Moving!!

First of all, we are moving along well with the process. I found out today that Holden has had his Visa Interview and they are currently awaiting the P3. The lady I spoke to was very nice and told me to feel free to bug them everyday!!

Second, I am going to start a new blog. I feel that Holden needs a blog that has his name in the address. The new blog address is: www.holdensforeverours.blogspot.com

Third, hope that you continue to follow along as this ride is going to get interesting real soon!!!

1600 approval!!!

We got our I600 approval today and I am just over the top with tons of emotions!!! The I600, for those who do not know, is a very important paper you get from immigration that say you can bring an orphan into the states and he/she will be considered your relative immediately. This, is A BIG DEAL!!!

So, what does this mean? According to my agency, we will have approximately 6 weeks to travel. That's right, 6 WEEKS!!!

Why different emotions? Well, this whole journey has been such a different experience from what we have endured so far with China. This journey has been on course for the most part and this piece of paper, has made it REAL for me. I thought seeing my baby's face would seal the deal but this paper has just made it that much more REAL!!!

I am a mommy, my baby is waiting and I WILL get him!!!

So much to do!! I hope the next 6 weeks just fly by!! I love you Holden, hold tight little one, mommy and daddy are coming to bring you HOME!!!!

Catching up

I have a few things to catch everyone up on. First of all, June 18th, Holden turned 7 months. Not that I don't think about him everyday, I was especially thinking about him that day and how he was not in our arms yet, what we were missing and how I wished I had his cute little chunky cheeks to kiss on.

Second thing, I need someone to hold me back on buying things, especially shoes. This child has 13, that is right, 13 pairs of shoes already. I don't know what it is but I have this obsession with buying him shoes. They are all different sizes which is a plus but really, what am I thinking??

Third, we went on a mini vacation to the beach this last weekend. The girl that watches my pups is such a sweetie, she has become like family in the fact that I KNOW my pups are well cared for while we are gone. Anyway, she has a 10 month old son and that was a Shaka test. I know Squeezy will be fine with Holden but Shaka has these droopy ears and tail that I know Holden will want to pull on. So, my friend's son pulled her ears, took her toy and pulled on her muzzle and my girl said Shaka just looked at her baby like, "let me know when you are done so we can move on." I was happy a relieved to hear Shaka did so well, I was glad to hear that she should be fine with Holden.

Last but not least, I had fun celebrating a mini father's day with Rob. I got him a card and we just had time to relax and talk, get reconnected. We really needed to just have the time to be together. We are looking forward to getting Holden and having him in our arms and celebrating Father's Day together as a family next year.

Family

Telling my family was hard, they are never all in one place at one time. I wanted to tell my sister first but we wanted to tell everyone in person, not over the phone. So, I found out my sister was out at Animal Kingdom, my hubby works for one of the Disney participants so he can get in and out of all the parks. He tracked her down with picture in hand and told my sis and BIL (brother-in-law) that they were going to have a new nephew and showed them the picture.

The rest of the family, I got fed up and told them to meet me at my aunt's house at 4pm. I got one of the pictures printed out on photo paper at Target and the girl there helped me cut the pieces out and make it into a puzzle. I took the pieces over to my Aunt's house and handed the envelope to my mom. This was a 9 piece puzzle and she was taking forever so, I finally put it together for her. She said oh what is it? It looks like a set of eyes, I said that is your new grandson, she looked again and just got excited and was thrilled to see the picture of her new grandson.

That was how I told my family!! It was stressful but fun!!

We have been trying to get the painting finished in our house, we have bought a few things for Holden but we still need to get the floors replaced before we can work on his room. I am so stressed about it, I feel like there is so much to do and we are going at a snail's pace to get there!! UGH!!!

How did I tell Rob???

Ok, so, I left everyone hanging, I know!!!

I got off from work and I just was beside myself because I wanted to have the full experience of telling my husband the wonderful news. I have to say, Thank God the minute one holiday ends, they are already set up for a new one. I decided to get a Father's Day card and put the pictures inside. I was clever in picking out the card, I have this thing with Rob where I buy him cards out of the blue just to say I love you, I appreciate you and thank yo for being crazy enough to be married to me!!! LOL I got him one of those mushy cards that was not an obvious father's day card. It did say Happy Father's Day on the inside.

