I had a baby shower!!!

Last Saturday my girls at work gave me a baby shower and it was a HUGE shower! There were something like 35 people there. It took me hours to go through everything once I got home to figure out what I had. I actually feel ready for a baby now - or at least as ready as you can get! It was all so moving and surreal. I still can't believe this is all happening. It is so exciting! Only 2 weeks until the due date. The nursery is almost done - just a few things left to do but it's ready for a baby.

Me and Mom on the right (I don't look 37 weeks pregnant!)
and my friends Julie & Lisa (the shower hostesses)

Baby name = Zane

Oh, thank you for the comment from Joce on my last post; I forgot to share his name! We are naming him ZANE! (Middle name still to be determined.) Zane was our front runner for a name and then I picked up a baby book and they gave the meaning as "God's gracious gift". That's all it took! What else is he but our gracious gift from our gracious God! So Zane it is!

35 weeks and counting!

All is going well with our domestic adoption - our birthmom is 35 and a half weeks along and is due November 3rd. That's in One Month!! I've been able to go to her last two OB/gyn appointments and the baby seems perfect. My mom was even able to go to one appointment, so she had a chance to meet her as well. She is such a sweet girl. I still can't believe this is all happening. It hasn't quite sunk in yet!

A Detour on our Journey!

Mike and I are bursting! We have been chosen to adopt a baby boy through a domestic adoption! Since China is taking much longer than expected, be began looking into other options while we wait. We got "the call" on Monday and met his birth mother on Tuesday. We just adore her! She is a teenager (and that's about all I want to share about her or the birth father just to protect all involved) and she seems very prepared to put the baby up for adoption. She is due in only 6 weeks so we have a TON to do to get ready! We are so excited! Mia's going to have a big brother!

1 Year LID

Today is our year anniversary of our LID. I think I would be more excited if we didn't have another 1 1/2-2 years of waiting. But it is something I guess. We are one year closer to finally having a child in our lives.

Xianbei had her surgery - in China!!

A couple of weeks ago we heard from Matthew that the Chinese government contacted Xianbei's mother about possibly being able to help Xianbei with her surgery at home in Nanning. It seems that after they all got Visas to come here for her surgery, a government official somehow got involved and made arrangements for her care in China. She had her surgery already and is recovering well. What a blessing! We were not even close to our financial goals to have her come next month - we would have done it one way or another, but it would have been difficult. I'm so glad we agreed to help her - by just arranging to get her here, a door was opened that was closed before!

We already have another possible child that is in great need. Somehow Matthew got a letter from a mother desperate for help. Their 18 month old has had one heart surgery, which took every bit of assets this family has, and she still needs two more. Her parents were told that her other surgeries were difficult and expensive and basically to give up. We'll see if we can help her. We have contacted the medical group to see if she is a candidate.

Vegas Baby!

Mike and I headed to Vegas this past weekend. It was our first trip to Vegas and we had a great time. We went with Mike's sister & husband and two other couples. We saw "Love" the Cirque du Soleil with all Beatles music, went to the club "Tao", and even sat a table over from Sarah Silverman one night at dinner. We did just a little gamble which means we didn't win much but we didn't lose much either! It was a real good time, and it's always nice to get away from the daily stress of "the wait".

Girls Gobal Education Fund

I have mentioned Girls Global Education Fund in passing before but have just now gotten involved, and I am so excited. The translator that came with JinMei (and again is coming with Xianbei) is named Matthew. Although he is helping with with A Heart for China, his job is working with GGEF. It is an organization that finds sponsors to send girls that live in rural China to school who otherwise would not get any formal education. It's is amazingly cheap for us to send a girl to school and yet education is priceless to a child's future. For an elementary aged girl it is $40 a year, a middle school girl is just $80 a year and a high school is only $240 a year - yes, for a whole school year! When I first signed up last month, I chose to sponsor an elementary aged girl. When Matthew emailed me about the girl I was to sponsor, he told me that she has two middle school sisters and a high school sister that he is also looking for sponsors. He asked me to pray that all these girls will be sponsored and be able to go to school. They are a family of 6 kids - the others, a brother going to school already and an older sister that hasn't gone to school for years. She stopped going to school so she could help support the family; both of their parents died a few years ago of illness. They are living with grandmom and uncle. When I got the email, I was so moved that I called my best friend to tell her the story. That evening Mike and I talked about it and decided to sponsor the two middle school girl and my mom would sponsor the elementary age girl, our original assignment. Before I went to bed, my best friend called me back and said she would sponsor the high school girl! Within a couple hours we had all four sponsored and I was emailing Matthew back. He was so excited to get our news that he said he was immediately making the three hour round trip (on his bike - he does not have a car) to go tell the family! How amazing to have these kids so excited to have the opportunity to go to school. What a difference it will make in their lives.

