit head as well as chicken feet. There were also many other things that we just couldn't tell what they were. Another interesting happening...Doug & Camden were walking back to the hotel (Avery & I had gone back to the hotel sooner) and a man came out of a building and he completely shoved Camden out of the way. He was in a hurry but the area was not congested so it was really strange that he would do that. We are finding it really interesting how some Chinese conduct themselves. It is so different than Americans. Yes, we have our own issues but you would never see anyone do this in the states.

Last night we flew from Chongqing to Guangzhou. Although the flight was under two hours, we had to leave our hotel at 3:30 PM and didn't get into our hotel room here until about 11:30 pm and didn't get a crib in our room till 12:30 am. Our group is huge and took forever to get everyone checked in and through security. Sadly, one Dad & baby had to take the next flight as there were too many babies on our flight. There was another travel group (from a different agency) on the plane which means there were close to 30 babies on the flight. Too funny! They all did great! Avery especially did very very well and chose to be more active than she's been so far which is good. She is starting to act more like a one year old.

Our day today started early as the babies had to have medical examinations to complete the adoptions and we had the last of our mountain of paperwork to take care of. The medical exams went well and again Avery did very well. She is a mere 14.8 lbs. so we have a lot to do to fatten her up. She has done so well with our crazy schedule and the few times she did get upset, she was easily consoled. We spent the balance of the day relaxing and facebooking and blogging of course. :)

Here are a few photos from our last few days.

Our family of four:

Doug & Avery snoozing:

Doug enjoying his noodle bowl and green tea:

Cuddling with Mom after our first time in the pool:

Camden enjoying his Strawberry Cheetos & Strawberry "fruit milk":

Waiting to get Avery's medical examinations done:

Avery enjoying her medical examination:

If you're interested...here are even more pics of our last few days:

http://picasaweb.google.com/starico32/ChongqingGuangzhou?feat=directlink

Baby Steps

2009-07-15T06:05:00.012-07:00

First of all thank you all so very much for all the encouragement and prayers. It was such a blessing to read them and in fact it made me cry. You all will be happy to know that we are making some baby steps and that things are going a little bit better. Avery and my emotional states are becoming less and less fragile (although Cam is struggling a bit since he's not getting as much attention as he is used to). Unfortunately, Avery still doesn’t like Doug much, but he did get to hold her for a few minutes, feed her a bit of her evening bottle and she didn’t scream every time he looked at her so that is progress. We are continuing to be persistent and having Doug involved in taking care of her. She still gets very upset when I try to move away from her or leave the room. The good news is that I am able to console her, and most of the time she is quite content as long as I am holding her or have her very close. Tonight she showed that she is getting more and more comfortable with us and has been a little more spunky - babbling and playing a bit more. I was even able to get many smiles and some good belly laughs as I found her tickle spots which of course made me very happy.

We are loosing our Internet access shortly and Avery keeps waking up, so I will leave you with a few photos from our day…

We went to the Chongqing zoo for a bit this morning, and despite being really hot, it was a surprizingly nice zoo.

The so called Lesser Panda:

More interesting phone booths:

Interesting scenes from the local super market:

It's hard to tell but one of the items is chicken feet. This supermarket visit made me a little sad as there was a live animal area so you can have the very freshest. There were ducks, chicken, rabbits, frogs & fish all lined up for purchase.

We are officially a family of four!

2009-07-14T07:49:00.039-07:00

I am sorry we haven’t posted sooner. We have had a rough couple of days and we don’t have free and easy Internet access here at our hotel in Chongqing. We arrived here yesterday morning (Monday) and checked into our hotel. We had a couple of hours to unpack and “get ready”, whatever that means. We headed over to the local civil affairs office and after waiting just a few minutes they began calling family names at around 4 PM. I think we were the second or third family of our group of 11 families to receive their child. One of the Nannies was holding Avery who was dressed in a cute yellow and pink outfit with matching yellow shoes. She started crying the moment she was handed to me (as was I a bit), and she was very, very unhappy with all this. She tried to push and turn away from me and was clearly looking for someone else to save her from us. I knew that this response was likely and truly healthy as she shouldn't be happy to be handed to strangers that look, smell and talk completely different then she is used to, but it doesn’t make any less heart breaking when I just couldn't console her. Add the fact that it is extremely hot and humid here, in fact the nickname for Chongqing is Furnace city, I was a mess. I think it only took about 30-45 minutes for everyone to receive their child, sign a form (we returned today for the rest of the paperwork) and head to our bus to go back to the hotel. But she cried the whole time. She did finally stop when we got on the bus and it started moving. Back at the hotel, Camden & I spent the next hour getting to know her and showing her a few of the small toys that we brought for her while Doug handled a mountain of paperwork. Camden was very sweet with her and said, “I am so happy that we have Avery. I love her already.” That of course melted my heart but today he has a little less patience with her on and off crying. She did warm to Camden and I and even played a bit with the toys. But sadly that changed when Doug returned from doing paperwork. She doesn't care much for him and cries when he trys to hold her, get to close or even talk to her. I know this makes him a little sad. She did sleep well her first night, 11 hours straight, which was definitely a blessing as we really all needed a good night sleep. Today was another roller coaster ride, with lots and lots of crying (some from me, lots from her). Her emotional state (as was mine this morning) is very fragile and in a moments notice change from being somewhat content (and almost a little happy) to very unhappy and inconsolable. She is clearly grieving...I believe for a beloved nanny. From the information we have it looks like she had one particular nanny that took care of her. She doesn't want me to leave her sight or to even be put down so that makes everything more difficult. But I am happy that at times I am able to console her. Although she was clean when we received her, we decided to give her a little bath in the hotel sink as she has many mosquito bites (or is it scabies? Sami..how can you tell the difference?) and wanted to clean them and put some medicine on them. In our paperwork we were told that her favorite activity is a bath. Well, let me just tell you that it certainly isn't her favorite activity currently. :) On the bright side, we made some progress today...baby steps. Once we got the bottles a little closer to right which was difficult as the orphanage feeds them a combination formula/rice cereal bottle at a near scolding temp, she is starting to eat a little more but not a lot. Doug did hold her for about 5 minutes while following me around and she didn't cry and Camden even managed to get our first couple of smiles and laughs from her between the tears.

A few things about Avery...

She is very pretty, very light skinned and very tiny. She is not super skinny but just very petite. She has room to grow in the 9 month clothes we brought and sadly most of the 12 month clothes are to big for her. She is not the youngest baby in our group but she is by far the smallest. She has very little hair. It looks to be about the same amount that Camden had at a year of age. Unfortunately, her upper body is not that strong and she can't sit unsupported for long. It is a little strange to hold a child of her age who doesn't seem to completely support herself. But I think some of that is that she is in shock and hasn't eaten a lot. She was showing some spunk this evening, eating and playing a little more and was pushing up a bit while on all fours. However she will not eat any table food which is a little concerning. We were told that she was eating some congee (rice/water mixture) and mashed fruits but is seems hard to believe based on her responses. She makes great eye contact with us and likes to touch my face (Camden's too but not you know who's) and put her fingers into my mouth which is positive. But unfortunately, she seems to have a bit of a cold so that will probably spread through us all. She is spirited and lets us know what she likes and dislikes. Strangely, when she is fairly content (or dare I say happy) she sticks her tongue out. Doug thinks she might be related to Gene Simmons, as it is an impressive tongue. I hope not. She has also babbled just a little bit which as mostly been when watching Camden. I just knew that she would take to him and it is sweet to see.

Here's a few photos from the last couple of days...

The first few moments together:

Back at the hotel getting acquainted:

Day two a little bit happier...

Finalizing the adoption in the eyes of China:

Our group:

Last Day in Beijing & Just One More Sleep until....

2009-07-12T07:54:00.028-07:00

AVERY!!! I can't believe it...we had our last day in Beijing today. We have had five full days here. We have had a wonderful time and it's all flown by in a flash. We started the day at an International church service. In order to enter the church service you had to show your passport. Our guide told us it was because the government didn't want locals bothering us and taking pictures of us. After being in China several days I can see what she means as Camden and I have been asked many times for our photo. But from what I have read and been told about the Christian church in China, I know this is only part of the story. The service was nice. The worship time was enjoyable and the sermon was Biblically based and a good one. But for some reason I had a mix of thoughts and emotions about it all.

After the church service, much to Doug's dismay (although Shannon was happy) we went to a Jade factory and then to a wonderful Chinese lunch. After lunch we headed to The Great Wall of China. Sadly visibility was extremely poor but it was still a sight to behold. Camden and I hiked to the second guard tower while Doug went somewhere between the fourth and fifth guard tower. Unfortunately, we only had about an hour and and a half to explore. If we would have had more time, I am sure Doug would have gone much further than that.

We are now getting ready for our next leg... Chongqing. This is where Avery is from and where we will receive her. We are getting picked up at our hotel at 5:15 am as we have a very early flight. It will take us about two hours to get there. We are told that we will check into our hotel and then head to the Civil Affairs Office tomorrow afternoon where a long awaited dream will come true...we will receive our daughter. I am not sure what time that will take place. The orphanage is around a 7 hour drive from there so it just depends on when the children arrive. It is still unbelievable to me that we are here and that this is actually happening. It makes me cry just even typing this. Tomorrow will be a mountain of tears for me (and for Avery) I am sure. Hopefully I won't scare her too much with my crying. :)

Following are a few photos from our day:

Here is Cam at the Jade factory. You could take this little gem home for around 125K!

The Great Wall of China:

One guard shack down. Too many to go!

Going down...

Thank you to everyone for your support, encouragement and prayers getting us to this point! You all are an overwhelming blessing!

We will post again when we are a family of four!!!!

Love to all!

P.S. Can't seem to get on Facebook to post...sorry! :(

General Pete explores Beijing some more

2009-07-11T08:45:00.001-07:00

A pedal boat ride in Beihai park. Doug got all sweaty (more than usual). Pete wasn't any help, he couldn't reach the pedals.

Pete made a local friend outside Forbidden City. We came across some Chinese guys who were taking pictures of their own little travel companion. We just had to get a photo together, it was very funny. I predict that the USA and China will magically become allies now.

Here's the owner of Pete's new friend.

Making a new friend for Pete reminded Camden that Pete had an old friend tucked away in our bag. They're about to storm the Forbidden City. Pete said "Forbidden - my finarkis, I'm going in, cover me !"

