Ella's First 10 Books*

As most of you know, I am a teacher.  And as many of you know, I also love to read.  I have said many times (and said to my mom again last night) that if Ella ends up with an overabundance of anything, I want it to be books.  So from the beginning of this process, I have been picking up a book here and there for Ella's library.  I didn't want to go bananas, because I know she will receive some as gifts, but I had some that I specifically wanted to get for her myself.

Without further adieu, Ella's first 10 books (all links are from Amazon.com, and this is not a sponsored post, I just figured they were the easiest to link to!):

1.  On the Night You Were Born, by Nancy Tillman

I really, really love this book.  It is great for kids who have been adopted, as it is not a typical "the night I was born" story, and it is such a beautiful story about how special each child is and how the night they were born is magical.  (When I read it to my nephew I told him that he was born in the morning and it was just as magical, and he could just change the words.)

2.  Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You, by Nancy Tillman

Another really great book about loving your kid.  It's a sweet, whimsical story told in fun language and with great pictures.  Who doesn't love great pictures?

3. The Monster at the End of this Book, starring lovable, furry old Grover

In the interest of full disclosure, I bought this book a couple of years ago.  I can't remember why, but I think it was because maybe my nieces and nephew had never read it?  At any rate.  I decided to be nice and put it in Ella's pile.  It was one of my favorites when I was little.  I have a lot of memories of my mom reading this book to me.  She was (and I imagine still is) great at reading this book!

4. The Very Cranky Bear, by Nick Bland

I bought this book probably my first or second year of teaching from the Scholastic Book Fair at school.  It is my favorite fun kids' book.  And if I'm being honest, I really debated giving this to Ella.  Okay, not really.  But seriously.  It's the best book ever.  I keep saying I am going to be the Very Cranky Bear for Halloween one year.  Maybe this year...

5.  My First Chinese New Year, by Karen Katz

This is a great little book that helped me learn about Chinese New Year this year.  I know it will help me teach Ella in the future.  Plus, the pictures are really cute.  

6.  Ella Bella Ballerina and the Nutcracker, by James Mayhew

This book was on sale after Christmas, and it looked cute.  It's more young elementary than toddler, as far as number of words and the attention span it will require to get through it, but it is a sweet little story about a ballerina named Ella who enters the world of the Nutcracker.  And who doesn't love a book with their own name in it?

7.-9. Ella the Elegant Elephant, Ella Sets Sail, and Ella Sets the Stage, by Carmela and Steven D'Amico

These were gifts from my mom for Christmas.  I knew she wanted to do gifts for Ella, but I didn't really know what she might need yet, so I mentioned the first book, and my mom was able to find all three!  They are just really cute books about an elephant named Ella with an elegant hat, and all the adventures she has.  Apparently there is a Disney Junior TV show too.  Which hey, maybe that means there's birthday party themed materials?  :)

10.  Humpty Dumpty (Indestructibles book), by Jonas Sickler

This book is really cool.  It's a picture only book, but it is the story of Humpty Dumpty set on the Great Wall of China!  I thought it was neat to take a classic nursery rhyme and put a spin on it that includes Ella's home country.  This company makes a lot of really neat stories, and all of their nursery rhymes are set in other countries (Hickory Dickory Dock is set in London, England; Mary Had a Little Lamb is set in Africa).  I am excited about this book.  

So there you have it!  Ella's first ten books.  I hope she has many, many more to read soon!

*Not to be confused with Ella's Top 10 Books, because those may end up being completely different.

Happenings around Here

I think I've used this phrase before, but a lot of the adoption process is hurry up and wait.  I am gearing up to a hurry up phase, which will then lead to a relatively long wait phase.

On Thursday of last week, I received back all of the documents that I sent to the Embassy in Washington, D.C. two weeks prior.  They had seals from the U.S. State Department and the Chinese Embassy.  Definitely the most official looking documents I've ever held.

So I put those, along with some pictures and a few other documents in the mail yesterday, and at 10:34 this morning, Colorado time, they arrived at my agency.  Because it is an incomplete dossier, there is no guarantee that it will go through critical review (where it is read three times!), but I am hopeful it will.  Either way, when the other documents get there, it will go through critical review then off to China it goes!

So now I just wait, wait, wait for my I-800a approval.  That should come in the next couple of weeks.  After that, it is mad dash to get that authenticated!

I am getting so much closer to Ella.  Some days, it seems like it's SO close and I have to get things done NOW.  Some days, it seems like it couldn't possibly be farther away.  Today I am kind of in the middle.  Most days it just doesn't feel real.  But I am getting there, slowly but surely!  I'm ready to get this girl home!

So, what now?

Paperwork:

After a couple of slight twists and turns finalizing my home study, it is complete!  I am so thankful for my wonderful social worker who put in long hours and worked when she was very sick to get it done.  My I-800a application has been filed and received, and I should receive my fingerprint appointment date sometime this week!  Martha (my roommate) and I both have to be fingerprinted (any adult over 18 living in the house has to be), so we are hoping that the date and time are convenient to the teacher life.  But we will see.  My other documents are being sealed at the State Department and Embassy this week, and should be back next week!  So basically...I am done with paperwork and am now twiddling my thumbs.  (It's driving me crazy.  A friend warned me that this was a very unsettling feeling and she was right.)  Once the documents come back, they'll go to my agency for review and to wait for the other two documents (home study, I-800a approval).  Once those come and go through the certification/sealing process, then they go to my agency, and then everything goes to China.  {I feel like I've explained this before.  But that's where I am in the process.  After everything goes to China, I will get a log-in date (LID) and then will be waiting for my LOA (Letter of Approval).  That will likely take two to three months, and then it will be another two to three months to travel.  I am still thinking October is a good prediction of when I will travel, but it's tough to say.}

Fundraising/Financial Stuff:

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was the recipient of a very generous Rosalynn's Hope grant.  This was an incredible gift in that it covers my last two agency fees, as well as a fee to the Chinese government to process the adoption.  The end of the puzzle fundraiser, the knitting fundraiser from my sweet niece Jenna, and the beginning of the envelope fundraiser (as well as my savings, of course!) covered my home study and USCIS fee (for I-800a application fee and fingerprint fee).  So of course, that leaves the question "What's left?"

The biggest fee left is the orphanage fee, which will be paid at travel time to the orphanage where Ella  has been registered since she was a day old.  It is basically a childrearing fee, and it goes toward helping other babies who are still in the orphanage.   That is around $5700.  The other fees are for traveling in country (we will travel from Beijing to the capital of Ella's province to Guangzhou, where the U.S. Consulate is located), fees to finalize her adoption, and post-adoption services (follow ups with the social worker, and with the agency, which is required by China and is great for Ella and for me!).  They add up to about $8,000 (more or less).  My hope and prayer is that 200 Red Envelopes for Ella continues to do well!  It has been really wonderful so far, and I am hoping that it will continue to be a way for friends to support Ella's adoption.  I am also saving as much as possible and am applying for another big grant (the deadline is by the end of April).  I am hoping that I will qualify for that grant, which would make a big dent in what is left!

Also, the Photo Mini-Session Event held by Wild Honey Photography has been moved to April!  Because of our wintery winter, it was decided that holding off until it would probably be warmer was the best idea.  Contact information is still the same though, and is on the picture!

The biggest blessing of all is that every time something has been due or I've needed the money for a fee, it has been provided for.  It's kind of unexplainable.  But people will say, "Oh, the money just shows up!"  And it's true!

I'm so thankful for the generosity of friends (and strangers!) who have chosen to be a part of bringing Ella home.