Texans in Taiwan

She's Growing so fast!

2008-08-17T10:27:00.002-06:00

She's six months and all the sudden she is sixteen months. She is talking some, walking, climbing things and she is getting into trouble. Speaking of trouble, I got to go........ she's in trouble.

Tessa Jane is One!!!!

2008-05-01T18:03:00.002-06:00

I know... where the heck have we been???? Suffice it to say it's been a very, very busy few months! I somehow always forget that the first 4 months of the year are the busiest at work... I always end up working lots of overtime and weekends. But this year was especially tough with several new clients and a couple of huge projects. Thankfully, May brings us back to the usual ebb and flow that is the advertising biz.

So I owe a huge apology to all the friends and family that think we crawled under a rock or moved to Brazil or joined a cult!

Tessa Jane turned one on Tuesday. We had a family & friend party on Sunday. It was soooo good to see everyone & Tessa had a ball! She got lots of dollies and new duds. And, of course, covered herself in birthday cake!

Tessa is growing by leaps and bounds. She is 21 lbs. 5 oz. - not surprising since she eats just about anything you put in front of her! She's not walking yet, but we're pretty sure that's because she's totally fascinated with CLIMBING!!!!! Yikes! She'll take a few steps for us but she's more interested in conquering her environment. Her nickname is Tank... she won't go around something or change her course, she goes right through, or over, or off (the bed or sofa), bonking her noggin or chin but shaking it off with no tears!

She's also very vocal. She can say all the important stuff: Mama, Dada, Emma, baba, kitty-cat, doggie, bye-bye, night-night, baby, no more and (big time suck) what's that... which can also sound like wattsuuuuppp?

And, just in case you're wondering, the kid's smart as a whip! Just like all the other sucker parents, we've got all kinds of educational toys for her (even the stupid noise-makers with no volume control) that are supposed to make her brain grow. So on her birthday, in a feeble attempt to go "old school educational toy" I bought her the box that has all the shapes in it that has a lid with corresponding shape holes that you have to fit those shapes into get them in the box. Gosh that was difficult to explain! Anyway, I sat on the floor with her pretending to force the star shape into the square hole and the circle shape into the triangle hole for 15 minutes... no interest... AT ALL!! Finally got up to do something. Looked over, and she had taken the lid off and put all of the shapes in the box without forcing them through the stupid holes! DUH!!!!!!! She is soooo not interested in that toy anymore!

In other news, Emma heads off to big-girl-sleepover-for-two-weeks-camp on June 15. I can't believe my big girl is really that big! I'm still trying to prepare myself for the moment we have to say goodbye... I know I can't cry but sheesh!!! Emma's dance team also took first place last weekend at competition. I was so against her competing in dance but now I'm completely convinced it's one of the best things that's happened to her (I mean it's dance... real dance... not drill team or cheerleading).

In closing, we're all doing great and (to reiterate) have not moved or joined a cult. I'm really, really, really sorry for not keeping you all up to date. I'm sure you all think I'm a huge flake! Right now I'm thankful for two great kids, a wonderful husband and great friends and family... who love me despite my flakiness :)

I'm a bad, bad blogger!!

2008-01-05T11:39:00.000-06:00

Everyone I know is mad at me right now (including my own mother) for hiding under my little rock for the past two months! There's no good excuse other than to say we have definitely bonded and Tessa has adjusted beautifully!

Looking back, the first few weeks were pretty tough. Then it only got tougher when I got the flu (for THREE weeks and even after getting a flu shot) and at times really and truly thought I was dying. As dramatic as that sounds, the flu that has been making it's way through our part of the world is particularly bad... in fact one of Emma's teachers died the week before Christmas two days after getting sick. Really unbelievable. She was only 52. It was pretty traumatic for the kids. It was equally traumatic for parents of the kids in her class. It was several days before the teacher's family revealed what had killed her and once they did, parents were scared... REAL scared. Good news is that most kiddos have far better immune systems than us old fogies and bounce back quickly.

Otherwise, the holidays were great! We got to spend lots of time with both sides of the family and Tessa stole the show everywhere we went! That kid is a real ham!!! Tessa didn't really understand the gift ritual but that was OK because Emma was all too happy to open a few extra presents - even if they weren't for her :)

Monday is D-Day. I go back to work :( The time I've spent at home was priceless and I'm soooo glad I was able to literally give her my time 24/7 for as long as I did. Next week will be tough for both of us - she is now a "velcro" baby and has quite a case of separation anxiety. Sometimes she will scream at the top of her lungs if I walk away from her... not a tired, cranky cry - a genuine hurt cry.

But to be 100% honest, I'm kind of looking forward to going back to work. I'm just not the stay at home type (at least without a nanny lol!) and having intelligent (or semi intelligent) adult conversations is something I'm craving. I'll miss Tess tremendously but I truly feel we've formed a bond that will endure me leaving her to "play" all day with three new friends :)

I've got to run because we have a dinner date. I intended to write a novel (hah!) but time got away from me today... something to do with velcro :) A BIG apology to those that have followed the blog and wondered what the heck happened to us (especially my girls on the Yahoo group). I PROMISE to keep everyone updated... really, I swear!!!

Here are a few pictures I took of Tess yesterday. As confident as I feel photographing children and babies, I have never done it all by myself. Usually I've got a mom just out of frame entertaining the baby and moving it back to the set after it crawls away. So it was definitely a learning experience!!!! Hope you like the pics - more to come soon!!!!

This is the shot I was going for when I set up the shoot. Unfortunately, Tessa didn't really care about the rose so this was the only shot I got... luckily it was in focus!

Tessa and Tex (Darn that wrinkle in the background!! Photoshopping will have to wait till I go back to work)

This kid loves hats!!!!!!!!!!! Couldn't make a shutterbug happier :)

See my new tooth? The other one's about in too... no more toothless grins!

Long time no blog...

2007-11-16T19:29:00.000-06:00

First, my apologies for our loooong delay in posting. I had no idea so many people were following the blog and have been really surprised by the number of people clamoring for updates.

Of course the trip was grueling - 24 hours give or take. Again EVA air was great - although we couldn't all sit together because of the plane's layout. The bulkhead had a bassinet & she slept for about 6 of the 11 hours from Taipei to San Francisco - we were high-fiving on our way to customs... unfortunately we high-fived waaaay too soon. Tessa got fussy the minute we got off the plane. I was sure it was her soaked diaper bothering her (would've changed her on the plane but the seatbelt light was on for the last hour of the flight) so I parked the stroller behind a massive column about 50 feet away from the "line" to customs to change her. Mid butt-wipe this rent-a-cop (aka TSA dude) tells me that they "have places for that kind of thing - you need to do that somewhere else." Lucky I'm not in Guantanamo Bay because I looked Opie straight in the eye and said "We just got off an eleven hour flight, we still have to go through customs, immigration, and walk all the way to Terminal C. We have 16 bags, a wet baby and an exhausted nine year old. Where am I supposed to do "this kind of thing?" Being the expert butt-wiper that I am, I had her changed before he could answer and went on my way. A few minutes later Opie found me again and apologized but saying again there are "places for that kind of thing" but I wouldn't even look at him... grrrrrrrr.

