LeMaire China Adoption

Angelina is Growing!

2010-02-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

It hardly seems possible that is has been 3 years since we came home with Angelina. So much has been happening in our lives that it's hard to keep up with the blog.

Angelina has been thriving and growing and puts a smile on everyone she encounters. She is a pure delight and so ment for us. Angelina will be 4 on June 1st and has been in school since she was two. This year she has been going to the local echo program for 3 year olds and also attends Kidnastics where I work. This will be the only time that she will be in high school with Christopher!! She loves school and anything to do with learning. She can sit for hours while we read to her or she will sit and read by herself. She can read level one books pretty much herself. Her cousin Morgan teaches her how to read and they play school all the time. Angelina also loves to play with her best friend Autumn and her big brother Christopher. She just recently met her other older brother Steven and she adores him as well. Although we don't see too much of him.

Angelina keeps busy attending Christopher's activities but she also has her own such as karate, yoga, gymnastics and dance/movement classes. In between she likes to go to birthday parties and hang with her family.

It's such a delight to watch her try new things. She totally embraces each new experience and has very little fears. She adjusts very well to new situations and makes friends easily. And of course now that she has found her voice she has lots to say. She has a reason and an explaination for everything that she is doing. It all somehow seems to make sense to her!! Like the time she took all her toys and covered her bedroom floor and told me that she made a master piece. Of course she got Christopher to help and was very proud of her artwork. What can you say to a Master Piece!

At the moment we are looking forward to Spring and Summer. It seems that this year she likes the snow but last year she did not want to have anything to do with cold or snow. Wow, what a difference a year makes. She also loved sled riding until she fell flat on her face and decided that was not a "good idea", her words.

As time goes by we are all more and more in love with her. Most of all it's so awesome to watch her with her big brother Christopher. They have such an incredible bond and they totally understand each other. Angelina loves to boss him around and he loves it. Christopher totally adores her and will do anything for her. The love they have for each other is so beautiful to watch.

Bill and I wake up every morning saying "thank you" for our wonderful kids. They truly make our hearts sing.

Kodakgallery.com Share album

2008-06-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

Kodakgallery.com Share album

Angelina turned 2 years old on June 1st. We had a huge party and she had an awesome time with friends and family. The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed the pool, food, drinks and laughter. Thank you all for making the day PERFECT for our Little Angel. She is sooooooo lucky to have so many caring people in her life.

Check out the party pictures - just click on the link then click VIEW.

Angelina continues to grow and is getting stronger everyday. She still has PT twice a week but her walking had much improved. She loves her Wednesday playdates and her new favorite thing is the beach. She wakes up in the morning and says "sand". She has been swimming in the ocean as well as in our pool. She is a fish just like her big brother. Angelina continues to boss her brother around and Christopher is very patient with her. He lets her get away with everything, including giving up his food if she wants it!! He adores her and scoops her up when he gets off the school bus and gives her a big kiss on the head. She loves to wait for Christopher's school bus.

Enjoy the pictures and I hope to update more frequently. Love to all who continue to love and support us.

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'R HAVING FUN!!

2008-04-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

I can't hardly believe that it's almost a year since we have Angelina! She has really grown by leaps and bounds. She now weighs 19 1/2 lbs. and is 32 inches tall. She is walking and running and getting into everything. She also likes to talk, sing and dance. She loves to watch Dancing with the Stars and Idol. She actually dances and sings along with them.

Angelina loves:
*her big brother Christopher
*mommy, daddy, grandma and great grandma
*her best friend Amanda
*peas
*pasta and rice
*books
*looking at pictures of herself
*swimming with daddy, Christopher and friends
*all kinds of fruit
*motorcycles and all ride on toys
*playing with friends
*going to the playground
*hats
*tickles
Most of all she really seems to love life. She wakes up happy and goes to bed happy. She is always smiling and loves to belly laugh. We are so thankful to be her family and we are in awe of her and her accomplishments. She was soooooo ment for us and we love her very much.

Swim Lesson and Life in General

2007-07-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

Angelina truly touches everyone she comes in contact with. She is growing and experiencing new things and loves just about everything except getting her face washed. She will be starting physical therapy next week to help her strengthen her legs. Angelina gets around pretty good even though she isn't crawling yet. She finally figured out how to sit up on her own and now she waves hi and bye. She is eating like crazy, everthing I eat she wants and she will try it all, some stays in the mouth others I wear!

