Molly Mermaid & Shea Pixie

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

2012-02-13T19:01:00.000-05:00

My dear friend Julie who is Mia's mum sent Molly (and GiGi and Charlie) Valentines goodies. She is SO thoughtful - it is almost like every other week a box arrives with something either for me or Molly or Shea. We are SOOOOO lucky to have her in our lives. Mia is the little girl who is from Shea's orphanage, my only complaint is that they live in Illinois and not here Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. It is not often you meet people that you have absolutely almost everything in common with but we are truly blessed that we did. Not much else is new, a nice gal in Texas had sent me an email asking me if I knew anything about the albino girl in the photo below. I didn't but LOOK....Shea is in it HA! I am guessing we will hopefully go get our darling Shea in April. I wish my friend Julie was coming with me.

HERE ARE THOSE PICS

2012-02-11T18:17:00.000-05:00

SO ADORABLE

AREN'T THESE TWO SO STINKING CUTE?

THIS IS TING - SHE WAS ADOPTED LAST YEAR AT AGE 10

THE LITTLE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS TING'S LITTLE SISTER - I LOVE HER!

THANK YOU LORD

2012-02-06T21:56:00.002-05:00

Well I am so happy right now - just got a little note from Shea

Dear Father, mother and little sister,I miss all of you too every day. I hope we will have a reunion soon. I am very happy during the Chinese New Year. Was Moli happy in the Chinese festival? I think we will get together soon.May Baba, Mama and Moli happy new year, happy every day. Your daughter, Guoguo

This makes me SOOOOOOO happy. We have now been cabled and our article 5 was dropped off on Friday and will be picked up in 2 weeks and taken to the CCCWA where in return they will issue Travel approval (TA). So we guesstimate to travel April sometime. On another good note we had a lovely dinner with our local FCC chapter (Families with Children from China) and yes the pics are on my phone so I will add them later, sorry. I cannot wait to have Shea in my arms forever and neither can her sister or her father. We fell in love with her the first time we saw her face almost one year ago and that love has grown deeper and deeper. I never thought I would ever be eager to get on a plane (loathe flying) but I cannot wait!

OK AS PROMISED - PICTURES

2012-01-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

Dragon Dancers

Indian Dancers

This girl was really cute - she spoke English and Mandarin

CHINESE NEW YEAR

2012-01-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

I know I need to add pictures here but they are on my phone and I am too lazy to go get it - I will add later. We went to the Charlotte Chinese Assoc Chinese New Year - it was quite good but not really as Chinese as I had hoped. In a couple of weeks we are going to dinner with about 20 or more families in our FCC chapter YAY.

My dear friend Julie sent Molly and Shea really cute Disney nightdresses that were Mulan. She is always sending stuff which of course we love. Her daughter is from Shea's orphanage and was adopted earlier last year. They live in IL which saddens me as we would be hanging out ALL the time if we were closer. I thank the Lord for the day she hunted me down as the person adopting Mia's friend, she has become one of my closest friends and supporters of this whole roller coaster.

Other bit of good news is today immigration approved our 800 status which means now they have to electronically send it to the NVC (Nat Visa Center) who then give approval and issue something that has to go to China and then we wait for TA (travel approval). Something like that - there are so many more steps now than with Molly ugh! Almost done though :-)

YIPPPPPEEEEEEE WE FINALLY GOT THE APPROVAL

2012-01-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

So what now I hear you ask? More paperwork of course LOL. Had to overnight these two different sets of papers. One load of forms for Immigration and then another load of stuff to our agency. Ugh I hate forms. The amount of paperwork that is involved in international adoption would have Greenpeace or whoever saves the trees livid! Anyway, so now we wait again ha ha! More waiting OH JOY! But at least we know China has approved us. We wait for immigration to do it's part again, then once that part is done they send something off somewhere and then someone sends something else and then we have to wait for an appointment at the American Consulate in Guangzhou and one we have all that China is supposed to issue TA (travel approval) then about 2 weeks after that I think we get going to China. So all this now will take about another 3-4 months. We have Chinese NY coming up in a couple of weeks where China shuts down for about 3 weeks so that is going to slow things down yet again. At least when we do get to go the weather will be nicer YAY. I am guessing end of April but it could be May. Please God do not let her change her mind from now till then - we have come so far and gone through so much. We have everything crossed it is smooth flying from here on out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012-01-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

We had a lovely time welcoming in the new year - well we did not stay up till midnight but who has the energy for that anyway. We were invited over to dear friends of ours for dinner (she is a great cook) and the kiddies got to play. Their daughter H is one of Molly's BFF's and their son E who is only 5 is as sweet as can be, we have known them since they were babies and just adore them. My friend surprised me last night and told me she follows my blog and that made me SO happy since I thought no one did - THANK YOU DARLING!!! Above is a pic of the 3 of them from last night.
Next are a couple of pics of Molly with her latest discovery - a sequin hat from Justice and a funky bag with a big letter M on it! She had received a gift cert for Justice for her Birthday and that shop is major cool but major expensive too. We had such a great day shopping together - she is quite the little fashionista! Not many people can say they have been arguing with their daughter everyday about what they are to wear since age TWO!!!!!

SHEA'S CAKE

2012-01-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

Finally got pics of the cake I arranged to be sent to Shea for her birthday - I hope they told her it was from us?

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT KATY

2011-12-31T09:43:00.001-05:00

The little girl on the left is Katy, (Fang Fang) she is amazingly sweet and desperately wants a family. She ages out soon so PLEASE spread the word. She is in Shea's orphanage. She loves Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, is great with the young kiddies and SPEAKS ENGLISH!!!! Super smart. She is a Hep B carrier but healthy. Please don't leave her behind. Please repost and share and help find her a forever family soon.

CHRISTMAS, VIDEO AND THE AGONIZING WAIT

2011-12-27T12:13:00.001-05:00

Christmas was horrid again, that is 3 years in a row we have had a horrid Christmas. 3 Christmas' ago I lost my mum, last year Molly and I were sick. This year we were sick again! Plus I am down as we are STILL waiting for LOA from China. Today is actually day 99 and I AM SO PISSED OFF. It is horrid and selfish of me to say but I hate it when I see people getting their LOA after 30 or 40 or 50 days when there are people like me who have waited and waited and waited. This has been such a horrible adoption journey and yeah yeah worth it in the end I know but GIVE ME A BREAK ALREADY!!!! Trying to do the right thing does not always work out right does it. As you can see I am in a bad mood. I am also fed up once again that you spend years buying everyone else's kids gifts for years and years and the one year you decided not to do it - they don't send to Molly either! Another thing that totally pisses me off! My mum always said no one ever remembers what you did for them when it comes to your turn! Anyway here is another video that was filmed the same time as the last but my friend saved for me to send as a surprise. Poor Shea is totally confused about English :-( Also here is a picture of the art set I had asked a company to send her - it was not my idea of an art set but this is what they sent her anyway. I am also waiting to hear about the cake that was supposed to be sent to her for her birthday and that was a week ago grrrrrrrrrr. This Chinese are not quick to do anything are they other than the NYC subway system or in China town where they push and shove you around to get where they want to go. Oh and the stupid twonk moderators on Rumour Queen warned me they were taking disciplinary action again me coz I wrote 'the one who must not be mentioned' and said I was trying to get my religious message across without saying it therefore still breaking the rules. DO ME A FAVOR! I said 'but you have Christmas written all over the place CHRISTmas HELLOOOOOOO!!!' Oh my dear word! JESUS JESUS JESUS GOD GOD GOD see I said it - I believe in them both - I believe in the HOLY TRINITY - try kick me off my own blog!!! If ya don't like that I say Christian related things then bugger off! Drives me crazy. I don't care if people write Allah or Jehovah or anything they want, freedom of speech. Why does it bother people if we write Jesus or God????????? Whole 'nother story I guess.

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY

2011-12-19T22:39:00.000-05:00

Well it sucks coz today she turned 12 and I was hoping that maybe we would get LOA (letter of approval today). It is day 91 today of waiting for approval which is just agonizing. Some people have gotten approval in 30 odd days, some 40 odd and I know of one who waited 170 days OMG I would die! It has been 9 months already since we started this roller coaster and boy has it been some ride. I contacted the same agency who sent the books last time to arrange a cake and an art set to be sent. I had really wanted to cake to arrive today on her birthday but they didn't get it together grrrrrrrrrr. I have written another letter to be translated and sent to her with the art set (see below). Molly asked me today if sissy is going to be her and I said I hoped so. The wait is long for her too now I think. She really is starting to want a sister.

Sweet daughter,

You have just had a birthday and our hearts hurt because we were not with you. Next birthday we will have a party for you. The wait to come and get you is going so slow and taking too long, we wish they would hurry up and let us come but they are taking forever. We hate that they are making us wait. Please do not give up on us, we love you so very much but the people who do the paperwork in Beijing are very slow. We thought we could come in February but now they tell us it may be in April or May. But once we are together we will be a family forever and that will never change. We are trying to be patient but we worry about you every day. We hope you understand it is not us that is taking so long it is the officials in Beijing. We cannot come until they say we are allowed. Anyway we hope you liked the cake. Did you get the photos and the bear we sent with the man who came to visit, Jeff? We hope you liked them. Is there anything you need that we can send you?

Your sister, Molly, is so excited to be with you. She cannot wait to do art projects with you and play games and go to the park and ride bikes. We will buy you a bike when you are here if you want one. Can you roller skate? Molly likes to roller skate. Me, your mother, cannot but daddy can. Molly wants to learn Karate or ballet. What would you like to do? We all love to watch movies, do you like to watch movies? We need to give you an English name and we were thinking Shea which means Fairy Palace, do you like it? If you don’t we can find another name. What name do you want to be second, we thought Shea Shuyin but would you like Shea GuoGuo more?

It is Christmas in one week and we wish you were with us but next Christmas will be the best and we will have so much fun doing lots of fun things together. We speak to your friend Wu Yu Qin a lot her new name is Mia. She is very funny and she loves you and cannot wait to see you again. Molly has a friend here named Ting and she is 10 years old. She came from China this year and she speaks Mandarin. She is very funny too. Do you like to be funny and do funny things and be silly? We love being silly. We laugh a lot. We are going to start getting your bedroom ready and will send a picture when it is ready. Your bed is going to look very pretty and Molly will also have her bed in the same room as she likes to have company. You also have a play room too and your own desk. When you are both older you can have your very own rooms next to each other. You will love it here, we have lots of fun. You will go to a very nice school too when you are ready. Mama will take you and Molly in the morning and pick you both up in the afternoon but Saturday and Sunday we do fun things and sometimes we just relax and stay home playing games and watching movies. Oh we cannot wait until we are all together. We love you so much.

Mama, Baba & Molly

PA AND OTHER NEWS

2011-12-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

Look at this little video I got - a little message for us from our sweet girl. We also got these pictures. OK so we got PA on Molly's birthday..Dec 5th but were not told until 6th. So now we restart the wait for LOA again - I suppose they won't take the 2 months we already waited into consideration :-(

My agency's office in Beijing said they think I am a VIP as I have so many advocates ha ha ha.

