I800 here!

Graz and a swift I800 too....
Gerry and I just returned from a little trip to Europe.  We went to Graz, Austria!  I had the opportunity to present at a conference there and dragged my husband along, will post pictures soon!!  The trip was great for us to brush up on traveling in a foreign country where most people do not speak English.  The hotel staff did and a few restaurants but that was about it.  Well, I am not sure if it will help that much but it was  a very enjoyable trip anyhow :)

When I returned last night I found my I800 approval in my stack of mail.  It was estimated at 3-6 weeks but it was approved in less than 2!!  Small panic here as things seem to be moving along very quickly now!!

wo ai ni mommy

www.woanimommy.com
I really cannot wait to see this new film:  http://woainimommy.com. It follows a family's adoption journey for Faith, an 8 year-old "waiting" child in China. Wo ani mommy means "I love you mommy"...in case you wee wondering.

the meaning of Aoli...

the meaning of Aoli....
I have been trying to research "Lili's" real name, Wu Aoli.  First, I really wanted to know if this might be the name given to her by her Chinese birthparents.  Also, I wanted to know the meaning of her first name, as I understand that first names are assigned to have meaning.

So...here is what I have learned.  The orphanage would have assigned the name Wu Aoli.  It is not clear why she would not have kept her original name but I can ask when we go to Shanghai.  I am told that Aoli is considered a very beautiful Chinese first name, meaning deep beauty and I have been told it also means lily.  Lili is a nickname for Aoli also because Aoli is from the two words Ao and Li and typically nicknames in Chinese are formed by repeating the second part of the first name, and so Lili, pronounced Lily.

We will keep Lili's Chinese name Aoli and are giving her an English/Irish/Welsh middle name and then our family name:  Aoli "Lili" Wynne Lynch.

And by the way, I had a really wonderful meeting with the teacher and administrator from the Waldorf school last week.  The teacher is wonderful, seems exceedingly reasonable, patient, and nice.  I was totally prepared to not like her!!  As it turns out, next year there is another new girl coming into the class, adopted from China as a baby.  She happens to also live in Newburyport and is also named Lily!  The class also has a girl who came to the US from Germany in kindergarten (without any English) so it sounds like she might have a nice group to join.  The class would have 10 or 11 kids in it, total.  We agreed that I would come back in the fall once she is home and have the whole family come for a visit to the school to see if it seems like a good fit.  She left me with some summer reading material on Waldorf teaching philosophy :)  I guess I have my homework for the summer.

june 15, 2010: schools out!

bureaucracy...

It is a good thing school is ending this week because it forced me to finish my school search!  This week I started with an 8am meeting at the local elementary school.  I met with the principal and ESL person.  Both were extremely nice and eager to help.  There is one ESL person available in the town.  Apparently we have 15 English Language Learners here in Newburyport.  Who knew?  She would have some one-on-one sessions and also spend some time in the classroom with her.

The principal seemed to have the notion that the district would want to place her in the age appropriate grade.  I had inquired if it might be sensible to place in the 3rd grade vs. 4th.

Pros of placing in 3rd grade:

- Would be less behind with curriculum, particularly important in reading and writing

- Less stressful

- Big curriculum jump in 4th grade

- The public school puts 3rd grade in Lower Elementary school (k-3); 4th is in Upper Elementary with 5th grade which is also the same building as the middle school :(

Pros for 4th grade:

- age appropriate

- The school thinks this is better from a developmental perspective...

- ?

So, one might say that I was disappointed that she would be placed in 4th grade (probably).  They would like to assess her when she comes in.  This would be an oral examination....so I inquired if a translator would be appropriate.  No.  OK, so asking questions in English to someone who only understands Mandarin doesn't seem like a very illuminating process to me but apparently this is required.  

I ran into my neighbor in the hallway.  She is a 3rd grade teacher and offered to have me sit in on one of her classes and to help Lili when she starts school.  That's one more plus on the third grade side of the ledger!

School visits #s 1 & 2: Montesorri & Waldorf

june 12, 2010:  school choice...

Ah, well, this week brought two visits to schools that are located less that 5 minutes away from the college campus where I work.  The Stoneridge Montessori is actually physically attached to our campus so that could not be more convenient.  I had a tour of the school and met with the admissions person and head of school.  The schoolrooms were fascinating, such as they were, set up in the Montessori layout (sans desks) and everything grouped by discipline.  Here in the math section are the beads on which one learns to count and then in the language area the blocks with letters, etc.  Each room has it's own patio access and students have beautiful wood lockers!!  I could live in one of these classrooms, I think...

Anyway, it was a beautiful school, head of school was very eager and willing to help.  They offered to have me come in and sit in the classroom as she gets phased in.  They can create an individual education plan and help map out what extra supports she might need.

Waldorf.  The folks from the Waldorf school in Beverly Farms invited me to come to the end of year ceremony.  I scooted over from work (took exactly 3 minutes!)  The ceremony involved all of the children from the school; each class did a performance and were formally invited to move to the next grade.  The children recited a story, read their original poetry, sang "Do Re Mi" song, and played instruments.  The first grade teacher was leaving and she was given some beautiful flowers and the children gathered around her.  My overall impression of the school is that it is full of love and a celebration of learning and creativity.  Key highlights:  tiny class of ten students, close community, every student learns a stringed instrument (violin or cello) as well as recorder, students all learn german and they offered to teach her english instead, their is another chinese girl in her class of 10 students, the teacher is a (chinese) adoptive parent and offered to come to our house when Lili gets here, you keep the same teacher until grade 8, 3 minutes from my work.  The key reason I am looking at these private schools is that my work is 40 minute from where I live, would be great to have her close by during the day...

