Lily of the Valley

My very first video creation

2009-03-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Life passes so fast, we look back and wonder where it went. This video is my first creation of the sample photos we were able to view from a recent photo shoot. Lily has grown so much. She is 3 years old now and talking more and really coming into her own. Hope you enjoy :)

Lily's favorites:

Yogurt, Her baby doll, shoes, bows in her hair, smoothies, Baby Genius's Counting video, Pixar's "Monsters Inc.", Books, Coloring, French fries, Her Daddy & Mama....to name a few.

The cutest thing Lily does right now:

Everytime we go somewhere in the car, Lily insists on bringing her baby doll and blanket. She makes sure her baby is buckled into the seat before you can even start to buckle her in. While I am at work, Baby waits for her in her seat. Everyday when I pick her up, she runs to the door saying "baby, baby?" She gets so excited to see her baby, it is very sweet. Lily definately has a mothering quality about her. She is very loving and loves to cuddle.

2008-07-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

In January I took Lily up to Washington State to see her Grandma, Aunts, Uncles & Cousins. It was one of their worst winters with snowfall. Lily didn't really know what to think about the snow. I know she did not like being cold.

We all had a good time at Lily's 2nd birthday. I think by the looks of it Lily had the best time. There is just nothing better then warm brownies and ice cream. Yum!

Lily looked so beautiful in her blue dress on Easter. We celebrated by going over to my sisters house. My Aunt, Uncle and cousin, from Utah, were there also to help us Celebrate.

"Look everyone, I put my own pants on today!"

This spring Lily and daddy worked really hard at fixing up the front yard. It took us 9 years but we finally have a front yard to be proud of!

It is so sweet to see Lily and the dogs together. When we brought Lily home Max (in the picture) was jealous of her. They have quickly become friends and the love is sweet!

A few months ago Lily graduated to a big girl bed. She is so cute in it. The bed is so small and she still looks small in it. But, don't be fooled by smallness. This girl can climb on anything. She has been known to push our tall dining room chairs over to the kitchen bar, climb up and take bites out of the fruit on the bar.

Lily's favorite past time is to swing, swim and spent time with daddy and mommy. She has grown up so much in this past 6 months. She is speaking and putting words together. She is still shy, but when she warms up she has quite the personality. She likes to do her own thing and finds life funny. She smiles a lot and she has one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen!

Our First Christmas With Lily

2007-12-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

Last night and today were so much fun. Playing Santa for the first time was definately fun and exhausting. We were up until 3am putting stuff together and making sure everything was in order and just perfect. This morning we brought Lily down and at first she was apprehensive, but soon she was tearing the paper off the presents and playing with toys. She has been so busy today will all her new toys, she didn't even cry when I laid her down for a nap. She was so tired. Later we visited some friends and family and just really had a great day celebrating this Christmas holiday as a family.

Merry Christmas to all of you and we hope it has been a joyful day!

A SPECIAL DAY

2007-12-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

Today is the one year anniversary of seeing Lily's picture for the first time. The year has flown by so fast and held in it so many blessings. One year ago, we were waiting anxiously for our agency to call us with information of our daughter. Today, we woke up and Lily got to see Santa for the first time and we put up our Christmas tree as a family. It was a great day!

2007-11-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Lily is one of the sweetest little girls who loves her doggies very much. Her new thing is to sit on Max's back and give him "loves". He is so good with her and just lets her sit on him as long as she wants. We went to NW Arkansas to visit family in the beginning of October. We had a wonderful time, it is so pretty there with rolling hills and trees everywhere. A far contrast to this vast desert that we live in. Lily had the best time with her cousins. This particular family lived in China for two years and they are the ones who planted the seed for adoption from China for us. So this was particularly a special trip for us and for them, meeting Lily for the first time. We also got to see my brother and his wife who live in Oklahoma and traveled to come and see us and also meet Lily for the first time. It was really wonderful to see everybody again.

These are Lily's two favorite super heroes that she hangs out with while mommy and daddy are at work. It is so fun to watch them together, they laugh and laugh.

She just couldn't keep her eyes open. All the other kids were running from house to house while she slept through it all.

One of Lily's favorite things is to pull her daddy's guitar out and strum the strings. Maybe we will have another musician in the family.

Here she is, showing her personality. I found these teeth in a drawer and she thought it was so funny to put them on. She is giggling in this picture.

ALWAYS BEHIND LOL :).

2007-11-12T19:51:00.000-08:00

I finally sit down to share a bunch of photos and blogger won't allow me to upload anything. That's kind of annoying since I don't always have this opportunity. I hope that I will be able to share these soon. I have some great photos to share. Lily is growing up so fast, her personality is really coming out. She laughs a lot at the funniest things. She is definately all girl, she loves her babies and when she gets a new pair of shoes. She loves to play with her dogs Max and Stella. She tries to throw the ball for Stella and sits on Max like a horse. She is so very loving and will give out kisses even to her dogs, which is so very cute. She tells you when she wants to "eat" and "drink", especially eat, she loves to eat these days (maybe in a growth spurt). I promise to sit down soon and hopefully blogger will let me upload pictures for you all to see.

2007-09-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Lily is doing very well. She is growing so big and turning into a little toddler. She is babbling a lot and starting to say more words and tries so hard to copy what you say. She got her first hair cut the other day (just a trim on the back bottom edge), she did really well. She loves to go outside and play in the grass with her dogs (who are as big as she is). She is climbing on everything and into everything, we get one thing picked up and she's onto the next. She loves to read books, she'll even sit down on her own and have a book in her lap and look at the pictures. It's really cute. Time is flying by and I have a hard time keeping up with it, it's amazing how fast they grow.

2007-09-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the late update. Life has been very hectic these past 2 months. Lily has grown so much. She now says, mama, mommy, dada, daddy, hi, ni nite, kitty. She babbles a lot and I think some of it is full sentences and paragraphs. I just wish we could understand what is being said. She has a bubbley personality and thinks life is pretty funny. She loves to cuddle like her dad and has quite the devil in her like her mommy. She has been quite a joy and has grown sooo much since she came home.

Vegas Baby!

2007-07-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun on our trip to Vegas. Dr. Fletcher took us to see the Blue Man Group and it was absolutely awesome. Almost 2 hours of high energy and a sea of toilet paper at the end. I'd totally recommend seeing them.

Cindy and I had so much fun on the penny slot machine that the people passing by thought we were winning! They'd stop and ask "how much did she win?" We had the whole row cheering at the machines. So much fun!

On Friday, Cindy and I walked down to the m&m store for 4 floors of m&m fun. We almost died of heat exhaustion walking there, but had a great time shopping. Lily looks so cute in her onesie.

