Video of Jacob at Harbin CWI - March 1, 2010

I was lucky to find this video of Jacob's orphanage, Harbin CWI, from March 1, 2010. I think it is a story about a little boy who was abandoned and Jacob is shown pretty often in the video.

It's wonderful to be able to see him before we met him. I just wish we had some photos of him from when he was a baby.

You can see the video here.

Halloween 2010 - Jacob's First Trick-Or-Treat Experience

Our little ninja, Jacob, had his first trick-or-treating experience today. We went out twice - once with just me, him and Baba and then again with Tiffany and Luke.

He had a great time, but thought he was supposed to go in all the houses we went to, instead of just taking the candy. By the third house, he had the "Trick or treat. Thank you" down pat.

He's already asleep, but he's rolling around and talking a lot in there. He does this often when he's overtired and has had a very busy or emotional day. He seems to relive it in his sleep.

We only had 17 kids come to the house so far, and I don't think we'll get any more. It's dark and my driveway is scary. :o( I really like getting a lot of kids.

Halloween pics are here.

October 2010

Pumpkin Picking, Pumpkin Carving, Halloween Costumes and Random Silliness

The title says it all. There are photos of Jacob trying on his Halloween costume, picking pumpkins with Baba and Mommy, carving pumpkins with Baba and Nana, posing in his school Halloween costume and just hanging around.

Seriously, who's cuter than my Jacob?

Jacob's Halloween Party

We had Jacob's first Halloween party today. It was wonderful to see everyone and watch all the kids run around and have fun.

Jacob was a ninja (am I stereotyping a bit?), and looked adorable in his costume.

It was a little chilly, but we had everything set up for outside, since the kids all wanted to run around. Tom lit the chiminea so people could warm up if they wanted to.

Brandon stayed overnight to help us decorate. He was a great help.

Pictures are here.

School Pictures

We got Jacob's school pictures yesterday. He's just adorable!!

Baptism

Jacob was baptized at our Church, St. Mary's, this past Sunday, 10/10/10. He was his typical hambone self and had a great day.

The party following the baptism was wonderful. Getting the family together to celebrate is always a good thing.

Pictures are here.

Apple Picking

I'm a big fan of Fall and all that comes with it - apples, pumpkins, cool weather and, of course, Halloween.

Every year, we go apple picking to our friend Elissa's family farm in Water Mill, Seven Ponds Orchard. It's a chance to see Elissa and also to pick some really yummy apples.

This year, having the little guy with us, made it really special. After we hung out with Elissa for a while, we went in the corn maze, picked apples and string beans, went on a hayride (which Jacob loved, since he could ride right behind a tractor), we headed over to Montauk to have a bite to eat, see the lighthouse and wander around on the beach.

What a fantastic day with my two guys. Pictures are here.

There are also pictures from Jacob's first train ride (LIRR to Manhattan, then on to Chinatown) and some other random photos.

Duh...I thought I Posted These...

Here are the photos that were on the cameras we sent to Harbin CWI before we traveled to pick up Jacob. In my completely unbiased opinion, he is the most adorable kid I've ever seen! ;o)

How We Spent Our August

Here are some photos of how we spent our August:

- First baseball game with Baba (LI Ducks)
- Garvies Point Museum with Aunt Joyce and Brandon
- First night in his big boy bed
- The park
- Meeting Shu Shu Pete's new puppy, Diggum
- Playing with his Build-A-Bear
- Hanging out with his cousins

We've had a fun summer.

Second Day of School, Riverhead Polish Festival & Hanging Out With Cousin Brandon

Here are some photos from Friday and the weekend. Jacob had a great time at school on Friday (and told me I didn't have to stay!). Saturday, we ventured out to Riverhead to the Polishtown Festival and Jacob had his first pony ride. Today, Aunt Joyce and cousin Brandon came over for a visit. Jacob had a great time with everyone.

Summer 2010 - Miscellaneous Photos

Jacob takes up a lot of time and I haven't been able to post as often as I'd like, so I'm lumping a lot of stuff into this post.

We have had a busy and fun summer so far. Here are some photos from our travels.

They include:

- Tom and Jacob modeling their orange peel vampire teeth;
- Photos from our local park visit;
- Playtime with Duncan and Andrew;
- M&K Alumni Party at Steve & Anna's; and
- Dean's 6th birthday family get together.