Pete made it inside Forbidden City. He's confused, nobody put up a fight, and there's already about a million people inside. He still says "Forbidden - my finarkis!"

Venturing forth "tour group style" on a bus. Pete's not sure what to make of this, it's a strange new kind of land speeder filled with white people.

Pete liked this silk loom, or whtever the heck it's called. It takes little strands of silk from the little silk cocoons and combines 8 of them to make a silk thread. It's a bit antiquated, but he thinks it can be reengineered to serve the sinister purposes of the Galactic Empire.

More Fun & Sighteeing in Beijing

2009-07-11T08:43:00.014-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted. All is well with us...we haven't been put into quarantine or anything. :) We have just had a very busy couple of days. We are still having our temperatures checked twice a day but thankfully nothing more than that.

Yesterday we spent the majority of the day exploring Beihai Park which is an old Imperial Park. We once again did a ton of walking and took a paddle boat out on the lake. It was an amazing park and even though the humidity about killed us, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The parks here are unbelievable. That afternoon/evening we headed to a pedestrian mall and night market. That was quite an adventure. Normally I really enjoy going to these but sadly I think I have decided I don't much like shopping in China, or at least in Beijing. For those of you that know me well that may be hard for you to believe...but they were just way too aggressive. I actually had a couple of women grab my arm and try to keep me there and at one point they even made Camden cry as they tried to pull him closer to the live scorpions on a stick. Um no thanks...don't touch my kid mister!!! Anyway, there was totally lots of crap um I mean stuff that I kind of wanted to buy but their approach really turned me off. Hopefully shopping will be more fun in the other cities we travel to.

Today, we met up with the rest of the families from our adoption agency which I believe is around 22 families. Everyone is super nice but boy do I wish our group was a little bit smaller and more intimate. We were like a large heard of sweaty animals sightseeing at a breakneck pace. But on the positive (and more important) side we are thrilled that so many children are being adopted into Christian families. Praise God for that! It is quite strange for us to be a part of a big tour group. That's just not the way we usually like to do things and I think after this trip Doug will never want to travel with a big group again or at least until the memory fades. We saw so many amazing sights today...Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and The Summer Palace. But all very quickly. We really wish we had a little more time to spend at these places. Although we were seeing them with about 30 million of our closest friends so perhaps we wouldn't have lasted that much longer. One funny thing at these sights...much to Camden's dismay...people kept asking to have their picture taken with him. Too funny! In addition to the sights, we also visited a Pearl Market and Silk Museum which was fun and I picked up a few little presents for Avery that we will give her on future birthdays. The day was topped of by a Chinese Acrobat Show which was simply amazing.

I am having a little trouble uploading photos to blogger so I am going to leave you with a link to our photos. I will warn you though, there's way too many of them and I don't have the time to weed the bad ones out (which I am sure there are many) so check the link at your own risk! :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/starico32/ChinaJuly10thJuly11th?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyhlfnap5zJIQ#

I am beat! So I better catch some zzz's. Oh and if you didn't remember...two days until Avery!!!

General Pete exploring old Beijing

2009-07-09T14:56:00.002-07:00

Since Pete is a military man, he really liked these camouflage pine trees. That is just the bark, it's not painted, honest. Perhaps they are genetically engineered by the Chinese army, their new secret weapon. It's not secret anymore! We are spies now. Please don't blow our cover.

In a historic "hutong" district. This is the view from the top of the Bell Tower looking toward the Drum Tower. The bell tower has a huge bell cast in the 1400's. The drum tower has, you guessed it, drums. Pete was glad it wasn't a windy day. Despite having a cape, he can't fly.

That's the big bell. Pete called it "the donger".

These public phones are scattered about. We affectionately refer to them as the "butt cheek phones".

Pete is traversing the crevasse. He's really brave.

Lake Houhai, in the middle of the Hutong area. Some Chinese guys were laughing as we took this picture. Pete didn't mind.

There's a talking bird in that there cage. Camden liked getting it to say "Ni Hao". It also had an ear-piercing squawk, so Camden and Pete are running away.

We're tired, still got some jet lag. Pete too.

Pete is kicking back with a moderately cool Pabst Blue Ribbon - China style. This is a bottle of water, not beer. Strange.

Day 2 in Beijing

2009-07-09T14:55:00.068-07:00

Today we ventured out once again via the subway to the back lakes area, Shicha Hai to check out some of old Beijing. Before the 20th century, Beijing was dominated by the Hutong which were mazes of narrow and winding passageways that were as little as 20 inches wide and no wider than 30ft. The traditional house was the Siheyan or courtyard house which typically consisted of four rectangular building arranged around a central courtyard with a door at one corner (ideally facing South for some reason). They were originally designed to house a single family but each one now houses 5-6 families and in some cases a structure has been built in the courtyard to house yet another family. We are told that until fairly recently as much as half of Beijing’s population lived in some sort of Siheyan, but large scale bulldozing of the Hutong is quickly changing that landscape as many people have migrated into modern buildings. For some it was forced upon them but for others they were willing to move as they were eager for central heating and plumbing which is rare in the Hutong as we found out. I used many public squatty potties today and in one case even had the opportunity to enjoy the experience of the person next me as there wasn’t much of a wall. *smile*. Even though today was pretty hot and humid, which was quite a change from the day before (and we were a disgusting, sweaty mess most of the day), spending the day exploring these quaint neighborhoods surrounding a lake was so enjoyable and something that is sure to be one of the many highlights of our time here.

We had a couple of interesting encounters today…we ran into our first American, Jeffrey at a Buddhist temple. We are surprised that we have not run into any other Americans up to this point. We have met a few families from Holland staying at our hotel, adoptive families actually which was kind of fun. But it was enjoyable to chat with him and he was clearly thrilled to see us and speak English for a little while. He is in China studying Mandarin and Temple customs and rituals.

Also, we got to talking with a local fella. One question lead to another and we ended up telling him that we were adopting a little girl from an orphanage. He was clearly mystified by it all and while looking at Camden asked why we would want a girl when we already have a boy. He could just not understand. He was very nice and friendly as we have found most Chinese to be but he could just not understand why we would want to do that.

Once we returned to our room, we had a message waiting for us in our room. Unfortunately, someone on our flight was found to have a fever since arriving in Beijing and they are now requesting that we have our temperature checked twice daily, morning and night. This is a little strange to us as we thought that no one had a fever upon arriving in Beijing. Perhaps the person had a connecting flight to somewhere else in China and was found to have a fever then? Either way, we are hoping and praying that this person doesn’t test positive for the Swine Flu as that would mean a 7 day quarantine for us, a delay in receiving Avery and a delay in heading home. However, we trust in God’s plan for our family and we know that He will work it all out!

Photos from our day:

Heading up the steps to the Bell tower which was originally built in the 1400's but had to be rebuilt in the 1700's due to a fire. This is a good (but small) warm up to the Great Wall which we will visit on Sunday.

Cam & I in front of the Bell Tower which was made in the 1400's.

Going down the Bell Tower. Yeah!

Doug & Cam checking out some exercise equipment.

Old Drum Tower originally built in the 1400's. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in as it was being renovated.

Their telephone booths.

Entrance to a quaint shopping area in the Hutong.

Strolling along the lake.

An entrance to a Siheyan.

Wedding Photos

Buddhist Temple

Loving the kitty at the Buddhist temple.

Old temple from the 1700's.

Locals swimming in the green/brown lake. It looked like a favorite activity here.

Enjoying the gardens at a former Imperial Palace.

Having fun at a local park.

We enjoyed Green and Jasmine tea at this local tea house complete with a bird that said Ni hao and other things that we of course couldn't understand. The owner was so sweet and she even gave us a little souvenir that she said meant that she hoped that great treasure would be coming to our family. Wow - if she only knew! One of the best treasures ever! :)

** Side note...I am having trouble uploading photos so I may not able to upload as many photos in the future unless I figure out a better way to do it.

Three days to Avery!!!

Tootling around Beijing

2009-07-08T06:35:00.010-07:00

We survived our first full day in Beijing. After a lazy morning, we headed out to take in a few local sights. We were blessed with surprisingly cool weather and a bit of light rain.

First stop was The Ancient Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the world, dating back to the 1400s. The highlight was a big stone tower with a collection of ornately decorated bronze scientific instruments on the top. Pete really liked this because it is related to outer space.

Next we wandered through Ming City Wall Park, which has remnants of the ancient Beijing city wall surrounded by a very nice park. The Southeast Corner Watchtower is particularly impressive. It's a huge tower built up on the wall which has been nicely restored and hosts an art gallery and a small wall-related museum inside. Pete says "all in all, your're just another brick in the wall".

More from our first full day in Beijing.

2009-07-08T06:34:00.003-07:00

The view from our hotel room:

The Ancient Observatory:

Cool garbage can:

Ming City Wall Park & Watch Tower:

There in also an art museum inside the Watch Tower:

I got to use my first squatty potty today in China. That's always a treat! But it was pretty clean for a squatty potty. Actually as a chick it's kind of nice not having to touch anything. The worse part I think is if they stink which unfortunately they usually do as you don't flush the toilet paper (which they never have by the way) down the toilet you put it in the garbage can instead.

Camden borrowing the street sweeper's broom. It's made of bamboo by the way.

Another highlight of the day was using Beijing's subway system. I do love venturing to a new city and trying to figure the lay of the land and how to get around. Besides, it's a great way to get a taste of how the real people live. It seemed like a well run system and I was impressed!

Time for bed..Night Night!

Our traveling companion: Clone Trooper Guy

2009-07-07T21:31:00.029-07:00

The Coe boys gave Camden this little Lego "clone trooper" guy. Cam calls him "General Pete". We decided to bring him along to China to help document our journey. There's no telling where he might show up. Here's a sample of our trip from Tucson to Beijing.

Our departure gate at the Tucson airport. We got up at 4am for a nice-n-early departure at 6:39 AM on Monday.

Entertaining himself while waiting around. He had to bring his darker more evil friend along so he wouldn't get lonely.

That's our plane out there. Still in Tucson ... yawn ... feeling sleepy already.

Riding the moving walkway between flights in San Francisco. It's the next best thing to a land speeder.

On our way from San Francisco to Beijing.

Wow, we are in "Economy Plus". It sounds better than "Stowage".

Catching a few zzz's on the plane. This leg of the trip was 12 hours.

We made it to Beijing! Got to our hotel aroung 4pm on Tuesday. Time to sleep!