Left to right: Dr. Fletcher, Debbie, Cindy, me and Kristen. I have to say that this is the best office to work in. I have been there for 8 years and am the newest member of the team.

Oow La La. He is sooo hot in this movie. Who am I kidding, he's hot all the time!

2007-07-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

How is it that life can pass you by so fast? This weekend will be our 6 month anniversary to hold Lily in our arms. I can hardly believe that it has been that long. It seems that since I returned to work in May that the time has not stopped flying by. Lily is almost 17 months now and is learning new things by the day. She loves to look at herself in the mirror and wave at herself and say "hi". She says "da da" all the time and "ma ma" only when she wants to. She is even starting to get the 2 year old attitude. She's pretty spoiled, especially by her dad and knows just how to get her way with him. Such a softy he is! My boss is taking the office to Las Vegas tomorrow for 2.5 days for a seminar, so Brian gets to be a full time dad. He'll do great. He does such a great job taking care of her and he really really enjoys it. It is fun to watch. A few weeks ago we went up to the White Mountains with some friends to go fishing and Lily had the best time getting sooo dirty in the outdoors. She just amazes us everyday and we are so thankful to be her parents. It is the best thing we have done thus far.

LILY'S FIRST PIGTAILS!

2007-06-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

"Mommy, I just woke up"

Lily was having so much fun laughing with mama this afternoon.

STELLA

2007-06-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

Meet Stella. She has been with us for one week and is really transforming this family. She is 4 months old and a real lover. She doesn't take guff from Max who likes to be the alpha dog. In fact she has gotten him to play like he hasn't played in almost 2 years since Duncan died. Sometimes I think she is Duncan in a different body. She is sweet like he was, plays fetch and brings the ball back (Max won't bring the ball back). Happy go lucky personality. She is very smart and is learning really fast. I think she is a great addition to our family.

HAVING FUN WITH FRIENDS

2007-06-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to Michele's house and she cooked a fantastic dinner. We got to visit with old friends and watch the children play together. It was a really great night. Thank you Michele!

The "Red Couch" all over again ;).

Maya having fun playing in Ava's room.

Lily was a little shy in the beginning, but soon made friends and got in the action.

Ava, looking so sweet, has been home with her mom for a few months now. She is doing so well and always has a ready smile for everyone.

Jadyn, Lily and Jenna having fun with the train.

The girls look so cute in their ladybug outfits.

Jenna in front.

LILY'S WEEKEND WITH GRANDMA & AUNT SALLY

2007-05-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Grandma and Aunt Sally flew in to see Lily and her new cousin Grant. We all had a great time together. Grant is absolutely adorable and Lily is growing up so fast.

GO JORDIN SPARKS!

2007-05-09T20:53:00.001-07:00

How about Arizona's own Jordin Sparks! She is doing such a great job. It's a real toss up between her and Melinda. Such wonderful talent from both of these beautiful women.

I have been back at work for 2 weeks now and things are really settling in. Lily is doing so well with her child care provider. It is such a wonderful feeling knowing that she is in such great care. I miss her so much during the day and it is so great to come home and see her cute face. She is walking about 90% of the time now and says "da da" and babbles a lot. She is a true joy in our lives. She has really made the long wait worth it. We have fallen deeply in love with our daughter and this is the best feeling ever.

As I write this our skittish cat Kaylee is cautiously sneaking up on the couch and stepped on one of Lily's musical toys and just jumped a mile. It was too funny.

LILY WALKING

2007-04-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

KEEPING A HAT ON A BABY

2007-04-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

2007-04-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

This past month has past in a blur of craziness. Lily is growing so fast and learning so much. She is close to walking, taking about 4 steps at a time. She knows how to stand up by herself and start walking, but gets places faster by crawling. It won't be long now. She has been going to daycare a few days a week to get used to her childcare provider. She has done really well there and seems really happy. I go back to work this Monday and have mixed feelings about that. On one hand it will be nice to be out in the adult world again, but I'm really going to miss my time apart from Lily.

Lily had the catscan done yesterday and we saw her Doctor this morning. Great news, everything is really good. Her growth plates in her skull are open, so NO surgery is needed (yes!) and her brain looks really good. The best news of all is that the Doctor remeasured her head and the flat part of her skull has come out 5mm in just one month. He said that she looks really good and had he seen her today for the first time he would not order a catscan (a $1000 deductible later) that she looks really good. We'll go back in 3 months to be measured again.

2007-03-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while. Things are really good here. Lily has settled in and found her voice. She makes some of the cutest sounds. She is trying to eat more solid table foods, but sometimes really prefers the baby 3rds food. She does love grapefruit, pineapple and string cheese. She is getting 2 more teeth (upper laterals). She is going to look so cute with 4 teeth on the top!

She has been diagnosed with plagiocephaly. Basically she has severe flatness on one side of her head. They say it's a cosmetic disorder and doesn't restict brain growth, but her doctor wants a catscan done on her head to make sure. We'll be doing that at the end of April. She is lucky that because she has such severe flattening that it did not affect the rest of her head hardly at all and she should grow up and be beautiful.

Must go read about "Fuzzy yellow ducklings"........

Yesterday...

2007-03-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I woke up before Lily which is unusual. I thought her room sounded so quiet, so as all the terrible things went through my head I went and checked on her. There she was just snoozing away looking so peaceful, sleeping in.

This is how I found her...

After breakfast we went for a walk/jog in my yard sale jogging stroller. It was the first time using it and it is pretty sweet! We had a great time out there. The weather was beautiful, probably in the 70's at 9:00am. I am soooo sore today...pretty much out of shape.

Do you think I was a little bit paranoid of sunburning that beautiful olive skin.....?

2007-03-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have updated. It is a lot harder to get on the computer these days:)

Lily and I went up to Washington State to visit her new Grandma and Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. We stayed a week and had a really great time. Lily was the best child while we were there. She loves meeting new people and just gives everyone the biggest smile. She is really a very happy baby and just hangs out, very easy going. She has been a lot of fun to watch grow and develop. When we brought her home she didn't know how to feed herself finger foods. She does so well at it now. She loves her bottle and just relaxes while she sucks on it instead of rushing down her throat. She smiles alot and laughs outloud. She loves other children and loves to play. We have this toy that when you press down on the handle it plays music and balls come flying out and then back down to come out again. She has learned how to make it work and absolutely loves it. She gets so excited and bounces up and down everytime it comes on.

P.S. You can click on the picture to make it bigger :).

2007-02-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

Today I put a cookie in Lily's mouth and she just sat there with it in her mouth. Then she let it go and thought she was so funny when she put it back in her mouth. Her big personality is really coming out and she is really quite funny.

