We saw Santa a few weeks ago at a party we attended. Danny is very curious about him as you can see below! I think Danny may have done yoga or something like it in Taiwan based on the photo below. He does this often??
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends! We are ready with a few hours to spare! It helps that I am not hosting Christmas and our hosts have everything under control so I don't even have to cook! (or maybe they just don't want my cooking??)
We saw Santa a few weeks ago at a party we attended. Danny is very curious about him as you can see below! I think Danny may have done yoga or something like it in Taiwan based on the photo below. He does this often??
We saw Santa a few weeks ago at a party we attended. Danny is very curious about him as you can see below! I think Danny may have done yoga or something like it in Taiwan based on the photo below. He does this often??
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Happy 1st Birthday Danny!
Today (the 10th) Danny is 1! WOW! The last five months have flown by- so much faster than the six months between the time we saw his face and the day in July we finally met him.
Because of a busy week, we celebrated his birthday Sunday so I have photos already! He seems to like his walk behind grocery cart and is much better at walking with it than I expected. He may be walking independently in the next few weeks! As expected for 1, his favorite part of the birthday presents was trying to eat the paper.
The big kids were so cute with the birthday. They each found a ton of stuff around the house and wrapped it as additional presents for Danny. A toothbrush, a dollar, books, toys, a league baseball, baseball cards... you get the idea..
He was the neatest eater ever with the birthday cake. He barely had any on his face and in his hair. I think he was shocked that I was not stopping him for once.
Here are a few tidbits about him at 1 year:
He finally mastered crawling in the last few weeks. Before that he would army crawl or just go backwards.
He loves cheese! I could give him a piece of cheese at every meal and he would eat it.
He is a pretty good eater and does not turn away much.
You know he is done eating when he starts throwing the food on the floor. No dog in our house so we have to watch this...
He is very tolerant of his sister picking him up constantly. I must saw 5-10 times a day, please put him down.
He likes to climb the stairs- two stairs up from the family room to the entry way- not the big stairs yet.
He loves playing with the Leap Frog refrigerator toys.
He is a good napper and most nights a good sleeper.
And.... his passport arrived on Friday! We have no trips planned at this point but I wanted to get this done before I tucked away all the important documents etc. I was not 100% comfortable giving my only original documents to the passport agent at the post office to mail in but did not have any choice. I had everything they wanted but they require certified copies of the adoption agreement and I was not sure if mine were going to fly but they were all I had. I think they were certified in Taiwan and the translated version had a document saying they certified the translation but obviously it did not look like your typical document certified in the US. And my original documents came back in the mail in a separate package just like they said they would.
See sometimes the government does get things right! I'm surprised too! Actually, thru this entire process we got very lucky and did not have one government related snafu..
Here are the birthday photos.
Because of a busy week, we celebrated his birthday Sunday so I have photos already! He seems to like his walk behind grocery cart and is much better at walking with it than I expected. He may be walking independently in the next few weeks! As expected for 1, his favorite part of the birthday presents was trying to eat the paper.
The big kids were so cute with the birthday. They each found a ton of stuff around the house and wrapped it as additional presents for Danny. A toothbrush, a dollar, books, toys, a league baseball, baseball cards... you get the idea..
He was the neatest eater ever with the birthday cake. He barely had any on his face and in his hair. I think he was shocked that I was not stopping him for once.
Here are a few tidbits about him at 1 year:
He finally mastered crawling in the last few weeks. Before that he would army crawl or just go backwards.
He loves cheese! I could give him a piece of cheese at every meal and he would eat it.
He is a pretty good eater and does not turn away much.
You know he is done eating when he starts throwing the food on the floor. No dog in our house so we have to watch this...
He is very tolerant of his sister picking him up constantly. I must saw 5-10 times a day, please put him down.
He likes to climb the stairs- two stairs up from the family room to the entry way- not the big stairs yet.
He loves playing with the Leap Frog refrigerator toys.
He is a good napper and most nights a good sleeper.
