Our Journey to Ava

TAKING IT PRIVATE

2009-03-27T17:02:00.000-05:00

I have been throwing around the idea for quite awhile now about taking my blog private. I'm not 100% certain of what the future holds for my little blog, but my plan for awhile now has been to close it down after we return from China. I've always had it pictured in my mind that our Forever Family Day video would be the final post........Then we would ride off into the beautiful sunset where we will live happily ever after! =) Besides, how can you really have a journey to Ava blog if the journey to Ava is FINALLY over? I don't think you can. Soooooooo the next question comes up.....Will I start up a new blog after we return as a family of six? Probably not.....The truth is that you all know that I rarely blog now and I'm pretty certain that I will be MUCH busier AFTER China! =) Will I still be following other blogs and making comments on all of your blogs? Of course! You all can't get rid of me that easily! =) Sooooo why do I feel the need to take it private now, instead of after we return from China? That's simple....My family......I feel the need to protect them. I need to listen to that little voice in my head.....The one that has been saying, "go private" "go private." =) The fact of the matter is, I really just need to know who is here....Who is reading....Who will be looking at our photos. If you would like to continue to follow along as we continue the wait for our referral and follow along with our trip to China....We would LOVE to have you! I even plan on posting DAILY from China. Can you even imagine....Me doing daily posts?! I'm just going to need something from you......Email me your name, where your from, your blog name (if you have one) and anything else you want to tell me about yourself. Even if you have never left a comment before....I would still LOVE to have you follow along as we complete our journey to Ava. I just need to know who is here. The mama bear in me is feeling protective right now. I hope you all can understand. If this is the end of the road for some of you.....I understand. I know what a pain it is to try and keep up with other blogs that have gone private, but I understand why they have done it. It's why I have also made the same choice.

Please send an email to: avasfamily@yahoo.com if you wish to continue with our journey. I will send everyone an email with instructions on getting access to the blog....Just as soon as I get things figured out myself! I promise to have it all figured out by the time we get our referral! I hope the next post on this blog is an announcement that our referral is on the way! It's hard to believe our time is almost here!!

I NEED RUMORS!

2009-03-25T10:22:00.002-05:00

I don't want to talk about book reviews, cheerios, why the box hasn't been updated.....I just *need* RUMORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am I IN or NOT?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just tell me!

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

2009-03-15T09:32:00.003-05:00

That click click click sound is the sound of the rumor roller coaster going up!

RQ reported her first rumor regarding the next two batches of referrals yesterday. She has stated that multiple agencies are reporting referrals in the next two batches will cover more days that we have been expecting. She mentioned a possibly of reaching the Horrid column on the chart below. If so, that would be a cut off date of March 13 for the next batch. Our LID is March 8. Could it be? It seems so surreal at this point. Someone pinch me!

3 YEARS AGO TODAY...............

2009-03-08T14:48:00.004-05:00

Our file was logged in at the CC*AA. If someone would have told me back in 2006 that THREE YEARS later we would STILL be waiting for Ava to come home.....I wouldn't have believed it! During the last three years we have experienced all the ups and downs and twists and turns of the China Adoption rollercoaster, but even had we known how difficult it was going to be.....We would climbed aboard all over again. You see, our girl has been in all of our hearts for a VERY long time now and we were determined to wait just as long as it takes. Thankfully, our wait is nearing the end....... FINALLY there is a bright light at the end of the long dark tunnel.

(I used this same graphic on our 3rd month LID anniversary. It seems like it was only yesterday......NOT!)

A LOOK INTO OUR FUTURE

2009-03-02T12:31:00.011-05:00

I learned a VERY important lesson today. DON'T CHECK FOR CHINA ADOPTION RUMORS MINUTES BEFORE YOU'RE ABOUT TO TAKE YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL. I'm an idiot. Picture this........Ian is off brushing his teeth as I glance at the clock. Hmmmm, I'm thinking. I'll just check RQ really fast while I finish off the last of my coffee. It was about that time that ALL HEDOUBLEHOCKEYSTICKS BROKE LOOSE! Report in the forum: The Spanish site says the cut off is March 10th! WHAAA?!!!! That's ME!!!! I comment that I'm going to puke. Then....Tears come. Ian walks out the bathroom and asks what's wrong. I say through the tears...."They say the cut off is the TENTH (hey, he knows what that means!) and that means we will see Ava's picture TODAY! He gets tears in his eyes.

I then frantically search for Pug Mama's phone number. I can't find it ANYWHERE. I'm crying, I'm searching and then I call my husband. I then tell the girls at work that it's happening TODAY! Hey, the Spanish RQ has been dead on with her information as of late. I'm still crying. Jeff gets on the phone and I'm telling him it's today, I can't find Pug Mama's number and I need to call Ian's school to tell them he won't be going today. Jeff tells Alicia to call Ian's school and tell them he won't be in today (his mother's hands are shaking to badly to dial the phone). Marcia at the office leaves to go get her video camera so we have two available for when the call comes in. The plan was to receive the call at the office.

I keep reading RQ waiting for something to break. Sewhopeful (we've been together on RQ since the early days) emails me her phone number because I can't find that one EITHER!! I call her. Could this really be happening?!! This isn't even a rumor....Spanish RQ says it's the cut off date!! We're confused by it, but we still have hope. I need to call my agency. Are they open? What the heck time is it in Texas????

Pug Mama emails me her number. She can't find mine either. We thought we were so prepared by exchanging numbers a month or so ago. I call her and get her voicemail. She finally calls back. She isn't buying it. She is off to her mother's so her mom can translate the Spanish site. She will keep us posted.

Reports of people doubting the truth to the Spanish rumor are surfacing.

I call my agency. My referral counselor answers the phone! I realize in seconds that she knows nothing of referrals being sent. They're expecting no packages today. It's looking like it's not happening.

I call Jeff. He still has hope. I tell him it won't be happening today. Is there still hope for tomorrow? I'm VERY doubtful.

Pug Mama's mother translates the Spanish site. In the comment section families are saying that a mistake has been made. The cut off is March 6. Ugh!

Our agency emails that a package isn't on the way and they still don't know anything.

Referrals are arriving in the U.S. The first one arrives in Virginia with a LID of March 6th. My agency isn't expecting a package. Cut off HAS to be the 6th.

False alarm.

The darn thing is that I was FINE with not being in this batch. More than okay with it. I'm now heading back to that happy place as I wait the next 4-8 weeks until it REALLY is our referral day! In the meantime, Ian got a day off school. He isn't complaining and I don't think he thinks his mother is nuts! Well, maybe a little! =) I've collected phone numbers again and will put them in a safe place. I just hope that when it REALLY is our turn....I will be MUCH more calm than I was this morning! At least we had a dry run! When it DOES happen.....It's going to be one AMAZING day! The strange part is that I had a dream last night that the Spanish RQ said we made it in this batch. I almost checked her site at 3 AM, but rolled over instead and went back to sleep. What a day it has been! =)

COULD IT BE TRUE??????????

2009-02-26T17:08:00.006-05:00

There is a rumor going around that two agencies have reported the cut off date is March 6, 2006! If so, that means we could either be in the NEXT group or be NEXT NEXT! Let me remind everyone........Our LID is March 8 and March 7th is freakin' HUGE! They have never done just a one day batch before, but I've never seen a bigger day than March 7th. Either way, I'm more than happy to wait two more batches. It feels incredible to FINALLY be THIS close!

If we don't make it next time.......I get to see Sea Star's baby girl and Tate next month no matter what! They both have LIDs of March 7th. Seeing them FINALLY get their referrals will keep me going until I get mine! Hang on Ava, we're nearing the home stretch!

YOU MIGHT BE ADOPTING FROM CHINA IF.......

2009-02-23T09:43:00.006-05:00

....you know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways.

....you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years.

....you understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world.

....you've "paid for" 3 immigration approvals, but never brought anyone into the U.S.

.....you know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes.

....your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4).

....you never know how many days next month will have.

....you know that babies come in batches.

....you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime.

....you automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl.

....you own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big).

....you look twice when you see a ladybug.

....you're more interested in what will happen in March 2006 than in March 2009.

....you know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months.

....your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years.

..you know who the Rumor Queen is.....AND

.... you don't know who she is.

....you know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather.

....you've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed.

....trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles.

....when you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals.

You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart.

(I copied this after seeing it on several blogs...I'm not sure who wrote it, but it's very cute.)

Q & A

2009-02-09T16:41:00.005-05:00

Question: Want to know a way to keep your mind off any rumors on the next batch of referrals?

Answer: An audit.

I REALLY didn't need this right now.

THIS IS OUR SON, UMMMM DAVID

2009-01-27T17:22:00.006-05:00

I don't know if I've posted here on my blog or just in private emails that I've only had a couple dreams about our China adoption. One would think (wouldn't one?) that with as much time that I think about Ava and about China......I would dream about her? Yes, one would think, but nope.....Not so. Well, the night before last I had a dream that we received our referral and in my dream I received my child!.....Not sure if I was in China.....That part wasn't very clear. The rest of it WAS quite clear. First, we did NOT receive a referral for a girl......She was a he. We did NOT receive a baby (as young as possible)......We received a 4-5 year old boy. Although he had the most beautiful almond shaped eyes and I believe he was Chinese......He already spoke perfect English. He also made it VERY clear that he didn't like me....Not one bit. I was trying my hardest to win him over, but it didn't go very well. One issue that he and I had was that he wanted to be called by his Chinese name.....DAVID......And I was doing everything in my power to convince him to take ANY other boys name.....Just NOT David. Now, if I offended anyone named David or with a husband, son, brother, uncle, grandfather or second cousin named David....Let me explain. My EX-husband was named David (Dave) and it's just not one of my favorite names because of that....In fact it sorta makes my skin crawl. ;) With that in mind, you may understand (or maybe you won't! ;) why I was trying to list off different boys for him to pick from, but he wanted no part of any of them. His name was David....End of story. I WAS going to let him have his way in the end, but I wasn't very happy about it. I'm just happy that I haven't seen many, err I mean ANY referrals with boys having a Chinese name of David. ;) That's a relief!

EDITED TO SAY.......I wouldn't mind (after the inital shock wore off...Since everything I've bought is PINK!!!!!!) if we did receive a referral for a boy. I just don't want his name to be David.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-26T08:55:00.000-05:00

2 DAYS?

2009-01-21T10:12:00.004-05:00

Well, the news isn't looking very good on the number of days referred this month. A Spanish agency forum is reporting referrals will be for March 1 and March 2. I know I had a "feeling we were matched" this month.....Guess my psychic abilities are a bit off at the moment! ;)

Where does it leave us as far as when we will receive our referral? I think at this point I'm going to plan on the worst case scenario and hope for the best. I really am fine....Really. I read the rumor this morning and didn't even get upset. I guess after waiting 1,050 days since LID....You get used to the disappointment. Just makes you feel numb after awhile.

Here are my predictions for the next cut off dates:

March: March 5 (March 4 and 5 are weekend days...Nobody is logged in)
April: March 6
May: March 7
June: Us

The good news is that if we received our referral in May or June....All the kids can go to China with us. That would be wonderful.

COOL AS A CUCUMBER....FOR NOW!

2009-01-19T11:35:00.002-05:00

I really have calmed down from my freaked out state with regards to whether we will receive a referral or not in this next batch. I believe it was no doubt false labor that we were experiencing.....However, I must say that it sure brought us a couple of exciting days and I believe it was a little glimpse of things to come! I really do understand why RQ reported the rumor even if it was a bit far fetched. I mean....March 23? No way. It seems like there have been quite a few whispers about things picking up a bit with the orphanage donation increase on January 1. I guess time will tell. At this point, we're soooooooo close anyway. If it's not this month then it will be next month. If it's not next month THEN I will panic. My only fear right now is that we will be in China when Hope graduates. Her graduation is May 31. I spoke to my agency last week and they said if we received our referral in early March.....We would probably travel the first week in May. That works for me.

So.......I'm back to my nesting. Not to say that I won't be checking RQ all day long (just like any other day :) for any news on referrals, but I'm not going to sit here all day long glued to the computer. I've got a list of things I want to get done before we receive our referral and if last Thursday and Friday is any indication of things to come....I better get moving......When the rumors start flying next month.....I'm going to be glued to this computer and I get the feeling nothing will be getting done around here!

IS THIS FALSE LABOR????

2009-01-15T17:37:00.004-05:00

Alright, I'm starting to freak out here! *deep breath* There have been a few rumors floating around the China adoption world that this next batch of referrals may include more days than anyone EVER anticipated. In fact, the rumor this morning on RQ shows a possibility of a rather large batch that would cover everyone logged in through March 23, 2006. *deep breath* Our log-in-date is March 8th. *deep breath* *deep breath* Never in a million years did I think that there was a chance that we would get a referral in this next batch......Until last night. Out of the blue, a feeling came over me that we have been matched. About 10 minutes later I see a post on RQ (yes, I'm addicted to that site!) that matching began. I wasn't going to tell anyone about my feeling except for my family.....Then I got an email from her and decided, what the heck....I'll tell her about my "being already matched feeling", because she already knows I'm nuts! Then I did a post on the matching room. I just had a feeling. AND then this morning we get the rumors of a possible HUGE batch. Could this really be labor? Or braxton hicks?! *deep breath* *deep breath*

MATCHING/MATCHING ROOM

2009-01-14T19:12:00.009-05:00

Someone JUST posted that their agency said the CC*AA has starting matching!!! I thought I would take time to explain how matching works to those not familiar with the matching process. The first picture shows a cart with files of families logged in. I heard that an agency is assigned a certain color for all their families. These files (or dossiers) might be heading from the review room to the matching room on a cart like the one pictured below.

