A picture of Peco's and Pecunia's firstborn and shoes for Mei Ling/ La primera foto del primogenito de Peco y Pecunia, y zapatos para Mei Ling

As you can see, this is the first picture of Peco's and Pecunia's firstborn. What you can see of him/her is as follows. The red is the inside of the mouth, opened really big, and the fluffy rest is him/her. As you can see, there are more eggs around the little baby canary. Maybe one more will be born today. I was witness today to Pecunia giving food to the baby, and it was quite precious.

Esta es la primera foto del primogenito de Peco y Pecunia. Lo que se ve rojo es la boca abierta bien grande, y el resto es su cuerpecito. Es bien chiquito (a) todavia. Hoy vi a Pecunia dandole de comer y fue bien bonito.

Estos son unos zapatos que le trajo mi hermano Jaime (Mei Ling's uncle) a Mei Ling de Irlannda. Estan bien lindos, y son hechos a mano y pintados con tintes naturales, por si a Mei Ling se le ocurre meterselos en la boca.

These were a gift for Mei Ling from my brother Jaime. He brought them from Ireland, and they are beautiful but nice as well, since they were handmade and the dyes are natural, perfect if Mei Ling decides she wants to chew them as well.

Pecunia's first Baby Canary was born today/ Pecunia tuvo hoy su primer bebé canario

Just wanted to let you know that Florencio just told me that Pecunia, our canary, just gave birth (obviously not literally) to her first baby canary. More details to come.

Para que sepan que Florencio me acaba de informar que Pecunia, nuestra canario, acaba de dar a luz (no literalmente, obviamente) a su primera criatura. Después les cuento mas.

The CCAA Website is Updated and Referrals are Arriving

Yes, I have been kind of lost, but the fact is that I got a pretty nice cut in one of my fingers with a rotary cutter, and it is difficult to type. However, I did want to post that the CCAA website got updated today, which means we are at least one month closer to getting Mei Ling home. Referrals also began arriving today, and so a big note of congratulations to all of the new parents!!!

Mei Ling Mercedes' Room/ El Cuarto donde va a dormir Mei Ling Mercedes

Como algunos se imaginaran, en el mundo de las adopciones internacionales se forman muchas amistades a traves de la internet. Hay todo de tipos de grupos. Yo comence por el grupo del quilt de los 100 buenos deseos. Luego me meti en el grupo de CAWLI, nuestra agencia, y luego me meti en unos cuantos mas, entre los que se encuentra el grupo de los que estan LID o DTC en agosto, como nosotros. Ayer una mama introdujo el topico de lo que cada familia estaba haciendo para decorar los cuartos de sus hijas. Cuando conte como era el cuarto de Mei Ling, una mama me pregunto si tenia fotos en el blog, e increiblemente me di cuenta de que todavia no. Asi que aqui estan. Como ven, es un mural con arboles, 1 nena volando una chiringa, otra nena meciendose en un columpio, pajaritos (creo que no se ven en las fotos) y un castillo chiquito. Si se concentran, lo podran ver. Para nosotros, por diferentes razones, este cuarto es bien especial, y estamos seguros de que a Mei Ling le va a encantar.

As most of you know, in the world of international adoption one meets tons of really nice people through all kinds of support groups. I began by joining the 100 Good Wishes Quilt Group, which has been great. I then joined our agency's group, and a couple more, including the September DTC group, which includes people who are either DTC or LID during the month of August (we have an August DTC and September LID). Yesterday one of the mom introduced the nursery decoration topic and when I talked about Mei Ling's, a mom asked whether I had posted pictures in our blog. I thought I had, but then realized I had not, so here they go. As you can see, it is a mural full of trees, a girl flying a kite, another one in a swing, birds (maybe you can not see those), a little castle (squint and you will see it). We of course really like it, and it does have a lot of very special meaning for us, and hope that Mei Ling loves it too.

p.d. I did promise some more pictures of Mei Ling's Room, so here they go. You can see some of the clouds painted in the ceiling in these pictures
p.d. Aqui van las otras fotos que prometi incluiria del cuarto de Mei Ling. Pueden ver algunas de las nubes en el techo.

My Wonderful Flowers and Squares/Wishes/ Mis flores y deseos/telas

Last week I told you that Florencio had given me beautiful red roses for our birthday. Well, here they are. Are not they BEAUTIFUL?

La semana pasada les dije que Florencio me habia dado unas rosas rojas preciosas para nuestro cumpleanos. Aqui estan? Bellas, verdad?

I have not posted any of the wishes/squares I have received lately. So here is a few of them. These are from the Around the World Swap, sent by the Mickelson, representing Bulgaria, Madeira and Cyprus.

Hacia ya un tiempito que no incluia fotos de los deseos/telas recibidos ultimamente. Estos son del Intercambio "Around the World", enviados por los Mickelson, y representan a Bulgaria, Madeira y Chipre.

These are from the Asian with a Twist swap, sent by the Elliotts, and the Dal Corobbo family, all the way from Australia.

Estos son del intercambio de "Asian with a Twist", enviados por la Familia Elliott y la Familia Dal Corobbo, que son de Australia.

