The Boys

Just thought I'd post some pics of the boys while we are waiting to hear news from Taiwan. These are Ansley's 'big' brothers. Judson is getting more and more excited about his sister coming home. He keeps coming up with ideas on how to decorate her room. His last suggestion was to move Sawyer's bed into Ansley's room and move Daddy's bed into Judson's room. He thought Daddy would make a better roommate than Sawyer.

The February Update

22 pounds and 29 inches!

The Court Date

Good News!!!!!! We have a court date. It is February 16th. This is the first hurdle we have to jump. At this hearing, they can request more information or perhaps order more counseling for the birth mother. After that, there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period. THEN, they schedule a date for the 1st Decree. This is a matter of getting all the parties together at the same time. Some people have gotten their 1st decree in 2 weeks. Some folks have been waiting on their first decree for 3 months. There is no predicting this kind of thing.

So keep your fingers crossed for a fast process so we can travel real soon!

Jan

The Birthday Surprise

The picture speaks for itself









Can you believe this cake?









Overwelmed? Sugar High?

The January Update

Here are the latest pictures of Ansley. She is now 28 inches tall and 20 pounds. Notice the Stricklin hairline and the Morris front-tooth gap.

The 1st Birthday

Ansley is celebrating her first birthday today, January 5. We won't be able to celebrate with her today but we'll make up for it on the next zillion birthdays she has! We sent a box with a toy and clothes and pictures.

The Paperwork

Finally! Our paperwork headed to Taiwan on December 30. That is such a huge milestone. It means we've done all we can do and it is now in the hands of the Taiwanese government. The process from here on goes something like this:

1. A hearing is scheduled. (Hopefully with a fast judge) We won't know when this hearing is until after the fact. At the hearing it will be determined whether there is enough information to make a ruling. This step has been taking anywhere from 4-12 weeks to schedule.
2. Then we wait for the 1st ruling. This usually happens within a few weeks of the hearing. Again, we won't be contacted until after the first ruling, most likely. After the first ruling we will be scrambling to get our travel plans together.
3. Our AIT appointment will be scheduled to coincide with the 2nd ruling. AIT is the agency that will issue exit visa and other paperwork for Ansley. The travel dates will be scheduled around the AIT appointment.
4. VOILA! Randy and his mom, who will be doing the traveling, will get to bring Ansley home.

We couldn't be more excited. More later.

Jan

The Name Part II

We got all the legal paperwork today. Apparently, Ansley's Chinese name is interpreted (for legal purposes anyway) as Pei-I. So we will be making her legal name match. Her name will become "Ansley Pei-I Stricklin".

We won't be able to start the paper work until we get back from our Christmas trip. Hopefully, it won't take too long to get it completed.

Merry Christmas!

The December Update

A bit more hair!

The Name

Drum Roll Please.......

There is a 95% chance that Pei-Yi's American name will be "Ansley Pei-Yi Stricklin". We debated and agonized over what we wanted to name her. A name is a very important part of who you are and we wanted to get it right. Giving her an American name so that she will 'fit in' as she grows up in the United States was important but keeping her given name was equally important. We want her to be proud of her heritage and her name is a huge part of that heritage. Plus, we think that the name "Pei-Yi" is very pretty and we don't want her to forget it.

Other news: We are still waiting on the home study to be completed so that we can finalize all the paperwork and send it to Taiwan. We're hoping that will happen very soon. We are also still gathering material for the quilt. So if you have some to contribute, you still have time.

Jan and Randy

The Referral

It's a Girl!

On Tuesday, November 15 our agency called and asked if we were ready to hear about a referral.
(our homestudy is not even complete) We said, Sure! So they faxed us information on a little girl named Pei-Yi. She was born January 5, 2005. (Just a few months younger than Sawyer) We had our pediatrician review the medical information as well as his nurse who reads Chinese. Everything looks good. So we have accepted the referral and we're getting quite excited about Pei-Yi becoming a part of our family. Judson thinks she is quite pretty (as we all do) and is ready for her to come live with us and be his little sister. We have not yet settled on an American name. (Sound familiar) We'll let you know as soon as we figure that part out. Stay tuned for more information. We have to wait for our homestudy to be finalized before we can even start the legal processes.

The Home Study

We have our final home study visit this coming week. This is the visit in our home. (Previous visits were at the case workers office.) The case worker will speak with all of us and check out the house. (Oh, NO!) After that, the report will be completed and we will go onto the waiting list.

I've emailed with the agency and they expect us to get a referral very quickly. They said most people are being very flexible as to their child's gender. They also said they are having equal numbers of girls and boys being born. So it seems like we have a 50-50 chance as to getting a boy vs. girl referral. That's very cool. I'm confident we will get the child that is just right for our family.

Won't be long now!

The Quilt

I've had wonderful responses to my quilt request. I truly appreciate it. There's plenty of time to get the fabric to me. I won't start it until after the holidays so if you can get them to me by 12/31/05 that would be great.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here is the short 411. The quilt is called 100 Good Wishes. It is a Chinese tradition to ask friends and family to donate material for the quilt along with an explanation of why you chose that particular piece of material (and a wish for the child). The material is made into a quilt for the child. The quilt is then passed on through the generations.

I wanted to do the quilt as a way of preserving the cultural heritage of our child and to help him/her realize how much we truly wanted them to be a part of our life.

The Journey Begins

As many of you know, Randy and I have been talking about expanding our family through adoption for several years. Well, now is the time! After years of research and speaking with adoption agencies and adoptive families, we've decided to adopt internationally. We've chosen an adoption agency in Washington state. They have a program that is a perfect fit for our family. The adoption will take place in Taiwan.

We started our home study in early October. After it is complete, we will be placed on a waiting list. The list is based on First In, First Out. Once our name pops up on the list and a baby is available, we will be given the referral for that child. Since we are open to either a boy or a girl, our name may come up quicker than others. (Some people have a definite preference and are willing to wait as long as it takes for that preference) The program we are in does not have birth mother involvement in the selection process. This is unusual for Taiwanese programs. Most programs allow the birth mother to choose the adoptive parents.

About the child: The child will be an infant around 2-6 months old at the time of referral. He/she will be healthy (with no known or minor correctible health issues). At the time we accept the referral, the child will be placed into foster care (as opposed to an orphanage).

About the process: The referral process takes 2-6 months. After that, we will have to jump through some hoops and put together our dossier. Once all the I's are dotted and T's crossed, our case enters into the Taiwanese court system. This phase takes 4-6 months. After the court process is complete, we will be able to travel and pickup our child. Randy and his mom are planning on doing the traveling and Jan will stay with Judson and Sawyer.

So that's it in a nutshell. We are extremely excited about this journey. We hope that you will be excited for us. We'll keep this site updated as new information becomes available. However, the wheels on an adoption ship turn very slowly so we won't be updating it every week.

Love,
Randy, Jan, Judson, and Sawyer