The next 12 or so hours were pure torture - mentally and physically. Tessa was gassy after the international flight and there was NO consoling her. She screamed and squirmed with all her might (our sincere apologies to those on rows 20 and 22 on the 1:00 a.m. flight from San Francisco to Dallas.) I'm pretty sure it was her version of boot camp for her new mommy - strengthen all of mommy's arm muscles and deafen her ears a little... perfect!
Finally made it to Austin where Nana and Papa (thanks Ken & Connie for letting them borrow the Suburban!) would drive us home.

That's pretty much the last clear memory we would have for roughly 10 days. Jet lag kicked all of our butts. Emma went to school two days in a row with no sleep (and slept-walked Halloween). Several times we all woke up and looked around to realize we'd fallen asleep mid-conversation and it was now three hours later... FREAKY!!!

We're back on Texas time now and Tessa is still working hard to train us. Once she got over her jet lag, it seems she realized that this was real - new people, new bed, new place, new bottle... new everything and she was NOT totally thrilled with the idea. Several days of fussiness and LOTS of holding and coddling seems to have won her over. The Tessa we know today is so much different than the one that got off of that plane. She belly laughs, smiles often, snuggles even when she's not sleepy, tolerates a little alone (not being held) time, is more easily soothed and genuinely seems to truly trust us (something I didn't believe would be an issue - it was really frustrating sensing that she wasn't 100% comfortable with us).

Anyhoo, the hermit-like life we've lead for the past few weeks somehow seems to be what the doctor ordered for her and us. Now we just need to work on establishing a schedule.

Check out her skillz!!! In her effort to crawl, she always ends up in the splits - I soooo want to Photoshop her on a balance beam!!!

The holy grail... she's always certain there's something to eat or drink in this cup.

Itty Bitty Kitty loves Tessa Jane - grabbing the new kid's toys when she isn't looking isn't a game, it's a way of life.

Maestro!!!! Tessa LOVES this little keyboard.

Tessa doesn't mind scales and eyes on her fish... yum!

Here are a few photos from our last day in Taiwan. We went to the East coast and then to an old gold mining town. We never saw any evidence of any previous or current gold mining... well there is a HUGE market that runs through the middle of the town that caters to tourists looking for souvenirs.

Everywhere we went young ladies would circle around Tessa pointing and taking pictures. Emma's convinced they thought we were celebrities adopting... maybe the kid's just cute?

Here's lunch. We called it Chinese Matzo (sp?) Ball soup. Lots of different dumplings in a broth... not bad.

Really????? Condom WORLD????? A whole world in that little cubicle of a store??? Who else is thinking a man owns this joint???

Mr. Yeh holds Tessa saying "mei mei, mei mei" - which means little sister, little sister.

Emma proves she is a great jie jie (big sister)

The rocky Eastern coast

Temple at the waters edge

Sleep

2007-10-30T23:00:00.000-06:00

Hi I'm Emma.I can't go to sleep!!!!!!!!!

San Fran!

2007-10-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hi Emma again! Were leaving for Dallas in ... well, its an hour or less! Tessa's asleep and everyone in the airport is so tired they're quiet :) Its just a matter of time in'till she sees her real home ( at least for now.) talk to you again when were not in an airport!

Farewell Taiwan!

2007-10-29T04:14:00.000-06:00

We've had the time of our lives but it is time for us to head home & get settled into our new life.

Today was another fun day of sightseeing (shopping) complete with exotic foods and funny stories. Don't have time to post today's pics and I'm sure we'll be totally zonked for a few days after we get back so be patient... more stuff coming.

Mr. Yeh arrives in an hour and a half to take us to the airport for our looooong flight(s). Cross your fingers that we survive traveling for 21 hours with an infant... !!!!!!!

Mom & Dad, it won't be long now!

Last night in Taiwan

2007-10-28T08:51:00.001-06:00

We've been busy packing tonight but wanted to leave our faithful readers with a few pics from today's journey.

We started out the day by driving to Keeling on the Northern coast. First we went to some temple/giant buddha/kiddie amusement park thingie. Upon entering there is a giant buddha that is flanked by kiddie rides/games and (don't ask me why) Christmas (!) carols are playing!! Round the corner and you see the giant bell... the kind that has a giant log on a rope that takes your entire body weight to strike the bell. Everyone got a turn (at roughly 25 cents a pop). After all that sanctity and such you walk into the kiddie area with motorized cars and carnival games. When you run out of spare change, turn left to find the temple. I only have one other thing left to say about this place... watch your step. There are lots of steep inclines and a lot of wads of gum on the ground :P

We decided to lighten things (hah) up with a trip to Yeliou Beach. At Yeliou you will find miles of interesting rock formations formed by the rough tide that hits the Northern coast of Keeling. Among the formations are hundreds of little wells that form tidal pools when the surf is up. We didn't have enough time to explore the sealife that washed into them... we'll leave that for the next visit.

In order to exit the beach area you have to go through the local market (go figure.) Unlike the other markets we've been to, this one was 100% fish. Ladies with baskets of dried squid and eels greet you so you can get a sample (Christmas in July!). Mid-way through the market Mr. Yeh met us and recommended we have lunch at one of the stalls. Here were our choices: Prawns (eyes, heads, tails, legs, whisker thingies), noodles with unidentifiable meat, battered and fried kelp, mussels and clams in a brown sauce and seaweed stir fried with enoki mushrooms and ginger. We decided to have a bit of everything!!! Believe it or not, it was all yummy!! The battered and fried kelp is seriously something the U.S. needs to copy. Next best was the seaweed. The first bite was a bit scary but once you got over the texture, it was delicious!

Next we went to a Sea World-like place called Ocean World. Living only an hour and a half from one of the best aquariums/amusement parks in the world makes it tough for someone like Emma to appreciate their version. HOWEVER, once again the Taiwanese are sneaky and have something different to offer. How about divers diving from a hundred foot ladder and a crack team of synchronized swimmers? Suffice it to say Emma was impressed... even if the guy that finally dove from the top rung sort of belly flopped (we were seriously worried.)

From there we took a loooooong drive to Fisherman's Wharf. This area is really trendy. Lots of teens and twenty-somethings on dates or going out with friends. There is a great footbridge you walk across to get to the wharf. Of all the places we've been with Tessa, we got the most stares here. There was even a group of teen girls who followed us and took pictures... ????

Tomorrow we hit the former gold rush town of Juifen before making our flight at 11:30 p.m. Likely this is our last post from Taiwan :( We've had an amazing trip but are ready to sleep in our own beds (at odd hours for a while) and introduce Tessa to family, friends and pets (gasp).

Here are a few pics from today... see you soon!

Wu Lai Falls, Freaky Food and the Other Woman

2007-10-27T07:29:00.001-06:00

Matt hasn't shown up near enough on the blog. Here's a great capture!

