We Are NEXT!!!!!

Finally I can say with certainty that we are next!!! I am so excited that I KNOW for sure!!!!! Ok that is all I wanted to say for now, I will try and find something more witty to say later. I think I will try and post one thing every day between now and Miah's referral. WE ARE NEXT!!!!!!

Not In

Well we got word from our agency that we will not be included in this batch of referrals. However they did assure us we would be next. I have got to admit I was still cling to a glimer of hope this morning and now I have got to face the facts of another month to count down the days before I see my daughter. It SUCKS!!!! Lord help me through cuse it is just plain hard!

Now that my complainging and whining is out of the way I want to send a big Congrats out to the end of the AUG liders.... I am so glad your wait is finally over, may your refferal day be every thing you dreamed it would and may you have speedy TAs!

It is that time of year again, when every thing in my home comes down and is replaced with something merry and bright. I love to decorate for the holidays and this year was no exception even with one case of respitory infection (ME) and Strep throat (JAMES) and lots of sickness. We turned on the Christmas music and got to work and now my home looks holiday festive. I am glad we did all the work because we had an impromptu to social worker meeting in order to get our 171 redone and I felt much more confident when she came into our home this time. It was really neat because we realized it had been nearly a year and a half since her last visit and James has changed so much in that time. Not to mention we now have a nursery all set up and a closet full of clothes that she ohhhed and awwwed over. Every thing went well and it was more like a social call than a social
visit.

Here is my yearly job.... Putting that darned old tree together. I tears my hands up every year but it must be done. It is funny every year Randy tells me he wants a real tree and every year I am still stuck putting this thing up. Oh well it is worth it in the end!
Here is James in all his glory. Sick, sick, sick. Poor guy fell asleep right here in this spot. I went outside to check on Randy putting on the house lights and came back in to one fast asleep little boy.

I do not care how many pictures I take of this tree they never turn out the way I want. Believe it or not this tree does look much better in real life, but I guess you will just haft to take my word for it.

Happy start of the Christmas season.... May it bring you all the joys you could ever wish for. I am wishing to see my Miahs face........... We shall see what it brings.

I was playing around today and thought I would post updated look at the nursery. Enjoy!
This is the Lambs and Ivy set Sweet as a Daisy.
Her collation of dolls and toys has really grown over the last twenty months of waiting.

The clothes on the doors are what we plan on taking to China.... If they are the right size that is.
I love the lamps in the corner, I found them at target and they match perfectly!
In keeping with my thought on THINK PINK!

The Fog

There is a fog in my home, and no it is not due to any burning holiday meal. It is the fog of not knowing, yeah I know nothing new, or is it. There is a wonderful rumor floating around that just maybe we will see most if not all of Sept. Included in this batch of referrals. On top of that our agency sent out a message to us that CCAA has started matching. We have never gotten that notice before because we have never been close enough to our LID. That was pretty darn exciting, but they are NOT saying we are included or even so much as hinting that we might at this point. So there in lies my dilemma, do I leap up and down for joy over the rumors or do I remain as somber as my agency?? Thus the fog in my home in and out of the curly mist my mind does wonder one moment elated that I may indeed see my Miah in a few short days, and then back to reality that more than likely it will be the end of December beginning of January, which after all this wait still feels pretty near to me. I guess only time will tell and there really is no harm in letting my heart soar just a little over this holiday thinking just maybe... Just maybe... But I will not tell my family so that I can just relish in the joy and if it is not our time I will not be bombarded with a million and one questions come Christmas. No I am keeping this to my self.... For now!

Happy Thanksgiving to all who will celebrate it tomorrow, my you find much to be thankful for from the year that is passing, and twice as much in the year that is ahead.

The great escape

There was a great uproar at my home this week when the lovely Miss Peach decided to do a disappearing act. Yes you read it right there was an escape artist in running loose to do as she pleased much to the dismay of my son who has not the heart for another loss, Of a precious pet hamster that is. It seems some how in the middle of the night her running wheel came apart. That would not be a bad thing if this cage were like most and the wheel was enclosed inside, but this one is on top of the cage and is separated by a tunnel. Needless to say when I turned around from checking all the sites for any type of rumors first thing in the morning I was rather taken back by the strange sight I saw.... OH CRAP... Is she still in there? No... OH CRAP... How the heck did she get down... OH CRAP... Is she dead behind the book case ( that is four feet tall)???? No thank you Lord.... WAIT what if she crawled away to die... Man that is going to stink and poor James. Ok Lets not freak out yet, ok so I have already done that. From here I did manage to pull myself together and actually start looking for her through the entire house. This went on all day I would scour every part of the house and I did eventually have to tell James that his fourth beloved hamster had decided to pull a Houdini on us and was no where to be found. He was really upset with me and insisted I had left the cage open. NO.... NO.... NO I tried to explain over and over to no avail. Just great this will be one of those memories he holds onto that will forever scar him. I have GOT to find that rodent!!!!! Yes I found her eight hours later. Where you might ask, well in the very first place I looked right after I calmed down the first time a round, In the closet right next to the shelf. Funny thing is, is that I made sure I closed the closet so she could not crawl in there after I searched it so I know she had to be in there the whole time as she could not have crawled under the doors. Now if that was not bad enough once I did locate her it took me a good twenty minutes just to catch her in a four' by two' closet. GRRRRRRRRRR oh well at least she is back safe and sound and James does not seem me as the hamster looser anymore, nope he still thinks watching mommy jump back and forth in a closet trying to catch her is the most entertainment he has seen in his little life.