Here is a picture of the matching room at the CC*AA. See that wall of files? Our file has probably been collecting dust on one of those shelves for quite some time. ;)

Because I'm lazy.....AND because RQ explains the matching process MUCH better than I ever could....I took the following from her site:

First, they review the baby dossiers and make sure there are no issues with them. We are told that they then count up all of the baby dossiers that are eligible for matching that month and then look to see how far this stack will go in the parent dossiers without sending out a partial day, and they pull all of those parent files. That is the likely cut-off date. Sometimes something happens and they don't get this far. Sometimes something happens and they get farther.
Next they match orphanages up with agencies. This orphanage has six babies, this agency has six families. These two orphanages are in the same province and have a total of 12 babies, this agency has 12 families. When they are through with this is when (I believe) some agencies start to get information about the cut-off date. Or at least it is when they used to start getting information.
And then they start matching individual babies to individual families. At some point during this part of the process most agencies used to hear from their person in the matching room to let them know how many referrals they will be receiving and from what province(s). Some agencies shared this information with their clients. Some chose not to. Recently I’ve gotten the feeling that many agencies are still getting this information but they are being given orders by the CCAA to not share this information with the families.
Just as in the review room, each matcher is assigned certain agencies and is responsible for communicating with their agencies. Some matchers tell their agency the cut-off date, some matchers tell their agency “you have X number of referrals arriving”, some matchers give their agency a list of that agency’s families that will be receiving a referral. And some matchers don’t say anything at all to their agencies.
The next question that comes up is generally how the matchers match families and babies. I’ve heard from several people who have had the opportunity to speak with someone who works in the matching room. The various conversations seem to all agree that they first look for something that stands out: a matching birthday, a baby who looks a lot like a parent, or a baby who likes music and a parent who teaches music. Several matching people have stated they match by bone structure of the baby’s face and the parent’s faces (this is why they need our passport photos, so they can compare our mug shot with the baby’s mug shot). Some have stated that they used Chinese astrology, also. Once they’ve matched the obvious matches they then start to look at things like age of child requested. The age requested is not a priority for them, they feel they are matching families and not filling orders.

Can you see the tiny pictures of all the babies on the wall in the front cubicle? In one of those cubicles our family will be matched with our daughter, Ava. How amazing is THAT!!!!

FAMILY FUN

2009-01-12T16:26:00.031-05:00

I just realized.....We're now 12 days into the new year and I haven't posted since the end of December. I stink at blogging. Now that that's been determined...... Alrighty then, I've got a bunch of pictures to post here. Sit back and enjoy or if your smart....Hit the escape key while you can!

First, before we get to all the exciting family pictures.....I need to post the latest news on the China Adoption front. DO YOU REALIZE THEY'RE ONLY 8 DAYS FROM OUR LID WITH REFERRALS???!!!! *Please excuse me while I take a few deep breaths* If you don't understand what being 8 days away from LID means...........Let me say this in non adoption lingo..........This means that we might be getting a picture of our Ava in the next, ummmmmm 6-10 weeks!!!!! *deep breath*

In other adoption news......I'm sure everyone has already seen a picture of the adorable Ms. Pipa, but if you haven't click here. I swear, I've been walking on sunshine ever since she and she received their referrals for their precious girls! Also, my secret pal (I wonder if I will ever stop calling her that?!) is in China NOW with her daughter, Syri. If you haven't been following along with their trip to China click here.

Alrighty, here are some pictures of Christmas.....The LAST family Christmas picture without Ava.

Here is a picture of us with MY mother. We realized something when looking at this picture. Jeff and MY mother are starting to look more and more like each other as the years pass. Is it the glasses? Wearing the same color shirt? The hair? =)

Hope and Matt. I'm including Matt as part of the family......He practically lives here! =)

Ian was enjoying some organic chocolate milk that was given to him by his Uncle and Aunt. They did have other presents for Ian, but Ian said that this was the BEST Christmas present EVAH.....It's his most favorite chocolate milk of all time. Had Santa known this, he might not have as much Christmas debt to pay off.

A week or so before Christmas, we came home to several Christmas presents on our front porch. The sly Santa went quick to his work and was out like a flash before anyone could see him or thank him for the gifts. He also visited my SIL and BIL that live one street over from us. They were home at the time, but Santa moved so fast......They didn't see him either!

We all received hats/scarves. We decided to take a family picture of all of us to put in with a thank you card. While Aunt Shawnee was running home to get their hats.....We took a few warm up pictures. Here is a picture of Hope, Ian and Matt (who is borrowing Jeff's hat!)

They stuffed my hat with napkins.....Because, you can. I looked a bit like jiffy pop popcorn that one might cook on the stove. =)

Here is the picture that will be sent with the thank you card.

Here are several pictures that didn't make the cut.

Can you tell that they're brothers?

Uncle Aaron and Aunt Shawnee. Not sure what Shawnee is saying, because I no speak gangsta!

Aunt Shawnee might be thinking......Hmmmmmmm, who can I re-gift this to next year?!! KIDDING.....She LOVES her hat/scarf! =)

We took my mother out to celebrate her 77th B-day this past weekend to REDS. It really has become our most favorite restaurant. Jeff and I have gone there on a few dates, but this is the first time we took the family. Here is a picture of Jeff and my mother. I'm starting to think they should call each other before we get together, because they keep wearing the same color and well, the family resemblance is getting a bit freaky.

Me and my boy. Yes, I'm also wearing red for whatever reason?!

Hope and Griffin. Griffin is sporting his new shorter haircut. Thank you, God.

Ian.....Being Ian!

I had more pictures, but I'll save them for another day. I'm beat. =)

BECAUSE THEY'RE 8 DAYS AWAY FROM OUR LID

2008-12-30T19:54:00.007-05:00

and because Santa must have run out of room on his sleigh....I made a couple purchases tonight. First..... Look at it. Thanks to Jenn, I haven't been able to get Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags out of my head for weeks! It was on sale today.....Can you say, meant to be?! =)

And next.......I FINALLY decided on a carseat. It's moments like this that I REALLY hope Ava is a girl. =)

And just so ya know, I did pull these images off the computer. I don't actually have them in my hot little hands yet. You're just going to have to trust me on this one. Private joke. =)

FEBRUARY 28, 2006

2008-12-29T16:33:00.006-05:00

It's true.......Referrals are arriving for those logged in from February 24 through February 28, 2006! NEVER, did I think they would process February 28th THIS month. Rumors were going around that it was possible it might take an entire month to process just February 28th.....It was that big! I'm so excited!!! We're officially NEXT with our agency! The next time they receive a stork alert, it will be for us! When may we receive our referral, you ask? Well, the entire time that I have been watching referrals arrive.....Over 3 years now.....Our agency has never missed receiving referrals two months in a row. However, never have I ever seen a day as big as March 7th. Never. Ever. Our log-in-date is March 8th. With that said, I would imagine that we will receive Ava's picture and information in the next 8-12 weeks. I can hardly believe it! AND here we have Ian taking off 5 loops on the Ava chain.........

WHOO-HOO!! He just LOVES taking off the loops.

Eight loops remain that represent March 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and our LID of March 8. My stomach does flip flops just looking at it.

Last but not least......A very special gal is due to receive her referral in this batch. Pipo is off delivering other babies, while she herself is in labor today! I've been stalking her blog all day waiting for news of Pipa. I had the pleasure of meeting Pipo when I went to Georgia last February. She is going to be one awesome momma!

READY FOR CHRISTMAS

2008-12-24T20:25:00.009-05:00

The tree is up, the presents are wrapped, cookies are made AND we have one little boy that is pretty darn excited that Santa is on the way....AND a couple of bigger kids that are pretty excited too....Just not sporting the Santa hat/beard! Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

(Lyrics by Third Day)

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
Where the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
And prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

We love you Ava. Merry Christmas.

MAKE. IT. STOP.

2008-12-23T10:59:00.006-05:00

While some of you are enjoying the warm sun.....We in Michigan are enjoying the SNOW! Here is a view out the kitchen of my table on the deck.

I doubt we will be grilling out anytime soon!

Another view of the table and deck chairs.

AND the forecast calls for another 8 inches today.....Followed up by freezing rain this weekend. Woot!

In spite of all the snow.....I DID wake up with the best news today! OziMum FINALLY received her referral today (or was that my yesterday?) of the BEAUTIFUL Tari Mei. Click on her name and take a gander at the adorable Miss Tari! Congratulations OziMum and family....I'm surprised you still kept your sanity for as long as you were made to wait! I do believe that your Christmas will be a very merry one indeed!

MERRY CHRISTMAS BY THIRD DAY

2008-12-15T21:52:00.000-05:00

I would imagine that just about everyone that has adopted or is adopting from China is familiar with this song by Third*Day. I wanted to post it here for those that might not be familiar with it.

RUBY

2008-11-25T12:12:00.003-05:00

Our Ruby girl is sick. Really sick. Last night the kids called for me because Ruby was making a crying noise that sounded a bit like a dog crying. They thought she had learned a new trick and was imitating one of the dogs. Knowing Ruby, I knew that something must be wrong because she usually stays silent if you're in the same room with her. Ruby does all her talking and performing when she doesn't think anyone is around. One of her best tricks is when she whistles If I only had a brain taught to her by Jeff and also, her imitation of a Nextel pager. I noticed that she hadn't eaten any of her food and she just looked tired. We were able to get a hold of vet and she thought it sounded like an upper respiratory infection and said to make an appointment first thing in the morning.

Ruby is not the sweet cuddly type, but what she lacks in that department she makes up for in personality. Her favorite human without a doubt is Ian. Whenever Ian enters the room, she climbs down from her perch and rings her bell to say hello. Ian always talks to Ruby and brings his toys to show her. She loves the attention and is most thrilled if he shows her something that makes noise....The louder the better!

I hardly slept last night thinking I would find her dead this morning at the bottom of her cage. When I checked on her this morning she was in about the same shape she was in last night. When Ian came in to see her this morning, she came up to the bars of the cage and started her pitiful cry again....The same one from last night. It was almost if she was telling him she was sick. It just broke my heart.

I took her to the vet this morning and he said she is really sick. He is said she has an infection going on, but is also quite concerned how thin she is. He said he wants to keep her for a few days, but it's very possible that she isn't going to make it. When we acquired Ruby from the pet store about 6 years ago her age was unknown. I'm not sure if the reason she is thin has something to do with her being an older bird?.....I just don't know. The vet is going to try and get some antibiotics down her and feed her with a tube. If she starts to get stronger then he is going to get a blood sample from her to check her kidney and lung function. I just fell apart in that vets today. I'm just not strong when it comes to this kind of thing. If you have some good thoughts you could send Ruby's way I would be so grateful. Ian will be crushed if we lose her. We all will.

UPDATE: The vet called and said that Ruby passed away.

WHAT'S UP

2008-11-10T10:05:00.006-05:00

Looks like the cut off this month was February 17Th. Two days. I guess I shouldn't have complained when I thought we were getting five. I'm still having Ian remove four links from the chain as the 18Th and 19Th were weekend days and nobody was logged in. MY chain....MY rules. That brings us down to 17 LID days left to process until they get to us.

The good news that came from the last batch was that Mr. Stork was carrying the referral of a special little girl that belongs to my not so secret pal, J. Click here if you want to see total cuteness. Congratulations J and family!!
Sent off my request for my renewal of my I171H last Monday. Received a notice from our local US-CIS office that the request was received and not to contact them for 90 days. Bite me.
When we met with our social worker to update our paperwork she said, "Even if China only refers two days a month from here on out.....You probably won't have to renew a fourth time." That statement sure gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. Not.
It's cold here. Just last week I went to work without a coat. Ugh. I told Peaches, "Well, we have to have Winter before we can have Spring again." Peaches said, "That was really deep." =)

I started my Christmas shopping. This needs to go on record as being the earliest I have EVER started shopping for Christmas. I'm usually one to put everything off until the last possible minute.
I'm loving the fact that gas is down to $1.95. I thought for sure that the prices were going to go back up after the election. Speaking of the election......Glad it's OVER! Sick to death of it messing with my TV schedule.
Griffin gets his braces off today. He doesn't know that after his appointment I'm going to take him to get a haircut too. He HATES to get his haircut because he thinks it looks good long. DRIVES! ME! NUTS!! Why doesn't he just accept the fact that I know best???!!
Peaches is having a B-day this Friday and mine is next Monday. This is the first year that I really could care less about turning another year older. You're only as old as you feel...
Peaches has been hobbling around like an old man the last few days. He was doing some exercises and screwed up his knee. This is why I think exercise is stupid. I say REST your body parts and they will last longer.
My latest fear is that we will be in China at the same time as Hope's graduation from High School. Any other time is fine.....Just NOT then. Hope is already talking smack about us needing to chose her graduation over China.
I'll update this post later with a picture of Ian removing the loops from the Ava LID chain. I'll also get a picture of Griffin without the braces and hopefully sporting a new shorter haircut. Fingers crossed.

COULD IT BE ME???

2008-11-02T18:10:00.006-05:00

I was just catching up on RQ and saw the following rumor posted in the comment section. I usually wouldn't post anything from the comment section on here, but this about made me spit the Pepsi I was drinking on my keyboard when I read it:

I am new to posting. Our agency told me the other day that the CC*AA is saying that things will speed up after referrals through 3.09.06 are given. This means some time early next year things will speed up. Has anyone else heard this. Please post if this is not true. I had my hopes raised for the last week thinking this was true, but then I come to this site and there is no talk about it. I am thinking it is NOT TRUE.

Now, considering that the slowdown with adoptions from China started the same freakin' month that we started our paperchase waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in August, 2005......The rumor is things will speed up one freakin' LID day after our log-in date is referred????!!!!! I almost think with my stinkin' luck THIS rumor will come true. AND for those waiting behind me......I hope that it does. ;)

DEFLATED

2008-10-29T14:26:00.008-05:00

Deflated.....Pretty much sums up how I'm feeling today. Checked RQ this morning and saw the "First Rumor" out of the possible 5 day batch of referrals this month. Seriously, is this EVER going to end? If it holds true and they do process 5 days (and I pray that it's AT LEAST 5 days!)....That leaves 16 more LID days to go until they get to us. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited that we're finally this close. I'm BEYOND excited.....It's just that I soooooo badly want to have our referral by February. If our referral comes in March we're going to have to deal with travel delays because of the trade fair in China in April. That means our daughter is going to have to wait even longer to come home. It also means Easter will come and go without Ava here. Again. I PROMISED Ian that Ava would be here by Easter. I promised. I can deal with another Halloween, another Thanksgiving, another Christmas, another New Years Day, another CNY, another Valentines Day, another St. Patrick's Day, BUT NOT ANOTHER EASTER. I have my limits. Sigh.

UPDATED: After a long hot shower and a "cheer up email" from a friend I'm feeling a little better. I wanted to show you the first picture that came up on google images of the word....Deflated. heh. Funny when I first saw it.....Even funnier now that I'm feeling better.

