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.