Heart Babies

Yesterday I found out that Love Without Boundaries has a couple of critically ill babies in need of immediate heart surgeries. One in particular on their website - Mu - has the same heart defect that Lucy does - VSD. As of yesterday she was still $1080 short of affording the surgery. Well, I went to my OES Chapter last night, and they agreed to fund $100 towards her surgery. In addition, I'm going to send $300 that my work will match (thanks to all for supporting - you know who you are) and that will get $700 of the $1080 that is needed!

This morning I phoned in to LWB and found out that they had found someone for the last $380 of the funds - and have scheduled Mu for her surgery! I'm thrilled that we were able to help out, but I keep watching the other kiddos on the list.


Still needing help is Baby Niu who also is in urgent need of heart surgery - for VSD and outflow valve stenosis... She needs just about $3885 left in sponsorship to help fund her surgery. So - now I'm off trying to see if we can find the sponsorship to fund her heart surgery. There is a lot of need - but if we can find a way to assist with the urgent needs, hopefully we'll keep these kiddos alive until they are placed with their forever families!

Finally - LID!

It has finally arrived - I have a Log-in Date of 2/26/07. That should mean, baring any other unanticipated disasters, that I should get my TA (Travel Approval) around the end of June, and hopefully travel at the end of July or early August. I was not thinking I'd get a LID until the middle of March, so this is much earlier than I was thinking - horray!

It's just one step closer to Lucy!

More headlines

Raising your child with Chinese Roots - about families who have adopted Chinese children and their work to keep them grounded in Chinese culture - or at least, familiar with it!
Agony of AIDS Orphans - about issues when HIV status is known...
Chinese Baby Boom -- great article about the impending boom of babies that are going to be born in the Year of the Pig - a very auspicious year!

Korean Adoptee finds birth father

I love the articles in China Daily. Here is a great one on a US Olympic champion finding his birth family in Korea!

'One-child' policy violators to be put on shame list

China Daily is reporting today that the rich and famous who violate the countries one-child policy will be... well, blackballed?

Still no LID

Did I mention that I still don't have a Log-in Date? I'm not expecting it for another few weeks, but it is tough. The countdown to TA does not start until I get that date. From what I've read, it could take 120-160 days after the LID to get the TA. 150 days would be August 1st. That is a long time to be waiting, considering I've been staring at Lucy's picture since September 1st. This wait is going to be the death of me.

I just got Chinese New Year photo's from a friend (thanks, Natalya) - and they are great! Gwenn and Ella look VERY tired here. There was Chinese dancing, vendors with cool things for sale, authors and illustrators, friends, the carnival, and more! It was a great day!

Want to see more? We'll have pictures posted on the FCC-NW website any day!

Another great blog...

I just found out about my friend Verna's blog - it's amazing! I've added it to my list - Twinkle Little Moonbeam. It is amazing about her journey to adoption - starting with her own adoption from Korea as a girl. If you are interested in the China adoption process, it's a great read!