Pregnancy by Adoption - One Couple's Blog of the Adoption Adventure

Friday, April 24, 2009

Last July, our family expanded a bit when our daughter became a member of our clan by adoption. She is the joy of our lives. It became increasingly evident that, as time went on, our vehicles did not suit our needs so we bought a Ford F150 with extended cab. We needed room for a car seat, and I like to ride high off the road.Shortly after the purchase, a neighbor, who had never met my new daughter, came by to congratulate the family. I was gracious and told him what a good girl she is, how our family was enriched by the whole experience and how much we appreciate her. His response ..... "Yep! That's one fine truck!"

Sunday, April 19, 2009

New Post on JMei's Blog

Check out Steve Martin and Joanna Mei displaying their language skills over on "Joanna Mei, Bebe & HomeDaddy - or - Tales From the Cryb" - if you would like a password, drop us an e mail at duoloco@cfl.rr.com and we'll set you up with one.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Happy Resurrection Day!

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna ( the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household), Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.

We had many considerations in choosing our daughter's name, like any parent. I have always liked the name Joanna.

It is the title of a song of unattainable love as a "commoner" in a favorite musical sings to his beloved Joanna, daughter of an upper class politician.

Joanne is Be's sister's name - she passed away only recently.

And after just a little bit of biblical research, we found that Joanna was one of the first people on the scene after Jesus' resurrection. The angel at the tomb spoke directly to Joanna and the other women when he said "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" ...... so ..... Joanna it is! (We added Mei -beautiful - to the name in recognition of her heritage.)

And our heart's desire is that she come to faith in Christ early on and serve Him with zeal. Joanna of the Bible must have been one special gal. After all, God chose her to be one of the first to spread the message "He is risen!" - the fact which is central to the Christian faith.

So, from our family to yours, Happy Easter. He is risen!

May the risen Christ shine His light upon you and remain with you. ..... and even if you are not Christian, we wish you His light and peace. He is central to our faith. Our faith identifies who we are.

And when a holy day central to your faith comes along, we will receive your blessings with honor and appreciation as well.

Luke 24

The Resurrection

1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Monday, April 06, 2009

You Know You're an Older Than Dirt Parent When ....

...... a rainy day activity includes your toddler helping you fill your monthly pill organizer ......

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Suitable for Framing

On July 14, 2008, when we received Joanna Mei into our family,

she was wearing a pair of split pant pajamas and jelly slippers.

That was the extent of earthly treasures that accompanied our

frightened little daughter.

JMei's Jellies

While sorting out some clothes the other day, we came across the shoes
and decided that they were a significant part of her story, so we framed
them up in a shadowbox frame.

They now occupy a place of honor in her room

beneath a beautiful

Welcome Wish from our friend, Molly.

Friday, March 27, 2009

We Have A Court Date!

May 20

in the court of

Orange County Florida.

Judgement will be handed down that Joanna Mei

was truly born.

She'll receive a Florida Birth Certificate indicating that her birthplace was Hunan, China.

(for a fee, of course)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

IKEA Playroom

We took on the major task of re-locating JMei's playroom from our

spare room downstairs to the 2nd floor loft, adjacent to her bedroom.

We chose IKEA again for their creativity and price.

The additions brightened up an otherwise dark room.

JMei's tuffet for viewing her Disney & Blue's Clues videos.

At her musical playstation, a Christmas gift from Aunt Aly & Uncle Ford.

Toy storage doubles as wall decoration.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Waiting for a Court Date

Our petition for Adoption Certification with the State of Florida (giving JMei a Florida Birth Certificate) has been filed with the Orange County Court. In about 2 weeks, we'll receive a court date to finalize this ongoing adoption process.
We were fortunate to be referred to an attorney who adopted his daughter from China and now guides parents through the process and attends the hearing with the family. His assistant spent a year volunteering in a Chinese orphanage. We feel a wonderful team is representing our family.
In Orange County, the Adoption Certification hearings are clumped in with the non-contested divorce cases. When an AC item comes up, the attitude of the whole court changes ...... it's not in any procedure manual, it just happens. Judges will stop for pictures, interview the family and generally make it a happy and honoring occasion. We're looking forward to this family time with Joanna Mei. We'll post video if it's allowed ........

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Wash of a Weekend

Head on over to "The Other Blog - Content Questionable" and read about HomeDaddy's weekend .......

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Our Testimony

Our church, First Baptist Church of Windermere, has been doing a video series called "Transformed Lives". Troy, one of our pastors (a really neat guy), realized that we probably had a transformation story relative to our adoption of Joanna Mei. He is right. We probably did about 5 minutes of video which was edited down to 60 seconds or so.

So folks, it can be a bit preachy - after all, it is a presentation for our church. Our faith is the major influence of our lives. Our faith makes us who we are.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Velentine's Day ...... WHAT! No Magpies!?!?!?

