the red thread

I admit it, I'm not one for 'fate.' I'm more of a 'build your own destiny' kind of gal. But...

our beautiful Mae Huai Xiang was born on Aug. 5. That is the birthdate of my beloved Mother In Law, who Mae was named after (Melba Mae). Mel passed away in October of '04 and was one of the most important people in my life. For my daughter to share not only her name but also her birthday with this wonderful woman....I believe in the Red Thread now.

our baby girl!

We are soooooo excited! Click here for more pictures.

sweet agony

10:00am Mountain Time. Calls are starting.

spring

A little glimpse of spring.

THE STORK HAS LANDED!!

Tracking summary
Current Status Shipment delivered.
Delivered on 2/27/2006 8:28 am
Delivered to Receptionist

closer and closer

Date and Time Status Location
2/27/2006 7:42 am With delivery courier.
7:02 am Arrived at DHL facility. Englewood, CO


Our group is going to treat the CCAI staff to a lunch today if they are translating. Oh happy day!

progress!

From the CCAA website:
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before May 25, 2005.

That is a guarantee that our 5/23 is matched. We had assumed as much, but you can never be completely sure with the CCAA! Also, the stork is in Ohio already!


There is some concern over travel dates. Someone already asked Heidi in the Travel Dept. at CCAI and this is her reply:

Yes, the Trade Fair is held in Guangzhou the last 2 weeks of April and the Chinese holiday is the first week of May. You could still travel the first two weeks of April, if timing permits. Otherwise, the next earliest date you may leave would be around May 4th. China does close down for the entire first week of May for the holiday.

Tracking

The Internet is a cool cool place. Here is the tracking information from DHL on the package shipped from CCAA in Beijing to our agency, CCAI, in Colorado. Beijing is 15 hours ahead of us, which means that at 6pm tomorrow night (Sunday) it will be 9am in China. Yes, this also means those of us waiting for our referrals will be stalking both the DHL website and the CCAA website from 6pm on.

Sam's 1st movie

In an effort to keep busy this weekend, we decided to take the boys to "Curious George" which has been a hit with the really little ones. I knew Ted would be great, what with 3 movies under his belt, but I wasn't too sure how Sam would be. After all, this is the kid who didn't acknowledge the television til about age 2, and even now never sits through an entire anything, even Baby Einstein (a.k.a. how moms fix dinner). It is dark, loud and BIG in the theatre. Well, he did great!! Ted's first movie was "Madagascar" and he spent about 2 minutes in his own seat before needing the comfort of my lap. Sam settled in between Ted and me, his popcorn in his lap, and took it all in. About 20 minutes from the end, he got bored and we took a bathroom break (I was also bored and in need of the bathroom too, so it worked out perfectly!) By the time we got back, it was the very end and he spent the credits in the first row, looking up. Fun!!
This morning I offered to help Lucy's mom with her birthday party so Ted and I were at an 'Under the Sea' themed party today for Miss Lucy. So cute!!! Tomorrow I plan to take the boys to a museum, probably the Nature & Science one if Ted is the deciding factor, otherwise the Children's one.
Anyway, we highly recommend "Curious George." It was a little boring for adults, but very sweet for kids. A perfect first movie!!

Monday? Really?

According to a super sleuth on our board, who is tracking the
package from Beijing:

I just spoke to DHL. They (the referrals) will arrive in Colorado
on Monday.

That seems a little too fast for me for an international package
but I'd love to be wrong!!! Apparently there are TWO boxes of
referrals this time!

STORK ALERT

Good news from CCAI this morning:

We have learned that the CCAA has mailed the next group of matches. We anticipate receiving these matches within 2-4 business days.

