We're Home

Hi everyone. We have been home for one week and doing very well. I think we are basically recovered from jet lag and getting used to being a family of 5. Our trip home was a little eventful as we could not get out of Seattle on Friday night. Who knew that it was cruise season to Alaska??? Two very nice agents for United helped get us out on a flight Saturday morning and we made home later that evening. Emma is adjusting well...had some food issues. We changed her formula and added gas drops. The modification did the trick and she is now sleeping through the night. She has really bonded well with our family and seems to know that this is her home. She is a wonderful baby and I don't know what we did without her. I look at her and think how lucky we are to have her home. We are planning to go back to Taiwan to visit in a few years. We feel it is important for her to know her culture.
Thank you for all of your support and prayers...we are truely blessed.
Lynn

Thursday

Today was a fun day in Taiwan. Fion took us to the Guandu Temple outside of Taipei. It is up on a hill and overlooks the city. The view from the top was beautiful. Everything inside was very ornate. We skipped the Guandu Nature Park because of the heat. I would compare the heat of Taipei to Las Vegas with the humidity of Florida :>) We decided to go to the National Palace Museum and enjoy the air conditioning. The exhibits were amazing and Emma loved looking everything. We had a snack in the restaurant...Mike asked Fion if it was considered a meal because in the USA we would call it an appetizer. She laughed as she has gotten to know Mike's appetite. In order to compensate we stopped on the way back to the hotel and bought Taiwanese Dumplings. It was at a small restaurant that Fion said was famous for their dumplings. They were wonderful--I wish I could take them home. They cost less than $1 for 3. They were very large, I could only eat 2.

The people here are incredibly nice and gracious. The staff at our hotel cannot do enough for us. They call us by name when we walk through the lobby and great us with warm smiles. I told Mike that I feel like Norm from Cheer's. At breakfast a lady who works here came up to see Emma. She is expecting a baby later this month and said she just had to see her because everyone is talking about how cute she is! Even when we have been out walking or sight-seeing we have been treated with such kindness. Yesterday we went to a tea stand to buy bubble tea and a man waiting for his tea asked if we would teach Emma Mandarin. He was speaking in Mandarin, so Fion answered him with "probably not, why would they?" I asked her what he said and she told me. I explained that we did plan to teach Emma Mandarin as well as our other two children. She then explained this to the man who was very pleased.

We get to go home tomorrow-yea :) I am a little home sick and cannot wait to see Megan and Spencer. We will miss Taiwan and will be happy to bring our family back for a visit.

Gotcha

We picked Emma up yesterday at her foster family's home. She was obviously well cared for and with a very nice woman. She seemed to take to me right away, but is a little hesitant with Mike. She is making progress--today when we were shopping Mike was holding her and a Taiwanese woman held her arms out to hold Emma and she turned and hugged Mike. Daddy was very happy!

Emma is doing very well and adjusting to being with us. She is a very good baby and is happy most of the time. She slept pretty well last night. She woke up at 2 a.m. and was upset but went back to sleep quickly.

I'm not sure when we get to come home. I was hoping to head home tomorrow night, but the typhoon is making that difficult. We had our AIT appointment today and they said her visa should be ready tomorrow, but if the weather is bad they will close.

Hopefully we can catch a flight on Thursday??

Sight Seeing

We spent yesterday sight-seeing. In the morning we went to the jade market, which was a really neat experience. So many beautiful things...Mike made Fion nervous because he kept hanging back to talk to the vendors. We then went to Taipei 101 and took the elevator to the top. It was amazing...I have been to the top of the Sears Tower and the Empire State Building, but this elevator ranks at the top. We were at the top in seconds and barely felt like we were moving. It was a fairly clear day so we could see the mountains surrounding Taipei. It was really busy so went to a neighboring building for lunch and had hot-pots. I was a little nervous cooking my chicken with the same chop sticks that I was eating with...my mother-in-law would not approve :>) Fion said the high temperature of the water cleans the chop sticks...I was hungry so trusted her opinion. It was very good. We topped the meal off with some ice cream, the universal food. We went and saw the Xingtian Temple, which was very hot and crowded, but neat to see. We went back to the hotel and I was exhausted...guess the time change is affecting us.

Today is "Gotcha Day" and we can't wait. Fion is picking us up at 11:30 to head to the Program 3 office and then on to the foster family to pick up Emma Chia-Chen.

