Waiting For Maya: Our Adoption Journal

New Blog!

2007-05-31T16:29:00.000-06:00

I'm now blogging at www.greathopes.blogspot.com ~ please stop by!

Closing A Chapter

2007-03-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

As Maya's 1 1/2 year birthday draws near, I feel the need to close a chapter.. or rather, open a new one.

We have now fully waded into the sea of paperwork that we can aptly describe as the first trimester of a 'paper' pregnancy. We have, once again, rolled up our pantlegs and set out into the sometimes tumultuous, vast rolling waves of the unknown. Having traveled this direction before, we have a bit more confidence, a tad more emotional armor, and the incredibly comforting knowledge that we are being guided in this new leg of our journey by people who we now call friends. We were fortunate to find adoption agencies that were professional, knowledgable, and compassionate. They held our hands through our journey to Maya, and we are calling in their help once more. Not only were the agencies themselves supportive, but they connected us to other families who were making the same journey. I don't know how we would have done this without these 'online' friends (hopefully we will meet some in person soon!) - as some days are just so darn difficult.. and other days are so joyous that you want to shout from the rooftops.. it is incredibly helpful in maintaining sanity when you have a network of people who understand and have been in your shoes.

Yes, I am feeling very reflective today - of where we are and how we have found ourselves here. One year ago at this time, we had just sent in our massive stack of acceptance paperwork (my arm still aches when I think about it), and were beginning the agonizing wait for the Indian legal processes to complete. We were amazingly lucky that it completed by early June.. because every day was a day of dreaming about our baby girl. Every day felt like a month, and every month like a year.

And here we are today.. a joyful family of four (I just cannot leave Tasha, our fur-baby, out) who are anxiously awaiting the day that they become five. Here I am, a MOM!! which continues to thrill and amaze me! Life has changed in so many ways in the past 9 months.. I just cannot find the appropriate words. Maybe, after years of dealing with infertility - hoping, wishing, praying for a child.. it is the overwhelming, all-encompassing feeling of .. peace.

So, in order to put closure on the first leg of our Forever Family journey and to embark appropriately on the second, I plan to begin a new blog. I will be importing this blog into a professionally-bound book that will remain with our family far into the future.
Thanks to all of you who have followed our story.. thanks so much for your comments, your encouragement, your kind words. I hope that all of you who are currently awaiting your own little angel will be blessed with that child in the very near future. Please feel free to follow me to my new blog - I'll post the link on this blog soon, so check back.
"The most important things in life really are family, friends, honesty, beauty, and love and the journey really does matter more than the destination-lessons human beings can evidently learn over and over and never tire of. "

These Feet Were Made For Walking!

2007-03-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Maya took her first REAL steps today!! She has taken one or one and a half steps in the past couple of weeks, but today she finally took two small walks that included several steps at once! Go baby go!

Ode To A Shoe

2007-02-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

Oh shoe of mine,
For you i pine..
My foot in you i tuck.
Oh shoe of mine, You taste divine!
Why does my mom say 'yuck!'?

It's Official! Happy Adoption Day!!

2007-01-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Adoption Day! January 11th, 2007

Oh, who would have guessed, who could have seen
Who could have possibly known
All these roads we have traveled, the places we've been
Would have finally taken us home
So here's to you, three cheers to you
Let's shout it, "Hip, hip, hip, hooray!"
For, out of a world so tattered and torn,
You came to our house on that wonderful morn
And all of a sudden this family was born
Oh, happy Adoption Day!
There are those who think families happen by chance
A mystery their whole life through
But we had a voice and we had a choice
We were working and waiting for you
So here's to you, three cheers to you
Let's shout it, "Hip, hip, hip, hooray!"
For, out of a world so tattered and torn,
You came to our house on that wonderful morn
And all of a sudden this family was born
Oh, happy Adoption Day!

No matter the name and no matter the age
No matter how you came to be
No matter the skin, we are all of us kin
We are all of us one family
So here's to you and three cheers to you
Let's shout it, "Hip, hip, hip, hooray!"
For, out of a world so tattered and torn,
You came to our house on that wonderful morn
And all of a sudden this family was born
Oh, happy Adoption Day!
©1992 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP)

Yay! Today was Maya's Adoption Day! The photos above show us at the courthouse. A couple of reps from our local adoption agency joined us in support (Linda and Becky). The 3rd photo shows our family with Linda, who was our main rep throughout our process.
Maya's hearing was at 9:15 am. The judge asked us a few questions such as why do we wish to adopt this child (we each had to give an answer), and do we understand the financial, etc. obligations that we are legally agreeing to for life. After several 'I do's (many more than our marriage ceremony!), we were granted custody of our baby and Maya was given her legal name and US citizenship. Maya made sure that she was a part of the hearing by being extremely vocal the entire time! It was being taped, so I hope that the judge's microphone picked up more sound than ours!
Though we became a forever family on June 16th, 2006, our sweet little angel is legally our child now! Maya Jasmine Rekha is a United States citizen today! It is a happy day that we will continue to celebrate every year. We are having a small reception this evening, so some of our close friends can join us in celebrating and kicking off new family traditions. To celebrate, we are having an Indian dinner, cake, and will be watching Maya's Adoption Story DVD. I can't believe that our {first} adoption journey has finally come to a close. Truly a special day.
{btw, we mailed in our application to begin our 2nd adoption journey today!!! Stay tuned.}

Happy Holidays!!

2006-12-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

To view our electronic holiday greeting card, click the link below. For some, the link will not display correctly, but clicking the 'x' should take you to our card!
We wish all of you a healthy, peaceful, and joyous holiday season!

Our First Family Portraits :)

2006-11-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

A HUGE Thank You to my good friend Tina @ www.tmphotography.net for capturing our family so beautifully!!

Thanksgiving Blessings

2006-11-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Wow.. It has been sooo long! Crazy, crazy. Let's start with some updates:
* Today is a particularly happy day for many adoptive families who are working through the agency that we used to adopt thru India. There are 15 families who have been waiting for months for their legals to be processed. Just after we brought Maya home, the judge in Kolkata changed twice, and neither of the new judges has been inclined to sign any adoption papers. ??!! Anyhow, many people have been working in Kolkata to get this moved to a higher court and get something done (since June!) and FINALLY!! the first family had their papers signed today. Praise God! We could not be happier for them. The other families have been given dates for their cases, so things are looking very positive.
I don't know what we would do if we had been part of this delay. We thank God every day that we were able to bring Maya home to her Forever Family when we did. We have a LOT to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!!
* Sad news, however.. the adoption has fallen thru for the twin girls who were in the crib next to Maya in the orphanage. We are friends with the couple who was attempting to adopt them - they live in our town. We are all devastated by this news, but trust that what is meant to be will be. Not that I would be feeling too into that idea right now if I were them.. but they seem to be adjusting fairly well. Very, very, very sad.

In happier news..
* Maya is a joy, as always. Still the very happy, sweet baby. I'm attaching a photo, and she is as sweet as she looks. :) She is still not walking, but we are getting closer every day. I think she finally has the strength to walk, but is mustering up the courage now. She walks while holding our hands - sometimes only one hand/finger. And good god the girl can crawl like a monkey!! She FLIES! It is scary to think of how things will be once she is on 2 feet... She has also just learned how to climb the stairs, and now we finally need that gate!
Her favorite toy: At Halloween, I had purchased a little bell that looked like a jack-o-lantern. She loooved it! So now that we are approaching Xmas, she has a new Xmas bell! Actually it is a small set of bells. She could not be happier. 'Beh! Beh! Beh!' :))) The bell has definately out-ranked any toy so far.
New words: She has, of course, been saying 'Mama' and 'Dada' for a few months. She started saying 'Dog' a couple months ago also, but it is more understandable now. She is also calling the dog by her name - Tasha. Sounds like 'Tas'. She also is completely in love with the dog. Loves to chase her, grab her tongue, pet her (though it is normally more like beating on her!), kiss her. So cute!! ..of course, Tasha does not always agree.. but they are pretty good buddies now. Tasha is very excited when the goldfish crackers or the cheerios make an appearance, that's for sure!
Maya also repeats a lot of words now. She is very into mimicing - facial expressions, words, sounds, movements. She can make a snake sound .. loves to do that and is just learning that not ALL animals make that sound! She is starting to roar and meow. Hopefully more to come, as that is just too darn cute! :)
* Xmas decoration has already begun at our house! I found out in the past couple of months that I need to have major surgery, which is scheduled for 12/11. Very unfortunate that it is so close to Xmas, as I LUV the holidays!! ..But hey, nothing we can do about it, so just going to make the best of it. Tonite we are planning to get out the tree!!
Unfortunately, I'll still be in serious recovery-mode when Maya's formal adoption date comes up - Dec 21st. We are not changing it though.. I'll be there come hell or high water (might just need to be wheeled in but whatever)!!!!!!! This is a very special day for our family, and nothing is going to impact it. That girl is going to legally become our daughter in 2006 no matter what!
I'll try to upload some additional photos as the holidays approach. I'm sure I will have nothing better to do when stuck at home recovering for weeks, so keep checking back!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Dirt Pies

2006-09-29T16:20:00.000-06:00

Today, daddy was left in charge of baby for a few moments outside.
Today, Maya ate a big handful of dirt.
Correlation??
;)

