Never before

may 7, 2012

never before was i late to my oldest's preschool. now i often come to drop her off later than the notoriously known late other mom. never before did i come to pick my oldest from her preschool in my house slippers. thank goodness it was not raining that day. never before did i drive off with a baby bottle on the roof of my car. hey, who is tall enough to leave it there!!! ??? never before did i have so many cheerios stuck on my socks. that drives me crazy.
but never before could we enjoy so many sweet kisses. yes, never before were we happier.

China trip summary

april 11, 2012

random tips, surprises and ideas from our adoption trip to China in march 2012

1/ we flew from Chicago to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, used Todd Gallinek as our travel agent whom we strongly recommend. eat before getting through the security at the international terminal 5 in Chicago. once you pass through the security, all you get is a small snack stand with bananas and peanuts.

2/ Cathay Pacific provided each aircraft seat with individual tv screens with a wide variery of newly released movies etc. more imprortantly, each seat is equipped with an electrical outlet for laptops. no adaptors or convertors were needed contrary to my expectations.

3/ nowhere in China (China Marriott hotel in Guangzhou, Regal airport hotel in Hong Kong or Galactic Peace hotel in Nanchang) did we need adaptors or convertors for my laptop.

4/ i would have brought less diapers with us. they take too much space and we found everything we needed in china (walmart etc). the quality may not be the same, but they served the purpose.

5/ we were glad that we had plastic utensils, forks especially, to use in restaurants outside of the hotel. bring them in case you do not master chopsticks.

6/ no need to bring umbrellas, flashlights or extra toothbrushes - most hotels had those and toothbrushes were replaced every day

7/ we both had one of the mini reading lights like Verso Clip-On Reading Light for Kindle  - excellent for reading on the plane without disturbing other passengers with the overhead light and for early bedtime reading in the hotel. our lights had to be off every night at 8pm for Teresa's bedtime.

i will be back with more....

Easter with my new sisters

now i have two sisters. we are almost twins with the younger one, only 12 days apart. i invaded her territory so we fight a lot over possessions. i am much weaker and not very good on my feet yet, but i get what i want from her. my mom wanted me to sleep with her and dad in their room, but i screamed and screamed until they finally let me sleep with my twin to be involved and to keep an eye on things. i think that my older sister really loves me. she said so to my mom and i overheard the conversation. she is very nice to me and protects me against my twin.



hi, my name is Teresa

well, now i am Teresa. until i was 16 months, my name was Xuanxuan. now i hear when they call me either name. my life is upside down now, but getting better every day. i was really depressed when the change happened on march the 19th. i would just lay down in this strange crib and would not move. not even roll over. but i am courageous, i was very sad but i would not cry. that would puzzle my new mom even more. 

i am not that upset anymore and these new people really love me, i can tell.

home

april 7, 2012
we are back home from China, it will be one week tomorrow. everything went well. i apologize for the delay, i will add some info soon. i did not get a VPN for China and could not blog therefore from overthere. it was an amazing trip, no problems or airport delays, no stomach bugs or colds, the weather was gorgeous and every night we got restful sleeep (well, with the help of melation and tylenol PM sometimes). i will be back soon.....with pictures of precious Teresa

march 15, 2012 - night before the trip

not sure when i get to blog again, i am sure priorities will change a bit in near future. everything is ready, at 7am we are off. i learned a lot from other adoption blogs and i would let you know if there is anything worth mentioning.

march 6, 2012 - Travel Dates

march 16 or 17 - flying to Hong Kong
march 18 - arriving to Hong Kong late PM
march 19 - train to Guangzhou
march 19 - flying from Guangzhou to Nanchang
march 19 - meeting our baby Teresa
.....not sure how to fit all this in one day!!!
.
.
.
march 29 - CA (consulate appointment)
march 31 or april 1 - flying home

march 5, 2012

our non-Hague travel group will meet their babies tomorrow. i am happy for them, i know our travel dates will be known soon. in the meantime, i read all existent adoption blogs, bought a miraculous rain jacket that keeps one warm in cold weather and makes one warm in cold weather or something like that, purchased a flashlight in case our hotel gets flooded and electricity goes out, study maps of Nanchang and Guangzhou to be familiar with the area (for escaping on foot when traffic collapses).
in reality, we are so excited that nothing worries me, weather the least. but yes, i could not resist getting the universal jacket, a flashlight to look for cockroaches under beds (just kidding)...maybe more like a toy for Teresa and maps to look for botanical gardens to take walks in.
let's get these travel dates soon!

march 4, 2012

why does it keep raining in china? do not monsoons come in summer?

