Red Thread To China 2007

I am so glad we have Levi here to put some fun back into Christmas. You see my older kids just want money these days, which is no fun. I love to shop and this takes all the fun out of Christmas for me. My daughter is the only one who I can shop for. She loves the anticipation of opening the gift just like me. But this year I decided not to give money, I shopped for the boys too. They probably won't be too happy but oh well. Levi still doesn't get the whole Christmas or Santa thing yet, and he hasn't really been too interested in the tree either. Maybe next year. I am a little sad still because our daughter Mylie is still out there somewhere waiting for us to bring her home. When we started the whole adoption thing we knew we wanted to adopt a boy and a girl, we just had the idea that the girl would be first. Well God must have had a different plan for us because he brought Levi into our lives first. We had been thinking girl so much so that we had her room almost all ready when we found Levi. I am so thankful that we have Levi and he is such a blessing to us and the whole family. He has brought so much joy and happiness to our home. But I can't help but feel sad that my little girl is not with us to enjoy the Christmas season with her brothers and sister. Someday little one, someday.

I hope everyone has the best Christmas ever and the happiest New Year. And to all those still waiting for your little ones, hang in there it will happen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

We have filed the re-adoption paperwork for Levi and have received our court date of January 7th at 8:30am. It will be in Dallas at the courthouse downtown. I wish that all my kids could be there, but I am not sure that Kyle or Charla can get off work for just about a 15 minute ceremony. Levi's Mimi is going to come with us. I am thinking about having a little party for him after all this is a very special day for him. We will receive a Texas Birth Certificate after going through the re-adoption with our names on it as the parents. Wow that's only 2 weeks away. I can't believe that this year has flown by and it is almost 2009. I know that when this time next year comes around I won't be saying that because time will seem to stand still while Jerry is in Iraq, just like it did last time. I thought that year would never end.

I took this picture the other day of 2 of my boys in front of the Christmas tree. aren't they just cute?? Levi loves his big brother Marcus and waits for him to come home from school everyday. When he gets up in the morning he always looks in Marcus's room and says his name over and over until I say Marcus is at school. He doesn't get to see the older 2 that much since they live about 30 miles away so he is still kinda iffy about them. He has come so far in just a couple short months and I am begining to relax a little. His bonding with me has gotten so much better and he will actually come to me when his daddy is in the room now....sometimes. He still has a few minor temper tantrums, but they are very minor. I better be getting ready to go now, take care.

Yesterday I had to take Levi back to the hospital to get more blood drawn. It seems they lost the second page of the prescription for half of the tests. So I had to put him through that again, he was good though, he only cried a little. He got two sesame street stickers and all was good. We already got 2 of the test results back. Everyting so far is negative. We are waiting on the lead and melamine testing to come back.

Today Levi and I were going to go shopping to get the rest of our Christmas shopping done when I started to pull out of the driveway I notced that there was water running from the shed. When I got up there the whole thing was flooded and water was running out of the shed. We have water run to it and it had frozen and burst, the portion where the crack was happened to be in the wall. I had to find where to turn the water off and call Jerry to come home to fix it. What a day we had. It is all fixed now and now we have water back to the house now.

I really need to get the rest of the shopping done so I guess Levi and I will head out tommorrow after his PT appointment in the morning. They are going to bring him a tricycle that he can pedal with his hands. Should be really neat.

Until later.....

Well just 2 short months ago we were waiting in a small office in Zhengzhou, China waiting for them to bring Levi to us. When they brought him in he was very scared and so shy. He has come a long way but still has some issues. Mostly with me. It is hard not to take it personally when he pushes me away or does this growl type scream at me when he doesn't get what he wants or things don't go his way. He seems to do great some days, but then others are bad. Today was one of the bad days. I guess that was why I was in such a mood today. On the way to the family Christmas get together he was in one of his moods where I coundn't do anything right for him. I was in the back seat with him and he was pinching me and would not even let me look at him much less touch him. At one point he actually made me cry. I know I shouldn't be taking it personally, but boy is it hard not to. Sometimes I just wonder if maybe I am doing something wrong to make him act like this to me. Just when I start to feel like he is starting to bond with me, we have one of these days. Everyone says wow he looks like a normal kid to me, and he is in some ways. But in others he is not.

I know we must have looked like some sort of over protective crazy parents to his family, but since he is not 100 percent bonded to me, we decided that it was best not to let everyone hold him like all the books that I have read suggested. I just hope everyone understands how hard it is on us also to have to keep everyone including family at a distance at first. It would be wonderful to be able to treat him as I did my older kids, but we have to do what we think is best to give Levi the foundation that he has missed for the past 3 years. I know sometimes these things take some time, and I have to stop and remind myself of this when he has one of these days. The good thing is his good days outnumber his bad days by a long shot. And eveyday he makes more progress. By this time next year we can just let him jump right in with the other kids, and all will be good.

Well I decided to call TSR today after talking with the lady that comes for Early childhood intervention. I had no idea that I could call to check on te status of our application. I got to talk to the nurse and she asked some questions about Levi's disability. She then told me that the earliest appointment they had was January 14th. Wow, that is 2 days after I go back to work, and it is at 1:30pm. I really was hoping that we could at least get the consultation in before I had to go back to work, but no such luck. Anyway we will do what we have to do. I am very anxious to hear what they have to say. We did get the x-rays back from the hospital and Levi is missing half of one of the bones in his lower leg, and only has the bones for his big toe in his foot. So our ped. said that since there was only half a bone he would not be a candidate for limb lenghtening. So now we have to be prepared for them to tell us that he will need to have his foot amputated and then be fitted for a prosthetic. It is something that we had discussed before we accepted his referral as a possibility, but was really hopeful that they would be able to do something for him so that he would be able to keep it. I am still holding out some hope but I am also preparing for a different outcome. Bottom line is, I just want my little boy to be able to walk one way or another. We feel fortunate to have him in our life and are ready to go back for his sister soon.

