Buscando a Mei Ling Mercedes

Happy Birthdays and the wonders of high speed internet

2008-09-07T09:37:00.006-04:00

We are 36 today, by we I mean Florencio and myself. And yes, we were both born on the same date and on the same hospital, for those of you who were not aware of it. Incredible, right? Yesterday we had a pool birthday party, with my dh's family, since both my father in law and my nephnew Luis Fernando also share our birthdays. You can see both Luis Fernando and Mariela his sister in one of the pool pictures with Florencio and Sebastian. The other little boy you see in the pictures is my godson Esteban, who is Sebastian's best little friend.

For the longest time we first had dial up, and then we got tired of its high speed (wink! wink!), and then we had nothing, until finally a couple of weeks ago we were able to have the highest speeds of the internets in out computer. I never knew it could be like this. Finally, I am dowloading pictures again. As you can see, Sebastian is huge (16 months), and so funny, and cute, and oh, you could eat him up... How did we deal without him? Can't wait for Mei Ling to come home. Of course, by this time we surely thought she would be here with us. Tomorrow it will be our 2 year anniversary!!! Yah!!! And today everything would be just perfect if could have our Mei Ling home with us, because we already know our angel daughter Bibiana is out there looking out for us.

To Florencio, happy birthday, you are the best friend and husband a girl could ever want!!!

The Wonders of Jenny Craig

2008-08-29T13:33:00.002-04:00

Wow, it has been a long time. More than 2 months since my last entry. What has happened in the adoption front? Zip, zero, nothing, only that we are about to hit our 2 year lid anniversary. YAAYYYY!!!!

On other things, Sebastian is huge. He is 16 months old now and walking and being very very entertaining.

Also, I finally got myself on a diet. The Jenny Craig diet that is, and have already lost 14.5 pounds in the last 6 weeks, only 5.5 pounds to go, and it feels GREAT to once again get my smaller clothing out of the closet.

Finally, the ordeal is over

2008-06-12T12:45:00.002-04:00

Although only a few people knew about it, last June 2007, one year ago, I sent the squares, as well as a check and all of the expensive trimmings that make a quilt comfy and nice, to a quilter who had been referred to me. This person has a website and seemed so nice. She promised we would have our 4 quilts (the One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt for our future daughter Mei Ling Mercedes, as well as 2 matching beach themed quilts for Mei Ling and her big brother Sebastian, and one quilt for my godson Esteban) by mid November. She said everything was going great, and then by mid October she disappeared. No more answered emails. By this time, she was already living in the States, since prior to, she had been living abroad. I sent emails literally begging her to return our stuff, and nothing. I am an attorney, and so I told her I would take legal action. Nothing. Well, apparently she figured I had no way to reach her in the States, but she figured wrong. I had gotten her address from a friend of mine. And so, this time, my dh sent her an actually nice letter. Better him, because I was not feeling nice by this time. And she finally saw we knew where she was and could not get away, and miracles of miracles, yesterday I received a huge box with a check with our money, and all of our stuff.

I don't know if this has happened to anyone before. I don't think we are the firts. But I can tell that this really messed me up. As everyone who has collected squares knows, a lot of time and good faith, and nice thoughts are invested in the collecting of these squares. We had over 60 squares from family members and friends, as well as squares from many new friends from my One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt web club. I could not believe that someone who knew (I had told her about our past history and about how we came about getting into the international adoption route) what had happened to our family could do this to us.

However, I have decided not to publicly say who this person is. However, if anyone who is planning on sending their stuff through the mail wants to send me an email, I can confirm whether at least it is not the same person we used. I still can not believe this person's gall, to play like that with our feelings. To think that at one poing my dh was even thinking that this was a sign that maybe the adoption was not meant to be. That has long taken care of, but the thing is that this person's actions did affect our family, and it really pisses me off. She certainly returned our things, and I am thankful that at least now I will have the opportunity to still have the quilts done, but shame on you, if you ever read this.

And please, if someone from Puerto Rico knows a local quilter (I am not mailing this stuff EVER again), please send me the information. I would really appreciate it.

PLEASE DONATE... IT IS FOR A VERY GOOD CAUSE

2008-05-16T10:36:00.008-04:00

As everyone should have heard by now, things in China are not peaches and cream right now, since a huge 7.9 earthquake has really affected life in every level. The latter is especially true when it comes to their little ones. Not only are there awful stories about literally the children of a whole school under the mud, but the children in orphanages are doing without a whole lot of stuff. There are quite a lot of children, including babies, living in tents outside buildings that are just not safe right now. They really need cribs, tents, diapers, a lot of stuff. This is just heart breaking for us.

Half the Sky is a wonderful organization. They do a lot for the orphanages, and they have people right now helping out. Please help. You can donate to HTS at this link: www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

Thanks,

Sebastian is ONE Year old Today

2008-04-24T14:34:00.002-04:00

Our little baby, Sebastián Ignacio, just turned 1 today. He is huge. Where did the time go? We are going to go out to eat with both sets of grandparents, and we will then eat the cinnamon cake I baked for his birthday. Then on Saturday we will go and celebrate his b-day with a couple of his friends at Chuck E. Cheese's.

YES, I AM STILL HERE

2008-04-18T14:03:00.003-04:00

Well, I never thought I would stay away from the blog for so long. A couple of things have happened. Today marks our second anniversary of starting this whole process. April 18, 2006 was our first appointment at the Immigration office. Wow, time has flown. Today we also received the approval for the renovation of our 171h, which is now good until October 11, 2009. I wish I could say that I am sure that Mei Ling Mercedes will be home by then, but I do not know.

This process has become crazy, and lately I have really been missing that little girl who is still probably not even born, but who lives in our hearts. I long to give Sebastián Ignacio a little sister. However, I guess we have to be patient.

Sebastián Ignacio is huge. He is turning 1 year old next April 24th. Where did time go?

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR: YEAR OF THE RAT

2008-02-07T13:13:00.000-04:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!! YEAR OF THE RAT... HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE THE YEAR OUR MEI LING MERCEDES WILL BE BORN, AND COINCIDENTIALLY IT IS ACTUALLY BOTH MINE AND FLORENCIO'S YEAR. WE WERE ALSO BORN IN A RAT YEAR, ALBEIT IN 1972. Today we will go celebrate in Great Taste, our favorite Chinese restaurant.

Happy BELATED Christmas, 3 Kings Day, Happy New Years, etc...

2008-01-07T17:15:00.000-04:00

Sebastián opening Christmas gifts.

Esteban, my godson, with his birthday hat.

Sebastián with the Three Kings.

Sebastián and his tooth.

I know, I know, I have not blogged for a very long time, but here I am. First of all, Happy Belated Holidays, Happy New Year, Happy 3 Kings Day, etc.
How do I even begin?
We started out our Christmas having a Mass in the name of our little angel Bibiana. That was on December 22, 8 days after her birthday. She would have been 2. It was very beautiful, and it was nice having Sebastián with us for the first time in his sister's mass. We sort of felt like they were meeting each other for the first time, very surreal.
Then on December 23, we celebrated my godson's bday, Esteban. It was so much fun to see both Sebastián and Esteban together.
Sebastián had his first Christmas and Three King's Day. That was a lot of fun, especially since it helped a lot in the heailng process. We had something to get us excited in Christmastime, and the air and energy in the house felt incredible. Sebastián opened his presents in Christmas day. Of course, he was a lot more excited with the wrappings and the boxes, but what can one do? He is huge, and is already 8.5 months old. Such a beautiful and happy baby.
For New Year's Eve, we went to my MIL's house and celebrated. A lot of fun!
My brother Jaime was also in town with his girlfriend Lisa, who is from Brazil and we already love. We had a lot of fun, and it is very nice to see my brother so happy.
Then on January 2, it was Bibiana's 2nd angel anniversary. Not much to say about that. Even if things have gotten a lot better regarding the healing process, I don't think one day will ever go by without my thinking about our little angel. I know she is watching over all of us, and that feels nice.
All in all, it was a beautiful Christmas, except for the fact that the adoption process seems to be getting longer, and longer and yet longer. I just hope it is the Olympics and things get back to normal after the Summer. Some days I feel as if I can no go on waiting. As of tomorrow, we will have been LID'ed for 16 months, and it looks like we are only halfway into the wait. However, I know Sebastián's little Mei Mei is in China, so Mei Ling Mercedes, we love you and will keep on waiting. Just hope one day you read this and you will know that even if we still have not physically still met, mama and baba already love you very much. You are already our daughter, and that is what counts.

WE ARE OFFICIALLY OUT OF REVIEW!

2007-11-30T09:50:00.000-04:00

We are now officially out of the review room. As you can see, the CCAA has updated its website, indicating that it has now reviewed the dossiers submitted on or before September 30, 2006. YEEEAAHHH!!!! September is one BIG month. At least we are LID 9/8/06, which is sort of in the beginning. To all of the rest Sept 06 LID'ers, CONGRATS!!!

Our Christmas Tree is Beautiful!!!

2007-11-29T10:12:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago we put up our Christmas tree. We are very excited about it. This year I decided to incorporate ornaments symbolizing our 3 children, namely Sebastián Ignacio, our angel daughter Bibiana Isabel and Mei Ling Mercedes. As you can see, Sebastián has his picture as well as his footprints, Bibiana Isabel has a beautiful and very much perfect ornament (in the middle because we know she watches and will always watch over both Sebastián and Mei Ling), and Mei Ling has 2 ornaments which we got from http://www.jiinkinkids.com/. They are beautiful. Do check them out. The cool thing is that I was even able to get one of them personalized, and even in Spanish. How cool is that!!!

Sebastián and his first picture with Santa

2007-11-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

This past Friday, I was with my dh in the supermarket and all of a sudden I saw this Santa. I told Florencio that he had to go get the camera in the car, so that we could take a picture of Sebastián with Santa. Well, as it turned out, I asked and they had this promotion from Borinquen Royal that if you purchased one of their boxes of cookies, you got a free picture with Santa. Well, we put Sebastián in Santa's lap, and he did not cry. Instead he smiled, and kept tugging at Santa's beard. We got this picture with our camera, and another one with the Christmas tree behind. Santa told us that normally all the babies cried, but not our Sebastián. The cool thing is that this is one of those firsts that we will also be able to have with Mei Ling Mercedes. By the way, as of this past Saturday, Sebastián is already 7 months old.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-22T17:42:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving along with all of their family and friends, from all of our family (Odemaris + Florencio + Sebastián, who hope to celebrate it soon with Mei Ling Mercedes) Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias a todos de parte de nuestra familia!!!

Today is a day in which I have to thank God for helping me believe again, both in me and in him, for letting us have faith in that I could go through, both emotionally and physically, through another pregnancy, for the fact that even through a difficult pregnancy Sebastian Ignacio is very healthy and is the sunlight of our lives, for helping us keep a positive vibe through this awfully long wait to bring Mei Ling Mercedes home, for our families, for helping us keep our angel Bibiana always present in our heart, our health and happiness, and for the fact that we were able to make our little angel Bibiana very much loved, even if for a short period of time. For all of these things we give thanks.

OMG WE ARE SUPPOSEDLY OUT OF REVIEW!!!

2007-11-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

Finally, something BIGGGG TO CELEBRATE. A friend of mine, Dimari, sent me an email congratulating us because we were out of review. The thing is that her agency sent her an update email indicating that all of September 2006 was out of review. Well, as a SEPTEMBER 8 2006 LID, THAT MEANS US... Matching room, here we come. It will be another long trek, but it is ONE BIG HURDLE THAT WE HAVE OVERCOME. Yeah!!! Today we are going out for Chinese food. Mei Ling Mercedes, mama, baba and your big brother are coming to get you, maybe not tomorrow, but we will get there someday. Te queremos mucho!!!

14 MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY

2007-11-08T13:13:00.000-04:00

Well, today is our 14 month LID Anniversary. The thing is that there are rumors out there that we may have to wait like 2 more years to bring Mei Ling home. The sad thing is that we thought Mei Ling would be home by this Christmas when we started out. Now it may be 2 more Christmases without her, and it stinks big time. A lot of people are like it is better because Sebastián will be older. Well you know, we never thought that old... We always imagined them to be very, very, very close in age, and I don't think that is going to happen. Bummer!!!

The CCAA just updated their website. They referred up to December 8 LID families this month. Whatever!!! Exactly 9 more months to get to us. Who knows, maybe now they will speed up, or maybe not. It is hard to keep hoping for better news each month, you know.

Sebastián is already 6 months old. Where did the time go? He is huge!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2007-11-01T10:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween from Darth Vader, the Witch and Mommy's "Pollito" hanging on to his Candy Booty!!!

Following up on the Chinese Lessons

2007-10-19T10:42:00.001-04:00

Following up on my last post, we intend to learn at least some basic Mandarin prior to bringing Mei Ling Mercedes home. We learned that chinesepod offers free lessons, as well as a premium offer, where you do have to pay. This is the link: http://chinesepod.com/. Enjoy!!! Let's get started!!! Let's be productive on this LONG WAIT to bring our daughters/ sons home!!! We can actually do something positive!!!

10 yr Old Chinese Adoptees Living in Sweden. Their Story

2007-10-17T17:50:00.000-04:00

The other day we had Boti and Marime, two of my dh's cousins over for dinner and some good conversation, and one of the things we were talking about was about how often, children who are adopted, are not interested in learning much about the culture or language of their birth countries when they are young. The latter because they do not want to feel any more different. Then they reach a certain age when they might regret their decision and try to remedy the situation. Well, this got us thinking, and one thing we believe is that if you want your child to learn their birth country language, you really should make it a whole family learning process. Heck, why should Mei Ling Mercedes in our case be the only who needs to learn Chinese, and not Sebastián. After all, it would be good for both, and making the difference would only punctuate for Mei Ling that she IS different from Sebastián, which is something that we do not want. Therefore, I am going to get that Chinese language book out again... And one day we will make it a family thing, not a Mei Ling thing, for example. The same thing needs to happen if you want your child to learn about the culture of their birth country.

