Secret Pal Strikes Again!

Our August theme was Keeping Baby Safe, and Lauren sure will be safe now! First of all, check out how my Pal decorated the shipping box...each side is different.






The box was filled with little gifts wrapped in red tissue...











and each had their own tag with a hint of what was inside.











Here's the hints and what the gifts were:

• Would Lauren be safe if she was swinging like a monkey in front of the window when you weren't looking? - cord wind-ups for blinds


• Would Lauren be safe if her momma couldn't see her big brown eyes on the way to the park with Addy & Lucy? - rear view mirror for the car so I can see Lauren in the back seat


• Would Lauren be safe if she decided to walk out of the house late one night to go visit one of her China sisters? - adorable soft, Asian doll for Lauren to hug


• Would Lauren be safe from the fashion police if she didn't have these? - totally cute barrettes


• Would Lauren be safe is she unbuckled her car seat and climbed up front to drive with her momma? - "Hands off" buckle covers (pretty cool idea!)


• Would Lauren be safe if she had nothing to cover that beautiful skin of hers? - totally adorable, Asian style PJ's


• Would Lauren feel safe at home if she knew one of her little China sisters was here with her? - door knob covers. This one also says it's a clue to who my Pal is. Hmmmm....wonder if this means it's someone who will be in China when we are?


• Would Lauren be safe if she accidentally gave herself a shocking frizzy perm? - shock guards for the outlets


• Would Lauren be safe running across the room to give her momma a big kiss with hair in her eyes? - snag free rubber bands

My favorite items are this adorable doll...


and these oh so cute Asian inspired PJ's...


Thank you, Secret Pal, you are the best!

Scrapbooking day...

I had a really nice day over Michele's house today. We had lunch, tried out her Cricut machine and I put together a scrapbook layout for my exchange this month.

First of all, Michele is such a perfect hostess....for lunch she served baked salmon, veggie lasagna, and a spinach salad. Later on we had cream puffs with berries in Grand Marnier. Everything was so tasty and the dessert was wonderful!!

For those of you interested in the Cricut, here's a sample of what you can do with it. We cut out the ovals first (they have slits on them to feed the ribbon), then the shadow background for the letters, then the actual letters. It's really easy to use and pretty quick. If you like to use die cuts on your layouts, I think you would love this machine.




Here's the layout I put together, with some help from Michele, for my exchange this month. Michele had a great idea that I had never tried before...she put a tiny piece of foil in the center of the mirror embellishment to make it reflective. Very cute...that's an idea I will definitely use again.

Scrapbook swap...

I received my August layout from Sara of the Ladybug Hunters Scrapbook Club. Our theme this month is Bath Time. Check out this adorable layout! I love the hidden journaling tag and the adorable embellishments.


Sara, thank you very much for this layout...it's a great addition to my album!

Post-referral sunshine...

Through all this post-referral depression, there is a shining light...Christi finally has her referral to Abbey!!! She is simply adorable.

Congratulations, Christi, your day has finally come and I'm so happy for you!!!

Referrals are in...

Just got an e-mail from our agency saying that they received 10 referrals today for LID's between 7/14/05 and 7/22/05. All babies are from the Guangdong province, so an extra five days in China for all these families.

So the CCAA ONLY matched 9 days worth of LID's since last month. Ughhh!!! So families with a 7/23 LID are now firmly planted at a 14 month wait! Wow, to think that the wait was 6-8 months when we started all this last year!

I wish we knew the CCAA's grand plan for things. This waiting each month to see how many referrals crank out is for the birds!! I'm getting flashbacks of waiting each month to dip the stick for the pregnancy test....only this may be worse because it's so TOTALLY out of our control!

Sorry, I'm just suffering from post-referral depression (PRD). Kind of like PMS, only no meds will help! I'm pretty much 100% sure you all can relate. ;)

Nothing much new, except my blog look...

Nothing much is going on lately and since I can't get motivated to do house projects, why not create a new look for my blog. A girl needs a change every once in a while, right?

One of our local FCC-AZ Waiting Families, Nancy & Brian, just started a blog for their journey to Lily. They were LID last August 26th, so the stork is due to fly for them sometime soon! Check out their pretty blog Lily of the Valley, which was designed by another local waiting momma, Heather.

Although I have nothing new and exciting going on, there must be some excitement in Blogville. Anyone care to share?

Oh, by the way, do you guys find it strange that with all the computer savvy that Blogger has, they can't seem to figure out how to make the post spell checker ignore the words "blog" and "blogger." Just think that's kinda funny.

