Life With Maizie

We're Moving!!!!

2010-07-24T13:48:00.003-04:00

To wordpress!!! I've been thinking about the move for a while and now just seems like as good a time as any. Since I am not a very computer-save person it might take me a while to figure out how to switch all my posts over to wordpress (all my old blog posts can be moved to wordpress right??). But in the meantime I will be posting over there. So with out further ado...

http://chinaandback.wordpress.com/

See you on the other side!

Wordless Wednesday: OUCH!

2010-07-21T14:06:00.004-04:00

Poor Maizie has a little booboo. She got in the way while Kodi was barking. He didn't bite her she just got in the way. It was a total accident but there was some blood. Maizie cried for about 30 seconds and then went back to playing. She's such a little trooper. (ok not so wordless)

to eat...or not to eat

2010-07-17T20:31:00.004-04:00

For over 10 months now Maizie's eating has been difficult. There were only a handful of things she would eat and none of them were really all that good for her (with the exception of yogurt and banana's). She has basically had the same thing for dinner for the past 8 months. That is until last Saturday when we went to PF's for dinner. She not only ate ALL of her chicken but a lot of my Lo Mein, two packets of apple sauce some of Tracy's spicy chicken, a bowl of rice and a lettuce wrap minus the lettuce! She ate more then I have ever seen her eat before. And she tried a lot of new foods that she has never wanted to try. Her little belly wasn't so little that night. All week we gave her new foods to eat for dinner and she has eaten everything we have given her. I guess after eating chicken nuggies and sweet potato fries for the past 8 months she finally had enough and tried something new. Today she even had a whole piece of pizza and a cupcake. And yes cupcakes were one of the things M didn't like before.

Eating rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and corn.

Cut to tonight...where she didn't want to eat at first. I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store so all we had was nuggies and fries.

She usually hides behind her place mat but tonight she figured out the tablecloth works too.

Finally eating.

This one is just too cute.

4th of July

2010-07-10T13:21:00.005-04:00

The 4th of July was a very relaxing day for us. We spent the morning in the pool and then went to a cook out. Maizie was too tired to go to the fireworks so once she went to bed we left my parents in charge and Tracy and I to the fireworks. There were just starting as we pulled in luckily we found a parking spot (thank goodness we didn't get towed) and made our way over and found a great spot to sit. The fireworks were great! But I was glad we didn't bring Maizie. We sat pretty close and they were so loud bouncing off the tall buildings.

Ok so back to the pool. My parents pool has a slide and a diving board. Maizie loves slides and loves pools. Combine the two and you have one very happy little girl.

Daddy trying the slide first while Maizie is anxiously awaiting her turn.

Maizie's turn!!!

At first I think she was a little scared but after a few times with Daddy she really started to have fun.

Maizie even went half way down by herself a few times.

Maizie really had a good time in the pool.

Kodi even wanted to join in.

Wordless Wednesday: Belly Flop!

2010-07-07T09:29:00.002-04:00

2nd and 3rd of July

2010-07-06T12:37:00.010-04:00

We just got home from a very busy but fun holiday weekend. Friday afternoon we packed up and left to go to my Mother-in-law's house for a little cook-out and then to watch the fireworks. I think Maizie enjoyed the fireworks but was just as happy to play with my shoes. After the fireworks were over we jumped back in the car to head to my parents house. Saturday Maizie, Grandma and I spent the day by the pool while Grampa and Tracy went golfing. Then it was back to my parents country club for dinner. Maizie loved running around and "playing" (mostly stared them down) with the other kids. One little boy handed her a golf club which she then threw. Grampa was proud that she just threw her first golf club. I wish I got a picture of it. It was kind of funny. Once dinner was over Grampa took her for a little walk.

Maizie could have spent hours running down the hill on the 18th green.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures of Maizie. She just looks so cute in her white dress in the white chair. And that look is her trademark look. "What, I'm not doing anything"

The night ended for Maizie with a little driving down the driveway.

Which brings us to the 4th....

yard work

2010-06-29T20:24:00.006-04:00

The other day Tracy decided that it is time for Maizie to pull her own weight around here. So he put her to work in the yard. Her first chore....helping Daddy weed the garden.

I think she put more mulch in the bucket then actual weeds. But she got really in to it and helped for quite a while.

Notice the dirt on her shirt. She was working hard!

Wordless Wednesday: Yummmm

2010-06-23T21:17:00.001-04:00

Sprinkler

2010-06-22T13:28:00.003-04:00

Maizie love water. She can play in her water table for hours on end, loves baths and loves to swim. But her new favorite thing...the sprinkler!

It was a little hard to get good pictures. Every time I would get close enough I would get wet. But you will have to trust me she loved it. She was actually squealing with delight.

Wordless Wednesday: Overtired

2010-06-09T09:25:00.002-04:00

time

2010-06-03T21:13:00.003-04:00

Time seems to fly around here. It seems like yesterday we were on vacation and here we are more then 3 weeks later. I cant believe it is officially summer. We have been pretty busy lately but I really haven't taken many pictures. I think today was the first time in about a week I took my camera out. We have been having some slight sleeping issues. Maizie is trying to faze out her naps. Personally I don't know why anyone would want to faze out naps. I love taking naps. She is having a hard time understanding that Mommy needs some time to herself. I just keep telling myself that Maizie doesn't want to take a nap because she likes spending time with me. HA! Don't get me wrong I love spending time with Mai but it's nice to be able to shower with out someone trying to crawl in with me.

Anyway here are some left over photo's from our vacation.

I think I have mentioned before how much Maizie loves shoes. Here she is playing in the closet with Grandpa's shoes.

Trying on Grampa's shoes.

I think they are a little too big! hehe

Practicing her gymnastics on the bed.

swim swim swim

2010-05-17T21:18:00.003-04:00

While we were in Florida Maizie started swimming! My little girl loves the water. She would stay in the pool for 2 - 2 1/2 hours! I think this summer we will be making lots of trips to my parents house so little miss can go swimming.

Florida

2010-05-17T20:33:00.005-04:00

We just got back (and by just I mean almost a week ago) from Florida. Don't get me wrong I love being on vacation but there really is no place like home. Maizie did great on the flights! I don't think she cried once. She loved being at the airport watching all the planes. Maybe she will become a pilot just like Uncle Jamie.

Blowing kisses at the planes going by.

Mai was so tired she fell asleep with her "teddy's" in her hand. It was a long day for her.

One day we went to Sanibel Island and went to one of our favorite preserves. If you have never been to Sanibel...GO. It really is a beautiful little island. I could spend all day at Ding Darling Preserve. It's so nice and peaceful. Too bad it was nap time and Maizie wasn't digging Ding Darling.

We also went to the beach club for lunch. Maizie was so excited to go to the beach she didn't want to eat lunch. She just kept staring out the window.

After we made her eat lunch down to the beach we went.

Ummm I think she loved the beach. Maizie was a little hesitant to get in the water at first but once she figured out the waves were a good thing she had a blast!

Mai also had a lot of fun playing in the sand. She had sand everywhere!

Zoo!

2010-04-27T18:27:00.008-04:00

This weekend was my birthday. To me age is just a number. Most days I don't feel my age (which is 32 for those who want to know). Some days I feel like I am 32 going on 22 and others it's 32 going on 72. This birthday was especially special because it was my first birthday with Maizie. It's funny how your view of the "perfect birthday" changes once you have kids. Last year I would have said the perfect birthday is sitting on the beach with a margarita in hand (which I think I did my last 2 birthdays). But this year was different. All I wanted to do was have a fun day with Maizie at the Zoo. And a fun day at the zoo we had!

We went to a zoo we have never been to before and didn't really know what to expect. It was actually a really nice zoo. They had a petting zoo with a bunch of goats. I didn't know how Maizie would react to all the goats but she loved and I mean LOVED them. She was walking patting then on the back. There was even a little baby goat but Maizie wanted nothing to do with the baby. She liked the big fat goats much better. It one point she had a goat by it's horns and was shaking it's head.

I think she was trying to crawl on this guys back.

There was also a deer park where the deer just roam free and you can pet them.

Of course we had to stop and watch the lemurs for a while.

We ended the day on the carousel. At first Maizie didn't know what to think but by the end I think she was having fun.

Maizie and I sitting on a wooden camel.

After we left the park we came home and all took a nap. Then Tracy and I went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant. It really was a great birthday.

Time out

2010-04-23T19:41:00.006-04:00

This is how time out starts.

Then this.

and this.

Which results in this.

then this

and once again.....this

As you can see we are having some issues with time out. Maizie doesn't spend a whole lot of time in time out (although lately it's becoming more frequent). Any tips on how to keep her in time out? I'm open to any suggestions.

Slide!

2010-04-23T19:09:00.004-04:00

After scouring all sorts of web-sites for used outdoor climbers for Maizie we (and by we I mean I) decided to just buy a new one. I am the type of person who likes to know what I am buying. I usually spend hours researching online to find just the right product. It took me about 6 months to finally decide what laptop to buy. So when it came time to buy a outdoor play thing for Maizie it was no different. I found one that I thought she would like and that she could use now and grow in to. Well after dragging Tracy and Maizie out to a few stores and then calling a bunch more I couldn't find what I wanted. I finally broke down and ordered from the dreaded Wal-Mart. I am a Target kind of girl so it really felt like I was betraying on an old friend. Even though getting the climber was surprisingly easy and it even came in a week early I am still a Target girl and always will be.

