Headline News - Boo gets sick, sees German Dr.

Brandon started feeling sick the first day we were here. We had hoped it was just jet lag or climate change but by day two he was not feeling well at all, so Lorieann found a German Dr. that was located in the little village we are staying in and could see him that morning. The people at the medical office were very nice and lucky for us, they were able to speak English very well. They wrote us a prescription for some antibiotics that we could pick up next door at the pharmacy. At the pharmacy they told us that they didn,t have the antibiotics there but could order it and it would be there by 3:00. Lori and Lorieann went back to the pharmicy at 3:00 and were told that it was accidentally taken to another pharmacy but they could get it back to their pharmacy by 6:00 that evening so Lorieann and I went back at 6:00 and it was there. It was a good thing that we took him to the Dr. because that night when Lori took his temp. it was 103.9 so we gave him some Tylenol and had him take a warm shower which helped bring it down to 98.7 but he still felt pretty rough today so we let him sleep for most of the day. Below is a picture of Brandon on the exam table in the Dr.s office and Lori sitting beside him. Brandon didn,t feel much like smiling.





















We went to Kaiserlautern today to run errands with Stephen, Lorieann and Joshua and saw this really neat building (pictured below). We also saw a fort that was just sitting smack dab in the middle of a bustling city.















If you look in the upper middle of the picture you can see the skyscraper which was located less than a block behind the fort that was built several centuries ago. It's strange to see the old and new so close together.







50 CENTS for a potty breack. By the fort was this public restroom that you pay 50 Euro cents for. The doors at the front open up like an elevator and the bathroom is just on the other side of the doors. Once the doors close you have like 20 minutes to ....uhm.. take care of business, if you know what I mean. There is music playing the whole time and when your done all of the handwashing, water, soap, and dryer are activated by sensors that turn them on when it senses your hand under the appropriate appliance. So you don't have to touch anything. It was also very clean, as is almost everything we have seen so far.


















We also walked down a shopping area that doesn't allow vehicles, only pedestrians. There were shops on both sides and it was fairly crowded but interesting none the less with all the new little shops mixed in with street vendors and fruit stands. We had a lady approach us and say some not so nice things about the military to us, I guess because she heard us speaking English to each other. Guess you can't please everyone but she was rather rude and cursed several times. The incident really stood out because our interaction with the German people so far has been very welcoming and warm. They really are amazingly nice people and we refuse to let one person ruin our perception of an entire countries population. I just hope that people of other nationalities that visit/reside in the U.S. can do the same.

The rest of the day was spent running errands and visiting a German toy store and grocery. We had Bratwurst and some little pork steaks on hard rolls that were amazing. We also gorged ourselves on some plum tarts and a type of filled cake that they called beesting. (I know that's probably not how you spell it). Branson seems to be feeling a little better, which is a good thing since we are going to spend the day in Paris tomorrow.

1565 Castle Burg Nanstein in der Sickingenstadt Landstuhi

We had our first German adventure yesterday. My sister, her husband and all the kids went to the castle near their house. The earliest date that we saw on the actual castle itself was 1565. The photo on the bottom of the page shows the town, Landstuhl, below the castle. The castle sits up on a hill apparently for defense purposes.

The picture to the left is of a fountain that is located near the front inside of the castle walls. People have been throwing euros into it so of course the kids were all trying to figure out exactly how they could boost each other up into the fountain to hit the jackpot. Of course this was nipped in the bud quickly.



The picture below and to the left is just inside the tourist entrance on what we assume is the back of the castle. The block layers building the castle were probably glad to see all of the existing stone that they could just build around instead of having to bild it all up with blocks. The picture of the cavern is underneath the castle. We had the kids stand in the middle to give some perspective to just how big it was. There were holes at the top of the cavern that were either for ventilation or "pooping" according to which kid you asked.

To the left is a picture of what the kids were guessing/hoping was the "torture chamber". In the picture are from left to right Stephen, Amanda, Lorieann, and Glen. It was really dark in there but luckily the flash on the camera made it look like daylight. The picture below is of the back side of the castle were you go in to pay your entrance fees to the grounds. There is also a little open air cafe sitting to the right of this that we didn't take a picture of.

The archway that Glen, Brandon and Lori are standing under has a keystone that has the date 1565 carved into it. What was funny is that before Stephen took the picture of us he had to move several bright blue trash bags from behind us to keep them out of the picture since they didn't look like they belonged in a castle at all.

We Made It!

The flight was 9 hours and 30 minutes long from Atlanta, Georgia to Frankfurt, Germany. The seats were REALLY close together. We all watched Over Ther Hedge and then attempted to sleep. Everything here is so clean and the weather is perfect. It hasn't been over 70 yet. My sister in law does not have air conditioning which seemes strange to us coming from Arkansas but it's common here and there hasn't been a need for it. They also have these cool windows that lean in to ventilate the house. I'll get some pictures of them and post them later. They recycle everything here. In the airport the trash bins are seperated into paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic. It is expected of the residents to seperate out their garbage and participate in the recycling.

Yesterday we rested and only took an hour long nap trying to adjust to this time zone. Brandon woke up this morning with a sore throat and head/neck ache. Hopefully it's just from travel and not the start of a cold. We gave him some Advil and a cough drop and will hope for the best.

We finally got to meet my sisters husband, Stephen, and Brianne and Joshua. We also got to see Amanda who is just a little bit older than Brandon. We haven't seen her since she was a baby. Everyone is doing well and were very gracious about having their home invaded.
Glen

We are off to see a castle that is over 1000 years old today.