We are still in awe of her. Bill, Christopher and I just want to play with her all the time. It's truly an awesome experience!

Four generation of LeMaires

Swimming with Grandpa Bill, dada and Christopher

How do you like my babushka? Afterall I am part Russian on my father's side!

Who needs toys???!!! I have THE red cup!

Great grandma LeMaire is soooo much fun. She always entertains me with songs.

At the beach again, showing off my favorite bathing suit from Cousin Linda, Joe and Jack.

Big brother Christopher and cousin Morgan. Future rock stars!

My first for grandma Roberta's birthday.

First BBQ on Great grandma LeMaire's new furniture and BBQ. 2007

I'm gonna soar high and always reach for the stars, dada will help me!

I'm a present for Mama and Dada oh and Christopher too.

Dada is always kissing and I love it!

emily with mom - look I'm swimming!

Emily, our host. She is so good about sharing her wonderful toys and she has lots of great toys.

Double infection - not feeling so good. We chose not to do the swim lessons but we go for the socialization and playtime.

Christopher and mom - first time at the swim, they had a ball.

Theresa and Emily with their moms

I love watching my friends swim during their swim lesson

First Ear Infection

2007-07-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

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Making new friends. Evan is 4 months old.

Met cousin Kyle for the first time. What a cutie.

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Help me out of this floatie!

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Love the pool!

Angelina has been with us now for 2 months. It seems like she has always been with us. She has really adjusted well. She loves to eat just about everything and sleeps through the night and takes 2 naps during the day. She is now 16 lbs and 14ozs and 27 3/4 inches. Lately, she feels like she weighs a lot more. Angelina has had a high fever and double ear infection for the last five days and she will not let me put her down. Couple of sleepless nights but we're all getting better now.

We had an Early Intervention Evaluation this week. Angelina will be starting Physical Therapy twice a week for at least the next 6 months. Between Christopher and Angelina we have 3 therapist coming to the house around the clock. All good.

Since the initial evaluation Angelina has been making great progress. She is now attempting to crawl, feeds herself (very independent), hold the bottle and is babbling like crazy. She also loves the pool and doesn't like to be in the floatie. Angelina is a pure delight, she laughs all the time, even when she was really sick she still smiled at us most of the time. We keep staring at her to see if this is all real. We are sooooo lucky to have her in our lives. She melts the hearts of everyone she comes in contact with.

Angelina has been to her first baseball game and saw fireworks. She loved it!!!!! Got lots of attention and made friends with people that were sitting next to us. She also celebrated her first 4th of July and Daddy (5), Mommy(7) and Grandma's (10) birthday.

First

2007-07-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Angelina's Birthday Party 6-9-07

2007-06-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

I love a good party and my presents!

Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty.

I think I like cake

Angleina had an awesome time at her birthday party. Many friends from our travel group came. It was really nice to see them all again. All the children looked healthy and happy. We also had lots of family and good friends helping out. Angelina got lots of great presents. Thank you everyone for an awesome day!

Angelina is One

2007-06-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

This post goes from bottomm up. Still learning.

Spent the day hanging out at Gosman's dock. Very relaxing!

Visited with mommy's friend Helene in Montauk. She was fun, she made me laugh.

We're going on a car trip to Montauk. Don't really like the car seat, but with mommy entertaining it's not so bad.

Just not up to a party. I'll be better for my party on the 9th.

Ice cream cake, Yummmy!

Oh no, battery is low on the camera. I look fuzzy.

Thanks Lisa, Devlin, Sheila and Lila for my birthday hat and horn. Pink, it's sooo me!

Wasn't feeling so good for my birthday because of the shots I got the day before.

Christopher is a one COOL DUDE!

Loved the beach so much I went back the next day and this time Christopher got to go in the water. It was really cold!!!

Attempting my first steps. NOT EASY!

No autographs please!!

Playing in my backyard with my cousin Morgan, big brother Christopher and daddy.

Mommy loves this picture of me and daddy.

Daddy makes me belly laugh.

Me, daddy and big brother Christopher. Christopher loves the beach and he can't wait to go swimming.

Mommy and me showing off our teeth.

I love you daddy.

Me and daddy.

Love the beach.