Our First Conversation

2006-09-28T17:50:00.000-06:00

It went like this...
Mom: Maya, would you like some milk? (then I did the sign for milk)
Maya: NANANANANANA (then SHE did the sign for milk)
What a shock that she was telling me NO! Haha! This was the first time that she ever did that sign for me - yay! I guess the past 3 months of signing may be paying off. She also did the 'More' sign for me a couple days ago.
Not too much to update, though the girl just gets cuter by the day! Her nanny told me that when they leave the house and return now, Maya will always yell out 'Mama-Mama' when she gets inside. Ack! How cute! She is also very into covering her face with her hands and playing Peek-a-Boo. Unfortunately, she enjoys doing this while she is eating so that food cannot get past her hands and into her lips. Ahh.. the challenges of feeding a toddler! She also enjoys clapping these days, and LOVES to quickly clap and hit the spoon as it is on its way into her mouth. Argh!
My sister came to visit last weekend. We took a trip up into the mountains - to Breckenridge - for the night. Stayed at an AMAZING place (condos and townhomes) called Mountain Thunder Lodge. I would very highly recommend it to anyone visiting Breck. I found it from reviews on Tripadvisor.com - which is one of my all-time fav websites. Anyhow, I originally wanted to visit the area to see fall colors - the Aspens are changing. Last year we went to Telluride at this time and I got some amazing photos. This year it turned out that we saw fall colors with snow - as ~2' of snow fell the day prior! Very cool actually. It was gorgeous. Not a lot of aspen groves in the Breck area though... so next year we'll stick with Telluride.
Maya encountered snow for the first time, and wanted nothing to do with it. I have a photo actually - I will attach it to this post as soon as I can. I was hoping for cute snowbunny photos so I could create a Xmas card. Guess not!!
Tomorrow is our 2nd post-placement interview. Our court date is set for December 21st. How exciting! :)

In Honor of Maya's Birthmother

2006-09-15T13:08:00.000-06:00

Upon the first birthday of our daughter, we wanted to post this message in honor of Maya's birthmother. We will never forget, and are forever grateful to, the person who has given us this most precious gift and changed our lives forever. We love and honor you for what you have given us, and promise a lifetime of love to our child.
{The picture is of jewelry symbolizing the 'Adoption Triangle' - one side for the adoptee, one for the adoptive family, and one for the birthparents - all bound together in love}
The words to the song 'From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Yours' by Micheal McLean were drawn from the writings of a young birthmother. I think it is important to always remember that I am not the only mother that is loving Maya every day - and I will ensure that Maya always understands this. I cannot imagine the pain that she feels, but I pray that she knows and finds comfort in the fact that Maya is LOVED.

From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Yours

So many wrong decisions in my past, I'm not quite sure
If I can ever hope to trust my judgement anymore.
But lately I've been thinking,
Cause it's all I've had to do.
And in my heart I feel that I
Should give this child to you.
And maybe, you could tell your baby,
When you love her so, that she's been loved before, By someone, who delivered your one,
From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

If you choose to tell her,
If she wants to know,
How the one who gave her life
Could bear to let her go.
Just tell her there were sleepless nights,
I prayed and paced the floors,
And knew the only peace I'd find,
Was if this child was yours.

And maybe, you could tell your baby,
When you love her so, that she's been loved before,
By someone, who delivered your one,
From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

This may not be the answer,
For another girl like me.
But I'm not on a soapbox,
Saying how we all should be.
I'm just trusting in my feelings,
And I'm trusting God above,
And I'm trusting you can give this baby
Both her mothers' love.
And maybe, you could tell your baby,
When you love her so, that she's been loved before,
By someone, who delivered your one,
From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

Maya's 1st Birthday!!!

2006-09-14T12:13:00.000-06:00

Saturday, September 9th, was Maya's very 1st Birthday!! We celebrated by throwing a small party at our home. We have another larger party planned in October - with family and friends back in my hometown in Indiana.
It was a fun little gathering of local friends this past weekend (kind of a 'cupcakes and cocktails' party!). Maya LOVED her first taste of sugar! Scary! Click the filmloop below to view a few pics from the occasion. :)
I can't believe our baby is already 1 year old! Happy Birthday sweetie!!!

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The Official Announcment

2006-09-06T10:18:00.000-06:00

Maya's formal announcement. {last name modified for privacy}
The back of the card reads:

You are the poem I dreamed of writing,
The masterpiece I longed to paint...
You are the shining star I reached for
In my ever-hopeful quest for life fulfilled.
You are MY CHILD...
Now with all things I am blessed.
~Author Unknown~

Don't Be Fooled!

2006-09-06T09:53:00.003-06:00

..by that angelic, innocent smile! She is probably smiling b/c she recently discovered that she can spit unwanted foods into our faces! We had not guessed that WE would be the ones needing the bib during her meals! This has been an exciting and most hilarious discovery for Maya. Don't even TRY to push peas past those lips! I find that it takes longer to clean the food out of MY hair after her meals now.

Our baby turns 1 year old this Saturday! She now weighs 14.5 lbs and is 26.5". She has officially gained 3 lbs and 1 inch since we picked her up in India. Needless to say, she has a great appetite and is very healthy!
We're getting ready for phase I of her birthday party. She is having a little party-bbq on Saturday with some local friends. She will have another big party in October when we travel back to the midwest. Hopefully she will meet all of her aunties/uncles/cousins/great-grandparents at that party! Can't wait!
Have I mentioned that she now finally says 'Mama'? Nothing beats the feeling of waking up and hearing her calling 'mama-mama' in the mornings!!

Special Moments

2006-08-27T17:35:00.000-06:00

August 12th
Ms. Anju Roy, Director of the Society for the Rehabilitation of Children in Kolkata, India {- aka - the orphanage where Maya spent her first 9 months} - visits Maya at our home! Anju was in the USA for Dillon International's India Camp, and happened to make a stop to visit a friend of hers in a city close to us before heading back to India.
We are sure that Maya recognized Anju - especially after Anju spoke to her in Bengali for a few moments, using her orphanage name 'Ruprekha'. Truly a special day!

Friday, August 25th
Maya pulls herself up for the first (2nd, 3rd, ... 30th..) time!
Maya also uttered a first word on this day! Well, she has been saying 'Da Da' all the time recently, so other than that.. Her LeapFrog Learning Table said 'Bye Bye', and she repeated it EXACTLY - including the sing-song tone.
Ahh.. a very proud mommy day! Unfortunately daddy was still traveling home, so he missed it. Luckily I was able to catch her first 'pull-up' on videotape. Whoohoo!

Ah! NOW I understand the lead paint issues! And to think back on how many times I have required tenants to sign the 'Lead Paint Disclosure' forms, and laughingly told them to just 'please don't lick the walls'.

A new use for the exer-saucer!

Well, finally today, we found the source of Maya's recent crabbiness and sleepless nights. We knew she must be cutting a tooth, but we could not see or feel anything coming through. Today she finally cut a teeny portion of a top lateral incisor!! What amuses me endlessly is that by Halloween, it should nicely resemble a fang!! For all of you who know how much I enjoy this upcoming holiday (don't be frightened - I'm sure my obsession {and expensive dental issues} can be traced back to the immense sugary joys of trick-or-treating!!) - it is quite appropriate. 2 teeth on the bottom and a top fang. Fabulous!!
For those of you who are family and local friends - here or in my hometown: Maya's first birthday is quickly approaching! We will be holding a party for her out west on her actual birthday (a Saturday - bonus!), and another party in Indiana on October 14th. If you are family and thinking about traveling out to join us - we will be sending you an invite to the 10/14 party. Please start planning now - Maya would love to see everyone!!!

Photos! Photos! Photos!

2006-08-18T11:44:00.000-06:00

It seems that my photo uploading issues were related to my browser. Sooo.. here they are! A few photos from our first photo shoot. Poor baby.. having a mom who is a professional photographer must be annoying!
Having a captive subject who is so adorable is very fun for mom though!

For all of our family members out there who are anxiously awaiting copies of the photos taken when you visited - that is my next priority! Should be done today or tomorrow. No nanny today, so it is dependent on this wild little monster who doesn't like to nap!

Looking innocent, but on the prowl for non-baby-proofed cabinets!!

Yes, We Are Still Alive...

2006-08-17T21:58:00.000-06:00

Ok - Seems to be an issue with Blogger tonite, and I am not able to upload any photos. I've been trying for 30 minutes! I give up. Will try again tomorrow. Stay tuned!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wow - time definately flies by when you are taking care of a baby, working 2 part-time jobs, and trying to manage your life while your husband travels 4 days/week!!

Yes, we are still alive over here, and doing great! Just busy. Priorities have shifted, and blog updates fell to the bottom of the list (just below 'paying bills' and just above 'handling tenant complaints' HAHA!...oh wait, do I have any tenants reading this? ...scratch that last comment...). But happy news - we have hired a part-time nanny, and this was her first week! YAYAYAYAYAY! After only 1 1/2 days of her working, things seem to have already fallen back into place. My house is super-clean (Maya naps for 2 hours in the mornings and she cleans during this time!), my pile of paperwork is down from 2' to 2", I'm no longer bleary-eyed by 7 pm, and best of all - Maya loves her!

Sooo - updates from the past 6 (!! can it really be 6 ?? No wonder I am getting so many complaints!!) weeks of blog-free living:

* Maya is AMAZING! We love her more every day, if that is in any way possible. She has attached very well to us, and us to her, and it is difficult to remember life before she was home with us!

* She is very healthy. Still too small and we are trying to bulk her up, but no major health issues. We had a slight scare when several of her first tests came back abnormal - but the 2nd round proved that there are no issues. Must have been travel trauma, etc.

* Have I mentioned that she crawls? Ok that is an understatement. She is FAST! Turn around for 2 seconds and she disappears. Thus the bleary-eyes and total exhaustion every day! We still need to work on baby-proofing. Every time I think we are caught up, she finds something new! And to think that she could be walking soon... ACK!

* She is not yet pulling herself up - though she did do it once. She will stand and take small steps if you pull her up and hold her hands. Still quite shaky though.

* We started Gymboree last week. I can see how behind she is in motor skills and some language skills. Hopefully she will become more adventurous and we can take advantage of what Gymboree has to offer. She seems to enjoy sitting on the mat with her thumb in her mouth while the other moms tell her how cute she is. :) She does love the parachute games... and she did try to claw out another baby's eye the other day. She's coming along!

