More Busy

We're hanging in there this week. We did get our visa's issued from China, and I received our passports back this morning. Glad those puppies didn't get lost. Just NEVER use the USPS for anything that valuable. They tend to lose way too many packages. I signed up for a FedEx account on line, which saves a lot of hassle when paying for shipping.
I did manage to finally get a care package together & mailed but didn't include the questions list for the nannies. I'm really regretting that now as we may not get the chance to talk to Kristen's nannies and ask the questions about her care & habits. We had to use the USPS for this one. Sent a flat rate box for around $38.00. We included a camera with her picture taped to it, a blanket, some toys for her and the other kids, and snacks from Harry & David for the nannies. I also included a plastic baby photo album with our pictures labeled. We included the immediate family, grandparents' photos & even had room for a picture of the pugs, Caesar & Louie. I found labels for "Mother" "Grandmother", etc., on APC, & these came in handy. Hopefully Kristen will recognize our faces.
Two biggies down, a few more to go. We haven't received TA (travel approval) yet from China, and someone posted on one of my Yahoo groups that consulate appointments were hard to come by right now. I don't know why, maybe because of the holidays and trade fairs coming up? It's completely up to China to decide when we can come and get our child. If our travel ends up happening in October, then I would have more time to send a 2nd care package. This time I would definitely include questions for the nannies. I assumed we'd have a few minutes to talk to the nannies during the baby "hand-off", but maybe not.

I found the Yahoo groups for not only the region of our daughter's birth, Guangxi, but also one for the kids in her specific orphanage. The information found in these areas is invaluable and everyone has been so helpful with all the dumb questions I have about traveling to Nanning and questions about the orphanage itself. I found some recent pictures of the orphanage and of Pingnan town. Nanning is really interesting looking. People have been giving me tips on where to go and what to see. They say it's more like the older China, less westernized than some of the other bigger cities. Hopefully we'll have a few days to tour it and shop.
The kids previously adopted from this orphanage seem to have adjusted fairly well, with a few exceptions. Some are still struggling with sensory issues. Most are doing well and are bonding and attaching in stages. I have to admit, I was really freaked out at our daughter's age. Not that I didn't get a younger child, but that our child had to stay in the orphanage for many months longer than she should have. It seems there are quite a few children in this orphanage that are adopted out older than 12 months. Most are happy, healthy and bonding, like I said. Parents have said that their girls are strong-willed and neat-freaks. I'm guessing they just don't get the funds to make their kids paper- ready sooner. It's a smaller orphanage and some sources say there are around 30 to 50 kids. Most parents said they felt their children were mostly developmentally on-track when they got them, and seemed well cared for and relatively healthy. Some had skin issues and coughs/colds and maybe some bug bites. One parent said she was also told her daughter wasn't in foster care, but she actually had been for a time. I'm in process of reading almost every post since 2001, so it's keeping me busy, but I'm learning a tremendous amount.
My Mom has also been doing a lot of reading and watching T.V. specials on China. She is so cute. She's so proud of her new granddaughter and wants to learn everything about her country of origin. The day we got our referral, she had some distant relatives over visiting. She proudly showed off Kristen's pictures gushing, "she's so cute!" (that's totally my Mom, BTW), and the woman said, "well... she sure looks Chinese". Apparently that was the nicest thing she could say! Whatever - I'm glad this woman isn't related to me. I don't care what she thinks.

So I continue my quest for knowledge on attachment and sensory disorder issues. Better to be prepared and know what to do than be shocked and sorry.
My son is preparing for China by learning how to draw his numbers in Chinese. Ah - he's pretty good, too!
My husband is doing...um, nothing yet, oh wait - he did bring home a plug adapter for our various electronics coming with us. And he is tasked with searching for plane fares and arranging our tickets when the time comes. That's another biggie.
That's all for now. I'm off to read more group postings.