Anyway, I found this reference to a video in You Tube, by 10 year old girls living in Sweden. I still have not looked at it, but it looked interesting, and I did not want to risk losing the reference, so here it goes. Enjoy.

"Growing up surrounded by blond, blue-eyed children in Sweden, Chinese adoptees Alice, Mimmi, Nanna and Linnéa always felt different. The girls were adopted on the same day from the same orphanage but – having moved abroad as babies – they don’t speak Mandarin and have no concept of their native country. Now ten years old, they are returning to China for the first time. What will they make of their homeland? A moving look at identity ..."
As far as I can tell, this would be a useful video for any adopted child to sit and watch when they start to ask questions that we adoptive parents just cannot answer. The DVD was only released in Feb of 2007 so it is quite new.To watch the first 10 mins of the DVD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnHN6bTDsns

13 Months LID Anniversary

2007-10-08T13:19:00.001-04:00

As of today, we have been LID for 13 very long months... Yep, and probably at least 13 more to go.

In fact, the CCAA just updated their website. They are finally done with referring the November 05 LIDs, but only covered 5 days. Allegedly, things are supposed to begin moving faster now. Let's see if that is true.

On another front, Sebastián is getting huge, is very healthy and JUST PLAIN GORGEOUS....

And finally, I have decided to become a dessert maker goddess. Yesterday I made an applesauce cake. UUUMMM!!!

Sebastián's Baptism

2007-10-03T17:22:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, both Sebastián and his cousin (my godson) Esteban were baptized. We had a wonderful time. It was really incredible that Sebastián, who loves water, stayed so calm when the water was poured over his head. Most babies cried, but he just stayed as if it was the most normal thing in the world. We then headed over to my house, for some food and good times. The boys looked really manly and beautiful. Oh, you could eat them up!!! I was going to wait to baptize Sebastián with Mei Ling, but since Mei Ling's arrival has definitely taken longer, we felt this was the time for Sebastián, and then Mei Ling will have her own special baptism celebration. Maybe she will also like the water poured over her head. Let's see!!!

p.d. By the way, if Sebastián looks kind of sexy with his tummy in the open in some pictures, it is because one of his buttons just popped in church... due, uhum, uhum, to the fact that his tummy did not fit properly in the shirt.

OMG We are in the Review Room!!!

2007-09-27T08:05:00.000-04:00

We woke up this morning to learn that the CCAA had updated its site to indicate that August 2006 is out of the Review Room. That means we are in the Review Room even as we speak. I just hope we breeze through and don't get any questions from the CCAA. If only the Matching Room worked as fast!!! But still, it is one step closer to Mei Ling.

Happy belated August Moon Festival

2007-09-26T17:06:00.000-04:00

The August Moon Festival was yesterday. Here is some info.

The August Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most celebrated Chinese holidays. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Chinese families celebrate the end of the harvest season with a big feast. Unlike the American Thanksgiving dinner, the Chinese have mooncakes instead of grandma' apple pie. Friends and relatives also send mooncakes to each other as a way of giving thanks.
Chinese legends say that the moon is at its brightest and roundest on this day. Under this bright autumn moon, friendships are made and renewed. It is perfect for a romantic rendezvous. For many years, Chinese poets write about long lost lovers finding their way to each other on this special night.
The August Moon Festival is often called the Women's Festival. The moon symbolizes beauty and elegance. While Westerners worship the sun (yang or male) for its power, people in the Far East admire the moon. The moon is the 'yin' or female principle and it is a trusted friend.
In fact, many ancient August Moon folktales are about a moon maiden. On the 15th night of the 8th lunar moon, little children on earth can see a lady on the moon. On this magical occasion, children who make wishes to the Lady on the Moon will find their dreams come true.
Bear in mind that the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year), and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as:
Eating moon cakes outside under the moon
Putting pomelo rinds on one's head
Carrying brightly lit lanterns
Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e
Planting Mid-Autumn trees
Lighting lanterns on towers
Fire Dragon Dances

One of those SAD days...

2007-09-20T13:17:00.000-04:00

Today for some reason it hit me, as I was playing with Sebastián Ignacio this morning, that we would not be able to enjoy, love, soothe, play and just plainly make Mei Ling feel loved when she is 4 almost 5 months, just like Sebastián Ignacio is right now. And it has really saddened my day, and made me quite depressed. I know that it is just part of it, but it really saddens me, that we won't be able to be with her for HER FIRST COUPLE OF MONTHS in her life, and I just hope that during that time, someone will take the time to give her some very SPECIAL ATTENTION AND TLC. I know her little sister in heaven will watch over her, and that conforts me, but it is really hard. And at this point, when we have been in the process for almost 18 months (note: when we started out we were told that the whole thing would take like 1 year, and that it looked like it could be a little longer), and LID for a little bit over 12 months, I could just not even imagine how prospective adoptive parents who have no children at home, which helps a lot, feel about this WAITING, AND WAITING, AND YET MORE WAITING. It is just extenuating, to just not be able to do anything, to just feel HELPLESS about the whole process. And I know that this will only get harder, especially when the time comes when I can pretty much know that Mei Ling is already born, and she is still not home with us.

Every day I tell myself that Mei Ling will arrive when God believes is the right moment for us, but it still hurts, and it is still hard.... to know that you have a beautiful family, but that one member out there has yet to arrive HOME to her mama, baba and little brother.

Ni Hao Kai Lan begins on October 22

2007-09-11T12:01:00.000-04:00

Just wanted everyone to know about a Nick show premiering on October 22. It is called Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, and it is supposed to be a Chinese version of Dora. It is a a play-along, think-along series starring Kai-lan Chow, a playful, adventurous preschooler who speaks both English and Mandarin. Kai-Lan and her animal friends are guided by her YeYe (grandfather) through their adventures.

Everyone in the Chinese adoption community is pretty excited about this, since the voice behind Kai-Lan is actually an adopted girl from China. The show is also supposed to be pretty well done, and it will give children some more insight into the Chinese culture.

We for one are really planning on introducing Sebastián to the show, and hopefully it is here to stay so both him and Mei Ling can enjoy it together one day. Hope it is as good as it is supposed to be.

Wow, now we are REALLY getting close to the Review Room!!!

2007-09-09T22:54:00.000-04:00

I just learned that the CCAA has updated its website, and that July 2006 is out of the room. That means that with an early September LID, we are really close to the review room now. Very exciting!!!

TODAY IS OUR 1 YEAR LID ANNIVERSARY

2007-09-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

TIME HAS FLOWN BY.
1 YEAR AGO TODAY OUR DOSSIER WAS LOGGED IN.
IF ONLY WE DID NOT HAVE TO WAIT SO MUCH MORE.
WE ARE GETTING CLOSER, MEI LING.
MAMA, PAPA AND SEBASTIAN ARE ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR YOU.

We turn 35 today!!!

2007-09-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

Today we, Florencio and I, turn 35!!! What a year we have had. Of course, in April 2007 we received a wonderful birthday gift in Sebastián Ignacio. Now we only hope that next year we get to celebrate our birthdays with Mei Ling Mercedes. Wouldn't that be great?

MORE CALM

2007-09-04T17:21:00.001-04:00

I am more calm. I guess we will get to see Mei Ling when the right time comes, when it is our time. Who knows? Maybe even Sebastián will get to go to China with us, instead of having to wait here to meet his sister. And we then won't have to literally go to therapy trying to see how we will survive without him for 2 whole weeks. Think positive, think positive... Positiva...

Another dissapointing month of FEW referrals

2007-09-04T15:49:00.000-04:00

Once again, another month with few referrals. The CCAA only covered 4 LID days, so they are still stuck in November 2005, for the fifth month now. ARRGGHHH!!!!

Temporary Lodgings

2007-08-23T12:30:00.000-04:00

Who would have known that we would be the first to use Mei Ling's room? Yesterday chaos erupted in our house when in the morning, the A/C in our room went kaput, and then at night, the A/C in Sebastián's room also went kaput. So our only option was move our mattress and Sebastián's playyard into Mei Ling's room. Hopefully by tomorrow everything will get back to normal.

In the adoption front, it is that time of the month in which rumors begin to arrive regarding adoption referrals. Let's see how this month goes.

Getting Sebastian Prepped Up for the Arrival of Mei Ling Mercedes

2007-08-16T21:53:00.001-04:00

I thought this was just too cute not to post. Last time we were in NYC, we got this tshirt. Of course, at the time we got it for Mei Ling, since I was still not pregnant. Little did we know that exactly one month later, I would get pregnant with Sebastian. And now we thought it would be perfect if at least this tshirt was first worn by Sebastian, and then passed to his mei mei Mei Ling Mercedes. You have to remember that since Sebastian is clearly a boy, they won't be exchanging a whole lot of clothing. However, we felt this was perfect, the I Love New York Tshirt in Chinese.

A very eventful week

2007-08-13T12:28:00.000-04:00

Many things happened this past week. Referrals arrived. Parents with lid's up until November 21, 2005 have now been referred. So no good news there!!!

We just had another monthly LID anniversary. We have now been logged in for more than 11 months, going to the 1st year anniversary. One step closer to Mei Ling!!!

Yesterday we also attended an activity held by both adoptive and prospective adoptive parents of Chinese children here in Puerto Rico. It was great to finally meet these couples, and to have Sebastian interact with some of these girls. I am posting some pictures. It was a great experience, especially since we finally got to meet Giana (and also Gina, her mom, whom I had not seen for something close to 20 years). HOLA, GIANA~!!! (second picture, in the pink) And we also got to meet Sarah, who is Dimari's daughter from Vietnam (first picture). They were both beautiful.

We are getting closer to the Review Room

2007-07-27T22:26:00.000-04:00

Well, with a September 8 LID, we are now pretty close to the Review Room. Juners got out of the review room pretty fast, which either means there were not that many people with June LID's or that the CCAA is working faster. Let's pray for both!!!

We are also pretty excited because we have learned of many other families from Puerto Rico who are also in the adoption process of bringing their little girls or boys from China. Most are starting out, but there are some who already have their little ones at home.

Last week we were supposed to receive a visit by our social worker. However, at the last minute, due to an emergency with a little one, she was unable to visit us. Tomorrow we have to redo the fingerprints. However, now I can't find the appointment papers. Incredible!!! I'm just hoping that they will retake our fingerprints, even without the pieces of paper. Cross my fingers!!!

In the Sebastian front, he is now three months old, and doing quite beautifully. He can't wait to meet his little Mei Mei.

Back to Immigration to get Fingerprint Renewal Appointment

2007-07-16T21:56:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe that 15 months have already elapsed since we began the adoption process to bring Mei Ling Mercedes home to us. Therefore, today we went to Immigration to get fingerprint renewal appointments, and Sebastian accompanied me. It was kind of exciting, since it was Sebastian's first involvement with his mei mei's adoption process. This next Friday Sasha, our social worker, is also visiting us, since our homestudy also expired, and we are getting an update.

Everything else is fine. My sister Alida and my bil Etienne just got back from a trip to Indonesia and Japan, and boy did they bring cool gifts. In fact, I was sporting new Indonesian clothing on my visit to Immigration today. So thanks ALIDA AND ETIENNE for all of the gifts. We really enjoyed them. They even found Crocs sandals for both Sebastian and Esteban. How cool is that... who knew you could get them for babies.

We spent the weekend in Isabela, since my brother Jaime, the globetrotter, was visiting this weekend. We had a really good time, and we are so happy that he got to see his nephews again, because these 2 grow like weeds...

10 Months into the Wait

2007-07-09T12:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our 10 month LID anniversary. Time has flown by. The CCAA also recently updated its website to indicate that it has now reviewed all of the dossiers submitted with LIDS up until May 31, 2006, so we are pretty close to the review room now. They have also now referred families with LID's up until November 14, 2005, so even if the news are not very good, at least a couple of days more than last month were included.

p.d. In the Sebastián front, he is doing really great, and he keeps the house full of positive energy!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY (ONE DAY LATER)

2007-06-18T11:17:00.000-04:00

CONGRATULATIONS to all the fathers, both present and waiting, on their day. Felicidades a todos los padres en su dia, que se celebro ayer.

We went to both my grandmother's house and Florencio's parent's house. So there was a lot of activity. I am enclosing pictures of both Florencio with Sebastian and with our little angel Bibiana. We hope to soon be able to put a picture of him with Mei Ling. Florencio is trully a wonderful father, and so CONGRATULATIONS and thanks from all of us.

Already more than 9 months

2007-06-14T16:11:00.000-04:00

We have now been waiting for more than 9 months an it seems that it will go on forever... I now think that being optimistic until the wait will go on util at least summer 2008. It is depressing! Once again this month the CCAA only referred 6 months worth of lid's.

This precious picture shows Sebastian (the chick magnet to the left) and Esteban, Sebastian's and Mei Ling's "much older" cousin and my godson. Sebastian is doing great and is huge. He just turned 7 weeks.

An image about how Mei Ling will be overly protected by Sebastian and Esteban

2007-05-22T14:33:00.000-04:00

These past couple of days I have had tons of images of Mei Ling and Sebastian running together, smiling together, etc... And now I just had to include this picture of Sebastian and his cousin Esteban, who will turn 5 months old tomorrow, 1 day before Sebastian turns 1 month old on Thursday. Can you just not picture these two being extremely protective of Mei Ling? I sure can. Let's just see how Mei Ling wraps these 2 around her little fingers.

