The Miracle of Wang

New Blog

2011-03-04T11:27:00.001-05:00

We now have a new family blog www.myamazing4.blogspot.com

We hope you stop by to take a look

Updates

2009-06-24T10:48:00.005-04:00

Ok how bad am I. It's been 2 months since the last post. So many things have happened. Mason is doing great. He's happy, healthy and loving his new life. He gained over 3 pounds and grew 2 inches since he's home. We are home 3 months already. Can't believe it. He had tubes put in his ears on Tuesday, June 16th and he can hear a lot better now. Ask me how I know that?!? He told me on Wednesday "Mommy, you loud"!!!!! He has no clue how loud I am, but I think he's getting the idea pretty quick. haha. He also went to the dentist and had 2 root canals and 2 extractions in one sitting. Poor kids had no idea what was happening to him. He has seen the cleft team and will have to have a palate revision sometime at the end of the year and will need to go to the hospital and have major surgery on his mouth. Lots of Dr. appointments. He loves baseball and soccer but his favorite is baseball. We will sign him up for the spring school team. He is registered for school and will start the 2nd grade in September. He can't wait to go to school. He loves to work with the books I picked up for him and goes through them like crazy. He is very smart. I am waiting to hear from the cleft team about speech/language therapy that he will get for July and August. I guess I have to make the call this week to them. We are just so busy right now. Joseph graduated 4th grade yesterday and Joe and LilyRose are in a wedding on Sunday. Can't wait for the month of June to be over with.

Now for the not so nice news. You all know that we were transferred to the Barker Foundation right before we left for China. Well they were HORRIBLE!!!! Our trip was a nightmare. To make a long story short, they overcharged us for the whole trip. Gave us tours we didn't request and then wouldn't refund our money. Had to pay a lot extra for the tours we did want and they wouldn't take us on others we wanted that we were going to pay for there. Told us "NO" to going to the Harley Davidson Store in Beijing, gave us the wrong boat in GZ for the cruise and the guides were just down right nasty. They were liars too. They told Barker that we took all the tours that were on our paper and that they didn't know we wanted to go to the Harley store. We saw 2 shows while in China and told Barker that we had the best seats in the house, when in truth we were in the last row at each show. They are a joke. Our amount to barker for the trip to China was $5000.00 and our service was worth about $2000.00. Guess how much we got back, $450.00. To say that I am ANGRY, is an understatement. I have been going back and forth with Barker since we got home April 3rd. Just wanted to let you all know that if you are using the Barker Foundation to be very careful. You will get cheated and your experience in China will be Horrible.

Wow, it's been a long time

2009-04-28T09:00:00.015-04:00

Getting home from the airport @ 9:30pm
first marshmallow

first sparkler

We climbed the Great Wall of China

Mason's first HotDog

Mason loves to wash his face

Mason & Aunt Gina - first night home

Grandma & Mason first night home

I can't believe how fast time if flying by. We have Mason over a month and it feels like he has been here for 8 years. He is doing GREAT!!!!! I can't believe how well he has adjusted to our home and our family. He has a smile on his face each and everyday. Although his English is slow to come. We have so many Dr. appointments set up for the next few months and we have been to the International Specialist 3 times already. For some reason, Mason was over immunized at Kunming and the I.A.S. has some concerns. We are waiting on some blood results but all in all, Mason is doing great. I am having the worst time with LilyRose though. She is like a different child. From the minute she gets up (which is 6:45 lately) to the minute she goes to bed, she is a TERROR. I want to run away most days and it doesn't help that Anthony hasn't been home much at night as he has been working side jobs, so it's all on me. So not use to this, but I am working on readjusting my thoughts and life to having 3 kids now.

Mason is very lovable and very happy. He eats well and sleeps great. He even makes his bed when he gets up and before he comes out of his room. It's great, now if I can get Joseph and LilyRose to do that, life would be better. lol He is shy around new people, but after a little bit he's fine with them. He finally has bonded to Joseph, although he still is a little afraid of him. Sometimes when I walk by Mason, he will flinch and drop to the floor. Freaks me out to know that he has that fear of being hit when someone walks by and I am working on showing him that he has nothing to worry about. We have a long road ahead of us with that issue.

We will see the Cleft Team June 3rd. That was the earliest appointment I could get. He also has to go to 3 different Dr.'s just for his teeth, they are really bad. We are going to the ENT this Thursday so I am hoping that that works out well for him. Mason loves to go food shopping. He jumps for joy every time I put something in the cart. He loves to help pack and then carry the packages to the car. He will help put everything away too. We think Mason will be very into Soccer. He loves going to Joseph's games and will watch very closely and imitate what they are doing. Same for Baseball, but we think Soccer is his favorite right now. He loves to take showers and brush his teeth. He gets very into it and I actually have to tell him that he's done.

Mason is an awesome kid and I thank GOD everyday that he brought him to us. I am complete!!!

Don't mind my voice, I sound like I am from outer space

We are home!!!

2009-04-07T05:59:00.009-04:00

Love this shot

Coming down the Great Wall

The Great Wall

Olympic Mascot

Forever Families - Forever Friends

THANK GOD. I have never been so happy to be in my house then I was on Friday night. I want to Thank my FCC-LI family for the beautiful decorations that we got home to. A few of my friends showed up on Friday afternoon in crappy weather to put up some really cute decorations to welcome all of us home. I just realized that I did not get a picture of the house for my blog. I hope one of you great ladies took one and can send it to me so I can show the world the love we came home too. So here's a recap of Friday, April 3, 2009.

We got up early and dressed quickly. Everything was laid out from the night before and our bags were packed and ready to go. We went down to eat that HORRIBLE breakfast and when I say HORRIBLE, I mean it. It was just gross. I think I ate dried banana's for 2 days. Anyway, we met our guide at 10 am. I was so happy that it would be the last time I ever had to see him. At least the other 2 guides we had interacted with Mason and tried to get him to talk. This guy totally ignored him and my other 2 kids like they were not even there. I wanted to knock him out. So anyway, we went to the Temple of Haven and it was packed. I think we saw 1 American family throughout the whole thing. It was interesting to me because I like History, but for everyone else it was really boring. We should have never booked this tour. Hell, we should have not booked any tours for that matter. Again, when we saw a gift shop we went in and this moron kept looking at his watch. It annoyed me. You had to see how happy he was when we were done. So we got in the van and headed to the airport. I thought my face was going to crack because I don't think I ever smiled that wide in my life. They must have taken the longest way they could to get us to the airport. They told us it was a 1/2 hour drive but we were in the van for over an hour. Our flight was leaving at 3:45 pm. We got to the airport after 1pm. I didn't say one word to them, just got our stuff and walked away. I hear him saying good bye to me and it was like he wasn't even there. Well, check in was just crazy. They made us go on a "Check yourself in" line. Well you could just imagine how long that line was because no one had any idea of what to do. Finally a young Asian mad started complaining and they had some girls come over to help out. What a nightmare it was. We finally get to our gate with maybe 40 minutes to sit and then they want to go through every one's bags. I thought some of the people were going to start a brawl. At this point we just let them do there thing and we got on the plane. I was never so happy to sit in the tightest seats and wait for a 13 hour flight then I was at that moment.

Mason loved this flight. He played video games for hours. Then he would sleep for a while and get up and eat something and play more video games. He usually gets sick on landing, but this time he was sleeping, so he was fine. We got off the plane and went through immigration. With LilyRose they took us to a room to hand the Brown Envelope but this time the immigration officer took it and opened it. I kinda freaked out, but he reassured me that he knew what he was doing. I hope to get Mason COC in about 45 days. I'll know if the guy screwed up if I don't get it. We then headed to get our luggage. Here I am thinking, "OK, we are a few minutes away from the home stretch". No, not so lucky. First off, we landed almost an hour late. Bad weather they said. Then all the immigration stuff. So we thought we were good here. We got our luggage and when we were going to the exit, the officer told us to go in to the baggage check room. The whole flight had to go. "Are you kidding me" The flight was full. So we waited on a line for an hour so that they could put our luggage through the ray machine. When it was our turn they only put 2 bags on and we ran to the end of it and it was very crowed with people who's bags were being torn apart. So I inched my way towards the door with the kids and Anthony grabbed the 2 suitcases and we ran out the door. When I finally saw my brother, he was waving and yelling and so were we. It was a happy moment for all of us. An end to a torture trip.

Mason went right up to my brother and gave him a big hug and a kiss. My brother was shocked. Mason put his arms up to him so that my brother could pick him up. So he did and carried him for a while but then he wanted to walk. We finally pulled up to my house at like 9pm. My mother, cousin Gina, my new sister-in-law and my BFF Susan and her 2 kids were outside yelling and making all kids of noise to welcome us home. It was awesome. Mason was so overwhelmed at this point. We got into the house and he was looking around and seemed to be ok at that point. After everyone left, we got everyone ready for bed and off they went.