Tall fences = good neighbors

I am so happy, I just got done with the fence before we went on vacation which is pretty good because it has been 97-99 degres here for the last month. Now the landscaping that we have done to the backyard lloks even better and I don't have to see the neighbors yard if they decide not to mow it for a month or so. With the fence done we can now add more landscaping that we have been wanting to put in for a while. We will be leaving tomorrowfor the big trip and hopefully cooler weather. I just checked the weather in Frankford, Germany and the high is 71 with a low of 64. YESSS! I work outside for a living and have been melting for the last 2 months, so the trip will be good in so many ways. Luckily Lori's brother will be living at the house while we are out of town to keep an eye on the pets and property. Well I'm off to pack. I will post from the trip.
Glen

Below is a link to a TV news station that did a report on six girls adopted from china four years ago at the same time that are still friends today. There is a commercial first but then the video report starts. http://kare11.com/video/player.aspx?aid=31053&bw=

Know what you may have to deal with before you sine up.

Attached is a letter from Amy Eldridge from Love Without Boundaries. She brings up points that all adoptive parents should know. With all children you need to be prepared for what can happen, even if when you go over to China you are handed a perfectly healthy baby. You had better be in the mind set to take care of a sick child just in case that is the outcome. The article is about disruption. There have been a couple of people who have disrupted there adoption in China because their child was not the perfect baby that they imagined they would get. When in reality all the child needed was some love and attention in order to thrive and make up lost ground as far as development is concerned. I have seen many babys come home from China that were perfectly healthy from the beginning, but I also know that that is not always the case. Amy says the rest better than I can so here's her letter. Glen



I have been so saddened by this situation. I most definitely wish there was a way to educate ALL adoptive parents about the truths of institutional care, however I have come to realize in my daily work that there are just as many parents who are not online reading everything they can find on adoption as are.There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of parents out there who have no idea what life is like for a child in an orphanage, and who head overseas to pick up their "China doll" only to be handed a baby who is unresponsive, thin, unable to eat..and on and on and on. While adopting my son last month, I walked several times over to the White Swan to talk to parents, and over and over I spoke with moms and dads who had no clue whatsoever about the issues their kids were having. I heard so many times things like, "she won't eat solid foods" (oral aversion), "she has no muscle tone" (muscle atrophy from lying in a crib all day), "she won't smile" (pure grieving from being taken from her foster mom). I guess since I live China 24/7, I assume everyone adopting does, too, which is not the case.I talked to at least a dozen parents who didn't even know their child's orphanage name, and while I gently said "you might want to memorize that for your child's sake", at the same time I was trying to process how many parents get all the way to China without ever reading about post-institutional issues. It was sobering to me.Babies in the NSN as well as the SN path can have issues with attachment, motor skills, emotional issues and more. I think all of us on the WCC list acknowledge that, while also acknowledging that all children (whether bio or not) can have these same issues. Living in an orphanage of course increases the odds.I think the easy out is to say that agencies have to do more, as well as social workers, but I do think that most of them do try to give information to the parents but often parents don't want to hear it or else think it won't happen to them. Again, I am often surprised to talk to parents leaving soon and to realize they are not prepared. One family was adopting from our foster care program, and when I told them that the child was dEEPLY attached to the mom, the father said, "guess she might cry for an hour or so then?" An hour or so? She had been in foster care for over a year! I tried to explain that this little girl was about ready to lose everything she had ever known, and that they should not expect her to be sunny, happy, and full of personality after an hour. I told them to please remember the 72 hour rule.......that after 72 hours they would probably see her spark, but that she would probably grieve for a long time after that as well.I think for many adoptive parents, they just don't want to read the "bad stuff", and so I do think that ultimately it is the parents who are at fault for not doing more to educate themselves. There certainly are books galore out there about post-institutional issues. I equate this to when I was pregnant with my kids and I would read "What to Expect When Expecting", and I would get to the C-section part and always skip it. Each and every time I would jump to the next chapter as "that wasn't going to happen to me". Well, on my fifth baby, when they were rushing me in for an emergency C section, I sure was wishing I had read that section earlier! But at that point in the OR, while they were strapping my hands down to the table, it was too late, and so I felt complete panic when I could have been prepared. I think adoption from China is very similar to giving birth.. it is much more rosy to only read the happy stories on APC, but I now encourage every family I meet to read the harder ones as well, because if you are the family who is handed a child that is limp and listless and who looks autistic, what you have learned in the past will help you make the right decision for your family during those very emotional first few days.I have been called many times in the last few years by parents in China worried about their children. I agree that having a support network to help you through the initial time is essential. Everyone should go to China with at least one phone number of someone they can call if they are panicked upon meeting their new child. I remember feeling so alone when I was handed my daughter and she was so tiny and limp. Because our foundation often helps with the kids who have been disrupted, I am aware that sometimes there are children who have much more serious issues than originally reported..and that is such a hard thing for a parent to get to China and then discover their child is truly autistic or has serious mental delays. I think everyone on both the China and international side would agree that it is absolutely wrong of an orphanage to not be honest in their reports, and no one would excuse that, but I also know without a doubt that the majority of kids who are disrupted are just suffering from institutional issues and would catch up quickly in a loving home. It is always a very sad day for the orphanage and everyone involved when a child that they know is absolutely fine, but perhaps thin and grieving, is returned by their new parents for being "delayed".I think far too many people believe their child's life is going to begin the moment they meet them. The truth is, and everyone must realize it..a child's life is going on RIGHT NOW in China, and all of their experiences are shaping who they are. The vast majority of aunties that I have met in China are such kind and caring people, but it absolutely is not the same as having a mom and dad at your beck and call. I have had new parents call and say "we didn't think living in an orphanage would affect her at all", and those statements truly puzzle me. How could they not contemplate life in an orphanage? Walk through Babies R Us and you will see every gadget known to man to make our children's lives here as ideal as possible. Now Americans have two way video monitors, so that when baby awakens not only can mommy see when to immediately rush in and comfort him, but she can talk to baby so that he doesn't even have one single second where he feels alone. How many new parents would have a newborn and then put that baby in a crib 22 hours a day on their own? How many would only feed their baby, even if they were really crying hard, every 8 hours? Or prop the bottle in her crib and then not watch to see if she ever really ate? Of course no one would do that..we feed newborns on demand, comfort on demand, love continuously..and whether people want to recognize it or not, that is NOT the life of an orphan in an institution. ...even when the aunties are as good as gold. I remember one night when I took some volunteers in for the night shift in an orphanage, when normally just a few aunties are working. One mom looked at me with tears in her eyes as she slowly realized that it was absolutely impossible with just two hands to feed every child, to comfort every child, to soothe every baby who was crying. She said her heart was aching to realize that her own daughter most likely had many, many times where she cried without someone to comfort her.....and she told me that for the first time she finally understood why her daughter had such a deep seated fear of being out of her mom's sight.The aunties are trying their absolute best, but that doesn't equal mother/child care. I remember being in an orphanage in the north this past winter and the aunties were so proud of how they had 6-8 layers of clothes and blankets on every baby to keep them warm. They were swaddled so tight that they couldn't move, but it was freezing in the orphanage and so the aunties wanted the babies to stay as warm as possible. What alternative did they have? It really was freezing there..I was cold in my wool coat, so the babies couldn't be up and about with just 1-2 layers on, with the ability to move their arms and legs. To stay warm they had to be immobile, and so of course all of those kids have weak muscle tone. But the aunties were truly trying their best, and when a parent is given one of those beautiful children on adoption day, I am sure they will go back to their room with concern and say "she can't sit up by herself..she can't put weight on her legs". That is absolutely the truth, but she also survived 10 degree weather in a very cold province and she will catch up soon enough with parents to encourage her.To not acknowledge that living in orphanage circumstances can cause lower body weights, low muscle tone, inability to make good eye contact is very sad to me. Can it be overcome? Most definitely! The one thing I have learned over and over again about the kids in China is that they are fighters and survivors. But for some reason, people seem to want to ignore these issues in public forums.Recently, one of our medical babies that we had met several times in person was adopted, and we all knew that this child was a "spitfire". When the family arrived and spent a few days with her, they decided she was too much of a handful for them and they wanted to disrupt. She absolutely was not what they expected. When they called their agency, they were told they had two choices: adopt the child, bring her to the US, and change their expectations of what they were hoping for, or adopt the child, bring her to the US and the agency would have a family waiting at the airport to adopt her locally. Option three of leaving the child in China was never once given. I admire that agency so much, as they were thinking of the child and the child alone. The family followed through with the adoption and handed the little girl to a new family upon her arrival in the US. As horrible and tragic and emotional as it was for everyone involved...I still feel this was the right decision for the agency to make. It was done in the absolute best interest of the child, who had waited a long, long time for a family. I wish more agencies would advocate for the rights of the child, instead of always seeming to give in to the parents, especially in those cases when they know with absolute certainty that nothing is permanently wrong with the child. Recently with another disruption, the agency I spoke with told me that it was "easier" to just get the family a new baby. Sometimes easier does not equal right. The first baby who was rejected has now been labeled "mentally challenged" even though the agency knew the child was really going to be okay.I think all of us, who do realize that delays occur and that babies can usually overcome them, should be these children's advocates by continually trying to educate new parents on what to expect in China. By helping them be better prepared, we just might help stop a disruption in the future. I love Chinese adoption with my whole heart, and it is my life's work..but I also want every family who goes to get their baby to go with their eyes open and to be as emotionally prepared as possible, for the child's sake.
Amy E"