Yesterday we spent the day at Wu Lai falls. It is billed as a quaint aboriginal village at the base of the giant waterfall.

The whole crew at the base of the falls.

The falls from the gorge.

The "other woman"

We arrived and were greeted by 7 or 8 Chinese women in the gift shop oohing and aahing over the babies. We had some tea while we waited for the "show."

We had been under the impression that the "show" was an authentic Atayal tribe dance. Well, I guess it was if you throw in a state of the art theatre, dolby surround sound and pyrotechnics! The show depicts the origins of the Atayal tribe and concludes with.... a wedding. The "wedding" number requires most of the audience to get on stage (I got to sit it out since Tessa was asleep on my shoulder). Everyone is clad with tribal wear and sings the Wu Lai song. After that, a "groom" and a "bride" are picked from the crowd.

You've probably guessed... Matt was picked for the groom and Tami was picked for the bride!!! In a shocking turn of events, they did NOT marry each other. Matt married some 20 year old gal and Tami married a guy who looked to still be in his teens :) It was a beautiful ceremony... ending with a chair strapped to Matt's back on which he carried his new "bride."

Of course, no photography was allowed but the actors snapped shots that were later put on a PLASTIC plate that you could buy for $15.

After the show we were escorted to the resort's fancy restaurant. We gorged on barbecued whole fish (here's looking at you), fried crawfish (heads, tails and all), something wrapped in a banana leaf that was pretty good, some sort of vegetable and "tadpole soup" for dessert (actually some sort of seed in a sweet sauce.) We saw lots of other tables that had yummy looking spring rolls and noodles and such. We figure Mr. Yeh had recognized that we were adventurous eaters and treated us to a "tradtional" meal :)

Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads (and some kind of crawfish you eat head, tail and all).

"Tadpole" soup.

Tessa gets fussy when anyone's eating and she's not :) Mr. Yeh sings her a Chinese baby song and claps his hands.

Next it was time to go up the mountain. Gondolas take you to the top of the mountain. Once you reach the gondola station, there are about 250 stairs to climb to get to the top!! The scenery is breathtaking... which is kind of annoying when you're already out of breath!

Hmmm.

This is about 10 feet from the "Don't Stay Here" sign :)

Bridge at the top of the falls.

Best beer in the world. The lady behind the counter was VERY confused as to why we were taking pictures of the sign. She clearly has NO idea what it says :)

This straw dispenser sits on the counter top. Wish we'd seen it before shelling out $4 for the world's best beer :)

Next Mr. Yeh took us to the local market. Once again, we LOVED the market. Emma always gets some sort of sausage with pineapple on a stick and the rest of us have a ball figuring out what things are and tasting those that don't look too scary.

Market outside of Wu Lai.

Pick your squid.

Cooked to order.

BUNS!!!!!! These things are so awesome they make the blog twice!

Grilled rice cake with chocolate and sprinkles... YUM!!

Gotta run!!! Today we head for Keeling along the Northern Coast. Will post again soon!!

Two Days with Tessa Jane

2007-10-26T03:22:00.000-06:00

First, a few pics of Tessa Jane. We're slowly but surely getting her to show us her real personality (which can be stubborn!) and genuinely warm up to us. She's completely off of her schedule (which we really don't know what it was supposed to be), so napping and eating and planning around napping and eating has been a bit challenging. Nonetheless, we've continued touring Taiwan and seeing the sights.

We started off yesterday with our appointment at the AIT (embassy). We waited a while and then had to fill out a couple of VERY confusing forms. We were helped by two very nice gentlemen: one a Chinese man in his fifties, the other a middle-aged six foot tall American black man - who spoke fluent Chinese. After we paid the cashier the $385 in crisp American bills (which she checked to make sure weren't counterfeit and got our phone number at the hotel in case they were), we were told everything looked good and to come back the next day for Tessa's passport and visa.

After that we headed to Taipei 101 - currently the tallest building in the world. We ate lunch in the HUGE mall at the base of the tower and then took the world's fastest elevator to the top. 89 stories in 41 seconds... our ears popped 2 or 3 times on the way (the actual building has 101 stories but the observation deck is lower.) Too bad it was a really cloudy day :(

View of the city (or part of it) from the observation deck.

Tessa actually flinched when we got too close to the glass!

The famous damper... this is the gyro-like device that stabilizes the building - even during earthquakes.

Flat Stanley makes another blog appearance.

Next we went to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial. The memorial was built to honor a really mean, bad dude so the government tried (in vain) to rename it the National Memorial. Unfortunately the entire complex is being renovated so photo ops were limited.

There are some really beautiful gardens surrounding the memorial.

Check out the bruise on her forehead. She thrashes around in her sleep and the crib the hotel provided is teeny weeny. She's now sleeping with us :P

Today we started our day with a visit to AIT to pick up Tessa's passport and visa. After about 30 minutes of waiting, the nice Chinese gentleman who helped us yesterday called us up. We received a boatload of paperwork... the most important being her passport and visa!

Next we went to a quaint little place called the Ping Lin Tea Museum. It is in the outskirts of town up in the mountains. The city was quite overcast but when we got to the mountain area, it was drizzly and rainy. The museum itself is kind of old and musty but the scenery was beautiful.

The koi fish are HUGE!!

Teapots sit atop the barricades on the road to the museum.

We've seen several variations on this scene throughout Taiwan. Each one is slightly different. The first one we saw had a crown-like thing and a long beard. We joked that it was Burger King's grandfather. So now they're all related to Burger King somehow... jet lag :P

Mr. Yeh stopped at this street market so we could get something to eat. He went to a street vendor and ordered what we could TELL was tofu. We were all saying "NO stinky tofu!" He kept gesturing that it was good... OK... no problem. Tami and I agreed to take bites simultaneously. It WASN'T stinky tofu!!! It was some kind of Teriyaki tofu with pickled cabbage on top! It was pretty good!! We walked through the market and sampled lots of other exotic foods. Most of them sweets and pastries - because if we've learned one thing, these are what the Taiwanese do best. Roadside vendors here make better stuff than most of the crazy expensive stuff I've tasted back home.

Tessa is just waking up from her evening nap and we are off to the night market with Ralph and Tami. Hope to pick up some souvenirs!

Tomorrow we head for WuLai Falls. I can't wait! This place is a no-miss... mountains, waterfalls, quaint little aboriginal village and a GONDOLA!!! It's supposed to be overcast again tomorrow so we're hoping we get lucky and get a few sprinkles of sunlight and no rain!

Gotta run! We're having a great time but we're starting to miss some of our creature comforts. I'm pretty sure we'll watch TV for about 10 hours straight when we get home... all we get here is CNN world (did you know South Africa won the world rugby championship?) and the Discovery Channel - which has been running a special on meercats every other hour for the past several days... it was even on in the lobby of the AIT building. Ugh.

We'll post again soon!!