Helping Daddy.

She played on it for about 2 minutes and then wanted to play with the shovel I use to pick up Kodi droppings. But she is slowly warming up to it. She played on it for a while today.

Banana

2010-04-07T20:10:00.005-04:00

Maizie is a very picky eater. There are only a handful of things she will eat. Banana's are her favorite. She has been known to eat several a day.

I think this one is my favorite.

She takes the biggest bites. It's so funny.

Water

2010-04-07T19:34:00.005-04:00

Maizie LOVES the water. She loves bath time, swim time and of course her water table. It was so nice out today I was going to get out her little pool but settled on the water table.

She's really starting to get a little belly! Must be from all the Teddy's she eats.

Notice the band aids on both knees. Normally she wont keep band aids on but now that she has Kai-Lan band aids there ok.

She was soaked!

Having some juice with Daddy. Too tired to even hold her sippy herself.

I've said it before...

2010-03-31T11:56:00.003-04:00

And I'll say it again. Poor Kiki!

"What Mom?? I'm not doing anything. Nothing to see here."

We're still working on being nice to Kiki. I have a feeling we will be working on it for a long time. Very soon after I took these Kiki got her revenge.

This was taken a few weeks ago when it was nice out. Tracy was putting our chairs on the front porch. Maizie was very excited to see a chair just for her she just had to try it out.

Car

2010-03-18T19:07:00.005-04:00

Last week when it was nice out I bought Maizie her first car. To say she loves it would be an understatement. Every morning she comes down and wants her boots on so she can go out an play. She always mows the lawn and then it's time for her driving lessons. She isn't quite tall enough to reach the ground so we usually end up pushing her around.

These were taken this afternoon. Tracy was letter her go down the driveway (our driveway has a slight slope to it) by herself.

This is one of my favorite pictures.

I love how she always has her hand on the steering wheel.

It was starting to get a little cool out so she wanted her hood up.

I totally didn't mean to sound like I was complaining in my last post about nap time. I know we are very luck that Maizie does sleep. She may not nap all the time but overall she sleeps pretty well.

Nap Time

2010-03-14T17:58:00.005-04:00

Up until about about a month or 2 ago Maizie was a dream when it came time to sleep. For nap time after I put her in her crib she would play by herself for about a hour and then sleep for 2 hours. Some times she would have a "crib party" for a few hours but would always take a nap. And then at night she would just go to bed. Occasionally when we went in to check on her she would be awake but she would just lie there awake for a little while and put herself back to sleep and then sleep until about 8-8:30. Not any more. She falls right to sleep at nap time and sleeps anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. At night she falls right to sleep but now she wakes up early. Early like 6:30-7 early. Tracy gets up with her every day, he's the best. Sometimes I feel a little guilty but hey I need my beauty sleep. Plus it's good Daddy Daughter time.

These were taken a few months ago during one of her "crib party's".

Bouncing in her crib.

Nothing to see here! I'm not going anything.

How can I be mad at this face.

AHHH Peace at last!

Spring

2010-03-08T19:30:00.005-05:00

It was so nice this weekend. It felt like spring was here. Saturday we went to the park and Sunday we took Maizie and Kodi for a long walk. Monday was like a bonus day! It did get a little colder in the afternoon but Maizie and I spent a while outside. Tuesday was a little cooler but yesterday was in the upper 50's maybe even 60's. Maizie and I had the sunroof open (which was a big hit with Maizie as she has become obsessed with the sky lately).

These were taken on Monday.

Maizie has a cold so excuse the runny nose.

Like I said...obsessed with the sky.

6 Months!!

2010-03-06T19:52:00.009-05:00

Today marks 6 months since meeting Maizie! I cant believe it has been 6 months already yet on the other hand it's hard to believe that we have only known Maizie for 6 months. It feels like we have known her forever. I cant believe how much she has changed in 6 months.

I was looking back through all the other posts and I realized I never posted pictures from China! Here are a few from our trip.

Forbidden City.

Great Wall of China!!

Tracy and I at the top of the Great Wall. It was so sticky that day. The area of the Wall we went to was very steep! I am proud to say we made it to the top of that section of the wall. There were only about 4 other people (out of our group of about 30) that made it that far. My legs were jello for quite a while.

Our first night with Maizie. She looks so sad. She was such a little peanut. She still is a little peanut.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Xi'an City Wall.

Terracotta warriors.

Shamian Island, Guangzhou. If you look closely you can see the Starbucks sign.

At Starbucks. Maizie is such a little lady.

White Swan Hotel (where we stayed) in Guangzhou.

The infamous red couch photo. We were all so sick. I thought we had the flu but the doctor said no. We all had high fevers, chills...it wasn't pretty. Thankfully it only lasted about 3-4 days.

Back in Beijing at the Summer Palace.

Beijing Zoo.

In the lounge at the Beijing airport waiting for our flight home! Even though she took a nap in the airport she still slept for 90% of our flight from Beijing to NY. It was great. We got to eat, drink, sleep and watch about 5 movies. The 45 minute flight to Boston was another story.

Sun???

2010-02-28T18:25:00.005-05:00

It feels like it's been forever since we have seen the sun around here.

For the past week it's either been snowing or poring rain.

I am never one to complain about the winter. I usually like the winter. But this year it seems like the winter is way longer then normal. Probably because Maizie and I don't go out when the weather is bad. I feel cabin fever setting in! We finally got out of the house on Saturday so I could buy a new computer. I bought a Mac and so far I love it! I don't know why I didn't buy this

a year ago! The Internet is so fast, it doesn't take 15 minutes to upload 5 pictures to blogger, no pop-ups!! Did I mention how much I love my Mac?! Anyway here are some pictures from a few weeks ago...the last time we saw the sun.

These are a few from Chinese New Year. When we were in China we bought Maizie a few traditional dresses. It's still a little big. She had a lot of fun twirling with the skirt on.

Chinese New Year

2010-02-22T19:33:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we ventured over to Chinatown to watch the Lion Dance Parade and celebrate Chinese New Year. We had a great time and Maizie really loved it. There was so much going on I really didn't know how she was going to react but she did so well. There were drums banging, cymbals and a ton of firecrackers. We kept trying to cover her ears but she just wanted to take it all in. We met up with some friends and had an amazing lunch. It was hands down the best Chinese food we have had since being in China. After we left Boston we drove to my sister-in-laws to see her new ring! That's right she's engaged!!! Congrats Angie and Chris!!!

My Funny Valentine

2010-02-13T20:27:00.004-05:00

Everyday Maizie does something (well many things) that make me laugh. I know I have mentioned before how much she loves her Kiki well she also loves her Kodi...but the feeling definitely isn't mutual. Most of the time we keep them separated but sometimes we just have to give in and let them play. Mai loves to sit on his bed and lean on him. Poor Kodi has a look on his face like "come save me please".

Maizie loves to sleep with the covers over her face. Usually they are pulled up over her head.

Maizie LOVES shoes. I mean she really really loves them. She plays with her shoes everyday. I usually line them up by the wall and everyday she has to put them on top of the speaker in a little pile.

She still loves her Lemur that we got in Florida (which is know known as Leeme). She drags him all over the house and likes to give him rides on her Kai-Lan car. She always put Leeme on the steering wheel. I try to show her how to put him on the seat but she insists on the steering wheel.

Last week we celebrated our 5 month anniversary. I cant believe it has only been 5 months. I don't remember what we did before her.

new toy

2010-02-08T19:46:00.004-05:00

Maizie and I took a little trip to Target today. Usually she like to stand up in the cart or run around the store but today she was a very good girl and actually sat in the cart. Since she was being such a good girl I decided she needed a new toy. To say she loves her tunnel is an understatement. She played it in non-stop for at least 30 minutes. After I set it up and she went though it for the first time she came over to me and gave me a kiss! I love my girl. She really has turned in to a sweet loving little girl.

Yelling because she just cant contain her excitement!

Taking a little rest.

I think this one is my favorite.

Looking out the window at Daddy.

I don't think she wants to get out!

Putting her head down to do "nice" to the tunnel.

Even Kiki wanted to get in on the fun (I couldn't get a good picture). Maizie thought it was very funny when Kiki went in her tunnel.

Poor Kiki

2010-01-31T19:06:00.005-05:00

I know I have mentioned before how much Maizie loves her Kiki (kitty) but poor Kiki doesn't really feel the same. Here's a little insight in to what goes on in Kiki's life several times a day.

Here she is sleeping in her favorite spot on the arm of the couch.

Here comes Maizie!

I know this one is a little blurry but she can move fast!

Maizie trying to climb on top of Kiki.

Kiki has had enough.

By By Kiki.

But where did she go?? I can still see you Kiki!!

Kiki is hoping Kodi will save her.

Kiss

2010-01-24T13:22:00.004-05:00

A few weeks a go Maizie started giving us kisses. Now she is like a kissing bandit! She loves to pucker up and give us a big wet kiss.

Trying to kiss the camera.

Giving Daddy a bedtime kiss.

