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October Update

Zoe turned 11 months on October 14th. We have plans to have her baptized on November 8th along with a birthday celebration. It will be nice to have our family attend both celebrations on the same day. Zoe has been adjusting very well. Tony is doing better. I think it was harder for him to adjust to his new baby sister. We received her COC (Certificate of Citizenship) last week. Our next step is to legally change her name and apply for a new state birth certificate. Then we will apply for her social security card. Seems like the paperwork never ends.

Zoe's likes and dislikes:

loves to cuddle
wrestle with her brother and daddy
visiting Grandma and Grandpa
loves our cats
She also likes their food...we have to watch that.
clapping her hands
Itsy Bitsy Spider
taking baths
her baby doll
trying to walk
music & Baby Einstein videos
food and her baba (bottle)


Dislikes
left alone in her crib
changing table, dirty diapers
changing clothes, putting on a coat...what a wiggle worm
getting in and out of the car seat
her seat belts on her highchair. Without them she stands up.


Here's some recent pictures:

More Pixs

Zoe's first time swimming! The baby pool had a slow leak but she was happy!

Recent Pixs

Our Trip Home

It's soooo good to be home. We had a really great time in Taiwan. Zoe did very well taking to us and bonding to both of us. The biggest issue we had with her was the crib. Also, she freaked out over the baby carrier. I think my arms are bulking up because she wants to be held all the time. Our trip home started late Thursday night. We arranged a driver from our hotel to take us to the airport which was about 45 minutes away. I was very relieved to see we had a different driver than who picked us up on Sunday night. He was a smoker and he car smelled awful. His driving skills were not too smooth, alot of pushing on the gas and letting up. Herky jerky. We arrived to Taipei International Airport and everything went smoothly. The airport even provides carts for your carry-ons which was very handy. After take off, the flight attendent brought us the baby bassinet to hang from the wall. Zoe laid down and the little boy next to us was very active. She didn't last too long in the bassinet. It turned out we held her the entire LONG 12 hours. The flight to Taipei was very smooth, but the flight back to LA was very bumpy. We landed in LA and went straight to immigration. Total different story than Dallas Airport's immigration in 2005 which took only a few minutes. It took us over 30+ minutes to have them process Zoe's paperwork. Then we had to collect our checked bags and stand in another line to leave. Our hotel was located a mile away and we looked out front for the hotel shuttle. What a nightmare!! Poor Zoe was scared to death with all the traffic going by. We finally found our shuttle and arrived at our hotel around 11:30pm. Michael and I were exhausted and just wanted to lay down. Zoe on the other hand, did not. We played with her and fed her, but she started to have these uncontrollable meltdowns. I felt so bad for the people staying in the rooms next to us. Around 2:30am still no sleep and we thought it might be best to go back the airport. Her crying fits would not stop and we think she was just so overwhelmed about everything. We called our airline and were able to get an earlier flight out. We took the famous shuttle back to the airport and stood in more lines, security and finally to our gate. Zoe was doing fine with us walking around. We arrived in Denver on time and then on to Des Moines. A few meltdowns on the way. Michael and I still had not slept and we were running an fumes. On the last flight home, Michael knew the gal sitting across from us, she used to work with Michael. She helped us soothe Zoe from one of her meltdowns. It was like she was meant to be there at that time. We were so thankful. I truely believe that babies can sense when you're tense.

Zoe has been getting more relaxed each day. She is now sleeping in her crib...Yay!! She still craves a lot attention and does not like to be put down. She has a few things that makes her cry...changing her diaper, having a poopy diaper, changing her clothes, placing the seatbelt straps over her head. Her adjustment will just take time.

Zoe is so lovable and loves to cuddle. I didn't have this with Tony when he was a baby, so this has been wonderful! She is such a sweetheart and we have fallen in love with her!!!

Our Baby Girl

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Zoe's Passport/Visa Picture

Here's Zoe's picture that they used on her Visa. SLC was kind enough to give us the picture on CD.



Michael went to AIT for the Visa. He said it was very easy and it wasn't busy compared to yesterday. We have all of her documents now and will turn in the famous brown envelope in LA. I know for Guatemala there is a form G-884 you can fill out with the USCIS to request get back your information from the envelope. I haven't tried it for Tony's packet. I think I will send for both kid's packet after we get Zoe's COC.