I sat up with my mother until 1am and then went to bed myself. I was up at 3:50am and at 4am I had a meal. I was so hungry. That's how it's been since I got home. Sick and can't sleep. I can't wait to be over this jet lag. It was horrible. So in between laundry, cleaning my house and trying to make Mason feel at home, I am exhausted all the time and I know I need to make some phone calls, but give a little while and I will be in touch.

Don't forget to stop by every so often as I will still be posting here for a little while longer.

Our last post from China

2009-04-02T19:36:00.002-04:00

Well, this will be my very last post from China. It is 7:35am Friday morning. We will arrive home to the US at 5:30pm Friday night. Love that time difference.

I want to thank each and everyone of you that has followed along and most of all I want to thank the ones who commented all the time. It was what helped me stay sane most of the time. Thank you for caring about me and my family enough that you would take time out of your busy days to drop in and see if we were ok. It means the world to me and my new son Mason will surely know how special he really is.

Although this trip was not what it should have been, we are so happy to finally have our son and we would endure this torture again and again just to have Mason. He is pure joy and we love him dearly.

We love you all!!!!!!

The Bird's Nest & Great Wall

2009-04-02T02:37:00.011-04:00

Great Wall

Joseph inside the Birds Nest

The Birds Nest Olympic Village

So, you all know that we didn't want to go to the Forbidden City and lost our money for that tour, but we went to The Birds Nest first this morning and paid to get in. It was really cheap but Joseph was so excited to be inside the Olympic Stadium. It really was a great feeling knowing that only 7 months ago, the United States won lots of Gold Medals here. After we were done with the Nest, Anthony told the guide that we wanted to go to the Harley Davidson Store. Well, you would have thought that we asked for a million dollars. The guide told us that the driver was not happy to take us there and that the agency told him "NO" we couldn't go. It was the only place Anthony requested to go on this whole trip. So, Anthony told him he really wanted to go that we would only be there for 20 minutes tops. So the guide said he had to call the agency and ask. He was on the phone for the longest time and when he was done this is what he told us. "If you really want to go to the Harley store, you cannot got to the Great Wall or the Acrobat Show". I thought Anthony was going to blow his top. Can you believe that everything we asked of them they told us NO. They gave us tours that we didn't want and wouldn't give us what we wanted. We lost so much money on this trip. They RUINED our trip. Not the part of getting Mason and bonding as a family, no one could have ruined that, but they made this trip unbearable. I hate them for what they did to us. Adoption House was the best agency ever. We had an awesome experience adopting LilyRose from start to finish. We all can't wait to get home.

We then went to the Great Wall. You had to see Joseph's face. It was priceless. He kept telling me that it wasn't that big and then it came into view and his mouth dropped open. Pictures do not do it justice. So up they went. LilyRose and I didn't get very far, so we waited for them to climb up and take pictures and then climb down. It was very busy there today. Lots of people from all over the world were there. We were trying to figure out what languages we were hearing. Once they came off the wall, we wanted to buy a few things and the guide was getting huffy. We were only there for about 2 hours. Can you believe that he was rushing us. Well, I can tell you that we took our sweet ass time, Lisa style. We got back to the hotel and had Pizza Hut and we have to meet the guide at 4:30pm for the Acrobat Show. I hope the kids like it. Then tomorrow morning we are going to the Temple of Haven. Anthony and I did not go there on Lily's adoption, so we will all be seeing it for the first time together. I hope we like it. After that we will go straight to the airport. WHOO HOOOOOO we are coming home!!!!!!

More pics later

We just got back from the Acrobat Show and it was great. We all enjoyed it very much. Joseph is still trying to figure out how all the girls got on the bike and didn't fall off. Mason was in awe. He never saw anything like it and was just blown away. It was great being able to give him all of these first and being able to see him enjoy it. There is so many more things that he will be amazed at, and we all can't wait to see him experience them.

New Pictures

2009-04-01T09:45:00.017-04:00

Officially Siblings

Samuel, Joseph & Mason - Swearing Ceremony

Mason getting a haircut

Hand carved Jade Pagoda

Our Family Red Couch Photo

Our New Friends - Hey wheres Mick?!?

Our Red Couch Picture

All the kids we had in our group of friends

My Family

How cute are they?!?

My 3 kids - River Cruise

Mason at Lucy's

We are in Beijing

2009-04-01T05:31:00.005-04:00

We just arrived in Beijing. I am so glad that we are almost on our way home. This trip was so different from LilyRose's trip. More on that when I get home.

So our time on the Island was awesome. I know that I have not posted alot on this trip but the Internet was not free at the White Swan. The White Swan is a beautiful hotel, and we met so many adoptive families that we hung out with for the 4 days we were there. It was great. We did not do a lot of shopping but Joseph did. It was so peaceful. So are you ready for the dirt? When we were doing our paperwork on Saturday our guide Dave said to me that something was not right with our home study. He told me the agency did not approve us for a Special Needs child. He said we might not get Mason's Visa. So, ok it's freakin' Saturday. He then told me not to worry. So I didn't. I went and enjoyed myself with my family.

Monday I sat in the room for an hour while Dave went to the Consulate. I really didn't think anything would be wrong since my home study went to 3 different agencies and to the CCAA. Well no such luck for us. Dave called and told me that the Consulate wanted an addendum stating that the agency approved us for a "Special Needs Child". Well I almost died. It's 12:30pm in China but 12:30am in the states. So my nightmare began. I emailed my SW and emailed a friend of mine to try to call the agency in the morning to get this update. I was sick to my stomach at this point. So after 5 emails the kids wanted to go and eat lunch. So we went to Lucy's. We had our lunch and hung out and walked around. We talked with so many people. Then we went to Jordan's. When he saw Anthony, he jumped up and said to him "I remember you, the Tattoos". We talked for a long while with him and got some stuff and then walked more. When I got back to the room I was going to send an email out and to my surprise, my SW wrote me back a few times. She happened to be up when I emailed at 12:30. She sent the addendum to me and I thought everything was ok. Dave said we could print it out at the business center when we got back from the boat. We then got ready to go on the boat tour. We were all prepared for the Pirate Ship and the boys were really excited. Well, I told you what happened with that. Joseph was very disappointed with that one. The boat was pretty empty and it was a nice cool night and Mason had a blast. He was never on a boat before and it was well worth it for me to see his expression. I would endure this torture of a trip all over again just to see Mason's face light up at all the new things he has seen so far. He is an adorable boy and I have to say he is a mama's boy. Always makes sure I am close by. Always calling mama, mama. I LOVE IT!!!!

We got back to the hotel a little after 8pm and I went to the business center to print out the update with Dave. Was on there computer no more then 3 minutes and I got charged 50 rmb. It's not a lot, but it just made me laugh. So now I go back to the room and I am not feeling well at all. Anthony took the kids to the Arcade, but Mason did not want to go. He knew I wasn't feeling well and he wanted to stay with me. We both got our pj's on and we watched some tv. He asked if he could lay on the bed with me. He just wanted to cuddle like he saw Joseph and Lily do with either me or Anthony. I was so happy that he finally asked. He had a huge smile on his face the whole time. Then my phone rings. It's Dave the guide. Well the update wasn't signed or notarized. So back on the computer to email my Sw and the agency. It's now after 9pm China time. Then all of a sudden, I got sicker then sick. I was throwing up until 4 am. But in between I got my update exactly like it was suppose to be. Family Focus went above and beyond for me. Can't say the same for Barker. They faxed it to the Consulate and also emailed it there too. I got an email and so did Dave. So we were covered all the way around. I finally went to sleep at 5am.

Tuesday was a great day with Mason. He finally started saying some English words. Can't understand him to well, but he got his point across. We packed up all our stuff so that we wouldn't have to come in to early that night because we were going to dinner with a few of the families we became friends. We went and got Mason a haircut and it was so cute to see his face. He had no idea what the lady was going to do and when she first started buzzing, he made the funniest face. What a trooper he has been with all the new things that are happening to him. We then went and got some Red Couch photos with all our new friends and then got ready for the Swearing In Ceremony. Now I knew I would cry because we both cried when we went for Lily. I had no idea that I would be bawling when it was done. We met the 2 other families at 2:45pm and got on the bus. We got to the Consulate at 3:45 and the ceremony started at 4pm. Dave said he didn't hear anything from them at all so we assumed our paperwork was good to go. We got a seat in the front row and waited. Well when it started, the lady talked about somethings and then said that she wanted to read some names of returning families. All of a sudden she said our names and congratulated us on our 2nd adoption trip. What a huge surprise. Everyone was clapping after each family name was read telling us how many adoptions the family did. Hey Vicki V. I was thinking of you and figured you would get a standing ovation. How great would that be?!? Then we raised our right hand and took an oath and it was done. I was really crying hard at that point. I mean it was finally REAL!!!! after almost 2 years, 2 agencies closing on us and all the bullshit from Barker, Mason is really ours. So yes, I let all the tears and frustration flow at that moment. It was all so worth it. MASON IS WORTH IT.

