Chicago to China

bath time


YES? I am busy playing with my fridge DJ.


I am at Hershey Kiss at the 100 Year of the Kiss Event

2007 is the year of the Pig! The previous year was Year of the Dog and Camille and I both were dogs!

We put her Chinese dress on her and took her picture. She danced a little jig. On Saturday, we will be headed into Chicago to go to the Families with Children from China's New Year's dinner and celebration with friends!!




 

February 18, 2007 is the first day of the Chinese new year.

There are three ways to name a Chinese year:

1. By an animal (like a mascot). 2007 is known as the Year of the Pig.
   There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years.   Rat Ox Tiger Hare Dragon Snake Horse Sheep Monkey Rooster Dog Boar
2. By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch).
   The new year is the year of DingHai.

   In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.
   2007 is the 8th year in the current 60-year cycle.

    

3. Current year is Year 4704 by the Chinese calendar.

 

 

 

We got home on December 23 and Dad and Joanne were waiting for us at the airport.  It has been a long fun week. I play most of the night and take lots of naps during the day.  My first check up is at Northwestern in the morning.




Last day in Jiangxi Province!! merry christmas!


First birthday party for my friend LeAnn!!


Opening a baby doll from my Grammie Christmas Eve



More Gifts!!  This is fun!


Mommy helping me open a gift from Auntie Shay-- a hippo and a bowl


this looks like a lot of fun!


I love my finger and my lion chair!


Giggle time!

Our first trip to Walmart was crazy. It is two floors and absolutely packed. They have live turtles, fish and eels.  People are everywhere and the prices are so cheap. It was complete chaos. We taped until they asked us to quit.



Playtime with Daddy in the hotel room. Boston Fan! 


Mirror Fun!




Helping to pack to get on the plane.                                              Sacked out from all the playing and packing for Guangzhou

My first bath at the Jiangxi Hotel in China.
I loved it. There is a little Aveeno in the bath water for my dry skin.  I had a blast with the water and the toys!  We have been going on short little site seeing trips with our guide Alisha and Der.

I think it is Saturday, December 9th. We went on a tour with our guide and Karen and Chris and his dad Charles. It was a fun day and kept us awake until about 9pm. Our guide is De and he owns a tour company. Adoption groups are about a tenth of his business.

Pictures of Hong Kong

These are pictures at Repulse Bay







Picture of Fishing Houseboat



Victoria's Peak-- Some of the most expensive real estate in the world is at the top of this mountain. ($10000/square foot)


Charles, Jeanne, Jason, Karen and Chris



The View from the top



Jason at the top. It was a bit cloudy so I can't even imagine the view on a clear day!



Being silly-  Picture with Santa



Hong Kong at night with lots of Christmas Lights and Decorations 



The Peninsula Hotel




Hong Kong streets at night

We left for China December 8th.

Here we are doing a mountain of paperwork and packing.

We finished the nursery today. The last step was the Pottery Barn Teen flower stencil on the wall.
I even framed a piece of the old bird wallpaper we took down.

We attacked the Fed Ex buy this morning when he came at 9:00.
Here she is.....We think she is beautiful and has very stylish shoes!!


Feng Guang Yue
Birthdate  March 4, 2006
Means "Ray of Light"
Jiangxi Province
Fengxin Welfare Institute

Fond of listening to music (like her Dad)
Obstinate sometimes (like her Mom)
Laughs aloud (like both of us)
Active!

Well we accomplished our goals on the Half Marathon.
1- WE FINISHED
2- WE RAN THE WHOLE TIME
3- WE BEAT THE TIMES WE WERE SHOOTING FOR!! 


I am having some hip pain and had to get some cortisone shots but we are planning on running another one next summer!
Thanks for everyone's support! Plenty of shirts left--any donation amount accepted.
Here is a photo about 45 minutes after the race. 

On October 1, 2006, we are running the Banco Poplar Half Marathon in Chicago, IL. You can help us support the process of international adoption by making a donation to sponsor us in the half marathon:  Just to clarify, this is 13.1 miles. Below is the link to check it out. We have been working towards this goal to pass the time while we wait for our daughter and as a fundraiser for our flights plus a donation to the orphanage. />Our goal is to raise $5000.00 from donations to offset some adoption expenses and make a susbtantial donation to the orphanage where our daughter has been cared for while awaiting her family.  This money will go to help other little girls who have not yet been matched to loving families and must stay in the orphanage for now.

You may donate via Paypal.:

If Paypal isn't your thing, you can also mail it.

Anyone who donates $35 or more to our fundraiser, will receive a custom made tee-shirt. We will have a children's size available as well. Please specify M,L,XL or child and address to mail the tee shirt on the check or via paypal.

FRONT: "Chicago -  LaSalle Half Marathon 2006"

BACK: "Chicago to China - I'll run around the world for you" with a ladybug on Chicago (for luck and a Chinese adoption symbol!)

What should we name our little girl?
Camille Peyton
Camille Morgan
Jacklyn Camille
Camille Anne
Camille Clarke
Camille Jacklyn
Camille Eleanor

Other Names!!

What will her birthday be? My guess is January 30, 2006 and Jason's guess is February 4, 2006
You can just post in the comments.

