Thursday, June 30, 2005

Gooood News....

Let's start with the news from Brian Stuy. He found Julia's "finding ad". YAY!! We are waiting to get that emailed to us. I'm super D-dooper excited about what may or may not be in that info. Prolly not much more that what we already know, but I'm still glad to have that information non the less. It cost $30.00 to get the info. A small price to pay for what we feel is our daughter's "birth announcement".

Next item: We sent Wayne's employer reference letter to Louisiana to get sealed (authenicated). That went well except that I forgot to send the stinkin money order with it and ended up having to Fed-Ex that the next day. Grrr....Mind don't fail me now!! I need all the help I can get in this process. We are now waiting (still) on MaryBeth's homestudy. I'm still holding on to hope that we can get this all wrapped up by the end of July. Keep the prayers going and the fingers crossed.

I'm starting to get anxious like all the other parents on the WCC list. I didn't think I would, but I just want to get Julia home. I bought some collapsable luggage today at Meijer's. It was on clearance for $25.00. I saved $35.00?? At least that's what my receipt said. There are 2 pieces, one is an 18 inch and the other is a 24 inch. I'm not sure I've got it figured out as to what exact luggage we are taking but I'm sure Wayne will figure that out for me. :-) Wayne is doing really well with all this. I think he's more excited than he lets on. We have a great time talking about all the cool stuff that we are going to see in China, all the great food we are going to eat. I looked at these really cute shoes for Julia online today. Here's a link to the pair I like the best:
http://robeez.com/product.aspx?ProductID=121&deptid=3&PriceCat=2&Lang=EN-US&RefID=NAHPSHOE03&SID=9246b665-69eb-4f0d-972a-0d52c715637a

That's a super long link, but it will take you right to the pair that Anna and I like. I've bid on a pair of these shoes at Ebay for like half the price. They aren't the same ones, but they are just like them but have tulips on it.

OK...time to get some dinner around. I also need to get going on all the food we'll need for the 4th. I've got to get the brownies made for Aunt Colleen's party. Mental note to self: DO NOT USE THE GLASS PAN FOR BAKING. The brownies last year were too doughy. Anyways...I'm off!! G'night!

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Kissing the Moon

This is a little poem I wrote a few weeks ago...just thought I would post it.


Kissing the Moon
Ever so quietly she tip-toes to the gate, she’s dressed you in the finest outfit. She places you where she knows that you will be found soon. The tears flow freely down her red cheeks. She kisses you softly on the forehead and wishes the best for the baby she can not keep.

She waits, the sun is coming up. There is a man on his way to work. He sees the tiny bundle at the gate. He motions to the workers inside to come and open up. They take you inside. She hurries away, she knows that you are now going to be taken care of.

Somewhere she knows what your real birth date is.
Somewhere she knows what your real name is.
Somewhere she knows how much she loved you and wanted the best for you.
Somewhere she weeps knowing she missed your first tooth and your fist steps.
Somewhere she looks at the moon hoping that you will find your way to a family that will love you as much as she does.
Many miles away that family has made room in their hearts for the little girl that has touched them in so many ways.

Many miles away, that family is making room in their home.
They talk about clothes, and new names for the little one they have only seen pictures of. Soon they will travel across a big ocean. They know this is daughter that was meant for them.

If there were some way to let her know how much that family will love and cherish her beautiful baby girl. They will never harm her, they will support her and take care of her. She will be loved as though she is one of their own. When we look at the moon, we hope and pray that she is seeing that same moon and will know in her heart that her baby is safe.

We love you sweet one. We love the one that did the hardest thing she’s ever had to do. She shall live forever in our hearts as the one that brought us together.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Getting closer...

After some filing and organizing, we have all the paperwork we need for USCIS except for the completed homestudy. (YAY) I faxed Michelle Wayne's employer reference letter and as I'm typing she replied. Be right back! She said everything looks great and to keep her up on where we are at in that process. Another YAY! Ok...I've got to call Wayne. See ya for now.