On the evening of the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar, don't forget to look carefully at the summer sky. You'll find the Cowherd (a bright star in the constellation Aquila, west of the Milky Way) and the Weaving Maid (the star Vega, east of the Milky Way) appear closer together than at any other time of the year. Chinese believe the stars are lovers who are permitted to meet by the queen of Heaven once a year. That day falls on the double seventh (Qixi in Chinese), which is China's own Valentine's Day.
Most Chinese remember being told a romantic tragedy when they were children on the double seventh. In the legend, the cowherd and the Weaving Maid will meet on a bridge of magpies across the Milky Way once a year. Chinese grannies will remind children that they would not be able to see any magpies on that evening because all the magpies have left to form a bridge in the heavens with their wings.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

More Change

I had some fun on obamaconme.com with one of JMei's pics.

Head on over to

JoannaMei, Bebe & HomeDaddy - or - Tales from the Cryb

and have a look at the original.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Happy New Year! Our Daughter Is Into Pyro!

Happy Year of the Ox.

We are moderately concerned (at this point in her life) that our daughter be aware of her Chinese culture. She is American by citizenship, but her heritage is Chinese and we plan to cultivate that awareness as she progresses in age. A local organization was having a Chinese New Year celebration which was aimed toward children from China who were adopted by American parents and we decided to take the young Empress to the affair.Both myself and the Empress are just about over The Cruds and we’re still not 100%, so venturing out to a gathering of this nature was not my top priority. But we embarked on the journey to the other side of town for the sake of the young ‘un – and she could have cared less.

We pulled up to the church (which had hired out a hall to the sponsoring organization) to find it being pressure washed. “Maybe it’s a building purification ritual for the Year of the Ox” I said to my wife as the compressor roared and our daughter squirmed to break free of her loving embrace. Both mother and daughter were attired in Asian garb crafted of the finest imitation silk, so as the Empress did the ‘alligator death roll’ to gain her freedom, the 2 slippery surfaces of the garments made for difficult carriage of the squirming package. “Here you go, HomeDaddy” said Mama and she handed over our writhing tot to daddy as we entered through the gentle shower of mist from the pressure washer. “Just get me an eggroll and some Tylenol and I’ll be a happy man” said HomeDaddy as he took on the task of playing pack mule and beast of burden for the Empress.

We entered the room to the peaceful sound and vision of little Chinese cherubs running about the dining area whilst screaming and producing sounds similar to that of a hole being bored in one’s scull. They were followed by event organizers who were attempting to corral them for activities and games. It was actually rather calming. No really. I whispered a quiet prayer of thanksgiving. “Thank you, God. I’m not the only one.”

The line for “The Slow Boat to China Buffet” was probably 30 hungry folks long and we shared stories about our adoption including Beijing in the dead heat of summer and ‘through the roof’ laundry bills at The White Swine. After 22 minutes, when we got to the steam tables, we were greeted with the news that they had run out of rice (fried and steamed) as well as noodles. Dang! 40 bucks and no rice?!?! Oh joy, oh rapture. I longed for some of the unidentifiable delicacies from the buffet tables back in China. I grabbed the 2 remaining eggrolls, and some fried nasties with sweet ‘n sour sauce and headed on as some kid grabbed the last crab rangoon. Twit!

We had pleasant conversation with the couples at our table and made the most of our incomplete meal. We gave thanks that we brought along the booster seat complete with child containment straps. After a truly primitive dining experience, the Empress delicately removed her bib and flung it on top of a decorative tea candle placed on our table for proper ambiance. As the bib went up in flames and began melting the plastic tablecloth, I thought “Just throw me on the fire and end it all” as I reached for my plastic cup of Sprite and doused what looked like a burnt offering at our table. “JMei, I know your food was cold, but I think I could have found a microwave in this place!”

After a family portrait in front of a bamboo screen, we bid a fond farewell to the remaining revelers and headed back to the sanctuary of my Ford F150. The pressure washers had left the scene, but the compressor remained behind. “Hhhhmmmm ……. Could’ve used that at our table.”

So, Happy !#@$ Year of the Ox, Y’all! Anyone have a Tylenol?

Friday, January 30, 2009

Baby Hanger - or - How's The View Up There in the Cheap Seats?

Ever seen one of these?

The Baby Keeper - for a Bird's Eye View!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Smarty Pants Dance

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Brightman Review

We recently attended a Sarah Brightman concert here in Central Florida.

Head on over to The Other Blog - Content: Questionable for my review of the over the top event featuring popera's biggest nutjob.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Pray for Our President Elect

We are about 10 days out from the beginning of a new presidency in the United States. We've had some tough times this last decade and Barach Obama is going to have a full plate when he takes office shortly.
Regardless of party affiliation, our nation needs to come together and pray to God for this man who will lead our nation. God will hear the prayers of the people as we pray for wisdom, direction and peace for Barach Obama.
The election circus is over - it is time to put it behind us and get on board in the reconstruction of a country in need of God's hand directly on the shoulders of our new president ....... let us pray .......