T Minus Two Weeks and Counting!

Today is the last day of June.  It’s going to be a scorcher here!  The Weather Channel said that we’re supposed to hit 97 for a high.  Everyone keeps saying how hot that is, but we need to get used to it!  That’s around the average high for Guangzhou. 

In two weeks, on July 14, we leave for Beijing, the first leg of the trip.  We’ll be getting there in the late afternoon on Friday.  Our bodies, however, will believe it’s the middle of the night!  We’re going to stay up as late as possible and then go to bed at normal bedtime hours which means that we’ll probably crash hard around 8 or 9 pm.  Saturday will have us going to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and The Summer Palace.  On Sunday, we’ll be going to the International Church Service and then the Great Wall of China.  After that we pack! 

Monday morning, July 18, we’ll be flying to Nanchang.  Family Day!!!  We’ll FINALLY get to hold Teagin.  There are no words to describe how I feel at this point.  Excited is a given.  But there’s just so much more to my emotions about this.  This will be the culmination of a very long adoption journey for us…one we started back in December of 2005.  The wait has been so long and tedious with no apparent end ever in sight…until now!  I cannot wait to study her little hands, her tiny toes, tickle her tummy, kiss her chubby cheeks. 

Blogging could be an issue.  This website AND Facebook are both blocked over there.  We’re looking to get a VPN to use while over there.  We were considering a Panda Phone, but with a VPN, we can use our computer to “phone” home.  I can also post updates and the much awaited and begged for pictures!  I’m not going to post EVERY picture I take, but will post a few of the best Kodak moments.  I plan on filling that SD chip up every single day!!  It is my goal to document as much of this trip as possible.  It is, after all, the trip of a lifetime.  I will be leaving with my arms empty and return home with the most precious bundle one can receive. 

In the meantime, we’re frantically finishing last minute projects to get the house ready.  We’re hoping to mostly get the nursery put together this weekend and I’ll move all of the packing paraphernalia in there to free up the living room.  So probably no fireworks this 4^th of July.  We’ll be too dead tired!

My Water Broke! Commence Pushing.

Remember this post? Contractions talked about how I've tied the stages of labor to Teagin's adoption.

Oh what a week it has been!

My "water" finally broke!  We're now in the push to get everything ready before we travel!

On Tuesday, our visas to travel in China arrived, snug as a bug in our passports.  We also saw rumors that Travel Approvals were starting to arrive in other countries.  With that tidbit of information, it was ANOTHER exciting and anxious day waiting waiting for that illustrious form that says, “Come and get her”. 

Wednesday afternoon, the call came!  Our Travel Approval had come and our agency was now working to secure a consulate appointment for us in Guangzhou.

Thursday morning and the email notifying us of our appointment arrived…along with the firm travel dates.  This sparked a flurry of activity on our end, because, with that notice, we had Thursday and Friday to book our international flights.  There was a catch.  Because our agency also books travel, they were working to reserve flights for us, too.  Our airline of preference is United Airlines.  We have our frequent flyer miles through them and also belong to a reward club where you register your credit cards and earn miles for purchases.  So, since this is a major trip, we really wanted to get the miles.  I pulled up a tentative itinerary for our flights, Jason agreed with my flight choices, and then waited.   Before noon, we had received AWAA’s itinerary…..theirs matched….well, close enough.  We did get United…the flights to China were the same I had chosen…the return flights were almost what I had chosen.  Des Moines to Chicago to Beijing….Hong Kong to Chicago to Des Moines.  The leg back to Des Moines from Chicago was for a flight one hour earlier than I had initially chosen….but the price was the same, so we said “Book it!”

After we booked, I asked Teresa, our travel coordinator, what date we would be meeting our girls.  We’ll FINALLY have her in our arms on July 18!  Oh, I can’t WAIT!

20 days until we travel.

23 days until we finally meet Teagin.

Let the insanity begin!!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

We ordered a care package through Ann at Red ThreadChina.  Because of one of the pictures we received from Teagin’s referral, I insisted we add a donation of socks to the order.  We got her a teething album which has pictures of the two of us so that she can get used to seeing our faces.  We also ordered 2 single use cameras for the staff to take pictures of her and then candy for the caregivers and older children.  In return, Ann got updated photos for us!  

I think she looks sad in this picture.  It's my prerogative to believe that she knows she now has parents that want nothing more than to hold her and she's missing them...

What a change a baby can go through in two months!  At first we couldn’t see the similarities and thought they had sent us pictures of a different baby.  But after staring at the photos side by side, we could see the face we have memorized over the past few weeks. 