We got back to the hotel and we asked Pat and his new son Samuel to go to dinner with us and he agreed. We also asked the other family in our group and they met us there. We went with Christine and Roger who adopted Ellie and there 3 daughters and Mick, Joanne & YuNa. We went to Lo Dulce Vita restaurant. It was really very good. Good food and good friends and all our children. Who could ask for anything more. Then we walked home as a group and stopped at Starbucks. Vanilla Iced Latte, mmmmmm. It was early, so we were going to go to the Arcade but it was closed so we went to playroom and hung out and the kids played. It was relaxing. Went up to the room at 9pm and by 10 pm we were all in bed. Mason and LilyRose were out before they hit the pillow. It was a great end to a nasty start.

Now for Beijing, The hotel is in a crappy part. Barker gave us 3 tours tomorrow. The Forbidden City in the morning, The great Wall in the afternoon and the Acrobat show at night. Are they NUTS!!! I have 3 kids and that's too much. I didn't asked to go to the Forbidden City and when I first saw it, I called Barker and told them we didn't want to go there and they basically told me "to bad, that's what we gave you". I have to pay for something I don't want. Never heard of that. So our guide was late getting to the airport. We stood by ourselves for 10 to 15 minutes before he got there. Not a good start as far as I am concerned. He could care less too. When we told him we are not going to the F.C. he kept telling me "no money back to you at all". We are going to the Birds Nest and the Harley Davidson Shop and then to the Great Wall. The guide told us we can go into the Nest but we have to pay for it. OF COURSE WE DO.

Anthony just went and got McDonald's for us. This is the first time here we got it. It wasn't like home, but when you are hungry, anything taste good. I will post pictures later tonight.

PICTURES

2009-03-29T22:56:00.021-04:00

White Swan Hotel

Ralph this one is for YOU!!!!

Hey Mom - Anthony said this one is for YOU!!

We are in Guangzhou

2009-03-29T07:28:00.019-04:00

Mason's 1st plane ride

Minority Village

Minority Village - girl on right loved Joe

Sorry I have not posted in a long time. Just trying to get my head in place. I know that I did not go into detail about the Minority Village, but to tell you the truth, it was just ok. There were 8 different ethnic groups and it was basically showing you how they dressed and how they lived. I am not sure the kids liked it to much. Anthony was ok with it and I thought it was ok. We did see the Dynamic Yunnan Show the last night in Kunming. I loved it and so did Joseph. LilyRose fell asleep (it started at 8pm) and Anthony was sweating to death. Mason sat on the edge of his seat the whole show. The group that put on the show were amazing. The way they dance and sang was just awesome. It was a great show. As I said before, we changed out flights. I was not happy with the idea of getting into GZ at midnight with 3 kids. Of course we had to pay for the change. Barker doesn't give you anything for free. I guess the boat load of $ I paid them for in country travel wasn't enough. We went on 2 tours in Kunming and it cost us an arm and a leg. So not worth the money we spent for them. We were left on our own for 6 days. We walked the same streets over and over. I was VERY glad to leave Kunming.

Mason was scared to death of the plane ride. When we first took off, I thought he was going to jump out of his seat. But, every time he would look at me he would smile. Mason loves to eat, but he didn't want to eat on the plane. When we landed he turned white and got sick. After that he withdrew and wouldn't look at us or talk with us. I guess he finally realized that he wasn't home anymore. When we got to the White Swan, he went right to bed. Normally, he gets up and takes a shower and looks forward to going to breakfast, but the first day here we had to drag him out of bed. He went back to his happy self right after breakfast. We had the medical exam our first day here. He did great. The Dr. kept looking at his scars and writing and looking and writing. Mason has lots of scars on his body. When the locals try to talk with him, he really doesn't answer. They have to force him to answer him and then they can't understand him. His speech is really bad. I know I keep saying that, but it is. I thought by now he would be saying somethings in English, but he is not. Should I be concerned? When I show him something, he will repeat what I say and then when I ask him like 3 minutes later what it is, he looks at me like I am nuts. He has no idea how to say it when he doesn't hear me say it first. But in other ways he is smart. He can look at our numbers and know them and says them. The same with some of the Alphabet. He can read some too. We got him some books and he loves them. It's very sad to me that everything we buy him, he kisses and holds to his chest. I know he has never had anything of his own, but it is so sad to me.

After the medical, we walked the Island for a while. It was overcast but very hot. So we took the kids to the pool. Mason had a blast. Loves the pool and wasn't afraid to jump right in after Joe. The kids had a really good time. There are 2 other families here with us from Barker, but we have not really spent anytime with them. The one guy Pat that he is on his own with his son came to the pool with us, but other then that, nothing. We were suppose to go to a dinner with them on Tuesday, but they changed it to tonight. The boys were not feeling to well and Joe did not want to eat Chinese food so we backed out. We grabbed some pizza and headed back to our room. We met some nice families in Kunming and became super good friends with one family. We have hung out with them this whole trip. Joanne, Mick and Yu Na. She is the cutest little girl who loves Joseph. All the girls in China love Joseph. They follow him around and want to talk with him and take pictures with him. He's getting better with it and even smiles with them and talks with them a little. So last night we wanted to go to Lucy's. We go downstairs and it is a Monsoon. It was pouring buckets. I don't think I have ever seen it rain like that. But the best was the wind. They had a young lady and man holding the doors closed. It was crazy. We were really hungry, but anyone who has ever been to the White Swan knows how expensive it is to eat dinner here. So we waited for it to lighten up and we ran to Lucy's. We really enjoyed it. We went with Joanne & Mick & Yu Na. We came back to the hotel and I was finally able to call home. I found a calling card but it took me an hour to figure out how to use it. I had to call the front desk and have someone come up and explain. I don't understand Chinese. But I was so glad that I was able to talk with my mom. Joseph and Anthony got to talk too. LilyRose and Mason were sleeping. Hey Ralph, mom told us and we wish we were there to help you out. Hows the house coming along? Can't wait to get home and come over.

Now for Sunday. We got up and had breakfast which is very good by the way. Joseph is eating much better. Then we met our guide Dave and went to the Six Banyan Temple. It was very nice, but not what I thought. Mason was blessed and he really got into it. Then we went to a little park and walked around for a bit. It was really cold out today and the kids wanted to get back to the island. So we got back at like 12pm and headed out. We had to pick up somethings and shopped for a while. We got some nice things but we are done shopping now. We met up with Joanne & Mick and walked some more. It's really nice and peaceful and I enjoy hanging out. Tomorrow I have to stay in the room for about an hour while Dave goes to the Consulate to make sure all the paper work is right. Then I think we are going to go across the river to walk around over there for a while. Then tomorrow night we will go on the River Cruise. I requested the Pirate Boat, but was told that Barker booked us on a regular boat. Now, where I come from, when someone pays for something it should be for what they want, right? Well I guess Barker never heard of that rule. I really can't talk about Barker anymore, because if I start I won't be able to stop.

I want to thank everyone who is leaving comments. We really love reading them and we really appreciate the fact that you are all thinking of us. THANK YOU!!!

GZ pictures in next post!!!

Minority Village

2009-03-26T05:17:00.002-04:00

Today was another very good day. We got up early and had a nice breakfast and then our guide Lilly met us at 10:30am and we went to the Minority Village. It was beautiful. A lot of walking, but very nice. Lots of kids there and they loved Anthony. When we first walked into the place, there were about 8 young ladies all dressed in the 8 different Minority outfits. One was as beautiful as the other. When they laid eyes on Joseph, OMG!!! They were all trying to get a picture with him. Joe's face was beet red. I finally got him to sit in between the girls to take a picture. One of the girls got up and grabbed her cell phone and snapped a picture of Joseph. It was a very interesting place and I am so glad that we went.

Yesterday we had somewhat of a rough day with Mason. He was testing the waters from the minute he got up until the minute he went to bed. He was hitting Anthony and he hit Joe a few times. We nipped that in the bud right away. He hasn't raised his hands again. While we went for our daily walk, he was running ahead of us, not listening at all and trying to take things from the stores. He wanted everything he saw, it didn't matter what it was he wanted it. I think he was kinda pissed off at us for a while there because we did not get him everything he wanted. Oh well, he better get use to it now. He understands a lot of what we say and our gestures too. We have been doing much better with understand what he needs too. We really need to get him started with speech. It is really bad.

Mason and Joseph are getting along much better now. Both boys enjoy hanging out with each other. Mason is very careful with LilyRose and watches out for her at all times. We were leaving the room yesterday and he grabbed her sweater and handed it to her. Her glass was empty and he tapped me and pointed for me to fill up her glass. He always wants to hold her hand as well as Josephs.

We have met some very nice families that we have been hanging out with a lot. We have gone to eat together and shopped together and even had a nice time hanging out in the Panorama Lounge last night. All the kids played together while we had some cocktails. They will be staying at the White Swan too. We had our flights changed for tomorrow from leaving Kunming at 9:25 pm and arriving in GZ at 11:40 pm to leaving at 6:50 and arriving at 8:20pm. I didn't want to get into GZ that late with 3 kids. I am sure my guide was not happy about it, but to bad. We are being charged about $50.00 more. Not happy about that either. All the other families from here are either leaving a little earlier or at that time. I asked why we were booked so late and I was told the flights were full. Then she tells me that we can get on the earlier flight if we pay Barker $50.00 more. Hmmm, why all of a sudden did 5 seats open up?!? None of this trip makes sense to me. My son is a great, loving, Happy kid and I am thrilled to death to be his mother, but getting here has been a NIGHTMARE!!!!!!