And.... his passport arrived on Friday! We have no trips planned at this point but I wanted to get this done before I tucked away all the important documents etc. I was not 100% comfortable giving my only original documents to the passport agent at the post office to mail in but did not have any choice. I had everything they wanted but they require certified copies of the adoption agreement and I was not sure if mine were going to fly but they were all I had. I think they were certified in Taiwan and the translated version had a document saying they certified the translation but obviously it did not look like your typical document certified in the US. And my original documents came back in the mail in a separate package just like they said they would.See sometimes the government does get things right! I'm surprised too! Actually, thru this entire process we got very lucky and did not have one government related snafu..
Here are the birthday photos.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
National Adoption Day
Since yesterday was National Adoption Day, it seems appropriate that I spent a few hours yesterday (totally by coincidence) working on Danny's baby book.
The other kids have traditional baby books that have the typical stuff written in them, lots for the first child and not much for the second child. Although we have a scrapbook of items from our Taiwan trip including all the referral and update photos, a photo album from the trip and I plan to do a life book at some point, I would feel bad if someday Kyle and Paige were looking at their baby books and Danny did not have something similar.
I was excited to find an baby book focused on adoption at a shop near my office when I was browsing one day. So yesterday, I looked at the e-mails from the referral day, my notes on the blog and completed a lot of it. I will add photos and then I will need to remember to go back and add more "firsts" as they occur (this is the hard part!).
This week I have been reading the blog of a fellow adoptive mom from Taiwan who I met after we brought Danny home. She has been reflecting on adoption this week and is truly gifted in her ability to put her thoughts and emotions into words. Thanks again for sharing Lisa! All this has led me to spend time thinking about Danny's story, what words we will use to tell it to him, his birth mom and her situation, and how Danny will feel when he is older and understands how our family was formed. I know it will all fall into place and I will learn to tell his story over time because he makes our family feel so complete. I would never have guessed when Ed and I met 20 years ago or when we were married 11 years ago that our journey would include adopting a beautiful boy from Taiwan but somehow it all fell into place and feels so right. We are very blessed!
One quick story- Kyle told us the other day that he does not think we should tell Bob (Danny) that he is adopted because he does not want him to feel bad (Kyle is very sensitive and worries about everyones feelings). We asked something like "Don't you think he will notice he does not look like you?" Kyle explained that he does looks like us- isn't that great! Of course, we explained that we will be open with Danny about his story and why. I love that he is oblivious to our conspicuous family and wonder how long that will last.
Kyle's suggestion to not tell Danny about being adopted is also funny because he cannot help from telling everyone. Whenever strangers stop to talk to us and Danny, Kyle tells them quickly and proudly that his brother is from Taiwan. (Yes this happened last night again)
The other kids have traditional baby books that have the typical stuff written in them, lots for the first child and not much for the second child. Although we have a scrapbook of items from our Taiwan trip including all the referral and update photos, a photo album from the trip and I plan to do a life book at some point, I would feel bad if someday Kyle and Paige were looking at their baby books and Danny did not have something similar.
I was excited to find an baby book focused on adoption at a shop near my office when I was browsing one day. So yesterday, I looked at the e-mails from the referral day, my notes on the blog and completed a lot of it. I will add photos and then I will need to remember to go back and add more "firsts" as they occur (this is the hard part!).
This week I have been reading the blog of a fellow adoptive mom from Taiwan who I met after we brought Danny home. She has been reflecting on adoption this week and is truly gifted in her ability to put her thoughts and emotions into words. Thanks again for sharing Lisa! All this has led me to spend time thinking about Danny's story, what words we will use to tell it to him, his birth mom and her situation, and how Danny will feel when he is older and understands how our family was formed. I know it will all fall into place and I will learn to tell his story over time because he makes our family feel so complete. I would never have guessed when Ed and I met 20 years ago or when we were married 11 years ago that our journey would include adopting a beautiful boy from Taiwan but somehow it all fell into place and feels so right. We are very blessed!
