Goodbye 2006 - Hello 2007

There is only 6 hours left in 2006 and it's been an interesting year to say the least. One year ago Mike and I had not yet agreed on adoption from China, my brother had just revealed that he was facing a major personal struggle, my cousin was anxiously waiting the birth of her first child and was devastated in January when he was born and diagnosed as having Downs Syndrome and my best friend was having major marital problems - and my mom was worrying about all of us! A year later, Mike and I are logged in with China, my brother is doing great, my cousin loves her baby and he is very healthy, and my friend is getting divorced and flourishing - and mom still is worrying about us! All of us still have bad days but it's been a year of growth. Looking back, 2005 was the bad year, 2006 has been the year of crawling out of the hole we all found ourselves in for different reasons.

I have also met amazing families locally and on-line who have adopted or are in the same process of adopting as we are. We've become involved with our local Families with Children from China group, with Grace and Hope to foster a little girl in China so she is cared for by a family instead of waiting for her "forever family" in an orphanage and I am helping to bring JinMei to Jacksonville for heart surgery. I also know what LID, DTC, CCAA, and DH mean, what a Yahoo group is and how to blog! I love the process we are in - I just wish they would speed up! Oh yeah, we have a room full a toys with a closet full of little girl clothes. Something I didn't even think about when we were struggling with infertility.

Thank you to all of my new on-line friends, my great Ladybug & Red Thread Believers group, my local friends, my FCC group, my family and my husband for all the support in our wonderful journey! (Sounds like I won an Oscar!)

Happy New Year to you all! And prayers for quicker referrals! I expect 2007 to be the birth year of Mia Jade and it would be even better if it was the year of her referral! Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007!!

Merry Christmas!

Today was a wonderful day with my family. We never expected Mia to with us this year so, as much as we thought of her, gave her presents and even gave presents from her, we are comfortable with the idea that she is most likely not even born yet. With that being said, we pray for her mother to be warm and healthy. We also pray for all of the children without families this Christmas. Next Christmas may be hard for us - at the referral rate next December she should be born but most likely still not with us. The good news is that 2007 should be the last Chrismas without her. But we have so much to be thankful for this Christmas - this has been a trying year for our entire family and our trust in God has brought us all a long way this year. Most to be thankful for this Christmas though is of course the gift of Christ. Merry Christmas to all!

Kelly the Elf

Maybe you've seen this going around but it's so funny. So here's mine - presenting Kelly the elf

Secret Santa Gift and New Addition to my Blog

I got my gift from my Secret Santa in my "Ladybugs & Red Thread Believers" Yahoo group. I will post a picture as soon as my camera battery recharges :) It's an adorable Ladybug outfit for Mia, a musical "puzzle bug" and a bracelet with, you guessed it, a ladybug (and flowers) on it. It comes from Terri (A Gift of Ruth) in Texas. Thank you Terri! My "Ladybug" group has become very special to me.

Also, I added a feature called Feed Blitz that will email you each time this blog is updated. It's a nice feature if anyone is interested. I hope I did it right! If you are interested, you can find the link on the right toolbar beneath the "Archives" section. Just enter you email address and it will take you to the Feed Blitz site. A few simple steps and you will get an email each time I add a post. And it's easy to cancel at anytime.

Living Ladybug!

I finally got around to posting a picture of our niece Annie who dressed as a ladybug for Halloween! Nothing's cuter than a living ladybug!

Okay, Pitty Party is over (for now at least)

I am feeling much better today (maybe it's the passing of the wicked PMS - sorry to say but it true!! That or the fact that I left work early yesterday and went Christmas shopping!) Either way, that is part of the ebb and flow of this crazy path.

I got a call Tuesday from a lady named Trish at our agency(CCAI)who is writing a story about our cookbook to publish in their newsletter! So cool! This cookbook project has really been a fun deal. I can't thank everyone enough for all your participation, purchases and well wishes for the cookbook and the adoption. When the story comes out, I will post a link.

3 Months since our LID

Today is bitter sweet. It's been three months since we were logged in but each month the wait is getting longer and word from CCAA (adoption HQ of China) is that the wait is not going to get shorter anytime soon. They stated at their annual meeting that they have twice as many dossiers (want-to-be parents) than they have "paper-ready" children. What does that mean? It means we will most likely have another Christmas (2007) without a referral. 2008 is now looking like when we'll actually get a child. What a long gestation period! It's agonizing as postive as I try to be over the whole thing. If anyone knows me or even only knows me from my blog, you know I am always the one who looks at things from the bright side. I'm not sure what the bright side of this wait is yet. I guess I am having a weak moment. It is so hard, so painful to want something so basic as to be a parent and it's just so difficult to do so. And I know we are not the only ones. I have met so many others in the same boat; slow boat to China that is. I know God has a plan, I know I trust in God, I know we will have the perfect child for us, I know friends who have "survived" the 15 month wait. The funny thing is that I decided I could "survive" a 15 month wait, that would mean we were 20% done with the wait, and we would have a referral in December of 2007. But 18-24 months sounds so much longer because that mean 2008.

I didn't mention last post that I was so happy to meet Donna of Handsful last week, one of my favorite people that I have met online since the start of this journey. She is also in Jacksonville and we met at our local FCC (Families with Children from China) group of waiting families. I look forward to knowing her, her family and her Laniey more.

Here's JinMei - Isn't she beautiful!

This is the little girl that some volunteers from my local FCC (Families with Children from China) group are working to bring here to Jacksonville, Florida to have heart surgery for a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. She lives with her family (she is not an orphan) outside Nanning, China. It's been a great project and a great way to keep my mind off of "the wait". She is scheduled to come January 2nd (As of 12/9/06, her arrival has been rescheduled to Jan 17th). Patrons of Heart, a local organization, are doing her surgery for free!!! She will stay, at least for part of the stay, at the Ronald McDonald House, there are a few schools that have this project as their service project for the year and the local news is even covering the story. It is all so exciting. I can't wait to meet her! Please visit the site A Heart for China.

New Referrals!

I'm so excited for this batch of referrals because for the first time I know two people who got their referrals!! Congratulations to my friends Laureen and Tonya!

Laureen lives here in Jacksonville and I met her through our local Familes with Children for China in the waiting families group. This is her first child and she is beautiful! Her name is Isabel. She is waiting in the province of Jianxi and was born 12/8/2005.




Tonya is the sister of a friend of mine. We have "talked" via email. Tonya lives in Tampa and she and her husband's new daughter Arwen is their second daughter from China. Look at that precious face! Arwan is waiting for them in Hunan. She was born 11/2/2005.

I'm so excited for both of you - this adoption thing really does work!!!