LID 7-22-06

We got word today that we were Logged in at CCAA on 7-22-06. Which I am really glad to hear because I think our dossier was one of the ones that got logged in during the move that CCAA made to their new building. We are now finally in line for a referral. I am going to down load the LID packet tonight to see what CCAI is predicting for the wait as of now. I hope it has not gone to longer than a year, but it's anybody's guess right now.






In other Big news Lori got the job on the OR heart team! She starts tomorrow. She is so looking forward to being in the OR even with all the new things she will have to learn. She will be a circulating nurse in the OR and also learn to scrub in and pass instruments when she is not circulating. Her regular hours are great, 6:00 AM to 2:30 AM. She will have to be on call alot but that goes with the territory, and they compinsate her for being on call. With matters of the heart things don't just go bad between the hours of 6:00AM and 2:30AM. As Lori sees it if they have to call her into the OR on her time off someone is having a whole lot worse day then she is and the least she can do is go in and try to help. Luckly with the job that I have I can deal with anything that comes up with Brandon or Norah so some one will always be available for the kids if they get sick or whatever. Congradulations Lori. You will do great!

Finally, we have been planning a trip to Germany to see my sister and her family for over a year and the time has come to make the trip. We had hoped to be DTC before we went and that has happened so now it is time to go and enjoy ourselves. We plan on going to Paris while we are there and also see some castles that Brandon wants to see. I am going to take Brandon's laptop with us when we go so I can try posting from another country for practice.

Glen

WE'RE DTC!!!