One quick story- Kyle told us the other day that he does not think we should tell Bob (Danny) that he is adopted because he does not want him to feel bad (Kyle is very sensitive and worries about everyones feelings). We asked something like "Don't you think he will notice he does not look like you?" Kyle explained that he does looks like us- isn't that great! Of course, we explained that we will be open with Danny about his story and why. I love that he is oblivious to our conspicuous family and wonder how long that will last.
Kyle's suggestion to not tell Danny about being adopted is also funny because he cannot help from telling everyone. Whenever strangers stop to talk to us and Danny, Kyle tells them quickly and proudly that his brother is from Taiwan. (Yes this happened last night again)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
11 Months Old!
Yesterday, Danny was 11 months old! WOW! He is crawling, better backwards than forward, and starting to really explore the house. He is starting to babble. I am working on Ma, Ma but he seems to be saying ga, ga or maybe da, da (what's with that!). Below are a few photos from his baptism last Sunday.
He has been home 3 1/2 months now and it seems much longer. I think Paige has gotten over her jealousy for the most part although she still needs lots of alone time with us. She seems to think Danny is her baby doll. One night she put glitter eyeshadow all over his head when I was out of the room and then put him in her baby's crib. He did not seem to mind either and enjoyed the bath later! He is very easy going to say the least.
Kyle continues to be great with him although even Kyle is starting to get mad at the crying in the middle of the night. Yes, we are still working on the sleep thing.
I can't believe we will be having his 1st birthday next month. Last night we asked the kids if they had any ideas on something special to do for Danny's birthday next month. Kyle thought we should go to the movies??? Obviously we know what he wants to do on the next cold, rainy weekend.
Although Kyle still calls him "Bob", he has recently said that "Dan" is better than "Danny" he may be able to live with that name. I think that is progress.. Except that now all his friends call him Bob...
He has been home 3 1/2 months now and it seems much longer. I think Paige has gotten over her jealousy for the most part although she still needs lots of alone time with us. She seems to think Danny is her baby doll. One night she put glitter eyeshadow all over his head when I was out of the room and then put him in her baby's crib. He did not seem to mind either and enjoyed the bath later! He is very easy going to say the least.
Kyle continues to be great with him although even Kyle is starting to get mad at the crying in the middle of the night. Yes, we are still working on the sleep thing.
I can't believe we will be having his 1st birthday next month. Last night we asked the kids if they had any ideas on something special to do for Danny's birthday next month. Kyle thought we should go to the movies??? Obviously we know what he wants to do on the next cold, rainy weekend.
Although Kyle still calls him "Bob", he has recently said that "Dan" is better than "Danny" he may be able to live with that name. I think that is progress.. Except that now all his friends call him Bob...
Monday, September 21, 2009
New photos and blogger retirement
Friends of ours gave us a sitting with a local photographer and here are the amazing results (Thanks again!) ! The photos of the entire family were trying but worth it since we got a few good ones. Here are some of the kids.
It has been two months since we came home from Taiwan. There are too many words in my mind to put on paper in this post so I will just say that it has been amazing to have Danny in our family! Like the typical third child, Danny has already spent a lot of time at the soccer and baseball fields and is happy to people watch where ever we go.
It has been two months since we came home from Taiwan. There are too many words in my mind to put on paper in this post so I will just say that it has been amazing to have Danny in our family! Like the typical third child, Danny has already spent a lot of time at the soccer and baseball fields and is happy to people watch where ever we go.
Danny has big smiles for all of us but the most for his big brother Kyle who asks me many mornings to wake "Bobby Bear" so they can play. Paige still needs extra attention and one-on-one time away from her brothers. A good excuse for a girls manicure- right?
Although the days are flying by, I am pleased that the to do list (trip photo album, social security card, shots, social worker visit, re-adoption hearing, photos, thank you notes and it goes on...) is in good shape. When we went for our re-adoption hearing last week, we met two very nice families who adopted boys from Korea and China. Although we all had very different adoption experiences, we had a ton to talk about and the time together flew by.
