Making the most of what we're entrusted with

Others need our help

2009-06-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit, that it's hard for me to remember to feel the pain and need of others. I am usually too busy complaining about bills, expenses, taxes, and pay cuts. Recently though, when I consider those things, I am stricken with a sick feeling. I have a close friend who has shown me over and over what real need is. I am adapting a blog post she recently made here, but feel free to go to her site directly and read her account. God has given her a precious and sensitive heart; I only hope one day that the Lord enlarges my heart as much as He has hers. Please carefully consider what the Lord requires of you.

Too often I hear heartbreaking stories and do nothing. I feel helpless, so I move on. Not this time. There are people DYING in Uganda right now. There are children whose bellies are hungry and aching. There are mothers who are too weak to stand and babies begging to be held. There are people trapping termites to be eaten as food and eating dung in helplessness. I can and WILL do something.

Join Children's HopeChest to FEED THE FORGOTTEN!!! Click HERE to give now! Please write "Feed The Forgotten" in the notes section.

For $0.14, they will feed someone a meal of posho and beans (posho is cornmeal used to give them a "full" feeling and the beans provide protein). Take that in for a moment. . .

$0.14 a meal
$2.86 for 20 days
$1 per FAMILY
$20 feeds a family for 20 days

How much did our family's Subway meal cost yesterday? How much is my cup of iced coffee at Starbucks? A better question is how much am I willing to give up so that others can eat?

Remember Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan? Remember how his neighbors walked right by him? They probably looked at him with pity. The probably thought "Oh poor guy. That breaks my heart.". But the fact is, they did NOTHING.
What will you do? These children are starving. Will you help or will you do nothing?

The money raised will feed precious people. Children's Hope Chest is currently targeting 3 - 4 villages to bring food relief to as soon as possible. These people are literally starving...and waiting for you to act. Will you help? Even with paypal fees (2-3%), $1 will feed 6 people! You CAN make a difference.

Spread the word, blog about it, facebook it, twitter it, ask your church or school or business to give, post the blog badge anything. I am asking you, on behalf of these people, not to forget this post and move on to your next. Stop, pray, act. GIVE TO FEED THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN!!!!! Remember to type "Feed The Forgotten" in the notes section when you give.

To GET the blog badge, click on Brandi's post where she has given the html code and explains how to post it.

There is also a very moving story here, a real life news report, chronicling the desperate plight of this region.

Remembering Memorial Day

2009-05-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Price has recently taken an EXTREME liking to all things baseball. He was practicing in the backyard on Monday with his oldest brother, Adam. ADORABLE, if I do say so myself!!!

Calming Down

2009-05-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

THIS is how Madeleine calms down and gets ready for bed.

I went running tonight after dinner and came home to find "the bigs" waiting for me to kiss them goodnight. I was thrilled, because I really don't like missing that time of night. Hello? The kiss off? Just kidding. Honestly. Anyway, this is what she wanted to show me when I went in to kiss her. That girl is FLEXIBLE...probably cause I was doing yoga (including backbends) until I was about 8 and a half months pregnant.

Carmon Playing Peek A Boo

2009-05-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

Tom worked from home yesterday so we could go get "the bigs" out of school and take them to see the shuttle launch in the afternoon. Carmon and I were playing on the floor and Tom caught this:

Surprise Picture of Carmon

2009-04-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

I got this email the other day:

"Hi Abby,

Oh, what a coincidence!! today I read your blog and saw everything. and guess what??? I met your daughter March 24th when we visited the orphanage. She was given to you in the lobby by our son's nanny (I saw that in one of your films on your blog), and your daughter's nanny was in the babyroom when we visited Yugan SWI. I actually posted a picture of your daughter tugged in a basket a week ago, just check the pictures and you will find her, we also have a couple of seconds of footage of your daughter in the basket rocking happily :o)

love,
Hanneke from Holland"

WHAT A SWEET TREAT! She saw our daughter not even a week before us. This is the picture she was talking about:

We are in the process of trying to figure out how to get the video. She wasn't able to email it and if she puts it on a DVD in Holland, it won't be readable here in the States b/c their format is different than ours.

In a subsequent email, she wrote this:

"In the very end of the film (appr.12 seconds before the end, you can hear our guide say: "Sunday, she will go" You can't see our guide on the film, but our she was pointing at your daughter when she said that, that's how I know she was adopted on the 29th (right?)"

Cool, huh?

Carmon's Dedication

2009-04-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is Tom, and there is more to the story about getting Abby and Carmon home, and I have video of their arrival and subsequent greeting by friends and family…but I am on Family Leave this week, and work of any kind – including video editing - seems to be escaping me.

While she was in China, Abby arranged for Carmon to be dedicated at our church (Westwood Church in Orlando) on Easter Sunday. Since Abby got home and into bed Friday morning around 2:30 AM, we spent her last waking hours Friday night getting the video and pictures together – we had picked the song long ago. As usual, our church did an outstanding job with the dedication video and the dedication itself, and I wanted to share it with anyone who wants to watch it. This is as close as I can get with the software I have, I hope you enjoy it.

They're on their way home!

2009-04-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

Abby sent me this picture of my girls this evening, showing me what they are wearing so I will recognize them at the airport. Their plane leaves at 11:00 PM Wednesday night (EDT) and they arrive at 12:05 AM Friday. I can not WAIT to have them home!

She's DEFINITELY a Chitty

2009-04-07T20:49:00.001-07:00

There are so many ways that Carmon is already showing she's a Chitty:

She stopped taking a bottle already. Our other 3 also stopped drinking from bottles around 9 or 10 months and started drinking straight from a glass.
She is a GREAT sleeper, just like Madeleine and her mommy.
She's satisfied by simple things like Jack is. She is entertained by a single toy for about as long as Jack is entertained by an airplane simulation game on the computer.
A diaper wipe lasts a long time in her hands...as it does in Price's.
Her eyes are very happy, just like her daddy's.
And, like all the Chittys, she loves being outside.

She was made to be "one of us".

2009-04-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is Tom, with one more video. While were driving back from the Yugan SWI, Carmon and I were playing with a wipe. (Remember what I said about Price and wipes - well, TWO of our kids love playing with them now!) and she started laughing. Abby got out the camera, and you get to see it!

Afternoon Ritual

2009-04-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

Every afternoon, Carmon and I carry out a ritual. We go here:

And she does this:

More charming today than yesterday

2009-04-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

This girl gets sunnier every day.

In case you're wondering, it's NOT chilly enough for the hat AND hoodie, but the "clothing police" hinted that I should add the hat. The temperature is probably around 65 or 70.

Sitting by the phone

2009-04-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today is the day of our consulate appointment. From 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Bob will be incommunicado at the Consulate Office on our behalf and I have to wait by the phone for his call. Many of you know the specifics of our paperwork trouble. I don't claim to have the market cornered on issues, but these are MY issues and we need prayer. Please pray with us that all the idiosyncracies will be ironed out and that we will receive our visa without any complications. That's the only thing we're waiting on. After that is issued, it goes into her Chinese passport and we are sworn in Wednesday afternoon for our flight home Thursday. It feels so close now, but I also still have 2 more whole days here which feels like a long time, too.

Blessing our daughter

2009-04-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today, Xi Xi (pronounced shee-shee) took me to a temple where people come to bless their children. Don't worry, I didn't let any Buddhist monks pray a blessing over her. I did that myself. We are so thankful that the Lord allowed Carmon to join our family. I offered up this incense as an offering of praise for our sweet daughter.

The sun is shining

2009-04-05T23:58:00.001-07:00

Carmon has come out of her shell. It's a little hard to tell from this picture, but she's smiling...BIG! She's a real ray of sunshine now.

Notes from the home front

2009-04-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hello, all - this is Tom. Price and I made it safely home, and I finally have gotten around to putting together a couple of videos that I would like to post. Also, I have some pictures from my time over in China that I wanted to post, along with my comments about them. I just finished emailing with Abby around 1:00 PM, which is 1:00 AM Monday her time. So, I want to get this posted before she wakes up and updates the blog herself.

Here we go!

This first picture shows Price asleep in the seat of the van we were riding in. In his right hand? A wipe! He will often ask for a wipe as a plaything while we're changing him. It's nice having kids who appreciate the simple things in life...

This next picture shows our Nanchang guide, Mary, explaining paperwork to Abby. Mary was very sweet, and very helpful the whole time we were in Nanchang.

This third photograph is of Price and Carmon on our bed in Nanchang. Price was being sweet to her, laying on her, patting her, and she started to smile at him, so out came the camera!

This next picture is of Price sitting in front of a lion statue (female, in case you're wondering - check the baby lion under her paw) at the Pavilion we toured. Price would all but shout "LION!" when he saw one in China...and there are plenty to see!

This picture is of a vehicle of some kind that we saw on the way to Yugan to tour the orphanage. The variety of vehicles on the road was stunning - only cars, buses and mopeds/bicycles looked familiar. We saw vehicles carrying everything; beds, rebar, sticks, people, bricks, huge bundles of something. I think the loading rule is, if the vehicle isn't overloaded, put more on!

This photo is of two young girls at the orphanage, who were enchanted with us, and Price in particular. One of them, the older one, is 11, and just showed up at the orphanage one day. The story on her was that her father beat her because 'he was crazy in the head' (the orphanage director's words) and they couldn't locate her mother. Yet, she was so happy - she laughed and smiled the whole time - and now she lives in the orphanage and helps out. Abby and I both thought there is so much need - just at this orphanage - and it is a shame we couldn't take a few more kids home with us...

This picture is of Carmon's nanny with Abby. We had a request for a still picture of the nanny, as some of the video was not viewable by some folks. Anyway, it was so sweet and touching to see how much this lady cared for Carmon. She replaced the original nanny in Dec, 2008, do she'd only had Carmon in her care for about 4 months - yet she still cried when we left with Carmon.

Now, for the first video. I had been taking video in small sections, so that we'd be able to upload it. The blog uploader limits you to 100MB in a single video, and some of the sections I took were too big. Now that I am home with the video editing software, I combined the video and created a format that makes the total upload smaller than 100MB. :) Now, I am sure that the above explanation is TMI for some, much the same as Abby's quest to get a razor and remove the stubble from her stubbly areas was for some. So, explanation over, here are the videos.

The first video is all the good footage from when we got Carmon in the hotel lobby. There are four sections to this video. The first is when we first see her and Abby is handed Carmon. Carmon doesn't appear to cry until after the nanny wipes her face / nose. Carmon doesn't really seem to enjoy having her face wiped with a cloth of any kind. Hopefully, that will get resolved. In the second section, Abby attempts to calm her with a bottle, but that doesn't work, so in the third section, the nanny hands Carmon a kleenex package. Carmon often likes to hold things, so it was no surprise that she took it. When that still doesn't calm Carmon, the nanny takes her - I guess she thought she'd be able to calm her. This is the section where I asked Abby why they took her away, and she said because "I couldn't calm her". In the last section, you can hear the associate director ordering (at least the tone suggests that to me!) the nanny to give Carmon back to Abby. Watch Abby's hands make a couple of small lunges for Carmon before she actually gets her back!