So that is my update for today. I know that I have more to say, and probably could be much more interesting.. but it is 10:45 pm and I'm dead. The day began at 5 am, and I think I'm ready for it to end.
I did finally finish the baby announcements, and will be mailing one to all of you that are on my mailing list. I'll post the electronic version on the blog at a later date.

Watch for photos tomorrow.

Swept Away

2006-07-04T15:57:00.000-06:00

We would say your name
A hundred times a day
Like speaking words in faith

And with a mixture of
Hope and fear and trust
We prayed for strength to wait

And dreamed of how we'd feel the day
You'd be in our arms and...

Swept Away
Caught up in our love
Home to stay
You'll never be alone
You'll be amazed
At how much you are loved
Life will never be the same
Once you're swept away

What once was just a dream
Is reaching up for me
I hold her in my arms

Lord, thank you for the way
You held her all those days
That we had to be apart

And now I see the impossible dream
Is holding me and I'm...

Swept away
Caught up in your love
Home to stay
I'll never be alone
And I'm amazed
At how much I am loved
My life will never be the same
I've been swept away
~Geoff Moore - From the Album "A Beautiful Sound"

"This looks like a fun toy..."

"..but will it pass the all-important TASTE TEST??"

"..WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Hm.. like adjusting to a new sister isn't enough!!

Maya seems to be taking after her parents (as well as her Uncle Mike) already with the laptop!!

... though she needs to work on her endurance!

Recovery Mode

2006-06-27T16:57:00.000-06:00

Welcome, Maya, to the United States of America!

It was a long journey, but we made it home. :) Maya was quite the little trooper... I think she handled the flights better than Mom and Dad. Of course, she had a bassinet. ...I sure could have used one!
People keep asking me to post more photos, so here are a few from the trip home!
The 'Welcome' photo speaks for itself. :) The photo of Maya and I in the airport terminal is when we disembarked in Los Angeles. Maya's first step into the USA! Sooo incredibly happy to be in the US again! Very travel-weary though, after 33:40 hours of our journey.
The photo of Maya and I looking a little less frumpled :) was taken in our hotel room prior to our flight home from LA on Sunday morning. Maya was looking particularly adorable in her pink dress and little white sweater. The cute factor, btw, is very helpful when dealing with security personnel and immigration officials in all airports in all countries. :))
The photo of Ajay with Maya was taken in an airport restaurant where we ate breakfast in LA before embarking on our last leg of our journey home. This was Maya's first restaurant experience.. though she seemed oblivious to everything except her cheerios and Aj's bottle of Coke.
The following photo was a nice document of Maya's feelings about her first car seat experience!
Krista and Shannon, two little girls who live next door, decorated our house for us! It was so sweet and such a nice way to welcome Maya to her new home!
So now, 3 days later, we find ourselves in recovery mode. Maya has had some reaction to the travel and trauma she has been through. Her digestive system is just not functioning well, and she is horribly congested. We took her to the pediatrician yesterday, and she rec'd several vaccinations. I had no idea how traumatic that is for babies!! She cried all the way home (30 minutes). She then became sick from the shots - and has been running a temp of ~104 all day today. Btw - she only weighed in at 12 1/2 lbs. She is now on a hi-caloric diet.
We have been officially broken in as new parents!! In the past several hours, I have been vomited on, peed on, had many drippy nose wipes on various parts of my body, been chewed on, sneezed on, cried on, and intensely snuggled.
And I love every minute of it, as does Aj!! :) Of course, it would be better if Maya was healthy and we had managed to get more than 4 hours of sleep over the past 2 nights combined (not saying we enjoy parenting a sick baby - yipes)... but we expected and looked forward to this for a very long time!

Happy things:
* Aj figuring out that if you occasionally suck on the ears of a baby while a plane is descending, it clears the ears. Yes, sounds bizarre - but he figured that out from his scuba diving training. AND IT WORKED!!!!! Just a quick suck in on each side every now and then. I would not have believed it, but she started crying once and he did it - and she immediately turned into smiley happy baby.
* Maya turning, reaching out and whining to me when the pediatrician approached her yesterday. What a great sign that she is attaching well! Much better than expected.. even the doctor was shocked.
* Maya's crazy curly hair that I have no idea what to do with but do NOT want to cut! Looking for hair accessories is high on my list of things to do.
* Maya and our dog, Tasha, seem to be getting along so far. Tasha isn't sure what to think, and is a little put-out, but she rather enjoys the constant falling cheerios from the hi-chair. :)
* Watching Aj being an absolutely amazing dad! Yes, she is already a daddy's girl.
* Baby snuggles :)
* Being HOME together!!

Heading Home Soon!

2006-06-22T03:45:00.000-06:00

Our adventure in India is coming to a close! Today, Thursday, is our last full day in New Delhi. Tomorrow begins the looong journey home. We do not leave, however until 11 pm, so I guess we actually have another day. Our hotel is allowing us to stay in our room until 6 pm, and then hang out in the club lounge until 8 pm.

We will fly from Delhi to Singapore, and have a 10 hour layover. Unfortunately, we did not secure a hotel room (again - argh!!) and will have a long layover in the transit lounge with an infant.

We arrive in the U.S. on Saturday evening, spend the night in LA, and fly from LA to home on Sunday morning.

Phew!

Luckily I think that we are all somewhat healthy now. Ajay was sick for a couple of days and I was very sick with a stomach ailment yesterday. Hopefully we will all embark on our journey in good health.

A baby update:

Maya is now sitting up on her own! Yay! She is also beginning to crawl a little bit. Not much yet, thank god! We must child-proof when we get home!

She is sooo wiggly and full of energy now - I have no idea how she will handle this airplane ride. We plan to have a little squealing monkey climbing all over us for 22 hrs. Maybe we can just set her in the aisle and she can roll up and down it for a few hours!

Maya has also discovered her toes, and one of her new greatest joys in life is to chew on them.

She is very vocal/gabby - which should excite the poor 3rd person in our row on the flights home (much less the rest of the cabin)! It looks like all the legs on the flights home are sold-out, so some poor person will be stuck with us. Let's hope they are tolerant and have ear-plugs. :)

One of Maya's new favorite games is 'peek-a-boo with Daddy'. You can see the photo above.

Well, no matter how long and painful the journey home will be, we are very happy to be making it! 22 hours of flight time, 33:40 hours of travel time. Owch! But we are all ready to get back to a normal schedule and the comforts of home (not to mention the steaks that our fabulous neighbors have waiting for us - we love you guys!!).

Visa!

2006-06-20T05:49:00.000-06:00

Today we finished up at the Embassy! We had our visa interview this morning - ending with the official 'raise your right hand' pledges, and congratulations from the Embassy workers. It doesn't sound like much, but it did feel very special. After spending hours upon hours waiting in an extremely crowded room with so many other Indians (who, btw, were dressed to impress at their visa appointments) who were hoping/praying to get a visa to enter the U.S., it was a happy moment and we were thankful.
We returned to the Embassy late this afternoon to pick up the coveted 'package' which will allow us to take Maya home with us. Yay!! I think Maya might miss those security guards who gave her so much attention... the little diva!

Last night, there were no 'sad crying' outbursts.. thankfully. Maya has also awoken this morning and from her naps today with a big smile on her face! This was a very good day for her. We are finding that she only seriously becomes upset when she is hungry. And good lord - don't stand in the way of the food!! For such a teeny little thing, she can somehow throw herself at the bottle or the cereal bowl with the force of a WWF wrestler!
Her appetite increases by the hour I believe. She now needs a bottle of formula and a bowl of cereal 3x/day. I know that is normal - but that sure wasn't what she was getting or asking for a few days ago. Plus she gets several snacks in b/t meals.. I don't think she goes 15 minutes without ingesting some type of food when she is awake!
But that is a great thing - the girl needs to bulk up a bit! We are trying to gradually up her food intake, as we have to deal with the tummy issues that come later. Those also seem to be improving quite a bit.
The orphanage gave us Nestogen 2 formula for Maya. We had the driver take us to many places today, looking for more formula. Unfortunately, we cannot find it anywhere. We brought some Nestle Good Start with us, and we are now easing her onto that formula. We don't have much Nestogen left, so I hope she adjusts quickly. We had hoped to wait until we returned home and could ease her into a different formula such as Enfamil. We will probably do that anyhow, as I have heard that Enfamil is far superior to the Nestle products. Maya's pediatrician also recommended Enfamil.

A few items to mention to families who might be traveling soon to pick up their child, and have lots of questions:
* In Delhi, you can wear whatever you are comfortable wearing. I would suggest not wearing clothing that shows much skin (long pants and shirts that do not have low necklines would be fine).. but even the Indian women here wear pants and shorter skirts. This also held true at our Kolkata hotel - and on the main streets of Kolkata.
I actually wore a salwar kameez in the Hyatt/Delhi and almost felt uncomfortable b/c it was filled with western people - none who were wearing Indian clothing. That was odd.
The Marriott in Delhi, however, seemed to have more of an Indian clientelle, and there were few westerners. At the Marriott, I felt odd wearing western clothing.
The Sheraton in Kolkata - I was fine either way. And WOW - if you get a chance to stay at that hotel, do it!! The entire experience was 5-star.
* If you journey outside Delhi to site-see, etc - you should wear more traditional clothing (at least long skirts). Not that it would be much of a problem if you did not - as i did see a few women who were dressed in western clothing (including shorts) - but you will SERIOUSLY stand out. You want to blend in as much as possible as you will be a target to beggars. If I didn't mention it before - we visited one touristy area in Agra and I was MOBBED by beggars. The women and children swarmed around me - grabbing my arms and clothing. The men followed closely behind us in groups - staring and staring. That was the only experience I have had in India that made me feel VERY uncomfortable. I was, however, the only white person that I saw among hundreds and hundreds of Indians that day.
Plus, it just seems wrong to blatantly disregard the culture of the people you are visiting.
* Sandals are the norm... flip-flops are fine if you aren't going someplace that is dressy (such as the Embassy, out to dinner, etc).