Danny is almost on track sleeping. We have a regular nap time but he still wakes some nights and needs the paci or some rocking and a bottle on a really bad night. At least this does not happen every night. He loves all the baby food and is starting to eat some table food. No crawling yet. I am starting to think he will be one of those kids that goes straight to walking. He gets everywhere by rolling so why crawl? He is trying to pull himself up on furniture but so far has needed help there also. He is a very nosy boy and loves going places where there are lots of kids, people and things to see. This is good since we seem to always be on the go!
I think this will be the last post on our blog (unless I change my mind!). I enjoyed blogging during our wait to travel probably because it was a good outlet for my thoughts and frustrations (although those I mostly wrote in my mind and never posted.) During the trip I loved blogging as a way to share the journey with friends, family and even strangers waiting to travel. But now, I feel bad that I can't seem to make time for blogging and would rather have that time with the kids. I still enjoy reading others blogs but find that the time to do even that has been limited. I can't imagine what it will be like when I'm back at work full time!
Thanks for following our blog, making comments and I hope all those "waiting" get the call soon. I feel for your frustration but when your babies are home you will look back on it as preparation time (I hope!).
Katie
Thursday, August 13, 2009
One year ago...
My birthday last week led me to reflect (yes, I said reflect- I try not to do that very often) on how much has changed in one year related specifically to our adoption.
On my birthday in 2008, we abruptly received notice that our placement agency (this is from their e-mail) "made a very difficult decision to cease providing adoption services.....The Board concluded that it was necessary to seize operation and begin to transition families to other adoption providers. That said, please know that we will do everything possible to transition your adoption into another adoption agency. " There was more but that is the important part.
Needless to say we were upset, emotional, and hesitant to believe anything they said. Many families had used their entire savings to pay the adoption fees and could not afford to start over, some has been waiting years. The stories were numerous and very sad. We were lucky to be in the earlier stages of the process, but I was unsure if I was mentally prepared to start over.
Everyone warned us that International Adoption is very unpredictable and we will likely come upon some issues but I did not think they would happen so soon or probably really ever believe these road blocks would occur. I sadly began researching other counties and programs assuming we would need to start again. I questioned by judgement that I had picked this agency (even though I thought I did adequate research) and paid them fees.
Two days letter we received the following "We are working out a "provisional" arrangement with another agency, The Gladney Center in Texas, to take over our Taiwan program. It is our hope that Gladney would assume the responsibility for completing the adoptions of our families in every phase of their Taiwan adoption process. If we successfully transfer this program, we do not anticipate that you would pay additional fees beyond what your contract fees are with Commonwealth."
We were also hesitant to believe this. Over the next month we received more details about Gladney and it seemed this was really going to happen and we did not have to pay the fees again or find a new program and agency. WOW!
I can now honestly say this situation could not have worked out better in our case. Gladney was terrific to work with. Because of all the uproar over the agency closing I got in touch with others in the same situation and became a member of a terrific yahoo group. These ladies (and a few men) became a great support to us as we were waiting and a great resource with the million questions you have during the process but feel stupid asking the agency.
As I write this I feel blessed to be looking across the room as our beautiful little man who is wight months old and happily jumping in his jumper (favorite past time!). He has blended wonderfully into our family and it feels very right.
Every day I think about the other mom's (and dad's) who's babies are still in Taiwan and pray they get rulings soon and can travel. I think of my friends still waiting for referrals and feel for them as that is so hard and also pray for news for them this week. (Yes, Elena, Mary and Heather- it is time!)
I guess my message to others waiting is to stay positive even though it is so hard. Our distress one year ago and happiness now is proof!
On my birthday in 2008, we abruptly received notice that our placement agency (this is from their e-mail) "made a very difficult decision to cease providing adoption services.....The Board concluded that it was necessary to seize operation and begin to transition families to other adoption providers. That said, please know that we will do everything possible to transition your adoption into another adoption agency. " There was more but that is the important part.
Needless to say we were upset, emotional, and hesitant to believe anything they said. Many families had used their entire savings to pay the adoption fees and could not afford to start over, some has been waiting years. The stories were numerous and very sad. We were lucky to be in the earlier stages of the process, but I was unsure if I was mentally prepared to start over.