She has officially sucked from a sippy cup today for the first time. She had a sippy cup with a soft sucker but now can do it with the hard cups! Yea, she is learning!

Lily's 1st Birthday

2007-02-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Lily's 1st Birthday! We took her up to northern Arizona where Brian's family lives to celebrate. This was the first time for most of the family to meet Lily. We were a little worried about how she would react (it's a very large family), but she did great. She played with her cousins and was as happy as could be. She has really been blossoming these past weeks. She has even learned how to pick up food and put it in her mouth, as well as suck from a sippy cup. She crawls all over and plays with her toys. She laughs and smiles alot.

She had a great time eating her chocolate birthday cake, and yes some even went into her mouth!

Self Realization

2007-02-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

After two long years of paperwork and waiting to be matched to our beautiful daughter I had convinced myself that because I wanted to be a mother so much and not just to any child but to this adopted daughter that my bond to her would be instantanious. I found myself not wanting to get pregnant because I wanted this daughter, I didn't even know who she was yet, but I knew that I loved her very much.

The love part is true, I do love my daughter very much. I haven't even known her for one month yet but I do know that I love her. My bonding to her was the surprise and self realization. I didn't intantly bond to her right off in the beginning, but it is coming and growing within me. I can feel it when I look at her and play with her. She in turn is starting to bond with me also. Each day and week is better and better. We are both relaxing and getting to know each other. Lily is quite a good baby. She is funny and likes to play rough. She only cries when she wants something or is really tired. I can tell the difference in her cries already. I know when the cry is a tired cry verses an angry cry or a hungry cry. She is really a happy baby and quick to smile. She knows what she wants and is not afraid to let you know. I really feel we are blessed to have her in our lives.

Looking Up!

2007-02-04T11:56:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone for all your uplifting comments. That really meant alot.

Through this weekend things have really been looking up. Lily and I are doing better. I think we are really starting to bond to each other. She has been more relaxed and really happy and I am getting there too. I have been feeling better inside and am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here is the star of the family, looking so very cute:

Poor Max has taken a backseat to this new cub that has joined the pack. He was very jealous in the beginning, but seems to be accepting Lily more and more. In this picture Max is miserabling waiting for his turn to play.

Post Partum?

2007-02-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted much since we got home. For the most part things are going great. Lily seems to be adjusting well. She sleeps through the night now for the most part. I may have made her sleep deprived in the beginning but after the weekend of being awake from 2am to 5am I said that's enough and started a normal day schedule. I would wake her up at 8:30am even if she had just gone to sleep at 5am and we'd do breakfast and play then have a morning nap for about 1.5 hours then lunch and more play then afternoon nap for the same amount of time and by 8pm she was ready to sleep. It took only a couple of days of this and she started sleeping through the night. Now her daytime naps have shortened and it's hard to get stuff done, but I think I'll take that over being awake at night.

Adjusting to motherhood has been a little harder then I thought. I have wanted this all of my adult life and now that it's here it's a strange feeling. I think the mind romantices how it will be and it's just not that way. She cries and screams and throws fits just like a normal child. I think I have a little bit of post partum depression. I think this because I feel like I should be perfectly happy and I can't figure out why I don't feel that way. I am really enjoying Lily, she is a happy baby. I feel like she is bonding to us. A friend commented that from the time we came home to now (a week) that Lily looks more alive and animated. She looks like she is adjusting well. Why do I not feel like I'm adjusting well?

This is hard to admit to the whole blogging world. I'm the kind that will put on a smiling face and tell you everything is going great, because everything is going great except inside of me. Maybe I just need a good cry and everything will be better. I feel like I just need to settle into stay at home mom mode because that is what I am for the next 3 months until I go back to work. Just getting these feeling out makes me feel better. Thanks for listening.

Here is a picture of the two of us today with Lily in her cute elmo outfit that my sister gave to her.

We're Home!!

2007-01-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

We have made it home after a very long day. Lily had a hard time on the plane ride from Hong Kong to San Francisco. If she wasn't sleeping (which wasn't much) she had to be in Brian's arms. If I held her she would throw a screaming fit. Poor Brian was exhausted when he got home. But we made it. We took Lily to the Pediatricians office yesterday because we felt she was not getting any better. Turns out she has ear infections in both ears. No wonder she wasn't happy on the plane ride here.

We got to the house and she was scared of the dog and the cats. A 15 minute nap made all the difference though. She woke up and has not been scared of them since. We are all trying to get on the right time clock and get over this jet lag. It's a little harder with a baby in the mix. She is doing good though. She is getting more used to her surroundings and we are trying to get a routine going. Each day gets better and better.

Here are some pictures of Lily after waking up from a nap.

Almost An American Citizen

2007-01-24T05:04:00.001-08:00

Today we took the oath at the US Consulate. As soon as we land in San Francisco tomorrow, Lily will be an American Citizen!

We are anxious to get home, especially since we are all sick. These Chinese bugs are killers.

Must go finish packing, see you all when we get home! YEA!!!

2007-01-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note:

I woke up really sick today (got what Lily has). Brian is about a day behind me. Hopefully he won't get as sick as me. This morning was bad. Brian was a super dad, her took her to breakfast and fed her and took care of her. Dayquil has helped me to have some strenghth.

Tomorrow we swear her in as an American! Thursday we leave REALLY early. Can't wait to get home.

Donna thank you so much for do that errand for me. I really appreciate it.

Going back to bed now....

Our day

2007-01-22T05:34:00.000-08:00

There is just nothing sweeter then a baby sleeping on daddy. Lily loves her dad and will play and play and then lay her head down on his chest and fall right to sleep. It's very sweet.

Donna and/or Heather. Will you do me a favor and go to Lele's Market and see if they sell this kind of Formula? Sanlu #2, Thank you so much!

We had our medical exam today and passed! She weighs 18 pounds and is 27 inches long. She's a stout little girl.

Brian really gets into the local government over here!

2007-01-21T16:47:00.000-08:00

Some pics from Nanning.....

A monk with a stick up his nose?!? Whats that all about?

We all have lunch at the Han restarant while performers sing and dance for us.

The Famous Red Couch

2007-01-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

We have now spent one full day in Guangzhou. The difference between Nanning and Guangzhou is amazing. In Nanning it felt more like a relaxed setting. Here, so far has felt like go go go.

The Island we are on feels more upbeat and happening, more nightlife. The hotel is very pretty and there are a million shops to shop in. Today our guides helped us fill out the consulate paperwork and we shopped and had the red couch picture and dinner at a Thai Restaurant. I had a soup with the broth made with coconut milk and some sort of spice, with chicken and mushrooms and other stuff. It was so good. I could have had the broth just plain. Brian had a meat dish which he later found out it was ostrich meat--pretty good.

