OK - these were "blogged" last week in my computer, but I now know how to change the dates for the posts, so I will do that for the next post. For this one, just enjoy reading!!! I promise I will get the hang of blogging one of these days......
Tuesday, September 2nd
FINGERPRINTS successful! Chris was able to go after work today and get his fingerprints done! That is done, and now we just have to await our physicals next week and then all of OUR paperwork for the home study update needed to have our immigration renewal done will be completed! Wow! I love the adoption term “paper chasing” because that is truly what we are doing!
We just are so excited about everything that has transpired over the past 9 days – and our thoughts are now turned to sharing the excitement with MY family. Chris made me laugh tonight after he got home from his fingerprints. He said “Melissa – you have not stopped going since we got that call and you are going to collapse from exhaustion. Will you please sit on your butt and do that picture frame for your mother? So, that is what I did and I must admit it turned out pretty cute. It’s yellow, with blue stenciled letters saying “Mom-Mom’s boy” It has a few little tags added to it as well, and I love it! I put a 5X7 picture of Matthew in it and it now sits proudly on the fireplace until I wrap it up. I then set my mind on writing my Mom a letter from me. Through all of this excitement and amazingly emotional days – I have thought so much about what being a mother means to me, and most of all I want to be a Mom just like my Mom was to me. I thank God that I was so blessed to have her in my life. Here is a little blip of the letter I am going to give to her:
For as long as I can remember, all I have ever wanted to be is a Mom….now that this moment is actually something that is going to become a reality, I am completely overwhelmed. From the moment I saw Matthew’s beautiful face, something came over me – some sort of special emotion that I never experienced before in my life. Is this the feeling you get when you know you are going to be a Mom? I cannot even explain the emotions I have felt over the past week since I received the very best news of my life. I am going to be a Mom! I just can’t get that out of my head, and I already feel that it’s going to be the most amazing experience of my life. I already wonder what he’s doing across the country, thinking about whether he is feeling OK, eating well, sleeping enough. These are all things I have never thought about before.
I have very high expectations for motherhood, and am setting high expectations for myself because of how you have taken care of me all of my life. I want to be just like you, Mom. I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for me throughout my life, not only in childhood memories – but especially over the past 10 years. There is not a moment in my life that I don’t want to share with you and you have been someone I look up to on a daily basis.
Basically, I shared with her that I want to be “that Mom” that she was to me. OK, now that I have finished that – it’s off to bed! Note – I did not say sleep, just off to bed. I haven’t really slept because of all of this excitement, but that’s OK!
Friday, September 5th
WE HAVE OUR PA!!!! To those of you who aren’t familiar with adoption lingo, that means Preliminary Approval from China to adopt Matthew!!! I got the call from Amanda at 9am this morning, and it was so exciting. Chris and I actually spent most of last night worrying about getting this approval, but now we have it!
We also had a very special visit from our neighbors Siss and Jack, and they brought Matthew a very special gift - it's his first Go and Grow rider little bike. It was so special to share our news with them because they too understand the journey of adoption as their children adopted. We couldn't be more thankful for such special neighbors and friends.
The PA actually came at a great time. My Mom was coming today and I managed to refrain from calling her right away with the great news. I was so excited at work to have something to surprise her with tonight! I hit up google.com’s translation site and translated “We have our preliminary approval” into Chinese characters and wrapped it up in a box. I will post some pictures of my Mom opening that box because of course she had no idea what it said. We laughed at her guesses, and then finally told her! It was such an amazing moment!!!
When she pulled up in the driveway tonight, Chris and I were both ready and waiting at the door for her and my brother David! They weren’t in the house 5 minutes and the tears started. When she got out of the car, she called Chris and I “Mommy and Daddy” – it was music to our ears!!!
We then came in and I couldn’t resist giving her Mom-Mom presents. After she opened the PA notice, she opened the picture frame with Matthew’s picture and she LOVED IT! I also gave her my letter which we both cried over, but it was wonderful. I really did miss my Dad tonight, but I know he was here watching over us, and I think he had a lot to do with Matthew coming into our lives. We also gave my Mom a book for her to read to Matthew all about the love between a grandmother and her grandchild.
