First Care Package to Penny

I received a picture of our first care package for Penny. It's the package put together by redthread in China. In case you were wondering:

The China adoption community has adopted this Chinese proverb as a sort of motto. The proverb is this:
"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,regardless of time, place, or circumstances.The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break."

I can't wait for Penny to lay her head on her new family pillow. Along with the pillow is a camera, that we will get when we go to get her, a bag to put all her goodies in as she gets them from us to take with her, translated letter asking a few questions and telling them to take good care of our little girl until we get there and candies. Our next package we will attempt to send personally or use Ann at redthread to forward it with another package from her. It's best to use 3rd parties as it is your sure way of it getting to your child.

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RedThread

http://www.redthreadchina.com/

So there is this company called Redthread.com and they are based in Guangzhou, China and will deliver care packages to your child. They will also translate a letter for you and they will find out information/pictures for you about your child. There are a few companies like this, but I always liked Redthread as the owner is awesome and truely loves what she does and Americans. LOL And she got this info/pictures in 24 hours for us. So we have these updated photos of Penny. Look at her pig tails!!! I love those high thin China pig tails!!!! So cute. John and I were just staring at her in silence. We love her so much already, it's strange. How is it possible? Ughhhh, so close but yet so far!!!!!
19 Mths old: 30 inches small, foot 4.7 inch, chest 17.32 inches. I figure we'll send her 18 month clothes the whole time until we get her.
Good Night

Referral and PA

I hope your not reading this before I get to call you.......We just received our first approval PA from China last night. I checked before I went to bed as I knew it was Monday AM in China and to my surprise!!!!! And here she is, our long awaited Penny Ray!!!!!!! DOB Jan, 11 2008 Bao xin qin from Bao'An, Shenzhen Province the Center of Social Welfare, Guangdong Welfare Institute of Guangdong province. So we got matched with her technically before we even signed on with the agency we decided to go with this time. It was kind of strange that she was not adopted yet as she is one of the most accepted and minor special needs of cleft lip and cleft palate. Not even that but she's post operative clefts. Her file said she was only post op lip but as I read throughout it seemed as though they had her scheduled for her palate. The coordinator said it was just lip and I had asked to see a picture of her palate so I could give it to our Dr's that here that reviewed her file for us. A few days past and our coordinator found out she did in fact also have her palate repaired. So she will need to go through some touch up corrective ops in the future, but she's healthy aside from all that. Because we have just started our paperwork, we do not plan to be home with her earlier then 9 months from now. And that is us moving seriously fast on everything. Our goal is to have our dossier sent to China in Nov09. Then it's all in the hands of China to process everything else. Also, she's in Guangzhou so we ONLY NEED TO TRAVEL TO ONE PLACE!!!!!!! If you remenber, it was the last leg of our trip. The stop we finally felt relief!!! So we're so happy about that. The Consulate is there so no matter where your child is from, you always end up there. More to come. Welcome to another Cibulski adoption ride.

LOI

LOI
August 02, 2009
hmmmm

I hope you know

Each day I wonder where you are
If you are at peace, with whom you are.
I hope you know, you've made the right decision
The one you made, when you had our child.
I hope you know that we were the ones
The ones you chose, oh how grateful we are.
Each day I look at my child so dear,
I thank god for you, for you I am indebted.
No words can convey, no act can show
I hope you know, we love you so.
-April Cibulski

Me

I wish I was less stubburn sometimes!

Original LID

So as you may know, when we started the China adoption program back 9/05, our original Log In Date "LID" was 03/21/06. Reminder, it's the order of dates in which your dossier was logged in "in line." Originally is was for a baby girl, 6-12 months old named "Penny." Well, that was our name for this baby. But of course we were blessed with Felix when in Oct 2009, when we changed our status to the special needs group and either gender switch. Well, the CCAA just finished placement through 3/14/06. We would have probably been in the next month batch, or the following. I've wondered how I'd feel when our LID was referred. I feel so happy for ALL those waiting parents that made it through this long wait, but I also can't help but feel a little sad too. It's finally over, it's sad but somewhat of a relief. We are so thankful for Felix and we know he was supposed to be with us, but I can't help to think about our little Penny. I know I've said in the past that we consider Penny as more of a driving force that allowed us to find our 2 precious children. So congrats to all you 3/14 people.