Bite Your Tongue!!

So, the other day I was out and my niece, Jessica, was trying to get Jacob to nap. Jacob decided that he had no interest in napping, but he was very interested in jumping up and down in the crib and laughing.

Click here to see how well that turned out. He bit a nice big divot into his tongue and got blood all over the place, scaring the absolute crap out of my niece and himself in the process.

One would assume that he would learn from this experience, but no, he decided he wanted to jump around in the crib today when I put him down for his nap, until I told him to stick out his tongue, took a couple of pictures and showed him what he had done the last time he decided to jump where he's not supposed to.

First Day of Montessori

Jacob had his first day of Montessori pre-school today. It was just for a couple of hours, until he has bonded with someone there and I feel comfortable leaving him.

He had water time fun, story and song time and lunch. Tomorrow he goes back in the afternoon; I'm not quite sure what they are going to have planned.

Here are some pictures of him on his way, at the school and after we got home.

He decided when we got home that all of the cars in the bay window had been bad and were in need of a time out. There's a couple of shots of them all lined up being punished. Pretty funny.

More tomorrow...

Poor Neglected Blog

Sorry, blog, but your main subject takes up ALL of my time and I've been neglecting you. Dear blog, to help ease your pain, here are some videos of Jacob from when we were in China.

To those of you who get to see Jacob, you really see how well his English has progressed just by watching these videos. He's a pretty amazing kid and we are lucky to have him.

My Wacky Son

Here are some pictures of my wacky son, hamming it up for the camera...

Shu Shu Peter Gives Xinxin A Haircut

We really liked the haircut that we got for Xinxin in China, so we asked Shu Shu Peter to help recreate it. Xinxin was much more cooperative in China than in here, but Shu Shu managed to get it done anyway. You can see photos here.

Xinxin's Birthday Weekend

We celebrated Xinxin's 3rd birthday this weekend, his first birthday with us.

On Friday we had the families over for cake and Saturday was the kids' party. He had a great time (and a couple of time-outs; sharing is not his strong-suit), got wonderful presents and basked in the love of his family and friends.

You can see the photos from the weekend (and the days leading to the weekend) here.

Hello Again, Hello

I've been gone for a while, busy adjusting to life as an "instant" parent of a toddler. It's been challenging and rewarding. Xinxin is such a wonderful, active, smart, amazing boy. You really have to experience him to really see all that he is.

Tom and I have been told by so many people that we did a wonderful thing and that Xinxin is lucky to be adopted and removed from the orphanage. We feel as if we're the lucky ones; we really struck gold with our son. He is amazing. The love that we feel for him is beyond belief. The sheer joy that fills my heart just looking at him is enough to make me tear up.

I have a bunch of photos that have been taken since we've been home. You can find them here.

We're Home (A Little Belated Post)!!

Hi everyone. This is my first chance to blog since we've been home. Xinxin is sleeping and I'm multitasking (blogging, laundry, tidying up).

We had a pretty uneventful trip home, thankfully. All of the flights within China were delayed, so we were pretty worried about the flight home with the little man. It worked out pretty decently - except for a train wreck of a time trying to get from Beijing airport to the hotel on the 11th. The flight was, of course, late and by the time we landed, the shuttle was not operational. So we had to hail a cab and hope the driver knew the hotel. Well, he didn't. So we got out of the cab, Tom's backpack opened up and stuff fell all over the street. I was carrying Xinxin in the Ergo pack on my chest, so we're going crazy trying to get everything picked up. We go back into the airport and Tom finds someone to write the hotel name down in Chinese and we head back out to try it again. At this point, I am SO DONE with China. I have an overtired, cranky child having a fit in my arms, we're missing stuff and trying to get our bags, etc. together. We get back on the taxi line and get a driver that takes us to the hotel. Our 3 hour flight turned into an 8 1/2 hour travesty. Why does the adoption agency schedule flights so late when nothing runs on time in China????

We've been home for just over a week now and have been adjusting to life with Xinxin and he's been adjusting to life with us. It's been interesting - sometimes fun, sometimes challenging, always happy to have him in our lives. He is a very energetic, smart boy and we can't wait to see him thrive here.