Editor's note: I am making Dug do these posts. So don't blame me for the content. :)

Beijing Baby!!!

2009-07-07T05:59:00.046-07:00

We made it! Our travels went smoothly and were nearly uneventful. Our day started early and for one member of our family (who will remain nameless) that meant exactly zero sleep. Oh well...we had a 12 hour flight to catch up a bit, right? Thankfully Camden is a great traveler and we were able to do just that along with watching some movies, doing a little reading and listening to some Mandarin. We arrived in Beijing around 2pm and once we arrived to the gate quarantine officials outfitted in mask and goggles boarded the plane. They proceeded to take everyone's temperature and we are happy to report that no one had a fever so we were able to disembark from the plane pretty quickly. One hurdle cleared! :) The rest of the process getting through the airport was surprising easy and we were met by a guide from our agency who brought us to our hotel. Unfortunately, once we were settled in our room we realized that we left our atm card in the atm machine at the airport. Yep, unbelievable screw up! Sheer panic enshewed followed by a stress filled taxi ride (for me) back to the airport while Camden & Doug found food and wandered the Carrefour (China's Walmart like store). Even though the bank had already closed when I got there I "pulled a Camden" and gave them a pleading look through the glass and they opened the bank for me. Fortunately, they had the card as the atm had sucked it back in after we didn't take it and we were able to get it back. I can't tell you how relieved I was. I truly believe God protected us. Someone could have snagged it before the machine sucked it in or if I would have arrived any later the people at the bank could have already left for the day or they could have decided not to open the door for me. They were reluctant but did eventually open the bank. I returned to the hotel and went looking for food as Doug and Camden were out and about. I found a street vendor that was making these little pancake things that had egg, green onions, cilantro (I think) as well some other things that I am not sure what they were. It was a little spicy but boy was it good and it cost all of about $.60. Hopefully I won't regret that purchase later if you know what I mean. :)

Here's a few pics from our travel day:

At our local airport ready for an adventure.

Oops overweight...can't take him.

In SFO getting ready for our flight to Beijing.

Doug getting his temperature checked.

Yeah...arrival in Beijing!

Also, for those getting ready to travel...facebook and blogger are currently blocked in Beijing so you will need to make other arrangements to connect to these sites. Doug is a techie wizard and has set up a VPN which allows us to connect to our home network and access the Internet. He is so smart!

We are all packed!

2009-07-06T00:47:00.006-07:00

It is 12:45 AM and we are FINALLY all packed. Of course I was hoping that was going to happen closer to 10PM. But oh well...such is life in our household. But the good news is that I (the chronic over packer) have thought of (I think) just about everything and probably packed way too much. But is sure to be prepared for anything and is happy to report that I did it all while keeping our three bags under the 44 lb China weight limit! Yippee! :)

Thank you all for your support, encouragement and prayers throughout this long journey. It is hard for me to put into words what it has all meant. We love and appreciate you all!

I better sign off as our ride comes at 4:45 AM to take us to the airport (Thanks Newcs!) and that will come way too soon for this night owl!

See you on the flip side! China here we come!!!

Today Avery is...

2009-07-06T00:01:00.017-07:00

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!! One week from today our dream will finally come true...we will hold you in our arms for the very first time!

2 More Sleeps

2009-07-04T10:54:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke up in disbelief (there's actually been a lot of that) that in just under two days we will be on a plane to China. It is hard to describe how I am feeling at this moment. There are so many different emotions swirling. Is it possible to be excited, scared, happy, sad, thrilled, worried, blissful, overwhelmed and panicked all at the same time? I am of course super excited and thrilled to finally bring Avery home. I am so ready for this part of the journey to be over and moving on to just life has a family of four whatever that looks like. But part of me is full of anxiety with all the unknowns. How will Avery react to her world being turned upside down? Will she reject me or Doug? How quickly will she begin to trust and bond to us and will it become a strong, healthy attachment??? So many questions. And I am also feeling sad that after all these years I don't have everything in order the way I would like. I am such a planner and am truly at my happiest when all my ducks are in a row. But organization and "stuff" is not more important than people and relationships. Just another lesson that I think God is continually trying to teach me. I have so much to learn! I just need to let all that stuff go and focus on what's really important...it's okay that the curtains will not be up in the nursery and pictures will not be on the wall. Why was the picture perfect moment of bringing Avery into a perfectly decorated nursery so important? She won't care and in fact it might overwhelm her. She most likely won't even sleep in there initially as she is probably used to sleeping with 50 other babies. It's okay that I haven't finished (or barely started) thank you notes or that I haven't blogged about the wonderful showers and happenings that we have been blessed and overwhelmed with in these last few weeks.

I recently picked up a wonderful little devotional book that a friend recommended called "Jesus Calling". It had a good reminder for me today it said...The greatest blessing is nearness to Me - abundant joy and peace in My presence.

God also brought Matt 6:25-34 to my mind today...

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Thank you God for these reminders!

5 More Days!

2009-07-01T00:04:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it...only 5 more days until we leave for China! Yippee!!!

Camden in Action

2009-06-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

I thought this picture was so cute of Cam. He is so focused on beating his obstacle course competitor. Too funny!

China Travel Alert: H1N1 Quarantines

2009-06-23T09:44:00.003-07:00

Our agency fowarded this travel warning to us this morning. Please pray that we will not be affected. Specifically that we will not exhibit any fever or flu-like symptoms or that anyone on our many flights to and within China will test positive for the swine flu. Camden is going with us to China and the thought of being seperated from him at any time really scares me.

June 19, 2009- The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the quarantine measures imposed by the Government of China in response to the 2009-H1N1 pandemic that may affect travel to China. This Travel Alert expires on September 30, 2009.

Current quarantine measures in China include placing arriving passengers who exhibit fever or flu-like symptoms into seven-day quarantine. Although the proportion of arriving Americans being quarantined remains low, the random nature of the selection process increases the uncertainty surrounding travel to China. The selection process focuses on those sitting in close proximity to another traveler exhibiting fever or flu-like symptoms or on those displaying an elevated temperature if arriving from an area where outbreaks of 2009-H1N1 have occurred. We have reports of passengers arriving from areas where outbreaks have occurred (including the U.S. and Mexico) being placed in precautionary quarantine simply because they registered slightly elevated temperatures.

In some instances, children have been separated from their parents because either the parent or the child tested positive for 2009-H1N1 and was placed in quarantine for treatment. This situation presents the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without first having consulted their parents.

The Department of State has received reports about unsuitable quarantine conditions, including the unavailability of suitable drinking water and food, unsanitary conditions, and the inability to communicate with others.

Travelers to China are reminded that all foreign travelers, including U.S. citizens, are obliged to follow local procedures regarding quarantines and any other public health-related measures. The U.S. Embassy will be unable to influence the duration of stay in quarantine for affected travelers. The Chinese government will not compensate people for lost travel expenses. Travelers to China are urged to consider purchasing travel insurance to protect against losses in the event they are quarantined.

Fathers Day 2009

2009-06-21T22:33:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Husband & Father!

How to Order Chinese Food in China

2009-06-18T23:03:00.011-07:00

Someone posted to one of the many adoption boards that I lurk on about a site that helps westerners order food while in China. Although I like to consider myself to be open to new foods especially when traveling as I truly believe that is a big part of the experience and of course fun. But the possibility of having delicacies such as dog or snake make my stomach turn. We traveled to Thailand a few years ago. The food was absolutely amazing...so good and cheap! However, they have some delicacies of there own that we tried to steer clear such as roaches and scorpions.

Here are some Chinese snack foods that I am not sure whether or not we will try...

Anyway, I plan to do some serious studying of this site (if time permits). I may even download the pdf and take it with us when we go to China. :)

We booked our flights today!

2009-06-16T00:05:00.022-07:00

Yippee - We booked our international flights today! We leave on Monday, July 6th, which is Avery's first birthday. We take off at 6:39 am (any brave and loving souls want to bring us to the aiport at the horrific hour of 4:30 am???). We change planes in San Francisco before heading to Beijing and arriving at 2:40 pm on Tuesday. We return on Wednesday, July 22nd. We leave Hong Kong at 11:45 am and change planes in San Francisco and Denver before arriving home at 4:52 pm. Another step closer...

Now we just need to finalize our inter-country flights, hotels etc. which thankfully our agency is taking care of. We are not completely sure but it looks like we will meet Avery on Monday, July 13th which is the day after my Mother-in-law's birthday and the day before my Mother's birthday.

Now, I am just wondering when it will all feel real?

Travel Approval

2009-06-11T10:37:00.012-07:00

We received a call from our agency this morning letting us know they received our Travel Approval from China. We were thrilled and surprised to receive this so quickly...exactly three weeks since our referral. Woohoo! Another step closer to Avery! Now our agency can request a provincial appointment in Chongquing and our consulate appointment in Guangzhou. Once they get those dates, we can book our flights. We probably won't know anything till next week and it could all change but at this point they are estimating that our travel group will leave July 9th and return July 22nd. We have decided to go earlier than our travel group and spend a few extra days in Beijing getting acclimated to the time change and enjoying the historical sights which means that we could be heading to China on July 5th or 6th. Leaving for China on July 6th would be wonderful as that is Avery's 1st birthday! Wow - I can't believe it....that is only three weeks from this Monday. Yikes...I have a lot to do! Oh well....sadly...this family works better on a deadline!

On another note...I am sure most of you have heard that the World Health Organization raised the swine flu alert to a level 6 pandemic. Please pray that this will not effect our travel plans to or in China.

Little Sister finally has a Name

2009-06-09T10:04:00.004-07:00

After more than four years since we decided to adopt, nearly three weeks since we received a picture of our beautiful daughter and calling her "Little Sister" this whole time...we have finally decided on a name. Those of you who know us well will just laugh. The name we decided on is one that has been at the top of the list all these years. It was on the girl list when I was pregnant with Camden eight years ago. But for some reason names are difficult for us. We had a hard time deciding on Camden. In fact, he didn't even have a name officially when we left the hospital. Although we had decided right before we left, the birth certificate lady had gone home for the day. Anyway, like we approach just about everything (well, at least Doug that is), we spent a lot of time researching and looking at websites, baby name books, street names of towns we love etc.. but we always kept coming back to this name. In the end, it came down to this name and Morgan. So without further ado, here is the new name of our daughter:

Avery Louise Xiuqing Tarico

Avery has no special meaning (sadly). We just love it. In fact, it has a meaning that make me chuckle. The sites we have found says it mean "elf counsel". Can we shorten it to mean "counsel"? :)

Louise was my Mom's middle name and it brings me great joy to remember my beloved Mother in this way. In fact, in the hours before my Mom saw Jesus over six years ago, when she could no longer speak but I knew that she could still hear me, I told her that if God blessed Doug & I with a daughter, we would name her after her. What a blessing to be able to do that!