WEEK IN REVIEW

2008-10-20T09:13:00.008-05:00

We met with our social worker on Saturday to do our LAST home study update. Our current immigration approval expires January 30, 2009 and I'm doubting VERY MUCH that we will be finished with our adoption by that date, so we're re-doing everything for a third time. The social worker changed all our ages on our new home study, changed what grade the kids are in school.....I in turn wrote out check for $400. I figured that if ever things are ever going to speed up with China adoptions, it would happen right after I handed her my check....I can see the CC*AA now begin to crank right through the remaining 21 days of LIDs before us and I wouldn't have needed to update my paperwork after all. If all that it costs me is $400 to get things moving for myself and everyone else....I'm MORE than happy to pay it. =)
While Ian and I were driving in the car yesterday (on our way to buy his Halloween costume) we heard Christmas music playing! For crying out loud....IT'S OCTOBER!! Ian got excited and said, "Christmas is coming soon!!...I need to go home and make my list!" My gosh, who on earth enjoys listening to Christmas music this time of the year??
The guys finally finished with all our flooring and trim, gave our bedroom and closet a fresh new color, wrapped aluminum around all our outside door trim so "we" (when I say "we" I mean Jeff) no longer has to paint them, fixed my kitchen faucet, caulked behind my kitchen sink and fixed our roof where our skylights have been leaking. They found that the reason the skylights have been leaking is because our "lovely" (just so you know...when I say "lovely" I'm being sarcastic) builder never installed flashing around two of the three skylights and several boards were not completely nailed down and have since rotted out. At least it's now finished (except for a few minor drywall repairs) and I'm back to being in luv with my home again.
I only have a couple house projects left that I would like to have finished before Ava gets here. I need to order blinds for Ava's room and also would like to replace the curtains in the living room with blinds as well. Why I ever thought it was a good idea to have white curtains that dangle the ground with two black cats in the family...I'll never know.
I was excited that I was able to fill up at the gas station for $75 last week instead of close to $100. I hope the price of gas continues to drop or my next car might just have to be a mini van!
I was actually looking at airline information yesterday trying to figure out what airport to fly out of for our China trip. I think I've decided that driving to Detroit is probably going to be our best option and save the most time. It looks like if we flew out of Grand Rapids to Detroit we would have a lot of time waiting between flights and I so hate sitting and waiting in an airport. If anyone from Michigan has any other advice for me.....I'd love to hear it. I'd also be open to driving to Chicago and leaving from there.
Just looked at the calendar this morning and noticed that I have three days this week that I have nothing written on.....I'm looking forward to a more relaxing week this week. I did notice on RQ that travel approvals were starting arrive for the end of September batch...I hope this means that referrals are just around the corner! We're getting sooooo close now....My stomach is doing flip flops just thinking about it.

UPDATE BULLET STYLE

2008-10-13T15:05:00.018-05:00

My gosh, half the month of October is almost gone.....Time is a flying. We're having some BEAUTIFUL Fall weather here in Michigan. We were all sad when we closed our pool down last month. However, I'll be thrilled to have a "normal" gas bill this month. I'm going to have to re-think keeping my pool at such high temperatures next year.....I about choked when I received a $1,380 gas bill in September and about a $900 one for October. ACK! Here are a few pictures from our last swim of 2008. Ian finally mastered the deep end about two weeks before we closed the pool. He had always been frightened of water, but now he is our little fish.

Dad and Ian enjoying the last swim. *sniff* What could that be on Dad's arm? All I can say is we better be getting referred a little girl or we will have no choice, but to name a little boy Ava.

Mom and her two boys.

Ian started soccer last month. This is the first year he has ever played. We're so happy that he was placed on a team with a wonderful coach.....It sure does make a difference on who you get. At this age, I don't even think the kids even realize if they have won or lost....AND considering his team has yet to win a game.....I'm quite happy that they're just out there to have fun.

Not sure what happened, but an agency received referrals for their 2/16 families last week. Everyone was super excited thinking that the CC*AA had sent out an extra batch this month. It appears that only one agency received the referrals.....That means we won't be taking another loop off the chain until next time. The best part of the surprise batch was that Shannon received her referral for ELLIE!!! Oh my word....What a cutie!! Those dimples!! Those chubby cheeks!! Click on her name to go see for yourself.....She is adorable!
I read a "rumor" the other day that someone received an email from their agency that said the CC*AA was going to process at least 7 days next batch with a probability of 15. I've been in this process for a long time to know that rumors usually (especially if they're good ones) don't pan out, but this one made my stomach do flip flops. I know we're getting close, but that's REALLY close. I need to go clean SOMETHING!!!

Saturday night was the Homecoming dance. I still can't believe that Hope is a Senior.....Although, my pocketbook can believe it. Man, I never realized how expensive kids were....I'm here to tell you that so far Senior year has been the most expensive of them all (I'll assume that next year will be even more costly with college expenses). Here is a picture of Hope & her boyfriend before the dance.

I'm exhaused today. I've been getting into the habit of waking up (thanks to Bella who has to go outside to use the bathroom) about 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep. If you notice that I'm commenting on your blog during the early morning hours....That is why.

6 LID DAYS CLOSER

2008-09-29T18:23:00.009-05:00

Referrals arrived today at agencies. It looks like the official cut off is 2/15/06 this month. That means Ian was able to remove 6 loops from our Ava chain. It also means we have 21 loops left.....Or 21 LID days to go until they get to us! I was sad to see they didn't get to the 17th this month, because two of my favorite bloggy pals just missed the cut off. The good news is they WILL be in the next batch and will most likely be spending this Christmas in China!

The CC*AA has been averaging about 6 days per month. That means we "should" receive our referral in February. Fingers crossed. And toes. And eyes. And arms. And legs.......

As you can see......The chain IS looking smaller! The CC*AA might not be working at record speed in getting out large amounts of referrals, but Keith and Mike are sure going to town on installing our wood floors! They still need to do all the trim work, but they have finished just about everything except our bedroom. It's been a bit dusty around here, but I do love how they're turning out.

THE CIRCUS AND NEW FLOORING

2008-09-22T15:08:00.019-05:00

The circus was in town last week and Jeff and I took Ian on Saturday night. Here is a picture of Ian and I outside the arena.

Here is Ian and his Daddy. It was such a beautiful night and we enjoyed walking around before we went in.

When I purchased tickets online last week.....I requested the best seats that were left. I didn't even bother to check to see where the seats were located.....Didn't matter, we just had to get seats. However, I was complaining (to anyone that would listen) that the cost of the tickets were $65 a person and HOW IN THE HECK ARE LARGE FAMILIES SUPPOSED TO AFFORD THE CIRCUS????!! My gawd, they cost more than the Idol tickets. H E L L O....We're talking MORE than tickets to see David C*ook (my honey....my love!)???! When we got to the circus we found out that our seats were right in the front row.....That explains the cost. Also, with the front row seats we were given a "celebrity pass" and were told that they would come and get us and we would enjoy our 15 minutes of fame and be part of the show! We got to dance with the clowns....I only wish I wouldn't have been carrying my purse or I really could have been able to let loose with some of my "world famous" moves. We then rode a train around the arena floor as they sang.....BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO-BRATION. Sadly, that song has been playing in my head since Saturday night.

They also gave us "hair" to wear. We were supposed to look like Bello (pictured behind Peaches). I just noticed that Peaches looks like he smoked his dinner in this picture. He. Didn't.

Gotta love the Bello hairdo.

The clowns and other circus people danced and twirled around us while we were on the train.

Here are a couple of the circus acts. Tell me, how do they do this?? My gosh, I can barely touch my toes.....How does anyone do something like THAT??

Loved the elephants. The one bad thing about sitting so close.....The smell. I think one elephant might have had an upset tummy. Other than the smell....The seats were totally worth the price. We really had a great time.

I spent this morning taking things out of cabinets in our living room. We're having 1500 square feet of wood flooring installed this week in our living room, kitchen and master bedroom. Our carpet is only four years old, but I'm so sick of it looking dirty all the time with all the animals we have. It's going to be so much easier to clean up if one of the cats hawks up a hairball, etc.

Here are a few before pictures. The carpet doesn't look that dirty in these pictures, but trust me....It is.

Sadly, they have to take out all of our old wood flooring in the kitchen and hallway. We wouldn't have been able to match it up perfectly.....That would have bugged me. The floor also looks better in these pictures than it actually is. It was in desperate need of being refinished anyway.

Jeff brought down the baby gate from the attic and put it up this weekend. I wanted to be able to keep the dogs downstairs while the men are working on the floors. I guess with as close as we're getting to our referral.....We can leave it up! Whoo-Hoo! Bella and a couple of the skinnier cats can still fit between the rails. Oh well. =)

PRETTY IN PINK

2008-09-08T15:35:00.009-05:00

The girls had an appointment this morning at the beauty parlor. I know, it's extremely rare for me to do two posts in one day, but I just had to show everyone how pretty my girls look...........

Pink is CLEARLY Luna's color. I'm always shocked the the groomer puts every color bow on her BUT pink.

And with Bella's dark black hair......Pink is also a nice color for her!

Here is a picture of Bella refusing to go out in the rain. FYI.....Painting around the door and door frame is on our list of things to get done this Fall.

Bella wanted me to make sure everyone knew that the doormat in the above picture was purchased because of this guy..................Hank.

Hank is the one that might be a tad bit unbalanced, but we love him just the way he is.

30 MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY

2008-09-08T11:12:00.002-05:00

As much fun as it is to search google images for a new and larger number each month.....I'm ready to be done. How many more of these will we be celebrating before we receive our referral? Four? Five? Six? I'm hoping that we're nearing the home stretch.

FUN FILLED DAY

2008-09-04T18:57:00.021-05:00

Yesterday was a fun filled day for us. It started out with an early fingerprint appointment in Grand Rapids. This was our THIRD appointment for fingerprints, but thank goodness it was free this time around. Our prints are now good again for another 15 months. I'm HOPING this was the last time we ever have to have them done.....Although, I thought that same thing last time. I wasn't allowed to take my camera in the building soooooo..... I had Jeff snap this of me out front so we could remember all the good times we have had here. *snort* And yes, I need to go back on my diet.....I'm so glad that darned dairy barn at the end of my street is closing in a couple weeks.....

Jeff took the entire day off of work yesterday because of the fingerprint appointment in the morning and because we had tickets for the Ido*l concert last night! I guess when you figure he lost an entire day of work.....The fingerprints really weren't that free at all. #&%#!!!

I purchased four tickets for Ido*l a few months ago. Ian and I are huge fans of the show. Griffin also watches from time to time and I thought he would also like to go. Wrong. Sooooo......We ended up bringing our good friend Ronda instead.

(BTW, I'm much too lazy tonight to fix the red eye in these pictures)

Here I am holding my David C*ook t-shirt. I happen to be wearing it as we speak....Or as I type. I know I look tired in that picture. I woke up at 3 AM the night before and couldn't get back to sleep. I'm a girl that needs her beauty sleep!

Alright, this picture might not be that flattering either. I was trying to contain my screams when "my man" took the stage. This picture reminds me of what I looked like at the Rick Spring*field concert many years ago.................=)

Ahhhhh, there he is! Mr. Michael J*ohns. Can you say eye candy? Ronda turned to me and said......"That man is HOTTTTT!" I said, "you JUST noticed?"

Ian was a little jealous because I kept taking pictures of Michael. Jeff was a good sport while his wife was ogling another man. =)

I was so excited that Ronda brought her binoculars with her! She was nice enough to share them with us.......That is, until HER man took the stage!

I FINALLY just had to grab them away from her so I could see HIM...........Let me tell you it wasn't easy prying them out of Ronda's hands! She had a death grip on them.

David C*ook is AMAZING! He was most definitely the star of the show. Ronda said...."He isn't as good looking as Michael, but there is just SOMETHING about him." I must agree.

Fun filled day.

SEPTEMBER REFERRAL BATCH

2008-09-02T18:04:00.012-05:00

I'm not going to lie to you.....I've got an extra spring in my step today and that's so not me! The CC*AA sent out the September batch ALREADY! People, I didn't think it would arrive for another 7-10 days! It's here! It's official.....The cut off date is February 9. That means we now have 27 LID days until they get to our LID.....We're under a month! Can you see why I have the extra spring now?! Ian and I made a LID chain several months ago and remove a loop for each LID referred each month. AND because I stink so bad at posting to my blog....Here is your first glimpse of him removing the loops from the chain for this month.

You're correct if you noticed he is only removing four this month. I sometimes make up my own rules and I had decided to take off ALL the CNY empty days last month. My chain. My rules. It's exciting to see the loops are no longer hanging down anymore. 27 left.....Can you join me in shouting......WHOO-HOO!!!!

I'm still hoping that we can squeeze our way into the January batch of referrals. I have already decided that IF we don't.....It will be her fault because her LID is filled with TONS of families. I won't blame her. Just her. Glad I got that off my chest.

AND saving the BEST news of the day....................Erin received her referral today for the BEAUTIFUL Meisey! Congratulations to Erin, Bob and big sister Mollianne! I'm so happy for you guys!! Totally worth the wait. Isn't she adorable!!!!

I SEE A FAINT LIGHT

2008-08-18T15:10:00.006-05:00

The Rumor Queen put out her latest projections for future referral cut off dates.....I can now see a faint flicker of light off in the distance:

It seems that most of the batches have been even smaller than the "horrid case" column lately. That means that my own projection of February for our March 8 LID is probably pretty accurate. Getting closer......

AUGUST UPDATE

2008-08-14T14:43:00.006-05:00

This month referrals finished up January, 2006 log-in-dates. Sooooo excited to be done with January and FINALLY get into February! Can't wait to watch some of my most favorite blogging pals with February LIDs receive their referrals in the coming month(s). If it's true that the next LID at the CC*AA is February 6......There are 31 LID days left to process until they get to US!!! IF they continue to process 6 days a month......We're looking at a February referral. Getting there ever so s l o o o o w l y.
Mailed my request for my THIRD fingerprint appointment today to the wrong address. Can you say.....Nitwit?
Sold our boat. The place we bought it from sold it for us for a small fee. They sold it a week or so ago and failed to tell us. An employee of ours saw it out on a nearby lake last Friday and called us.....What are the chances of that?! Still waiting for my $. Not. Happy.
Cleaned up the camper so we can sell that too. Don't want a camper without a boat. Going to take a major hit on it. Not. Happy.
The kids start back to school the day after Labor Day. Summer is almost gone. Not. Happy.
IF we can dump that camper.....I think I want a new car. A new car would make me happy or maybe a new purse.............
Wasn't the opening ceremony of the Olympics AMAZING?! I don't think any country in the future will ever be able to top that. I have to say that both Peaches and I shed some tears while watching. We want our girl. Now.
The rest of August is filled up with doctor appointments. Most of them are for our home study update. I'm not going to complain because I'm beyond thrilled that I get to do the 1600A form and not that nasty 1800A. Beyond. Thrilled.
Our little town is having it's yearly Festival this weekend. Sadly, Hope hurt her foot playing football (without shoes) and will be unable to march with the school band this year. We're just happy that it wasn't broken and is just a bad sprain. Can you believe that this is her last year in High School?.....Yes, I had her when I was VERY young. *snort*
Well, that's all I got. Remember.....It's not how lengthy the post is.....It's the quality of the post. =)

OLYMPICS BEGIN AND 29 MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY

2008-08-07T20:47:00.003-05:00

AUGUST 8, 2008

whoo-hoo.