Emma's post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-25T17:52:00.000-06:00

Hi I'm Emma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'm Dena's daughter! Today I'm writing the post. She's cute but...I'm gonna have to get used to the dipper stinch. What I love a lot but not the most,picking out her little outfits!!!!!!!!!!! I think I'm good at taking care of her.Why? Because I've done a lot of helping with friends sisters- good none of my friends have brothers " that are baby anyway" .

Video!!!

2007-10-24T17:49:00.000-06:00

We finally got the video of gotcha to upload. We look a little worse for wear... it was blazing hot, we were nervous, exhausted and were verging on carsick minutes earlier!

Tessa is doing great this morning. We woke up to smiles and giggles! The schedule from her foster mother says she plays on her own for 1 1/2 to 2 hours each morning after her bottle. I found that hard to believe but she's been entertaining herself for about 45 minutes. YAY! What more could a new mom ask for?

Gotta run! Our AIT (embassy) appointment is in an hour and a half. Should only take an hour or so. This afternoon we're set for more sight seeing and lots of picture taking! We'll try to post again this evening.

Metcha, Gotcha, Fedya, Changedya

2007-10-24T03:21:00.000-06:00

Whew!! What a whirlwind of a day! Yes, we have Tessa Jane but it's been a long day for both her and us. We left at 8:10 this morning and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Taichung. Within a few minutes of arriving at the agency we were driven to Tessa's foster mother's home & she was in our arms within minutes. We spent about a half an hour with the foster mom and then returned to the agency to be told Tessa's birthfamily wanted to meet with us but that it would be 45 minutes until they arrived. We took the opportunity to walk to a park and spend some one-on-one with Tessa. She is VERY good natured and oh so cute!!!

Finally they arrived (the birthmother, the grandfather and the grandmother). We had a really great conversation. We were honored to have the opportunity to meet with them. After about an hour and a half we finally said our goodbyes. At that point we filled out some paperwork and headed back toward Taipei.

Usually the entire process takes about five or six hours including travel time but since we spent quite a bit of time with her birthfamily, we are just now getting back to the hotel with a hot, hungry, tired and confused baby :( Actually, she's done very well and has only cried a few times. She prefers for me to hold her when she's upset or sleepy but will go to Matt or Emma if she just needs attention. Emma is entertaining her right now & it's clear she's going to be a GREAT big sister!

We'll post more soon!!!!! I'm trying to upload the video but it could take some time.

Last Post as a Family of Three

2007-10-23T16:21:00.000-06:00

Loot

Wrapped Loot

It's 6:30 a.m. and we will be leaving for Taichung in two hours to meet Tessa!!!!!!

We spent the morning yesterday getting our gifts wrapped, packing baby stuff and going over our paperwork. After that we walked a couple of blocks to the HUGE department store called SOGO. It it nine stories plus 2 basement floors filled with designer goods.

We found the second location of our favorite dumpling restaurant right there in the basement of SOGO!!! Eureka!! From what we were told the restaurant was a hole in the wall in downtown Taipei until it was discovered by a New York food critic. Since then they expanded the original location and opened the second.

We also found a nice gourment grocery store in the basement. We wanted to buy Tami and Ralph a celebratory bottle of wine. This was a fun experience! The sales girls were practicing their English wine terms on us. They soon realized we're kind of wine snobs and were asking US about the wines. We tried to tell them things like "oaky," "earthy," "crisp," etc. It turned into a game of Pictionary... and we did pretty well. After we purchased the wine, they asked where we were from. We told them Texas and they said "cowboy country!" We said yes and told them that we say "Howdy" in Texas. All three of them waved at each other saying "Howdy!" over and over again to each other! It was priceless.

When we got back to the hotel Tami and Ralph were here with Anna. She is a total doll! Very happy and healthy baby. We can't wait for Tessa to meet her new best friend!!

We'll post again when we get back!!! The butterflies are starting!

Tour of Taipei - Day Three

2007-10-22T16:57:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning started off with a trip to the Martyr's Shrine. The shrine memorializes Taiwan's fallen heroes of the revolutionary war against Japan. The complex is, of course, beautiful but the big draw is the changing of the guard. Just like Buckingham Palace, the guards stand motionless in full military regalia and change positions every hour. We arrived five minutes before the ceremony. There were a couple hundred tourists at the gate. We watched the soldiers march from the main building to the gate and then wandered around taking pictures. Five minutes after the ceremony we realized that we were pretty much the only ones still there!!! Short attention span the Taiwanese have! Great for taking pictures!

I'm posting a day late as after yesterday's whirlwind tour of Taiepei left us tired and ready to chill at the hotel. We've spent the morning getting the diaper bag and gifts ready for tomorrow (!!!!!!!!!!!) and catching up on news and emails from home.

Next we headed for the Chinese Performing Arts school. We don't know why but there were only about ten people in the audience - us and five or so other caucasians (one of which was some kind of diplomat judging from the black town car with Taiwanese flags on the hood, so we had front row seats.

The first show was performed by the students of the acrobatic school. All I can say is WOW!!!! Very much like Cirque du Soleil with an Asian flair. They were fantastic and Emma literally made a scene jumping up and down and yelling AWESOME!!! and COOL!! Throughout the show. She put on just as much of a show as the performers. After the show, Mr. Yeh was beaming. He threw her up in the air and then gave her high fives!!

After that we were given a behind the scenes tour of the opera. Basically every detail of the makeup and costume is meaningful and cues the audience to the characters rank in and job in society. It was intriguing and we were excited to see the opera. Once the show started, the intrigue turned to a combination of confusion and disbelief. Let's just say that the costumes and make up are really cool. The singing (think cats mating) and "music" (think five toddlers in the kitchen - four with pots and pans - one with a weird horn). My scientific observations find that 70% of caucasians plugged their ears at some point in the show. And, since I make up 10% of those that didn't, I can say that at least 10% would have done so if they weren't afraid to be rude. I only got one picture while we were there because they didn't allow photography. I played dumb & got one fired off :)

Next we were in for a treat! When we had our meeting on Sunday to schedule our week, I had asked Mr. Yeh to take us to a famous dumpling restaurant. This was before our interpreter (doorman) intervened to help us out. I was sure he hadn't understood my request so I had dropped the idea. How excited was I when we drove up to Din Tai Fung!!!! This place is very popular and waits can be as long as an hour and a half. Once again Mr. Yeh did his magic and were in within 20 minutes. This place is the BOMB!!! We've decided we are making AT LEAST one more trip there before we leave.

After our lunch we swung by the Grand Hotel. A big, palacious hotel built to host dignitaries and celebrities. In fact, it has only been in recent years that "normal" folk could stay there. There was a jewelry show there and I got a good deal on some gifts so I was pleased as punch.