Hey Mom, I will try to find a calling card in GZ. If not I will just call you from the hotel. Joe is feeling much better, but he is not eating at all. We actually have to force him to eat everytime we got out. It's getting very tiring fighting with him all the time. We have wasted more money on food for him that he doesn't eat then anything else.

Having a hard time uploading pics. Will try again later.

Pictures

2009-03-25T08:52:00.012-04:00

I will post more later and explain what the pictures are because blogger is super slow right now. Enjoy the photos.

Surprise Orphanage Visit

2009-03-24T08:58:00.003-04:00

Today was a GREAT day. We were up and out early today. We had a nice breakfast and then we headed out to explore. Our guide was coming to pick us up at 12:40 pm to go to the Minority Village, so we had time on our hands. We walked and walked waiting for the stores to open. Joseph was busting to buy something for himself. The stores finally started to open up and we got Mason some new sneakers and some sweatsuits that he picked out. Joseph got some for himself too. LilyRose pick out a cute outfit and she will wear it tomorrow. It felt liked we were walking for 3 days. So much to see and so little time. We get back to the hotel to meet up with our guide and she tells me that we have to go to the orphanage today because tomorrow is not a good day. Of course I am not dressed the way I wanted to be nor was Mason. But off we went. First we stopped to get lunch and it was very good. I noticed that as soon as Mason heard that we were going to the orphanage, he got very sad. When we pulled up and got out of the van, he grabbed my hand and held on so tight. We got inside and there were many older boys in the court yard and as soon as Mason saw them he hid behind me. They were glaring at him and he was scared. As we walked by the boys Mason tried to kick one. I guess he felt safe enough to maybe try to get one in on him knowing that nothing would happen to him. My son has many scars and lots of black and blue marks on his legs. Now I know why. He actually pulled me right through the courtyard. Then we saw his room and his classroom. Then we saw all the little babies. OMG!!! How adorable they were. I was not allowed to hold any of them but boy was I itching to. Anthony got teary eyed looking at all of them. He even said that if they let him he would take one of them home right then and there. I had to laugh at that because all you hear him say before today was, NO MORE KIDS!!!! Yeah right!!!

All of the nannies came running over to him and were hugging him and I have to say, he wanted nothing to do with any of them. He held onto one of us for dear life. When the tour was over, he wouldn't even turn to look at any of them, just waved his hand over his shoulder. As soon as we got into the van to leave, he broke out a huge smile and went back to his cute little self.

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to walk more. We went by the park and then saw some stores and just window shopped. I asked the guide to find out if he was happy and if he was glad to be with us and she told me that he said, I wait a long time for them to come, I am happy, but I wanted a car this morning and they didn't get it for me. Had no clue he wanted it. So when we got back we went and got him this truck he picked out instead and OMG, the smile was plastered on his face for the rest of the night.

I wanted to take pictures but they only let me take of picture of his bed. I got the 2 cameras back and they told me that they took lots of pictures of Mason all over the grounds. So we had then developed tonight and we got some great shots of him all over the orphanage.

Tomorrow we will go to the Minority Village and do more walking. My legs are killing me. The kids are all asleep and I think that is where I am heading now myself. This is the first night that I didn't go to bed by 7:30pm We are getting use to the time difference. Oh, BTW, Joseph was much better today. His eyes were not that bloodshot and he said he felt really good. I am so happy about that. He is finally having a good time, although he is upset because Mason is not so attached to him yet. Joseph doesn't realize that Mason is probably afraid of him right now not knowing if Joseph is good or bad. I keep telling him it will take some time. Hopefully not to long.

I still have not be able to find a calling card. I think I am just going to call from the room. We met someone today who said it will cost and arm and a leg to call from the room. I am working on finding a card no matter what. Mom we all miss you and we can't wait to get home. Thanks for the comments, we really appreciate them. Joseph wanted to say hi to all his friends at school. We hope you are all following along.

Signing of Adoption Papers

2009-03-23T04:22:00.004-04:00

Green Lake Park

How Cool am I?!?

Green Lake Park - these girls thought Joe was so handsome

Visa Office

Mason saying YES to be our son!!!!

At Breakfast this morning

We went to the Civil Affairs office today and signed the adoption papers. It was surreal. I kept thinking this was a dream. I waited so long for this little boy and it was finally happening. Mason is very affectionate. He listens to everything we say and is just a sweet boy. He was a major mama's boy today. He wouldn't let go of my hand for nothing. You have to see him with his backpack. He fell asleep with it last night. Oh, that reminds me, as I was posting last night, Anthony went into the boys room to check on them and Mason was crying softly. It didn't last long, but he was sad. I went into the room and he grabbed my hand and was rubbing it against his face. I had to go into the bathroom because I didn't want him to see me cry. I sat on the bed with him and he cuddled with me for a while. Then we said it was time for sleep and he smiled and went to sleep. He is a good sleeper too.

After the Civil Affairs office we went to get his passport photo. It was crazy there. We met 3 other families at the C.A.O. that all got their little girls this morning. We are actually going to dinner with one family we met today. Their daughter Ellie is so darn cute. We came back to the hotel and got a bite to eat. For some reason, right after we ate my stomach started to hurt. I was looking for some of the meds we brought and I noticed things are missing. So now I have this stomachache and nothing to take for it. I know it was packed because I made sure that I had all the meds in each suitcase. There are other things missing as well. All of the locks I had on the suitcases are gone except one. Not a happy person right now.

Joseph's eyes are doing a little better. Both his eyes are bloodshot. I put warm compresses on them and gave him Benadryl today. He ate breakfast and lunch today and we are going to a Pizza place for dinner tonight. So hopefully he will eat again. We went to the lake this afternoon and it was so hot and very crowed. We walked around and then sat for a while. Decided to come back here to post. I wanted to let you all know that our guide Lilly asked Mason today if he wanted to go back to the orphanage, and he very firmly said NO. That's my boy!!!

I took some learning books for Mason and today we were looking at them and he knows his numbers up to 10 and he even knew some of the alphabet as well. He is a very smart little boy.

Can someone tell my mother that I can not get a calling card anywhere here. I really can't believe it but no one seems to know where to get one. They told me to call from the room that it wasn't that expensive. I will try to call tonight.

We have Mason

2009-03-22T07:23:00.010-04:00

How cute is this picture?!?

he was holding on for dear life

Happy Faces

I like this picture

My 3 kids

First picture of me & my kids - wow i look horrible

Me & my son - I look like I feel - bad

Mason when he first walked in

This is how it all happened today. It was wild. I called our guide early today and asked her when she was coming by. She told me at 2 pm. She was going to get Mason and she said she would call our room. So we went out walking around but Joseph got really sick so we came back to the hotel. His eye was really bad and he said he was dizzy. So Anthony took LilyRose and went downstairs and I stayed with Joe. He fell asleep right away. I kinda dozed off for a little while and woke up at 1:30pm. Anthony and Lily were just coming into the room. So I figured I would run down to smoke a butt and while I was outside I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and who do you think it was? That's right, my Mason. I almost died he was so cute. He was looking at the photo album we sent him a few months back. So I walked into the hotel, kinda looked at him and went upstairs. A few minutes later the phone rang and it was our guide Lily. She said they were on their way up. When the doorbell rang my heart fell to the floor. Was it like I thought it would be? NO. He said "hello mama" and took one look at Anthony and took off for him. Climbed right up on his lap. He said hello to Joe and then LilyRose. The guide told him to give me a kiss and he did right away. He is so CUTE!!! His speech is worst then I thought it was but he gets his point across. Poor Joe, he looked forward to this moment for a long time and he was just so sick. We gave Mason his backpack and you would think it was Christmas morning. He's very affectionate. Comes right over and gives hugs and kisses too.

We then went to the bank to exchange the money for tomorrow and he wanted to run off to look at anything and everything. You have to hold his hand really tight. I forgot to pack his PJ's. Can you imagine that. So we took off looking for a store that had boys clothes and what do you know, we can't find any. So off to Wal-Mart we went. I thought I was in Times Square. It was packed to the max. We had no luck so I just picked up a few sweatpants and long sleeve tops and we went to pay. Joseph got sick in the store so we needed to get out of there quick. Mason wanted to hold his hand and off they went. Mason felt warm to us too. We came back here and they rested for a while and poor Mason was starving. So we went to the Blue Bird Cafe and got a bite to eat. He ate really well and so did Joe. We are exhausted so we came right back here and both boys took showers and off to bed all 3 of them went. I am going to upload some pictures from my camera and then I will get the pictures off Joe's camera tomorrow. I hope you enjoy the few for right now.