Then and now

It is funny to think when we started this adoption process James was only three and now he is five and the difrence is so remarkable to me. Now he can read and write, he understands more about Miah and is always asking when she is coming home. He talks so much bigger and acts like he is going on 15 half of the time. I sure do love him!! For fun I am putting up video of him at three right about the time we started working towards Miah and a video from today. I think you will agree he is becoming such a little man.




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A wonderful Gift

Today my DH surprised me with a wonderful gift. It is something I will treasure and home our daughter will treasure as well. It was totally unexpected but right on time! It seems however I was not suppose to get this gift till Christmas, so I want to thank the mail man for cramming it into the mail box there by setting DH on fire and demanding that I open the package immediately to see if said gift had been damaged. Nope the gift is fine and wonderful I might add. Ok what is this special present..... The Elder-respecting book put together by the CCAA. It is a book of Selected china stories that teach children to respect their elders. It is so beautiful, when you open the book you see the stories written in pin yin and then you can read them in English at the end of each one.
The timing was so perfect to get this book today. I read the first story and it refers to a mother being a clock.... Oh how neat, I will not tell you the story because you really need to get this for you and your child you will not regret it I promise. Any way the story rang so true for me as I wait for my daughter and how even now I am keeping time for her. Every day I wait the hands of time move on and I am here taking account of that time recording it for ever in my mind so that some day I can tell her of all that went by as we waited to bring her home.

If you would like one of these books I know our agency has the authority to sell them, they benefit the CCAA and the orphanages in China and it is considered a donation.
www.GWCA.org

The Wait at a new level

This wait for me has come and gone in waves of nerves, worry, relief, uncertainty, and now finally a window of hope. Hope of seeing my daughter soon and know her, hope of reaching the end of this part of our journey to start on a new road. However it seems that the wait is at a different level for me right now also in respect to Oh My Gosh This is Going to Happen Soon. So here I am having already been waiting for Miah 19 months (5 months for paper work counts as part of my wait and 14 months since LID) and now I feel like I have not gotten anything done. The key word here is FEEL, because in all honestly I have most every thing done, the nursery is ready, she has clothes to grow into or out of, we have a packing list ready and almost every thing purchased for it. We have a plan for the call, a plan for packing, a plan for time off work and a plan on how to get to and from the airport. We have all our shots, passports and paperwork ready ( with the exception of the renewed 171 but that is in process now) and we have made arrangements for our animals too. So why do I feel so undone and frazzled? Maybe it is just reality setting in and I am finally getting the joy of bring our daughter home soon instead of the dread of another bad month of referrals not meeting our expectations. I know that we will get our referral in the next 3 to 7 weeks (WOW) and I can finally breath. James asked me today why they keep changing when he can get his sister and I got to tell him that mommy was sure she would be home by March, that felt good! Today I am finally going to go register at babies r us and I am sooooo looking forward to that. Not that I NEED much but there are several little things I would LIKE to have and since James is five now I have given almost every thing of his babyhood away. Ok I am rambling now so I will bring this post to an end. I am almost there the finish line is in sight.

Almost Next

Wow I am so over joyed that the CCAA covered as many referrals as the did. Aug.10th - 25th is a great number!!!! Now we are just 18 days worth of LIDs between us and a referral for our Sept. 12 LID!!!!! I really feel for the first time in a long time like I have a somewhat clear vision of the path ahead of us. It looks like barring any major setbacks that we will get our referral in December. I can live with that.... Just having the smallest idea of when it might really happen is enough to send me off in another world of Joy and Happiness!!!
Here is a BIG CONGRATS to all of the new mommy and daddies out there tonight I know the wait has been long and hard but just think you are almost in the home stretch and you can sleep at night now with a clear vision of who, where and how you daughter is!
Now to get through the next two months... At least I have the holidays to keep me busy!!!!