Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Adoption Presentation

Why are we adopting from China? Here is one reason, though we consider us to be the lucky ones to have Geneva come into our lives.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Care Package!!



We sent Geneva her first care package. We sent pajamas, a stuffed animal, a ladybug sweater, a sweatshirt, hair clips, hat, blanket, 9 pictures of us, candies and peanuts and lotion for her foster family, a disposable camera that her foster family will take pictures with and then return the camera to us to develop, and a translated letter for her foster family. We went through http://www.redthreadchina.com/. They were wonderful to work with and had very reasonable prices!! We hope to send her another package for Chinese New Year.
Gifts for foster family

San Diego Thanksgiving

Make a PhotoShow Full Size

Geneva's First Present!!



Geneva received her first birthday present from her Aunt Stephanie who lives in New York City. Landon had fun opening it for her, though he doesn't get to play with it. We are going to take it with us when we meet her for the first time. Thank you Aunt Steph!!



Sunday, November 11, 2007

My dream

Dreams Do Come True!!
Many people who adopt have had a dream years earlier about their child to be. I am no exception. My dream happened when I was single and in my twenties. In my dream I was working somewhere and standing behind a counter. One of my coworkers pointed at a little girl and said "See that little girl over there? You can have her if you want her." I remember my heart leaping! She was sitting on a bench and was of Asian descent. She was wearing a dress and Mary Jane type shoes with white cuffed socks. She was swinging her legs and looking at the floor. She had a bob haircut with bangs and was probably about 4 years old. I walked over to her and knelt down beside her. I looked at her and said "Do you want me to be your mommy?" She shook her head yes and I remember thinking that my life was going to change forever as she hugged me.
Whether you believe that dreams are given to you as a sign of things to come or if you believe that they are just a subconscious manifestation of your deepest desires, my dream is now coming true!! I can't tell you the peace and comfort I feel when I look at pictures of my little girl. She is the girl in my dream and I can't wait to hold her in my arms!!

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Halloween 2007


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!



We had a good Halloween. We have been so busy that we didn't decorate this year, waited to carve pumpkins until the night before, Carson wore his costume from last year and Kendall wore what she wears to dance. We wish we would've done more, but promised the kids that next year we would go all out!!

We went "Trunk or Treating" at our church the Saturday before Hallween and the kids had a great time playing games, running around the parking lot with their friends and of course going trick or treating to everyone's cars!










Thursday, October 11, 2007

Happy First Birthday!!!







Happy First Birthday our little princess!! Though we can't be with you today, we are thinking of you. Next year we will have a big party for you and Landon with lots of friends, cake and of course presents!! We wish we could be there with you, but we know you are being well taken care of. We can't wait to meet you and bring you home. We love you!!

Mommy, Daddy, Kendall, Carson & Landon










Monday, October 08, 2007

She's on the Wall!!


Okay, so maybe this is bad karma or something since we don't have our PA yet, but I had to put Geneva on the wall. It is so nice to sit on the couch and look up at our FOUR beautiful children. The picture of Landon and Geneva were both taken when they were 6 months old. I think they kind of look alike. Geneva will be 1 on Thursday. I told Derek that I really hope he comes up with a name before that. We want to know her name when we sing Happy Birthday to her and bake her cake. Since I last posted, we found out that Geneva isn't in Shanxi Province, but Sha'anxi Province in Yan An City. It is so nice to be able to look at a map and know exactly where our little girl is. Sha'anxi Province is where the Terra Cotta Warriors are located. That will be fun to see.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

"Geneva's" Poem

Baby Geneva is Heading HOME!

In beautiful China,
In province Shanxi,
Lives a sweet little baby
With B b on her knees.

Beautiful baby Geneva
With sweet smile so wide,
Three wonderful siblings
Wait to be by your side.

You'll have a "twin" brother!
You're five days older than he.
Never let him forget:
You're the older, you see!

Your new state's Quarter
Will be issued in 2008.
The state's Governor got an award for
"Leadership and commitment to children's health."
I think that's just GREAT!

A river named for the state I'm in
Carves deeply through your state.
Geneva, your wonderful family
For you, can hardly wait!!

Your last name sounds like candy
A yummy candy is called Reeses!
When Geneva comes HOME
This family will have all its pieces!

Our agency has a tradition of writing a poem for each special needs family that finds a home. This is "Geneva's."

"Geneva's" Twin




She's our Girl!

