Hong Kong to Ding Ding

Today everyone woke up in decent spirits (Rosie and I at 4am as it seems the time change is affecting us the worst).  Rosie's busted nose looks like she was punched in the face, making us a bit nervous as we are going to be meeting some Chinese officials in just a couple of days to take another of their children into our care.  Oh, did I not mention that Rosie busted her nose?  She did.  On that beside table that is always between two double beds in a hotel room.  The one that just looks like it's going to bust your kid's face on the corner of.  That one.  Rosie was on the bed reaching for the phone to make one of her zillion pretend phone calls to the US and her hand slipped and her nose hit the corner of the table.

So, busted nose aside, we headed back to Tsui Wah because it's familiar to us and delicious.  We feasted on noodles and eggs and rolls and mystery meat and P even had a fried fish filet.  Fried fish for breakfast!  Yum!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day in Hong Kong.  The temp was probably about 60 or so, it was bright sun and breezy.  We headed to Kowloon Park, where we took Emmie on Rosie's adoption trip.  It was amazing how much of the park Emmie remembered.

After Kowloon Park, we headed down to stroll the Waterfront area.  It was absolutely gorgeous and perfect.

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the airport for the final leg of our journey to meet our daughter and sister.

This is about when the emotions start to get big and real and--honestly--scary.  Emmie and I were all cuddled together on the plane and she was telling me how excited she is to meet her little sister.  She asked me what I was thinking, and I told her the truth: "Emmie, I feel really nervous."  Just like the sweet, tender girl she has been since that day in the Nanning Marriott when she wiped my tears, she said, "Oh, Mama.  Don't be so silly.  You don't have to be nervous about meeting your own daughter!"  And with that, off we flew to Nanning.  Or, Ding Ding, as Rosie calls it.

Most of the way

Wowza.
We made it most of the way, ie, to Hong Kong.  Door to door, it was over 24 hours of travelling.  Here we are when we left:

In Chicago:

On the aircraft to Hong Kong:

Stripped down to t-shirts because it was 95 degrees on the plane.

Right after arrival:

Not bad, you say for 24 hours of travelling, right?  You probably say that because you can't see the dried tears from Rosie's epic, insane meltdown laying on the floor at the end of the jetway.  The meltdown that made the pilot say, "Wow, I'm so happy I'm beyond that stage."  Um, thanks buddy.  Fortunately for him, I held my tongue because he flew us safely for ninety-gazillion miles.  You also say we look pretty good because you can't smell the throw-up in Emmie's hair, likely from a combination of evil airport and airplane food.  Just keepin' it real, my friends.  Keeping it real.

So, backing up a bit, because I can't seem to ever write anything in order.  The past few days have been utter insanity trying to get ready.  The girls were due for a transfusion (which is an all-day event for us at the hospital) the day before we left.  This was great for the girls because (as one of my fellow thal mamas put it) they are now all "tanked up" for the trip.  But it meant that I couldn't get any trip prep done on Wednesday.  P and I ended up being up pretty much all night before we left doing last minute things that would have been done that day.  P even hand-delivered Christmas cards to our neighbors after I ran out of stamps in the middle of the night.  Which, of course, woke up their dog and probably their whole house but, what are you going to do?  They got their card.

So Grampy picked us up at 6am in "The Beach Car" as the girls call it and we were off.  Rosie asked twice if Nana was on the roof of the car, and Emmie told Grampy he was sure to get a ticket because he was driving too fast.  Sort of typical conversation for our family.

Our flights went pretty smoothly.  As I eluded to, Emmie got sick on the long flight, but I really think it was from something she ate.  We got an early reminder of the "Clothing Police"-style women we are likely to encounter in China.  The woman sitting next to Rosie spoke no English, but kept gesturing that I cover up Rosie's arms because she must be freezing on the plane.  Mind you, when we got on the plane I called my mom to say goodbye and I told her it was so darn hot on the plane that it was possible I'd fly all the way to Hong Kong in just underpants.  But this woman was certain Rosie needed more clothes and blankets, even swaddling Rosie her own blanket because the one Rosie had on her wasn't enough.  This woman even took it upon herself to rearrange Rosie while she was sleeping into positions that seemed more comfortable to her.  Rosie groggily fought her off and even seemed to take a few swipes at Airplane Mama in her sleep.  Rosie was a hot, sweaty mess by the time we arrived in Hong Kong.  Maybe that plus the lack of sleep is what precipitated the tantrum at the end of the jetport.

We smell bad and made the pilot pity our parents, but we are still happy.

We had no problems getting to our hotel and were so happy to see an abundance of holiday lights on our ride into the city.  As soon as we opened the door to the hotel room in Hong Kong, Rosie said, "Where's Yiman?!!?!?"  Like she was going to be in here and yell, "Surprise!" when we opened the door.  I think we are going to have to work on explaining how the meeting of their little sister is going to go a bit more clearly.