If you are so moved by the ease to make such a huge impact on a child for very little financial commitment, please visit Girls Global Education Fund to learn more. There are many more girls waiting to be sponsored. If you sponsor, mention me to be the coordinator - I've volunteered to organize correspondence for those signed up through me. Thank you for your support!

Xianbei is coming in October!

Last year some local volunteers joined together and started a group called A Heart for China with the goal to bring one girl named JinMei from China to Jacksonville for lifesaving heart surgery. A group called Patrons of the Heart provided all the healthcare including the surgery as long as we got her here and provided for her needs during her stay. She had successful surgery last January. (If you look back in my blog, you can see photos and my posts from that time.) We now have another girl scheduled to come in October named Xianbei (pictured here - on the right). Patrons of the Hearts once again will be providing her surgery and they (her mom and the same translator Matthew) will be staying at the Ronald McDonald House. We are currently raising funds for their travel and stay. Please visit A Heart for China for more information on how to help. We have a lot of work to do between now and October! Thank you!!

Under 300!

Talk about seeking out milestones - we are finally under 300 days between the latest referral date, now November 21, 2005 and our LID of September 12, 2006. Technically 295 days. At a 7 day/month referral rate, we only have 42 more months. Just kidding; they will eventually speed up - right? Our other milestone is that it was one year ago that we were done paperchasing and sent our completed dossier to CCAI, our agency, for final review and translation. How things have changed in a year. A 14 wait a year ago has turned into 20 months and all signs are leaning to 2-3 year wait. But at least we are a year closer.

Silly Boy

I may not have kids but I do have a spoiled baby - our dog! I was just saying yesterday how you can't see dogs' personalities in pictures and then I took this one today that is as close as I can get. Here is Harman. Harman loves his toys. So much so that he often walks around with more than one in his mouth but today I witnessed as he wandered around the house collecting not one, not two, not three, but four toys to carry around. It was very tricky for him to pick up each one without dropping the others but he succeeded. What a silly boy!


After collecting them, he sat over them like a hunter with his prey, licking his lips!

I'm buying stuff like I have a baby on the way!

I have made a couple of fun purchases in the last few days - as if we were preparing for a baby. First, I bought a trio of baby carriers from a lady I met online. She used them with her two from China. One is a baby bjorn, one is a sling type carrier and the third, a seat to use on the plane. I will post pictures when I get them!

Next I bought a crib at a garage sale. Now this one freaked me out a little because that is for the nursery - the non-existing nursery. I purposely have not started the nursery because that would be too hard to look at with a probable two years to go. Clothes, toys, books are one thing, but a crib?! That's a bit more real. But it was too beautiful and too good of a deal to pass up. It is a beautiful cherry wood convertible crib but it will have to live in the garage for awhile.

10 months (& considering an additional adoption)

This week we pasted our 10 month mark since our LID - and it's looking like it will be another 20-26 months wait. Unbelievable. I really never thought it would come to this but that's what all the signs are pointing to. Because of that, we are looking into another adoption while we wait. I am gathering a lot of information and making a lot of contacts. I'm not sure what path God will lead us but keep watching! Wouldn't it be fun to have a brother or sister waiting for Mia with us!

Cool photo

This is my favorite photo that I took while in the Keys. We were watching the sunset on the bay while a storm was brewing south over near the island. We watched this water funnel grow and if you look closely you can see the funnel all the way down to the water.

Vacation, the 4th of July and Referrals!

