Matching and nursery update...

Well, according to RQ matching has begun at the CCAA. FINALLY!!! I'm dying to know how far they will get this month. I feel like we are SO close, yet SO far at the same time. If only they could kick out an 8 day batch, that would put a nice dent in the 39 days that separates us from our referral. Come on, CCAA...you can do it!

I have a few friends from my Yahoo DTC group (Hope, Susan, and Emily) who should be getting their referral and I just can't wait to see their pics! All of them will be first time mommas and I'm SO excited for them!

Over the weekend, Joe did a little project in the nursery. Click here for an update.

Impatience...

There are 39 days separating last month's referral batch with our log in date and I'm getting more and more impatient! I knew the waiting would get harder the closer we got, but it's harder than I thought it would be.

Wren's Referral Estimator is pointing towards October for our referral and China Adoption Forecast is predicting August as their weighted average based on past statistics and December based on last month's referrals.

I've been trying to prepare myself for December and trying not to focus on referrals each month, but I'm not having much luck. I have a hard time concentrating on other things for the week or so before referrals come out...I guess I'm still holding out hope that a surprise large batch will appear out of nowhere. I know...that bubble should have burst MONTHS ago! I wish there was a way to forget about everything until our agency calls one day.

More for the closet...

I know we don't need anything else for Lauren's closet right now, but we couldn't help picking up this adorable jacket at Target today on sale for $8. It's looking like it will probably be cold in China when we travel. If so, we'll bring this...


I LOVE the colors in this pretty little dress...it matches the nursery!


Well, here's to starting our monthly roller coaster ride. Rumors should start rolling in this week! Let's all keep our fingers crossed for at least at 8 day batch.

26th LIDversary...

Well, today is our 26th LIDversary.

For some reason this milestone is hitting kind of hard. I think it's because it marks waiting exactly 20 months longer than we had expected. By the time we get Lauren, it will be close to the 3 year mark.

Also, with Joe turning 44 this coming Sunday and me right behind him, I'm just getting bummed out and feel a little cheated by the system. We should have been able to enjoy being parents at age 42 and 43 instead of waiting until 44. I'm sure others in this situation can relate.

Ok...end of whine session.

Comfort food, anyone?

Potatoes, bacon, sour cream and mayo...need I say more? Here's a good recipe to whip up if you need some comfort food with the next batch of referrals...


We had some friends over from our Waiting Families group for a bar-b-que and a couple of people asked for this recipe.

Potato Salad

2 pounds of potatoes (I use Yukon Gold for the smooth, creamy texture)
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo (not miracle whip for this one)
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions, plus more for garnish
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, plus more for garnish
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

Peel the potatoes and boil them whole in salted water until tender (about 15 minutes) Drain well and cut into small pieces. In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream and mayo; add the potatoes when slightly cooled; add the scallions and bacon; season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate at least an hour for the flavors to blend. To serve, garnish with the extra bacon and scallions.

Now, get a plate and fork and enjoy!

It almost seems real...

when you put the crib up, doesn't it? It's one thing to have it in a box propped up against the wall for two years, but it's quite another thing to actually have it assembled in the room!

Click here for pics.

Is she born?

Over the past week or so I've had this feeling that Lauren may be born. I've had a passing thought of this before, but for some reason now it's seems to be sticking with me. Maybe it's because I've started working on the nursery. It will be fun to find out later that her birthday is in April. Joe's birthday is April 20th, so maybe it will be around his.

Until Forever

This morning in China a mother cries
She'll never forget her daughter's eyes
Her heart is broken and filled with pain
The tears run down like the falling rain.
She has no choice but to leave her there
The cost of keeping her is too much to bear
She hopes her daughter will one day know
True love can be found in letting her go.

This morning in China a baby cries
Hungry and scared as tears fill her eyes
Her mother has left her in this public place
Another lost daughter of the Chinese race.
Someone passing by has heard her soft moan
She's soon quickly taken to a foster home
It's there she'll reside in the care of another
Until she's adopted by a brand new mother.

That very same moment, in the U.S.A.
A women cries as she starts to pray
Her heart is heavy but filled with much love
She prays for a daughter she thinks the world of.
"Dear Jesus I ask that your arms would be
Wrapped tightly around the one picked for me
Guard her in China "til I make my way
And then in my arms forever she'll stay."

Tim Fisher
December 24, 2003

Nursery & Hummingbird update...

Check here for our latest project in Lauren's room.

