Referral Party for Michele...

My friend Michele leaves for China early this Friday morning to meet baby Ava!

I can't believe she is finally leaving after such a LONG wait. This means it's getting closer for us, right? We've seen quite a few families leave for China and return with their beautiful babies...it's so much fun to watch, but I'm really looking forward to our turn someday.

Last night Laura & Dan hosted a party for her. It's always SO nice to get together with our FCC friends and I LOVE to play with the babies.

Here's Jenna and Jadyn who weren't quite walking on their own at the Chinese New Year event, but they ARE now!!

Jadyn....
and Jenna....
and Lily, who will be walking soon enough!

Favorite Foto Friday...

This is my first time participating in Donna's Favorite Foto Friday, so I've been assigned the letter "F" for first!

The challenge this week is to come up with 10 things I love that start with my assigned letter. Here goes...double click image to enlarge...

Blogger help needed!

I created a new blog header for a bloggy friend and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it on her blog. She has converted to the new Blogger and uses the new Minima template with all those darn widgets that I can't figure out. I'm getting so frustrated and hoping that someone out in Blogville can help.

I'm fine with customizing the old templates, but I just don't get the new widgets and new coding in the header section.

I would be forever indebted to anyone who can help. Please e-mail me if you have any advice. Thank you!!

Cute Outfits...

This is the last day off from the mini-vacation I took to visit with my Dad. Tomorrow it's back to work...ughhhh!

I headed over to the outlet mall to return something and instantly got sucked in like a vacuum to the brand new Gymboree outlet store. The deals turned out to be not that great, but of course once I was in there with all the adorable outfits I had to get some things.

I got a few things from their "froggy" collection, which was on the clearance rack. I love this one piece outfit and this shirt.


I think this embroidered froggy detail is so cute.

I also got this little navy blue dress with darling little pleats along the bottom with little embroidered frogs along the hem.






This little bohemian style outfit wasn't on the clearance rack, but at least it was 20% off.

I wasn't intending to get anything that wasn't on clearance, but I was in the baby clothes shopping "zone" and it was one of those days when it just felt good to buy baby stuff. I think most waiting mommas can relate. ;)

Meet Matilda...

Tilly for short. She's our new 2001 Honda Odyssey. Although she's five years old, she's not very well traveled and has only 35,500 miles. I've only been driving her for a couple of days now, but I think she'll be a good fit for me and Lauren. Although she doesn't have any bells and whistles, besides power doors and windows, she's VERY roomy and seems pretty comfortable so far.

I have a feeling that Tilly may be taking the Arizona gang to our Disney Waiting Mommas Summit in April.

This morning I dropped my Dad and Step-mom off at the airport to head back home to New York. Here's a shot of me and my Dad from this morning.

I spent the last five days hanging out with them and my brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew...we had a really nice time.

I hate saying good-bye to my Dad...we don't see each other very often and I always get teary-eyed and feel a bit down for a while. I think it's because when he leaves I realize how much I wish he lived closer. We did have a really great visit though and I'm sure we'll be seeing him again once we bring Lauren home.

12 Month LIDiversary!!!

We have been logged in for 12 months as of today!!

It's hard to believe that it's been an entire year since we started waiting. Today we join the ranks of the 1 year club! I feel like we've reached the top of the mountain and now it's a downhill slide. We are currently waiting for our appointment to get re-fingerprinted and will be meeting with our social worker soon to get our home study updated.

By the time we get all our paperwork updated and do the nursery, it won't be long after that! Congrats to everyone else who is joining the 1 year club with us with month!

I'm still here...

I've been busy this week and slacking off on posting.

My Dad and his wife are coming in today from New York for a visit. I'm SO excited to see them. I'm off work the rest of this week and don't go back until next Thursday...I've been looking forward to the time off and spending some time with my Dad.

Also this week I've been thinking about getting a little mini-business up and running as an adoption fundraiser, so I've been brainstorming some ideas and hope to get it started very soon. I've seen other waiting mommas sell taggie blankets, totes and t-shirts. I have something a little bit different in mind, so I guess I'll have to just jump in with both feet and either sink or swim. Hopefully I swim. ;)

My friend Michele leaves for China in just two short weeks! I can't wait for her to hold baby Ava for the first time. I'm especially interested in how Michele's travel goes since we are with the same agency. I'm expecting that my experience will be VERY much the same as hers and I can't wait to see how it goes.

Hope everyone has a great weekend...I know I will!

Cookie production...

I just finished packaging up cookies for the bake sale table at our local FCC Chinese New Year event tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the beautiful children, especially Jenna & Jadyn and Lily who's parents we have become friends with through our Waiting Families group.

The weather has been beautiful here lately and tomorrow should be sunny and about 78 degrees...perfect for an outdoor event!