6 Month Anniversary...

We have been logged in for six months today, so if things don't slow down any further we're at the half-way point to referral...woohoo!! This month is also our one year anniversary of submitting our application to adopt from China.

I can remember watching National Geographic's China's Lost Girls last July and thinking about all those abandoned children and that maybe one of those children could be our daughter. Over the last year, each day seemed to tick by oh so slowly, but overall it seems like just a flash and here we are now. It's funny how that happens.

I'm thinking that this six month mark might give us the motivation to get our projects done at home so we can move onto putting together the nursery. I've been wanting to paint and redecorate our master bedroom and bath, then clear out our junk room before starting the nursery. Usually I'm right on top of any kind of redecorating project with no procrastination, but for some reason I just haven't been moving forward with these projects.

Lately, I've been thinking that maybe subconsciously I'm afraid to move forward for fear of actually getting everything done and being ready to do the nursery. There's something about getting the nursery together that scares me a little....like if the nursery is done, we're going too far and what if something happens with the adoption. I know it's not practical to wait until we get our referral to do everything, but it seems like it's still not "real" enough to proceed.

Has anyone else been stuck at this same point? If so, how did you get past it? Any words of wisdom from Blogville?

Good wishes just in...

Check out the latest additions to Lauren's Good Wishes Book here.

Furbaby...

Lucy loves her daddy. Anytime Joe sits on the chair in the family room, Lucy is by his side.





If he stops petting her, she sits up and lifts her paw.

When she really wants to lay on the charm, she leans her head against the chair and gives him an adoring look that can't be resisted.

What would we all do without our furbabies?? They really do help us through this wait, don't they?

If you have a cute photo of your furbaby, leave a comment here and post a photo...I'd love to see your baby too. ;)

Box came from Salt Lake...

Check out what I bought for Lauren's room while in Salt Lake here.

Had a great time in Salt Lake...

I'm back from Salt Lake City and had a fabulous time with my bloggy friends! Lisa W. was the perfect hostess and gave us a whirlwind tour of Salt Lake.

She picked me up at the airport on Friday at noon and we headed back to her place. She has an absolutely adorable 1920's bungalow...it's so charming and full of character. Her street has great big trees and lots of greenery, very different than my neighborhood here in Arizona.

Lisa S. and Mary-Mia also arrived on Friday and we all headed up to Park City, a ski town which was home to the 2002 Olympic skiing events. We stopped by Olympic Park to check out the site of the ski jump and bob-sleigh events. After that we had a nice, leisurely lunch (of course, Mary-Mia had tacos) and did some shopping.

On Saturday morning, Lisa W.'s mom, Sunny, came over to make us all a special treat for breakfast. She made the most wonderful Norwegian pancakes that we filled with butter, jam, and sour cream and sprinkled with powdered sugar...YUM!

As we were finishing breakfast, Tiffany, who also lives in Salt Lake, and Julie, who's flight had just gotten in, arrived at Lisa's. Since all the Utah trip bloggy ladies were all together, Mary-Mia and Lisa S. gave us some goodies they had brought along.


Mary-Mia had these adorable little shirts printed up with our daughters' names on them and Lisa S. gave us each a goodie bag filled with fun stuff....mine had ladybug playing cards, an adorable photo album and a ladybug memo cube.

We spent the day doing some shopping and then we stopped by Tiffany's house, which was built in the 1950's. She's done lots of renovating and the place is really cute. Just like Lisa's place, it's filled with lots of great character.

Here's Lisa W. with Tiffany's baby, Beau.

Saturday night we had some great Thai food and Lisa S., Lisa W., Julie, and I stayed up late chatting and laughing...it was a really nice evening.

Sunday morning we all met up and saw the weekly performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...it was a beautiful and touching performance. This is the longest running weekly broadcasted performance in history and they have it down to a science. It was quite a treat to see them perform live.

Mary-Mia had to head out to catch her flight after that, and Lisa W., Lisa S., Julie, and I took a walk through Temple Square. After that, Lisa S. drove us up to the Snowbird ski resort and we took this massive tram ride up to the top of the tallest peak (12,000 ft elevation). I was pretty nervous on the tram, but it sure was beautiful once we got up there. The next thing on our agenda was the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island State Park where antelope and buffalo roam free. We didn't see any antelope, but we drove through a big heard of buffalo including a momma with her two babies. They crossed the road right in front of us and were just about 10 feet away....pretty cool. We had a full day on Sunday, so we just chilled out that night and took it slow and relaxed a little on Monday.