Sad news on our tiny tenant, but she has abandoned her nest for some reason. A day before she left there was a wind storm and one of the tiny jelly bean sized eggs fell out and broke. It was the saddest thing to see...I even got a little teary eyed over it. That night, we checked on the other egg, which looked fine. She sat on her nest for another day and then took off and never came back. I was so worried, I e-mailed a hummingbird society I found on-line and they had confirmed that if she had been gone for more than an hour she isn't coming back. Now I'm wondering if the egg that is left will hatch. Does it need the warmth and nurturing from the momma to hatch? Anyone have a clue on this?

Cookies anyone?

Anyone care to join me for some chocolate chip cookies?

I've been in full scale funk mode since rumors of this month's referral batch started. When I'm in a funk, healthy eating tends to go out the window and sweets start looking really good. When the cravings started kicking in this evening, I thought about the I Can Make You Thin guy from the TLC show and his wacky trigger point tapping technique for about one nanosecond right before I put the cookies into the oven. Oh well, so much for that show!

So, who else is totally funked out with this month's news? Five days...give me a break! After the last two 8 day batches I was having visions of actually getting a referral in September. Ha, that vision has faded and now I'm getting a sinking feeling that October or November is looking more likely. Just thinking of getting through another Christmas without our daughter is making me nauseous...wait, or is that the plate of chocolate chip cookies. Hmmmm....

Guess what we did today...

Yup, we finally painted the nursery! We did all the tape up work last night and started right in on the painting this morning.
We did two shades of violet...lighter on top and a little darker on the bottom. There's a border that will run between them at chair rail height.

It's funny how different the color looks depending on the lighting on the walls. I think it looks different in the two photos below of opposite walls. The photo on the bottom is a little truer to how it actually looks in the room.


Now that Joe has the blinds back up it looks even more different. We're going to let the paint cure for a few days and then put the border up.

What a strange feeling it is to finally paint the nursery after two years of waiting. On one hand it makes this feel more real, but then I think about the months we still have ahead. In any case it is sparking up my excitement and now I can't wait to get the border done and start decorating!

Same photo one year apart...

I just posted the most recent of these photos the other day, but I just ran across the same photo taken almost exactly one year ago. It's funny that Tess is on the left and Lily is on the right in both photos. Look at how much the girls have changed in just one year...

Hummingbird update...

I'm off again today so I've been keeping an eye on our tiny new tenant. I noticed that she actually left the nest for a little while, so I got a couple more shots. Here's the nest from the back side where it's really built up...


and here's how it looks from through the lantern...


We put out our feeder hoping that she would use it, but I don't know if she's found it yet. I think we need to get something so we can hang it up high for her.


She's back again tending to her eggs. Isn't she darling?


I did a quick Google search on hummingbird nests and our new little resident may be with us for a while. Check out this video of a patio nest. It took 40 days for the babies to hatch and be big enough to fly away. This video is awesome...

She's not paying rent...

but she's definitely moved in. This little hummingbird has taken up residence on our back patio...


It wasn't until I took these photos that I noticed she has a tiny little nest up there! If you pull the photo below up big, it looks like a nest...don't you think?


What a strange spot for her to choose. Lucy sits right under her and we bar-b-que and eat dinner out there and she just stays perched right up there. She spends hours sitting there, so I'm thinking there must be an egg in the nest.

I'm at home today and she's up there right now and I bet she'll be there most of the day. Hoping to see a baby hummingbird soon.

Baby high!

Guess who I got to hang out with this morning! I'm still on a baby high from the sheer cuteness.


Julie and Tess are in town for Easter so I met them along with Nancy and Lily at the mall for breakfast and fun at the kiddie play center.

Tess is all smiles and has a little mischievous side. Her facial expressions are so darn cute...


Lily is quite a bit more reserved, but very sweet and contemplative. She has the cutest dimples, but I just couldn't catch them on camera...


The girls had a good time playing and going down the little slide...




Tess got a new pair of sunglasses and she was modeling them for us. Could this shot be any cuter??



I had a couple of little heart melt moments...once when Lily reached out to grab my hand while walking and in the parking lot when Tess said my name as we were saying good-bye. It sounded so darn sweet. Julie, it was SOOO great to see you and Tess...it's amazing how big Tess has gotten since the last visit! I was in pure baby heaven!

25th LIDversary...

It's hard to believe that it's been over two years now!

If there was a crystal ball when we first started this and someone had told me we would be waiting over two years for our daughter, I would have never believed them!  I would have laughed and said that no one would make us wait that long to become parents...no country would put us through that. Well, I would have been wrong...very wrong.   

I spent the weekend with a few friends up in northern Arizona at a friend's cabin. We had a nice, relaxing day on Saturday and on Sunday morning we woke up to snow. I haven't been in snow for years, so it was really nice.  



Here's my little friend Ruby...


As you can see, she's a big fan of ice cream cones...