At this time we are very hopeful that this group will include our May 23, 2005 LIDs.

baby shoe envy

Another adoptive blogger mom, Gwen's mom, (whose site is now password-protected, and yes, I begged to be allowed in and it is my FAVORITE site to visit every night) recently bought Gwen her first pair of Stride Rites. Both my boys had Stride Rites for their first few pairs of walking shoes, switching to the cheapo Target brand superhero sneakers once preschool ruined all articles of clothing forever. Similar to the bathing suit realization, I am very excited about the SHOE aspect of a little girl! Boys don't care about their shoes at all. I love shoes, although I'm really good at not going crazy. Here are the two pairs I am currently in love with. The "Addie" style (upper left) is what Gwen is sporting. I also like the "Priscilla" on the right. Thoughts?

inside the CCAA

Here are two pics of the matching room at CCAA. Look at those shelves of dossiers! The woman in the striped shirt works in the Matching Room and looks very nice...hope she enjoys her job. Can you imagine how interesting it must be to be the person responsible for matching a child with her/his family? I mean, I know that any child that I will be referred will be adored at once (I'm not into the 'this is the one child for me' idea) but still...it must be a little like playing God. They say that they truly try to match children with parents who somehow look similar in some way, or who share similar interests...which must be tough since they are babies! Anyway, that is what the inside of the Matching Room looks like. In the Review Room (where they check for any problems with the dossier) you can see the "mug shots" (i.e. Passport Pics) on the screen...that is all the Matching Room workers see as they match babies to parents...yikes!!!

The photo descriptions and photos are courtesy of Amy Eldridge. This is a photo of what a child's "info sheet" looks like. It has their photos and then a general description and what their likes and dislikes are. The woman matched this child to a family for me while I was there. She told me that they pull up the passport photos of the parents, and that has their name, their jobs, and the parents likes and dislikes. This particular child liked music and I believe one of the parents taught music (it had something to do with music). So she thought they were a "match". She will pull up a parents file and then she has 4-5 babies in a stack and she will hold up the sheet with the baby and see if something "jumps out at her" as a match. She said sometimes it is appearance, sometimes it is a hobby.....sometimes it just "feels right". Check out the page with more pics!!

in preparation...

At the end of our stay in China, we will be at the White Swan Hotel. There is an outdoor and an indoor pool. I love taking my boys swimming so I'm sure we will at least attempt a little dip while there. I have spent 4+ years of my life on the "boy side" of the store. It was really fun today to "cross over" and browse all the cute new girly swimsuits! This is a 6-12 months size...hope it's not too big for her!!
I had an interesting dream last night. In the dream, Mae's name had to be changed because her Chinese name was Xiao Mei (Xiao (pronounced 'sha-ow') is a girl in Ted's violin group, so I think that's why her name came up. Soon, soon, soon we will know. I hope we can keep Mae as her first name, but it would be interesting if it's 'already there'!! (Mei mei means little sister, so that will probably end up being her nickname anyway. Usually the Chinese use the 2nd name and repeat it as a nickname. This little girl in Ted's class is called Xiao Xiao.) The newest rumors say that CCAA will mail referrals Friday. I don't think they will mail them til next Tuesday (based on my predictions) but I'd love to be wrong!

timeline predictions

I posted this on my board tonight:

The boards are all slow tonight and my boys went to bed early. So, I
decided to read through my blog tonight. I came across the milestones
I noted last month and thought I'd share them, since they might help
us predict when the referrals will come:

Jan. 18 - "CCAA is matching" appears on CCAI website
Jan. 23 - CCAA site says referrals through May 14
Jan. 26 - CCAI verifying & translating referrals
Jan. 27 - CCAI calls families

Sooooo....here is my prediction, based on the same days:

Feb. 21 - "CCAA is matching" appears on CCAI website (Tuesday)
Feb. 27 - CCAA site will update with cutoff date (next Monday)
March 2 - CCAI will verify & translate referrals (Thursday)
March 3 - CCAI will call families (Friday)

Sound good? C'mon....let the trend continue!!!

Let's hope!! A referral by Ted's birthday would be so cool!