By the way, these cookies are Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti, except I used pecans instead since I had a bag in the pantry. They are yummy!

Out of review, so NOW what??

This post is for family and non-waiting parent friends who aren't quite sure what it means to be out of review and what comes next.

First, a little adoption terminology lesson:

CCAA - China Center of Adoption Affairs is the government agency in China who oversees the adoption program.

Dossier - Fancy name for our adoption file, which is basically filled with the blood, sweat & tears of six months worth of paperchasing (not to mention all our hopes and dreams).

LID - Log in Date - this is the date our dossier was logged into the database at the CCAA (our LID is 2/17/06).

Review Room - this is were the CCAA reviews all the paperwork in our dossier to make sure everything is in order and complies with their guidelines.

Matching Room - this is were the CCAA actually matches you to an available child in their system (it's a total mystery how they actually do the matching, although there are theories out there).

Referral - this is the paperwork on the child they have matched you with and includes photos and medical information. Referrals are issued once a month.

TA - travel approval - this means that an appointment has been made in China for your adoption to be finalized and they are authorizing you to travel.

Since our dossier has been reviewed already, it is basically in a HUGE stack of files waiting to go into the matching room.

I don't know at what point our dossier goes from the holding area to the matching room, but I suspect that once they are almost done matching January LID's the February dossiers will be heading in.

This is the matching room...the place where all the magic happens and they match us to a precious baby waiting for a family.

How long will it be until we get our referral?? Well, if I had a crystal ball I could answer that for you, but no such luck! The CCAA has been issuing about two weeks of LID's each month and they have issued referrals for LID's up to October 13th. If they maintain this pace, we are likely to see our referral in Sept/Oct. If they speed up, it could be sooner. It's a monthly waiting game to see how many dossiers the CCAA gets through.

Well, that's that in a nutshell. This waiting game has been our life for the past year and it appears we have another eight months or so to go! Fasten your seatbelts, it may be a bumpy ride! ;)

Finally out of REVIEW!!

I'd been checking the CCAA website all day and nothing. Then I get home this evening, log onto my e-mail and I had about six messages from bloggy friends letting me that we're OUT OF REVIEW!!!




I quickly switched over to CCAA and sure enough just when I wasn't looking, it's updated!! They have reviewed through March 22nd, well past our February 17th LID.

I was surprised at my reaction when I saw the update...tears of joy! If I'm already crying over this milestone, I can't imagine my reaction when we finally get our referral.

Congrats to all my bloggy friends with February and March LID's!! We're in the home stretch now!

Keep your fingers crossed...

that the CCAA will update the "reviewed through" date on their web-site when they update the referral date. Rumor is that referrals are on their way and may start arriving at agencies this week.

The CCAA hasn't updated the reviewed through date since NOVEMBER 3RD, when they updated that they had finished the review of dossiers logged in up to January 31, 2006. Since our log in is 2/17/06, we don't even know for sure if our dossier has been reviewed. We can assume it has since it's been SO long since the last update, but who the heck knows.

Gee, it sure would be nice to officially AT LEAST be through review before our one year LID anniversary!!! I don't want to be a downer, but this is SOOOO discouraging!

First shoes for Lauren...

We were at an outlet mall today and picked up these adorable little Nike sandals for Lauren. Since we have about six months of Summer here in Arizona, she should get some good use out of these. They were on clearance for $8.00!












I also picked up these cute (but not so little) Skechers for me.

Life on hold? Not anymore! Care to join me?

Some of you have posted about the wait feeling like life on hold. I totally agree. It seems like life revolves around when we get Lauren. The ironic part is that we have NO idea when that will actually be. To me the hardest part about the waiting is not knowing when it ends. I think some people feel that if they were in our shoes they would just forget about it until the referral comes. Nope, no way. That's just not how it works. Imagine being pregnant, but you just don't know when you'll give birth... might be 9 months, or 12, or maybe 18...you won't know until labor starts.

Well, I've decided to take Christie's advice and LIVE life instead of circling in this holding pattern.

First thing on the agenda is a GIRLS TRIP to Disneyland, the official happiest place on earth (we can all use some happy right about now)!! This includes any waiting mommas, mommas back with their kiddos, and friends. The trip would be this coming Spring...maybe April. So far, Lisa, Heather, and Laura are in. How about you?

If you're interested, leave a comment or e-mail me. I'll add everyone interested to an e-mail list and we can "chat" later about the details.

I think this may be just what the doctor ordered! I've been on two trips already to meet bloggy friends in both Philly and Utah. I'm shy, so I really had to give myself a HUGE push to go, but I'm SO glad I did...both trips were great!

ABC's of me...