AN EMAIL FROM THE USCIS

2008-08-04T16:20:00.002-05:00

Hello,

Yes, You are entitled for the one time free extension.

Michigan*Adoption*Unit

I take back all the terrible things I have said in the past, both out loud and under my breath....Today, I think I love the Detroit Branch. I'm not only relieved that when I have to re-do my paperwork it will be for free next time around (except for the home study update).....I'm relieved more than you will ever know that I don't have to switch to the new 1800A form. Oh my God, what a load off my mind! Oh happy day!!!

AVA'S 130 GOOD WISHES QUILT

2008-07-30T08:34:00.009-05:00

No, that wasn't a typo in the title. Ava's quilt has grown to hold 130 quilt squares. How? Even I don't know the answer to that one. All I remember is last Fall sending 100 squares off to the lady that was doing the sewing of Ava's quilt. Then, she contacted me and said she needed about 18 more squares to turn it into a twin size....AND I begged, pleaded and might have even come close to selling myself for more squares (if needed =).....AND I collected them. All 18 of them. Or so I thought. I somehow managed to collect 12 more. I actually thought the quilt lady added a few in to make it bigger for some reason. I was up late last night matching every single square with the wish card.....All 130 of them. Seriously, I still can't wrap my brain around how I ended up with so many. I think this wait is messing with my mind! The quilt is not finished yet, but here is a picture of the top.....I did have to throw a ladybug over one of the squares because it has Ava's first and last name on it. The square was embroidered by Jeff's brother Aaron.....And it's one of my most favorites. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

The corners of the quilt have Chinese symbols that stand for Hope, Love, Destiny and Family.

Here is a closer look..............

Several weeks ago, I knew that the quilt was almost ready to take to the quilter. She is the person that actually stitches the top of the quilt to the back of the quilt and adds "soft stuff" inside (sorry, if you don't already know.....I'm no seamstress =). I then had to decide on what the top stitch was going to be. Did I want puzzle pieces? HELL NO, I wanted a ladybug stitch that I saw on a blog months and months ago. IF only I could remember where I saw it!

The lady that did the sewing and a girl from work made several phone calls looking for a ladybug stitch and both came back and told me that NOBODY has one. They just don't make them. I was very disappointed to say the least. I went home and started reading some blogs and on that very day (on July 15Th) she posts a link to her daughter's quilt. I click on the link and low and behold this is what I see..................THE LADYBUG STITCH!!!!!!!!!!! This is also the same blog that I saw it on months before! What are the chances??!!

I then contact Jenn via her comment section of her blog and BEG for information on that stitch. I was seriously going to fly to Arizona myself to have her lady finish the quilt if need be. No puzzle piece stitch for me!! Jenn is such a sweetheart and called and called her quilt lady (pictured below). Finally, the lady called her and told her she is no longer in business, but she would gladly send me the template in the mail to be used on Ava's quilt!! Fate.....You betcha! Within a couple days I had the template in the mail along with a nice note. The lady said that she had created the template and used it on a special quilt for a special girl named Meili. Now, Ava's quilt will have the same stitch as Meili's and that just means the world to me. Jenn has a log-in-date of March 10, 2006 (just two days after mine) and we're with the same agency. It's very likely that we will be traveling together to get our girls at the same time. Thanks again Jenn for all your help!!

In the next couple weeks the quilt will be taken to the quilter to have the stitch done. If anyone would like to borrow the template for the ladybug stitch.....Just drop me a line and I'll gladly pass it along. I'll post pictures of Ava's quilt as soon as it's completed. Thank you to those of you that sent us a wish and a square. The quilt means so much to us and I know it will mean the world to Ava.

CATCHING UP WITH PICTURES

2008-07-23T16:29:00.004-05:00

Something I'm famous for.......Not blogging in awhile and then bombarding you will a HUGE post and a tons of pictures that will end up making your eyes bleed! Grab a cup of coffee and sit back.......First up.....Let me take you to pictures of Fourth of July when The M Family came for a visit. Lauren M. (or Madge as I call her) is my BFF from TN. We have known each other since kindergarten. Here is a pic of Griffin w/ Lauren's son Sean and her daughter Kelli.

Here is a picture of Kurt M. We couldn't believe how tall all the kids have gotten over the last year. Kurt is now taller than his Uncle Jeff by about an inch. Griffin is not far behind Kurt and now stands eye to eye with his Dad. Jeff first met Kurt when he was about a year old. Kurt just turned 20 on July 3. Where does time go??!

The kids were digging the cups that you can scratch your name on. I don't think Kelli let go of her cup the whole time......Kinda reminds me of her mother back in our bar days! =)

Here is a picture of Jeff with his buddy Doug. (The Peach had to ice down his elbow most of the weekend because of a busy week at work. His elbow has since improved and all I can say is THANK GOODNESS.....I told him that I'd sure hate to have to trade him in on a younger model. Besides, I've grown quite fond of him over the years! =)

Ian loves his Uncle Doug!

Madge and I. Notice we still have a tight grip on our drinks!

Had a GREAT time with the M Family. I think it's safe to say that the next time they come to town that we should have Ava home.

Next up........Hope's 17Th B-day. Here is a picture of us heading to Hope's favorite restaurant.

Here is a picture of Hope and Matt at her most favorite place to eat. I can EASILY polish off a couple of baskets of their bread sticks by myself......LOVE this place.

Another picture of Hope and Matt. Matt is Hope's boyfriend of about 6 months. I must say that we have all grown quite fond of him. He's a good kid.

We also think Matt has been a good influence on Griffin. Griffin ate his very first salad at THIS dinner. We think he tried it because he saw Matt eating one. Now, if Matt could just get me to eat salad......BAHAHAHAHAHA! Not. Gonna. Happen. =)

Hope was excited about her talking card. It said....."wishes really do come true!" Sadly, her wish that her presents would arrive on time by UPS didn't happen. =(

Me and my Peaches.

My Mom was also had Hope's B-day dinner, but my camera battery died when I was taking her picture! =(

Next, after the family B-day celebration it was time for the friends swimming par-tay! Hope wanted a Barbie cake (because the poor child never was given one when she was little) and I kinda ran with a princess theme for the entire party. The weather reports were reporting a 80% chance of storms so we had set up everything inside. I wasn't sure what the heck we were going to do with 15-20 kids inside, but thought we would make it work.

Thank gawd, the bad weather stopped JUST before the party and we were able to move everything outside! So. Happy.

Do you think these purses are a bit much? Something about seeing 17 and 18 year old boys carting around these just made me smile. I knew I just HAD to get them. =)

Here is a picture of some of the kids swimming. The kid on the left with his tongue out.....Isn't there just one in every crowd??!!

Hope's princess cupcakes. I didn't think the Barbie cake would be big enough so we went with both cakes. Both were very tasty.

AND here is the Barbie cake. She was kinda popping out of her dress!

Who knew that princess cupcakes and a Barbie cake would make a 17 year old girl so happy! And it looks like it's Bells that felt the need to stick her tongue out in this picture! Shame on you. =)

I didn't realize that it was a tradition to have a cake fight. SOOOOOOO glad we were able to move things outside! So. Glad.

Hope and Stacey.

A par-tay isn't a par-tay without games! Now can you see why I needed the princess bags? Jeff was on top of the deck pulling the pinata up when Bells took a swing.

They finally decided to take off their mask because it was MUCH harder to break open than they thought.

I think Ian might of been the last one to completely break it open.

They were all begging for the princess purses about now! =)

Hope thought when I came home with "Castle Toss" that it was a bit over the top. I can't believe she said nothing about the purses, but had a problem with Castle Toss. =) Kelsie wasn't going to give up until she mastered the game. The guy on the right was too cool to play.....He also declined the purse. Hmmmf.

I told Hope, "you just wait.....THIS game is going to make this par-tay a success!" I might have been wrong as only a few kids would humor me by playing. I thought the candy necklaces as prizes would get them lined up, but I was wrong. =(

They DID however LOVE Rock Band. We ended up purchasing it at the last minute when we thought it was going to have to be an inside party. They loved it so much that they didn't even want to go outside for a fire in the fire pit......Or to play Castle Toss. =( I now have enough ingredients to make smores for an entire year on a shelf in my pantry. Yippee.

Before the kids all arrived, I was the singer for Rock Band. Keep in mind that I tried out TWICE for chorus in the 6Th grade (I thought surely the teacher had made a mistake the first time around as I was a bit under the weather that day!) and was denied. Both. Times. I did end up getting a "speaking part" in their little production and YES, I'm STILL bitter about it, but back to Hope's party. Griffin ended up singing most of the night. We all think Griffin might have the best voice in the family......Peaches says he also has a good voice, but he must just be keeping that to himself! =)

I think Hope's party was a success and a good time was had by all. Man, I'm tired....Not sure what tired me more....The party or this post!

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM

2008-07-14T14:01:00.002-05:00

I purchased this cheesecake today in honor of our good pal StevO's first day at his new job. I thought it was best that I boost sales figures for his new company so his employment can continue. I promise to do this quite often so that StevO's job always remains secure and so that they might even have to increase production at his plant.....That's the kind of friend that I am. I'm always there for you StevO and that's why I'm taking one for the team and eating this cheesecake. =) The rest of the family will also suffer through it too.

BTW, I'm NEVER going back to the campground unless YOU'RE working there.....It just wouldn't be the same without you!

P.S. I think my kind words will eat at you and you will FINALLY sign up with Google to start leaving me comments on my blog! =)

SHOPPING FUN

2008-07-13T07:39:00.004-05:00

I FINALLY decided on a stroller and put in an order for it last night. Since we already had a crib/dresser THIS was the first big purchase we have made for our little pumpkin. It met all my requirements.....LARGE basket to hold packages when mall shopping, a comfortable handle and a cup holder (although, it's not pictured). I also think Ava will look just fabulous being rolled around in it!

But, do you think she will like a cowmooflage print for her car seat?

Or this nice girly fabric?

I'm not sure if I really like the cowmooflage print or I just like saying.....cowmooflage. Go ahead, say it......cowmooflage! See what I mean?! =)

28 LID ANNIVERSARY

2008-07-08T08:06:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe it's been 28 months since our file was logged in. It will be 3 years ago next month that we started our paperwork for China. It seems like the closer we get to seeing our precious girl.....The harder the wait becomes for me. I can finally say that I believe in my heart, without a doubt, that Ava has been born. Over the last 3 years there hasn't been a single day that has past that I haven't thought about her......Or a single night that I haven't wished that I would catch a glimpse of her in my dreams. But, it's become harder now because I know she has been born and is waiting for us now, as we have been waiting for her. I think about her constantly. I wonder if she knows how much she is loved. Is it harder for us knowing that she is out there or is it harder for her because she doesn't know her family exists? I usually don't wish time to pass and quicker than it already does, but I want my girl home....With her family where she belongs.

JULY REFERRALS

2008-07-05T19:06:00.002-05:00

The stork is on it's way to agencies and it looks like they only matched 5 days this month. We now have 42 log-in-dates to go until it's our turn. One good thing is that because of Chinese New Year, 2006 there isn't anyone logged in between January 28 and February 5, 2006, so the next batch "should" cover quite a few more days. If I were to take a guess with our LID of March 8......AND if the CC*AA continues to send out referrals at the same pace they have been....We "should" have a picture of Ava by the beginning of January. I'm still hoping for December, but I think that might be cutting it a bit close. We're getting closer.

WHAT'S NEW

2008-06-24T08:11:00.007-05:00

Jeff and I have been in a nesting frenzy the last few weeks. I'm starting to feel that China is not too far off and want to get things finished up around here. Why I HAVE to varnish a bench on the front porch BEFORE Ava gets here I have no idea, BUT I HAVE TOO! =)
I've been starting to look at the big ticket items for Ava (stroller, car seat, etc). I walked into a Babies*R*Us the other day and within minutes turned around and left. I was completely overwhelmed....Like I was a first time mom without a clue as to what I needed.
Tried to hire someone to put new decking/railing and add stairs down to our pool on our existing (rather small) deck. The estimate came in at $12,000.....Yeah, BITE ME!
Please tell me why in this crappy economy when so many people are out of work....You can't find anyone that wants to pick up any odd jobs around the house??!!
The Quilt Lady is going to town on Ava's quilt. She wasn't able to work on it until now because she had surgery. I saw it the other day and I must say, it's going to be AMAZING!
It cost me $100 to put gas in my car the other day and it wasn't completely full. Grrr.
I had actually came close to filling out paperwork to foster animals. When the four dogs and four cats were looking up at me for breakfast the other day, I decided against it. Peaches says, "We're already doing our part." He's right.
One of Jeff's patients thought I was his daughter yesterday. Yes, life IS good! =) I want to also add that she was only in her 50's, so don't think her eyes were bad or she was senile!
I've gained back 5 pounds and need to get back on my diet. That darn ice cream place on the corner is now open AND selling Cake Batter Ice cream to boot.... It's been the death of me!
I'm really hopeful that the July batch of referrals will be a nice number of days worth. It's getting exciting because so many of my blogging pals are SOOOO close to getting their referrals! I'm really hoping that December is our month.
Another Michigan family is in China right now and just got their beautiful Elizabeth yesterday. Click here for a link to their blog.

I'M SCARED TO LOOK IN THE POOL

2008-06-17T17:31:00.007-05:00

Our pool has been open for just over a month now. I had NO IDEA when we became pool owners that we would be fishing out all kinds of little creatures from the pool....Some alive and others not so fortunate. Every morning I take a quick look out the window to see if anything might be swimming (or floating) in the pool. I then walk down to the pool and peek into the little hole of the skimmer bucket to see if anything is floating around in there. Yesterday, there were two frogs in there. One was still alive, the other croaked (no pun intended ;). Then, I looked at the bottom of the pool and saw THIS crawling around.......A cray fish! Peaches had to dive in last night to pull him out of the pool. Thank goodness this little guy made it out okay.....And that Peaches already had a full stomach!

A couple weeks ago I found something that looked like THIS in the skimmer. He was not so lucky and I was pretty freaked out. I didn't know we had these guys in Michigan!!!

I've lost track how many frogs I've pulled out of there. More dead than alive. Very sad. I think the frog population is really dropping off in my neck of the woods.

We have lost three mice to the pool so far this summer. The third one was pulled out this morning. I was able to save one little mouse a couple of weeks ago. Poor little guy was so tired and probably was just minutes away from drowning. I'm so happy I looked out the window when I did. I think he was pretty happy too.

Just when I was dumping the remains of the lizard looking thing, I turned around and saw a baby red squirrel swimming in the pool!! Thank goodness, I was able to get him out. I wouldn't have wanted to find him in the bucket. He was such a cute little guy.

