New Blog Address!

With our family's addition of two seven year old boys from China in August 2011, this blog (EmilyAndOliviaUpdates) is no longer fitting. I've exported all the old posts from here to the new site though so you can see us meeting Olivia in March 2007 in the archives. I'll be posting from China as we meet our new sons so please join us over yonder at http://twomoremakesfour.blogspot.com.

If you're a current follower, you'll have to sign up again there if you want email notifications of new posts.

Karyn

Surprise shower!

Today I was shocked to find myself in the middle of my own party! My co-op friends totally surprised me by throwing a shower for the boys! We got tons of cool toys for Jimmy and Joel like Legos, Matchbox cars, light sabers, spy gear, and scooters! Coming from an orphanage setting where they own nothing, they are going to be so excited to have such cool toys to call their own because everything came in duplicate! Oh, and the food...check out the Chinese theme...and the coolest cake ever! What a great day with great friends! I love these ladies!

Little brother, big brother

Couldn't resist when I saw these yesterday. They are PJs, but might come in handy to squelch the "twin" questions if they were worn out and about!

Photo albums sent to the boys!

We recently emailed photos to Ann at Red Thread (in China) and she printed them out and put them in a photo album before sending them off to the boys. The boys should be receiving their packages any day now (if they haven't already) along with an introduction letter from us (translated into Chinese), as well as a camera. Ann sent these pictures back the other day, showing us what the boys will be getting. In addition to being a quicker and cheaper way to send stuff to the boys, Ann at Red Thread often gets updates and pictures for families after the children receive their packages. Hoping the boys receive their packages well and I hope we get some updates!

Bao Gong Hai = Jimmy

Photos introducing the boys to their new family and home--I included both boys photos so that they could see their brother as well as see themselves included in our family album.

Shen Yao Zu = Joel

Letter of Acceptance!

Jimmy...

and Joel!

We have received our LOA from China which means we're officially approved to adopt Jimmy and Joel...and that our agency will now allow us to post their photos on our blog! Having our LOA also means that the boys will finally be told that they are being adopted :) We hope to travel to China in July or August to meet them and bring them HOME!

Emily's (December!) piano recital

Ever since we started homeschooling in 2009 I've been behind on blogging and scrapbooking. Lately the girls have started noticing and have asked me to take more pictures (a surprising request from camera shy Emily!) and to post more "stuff." So, I'm trying to play catch up now before the boys get here! My scrapbook pages won't be elaborate, probably just a lot of collages, but I'll post a few soon. In the mean time this is a video clip from Emily's piano recital in December.

Emily and her piano teacher

A day in the life of homeschool

Cool summer orphan hosting program

Bridge of Hope is now recruiting host families for a summer 2011 program for older orphans. For the first time, Chinese adoption authorities have agreed to send children, ages 6 to 9, from Chinese orphanages to visit US families for home stays of about three weeks in July and August. The program is open to families on the East Coast and in the Chicago area. Families in other areas will be considered on a case by case basis. Host families must meet program and country requirements, and have a current, completed homestudy by June 15.

Bridge of Hope will hold the following information sessions for prospective host families who'd like to learn more about our program and our children:

CONNECTICUT--Saturdays February 19, March 12

ILLINOIS--Date to be announced

MASSACHUSETTS--Saturday, February 12

LONG ISLAND, NY--Sundays February 6 and February 27

MID-HUDSON, NY--Sunday, February 13

NEW JERSEY/PENNSYLVANIA--Sundays, January 30, February 27

WASHINGTON DC AREA--Saturdays February 5 & March 5

For more information on these sessions and requirements for host families, please contact Bridge of Hope Director Patrice Gancie at301-587-4400, ext 207 or pgancie@cradlehope.org. Application deadline for host families is March 15.

Linda Perilstein

Executive Director

Cradle of Hope Adoption Center

301-587-4400