Little”M”’s 4th Birthday Party

I can hardly believe she will be “4”. This year she wanted to have a Build-A Bear Party and we had nine little friends (she made out her list to invite there were 35+ people on it but I had to cut it way down) and they had a blast building their little animals and dressing and naming them. Of course cake and ice cream was a must. It was great for all we came and partied and then left with nothing to clean and we got to go home and play the rest of the day.
God has truly blessed us with the most wonderful daughter.

A Day at the Spa

Little “M” and I went to have a morning of pampering. Yes, I know we are on a budget but our debt free plan is still on target. We went to the Day Spa and had our hair done and a spa pedicure. Tammy who does my hair is great she loves kids. She just found out she is going to have a baby and she is over the top excited and we could not be happier for her. We wanted to get “M” all ready for her birthday party that was on the 7th. We had the best time together that day as we sat there getting our make-over she told me she was a big girl now so she could paint her toes. When they rubbed sea salt on her little legs she laughed and wanted to know why they were putting mashed potatoes on her legs all the ladies just started to laugh.

As we sat there I though of all the years to come as mom and daughter and the memories we will have spending girl times together. We left after about 4 hours and went and had lunch with our new dews and shiny toes.

Re-Fingerprint Time

Saturday morning Steve brought in the mail and there was the pink paperwork peeking though the envelope I couldn't believe how fast we got the appointment paper we just has got the letter that stated 60-90 days we should hear something but the best part was there was no schedule appointment just show up M-F. So you guessed we were going Monday morning. The new rule is you must have a valid I171H within 6 months to get a SN referral so we need to get on the ball because ours expires in July and we are hoping for a fall or winter referral :) Of course this is purely based on the past performance since the shared list and our openness to MCC list and gender and age. Needless to say I was ready to go. You would think this is the first time we did this process. I have been so ready for this referral since the day we filled out the application and submitted to our agency. I know in my heart God has another perfect child for our family and we are so ready for her to come to us. We were so hoping to add to our family with a domestic adoption this past year of an older child but it was not in God's plan for us to build our family in that way so we will consider another option maybe after we bring baby "K" home.

Even if for some reason we were not matched with a SN child we would not let our papers laps due to the increased work, training and fees associated with the process the agency has stated it is time consuming if you were under the old rules. I opt for the easiest way.

Ironic enough we ran into a two friends and their daughter who are also adopting again renewing that same morning they are in the process of moving so we had time to catch up on things and where they were in the process and how life has been going for all. They to have been pursuing SN. We are going to follow their journey to their new daughter we are so excited for them.

Update on our Adoption

Daily Maddie asks are we going to China today? Our answer is not today but soon and we discuss what is happening. So what is happening... for the month of May our agency locked and referred 16 SN children. This is less than lst time (April 36) and they were hoping for more from the list but we will continue to pray for June. From what they have told us it looks as if there will be children on the shared list every month. This is much better as far as time frames then before when the list were just individual they only got new updates every 2-3 months with the same amount of placements. This year alone they have placed over 100 SN children (how wonderful for those children and families). Based on the current referral rates and our openess to SN I see us getting a referral sometime this fall. I always knew in my heart from the beginning we would get a referral in 2008 or 2009. Since the new process has started 2 months ago everything is going much faster most important increase is the time from acceptance to travel is now somewhere around 2 months from 3 to 6 months (wow what great improvements this online systems has made).

It is so hard to believe we are only a few months away and sooooo many things to do. Thank God for all our friends and family who have been so supportive of this adoption. We will be starting the room soon and I am so excited I have bought her theme. I see Pink!!!!!

