Tuesday, April 25, 2006

This is our new site. We will be able to post pictures and comments while we are in China. I have copied the entries from our Caring Bridge site to this one.


THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006 06:24 AM, CDT
We are still waiting to get our official LID (log in date) for our dossier. Basically all we do at this point is wait for the Chinese government to tell us to come and get Macie Bei Bei. I have been getting some beautiful quilt squares from family & friends along with wonderful good wishes. Thank you to everyone who has sent us fabric and good wishes. There is still time if you want to join in. Just send us a 7"x7" fabric square along with a note with a good wish, prayer, or blessing on it. On the card, please attach a small piece of the fabric. I am putting all the cards in book for Macie Bei Bei so she will know who sent the materials along with the good wishes for her. It is going to be a wonderful keepsake for her.

FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2006 06:07 AM, CST
Our Dossier has made it to China! I have been obsessing with the UPS tracking number for the past 24 hours. Our agency sent it out yesterday and I watched it go from Michigan to Kentucky to Alaska and this morning it is in Shanghai! It needs to get to Beijing so I will be watching it again today. Once it is in Beijing we will have to play the waiting game. The CCAA will review and process the paperwork and hopefully in the next 90 days we will get travel approval!
I am hoping to get Macie Bei Bei's room painted this weekend. That will be another big step. Once that room is painted, I would like to move on to the kitchen & living rooms, but that will be a bigger project.
The boys are getting ready to start their baseball season. Mike is coaching Evan's team this year. Bryce is also on the same team. That will help w/the car pooling. It will be a fun summer at the baseball complex.
Love to all! Jill

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2006 07:09 AM, CST
Another big step has been made! According to our tracking number from UPS, our dossier has been authenticated in Chicago and is on its way to Adoption Associates in Michigan. They will send it on to China. We will be DTC (dossier to China) very soon!
Dave and Shelly are still waiting for a referral. Unfortunately, the referral process has slowed to a snails pace. They just missed the last cut off by about 4 days :( I pray they hear something soon.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2006 07:46 AM, CST
I recieved an email from Ann this morning. She has updated her blog and has pictures of Macie Bei Bei! She will be sending me pictures via snail mail as well!
Check out Ann's blog at http://nanchongone.blogspot.com/
This is so exciting for us!!!
Love, Jill

THURSDAY, MARCH 09, 2006 07:16 AM, CST
I talked with Ann, the lady that met Macie Bei Bei last week. She said she is an adorable child. She like girly girl things like nail polish & princesses. She and Mary Kate will have such fun together!
We received the last 2 state seals yesterday. I am going to get the pictures done this weekend and then hopefully our dossier will be complete! We are getting closer & closer!
Love to all.


MONDAY, MARCH 06, 2006 11:00 AM, CST
What an exciting weekend! The bunk beds were delivered and assembled on Saturday. They boys really like them. They have been busy arranging things in their new digs.
On Saturday afternoon, we came home from running errands and I had a voicemail from Barbara in CT. Barbara & her husband are adopting Wen Tao—a 10 yr old girl in the same orphanage as Macie. Barbara told me that there was a woman by the name of Ann who was in China and met with Bei Bei & her foster mother. Barbara said that Ann had posted a message on the Adopt Chengdu yahoo group & wanted to make sure that I saw it. We had a very nice conversation about our adoptions. Barbara gave me the site for Ann’s blog and I immediately checked it out.
Ann had posted the following excerpt on her blog:
Friday March 3Hi everyone.This is our last day in mainland China. This morning we went shopping for supplies for the Chengdu orphanage. We purchased formula, diaper, toys, shampoo and baby wash. Had a good time with the sales people.
We then visited the Chengdu orphanage in the afternoon. We were able to meet two girls waiting for their families to arrive.
Wen Tao was a beautiful very petite girl. She lives with 7 other children with two foster parents in an apartment at the orphanage. She loves art and music. She really likes school. It was fun to see her skip off with her friends back to school for the afternoon.
Bei Bei is in first grade. Full of laughter and fun. We were able to meet her with her foster mom who she has lived with for the past 6 years. When Bei Bei family arrives from the US they will not meet the foster mom. We were able to speak with the foster mom of Bei Bei transition to her new family. She began to cry and then I began to cry. She is excited for Bei Bei but will miss her dearly. What a special person that she can raise this child and then see her go.
This is so heart wrenching! This foster mom is a true angel. I hope that I can get some info from Ann so that I can contact her. I know that there will be no words to suffice the thanks that we owe this woman for caring for our daughter for the past 6 years. I only hope that she prepares Macie as best she can for this transition. I know it will be traumatic. It will be hard for all of us. She will grieve and we will grieve for her as well. But in my heart, I know this child will be given opportunities that she would never have if she were to stay in China. I want Macie to be know that we are not trying to erase her past. I want her to know what a wonderful foster mother she has had and I want to be able to keep in touch with this wonderful woman so she can see Macie’s progress with our family.
It may be difficult to contact this woman as there are some strict guidelines that prohibit the foster families from having contact with the adoptive families. Apparently there have been some issues in the past that made the orphanage enforce such a policy. But since Ann has actually had the opportunity to talk with this woman, I am hoping she will have contact information for me. I can’t wait for Ann to get back to the states so I can actually talk to her.
After reading Ann’s blog, it occurred to me that we keep referring to her as Macie. Her Chinese name is Bei Bei and she has no idea that we have chosen Macie for her American name. It makes me wonder, will she like that name? Will she even want an American name. Here we are plucking this darling little girl from everything she knows and loves and taking her literally half a world away! As far as her name goes, her legal name will be Macie Helen Bei Bei Waala. We will use Macie Bei Bei until she decides if she wants to use her American or her Chinese name. Or if she wants, she can use both. I don’t want to strip her of her identity as well as everything else.
On Friday, I mailed another request for state seals for 2 more documents for our dossier. I still need to take pictures of the inside of the house for our dossier. With emptying Evan’s room in order to paint & get new beds, it has been a disaster. Most of his bedroom is still in the den. Once I have the pictures taken & the seals back from the state, I think I have everything we need for the dossier. It makes me kind of nervous. We are really getting close to bringing her home. My biggest fear is that we will get TA (travel approval) right away. I don’t want to travel until late June or July so I know I will be home until the kids are back in school. I am sure God is working out the details, I just wish I could have a peek at His calendar to see if it really co-insides with mine. I sure hope it does.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006 06:33 AM, CST
BIG NEWS!
We received "pre-approval"(PA) from China! We sent our Letter of Intent (LOI) to China on 1/31/06. Today we got a call from Lisa at the Adoption Agency letting us know that we got PA from the Chinese government. Basically, this means that they said yes we can adopt Macie Bei Bei. We also received our I171H form from Homeland Security. We thought it would be another 2 weeks before we got it! Our passports also came in. We got them on Friday. I was worried about mine being delayed because the copies of my birth certificate that I got in November from the Milwaukee County Courthouse did not have an issue date stamped on them. We did not notice untiil after we had sent in our passport applications. Whew! What a relief that it did not get held up. I am still working on getting a few other documents together. Our goal is to send our dossier to China by April 1st! I will keep you posted.
Love, Jill

