I wish I could say my lovely lotus was my little Kimi, but for now this beautiful flower will have to do...
7 in heaven, #sprinklejoyforivy
9 years ago
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
One Year since DTC!!
One year ago yesterday, July 19, Our Dossier went to China to get our little girl! I can hardly believe it has been so long and we still don't have Kimi here!!! So far it looks like it will be 2 more years until she comes!! So hard to accept!!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
The Nursery!
Our Nursery has an Asian Water Garden theme. I have always loved Asian Gardens, and Water gardens, so this is the theme I came up with. I so love this room, it was, however, difficult to put together, but now that it is pretty much done (we add to it all the time, it seems) I wanted to post these updated pictures. There is so much going on in the room. We have fish and lotus in the pictures on the walls. Then we hung those beaded fish from the chandelier, love those! Kimi has a cool hat from China hanging on the wall above her bed, she has her ladybugs, pandas and a piggy, and her Asian doll. Alex has his Mongolian doll and a snow leopard that lives in the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan. We also put a Yurta, a couple traditional Kazakh dolls and a large book on the shelf. They have a library area behind the glider, that now has so many books that they don't all fit on the shelves! Alex loves to sit back there and pull a lot of books off at once! He is getting better about that. They have a toy box that Grandma and Grandpa Cook painted for them and put frog decals on. We even have a clock that i hung in there with some Tulips on it, because Kazakhstan has 2 different types of Tulips that were discovered there. Besides Tulips might grown near a water garden, right? Each of the kids has a rug in front of their bed, Alex uses the pink one for time out and Kimi will have to sit on the frog one for time out, it seems to work quite well so far. Notice Alex is taking a nap in his bed!!!
We have been logged in for over 10 months now... since August 8, 2006.
Monday, April 9, 2007
We are Half way to Referral Time!!
I found this posting on a blog that I read once in a while, and wanted to share with you all!
As Chris Heberlig says it...
"As we wait, I've found some interesting things on the number "8" in popular Chinese beliefs. I know I did! I really wish we had some in our address. Do you think it would speed anything up if I told them that my license plate has an "8"...Chinese is probably one of the very few languages where several different words meaning different things can have identical pronunciation. For example "zhong" can mean "center", "royal", "end", "clock", "bell", "love", "sincerity", or "rice dumpling"; "tong" can mean "same", "copper", "child", "servant",and "barrel".
A number of words also have very similar pronunciations to numbers. For example:
The number 1 (pronounced "yao") is very close to the pronunciation for the word "yao" that means "want" or "you" that means "has".
The number 4 (pronounced "shi") can mean "generation", "world", "is", or "death".
The number 5 (pronounced "wu") is very close to "wo" meaning "me"
The number 6 (pronounced "liu") is close to "liu" that means "slippery". Thus "66" means slippery or "smooth running"
The number 7 (pronounced "chi") sounds like "chu" meaing "go" or "che" meaning "eat"
The number 8 (pronounced "ba") sounds close to "fa" which means "prosper"
If you have been to China, you might notice the unusual frequency of the number "8" in the telephone numbers of hotels, airlines or businesses. Most of these are supposed to carry a good omen or blessing for the "prosperity" of the enterprises.Telecommunication companies and car registration authorities in China have unwritten rules to charge extra for each number "8" that you want on your telephone number or your car license plate.
Here are some "prosperous" telephone numbers:
Shanghai Shi Mao Riviera Garden Estate - 6888 8888
Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Shanghai - 6252 8888, 6280 8888
Ocean Hotel, Shanghai - 6545 8888
Sheraton Taiping Hotel, Shanghai - 6275 8888
Rizt Carlton Portman Hotel - 6279 8888
China Travel Services, Shanghai - 6247 8888
Northwest Airlines - 6279 8088
J.C. Mandarin Hotel - 6279 1888
Galaxy Hotel - 6275 5888
Nikko Hotel - 6255 9888
Overseas Chinese Bank Corp - 6329 0888
In your travels you also have noticed that many buildings in China are sans floors 13 and 14. The lifts simply go straight from the 12th floor to 15th floor. The opened- up China seems to have adopted the western superstition relating to the number "13" as well as keeping local superstitions alive by avoiding the Floor "14" pronounced "shi-si" meaning "accidents".Volkswagen would have to adopt a new name completely unrelated to its German name pronunciation of "da zhong" meaning "the people," due to popular perceptions of the term. The nearest Chinese word for "Volkswagen" used among the Chinese in Southeast Asia is "fu shi huo gen" meaning "fortune is the root of disasters." Ford has better luck in the translation as it's translated name "fu te" means "extra fortune". AIWA also has has landed a good fortune fluke as "ai hua" - its Chinese name - means "love China". Similarly with Suntory as it's Chinese translation - "san de li" - means "benefiting three parties" (implying the people, the nation and the company).