Year End Program

Another first for little "M". Her first year of preschool has ended. We attended an end of the year production and ice cream social to wish the 4 year olds off to kindergarten. Maddie's good little friend will be moving up she sure will miss JoJo. Maddie sure did not want to sing with her class that night they were to sing Kumbya and she warned me she would not sing but instead plug her ears. Well guess what she did just that, normally she is all into performing but she did not want to due this. Maybe a lack of a nap on my part not real sure but the video is quite cute compared to all the other performances when she goes all out.
Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Hilbert were her teachers and we could not have been happier. These ladies were fabulous. Maddie has learned so much spelling, writing, and crafts. She loves the crafts. Everyday she spends 30 minutes in what she calls homework it is the cutest thing she says she needs to study to get smart mom. We hope she still feels this way when she gets older like her big sister Audrey.

Ballet Recital

Well it has been a year of fun dancing and worshiping the Lord. It is still so hard for us to believe that it is time for little "M's" first recital. She loves to dance and is going to miss not dancing over the summer. I missed her dress rehearsal but she was in great hands with two of my dearest friends. The morning of the recital Allison came to do her hair and get her all ready. ( I would have loved to do this but was unable Praise God for wonderful friends!!!!!) Daddy had went and got her a dozen of pink beautiful roses and and had everything ready for the party afterwards.

Since we have no family in town Maddie had a little friend come and some friends of the family came to make the day more special for her. I cried through the whole production as she spinned and danced. Our little girl is growing up to be a beautiful young girl. She is so graceful. It is such a blessing to see all these young girls dance and worship the Lord!!!!!

When do you pray?

When is your quite time to get close with God I use my commute times in the car praying, showering and my morning routine. During your alone time is a great time that I get to reflect on what is really important. I pray for my friends, family and ones on our prayer list in need during my morning routine and is this becomes a commitment to prayer. God wants us to uplift others in prayer. It is so important to have prayer in our daily lives. No matter what God uses to prompt you to pray it is important that you do and pray for other that are in need of our prayers. I know I am very grateful for a loving God who reminds in creative ways for people to pray for one another as I am one has received alot of those prayers.

Luke 18:1 "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them they should always pray and not give up."

I Samuel 12:23 “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.And I will teach you the way that is good and right” I Samuel 12:23

Mother's Day

The day was perfect Steve and Maddie covered all the bases. We got up and went to Church in the morning. Maddie and I had gotten up a little earlier so we could play beauty shop. This is our fun time in the morning to play with fun hairstyles and put on make-up. She thinks she is all grown up you know.

After a great worship time at Church we headed off to Outback for yummy food and pretty flowers. Later that day we came home and spend family time and met some friends. Mothers day is such a special time for me as well as Steve. Three years ago on Mothers Day Maddie was placed in my arms we celebrate it ever Mothers Day even though the day changes every year the significance of Mothers Day was something that I will always remember that God blessed us so much and made me a mom that day.

As the night went on we focused on the day Maddie became part of our family, we watched the adoption video, looked at her scrapbook (yes I have one it is pretty cool), and read her life story. She loves to here about the day we came to China to get her. I have to say going through all of this made me tear up many times. Maddie told me that night I was the best mom in the whole world and she loved her family and wanted her sister to come from China soon. A perfect day!

Mother Daughter Tea

The other day I received a beautiful invitation from Maddie to attend a tea party with Maddie at her school. I was so excite. I am very involved with her school she only goes 3 days a week for 3 hours each day but she loves her teaches and her friends. She wanted us to dress in polka dotted dresses and wear our hair up. She is all about looking alike. She is such a girly girl I would have never guessed that would have been my daughter but this was her day for me so we got dresses and did our hair and off we went.
The theme of the party was Hawaiian and the teaches Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Hilbert did fantastic. Maddie made me a oven mitt with her hand print on it and a jar of cookie mix. We will be baking cookies on Mothers Day! I have the most giving little girl. We played bingo and she said she wanted me to win because I was the best mom and she loved me. Where was the Kleenex.
The teacher asked the children why they love their mom's and Maddie's answer was she kisses me, hugs me, feeds me and tucks me in at night. The day turned out perfect. For all you mom's I hope you have a blessed mothers day and for all the mom's to be I pray that your day will be here soon and an celebrate the day!