Thanks for the comments. I really need them. Gina or Ralph, tell mom that we are fine and that I forgot to get the calling card today. I will get it tomorrow after the paperwork and I will call her tomorrow night. Tell her the kids really miss her and so do we.

We love you all and can't wait to get home and start our life as a family of 5.

Today is the day

2009-03-21T22:28:00.003-04:00

I just want to thank everyone for your comments. I so needed them. We slept ok, but we are still off right now. Joseph is not looking to good, although he keeps telling me he is ok. I made him take a treatment after we tried to eat some breakfast. His one eye is very bloodshot and I am not sure from what. The outside of his eye is all red and his eye looks like it is closing. He feels warm, but keeps telling me he is fine. Any ideas on what I should do here? LilyRose is doing great. After we ate this morning, we went for a walk and she is a big hit. Let me tell you, all the woman are looking at Joe and some even commented on his eyes.

From what we saw of Kunming so far, it's beautiful. I can't wait to get to the Lake. It looks very peaceful. We just got our suitcase, thank god. Mason's backpack was in that one. We have not heard from our guide yet. Strange, because it is 10:30am already. I will give her a call soon if I don't hear from her.

I was thinking all night/morning what my sweet little boy is thinking right now. I have a million thoughts going through my head about him. I hope I will be able to give him what he needs. I never thought about the language part of it until right now. I hope that I don't mess him up in anyway by not understanding him right away. Please keep us in your thoughts today as all of our lives will change very shortly.

I am having a hard time getting into my optimum account. So if you left an email I am hoping to figure out a way to get into it. Love to you all. I will post pictures soon. Still a little off balance.

Mom I will try to call you sometime soon. Waiting to get a calling card.

We are here in Kunming

2009-03-21T13:01:00.002-04:00

Ok, this will be very short. We are going on 35+ hours of being up. It was an absolute nightmare. We got to NJ way to early and the wait was boring. Joe & LilyRose did fine on the flight to Beijing. We had a 5 hour layover in Beijing and I wanted to turn around and come home. Then the flight was delayed. We got to Kunming at 11pm. They lost one of our suitcases. We get to our room and we don't have connecting rooms. So we had to get that fixed. It is now 1:05 am Kunming time and I am ready to fall on my face.

Ralph or Gina if you are reading this soon, call my mom and tell her we are ok and I will call her sometime later. Or anyone who has her number call her please.

We get Mason 1:40pm 3/22. I will post more later.

We are packed and ready to go, BUT

2009-03-19T08:55:00.002-04:00

LilyRose is getting a cold. She has a stuffed nose and a cough. Did you think that we would be ok at this point? Joseph was up most of the night coughing and his everyday neb machine was not working right, so he did not get the full dose of his medicine. I am trying to figure out what is wrong with it. I am exhausted myself now and I just can't get rid of this cold. I think it wants to go to China with us. I really hope this isn't a bad sign for us. I mean give me a break. I have been praying every minute of my days that this trip goes as well as Lily's did. I really want my kids to enjoy this experience. It's a trip of a lifetime for them. I am going to buy more cold medicine today just in case. I have to pick up all the prescriptions from the Dr.'s today and try to pack it all away. I am hoping to hear from my agency today about bringing Joe's neb machine on the in country flights. Please keep your fingers crossed that my kids get better FAST!!!!

I have to say THANK YOU to my cousin Gina!!!! She came by last night and helped me pack. Anthony was not listening to me about how to pack the suitcases and he pissed me off, so I told him to not touch anything. We have 1 big suitcase, a medium one and 2 medium/small ones. I had to make sure that we didn't go over the 44 pounds that the China flights allow. I think one is like 46/47 pounds. It was the best we could do with packing for 5 people. I took some things for Mason, I hope they fit and if not, then we have to shop for him there.

Now that we are packed and have everything for the adoption part of it, I am getting excited. In 3 days time I will finally meet the little boy who has consumed my whole world for almost 2 years. Please keep Mason in your thoughts and pray that he is not to sad on Sunday.

Thank you to all that have left comments and all those that have called to wish us well. We really appreciate it.

Joseph is sick

2009-03-16T16:11:00.002-04:00

Joe woke up this morning with a slight fever and a sore throat. I kept him home from school and called both Dr.'s. I was able to get his one Dr. to order a travel nebulizer with a battery pack for me and thank god it's covered by our insurance. Then I called his pediatrician and got an appt. Then I had to take LilyRose to school, come home and get Joe and we had to wait at the Dr.'s for over an hour. He checked him out and told me that his breathing is fine, no wheezing and that it should not be a problem for this trip. I asked for a few more meds and a letter stating that Joseph needs to have the nebulizer on the plane. I called a friend who works for the airline and she said that we will be allowed to have the machine on the plane. So that made me calm for now. Then by the time we got out of the Dr.'s office I had to go and get LilyRose. 2 loads of laundry later, I still have not packed yet.

In the meantime, I never got to go to the 2 Dr.'s I had appointments for. I still feel like crap and I have no contact lens left, plus I need new glasses. Thank god my cousin is my eye Dr. He was cracking up at me today. Told me to RELAX!!! Are you kidding me, who has time to RELAX. So I hope to get to my Dr.'s tomorrow.

Now, if only my husband would get home so I can get all of my stuff together, maybe, just maybe I can start to pack tonight.

Oh, BTW, when I was out Saturday night with my friends, I was telling them that Joseph's school would be following along. One of my friends bust out laughing telling me I had to watch what I say and how I say it and also, I had to watch my spelling. I had to laugh myself, because you all know how I write whats on my mind and say it like it is. So this will be very interesting to see if I do try to watch myself.

Remember, if you leave a comment, I will have to approve it before it shows up. So don't think it didn't work when you don't see it right away.

4 more days...

Thank You Girls

2009-03-15T09:57:00.003-04:00

The other day my friend Sheila called to ask me what I was doing Saturday night. I told her that I was hoping to pack. She asked if I would meet her for a quick bite to eat because she wanted to see me before I left. At that point I said ok. As the week went by, I was getting sicker by the minute. So Friday I told my husband that I was going to call her and tell her I wasn't up to it. He's telling me "go for a little while". Didn't think nothing of it. So last night I got dressed and went. I get to this little place and I walk in and there I find, Vicki B. & Vicki V. What a surprise. 2 minutes later in walks Sheila and Donna S. and Kristin H. WOW! this was great. It was like a little shower/going away party. Mason even got some presents. I was so glad that I went and I have to say that I Love these ladies. I found a new family when I joined the FCC-LI group. They totally get what I have been going through and are very supported of me and my family. We had a great time. Lots of laughs, some strange conversation (hey Donna, did you whisper? and Sheila did you sleep on the couch?) good food and just lots of warmth. Then I find out that Vicki B.'s husband and daughter Emily are at my house. That's why my husband told me to go. Vicki called him a few days before and must have told him that some of the girls would be there. It was a great night that I will remember for a long time to come.

THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Well, one of my worst fears might be coming true, JOSEPH IS GETTING SICK!!!!!

Please, Please say a prayer that he does not get Asthma cold and pray that I can keep it under control.

Hotels are booked & Visas are in hand

2009-03-13T14:43:00.002-04:00

So, as you all know, Monday was a crazy day for me. But the outcome was great. Our flights are booked and I have my e-ticket confirmation. Now for Tuesday, lets just say that my legs felt like they weighed 9 tons each. Lets face it, I haven't exercised in like 10 years. What the heck made me think I could walk 30 something blocks and not pay for it for the next 5 days. On top of that, I had fever on and off all day long. But I had so much to do and so I took LilyRose to school and came home and tried to figure out what hotels we were going to stay in and what tours we wanted to do. I guess I didn't get far because I woke up to my mother telling me from the bottom of the stairs that I had to go and get Lily. So I drag the 18 tons out the door and cringed each time my foot touched the gas or break pedal. I got home and barely made it up my stairs when I just decided that I was not going to get anything done this day. I actually threw half of myself on the couch and waited for Anthony to get home so he could get the 18 tons on the couch. He did one better then that. He massaged some sports cream on my legs and made me a hot cup of tea and let me go to sleep for a while. He took care of the kids. Feed them and helped Joe with his homework.

I felt somewhat better when I got up and was happy the day was almost over. I figured I would do better on Wednesday with hotels and stuff. Well at like 10:30 pm, my phone rings and it's someone from my agency. She was working from home because China was up and running at this time. She got right to the point. What hotels are you staying at? I need to know right now she tells me. Are you kidding me?!? My husband is sound asleep and not opening even one eye at this hour. He gets up at 4:30am. I tell her I need more time. She tells me I have until tomorrow afternoon. That's it. No more time. Now, as you all know, this is not the agency I started the adoption with, @*^@, this isn't even the 2nd agency for this adoption. THIS IS THE 3rd agency for this adoption. We don't have the best relationship, but I have no choice but to deal with them at this point. I don't like it, but I want my son home, so I will eat crow. (but if you know me, I won't eat to much of it, and not for to long either). We are having issues with hotels because I know that 5 people can stay in one room, the problem is getting my agency to know it too. They just don't want to listen. They are insisting that we have to have 2 rooms in each province. So I decided to stay up the whole night and go through old emails from my yahoo groups and even the archives to prove to them that we can do what I am asking. It took hours and hours to figure out all kids of different scenarios for them.

