pictures from taiwan

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Kai seems to be adjusting fairly well.  He is getting much better at sleeping through the night.  Even when he does wake up he understands that it isn't play time but time for sleep.    We are having a hard time getting him to leave the space heaters alone.  He understands but thinks it is a game and can play with them.  Also, the cat is being very tolerant so far of him.  He is not gentle with her.  What he can do with the dog doesn't work as well with the cat.  He is starting to give me kisses and will make eye contact.  At either times I can't get him to look at me.  After his nap today, which wasn't long enough for him, he was cranky and crying still not sure what he wanted.  He refused to look at me.  I finally got him settled down.

He still wants to be picked up all the time.  He loves to throw a tantrum when I am unable to pick him up, like when I am washing my hands.  I am still trying to figure out how to make sure he knows when I microwave something I am not putting it away. 

Connor usually tries to be very helpful and will put Kai in his chair at the dining room table and get him all buckled in. 

Home at last

We made it home.  Kai slept 8 hours of the 10 hour flight.  Which was great in one way, but not so great as he only slept 2 hours last night.  I have to wake him and big brother soon.  I would love to go back to sleep.  Connor has his last soccer game today which I want to go to.  Hopefully, trying to keep Kai up the rest of the day will mean he might sleep tonight.  We shall see.

I realized I never did get any pictures at the airport either going or coming from taiwan.  I usually am good at taking pictures but this time around I wasn't the best at it.  I also realized we forgot a picture of the outside of SLC.  Our oldest son did get a picture of the cab driver who brought us to SLC.

I know there is more I was going to write there was last time and I remember after I logged off.  :(

Hopefully, I will get some pictures loaded it was to slow to upload and post using the netbook I brought to Taiwan.

misc info

At the zoo yesterday some girls stopped to take their picture with Connor.  Then on the MRT this evening two young women got on board and one of them was touching his cheek.  At the night market last night more girls stopped to take a picture with him.  He has had a lot of people noticing him.

Connor has managed to do something his mom has yet to do use a squatty potty.  He had to go poop at the zoo yesterday and used one, I was very surprised.  I managed to find western toilets, some off the handicap ones are.

We fly home tomorrow we leave at 11 p.m. and have to check out of the hotel by 1 p.m.  We have to pick up the chops we had made for kai and connor.  Then maybe head to taipei 101 and take the elevator to top.  Longsham temple and snake alley. 

At the night market yesterday we found some good almond candy and bought two bags.

Finally, we did receive Kai's visa yesterday.  The courier came just before we were leaving for the zoo.  It is amazing how much better my stomach felt after getting the visa.

taipei

We went on a mini tour of northern taiwan today.  The taxi driver wanted to take us to all the tourist spots while we wanted to ocean.  we had to tell him to shorten the trip.  what we saw was cool, just not we had planned.

gotcha day and everything else

After much worry and emails to my slc yahoo group our taxi driver got us to slc in about 10 minute.  Both sets of directions were correct that I had.  We got shown to a smaller room as the "green coach" room was being used by another family.  We have Kai's clothes to Jessica for the nannies to change him into.  We got the blanket and towel the b.m. brought kai to slc in and some other items from her.   Holli, Kai so far refuses to try the gerber banana snacks we brought.

We met with the b.m. who brought kai a gift which we will keep until later.  I am glad she showed up.  She also tried to give us a usb drive of from when kai was with her for 5 months.

kai fell asleep around 8 p.m. last night then woke up at 3 am drank about 3 bottles and refused to go back to sleep.  he was tired and scared.  took a very long long nap, kevin just woke him so he isnt happy.  he ate rice porridge and eggs at breakfast.  as we had ait it was very rushed.

AIT visit was this morning it took 1 1/2 hours.  I didn't realize the officer would ask about b.m.visit and pictures to her plus fees paid to orphanage.  I am so glad my in-laws were here to watch connor during visit as he would not have been able to use his ds.

we are off to ding ding pharmacy after dinner.

Tainan

When I first bring up blogger the screen is in chinese I have to remember where the sign in button is.

We made it to Tainan around 5:30 pm yesterday, Friday.  After a very long taxi ride as it was rush hour and who knows if he went the short or long way we finally made it to the Shangri La, a very nice hotel.  A five star hotel.  We made the mistake of trying to get our son Connor to eat something other than McDonalds which isn't working out well.  He was so exhausted and hungry he ended up thowing up at one of the hotel restaurants.  The staff was wonderful they had our dinner sent up to our room.  We had bought a hamburger which turned out to be a very expensive hamburger which he wouldn't have ate anyway's as the taste was different and I didn't care for the pizza.  I got Connor some french bread.   Kevin went out and got Connor McDonalds and found a food court next to the hotel which the staff hadn't told us about when we asked
about food.  Our new plan of attack is a nice breakfast in the hotel which has many western style choices.  Then chicken nuggets for dinner then we adults can go eat.  Kevin didn't really want to have Connor eat all his dinners at McDonalds but oh well.