Tomorrow we decided to skip the tour and relax and shop. We have Lily's medical examination in the afternoon. I am looking forward to a relaxing morning.

Guangzhou

2007-01-21T00:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, sorry for the long time between posts and no pictures. We are having trouble getting pictures posted, but will work on that tonight hopefully. We have been extremely busy and friday before we left Nanning, Lily got a temp. with the highest at 101.7 then came the conjestion and snotty nose. We had a very hard night on friday night then Saturday we had to fly to Guangzhou. Today is Sunday and so far today we have not had temp. She is just really congested.

Quick note today cause I have 15 minutes to get her and I ready for the red couch picture. We will try to get that posted tonight.

Buddhist Temple

2007-01-18T05:12:00.000-08:00

Today was a big full day. We went to the Hillside Park and walked around and saw some really pretty countryside. We walked down a long covered corridor that was made entirely out of bamboo. It was 551 meters long (about 5 football fields). As we walked through the park, the Chinese ladies and men would come up to us with the babies. We'd show them our tags that say we are from America here to adopt a baby and we'd always love them and teach them about their beautiful China. When they would read this, they'd give us a big thumbs up and clap and smile so big. It makes you feel so good.

Then we went to the only Buddhist Temple in Nanning. It is in a different part of this same park. We burned incense and if you chose, you could have the monks bless the baby. We had them bless Lily. It was really neat. We of course could not understand a word of it, but Lily smiled all through it. The monks loved the babies, they'd come up and want to hold them and play with them.

Next we went to a nine story Pagoda. It was built 500 years ago and is nine stories high, back then they believed that the number nine was good luck. Brian went to the top and took some pictures. I made it to the sixth floor carrying Lily. The Pagoda is on top of a large hill and you could see the countryside, the city and the river running through. It is really pretty.

We then went and ate food and had entertainment at the Han Restaurant. Lily actually ate congee (rice porriage) for the first time for us. The entertainment was great, but loud and scared her a bit. Plus she was getting tired. So was her momma, I carried her all over in the hip hammock all morning. My legs and back are going to be so strong after this trip.

This evening, we took a cab ride to and from Walmart with some other families. That is an experience. I suggest experiencing this for those that come to China. Brian says it is not an experience for the faint of heart. I'll just say, even though we were weaving in and out of traffic, I felt more safe without a seatbelt and a baby on my lap then I do everyday driving in Phoenix. It is amazing that there are not accidents. When we pulled out on to the busy street from the hotel, so did 2 other cars side by side at the same time, going into the same lane. If the Phoenix people drove like this, there would be so many accidents. Amazing.

Lily's personality is coming out more and more. She is definately a morning person. She wakes up so happy. She love to play with baba (daddy). She is so cute when she smiles. She has big teeth and dimples. She is eating more and is figuring out the spoon and even drinks out of a big person cup for water or juice. She is a lot of fun. You can set her on the floor and she'll just sit and play with her toys, so contently. The funniest thing is she likes to tear paper apart, she will work on it intently until she is finished with the last of it. Starting with a big piece and tearing it into smaller and smaller pieces. She loves her mama when she is tired. She likes to be bounced until she falls asleep on my chest. We have been putting her in her crib instead of going along with her paperwork (it said she slept with her foster parents). She has done beautifully with this. I like this, because that means I get better sleep.

We have one more full day here in Nanning. Tomorrow, we visit a museum to learn about her regional culture. In the afternoon, we get her Chinese Visa. Saturday, we fly to Guangzhou and do the last leg of the trip!

Over the Hump

2007-01-17T00:17:00.000-08:00

We are over the hump. Today she woke up after sleeping a lot yesterday and was so much better. We have had 2 bottles without a fight, one of which she finished. She is laughing and playing and loving on us. It's amazing, after only 1 full day with us, the transformation. I know each day will get easier and easier.

Today we went to a shopping mall in Nanning. We got her some clothes and shoes. I could have bought sooo many shoes, they are way more cute here then in America.

We'll post more pictures later. Just wanted to let you know that she is doing so much better.

2007-01-16T03:46:00.000-08:00

This is for Anathea and Asia

2007-01-16T00:58:00.000-08:00

Today is our official adoption date. We passed the interviews and now she is ours forever! We are officially mama and baba to "Wua Wua." (wa wa) nickname pronounced with a soft "a"

Lily has taken 3 naps today. She gets really fussy and we are somehow not making her bottle right. She wants it but there is something just not right about it. Somehow we have to figure this out.

2007-01-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

When we got the babies, it was really crazy. Everything happened so fast. Lily didn't cry, she just looked all around and attached to a tag I had around my neck and she sucks on my hair. We then realized she wouldn't look at us. On the bus ride back to the hotel she looked at us in short spurts and when we got her back to the hotel room she was playing and smiling and got a little fussy then fell asleep on my chest. She slept there for about a half hour. When she woke up she she seemed fine then the storm started. She cried and screamed and pushed for about 2 hours with short calmness inbetween. It was the hardest thing to go through. She wouldn't eat or drink a thing. She finally fell asleep at about 9:30 and slept for 9 hours. When she woke up she was better. She had a bottle and ate some food at the restaurant. Baby steps.....

Today we do the paperwork. We'll be back at the hotel this afternoon. For those of you we told we'd skype today, it may have to be tomorrow. We'll see what time we get back to the hotel.

Gotta go.....

2007-01-15T02:19:00.000-08:00

2007-01-14T22:57:00.000-08:00

We leave in 20 minutes to go get the babies.....

AND...we are FIRST in line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-01-14T05:31:00.000-08:00

Nanning

2007-01-14T04:44:00.000-08:00

Today was a tiresome day. We both woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep, so we finally got up at about 6:30 and got ready, packed and had breakfast. We flew to Nanning in the early afternoon.

The difference between Hong Kong and PR China is remarkable. Instantly, when we got off the plane it felt different. There were so many officers in green uniforms. The airport in Nanning is small and really easy. Our guide here is Michael and he is so nice. We have a large group of 14 families. He said it is the largest group he has had for at least 2 years.

Our hotel is SO NICE. It is 5 star and feels like we are in a kings paradise. The bathroom threshold at the floor is raised. It was the same in HK. I keep running into it with my feet. By the time I go home I'll be in the habit of stepping over it.

Now for the best part. We get Lily tomorrow afternoon!! I forgot, the coolest thing about the room is when we walked in, there is a crib in here. It makes sense, but I never thought about it being there and it just makes it real. We can't believe that tomorrow there will be a baby sleeping in that crib!