We had a great vacation at my favorite spot - the Florida Keys; specifically Key Colony off of Marathon. It was beautiful - not too hot, a few light showers, flat seas, good visibility (for snorkeling & scuba diving), the boys caught fish and loads of family fun. What else can you ask for?!

We had a great 4th of July on the boat under the fireworks. We had another family & some friends that went with us so we had a total of 14 people in two boats tied up eating BBQ, watching the sunset, listening to Jimmy Buffett, as we waited for some of the best fireworks I ever seen. What fun!

We didn't have any internet connection either so an entire week of no RQ (Rumor Queen-a website that watches "the wait") or my Yahoo groups, which was a good thing - a vacation from the wait! But I did see referrals have come out - a whopping 7 days taking referrals thru November 14, 2005. But it's about what I expected and it's bigger than the last 3 months, so not too much to complain about.

Neat email and Vacation bound!

I got such a great surprise the other day when I opened my email - it was a email from a boyfriend of mine in college! Someone I haven't had any contact with for 15 years - wow, I'm getting old! In a conversation with a family member of his, my name came up, so he Googled me and found this blog! Google is amazing! He sent me the sweetest email, about how he was moved by our journey and that his prayers are with us! When I started this blog it was mostly to keep family members and friends up to date with what was going on. Little did I know how many others I would meet, or be reunited with, through this little hobby of mine! Danny, it is so great to be in contact with you again!

Now Mike and I are off to vacation in the Keys for a week. A long awaited escape. We didn't go on vacation at all last year because we were saving our money and vacation time off of work for our China trip - this year - HA! I wish we were going to China but the Keys will do!

Why?

The last couple of weeks have been pretty tough - my office has experience two unexpected deaths of associates of our office in the span of 10 days. Both were unusual events; both made the local news. I find myself searching the internet, the newspaper, watching the news to learn about what happened. When did it happen? How did it happen? What were the circumstances that lead to both of their deaths? Both men in their early 40's. One, a bizarre car accident - sitting still at a stop sign and another driver, stone sober, took his eyes off the road for a second, ran off the road and t-boned our friend, killing him instantly. The other, an unbelievable shooting incident. I scan the newspaper for answers, as the stories literally went from headline news to the back page of the metro section in a day and I realized my questions were not going to be answered. I knew now when, pretty much how, but the answer I don't have, and won't find on First Coast News or in the Times Union is WHY. Why did both these men die in such freak incidents so suddenly. I'm not usually a why person. I believe God has a plan and things happen for a reason but sometimes you can't help but to ask, "why?" Larry & Tim, you will be missed.

Too cute to pass up!

My mom went to a garage sale yesterday and just couldn't leave this there! For a total of $3, Mia has her first bike!

God Said NO!

This poem was on my ladybug yahoo group board (the BEST group around) and I thought it went along very nicely with my post from June 8th. Enjoy.

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.

One step forward - two steps back = 9 Months!

We are at the 9 month mark since our LID. 9 months - the same time as a pregnancy. Just thought I'd point that out. There is a song by the Beatles called "Revolution 9" on The White Album - their drug days for sure. 9 is considered lucky in China, unlucky in Japan. Our solar system has 9 planets. Oh, yeah, I think they kicked Pluto out, so that makes 8 - never mind. Kasey Kahne drives the #9 car in NASCAR. And I love Nine West shoes!

Are we half way done - doubtful. A third done - possible. Only time will tell. With each month down, it seems the wait is another 1/2 month or longer than the month before, thus the one step forward, two steps back. Anyway, another month down!

I sure wanted a kid this weekend!

This was such a beautiful weekend here in Florida. As Sunday is coming to an end all I can think is how much fun a kid would have been this weekend. I didn't do anything fun the past two days. A few things around the house, grocery shopping, a trip to Home Depot, but nothing really fun. I want a kid to play with! One of the things I really look forward to is waking up on a Saturday and going out to have fun with my kid!