We are going to try and check out one of the temples today and perhaps the Jade Market.

Our agency also said the birthmom wants to meet us on Monday.

Taiwan

we finally made it.  We left Seatac at 2 am and arrived in Taipei around 6a.m.  Our  9 1/2 year old only slept about 2 hours of a 12 hour flight.  He is still awake and will not take a nap.  He looks so tired.  It was great going through the airport with my mother in law she requested a wheel chair so we got to go through all the short lines and have someone with us at the Taipei airport.  I didn't even have to worry about getting the hotel address translated the taxi stand knew where the hotel was.

We managed to get an easy card to ride the MRT and took the train to go to Taipei 101.  We decided to take the free shuttle bus from the MRT station to Taipei 101.  We ended up on the wrong shuttle which stopped at a hospital.  We found a taxi to take us back and found a driver that speaks english and drives a small mini van style vehicle.  We took his card in case we want to go on a day trip next week after getting Kai as we can all get in the vehicle.

Tomorrow we head to Tainan for 3 days before getting Kai.  Connor is upset as he wants to get him now.

Ready to leave

Suitcases are packed we are bringing a total of four suitcases, plus a stroller.  We leave for the airport in a few hours.  It is going to be a long wait, we fly out at 2 a.m.  I hope our 9 1/2 year old will fall asleep while we wait at the airport, but most likely he will not.  He is currently annoying me!  Our flying time over is around 12 hours, I am very thankful we have a non-stop flight. 

Kevin had to set his watch for me to take my antibiotic in 24 hours, with the time and day change I am sure I will take it at the wrong time. 

Packing

I figured I should try and download a picture from the new camera my son will be using on the trip to the net book I bought for the trip.  We aren't sure if we are going to take the above suitcase with all of Kai's clothes in it or pack it in our suitcases.  We will be in Taiwan for 5 days with him.  We may also get clothes back from St Lucy's we sent over in a care package. 

One week before leaving

Hotels are booked.  Paying a little more in room charges than I wanted, but oh well.  A cheaper hotel would have been a further walk to the MRT, so I figured centrally located would be better.  Especially as the price difference wasn't that great and if you ended up taking a taxi somewhere, there is your price difference.  We are staying at Caesar Park in Taipei and Shangri La in Tainan. 

I went and requested some Taiwan currency from my bank today, I should get it tomorrow or the next day.  I didn't want to deal with exchanging currency as soon as I got to Taiwan.

New picture

We received an update, last one was in June and a new pictures.  I am a little concerned as he is 1 1/2 pounds over the recommended weight for his car seat.  Hopefully he puts on weight quickly.

Packet of Documents

I spent almost an hour at Kinko's today copying the our last three tax returns.  I tried to make as much double sided as I could.  A lot of paper I get to carry around for the entire trip.

Update

Tickets have been sent Fedex I should receive tomorrow.

The hotel I was going to stay at in Taipei before we leave for Tainan is only available on Thursday not Friday.  I don't know whether to go to Tainan on Friday and have two full days of touring before getting Kai Monday afternoon or choose a different hotel.  I had originally planned on going to Tainan on Saturday. 

Air Plane Tickets Booked

My bank account is feeling poor at the moment.  I book 5 r/t tickets for our trip.

Flying EVA deluxe, non-stop!

Leave WA Wednesday, Nov 3rd arrive Taipei Thursday, Nov 4th at 5 a.m.

Fly home on Friday, Nov 12th arrive 5:30 p.m.

WE HAVE TRAVEL DATES!!

We pick Kai up on November 8th at 1 p.m.

No Update

We still haven't heard anything from Taiwan.  We received our first decree about one month ago.  Still waiting to hear about final and AIT appointment.

Room

My husband finally put the crib together.  I am surprised we were able to find all the hardware for it as it has been in storage for a while.  We are leaving the twin bed up in the room as well incase one of us needs to sleep in the room with Kai. 

Getting ready

We finally have the crib up and my friend gave us some toys her daughter no longer plays with.  I went through what few clothes I have been buying and realized I need to buy some warm winter clothes and pajamas.  Kai is going to come from a very warm 90 degree climate to 50 degrees with lots of rain.

New pictures

We were not expecting new pictures as we received some last month.  Kai is looking at the photo book we sent. 

First Decree

We just heard that we received our first decree back on August 23rd.  The next step is waiting for final decree which we may already have.  Travel could be anywhere from 8 to 13 weeks out.