The last video is of our tour of the orphanage. There are seven sections to it. The first is a short view of the outside. My taping was interrupted when Abby asked me to go back to the van and get pictures she had brought to have identified. We got these pictures from Yugan visitors and we thought some of them might show Carmon, but we wanted the orphanage staff to confirm that. The second section is me walking into the orphanage, and shows the kitchen where they were cooking our lunch. The third portion is a quick look at the ladies room at the orphanage. I DID ask to use the men's room, but it was broken and the door chained, so I was directed to the ladies room. For those who don't know, they have 'squat potties' in some locations in China, and this was one of them. Being a guy, it didn't matter to me, though... :) Fourth, the ladies are looking at our pictures during lunch to see if Carmon is in some of them. She was in a couple, but not all of them. Then, the two girls who followed us around show up at the end of that section of video. Fifth is a view of the downstairs of the orphanage. Lots of floor space, but nothing in it! The sixth section is us walking down the upstairs hallway to Baby Room Two - where Carmon lived. Last, I panned around Carmon's old room, it is what the rooms typically look like. The bathroom / washroom is to the right of the desk as I pan around.

Face-ache

2009-04-05T00:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've experienced face-ache in your lifetime at least once; we all have. It happens when you are trying to get pictures taken and you stand there with a cheese-y smile pasted on your face for what feels like an infinite period of time. It also happens when you are an American on any kind of trip overseas. In my case, that means I am experiencing face-ache every time I step out of my hotel room. I am met by so many well-wishing and curious people that I walk around with a smile constantly pasted on my face. It would really tickle all the Chinese people if Carmon would do the same, but she still really only smiles for me, Tom, and Price.

That brings me to the real joy I experienced today. I wrote the other day about a 28 year old Christian Chinese girl I met named Judy. At the time, I was a bit skeptical if she was genuine or if she was just claiming to be a Christian because she thought that's what Americans want to hear. She invited me to join her this morning, so I went with her to Shamian Christ Church and had face-ache from real joy. Sitting in the Mandarin/English service was glorious. I hate that word, but there is no other word to describe how I felt. I was able to imagine a taste of what heaven will be like when ALL nations will raise their voices in worship! What a blessing!

Here are the three of us in the chapel. And, for the record, I think that's a smile on Carmon's face, too.

Wedding Photos

2009-04-05T00:13:00.000-07:00

Remember when I told you about the brides all over Shamian Island taking wedding photos and how they wear pants under their dresses?

They are beautiful!

But, the jeans are hilarious!

What you're really interested in

2009-04-04T05:01:00.000-07:00

It seems that the most requested thing is video of Carmon. So, as requested, here's the star of the show:

Yesterday's exploration and today's visit to the Guandong Folk Arts Museum

2009-04-03T23:41:00.001-07:00

Carmon and I had an awesome afternoon yesterday exploring. We crisscrossed the island for almost 4 hours and saw many interesting things WITHOUT MY CAMERA. We saw some uniformed military officials in a public courtyard practicing what appeared to be karate moves. While I was watching some primary school children in their school's private courtyard practice for a perfomance, I met a 28 year old Chinese woman named Judy who is a Christian. She came up to me to chat and asked me straightforwardly if I was a Christian. I teared up when she told me that she had been one for 4 years. Someone shopping in her store gave her a Bible to read. She said her first two years as a Christian were not so good, but now she goes to a Mandarin/English church at the White Swan hotel and stays afterwards for the Bible study. We saw about 10 brides and grooms in a park having their wedding photos taken. The brides all wear pants underneath their dresses because they sit on the dirty ground for pictures and then hike the dress way up when they walk around. They were really beautiful! I even took some time to sit at Starbucks to have a cup of coffee and share a muffin with my girl. It was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon.

Our guide wasn't meeting us until 11:00 this morning, so Carmon and I headed out for some more island exploration, just me and my girl. She always has this cheery expression :). Recognize that outfit, Jackie Sue?

Bob met us in the hotel lobby at 11:00 to take us to tour the Guandong Folk Arts Museum. The structure was amazing enough in itself.

The courtyard was also exquisite, very lush.

There was a hand painter there. All of his paintings are made just using his hand, no paintbrushes. He had paintings of the Great Wall, panda bears, mountain landscapes, and bamboo trees, to name a few. All of the pictures were done using the heel of his hand, his fingernails, and his fingertips after brushing them in the plate of ink by his side.

Turn your heads sideways

2009-04-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not kidding; turn your head sideways. If my computer geek, ahem, I mean, my hot computer guy was here, he could show me how to turn this video the right way. The Help Desk must be sleeping :). So, in the meantime, you'll have to lay down to watch this. It's a short one though. These ladies are um...exercising? There's a park on Shamian Island, where my hotel is, that has exercise machines and playground equipment for adults and children to use. Our guide told us that only old people do formal exercise though because young people are too busy.

Tom and Price make it home

2009-04-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

This will be a short update from Tom. Price and I left Nanchang around 10:00 Thursday morning local time, and got home and into bed at 2:00 AM Friday, for a total travel time of 28 hours. Price slept GREAT and was GREAT when he was awake. He gave one last performance for the Chinese in the Beijing airport, and (as usual) they loved him. Now that I am home, I will go through the pictures and post some in a blog.

Abby and I have emailed some today, and she and our daughter are doing fine. I am fairly confident she'll find time to blog some when her day starts in a couple of hours.

The gardens were BEAUTIFUL!

2009-04-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

This is a single Bougainvillea tree. Amazing, right?

This is taken in the Orchid Garden in the greenhouse. Doesn't Carmon look comfortable?

In the background you can see the greenhouse mentioned above and a botanical clock on the hillside.

Consulate paperwork done

2009-04-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Bob came to our hotel this morning and we got all of our consulate paperwork completed and compiled. Man, there's alot of paperwork for this baby! Here's the funny (?) part. We probably can't take care of correcting Carmon's TA today even though the CCAA is open because...drum roll, please...all the CCAA employees were told to go outside today and plant trees. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? I really don't mean to be derogatory, but COME ON!! Sorry, just venting a little bit.

Anyway, my sweet girl slept through my meeting with Bob. He's going to meet me in the lobby at noon so that Carmon can finish her nap. Then, we're going to go on a tour of a botanical garden. It's sorta cloudy out, but rain may be in the forecast soon, so I wanted to go ahead and get this tour in.

I'll post some pictures of the garden later if I can. Now, I'm going to try to get a tiny nap before Carmon wakes up. I usually finally let myself get out of bed a little before 5 in the morning. It's all I can do to make myself stay in bed that long. I must look at my watch 30 times in the night...from 10-ish p.m. to 5-ish a.m. That's a lotta watching-looking!

We made it

2009-04-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Carmon and I made it safely to Guangzhou. She fell asleep right before I got on the plane and didn't wake up until we were almost at the hotel. I think she's sleeping to escape life right now. I don't blame her; this must be SO much for her little system to process.

Shee-Shee introduced me to Cassie at the airport who helped us check into the Guandong Victory hotel. Our room is VERY nice...too chic for my thrifty self! Last night I went out for dinner, and, when I got back, they had remade my bed, set out slippers for me beside the bed, put on soft lighting, refolded the toilet paper and tissues into a "V", and replenished the tea bag that I had used. But I'm jumping ahead myself in the days events.

This is Carmon with a BEAUTIFUL flowering tree outside the window of our hotel room. I could stare at that tree and the swallows that rest in it for a long time.

"Bob", my guide here, came to my room at 3:00 to take me to Carmon's medical appointment.

We were the only ones in the waiting room and, when we got there, all the lights were turned off. Tom and I have been impressed with a simple measure the Chinese take to preserve electricity. When you are in your hotel room, you have to leave your room key in a slot to have any power in your room. That way, when you leave your room and have to take your key out of the slot to take it with you, all power in the room is turned off since you won't be needing any. It was for this reason, I believe, that all the lights were turned off in the Adopted Child examination rooms as well. Here Carmon visited 4 different rooms. The first was a check of her ears and throat. Nothing the matter there. Then we moved on to weight and height. I didn't notice the height, but she weighed 8.88kg (19.56 pounds). In the third room, the doctor measured her head circumference and looked over her entire body. Another thing we noticed earlier on our trip is that there are SO many employees wherever we go. It was explained to us by our guide that this is because labor is SO cheap. It applied at the examination office as well. For those 3 "minimal" tasks, we went to a different room with a different doctor. Then, when we left each room, the light was turned off, and that doctor diappeared.

This is Carmon in the waiting room of the Adopted Child examination area. In the background is room number 3, with the lights off, as you can see. Do you remember reading Tom's post about how the supermarket in Nanchang played the Happy Birthday song in a loop the entire time of our visit? Well, the floor covering in here was like a kind of laminate, and the decoration on it said, you guessed it, "Happy Birthday"! Made me chuckle...and wish Tom was still here with me to see it.

The final room we went to was for her shots. She ended up only needing 2 shots and they gave her one in each leg. Wanna guess how much she liked that? She CAN NOT STAND even having her nose wiped, as you can tell from the video from Gotcha Day when she about did a "Poltergeist" to keep one of the nannies from wiping her nose. She LOVED getting shots. I had to squeeze her feet between my legs and hug her whole body to me. Then I had to switch her to the other side and do it all over again so they could reach the other leg...'cause it's SO hard to reach both legs while she's sitting on my lap, right? Oh well, as soon as I picked her up, she stopped crying. We had to wait 30 minutes after her shots were taken to make sure she didn't have an adverse reaction to the immunizations, but she fell asleep.

After our appointment, we took a quick walk around Shamian Island (where the Victory Hotel is located) so that Bob could show me some restaurants that Westerners tend to like and that have English picture menus. Nice!

Then, we headed back to the hotel to discuss ongoing paperwork issues. There still seems to be a problem with some of our paperwork. Apparently, there is a disrcepancy between the spelling of Carmon's name on the Travel Authorization issued by the CCAA (Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs) and the immigration paperwork for the U.S. So, today at 10:00, Bob and I will to try to straighten it out. It appears that we will need to request a new TA (Travel Authorization) from the CCAA. It doesn't seem like that's a HUGE deal, but just something that needs to be taken care of. I have also been told by Bob that our appointment with the U.S. Consular is not in jeopardy. So this appears to be strictly a formality.

After taking care of our paperwork, I am going to tour the city some with Bob. I'm not sure yet what that means, but I am happy to have a plan to not be in the hotel. I have a feeling that I will spend a lot of time discovering what is on Shamian Island on my own. I have to admit that I am feeling intimidated and lonely. I don't feel like I am in any sort of danger, so I feel free to be out and about, thankfully.

Please pray for me that I will be able to take advantage of this sweet time alone with Carmon. The first few days she looked at my face with the saddest expression. Just to think of it still tears me up. I have never seen that look on my children's faces. I've seen anger, and hurt, and hunger, and tiredness, but never sadness at the sight of my face. She deserves to be sad for what she has lost already, but I am so thankful that, already, she is smiling at the sight of me, talking to me, smiling at me, and laughing when I am silly. She is still quite congested and has a bit of a clear, runny nose, but the doctors yesterday didn't seem to be concerned. So you can also pray that she won't feel so crummy as she fights this bug.