We cleaned up a bit and everyone was feeling good and hungry so we headed out to Tsui Wah, one of our absolute favorite HK-style restaurants.  We had noodle soup and chicken wings and plenty of sweet, hot milk tea.

After dinner, we strolled down to the waterfront to get a better look at the holiday lights.  Let's just say that our concern that there would not be a lot of holiday festive decorations was quelled.  At least in Hong Kong, they do it up really nicely with tons of lights and decorations.  The girls sang Christmas carols as we walked along the Avenue of the Stars.  We guessed what Francesca might be doing now, and it makes me sad to think that in a few days, she is going to be terrified out of her pretty little mind, losing the foster family it sounds like she is very attached to.  But, I know in my mind that while her foster family loves her and takes care of her, that it wasn't a permanent solution for her.  We are.

I'll be home for Christmas

Literally.  As in, landing at Logan International Airport on Christmas Day.  What a present.

As with all things adoption, moving through the last steps of the process has been unpredictable.  It's like every step is a cliffhanger and you just hold your breath waiting to see what is going to happen next.  Our Article 5 was expedited and issued on November 20 and picked up on November 24.  We figured we had a few weeks before our TA arrived, so we were completely shocked when it arrived just a week later on December 1.

We were faced with scheduling around holidays, CCCWA closures, and transfusions.  It basically came down to travelling right now, or waiting until January.  While right now may not seem perfect because it is changing our holiday season, we decided to leave as as soon as possible.   For us, it didn't feel right to leave Francesca in China for another month just so it didn't disrupt our schedule.  Plus, it fit in perfectly with the girls' transfusion schedule.  So, while we will be missing a few of our usual holiday things, we are hoping to trade them for new and different ones.  But the tree is trimmed, Santa is still visiting after we return, and on Christmas Day we will come home with the best gift ever.

Who could wait another month to kiss this sweet face?

Rosie pretend helping to put little sister's crib together.

Emmie really helping to put little sister's crib together!

Singing carols and decorating the tree.

Look who I found under our tree!
(That lovely pink stocking in front was purchased on Shamian Island on
Rosie's adoption trip.)

This kid LOVES Christmas.

So now we find ourselves in that now-familiar whirlwind of getting ready on nearly last-minute's notice to go half way around the world.  To meet a little person who we have never met, but love so much already.

See you in China, sweet girl

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

I just want you for my own

More than you will ever know

Make my wish come true

Baby, all I want for Christmas is you

Hat Trick!

We are proud, delighted, overjoyed, and excited to announce the adoption of our third little miracle!  Meet Francesca Yiman, born on August 27, 2013....

After a few months of stressful medical situations, it feels so good to be celebrating something so wonderful for our family.  But this adoption has been far from straightforward and stress-free, which is why we chose to wait until LOA (which we got on October 30 after just submitting our LOI on October 14!!!!) to scream our news from the rooftops.  So, the story...

We first found out about our daughter in mid-June from a respected fellow thal mama.  She posted a picture of little Yiman in our private online group, saying that this baby was having her paperwork put together for adoption.  But it wasn't her picture that caught my eye.  Of course my heart opened to her, knowing that she has thalassemia.  But hearing that this little girl was in Guangxi, a place very close to my heart because my beloved Emmie is from there, and learning that she was at Yulin CWI made me want to bring her home right then.  As in, jump on a plane and go and GET HER.  Why?  Because I knew that two children with thalassemia from this orphanage had died relatively recently.  Never got to know the love of a forever family.  Not that they were not being loved at the CWI, but for a child with a life-threatening illness, love just isn't enough.  That is the harsh reality.  These children need medical care that is not always readily available in China, to anyone, never mind orphans.  And in Guangxi, they are often hit with blood shortages the hardest.

Falling in love with this little girl was one thing, but getting her file and getting her home to us was completely another.  I had watched others try the "pre-identified" adoption route (i.e., chasing down the file of a child who you are aware of for one reason or another, but who is not actually available for adoption yet)...some with success, some not so much.  So we contacted one of the most respected smaller agencies around, which happens to be right near us.  They felt that with their connections and our perseverance that we had a good chance--but not a guarantee--of making it happen.  So we signed on and the now-familiar whirlwind began.  As usual, we got everything done in record time.  I ran around like crazy...one day a beach trip, the next to pick up documents.  Strolling around a feast in the North End, then hitting the State House, girls in tow, for authentications.  Our home study was completed in a month, we walked in early for fingerprints, our I800a was expedited.  One night we even packed the whole family in the car in order to get a document to FedEx in Boston to make that last pickup out of Logan.  (We even followed it with a celebratory dumpling run in Chinatown.  "What the heck!  The gals are up too late already!")  We checked off every trick in the Expedited Adoption book (which, perhaps, I should write...you know, when I have a free minute, LOL).  Everyone was in agreement:  Get this baby home fast.  We were DTC on August 22, one day before our 12th wedding anniversary.  We finally took a breath.