As of 7-8-06 we are done with the paper chase and our dossier is in China. We are so relieved that we are now just days away from our LID(Log In Date). I am still hoping for a July LID. I will have to wait to see how that all pans out. We were told that it usually takes just under 4 weeks for LID from the date of DTC (Dossier To China) but it can take up to 8 weeks to find out when that date is/was.
We have done a little work on Norah's room. Above and below are some pictures of that progress ( I keep posting the pictures twice for some reason). We are painting the room in a kind of Beatrix Potter storybook theme. The wall art that, Lori is working on, will include the flopsy bunnies, Mrs.Tittlemouse, song birds (the little bird in the picture has found one of Peter's shoes that he lost while running from Mr.McGregor), Mr.Jeremy Fisher, Tom Kitten, and of course Peter Rabbit. To bring it all together we will have all the soft stuffed animals to go along with the books to read to her. I know from raising Brandon that for kids anytime is storytime and they LOVE to be read to. We love to read as well, so books will be a big part of Norah's life. She will have a fun and colorful room to play in and have the big dreams of a little girl stepping into the stories of Peter Rabbit and his friends.
Glen

Older boy adoption video

Here's a video I came across with the adoption of an older boy. The kids look so happy to be getting another brother. The boy has a look of shock at first but thats to be expected with the new turn of events in his life. But with all the sisters and new brother he will have plenty of help becoming accustomed to his new world.
I have an update to post on Lori's Interview for the heart team but I have to keep it under wraps while we wait for all the details to be worked out. All the hard work and countless hours Lori put into school are paying off. On the adoption front we haven't heard any news other than they got our dossier and everything is there that they need to look at. At least we didn't forget anything. All though we did have to send more photos of family life stuff. I don't know why, we sent them exactly what the paperwork asked for but we took some more photos anyway and express mailed them to ccai, so hopefully that's it.
Glen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWJi5W4TFsw

Things are looking bright!

I took these photos of flowers in our backyard. I think I will frame them, they look neat to me. Things are moving along now, we got our I-171-H last Thursday and mailed it to the Chinese consoult office in Houston to get it authenticated by Friday. Houston got it back to us by this Friday, so it only took 7 days which is not bad at all. Lori and I went through the check off sheet again to make sure that we had everthing, then we went to Mail Boxes Ect. to photocopy everything. Then after the marathon photocopying session we checked everything against the checklist again. I recommend doing this if you fixate on things like I do, it will help you sleep wile your dossier is going through critical review at your adoption agency. Then we shipped it off to CCAI via Fed-Ex for the white glove check aka critical reveiw. Our dossier arrived at the adoption agency on Monday at 10:23 AM. I can't tell you what a relief it is to get to this point. There's a definite sense of calm that comes with the completation of your dossier. With that said here's what happened this Monday night(the same day that the agency received our completed dossier).
I was sitting on my couch trying to figure out when we might be LID and my loving wife said oh, so now we are going to be doing this for awhile. Meaning, I see now that we have got our dossier done you have just changed obsessions without even a days rest inbetween. I love that woman, but I'm starting to think that she knows me way to well. The ink wasn't even dry on the photocopies of our dossier yet and I had moved on to DTC AND LID. By the way, according to my calculations, I know we will be LID sometime in July and that's such a good feeling. Now I'm going to try and relax because we are in for a LONG wait.
Below is a video some one posted on MSN China adoption group. It is shot inside Yangxi SWI, by an adoptive father. Although this may be hard to look at, I thought I would share it here. If any of you have heard that there are fewer orphan children in China and that is why the wait is getting longer, according to this video I don't think that is the problem there are still many babys and kids that need good families and homes. This is one orphanage and is not necessarily the way that they all look. If our daughter comes from this orphanage, I now have a look inside that I might not have gotten otherwise. I would want to know where she lived the first part of her life, so if your daughter comes from or came from this orphanage this is where she spent her days. Tonight as I lay in my soft bed I will think of the babys in Yangxi SWI and the rest of China. Norah we will be there soon......



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some dossier photos

Dossier photos

ITS HERE! ITS HERE! Our I171-H IS HERE!

Well, the nice lady (Jennifer) at Marion Berry's office did the trick. Last thursday (6-8-06) our I-171-H came in the mail. They had told us it would not be up for review until 6-12-06. So when we got it in the mail we took Jennifer some cookies and a card to thank her for her help. We also conned her into letting us take a picture with her.
The day the I 171H came in I was not expecting it. I got home from work and was pleasantly suprised. I call my wife at work and told her the good news. Then I was OFF AND RUNNING. I took the form up to her work and made a copy, got the copy notarized, then ran it over to the Secretary of State where I had it certified. Then to the post office to get an express envelope (the chinese consulate will only ship your stuff back with USPS), back home to get my G1 form that I had forgotten, THEN to Mail boxes ect. to fed-ex all the forms to Texas for authentication at the Chinese consulate. I tracked it with the number that Fed-Ex gives you and it arrived at the Houston Chinese counsulate on the very next day at 10:05 in the morning. I am expecting to get the documents back any day now. With this new change of events I now am hoping to be DTC by the end of this mounth. We'll have to see.
Glen

This is a lesson in patience that I don't have time for!!