Health Update

2009-04-01T14:35:00.001-07:00

So, I said Carmon had a little chest congestion, but now it's worse. Her nose is running a little more; it's still clear, but she's been coughed a lot in the night.

And Price, he's in our bed...with a fever. He kept calling Tom's name out in the night. Well, he was actually calling "Daddy, not "Tom". :) Anyway, he would settle back down immediately after finding a pacifier. Then, one time we got up to check on him and he was on fire. We uncovered him for 20 minutes first to see if he would cool off, but he didn't. So we gave him some ibuprofen and put him in our bed. His fever came right down.

This morning at 8:00, our guide comes to take us all to the airport. I have a 10:00 flight to Guangzhou for the last leg of my trip, and Tom leaves at 11:00 to fly home to Florida with Price.

Tom, understandably, is worried about this BIG trip with a 2 year old who has a fever. Hopefully, it will make Price lethargic. I hate the thought of him being sick in any way, but we are praying there will be a bright side to whatever he has. Please pray for Price and Tom today. They arrive home in Orlando at 5 minutes after midnight in the night on Thursday (technically Friday morning).

Once I arrive in Guangzhou this afternoon, I have the first of two medical appointments for Carmon today. Over the next 2 days she has to get five immunizations as part of the requirements for a Hague Convention adoption. At home, if your kids are sick like she is, they won't give them an immunization. So I am concerned about either the toll immunizations will take on a sick baby or if they will do them on a sick baby here. We are in a bit of a time crunch, so I'm not sure if they have the liberty of waiting until she gets better. I am hoping, though, that they might be able to tell me what's causing her chest congestion.

And, for those of you who are wondering, I will still be blogging once Tom goes home. There is a computer in my room in Guanzhou so I'll do my best to keep up. Unfortunately, my Help Desk is going home, but I will try to limp along unassisted.

Buses and Kisses

2009-04-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

Price apparently gets REALLY excited about buses. Oh, and he likes his new sister, too. Check out this sweet boy! We are watching out the window of our hotel from the 17th floor at night.

Going to Carmon's finding spot

2009-04-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Tom took this video as we were approaching the spot where Carmon was discovered on June 9th, the day after she as born. She was left outside the "gate" of an old orphanage. This building is no longer used as an orphanage, but there are some people still living in the building. The orphanage Carmon was raised in was opened in 2001.

Buying food from a street vendor

2009-04-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

We have been strongly cautioned not to eat food from street vendors, but following rules has never been my strong suit. So, here I am purchasing some kind of dumpling. I bought one two days ago, and it was filled with mystery meat. This day, it was filled with cooked, sliced mushrooms.

Get our your tissues ladies

2009-04-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

This video is sure to bring on the tears. This was taken of Carmon's caregiver. She was crying as soon as she saw Carmon. Carmon had a different nanny until December of 2008. Sometime during December, the first nanny left and the one you see in the video took over Carmon's care.

When I asked her if there was anything she could tell me about Carmon, she told me "She's smart.".

Special Treat from the Orphanage

2009-04-01T02:16:00.000-07:00

Our visit to the orphanage was quite an experience. I will blog in more complete detail if I can later tonight, but I wanted to show you the gift we were given. Can you tell what this is?

The photos, that probably appear VERY tiny, were taken of Carmon the day she was found outside the orphanage gate. If you can see, she is wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt. When we went to the orphanage today, those clothes were given to us as a gift. What an unexpected surprise!

This is for Jackie Sue

2009-03-31T17:43:00.000-07:00

I think it's interesting what details are important to different people. So, I'm taking requests. :) My dear mentor, Jackie Sue, wanted to know the answer to a few questions. Feel free to leave your questions and I'll do my best to get to them.

Is she sick at all or is she feeling good? She has some chest congestion that doesn't sound nice at all, but her nose is running clear, she doesn't have a fever, and isn't batting at her ears.

Do the clothes you took fit? I took a combination of 6-12 months and 12-18 months clothes and she definitely fits the 12-18. I could easily put her in 18-24 months, but they would be baggy.

Is she bigger or smaller than you thought? I think she's a little bigger than I thought. She's definitely more perfect than I could have imagined though.

How is she eating? We haven't figured out her eating schedule quite yet. She doesn't like bottles very much though she, on two different occasions, has sucked down a small bottle. She eats congee (rice soup), likes mandarin oranges, banana bread, kinds likes watermelon, can't stand prunes (Who does like those, though?), likes crackers and bread and egg. Much to our dismay, we have not gotten the first poo out of her yet.

Does she prefer one of you over the other? She loves us both equally. She will miss her Daddy when he leaves tomorrow.

I have to go now. The US immigration decided that a form I got approved when we were at home is no longer filled out properly. I need to get a shower and get that paperwork done. We leave for our daughter's orphanage in less than an hour.

Price Kissing Carmon

2009-03-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

The videos seem to be a real hit, so here's another. Price seems to be really sweet on Carmon, sometimes much to her dismay. He invades her personal space a bit, I think. You tell me.

Carmon playing in Mommy's lap

2009-03-31T05:37:00.000-07:00

We just got home from a night walk down "The Walking Street" and were getting ready for bed. Enjoy!

Misc pictures and comments from Tom

2009-03-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Abby and Carmon are napping and Price is watching a Thomas DVD, so I am going to take a minute and post some pictures along with a short (for me, anyway) explanation of them.

This first picture was taken at Washington Dulles airport. Price was in the back pack, and we were riding their shuttle bus between terminals. I grabbed a hand rail and Price decided he needed to help me by grabbing one, too. You can imagine how much help a two year old gives...

This next picture was taken on the flight to Beijing. Price fell asleep stretched out across three seats, and we both thought this was a cute picture.

This next picture is Price walking with our guide Maggie in Beijing. He would talk to her, call her name, and generally loved being with her.

Next, we have a photo of Abby near the top of the Great Wall section we climbed. The parking lot is behind and below her.

This next photo is near the top of the Great Wall. It was an amazing sight, very pretty despite being very brown from lack of rain.

Here are Maggie and Abby at the Summer Palace, standing in front of a male lion statue. How can you tell if it is a male or female lion statue in China? The male lion has the world under his foot, a female has a baby lion under hers. Plus, Maggie told us that as you face out from the building the female is always on the right, since (wait for it....) the female is always right. :)

We have a 10:00 tour of the Pavillion today, and tomorrow we tour the orphanage where Carmon lived the first few months of her life. Thursday, we part ways and Price and I head home via Beijing and Dulles. Abby and Carmon head to Guangzhou and the appointments there that will make Carmon a US Citizen. They arrive back home a week after Price and I do.

We appreciate all the emails and the expressions of love and prayers. We're doing great considering all that is going on, and as long as I can get enough to eat and not get grumpy, we'll all be fine. There have been quite a few positive comments about the videos, and since we are going out among the locals today, I am fairly certain there will be more to post tonight.

Jack and Madeleine, we all four miss you. Price is already being a GREAT big brother to your new sister - he even offered to share one of his binkys with her! This morning, she started crying a little, and he kept saying to her "Its alright baby, don't cry".

Love to all.
Tom

.

Carmon playing in the mirror

2009-03-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well, Abby woke up and asked me to post this video. Nothing else to say about it except she started seeing herself in the mirror.

One from Tom

2009-03-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

This blog is being done by Tom, and as, you’ll see, Abby and I comment and write about different things. The kids slept great from about 9:00 PM Sunday night until Price started talking around 5:00 AM. Abby and I woke up, and she started working on the second effort at her post that took three tries (see the previous post). We decided to grab breakfast from the hotel before getting cleaned up for the day’s appointments. The hotel breakfast is included with the room price, plus the food is a) good and b) mostly recognizable as exactly what the label says it is. Although, I have to say, their idea of orange juice seems to be more juice that is orange in color as opposed to juice from an orange. We have discovered that a BIG breakfast in these nice hotels will save us money and give us enough food to get through until mid afternoon.

Our guide, Mary, picked us up at 9:00 for the three appointments we had today. The first was in a building that had a waiting area which contained another a dozen or so families who are also adopting. We had an ‘interview’ – four questions, a couple of signatures, we got a gift for adopting, and then we waited for our formal Adoption Certificate to be printed. Next, we got back in the van and drove to a very quick notarization appointment, and then last, we had her picture taken and we were done for the day. Mary took us to a grocery store to get some milk, water, and soft drinks. You just have to see this place to believe it - people every where, and so many workers in the store straightening displays, standing around to help, etc. It felt like there were often more workers than shoppers. I’ll have to go back to get the names and descriptions of some of the items for sale in this store to post. Some of the English names and descriptions are really amazing. Then, Mary brought us back to the hotel, made plans for tomorrow, and we were on our own.

We fed the kids some lunch and then put them down for naps. During this time, Abby actually got her post completed and posted while I watched a movie on her iPod. When we got the kids up, we went back to the grocery store, because Abby hadn’t gone in with Mary and me earlier, and because we needed a couple of more things. Then, we went to the ‘walking street’, which is blocked off at the ends and has stores, shops, and food stands/stalls up and down the whole length of it. While we were out, we ran into two other adopting couples: one in the grocery store, and one on the walking street. While we were talking to the couple on the walking street, a small crowd gathered around us, and, before we knew it, we were celebrities. Also, we had several older ladies, and a few men, come up and touch the kids hands or feet to check to see if we were keeping them warm enough. In one instance a lady came over, checked Carmon’s hand, and then went back to her friend and explained that she was fine and that Carmon also had a pair of tights on under her long pants!

At the very end of the walking street was a McDonald’s, and. after the hamburger (I use the term loosely) we had from room service the night before, I wanted to try to see if American Hamburgers had made it to the Far East yet. I went in and ordered from a picture menu and paid. When I came out, a small crowd had gathered around Abby, Price, and Carmon, and I could just barely see Abby’s blonde hair surrounded by many locals. I shot some video of this. As Abby and I were walking away (still being stalked by the clothing police, I might add), she told me that Price had started playing Peek-A-Boo with some of the people who were looking at him.

A few observations and comments, NONE of which are meant to be disrespectful of the Chinese: first, Diet Coke doesn’t exist in China. Coke Lite, yes, Coke Zero, yes, but you get a REALLY strange look when you ask for Diet anything. Second, driving on the roads is, at best, go where you want, in any lane you want, including the lane of traffic moving in the opposite direction’. It works great for them; it really does! As Abby and I were watching it from the sidewalks (or moped lanes as they are known here) or the van, it is absolutely amazing that we didn’t see many, many crashes. Bicycles, mopeds, cars, SMALL cars, walkers, trucks, buses, all go where they need to go, even if they cut off a police car or van while doing it! Third, the people are all very, very friendly, even if they don’t speak English. People everywhere we have been always smile at us, wave, want to see and talk to the kids; it’s like we’re part of their family. This also means, though, that there is the occasional look at us as if we’re the Black Sheep of the family for not dressing the kids warmly enough…

Well, the kids are in bed, Abby is snoozing and my head is drooping, so I am going to post this for now, along with some video for all you to see. All this video was shot with Abby’s new digital camera, because the digital video camera we brought over with us broke somehow. We discovered that about 15 minutes before going down to have a quick lunch before we received Carmon. The first video is when we first saw her, and Abby got to hold her. The second video is of the crowd surrounding Abby and the kids when I came out of McDonald’s this afternoon.