What I did, I made sure I stayed up for when he got home and I set up the camcorder, I told him I was filming the dogs doing some tricks. Not sure why he believed that but whatever. Anyway, I put the card on the dining room table and waited for him to come home. He came in and I greeted him of course, he worked his way over to the table and asked, "what's this?" I just replied, "oh, a card, open it." He did and he read it and then he opened the pictures, his leg started shaking so bad he had to sit down. He just sat there staring at the pics and said how cute Holden was, he also said, "he is not an Ethan". I said, "yeah, I know", he said, "he is definitely a Holden", I just smiled and said, "I know". I asked Rob how he was feeling ad he said, "terrified", I started to laugh just because I knew in that moment, it was REAL!!

That's how I told Rob but, how did I tell the rest of the family????????....................

May 14, 2010

This was an ordinary day with ordinary problems at work. I was getting antsy so I decided to email the NY agency to see what I could start getting together as a care package to send over. I asked what would be appropriate to send over for the foster family. I figured I would go shopping that weekend and see what I could find.

So, I was just sitting at my desk and my phone rang, it was a NY number so I figured it was the agency wanting to discuss my email. I answered the phone and of course it was the agency, the SW on the other end said she wanted to go over my email with me but first she wanted to discuss the referral they had for us. I said, "what, are you for real" and she said yes. They had been waiting for the local agency to get back to them so they could do a three way call but she decided to go ahead and tell me about the referral since they had already waited a day. I was in shock, I started crying, I was anxious, I just kept saying, "oh my God, oh my God." The SW said she would send over some pics of our son. She had told me his Korean name, his birthdate and anything beyond that got lost in the oh my God I am a mom translation!! LOL

I sat there and waited and waited and waited, it seemed like an eternity, I think it was only about 10 minutes. The pictures finally came and although they were in black and white and fax quality at that, I started to cry again, I knew this was our son and I knew for sure his name was not Ethan Jacob, that was not his name. I looked at him and just knew this name did not fit him. Luckily Rob and I had discussed other names and I knew he was a Holden, I was not sure of the middle name but the first name for sure was Holden.

Here I was, staring at my son's face trying to think of how I was going to tell Rob, what was going to be the most creative way to tell him. Then, it hit me, the perfect way to tell him.

May 7th 2010

Today is an important day for us, this marks the one year anniversary that we made the decision to pursue Korea. We had weighed all the pros and cons and made the decision to move forward with another adoption other than China. This day also marks a 7 month waiting period for us since we sent our paperwork to Korea. I feel like today is special because we were able to make a hard decision about how quickly we would like to be parents. We still have our paperwork in China, maybe that will work out, maybe it won't but we are at peace with what that may or may not hold.

Today, I am reflecting on the ability to move forward and have the knowledge that what we decided to do a year ago today was a decision that was prayed about and made with an open mind and open heart. I look forward to what the month of May will bring us. I know there is a flower blooming half way around the world for us and I can't wait to see our precious child's face for the first time. I know we are next in line for a referral and will probably be on edge for the next few weeks waiting for the phone to ring and to hear we are the proud parents of.............
I may not have a reason to celebrate Mother's day this year but I have a reason to celebrate life. I have a wonderful life with wonderful friends and family and the support we need.

Happy 1 year/7 months day to us!! Thank you God for giving us guidance and knowledge to follow our hearts. I know you are nurturing our child and everyone around him or her, hold our baby close as we are but a phone call away from a wonderful change in our life.

Happy mother's day to all the mothers and mothers to be!!!

We Are The TRUTH

Today, April 15th is an important day. It has been declared by the joint council as "We are The Truth" day. You can read more about it here. So, as a tribute, I am going to tell you a little about our story so far.

About 4 years ago, my husband and I, after trying to conceive for 3 years, decided to pursue adoption. We looked into adopting from China, at the time, the rules were getting ready to change and we knew we would not be ready by the time the new rules were in place. Because of this, it put our adoption journey into a holding pattern for almost a year and a half. Once we got out of that holding pattern, we decided to go forward with China. Little did we know or anticipate at the time that the slow down would get so bad or effect us like it has. We were told that the agency expected things to change after the Olympics, well, they didn't.

