One Day at a Time

Welcome to America, Baby Girl!

One Day at a Time

I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. --Jeremiah 29:11 (NRSV)

June 29, 2002

After much thought and financial planning (!), Todd and I decided "completely" today to pursue adoption from China.

Our "official" adoption application came today.

My best friend, Kristi, took me to eat Chinese food to celebrate the great news! I think I'm going to be hungry for our two weeks in China! Can I make a Mexican-food-loving child out of my daughter? I think I'll wait to tell most of my friends after we have the paperwork to China ... just in case.

We mailed our application to Holt International Children's Services in Eugene, OR.!

Ashley and I bought the baby her first ladybug outfit today. I love it so much I wish I could have gotten one in every size. But ... we don't know how old she'll be, so I got an 18 mos. Maybe she won't be bigger than that when we meet her!

First visit with our social worker. Whew! It wasn't bad at all!

Social worker visits our home for the first time. I worried for nothing!

We mailed the I-600A form to the INS today. I also mailed my birth certificate to Austin, Texas, for state certification. Still have LOTS of things to do before our dossier (package of paperwork) goes to China!

Our social worker sent us the rough draft of our home study this morning. By 3 p.m., I had edited the few changes and faxed it back to him.

New Orleans INS office received our 1-600A, a form that must be filed with them before we actually adopt an international child.

Todd and I had our blood drawn today for lab work needed for the dossier. I think this was the first time I was more than willing to give blood!

Stefani applied for her passport.

We received our FBI fingerprint appointment ... Sept. 10. Todd applied for his passport.

September 4, 2002

Got a certified copy of our marriage certificate at the parish courthouse.

September 6, 2002

Stef had fingerprints taken for clearance letter to send in the dossier. I'm guessing--and praying--that we'll have all of our paperwork ready to send to China by the middle of November. We've had a few minor setbacks on paperwork, but overall, it seems to be going faster than we expected.

September 10, 2002

We traveled to Monroe Police Department to have our fingerprints--yes, again!--taken for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Our appointment was at 11 a.m., and by 11:15 a.m. we were back on the road to Quitman! Todd gets frustrated at all of the "chasing" we are having to do, but we both know that it will be worth it.

September 11, 2002

The local sheriff's department completed our clearance letter to send to China. Still waiting from our agency to hear about approval of the home study ...

September 13, 2002

Our social worker let us know that the prices for the police clearance had increased; hence, our paperwork was sent back to the social worker. He mailed the corrected amount back and says the home study should be finished next week. Oh, I hope so! We are getting so close!

September 17, 2002

We have talked about naming our daughter Malynn/Malynne for some time now. The more I say it, the more I can picture a sweet face. Just not sure how to spell it! I'm very visual, so it REALLY matters to me what it looks like when written!

September 19, 2002

Todd's US Passport came in the mail today from the New Orleans office of the US Dept. of State! That was much faster than what we thought--it came in 4 weeks instead of the 6 to 10 weeks that I expected! YES!

September 20, 2002

Stef's US Passport came today! Called social worker--still haven't received the police clearance letter so that he can finish the homestudy. It's so frustrating--especially for a control freak like me--to have absolutely NO CONTROL over when someone else will finish paperwork that will allow us to send everything to China.

September 21, 2002

Watch out, Kitty Bartholomew! I now have "Yellow Dahlia" paint in my possession to transform the doll room into "Malynn's World."

September 26, 2002

Today--and into the next day's morning hours--I painted her room. It's really bright--more than I expected--but once everything is in place, I think it will be fine!

September 27, 2002

We're moving along just fine ... then WHAM! Roadblock. The reason we haven't received our homestudy is because the State Police--unknown to our social worker--raised the price for police clearance checks. So, our application sat in Baton Rouge several weeks, then the envelope was opened, then it was discovered the wrong amount was sent, then it was sent back to our social worker, then it was resubmitted with the wrong amount again, sat unopened several weeks, sent back to our social worker, now it has been resubmitted. They are 2-3 weeks behind on opening mail, then they have to process the letter. We thought we could travel to Baton Rouge and have this finished in person, but the criminal division office doesn't allow that. It's sooo frustrating! I just have to remind myself that there is a reason for this delay in our paperwork to China. God has already chosen her for us. He knows her--He knows us--He knows when the two worlds should meet.

October 1, 2002

Sent 10 of 12 documents to the La. Secretary of State's Office. The Sec. of State must certify these documents (things like marriage certificate, letters of employment, general physical exams, etc.) before we submit them to China.

October 5, 2002

Her closet is now prepared--with organized shelves--to hold the many clothes, hats, shoes, etc. that this child will have. I wasn't so particular with the closets in our other rooms, but in hers, I used the level! Mama says that the contents of her closet--yes, already--look like I must be preparing for twins. She, of course, is one of the reasons our China daughter has so much! She and I both have gone wild ... it's just too hard to resist. Besides, isn't it supposed to be fun to shop for a little girl?!

October 9, 2002

We received the 10 documents from the Secretary of State's Office.

October 21, 2002

Finally ... the police clearance letters were delivered to our social worker. He will mail our homestudy to us today. Now we have to send the home study to the New Orleans INS so that they can complete our paperwork and send us our I-171--a form that must go in our dossier to China. November is really pushing it to have our paperwork to China. I think it will be at least December. Has it been a year already?! It seems like it!

The 100-Wishes Quilt that became 143-Wishes Quilt!

Malynn ~ "Mother's Choice" (See Feb. 5 entry)

November 4, 2002

I called the FBI just to confirm that our fingerprints for the INS had been cleared. Yes ... they have. Some people receive a letter stating that the fingerprints are cleared, some don't receive any word. We never received a letter, so I called the FBI.