Well, we leave in 12 hours!! Michael has gone to the bank to exchange more cash. We have been using cash for almost everything. Miss Zoe is napping and I need to start packing. We hope to venture out this afternoon. I've been taking pictures!! Wish you could see them. :) Soon!!

We have our Zoe!!!!!

Everything went well with our trip to St Lucys. Well, almost everything. Our taxi car driver got lost and we were 20 minutes later. The orphanage is in a neighborhood with narrow-winding alleys as streets. At one point, he thought we were at St Lucys and wanted us to get out and I refused because I didn't recognize the entrance. (I had seen pictures on Sarah's blog) We gave them Zoe's outfit and they dressed her and brought her in. At first, she didn't want to come to me and when she was placed in my arms she cried just a little bit. It didn't take to long for her to warm up to us. St Lucy's staff is so wonderful!!! They sat down with us and answered questions about her. They announced to us that we would be meeting her birth mom in 30 minutes. I was so glad to hear that Zoe's birth mom wanted to come to meet us and see Zoe for the last time. It was a very special meeting between us. St Lucy staff took pictures of all of us during the meeting and added it to Zoe's picture CD. There are about 500 pictures of Zoe while at St Lucys. The CD showed how many times her birth mom came to visit her. I was very touched to see that the birth mom loves Zoe so much.

Zoe is such a sweetheart!!!! Sorry that I haven't updated sooner. It's been hard to get on the computer since we got her. She loves to cuddle and does not like to be placed in her crib. She prefers to sleep between us. The bonding has gone very well! She did very well at the AIT meeting today. The interview was a breeze. We got the IR-3 Visa, so she will be an American citizen once we land in LA!!! Yay!! Today, we went to the Chinese Handicraft Mart and purchased Zoe's future Gotcha Day gifts. She did very well shopping!! That's my girl!! Tomorrow, Michael will go get the Visa in the morning. I want to go see Taipei 101 and maybe a memorial. We have a late check out tomorrow because our flight leaves at 11:20PM. I hope the flight goes well. I'm a little nervous about that.

Here's some pictures from St Lucy's CD. We still don't have a camera cord, but I do plan to add more pictures once we get home.

We're in Taipei!

We made it!! We arrived late Sunday night. All 3 of our flights went really smooth. The last flight was long, but we were very pleased with China Airlines. Anyone traveling to LAX, there is a great resting lounge in the International Terminal. Go up a level from the airline check in. In the middle of the food court towards the back by the restrooms is ReLAX lounge. We paid $10 an hour for each person and it was well worth it. Part of the cost is use of their computers, free wi-fi Internet, nice seating and selection of drinks and snacks. Give yourself plenty of time to go through security and get to your gate.

We're staying at the Rido Hotel and have an awesome view of the city and the Daan Park. We watched the sunrise this morning. Michael and I woke up around 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. We could see a lot of people walking through the park. Can't believe we're here!! Tomorrow is the big day!! Zoe we're here baby and we will see you soon!

I have some pictures, but we forgot our camera cord. Hope to buy one today, so we can post pictures.

Two Days!!

Can't believe we are leaving in two days!! It's been a long wait and I know a lot of you can understand. I'm going through my list and trying to figure out what we need to bring. I always seem to pack way too much!

Here's our travel schedule...

Saturday : Leave in the morning, layovers in Denver and LAX

Sunday : Arrive in Taipei at 8pm

Monday : Sitesee

Tuesday : See our baby girl! Ride the train back and forth from Taipei to Tainan

Wednesday : Appointment at AIT

Thursday : Pick up the Visa
Leave at 11pm. Arrive in LAX & spend the night

Friday : Arrive home with Zoe!!

Getting closer!

MORE DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE!!! Tony has 14 rings left on his chain!! Zoe is 9 months old today!

