it came and went

My birth certificate came - state sealed and everything. We dropped our dossier (large package of papers) off at Bethany yesterday. They will take care of sending it off to be authenticated and then will mail it to China. Best guess is maybe one-two weeks for authentication and then two-three weeks before our paperwork is "logged in" at CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs). We'll be given a LID (log-in date) that means the Chinese officials have officially noticed that it got there. Now we have some waiting to do... better get that second bedroom ready!!!

looks like it's coming

The package tracker on the FedEx site says that my birth certificate will be in our mailbox by 10:30 tomorrow. That means we'll be dropping all of our paperwork off at Bethany after work tomorrow. They'll send it to the Chinese consulate in Chicago to have it authenticated and then it will be sent right to China. Then we just have to wait!

it came

My birth certificate arrived so I mailed it off to get it state sealed. I paid lots of money to have it get there tomorrow by 10AM and lots of money for them to send it back fast. Tomorrow I will make copies of everything so it's all ready. As soon as my certificate is back with the MN state seal we can drop our stuff off at Bethany where it will be checked and sent off for authentication. Sweet!

the park

We're still waiting for a copy of my birth certificate to arrive. It's the last piece of paper we need before we can send everything to China. It's taking a LONG time.

Today was a beautiful day. Meili and I went to the park for the first time this year. It's fun to see her climbing up ladders and trying all of the slides by herself. It's quite a change from last year when she wanted us to do everthing with her. Here are a few pictures...

paperwork almost ready...

Our fingerprinting approval letter arrived last week! Now we're gathering the final pieces together for our dossier (bundle of paperwork) that will be sent to China. On Tuesday we have a meeting with our case worker to check everthing over. If it's all ok, we'll get it state sealed and into the mail! We're getting closer!

Happy Valentine's Day

what happens on the way home

Meili loves going to preschool every day and by the end of the day she is really tired. Since it's so close, she and I walk there together. (She usually rides in a sled or stroller.) Here's what happens quite often on the way home.

just like daddy

Meili loves wearing her dad's sunglasses!

fingerprinting and a retreat

We got our fingerprinting letter this week which informed us that our appointment is scheduled for next week. After we are fingerprinted, we have to wait while the immigration people make sure we are not criminals. The approval form that they will send is an essential piece of paperwork that will go to China. One more step in the long journey....

This past weekend we spent with many of our Eastern Ave CRC friends up at AuSable Institute for a winter retreat. Here are some pictures from our weekend!

Happy Gotcha Day!

Today is Meili's "Gotcha Day" and our "Family Day." (There are a lot of great names to remember this kind of special day.) Today is the day that Meili joined our family. It's been two years already! Here are a few pictures from that Meili's gotcha day in 2007 and a few pictures taken this week. She sure has changed!

We first met Meili in Hangzhou and held her for the first time.

in a taxi going back to our hotel

hanging out with Daddy


We tried really hard to tire Meili out the first night so we could get her to sleep.
She sat this way for a long time and finally just tipped over in exhaustion.

Meili in her princess getup singing "Hallowed Be Thy Name"

and a song she made up called "You are Lipstick."


Happy Chinese New Year 2009!!!

Meili's first day

Here we see one happy kid who just finished her first day of preschool. Aside from an accident early in the morning (her legs are too short to reach the preschool-sized potty) she had a wonderful day!

exciting news...

We're expecting! We've started the process to adopt another baby from China! Not sure if it will be a girl or a boy and will be excited either way! We completed our home study this past December and now are waiting for U.S. Immigration services to complete some paperwork. We'll updated progress here on our blog!

Some other exciting news is that Meili starts preschool tomorrow. She's been going to a speech preschool two mornings a week this year but now she'll be going full days, M-F. I'm excited because she is coming to Oakdale so we get to walk to school together each morning! Meili packed her lunch and backpack tonight before bed. She is pretty excited for tomorrow!

manners

We spend a lot of time talking about manners with Meili - especially saying "May I please have..." instead of saying "I want..." The other day I asked Meili what kind of soup she wanted for supper and she said, "Want is a bad word, mama. It's not using your manners." How precious!

fall photo shoot

showing that she's three years old

Happy 3rd Birthday Meili!

Meili loved frosting and decorating the cake!

playing with her new dollhouse

what a great helper!

playing games

Halloween pictures

Robinettes

Cool weather, beautiful fall colors, apple cider, donuts and pie make this my favorite time of year!