I took out the pictures of my friend due to the keep it confident issues :-)

STILL NO PA SO PRAYING FOR A STRAIGHT TO LOA

2011-12-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

Could she be anymore stunning? Well my LOI was re-submitted on Tues Nov 22nd so the CCAA would have gotten it on the 23rd. I have still not gotten PA (pre approval) it can take up to a month however the majority of people get it within a few days and also considering they have had our file and her file for 3 months and know that our file is for her and her file is for us you would think things would go quick, right? So since there is still no PA I am hoping and praying that they will just send LOA (letter of approval). So, how did I get this new pic? Well during my mission of recruiting anyone who could help me find out her status and all that drama that went on in Oct I met a person who had strong connections with her orphanage but they live in the USA. This person must remain annon so I will call this person BH for big help. Well BH was going out to Ankang to do some business and met and talked to Shea YAY. I had sent BH a little package to take to her prior to leaving. BH has sent me a few emails from China and they are below.

I am in Ankang and I am tranlsating for Guo Guo:

I would love to meet you in person and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas......I miss you! Ｉｗｏｕｌｄ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ａ　ｍｅｍｂｅｒ　ｏｆ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｆａｍｉｌｙ　ｓｏｏｎ．．．．

____________

She is absolutely beautiful......wow..........and have NO reason to believe she doesnt want to be adopted.......

_____________

Oh my word....she is absolutely beautiful, fun, and is being loved by everyone at Ankang.

I was with She Hi Yen (Assistant directer at orphanage) for 2 days and you all should be fine as long as CCAA doesnt mess anything up which I don't anticipate.

She is VERY excited to be adopted and I have a short video for you I have to send when I get home.

Again.....my pleasure to be used by HIM for your family and she is fantastic

________________________THAT EMAIL WORRIED ME SO I EMAILED ASKING WHAT THAT MEANT

No need to worry....
However long CCAA takes is how long it will be until you go get Guo Guo.
I dont know how long that is but She Hi Yen thought you might be coming to China in a month or two?

Dont quote me though as I have no clue..

_____________________________

Remember - good things come to those who wait!

I have to say.....she is special and I am so happy for her and your family.

All of the kids at orphanage like her and they are close.  And I see her helping 
take care of the other babies too.  Like a big family.

So that was what I got.  I am of course eager to see the video.  Please all who read this add her into your prayers and that we get to bring her home soon please xxxxx

FED UP

2011-11-29T17:33:00.000-05:00

Well one week since my LOI was re sent! And still nothing. I heard from a fellow agency user they got their LOA today and I am happy for them but so frustrated that it should have been me too as my LID was before theirs but the freaking CCAA screwed me around and my wussy agency does nothing to advocate. They delayed me by at least 2 months Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I am so sick of this journey. Yeah yeah I know it is so worth it in the end but bloody hell - this has been nothing but stress since we started. I thought Molly's adoption was stressful but compared to this that was plain sailing. At this rate we will be lucky we get her before Christmas 2012.

SOOOOO MUCH IN 24 HOURS

2011-11-22T16:57:00.000-05:00

I had sent an email on Friday to my agency asking for them to find out that this was the right thing for Shea and that she truly wanted to be adopted and also asking what would happen if we got there and she did not want to come home with us. I never heard back so I followed up on Monday and got an email back saying 'I am not convinced you should be adopting her' and 'If we let you move forward with this adoption' I freaked! Bit late in the game for that comment don't ya think????? I sent an email demanding they sort this out within 24 hours I wanted to know 100% that we were going to move forward and that it was the right thing for her or we wanted a full refund. I got an email from the owner of the agency saying they wanted to make sure the orphanage had her best interests at heart and were not trying to adopt her out to make money??????? Yeah like the Orphanage get that money anyway!!!!!! Cut a long story I called my beloved Wendy who called the Orphanage assistant director and she said Shea is very happy and just got a letter and 2 books from me YAY and is really happy to be adopted. She said she tells her that when she comes here she can get a great education and then fly back anytime. Then this morning I got an email from my agency's Beijing office with a letter from Shea. She wrote this before she got my books I guess.

Dear Mama, Baba, and Meimei,

How are you doing?

I see the photos. They look very nice. I feel sorry to write to you a short letter last time. I just finish the mid-term exam. My Chinese is 77.5, and math is 87.

Mei Mei looks very cute in the photo. I want to be with you and mei mei and have a happy family.

Mama, how are you doing?

Wish you healthy and happy everyday.

Wish meimei to get A in her study.

I was soooooooooooooooo happy to get this. Then I got a wonderful email from Karolyn at my agency in MO (whom I actually adore) saying this. Melody heads up the Beijing office.

The good news is that we did hear from Melody this morning. Here is her email,

It’s been investigated by us and the orphanage that the foster father is not suitable for taking care of this child. He is single, with no family, no job and is a gambler. He lacks the basic thing for caring for a teenager. Guoguo loves him but doesn’t want to live with him. That’s why he let her go to the orphanage. It’s sad for the man to lose the child but it’s not good for the girl to stay in the situation that’s bad for her either. This man can’t provide her with financial need , nor education . That’s why An guoguo came to the orphanage. Maria went to meet An guoguo personally and the orphanage explained to us as well. Most important, An guoguo wants to be adopted. She looks forward to become a part of a family with loving parents and live a normal live like all the other children.

If we saw problem like this, we wouldn’t have started the adoption process for her.

Let’s proceed.

Melody

I AM SO HAPPY - but it could still take another 6 months UGH. They finally submitted my LOI this morning so now I wait for PA (which should have been 3 months ago).

WILL THE REAL SHUYIN PLEASE STAND UP

2011-11-17T17:20:00.000-05:00

Well yesterday my agency called me and said she has finally been posted - they sent me her file and I had a good old read just to see if I needed to rewrite the letter of intent. Oh my, what a story. Here is some of the testimony the foster father gave and it broke my heart.

An Guoguo, female, was born on Dec. 19 1999. Her adoptive father (i.e. the picker) XXXXXXXXXX, male, 48 years old, DOB: XXXXXXXXXX, reports orally the living and studying Conditions for the past 10 years of the child as follows:

Ankang City, Shaanxi Province. He picked up An Guoguo at the gate of his home on 2000-2-9, at which time she had a birthday note with her indicating her DOB as Dec. 19 1999. Since he had had no children with his wife, he kept and raised Guoguo in his home. Soon, the adoptive grandma died. At the age of 1.5 years old, Guoguo’s adoptive mother died. XXXXX, himself, has not married since then and raised Guoguo on his own. During 0-5 years old, the child had poor physical condition and often caught cold and had stomachache. He often took her to hospitals for treatments. As she grows older, she has become stronger and seldom catches cold.

She always has had excellent marks and she is the top one student in her grade. She is also the president of her class. On 2010-6-20, when she was in 5^th grade, the heavy storm and debris flow destroyed her house, at which time she and her family just lived in a bamboo cabinet with poor condition. Since it was very hard to live and XXXXX had no basic conditions to raise Guoguo, the village Party secretary Liu Shugen persuaded him to send Guoguo to the Children’s Welfare Institute to care, at which place they could offer food, clothes, shelters and education for the child. Later on, the deputy director of Civil Affair Bureau of Hanbin District Zhang Wujun knew the whole story and agreed to call the director Wan Rui of the Children’s Welfare Institute of Hanbin District to discuss such matter. The said CWI required finishing all relevant adoptive materials and on 2010-8-4, the child was sent to our CWI with complete and formal admission materials and changed her original name Shuyin to An Guoguo.

Oh this is JUST devastating! She must love this man and he her! No wonder she is so confused about leaving him and her home. Ok no he cannot provide what we can but he can provide love. I am so saddened by this. Are we doing the right thing? I have stressed to my agency that it is imperative that should she wish to stay in contact with him she be told we want her to and that maybe we can buy him a PC and they can Skype or one day buy him an airline ticket so he can come visit. Surely he is our family too? Then there is also the risk that we get there and she change her mind again and not want to leave. How could we possibly drag her away? Oh my heart aches with all this. Yes OK our situation is a little different, she knows about us and we have communicated but still this scares me. I have read 2 blogs now where the children refused to leave and the parents came home without their child - they like me would not force her. Since Shea has already changed her mind once who knows what will happen.

CHRISTMAS VRS CONSUMAS

2011-11-12T10:39:00.000-05:00

Last year I hated Christmas BIGTIME! Yeah Molly had been sick, I got sick. It was a year since I lost my mum but I just hated it. I hated what Christmas had become. Granted I cannot stand being near my family around Christmas so that always hurts but what really got to me was what has happened to Christmas? How could I escape the commercialism? I need to find a way to separate Christmas from Xmas or Crimbo. Why do non Christians celebrate it? Isn't it supposed to be a religious holiday? I swore last year that this year I would not buy gifts for anyone other than Molly (which are usually from Half.com, Ebay or Goodwill anyway) and what I would have spent on others I will donate to charity and I am sticking with this. I don't want to make it Bah Humbug for Molly but when I just asked her what was the first thing that popped into her head when I said Christmas was....she replied "Santa coz he is the star of Christmas". Oh boy - what have I done? This is all my fault. I told her that from now on CHRISTmas would be spent differently and that we needed to do what Jesus would want us to do and that is to help the needy. Perhaps now is a good time to start a tradition? Maybe 'Room at the Inn' which our church does, does something on Christmas day or eve where we can go spend it with the homeless and serving them? Maybe we can buy them gifts? I don't know but something have to change.

MY DUMB ARSE AGENCY

2011-11-11T16:52:00.000-05:00

The longer this process continues the more and more I detest my agency. So I called my main person there yesterday asking if Shea was in the CCAA database YET and was told no. I said 'well maybe tomorrow' she said I am off tomorrow. So I asked if anyone else could check and she said no! So the whole freaking office has to freeze coz she ain't there?????? So then I asked out of curiosity what time she normally checks the database - thinking it would be first thing every morning since China works while we sleep but oh no - it depends on how busy she is WHAT??????? Like my situation is not a priority right now??????? I hate this agency with a passion. I did however get these 2 emails from Beijing last week so that is something I suppose even if it was a week after I emailed them!

Rayne,
I understand your feeling. Genna, Tina, Melody, and I want GuoGuo to be adopted soon too. We worked and are working on the paperwork with CCAA. CCAA is very busy.
I called the director yesterday. Guoguo is doing well now. But I know the best place for her is your home. I hope you will come to China to adopt her soon. We work on it.

Sincerely,
Maria

THEN

The directors of AnKang orphanage are GuoGuo's angels in AnKang.
We are working on the paperwork staff with CCAA and hope you will come soon.

Maria

LETTER AND BOOKS

2011-11-09T16:54:00.000-05:00

I hired a company who translates your letter up to 600 words and you can add gifts to the package - they are in China and they send it to your orphanage. Well I had asked them to get me a fairy tail book but not sure about the other one they are sending LOL maybe she can pass that to someone else. They said she should get the package by Friday. Here is a copy of the letter I had translated - I have left some things out that I cannot reveal as my adoption agency may get mad LOL

Sweet GuoGuo,

I want you to know that we really wish we were allowed to come and bring you home right now but we have to wait for the Chinese officials to give us permission and sometimes they take a long time. It may be 6 more months before they say we can come so please darling do not think that we do not want to come - we do very much but we have to wait for them to say yes.