Thank God for Unanswered Prayers

Infertility is a difficult road. Not the toughest of roads for sure but a rocky one none the less. I don't know how many times I begged, prayed, asked why, but I don't anymore. Now I can see the amazing road infertilty has taken us on. Most obvious, we wouldn't be adopting from China and, even with the wait, I am loving the journey. I have learned so much, met amazing people and done some very cool stuff. I am getting more and more involved with Grace & Hope, which is the foster care program that I've spoken of before. We have sponsored a girl for a year, watched her grow in a loving home and I have encouraged at least 4 others to do the same. I love the work we are doing for A Heart for China, the group that brought JinMei to Jacksonville for heart surgery and planning to bring XianBi in November. I've had a blast collecting for Mia's 100 good wish quilt, attending my first Chinese New Year celebration, have made some of the best friends I've ever had and are meeting more all the time. How would I have known that I would be thankful for our infertility. Don't get me wrong, I have bad days and I won't be a 100% good until we have our child but this path is pretty cool. I know I have talked about some of this before but sometimes something happens that makes you reflect and you thank God for unanswered prayers. He IS listening, just sometimes He says "no, I got something else in store for you"!

Happy Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day and I am so very thankful for the country that I was born and live in. We are so lucky for the freedoms that we have and so many good men and women protect and have lost their lives for our freedoms. As Mia gets older I plan to expose her to her Chinese heritage but I also will teach her the value of being American. She will be American and she will have freedoms that she will not have had in China. I love this country - thank you to all who have, do and will serve America.

Happy Mothers Day

I look forward to being a mom on Mother's Day but until then I celebrate the wonderful woman that I have as a my mom, my role model and my best friend. I pray that I will be half the mom that she is and has been to me. I also am fortunate to have a wonderful mother-in-law (here with our nephew) that I want to celebrate. Mia is going to be a lucky girl to have two wonderful women for her grandmoms! Until then, I celebrate being the lucky one to have them as my mom and mom-in-law and the fact that I'm one more Mother's Day closer to being a mom! And to all you moms and waiting moms out there, I want to wish you a Happy Mother's Day.

I feel healed... mostly

Yesterday I went to my best friend from college's baby shower. She lives in NC and came down to have her shower where her parents live in Florida. It was so good to see her and to see her pregnant, that it brought tears to my eyes! There was not even a tinge of jealousy or depression. Sadly I'm guilty of those feelings over the past few years at other baby showers. (It is expecially difficult when you are going to a second (or third) shower for the same person during the same period of just trying to become a parent once) and it's still hard with the long wait but I am so happy and satisfied with our path - even though long. I feel healthier than I have been over the past - I feel healed.

7 months - so excited I could burst - not!

I know we should be excited that 7 months since our LID is behind us but I'm just not getting the giddy feeling. Gee, could it be because the last batch was all of 2 days? I don't have many down days but when word got out that the most recent batch only covered 2 days, I burst into tears. It felt like a stab in the heart. I don't doubt our path but come on, 2 days? When we started the wait was 7-8 months meaning I thought we'd be looking at a photo of our daughter about now. And now I'm not sure we'll get a referral before Christmas 2008. How can this be? I guess the good news is that we have passed 7 months and some are just logging in, so we're ahead of someone. I feel like I'm in line at Disney and the sign says "1 1/2 years from this point" and yet people are still getting in line behind me - this must be a good ride!

Happy Easter!

It's a chilly, cloudy day here in Florida but the SON has risen anyway! We sure wish Mia was here with us but it didn't stop my mom from bringing a beautiful Easter basket with a ton of stuff for her. She will know she was loved long before she joined us.

A Heart for China

Great news! Two days after JinMei went home, Matthew (the translator) was contacted about another little girl named Xianbei ("Che-in-bay" - on the right) who also needs heart surgery. Well we received word yesterday that the medical group that did JinMei's surgery, Patrons of the Hearts, has agreed to take on Xianbei's surgery! We have A LOT of work to do because they have her slated for a September surgery. We are also working on turning our group "A Heart for China" into a real incorporated 501(c)(3) charity! How amazing! So keep our charity (and Xianbei of course) in your prayers that we will continue to grow and find ways to do this kind of work! Who knew God had this work lined up for me - He is awesome!