This past week we've spent together - the three of us, but tomorrow Tom goes back to work. I will miss his help tremendously. We've been to Lake Ronkonkoma, Atlantis Marine World and The LI Game Farm. Xinxin loves animals. You can see photos of our first day home and the Lake trip here, photos of the Atlantis outing here and photos of the trip to the Game Farm here.

Off to switch the laundry before he wakes up and misses me. Mommy can't stray too farm from him right now.

Leaving Guangzhou

We leave Guangzhou today and fly to Beijing. We are staying overnight at a hotel at the airport and we leave tomorrow (Saturday) for home!!!

We had breakfast with the McDonalds and Printys and lunch with the McDonalds. It was hard to leave them. I started crying when we left their room. They have been with us pretty much the whole way. They are wonderful people and helped us out a lot. It was hard to say goodbye to them.

Red Couch Photo Day

Today was the red couch photo for everyone in our group. All the kids were in traditional Chinese dress. Xinxin got a haircut yesterday and he looked fantastic. My boy is beautiful.

You can see the pictures from the haircut (they had a cute kitten in the salon) and the photo session here.

The Zoo

We went ot the zoo today. Xinxin was excited to see the tigers and the lions. We got some good video of a lion roaring. I tried uploading it, but it's not working.

The strange thing was that they only gave us an hour and a half to tour the zoo, something which we could have spent 3 hours touring at our leisure, had lunch, etc. As it was, we had to race around like crazy people in the unbelievable heat and humidity. We didn't get to see everything, but at least Xinxin got to see the lions and tigers. Click here to see the photos.

Guangzhou

We are finally in Guangzhou, starting the second leg of our trip.

The trip here was terrible; a 5 hour flight (with connection) turned into an 11 hour nightmare. Xinxin was pretty good throughout the process, although very restless. He's an energetic little guy (even when sick), so it was hard for him to be stuck in a seat. He is also back to "Mama, mama, mama" all the time and really only tolerates Baba at specific times - mealtime, bath time and when they are playing.

We had to wake him up in the middle of his nap in order to get out the hotel and to the airport, then we were stuck in the airport for a couple of hours before the flight. Then they load us onto a bus to take us to the plane and we sit there for 15 minutes (an eternity for a toddler). Then we get on the plane and we're delayed for over an hour. I finally get Xinxin to sleep and we land at one of the smallest airports I've ever seen. We get off the plane, walk across the tarmac, then stand in a lobby for about 10 minutes, then back on another plane, then we're delayed again! ARGH!!! I finally get Xinxin to sleep, then we land in Guangzhou. We got to the hotel at 1 AM and find out there's no crib. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? We get up to the room and I get him into bed with me to try and get him to sleep and he's completely punch drunk a this point. We hear a knock at the door and there's the crib. Thank God!

This morning we get up around 7:30, we all bathe and go to breakfast, where we run into the McDonald's, who traveled with us to Harbin. They are really good people and we've enjoyed all the time we've spent with them. We also ran into a couple of the other families that we started the trip with in Beijing. It was wonderful to see everyone with their kids.

At 10 AM we met in the lobby to go for the medical exam and TB test. The place was a swap meet. People everywhere (I'll post pictures here. We figured we were in for a long wait, but it went pretty quickly. Thankfully, we didn't have to have all the shots for Xinxin, since we are a non-Hague family. He just had to have the TB test shot. Our guide told him that he was going to get a shot, then a piece of candy and he took it like a trooper. The kid likes his candy. Chip off the old block!

We're in the room now. Xinxin and Tom are taking a nap. We've all been sick the past couple of days. Xinxin came to us with a runny and stuffy nose, diarrhea and a cough and he's passed the cough and head cold to his Mama and Baba. Thanks kid. :o)

More later.

Gotcha Day Video

Click here to see our Gotcha Day video. It all happened so fast (the kids were supposed to arrive late and showed up early with no warning), that when he walked into the room, Tom just dropped the video camera.

The video is sideways, but you can see us with Jacob. As I get more time (when will that be?), I'll upload more videos from the trip.

My thoughts so far...

It's June 2nd (I think). It's 1:46 in the afternoon. Xinxin is still sleeping and I'm so happy that he's finally napping.

