Introducing Teng FuXia "Sydney"

Soon to be a family of 6!

This is our beautiful daughter! She is currently residing in Wuzhou, Guangxi in the P.R. China.

We hope to travel in a few months to bring her home.

We are told that she loves to smile and has a lot of friends. She gets along well with others and is very active. She is sometimes stubborn but can be docile when the teacher explains what she did was wrong.

She loves to sing, dance, slide on the slide, ride her bike, look at picture books, and tell stories. It sounds like she will fit right in with our family.

We are so happy that they are going to let her hair grow out so that it will be a little longer when we pick her up! YAY!! Pigtails...I can't wait!

First Care Package

I sent Sydney's first care package to China a few days ago. I cannot wait for her to receive it! I hope she likes everything I bought her. What I love the most is that when she receives our package she will know that she is being adopted and will soon meet her new family.

I hope the next 4-5 months go by quickly.

LOI to China!!

Today our Letter of Intent to Adopt was sent to China. We spent most of Saturday writing letters, filling out paperwork, compiling photographs, having documents notarized, and running to FedEx. It was a flashback of preparing our original Dossier. Our LOI is a letter that we must write to the Chinese Government on why we want to adopt our child and how we are fit to adopt this specific child.

Now we must wait again, but at least we have a lot to keep us busy.

I have spent the weekend preparing a care package for her. I will mail it tomorrow and hopefully she will receive it in a week or so. It contains: A disposable camera, 2 pairs of PJ's, a cute outfit with matching watch, teddy bear, and a photo album that contains pictures of her new family, house, and pets. I was able to label everything in Chinese so hopefully she will recognize us when we meet her.

She will find out that she is being adopted by receiving our package! I will continue to send her packages and hopefully it will facilitate the attachment and adjustment process.

Miracles Can Happen

Several months back we made the decision to change our adoption request to an older child. We felt that a child a little older would be a better fit for our family despite any risks associated with adopting an older child. To be honest when I first began thinking of adoption several years back I pictured adopting a child and not a baby. We ultimately decided on a baby out of fear due to possible attachment and bonding issues. As time passed I realized that I never truly saw myself with a baby and that my heart longed for a child. My wonderful husband and family agreed that we should follow our hearts and we did.

So,we also put our name on our adoption agency's waiting child list for an older child, but were told that we would probably wait just as long on that list as on the traditional route we were currently on. We thought it was best to remain in both lines and that God would take care of the rest. So, we prepared for another year or so wait. We had a Jan. to Feb. 2009 referral date in mind and planned accordingly.

We planned summer vacations, camps, work schedules, and decided to put our daughter's room on hold for a while.

Miracles truly happen when you least expect it.

On January 14, 2008, we received our updated documentation form the U.S. government that we had been waiting for for quite some time. Then on January 15, 2008 we finally wrapped up a 5+ year court battle with my husband's ex-wife on a positive note. :)

Then on January 17, 2008 at 4:54pm we received a call from our agency. They had a little 5 1/2 year old girl that they thought was a perfect match for our family. She sent us an email with all of her information and pictures and the rest is history.

WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!! She is adorable and we cannot wait to bring her home. As faith should have it we will probably travel in June which could not be a more perfect month for us to travel. All three kids will be out of school for the summer and there should not be any issues with travel . So, as a family we will travel to China to bring Sydney home.

Please pray for her and our family. Thank you God for you have truly blessed us.

I will post pictures as soon as I am able to. We must receive confirmation form China before we can posts pictures.

Stephanie

Playground Fun!

Having fun on the playground after Sunday school!

Hanging with a New Friend

Sydney and her friend -both adopted from China in 2008.

22 Months Since LID

Wow, I cannot belive that it has been 22 months since we were logged in at the CCAA in China. We are approaching the 2-year mark since our LID, and I just hope we do not have to wait 3 years!

Merry Christmas Sydney

(click on the image to enlarge)
We have purchased an ornament each Christmas for Sydney. I am sad that we have 3 "waiting for Sydney" ornaments hanging from the tree this year. I cannot wait until an ornament finally reads "Sydney's First Christmas".

Merry Christmas Sydney.

Twenty Months and Counting...

Yes, we have been waiting 20 months according to the Chinese government, but it has actaully been much longer than that. We still have no idea how much longer we will have to wait.

Here we go again... Our Homestudy Update

Well, this is my "then and now" post that I never thought I would blog about when we first started this process. I guess it makes this ever extending process more of a reality. It is amazing to think that 2 years ago we were sitting with our social worker, Kimberley, and talking about getting our daughter sometime in 2006. The US government makes us redo all of our paperwork since they "conveniently" put a 18 month expiration date on all of our documents. YAY! We get to redo a lot of our paperwork and pay the US government more money!

Then and Now...

THEN: We thought we would get our daughter in the fall of 2006.
NOW: We don't even know if we will get our daughter in 2008!
THEN: I was buying way too many baby clothes and nursery decor.
NOW: I have been "banned" from baby shopping for over a year.
THEN: My husband was just beginning his 2 year presidency term for his anesthesia group.

NOW: He has finished his term and someone else has taken over.

THEN: My best friend would soon find out she is pregnant for the first time.

NOW: She just found out that she is pregnant with her second child.

THEN: Kitchen was cream color and I had blonde hair.

NOW: Kitchen is now brick red, my hair is brown, and Mark is more gray.

THEN: Not many people in the China adoption world new who RQ was nor read her isorumors blog.

NOW: Most everyone knows who RQ is and spends all their free time on her website including myself.

THEN: I would soon be a part of many adoption secret pal swaps on various yahoo adoption groups.

NOW: Why bother... kinda swapped enough already

THEN: I frantically gathered quilt squares from all of my friends and family.

NOW: My best friend has not finished the quilt but no big deal... there is no rush.

THEN: We were fingerprinted by the USCIS Homeland Security and glad that we would never have to go through that nightmare again!

NOW: We get to go back this weekend to get re-fingerprinted at USCIS. (I understand running our prints again, but I still don't understand the logic behind having to physically be re-printed. I mean my fingerprints have not changed in 2 years.)

THEN: I got excited when friends, co-workers, and family members told me about a friend or a friend of a friend or cousin's sister's daughter who just got back from China with their child or just received their referral. NOW: Whatever...

THEN: I got excited when someone asked me how the adoption was going.
NOW: What? How do you think? It hasn't changed much since the lat time you asked me which was YESTERDAY!

THEN: I thought Christmas 2005 would be the last Christmas without our new daughter.

NOW: Well, we have had 2005, 2006, will have 2007 and most likely 2008 without her.

THEN: I planned a big Hawaii summer vacation since it would be our last big vacation without the baby.

NOW: We have been to Hawaii twice, 2 cruises, 3 ski vacations, a summer mountain trip, and 2 short trips without the baby thus far.

I am sure I can think of many more, but it is getting late. Sorry the post got a little more negative towards the end but sometimes a girl just needs to vent. I hate this long wait.

The reality has finally sunk in!!!! 2 years have gone by and we are not any closer to our child than when we started...it is quite depressing.