I wish I could write to you everyday but again I am not allowed. When we are finally together no one can change that and we will be together forever as a family and we cannot wait. We love you so very much and your sister is so excited to play games and do art with you. We cannot wait to go to the playground, theatre and restaurants with you and show the world our beautiful new daughter. We are so proud of you. You are such an amazing and wonderful child.

When you are home we will study English together and when you are comfortable I will take you to school each morning and pick you up in the afternoon. But you can stay home with me (Mama) until you feel ready to go. I drive Molly (your sister) to school too and pick her up. There is a school bus that stops right outside our house but I like to drive Molly so I don’t have to worry about her. Maybe this summer you and Molly can learn to swim or maybe you can both do Karate class or art class – which ever you like. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. There is no school in the summer here just lots of fun. Maybe we can take a trip to see one of your friends who also came here from China? Or maybe we can go see your cousins in England, that is where I am (mama) from. You have a grandfather there too who loves you and cannot wait to see you.

When our friend Wendy sent your picture we knew that your were our beautiful daughter and we could not wait to hold and protect you forever. Please do not give up on us we just have to wait until the officials say we can come to bring you home. Do not believe what others tell you or when they try to scare you – they do not know the truth. When you are here you can write and call your friends in China and tell them how wonderful it is so that they will not be scared or believe horrible things people say. We want all the children to have loving homes.

We would love it if you would write a letter back but if you do not want to that is ok, maybe you would draw a picture? Did you get the picture Molly drew for you? Well darling when you get scared or lonely just read the letters and look at our pictures and remember that we love you so much.

Mama, Baba & Mei Mei xxx

MY CUP OVERFLOWETH

2011-11-08T16:19:00.000-05:00

So this morning after a night of total angst and after sending an email to the Beijing office asking them to get on top of the CCAA but being turned down and told there is nothing they can do....I left Tina at the MO office a message saying that I could not do this anymore. I said I felt that too many things had gone wrong in this adoption and it all seemed really fishy now (when I said I... I really mean my husband and I). I said I felt that CHI were advocating for us like other families tell me their agencies do. I said that if I were able to call the CCAA and advocated for myself I would but I am not allowed and that is why I hired them. I said I was beyond frustrated at this point....why would the CCAA have both our files for over 2 months and do nothing with them and now all of a sudden decide to put her on the database and start from scratch? What is the point in listing her now other than they get $80 from me? So surprise surprise she calls me within about 10 mins saying "Oh don't give up on this now.....we are pushing for you but to the CCAA they only tell us what they think we want to hear and this is a job to them not a priority...they don't care....we just have to be patient and remember we did not get into this the regular way to start so now someone at the CCAA has probably said 'Oh she needs to be added into the database so we can get $80.....blah blah blah! I told her I felt something was being covered up and she said no not at all and that I know much more than other families do and that is why I feel so much worse. She said it is going to happen I just have to be patient. So I asked her how long are we expected to wait for them to put her in the database before she will contact Beijing and ask them to follow up - she said by the end of the week. I told her time is not our friend here since she is already being influenced heavily and changed her mind once and then she went on to this whole schpiel about how older kid adoption rarely works and if it does they are highly blessed but about 99% do not. That this child will not love me like Molly and she never suggests older child adoption and the oldest would be 6. She said how families have gone there and children have changed their minds but the orphanage normally talks them into it. OMG it was frightening what she was saying. At this point I guess if she is going to change her mind again I pray it is before Molly and I are there and I will not do anything to fight it. I think I have done all possibly human short of flying there myself to make this adoption happen. I have to know when to quit and let what will be...be. As much as we want to adopt an older child I am not interested in pursuing one over 10 again - too many things can happen and they have a say in whether they want to be adopted or not and it is risky. I have to trust God in this as hard as it is. He knows the big picture, maybe she is our daughter maybe she is not but I know we have a child out there waiting be it Shea or another. I am putting my boxing gloves down now.

THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE MY FRUSTRATION RIGHT NOW

2011-11-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

Well all was finally swimming alone fabulously or so it seemed. We were on day 49 waiting for approval from China and I decided to call my agency and ask if they had any news and I got the usual 'Oh I was going to call you today' response. Apparently the CCAA now claim they want to put Shea in their on line data base and I will have to resubmit our LOI (letter of Intent) which I sent along with our dossier 2 months ago by the way. Then we would have to wait for PA (pre approval) and then we would start the wait for LOA (letter of approval or Letter seeking confirmation) all over again. So in a nutshell the last 49 days our dossier has been either holding up a desk with a short leg or been used as a really good fly swatter coz is sure as hell has not been used for it's purpose. I cannot find any words to express how sick and tired of all this I am at this point. I really had hoped that perhaps we could adopt again at some point after this but I am not going through this again - I would have to be in sane (I am pretty close to that now actually). The grief this has caused is just beyond frustrating. We have lost 99% of faith in our adoption agency and have 0 faith in the whole China adoption process now. Perhaps if our agency really went to bat for us things might not be this bad but we really feel they are not. They do whatever CCAA says and don't put up a fight. I am exhausted to say the least, emotionally, mentally and faithfully. Yeah yeah all good things come to those who wait and all that but ya know those cute little saying don't mean shite when you have had the shite kicked out of you.

HALLOWEEN 2011 & CHINESE FESTIVAL

2011-11-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

She is my Ms. Little Incredible

I wanted to put together all the different pics of Molly in costumes of Halloweens past but I am such an idiot - I have pictures uploaded on so many different sites I can't find them all now arghhhhhh. But here she is this year anyway as Elastigirl/Violet from the Incredibles. And once again she was sick for Halloween and spent the last 2 days at home in bed :-(

Saturday we went to a Chinese festival in Charlotte and it was GREAT! They had cute little dancers, a dragon dance and calligraphy. I hope they do it again soon.

Molly doing calligraphy

Dragon Dance

Molly with the little lantern dancers

The lady on the far right is wearing the Han ethnicity outfit. I had no idea but China has 56 different ethnicity's. Molly's is Han and so is Shea's

HAPPENINGS SINCE THE LAST POST

2011-11-02T21:16:00.000-04:00

Gosh where do I begin? I have had everyone and their neighbour helping get answers and there are some things that I cannot post on here out of fear of getting in trouble but let me just say - as a mother I have left no stone unturned and tried absolutely everything to bring my daughter home. After speaking with various contacts who shall remain anonymous we have discovered that the man did fill her head with all sorts and so did some children and she did get scared. However those who have spoken to hear lately have told me that she does want to be adopted by us and the man does not want her to leave so she is not telling him and she will leave him a letter. However no one has been able to tell me just exactly what right this man has over her but I have been told he is indeed not a blood relative. Time really is of the essence here and the sooner I can bring her home the better and the orphanage has even said that. The longer it takes the easier it is for something else to go wrong, especially outside influences trying to change her mind and as we already know she is over 10 so she has the right to do that. I contact my agency last week and was pissed that I was not getting answers so I ended up calling the owner of the agency and I spoke to him. He got me a call back from the one who handles the China program (see sometimes you have to go to the top). She told me that she neither has gotten answers about the mans rights but we are to keep moving forward and right now my dossier is in the review room at the CCAA so we are waiting on the LOA/LSC which is basically approval from China. Then we should travel roughly 2 months after. I pray to the Lord that if she is going to change her mind again it will be before we travel and not after we are there as that would kill me. According to my agency that has happened before where an older child has changed their minds when the family is there in China. Anyway here are some new pics we got of her.

My sweet princess

What is it with the 2 fingers all the time - that means a bad thing in England LOL

She is so beautiful isn't she

I bet she is eating candy

WELL I HAVE BEEN ON A TIRADE

2011-10-23T17:19:00.001-04:00

I have networked up the wazoo and found some amazing, wonderful and lovely advocates for these children and some have helped me greatly with this mission. However I shall start with the email I sent to CHI last week.

I heard that the orphanage director is not going to be there for a week so I am not sure you are going to get the answers to this nightmare when you visit? Tina had told me a couple of weeks ago that the CCAA had locked her file for us and she thinks they will send her as a referral but how can my family accept if we do not know if she will be free. Why was she on the CHI waiting children's Journey of Hope if the orphanage knew she was not legally free to be adopted? My husband wants to know what takes so long to get simple answers - she is either available for us to adopt or she is not and if she is not what can be done about it since she was the child we were presented and started the process for.

I do not mean to be harsh and I know you have said you will look into it but we should not even be in this situation in the first place - someone in Beijing is not doing their job. This is so totally unfair, on An GuoGuo and on us. Since I found out about this error I have not slept. Why is it people in China that don't even work for CHI are getting the answers for me? She does indeed want to be adopted..... but this man will not give the document needed to release her. If he refuses is there anything that can be done? Surely someone must know what can be done? Or are we chasing a wild goose and in the meantime our dossier is sitting in China. I know China does not work fast like the USA but in this delicate situation we have been thrown into my husband feels we should be constantly updated and so do I. Try to put yourselves in this position. It is painful, frustrating and disheartening. As a mother I cannot just sit here waiting and not knowing anything. I am very passionate about these children and especially her when she feels like she is our daughter.

I sent this to basically all of CHI - Beijing and St. Louis. I got a call from Tina about 11:30 the next morning. It was quite a matter of fact call which hers usually are as that is her manner. She told me that she does not want me talking to Beijing and that everything must go through her. She said she emails them everyday to ask what is happening. She said China works slow and this is not a priority of the orphanage. I asked her if we had a leg to stand on and she said no it is between the orphanage and the man (actually I am later discovering this may not be the case). I said she should never have been offered to us and she blamed Wendy - I said but you put her on the website and she responded 'yes I should not have and will never again' (but that don't help us now does it!). Anyway, I told her I had found out that she does want to be adopted and she said 'Oh she does not even know what that means' I said yes she does as she see's all her friends etc and she said 'No she is a kid she does not know and she just misses them' (I was not impressed with this attitude). I said 'she has never known a mothers love' and she basically said then she does not know what it is like then and don't miss it. I said ok fine so if this does not work in our favour then what? She said we can look for another child if we want to and I told her I had lost faith in CHI and she said 'Oh don't say that'. So she said we just had to wait Grrrrrrrrrrr oh and that she told the Beijing office NOT to respond to me! But today I got this from Melody in Beijing (the head of that office) Dear Rayne:

The likely reason is, the orphanage and the local civil affairs wants to get more children a chance to be adopted and planed to get the paperwork done when they can. Maria and our team is working very hard to get this solved. It’s hard for us to do the job when you get information from others in China and question everything that’s different. As you know the communication long distance is likely to have some errors. If you are getting different information from Wendy, please tell her to let us know what she knows so we can all work together and give you the most accurate information from China. There is no secret information or anything. It’s just the way to work together and not get miscommunication because of the time or presentation, etc.

After all, we all want to get the same result and it doesn’t really matters who knows what, right?

Melody

I wrote back telling her that Wendy was no longer involved and that I had another source and that I could not wait for answers from them - this way I got them quicker. I also got this email today from a source in China (through a friend of a friend)

Hey, here is the response from the person who called GuoGuo. We have talked too, and it appears that he did make her not want to be adopted. She does not want to talk to to him again, and she confirmed that he is not biologically related. She is ready to come to the US.

Let me know if you need anything else.....see my copy and paste below.