She also likes to kiss us through the stair rails. Although this one could just be her pouting because it's bed time.

She loves watching Kodi and looking for him when he's outside. She will stand there for a while just watching him.

Laughing at Mommy.

The other night Maizie went to bed at her normal time (7) but then was wide awake at 8:15 (which sometimes happens). It was the first night of American Idol and since she was wide awake and she loves music we got her up. She LOVED it. She was dancing and laughing. Here she was sitting on Tracy's arm bouncing up and down to the music...if you could call it that.

Maizie and her Daddy. The pictures of the two of them always come out so good.

Vacation

2010-01-12T13:56:00.010-05:00

For Christmas my parents bought us plane tickets so we could all be together in Florida for a little vacation. Now I have to say that this is the first year they have ever invited us down to Florida with them. I think they really just wanted Maizie. :)

The first day we got there was nice and the next morning was warm but by the time Mai got up from her nap it was starting to get cold and continued to be cold (and by cold I mean in the 50-60's during the day and in the 30's at night) for most of our vacation. It was very sunny though.

Our first day we went for a walk to the park and then down by the river.

Maizie loves the swings!

But she still isn't sure about the slide.

Walking to the river to see the fish and look for manatees.

On Monday we went to the Naples Zoo. Maizie really had a good time. She loves cats and the zoo had a lot of big cats.

We couldn't tear Mai away from this leopard. It was just walking back and forth in front of the window of it's enclosure.

She also really liked the black bears.

I love this picture of Maizie and Tracy.

Watching the alligator feeding. Not too much action though. It was too cold for them to want to eat.

On our way out of the zoo we stopped at the gift shop. We let Maizie pick out something and she choose Lemur. Lemur is the first stuffed animal/doll she has attached too. And let me tell you she loves Lemur. She hasn't really let Lemur out of her sight and even shares her bottle and O's with Lemur.

On Friday it was finally warm enough to go swimming again.

A while ago my dad taught Maizie how to kick a ball. Now it's one of her favorite things to do. She loved playing by the "big pool" with her ball.

And just because she is so so cute. I love when she comes over to me and looks up at me with a little smirk.

Resolutions

2010-01-12T13:22:00.005-05:00

So one of my new years resolution was to blog once a week. It's week 2 and i am already a week behind. So I am going to try to blog twice this week.

A few weeks before Christmas Maizie wanted to play in her diaper box. She played in the box for about 20 minutes....

but once she was done...she was done.

And even though she has a room full of toys she would rather play with mommy's slippers.

Kodi has really been good with Maizie lately. Kodi loves to "nip". He does it to the cat, me, Tracy and now Maizie. It doesn't hurt at all (unless he nips at skin and then sometimes it pinches a little). Maizie LOVES it. She laughs and laughs. We make sure he only nips her clothing and not skin.

Here's a few from Christmas. Maizie really liked opening her gifts.

Funny Girl

2009-12-14T20:11:00.005-05:00

Maizie's personality has really started show. For the most part she is a happy girl. She laughs all the time... mostly at herself. She likes us to pick her up and carry her around the kitchen so she can open all the kitchen cabinets. She still loves her kitty and "meow's" at her whenever she sees her. But it doesn't really sound like meow. It's more like aaaaaaattsssssss. It's really cute. And I think Cali is warming up to Maizie. Tonight was the first night Cali has slept in Maizie's crib.

Maizie is a climber. She is our little monkey. A few weeks ago she figured out how to stand on the ottoman. Now she not only stands on it but likes to dive off it. Most of the time we are right there. She has only fallen a few times but ever time she falls she thinks its funny.

Maizie's eating has gotten a lot better. She still likes her yogurt but now eats solid foods too. Mealtime is still sometimes a struggle. But it's going much better. If you look closely you can see her chicken nuggets are all stacked on top of each other. She always puts her food in little piles.

And when she is eating something she is still unsure of she closes her eyes until she is sure she likes it. Sometimes she even puts her hands over her eyes.

She still loves her Kai Lan car and likes it when we push her in the kitchen.

She thinks it hysterical when she crashes into something...especially the bar because normally it's off limits.

OK I just realized in all of these pictures Maizie has on her PJ's. Most days we do dress her. But there are just some days that we don't get out of our jammies. Sunday was one of those days. And today was one of those days too. Tomorrow we actually have to get dressed though.

1 year ago...

2009-12-04T18:59:00.009-05:00

1 year ago we saw this face for the first time.

And today....

And why is Maizie so happy??? She is bouncing on Daddy's face!

You would think since it was our first Thanksgiving as a family we would have taken lots and lots of family pictures....well you would be wrong. After we put Maizie to bed I realized we didn't take our family pictures! oops. These are a few from Thankgiving.

Ever year Tracy and I get our tree Thanksgiving weekend. The first tree farm we went to had the most perfect trees I have ever seen. The only problem they were $120!!!! Some were even $160!!! Since we were not going to pay that much off we went. But not before stopping at their barn to see Santa and buy some wreaths (which here very resonably priced)

Then we were off to the second tree farm. It was Maizie's usual nap time so she looks a little sleepy in these pictures. We didn't buy a tree here either. We couldn't agree on one. So on to the third place. By then I was no longer toting my camera.

Maizie decided she had enough dinner tonight so instead of throwing it on the floor like usual she feed Kodi.

This is our first attempt at Christmas card pictures. The first 2 are probabily the best out of the 50 or so I took (hard to get good pictures with a hungry 2 year old).

Tracy was trying to get Maizie to blow a kiss by making the kissing noise.

Look at the cheesy smily on Tracy.

Maizie had enough.

Bottles cure everything.

MIA

2009-11-16T12:39:00.005-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. I am still trying to get use to having a toddler around. We finally have a good schedule down (although right now she has been playing in her crib for the last 90 minutes while she should be napping). A lot has happened in the last few weeks. The biggest one... Maizie celebrated her 2nd birthday! She had not 1 but 2 birthday parties! My living room has now turned in to everything I said it would never be. A sea of plastic toys!

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks since coming home with Maizie. I cant believe how much she has changed in the short time we have had her. She is now walking everywhere, in to everything and babbling up a storm. She still isn't really talking but she is very vocal. She has such a good personality which comes out more and more everyday. She is generally happy and laughs all the time. She still loves Cali (our cat) and Kodi (our dog) although I don't think they share that love. Food is still an issue but it is starting to get a little better. We started swim lessons a few weeks ago which she loves. We are going to Florida in a few months and I cant wait to see her in the ocean. She is going to love it.

My little Monkey.

Birthday Party at Grandma and Grampa's in NY.

She loves balloons.

She was trying to reach her gifts but didn't want to get out of her new chair.

Riding down the driveway at my parents in her Kai-lan car. Maizie though it was great fun.

Trying to play with Kodi.

Last week it was so warm out (71) Maizie wanted to play with her water table. Splashing and yelling at the same time.

Yesterday she had her 2nd 2nd birthday party at her Grammy's house...but I forgot my camera. oops.

Park!

2009-10-26T11:35:00.006-04:00

Before we get to the park I need advice (especially from all the AP's). We are having food issues. At first she was a pretty good eater, picky (she wouldn't eat much other then her fav's) but would eat a lot of the foods she liked. Banana's and cheerios being her fav's. A few weeks ago she decided she no longer liked banana's or cheerios or anything else for that matter and went on a hunger strike for a few days. And just as fast as she decided she didn't like banana's she started eating them again. A few days ago she went on another hunger strike. I always try to feed her a few new foods a week to see what she likes. 2 days ago she decided she loves yogurt. Now she will only eat yogurt. Breakfast, lunch and dinner all she wants is yogurt. She still has 3 bottles a day and always drinks the whole bottle. She is getting little to no protein. She occasionally will eat a peanut butter sandwich but still wont eat any meat (not even chicken nuggets). She wont even eat pasta! Who doesn't like pasta! I feel like she picks a food and eats it until she is sick of it and then moves on to another food. Usually getting her to put something in her mouth isn't the problem. She will put everything in her mouth it's just keeping it in there that's the problem. If she doesn't like it or isn't in the mood for it she will spit it back out. I have tried shoving it back in and occasionally that works. I need help so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Ok now on to the park. I took Maizie to the park for the first time the other day and she had a great time but i forgot my camera. So Sunday we went back to the park with Daddy.

Having a good time on the swings.

Going down the slide was just ok.

I think she would much rather play with the leaves.

Maybe going up the slide is more fun.

Going to get Daddy!

Just because I am so cute!

Taking a break.

M loves to hang upside down. She's too funny.

Fun at the Pool!!

2009-10-16T15:18:00.003-04:00

A week after we got home from China Tracy had to take a work trip to Washington DC and since I wasn't ready to be home alone with Maizie for 5 days we went with him. I don't know if i have mentioned before how much Maizie loves the water. Our hotel had a pool so Maizie was in heaven.

She loves being thrown up in the air.

Look at the smile on her face! She loves "flying" in the water.

Cold baby!!

Here's some from this morning. Do you like the big bruise in the middle of her forehead? She hit her head the other day on the door frame while trying to get in the bathroom.

Yelling at the kitty.

Trying to pet the kitty.

Chasing the kitty.