The other picture is just too cute, and so I am also enclosing it. As you can see, Sebastian already discovered the magic in mirrors.

Happy Mother's Day and More Pictures of Sebastian

2007-05-13T11:07:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, both present and prospective. Some people seem not to grasp the idea that I am not a mother for the first time, and that therefore it is not appropriate (although well intentioned) to keep asking me how does it feel to finally be a mother. I was Bibiana's mother, even if for 20 days, and she will always be our older daughter in our hearts. That is just the way it is.

Obviously it does feel different to finally feel happy in a Mother's Day celebration. Sebastian did change that, as well as our hopes for Mei Ling. It is a great feeling. My parents asked me how I felt and to tell the truth, at the moment I did not know what to answer. Well, I feel great, I feel as if the sun is finally shining in our house, I feel rejuvinated, I feel as if a big weight fell off my shoulders... I feel HOPE and a lot of LOVE for both Florencio, Sebastian and the whole world. And so to sum it up, I feel quite good.

I am enclosing some more pictures of Sebastian. He has grown, too fast. We are still getting used to especially the night feedings, especially as I am exclusively breast feeding, which for those of you who don't know, it is a lot easier said than done. However, I know the sacrifice will be worth it. Let's just see how long I can last!!! Hopefully for a long time. Thank God I have a lot of help from my wonderful dh.

As you can see, Sebastian is quite the rocker. Did you see him in the Rolling Stones onesie, courtesy of my brother?

8 Month LID anniversary, More Pictures of Sebastian and the Scare

2007-05-08T11:40:00.000-04:00

Today is our 8th month LID anniversary. One step yet closer to Mei Ling... if only there were not so many steps to overcome. Now I am always imagining Sebastian and Mei Ling together, along with their cousin Esteban, and I know those 3 are going to have loads of fun together, especially with ages so close.

Two days ago we had quite the scare. Out of the blue, the pictures of the birthing of Sebastian and all of the pictures we took from his first 2 weeks disappeared from the memory card. So we ended up with zip of those memories. However, yesterday I found a wonderful company whose job is to recover pictures, and for a small fee I have those irreplaceable precious pictures once again.

And here are more pictures of Sebastian. He is growing, and growing, and I just hope that time does not fly us by. He has got quite the personality!!! Is not he beautiful!!! And for those of you who are wondering who does Sebastian take after, so far he is quite the clone of my dh, Florencio. Sometimes it is also almost eery how much Sebastian takes after his his angel sister Bibiana. We know she is watching over him from above.

And finally here are Sebastian's pictures...He is precious

2007-04-30T09:22:00.001-04:00

First, we wanted to thank everyone for all of the good wishes and prayers thrown our way. Our Sebastian is beautiful and very healthy. Just look at those eyes and you want to eat him up with kisses. We feel overwhelmed with love. As you can imagine, this is an ongoing education for us, and there is not a whole lot of time left to do the usual everyday things (plus the reality is that it is a lot more fun looking at Sebastian), like the internet, so this will be brief. After a very difficult time, we finally get to see the light reflected in our beautiful baby boy, and that little face just makes us want to smile a whole lot. And we know that our angel daughter is looking from above and is very happy for us and for her little brother, whom I know she protected all along when things got a little rough during the pregnancy.

Sebastian is quite the character. He makes lots of face gestures, and one can see he has got quite the personality. We are just in awe. As you can imagine, this will be quite the preparation for when we Mei Ling arrives.

Sebastian, Mei Ling's brother was born today!!!

2007-04-24T22:44:00.000-04:00

Sebastian Ignacio was born today. At 37.2 weeks he was 6.9 ounces and 19 inches long. He is Precious and we are in love with him. I am going to try to post pictures... Thanks for all the prayers. Sebastian is in perfect health.

1 Year Ago Today

2007-04-14T12:29:00.000-04:00

Time flies by. One year ago today it was Good Friday and we were having lunch in our favorite Chinese Restaurant and the place was full of Chinese families. There were many Chinese little girls and all of a sudden Florencio told me to go ahead, that he also wanted to begin the process in order to bring home our Mei Ling Mercedes. Now we have been LID for over 7 months and although waiting times have gotten longera, we know we will get to bring home Mei Ling when God deems it to be the right time... although I won't pretend that thewaiting is not difficult on us.
On the Sebastian front, tomorrow we will be 36 weeks pregnant. I am in bed rest, drinking around 170 ounces of water everyday... but it is all for our baby.

Miracles do happen

2007-04-11T14:25:00.000-04:00

Thanks again for all of your prayers... there were certainly many prayers thrown our way because miraculously the amniotic fluid went up on Monday. I was discharged from the hospital and then today I went again for a doctor's appointment and it had gone up a little bit again, putting the fluid now in the low NORMAL range. Sebastian is doing great. Our next appointment is on Monday by which time we will already be 36 weeks pregnant. Also, on a great note my parents are already back home in Puerto Rico and so they will be able to be there for the birth of Sebastian. Thanks again Odemaris

Many things are happpening

2007-04-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

Todays marks our 7 month LID anniversary. One month closer to our Mei Ling Mercedes. However, this month's referral news were very sad. The CCAA only referred 2 days worth of LIDs. Only the parents with an LID of Oct 25 & 26 will be receiving referrals.
As for other news, many of you don't know that I have been in the hospital since last week due to the fact that the amniotic fluid was going down... However, Sebastian is doing great which is what's really important. I have to thank all of those that visited me and made sure that I was doing ok in the hospital. Florencio was great, had so much patience, even if I guess out of feeling impatient due to pretty much 22 hours spent in bed, strapped to monitors, I did take it out on him quite a bit. But he was great. Today we are 35 weeks pregnant, and have been told that our Sebastian will be born this week. I know that eveething will turn out great... but all of your prayers will be appreciated. Take care, Odemaris

6 MONTHS AND COUNTING... ONE STEP CLOSER TO MEI LING

2007-03-08T15:39:00.000-04:00

Today is our 6 months LID anniversary, which means yet one more month closer to Mei Ling Mercedes. This week the CCAA also updated their website, and it seems they have now referred new adoptive parents with LID's until October 24, 2005, which means like 10.5 more months of LIDS for them to get to us. Unfortunately that does not mean we will get Mei Ling home in 10.5 months, but it does not hurt to dream. They have also now reviewed the dossiers logged in until March 31, 2006, so at least on that they are really getting closer to us.

Everything at home is ok. I am almost 31 weeks pregnant, so Sebastián is getting quite big. The pregnancy is going GREAT, thank God.

Happy Chinese New Year/ The Arrival of the Year of the Pig

2007-02-18T10:41:00.000-04:00

For those of you who do not know, today is the celebration of the Chinese New Year, and thus the arrival of the Year of the Pig. This year is very important for us, since both Sebastian Ignacio and most probably Mei Ling will be born during the Year of the Pig, which is actually considered to be a very lucky year to be born in. We are atually quite lucky already!!! Now I will leave you with some history on the Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4705 begins on Feb. 18, 2007.
Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.
Common expressions heard at this time are: GUONIAN to have made it through the old year, and BAINIAN to congratulate the new year.

A Piggy Year
Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in pig years tend to have excellent manners, make and keep friends, work very hard, and appreciate luxury. They are very loving and make loyal partners.

Fireworks and Family Feasts
At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.

The Lantern Festival
In China, the New Year is a time of family reunion. Family members gather at each other's homes for visits and shared meals, most significantly a feast on New Year's Eve. In the United States, however, many early Chinese immigrants arrived without their families, and found a sense of community through neighborhood associations instead. Today, many Chinese-American neighborhood associations host banquets and other New Year events.
Chinese New Year ends with the lantern festival on the fifteenth day of the month. Some of the lanterns may be works of art, painted with birds, animals, flowers, zodiac signs, and scenes from legend and history. People hang glowing lanterns in temples, and carry lanterns to an evening parade under the light of the full moon.
In many areas the highlight of the lantern festival is the dragon dance. The dragon—which might stretch a hundred feet long—is typically made of silk, paper, and bamboo. Traditionally the dragon is held aloft by young men who dance as they guide the colorful beast through the streets. In the United States, where the New Year is celebrated with a shortened schedule, the dragon dance always takes place on a weekend. In addition, many Chinese-American communities have added American parade elements such as marching bands and floats.

Sweeping of the Grounds
Preparations for the Chinese New Year in old China started well in advance of the New Year's Day. The 20th of the Twelfth Moon was set aside for the annual housecleaning, or the "sweeping of the grounds". Every corner of the house must be swept and cleaned in preparation for the new year. SpringCouplets, written in black ink on large vertical scrolls of red paper, were put on the walls or on the sides of the gate-ways. These couplets, short poems written in Classical Chinese, were expressions of good wishes for the family in the coming year. In addition, symbolic flowers and fruits were used to decorate the house, and colorful new year pictures (NIAN HUA) were placed on the walls (for more descriptions of the symbolism of the flowers and fruits.

Kitchen God

After the house was cleaned it was time to bid farewell to the Kitchen God, or Zaowang. In traditional China, the Kitchen God was regarded as the guardian of the family hearth. He was identified as the inventor of fire, which was necessary for cooking and was also the censor of household morals. By tradition, the Kitchen God left the house on the 23rd of the last month to report to heaven on the behavior of the family. At this time, the family did everything possible to obtain a favorable report from the Kitchen God. On the evening of the 23rd, the family would give the Kitchen God a ritualistic farewell dinner with sweet foods and honey. Some said this was a bribe, others said it sealed his mouth from saying bad thins.
Free from the every-watchful eyes of the Kitchen God, who was supposed to return on the first day of the New Year, the family now prepared for the upcoming celebrations. In old China, stores closed shop on the last two or three days of the year and remained closed for the first week of the New Year. Consequently, families were busy in the last week of the old year stocking up on foods and gifts. Chinese New Year presents are similar in spirit to Christmas presents, although the Chinese tended more often to give food items, such as fruits and tea. The last days of the old year was also the time to settle accumulated debts.

Family Celebration

On the last day of the old year, everyone was busy either in preparing food for the next two days, or in going to the barbers and getting tidied up for the New Year’s Day. Tradition stipulated that all food be pre-pared before the New Year’s Day, so that all sharp instruments, such as knives and scissors, could be put away to avoid cutting the "luck" of the New Year. The kitchen and well were not to be disturbed on the first day of the Year.
The New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations were strickly family affairs. All members of the family would gather for the important family meal on the evening of the New year’s Eve. Even if a family member could not attend, an empty seat would be kept to symbolize that person’s presence at the banquet. At midnight following the banquet, the younger members of the family would bow and pay their respects to their parents and elders.

Lai-See

On New Year’s Day, the children were given Red Lai-See Envelopes , good luck money wrapped in little red envelopes. On New Year’s day, everyone had on new clothes, and would put on his best behavior. It was considered improper to tell a lie, raise one’s voice, use indecent language, or break anything on the first day of the year.
Starting from the second day, people began going out to visit friends and relatives, taking with them gifts and Lai-See for the children. Visitors would be greeted with traditional New year delicacies, such as melon seeds, flowers, fruits, tray of togetherness, and NIANGAO, New Year cakes.

Everybody’s Birthday

The entire first week was a time for socializing and amusement. On the streets, the stores were closed and an air of gaiety prevailed. There were numberous lion dances, acrobats, theatrical shows, and other diversions. Firecrackers, which symbolized driving away evil spirits, were heard throughout the first two weeks of the New year. The Seventh Day of the New Year was called "everybody’s birthday" as everyone was considered one year older as of that date. (In traditional China, individual birthdays were not considered as important as the New Year’s date. Everyone added a year to his age at New Year’s time rather than at his birthday.)
Lantern Festival - 15th DayThe New Year celebrations ended on the 15th of the First Moon with the Lantern Festival. On the evening of that day, people carried lanterns into the streets to take part in a great parade. Young men would highlight the parade with a dragon dance. The dragon was made of bamboo, silk, and paper, and might stretch for more than hundred feet in length. The bobbing and weaving of the dragon was an impressive sight, and formed a fitting finish to the New Year festival.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

p.d. For those of you interested, I am already 28 weeks pregnant, and Sebastian Ignacio is thankfully doing great!!!

Our 5 months LID Anniversary

2007-02-08T15:02:00.000-04:00

It has already been 5 months since we were LID. Slowly but surely, we are getting closer to you, our Mei Ling Mercedes!!!

The CCAA has updated its site, yet one step closer

2007-02-02T09:34:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. I know I have been kind of lost, but the truth is that nothing much has happened with Mei Ling's adoption process, UNFORTUNATELY. It is a very difficult waiting process, that sometimes seems as if it will go on forever. For us at least, we have had the great joy of also being in the process of waiting for our Sebastián to be born in May, which does look to be closer every day. I can not even begin to imagine how long the waiting days must seem for those adoptive parents who do not have another big thing happening in their lives that does keep them somewhat occupied. As some of you know I already abandoned my wishful thinking that we would see Mei Ling's face by Christmas 2007. That will probably not happen, but we are keeping our fingers crossed for March 2008.

Today at least we know that we are another step closer. The CCAA notified that the referrals just went out for those very happy new parents with LID's up to October 13, 2005. Congrats!!! And they also stated that they had finished reviewing the dossiers for those of you with LID's upt to March 22, 2006.

Take care

Odemaris

p.d.- Everything is going great with the pregnancy. I am almost 6 months pregnant, and looking more like a balloon every day. My husband insists I do not look fat, just pregnant. Right!!!