We have decided that "Geneva" is our girl. We still don't have a name for her. It is much harder to pick a name once you see a picture. You have to pick a name that looks just right. We are now starting the process of bringing her home. Luckily we have most everything for our dossier. We just have to get Derek's medical and a revised financial statement. Then our social worker will finish writing our homestudy. The homestudy then has to go to the Arizona court to get approved which hopefully will only take a couple of weeks. So hopefully by October we will have our dossier sent to China.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Here She Is!!







Referral Day

Today is referral day. The agency sent over a profile of a beautiful little girl with her medical information. Her birthday is October 11, 2006. That is just 5 days before Landon was born. She has a cleft lip/palate and is otherwise very healthy. She lives with a foster family, which is wonderful. There is a good chance her lip will be repaired before she comes home and it may already be repaired. These picture are of her at 6 months old. She definitely has our chubby cheeks. We are now deciding whether or not to accept the referral. Unfortunately I can't add exclamation marks on my blog to show how excited we are.

Missed the Call!

Yesterday afternoon the agency called and we didn't hear the phone ring. We had a plumbing disaster in our house and were busy mopping and cleaning up. Stefani said she had a little girl she wanted to talk to us about. By the time I called her back, she was gone for the day. I can't believe I missed it. So now I am anxiously waiting to hear something. I can't believe we are finally seeing our daughter's picture. It is so surreal.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Referrals are close!

Yesterday the adoption agency called and they have two little girls they want us to look at. One was born in April 2006 and one was born in May 2006. They both have cleft lip/palates. The agency has to translate their histories and tomorrow we should get that information and pictures. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Hopefully one of these two girls will be our daughter. I can't believe how quickly everything is happening. Now I am going to go to bed and try to get some sleep.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Special Needs List

Last night Derek and I went through our list of special needs we would and wouldn't accept. It was much harder than we thought it would be. When you have a child biologically you don't choose what physical struggles they may or may not have. You love your children no matter what type of disabilities they may be born with. So saying we wouldn't accept a certain type of disability was really tough, like you are turning away from so many wonderful children. We should know in the next couple of weeks whether or not we are matched!

Friday, August 03, 2007

Our Journey Begins!






















I am so excited that our adoption adventure is finally beginning! Derek and I have decided to adopt a special needs child from China instead of doing a traditional China adoption. To adopt traditionally, it would be about 2.5 years before we get our daughter home. Adopting a waiting child means she will probably be home next summer! Special needs in China are not like special needs here in America. The majority of them are cleft lip/palate and other minor correctable conditions. Our agency has told us that because of our experience with our two preemie sons that we are quite eligible for a waiting child. About every three months our agency gets a group of about 30 kids that need homes. They have many more families than children now because lots of families like us are switching over from traditional because of the long wait period. As I understand it, they will send each family a few profiles of children waiting and ask them if they are interested in those particular children. The families respond and of course they end up with more than one family for each child. The agency then decides which family is best suited for that particular child. The next list comes out this month. The agency said that if we don't find our child on this list, we will for sure find her in November. It would be okay if we don't find her this month. We can't submit our paperwork until October anyway. China's new regulations state that you cannot have a child under the age of 1 at the time of your dossier submission. Since our sweet little Landon won't be 1 until October 16, we have to wait until then anyway. Once we send our dossier off to China in October or November, it will be about 8-9 months until we travel. We are hoping to adopt a little girl somewhere around Landon's age. We are glad that our children will be so close in age. I have posted pictures of our kids when they were born and current pictures. I will post pictures of our daughter as soon as we get our referral!











Presley's Adoption Timeline

  • 8/15/2007 - Received referral for Geneva!
  • 9/13/2007 - Sent LOI (letter of intent) to our agency
  • 9/29/2007 - LOI was sent to China!
  • 10/08/2007 - LOI was delivered to the CCAA in China
  • 10/29/2007 - PA (pre-approval) was issued!!
  • 1/15/2008 - DTC (dossier to China)
  • 1/18/2008 - Dossier delivered to CCAA
  • 1/25/2008 - LID (log-in date)
  • 4/1/2008 - LOA (letter of acceptance)
  • 4/25/2008 - CCAA issues TA (travel approval)
  • 5/22/2008 - Leave for China!!!
  • 5/25/2008 - Met our sweet Lexi!
  • 5/26/2008 - Discovered Lexi had brain damage
  • 5/30/2008 - Met precious Presley!
  • 6/7/2008 - Arrived home

My Family

My Family
My favorite people!!