OOOOOHHH YYYYEEEEAAAHHHHH!!! AAI took Julia's picture off their site. I was wondering when they would take her down and guess what, they did today!!! We put a hold on her on April 19th, right after the first meeting we went to. I knew she was ours from that point. How exciting!! Yet another step...!!!

On the warm summer breeze that blows, sweet kisses make their way to China...

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

How much paperwork can one 2 year old take??

Ok...so I'm back on the mad woman pace. Trying to get all our documents ready for the dossier is exhausting. We have almost everything we need for the USCIS except the completed homestudy which we are hoping to get just after July 4th. Ideally, I'd like to have our dossier to China by the end of July, but that might be a bit too hopeful. Michelle and Eric are going to be our guardians and wrote up a really nice care and nurture plan. They are really awesome. I wish they could adopt with us. They are going to make some child really happy.

I've been trying not to buy too much stuff for Julia, but it really is hard!!! I'm sure she hasn't had too many new things of her own and so I feel like I want her to feel special with a few new things. Anna wasn't too hard on her clothes, so there are alot of things that Anna wore that Julia will be able to wear. I still have a hard time calling her Julia. She seems more like a Yin to me. I can't wait to hear what her foster mom calls her. I'm thinking that I'd like to get the foster mom a really cool locket or necklace with 2 intertwined hearts. JC Penney's has a few at their website that I think are pretty cool. I'm also thinking that I'd like to get her a Ludington sweatshirt. I dunno, I think it would be cool to have something like that. But...I'd also like to go COO (carry on only). I might be a little too optamistic on that. :-)

OK..need to work on laundry...I'll be back later. Oh and Aunt Cheryl, thanks for all the stuff you did for the kids. They both got up Tuesday and asked, "What are we doing with Aunt Cheryl today?" I told them you had to head home, they said, "That's ok, we are going to Florida in a new months!!!" Kids are great! Love you both!! Bye!

Monday, June 20, 2005

**PA!!**PA!!**PA!!**

At 9:34, Thursday June 16th...Michelle called to tell us that we got our Pre-Approval. WOOHOOO!! :-) SO...our time line is now LOI (letter of intent) sent on 5-26-05, PA 6-16-05. The average wait on the WCC board has been 49 days from LOI to PA. We waited 22 days!!! Amazing. The little boy from Yin's orphanage that we have pictures of...his parents got their PA as well. I got to meet his adoptive mom at a meeting that I went to last Thursday night. She seems very nice and I think that we are going to like traveling with them. They have 3 older kids, 18-16-13. They are thinking they'd like to take all of them with to China. EY EY EY. Maybe teenagers would be better than my little monkeys that are 7 and 5. Ok...I'm off for a while. Aunt Cheryl is still home and I need to call over there. :-) ta ta

Monday, June 13, 2005

~~WE GOT THE PICS AND VIDEO~~

I'm not going to write alot because I think the pictures will speak for themselves. The pictures were sent on Friday afternoon. Oh Lord, thank heavans Wayne and I were together, as we had decided to look at the pictures together first. Neither of us wanted to be alone we when got to see her for the first time. We truly believe she is the most beautiful girl in China!! We are so thankful to Michelle at AAI for getting us the pictures and video. OH! About the video, Julia is adorable. She seems like a really happy kid, always smiling and laughing at the people around her. She was banging on a symbol and having a good time making noise. Sounds alot like Anna and Cameron!! Anna was playing her piano and this little pink flute thing at the same time!! I think Julia and Anna could have a Wagner Sister's Band!! HAhahaha!!

We also went to Grand Rapids on Saturday to have our fingerprints taken. Nothing that exciting to talk about, the kids went to Aunt Pam's while Wayne and I went to the INS building. I swear, I'm looking out for other families that are adopting or just Chinese people in general. There's a little store down the road from Aunt Pam's that I want to go to. It's called Ming's Chinese variety store. :-) I might find something interesting there.

Ok, so it's picture time!!! Here she is!! Julia YinGui Wagner!!!