Our FOURTH month LID anniversary

2007-01-08T14:39:00.000-04:00

It has already been 4 months since we were LID. Hope time flies!!! One month closer to Mei Ling Mercedes!!!

One year ago today

2007-01-02T07:54:00.000-04:00

0ne year ago today our Bibiana Isabel became an angel. We know she is happy. Those of you who have gone through the loss of a child (and I have met quite a few through the adoption community) know that not a day goes by where you don't think about your little angel. However at least one begins to dwell less on the sad, and more on the happy moments. I am sure that after all, that is how our little angels would like to be remembered.

On another note, Happy New Year to everyone. Hope everyone's 2007 is filled by happiness, love and health.

Este es Esteban Ulises/ This is Esteban Ulises

2006-12-27T15:49:00.000-04:00

Isn't our nephew BEAUTIFUL? This was taken on Christmas Day.

Vieron que lindo es Esteban? Es precioso, y hasta se rie cuando está durmiendo. Esta foto fue tomada cuando tenía 2 días, el 25 de diciembre.

Presents for both Mei Ling and Sebastian, and visiting Esteban

2006-12-26T17:01:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone that celebrates December 25 had a wonderful day with their families. We did and it felt so cool because it was the first time that we received Christmas presents, from both my parents and my sister's family, for both Mei Ling and Sebastian. It was quite a treat and made it all seem so very real. I also visited, both yesterday and today, our new nephew Esteban, and he gets more beautiful every day. And not, it is not because I am biased.

Merry Christmas Felicidades

2006-12-25T08:16:00.000-04:00

Merry Christmas! Muchas felicidades. Hope everyone is having a beautiful Christmas with their families. Sorry I have not posted for a long time but our computer went kaput. However I just realized I can post from my treo. It will just have to be short since it is more difficult.
We had a Mass for Bibiana Isabel (our angel) last saturday. It was probably the most sublime eerience both Florencio and myself have ever had. The altar was full of lighted Christmas trees, our favorite priest held the mass and we were able to get a singer which made everything just incredible. At one point I really felt my little angel and really knew she was ok and was looking over us from heaven. Even the priest said he knew Bibiana was enjoying the music quite a lot. So even if there have been some very sad moments because we of course really need our angel, we have really felt her blessing, her love and her presence and we know she is in a much better place.

On a very happy note for all of our family, my godson/nephew was born 2 days ago. His name is Esteban Ulises and he is just beautiful. I was even able to be present in his birthing and it was really special to share that with my sister Alida and my brother in law Etienne. We love all of them very much. I will post a picture as soon as I am able. Also my brother arrived from India on Friday, so he was able to be there.

On the China front, the CCAA just changed its adoption regulations, effective on May 1 2007. They are supposed not to affect the people already logged in. We just wish this was the last Xmas we had to spend without our MeiLing Mercedes.

On Mei Ling's brother's front, we are happy to inform that his name will be Sebastian Ignacio. As of yesterday we are already 20 weeks pregnant and everything is going great.

Once again Merry Christmas!!! Felicidades!!!

Hoy es el cumpleaños de nuestro angelito Bibiana Isabel

2006-12-14T09:21:00.000-04:00

Como recordarán, hace exactamente 1 año nació nuestro angelito precioso que ahora está en el cielo, Bibiana Isabel. Obviamente es un día un tanto difícil, pero a la vez le damos gracias a Dios que nos dio la oportunidad de conocer a nuestro angelito y de haberla podido tener entre nosotros por 20 días, mucho mas de lo que los doctores pensaron que era posible. Bibiana Isabel siempre va a vivir en nuestros corazones, y estamos seguros de que un día nos vamos a reencontrar. También estamos seguros de que ella debe estar muy contenta de que va a tener hermanitos chiquitos para cuidar y proteger, a Sebastián y Mei Ling. Ella será su angel guardián. Que Dios nos la bendiga siempre, y que siempre le de mucha felicidad y salud. Estamos seguros de que así es, y será.

As some of you know, our dear angel in heaven Bibiana Isabel was born exactly one year ago. She will always live in our hearts. Even if it is indeed a difficult day for us, we do also thank God for giving us the opportunity of getting to spend time with our little Bibiana. And we are sure that she is really happy about getting to be the guardian angel of her little brother and sister, Sebastián and Mei Ling. We are sure that we will meet again one day.

It turns out that Mei Ling will have a brother, not a sister

2006-12-13T15:29:00.001-04:00

We are still sort of in shock (a happy shock), but here it goes. Today I proved that not only am I absentminded, but I also have a hearing problem. As you know, I told everyone I was pregnant with a girl, to be named Gabriela. Well, today I was in the doctor and when the doctor wanted to confirm that she had already told me the baby's sex, I said "yes, a girl", and Florencio said Gabriela. The doctor got confused, went to the file, and told me, "but it is a boy" . And even showed me the piece of paper with the CVS results indicating male. Apparently what happened is that when she tolm me in the phone, I understood "nena", but she really said "nene". Then she did the sonogram, where everything not only looked perfect, but it definitely confirmed that it was definitely a boy. I think the doctor probably thought we were kind of loony, because we just kept laughing through the sonogram, trying to digest it. The point is that we are ecstatic. We were also very much happy with the idea of a girl, but we are ecstatic. Mei Ling will have a baby or older brother, and it is really cool too. As you can imagine, Florencio is also VERY happy. Take lots of care, Odemaris

It turns out that Mei Ling will have a brother, not a sister

2006-12-13T15:29:00.000-04:00

We are still sort of in shock (a happy shock), but here it goes. Today I proved that not only am I absentminded, but I also have a hearing problem. As you know, I told everyone I was pregnant with a girl, to be named Gabriela. Well, today I was in the doctor and when the doctor wanted to confirm that she had already told me the baby's sex, I said "yes, a girl", and Florencio said Gabriela. The doctor got confused, went to the file, and told me, "but it is a boy" . And even showed me the piece of paper with the CVS results indicating male. Then she did the sonograme, where everything not only looked perfect, but it definitely confirmed that it was definitely a boy. I think the doctor probably thought we were kind of loony, because we just kept laughing through the sonogram, trying to digest it. The point is that we are ecstatic. We were also very much happy with the idea of a girl, but we are ecstatic. Mei Ling will have a baby or older brother, and it is really cool too. As you can imagine, Florencio is also VERY happy. Take lots of care, Odemaris

Las nuevas sillitas de Mei Ling y Gabriela/ Mei Ling's and Gabriela's new chairs

2006-12-09T16:23:00.000-04:00

Como les conte ayer, el jueves consegui unas sillitas para las nenas que estan chulisimas. Eran las unicas dos que habia, y esa fue la excusa perfecta para saber que las tenia que comprar. Una es rosita y la otra es verde, dos colores bien predominantes en las paredes. Ademas, me encanto que tienen mosaicos de animales, una mariposa y una libelula. No se si se puede apreciar de la foto, pero las sillitas son diminutas.

As I told you yesterday, I found these two great chairs for the girls. They were screaming buy me, as there were only 2 for sale. One is pink and the other is green, perfect for the colors of the walls. I just loved the mosaics of the butterfly and the dragonfly. I don't know whether you can tell from the picture, but the chairs are TINY... SO CUTE.

TERCER ANIVERSARIO DE LID/ THIRD LID ANNIVERSARY

2006-12-08T20:44:00.000-04:00

Bueno, hacia mucho tiempo que no escribia. Hoy es el tercer aniversario de nuestro LID, y como les he dicho anteriormente, eso significa que estamos mas cerca de tener a Mei Ling en casa. Lo unico malo es que hoy nuestra agencia nos confirmo lo que veniamos escuchando, y yo me negaba a creer: que todo esta corriendo mas lento. Asi que quizas no podamos traer a Mei Ling a casa hasta como abril del 2008. Por un lado nos alegra, ya que sabemos que lo que esta supuestamente pasando es que mas gente en China esta adoptando a las nenas y/o estan abandonando menos nenas. Por otro lado, tambien esta la realidad de que hay mas gente que nunca adoptando en China. Sin embargo, la realidad es que es fuerte para nosotros, porque Mei Ling es nuestra bebe, y aunque para algunas personas resulta dificil entender como una bebe a quien uno nunca ha conocido hace TANTA falta en la casa, pues esa es exactamente la realidad en nuestra casa. Pero sabemos en nuestro corazon que Mei Ling tambien que podremos ver y buscar a Mei Ling cuando Dios entienda que es el mejor momento. Mientras, estaremos en casa con Gabriela, esperando a que llegue el momento de buscar a su querida hermanita.

Para los que se han preguntado, el embarazo tambien va muy bien. El domingo cumplo 18 semanas. Y hablando de otras cosas, ayer encontre las sillitas mas perfectas del mundo para el cuarto de las nenas. Es increible lo facil es dejar que la mente se apodere de uno, e imaginarse a las dos nenas sentadas en sus sillitas. Ya pronto les saco unas fotos y se las enseno.

Today is our third LID anniversary, so one step closer to Mei Ling. Our only sour note today was the fact that our agency did confirm that the waiting times were certainly longer, and it would probably not be until around April 2008 that we would get Mei Ling home.

Small Things Can Get You Excited!!!/ Cosas Pequenas que pueden contentarnos!!!

2006-11-12T10:22:00.000-04:00

When I learned that we would have a baby girl (she already has a name: Gabriela Aimee, Aimee being my sister's middle name), I told Florencio that I already had purchased Mei Ling Mercedes' crib bedding set, which went along great with the curtains in the girls' room. Well, I got myself into the internet, since I knew I would never find it in Marshall's, and much less the deal I got there, and set myself to finding another identical as soon as possible for Gabriela's crib. And today I hit the jackpot, and although it was not a deal-deal-deal, I still got a bargain through ebay when compared to the original retail price. I am enclosing a picture of the set (the crib in the picture is not ours), since I am pretty excited about it. This just shows that sometimes small things can get one excited!!!

Cuando primero me entere que tendriamos una nena (ya tiene nombre, se llamara Gabriela Aimee. Aimee es el segundo nombre mi hermana Alida), le dije a Florencio que ya yo habia comprado el bumper set de la cuna de Mei Ling Mercedes, y que no queria que el de Gabriela fuera diferente, porque ese set iba perfecto con las cortinas del cuarto de las nenas. Y pues me puse a buscar, y hoy finalmente lo encontre. Aunque no fue al tremendo precio que habia conseguido en Marshall's para el primero de Mei Ling, pues si consegui un precio relativamente bueno en Ebay. Esta es la foto (la cuna no es la de las nenas.)

Belated SECOND Month LID Anniversary!!!

2006-11-11T09:14:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Finally our Internet is back up and I can announce that 3 days ago was our SECOND MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY. One month closer to Mei Ling Mercedes!!!
p.d.- We also wanted to thank everyone for all of the good wishes and support on our good news.

WE ARE ALMOST HAVING TWINS

2006-11-07T06:49:00.000-04:00

Yes, WE WILL BE ALMOST HAVING TWINS. For those of you who still do not know, which is actually most of you, I am pregnant, 3 months pregnant that is. Yesterday we found out, after receiving some very important test results, that our baby is healthy and she is a girl. Therefore, Mei Ling Mercedes will have an almost twin sister. We figure they may be anywhere between 2 to 6 months apart, so it will be great for them. God really works in very interesting ways, since the funny thing is that around 2 weeks before I found out I was pregnant, both Florencio and myself learned we could have actually requested twins in the adoption application and we contacted the agency to see what had to be done. As it turned out, we could not apply for twins because Florencio had been briefly married before. And so, two weeks later, I learned I was pregnant. Now I am already beginning the second trimester and feel it is safe for us to make the big announcement.
Some people have asked us whether we will continue with Mei Ling's adoption. Yes, we will. That was not even an issue. Mei Ling always was, and is, our daughter from the moment we put those papers in the mail. It was something we had actually talked about even before our dear Bibiana went to heaven. We know that Mei Ling is meant to be our daughter, and we already love her quite a bit. So at this moment if someone was to tell me I could not adopt her, it would pretty much be like going into mourning from scratch all over again.
For us, it is very important that people understand that, because I know there are lots of people (and we respect all of their decisions because it is a very personal one) that do stop altogether the adoption process and forget about it if a pregnancy occurs.
We are ecstatic that we will have daughters that will be sisters of the HEART. After all, that is the most important thing. They will be almost twins, which is a HUGE bonus, since they will grow up together and will always have that special bond. We know that at times they will make us feel like we are going crazy, since I know in my heart that they will be quite the handful together, but I can't wait. We can't wait to meet both of them, and for them to meet one day!!! Plus they will always have their older angel sister looking for them from heaven. Not everyone gets that special treat.
Thank you to everyone who already knows and have shown such support to both Florencio and myself in times when we were much hesitant to just shout that I was pregnant, because well, we did not know whether this time everything would be alright. We feel like God has given us the opportunity to pretty much feel like we were born again, and to feel both faith and hope again in our lives. Thanks again!!!

Referrals are here and Mei Ling has a KIMONO

2006-11-04T15:57:00.000-04:00

It is that time of the month again. There are new parents all over the world who just received wonderful picture and information on their new daughters. Congrats to all of them. This also means that Mei Ling is 1 month closer to getting home. Also, the Chinese Council of Adoption Affairs has finished reviewing the files submitted up to January 31, 2006.

This is a picture of the very cool kimono sent by my brother Jaime for Mei Ling. Is not that really cute?

Status de la frisa de Mei Ling y los pajaros/ Mei Ling's Crocheted Blanket and Our Birds

2006-10-24T06:44:00.000-04:00

Pense que quizas era hora de atreverme a ensenar nuevamente el avance de la frisita que estoy tejiendo para Mei Ling. Aqui esta, todavia le falta mucho pero ahi vamos.