Xiuqing is her first and middle name that the orphanage gave her, put together. We have been told it either means "beautiful celebration" or "beauty and dignity". We won't know for sure until we are in China but the name that the orphanage gave her may be the only thing she will ever have from her days in China.

Is there a resemblance?

2009-06-08T16:17:00.001-07:00

The pictures that we received of our daughter were taken back in March when she was around 8 months of age. When we first received her photos, I remember thinking that her sweet little face reminded me of a photo that we had of Camden around the same age and lo and behold I found the picture! I know...she's Chinese...what resemblance could there be? Well, what do you think...is there any resemblance?

A Wonderful Reminder

2009-06-04T11:04:00.013-07:00

Our friends, The Rodens have been going through very difficult health issues with their sweet boy, Timmy for the last several years. My heart just aches for them as they have been through so much. But I have also been in awe seeing what God has been doing through them. God has been glorified through it all. They are currently at the Cleveland Clinic working with the doctors there. This morning she shared today's devotional from a book a friend had given her called Jesus Calling written by Sarah Young. This is what it says...

"Welcome Challenging Times as opportunities to trust me. You have me beside you and My spirit within you, so no set of circumstances is too much for you to handle. When the path before you is dotted with difficulties, beware of measuring your strength against the challenges. That calculation is certain to riddle you with anxiety. Without Me you wouldn't make it through the first hurdle!The way to walk through demanding days is to grip my hand tightly and stay in close communication with Me. Let your thoughts and spoken words be richly flavored with trust and thankfulness. Regardless of the day's problems, I can keep you in perfect Peace if you stay close to me."

Wow - God is so good! This was a great reminder for our friends and it was certainly a great reminder for me today! Even though these last two weeks have been wonderful for us. How can it not be as after all these years we finally have a daughter. But it's also left me very emotional and at times filled with anxiety. We have had many decisions to make, wonderful decisions but not easy ones. We have also received additional information about the early days of daughter's life...things that are difficult to hear. So I think that's why this hit home for me this morning...don't measure your own strength against challenging times. If you do you will be filled with anxiety. (Yep - I have totally been doing that!) . Instead welcome them as an opportunity to trust and draw close to God. What a blessing! Thank you Stacy for sharing this!

The Care Package is off to China

2009-06-02T12:49:00.021-07:00

For the last several days I have busy compiling items to put in a care package for our baby girl. I am amazed how long it took me to actually pull it all together. I should have started the research long ago! But it's now done and on the way to the other side of the world. It only cost us $41 and should be there in 6-10 days. Here's what we put in it:

We included a Book that has a list of questions that we would love to know about our daughter. We are hoping and praying that the orphanage will answer at least some of the questions so we can learn a little about her early days in China and in the orphanage. In addition, we know this will be a wonderful keepsake that I am sure she will treasure later on. We actually purchased the book back in April from another China adoption Mom and we just found out recently that she adopted her daughter from the very same orphanage back in December 2005 and that they were open to answering questions. How cool is that? I sure hope that is still the case. In addition, she told me that she thought they really loved the girls in the orphanage and took care of them the best they could.

We also included a photo album that has pictures of our family, her room and our cat. We included 2 disposable cameras that we are hoping they use to take pictures of her and her nannies etc., We also included a stuffed lovey/animal, blanket, a few small toys, some nail polish and candy for the nannies as well as some saf-t-pops for the older children in the orphanage.

Lastly, we included a letter that we wrote to the orphanage director and staff. A kind soul that Doug has worked with in the past, kindly translated it for us.

We are praying that this is received in the spirit in which it was sent...with love and appreciation for this very special child.

Celebratory Chinese Dinner

2009-05-29T23:46:00.001-07:00

Tonight we headed to a new Chinese restaurant for an overdue celebratory dinner. All along we had planned to go out for Chinese (of course!) on the night we received our referral. But as it goes sometimes...things did not go quite as planned that day. As you know, Doug and Camden weren't even in town and it's felt like a whirl wind ever since. But it worked out the way it was supposed to and instead we enjoyed a wonderful celebratory meal 8 days after receiving news of our sweet baby girl. The food was even really really good which was amazing if you know what city we live in. We are thrilled to have found a place that we love and can frequent! :)

We accept!!!

2009-05-26T23:30:00.009-07:00

We signed our acceptance letters today and they are off to our agency. We don't have any concrete travel dates and most likely won't for several weeks. But our agency is estimating that we will travel to China early to mid July. Yippee!

Doug & Darth with our important papers!

Fed Ex Stork

2009-05-26T01:36:00.038-07:00

This past Friday around 10:45 am the Fed Ex Stork arrived at our home with the long awaited package. Even though Doug was not able to be at home that morning and I promised I would not open the package until he was able to come home so we could open it together...I was still completely impatient for the Fed Ex to arrive. The Fed Ex guy was taken aback when I bolted out the front door as soon as he pulled in to our driveway and asked to take his picture. Initially I am sure he thought I was a freak..but when I explained to him what he had in his hands, he was very willing to comply and dare I say...enjoyed it. Come to find out he had been asked one other time for his picture (glad to hear there are other freaks like me out there) and that he grew up in McLean, Virginia where our adoption agency is (and the package was from).

Although it was really hard and I nearly caved several times, I am happy to report that I did not open the package until Doug arrived home. Since we missed receiving "the call" together, it was wonderful to enjoy this moment together. Inside the Fed Ex were pictures of our baby girl and her medical records (only some of which have been translated).

The mug shot...isn't she cute???

It is amazing to us how very little information there is in her medical report. From what they did check everything looks normal. Her measurements (at 8 months) were:
Height: 25.6 in
Weight: 14.3 lbs
Head Size: 16.3 in

She is in the 5th percentile on the American growth charts and in the 10-25th percentile on the Chinese growth charts. So she is petite.

We were also told she:
~Laughs aloud
~Has a ready smile
~Is fond of listening to music
~Is a deep sleeper
~Close to caregiver
~Quick in reaction
~Locates the direction of sound/voice
~Holds blocks in each hand at the same time
~Looks for the dropped toy.
~Reaches and grasps a toy beyond.
~Follows you with moving head from one side to the other.
~Distinguishes between acquaintance and strangers.
~Knows name, turns when called.
~Holds her head up while lying on her stomach
~Rolls from supine to prone position by herself.

Thank you - Thank you - Thank you!

2009-05-25T11:47:00.008-07:00

Just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to post a comment on the blog, facebook, send emails and call! We have been overwhelmed with everyone's love and support! I am sorry that we haven't responded individually to everyone. It is has been a whirlwind since we received news of our daughter. Doug and Camden came home around 1:45 am on Friday from San Diego (that's right...they were not here for "the call" but I will blog more about that later) and then we headed to Phoenix that afternoon for my niece, Lauren's graduation. We had a wonderful time celebrating with her and also being able to get together with both sides of the family and share our news and pictures of our sweet daughter with them. We did come home earlier than anticipated from the weekend as we have much to do and process regarding the adoption. Thanks again for allowing us to share our immense joy with you and responding in kind. It means so much to us! We will post more pictures and details in a few days.

Here she is!

2009-05-21T18:07:00.012-07:00

What a huge surprise! Our agency just sent us a link to our referral announcement and it has a small picture of our sweet baby girl! I thought we were going to have to wait until tomorrow for pictures so I am thrilled! One tiny picture is better than nothing. She is beautiful and I am already in love!

Here's the link to the announcement: http://www.awaa.org/referrals/default.aspx?id=827

The password is Tarico.

We have a Daughter!

2009-05-21T17:30:00.012-07:00

After 4 long years since we decided to adopt, it seems almost unbelievable to be able to post this. We got "the call" today at 2:49 PM and we have a daughter.

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. I Samuel 1:2

We are overjoyed to introduce to you:

Chinese Name: Qian Xiu Qing (last name, first name, middle name)
To be known as: ???
Birthday: July 6, 2008 - She is 10 1/2 months old!
She is currently living in: Qianjiang Social Welfare Institute
Province: Chongqing (The province is light green in the lower middle of the map)
She was described to us as healthy with a little hair (not much), round face, big eyes, light complexion with kind of a half smile in her pictures.

That's all the info we have right now. We should receive pictures and more details about her on Friday.

Thank you God for this day!

Love it!

2009-05-21T11:27:00.006-07:00

After seeing this on a few adoption blogs , I just had to post it! Thank you to whoever created it! Love it - Love it - Love it!

We have been matched with our child!

2009-05-21T10:13:00.006-07:00

Here's the email we received from our agency this morning:

America World is excited to announce some new information that was obtained this morning from the CCAA. The CCAA has confirmed that they have completed the matching process of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before March 14, 2006. Though referrals have not yet arrived at AWAA, it is likely that they will arrive at any time in the next few days. As stated in earlier emails, America World does not receive confirmation from the CCAA on when referrals will arrive.

This is one of those rare situations, where they have announced the matching prior to sending the referrals. We know you are very excited to receive your referral and we will contact you as soon as referrals arrive in our office.

Words cannot express how I am feeling right now. After all these years it all feels surreal.

Getting on the Referral Rumor Rollercoaster Again

2009-05-21T00:31:00.015-07:00

After a few difficult weeks...it looks like things might be looking up. I hate to get back on the referral rumor roller coaster AGAIN as we have been disappointed so many time before...but I really can't help myself as it looks like there is a very good possibility that we may receive news of our child this week and maybe even later today. There are several agencies saying the cutoff is March 14th, 2006 (and we are March 13th) which means we are in and their is even a report of a Danish agency already receiving referrals. This feels so wild after where we have been these past couple of weeks. We have heard so many different things...things are on hold till June due to the swine flu, things are on hold until September due to the swine Flu and nothing is on hold (even though referrals are 2 1/2 weeks late). It's hard to know what all to believe. But at this point, everything is pointing to seeing our child's face very soon and my pessimistic side is thinking...since Doug and Camden have gone out of state with out me for the first time ever and will be gone a mere 36 hours, this will be when we will receive "the call". Only time will tell...