It has been a roller coaster ride so far - so happy to have him, so tired from not sleeping (he hasn't wanted daddy at all - all mommy, all the time). This morning, Tom was able to distract him long enough for me to take a shower unwatched. He goes to the bathroom with me, runs after me wherever I go.

He is starting to misbehave which is good, because he's getting comfortable and adjusting to us. I feel bad when I have to discipline him because he looks so upset, but it has to be done. He must have had his caretakers at the orphanage wrapped around his finger because whenever he does something wrong, he goes into "cute boy" mode, tilting his head and smiling at me. They told me on gotcha day that he gets a lot of attention because he is so cute and I can see he knows how to work the system.

He is also a tremendous flirt. Every morning he flirts with the waitresses in the restaurant and every woman he sees in the lobby and wherever we go. He is absolutely adorable and has quite a personality on him.

The process so far has been okay, a little long in spots but okay. Yesterday (the Chinese legal ceremony) took forever. The kids had to see their caretakers again, which didn't go over too well for the other family. Poor Huahua was inconsolable after seeing her caretaker again. Xinxin was a little better.

It's been pretty hard on Tom; even though we expected him to bond to one over the other, it's hard for him. He's a little frustrated, but I told him soon enough he won't be able to shake him and he'll wish he was back hanging on me.

Off to do a few things before my little man wakes up.

More later...

Second Visit to Civil Affairs & Tiger Park Visit

Click here for photos from our second visit to Civil Affairs (at the end of the "24 hour harmonious period"), where we became a forever family in the eyes of the Chinese government and for photos from Tiger Park, which Jacob absolutely loved.

Gotcha Day!!

Gotchas Day went by so fast, we didn't get any video of him entering the room or the hand-off. Mostly because they told us they were going to be late getting in from the orphanage, then they just walked into the room. There really wasn't a hand-off, since Jacob came into the room and came right over to us when he saw us.

He kept wanting to go with his caretaker, which is understandable,m since she's been a constant in his life, but he seemed to adjust pretty well that day once we left.

He spins around like the second hand on a clock when he sleeps. He slept with us the first night, but we put him in the crib once he fell asleep last night. That was my first night's sleep since we got here. I really needed it; I was exhausted.

He wants mommy all the time. Always up, always mommy. We're calling him Xinxin right now (pronounced Zhen Zhen), so we don't confuse him. We're slowly atarting to work some English in, but we want to take it slow on the trip.

He's absolutely adorable, and I love him more than I can say.

He's obviously starting to feel more comfortable with us, since he's starting to misbehave. All expected; no surprises so far.

Don't forget to check out the photos on photobucket. Click here for Gotcha Day.

More later, as time - and Jacob - permit.

One Hour to Go!!!

It's 8:30 AM on Monday, May 31st. We meet Jacob/Jingxin in an hour!!

So exciting!!!

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

It's 4:30 AM on Monday, May 31st. We get Jingxin today. I went to bed at 7 PM last night; Tom went even earlier. Five hours until we meet our little boy. It's so exciting and slightly nerve-wracking (for Tom at least; so far, my nerves are fine).

We had a wonderful lunch yesterday wit our guide, Michelle, and the other family in our group. We ate at a dumpling place and it was FABULOUS. Then we shopped for some essentials (bottled water, snacks), then back to the room to pack Jingxin's bag and unpack ours.

We have done a lot of walking and some sightseeing. On the agenda for today: At 9 AM, we meet in the lobby and head to the Civil Affairs office, where we will meet our son. We spend quite a bit of time there with the orphanage workers, so we can ask questions about his everyday life. Then we do some shopping for him, now that we know his size. Tomorrow, after Michelle does the paperwork with the civil affairs office, we visit the museum and Russian style church in the city. The next day we visit the zoo. The day after that, we get Jingxin's passport and fly to Guangzhou for the American part of the process.

Harbin City holds a snow and ice festival each year, which we of course miss because it's spring. The photos of it are amazing. If you want to see what it looks like up here in the winter, google Harbin Snow & Ice Festival images. This is a medium sized city by Chinese standards - about 9 million people.

I'm off to make sure I have all my questions for the orphanage personnel written down. More later...