5 weeks

2009-10-11T21:07:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow will be 5 weeks with Maizie! It seems so much longer then that. I know I have been mia lately but hopefully that will all change soon. I think we finally have a schedule worked out. Bedtime has been a little rough but I know I shouldn't complain. The only hard part is when we put her down the only way to get her to sleep is to let her cry for a little while (and by a little while I mean 10 minutes max) but once she is asleep she sleeps through the night. She usually sleeps 8pm-8am with a 1-2 hour nap during the day. However we are having issues with food. Maizie was refusing to eat anything but Cheerios for about a week. Even things that she loved she stopped eating. Just yesterday she started eating her beloved banana's again but that's about it. Banana's, Cheerios and Puffs. Oh and she also eats cider doughnuts. We went to pick pumpkins today and bought some cider doughnuts while we were there and Maizie loved them.

This is what I see when I look down. This is her "Mommy I'm so cute can you pick me up please" look.

China

2009-09-25T07:28:00.005-04:00

China was great!!! Aside from getting Maizie I don't know what my favorite part was. The Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Xi'an, Terracotta Warriors, Wild Goose Pagoda, Guangzhou. The worst part was getting sick while we were in Guangzhou. I mean really sick. We all had the flu and were out for a few days. Tracy still has a bad cough and Maizie has an ear infection and some congestion but other then that she is doing so well. We really are so lucky. She is such an easy girl. On the way home she slept most of the 13 hour plane ride. The plane from Newark to Boston was another story. She was wide awake and wanted to hit the guy in front of us on the head. We arrived in Boston at about 10:30pm. I thought there is no way she is going to sleep tonight but she went to bed at around 1am and slept until i had to wake her up (we had a doctor appointment) at 10 the next morning! Her favorite place to sit is in my lap. When she sees me sitting on the floor she will come over and scoot her little butt into my lap. She isn't walking unassisted yet but she will pull herself up and walk holding on to something. She really is just so so cute. She is still a little peanut and weights in at a whopping 18 pounds. Ok so I know you only came here to see the pictures so here you go. I will post pictures of China this weekend.

This is one of the first smiles we saw.

Playing with Daddy on the bed.

Bath time! Maizie LOVES the water. Bath time is one of her favorite times. She loves splashing.

At Starbucks in Guangzhou. Such a little lady.

Hanging out with Daddy.

At home with her new favorite toy. Thanks Grandma!

Red couch photo at the White Swan.

Maizie really is such an easy child. She rarely gets fussy. The most I have heard her cry was when she had blood drawn and that was only for about 5 minutes while they were getting blood. As soon as it was over she stopped crying. She loves to just sit and play with us. We really are so lucky.

Home Sweet Home!!!

2009-09-24T11:26:00.002-04:00

WE'RE HOME!!!!!! We have been home since late Tuesday night. Boy it feels good to be home. I want to do a very long post with pictures but i am at the office right now and baby + office are not mixing very well so it will have to wait until either nap time or bed time. Pictures are coming soon....I promise!

9/2

2009-08-26T18:56:00.003-04:00

Our consulate appointment is confirmed! We are leaving 9/2!!! As in next Wednesday!!!!!! Our flights are booked!!! Our hotels are booked!!! We are almost on our way!! And as if that wasn't good enough we received new pictures of Maizie!!!!

The next one is my favorite picture of her. Tracy is in trouble. She is going to look at him with her big brown eyes she is going to get what ever she wants.
They shaved her head but thats ok. She is still the cutest little girl ever and i have lots of bows!!!

TA!! TA!! TA!!

2009-08-24T22:27:00.003-04:00

Guess who is going to China???!!!! WE ARE!!!!!! We have our Travel Approval! Our agency is still trying to confirm our travel dates. We have to wait for them to schedule our consulate appointment. But we might be able to leave on 9/2! That's right I said 9/2 as in next Wednesday!! If not 9/2 we will leave on 9/9. I am just so so so excited!!! It's so crazy to think we could could have our little girl in our arms 2 weeks from now!

Maizie's room

2009-08-23T20:11:00.008-04:00

While we wait for out TA (travel approval) I thought I would post pictures of Maizie's room. I was thinking about painting it but time just got away from me and well now it's just too late.

And remember this chair???

Well it now looks like this!!!

There is kind of a funny story about how Maizie's chair brought us some good luck. This chair was in my grandparents house. I don't really know how it came to be in my house but it did and even though it was orange velvet I couldn't get rid of it. I kept saying for years and years that I would reupholster it...someday. Once we knew that we were going to have a girl I knew that now was the time to get going on the chair. My best friend (Liz) owns an antique shop so I dropped it off at her shop way back in March. I didn't push to get it done because lets face it I really didn't need it. On July 27th my mom called to tell me that my chair was sitting in their garage (Liz's mom had delivered it). On July 30th Tracy and I went to Saratoga to go to the track to watch the horse races with my parents and picked up the chair. We stayed in Saratoga that night. The next day on the way home I was thinking about how sad it was going to be to put this chair, that I had waited so long for, in Maizie's room. At that point we still didn't have our LOA and I was starting to go a little crazy with the wait. We picked up Kodi (our dog) at T's moms house and when we were getting back in the car I saw the little light on my crackberry flashing so I checked my email and there it was. The same day got our LOA we put the chair in Maizie's room.

Happy Friday!

2009-07-31T17:49:00.002-04:00

We have our LOA!!!!!!!!! I cant believe it!! I am in shock right now!!!! We hope to be traveling in 5-8 weeks to get our little girl! I cant believe we are going to have her for her 2nd birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!

We waited 159 days (but who's counting) and now that it is here i am SO unprepared. There are so many things on my list that i need to do. But right now i am going to CELEBRATE!!!

no news

2009-07-16T14:12:00.003-04:00

Still no news on our LOA. We have been waiting a total of 142 days but only 14 days since finding out our dossier was in the wrong department. So we still might have a ways to go.

In other news we received an email from our agency yesterday that Maizie's file is still locked! This is very good news. Our agency said all along that they had no reason to believe that her file would become unlocked but couldn't tell us for sure. I feel like i can sleep a little easier knowing that she is still going to be our little girl...someday.

Another Pity Party

2009-07-04T10:18:00.004-04:00

If you don't want to hear about another pity party don't read on.
This week was another really bad week. On Tuesday my mom called to tell me my Uncle Greg had passed away. It happened very suddenly. He was in DC with my Aunt celebrating their anniversary. He leaves behind 2 wonderful children Bertalina 18 and Matty who is 12. My Uncle played a big roll in our decision to adopt. Their 2 children are adopted from Guatemala. Bertalina came home first. She was about 5 or 6. I still remember the first time i met her. She was a little peanut. She had just gotten out of the pool and had a towel wrapped around her. She was the cutest little thing. I instantly fell in love and new at that moment that some day i was going to adopt too. I am so sad that Maizie will never get to meet him. He was always full of life and loved his children more then life. He would sometimes get these crazy ideas. He retired just a few months ago and decided in his retirement he was going to pan for gold! He owns a log cabin in northern New York which has a stream running through the property that he thought would be a good place to start. He will be greatly missed.

I thought with the bad news on my Uncle passing surely that would mean we would get some good news and get our LOA. Well my new agency called on Thursday with even more bad news. When our dossier went over to China our old agency never attached out LOI so China didn't know we already had a referral. So for the past 128 days our dossier has been sitting in the wrong department. That's right I said THE WRONG DEPARTMENT!!!!! Its now in the right department but we are back to being on day 1. 128 days down the drain. 128 days all for nothing. I had asked our old agency several times to check on our LOA to make sure everything was ok. They always came up with some song and dance on why that was a bad idea. As it stands right now we are back to square 1. China does know about our situation and there is a chance that they could take pity on us and give us our LOA very soon but China does what they want when they want so our agency said not to expect that. Most likely we will have to wait the normal 2-3 months to get out LOA. Followed by another 4-6 weeks for our travel approval and now we might not be traveling until the end of the year. I know i can survive the wait...well at least i think i can but it breaks my heart to know that Maizie spent and extra 128 days in an orphanage when she could have spent that time at home with us.

Ok Pity party over...for now at least. It's 4th of July and despite our bad week we are going to have a family cook out (my brother is flying in tonight) and then its off to the fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

SOS!!!

2009-06-23T19:54:00.002-04:00

Last week was a bad week. Every day it was something. It started with a big batch of LOA's coming in...mine was not one of them. I don't really want to get into what happened the rest of the week. Yesterday our agency send out an email (actually they posted a message to their yahoo group) that they were closing. Not only are they closing but they want everything switched to a new agency by the end of the month! THE END OF THE MONTH!!! They had already made arrangements for another agency to take over. By the time i saw the email our agency was already closed for the day. I called the new agency today. They were very nice and helpful but couldn't tell me very much. Our old agency still had not sent over all the files but we seem to be in good hands. So I had Tracy call our old agency. They still don't know when we should get our LOA or why it is taking so long. LOA's seem to come in batches every 2 weeks or so. There was a big batch last Monday so we may not see our LOA until next week at the earliest. The switch in agency may also hold up our LOA but only for a few days (so they say). We've waited 119 days so far whats a few extra days right? right? The only thing that keeps me going is my sweet girls face. Ok I'm done with my pity party. Well for now anyway.

