question to those who adopted from China: referral photos vs. reality?

Just an interesting little question...out of curiosity:

It starts with a statement...and I hope I don't muck this all up.....

In the pictures our little girl looks pretty big.

People always think she is many months older than she really is, and when I tell them her age, well, I get very funny looks...and often down right exclamations to the contrary (of the latter, I find it either comical, or offensive, given my mood that day)

I have heard from a couple of people that their children looked quite big in the pictures they received, and actually were very small when they saw them for the first time in person. This came up again today.

So, if you happen to be out there in internet blog land, and fall upon this post, and you have "been there, done that" please share a comment.

I know and understand that orphans normally are smaller due to the lack of nutrition they have received, or "quality of" aforementioned nutrition; and perhaps lack of movement (especially in the orphanages) I also know they tend to bounce back very quickly; I have even heard a couple of weeks can show marked progress.

(note that our daughter is in a foster home and has been for many months)

I am just so curious about the photo vs. reality thing, as far as update pictures received; because our BEAUTIFUL BABY does look big for her age in the photos..

I do believe she is the age we have been told. I just wonder about people's experiences with photos vs. reality.

Thanks in advance. :)

ps- our adoption doctor says she is "soundly within normal ranges" when reviewing the medical updates, head circ., etc...

!!!!! DTC DTC DTC DTC DTC DTC DTC DTC !!!!!

Can you tell that I am excited?

DTC means "Dossier to China".

All of our paperwork we have been agonizing over for 10 months  will finally got to China.

It should have been less than 10 months, but we were held up by annoying red tape along the way.

However, our 797 came back VERY fast, as did our NJ certifications and NY China consulate authentications.

So, I just got the email that Amy at Holt reviewed the dossier and said that it is GREAT!

(after all of my obsessing over minute details, it surely better be...LOL...)

Holt sends dossier's to China on Fridays, so we are on our way this week.

I have been waiting sooooo long to say that we are DTC.

Kevin and I are embracing and grinning ear to ear.

The last times I felt like this were little-Yang's referral and updates.

So, now we wait for LID (log in date), LOA (letter of acceptance), etc (hague related paper work, ...) and finally our TA (Travel Approval!!!!)

Cant wait to update you all on these milestones as we reach them.

We reached a doozy today though. Thank you Jesus for our DTC!

Amen? AMEN!!

As pastor Bob says, "God is good all the time...all the time, God is GOOD!"

Tonight I will leave you with a map of the area of China where our Phoebe is:
she is in Hunan province. Her orphanage is based in hengyang. We will pick her up (I think) in Changsha, which is the capital of Hunan.

(note: you can also see Gaungzhou on this map, we will travel there after picking up our girl in Hunan, then we do the whole American consulate/medical check/visa dance, before heading to the USA)

Blessings, Lynette

Celebrating the New Year at my classroom

One of our class mom's is from Hong Kong.

She came to school today to teach us about Chinese New Year.

She handed out red envelopes with chocolate coins, and she made a very special snack for the children, these fish pictured (way) below.

The large one with the two clementines was a gift for me to bring home, and I was told to steam the fish before eating.  

I had put red paper around the classroom door, and enjoyed hanging up pictures of our little girl for the parents and children to see.

We made Chinese dragons by painting egg cartons, gluing on eyes, and adding red and gold tails.

My co-teacher borrowed a puppet from a friend of hers, and it was a very cool Lion-dance marionette.

It was an exciting morning at school.

We learned to say "Ni Hao Ma" (Hello), "Sha Sha" (thank you), "Gung Hay Fa Choy" (Happy New Year), and "Wo Ai Ni" (I love you).

Here are some pictures of the time at school (without showing the faces of the children). You will see what a great time we all had.

I am thankful for our Nicholas, his mom, and his sister, Natalie, who made our day very special. Nicholas and his sister had gorgeous outfits on, they looked wonderful. ~~Sha sha!~~

{even more amazing in person!}

Blessings, Lynette

DOSSIER IS DONE! Gung Hay Fa Choy!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR, IN DEED!!!!!!!!