Hong Kong

2007-01-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, we are in Hong Kong! We arrived last night at about 6:50pm HK time 3:50am AZ time. We had started our day 24 hours earlier. The flight over was fairly uneventful, but very long. We went over Alaska and over Siberia, coming into HK from the north. When we got to the hotel we were so tired so we went straight to bed. My body had not remembered how to sleep still even with Ambien. I think I got 6 hours of sleep. I can't complain though, because that is the most sleep I've gotten for a week.

Today we went on a tour of Hong Kong. It is truelly amazing here. Everything, I mean everything is built up. There are high rise buildings everywhere you look. It's really cool. We had a dimsum lunch that was so delicious, then we went for a boat ride at a fisherman's village and saw the largest floating restaurant. Then we went to the Aberdeen Jewelry Factory, then to Stanley Market for shopping. This is where we bought a chop (a name stamp they ingrave). It is suppose to say Si Hua and have a dog on the top for the year of the dog. We think it must really say "American Sucker" because the characters are nothing like her name and after we got back on the bus we realized it was a rooster instead of a dog. Note to those that follow, if you want a chop carry around the characters and maybe don't buy one in HK. After SM we went up on a mountain to Victoria Peak where there is a lookout. The best part was driving down the mountain in the dark seeing all the buildings lit up. It really made it look like there were even more buildings then there are.

Tomorrow, we get up and get on a airplane to Nanning. This is what I have been looking forward to. Only one more day to go!!!

That is all for now, my body has decided to catch up and remember that it is very tired and my head is swimming.

More from Nanning....

The Day Has Come

2007-01-10T17:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, we are packed and ready to wake up at 3:30am to start our day! I think I packed more stuff to visit my family for a week then we packed for 3 people for two weeks. I think we'll have everything we need though. Rolling things in ziplocks saves tons of space and taking medication out of the box and rubberbanding the instructions to the medicine bottle saved tons of room.

We are so excited to go! Our next post will be from Hong Kong!!

China Itinerary

2007-01-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

We leave really early on Thursday 1/11 for Hong Kong.
We'll arrive about dinner time on 1/12 and probably crash into bed.
Saturday 1/13 we tour Hong Kong. We are especially excited about this. Sunday 1/14 we fly to Nanning, Guangxi.
Monday 1/15 we will hold Lily for the first time!!!!!
Tuesday 1/16 paperwork
Wed. and Thurs. 1/17 & 18 free time, shopping, tours.
Friday 1/19 receive paperwork
Saturday 1/20 fly to Guangzhou
Sunday 1/21 free time
Monday 1/22 Lily gets her physical
Tuesday 1/23 Consulate appointment
Wednesday 1/24 Take the Oath
Thursday 1/25 Leave for HK then San Francisco then Home!

It sounds like a fun trip with sufficient free time to shop and tour or just hang out. Hopefully everything will be fine with Lily and we'll all stay healthy. I can't believe it is here. Thursday will come fast and then we're off. Can't wait! Now the challenge is packing light, hopefully I'll succeed.

Referrals Are Out!

2007-01-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

We are so excited for our friend Michele who was matched today with her beautiful daughter, soon to be known as Ava.

It is so exciting to watch the people that we have come to know over the past 2 years become parents. We are excited for Lily to have friends from her birth country. Life is great!

Birthday Blessings

2007-01-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

As we grow, we are told the date we are born. Usually from our parents or someone we are close with. This is one of those things that we know to be true. Many of the orphaned children do not know the exact day they were born. Their birthday is usually an educated guess. To many of these children this is not a large issue because there birthday is still a day to celebrate and that is how it should be. I love birthdays, it's a great day to celebrate being alive. We had a birthday blessing that we never dreamed would be. Lily had a note left with her indicating her birthday to be Feb 18th. What a large and beautiful blessing this is and I feel will be in Lily's life. What a brave and loving birth mother she has.

Our consulate appointment came back today for Jan. 23rd. We will be leaving Jan. 11th. We can hardly believe that we will be in China in a week and a half. We can hardly wait.

Good News

2006-12-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

First the fun news. Brian went and bought us a laptop for Christmas. That crazy guy went against all the Christmas present rules this year :-) I'm glad he did, because now we will have a lot easier time blogging during our China trip and can post lots of pictures!

The best gift of all was the gift of our I-171H. Those of you that don't know what that is, it is our immigrations approval to adopt a child from a foreign country. We have to have this current to be able to travel. The lady at the immigrations office had assured me and my social worker that she'd get to our case a week ago today. When we hadn't received it by Friday, I email our social worker and she dropped everything and made sure that immigrations took care of this. We received an email Saturday morning that it was done and sent to the Consulate in China!

We are so relieved, now we should not have anything holding us back from going to pick up Lily. I think we are close to being ready. We found a housesitter for our animals. (A huge load off my chest) Now we just need the travel notice from China and a consulate appointment and we will be on our way. I can't believe we are so close. We are so excited!!!

FRIENDS ARE THE BEST

2006-12-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

Having friends that can relate and understand the things that we go through are irreplaceable. Through these past 2 years of going through the adoption process we have met some of the most wonderful people. People that can truelly understand what it is like to be infertile, what it is like to want something so badly and not be able to have it. Understanding the agony of a long wait and having absolutely no control in the process. These friends have helped us so much to get through the wait when we thought it would never end. Well, we have made it far enough that we can see the finish line at the end of the race. What a wonderful prize we will get to keep, the most beautiful thing we have ever laid eyes on. We are truelly in love with our Lily Sihua and we haven't even met, but we know when that day does come when we hold her for the first time we will be head over heels.

Last night our friends gave us a party to celebrate receiving our referral. We had the best time. They served Mexican food and margaritas (they know my favorites well:-). Our friends Kim and Scott were there with their twin girls, which were such fun to watch and play with. They were all so generous to present us with gifts. We had a lot of fun seeing all the great things that Lily will get to enjoy. Thank you all.

The Nursery

2006-12-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

We have had such a great time getting this nursery ready for our little Lily. It is an unbelievable feeling to look at her picture and realize that in a months time we will be playing together in her nursery.

Please take special notice of the beautiful rug on the floor in front of her crib. My friend Heather made this rug from scratch on her loom. She did an absolute fabulous job. It looks like we bought it at an expensive department store. Thank you Heather.

Adopting a child is like: Hurry-up and Wait!
We got our referral and we hurried up and got the paperwork done and applications sent out for visas and now, we wait. We wait to get our immigrations approval back, to get our visas, to get our travel notice from China. We just wait. My nerves are on fire and I feel like I can't take a deep breath until this is all done and we have her in our arms. Until then, we wait.

2006-12-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, we got our Fedex package about 11:40am. We were so happy to see these very cute pictures of our Lily Sihua.

