Our favorite adoption-related books

 During the past three years, we have read lots and lots of books relating to all aspects of adoption and parenting. Some of them very good and informative, while others are pretty scary and depressing; so here’s a bit about our favorite parenting and story books on our shelves.

1. Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft by Karyn Purvis- This book provides valuable information and tools to deal with (challenging behaviors) toddlers dealing with emotional trauma post-adoption. Honestly the book is kinda depressing but I feel it is best to be prepared that way we know what to expect and we are better able to meet our child’s needs(We read the first book published; the one illustrated is a more updated version -2012)

 2. Keys to Parenting an Adopted Child (Barron's Parenting Keys)by Kathy Lancaster -Only 183 pages long but it covers international and domestic adoptions -Easy read, lots of information and great advice for parents before, during and after the adoption is finalized.

3. Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family: Real-Life Solutions to Common Challenges by David Sanford An easy read with practical advice and stories of families who know what adoption is all about. I love that is faith-based which makes it an encouraging book for families waiting…

4. I Love You Rituals by Becky A. Bailey- Great activities, games and songs that promote trust, bond and attachment with children.

5. Before You Were Mine: Discovering Your Adopted Child's Life story by Susan TeBos- Lots of information on how to create a life-book to explain child’s birth history (before adoption) using scriptures.

6.  Mother Bridge of love by Josee Masse- An adoption story that describes the love of a birth mother and adoptive mother for their child with beautiful illustrations (for older children).

7. Little Miss spider by David Kirk- A cute story book for the little ones about love and acceptance. Message: families don’t have to look alike to love each other.

8.  A mother for Choco- by Keiko Kasza Adorable story for the teeny-boppers about the adventures of a little bird in search of a mother.

9. God Found us you- A sweet story for older kids about a Momma fox telling her little one the story about how they became a family (and the dreaded wait…)

Of course I can’t say enough about the Connected Child and I love you like crazy cakes :0)

Quick update...

Our agency requested that we contact The State Department's National Visa Center ASAP and request a pdf file of our NVC letter (letter states that our petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative has been approved:0)That way our agency’s main contact person in Guangzhou can walk in and deliver it by July 5^th that way our papers can be IN before the Embassy closes their doors. Apparently the Embassy is moving and that will be the last day they will accept documents until they re-open at their new location on July 24^th… Of course we called right away. At first we were told they do not grant such requests unless extreme emergency cases- HELLO! we think that’s kind of an emergency don’t you think?  Guess they must think we have an emergency as well because they said yes and emailed it within a few hours!!! Woohoo!  We already wired our baby girl’s visa fee so now that we got our pdf our agency should be able to email that letter on Monday ~God willing it should be taken care of by deadline.

800 Approval!!!!

We just received an email from our agency informing us of our approval Yey!!!! We haven’t received the original on the mail yet (which really worry us) our mail service really stinks. Sometimes we get our mail sent to other people (which totally sucks :o(  So in order to ensure we get our letter from National Visa Center (NVC) we will march to the post office bright and early tomorrow and forward all mail to a post office box- last thing we need is having sleepless nights over it! (it should arrive in seven to ten business days)we also have to wire money for our girl’s visa which we will take care of tomorrow as well-

We are ever-so-close now to the day we finally meet our daughter!!!

We are taking this opportunity to thank our like-minded virtual friends (you know who you are) wonderful parents online who have already adopted and those who are still waiting for their babies. Thank you for following our journey, supporting and cheering us all the way. Adoption journey can be lonely and harsh… sometimes those who we rely most on, are unable to give us the support needed during the difficult times.

We greatly appreciate your experiences and your invaluable advice :0)I & A

 

What a Coincidence …

When we started our adoption journey, we knew we wanted an Asian little girl~ that we knew for sure, they are just so beautiful! We spent so much time talking about our hopes and dreams but there were so many times it was just so hard to hold on and keep the faith. It was so difficult to even imagine when I had no idea where our journey was taking us. 

Anyways, one day my Honey gave me an article to read about the power of positive thinking and visualization- one of the exercises recommended... to find a picture of what I wanted to accomplish in my life and focus on it. I don't believe much in stuff like that so I didn't pay too much attention,  I guess maybe because of my fear of getting my heart and my dreams shattered (and having to deal with the disappointment).

 Not long after that while on the internet, I came across a picture of a little Asian girl (can't remember where I found the image)but I thought she was the most adorable little girl so I saved the picture- not even thinking about visualization or whatever... ( once I saved the picture I forgot all about it- there where so many times we were stressing and struggling with our adoption, it was hard to stay positive and "visualize" anything- so the image was out of sight and out of mind until now...

Maybe subconsciously I did lots of "visualizing"

Maybe it is just me but doesn't she look just like my baby girl?  

C-r-a-z-y! 

My baby girl!

Little girl on the internet...

Getting Ready :0)

Nothing like enjoying a gorgeous day with some yummy food, enjoy each other’s company while discussing and dreaming about the future. As much as we want to get our daughter and bring her home, there’s not much we can do- it’s all out of our hands- we just wait and make the best out of it. We haven’t received anything from USCIS yet so the next best thing… We put the crib together finally! It looks so cute in our room. 
We look at it and giggle like little kids – too silly :0)

I know we have more time now, but we have decided to deal with the princess room once she's home. For now we have agreed on a theme and color scheme as well as room layout (more info on this in a near future).

