Tuesday, January 27, 2009

January 27, 2009


We bought a stroller today. Max was so happy that he took it out in the hallway of our building and pushed it around! It feels wonderful to have a baby stroller in the house again. We feel like we're making alot of good progress getting things ready for her and finding what we need. This is my favorite picture of Mika because she looks very happy.

January 13, 2009 - WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!


We received an email from our agency this morning telling us a court date has been scheduled in Taiwan! It's set for February 26th at 9:45am! We're counting it down on the calendar now. We're so excited and very happy to know a judge will finalize the adoption soon and we will be allowed to bring Mika home. Such an amazing blessing!

Fed Ex picked up the package today that we're sending to her for the Chinese new year celebration. We sent a pair of Kitty Chan pajamas, the polka dot outfit, a white sweater, a pack of pink and white undershirts, (Max picked them out) and a small toy stuffy elephant with flowers on it. The stuffed toy was given to Mika by our friend, Angie, for Christmas! Her husband is in the Navy and they're also stationed on Okinawa right now. We met them at Camp Lejeune when we both lived there.

January 7, 2009

We received permission today to send a care package to Mika in observance of the Chinese new year that begins on January 26th. My friend Dianne, and I went shopping at The Bunny Baby store off base and bought a dress for Mika. Dianne brought her little girl, Leanna, who was adopted from Taiwan last April. Leanna is so adorable and makes us feel happy when we're around her. She'll be a wonderful friend to Mika when she gets here. I also went to the PX and bought a cute polka dot outfit for Mika that we'll send with the new years package.

January 6, 2009 - UPDATE!


We received a 4 page update on Mika today!! It's full of wonderful information and is very reassuring to know she's doing well. We found out she still wears a diaper, uses a bottle and her favorite foods are noodles, steamed meat buns and rice. We're so grateful to learn more about her and what she likes and dislikes.

January 1, 2009 - Happy New Year!


We visited Futenma Shrine today and it was very crowded! Although we're Catholic, we still enjoy experiencing the Japanese custom of visiting a Shrine on new years day.

We also went to Jusco Chatan and bought a cute little rug for Mika's room. It has Kitty Chan (Hello Kitty) on it and has pink and white hearts. We hope she'll like her room and feel happy and comfortable. We didn't plan it, but her room is filled with different shades of pink! We keep finding cute things and they just happen to be PINK.

December 12, 2008

We received an email from our agency today and found out our dossier package was delivered to the orphanage at 10:39am! It's such a relief to know they have it now and we can request a court date soon. David came home from work and surprised me with a cute little white cake that said "WE DID IT!" written on it in pink icing.

Monday, January 26, 2009

December 11, 2008




We sent our completed dossier to Taiwan today!! Fed Ex came to pick up the package and my friend Yori happened to be here. We asked if we could take a picture and the Fed Ex guy asked Yori "WHY?" She was able to explain to him what it was for and he became very happy and held up the package with a big smile! Even though I can speak a little Japanese, I never would have been able to explain that, so we were happy Yori was here.


What a huge relief....ALL PAPERWORK IS NOW FINISHED!!!! It's out of our hands and on the way to Taiwan. Joy, joy, joy!

December 10, 2008














We returned to the Taiwan embassy (TECO) office this morning and picked up our documents. We were very excited and parked in a Japanese parking lot only to realize our car had a ramp come up underneath it and we couldn't get out until we paid! It was hysterically funny because neither of us can read Japanese and the coin operated machine didn't have any english or picture icons to help us figure out what to do. I ran down the street and found a tiny elderly Japanese lady and used my Japanese language to ask if she could help us. We walked back to the parking lot and when she saw our car, she giggled and then showed me how to pay. The situation certainly helped to ease some of the stress we were feeling!
We were finally able to go inside the TECO office to get our documents. They gave us our documents and we walked to the elevator quietly.....David and I both burst into tears as soon as we got in the elevator. It was such a huge relief to have those documents back! We stopped at the entrance and took our picture in front of the Taiwan flag.