Our last stop of the day was the National Palace Museum. When Taiwan split from China Taiwan got (or stole - don't know which) 99% of the art/sculpture/writings. By this point we were pretty tired so we just caught the highlights. Among them the "Mona Lisa" of the museum the Jade Cabbage and the Meat Stone. Don't ask me. No pictures allowed here so this will have to do: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Palace_Museum

We then headed home so Tami and Ralph could get ready for their big day (they should be meeting their daughter Anna right about now!!!!) On our way, Mr. Yeh handed me his cell phone. It was our contact at the adoption agency. She asked what we would like to do today since Mr. Yeh would be escorting Tami and Ralph. She said "Would you like to have Mr. Yeh's associate take you to the zoo? Or would you like to take the high speed train? Or would you like to spend the day at the hospital?" I blurted out "Did you say hospital?" She started laughing so hard she couldn't breathe! She couldn't stop and I couldn't stop. She just kept saying "I'm so embarassed!" Everyone in the van was wondering how the word hospital was so funny. When she finally caught her breath she said she meant "hotel". THAT was a good first meeting with the agency director :P

The rest of the evening was spent winding down and eating at one the restaurants in the hotel. (Who knew a jicama salad would have no jicama??) We also arranged to have the staff bring Emma a piece of cheesecake with a lit candle singing Happy Birthday. Believe it or not, they actually did a pretty good rendition despite their heavy accents :) So now Emma has celebrated her birthday - what - three times????

I'll post a brief update this evening. We're going to take a cab & try to catch some of the sights we've missed due to Emma's (and our) jet lag.

Tomorrow's the BIG day... we can't wait!!!!!!!

Taste of Taiwan

2007-10-21T05:36:00.000-06:00

Well, we were supposed to be picked up at Noon to go to the Jade Market and the Longshan Temple but Matt and I and Tami and Ralph decided to hit the unbeaten path. We looked over our itinerary (prepared byour guide Mr. Yeh) and decided there were a few things we wanted to add and a few we wanted to ditch so we revamped the week's schedule. We were to discuss the schedule with him upon his arrival at noon. Whoever told us Mr. Yeh's English was limited was misinformed... Mr. Yeh knows no English. Consequently, our discussion took quite a while and involved me busting out my high school drama/acting chops :) When the acting was only partially effective, we turned to our secret weapon... the doorman at the hotel. This man needs to work for the U.N. - oops, Bush and the other half of the world doesn't want to invite Taiwan to the U.N. party (sorry, off topic). Needless to say, we ironed out our schedule, gave the doorman a fat tip and went on our way.

First stop: Sansia Zushi Temple

While the guide books highlight the temple, they don't mention that the real attractions here are the ancient streets, interesting shops, local folks and vendors. The streets are jam packed with people. Dubbed an "authentic Chinese village," it quickly becomes apparent that the area is a tourist trap... a tourist trap for Taiwanese!! We saw no other caucasian people and many people stared - some even pointed at us (especially Emma) and whispered to one another! There were magicians, street performers, food stalls and around a hundres little shops selling everything from traditional Chinese medicines (freaky herbs and mushrooms and stuff) to fine art, to leather goods to Sponge Bob gear! I don't mean to take any attention away from the temple - it was amazing!!! The architecture is something you really have to see in person to appreciate. Many locals were lighting incense, praying, and leaving offerings at the altar (correct terminology???) At one point I put my hand on Emma's back and realized her heart was racing. I asked her why and she said "this place is sacred Momma." Wow.

Stop Two: Yingge

Yingge is an area specializing in the art of ceramics. This is another area of winding, narrow streets with shops and vendors. The streets here feel more like a "replica" of old Taiwan. When we first entered, we heard drums and chanting. Soon we saw a parade coming. It started with the traditional dragon dancers and then the rest of the parade was school children from various schools who had put together cute little routines. One group of children literally stopped marching when one child saw Emma and pointed her out to the others. It was a bit awkward for her but then their teacher marched over, grabbed Emma by the shoulders and walked her over to the children. She instructed them to welcome her. They all said "Ni Hao." She said something else to them and they said "Allo!" Soooo cute. After that we bought some really, really good street food. For months I have been reading up on the street food (foodie that I am). I was determined that I would not leave Taiwan without trying three things: Taiwan ices, steamed street bun, authentic bubble tea and stinky tofu (made famous by the show "Bizarre Foods".) Tried two of them today and smelled another. The street bun was sooooooo good!!! It was sold by a genuinely crazy man screaming at the top of his lungs. He handed out a flyer explaining what I don't know but it had to do with the bun (see the pic - I know I have a few Taiwanese readers - can you translate?). We also tried the ice with mung bean (I think)... not really my cup of tea (sorry Amy). Last but not least, Mr. Yeh bought us fried squid balls on a stick. Yep. In the U.S. these would be "succulent morsels of calamari in a delicately seasoned batter served with a tangy garlic-chili sauce." OMG these things were good! As for the stinky tofu - the name really does sum it up. I decided that if the guide is grossed out by the stuff, it should be avoided. We then went to a ceramics shop that our guide recommended. We bought a few things and our guide negotiated a pretty good discount for us... handmade ceramic noodle bowls $1.80!!! Beat that World Market!

After all the hustle and bustle, we came back to the hotel for a rest before heading to the Snake Alley night market. On the way back Emma started to fade rapidly. She could barely keep her eyes open and then crashed within a few minutes of being back. Needless to say we skipped the market and Tami and Ralph are charming the snakes across town right now. She REALLY wanted to go so we'll fit that in somewhere. She's been such a trooper!

Tomorrow is the Chinese Opera. We've heard great things about it but Matt was skeptical. He read tonight that is was customary to talk out loud and even come and go from the performance... he was relieved!!!

Enjoy the pics!

Hollywood to Taipei

2007-10-20T13:56:00.000-06:00

It is Sunday morning 4:00 a.m. Taipei time. Despite taking all of the advice from globetrotters on how to beat jet lag, it hit us all pretty hard yesterday. Once we got settled in our room we ventured out for a walk around this part of the city and then came back to the hotel to nap. We had planned on having dinner with our friends Tami and Ralph (who are also here to adopt a daughter) but everyone was still pretty beat and Emma was out cold. Eventually we woke her up and got room service. After eating, we all went promptly back to sleep again! They're both still sawing Z's - lucky!!!

Today our guide will take us to the Longshan Temple. It is supposed to be amazing! We don't know how many pictures we'll get. We've heard that many parts of the temple are considered sacred and you cannot photograph them. We'll post again soon!!

Emma's hands are smaller than Emma Watson's from Harry Potter but her feet are bigger!

Flat Stanley makes his first appearance on our blog!! For those without school age kids, Stanley was flattened by a tragic blackboard accident. Since he's now so handy to mail or pack, he tags along with traveling families all over the world. Our Stanley was sent to us by our friend Janelle's son Ethan. We were told by the characters outside of the Mann theater that there is now a Flat Sally - too bad Stanley didn't run into her :)

Stanley found Mickey Mouse's star!

The AMERICAN GIRL STORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since we're traveling over Emma's birthday, she got an early present when she got to hang with her "cousin" Claire at the coolest store! The AG store is in an uber-cool outdoor mall called The Grove - VERY L.A. - there was even a red carpet with velvet ropes set up. Matt saw someone famous there - you know someone with body guards and people with walkie talkies and stuff. When asked who it was he said he didn't know. I asked what they looked like and he said "a gangsta." We'll never know :)

Doll day of beauty. Good thing - Claire's doll Kaia was almost to the dreadlock stage but she left with a beautiful new "do."