That late night dumpling run after rushing a document
to make the last plane out of Logan.

August 22

Celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary our favorite way...
with our girls.

And then....

The file.  Our agency had been working closely with the CWI to track the file.  At first, it was going to be handled almost like a partnership file, going right to our agency and to us.  While there was no formal partnership, the CWI director and our agency director gave each other their word that they would commit to making this happen.  It seemed so risky, but our agency director reminded us that she had discussed this at length with the CWI director.  The CWI director would be going completely back on her promise if she decided not to follow through.  So the file was sent to the provincial office with this agreement in place, with a letter explaining what was to be done with the file.  Then, our worst fears came true.  The provincial officials determined that this could not be done.  The file would just go to CCCWA, and hit the shared list.  It would be up for grabs for anyone.  My guess is that they felt that without a formal contract or partnership agreement in place, that a simple handshake would not do.  I understand their perspective, thinking that this would be too risky for them, and for Yiman. So off the file went, available to any agency.

We were crestfallen, but wonderful things were happening for our family.  Emmie had been terribly ill over the summer, and now she was feeling so much better and we were getting our feet back on the ground again with her and all of her new medications.  She was starting pre-K, Rosie was getting ready for dance class, we made our first trip to Santa's Village, the girls were September Artists of the Month at Boston Children's Hospital, and we had a vacation coming up.  Life was great.  We felt so lucky for what we already had, but we couldn't help but wonder what happened to Yiman.  It was anyone's guess where the file was for all of September.  The shared list came out and our agency saw nothing.  I hate to say that we were starting to lose hope, but we were.  At least for us.  I would stare at the one photo we had of her and have to look away.  All we could wish for was that she'd have a family, and soon.  And as long as that happened, it was all going to be OK.

First day of Pre-K

First day of dance

Our LONG awaited "summer" vacation in September.

September turned into October.  People on several adoption groups were grumbling about agencies grabbing thal files with no families open to thal.  I was grumpy about it, too, but too caught up in our situation to worry much about it.  We went apple picking, laughing and smiling and filling our bellies with apples and cider donuts.  It was a wonderful day, sunny and bright.  The four of us cuddled on the hayride, and again I pinched myself, like I do almost daily, thinking about how lucky I am to have this perfect little family.  Well, far from perfect, but perfect to me.  I thought about how the memories and the love that we have could fill the oceans 10 times.  And that's about when Patrick looked at his phone and saw that I got an email from my fellow thal mama friend saying that Yiman's file had been assigned to another agency.

My favorite apples in the apple cart.

If the story ended there, it would be sad for us, happy for someone else, and either way OK for Yiman as long as she ended up in a loving family who could provide for her.  But it didn't.  As it turned out, the other agency did not have any families at the time who were open to adopting a child with thalassemia.  Now, many agencies in that situation would simply hold the file for several months and sort of "shop" around the file, looking for new clients who might be interested in working with them to adopt her.  You see this happen all the time.  And, perhaps this is a good business model for some agencies and it might be safe for some children.  But, when a child has a life-threatening blood disorder that *requires* ongoing treatment, needs to get home fast, and qualifies for expediting, it's debatable whether the agency should hold that file for what could be months if there is someone out there with another agency who is logged in and ready to say, "YES!  YES!  A million times yes!!" NOW.  And, thankfully for us, that is how the other agency felt.  Yes, they likely could have held the file and "advertised" it and signed on a new client who would adopt her.  But, upon hearing that there was a family ready and able (US!!) to move forward right then and there for this baby girl, they felt it was more important for her to get home fast, so without hesitation they agreed to transfer the file to our agency.  They were cooperative and worked quickly with our agency and CCCWA, and nine days later, on October 14th, our agency had the official file and locked it immediately for us.

We found you!

So, now, with our LOA, I800 approval, and PDF in hand, we are finally feeling like this is really going to happen.  There is no doubt that some of this was very, very hard work on the part of many players.  But some of it was luck.  Just dumb luck.  Or maybe divine intervention.  But undeniably a lot of someone-happened-to-Facebook-something-leading-to-emailing-something-leading-to-making-a-phonecall-leading-to-who-knows-what stuff.  And, of course, the graciousness of the other agency to put Yiman first, rather than their own business.  To think about this child, receiving her care through an orphanage that lost two children to thalassemia, in a province where the blood that she desperately needs may be scarce.  That is why this baby girl is ours.  There is no doubt in anyone's mind that she is coming home much sooner because of this.  And for that, we are forever grateful.