So, sometime in the early afternoon a friend calls me and I am telling her what is going on and she said that I should call Vicki at Heritage and see if they could help. Loved the idea, because, Vicki is great. So I call Vicki and of course she is on the money. We figured out what I needed and wanted. But as I am talking with her I get an email from my agency telling me that if I didn't give them my hotel choices by 5 pm they would delay my travel at more cost to me and blah blah blah. I was really pissed. Vicki said she would call and explain to them and she did. So, I am sure you are all wondering if I got everything I wanted. Yes and no. We got the hotels I wanted but had to get 2 rooms in 2 province. Thank god the prices were doable. As for what we didn't get, well it will not be a big deal for most of you, but it was a big deal for me. We got 4 breakfast a day included with 2 of the hotels, but we didn't get it included where I really wanted it to be included. If we eat breakfast at this hotel for 5 mornings, it will cost us about $270.00. Don't you think that's a lot of money just for breakfast? I don't know, maybe it's just me. I just think it's crazy. Breakfast, sometimes lunch and dinner for 5 people for 15 days is a lot of money!!!!!! Throw the damn breakfast in!!!!

Well, on Thursday, I got my Fee Summary and Itinerary. Well the Fee Summary made me cry. If I would have known that they were gonna charge me what they did for the very FEW tours, I would never have told them to do it. I would have done them when I got there. Can we all say MONEY MAKING BUSINESS!!!!! They told me that I needed to over night my check to them. They were adamant that they get it today. So off to the bank I went and then to FedEx and it was sent. Best part is, I don't have my Travel Approval yet. So after I sent my check, I emailed them and told them to over night my TA to me. It will be here tomorrow.

Today I went back to Manhattan and grabbed a cab. Got to the Consulate, waited like 20 minutes and have 4 visas in my hand. Took a cab back to Penn Station thinking I was doing good, and missed my train by 4 minutes. Had to wait an hour for the next train. I just sat on the floor because I had fever again. Do you think I should be calling my Doctor now, yeah so do I. Did I call, no I did not. I am just to busy. I have not finished getting my gifts that I need to bring to China. I have been going through what I have and making list of what I still need. I hope to feel better tomorrow so that I can finish up and start to pack. Joseph has all of his clothes on his bedroom floor waiting to go into the suitcase. You would think he was going away for a month. I will be going through and putting stuff back.

Now, I would like to say Thank You to all the staff at Joseph's school. I sent a little note with our blog address on it so that if they wanted to follow us on this journey they could. I went up there on Tuesday to let them know we were leaving on 3/20 and I have to say that everyone is so excited for us. Joseph has a project due while we are away and I was concerned about that. Thank you Mrs. Newman and Ms. Powers for letting Joseph turn it in when we return. That's one less thing I have to worry about. I hope that if any of you do follow, please leave us a comment letting us know you were here. Thank you Mrs. Fabrizio for leaving a comment and yes, I hope you are able to have at least LilyRose in your 1st grade class. Not sure what grade Mason will be going into, but if it is 1st grade, he's all yours. lol

I hope from this point on, my post are all happy and upbeat. No more negative, please!!!

We love you all.

Visa's, CA & Tickets to China

2009-03-09T18:26:00.004-04:00

This morning I got up and felt like someone ran over me with a huge truck. I have the worst sore throat and I believe I had fever. Not the best time to be catching a cold. It was cold and wet outside and I had to go to Manhattan to get our Visas. So off I go to the train station to catch the 8:27am train to Penn Station. I got into Penn at like 9:20am. Now, I haven't really been in Manhattan for years by myself. So I finally find the 8th ave. exit and walk out the doors to pouring rain. I have no hood on my jacket and I forgot my umbrella. My husband told me to get a cab, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing that by myself. So I put my head down and off I went to the Chinese Consulate. I got like 4 or 5 blocks and I was dripping wet and freezing cold. So I stopped to buy an umbrella. I continue walking to 42nd Street from 33rd Street. Once I got there I had to cross over and walk up to 12th Ave. By the time I reached 10th ave I thought I was going to die. I am so out of shape. I finally get to the Consulate and I go in to find a mob of people. I wanted to cry. I get on the Visa line and it moved really slow. It's finally my turn and thank god everything went fine. I walked out into pouring rain again and the longest line I have ever seen. It was a block deep to get into the Consulate. Crazy, Crazy. I have to go back on Friday to pick up the Visas. I started to walk back to Penn Station and I really just wanted to cry. I felt really feverish and my whole body ached. I made it and caught the 11:15 am train. I was home in my house by 12:30pm. Not bad.

An email was waiting for me from the Barker Foundation telling me that we have a March 30th CA. So I got on the phone at 1pm to book flights. At 5:30pm our flights were booked. We leave March 20, 2009 from NJ to Beijing with a connecting flight to Kunming. Our GOTCHA DAY IS MARCH 23, 2009. We leave for GZ on March 27th and then on April 1st we head to Beijing where we will stay for 2 days to sight see. We return home April 3, 2009.

So I am freaking out right now. I am so not ready to go. I still have so much to get. Don't have all my gifts and I am still not sure what the weather is like over there. Can anyone say "Chicken without a head"!!!! More to come...

Give me a T, give me an A and what do you have...

2009-03-06T11:48:00.002-05:00

TA !!!!!!

Yes, that's right, we have TA for our sweet Mason. I got an email yesterday from The Barker Foundation saying that the transfer was official on March 4th. It also said that they were contacting us first because they expected our TA any day. When I spoke to them yesterday they told me they were expecting our TA today. Of course they were because it's Friday. We always get news on our adoptions on Friday. Well, I got the call this morning and I was told that our TA is in. She said we most likely will leave for China on March 20th, which is 2 weeks from today. Oh boy, I have a million things to do and I better get started.

Mood Swings

2009-02-27T08:33:00.004-05:00

I have been having them a lot lately. Every time I think we are going to be ok, something new is dropped in my lap. I heard that the transfer will take place very soon, and that Barker wants an $800.00 refundable deposit to make sure we do our post placements. I Don't Think So!!!!! I don't have an extra $800.00 now. If I give them that, then for sure we are not going to China. I mean, come on, why would I give them that money to sit in there account and collect interest for a year? I have an agency that is doing my post placements and I have to pay them. Every time I turn around I have to pay more money. It's kinda sickening at this point. Grant it, I haven't dished out a lot of money as of yet, but I will be very soon. Anthony's vacation check is $1000.00 less then it was suppose to be. The union is holding out more for assessments then we thought. Then our tax return was less $2000.00 then we thought. My tax guy thought we had more of LilyRose's tax credit left over from last year, but we didn't. So all in all we have a set back of $3000.00. No small amount when you are looking at $15,000.00 more to go.

I considered withdrawing from the adoption altogether the other day. I am just so tried right now. Everyone is telling me to leave my kids home and just me and Anthony go. Well, yes, that would save me alot of money, but I promised Joseph this trip. I regret not taking him when we adopted LilyRose. When I told Joseph the other day that we either weren't going to go, or that I would have to leave him and LilyRose home, he looked at me and said "take all of my savings out of the bank because I AM GOING to CHINA to bring my new brother home". I told Anthony that he should take Joseph with him and go to China without me and Lily. He said he wouldn't do that because he didn't want me to miss Gotcha Day. That is the most magical moment. I still remember LilyRose's like it was this morning. The first moment your eyes lock on your child is priceless. He also feels that since I worked so hard to bring this sweet child into my life for 2 years that I deserve to be there from start to finish. He doesn't feel comfortable with me traveling with my son a lone, so we can't do that either.

I will figure it out. If I have to borrow at this point I will. This will be our last adoption and it will be a family thing one way or another. I am feeling much better today. I hope that feeling last a long time.

Researching Airfare & Hotels

2009-02-19T11:12:00.002-05:00

This is so darn SCARY!!!!!

I am having a hard time with hotels. We would like to stay at the Green Lake Hotel in Kunming, but it's closed until June 2009 for renovations. So, now I am checking the Grand Park Hotel and it's really expensive from what I can see, and to top it all off, we have to get 2 rooms. It says that you can't have more then 4 people in a room. We will be 5. I don't see why we can't get the 1 room with 2 beds and let them bring a crib in for LilyRose. Although she doesn't sleep in a crib anymore, it's only for the trip. If I didn't have to get 2 rooms everywhere I think we would be fine. Also, Anthony is having a fit because he will be in one room with the boys and I will be in the other room with LilyRose. lol Grow up I keep telling him. It's only for 2 weeks. I can't have the boys sleep in a room by themselves, their only 10 & 8.

The airfare is another story. Air China was cheaper then Continental by a lot. So, maybe we can fly out of JFK this time around, instead of Newark, NJ. That would be nice. But we won't know until we get TA and I really start looking. Right now I am doing tentative dates so it's hard to tell what the real price will be for the dates we want.