Thought it was time to show you how the blanket I'm crocheting for Mei Ling is coming along. A lot to go, but much bigger than before.

Entonces aqui esta Pecunia volando a la izquierda y Picu es el de la derecha. Y si, esta enorme.

The one to the left is Pecunia flying and to the right is Picu, the huge baby.

p.d.- hoy a un miembro de nuestra familia le van a hacer un examen, asi que las oraciones seran bienvenidas. Confiamos en Dios en que todo saldra bien!!!

Picu esta mucho mas grande, y mas frisitas bonitas para Mei Ling/ Picu is much bigger, and more cool blankets for Mei Ling

2006-10-12T08:04:00.000-04:00

Algunos han preguntado por nuestro bebe canario y si tiene nombre. Hoy decidimos ponerle Picu, y si averiguamos que es nene se llamara Piculin, y si es nena Piculina. Como pueden ver, Picu esta mucho mas grande. Creemos que es medio hijo del lechero por ahora porque la verdad es que no se parece en nada a sus padres, pero veremos. Es de lo mas comico, aunque casi siempre esta durmiendo. Que buena vida!!!

Some of you have asked about our baby canary and his/her name. Today we finally decided that he/she would be named Picu for now. If we find out Picu is a male, he will be named Piculin, and if she is a girl, she will be Piculina. As you can see, Picu is much bigger. So far he looks like the milkman's son because he/she does not look at like like his/her parents. Picu is pretty funny, although he/she is almost always sleeping. The grand life!!!

Por otro lado, lo que ven aqui son las ultimas frisitas que hizo Abuelita Aida para Mei Ling. Que bellas, verdad? Como pueden ver, la primera es de Hello Kitty, la otra es de ladybugs que hemos denominado la espanola, porque tiene los colores de la bandera espanola, y la tercera es una preciosura de una tela oriental que habiamos comprado en NY. Abuelita las tejio alrededor y estan bellas, bellas, bellas!!!

These were the three latest blankets made by my Abuelita Aida for Mei Ling. They are really, really beautiful, and quite comfy. The one on the left is of Hello Kitty, the next one is ladybugs and we have dubbed it the Spanish blanket because it has the colors of the Spanish flag, and the one on the right is the Oriental one. We purchased the fabric in NY and then on the inside we put fleece, so it would be comfy for Mei Ling. They are extremely beautiful, and the borders were all stitched by my grandma.

It's Our ONE MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY, Precious Gifts for Mei Ling and More Squares/Wishes

2006-10-08T08:11:00.000-04:00

It is our ONE MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY. For some people, I'm sure it does not sound like much, but for us it means that we are 1 month closer to getting Mei Ling home. The journey so far has been quite incredible. It feels really good when in days like yesterday, in which my family on my mom's side celebrated our Titi Migdalia's 60th b-day, so many people asked me about Mei Ling. I have heard about how some people really regret it when they tell their relatives and friends early on about the adoption, because some feel like then everyone keeps asking and asking about when they are going to get the baby. Well, for us, it has been great. Do we get asked? Of course we do, and we feel GREAT about it. It just means that people actually care about you. It would be a lot worse if people just ignored the whole process and pretended as if nothing was happening. For us, the support from our family members has been EXCELLENT. Thank you so much to all our relatives who read this blog, you know who you are. It means a lot to us when we get wishes for Mei Ling's quilt expressing that they can't wait to meet her and that they love her very much. The fact is that it pretty much feels as if Mei Ling Mercedes is already part of our family, and we know that when she finally arrives home here in Puerto Rico, it will be like a HUGE shower of love upon her, and well, that is a pretty neat thing to have, don't you think?

Yesterday we also received a BEAUTIFUL ladybug jewelry set for Mei Ling Mercedes, her first jewelry set, with the works: charm, chain, earrings and even a ring, and they all have ladybugs. It was given to us as a surprise by my cousin Alvia Ineabelle and her dh (dear husband in adopting lingo) Alfredo. They got married recently, and the wedding was a lot of fun. I do not have a picture of them together, so if Alvia I. reads this, you know you can send me a picture and I will post it. And thanks, we know that Mei Ling will just LOVE it!!!

Yesterday we also received squares/wishes for Mei Ling's quilt. The one on the top left was given previously by my cousin Alvia Ivelisse, top center was given by my brother in law Carlos and our niece Sofia, top right was given by my cousin Ivette and dh Alexis, bottom left given by Alvia Ineabelle and dh Alfredo and bottom right by my Titi Alvia and Tio Papito. They will all be beautiful additions to Mei Ling's quilt.

As you can see, we are blessed with having VERY TIGHT and VERY BIG families, who actually meet for many different occasions throughout the year, not only for holidays.

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

2006-09-30T07:04:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-29T14:36:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-25T20:40:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-14T18:24:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-13T19:07:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-11T06:35:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2006-09-08T14:05:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-08T07:27:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2006-09-07T07:22:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2006-09-06T06:52:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2006-09-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-03T17:54:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-02T15:23:00.000-04:00

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.

No pity at all!!!

2006-08-31T20:54:00.000-04:00

When it comes down to family, especially the immediate ones, you just have to LOVE them, no matter what. Inconditionally, right? Yes, well, today I did not feel very loving towards my own very much immediate family members. You know who you are, you who poked fun at me and sent me numerous emails (as if I, or yourselves for that matter, have no work to do) regarding my "king sized" blanket, or the "blanket that was getting to be TOO big", or that "they were still trying to find it in the picture", and about how I had the audacity to say I had always been patient. Ja, ja, ja!!! Well, regarding the blanket, for those of you that like my family maybe wondered where the blanket was in the picture but were too polite to ask [unlike my family], I wanted Mei Ling to one day be able to look at the pictures and see how the blanket evolved. Right now the blanket already looks double the size of the first picture. And no, you won't get to see it today. Maybe I will be nice and post it tomorrow. As to the patience bit, I really looked into myself today and will admit that it is true, a little bit anyway. Maybe I have never been that patient. Yes, once things get into my head, I won't leave them alone!!! But all in a very nice way. It is as Florencio told me today. That one of the reasons we get along so well is because we balance each other out. I am a little bit hyper and he is well, he is Florencio. For those of you who have met Florencio, you know what I mean. That is part of why I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

p.d.- By the way, no, I'm not mad. I actually thought the emails were KIND of funny!!!

Proyectos 101/ Projects 101

2006-08-30T13:53:00.000-04:00

Para aquellos que me conocen, saben que he cogido clases de MUCHAS cosas, ej. cuatro (aunque solo llegue a la clase donde aprendi a tocar happy b-day), mosaicos, pintura, etc. Es por eso que he decidido que esta es la mejor oportunidad para comenzar (y finalizar) varios otros proyectos. Lo anterior toda vez que me ha dado cuenta que he perdido mucha de la PACIENCIA que entiendo tenia en abundancia. Ya no soy muy paciente, y se me hace dificil estar haciendo nada. Creo que es porque me siento que si hago nada, el tiempo pasa mas despacio (y uno piensa demasiado). Ya anteriormente les habia dicho que estaba en vias de recoger pedazos de tela y deseos para el quilt de Mei Ling. Bueno, eso lo hice (y lo hizo haciendo, para aquellos que todavia no se han animado). Ahora me falta organizar las telas, agruparlas y ponerme a coser la parte de arriba de los quilts (si, todavia persisto en que lo voy a hacer yo). Por lo menos, ya me siento mas confiada porque el domingo mi Abuelita Aida me dijo que podia llevar las telas a su casa y ella me ayudaria. Asi que este proyecto va viento en popa.

For those of you who know me, you know that I have taken all sorts of clases, ex. mosaics, cuatro (a Puertorrican instrument, although I only got to the level in which they taught me how to play Happy Birthday), painting, etc. And I have decided that this is the perfect time to tackle various other projects. The latter especially since I have realized through this journey to get Mei Ling that I am not a very PATIENT person, and I get very antsy if I am doing nothing. First, the time goes SLOWER, and second, I get more time to REALLY think. As most of you know, I have been collecting (and still am, for those of you who are STILL thinking about it) squares/wishes for Mei Ling's quilts. Now I have to sit down, organize and begin grouping the squares and then I will go to sew at the least the top. Yes, I will (for those of you still skeptics out there). I know feel more confident about this project because on Sunday my Abuelita Aida (Grandma) told me that I could take the squares to her house and she would help out if I got stuck. So this project is going really well.

Sin embargo, un proyecto no es suficiente. Despues de todo, como saben tengo que organizar los deseos de los quilts, y no queria simplemente ponerlos a lo loco en un album. Asi que compre un scrapbook. Busque y busque hasta que hace 2 semanas encontre el album perfecto en Marshall's (compre los dos que habian, luego de recorrer VARIOS de los Marshall's de Puerto Rico). La caratula esta cubierta de una tela preciosa oriental. Y Lilly, la novia de Javi, el hermano de Floren, a quien apreciamos mucho en la familia, fue TAN AMABLE que me regalo un monton de papeles para el scrapbook. Estan preciosos. Asi que ese proyecto tambien esta en camino. Ahora me voy a reunir con Dimari Isla, quien esta adoptando una bebe en Vietnam, y ella me va a ensenar sus scrapbooks, y ademas voy a tomar una clase en Scrapbooking Gallery, en Galeria San Patricia. Para los que sean de Puerto Rico, y les interese el tema, la tienda esta increible. Luego, a comenzar se ha dicho.

However, 1 project is not enough. After all, I do have to organize the wishes for Mei Ling's quilts, and I did not want to simply put them in an album. And so I bought a scrapbook. I looked and looked, and finally found the perfect scrapbook at Marshalls (found 2 of them, after visiting a couple of the Marshall's stores in Puerto Rico). They are beautiful, and the cover is made out of an Oriental fabric. Then Lily, my brother in law's girlfriend, whom we love, gave me a LOT OF BEAUTIFUL scrapbook papers. Now I am going to meet with Dimari Isla, scrapbooking lover, and who is adopting a baby from Vietnam, and she will show me her scrapbooks. Then I will attend a scrapbooking class and voila, I will be ready to begin. For those of you who are wondering about all the fuss, I have never scrapbooked in my whole life.

Finalmente, el domingo pasado me dio con que queria aprender a tejer. Fue asi que llame a Abuelita Aida, le pregunte que tenia que comprar, lo compre y me fui para su casa. Me enseno como hacer cadenetas y me pregunto si comenzaria por un proyecto chiquito, pero decidi que como tenia mucho tiempo, le haria una frisa a Mei Ling. Lo que estan viendo es el comienzo de la frisa. Los mantendre al tanto. Estoy acabando la quinta linea. Hasta ahora, incluyendo a Floren, nadie ha demostrado mucha fe, pero la voy a acabar. Despues de todo, la realidad es que si todos los dias tejo por lo menos una linea, pensando que precisamente se va a llevar como 365 lineas, pues quizas la acabo cuando mas o menos recibamos el referido de Mei Ling (que Dios me este oyendo!!!). No puedo prometer que quedara preciosa, ni mucho menos perfecta, pero si tendra mucho amor.

Finally, last Sunday I got one of this urges I get, and I tell you, once I get them, there is no looking back. This time I felt I had to learn how to knit, and so I called my Abuelita Aida, asked her what I had to buy, bought it and went to her house. She taught me how to begin knitting (the basics). Then when I told her that I was going to make a knitted blanket for Mei Ling, Abuelita looked at me and told me I really ought to think about a smaller project. I told her I would make it, and the picture you are looking at is the beginnings of the blanket. So far I am finishing the 5th line. I figured that I knitted at least 1 line every day, I might be finished by the time we received Mei Ling's referral, like hopefully 365 later. Good plan, right? I can not promise it will be beutiful, and much less perfect, but it will come from the heart.

Abuelita Aida tambien aprovecho ese dia para darme la primera frisita para Mei Ling. Abuelita Aida hace una frisitas preciosas (con la ayuda tambien de Titi Cuca). Y entonces hoy me envio una segunda frisita, que es de Dora la Exploradora en las Navidades. En la foto ven la frisita de las ranitas, y la de Dora que me dio hoy. Estan bien ricas!!!

On Sunday, Abuelita Aida also gave me Mei Ling's first blanket. It is smiling frogs on a pink polka dot background, and it has a hot pink handmade knitted border. Then today she sent us a second blanket, this one of Dora the Explorer in Christmas. Check out the lights!!! We love them. They are VERY cuddly!!!

No good news for us waiting parents/ Sin buenas noticias para los que estamos esperando

2006-08-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

Referrals were received this past couple of days. Congrats to the new parents. It turns out that the CCAA surprised everyone, the agencies included, with this batch of referrals which no one knew were coming. However, for us waiting parents, the road gets a lot MORE DIFFICULT, since the CCAA only sent referrals this past month for 9 LID dates. What does this mean? That the rumor indicating that the waiting times are getting longer, and longer, and YET LONGER may really be true. It is like we are dancing to someone else's tune ALL of the time. It could now be 18 months (and that being because I refuse to think otherwise) until we receive the referral for Mei Ling. However, something tells me that this is just temporary, that the waiting times will get better again.

Llegaron los referidos en los pasados dias. Felicidades a los nuevos papas. Hemos visto algunas fotos, y las bebes son preciosas. Lo triste es que la CCAA solo envio los referidos este mes correspondientes a 9 dias de LID, o sea bien poquito. Figurense, eso quiere decir que a esa velocidad le tomaria 1 mes completo a dicha agencia para enviar los referidos correspondientes a 1 mes de LID's. Lo anterior reafirma los rumores de que se va a tardar mucho mas el proceso. Me rehuso a creer muchos de estos rumores, pero en ocasion es dificil permanecer optimista. A esta velocidad, siendo optimistas, podrian pasar 18 meses antes de que veamos la foto de Mei Ling. Una de las cosas mas dificiles de este proceso es el poco control que uno tiene sobre el proceso per se.

