Another Birthday!

Today is our "first" daughter's birthday!  Frauke is from Germany and was our foreign exchange student from August 2007 until June of 2008.  She probably won't be happy that I posted a photo of her, but we still think of her as our first kid, so I don't care!  Happy Birthday Fraukeeeeee, we miss you!  Oh, and that's her on the right in the photo.

Birthday Photos Part One!

When we sent a care package for Margot's birthday we were hoping to get photos of her special day.  I know of some people who have received the photos right away and some who have received the camera back with their child.  We were super surprised to get an email and photos from Ann at Red Thread who put together our care package in China for us.   Here is the lovely Margot (in the yellow tank and pink pants) playing with 2 of the other girls at her Institute who will also be adopted soon!

Cribs

Look who thinks the crib belongs to them!  Neuman has no problem getting in or out, but Miles can't figure out the getting out part.  What are they gonna do when there's a baby in there!?!  Oh, and the ratty blanket hanging over the side is my old baby blanket!

Baby Room in Progress!

Goodbye orange walls!  We painted the room for our girl Frauke when she was living with us and never changed it after she went home to Germany.  The walls are now a soft gray with white trim.  We also refinished the hardwood floors and they look great!  I was thinking about a sputnik lamp for the ceiling, but we still had Chris' bubble lamp from our old house so we hung that instead.  The curtain is also a work in progress, hence the giant A clamps!

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby!

Today our girl turns 1.  I can't believe she will be a year old and I can't believe that I can call our girl.  Our paperwork is moving along more quickly than I thought it would and I'm hoping we will travel to get her no later than early fall.  We celebrated the day with a little cake of our own and both of us made wishes for her when we blew out the candle.  And yes, that is a tealight on the cake!   Birthday candles, just another thing we need to get for her!

Someone to Watch Over Me

We wanted to send Margot a care package as soon as we were allowed to.  As sad as we are that we won't be able to be with her for her first birthday, we were glad that we could send her some gifts and a cake as well!  I've heard a lot of stories about care packages and whether or not the children do receive them.   It sounds like every Social Welfare Institute is different.  Some parents have received the items back with their children ( sometimes obviously loved and used / sometimes not ) and some never know if their children even received the items.  Since we belong to a yahoo forum for families that have adopted from our SWI, it seems like the children do receive the packages!  I read something on another adoption blog that really made sending the package even more worthwhile.  She wrote that even if the child never received the items, she wanted the nannies to know that somewhere there was a family that loved that child and that they would be coming for her.  She hoped that their knowing that would help her child continue to receive the love and care she deserved until they could come and get her.

These are the items we sent to China!  Pajamas, Brown Bear and a soft Photo Album with photos of us and her in it!

Another mom in my forum told me how they had sent a photo album to their 8 month old child in China.  She said that every night in their China hotel the little girl would sleep with her face on the picture of her new parents.  How awesome is that!

So along with our items we also will be sending a cake and camera through Ann at Red Thread.  Here are the photos she sent of our items!

She will receive her cake from a local bakery.  We are hoping to get photos of her enjoying her cake with the nannies and other children!

“Father wears his Sunday Best, Mother’s tired she needs a rest”

This song has been playing in my head lately and not just for the lyrics but the band’s name as well. Madness.

In a few short months a one year old child will be placed into our permanent care. Where do we begin? How is this going to work? Madness.

We have answered all the adoption agency questions with honesty. We have been interviewed separately and together, we have been looked at and studied from every angle and they still want us to have precious Margot as our child. Madness.

We have sparse information from the orphanage and only six pictures’ of dear Margot. Because of this and in spite of this we have concocted a pretty good story of what she’s really like. We’re told she likes music and rice noodles. Does she like to eat the noodles while listening to music? They didn’t say but we are assuming yes. They say she likes to study the faces of strangers as if she’s thinking of something.  My God what is she thinking? Who is this stranger? Where are my noodles? I believe she’s filing the image away to paint it at a later date. She’s going to be an artist.  Madness.

Julie ordered a baby carrying sling that we projected to be the right size for Margot. To test it out she put our cat Miles in it to see how he fit.  Practice baby!  Complete Madness.