2nd Child Syndrome

Poor Sam...I was really banking on him taking up the cello. While the bow hold isn't correct, he is bowing "Mississippi Stop Stop" on the E string perfectly. Hmmm...

yippee skippy

Don't ask...it just came to my lips when I heard the newest REFERRAL RUMOR!!!! Here it is, posted on one of my agency's Yahoo! groups:

    "There've been rumors from Spain for a few days now about
referrals. Today there was a posting on the August2005DTC group
from someone in TN who said her agency sent out an email to
everyone that referrals will be coming 2/28."

    Someone else said their agency told them they should get a
referral 2/27-2/28 for their LID of early June.

    Don't want to get everyones hopes up but this sounds very
promising!!!!!

This is so exciting. To think that NEXT WEEK we might see a picture of OUR DAUGHTER! It is all I can do to think straight. I am planning our "Referral Party" right now...nothing like planning parties to take my mind off!

preview...

I just had to post this pic. It is my favorite one of the day. This seems to be his 'new look'...and it's reminding me a lot less of a little boy and a lot more like a preview of a teenager! Yikes! What is it that is making him look so old to me?

crazy party

Click on the sign for pics from the wild 'n crazy birthday party today.

a summer friend for Mae

Our cyber-friends, the Kullmans, are also adopting through CCAI and are there now! They will receive Phoebe today or tomorrow. They also have two boys our boys' ages! And...they live in Glenview, IL! I was so excited about that and told Leslie & Wayne all about the party we will have for Mae and they hope to come! How fun to have built-in summer playmates for ALL our children! Yippee!

heaven on earth

Ghirardelli dark chocolate surrounds a silky smooth white mint center for a tantalizingly cool chocolate experience.

I know, Mom, I didn't like mint when I was a child (neither do mine, if that helps). I still don't usually seek it out. Someone brought these to our Mahj game last Thursday. They are truly one of the most amazing treats I've ever tasted...like the First Class version of a Peppermint Patty. YUM.

princesses

Last night we got together with Rachel and her family to stuff the goody bags for their birthday party on Sunday. The kids had a blast playing princesses and, for the first time in ages, played together happily without any tears or fights, all night long. Hooray! For kids that have known each other since BEFORE they were born, it was wonderful seeing them so happy together. It's been ages since they allowed themselves to enjoy each other's company. Ted won't be 4 for 2 more weeks, but it's a tradition to have their party together. Happy Birthday to the FOUR-year olds!!!

brrr...

As Shayna's mom says, "it is flippin' cold here today." She lives in Colorado too and we have had record lows Friday and into the weekend. I went running this morning, not realizing how cold it truly was. I made it about a mile and a half before abandoning the trail (in the pic) and running as fast as I could back home to warm up! Geesh!

Two weeks from today...

...will be March 2. Ted' birthday is Sunday, March 5. I predict that I will have my referral in hand by the following Sunday, March 12. Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

who are you all??

I happened to glance at my little counter at the bottom left of the blog. I put it on about 2 weeks ago and it's at 310 already! I know my mom checks it regularily and sometimes my girlfriends, but...are there more of you? Other adoptive parents perhaps? I know I am a true blog addict! Please feel free to leave a comment to let me know who you are! I hope this helps you on your journey the way other blogs have helped me!

Rumors are flying!

There are rumors circulating on the boards from Spain and France, saying that the rest of May and a little bit of June LIDs are being included in the next batch, due in 2 weeks. There is no real way to know if they are for real or not, but they certainly COULD be, because it's not that crazy for them to finish up the next batch in 2 weeks. That would be 'on time' for the 'new' timeline CCAA has set up: a 10-month wait. It is incredibly exciting to 'feel pretty certain' that we are next. We can't WAIT to see Mae's little face!!!

safely home

Amazingly, Paul was able to fly out of LaGuardia this morning and arrived home around 2:30 this afternoon. Hooray! Everyone was thrilled to see him, people and animals alike. He had a great time and got to do all the cool stuff you do in NY. Fun stuff!
Here is a pic of Ted from yesterday afternoon at Erin's house. Her mother gave Ted a little ski lesson and Ted really enjoyed it. Afterwards we had dinner and watched (of all things) ski jumping on the Olympics. We might take him up to Eldora some weekend and let him do some of the beginner stuff they have set up there. He really has the "fearless" temperment for this sport so once he's learned how to do it, I think he will really have a blast.

what day is this?