Friends

Maddie and Taylor having a little bit of afternoon fun in the sandbox. Now that I am not working as much Maddie has more time to spend with her friends. The weather is so nice out I like to get a little sun we walk alot that is my girlfriend and I the kids ride. Maddie is into the good life:)

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Wow it is the 5th a May and time to Party!!! We will be attending a baby shower for 4 of our friends who are all having babies within a month of each other and they are all boys! We are so happy for them. You can only imagine the questions Maddie has when she always see the ladies with babies in their tummies and I have a flat tummy. She tells me don't worry I will carry Kinsey in my tummy for you :)

We had a Cinco De Mayo theme and made it a family event and everyone turned out in large numbers. You can tell by the pictures the kids loved the pinyata swing and hitting it was a hit but of course the candy was even a bigger hit. Maddie was all about the jumping house. She was so worn out when we got home Steve and I had a chance to watch a movie together.

The Bigsby Show

The Bigsby Show came to Thomasville Road Baptist Church what an evening for kids. This is away to get your kids into fellowship and great kids christian music. He writes all his own music and it was so funny it kept the kids entertained for 1.5 hours. Far better than I can keep her contained for that time. It was a live interactive program, can you say child chaos. Well I listen to nothing but christian music so does Maddie, Steve does mostly now but I have a real appreciation for creative kids music after this performance. Maddie and I listen to his music now once a day and she goes wild. Check out some of the videos on You Tube "FROGS" is Maddie's favorite one. Of course we have the DVD now so we have kids praise time:)

Spring Sing

Every year our our children's choir puts on a production on at church and this was Maddie's first year she loves choir. We think she loves the teacher more than singing. Mrs. Betty she is truly a wonderful christian woman and the children think she hangs the moon. We wondered if Maddie would have stage fright not our daughter she is the biggest ham and has the most outgoing personality if the director would have let her lead she would have taken over. She would not have stolen the production on her own she had the help of her side kick Abagail who was living it up.

Children are such a blessing and God's gift to us as parents is the most rewarding thing. Watching these girls perform and sing about God just makes my heart shine.

Referrals

Since the new WC program has started they place on average 1-2 children per day (yeah!!!!). Our agency has not had a list for months as a result to the shift to the new "shared" list well it finally arrived the week of April 14th they posted more than 100 children. Our agency was able to match and lock 36 children that week. What a blessing to all of those new families. The age of the children were 7 months to 6 years old with the majority of age from 12 to 36 months. The projection is still 10-12 months for referral at this time. I do believe this is their standard answer until they see what CCAA is going to do each month with referrals under the new program.

I have to say after reading many posts from families at our agency were are indeed with the best agency and we have the best group of ladies working to build our families they have to work tirelessly through the night at sometimes matching these children. God love these great ladies. I know I have had the best service and communication with them personally. Look forward to what May has to offer for all the new families.

Renewing I171H

Since we have waited over a year so far some our paperwork is beginning to expire. The I171H is the USICS paperwork that allows us to complete the adoption on the US side and it has to be valid when you travel as well as valid fingerprints. To get all of this renewed you have to get an updated home study that is not bad because we love our social worker. Actual have have seen alot of her lately. USICS gives one free extension since everything has been taking so long so that was a nice little extra we did not have to pay for :) We now will just sit and wait we should have no problem traveling before this one expires.

2 Months and Counting.......

Another month has approached so quickly We can hardly believe we have been waiting 2 months. Referrals have been at a pretty slow pace there has been no new WC list. On 3/25 we received notification from our agency that things were going to change in the program. Well by now if you are adopting from China you should be use to change. So what is this all about. Here is what we have been told so far... All the agencies participating in the on-line system will now used the "shared" list which has all (or most) of the children listed. The reason for this is in hopes to place the children faster. Their are still some designated lists being sent directly to agencies but the are harder to place.