I know it's just a matter of time before we have a snake in there. I saw one the other night near the pool and made Peaches carry him off to the woods. I. Don't. Like. Snakes. I really think I might see if Peaches can set his alarm a few minutes early in the morning so that he can be the one on skimmer patrol.

PLOP PLOP FIZZ FIZZ OH WHAT A RELIEF IT IS

2008-06-14T09:48:00.001-05:00

That was the jingle my husband was chanting when I checked my cell phone messages yesterday. We have been stressed. Really. Stressed. Work related kind of stressed. The kind that starts at work, but you end up bringing it home stressed. The kind that you can't sleep at night because you realize that you're making a bad business decision kind of stressed. The kind that make you sick to your stomach and produces hives stress, but you feel some kind of obligation, although everyone tells you that you shouldn't kind of stressed. The kind of stress that you pray will just go away.....And it DOES!!! Just. Like. That. The bonus in the whole thing.....It was a relief for all involved. Life is good.

JUNE REFERRALS

2008-06-09T21:09:00.002-05:00

UPDATE: It looks like I jumped the gun on the 10 day batch. I guess I should learn after all this time that it's not over until the fat lady sings or in this case, the CC**AA updates their secret hidden box. The cut off this month is January 20, 2006.....It was an 8 day batch instead of a 10 day batch. Too lazy to change it on the school bus (BTW, the bus was in honor of the last day of school yesterday). We have 47 days to go..........

MAY REFERRALS

2008-05-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

WORTH WAITING FOR

2008-04-29T17:40:00.004-05:00

(The following conversation happened on the way home from the grocery store this evening)

Ian: I'm excited because my birthday is coming up soon!!

Me: I know, it's just a little over a month from now.

Ian: It took me a long time to be born. What would have happened if I was born earlier?

Me: You were supposed to be born a day earlier.

Ian: Then my birthday would have been June 2ND?!

Me: Yep, that was the day you were SUPPOSED to be born because I went to the hospital that morning to have you. You took FOREVER to get here and I ended up having you the NEXT day. (Trust me, at the time it seemed like FOREVER)!! June 2ND was also your Great-Grandma Carlotta's birthday. I sometimes think you might have decided to wait until June 3rd so you didn't have to share your birthday! =)

Ian: I was worth waiting for!

Me: You certainly were! You certainly were.......

(Just a little reminder for myself that this looooooong stinkin' wait for Ava will be MORE than worth it in the end. I doubt I will EVER be able to forget how tough it was.....Just like I STILL remember the 32+ hours of labor with Ian like it were yesterday, but it's ALL going to be worth it in the end. That I know for certain.)

WHAT'S UP VIA BULLETS

2008-04-21T16:18:00.006-05:00

It's been sunny and warm the last few days. It was so nice yesterday that I spent some time in a lounge chair by my pool....It would have been better if the pool was actually opened, but heck I'll take what I can get!

Hope passed her driving test and is officially on the road. Yikes. She purchased Jeff's old car from us (for a good deal) with the money she has saved while working at our office. Jeff walked away with a new car out of the deal....I soooooo want a new car too. Must. Be. Mature.

Griffin is home sick today from school. Funny thing is that he doesn't look sick or act sick. AND would a person that claims to have thrown-up this morning want pizza for dinner?? Things that make you go hmmmm.

Went to the dentist this morning for my 6 month cleaning (Alright, it was about 8 months!). Was asked AGAIN how the adoption was going. How many more trips to the dentist for my 6-8 month cleaning will I have before Ava comes home??!!

I've FINALLY lost all the weight that I want to lose. I'm down 35 pounds and couldn't be happier. Love Weight Watchers.

Jeff shaved his head completely bald last month (see above pic). He finally decided that it was time to shave it all off (it's been on the thin side for quite awhile now). It's a good look for some men, but NOT for my Peaches. It's looking so much better now that he has some hair growing back.

I'm totally into American Idol this season. LOVE the two David's and was totally heartbroken when Michael Johns was voted off a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure if Michael has as much talent as David Cook, but that boy is some definite eye candy for sure!! ;)

On the adoption front.....The CC@@ matched 5 days last month and made it to January 9, 2006. With our LID of March 8, 2006 we have 58 days ahead of us. If they continue to match 5 days per month then we're looking at another 11 months. I'm telling you it's like the movie Groundhogs Day......Since we began the adoption (in August, 2005) we having been telling people that we're a year away.

Ian was playing in the sandbox yesterday and announced he was digging a hole to China to get his sister. Ava is always on his mind.
I did have a dream about Ava a couple of weeks ago. This is the first dream that I've had where I could clearly see her face. I was in China holding her while she was sound asleep. She was just a tiny infant in my arms at the beginning of the dream. I was concerned because I noticed that in her clothing someone had left a stethoscope. I was scared that something might be wrong with her. I was determined to get some answers and decided that the ONLY one that would know what was going on was The Rumor Queen! If leaving a stethoscope on a child meant something then the Queen would know what it meant (to heck with calling my Agency! =). I never did meet the Queen in my dream, but Ava turned quickly from an infant to a toddler and was happily watching Barney (yes, I've dated myself!) on T.V. and clapping her hands and I knew she would be alright. I was also in my hotel room and was trying to figure out how in the heck I was going to pack up all Ava's toys and bring them home from China. I couldn't understand why in the world I brought a HUGE dollhouse to China and forgot to bring stacking cups. What does it all mean?!

SOME EASTER HUMOR........

2008-03-20T15:13:00.002-05:00

AND to get that picture of those boys playing tag off the top of my blog....It was EVEN starting to get to me too! =)

TAKING A BREAK

2008-03-13T08:21:00.002-05:00

The days are getting longer now and the temps are SLOWLY rising.......I'm feeling the need to take a little blogging break. Thought I'd leave sea star a little gift with the above pic to look at while I'm away.....It's her favorite! =)

LID ANNIVERSARY FUN!

2008-03-10T16:41:00.002-05:00

Nope, I didn't take pole dancing lessons (I'm saving that one IF we have another LID celebration next year =), order Mexican at a Mexican Restaurant, go flying, get a Pug (that one I WILL do someday) or order a Margarita instead of coffee (although, I could have used one on Saturday!).......I was inked (that's tattoo talk). =)

I've been throwing the idea around of getting a tattoo for about a year now. It all began when I starting watching Miami Ink and was fascinated with the art and the stories behind why someone gets a tattoo. This is something that up until that time I would NEVER do. There just wasn't anything that I would want to put on my body that had enough meaning....Until now.

I actually went a couple times (without an appointment) and came close to having it done over the last 6 months. Both times, it didn't work out because they were too busy or someone that no showed an appointment suddenly showed up. It wasn't meant to be. Last week I decided to set up an appointment for Saturday, March 8Th....Our 2 year LID anniversary. Right after I made the appointment, I headed off to the store to pick up some groceries. I started wondering if I was making the right decision in getting a tattoo.....Just then, I see a woman holding the hand of a beautiful Chinese girl. It's all I needed to know that I no longer needed to doubt myself.

Fast forward to Saturday. I had an appointment for 1:00 and arrived about 5 minutes early. The tattoo artist has a man in his chair that he is finishing up with. The man is crying. I'm dead serious. Crying. I was about to turn myself around and head back out the door, but I didn't. I was determined that I was going to prove once and for all that women are MUCH tougher than men!

After the guy left, the tattoo artist said that he was running a bit behind because that guy had passed out on him! I'm asking at this point if it really hurts that bad. He said that women have a MUCH higher pain tolerance then men do. Yeah, I thought so! =) Enjoy the pictures............................ The first picture I'm fake crying.

Then, he started working! It seriously hurt worse than I thought it would! I might be playing it up a little bit here, but I think I screamed....."I can see why the guy passed OUT!!!!!!"

In this one, I'm really not playing at all. I was ready for it to be over. I think I broke a sweat!

Ahhh, it's over and I love it. It looks a bit large in this picture, but it's only 1.5 inches. It says.......FAMILY........At least I HOPE that's what it says!! =)

24 MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY

2008-03-08T11:31:00.003-05:00

Two years ago today marks the day that our paperwork was logged in at the CC@@. One important lesson that I have learned over the past two years is:

(Although, for the first 18+ months I was learning this lesson while kicking and screaming! =)

To celebrate this anniversary, I'm doing something that I said that I would NEVER do and something that most would say is totally out of character for me. Any Guesses?

HAPPY HAPPY 2006 TO US!!

2008-03-03T10:43:00.002-05:00

Referrals are starting to arrive. Eight days this month......Only 63 more LID's to go before they get to ours!! I'm so happy that I'm actually able to figure that out in my head now....Instead of breaking out the dreaded calculator each month. FINALLY, they're working on 2006!!!! Finally.

HOPE

2008-02-26T16:36:00.003-05:00

Our friend Doris emailed us these pictures that she took of Hope. They're so pretty they deserved their very own post.

Thank you, Doris!!

LUNA, BELLA & DAISY LU

2008-02-25T16:34:00.007-05:00

Luna and Bella spent the day getting their hair/nails done today. Luna loves nothing more than getting pampered....In fact, she expects it.

Bella on the other hand isn't into looking frilly. She couldn't wait to get the bows out of her hair.

The bow lasted about 5 minutes before she removed it. At least I have one girly girl.

And, this is Daisy Lu's new favorite spot in the house. We found her up here the other day when we came home. She now gets up here daily to watch what's happening in the kitchen.

AS LIFE RETURNS TO NORMAL.....

2008-02-24T11:34:00.001-05:00

I received this email from Half the Sky today:

On behalf of many, many thousands of children who remained safe and
warm
through China’s toughest winter storms in 50 years, THANK YOU!

The weather has warmed considerably. On Wednesday, all power was
finally
restored.

Director Liu of the Yihuang County SWI in Jiangxi province called us on
Friday. He said that Yihuang was the last place in China to have light
again. Thanks to you, the orphanage was able to buy a generator which
produced just enough power to light the children’s building. Although
one
of their buildings was severely damaged by snow and the staff had to
fetch
well water from the countryside for many days, no one was hurt and all
63
children stayed well. The director called to make sure we all knew how
grateful he is for aid from the Little Mouse Emergency Fund.

Our staff in Beijing has had conversations like this one all week long
as
we made arrangements to wire reimbursement for locally purchased goods
to
98 different welfare institutions. Today we are pleased to announce
the
end of this extraordinary relief effort. From all over the world, this
community has raised almost 5 Million Yuan RMB (US$700,000) to protect
the
children!

Approximately 3 Million is going directly to those institutions which
suffered through this disaster. The remaining funds will be used to
help
all children's welfare institutions establish a store of emergency
provisions so that this never happens again. 100% of the funds donated
to
the Little Mouse Emergency Fund are dedicated to this purpose.

On Wednesday we will meet with Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs, Dou
YouPei
to make a ceremonial presentation of the proceeds of the Little Mouse
Emergency Fund to China’s orphaned children, and to discuss a plan for
disaster preparation in the welfare institutions. The Ministry of Civil
Affairs understands that this is a gift to the children from people of
many nations and they look forward to the opportunity to express their
gratitude.

It has been a tremendous pleasure and an honor to be a part of this
effort. I understand what “people power” means in a whole new way.
When
people really care, nothing can stop them from doing what needs to be
done.

As of today, the Fund is closed.

If there are donations on the way, we will include them in the fund.
But
if you are considering a gift today, please, instead, support the Half
the
Sky programs that give children the loving care of family every single
day. Even when the weather is calm.

With love and gratitude,

Jenny

Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org

WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEKEND

2008-02-19T16:45:00.005-05:00

The temperature is MUCH warmer in Georgia than it is in Michigan.

If Head tells you to hang a left......You don't listen.

Speaking of left......I learned that it either goes to the left or the right....Not both ways. =)

Tracy can make one mean rum & coke.

If I stay up late ONE night.....You can still be tired DAYS later.

Connie knows how to rock a pair of red pj's (with feet) like no other!

Even tho Krista is a cop, if she isn't packin' heat......She's a wimp! =)

Big D*addy sure knows how to handle his meat......Even in complete darkness.

Tracy is a princess.

Connie does NOT raise pigs.

If you sit three to a seat.....You don't need a seatbelt.

Georgia roads are curvy.

Stacy and I both have OCD and love hot showers AND are very mature.

Kristen didn't even look at all stressed even tho she is moving THIS weekend and wasn't even packed.

Mel (link to old blog) doesn't like ladybugs. =(

Tracy is the kind of friend that would open up her house to you.

Mel won't let anyone load her dishwasher.

Chicken wings take FOREVER when ordered at a Mexican restaurant.

These girls read waaaaaaay more blogs than I do.

I've been missing out on so many waaaaaaay cool blogs.

I learned why Heather is called Head.

They WILL talk about you if you aren't there. =)

Some people aren't very "regular" in the bathroom department.

Mel really knows how to throw a par-tay!

I want to have a pug someday.

Krista takes FOREVER to get ready.

Th*or has REALLY big ears!

M*attie loves her mama.

I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time.

Putting on my big girl panties and hopping on a plane was soooooooo worth it!

SHOULD I BE WORRIED?

2008-02-14T10:26:00.003-05:00

After seeing the pictures of a previous bloggy bash floating around on several blogs (and lifting these pics from those blogs).......I'm thinking the plane ride should be the least of my fears!! What have I gotten myself into??????

Lord, help me.........Georgia here I come!!!!!!!!

DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS

2008-02-13T17:24:00.003-05:00

Ian and I had our Valentines dinner date tonight because I have to work tomorrow night (because I'm going to Georgia on Friday!!!!!!! Whoo-hoo!). I asked him where he wanted to go and he said.......*Burger*King*. We decided that when we do go to fast food places we ALWAYS use the drive thru, but today we decided to eat inside.

The place was empty except for one other guy (except for BK workers). During the meal this guy asked me if I knew what time it was (mind you, my back was to him and there were fake plants between us). I turned around to look over at him (I knew he was talking to me because nobody else was in there) and told him what time it was and then went on eating. About 5 minutes later he says, "My name is David by the way." I totally ignored him (my back was to him.....he could have been talking to anyone....If anyone was there!) and I see Ian give him a scared little wave. My creep meter was going off and I wanted to get the heck out of there. When he went up to the counter for more coffee, Ian and I quickly left.

Ian and I got into the car and I locked the door. I was JUST starting to say something to Ian about not talking to strangers when Ian says, "ummm, Mom." The guy was standing RIGHT at my car window!! I think he thought I would roll down the window, but I didn't. He was asking me if I had any smokes. I shook my head no and I started up my car. He then left. My heart is still pounding. I'm not sure what he wanted. I don't think he had a car because he was walking across to another parking lot. He had to have RAN to catch up to us. So many things have gone through my head. Scary stuff. At least it gave me a chance to talk to Ian about why we don't talk to strangers. Ian never wants to eat at BK again. Me either.