10 YEARS!!

Today is Mike and my 10 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe we've been married for 10 years! I'm actually very proud of ourselves! It has not always been easy and the difficulty of infertility certainly did not help but in a way I almost think it has made us stronger. It really put us on the same page of wanting a child so badly to jump through all the hoops to adopt. Six years ago when we first started to try to get pregnant, it was a conversation kind of like "are we ready to try?" "sure" and then off we went. But with adoption you really need to be together and then show your social worker you are united on the issue and then she has to writes to China and tell them how you are on the same page! Talk about unity! Anyway, the first 10 years have been about ourselves and we look forward to the next 10 years being about parents!

Cyber Shower Gifts!

In the past few days I have gotten 2 cyber shower gifts - one from my Ladybugs & Red Thread Believers group, from Karmen and the other from my August 2006 DTC group, Kelly. They are both so cute - I have finally posted a photo! Thank you so much to both of you guys! I had skipped the last cyber showers because they were right after Chistmas but I forgot how much fun it was to get a surprise in the mail! Thanks again guys!!

New Horizons

I have been so bad about blogging! Things have been crazy since the "China Crew", JinMei, her mom and Matthew the translator, went back home to China on Feb 28th. Within 4 days of them leaving we got an email that a 17 year old girl went to Matthew to tell him that her sister needs heart surgery and she had heard he had helped JinMei! We are now gaining medical records and working on bringing her here too! The group that did the surgery, Patrons of the Heart, said they would do one surgery a year for a child from China (they do about 4-5 free surgeries a year for kids from all over the world)! This is all very exciting! We are working on turning our group "A Heart for China" into a real charity! God works in amazing ways!

The other big "news" is that we passed our 6 month anniversary of being logged in yesterday. The day came and went with mixed feelings - happy that it's already been 6 months and it seemed pretty quick, sad that it could be another 18 months. Oh well, it is what it is! Mike and I did go out to dinner to "celebrate" the milestone. And we move on....

Chinese New Year!

Last night was my local FCC group's Chinese New Year celebration with almost 500 people - 150 of them kids! It was so much fun! Some of the highlights included JinMei signing a song to the whole group, ribbon dancers, fan dancers and the lion dance to finish the night. We had a silent auction, raffle prizes, kids crafts (which I was in charge of!), photographers and a sit down dinner.

I won a great raffle prize - the "waiting family" basket. It has a bunch of stuff for our travel to China including packing vacuum bags, diaper rash creme, bottle opener, a thermos, a flash light, a book light, a travel journal and it goes on and on.



I also got a beautiful gift from Matthew, the translator with JinMei. (The photo here is me, Matthew and JinMei). It's called a love ball and it's shown here. He says where he is from they do not do arranged marriages like most of China but allow the girl to choose a husband. At a certain festival at a certain time of the year everyone gets together and the girl throws the ball to the man she wants to marry. He can choose to catch it or not. It is so beautiful and a gift I will cherish forever!


I am so sad that JinMei, her mom and Matthew will be leaving on Tuesday but I know they are all ready to be home again. It has been an AMAZING experience. I am so blessed to have been a part of their trip here - I pray our paths will cross again! Have a good start! which is how Matthew says they say Happy New Year in China!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is Chinese New Year and welcoming the Year of the Pig! If my calculations and expectations are right, Mia Jade should be born in the Year of the Pig and that's suppose to be very good luck! So here's to our pig baby! I hope this new year brings a turn around in referral times. I still think we will see an increase until they get through 2005 LID's which will probably be July but then I hope we will see a turn around at that point. I am very excited about our FCC group's celebration next Saturday where we have RSVP's for almost 500 people! I will be sure to post pictures of that! Until then, Happy New Year!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mike and I both took the day off of work to spend Valentine's Day together. We went to the zoo and it was a beautiful day - sunny and in the 60's! A very nice way to spend the day with my husband. Hope everyone else had an equally nice day!

Isn't this a cool picture - this giraffe was right up at the observation deck!

