Thursday, January 31, 2008

Cleft lip/palate CAN be life-threatening!!



This sweet little boy is Zhang Qi. He was only 6 1/2 weeks old in the picture above and the picture below is Zhang Qi after receiving proper nutrition. This is what happens to cleft babies when they do not have the proper medical attention. I'm sure Zhang Qi's birth family did everything they could to feed and care for him. I cannot imagine having to make the decision to give up your child so that they can live and knowing you will never see your child again. I am so thankful to Lexi's birth family for deciding to give her up and give her a chance at life. You can just look at her fat little cheeks to see that she is very well cared for. Cleft babies are best fed with a special cleft bottle. Love Without Boundaries is an incredible charity and that distributes cleft bottles and formula. Each bottle only costs $2 and that $2 saves lives!! Please consider donating to this charity at http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/. You can view the video below to see what a difference this charity makes. Lexi is alive today because she obtained proper medical care. Please help give another child a chance at life and a chance for a family.

LWB Cleft Nutrition Video

Monday, January 28, 2008

Geneva FINALLY has a name!!

Well, it only took 5 months, but we finally settled on a name for Geneva. We have decided to name her Alexandra and call her Lexi. We both loved the name Lexi, but Alexis was just too popular for us. If she doesn't like Lexi as she gets older, she can go by Allie, Alexa, Alex or Alexandra. Lexi goes really well with her virtual twin Landon. We are coming to get you soon our little Lexi!!

DTC and LID!

I didn't even have a chance to post that we were DTC (dossier to China). We were DTC on 1/15 and our dossier arrived in China on 1/18. We just found out that our LID (log-in date) is 1/25!! Woo Hoo!! We are on our way!! We are still hoping to travel in May, though it might be June.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is on February 7 this year. We sent Geneva a Chinese New Year Package. It included a traditional set of Chinese clothing, stuffed animal, disposable camera, a small book, translated letter, pictures of us and we included some candies and peanuts for the foster family. I think this little outfit with the butterfly is absolutely adorable!! We used http://www.redthreadchina.com/. They are so wonderful to work with and have such incredible prices!!

DTC!!

Our dossier was sent to China on Tuesday, January 15. It arrived in China on Friday, January 18, received by the receptionist at the front desk of the CCAA at 3:03 pm. Now we will wait for an LID (log-in date). Next we will receive an LOA (letter of acceptance). We will sign that and fedex it to our agency and they will fedex it to China. Then a couple of weeks later we will receive our TA (travel approval). We will then make our CA (consulate appointment). Once we have our CA confirmed we can make travel arrangements. We are so excited to be getting so much closer to our little girl!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Christmas 2007

Make a PhotoShow Full Size

Geneva's Gingerbread Man



We made gingerbread men a couple of days before Christmas. Carson made one that happened to have Geneva's beautiful eyes!

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!!