Photo Album Labels in Chinese/ " Labels" en Chino para los Albumes

No, I am not delusional. I KNOW I'm not going to China for a VERY long time. However, now that we are already LID it has more a certain ring to it. We are someday going to China. And I wanted to make sure that when the time came, I had this handy, in case I had forgotten where I had seen the info. Plus they are helpful for anyone out there that needs them because they are SOON going to China. Anyway, I am enclosing 2 pages of helpful Chinese words/phrases that one can include in the care package that one can send to the orphanage after receiving the referral. You just have to click on the images, and then print them out and attach them to the photos, cards, or letters that you are including in your care package.

Obviamente nosotros no vamos para China todavia por BUEN tiempo, pero como ya tenemos un LID podemos decir que estamos mas cerca. El punto es que encontre esto en un website que se llama Salsa in China . Y estan bien chevere, porque es un grupo de palabras/frases en Chino que pueden ser utilizadas cuando se envia el paquete de regalo para los trabajadores del orfelinato y para Mei Ling, una vez nos llegue su referido. Como encontre la informacion hoy, de pura casualidad, prefiero ya tenerla de nuestro lado. Se le puede simplemente dar "click" a cada una de las palabras, y entonces las pueden imprimir de manera individual para utilizarlas en los albumes o cartas que envien en el paquete.


They are pretty neat. I found them in a great website, called Salsa in China which is both a lot of fun and has a lot of helpful information. And to boot they were recently referred beautiful twins.

We are LID!!!/ Estamos LID!!!

Solo un día despues de nuestro cumpleaños, hoy nos notificaron de nuestra agencia que a partir de hoy estamos LID, o sea que ya tenemos nuestro sitio en línea, o sea que ya aparecemos en las computadoras en China, o sea que ya saben que existimos... O sea que ahora comienza la verdadera espera. Un paso mas cerca de Mei Ling Mercedes!!!

Only 1 day after our bday, our agency sent us an email today indicating that as of today, we are LID. It took 1 whole month, which at first kind of bummed me out, but the fact is that everything happens for a reason in life. And so the waiting begins. Now China knows we exist. Now we have a place in line. ONE STEP CLOSER TO MEI LING MERCEDES. HERE WE COME!!!!!

Noticias de Pandas/ Panda News

Buenos dias a todos. Primeramente gracias a todos los que nos llamaron (y hasta nos cantaron) para decirnos felicidades. Ustedes saben quienes son. Lo pasamos muy bien. Por la noche fuimos con mis papas a comer comida china a Great Taste. Estuvo bien rico. Florencio me dio unas flores preciosas. Hoy por la noche les saco una buena foto y se las enseno.
Queria que vieran un reportaje que tiene un link tambien a un video sobre un bebe panda que nacio recientemente en el zoologico de Atlanta. Como saben, los pandas son bien importantes en China. De hecho, alli es donde esta la mayoria de los pocos que quedan. Deben ir aqui.

Good morning everyone. Yesterday we had a very nice bday. We went to eat Chinese with my parents. And Florencio gave me a bouquet of 24 beautiful roses. I will take picture and show you.
I also wanted you to be able to watch a video of a baby pand just born in the Atlanta Zoo. Pretty cool stuff. You just have to go here. You will first see the article, and and then there is a link to a video.

WE ARE NOW 34!!!/ LLEGAMOS A LOS 34!!!

AS OF TODAY, FLOREN AND I ARE 34 YEARS OLD. HOORAY!!! YEEEPPEEE!!! HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE A VERY GOOD YEAR FOR US. AND SOMETHING TELLS ME WE WILL HEAR ABOUT OUR LID TODAY!!! THAT WOULD BE ANOTHER MAJOR B-DAY GIFT!!!

P.D.= HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONGRATS ALSO TO OUR FATHER IN LAW CARLOS AND NEPHEW LUIS FERNANDO, WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS ALSO TODAY. YES, 4 BIRTHDAYS TODAY IN THE FAMILY!!!

HOY FLOREN Y YO CUMPLIMOS LOS 34. QUE EMOCION!!! DIOS MEDIANTE ESTE ANO SERA UNO MUY BUENO PARA NOSOTROS!!! EN HORA BUENA!!! Y ALGO ME DICE QUE HOY ES QUE NOS VAMOS A ENTERAR DE NUESTRO LID. ESE SERIA OTRO TREMENDO REGALO DE CUMPLEANOS!

P.D- FELICIDADES TAMBIEN A MI SUEGRO DON CARLOS Y A NUESTRO SOBRINO LUIS FERNANDO QUE TAMBIEN CUMPLEN ANOS HOY. 4 CUMPLEANOS HOY EN LA FAMILIA!!!

10 Things to Do to Stay Positive During the Wait!!!

Only 1 more day until our birthday!!!