5 months since LID - almost 1 year from start

Today marks 5 months from our LID - very exciting. If "the wait" can settle around 20 months, then we'd be 25% through. Pretty good. We are also approaching the 1 year mark from when we started this journey. We mailed our application on Feb. 20, 2006 and got our approval notice on Feb. 24th, 2006. What a year! I did think we would be much closer to our Mia Jade by now when we started but I have accepted reality and am okay with the longer wait. I think the main reason is because I still know we are on our path to our baby where as a year ago, before we agreed on the adoption, I was lost and sad. Everyday now I know Mia is in my heart and she grows everyday - she's just taking longer to cook than I originally planned! But I know she's coming! I love the journey we are on. The wonderful people I have met, the things I have learned and the culture I am experiencing. I love this journey.

JinMei's doing great!

JinMei is continuing to rebound like only a kid can! I visited her yesterday and I think I impressed her by asking her in Chinese how she was doing. (That's one of about four phases I've learned so far in my attempt to learn some Chinese before our trip next year!) What she said in response I'm not sure but she smiled and nodded so I guess that's good! She then showed me a toy she was playing with that asks "show me a B" and then you push the "B" and it goes on to other letters. She was doing it! This is a kid that did not know a word of English two weeks ago! She is so smart. I was amazed! We also had a tricycle race - she beat me. The translator said there was not way she could have done that kind of activity level before her surgery. Now she looks like a regular kid just one week after open heart surgery! This has been such a cool thing to be a part of!

JinMei's surgery

JinMei had her surgery yesterday and everything went as planned. She is a brave, tough little girl, as well as her mom. It is so wonderful that Patrons of the Hearts did this surgery for free. Thank you for all the prayers - keep them coming during her recovery!

It's Worth the Wait!

What a Gotcha Day photo!! This is my friend Laureen who just got her baby Isabel a few hours ago. I've never seen a happier pair! Laureen has already posted on her blog that every painful moment of the wait was worth it and has been washed away! I am so happy for her and Isabel!!

JinMei is Here!

She arrived Thursday morning (1-18-07) and she is even more beautiful in real life. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about, I spoke of her in a previous post on 12-8-06). She is so tiny - she looks like she's 6 or 7 instead of 9! They went to work right away - she had a 3 hour doctor appointment on Thursday (after a flight from China!) where they determined her heart condition was not as bad as they feared, which is very good news, but it is a condition that still does need surgery. Yesterday she had a cardiac cath so they could gather more information on her condition and her surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday (1-23-07). It's an amazing thing to bring a little girl half way around the world for a life saving surgery! The group doing the surgery called Patrons of the Heart said something about doing a child a year from China! Wouldn't that be incredible! Back to JinMei, there is a website and blog created that has more photos of her, updates on her progress and ways you can help; please visit A Heart for China. Please keep her in your prayers!

4 Months down - now we're talkin!

So, today is 4 months since our LID and it's really gone by pretty quickly. The current wait is at 16 months. If it could stay there (or even go up and come back down to 16 months), then we are 25% through our wait. That sounds pretty good. Unfortunately the wait has been continuing to grow. I think (hope) the worst case scenario would be 20 months, which would put us at May 2008 and that would mean we are 20% through - I can handle that! So we will continue to wait and watch the wait and count the months. 4 down, ? to go! Congrats to my fellow 9/06'ers for 4 successful waiting months!

P.S. We got our 25th square & wish for our "100 good wish quilt" today which means we have 25% of our squares - could it be a good luck sign that we are 25 % through our wait - that would be nice!

I have a HAPPY husband!

As you may know, we are big football fans - Mike a huge Florida Gator fan (and me a Florida State Nole). Well, last night the Florida Gators won the National Championship! I did NOT enjoy the last time, 1996, the Gators won the National Championship because they beat the Noles to do it. But last night I actually enjoyed watching the Gators prove the nation wrong, that they DID deserve to play in the championship game and they destroyed the Buckeyes! Mike is SO excited. Congrats to all you in the Gator Nation!

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!!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday (ugh, 37!!) and I wanted to share some of the kind gifts given to me.

First, my big present from Mike. If you have followed my blog at all you know I'm a huge NASCAR and Jimmie Johnson fan. So all you ladies out there don't get too jealous but I got a J.J. signed #48 car door!! Yes sheet metal and I couldn't love it more! I know it's weird but my husband knows me well! If you are wondering where you put such an item, we are working on our gameroom and it will be a very cool addition!