Take care and have a great weekend everyone,
Sandi

Well we still have no word on the application for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. I was hoping to hear from them since they called earlier this week to inquire if we had sent in the info they needed, which we did. Maybe today we will get something in the mail. I surely would like to get at least the consultation done before I have to return to work in January. It might be a little hard to commute back and forth to Dallas once I go back, but we will do what it takes. Otherwise everything else looks good so far. We haven't gotten the bloodwork results yet, but his other tests were normal.
On the other hand Marcus has one heck of a case of pink eye. The doctor was a little worried about it so he sent him to an Opthamologist in Denton. So we had to rush from Bridgeport to Denton to get there by 11am. We did just in time. He said that yes it was pink eye, but it was a pretty bad case and he needed 3 types of eyedrops. So from there it was off to Walmart, and boy is that a joke. Waiting for a prescription there is like waiting for pigs to fly, but it was late and the other Pharmacy was closing. So I was gone from 8:30am until about 7:30pm yesterday with a 16 yr old with dilated eyes and a toddler that didn't get his nap out. WOW was I one tired momma yesterday.
Today is the Christmas get together at the National Guard at 5pm. I will try to remember the camera because they had Santa last year and maybe Levi will sit in his lap for a photo. Thats if they do that this year. Friends of our also had a large plaque made for all the soldiers that will deploy next year. And they will present it to the unit today. What an awesome gesture.
Thats all for now, Levi is waking up and I must go.

Today started out good, but turned out badly. Levi had another doctor's appointment today at the ENT's office. The only appt. I could get was at 2pm. Right in the middle of his nappy time, not good. First we were late getting started, then he started to get really squirmy and then down right mean. We had to stop by WalMart to get a humidifier that the ENT suggested and he kept trying to pull things off the shelf. I told him no probably 10 times, the last time a little firmer and he proceeded to hit me a couple times with his blanky. The blanky itself didn't hurt, but the little bear head that smacked me in the eye kinda did. He was like that the entire time we were in the store, the whole time whining. Wow I couldn't wait until bedtime. Lesson of the day.....No more appointments in the middle of nappy time!! Oh the life of a toddler.
On a lighter note. We have been working with his potty training a little and when he actually goes in the potty we always say good job!! Well today he walked into the bathroom, he can open doors now. When he heard me going potty he jumped up and yelled while clapping "Good JoB". How cute is that?

Well yesterday I took Levi in to the Dr. She was very thourough in her examination of him. She said that he was very healthy. His head is 19 inches, he weighs 31 lbs, and is tall. His head size and weight is on the charts, but his height is not, since he is pretty short. He has gained about 1 1/2 lbs since coming home. He received 6 immunizations, had x-rays, and blood drawn. He did very well during the first couple of shots but then he did start to cry a bit, but not for long. The x-ray techs were amazed how well he did with the x-rays. And he did so very good at the blood draw. He only flinched a bit when they inserted the needle, but watched the whole thing. Better than me because I couldn't watch it. The pictures are of all his boo-boos, poor baby. He is a little sore this morning, but not bad. The doctor did say that if we didn't hear from Scottish Rite that she could get me into Cook's to start the plan for his foot. He has appointments set up with an ENT and a pediatric opthamalogist. I still have to make one for the dentist too. SO it seems we will be very busy for awhile. Take care and Have a nice Thanksgiving everyone.

Well we have another Dr. appointment for Levi tommorrow. Hopefully we will get some answers. It would be nice if they took some x-rays of his leg so that they can tell us exactly what his diagnosis is. We sent in our application for Scottish Rite hospital last week, so maybe we'll hear good news soon on when they can see Levi and start a plan for his treatment. We need everyone to pray that he gets accepted to be treated there. Levi continues to progress with his language and is saying more words everyday. He also seems to have gotten a bit bigger since we have been home. I think he is getting more comfortable with us now and starting to trust us. I will post more info after his appointment tommorow.

Well everyone Levi seems to be getting more comfortable everyday. He is so silly at times he even cracks himself up. He is starting to pick up more words. The other day I was in a hurry to get somewhere and forgot that I parker really close to these boulders next to the driveway. Well I tried to cut the turn too close and I scraped my brand new car right under the rear door. Now I was so upset because it is new and now has a dent in it!!! I was practically in tears when I got out and shouted "Oh my goodness" and I could hear monkey (Levi) in the back seat repeating it. I couldn't help but laugh, it was so cute. Then last night Jerry loves to watch wrestling and some guy comes out and starts saying over and over money, money. Well Levi proceds to put his hand up to his mouth like a microphone and say money, money over and over again. He was so cute!! We all had such a good laugh. He is a ham when he is in the mood.

We have an appointment with Early Childhood Intervention today to fill out some forms and have Levi evauluated. We will see how that goes. And I will be sending off another application for Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas for treatment of his leg and foot. Everyone needs to keep thier fingers crossed that it works out for us and they are able to give us some good options for his foot. I would love to see my little boy take his first steps soon. We also have another doctors appointment scheduled for next Tuesday. Hopefully this doctor, who does have some international adoption experience will order and do all the testing necessary. I will keep everyone posted on the progress.

Take care and leave comments, I love reading them!

You may be wondering what I am talking about. Well this will be the first time that Jerry will not be home with Levi and I for the weekend. Jerry had to leave yesterday for military duty this weekend down in Brownwood. He has SRP again. For those of you that don't know what that means it stands for Soldier Readiness Program. They do this when getting geared up for deployment. His unit received thier warning notice sometime last month that they will be deploying sometime next year. Not good news for the adoption front. If we wish to adopt a girl we need to get working on finding her and soon. I might be going to get her on my own with one of my older kids or MIL. Charla would really like to go and I think she would like it very much. But only time will tell how that all plays out. I have to leave it in God's hands now, but I still worry about my Mylie out there somewhere and when I will be able to bring her home.
Back to the subject of Levi and NO daddy. You see Levi is so very attatched to Jerry already that every time he walks out of the room or isn't right there by him he starts to freak out. So last night when he had to leave I made sure he was in his highchair eating dinner so maybe he would do better, since that is his 2nd favorite thing FOOD!! He did so well when daddy kissed him bye bye and never cried at all. Whew!!!!! I thought I was going to have WWII going on when he left. I am so glad because I have been worried that Levi hasn't been bonding to me, he prefers daddy to me at all times. He will tell me bye bye and not shed a tear but when daddy leaves he screams and carries on. Even just going to the bathroom he will sit at the door and bang on it until he comes out. When there are other family members around he just flat ignores me for the most part unless I have food or a snack. I have had to really hold my emotions in check about this and try not to take it personally. But it is so hard! I want him to love me so badly that the rejection is devastating to me. I love him so much. I know in my head that it will take time and Jerry lets me do more of the caregiving to promote the bonding process. It is just so different from my other kids, they couldn't be out of my sight for one second or they were crying for mommy. They were fine with others as well but prefered mom to anyone else. No one knows what happened to himin the past maybe a "mommy figure" hurt him in some way and since I am the mommy he takes it out on me and can't fully trust me yet. He is doing so well right now and hasn't either realized that daddy is gone or understands that he will be back. I have been teaching him Daddy be right back whenever he has left the room. SO maybe he is getting it. Well I better get ready for the day.

