We're Leaving For China Next Week!

I can't believe it's Friday already! So much has happened this week. We have been running at the speed of light since Monday morning!

On Tuesday we booked our flights! We leave home September 6th! We fly to Hong Kong and then to Nanchang. We get Mattie on September 9th!

And we are traveling with our friends Adam, Patty and Elisa! We will leave on the same plane, be together the last 1/2 of our trip with our daughters, and fly home together!! We are SO excited and God is so magnificent! He has blessed us beyond anything we could have imagined or asked for.

We just finished up our 2nd phone conference, hosted by our agency director Josh. He really gave us a good idea of what our trip will be like and what to expect. I have said it before but I will say it again - I LOVE CCAI! They are so organized...now if I could just get us organized, we will be all set!

The Happiest Monday Of Them All!

We got updated info by USPS in the mail at 10am from our agency (see below). It was mailed to us Aug 24th. And at 1:30 today they emailed us updated info and pictures. They just got from China, on email, today!She's grown so much! But only in length! On Aug 7th she was 25" long and still weighed 12lbs! We are just too too excited! She's supporting her own weight in the photo on the right...and sitting up! Still no teeth! I hope I'm there before the first one pops out! She'll be 8mo old Sept. 10th!

New Info About Mattie!

We just received the orphanage background information and translation about Mattie! We had no clue it was coming and it arrived in our mail at 10am this morning!
What we learned about her name:
Guo is her surname, expressing that she is a child of the nation.
Yan Yan is a wish that she will always be as beautiful as a swallow flying freely in the sky, and will live a happy, colorful, and fortunate life in the future.
Physical exam the day she arrived at Guixi:
Birth Length: 45cm /17.7 in. Birth Weight: 3kg/6lbs 9.6oz
Her ambilical cord had been freshly cut - the medical staff agreed she had just been born; determining Jan. 10th as her birthday. She was a beautiful baby with fair skin.
During her first month:
Her nights and days were reversed. She slept during the day and cried at night. She also ate little and spit up alot - she had a rough first month and required a lot of the nannies time.
During her second month:
She improved and began to sleep soundly. Her food intake stablilzed and her growth was good.
During her third month:
She turned her head when the Nannies say Yan Yan and "she smiled when someone touched her little face" (direct quote from paperwork we received.)
During her forth month (reported May 20th):
She laughs out loud and is a charming child. She sleeps soundly and likes to sleep on her back. She is extroverted, active and lively. She likes to play outside and likes to play with a cloth doll that makes music (that part was in some previous paperwork too)
Length: 22.8 inches Weight: 12lbs 1.6oz
We were SO estatic to receive this additional information - and finally hear about the day she was born. We had so many questions surrounding this day the last several weeks, and while I have not included all the details here in this post, we know we were given all the information and details available, and are appreciative that Guixi City SWI took care in documenting her birth day and what happened upon her arrival at Guixi SWI.

TRAVEL APPROVALS!!!!!

We got our TA today! We now have permission from China to travel! Our agency faxed the Consulate today requesting our appointment...the appointment all our travel hinges on - and we needed our TA to get that appointment!

So we should know more soon. When we receive our appointment date (CA), I think we can start making arrangements to travel. Still a little fuzzy on when we can acutally book the flights!

More From Deanna

If you follow along on my blog you may remember my post about Blessing # 6 Click Here To Read That Post. Yesterday another package arrived from this dear sweet lady!

She MADE an outfit and hat for Mattie!

It is SO adorable!

Her name is even embroidered on the hat!

The outfit says "daddys lil princess".

I can tell you that statement is very true!

The books are wonderful!

I am imagining me with a cup of coffee

and Mattie with her baby bottle

and the 2 of us reading these together!

So this morning I was trying to sew...fixing a strap on my tank top. 30m later I was hoping it will hold up. Deanna just had surgery on her arm and is making baby outfits! What a lady!!