So what doe that mean for us, well our agency will find children that match the profiles of parents and then "lock" these files in. The process the to accept the referral and have all the paperwork in is only 48 hours with one 48 hour extension. Whew that is quick. I know we are in good hands so I have faith the program will get stable place alot more babies.

Easter

I love this time of the year Spring is in the air. This Easter holiday we spent with my grandparents they came for 5 days. Maddie loves having company. Lot's of shopping , church, game playing and of course eating. As Maddie would say we had a feast we cooked for 11 and all turned out well. I am getting pretty good at this cooking for groups. I do not want to let Steve get to confident in my cooking or I will have to do the cooking every night.

After Easter dinner the children all went to a neighbors Easter egg hunt well they hunted eggs for 30 minutes she got so many eggs she was cracking eggs till bed time and of course eating candy :)


1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

One Year LID Anniversay

It has been a year since we have been official logged in for Kinsey. Sometimes it is hard to believe a year has past and then other times I look at Maddie and see how she is growing and maturing and I wonder where the time went.

The other day I had read some information about concurrent adoptions from China and thought wow we can adopt 2 more beautiful children and yes Steve was on board I immediately called CCAI and asked how people were doing this and Sara stated she had not heard of this. Well I will pray that China will indeed allow a concurrent adoption SN and NSN. The thought of two more daughters just sent me over the top with joy.

When is your family big enough? I do not have the answer to that question yet for our family because we are not done growing yet. We will do what it takes to bring home our daughter or daughters. If this requires a bigger home then I will just have to forfeit the pool and some of the other big upgrades. God has a plan for each of us and he is not done working on the building of our family at this time I am happy to say. So the real question is How many more trips to China will we make?

Purging and Merging

That has been our motto for the last week. As Spring approaches it is time to clean up and clean-out. Now that winter is over for us we can pack away the sweaters and clean out Maddie's closet. She barely fits in her winter attire anymore so I know nothing will fit her next year so we will save some things for baby Kinsey but alot will be passed down to friends. I have been compressing all Maddie's smaller clothes into storage bags (great space reducer) but there are so many sizes to save. We are so glad we will be getting a referral in the next year because we are running out of storage space for clothes. I guess it does not help that I continue to shop for the girls :)



Next, is the house we are cleaning out all the closets and drawers and deciding what will go and what will stay this includes furniture. Before we go to China our goal is to have the house painted, some new furniture (I have a breakfast table I have disliked since I bought it), some upgrades to the kitchen, and of course Kinsey's room. Just a few things to pass the time.

Maddie goes Fishin'

Our little girly girly has a tomgirl side to her. The other night her and daddy went fishing down at the lake behind our house she was so ready with her fishin' gear ( a dora pole, a pooh chair, princess cup, and a walky talkie to call home). Now they had previously went to the store to by real worms yes real ones (yuck). She thought it was so neat how the fish was going to eat her worm ( I prayed that she would catch a fish). After about 35 minutes her bobber went under and she hooked her first fish. Well there was no stopping her after that she was finished and went and told everyone she caught a fish. It was a small little brim we believe in the catch an release even though she thought he should go in the fish tank (which she does not have one).

Now they have plans to fish at least 2-3 times a week and sometimes her little friends fish with her.

Maddiesm's

A Maddieism…

Maddie looked at Steve and I the other night and asked in a serious voice what is “Credit Card Debt and can I have some please? We went on to explain but kept it to a minimum (without trying to laugh). We asked where she heard it from because we do not use credit cards. She said from myself!!!

One Month Down…..with MCC log in

One Month Down…..
Wow time is flying we can hardly believe that a month has already passed since we submitted our medical check list. It is feeling so real now that we will be receiving a referral in less than a year I have started so many things it just has me so thrilled we thank God daily for his wisdom, strength and guidance. We have such great friends and family that have supported us on this decision and continue to pray for little Kinsey. The support group of the waiting child group is tremendous and to see all the families that have BTDT especially on the SN that we have selected even more so put you at ease. The only way life could one be better is if we had Kinsey and Audrey with us right now.