Take care all,
Sandi

We finally thought that maybe he wouldn't be too afraid of the clippers for a haircut. We sat him on Jerry's lap and he did great!!! He wiggled some but I was able to give him a decent cut. Here are the pictures afterwards, he had hair all over him so it was off to the bath he went. When we first got him he hated taking a bath, now he loves it. He would sit in there and play for hours until he was a prune if we let him. So enjoy the pictures.

Here are a couple of pictures we had made of Levi the other day. We were shopping and just decided to pop into the studio for a quick fall picture of him and they turned out so well I bought all of them. He was a big ham for the camera!!! Not crying at all. He is doing better and better each day. The sleep issues are getting better also. He has changed so much since we came home 1 week ago, coming out of his shell(the good part), starting to throw fits(the not so good part)when he doesn't get his way. But each day he shows us something new, or says something new that just amazes us. He is just the cutest and everyone adores him, everywhere we go. That's all for now.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

The infamous red couch photo!! This is just a few of the children adopted by our group. The other half of the group took there own pictures. I would have liked for our whole travel group to have had a photo taken together but that didn't happen. I have another photo to download off the camera with one more of the kids in our group that we could not find that day, I will upload it tomorrow.

That's all for now.

We are home at last. The flight was not too bad if you don't mind sitting next to a chinese man who insisted on taking over your arm rest with your TV controls on it, so that every time you wanted to change the channel you had to say excuse me can i get to the controls or needed to turn on the light. And why do airlines insist on sitting the couple with a young child in the middle seats? Our plane from Beijing was huge and had 11 seats across 3 on one side 5 in the middle and then 3 on the opposite side. we were sitting right in the middle of the 5 seats, so every time we had to change Levi which was often we had to bother someone on the end. And believe me he did #2 alot on the ride home, not fun on a plane. But we are home and that's al that counts now. Not something I want to look forward to next time around when we bring home Mylie if that ever happens. It seems to get further out of reach with each month that goes by and life happens around us. Right before we left the engine in Jerry's truck blew up, so now we have to fix that too among other things. So where in the world are we going to get he money to bring her home? I so want to have another daughter and it hurts to think that may never happen now. Charla is all grown up and on her own and I miss the closeness that we shared when she was a little girl. We are still close, but not as much since she has her own life now and doesn't need her mommy that much anymore.

Levi has done so great since getting home. Way better than expected. We thought we would cry at the drop of a hat and be afraid of everything and everyone. But he has taken well to his brothers and sister and grandma. Granted he won't let them pick him up yet, but at least he isn't screaming every time they walk in the room, or come near him. Now bigger crowds that may take a while longer. He doesn't like things to be very loud or alot of people. He did well at the market today. We also thought he would not like the carseat, but he got in it like a champ and did not cry once. He even smiled. I know there will be bad days, but at least we are home.

Stay tuned for more photos of our trip.

Boy am I glad to be back on US soil. We are waiting on our plane to board and we will be back home in Texas. We are at O'Hare in Chicago right now. And they are starting to board right now so I really need to go. We will be back home around 11pm. Talk to you later.

We are getting ready for our consulate appointment today and the adoption will be finally complete. Sorry to those of you who have been following the blog I have not been able to get on the computer. Every time we have been out we have forgotten the computer to get on the net. We can from our room but I am not sure how that works. We can go down to Starbucks and buy Jerry a latte and get on for free. So here we are the day before we leave and I am updating my blog. We have run out of minutes on our panda phone also and we haven't gotten with our guide to buy additional minutes either. Way to busy shopping and such, and now we really don't need to.

Here is a cute piture of the new member of the Maxwell family. Enjoy!! I will post more pictures of the whole trip at a later time maybe tonight. Tommorow we are headed to the airport early in the am for the very long trip home. We have plenty of snacks for Levi, so we should be ok.

Wish us luck.

Today Levi woke up very happy and bubbly. After getting ready we went downstairs for breakfast. He eat great as usual, he loves noodles and steamed buns. He will also eat fruit and rice, he basically will eat anything you put in front of him. Behind the hotel is some sort of waterway with a walkway along it. There were some older people playing some type of musical instrument and alot of people just walking around. They have a exercise park along this same walkway with all types of equipment to use, there were alot of people there. We walked all the way down to the main street and back. Then we decided to walk around to see the hotel pool, it is very big and they had some ping pong tables in there also. Levi had fun watching mommy & daddy play ping pong, laughing loudly when mommy had to run for the ball so it wouldn't go into the pool.

After that we met our guide and driver downstairs to leave for the Peoples park. It is a very large park with all kinds of kids rides and such. Michelle tried to get Levi to ride some of the rides but he kept saying boo ya,which means no in english. He would not let me pick him up out of the stroller either, he was content to just look at the toys and watch all the other kids play on them. Michelle talked to him in Chinese but he still would not let her pick him up either. In the car going back to the hotel he feel asleep and we decided to put him down for a nap. He slept for about 3 hours and so did I. I was very tired. I guess the jet lag is finally catching up with me. We went to eat dinner at The Island Coffee House which is right next door to the hotel, they serve some american food also. Jerry got spaghetti with meat sauce and I got a spicy sausage pizza. It was very good. Levi had some french fries and some of my pizza. He loves french fries!! We came back to the hotel and gave Levi a bath, which he was not too happy about this time for some reason. And we think his tummy is a little upset, probably from the difference in food. I think tomorrow we will ask to go to the store and get something for upset tummy and we need more diapers and wipes also. The director at the orphanage said he only goes poopoo once a day, but he has been going 3 or 4 times a day with us. Again probably from the change in foods. Well I guess thats all for today. Tomorrow is another day of sightseeing.