I wanted to stay at the Victory when we get to GZ, but with the tentative dates I have, the hotel is booked. Anthony wants to stay at the White Swan because we didn't stay there the last time, but it's super expensive. The only other hotel is the Holiday Inn ShiFu. We stayed there with LilyRose and we really didn't like it at all. The rooms were big, but the staff was NOT friendly at all. The food wasn't that good either. The rates are high there also. So, if we can't get earlier dates we might be sleeping on the streets of China at some point of our trip. If we have to pay these crazy hotel fees, we won't have anything left to buy food. We will NOT be going shopping this time around. I will purchase somethings for Mason from his province, but that will be about it. My son Joseph said he wants to take his own money so that he could buy whatever he likes. We will buy something for him and LilyRose, but not much.

We are waiting to hear back from Anthony's friend who kindly offered to us the use of his International Time Share. He's looking into it to see if we can book a hotel room instead of the condo units. He checked into Kunming for us and it came up with something but it was to far from where we would have to be. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to book hotel rooms under his time share instead of the condo. So if this works we are safe in one province.

The transfer to the new agency has not taken place yet. I am hoping to hear something soon so I can figure out the travel part of this.

Original Referral Paperwork Found

2009-02-17T12:28:00.002-05:00

I got an email from Vicki Friday night telling me that while she was looking through our file, she came across Mason's original referral with some photos. One of the girls was suppose to send it to me with the LOA, but for some reason it wasn't sent. So Vicki said she would overnight it to us this week. I am so excited to receive this. I wonder if they are different photos from the ones I saw already. Wouldn't that be awesome to have at least one different photo then we already have? I only have 5 photos and he's 8 years old already. The first 3 that we have are from when he was around 5 years old and the other 2 are from September or October 2008 that I got from Ladybugs n Luv with the update. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I am checking hotels and airfare now and boy, it's scary. I have no idea how we will do this. Everything has gone up 10 fold since LilyRose's adoption. I hope that we do not have to postpone this adoption to come up with the money to get him home. I think he has waited long enough to have a family and a home of his own. Keep your fingers crossed that this works out for us. We really want to bring him home asap.

LOA is signed and returned

2009-02-12T11:59:00.002-05:00

I have to say, Vicki P. from Heritage is on the money. I got our LOA yesterday just like she said and we signed it and I ran to FedEx and sent it back to Vicki. Now if only we could finish this adoption with Heritage, things would be great. I am hoping beyond hope that the CCAA holds off on doing the transfer so that we can just stay with Heritage. I guess I never did say in any of my post that I really like the girls from Heritage. I didn't give them the props that they deserve. They went above and beyond for us when I was having problems with some of our paperwork. Thanks so much girls. We really appreciate it all. I hope that you find peace and happiness when Heritage International is no longer up and running. You all deserve it.

We Got LOA

2009-02-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

OMG, we got LOA tonight. Joseph and I were sitting in the living room and Anthony was on the deck cleaning up the BBQ and LilyRose was playing in her room when the phone rang at 7:10 pm. I knew it was Heritage because the name and phone number scrolls across our TV of who is calling as long as it is not a blocked number. I was listening to Joseph's IPod for a song that I wanted on my IPod ( that I got for my b'day for the plane ride). I didn't think anything when I answered the phone because I thought they were calling to tell me that the transfer took place. I had asked them last week to let me know about the transfer so that I could call Barker and get more info on their travel packages. Can you imagine my complete and total shock when Vicki told me that she was calling to tell me that our LOA was sitting on her desk. I got really quiet and said to her, "are you sure your calling the right family"? We are only on day 56 of our wait. She started to laugh and told me., "Yes, I know who I am calling". I just about died. I was yelling for Anthony and jumping up and down. He was shocked. Joseph was flipping out and it was just a mad house after that. So instead of getting the LOA sometime in March or April, we will be most likely traveling at that time. WOO HOOOO!!!!!

Then reality set in and oh, boy we need to come up with major money in a very short time. So I need to get to my tax guy asap and bring him our papers so that he can do our taxes. Without that money we are not going anywhere. Also, we just got the letter from Anthony's union on how many hours he will be paid, for his vacation and sick time. He gets 4 checks a year for that. He next one is due in March. So we need to save every penny from this point on.

Vicki said that I should have my LOA in hand to sign on Wednesday the 11th. We will sign and send back the same night. We didn't have to do this for LilyRose as we just squeaked by before this new rule came into play. I am one HAPPY MAMA!!!!

Here we go again!!!!!

2009-02-08T20:30:00.000-05:00

Well, here we go again. We found out on January 15, 2009 that Heritage will be closing down their International Program. Can you believe it?!? 2 agencies closing on us in a 5 month period and we still don't have our son home. This is to much to handle. I was told that we will be transferred to the Barker Foundation. Never heard of them and don't really care at this point. I just want to bring my son Mason home. I spent this month trying to learn about Barker, but haven't had much luck. I did call them and I spoke to their International Director and she was super nice. I had to voice my concerns about our adoption because let's face it, Anthony and I should not have been here now. We just celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary on November 13, 2008. So I was very concerned that somewhere in the transfer the CCAA would look at our file and say, "Hey, wait a minute, they don't belong here yet". She reassured me that that would not happen because we already had a LID. But in the back of my mind it was there and it was a scary place to be. I have had this fear from day one. That is why I have not put it out there until now that we were adopting again. I am sure there would be people that tried to get a waiver and were told no and then here we come and we got one. I was afraid that someone would try to mess up this adoption on us and get the CCAA to withdraw our approval. Call me crazy, but that is how I felt.

Lots of people hated Adoption House, but for us, they were the best ever. They helped us bring our daughter LilyRose home 2 years ago with the best experience ever and then they helped us get a wavier when waivers were not being given out at all. So yes, this is a TRUE MIRACLE and my family and I miss working with Adoption House.

The only problem I have so far is that the Barker Foundation wants an application fee from us. Give me a break, I paid 2 application fees already, so I told her that no I will not pay another application fee at all. I have no idea what is happening with that as of yet since the transfer has not taken place yet. Don't know when that will be. Just trying to keep myself focused at this point. We are waiting on our LOA now. I am told the norm is 90 days from LID. Some people wait longer then others. No one knows why that is, but it is happening out there. Some of the girls that were transferred from Adoption House with me waited 111 days for their LOA. Then we saw someone post that she got hers at day 60. I wish it was more consistant, but it's not and we are just waiting out turn. It looks like we will travel some time around May or June 2009. My son Joseph has so much happening at the end of May and all of June as he Graduates from the elementary school in June. There is no way we can miss any of this stuff. My cousin is getting married June 28th and both my kids are in the Bridal Party. So of course we have to be here for that. So we might even be traveling in July. That's scary to me because Joseph has Asthma. The weather is not great in China and I am sure it's a lot worse in the summer months. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can go before the bad weather come through.

We are on day 55 of our LOA wait. We have a long way to go.

Our story continues

2009-02-08T20:06:00.007-05:00

Care Package for Mason - Ladybugs n Luv

We finally decided on a name, Mason Anthony!!!! It has grown on me and now I love it. Joseph really likes it too.

So, on September 22, 2008 our new SW came for our updated home visit. We only needed her to come here once as we had our home study done when we were adopting Jack. She was very nice and the meeting went really well. This SW actually walked through our entire house. She looked in every room and commented each time. Our previous SW NEVER looked anywhere but the dinning room, bathroom and LilyRose's room. I guess everyone is different.

In the meantime, we had to do over most of our paperwork, as it was over 6 months from when we had it done for Vietnam. Anthony works in NYC, so he went down to get new Birth Certificates. They used to give them to you right then and there, but no more. He called to tell me we would have to wait something like a month. I was not having that and I made him put the guy on the phone and I went through this whole thing with him and he said he would try to get them to us much sooner, but not to count on it. We got them 6 days later. 6 days is a big difference from 30 days. It pays to be a little nasty sometimes. lol We had so many issues this time around collecting our paperwork that it would take me all day to list them here. Let's just say there were many days that I wanted to walk away from this adoption and bury myself in my bed and never come out. I" spent about 3 weeks on the phone with different people asking for help and some people helped and some didn't. That's just the way of the world I guess. My mom lives downstairs from us and her prints always come back "unreadable" Each agency in the fingerprint process knows this, but they still made us go through the steps knowing that in the end she would be pushed through with a notarized letter. This added an extra 2 weeks to the wait. I am very friendly with the staff in Albany now.

November 10, 2008 we received our updated home study. This was a happy day for me. The next day I sent it overnight to USCIS office here in NY. November 12, 2008 was a Wednesday and that is the only day of the week you can call the Immigration office in NY. So I called and asked them if they got my home study. We only had to do a Change of Country and we were still going under the I600A. I asked him how long it would take for us to get the new I171H and he said about 3 to 4 weeks. I almost died. I went on and on about our story and cried and begged and he said to me that he would do his best to get it to us asap. On November 15, 2008 we received our new I171H in the mail. Woo Hoooo!!!!!!