Well, we are off to the club room for free drinx and appetizers. :) Yay for Aj's hotel points! The club rooms at all of these hotels are wonderful. The Hyatt in Delhi has a particularly nice pool area, and the club room overlooks this. Maya just awoke from another nap and is ready to go flirt with everyone she meets!
Much as I'm loving the Indian food I'm eating here... I have not eaten any meat since we arrived (somehow seeing men riding bicycles with ~100 dead chickens hanging off the back end of them in 110-degree weather ended my need for meat in this country). I am dying to get home and have a big grilled steak!!!! Red-meat withdrawal. Where is Tony's Market when you need them...

First Airplane Ride!

2006-06-19T07:42:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, we flew from Kolkata back to New Delhi. Maya enjoyed her plane ride - once she moved past the shock of the loud noise at take-off. I didn't think that her big eyes could get any bigger... but I was wrong! She took it in stride though, and soon settled into the middle seat (thank you to the airline personnel for blocking that seat for us!) and took a nice long nap.
Though she did not seem to have any issues on the plane, I think that the stress of the trip plus possibly issues with her ears not clearing - led to a cranky baby for the remainder of the day. She refused to drink or suck anything during the plane's landing, and I'm sure this was not a good thing. For once she refused even her thumb!
The remainder of Sunday was spent being cranky and needing a lot of attention. Luckily, her new parents were more than happy to give her all the attention she could handle! {Unfortunately, Daddy caught some type of cold this day and has been quite ill}

A side-note: Saturday night was a very difficult one for Maya. She slept thru the night, but she had at least 20 different crying-jags in her sleep. These were very sad cries. We were usually able to console her by patting her back and talking quietly to her. A couple of times we had to pick her up for a minute and then put her back down.
Sunday night - not so bad. Only 2 or 3 of these. She also awakens from daytime naps with these nightmares. You can watch her and see it coming - she is having a bad dream, gets a sad look, then it gets worse, she starts crying in her sleep and then she has to be picked up and consoled. Hopefully these don't last too long - they are so sad. :((

Today was a happier-baby day, though it was the Embassy day. What a horridly tiring day. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated - having heard stories from other people which made me nervous... but was just a looong looong day.

We arrived at the Embassy at 8 am to find that our area did not open until 8:30, and the people we needed were not there until 10 am. So we stood in line (it was early and shaded, so not hot) and listened to our National Anthem played about 100x. :) We then went inside and sat in chairs for a long time. I would guess an hour or so. Someone finally came by and took us to another area of the Embassy to submit our paperwork. We waited another 30 minutes or so in that area... and finally we met with him. Everything was fine, and we then proceeded back to where we began for instructions on the next steps.

We needed to have Maya's Visa photos taken and her Visa medical exam completed. We called our driver and had him run us to a market that had a photo shop. They rushed us through - though they were not very happy about doing so (GO AJ!!) - and we got in/out in maybe 20 minutes. We were then off to the doctor. We found one that was Embassy-approved and very close-by - and were given 10 minutes to get to them before they closed for lunch (which is a 2 hr event in India). Somehow we managed to fly thru crazy traffic and make it ontime! Maya met with the doctor - she weighed/measured Maya, checked her body, and completed the Embassy paperwork. Btw they weighed Maya and she supposedly came out at only 11 lbs. There is just no possible way that is true. Odd.

We then returned to the Embassy with all of our completed paperwork. They were at lunch, so we waited 1 1/2 hrs for them to return. Maya was amazingly good during this time! Once the Embassy re-opened, we were able to meet with the appropriate people and complete everything within 30 minutes. Btw - for those of you who go thru this: If you have to keep running b/t window 17 and the American Citizen Services - do not let the guards who watch the windows make you get into line to wait on window 17. Return to the American Citizen Services room and let them know that this occurred. That line for window 17 could take HOURS. Luckily Aj refused to listen to the guard and went back to the other room - or we would have unnecessarily wasted a ton of time.

We were told to return to the Embassy tomorrow morning to see if Maya's visa was approved and completed. I hope that if we jaunt out there, wait in line, etc - that it IS completed!!! Good lord.

Other than that, not too much excitement.

A couple of firsts for the day:

* First Bath!! And Maya LOVED it! Let's hope that continues! So much fun to splash mommy!!

* First almost-crawl! Does one knee forward and then a huge lunge count? ;)

* Yay! Maya finally conceeded to trying out the Gerber cereal puffs that I brought - instead of only those biscuits. She loves them! Thank god, as the biscuits create a HUGE mess all over her face, clothing, my clothing, burp cloths, chairs, the floor, other people closeby, etc. I'm sure she won't find the puffs as entertaining!

Paradigm Shift!

2006-06-17T05:39:00.000-06:00

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take,

But by the moments that take your breath away.

... there have been many such moments in the past 24 hours for us! Perhaps 86,400 of them?
It is amazing how much things can change in such a short period of time!! The universe seems to have shifted a bit, and we have become slaves to a 14-lb Princess. She can't even snap her fingers yet, but she somehow has found a way to command our performance!

We are, thru occasional trial & error, figuring out how to be parents. We have bonded a bit in this past 24 hours, and we are all getting along quite well. I hope that I am not jinxing myself by writing this!

After Maya arrived, she slept for a long period of time. She napped for a couple hours almost immediately.. then woke and ate {pretty well, which was great}.. was traumatized by a diaper change.. and then passed out again for the next 11 hours! During her short time awake with us last night, and then this morning - she was very limp/lethargic and not very smiley. Of course I don't blame her for that at all, it was completely expected. Her Ayah's were SO obviously attached and in love with her, and she with them, that I am amazed she was doing as well as she was. I'm sure she was very traumatized by leaving her home.

This morning we gave her a sponge-bath. She loved it until she began to get a little chilly. And I think her tummy was starting to hurt. She had a tummy ache soon after, which corrected itself rather quickly {and somewhat traumatized Aj...heehee}. After that episode, she started to feel better and everything about her has improved. She ate very well - formula and almost an entire bowl of cereal w/banana.
She took a walk in the Baby Bjorn - and charmed everyone she saw at the hotel!
She LOVED the Bjorn! She laughed and laughed at everyone and everything she saw! She also began moving her legs {which she had not done until then} and kicking her feet out.
When she returned to the hotel room, she was almost crawling! She can move backwards, but hasn't yet mastered frontwards. Yipes!! She is almost mobile!
She has also begun babbling and dancing!
It is just amazing to watch the transformation. I cannot even imagine how she will be a month from now! Btw, she has a tooth! Aj thought she had 2, but looks to be just one on the bottom. I am pretty confident of this, as she bit my arm earlier today and I only had one tooth-mark. :)

A Day of Learnings:
{mainly for those of you who will be picking up your babies soon!}
* Do NOT use chilly wipes on a baby who has probably never felt the sensation of 'cold' on her skin (oops! Hand-warming didn't work well). We do now know that her lungs are functioning properly!!
* Do not pay any attention to the feeding schedule from the orphanage. Or at least, take it as a 'suggestion' and be prepared to toss it aside and just feed your baby what makes her happy when she asks for it.
* DO have a supply of those 'biscuits' we all heard about for months before picking up our babies! They LOVE them!
* Do not expect to run the AC at anything higher than 'barely tolerable heat'. I did not have too much of a prob with this, but Aj can't take heat and it has been very, very difficult for him to function. I'm sure that any of you who know him well will understand! .. of course, maybe you won't be here in June. ugh!
Any time we make it any cooler, Maya gets stuffed-up. We don't need a sick baby!!
* Babies are very durable. Don't be scared. :)
* Something tiny can stink up an entire hotel room quickly.
* It takes more than one bath to wash that smell out of baby hair.
* Your hotel butler service will bring you a never-ending supply of bottled water - go crazy.
* And most important: No matter what - your baby is the most amazing creation that you have ever encountered!!!

Today I Kissed An Angel

2006-06-16T06:01:00.000-06:00

Today I kissed an angel
I knew it from the start.
The first time my angel smiled at me;
I gave away my heart.

Today I kissed an angel;
This angel child of mine
Though not of my creation,
My child by God's design.

Today I kissed an angel.
My heart is dancing wild;
Our family, by a miracle;
Blessed by our angel child.

Poem by: Gail Huff/Brenda Meece

Together At Last!

2006-06-16T05:09:00.000-06:00

We are together at last!!

The photos from top left (though they did not post in correct order): Maya in the hotel, snoozing. This is one of the 5 seconds she has not had her adorable little thumb in her adorable little mouth!!
The top right photo is our family, with Anju - the orphanage director. The photo at left is Maya with her Ayah.