6 Months

2009-06-04T14:34:00.004-04:00

Today is a big day. No we still do not have our LOA but i had hopes it would come today. Exactly 6 months ago we saw Maizie for the first time. We knew instantly that she was going to be ours. And today (6 months later)....we got updated pictures of Maizie!!

Today also marks day 100 of waiting for our LOA. I woke up feeling a little depressed we are now in the "100 club" (a club that i really didn't want membership in) but when i turned on my computer and saw those pictures it made everything better. We just got back from a little vacation last night and i have SO much work to do but i cant stop staring at my little girl! Oh well work can wait another day...right? I think i am going to blow off the rest of the afternoon and go buy Maizie a little 6 month gift. Like i really need a reason to shop for Maizie.

Maizie update!

2009-05-24T11:01:00.002-04:00

We got an update on our little M the other day. No pictures yet hopefully this week they will send pictures. She is doing well. She is walking! My little girl is walking! She likes to sit in her crib and play. Her favorite toys are the ones that make sounds. She is still a little peanut and only weights 18 pounds. I was really having a hard time with the wait but getting this little update made it better. Hopefully next week we will get some pictures. Our LOA would be nice too!

Yesterday was plain awful

2009-05-21T09:34:00.002-04:00

Poor T had a bad day yesterday. It started out ok but went downhill...fast. In the morning he had to meet with a needy client. You know the kind who think they are your only client and don't understand when you cant drop everything to take care of their ever single need. After that he came home to try to fix his toilet (and i say his because T and i don't share a bathroom which i now think is the key to a happy marriage..separate bathrooms). What happened to his toilet you might ask? Well about 2 weeks ago while he was cleaning his bathroom (yes i know i should be happy that he was actually cleaning it because most of the time it resembles the bathroom of a frat house) he decided it was a good idea to flush about 10 paper towels down the toilet. Of course it clogged. T tried to plunge and plunge but nothing happened. So after a few weeks of him trying to use MY bathroom i told him it was time to get his fixed. He tried plunging again which made the pipes back up with pressure and leak nasty water onto the ceiling in our dining room! Gross!! It wasn't a small leak either. It made our house smell like...well you can only imagine. T finally gave up and called a plumber. While we were waiting outside (the house really stunk) for the plumber a big truck came by and clipped the phone line in front of our house and it was now hanging across the road. I called the police department who called the electric company. There were there in 10 minutes. All they could do was pull the line out of the road so the phone company could come take care of it later (it took the phone company about 5 hours to come fix the problem). So the plumber came and wanted $450 to take the toilet off and snake the drain! $450!! T decided that he could do the work himself for a lot less. Which he did and it only took him about an hour to fix the toilet and all it cost us was the price of a drain snake. While all this was happening T went to get us lunch and dropped his debit card in the parking lot. Thankfully a good Samaritan turned it in and T got his card back. (BTW this isn't the first time he has dropped his card/wallet) Then at his softball game someone hit a foul ball off the tail light on his car. Poor T had a bad day. After the toilet was fixed we aired out the house and it no longer smells...well it might smell like cleaner.

Oh and so my AB doesn't get mad that there is no adoption related news....well there is no news. We are still waiting for our LOA. Day 86! Not that i am counting.

18 months

2009-04-28T19:03:00.001-04:00

Our little Maizie is 18 months old today!

Happy 18 month Birthday my little girl.

(This should have been posted yesterday but blogger was having issues)

8 weeks

2009-04-21T15:50:00.002-04:00

It's been exactly 8 weeks since our dossier was logged in at the CCAA in China. 8 weeks...56 days...and no letter of acceptance (LOA) yet. On one hand I cant believe it has been 56 days already..but on the other hand it's been 56 days. I'm starting to go out of my mind!
Ok enough complaining. There is a bright side to 56 days. We are 56 days closer to Maizie. Our LOA can take up to 90 days but lately it's only been taking 60-70 days and someone even got her LOA in...wait for it...56 days. So any day now we could receive our LOA. Once we get that we should travel in a 4-6 weeks. I am hoping to get our LOA by the end of the month. So keep your fingers crossed!

A little of this...a little of that

2009-04-05T18:43:00.009-04:00

Wow I am a bad blogger. Not too much has been going on. We are still waiting on our LOA which hopefully will be here this month. After we receive our LOA we will then be waiting on our TA (travel approval) which comes in 2-6 weeks. Once we get out TA we will get our travel dates! I feel like we have been waiting forever. I am so done with the wait. I just want to be in China with my little girl.

A few weeks ago my mom threw us a shower. It was a perfect day. The shower was at my parents country club which is also where we got married so it was nice to have it there. It was a really nice day out. Sunny and in the 50's. Poor Tracy got roped into helping me open gifts while my dad played golf with some of his friends. I told him he could go play but he choose to stay. I don't have many pictures on my camera but here is a before and after.

After. This is only about half the stuff we got. The rest is in the garage.

A few days ago i decided it was time to clean up Maizie's room and organize her closet. As I was organizing this is what i found. Cali thinks the crib is for her. Every time the door to M's room is open she will go in there and take a little nap in the crib.

Most days this is where you can find Kodi and Cali. They really do love each other. I realize Kodi's bed looks really dirty but it's just stained.

Maizie's Room

2009-03-08T19:12:00.009-04:00

This weekend we decided it was time to get furniture for Maizie's room. The set we had originally wanted is back ordered until May. Since we cant wait that long we decided to get something different. After scouring the internet. This is what we finally decided on.
The first few are of Tracy getting the crib together. It was actually really easy to put together! Her room is really small so it was hard to get good pictures. Nice crack! Why is it that men cant pull up their pants! I mean women never get "crack"!

Finished!

As you can see her room is still a work in progress. That "stuff" in between the dresser and crib is actually going to go somewhere but her closet is full right now. And the orange chair is going to be reupholstered to match her room.

PA!!

2009-02-24T16:01:00.008-05:00

I got an email from our agency today that we received our PA (pre-approval)! We were told it would take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to get our PA but it came in a little over a week. Our next big step is our LOA (letter of acceptance). Once that comes we should travel with in a month. Our LOA should take another 2-3 months to get. Hopefully we will be able to travel in May.
Every step makes it a little more real. I feel like everything is happening so fast now. Not that it's a bad thing! I would travel tomorrow if i could. I have so much to do. I better go start a list.

A few weeks ago we decided we needed a cat. So here are a few pictures of Cali. Kodi and Cali getting to know each other...it didn't go to well at first. But they like each other now.

DTC BABY!!!!!!

2009-02-10T17:57:00.002-05:00

That's right! Our dossier is finally on it's way to China!!!! When i got the email from our agency saying our dossier was on it's way to China it made me cry a little. Tracy just laughed at me. This is a HUGE step for us. Once our dossier is logged in at the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) we will get a LID (log in date) and then they will begin to review our dossier. Hopefully this wont take too long. We have been told we will get to travel anywhere between 3-6 months. Lets hope 3 months and not 6. I am dying to meet my little girl. Now that we are finally DTC it seems that much more real! I have nothing ready for her. I have a crib mattress but no crib. I have clothes but no dresser. So i will be in nesting mode for the next several months. I am just so excited. I think i am going to go shopping for her tomorrow.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

2009-01-26T13:08:00.003-05:00

2009 is the year of Ji Chou. The year of the OX. Maizie is the year of the pig, T is the year of the Tiger and I am the year of the horse. For more info on the Chinese New Year go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

Tonight we plan on celebrating the new year at PF Changs. Not only do i love their food but my favorite kids store is in the same mall! I think Maizie wardrobe will be expanding tonight! We can also celebrate that our dossier is finally notarized and state certified! Later this week we are driving to NYC to the Chinese Consulate to have or dossier authenticated and then it will be off to our agency to be translated and then to China. I will be so happy when i don't have to think about it anymore and i can actually start thinking about putting Maizie's room together. Right now it is a mess. I would post pictures but i am a little embarrassed about how messy it is at the moment.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I was tagged!

2009-01-08T15:08:00.003-05:00

I've been tagged by fellow adoptive parent (ok technically I am not an adoptive parent yet but i will be in 4-5 months) Cinnamon at http://nutmegmama.blogspot.com/. This is my first tag, yeah!

Q: five names you go by:
1. Jessica
2. Jessie
3. Jess
4. Bep (when my brother was little he couldn't say Jess so he called me Bep.)
5. hopefully mommy soon!