One last thing I thought of as I was getting out of bed to post this…our legs are KILLING us from the climb up the Great Wall Saturday! Every time we’ve had to get in or out of the van, go up steps, or squat down to pick up a kid or a kid thing, we’ve both laughed about the soreness and the way we are moving. It looks like we’re both in our 60’s!

Jack and Madeleine, you’re going to love Carmon! Mommy and Daddy miss you both so much, and I can’t wait to see you Friday. Everyone, please keep the prayers and email coming!

Tom

The most unabridged version I can manage

2009-03-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

Third time’s the charm, right? This better work this time folks, because, if it doesn’t, you are OUT OF LUCK! I first typed this directly at the Blogger website. I was ALL DONE and highlighted all the text to make it larger and poof! ALL GONE!! Then, it did an autosave. Nice, huh? Didn’t do an autosave when I had everything typed; it waited until I was done deleting it first. So, I learned my lesson. I decided to type everything first in Microsoft Word and just cut and paste it into Blogger. Brilliant, huh? I know! I know! It took another hour to get everything typed and edited again. I saved it and thought we were good to go. Thing is, I got some funny error messages when I started the computer up and logged in. Apparently, I should have paid attention to them. It had created some sort of temporary profile that was erased when I later logged in properly. I found this really hot computer guy who was kind enough to give me the bad news. So, here I am, sitting in the dark, with 2 nappers and a hot computer guy next to me watching a movie on my ipod…in between bouts of snoring :). Don’t worry, I’m typing this in Word and saving it after every sentence, and have verified that I am properly logged in and saving this file to the correct file location. Whew!

So now, I’ll gladly take myself back to yesterday again…

Our Beijing guide, Maggie, met us in the lobby at 9:00 a.m. to take us to the airport for our 90 minute flight from Beijing (pronounced with a hard “j” actually, not with a “zh” sound) to Nanchang (short “a” first, then an “a” pronounced somewhere between an “ah” sound and a “u” sound). Maggie was able to convince the manager of our airline, China Southern, not to charge us a fee for our excess baggage by telling him we were adopting. She said, “They’re taking care of our babies”. Heartbreaker, right? Price fell asleep before take-off and didn’t wake up until we had already started our descent.

We arrived in Nanchang 30 minutes early, at 1:30 in the afternoon where, thankfully, our Nanchang guide, Mary, was already waiting for us. We collected our baggage and made our way to our van for the 20 minute ride to our hotel. It was at this time that Mary told us the orphanage would be bringing Carmon to the hotel around 3:30 or 4. We checked into the Gloria Grand Hotel and, as soon as we got to our room, I started nesting. I quickly unpacked the kids’ suitcases into drawers and started organizing things so our room would be uncluttered when they brought Carmon up. Tom wrapped some presents because we didn’t know when we would have to start passing them out. We finished that at 2:45 and decided to go to a café downstairs to grab a bite to eat. We didn’t know when we would have an opportunity to eat again.

We got downstairs and I asked Tom to go back up to get our camera. I was worried they’d come early, and we wouldn’t have the means to document our first meeting with our newest daughter. As I waited downstairs, I noticed some babies in the lobby. There were 2 little girls, and I was devastated because I was afraid one was Carmon and I wasn’t recognizing her. Not to worry…those girls were carried up to meet their adoptive parents within a few minutes. Then there was another little baby who appeared to be a boy to me. He also seemed like he was with his father and was walking already, but our guide came into the lobby and was talking with them. I gave her “the eye” asking if that was Carmon. She smiled and gave me “they eye” back. I was mortified at the thought that it was Carmon and I’d called him a boy and not recognized my own daughter. Not to worry, again. There was apparently a miscommunication between my “eye” and Mary’s “eye”.

There was a lady in the lobby that Mary went to sit with. That lady had also been sitting with the previous 2 adopted girls, so I am assuming she is some sort of liaison between the “state” and the orphanage and the adoptive parents. I was sitting on the edge of my seat while trying to choke down bites from a club sandwich…that had egg on it. The liaison hopped up, and I could see an SUV in the reflection from some marble tiles through the window we were sitting by. I looked at Mary again, afraid to give her “the eye” for fear of another miscommunication. But she was also up on her feet moving toward the door. I got on my feet, too. She did give me “they eye” when some caretakers came through the door holding Carmon. I KNEW IT WAS CARMON!!! And, for the record, I had correctly picked her out of the orphanage pictures that I’d previously posted on my blog. I tentatively headed towards them, not sure if I was allowed to go over. Mary motioned me over and I went straight for Carmon and took her from the lady holding her. She already had a tear on her face when I got to her, but she shared a few more of those with me. An orphanage employee seemed to think I could use some help soothing her and took her back from me. I wanted to swat her hands away, but I thought that might not be a good idea. But it wasn’t long before the orphanage director told her to give Carmon back to me. I’m not going to let anyone take her away from me ever again!

Mary got some paperwork from the orphanage employees and said we were free to take Carmon up to our room. Mary came with us because we had to sign some papers and thumbprint our signatures. Carmon was already showing some periods of calm, but she also showed some real, pure anger, bowing her back and letting out a different sounding cry.

By 4:35 Mary had left our room and we had our little girl all to ourselves. I felt a little bewildered. She was still mostly crying, especially when she looked at my face or when Tom or Price tried to talk to her. We were kind of just looking at each other with a “Well, here we are” expression on our faces. I put Carmon in our Hip Hammock and just walked around bouncing her. Tom set up a Thomas DVD for Price to watch and basically just tried to keep him entertained.

I sat in a chair and, with Carmon still in the Hip Hammock, she fell asleep on my chest. What a treat! She’s MY girl!

Almost an hour later she woke up. She fussed a little bit when I gave her to Tom, but the fussing was short-lived. We tried to feed her a bottle, but she wasn’t interested. Tom and I ordered room service…an interesting beef burger, some very non-American “American cheesecake”, and a bottle of Nanchang beer. Tom was holding Carmon while he ate his dinner and she was very excited by his food, so he gave her a French fry. :) She didn’t care for that much but did very much enjoy the bun from his burger. We were all exhausted and were asleep by 8:30.

She cried out a few times during the night but didn’t even give me time to get to her bed to comfort her before she had quieted herself back down.

So, there you have it…the complete story of the day I had my last baby.

Both the babies asleep

2009-03-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

After breakfast this morning, both babies came back and went to bed...at 8a.m. Wouldn't u love to go back to bed for a nap every day at 8? Obviously, we're all exhausted and adjusting.

The complete - VERY short version

2009-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Everyone - Abby has twice tried to post, but the computer lost the blog update both times! We're getting ready to go to our first paperwork appointment, and both kids are napping. Carmon calmed down after a couple of hours (maybe less) of our first meeting and slept through the night until about 5:30 when Price was talking to her. We had a good breakfast, and things are going VERY well, we are so pleased and thankful. Thanks for your prayers, thoughts and emails, keep them ALL coming!

Love,
Tom

Jack and Madeleine, here are pictures of your little sister

2009-03-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

We were down grabbing a quick bite when in comes a group of ladies with Carmon. I am posting a couple of pictures, and when Abby feels like she can let go of Carmon, she'll post a real update. Tom

Almost time...

2009-03-28T23:44:00.000-07:00

Our plane arrived in Nanchang about 30 minutes early, but we were welcomed by our guide Mary. It's now 2:45 and we just settled into our hotel. We were told that we would get a call around 3:30 or 4:00 that our daughter was here and she will be brought directly to our hotel room. I'm nesting. In a flurry, Tom and I got the room cleared and organized so that we would have space for our expanding family. We'll be posting pictures soon!!! BTW, we just found out that our video camera is dead. Yippee!

The Great Wall of China and other adventures

2009-03-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

We are EXHAUSTED but from a very rewarding day! After a really tasty buffet breakfast in our hotel, we met our guide, Maggie, at 8:30 in the lobby of our hotel. We headed first to The Jade Factory.

This is an example of agate jade. The workmanship was truly fantastic. We learned that jade comes in many colors, and that the majority of the statues are carved from one piece of jade. Even the one pictured above, that has rings hanging off the handles, is carved from one single piece of jade.

From The Jade Factory, we traveled to The Great Wall of China. Price made it all the way! Can you believe it? The real miracle is that Tom was able to backpack that baby all the way up and back down.

The monument in this picture displays a quote by Chairman Mao that says something similar to this: “You are not a real man until you have climbed to the top of the Great Wall of China.”. It was a real dream come true for me to be able to visit the Great Wall and enjoy the amazing views from the heights it took us to.

After leaving the Great Wall, we went to tour and have lunch on the second story of the Cloisonné (pronounced cloy’-sun-nay) Factory. Again, we were in awe of the skill involved in carrying on this ancient art form. The first course served to us was oxtail soup. It actually sounds a lot more exotic than it tasted. It tasted like spicy, watered down tomato soup. I did eat something in it that I didn’t recognize, but I don’t think it was actually oxtail. It was more similar to the texture of water chestnuts.

After lunch, we traveled to the Summer Palace. The history of the largest imperial garden in China was fascinating to Tom and me, but I doubt you are interested in the details. One thing though…it is located on one square mile and is made up of 60% water from a manmade, 2-3 meter deep, HAND DUG lake. HAND DUG!!!

The garden was exquisite. I personally loved the Chinese magnolia trees that were in bloom. Price slept through the entire garden in the backpack on Tom’s back!

After touring the Summer Palace, we made a final stop at the Pearl Factory before

coming back to have dinner at a very authentic Chinese restaurant near the hotel. The meal was delicious. We started with an unnamed vegetable. Our guide is going to try to figure out the English name for it, but she doesn’t think we have this vegetable in the States. Then we had pork and green bean dumplings, a lamb dish that was garnished with a lot of cilantro, and fried rice. It was so delicious! Did I already say that? Price fell asleep on my lap at dinner, so we are hoping he will get a better night’s sleep tonight than last night.

Jack and Madeleine, we had lots of fun bragging about how special you guys are as our guide asked questions about you! She thinks your nicknames (Pumpkin and Sassy) are very interesting. Tomorrow afternoon we will get to meet your new sister. When you wake up in the morning on Sunday and check the computer, we will hopefully have a video and pictures for you. We love you two very much.

2009-03-27T13:28:00.001-07:00

It’s technically still time for us to be sleeping, but jut lag has won! I took a doctor-prescribed sleeping pill at 9:30, right before I started blogging last night, and I had to re-read last night’s blog this morning because I didn’t even remember having written it. The pill helped immensely until 12:30. That’s when Price started crying out. He’s slept very fitfully ever since, and, therefore, so have we. We tried giving him Benadryl, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much. So, we have a long day ahead of us and aren’t well rested for it. As you are going to sleep tonight, please pray that we’ll have the stamina to soak in all the things we get to do and see and eat  today.