Next, my parents got me a beautiful picture book about China and a Precious Moment that I've never seen before - it's the little girl with a ladybug on her bow! If you look closely, she also has ladybugs printed on her dress! They also gave me some warm golf clothes since this is the first winter I've played golf - am I spoiled or what!



From my in-laws I got a ladybug bracelet - very precious.

And Mike's sister and her family gave me a memory book where you take a hand print of your child on a regular basis, like every birthday and note some of your child's favorites at that time. The entire website called Once Upon a Family has some pretty neat keepsake stuff. Also I got the new Carl Haissen book from them.

And just in time for yesterday's Florida State (my team) vs. Florida (Mike's team) game, a "house divided" flag from my wonderful brother! Perfect timing! It will also probably live in the gameroom.

I love my birthdays, except for the getting older part. I'm still such a kid, but the hardest part is another birthday without being a mother. I pray so hard that I will have a photo by next birthday!

Jimmy/ie News!!

We just got back from seeing Jimmy Buffett Thursday in Tampa! We had a great time! Jimmy always puts on a great show - this was show #4 for us. We went with Mike's sister Jenn (next to Mike) and her husband Steve as well as a couple friends of theirs, Jill and Mac. The show was at the outdoor amphitheater and it was a beautiful night. Even though the temperature was a little cool, with all the people, it got so comfortable we kicked off our shoes and danced under the stars! Thanks for a great night Jimmy!



The other "Jimmy News" is that my favorite NASCAR driver, Jimmie Johnson #48 just won the NASCAR Championship! Yeah Jimmie!!!

Our First Testimonial!

We have our first public testimonial for our cookbook! Theresa from Expecting from China bought our cookbook at the CCAI Reunion in Orlando last week and posted on her blog about our book - thank you Theresa! It turns out that we are in a common Yahoo group, the Red Thread and Ladybug believers! If you are interested in learning more about our cookbook, please go to our blog Cookbook for Mia Jade or email me. Thank your for all your support!

2 Months!

Today we celebrate our 2 month anniversary since our LID!
Baby steps and milestones!

100 Good Wishes Quilt

I decided to participate in a Northern China tradition to make a Bai Jia Bei or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a quilt made up of fabric squares from friends and family. They also are asked to give a card with a wish or prayer for the baby with a small piece of the fabric attached so the square on the quilt can be linked those who gave that piece. The quilt is a culmination of good wishes and prayers. I hope Mia has it for years to come and passes it down through generations.

I have signed up for an exchange of quilt squares with two of my Yahoo groups and here are Mia's first four squares along with their wish cards. They are from to four wonderful ladies/families from my Ladybug and Red Thread Believers group (I love this group)! I will post more as I get them.



(If you are interested in participating, I would love your square! The minor rule besides what is mentioned above is that the fabric should be 8"x8" after being washed and dried. Thank you!)

Cyber Baby Shower

I have joined a few Yahoo chat groups since the start of our adoption process to connect with others who are also going through the crazy world of Chinese adoption. One of my groups is called Ladybugs and Red Thread Believers and we had our first cyber baby shower where we each sent another person of the group a baby shower gift. The theme of our first shower was ladybugs so here is my first baby shower gift, thanks to Melinda who is also waiting for a Mia! Thank you Melinda!

A little about me...

While we wait for this month's referrals that were suppose to come out last week and now have been so delayed that it looks like we are not going to have any referrals in October, I came up with some things you may not know about me (Kelly). I say that like you may want to know, but you're here and there are no new referral pictures to look at, so what the heck!

1. I'm the nurse manager/surgery center administrator for a group of 4 plastic surgeons - that one always gets people talking.


2. I was in Alpha Chi Omega at the University of North Florida.


3. We are big football fans. Mike is a University of Florida Gator fan and I'm a Florida State Seminole fan - big rivals. (And they play on my birthday this year!) But we agree in pro football - this is our seventh year of being season ticket holders to the Jacksonville Jaguars.


4. We're big NASCAR fans. I love Jimmie Johnson #48. Mike likes Ryan Newman #12. Mike and I even got to drive a NASCAR car at Talladega with the Dale Jarrett Driving Experience - very cool.