Introducing our Daughter

2006-12-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

We are proud to introduce our new daughter;

Name: Guo Si Hua
Birthday: Feb. 18, 2006
Age: Almost 10 months old

At the physical done on Oct. 12, 2006
Height: 25.98 inches
Weight: 15.4 lb

She is residing in Foster Care in Hepu County CWI, Guangxi Province.
Right above Vietnam.

She likes to play with plastic toys, stuffed animals and toys that make noise. She sucks her fingers, rolls over and sits steadily on her own. She knows her name and responds to it. She knows the differents between people she knows and strangers. She smiles and laughs out loud.

We are so happy right now, she is such a beautiful baby. We will receive her full packet tomorrow.

BLESSINGS

2006-11-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

The Lord has blessed us in a special way. Brian's work has been really slow lately and his boss called and told him to go ahead and stay home tomorrow and he'd still pay him for 8 hours. We expect to get "The Call" tomorrow and Brian was going to have to work to make up hours, but now we have been blessed in the best way and we will be together tomorrow when the call comes in.

Thank you everyone for your support. We'll keep you posted.

THE STORK IS IN THE AIR!!!

2006-11-29T16:56:00.000-08:00

It's official:

REFERRALS HAVE BEEN MAILED!!!!!

They should be here anyday. We will be anxiously waiting.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2006

2006-11-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Brian's family in Moab Utah. We had such a great time. How can you not have fun when your with people you love and we all love to stuff our faces.

We left the Valley at 5:30pm and arrived in Moab (driving) at 1:30am. I walked into the house and it was dead quiet with sleeping bodies all over breathing evenly. The only sound I heard was my father in law snoring loudly behind a closed door. We had Max with us and we didn't know where we were to sleep, so we set up camp in the Tucson (car). I slept great, I had the pad and the most sleeping room. Brian couldn't say the same, he was a little cramped. But poor Max, he had no idea what was going on or where he was, he ended up spending the night in the front seat inbetween the steering wheel and the seatback.

Thanksgiving Day was really fun. Our host Kim made the BEST pancakes I've ever tasted, with the best Buttermilk syrup. Once you've tasted this, you can never go back.

A little history: This family, with Kim's visionary talent and my father in law's architecture talent, took the old Moab theatre and renevated it. Those around them actually told them they were crazy. They had to clear out this old theatre that had been vandelized many times. They took out the old theatres seats and ceiling to floor drapery material (large spider webs and all) and cleared out the whole theatre. Then they lived in this theatre while they renovated it. They now have the last laugh after countless hours of sweat and work. Their house is something out of a magazine. It is beautiful, and very open and warm. I wish the pictures could show you the granduer of this house.

Left: From the back of the house looking to the front.

Right: Looking from the front of the house to the back.

It is tradition in the family after thanksgiving dinner to lay our very full bodies all over the place:-)

I have a great picture of a room full of bodies just laying all over, but for the 3rd day in a row, blogger won't upload the picture. So please use your imagination;-).

Friday this old horseman came by the house on his beautiful black horse (bareback) and gave a bunch of the little kids rides. He said he had a partnership with his horse and deminstrated this by scooting off the horse at the rump and then crawling between the horses legs. It was pretty cool.

Just outside of town there is a tall sand hill maybe 200 or 300 feet high where the kids would run up it and roll, scoot, sled, summersault, you name it down it. It was hilarious to watch these kids get so full of sand and loving it. Max (dog) had a great time dragging Brian up and down the hill. We couldn't let him off of his leash because it was too close to the main highway.

After we left the sand hill we went to this stream not too far from their house. Max had the time of his life running all over, up and down the rocks and into the stream which was more like a river with rapids. He scared his dad half to death.

We had a great time and are glad we went. On the way home it was light and we got to see all the beautiful senery in Monument Valley and even got a great picture of the road/mountains where Forest Gump did his running and stopped and said "I'm pretty tired, guess I'll go home now."

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and were able to spend it with family or friends.

We are anxiously waiting for referrals to arrive, so we can see the face of our beautiful girl.

TWO WEEKS

2006-11-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that we will see our precious baby girls face in two weeks time. After such a long wait, and wanting to be a mom for soooo long, it is finally here. I have this nervous excited anxiety about me. I am mostly excited though. I find myself thinking a lot about:
What will she look like?
What age is she?
What her name is?
I am excited to know these answers and more. I am really thankful that Thanks Giving falls in the middle of these two weeks so that it will go faster!
Happy Thanks Giving Everyone!!!

Please click here to see our friends who are in China right now and will be joined with their twin girls tomorrow.

FUN WEEKEND

2006-11-13T20:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a fun and productive weekend.

It started with the Mom's night out on Friday night. Some of the moms from the FCC group got together and had a wine and cheese tasting. I had such a great time listening to these moms tell funny stories about their kids and husbands and learning so much more about how to be prepared.

On Saturday I went to lunch and shopping for scrapbook supplies with Donna and Julie. I had such a nice time with these ladies. Julie is waiting to travel to her daughter Tess who resides in Guangdong PR China. Donna and I are waiting to be matched. It has been such a blessing in my life to have found such wonderful friends through this whole adoption community. Julie it was really nice to have met you, I hope to get Tess and Lily together someday.

Now the productive part: On Sunday I cleaned out my filing cabinet and moved them to new files in a new cabinet with labels from my labeller (love that thing). It looks so clean and fresh and organized. The whole time I was thinking to myself "I am sure glad I'm doing this now, because there is no way I could sit all day going through files with Lily running around."

Have a great and wonderful week!

SEE PREVIOUS POST

2006-11-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Since blogger is allowing me to upload pictures, I thought I'd show the rest. The first is the example of the squares and rows sewn together.
Next is what it looks like out of the washer and dryer.

This is the finished product.

Left: Front

Right: Back

Please see the next post for complete instructions.

IS ANYONE UP FOR A CHALLENGE?

2006-11-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

My friend Donna has inspired me. See her blog for instructions on a tie quilt. Yesterday I got out all the colored jeans I have been saving to make a jean quilt. I thought I'd share:

Supplies: Jeans, quilt batting (flat), heavy duty sewing machine needle (size 16 does fine), heavy duty thread.

First you collect old jeans. I wanted to make a colorful quilt so I visited my local Goodwill store and picked some out. You'll need to cut out a lot of squares. I make mine 7.5"x7.5". You could make them smaller if prefered. The butt pockets are the cutest. Figure out how many pockets you have to work with and then sit down and fiqure out your design. It also helps to know the size of quilt you want. (divide measurements by 7" to know how many squares you'll need).
I had 14 pockets to use, so I made my design from there. Hint: You'll need squares to cover the back also.
This blanket is a crib size. I used 35 squares for the back and for the front I used 14 pockets and 21 squares.

