Sending out postcards...

Hello there~

Just a note to those who haven't responded to our invitation to be a part of Avery Lin's quilt. We will be sending out reminder postcards. We have over 65 quilt squares and 56 pages for Avery's scrapbook so far, we would like to have the full 100 quilt squares. We sent out over 90 invitations to family and friends. We will also be sending out a second wave of the original invites to people who have heard about the quilt and have shown a lot of interest.

If you do not send a quilt piece after the reminder we will assume you do not wish to participate.

Again, remember this quilt will be for our daughter from China, Avery. Even though our wait is long we would like to get her quilt started. We are planning to adopt again from China after we get Avery. So, we will be doing this again for her sister. If you do not know what to do please go to the connecting blog site here called Avery's Quilt.

We understand everyone's schedules are hectic and busy, and it takes time to pick out the fabric and put your thoughts together. We would like to start looking at patterns and start to figure out how to put her quilt together. So if you still wish to participate please send your quilt piece and your wish and your scrap piece, you do not need to do a scrapbook page. Alli can do that for you, just send the fabric (8x8 & scrap piece) and your wish.

Thanks,
Alli & Gary

NYC Trip to China Town

Two weekends ago Gary and I went to NYC for a costume preview show for my work and while that was in NJ we went to NYC on Friday and Saturday and spent some time in China Town and Times Square.

We bought Avery a huge panda bear from the Toys R' Us in Times Square, I thought maybe this would kick start us on the renovations to her room. We also spent the day in China Town and Little Italy area. I kept trying to find Chinese souvenirs but in all the shops in China Town, it was all I Love NY stuff and fake Gucci purses and Chanel sunglasses. We also met up with some of our former dance students, some are going to school in NYC and some are working in NYC.

Alex is a student at NYU, Megan is a student at FIT and Shauna is working for a firm in NY and Ashleigh was visiting Shauna. So, we took them all out dinner at Lombardi's in Little Italy...GREAT PIZZA!!!!! As we were catching up with everyone I told them about my searching for Chinese stuff and not finding any, and they had the solution. Megan and Alex took us to a place called the Pearl River Marketplace in China Town. It was 3 floors of everything Chinese. It was great!!!! We bought Avery lanterns for her room, and a lamp for her room. A really sweet Chinese parasol mobile, and 5 children's books and much more.
We absolutely loved this place. Thank you girls!!!!

We also bought a Chinese fan, and the red envelopes for the Chinese New Year, and some small buddhas at some other places throughout the day, and a Chinese outfit so I can frame the shirt for her wall.

We had a really good time and needed the get away!!!!

Love to all~
Alli

Met some more waiting families...

We went to a function hosted by our adoption agency, New Life, yesterday in Liverpool. It was for waiting families and there were about 5 families there. Also, most of the New Life staff was there. There were 2 families that their DTC was a 2006 date and hopefully will travel soon. They also told us that a bunch of other families from the agency were traveling to China this week to pick up their children...exciting!!

There was another couple there and their DTC was February 2007, so they are only 4-5 months ahead us. They were really nice and you could feel the comraderie with everyone in the room...the waiting thing is just HARD!!!! Nobody was there from our group, a little disappointing because I was looking foward to meeting who we might be traveling with.

There was another couple there and they are going to adopt their 2nd child from China. They brought their little girl, Catherine with them. She was adorable and they had just come from dance class. She takes ballet and tap and she is 3 1/2. She was very cute!!!! Her mother was so nice and forthcoming with information and her husband was the same way.

We saw our adoption agent, Vicki, and met the other people we get e mails from all the time. Lashonna, and Pat were there and it was really great to meet them. I will say that everyone that works at New Life seems to be just as friendly and helpful as can be...and very understanding!! We also met another one of the social workers, and traded NYC stories with her and Vicki.

Lashonna the post placemnet person at New Life, said she had heard that China might speed things up at the first of the year to get more families traveling, and then it will slow down because of the Olympics. Everybody seems to think the wait is so long now due to the Olympics and all the renovations going on in China right now. It would be great if they did try to speed things up at the first of the year so more families ahead of us would travel sooner. But again, it's just hear say and nothing to get excited about...yet.

We got there about 11:00AM and stayed until 12:30, we didn't expect that we would stay to the end. We are really looking forward to the Chinese New Year Celebration in January. We have heard from a lot of people that it is a blast and there are about 300 children there for that.

It is so nice to be around other waiting families. There are certain things you need to ask and talk about and other people really don't know or want to listen sometimes, they just see it as so far away. But with us we live with the wait every day and every night. You want people to ask how you are doing just like they would if you were actually physically pregnant. There is more of a mental difficulty with adoption than I think most people understand. So it's nice to know that the feelings you feel are valid and alright to feel.

After, we went to Babies R' Us and bought Avery a panda bear rattle. It's cute!!!

I will put up another post soon about our trip to China Town in NYC last weekend. I'm a little out of order here.

Love to everyone~
Alli & Gary

Some Chinese words...

Here are some Chinese words for family members, thought you'd like to know.

Mom (Alli)- Ma ma
Dad/Father (Gary)- Ba ba
Grandma (Margaret)- Lao Lao
Grandma (Judy)- Nai Nai
Grandpa (John)- Lao Ye
Grandpa (Ron)- Ye ye
Great Grandma (Dorothy & Viola)- Lao nai nai
Great Grandpa (Lew)- Lao ye ye
Aunt/Auntie (Liz & Beth and others)- a yi
Uncle (Tom, Johnny, Steve and others)- Shu shu
Cousin (Jess, Jodi, Noah, Owen, and others)- biao qin


There are a ton of different words dependent on who's Mother, who's father and so on. These are the ones I've figured out so far. I think Gary and I have the easiest with Ma ma and Ba ba.


Enjoy!!

Love to everyone~
~Alli & Gary

Happy 3 Month official wait to us...

It's now been officially 3 months into our wait to get Avery. It doesn't seem like the time is going by quick enough. I thought maybe when we got back into our usual swing of things time would go quicker or at least "seem" to go faster. But I think because we are so anxious, she is in our thoughts every minute of the day. It's really tough to be in this situation, waiting to become parents. Some days are bluer than others, but I do know this journey that we are on is leading us to a more fulfilled life and tons more laughter, and brighter days.

We find ourselves daydreaming about her and how much she will change our lives, we are so ready for that. Being that we are in our mid 30's and just becoming parents and having to wait so long for it I know we will appreciate each and every day and every moment. The good and the bad, the tough and and the trying with more love than we could ever imagine.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers,

Love to you all~
~Alli & Gary