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December 28th |
 Merry
Christmas!! & Happy LoggedInniversary!!
We had a nice relaxing Christmas holiday,
we visited family and friends, sat around watching
movies and playing games together, everyone really
enjoyed it. Everyone got their wants and needs, plus
some. I tried to convince Santa that all I wanted for
Christmas was my little Ellery, but he didn't go for
that. Ah well, the waiting shall continue. We miss our
Scottish friends who have traveled to Scotland for three
weeks to visit family there. We will be going over to
our other favorite family's house for a little New Year
fun. I'll be changing this blog around a bit for the New
Year as well.
Tomorrow, Daddy is having his wisdom
teeth removed. Ooops, there goes all his wisdom.
Actually, you can't subtract zero from zero.......
Maureen doesn't care about that in the least, she is
instead buzzed about wearing a paper hat and being
Daddy's nurse. Actually I think she is just excited that
he will be laying around and she can force him to play
her games and dolls! |
|
November 24th |
LID 4 Months!
Or in adoption-speak, it's our
"LoggedInniversary"
We had my in-laws and good friends
over for our own little Thanksgiving dinner. Our house
has never seen so many people at one time, we are into
"small" groups but it was a wonderful day, we all
enjoyed it so very much. Several people asked about
adoption news....um there's no new info, but thanks for
asking, I'll just go pout in my bed now. |
November 19th
 |
I'm trying to busy myself with stuff to
keep my mind off my little darling waiting for me in
China. I've been doing some artwork & sewing. You can
check out my artwork at
www.cafepress.com/robyncotter
Today we are heading up to the
Cotter's for our Thanksgiving with them, I'm bringing
the turkeys, yum! On Friday, I'm cooking for my in-laws
and our family. I have invited a couple neighbors so we
will see who drops in.
One of the adoption list families got
their referral this week. I'm so happy for them! One of
the other new developments is that we are really
thinking hard about taking the kids with us. Our trip
will most likely fall during their spring break or end
of school or even summertime, so we think the experience
is worth them missing *some* school. The only factor
might be the timing of their standardized testing. We'll
see. |
|
October 31st |
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!
|
|
October 27th |
Just dropping in to whine. I have spent
this week pretty depressed. I just want her home. I know
they say adoption is a roller coaster, right now I'm in
the low and climbing part where the cars are moving so
slow with a torturous click click click sound that makes
the anticipation so much worse because you don't know
when the drop is coming. Just waiting for the Wheeeeee!~ |
|
October 24th
 |
Halfway to 6 months!!
Best case scenario,
we could get a referral in 3 more months, that's 91 days
for those of you playing at home! I've not been working
on my list because we've been so busy, but today I
cleaned the attic a bit and organized some more baby
stuff, wow, this little darling will not want for a
THING!! I'm such a pack rat! |
October 15th
 |
Maureen's Birthday!!
Since we had
her big luau a few weeks ago, we celebrated quietly and
she, of course, required a few more presents! haha!! |
|
October 2-14th |
We head down to the condo in Naples!!
woooooohooooo!! This year there were dolphins in the
water twice when we were out there, wow, it was so
amazing!! |
|
September 30th |
Maureen shares her Luau birthday party with
Sabrina. A GREAT time was had by all!! |
September 25th
|
Connor's Birthday!!
We went to
Melting Pot to celebrate. YUM!! |
|
September 17th |
Ok, yah yah, I haven't updated you in a
while but really there has been nothing of interest to
report. We finally painted our
living room and bought new ceiling fans to replace the
hideous ones. I've been going t o
the gym to help facilitate my goal of climbing the Great
Wall without having a coronary. Other than that, I'm
just waiting, and waiting, and waiting...well you get
the idea. Connor's birthday is coming up and we are
having a luau with Maureen's friend
across the street for their birthdays. So the next few
weeks will be busy. Plus in three weeks we are going to
FLORIDA!!! Oh boy we are so excited!!! |
|
August 26th |
I've nearly finished the girls' room, and
will take photos soon. I've bought some new books about
attachment and bonding (since we missed the Gladney
class) and post adoption depression. I'm working on
scrapbooks and beginning to plan my redo of our living
room and dining area...trying to get my list completed
before Ellery comes! |
|
Aug 24th |
 ONE
MONTH SINCE LID!
Tonight we went to the one and only.....Wilson County
Fair! Connor had an excellent time because he took his
"friend that's a girl"....they rode all the scary stuff
that he just loves. Maureen also loved it because we
could focus on what she wanted to do, like play games
and such. We met our Scottish neighbors and their boys
there, too. I petted a CAMEL, yes yes I know, you're
jealous! All in all, a very great night, hot weather,
good food, great friends. |
|
August 13th |
What Not To Wear
Say
Answers
for the inevitable
DUMB, TACTLESS & RUDE QUESTIONS
Click
Here
MUST READ!!!
http://www.foot-n-mouth.blogspot.com/
ANOTHER MUST READ!!
http://www.adopting.org/question.html
Still
interested in "what not to say to Adopting Parents?"
Click here
|
|
August 5th |
The St. Lawrence Picnic was today, lots
of fun, food and definitely sun, it was up near 100° as
it has been for several weeks on and off.
One thing that frustrates me about
adoption, and I know I've probably read this a dozen
times on other people's sites, but it really seems like
most people (family included) don't really view adoption
as "Joe and Robyn are having a baby"....one of the
things that I really liked about being pregnant was that
everyone shared in the excitement. Someone would see my
tummy and grin that warm knowing smile and people ask
you when you
 are
due and seem truly interested. When I tell people that
we are adopting from China, the most common reaction is
"oh the conditions are terrible over there, you are such
a good person for rescuing one of them"....ok ok yes,
the conditions ARE not the best in China's SWIs....but
that is NOT why we are adopting. I'm not done being a
mom and I can't have any more biological children, out
of all the International programs we studied, China fit
us best. That's it. I'm not some martyr or something. My
reasons for wanting a special needs child are not
because I'm a saint. I can't stand the idea of picking a
"good" one over a "bad" one...leaving
her there because I want a different, more "perfect"
one. It's not a candy counter, it's a child's life.
Though, I did run into a brick wall when Joe was not
willing to go SN, eventually I got through his wall of
nervousness and he agreed. Another thing I hear from
outsiders is "Oh that is so wonderful, how much do they
cost?" ugh. But primarily, after the initial
reaction, people tend to forget all about it or seem to.
In my mind, we are pregnant. I'm excited every day,
every moment. Just like I was when I WAS pregnant twice.
It didn't hit Joe til the moment of birth, I
think...."oh wow, another person just popped into the
world and how did I fall in love with them so quick!!"
But adoptive moms ARE pregnant in the sense that we look
forward to the day we can hold our new baby in our arms.
K, done ranting now. |
|
August 3rd
|
Our brown envelope came today from the US
Consulate in Guangzhou. It is filled with lots of forms
in English and Chinese. These forms are for Ellery's
visa....yay!! It's like they're teasing me..."here Mommy
Mommy, you want to come get your daughter?? Well you
can't. You have to wait. A long time. A really long
time. A really really long time. Hate your luck. Sorry
bout that. Too bad, too sad. Stinks to be you."
Gladney sent us an invite to their online
training classes. Three two hour streaming video classes
online...it should be fun, at least it's another step to
get past. |
|
July 31st |
As noted below, our LID was last Monday,
Gina wrote briefly to tell me. I asked her "what now?"
 and
she said "unfortunately, now we wait" hahaha, well I
meant what training to we have to
complete in our 6-7 month wait...so we will see when
that begins.Also, school
started today, ahhhhhh. But also starts the running
around, take to school, pick up, gymnastics, piano,
scouts. Well at least there will be plenty of time to
listen to my Mandarin learning CDs. I'm going rather
slowly,,,,perhaps because I'm old (old dog=new tricks)
or perhaps because it is just a REALLY difficult
language to learn. Anyway, at least I'll be able to say
a few things. I can already say several phrases and
sentences. |
|
July 27th |
No LID yet, though there have been no
referrals yet this month at Gladney, so I'm sure they
will let me know when it was, my guess is around the
20th....but we all know how my guesses tend to lengthen
the passage of time! I did join the July DTC group and
met several nice people, I've not met a "buddy" yet,
meaning
someone with our timeframe. I've tried but no luck. We
probably won't travel with anyone anyway, but may meet
up with a small group when we get to China. From what
I've read, SN gotcha days are a bit different in that
there are less families in the room, sometimes no other
families...either way is fine with me, I think I'll just
be oblivious to everything around me but our little Elly
Bean! |
|
July 24th |
.•:*¨¨*:•.*.•:*¨¨*:•.Our
LID
!!!!!.•:*¨¨*:•.*.•:*¨¨*:•. |
|
July 11th
 |
Well obviously I'm very excited that we
are moving along in this process. We went on our DTC
dinner to Outback that we've been planning. We sent our
letter to our family and friends letting them know the
good news. Maureen and I watched the National Geographic
China's Lost Girls segment AGAIN...I didn't cry this
time when the babies were brought in
I finally took some photos of the
knitting I've been doing, so go take a look. I've also
been obsessed with buying Asian dolls for Ellery....I
did the same thing when I was pregnant with
Maureen...its' a sickness ;)
      |
|
July 6th |
.•:*¨¨*:•.*.•:*¨¨*:•.We
are T
!!!!!.•:*¨¨*:•.*.•:*¨¨*:•. |
|
July 4th |
Fourth of July!!!!!!!!
We
celebrated TWICE with our friends next door, great times
were had by all, though we missed Connor who is at Boy
Scout camp this week. Gina said she was out of the
office on vacation this week but that our dossier
"might" be sent out while she's gone, she'd let me know
next week....fingers crossed!!! |
|
June 30 |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! |
|
June 24 |
 OKAY....the baby's name shall be <drum
roll please>
ELLERY CLARE (CHINESE NAME)
COTTERI'm getting that in
writing from the Boss of Names....I have a name for HIM
too, but I can't really print that here. Our friends
next door wanted us to name her Tara.....Tara
Cotter.....Terra Cotta....yah funny, we didn't get it
for the longest time because they are Scottish and talk
rather funny!! hhahah! |
|
June 23 |
The document should arrive on
Monday...but Gina said they sent out dossiers on
Thursday...WELL OF COURSE THEY DID!! Why in the world
would I begin to think that something might go smoothly
and/or quickly??! Shame on me.
She said it might go out next week....with my birthday
on Friday, I'm BEGGING for a little good luck. |
|
June 22 
|
Wooohooo! Chinese Embassy sent the
authenticated I-171h!! I'll try to get Tina to take it
to the mail since I can't drive yet. Should be getting
closer now!!!!!
Gina is out the office on home visits (wish she could
have done ours, sigh, too bad she is in NY and we are a
million miles to the south. To remind you avid readers
again, Gladney will gather our dossier with several
other families and send it on to China. We will be DTC
and have a little party at Outback Steakhouse (been
planning it for months!) and 2-6 weeks later we will get
a notice from CCAA in China that we are logged in to
their system, the acronym is LID or Log In Date. That
day we will start our month count....at the moment SN
adoptions are taking 6-7 months....We will probably say
7-8 just in case. |
|
June 21 |
Surgery day, I had my tubes tied,
everything went fine. |
|
June 14
|
Shocking! The package was delivered to
the Chinese Embassy today...now we wait for them to
authenticate and return it to us, send to Gladney...then
DTC. I've been doing some
thinking about journaling. I think it might be good for
the baby to have later. Mainly a journal for her to have
as she gets older and wants to see what I was thinking
or doing while waiting....it seems to be common on other
parent's sites...I just don't think anything I have to
say is compelling enough to write down!
I'm reading a book right now
The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans Very
interesting so far... |
June 9
 |
You're probably wondering WHY we haven't
moved forward to send that last document to Gladney,
well that would be because it only made it into the US
Consulate system on June 6th!!
Today they finally sent me an email that it has gone
through their system and they "should" be sending it to
the Chinese Embassy.....yah right.
I suppose I shouldn't be so negative about it....most
people have to wait much longer but at a different time
of the process....theoretically, we could be near
referral time if we hadn't had soooo much trouble
getting stuff done. Part of it is my fault but most of
the drag is getting things authenticated....now I know
why so many adoptive families end up starting their own
agencies....they want to help others in this time of
agony.
I know I've said this several times, but I just want my
little girl home, in our house, surrounded with our love
and care.
Side note: Daddy has put his foot down and I
think we may change her name....now that we've been
calling her Corrine for several months, he decides that
he doesn't like that name, that it doesn't fit with the
baby in his mind. I think I may have to knock him in his
head....soon. |
|
May 22 |
Guess what?? The package I sent to the
Chinese Embassy was supposed to go to the Consulate
first. I didn't realize that, soooooo the Embassy sent it back
to me and I got it all back in the mail. |
|
May 15 |
Ok,
I'm a dumb dumb, I threw that packet into mail to
Gladney BEFORE I had it authenticated!! I can't seem to
get my head on straight. But wait there's more! I ran to
Nashville to have lunch with Joe and we took a notarized
copy of the I-171h to the Sec of State to get it
authenticated then I needed to send it to the Chinese
Embassy for their authentication....well I saw a gal in
the elevator that Joe recognized from one of our
adoption classes....and I was so excited that I lost my
mind and forgot to put the CHECK in the envelope, so I
emailed the Embassy to try to pay them via cc before
they send it back to me denied. They have yet to contact
me back. Good grief. Somebody stop me before I end up in
the looney farm! On a much
better note, I hit the mother lode at Goodwill this
week, I got tons of name brand adorable clothes for
Corrine, some of them to blend with the knitted stuff
I'm in the process of making. Setting myself many
projects is helpful to pass the time. When Joe finally
buys me a new camera, I'll take pics of all my knitting
projects and post them.....someday. |
|
May 12 |
Well gee, let's see what news I have for
you avid readers today, one month since my last entry.
Hmmm, ok, well NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. I have
called USCIS and left three messages and sent them a
formal written request on May 3rd. STILL NOTHING. Wow,
I've never been an anti-government-minded person....but
the idea is growing on me.  I feel like we will never get
her home. Certainly it will not be before Christmas, I'm
now thinking Valentine's Day. I'm thinking she is born
now and waiting on us to come get her, needing us to
come get her. Ugh, I try not to think about it because
it just depresses me.
** N e w s f l a s h
!!** Maureen brought in the mail
today and our I-171h was in it!! I scanned it and we
jumped in the car and drove to the post office. I sent
our complete set of dossier document to Gina at Gladney.
I'm still mad over the timeframe but at least we are
moving ahead again. |
Apr 12
|
 Here
we are nearly in the middle of April and we finally have
all of our documents to the right
place. The
very last one was a court document that was supposed to
take 24 hrs actually took six days. So, there
you go, typical of the way things have been going
lately. According to the latest calculations, it will
take a miracle to have her home before Christmas. Here's
how it could break down:
.................INS - 45 days max to receive the I-171H
.................Dossier to Gladney - 1 week to go over
dossier and send to China
.................Average wait for Special Needs Referral
- 6 months
.................Average wait for Travel Approval - 4 -
6 weeks
Home Date - Sometime in 2009!!......Seriously, I will be
ecstatic if we can be home and not have to travel
before Christmas, but again, I'm continuing to readjust
my expectations.
Just a note: on this day,
unknown to us, on the other side of the world, our
beautiful baby girl was being born to her birth mom.
|
Mar 31
 |
Ok, well now I really have bad news. I
called INS to find out our status and they said they
never got our Homestudy!!! OMG!! I was so angry at that
@$%^& woman and her so called agency!! INCOMPETENT!!
emailed her to find out why she didn't do her job....she
tells me that she sent it on Feb 1st.....that is such a
lie because she didn't even FINISH it until Feb
21st!!!!! So, "I" sent a copy to INS today and they also
told me that they need a certain document that I've
never HEARD of, much less been asked for.....so Monday I
will set about trying to find that and get it to them.
Basically, all this means to you, the reader, is that
this is going to take EVEN LONGER to happen. Our dossier
might not reach China til June!!!
With every step, I have to readjust my
expectations in this process. |
|
Mar 30 |
I made four copies of our dossier
documents at Office Max....yikes it took me over an
hour! |
Mar 22
 |
All our stuff came back from the
Embassy!!!!! But the bad news is that we still do not
have our INS form (I-171 for those of you playing at
home) It has been four weeks since we were fingerprinted
so it should be here within the next two
weeks....HOWEVER their site lists the time at more like
FOUR weeks from now....so sometime this century we
should have this one final document...Good Grief I hate
waiting on OTHER PEOPLE. |
|
Mar 19 |
We head out for a quick vacation in
Chattanooga Aquarium, IMAX, Ruby Falls and have a great
time! |
|
Mar 17 |
HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!!!
|
|
Mar 16 |
YAY!! The US
Consulate sent our paperwork to the Chinese
Embassy...another step closer!!! |
|
Mar 13 |
The kittens are here!!! We have taken in
our neighborhood cat who finally had her little darling
babies and I got to sit with her and help. There are two
girls and two boys, the cutest things you've EVER
seen....want a kitten??
I also
went to get my first round of shots today...Hep A, B,
Measles, & Tetanus. Not fun. |
Mar 2 |
Whoohoooooo!! I
sent off everything to the US consulate and Chinese
Embassy today...one step closer!!! |
|
Feb 28 |
Drove to Gallatin to get that last doc
done. Gave it to Joe and he is going to the Sec of State
for me. |
|
Feb 23-27 |
 I
am dying in bed with the most nasty flu you can ever
think about. If you've ever watched "The Emperor's New
Groove" there is a part in there when Kuzco the llama
decides to try life among llamas and he takes a bite of
grass, then he sticks out his tongue and goes "bleeuuch"
with grass and dirt all stuck to his tongue......THAT is
how I've been feeling...not to mention the one day when
I couldn't get my 104.7 fever down. Dying I tell you,
dying.You know it's bad if I
tell you that I didn't even CARE that I was wasting
precious paperchasing time, not getting that document
certified. UGH. |
|
Feb. 22 |
HOME STUDY FINISHED!!!!
Well. Maureen has a cold and this is a miserably cold
and rainy day but we trudge ahead with our plans to get
fingerprinted today. We got that done with no obvious
problems. We travel over to the Davidson County
Courthouse and got a couple documents re-notarized, then
got that county stuff certified, only to find out that
the notary of one of the documents was NOT licensed in
Davidson County (after she SAID she was). So that kind
of canned our day, because I needed to drive up to
Sumner County before I could go to the Sec of State,
which was going to be our next stop. So we went to lunch
and came home. I was feeling pretty bad most of the day
but I thought it was just a cold coming on. By the time
I got home, I was running a high fever. |
|
Feb. 16
 |
Joe and I go back and forth about special
needs and finally he agrees to really consider the info
I compiled. I'm pretty sure all this time he was under
the impression that I intended to ask for a cleft
affected baby, but I really just want to ask for a cleft
palate (like Joe). So we spent some time talking about
surgeries and etc, read more personal stories. I got a
large packet of great info from
The Cleft
Foundation. In the end, I think he realized how
important I think this is, that I truly believe she is
waiting there for us and how could we chose another when
she is the one for us. So, I emailed Gina and asked her
to change our paperwork and asked 'the other agency' to
change our home study to reflect our special needs
request. We are going to make sure with our insurance
company that all of Corrine's health care will be
covered as we believe it will. Better to be on the safe
side with no surprises. |
Feb. 15
 |
UGH! Finally she gets back to me with the
home study...though all the way through it are mistakes
like spelling our names wrong, calling us the wrong
names, etc. Anyway, AT LEAST it is near complete. I sent
a copy to Gina at Gladney for her to review....boy I
wish Gladney had an office HERE.
