Shenanigans

.... that's what we've been up to, general shenannigans.School ended for Brynn last week and all of the Handley chicks are officially on summer vacation. After wallowing in misery over the end of first grade for all of 10 minutes, my darling baby said to my husband "Daddy, you know last year when school ended I was so pissed off ... this year I am not angry at all!" Pissed off?!?! She's 7 for god's sake!!! Where the #@!& she gets language like that is beyond me ;)2 Okay, so maybe mommy does talk like a sailor ... could it be time to actually start watching what I say around the kiddies? Anyhoo, we've had constant rain storms this week, so Brynn's dream of going to the pool every single day of summer has already been shattered. We did get one good day in (that's Brynn with BFF Amber in the pool above). Julia is now just one of the kids ... she's running around and bothering her sister like a good sibling should. In a few weeks we'll leave for NC to visit my FIL. Brynn doesn't really remember her "Bad Paw" so this should be a really great trip for her ... if you ignore the 12 hours it will take to drive there. I wonder if she will ever ask me if I have a father? She already gets that my mommy is in heaven, but I guess the idea of dads who don't care about their kids (let alone their grandchildren) hasn't crossed her mind yet. Okay, so I am a little bitter ... it comes out every year right before father's day.

Our little group of Wenzhou girls has had some major developments this month! This week Deb's daughter, Ellarie, had her palate closed and mom reports she is recovering very nicely. Here's hoping that this will be the only surgery necessary :) And in huge news ... Meilyn is home with her family!!! Well, at least she's on a plane to the US as I type, so close enough ;) I am so happy for Cortney and her clan. I can't wait to get these girls back together one day!!

My brother and MB are finally, officially engaged ... as in she has a ring now. The date is October 14th of this year ... yeah, my brother is getting debt for his 28th birthday! Holy crap ... he's 28! How do I manage to stay eternally youthful while everyone continues to age around me ;)

Summer Is Here!!!!

I didn't think it would ever come ... but it came!!! I had my last final today and finally start my LAST year of school in the fall! We've decided to put Julia in daycare while I am in school to prevent mental breakdowns such as the one I had this past semester. I am so happy to finally have time just to devote to my family and friends. Bran and I got to take the kids to the rail trail in Shrewsbury this past weekend. Brynn road her bike 3 whopping miles!!! We were so proud of her. Julia wanted to walk the whole way ... needless to say, we'd still be walking home right now if I hadn't forced her into the stroller :)

Cortney ... you'd had better be prepared, you're going to be spending your summer with 3 kids ... You lunatic! JK :)

My Baby is 7!!!!

Brynn celebrated her 7th (when did she get that old?!?!) birthday this weekend! This year's coveted gift was a bike ... she's just getting her balance and whatnot, but so far she loves it! Julia is content to sit in her stroller and just watch big sis pedal :) Brynn had her party at the gym where she has gymnastics ... lots of neighborhood friends and kids from her class attended. Nobody told me when kids get to a certain age parents just drop the kids off and you are officially in charge of 14 screaming 7 year olds for the next two hours, like it or not ;)

My little baby turning 7 has me in one of those awful reflective mom moods. You know how you revel in your little baby getting bigger, more independent, more like the wonderful person you hope they grow into ... and then you remember this means you are older ... much older, than say oh when she was in diapers and you still counted as part of the under 30 crowd. Maybe there is something to be said for teenage pregnancy? Just kidding ... but I am feeling my age. I can't help but think how nice a mini-van would be now that we have 2 :)

Anyhoo, We finally have warm weather her in York. I think we missed Spring this year and are just going into ungodly hot. I just need the summer now ... I definitely need the break, and I just want to spend some time with my kids when I don't have to worry about getting homework done (mine or Brynns!)

A huge shout out to my friend Cortney who just sent back in their LOA for their gorgeous daughter Meilyn!!!! Meilyn is one of Julia's buddies from Wenzhou ... I am soooo excited for you guys!!