Family See Mattie For The First Time

Mattie's Great Grandpa and Grandma at

Grandpa's 90th birthday party

Tressa's parents - Mattie's Gram and Gramps
Alan's parents - Mattie's Grandma and Grandpa at their condo

Mattie's Uncle Ed, Uncle Andy and Aunt Raeghan at Bob EvansMattie's cousins Alyssa, Sarah and Aunt Lisa
Mattie's Aunt Rhonda at Grandpa's party

Mattie's sister Ashlee at PF Changs

Mattie's Brother Jason at our house

Our First Phone Conference

It was at 1pm Mountain Time yesterday about "Travel". It was @ an hour. There was a number to call and a password to type in. Easy, easy, easy. If you miss the conference they provide a recording of it for you.
The topics covered:

PAPERWORK (abv. PW):

We are finished and already have our visas! So, we napped during this part hehe! To see more about the paperwork required click here PAPERWORK

TRAVEL APPROVAL (abv. TA's):

Will come 2-5 weeks after our photo (which was Aug. 3, 07) from the CCAA. CCAI has no control over this part.

CONSULATE APPOINTMENTS (avb. CA's):

CCAI cannot make this appointment until we have our TA. This appointment determines the exact date of travel. The consulate can take 1-6 days to respond to CCAI's request for this appt.

TRAVEL DATES:

CCAI gave us an example of a 14 day in country itenerary. After we have our Consulate Appointment we get a 'real' itenereary and we can book our flights. We will have 7-14 days notice for departure.

In October there is 2 holidays and many agencies do not allow their clients to travel during October. To avoid this they want us on the plane no later than SEPTEMBER 14th and home by SEPTEMBER 28th! Their aim is to have us outta here sooner. So - we finally have an idea of when we'll leave but not really. LOL

FINALIZING OUR TRIP:

They went over costs for our trip, tips, gifts etc. These line up with what CCAI originally gave us 2 1/2 yrs ago. I did not sit down and compare "they told us $50 for this 2 yrs ago and now it $52". But everything looked almost exactly as it did originally. I didn't feel there were any monetary surprises. There is NO increase for any province for the orphanage fee at this point, as has been discussed on blogs and boards for the last couple of months.

So this is what we know in a nutshell!

I cannot believe how easy CCAI is making all of this. I feel comfortable and I'm able to prepare accordingly. Couldn't be more thrilled with them...

Our Visas Just Arrived!

Did you know "Visas" arrive 'glued' inside your passport? I'm shaking the envelope saying 'where are our visas'?! I found it quickly fortunately -and now I understand why I had to mail our passports!

On another note - the FedEx pkg. was addressed in my husbands middle and last name! I called and they do have Alan listed in their system correctly. But geeze - great way to freak a girl out.

One more tid-bit. As I was looking for the passport photo above- I found that people have actually photographed the first passport page - the one w/ their photo - and put them on the internet. All their private information and passport #'s exposed. My goodness that's so goofy! Why would anyone do that?

The CCAI Reunion

I am finally posting pictures from the weekend we got Mattie's first photos! The directors of CCAI are Josh and Lily. We were really looking fwd to meeting them, and getting to meet them the same weekend we got Mattie's photo....well, that made it extra special!! A lady we met earlier this year, Tina, coordinated the reunion - and it was fantastic!
This is Josh and Alan with the info we got in our FedEx pkg. right before the reunion.

This is the first time Josh and Lily had seen Mattie. Right before the below photo was snapped Josh said, "her barber is terrible! That guy needs to be fired!" Pretty funny! And he's right! Our girl has a mohawk! I guess that's why I have so many hats for her already! hehe!Us with Lily

Our friends Adam and Patty, with Lily Our friends Denny, Lee Ann and Mesa with Josh and Lily
This day was the first all our friends had seen each other since we, and Adam and Patty, got photos of our daughters! There were lots of smiles, and tears.

It was a great afternoon! Josh is quite the jokester and fun and Lily is very nice and personable. Many of us waiting were able to have a meeting with them that day. I have always been glad that we used CCAI...and after meeting Josh and Lily and hearing their heart for waiting families, it further solitified that God blessed us tremendously with CCAI.

On a scale of 1-10 I give the day an 11!

We had a great time!

Very Cool

On Saturday I received this from Alan's son Jason, on email. He's away at school right now, and is a very talented artist (in our humble opinion). To see the original photo Click HereHe 're-touched' the photo...the staple holes are gone, he brightened up her skin to more like her nautural color and added her name and a design in the corner. I was really excited and printed a ton of them saturday and they are going like hot cakes!