Monday is the meeting with the local public school principal and ELL teacher... This is a tough process, as a new parent, and in trying to balance priorities.  Here is how they are weighing out at present:
I would like the school to be:
1) Able to provide her with a safe and caring environment,
2) Interested and happy to bring her into the school,
3) Able to help her learn English,
4) Accepting of differences,
5) Somehow be congruent with my work schedule in terms of hours/location (or free so that I can cut back my work hrs. or not work); I do not want to have to use any or much after school care at first.

Can you think of anything else?

june 07, 2010:  the mailman did not bring my letter and yet...

All week-end I obsessed over the mail, hoping (though we are only on day 47 of waiting) that our LOA will come in.  Well, it did come in, arrived at the agency today!!  It was mailed from Shanghai on Friday.  It is a very fancy, stamped document on Good Paper.  So there it is, one huge milestone closer.  Maybe, just maybe, we can hope for September travel...Perhaps we could even get our travel invitation in late August!  It would be so great to travel before Lili's 10th birthday on September 4th.

so many schools, so few english language learners...

Over the next two weeks I have my school meetings.  In typical ISTJ fashion, I have researched every detail about every school (public, private, charter, you name it) on the north shore of Boston.  As is turns out (and is by no means a surprise), there are not many English Language Learners in my neck of the woods.  However, I have come to understand that there are some very helpful and caring people that have some experience in this area.  Of course, I would LOVE to send her to a bilingual school with a high Asian child population.  This would require relocation....So, next week I meet with the principal and ESL person (the town has one after all, yeah! I would never have guessed it.) of the local elementary school.  This week I meet with a Waldorf School (near my workplace), interesting because of a focus on thematic learning, strong artistic orientation, and for keeping one teacher through primary school.  Also, this school has offered to teach her English while the other kids learn German (only private school to offer this type of thing so far).  I will also meet with a Montessori school this week; this school's campus is attached to the campus of the college where I work.  So, nice location and mixed grades make this Montessori interesting.   We'll see...

Where we are now...

june, 2010:  waiting... We are excited and waiting for our LOA "Letter of Approval" - the next big milestone on our adoption journey!

may 21, 2010:  one step closer... Yeah!! Our I800A approval came in today!  Now that gets sent off to catch up with our dossier, which has already been sent to China.

may 5, 2010:  updated photos...  Our social worker visited the orphanage and got to see Lili at lunch! Lili is in Shanghai.  The orphanage is huge, modern, and has beautiful gardens.  It is considered a model orphanage in China.

april 15, 2010:  x-files experience...  Biometric Fingerprinting at the US Customs and Immigration Service.  This was very much an X-files experience.  Very fun and a vaguely creepy technology factor!  We are now "in the system."

feb. 4, 2010:  Gong Xi Fa Cai! 恭禧發財!...Happy Chinese New Year!!   Today our second package sent to Lili!  All of the Journey of Hope kids were sent a package of presents from their adoptive parents.  Things we sent:  a new (red) outfit, candy to share, photos, a gold coin from her Auntie Cyndi, toys from Auntie Donna.

Our first package was delivered in January.  We sent Lili a photo album and some gifts, including a special blanket.  The orphanage has encouraged us to share photos of us, of her new house, and relatives!

jan. 31, 2010: express from china...  New photos and measurements received to today.  Ask and you shall receive!  

Lili - Journey of Hope

week-end of 09.04.09:  finding lili...  Periodically, I visit the Alliance for Children website .  My niece and Gerry's god-daughter came to our family from Quito through AFC and I follow a children's home in Quito through AFC.  We wanted to adopt through Ecuador but Ecuadorian adoption has been closed to the US for some time.  When I came to the AFC website this time, I noticed a new program.  The agency had recently become a Journey of Hope partner and had been to China to meet a group of 24 children that they would help find families for in the US.

I quickly looked through the photos and profiles and came to one photo that stopped me in my tracks.  Not much later, Gerry logged on to the website and quickly pointed to the same photo of Lili!

july, 2009:  journey of hope camp...  Our adoption agency got to spend the week-end with Lili and all of the Journey of Hope children.  The videos (Lilie made her debut singing the "Coconut Song") and photos are so special to have.

And so the story begins...

In August, 2009, Gerry, Violet (our little 11 pound Jack Russell Terrier), and I made our annual trip to East Machias, ME.  Our visit to the Herring Run Lodge turned out to be not only a cherished summer vacation but also an auspicious beginning to the next chapter of our life.  On the evening before our departure, our good friends, Geoff and Grace, hosted a dinner with another couple and their delightful daughter, who happens to have been adopted from China.  Our evening ended up centered on their stories of traveling to Guangzhou many years earlier to complete the adoption.  It was one of those warm summer evenings and the good company, the candlelight, lovely dinner of local flounder, wine, and tales of travel to China seemed magical.

But we didn't know that just 3 weeks later Gerry and I would actually find our daughter Lili - 8 years old  and in Shanghai.