Photos

Uploading to Blogger is almost impossible here in China, so I'm going to link to photobucket. Click here to see our photos.

We're having a nice time so far, although I had no idea that they smoke ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE here. We got our room in Harbin and we had to immediately ask for another one; I felt like we were sleeping in an ashtray; the entire room reeked. The new room is nice, but you still get the smell of smoke through the vents.

Tom is exhausted; he's hardly gotten any sleep over the past couple of days. He's sleeping right now (6 PM) and I'm trying to keep myself busy without making too much noise, since this might be our last chance to sleep for a while. We pick up Jingxin tomorrow and we can only hope that he adjusts well to us.

We're Here!!

We go in last night. We're exhausted from the flight. Tom is sleeping right now, but I can't.

Today, we tour the Great Wall, The Forbidden City and Tianamen Square. Got the camera all charged and raring to go.

I'll post some photos later.

Diane

I'm Leavin' On A Jetplane...

We leave today for China. It's raining out; hopefully it doesn't delay our flight.

Stay tuned for posts and pictures from China!!!

Two Days!!

We leave in TWO DAYS!!! I've been telling everyone that it still doesn't seem real yet. Maybe by the time we're on the plane it'll start sinking in.

I have the "gift" suitcase packed - all the stuff we're bringing to gift to the orphanage personnel, the local officials, the children at the orphanage and Jacob.
I still have to pack my clothes, do some laundry (now that the washing machine is fixed), take my mom to the doctor, take Spooky to the vet, clean a little, lots of stuff to do.

In 6 days we meet our boy.

Six Days & Counting!!!

We leave in SIX DAYS!!! It's hard to believe that, after all that waiting, we're leaving to meet our boy in less than a week!

I ran around like a nut today:

- Visited a day care center
- Went to the bank on another crisp money run
- Went to K-Mart and got a bunch of stuff to bring on the plane and to the orphanage
- Picked out paint for the bathroom remodels that are being done while we're gone
- Took mom to Wal-Mart and got more stuff to bring with us to China
- Typed up the list of items for the bathroom contractor
- Got the suitcases out of the basement
- Met the contractors to finalize bathroom plans
- Cleaned the house

I'm tired. I want to sit somewhere quiet, have a drink and be served.

This Just In...

We got an update on Jacob. Here's what the update says:

Height: 34.28 inches
Weight: 26.4 pounds
Head circumference: 18.52 inches
Chest circumference: 18.91 inches
Foot length: 5.52 inches
Teeth: 20

Now he is sleeping in his own crib and he loves to play cars,
slides and games with other children. He really is a lovely boy!

Here are his latest photos:

Official Travel Date Received!!!

It's official.

We leave for Beijing on May 27th.
Gotcha Day is May 31st in Harbin.
Consulate Appointment is June 9th in Guangzhou.
We come home June 11th with Jacob.

The bright shining light at the end of the very long tunnel is our son.

Travel Date Changed

We just heard from our agency. The original American Consulate appointment is not available, so it now looks like we're going to be leaving on May 27th, instead of May 20th and we have a June 9 Consulate Appointment, instead of June 2.

It's a double-edged sword. I'm happy to be able to get more done, especially losing a week in the hospital, but I want to go get my son now.

TA!!!

We got our "tentative" travel date today. We are due to leave on May 20th to pick up our son!!

Introducing....

Hello everyone!! I am proud to introduce our son, Dang JingXin, soon to be Jacob Thomas. Isn't that the most precious face you've ever seen???



He was born July 16, 2007 and currently lives in Ha'erbin City in the Heilongjiang Province in Northeastern China (near Russia).

We have forwarded our amended I-171H and our signed LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) back to our adoption agency, Great Wall China Adoption.

Now we wait - for TA (travel approval), itinerary, etc. We have a lot to do while we wait - visas, buy furniture, get his room ready, etc.

So exciting!!!

LSC RECEIVED TODAY!!!

I got a call from Stephanie from Great Wall tonight that our LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) was received by them from China today!!

She is overnighting it to me at work and I should have it Monday.

As soon as I have it in my hands, I should be able to post his information for all to see!!

Keep us in your prayers that USCIS (Immigration) moves fast on the I-171H revision and we travel soon.