Jack and Madeleine, What did you do all day with Baba? Did you wear her out? Daddy and I miss you and are thinking about you a lot. xoxo

2009-03-27T06:19:00.001-07:00

We made it. Our trip started out great. We arrived at the airport at 5:15 in the morning. We’d been told we may not even be able to sit together on the plane since we made our reservation the day before we flew, but they were able to move us together for the flight from Orlando to Washington, D.C. It was only a 90 minute flight or so and Price slept on my lap for a little over an hour. It was a sweet moment between us. Then, for our flight from D.C. to Beijing, they upgraded us to Economy Plus and there was quite a bit more leg room. They put us in the bulk head row, but the arms don’t move up between the seats. So, while we were waiting to move to the other row they had for us, we (ok, it was me) asked for some of the champagne they were serving in business class. Oohhh Suure! They moved us to a whole row so we had 5 seats with moveable armrests!!!! Price fell asleep soon after takeoff and slept for 3 and a half hours. Then he was awake for 4 and a half. He was pretty busy but very well behaved. One nearby couple even commented that they hadn’t heard him the whole flight. Tom and I didn’t really get any sleep. I got a couple 20 or 30 minutes rests and Tom had a good period of time at the end of the flight where he was working hard to get rest.

So, we made it through immigration with lots of looks at Tom carrying Price in a backpack. We got our bags and made it through Customs, and then we met up with our guide Ms Maggie. She brought us back to our hotel (Novotel Peace Hotel). We learned that Tiananmen Square is near us so we wanted to visit it. Tom agreed to go to the lobby with her to get directions. I stayed in our room to organize things. That’s when I found out we’d left Price’s suitcase at the airport. So, unfortunately we headed all the way back there (1 hour each way) and blew our chance to go see Tiananmen tonight. So, we’ve turned in for tonight and are looking forward to a day of touring the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, and the jade factory,

Jack and Madeleine, we miss you. I hope you are having fun with Baba, Remember to be respectful. LOVELOVELOVE, Mommy

Leaving Miami

2009-03-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

I know this is a couple days back, but I wanted to show you what I saw as I was leaving Miami after getting Price's passport.What a sweet thing to see!!! Can you read it? The picture was taken on my camera phone while I was driving, so it's not the best quality. It says "China Shipping".

redbox code for Wednesday

2009-03-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Wednesday code is a special treat for March only, if I understand correctly, so take advantage of the last one I will be posting this month: MMM325.

Quick and Dirty

2009-03-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here's the quick and dirty version of what our trip should tentatively look like:

March 26: Arrive at airport in Orlando at 5 a.m. for 8:13 flight to Beijing via Dulles.
March 27: Arrive in Beijing at 2:30 p.m. Upon arrival, guide picks us up and transfers us to Novotel Peace Hotel. Free for the rest of the day.
March 28: Breakfast at hotel. Visit Great Wall (2 hour drive from Beijing), Lunch, tour Summer Palace, Dinner.
March 29: Depart Beijing at 11:35 a.m. for Nanchang. Arrive in Nanchang at 1:55 p.m. Upon arrival, guide picks us up and transfers us to the Gloria Plaza Hotel. GET CARMON around 5 p.m.
March 30: Civil Affair registration and Notary office.
March 31: Apply for Carmon's Chinese passport.
April 1: Visit orphanage.
April 2: Abby and Carmon will leave Nanchang at 10:10 a.m. to fly to Guangzhou and arrives in Guangzhou at 11:35 a.m. Upon arrival, guide will pick us up and transfer us to the Guandong Victory Hotel. First medical check will be that afternoon. Tom and Price will leave Nanchang at 11:25 a.m. to fly to Beijing, arrive Beijing at 1:45 p.m. before flying out of Beijing at 6:25 p.m. to come back to the States.
April 3: 2nd medical check (She will have to have 5 immunizations so they are breaking it up into 2 appointments)
April 4, 5, 6: Free to explore city.
April 7: Consulate Appointment at 9 a.m. Only the guide goes to this one. She delivers our paperwork for us.
April 8: Around 2:30 p.m. guide will take us to the Consulate for the Swearing In ceremony.
April 9: Abby and Carmon will leave at 12:00 p.m. to fly to Beijing, arrive Beijing at 2:50 p.m. Then we will fly from Beijing at 6:25 p.m. to come back to the States for an arrival at five minutes after midnight in Orlando (technically the 10th of April).

By the way, China is 13 hours ahead of Florida (Eastern time zone) time. So, if you are reading this at 1 in the afternoon here, it is 2 in the morning there.

The final day

2009-03-25T03:50:00.000-07:00

The day has actually arrived; we leave tomorrow. Let me tell you a little bit about how we got to this point, just in the last couple days.

At the end of last week, we had still not heard from the consulate in China if they had received notification directly from immigration to say we were officially allowed to come. So, my nerves were STARTING to get the better of me. Thanks to a relatively busy weekend, I made it through Saturday. Our agency had advised us to be watching late Sunday night or early Monday morning for an email from China. So, I stayed up late...not that it was difficult to do since I can't fall asleep before midnight these days and always wake up before 6, and that's while taking Advil PM.

By Monday morning, we hadn't heard anything and I was near frantic. We still had not purchased our plane tickets, made hotel reservations, etc and we were supposed to be leaving Thursday. I was very sick to my stomach all day and near tears at the drop of a hat.

Once our approval left the National Benefits Center in Lees Summit, MO where we were given approval on our I800, it went to the National Visa Center to be forwarded officially to China. At one point during the day, we got a phone number for the National Visa Center to ask them if they knew why we weren't getting a response from the consulate. It was a BAD move to call them. I called 2 different times to speak to two different people because I didn't like what the first one said. She said that once the notification leaves there (D.C.) it can take 3-4 months to get through customs and to the consulate. Oh yeah! You read that right! I was devastated and confused. That's why I called again. Bad move! I got the same news from the second person. However, they also didn't know why I filled out the specific adoption forms I had. So, on one hand I was afraid I'd totally messed up, and, on the other hand, I was afraid they were actually right about the 3-4 month thing.

After talking to the adoption agency, we learned that we had been misinformed by the National Visa Center and that we were still on track. But STILL WAITING! I asked for the phone number for the consulate, but was told that they liked to handle this kind of thing electronically and didn't want to be getting a bunch of calls. OH WELL! Never been much of a rule follower.

So, a little after 9 Monday night, I called the consulate myself. I spoke to a Chinese lady named Rachel...uh-huh, Rachel. Anyway, she verified they had received confirmation, verified that we still have our appointment on April 7th at 10:30 a.m. and were allowed to travel.

I was immediately relieved and started packing in a hurry. Tom, grab 9 shirts. Get whichever shorts you want to take. Did you charge all the batteries? Which cameras are we taking? Will you get our camping pillows out of the garage to use on the plane? And so on and so forth.

I also immediately sent an email to the agency asking them to get on travel arrangments right away. I know, it was after 9 at night, but I expected somebody to be at my beck and call. They actually were. The fastest that agency has EVER moved...EV-ER!

So, we're all set. Today I have a few final arrangements to make but we will leave our house around 4:30 in the morning to get there 3 hours early for our INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT!! WOOHOO!

More Pictures of Carmon?

2009-03-24T06:25:00.000-07:00

I promised you some more pictures of Carmon. Again, I'm not sure they are her and would like your help. I printed the pictures to take to the orphange with me where I'll ask the caretakers to identify the babies for me so I can be sure.

It's Been Hectic Here

2009-03-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since I posted because things got crazy around here. As you read here, I had to go to Miami to get Price's passport last Friday so that I could overnight it to Texas where our courier was waiting to receive it and take it to the Chinese consulate in Houston Monday (yesterday). Then, she had to leave it for one day and go back to pick it up Tuesday (today) and overnight it back to us so that we can receive it Wednesday (tomorrow) so that we can leave Thursday (the day after tomorrow). That's not cutting it too close, is it? Crazy, I know!!

Well, the story of that day is filled with blessings and miracles.

I left a little after 8 in the morning. As I was hugging Jack good-bye, I got that "What if I never see you again" feeling. NOT the best way to start off the trip. If you're a mom, I'm sure you know that feeling. I had to pull myself together quickly! Tom wasn't pleased that I was going down alone...thanks to all of you that didn't volunteer to accompany me on my road trip. Honestly, though, I was so stressed out and peopled-out that I enjoyed the trip alone.

The Peanut 'put his pillows up' a little less than 2 hours into the 4 hour drive. When he gets sleepy, he puts his hands up behind his head and rests on his arms/elbows...we call that 'putting his pillows up'. It's so cute!

He slept almost 2 hours in the car, which was the first miracle. The weather was nice, and the roads were clear. We made it to Miami in great time and the Passport Agency was right off the interstate. I even found free parking in the back of the building the Passport Agency's office was in.

I got there at 12:15 for my 12:30 appointment. I went to the office and handed the man at the front desk all my paperwork. The room was already filled with 100 people so I said to the gentleman, "Sooooo, my 12:30 appointment...notsomuch?" And he replied, "Notsomuch. The word 'appointment' is a bit of a misstatement. They usually book 40 people for one appointment." NOT ENCOURAGING. He said I'd wait at least an hour, but I ended up waiting 2 hours. Price did well; he is 2, so I had to keep that in mind, but all in all, he was a gem.

As I sat waiting, I was hearing stories that got me very discouraged! One lady had been there since 7:30 a.m., had a flight to catch in 90 minutes, and was told it would still be a while longer. AND we were more than 20 miles away from the airport. I'm guessing she missed her flight.

At 2:20, my number (3044) was called. I went up to the appropriate window and explained that I needed my passport that afternoon. He asked when I was leaving and when I told him it was going to be this Wednesday or Thursday, he said that the only people getting their passports today were leaving today! WHAT!?!?! I just wanna know how many of you procrastinate THAT badly? Anyway, I explained that it needed to be mailed off today to get the visa for Price back in time from Houston. He asked when I needed to mail it, and I told him I had to be at the post office by 4 to guarantee Next Day Delivery. He looked at me a bit sadly and sweetly told me that just wasn't possible, that the very earliest he could get it done would be 4:30. I just stood there looking kinda dumb if I do say so myself. I was actually calculating in my head and just figured I'd send it via FedEx (twice as expensive, but definitely falls into the category gotta-do-what-ya-gotta-do). He asked me to hold on a minute while he talked to his boss. He was back in less than 60 seconds to tell me, "We'll have it done in about an hour." WHAT?!?! Alrighty; no arguments here.

I had to go to a different room to actually pick up the passport, so I took a second to use the ladies room and change Price's diaper. Then I went out to my car to make sure I had everything ready for the post office. It was only a block away, so I was going to be walking there after I got the passport. I looked over our visa application to verify that it was filled out properly. My stomach was really upset because I knew that if I messed this up, our adoption process was going to have another hiccup in it and my heart wasn't prepared to deal with that.

I headed back into the building. Once I got in the office where you pick up the passports, it wasn't real clear what I was supposed to do. All the chairs were full and people lined the walls. There were 3 windows with employees behind them and I just decided to walk up to one to ask what I was supposed to do. As I got closer, I heard them say 'Chitty' and asked if they were looking for me. The gentleman told me he called my name about 5 minutes ago because they had Price's passport done. Done? 5 minutes ago? I JUST left the office upstairs about 6 minutes ago. Again, no complaints from me! So, I gleefully skipped out, passport in hand. MAYBE that's a BIT of an exaggeration, but I was inwardly gleeful.