Me, Uncle Steven and Christopher at Smith Point Beach. We live very close to there. This is my first time at the beach.

Love playing with my cousing Morgan.

Sorry to say that I'm finding it difficult to post on a regular basis. I had no idea that I would be so tired most of the time.

Angelina has been home with us for 16 days now and she is really adjusting very well. She is eating regular food, hates baby food, wants to try everything I'm eating, gets mad if I don't give her a bite. She definitely came to the right family. I love to cook and my family loves to eat! She is also drinking juice now and still has formula between meals. She just started to hold her own bottle. She takes two naps a day and goes to bed around 9:30p.m. and gets up around 7:00a.m. She has just been a pure pleasure. She even poops in the toilet. She has been doing this since China. She will hold it in until we put her on the toilet. It's truly amazing.

Yeahhhhh I did it!!

Napping in Montauk

Love my new potty seat!!

We had our First visit to Dr. Lee's office. She did well until they wanted to take her blood. She did not like that they bundled her up. She was so mad that she wouldn't look at the Dr. afterwards. Couldn't blame her! Everyone was very nice and Angelina was a hit with the staff. She ran a fever for two days but now she's all better.

We had some busy days of playing with the family and friends and getting to know Long Island.

Highlights of Our Trip

2007-05-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

Meeting my big brother. Oh, he's so cute

I will hold you safe and secure forever.

Thank you God she is so precious!

Finally my angel in my arms. The love I felt for this little bundle was overwheling!

Angleina checking out the paperwork. Smart girl.

Angelina is smiling at us. Happy day!!! May 8, 2007

OUR FIRST MOMENT WITH ANGELINA. WE ARE IN LOVE!!! She is just beautiful!

Having an emotional moment. When everyone told me that it will all be worth it, NOW I KNOW WHAT THEY MENT!!!! WHAT A RELIEF AND WHAT A FEELING!!!

Last minute check on paperwork before having Angelina in our arms!

Sheer caos! Everything moved very fast from here on.

Expecting mothers - excited but a little nervous!

Siblings excited to meet their new sisters.

All the expecting fathers and Christopher.

Getting ready to meet Angelina for the first time. We're all wearing Mickey Mouse motif outfits and I'm wearing earings from my Korean mom and necklace from my American mom. I feel them all with me.

Check out the crib for Angelina. Our room at the Dolton, nice and comfy.

Dolton Hotel in Changsha - absolutely beautiful - we will be here for the next 8 days.

Beijing airport - on our way to Changsha and to Angelina!

Every meal looked like this - lazy susan with lots of food. Sometimes we had buffet.

Tenamen Square - Christopher loved hanging out with our guide Guilan

Chinese acrobatic show

Great Wall of China

Christopher looking tough at the Summer Palace.

Met Guilan - our tour guide that stayed with us for the entire trip.

Made new friends - Elaine and Michael Lo (mom and dad to Amanda)

Went right to sightseeing to Summer Palace. Didn't even get to unpack and check after traveling for over 23 hours.

Waiting for our bus in Beijing

Arrived safely in China May 5, 2007
We're here!

Start of our journey from Newark airport on May 4, 2007.

Please check out the auction and help!

2007-05-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

Happy May everyone!

We are writing our update a week early because today is the start of our
"Born in My Heart" art auction, with 100% of the proceeds going to heal
Children's' hearts in China. Volunteers have worked all year long to put
This event together, and you truly can help save the life of a child by
Bidding on any of the more than 250 items listed. (Items will load all day
Today). I love this event so much, as we always have so many children
Waiting for heart surgery, and many are critical. So many times a child
Needs to be moved immediately to save his or her life, and Born in My Heart
Allows us to help those who are urgent. Thanks for spreading the news
About this event from May 18-23rd. I would be so grateful if you have a
Blog, if you could let even more people know. The items are beautiful and
The need is great. Together we can heal the hearts of some truly incredible
Kids. http://www.lovewith outboundaries. com/ArtAuction. php

Our May newsletter is now online and is filled with so many great stories.
You will definitely want to read about Baby Wang's journey, as it shows the
Beauty of the kindness of the strangers, and also the story of HuaHua, as a
Gift of great joy came from a great tragedy:
http://www.lovewith outboundaries. com/Archive/ GeneralMay2007. pdf

Several LWB education volunteers are in China now selecting locations for
Our next Believe in Me schools. These schools for kids with special needs
Offer children who have been unable to attend public school a chance to
Learn and experience the joy of music, books, and more. Yesterday
Volunteers visited our second such school in Hunan, and I read their report
With tears in my eyes as I heard how the kids were giggling and laughing and
Were filled with newly found confidence and self esteem. You can see some
Of the photos on our blog at http://www.lwbchina blog.blogspot. com/. We
Will have much more information on the new schools next month.

