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.

Super Baby Awesomeness!

Margot at 10 1/2 months!

I can't believe how much she has already grown!

Announcing Margot Songmei Zainea!

Yeah, I know you really only want to see the photos!

We believe these photos were taken when she was about 8 months old.  She is in the southern part of China, not far from Hong Kong and Guangzhou.  We were very lucky to get our PA (Pre Approval) and LOA (Letter of Acceptance) in about 2 weeks, as the average wait for LOA right now is about 77 days!   We still have more paperwork to complete so we don't know when we will be able to travel, but we are hoping it will only take about 3-4 months.  Check back for new info and updated photos soon!

Three is a Magic Number

On May 24th, 2011 we got the call that we had been matched with a child from China!

We were so anxious and scared opening up her file to review.

Right away we knew she was the one, even before seeing her photo.

Her file described her as "quiet, pretty and lovely"

It also stated that she was a deep sleeper, fond of music and sitting in the baby walker and that she stares at strangers passing by as if she were thinking something.

And then we looked at her photo.  And she was it.

We celebrated that weekend at our favorite Asian Bistro "Chinn Chinn".

Our Blog Name Inspiration

With Six You Get Eggroll

Sorry Tom Petty, the Waiting is not the Hardest Part

It's hard to write, when there's not much to share.  We went through a hard couple of months in our adoption process.  Our agency was working so hard to match us with a child that they gave us a few referrals that we felt were beyond our ability to parent.  Our whole goal in this process was to adopt a child that would grow up to be an independent adult.  As adorable as these 2 girls were, we were not able to adopt either one of them.  We have a few physicians lined up to review files for us and we have really trusted their opinions.  They felt the first girl might never be independent and that the second girl might have such a severe condition she may only live a few more years.  Needless to say, it was still heartbreaking to have to say no.  I pray that they will find families that are more qualifed to handle their special needs and to love them as they deserve to be loved.

We prayed that May would be our month and we are happy to say that it was!  More to come in my next post!