And if everyone in the cyber world would join me in hating my friend Peggy, who left for Hawaii today ... without me. Peggy you b!tch :) Oh well, at least you have your kid with you, how much fun can you possibly be having ;)

Happy Easter!

Julia's first holiday at home! The girls are getting along beautifully and Brynn is so happy that Julia will finally play with her. My brother, Bryan, and his fiancee (?) Mary-Beth stopped by today. They gave the girls these wonderfully loud toys as easter presents, which they love. When they have children of their own, I will return the favor in spades. For your edification Bryan and MB, parents don't give other parents children a) playdough, b) noisy toys or c)noisy playdough toys. :)

We've officially been parents of two for a whole month now!!! And we have the bags under our eyes to prove it.

Deb, I saw the pics of Ellarie on the boards ... omg she is adorable!!! She looks like she's settling in so well!

Cortney, any word yet? I've been meaning to write you with my 100 useless suggestions but seem to have no time for anything any more. (Except maybe poopy diapers!)

Finally, it is Easter and I don't think it broke 40 degrees today. I am ready to move to CA :)

Settling in Just Fine

Julia discovered the food pantry ... she literally spent half an hour pulling food off of the shelves :)

We've been having adventures in pediatric care ... We took julia for her first check-up with the same Peds office we take Brynn too. What a difference though! This doctor seemed to have no idea about issues with adopted children. She didn't understand that children in institutionalized care would be delayed in fine and gross motor skills, including speech. Don't even get me started about the nurse there ... let's just sum her up this way, she was going to stick Julia with 2 shots at one time. One in each hand. At the same time!!! The doctor had to stop her ... geesh. Anyway, we've switched Peds and are very happy with our new Ped. If you're in York, PA and want the name just email me. We also took Julia to the Johns Hopkins cleft clinic. I can't say enough wonderful things about them. In one (long) afternoon, she was seen by an audiologist, an ENT, a speech therapist, a pediatric dentist and the plastic surgeon. All her testing has come out fine so far and it looks like her repair in China was done well. We'll know for sure in a few months wether or not a revision will be necessary. She did test positive for TB exposure (positive PPD) so unfortunately, we will have to do a year of Isonaiazid as a precaution.

She is adjusting great, I wish I was doing so well :) I am not sure what the future holds for my school career right now. I am still behind in my classes from the trip and today I totally bombed 2 tests. Also, I missed 2 classes to take Julia to the new Ped. Maybe this is why most people chose to complete college before they have children? I don't know, I know if I withdraw I am not going back ... and I am having a really hard time accepting that I may never get that BA. On the other hand, my kids (and DH) deserve to have me not being insane and stressed 24/7.

Words to the wise ... college and kids don't mix :)

They're Creepy and They're Kooky ...

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The Old Bait and Switch!!!

We are finally home!!!! And what a grueling journey home it was. In summation:

• The 11 hour trip from Narita to Detroit stinks.

• The 11 hour trip from Narita to Detroit sucks when your baby has explosive diarrhea.

• The 11 hour trip from Narita to Detroit becomes comical when your baby's cute butt shoots said explosive diarrhea across the plane bathroom and it bounces off the mirror onto every conceivable surface in said bathroom.

Seriously though, (not that explosive diarrhea isn't very, very serious!) Northwest airlines totally sucks!!! They cancelled our trip home from Detroit and couldn't book us on another flight until 6 hours later. They were really nasty about it at the rebooking counter too! By the time we finally got home, poor Julia was in just a diaper as she had soiled every piece of clothing I'd brought on the plane for her.

The adjustment has been a little rough. Our baby who never cried in China is certainly making up for it now. She is scared of her older sister, the dog, the cat, the sheer size of her house and I am assuming her own shadow. She is still eating like a horse, which has resulted in the unpleasant side effect of massive stinky diapers that seem to come like clockwork at 3:30AM.

Tomorrow, we have our first doctor appointment and first trip to hang out at Starbucks with Aunt Julie. Which will be more traumatic, we'll see.