Last Day of First Grade

2009-05-20T23:21:00.008-07:00

Today was Camden's very last day of First Grade. This year flew by in a flash and I can't believe that we now have a second grader. Crazy!

I picked up Camden a little early from his last day so that Doug and him could catch a flight to San Diego as Doug found a car there he wanted us to buy. The timing wasn't great but we thought that Camden would enjoy going with to pick up the car and then spending a day at Legoland (we still had time left in our 3 month passes) with Dad before heading back home. I was caught by surprise at Camden's response. He was SO sad and started to cry in the car on the way to the airport. He said he didn't want to leave school and that he was so sad that Mrs. Wolf would no longer be his teacher. It was really so sweet. It truly has been a great year and I too am sad that Mrs. Wolf will no longer be his teacher. She is a passionate, creative and loving teacher. You could tell that she not only cared about the academics but truly cared about the kids as individuals. What a blessing she is!

Camden and in his words...the very best teacher I have ever had. :)

I spoke with Doug later in the evening and he told me that when Camden and him were having dinner, Doug said...I miss Momma to which Camden replied...I miss Mrs. Wolf. Too funny! Don't worry...I don't take it personally. I am so thankful for the wonderful year he has had and I will miss her as well!

Will I get to use this soon?

2009-05-19T22:23:00.005-07:00

My friend, Jenn gave me this nearly three years ago...I think. It's to record all the pertinent info when we finally get "the call". I greatly appreciate her putting this together as I am sure that when "the call" does finally come, I will probably be in such shock and disbelief we won't remember what to ask. Thanks so much Jenn!

Party at the Splash Park

2009-05-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Today we had Camden's class party at Brandi Fenton Splash Park. Unfortunately, I failed to check my camera battery prior to the event so sadly I was only able to capture a few pictures before it went dead. Needless to say the kids had a great time spending all day at the splash park playing in the water, having a sponge relay race, water balloon games and fights and eating all sorts of stuff. Although it was quite hot out there and we both came home completely exhausted, it was a great way to finish off his first grade year and a good time was had by all.

Camden and his buddies, Will, William & Brendan:

Camden doing his superhero gig.

Friends from Cam's class having some fun:

My Sleeping Boy

2009-05-16T23:17:00.001-07:00

Here's how I found Camden sleeping the other night. It's hard to tell from the picture but his face is buried in stuffed animals.

The Fun Continues...

2009-05-15T09:11:00.004-07:00

It is so frustrating...there continues to be lots of conflicting information being given to agencies. Here is a list of rumor and updates that Rumor Queen has posted on her site:

The provinces I’ve heard about that aren’t confirming appointments to some agencies are: *Guangdong* Jiangxi* Beijing* Shanxi* Guizhou* Liaoning* Shandong

Some agencies are confirming appointments in these provinces with no problems. So far, I can’t find a logical reason why some are allowed to set appointments and others are not.

Five agencies have now confirmed that the CCAA is holding paperwork (referrals and in some cases TA’s) due to the swine flu. Just as many agencies have been told by the CCAA that it is business as usual and the longer period between referrals has nothing to do with the flu. Personally, I believe the first and not the latter at this point.

Two agencies have been told paperwork will be held until June, when the CCAA will look at the situation again. One agency is saying nothing will be mailed until September. The other agencies do not give a date. I tend to think that the CCAA is probably watching the situation and will begin mailing things when they think it is safe to do so.

One agency is saying that the CCAA has stopped matching. I don’t really think that is the case, and I’m mostly basing that on what happened during SARS. During SARS the CCAA kept matching, they just didn’t mail anything. When the crisis was over they mailed them out as fast as the various consulates could keep up.

As for why the CCAA isn’t making an announcement, I can make a few guesses. The first being that if they formally announce it then the press will pick up on it. I’m guessing that the media could make a nice big sensational headline out of it, so they aren’t going to give it to them.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

2009-05-13T21:50:00.010-07:00

Our agency sent us an email today, which I do appreciate. But truly it was four paragraphs long and as my Dad used to say..."Was a whole lot of nothing!" Basically they said that they are in contact daily with the CCAA and that they have not indicated that matching or sending referrals has been delayed due to the Swine flu. Huh??? Of course it's been delayed. Referrals have always been received either at the end of the month or the very beginning of the new month. And what's even more frustrating is that other agencies are telling their people different things. In addition, some agencies have received travel approval for clients who received their referrals last month and others have not. Some provinces are confirming appointments and others are not. I get that China is being cautious. They were hit hard during SARS in 2003 and they don't want that to happen again. But why is it so difficult for them to issue an official statement that is clear and concise, so we can all know what the heck is going on? Even just to say...we are currently putting everything on hold and will reevaluate the situation at the beginning of June. Then at least those of us waiting can stop living day to day and week to week wondering if we will get the "call". As a planner (and analyzer) this is starting to drive my nuts and I am feeling done!

100 Wishes Quilt

2009-05-11T13:10:00.013-07:00

Our 100 Wishes Quilt is finally becoming a reality. After starting to collect quilt squares back in Spring 2007, I am excited that I finally brought all our fabric squares to Betty, a sweet little old lady who is going to put it together for us. My friend, Jen had her do her quilt as well and she did a wonderful job. I can't wait to see the final product. It will actually be a pretty big quilt as we ended up having 120 fabric squares and wishes. Thank you so much everyone!

A few days before I brought everything over to Betty, Doug, Camden & I spent an evening at a fabric store picking out our own squares to contribute to the quilt. It really was a lot of fun. It was especially neat to see Camden get a little excited about the process and want to choose more than just one fabric square. Sadly, Camden has grown a little negative about the adoption over this last year. Needless to say this has been very concerning to Doug and I and we have been praying a lot about it. Fortunately, we have had some good conversations and Camden has been very open and honest about his feeling. I so appreciate that about him...what you see (and hear) is what you get so to speak! Part of me can't blame him for how he feels. He's been the center of it all for 7 1/2 years. That's all he knows. Who wouldn't be nervous about how it will change EVERYTHING! Well, I am happy to say there is a glimmer of hope as his attitude has improved these last couple of weeks and he even said that he was a little excited about going to China and having a little sister.

Here's Dad with his fabric square. I love that he choose the fabric with owls. We both love owls and I know Doug will impart much wisdom to our daughter.

Here I am with my selection. What else could it be but hearts??? I have loved and longed for this sweet child for many, many years.

Here's Camden with his three selections...fire, Sandy (from SpongeBob) and cats. Camden loves anything with fire on it and cats have long been his favorite animals. Just lately he said we should adopt all the kitties in the world that need a home. Too funny! I would be okay with that but for some reason I think Doug would object!

Anyone who knows us knows we had to include these fabrics as well to represent our family. I know...a little silly! But we don't care! :)

Me & My Boy

2009-05-10T22:58:00.001-07:00

Me & my boy...Mother's Day 2009

Uhura

2009-05-09T00:12:00.003-07:00

Our sweet kitty Uhura, sure loves the mess around here. Here favorite place to be these days is at the top of the pile of boxes (or on any other pile of something). What will she do once we finally get everything organized around here? Lucky for her it won't be anytime soon! :(

CARE Womens Bible Study

2009-05-08T13:20:00.026-07:00

This week has brought to a close something that had been a huge blessing in my life for the last seven years. Just before Camden turned one back in 2002, I started to attend the Mom's Class which is a part of C.A.R.E. Women's Bible Study at First Evangelical Free Church. It is a Bible based parenting class that has been taught by Barb Tompkins for 28 years. The class was such a huge blessing as it helped me a better Mother and Wife. I went on to take it two more years before taking a break in the Fall of 2005. I returned to C.A.R.E in the Spring of 2006 as Treasurer and attended a class on Prayer. I returned to the Mom's Class in Fall of 2006 for the fourth time. Following that year, Barb asked me to come on as one of the six Titus' in the Mom's class. Basically it means you facilitate/support a small group while being mentored by Barb. The term Titus comes from a passage in Titus II that talks about the older women teaching the younger women. I was hesitant initially as I doubted that I had what it took to be a good Titus. But I am thrilled that God has continually drawn me to himself and compelled me to accept Barb's offer. It is hard to put it into words but these last two years have been life changing for me in just about every way. The relationships that are formed through this Titus tutelage are unique and until you have been apart of something like this do you realize how very special it is. I have continued to grow as a Mother, wife, small group leader and friend. But most importantly I have continued to grow in my relationship with Christ and have been overwhelming blessed with spiritual joy and truth. In God's grace He has shown this to be one huge blessing of our very long wait to adopt from China. I would not have been able to be a Titus had the adoption taken place as we expected 2 years ago. For this I am truly thankful!

Here is Barb & I at our last Titus Meeting:

Here are a few pictures of our Titus group over the last 2 years:

What does this say about me as a Mom?

2009-05-07T13:21:00.010-07:00

After returning from a town hall meeting with our state representative, regarding public education, Camden proudly told me that he cleaned and organized the bath tub and all the bath toys (Doug mentioned that he was also organizing the drawers in the bathroom as well). Needless to say, I was really quite impressed. Camden went on to say that he wants us to organize the whole house as well. Hmm...I do consider myself to be fairly organized and truly I am the happiest when everything is in order. But after this very busy week...the house is definitely not in order. I really didn't think it was that bad though until Camden confirmed it. I wonder...what does it say about me as a Mom when my 7 year old wants to organize the whole house?? I guess I know what I am doing this weekend!

Here's the result of Camden's cleaning and organizing:

Cam's note to his teacher

2009-05-06T13:20:00.005-07:00

This week was teacher appreciation week at Cam's school. Each day the students did something different for the teacher. Today they were supposed to bring a picture or note to let the teacher know what they appreciate about them. I had to chuckle with what Camden came up with. He has had a great year and he truly loves his teacher.