Un regalo bien especial para Mei Ling y mas telas/deseos para el quilt/ A very special gift for Mei Ling and more wishes/squares for her quilt

2006-08-23T21:18:00.000-04:00

Como les he mencionado anteriormente, en China se considera a los "ladybugs" como simbolos de la buena suerte. De hecho, en el mundo de la adopcion internacional hay una cuasi leyenda que dice que cuando uno ve a un ladybug, quiere decir que por ahi vienen las asignaciones de China, o sea que estan a punto de llegar los referidos, que es cuando los papas finalmente reciben las fotos de quienes seran sus hijas (os). Es por ello que cuando Ana Livia y Etienne Otano, tremendos amigos de la familia y los suegros de mi hermana Alida, nos enviaron un charm de un "ladybug" para eventualmente darselo a Mei Ling, nos emocionamos mucho. Fue asi que decidimos que entonces yo usaria el "ladybug" primero en mi brazalete de "charms", lo que a su vez me daria la oportunidad casi diaria de estar rodeada de la buena suerte y de poder decir que estoy viendo un "ladybug", con la posibilidad de que quizas el referido llega antes. Quien sabe, no? Entonces el dia en que recibamos las fotos de Mei Ling, ese mismo dia el charm sera transferido al brazalete de "charms" de Mei Ling, convirtiendose ese en el primer "charm" de su brazalete. Entonces, anualmente le anadiremos un "charm" al brazalete, para eventualmente entregarselo a Mei Ling. Estoy incluyendo una foto del "charm", pero desgraciadamente no se ve muy claro, y eso es siendo bien generosa con la calidad de la foto que tome. Es el "charm" que se ve rojito (bueno, se lo pueden imaginar), y es precioso. La verdad es que trate de que solo se viera el "charm", pero como es bien chiquito y delicadito, si acerco la camara demasiado, se distorciona. Asi que estan tambien viendo parte de mi brazalete, que es donde el charm de Mei Ling va a estar por un tiempito, Dios mediante lo menos posible.

I have previously indicated that ladybugs in China are a symbol of good luck. Well, in the international adoption community, it is also said that when a person sees a ladybug, it means that referrals are about to arrive. A couple of days ago Ana Livia and Etienne Otano gave us a beautiful gift for Mei Ling, a ladybug charm. It is quite stunning, and we have decided that the charm will reside on my charm bracelet until the day we get the pictures of Mei Ling, when it will be transferred to Mei Ling's charm bracelet, the ladybug charm to be her first charm. I thought that it would not hurt to be able to see a ladybug almost on a daily basis, since the referral might come quicker. Hey, who knows? Then every year we will add 1 charm to Mei Ling's charm bracelet, and in a few years we will give it to her. I tried taking a picture only of the charm, but since it is so delicate, whenever I got too close with the camera, the image got distortioned. I know the picture came out awful, but I really tried my best. The ladybug charm is the one in the middle that has a reddish tint.

Esta tela/deseo fueron tambien enviada por Ana Livia y Etienne Otano. Estan preciosos, y seran una gran adicion al quilt de Mei Ling.

This wish/fabric was also sent by Ana Livia and Etienne Otano. They are beautiful, and will be a great addition to Mei Ling's quilt.

Estas telas/deseos son del "Around the World Swap". Representan los siguientes paises: Italia (enviado por la familia Pontillo y la verdad es que me trajo tremendos recuerdos), Belgica (enviado por la familia Fourez (la tela es de chocolates, y la verdad es que en Belgica hacen los mejores chocolates del mundo), y Kenya (enviado por la familia Chang).

These fabrics/squares are from the "Around the World Swap". They represent the following countries: Italy (sent by the Pontillo family. This brought so many good memories), Belgium (sent by the Fourez family, and let me tell you, Belgium does make the best chocolate. I only have to remember the time I visited Belgium 10 years ago, and I stayed with my good friend Liezelot's family. Her mom gave as a going away gift a big box of all kinds of chocolates. To die for, let me tell you!!!) and Kenya (sent by the Chang family).

Estas telas/deseos fueron enviadas por la familia Newsome, y representan los paises de Rusia y Antartica. Para esta familia, Rusia es un pais muy especial, ya que ahora estan en el proceso de adoptar a una bebe de China, igual que nosotros, pero anteriormente adoptaron 2 ninos rusos.

These fabrics/wishes were sent by the Newsome Family, and they represent the countries of Russia and Antartica. For this family, Russia is indeed a very special country, since besides being in the same process we are in, that of adopting a baby girl from China, they also already adopted two boys from Russia.

Telas y Deseos para el Quilt de Mei Ling/ More Wishes and Squares for Mei Ling's Quilt!!!

2006-08-20T14:21:00.000-04:00

Aqui les incluyo las ultimas telas y deseos que nos han llegado.
Enclosed the pictures of the last squares/wishes we have received for Mei Ling's quilt.

Las de esta foto nos las enviaron las siguientes personas: la Familia Martin de NY (ellos estan esperando a Mira, y Nicole y yo nos conocimos a traves de un grupo de familias que tambien tienen DTC's de agosto. Es bien chevere porque estas son personas que posiblemente esten viajando a la misma vez que nosotros cuando vayamos a China a buscar a nuestra Mei Ling), la Familia Lee de NY (esto es del Swap Asiatico. La tela muestra a unos pececitos que se llaman KOI, que son considerados como un simbolo de prosperidad y buena suerte), la Familia Ramos (esta es otra familia de Puerto Rico que vive en Miami, y tambien estan en el proceso para adoptar a una nina de nombre MeiLi) y la Familia O'Brien (esta es la ultima tela y deseo que faltaban del Angel Swap. Esta preciosa.).

These were sent by the Martin Family (They are waiting for Mira. I met Nicole through one of the August DTC groups, which is really neat since the people in these groups are the ones that will also be travelling to China around the time we will be getting Mei Ling. For those of you do not know much about the international adoption community, it is sort of like an ever expanding family full of people with at least one major purpose in life: getting our children born of the heart home!!! Very good friends are made through these friends, who support each other through the good news and through the bad news and through the ever longer waits.), the Lee Family from NY (This was from the Asian Swap. The fabric has KOI in it, which is a fish considered to be a symbol of prosperity and good luck in China), the Ramos Family (they are also from PR, living in Miami, and waiting for MeiLi.) and the O'Brien Family (this is the last of the squares/wishes for the Angel Swap. It is quite beautiful).

Las de esta foto son del Around the World Swap. La Familia Hearn envio el deseo/tela de Cameroon, la Familia Lane envio el deseo/tela de Israel, y la Familia Powell envio el deseo/tela de Panama.

These are from the Around the World Swap. The Hearn Family sent the wish/fabric from Cameroon, the Lane family from Israel and the Powell Family from Panama.

Esta otra fue enviada por Patricia, mi super amiga de la escuela de leyes, y Rudy, su esposo. La tela esta chulisima. Se que cuando Mei Ling lea un dia el deseo que escribio Patricia, se va a reir mucho. Segun Patricia, se recordo de nosotros cuando vio a las ranitas riendose. Al principio no sabia si eso era algo bueno, pero despues la entendi, y sabemos que a Mei Ling le va a encantar.

Last but not least, this square/fabric was sent by Patricia, my super friend from law school, and Rudy, her husband. The fabric is full of grinning frogs, quite pretty and funny. According to Patricia, the frogs reminded her of us. When Patricia told me that, I first thought like "Is that actually a good thing?", but when she explained, I got it. We know that Mei Ling will love the square/wish.

Sorpresitas para Mei Ling, y deseos/telas para su quilt/ Surprises for Mei Ling and more fabrics/wishes for her quilt!

2006-08-12T16:01:00.000-04:00

Esta es la ropa que yo le mande a pedir a Mei Ling la semana pasada, para celebrar el DTC. Gracias a Dios el DTC llego primero que la ropa. Como algunos saben, Florencio me prohibio la entrada a las tiendas de ropa de ninos por algun tiempo, pero esta fue una excepcion, la cual tambien aplicara cuando estemos LID, o sea cuando nos enteremos que ya nuestros documentos aparecen registrados en China. Pueden ver los ladybugs en las sandalias?

Do you remember that we were DTC 4 days ago? Well, this is what I ordered for Mei Ling to celebrate the DTC. I got it at Gymboree on sale last week through the internet, thinking it would arrive just around the time we were notified of the DTC. As it turned out, thank God, the DTC arrived before the clothes did. As some of you know, Florencio has banned my entrance into any children's clothing store for some time to come, but we did compromise in that I would get something else for Mei Ling to celebrate the DTC, and then for the LID. Unfortunately, I do not think you can see the ladybugs in the sandals, but they are there, and are awfully cute!!!

This past Thursday my mom gave me this doll and a unicorn for Mei Ling. We really laughed about the unicorn, since we could imagine Mei Ling riding it like a horse, especially since it talks, and like a horse too, and we praying that the battery would be dead too, so the horse sounds would stop!!! We know this particular gift will be a blast for Mei Ling.

Mi mama me dio esta muneca y el unicornio para Mei Ling. Florencio y yo nos reimos un monton porque nos podiamos imaginar a Mei Ling corriendo el unicornio, y nosotros rogando que por favor se acabara la bateria de los chillidos de caballo que hace el unicornio. Sabemos que le va a encantar.

This fabric/wish is from the Angel Swap. It was sent by Sindy and Kelly Ost, in memory of little angel Connor. It will be another beautiful addition to Mei Ling's quilt.
Esta tela/deseo es del Angel Swap. La envio Sindy y Kelly Ost, en memoria del angelito Hunter.

These are from the Around the World Swap, and represent the countries of China (Jen Jacobs) and South Korea (the Luth Family), from left to right. They are truly beautiful fabrics, and a lot of work went into these wishes. I will take the opportunity to give you some tidbits about China. Did you know that 1.3 billion people live in China, Did you know that China is the fourth largest country, after Russia, Canada and the United States? Did you know that incredibly enough half of China's labor force is engaged in agriculture, even if only 10% of the land is suitable for cultivation? And that China's cropland area is only 75% of the U.S. total, but China produces about 30% more crops and livestock that the U.S. because of intensive cultivation? Did you know that the Great Wall is 4,500 miles long, which is the distance between Miami and the North Pole? Did you know that Chinese kids go to school 251 days out of the whole year? That the average Chinese family has 2 bicycles and no car? Hey, that would be great in Puerto Rico. Maybe we would finally be rid of the traffic jams.

These are from the Asian Swap with a Twist. They were sent by Dimari Isla, also from Puerto Rico and who is adopting a baby girl from Vietnam, the Wingenter Family with the beautiful Chinese New Year fabric, the Miller Family who sent the beautiful fabric with the Asian girls, and the Scott family who sent the beautiful fabric with the red butterflies. Dimari's theme was the kimono, and I wanted to share a bit of what she said about their history with you. The word kimono simply means clothes. Ki means to wear, whereas mono means a thing. In modern day Japan, will will only wear lavish kimonos for very special occasions and festivals.

These are from the Beach Swap. I think that with these last two, sent by the Jacobs and Frederickson families, we have received all of the squares of this swap. I bet you did not know that I have singled these squares to be my first try at sewing a quilt. Yes, I am going to sew at least the top, even if it is the last thing I do in this life. Many people have been very negative (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) as to the possibilities of my sewing abilities, and have IMPLIED (yes, you know who you are) that I am just going to RUIN everything. Well, you will see. I already have the sewing machine. Now I just have to remember how to use it. After all, it has only been 20 years since I took sewing lessons. I bet it is just like riding a bicycle, once you learn, you may get rusty, but you will never really forget. Yeah, positive thinking all the way. That is the name of the game.

Creo que estas son las ultimas telas que faltaban por llegar del Beach Swap. Y me propuse a que seria con las telas de este swap que haria mi primer intento de coser por lo menos la parte de arriba del quilt, ya que quiero hacer un quilt con estas telas para Isabela. Se que algunos de ustedes (y saben quienes son) han sido un POCO DESALENTADORES en cuanto a que sea yo quien vaya a coser siquiera una parte del quilt de Meilingcita, INSINUANDO (saben quienes son) que voy a arruinar las telas si yo me pongo a coser. Pero ya veran que quedara bien, y que pronto me recordare de lo que mi maestra de costura llamada Maneca me enseno hace solo 20 anos atras, y que un dia Mei Ling entonces va a poder por lo menos decir que su mama hizo por lo menos parte del quilt. Despues de todo, debe ser como correr bicicleta, una vez se aprende, nunca se olvida. Que pasme les voy a dar!!! Ja!!!

p.d.- We just came back from eating at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and I finally learned of a place where supposedly Mandarin is being taught!!!! Yeahhhh!!! Finalmente me entere de un sitio en Puerto Rico donde supuestamente dan clases de Chino Mandarin. El lunes voy a llamar a ver si es verdad.

Una buena semana!!!/ A good week!!!

2006-08-12T00:48:00.000-04:00

La verdad es que esta semana fue muy buena. La primera sorpresa fue recibir las noticias de que estabamos DTC como 1 semana antes de cuando lo esperabamos. Luego, ayer asi como que de la nada, por puro detalle, Florencio me envio flores al trabajo. Estan preciosas, como pueden ver.

It is great when one is able to enjoy a really good week. First we learned we were DTC, and then yesterday Florencio sent me these beautiful flowers, out of the blue, without any big reason. The best!!!