We headed to the post office, got our package mailed off, loaded Price back up in the car, and headed for home. I was back on the interstate by 3:30...a mere seventy minutes after being told it would be about an hour to complete the passport.

Price slept again on the way home...bigger miracle, since he stopped taking 2 naps in one day MONTHS ago.

The next step was to wait for confirmation from the American consulate in China that they had all the paperwork we needed to keep our April 7th appointment.

Check back later for another update. Lots has changed already.

Happy Hour

2009-03-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

I love Steak & Shake's Yougurtshakes. It's like a milkshake, but healthier. :) At least, that's what I tell myself. It IS made from yogurt instead of ice cream after all. Anyway, all of their drinks and shakes are now half price from 2-4 PM every Monday through Friday.

Click here to find a participating location near you.

Picture of Carmon

2009-03-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

In January, when China celebrates Chinese New Year, these pictures were posted by our daughter's orphanage on a Yahoo group we are members of that is composed of families that are in the process of adopting or have already adopted from our daughter's orphanage.

You be the judge. Look back here to see Carmon's referral pictures. Then tell me if you see her in any of these photos.

You can see, from these photos, that the babies are well bundled. They rest in these bamboo baskets for a fair portion of their day.

Leave a comment and tell me which girl you think is ours and I'll reveal my guess later. We also got some more pictures from the orphanage last night that willl be posted soon for your guesses.

"Before" pictures of the nursery

2009-03-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

We're quickly closing in on the day that we will leave to go get Carmon. It could be as early as Wednesday or as late as Saturday. I'll explain that in a later email.

Today, I am going to start working on organizing to pack and I want you to feel a sense of accomplishment with me as I transform this baby's room.

Notice the huge stack of Huggies diapers in this picture? Can you tell we took advantage of the sale Walgreens had recently and stocked up?

Price couldn't resist getting in this picture. And I couldn't resist him because he's so cute!

Please don't look at the hamper overflowing with clothes right next to the chair Price is sitting in.

Check back later to see how much progress I make.

Quaker's Free Birthday Party with a Purpose Kit

2009-03-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

If you are taking advantage of the great deals at Target this week on Quaker Granola Bars, you'll wanna combine this with it.

Buy any 4 boxes of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars or Quaker Granola Bites, download this mail-in-offer form, and mail the form with 4 UPCs to:

Quaker Birthday Party Kit Offer
P.O. Box 750340
El Paso, TX 88575-0340.

In 6-8 weeks you should receive your Birthday Party with a Purpose Kit in the mail.

In addition, there are FREE party materials (invitations, banners, and thank-you notes) here. You can choose from Pirate, Green, Tea, Princess, or Cowboy themes.

Wednesday Bonus redbox Code

2009-03-18T03:36:00.001-07:00

The code for a free rental from redbox is GTL456.

Today's redbox code

2009-03-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

The promo code for today is 2GR4N8. Enjoy your movie!

South Beach, here I come.

2009-03-16T03:41:00.001-07:00

No, I am not starting a new diet (though it wouldn't be a bad idea), and, unfortunately, I'm not going on vacation. Price and I get to make the 4 hour drive (one way) to Miami together this Friday to get a passport for him.

We got a call from our adoption agency Friday afternoon that they'd received the final approval paperwork from immigration and would be sending a second request to the consulate in China for an appointment. They are expecting the appointment to be scheduled for the 7th, 8th, or 9th of April so we will probably be leaving very late Friday the 27th of March of very early in the morning Saturday, the 28th of March...less than 2 weeks from now!

We had to be within 2 weeks of traveling to be able to get a passport in a day (instead of waiting 6 weeks) and the earliest available appointment was this Friday. I'm going to call this morning to see if I can just come and wait like you do at the doctor's office if they have to "work you in", because we still have to send his passport off to Houston, TX for a couple days to receive his visa. This will be a very nervous time, waiting while we get that passport BACK.

Anybody up for a road trip? I really don't care to drive down for 4 hours and back for four hours alone.

Coke Zero fan?

2009-03-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

If you are a Coke Zero fan and a mycokerewards.com member, then here's a deal for you:

Click the image above for more details.

Approval is imminent!

2009-03-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

Of course, approval for our adoption has been imminent since the begininning technically, but I talked to Officer Hence in immigration this afternoon and he said our agency should have the approval form by tomorrow morning. That means we can request our consulate appointment again and will most likely have travel dates by the middle of this coming week. It's POSSIBLE we could be traveling by March 28th.

Wednesday's Surprise redbox Code

2009-03-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

The code for today for redbox is JBG123. And, since you are following this blog because you respect my movie critiquing ability, :) my husband said Pineapple Express was a waste. He likes those "dumb, guy movies" usually, but turned this one off after 30 minutes. I personally can't believe he lasted that long. It fell under the heading "Glad it was free!".

One thing about adoption I CAN count on.

2009-03-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

I got a call from immigration today asking me to correct a couple blanks on the form we recently submitted. I was advised by my adoption agency to write our daughter's name this way:
Last name: Yue
First Name: Mei
Middle Name: Hua

The blanks on these forms refer to Carmon's Chinese name. Well, as discussed in the post about how we chose our daughter's name, Mei Hua is actually her first name. Her last name, in Chinese, is Yu and the translation into English of her last name is Yue. So, we had to correct those 2 minor things and ship it off AGAIN. Thankfully, though, I was able to send this set of corrected forms directly to the office in Missouri instead of shipping it to Missouri via Chicago.

Here's the guarantee part: the post office guarantees it will be delivered between noon and 3 p.m. this Wednesday. I can finally say something in our adoption process is planned now. It wasn't able to go next day because the address is "enough off the beaten path" that it has to be flown nearby, then trucked to the exact physical location.

Now, since it is a DoD (Department of Defense) office all mail has to go through xray and Anthrax checks so, hopefully, by the end of the week, we will have our final approval.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Diet Coke Sale and Free Movie Ticket

2009-03-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is the perfect week to take advantage of a sale at CVS or Walgreens to buy Diet Coke and get free movie ticket. Each drugstore has a net purchase price of $2.50 per 12 pack when you purchase 4 packs. Remember my post here, earlier this week? If you spend $8 on Diet Coke, you can submit your receipt for a free movie ticket. But, purchase your Diet Coke today or tomorrow because your receipt has to be dated between 2/27/09 and 3/09/09 (Monday). To sweeten the deal even further, use mycokerewards.com points to print a coupon for $1.00 off a purchase of a 12 pack. Then you will get 4 12 packs for $1.50 each at a total of $6 and get a free movie ticket out of the deal as well.

Surprise! Redbox code for today

2009-03-04T07:31:00.001-08:00

This code should get you a free rental today: 75EA16. Just for the record, the movie Blindness is NOT recommended. It has some VERY disturbing scenes.

Suffering in Silence...

2009-03-04T07:08:00.001-08:00

I'm not really good at suffering in silence, but I'm doing my best. Blogging is technically silence, right?

I spoke to our immigration case manager on Tuesday and this was the party line he quoted me. Once our paperwork is received in Chicago (for the surprise form we had to fill out), it should take 10-14 days to make it's way to him in Missouri. Don't even get me started on that little process...where it's mailed by me to Chicago and then re-mailed from Chicago, ILLINOIS to MISSOURI. But, I digress! Once he receives it, it takes priority and should be completed within a day or two. Of course, that assumes that we properly filled it out and sent the correct documents with it. Did I already tell you that I already had all the documents I waited to receive by FedEx from our agency to fill out this form? So, I waited an extra, unnecessary day to mail off our paperwork. A day may not seem like much if you haven't adopted, but just try to remember what it felt like that last day you were pregnant and WAITING with eager excitement to deliver.

So, we are waiting again. If things progress on the schedule as my friends (who I should've been able to and wanted to travel with), we will likely be traveling in about 4-5 weeks.
Here's how it went for them:

Sunday, February 16 Received Travel Authorization from China
Monday, February 17 Adoption Agency requested consulate appointment from China
Tuesday, February 18 Consulate appointment confirmed for March 24 (5 weeks out)
Saturday, March 14 Our friends leave for China
Monday, March 16 Our friends will meet their daughter
Tuesday, March 24 Our friends will have their consulate ppointment
Thursday, March 26 Our friends come home from China with their daughter

So, if we receive our approval 14 days (just a guess) from when we mailed it on Thursday, February 26, that would be March 12. If we request our consulate appointment that day, we may receive our confirmation on March 15 (the day AFTER our friends leave for China). It is safe to assume that our consulate appointment would be near April 20 and we would, therefore, leave for China around April 11 and meet our daughter for the first time in person on April 13.

These are all estimates, but ,since I am a planner by nature, it helps me to have some kind of timeline in my head. It also sets me up for disappointment, but that won't be anything new, right?

Free Movie Ticket

2009-03-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

I saw this promotion advertised in my People magazine this past week. I admit I am a celebrity rag junkie. My husband usually gets me a subscription for my Valentine's Day present. He acts like it's MY present, but I have to fight him off it to be able to read it. Anyway, here goes:

Spend $8 or more on the products pictured (Physicians Formula New Organicwear Superfruit Lip Gloss, Diet Coke, Campbell' s Soup, Olay Pro-X, Rachel Getting Married DVD, or TurboTax) and send original receipt(s) along with you home and email addresses to:

All Things Red

P.O. Box 4938

New Yor, NY 10185

The movie ticket can be applied toward a movie of your choice at participating movie theaters. Original store receipt with qualifying items circled and purchase date between 02/27/09 and 03/09/09 must be postmarked by 03/27/09. Limit one ticket per household. Allow 4-8 weeks for delivery of ticket.

BOGO 20 oz Coke coupon

2009-03-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

If you enter the code 100869373819 into your My Coke Rewards Account, you will be able to print a BOGO coupon to use at Walgreens good on any 20 oz bottle of any Coca-Cola product.

Monday's Free Redbox Code

2009-03-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Today's code for a free rental is MS72K3.

Issues with Adoption

2009-02-26T09:28:00.000-08:00

There's has been so much happen with our adoption recently that I haven't updated you on, so I'm going to take a few minutes to do that.

I'll start with a little history to catch you back up where we left off. We filed a form with immigration on January 12, 2009 and were told, at that time, that it would take 90 days to get the approval on that form. HUGE disappointment because we were hoping to get it done in time to travel with some new friends. Much to our surprise, we received a call from our case manager on February 9th. Unfortunately, it was to tell me I hadn't sent payment and that he could not give our approval until payment had been logged into their system. So, I hurried to the post office and mailed our payment right away. In the meantime, I had to fax him a few other documents which I took care of immediately. The next day I called him back to request he go ahead and set up our fingerprint appointments so that we could be getting that done while he finished up. However, he informed us that the appointment is generated automatically by "their system" and that couldn't be done until the payment was logged in. AND our fingerprint appointment would be 2-3 weeks out from that point. UGH!! ANOTHER setback! We kept re-setting our sights each time we got information.