Your mommy and daddy love you Jake!!

PA RECEIVED!!

We received our PA (Pre-Approval) today!! That means we're on our way to getting little man.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

After a lot of talk and soul searching, Tom and I decided to switch to the Special Needs (SN) Program through our agency, Great Wall. Once decided, there was a whirlwind of activity: lists to peruse, home study to update, new photos of us to take, research on the special needs we are comfortable with taking on, doctors to find to review files...

All that being said, we found a little man on the shared agency list, which means that anyone from any agency can lock in this little guy and then he wouldn't be available anymore. I saw his adorable picture and read his profile on 2/24/10 and wrote to Stephanie from Great Wall, requesting information about him. On 2/25/10, a new list came out and he wasn't on it. We were devastated. Something about this little guy just called out to us. He was meant to be ours.

Upset, I contacted Stephanie and she let me know that he was still available. I immediately requested his file and sent it off to Tiff's mom (she's a nurse), who gave her approval, then onto Dr. Rogu, an international adoption specialist, who I cannot say enough good things about. he called me Friday, Saturday and Sunday that week to go over everything, as he knew the urgency of the matter. Someone else could lock him in at any time.

We got a good report from Dr. Rogu, who will be seeing little man as soon as he gets here. I called Stephanie Saturday night and locked in the file (thanks for giving me your cell phone Stephanie!).

On March 8, 2010, our LOI (Letter of Intent) was sent to China. Now we wait for the PA (Pre-Approval) from China, which should come in about 2-4 weeks.

I can't give any details or post any pictures until it's official, so you'll all have to wait. :o)

Keep us in your prayers.

Diane

We're in Review

I got an email from Great Wall today. The May and June 2008 groups are in Review. Wow. I thought it would take a lot longer to get there.

Hopefully, this means things are speeding up over there.

Keeping my fingers crossed and say my prayers.

USCIS Rant

I sent all of the paperwork for the I171-H renewal to their office in NYC back in OCTOBER. I've gotten nothing back yet.

I gave them until January, then sent an email. No response - despite their automated reply to my email that says they'll get back to me within 3 business days.

I wait a week or so then send another email. No response.

So I send another email. No response. The same auto-reply gives an 800 number. I called the number - no one there can help with adoption. Surprise, surprise. There is no 212 number to call. So, I'm thinking I have to take a day off of work and trek into Manhattan on the off chance someone can help me.

Last week, I sent an email that had, as one of my coworkers says, "some stank on it." I basically stated that I can't understand what the holdup is, that we are now considering a waiting child and things could move very fast, but they are holding up the process, that it is unconscionable that they haven't even bothered to get back to me. I also wrote my senator and The Department of State Office of Intercountry Adoption, asking both to intercede on my behalf and find out what is going on.

Strangely enough, I get a reply in 20 minutes. They say that my file has been placed with an officer and they will get back to me as soon as they can. They supposedly had staff shortages. The email also contained a 212 phone number for me to call between some very specific hours if I don't receive a reply in a reasonable period of time.

Why must everything be so freakin' difficult?

UPDATE - 2.10.10:

Guess what came in the mail today? A notice of favorable determination from USCIS. Strange how it showed up right after I raised hell.

Going Gluten Free

I'm not sure how much you may know about Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I was diagnosed about 4 years ago and have been trying to get it managed ever since. I've been to four different endocrinologists with no success. I also went to a holistic nutritionist. She put me on a severely restricted diet (I could basically drink water and eat cardboard). Now I'm seeing a naturopathic registered nurse. She has worked up a treatment plan that is working out decently so far.

Part of my Hashimoto's treatment is to be completely gluten free, which is not an easy thing to do. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE bread and giving it up sucks. What sucks even more is the taste of store-bought gluten free bread. It's also extremely pricey.

I decided that it would make more sense to buy a bread machine and make my own bread. So I bought the Breadman Pro. It arrived today and I'm looking forward to trying it out. Here's a pic...



I'm doing a lot of research on what flour mixtures will make the best bread and I've found some very interesting gluten free sites (which you will find under Gluten Free Blogs to the left).

Where Is My I171-H?

I sent everything they requested on October 5th. So, now I have to ask, where is my I171-H?

Why, oh why, do I have to chase down every single thing?