A huge congrats to Deb who just celebrated the Gotcha Day of their new daughter Ellarie!!!! She has such a beautiful bunch of girls :)

And as if having 2 kids didn't make me feel old enough .... Morrissey is coming in concert!!!!!!! Oh melodrama!

The Red Couch

please pardon my typos ... julia is helping me type :) This must be why there's 2 shift keys on each side of the keyboard ....

We did our red couch shot, quite the momentous occasion! That's Elessar sleeping on the left, lil miss Julia in the middle and Bethany on the right. We're missing Mindy from our group as they had birthday party excitement to attend to. The group shot is from left to right .... Aunt Patty, The Chan Clan, The Martins and us.

We have our consulate appointment today and then we can travel home tomorrow!!!!! Congrats again to Deb who will be leaving to get her little Ellarie the same day we leave to go home!!! I will be following your site closely .... because it's not like I'll have just come home with a new baby and have nothing better to do :)

This will be my last post until we're back in the states. This has been an awesome trip and if I can offer any advice, it's to come into this with no expectations. The little girl who never smiled in any of her pictures is a bubbly, happy, head-banging wonder. I expected our child would be small and underweight ... nope, size 18-24 mo clothes, 23 lbs! I figured we wouldn't really start bonding until we were home ... we've been together for a week and I can't go pee without her wondering where I am :)

Everything has been a wonderful surprise, and it's just so freakin' cool! For all my A-moms in waiting, I really can't wait for your turn!!! Love to you all, and see you back in the states!!!!!

Happy Monday!

We are enjoying ourselves immensely here at the White Swan. Julia continues to do great ... lots of smiles, high-fives and lots of babbling. She says ma-ma, but I am pretty sure it just means "give me some food ... now!" The pace of shopping has picked up and I am confident I can break the bank before we leave Thursday morning :)

Today we visited the Jade and Pearl markets, which was very overwhelming. Bought more squeeky shoes and lots of other useless crap :) We had the joyous experience of hailing our own taxi home from Carrefour (where we did not find a car seat ... so word to the wise, if you really want to make sure you have a car seat for the plane, bring it from home!) At this point, I don't think we're going to find one and I am having panic attacks about the idea of flying with an unrestrained toddler for 17 hours. Ahhhh, the joys of parenthood. (My childless friends should insert hearty belly laugh here)

Julia's latest game is head butting and head shaking. The head butting hurts ... big time. But she laughs and laughs each time she knocks mommy in the nose with her forehead. The head shaking ... I have not a clue. All we can surmise is that our child likes jostling her brains about.

Anyhoo, the princess is sleeping so it is time for the hubby and I to watch some exciting TV .... maybe CNN, maybe Chinese Badminton ... oh, I can't wait!

High Five!!!

Little Miss Sicky-Poo is no more! Julia is 100% better .... and last night we got the smiles and giggles to prove it. It seems like everyday she comes more and more out of her shell! Yesterday at lunch, she discovered the joy which is high-fiving .... and I discovered the joy of her finding a new game to replace "let's throw this on the floor and make mom pick it up!" :)

We're at the White Swan now, which is fabulous, and having a really good time. For all my internet friends, I met Amy from Seoul (in person!!!! not on a list!!!!) She's here too, bringing home her sweet little boy Elessar. The brave woman has her 3 other beautiful children with her too, making her an official goddess :)

Mnady, if you're reading, I wrote you back and I am sooooooooooooooooo happy to hear from you!!!!!!

We're off to sight see and shop tody. I seriously have bought nothing since we've arrived ... so it's time to do some damage :)

Taking a Sick Day

My poor baby woke up fine and then started scratching her neck really hard .... she even had big welts from the scratching. Then almost as soon as she stopped scratching she threw up twice :( Hence the clothes drying over the tub (you'll notice my pants in the back there too!) The hotel floor and bed are feeling quite violated. She's had the sniffles since gotcha day, but I think the cold is getting worse. Our guide, Kelly, is bringing us some cold medicine as I type. I would swear this was an allergy to the bottle, since it all happened right after she ate ... but she's been taking the formula fine for the past 2 days ... any suggestions from the btdt crowd are highly welcomed.