Well, I'm officially over it. After a late night at a potluck, Sam was up at 5:15. Ted followed shortly at 6:30. Luckily we had a nice morning Shabbat service to occupy our groggy selves. Ted wouldn't nap (and Sam had to cry himself to sleep after I stopped going in there time and time again) but at least he is sleeping now. I have a sitter tonight-thank GOODNESS! I am ready for a break. Paul is having a grand time! He went to the Museum of Art and yesterday to the Met to hear "Samson and Delilah!" I'm so jealous!
Some of you may know the kitty story. Jim, Nancy's husband, is a reporter for the NY Times, stationed in Iraq. On leave he brought home a young female cat and her daughter. Once home in NY, the mother cat had another litter of kittens! One of them has been returned to them and we are trying to find a home for him. Ozzie is described below: Here are two pictures of a great little guy. He is fearless! With boundless energy (he's a leaper, says Paul). He envisions himself as an alpha kitty, that's for sure. If you want more info, just call or post!

Day 2 as a single mom

Here is Biker Boy. We drove to a flat paved trail this afternoon (since Sam wouldn't nap....grr...) and the boys had a good time biking, and Ole had fun running! We ran this morning while the boys were in preschool so he's had a great day! Ted can really go fast on this bike! Pretty cool. Sam spent the time learning how to steer. Pedaling comes next...

Otherwise, the morning went smoothly (5:45-Sam, 6:30-Ted). They had preschool today and it was a glorious 67 degrees out, so Ole and I enjoyed our trail run. I took the 3/4 violin in to be restrung and discovered that the pegs are in poor shape and need to be replaced. I'm just glad it's not my fault that the D string keeps breaking on me and the G string won't stay in tune! It will be ready tomorrow afternoon. Both boys had good days at school, although Sam's teacher informed me that 'the honeymoon is over' and that he is starting to act up. Let the fun begin! He refused to nap, which was frustrating, but the trail ride exhausted them both and for only the 2nd time in their lives, BOTH of them fell asleep in the car on the ride home. 4:30 and napping...NOT a good combo! I got them home, fed and bathed and spent the next hour wrangling them into sleep mode. I think they both were asleep by 7ish. Danna came over and we ordered Vietnamese food from our favorite restaurant and chatted by the fire. I updated the webpage too! So far, so good on the 'do it all' thing, although I am certainly glad I'm not working out of the home as well. It's pretty exhausting stuff. Paul leaves Jersey tomorrow for NY to be with Nancy! Fun fun fun!

whirlwind!

Wow, nothing like being a single mom to keep me on task all day long!! We dropped Paul off (abandoned him really...what a mess the bus area was!) at the airport bus stop at 8ish, then went to Target to buy a humidifier for Sam's room (hoping the 'white noise' will help him sleep later than 4:30am...) Then we came home and Erin & baby Henry came over to watch Sam while I took Ted to violin. Got back at noon and had a message from Tara asking if we wanted to meet them at Abo's for a pizza lunch (I can't actually ever recall me saying no to pizza...). Got home and put the boys down for naps by 1:30...(drumroll please)...and they BOTH napped til 4:15pm!!! It was beautiful. I got to call my mother on her birthday and everything!! Got all the laundry done and lunches made for preschool tomorrow. I woke them at 4:15 and we headed out to University Bicycles in Boulder to investigate a two-wheeler with training wheels for Ted (so Sam can take over the trike). We were successful (pics to come) so we headed over to Ted's pal Jack's house for a marathon bike riding session followed by a Mexican feast! We got home and they were all tucked in and quiet as mice by 9pm. I had forgotten that Ted takes snack to preschool tomorrow so I whipped up a batch of blueberry muffins and yes! poured myself a glass of wine. Whew!!! It was nice to chat with Paul briefly and know that he is doing well too! This morning Sam 'slept in' til 5:30 and Ted woke at 6:30. I am hoping all the activity today plus the naps will reset their clocks and help facilitate a slightly later arousal time...perhaps 6:30 for both? Pleeeeeeease? I'll keep you posted!