Claire's little sister Ellie got a Bitty Baby. She was SOOOOOO excited! It came "wit a bottle and everyting." Her new baby's name is Winne the Pooh LOL!!!!!!

After our trip to The Grove, Misty had us over for a wonderful steak dinner at her house. She even got cupcakes to celebrate Emma's birthday! THANKS Misty and Jason for dinner and the help with our bazillion bags at the airport!!

Here is the flower market about two blocks from our hotel. They have the most amazing orchids and tropical flowers! If customs would let us bring them home we'd have a whole suitcase of exotic flowers. Here's Emma with some of the Bonsai trees. The biggest one in this photo cost about $100.

We made it to Taiwan!!!!

2007-10-19T20:26:00.000-06:00

Can't post much now but wanted to let everyone know we made it to Taiwan in one piece! It was a loooong trip but we're surprisingly in pretty good shape. Can't post now but will post pictures of our L.A. leg and our first venture out into Taipei.

Going to Taiwan and New Pictures!!!

2007-10-12T09:11:00.001-06:00

We finally have our travel planned... we leave next Wednesday to pick up Tessa Jane!!!! It was quite a feat as apparently there is some sort of big trade fair in Taiwan and all of the flights and hotels are booked up. Many late nights on the phone with the travel agent for the flights and calling hotels in Taiwan (at $5.81 a minute!!!!). We are very lucky to be traveling with another family adopting a child who we've become friends with over the last 10 months. Of course this made planning our travel a little more complicated. Got everything worked out and our tickets arrived via Fed Ex yesterday. Was on cloud nine until I got home & saw that we had a voicemail from our caseworker. This was at 6:15. The message stated that there had been some kind of mix up and we may have to postpone our travel!!! She went on to say that she would only be in the office for a few more minutes and we'd talk in the morning.

Well, that wasn't going to work!!! We made phone call after phone call and finally got a hold of our program director. He agreed that this was unacceptable and agreed to call Taiwan immediately since it was already Friday there and waiting until Monday would put us in an impossible situation. Anyhow, I got an email at 7:45 this morning saying everything was worked out... whew!!!!! This week has been totally exhausting!

Here's our itinerary:

10/17 - Fly from Austin to LAX
10/18 - Spend the day in LA with our good friend Misty & family
10/19 - 1:00 a.m. Fly from LAX to Taipei
10/20 - 6:05 a.m. Arrive Taiwan
10/24 - GOTCHA DAY!!!!!! Not sure yet but probably around 10:00 a.m. Taiwan time (9:00 p.m. on the 23rd Central time)
10/25 - AIT (Consulate) appointment to apply for her visa
10/26 - Pick up her visa
10/29 - 11:30 p.m. Fly from Taipei to San Francisco
10/29 - 7:20 p.m. arrive San Francisco (she becomes a U.S. Citizen when we land on American soil)
10/30 - 12:45 fly from San Francisco to Dallas, then Dallas to Austin
10/30 - 8:30 a.m. HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned!!! We will be updating the blog while we travel. And yes we'll post LOTS of pictures!!!!!!!!!!

Final Ruling!!!

2007-10-08T12:55:00.000-06:00

We are officially Tessa Jane's parents!!!!

Gotcha day will be either Oct. 23 or 24th and our appointment with AIT (American Consulate) to get her passport and visa is the 25th. We're making our travel arrangements now. I'll update when we've got our flights confirmed.

Slow News Week

2007-09-30T08:32:00.000-06:00

Well, we didn't get the call this week. Kind of bummed but Matt summed it up perfectly. He said "It doesn't matter when we get the call. It will be too late and too soon no matter what." Yep. So we concentrated on getting ready to travel. We got most of the paperwork done and finished up the shopping. I now have all the stuff on my lists. And Matt succeeded in convincing me that bringing home a new baby requires buying a brand new laptop and a cool video camera!!! The laptop is cool and all but the video camera is downright awesome! It's a tiny little gadget called a Flip. While me and Matt had fun tinkering around with it, Emma's inner film producer emerged!!! She recorded lots of typical kid-directed footage... you know like walking in on somebody changing clothes, lip singing with the hairbrush microphone - that kind of thing. That stuff was funny but this one is practically movie magic!!! To recreate this scene at home, let your kid record him/herself dangling off the couch while laughing hysterically. I have to say I'm proud the camera survived the fall! I'm pretty sure she recorded it at night with no lights on - so it's kind of dark.

Update... Made you Smile!!!!!

2007-09-10T13:54:00.001-06:00

Here are the newest pictures and video of TJ. They finally put her in the onesie that says "Made You Smile!" Oh and don't you love how she's about to dig for gold in the second one? Hah! She's going to fit right in!!

Tag... I'm it!!!

2007-09-10T06:39:00.000-06:00

I have been tagged by the Hegemom at chairmanmom.blogspot.com! The Hegemom is also adopting from Taiwan and is quite active on the "big" Yahoo board. She's got a great sense of humor! And, she has been down the adoption road before so she's a great resource for all of us hopping on the roller coaster for the first time! OK, so here are the game rules:

You have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog! O.K.-Here we go...

Let me start by saying I HATE my middle name... sorry mom :0 When Matt & I got married I wanted to change it to my maiden name but mom was crushed so I held onto it but shortened it to the initial on credit applications, mail orders, etc. So most of the stuff that lands in my mailbox says "Dena L." After a 17-year respite from seeing the name in print, here I am "coming out of the closet" for all the world to see!

Lorraine (cringe, shriek, gasp, sputter)

L: Laredo. This is the Mexican town Matt & I (and another couple) spent Spring Break my Senior Year. Now I'm apologizing a SECOND time in this post to my mom. No, we were not tubing on the river. Yep, we went to Mexico, shared a hotel room (gasp), and, most likely, (it's all a little foggy) drank some cerveza and tequila (double gasp). We even got stopped by the Border Patrol on our way back... the registration on my friend's car had expired... geez we were brilliant. Good times.

O: Origins. I love just about anything Origins makes! I wear the Ginger Essence perfume and LOVE the Ginger Souffle body lotion.

R: Roses. I love roses. I carried roses down the aisle at our wedding. But I have buy roses for myself. Matt thinks buying roses is stupid... period. They're expensive and all they do is die. About 10 years into our marriage we were going out for our anniversary and I told him I thought it was high time he buy me roses. So he stops at the corner and buys a single rose from one of those quasi-homeless people downtown! He's done. He bought me A rose... for $1.00! So I started buying myself roses. I do have to say he tried to redeem himself a couple of years ago by sending my a dozen roses on Valentines Day. Well, they lost the order or were too swamped to deliver them or something so about ten o'clock that night he gets ticked, tells me about the surprise that wasn't and calls the florist to chew them out. I buy myself roses.

R: Rebel. Anyone who knew me in high school will vouch. My hair is now its natural color, I have no holes in my clothing and old ladies don't point or stare at me. Otherwise, I'm the same person.