Q. three things you are wearing right now:
1. Jeans
2. black sweater
3. Uggs

Q. two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. Maizie
2. To finally be done with my dossier!

Q. two things you did last night:
1. Watched Damages but fell asleep half way thru
2. Went to Target

Q. two things you ate today:
1. Tomato Soup
2. Bread for my soup

Q. two people you last talked to on the phone:
1. Tracy
2. The police department (our local police clearances are FINALLY ready)

Q. two things you are going to do tomorrow:
1. Have my dossier notarized
2. Leave work early because it will be Friday!

Q. two longest car rides:
1. From NY To Florida with my mom
2. To Maine

Q. two of your favorite beverages:
1. non-fat latte with sugar-free caramel from *bucks
2. water

Q. the people you’d like to respond:
I was a little late at doing this so anyone who hasn't done it yet.

Ellie

2009-01-05T21:06:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a rough day for us. Our cat Ellie died very unexpectedly. T and I were downstairs when we heard her throw up so T went up to get her. When he went to put her down outside she collapsed and wasn't moving. I was freaking out and thought she might be choking. I ran and got a towel so T could wrap her up and we jumped in the car to take her to the emergency vet. When we got to the vet they told us there was no heart beat. They tried to resuscitate her for a little while but she was already gone. The vet said she could have had a heart condition that we didn't know about or she could have had a stroke. They let us say goodbye to her. They had her wrapped in a blanket and she looked so small. It was like she was sleeping. She was still warm and still smelled like popcorn. She was still so soft.Tracy held her the whole way to the vet. He said he knew she was gone soon after we got in the car but didn't want to tell me. Ellie (her real name is Ella but Ellie fit her personality) was such a good little girl. She was our first pet together. We got her a few days after T bought his first house. She was the runt of the litter. She was so small and had this little pudgy face. She was only 7. She had never really been sick and was playing with us 20 minutes before it happened. It was really hard to go to bed last night with out her. During the day she really didn't pay much attention to us but once we were in bed for the night that was the time she always wanted to snuggle by us. She was so soft. Most nights she slept by my feet. And in the morning when i woke up she would come say hi and try to curl up with me. Some mornings before i was even awake i could feel her walking on me. She was such a good little girl.

Ellie we miss you and we will never forget your little pudgy face.

2008 in review

2009-01-03T13:47:00.014-05:00

I cant believe it's 2009 already! Where does the time go??!! 2008 was a real roller coaster ride for us. It started on a high note and ended on a really high note but the middle had some ups and downs. I don't really want to reflect on the negative things that happened. Just the good things.

In January (after months of researching different programs and agencies) we started the adoption process.

In April I celebrated my 30th birthday in style in St Lucia.

This is how we spent most of the week. In the pool or on the beach with a drink in our hand.

In August T and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I cant believe we have been married for 5 years! We decided to go to my parents condo in Florida for the weekend to celebrate.

T playing in the ocean. Some boys never grow up!

In September (after the Vietnam program we were in closed) we started looking into China's waiting child program.

In October we choose an agency and began to update our home study.

On December 4th we saw our little girls face for the first time. On the 9th we officially told our agency we wanted her. Isn't our little Maizie just so cute!!

2009 is going to be a great year. We... ok I am looking forward to getting Maizie's room ready for her. And we are of course looking forward to traveling to China to pick her up. In the last few weeks it's been so nice to say "next year when we have Maizie..." or "When we have Maizie..." Our lives as we know it are going to change and we cant wait.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Details

2008-12-30T10:21:00.003-05:00

I guess in all my excitement i forgot to post the details. oops.
Here are some of the things that were in her medical report

~Her Chinese name is Ruyi.
~We have decided to name her Maizie Ruyi. Everyone asks us how we came up with Maizie. It was the first name that we both really liked right away.
~She is about 14 months old.
~At 9 months she was 13 lbs.
~she can crawl but not sure if she can walk yet.
~her medical report says she sleeps for more then 10 hours! Lets hope that's true.
~she is fond of listening to music, playing and reading books.
~she has a quiet personality.
~she already has 12 teeth!

I feel like i have missed so much of her life already. Since our dossier isn't logged in China yet we are looking at 4-5 months until we travel. I am hoping to have her before my 31st birthday (April 24th). It will be close. I dont know how i am going to wait that long. Lets hope it goes by fast. We did just get our updated I-600a processed and it only took less then 2 weeks! Way to go USCIS!! Now that that is out of the way we have to have our social worker write up an addendum of our home study and we still have to get a few more documents together. Then have them signed, notarized, state certified and then off to the consulate for approval. Ok that seems like a lot to do but it really wont take that long...hopefully. I am hoping to have our dossier off to China by the end of January. Once our dossier is logged the long wait for our travel approval can begin.

As you can imagine T and I are SO SO SO excited. Maizie got her first Christmas presents this year. My mom and dad got her a little pink suitcase on rollers for when she visits them and some books. She already has a closet full of clothes. It is a little out of control but at least she will be the best dressed little girl!

BIG NEWS!!!!!

2008-12-27T11:24:00.005-05:00

We have been waiting to share our news until after Christmas. We wanted to make sure our families knew before we announced it here. So.......WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS!!!!! We have officially accepted a referral of a beautiful little girl from China. We first saw her little face on December 8th. She was on our agencies Waiting Child list. We immediately fell in love with her but wanted a Doctor to look over her medical report. After we talked to a doctor that specializes in international adoption we knew she was going to be ours. And i may be a little bias but she is the cutest little girl we have ever seen. I know you probably want to see pictures so......introducing Maizie Ruyi.

Holidays

2008-12-24T10:03:00.008-05:00

My favorite time of year is from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I love everything about it. I love going to 2 different tree lots just to find the perfect Christmas tree (Tracy might not love that as much as I do but he always likes the end result). I love digging out the lights for the tree and all the ornaments. I love putting up the lights on the outside of our house. I love baking cookies, and more cookies and then even more cookies. I don't mind the overcrowded malls and trying to find the perfect gift for everyone. It makes me happy to buy gifts for family and friends. I don't mind driving around the parking lot trying to find the perfect space (ok well maybe i mind that a little). Everything seems to magical this time of year. And to make it even more magical we are going to have a white Christmas!! Over the weekend we got a ton of snow. Friday we got about 14 inches, Saturday another 2-3 and then Sunday about 8-10 inches more. It really didn't stop snowing for 3 days. It was nice to have a reason to stay in and watch TV and make cookies. I feel bad for everyone who still doesn't have power after the ice storm. A little north of us got hit really bad and there are still some people with out power. Could you imagine being without power for 12 days in the freezing cold!

Anyway we are at my parents house in NY for Christmas eve (we always have the traditional 7 fish dinner and then my parents have some friends over for dessert) and then tomorrow we open gifts here then we travel to my Aunts (mom's side) house in Pleasant valley and then down to Long Island to my Aunts (dad's side) for a BIG Italian dinner. I look forward to Christmas dinner all year. Its so nice to be with family. We all sit at the same table (there are 28-30 of us) and in between courses we sing Christmas carols. Then the day after Christmas we are going to Tracy's moms house to have Christmas with his family. Lots of traveling but its worth it. Here are some pictures i took with my new camera!!

Our tree! I should have taken those box's out of the way.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!

Mother Nature

2008-12-14T20:36:00.015-05:00

Thursday night was a long night for us. I went to walk Kodi around 11, it was raining and starting to ice up. There were a few branches that were in the road but nothing too bad. All night long we heard little pops followed by a big bang. Trees were falling all around us. Neither T or I could sleep and Kodi was going crazy. He was so scared and wouldn't go to sleep. I was finally getting to sleep at 8am when there was a particularly loud bang. This is what was in the yard.

Thankfully we had power. Just about every school around us was closed. We knew it was going to be a slow day and we needed to check on some of our bank owned properties we have listed so out we went. This is just a little of what we found.

These pictures don't even do it justice. There were SO many tree branches down. Some roads weren't even passable. There were power lines down everywhere. Most of our town didn't have power. One of our neighbors had a tree fall on his truck and totaled it and another neighbor's shed was destroyed. But with all the fallen tree limbs it didn't look like many houses had damage. There were some cars that were hit but not too many. None of the houses we have listed had any damage. Our power did go out for about 2 1/2 hours on Friday. My parents still don't have power and they might not until at least Tuesday. I talked to them today. They didn't have any pipes burst and are now staying with friends. Luckily tomorrow it is going to be in the 50's.

You can really see all the ice on the trees in this picture. It was really pretty.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T08:37:00.002-05:00

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Today starts our week of travels. Well it's not really a week but we will not be home again until Sunday. Today we are going to my parents house, then tomorrow we will be driving to Tracy's moms house(which is 2 hours from my parents house) to have Thanksgiving dinner at 1 then back to friends house to have dinner with my family and friends by 4. On Friday my mom and I brave the lines and go shopping. It had become a tradition for us to get up early (we are not part of the crazy people that get in a line at 4:30 am just to be the first person in the store early to us is leaving the house from 7- 8) of course we have to stop for coffee and a bagel and then its off to the mall. Although this year my mom said she didn't know if she wanted to go so i said that i will have to take Tracy with me. I think Tracy will talk her in to going with me. Tracy doesn't like shopping and he especially doesn't like shopping when there is 100,000 people in the mall that's 100 degrees. Oh course i would rather go shopping when there isn't as many people but it's Black Friday! Well i should get my butt in the shower. After giving Tracy a lecture about getting home at exactly 9:45 so we can get to my parents house around 12 so i have time to make my pies so i dont have to stay up to midnight doing it i probably should be ready when he gets here! Where is he you might ask? He has the unfortunate task of evicting someone out of their apartment. Before you go thinking we are horrible people for evicting someone the day before Thanksgiving it's not me that is evicting them. The property was foreclosed on and the bank that now owns the property is evicting all the tenants. We offered this guy cash for keys (cash for moving out by a certain time) but he blew us off and never showed up at the eviction hearings. I feel sorry for him but we did everything to help this guy. Sometimes they think they really wont get evicted.
Anyway it's almost Thanksgiving so

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

2008-11-22T10:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we had our last visit (well last visit until we have to do our post-placement visits) with our social worker (L). L came out to our house so we could fill out a "home safety form" for our agency. I thought a home safety form would have actual safety questions on it. I though we were going to be making sure all our smoke detectors worked and all our windows had some sort of child safety feature on them. I thought we would be going thru our house talking about where we need to do a little child proofing and what our plan is to child proof our house. It was nothing like that. We sat at the dining room table eating cookies, drinking coffee and making fun of the questions on the home safety form. One of the questions was "Do all of the bathrooms have enough toilet paper and soap". HA. There were a few other questions that were pretty funny, like is there food stored in our refrigerator, but that one takes the cake.
Hopefully our home study will be written this week and we will be able to submit it to our agency for final approval. Once we have final approval we can send our home study in for USCIS approval...again. While we are waiting for CIS approval i have to get a few more documents together for our dossier. Once we have all those together they will be notarized, state certified and then off to the China consulate to be certified and then translated and then off to China! My goal is to have our dossier logged in China by February 1st.