After spending countless hours checking baby bedding, we finally ended up buying the one I first saw on Pinterest a while ago. It is not what we consider “girly” but it is cute, it matches our bedroom colors and it is organic so we are happy with our purchase.

We have also been buying other necessities such as...

Next thing on our- to- do list: purchase gifts for key people in China including the officials and of course the foster family. We have gotten some ideas and I have read some ideas on what to buy from adoption forums but we are still undecided- My Honey want sport related stuff and I prefer something made in our state that they can actually enjoy such as chocolates :0) although that may not be the smartest idea since the time of the year we are going to China will be HOT! We shall see…

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot, how could that be possible- it has been the highlight of our week!!! let me tell you about an email we got two days ago around 10 PM. It was from the coordinator of Love Without Boundaries –Fujian. In the email she attached an image of a poster she had used for one of their marketing projects- she mentioned that “the baby may look familiar to us” and to enjoy. Of course we were super excited and just couldn't wait to check it out…and guess what??? It is our baby girl!

The crazy thing… I had found that same image on Pinterest in the very beginning of our China adoption and “pinned” it to my adoption board; never in a million years could I ever imagine that the baby in that picture was our soon-to-be daughter!  And the words… they touched my heart. Yep, I cried and cried it felt so wonderful yet it was sort of like Twilight zone stuff”.  We are so thankful for that email and that picture- that was so thoughtful of her! 

 "For one so small,

You seem so strong.

My arms will hold you

Keep you safe and warm

This bond between us can’t be broken

I will be here."

~Phil Collins

More baby steps...

We just mailed our application for our Visas- woohoo, we can’t believe it, we are actually starting preparations to go to China, crazy!!! We continue to work on our “while we wait to do list”. We are also working on packing lists and discussing “traveling light” whatever that means… our agency told us that we can pretty much buy anything in China but of course it depends on the region. We would hate to assume we will find anything we may need and be disappointed.  I have been doing a lot of research on traveling with toddlers- the thought of it keeps me up at night. Oh my goodness it is tough for an adult to deal with a long international flight,

I can’t imagine a little one dealing with it. So far we know we need to stash lots of snacks, toys and diapers to keep our baby comfy and entertained. Lord help us, I just hope our Little Cupcake survives this ordeal. We are just so happy that our days to meet our daughter are numbered. We don’t know exactly when but soon very soon.

For now we continue to wait for our USCIS approval and whatever else we need to wait for before we get travel approval. It’s hard to look at her pictures, I get so emotional and so impatient- I want to go to China NOW!

I can’t bring myself to get her nursery ready- I know it’s crazy but am just so scared something will happen and we won’t be able to get our baby girl. Ugh I am a mess. I feel like a crazy lady one minute am ecstatic the next I am scared to death and ready to crawl under my bed and hide from the world. This is really happening- after all this time yet I feel so unprepared. Then I get these crazy thoughts: what if she doesn't like us? What if she can’t adapt to us? What if blah, blah, blah. I don’t think I will ever be ready just hand her to me and I will take over – I will do what I have to do – this wait make me crazy!

One thing we don’t have to wait for too long is our shower, yay! It will be next month(July 2oth) we are super excited! We have waited for so long, actually thought it was never going to happen.

Not only we are looking forward to spending time with family and friends we haven’t seen in a while but we are also excited to make a small contribution to   Love without Boundaries and the children that continue to wait for their forever families. We have been blessed and our baby has already so much- we prefer that donations are made to love Without Boundaries instead of dealing with gift registries etc. 

We just go the link ~check it out Here

By the way, the picture on the LWB website is the one I had requested previously- unfortunately they are unable to release names, pictures or information to us until our adoption is finalized(that’s why I was unable to post it). 

So glad we never gave up on our dream to have our little girl...

Encouraging attachment...

Attachment is something all adoptive parents strive for. We have spent many hours reading and learning about it now we eagerly wait until we finally can put those attachment techniques to use… Here are a few baby things we bought as they were highly recommended to promote attachment and bonding.

1. Attaching in adoption- awesome parenting book geared toward promoting attachment-easy read with great techniques (We really like the nurturing approach to discipline). 

2. Ergo organic baby carrier- We got it because baby-wearing can aid attachment by encouraging closeness (so we are all for it) and it can be used for toddlers up to 40 pounds. Not sure how our girl will react to such closeness but we are willing to try it…

3. BioDours was one of the first things we purchased for our baby girl- it is such a soft and cuddly lovey- we hope she likes it as much as we do.

4. Attachment through play- The Green Toys™ A cute little nesting toy we plan to take to China with us.

 5. California baby soothing bubble bath –gentle on skin(love all California Baby products)smell so yummy! 

6. California baby soothing lotion- Did I mentioned that I love California baby products? Looking forward to giving our sweet pea soothing massages after her bath time :0)

7.  I love you like crazy cakes- a heart-warming story about adoptions from China(very sweet)...

8.  When promoting parent/child attachment, bottle-feeding is encouraged even with toddlers (closeness and eye contact).After comparing so many different brands we chose Avent bottles (they had great ratings, BPA free, easy to clean and pink :0) we also bought the bottle screw rings as we were told without them the bottles may leak (better be safe than sorry) 

9. Adorable onesie from Baby Gap (just couldn’t resist).

                    Counting the days until we finally meet our daughter...