Lisa W., thank you so much for opening your home to us and spending your time keeping us entertained. I so enjoyed meeting you and Mesa, who by the way, is the sweetest dog ever! Mesa really is 90lbs of snuggle fun as Lisa has said before on her blog...I definitely found that out first hand as Mesa came in to say good-night my first night there.

Great weekend ahead....

Well, I head out tomorrow morning to Salt Lake City for a girl's weekend with some bloggy friends. I can't wait to meet Lisa W, Julie, Lisa S, Mary-Mia, and Tiffany!

It seems so strange that I'm actually going to meet these ladies. I've been e-mailing back and forth with Lisa W. and Julie for many months now and we have been following along on each others' journey. Blogville is a funny place...you feel like you really get to know people through their blogs. When I started this journey, I never imagined that I would actually be heading off to meet bloggy friends who are such a big part of my support network. I originally started poking around on the internet just to get some adoption questions answered and I quickly discovered a whole world of support and friendship.

By the way, Lisa W, I got my hair chopped so I'm glad you recently posted some photos of yourself on your blog so I can recognize you at the airport! Otherwise, you would be holding up a limo driver sign that says "Looking for Lauren's Momma". ;)

Thanks for the wishes...

Instead of quilt squares, I've been collecting Good Wishes scrapbook pages. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent a page for Lauren!

I'm putting a book together and hope to collect 100 pages. I'm up to 25 so far, and here's a look at all the beautiful pages...


| View | Add Favorite

If you would like me to send you a scrapbook packet to create an 8" x 8" page, please let me know and I'll get one out to you.

Fun birthday gifts...

This past Friday was my birthday and I had a really nice day. Even though I had to work, my day started off perfectly when I spotted a card sitting on my keyboard with a Starbucks gift certificate. To me, that's the perfect gift since I LOVE that place!

Just as I got back from my Starbucks run, Michele stopped in with the prettiest gift bag full of all kinds of really fun scrapbooking supplies, including a Xyron sticker maker!

I had a busy weekend and haven't tried it yet, but I can't wait to give it a try. I'm sure it's filled with possibilities for scrapbooking and card making.

Michele, thank you so much!! This gift was so thoughtful and just perfect for me!

I had just finished opening up the gift from Michele, when Kim stopped in with a big, heavy box wrapped in the cutest laydbug wrapping paper.

Check out this pretty dessert set with an asian flair! It comes with 4 mugs and plates of matching designs, spoons and forks....just perfect for having friends over for coffee and chocolate cake. Any takers?? ;)

Thanks Kim, I love this set and will use it often.

Today, Joe and I were hanging out by the pool at our friend, Linda Marie's house and she gave us the cutest set of his and hers beach towels. Check out the ladybug trim on my towel...too cute!

She also gave me the cutest doggie frame for Addy's & Lucy's photos and an Asian baby doll that's so soft and adorable for Lauren.



Thanks, Linda, for these great gifts and a nice, relaxing day by the pool.

Secret Pal strikes again...

Our July theme is Fun on the Long Trip to China. Thank you, Secret Pal, for the awesome box of goodies!

Check out how my Pal decorates the shipping box according to the theme...how cute is this!

My goodies include:

• Movie & TV Trivia Puzzle Book
  
• TV Guide Crossword Puzzle Book
  
• Travel Checker Game
  
• Chinese Stamps & Ink Pad
  
• Sleeping Mask (how did you know I have trouble sleeping on planes?)
  
• Two Mini Fans (and that I'm always hot on planes?)
  
• Special Socks (to help with circulation)
  
• Ty Panda Bear for Lauren to snuggle with on the trip home (I notice his name is Fortune, which is very fitting since we feel very fortunate to make the trip)
  

and last but not least, she made this wonderful CD of relaxing music called Just Relax - The Orient.

Thank you so much, my Pal, you totally spoil me...but I love it!

FCC Directory...

We got our Families with Children from China 2006 local membership directory in the mail today.

It was so cool to see our info listed among all the other Arizona adoptive families! We have 215 families listed in the directory, and it's so heart warming to flip through the pages and see all the beautiful children living right here in Arizona.

I'm hoping that our family photo with Lauren will be listed in the 2007 directory!

Waiting families get together...