December 9, 2008


Today was a very big day for us.
We went to the Legal office on Camp Foster to have all our dossier documents notarized. We then went directly to the Taiwan Embassy in Naha (Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office) to have the Home Study, Adoption Agreement contracts and Special Powers of Attorney authenticated. We can see the end of the very long paper trail in sight finally! We weren't sure if we'd ever see this day, so we feel very blessed. and VERY excited!
We'll return to the Taiwan embassy tomorrow to pick up our authenticated documents. It was very scary walking out of that office with our documents left behind! The staff at the embassy were super nice, and we showed them a picture of Mika. I always carry one in my purse now, so she's always with us.

December 8, 2008


We received an Express Mail package today with the Adoption agreement contracts and special powers of attorney from Taiwan! That's the best pacakge we've ever received!! Our neighbor just happens to be the Commanding Officer of the post office on base and he called to tell us the package was here. We're lucky to have so much love and support around us right now. We also received an email from our agency with specific directions/requirements for our appointment at the Taiwan Embassy in Naha Okinawa. We're very fortunate because the embassy is only 10 minutes from where we live! We need to get everything notarized, certified and authenticated, then translated into Chinese! Needless to say...we're writing lots of notes and reminders!

Mika update! December 4, 2008


We found out today from our agency that Mika speaks Mandarin Chinese and Minnanhua dialect language! We'll do our best to study and learn to say a few important phrases and words. We're now speaking english, Japanese AND studying Chinese language. Very challenging!

We shared another picture of Mika today with close friends and family!! This is Max's favorite picture of her.

December 3, 2008- Getting Mika's room ready!




Our agency told us today that they have sent the adoption agreement contracts and special powers of attorney. We decided to take the day off and go shopping to celebrate! We bought a dresser for Mika at Chatan Jusco and a Kitty Chan clock at ETWS. Her room is beginning to look much better. We didn't have a color theme in mind when we started, but it seems to be coming together on its own!

Proud big brother










Here is our son Max, the very proud and happy big brother!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

December 2, 2008 - IT'S OFFICIAL!


We received an official congratulatory email from our agency this morning, it's official, she's ours! The government has approved the match and we can now proceed with sending our dossier documents. We sent out massive emails and made lots of phone calls to share the news with everyone! We immediately went to the post office and mailed the baby announcements that had been made and were waiting to be mailed. Our neighbor, Toni, made the announcements for us and they're lovely.

Much to our surprise, the government gave their approval on Thanksgiving Day!!! We didn't find out until today due to the holiday and offices being closed. Such a fantastic Thanksgiving blessing!

November 10, 2008

We finally received permission to cautiously share news of our referral with only close friends and family. It has been so difficult not to share the news, it feels wonderful to finally be allowed to tell our loved ones. We emailed the first photo we have of her along with the announcement!

November 4, 2008

Received an email today telling us that Mika is now listed as "matched with a family" on the orphanage update. This means that no other family will be allowed to view her file. A HUGE sigh of relief! We also saw her name written in Chinese for the first time today. It's beautiful.
Stll waiting for the official government approval......

October 29, 2008

Our agency sent us an email today and confirmed that our adoption paperwork is now with the Taiwan government for review! We're so excited......and very anxious! Now we wait again.

October 28, 2008

First shopping day! We bought pink and white curtains for Mika's room and a pink and purple clothes hamper at Gushikawa Jusco. It looks great and we're so happy to have her room started. Max was so happy and excited to help us hang her curtains.

October 27, 2008

Started an adoption diary for us and for Mika. We don't want to forget a single step along this journey. We bought a "My Neighbor Totoro" diary. This is one of our favorite Miyazaki movies.

October 25, 2008

We decided to jump in with both feet and start cleaning out our guest room and getting it ready for the arrival of our daughter. We have faith that "if we build it, she will come!"

October 23, 2008

We spoke with our agency today and the Taiwan orphanage has requested confirmation that we wish to adopt Man-Ni. We immediately confirmed the acceptance of the referral again and sent the email to our agency in Hawaii. Now, we start the wait for the Taiwan government to approve our match.......

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Meet the newest member of our family...October 22, 2008

This is the first picture of our little girl!
We have named her Mika Man-Ni Higginbotham.

Referral Day! October 22, 2008

We woke up this morning to a wonderful surprise. We have received a referral for a little girl! She is living in Taiwan and is two years old. Her name is Man-Ni and we have fallen in love at first sight. We were very surprised to receive so much information about her, along with four of the most beautiful little photos we have ever seen. Of course, we accepted the referral right away and said a prayer of gratitude.