Will Spring Ever Come?

I see melting in our driveway today. I guess that's a good sign! But there's still a LOT of snow on the ground. Remember the picture of our deck from Dec. 26 after the Christmas storm that I posted?

Well, this picture was taken just yesterday! I don't think it will EVER melt! Once it does start, it will be SLOPPY for a LONG TIME!

More Cancun Pics

We got back from Cancun last night and we are glad to be home! It was nice to get away for a while. When we changed planes in Dallas, we left the secure area for a while to visit with my uncle. He hadn't met Meighan yet, so we got to introduce her to him.

Meighan did pretty well the whole trip. She "made friends everywhere she went," as Tony puts it. She waved at everyone as we walked from our room to the main building and Expo building and gave High Fives to anyone who would put their hand out for her. We got a lot of comments that she's "so good." She slept most of the Cancun-DFW flight but then again, that was basically her regular naptime.

Today is laundry day and this weekend got really busy somehow.

Enjoy the pictures!

Cancun Pics

Here are a few pics of us in Cancun. Sand and pool water are NOT popular. The ocean water and pool water are actually quite cold! We played beside the pool yesterday when Tony got done with his training classes. Meighan and I may walk on the beach in a little while before lunch. I will have to carry her, of course!

First Haircut

Yesterday, Meighan had her first haircut (more like a "trim") since coming home. Her bangs were getting long and into her eyes and the back was just kinda straggly. So here's the pictures of the cut and afterwards.

Passport! and More Adoption Ramblings

We received Meighan's passport yesterday. Now we can travel outside the country! Yippee!

Another aspect of adoption is TRUST. Several times during our paperwork process (domestic and international) I thought about how much trust is involved. You give out a LOT of personal information and you have to trust people to handle that information with care. The caseworker who does your home study needs certain information about you so that they can make an informed decision and create the home study appropriately. You give out information to get your background checks done.

Another part of the trust thing is that YOU know that YOU will do everything YOU need to do to bring your child home. You have to also trust that EVERYONE ELSE will do what THEY need to do to help you bring your child home. You trust that your caseworker will write up the home study according to the proper format. You trust that the mail/UPS/FedEX delivery people will not lose your paperwork when it is sent somewhere. You trust the courier to take your dossier to the proper places to get it authenticated (US Dept of State & Chinese Embassy in our case) and you also trust them with your passports when you need your visas. You trust that your paperwork won't get lost on a desk somewhere at the agency or at the CCAA. You trust the orphanage caregivers who are taking care of your child until you can meet her/him. You trust the airline pilots to fly the plane safely that VERY long distance so that you can meet your child.

One of the things that I suggest to anyone working on adoption paperwork is to take your paperwork yourself whenever you can. I drove to Lincoln to get our dossier state certified and drove home with it. I could have sent it but since Lincoln is close for us, that was one thing I could do to have some control.

The loss of control is another part of the trust thing. You really don't have any control whatsoever when things will happen. One other thing I highly recommend is that people keep up on the progress of where they are in the process so that they don't get "forgotten." You probably won't be forgotten but sometimes when time passes, it seems like you have been forgotten. And agencies should be very willing to talk to you at any time to answer your questions and concerns and listen to any venting. Sometimes there's nothing they can do but in my experience, they didn't mind listening to me vent.

That's all for today. Maybe I'll have more ramblings later.

Birth Certificate & Adoption Ramblings

We received Meighan's American birth certificate from the attorney on January 6, 2010. It was dated December 29, 2009. So, a little more than a month less than two years from the date we started the international adoption process (we sent in our application on Feb. 8, 2008), we are completely done, save for the 12-month report that China wants.