A - available or taken: Taken and very happy
B- best friend: Two closest friends...Linda Marie and Jennifer
C- cake or pie: Cake, chocolate please!
D- drink of choice: Starbucks cinnamon mocha...yum!
E-essential item you use everyday: Laptop computer
F-favorite color: Warm colors...cranberry red, mossy green, buttery yellow
G-gummy bears or worms: Neither, but if they were dipped in chocolate, then maybe.
H-hometown: Queens, NY
I-indulgence: Pedicures
J-January or February: February, since our LID is Feb. 17th!
K-kid's names: Only furbabies right now - Addy & Lucy
L-life incomplete without: My hubby, friends and family
M-marriage date: March 12, 1993
N-number of siblings: One younger, but much taller brother, Jim
O-oranges or apples: Love fresh squeezed orange juice
P-phobias or fears: Fear of flying and I HATE roaches...EWWW!
Q-favorite quote: A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference...Winnie the Pooh
R-reason to smile: My furbabies ALWAYS make me smile
S-season: Spring...everything is new.
T-tag 3 people: Anyone who wants to play, add a note in the comments
U-unknown fact about me: I let my cereal get mushy in the bowl before I eat it, especially raisin bran
V-veggie I don't like: Eggplant
W-worst habit: I worry excessively
X-xrays: Ultrasounds and CTscans...more than I want to count over the past 5 years
Y-your favorite food: Duh...chocolate
Z-zodiac: Leo

11 months today and a new blog look...

We have been LID for 11 months today!

It's hard to believe we've been waiting almost a year now and it's been 17 months since we submitted our adoption application.

I converted to the new version of Blogger and finished my new blog look this afternoon. The only major problem I have since the conversion is that a lot of my post comments are now showing as anonymous when they weren't anonymous before! This bothers me because now when I look back I can't tell who said what.

I'm hoping this problem won't continue from this point forward and that it only affected past comments. I'll be finding out soon enough!

Make the switch...

I guess the switch over to the new version of Blogger is inevitable, but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has already made the switch. Did the conversion go smoothly? Did you have any problems with your template formatting? Are the new features worth making the switch now?

Oh happy day!!

Nancy and Brian have Lily!!!

Check out their family of three photo...they couldn't look any happier or prouder to be Lily's momma and baba. I love the photo of Nancy resting with Lily sleeping on her chest...how sweet is that! I can't wait for them to get back home with Lily so we can meet her!

Congratulations, you three make a beautiful family!!

Lauren's First Toy!

Joe and I were at HomeGoods this morning, which is basically like TJ Maxx's home decor section on steroids. They have a great little section with kid's stuff...mostly bedding and cool nursery decor.

Tucked in behind some other stuff we spotted this. It's just the perfect height for a toddler to stand at and play. This is the very first toy we've purchased for Lauren and I think it's pretty darn cool.

I'm not totally sure kids still like to play with these, but I was having fun with it. We can give it a test run when Nancy comes home with Lily.

Lots of visitors...

Oh my gosh, I just noticed today that I have over 50,000 hits on my little adoption blog!

Back in August 2005 when Joe and I first sat down to complete our application for adoption, I started surfing the web figuring I might be able to get a few questions answered. I had absolutely no idea what I would find. I got my questions answered and SO much more!

I saw a post on a discussion board about an adoption "blog" and I had no clue what the heck it was, but a couple of clicks later I was hooked and not long after I had this blog up and running. I figured it would be a great way to keep out of state family updated on what's going on with the adoption. I figured I'd make occasional updates over the next 6-8 months (ha,ha) and then we'd be traveling to China to bring Lauren home.

It's hard to believe that was 17 months ago and even harder to believe that we have at least 8 more months of waiting if the monthly CCAA batches don't increase.

I am so thankful for the friendships I've started since I've been blogging. It has been incredible watching friends go off to China and being able to follow along on their journey...us waiting parents live for this stuff because it makes this experience seem all the more real until we are able to bring our child home.

This and that...

Our friends and local FCC family, Nancy and Brian, are leaving early tomorrow morning for China! It's hard to believe that by tomorrow night they will be in Hong Kong. They will hold Lily for the very first time on Monday. Their dream of being parents is finally coming true...and they will make the most incredible parents! Nancy and Brian, our prayers will be with you and Lily over the next two weeks. I can't wait to see the first photo of the three of you as a family!

I've been a little lazy about posting lately, but I have a few photos I wanted to share. First, over Christmas I got a couple of cute ladybug things. My friend, Linda Marie, gave me this adorable pin set...


and this cute little lady made of almond paste.


Oh, and for Addy and Lucy, doggie fortune snookies. I especially like the one that says cats are not chew toys...that one's for Lucy. ;)


I was having lunch out at a Chinese restaurant with a friend and some of her family and the waiter gave her granddaughter these chopstick helpers.


You attach them to your chopsticks to make giant tweezers which are really easy to use. I think I need these for China! ;)