We left our hotel ~11 am to journey to the orphanage. We decided to stop by the Marble Palace on our way, as we have not done any site-seeing in Kolkata. I was very surprised by the city - it was quite large and bustling. People everywhere of course.. and shops everywhere. Many tall buildings which surprised me a bit. And of course in front of all of the buildings were the little shacks set up by street vendors and people who were living on the streets.
A few things that stick out in my memory: 2 young girls washing their hair in a drip of sewer water on the side of the road; many trees on the side streets, which were quite a contrast with the development of the main roads. And speaking of the side streets vs the main roads - what a difference! It was as if you were moving instantly from a somewhat-developed city to a completely under-developed village with the turn of a corner. Simply amazing.
We stopped at the Marble Palace and had a quick tour. I was not as impressed as I had hoped. First - no peacocks. I saw one giant pelican, but it disappeared quickly. Second, just a very odd place. A museum really - and one with no lighting, birds everywhere, and that you had to walk through barefoot. We saw some amazing art - but again it was difficult to appreciate when you were sweltering in the heat/humidity. Not even a fan in this building to move the air. And no photography allowed. I'm sure they would have allowed it for a price, but the men at this place were VERY annoying. They quoted a price to us upon entering and then would not let us leave for that price - they tripled it. Our driver negotiated down to just a little above the originally-quoted price. And then we also had to tip the guide - who wanted more and was quite vocal about it.
Anyhow- not impressed and I would not mark this place as a 'must-see' in MY tourist guide.
We drove by the Victoria Memorial and a few other interesting buildings, but did not tour anything else. We were ready to pick up Maya!

We arrived at the orphanage after passing it a couple of times, trying to locate the address. Buildings on this street were not marked well and not in order. Very confusing, but we made it!
The guards at the gate quickly brought us into the orphanage and showed us up the narrow stairway to the main room. At the bottom of the stairs (in a type of foyer area), btw, a baby was being examined by a doctor. It was a dark corner area with the baby on a small table - while the doctor was drawing blood, etc. One other woman was standing with him, holding the baby in place. I guess this is where Maya rec'd her medical treatment? Yipes.
Up the narrow dim-lighted staircase was the main floor of the orphanage. We were warmly greeted by Anju and her staff. There were several babies in ~5 or 6 cribs in the room at the stair-top. Another room held ~6 or 8 cribs and several more - very small - babies. Approximately 7 or 8 Ayahs were running hecticly around the rooms, caring for the babies. All of the babies looked very happy and well-cared for, which was very reassuring!

And then we saw her! In the middle of the room was a crib with our little sleeping angel. She had just settled in for her afternoon nap. We were instantly in love with her, before she even opened her eyes!
B/c she was sleeping, Anju took us to her office to complete the paperwork. In the meantime, Maya's Ayah woke her and took her to a different room to prepare her to leave.
We filled out some paperwork and discussed Maya's care with Anju (her diet, her temperment, etcetc). We were told that Maya is a very calm, quiet baby - only cries when she is hungry. I hope that continues! ;)

After completing the paperwork, Maya's Ayah brought her into the room to us. She was wide awake and wearing a cute clean outfit. She set Maya on my lap immediately. Maya and I just stared at each other for a few moments - her big brown eyes trying to figure out who this new person was! She promptly stuck her thumb in her mouth and settled back in my arms to check out the other stranger in the room - her daddy. :)
Soon after, I forced myself to detach Maya from my thumb (she has quite a grip!) and send her over to Daddy. They were instantly buddies, and Maya spent her time on his lap trying to grab things off of Anju's desk.

We finished the paperwork, snapped a few photos of another couple's babies (twins that they just accepted the referral of! AND they live in our town - ~5 minutes from us! The twins were in a crib next to Maya's, so I'm sure they will have a special bond forever!), snapped a few photos of us and the staff, and then we were hustled back downstairs to await our driver. It is important that they keep us well inside and out of site until the driver arrives, as the local people will see us with the baby and instantly think we are 'rich americans' with money for them. A few moments later the driver arrived and we were off to the hotel!! Maya slept the entire ride in my arms. A very un-eventful first car ride!

Now here we are and Maya has been sleeping for the past couple of hours. Hopefully she will awaken soon, so she can eat dinner. She is so darn cute that we can't stop watching her in the crib! As I type this, I can hear her on the other side of the room, slurping on her thumb in her sleep! SO CUTE!!!!
Ack - she is awake! Yay! Time for our first feeding and diaper change! :)

So that's our story so far. :) Stay tuned for updates on life with our little princess!!

Waiting To Be Parents

2006-06-15T22:44:00.000-06:00

We had a peaceful night's sleep and just finished our last leisurely breakfast, pre-kiddies. ;) Actually Aj was too excited to sleep much, so he is tired already. The man MUST learn to drink coffee! The coffee here isn't bad. The masala tea is amazing {of course!! - Mike be very very jealous!!}, but it just dawned on me yesterday that it is amazing for a reason and I most likely won't fit into any clothing when I get home if I continue to drink so much of it. So I am trying to hold back a bit now! :)))
We have called the orphanage and the director will not be in until 11 am. It is now almost 10:30, and we've been anxiously awaiting her since we awoke at 5 am (Aj woke at 3)! We are hoping to have a few minutes prior to going to the orphanage to stop by and see the Marble Palace. It is supposedly quite unusual and a must-see. There are said to be many peacocks in the gardens of the Palace area - I have only seen a few so far - and none closeup, so I am looking forward to that!
I know we will not want to take Maya/Ruprekha (must get used to calling her Ruprekha, as must do that until we leave India) - so I want to do a quick run-through of it.
Btw - heat update: OWCH! Delhi was bad, but was much more of a dry heat. This humidity is instantly body-drenching and quite hideous. I think 10 minutes at the marble palace will almost kill us, so will be a quick tour if we get there! Of course, if Anju wants us to head to the orphanage immediately, we are ready!!
Diaper-bag is packed and we are ready to go!
Btw, thank god I thought to pack a LOT of motion-sickness medication. I have needed it every day with this insane driving!!
Attached is a photo of us in our hotel room, pre-baby. :) The next post should have the same photo, but of our new Forever Family!!!!

One More Day!

2006-06-15T06:41:00.000-06:00

We are now in Kolkata - arrived this morning!!
Tomorrow we will be meeting and picking up Maya!! Yay! Can't believe the time has finally come. WOW!
I don't have much time to update right now, but we haven't seen much of Kolkata. Aj stopped by his company's office for a few meetings today and I just enjoyed the hotel. We are at the Sheraton, which is FABULOUS!!!
I will update more later - or tomorrow. Wish us luck!
HERE WE COME MAYA!

Thankful

2006-06-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

...for all of the blessings that we have and rarely pause to consider.

{better photos will come after we arrive home. can't download from my pro camera into this laptop. These were a couple of quick photos taken thru car window en-route, using small point-and-shoot camera. The coloring - grey and dismal - is not an effect of the camera or the car windows - it is the dust in the air.}

A Quick Update

2006-06-12T08:55:00.001-06:00

The US soccer team is playing in the World Cup tournament in a few minutes, so I am forced to be concise (which most readers would probably appreciate anyhow!):

A summary of today:

Interesting/cool things:
* We journeyed to Agra, and they are having a 'cool day' - only 104 today - whoohoo!! :)
* Our driver did not hit anything/anyone or get hit BY anything/anyone on the drive to Agra
* Indian driving does not make me nervous - our drivers have been amazing!! I could NEVER drive here. It seems more like bumper-cars at an amusement park than actual real-life road driving.
* I saw camels pulling carts on the road
* I saw elephants on the side of the road
* I saw men leading brown bears around by leashes. (Monkeys and snakes also (though no leash on the snakes) - but the bears were a bit of a surprise)
* I visited the Taj Mahal for the first time. WOW.
* Have I mentioned that I am a minority, and seem to attract quite a bit of attention? :) This is a first - and it amuses me endlessly.
* I found a bookstore!!!!

Annoying things:
* I cannot stand tour guides. I'm sorry - I try to enjoy them - but I hate them all. We were stuck with one today and all of tomorrow (Aj loves them.. so I say 'we', but I mean 'me'). I just want to photograph and soak in the culture. I like to people watch and do my own thing. Do NOT tell me how to photograph.. do NOT push me in front of a line of people (rude) to take photos.. and please do NOT make me stand outside when it is 104 degrees (even though you insist it is a COOL day) for 2 hours while you tell me every tiny detail about something that I'd like to know but cannot comprehend when my brain is boiling and I am looking for a soft grassy area to fall into when I pass out.
* Just b/c your hotel is a high-quality American chain - it does not mean that they might not have chains with leaking ceilings (buckets in the hallways to catch the leaks), mildew in the bathrooms, extremely damp (ok - wet) sheets, work being conducted that is using very smelly polyurethane-type chemicals that permeate every bit of air in the hotel.

Learnings:
* A 'Garden Salad' can mean the following: slices of tomato, onion, cucumber, carrot.. with one 2" x 3" piece of lettuce
* 104 degrees can be a 'cool day'
* Rivers can smell like sewers
* City streets can smell like sewers
* Interiors of tombs can smell like sewers
* Aj has a soft spot for poor people who are very persistent {this is very bad!!}

Only 3 more days before we meet Maya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh

2006-06-11T03:23:00.000-06:00

Day 2: How long have we been here?? It feels as if we've been here for weeks. Probable cause: too much rich Indian food already. Other probable cause: major jet lag on top of heat.
Today we ventured out into Delhi - New and Old. It was HOT. It is currently 109 degrees... and we felt every one of them. The car was air-conditioned, thank GOD (though how cool can it get when it is 109 degrees outside - maybe 95?)... but we did a tour of a tomb, and spent ~45 minutes walking around it. Maybe not even 45 minutes. Felt like hours, and I think we may have dropped about 10 lbs in water weight. Too bad we probably gained 15 lbs from our (amazingly-fabulous but horrendously-fattening) lunch. The tomb, however, was very interesting and beautiful! Hopefully got some good photos... was very very bright and dusty outside, so unsure how they will turn out.

Delhi looks exactly as I thought it would. I have read some great books written by an Indian author whose name is currently escaping me - and she described it exactly as it is. I felt like I had been here before! It really was a bit disconcerting!

