Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Adopting abroad
This story is a great example of why we are not adopting a baby from the United States, a question we get asked regularly.
# posted by JDonnals : 7:17 AM
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Naming rights
It occurred to me that I have yet to mention the name of our baby-to-be since I've created this blog. I guess in the beginning we were still debating it... but now our decision is official.
We have chosen the name Hallie, meaning "of the meadow" or "thinking of the sea," depending on which book you use to look up the meaning. Hallie was also Brett's grandmother's name (his mom's mother) so it is extra special to us. It is also becoming popular because of Halle Berry, although she spells her name differently.
We will keep one of her Chinese names as her middle name, so hopefully it will be something that will fit. We hope that it is Mei, (pronounced May) which means "beautiful girl." The first name of the baby is typically the name of the orphanage, but we have seen a lot of babies with Mei in their names.
We have chosen the name Hallie, meaning "of the meadow" or "thinking of the sea," depending on which book you use to look up the meaning. Hallie was also Brett's grandmother's name (his mom's mother) so it is extra special to us. It is also becoming popular because of Halle Berry, although she spells her name differently.
We will keep one of her Chinese names as her middle name, so hopefully it will be something that will fit. We hope that it is Mei, (pronounced May) which means "beautiful girl." The first name of the baby is typically the name of the orphanage, but we have seen a lot of babies with Mei in their names.
# posted by JDonnals : 3:43 PM
Monday, October 18, 2004
Referrals and showers
Last week was hell at work trying to organize a 5K run for my office... so I forgot to mention some very important news. The CCAA sent the April 2004 DTC referrals! That means we are on track for a March 2005 referral (the process is still taking six months from the date or dossier was listed with the CCAA).
To help pass the time, I have joined a GWCA September 2004 DTC group on the internet. These are the people with whom we will eventually be traveling to China, so it's a fun way to get to know them. We are having a "cyber shower" later this month. (We exchanged names and are sending gifts to each other, then we will all open the gifts on the same day and go into a chat room to talk about it!)
Speaking of showers... my mom in Toledo, Ohio threw a shower Sunday for my sister who is pregnant and lives in Germany! She is also having a girl :) The guests brought gifts unwrapped so everyone could see what she received. My mom and Steve's mom are wrapping the gifts so Megan has something to open when she finally gets them in Germany. My aunt videotaped the shower so Megan can see it! I wish I could have been there, but my schedule and budget just wouldn't allow it!
To help pass the time, I have joined a GWCA September 2004 DTC group on the internet. These are the people with whom we will eventually be traveling to China, so it's a fun way to get to know them. We are having a "cyber shower" later this month. (We exchanged names and are sending gifts to each other, then we will all open the gifts on the same day and go into a chat room to talk about it!)
Speaking of showers... my mom in Toledo, Ohio threw a shower Sunday for my sister who is pregnant and lives in Germany! She is also having a girl :) The guests brought gifts unwrapped so everyone could see what she received. My mom and Steve's mom are wrapping the gifts so Megan has something to open when she finally gets them in Germany. My aunt videotaped the shower so Megan can see it! I wish I could have been there, but my schedule and budget just wouldn't allow it!
# posted by JDonnals : 10:41 AM
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Paint, paint and more paint!
We tackled more painting this weekend. We did the second floor hallway, the stairway, around the door, and the big wall separating the kitchen from the living room! We used a combination of Crunch Granola and Mark Twain Oak House. It looks quite good, if I do say so myself! Although it is a lot of work (the big wall is 24 feet high), it is amazing what a coat of paint can do to a room. It looks so different. We think we may have this down. We'll have two more walls to paint in the living room/dining room... then the kitchen... then the baby's room!
# posted by JDonnals : 11:21 AM
Saturday, October 09, 2004
Can we register for a new house?
Last night Brett and I went to Target and signed up for the baby registry. The first awkward moment happened when the 21-year-old girl behind the guest services counter handed us the "Club Wedd" packet. We explained that we were there to register for a baby--not a wedding! She replied, "Oh, sorry. You didn't look like it." Then, while Brett and I were squatting on the floor in the bottle section deciding which type of nipple our 9-12 month old baby girl might like to suck, a man asked us for help. He thought we were Target employees doing inventory because we were obviously not pregnant and were chcking off items from a list and scanning them with some sort of hand held laser device. We managed to accomplish a lot and I appreciated Brett's patience when I made him take two car seats off the counter and put them on the floor for inspection (we couldn't decide--so we're going to look for a car seat at Babies R Us). As we sipped margaritas at Chili's later that evening, we came to the conclusion that we weren't just bringing home a baby...we were bringing home a crib, a play pen (now, in today's politically correct world, called a "play yard"--whatever!), a high chair, a baby monitor, a car seat, an activity station, a bathtub, a Diaper Genie, etc. Then, after another margarita, we thought we may need a bigger house! We're going to look (just look) in Arlington this afternoon (after a trip to Babies R Us).
# posted by JDonnals : 11:49 AM
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Friends and fun in the Rockies
We returned Sunday from a four day trip to Colorado where we spent the night near the Rocky Mountain National Park, visited our dear friends the Farynaz's, and sampled some of the best beer brewed in the US at the Great American Beer Festival (Brett was in heaven!). We had a great, relaxing time. It was great to see Laura and Kevin and spend time with Cole (3 years) and baby Julia (3 months). They were kind enough to let us stay with them in their beautiful Parker home. And, after spending the weekend with the little ones, Brett and I got a little taste of what is in store after we return from China with our daughter! We cannot wait!
# posted by JDonnals : 5:43 PM
DTC DATE!
We just got word that our official Dossier to China date is September 6, 2004. That means on September 6th (which was Labor Day) our dossier was registered with the CCAA! If everything stays on schedule, we should get our referral sometime in March! This is a big milestone, and something we've been waiting for since we sent our paperwork to Great Wall in August.
# posted by JDonnals : 1:12 PM