First Grade Opera

2009-04-30T23:17:00.007-07:00

Today Camden's class presented an Opera of their very own creation entitled Mystery at the Carnival. They came up with the story, cast of characters, songs and ideas for the sets (the parents got to have most of the fun creating the sets however). Every child had to audition and much to Camden's dismay, he did very well (his teacher's words) and was picked to play one of the bigger roles. Coincidentally, he was chosen to play the character with the name he came up with...Asadon - the great magician. To say that Camden was nervous about doing the show was an understatement. He didn't want to do it and tried his best to get out of it. The morning of the show he flipped out a bit and did quite a bit of crying. He did have quite a few lines to learn and he was nervous that he would forget them. Truth be known I was nervous for him as well. But I am happy to say he pulled it together and once again did very, very well and didn't forget a line. We couldn't be more proud of our sweetart! Here's a few pics from the day and show:

Sad

2009-04-29T21:49:00.004-07:00

The rumor today is not a good one. Unfortunately, it looks like China is putting everything on hold for now due to the Swine Flu outbreak. There will be no referrals sent and no travel approvals given. For us that means we will not see a picture of our child this month. For those people that received their referrals for their children last month, they will not be given permission to travel to China. My heart really goes out to these people as this must be devastating to have a picture and information about your child, know their languishing in an orphanage and not be able to get them. This seems hard enough for us..and we were just waiting for the "the call". At this point, we don't know how long things could be on hold. It could be a month, it could be several. This morning I was extremely sad about this turn of events but I am feeling a bit better now. God has provided solace. For me He sent it through a dear friend and a Sister-In-Law as well as many facebook friends. Thank you for all the encouragement and prayers ladies. It is appreciated much more than you know! This journey has not been an easy one for us but we continue to trust God through it all. We know He has the perfect child for us and we will continue to wait on Him.

Waiting upon the Lord

2009-04-27T00:01:00.003-07:00

But they that wait upon the Lord

shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up

with wings as eagles;

they shall run, and not be weary;

and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Rumors are Flying

2009-04-24T20:00:00.011-07:00

We got our first rumors this week and boy is it exciting. I have tried really hard not to ride the wave of rumors each and every month. But finally being so close it it difficult not to. The first rumor is that Matching has begun. This means they are matching available children with families. The second rumor is that the cutoff is the 14th. For you faithful readers out there you know this means we could be in this month as our log in date is the 13th!!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited this makes me.

Following are some pictures of the the CCAA's Matching Room. It is amazing to think our dossier could finally be here along with our daughter's file and the two shall soon meet.

Here's what Rumor Queen says about how the Matching Room works:

First, they review the baby dossiers and make sure there are no issues with them. We are told that they then count up all of the baby dossiers that are eligible for matching that month and then look to see how far this stack will go in the parent dossiers without sending out a partial day, and they pull all of those parent files. That is the likely cut-off date. Sometimes something happens and they don't get this far. Sometimes something happens and they get farther.

Next they match orphanages up with agencies. This orphanage has six babies, this agency has six families. These two orphanages are in the same province and have a total of 12 babies, this agency has 12 families. When they are through with this is when (I believe) some agencies start to get information about the cut-off date. Or at least it is when they used to start getting information.

And then they start matching individual babies to individual families. At some point during this part of the process most agencies used to hear from their person in the matching room to let them know how many referrals they will be receiving and from what province(s). Some agencies shared this information with their clients. Some chose not to. Recently I’ve gotten the feeling that many agencies are still getting this information but they are being given orders by the CCAA to not share this information with the families.

Just as in the review room, each matcher is assigned certain agencies and is responsible for communicating with their agencies. Some matchers tell their agency the cut-off date, some matchers tell their agency “you have X number of referrals arriving”, some matchers give their agency a list of that agency’s families that will be receiving a referral. And some matchers don’t say anything at all to their agencies.

The next question that comes up is generally how the matchers match families and babies. I’ve heard from several people who have had the opportunity to speak with someone who works in the matching room. The various conversations seem to all agree that they first look for something that stands out: a matching birthday, a baby who looks a lot like a parent, or a baby who likes music and a parent who teaches music. Several matching people have stated they match by bone structure of the baby’s face and the parent’s faces (this is why they need our passport photos, so they can compare our mug shot with the baby’s mug shot). Some have stated that they used Chinese astrology, also. Once they’ve matched the obvious matches they then start to look at things like age of child requested. The age requested is not a priority for them, they feel they are matching families and not filling orders. And I have to say that they’ve done a wonderful job matching us and our Big Girl, and now I trust they will do an excellent job matching us with her little sister.

Evening Fun

2009-04-23T21:15:00.007-07:00

I think these speak for themselves!

What is the Current Wait Time?

2009-04-22T00:44:00.009-07:00

Many have asked what is the current wait time and why is it taking so long. It is interesting to me that has of late I have had several conversations with people that have thought that China had completely stopped allowing children to be adopted internationally and that we would never be receiving our child. For the record, since we started our adoption journey, China has never stopped allowing their children to be adopted internationally. However, as we know...they have slowed things down to a snails pace. When we officially started this process back in September 2005 the wait time was 7-8 months after your dossier was logged in. Once our dossier was officially logged in March 2006 the wait time was 11-12 months. After that point things greatly changed and we watched the wait grow 1-2 months every single month. During that summer in 2006, we contemplated and prayed about whether or not to pursue an interim adoption with another country. But everyone thought that things would speed up and that China would never allow the wait to grow too much past one year. In the history of the program(to that point), the longest anyone has ever waited was 15 months and after getting to that point China brought the wait back down to 5-6 months. Needless to say, we didn't pursue another adoption that summer. The following summer in 2007, we again thought about pursuing an interim adoption. Once again, all authorities on the subject thought that things would approve and that the adoption would happen within the year. At this point, China also made a rule that they didn't want any other children (through pregnancy or other adoption) brought into the family within one year of the Chinese adoption. If we did we might need to put our dossier on hold. Once again not wanting to jeopardize the adoption, we did not pursue any other adoption. Suffice it to say this adoption has been with in a year of taking place for almost three years.

Our agency, AWAA recently posted to their blog regarding the wait time. They gave a pretty thorough list of reasons why. I think the only ones they missed were politics, saving "face" and the Olympics. Here is their post:

The current wait from LID to referral is 37-38 months at all agencies and increasing. This represents the wait time for families who just received a referral in April and who could potentially receive a referral next month. The wait time is calculated from the Log in Date when a dossier is sent to China, to the date that the referral is received. For families with LID dates after March 7, 2006, the wait time trend continues to increase half a month to a full month each month. No one can accurately predict how long the China wait time will become or when it may start to decrease due to a large number of unknown factors, such as the following:

• the number of infants that will be available for adoption and paper ready within the upcoming year

• the number of domestic adoptions that will occur within China this year

• the number of families from around the world who have login dates between the last referral LID and today

• the number of families who will withdraw from the China adoption process due to the increased wait time

• the number of families who will adopt special needs children and will no longer have their dossier waiting in the non-special needs line

• the number of families who will switch programs during their process and no longer adopt from China

Families are encouraged to calculate their wait time as a projected estimation, knowing there is no way to predict the actual wait time for each family. The wait time changes as it is based on the number of LID’s from around the world and the number of referrals that are paper-ready each month.

A lovely 28 hours

2009-04-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our good friends, The Lowell's, taking Camden overnight, Doug & I had the opportunity for a little get away. The first one in more than 5 1/2 years. Things have been very busy around here lately (and will soon become busier) so we welcomed the opportunity to reconnect a bit as well as have a little belated celebration of our 16 anniversary which took place in January. We had purchased a night at a B&B in Amado, back in December at a charity fundraiser. We were pleasantly surprised that they put us in one of their nicest rooms. We had a wonderful bed, jacuzzi tub, flat screen tv and a little fridge. The room was even cute for southwest decor (sorry to you lovers of all things southwest...that's not me!) Anyway, the room was prime for relaxing and reconnecting and we took advantage of it.

Here's our little B&B along with a few of the beautiful surounding flowers:

We had a romantic dinner here at Longhorn Grill. You should have seen it at night...the eyes are bright red. There was actually one other dinning option in town...the Cow Palace. It had a whole cow on top of it. Too funny...AZ definately has a lot of kooky stuff! We had a good time though.

On Sunday we headed to Tumacacori, which is an old mission from the 1690's. We greatly enjoyed learning about some of the history of Southern AZ. But I did feel convicted though...I have lived here many years and have never gone to see this. In fact, there is probably many things that I haven't seen here. The last several years Doug and I have been more interested in adventuring to other countires, instead of learning more about our own. We have decided that we would like that to change.

Here's what it currently looks like inside:
This is what "they" think it looked like way back when:

My handsome hubby:

Us! :)

At the mission there was a sweet little old woman, doing a traditional tortilla making demononstration. Come to find out she has been doing this here at the mission for 26 years. It was so cute...as she was making her tortilla's (along with her yummy beans by the way) she was doling out all sorts of wisdom. Unfortuately, we had to get it second hand as we don't speak Spanish. But it was wonderful just the same and we were able to chat with two more couples in the process. The sweet little tortilla lady (and her hubby) have been married for 50 years and here is a few of her words of wisdom:

The most damage you can do (to a relationship) is with your tongue.

Without love you have nothing but if you have love you have everything.

China Adoption Monthly Cycle

2009-04-15T12:07:00.010-07:00

38 months ago on Feb 17, 2006 our papers were sent to the CCAA in China. Shortly after, through one of the many Yahoo China adoption boards I joined, I met Jenn. I was ecstatic to make a local China adoption connection. We are with different agencies, but were excited to learn that our papers went to China on the very same day. Soon after emailing, we made plans to meet at a local park with our kiddos for a picnic. Doug was a little concerned at first that I was meeting a "friend" that I met on the Internet. :) But soon after came to really appreciate their friendship and of course adore their wonderful kids. Long before I was in blogland, Jenn was a blogger and posted about our very first get together. Since then we have gotten together pretty regularly to yak about all things China Adoption. Her friendship has been such a huge blessing to me. There is nothing like having a friend who knows right where you are at and understands the ups and downs of it all. I can honestly say that she has truly kept me somewhat sane these last three years and she has certainly helped me (try) to get my ducks in a row. Their log in date is 3-10-06 which is three days before ours. We are hoping that we will both receive referrals for our daughters in May and be in China at the same time. We would most likely be in different provinces but would both finish in Guangzhou where everything is finalized. So we would be likely to overlap there. Either way, we know they are next and will receive their referral in May. Words cannot express how happy we are for them!

Many of you have asked, "Any News?" Well in response to that seemingly simple but truly complex question, Jenn has written a post that really sums up the China Adoption Monthly cycle in all its gory detail. My friend has the gift of the written word and since I will be unable to reproduce such a post, she has given me permission to link to hers. To get a better understanding of the ups and downs of the last 37 months in China Adoption land and get a better idea of when we might get some "news" go to Stork Watch - Monthly Cycle.

What province is she in?