We’re still waiting for the official updates from the CCCWA that we requested and paid for.  We’re also waiting on travel approval.  Once we get that, we can book and GO!  After seeing this picture, all we want to do is just hold our Little Dumpling.  They reported that she likes to play outside, and likes to listen to music and watch TV.  Educational programming, here we come!  This actually isn’t that bad of a deal….we mostly watch The History Channel, History International, Animal Planet, The Science Channel…well, you get the picture. 

We’re going to finish painting Teagin’s room this weekend.  Then all we need to do is finish out the closet, furnish the room and then move onto the decorating!  It’s taking shape!  We bought some letters to spell out her name on her door.  They’re the kind that we can peel off in a few years if we want to change them. 

Not much else is really going on.  It’s just been too quiet. 

And It's Tuesday

It’s a new week and a new look for the blog.  Everything has been quiet on the home front.  We’re busy getting Teagin’s room ready for her.  Unfortunately, the to-do list schedule has been compromised.  Jason was supposed to mow last night.  That didn’t happen.  We ended up having to run some errands instead because of the lovely weather system that moved through yesterday afternoon.  The grass was too wet to mow. 

Over the weekend, we went up to LeMars to install the new computer system Jason built for them.  Terry, my father-in-law, has nicknamed the thing “White Lightening” because it’s so much faster than their old system.  Arlene, my mother-in-law, also gave me a blanket and two adorable sweaters she crocheted for Teagin.  I can't WAIT to see her in them!  We had a nice quiet day there, dinner out at Olive Garden, then we drove back home.  On Sunday, we took advantage of a coupon we received and bought a carseat for Teagin.  This is the one we got.  It will work as a rear facing, then front facing, then booster.  It’s an Evenflo Symphony 65.

I never realized how saturated the market is with things like this.  How do you really know you’re getting the right one?  Is it safe?  And why do they put an expiration date on the thing?  Will it rot?  Deteriorate?  Fall apart?  Go bad?  If it’s going to not be considered safe after that time, are they really making them correctly?

We’re also impatiently waiting for our referral update which will include recent photos, measurements, etc.  I can’t wait to see how much Teagin’s grown in the two months since the pictures we have of her were taken.  We’re also waiting on travel approval.  Hopefully, that will be coming soon as well.  Last week we sent all of our visa paperwork to our agency so that they can get our visas to travel.  Once we get those and travel approval, they’ll make an appointment with the American Consulate in Guangzhou and we’ll get to book travel.  When we book, we’ll get a definite date for when we’ll finally get to hold her in our arms.

I don’t think that little girl realizes how much she’s already loved, wanted, and frankly needed.  She’s going to mend the hole I’ve felt whenever I see families with children.  I’ve learned that there are a lot of people in this world who take the ability to give birth for granted.  It’s a precious thing to be able to feel your child growing inside you – to bond with them in the womb.  That is something that I will never experience.  I’ve only known the pain and longing of the wait – having her growing in my heart.  I’m going to make sure she knows every day how much we love her.  Heck, she’s not even home yet and is already being spoiled rotten!  I think her cousin Whitney is going to be helping spoil her too!  Right, Whit?

So hopefully, new picks will come soon. 

Happy Half Birthday

Well today Teagin turns 6 months.  I wish we could have her with us.  This is the absolute hardest part of the wait.  We have a face to insert in our dreams and daydreams.  I have a picture of her posted up on my cubicle wall, just in the line of sight.  I catch myself just staring at her sweet face, trying to imagine what her smile looks like, what her crying face looks like.  I miss my little girl!

We’ve spent most of the week trying to stay cool.  It’s been hot, hot, HOT here.  Today?  Wet and cold!  We’ve also been filling out various forms and paperwork to enable us to go get Teagin.  And my poor husband has been trying to rein in my shopping.  I’ve been finding the most adorable clothes! 

Not much else has been happening in our world.  Just staying busy, trying to keep our minds off of how much we miss our little one and getting ourselves ready to travel.

Incidentally,  I got Fu Min translated.  Thanks, Chi!!

Fu – good fortune, lucky, or prosperity

Min – Jade like stone

So it’s lucky stone…or as we’ve been calling her, lucky jade. 

Gan is the surname they give to all of the infants in Jianxin Orphanage. 

We’re waiting on our referral update.  Because it was a holiday over in China earlier this week, our updates are expected early next week.  Oh well. 

Oh What a Day!

What a busy day it’s been.  