List

2008-11-08T10:18:00.004-05:00

It's official!! We are on the list! Last week I sent in our signed agency contract. On Tuesday i spoke with our dossier consultant and then to the waiting child coordinator who officially put us on the waiting child list! So we are officially "waiting" again. What this means for us is once a child comes up on the waiting child list that matches our profile we will get to look over her profile and decide if we want to accept that referral. The waiting child program is a little different then the non-waiting child program in that there really isn't a "line" we are in. There is also no clear wait time. We could receive a referral at any time. The longest wait we were told is about 12-14 months for referral but most people receive their referral much sooner then that. I am really hoping we get a referral by Christmas but i know that it might not happen by then.

So now i have to get our dossier ready again. Our dossier will consist of our USCIS approval, birth certificates, marriage license, copies of our passport, a financial statement, employment records, medical forms, local police clearance, family photo's and our home study. Oh and did i mention we need 3 copies of each. All these will need to be notarized, state certified, then sent to the China consulate to be authenticated, then translated. Once all that is done our dossier can be sent to China to be logged in.
It may sound like a lot but i hope to have our dossier logged in by the end of the year. That is my goal. The only thing that might hold it up is our CIS approval. Well maybe not. We don't have to get re-approved, it's just a country change so hopefully it will only take a week or 2. OK maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.

I DID IT!!!

2008-11-04T13:08:00.002-05:00

There are 3 things that should make you very proud of me.
#1 I VOTED!!
#2 AND I GOT TRACY TO VOTE TOO!! It was the first election he ever voted in.
#3 I got the first of my Hep. b series vaccines. and lived to tell about it. It was touch and go for a little while but i pulled thru, had a little juice, lied down while Tracy was getting his shots and now that it is over i am feeling a lot better. My arm is a little sore. Hopefully it wont get much worse. We also had to get a TB test but it was nothing. I didn't even feel it. Now lets see if i can make it thru the other 2 Hep B shots and the tetanus booster i need.

Ohhh the things we do for love.

whats been going on?

2008-10-24T14:04:00.002-04:00

Well the answer to that question is not too much at all. We were accepted with an agency but after doing a little more research i found out that their travel fees are very high and we have to go thru them for all our travel arrangements. So i just sent my application off to another agency. Hopefully we will hear today that we have been accepted. Most people i have talked to have had nothing for good things to say about this agency. If all goes well we should be placed on the waiting list hopefully by the end of the month. And then anywhere from 6-12 months we could get a referral. There is a chance that we could get a referral faster then that (it would be GREAT to know who are baby is by Christmas) but i am not holding my breath. It will happen when it happens.
Lately Tracy and i have been talking about names. We had a name picked out when we were thought we were going to Vietnam but for some reason it just doesn't seem right to use that name anymore. We still love the name but we are trying to come up with some others. We don't really want a name that a lot of other girls in her class are going to have. We want something traditional but a little funky at the same time. I don't think we will be able to decide until we see her face.

accepted!

2008-10-08T19:04:00.004-04:00

I got a call today from our agency rep. from our China agency and we have been officially accepted into their China program! Now I just have to read thru their very long contract, sign it and send them a big check. Then we will be officially enrolled in their program. Once we officially enroll in their program we can get on the "waiting child" waiting list.
Tomorrow is the last meeting with our social worker. Once that is done she will update our home study so we can send it in to the USCIS so we can switch our approval to China. Then i get to start our dossier all over. I am not looking forward to that but i did it once so i can do it again!

The things we do for love...

2008-10-01T15:00:00.002-04:00

For those of you who know me know that i have an irrational fear of needles especially getting my blood taken. Before we started the adoption i couldn't remember the last time i had my blood sucked out of me. Thanks to my desire to adopt a child i have now had to get it taken 2 that's right 2 times the year! The very first time didn't go so well. Think of a 2 year old getting blood taken and that was me. I had to leave with out getting it done. So back i went a few days latter. This time i was armed (no not with a gun) with some good old fashion drugs. The kind that make you a little less tense and if you take too many a little sleepy. Fast forward 7 months and we are back in the same position we were then. I need to have more blood taken because China requires more blood tests. All i have to say is they better have taken more then they need because i am NEVER going back there again. But at least i did it. And it really doesn't hurt more then a pinch but i just have a fear of needles. Tracy said i at least acted like maybe a teenager instead of a toddler this time. So if getting blood taken is the worst thing that is going to happen this time around then i will take it.

so you want to know

2008-09-26T14:46:00.004-04:00

We have decided to adopt a special needs child from China. The SN that we are interested in are very minor. In China SN consist of everything from a birthmark to Cerebral Palsy. Many of the children are in fact healthy. We get to choose the special needs we are open too. Some of the SN on our list are strabismus, Cleft lip and/or palate (repaired or still needing repair, Syndactyly (webbed fingers), VSD, Pstosis (droopy eyelid), Hearing Impairment, and birth marks. Most of these things are very minor. We are still researching some of the others on the list.
Now i bet you are wondering why China? When we first started looking into adoption we were drawn to China. The culture, the food and we were excited to travel there. China has an age requirement that both parents have to be 30. I was not 30 yet. Also the wait to adopt a healthy baby is 32 months. So we decided to adopt from Vietnam. They didn't have that age requirement. As you know that didn't turn out very well. When we found out that we didn't meet the deadline for Vietnam we started thinking about what we wanted to do. I had done some research on Korea and found an agency that could get us a child in about 6-8 months but we didn't have the option to travel and we had to start our home study all over. While we were in the process of doing research on Korea i emailed the social worker that did our Vietnam home study. She suggested we look into a few other countries and also the special needs program from China. I started thinking about it more and more and then talked to Tracy about it. I called our social worker and talked to her more about it and she got us in contact with a few agencies she works with. I also called a few more agencies. I talked at length to some of them asking them a ton of questions. Yesterday Tracy and i met with our social worker and decided to go for it! We have to update our home study to reflect the change in country and then we have to get USCIS (the former INS) approval again. We also get to travel to China to pick her up! We are so excited to do that. This just feels right for us. Korea was like our rebound country. Korea has a great adoption program where all the kids live with foster families instead of an orphanage but it just wasn't right for us. This just feels right. So we are now "expecting" a little girl from China!
Since we are part of the Waiting Child program there isn't a set time for a referral. It could be anywhere from 6-12 months from the time we submit our waiting child application which will be sent as soon as our updated home study is completed. So hopefully by mid to late October we should be on the list! Once we accept a referral we will get an invitation to travel in about 4-6 months later. So anywhere from 9-18 months we will be a family of 3!

wait for it....

2008-09-25T08:59:00.002-04:00

We have an announcement to make regarding our adoption. But we haven't told our parents yet so...you will have to wait for it. It's not what you think. We didn't get a referral yet. There are just some changes we are making and we want to make sure our parents know about these changes. So check back soon!

moving on

2008-09-15T20:30:00.002-04:00

So we have decided to move on from Vietnam. We are going to try to adopt from Korea! The Korea program is something we have been looking into for a few months. I just sent our application off to our new agency. We have to have another home study done. I am a little nervous about it but i am so excited about Korea. It is a very stable program. If all goes well we should have her/him home in 6-8 months! We wont be travelling to pick them up instead they will arrive at JFK and we will pick her/him up there. I am a little bummed about not travelling. I think it would have been great to experience our babys birth country but we will have pleanty of time to take them back when they are older.
I know my last post was a little depressing. I feel like i can breathe again. This time it seems a little more real. Once we finish our home study it wont be long before we get our referral (pictures and medical info on our child) and then 4-5 months later she will be at JFK waiting for us!

defeated

2008-09-03T10:37:00.003-04:00

September 1st came...and went. It seemed like any other day. Life went on as usual. I thought it would be different. I guess i didn't really know what to expect. There was no total eclipse, no sonic boom nothing to signify the end of our hopes and dreams. It was just like any normal day.
I feel defeated in a way. Like Vietnam got the best of me. Like Vietnam was dangling an apple in front of me saying go ahead take a bite but before i can even take a bite they pull it away and laugh. I don't know weather to laugh or cry. All i can do is do on like business as usual. But i don't feel the same as i did a few weeks ago. I was hopeful then. Now i am defeated.
At this point all we can do it wait to see if Vietnam will open up anytime soon. I guess in the next few weeks we are going to talk about what to do next. If we are going to wait it out with Vietnam or move on.

lucky number 17

2008-08-15T21:17:00.005-04:00

We are down to 17 days. Tomorrow will be 16, then 15, 14, 13, you get the picture. I am trying to remain hopeful but I know that there is a very small likely hood that we are going to get a match in the next 17 days. All that we can hope for is that Vietnam grandfathers in dossiers at least for a few more months. We are so close on the list. If we just had a few more months we would be able to be matched with a baby. But all we can do is wait.