We decided after waiting for over a year for China and seeing no end to the wait in sight that we would explore other options. I started my research once again and decided to pursue Korea. We discussed it and decided to move forward. We decided it would not hurt to keep our paperwork in China while pursuing Korea, we made sure it was ok with the agencies we were using to do concurrent adoptions.

So, we went ahead with Korea, we have been in the Korean program, including paper chasing and everything for 11 months and 8 days as of today. How does that make me feel? I am happy to be where we are and to know that we are close t a referral. Has it been hard? Yes, it has. Would I do it over again? At this point, I can say with an open heart and mind that yes, I would. Why, some may ask. My answer is this, I would have never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be where I am today. I have the support of my family and friends and I have made some awesome connections and new friends. Adoption is from the heart and I have met some people with some BIG hearts. I love the journey I am on and I am thankful that I have opened my mind and heart to see that all children need families to love, support and help them grow. With love, a child can thrive and bloom, children that do not have the love and support they need wither. I can't wait to see what our child will bloom into.

I ask you to take this cause serious and blog your truth about adoption. I know that most, if not all, adoption stories have had their bumps in the road but the end result, a family, a beautiful child to love and nurture is why we do it. We all long for that child to hold in our arms, to read to, to watch grow and blossom. Help spread the word that adoption can be a beautiful thing, it's not all gloom and doom like the media would like to have the public think. Let's spread the happy stories too.

6 months

So, yesterday was 6 months. I have had a really bad 4 days, family issues, car issues, customer issues and doggie issues. I am so over it all!!

Today, I emailed the agency just to see how things were progressing, there is where I got some good news. We are very close to getting a referral. My SW said she is thinking it will be next month, with a slight chance it could be this month. WOO HOO!!! I am excited about that! Not so excited about the ton of stuff we still need to do to get the house ready but I am excited that we are getting closer.

I hope time flies by and we get our referral and then the 4 months after that just whiz by, wishful thinking I am sure but I need something to hold on to this week.

Here's to hoping your week was better than mine! What does not kill us makes us stronger, I feel my muscles getting bigger as I type this!!

quilt

So, I went over to my aunt's house on Sat. and we started on Ethan's quilt. I have all this cool Sock monkey print fabric and I love how it is all coming together. The problem??? I can't sew a straight line and it is all driving me up the wall. My hubby says it adds character and I am on the verge of ripping out all the seams and starting over. UGH!!!! I want it to be perfect and it's not.

Week in Rewind

Today has been kind of fun. I talked to my niece and she is going to come stay with us for a week in May. She was so cute, she wanted to make sure we were stocked up on Disney movies to make her stay more comfortable. She also wanted to make sure she would get lots of "Shaka kisses". Shaka is our little wiener dog and she loves to give kisses.

Over the past weekend, we went on our cruise. It was heavenly, we got massages, facials and just pampered ourselves. I am a vegetarian so, the head waitress had 2 and 3 entrees sent over to me to make sure I had plenty of food. It was all so yummy!! We had a blast just relaxing, watching shows and chatting it up with people. We learned something new, they can cut you off on a cruise, who knew??? This we learned from one of our many interesting breakfast companions, very interesting story. Passing out in the stairwell, being escorted back to your room by security= a hold on you and your hubby's ship pass card thingy.

I had a wonderful couple of packages waiting for me when we got back. An awesome waiting mom made me a polo shirt and a bag with the TALC logo on it, that was sooooo sweet of her! I also had our adoption t-shirts waiting on us when we got back, we will have to model them. Then, my boss and his wife had the cutest pillows and snuggly blanket for Ethan with monkeys on them, how nice of them!!

One thing I can honestly say about our adoption experience so far is we have felt nothing but love from family, friends and even strangers. I am so blessed to have this journey to take and I would not trade it for the world. The people I have met, the things we have done, the trials we have gone through and being able to start a not for profit are priceless and yet very rewarding.

How was your week???

Thinking..........