2009-04-14T22:58:00.003-07:00

As we grow closer to receiving our referral, I can't help but wonder about the child that God has for us...how old is she, is she in an orphanage or foster care, what province is she in. So much to wonder, dream and fret about. The average age of the children that are referred are around 10 months old. But it certainly varies. In the last batch of referrals for our agency, the children ranged from 9-29 months. Some of the children are in foster care but the vast majority of children live in orphanages in China. Our agency, AWAA has received referrals from all over China but the majority of referrals are for children from Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hubei, Chongqing and Hunan. In just a few weeks we may finally get answers to many of our questions.

Easter

2009-04-13T22:44:00.009-07:00

We had a very nice but very low key Easter weekend. Cam has been on spring break which has been so great. It's so nice to have him home. By the time they are in school it almost seems like they spend more time away from you then with you. That's why I relish the time he is home even though I pretty much get nothing done. ;-) Anyway, we enjoyed some nice family time and enjoyed a wonderful Good Friday and Easter celebration at our church. We also colored some eggs and on Saturday evening, Doug and I hid some eggs through out the house, for Cam to find. The next morning unbeknownst to us, Camden rose early and found all the eggs (with the exception of a couple), opened them all up to see what was inside and then closed them back up and waited till we got up. He then wanted us to find them all...like we didn't know where they all were. Too funny! I love it that he still thinks there is an Easter bunny.

Here we are after church on Easter Sunday:

Cam was excited about the contents of this egg. You can't really see it but it a General Grievous Croc charm. Cam hasn't seen Star Wars III, but that doesn't stop him from thinking that he's the coolest. What's cooler than a cyborg with four arms and four light sabers???One of our hidden eggs. Yea -yea..there aren't just the pretty pastel ones in our household!

Coloring some eggs while still in our favorite froggy footie jammies:

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

2009-04-12T00:59:00.001-07:00

Romans 6:23

2009-04-10T00:51:00.006-07:00

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Guestbook

2009-04-06T15:37:00.001-07:00

Since most of our visitors aren't from the blogospere, I have added a guestbook feature on the sidebar on the right under the Verse of the Day. If you stop by for a visit we would love to have you sign it. :)

Sad News

2009-04-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community.

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Two days closer

2009-04-01T16:23:00.007-07:00

It's not yet official but it looks like the CCAA has matched two more days and are currently up to March 8th, 2006. That is 5 days away from our login date of 3-13-06. Two of those days are weekend days when no one is logged in which makes us really just 3 days away. We know from China Adopt Talk (Queen of all things China Adoption...she compliles all info (and rumors) from other adoptive parents and agencies), that there is not many people logged in on 3-13-06. In fact it looks like our agency/travel group may be the only one. We also know that a ton of people are logged in the day after us on the 14th. So the likelihood of the CCAA lumping us in with all the people logged in on the 9th and 10th is very high. Make sense? Clear as mud? It really all means that we are likely to see a picture of our child in 30 days. If not it will definitely be in 60 days. Either way my nesting instincts are starting to kick into high gear. My poor hubby...

First sleepover and yet another tooth

2009-03-30T21:13:00.012-07:00

Camden had his very first sleepover (not counting family) this past weekend with his good buddies, Rob & Ted. It was so cute...he was so excited for them to come over that he could barely contain himself. Actually, the sleepover was supposed to happen a few weeks ago but unfortunately, he got sick so we had to reschedule. So he had been looking forward to it for several weeks. I am happy to report that not only did the house survive but the boys had a fabulous time! They played pirates, cowboys, legos, scootered and just about everything else under the sun and I had fun trying to keep three boys fed. Now I know what my Mom went through with my three brothers.

Rob, Camden & Ted ready for bed (kind of)

Later in the weekend, yet another tooth was hanging by a thread and Camden decided he wanted me to try and pull it out. Much to my surprise it popped right out. Camden was quite thrilled to loose his second tooth in less than a week. He said I bet the tooth fairy (in her letter...our toothfairy writes to Camden sometimes) will write, "Wow, your second tooth in less than a week! Cool!" Oddly enough that's exactly what the toothfairy said in her letter. :-)

The sweet smile that just melts my heart:

Making progress on the nursery

2009-03-29T00:33:00.021-07:00

Thanks to my friend, Shari lighting a fire under me, I have now started to work on the nursery. It all feels a little surreal though. But after 4 years on this journey, I don't want to be caught with my pants down so to speak and not be ready. So my sweet friend came over two days in a row to help me get a handle on it. Thankfully she did as it turned out to take several coats of primer and paint to cover the purple/blue color as well a bit of back and forth to Lowe's to get just the right shade of green and pink. Unfortunately, I failed to get a true "before" picture. But suffice it to say that the room was a complete disaster as it had become a dumping ground for just about everything. So even cleaning it out and trying to figure where we were going to put all the stuff was a huge chore. But anyway, here's the "before" photo:

My friend, Shari hard at work:

I still have shelves to paint, pictures to frame and curtains to make (or buy) but this is what it looks like currently. I saw the diamond design many, many years ago and always wanted to try it.

The bedding is Wendy Bellisimo, Vintage Teaberry. I purchased it off Ebay several years ago and fortunately, I still love it.

Our little friend

2009-03-28T08:39:00.004-07:00

We have a new friend in our neighborhood. He moved in a couple of weeks ago. If we like we can go out late each afternoon and find him in the Palm or Pine trees surrounding our home. Last week we had the opportunity to get a close up view as he was only about 12 feet off the ground. It was pretty amazing to see him blink and turn his head all the way around. Camden greatly enjoyed it. He has also been enjoying the barf balls that we have been finding around the yard.
Here's a look at our new friend. Oh and by the way he is an owl!

This Week

2009-03-26T16:44:00.029-07:00

This week has been a very busy week at Camden's school with all sorts of activities. On Tuesday evening they had an art show which was very enjoyable. Camden really surprised us with his response to it all. Last year he didn't even want to attend so we didn't go. But this year, he has seemed to enjoy art much more and I think much of that is due to the fabulous Art Mom his class has had this year. She has really done some wonderful projects! Anyway, he mentioned they had submitted a few of his art projects and wanted to go to the art show. When we arrived and found his three items (two inside and one outside which was used as part of a cool flag presentation), he burst into tears saying "I only have two items in the show". I couldn't believe it...is this the same boy that didn't even want to go last year and wants to spend about five minutes on every art related project we do at home? Camden sure keeps us guessing sometimes. But one thing is for sure he has the tendency to be very critical of himself and other people and often looks at things half empty NOT half full. How as a parent do you change that thinking? We have been praying about that a lot lately. So today I had coffee with several Mom's from his school one of which is our fabulous art Mom. It was such an enlightening conversation in so many areas....one involving Camden. I tend to put Camden in a box (I am really trying hard to change this)...he tends to be more of a concrete thinker and (in general) not naturally creative. Well, she totally called me on that today. Commenting how well he is doing in art and especially how well he did on one particular project that was submitted to the art show. She said he did one of the best (if not the best) in the class on that project and showed how creative he can be. That was so sweet of her to share and a bit of a wake up call to remember to not put him in a box. This afternoon I shared with Camden what she had said and his face just lit up and the first thing he said was, "That was really nice of her to say that!" As we were driving a few minutes later he said, "Did she really say that?" Oh my sweet boy!

In addition to my normal Wednesday afternoon in the classroom and a Field trip, they also had a K-2 program titled African American Extravaganza. It was all about celebrating African American contributions to different kinds of music. It turned out very well. However much to Camden's dismay they asked him to do a little solo. It was only two lines but boy was he nervous about it last night. He thought for sure he would forget his lines. I am so glad they asked him to do it as it is not something he would ever volunteer for and it is so good for him. I am happy to report that he did a wonderful job and didn't forget his lines.

Here the kid's getting ready to sing. Just in case your wondering why Camden is so dressed up for the show, on top of everything else this week it has also been "spirit" week. Each day the kids are supposed to dress in different ways. Today was career day. Although he thought about trying to dress up as a scientist, he decided to go for one of his sports dreams...a professional soccer player.

Camden getting ready for his solo. He looks really excited doesn't he?

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

2009-03-24T00:06:00.010-07:00

Over the weekend, Extreme Makeover Home Edition televised the episode that took place in our town. I love what this show does! They choose a needy family and while working around the clock for about a week, build them a home.

They were in town filming back in January and my friend, Rebecca had the idea for us to go and take a look at the action. I am so glad we did! It was great fun seeing it all happen...the building, the filming and all the volunteers coming together to help this needy family. If I would have known in advance, I would have volunteered as well. Actually, Rebecca tried to volunteer but I guess they ended up receiving far more volunteers than they needed which is awesome!

Rebecca & I doing some gawking. Rebecca actually went back on another day and could be seen in the crowd with the Super Nanny on the show the other night. :)

Some walls going up.

Here are some of the show regulars doing some taping. Unfortunately, none of this made it into the final product. But it was still fun to watch!

Ty Pennington talking to the family. This did make it into the show! :)

Our friends, Jim & Stacy who were part of the more than 1,500 volunteers.

This is the back of Jim's shirt which if you notice was signed by Ty Pennington's butt double. Funny stuff...

Some volunteers including Jim unloading wood that Jim helped treat.

Lost Tooth & Crazy Hair Day

2009-03-23T09:54:00.021-07:00

Camden finally lost his first tooth on the top last night. It seems like it was hanging by a thread for weeks and weeks. This morning he was so excited that the Toothfairy came and left not only 1 dollar but a little Lego set which is his most favorite thing these days. He was so cute! He said...I think I should write the Toothfairy a letter to thank her. Then he added...I bet she''ll write back! :)

This picture is a tad close but I still had to post it!

The loot and our superhero, Toothless Wonder who keeps our teeth until the Toothfairy has time to retrieve them:

Today is also Crazy Hair day at Cam's school. And after the colored hair that kids came to school with last year on Crazy Hair Day, I promised Camden that if he wanted we could do it next year. Of course he remembered this and I greatly believe if we tell our kids we are going to doing something, we darn well better do it. Not following up on our word can do much damage to our kiddos in more ways than one. But anyway, this all came up before I knew it (why does this always happen?) and between church and a very important basketball game yesterday, we rushed to our local beauty supply store and bought some temporary hair paint. Since Camden's favorite colors these days are blue and green, that's what he chose. Well, here's the result. He was pretty excited!

Sweet 16 Baby!