Well, I need to give an update on the progress of our I-171-H. I called and called and left message after message on the answering machine at the Memphis USCIS office. None of my calls were returned. I gave them my cell number every time so I know that they didn't call because I always have my cell phone with me. I contacted the head of homeland security for the state of Arkansas thinking that because they have now listed the USCIS under homeland security they could help. The head guy was nice enough and looked into it all day and kept calling me back saying they were working on finding out what happend to our I-171-H. Then at the end of the day his secretary called me and told me that they didn't have any jurisdiction over the USCIS office because they were a state agency and the USCIS was a federal agency. After that I waited another week, checking the mail with the anticipation of a kid at Christmas only to find lumps of coal in the form of junk mail and bills. We did however get last months phone bill that showed there were over 20 calls to Memphis. Once I saw that in print I knew I wasn't going to get an answer out of them no matter how many time I tried by calling. So then it was off to the local office of congressman Marion Barry. The lady at the office knew of the situation at Memphis having had to deal with them many times in the past and we talked to her about many of our concerns, including extending the time that an I-171-H is good for. At this point our I-171-H may very well expire before we travel to China making it a very real possibility that we will have to go threw this all over again if referrals keep geting longer. She told us that she would start with an E-mail to the USCIS to see what is going on with our paper work. Within three hours she had an answer for us. They told her that they have our home study addendum scheduled to be reviewed for the 2nd time at on the 12th of June. At least we now have a date and some kind of answer. The nice lady at Mrion Barry's office told me she would e-mail the USCIS back on the 12th to see what's going on with the paperwork. Now, I am greatful to have some answer but we got the addendum to the home study back to them on the 10th of May. Therefore it appears that ittkaes 30 days review one sentance. "Have you ever been arrested" takes over 30 days! When not only the local but state and federal government have our fingerprints and signed forms saying that we have not. Looking at the calander we will be lucky to be DTC buy June and I know we wont have a LID until July.
On a happier note some aquaintances of ours from the FCC-CA are coming home tonight from China with there daugther and we are going to dinner with some people from the fcc and then on to the airport. The couple and their new daughter should arrive at 9:45 PM. In family news my lovely and talented wife applied for an opening on the O.R. heart team, I hope she gets it.

Love Without Boundaries EBay sale

Love without Boundaries is having there annual sale to help with the cost of surgeries on orphaned children in china they have over 578 item that were donated for auction please take a look.

I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the people that have gone on the missions to China for love without boundaries and they do wonderful things for these kids. All of the proceeds will be used to fund heart surgeries for orphans in China. The auction end May 22 2006. I have bid on about 6 items that I would like to have and the fact that the money is going to kids in need then all the better. Oh yea and no I-171-H yet.
Glen
http://stores.ebay.com/Love-Without-Boundaries-Store







.

No I-171-H, Home study rejected? I hate Memphis

It’s been 7 weeks since we were fingerprinted and turned in our home study. So I have been wateding on our I-171-H. This is word for word what came in the mail today.

Your home study failed to reveal that you or your spouse were asked the question” Have you ever been arrested?" this must be addressed in an addendum to your home study. (inquiries concerning a criminal record are not the same as inquiries concerning an arrest.

This is word for word what was in that part of the home study.

During the interviews with Glen and Lori, the worker asked each the following question,” Have you ever been rejected as a prospective adoptive parent or been the subject of an unfavorable home study?" Glen and Lori responded, "No." Worker asked if either has a "history of sexual abuse, either as a victim or perpetrator." Glen and Lori responded, "No.” Worker asked Glen and Lori the question,” Do you have any history of child abuse, including and unreported episodes that would not result in charges or accusations?" Glen and Lori answered, "No." Worker also asked the cooks if either have a "history of substance, domesticviolence, or any type of criminal activity." Glen and Lori answered,” No." Criminal checks were conducted through the Arkansas State Police (dated December 28, 2005) and no record was found on either Glen or Lori. Background checked were also conducted through the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry and no record was found on Glen, Lori, or Brandon

Dealing with Uscis in Memphis has been the worst part of this hole process.. Some Uscis offices get you your I-171-H with in 2-3 weeks Memphis doesn’t wont to here from you unless its been 6 weeks . And when you do call its leave a massage you get leave your name and number and I will return your call with in 24 hours I have had NO ONE RETURN ANY OF MY CALLS FOR DAYS. All I am trying to do is bring Norah home. The people in Memphis look at I-660-A or an I-171-h as just peaces of paper. But for every I-171-H there is a CHILD that needs a family and a Family that needs a child.I will keep you updated.
Glen

Birds live in a nest. Squirrels live in...... attics?

We have a new nest in the other fern on our front pourch. I sure hope Norah is home with us before next spring so she can see the nests that the birds build each year. I think it is some thing that a little girl would love to watch. Heck, I like to watch the birds myself from the first blades of grass, the forming of a nest, eggs, featherless chicks, to the young birds leaving the nest.






There are three of the birds that have hached so far. If all 5 eggs hatch the parents will be very busy feeding all those chicks.












Lori and I have allways wondered where the squirrels that come to our bird feeder live. This morning I look out our bedroom window to the neighbors house and this was the sight that greeted me. These two squirrels were laying in the morning sun without a care in the world. You see it stormed all day yesterday and these two were dry as a bone in there "squirrel" house. I just wonder what they will do with all that extra space between them.







Fill it with another squirrel of course. The house next to us is currently empty. It is in forclosure so after the bank sells it Larry, Mo, and Curly will have to find a new home. It won't be mine either I don't want my attic to become a squirrely bed and breakfast.

We have been a little busy!

I called the people in Memphis yesterday because it has been over four weeks and still no 171H. They told me that they didn't even answer questions about the status of the 171H until after they have had the paperwork for six weeks. Hopefully it comes before the six weeks is up so that I won't have to call again and go through the whole phone tree again. The 171H is the last piece that we need for our dossier to be complete and be able to send it over to China. Once it reaches China that is when our real wait will begin.