I have been tagged for the first time, and I therefore supposed to write down a list of the top 10 Things to Do to Stay Positive During the Wait for Mei Ling Mercedes. Here it goes, in no specific order:

1-Learn more about the Chinese Culture;
2-Learn some Mandarin (have a book, NI HAO, but not enough);
3-Pray that our other big project comes along;
4-Learn about giving babies good massages (already purchased a book);
5-Finish THE blanket for Mei Ling;
6-Sew Mei Ling's quilts (at least the top myself);
7-Finish Mei Ling's room;
8-Find out info on how to begin a foundation in memory of our angel Bibiana;
9-Begin again my Sunday visits to the children's home; and
10-Go on LOTS MORE DATES with Florencio.

Now I will go and tag the August DTC'ers from CAWLI!!!

p.d.- By the way, something tells me that we will know about our LID today. Let's see what happens!!!

3 dias mas para que cumplamos los 34!!! / 3 more days until our 34th birthday!!!

Solo faltan 3 dias para el cumpleanos numero 34 mio y de Florencio. Ha sido un ano bastante dificil, con muchos dias llenos de retos, pero estamos confiandos en que pronto vengan nuevamente dias llenos de luz y esperanza en nuestras vidas. Estamos seguros de que eso sera asi.

There are only 3 more days until Florencio's and my 34th birthday. It has certainly been a year full of challenges, and it has not always been easy by a long shot, and we don't necessarily feel like celebrating, but we have faith that days full of light and hope will come around real soon.

Weekend Trip to Isabela and Fabrics/Wishes for Mei Ling's Quilt/ Nuestro fin de semana en Isabela y mas telas/deseos para el Quilt de Mei Ling

By the way, for those of you who do not know it, it is only 4 more days until Florencio's and my birthday. Yes, we were both born on the same day, same hospital, and same year. We will be turning 34. By the way, I am older than Florencio by 3 hours.

This weekend we went to the other side of the island, actually only 2 hours away, to a town called Isabela, where my sister and family lives and my parents have a beach apartment. We had a really good time. The ones in the picture are my very pregnant sister Alida, her husband Etienne, our nephew Stefan, my mom Alida, my niece Mariana, my husband Florencio and my dad Jaime.


These are from the Asian with A Twist Swap, sent by the Cecil Family, the Smahay family and ourselves (the one with the calligraphy).



The title of the Cecils wish read Double Ninth Festival, and so I thought this would also be a good opportunity to learn a bit about it. Here is what I found. The Double Ninth Festival (or Chong Yeung Festival in Hong Kong) dated on the ninth day of the ninth month in Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the East Han period. According to tradition, nine is a yang number, ninth day of the ninth lunar month or double nine, has too much yang (a traditional Chinese spiritual concept) and is thus a potentially dangerous date. Hence, the day is also called "Double Yang Festival", chong meaning double. To protect against the danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum wine, and wear a plant named zhuyu. (Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used in other occasions to air out houses and cure illnesses.) Double Ninth may have started out as a day to drive away danger, but, like the Chinese New Year, over time it became a day of celebration. In contemporary times it is an occasion for hiking and chrysanthemum appreciation. Stores sell rice cakes inserted with mini colorful flags to represent zhuyu. Most people drink chrysanthumum tea, a few strict traditionalists drink homemade chrysanthemum wine. Children in school learn poems about chrysanthemum, and many localities host a chrysanthmum exhibit. Mountain climbing races are also popular; winners get to wear a wreath made of zhuyu.

In this swap, we were supposed to include a proverb in the wish, and I just loved the one submitted by the Smahay Family, which read like this: "Nowadays many people seem to believe their lives are entirely a matter of choice; but in my day we viewed ourselves as pieces of clay that forever show the fingerprints of everyone who has touched them." from Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden.

I also wanted to give some details about the Chinese Characters and Calligraphy. Did you know that there are 11 basic strokes in the Chinese calligraphy? And that it takes many years of practice to practice to write well? Also, the Chinese system of writing does not use an alphabet, but ideographs, or characters that express ideas. The simplest ideograph has 1 stroke, but the most complicated has 30. A Chinese character can represent a syllable or a complete word. The Chinese language consists of 50,000 characters, many of which are rarely used.



These are also from the Asian with a Twist Swap, sent by the Sutton Family, the Okerstrom Family and the Mills Family.



These are from the Around the World Swap, corresponding to England and Mexico, both sent by the Helms Family; Germany, sent by the Youmans Family; and, El Salvador, sent by The Humphrey Family.


These are also from the Around the World Swap, corresponding to Ireland, sent by the Icenogle Family; Finland, sent by Patti Barita; Taiwan, sent by the Morrison Family; and, Mali, also sent by Patti Barita.

As you can see, we have received some major beautiful fabrics/wishes these past couple of days.

Update del website del CCAA/ The CCAA has updated the website

Ayer la CCAA (para los que no recuerden, la Agencia en China encargada de las Adopciones) hizo un "update" a su "website", para notificar que habian acabado de revisar todos los "dossiers" hasta el 30 de noviembre de 2005. Eso quiere decir que para esas personas, el proximo paso sera recibir de aqui a varios, varios, varios meses el referido de sus bebes, junto a unas fotos preciosas.

The CCAA updated its website, in order to notify that they had finished reviewing the dossiers submitted up until November 30, 2005. Therefore, for those people the next step will be received the referral of their daughters, along with some beautiful pictures.