2009-03-22T16:15:00.009-07:00

Anybody who knows us knows that we are big Wildcat basketball fans. Such big fans that I even purchased a cheesy Wildcat necklace at a fundraiser last year. It was for a good cause and all! Anyway, our Wildcats barely made it into the NCAA tourney and many thought they shouldn't have. But I am glad to say that we have proved the naysayers wrong by winning both on Friday and today and me in my cheesy Wildcat necklace enjoyed every minute of it! Sweet 16 here we come!

Pro Life Obama Ad

2009-03-21T16:26:00.004-07:00

This ad was of course rejected by most of the mainstream media. Nonetheless it is a good one!

San Diego

2009-03-16T18:20:00.084-07:00

This past week we were one of those "bad" families that took our son out of school to go on vacation. We were actually supposed to go a few weeks ago but had to reschedule since Doug had so much going on at work and was on the verge of getting sick. Amazingly, the hotel allowed us to reschedule our stay to a later date. So we left midday on Wednesday and headed to San Diego. One of Camden's most favorite things these days is Lego's...either building or playing Lego Racer on the computer so a big part of our trip was about Legoland. We spent two full days and had a great time. Fortunately, overall the park wasn't too busy (which was how we tried to plan it) and we rode pretty much everything and in some cases multiple times...ie we rode one of our favorite rides the Dragon coaster six times in a row since there wasn't any line and we didn't have to get off. Camden was pretty stoked. Even though we had a great time, it is sad to see that Cam is starting to get a little old for some of the rides. Do they have to grow up?

Here we are in our cheesy touristy outfits. Normally we don't wear such things when we travel (in the states or out) but our basketball team was having a big game that day and we just plain wanted to be comfortable!

Our boy at the entrance:

Dad & Camden

This is our third time at Legoland and each time we have taken a picture of Camden in this shark. It's kind of become a tradition. Here's this trip's picture:

And here is the first one we took of Camden back in 2005. He was 3 1/2:

Our boy doing his own driving at Skipper school. It was pretty funny actually...Camden all by himself in his own boat and Doug and I crammed in our own little boat. It's still hard to believe that he is big enough to go all by himself.

The boys had fun on this ride although Doug got a little too wet. He wasn't too happy that it was me squirting him from dry land.

Since Doug can't handle the spinning rides, this has always been my territory. Up until a few years ago I was totally fine with that. More spinning the better. Sadly now that I am old (nearly 40) I have found that I can't go all out on those rides, I get to a certain and I need to find my " happy place" to finish the ride. Getting old is hard!

All around the park are all sorts of things made of legos. This is definitely one of our favorite parts of Legoland.

President Obama's Inauguration:

While swimming one evening at our hotel swimming pool, Doug & Camden met the Scott family from Missouri. They had three boys and Camden hit it off immediately with one of their boys. The next morning, we ran into them in the parking lot and found out they were headed to Legoland as were we. Later that afternoon, we ran into them at Legoland and enjoyed doing some rides together. They were such a nice family and something seemed different about them. Before heading to separate areas of the park, we got their email address and took a picture of Camden and one of their sweet boys, Ben. In hindsight I wish we had taken a picture of the whole family. Anyway, as many families do and much to Doug's chagrin, we finished our day at the park at the gift shop. While making deals with Camden on which Lego set we were going to buy (ya know how much he has to spend and how much Mom & Dad were going to throw in etc..) , we ran into the family once again. We chit chatted and then they took off. They were heading to LA as their flight home was the next morning. I did briefly, think about initiating dinner with them but before I knew it they took off. Funny but we were a little sad to see them go. Strange, don't you think? We finalized our Lego purchase (finally) and headed for the car. Doug and I talked later about this but at the time we both thought, if we see them in the parking lot we will invite them to dinner. Well, since we took so long at the darn gift shop. They were long gone with just about everybody else that was at Legoland that day. So, we decided to find some dinner and were itching for something different...maybe some seafood but definitely not a chain restaurant so we took off driving on PCH and headed toward Oceanside. About 10 miles North of Legoland, we decided to park when we came upon a cluster of restaurants. We walked around a few blocks checking menu's and since Camden was whining about starvation, we finally decided on a little local place that looked somewhat interesting. We sat down and ordered our food. After waiting for a few minutes guess who came walking into the restaurant? You guessed it...the Scott family! We could not believe it! We were no where near Legoland and we weren't even on a main drag. It was amazing! Since we all now knew that we were supposed to have dinner together and become friends, they joined us for dinner. Shortly after we found out why we had such a connection with them. It's because they love Jesus as do we. We prayed together and had a wonderful meal. This was such a neat experience...it gives me goose bumps. God is always at work and sometimes I forget that. But when something likes this happens it's a bit of a wake up call...you know it can only be God that orchestrated it. It doesn't just happen. Will we ever see this family again? I have no clue. But for some reason we were meant to cross paths in March 2009.

Camden & Ben

We also spent a day enjoying a few of the museums at Balboa Park. We started at the automobile museum which was a big hit with Camden of course. Here are a few favorites from there:

Yes, it's an old Jack-in-the-box drive through menu. Can you believe those greasy (but sadly very yummy) tacos were only $.25 at one point?

We were able to meet up with Doug's sister, Val and her family who were just returning from a week long whale watching trip down to Mexico. We had a wonderful time exploring a small botanical garden and the Natural History Museum and just catching up. We capped off the evening with some yummy Thai food. Here's part of the gang:

My boys:

On our last day in San Diego, Doug took Camden and spent a few hours doing a few rides at Legoland and checking out their aquarium. While Doug allowed me a few hours at the outlets nearby. I didn't do too much damage but I probably picked up a few too many little girl outfits. If they don't end up fitting our daughter, someone we know will be getting a lot of really cute girl clothes. Here is one of the items I just couldn't resist. Since we don't have a name picked out, we have spent the last four years referring to our daughter (mostly for Camden's sake) as "Little Sister".

Before heading home we finished with a little play time at the beach. Me & my sweettart:

3 Years

2009-03-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today marks three years since our paperwork was logged in with the China Center of Adoption Affairs. All I can say is...astonishing!!!!

Getting Closer...

2009-03-11T00:02:00.000-07:00

The CCAA recently referred 4 more days of LID's and are currently up to March 6, 2006. Our LID is 3-13-2006 which means we are 7 days away. Yes, 7 days away! What does this mean exactly? Only God knows for sure! But depending on how many days the CCAA refers, we will see a picture of our child either by the beginning of April, May or June. My hope (or prediction if I dare say) is May. But I do think we will receive our referral at the very latest by June and travel to China by August.

In the Fall, we created a paper chain to help Camden better understand where we are with the adoption and how close we are to seeing a picture of "Little Sister" (since we haven't been able to decide on a name in the nearly 4 years that we have been on this journey. We continue to refer to her as "Little Sister") . Each link represents an LID (log-in-date) and each month we remove the coresponding number of links. After removing 4 links this month, here's what our chain currently looks like:

And here is Camden ready to rip it to shreds:

You might be adopting from China if...

2009-03-10T20:34:00.004-07:00

....you know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways

.....you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years

.....you understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world

.....you've "paid for" 3 immigration approvals, but never brought anyone into the U.S

.....you know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes

.....your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4)

.....you never know how many days next month will have

.....you know that babies come in batches

.....you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime

.....you automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl

.....you own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big)

.....you look twice when you see a ladybug

.....you're more interested in what will happen in March 2006 than in March 2009

.....you know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months

.....your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years

...you know who the Rumor Queen is

.....AND.... you don't know who she is

.....you know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather

.....you've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed

.....trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles

.....when you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals

.....You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart.

(I copied this after seeing it on several blogs...I'm not sure who wrote it, but it's very cute.)

What time is it in China?

2009-03-04T17:07:00.012-07:00

My sweet friend and Titus cohort, Susan went to our cities gem and mineral show last week and bought a watch for me as well as for Barb, our Mom's class leader. It was SO sweet of her to do this and now I know what time it is here AND in China! Love it! Thanks so much Susan!

Camden's favorite way to sleep

2009-02-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

These days Camden's favorite way to go to sleep is no longer cuddling his favorite Tesin, which is the current name of his Teddy. (His name changes all the time by the way. In fact, we are a family that has many different names for each other, our stuffed animals and even our cat. If you didn't know it already we are a very weird family :) But anyway, he loves to go to sleep with his head directly on Teddy. It is so cute! I just love it that my seven year old baby still sleeps with his favorite Teddy and even still wants cuddle time each evening with his Momma. How long will it all last??? I am sure not long. He already doesn't want me to go to the bus stop to get him in the afternoon as he is a "big boy". He wants me to stay in the house. Well, this Mom is just not ready for that. So we found a compromise....I come out to our driveway and wait for him. Fortunately, for me I can see the bus stop from the front of our house!

Valentine's Day Etiquette Party

2009-02-14T23:13:00.021-07:00

Instead of a regular old Valentine's Day party, Camden's teacher has a tradition of doing a Valentine's Day Etiquette party. Have I mentioned that Camden's teacher is fabulous? She is always doing such creative things with the kids. She definitely goes above and beyond! Anyway, Parent's signed up to bring appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts and then participated as waiters and waitresses. The children had to dress up, use proper etiquette and order from a menu. They were so cute! They did a great job and seemed to really enjoy having us serve them like they were in a fancy restaurant. The meal was followed up with a dance party that the kids really enjoyed! Here are a few pictures from the festivities:

Gotta love this forced smile!

Mrs. Wolf teaching some of the kiddos:

Here's the class getting some dancing instruction. The boys were supposed to ask the girls to dance. Some of the boys didn't want to have anything do with it. Camden on the other hand had no problem with it. There are several girls he thinks are "nice" and was quick to ask a few to dance. :)

Castle Mailbox

2009-02-12T15:11:00.002-07:00

Part of the First Grade curriculum at Camden's school is that every child has to write a Valentine's Day letter to his classmates which for Camden (& myself) meant spending many excruciating hours writing 19 letters. I don't want to put my boy in a box BUT it looks like Camden is not going to be a writer. He is a great speller and his penmanship is very good for a First Grader. But he struggles with the creative aspects of writing as do his Mom & Dad and he just plain doesn't enjoy it. He has recently said that Science is the most interesting thing in the world (he didn't get that from me) and Math is the easiest. Too funny! Anyway, to house the letters, Camden also had to create a Castle mailbox. Since I had the opportunity to enjoy the 18 letters, I kindly left this little project for Father & Son. It wasn't quite as fancy as some of the castle's (some parent's sure go all out on such things) but I think it turned out pretty cute: