Another Link in the Chain

Today we received word from our agency that our photopages were approved! Thank goodness! Apparently the photopages are a critical component to the Taiwan dossier. The birthmother and/or birth family usually views the photos and the judge scrutinizes them as part of his/her adoption ruling. Our first set of pages was rejected which caused me no small amount of anxiety. I spent weeks rifling through seven years worth of photos and staging new pictures in order to complete the task. We ended up with a six page document, two pages of photos of our home inside and out and four pages of pictures of our family including friends and extended family. I am enormously relieved to check this off our list. I'll take books to read, reports to write and conferences to go to any day before having photo pages to complete. Hurrah! Celebration is in order. We are one step closer to our beautiful baby girl.

Check Out Our New Look!

We just had a makeover! Rebecca from Uptown Design Studio (formerly Artistree Blog Designs - see link on side bar) helped our blog go from blah to beautiful and all for a small donation 90% of which goes to Rebecca's international adoption fund with the other 10% going to help orphans in China. Thanks Rebecca! BTW Bao Bei (pronounced bough bay) is a term of endearment that Chinese parents use for their babies, indicating the child is SO cherished as to risk spoiling! It is a loving nickname as well as a tongue and cheek reminder not to dote too much : )

Happy Chinese New Year (Two days late)

Happy Year of the Earth Rat!! 2008 should be an auspicious year full of prosperity and good luck. We hope we can celebrate it next year with our new little Taiwanese treasure, probably a little rat. Here is some information about the rat personality:

The rat is remarkably easy to get along with, hard working and thrifty,(Dan will be thrilled!!) she will be generous only to those she is inordinately fond of, so if you get an expensive gift from her, you should certainly rate yourself high in her esteem. However, in spite of her penny-pinching ways, she will never be found wanting for admirers as she emits such fantastic appeal.

A child born in the year of the Rat will be sweet and loving. she may be shy, but inwardly she is fiercely competitive. Often, she resorts to crying to get more attention and usually clings to one or two people with whom she identifies. (clearly she will fit right in with her brothers!)Although she has a charming disposition, she is possessive of parents and friends and jealous of attention given to others.The vivacious Rat will be an avid reader. She will learn the importance of the written word easily and be able to express herself well. Many of the world's greatest writers and historians were born in the year of the Rat.

So that's the rat. Unless we get a referral MUCH sooner than we think that will be our baby. She is suppose to get along great with her Dragon Father and Snake Brother, Luke and I, the Sheep of the family, might have to work a little harder to win her affection, but with our charming personalities, I'm sure we will prevail!