Mattie's Care Pkg!

We mailed our care pkg to Guixi on Thursday!

The Blanket is from Aunt Rhonda and I wrote the Chinese Characters for Yan Yan on the tag.

The cameras: I hope they take photos of Mattie between now and when we get her. I wrote Yan Yan characters on the camera.

The Teddy Bear is from Grndma Marj and Grndpa Joe. The bunny is from Gram Ann and Gramps Ron.

The Ariel doll - all cloth by the way which is pretty cool - is from Jason and Ashlee.

The plastic keys and photo albums are from me and Alan.

All the chocolate is for the babies to share....just kidding. It's for the Orphanage director and nannies.

I was pretty excited that I could write this out in Mandarin Characters. We'll see how I actually did when my girlfriend from China, Sharon, see's it.
For those adopting wondering about what's involved. I cannot tell you how easy CCAI is making everything. They are just about standing here holding our hands...except they are in CO. But I can barely tell the difference.

There is specific instructions for sending something to an orphanage and it came in our Fed Ex. Pkg. Saturday. The address was in the packet, in Mandarin charcters that you can cut out and glue to your pkg so they can read it in China. There's instructions on how to avoid it going through customs and exactly what papers you must put in the box - like your acceptance certificate - for it to get to your child. And there is a letter written in Mandarin Characters that you just sign and put in the box (there's an english translation so you, the parent, know what it says too).

Once again...so easy!

I just needed to follow CCAI's directions!

Paperwork - Paperwork

I've had numerous requests to let those adopting know what to expect...and many are wondering what we are doing right now...what are the next steps? So, here's what has happened up until now.

8/2/07 Day Before Referral:
I was on Rumor Queen all Day and emailing and talking with other families that had LID's near us, or are with our agency. Yep, that's the day in a nutshell:o).
8/3 Referral Day 1:
Our agency called and described Mattie to us. We heard about her health, size, Chinese Name and location over the phone. We received our travel group # and learned we could send a care pkg. to her. We had opportunity to ask questions but the gal who called us was very thorough and mostly we were just ready to see Mattie (LOL). We hung up and got her photo within a few minutes - OH HAPPY DAY!
8/4 Day 2:
The next day we received a pkg. by FedEx that had 2 more photos of Mattie and her information provided by the orphanage. Inside that packet was a certificate for us to sign and date that we would accept her. (Yes we accept her! DUH!) We FedEx-ed the signed certificate back to our agency the same day. They fwd this certificate to the CCAA when they receive it.
8/5 Sunday Day 3:
Nothing involving paperwork b/c it was a weekend and our agency and mail services are closed.
8/6 Day 4:
When our Agency received our Certificate by FedEx, they put a "Travel Packet", visa applications, and instructions (Visas are for Alan and me only) on the secure site and emailed us to tell us it was there.
We downloaded and printed it. It has forms to fill out that need signed and notarized. It also told us what papers we need to take to China. These forms were informative about what we should expect and what we should do. Basically, we had to sign that we would follow the directions and if we get Mumps in China our agency is not responsible (LOL)! Everything we signed was agreeable for us...we had no trouble signing anything.
8/7 Day 5:
Yesterday there was not enough time to complete the forms and get them in the mail, by the time we received our packet. So, we airmailed our notarized forms today and our visa applications. This included sending off the passport. I took it to a UPS store and have the receipt and tracking numbers. No way would I drop that in one of those boxes and walk away!

We are working on our care pkg. and purchased 2 of everything. One to send, and one to take with us. This way if the orphanage doesn't send the items back with Mattie and she gets to have them, we have a 2nd set with us:o). Some people have sent theirs out already. I was pretty focused on the paperwork and we had such a busy weekend with the CCAI reunion that we did not get to shop for things until yesterday. I bought some things ahead for the care pkg - but not everything b/c I wasn't certain if I would be able to send one.

So, this is what has happened as far as paperwork etc so far. I am looking fwd to posting about our weekend and sharing pictures. I will do this very soon!