Other exciting news from this month include new foster care programs in
Yunnan province and Zhengzhou, Henan province, our Manual of Special Needs
Being translated into Spanish, the end of a very successful neurosurgery
Mission at Shanghai Children's Hospital in partnership with the Shepherd's
Crook and Dr. Lazareff from UCLA, and a new nutrition program for the kids
In the Foshan orphanage of Guangdong. You can read more about all of this
In our newsletter. I ask myself just about every day how big an
Organization can get that is run completely by volunteers all over the
World, and every day I am reminded that when people with a pure love of
Helping children come together..nothing is too big to accomplish.

Please doodle hearts all over your calendar and daily planner to remind
Yourself that some special children are waiting for heart surgery. And
Visit our heart auction today to play a part in healing them! Thank you
For helping us change their lives.

From our hearts to theirs,

Amy Eldridge

Executive Director

Love Without Boundaries Foundation

"Every Child Counts"

www.lovewithoutboun daries.com

HOME SWEET HOME!!

2007-05-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Great Grandma LeMaire making Angelina laugh!

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Grandma Roberta and me

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So tired from traveling over 24 hours!

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Decorated lovingly by FCCLI family members

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Not sure about this car seat!

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Yeahhhhh we're in the USA!!!

We arrived at Newark airport 15 minutes early from Hong Kong today. We started our travels at 4:00a.m. from Guangzhou, China on May 18th and arrived home May 18th at 6:30p.m. We have been traveling for over 24 hours, so needless to say we are all VERY tired but extremely happy to be home. Once home Angelina and I fell asleep while daddy and Christopher unpacked.

So far Angelina has been on a plane three times (great traveler like her big brother!), came to USA, had her first car ride (didn't like the car seat), met Uncle Steven and saw her home for the first time (it was lovingly decorated by my FCCLI families and friends. Thank you all, the house looked beautiful and it was a awesome sight to come home to).

Many of you may have wondered why we did not post after the 10th. The internet in China was soooooo slow and we had to navigate in chinese. At times we would have to start over b/c we lost everything. Also, we were on the go constantly. We really had a hard time finding the hour to two hours we needed to post. I will update with the rest of our trip after some shut eye.

IT'S SOOOOOO WONDERFUL TO BE HOME!

2007-05-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

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2007-05-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCING OUR LITTLE ANGEL

2007-05-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

It has been crazy busy. We got our Angelina on May 8th at 10:30a.m. We drove from Dolton Hotel to the Hunan Civial Service building. Before leaving the hotel we took pictures of all the mommies then of all the daddies. Christopher is not a daddy but he wanted to be in the picture with the dad. We were all so nervous but very excited. The receiving of the baby process was very overwhelming. The process moves really fast. We all started to cry before we even got the babies. For the most part most of the babies were great. When our name was called our Angelina took one look at daddy and gave him a big smile. It was the greatest moment. She smiled and came right into my arms. WOW, what a feeling! Scary but oh sooooo sweet!!!!!!

After we got the babies we returned to the hotel to have lunch and to bond with our babies. Angelina was happy and smiling all the back to the hotel and even after we got back she was still smiling and laughing. She was really adjusted to us well. Sleeping through the night was a bit of an issue. Angelina kept getting up about every 2 hours. She seemed to be looking around for something familiar. Needless to say we're a little sleep deprived. Thanks to all our friends and family who wished this on us!!!!!!!

Today we went to the Civil Service building again to get a passport and to notarize the paperwork for the final adoption. They also took Angelina's footprint and our thumb prints. After that we came back to the hotel and had lunch - all the meals have been unbelieveable, lots of food, mostly good, some I've never heard of and too scary to mention - then I went to have a foot massage, it only cost 6 dollars for one hour. It felt sooooo goooood!