Hanging in Hangzhou

Today we received our "red book" from Civil Affairs. From what I understand, this is basically the document from the province that approves us to adopt. There's actually a little ceremony when you receive it, the director comes out and reads the proclamation from the red book ... very cool, very official :)

we drove around the West Lake today, which is absolutely gorgeous. Tomorrow it is supposed to be a little warmer, so we'll actual get to walk around it then. For my Maryland friends, this place puts Centennial to shame. We've also been exploring the city a little on our own. I had no idea how modern it would be! It's like a mini New York. Lots of upscale shops and department stores, restaurants etc. We took Julia for baby's first Starbucks today :)

She is doing fantastic. We got her to smile and even play a little game with us ... evidently it is extremely amusing to hand each other toys back and forth while saying "Thank You!" She has an appetite not to be believed. I did get yelled at by one of the Chinese ladies on the street because her pant leg came up and there was about one inch of exposed leg :)

She's cooing away in her crib right now, guess that means she doesn't want that nap after all!

Note to Deb: The officials we buy gifts for are women, not men as GW said, so you may want to get them something a little more appropriate than the Zippo and Marlboros I gave them :)

Julie: I hope Ryan is feeling better!

We Got Her!!!!

She's beautiful beyond words!

Baby in 10 ...9 ....8 ....7

We are in Hangzhou! It's beautiful and VERY modern .... there's lots of shopping, so let's hope Julia likes to shop like her mommy :)

It's 4:40 in the afternoon on Sunday here, so I'll be holding Julia for the first time in just 17 hours!!!! I can't believe it! We are trying to make arrangements to visit Wenzhou, we just need to get final approval.

A note for my fellow GW Wenzhou moms to be ... the info they give us about gifts is wrong, you only need 2 for the nannies and 2 for the officials. So, Deb stop that shopping! :) Are you really leaving for China they same day we head home?

Anyhoo, I need to get everything ready and then get some sleep ... I am a mommy again tomorrow!!!!!!

We're Here!

We made it!! We arrived in Beijing yesterday at 9:30pm local time. We spent the day doing tours of the Forbidden City, Tianemen Square and the Great Wall. We have been eating lots of YUMMY food :) There are fireworks going off all night long ... the Chinese New Year is still in full swing here, and the big lantern festival is tomorrow. We're leaving for Hangzhou first thing in the am and then the next morning (Monday) we'll meet Julia for the first time!

I saw a group at our hotel today who had just received their babies ... oh my god, the jealousy!!! Soon :)

By the way a huge CONGRATS to Deb ... you can stop doing the snoopy dance now (you know you've been doing it since the second you found out about your TA ;)

Leaving on a Jet Plane ... *GULP*

The moment has arrived ... we are leaving tomorrow morning to bring Julia home!!!! A huge WooHoo for bringing home my daughter .... a huge oh-no for having to travel on a plane.

Yes, I am afraid to fly. Not just afraid, more like mortally terrified. Whenever I fly, it usually starts with panic at boarding, followed by outright crying during takeoff. Hours of white knuckling the armrests with the joy of being so paralized by fear I can't even get up to walk to the bathroom. Yes folks, I flew all the way to Russia once and not once did I even get up to pee.

This time I have to take care of another human being while in this lovely mental state. I believe Charlie Brown said it best ... "Good Grief"

Wish me luck ... and if the worst happens, this post will be horribly ironic. Please make sure it makes it's way around the internet in proper urban legend form. :)

Next post will be from Beijing! (hopefully!)

Happy Year of the Golden Pig!!

Happy CNY to everyone! I've heard the year of the Golden Pig will be a very auspicious year to have a baby. Since we will be leaving to bring home Julia in just 10 (count 'em 10!!!!) days, I'll have to agree :) I am very excited for my fellow A-moms who will also be bringing home their sons and daughters from China in this year of the pig! And, just to prove that I am not prejudiced to the homegrown variety of kids ... a huge congratulations to my friend Rasheeda who announced today she is expecting her own Golden Piglet later this year!!!

