Long Awaited Update...

Hi all! Sorry we seem to have been swallowed up in cyberland somewhere. Our journeytome blog expired, I lost the password to this blog, and I just haven't made the time to get my blogging act together. :)

Adelina continues to progress everyday. She is truly a different child than she was in China. She smiles atleast 80% of the day, and seems to laugh out loud most of that. :) She has started the evaluation process for her therapy, and actually started a speech and language group this week.
She is crawling ALL over the place, cruising the furniture (and stairs!) any chance she gets, and standing on her own for 10 seconds or so. No steps yet, but I think they will be coming soon!

Kyra and Isaac are adjusting wonderfully to her. Better than we could have ever imagined. Kyra started second grade, and loves her teacher and classmates. Isaac started 3 day preschool, and is loving making new friends.

Other than that, I guess pictures speak better than words. :) Enjoy. :)

Adelina is Home

This is Amy's friend Cristin. She is having internet access issues in China, especially with this blog so she is updating on an alternative blog site located at this link:

If that link doesn't work for some reason then go here
and search for Adelina Rose

Cristin

We're Here!!!!

After 27 hours of airplanes and airports, we can FINALLY say we are in CHINA!!!!
I am LITERALLY about to pass out into a rather hard bed, but I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it safe and sound. It's 1:00 a.m. here, and we just got into our room. Hotel is beautiful, our guide is GREAT....and we get to hold Adelina in a day and a half!!! :):):):)
June 2 at 2:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. Tennessee time)
Love
Amy and the Corrigan Crew

OUR ITINERARY!!!!!

We are over the moon to announce that our travel plans are final!!!

6/29 Leave TRI for GUANGZHOU (via Detroit/Tokyo) on Northwest Airlines
6/30 Arrive in GUANGZHOU 10:35 p.m. (China time)
7/1 Free time (Meet with guide to to prepare paperwork, fees, gifts, etc.)
7/2 Go to the Civil Affairs Office to RECEIVE YOUR CHILD at 2:30p.m!!!!
7/3 Adoption Registration and Notorization at 9:00
Optional Shopping trip to the local department store for supplies
7/4 Happy 4th of July!!! Free time. Rest, shop tour, etc.
7/5 Free time
7/6 Receive your child's adoption registration certificate today. Apply for your child's passport
7/7-8 Free time. Optional city tours are available.
7/9 Receive your child's passport today.
7/10 Child's physical exam visa photo are today. You will be walking to the clinic. Bring baby supplies.
7/11 Today is your Consulate Appointment.
7/12 Go to the U.S Consulate to take the oath in the afternoon. Receive your child's visa packet at the COnsulate.
7/13 Free time
7/14 Leave Guangzhou for the U.S.
Arrive TRI 9:21 p.m.
WELCOME HOME!!!

TA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA!!!!!!!!!

Our agency just called...and we HAVE TA FOR OUR DAUGHTER!!!!!!!
Words can not explain the relief, excitement, and THANKS I'm feeling today!
One last thing, our Consulate Appointment verification, which our agency seems to think will be Monday or Tuesday, and we'll be ready to book our flights to CHINA!!!!!

Wish I had exact dates of travel to post, but our best prediction is June 30ish.
Sounds good to me!!!!
Praising God and dreaming of our sweet girl!
Amy

The "other" Kiddos ;-)

This is for all of you out in cyberland, or for those who haven't seen us for awhile. :)
Just a few, fun candid shots of Kyra and Isaac.
Kyra is 7 1/2, full of spunk and life. Isaac is almost 4, and 100% boy, while at the same time being a serious Mama's boy. He'll make some woman very happy one day (or insane...not sure which. ;)

Nursery Pics

It was hard to get good pics, and it's not completely finished, but you get the idea.
Her bedding has little pagodas and Chinese women on the sheets, and her walls are light pink. The picture hanging above her bed was made especially for her by her sweet big sister, Kyra. The closeup is of that picture.
We can't wait to see her smiling face and her little arms reaching up to us from her new bed!

We're officially refingerprinted (is that even a word?)

HECTIC day yesterday. We drove to Nashville (5 hour drive), were refingerprinted, then dropped off Doug at the airport for a business trip, and drove straight back home. Mom is TIRED. I'm sure Dad is too...in his hotel room in Newark, NJ.

