LOI Pictures...Oh my!

All of the paperwork was sent off last week for our LOI to be translated. There was only one thing left to do, and it's the one I dreaded the most: picture taking. Oh gosh, with a big family it is literally a CHORE to get a decent picture. Everyone looks all spiffy, and we sit down. Then the fun begins. It's only a matter of time before:

Someone moves...

A case of the squirms, no less...

Glasses need to be adjusted...

People go missing...

Little props begin to appear...

At last, everyone is smiling and for the most part looking in the same direction. (Gotta love Silas's sideward smiles) This is the winner!


A BIG thank you to Uncle Kirk (Wu's parrain/godfather) for feeling up to the task of taking our picture! Our LOI is now complete, and is getting translated at our agency whilst we wait for Joey to get older.

Until next time,
Tasha

Sorry, my Chinese is not so good! :/

Hello! Ni hao ma? I have reminded myself today that my Chinese (Mandarin) needs ALOT of work. Looks as if I will be breaking out the Chinese Coach for my DS once again. But we also have a wonderful Mandarin program from our agency's store. I bought lesson plans for the children, and travel Chinese for Joey and I.

I am hoping we are at the level of a 4 year old toddler by the time we travel. It's good to aim high, right? ;) I guess if all else fails, we could just memorize the song in the video above. Joey can bring along his guitar and I can borrow Si's bongos. Yep, it could work LOL

God bless,
Tasha

Homestudy is Over & Wu's Pillow

Our homestudy ended yesterday!! In 3-4 weeks, after it has been reviewed by a few people, we should be ready to fill out the 1800. I am not sure how it works since Wu has been pre-identified, but our social worker is helping us with all of that.

I came up with an idea, and I hope it works. I heard someone talk about making a pillowcase out of their grown child's blanket because they were heading to college. So, it got me to thinking (dangerous, I know), and what I came up with was making myself a "Wu pillow." There are photo labs that sell picture pillowcases, so I am thinking of making one with Wu's picture. That way, when I am missing my little one like crazy, I can just hold my Wu pillow and snuggle with my baby for a while. :*)

In less than a month, I should be able to share my little one with you all. Be prepared for some major cuteness. We have pictures up all over our house, and everyone is absolutely in love :)

~Tasha

The STORK has landed!

Aug. 4 I was feeling a little bogged down, and little did I know but God was going to show up in a really BIG way. We were invited to attend a beach vacation with Joey's parents (we're here now, and this is why it has taken so long to post) who graciously rented a condo for all of us to stay in. I was testing Emma and Silas so we could begin our school year 2 weeks early. I wanted to get ahead with school so while Joey and I are in China, they can have those 2 weeks off. I don't think they will be able to concentrate much on school work while we are gone anyhow. Not only did we have testing, but it was Joey's Mom's birthday, we still needed to pack, our dog needed to be dropped off at my parent's house (who live an hour and a half away), and the house needed cleaning. As I said earlier... just bogged down.

So we are halfway done with the testing, and I see the Fed Ex truck parked in our front yard. When I get to the door, there is an envelope with our FBI clearances in it! Oh happy day!! I had tracking on that envelope, but evidentally it didn't work.

We resume testing, and Miss Emma is on the last part of her test when the phone rings. Now we don't get many phone calls and usually I don't answer the phone during school time, but it was a number I didn't recognize. So I pick up the phone, and it was our agency. Specifically the child placing department of our agency. I assume this was just a call to go over our checklist before they match us with a child next month, when we were expecting a child match. I was wrong. Here I am on vacation, thinking about what to write in our letter of intent.

To be continued early to mid September, after Baba reaches his big 3-0...

~A very very HAPPY Momma of 5 :)

One last firework...

So there was one last surprise for us in July... our passports came in!! We were both really excited. Hopefully our FBI clearances come in soon. I believe they should be completed within the next 2 weeks. So, our standings as of now are as follows:
1. Need financial report for dossier (all other documents with exception to the 797 have been collected. The 797 comes after the homestudy)
2. Need FBI clearance for homestudy
3. Homestudy is still in process. Due to be completed by mid-August
4. We will hopefully find out who our precious Wu is, NEXT month!!! :)

Haha. I am really thrilled about that last one there. ;) I have been waiting to say that for a while. I will be even more thrilled when it becomes "this month," "this week," or "today" even!!

God bless,
Tasha