Wedding anniversary...

Joe and I were married 14 years ago today. This afternoon, I was flipping through the album I made of all the photos taken with the disposable cameras on the reception tables. I love these two photos because my grandmother is in both of them and she looked so pretty that day. She has since passed on, but I think of her often on days like today.

Here I am with my mom (she must have been on a happy pill that day) and my grandmother...


and here's Joe with my grandmother...


I so wish she was still here to meet her great-daughter. That would have been really nice.

Registry fun...

This past Saturday was a big day...we decided to start our baby registry at Babies-r-Us (BRU). We got up bright and early and went to Mimi's Cafe for a nice breakfast. We knew we wanted to be at BRU shortly after it opened since it gets packed. We were the first ones at the registry desk and it wasn't long before we were armed with this...


...our very own scanner. This is a shoppers dream come true. We started out with the strollers, then the high chairs, and then moved on from there. I think we spent the most time at the baby carriers, which is kind of silly because will we really use it after we get back from China? Some of them were so hard to figure out that we just gave up on them and we never even picked one. For those of you who are already home, do you still use yours?

This is the carrier that had the most back support, but it has a big price tag to go with it. All the other carriers seemed like they would cause back pain/shoulder pain after about an hour or so.

Here's Joe testing out the chairs...


This is the only time the poor guy got to relax during the entire 3 hour shopping spree. Who knew that registering took SO long!

We registered for two different kinds of strollers...a regular full day out stroller and a light weight stroller. The Combi Helio Ex Stroller has a unique tri-fold for traveling and it's super lightweight. The Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe is the one we selected for a full day out. For those with little ones at home, is it a good idea to have two strollers to use in different situations or is this a waste?

Also, I wasn't quite sure which type of bottles are best so I decided on the Playtex Drop-Ins and selected both the 8oz and 4 oz size, plus fast, medium and slow flow nipples. Any advice on this?

Finally into 2006!!

Oh happy day...we are finally seeing referrals for 2006 LID's!!!

So far it's looking like January 4th is the cut off this month, which means another 8 day batch. If they can keep up with 8 days per month, we would have our referral in September. It's pretty crazy to think that they are only 44 days away from our LID and it may be 6 months or longer before we have our referral.

For some reason, just knowing that families who are LID in 2006 are starting to get their referrals has gotten be excited! I can't wait to get registered and start the nursery...it's time to kick it into high gear now.

As you can see, Joe can hardly contain himself over the news...

This and that...

I've been very impatiently watching the Rumor Queen over the past week or so waiting to see how far into 2006 referrals will get. So far, it's looking like possibly January 4th, 5th or 6th. Heck, just getting into 2006 will be a MAJOR milestone at this point!

I had a really nice weekend. Saturday morning I met a few friends at a new breakfast place. My friend Jennifer and I met up with two women we used to work with and are now retired. What a wonderful life they have...grandkids, traveling on a whim, hobbies, etc.

I came home to Joe putting together his workbench for the garage. He's had that thing forever and I think the garage stool I bought him for Valentine's Day (I know, not a very romantic gift) sparked his interest in finally pulling the workbench out of the box.


As you can see, Lucy had to supervise the project...


She's always in the middle of the activity...


On Saturday afternoon I met a friend and her daughter for some shopping at a new outdoor mall. I've been pretty good about not buying too many outfits for Lauren, put the Old Navy clearance racks got my attention. These little blouses were priced from $2.99 to $4.99 and I LOVE this color. At least I took everyone's advice and started buying outfits in 2T and larger...

Thank you to...

everyone who commented on my last post! I was so surprised that so many people are following along on our long journey. It was so much fun to read through all the well wishes you all left.

At the risk of sounding really sappy, it's such a warm and fuzzy feeling to know we are not alone in this wait. I have absolutely no idea how we would get through this without the support of family, friends, and this huge on-line community we have. There are days when I curse the wait and then I think of all the people I wouldn't have met and connected with on-line if there was no wait. Don't get me wrong, a shorter wait would be GREAT, but at least we all have each other to get through this. Also, it's because of our on-line community that I know my dream of motherhood WILL eventually come true...all the forever families who continue to post once they are home give me a lot of hope.

I have a message for a couple of people who I couldn't reach....Lindsay, I'd love to have an invite to your blog, but didn't have an e-mail to contact you. You can e-mail me at suzieq1@cox.net. Hi Mary, it's SO nice to hear from you. I just love your nieces, Jadyn and Jenna. They are the sweetest little girls and just perfect for Kim and Scott (China has their matching process down pat). It's been so great being there when our local families get their referrals and then watching the children grown and develop. It gets me even more excited for our turn to come around!