Tomorrow we will be going to Wal-mart to get baby supplies and sight seeing. Did I mention that Angelina really does look like an angel. Everyone is saying she has such an angel face. She has a very sweet personality so far and she loves her big brother, her mommy and daddy. She woke up this morning and gave daddy a BIG smile. We are all in love.

The pictures are in sequence from when we left the hotel to get Angelina. Love to all back home. Miss you all.

WE'RE HERE!!!

2007-05-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

We arrived safely in Beijing on the 5th and from the minute we got off the plane it has been non stop. We saw the Summer Palace then went to the Hotel and had a group dinner. We also met our guide Guilan, she is fabulous. Soooo helpful and very funny. She is keeping us on track and moving. Today we had breakfast at the hotel, lots of interesting stuff, then went to the jade factory followed by climb to the Great Wall. It was a beautiful hot day and Bill and Christopher made it to the 5th tower. This was definitely not an easy thing to do! After the Wall, we had lunch out then went shopping. We also saw an acrobatic show. That too was awesome. The seats were great. So far Christopher has been a model tourist. He has been enjoying all the food, sights and the people. Here are some pictures of our adventure so far. We will be traveling to Changsha tomorrow then get Angelina the day after on the 8th. Will post her picture as soon as we can.

BIG hello to grandma Roberta, great grandma LeMaire and the rest of the family and friends. Thanks Vicki for the suitcases, they really are great and the orange one is very helpful. Steven, thank you for taking us to the airport and will see you on the return (don't forget to put gas in the car!).

Enjoy the pictures. Love to All.

Almost Packed

2007-05-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Almost packed and ready to go to China. It seems the list never ends. Thanks to all my family and friends for all the support and help. Throughout this journey we have made some incredible friends. We could not have come this far without your support.

I also want to say a BIG thank you to my agency New Beginnings in Mineola, NY. They have literally held our hands and help process our paperwork with patience, understanding and campassion. Faye was always there with information and emotional support, Kathy grounded us by telling us to keep busy and not believe all the rumors and get off the computer once in while. Pauline always called us back promptly and answered all of our concerns and questions in a timely manner, even when she didn't have an answer. I'm sure keeping 11 families encouraged throughout this long process must have been daunting at times!!! Well, it was all worth it because WE ARE ON OUR WAY!

We had a really cute and happy moment yesterday. Vicky and Emily, one of our new friends came over. Vicky has been very helpful with my packing. Emily just turned two and is from the same province (Hunan) and same SWI (Loudi) as Angelina. Emily has been here a year and she is a cutie pie! Christopher who has Autism came off the bus saw Emily and was very happy. Emily chased Christopher into the house and Christopher gave her a hug. I wished I had a camera for that moment. Christopher looked soooo big next to her. Before leaving Emily gave Christopher a hug and kiss. It was sooo cute!! Emily's blog is under Circle of Friends section. Christopher is going to be a very helpful big brother. He has been helping me get the baby's room ready. He even picked out a book for Angelina. Everytime I tell him about Angelina he gets very happy.

Off to get rest of the supplies and finish packing. I still feel like I'm dreaming, Ican't believe we are really going!!!!

Travel Itinerary and Baby Shower

2007-04-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

What a busy weekend! On Saturday April 21st at 11:30a.m. we had our travel meeting in Mineola, NY.

Our New Beginnings Travel Family 4-21-2007

Here is our itinerary:

