Visa applications

See those three little Chinese characters?  That's Rosie's name in Chinese.  Everything I read said that it was necessary for me to TYPE the characters on her application so she could get into China again.  After asking everyone in the world for help someone on ChinaAdoptTalk.com told me there was a little button at the bottom of the computer to press. Voila!  Done in 10 seconds (and three days!).  Meanwhile our adoption agency was e-mailing me telling me not to worry about it and to just leave that field blank...

Anyway, our TYPED IN CAPITAL LETTERS visa applications are mailed to our agency, along with our passports (not copies), Rosie's Chinese passport, a certified check to the Chinese government, and $180 CASH for the messenger.  The messenger wouldn't accept any other form of payment.  Why are we sending these to a messenger you ask?  Because the Chinese consulate doesn't accept MAIL, only hand-delivered packages.  I'm not making this up!  

Balloon

Pat Marcus (the nice woman in the blue shirt) told me a great story.  She said that when Mimi was looking through the stuff in the backpack they blew up one of the balloons and everyone in the room played "hot potato" with it.  She had a great time and everyone could tell that she loved the balloon.  When she left the room she took it with her.  As another kid was walking into the room Mimi turned around and handed the kid the balloon!  What a sweetie!

Pat is an awesome volunteer who travels around the world helping kids.  Check her out here:  http://superkidscharity.blogspot.com/

Mimi gets the backpack and photo book

The nice woman in the middle picture carried the Hello Kitty backpack all through Asia to bring to Mimi.  Can you imagine being a little girl in one country looking at photos of strange people in another country and knowing your life is about to change in unimaginable ways?

Here is what the woman said about giving her the backpack:

They brought Mimi to the mickey mouse room to meet with me. I did not get to see her caregiver as Roy brought her.  I do remember I liked the caregivers very much.  We sat at the table and she is still shy with me.  Roy has seen her a bit.  We did talk about the names and Roy says she was liking the idea of Mimi.  I helped her open each item and she immediately put the barrettes in her hair with help from me.  My translator showed her how she looked in the mirror she sent.  She had several M&M's.  She looked at each page of the book as we translated for her.  She looked closely at all the children in the family.  We tried to use words like this is the house where you will live, this is your room.  She quietly studied the book.  She played with a balloon I blew up for her.  We used the notebook to begin a picture.  She even gave me a high 5 when she left.  She definitely enjoyed the gifts.  I asked that she and the caregivers take some pictures so she can bring them home with her when she comes. 

New pictures and information

Here are the updates on Zheng Yi Man from Roy at Shanghai Children’s Home:

1) Her current height is 102, weight is 15. It’s hard to tell the shoe size because different brands use different ways to show their size. But her foot length is 16.

2) She saw the family picture and is happy to know she will be adopted.

3) She is willing to have the siblings.

4) She likes the name “Mimi”

5) Her therapy stopped in September, altogether 11 times. She is talking more with her friends and the teachers. But with the strangers, she is still quiet. We asked the psychologist the reason why she stopped the therapy. She said Yi Man herself chose the preschool class rather than therapy. And she thought she was better after the therapy.

6) She now is still in preschool class. Her favorite foods are cookies, candies, cake and water (maybe drinks)

7) She likes puzzles and balloon.
8) Her favorite friend is Feng Mao Xiang, a girl in her class and room.

Waiting for Mimi

People who haven't seen us in awhile can't believe we're still waiting to get our little girl! We started the paperwork process almost two years ago in January of 2010, and we hope to travel in February or March of 2012. We sent Mimi a backpack filled with fun stuff and a photo book of our family which she received on or around her 4 1/2 year birthday. A few days later we received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and some new updates and pictures of Mimi.

Andrew turns 13

As we wait (and wait and wait) to bring home our newest baby our oldest baby turned into a teenager! Happy 13th birthday, Andrew!