We then were so surprised with gifts from Mom and David. Matthew got his first teddy
Bear which is so soft and snuggly. We will be sure to take that on the plane with us. We got a “Feel better spunky” ice pack. So cute! We then opened the most precious gift of all – a Precious Moment with a mom, dad, and son holding an adoption certificate! For certain, more tears fell!!! It was so perfect and we just loved it! It is sitting right in the center of our fireplace at this time!!!
Matthew then got 2 new adorable outfits! David helped pick one out, and it was cute with bears on the front. The other is blue cargo pants with a blue and white baseball tee telling us how awesome his Dad is – like we all didn’t already know!!! What great fun the evening was!
We then went out for dinner, and called it an early night after an incredible day.
Monday, Sept. 8th
Well, it’s hard to believe the week-end is over and we are well into our third week after finding out about Matthew coming into our lives. The rest of the week-end was amazing. My sister showed up on Saturday morning at 0930 after being at the hospital for her Pediatric ER rotation until really late the night before and driving over 2 hours from New Jersey! I was so happy she got here and was able to share in our amazing news! I love her so much and truly consider her one of my very best friends in life!
She also, as well as my Mom have unbelievable organizing skills, and I need help in that area! I won’t lie about that! Matthew’s room kind of turned into storage and the junk room over the past few years, and it needs emptied out. We spent the say shredding and packing things up to give to the Salvation Army! It was very cleansing I must say. Unfortunately, I was not feeling well most of the afternoon and evening on Saturday and that was a bummer but I didn’t let it damper my spirits. We also hit Target in the evening and shopped around a bit. Since we got our PA on Friday, we found out we could send Matthew a package to his orphanage so we got a few things to put into his little box. We bought a soft blue blanket with an airplane on it, a little toy airplace, a little turtle that makes noise, a pair of socks, some Cheerios and some teething biscuits. We also got a disposable camera so the nannies can take come pictures of him over the next few months. I now need to get a little photo album so we can send him pictures of Mommy and Daddy and where he is going to live!
On Sunday, my sister and Chris and David stayed at home and continued organizing the computer and all kinds of other things and my Mom and I hit Babies R Us. It was my Mom’s first time in there and we had a blast. It was very fitting that it was Grandparent’s Day and we were shopping for the first grandchild. So cool. Mom-Mom got very excited and even bought Matthew his bedding! It’s the bedding Chris and I picked out with the planes on it saying “Flying Around the World Adventure.” How much more perfect could that be??? I bought him his first Penn State tee shirt and a wall hanging for the room. We then had an amazing BBQ lunch thanks to my grill king husband and then headed off to Target where Mom-Mom bought Matthew his crib and dresser. It is so perfect and we can’t wait to set the room up! First things first…..getting everything in the attic from his room, painting, then setting up! Too many things to be excited about!
When Mom, Dave, and Meg left, it was once again hard to say good-bye. I wish we were all closer, but at least we can still get together. Remember to count my blessings!!!
Today Chris and I had our home study update physicals and passed with flying colors. We finished those up around 8pm, then met our friends Heather and Dan for dinner. It was Dan’s 30th birthday – and it was a great night out with them! We hadn’t been out together in the longest time and our friendship is so important to Chris and I!
Long day – wonderful day – thankful day……..time for bed!
FINGERPRINTS successful! Chris was able to go after work today and get his fingerprints done! That is done, and now we just have to await our physicals next week and then all of OUR paperwork for the home study update needed to have our immigration renewal done will be completed! Wow! I love the adoption term “paper chasing” because that is truly what we are doing!