Everyone warned us that International Adoption is very unpredictable and we will likely come upon some issues but I did not think they would happen so soon or probably really ever believe these road blocks would occur. I sadly began researching other counties and programs assuming we would need to start again. I questioned by judgement that I had picked this agency (even though I thought I did adequate research) and paid them fees.
Two days letter we received the following "We are working out a "provisional" arrangement with another agency, The Gladney Center in Texas, to take over our Taiwan program. It is our hope that Gladney would assume the responsibility for completing the adoptions of our families in every phase of their Taiwan adoption process. If we successfully transfer this program, we do not anticipate that you would pay additional fees beyond what your contract fees are with Commonwealth."
We were also hesitant to believe this. Over the next month we received more details about Gladney and it seemed this was really going to happen and we did not have to pay the fees again or find a new program and agency. WOW!
I can now honestly say this situation could not have worked out better in our case. Gladney was terrific to work with. Because of all the uproar over the agency closing I got in touch with others in the same situation and became a member of a terrific yahoo group. These ladies (and a few men) became a great support to us as we were waiting and a great resource with the million questions you have during the process but feel stupid asking the agency.
As I write this I feel blessed to be looking across the room as our beautiful little man who is wight months old and happily jumping in his jumper (favorite past time!). He has blended wonderfully into our family and it feels very right.
Every day I think about the other mom's (and dad's) who's babies are still in Taiwan and pray they get rulings soon and can travel. I think of my friends still waiting for referrals and feel for them as that is so hard and also pray for news for them this week. (Yes, Elena, Mary and Heather- it is time!)
I guess my message to others waiting is to stay positive even though it is so hard. Our distress one year ago and happiness now is proof!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Bad Blogger!
I can already tell I am going to be a very bad blogger moving forward. We have been home almost three weeks and have been very busy with events that were planned earlier this summer and have not focused on blogging.Danny is doing well. He is still waking during the night a few times and needs to be reassured but usually goes back to sleep quickly. I have been reassured that many of the babies react to the changes and grieve at night so this is not unusual. He has mastered cereal on a spoon (if you consider half staying in his mouth mastering like I do!) and have moved on to orange veggies. The rice crackers (from Walmart) still remain his favorite food. He is sitting up really well now which is remarkable because he could not do this three weeks ago. He loves the baby jumper and will sit in that for the longest time. He is generally happy which works well because we have been busy the last few weeks and he has been held by most of the family by now at some point.
Last weekend we picnicked at Pipestone Lake in Michigan with a college friend and his family and friends. This is an event we look forward to each summer. (Thanks Scott & Amy!) Kyle tubed this year! (See photo above with his cousin Sean) Ed and I also tubed and probably should not have because my arms were very sore the next day. We spend the remainder of the weekend in St. Joe Michigan and at the beach there. (The photos are out of order- sorry!)
We celebrated by birthday last week (yes, it is 40!). The picture below is not the best because Danny went right for the cake when he saw it.
The photos (right and below) are of a present that came in the mail that was just the perfect size for Danny to play with for a half hour! This adorable pillow has a music box in it and is hand painted. It is special for several reasons. Paige and Kyle also have them from when they were babies but if you look carefully you will see that Danny's has the flag of Taiwan and the US flag on it. Thanks Amy & Family!
We also went to Kiddleland last week. Danny was a trooper and woke up to ride the merry-go-round with Paige while Kyle was on the roller coaster with his cousins and aunt. I am proud that we typically have a diaper and bottle when we leave the house for long periods of time, but unfortunately I can't seem to remember the camera so photos of many events are missing.
Danny saw his first fireworks Saturday night at Nana's house with his cousins and family friends. Once again, a nice night without a camera. Sunday we went to our annual family picnic. This year it was a Pine Lake in Indiana. It was a hot day so everyone enjoyed the swimming, tubing and eating. Kyle went on the banana with the big kids, Danny was very happy in the baby boat riding the waves and loved the attention from the teenage girls and Paige was very brave jumping off the Island. Again, no camera!
I'm sure we have done a few other things this week but those are the highlights.
More photos below: In St. Joe
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