Blessings,

XXXXX

Hi XXXXX!

See the below email from Guo Guo's camp translator, xxxxxx... :)

Hi XXXXXX,

Sorry for email you so late,I just called Guoguo,she has already changed her mind and said she is willing to be adopted by the family,and she also told me that she won't change her mind again. And as her ex-foster father,she believes he can't accept the fact that she's going to the States,and he will probably disagree with it,so Guo is not going to tell her father about it till she leaves by a letter.

She sounds very happy,and I told her not to take other children's opinions because they are not mature enough,and I also told her to enjoy the life in China,don't worry about the adoption.

I will stay in touch with her always.If there's something I can help,let me know.

So I told Melody again that GG does want to be adopted and that I have also discovered that since she is over 10 years old I do not think he can do anything nor the orphanage - it has to be her choice!

"adoptive laws of China".

Through another new friend I have made she discovered some stuff on the CCAA website regarding domestic adoptions - this may apply to his rights here too -

To adopt a child, there must be 40 years age difference. This is in article 9. It 
also says this:

Article 2 Adoption shall be in the interest of the upbringing and growth of 
adopted minors and in the protection of the legitimate rights of the adoptee and 
the adopter, in conformity with the principle of equality and voluntariness, and 
not in contravention of social morality.

Article 3
@@1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or 
private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities 
or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary 
consideration.

Article 11):
Where the adoption involves a minor aged 10 or more, the consent of the adoptee 
shall be obtained

Principle 9
The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and 
exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.
The child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; 
he shall in no case becaused or permitted to engage in any occupation or 
employment which would prejudice his health or education, or interfere with his 
physical, mental or moral development.

ANOTHER GOOD ONE HERE

http://www.china-ccaa.org/site/infocontent/GNSY_20051018012429531_en.htm

【QUESTION】
What is the difference between relationships of foster care and adoption?
What are the legal issues in consideration?
【BRIEF ANALYSIS】
In the legal practice, foster care and adoption are sometimes difficult to distinguish. But they are different. The main differences are: Adoption relationship is established through certain procedures and both parties should be qualified. Through adoption, a legal relationship is established between a child and a parent(s). Foster care, on the other hand, refers to a child being placed by the biological parents with another caretaker due to various reasons. There is not consensus of adoption among the three parties. Although the foster care provider and foster cared person may live together for an extended period of time, the relationship between them is still just a trusteeship. Therefore, no matter how long these two parties stay together, the child parent relationship will not be established. The biological parents can step in at anytime to claim their child back and terminate the trusteeship. To determine the relationship, we need to identify if there is legal procedure of adoption and if there is adoption de facto. The foster care provider and child recognize publicly a child-parent relationship. They refer to each other as father, mother, son or daughter. The child in foster care has terminated the parental relationship with his or her biological parents. The child is a heir to his or her biological parents. And finally, we need to find out if there are any changes to the child’s personal information in the residential registration documents or personnel files. After these questions are answered, it might be not too difficult to distinguish a situation foster care from an adoption.

And I found this on the Xi'An Civil Affairs site today!!!

(Ⅱ).The person placing out the child for adoption should submit the following papers and certificates. 1. ID card or copy of the person in charge of the social welfare institution; 2. Case certification of finding the abandoned infant or child issued by the public securities, certificate of death or declaration of death of the biological parents of the orphan; 3. Original record of the abandoned infant or child coming to the nursery and collective census register certificate; 4. Growth report of the abandoned infant or child; 5. Proclamation of the abandoned child; 6. Medical certificate or illness certificate issued by the Xi''an Children''s Hospital before being placed out for adoption; 7. Adoption agreement and adoption certificate. (Ⅲ) The adopted child should submit the following papers and certificates: (1). Where the adopted person has reached the age of 10 years, he or she should submit a letter of intent indicating he or she is willing to be adopted.;(2).one 2-inch photo without hat.

THIS LITTLE SLIDE SHOW SAYS IT ALL :-(

2011-10-20T23:39:00.000-04:00

2011-10-17T22:58:00.000-04:00

Well I pretty much have everyone I can possibly find to help me on board. I have several people in China trying to sort things out. Basically what I can come up with from various sources is that Shea does indeed want to be adopted but that man has come into the picture and does not want her to leave China. he said he is getting old and wants her to take care of him. What I have figured out is going on is this; they need a document from him in order for her to be legally free for adoption. I was under the impression they got it when they sent her paperwork over to the officials. Without this document from him the USA Embassy in GZ will not issue her a visa. He is refusing to do this document. What I want to know if why does he have a leg to stand on. During my research I have discovered that Shaanxi has some wacky laws and this is not the first time something like this has happened.So the good news is she does want to be adopted - the bad news is he is trying to disrupt it and there is not much I can do - but I will put up a dang good fight trying I promise you that!!!!!

THE PLOT THICKENS

2011-10-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

But first here is a video with pictures of Shea. during my quest to bring her home I met yet another wonderful person who met her and was on a camp that this amazing Australian Christian group do for orphans each year. There are pictures of her at these segments- 1.33 where she sports a blue baseball cap, 1.46, 2.15, 2.50, 3.09, 3.25, 3.48, 3.50, 4.27, 4.45, 5.10, 5.13, 5.16, 5.27, 5.34, 6.00, 6.02, 6.04, 6.43, 7.22, 7.27, 8.32, 8.36.

THE LATEST OF THIS SAGA

2011-10-16T22:55:00.001-04:00

Well I have cried and cried. I feel like I lost a child. I searched on a zillion different sites and looked at all the waiting children but not one melted my heart like Shea. I had emailed Chinese lady in Shaanxi who was my friends guide when she adopted Mia (Shea's friend). She did a little investigating for me and this is what she said

u r right, that man changed his mind want she stay, not the orphanage. but today the orphanage said this hasn't been decided, she will call me on Monday morning.

they also wonder why u take such a long time to waiting for adopt GuoGuo.i think if things can goes faster maybe u already finished adoption.

i will send u message again tomorrow( Monday) night tell u the news.

How can the adoption agency think that it is ME that is slow arghhhhhhhh. It is the CCAA not me, we are ready this end. I called my friend Wendy tonight and she said that she got a text from Genna (who works for CHI Beijing) saying Shea does want to be adopted but the man scared her. Though no one seems to be able to tell me what he said to her. I told her I am scared coz she may keep changing her mind and she feels sure that Shea truly does want to be adopted and the Orphanage want to help her and that the man is crazy. I wish I knew the truth. If it is indeed just that the man scared her then I think it might all work out but if it is just because she wants to stay with him but cannot make her mind up then I cannot do this to her and she must stay there. Below are pics of the two Saints of Orphans - I am hoping they will pray for her and for us and that they will help bring us together.

NOT SUCH GOOD NEWS I AM AFRAID

2011-10-14T12:34:00.000-04:00

I was called yesterday by CHI and they told me Shea no longer wants to be adopted. I do not feel much like writing a lot here as I am still so sad and confused. After a lot of phone calls on my end and research it turns out the man who raised her contacted her last week during the China holiday and has said something to change her mind. He obviously loves her and we know already he does not want her to leave China. Legally I am told he cannot adopt her - why I do not know. So I have to let her go. I cannot drag her over here when her heart is there. It would be selfish and wrong of me even though I truly thought she was my child. So that in a nutshell is it. I am devastated but I have to trust in the Lord our God who sees the big picture. Perhaps there is another child out there that needs us more?

HELLO ALL

2011-10-08T23:11:00.001-04:00

No real news as China has pretty much been shut all week on one of their many holidays. I was contacted though by a lady who miraculously found me. Her husband was in China when Wendy was asking Shea the questions that I posted earlier. He was there to bring home their new daughter who is dead cute - named Joanna and is only a wee 3yr old awwww. Apparently she was one of Shea's room mates. Oh Molly has woken up looking for me so I will write more later xxx.
OK I am back, where was I........oh so this lady emailed me and sent me a link to her blog and said I would see pics of Shea on there and low and behold there were 2 (which I am waiting for her to send me). She said when her husband came back with Joanna they began to pray that a family would soon adopt Shea (they did not know someone - me- had already started the paper chase for Shea). She is not PC literate but was stumbling around the web one night and was on some forum and clicked on a post of mine and for some unknown reason clicked on my blog and drum roll please, there was a pic of Shea. She said she was dumbstruck! She went and awoke her husband LOL. So that is that story. Hopefully we will hear some more news this week now China should be back to work.

SO THE DRAMA ON THE VAX'S CONTINUES

2011-10-03T12:18:00.000-04:00

Ok so the other reason I was getting so crazy about the vaccines is because Shea will be 12 by the time we go and get her. There is a vaccination exemption form you can file free of charge for children 10 and under in order for them to have a visa issued by the USA in Guangzhou and bring them into the USA with a promise you will vaccinate them within 30 days on arrival. That does not help me. So I looked up and researched. There is a form I too can file but it costs $585 and after talking to immigration there is no promise they will approve it. So this means unless she has official documents stating which vax's she has had already she could have to have at least 10 in Guangzhou before they will issue her a visa and allow us to leave China. Little extreme don't you think? Not only this but Molly cannot be exposed to live vaccines like MMR or Varicella due to the receiver on them shedding for up to 21 days. In Lehmans terms this means people who have a live vaccine are contagious with that disease for up to 21 days GREAT!!! I asked CHI my adoption agency to find out what records the orphanage has on Shea. Although her arms are scared due to vax's there are not records or files on her at the orphanage. SOOOOOOOO this means she will l have to repeat if I cannot convince them to do a titer blood test. This also means that they will have to give her the live vaccines long before I come to get her coz of Molly and we cannot do them in Guangzhou. Oh good grief!!!! Right now China is basically closed for a week on some holiday so nothing will get done till next week. So this is the dilemma we are in right now.

EXCELLENT VIDEO REGARDING THE VAX DEBATE

2011-10-03T12:08:00.002-04:00

UPDATE

2011-09-30T13:19:00.000-04:00

Well I have been on this whole rampage lately about vaccines. Now I know some will freak (those misinformed) and some will understand. It all started when I was looking into what Molly would need prior to taking her to China. Now I knew she could not have any live vax's but was told Hep A shot would be a must. So I decided to look into the ingredients to make sure it was not live.