Baby Shower!!!

Today was my babyshower, hosted by my best friend Julie. I am so appreciative of all the hard work she put into this shower. It was really beautiful and we had a lot of fun .... and a whole lot of chinese food! All my friends were so awesome, and gave Julia such amazing gifts! A great big "I love you man!!!" to you all :)

Okay .. So where does my stuff go?

Only 14 more days until we leave for China!!!!! And I have almost no packing done ... woohoo! Look at this suitcase ... and I still need to pack all of my things in there! Seriously, I have learned something this week about packing. I had picked out 10 outfits, 10 pairs of PJs, 10 onesies etc. I bought a 90 pack of pampers and a zillion pack of babywipes. I have a small toys r us to take with us for Julia's amusement. These things all seemed like a great idea ... until I tried to put them in a 29" suitcase. So, I cut all the outfits in half and I'll be bringing a travel clothesline and woolite, so I can be doing some laundry in the hotel tub :) Little does my DH know I'll be commandeering his suitcase as well ....

My bestest friend, Julie, is throwing me a babyshower this weekend! I am very excited to get to party mom-style with my closest friends ... and to do it at Julie's house where I don't have to clean up the mess! Yeah!

Introducing Julia XinShan

Friday, February 2nd we received word from our agency that our TA was issued!!!! WooHoo!!!! I can now proudly show photos of our daughter, Julia Xinshan, who is waiting in Wenzhou SWI! We're waiting for travel dates, but we're hoping to leave March 1st!!!!!

Nesting

The nursery is complete! WooHoo!!!

Feeling Kinda Empty

Sing along with me everybody ... waaaiiiiting is the hardest part ....
The Nursery is 99.5% done ... just waiting on a wall hanging I ordered, and oh yeah ... A BABY! I am having a self-pity party. I am waiting on TA and on my China-Babies report, there's no news of referrals ... ughhhh. As soon as the room is done I'll post pics of Julia's room .... Martha Stewart better watch out :)

The Only Paperwork You'll Ever Love

Here's our official LOA, which we ofcourse signed and returned immediately. Come on TA!!!! We're feverishly putting together the last touches on the nursery, so look for those pics soon!

Great News!!!

We got the call tonight that our letter from CCAA to officially accept our referal is being fedex'd to us tomorrow morning!!! My agency said the last family who submitted this letter received TA a WEEK later!!!!! This is awesome, we could be bringing Julia home in early, early March!!!!

Hello World

Hi, I am Alex and I am not the Rumour Queen, but I do play her on TV. Okay, if you're shaking your head wondering who the Rumour Queen (RQ) is, stop reading my blog and get your cyber-butt to www.chinaadopttalk.com. If things still don't make sense to you, I might question why you're reading a China adoption blog anyway :)
We (myself, my DH and DD) are anxiously awaiting the newest member of our family, Julia XinShan. We've been LID since March 9, 2006 and were matched by our agency with a waiting child in November. We sent our LOI Nov. 22 and are currently waiting for TA, which seem to be coming at aprox 90-120 days. We're on day 56 right now, so almost halfway there!! Our agency has asked us to not post pictures of our daughter unitl we receive TA, and obviously we will honor that. But rest assured the nano second the TA is in my hot little hands, Julia will make her blogger debut!
Since we are hopefully travelling soon, I've started making preparations for our trip. I've done entirely too much reading about luggage and airline restrictions .... but I finally made some decisions. I bought DH and I each a 29'' suitcase (just barely meeting the 62 linear inch maximum for checked luggage!) and a duffel which you can wear as a backpack for Julia's things. I am thinking we'll buy an umbrella stroller in country and just donate it at the airport when we return home. I am totally confused about our airline miles with Northwest ... it seems everyone says you can get a better deal with posted fares than using their adoption rate. We were really hoping to use our miles to upgrade from coach. Flights to Asia from the East Coast are rough, even without a 15 month old on your lap!
If anyone whose BTDT has any great advice for pre-travel planning, I'd love to hear it.