What I would do different next time

So I think about how much easier the next trip to China will be. There is so much I know now and so many things I would do differently. This also depends on what province and time of year:
If I am to go to Beijing-ZZ and GZ again:
-I would skip Beijing and just go staight to the Province my child is in. They have to stay in your port city to get adjusted. It is also JAM packed with tours that tires you out for the rest of your trip. Seriously. It was the hardest part of the trip. Not to mention we will have Sami and Felix to drag from plane to plane this time and one less airport would be great.
-Would bring less snacks and more real food. More packaged soups, would make them and put in thermos, regardless of weather. Peanut Butter and jelly-you can buy bread there. You can buy snacks and stuff everywhere. They have 7Elevens there. Would bring some boxed milk because Sami gets loopy on nonorganic milk. Trust me it is so. I would bring a few packs of juice boxes too.
-LESS gifts. First of all, I brought way to many gifts. I think I only needed 6 or 7 and took about 14. They tell you you can buy gifts when your in your port city and throughout the trip.
-I would bring better clothes. That's right, better. There were times I wanted to feel better and I think a cute outfit would have helped.
-Less clothes for summer. In GZ there were launders EVERY where. Don't miss a laundry trip if your somewhere they don't speak english and have to go with your guide. Like in ZZ. Do bring little detergent as you can do socks and undies in hotel-showers have laundry lines for drying.
-Bring less meds. We used NightQ for John the last 2 days as he had a cold. And used Motrin for Sami on planes mostly.
Break-will return
-Oh, last time I brought rain boots and snow boots for the kids. I WON'T do that next time. We had no snow, it was 1st-2nd week Feb and no rain either. I think think leather sneakers are fine adn Walmart has great shoe option too there. We bought so many shoes/sandels in GZ.
-Less summer kids clothes. There are so many great places to buy kids cute clothes in GZ for super cheap. Also mens T-shirts. John says he's not going to bring any t-shirts next time. I got them down to 30 yuan some 25yuan. That's like 3-5 dollars.
-I would buy more Jade for myself. I only got one peice for me at the govt store
-I would shop at Jenny's Place mostly again. She give you best price and usually you can even talk her down a bit more if you buy a lot in one trip. She knows you'll be back and gives you gifts too. She will have her baby next time we go. Oh that's in GZ by the way. Go out back door of WS Hotel, walk across St and down that bock-not to the right just opposite of hotel, Starbucks is on the block to the right, Jenny's is to the left. Don't forget to shop at the Orphan store next to her.
-Oh, I would eat at UBC cafe across the street from the Crowne Plaza in ZZ or maybe it was across from the Holiday Inn.
-Eat when you have the chance because on tour days and paperwork/adoption stuff days, you may not eat but in the AM and then dinner.
What else
-Oooooh, the spa. We went to this spa in GZ. I think....go past Jenny's Place, you'll see an alley, go through it, make a left and it's right there. We got the foot treatment which was an 1 1/2 awesome experience. Full back massage, arms, glutes and of course feet. All while your feet soak in this scolding herbal detox bath. It wa 65 yuan. We gave them 120y I think. It was unbelievable. Te place was really clean and they spoke english. Just like everyone in GZ does.
-I would try to rest more. Instead of facebooking, emailing skyping while kids napped. I would try to nap too.
-would go to Starbucks more. I think I went twice. Once to get the kids a sando which they loved and coffee a couple of times. I forgot I could get iced tea w/ ice there. I'm an ice tea addict so when I realized I could get ice tea with ice at SB I got it-the day before we left.
-I would complain less
-I would have worried less before we traveled
-China is such a cool, safe place. They have everything you'll need of some sort. The people are so nice and love Americans.
-We would have given the local guy whos house we got to hang out in when touring through ZZ, more money. That guy was so nice and humble and kind. He deserved more then what we gave him.
-I would have brought a lot less diapers. You have many chances to get them.
-I'd say the most item that were over packed were:
DIAPERS, GIFTS FOR OFFICIALS and SNACKS.
-Do buy DVD's there. The right kind. I forget which kind but they play just fine and they are about 3$.
-DO bring you portable DVD player. If you don't have on, buy one.
-Do weigh your bags before you leave the US and before you leave to the next city. We were never over weight.