The blood, sweat, and tears (all literal...no, really!) were all worth it to get to this point which was only a dream months ago.

Take a look at the pile of paper work which makes up our Dossier:

{Mr Bear has a bit of 'tude after all that hard work!}

Yessiree, the table has all the leaves in it...that is one looong pile of papers!

My oh my, baby girl you are SO worth it! {now when does mommy get her epidural? I think I am ready for it!}

Come on LID, LOA and TA!!!! I know you are still months away, but WE ARE READY!!

Mommy and daddy are off to celebrate Lunar New Year's Eve now

GUNG HAY FA CHOY!!!!!!

I wonder if our little Yang will be having dumplings tonight....

Are there fire crackers going on outside sweetie? Did grandma and grandpa in your foster home decorate your door with red paper?

Wo Ai Ni, we love you.

Dossier photos

These will accompany the Dossier. They are supposed to show us interacting in our home, and be a snapshot of our house, our lives. Including an image of us facing the camera.

The actual image is cropped (so the lady and the "junk" on top are cut out.) I hope I am facing forward enough.

Living Room.

Kitchen.

Study.

Blessings, Lynette

Authentications are DONE!!

The authenticated docs arrived tonight from the China Consulate.

I have been waiting a long time to say that.

It has been a doozy of an afternoon and evening, but now I can celebrate the authentication process being DONE! Now that is what I call a silver lining. 


Blessings, Lynette

Almost there. Summoning up the last grains of energy for the day.

We are officially IN THE PAPERWORK HOMESTRETCH:

I am so so so tired yet I have some photos to do for the adoption dossier (kev and I around our home), and MUST do them tonight.

Mr Tam reports that our papers are on their way back via UPS, and the photos will get added to this batch of papers then we send them to Holt Int'l in Oregon.

I can just imagine, with how tired I am and this headache that is brewing, that these pictures will be very interesting. LOL Any one have makeover in a bottle? How about miracle eye-bag cream? 

Blessings, Lynette

cheek squeezing goodness!

January update

Dossier docs requiring authentication are at the China Consulate in NYC. Mr Tam says they should be done next week.

Last night we received an UPDATE of our precious baby. She is getting so big now. She is BEAUTIFUL! She is just slightly older than 10 months right now.

They said she can sit for a short period of time and then topples over, and she has 4 teeth.

She likes to smile when people smile at her. aw.

She looks so healthy.

We also got to see the couple that is fostering her. I was overcome with emotion and prayed for them a prayer of deep gratitude.

I can see that they really care about her. The report says that they love her.

It will be hard to know that Phoebe will be missing them and vice versa.

Blessings, Lynette

Celebrating China Consulate!! And a perfect little card.

This weekend has been interesting. I have been quite sick, but at the same time had a big thing happen as we shipped our docs to the China Consulate n NY.

Actually, we shipped them to Mr. Tam. :) He will be processing them over to the consulate for us; he is a courier.

It was crazy trying to photocopy everything while it has staples in it (they are null and void if you remove the staples...which would set us way back in time and money), yet one must fold it over and copy in such a way to keep it looking nice and crisp. 

Each document had at the least 2 pages, and at the most 12 pages. Then the way you are charged per document gets confusing...etc... another hurdle in this process which is sent off on a wing and a prayer,

This is a HUGE step, it is the very last step before we send everything to Holt for their review, then they send it off to China and we will be "DTC".

So, even though I am sick (cough, head ache, tired, you get the drill....) I had to still have a mini celebration!!

Therefore, I made chocolate chip cookies (they are medicinal, are they not? Take two homemade chocolate pecan melt in your mouth cookies and call me in the morning? no?.....)

And, OH, look at this most precious card that came in the mail. Be still my little mama-heart.

Thank you, Kelli, for sending this adorable card. And what a perfect time to receive it, as we celebrate our consulate authentications.

{I don't think that these images do the card justice, taken with my cell phone, but it really is sweet and I really do love it: the sentiment, the pictures, the silhouettes in the house including the kitty, and finding it in the mailbox, all just scrumptious! Can I move in?}

Blessings, Lynette