我們要學會說漢語

We are learning to speak Chinese!  We have hired a tutor from one of the local Chinese immersion elementary schools to come to our home every other Wednesday to teach us the basics of the language so that we can travel more comfortably in China this summer as well as communicate with Elliott in those first few weeks before he starts to pick up English.  I also speak Spanish, but learning Chinese is a totally different experience.  I love the challenge!  YiLing, our fabulous instructor, is also filling us in on some of the cultural differences we might experience while we travel throughout different areas of China.  The advice is priceless, and we are so grateful for her time and effort to help us out.  I have three sets of flash cards made up, and have two books and two CD-ROM's from the library on continual check-out (Matt returns it, I check it out, I return it and he checks it out.....).  I am SO motivated!  When I think of how scary it's inevitably going to be for Elliott to come live with us: strange new people who look and smell different and eat weird food and don't speak his language and take him from everything that is familiar and safe....  Even though I know in the bottom of my heart that this is going to be good for HIM and for US in the long run, it's going to be hard and heart-breaking for him at first.  So, I am learning Chinese for my son, so that he will find just a small amount of comfort in hearing his new Mama say to him, in his language, that I will take care of him and love him and that he is special and safe.  :o)

We're in the CCCWA Databank!

Apparently the CCAA has been renamed as the CCCWA.  It's the Chinese government agency that is in charge of handling international adoptions.  I found out fifteen minutes ago that our paperwork was hand-delivered on April 22nd to the CCCWA.  Praise God!  Although I don't have an official "log in date", I can safely assume that it happened either that day or the next.  Thank you for all of your prayers!  We will (patiently.... is that part optional?) wait for our LOA (letter of approval) to arrive in 4 to 12 weeks.  And believe me, you will all know when we do!  :o)

Our first little 'hiccup'

Apparently there was a miscommunication and/or misunderstanding on the time frame it takes to submit paperwork to China.  It just left the United States yesterday afternoon.  We are looking at it arriving in Beijing by Friday, and having it hand-delivered to the CCAA at the end of next week.  Drats!  It looks like July travel is, at this point, out of the question.  The best we can hope for us August or September.  *groan*

So what's a girl to do with all this nervous energy?  Clean the house, of course!  And read everything I can about Chinese culture and international adoptions.  I've read three books so far this month (in addition to my college coursework).  We purchased an audio CD with book on "Chinese language for adoptive families" and found a helpful CD-ROM from the library to help us with pronunciation.  Simple phrases like, "Do you have to go to the bathroom" or "Are you hungry or tired?" or "Let's go on an extremely long airplane ride and travel for twenty-four hours straight" might come in handy!  There's actually a translation for "Please don't pee your pants" which I am hoping NOT to use.  :o)  I have found everything I can about Harbin City, too, which is where Elliott is now.  It just makes me want to go NOW.  It's hard to explain, or even to understand, how I can be so attached to this little guy having never seen him face-to-face, but it's very real.  I think a good analogy would be to say it's like getting attached to the girls while I was pregnant with them.  This time, unlike my pregnancies, I have a good idea of what he is like and what he looks like, but have to give up the tummy kicks and the growing belly I used to rub (Charlotte LOVED having her feet tickled... still does!).  It's different, but it's the same.

So while I anxiously await confirmation that our paperwork has been formally accepted in Beijing, I will focus on being grateful that the process is still moving forward and try to calm the type-A side of myself that is screaming inside.

Happy Wednesday, everybody!  Stay tuned.     :o)

Elliot update!

Hallalujah!  We received an email from our contact in Beijing who had contacted the orphanage for us to get updated information about Elliott.  After weeks of waiting, she received an email with their answers and two updated photos of Elliott.  He is happy and healthy, a good eater who likes most things he's served (which makes me hopeful that he'll adapt to our American cooking quickly.... I hope!), he has 20 teeth so far, he runs and jumps and climbs stairs independantly, and has caught up on the growth curve: he has gone from the 20th percentile to the 60th!  We finally have some measurements, too!  So now we can get some boy clothes ready for him.  He's 33 inches tall, so I have to look at the growth charts I have in the girls' baby books and see what size they were in then.  But the best part of all were the pictures.  I can't stop looking at them.  He's so cute!  I can't wait to bring him home and get to know him and to see him become part of our family. 

No update yet on a log-in-date from China.  I am hopeful that it will come any day now.  :o)

Spring is coming!

The sun was shining and I was home from work today, so that means it's time to ge outside and get this farm in shape for the spring and summer months ahead!  I was in my 'zone' today, and spent a couple of hours in the barn, rearranging, cleaning, and (as Matthew would say) 'dinking around'. I loved it.  My barn is "my" place.  I'm surrounded by my beloved animals, by my equestrian hobby, and it's a space that brings me peace.  I would be lost without it.  I got a LOT accomplished today and I feel great about it. 

I also took the time to bake a homemade peach pie with Maddie today.  It wasn't on my 'to do' list but sometimes the best things in life just aren't. That was an hour I will cherish forever, even if the pie isn't going to last 24 hours.  :o)

We are still waiting to hear when China logs us into the 'system'.  Our paperwork should be there soon.  I need to start putting together a book of all of these early memories and dates together for Elliott.  I'm not great at scrapbooking, but I think it's going to be an important piece of his life when he grows up and appreciates such things. An online (chat group) friend of mine just got her LOA (acceptance letter) from China yesterday.  She waited just five weeks.  I pray, pray, PRAY that we get ours back just as quickly.  I want so badly to travel in the summertime to get Elliott.  I just don't have the patience to wait until fall, and then have Matt miss out on some of the important bonding time when his classroom calls him back for the school year.  Pray with me!  :o)

Boy Clothes!

I have never had the pleasure of shoppig for little boy clothes - my family seems to have skipped the "Y" chromosome alltogether and we have girls.  As fun as this is for me, I think Matthew is going to appreciate this more than me.  No ribbons, tutus, plastic slippers, barettes, skirts, tights, princess dresses, or refusing to wear any color other than pink.  :o)

I picked up Elliott's first outfit today while Madeline and I went shopping during Charlotte's preschool morning.  Of course I gravitated toward an outfit that Matthew would appreciate most - one that looks just like his!  I set them together and surprised him with this when he came home from work today.

The waiting game

Yesterday Madeline and I made a trip to the local post office with "the" stack of paperwork - six months of hard work - and mailed it to AGCI in Portland.  Tiffany will look it all over, make sure all of our i's are dotted and our t's are crossed, then send it in for translation and authentication at the Chinese consulate in Chicago.  From there it goes to China.  And we wait for China to look at it and approve it, and send us our official acceptance letter.  I've been told that this could take anywhere beween one month and three months from the time they receive it.  And then there's this, that, and the other that we have to file with both the USA and China after we receive that approval letter.  Our hopes for travel in June are gone; the earliest possibility would be late July, but most likely it would be August or September.  I'd be lying if I said that pushing that timeline back didn't break my heart.  Traveling during the summer would be so perfect with Matt having the summer off from his teaching job, and we would have such fun together as a family of five getting to know (and attach to!) each other with Lake Michigan nearby and a farm full of fun things to do right at home. 

I rest easy in knowing that my work at this point is done, but the "Type A" that lives inside me is screaming at the loss of control at this point in the process.  Today I pray that there will be no hang-ups, no delays, and that Elliott is safe and happy today.