I've been thinking a lot lately about adoption and the adoption process. I find it completely AMAZING that with so many people having to be involved in the process (the case worker, the people that do our background checks, the people at USCIS who take the paperwork and those who take our fingerprints, the people at the agency who check the child listings, the people in China who accept our dossier and log it in and print the LOA, the people who take care of the child, the people who take the child's information and get it ready for the child to be adopted, the people who print the finding ad, US-the parents, the child, the people who make our travel arrangements, the people who meet the parents at the airports and hold their hands through the entire process in-country, the visa photo photographer, the US Consulate people, etc., etc., etc.......) that we have the child that was destined to be our child from the beginning! Of course, ALL of this is orchestrated by GOD Himself. The timing of the child's birth, the timing of our application, the timing of our DTC, the timing of the referral are all His. NO ONE could possibly do such a perfect thing from 2 completely different parts of the world except Him!

If anyone is considering adoption or is still WAITING in the standard process, I would HIGHLY encourage you to consider special needs adoption. The wait is SO much shorter and there are so many kids with such MINOR special needs that it would probably be like they weren't special needs at all! Meighan's cleft lip was repaired in China at 6 months of age and it's a good repair and we really don't feel the need to put her through any kind of surgery for any further repair so instead of a "special needs child," to us she's just a "SPECIAL CHILD"! From the beginning of our process we said all along that we didn't want to wait 3 and 4 years for a referral so we were going to go with the special needs when we were able to in the process (we filled out the special needs checklist after we knew we were logged in in China). Once they received our list, we got our first referral 4 days later! We ended up letting her go to someone else but then we got Meighan's referral 2 days after that! So, 6 DAYS after they received our checklist, we had a picture of our daughter! THAT'S AMAZING!

Now, if you are willing and able to accept a slightly more difficult need, go for it! That child was meant to be yours and you were meant to be his/her parents! You will be so blessed!

We would be very willing to speak to anyone considering adoption or special needs adoption. Just leave a comment on our blog and we'll contact you.

Enough rambling for today! Stay warm!

SNOW!

It's been a LONG time since we had this much snow to deal with! WOW! It started snowing Christmas Eve and I don't think it's completely done yet! The news says that Eppley got 10.9" and other Omaha areas got up to 14"! Tony spent all day from 4 a.m. digging out his customers and then us. A neighbor even had to get him dug out of our driveway when he got off the driveway a bit too far.

We went to Christmas Eve service at 7 pm and there were several people there, though not as many as usual. Meighan liked the music and was mesmerized by the candles we were holding at the end. We got home and had our new tradition of chili after 9:15 pm. My sinuses were so stuffed up that I couldn't smell or taste it but the warmth felt good! Meighan is much better health-wise.

Tony went out plowing at 2 a.m. Christmas morning and got home at 8:15 just after I got up. We got ready and got Meighan up and had some breakfast. After that, Meighan opened her gifts from Santa (table and chairs and a book) and us (a laptop and a book). We then went to Tony's parents' house for the day. We had to take the plow truck in order to make sure we made it! That left us very little transporting room. We even had to leave one thing there until we could get it home safely. Tony took a long nap and was up to see the news before going to bed again.

He got up at 4 a.m. this morning and didn't get home until early this afternoon. I fixed an egg casserole and had some about 1:30 pm while a neighbor was "un-stucking" Tony's plow truck. He did some more cleanup and came in and ate some casserole. He got a snow blower out of the 2-car garage that he's never used since he's been up here and got it working and did a little cleanup with that. There's just SO MUCH snow right now that we aren't going to be able to use the door from the kitchen to go down in front of the house for a LONG time. He scooped a path on the deck from the door to the east so we can turn on the Christmas lights and eventually he will get a path to the tool truck but not sure when that will be!

He's sleeping at the moment but we'll go out for groceries later this evening before heading to bed. My sinuses are better today -- at least I'm not coughing as much -- and it would be nice to smell and taste things again!

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and is content to be "stuck" a little while longer if you're in the Midwest (unlike SOME people who email a pic of themselves on the beach on Christmas day!).

Enjoy the pictures.

Meighan with her cookies and milk for Santa.

Meighan already working at home in her pjs.

Our deck this morning -- snow up to the top of the railing.

Where's the steps?

There's supposed to be a sidewalk in there somewhere!

That's a LOT of snow!




Tony snowblowing!

The "path" out our kitchen door that goes nowhere!