Guixi Orphanage

Like cold water to a weary soul,

so is good news from a distant land.

Proverbs 25:25

Click Here To See Our First Photos Of Mattie

Well - sort of from a distant land! This morning a wonderful lady I do not know, whose daughter is also from Guixi emailed me! She was kind enough to send many photos, inside and outside, of where Mattie is right now! (Below are 4). She also shared that the babies are well cared for here...and from the photos of the inside I would agree with her assesment!

Join me as we walk through the gates of the entrance to Guixi...

Below is an arial view. The Pink buildings is the new orphanage built before Mattie was there. The white building is the former orphanage and is now a home for older people. For the last couple of years I have heard that if there is a home for older people built near the orphanage that the older people come and spend time with the children.Below is the "Baby House". This is where Mattie is right now. Below is the very clean looking bottle making station.Is it just me...or do you think this facility looks nice?

Is it just me or do you feel like God has answered numerous prayers?

I can barely function today over tears and prayers of thanksgiving to my Lord.

Guixi is in Jiangxi Province.

On the right side; Below Bejing

Above Hong Kong; Beside the Hunan

Todays Discovery

Mattie was born Jan. 10, 2007, and found the day she was born.

I wote a prayer for Mattie.

Click HERE; notice the day the prayer and post were written

Thank you for praying with us.

UPDATE 8-5-07

The Info we got yesterday about our baby girl, is between the pics below.

Every PERFECT gift is from GOD. These good gifts come down from the CREATOR of the sun, moon, and stars.

James 1:17 NCV

New Photos 8-4-07

The below photos were taken May 17,2007

She is healthy, Praise God, and weighed a whopping 12lbs May 20th! She is close to her caregiver. She wakes up at 6am, takes a 1-2 hr. nap in the morning and afternoon and goes to bed at 7:30. (WOW! She's a sleeper! For some reason I'm guessing that this will change once she's with us. Just a hunch:o)) She eats 5-6 times a day, and likes Milk based formula, Rice cereal, Eggs, and Fruit! Her favorite activity is Playing outside and her favorite Toy is a cloth doll that makes music. We ARE able to send a care pkg to her! I am excited! We looked for a stuffed toy that plays soft music tonight - still looking! We have 2 cameras to send, in hopes they will begin taking photos of her between now and then. I will let you know what we send to her! I can hardly wait to send it!!

Below Photo Received 8-3-07 Thanks be to God for His Indescribable gift.

2 Corinthians 9:14 NKJV

Name: Guo Yan Yan (Colorful/Gorgeous Swallow)

Birthdate: January 10, 2007

Province: Jiangxi

Orphanage: Guixi

Check back tomorrow. We will receive additional photos of

Mattie by FedEx and we will post all we know about her!

UPDATE: 8-4-07

FedEx came at 10am and we were able to FedEx back our acceptance signatures today! This means that we will travel as soon as possible...we are thrilled!

At 12:30 we were at our agency's Reunion! We got to meet Josh and Lily from CCAI there today! It was wonderful! Josh and Lily are incredible - just as we figured:o).

By 2:30 we were on the Road to my Grandpa's (Matties Great-Grandfather) 90th birthday party!

We can't wait to upload all the photos from the last 2 days. It has been incredible.

If we were to have sat down and written out how we would want the last 2 days to go, we couldn't have came up with anything this wonderful.

God is so good to us! To Him be ALL Glory, Honor and Praise.

Waiting For News...

It's 6:10 AM at our Agency in Colorado.

Our phone just rang. Alan is not here. The area code was Colorado. It was a telemarketer. Recouperating from Panic right now.

I expect to hear something today, but our time zone is different than CO. So, I am not sure "when".

Update 2:27 8-03-07

Our agency called us at 12:18 our time. We are over the moon right now. We are going to surprise our families right now...they have no idea...so if you know them....shhh!

And Check back tonight.

FACT!

UPDATE: We know we are in this group.

And our friends LID 11/21 are too!!!

Waiting. Check back tomorrow for an update.

No Facts To Report But...

There is A LOT of talk about the Stork right now...

Enough said.

Our Agency's Website

They updated it today to say that they know for sure the CCAA is working on the next group of matches!!!