march 2, 2012....TA is here!!!

great news....we got our TA!!! i was afraid that it would be a long weekend of waiting for another business day. for those of you waiting, it took 2 weeks to get TA. we are getting very close.

february 29, 2012

still waiting for TA. it has been 2 weeks since the article 5 was dropped off which means that we could get our TA every day now. i keep checking my emails all the time. this is more difficult than years of waiting for Teresa. we were busy with our little girls which made the wait for the referral easier. Teresa was not real, only a distant possibility, but she is very real now. it seems like eternity. we are so ready to go. at the same time, there is a reason for everything which gives me peace. plus there is something wrong with weather in China....it has been raining for weeks. i bet we will get to see the famously beautiful Chinese spring instead.

february 23, 2012

our care package was delivered. we used Ann's service at Red Thread China that we highly recommend. we even received updated photos of our baby that we did not expect.

february 22, 2012

waiting and waiting....and packing

february 15, 2012

good news - article 5 was issued today in Guangzhou.
we are now waiting for the last piece of paperwork called Travel Approval (TA) issued in China. our non-Hague travel group is scheduled to leave march 4th for Hong Kong and return march 17th. it takes several weeks to get TA, i do not think that we will make it with our travel group. they will get their babies on the 6th, it will be hard but it is ok, we are almost there!

january 26

our I-800a approval arrived

january 25, 2012

still waiting for our I-800 approval. getting the packing list ready

december 5, 2011

unexpectedly and surprisingly quickly we receive our referral translation. we find out that our baby's name Wang Xuan means Flourish and Sanguine. from what we can tell now is that she is healthy, loves to smile and is not shy.

november 30, 2011

we accept the referral and name our baby girl Teresa Faustina. very anxious to meet her and hold her, but it will not be until 3-4 months from now. now we will wait for a travel approval from China.

november 29, 2011

finally...here she is!

november 28, 2011

we got the call! seeing her face for the first time....the most magical moment.

name: Jin Wang Xuan
DOB: november 15, 2010
from: Ruijin, Jiangxi Province, China

november 25, 2011

there are rumors online that referrals have been mailed to US. we were really hoping to get the phone call from our agency today.

mid november 2011

there are rumors online that the matching process has begun

october 2011

referrals from China came at the end of the month. the waiting line stopped one day before us (our LID is 3/8/2006). it means that whenever the next batch of referrals come, it will be our turn.

september 2011

a huge surprise: things move forward
the adoption agency update: a big chance of getting a referral in october or november.....this year!!!

summer 2011

Hague home study for China is finished. updates from our adoption agency: possible referral next year

2010

Allie is born in Florida. the girls adore each other. our home study for Chinese adoption expired, a new one is needed. not many changes regarding Chinese adoption, there is a waiting line and it moves very, very slowly.

 

2009

an application for a new domestic adoption . our home study for Chinese adoption needs to be renewed.

2008

an unplanned domestic adoption. Mia is born and we bring our angel home 2 days later. happiness beyond belief. also, the home study for Chinese adoption is renewed.

                                     

2007

adoptions from China have slowed down significantly. one more surgery. our adoption home study is renewed, more paperwork is needed.

2006

there is a Dr. NFP # 2 that lives only 5 hours away by car. he repairs what he can. hopes are high, more pregnancy tests are bought. working with an adoption agency to adopt a baby girl from China. our home study is finished and the official wait starts on August 3, 2006. the agency says that we should have a baby in 6 months.

2005

radio news: in Omaha lives Dr. NFP #1 in the world. yes, that is it! a surgery is scheduled. at the same time adoption is more and more discussed. too many risks involved in domestic adoptions, China adoption program is chosen....it has a quick, transparent, smooth adoption plan.

2004

unplanned surgery. so far, no baby can be announced. sounds like infertility. many women in the Bible were "barren", so that is ok. well, to have a baby would be great, but any stuff related to in vitro procedures sounds freaky, there is no desire to fabricate human beings.

2003

no baby on the horizon. a surgery scheduled to repair a problem. the hospital is modest, there are 5 of us in one room. i make many friends there, but no other results.

late 2002

pregnancy tests keep giving negative answer. no test is always accucate. over the next 6 years a fortune is spent on pregnancy tests....always hoping that they are wrong.

june 2002 - the double marriage feast

i found the person that i want to spend my life with, his name is Bruno and he is an American. ouch, how do i tell my parents that he lives on the other side of the planet? thanks goodness, they like him too, and a lot. celebration of  the Holy Martimony in the US and then flight to Europe for the renewal of the vows. yooppeee, a double marriage feast!

for privacy purposes the names and images have been changed