Here are a few pictures of Levi from yesterday. He is getting used to us more and more each day. He still is very apprehensive of strangers. When we are in the hotel room he crawls around, laughs, plays with both of us, and opens up and shows his personality. But when we venture out it is a different story, he is shy and doesn't talk much. He doesn't do very well in crowds. And he definitely won't let anyone touch him except us. We will work with him through this issue and give him all the time he needs. He is a wonderful boy and I can't wait for him to meet the rest of the family after he has adjusted to us. We love him very much.

At 2:30pm our guide and driver were at the hotel to pick us up. In the lobby when we came down there was another couple there that had adopted a 6 year old little girl. She seemed very happy and already was attaching to her mom and dad. They were on there way to notarize their adoption papers. Our guide and the driver decided it was better if we walk to the Civil Affairs office because we would have to drive along way out of the way to get there because our hotel is on a one way street. On our way there we got alot of stares from the locals. We only had to wait a few minutes until the nanny's arrived with Levi. He looked so frightened. When they tried to hand him to me he started to cry. I felt so bad for him because I know that he feels something is different. I couldn't help but start to cry also, not because he is rejecting me but because I don't want him to hurt. I know that this is normal and I have prepared for this, but it still hurts to know that he is grieving the loss of his nanny. We brought some toys and snacks with us to try to comfort him, so we got out the goldfish. I started to give them to him, he would take them from me and eat them. He seemed to really like them. He ate a whole bag of them. While we were doing this Jerry and the guide, Michelle did some paperwork and tried to videotape as much as he could. When it was time for the nanny's to leave he again started to cry. I tried to console him and again gave him some of the goldfish crackers. After awhile he let me pick him up and put him on my lap. He has a teddy bear that he got to bring with him, he will not let go of it. They said he has to sleep with it. After a few more minutes we were off to get his passport picture taken. He did well, not crying much but still would not put the bear down. I must say that when he does cry it isn't very loud and is more like a whine than anything else. On the way back to the hotel I tried to let Jerry take him because he is very heavy!! I must say he is alot bigger than I originally thought. He is also very healthy other than his foot issue. He would not let me give him to Jerry and would cry out the name of his nanny. Our guide decided that since he was so big that buying a stroller would be a good idea. We had already planned on it, and it seemed like a good idea to me. The driver took us to a market where Michelle and I bought a lightweight stroller for 170 yuan. After coming back to the hotel we signed some more paperwork and Michelle translated his schedule for us. It says he likes cookies, cakes, and meat but that he would probably eat anything we did. Oh and I forgot to say that on the way back to the hotel Levi had an accident and peed on Jerry's leg. The babies here wear what is called split pants, although he did have a diaper on it was too small and it had shifted to the back. He told me not to tell anyone. I should say that the diapers here are not as absorbent as american diapers. And that was one of the things we forgot to pack along with a sippy cup. I can't believe of all things those were what we forgot. Luckily Michelle said that they should have some at the grocery store we are going to after we sign the final adoption decree tomorrow morning.
We tried to give Levi a bath but he didn't want any part of that, so I held him while Jerry used the wash cloth to wash him off. That seemed to work better for him. He ate some more and drank some water, which he still uses a bottle for. We could tell he was getting tired because he kept rubbing his eyes, so I laid him down on my chest and he resisted at first but finally fell asleep. That is what he is doing right now, sleeping. I am not too far behind him either. I should say that while waiting for Levi to fall asleep Jerry fell asleep too and is snoring very loudly right now. Boy I hope he doesn't wake Levi up. Thats all for now will try to post more later.

We are in front of Tian'an men Square.

We have about 5 hours to go until we meet our son. Emotions are very high, and a part of me still can't believe that it is finally happening. We slept in this morning because we stayed up until about 3am. I just can't seem to sleep much, partly because of the time change and partly because I am so excited and wound up about meeting our son. I will post pictures as soon as possible.

The hotel is very nice. Today I will ask Michelle if there are any places to shop. I want to buy some things for Levi from his province since we wil not be going to the orphanage. I think tonight we will just see how it goes with Levi and go from there. We may just end up ordering room service. I would also like to buy him some toys that he may be familiar with. I can't imagine how he must feel, being taken away from all the he knows to live with strangers. We will give him all the time he needs but at the same time show him that we do love him.

More to come......

On the way to the hotel this morning our guide told us that she had spoken to the director of the orphanage where Levi is and that 10am is too early for them since they have to drive by bus or train for at least 4 hours and would have to get up way to early. While I am very disapointed, I do understand and want them to do what is best for everyone including Levi. So instead of geting him at 10am, we will get him around 3pm tomorrow. I am very nervous and scared of his reaction to us. Our guide also told us that he had been in foster care, which we were not aware of. He was returned to the orphanage prior to us getting here. I know he will miss his foster mom, and I am very grateful of all the love and care she has given our son. This area is very different from Beijing. We will keep everyone posted as things happen.

Take care,
Sandi

We are here
We got here on Friday at around 3pm. We met our guide and then went to the hotel. Our panda phone was not waiting for us at the hotel so we could not call anyone to let them know we arrived safely. We got the phone yesterday but it does not work for some reason. It tells us to check the network. It is 2:15am, and I cannot sleep. We leave for the airport to fly to Zhengzhou at 5:30am. We fly out at 7:20 am and arrive at 8:40am. We met some other nice families here in Beijing that did the tour with us yesterday. The Great Wall was such an awesome thing to see. I will post pictures when I can. Tomorrow we will meet our son for the first time and we just couldn't be any happier. Our whole group are adopting older SN children, and each and every one of the families are very excited and can't wait to get back to Guangzhou to see all the children together. We are very blessed to have met such nice people here. Our guide Grace is great, she is very sweet. I guess that is all for now, I need to try to sleep for at least another hour or so. Wish us luck!!!