May.04: Leave from Newark on Continental Airlines at 12:10p.m

May.05: Family LeMaire arrive in Beijing on Flight CO89/13:45, guide will meet the family at airport and transfer to Jianguo Garden Hotel.
Lunch. Will visit Forbidden City together in the afternoon.
Group dinner in hotel.
May06: Visit the Great Wall with lunch. Acrobatic show in the evening.
Dinner in hotel.
May.07: Visit Tian An Men Square, Summer Palace. Lunch. Beijing to Changsha on Flight HU7135(17:10-19:25), transfer to Dolton Hotel. Chinese dinner.
May.08: Go to the Civil Affairs to meet the child and sign the agreement.
Lunch /Buffet dinner. We finally get to hold Angelina!
May.09: Go to the Civil Affairs again for adoption registration, notarization and the passport. Lunch/Chinese dinner.
May.10: Go to the local department store to buy some daily necessities for their child.
Lunch/Buffet dinner.
May.11: Visit YueLu Academy. Lunch/Chinese dinner.
May.12: Visit Changning SWI and Loudi SWI separately, this is where Angelina was found. Lunch/Buffet Dinner.
(Please note it will take about 2 hours to get to Loudi SWI, and around 3 hours to Changning SWI. So it’s a long way driving, let the families be prepared for that. Will be back to Changsha on the same day.)
May.13: Visit the Embroidery Museum and the Temple of Kai Fu Si.
Lunch/Chinese dinner
May.14: Pick up passport. Lunch/Buffet dinner.
May.15: Changsha to Guangzhou on Flight CZ3391 (10:00-11:00), transfer to White Swan Hotel. Same day afternoon, medical and take photo for the child.
May.16: 09:30 visa appointment at US Consulate.
May.17: Visit the Six Banyan Temple. At 16:00 pick up the visa.
May.18: Leave Guangzhou on Flight CZ301/08:25, transfer to airport.

May.18: Arrive Newark airport 2:05p.m. Continental airlines, terminal C.

Lots to to do, shopping, packing and praying!!

This same day I also had my baby shower. My girlfriend Lisa did an awesome job putting it all together. She is an amazing, energetic and caring person! I'm so grateful for her friendship. My incredibly hardworking husband made sure things ran smoothly. He has been a rock throughout this whole adoption process. My mother in law, my brother and his family were also very helpful. I also had several wonderful little helpers while I was opening the gifts. Thank you Morgan, Madison, Shelby, Katerina, Sheila and Nicole for all your help. They are all going to be great role models for Angelina. Thank you all for an awesome shower.

I was overwhelmed by the love and support of so many people for us and for Angelina. She is soooo lucky to be surrounded by so many caring people. I can't wait for you all to meet her. Of course she will be the best dressed Little Angel in town. She received so many wonderful and generous gifts and I sincerely thank you all for that.

I've waited so long for this day and it was perfect! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU all for the love and support!!!

Great job Lisa and Bill

Thanks Nicole (orange shirt) for all your help!

My little helpers! Angelina's role models!

My turn for the hat!

I think our smiles say it all!!!

Roberta(MIL), Katherine, Christine, Aunt Chris and Grandma

The cake was yummy and beautiful

BILL'S FIRST BABY SHOWER

2007-04-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

We were surprised by our wonderful friends at the Moriches Rotary Club with a baby shower on April 12, 2007. We thought we were just going for dinner. They made Bill sit in the decorated chair to open the presents. Since this was his first time Bill needed lots of help from Barbara and Debra, two of the rotary members. Although Bill had to be walked through the process he did very well. He made sure he held up the presents and announced who they were from. They even made a hat out of the bows and made Bill wear it!! It was great, lot of laughs!

Angelina got some really beautiful dresses, accessories and wonderful toys. Just look for the best dressed baby in town!!

We are so grateful to all our friends for their love, support, generosity and thoughtfulness. Angelina is so lucky to be surrounded by so many loving people. Can't wait for everyone to meet her in person. Only 3 more weeks to go!

Too cute for words!

MAY TRAVEL

2007-03-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

WOW! Good news, we have a tenative date for travel, May 4, 2007 return May 18th Yaaaahooooo!!!!!.

We will fly from Newark to Beijing then to Hunan Province, be united with Angelina and then fly to Guangzhou for final paperwork, then we fly back to Beijing and then home to Newark. We'll get the details on April 20th, when we have our travel meeting at our agency.

It feels very sureal. I have been dreaming about this forever and now it's finally here! Our journey has been filled with joys and sorrows while we were waiting for our Little Angel. We moved into a new home in April of 2006, Bill and my brother Steven turned 40 in July 2006 and my mom passed on in July 2006. My son Christopher 14 had a massive growth spurt and towers over his mama! Christopher is very excited about his new baby sister. He keeps looking for her when we mention her name.

Our journey has been supported by so many wonderful friends, family and yahoo groups. Along this journey we have made awesome new friends and I can't wait to have playdates!! Thank you everyone for being there for us. We truly appreciate and value your support and friendship.

Here are some facts about Hunan Province, most likely we will be in the capital city of Changsha when we meet Angelina for the first time.

