Our Journey-China or bust

Its been a while

2009-06-04T21:06:00.001-07:00

The kids are great, David turned 14 in May. Danielle is growing up too fast for me. Niccol got a reading award in school this yr, and Ethan is doing wonderful in school.
His speech is starting to take off, he already knows letters, colors and starting to count.

Update time

2009-01-28T20:19:00.001-08:00

Its been a while since my last update. Ethan started 3 yr pre-K in January and is doing wonderful. He is receiving speech Therapy 4 times a week. He will have ear tubes put in Feb 16th.

A few months ago we took the kids to Cypress Gardens and Ethan rode his first roller coaster. He had a great time. We went to Bucsh Gardens last week and Nikki is finally tall enough to ride the big coasters. She was soo excited.

Christmas pictures

2008-11-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

We had these done at sears today. All the kids did a great job.
Thanks for looking
T

Update

2008-11-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

I am not a writer, but wanted to update a little. Ethan is great. He is so funny. He loves to dance and sing, make funny faces and steal your chair. He is quite the little clown.
He had his Eval for early steps and will be getting speech therapy. He will start preschool sometime in January.
He got his first Ear infection this week, but is getting better.
Its hard to beleive he will be three is just a month or so.
TeresaQ

2008-09-28T20:54:00.001-07:00

The Waiting Child
by Debbie Bodie

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.

I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no-one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no-one want a child of four?

I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.

Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.

Its been a yr.

2008-09-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

Its hard to believe Ethan has been our son for a yr now. He has grown so much. I love you little man.

Just an update

2008-07-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Ethan is just wonderful. He is such a little mocking bird. Somethings you cant understand, but he tries to repeat everything his sisters say.
Its hard to beleive he has been home 10 mo already.

Update

2008-03-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I added an update. Ethan is doing great. Getting so big.
He is starting to talk, though most tings are hard to understand. My favorite is I Love you which comes out ov oh. He is sweet, loving and very hard headed. I cant imagin our lives without him.
T

Been a while

2008-01-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

Well, its been a while since my last update. Ethan is wonderful. He had his palet surg on dec 3rd, and everything is great. Its hard to beleive he has been home 4 months now. He has settled into our family like he has always been here.

Happy Thanksgiving, and Update

2007-11-20T23:35:00.000-08:00

Well, its turkey time again. Hard to beleive. Christmas is just around the corner.
Ethan is doing very well. He is scheduled for surg on Dec 3rd. I sure hope he get over his cold.
he has changed so much in the 8 weeks he has been home. He is such a silly little boy. His sisters are spoiling him rotten.

We are home

2007-09-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

I know I have posted in a while, but we are home. Jet lag is really bad, but we are slowly getting back to normal. Ethan is doing good. He is still not used to many things, but is better everyday.
I will update more soon.

Ethans Plane ticket

2007-08-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we must be leaving soon. Ethans Plane ticket came today. Yahooooooo
17 days to go. I'd better finish packing and get that crib up. :)

Tickets are bought

2007-08-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

Yayyyyyyy We have tickets. we will be fling out of Ft. Lauderdale on Aug 30th, and Arriving in Guangzhou On Aug 31st. We will have a few days to rest, and do a little sight seeing. We will meet ethan on Sept 3rd.
I'll up date more later

Travel update

2007-07-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

We have a confirmed Consulate appointment.
here is our travel so far
Leave 8/30/07
gottcha date 9/3/07
consulate appointment 9/12/07
leave china 9/14/07
Home 9/15 07
Wow I cant beleive its finally happening. Ethan here We come

China Here We Come

2007-07-27T16:33:00.001-07:00

Our agency called today, and we will be leaving August 30th for china to pick up Ethan. I am so excited. I wish we could travel sooner, but we cant with the kids starting school on the 20th. Hang on Baby we're coming.

Chinese Legend

2007-07-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.

2007-07-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

Our LOA has arrived. We received it today via fed-x, signed it and had it back in the mail within a few hours. CCAI should have it in thier hands by 3 o'clock Wendsday. Yahhh Hoooo One more step closer to bringing Ethan Home.