Learnings from the day:
1. Anything more than a very small amount of curry is too much {think - dripping with oil}.
2. 109 degrees is too hot to site-see.
3. Shopping in A/C immediately after being in 109 degree heat is not a smart idea - tends to diminish negotiation skills.
4. There are no book stores in hotels or anywhere that your driver wants to take you shopping. If you were stupid enough to forget to pack entertaining reading material, you will become intimately familiar with your India guidebook.
5. If you watch Hindi movies long enough, you begin to think you understand what they are singing. {or maybe it's the heat again} {or the curry}
6. Tomorrow will be more hot than today - suck it up.

Tomorrow we leave Delhi to journey to Agra. And yes, it is even hotter in Agra {though I cannot even imagine that}. Stay tuned... if we don't melt into puddles, I will try to update any interested readers again tomorrow.
Can't wait to see Maya!! Trying not to think about it too much, as we won't see her until Friday. :(

Btw - this blog entry sounds a bit down, but Delhi is amazing. I could write pages just describing the things I saw today that I found interesting. This post is just reflecting the fact that I ate too much rich food after being in the heat for hours!

In all of our travels, this is the first time that I feel I am actually experiencing a truly different culture. It is an exhilirating feeling. The history here is palpable... the people are very friendly... the sights, smells, sounds all add up to an experience like no other. Can't wait for Day 3! :)

Here We Are!

2006-06-10T05:45:00.000-06:00

Well, we made it to New Delhi! :) That 17-hr layover in Singapore was killer. There were no rooms available at the transit hotel, so we basically got no sleep. I think we drifted in and out for a couple of hours in a chair in the airline lounge (thank god Aj had status to at least get us in that lounge). We took a 2-hr tour of Singapore, but it wasn't too exciting. It was pouring rain, so everything was grey and blah.
So after not much sleep and arriving at 10:30 pm Delhi-time, we slept most of today. It was over 100 degrees at 10:30 pm btw. ack!
So we are now getting ready to leave the hotel.. though it is almost evening and I guess we missed most of the day! Maybe we missed the worst heat though. We have all day tomorrow to site-see.
Someone is (rather badly) blowing some type of horn outside our window. And I can just barely hear the horns from the streets. We've had several power outages already, so now I understand the need for the flashlight! Of course the first one was midway thru my shower. {eye roll} Oh wait - that's not just a horn - sounds like someone is also singing thru a megaphone.
Guess we need to go scope this out!
Btw - for all of those who know how much i HATE (am terrified) to fly - I did great! Actually I wasn't even really nervous. Too excited I guess! But it went very well and I even slept quite a bit on every flight. {And I am VERY irritated that I slept thru last night's dessert and Ajay ate my Haagan Daz ice cream!!!!}

Here We Come!!!

2006-06-06T19:01:00.000-06:00

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, `Give them up!' and to the south, `Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth--
--- Isaiah 43: 5-6

Well I cannot believe it, but tomorrow is our travel day!!! Aj is already in LA, and I will be flying to meet him early in the morning. I have a car scheduled to pick me up at 6 am.
We begin the loooong trip in the afternoon.
Being someone who is an 'anxious flyer', this will be quite an experience for me. Believe it or not, I am not so nervous right now. The excitement of going to India and meeting Maya is stronger than my anxiety. :) Let's hope it stays that way!
Stay tuned to this blog - I plan to post updates as often as possible. Now - back to packing!
YAY!

YAY!!!!

2006-06-02T18:22:00.000-06:00

We were informed today that Maya's passport has been issued!!!!!!!!
YAY!!!!!
We spent a few hours on the phone and were finally able to book tix for travel - we leave next Wednesday, June 7th! ACK! This is so exciting, intimidating, exciting, nerve-wracking, and glorious! Must finish packing!! Must transition work! ... must take DEEP calming breath! ;)

Here we come Maya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inching Closer...

2006-06-01T16:09:00.000-06:00

Today is June 1st! As we are expecting to receive Maya's passport in the first week of June, that means potentially within the next 7!! days! Whoohoo!
Btw, were you aware that June is National Accordian Awareness Month?
I rec'd an email from my dad today to inform me of this. I'm not sure what to do with that information.. ?

This coming Saturday is our 'virtual' baby shower. We purchased a pc camera that works amazingly well (the picture is SO clear!) - and will be using that as well as the online chat. Amazing how far technology has come since I purchased my last pc camera, which was ~5 years ago. Actually it is not that amazing. What IS amazing is that my sister has the 5-yr old model and it still works!
The camera will also be great to have when Maya is home and Aj travels. And.. we plan to bring the laptop version with us to India. Maybe we'll have a minute or two to pop on and introduce Maya via webcam!
Anyhow - we are also having some friends over to celebrate with us on Saturday evening. The first bbq of the summer! The weather is amazing, though it is forecasted to be ~90 degrees on Saturday. We should get used to the heat , as we'll be melting in India soon!
By the way - our cousin's wedding in Chicago last weekend was very fun! Good time, amazing food, gorgeous bride & groom! It was a nice break to get away and see the family! If any of you are reading - it was great seeing you and we hope to see you again soon!
________________________________________________________
Ok this is coincidental! The ice cream associated with my name WAS my fav flavor:

You Are Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream

You just don't know when you've had enough (or too much)!

What Flavor Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Are You?

A Picture Says 1,000 Words

2006-05-22T17:45:00.000-06:00

Yay! As I had hoped, new photos and updated info regarding Maya's passport!! We rec'd several photos over the weekend, and also the news that the passport should be completed the first week of June. A couple of the moms who picked up their babies sent me emails to tell me that little Maya is amazing!! She is doing very well and is very happy, smiley, sitting up, playing with her little friends! Great, great news!
Yippee!!! So now we are in crazy- mode, trying to get everything ready. We have to travel to Chicago this weekend for a wedding... so that sucks 3 days of preparation out of our schedule. Actually 4 days. ACK!
Seriously, we should be fine. We are just in severe high-stress mode right now b/c we are both Type 'A's and need to chill! The only major item we are missing right now is a glider/rocking chair. And of course several small things. And all of the nursery furniture that is still on backorder. But we will manage! We have our 'virtual shower' coming up, so that will be nice. Of course, that is probably only days prior to our travel, so we are cutting it close!
DEEP BREATH... DEEP BREATH... ok much better.
Thank god my assistant started working today. She's awesome - I think it will work out very well. She has also been a nanny for many years, so we're going to incorporate some nanny work in the future as needed.
On a ick-note... I have to have an endoscopy done tomorrow. :( YUCK. Probably just an ulcer... but the thing has been hanging on forever and didn't respond to the first round of meds. Fun-Fun. Definately need to try fixing it before 2 weeks of Indian food!! Now THAT could be painful! {Mostly due to the fact that I LUV spicy indian food and i have no self-control}
Well I guess that's it for today's update! I am looking forward to the wedding this weekend - as we get to see all of the family (Ajay's family and mine both). AND I have a couple of GORGEOUS dresses to wear!! One is an Indian Salwar Kameez, and the other is a type of sari. Can't wait to wear them! :)

Caffeine Addiction Level: HIGH

2006-05-18T16:44:00.000-06:00

Being a coffee-a-holic, I felt that I had to post this Blogthing!
First of all, this blog was boring me. But more importantly - I LOVE great espresso, and I live for daily lattes. I have a machine and try to motivate myself to make my own. IMHO, my lattes are better than lattes that I get at most coffee shops. Unfortunately, the process involved ends up taking ~15 minutes. That does not sound long, but try to motivate yourself for a 15-minute process when you are bleary-eyed with a bad attitude! Also doesn't work well when DH is working from home and has set up his laptop ~5' from the machine. 'tis quite a loud process and doesn't mesh well with conference calls.
Take this quiz - I found the results to be very on-target for me!

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic

At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung

You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping

Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

On a different note... we have sooo many bees in our yard every year, so I bought some yellow-jacket traps. I was a bit dubious, but they are GREAT!! We put two up in the backyard on Sunday, and both have at least 6 giant yellow jackets in them now!
Kind of an odd thing to get excited about, but you had to see how many dam bees we had last year! It was insane. Now to tackle the paper wasps...

Another Day

2006-05-16T08:31:00.000-06:00

The nursery mural is complete! It is so amazing. Photos just do not do it justice - but here are a couple of samples. The amazing thing is that the entire room is painted - including the attached bathroom. It all flows together like one large scene. The trees are painted up the wall and onto the ceiling - it makes you feel as if you are in the scene. So sweet!!
So yes, we are still waiting on word of Maya's passport. I thought it was difficult to wait earlier in this process? I think this is worse! It's a great feeling to know that we will travel soon, but it is painful to wake up early every day and pray that this is the day that we will receive 'THE' call or email telling us to book our tickets!
We have begun to pack. I have a long list of items that still need to be purchased and packed. We have finished all of our education - other than a few book reports and homework sheets to fill out. We've compiled all of the legal docs we need to take with us to India, etc. I have interviewed and narrowed down potential assistants to two people. I hope to complete that process today and have an assistant begin working by next week!
We are so close to being ready!
At least one Dillon family returned home this week with their baby. So happy for them.. and so hoping that they were able to snap a few photos of Maya! It seems like every time I jot something like that in this blog, we hear some news soon after. Here's hoping that coincidence continues!
Well, now I guess it is time to begin cleaning and somewhat-organizing my office so that my assistant does not run screaming out of the house next week! :)

Oops!

2006-05-04T18:56:00.000-06:00

Omg... I received Maya's legal paperwork from India today, and get this: we had misunderstood/misread her birthdate!!!
Wow - our first parental error! haha!
The previous info had been quite smudged and not extremely clear - and we misread/misinterpreted it. Her birthdate was SEPTEMBER 9th, not October 9th!!!
My lord, she is turning 8!! months next week, not 7! Her paperwork also said that she was born at 10:30 pm. It's nice to know that information - whether or not it is 100% accurate. Any little details are nice to know.
So there are a couple of families in India right now picking up their babies!! I am so happy for them! Can't wait to see updated photos of Maya also, so I hope she is available when they are there. It is so seriously surreal right now. I can't believe we could be traveling in a little over a month. Wow.
We needed new luggage, so I ordered it and it arrived today. Now we can begin packing! ACK!