Knowing that we will not have to wait 3 years for Kinsey was just a huge relief when I talked to Sara. Also just an update on NSN referrals they just came out for March and they only did 8 days just broke my heart and those 8 days included a holiday and a weekend. During those days there were not many LID’s so in reality for those who say oh 8 days you must really look at the amount of LID’s which is not many. Our agency did not even have anyone logged in the first few days of January. The wait is so hard for all.

Secret Pal Stikes Again

Another round has ended for one of our groups and Maddie and I got find out our SP. She was so sweet and thoughtful every month she thought of the whole family. Our final box was like having Christmas Maddie was so excited she could not contain herself. Everything was wrapped so neatly and labeled. She thought of everything adorable ladybug scrapbook, China calendar, chocolate covered pretzels (yummy and from Disney:)), china ornament, Olympic tee shirt (way cool from China), ladybug necklace, ladybug parka, ladybug journal books, an adorable outfit with ladybugs for Kinsey.

I am now excited about starting Kinsey's life/adoption journey book I did not know what to use and now I have the perfect book.

We can't thank our SP Nicole enough for everything over the past 6 months. We can't wait to follow her journey to her daughter.

Chinese New Year "Year of the Rat"

Each year we celebrate the New Year by going out and having with Chinese food. Maddie's favorite is soup and then a plate full of noodles with a side of chicken. We went out with some friends Angela, Abigail and Mathew. Maddie and Abigail came home together and over the last year we have become great friends and the girls have become very close.

Also, each year we have made a tradition to go to the local annual New Years celebration at the university for authentic Chinese food and some entertainment. We met some friends down their and the children had fun dancing and watching the big dragons. The program was to last 4 hours there was no way these little cuties were going to hold out that long so we stayed for 2 hours. Maddie likes to hear them speak in Chinese so she was contaent whilke there was entertainment. It was great to see people we had not seen in a long time. Everyone was ready for outdoor fun in the sun.

Well we are in 2/1/2008

Our MCC is offical 2/1/2008 it was faxed to CCAI and we are in line again this time for SN. Now we just sit, wait and pray. Based on the time lines we were given and the age we requested we believe that Kinsey is probably already born (very little) wow I have just been thinking what she looks like and where she might be right now. If she is in the southern part of China she is probably in the cold areas I pray someone is holding her tight and keeping her warm. God Bless our little one and all the other children in China.

Adoption Update

Steve and I meet with our Social worker on Friday to get our medcial check list signed off on for the Waiting Child Program. We are still requesting a little girl but but we are adding our name to the list of children with special needs.

When I originally felt led to adopt again I had ordered the paperwork in the early Spring 07 and Steve was ready to add to the family. I could not wait to get started and shared this someone but was talked out of a second adoption. I stopped persuing the adoption. I never shared this with Steve why I really stopped the process until the Fall of 2007 when it layed so heavy on my heart that I felt we had a second daughter in China and I told him why I changed my mind about adopting and immediately we began the paperwork. Since this I have learned so much to trust my heart so....

Fast forward to now we have talked for months and prayed about where our daughter might be and felt that the WC program is where we feel we need to be in line also. I know God will bring our family the perfect baby girl.

I want to thank Sara from our Yahoo group for her advice which gave me the shove I needed and of course CCAI they make things so easy. CCAI state 10-12 months for a referral and then 3-5 months for travel. Current referral times approx 10 months she told me and it all depends on what you check on th medical form. Steve and I were quite conservative in some ways we thought but actually according to statistic last year (2007) we picked the needs that were referred the most so I guess that could be a good sign.

Hold on Kinsey we all are praying for you daily! Mommy, Daddy, Maddie, Audrey, Aunt Beth and Great Aunt Rosalene and Uncle Gary and Lucy are all coming to get you.

Babies Everywhere

Four of my girlfriends are pregnant and due within 6 weeks of each other. God is good each one of them have a great story with there pregnancy. We are so excited for them but are keeping all in daily prayer as some are experincing complications. Hoping Kinsey will be somewhat close in age because now there will be 4 new playmates.