November 20, 2008 we had our paperwork State Authenticated and November 21st, we dropped it off at the Chinese Consulate. It was a Friday and I was really concerned that the following week was Thanksgiving and we wouldn't get it back until the following week. But, we got it back November 26th. DOSSIER SENT TO HERITAGE on November 29th.

December 3, 2008 we are DTC!!!!!!

December 15, 2008 we have a LID!!!!!!!

December 16, 2008 I ordered a care package from Ladybugs n Love to send to Mason. December 17th was Mason's 8th b'day. On the 18th, I got a photo of the care package. A few days later, I got a confirmation email that Mason received the package. This is a happy time.

Got Updates on Wang

2009-02-08T19:38:00.006-05:00

First we got an update from Heritage on Wang on August 28th. There were no new pictures of him which was sad because the ones we have are from like 4 years ago. This is what they had to say about my sweet boy...

Head circumference: 51cm, Chest circumference: 54cm, Height: 116cm,Weight:22kg; Tooth:22 , Foot length: 18cm;

Living condition: He lives in the orphanage as a group life. Main foods: steamed rice, noodles, nutrition foods: milk, egg, meat,vegetables, fruit etc.

Personality & Development: He can run, jump, go upstairs or downstairs by himself. His action is agile. He has a strong independent ability. He can eat quietly . He can wash his hands, take a shower, wash his face, wash his feet, go potty, dress and undress his clothes, socks and shoes. He knows to fold his own quilt after getting up. He can clean his bed. He likes the caretakers, teachers and other little friends in his class. He can express his thought and his requirements. But his pronunciation is not quite clear. He can solve some problems with his knowledge. He respects elderly and loves younger kids. He can help with some chores such as mop the floor , clean the tables etc. He cares about the young and sick children. He likes to explore new objects and new things . He is aware of changes nearby. He is at the pre-school study. He is very interested with the things that he knows. He likes to study. He can find some questions under the stimulation of the teachers, ask some questions and solve the problems. He is a good student. He gets along well with other children. He is polite, likes labor work, can master the knowledge that the teacher teaches. He knows how to do the Adding and Subtraction under 10. He recognizes shapes. He knows that a year has four seasons. He can do simple puzzles. He can write his own name. He is a hardworking student. He is outgoing, active, restless, kind, honest, is well-behaved. He is a good boy. He is dedicated with what he is doing. He likes drawing, singing and dancing. He is fond of playing with other children. He gets along well with other children while playing. His goal in the future is to be a policeman. He is sensitive to strangers or new things.

On September 9th, I got an update with 2 photos and 10 questions answered from Ladybugs n love. OMG, he is the cutest kid ever. Here's a few things from this update...

He can express his desire, but not very clear

He has a very good appetite. He is not picky

He sleeps well. Goes to sleep himself. He sleeps alone but in room with other children

His favorite color is RED, and he likes kittens and birds

He knows he will be adopted and is very HAPPY

So that's what we know so far of our new son, Wang. I just can't wait to go and bring him home.

LOI sent for my sweet Wang

2009-02-08T18:29:00.002-05:00

On April 14, 2008 we became a host family to a sweet little girl named Ayanna. She was 4 days old and absolutely beautiful. It was love at first sight for me. This child was pure sunshine and we loved her deeply. I would have loved to adopt this sweet baby but it was not meant to be.

On May 23, 2008 Ayanna left our home to be put in another host home because I could not let myself get anymore attached to her knowing that she would never be my child. I will never forget the pain that I felt watching her leave and I can't write anything more about it, as I am crying while I write this. Ayanna was adopted on June 18, 2008. I miss her every minute of my life and I always will.

On May 27, 2008 I finally got up and out of bed not really wanting to, but my kids needed me. The phone rings at like 10 am and it's my Vietnam agency. Now with my mind being on Ayanna, it took me a minute to understand what my agency was saying to me. Jack was gone!! His mother came and took him back. Holy Holy, I think I am going to die. How could this be? 2 kids in 5 days. WHY?!? The devastation we felt could not be described and I won't even try. I won't say anymore about that.

So... our LOI went to the CCAA on July 23, 2008. What a happy day it was for me. Although I knew that it was a long shot to be approved, I was walking on sunshine. I got the email from Ming in China that our LOI went into the review room on July 31, 2008. For the first time since we sent it, it finally hit me that this was do or die. I knew that if we didn't get approved, my heart would just break into a million little pieces. It was still broken from losing Jack and if I lost Wang it would never be whole again. On August 5th, I woke up to an email from Ming telling me that the CCAA wants more information from me. She wanted it immediately. So, again I had to write a letter. This time it was for one of the most painful times in my life. It took me the whole day to write this letter. I kept crying and messing up the letter. Finally it was done and sent to Ming that very night. She was awesome, she translated it herself and hand delivered it to the CCAA that very day. On August 8th (opening ceremony for the Olympics)
she emails me and tells me my LOI is on the Director of the CCAA's desk. OMG, it was a crazy feeling to know that I was this close to healing my heart and bringing home the son that was so meant to be mine.

On August 20th, I got an email from Ming telling us that "WE GOT APPROVED" "WE GOT THE WAIVER" I was jumping up and down and my son Joseph, who didn't know really that we did this couldn't believe it. As most of you know, when we lost Jack, Joseph took it the hardest. He lost a brother that he has been waiting for, for a long time. So not only am I walking on Sunshine, I am walking on every cloud too. Then of course, I knew it wouldn't last long. I get a call from Adoption House that they are closing their doors in 3 weeks. WHOOSH, the air was sucked right out of me. I couldn't believe it. Now what? My concern was that the new agency wouldn't want to work with us because we really don't qualify for China, but Stacey told me that we already had PA so whoever our paper work went to, they had to work with us. Well, our paperwork went to Heritage. On August 28, 2008, Heritage sent me an email telling me that they got an update for us on Wang. No picture, but an update. (check next post for what update said) On September 2, 2008 ordered an update/phone call to orphanage from Ladybugs n Love for Wang. On September 9, 2008 received that update with 2 new photos. (see next post)

The first time I ever saw his face

2009-02-08T17:47:00.001-05:00

I will never forget it. OMG,I fell head over heals in Love with Wang. I don't know why I went onto this agency website, but I did and there he was.

It was May 21, 2007. We were home with LilyRose only 3 months. The new rules went into effect on May 1st and that knocked us out of being approved to adopt him, but I called the agency that had his file anyway. He was on their list for 4 months already and I spoke to the lady there and she said that no one had inquired about him at all. He is Cleft affected and older. I explained our situation and asked her if she would try to get us approved from the CCAA and she said that it would not happen. I was so upset. I couldn't stop thinking about him. Even though we were only home with LilyRose a few months, I was so ready to start all over again and have him for my son. Even though I knew that this agency would not help us, I still called them every week and emailed them at least twice a week to see if anyone inquired about him and if they had a change of heart to try to help us. The answer to both questions was always NO. After a while she stopped taking or returning my calls and my emails went unanswered. It was heartbreaking to me.

I was kept up to date with what was happening with Wang from my friend's that just adopted through this agency and I knew when his file was being returned to the CCAA. In the meantime, I asked Adoption House (who we used to bring LilyRose home) if they would try to help us and they emailed their coordinator Ming and explained our situation to her and she said YES, she would try to help us and to let them know when his file was returned.

In June, the same friend sent me a photo of a little boy from Vietnam who was the same age. He was adorable and I told her that, but my heart was with Wang. Every few phone conversations (we talked almost everyday) she would mention the boy from Vietnam. He started to grow in my heart a little each time. I still called about Wang and never got any info on him. In September 2007 we went to Delaware for the Adoption House annual picnic and wonderful Ming from China was there. We met her in China when we adopted LilyRose and I kept in touch with her when we returned home through email. We really went to the picnic to see Ming so she could meet LilyRose. Ming lives in Beijing so we met her before we met LilyRose. I spent most of the day telling her about Wang. She said that she would try to help us get approved for him when his file was returned to the CCAA. Anthony and I were married in November 2004, so we do not meet the 5 year marriage rule.

Wang's file was returned to the CCAA in October 2007. Adoption House said agencies are not allowed to request specific files of children, but that Ming would ask. So we waited and waited and waited. In November 2007 right before Thanksgiving, we went ahead and applied for Jack. On December 19, 2007, I got a call from Adoption House telling me that they got Wang's file. I was heart broken. I had just sent my check in for Jack. Anthony and I discussed at length how we could bring both boys home. There really wasn't anyway to do it, but I was going to try. Adoption House told us to take our time. The longer we held off sending in our LOI, the better for us. We were only married 3 years.

At some point in the next few months there was a family who inquired about our sweet Wang. When Stacey called to tell me, I was sicker then sick, but there was nothing I could do about it. So we waited to hear if they were approved. There were days I couldn't eat or sleep. I can't even remember what month this took place. One day Stacey called me out of the blue and told me that the family was not approved. Holy good lord, I was never so happy then I was that day. Anthony & I were still trying to figure out how to bring this sweet boy home and it wasn't looking so good for us. I was not giving up on this child.