We just are so excited about everything that has transpired over the past 9 days – and our thoughts are now turned to sharing the excitement with MY family. Chris made me laugh tonight after he got home from his fingerprints. He said “Melissa – you have not stopped going since we got that call and you are going to collapse from exhaustion. Will you please sit on your butt and do that picture frame for your mother? So, that is what I did and I must admit it turned out pretty cute. It’s yellow, with blue stenciled letters saying “Mom-Mom’s boy” It has a few little tags added to it as well, and I love it! I put a 5X7 picture of Matthew in it and it now sits proudly on the fireplace until I wrap it up. I then set my mind on writing my Mom a letter from me. Through all of this excitement and amazingly emotional days – I have thought so much about what being a mother means to me, and most of all I want to be a Mom just like my Mom was to me. I thank God that I was so blessed to have her in my life. Here is a little blip of the letter I am going to give to her:
For as long as I can remember, all I have ever wanted to be is a Mom….now that this moment is actually something that is going to become a reality, I am completely overwhelmed. From the moment I saw Matthew’s beautiful face, something came over me – some sort of special emotion that I never experienced before in my life. Is this the feeling you get when you know you are going to be a Mom? I cannot even explain the emotions I have felt over the past week since I received the very best news of my life. I am going to be a Mom! I just can’t get that out of my head, and I already feel that it’s going to be the most amazing experience of my life. I already wonder what he’s doing across the country, thinking about whether he is feeling OK, eating well, sleeping enough. These are all things I have never thought about before.
I have very high expectations for motherhood, and am setting high expectations for myself because of how you have taken care of me all of my life. I want to be just like you, Mom. I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for me throughout my life, not only in childhood memories – but especially over the past 10 years. There is not a moment in my life that I don’t want to share with you and you have been someone I look up to on a daily basis.
Basically, I shared with her that I want to be “that Mom” that she was to me. OK, now that I have finished that – it’s off to bed! Note – I did not say sleep, just off to bed. I haven’t really slept because of all of this excitement, but that’s OK!
Friday, September 5th
WE HAVE OUR PA!!!! To those of you who aren’t familiar with adoption lingo, that means Preliminary Approval from China to adopt Matthew!!! I got the call from Amanda at 9am this morning, and it was so exciting. Chris and I actually spent most of last night worrying about getting this approval, but now we have it!
We also had a very special visit from our neighbors Siss and Jack, and they brought Matthew a very special gift - it's his first Go and Grow rider little bike. It was so special to share our news with them because they too understand the journey of adoption as their children adopted. We couldn't be more thankful for such special neighbors and friends.
The PA actually came at a great time. My Mom was coming today and I managed to refrain from calling her right away with the great news. I was so excited at work to have something to surprise her with tonight! I hit up google.com’s translation site and translated “We have our preliminary approval” into Chinese characters and wrapped it up in a box. I will post some pictures of my Mom opening that box because of course she had no idea what it said. We laughed at her guesses, and then finally told her! It was such an amazing moment!!!
When she pulled up in the driveway tonight, Chris and I were both ready and waiting at the door for her and my brother David! They weren’t in the house 5 minutes and the tears started. When she got out of the car, she called Chris and I “Mommy and Daddy” – it was music to our ears!!!
We then came in and I couldn’t resist giving her Mom-Mom presents. After she opened the PA notice, she opened the picture frame with Matthew’s picture and she LOVED IT! I also gave her my letter which we both cried over, but it was wonderful. I really did miss my Dad tonight, but I know he was here watching over us, and I think he had a lot to do with Matthew coming into our lives. We also gave my Mom a book for her to read to Matthew all about the love between a grandmother and her grandchild.
We then were so surprised with gifts from Mom and David. Matthew got his first teddy
Bear which is so soft and snuggly. We will be sure to take that on the plane with us. We got a “Feel better spunky” ice pack. So cute! We then opened the most precious gift of all – a Precious Moment with a mom, dad, and son holding an adoption certificate! For certain, more tears fell!!! It was so perfect and we just loved it! It is sitting right in the center of our fireplace at this time!!!
Matthew then got 2 new adorable outfits! David helped pick one out, and it was cute with bears on the front. The other is blue cargo pants with a blue and white baseball tee telling us how awesome his Dad is – like we all didn’t already know!!! What great fun the evening was!
We then went out for dinner, and called it an early night after an incredible day.
Monday, Sept. 8th
Well, it’s hard to believe the week-end is over and we are well into our third week after finding out about Matthew coming into our lives. The rest of the week-end was amazing. My sister showed up on Saturday morning at 0930 after being at the hospital for her Pediatric ER rotation until really late the night before and driving over 2 hours from New Jersey! I was so happy she got here and was able to share in our amazing news! I love her so much and truly consider her one of my very best friends in life!