Manufacturer	Merck
Microorganism	The Hepatitis A virus.
Licensed	08/11/2005
Recommendations	One 0.5 mL i.m. injection for those 12 months of age or older; booster 6-18 months after.
Ingredients	Formaldehyde, Latex, Human Diploid cells: MRC5 proteins, Sodium chloride, Bovine (cow) serum, Virus: Hepatitis A, Sodium Borate,Formalin, Aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate.
Product Descriptions	Package Insert

Formaldehyde - Interesting. Human Diploid Cells: MRc5 (ohhh whats this nice hidden code) Alluminum - lovely a nice metal. So now my curiosity is up and I decide to look up Human Diploid Cells: MRc5 - it is ABORTED FETAL CELLS!!!!! Oh and this is just the Merck version - should I go into Glaxco Smith and all the other versions ingredients? Did I mention diseased Monkey liver cells? Well of course I found this so hard to believe that they would allow this stuff into our children so I started researching other vaccines. Cells from caterpillars, vesicle fluid from calf skins, dog liver cells (yes I did say dog as in cute woof woof), Mercury (cleverly coded as thimerolsol), chick embryonic fluid, MSG, Monkey abortion cells, fetal bovine serum (basically cow baby serum), guinea pig embryo cells, albumin from human blood, human aborted fetal tissue. DO I NEED TO GO ON? Oh there is more I assure you. So of course then there is the argument that 'well the vaccines do more good than harm and the good out weights the bad' Oh and my fave, we would never have wiped out Polio or other epidemics without vaccines GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Are you freaking kidding me people? Why do we have more vaccines than ever now, why are our kids sicker than ever? Fatter than ever? OK calm down Lorrayne! I too was brainwashed by doctors who get HUGE kick backs from pharmaceutical companies if they name their annually assigned criteria of vaccinated kids. Who is the biggest financial back of the government???? The pharmaceutical companies are. Oh I have read a ton of stuff this last week that would make the devils toes curl. Even some doctors are not aware of the ingredients in these vaccines. I met a lovely Nephrologist on line who is from NY and she quit her profession after 13 years due to the lies and corruption of the medical industry. She begged me not to give Molly the Hep A. She has many studies and reports that show how vaccines have caused a lot of Nephrotic Syndrome in people. Not only NS (which Molly has) but of course, many other disorders that were so few and far between many years ago. Take the Amish people for example; they do NOT vaccinate and they have zero cases of autism ZERO! Now don't try to tell me that is is not related. Don't tell me that these parents who have claimed vax's caused autism was given the vax's at the time autism starts to show and that is why they link it. Well then tell me this, why do some children go into doctors offices right and reign full of beans and within minutes of getting a vaccine regress into a total shell, never speak again or become totally ill and either are dx with Aspbergers or autism but before were totally healthy??????? I have read document over document, watched videos and been on sites. The whole system is corrupt and they do not want the public to know. We owe it to our children to research both sides of this argument before we decide. Don't just trust what they want you to believe. Like I said, even some Dr's are non the wiser..but there are an awful lot out there who are and either don't care coz money talks OR they fight for the right thing. I can list pages and pages here so back up what I say but I have to go get Molly now from school. There is a reason why I am writing all this but I will have to continue later. And trust me when I say it is NOT true that unvaccinated kids get the others sick - it is the total opposite - look up shedding.

LID

2011-09-28T18:46:00.002-04:00

NEW PICS YIPPPPEEEE

2011-09-10T13:51:00.001-04:00

Here is Shea on the left in the blue top and Mia is on the right in the dress.

Peekaboo - Shea hiding in the back

Shea sits at the back of the class - ohh wonder why LOL

A wonderful thing happened the other day. A lovely lady named Julie contacted me. She had just got back from Shaanxi and has adopted one of Shea's BFF's. She had some pics of Shea that were sent to her when she was waiting to go bring home Mia. Although she did not get to meet Shea she heard all about her and apparently Shea is a little mother and very sweet and loving to the children. This looks to be the case in the photos too - just look how she seems very protective over Mia. Mia is quite shy her mum says so I guess Shea looked after her. I can't wait till they can Skype together. Oh and Shea looks even more beautiful in these pics.

DTC DTC DTC

2011-09-07T22:40:00.001-04:00

Well actually sending it overnight to CHI and then supposedly on to China tomorrow YAY. Tina from the agency still thinks it will be another 6 months but I think it will be sooner. I hope it will be anyway.

Back in July when Wendy went to Shaanxi again she took with her a list of questions I had typed out to GuoGuo/Shea. Oh and btw GuoGuo is pronounced Gwa Gwa. Anyhoo below is a copy of those questions and Wendy typed the answers below - of course the spelling and English is not perfect.

how do you feel about coming to America and leaving

China

A little bit nervos

Are you worried about starting a new school? Making new friends?

Yes, a little bit

How do you feel aboout having a new ma ma, Ba Ba and Mei Mei?

Very happy, and feel lucky

What kind of clothes do you like?

Skirt and sport suit,

We know you like light green, do you like other colours?

sky blue

Do you like to be silly and make jokes?

Yes

Do you like books? I read with Molly a lot

Yes, fairy stories

DO you know Barbie? Molly likes Barbie

Yes

Have you ever seen snow?

She did

Have you been to the beach?

Never

Can you swim?

She can not

Do you like Movies?

She likes

Have you been to a movie theatre?

Never

Do you like lots of hugs - we cuddle Molly all the time

She does

Do you have earings?

what do you want to be when you grow up?

Artist

is there are food you hate?

Fat meat

what makes you laugh?

Play

what makes you mad?

When people mentioned she was a orphan

what makes you sad?

When she thought she has no family

Do you like the name Shea?

“I missed this one”

Do you have any questions for us???

If I have chance to study English, what the family like to do?

She want her mom wear beautiful dress

NOT SOON ENOUGH

2011-08-30T17:16:00.002-04:00

FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE!

2011-08-25T18:35:00.000-04:00

Bloody hell she was up at 4AM after not going to sleep early either. It is now 6:30PM she has been to school and is still bouncing around!!!!! I hope she konks out early. Right I am off to give her a shower and book and then hopefully sleep.

UPDATE!

2011-08-20T12:50:00.000-04:00

Well after I posted the last time I had phone Wendy in China who told me Melody from CHI in Beijing had been over to the CCAA but did not yet know the result. So she told me to email Wendy and Genna and I told her I would call her back in a hour. So I emailed them and pleaded my case of being frustrated and angry that they could lose Shea's paper work and basically someone needed to kick butt! Within an hour I got an email from Genna saying the CCAA had called and found her paper work YAY. Please let it be true. So I called Wendy and told her. Now we have to wait for CCAA to put Shea into the database so that I can send a letter of Intent (LOI) asking to adopt her. I can't wait till I can do that and it should hopefully be next week.

Am Bloody pissed off!

2011-08-18T22:47:00.000-04:00

Well the officials claim they sent Shea's paperwork to CCAA over 2 weeks ago - CCAA say they do not have it. Apparently the official is being evasive and not volunteering info or taking calls. I AM PISSED! It only took 4-5 months for them to get her paper work ready and now no one knows where it is WTF????? So unfair. I am mad at my agency for not getting on top of it and demanding answers. In the meantime we should be DTC in a couple of weeks. Why do they not sense the urgency in this? Don't they think you have waited long enough?

HAD THESE PICS SAVED BUT COULD NOT FIND THEM

2011-07-25T20:40:00.000-04:00

You are SO beautiful and we can't WAIT to hold you xxxxxxx

ONE OF THE MANY THINGS THAT HURT!

2011-07-21T15:27:00.000-04:00

Is the fact that not one person in my family or my husbands family has ever followed this blog! Everyone is too wrapped up in their own world I suppose but we were always expected to be interested and following what was happening in theirs. And we always did!

OUR SWEET SHEA IS STILL NOT PAPER READY

2011-07-21T14:05:00.000-04:00

Well I don't have many pictures of you of course so I am probably re-posting ones I have before. Anyway, you are still not paper ready. Apparently the man who found you and raised you till you were 10 is reluctant to provide the officials with paper work as he said if you are adopted by Americans he won't see you again. I feel sorry for him as he must really love you but this is also not fair on you. I called immigration today and they still have not assigned us a case officer so I am feeling frustrated! I just want to zip right on a plane (even though I hate flying) and bring you home NOW! I have been reading a lot of blogs today with many families who have bought so many children home from all over the world AND I WANT TO TOO! Why oh why can't it be easier and more affordable. I so badly want to bring 2 children home this time :-(

LATEST ON SHEA AND MY DADDY LEAVES TOMORROW

2011-07-15T23:17:00.004-04:00

Well a heavy heart I write that the 6 weeks of my daddy's trip is up and he is leaving tomorrow. We have had such a lovely time but I know it has been difficult for him since he has to rely on me here and cannot be independent. I am going to miss him painfully and have already been balling my eyes out. Please God let him have a safe and hiccup free flight home. As for GuoGuo/Shea she does like the name Shea so that is now her name here. She is still not paper ready UGH! Apparently the man who was raising her is supposed to provide a legal document stating he is not a relative and that he was raising her as of whatever date and handed her over as of whatever date etc etc but is reluctant to provide this letter coz Americans adopt her he will never see her. This and what with the Chinese officials being extremely slow is what the hold up is on her paper work. In the meantime we have done our fingerprints for FBI clearance and are almost done with paper chasing for now. I have been buying her lots of clothes - and would buy more if I were sure of her actual size. That is all for now.

KIAWAH ISLAND

2011-06-23T18:06:00.002-04:00

We went to Kiawah Island, SC for 4 days and it was lovely there. We were able to bring the dogs too - it was a private resort (thanks to my boss) and the beach was private and soooo quiet. We visited the historical part of Charleston too which was nice. Here we are having a meal in Charleston, SC.

DADDY IS HERE

2011-06-23T17:48:00.001-04:00

HERE IS THE LATEST

2011-06-22T18:43:00.003-04:00

Here she is holding a picture of Molly her new Mei Mei. And look she cut all her hair off - personally we prefer it longer but it is hot there so maybe it is easier for now. Her paperwork should have been ready by now so we could write our letter of intention to China but there was some error on it so once again it is not ready. We are getting our fingerprints done for FBI clearance July 12th :-) One bit of sad news is that our beloved Wendy from CHI is leaving and she is our friend who matched us with our wonderful new daughter. We are heartbroken - of course we will remain deep rooted friends as always but not having her involved with all this anymore is going to be tough to the extreme. On a good note my daddy is here right now and so I will be posting pics of his visit a little later.

SO STRESSED YET SO EXCITED

2011-05-15T08:51:00.005-04:00

Met some people on this journey to our new daughter who are going to be such a lifeline - we did on our journey to Molly too. This journey is such a blessing and a heartache at the same time but it brings amazing people into your life. Praise God that I was chosen to do this, Praise God that I never conceived and decided to become a mother this route rather than spend the money on fertility, Praise God that I am not one of those people who is not open to adoption or adoption of an older child! Praise God that my husband is not one of those people either!!! Praise God that he made me the way I am and bought amazing people who are like minded into my life. Thank You God for Molly, for my daughter to be.....I feel so incredibly lucky and humbled. Here are some new pics of our new angel. We met a family who have met her (I am so jealous). The lady with her is our beloved Wendy who was our guide when we bought Molly home and we became like BFF's. We adore her and she is the angel that found GuoGuo for us too!

NOT FORGETTING MOLLY

2011-05-06T22:25:00.002-04:00

Don't she look gorgeous here!

NAMES, NAMES AND NAMES

2011-05-06T22:17:00.003-04:00

Why is it so difficult to agree on a name. OK so I really wanted to stick with the Irish theme since her last name will be Italian (thanks to her daddy) and my heritage is Irish. Molly is Irish for Mary so there is my Irish there. I love Erin but it is too common, Kathryn I adore but also common. We could not agree on any other Irish names. He likes Riley but I don't think she looks like a Riley. So then we looked outside of Irish names. I love Ruby, he hates it LOL. OK what about Scarlet, Lotti, Chloe` or Eden? Nope we just cannot decide. Her name in China is GuoGuo but we will make that her middle name as we did with LiXin (Molly's name). Hopefully the next time I write it will be to announce her new name!