Located in the south central part of the Chinese mainland, Hunan has long been known for its natural beauty. Hunan is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River on the north. Hunan's mixture of mountains and water makes it among the most beautiful provinces in China. For thousands of years, Hunan has been a major center of Chinese agriculture, growing rice, tea, and oranges.

http://www.toptrip.cc/destination/province/hunan.htm

http://www.toptrip.cc/destination/city/hun_changsha.htm

http://www.sinopro.com/chinamap.htm

One Step Closer

2007-03-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

Today Bill brought more paperwork to our agency. Our agency will be working on our visa application and travel arrangements. As of now, we will be traveling by May 4th. Yeahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

We filed for orphan petition and fingerprinting on March 9th and received approval and appt. in a week! We are so grateful to USCIS for the speedy return. Our fingerprint appt. is March 30th and hopefully that will be processed quickly as well.

We waited so long and now everything seems to be moving at a super sonic speed. Just awesome!!!!!!

More paperwork

2007-03-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

It seems that the paperwork never ends. Thank god my husband is really good at it! It has been 15 days since we first laid eyes on Angelina. My husband carries her picture around and he even places one on the chair when we are eating. She feels so part of our lives already.

We are currently waiting for our fingerprinting appt. Because our process took so long we had redo and repay for several documents. As of now we hope to be traveling by May. We hope to be back for Angelina's 1st birthday party.

Here is the bio on Angelina:
*Chinese Name: Lou Fu Fang
*American Name: Angelina Lou LeMaire
*DOB: June 1, 2006
*As of November 2006 - she weighed 15 lbs and was 24.5 inches tall
*Angelina is from the Hunan Province, Loudi Social Welfare Institute in foster care. She has been in foster care from the first day she was found in front of the Loudi SWI.
*Hunan Province is in the southern part of China

Because of our long journey, I feel like we told the world about Angelina. We have had awesome support from family and friends throughout this incredible journey. We are so grateful for our supportive family and friends.

To all my internet friends, the caring, love and support has gotten us through some rough days!! Thank you all for being there for us.

Pressure Cooker

2007-03-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the day redoing our paperwork for fingerprinting. Our lives have been very hectic in the last month that we completely overlooked redoing some of our paperwork.

Anyway, I've finally got this blog site up and running and I will do my best to keep you all updated on our amazing journey to our daughter.

The Beginning

2007-03-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Our journey began in 2004 with "The Paperwork Chase"! There are tons and tons of paperwork and that alone was an exciting adventure. Bill and I learned a lot about each other as we were getting our documents together.

We chose China because we were told that from the time our documents go to China it would be about 8-10 months. Little did we know that it would take 16 months before before finally getting our referral. Referral is when you get a picture and a bio information.

Following is list of life events that happened while we were waiting for our daughter:

*September 2004 - initial paperwork began
*March 2005 - delay in paperwork due to medical issues that ended being nothing
*September 16, 2005 - documents went to China (DTC)
*October 18, 2005 - documents were logged in (LID) and the LONG waits begins!
*September 2005 - My little cousin had a baby boy
*February 2006 - Bill's two cousins had babies, both boys

OH BOY! ARE WE EVER READY FOR A GIRL!

*April 2006 - We moved into our new home on Quail Run.
*July 2006 - My mom passed away, had a 40th birthday party for Bill and my brother Steven
*December 2006 - My sister Susan came to visit for the first time. We also had Bill's mom and sister come for a visit.

*March 5, 2007 - FINALLY! WE GOT THE CALL AT 9:13 A.M. WE HAVE A BABY!!!!
We waited all day and finally got to see our Angelina at 6:15p.m. at Fay's (social worker from our agency). It was the most emotional moment of my life so far. She is beautiful and of course we were instantly in love with her.

Our beautiful daughter

2007-03-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. This is where you can follow along on our amazing journey to our beautiful daughter. Our documents went to China on September 16, 2005 (DTC) and our Log in Date (LID) is October 18, 2005. We received "the call" for our daughter on March 5, 2007 at 9:14 a.m. It was the greatest day of my life so far!!!! We are so excited to introduce Lou Fu Fang also known as Angelina Lou LeMaire. Her birthdate is June 1, 2006 and she is from the Hunan Province and is from Loudi Social Welfare Institute (Loudi SWI). Angelina has been in foster care since she was found in from of the Loudi SWI. We hope to be traveling by 2nd week in May to bring her home.