Monday, September 25, 2006
On August 23, 2006 we received the call that we have been waiting for since April. Our Dossier (paperwork) was complete and was ready to be picked up. We we're so excited that we both left work and drove to Columbia, Maryland to pick it up. We took pictures of our Dossier and went to Kinko's to make copies, one for our agency in Texas and one for us. We spent over an hour in Kinko's making 177 copies. We could not unstaple any packet so it was very time consuming. When we we're done we went straight to Fed Ex to have it overnighted to Texas. Great Wall surprised us with a phone call to let us know that our Dossier was being sent to China on August 25, 2006. We we're extremely happy because we did not think it would be sent until September 1, 2006. With the wait times as long as it is right now even a week is a big deal. We went to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate the end of our paperchase and the start of our official wait for Ava. We are now waiting for the China Center of Adoption Affairs to inform our agency of the date our Dossier was logged in (this is known as our LID). Today the CCAA posted to their website that they have matched children with families with log in dates up to August 9, 2005. This basically means that we will have about a 13-14 month wait before we will receive our referral for Ava. There is always the possibility though that the CCAA can speed up or slow down.
We are trying to document our entire adoption process for Ava. We wanted to take pictures of the original copy of our Dossier because it is the copy that is sent to China. Brian thought I was crazy as I was taking pictures of the Kinko's where we made copies. Like I said I'm documenting everything. He drew the line though when I tried to take pictures of the Fed Ex we sent it from. I think he was afraid all the drivers would think we we're nuts!!
We are trying to learn as much about Ava's culture as we can. October 6Th is a major holiday in Chinese culture, it is called the Moon Festival. We are planning to celebrate all Chinese holidays with Ava so we decided we would start this year. We are planning on going to Chinatown in Washington D.C. on 10/06/06 to celebrate. If our wait for Ava is about 13 months her birth mother is probably pregnant with her right now. It's comforting to us just knowing that Ava and her birth mother will most likely be celebrating also that day. Here is a bit of info about the Moon Festival if you are interested. We hope you will all look at the moon on 10/06/06 and think of Ava!!!
In China and throughout many Asian countries people celebrate the Harvest Moon on the 15Th day of the eighth month of their lunar calendar. The date in the Western calendar changes yearly. This year, it falls on October 6.
The Harvest Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie) is a day of family reunions much like a Western Thanksgiving. Chinese people believe that on that day, the moon is the roundest and brightest signaling a time of completeness and abundance. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, children are delighted to stay up past midnight, parading multi-colored lanterns into the wee hours as families take to the streets or city parks to moon-gaze.
It is also a romantic night for lovers, who sit holding hands on hilltops, riverbanks and park benches, captivated by the brightest moon of the year.
The festival dates back to the Tang dynasty in 618 A.D., and as with many celebrations in China there are ancient legends closely associated with it.
In Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, it's sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival, (not to be confused with a similar celebration during the Chinese New Year), but whatever name it goes by, the centuries-old festival remains a beloved annual ritual celebrating an abundance of food and family.
Traditional foods for a Chinese Mid-Autumn feast are red — for good luck. Lobster and salmon are particular favorites along with apples, pomegranates, roasted peanuts, pomelo, chestnuts, fatt koh (sponge cakes) and moon cakes.
One of the stories told to children during Moon Festival is of the fairy living in a crystal palace. She comes out to dance on the shadowed surface of the moon. Legend says the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times when ten suns appeared in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous but mean archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill of immortality. But his wife, wishing to save people from his bad disposition, took the pill herself. She has been banished to the moon ever since. They say her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon Festival.
In China and throughout many Asian countries people celebrate the Harvest Moon on the 15Th day of the eighth month of their lunar calendar. The date in the Western calendar changes yearly. This year, it falls on October 6.
The Harvest Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie) is a day of family reunions much like a Western Thanksgiving. Chinese people believe that on that day, the moon is the roundest and brightest signaling a time of completeness and abundance. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, children are delighted to stay up past midnight, parading multi-colored lanterns into the wee hours as families take to the streets or city parks to moon-gaze.
It is also a romantic night for lovers, who sit holding hands on hilltops, riverbanks and park benches, captivated by the brightest moon of the year.
The festival dates back to the Tang dynasty in 618 A.D., and as with many celebrations in China there are ancient legends closely associated with it.
In Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, it's sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival, (not to be confused with a similar celebration during the Chinese New Year), but whatever name it goes by, the centuries-old festival remains a beloved annual ritual celebrating an abundance of food and family.
Traditional foods for a Chinese Mid-Autumn feast are red — for good luck. Lobster and salmon are particular favorites along with apples, pomegranates, roasted peanuts, pomelo, chestnuts, fatt koh (sponge cakes) and moon cakes.
One of the stories told to children during Moon Festival is of the fairy living in a crystal palace. She comes out to dance on the shadowed surface of the moon. Legend says the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times when ten suns appeared in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous but mean archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill of immortality. But his wife, wishing to save people from his bad disposition, took the pill herself. She has been banished to the moon ever since. They say her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon Festival.
For the past 5 or 6 years I have been emailing a wonderful friend that I met online. We met while we we're both going thru Infertility treatments. Jen and her husband Chris we're blessed with a beautiful set of twins, Connor and Emily. Even though Jen lives in California and we have never met we have remained close. She always sends pictures of her kids and cards. Jen has been so excited and supportive since she found out about Ava. She has sent us so many outfits for Ava and toys. We plan to meet someday hopefully after we bring Ava home. Here is a pictures of just a few of the cute things she has sent us!
Last week our friend Derek offered us free second row tickets to an O's/ Red sox game. We had a great time and a great view. Our friend Lora and I we're pulled up on the dugout to dance with the O's bird. We spent the night talking to the people behind us. When the game was over one man gave us his business card and told us to look him up next time we we're in Boston. He owns the bar Cheers from the t.v. show. Definitely a good night!!
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