"In Hong Kong, a personal license plate with the number eight can cost millions of dollars," says Alhambra, California developer Raymond Cheng, who was born and reared in the British colony. "A single eight on your license plate gives you status. People know you have to pay top dollars for it."
The 2008 Beijing Olympics will begin at 8pm on 8 August, in keeping with one of the nation's lucky numbers. Eight is considered auspicious in China because its pronunciation in Cantonese sounds the same as the word for to make money.The Games had originally been planned to commence in late August to avoid Beijing soaring summer temperatures.But Beijing's mayor said the sporting festival would begin in the luckiest manner possible - at eight on 8/8/08.Mayor Wang Qishan conceded it would still be hot in early August, with the temperature often climbing above 40 degrees Celsius."
So we have some eights in our phone numbers and our log in date! Alex and I were born on the eighth day of the month... hummm... what else? Oh well. Just had to share some funny stuff!
-Christel
As Chris Heberlig says it...
"As we wait, I've found some interesting things on the number "8" in popular Chinese beliefs. I know I did! I really wish we had some in our address. Do you think it would speed anything up if I told them that my license plate has an "8"...Chinese is probably one of the very few languages where several different words meaning different things can have identical pronunciation. For example "zhong" can mean "center", "royal", "end", "clock", "bell", "love", "sincerity", or "rice dumpling"; "tong" can mean "same", "copper", "child", "servant",and "barrel".
A number of words also have very similar pronunciations to numbers. For example:
The number 1 (pronounced "yao") is very close to the pronunciation for the word "yao" that means "want" or "you" that means "has".
The number 4 (pronounced "shi") can mean "generation", "world", "is", or "death".
The number 5 (pronounced "wu") is very close to "wo" meaning "me"
The number 6 (pronounced "liu") is close to "liu" that means "slippery". Thus "66" means slippery or "smooth running"
The number 7 (pronounced "chi") sounds like "chu" meaing "go" or "che" meaning "eat"
The number 8 (pronounced "ba") sounds close to "fa" which means "prosper"
If you have been to China, you might notice the unusual frequency of the number "8" in the telephone numbers of hotels, airlines or businesses. Most of these are supposed to carry a good omen or blessing for the "prosperity" of the enterprises.Telecommunication companies and car registration authorities in China have unwritten rules to charge extra for each number "8" that you want on your telephone number or your car license plate.
Here are some "prosperous" telephone numbers:
Shanghai Shi Mao Riviera Garden Estate - 6888 8888
Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Shanghai - 6252 8888, 6280 8888
Ocean Hotel, Shanghai - 6545 8888
Sheraton Taiping Hotel, Shanghai - 6275 8888
Rizt Carlton Portman Hotel - 6279 8888
China Travel Services, Shanghai - 6247 8888
Northwest Airlines - 6279 8088
J.C. Mandarin Hotel - 6279 1888
Galaxy Hotel - 6275 5888
Nikko Hotel - 6255 9888
Overseas Chinese Bank Corp - 6329 0888
In your travels you also have noticed that many buildings in China are sans floors 13 and 14. The lifts simply go straight from the 12th floor to 15th floor. The opened- up China seems to have adopted the western superstition relating to the number "13" as well as keeping local superstitions alive by avoiding the Floor "14" pronounced "shi-si" meaning "accidents".Volkswagen would have to adopt a new name completely unrelated to its German name pronunciation of "da zhong" meaning "the people," due to popular perceptions of the term. The nearest Chinese word for "Volkswagen" used among the Chinese in Southeast Asia is "fu shi huo gen" meaning "fortune is the root of disasters." Ford has better luck in the translation as it's translated name "fu te" means "extra fortune". AIWA also has has landed a good fortune fluke as "ai hua" - its Chinese name - means "love China". Similarly with Suntory as it's Chinese translation - "san de li" - means "benefiting three parties" (implying the people, the nation and the company).
"In Hong Kong, a personal license plate with the number eight can cost millions of dollars," says Alhambra, California developer Raymond Cheng, who was born and reared in the British colony. "A single eight on your license plate gives you status. People know you have to pay top dollars for it."
The 2008 Beijing Olympics will begin at 8pm on 8 August, in keeping with one of the nation's lucky numbers. Eight is considered auspicious in China because its pronunciation in Cantonese sounds the same as the word for to make money.The Games had originally been planned to commence in late August to avoid Beijing soaring summer temperatures.But Beijing's mayor said the sporting festival would begin in the luckiest manner possible - at eight on 8/8/08.Mayor Wang Qishan conceded it would still be hot in early August, with the temperature often climbing above 40 degrees Celsius."
