Tuesday, January 27, 2009

xin nian kuai le


Getting Baby Wil's pictures up - Leo got to choose which one went where.......

Super Leo
Leo's Dancing Dragon










Happy Chinese New Year (xin nian kuai le) It's the year of the Ox!
We decorated with some traditional decorations on Sunday night. We told Leo that tomorrow was the beginning of the new year in Taiwan. So the next morning, he woke up and saw the decorations. He said "Happy Chinese New Year, Daddy!" This really secured Leo's string around Daddy's finger! Then, they called me at work to wish me the same. We're amazed at the connections that our kiddo makes everyday!

To celebrate, Daddy brought home "chinese food" and we made a dancing dragon and pretended to have Taiwanese Boat Races upstairs. It was a fun evening! From Grandma, Leo got a lucky red envelope with "monies and two pennies" aka (a dollar and 4 quarters) and some dominoes. Leo was intrigued by the zero domino. He brought it to Grandma and said, "No dimples, isn't that strange?"

Next weekend, we are meeting some friends to celebrate the end of the celebration at the Chinese Cultural Center.
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Daddy and Leo also worked together to help get baby Wil's room ready this weekend (only 6 weeks to go!) And the last photo is Super Leo wearing his cape!

Gung Hay Fat Choy - May the new year bring you prosperity and good luck!

3 comments:

Shana Giroux said...

What a fun new year! I can't believe you only have 6 weeks left! Where does the time go? You probably don't feel like it flew by though:)

BTW, love Alex's shirt, DMB and Tim Reynold's together just rock!

Chris said...

Just curious, how did the yi-yi episode turn out? Just from my perspective, it is better to like a yi-yi than your thumb-you can't cut that off-our 4 1/2 yr old still thinks that thumb is meant for midnight snacks, unless it has tape on it, than, the right hand will suffice, or the blanket, or the puppy's ear, or...(you get the picture)
I can't wait to see you all with baby Wil-and I can't believe it has been almost a year since our precious boys were placed in our lives-
Be Blessed
Chris

Rydley said...

Katie, you are SO close to Wil now!!! How exciting that you're getting his room ready!

Learn Chinese!

Timeline


January 8, 2007 Attend Adoption 101 Information Session in Mesa, AZ
January 22, 2006 - Apply for preapproval from our agencyand Taiwan
January 23, 2007 - Application for USCIS (I-600A) form submitted
January 28, 2007 - 1st Homestudy meeting
January 28, 2007 - Sign adoption contract with our agency
January 29, 2007 - Approved to adopt from Taiwan
February 1, 2007 - Clearance from state of Arizona
February 6, 2007- Maricopa application to adopt is filed
February 13, 2007 - Clearance from state of Michigan, Medical clearances, and Fingerprint invitation arrive from USCIS
February 24, 2007 - Fingerprinted for USCIS
March 11, 2007- Homestudy Complete and Court Certification from Maricopa County received
April 28, 2007 - Homestudy is translated into Mandarin
July 1, 2007 - Finally receive 171-H in the mail
July 6, 2007 - Get new case manager
July 22, 2007 - Sign adendum to contract
August 8, 2007 - Our lucky day! Referral for Lin Kai-Yi, born 6-3-06
August 8, 2007 - accept referral
August 13, 2007 - Sign Child Referral Agreement
August 23, 2007 - Paperwork arrives in Tucson
August 24, 2007 - Paperwork arrives to us
August 26, 2007 - Documents notorized (How many adults does it take to use a stamp?)
August 28, 2007 - Documents certified by AZ Sec. of State
August 29, 2007 Documents sent to TECO to be authenticated
September 4, 2007 - Documents arrive in Tucson from TECO
September 6, 2007 - Documents sent to Taiwan! YEAH!
September 10, 2007 - Update day! We receive 4 pics and a video!
October 2, 2007 - Receive word from TWCA that our hearing date is October 9, 2007 (this happened extreamly fast!)
October 9, 2007 - Keep your fingers crossed for a quick 1st ruling (even better yet, keep your fingers crossed for a final ruling!)
October 11, 2007 - October updates are here!
October 19, 2007 - Receive more pictures and videos from Ray's visit to Taiwan!
November 5, 2007 - November updates are here!
December 2, 2007 - December updates are here! Can't believe there has been no news all month!
December 13, 2007 - FINALLY! Word of our First Ruling! Yippeee! It happened on Dec. 13th in Taiwan (yesterday here)
January 4, 2008 - January updates
February 4, 2008 - February updates
February 28, 2008 - Leaving for Taipei!!!
February 29, 2008 - Arrive in Taipei!
March 4, 2008 - Gotcha Day! Can you even believe it!?!?!?
March 5, 2008 - FINAL RULING FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! (by the way, our paperwork says the final ruling was issued December 24th!)
March 6, 2008 - First AIT appointment
March 7, 2008 - VISA DAY!
March 10, 2008 - Leave for home!
March 10, 2008 - Arrive home with our boy!!!!!!!!!!!
July 5, 2008 - Find out about Wil's arrival!
March 10, 2009 - Wil Shan-Yi Shaffer is born at 3:38 am 8 lbs. 4 oz. 20 inches long