Article 5 Has Arrived!

Well, our Article 5 hasn't actually arrived, but it rhymes, and it certainly makes you want to read more about what an Article 5 is and find out if it's inside this box.

An Article 5 is part of the mountain of government work that needs to be completed to bring our darling home.  An email arrived at 2:47 a.m. telling us that the Adopted*Immigrant*Visa*Unit at the U.S.*Consulate*General*Guangzhou has finished processing our child's Article 5, and our file is ready to be returned to our adoption agency's facilitator today.  Another domino has fallen.  Give me a "woohoo!"

Next, our agency delivers the Article 5 and our confirmation letter to the pooh-bahs in Ch*na who will issue our travel approval.  Once the travel approval is issued, our agency will request an appointment for our immigrant visa at the consulate, and when we have the appointment, we can finally answer the most popular question...When are you going to Ch*na?  Just so you know, we really want to be able to answer that question for you.

So, what was in the box?  There are businesses in Ch*na that send care packages from waiting families to their children.  We used a very kind, busy woman named Ann at Red*Thread.  We sent our family photo book, a stuffed toy and candy to Ann and also arranged to have her deliver a disposable camera, treats for the nannies and a cake to our daughter.  Ann sent us an email on April 2 telling us she would get our package delivered after the Ch*nese holiday.  After that we stalked the email to see if there were any pictures from the cake party, but the cupboard was bare.  Monday morning Tom woke me up at 6:05 by leaning down to my face and whispering loudly and rapidly, "The pictures are here!"  I made it to the other side of the house in world record speed and saw our beautiful girl with a beautiful smile standing over a beautiful cake with some of her beautiful friends seated around the table.  Sure beats caffeine in the morning to get your day going.  A giant, Ch*nese birthday candle was ablaze on top of the cake, and she was wearing a crown and a smile.  What a smile!  When Louise saw the pictures of the cake with the Ch*nese characters on the top, she said, "Why it says Happy Birthday??"  We chuckled, but it didn't matter because it sure made the event into a party.  I was even able to send some of the pictures of the kids to another waiting family so they could get a glimpse of the two girls they already love and are eagerly waiting to bring home.

Contents of the box:  a cake, a party and smiles.

Planting Seeds

Toby and I have some new walking friends.  Two of them have two legs and two of them have four legs, and that adds up to every leg of our daily walk being a whole lot more fun.  We met this winter walking on the golf course, and it didn't take long to realize that not only do the dogs get along beautifully, but the people do, too, and now we arrange our time to walk together whenever we can.  The other day we met for a walk before I had to pick up Maryn from her after school swimming program and Molly, one of the human friends, brought a freshly made bag of Chex*Mix for me to give to Maryn because she knew she'd be hungry after swimming, and she thought she'd like it.  That was really nice of her to do that.  I gave it to Maryn when I picked her up, and Molly was right, she did like it (except for the cashews) but the best part  was when Maryn said, "That was really nice of her to do that."  She said it twice with sincerity.  She got it!  She noticed and was grateful.  The next day I told Molly that Maryn loved the snack and wanted me to be sure to tell her thank you, and Molly got it, too, because the first words out of her mouth were, "You're planting seeds everyday."  We make an effort to plant seeds everyday, and it's the greatest reward to see some of them taking root and growing.  Experiencing gratitude, letting it soak into yourself and declaring it out loud, that's good for the soul, and so is a walk in the woods with friends.

Hopping By With Good News

Won't be long now till mama has a new joey in her pouch.  We got a call from our agency Monday telling us they had received notice of the provisional approval of our I*800 from the National*Visa*Center.  It came faster than we expected, and we didn't even have to make any effort to contact the government to find out about it ourselves.  That's my kind of government at work, and a big thank you goes to to the person in charge of that happening.  The *NVC* then "cabled" our file to the US*Embassy in Guangzhou*China seeking approval of our visa petition.  An approval letter came to us by email yesterday, and we forwarded it to our agency.  The agency emails that letter to the rep in China* who takes it to the embassy on Tuesday and from that our Article*5 is generated.  It's a great game of ping*pong from one side of the world to the other, and it's been going on for quite a while, but the rally is getting faster now, and we are another step closer to uniting with our daughter and sister.

We spent two nights at a hotel trying to make something of our spring break.  Our neighborhood is almost a ghost town, but Maryn managed to shoot hoops with the remainders when we got home this evening.  We have a trip of a lifetime on the horizon so we're saving up for that.  We're getting close enough now that lists are starting to appear.  Sometimes it takes a deadline to really get things done, so I'm hoping we can cross some things off this week.

Greaser Girl

Every year at this time, Maryn's school raises funds for a children's hospital with a week of special days.  One day during the week was dress from a different era day.  Sure, it's not a big stretch to come up with something from the 50's, but I do think the faux leather jacket is an especially nice touch.  Cracks me up to see The*Fonz giving thumbs up like a greaser girl when she doesn't have a clue what the 50's are, and I don't just mean what they wore in the 50's.  When she was in first grade and the school had pajama day or crazy hair day, there was no way we could make Maryn understand that everyone would be wearing pajamas to school or stuffed animals in their green hair.  We've come a long way with language and routine and our foundation of trust is solid enough that she'll merely put the clothes on that I lay out for her on these goofy days and go off to school like it's just another day.  For all that it's taken you to get to there, we give you thumbs up, Greaser Girl!

Mei Mei Has a Jie Jie

Maryn is getting another older sister, or jie jie as it is respectfully said in Mandarin, and this sister is likely to call her younger sister mei mei or she might even call Maryn the nickname everyone called her when she lived in Ch*na.  You see, the coolest thing ever is that Maryn and her new sister already know each other.  They used to live together.  Imagine that.  There are more than a billion people in Ch*na yet Maryn and her new sister already know each other.  Oh, how Tom and I wish we could be flies on the wall when our new daughter has our family photo album in her hands, and she realizes that she and her new sister are already sisters. 

It's Here!

Wednesday at 12:50 p.m. I was talking with my sister, Ame, on my cell phone when the house phone rang.  I told her to hang on because maybe it was The Call.  When I saw the number on the phone, I said, "It's The Call, I gotta go."  I answered the phone and heard Denise say, "It's here!"  I'm sure I was smiling when I picked up the phone, but I felt my smile grow even bigger when I heard her say that.  Denise gave me the details about what we'd find in the package when it arrived at our house on Thursday, and the one thing I remember her saying is that she'd have a detailed list of instructions inside the package to be overnighted to us.  I knew then that I didn't have to retain any of what she was saying to me and I could just soak up the joy.  I told her it was a good thing I was alone, and she got me on the phone because Tom, the mushball, had forgotten to tell her that if she got him first and he went silent on the phone it wasn't because he'd died.  Being home alone also gave me the chance to surprise him with the news.  For quite a long time everyday after school Maryn would ask us, "Did we get the second yes?" and we'd have to say no, not today.  Once we knew the second yes was coming in a few days, we told Maryn we would tie balloons outside just like we did when we received the Seeking Confirmation Letter for her, and she would know that we got our second yes.  We had saved her balloons, so I dug them out and put them on the floor so Tom would see them when he walked in.  The picture shows him a millisecond before he before he went silent.  We had a nice, long hug just past the last "It's a Girl" balloon, and after we wiped our eyes we called Robyn and Allyson, the big sisters, and told them the good news.  After that fun phone call, we got in the car and headed to the balloon store where we picked up another set of the same balloons and tied them outside for Maryn.

Blow Wind, Blow

Something big from far away
is coming any day, so they say.
Blow wind, blow.