Sandi& Jerry

We are at the hotel waiting to leave in the morning for China. We leave so early in the morning, around 4:30am that we decided to stay at a hotel in Irving. Our plane leaves at 7:30am. 3 hours early seems a bit much but that's what the airlines says so that's what we will do. I just thought I would send a little note to everyone that has given us good advice, great support, and help with this long journey to our son. We are truely thankful to all of you. This is the moment we have waited for since November 2006. We will try to post often, but with the internet in China were not sure how that will go. The internet here at the hotel is not the greatest either. As soon as we get to China we will post more. Take care and stay tuned for more.


Sandi & Jerry

Today was a day of running around getting last minute things done for the trip. Making sure we have everything. We also got a call from Great Wall today with a small surprise. The last day we are in Guangzhou, the 22nd the rate for the room at the White Swan changes because of the Trade Fair and they only charged us the regular price. So we have to pay the difference for that one night, which happens to be only $212.00. Making the total for that one night $354.00, ouch. But what can we do? All the hotels are booked because of the Trade Fair, so we are stuck. I hope everything else goes more smoothly for us from here on out.

Can this really be happening? Are we really leaving in 3 days? I have been doing so well in the past couple of weeks as the time grew nearer, or at least that's what I thought. But today it has hit me full force! We will meet our son in about 7 days. I am starting to have more dreams of him. Last night was a crazy one. There we were in the hotel waiting for them to bring Levi to us and when they finally got there, they handed him to me and he turned to me and said "hi mommy, I love you" and then just put his head on my shoulder and snuggled in close. Then I turned to him and said "you can speak english?" He said to me "yes they have been teaching me" Then I woke up. I have no idea what this means, or why I would have such a dream. I know that this will not be the case, he probably will not be very happy and cry alot.

So today I have been worrying about everything. Do we have all the paperwork we need? Everything for Levi? For us? Before this is over I know I will be driving my husband crazy. I still need to pack, but I have everything ready to put in there. All Levi's clothes are washed and ready to go. These last 3 days will be so crazy with alot of running around and last minute craziness. Wish us luck.

Ever since we received our LSC and sent it back it has been a mad house around here. Trying to get everything done that we have been procrastinating on since the house was finished. We have had to realize that some things just aren't going to get done before we bring our beautiful son home from China. My last day at work is next Friday. I am training someone to do the accounting while I am gone. This has proved to be an exhausting week for me, and I am glad it is coming to an end. And I only have one more to go. The week before we go will be dedicated to packing and making sure Marcus has everything he needs while we are gone. I have enlisted everyone to check in on him. My MIL lives on the same property so it's not like he will be alone but I worry.

We have all our flights and intra China travel all taken care of. I have looked online at the hotels we will be staying at and they are very nice. I know we will have so much fun while we are there and it will be that much more special because we will be able to share it with our son.

My niece Haleigh made this cake for me tonight. She said it was for bringing Levi home. How cute, they are really getting excited for thier cousin to come home. I just had to add this to the blog.

Well we have hit another bump in the road. We sent in the paperwork for our visa's on the 5th, they went out to the consulate on the 8th, but then the hurricane hit. They seem to be stuck in Houston and Houston has no power. I am worried that since this disaster hit we won't get them back in time to travel. Our agency said they are working on it so I guess I won't panic just yet. We have so much to do and so little time. Especially since Jerry has been called in for hurricane duty and has been gone since last Friday. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Well thank God we got everything done in time and our agency was able to secure our appointment at the american consulate in Guangzhou, so we leave on the 9th for China. And we get Levi on the 13th!!!! I can't believe it really is happening. We leave in about 3 weeks. Our intinerary is:

Oct. 9th leave for China
10th arrive in China
11-12 beijing tours
13th Gotcha day (we get Levi)
14th-20th shopping, visit orphanage, bond with our new son
21st Our adoption is final!!!! My Dad's birthday- I just wish he had lived long
enough to know my son.
22nd Back to Beijing
23rd leave for home

I may have left out something. My mind is in overdrive, there is still so much to do.

I will post more later as everything develops.

Well here is the update.... We finally received our re-newed I171H and I immediately e-mailed a copy to our agency so they could request our CA. Boy was I surprised to get a message back that it had already been requested because USCIS was nice enough to honor our request to e-mail a copy to the agency. Maybe we will know by tomorrow, wouldn't that be great? I can hardly contain myself. It is such a relief to have that piece of paper in my hands and know that we will be traveling soon to bring Levi home. It won't be long now. We are doing the happy dance here in Paradise, Texas. Of course I had to go tell the good news to my MIL. She is very excited. We will be very busy from now on I'm sure.

Levi's Mommy & Daddy

Just a short update on the USCIS situation. We still have not heard anything from the USCIS office about our updated I171H. They said it was going back to the Orphan's officer's desk last Tuesday. And it has been another week now with no word. Today I decided to call our agency and ask if there was any word on TA's since I have been seeing that a few people with the same LOA as us have gotten thiers already and are getting thier consulate appointments. Well, I was shocked to discover that we do indeed have our TA, either yesterday or today. But since we don't have our re-newed I171H they can't request our consulate appointment yet. So now what????? I called our social worker (she is the greatest by the way) and she is going to see what she can do to speed it along so that we may travel the first part of October!!!! Can you believe it.... that's next month. I am very worried that we won't get it in time and that it will delay our travel. I have been so stressed out lately that it is taking it's toll on me. My hair is starting to fall out more than usual, and I won't be able to relax until we get this taken care of. And that piece of paper is in my hands. I would like to ask everyone to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sandi

Well today we sent off for our Visa's. One more step closer to bringing Levi home. Now if we can just get our re-newed I171H maybe I can relax just a little. We found out this week that it has been sitting on someone's desk since early August because they thought we needed to have our 2 older children fingerprinted again. But they moved out in July 2007 and are living on thier own. When we moved to our new house they didn't want to leave the town where we lived so they found houses there. We only live about 30 minutes from there so we can visit regularly. So I e-mailed them and told them to check the homestudy where it stated this and now it has been refered back to the Orphan's officer. Who knows how long it will take now to review? I hope not too long as nothing else has changed. We did ask them to expidite our case, and I hope they will do this since we plan to travel next month. Maybe we will get it next week, I am trying really hard not to go crazy about it, but it is so hard!!!!
Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
Sandi