So, already, we've gone from:

referral December 29, 2008 and expectation of traveling 6-8 weeks after that to
we won't be approved until April 12th with travel dates SOMETIME after that to
we're alomst done as of February 9th back to
it'll be late February before you can even get fingerprints done

So, I decide to take matters into my own hands instead of sitting on those hands. I decided to go directly to the fingerprint office and just wait in line. So, I packed the baby, food, and toys in the car for the 45 minute drive. Well, I actually, unknowingly, drove to the immigration office where you HAVE to have an appointment to talk to ANYBODY for ANY reason. I was told, by the security guards there (after putting the baby in the stroller and packing it with documents and toys and food), that fingerprints were done at a different location anyway. So, I put the baby BACK in the car and drove 10 more minutes to the fingerprint place only to be told (after putting the baby in the stroller and packing it with documents and toys and food) that I needed to go BACK to the immigration office to get a letter that states my appintment time for fingerprints because you can't just wait in line. When I tell THAT guy that immigration just told me I couldn't talk to anybody there without an appointment, he told me to ask to speak to a supervisor and explain the time-sensitive-ness (Is that a word?) of my situation. So, I put the baby BACK in the car and drove 10 minutes BACK to the immigration office. By this time, Price keeps saying "Office? Office?" each time I put him in the car or get him out. Poor baby! I put the baby in the stroller and packed it with documents and toys and food and headed BACK into the immigration office (Office? Office?) and start crying while asking to speak to a super. They let me go through security (take baby out of stroller, scan bags with toys and food, walk through security gate, put baby back in stroller, reload arms of stroller with toys and food, you get the picture?) to talk to someone at the customer service desk. Office? Office? Still hearing it CONSTANTLY from Price. I cry some more and beg for someone to just give me a letter to get my fingerprints taken immediately. Long story short (Ha!Ha!), someone agreed to give me a letter. This was on Wednesday and she asked if I wanted an appointment Saturday. Uh, NO! I want one today! So, it's 11:10 and she schedules an appointment for Tom and I for 11:30. And Tom's at work, of course, because it's a Wednesday. Don't most employed men go to work on Wednesdays? So, I quickly wheel Price back outside and get to the car where my phone is (no phones allowed in the building, of course) and call Tom to tell him to get in the car RIGHT AWAY and come for fingerprints. I unpack the stroller, get Price in his seat and race the 10 minutes BACK to the fingerprint office. Load baby back in stroller with toys and food . Office? Office? Rush in and fill out paperwork. Tom arrives a few minutes late but they didn't seem to mind. We waltzed out 10 mins later with a very climactic event over.

It only took me a few minutes to call our case manager to let him know our fingerprints were done and that he could finish our approval. We were under the impression, from him, that the approval would be automatic after fingerprints were in the system. And the fingerprints should be in the system automatically because they were taken digitally. Well, not quite. It takes 48-72 house for the fingerprints to go through the FBI to immigration. Are you kidding me ?!?!?! So, 72 hours is technically Monday. Our friends already have their consulate appointment scheduled and we are trying to get one one the same day. If our approval isn't received until Monday, it will be 1 week after our friends requested their appointment and, apparently, for adoption appointments at the consulate, that's a long time. So it's not likely we'll even get the day we want. Disappointment again. But we hold out hoping we'll make it anyway.

We received our approval Monday and the president of our adoption agency faxed the request for a consulate appointment to China that day. China's already asleep (since it's 13 hours ahead there) so we know we'll have to wait. First thing the next morning I call our agency. No word. I'm told it will take 48-72 hours to receive confirmation. Pins and needles are hard to sit on for that long. Yesterday, I got a call. A horrible call. Another employee at our agency called to say our request for an appointment had been denied becasue we still need to fill out more paperwork. Poor lady! She got an earful...crying and yelling. It wasn't pretty. Our agency has been COMPLETELY, and I do mean COMPLETELY, negligent in taking care of us. So, now we wait again. I have filled out the forms that we need and am waiting on a FedEx package today from our agency with documents that need to be mailed with the additional forms. As soon as I receive it, I will fax everything to our immigration case manager (even though I don't know if he's supposed to handle this part for us as well) and FedEx the stuff to where it is supposed to go.

I'm sure you're tired of reading because I am WAY tired of typing. I'll quit for now and pick the story back up when there's more to tell. In the meantime, please pray for us. I know the Lord is taking care of our baby, but I want to be.

$15 Gift Card at Babies R Us

2009-02-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Through March 4th, you will receive a $15 gift card with the purchase of any 3 of the following products:

Pampers Value Box of Diapers (92-252 ct.)

Pampers Value Box of Wipes (360-560 ct.)

Bounty Big Pack

Charmin Big Pack

Dreft 96 load

Tide 96 load

There are plenty of Babies R Us coupons out there that you can use in conjunction with manufacturers coupons to make this a sweet deal.

In addition, if you join their free Rewards R Us program, you'll earn $5 for every $150 you spend there. And, when you buy 9 boxes of value diapers, you get the 10th FREE...thats over a $40 value!

FREE Hillshire Farms Hearty Slices Lunchmeat

2009-02-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

I went to Target to take advantage of the Hillshire Farms lunchmeat coupon for $0.55 off in the 2/22/09 Red Plum insert in conjunction with the $1.00 off Target coupon and was presently surprised to spot this offer.

In case you can't make out what it says: Purchase a pkg of Hillshire Farm Deli Select Hearty Slices Hardwood Smoked Turkey Breast Lunchmeat and receive a refund for the purchase price by submitting a 3x5 index card containing your name, address, city, state, zip code, and email address with 1 UPC symbol from the pkg and the original dated cash register receipt with the purchase price circled to:

Hillshire Farm Try Me Free Offer

P.o. Box 6154

Dept D

Douglas, AZ 85655-6154.

It has the usual restrictions (one refund per household or mailing adress, good on exact product only, no copies of UPC or receipt, etc.). It does NOT state that you have to mail in the peelie that ocntains this information so anyone who purchases this item should be free to take advantage of this offer.

Mystery Dining

2009-02-22T06:22:00.000-08:00

You've heard of Mystery Shopping, but have you heard of Mystery Dining? Well I recently read a post (Sorry, I don't remember where.) about being a mystery diner at Longhorn Steakhouse. We'd only been there one other time and we were not impressed but, we're willing to try a lot of things if they're free.

I went to Focus on Service's website to apply. After receiving an email from Focus on Service welcoming me to their "club", I went to their website to choose from several different times, dates, and locations. I received an email from an employee confirming my visit. Then I looked at their survey online to know what things to pay attention to. So, this past Wednesday, we headed to dinner at Longhorn. Soon I'll be receiving a check for $40! Yippee!

I won't critique the restaurant here so that you can go without any preconceived notions, but if you want to give it a try yourself, go here to apply.

Gap Outlet Baby Sale

2009-02-22T05:56:00.001-08:00

I recently blogged about a Baby sale at the Gap Outlet here. Well, you know I'm always looking out for you, so I decided to test the sale out myself. I know! I know! How kind of me to do research on your behalf. Anyway, my husband took our 2 big kids camping yesterday so I headed to the outlet on a recon job for you. Here's what I learned:

The sale is on clothes from newborns through 5T
The "Up to 40% off" should be paid attention to carefully. There were quite a few things on sale for only 20% off. I will say, though, that there were also a few items (a tad more winter-y) that were marked 50% off.

So, to sum things up, I did get a couple things. Ok, maybe a few. Alright, it was several. However, only 2 of the items were actually for our newest baby. I got a short sleeved t-shirt for our oldest for $3.99 and a long sleeved one for $5.99. I got a shirt for myself that was $11.99. And I got a long-sleeved onesie for $3.99 and a one piece outfit for $10.19 for the baby. The one piece outfit for the baby is a little out of my price range, but we have to take long sleeved 6-12 month clothing to China with us and it's been difficult to find. The shirt for $11.99 for me is also a little steeper than I try to go, but it's a white basic piece and needed for travel as well.

I may try to wait until closer to the end of the promotion and go back if I have to go into town on some other mission. Or often, once these promotions are over, they clearance out all of the sale items and you can get them cheap. I did end up with a coupon for 15% off my entire purchase if I complete a survey so that MAY make it worth a trip.

There you have it. Hope this is helpful.

Poll Post

2009-02-22T05:48:00.000-08:00

Did you notice the poll on my page? Are you wondering what on Earth is up? Well, the poll will remain open through the end of this week. We could use your help as we take into account our options. Here's the story:

We received our referral to come to China to bring home our daughter on December 29, 2008. Since then, things have been a little complicated while we scurry to finish up paperwork. As if that wasn't enough, the person who has been planning, for the last 37 months, to watch our kids while we travel to China, has other plans during the window of time that we will probably travel. We have a 8 year old boy, a 7 year old girl, and a 2 year old "baby". We were arranging alternate childcare plans when our youngest had a seizure. He has had 3 of them previously. Our neurologist has said they are impact seizures...each has been a result of a VERY hard hit to his head. Here's the best way I know to explain what happens to him: since he has an extremely high tolerance for pain, his brain shuts his body down to deal with the pain since his body doesn't do it naturally. We worry about leaving him here under someone else's care. That's a huge responsibility to saddle somebody with! And, we don't like the idea of not being the ones to provide his care and comfort if it were to happen again. We do have medicine that we are able to administer rectally that quickly ends his seizure. He has another appointment tomorrow and will possibly be put on anti-seizure medication at that time. So, to my question for you guys who may have already had experience traveling in and perhaps receiving medical care in China or others who care to weigh in their opinion: Would you take your baby or not?

Whew! That was a lot! Thanks in advance for your time and advice. Please leave us a comment explaining your vote so we have information to help us think of all the angles.

$7.06 for Crocs, Shipping and Tax Included

2009-02-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

I saw that Finish Line was having a MAJOR clearance on Crocs...$4.98 for kids and $9.98 for adults. So I hurried on over, at least as much as I can hurry on dial-up, and got 16 pairs for a grand total of $112.91. I ordered some on behalf of a couple friends and some for my kids to wear now and their next size as well. Any that don't fit or don't look like we wanted can be returned to a Finish Line store with no hassles. I am so excited! I resisted these shoes for a long time, but, living in Florida with children, means I had to come to terms with their function over form factor!

Go here for shopping! Also, follow your UPromise link to save an additonal 4% in your 529 College Savings Fund.

Thanks, Mercedes!

Adults & Kids FREE @ Medieval Times Show in Orlando

2009-02-19T06:21:00.000-08:00

We have always wanted to go to this dinner show, but it's been too expensive. However, now our entire family could go for the price of 1 adult! If you purchase 1 full price Medieval Times Admission Ticket you will receive one free ticket of equal or lesser value. Children 12 & under are free. You have to mention the discount code AKF09 at the time of your purchase. There is a limit of 6 free admissions per reservation and this is not valid with group rates, special offers, or other discounts. So, if you are in the Orlando area and looking for expensive entertainment on the cheap, here it is! Visit this site or call 1-888-WE-JOUST (935-6878) for more information!