In the meantime we are working on some projects around the homefront. We put up a section of fence in the backyard last Saturday. When I say that we put up a section of fence I mean that WE put up a section of fence. I dug post holes and put the railing up with the help of Brandon and Lori hammered in all of the nails in the pickets. Ever since it went up I find myself liking our neighbors on that side more and more. We deceided to do a section of the fence each month until we have completely enclosed the backyard. It, the fence that is, definetly makes the landscaping look a whole lot better, because now instead of your eye looking past all of it into the other backyard it stops and really highlights everything. We were worried that the frogs that visit our pond each year would be unable to get in but from the sound of all the croaking going on at night we were worried for nothing.
We have also noticed that we now have a VERY fat squirrel that likes to lounge on the top railing of the fence closest to the bird feeder. We are going to get him a squirrel feeder and mount it onto the fence so that he doesn't have to do a flying trapeze act to get a treat. We were hoping to get a picture of him swinging from the bird feeder but all he did was stretch out in the sun and scratch himself.










We were going to save decorating Norah's room until after we were DTC but I have absolutely NO patience. So the PINK PALACE, as we have begun to refer to this room, has been painted. I knew that pink can get out of hand very quickly so I picked out the lightest shade that appealed to me, Sweet Nothing. It turned out to be a good thing because a little pink goes a long way. We will have to be careful with the rest of the decorating or it could all go ugly real quick. For right now however the room looks bright and cheerful, definetly the place a little girl would like to play.



Every spring and summer we hang ferns on our front porch. For the last couple of years we have had some little birds build nests in them and raise their babies. Well, they are back again. We take the ferns down about every third day to water, unless it's really hot then it's every day, so that we can avoid getting any water in the little nests. The parent birds seem to tolerate us fairly well, we haven't been dive bombed yet. They watch closely from the tree in the front yard while we take care of business and also take a few pictures. Talk about cheap entertainment.
We will probably post more pictures of the birds as they hatch and get bigger just because we're goofy like that.

Finger prints 3-22-06

Well things have been moving right along. We got our fingerprints done and our home study person mailed a copy to Memphis so we are in the running for our I 171-H. I have heard that Memphis is starting to pick up the pace on prossesing, I sure hope that is true. The wait for referrals keeps getting longer so the sooner we can get our dossier logged in to China the sooner we get in line for the long wait. We will be done with everthing else soon and just be waiting on them. All of our passports came in so I sent everything off that we had ready to San Francisco and Houston to be authenticated. I only have 2 more documents to send to Houston which I will send to when our I 171 h comes in.
Glen

Certification and a green thumb

Well, it has been a good week all around. I had a couple of days off, so me and Lori got a lot done. We got 2 of the three garden boxes planted and some bulbs in the ground in the flower beds and backyard. I planted one garden box with June bearing strawberries, yum.
We also made great strides on the adoption paper work.
We went to the Secretary of State to get the documents that we have to have notarized in Arkansas Certified. I must give a big thank you to the people that work at the Secretary of State office, they were very helpful. We had 9 documents certified and they were able to do them all while we waited. They also gave us a compliment. They told us that usually there is something is done wrong with some of the paperwork that people bring in, mostly because the wording on the notarization isn’t correct but all of our documents passed. Yea! We also sent off documents to be certified at the Oklahoma and California Secretary of State Office through Fed-Ex. We have to have our passports in order for the Chinese Embassy in SF, CA. to authenticate our papers for that consulate, so we went to the post office and had them done. We expedited them so they wouldn't hold our authentication up. We should have them back in two weeks. When they come in we can photo copy them and send everything out to the different consulates for authentication. Everything but our home study report and our I 171 H, those documents will have to be the last pieces of the dossier puzzle. On the blog I figured out how to write HTML, so that when you click on one of my links it will open up another window so you can look around some of the sites and close them and get back here to look at another site. The latest site I have added is "The Beijing guide" under useful links. It's a neat site. Take a look.
Glen

Let my love open the door.

There are some families that are shocked when they hear that couples are going to adopt from China. Most of the time it is just their first reaction. Then, after they have time to digest it and find out more about the process, the kids, ect. They start getting excited and then it’s all about the baby. My Mother in-law is already buying books and blankets. It makes me happy to see her getting excited about her granddaughter. I know my Father-in-law is a big softy when it comes to grandkids, he has never had a granddaughter. Norah will bring him great joy and have him wrapped around her little finger. He has so many fond memories of Brandon growing up. I just told my family and they were happy for us.
This is a web site that shows the first year of a little girl being home. It is done to the song. LET MY LOVE OPEN THE DOOR. http://bibianawu.chinastork.com/home/?video2
If you find yourself with this problem, I hope it gets better for you. Adoption is a hard enough process with family supporting you.
Glen

A sad day.

Lori, Brandon, and I went to a funeral yesterday to lay one of my son, Brandon's, 15 year old school mates to rest. This boy's family and friends were there to celebrate his life, not his death. It was a very moving, sad, and at times funny funeral. That kid was a character. That is some thing that parents should never have to do, we expect to grow old and pass away after seeing our kids grow up, move out, get married and have kids of their own.
Give your kids a hug every day, because you never truely know when it might be the last hug you will get from them…………
Glen

