Lia Mei ChuMeng
DOB January 15, 2006
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Welcome to our adoption journey Lia Mei ChuMeng DOB January 15, 2006 |
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| Last Updated: Mar 23, 2009
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Stories September 25, 2006 Referrals should be hitting the US soil today for some lucky people! This is what the CCAA website read this morning!
September 21,2006
4 months down and who knows how many more to go, hopefully 10 months or less!! Time seems to be going by rather fast for us here in the Hawkins house. The two older children are back to school and so far loving it. Kera is home with me or with her new sitter named
We received another waiting package from our agency. We have one more packet to get and that one will touch on attachment and the last part of our wait. Our agency has been great! We have been getting weekly e-mails and monthly newsletters telling us what is going on. I have been participating in a Cyber shower with my May 2006 DTC group and it is TONS of fun! Although I am still waiting for my August package to come. I am starting to think I will not be getting on! :( I still have to upload the pictures from June & July of the gifts we received. I will soon be sending out my package for my Sept. buddy. It sure does help pass the time! I am finishing up my last quilt swap and hope to start on Lia's quilt soon. I will be starting her wish book this week. I'm still waiting on about 8 people from 2 previous swaps and then of course this last one. Still trying to figure out if I should just do a block quilt or something more, I'm just not sure yet.
Cookbooks are selling but I sure would like to just be done with them already! LOL My MIL has been a huge help in selling them for us! Here is the link if anyone would still like to buy one! http://www.cookbooks4sale.com/displayCookbook.php?id=72193&by=20
Well I better go but you'll hear from me soon! :)
September 5, 2006 Wow, summer has come and gone in a flash! The kids start school on Thursday and are very excited. I think we have some great teachers this year! We are almost four months into our wait! It really hasn't been too bad yet. Only around referral time do I get all down and anxious about the wait. Right now I am reading about attachment and bonding issues. I want to make sure I'm prepared. Kera turned two on August 5th. She is a handful! She loves to play in the toilet water, YUCK!! I need to fink toilet locks ASAP! She climbs on everything and loves to jump off. I'm sure she'll teach Lia all sorts of "good" ticks. Taylor and Noah have had a great summer. Now they are just ready for school to start. Ricght now the just pick and get on each others nerves. LOL Tomorrow is Bob's birthday - Happy Birthday Honey!! I won't tell how old you are! ;) Oh we received our brown envelope in the mail back in July! That was a nice treat. It was nothing fancy but just another piecing to our process! That's it for now! Praying referral pick up soon! :) July 19, 2006 Sorry I haven't updated the site in awhile but the kids are out of school so things here have been pretty busy! Life has been pretty stressful. Our yard has looked like a lake with all the rain we have had. The wait time seems to be going up. Rumor has it that it is now going up to 18 months. Bob and I are thinking about doing SN. We'll see, we are still praying about it. Anyway, with all that is going on I haven't really be up to posting. I am also looking into finding another site to blog on. So for now that is a mini update. Hope everyone is having a nice summer! :) June 13,2006 New LID is 5/16!! Here is the e-mail I received today from AWAA!! One day earlier could make a HUGE difference!
Group 262,
We just learned that your group's log-in date is actually May 16, 2006 rather than May 17, 2006. The wait remains at 12 months from log-in date to referral. Please change your log-in date to the 16th!
Grace and Peace,
Laurel Ludwick
Dossier Coordinator
So there is the awesome news for the week!!
June 12, 2006 Well I think I say this every month but I really can't believe it is another month and almost the middle of the month to boot. We are just trying to get everyone healthy in this house. Bob's back is doing better. For those of you who don't know he ended up hurting it a couple weeks ago. He has an extra disc that is pressing on a nerve that has been causing a ton of pain for him. Right now he is feeling better unless he does to much then he starts to feel it a bit. Kera has had a stomach bug and I can't start the potty when she has major poop issues! LOL Noah also had the stomach bug but his was the whole package! Taylor is the only one who seems to have skipped anything other than her allergies. I have a double kidney infection. Not much fun, down right painful. I did receive this warning in a Yahoo Chinese News Paper -
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States warned on Friday of a possible I guess we'll just have to pray that China doesen't become a target for any terror attacts. Well with that said Kera is getting into too much and I best go. May 26, 2006 Man, I just posted this long post and it's all gone!! How frustrating. Now I'm just going to make it short and sweet. Can someone tell me where the month of May went? I can't believe June is alomst here. I hate to wish away the next year of my children's lives but I also can't wait to go pick up Lia. We got an e-mail from our agency saying that the wait time is increasing. Right now the wait time is 10-12 months. I sure hope it doesn't go much over 12 months. We switched Kera from crib to big girl bed this week! Oh boy has that been fun! Wednesday we took the crib out of her room and put her twin mattress on the floor for now. We'll get new beds for both Lia and Kera at some point in 2007. The first night she didn't go to bed until after 11pm and she was up twice in the night. She woke up at 5 am and that was that. She went down for a nap early and I had to let her cry for