 
 
 
 


Here are a few pics of us signing the LOA. We almost didn't get it in time to send back to China for our agency's Friday mailing to China. It was a mad dash but we made it. It cost us around $70.00, but it was well worth it! I can't wait for TA, I want to go get that boy and bring him home. Our agency thinks we may travel around the 23rd of October, that would be awesome. The last picture is my MIL and close friends holding the LOA, she is very excited to be adding a new grandson to the family. She was leaving that day for her Alaskan cruise and we caught her just in time before she left. I hope everyone enjoys the pics and if anyone has any advice on what to pack that is a must have and what not to bring please shoot me an e-mail. At this point we could use all the tips that any of the BTDT parents have.

Take care

Here he is in all his glory!!!!!

TA-DA (drum roll)

LEVI KENNEDY YONG MAXWELL
He is at the Nanyang City SWI in the Henan Province. His DOB is 3/20/2006 and he is 29 months old today!!!!! We hope to travel in late September, but our agency thinks October. Either way Mommy and Daddy are coming to bring you home Cookie face!!!!! Look at the pic and you will see why he has earned this nickname. I can't wait to hold him in my arms and tell him how much we love him!! This is by far the best day of this year!!!! That is until forever family day.

Will post more when I can think straight.

Sandi & Jerry

 



Isn't this a cool lovey for Levi? When I found it I knew that Levi had to have it and that I wanted to have his American and Chinese name embroidered on it. Of course we had to do it in John Deere colors too.

 



Here are some pictures of some of the things we have been collecting and making for Levi. We have been really gearing up for him to come home. Now all we need is the LOA to come. HINT HINT!!!! Jerry's mom has been helping us add to the collection of decorations for Levi's room too... thanks mom.

We received our fingerprint notice in the mail today for our I171H renewal....Yeah!!!! I wasn't even expecting it so soon. So we will be there on Tuesday to get them taken so we can have that taken care of. Our old one doesn't expire until September but we were afraid that we wouldn't get our LOA by then so we went ahead and renewed it. We are in Fredricksburg and are ready to shop for anything John Deere for Levi and something for my cybershower buddy too. This should be fun.
We have been here once before but this time we left from a different location. So Jerry printed off directions off the internet, but boy were they crazy. It took us done some gravel road that looked like it was right out of that movie Wrong turn. I kept thinking that at any time some crazy person who lives in the woods was going to pop out and get us. There were no signs on any of the roads around there. There were houses here and there but I wouldn't let Jerry stop at any. So we went back the way we came and happened across this man opening a gate. Jerry stopped and asked directions and he said what are you doing on a dirt road trying to get to Fredricksburg? We all laughed and he told us how to get back on the main road to Fredricksburg. We got here around 10:30pm and are all checked in. Ready for bed now. I hope to post pics of our trip later in the week maybe.

We will be in Fredricksburg for the weekend. We have been down there once before and loved it. All the shops and great german food. I especially loved going to the First Monday Trade days, they have such neat stuff. I am hoping to find something John Deere for Levi's room. Today I finished painting the letters for his name that will hang above the crib. They turned out nice. This will probably be our last romantic weekend alone for awhile. But that is a ok with me because that means we will have Levi with us. We both would rather do things as a family with our kids anyway. An occasional night out alone is ok, but our main focus will be on family. Each day that goes by I see Jerry getting more and more excited that this is going to become a reality and it is the best feeling. I love watching his face when he finds a cool toy in the store that he thinks Levi would like or when he talks about what he wants to teach him. He will be a great father. We actually bought him his first T-ball glove the other day and the look on his face was priceless. I know he can't wait to play every sport known to man with his son. We want so badly to just be able to scoop him up in our arms and tell him how long we have waited to be his mommy and daddy and how much we love him. The days seem to go on forever and each day I check my e-mail hoping that just maybe we will get the one telling us he is officially ours and we can share his pictures with everyone. I can't wait!!!!

Well yesterday was 1 month since we received our PA, it seems that they are coming in around the 2 1/2 to 3 month mark for most of us. Our dossier was one of the next months to be in review so hopefully that will push us along a little faster. I can't wait to receive that phone call, we still have so much to do though.
We finally got the flooring in the kids bathroom today, we did a pretty good job. So now the bathroom is done. One more thing down a bunch more to go. I don't know how much I will get done since Jerry will be in classes most of the week, but I will try to get a few small things done this week. We also put more of the decorations up in Levi's room. I hope to have it finished by the end of this week and will post pictures when I am done. I painted this cute wooden table and chairs in John Deere colors, it turned out nice. I would like to find some kind of sticker to put on the top, if I can't I might just have to paint it on.

Thank you for all the comments to our blog, we really apreciate everyones support on this most important journey that we are on to bring home our son Levi. We are so blessed.

Well today is my birthday. At the begining of this journey I thought that we would have one of our children home by now and working on bringing home the second. But I guess that just wasn't meant to be. It was my intention to have them both home by the time I was 45 so I wouldn't be so old. I really don't feel that old which is a good thing. As it is I will be in my 60's when the kids graduate High School. Wow now I do feel old!! Every day that goes by is another day that we are missing with them. I know that we are on the downhill slide with Levi and can't wait until they put that little wiggly toddler in my arms and tell me that I am his mommy and he is my son. I just have to be patient and wait my turn which I will do but I don't like it one bit.

I did get some cool gifts though. My wonderful husband got me a really beautiful watch, my MIL got me this great antique platter and vase. They actually match a set of glasses that were my grandmothers which is so cool. And a really neat western wooden scrapbook. I think I will use it for the kids pictures. It was a great birthday and I did just exactly as I pleased. I even got to sleep in until 9 am to the smell of bacon.... Yummy my hubby made me breakfast. It was great!!!!