She also, as well as my Mom have unbelievable organizing skills, and I need help in that area! I won’t lie about that! Matthew’s room kind of turned into storage and the junk room over the past few years, and it needs emptied out. We spent the say shredding and packing things up to give to the Salvation Army! It was very cleansing I must say. Unfortunately, I was not feeling well most of the afternoon and evening on Saturday and that was a bummer but I didn’t let it damper my spirits. We also hit Target in the evening and shopped around a bit. Since we got our PA on Friday, we found out we could send Matthew a package to his orphanage so we got a few things to put into his little box. We bought a soft blue blanket with an airplane on it, a little toy airplace, a little turtle that makes noise, a pair of socks, some Cheerios and some teething biscuits. We also got a disposable camera so the nannies can take come pictures of him over the next few months. I now need to get a little photo album so we can send him pictures of Mommy and Daddy and where he is going to live!
On Sunday, my sister and Chris and David stayed at home and continued organizing the computer and all kinds of other things and my Mom and I hit Babies R Us. It was my Mom’s first time in there and we had a blast. It was very fitting that it was Grandparent’s Day and we were shopping for the first grandchild. So cool. Mom-Mom got very excited and even bought Matthew his bedding! It’s the bedding Chris and I picked out with the planes on it saying “Flying Around the World Adventure.” How much more perfect could that be??? I bought him his first Penn State tee shirt and a wall hanging for the room. We then had an amazing BBQ lunch thanks to my grill king husband and then headed off to Target where Mom-Mom bought Matthew his crib and dresser. It is so perfect and we can’t wait to set the room up! First things first…..getting everything in the attic from his room, painting, then setting up! Too many things to be excited about!
When Mom, Dave, and Meg left, it was once again hard to say good-bye. I wish we were all closer, but at least we can still get together. Remember to count my blessings!!!
Today Chris and I had our home study update physicals and passed with flying colors. We finished those up around 8pm, then met our friends Heather and Dan for dinner. It was Dan’s 30th birthday – and it was a great night out with them! We hadn’t been out together in the longest time and our friendship is so important to Chris and I!
Long day – wonderful day – thankful day……..time for bed!
Thursday, September 11th
Wow - it's been a busy 2 days since my last post. My friend Heather, who I must say should be on the show Clean House, came over the past 2 evenings and we were organizing fools! It was great fun, and I treasured every minute I spent with her getting closer and closer to an empty Matthew room! We put things in bins, got rid of things and just went crazy! It was a blast. She even brought over her labeler and we went to town labeling all of the bins ready for the attic.
Our attic was finished off a couple of years ago thanks to our dear friend Scott and Chris of course, but we had a leak in the rook and we now have to take the floor up in the attic and fix the little mold problem, and then refinish the attic off again. It's a huge job. Heather's husband Dan is coming over on Sunday to help Chris as I just can't help him in the ways he needs it! Thank God for friends!!!
God also worked in an amazing way today. I am sure everyone knows about Yahoo groups! There is actually a yahoo group for parents who are adopting or have adopted from the orphanage Matthew is in. I joined this group yesterday and I put a post on there asking if anyone was heading to this orphanange and I got an email back from a woman who is headed there next week! She wanted me to call her and I must admit it was so amazing to talk with her! I am learning just how close this adoption community is and we are so blessed to be a part of it! She is going to China next week to get their daughter and her daughter and Matthew are in the same place and share the EXACT SAME BIRTHDAYS!!!! We truly believe the both of them with God's help of course got us connected.
She helped me out with thoughts on what to send and not send to Matthew in a care package. SHe also said if I overnighted the package she would hand deliver it to the orphanage for us next week! So, our project for the week-end is getting a photo album together for Matthew without pictures in it for him! And, to buy another disposable camera for the nannies to take pictures of him and get it overnighted to my new friend on Monday!!!! Wow - Chris and I could not believe how everything has transpired over the past 2 weeks. It's such a meaningful experience - and we will have stories to tell Matthew one day about all of the people that are now traveling this journey to him with us!!!!
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