Stephanie - No worries on my taking photos! I am actually a professional photographer, so I am drooling myself!! I can't wait to get to India and see some of the area. We are flying (at least i hope) through Singapore - so if we can swing it, we are going to try to stay in Singapore a day or two. I'd at least like to have a looong layover so we can pop out of the airport and take a quick tour. I have been told that this is a possibility.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Happy, Happy News!

2006-05-02T21:31:00.000-06:00

Big News!! We found out today that Guardianship has been issued!!! YAY!!!
2 steps down, 1 to go. The passport process has been initiated - it has been taking ~4 - 5 weeks recently.
So it looks like we are still looking forward to hopefully traveling in June! We have a lot to do before then... and it looks like we are going to be need to cancel our Mexico trip. But no worries - we need to prepare for India. Hopefully we can take a day or two to site-see before we pick up Maya. This will be my first visit to India and I'd love to soak up as much of the culture as possible while we are there!

Looking Forward

2006-05-01T20:16:00.000-06:00

A few of the other Dillon families who were awaiting passports found out in the past couple of days that their babies' passports have been issued! They are now preparing to travel. One couple will be leaving at the end of this week.. and offered to bring something to Maya from us.
Tomorrow I will be picking up a little outfit and toy for her and shipping it off!
Hopefully Maya will be close by when they visit the orphanage and we will get new photos!!
Very exciting!

Still no word on the legals... but hopefully we will hear something soon. If the timeline that others have had is the same for us, we should be hearing something in the next couple of weeks.

Can't wait!!

Top 10 Ways To Pass The Time While Waiting To Travel

2006-04-26T21:04:00.000-06:00

1. Baby Showers!
My sister, Christy, is throwing us a 'virtual' shower. We don't have time to travel back any closer to our families between now and when we hope to travel, so this was a great solution! Plus, now all of our friends and family can join in from all over the country! {and even better - no uncomfortably-silly shower games!}
She is hosting a web baby shower through www.webbabyshower.com (in case anyone else is interested in this fabulous idea!).

2. Education
Yes, it is required through the two adoption agencies we are using, but it's a great idea. A couple weeks ago we took an Infant/Child CPR/Safety class. It was another great class held at a local hospital. Did you know that CPR procedures have recently changed? No more 5:1.. now it is 30:2. And if you don't recall what that means.. time for a refresher! {though after practicing for hours, I still found myself lifting the neck, which you no longer should do! Argh! Old habits are hard to break (though I guess necks are not!)!}
We've also been watching DVD classes, reading books, and taking online courses (including baby sign language - can't wait to try it!). Phew!!
Here's hoping that we retain something and it helps us become amazing parents!

3. Learn fun songs and games to play with baby
I have heard that Hap Palmer songs are great - so I purchased a CD of his songs. Guess it's time to start recalling where that itsy bitsy spider climbs and how the wheels on the bus go. :)

4. Take a pre-baby vacation!
Everyone keeps telling us to do this - so we are! We are traveling to Mexico in a couple of weeks. I guess this may be the last time that we will be staying at the adults-only spa resort! Next time we'll be staying at the one with the baby pool. :)

5. Pamper yourself!
OK, #4 might have sounded pampering... but I've decided that visits to local spas are also a good idea. We might not have time for massages and pedicures after Maya is home, so we must take advantage now!!
{it's times like this that i am glad Aj does not often read this blog..hee}

6. Find a way to delegate all of your work after baby comes home
I'm currently looking for an assistant. If anyone who knows me personally actually knows someone who would be interested, please let me know. {I'm serious!}

7. Get carried away with decorating the nursery
I promised myself that I would not do this. I blame Penny. ;) Photos coming soon.

8. Constantly check your email for updates on the baby
Luckily this is only necessary during working hours. :)))

9. Sleep!
We were told recently that we should deprive ourselves of sleep in order to be prepared. We decided to go with the opposite idea and sleep as much as possible while we can!

10. Stay up all hours of the night updating your blog!!
This conflicts with #9, so you must be careful. If you don't spend too much time on #8, you could accomplish both #8 and #10 during #8's timeframe. ;) Or.. prioritize #6 and hire the assistant a bit earlier.

A Little Update

2006-04-20T12:23:00.000-06:00

We received updated height and weight info for Maya today. She is so tiny!! At 6 1/2 months, she weighs only 11 lbs and is 22.8". We need to bring her home and feed her!!

Maya was retested last week for the Thalassemia E trait. We rec'd the lab results yesterday, but could not interpret them. For some reason, they did not write a diagnosis on this document as they normally do. Maybe because this was not an overall med exam, but just the Thalassemia retests.
We sent the information off to our Int'l Adoption Clinic doctor, who told us that he will have a haemotologist review it and get back with us by the end of the week.

On a personal note, we have been vacationing in Vail this week. This is our first time staying up here, though Aj has skiied here for the day a few times. It's so beautiful .. and the village has some great restaurants and shopping! We are at the end of the ski season, but it is still pretty good. This was a great snow season!

Hotter Than...

2006-04-12T18:36:00.000-06:00

__________________ {Fill in the blank}

Heat index in Kolkata today: 110 degrees.
And it is still spring.

Well I guess we'll look forward to losing some 'water weight' while traveling to pick up Maya!
Though my addicted-to-AC husband may go thru some form of withdrawal during the trip.

The attached photo is of our first baby. Yes, we are that (obnoxious-to-some) couple who treat their dog like a child. We have had Tasha for 6 years, and she is most definately a member of the family!
Hopefully she won't freak out too much when we bring Maya home! She loves kids, so I think she will adjust quickly.
What lab can resist the lure of the baby diaper??

NOC!!!

2006-04-07T10:19:00.000-06:00

Yay!!!
Happy news today - we found out that Maya's NOC has been issued and her papers are already in the Kolkata courts!!
This is very exciting news, as the NOC is normally the 'longest' legal step in India. It can sometimes take months and months. We have only been waiting 30 business days, so we can be very thankful for that!!
The next step is guardianship - which is process in the Kolkata court system. This process has been taking 30 - 45 days recently. Once guardianship is issued, we only need to await Maya's passport.
The passport process has been a little erratic lately - taking a couple weeks to almost 2 months. So.. we are hoping/praying that the process will be quick and smooth for us!
Once guardianship is granted, we will need to pack our bags and be ready - as we will need to travel within 1-2 weeks of the passport being issued.
Very exciting! :)

Other Happy Families!

2006-04-05T13:59:00.000-06:00

Three other Dillon families received their legals today! Yay for them!
It helps get you through the wait when you hear happy news from other families.
The 'legals' step is our next step, after we receive our NOC. It took them ~38 days for that portion.
Not too bad!
Now they are waiting on passports so they can travel.
I hope they get a chance to see Maya while they are there so that we can get an update!

Btw... it has been 28 business days since we shipped out our acceptance packet. Praying every night now that we have good news in our email in the morning!!!

No News Is ...

2006-04-04T16:45:00.000-06:00

.. horridly frustrating!!

No, no Maya updates.
No NOC.
No updated medical info.
No new photos.

This process is certainly creeping along slowly.
Slooooooooooooooooooowly.

But in the meantime... we finally ordered nursery furniture. And although my generous sister and bro-in-law had given us my nephew's old crib, we decided to order the matching crib to the dresser and armoire that we wanted (someone fell in love with the set.. but I won't name names... {but it wasn't me this time!!}). The main reason is because the crib is convertible and becomes a toddler bed and then a twin bed. {hmmm... does this help you figure out who it was that made the decision on that purchase? ;)}
It's all nice furniture and hopefully it lasts for a long time.
Hopefully someday in the future, Maya doesn't get the grande creative idea that drawing pictures and writing her name in permanent marker on the headboard would be fun! {yes, there is a headboard someplace with my artist impressions on it! (sorry mom)}

Btw - the furniture is painted in an antique-white color. I had no idea how difficult/impossible it would be to find this!! We went to a huge nursery/child furniture store and they had 3 sets out of hundreds that came in this color. Bizarre! Luckily we liked one of them.
If anyone reading this is in the furniture-making biz, I have found a niche for you!!!
But the furniture is beautiful! It is also backordered for ~6 months, so Maya should be home before we get the furniture. That is annoying... but whatever. We have purchased a co-sleeper for her to use for the first several months anyhow, to aid in the attachment/bonding process (www.armsreach.com).

Did I mention before that we also were able to hire Penny to paint the nursery mural? (I have an earlier post with her website on it - I love her work). She had a cancellation and was able to work us in. She will be painting the last week of April. Stay tuned for photos!

Last Friday we had our immunizations. Only 2 shots for me and 1 for Ajay! Yay!! We are loaded up with prescrips and ready to travel now!

Well I don't have much more information to share today. I know that several of our friends/family are checking this blog for updates, so I wanted to let everyone know that I haven't forgotten to keep it up.

One of the other Dillon families rec'd their legals today... so at least that makes us feel hopeful that things are moving...no matter how slowly.

Stay tuned. Hopefully we will have a more interesting update soon!

Baby Decor

2006-03-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

We ran out of time to shop for nursery furniture this weekend.. but we did find time to clean out the room.
Our storage room is now becoming a nursery!

I stopped by my favorite local baby/kids boutique - FireFly Furnishings (www.fireflyfurnishings.com) today. My intention was to browse for ideas and request info about their mural painting services... but I found a great crib bedding ensemble!
They also had several princess-y decor items which I had to force myself to walk away from!! Great store - very fun!