about 10 minutes. She finially got quite. when I went to check on her she was fast asleep squatting on the floor in the corner of the baby gate and the door. I took a picture so make sure you go check it out. Last night was a lot better. We went to a Chinese buffet to celebrate our LID earlier this week. I knew Noah would say something to somebody, anybody. When he was walking back from the buffet he told one of the Chinese women that his parents were going to China. Then he told her that we were going to get a baby sister. Now I don't know if she understood because he talks fast and he was walking away from her when he was talking. She just smiled at all of us. Dinner was good and we all left really full. On May 21st. at 2:55 I lost an awesome patient to cancer. I had known her for over two years. That is how long she had been coming to the hospital. For those of you who don't know I work as a nurse on a oncology (cancer) floor. It can be very stressful and lately very depressing. I have had a really hard time the last two or three weeks. Anyway my patient was very special to me and was very scared of dying. She was getting close and fighting it so hard. She wouldn't lay down for fear she wouldn't wake up but we were all afraid she was going to fall. Her sister in law kept telling her to go see her mother and father. Then I thought of something. So I sat on the bed next to her. I asked her when she passes if she would do me a favor. Would she watch over Lia over in China for me. I told her she was all alone and really needed someone to make sure she would be ok. Her eyes filled with tears and she turned and looked at me and told me she could do that. Within a half an hour she was lying down and went into a coma for the next 5 hours. It was so hard but I think I gave her a mission and she was no longer afraid. I know she will take good care of Lia. Somedays I wonder how much more of the oncology floor I can take. I wonder if I've just had a couple of hard weeks. Two weeks in a row I've lost patients. I LOVE oncology nursing and really can't see myself doing anything else. Must just be an odd week. Doesn't help when we are so short staffed. We now have five people out of work on our floor due to illness or injury. YIKES that is alot. I do not look forward to going to work tomorrow. Here is to a better weekend!
May 19, 2006 I have added some pictures to the photo page. Most of them were taken when we went to Myrtle Beach this past November. The family one I love if you could take my face out of the picture. I think the blach shirt and the plain white wall behind me makes me look ill or something. YUCK!! Anyway, Kera would have rather been in bed than in the picture also. It was late at night. Hope you enjoy, I'll post more recent ones soon! :) May 18, 2006 We have a LID as of 5/17!! May 18, 2006 We are still waiting on our LID! I have added some new pictures. I *promise* I will add some new pictures of the kids as soon as I get some really nice one! I'll get them outside tomorrow (if it is not pouring rain). Our cookbooks are in! I sure hope we can sell all of them! If not, they will make great gifts! LOL Oh I had a ladybug sighting as well as another mom from my agency who's dossier went over with mine. Maybe our LID is today! We'll see. May 15, 2006 What a weekend it was. Taylor and Noah had a bible quizzing comp. this past Saturday. I teach Noah's level and of course I had to work. Out of the four that I teach one received a trophy. She tied for first but she is the only one out of the four who has been in it more than a year. I'm very proud of all the children. They work hard all year. This was Noah's first year and he did wonderful job. Taylor has been in quizzing for atleast three years maybe four (I've lost track) and she does a great job too! She only has two more years of childrens quizzing left before she has to either do teen quizzing or quit. We'll see what happens. Next year if she does well there is a comp. at ENC in Boston. I would love for her to go College there. To top off missing the quiz I also had a very dear patient pass away at work. It was a hard day. I'm glad it happened at the end of my shift and I'm actually kind of glad I was there because she was very sweet. Sunday was Mother's Day and I had to work that day also. Now it wouldn't have been so bad but I work 12 hour shifts. So I work from 7 am to 7:30 pm and don't get home till 8 pm. I was pretty down most of the day. My sweet husband did come to my work and surprise me with my children though. It was the best and just what I needed! When I find the cord to my camera I'll upload some pictures of the children. We are still waiting for our LID!
May 12, 2006 Well our dossier has been in China for one week now. I wonder how much longer before we get an LID. The last group from AWAA had a 2 week wait before LID. I sure hope that is the case for us. We got our Group number from AWAA and we are group # 262! We had 23 other couples dossier sent to China with ours. Normally, these families would travel with us but some of them are doing a special needs adoption! They will get to travel this summer!! I know of three that will go waaay before us. Our cookbooks for our fundraiser will arrive next Tuesday! I can't wait to see what they look like completed. I worked hard to gather recipes to put together a cookbook. I had asked many people to send me recipes and I think only a handful of people actually handed me a couple. So, I gathered most of them on my own!! So if you ordered one from me it will be in the mail next week. I hope you like it! :) If you'd like one they are $15.00 plus S&H. Just e-mail me at www.mrschawk2000@yahoo.com and I'll get one out to you! May 8, 2006 We have delivery!! This is the report from the FedEx page. China is actually 12 hours ahead of us so it is almost the 9th over there. I hope our LID doesn't take long but I have a feeling it might. So many people have sent their dossiers over this last week. I guess I'll just have to pray because it is out of my hands.