Sunday, June 12, 2005


This is our JULIA YINGUI!! Posted by Hello

Julia and a little guy that is getting adopted by a GR family and his foster mom Posted by Hello

Julia and her foster mom Posted by Hello

Thursday, June 2, 2005

Next stop: June 27th

We had our 2nd visit with MaryBeth today. All went well, no surprises or anything. Not much new to report. Our final home visit is on June 27th. I was hoping to get it done sooner, but we need time to clean and get the required reading done. Keep your fingers crossed about maybe getting pictures of Yin sooner than 9 days. I'm praying that Michelle will find a way to get the pictures loaded up. G'Night!!

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

Getting news from the Eastern Front!!!!!

We got an email from Michelle last night (or this morning) and I'm going to copy and paste it so you can read the whole thing. :-)

Hi Wayne and Melissa,

I just returned from the orphanage where I saw Lu Yin Gui. Oh is she cute!! She has quite a personality too! I don't think that I can figureout how to send pictures but I took several, and got some video. I mether foster mother too. Lu Yin Gui is small but looks well cared for. Shewas so happy to get the gifts that you sent her and then she tried to takethe other baby's gifts too! Her foster mother looked at your pictureswith her and pointed to you and called you mama and papa. She alsopointed and said the words. She also pointed out 'big sister' and 'bigbrother'. She was such a clown! she played with all of the toys in theroom and found a symbol that she started banging on. The director saidthat her hearing is normal but that she needs corrective surgery to herouter ear. She certainly seemed to hear just fine. The director saidthat he will have pictures taken for you with the camera and that theywill have them ready for you when you come for her. He asked that I passalong his sincere thanks to you for wishing to adopt her. I also got somepictures of the city. Lu Yin Gui lives with her foster mother but comesto the orphanage every Monday to spend time with other children and tohave a medical exam. Well, I will be in touch as soon as I'm back; Ican't wait to share the pictures and video with you; she is reallyprecious!

Michelle

WOWZA!! How exciting is that?? We are really beside ourselves!! In just a few days we will see new pictures of our little girl!! We can't thank Michelle enough and well, there is thanking GOD! Ok, I need to get some stuff done around here. Take care and I will update more after the visit with MaryBeth afternoon. Later!!

After a long weekend of marshmallows, dirty feet and campfires

So....we went camping this past weekend. All went well, especially the weather. The weather was really good. No rain, no clouds, no bugs!! Anna had the dirtiest feet of any child. We darn near had to powerwash her feet after she ran around all day wearing nothing but flip flops. Hey, if she's happy, I can be happy. Cameron on the other hand, I never saw. He played with Max, Mackenzie and Adam the whole time. We brought the soccer net and so the boys played all the time. (Good idea, Wayne!!) Camping does get easier for us as parents as the kids get older. So what are we thinking by adding a soon to be 2 year old?? I suppose we could call it temporary insanity.

So, there are no new updates on the adoption process. We choose my parents as the guardians for the dossier and homestudy. We do have our 2nd homestudy visit in Jenison with with MaryBeth tomorrow at 3:00. Still no word from Michelle about whether she's been able to get to see Yin (aka Julia). We may not hear from her until she returns, but we are hoping for an email to let us know. We are also in a holding pattern for the pre-approval. That is suppose to take 6-8 weeks. So we are waiting for 6-8 weeks for our passports too. Wait, wait, wait...I think adoption should be renamed the Waiting Game. :-)

Now about the aka Julia mention above. I think we settled on Julia YinGui. I saw a picture of a little girl that died before she got a chance to find her forever family. She had been born with a severe case of spina bifida. Her lower spinal cord and tailbone were exposed. The picture they showed was horrible and my heart truly aches for that little girl. So, having tossed around the name Julia already, I think it's a done deal now. I like it, Wayne likes it and I asked both the kids what they liked. I asked if they liked Allyson or Julia better. Cam's vote was for Julia. Same with Anna. Besides Julia fits with the whole girl names that end in A in our family. Check out this pattern: Melissa, Theresa, Samantha, Carla, Sarah, Anna and now Julia.

Well, it's now 10:59 and I'm tired. I'm glad you liked your sweatshirt Auntie Cheryl. Thanks for being the most supportive person in this journey. We are happy to have you along for the ride. Many hugs and kisses!! G'Night!