We're Here

Well we made it! The flight over was actually pretty good. Our flight was over sold from Chicago to LA, and we were bumped up to a higher class. Very nice with more leg room. We were dreading the long layover in LA, but at the urging of the lady at the information desk at LAX we did a little sight-seeing. We had 9 hours...but I was still paranoid. We were adventurous and took the city bus to Santa Monica Blvd. We walked to the ocean and ate lunch on the pier. It was nice to stretch our legs and get away from airports for awhile.

EVA air is awesome. The plane was extremely nice with personal TV's at each seat. Mike watched 4-movies yesterday! The crew of the plane were so nice! We were also well fed and they brought drinks regularly. I think the timing of our flight has helped with jet lag. We had to leave our hotel in Chicag at 3:30 a.m. on Friday, which did not allow for much sleep. We slept sporadically between LA and Taipei. With the time change we arrived in Taipei in the evening, which is morning in the midwest. We were so tired from traveling and lack of sleep over the past week that we were able to sleep pretty normal. Even though it is 8:15 p.m. at home, we really do feel like it is morning.

Our hotel, Evergreen Laurel, is very nice. The room is beautiful with a shower and jacuzzi tub...big flatscreen on the wall... We had their breakfast buffet this morning and it was wonderful. The employees here are so nice. We adventured to the next door 7-11 this morning on our own. Fion is picking us up at 10:00 a.m. for some sight-seeing.

We get to pick up Emma tomorrow afternoon, and we can't wait. We'll try to upload pictures tomorrow night.

Emma is coming home

We received the best news this morning...the judge has issued our final ruling and our AIT appoinment is set for 8/8. We are trying to make travel arrangements, which is proving difficult. We are keeping the faith that our travel agent will come through. This is such great news...can't wait to leave.

First Ruling is Here

We received wonderful news today--our first ruling finally arrived. Okay, it only took over 3 months...but who was counting? Our adoption coordinator said we could travel in a month. We are so so so happy. We should be getting an update on Emma any day, so will see if we need to buy some bigger clothes. Megan says she can't wait to have her roommate. Life is good!

Still Waiting for First Ruling

We received our update last week and she is so beautiful and happy. It is so comforting to see that she is doing well. We are anxiously waiting for our ruling. This is week 9... Another family with a similar timeline just received notice on their ruling on Friday and it was on week 9, hopefully we will hear very soon.

Waiting for 1st Ruling

Thursday marks 6-weeks post hearing. In looking at other time lines we could hear something any day. Being the ever inpatient person that I am, I decided to e-mail our adoption coordinator today to see if she has heard anything. She said we will hear something sometime...I think she meant to end it with soon...or at least I am hoping. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I am still hoping to have Emma home well before Spencer's 4th Birthday...we'll see.

Update

We received our update today--:>) Our adoption coordinator sent it to my work e-mail instead of home...what a nice surprise this morning. Emma is changing so quickly--she is beautiful. I love to watch the video. The kids even wanted to watch it over and over. They are ready to bring her home.

She is now a little over 10 pounds and around 22 inches long. She is petite and perfect. In the picture she is wearing an outfit from Grandma Penny and has the build-a-bear that her big sis Megan made for her. It is so nice to see her in familiar items. What a cutie! Keep up the prayers that we can bring her home soon.

Still Waiting for Update

We are still waiting on our April Update on Emma. I have checked my e-mail countless times today...and nothing. I did see on the JOH board that two families received updates, which is a good sign. Hopefully we will hear something tomorrow--Friday has been a good information day for us. We received our referral on Friday and the news of our hearing on Friday. Okay, I am starting to be superstitious.

I really want to see how much Emma has grown. She is small--at the 3% for height and weight on the Taiwanese growth charts. I am having a hard time guessing what her size will be when we pick her up. I originally thought 6-9 months, but it might be 3-6. I have been eying an adorable pair of Robeez shoes--hot pink w/Piglet, but not sure what size to buy. One of the other JOH Mom's had commented that she bonds through shopping and I have to agree :)
All for now--hopefully will update the site tomorrow with new pictures.

April 17, 2007

We should be receiving an update on our precious Emma any day now...I can't wait to see how she has changed and grown. I have bought size 6-9 months clothes, but might need to go one size smaller.

We are still anxiously awaiting our 1st Ruling. I had visions of traveling at the end of May, but am now hoping to at least travel in June. Sunday will mark 1 month from hearing... We are going to the Dells the weekend of the 27th, so that will be a nice get-away. In the meantime we are saying lots of prayers and keeping our fingers crossed.