CCAI Reunion

2007-07-02T20:38:00.001-07:00

CCAI Reunion Picnic

2007-07-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

This year while on vacation we had the pleasure of attending the annual CCAI picnic.
Even though we didnt know anyone we had a wonderful time, and enjoyed meeting the staff and China Reps. here are a few pictures we took

poem

2007-07-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

We go to China
For a child
A daughter
We are deeply disturbed at the vastness of girls
Abandoned
Lost
Alone
We love each of these girls
Even as we are grateful to adopt just one
And we are proud to teach them about
Girl power
We want to right the balance
We want our girls to know they are not a second choice
We want to raise them to be powerful
And many of us believe
That boys in China are Little Emperors
Adored
Indulged
Loved beyond belief
Many are.
And yet
Should you have the great privilege of visiting an orphanage
You will see boys
And not just a few
Many, many boys
Who perhaps were a second child
But, in all sad reality,
Were probably abandoned because of some special need
Cleft lip, cleft palate
Heart disease
Club feet or vision problems
Issues that, in the states,
Are treatable or at least manageable
Issues that, in the states,
Would not define them or their lives
And they wait.
They wait for a home
A family
A chance
Maybe you weren't thinking of
A boy
Maybe you weren't thinking
Special needs
Maybe you were envisioning
Your fairy tale
And you should never apologize
For that
We all have our fairy tale
We all have our vision
We all have our dreams
But so do these children
Be they girls, abdicated to a less than status
By the power of culture and tradition
Or
Be they boys, left to live in an orphanage
Left without the same opportunities
As their parented peers
When I first dreamed of parenthood
It wasn't to an adopted child
I dreamed of pregnancy
Of womanhood
Of giving life
I grieved the loss of that first dream
And yet
The second dream was not
Second best.
Instead of giving birth to a child
I gave birth
To me
I became a mother
When I began to love
I became a mother
When I began to whisper sweet goodbyes
To the dreams that seemed important
So I could listen to dreams
That would not wait
So today,
I ask you to consider a boy
Consider a special need
Consider that you might be
More than what you ever thought
We adopted our daughter
As a non-special- needs child
And her needs are vast
And global
And tiring
And rewarding
We adopted through the traditional program
Because we couldn't handle special needs
Luckily, God knew better
And now,
The couple who couldn't handle special needs
Has become a family who can handle
Whatever comes its way.
Including a boy.
A boy with special needs
Who has captured our hearts,
Intrigued our minds,
And blessed our days already.
And so I ask you again,
Consider a boy.
Consider that you might be
More than what you ever thought.
Consider.

Just consider.

Update on Ethan Tian Li

2007-06-02T21:21:00.001-07:00

we received a small up date last week, and this is the first I've had time to post. He was 17 mo old on the 23rd of May. He weighed 19.8 lbs. He is walking and running, and likes to play with other children in the play room. I added a couple of new pictures also.
I'm soo in Love.
Teresa
Mommy to 4

We have PA already

2007-05-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

I know I havent posted in a while, but we sent our LOI (Letter of intent) on 5/15/07 for Ethan, and received our PA (Preapproval) on 5/25/07. Now we wait for our LOA (letter of acceptance) and TA (Travel Assignment) then we will be traveling to get our son.
We are leaving on vacation on 6/4/07 and will be fling out west for a couple of weeks. We will also be visiting our agency while we are in Denver and attending their annual open house and picnic. It will be nice to meet the staff and other adoptive parents that have already brought thier children home or are waiting like we are.

our son has arrived. yup a son.

2007-05-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

All this time we though our daughter was waiting for us in china, but it turns out we had a son looking for our family. He is 17 mo old and is in Dongguan SWI in Guangdong Province.

2007-03-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

Well; its time to find a project that will keep me busy for a while. I have two more blankets to complete for the blankets for babies project our agency it doing. I am going to be starting a 100 wishes quilt for my daughter. I am joining the yahoo group for this project, and start collecting my squares. I am researching quilt blocks and getting my project in order in my mind. I wil only be doing the top, and will send it to Lee grandmother to do the quiting. I will post pictures as I go.

2007-03-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

Today I talked to Our Social Worker and she will sign our medical checklist tomorrow and fax it to our agency. I hope this brings me some piece of mind and help me to relax a little more. I am so anxious right now.

2007-02-27T17:33:00.000-08:00

our jouney began

2007-02-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

our journey to our daughter began February 2006. we completed all our paper work, and were logged into china on September 19th 2006.