It didn't start out so well because when I started to leave for work my jeep wouldn't start. I knew I probably needed a battery. So Jerry gives it a jump and off I go to work. When I go to leave work it won't start again. SO my co-worker gives it another jump. I head straight for the auto parts store. I can't turn it off because I am afraid it won't start again. So I leave it running and go inside the store, I am keeping my eye on my jeep and trying to talk to the guy at the counter. He looks it up and they don't carry one so he tells me to go to another auto parts store. To make a long story short I had to go to 6 different places before the last one told me that it was only available through the Jeep dealer. Needless to say almost 200.00 later I had a new battery and my car starts again. Boy do they have a racket going on or what? One more thing I learned you can only get a battery cable from Jeep too for a fee of 140.00. I guess I bought the wrong kind of vehicle. The batteries at the auto parts stores were around 80.00 so getting one from the dealer was double that. Crazy!!!! Don't buy a Jeep.

Create your own glittery text at pYzam.com

Well today is day 20 waiting for our LOA to bring home the newest member of our family. We are holding up well trying to get what we can done before traveling to get Levi. We still have quite a bit to do. We did receive 2 more photos of Levi today from a wonderful friend in China. And what a cutie he is, I wish I could share his photo with everyone. It is getting harder with each day that goes by not to be able to do this. I see some posts on the yahoo groups where they have pictures and info on thier children and are at the same stage of the process that we are at. I wonder why that is. We were told it was a CCAA rule others say it is a agency rule so who knows. Anyway one of the photos is of Levi making this oh so cute face because he was given a cookie. I guess he really liked it. We will wait until our agency says it's ok to post his pics even though I would like to do otherwise.

Meanwhile Marcus goes back to the doctor Thursday for his knee. I think they will go ahead and drain the fluid off the knee because it has not gotten much better with the medication in the last 2 weeks. I will be glad when that is over because he acts like a 16 year old trapped in a 10 year olds body, he is soooo whiny.

Take care everyone,
Sandi

Well, I finally got all our paperwork ready to send in for our free renewal of our I171H. I will get it in the mail tomorrow. That's a load off my shoulders. It has taken me longer to get it ready because last week my son's knee got really swollen and I had to take him to the doctor. They said it could be a number of things. But the most likely cause is torn cartilage. So he has been on crutches for a week now and I have to take him back to the doctor tomorrow to see if the medicine had helped. But he says that it still hurts. If it doesn't get better he will have to have surgery to fix or remove the torn piece.

On a happier note we received new pics of our son from a couple that are adopting from the same SWI that Levi is in. I am so grateful to her and her husband for these photos, I can't thank them enough. This was such a great treat for us. He is growing like a weed. I can't wait to share photos of him when we are able. Come on LOA we need to bring our son home. BTW his room is loking so cute and we are finding more and more John Deere stuff for it. I am going to try to make the curtains this weekend while Jerry is at Drill.

Good Night all,
Sandi

We ordered Levi's furniture a little over a week ago. They said 7-10 business days so we were happy to find out that it was in, but when we went to pick it up only the crib had come in. So we decided that at least we could put that in Levi's room to get it started. The blanket in the picture is one that Levi's grandma bought for him. The border we put up is also John Deere. It looks crooked in the picture, I guess it's the angle that I took the picture from. Anyway I hope the rest of his furniture comes in next week sometime so we can finish his room. I have to get busy and make his crib set and curtains now. His room is finally coming together now all we need is Levi. Mommy and Daddy are coming Levi!!!!

We got the call from the agency today that we received PA (Pre- Approval)for our son Levi. I waited for Jerry to get home to open the e-mail together, and if you know me that was soooo hard. We are so excited and can hardly wait to bring him home. We have so much to do to get ready for him. Jerry says we need to make a list!!! He is list crazy! The next step is to receive our LSC or letter seeking confirmation from the CCAA. After that it's on to CA & TA (consulate appointment and travel approval). We should travel about 2-4 weeks after LSC. I can't even begin to tell you how I am feeling. I couldn't help but cry, only happy tears though. I will post a picture as soon as we are allowed. He will steal your heart as he has ours. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures of his room as we decorate it in John Deere. Oh I almost forgot............. we bought his furniture last night and should come in sometime in the next two weeks. So I have plenty of time to make his crib set (hopefully). My sewing skills are a little rusty so I will have to get back into the swing of things.

That's all for now,
Sandi

Well today makes day 18 from LOI, I called the agency and they told me any day now we should get PA ( pre-approval). I sometimes find myself daydreaming about what it's going to be like having a toddler around the house again and it seems so unreal at times. We are actually going to be mommy and daddy to a little boy. I can't wait to hear the words mommy or daddy come out of his mouth for the first time. This will be such an experience for Jerry. I can't believe that this year we will be going to China to bring our son home to be with his family. My MIL can't wait to show off his picture, she asks everyday if we can give one to her yet. We have requested additional medical on him but are not sure we will get it. But it's worth a shot anyway. We are in the process now of getting his room together. We are using a John Deere theme. We already found the wallpaper border and will be putting it up soon. The furniture is the hard part. We bought cherry wood furniture for Mylie's room but Jerry would like a lighter colored wood for Levi's room. We could just use the cherrywood crib for a little while and then get his toddler bed and such later, but we just don't know. Well it's getting late and it's off to bed and sweet dreams of my little emperor waiting in China.

Love to all,
Sandi

We hit the jackpot today. We went to Baby's R Us to look for a crib for Levi and we found so much more. They had so many clothes on sale, we bought him all kinds of clothes. We bought a few different sizes since we don't know for sure how big he is yet. The yahoo groups are so helpful in that respect. And we also found a convertible crib that we like and will go well with his room. I forgot how fun it is shopping for a little one. It has been awhile since we had a toddler running around that I have forgotten alot of things that are needed. Anyway we are having so much fun doing it and can't wait to go get him. Although flying always makes me sick to my stomach, this time I will be prepared. I am going to ask the doctor to prescribe me something for motion sickness, some heavy duty meds!!! Well I hope to post some pictures of the progress on Levi's room if the internet allows me to. We had some storms roll in and I guess it interferes with the sattelite signal. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Sandi
soon to be mommy to Levi Kennedy (Chinese name) Maxwell

Wow I did not know how hard it would be to find age appropriate John Deere stuff to put in Levi's room!!! They have alot online, but I am so impatient with things like that, I want it done now. I still have to clean out the rest of my craft stuff. You see, that room upstairs was to be my sewing/craft room. But I gladly give it up for him. So I am having to find places to put everything. Mylie's room is almost done too, we just have to paint half the wall and put up chair rail. I think it will look great. She has so many ladybugs in her room, there might not be any room for her once we bring her home.