Esta semana mi hermano Jaime se fue a la tiendas, y le compro ropa a Mei Ling y a Esteban, nuestro sobrino/mi ahijado que nace en diciembre. Como el no vive en Puerto Rico, le dije que tenia que sacarles fotos a los trajes y enviarmelas. Aunque no lo crean, si lo hizo y me las envio, por lo que aqui tambien estan los trajes. Entonces hoy le dije a mi hermana Alida y Jaime que serian los padrinos de Mei Ling. Los dos se pusieron muy contentos.

This week my brother Jaime also went shopping for clothes for Mei Ling and Esteban, our nephew/my godson who will be born in December. He does not live in Puerto Rico, and so I told him he just had to take pictures of the dresses and email them to me, which he ACTUALLY did. And so, you also get to see them. Then today we also told my sister and brother that they would be Mei Ling's godparents. They were very excited!!!

YA ESTAMOS DTC!!!/ WE ARE DTC!!!/

2006-08-08T13:02:00.000-04:00

Queríamos compartir con ustedes que nos enviaron un email hoy de la agencia para informarnos que ya estamos DTC, o sea "Dossier to China", o que toda nuestra documentación debidamente traducida al chino y autenticada, ya salió por Express Mail para China. Este es un paso bien importante en este proceso de buscar a Mei Ling Mercedes, por lo que estamos bien contentos. Esto significa que estamos TODAVÍA mas cerca de buscar a Mei Ling!!!

We just wanted to share with everyone that today our agency informed us that we are officially DTC ("Dossier to China"), or that our dossier is on its way to China. Now we are one step closer to our daughter Mei Ling Mercedes, so it is a very exciting day for us.

B-day de Yara Coral (prima de Mei Ling) y muchos deseos/ Yara's B-day (Mei Ling's cousin) and many wishes

2006-08-06T10:33:00.000-04:00

Ayer estuvimos en la casa de mis suegros celebrando el cumpleanos numero 10 de Yara Coral, nuestra sobrina y quien sera una de las primitas de Mei Ling. Alli estaban cinco de nuestros sobrinos, y muchos de los familiares de Florencio. Tambien estaba Lily, la novia de mi cunado Javi, quien me prometio me ayudaria a confeccionar el scrapbook para el quilt de Mei Ling. La verdad es que la pasamos muy bien.

Yesterday we went to my parents in law's house to celebrate Yara Coral's 10th b-day. Yara is our niece and will be one of Mei Ling's cousins. All of our nephews/nieces were there, and we had a very good time.

Estos son nuestros sobrinos por el lado de la familia de Florencio(Luis Fernando, Sofia, Francisco Gabriel, Mariela y Yara), con mi cunada Marilu y yo.
These are our nephews and nieces on Florencio's side of the family(Luis Fernando, Sofia, Francisco Gabriel, Mariela y Yara), and Marilu (my sister in law) and myself.

Nuestros sobrinos nuevamente, excepto por Yara, que no salio en esta foto.

Estos son mis suegros, Florencio, my cunado Carlos, cunada Marilu y la prima de Florencio, Marime.
These are my parents in law, Florencio, my brother in law Carlos, my sister in law Marilu and Florencio's cousin, Marime.

Tambien recibimos muchos deseos y telas para el quilt de Mei Ling.

Tambien acabe el deseo para el Angel Swap, que es la contribucion de Bibiana Isabel al quilt de su mei mei (hermana chiquita). Ciertamente no soy una poetisa, pero queria escribir algo original de parte de Bibiana, ya que se que a Mei Ling le va a gustar mucho leerlo un dia, al igual que ver alli la foto de su hermana mayor. Esta en ingles porque se hizo para el intercambio con mis amigas del club del quilt, que realmente hablan ingles.

To My Mei Mei
One of my angel friends in heaven told me the other day,
That sometime in the future I would have a Mei Mei,
"What's a Mei Mei"?, I said,
"That is a Little Sister," my angel friend answered,
Oh, how excited I got,
Knowing you would come along,
And would you know that same angel friend in heaven,
Told me that when my Mei Mei arrived,
I would get to be the Jie Jie,
And once again I asked, "What's a Jie Jie?"
"That is an Older Sister," my angel friend answered.
Oh, how excited I got,
Knowing I would be able to call myself so,
And so I have been telling all angel friends in Heaven,
How they all have to help me look over my Mei Mei,
Because I am her Jie Jie,
And so always know,
That even if you may not be able to see me,
I will always love you from Heaven above.
Never think that I am unable to play,
Never think that I no longer exist,
Because I am here in Heaven,
With the other Angels,
Who are my playmates in Heaven, the biggest playground ever,
I love you Mei Mei,
Let me tell you this,
"Mei Mei, you have an Angel Jie Jie Playing Music Here in Heaven!"

This past couple of days we have also received many other wishes/fabrics for Mei Lings quilts. I also finished the wish for the Angel Swap, which as I told you before will be Bibiana's contribution to her Mei Mei's (little sister) quilt. I am definitely not a writer by any standards, but did want to write something original on behalf of Bibiana Isabel for Mei Ling, since I know that one day Mei Ling will really appreciate reading a note from her sister as well as looking at her picture. Above is what I wrote.

El deseo arriba de la izquierda es del Angel Swap y lo envio la familia Liptack. El de la derecha lo envio la familia Bales. El de abajo lo envio Lillian y William Ayala. Este tambien sera bien especial en el quilt de Mei Ling, toda vez que a Lillian la conoci en Tulane, y luego tambien fue la otra estudiante que fue conmigo a estudiar a Florencia, Italia. Hace par de anos se caso con William y ahora van a mudarse a Roma. Que rico!!! La tela que Lillian envio la consiguio en Africa, donde ella tambien estuvo viviendo por par de anos. Esta preciosa. Les deseamos mucha suerte en Roma!!!

The ones on top to the left was sent by the Liptack family, and is also from the Angel swap. Pretty!!! The one to the right was sent by the Bales family. The one below was sent by Lillian and William Ayala. This one is also very special, since Lillian went to school with me at Tulane, and also was the other student that did the Junior Year Abroad program with me in Florence, Italy. She married William a couple of years back. And are now on their way to move to Rome, LUCKY THEM!!! Lillian got this beautiful fabric when she lived in Africa. We loved it, thanks, and we wish both of you so much luck on your move to Rome.

Estas telas/deseos son del Beach Swap. Las de arriba las enviaron las familias Humphrey y Pontillo, mientras que las de abajo las envio la Familia Dubbs
These ones are from the Beach swap. They are beautiful. The ones above were sent by the Dubbs family, whereas the ones below were sent by the Humphrey and Pontillo families.

Estos deseos/telas son del Asian Swap. Fueron enviados por las familias Williams y Lane. Uno de ellos tiene unos gatos, y el deseo contiene un poco de historia sobre el significado de los gatos en China. Se dice que los budistas entienden que el cuerpo del gato es un sitio de descanso temporal del alma de aquellas personas que son bien espirituales. Tambien creen que si un gato negro camina hacia uno, quiere decir buena suerte, pero si camina para el otro lado, se lleva la suerte con el. Tambien de acuerdo a una vieja leyenda china, un gato es el producto de una leonesa y un mono.
These ones are from the Asian Swap with a Twist. They will be a beautiful addition to the quilt. Were sent by the Williams and Lane Families. One of them has cats, and gives some insight on the Chinese belief about cats. Says that according to the Buddhist religion, the body of the cat is the temporary resting place of the soul of very spiritual people. That if a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it. Also, and check this out, that an ancient legend indicates that the cat is the product of a lioness and a monkey.

Mama Hao

2006-08-03T18:43:00.001-04:00

Today I saw this in another blog. It is a Chinese Lullaby commonly sung to little babies. It is really beautiful.

Esta es una canción de cuna china que se le canta mucho a los bebés en China. A ver si me la aprendo y se la canto EN CHINO un día a Mei Ling.

Mama Hao (Mandarin)

Shi shang zhi you mama hao
You ma de haizi xiang ge bao.
Tou jin mama de huai bao
Xinfu xiang bu liao.

Shi shang zhi you mama hao
Mei ma de hai zi xiang ge cao
Likai mama de huai bao
Xinfu na li zhao.

English translation:

Only Mama is the best in all the world
With a mama, you have the most valued treasure.
Jump into mama's heart and
You have endless happiness.

Only Mama is the best in all the world
Without a mama you are like a piece of grass,
Away from mama's heart,
Where will you find happiness?

Some cultural info

2006-08-02T16:23:00.000-04:00

Did you know that China is divided into 22 provinces? Sometime, probably by the end of this year or sometime next year, Mei Ling will be born in one of these 22 provinces.

Congrats to the new parents that got a referral today!!!

2006-07-31T18:00:00.000-04:00

As many of the people in the Chinese International Adoption community know, today was Referral Receipt day, meaning that the families that had been logged in between June 29, 2005 and July 13, 2005, got to receive the referrals for their daughters/sons. Therefore, there were many people for whom today was a life changing very emotional happy experience (We are very happy for them and wish them all the luck in the world), and many others who are still waiting, and waiting, and waiting. As for us, we are still not logged in (meaning that China still does not know we exist), but we are hoping to be LID by August 18, 2006. I have set that deadline for ourselves. Let's see what happens. So far, we are running ahead of our schedule, so things seem to be going our way... The stars are apparently aligned!!! ode

Cumple de Alidita, Recuerdos de BBQ en casa, y mas deseos/telas para el quilt de Mei Ling

2006-07-30T15:34:00.001-04:00

Bueno, hoy finalmente pude entrar nuevamente a la computadora. Estamos cambiando de proveedor de internet y ha sido medio controversial el cambio. Primeramente, hace 2 dias cumplio anos Alidita (titi Alida de Mei Ling) aka mi hermana. Ya son 31 anos, que cumplas muchos mas. El viernes hubo una fiesta de cumpleanos en Isabela, pero Floren y yo no pudimos ir porque teniamos trabajo ayer. Aunque ya te deseamos felicidades por telefono, sopla las velitas de tu bizcocho cibernetico. Que cumplas muchos mas!!!

Por otro lado, ayer hicimos un bbq en casa. Era la primera vez en mucho, mucho, mucho tiempo que invitabamos gente a nuestra casa, y la verdad que lo pasamos espectacular. Fue bien chevere porque hacia mucho tiempo que este grupo, mitad de los cuales nos conocimos en Tulane, no se juntaba. Estaban Mara, Javier y Claudia; Yania y Tito; Mardi y Eliseo, Kike, Yasha y Mariela (otra de las futuras amiguitas de Mei Ling); y nosotros. Lo pasamos bien chevere, y hubo hasta kareoke, como podran ver de las fotos. Desgraciadamente nos vinimos a recordar de la camara una vez sacamos el kareoke, y para ese momento Javier y Kike, con sus respectivas familias, ya se habian ido, asi que no tenemos fotos de ellos. Sera otro dia.

En esta foto estamos Florencio y yo.

En esta otra foto, estan Florencio y Eliseo cantando.

En esta foto estan Tito, Yania y Mardi vitoreando a Florencio y a Eliseo, que estaban cantando.

Mara, Javier y Claudia, y tambien Yania y Tito, tambien nos entregaron sus telas/deseos para el quilt de Mei Ling. La de arriba a la izquierda, de Precious Moments, nos la dieron Mara, Javier y Claudia, quien ayudo a escoger la tela, y sera una de las futuras amiguitas de Mei Ling. Las otras dos fueron de Yania y Tito, y de su familia, y son de Strawberry Shortcake y Betty Boop. Estan preciosas, y estamos seguros de que a Mei Ling les va a encantar.
Tambien recibimos otros deseos/telas para el quilt de Mei Ling.

Las telas/deseos de la izquierdason del Angel Swap. La de arriba a la izquierda nos la envio Shanna y Kevin Young, en memoria de la mama de Shana, mientras que las otras dos las enviaron la Familia Cercopely y la Familia Mickelson.

Las telas/deseos de arriba son del "Asian Swap" y del "Around the World" Swap. La de arriba izquierda nos la envio la Familia Franklin, mientras que la que esta al lado corresponde a la nacion de Palau, y nos la envio la Familia McMillin. La de abajo corresponde a Bolivia, y fue enviada por la familia Teague. Estan todas preciosas.

A proposito, el otro dia cometi un error. Inclui la foto de un bodysuit que tenia la bandera de China y realmente la de Puerto Rico, integradas, y dije que se podia encontrar mucha mercancia asi en un website. El website correcto era www.salsainchina.blogspot.com.

By the way, the other day I posted that one could get pretty cool adoption related items in a websited, and indicated the wrong website. The correct one is www.salsainchina.blogspot.com.
Muchos Saludos,
Ode

Information from our Adoption Agency/ Informacion Recibida de parte de la agencia de adopcion

2006-07-25T13:33:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share an email message we received yesterday from our adoption agency, right after they received the Express Mail package with the 171h. Ohhhh, it's now real, so real!!!:

We rec'd your package 5 minutes ago!

Congratulations we have received USCIS approval! You are approved to adopt internationally!

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!

1. In about 10 weeks after receiving your USCIS approval, both the American Consulate Office in Guangzhou, China and the National Visa Center will send you a package that contains the following items: a cover letter containing a case number starting with the letters “GUZ”, forms I-600, I-604, I-864, 230, and a physical form for the child. If after 10 weeks you still have not received this package, don’t worry! We will be able to give you one at the time of your referral! These items are very important, so put them in a safe place. We will need the case number from you when you get your referral in order to make your appointment with the American Consulate. We will not ask you for this number until you are preparing to travel. Please put these packages in a safe place with your other important adoption documents. We will go through them again before you travel to China.