A: Art. I am a graphic designer and love art. I'm very lucky that I actually got be what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I: Irish. Matt was adopted by his step-father so his last name doesn't really reflect his heritage. Even though our last name is the first on Schindler's list, he is actually Irish and French. I'm Irish and German. We both wear Claddaugh rings.

N: Nubs. My toes are nubs. Take a look at Fred Flintstone's toes and you'll have a pretty good idea of what mine look like.

E: Ethnic. I love to cook and eat ethnic foods. Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, Indian... you name it I love it!

There you have it! I've got to go work right now but I'll announce the lucky ones to be tagged next shortly.

FIRST RULING!!!

2007-09-06T16:18:00.000-06:00

We found out today that our judge has issued our first ruling for TJ. Basically this means he/she has reviewed our case & found everything to be in order. Now we wait for the final ruling... this could take 14 days or 2 months. Since our judge has moved pretty quickly so far, we're hoping (against hope) that we'll be on the shorter end of that timeframe!!

We have sooo much to do before we can bring her home. I've got list after list but it's all so overwhelming that everytime I try to collect my thoughts I end up giving up and doing something productive (like reading a hundred or so blogs of other adoptive families) :P I guess reality set in for Matt today. When I told him about the ruling he said "Man, we need to start getting our stuff together!" Ummm... yeah I know honey. Do you SEE those fifteen lists I've been going over and over for the last month???

Good news is we got her room painted. Now I just have to wait for the seamstress to finish her bedding. And then I have to clean out the closet. Then I have to shop for all things baby. Then I have to buy gifts for the birth mother, foster mother, guide and agency workers. Then I have to get the paperwork together... well you get the picture. BREATHE!!!!

Truth be told if they called right now & said to come tomorrow I bet I could pull it off!!!

It really feels good to see progress but it saddens me that a good friend of mine whose court hearing was two weeks before ours is still waiting for news on her case. Sending good vibes her way!

Update Photos!!!!

2007-08-14T12:52:00.000-06:00

Well, Tessa Jane is NOT going hungry!!! Aren't those cheeks hilarious??? She's definitely smiley now which makes me sad that we're missing so much :(

She still seems to have a little bit of a rash on her forehead & some discoloration on her top lip. I'm thinking it's eczema or infant acne. Should I worry???

Hearing Date!!!!

2007-08-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

Good news!! We found out yesterday our court hearing will be held August 20. This is fantastic news as this is much sooner than a lot of other families ahead of us. We're hoping this means we got the "fast" judge but there's really no way to tell.

Everyone keeps asking what the process is at this point and it's hard to explain because there are so many different scenarios. Basically three things have to happen: 1) Hearing 2) Civil Ruling 3) Final Ruling. Unfortunately, the timing of these three events varies widely from case to case. There are a few cases where the judge gone ahead and issued the civil ruling at the hearing. In this case, the final ruling would be issued around two weeks after the hearing/ruling. This is VERY rare. More likely, the judge will look over the paperwork at the hearing and schedule a date for the civil ruling. The timing of it all completely depends on the schedules of the judge, attorneys and birthmother - so there are cases where it all came together very quickly (a little over a month) and cases where it seemed to take forever (4 months). After the civil, the final ruling will be issued at least 10 business days after the civil or when the judge has time. Clear as mud???? Yeah I know!!! We're just happy to have gotten news at all! Every little tid bit keeps us going!!

Hopefully we'll get update photos this week so stay tuned!

Big brother & the tattoo mom

2007-08-03T15:16:00.000-06:00

NO news to report :( We're hoping to get new update photos of TJ next week and possibly (pretty please) word of a hearing date. In the meantime, I've been furiously working on getting her room together. My mom did an AWESOME job on the crib skirt and I found a great seamstress to put together her crib quilt and twin size quilt for her big girl bed. It's really looking precious!!! I'm also almost done paiting her room - 13 ft. ceilings - what was I thinking!!!! I don't want to post photos until everything is done but I can tell you my idea of theming the room around vintage, shabby handkerchiefs is coming out better than I'd imagined... :)

Also, I decided to tinker around with the blog. I've been trying to install a counter to see how many people are popping by but apparently blogger didn't like any of the ones I tried to install. Well, I found a great alternative. The map ---------------> over there is a counter AND it tracks the location of my visitors. Nifty huh? I suspect my map will not be as exciting as some the more prolific bloggers out there but it'll still be fun to see where everyone's from. The only bummer is it requires several days of data before it will generate the map :(

As an aside, if anyone out there has any advice on how to handle this I could use some help. Here's the situation: So I pick up Emma from Day Camp today & ask her the usual questions about her day. Usually I hear cute stories about what they did, etc. But today she tells me she got in a fight with "Shelby." It appears "Shelby" told Emma she no longer wanted to be friends because she knows "Your mom doesn't like my mom!" I ask Emma if I've EVER said anything about Shelby's mom & she says "No! I told her you NEVER said anything about her mom. But she says I'm lying and doesn't want to be my friend."

Now for the nitty gritty of this story. Okay, this lady is definitely not your typical suburban soccer mom. Her arms covered from wrist to shoulder in tattoos (I don't mean neat artistic stuff either - they're rather crude and almost "home made" looking), she has eyebrow, nose and lip piercings, wears concert T-Shirts circa 1980-1985 and drives an old Firebird. To make things more interesting, we often hear about this little girl's daddy (the parents are not separated or divorced) who works away from home for months at a time and can only see his daughter for two or three days every several months. Of course, we've never seen this man. In fact, we've ONLY seen her mother with a YOUNG woman (early 20s) and they are always holding hands. I had assumed she had an older daughter but the little girl says she is her mommy's friend.

Now.. I AM NOT a judgemental person. Anyone who grew up with me remembers the crowd I hung with and our rather interesting clothes and hair colors. I have made small talk with this woman on numerous occasions. We've joked with one another about our kids' funny behaviour, waved as we left the parking lot, etc. I have NEVER given this woman any reason to be upset with me in any way. So unless I'm completely socially inept, I'm pretty sure this isn't coming from the mom... it's coming from the kid. I'm thinking this kid is insecure about her mom and is telling other kids these things to see if anyone will fess up & admit the girl's mom's a bit freaky.

So, what do I do??? Tell Emma to tell the little girl AGAIN that I do not dislike her mommy? Do I tell the little girl I do not dislike her mommy? Do I tell the teacher? Do I tell the mom, "Sweetie, I'm sure you're a great mom and a genuinely nice person but you *really* do look like you could be running a meth lab or maybe a chop shop down the county road. Your daughter is clearly insecure about your appearance and it is affecting her friendships." Do I ignore it and hope it will go away? I have to do something because Emma had a situation at another day camp earlier this Summer with a kid making stuff up & being catty (a genuine bully/brat) - and we ended up moving her to a new camp because of this kid. Emma takes these things very personally and does not understand why someone would lie just to hurt someone's feelings.

Arrgh!!!

That was fast!!