gorgeous music

Saturday night I went to the JCC sponsored concert by the Tel Aviv Trio. You know, I've never been a big fan of strings, much less anything symphonic. I'm a changed woman! Perhaps it was their amazing musicality, passion and artistry. It was one of the most riveting concerts I've ever attended. It was also very interesting, as the violinist, Matan Givol, broke a string while tuning, and also needed to tune after every movement...his elder brother, the cellist, commented that while they have adjusted to the altitude, his instrument had not! Matan was not your typical violinist (his brother was much more dramatic in his flourishing playing) but he was soooo cute! Not cute as in handsome, although he was that too, but impish, mischievious...very 'little brother' to Ira. When he was restringing, he would hand it to his brother who would check it over, shake his head no, and hand it back for him to keep trying! Sometimes when tuning, Matan would grin apologetically at Ira for taking so long. It was really fun to see such a "conversation" going on in the music, constantly. The three were truly TALKING to each other through music, not just playing the notes. The pianist, Jonathan, was the one who mostly spoke to the kids at the kids' concert and he was quite the virtuoso. He is also very short so when he would play a particularily emphatic chord he would bounce right off the piano bench! I bought their CD and just love it! And I admit, I think it has sealed the deal for Sam-he gets the cello! There was something really special in their playing because they were brothers. Let's hope Mae has good piano hands!

fun stuff

Today the Tel Aviv Trio was in town and gave a children's concert at the preschool. They did the music to Cat in the Hat while Caroline, storyteller extraordinare (and hopefully Ted's Pre-K teacher next year!) read the book. Ted loved it. Then tonight we had our first group class in which Ted actually had his violin and could participate. Although we are only doing one rhythm on the E string at this point, 'Miss Jessie' was kind enough to overlook the fact that he was bowing all the rhythms right along with everyone else! (not necessarily correctly of course, but...) The thing that I found the most hearwarming was the support from the other parents. Some of their children got their tiny violins on Day 1...I'm sure they weren't completely sure why he and Bennett had boxes in the first place! But today, one of the dads started it off by congratulating Ted on his violin and then the whole roomful of parents congratulated him too. So sweet!! He was given the opportunity to do a solo, but he got too shy (first time I've seen THAT!) but he was very proud and happy to be one of the big kids. Now everyone in his group is playing-that should make the classes more fun if everyone is on the same page. Hooray hooray!!
And, last night the kids were asleep by 7:30pm and up at 6:30am (Sam was also up at 11 and Ted at 2, but that's another story...). Tonight they were asleep by 8 and hopefully will make it to 7 tomorrow morning.
**crossing fingers and toes that they don't get up in the night**

defeat

Well, we tried. We tried for 2 weeks in September and another 2 weeks in January. Sam cannot handle the freedom of sleeping in a bed with an unlocked door. So, my beautiful, girly pink nursery that has sat empty since November now has a boy's bed in it. *sigh* It was so pretty to look at. We put Ted in Mae's room for now because he can handle the concept of staying in his bed and Sam simply can't. So Sam is alone in the big room with nothing in it except for the bed. Poor kiddo. I expect this will be a hard night for him...I doubt he can even remember sleeping without Ted. But 2 weeks of 9 hours sleep (9pm-6am, more or less) is getting old...the kids need more sleep, period. I know hindsight is 20/20. If I had known, I would have realized that Mae will probably be sleeping in our room for a few months anyway (a one-year-old who is used to a cribmate (or 2!) in a room with 100 babies in it is NOT going to magically sleep alone...). So, I should have left Sam, in his crib, in that room until after she was home and ready to be moved. Instead, we've had 5 months of bad sleep. Enough is enough-I admit defeat. Here I am, waving my white flag. As they say, and it's become my parenting mantra for some reason, live and learn, folks.