RQ'S PROJECTIONS

2008-02-12T12:04:00.001-05:00

I have to say that I'm starting to get REALLY excited here! RQ just posted her projections for the next few months. The first chart shows what actually happend in the previous months with the cut off date and her projections. You will notice that the cut off date usually fell either between the Horrid Case and Bad Case and/or in the Bad Case column. We won't talk about the December 31, 2007 batch.

Now, here are RQ's projections for the next few batches! Even with the Horrid Case.....They will be working on February by July! Hellooooooo, we're March! Helloooooooo, February is a much smaller month!! I'm thinking that they will FINALLY be working on the March LID's by October! With a March 8TH LID.......I'm thinking Christmas in China!!!!! Could last Christmas REALLY be our last one without Ava??????
Providing the Olympics doesn't mess us up........................................................Don't want to think about that.

23 MONTH LID AND OTHER STUFF

2008-02-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

The weather has been so terrible here (fog, ice, snow, freezing rain) that the kids only had 1.5 days of school last week and will have only 2 days of school this week. The school only allows 5 or 6 snow days per year and the rest you have to make-up....At this rate they will be in school until AUGUST!! I think they have been in school about 12 days since Christmas break ended.

I'm soooooooooooooo sick of winter.

I have been working on my tan (at the tanning salon) and hope to give T a run for the money in "being the most tan" department next weekend! However, if you look at the underside of my arms they're mostly white.....Gotta remember to flip them over during the last 8 minutes. =)

Have I mentioned that I'm going to Georgia next weekend??! =)

Going out this Saturday with the girls for Hope's friend's (Bells) 16th B-day to have pedicures/nails done and a little lunch. Looking forward to it.

Ian did his valentines for school today and added a chocolate in each one. Ian left them on my bed and when I came home from work.......One of the dogs had eaten 7 chocolate hearts. Considering the fact that I had two dogs with me at work and one in a pen.....I know who did it.

Did a little shopping last weekend. After trying on numerous bathing suits I realized that I was kidding myself to think that I was close to my goal weight.

Speaking of shopping......I haven't bought a thing for Ava in MONTHS, but because of the last batch I was excited to buy my girl something. I saw this bathing suit on another blog and went in the G*A*P and asked the sales lady if she had any left. She said, "What size do you need?" I said, "It doesn't matter." She didn't even give me a strange look. Must be that lots of waiting ladies in the China Adoption program were buying this suit!

I of course HAD to buy her a cover-up too!

AND I certainly couldn't leave this hanging at the store......I'm ONLY human for crying out loud!!

AND this was in my fortune cookie about a month ago. Hmmmmmm, I wonder where I'll be going where there will be lots of spicy conversation????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!

We will be logged in 23 months tomorrow! Another month closer!!

YEAR OF THE RAT

2008-02-07T07:22:00.000-05:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!

1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020

Rat personality traits People born in the Year of the Rat are one of the most industrious and hardest working in the zodiac.

Forever busy in pursuit of an ambitous personal goal, at times they may become difficult to work with since they are born perfectionists. Rats must ensure that every "i" is dotted before completing an assigned task. As a result, they are often successful financially, and are good providers for their family and those they cherish most dearly.

Loyal and loving, Rat people inspire loyalty in others who are close to them. They are essentially honest individuals and loath to betray a confidence. However, their quick wit and restlessness can sometimes lead to chattiness, and they can often be relied upon at large social gatherings for a good story or a juicy bit of gossip.

Their energy levels and expert organizational talents are such that it is a rare thing to see a Rat person sitting idly by with nothing to do.

They may even sometimes be viewed as opportunists who cajole others into helping them accomplish a great ambition. In their careers, Rat people can find much success as business leaders or politicians.

Rats are most compatible with : Dragon, Monkey, Ox

700

2008-02-06T09:37:00.000-05:00

Our file was logged in at the CC*AA.

DAISY LU & HER KITTY HERB PLANT

2008-02-05T18:55:00.001-05:00

Do you think Daisy might miss being an outdoor cat??????? I'm just hoping she doesn't decide to use this as a bathroom.

HALF THE SKY

2008-02-03T09:48:00.000-05:00

I'm sure many of you have heard that China has been hit with the worst storm in half a century. People have been stranded all over the country because of the airports and train stations being closed. Orphanages are without heat, electricity, running water, food, diapers, warm clothing and bedding. Our children need our help. If there is any way you're able to contribute even a little bit to help these children, please click on this link. If you unable to give in the form of money at this time, please keep these children (our children) in your prayers. Thank you.

DECEMBER 27, 2005

2008-01-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

It looks like the cut off date for this month is December 27.....Yeah, we no longer have a box to confirm this 100% and Rumor Queen hasn't officially posted it, but I believe 3 agencies are saying that the 27TH is the cut off date and I'm going with it (because, it's MY blog and I said so! =).........So, what does this mean?

71 days are left between the last date matched (December 27) and our LID (March 8).
Our agency only has 6 LID groups ahead of our March 8, 2006 group.
They completed 8 days this month.
They're about 9 days in February, 2006 when nobody is logged in (during CNY).
Call me crazy, but I actually think we might see Ava's face before the end of the year.
I feel really happy today.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

2008-01-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

Jeff and I are nesting in a BIG way. He has been busy cleaning out the garage (his territory) and I've been busy cleaning out the closets. I'm tossing all my BIG pants because I'm officially down 24 1/2 (must add the 1/2) pounds with my weight watchers diet. I figure if you keep your BIG pants in your closet....It's the kiss of death.

Went to the bank today to see to get a print out of our checking account. With all my credit card company drama of last week, I didn't mention that a company (that will remain nameless) deducted over $900 from my checking account in error last month. As of this morning, they still owe us about $200. I'm not at all happy with them right now.

Speaking of banking, did I mention that I FINALLY opened up my very own China savings account? You might be thinking....About freakin' time woman! I just liked the idea of having a separate savings account that was just for our China fund. I'm enjoying adding something in it each week and watching it grow....It makes me feel like I'm actually doing something instead of just waiting. I'm going to make sure that I have some serious cash in there so I can do some serious shopping in China.

I started going to the tanning salon a couple weeks ago. I'm so sick of winter that I finally caved in and bought a tanning package. If I wrinkle up like a prune, so be it.

My dog chewed up my only bathing suit and his dog bed. How can I find a bathing suit in Michigan in January?

Jeff and I have decided to sell our boat and camper. After Griffin's accident tubing last year, it took the fun right out of boating for us. Griffin would hop back on a tube in a second, but it shaved several years off his Dad's and my life and we want no part of it anymore. I think if we boat again.....It will be a sailing for us.

Jeff is going to have another guy start working with him in the next couple months. I'm not sure if it really means that Jeff will be working any less per week, but it does mean that we will be able to take vacations more often than we do. It's a relief when we do FINALLY go to China. If the other guy wasn't there then our business would have to come to a halt for those two weeks. Can you say, no money?

Referrals should arrive sometime this week. I'm trying not to get too excited about them getting very far, but it's hard. I just want them working on 2006....Is THAT so wrong?!

THE END OF A LONG RELATIONSHIP

2008-01-23T17:21:00.000-05:00

I came home yesterday and as I do most days.....I opened up my mail. I opened up a statement from my credit card company and immediately noticed that they hadn't posted my last payment that I had mailed to them. I immediately picked up the phone to call them (even tho I had all the checking account info at work) in hopes that they might have found my payment. Here is how the conversation went........

Me: Hello, I just received my statement and noticed that a check I had mailed out in December hasn't been posted to my account.

Customer Service: Mother's maiden name please.

Me: ######

Customer Service: Can you verify your home address and telephone.

Me: Yes, blah blah blah blah blah blah 555-555-5555.

Customer Service: Is this your phone number with the last four digits of 1111.

Me: No, I just gave you my phone number.

Customer Service: How can I help you?

Me: Like I said, I mailed a check out in December and my statement shows that you haven't received it. Can you check on that for me?

Customer Service: No, we never received it.

Me: Ummm, I mailed it out EARLY (well before the due date) on December 21, before I went out of town.

Customer Service: No, we didn't get it. If you mailed it in December we won't be getting it now.....It's already February.

Me: It's January, not February. (Thought in head.....It probably got lost because of all the flippin' Christmas card mail....February? What a moron!!).

Customer Service: Oh yeah, it's January. So do you want to pay by phone today?

Me: No, I want to call my bank tomorrow and if it hasn't cleared, I want to stop payment on the check.

Customer Service: You can still pay by phone today.

Me: No, I will call you tomorrow after I talk to my bank and pay then!!!! (Thought in head......You flippin' idiot!!!)

Customer Service: You know, we WILL be calling you if we don't receive your payment.

Me: No, you WON'T be calling me because I'm taking care of it tomorrow!!!!!! Listen, transfer me to someone that can cancel my card. (Thought in head.....HELLOOOOOOO, I called YOU!! If I was dodging payment.....I WOULDN'T HAVE CALLED YOU!!!!!)

Customer Service: Alright. (Possibly thought in head.....Geez, what's her problem?)

(LONG TIME ON HOLD)

2ND Customer Service Rep: How can I help you today?

Me: I wish to cancel my credit card.

2ND Customer Service Rep: May I ask why?

Me: (Huge sigh) I have had this credit card for 25 YEARS and have NEVER once been late on a payment and and your customer service person has treated me as if I'm a total deadbeat and don't pay my bills!!!!! My check must have gotten lost in the mail and I called to try and get it straightened out. He keeps telling me to pay today and I told him that I'll pay it tomorrow after I call my bank and he said he WILL be calling me if I don't send my payment and I don't think he should treat people like deadbeats that pay their bills.....Just look at my payment history! (Totally out of breathe and red faced).

2ND Customer Service Rep: I'm sorry to hear that. Are you sure you wish to cancel your credit card?

Me: Yes, cancel it. (Thought in head.....Great, now I don't have another credit card and I knew my account number by heart cause I had it soooooooo long (and I used it a bunch of times!), but they shouldn't treat people like that....Oh great, I wonder if I can use a debit card in China.....I'm going to have to fill out an application for the next credit card that comes in the mail....That should be tomorrow!!!)

2ND Customer Service Re: Alright, your card has been cancelled. Is there anything else I can do for you today?

Me: I don't think so. (Thought in head....Sniff. I had that card before I was married to EITHER of my husbands and now it's gone. Just. Like. That.)

My relationship with my credit card company is officially over. It almost feels like a divorce or something. Twenty-five years is a long time and it was over in a heartbeat. I have no idea how long it's going to take me to get over how 0ur good relationship turned ugly so quickly. Can I use a debit card in China?

A WHOLE BUNCH OF PICTURES

2008-01-15T20:22:00.000-05:00

Alright, here are a bunch of pictures that I've been meaning to post for a couple weeks now. As much as I tried to keep them in some kind of order.....I failed. However, with my VERY detailed description (that will be posted DIRECTLY above each picture) I think even T will be able to follow along. =) Here we go............

This picture is of Jeff's brother Aaron. You will notice that Aaron was blessed with the most hair in the family! Alright, the truth is he is sporting one of Hope's Christmas presents (Hair by Jessica Simpson)! I think it's a good look for him!

This was taken after Christmas, but it was our Christmas celebration with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Shawnee. Sorry I don't have a picture of Hope actually wearing the hair. I'll get one at a later date.

This is Ian on the plane heading for Disney World! He had been wearing his Santa hat since Thanksgiving! AND he is STILL wearing his Santa hat as of today.......Ian is determined to keep Christmas alive all year long.

The Magic Kingdom.....My FAVORITE place on earth. I just LOVE the castle! I must love it or I would have never posted this picture of me! Note to self: Don't wear stretchy fabric.

This is Ian at Animal Kingdom. When he got bored digging for dinosaur bones...........

He buried his brother. Griffin is such a good sport. We buried him last time we were there too. I think it's going to be the L family tradition.

I've been to Disney World three times now and I have NEVER been able to get a picture with me and that darn Mouse! This year, they stopped the line JUST as we got in line. Hmmf. If I get my mind set on something, there is no stopping me! Here is Ian and I with The Mouse!

Alright, we did get our pictures with the Pooh characters (for a large sum of money for a buffet that TOTALLY wasn't worth the cost).

Ahhhhh, look at the beauty of the castle at night.....................................................

I have a story to tell with this family picture. Jeff was taking some pictures of us with the castle when a nice lady and her daughter walked up and asked us if we wanted her to take a picture of all of us. After she was done, we asked her if she would want us to take a picture of her family. The lady motioned for her husband to come over (we hadn't seen him up until then) and he walked over pushing a stroller with two of the CUTEST little girls from China in it! They were probably about three and four. I wanted to say something about us adopting, but I didn't. I also wanted to take a picture of them with MY camera, but thought it might freak them out!

Riding Splash Mountain. Yes, Ian is in tears. =(

Ian liked the dinosaur ride a little better. I didn't like the warm air that shot out of his mouth when he roared.

We made Ian ditch the Santa hat (it was VERY warm) and slap on a pair of ears instead.

Here is a picture of Princess Hope. The kids tried on every hat in every store in every park (alright, I made them).

I just love this picture of me and my little buddy.

This was the last picture we took on New Years Eve at Animal Kingdom. This was the only day that it rained (only about an hour) the entire week. The kids wanted me to remove the poncho, but I'm a rebel.

Griffin and Ian at the Rain Forest Cafe. We ate there on New Years Eve. We asked for our normal table for five......When they called our name they took us to a table for six that included a high chair. Do you think that it's a sign?

Here we are after we returned the rental car. It FINALLY hit us that we were leaving beautiful sunny Florida and heading back to the great white north. Can you feel our pain?

As promised.......Our Christmas tree (minus the tree skirt....I removed that sucker on Christmas night because I was sick of cleaning the cat hair off it every day....cat hair and velvet! Arrrgh!)

Here is the Ava section of the tree. Yes, that is a Year of the Dog ornament......I was SO sure she would be born in the Year of the Dog.

Oh yes, that's a little piggy ornament......I was SO sure she would be a Golden Piggy. Must find Rat ornament. Sigh.

Here are the Waiting for Ava 2005, 2006 and 2007 ornaments.

Alright, enough of all those ornaments.....On to happy things.......PANDO!!!!!!!! How cool is THIS......You get to go down the hill and they actually pull you back up on the other side! The people that are pictured trying to walk down the hill are making a big mistake. NEVER, get out of your tube before you make it all the way down. I took out several kids on my way down because they climbed out too soon. (Don't tell my social worker....It's not like they were hurt too bad.).