New pictures

Birthday

It is little Kai's first birthday today!!!

Next care package

I decided to mail another care package end of May or early June for Kai's 1st Birthday. I know we just sent one over with our dossier but feel we should send him a birthday card and other items from us. I am going to try and work on another picture book which includes more family members and places we go. I thought if I was being really really crafty I could try to print pic's on special paper for fabric. Or I may print out a word doc and laminate the pages. I want to label this pictures so they will need to be done in english and chinese.

Nursery Update

We didn't receive any pictures this time around. :(

SLC Update:

He can move his body fast. He can stand up without holding on to someone. When he does not get his ways, he would cry. He can walk two to three steps. He is very independent.

* April 2010: teeth growth : there are four upper front teeth and two lower front teeth

Food: Rice cereal and mashed rice, mashed veggies, mashed egg yolk, porridge, rice crackers, steamed bun and rice with soup

In April weighed 20.5 lbs

Update

Dossier is being sent to Taiwan today along with our care package.

We will also be getting our updated medical reports in the next few days.

Dossier

It still hasn't been sent to Taiwan. Hopefully, Monday I am told. There was a problem with one of the translations. I have decided that I am not very good at waiting.

dossier

Our dossier came back from teco and will hopefully be sent on Thursday to Taiwan.

USCIS Approval

Our USCIS approval came in the mail today! One step closer; the approval/extension was faster than I had thought; about 2 1/2 weeks.

Finished care package

Photo Book - 8 pic's of family and animals
Small quilt Connor and I made
Socks provided by Grandma Theo
2 outfits
stuffed giraffe from the zoo
plush crinkly book for babies that has dogs on it
disposable camera
small tigger from when Connor was a baby

I had to buy new gallon sized bags that had the zipper top and pleated bottom. It is amazing how much more stuff you can stuff into than a normal size gallon bag.

Update

I called our secretary of state (SOS) office today about our paperwork and it was done and sent back over a week ago. Our agency was thinking about our TECO approval which is where our paperwork is. Our paperwork if further along than we thought which is great news. The lady who helped me at our SOS office was very helpful and nice. I was very surprised I didn't get the endless automatic answering machine.


I overnighted our care package it was almost 2 pounds; I managed to shove lots of stuff in it.

Waiting..

It would help if I could count the business days correctly that Olympia has had our paperwork. It has been 18 business days. In the scheme of things it is a short amount of time but it would be nice for the paperwork to actually get to Taiwan in a timely matter. How long do we wait until we call and ask what is up. The agency says to not worry.

Waiting

Still waiting on Olympia to authenticate everything. Just checked the website and due to high volumes and budget cuts (of course) processing times are at 10 days or so. It has been 10 business days.

Meanwhile, I am trying to find pictures of us to send over in the first package in a baby proof (hopefully) album.

Latest picture we received.

Baby Clothes

I had my husband search our garage storage for clothes when our son was little. We only found one box of infant items. Most of which our little boy in Taiwan will have outgrown by the time we get him home. I thought I had saved more items; toys were found. When we moved I probably gave some stuff away. I have one more spot to look in and if I don't find any I get to go shopping! Hopefully, I can get some good deals on stuff.

Care package

I finished the quilt which will be sent in the first care package. We have too many items for one package as we have to fit everything in a gallon ziploc bag. I am planning on trying to send one around his birthday in June.

This is a 20"x20" quilt my son and I are working on to send to SLC for Kai. My son, Connor, picked out the fabrics and I am trying to quickly quilt it, which will be a first for me. I am trying to figure out how to machine quilt for the first time. It will probably would have been quicker to hand quilt it.

Hopefully, I can get this done to send over in the first care package if there is room. We have a lot of stuff to fit into a gallon ziploc bag.

Quilt

Latest Pic's

Monthly Update

We received our monthly update for March yesterday. He has two lower teeth, can stand in the crib holding the sides and can move fast. Please pray that this process goes quickly so he can come home.

Fingerprinting

It took about two hours to get our fingerprints taken today. Last time went much quicker. At least we had books to read and our son was in school.

Adoption tax credit renewed and increased

I found out from reading another blog that the adoption tax credit has been extened to the end of 2011 and increased to $13,170. To bad it couldn't have been extended more than one year.

Dossier paperwork

My husband has one piece of paperwork left then our dossier is finished and can be authenticated. I am not being a very patient person at waiting.

However, I am very excited that the local USCIS office received our paperwork as we received our fingerprint appointment notice. As everything had to be sent to a lockbox in Texas this made me nervous.

Starting out

I figured I should start up our blog so when we do get to Taiwan I know what I am doing. I figured it would be an easy and quick to share our progress with family and friends.

My son decided on the title for the blog. I am not sure how much fun a baby will be for him at first.