5. I just started playing golf for the first time this summer. Mike is a golf course superintendent and I figure after almost 10 years of marriage, I'd give it a try!


6. I did Ironman Florida twice (in 1999 & 2000). That's a triathlon where you do a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2mile/marathon run. My best time was 13 hours and 22 minutes. I definatley not in that kind of shape now.


7. I'm a beach person - I love to surf (even though I'm not very good at it), we live 3 blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, we are both Florida natives, and my favorite place to vacation is the Florida Keys - a family vaction spot since I was a kid.


8. I told my mom when I was in middle school that I would not be able to have children but it was okay because I was going to adopt from China - weird huh.


9. I'm a Christian and attend a Methodist Church


10. I love all kinds of music, but my favorites are The Beatle, U2 and Jimmy Buffett.

So that's a little bit about me...bring on the referrals!!

Salsa Girls!

My favorite blog, Salsa in China by Mary Mia & Rod, got their twins yesterday! It's crazy - when I started following her blog earlier this year they had already been waiting a long time and were frustrated about their long wait. Then when referrals came out in July, they missed their log in date by one day. She was devastated, so upset to have to wait again. Then a month later we watched as their referral finally came and they found out they had twins! Now we watch their trip to China to get them! It's amazing to follow their story and their story is our story, just fast forward (probably not the twins but it's possible!). Congratulations to the beautiful Salsa family and thank you for letting us follow your journey!

It's fall and it's busy

I can't believe it's been over a week since I have written. So much is going on! Besides being busy at work (what' new) I've been so busy with so many other things. It always seems like the fall is such a busy time. The cookbook sales are going great and we are about to place a second order with the publisher for another 400 books! I can't believe we have sold almost 400 in 4 weeks! Mom is working a booth at a church fall festival tomorrow to sell books while I am helping a friend at another church fall festival where we are raising money to help a little girl in China come to Jacksonville for heart surgery. It's a really neat project that I have gotten involved in with a lady I met in our local Familes with Children from China chapter. On top of that I have found a speaker for our next Waiting Families meeting - a pediatrician that has done mission trips all over the world and puts together medical travel packets for families traveling to adopt internationally. Plus I received (and mailed) my first cyber baby shower gift! I can't wait for shower day - October 30. I have gotten involved with a couple Yahoo groups that are made up of people at the same stage of adoption from China as we are. To make the wait a little more fun we are each going to be assigned a person every other month to send a present to like a baby shower and each shower will have a theme - the first theme is LADYBUGS! It will be a lot of fun. I'll post pictures when I get to open my present. And on top of all of that, Mike and I are finally getting around to finishing our game room. When we built our house a few years ago we left one room unfinished, basically a basement (yes a basement in Florida!) that we could not afford to finish out. And when I say unfinished, I mean concrete floors and walls and nothing else. It was the one room Mike was most looking forward to - a place for him to go play! Well, we are finally working on it with the wonderful help of my brother. It will be awesome and should be done by Thanksgiving - just in time for the Florida (Mike's team) vs Florida State (my team - even though they're awful this year) game. Wow - that's a lot going on! No wonder I'm tired!

1 Month Anniversary!

So during "the wait" you don't have many milestones like during the paper-chase so I'm going to celebrate monthly anniversaries and today is one month since our LID! Only ??? many more months! All of the "experts" and "recreational experts" all have different opinions on how long the wait from log in to referral will be. Some say, including mom who reads everything she can find on the internet, says that CCAA will speed up (the current wait is 14 months), then others say it's only going to get worse, as bad as 24 months. Whatever it takes, we will wait - because that's how long it will take to bring Mia home to us! So for now, one month down now matter how long! And it was pretty painless so far - Yeah us!

Thank you!

I've been so busy this past week that I haven't had a chance to post any messages, read other blogs and I've barely checked my email. The good news is that our cookbooks are a big hit - I'm so excited. Thank you to everyone who has helped us by giving a recipes, telling a friend, buying a book. It's been great fun, financially helpful for our goal to get daughter home and a great thing to keep and show Mia when she is older. It's really been a lot of fun. We have plenty left so don't forget about us when it comes time to get Christmas presents!