Here is a picture of Mr. Jeff riding back up the hill. There is a sign posted that says NOT to throw snow balls. Just saying.

Griffin and Ian having a blast on the hill.

Look at that athletic form and mix -n- match winter wear!

The last ride all hooked together. Jeff took these amazing shots riding in a tube that left just SECONDS before us!......I made that sound pretty exciting, huh? =)

That's all folks! Man, I'm beat. Blogging is hard work.

WAITING IS HARD WHEN YOU'RE 7

2008-01-10T09:11:00.000-05:00

Waiting for Ava is truly the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. It's so difficult for me wondering "when" and "if" Ava will be here and not knowing from one day to the next what the future holds with the China adoption program. Can you even imagine how hard it must be when you're only seven years old? Ian wants his baby sister more than ANYTHING in the world. ANYTHING.

Ian has wanted a baby sister since he was about three years old. I would pick him up from daycare and he would talk many times on the way home about wanting a baby sister. I have to say that although I have always wanted to adopt from China (since 1991 when I read an article on China when I was pregnant with Hope), it was Ian that started the ball rolling. Many days I would sit and dream of our little girl from China while Ian was expressing his thoughts for a baby sister.

Ian talks all the time about Ava. He questions all the time if I think Ava is awake or asleep and what I think she might be doing. He announced on Christmas that he loves Ava MORE than his Christmas presents (and when you're seven....That's saying something). He wonders why we can't just dig a hole and go and bring her home. He said once that he wanted to go and stay with her in China because he didn't want her to alone or scared. This morning while I was driving him to school he asked if there is snow in China. China and Ava are always on his mind.

Last night, Jeff and I were discussing the latest news from our agency regarding the adoption (and the removal of "the box"). In the letter we received from our agency, they state that things will start to pick up in 2009. Believe me, I'm happy to hear that they think this will happen (I'm not totally convinced), but the fact that we started our adoption in August, 2005 (!!!) doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It appears that things will continue to slow down for 2008 (although they stated in an email to me that the U.S. will continue to get referrals and travel approvals during the Olympics because our consulate is not located in Beijing...That's wonderful news!) and then pick up during 2009. Jeff and I were talking about the fact that we believe that it won't be long (in the next year or so) that we feel that China will shut the doors to international adoption and Ian heard those words. And he cried. I can't believe that he understood what closing the doors to international adoption meant, but he did.

Jeff and I tried to tell him that China has promised that those of us in this long line WILL receive a baby. We promised him that no matter what he WILL have a baby sister named Ava (although, making this promise scared the hell out of me).

I just wonder if the C*C*A*A* ever REALLY understands how much this wait (and the fact that we're kept in the dark) hurts adoptive families?........Even a seven year old feels the pain of this wait. I hope they know that.

WHAT IS THE BOX?

2008-01-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

I guess I should have explained what the box actually is (since kc was asking in the comment section)and what it means when it was taken away from us. The box pictured above (and I might add that the picture above is the LAST picture of the box in all it's glory) was a box posted on the C*C*A*A website that would let adoptive families know what the cut off date (your date that your paperwork is logged in is your LID and that date is very important in knowing whether you made it in that batch of referrals or not) or when your file has FINALLY made in thru the dreaded review room. It was the only information that the C*C*A*A gave to us on their website. All other information is provided by our adoption agencies (although most are pretty darned tight lipped, hence the Rumor Queen site). By taking away the box.....It takes away the only direct link we had to information from the C*C*A*A. I was also looking forward to seeing my LID pictured in that box (sometime in the year 2009 when things pick up....Yes, you can read that with sarcasm).

After sleeping on it, I realized something.......I DON'T NEED THEIR STINKIN' BOX!! =)

HEY, TURN ON A LIGHT!

2008-01-09T09:43:00.000-05:00

Is it just me......Or is it getting even darker in here?! I hate being in the dark.

22

2008-01-07T18:40:00.001-05:00

Wow, that was a nice surprise.....I googled the number 22 and actually came up with something kinda purdy! This was the conversation in my head prior to finding this image:

Well.....Looks like another LID anniversary is coming up tomorrow. Guess that means that I better post something on my blog. Gosh, I've been too lazy to even do a post about Christmas or our trip to Disney or to take a picture of our tree (yes, it's STILL up so I might just throw one atcha in February, so stay tuned)....I'm such a loser blogger. I'm never going to find a cute 22 to post. It was soooooo much easier when we were in the single digits....Ahhh, the good old days when we thought we were just a cruisin' thru the wait....sigh. I think google images had waaaay cuter images for single digit numbers. I guess I could create something on that Rock whatever the heck it's called site....Ahh, too lazy. I'll just try google. BINGO!! Well....That's so colorful....Look at all those happy colors.

Doubt I will be able to find a cute number 23 for next month (said like Eyeore).

HAPPY 2008!

2008-01-01T10:49:00.000-05:00

We got up at 5:45 this morning to head to the airport for our flight home. It's now 10:50 and we're STILL at the airport because our flight is delayed.....The reason, the crew needs more rest. Well, join the the flippin' club people. Soooooo...... Seriously, do you think they were out partying last night for New Year's Eve....What is the rule for that? They can't drink how many hours prior to flying? I need to google that info after I'm done here. I'm not a fan of flying so this is VERY unsettling news for me. Did I mention that I googled how often my airlines has crashed? It's probably why I read Rumor Queen....I like to know things....The good, the bad and the ugly.

I guess the weather in Michigan is as cold and frightening as ever. Why don't I live in a sunny and warm state? Why couldn't we just win the lottery and have tons of money and we could live any place our little hearts desired? I miss my animals (especially my little Luna). I will leave sunny Florida to see my babies and return to the freezing cold.....If the flippin' crew ever wakes up!!!!!!! Talk to you on the flip side.....Hopefully! =)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2007-12-20T10:06:00.000-05:00

OUR FAMILY WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OF YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

21

2007-12-08T20:03:00.000-05:00

Geesh, who would have ever thought................................................................

NEWS THAT IS NEWS

2007-12-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

My husband was BEGGING me to do another post so I can move Ms. Britt from view when he checks my blog. The latest rumor is that Britt is pregnant so I guess this means that her adoption plans will have to be put on hold????....What a joke!

So.........I've been REALLY trying to keep a good attitude this year regarding Christmas....I've got my tree up and have Christmas music playing in the house, but I'm struggling yet again. Please tell me this is the LAST Christmas without Ava. PLEASE! I thought about doing my Christmas cards this year (missed last year), but I can't bring myself to do them. I just don't want to explain that we're STILL in the process of adopting when I so stupidly mentioned it in the Christmas, 2005 cards (please insert the Cher song If I could turn back time). Oh, I wish I would have never mentioned it to so many people and just waited until we had her.

So........With the struggle to keep the holiday a happy one.......We decided that the day after Christmas we're getting the heck out of here for a week and going to Disney World! Getting a little warm sunshine and riding a few rides is a sure thing to lift our spirits! I was determined to make this Christmas a happy one and I think a trip to Disney World is just the ticket!

Oh, one more thing.....The *CCAA* updated their site and we now have 84 more days to get to our log-in-date. They matched families from December 9-14, 2005. It was only 6 days, but I figured that would be the day based on Rumor Queen polls. I believe next month they will get to December 22 and then January 3-4 the following month. I still believe we will have our referral in September, 2008, but would gladly take it sooner!

Oh, and something else......I haven't been around very much as I have been having some computer issues at home. Ever since Jeff started up his new laptop....Mine no longer works. Yes, I'm going to blame him. I guess it also could be the virus that I picked up on a website when I was searching for "Golden Pig Ornaments", but my guess is that Jeff had something to do with it. So you can blame him for me not being around very much! =)

TWINS FOR BRIT?

2007-11-26T13:05:00.000-05:00

All the tabloids and morning radio shows are reporting that Ms. Spears in currently "in the final stages of talks" with an adoption agency and will be adopting twin 6 year old girls from China. If Ms. Spears can make it through the review room.....What the heck was I worried about? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The only thing that I don't find humorous about this ridiculous rumor is that I will probably have people asking me how SHE can get twins from China and we started our adoption in 2005 and we're still waiting.....Yes, just what I needed.

2007-11-20T18:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be thankful you're not this turkey! =)

OPENING DAY

2007-11-15T18:35:00.000-05:00

The kids had the day off school today, so I took the day off from work to be with them. The schools here are always closed on November 15th for opening day of deer hunting season....Being a girl from the "big city" I was shocked to learn about this tradition when we moved here 6 years ago. I was shocked even more to learn that even chicks hunt here....Our receptionist took the day off to hunt with her boyfriend today! I of course give anyone that is going out hunting my famous hex sign (either in front of their face or behind their backs depending how well I know them) hoping that they will come back empty handed.

Jeff isn't a hunter (and that's a good thing because I don't think we would have married if he was!), but he did manage to get a deer the other night with his car. The other day he said that 3 more deer ran out in front of his car and he nearly missed a cow in the road last week. We used to be late for work because of traffic jams, construction and accidents....Now, we're late because of the Amish, farm equipment and cows.....AND I wouldn't want it any other way!

My wish tonight is that all the deer find a safe place to hang out until this season comes to an end. If you see some crazy lady on the road giving a hex sign to cars parked near the woods....That will be me! =)

UPDATE VIA BULLETS

2007-11-13T15:09:00.000-05:00

This bullet post thang....Seriously, is there any other way anymore? LOVE IT!

Jeff and I went out this weekend to purchase another artificial Christmas tree before they're picked over. Lord knows, I'm all about Christmas this year so we got right on it. We decided to try another fake one because I'm sick to death of our real trees dying in my living room before December 25th. Every morning I was picking up ornaments off the floor because the branches were too weak to hold them up. Speaking of ornaments.....Gotta go out and get another "Waiting for Ava 2007" ornament for the tree.....This will be the 3rd one now. Sigh.

Jeff's B-day is tomorrow (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET CHEEKS) and I'm (oops I mean JEFF) is getting a new laptop. It will come in very handy when blogging from China. We're pretty much set now with everything needed for our trip. Just need to have the kids passports done and we're ready to go whenever the C*C*A*A gives us the go ahead! My B-day is Saturday, but we're not going to talk about it.

I had to go in for my yearly exam this morning. I'm telling you, they're full of surprises when you're over 40 (and I am). All I'm going to say is I apologized to my dogs when I came home from my appointment this morning. Why? Because, sometimes I have forgotten to bring in their samples and the vet has gotten one anyway. I know now how they felt. Mommy will NEVER forget EVER again my fur babies!!

Speaking of yearly exams......I realized this morning that I spend WAY more time getting gussied up for my yearly than I would spend getting ready for a date with my hubby. Why is that?

I'm seriously LOVING weight watchers! I'm down 11 pounds now! I'm now working on losing the 9 remaining pounds that I gained during the paperchase.

I've been so caught up at work lately it's FRIGHTENING! I have always had a pile (the same pile) on my desk that I never seem to take care of. I'm even caught up with all of that! What is funny is the stuff that I had been putting off and putting off only took me a short time to finish. Gosh, it feels good!

Thank you to all of you that have sent me or promised to send me squares for Ava's quilt! With all the promised and received squares I FINALLY have enough for Ava's quilt! If you haven't yet mailed out your square (kc) then I must beg you to get to it pronto! You guys have NO IDEA what it's like to have that quilt lady breathing down my neck. No. Idea. =)

Until next time............

20

2007-11-08T12:10:00.001-05:00

JUST SOMETHING I NOTICED....

2007-11-07T13:02:00.000-05:00

I like to go on the China adoption site to follow along with all the families that are currently in China now ( living vicariously through them for the time being...sigh). Do you want to know what I just noticed?......I think there are A LOT more families in China right now and quite a few getting ready to go. I guess that just confirms it for me that those couple of crappy small batches of 4 & 5 days really had a bunch of families logged in during that time. Just makes me feel at a lot more at ease that things actually might start picking up a little as we go through the smaller months of December, January and February LID's. Thought I would share my thoughts and hope it helps lift your spirits too.

MY WEEKLY UPDATE

2007-11-05T09:54:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to see that the C*C*A*A* had updated their site. They have sent out referrals for those families logged in between December 1 and December 8, 2005. We now have EXACTLY 3 months between our log-in-date and the last day matched. How long will it take for them to get to our log-in-date you ask? Even if you didn't ask, I'm gonna tell you what I think.....I think it will take 3 more months to get through December, 3 months to get through January, 2 months to finish up February and then 1-2 to get to my log-in-date of March 8th. My best guess would be that we will have our referral next September. The C*C*A*A could always surprise us and pick up the pace and we could see Ava's face much sooner....I know, but a girl can dream! It's possible they could go even slower than they have in the past, but I'm not even going to go there. Thinking happy thoughts.....And no I'm not taking any happy pills.

Here are a couple pics that I took last week when Ian & I went for a pumpkin ride out to the ole' pumpkin patch and to go apple picking. Waiting so close to Halloween made it quite difficult to find a decent pumpkin, but we were pleased with our choice. It also helped that we had seriously the BEST pumpkins evah already on our front porch....Killer pumpkins I tell ya. Sorry, too lazy to go take a picture so you'll have to trust me.

Gosh, that kid is cute.

Guess what we found on Halloween night? We had just gone to our last house begging for candy when across the street ran this little cutie. She looked like she had been outside for awhile because she had quite a few burs (she was also trying to get in houses that didn't belong to her). Jeff put her in his coat and away we went. At this point, what's another cat?! We now have 4 dogs, 4 cats and a bird. Luna seems nice and all in the picture, but she is really not too pleased that the kitty crawled up to take a snooze next to her.....She's quite bothered.

Introducing........................Daisy.

One more thing.....I started weight watchers last week. I'm pleased to report that I'm down 7 pounds! My goal is to drop 20 by Christmas. I think the fact that I'm going to go each week to weigh in will help me drop the weight. I'm VERY competitive and I'm all about getting that sticker each week. I might even think about s l o w l y adding some daily excercise into the plan.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2007-10-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

CALLING ALL QUILT SQUARES

2007-10-24T20:32:00.000-05:00

I had turned 100 quilt squares over to the quilt lady several months ago. She called me a couple weeks ago and said she needed me to come up with 18 more squares to make the quilt a twin size....Talk about pressure! I've been able scrape up about 6 more squares, but I'm still short. I've got the quilt lady breathing down my neck because she is leaving for Arizona for the winter....She wants to work on the quilt over the winter. If anyone would like trade squares with me, please leave a message in the comment section. Thank you in advance.

To any family members that may read my blog and haven't sent in their square.....When Ava is admiring her quilt someday and asks the question, "Where is _________square??" Well, I guess I'll look her in the eyes and tell that sweet little child that she needs to ask _______.
If you want to avoid that conversation in the future, drop a square in the mail.