The checks in the mail

We sent four money orders to be exact. Why four? Because the only place that was open that makes money orders could only make them out in increments of up to $500.00 dollars. It was a last minute dash to get them off .
I got paid by a contractor that I work for at 12:00 on Saturday. We thought that Mailboxes ect. didn’t close until 3:00 on Saturday. So we went home to get the papers we needed to send with the first payment to our agency. We checked the mail when we got home and got a wonderful surprise. The U.S. department of Homeland Security in Memphis, TN had sent us an Orphan Petition Fingerprint Referral Notice. That means when our home study is done we can go get fingerprinted to get the ball rolling on our I-171-H. A very needed and priceless document to people adopting internationally.
After reading through the mail and getting the papers we needed we headed off to mail boxes ect. When we got there I saw on the door that they closed at 1:00 on Saturday. That was in five minutes, (just in time I thought). When I asked if they made money orders they said NO. Then the mad dash was on. I ran out to the car like a mad man and told Lori to go inside and get started on the Fed-Ex forms. She asked me what address to mail it to? That was when I realized that I didn’t bring the address with me. Stall them I said to her as I jumped into the truck. I drove home, got the address, went to the grocery store to get the money orders, and by the grace of God the person behind the counter knew what they were doing. I made it back to Lori and the poor girl that had staid after to help at 1:05. She was very understanding and I told her that I would remember that they closed at 1:00 on Saturday from now on. The first payment will be there at 3:00 on Tuesday and that is good because we need them to give us the dossier guide that shows how we need to right up a finical statement because we will be meeting with our accountant on Wednesday morning. Then we have to get our financial statement done by 4:00 that afternoon for our last home study visit which is also that same day. I’m looking for word to Wednesday. I have needed that dossier guide for awhile so that I could start sending out documents. We’ll see if everything works out, or if the entire thing I have stacked up falls like a house of cards...
Glen

One down one to go

The first home study is over and it was a walk in the park. It took about two hours to do the first part of it and there wasn’t even a tour of the house. She asked us some questions, and gave us some advice as to what to do for some of our paper work.
All in all it was more like we were catching up with an old friend that we hadn’t seen in awhile. She had asked if she could bring two students with her to the interview, and we said sure they were nice to. So the unevent I was hoping for came true.
She has to come back on Wednesday when Brandon is out of school to interview him about his home life, discipline, ect.
When he got home from school today we told him that she needed to interview him. He immediatly said something about being beaten daily with bricks in a pillow case. That kid kills me, he is to sharp witted for his own good.
Glen

How long has that been there?

The big home study is Friday the 24(tomorrow) we have cleaned the house from top to bottom form the bed room to the laundry room. Wile doing such a detailed cleaning I found myself asking how long has that been there. I even put up some new light fixture here and there .I know the home study is not all about the house but like they say in one of my favorite movies “A Christmas Story” Moments before zero hour even the most profound scoffers don’t take any chances.
The person doing our home study called today to see if we can move the home study up from 4:00 to 2:00 sounds good to me lets get this thing over with. I’m hoping it is rather uneventful but we will have to see.
Glen

Connecting with our daughter

From the time we first decided to adopt Norah we have been picking up things for her when we are out. This helps us make a connection with her. One of the first things I bought for her was this security blanket. It wasn’t expensive but it means so much to me when I see it, I know that it is her security blanket.








Lori went out the other day for her first taste of freedom after school. She stopped into Mardels and found Oki she is part of the groovy girls collection they have dolls that represent a lot of ethnicities. www.groovygirls.com













She also found this lady bug dress with maching bloomers that is adorable and let’s not forget the cute mouse hat with puffballs and matching tights. All these things are Norah’s they belong to her. We get down Norah’s a plastic container in Norah’s room and add Norah’s things to it as we pick them up.
Do you see how picking up a little thing here and there is the only physical connection we have to go off of?
Glen

I came across this poem and thought I would share it here.

Dear Sweet Daughter

As a girl I had a common dream, to be a mom someday.

My baby would have eyes of blue and hair the hue of hay.

But now my dreams have been transformed.

New visions fill my head.

Now the tresses that I long to stroke are raven black instead.

And in my dreams those eyes are not so big or blue or round. Now in my dreams they’re
almond shaped and colored cocoa brown.

And in my dreams my arms can stretch across enormous seas.

They reach half-way around the world to hold you close to me.

As you grow in your mother’s womb, carefully knit together, you’re also growing in my heart, where you will stay forever.

And in my dreams the moment that your mother says good-bye, be right there to comfort you and hold you as you cry.

Our features may not look alike; we’re different as can be. But still I know the Father has created you for me.

And though I’ve not seen your face, or held your tiny hands, and though we’re half a world apart in very different lands, I’ll be right there to get you just as soon as God allows. But ‘til He says the time is right, I give you this vow.

I’ll pray for your protection every day on bended knee, for God to hold you in His arms, until you’re here with me.

-Gayle Leubecker

IS THERE A REGISTERED NURSE IN THE HOUSE!

There is now. Lori passed her state boards to become a registered nurse, she took the test Tuesday but didn't get the results until this morning. She has been working on a temp liscence since she graduated from school. So now I get to have my wife back. During these last couple of years she has shown the kind of dedication to her school work that most people will never know. I'm happy for her, she can finally have time to, well do just about anything that she wants. Plus I get to have my wife back. Anyone who has had a spouse go threw an intensive period of school work will know what I mean. It's all school work all the time.
In the adoption part of our life we got our birth & marriage certificates from vital check. Wow that was fast, we had them fed-exed to us. I just ordered them from three different places two days ago. I heard from our home study person today. We're still on for the 24th but I have been working so much to pay the fees that I have done Nil on the home front. I will have to make some progress on Sunday or replace all the 75 watt light bulbs in the house with 5 watts so she can't see anything. I'm hoping to send the first agency payment out on Mon or Tues threw fed-ex. I will not be using the usps, they loose packages. Then our agency will give me the code to the dossier area which will tell me what to do with the certificates that I just ordered.
Glen

REORDERED! Our Birth & Marriage Certificates.

