Leonardo Di Vinci

Presenting the future Leonardo Di Vinci....

Thank you Great Aunt Shirley and gang for the great Christmas present.

Dr. Spock

Charlee decided it was time to start reading up on raising a child. She decided Dr. Spock was a great place to start....

....of course, she can't read a book without her green glasses (she prefers to wear them upside down).

Gotcha Day!!!!!!!!

Two years ago in a country far far away, two lives changed forever.......

.....I love you, Charlee

Happy Chinese New Year- The Year of the Ox

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

The Year of the Ox

2009

Yesterday began the celebration of Chinese New Year for Charlee and I. We went to two events yesterday with Marque and Liza. It all began with a drive to Provo, Utah.

A quick story at Borders that only lasted 2 minutes because Charlee was ready to move. I don't blame her, she had been in the car for a long time.

After walking outside in the cold rain at the outdoor mall, we found the Chinese New Year celebration.

Marque, Liza, and Charlee at the craft table. They made dragons and masks

Marque and Liza are meeting the Lion Dancers. At this point, Liza was a bit scared of the Lion.

Charlee and Liza get an up close look at the Lion

The Lion Dance

Liza over came her fear of the Lion. She LOVED It!!!! Charlee liked the Lion but the loud drums she did not.

After a long bit of dinner, we went to the next event. The Chinese Celebration at Cottonwood High School. There were dancers, singing, magician show, and the best thing of all was the Chinese Acrobat. She was able to spin, flip, twist a table, large vase, and an umbrella with her feet. She was amazing. I hope Charlee doesn't try that at home.

Guan Hay Fat Choy!!!!!

Adoption Update: Waiting time

I recently contacted my adoption agency to get some updated information on the rumors of Russia closing their adoption doors to US because of the recent news events involving the death of a newly adopted Russian child this past summer.

Instead of hearing possible bad news or no news at all, I actually got great news.

My adoption agency is trying to sign up as many families as possible because there are more children available than waiting parents. I was told that the waiting time for an infant girl would be 12 to 18 months but since I've requested an Asian/Eurasian child not to be shocked if it happens in 8 months to receive the referral (pictures, medical reports, etc.) Parents that are now contacting my adoption agency are being told the wait for an infant girl is 10 to 12 months to receive a referral. WOW!!!!!

Could I have Natalee home by next Christmas??????

Getting Ready To Go To Lala's House

Charlee is spending the night at Lala's house with the GIRLS. I keep forgetting how lonely it is in the house without Charlee. Maggie is a bit stressed out trying to find where her Charlee is.

Charlee's new purple toothbrush

All clean and ready to go....

Adoption Update....

I haven't been getting my mail on a regular basis because it is too cold to walk to the mailbox so today I decided that it was time to check what's in there.....Well, a letter for the US Department of Homeland Security.

I've received an approved I-171H, Advanced Processing Of Orphan Petition, or in other words...I have the document that is needed to bring Natalee home when it is time. Assuming all of this occurs within the next 18 months because that is when this document expires.

I'm one step closer to bring my daughter home.

The Russian Government has been off for the past two week for Russian Christmas so nothing has been going on. They returned to work on Monday January 12 (because of the time change it is already Monday over in Vladivostok Russia). So let's get this show on the road......

Go STEELERS!!!!!!!!!

My Styling Chic!!!!

Aunt Von, do you remember this outfit????

Sunday Afternoon at McDonald's

A Sunday afternoon at McDonals where the adults (Marque, Lala, and I) can have some adult conversation and the kids (Shanna, Daria, Liza, and Charlee) can be loud and crazy.

The injury at McDonald's

Charlee ran right into the corner of the table. She is just the perfect height. My first thought was ....How are the eyes?

PERFECT!!!!!

Where is my Maggie????

Before school and work, Charlee and I took Maggie to the Vet's Office for teething cleaning and the full works (blood test for her thyroid, immunizations, nails, etc....). Charlee was having a great time at the office until they took Maggie into the back room. Neither Charlee or Maggie liked the idea of being separated. All the way to school, I heard, "I want my Maggie?" "Where is my Maggie?" Tears were rolling down her face. Nothing I did or said would help.

The first thing she said when I picked her up from school was...."Where is my Maggie???"

Charlee was so excited when we picked up Maggie. Maggie was just as excited to see us. She headed right for the door.

