Two Years down.

Today marks two years of having our paperwork officially in China. That means we started the process about 28 months ago.
I must be really emotional right now because I have tried to post something 4 times and had to delete it because it showed way to much feeling. With that being said, I just don't have anything else to share. Well, at least I don't have anything that I think is appropriate to share.
Pleae remember my Nephew (Tucker) and Brother-in-Law (Kevin) in your prayers. If you know me you know about Tucker's health problems, and Kevin is in Afghanistan.

The cutest little pumpkin!

I don't have much to say about the adoption right now. The fact that we still don't have a referral really speaks for itself, but I really love this picture!!!!!!

Newest Family Member

This is my new brother. His name is Buddy. My Mom and Dad got him this weekend. We have all missed having a dog in the family. He is a 5 1/2week old pug. I can't wait to doggysit! I tried to talk Brian into purchasing his sister, but I was not able to convince him.

Sidewalk Chalk

We had a fun weekend while friends came to town car shopping. Graeme and Lily, (in the picture), are the children of our Dear friends Margaret and Wes. We got to babysit on Saturday and thankfully Margaret got some sidewalk chalk to smooth things over. Graeme was not exactly happy when his parents left and the art work did the trick. The sun was so bright we couldn't see very well to take pictures. It was a really busy day. Lily drew a lovely tomato and watermelon. I don't think I got a good picture of that. Next time I will get sunglasses!

19 months and counting

June 14th marked our 19 month long in date anniversary. We have to be closer but the line feels longer and longer.
I think what I dislike about the wait the most is the feeling that we are waiting for time to pass. It goes against what I know is healthy.
Our friends are on their way back from China as I type. We are very excited to meet their son. The blog is Journey to baby Miracle on the right.
I got my first quilt square from friends or family. Of course it was from my mom. I love it. It will go into the album. I am inspired to start working on the quilt now. We have several squares but we don't know the people they are from.

China

I haven't posted in a while. We really don't have any news on the adoption front.

The earthquakes in China have caused so much devastation, I am not comfortable posting about my agonizing wait at this time. As you have probably seen on the news, the people in China are suffering a great deal.

Lots of Good News!

We have had lots of great news in the past couple of weeks. First we officially got through the review room. What a relief!
I also started a new job. I like it very much, I am just trying to get used to all the new responsibilities and longer hours.
We have a new niece born April 25th. Her name is Callie and we are thrilled!
Our very dear friends whose blog is available to the right (journey to baby Miracle), got their LOA today! It has been a very long wait for them and we are so happy for them. Our Godson will be home soon!

Review Room

Today we found out our Dossier (information about us that is in China), is out of the review room. This is a huge milestone for us. Our agency said it is not official but all of November is though review. I am generally not an optimist, but I am choosing to look at this positivly. Besides the fact that I want this to be true, I have found that a lot of things with this adoption that start out sounding official, actually are not. See, the negative had to come out. But we are very happy about this news. In fact, we will indeed go celebrate at our favorite dining spot. We will probably buy something else for Amelia to top it off.

Let is Snow!

Brian and Lily

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Me, Lily, & Margaret

This was a wonderful weekend. Our dear friend Margaret and her daughter Lily came to spend the night with us. We got several inches of snow and decided to stay in for the weekend. We loved having them stay with us! We missed her husband Wes, who was busy with clinical rotations to help complete his nursing degree. It is a blessing to be able to share time with great friends.

New 171-H

I haven't posted in a while. We really haven't had any adoption news to post. We still aren't through the review room yet. We didn't know what the review room was when we started the process. I assume most of you don't know either. The review room is where they decide if we can adopt a baby from China or not. I initially thought that was determined with our application. That is not the case. The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (In China), decides. They haven't gotten to the people who have started the process when we did. We are still in limbo.

On a bright note, we did recieve our new 171-H (immigration form to bring an adopted child into this country) today. Our old one expired. We now have 18 months to get Amelia home before this one expires. Our new fingerprints expire in about 14 more months. It is unlikely that we will make it to China and back before that.

I see that I was unable to keep it on the positive side. It has been a rough week on all levels.

Today marks 15 months of having our information officially logged in to China. We were of course already supposed to have our daughter by this time. I am over that part of it. That is 15 months we won't have to wait again. The time we wait is not as big of a concern to me as wether or not our we will ever get Amelia. Lately I have become more convinced we will get our daugther. I am committed to focusing on enjoying now and not trying to wish away days to "hurry up and get there already". It is hard. I sometimes wonder when she will be born, or if she is already born. I then wonder what I was or will be doing on that day. I am certain I will have been thinking about her. I am always doing that. Thanks for joining us on the ride.

M

100 Good Wishes Quilt

We have been working on our 100 good wishes quilt for about a hear now. We would love to have friends and family send us fabric and good wishes for Amelia. Check our the link for instructions.
Link to 100 wishes instructions

Did you know fingerprints are only good for 15 months?

Today we went to Louisville to have our fingerprints redone. We also had to renew some immigration forms for Amelia. We did this over a year ago but apparently all this has an expiration date. I was shocked to find out that fingerprints expire in 15 months. After all these years I thought each person had fingerprints exclusive to them. I am sure that this is NOT just crazy government red tape. I would like to know how they convict criminals based on old fingerprints? In 15 months our fingerprints will evidently change again. At this time we will have to do this again. I wonder how much it costs the government to staff the facility to do fingerprints that don't change every 15 months?

On a positive note, it was a step towards getting our daughter.

Amelia's room

We were expecting a referral sometime between this past November and January. We starting preparing a room for her so we would be ready. Since the China adoptions have slowed down dramatically, we decided to wait to finish the room. When we decided to look into a child with special needs we found that those children will be older. It is a good thing I only bought 6 pacifiers! We will post more when we finish the room. P.S. The room is light purple. I don't know why it looks pink in the pictures!

1st Post

Today is our first post. Brian set this up for me as anyone that knows us is aware that shopping is about the extent of my computer skills. We have been waiting for about 19 months for our baby girl from China. We were actually expecting to have already been to china and back with our daughter by now. The wait is difficult. We are starting this blog to share any news with friend and family. Please post!