25 DAYS.....

2008-08-05T14:06:00.004-04:00

AND COUNTING! Until September 1st. The day that Vietnam adoptions will cease to continue. The day that we have to have our referral or match by.
When we started this process in January I never thought it would be this stressful. Every time the phone rings I jump. Forget about sleeping. I don't remember what a full nights sleep is like! I have no problem falling asleep at first but it is staying asleep that is the problem. And once i am awake i am awake for what seems like hours. My mind racing with the "what ifs". What if we don't get a match? What if we get a match but they decide not to grandfather us in? What if we get a match? What if what if what if!
If anyone has any thoughts on how to occupy my mind for the next 25 days it would be greatly appreciated.

No News...

2008-07-17T13:59:00.002-04:00

Is killing me!! I talked to our agency last week and there is still no news. Not even a date when we might hear something. We were told that it is "week to week now". Whatever that means. I am trying not to stress out too much. It's the not knowing that is the hardest part. We are hoping to get a match by the end of the month but that is only 2 weeks away. September 1st (the date Vietnam closes to U.S. adoptions) is fast approaching. If we don't get a match in the next 6 weeks our only hope will be that the U.S. and Vietnam come to an agreement and let adoptions to continue.
I would love to blog more but my life really isn't that interesting. I get up, have my coffee, walk Kodi, go to work, come home, make dinner, watch TV and then go to bed. Like i said... not to interesting. Although sometimes funny things happen. I got a call the other day from a realtor that was showing one of my listings and she said there was a BIG snake in the basement! She wanted me to go get it out so she could take her buyers back!! HA I told her she was crazy if she thought i was going to go anywhere near a house with a snake in it much less go near the snake. So i called the owner. He couldn't find the snake.

news??? or not

2008-06-25T00:12:00.002-04:00

So I emailed my agency today to get an update. No new news. No new nothing! We are now officially #9 on the waiting list. At least we are in the single digits. We are hoping to hear something in the next few weeks. Our agency did say if we were not in the next batch of referrals we will not get on before the cut off date of September 1st. So our only hope would be if Vietnam extended the cut off date. There is a chance that it might happen but I would much rather have our match before then. So keep your fingers crossed!

All work and no play.....

2008-06-17T20:33:00.003-04:00

Makes Jess a cranky girl!! I have been so busy for the last few weeks but this past weekend i got a break. T and I went home to my parents house for the weekend. Tracy was invited by my dad to play in the 3-day member-guest tournament at their country club. Tracy had a great time and while he was golfing i got to spend some time with my friend Wiz (her name is really Liz but when my brother was little he couldn't say his L's so he called her Wiz and it kind-of stuck). It was so nice to get away for a few days. But all good things come to an end. Today we found out that another one of our bank owned listings had all the copper stolen out of it and all the windows smashed. So tomorrow i will be calling the Police department again so i can get a police report so the bank can file a claim with their insurance company. This will be the third time in about 2 weeks that i have had to call the police. For any of you looking to get into the real estate business run don't walk but run away. OK i cant complain i kind of like calling the police. It's like being on Cops! and some of them are really cute. Don't tell my husband i said that.

What a day

2008-06-03T19:57:00.003-04:00

Today was one of those days where you wake up and think "maybe I should go back to bed" but in the end I just get up because the dog has to go out. As I look back on my day...i should have stayed in bed! I was about to leave the house and Tracy called to say that we had to go to one of our foreclosure listings (we work for a few major lending institutions selling their forclosed properties) to meet the sherif so we could evict the former owners. Turns out that the former owners are mostly moved out of their house so no drama there but they left behind a cat who looked like it had not been fed in several days. Tracy wanted to leave her there but I insisted that we take her to a shelter. We had to drive about 20 minutes out of the way to drop off the cat. If it had been any longer we would have become a 2 car household instead of a 1 cat house. She was the sweetest cat I have ever seen. The whole time in the car she sat in my lap. After we got back to the office Tracy said we had to go to another foreclosed property to take pictures of it and get it ready to post online for sale. When Tracy opened the door he saw a man trying to run out the back. We both flew off the porch and ran to the car. Tracy didn't even have a chance to get the key out of the door. Since we cant leave a property without securing it we had to go back and at least lock the front door, scary man inside or not. As he was trying to get the key out of the door the man told Tracy that he was just taking a nap and not to call the police on him .Of course I was already on the phone with the Worcester PD. The man left and we went inside. The house could have been nice...had all the copper still been in it! So we had to wait around for the police to come so they could fill out a report for the stolen copper. Like I said I should have stayed in bed!

Embassy!!

2008-05-19T14:57:00.004-04:00

Tracy called our agency for an update on our dossier and we were pleasantly surprised to hear that it is at the Embassy already! It is going to be translated and then we will be DTV (dossier to Vietnam)!!!!!! Once it is in Vietnam it will be logged in and we will be officially logged in and waiting for a referral! We also got an update on our place in line and i am sad to report that we are only #10. 8 or 9 sounded so much better but i guess 10 isn't so bad. It is still looking good and we should know for sure if we are getting a referral or not in early August. August sounds so far away but when you think about it it's really only less then 3 months! Does anyone else know what is in August?? Our anniversary! Tracy and I will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary. So August could be a good month for us. We have been so busy with the work and running the office so August will be here before we know it.

Update!

2008-05-15T13:35:00.003-04:00

I called my agency Tuesday morning and they had indeed received my package. So way to go fedex!!!

Decisions Decisions

2008-05-12T21:31:00.003-04:00

We talked to our agency today and got some great news. Last week they got 12 (I think) referrals! We are now #8 or 9 on the girls list! So we are moving forward with Vietnam as planned. Our agency said it is looking good for us to get a referral by the cut off date (September 1st). There is still a chance that we might not get a referral by the cut off but it is looking good. So today I took our dossier (all the paperwork we need for the adoption) to Fedex to mail it to our agency. You would think taking a package to Fedex would be easy...well you would be wrong. To make a long story short, for some reason the zip code that i had (I do have the right zip code I checked 500 times) wasn't matching up with the town. So i had to put my package in the drop box. The fedex guy assured me that all would be good but i just tried the tracking number and still nothing! Tracy keeps telling me it will get there but if they still have not tracked it how is it going to get there by tomorrow morning! Deep breath. I'm #8 or 9 so everything is good today.

Closed???

2008-05-01T12:53:00.002-04:00

So we got back from our vacation late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I turn on my computer to find this. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080428/ap_on_re_as/vietnam_us_adoption

We immediately, after I stopped sobbing, called our agency. They are trying to figure out how many children they are going to be able to refer out before the Sept. 1st deadline. We should know more in a few days. So again all I can do is wait. Wait for something I have NO control over. The only thing I can do is try to keep busy at work. Try to keep my mind off of it. So if anyone has an extra bottle of wine lying around I might need it!

18 Hours and Counting!!

2008-04-21T12:21:00.003-04:00

18 hours and counting to what you might ask......to our vacation!! We are off to St Lucia for a week in the sun! We need a vacation. We haven't been on vacation in over a year. No phone, no computer...oh wait I am going to bring my laptop. Not because I want to but because our office has been so busy lately we need a way to stay some what connected to our agents. But no cell phone!! The hardest decision i am going to have to make is "what to drink" and "should we sit by the pool or on the beach". Am I making you jealous yet?? Why might you ask are we going on vacation now and not in the middle of the winter?? Well it's my birthday. On Thursday I am going to be 29.....again. 18 hours and counting and i have so much to do. I still have to do laundry and I haven't even started to pack yet! 18 hours and counting....I cant wait!!!

A Red Thread

2008-04-17T14:39:00.007-04:00

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,regardless of time, place, or circumstance.The thread may stretch or tangle,but it will never break."- an ancient Chinese belief

I'm Here!!

2008-04-13T20:40:00.004-04:00

After months of reading adoption blogs like it's my job, I've decided to enter the world of blogging. I've learned so much about adoption through reading blogs and now I hope that someone can learn about adoption through mine! I also thought friends and family would be interested in updates on our adoption.
We started the whole process last September. It took us until January to decide on a country to adopt from and what agency to go with. Since then we have finished our home study and just received the coveted I-171 from the USCIS. Our ageny just put us on "the list" and we are #18 in line for a baby girl. I just sent off the last parts of our dossier to get start certified and as soon as we get them back then it is off to our agency to be translated and then we will be DTV!!