Health Updates

Felix is finally rid of those terrible parasites after 3 treatments. Poor guy. It's obvious he's feeling much different. He's had it for years the Dr. said so he probably didn't even know what feeling health feels like. He's put on 2 lbs in the past 2 weeks. He should start to grow at a more normal pace now that the Giardia is goneZoe. We are looking at scheduling some fun activities for the kids this summer. There are reading camps at our library that are supposed to be really fun. Of course we'll do Lego Land and the Zoo and stuff like that too but.......
Sami's getting so big, she's still taller then Felix. She just got a fever last night and was very clingy, tired and weak. She hasn't had a fever since she's been 6 months old. She is rearely sick so to see her like that is scary. We called the Dr. because of the stinking Swine Flu and she doesn't hae any of the syptoms so she nust just has a ladybug. I gave her a bath because she was shivering, after 20 min of a camomile bath, playing in the tub she felt much better and her fever dropped. She woke this AM early crying "which she never does," her fever was back. She asked for her milkie and fever went away by the time she was done with her milkie. She's eating ok, playing but still she's off a bit. We will probably take her to the Dr any way. I'll see how she is after nappy. I know how my parents must have felt when we were sick. You feel so bad for them. You just want to take their discomfort away, suck it all into you. She's doing so many things on her own now. She picks out her outfits and puts them on, usually over her PJ's and includes a tutu. Her underwear is usually over the outfit. Shoes seems to usually be on the correct feet so.....
She's been pooping in her potty the past few days and always wants to pee, all day long in it. She's been peepeeing in potty for about 4 months now but not as consistent as recently. My little baby got so big so fast. I don't believe it will be 2 years in June. Where did the time go? Oh, it went away waiting for Felix. LOL

It's May

It's May and my Bday is fast approaching!!! All I want is another dossier waiting to be matched. LOL. Call me crazy. I see little faces on waiting child sites and I want them all. Ok, one little face on my agencies site that I really want. She has CP and from her file, it just affects her legs a bit. Other then that, she's a bright, healthy, 5 yr old. We've been researching her condition for 4 weeks now and I'm trying to find out more info like we did about Felix. Through a number of yahoo groups in hopes that someone knows of her. We're learning how this condition affects the whole family. In speaking with other families that have children with her type of CP say it can vary from mild to extreme. So we continue the research. I spread the words about her with one of my friends help from my past travel group. Knowing how private my agency is, I was very careful what info I relayed. My agency got word about me advocating and slaped my on the hand for it with a warning. Oh well. They said we were still fine with them. But it did spike a lot of interest in this little girl. One couple of which I'm emailing with now is very interested. Maybe my connection with her is to find her a home not neccessarily our home. It seems that all the husbands are in the same boat, not ready to take on a 5 yr old or her condition as they immediatly think, mental disabilities. That's so not the case with this very mild and common CP. John doesn't know if he'd be ready in a year which is how long the process would take. But, he did say we could get in line in the Waiting Child program, which also would take about a year, which leads me to believe, he's just not ready for a child with CP. He is afraid her condition will be way worse then what's in her file.

Day to day

We're doing really well as a family. Felix is getting so much healthier. He had 3 different parasites in his body, which are now gone. Another surprise but not really was he had rickets, due to the lack of calcium and sunlight and overall lack of nutrients for 3 years. The level they measure the rickets has dramatically decreased, getting back to the level he should be at. we can just see the difference in his daily play. He's so much stronger, faster and doesn't take as long to recover from falls and stuff. We will be consistently battling his Hepatitis B though. His level is high, which in normal in a child that has been born into it. We cannot treat him yet as his body doesn't even recognize he has it. There are a number of ways to treat it but they are pretty harsh. I told my gym daycare today about his condition. I have finally gotten him to the point that he lets me go workout for 45 min or so as long as Sami doesn't complain, then he gets a little worked up too. They seemed very understanding and willing to deal with it, I might get told I can't bring him anymore one day soon though. We'll see. I've heard about that kind of thing happening. By law you do not need to release that info to daycares or schools. We thought it was our personal responsibility to tell them. As for his intestinal post surgery issues, there seems to be none. As long as he's growing and feeling well, his surgery was done well in Beijing. Sami loves her big brother "most of the time." She asks for him when she wakes. Him and daddy went to get bagels the other AM before she got up. She was all worked up because he wasn't here. It's the first time since 2/2/09 she didn't see him when she got up. Then when he got home, oh she was so excited AND w/ bagels!!!!! Our days are fun filled. We have the annual pass to legoland and our zoos so we frequent there. He loves to eat any where at any time, so just going out to a meal he's all smiles. It's so easy taking them anywhere. Sami is still the only one I have to really worry about. She's all over the place and Felix just listens to everything I say. They fight constently over toys "normal," but for the most part, they have a blast together. Can't wait to go back and do it all over again. No, really I know!!!! Until next time