Not much to tell about the trip. I hounded the guy taking my prints as to WHY in the world fingerprints expire. He basically hem and hawed around, and then finally acknowledged that it is probably to make an extra $70. :)
We also met a couple who were Logged in (NSN program) in July...just like us. We showed them Adelina's pictures, and I think she ALMOST had her hubby convinced to consider Waiting Children by the time we left.

We took the kids to HardRock in Nashville; their first trip to a HardRock. Doug almost had a stroke when he saw his $14 hambuger and the kids' $7 Kid's Meals ;), we took a couple of pics, dropped Doug off at the airport, and drove back home.
The kids were SO good, considering they were in the car for over 10 hours yesterday, and got nothing out of it but a Kid's Meal and a picture in front of a huge guitar. :)

One more step completed! China here we come!!! I'm sending off our Visa applications today!

UPDATE on Adelina!!!!

And all I can say is GOD IS GOOD!
We are just ecstatic to learn that Adelina has come a LONG way since her last medical report. Her medical report says:
~She has not had any type of history of seizures.
~She can sit by herself now.
~She can crawl.
~She can stand up holding on the handrail of the crib.
~She can not use a cup.
~She can not feed herself.
~She is babbling, but can not say any words.
~The orphanage felt that her cognitive development was improved greatly.
Personality:
She likes dolls.
She is affectionate and likes to play with others.


She's 19.5 pounds, 29.5" tall, and her foot is 4.3 inches long (size 2???).
We're so thankful to God that she seems to have progressed amazingly since her last report. Our prayers have been heard, and we praise God for what only he could have done!!!
Now come on TA!!! Baby, we're almost there!!! :) :) :)

And as an added bonus, it seems I guessed right on her size. I think her clothes will fit her perfectly! I still haven't bought any shoes...I just don't trust those numbers....but time will tell. For now, she'll just have to go in sock feet. :)

LOA on its way to China! Nursery Finished!

This morning, I FedExed our LOA to our agency, and then it's on to CHINA! :)

I'm also happy to announce that Adelina's nursery is officially complete! And let's just say, I will NEVER put wallpaper in my house again! That stuff is a BOOGER to get off! I spent about 3 weeks scraping wallpaper off, and then another 3 or 4 days painting. Her room is now a very light shade of pink ("Pink Air"), with light green accents. Mom (Nana) graciously bought her bedding and area rug, and I repainted our old changing table a pretty pink. Voila: Nursery on a budget! :)
Can't wait to see her precious face light up her new room!

Countdown to TA officially begins!!!

About Adelina

Here's what we know about our sweet girl:
She was found at approximately one week of age, on the steps of a women and children's center, in ShanWei City, Guangdong, China. She weighed just over 4 pounds when she was found. So, she was more than likely a preemie. She's still a little peanut! At age 20 months, she weighed 18 pounds, and was 29" tall.

Her Chinese name is Shan Wei Chun. Shan Wei is the surname that all the babies in her orphanage are given. Chun means "spring flower" or "pure" in Chinese. We chose to give her an American middle name of Rose (the purest spring flower we could think of), and to kep her Chinese name (Chun) as her second middle name.

Adelina is labeled as a "Special Needs" child, because her development is behind other children her age. She isn't crawling or walking yet. We hope that a lot of love and a little therapy will go a long way. No matter what the future brings, we can't wait to share it with this precious creation of God!

Her birthday is June 27, 2005. She shares her birthday with a very special little boy...named Isaac Corrigan! She and Isaac were born on the same day, and are exactly 2 years apart! How neat is that?

Thanks for sharing in our journey!
The Corrigans

Welcome to our Blog!!!

We're Doug, Amy, Kyra, and Isaac. And we're on a journey to bring our new daughter, Adelina, home from China.
Adelina is a beautiful little girl, who will soon turn 2 years old. She is waiting for us in Guangdong Province, China. We sent our letter of intent to adopt her on March 20, and have just recieved word that our Letter of Acceptance has been received from the CCAA (Chines Center for Adoption Affairs) TODAY!!!! Which means we should be receiving our Travel Notice sometime within the next month!!! YAY!

We have started a fundraiser to try to raise the remaining funds we need for airline tickets and travel expenses. We would be more than grateful to anyone who feels led to donate toward bringing our sweet girl home!!! Our trip will be minimalistic, no sight seeing tours, etc. We just want to bring our sweet baby girl home to her new forever family!