2007-07-13T10:12:00.000-06:00

We got an email from our caseworker Wednesday (7/11) that our case has been logged into the court system in Taiwan!!! That means our dossier made it halfway around in the world and into the courts in less than a week!!! Now we wait to get a hearing date. That could take anywhere from 3 weeks to 2 months. After the hearing we'll wait for the Civil Ruling (first ruling) and then the Final Ruling. The whole process takes 3 - 7 months. It all depends on the judge, his schedule and getting everyone to court that needs to be there (lawyers, birthfamily, etc.). Let's just hope they'll keep up the fast pace!

We also got updated measurements on TJ... she has gained 4 pounds and grown 2 inches since birth. That makes her 11 pounds and 22 inches long. Seems tiny but she's bigger than Emma was at her age. How funny would it be if TJ is the "tall" one in our height-challenged family???

July update & other good news!!

2007-07-05T15:55:00.001-06:00

Today we got new pictures of Tessa Jane & a new video. Yes, I find it strange that she's wearing the same outfit. At first I thought maybe they'd gotten confused. But then I noticed she's not wearing the "hospital" bracelet, the blanket is different and her hair has GROWN!!! I need a crash course in fixing hair STAT! Emma's has always been thin and fine... easy to plaster to her head with hair goo.

In other news, we got word that our dossier was sent to Taiwan today! We expected our docs to take 3 weeks to translate but it only took a week and a half - woooooot!!! To those outside of the adoption world that may seem a little ho-hum but for those of us who have put our blood, sweat, tears and $$ into these few documents that summarize your life, prove you're fit to parent and that you're willing to do so by signing all kinds of agreements and top that off with THREE different government entities approving them... it is HUGE!!! Now we wait to be "logged in" to the courts.

How long after that??? Geez. Wish I knew. Some families travel in 3 months others have waited as long as six. In the meantime, Tessa Jane will stay at the nursery for another month. Then she'll go to her foster family. We don't know how much info we'll get about the family (if any) but we know she'll get more one-on-one attention and hopefully be dressed in some of the clothes we have sent... as much as we love the "Puku Petit" shirt :)

Enjoy!

Stick a fork in it... it's done!!!!

2007-06-21T11:43:00.000-06:00

Two minutes ago I received an email from FedEx notifying me that our dossier was delivered to our agency!!! BIG sigh of relief!!! Amazingly, dotting all those i's and crossing those t's was pretty simple.

We received the paperwork from Taiwan last Thursday. On Friday we went to the bank & had everything notarized. On Monday, I went to the Secretary of State's office to have it all certified. I was worried about this step but it turned out to be a piece of cake. I simply went in, filled out a form and wrote out a $90 check. As I was about to leave, the lady said "Wait a minute. I'm going to go ahead and enter your payment in the computer. The state of Texas has a law that no family will have to pay more than $100 for an adoption. Once I enter it in the computer I can give you your account number. That way, when you need documents certified for the re-adoption, all you'll have to pay is $10."

Cool. So I wait a few minutes and she says "Did you try to adopt another child?" I'm thinking noooo. Then she says we've got an account number & have already met the $100 limit. Then it hits me. The agency we were going through for the China adoption must have had some documents certified for us. We never saw them (probably never will) so I had no idea. Anyway, she tore up the check and sent me on my way!!!

That afternoon I called the TECO office (kind of like the Taiwan Consulate) to find out what I need to do to get the documents authenticated. The lady I spoke to was very confused. Somehow she thought she had to authenticate AND translate them. She wanted to charge $45 a pop! That would have been $405!! After a half an hour on the phone trying to explain what I needed, she said to just send her $15 for each document. Whew. So I put everything in the FedEx envelope (including a return FedEx)and added the secret weapon... a picture of Tessa! It worked. I got the package back yesterday morning & shipped it off to our agency last night.

Now everything will have to be translated before it goes to Taiwan and that will take a few weeks but what a relief to have this step done!

Now if we can just get the Department of State to issue our renewed passports... but that's another post!

For the other waiting families who want to know what went in the package here goes:

Homestudy - 1 original, notarized, certified and authenticated
Adoption Agreement - 3 originals notarized, certified and authenticated
Power of Attorney - 5 originals notarized, certified and authenticated
Color Copies of Passports - 1 for each parent
Copy of our State Adoption Laws - 1 copy (over 90 pages!!!)
Photos - 8 photos of us, 8 photos of our home (including one of the baby's room)

First Update!!!

2007-06-15T09:36:00.000-06:00

We received our first update photos & video this morning! It came as a surprise because our caseworker had told us yesterday not to expect an update until next month. We think she's about six weeks old in these photos.

The other good news is we received all of our paperwork from Taiwan yesterday. Now we just have to get everything signed, notarized, certified, authenticated and translated... doesn't sound too difficult huh :) Actually it's pretty straightforward. And I'm glad I'll have something to keep me busy for the next week or so.

Is she a cutie or what????

BTW, apologies in advance for the neck-craning video. It came that way & we can't figure out how to rotate it. Anyone know?

Tessa Jane

2007-05-16T16:07:00.000-06:00

Hello all! Welcome to our blog! We're not really the blogging types but due to popular demand (from family and lots of other PAP's /potential adoptive parents/) we've caved in and put ourselves out there on the world wide web... eeek!

So I'm sure you saw the picture and video of Tessa Jane. Cutie huh? But I know you're all wondering how we got here. I'm going to put a timeline on the blog soon but in the meantime I can tell you we've been extremely lucky! Bear with me, this story will take some time.

We decided to adopt a child in July (2006) and began researching our options. After looking at several International programs we decided on China... we have a niece adopted from China and thought that our daughter (all the children available for adoption in China are girls) would feel more comfortable in her own skin if she had a relative/friend/cousin who had the same kind of background, the same dark hair, the same eyes. And, our niece came to her parents only 9 months after they got their documents to China!

We signed with an adoption agency and began the "paperchase." We collected every document you can imagine to prove we are who we are and that we are upstanding citizens. We had several meetings with our social worker and, after we were deemed OK, we received a favorable home study (the social worker put together a 10 page document explaining that we would be good parents). All we have to do now is send our documentation to the FBI (Homeland Security), get fingerprinted and get that official document that says we're not harboring terrorists or printing some underground newspaper in Afghanistan.

Now we find out China has changed their regulations and the wait will be at least 18 months and rumors say 3 years. We CANNOT wait that long so we look into other programs.

Lucky, lucky, lucky (did I say lucky?) for us we found a brand new program adopting babies from Taiwan! We were placed on the waiting list within a month or two of the progam's existence! We feel very fortunate to be among the first 10 or so families from our agency to get this opportunity!!!

There you have it in a (big) nutshell! Tessa is now in a nursery (hospital) environment but will be moved to a foster family soon. We hope to bring her home next Fall... it all depends on the Judge in Taiwan. In the meantime, I'll post update photos of her (we should get new photos every four weeks or so) and when we travel this will be the place to see it all come down!!!

Now go look at that video!!! Honestly, don't you just want to scoop her up????