Yes, I had to reorder them from vital check. There’s a link to them in the side bar, because last year I was trying to find a way to do at least something to get ahead of the game on our adoption so I figured I would order our marriage license and birth certificates. Bad idea that early. About a week after I ordered them I found out that they expire one year from the date they were made, ours were made on Aug. 16 of 2005 which makes them already 6 months old at the start of our paper chase. These are the documents that need to be certified, authinticated and sealed and since I don’t want to risk them expiring before our dossier is finished and we are LID in China the dates on all documents except fingerprints freeze in time at LID “log in date”. Finger prints are only good for 15 months so be sure that you get your dossier done and sent to China ASAP after fingerprints are done on you.
Lori took her big RN test today she has know idea how she did but I know she passed. I married a smart woman.
Glen

I-600A

We Fed-exed our I-600A (advanced petition to adopt an orphan from another country) today with a sizeable money order to cover "fees" and fingerprinting for my wife and myself. Don't forget to put copies of your marriage & birth certificates in ther to.Make sure that if you need one of these, you order the I-600A from the USCIS, not the I-600. Alot of USCIS offices let you file this form before your home study is completed so that they can get a head start on beginning your file. I've been told that it takes awhile to get a fingerprint appointment from Memphis, but we'll see how it goes. We tried to call the fingerprinting place in Fort Smith, but not only were they rude, they were not even willing to discuss it. We also got all of our agency contract agreement paperwork notorized and should be ready to send it off with the first payment installment by the end of this week. I'm happy with the way things are moving along so far. My wife takes her NCLEX-RN tomorrow. I'll be glad when it's over and she's passed so that I can finally have my wife back after 4 years. (She studies ALL the time!)
Glen

A Home Study Date Has Been Set.

Well ready or not we set up a date with our home study agency. It's 2/24/06 there's still alot of things to get done around the house before then. I know that we knew this day was coming a year ago but we have been working on this house for years and there's still things that need to be done/finished. Like take the photo to the left for instance. That would be our son sitting in his office, yes I said office. He used to be in the room right across the hall from us when he was young. That's where he (and we) felt safe, but now since he is 2 inches taller and out weighs me I figure that he's ok at night being 1 room further away from us down the hall.
With the new baby coming he decided to move to the room down the hall so that she could fell safe and make it easier for us to check on her. It was not a far move but still I didn't want him to fell like we were kicking him out, so what we did is create him a teenagers paradise to move into. I took the coat closet from the living room and sealed it off, then put double doors on the inside of his new room to help detuor his new little sister from getting into his stuff when he's not home. We got him a nice soft office chair to sit in, and under counter lights so he can see what he's working on. For intertainment we put in a control unit that lets him play any game system that he has without unhooking everthing, and a dvd player with surround sound to boot. For Christmas he got a new laptop because he worked all last summer and saved his money for his old one that I bought on ebay used and it fried after 1 year. We felt so bad for him because he really worked hard for that laptop, so we got him a new one for Christmas with warrenty. Only problem is now we have to pry him out of his room to spend time with us. I can remember when I was his age my room was my sanctuary too. Where was I going with all this, oh yea, home study because I sealed the door off in the living room there now a place that has to be painted you can see it in the left of the second picture. And you can see there a roll of carpet that matches the rest of the house that has to be put into Norah's room after we paint it.,What's that dog doing down the hall. He knows he is not supposed to be on the carpet. Anyway, nothing huge needs to be done, IT JUST NEEDS TO BE DONE. I hope there are other people out there that do projects on their houses and get them 99% done, then move on to the next projet. Because that's the way we have done stuff around here for years.
Me and Lori have been transforming this house as we have had the money out of pocket so it has been a slow on going projet that we have picked away at even when our income got cut in half when she went to school. She takes her state boards for her RN on Valentine's Day, then she will have a license, right now she is working on a temp. license that she got when she graduated. I'm so proud of her but she needs to get her life back it's been nothing but study, study, study for over three years. I will post pictures of our progress if there is any progress.
Glen

Please turn off all cellphones inside the theater!

Well the three of us went to the movies today and as a curtosy to everyone we turned off our cellphones. Well we actually put them on vibrate. So the movie just starts and my phone starts vibrating in my pocket, so I stop it by squeezing it. I figure that I will call whoever it is back after the movie. The three of us are together so I knew everyone was ok. Then my wife's phone starts vibrating she looks at it and the hands the phone to me. I see the number of who called and I reconize it as our agency. We had sent them the last thing they needed for them to approve us late Friday. I leave the theater to go try to call them back, but this is Sunday after noon so all I got was an answering machine. I left a message to call back when they get in the office not really knowing what the call was for, but hoping that it was to tell us we are approved. My mind kept thinking about it while I was trying to watch the show. We went straight home after the movie hopeing that they sen't us an e-mail and they had . We are officially approved! Here's the kicker, they sent an attachment with it and my Outlook express flagged it and would not allow me to open it. I know it's early in this and that this will probably seem small in comparision to other challenges that lay ahead.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION ?

This adoption prosses is going to be a real lesson in patience for me. We have been looking forward to starting this process for a year and now that we are on our way I'm doing everything I can to help things along but there are things that are coming up now and will come up as we go along that I will have to deal with. For instance, I found out today from the person that is going to do our home study that our back ground checks from Child Maltreatment have not come in yet. They usually only take 2 weeks to process here. So I'm going to have to call them on Monday to find out what happend. We had to have our doctor write a letter amending some information on our physical form that our agency said China would want more information on. It took about a week to get the letter and we just faxed that to the agency late today. I'm hoping that is the last piece that we need in order to be approved.
I guess that I will just have to leave my beloved instant gratification to things like mulching the yard. We ordered15 qubic yards of mulch and spread it in one day. That is about 100 wheelbarrows full. It looked so good when we were done, now that's instant gratification.
Glen


My Koi pond