I finally went shopping for Levi, and my MIL is the greatest, she has bought him some stuff also. And once my hubby gets home from military duty this week we will start looking for furniture for his room. I am not sure on weather he still needs a crib or he may be better in a toddler bed. At first he will sleep with us until he feels comfortable sleeping in his own room. I can't wait, come on PA, LSC, TA, & CA we need to bring our son home!!!!

Love to all

In Loving Memory of my Dad Robert Tackett

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY

Today's post is dedicated to my Dad and all the other dad's out there. I miss you Dad. You were my hero growing up and will always be my Hero. I just wish that Levi & Mylie could've had the opportunity to get to know thier Grandpa. But I know that you and Momma are watching over them from Heaven until they can come home to be with us. You will always be in my heart.

Love you dad

Big change from last post. We are totally excited and feeling so crazy right now. We have sent in our LOI for a toddler boy!!!! There I said it. Yes a boy. Now we just have to wait for approval from the CCAA, so I can't post any pictures of other info on our little guy until then. But we are already so crazy in love with him. I originally thought we would bring home Mylie first, but I guess I was wrong. So now I have to get busy and get his room ready and I have not bought anything for a boy. So that's why the change on the blog, we will be decorating his room with John Deere. If all goes like it should we should travel in about 3 to 5 months. Mylie is still very much in our hearts and we will be taking this journey of adoption again in the near future to bring her home. But now I must concentrate on our son...... WOW our son, it has such a ring to it. Anyhow when I get the ok I will post a picture of our beautiful son whom we are naming Levi Kennedy(chinese name) Maxwell. I can't wait can you?


Love to all,
Sandi

First let me say that I know that this wait for referral is very hard on everyone. And everyone has thier own way of handling it. I thought I was doing good up until now. Our house is for the most part done with just some minor things like touch up paint, curtains, blinds, and hanging things back up on the walls, and Mylie's room. That's where it gets me........Mylie's room. Am I ever going to see that room with a little girl sleeping in the crib, sitting in her rocker, looking in her closet for something to wear, asking mommy if she can play with her duckie we just bought her, telling me and her daddy she loves us? I go upstairs and look into that empty room and my heart aches for those moments. I open my e-mail and see all the referrals and ask God why not me? Why not our family?, why not now? We made the decision to open our hearts to another child in November 2006, and then to a special needs child about the same time in 2007, after much thought and questions...... seems like decades ago. So here I am wondering why not us? Mother's Day was very hard for me for 2 reasons. I lost my mother last year and I can't hold my youngest daughter in my arms and may not for months even years. Sure I love my other kids but I can see them, touch them, laugh with them, talk to them...... but I can't with Mylie. I know that God has his own plans for us and we just have to wait, but man is it getting harder. I know that I drive my husband and kids crazy with the whole thing. They say Mom just chill out it will happen. I know all this but it still hurts so much. Well I have had my little feel sorry for me moment and now have to get back to the daily grind of trying to get this house together. I promise I will post pictures of the progress soon.

6 years ago today I married the love of my life. And I want to take the time to thank my wonderful husband for the 6 plus wonderful years we have had together. He is the greatest. We have had some really rough times in this short period of time, from losing both my parents within 3 years of each other to Jerry losing his dad and grandmother, Jerry being gone to Iraq for 18 months and waiting so long to become parents to our precious child from China and various other small things that have happened. But we also have had some great times together as a family and a couple. And I can truely say that building our dream house is one of the greatest and also one of the most stressful times. But it is finally coming to a close. We have most of the stuff out of storage and in our living room. Yes the livingroom because the carpet hasn't been installed yet. They sold us carpet that they didn't even have in stock!!!! So now we have to wait until sometime this week, keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully by tomorrow night we will be sleeping in our own bed in the new house. I have taken pictures and will post them when I have the time. Right now we are way too busy to stop. Stay tuned for more to come.

Today was the start of something not so fun. We started painting today. Well we had some problems to start off.... the paint sprayer we borrowed from Jerry's job didn't work too well. Just splattered on the wall. So we got fed up and went to Lowe's and bought a $200.00 sprayer. It worked so well. My son painted almost the entire upstairs in just a few hours. It was definetly worth the added expense. Then Jerry and I stained the concrete floors downstairs. It took us about 4 plus hours to finish them. I think once we get the sealer on tomorrow they will look great. Our bathroom is where we started and we experimented until we came up with a pattern we liked. So our bathroom doesn't look as good as the rest of the house. We got done around midnight. So boy are we tired and sore!!!!! Did I mention that I am way too old for this. This better be the last house we build. I will post pictures of the floors when I remember to bring the camera done to the house. Check back for more updates.

Well everyone the house is coming along great. We now have the electricity and water hooked up!!!!! Yeah!!!! We still have a lot to get done but we both are taking this week off to get it all done and moved into by next weekend. I can't wait. To finally get Mylie's room started will be the greatest thing. I will be posting the latest pictures of the progress later. Tomorrow I start the painting. That's my least favorite thing to do. Anyway check back later.

Well this has been a busy week at the Maxwell's. They are really getting alot done everyday on the house. Each day when I come home from work I can't wait until I can go down there to the house to see what they have gotten done. It really is so exciting to watch it all come together after waiting for so long. It looks like this week the siding will be put on, and the roofing will be finished on the top. They need to wait for the painters to do the porch roof because of the overspray. On Wednesday the plumbers will be there, Thursday the air-conditioning people will be there, and Friday the electricians will be there. Before long we will be putting on the final touches and will be moving in. They think that may be as early as mid- may. I can't wait!!!!