Here are some photos of the bedding and materials, in case anyone is interested!
The brand is Little House Collection (www.houseinc.com). The bumper (yes I purchased a bumper - I don't think it's a safety hazard for a%2

China Care

2006-03-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Wow.. http://www.chinacare.org/ChinaCareVideo-HiRes.html

Saw this link on another adoption blog today and thought that it should be seen.

Tick..Tick...Tick...Tick...

2006-03-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well, time sure is ticking along slowly isn't it?
No big news.. but I verified today with Dillon that our acceptance packet was received early last week.
Found out that it was received and then shipped to India! So I guess our papers should be in the India courts now, waiting for processing and our NOC (No Objection Certificate) to be issued!!

So now seems like a good time to start thinking about the nursery! This weekend we will be doing a bit of nursery furniture shopping. Thx to my sister, we have a crib and some other accessories.. but we need a few other pieces. We also are looking for someone to paint a mural of some sort on the wall(s).
Thinking of a 'princess' theme... I need to begin prepping the room in this theme so that I don't change my mind again! I think that a mural of an outdoor scene with a castle in the distance would be so cool!
I love the work of this artist: www.pfheaven.com (Penny Erlich). Her murals are gorgeous! Great ideas.
She works with Wendy Bellissimo - whose work i also love.
I like the Sir Leapsalot nursery decor. :) Uh oh.. here I go changing my mind again.

Tonite we have another adoption education class at our local adoption agency (not Dillon). Hopefully it will be informative...

Another Small Step...

2006-02-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, seriously NOT so small!! Today - February 24th, 2006 - we completed and shipped our acceptance packet for Maya! Yay!!!

There are so many people touched by our little angel already! We normally have our papers notarized at the bank close to our house. All of the employees at that bank branch (in a grocery so we are talking ~5 employees) have kept up with our adoption journey for the past year and are so excited for us! Every time they see us (which is at least weekly), they all ask how the process is going, etc.

Today, their notary was out sick, so we went to another bank (grocery branch).
All 3 employees at the bank were completely engrossed in our story and sooo excited to see little Maya's referral photo! We're glad they were so happy to be involved - as it took an hour for the notary to notarize all of our docs! I thought they were going to applaud when we signed the last document and put our thumbprint on the last notary file! I could have applauded!! It was a very happy moment. :)

Once we bring Maya home, she has a LOT of people to meet who have helped to bring her to us!!!
I think we should deliver little 'thank you' notes to all of these people! They have no idea how much their helpfulness has meant to us.

The photo attached is of our acceptance papers - being packaged in the UPS Overnight Air box - for delivery on Monday!! And yipes - due to the weight of this package, the docs cost us almost $50 to ship! No matter.. the sooner they are rec'd, the sooner they are shipped off to India and the sooner the court process begins!

You will soon be a part of our family Maya! We love you so much already!

And btw.. we cannot stop looking at her photos! Every angle of her face.. every tiny little feature.. every wavy little hair on her head.. we have them memorized!

New Photos!

2006-02-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

As you lay sleeping far away
as still as you could be...
How could you know the joy today
this photo brings to me?
A few short months and you'll be mine, and "I" will soon be "We".
How could you know the love I feel? It's something you can't see.
So have sweet dreams, my precious babe.
Sleep well and tenderly.
Some say that you're the lucky one. How could you know it's me ?
--- Kris Laughlin

A couple of Dillon families traveled to pick up their babies last week... and brought back updated photos of our little princess!! I'm attaching one here. She looks so grown up!
It is so hard now to look at these photos and know that it will be probably 5 months or more before we can hold her in our arms. But the wait will be worth it!

Maya Jasmine

2006-02-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

Finally we have decided on the name!

Different people have different thoughts regarding re-naming an adopted child.
We feel that it is important that our child is given a name from her parents. The name she has now - Ruprekha - was given by the orphanage. While we will document this in her Lifebook, and we will never forget it - we feel it is important to give her a new name.

We made the decision to rename her with a name that we find very special - and one that honors her Indian heritage.
I have loved the name 'Maya' for many years. I remember telling Aj how much I loved that name - approximately 7 years ago. I had a roommate for a short time who had the name. This is when he told me that the name 'Maya' was a Hindu name. He also liked the name, so we have actually had that selected for our future daughter for several years.

The middle name was more difficult. I let Aj make the final decision on this, since 'Maya' was initially my idea.
After giving it quite a bit of thought, he finally has decided on the name 'Jasmine'.
{I'm sure that Maya will be happy someday that I veto'd all of the 'Star Trek' names!!}

The meaning of our daughter's name:
'Maya' means 'divine creative force in everything'
'Jasmine' means 'gift from God, jasmine flower'

We are not sure when the attached photo was taken - probably at 3 months. She is teeny and beautiful! We're praying that we get an updated photo soon. Several families, through our agency, picked up their babies in India this week. We hope that Maya was nearby so they could snap a photo or two for us!

Another Small Milestone

2006-02-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

We received our acceptance paperwork last week! Very exciting!

We did not have time this past weekend to get the notarized sections completed, but we went through the stack of paperwork and signed all of the non-notarized sections.
One section had 180 pages that we had to sign and date (with date written out). I wish that we were in the month of May rather than February!

I had been told that these papers required more signatures than a house-closing. They were not kidding! Owch.

We are planning to notarize and ship the gigantic stack of papers on Friday due to Aj's work schedule this week.

**************************************************
We had another education class this past weekend. This class was 'Infant Care', and was held at a local hospital.
4 hrs of infant care information... which sounded a tad excessive at first... but it was a great class!! I would highly recommend it to any first-time parent.

We were given info on basic baby care - feeding, bathing, diapering (yes - Aj changed his first diaper! whoohoo!! .. first of thousands.. haha), etc.
They gave us some great info on child safety (did you know that 39 babies in CO died last year from suffocating on a crib bumper??), tips on selecting a pediatrician, etc. A pediatrician came in and talked about baby illnesses.. what to look for.. etc.

Soo.. all in all.. not a waste of time. And very beneficial. I was impressed that the woman teaching the class made a point to explain how certain things would be different for Aj and I, as our baby is being adopted. We were the only adoptive parents in the class.

I wish that all of our education classes would be this interesting and informative!

Our Happy News!

2006-02-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

January 25th - We received 'THE CALL' from our agency!

A referral of a little baby girl named Ruprekha. She was born on October 9th, 2005. She was a preemie - though we don't know exactly 'how' preemie. Her med info said 34-36 wks. She was probably born at home.. and was dropped at the orphanage when she was 1 day old.
She weighed a little over 1 kg at birth... was 43 cm in height... with a head circumference of 31 cm.
At 3 months, she was 3.3 kg.
At 4 months, she was 4.3 kg, 54 cm in height, and her head circumference was 37 cm.

She is potentially (and probably) a carrier for Haemoglobin E - which is basically a mild form of Thalassemia. Thalassemia is a common blood disorder in Asian countries.
When she is 6 months, they will retest and confirm that she is a carrier. This should not cause her any health problems, other than possibly occasional mild anemia. She also will need to ensure that she does not have a child someday with a man carrying a thalassemia trait.

Other than that, she is relatively healthy! She is teeny and malnourished.. but that is to be expected.
We reviewed all of her medical information with a pediatrician at the Children's Hospital's International Adoption Clinic. He (along with a pediatric hemotologist who was also consulted) felt like the baby was growing at a reasonable rate and had hit developmental milestones as to be expected.

After reviewing all of her info, and discussing this with our family, we felt that this baby was meant for us!

On February 10th, we accepted her referral!

Welcome to our family Maya!

How We Got Here

2006-02-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ajay and I have been trying to add to our family for ~five years. We traveled through the looong journey of infertility treatments - tests, procedures, medications, surgeries (could fill an entire blog with that information!). Nothing worked and it was time to move on.

Luckily, both Ajay and I have always been interested in adopting a child (or children). We had even discussed this interest prior to getting married.
In February of 2005, we made the decision to begin a new journey - one with a brighter light at the end of the tunnel! We researched and decided that we would adopt from India, using Dillon International Adoption Agency.

In April, we began the arduous process of completing paperwork, filing gov't forms, having our backgrounds checked thru police and FBI, home study interviews, adoption and parenting eduction classes, etcetcetc.
This process did move along relatively quickly for us - no major snags. It did take us forever to complete our Dossier (the compilation of documents to be sent to India). We needed documents notarized by notaries in several different states - some then needed authenticated by the County Clerk - and then all of them needed to be authenticated by the Secretary of State in all of those states. I swear, we must have paid somewhere between $3,000 - $5,000 for FedEx shipping of envelopes back and forth!
Our poor FedEx delivery guy - we kept him busy!

Our Dossier was finally completed in late October, 2005... and on it's way to India!
Yay! We were finally on the list!

Around the time that we were completing our dossier, we rec'd the referral of a waiting baby in India. It was a baby boy named Prasun. We reviewed his medical information and thought that his special needs would be managable. We considered accepting him and were very excited.
Unfortunately, we got a bit emotionally involved too quickly. After a couple of weeks, we received new photos and information about the baby. It turned out that his special needs were much more severe than we were initially informed. After much consideration and prayer, we decided that he was not a fit for our family - nor were we a fit for him. We, unfortunately, were not able to accept him.

Though that process was horridly painful for us, it also taught us to slow down and not get immediately emotionally invested. This is not an easy thing to do when you have been waiting so long to have a child!

Luckily, at that point, our dossier was in India and we were now #1 on Dillon's NRI (non-resident indian) waiting list. Hopefully it would not be too long of a wait!

Welcome To My Blog!

2006-02-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

I thought this would be the best way to keep everyone updated on our adoption journey. I find myself emailing and emailing and emailing... and then forgetting what info I have sent and to whom... so hopefully this will work!

Welcome to our blog! (and yes, I say 'OUR' blog.. but I think we all know who is going to be writing everything!)