WE ARE PAPER CHASING AGAIN

2011-04-21T23:51:00.002-04:00

Yes we are going to adopt her YAY. We still have not come up with English name but we are down to Scarlet, Shea` (pronounced Shay), Lotti, Gia, Eden & Chloe`. We just can't decided. I liked Ruby but DH did not LOL.

2011-04-21T23:45:00.002-04:00

She is going to play Soccer:-)

Can't wait to bring her home.

OUR SHAANXI BEAUTY

2011-04-21T23:32:00.002-04:00

Isn't she amazing!

BACK AGAIN

2011-04-05T12:48:00.005-04:00

So who is this beauty you may ask. I do not think I am allowed to post her name but she was presented to us by our wonderful friend in China. She is available for adoption although her paperwork is not ready (neither is ours).

Officially her DOB is Dec 19th, 1999 but we think she is younger. Apparently she is very sweet and calm and really wants a mummy and daddy. We are seriously considering adopting her. Of course you know me I am researching everything I can to clue myself up to what to expect with older child adoption and disrupting birth order. Molly of course has a huge say in this and she is gung ho - however if she did have any real issues with it they would be taken seriously as Molly comes first right now. Isn't she lovely though! I think the best thing to do right now is to request a recent medical report to review before we take any further steps. We are all very excited and scared and deep down hoping this is all meant to be. xxxxxx

Blame Facebook

2011-03-31T14:43:00.002-04:00

Yeah ever since I got hooked on that dreaded evil I have neglected this. Molly is now in Kindergarten and doing awesome! She has been off the steroids for about a year now YIPPPEEEEEE but takes another poison called CellCept. Even through all her illnesses due to wonderful school this drug has kept her in REMISSION PRAISE GOD!

We are all doing GREAT! I still work for the Dog Wizard and love it. The dogs and cats are great, I would love to have more but of course I will get yelled at if I bring more in. Oh Molly has 10 adult teeth already WOW. That is all for now. Missed you guys xxx

BLOW ME DOWN IT'S BEEN A WHILE

2009-11-28T10:23:00.002-05:00

Well I am so sorry I have not written on here in yonks. Molly keeps me so busy and what with working now. Molly is about to turn 5 WOW and as amazing as ever. We are heading off to the UK again for Christmas since my mother has been very sick and unfortunately has bone cancer. With her being 78 and the stupid National healthcare not detecting it in time there is nothing for them to do. Anyway, here is a recent pic of Molly and I do intend on writing more at a later (but soon) date. xxxxx

WHATS NEW

2009-04-03T09:15:00.003-04:00

All is well - Molly LOVES school. We have decided not to put her in kindergarten early after talking to the Principal who agreed she was definitely ready he advised us in all his years he rarely sees the benefit. So we have decided to wait. Health wise things of course could be better. We did 12 weeks of a powerful chemo drug in hopes to shock her system into a looooooong remission only for her to relapse twice after coming off. Anyway God is good and knows what he is doing (I hope). Which leads me to our other news. We had been looking for a program for the longest time to adopt a little Mei Mei (sister) for Molly where we would not be required to travel. Korea was the only one which gives an escort option (or so we thought) but no one qualifies for Korea unless you are Barbie or Madonna I guess. Yesterday I found out there is an agency that can arrange for an escort from Ethiopia WOW. Now as much as we would love to see Ethiopia we feel nervous about bringing Molly to a third world country due to her kidney condition and leaving her back here is NOT optional. So finding out about this has been thrilling. So we are seriously considering ETHIOPIA right now YAY. So that is it this end. Sorry I am not on here much lately - will try to update sooner xxx

SOOOO BEHIND WITH THIS

2009-01-22T19:26:00.002-05:00

OK sorry no pics since I am working from my new laptop and have none on here yet but promise to add some later. Molly and I went to England for Christmas, New Year and my birthday. We had an amazing time. She was med free which was awesome but sadly did relapse much to our heartbreak and shock after doing 12 weeks of Cytoxan but more on this later. Seeing my family was wonderful. My niece who was 10 when we met last is now 14 and a young hip woman, my nephew still looks the same. Maegan (my niece) and Molly were all over each other and it was just so awesome to see. Molly had a blast as did I. I am so glad we went. My parents were thrilled to have us home for the holidays. Poor daddy had to stay home alone with the doggies but we spoke everyday several times. It was his idea we go since it has been a long time since I have been home and Molly was finally med free (at the time). We shopped and ate like crazy (2 of my fave things to do). It was so hard to say goodbye and come home but we are glad to be back in our own beds. Molly did relapse and has had to go back on steroids. We were devastated since we had hoped for a long remission after the 12 weeks of chemo, however we just have to find a different cocktail I guess - at least there are other choices. My whole view right now has changed. I am trying to be more positive and leave my worries at the altar. We have to let Molly live her life and let her out of that bubble a tad more. It is very hard but it can always be worse and we are grateful for the blessings we have. We signed Molly up for Pre School. Step one in letting out of the bubble. Personally I am very disapointed in the curriculum since this week they were learning to count to 10 and Molly has done this since she was 15 months and can even do it in Spanish and Italian. However, the reason we really signed her up is for the social side of things and interaction. SHE LOVES IT!!!! She has only been there for 2 days and will attend 3 mornings a week. If in May when it ends we feel she needs to go somewhere more advanced we will sign her up somewhere that will work with us. The issue is the DOB, you have to be 4 by Aug 31st 2008 to be in the older class. She was 4 Dec 5th 2008. Annoying thing is she is more advanced than the older class too. Man do I sound like a total snob here? We just want the best for her is all!
Other bit of news is I have a job YAY!! I work now for www.thedogwizard.com they are dog trainers and AWESOME!!! I love my job, I work from home and do all there office/scheduling stuff. I get to work with a cell phone too if I need to run errands. I got this job through Charlie the dog we rescued. I had been searching for a trainer when we first got him and I met these guys. I hammered them for a job and they came through. So 2009 has already brought many changes. 2007 was horrid, 2008 a little better so here is hoping that 2009 will be an awesome year for EVERYONE!!!!

WONDERFUL ACT OF KINDNESS

2008-12-18T17:18:00.002-05:00

The other day my dear online friend Tammy whose son Michael also has NS sent Molly a HUGE box of goodies. When I say huge you can see in the pic Molly actually fits in the box. I knew she was making her a prayer blanket but had no idea about all the other gifts that were from her and some of her friends who do not even know Molly nor myself. It moved me so much and I called her immediately to say thank you. What a wonderful and kind woman she is and so are all those who put these goodies in for Molly. We thank you SO deeply. The green scarf around Molly's neck is actually knitted like a Kidney disease awareness ribbon - so clever. We are so touched by this generosity and cannot find the words to express it. Please know we are truly grateful.

I AM SOOOOO BEHIND

2008-12-13T13:53:00.004-05:00

I have been so hooked on Facebook that I have neglected this blog, sorry Molly. Well since I last wrote Molly turned 4 and had a birthday bash at Monkey Joes with 10 of her friends - they had a blast. Today she completed her 12 week course of Cytoxan (a chemo drug) and has been steroid free for 5 weeks. The hope here is to buy her a long med free remission, the best outlook would be a permanent one but that is not as likely. I do not want to harp on this or tell the devil too much of my mind so I shall leave it at that. The other news is I am taking Molly to England for Christmas YAY - I have not been home for 2 1/2 years so it will be wonderful and she will have a ball. Of course I am dreading the flight (germs and my fear of flying period) so all prayers welcome please. We still talk about a sister for Molly but right now I am not comfortable with any program so I putting it on hold indefinitely. I think we will most likely do it again be it in 1 year or 8 years we still want to adopt an older child so it makes no difference really. Molly still wants to be a big sister so whatever the man upstairs wants is ok. Will try to update more often xxxx

PHOTO BLAST AND THE LATEST

2008-09-23T17:32:00.004-04:00

Ok, in no particular order here are some new pics. Some are from a local annual festival we like to attend - we had great fun there. The others are of Molly and her friend Abby after they went to see "The Pirates who don't do anything" (great movie). And then pics of Molly having her very first eye exam. Her eyes were fine :-). I keep forgetting to mention too that at her last dental check up she got a medal for having NO cavities AND a gift cert for Barnes & Nobel. Molly is doing great and having fun with her friends xxxxxxxxx

THE LATEST HAPPENINGS

2008-09-19T09:12:00.003-04:00

Well Molly is about to start Cytoxan, a chemo drug which is also used for Nephrotic Syndrome. She will be on this for 12 weeks providing she has no terrible side effects from it during. Fingers crossed that this works well for her. Also as some of you already know, little miss Molly has developed a tic. She keeps moving her eyes from the far left or right, blinking and either nodding her head or twitching it. It seems 25% of children go through some sort of temporary tic. It is what appears to be a simple motor tic but being the overly protective mother that I am I am getting her checked out anyway and also her eyes. Other than that all is well. Many of our travel mates are on the road to adopting again and Molly keeps asking for a little sister. We still have plans to adopt an older child should be adopt again but will stay with the birth order. When Molly is in school and I am back at work, or when we are getting close to that time we will decide then. In the meantime I will keep a hold of the clothes Molly starts to outgrow soon ;-)

WHATS BEEN GOING ON???

2008-08-31T15:52:00.006-04:00

Well Molly has been of the steroids now for 3 weeks, first time in months!!! I was hoping to keep her med free for as long as poss but last weekend she was attacked by mosquito's, chiggers and possibly spiders all over and it started her kidneys to play up. At first we were hopeful her body could correct itself without putting her back on drugs but so far it is not looking likely. It is also starting to show signs of steroid dependency which we had thought. If her body does not correct itself within the next few days it will be back on the steroids and then a 12 week course of Cytoxan (a cancer drug). If Cytoxan works for Molly it could possibly alter the path of her disease and put her in a long remission, that is why we are going to try. As much as this is a horrid disorder and it kills us to have our child suffer this we also realize it can be much worse. I am a member of so many kidney disorder groups and it is just heartbreaking when I read about these kids that are having transplants. We hope and pray Molly will never be one of them. On another note 4 of the fmilies in our travel group are on the road for # 2 (or in one families case # 406 LOL just kidding darlings). We are thrilled for them. One family is filing for the Phillipines which is the country we have been hoping to go to if we ever go for # 2. Being Roman Catholic, & having a friend who goes there every year to feed the families who live off the landfills really draws us there...plus Molly really looks Filipino.

As for Charlie, the abused puppy, I am not allowed to write much (as per the DA's office) until after the case is closed....sorry. But he has chewed so many shoes and house breaking is A PAIN!!!!!