So we have some eights in our phone numbers and our log in date! Alex and I were born on the eighth day of the month... hummm... what else? Oh well. Just had to share some funny stuff!
-Christel
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Chinese Adoption Timeline
March 9 – Decision to adopt from China
March 13 – Signed contract with WPA, sent in I600A
March 14 – Ordered birth certificates and marriage license.
March 15 – Received Birth certificates and marriage license.
March 19 – Homestudy meeting with Jamie for “3rd” meeting.
March 20 – I600A logged in USCIS office in Detroit.
March 21 – Our 4th Homestudy meeting, Police clearance letters, Wrote Letter of Intent to Adopt, filled out Guardianship designation, Gathered pictures for Dossier. Finished questionnaire, commitment to post placements reports, financial statement.
March 24 – Letter from USCIS, with a 3 month wait for processing.
March 27 – First Draft of Homestudy
March 28 – Jerry’s employment letter.
March 29 – Medical appointment, mailed in record clearance forms.
March 30 – Blood draw for HIV and other blood tests.
April 6 – Medicals done.April 9 – Baby Shower!!!
April 18 – Post Placement agreement signed by Adoption Options.
May 4 – Mailed Homestudy to USCIS.
May 8 – Employment letter for Christel, copies of passports.
May 12 – Received fingerprint appointment.
May 15 – Received Christel’s birth certificate back with Nebraska Great Seal.
May 24 – Redo Letter of Intent, homestudy agreement.
May 25 – Fingerprints done at USCIS office in Grand Rapids.
June 14 – I171H!!!!
June 16 – Redo Jerry’s police clearance
June 19 – Great Sealed all documents in Lansing, and fed-Exed to There’s Always Hope to submit to Chinese Consulate in Chicago.
June 20 – Documents submitted to Chinese Consulate ( for 48 hours service), except Nebraska birth certificate, which was sent to The Assistant Stork to submit (24 hour service) to the Chinese Consulate in Washington DC.
June 22 – Nebraska birth certificate submitted to Washington DC. Documents picked up from Chicago Consulate and sent overnight back to us.
June 23 – Documents received from There’s Always Hope.
June 26 – Nebraska BC received from The Assistant Stork. Assemble Dossier and make copies.
June 27 – Sent by FedEx to World Partners Adoption, Inc.
July 5 – Dossier sent to Faith International Adoptions, Inc.
July 19 – Dossier to China!!! (DTC)
August 8 - Log In Date (LID) at the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs!! (CCAA)
March 13 – Signed contract with WPA, sent in I600A
March 14 – Ordered birth certificates and marriage license.
March 15 – Received Birth certificates and marriage license.
March 19 – Homestudy meeting with Jamie for “3rd” meeting.
March 20 – I600A logged in USCIS office in Detroit.
March 21 – Our 4th Homestudy meeting, Police clearance letters, Wrote Letter of Intent to Adopt, filled out Guardianship designation, Gathered pictures for Dossier. Finished questionnaire, commitment to post placements reports, financial statement.
March 24 – Letter from USCIS, with a 3 month wait for processing.
March 27 – First Draft of Homestudy
March 28 – Jerry’s employment letter.
March 29 – Medical appointment, mailed in record clearance forms.
March 30 – Blood draw for HIV and other blood tests.
April 6 – Medicals done.April 9 – Baby Shower!!!
April 18 – Post Placement agreement signed by Adoption Options.
May 4 – Mailed Homestudy to USCIS.
May 8 – Employment letter for Christel, copies of passports.
May 12 – Received fingerprint appointment.
May 15 – Received Christel’s birth certificate back with Nebraska Great Seal.
May 24 – Redo Letter of Intent, homestudy agreement.
May 25 – Fingerprints done at USCIS office in Grand Rapids.
June 14 – I171H!!!!
June 16 – Redo Jerry’s police clearance
June 19 – Great Sealed all documents in Lansing, and fed-Exed to There’s Always Hope to submit to Chinese Consulate in Chicago.
June 20 – Documents submitted to Chinese Consulate ( for 48 hours service), except Nebraska birth certificate, which was sent to The Assistant Stork to submit (24 hour service) to the Chinese Consulate in Washington DC.
June 22 – Nebraska birth certificate submitted to Washington DC. Documents picked up from Chicago Consulate and sent overnight back to us.
June 23 – Documents received from There’s Always Hope.
June 26 – Nebraska BC received from The Assistant Stork. Assemble Dossier and make copies.
June 27 – Sent by FedEx to World Partners Adoption, Inc.
July 5 – Dossier sent to Faith International Adoptions, Inc.
July 19 – Dossier to China!!! (DTC)
August 8 - Log In Date (LID) at the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs!! (CCAA)
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