2. Your dossier for the China Center of Adoption Affairs should be complete. I will be in touch if we are missing any of the documents required for your dossier. Otherwise we will begin the authentication process of your documents. It takes us about three to four weeks to finish the certification and authentication process and another 7-10 days to express mail the dossier to CCAA. The arrival of the package from the American Consulate in Guangzhou does not mean your dossier has arrived in China. Someone from our agency will contact you when your dossier has been sent. The date we express mail your dossier is called DTC date(Dossier to China). We will inform you of this date. We appreciate that you mention your DTC date and your last name when you call the office with any questions and concerns.

3. The date the Chinese government register your dossier is called Login Date. We will let you know of this date as soon as we get them. CCAA does assignments according to the login date. At this time, it’s taking approximately 11-12 months from the time your dossier arrives in China until you receive a referral, and another 6-8 weeks from referral to travel. There are many factors that determine how quickly you travel after your assignment is accepted. These include visa appointments at the American Consulate, CCAA Official Notification, flight availability, etc. Please know that referral time is always subject to change. We will keep you updated on any and all changes!!

As you can see, we will be watching like hawks for that brown package. It will our first package from China in regards to Mei Ling's adoption, our first link with the Chinese system.

Como pueden ver del mensaje arriba, en el dia de ayer nuestra agencia nos comunico que dentro de como unas 10 semanas, estamos supuestos a recibir un sobre marron, con informacion muy importante sobre la adopcion de Mei Ling. Sera el primer paquete que recibiremos del gobierno chino.

Un abrazo,

Zuleika Rivera from Puerto Rico is the new Miss Universe 2006!!!

2006-07-24T09:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Zuleika Rivera from Puerto Rico was crowned Miss Universe. It is Puerto Rico's 5th Miss Universe. The funny thing is that the last Miss Universe from Puerto Rico was crowned in 2001, while Florencio and myself were spending our honeymoon in Albarracín, Spain. I remember watching the news and seeing Denise Quiñones being crowned. A couple of my colleagues (all male) from work were saying that all of the beauty pageants are lowering for women (Of course, they all watch it!!!)... Well, no one said they were winning the nobel prize for inventing a cost effective environmentally friendly replacement for oil, but still, she is from PR and it is pretty cool!!!!

Puerto Rico tiene a su quinta Miss Universe, Zuleika Rivera.

Chino 101/ Chinese 101

2006-07-23T09:24:00.000-04:00

Bueno, hoy le estaba comentando a Florencio que teniamos que comenzar a aprender nosotros, y a ensenarles a ustedes sobre las diferentes frases y palabres mas comunes en el idioma chino. Incluire entonces la palabra/frase en ingles, espanol, y la ultima columna es como foneticamente se pronunciaria en chino. Es un POCO complicado, pero con calma llegamos. A continuacion la primera leccion. Obviamente no vamos a incluir los caracteres chinos porque eso es todavia un POQUITO mas dificil. Cada leccion va a incluir 10 palabras/frases en chino.

I was telling my dh (in adoption email lingo, dear husband) Florencio that we had to begin learning Chinese, and teach you all as well. So this is the first lesson. It is a TINY BIT CHALLENGING, but here it goes, with the first Chinese lesson. I will not be including Chinese characters, since that is just a TINY BIT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT to grasp. Watch for the sentence which shows how phonetically you would pronounce the word. Each lesson will include 10 words/phrases.

PALABRA/WORD

Daughter/ Hija
Nuer
nuu-urr

Son/ Hijo
Erzi
urr-dzu

Mother/ Mama
mama
mah-mah

Father/ Papa
baba
bah-bah

Wife/ Esposa
taitai
tie-tie

Husband/ Esposo
zhangfu
jahng-fuu

Hello/Hola
Ni hao
Nee how

Thank you/Gracias
xiexie
sh-eh-she-eh

Please/ Por favor
Qing
Cheeng

How are you?/ Como estas?
Nin hao ma?
Neen how mah?

Floren y yo estabamos viendo par de blogs de adopcion orita cuando encontramos un website bien interesante. Es de una familia que esta adoptando, www.cheeseinchina.blogspot.com, que tambien formaron una compania para vender cosas relacionadas al tema de adopcion. Interesantemente encontramos unos "bodysuits" que se suponen que tienen la combinacion de las banderas de los Estados Unidos y de China, pero la realidad es que la que tiene es mas bien la de China y la de Puerto Rico. Tienen cosas chulisimas.

Yesterday we received some more wishes/fabrics. The ones on top are from the beach swap (except for one from the postcard swap sent by the Cecil family with really cool rocket fabric), including the one to the left on top, the dolphins fabric, which was from us. The one on the middle was from Dimari Isla, whom I also met through the Quilt Group. She is from Puerto Rico and is adopting from Vietnam. We wish her luck!!!

We also received the wishes/fabrics corresponding to the countries of Aruba, submitted by the Miller Family, and Jamaica and the Republic of Kiribati, submitted by the Cromwell family. This is from the Around the World Swap.

It is really sinking in, the Year of the Pig and fabrics/wishes for Mei Ling's Quilt

2006-07-22T17:47:00.000-04:00

Today it is really sinking in. We are very excited. We finally feel as if the journey to Mei Ling is really moving forward. It is now pretty much out of our hands, since yesterday we sent the 171h to the agency, as well as my 2 x 2 pictures additional, that is, since the original ones were UGLY, and they told me these pictures were the ones that would be shown in the computer during the matching process. I'm sorry, but I did not want to submit UGLYYYY pictures)and the last documents needed to complete our dossier, and now the agency translates and authenticates, and off to China they go, and the WAITING for the referral begins.

Well, and now to the Chinese cultural tidbits. We just got the year of the pig fabric/wish, and so I will give you some info on that.

The Year of the Pig or the Boar- People born in 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 and the ones born next year, on 2007 (actually, Mei Ling should either be born during the year of the dog or the year of the pig). Pigs are chivalrous and gallant. Whatever they do, they do with strength. They are very honest, and have tremendous fortitude. They don't make many friends, but the ones they have, are for life. Anyone having a "pig" for a friend is very lucky, as they tend to be very loyal. They don't talk much, but are thirsty for knowledge. Are generally well informed. Pigs are quick tempered, yet they hate to quarrel. They are kind to their loved ones, and no matter how bad the problem is, the pig works it out. Pigs or Boars are most compatible with rabbits and sheep.

We have also received more fabrics/wishes from my friends at the 100 Good Wishes Quilt Group, and also from the Rivera Family, Haydee, Arturo and Javier, part of our family, and who sent Mei Ling a beautiful fabric along with a handmade greeting card. The other two fabrics/wishes are from the postcard swap, from the Conrad Family (left) and Lundy Family (right).

This fabric/wish is from the Angel Swap, sent by the Barone family.

We also received 3 more fabrics/wishes from the Angel Swap, from my friends Lisa Casamassima, the Miller family (in memory of their angel daughter in heaven) and the Manus family (in memory of their angel daughter in heaven, Lilly Opal).
I also have to share with you the poem written by Lisa in the Angel Swap wish card. It is quite beautiful:
Angels in my Dreams
A loving angel came to me in dreams,
And showed me life's not always what it seems,
And brought me to a place where sweet dreams live,
And gave to me a gift that I now give:
She whispered, "Take my hand, I'll lead you through
A place where all the sweet dreams can come true!"
Close your eyes and open up your heart,
For then this flight of dreams so sweet can start.
She brought me through the darkness to light,
Where colors wrapped around me with delight,
A patchwork quilt of beauty without seams,
Each color was a rainbow full of dreams.
She led me through a hall of lovely sound,
With doors flung open widely all around.
And from each room a song would gently play,
And I wished with all my heart that I could stay.
We drifted in the fragrance of the breeze,
To savor all the flowers and the trees.
We tasted all of life that we could see,
And felt it flow as one in harmony.
Then my angel turned to me and said
"You're the keeper of these dreams inside your head.
Dream sweetly now, and dream of love and light,
And dreams will lead you safely thruogh the night."
I am the keeper of this dream, it's true,
And I offer all my dreams to each of you.
May their loving sweetness visit you each night
And fill your sould with love and warmth and light!

All of the fabrics/wishes received are beautiful, and Mei Ling will enjoy all of them one day!!! Thanks, Odemaris

RECIBIMOS LA FORMA 171H!!!/ WE GOT OUR 171H

2006-07-21T11:50:00.000-04:00

Hoy recibimos tremendas noticias. Llamé a Inmigración y me indicaron que nos habían aprobado la petición para adoptar, o sea la 1600 A. Y todavía mejor, pedí que por favor me dejaran recoger personalmente el documento, en vez de tener que esperar el correo certificado. Y me dejaron. YA TENGO EN MIS MANOS LA FORMA 171H, QUE QUIERE DECIR QUE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS YA APROBÓ QUE TRAIGAMOS A MEI LING A CASA. Florencio acaba de venir a mi trabajo a llevarse los documentos, para entonces enviarlos por express mail a la agencia. Dios Mediante acabarán de traducir al chino todos nuestros documentos en como 3 semanas, se irán los documentos a China, por lo que estaremos ya DTC (Docked to China en Lingo de Adopción) y para finales de agosto, Dios mediante estaremos LID (Log in Date, o sea que ya apareceríamos en el sistema de computadoras de China). Hoy iremos a celebrar a Great Taste, nuestro restaurante chino favorito. Gracias por todos los que siempre nos incluyen en sus oraciones. Este es un tremendo día, ya que representa un paso más hacia Mei Ling Mercedes.

Today we finally received our 171H. One step closer to Mei Ling Mercedes. We are ecstatic.

A Ladybug to Put Me in a Better Mood, since the News are Bleak!!!

2006-07-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

Well, the latest news coming from the rumor mills of the China adoption world seem to indicate that the referral time from the log in dates is getting LONNNNGGGEEERRR... as in we may have to wait 16-18 more months for Mei Ling Mercedes to arrive. Have no idea how we are going to handle that... Still trying to digest the rumor!!! And yes, the dancing ladybug is for me to try to get in a better mood today. By the way, for those of you that have wondered, we are still waiting for the Immigration approval, namely the precious 171h form. The lady in immigration congratulatedme on the precise organization of our paperwork, indicating that we would soon hear the good news... Guess what, still waiting.

Alidita (Titi Alida) va a tener un Nene

2006-07-17T17:48:00.000-04:00

En el dia de hoy nos enteramos de tremendas noticias. Alidita, mi hermana, y Etienne van a tener un nene, o sea que de ahora en adelante puedo ya hablar de mi ahijado Esteban, y no de mi ahijado/a. Dios mediante nacera para el 26 de diciembre, o por ahi cerca, y gracias a Dios esta muy saludable. Estamos muy contentos en la familia. Florencio y yo estábamos comentando que Esteban será probablemente el mejor amiguito de Mei Ling. Orita vamos a encontrarnos para ir a comer para poder celebrar.Les deseamos muchas felicidades, y los queremos mucho, a Alidita, Etienne, Stefan, Mariana y Esteban.

Tambien les invito a que le den una hojeadita a la ultima edicion de National Geographic, que tiene un articulo bien interesante sobre los pandas. Como saben, los pandas vienen de China, y el problema es que no quedan muchos, apenas como 1,590, segun el ultimo censo.

Mexican Night Out and More Wishes/Fabrics for Mei Ling's Quilt

2006-07-16T20:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went out with our very good friends Mardi and Eliseo. We first went to have mexican food at Cielito Lindo. After around 2 hours, Yania and Tito also arrived, which was pure coincidence but a lot of fun. This was our first night out in a very, very long time. And we had a blast!!! Then we went to a bar that was opening yesterday for the first time, and although we felt kind of old (the mean age was like 24), we still had a very good time. We took pictures in Cielito Lindo, which we are enclosing. The one to the left is of Mardi, Yania and me, and the one to the right is of Tito, Yania, Mardi, Eliseo and Florencio. Did I mention we had a great time? I laughed and enjoyed myself like I had not done in a very long time, so we thank them.
p.d. hola a todos. Como ven, ayer salimos con Mardi y Eliseo a Cielito Lindo. De momento, y para nuestra grata sorpresa, tambien llegaron Yania y Tito. Esta era la primera vez que salimos en mucho tiempo y lo pasamos brutal.

Yesterday we received the second wish/fabric of the Angel Swap, this time from the Pie Family, in memory of their angel in heaven Christopher Andrew Pie. We also received 2 beautiful fabrics from the Beach swap, as well as wish/fabric from the Postcard swap.

Mis Papás (Abuelos de Mei Ling), Abuelita Olga, Jaimito y Alidita/ My Parents (Mei Ling's Grandparents), Grandma Olga, Jaimito and Alidita

2006-07-14T15:50:00.000-04:00

Tal y como les dije anteriormente, quería ir poniendo fotos de los miembros de nuestras familias. En la foto de arriba están mis papás, Jaime y Alida, o sea los abuelos de Mei Ling Mercedes.

En la foto de arriba está otra de las bisabuelas de Mei Ling, Abuelita Olga, con mi hermana Alida, la tía de Mei Ling, que está embarazada de mi ahijado/o. Pronto sabremos si es nene o nena. Le deseamos mucha salud y los queremos mucho.

Y finalmente arriba está Abuelita Olga nuevamente, esta vez con Jaimito (el que cumplió el otro día los 29 años, que se ve un poco estropeado en esta foto), mi hermano y el tío de Mei Ling.

I recently told you that little by little, I would be including our family's pictures. The first picture is of my parents, Jaime and Alida. The second shows my Grandma Olga, with my sister Alida, who is pregnant, and the third picture shows my brother Jaime. Big hug, odemaris