Typhoon Update

We have heard that everyone is safe at Zoe's orphanage. New updates about Taiwan are being reported in the news daily. It's very tragic to hear about how many people have lost their lives.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Aug. 14) -- Floods and mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Morakot last weekend have killed about 500 people on the island, Taiwan's president said Friday as he called on rescue crews to step up their efforts.
Morakot destroyed the homes of 7,000 people and caused agricultural and property damage in excess of $1.5 billion, President Ma Ying-jeou said at a national security conference, the first called since he took office 15 months ago.

He called it the most severe damage to the island in 50 years.
"While the rescue operation is still going on, we have started rehabilitation and reconstruction work, which is just as imminent but might be even more difficult and cumbersome," Ma said.
Morakot dumped more than 80 inches of rain on the island last weekend and stranded thousands in villages in the mountainous south. A total of 15,400 villagers have been ferried to safety, and rescuers are working to save another 1,900 people still stuck.

Ma said the death toll includes 120 confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village.
Authorities have given up hope of finding anyone alive under the tons of mud that now cover Shiao Lin, Kaohsiung county chief Yang Chiu-hsing said. Instead of digging into some 170 mud-buried homes, a memorial park will be built on the site, he told reporters.

With rising public complaints about the slow rescue work, the government said its operations have been hampered because many areas of the country were cut off when roads and bridges collapsed. Rescuers have relied on helicopters to reach the worst-hit areas, and on Thursday authorities requested larger choppers from foreign governments capable of carrying earth-moving equipment and shelters. Many villagers have conducted their own rescue operations. More than 20,000 troops have joined civilian workers on rescue, cleanup and rehabilitation work, officials said.

Typhoon Morakot heading towards Taiwan

Please pray for Zoe and all the waiting babies during this bad storm. St Lucy is located in the southern part of the island and the storm is to land on the northern end. One good thing, I did read that Taiwan has a water shortage so all the rain should help.

Stay safe, Michelle and Todd! They just arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday to bring home their baby daughter, Tessa. http://helloholanihao.blogspot.com/

Taiwan issues warnings for Typhoon Morakot AP - Thursday, August 6Send IM Story Print
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan authorities have issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Morakot and say people in the north of the island should be on guard for torrential rain.

The Central Weather Bureau says that on Thursday morning, Morakot's center was about 400 miles (640 kilometers) east of Taiwan's eastern county of Yilan.

The bureau says the typhoon is packing winds of 85 mph (135 kph), and is moving west at a speed of about 10 mph (20 kph).

It warned ships in waters off northern and southern Taiwan to brace for the storm.

Morakot would be the first major storm to strike the island this year. Typhoons frequently hit Taiwan between July and October.

Paper Chain

Tony helped me make a paper chain to count down for Zoe. We made 28 rings and tore one off this morning. Tony loved having the paper chain for Christmas last year. I thought it would help him understand how much longer until his baby sister comes home.

Ballerina Teddy Bears

The nursery is already for Miss Zoe. I found this cute crib set on Ebay with ballerina teddy bears. I also found her ballerina teddy bear mobile on Ebay. It's so adorable! We painted one wall to match the bedding. The rag rug was found online and has all the colors in her room. It's so bright and girly now. The only thing missing is baby Zoe.

July Pixs

We finally received our July pictures and an update. We noticed that the update was for June.

*June 2009: When she is happy, she like to smile. When she is unhappy,
she has a bad temperament. she would cry really loud. She can crawl
around and play around.=2
0She can sit up by herself and play.
* height: 68 cm
*weight: 7 kg
*head: 44 cm
*formula: 1050 cc a day
*supplemental foods: Rice cereal, mashed rice/ fruit, veggies, egg yolk,
and rice cracker, steamed bun.

Uh, oh!! Our baby girl has an attitude. I hope we don't see that right away!:)
Her hair is starting to grow out. I hope they don't cut it again.

More Pictures

We didn't receive our July pictures and update on Zoe. The above pictures are from our director when she visited in June. SLC is having their government inspection in August so I guess our update and pictures are delayed or we won't see it this month. Our travel dates were actually delayed because of the inspection and Jennifer who works on the court paperwork at SLC is gone on maternity leave. I hope to see an update before we leave. I'm concerned that her clothes are too small. Oh well, shopping in Taiwan sounds like fun!