10 Months

Another month has gone by and not much activity in the area of referrals. Based on the trends of past referrals we are looking at another 3 years UGH! Some say attrition will play in but how much who know but all I now at this rate there will only be maybe 3 or 4 months referred in 2008 if were lucky. Hold on for another long year.

Gatlinburg Getaway

After Christmas we had decided to get away for a few days to our favorite place Gatlinburg area in Tennessee. We took the girls tubing with Maddie being only 31/2 we had thought she would have to go on the kiddie slopes. Well do the warmish like temperatures (50's) there was a lack of snow and they were unable to make the snow therefore there was no kiddie area but the big slopes were open. Audrey was very excited and could not wait and Maddie said I want to go. I knew they would never let her she was to young. Ha Ha silly me age has nothing to do with it it is all about height. We went up to the counter and Steve and Audrey went to buy tickets and Maddie was begging to go and the cashier said she may go if you want to buy her a ticket I said she is only 31/2 she said she is so tall and they measured her, well she went over the 42" mark so off she went. The girls had a blast after almost 2 hours of tubing they still wanted to keep going. Picnics in the park, rock hoping, driving through the parks and of course we had to do a little shopping a the outlet malls.

For me it was not enough days for relaxation before we were back to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I knew coming home meant having to clean and take down Christmas decorations and start with my New Years resolutions:)

Christmas Day 2007!!!!!

The firt picture is the girls getting a letter from Santa boy were they surprised when they arrived two days before christmas.

It was up early 4:00am I could not sleep I was so excited I am worse than a kid. Of course I knew I could not wake the girls so I started packing for our trip but by 5:45 I could not stand it anymore. I turned on the Christmas music and Steve woke the girls and I video taped. Maddie was so surprised what Santa left. Ok he went a little overboard but it had been a rough last part of the year for our family.

The girls open gifts and and then we had breakfast. We had such a great day but it went bye way to fast. Since this was our first year to not be traveling for Christmas we had numerous invites from friends to spend holiday dinner with their family at first we were going to stay at home but when people kept asking we decided to spend the day with one of my girlfriends and her family. We had a Chinese, German and an American Christmas celebration. It was so much fun. Christmas dinner was great since most of my friends family is Chinese and German we had a very special/unique feast of all types of food (Chinese, German and Steve cooked several American dishes).

I am going to miss her family when they return to China we have had such a great time with all of them even though there is a language difference. When we travel for Kinsey we are going to visit them and my girlfriend hopefully will be on part of the trip also if not all of it. We feel so "Blessed" to have such great friends to celebrate with.

Madeline favorite part of Christmas is the Mary and Joseph set-ups aka Nativity. She talks about them so much and wants to be told the story over and over we ended up buying her her own nativity set for her room.

What a wonderful way to celebrates Jesus's birthday with family and friends. We are truly blessed our family has so much to be thankful for.

Christmas in the Park Maddie and her girlfriend exchanged their gifts at an enchanted event.

9 Months Down

Nine months 2 years ago referrals were arriving, now we are just in the beginning stages with a potential outlook of years :(. At least we are half way through December 2005 and October 2006 is out of the review room. Progress is happening at a very slow pace. Many family's did get wonderful Christmas gifts by getting their referrals this month. Let hope for the best in the up coming new year for referrals at least 15 day batches I do recall CCAI stating this.

Christmas is almost here!!!!!