We started the process in December 2004 when we went to our first Adoption Information Class in Greensboro, NC.  When we were still dating we read an article from 1999 in the Greensboro News and Record about the Chinese adoption process and talked about adopting one day. We felt it could be a good choice for us to love a little girl from China who had been abandoned and give her a family and advantages she wouldn't have in an orphanage.  I kept the article and still look at it from time to time to see how far we have come. Since then, we have done the home study and prepared our Dossier to go to China which we sent in July 2005. Our Log in Date was August 2, 2005   and now it is August 23, 2005 after a small Chinese consulate/adoption agency mistake. It was rather disappointing to us but nothing we could do about it.  

The Dossier we prepared includes, notarized and official documents including: homestudy, doctor's notes, 5 references, health and life insurance forms, work forms, INS forms, fingerprints, pictures of the house and ourselves, marriage license, birth certificates, passports and many more legal documents.  It took about 7 months to track everything down and get it ready to be sent to Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA).  Currently, the CCAA has placed babies to families with Log in Dates through July 22nd so hopefully we will received our baby's picture in the next two months. This is called a referral and entails getting a photo of our baby girl and any medical records, birthdate, birth province, weight and name. THAT IS THE BIG CALL WE ARE WAITING ON!!

The children available from China are 95% girls.

This is a result of China’s effort to control population by imposing a one-child policy that penalizes families for producing more than one child.

Because of a strong preference for boys, in many cases a baby girl will be abandoned to clear the path for the arrival of a son.

Keeping with Chinese heritage, the son, when grown, would care for his parents in their elder years. All children in China who are available for adoption reside in welfare homes or orphanages.

Infants typically range from 8 to 14 months at time of referral.


CHINA

China has a history of over 5000 years and is a country of great contrasts, with vast rural regions and congested cities.

The Chinese are credited with inventing calligraphy, ceramics, dynamite, football, golf, noodles, ice-cream, opera, and philosophy.

In the past two centuries China has undergone huge social and economic transformations. 

READING LIST

A Ghost at Heart's Edge: Stories and Poems of Adoption—Susan Ito, et al.

Grace from China—Jacqueline A. Kolosov

Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution Is Transforming America—Adam Pertman

The Lost Daughters of China: Abandoned Girls, Their Journey to America, and the Search for a Missing Past—Karin Evans

When You Were Born in China: A Memory Book for Children Adopted from China—Sara Dorow & Stephen Wunrow

A Passage to the Heart: Writings from Families with Children from China—Amy Klatzkin

Adopting in China: A Practical Guide/An Emotional Journey—Doug Werner and Kathleen Wheeler

For Kids

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes—Rose A. Lewis, Illustrated by Jane Dyer.

Kids Like Me in China—Ying Ying Fry, et al.

Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale—Karen Katz

Adoption Is Another Word for Love—Nancy McGuire Roche

LifeBooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child—Beth O'Malley

I Don't Have Your Eyes—Carrie A. Kitze

Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes—Nina Simonds, et al.

At Home in This World, A China Adoption Story—Jean MacLeod

When You Were Born In China—Sara Darow

Long is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children—Peggy Goldstein 

China Newspapers in English

China Daily http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/home/index.html

China Internet Information Center http://www.china.org.cn/english/

China News Agency http://www.chinanewsagency.com/

Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute Breaking News on International Adoption: http://www.ccainstitute.org/adpteduc.php

Great article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday about adopted twins from China who are reunited!!






Adopted "Mia'' twins from China reunite thanks to Internet
Advertisement


Associated Press

August 20, 2006, 12:49 PM CDT

CHICAGO -- Two years ago, the Funk family of suburban Chicago adopted a baby girl from China who had been abandoned on a sidewalk near a Yangzhou textile factory.

Last year and half a country away, the Ramirez family of suburban Miami adopted a girl who had been abandoned a week later on the same spot.

Both families named their daughters Mia. Turns out, a first name and Chinese heritage aren't the only things the 3-year-olds have in common.

The girls' mothers -- Holly Funk and Diana Ramirez -- met on a Web site for parents who had gone through international adoptions. After a flurry of e-mails comparing photographs and biographical details, DNA testing proved the families' suspicions: The girls are probably fraternal twins.

"I was in shock," said Ramirez, who lives with husband Carlos in Pembroke Pines, Fla. "I was like, 'OK, well, now this is for real."'

The Internet, especially Web groups revolving around international orphanages, are increasingly being used to link adopted children with biological kin. The site that the Funks and Ramirezes used has a membership of 137 people, with 15 sets of twins and seven sets of siblings who have been confirmed.

At a reunion Friday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Mia Diamond Funk and Mia Hanying Ramirez shyly surveyed each other, then reached for each other's hand.

"I'm just awed," said Funk, of Lyons. "Grateful to God. To me, it's a divine thing. It's a miracle. In the sea of humanity, these kids found each other."

DNA tests established an 85 percent probability that the girls are at least half sisters. Scientists did not have a biological parent to test and reach a greater certainty, but given their ages and physical similarities, experts say it's likely they are fraternal twins.

Douglas and Holly Funk hope to bring their Mia to Miami in October. Both sets of parents say they are committed to staying in touch and often let the twins talk to each other on the phone.

They say their respective broods -- the Funk's five biological children and a 4-year-old brother adopted from Taiwan, and the Ramirezes' two sons, ages 13 and 10 -- will be an extended family for the girls.

Meet our cats-- Deacon and Mika.

Here is the walking tour of Frank Lloyd Wright--
Hope you enjoy....

 



 








Grandparents!!

 

We found a house on our trip to the suburbs of Chicago to rent for a year until we find a place to buy. We love the sidewalks, the large trees and the neighborhood.



Front of house


Back of house-- nice sunroom which converts to screened in porch







Closeup of wallpaper!!