The stork came around 10:30 this morning.  Shocked the delivery guy when we came outside with a camera!  He didn’t know quite what to think; until we told him he was holding our baby’s file.  Then, he got all excited and willingly allowed us to take pictures! 

In the Fed-Ex envelope, was a file with another picture of Teagin!  So cute!!!    

We opened the folder and EVERYTHING was in Chinese!  Well, except for the America World paperwork and a few things in the State of Growth paperwork.  I really wish that everything would have been in English at that point.  But about two hours later, we got a call from our coordinator who told us the translations had been sent! 

Here’s what they said about Teagin:

• She was found at the gate of Jianxin Social Welfare Institute on January 10, 2011.
• She was small when they found her…5 ½ pounds and 19 inches long. 
• The report says she is an obedient girl (how can a baby be obedient?)
• Has an oval face, small mouth, and big eyes.
• She is very cute and has a ready smile
• When you tease her, she will smile with gesticulating with hands and feet (direct quote…I think they mean she waves her hands and kicks her feet.)
• She also loves crying
• When she is unhappy, she will cry loudly.
• She is fairly outgoing
•  When teased she giggles loudly
• Is fond of playing and has a ready smile
• And when she is cuddled, she is especially happy!

A cuddly little girl!  

They said that she loves music, loves to play games and her favorite toy is a rattle.  Maybe she’ll play drums in school!  

They also talked about her potty habits, but we won’t discuss that here….

We had her medical records reviewed by my doctor.  He said that she’s small, but seems to be thriving.  He was a bit concerned about their diet over there, but said that what’s good is that she’s young enough that when we start her on American formula, she’ll make up for lost time! 

I cannot wait to see her and hold her in my arms!

Right now, we’re working on finishing up our paperwork.  Jason’s making copies.  We signed the Letter of Acceptance and will be sending that back tonight (or early tomorrow).

I’m coming down off the emotional high now and feel like I could crash!  But I don’t have time.  We still have a lot of stuff to do tonight! 

The Big Four Oh!

Today is my birthday. 

I had one wish.  Just one wish for this year.  I wanted to see my baby’s face by the time I turned 40.  I woke up this morning hoping that yesterday really happened and it wasn’t a dream, but this is the first thing I saw:

Well, yesterday, I got my wish!

I honestly do not remember much of the call.  Our agency called me and then conferenced in Jason.  She asked if we wanted the picture now, or after the call.  I said now before she could even finish the question.  I mean, who WOULDN’T want to see what their baby looked like after exactly 1800 days of waiting?  I opened the email and immediately the waterworks started.  The first cognizant thought I had was “she looks like Nick” (my brother’s youngest).  By this time, my co-workers had figured out what was happening and I was surrounded by my work family with hugs and well wishes.  I collected myself enough to be able to jot down her measurements.  After the call ended, I printed out 2 copies of the announcement that AWAA sends out and hung one on my cubicle wall.  Since I get off work at 4 and it was about 3:45 at this time, I just closed up shop and headed out.  I mean, who would be able to concentrate and work after that???

Teagin’s a tiny little thing.  At 4 months old, she was 10 lbs 6 oz and was 21 ½ inches long.  The size of a big newborn!  So last night, I whipped out our growth charts for Chinese girls and plotted her.  She’s WAY below the 3^rd percentile for her age.  She’s so tiny she’s basically off the charts!  I was hoping the grid would help me try and figure out about how big she is now and how big she’ll be when we go.  I have to buy diapers you know!  Ok, Ok, I want to go buy dresses and pretties for her hair – my Teagin has a TON of it! 

 Gan Fu Min was her given name.  I hope to find out later today what exactly her name means.  You need to see the characters to determine that.     

Teagin is a Celtic name.  Despite what some think, Teagin is the female version of Teague.  It means Little Poet in Irish and Beautiful in Welsh.  So I’m going to say that Teagin means Beautiful Little Poet.  We originally were going to name her Sofie.  But about 4 months ago, I had a feeling that Sofie no longer was her name.  So the big name hunt began again.  Jason and I could not agree on a name…until I stumbled across Teagin.  We both fell in love with the name.  And I’ll tell you….after seeing her beautiful face yesterday, she definitely wasn’t a Sofie!  Teagin suits her! 

In China, the last name appears first when you see the name.  So if you were to Americanize it, her given name would appear as Fu Min Gan.  Because of this, her middle name is Fu Min. 

My Little Dumpling. 

Teagin Fu Min Sitzman.

I’m in love.

So, turning 40 didn’t turn out too badly.  In fact, I have to say, it’s probably the best birthday EVER!!!