Well that is about it. Sorry it has taken me so long to post, kinda have my hands full :-)

MEET CHARLIE (AKA JUSTICE)

2008-08-02T19:35:00.003-04:00

This adorable little boy was taken from the yard of someone in Wadesboro, NC to a vacant house nextdoor and abused severely. He is at our house and we are nursing him back to health. Despite this barbaric torture he has suffered he is such a sweet and loving doggy. He does not have a bad bone in his body. Read the story....
On Sunday July 27th this 4-month old puppy was brutally beaten by 4 juveniles in Wadesboro (Anson County). He was brought to a vacant house where he was beaten with beer bottles, rocks and the handle of a sledgehammer. As you can see, he has several severe lacerations. The vet could not save his eye and it had to be removed as a result of this beating. The Homeward Bound Humane Society rescued this dog and is now looking for donations to help cover the medical bills. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, the address is: Homeward Bound Humane Society P.O. Box 291 Marshville, NC 28103 Please indicate "puppy" in the memo line on your check. You can also make an on-line donation using pay-pal, by visiting our website www.homewardboundhumane.org Thank you, Allison Burke Homeward Bound Humane Society
If you would like to see justice for this puppy and punishment for theindividuals who committed this horrific act, please contact the followingauthorities to show your support:Anson County District AttorneyP.O. Box 761Wadesboro, NC 28170704-694-0166 Wadesboro Police DepartmentPolice Chief Vance JohnsonP.O. Box 697 Wadesboro, NC 28170704-694-2167 johnsonwpd@windstream.net Please pass this along to as many people as possible.
UPDATED PICS CAN BE FOUND HERE http://s523.photobucket.com/albums/w358/HomewardBoundPets/?

WE WERE IN THE HOSPITAL

2008-07-22T18:49:00.003-04:00

As most of you know Molly went into Hospital for a kidney biopsy to determine what kind of NS she has. The worst part of the hospital stay was the blood drawing and I knew it would be. She screamed and fought and would not give her arm up for nothing - she clung to me yelling Mama and it broke my heart. How I remained calm on the outside I will never know as I was so close to saying "I can't do this let's go". Finally they were able to draw blood and that was over. After about 10 mins she calmed down and played. I made them promise not to do the IV until she was out. After about an hour when we got the OK on the blood levels they gave her a drink of a med called Versed LOL Molly was drunk in about 5-10 mins. At first it was funny but then a little scary coz it wasn't Molly anymore. She was in all slow motion but totally relaxed and happy which was nice. We went to the OR and they gave her gas and she was out. At this point the anesthetist did not want me present so I had to leave. I did not mind though as her Neph was the one doing the procedure. What should have taken about 15 mins took about an hour as it turns out her Neph called for another radiologist as he was not happy with the current one. But he told me all went well after except they did have to tube her as her breathing was off. She did really well though. She had 2 ice lollies in the recovery room and by the time we got to the overnight room she was pretty much normal. She was on Bed rest for 24 hours which was hard. They had to draw blood again later but I insisted they try draw from the IV and when that did not work to just squeeze out of her finger from a prick - oddly enough she does not mind this and lucky it worked. The next morning we got the ok to leave but I heard Minnie & Mickey were in the bldg so we hung out and I surprised her. Sadly I had no camera but they took pics and promised to send them to me. It was awesome, it was just like Disney only no 4 hour wait and she had them all to herself pretty much. I cried watching her as she was so thrilled holding their hands and they were all over her - it made it all worth it (kind of). Plus daddy had bought her a Minnie balloon the day before which went down well with Minnie. Other than peeing blood due to too much running around probably (she is supposed to be resting for 2 weeks) she is doing really well. We got the results anyway and it appears she has minimal change which is what we were hoping for. Of course this can change but we continue to hope & pray that she will outgrow this someday. I have a meeting with her Nephrologist on Aug 4th to discuss drug options to try get her off the steroids and hopefully keep her in remission longer. All the drugs are immune supressive drugs due to the fact that this disorder is a flaw in the immune system - not the kidneys themselves. I am sorry I am so behind in blogging, we have made many new friends in our new neighbourhood and I will have to post pics and details at a later date.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

2008-06-29T08:23:00.003-04:00

Where do I start? It has been a rollercoaster for sure. We finally moved but it has been rocky. The sales agent left us high and dry, screwed us big time and we are still fighting issues with that one now. We move in and Molly relapses! Next thing will be the hospital to take kidney biopsies. Then one of our new neighbours demon dogs who is allowed to roam the neighbourhood attacks our beloved GiGi (whom is the best doggy in the world btw). They did not return my calls so I had to call animal control who warned them but thy of course lied and said it was not their dog HUH! Then we hired someone to fence some of our yard - they did such a horrid job. Ernie spent hours trying to fix it. He finally got it looking great then our a$$hole nieghbour complained it was on his property. Ernie moved it. Then when we got home yesterday the twat pounced on us before we even got out the car and told Ernie it was still on his property. Ernie was very graceful and polite but this time my fiery side erupted and I told the guy he was an a$$ etc etc. Is our house cursed? I have however, met 3 wonderful ladies here in our street. One is named Susie who is as sweet as can be, she lost her beloved husband this Jan to cancer - so sad. Then there is Lisa, here is the great thing....she has a 10 year old daughter from China and an 8 yr old son from Vietnam. She is mega talented and can make awesome things so check out her site to the right. And Donna, another lovie who was friends with the previous owner. Donna seems really kind and fair. I know I will be great friends with these 3 women. They are all like me in different ways - very honest and that means a lot. So like I said it has been a bit yo yo like lately. That is it in a nutshell.

MOLLY HAPPENINGS

2008-06-04T11:26:00.005-04:00

GENIUS AT WORK!

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS FACE!

So as you know we are in the middle of moving again. Trying to tidy up the house, pack etc etc I spilled nail polish on the new carpet. I said "Molly PLEASE do nto tell daddy - tell him it was cat throw up and I have been scrubbing it to get that out" Of course daddy comes home and we sit down to dinner. There is silence then this conversation.....
Molly "Errrr daddy, mummy spilled..."
Me "MOLLY shhhhhhh"
Molly "Errr daddy, mummy spilled errrrr"
Me giving Molly THE LOOK!
Molly "daddy, mummy spilled cat throw up on the new carpet"

Then the other day I said "Molly how did you get so beautiful?" to which she replied "I don't know, I was just born that way". Kids are SO funny.

SHE IS ONE OF US

2008-05-26T19:27:00.005-04:00

And here she is showing off her new tattoo's just like Mum & Dad however I have warned her she is only ever allowed the wash off kind - even when she is 45 :-)
Well in 2 weeks we are moving YET again. Only this time it is only about 3 miles away. So we are busy packing up etc. Man I do not know anyone else who has had more addresses than me! Next weekend we are having a yard sale.

ANOTHER UPDATE

2008-05-15T15:09:00.002-04:00

Well I went and had a consultation with Molly's Nephrologist and explained all my fears, beliefs and then some. He totally took the time to explain all he could. He really is awesome. He said that there are other drugs we can try and really wants to get her off the steroids since they are deadly with long term use. Of course as he explained there is no such thing as a free lunch and all the meds come with risks etc etc. We discussed why a biopsy would be beneficial and that we would wait until if/when she next relapses. Then once we get her back in remission we would do a biopsy of the kidneys to get a diagnosis of whether it is minimal change NS or another kind of NS - all the others are bleaker so we pray for minimal change. What they do is take a part of the gloummerli (spell?) and send it off to be analyzed. It should just be one overnight hospital stay. Once we get the diagnosis we can decided how to carry on and what drug to try. I do not feel the need for a second opinion, plus there are 4 other Nephrologists in his office and they all work under the same practice. I actually did see a different one there when Molly was first diagnosed and swapped to the one we use now. He genuinely cares about Molly and has been doing this for 20 odd years. He has worked at prestigious places such as St Judes and Duke to name a couple. Right now I feel confident in him. So that is where we are at right now, Molly is currently on the Steroids still and in remission :-) and we are tapering off again slowly. Now here is the other thing. If you look to the right I have posted a link to my dear friends walk for Kidneys they are doing THIS WEEKEND for Molly. If you feel the urge to donate a little click on the link - the participants name is JiaLi Madden - Molly's China sister. THANK YOU JIALI WE LOVE YOU xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

UPDATE

2008-05-12T14:32:00.003-04:00

Well I took Molly to see a Naturopathic doctor today. To be honest I was not 100% convinced with it. He said we would need to do a full consultation where I would give him as much info about Molly as possible and we would take it from there. He said it would be herbalistic and it is totally safe (has he not heard of St Johns wart?). I am just very confused, I really want to do a little of both. Natural combined with coventional. You see her Nephrologist wanted me to up her dosage of the steroids back to the full amount of 9cc a day when she just relapsed - I said No and that I did not feel she needed that much - he agreed to my suggested 6cc - and guess what - she has been Neg for 2 days. When I go to meet with the Neph tomorrow to discuss his wanting to try Cytoxan (Chemo drug) and do a biopsy I will be totally frank and tell him I refuse to go by protocol. I am always her second doctor and it is not that I have little faith in him or his office it (Well maybe I have lost a little) is that she is my child and my life and I need to understand EVERYTHING and analyze every little detail & option. I am not yet ready to try a harder drug than Prednisone on her. I guess he wants to change the med since she is showing signs of dependency. Like I said and will always say I do not go for protocol. Words of wisdom anyone????? PS- Have you seen my friends JiaLi's site - you gottah see what they did for Molly YOU GUYS ROCK WE LOVE YOU!!!!! This is a pic of Molly and JiaLi in Atlanta this year.

MOLLY'S KIDNEY DISORDER

2008-05-07T15:56:00.002-04:00

We were making chocolate covered pretzels - as you can see most of the chocolate did not cover the pretzels. Well Molly has relapsed yet again and for no apparent reason. She is now showing classic signs of steroid dependency. I have a meeting with her Nephrologist next Tues to discuss a Chemotherapy drug called Cytoxan and also doing a kidney biopsy. I am not thrilled or convinced about either. As much as I am trying to have faith in the Almighty, that too is being challenged. Sweet, amazing and cherished little Molly. Our girls have already been through enough in their little lives, why this too? I will never understand why children (or animals) must suffer.

OUR HUBEI REUNION

2008-04-22T15:51:00.009-04:00

We had the best weekend ever!!! We met up with our Hubei family in Atlanta, GA and it was so much fun. We had only seen one of the girls since we all came home almost 3 years ago so seeing them all was amazing and emotional. 2 of the families did not come which was sad, especially since one of the little girls was Molly's best friend when they were babies. But we did get to see Molly's other best friend Lauren (see below) and all the other amazing beauties. saying goodbye was hard as it made us feel like when we parted in China. The battery to my camera died as soon as we arrived and stupid me did not bring the charger so I have been bugging everyone for copies. We truly have such a wonderful group and we all love each other dearly.

THIS IS LAUREN & MOLLY NOW

AND THEN JUST BEFORE WE GOT TO BRING THEM HOME FROM CHINA.

THE FAMOUS RED COUCH BACK IN 2005

NOW ANOTHER RED COUCH IN 2008

MOLLY TELLING A STORY

2008-04-08T16:47:00.002-04:00

2008-04-03T21:43:00.005-04:00

BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare
Well here is what we have been up to since the last post. Nanny & grandad are safe and sound back home. We took them to Lazy 5 ranch hence the animal shots. other bit of news we are moving yet again. We found a house with 2.1 acres not too far from where we are now, we are in contract to purchase it. So watch this space.

MOLLY & GRANDAD BEING SILLY

2008-03-27T17:06:00.003-04:00

SOON THE PARTY WILL BE OVER

2008-03-24T18:11:00.003-04:00

Much to my heartache it will soon be time for my parents to leave. Molly will also be heartbroken. I hope we actually get to go home and visit them this year at some point. I have been saying goodbye to my parents for years but let me tell you it never gets any easier, each time it hurts that little bit more. I simply adore them and I know some people find our bond rather weird but it is a true blessing to still have both my parents and to have them almost celebrate thier 50th wedding anniversary. My parents are amazing and I truly cherish them.