After you have cut your squares, cut smaller squares of quilt batting. Next you'll sew your squares together.

Hint: If you decide to make a colorful quilt instead of straight jeans, I highly suggest laying out your design and write it down so you won't have a bunch of the same color together.
Sew a front piece to a back piece with batting in the middle, WRONG SIDES TOGETHER.
Plain squares get an x. Pockets get sewn around inside of pocket, leaving opening for functional pocket.

After your squares are sewn together, the next step is to sew square to square with back pieces together. This leaves the seam in the front. Do this step to create rows following your pattern. After the rows are sewn across, it is time to sew them together. (This is where you need to kiss your machine and tell it you love it and what a fine machine it is, because it may end up hating you :)

Hint: It is important to always sew back pieces facing each other so all the seams are in the front.

I am having a problem posting anymore pictures, so I will continue with the instructions and try to post the pics in another post.

After you have sewn your squares into rows and your rows into a blanket, your last step is to sew a border around the perimeter of the blanket to hold it all together. Your front should have all of your seam allowances in squares sticking out, with the back neatly sewn in.

Now throw it in the washing machine and dryer, twice. It will come out all fread. Trim the fread thread off and you are finished!

2006-11-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

I finally put her name on the wall!

WE'RE NEXT!!!

2006-11-02T19:46:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to a very tired body. As I dragged myself out of bed and to the kitchen to start my coffee, I thought to myself "Even though there won't be any change, I have to check." As I have don't every morning and every night for the last two weeks, driving myself crazy, I have checked the internet for any sign of the cut off day for referrals. To my bitter sweet surprise it was there. Referrals are done. It's official. Cut off Aug 25th. We had missed the cut off by one day. So many emotions hit me at once. I cried for a minute, because I had such hope. I smiled and felt pure joy, because now I can relax and know that we are next. We will see her precious face in four weeks! Then I smiled more for my friends who are behind us, because getting though the 24th (being a very large day) and going beyond means a slight speed up! If nothing else...I'm really glad it's out so that I can finally relax and breathe. Congratulations to Julie, and Heidi and Zach. We are very excited for you to be able to see your babies face!

2006-11-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

"Miss Manners" has good advice.

Do Fortune Cookies Really Tell the Future?

2006-10-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

The question is: Do fortune cookies really tell the future?

On Friday, after we ate our Chinese food, we opened our three fortune cookies. This is what they said...

When in doubt, let your instincts guide you

A much needed vacation will bring a great deal of enjoyment

You will soon receive pleasant news of a personal nature

Time will soon tell if the future was told. hum.....

Vinyl Lettering

2006-10-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about finding a phrase or saying, that is inspiring, to put on Lily's wall with Vinyl Lettering. This company-Sign Here-was started by three local Arizona sisters and they do all kinds of projects. You can put the vinyl letters on the wall or wood or windows...anything. My sister has these straight on her walls and they look painted on. They have about 80 different fonts to choose from and a variety of colors. Check it out!

Celebration Time

2006-10-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

Last night we hosted a celebration for Scott and Kim. They recently were matched with twin girls. The girls are one year old now and will soon be home. They had requested twins but never thought it would actually happen. We are so happy for them to be able to receive double the blessing.

We enjoyed ourselves so much last night. It is so nice to have a group of friends that have the same goal and share your hopes and dreams. We had a great variety of deserts and they were all very delicious.

From left to right: Michelle, Joe and Donna, Heather, Dan and Laura, Scott and Kim, and the handsome one on the right is my hunka burnin' love Brian!

I have to share the picture of the cake that Heather designed for the baker to make. She is so talented and has such vision to make something out of nothing.

Thank you to all that made this party a success (that includes my co-workers who put up with me this last week), we enjoyed having everyone here. Congratulations Kim and Scott, we look forward to the years to come.

SWEET BABY RAY

2006-10-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last night we bar-b-qued the best chicken. It starts with a charcoal grill with mesquite wood chips that have been soaked in water to give off a powerful smoke. The key ingredient (besides the chicken) is Sweet Baby Rays Bar-b-que sauce. This bar-b-que sauce is so good we crave it. If you have never tried it, go to your local grocery store and buy it (I sound like a commercial). Anyway, the chicken was so good and juicey, with a hint of mesquite flavor, I just had to brag.

Happy Bar-b-queing!

MAKING IT REAL

2006-10-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Through this long wait, it has felt surreal. We are going through all of this paperwork and waiting, are we actually going to get a baby of our own? I look at others who have children (birth or adopted) and wonder, what is it going to be like to actually be a mom? Will I be a good mom and raise a happy confident daughter? Will I be able to give her all the right advice and teach her to make wise decisions? I know I'm not alone in this and that every mom thinks the same things. The closer we get, the more real it feels but yet there is still that feeling that creeps in--will it really happen or am I living in a dream world? Then the fog begins to lift when your friends whom you've been waiting with, for a year, see the faces of their precious twin girls Jadyn and Jenna. These girls make it real for me. They are proof that we will see the face of our precious daughter soon. The beginning is in sight and we can't wait to round that corner!

Better Late Then Never

2006-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted. September has been one of those months that I have tried to escape reality. It doesn't work of course but somehow the month went by quickly.
Mid September we went to Donna and Joe's house to cook and eat Chinese food. We had the best time learning new recipings, using sharp knives and eating with chop sticks!

Here is a picture of our wonderful dinner. Thank you Donna and Joe, you host a great party!

I have also kept myself busy with projects in Lily's room. The thing about waiting sooo long to bring her home is, we have all this time to come up with multiple ideas to do for her room. Even though it is ready for her to move in now I still have more to do to complete the plans I have. My husband is my handyman and he does an excellent job. He is in the process of molding in her window. It should look so nice when it is finished. He made me a wooden corness box to go above her closet which still needs painted and decorated.

I did get her letters for her name finished. Even though they are not on the wall yet I thought I'd share them.
We think we'll put them up staggered like this. It looked a little more fun then just straight.
Any other ideas on how to place them are welcome. Once I get them on the wall I'll share again. Maybe the window will be done by then!

Last night we had a wonderful time at our fcc-az (families with chinese children-arizona chapter) meeting. We have met some wonderful friends that will hopefully continue for a lifetime. This whole experience has been really good for us and we are very thankful for this.
As referrals come pooring in next week, good luck to all of you that get to see your babies face for the first time! Our thoughts are with you.

Labor Day Weekend

2006-09-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

For this fine holiday weekend we went to the White Mountains and spent time with Brian's family. The weather was gorgeous with sunny mornings and afternoon rain and cool to cold evenings. Quite a change from our blistering heat in the Valley. The fields surrounding the house were more green than I've ever seen it in my 9+ years of visiting. It is wonderful to see our state of Arizona getting so much rain!

