Adventure into Chinatown

Ok, we realize that we weren't in Shanghai, but we are pretty sure we got a little taste of it. I had to keep reminding myself..."Kim, we came here by train not on a plane, and we can't take any of these babies home with us today". Lol! The Jing Fong restaurant was fantastic. The food and show truly brought us closer to Chinese culture. It is so much fun to learn about our daughter's birth country, and it certainly seems to help with the wait. This is the year of the pig, which by Chinese belief, signifies luck to babies born within it. Cheers, to my friends giving birth this year!

Our agency kindly sat us with other couples who are also patiently waiting for their daughters. One couple is just beginning the long wait, which is now approximately 2 years! It sure made our 16-18 month wait not seem so bad. One waiting mom was particularly kind to Tyler and Corey. She talked to them a lot about school and their soon to be baby sister. She really made them feel comfortable and included. Along with their big sis, Tiffany, they are going to be great siblings!

It was a wonderful day, in fact we are heading back next month with Rich's mom and dad. Mom is in need of renewing her green card. She remains a citizen of Ireland as most of her family still resides there. It is home to her and she will often visit for 2-3 months at a time. Well, it just so happens that Federal Plaza (location of green card renewal) is right next door to Chinatown. We are going to bring them to the Jing Fong. Can't wait! Speaking of not being able to wait, grandma and grandpa Davis are worse than us the during this waiting process. They want so much to hold their granddaughter. It will happen! It really will!

Tiffany and Jeremiah...we'll get you there too! So sorry you missed the first trip, but we promise there will a lot fun trips for you to join us and your baby sister.

Happy New Year!

We are heading to Chinatown today to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Our adoption agency invited us to a celebration at the Jing Fong restaurant. Last year at this time we truly believed baby Olivia would be here to experience this with us and we can't even begin to tell you how much we wish she could be here. But we believe she is here in spirit, and in a sense, being in Chinatown might make us feel a little closer to her. We must get ready now as the train heads out of Poughkeepsie at 9:33. We'll tell you all about it when we return, and hopefully add some pics to this site!

While we wait...

Dearest Family and Friends,

Well, here it is...finally a place where friends and family may visit to find out how the adoption of baby Olivia is moving along. We must say that it is moving at a snail's pace, but we are hanging in there. On December 20, 2005 we were approved by China to adopt a healthy baby girl between 7 and 14 months of age. At the time we expected a 6-7 month wait, but a lot happened in the meantime. China experienced a large number of international applicants and baby trafficking issues arose (closing down one of it's larger orphanages), thus creating a massive backlog. Our wait time has increased to 15-16 months since the 12/20/05 approval. We are currently looking at a June 2007 referral (pictures and info), although Rich has high hopes for late April. We would travel 4-6 weeks thereafter and spend 2 weeks in China with our baby daughter before bringing here home.

On February 2, 2007 families up through October 13, 2005 have received their referrals. December's families (ours) are not too far behind, therefore we try to remain very optimistic. Mother's Day would be a beautiful thing, but Father's Day is more realistic and just as wonderful! The wait is very difficult, but we truly believe it is all part of God's plan.

And thank all of you for your kind words and reassurance during this very long wait!