Last night was our monthly FCC-Arizona Waiting Families meeting. It was hosted by Megan and Scott and their beautiful daughter, Maya, who has been home for four months now. It seems like we had record high attendance at the meeting and several babies, which is always fun. There was also a family there who just got their referral with the June batch and brought along their photos and info on Fiona to share.

After the meeting, a group of us got together at Rock Bottom Brewery to hang out for a while (click on the smaller photos to see a larger version).
Front left are Nancy & Brian (who were LID in late August '05), next to them are Heather & Damon (who are paperchasing and hoping to be DTC in September), then Kim & Scott (who were LID in late July '05). Joe and I are in the back row along with Michele (who was LID in late September '05).

Here's a shot of Joe and Damon (Heather and I didn't make it into this one)...

Kim & Scott...

and Nancy & Brian.


Here's all the very excited mommas to be:

Nancy, me, Michele, Heather, and Kim. It's been a great experience getting to know these wonderful ladies and sharing this journey with them. I hope we continue to be friends and get to know each other better throughout our adoption journey.

The hippo and the tortoise...

A friend of mine sent me these photos taken in Nairobi of a baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast and has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa.

www.flickr.com

The story that came along with the photos was as follows:

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, 2004 before wildlife rangers rescued him.

"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

"After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added. "The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.

"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.

I thought this was such a heartwarming story and wanted to share it with my bloggy friends.

Slideshow...

I decided to try a slideshow like I've seen on some other blogs. This one covers our paperchase and a little beyond...

Five months and counting...

Our dossier will be logged in for five months tomorrow. Truth be known, the time since we've been logged in has gone pretty darn fast. Don't get me wrong, this waiting sucks, but we've been keeping petty busy and still have lots to do in the house before we're ready for Lauren.

Right now, our dossier is in a gigantic pile somewhere at the CCAA like the piles you see in this matching room photo. Unfortunately, it will be many months yet before our dossier sees the inside of this room. Hopefully, we'll make it there by next January or February and have our referral by March. Wow, another 8 months before we get a glimpse of our daughter...sounds like a LONG time, doesn't it?

Scrapbooking Swap...

I've really been enjoying our Ladybug Hunters Scrapbooking Club. It's fun to see what everyone comes up with for our exchange each month. I just finished my 8" x 8" layout to send to Christie and she is doing a layout for me. She had my name last month too and sent me an adorable Summer Fun layout.

Here's the layout I'm sending off to Christie and I sure hope she likes it! I had a lot of fun putting it together.

Expectant Cousin??

I was surfing the Cafe Press adoption shops and came across Julie's Invisible Red Thread Shop. I love her designs and asked if she would consider doing a shirt for my nieces who are very excited about meeting their cousin someday.

Well, Julie whipped up an adorable expectant cousin shirt with a design on the front and back. You have to check it out, because if you have nieces you may need to order one for them. She is also offering it in child sizes for younger kids too.

For me, I love her "Wait, Hope, Dream, Repeat" design.

Happy Shopping!

Fun stuff...

Check out this pretty box that came in the mail last week.

It's a thank you gift from Kim, of Our Journey to Grace, and it was filled with adorable little goodies for Lauren.
The sunglasses and little hair curlies are so cute and I totally love the ladybug hair clips. They are going to look absolutely adorable with her ladybug cardigan and onesie from Gymboree...






Thanks again, Kim, you're such a sweetie!

This and that...

Joe and I have been home on vacation this week. We had big plans of cleaning out our junk room and setting it up as an exercise room while we actually had some time, but I was sick for two days of our time off. I spent that time basically going between the sofa/bed and the bathroom...it wasn't a pretty picture at all!

I'm feeling better now and we actually did get some stuff done, just not exactly as planned. We bought a new 4-drawer filing cabinet and I went through all our files and purged and reorganized them into new folders...not a fun project, but when I was done it felt darn good.

We did salvage some of the week and had fun hanging out with a few friends on the 4th of July. Also, Joe and I saw the Disney movie, Cars...if you haven't seen this yet, it's TOTALLY adorable and well worth the time. We hit a local casino today and I won $80 on a slot machine (that money is now tucked away in my Coach purse fund). I'm saving up for either the new signature, reversible tote or the new mia satchel. I haven't decided yet which one, but between the cash I've been socking away and my birthday coming up at the end of the month I'm pretty sure one of these is in my future. ;)

We took Lucy to the groomers on Thursday morning since she was long overdue for a haircut. Here she is looking pretty shaggy before we left...

and here she is all washed up, trimmed, fluffed, and hot oiled. The hot oil is a little extra, but she smells so good afterwards.