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

2007-10-22T15:59:00.001-05:00

We had a BEAUTIFUL fall weekend here in Michigan! The temps were quite warm and the days were filled with sunshine. I do know that old man winter is going to be knocking on our door in the very near future.....I'm NOT going to answer.

As you might have noticed, I have a new blogger profile photo (or possibly NOT since my big photo slide has now pushed my profile photo to the bottom of the page). We had some family pics taken this weekend by Doris (she is the mother of Hope's friend Bells) and that was a lot of fun. We haven't had a family photo taken since Hope was about 2 years old (sad, I know)....I kept waiting to lose a few (like 20) pounds or not quite happy with the way my hair looked and about 14 years have now passed. I decided that it ain't gonna get any better (I'm aging rapidly) so we best have them taken. I'm really pleased as to how they turned out even though Jeff and I both were discussing how even our "fat pants" were feeling tight on the same day the pictures were taken.....We might have to consider putting the deep fryer away for awhile.

Here are some of the pictures.......

*******The photo of Jeff alone might have been somewhat altered*******

UPDATE VIA BULLET POST

2007-10-15T09:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to lie to you....I'm just not into this whole blogging thing. I still LOVE to read other people's blogs, but just don't have much to say on mine. This wait is just taking too darn long and it's taking all the fun out of blogging. I wish the CC** would just give us a few more days this month. The whole China adoption community could use a lift instead of a punch in the gut this month. Anyway, this is what has been going on in our neck of the woods.........................

Jeff and I found the BEST new restaurant for breakfast in our little town. I guess I should say that it isn't even new....We just never went there before and we have lived here 6 years. Yum!! I'm not normally a breakfast person, but we ate there both Saturday and Sunday and plan on doing the same next weekend. We couldn't get any of the kids to go with us so it was kind of a mini date for us.

We closed down the pool for the winter.....SADNESS! Last Monday, it was about 85 outside and the temperature has now dropped about 30 degrees. I guess it was time. I hate to get my gas bill as it is.....I found the ideal temp of the pool was 87 degrees!

I have to mail a check off today to my friends at the Internal Revenue Service. I've filed an extension for so many years now that I have it in my head that tax day is truly October 15Th. I hope the I.R.S. is happy that they have forced me into carrying the same Coach bag I did last fall. B@$t@%&$!

I just realized this morning that since the weather has turned cold, I haven't shaved my legs in about a week. I think you might even be able to say they're furry. Even after knowing that this morning, I didn't shave them.

Jeff and I purchased a deep fryer this weekend. I'm not sure if it's going to be such a great idea for our waistlines, but it was sure good for the taste buds! We made the BEST fried chicken yesterday. We were running around the kitchen just looking for stuff we could toss in the fryer.

I'm up 2 pounds since last week. I don't know WHY I can't lose weight. Hmmf.
Saturday night was Homecoming and Hope went with some friends. This picture was taken before the guys got ready for the dance by Bell's talented mother. I didn't even bring my camera to take pictures because I knew her mother would do such a great job! I think this picture looks like they could be an advertisement for a comedy group!

Well.....That's all folks!

19

2007-10-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

WAS IT THE STORK?

2007-10-01T16:14:00.000-05:00

While I was driving home today a REALLY large bird (about the size of this fellow) flew over my car and relieved himself....I'm serious, it was like a HUGE water balloon hit my windshield! I think it's possible that the stork flew over and took a big ole' crapper on my car...... AND if he is indeed carrying only 5 days worth of referrals..... The crapping ain't over.

WHEN ARE YOU BRINGING THAT LITTLE GIRL (OR BOY FOR SOME FAMILIES) HOME?

2007-09-17T09:30:00.001-05:00

Yep, that's the million dollar question for all of us in the China adoption program. I forget that some of my readers aren't in the adoption program and have no idea about how or why things are taking so long. This post is for them.

We started in August, 2005 with what is known as the paperchase. We had physicals, fingerprints, meetings with our social worker to complete a home study, wrote essays, obtained police clearance letters, income verification, reference letters from friends, ordered birth certificates & marriage license, had passport photos taken and waited patiently (BWAHAHAHAHA) for our immigration approval. We then had all of our documents notarized and authenticated and our precious dossier was complete. Our paperchase took a total of 6 months to complete and our paperwork headed off to China on February 10, 2006. We waited patiently (BWAHAHAHAHA) until we were notified of our LID (log in date) . Our LID is March 8, 2006. When we started the process it was taking about 6 months after your LID to receive "the call" (or your referral) with your child's information and picture. I remember hoping that we would be home BEFORE the kids returned to school in September, 2006. Sigh. Things started to REALLY slow down with the China program (Ummm, the month we started our paperchase) and the wait has been growing each and every month. Why? Don't know. I can only speculate, so I won't.

As of last month, they gave referrals to families that were logged in between November 21, 2005 and November 25, 2005.....4 days. As someone that frequents a site called RQ (Rumor Queen), I know that based on RQ's polls there were quite a few families logged in during that 4 day period. I also know that things should start to speed up a little bit when we reach the smaller months (months that less families are logged in). As you can see from the poll, November was a much larger month and that's probably is the reason it's taking so long to get through. We have had quite a few large months behind us and are looking forward to finally getting into the smaller ones and hoping the pace picks up a little bit. When I say speed up, I'm thinking they might be able to process 15-18 days each month. I hope. Thank goodness, we're logged in at the beginning of March. If you will notice from the poll, they expect March to be a rather large month and therefore, take quite awhile to get through.

As of right now, 102 days separate us from the cut off from this month's batch of referrals (November 25, 2005). How long will it take for the CCAA to process 102 days? Don't know. We can look back at the history of the last 18 months to get an average. I'm not going to use the average number of days over the last 6 months because I know that those were larger months (more families logged in during that time). If we use an average of the last 12 months that we get 10.5. If you divide 102 by 10.5 you get: 9.7142857 or about July, 2008 before we will receive our referral. Like I said previously, I'm REALLY hoping that they can start doing about 15 days worth per month (when we get into the smaller months) and we can receive our referral in about May, 2008. Really hoping.

This adoption has truly been one of the hardest things I've ever been through in my life...... It's also been one the most amazing experiences I've ever been through. If it wasn't for this loooooooong wait, I might never have met all the wonderful people that are on this same journey. I honestly don't know what I would have done if our family was traveling on this path alone. For that, I'm grateful for the wait. I also know that someday when I look in Ava's eyes for the first time, I'll be thinking......THANK GOODNESS the wait took as long as it did because it gave me her. For that, I'm also grateful.

THE TUBE OF DOOM

2007-09-12T11:11:00.001-05:00

See that yellow tube that Hope and her friend are sitting on? That is what I call the tube of doom.........

We (or I guess I should say I) purchased this fun looking tube in July when we were getting together with some good friends of ours. The three boys (Griffin and my friend's two boys) had a hard time staying on the new tube when they first started out. After they got going for awhile it seemed like all was good (and I didn't waste $185) up until they took their first real fall. They all clunked heads and swore they NEVER wanted to ride the tube again. I was thinking my friend's kids must be just wimps (KIDDING!) and thought I wouldn't give up hope that they would learn to LOVE my new purchase!!!

Hope and Bells really wanted to try the new tube out a few weeks later. I was AMAZED at how well these girls handled the tube. Bells was even jumping from one tube to the other and they were having a BLAST. I thought that as long as they only rode two at a time that everything would be okay. All was good with the world until..................... Griffin and Hope climbed on the tube. Griffin was sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him and THAT is what did it. When it happened we weren't going very fast and were driving straight ahead. The kids leaned the opposite way when they were coming out of the wake and the tube tipped over. It was the WORST thing in the world to see Jeff haul Griffin out of the water and lay him on the back of the boat with a broken leg. The. Worst.

We knew that there was NO WAY that we could get him into the back of our car without help. We were SO lucky as one of the other seasonal campers just happens to be a paramedic and just happened to be at the boat dock when we pulled up. We're so grateful for him and for our friend Ranger Steve for stopping all traffic so that we could exit the water right away. Then, a nurse just happened to walk up and offer her help. We made the decision to call a ambulance instead of trying to load Griffin into the back of our car. We weren't even certain that Griffin's leg was broken because he wasn't showing the normal signs of a fracture, but there was NO WAY I was going to watch him be lifted off the back of the boat without a board. We definitely knew we made the right decision after viewing his x-rays and seeing what a NASTY break it was.

What was "kinda" funny about the whole thing..... Hope and Bells were talking before we went tubing that they wanted to go "extreme tubing" that day.....They said they wouldn't be happy unless they had battle scars. Yep, they talk a good game. Griffin was the one that didn't even care if we went tubing that day and never mentioned wanting any battle scars. Jeff had responded to the girls, "It's all fun and games until the ambulance pulls up" before the accident happened. Griffin will always be able to remember their day of "extreme tubing" when he looks at his battle scars. The girls say they're ready for round 2.

Thank you to Bells for the use of the photo's for this post.

POOL UPDATE AND OTHER RAMBLING...

2007-09-10T17:35:00.000-05:00

I had Peaches call the pool company this morning as I really couldn't deal with it anymore. We have also been having problems with our new salt filter and all these error codes keep showing up on it...Some of the codes aren't even listed in the manual and the experts at the pool company are totally clueless. The large crack pretty much pushed me over the edge and that is when it all was put in the lap of Peaches. They're sending a "fiberglass expert" over on Wednesday and said that we need not halt our landscaping, new sprinklers and fence and that it can all be fixed. Let's. Hope. So. We have had SO many problems with this pool installation. They destroyed so much more of the lawn than they said they would, they cracked up the driveway because one of the water guys was too lazy to hook up a hose and leave his truck on the street (like the other water guy did), the cement dudes dug up the pool pipe and there was a fountain going in my backyard (then patched it and put the cement on top of it) and I REALLY hope that it doesn't burst again AND now the crack. Thank goodness for the cute guy in the green shirt or the whole experience would have been a nightmare...A little eye candy always helps a bad situation!! I'm sure they will get it all fixed just in time for us to cover it up for the winter....Won't be too long as it's FREEZING here today!

Griffin just started his physical therapy today and did really well. That boy just amazes me with his high pain tolerance! The therapist just kept looking at me in amazement that he was able to move his leg as well as he did. As soon as he is healed then they will do another surgery to remove the plate. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will be able to remove it before 2008. Last year I had the insurance company raise our deductible (because we NEVER use it!) to $5,000...Dumb move. Soooooo it sure would be nice if they could do the surgery before the new deductible begins in January. In my line of work I hear patients complaining all the time over their $100 deductibles....They have NO idea how much insurance costs for the self employed. GRRRRR.

I'm getting some pictures together and will do my next post about how Griffin broke his leg tubing....Be watching for it in my next quarterly post! =)

18

2007-09-08T17:39:00.000-05:00

- Get Your Own

Today is our 18 month LID anniversary....Hard to believe. In case you're wondering why my cute little puppy is surrounded in bubbles....I just noticed that my brand new fiberglass pool has a huge crack in the bottom. They will fix it, right????

YEP, YOUR BLOGLINES IS WORKING PROPERLY....I'VE UPDATED MY BLOG!

2007-09-04T16:17:00.000-05:00

Alright, I decided to make sea star happy and pull my last post down one....Anything, to make sea star happy!!! I was reading my comments (via my email, so I couldn't see her icon) and thinking....Who the hell is sea star? Too funny. Anyhoo, I hope you don't mind but I'm going to do bullet points with this post.....Probably not appropriate for some of the subject matter, but really I've got a lot to say and it's just going to make it easier. I'll follow-up with some pictures, so don't complain.

Where have I been you ask? Maybe, you haven't even noticed I've been away, but if you were wondering.....LOTS have been going on as some of you may know. Read next point.

First, we were having a little (Ummm, that's really kind of a understatement) stress with a close family member. I really would rather not go into detail about this, but I will say that he is doing MUCH better and we're all VERY happy about that! And no, it's not my Peaches that I'm talking about and no, he is not having an affair if that is where your minds went. Some of you even suspected that we decided to stop our adoption. Ahhhh, NOT gonna happen. You aren't gonna get this family out of line!!! Sorry you didn't get much out of me with this bullet point.

Next, my mother had a scare with breast cancer. Thank God, she just got her results back and it wasn't cancer! All I can say is.....Ladies, get your mammograms done. Also, don't freak out if something shows up on it....It's not always cancer! Thank. God.

Jeff's grandmother died at the end of June. I was blessed to have had her in my life for 18 years. I was SO close to my grandmother (I grew up right next door to her and she passed away when I was 14) that when I first met Jeff's grandmother I thought I would never call her Grandma, just Carlotta. I thought that if I called her Grandma that I would somehow hurt my own Grandma's feelings(when she was looking over me) and I didn't want her to ever feel she was or could ever be replaced. Well...... Let me just say that it wasn't very long before I was calling Carlotta, Grandma and I know for a fact that my Grandma would have approved. It was so nice to have had a Grandma again. I'm hoping that my two Grandma's have now met each other and are baking pies together up in heaven. That would make me happy.

Griffin broke his leg while we were tubing last weekend. The poor kid had to have surgery and a plate & 7 screws were added to his body. He never cried one tear....His Mom and Dad cried quite a few. He is getting along pretty well and headed off today for the first day of school. Watching him with his back pack and crutches, making his way up the side walk at school was hard to watch. Of course, he didn't want any help from his mother. I would have gladly carried his books all day long and protected him from harm from other children in the hallway, but NOOOOOOOO.....He wanted to do it all himself.

And just when you were thinking.....Oh my gawd, her summer totally sucked....I'll leave you with a few pictures. It wasn't all bad.

What happened to my bullets?

SUMMER FUN!

2007-06-13T16:16:00.000-05:00

15 MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY!

2007-06-08T09:12:00.000-05:00

JUNE 3, 2007

2007-06-07T14:25:00.001-05:00

WHAT'S THE CHANCE OF THAT?

2007-06-07T10:20:00.000-05:00

When I'm ever at Ian's school I always notice that I have never seen even one little Asian child in the entire school. I'm telling you, I'd know. Anyway, Ian brought home his yearbook yesterday and I was thumbing thru it. Ian was in kindergarten and they share a locker with the kids that go on alternate days. Ian's locker had the name Ian/Anna on it. I always noticed Anna's name and thought it was funny because if Ian was going to be a girl, his name was going to be Anna. So, like I said, I was thumbing thru Ian's yearbook and was looking at the pictures of the other kindergarten class. I noticed that there was a little Chinese girl in the class! The little girls name was Anna and Ian has been sharing a locker with her all year! That's gotta be some kind of sign, right?