Baby Update

I've updated the adoption timeline date. China matched a few more days of LIDs this month... 8 days.... The rumor was 10, but 8 is better than 5. They are up to 1/20/06. So, there are only 76 days of LIDs for them to get through before us. Wow, that is ALOT. I never looked at it in days before. So if they only match 5 days per month it would take 15 more months for us to received our baby match. Oh that is totally depressing! I'm just going to forget I even mentioned that.

With that said, Don and I did decide to send in a medical conditions checklist and are open to adopting a baby with certain special needs. We did a lot of research and soul-search on this and feel good about this option. So now we continue to wait and see what God has in store for us.

We are also mid-way through becoming licensed foster care providers. We have completed the training and now have a boat load of paperwork to fill out, home visits etc.

So with all this underway, hopefully we will have a baby before we are both too old to parent them. haha

Bridal Shower

I gave my sister a bridal shower a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe she is getting married in a month (7/19/08). It seems like just a few years ago she was this darling little girl who always barged her way into my bedroom and wanted to mess up all my stuffed animals and "pretend" to talk on my phone. I'd always be yelling "mom, get her out of my room!" Now she is grown and on her own and I miss her a lot. I wish she'd come in my bedroom now and mess up my stuffed animals. The shower was great fun! We had a chocolate fountain and all sorts of stuff to dip in it. I think her friends really liked that part of it. She got lots of cool presents and we laughed a lot. Here is the invitation I made. I was so excited when I found this clip-art couple that looks just like Wendy& Steve would if they were cartoon characters. Aren't they an absolutely marvelous couple? I hope my sister knows how much I love her!!!! And wish her all the happiness in the world.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to all my friends out there. I had a GREAT Mother's day. My children (Jake, Faith, Rocky & Sawyer) and Husband showered me with love today! I got cards from each one of my puppies and they were so sweet. The one that Faith (our Beagle) gave me was just like one a daughter would give a mom and it made me cry. I am so looking forward to being a mom and have kids to celebrate holidays with. Don't get me wrong my animal children are oh so good to me (thanks to my hubby), but I can't wait to experience that daughter/mother bond.

I've had the good fortune to snuggle with 2 newborn babies in the last few weeks. Don's cousin had her baby on April 2 (Hallee) and I got the honor of holding her at a family function a few weeks ago. Although, I did start bawling for some reason (oh I guess because I really want a baby too). And my boss had her baby on April 28 (Millicent). Both babies are so cute! Here is a picture of Halle & Shadow...her dog sister :)

The GOOD and the BAD

The bad news is that a very small number of LID's were matched this month. Only 3 days. You know I've never really had to deal with this type of wait for something. The type that doesn't have a set amount of time or a set date at the end. The length of this wait just keeps stretching further and further out. It's like when you are dreaming and you are trying to catch something and you run as hard and fast as you can but you just seem to run in slow motion and can't seem to get anywhere. For the most part, I try to keep a positive attitude and trust in God's plan for our lives. But I do have days when I want to scream and cry and throw a temper tantrum (like that is helpful).

The good news is our social worker e-mailed me and let me know there is a couple in town that is putting together a group for families who have adopted from China and asked me if I wanted to be included. I said YES!!!! I have had that on my heart to start a group as soon as we had our daugther. I want her to have connections to other's in the community who can share her background. I was excited to hear that they have 10 couples that are interested in the group. I knew there were others in Yakima I just didn't know how to find them.

I took the dogs out for a ride in our big truck the other day. We are all getting spring fever and want to go camping. Jake gets so excited when he gets to go for a ride. The other day we were out washing the cars and jake jumped in the car and wouldn't get out. He must have stayed in there for an hour, thinking that if he was in the car he wouldn't get left at home. We finally had to coax him out when we were done and readyto go back in the house. We are excited for our first camping trip that we have planned in June (although we may have to take a mini one in May... June is just too far away). We are anxious to see how this new truck will pull our RV. Our Tahoe could barely make it up the pass... people behind us would get so annoyed as we putted along at 35 mph. I'm feeling more comfortable driving it now. At first I was scared to death to try to maneuver this 100 foot (exaggeration) long beast. Going into a crowded parking lot was out of the question. But now I'm feeling a little more comfortable driving AND parking it. Althought I don't go into any tight spaces! And if I do go to a store I park out in the north 40.

Sisters Wedding Invitations

My mom, sis and I got together on Sunday to put Wendy's wedding invitations together. It took us about 3 hours to put them together and make pretty bows. We had so much fun! I wanted to share a picture of the invitations. They are just beautiful.

Well the CCAA has finally started on January 2006 LIDs. So our April 2006 LID is getting closer. Although it took about 2 years to refer babies to all the parents with 2005 LIDs. So we are in for still a long wait. I still hold out hope we will get our darling angel this year (2008), but it could be as late as the spring of 2009. Our immigration paperwork will expire again in February 2009. So if we aren't able to travel to china to pick her up before that we will have to reapply to the tune of $1,000 or more. We'll have to get another homestudy update etc. I guess time will tell.

We have also begun classes to become a licensed fostercare family. We have talked to several couples who adopted through this program and we are hoping that this might be a possibility for us. We have had a lot of mixed feelings about doing this. The most fearful being that a child is placed with us and we become attached and then the state gives it back to the birth parent. Hopefully a lot of our questions will be answered in these classes and will either put our mind at ease or scare the daylights out of us. Either way we will trust in God to guide us through our journey to become parents. Boy it hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be. But life is full of challenges and this is ours.

We also started a sponsorship of a foster child in China through CCAI (our adoption agency). I got her picture & bio earlier this week and she is just precious. She is 3 months old and healthy. She is from the Nanching Orphanage but in there foster care program. It is a blessing this foster family is able to take her in so that she is getting to live in a family environment rather than the orphanage. I hope our baby, wherever she is in China is being cared for as well.

The weather has started to warm up and I can see spring taking shape. I love spring & summer and can't wait to take our RV out with our furbeasts and do some travelling this summer. Also, I'm looking forward to my sister's wedding in July. She got her dress last night and it is just the most beautiful dress I've ever seen. She is going to be the most beautiful bride!

I will keep everyone updated on our foster licensing. Pray for us during this process.