May 5, 2006 WooHoo!! We are DTC!! I can hardly believe it! It feels great knowing that our dossier is on that FedEx plane and on its way over to Beijing, China! When it arrives it will have to be translated into Chinese. As soon as it is done then it can be logged in. I'm sure there will be TONS of dossiers to be logged in due to last week being a holiday week for China. I hope that our LID comes quick for us though. That is when our official wait for Lia will begin! I have tracking # for the dossier and is will be delievered on the 8th. I broke down and finally bought something for Lia today! I bought both her and Kera matching dresses. I bought 18 months, I sure hope it fits! I bought Kera a 3T. I've started my quilt blocks for the first quilt group that I am in. They are coming out great! I've received three so far. Anyway, just thought I'd share what a great day we've had! :)
May 1, 2006 I've started a new project that will hopefully keep me busy this up coming winter while we wait for our referral. I will be working on a quilt for Lia. It is called 100 Good Wishes Quilt. Here is the information on it. 100 Good Wishes Quilt Information & Instructions: I joined a couple of quilt square swapping group so we can collect enough quilt squares for a 100 Good Wishes Quilt. This custom is from Northern China- called ?Bai Jia Bei? to celebrate a new life in a family. Members and friends of the family would give the expecting mother squares to make a blanket. This blanket was thought to bring luck to the baby. Here is how it works: 1 fabric block is needed as well as a small card with a good wish, prayer, Psalm, poem, etc. for the child who will be joining the family. The fabric squares are made into a quilt and each of the cards sent with them is placed in a scrapbook for our children when they are older. Acid- free supplies are the best to use for the wish so that it will hold up in the scrapbook well. A small piece of the fabric should be attached to the good wish, prayer, Psalm, poem, etc.. This way, when our children are older and want look at their book, they will be able to match each piece of fabric to the good wishes. Each square needs to be a minimum of 7" x 7". The material should be cotton fabric, either print or solid? you choose. It can be a new piece of fabric or a used one that might have special meaning. Please pre-wash your fabric and remove the selvage prior to cutting your squares and sending them. Anything goes- life is an unexpected patchwork of happenings and events. If you would like to take part in this project then please send me an e-mail and I'll send you our address. Thanks!! :) April 25, 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
As many of you know, we're in the process of adopting from China. We've been so grateful for your support and encouragement.
Many of you have inquired about the progress we have made, and so we're sending out this update. There are three major steps in the initial adoption process, which are interrelated: 1.) file an application with the Bureau of Homeland Security (formerly INS) to bring a foreign adopted child into the US, 2.) complete the home study in which a qualified social service agency examines us as a family to determine our worthiness to adopt, and 3.) gather, prepare, notarize, certify, and authenticate a small mountain of documents.
In early April, we completed the last of these three initial steps, and sent our dossier to our agency, AWAA. It should be mailed to the Chinese Council for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) on May 5,2006, where it is being translated into Mandarin and being logged in to the system. Now we just wait. If the current pattern holds, we should be receiving a referral (consisting of a photo and health information) in April or May of 2007. Upon our acceptance, we will travel to China 6-8 weeks later to bring her home.
This has been, and will continue to be, a demanding and rewarding process. When we receive the referral, we will share the excitement with you.
For most of you, the information on this page is all you need; however, some of you have asked questions, indicating interest in the details of the adoption process and some of the issues involved. For you, we have provided on the attached pages considerably more detail for optional reading. (soon to come)
Blessings,
Bob & Cheri
April 24, 2006 I am starting this site in hopes to keep family and friends updated on our adoption process. On February 8th 2006 Bob and I finally decided on what adoption agency we were going to go with. I must admit it was rather stressful trying to figure out which one to chose. We had narrowed it down to two CCAI and AWAA. He told me to go with whatever one I felt comfortable with. Well we decided to go with American World Adoption Associations (AWAA). It is Christian based and that is what I felt comfortable with. I have not regretted our decision once! Here is our time line of events over the last three months. It only took me 2 1/2 months to complete our dossier which is a great time frame. I had to travel to four differnt counties for notaries and had to travel to Albany twice. All paper work had to to be notarized, then county certified, then state certified then sent off to the Chinese Consulate in NYC. I used a courier for the Chinese Consulate. Tons of running around but it will be worth it. - 02/08 Applied to agency AWAA www.awaa.org
- 02/09 Sent in our home study application
-02/14 Valentine's Day - We were accepted to AWAA adoption program
-03/01 Sent out 1-600A (orphan petition)
-03/27 Fingerprinted by the immigration office
-03/03 Received our finished home study report from Family Connections out of
- 04/12 Received our I-171H (approval for an adoption of international orphan)
-04/22 Sent completed dossier (paper work) off to AWAA
-05/05 WE WILL BE DTC!!
Here are some abbreviations that you may see me use in some of my writtings . AWAA - American World Adoption Association www.awaa.org CCAI - Chinese Children Adoption International
DTC - Dossier to China
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