November 8, 2002

It's been 2 weeks today since INS received our home study. It's been 12 weeks since we first submitted our I-600A application to INS. It's been 8 weeks since we had our fingerprints taken for INS. We won't be November DTC (dossier to China) as we had hoped ... but we are closer than we've ever been, right?

Saturday, November 16, 2002

The I-171 came today! Maybe ... just maybe ... we'll be DTC in December!

Friday, November 22, 2002

I FedExed the I-171 and the revised homestudy to the La. Sec. of State today. When these items return, I'll send them to the Chinese Consulate in Houston to be authenticated.

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Tomorrow I will mail our documented, notarized, certified, authenticated, and sanitized :) paperwork to our agency, Holt International, in Eugene, OR. This bunch of paperwork is called our dossier. If all goes well, Holt should be able to mail our dossier to China on Friday, December 20. And that's ALL I want for Christmas! (Except for this process to speed up!)

Friday, December 13, 2002

Our dossier was delivered to Holt at 9:31 a.m.!

Dec. 20, 2002

Our dossier was mailed to China today! We are now officially "expecting" a baby!

Christmas 2002

Todd and I have some of the most thoughtful family members! I opened several presents for Malynn: a pair of ladybug rainboots from Nicole, a ladybug raincoat from MeMe (Todd's mom), a pink poodle outfit from my mom and dad, a necklace/earrings set from Nanny, a doll from Lynn and Rodger, ... and a red all-terrain wagon from Todd! I hope she'll be able to open her own presents next Christmas!

December 31, 2002

The China Center for Adoption Affairs logged in our dossier today in China. Back home in Louisiana, Mama and I were shopping for sweet Malynn!

January 24, 2003

It's been more than one month since we mailed our dossier to China. Already time seems to be going quickly. Last Saturday (Jan. 18) as I drove to visit my cousin Joy, I got butterflies in my stomach. The full moon was sooo bright. I just had a gut feeling that Malynn was about to be born or had recently been born somewhere in China. Then on the way home, feeling giddy, I sang out loud to myself, "He's got Malynn in China in His hands ... He's got Malynn in China in His hands ... He's got Malynn in China in His hands ... He's got the whole world in His hands ..." And I'm so glad He does! :)

February 5, 2003

I recently had Malynn's name translated in Chinese so that I could see what Chinese characters would be used. Although most Chinese people have one-syllable names, with each of the syllables meaning something, I just wanted to see what Malynn's name would be closest to. The answer was more than I expected. Loosely translated, Malynn could mean "mother's choice" or "mother's precious gem or jade." How could I have known? :-)

March 29, 2003

Today Todd, Justin, Ashley, and I traveled to Winnsboro to attend an international adoption group picnic. It was great! Justin took pictures; Ashley held babies; I talked and questioned incessantly; and Todd ... met his inspiration to adopt. When a close friend, William, was hospitalized last year after a heart attack, Todd and his mom visited the hospital. While in the waiting room, Todd noticed a toddler girl who had been adopted from China. (See first paragraph on home page.) Todd and his mom told us all about her cute expressions and beautiful face. That's when Todd first became really interested--and later happily agreed to adopt. Now, a year later, Todd realized that the child he had seen was Joanna, one of the children at the picnic. It was amazing ... there she was ... another red thread ... another answer from God ... that we were meant to be parents of a child from China.

Sunday, May 18, 2003

Our agency informed us on Thursday (May 15) that because of the fear of SARS continuing to spread throughout China, the China Center of Adoption Affairs has temporarily suspended issuing referrals and travel approvals. While this decision is heartbreaking for families anticipating referrals soon, we want our Chinese children to remain healthy. Visit China Center of Adoption Affairs for more information: http://www.china-ccaa.org/english-index.htm

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

Every day is one day closer to Malynn. We've had a busy summer getting ready for her ... finishing her room, buying more clothes, buying travel items, buying more clothes ... :) We still haven't decided on Malynn's middle name. We'd like to use all or part of her Chinese name (the name the orphanage will give her), but I'd still like to use a name with our family connection. Looks like she'll have a long name! Yesterday the high chair that my grandmother gave us arrived. It's now assembled and standing beside the kitchen table with a baby doll in it! (Just had to make it look real.) We're getting anxious for our referral, which we think--hope--and pray--will come the first week of October. That means we could have Malynn before Christmas!

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Although I've dreamed of her bunches of times, last night I had a very vivid dream about Malynn. I dreamed she was born February 2001 (which would make her 2.5 years) and was not Chinese, but Canadian! (She looked Asian, but her place of birth was Canada.) As soon as we brought her home, we took her to a fair and she started clogging on the stage like she knew what she was doing. I guess that's telling me I'll have to pull out my clogging shoes and teach her! (Or maybe she will teach me.)

Thursday, August 28, 2003

My many friend whom I've met through the December Dragons yahoo group are getting excited about upcoming referrals. Some, whose paperwork was mailed Nov. 2002, are expecting referrals by tomorrow or next week. Go to www.decemberdragons.com to see pictures of my group's newly referred children! Malynn's picture, thanks to webmaster Chelsea, will be there hopefully in one more month!

Tuesday, September 9, 2003

Some of my friends whom I've met while waiting received their referrals on Friday and yesterday. To check out the cute pictures, go to www.decemberdragons.com then select "Referrals." All of Oct. and Nov. 2002 DTC people have received referrals, so that means Dec. 2002 DTC is next. Guess who that is? Us! Us! Us! We're next for referrals.

Tonight we're going to a Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese Moon Festival) in Monroe. This festival celebrates an important Chinese tradition; Chinese families who are separated from one another look to the moon to feel a sense of togetherness. We can't wait to see the Chinese children tonight ... and think about our own Chinese daughter waiting for us under the China moon.