All night, Charlee kept asking, "Where is my Maggie sleeping?" Basically Maggie walked into the house got a quick drink and a little food then went straight up stairs to her bed. She will need a few days to recover.

By the way, a strange thing was found on Maggie....a baby tooth next to her molar. Maggie is 7 years old. The Vet pulled the baby tooth without any problems. I'll get the lab results tomorrow. I'm guessing that she is low on her thyroid because of how slow she has been acting. For those that don't know, Maggie does not have a thyroid and has been on thyroid supplements for the past three years.

Charlee sure does love her Maggie:)

Charlee's First Dance Class

Charlee and Eliza started a dance class today. Charlee loved it from the beginning. Eliza didn't think it was the greatest thing. May be next Monday...

After dance class we grabbed a quick bite at McDonalds. Eliza got two Barbie toys in her Happy Meal so the girls proceeded to have Barbie roller skated down the slide. Adorable!!!!!!!!!

Charlee takes her first test drive....

Charlee took her first test drive into Natalee's car seat. She said it feels great and comfortable. It should be, it's the same car seat that she has, Alpha Omega Elite. I would highly recommend this car seat to anyone. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

Charlee, you are in the wrong seat.

So you are probably wondering why I put Natalee's car seat into our Honda Fit......

....No news on Natalee.

My friend Tiffany is adopting a little boy that is to be born on Wednesday in Utah. I told her I would put in Natalee's car seat just in case I needed to pick up Liza., her daughter.

I must say that it is exciting to have two car seats in my car but I need a larger car. The back seat is FULL. No additional passengers in the back unless they are less than 6 inches wide.

I'm baby hungry at the moment. I think it is alot to do with Tiffany's upcoming adoption and Lisa's, another single friend, upcoming referral from China.

Happy New Year 2009!!!!!!!!!!

A picture says a 1000 words.......

Charlee and I's New Year has started of terrific. We've been to a few parties just within the past 5 days. They have been late nights especially last night. We went to Marque and Liza's friends, Diane (Dee Dee) and Mike's house for the end of the holiday party. We didn't leave until 11:45. Charlee fell asleep in the car, lucky girl. By the time we got home and I crashed it was 1 AM. Of course Charlee has no concept of sleeping in so we were up at 7 AM.

These pictures are taking a long nap with Maggie. I was even able to nap for about an hour.

Maggie is a protector of Charlee.

A Waiting Child

Before I even decided to adopt from Russia, I looked for a waiting child. There is a website called Rainbow Kids that is database of children around the world waiting to be adopted. I put in my profile and searched for an Asian girl between newborn and 3 years old, with some minor medical conditions. The numerous searches turned up empty handed, so I started the process for Russia.

On December 23, 2008 I checked my e-mail to find an e-mail from Rainbow Kids with a waiting child that was just added to the database that matched my profile. This is the information on the database....

18 month old, Euro-Asian girl with strabismus (cross-eyed)......Not alot of information or pictures. So, I e-mailed the adoption agency who is trying to place this little girl......

After one week and additional e-mails and phone calls, I received an e-mail with these pictures. This was the first picture I opened.....

If you recall back in November, I added a picture of two babies that I found on the Russian database of children waiting for adoption. This was one of the pictures. My heart sank. What are the odds?????

This is the current picture of this baby who's name is Irene

Based on an old medical report, Irene is a very healthy baby with only minor strabismus. The adoption agency will have more medical information, hopefully on Monday. The agency says they have received tons of phone calls on this little girl.

My heart is saying yes, pursue this little girl but logically my brain is saying no. The timing is not right, I don't have a enough time off saved up from work to even travel to Russia. An the biggest logical bump in the road is the money I would lose from my current agency. The fees that I've already paid are non-refundable so I would have to pay an additional 10,000 dollars to this new agency.

I know little Irene will go to a wonderful family. She will have a great future.

These are the pictures of the first child I blogged about....Could this be Natalee????

Original Photograph from the Russian database

Enhanced photograph

I originally thought these two girls were the same girl but I was wrong.

Could this little girl in the black and white photos be Natalee????

To this day, I still feel a connection to this photograph. When I dream, this is the girl in my dreams.

Time will tell. She will be 9 month is April so that would be the earliest she would be available for an international adoption.

We will see?????