Baby Clothes Sale

2009-02-19T05:50:00.000-08:00

February is traditionally a fantastic month for baby sales and it comes at the perfect time for our family since we are expecting a baby soon. I am a big, HUGE Gap fan. That usually means purchasing these items at consignment and Salvation Army, but once a year, I make sure to make a trip to the Gap Outlet for the baby sale.

New Promo at MyCokeRewards.com

2009-02-19T05:42:00.000-08:00

From 2/23 - 2/27/09, you can earn 5 bonus points by registering a Diet Coke code together with a Minute Maid code.

At CVS this week, you can get $10 ECB when you buy $20 worth of Coke products. Maybe this is the perfect week to redeem some mycokerewards.com points for some Coke coupons, purchase a combination of Coke and Minute Maid products from CVS, and come back here next week to log in the codes. For more information about the mycokerewards reward program, click here.

My favorite coupon

2009-02-18T20:58:00.000-08:00

Since ebay so rarely runs money saving promotions, I am always thrilled to find out they are. Right now, you can receive an additional 8% off any purchase you make. Personally, I will be finding a gift certificate (Target probably) that our family can take advantage of, buy it at a discount, and then get this additional 8% discount. Then I can use the discounted gift card to purchase discounted items.

Also, if you go through UPromise when you purchase (not bid on) the gift card you choose, you will receive a contribution to your children's 529 College Savings Account.

But hurry, this coupon expires Feb 22nd.

Free Barrette Sample

2009-02-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Go here to sign up for a free sample of Goody Girls Barrettes.

BOGO Meal at TGI Fridays

2009-02-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

My husband's employer received this offer from TGI Fridays and it specifically states that we are able to pass this offer along to our friends. So, if you would like this coupon, leave your email address in a comment on this post and I will gladly forward it to you. The coupon can be printed and used as many times as you like between now and March 1, 2009.

Free Breakfast at IKEA again

2009-02-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

For a period of four days, from Friday, February 13, 2009 through Monday, February 16, 2009, many regional IKEA stores will again offer free breakfast to its customers. Click here to read the fine print.

Sam's Single Day Pass

2009-02-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

Normally, the "complimentary" pass for warehouse stores is not really a great deal because you still have to pay a non-member's surcharge. However, click here for a pass for a day of shopping at Sam's club for absolutely free (fee waived as well) courtesy of Allstate Insurance Company. We dropped our club membership over a year ago because we are able to get everything more cheaply that we need (and then some to share with others) by more closely watching sales at grocery stores and drugstores. LAtely, have you assessed whether or not your warehouse club membership actually saves you money?

RedBox code for free Movie Rental for today only

2009-02-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

The code for today is 25CH63. As always, the code is only good for today. For the RedBox location nearest to you, click here.

Contessa Seafood Meals printable coupon

2009-02-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

These meals are often featured on a BOGO sale at Publix (my favorite grocery store). Go here to print a coupon for $2 off and it will make an inexpensive meal for your family. Hurry though, this offer is only available to the first 50, 000 subscribers. I often take advantage of these pre-packaged dinners on nights when I am going to go out with girlfriends. That way, I can make sure my family is fed without a lot of preparation time cutting into my primping time. :)

While at this website, you can also sign up for a free $10 coupon boook from Betty Crocker.

Del Monte vegetables coupon

2009-02-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

Limit sodium without limiting taste! Try Del Monte 50% Less Salt Vegetables available in Sweet Peas, Kernel Corn, and Cut Green Beans. Log in here to receive your printable coupon.

20% off at Macy's through Sunday

2009-02-06T05:32:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of serving as personal shopper to my sweet friend Jackie last night and we were pleasantly surprised, while shopping in Macy's, to find that we could get an additional 20% off all the items she purchased.

Since we didn't know about the promotion before heading to the mall, Jackie purchased a cute pin in the shape of a red dress for $2. Then, she was able to get 20% off a classy Tahari suit, sassy jean jacket, and two shirts with great detailing. In a separate transaction she was able to use it again to purchase a pair of great heels. She will be able to take advantage of the Go Red Promotion all through this weekend if she chooses to go back for more.

Here's the fun part, though (not that last night wasn't fun)...if you WEAR something red, you automatically get 20% off...no pin purchasing required. If you do have to or choose to purchase the pin, rest assured that Macy's will donate all Red Dress Pin proceeds to the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women movement.

Of course, exclusions apply. But this is also available online if you can't get to the mall.

Happy Bargain Shopping!

BOGO Welch's AquaJuice Printable Coupon

2009-02-04T06:04:00.000-08:00

Welch's AquaJuice is a great-tasting naturally lighter juice beverage for kids. An 8oz. glass of Welch's AquaJuice contains less sugar than leading kids' fruit drinks, has no high fructose corn syrup, no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, only 80 calories, one full serving of fruit (1/2 cup), and is an excellent source of Vitamin C.
The product is available in 52oz. bottles in Fruit Punch, Strawberry Kiwi, Apple. Click here for a BOGO coupon.

I assume this will be similar to the Roaring Water Capri Sun pouches that my kids love!

Free Fuel System Cleaner

2009-02-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

Through February 11, you can get Chevron's 12 oz. Techron Fuel System Cleaner FREE after a Mail-In Rebate. This is a great promotion because two 12 oz Chevron Techron Fuel System Cleaners are allowed per household or address. So, two-car families can ensure that each car in your garage can get it's fuel system cleaned and be able to operate more efficiently. Offer limited to in-stock items only. Not valid with any other offer. For more infomation, click here.

Free Movies All Day

2009-02-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

I wish I had the freedom to sit in the movie theater all day, but I don't. Maybe you do. So, if you do, AMC has a great promotion going on Saturday Feb 21st.

AMC is hosting an all day movie event. You can see all 5 Oscar Best Picture Nominees for $30 per person. If you are an AMC MovieWatcher it is $25 per person. It's free to enroll in the AMC MovieWatcher program and it includes a free unlimited large popcorn per person.

Here are the movies and show times (in case you are like me and have no idea what the nominees are):

Milk 10:30 a.m.
The Reader 1:05 p.m.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 3:45 p.m.
Slumdog Millionaire 7:15 p.m.
Frost/Nixon 9:45 p.m.

On the day of the event, with the collectible pass, you can come and go as you please. Click here for more information or to find a participating AMC theater near you.

Thanks, Southern Savers!

Redbox Free Rental Today Only

2009-02-02T10:30:00.001-08:00

Today's free rental code is D9P24G.

Also, Redbox, Colgate and Albertsons have teamed up to get you a free Redbox rental. Here are the details…
Purchase 2 tubes of Colgate Total or Colgate Max Fresh Toothpaste and receive a FREE one night rental from redbox.
*Offer good on 4.0 oz or larger only. Available at participating Albertson’s locations. Promo code will be printed on the bottom of the register receipt after qualifying purchase is made. Offer valid January 18, 2009 to February 8, 2009.

It's back

2009-01-29T08:35:00.000-08:00

Ooooo Yay!! I'm so excited! Riceworks makes Gourmet Brown Rice Chips and now they're giving them away for free! I printed off a bunch of these coupons when they were available before and redeemed them at SuperTarget. However, after I had already "purchased" a dozen bags, they told me they couldn't accept the coupon anymore since it didn't have an expiration date. Well, it's back, and this time it has an expiration date on it. Enjoy some free, full of fiber, yummy chips. If you don't have a SuperTarget near you, check here before printing the coupon to make sure you can buy them in your area.

Baby steals at Target

2009-01-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

I scored some AWESOME baby deals yesterday at Target. I know that February is supposed to be the time of year for snagging good baby deals, so Target must be clearing out their old stock to bring in the new stuff for sales.

Anyway, we have been in the market for a booster seat with a back on it so we can move Price into that and have his car seat for Carmon when she comes home. We have been watching a $50+ one, waiting for it to go on sale. NO NEED to wait anymore. I got it yesterday at target for $17.22!! Score!

And, have you ever tried to buy cute bibs for babies that don't have corny sayings on them like: "Spit Happens"? Spare me. Who wants to see that on their dainty little girl? So I got some $5 bibs from the Dwell Studio line (LOVE it!) for $1.24 each. See how cute they are?

Hurry in for the best selection. This is the perfect time to stock up on baby gift items for your "gift closet".

Free Coffee at Panera this Wednesday

2009-01-26T13:25:00.002-08:00

Wanna join me for a cup of coffee this week? I'll be stopping in on my way to the Salvation Army. It looks like they will have some nice samples out, too, so I might just wait and have my "breakfast" there as well.

Free RedBox rental today

2009-01-26T12:51:00.001-08:00

Here's the code for the free rental at RedBox today: 57VH9L.

Free Download of book about Oswald Chambers

2009-01-26T12:44:00.001-08:00

In David McCasland's book, Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God, we have the story of this man's life and how, having honored God, God is now honoring him with the only fame that really matters.

Christian audible.com is offering a free download of this book until the end of January. Click here to begin the download process. Enter JAN2009 at checkout to redeem this free download.

Lots of Coupons

2009-01-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

There are a number of really great coupons for cleaning products that you can print out by clicking here.

Here's one for Sure Max Clinical Deoderant.

And one for Pert Plus with Botanicals.

If you print these out and keep them with your coupons, I'm sure they'll match up with a good sale around town soon.

Sad News

2009-01-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't used this forum to update you on are news from China recently so here we go. I got some sad news today. Our home study is sitting in the immigration office in Chicago today. It will stay there for about 75 MORE days, unfortunately. We faced major setbacks this summer and fall getting our home study updated and filling out the form necessary to renew our approval to adopt a child from China. I have been in touch with various people over the past week and a half trying to get our approval expedited. Sometimes, I was quoted the "party line" that it was a 90 day process and sometimes I was told that it could be completed more quickly if I did this or that. Well, I did this AND that but received a call from our case manager confirming it would, in fact, take close to the full 90 days. It was quite a blow and I am still reeling from it. I had been holding out hope that we would be able to go as soon as we got our travel authorization, but it looks like the earliest we will be able to go get Carmon now is mid-late April.

Our case manager's name is Meredith. Please pray that our family is never far from her mind and that she is moved to pull our paperwork out of her stack and process it right away. We've tried to so patiently wait on the Lord, but this news today was too much to handle. Please pray for us.

2009-01-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

Free code for today from RedBox is: K6W3G4. Enjoy a movie on me:). Ok, maybe it's not really from me, but we can pretend like it is!

Want a FREE Tall Coffee from Starbucks?

2009-01-16T06:53:00.000-08:00

Starting January 21, Starbucks will salute everyone who pledges 5 volunteer hours with a free Tall (12 oz) brewed cup of coffee from January 21 – 25th. Go here for more details.

Their goal is to inspire 1 million hours of community service.

Are you overloaded with free Johnson's Buddies soaps?

2009-01-15T17:07:00.000-08:00

I have a request. As many of you know, we will be traveling to China within a month or two, Lord-willing, to bring our daughter home. I would like to take as many of these free bars of soap as possible to the orphanage when we go over. Here's where you come in: would you consider printing or clipping the coupons and mailing them to me so I can go "buy" them? It would mean so much to me. Recently there have been a few places advertised with coupons. See here, here, here, here, and here.

Thanks so much for considering this. If you will leave your address in a comment, I will contact you directly and give you my postal address.