|
|
Feb. 14 |
 I did Maureen's Valentine's party at
school, pretty basic stuff, food, games, treat bags, I
read them a cute Hello Kitty book about Valentines. Joe
sent me a lovely vase of flowers and I gave him a box of
Ho-Hos and a Wallace & Grommit cookie. The kids got cute
clothes, goodies and Wallace & Grommit cookies. They're
just CRACKUHS
about CHEEEEZ!!! |
|
Feb. 7 |
Time keeps passing. Well I suppose our
home study is going get finished sometime this century.
I'm so grumpy about it because I have no faith in the
"agency" and its professionalism. I shouldn't really
refer to it at an "agency" because it's just two
licensed women, charging lots of money, making lots of
promises and not accomplishing the tasks. UGH, enough
for my rant. I'm keeping myself
busy by going through all of the kid's baby clothes and
such. Saving some, washing all and getting most ready
for consignment. The house looks like a clothing store
exploded in it. Lots of laundry too, whew, and I
loooooooooooooooove laundry, NOT. It is fun though,
looking through all the baby stuff, brings back so many
memories. I can't help but save several outfits just
because I can't bear to part with them. The special
things that Corrine will be too big to wear are going
into memory boxes for Connor and Maureen....for one day
when I'm a Grandma.
Our refrigerator is not cooling
again, second time in a year. Sears is coming out today
and it is under warranty so hopefully it will be fixed
once and for all.
Yesterday, I sat down and watched BIG
BIRD IN CHINA....it was cute, I was hoping for a little
more history but it was mostly visual...which is fine
for Corrine but I'm more "Discovery Channel" in my need
for knowledge, haha.
 |
Jan. 29
|
  |
|
Jan. 23 |
 Second
Annual Boy Scout Troop 293 CHILI COOKOFF!! Well Connor
didn't win but we had lots of people tell us that his
was their favorite. Our five bean chili is sooo good but
I tell you that I don't care if I eat chili again til
next year!
We also had our final home study meeting and basically
just talked with her for a bit and that was it. She said
she was already finished with two pages of our report. I
hope she is done soon, since we are waiting on that for
any other steps.
We watched some great Discovery shows about the
Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China, and
Beijing's
preparations for the 2008 Olympics. VERY interesting!!
We agreed that it was going go be so neat to see those
new buildings being built while on our trip, then see
them on TV during the Olympics while playing with the
baby. |
|
Jan. 25 |
I drove downtown and picked up Joe at his
new work today and we went to the Post Office to apply
for our passports. We should get them in two to six
weeks. Afterwards we went for a wonderful lunch at a
dive downtown....mmmmm, sushi!! Our favorite!!! |
|
Jan. 24 |
 I went to the Wilson County Courthouse
today to get some of our documents certified...I only
have one more to take there when I get it, really quick
painless process. |
|
Jan. 22 |
Third Homestudy meeting was today, we
just chatted for about an hour, mainly about special
needs. Joe and I are still going back and forth about
it. I FINALLY got my second birth certificate in the
mail!!!! |
|
Jan. 14 |
Second Homestudy meeting was today,
basically just a walk thru of our house and a paperwork
exchange session. |
|
Jan. 4 |
Billed customers today, YAY! I've started
walking with Tina again at the gym, BOO! I talked with
Gina today and everything seems to be going well, I just
have more stuff to copy and send, hahah, seems like
that's all I do
|
|
Jan. 1 |
 Our
day was pretty uneventful, though we slept late after
watching the Twilight Zone marathon til midnight and
toasting with eggnog. We had gone to dinner with our
home study gal for the first of our four meetings. It was
informative but just really a document trading session,
the real ones will begin soon. We put away all of our
Christmas stuff and cleaned the house, which was great
since we had been loafing around like sloths for two
weeks
and we also watched the LONG versions of all of the Lord
of the Rings Trilogy....very good to get to see the cut
portions. |
Ellery's