What a busy season we have had parties, performances, get togethers, and more parties. Evey year I think I love Christmas more and more especially now with Maddie and Audrey in our lives. This will be the first Christmas we have both of the girls and we are so excited. Steve surprised us with a 5 day trip to go snow tubing in the mountains after Christmas and the girls can't wait to go. I am thrilled to just get away and have a break from the hustle and bustle. I will not be sledding this year due to my injuries from the accident I am having surgery after the first of the year :(

I can't believe in a week from now we will be having our family Christmas at home! We have some fun traditions:
Everyone decorates the main tree
The girls each get their own 4ft tree in their room
No presents out till all kids are in bed except for the gift you get to open on Christmas Eve
Everyone has cool PJ's but dad he wears sweats
Christmas dinner is Ham with all the sides
Up early on Christmas morning 6:00 am
Traditional breakfast is cinnamon rolls and country breakfast

Better to Give than Receive

This is not a new tradition in our family but one that we have started to teach Maddie as well as Audrey. This year I took Maddie to the Salvation Army Tree at the mall and we talked about the children who do not get Christmas unless families donate toy's and clothes to them. I let Maddie pick the name and age of the child and then she helped me do all the shopping and wrapping. Every night Maddie prays for this little girl Niyah. She talks about her all the time. I believe as she grows this will be a valuable lesson and tradition. Audrey also received a name from the tree and she is doing the shopping the wrapping and using her allowance money fill the wishes of her child.

Eight Months Log in

We'll another month and only a handful of referral but we are in December now what a great holiday gift for all those families! That is the bright side maybe it will only take 3 to 4 months to get through. A girl can wish. It's the holidays time so days will pass by quickly so the time between referral will seem shorter. It is hard to believe we have been logged in for eight months. By this time in 2005 the wait was over we had traveled and were home with Maddie and to think we are not even halfway through the wait. We talked the other night that Audrey will be ready to go to college just about the time she comes home if we do not get a SN referral. WOW!!!!

What are you thankful for……

This time of year is my favorite time of year, you see families and friends together and the holiday spirits bring out the best in most people. I am so thankful for my family, dear friends, our church and most of all the wonderful life God as given me.

Our holiday season is starting off as a very busy one Maddie had a Thanksgiving Day program at her school and the kids did a fantastic job they all were so cute. I capture some great pictures till my camera went dead and dad had the video camera on his hunting trip in Tennessee with the guys. Well, Maddie has 4 more holiday performances and we will make sure everything is charged and ready to go. She is our little star! Thanksgiving we are going to have a full house my family is coming and yes “I” am going to do the cooking. Stop laughing for those of you who know me I have started dabbling in the kitchen and I am ready for this feast. I have had help learning the art of cooking. We are having the full spread including pies.

Pumpkin Patch

Our girls!!! It is Pumpkin time and Maddie wanted to yet get another pumpkin. Everytime we went into a store she wanted to get a one we already had one from Publix and Walmart but that was not enough we needed need one from the patch. She and Audrey picked out baby pumkins to go with the 2 big pumkins we had at the house and now Maddie said we have a pumpkin family.

Anniversary Celebration

This year we decided to spend our anniversary together as a family. Out of the mouth of babes.. Maddie was so excited she was going to a wedding for her mom and dad. We explained to her the difference between a wedding and an anniversary. She was very sad that she missed our wedding. We told her that first you get married then you have babies. After that really long discussion we went to dinner she told the waiter we were having a wedding tonight and then we were going to get a baby from China. Well you can only imagine his confused look. Steve and I just laughed. That night we showed her wedding and honeymoon pictures and boy that sure stuck up another discussion we did not get a vacation after the wedding dinner.

The night turned out to be the best we laughed and told great stories and Maddie thinks she went to a so called wedding.

Referrals Have Arrived

Yes once again it is that time :) CCAA has match from 12/01/2005 through 12/8/2005. We are improving. Not to a great scenario but it is what we would call a mild improvement. I think everyone was hoping for 15 days at least so we could hope for a 3 1/2 to 4 year wait. Each referral period it just confirms what I have said from the beginning that the wait would be 3 years, but it may be as much as 4. One can always be hopeful for sooner :)

Steve and I have had many long discussions and praying on what our medical check list form will contain and when we will meet with the SWI regarding our options. We currently are trying to pursue a domestic adoption of an older child if this should work out there has to be a 6 months difference in dates which at this rate does not seem to be an issue because everything relating to time with the China adoption is taking sooooooooo long. My hearts desires is to someday adopt again but older, so the sooner these adopts can be completed we can think of persuing another older child.