ST. PATRICKS DAY 2008

2008-03-18T21:59:00.002-04:00

As most of you know, my father is from Cork City and 100% Irish. My parents are over and we got to celebrate St. Patricks day together :-) as we did last year. A couple of things that bother us with real Irish blood is that there is NO Corned Beef and cabbage meal in Ireland - it is boiled bacon and cabbage (me being a vegetarian I don't eat either) and the whole 4 leafed clover thing really bothers my father. This is not Irish either, it is the Shamrock that is Irish (the Holy Trinity). Anyway, a grand day was had by all.

TALKING CAT

2008-03-16T19:19:00.001-04:00

THIS VIDEO IS SO FUNNY I JUST HAD TO ADD IT _ IT MAKES MOLLY & I LAUGH.

YIPPEEEEEE MY PARENTS ARE HERE

2008-03-14T20:20:00.003-04:00

We had not seen my parents for a whole year which for me is WAAAAAAAYYYY too long. So as you can imagine I am a happy camper right now. Of course Molly is all over her grandad (but it is very mutual).

GOOD NEWS!!!!

2008-02-29T10:11:00.002-05:00

Molly did not relapse, even though her kidneys acted funky due to her illness she fought it and it all balanced out and we did not have to increase her steroids. YIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE PLUS.....
We found our beloved cat Ace, after searching high and low he showed up in someones garden & they were kind enough to call us - he is back.

MOLLY'S SIGNATURE

2008-02-25T15:26:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Molly sat next to me on the couch and just wrote this in her Diego Journal. Of course we think it is amazing how she could write her name without anything to copy/follow. Regarding her health I took her to her pediatrician this morning due to her Bronchitis and she has a viral one with is left off from her flu last week so we are using the Nebulizer that we used this time last year. Still being on the steroids may make this a harder battle. I hate this season.

WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF FLU

2008-02-22T09:15:00.003-05:00

Let me start by saying I am not impressed with 2008 so far. 2007 was a horrid year for us and I was hoping in 2008 we would get a break - so far this is not the case. Molly already relapsed in Jan with this horrid kidney condition she has been given, during the taper of the disgusting steroids I have to pump her full off she caught some kind of flu and is now heading into yet another relapse. It is no fun trying to get over an illness when you have to take a drug that lowers your immune system too. Ernie too had flu and he caught it from his work mates and now I have it. On top of all this one of the cats we have had for 10 years has gone M.I.A. He is an inddor cat but ran out through the garage one day and coz of my lackadaisical approach he has now been missing for over a week. we have searched high and low every day several times a day and it is like he vanished. Ernie is devastated. I am upset but I gottah admit I am full of worry with Molly and have no room for yet another worry. It is just so unfair how a child who has already been through so much in her little life has to have this to deal with too. Why oh why does any child have to suffer?

2008-02-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

Found this on my friend's blog and had to post it.

You know you are an adoptive mother (or you should be!) if:

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has ever made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child, there would be no orphans in the world is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about your adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth (2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken a airplane ride half way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacy's you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have them in your life.
13. You know what the word Dossier means and you can actually pronounce it!
14. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

MOLLY'S BOYFRIEND PATRICK

2008-01-30T09:58:00.000-05:00

Myspace Glitter Graphics

2008-01-25T07:45:00.001-05:00

DISNEY!!!!

2008-01-22T13:32:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderul time, Molly got to meet most of her favorites. We were even in the parade. The time went sooooooo quickly though. We were only there 3 days and we had to go down to Coral Springs and spend the night with family too. we never got to see the Registers (part of our travel group) who are probably mad at us? The whole trip was great but there was just not enough time. Since being back we have gotten our new doggy who is a doll (more on her later). But Molly sadly looks like she is heading for another relapse so prayers please everyone. Other than that she continues to thrive. She knows her left and right (I still struggle with that one, she suprised us one day announcing out of the blue "If you are upright you are vertical and if you are on your side you are horizontal" both daddy and I nearly fell on the floor. She is off the charts with her intellect. Her memory is flawless and we have been blessed with her gift of speech which has been full clear sentences since 15 months. However, none of this means a thing when you have a major organ that does not function as it should. I would take her health over her smarts anyday. On a brighter note to see the pics I think you have to click on it.
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MEET GIGI

2008-01-11T19:35:00.001-05:00

THIS IS GIGI, SHE IS OUR NEW FAMILY MEMBER. WE ARE GETTING HER FROM A LOCAL RESCUE GROUP WHOM I HAVE NOW BECOME INVOLVED WITH. SHE IS A GORDON SETTER AND JUST THE SWEETEST THING. WE ARE OFF TO DISNEY IN A FEW DAYS SO WHEN WE ARE BACK WE CAN BRING HER HOME FOR GOOD. CHECK OUT THE BLOG I AM STARTING FOR THE RESCUE GROUP. http://homewardboundhumanesociety.blogspot.com/

China Communists sacked for having too many children: state media

2008-01-07T19:46:00.000-05:00

Authorities in a central China province have expelled hundreds of people from the Communist Party or their government posts for having more than one child, state media said Monday.
At least 93,084 people in Hubei province last year had more children than they were allowed under the policy of one per family, Xinhua news agency said quoting the provincial family planning commission.

They included 1,678 officials or party members, it added, saying about 500 had been expelled from the party and 395 stripped of their official posts.

Previous reports said the officials had also been fined.

The violators included seven national and local lawmakers or political advisors, Xinhua added.

"More party members, celebrities and well-off people are violating the policies... which has undermined social equality," commission director Yang Youwang was quoted as saying.

No information was given as to the punishments meted out to the more than 90,000 other people in Hubei who violated the "one-child" policy last year.

China's family planning policy began in the late 1970s as a way to control the world's largest population, now at 1.3 billion people.

Generally, urban families can have one child and rural families can have two if the first is a girl. About 400 million births have been averted thanks to the policy, the government has said.

But in recent years the policy has been routinely ignored in rural areas, while increasing numbers of China's urban new rich have been able to afford the requisite fines for violating the rules.

Chinese parents have traditionally favoured large families -- and sons, in particular -- to support them in their old age.

The policy has been notorious from the start for the harsh punishments and brutal methods used to enforce it, such as forced late-term abortions and the sterilisation of women.

Several areas of the poor southern province of Guangxi erupted in riots last year after officials launched a harsh crackdown to enforce the policy, with residents saying forced abortions were among the methods used by authorities.

100% PRINCESS

2007-12-28T16:50:00.001-05:00

I always tell her she is a princess without the costumes. Someone to bathe her, wipe her bum, cook for her, brush her teeth, dress her (even though we always argue about what clothes), feed her, drive her around, read to her, change the channel for her, feed her NEED I SAY MORE!!!!!

CHRISTMAS 2007

2007-12-28T16:45:00.001-05:00

Christmas was lovely. Molly took forever to open her gifts, over an hour. It was just the 3 of us and I wondered if I may get homesick but it was a lovely quiet day. We had a traditional English Christmas dinner and Christmas Eve was Italian style. I hope next year we get to spend it with some family other than us, maybe NYC or London?

MOLLY TURNED 3

2007-12-19T09:38:00.001-05:00

Molly turned 3 Dec 5th. I am late in updating this blog and still have more to put but this little firecraker keeps me BUSY!!! She has become a little adult, strong willed, head strong and full of energy. Some of this may be due to the steroids but she is FULL OF LIFE!!!! She is 3 going on 18 for sure. 100% girly girl, wants dresses and girly stuff all the time (unlike her mother). We had a few of Molly's friends over for her birthday to share cake and play but the real party will be when we hit Disney next month yippeeeeeee.

YET ANOTHER RELAPSE

2007-12-07T17:12:00.000-05:00

YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW I HATE WRITING THIS - FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON MOLLY HAS RELAPSED AND TOMORROW WILL ONCE AGAIN GO BACK ON THE STEROIDS. PLEASE KEEP HER IN YOUR PRAYERS.

THE BIG 3!!!!!!!

2007-12-05T20:31:00.001-05:00

I THINK YOU HAVE TO CLICK ON THIS TO GET THE FULL EXPERIENCE!!!
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MOLLY'S FIRST PROFESSIONAL HAIRCUT!!!!

2007-11-28T21:18:00.001-05:00

MOLLY'S FEELINGS ON THE END RESULT HA HA

THIS IS HOW MOLLY SPENT OUR 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

2007-11-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

WE ATE AND SHE SLEPT!!!!

2 YEARS OF AMAZEMENT

2007-11-17T10:25:00.000-05:00

ON NOV 14TH WE HIT 2 YEARS OF BEING TOGETHER - ALTHOUGH I FEEL WE WERE ALWAYS MOLLY'S PARENTS........BEFORE SHE WAS EVEN BORN. IT HAS BEEN AN AMAZING 2 YEARS, SOMETIMES VERY TRAUMATIC AND PAINFUL BUT ALWAYS WONDERFUL. MOLLY IS THE MOST INCREDIBLE, BEAUTIFUL, SWEET, LOVING AND INGENIOUS CHILD WE COULD EVER BE BLESSED TO HAVE. I KNOW FOR SURE EVERY PARENT IN OUR TRAVEL GROUP FEELS THE SAME ABOUT THIER CHILD AND SO IT ONLY PROVES WE WERE ALL MADE TO BE TOGETHER. TONIGHT WE ARE GOING OUT TO CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!

OUR STAR!

2007-11-10T08:53:00.001-05:00

HALLOWEEN 2007

2007-11-03T10:27:00.001-04:00

PEEKABOO IT'S ME BLUE!

MMMMMMM SO MUCH CANDY SO LITTLE TIME!

YUMMY - SO THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!!!!!

What have we been up to lately???

2007-10-26T10:01:00.000-04:00

Well Molly relapsed went back on the steroids and is doing better
:-). We went to Raleigh for the weekend a few weeks back to visit a friend. We went to our church festival and the highlight was the Irish dancers which molly loves and I have always since it is my heritage - Molly is too young to sign up but I would love to sign her up later. Molly is totally into the princesses as you can see in one of the shots. All are well xxx

MEET LAUREN

2007-10-22T08:32:00.000-04:00

This is Lauren, she is 2 years old. Lauren also has Nephrotic Syndrome. Lauren was diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago and sadly has been on the steroids continuously. The plumpness of her face is a side effect of the medicine but she is still gorgeous. I edited the pic as I know her mum would kill me if I posted her pic too. Lauren and her family live in MI but we met through a mutual friend and the weird thing is, unbeknownst to us we were both in China at the same time. There are so many rare and uncommon diseases out there that children are suffering from and we have never heard of them. Since Molly being diagnosed with her's I have become more aware and more sensitive to it. Whoever reads this please keep these children and thier families in your prayers. There is nothing worse than having a child suffer with any kind of illness - especially one with no cure. Molly went back on the steroids last Sunday but during the week I had our parish priest anoint her and the next day her urine tests were normal and have been since - now we can start to wean her off the drugs again. Thank you so much to all of you who prayed for her - love and blessings to you all.