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006 06:35 AM, CST
The boys had a snow day yesterday. We got 10.5 inches of snow in West Bend. They had fun hanging out with all the neighborhood kids. Mike worked from home but I had to go into work.
We got fingerprinted last Friday. We had to go to downtown Milwaukee to the department of Homeland Security. All went well, now we just have to wait for our form 171. We almost have all of our documents for our dossier ready!
Love to all!

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2006 09:35 PM, CST
The Lord works in mysterious ways. Mike and I had an adoption awareness meeting on Monday night. Mike forgot about it and went home. He did not have his cell phone with him. So while I was waiting for him in Mequon, he was at home. The meeting was very insightful. On my way home, Mike called and told me to meet him at the ER. Evan fell off his bed and broke his wrist. Had Mike been in Mequon with me, Grant would have been babysitting his brother when this happened. Evan's guardian angel must have sent Mike home from work so he was there when it happened. He had to have surgery to set the bones. We did not get home until after 2 am. He spent the last 2 days at home and is ready to go back to school.
We received notice from our agency that our official Letter of Intent (LOI) went to China on 1/31/06. We also learned that one of Bei Bei's friends is being adopted by a couple in Connecticut. I have just received their phone number. We are told they are in the same foster home and they would like the girls to keep in touch when they are in the US. Our agency is planning to have someone visit the girls in the next few months, so we are praying to get some additional information about her. Keep the prayers and good wishes coming. They really mean a lot to us.
Love, Jill

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2006 06:37 AM, CST
We received our fingerprint appointment from the Dept. of Homeland Security! Mike and I have to go in on 2/10/06. We also have a meeting on Monday night with our adoption agency. Things are moving along. I will keep you posted as we progress!
Love, Jill


TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2006 07:10 AM, CST
We went to the Post Office yesterday and applied for our passports. I also had my Dr. appt. and got a hep A and tetnus booster. Mike goes in on Thursday. It's good to get a few more things crossed off the list! We are slowly getting closer to bringing Macie home.
Love to all!
Jill

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2006 09:04 AM, CST
We met with Lisa, our case worker on Saturday morning to go over more paperwork. We also went to Walgreens to have our passport pictures taken. It's nice to cross a couple more items off of the to-do list. Next week we will take the boys to the post office to apply for our passports. Both Mike & I have to be there for them. Thanks to everyone for signing our guest book. Your thoughts and prayers mean the world to us!
Love, Jill

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2006 03:44 PM, CST
I talked to our case worker, Lisa at Adoption Assoiciates last night. We are working our our Letter of Intent to the Chinese government. This will basically tell them that we want to adopt Bei Bei. There is soooo much paperwork to do, but each day we get a little more done. Lisa told us that we could have Macie home by June or July! The boys can't wait to go to China. What an adventure!

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