Weekend Getaway

We were needing a getaway there has been so much going on and there has been little time for rest and I am still very sore and tired from the accident. My girlfriend Lucy and her family invited us to join them at their beach Condo in Blue Mountain near Destin for a long weekend. We were thrilled Maddie loves to play with their older daughter Bing Bing. Her family ( mom, dad, brother, wife and their twin boys (5))had just flown in from northern China that previous week so we were going to have a great time. We had previously met her parents but this was the first time her brother and his family have ever been to the states so it was a real treat.

The beach was great it was a little cold but the kids did not care they spent alot of time in the hot tub. Maddie had so much fun with the boys. Their was a language difference but Lucy did alot of translating during the weekend. The dads stayed and watched the kids on Saturday and the girls went to the outlet malls and I will tell you my friends can shop I was exhausted we shopped literally till we dropped!!!!! Lot's of Christmas shopping was done.

The condo is fabulous it was 4/3 and a great kitchen. Steve resided as master chef and well some how the rest just fell into place. We had a great time of course it is never long enough.

We can't all wait to get together again. Her brother is her for 2 months and her mother is her for at least 6 months.

Finding Ads

What is in a finding ad? When we adopted Maddie we received a really really bad copy of her finding ad from CCAI. Actually it was so bad my girlfriend from China could not make anything out. Well I started doing research because I want as much of her past as I can get so we ordered her finding ad. A week after the crash I received this envelope with a picture, the original newspaper, negative of the picture, and a laminated blown-up copy of our baby girl. WOW is all could say. It was worth every penny. This is one for the life book. Now we are in the process of looking into having her history drawn up. Can't wait to her her story.

When we travel back to China this time we will be going to her city and her orphanage again. My aunt and uncle are coming with us we hope we have talked several time about it and they really want to go and they have been to China several times and they would be a great asset.

Birthday Surprises

I have the greatest husband and friends anyone could have. Yesterday was my birthday and Maddie had a fall festival at her school and we decided we would spend the evening together as a family at her event and eat there but my husband had another idea. Maddie had 2 hours of fun at the festival then we gave away our meal tickets and he took me to dinner. We were going to meet a few friends for dinner (well that is what I thought) when I got into the restaurant there were just several of our friends several I was not expecting (hum) by the end of the night there were 40+ people there. That would explain the big big cake he bought and boy was it good. Cake for breakfast I guess I will not be going on that diet anytime soon.

I am so blessed to have such great friends and family! Thanks for such a great week!

October Happenings

Not much posting for the last month mostly recuperating but I am back now! Our family did have a few events in October. Previously we had discussions about what kind of automobile to buy and I was not ready to convert to a minivan but several of my girlfriends said you will love one I still was never convinced. Now that my SUV was totaled I could look. Since I was on heavy meds I could not test drive so Steve did the driving and I picked the gadgets. We were having so much fun shopping for a new car both my girlfriend and I bought a minivan the same weekend. Needless to say I love it, we bought a Honda Odyssey and I think it is just like an SUV but lower and way more room and easier to get around. What do I know about cars! Now another dear friend is buying one we will be the mini van mom convoy.

Audrey had Homecoming and she asked if I would help her get ready (hair, make-up, dressed). I was thrilled, since I can't do hair at all I took her to a salon to have her hair done. Then all the girls met back at the home and got dressed. They all looked beautiful especially Audrey :) Well after the dance she wanted me to take her and her friends to Steak and Shake for food but she neglected to tell me the whole HS would be there but we had a great time till 1:00 a.m. I am truly getting to old for that especially getting up with Maddie at 7:00 am the next morning.

I am back to work but not full days yet I hope that will come soon I am swamped but I have a great boss and a great team that has been holding everything together for me.