Max always has an absolute blast. He gets to run and play to his hearts content. At home he has a nice size back yard to play in, but up north he has 5+ acres to run and frollic. When he was younger, he'd play for 24 hours straight without sleeping that first night. Now he gets tired by the first night and is ready to go to bed. Here is a picture of him on the second night so tired that he didn't move all night long.
We were looking forward to meeting Max's dog cousin who just recently moved there with his family. Rocky (Boxer) had been hit by a car that morning and passed away. Rocky was a good dog and will be missed by his family of husband and wife and 5 children.

Lily's Room

2006-08-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

Here are the long awaited pictures of Lily's room so far. We are not quite finished yet.
I found a pink Pottery Barn lamp shade at a yard sale and have since went crazy with pink and green. This is the diamond wall that we painted. It was a lot of fun to do.

Brian built these cubby shelves for her. He is going to build custom size boxes which I'll paint to go in the cubbies. This will give us storage to put her toys or lotions or whatever in.
He is also going to build a cornise box with scallops at the top of the closet, which I'll paint white and hang butterfly curtains at each end. On top of all that we need to get closet doors. I think in the end it will look good. Right now it's an organized mess.

This is the butterfly material to put on the closet and also the window.

Lately, we've been collecting toys. We were asked at Costco the other day if we were shopping for Christmas. We just laughed and said "kindof." My sister got her the leap frog Lily. I think she is going to love this. It says "Hi, my name is Lily" and other things. It is so cute. Thank you Sally.

Last but not least, we got her a pack-n-play yesterday. This thing came with so many extra things and no instructions. Luckily I probably won't need to use the extra things, cause I couldn't figure it out.
I think we are pretty much ready. Now we just need a baby to put in all this stuff!

Coming across old things

2006-08-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

As I am unpacking boxes to move back into our house after renovations, I came across this piece of paper. A year and a half ago when we were first starting this adoption process, my friend to me to a card reader. We had a good time, took some notes and thought nothing more of it. It's interesting to me after having such a hard time with this months referrals that I came across this paper. The notes that she had made for me are:

Be open to all and attach to nothing. Buddist saying.
Meaning: Not attached to any certain outcome. Open to all.

Contemplate yourself as surrounded by the conditions you wish to produce.
Meaning: Don't buy into negativity, only focus on what the end result is.

How you think creates your reality.

This lady may tell everyone these things, who knows. All I know is that at the time I was like, ok that's nice, whatever. But today it really spoke to me and made me realize that that is just what I need to do. Not get caught up in the now and focus on the future when she is here. The end result.

One Year Anniversary

2006-08-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today is our official one year anniversary for our log in date. On one hand it has gone fast and on the other hand it has been very slow. I feel much better today, it is a wonder what a good nights sleep and a nap will do for you! Brian and I went to breakfast this morning at the Good Egg. It was so yummy. We really wanted to go to this place called eggceptional because it really is eggceptional, but when we drove up they were closed. Very disappointing, but our breakfast was really good anyhow.

I Know it's Not Confirmed

2006-08-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

I know it is not confirmed, but it's rumored CCAA didn't get as far as many had thought they would. When I read this news I just started crying and I can't stop. I'm crying for us, looking at adding yet another month to the wait. I'm crying for our friends possibly not getting their referral when they are sooo very close. I have been telling everyone worst case senerio October referral for us, now it looks like November. I think I just need to stop talking about it to people. I'm usually a very positve person that tries to find the good in everything and everyone. I just feel so sad right now. I can only imagine what those with really close dates must feel. To make myself feel better I went to a friends blog and just looked at all of the pictures of their precious little girl and told myself that it happened for them, it will happen for us. It is just so hard to believe when I feel so sad. But, like I always do, I'll get up, take a big swallow, lift my chin up, smile and keep moving forward.
Those of you who did get your referrals this month, congratulations and good luck to you!

Our Furry Family

2006-08-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

We'd like you all to meet our furry family. It all started with our cat Kaylee.

She is almost 8 years old. She has always been a nervous cat but is mellowing out in her older age. She is very prissy and likes things her way. She loves to lay on your lap at night but only if you have a blanket or something on your lap. She also brings luck into our house with 6 fingers on each front paw.

Then came Max. He is almost 7 years old. He is a head strong yellow lab. A very mocho man except when it thunders. He than is a scared little boy that wants to hide inbetween his mama's legs. When he was young, he did what he wanted. This includes jumping over 6' brick walls or through single pained windows. If he gets it in his head there's no stopping him. He now has a doggy door and doesn't like wires. As he got older he has relaxed and listens and is very loving. He is a good dog and we love him.

This is Duncan. Duncan died one year ago at the age of 5.5. He is absolutely the sweetest dog. He always wanted to please you and do everything you wanted. He would cuddle so close he couldn't get physically closer to you. He loved his Dad like no other. But above all he loved to play ball and frizbee. He was amazing with his catching ability. You could throw a ball as hard as you could right at him and he'd catch it right in his mouth and love it. He begged for more. If we weren't careful he'd play so much he'd make his paws bloody from running and stopping. Duncan lived life to the fullest and we miss him terribly.

Our baby is Gracie. She is one year old and very much a type A personality. I think she was sent to us to get us ready for our baby. She is wild, does what she wants when she want and hunts anything and everything. We have had to "kitty" proof our house. Close the doggy door at night so we won't wake up to all kinds of surprises. At the same time she is very loving. I have had to work on her a lot to not bite. She is pretty good now (at least with me). This is the one we are worried about with the baby. She gets very jealous. I hope she does well because we really love her and don't want to give her away but if we have to choose between baby and cat I am sorry to say it has to be baby. Even so, Gracie is a joy and she keeps us laughing.

New Burst of Energy

2006-08-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it is the new B Complex I have been taking or the new carpet but I have had this new burst of energy. I think it could be that for the first time in over a year we've been able to actually organize and move back into all the rooms. A year ago we were going to move so we started fixing up the house. Then it turned into staying and remodeling. Stuff has been anywhere and everywhere. Shoved into rooms as we lived around it. Getting our carpet installed was the last of the flooring and I have been moving things around and organizing stuff better than before. With every step I take it is like a cleansing process. It just feels so good and makes me so happy to look around and not see disaster. With this new found energy I'm going to go do more!

Very first post

2006-08-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our adoption journey. We are nearing the end of the long road to bring home our precious Lily. With an LID of August 26, 2005 we are close, but it really feels like we are turtles walking the road. The closer we get the slower time passes. We have kept ourselves busy with house renovations and meeting new and wonderful friends with the same goals of adoption from China. Please join us as we get closer and closer to the beginning of our small family joining together.