I am just sitting here thinking. I am thinking about our future son and how old he could be. I know for sure he has been born. What I don't know is exactly how old he is. He could be either 4-5 months or 1-2 months old. Since we should be getting our referral anywhere between April and August, I find peace in knowing he is born and growing and I know he is with a loving foster family.

As I stood in my office this afternoon, I kept seeing in my mind a referral of April, around my mom's birthday (19th) and seeing my hubby's face on his birthday as we receive our child. I know it could all just be wishful thinking but I just have these strong feelings that everything will come together in that way. I guess only time will tell. I just know that if these events do happen in that manner, my mom and hubby will have the bestest birthdays ever.

My friend got to have a conference call with his future son waiting in Taiwan and I got chills from it all. His daughter sang twinkle twinkle little star to him (her future bother) and he sang it back to her in Taiwanese, priceless. I am so happy for him and his family, how blessed they are and it just amazes me everyday how much Adoption Rocks!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful St. Patty's day!!

5 months

We have been waiting a little over 5 months and I just get more and more anxious. We have had some success with our T-shirt fundraiser and I encourage anyone who wants a cool shit that promotes both adoption and family, have a look in our shop, you will find something!!

We are going to take a small vacation next weekend and I am happy about that. I had a horrible migraine this past weekend and I just need a little time to destress!! We are taking a little cruise to the Bahamas, we are looking forward to it.

I know this sounds crazy but I emailed our agency to let them know we would be "out to sea" just in case!!

My friend may be getting his little boy within the next couple of months, I am so excited for him!! How awesome for him and his family.

Kitchen is almost complete, if only I could get that crown molding up and some new paint, we would be good to go. I think we are both starting to do a little nesting, we are planning the baby's room and just trying to figure out flooring and paint and just the flow of the house. Exciting stuff!!

Today is my big sissy's birthday!! She is an awesome person and I love her very much, I sometimes feel I don't tell her that enough. I did sing to her this morning with my very lovely voice!! **cough, cough***

Lots of stuff going on, getting a move on with the not for profit, gotta get the website up to par, time just slips through my fingers!! Time, speed up, time slow down, time give me more time to get everything done!!!

When we get back from our vacation, I going to get together with my aunt and start working on Ethan's quilt. It is going to ROCK!!! Sock monkeys everywhere!!!

Well, that's it for now, what's going on in your corner of the world????

Monday

Today was a good day. I was a lot more productive at work than I anticipated. I was able to get off at my normal time instead of having to stay an extra 2 hours like I thought I would to catch up. I emailed our agency because I received our updated 171-H and asked if they needed a copy for our file. At the same time, I thought it would be a good time to see how things were coming along with a referral. Well, I was told they received 4 referrals in Feb., along with 4 families traveled to get their babies and they had just received 2 referrals and had a call to make for travel for one family. I felt good about all of these items. Then, I was told they expect our referral to come in the next month or so. I hope it is in the next month, not so much in the "or so".

Anyway, I am at peace with it and and looking forward to what next month brings. I have a theory, feeling, idea, whatever you want to call it. I am thinking we will get our referral next month and the baby's birthday will coincide with Oct. 7th, I just think that is how it will all be pulled together. I see signs of my grandfather all in this adoption and I think he will come through once again as that date is his birthday. We'll see!

Now, on to my kitchen, we have been doing a remodel and it is almost complete, my kitchen looks a ton better. I am now excited to cook dinner and can't wait to have our baby and cook him some delicious and healthy meals in that kitchen.

Next project, the floors and then on to getting the nursery/ baby's room ready. It has been a long time coming and I just can't wait to have our child in my arms.

I am still working on the Not for Profit, we will have an event here in Orlando, FL in Nov. and I am very excited to have a grand adoption event going on during adoption awareness month. Adoption has truly been a blessing and changed my life, I would not trade this experience for the world!!

Week in Rewind

Last week was awesome, amazing, busy and exciting.

My hubby decided to send my valentine's gifts to the office. On Thurs. morning, the day started with a dozen roses delivered, then the UPS guy brought me 2 boxes, one was my beautiful Tiffany's ring, the other was a box of chocolate covered Fortune cookies, Yum, Yum!! Then, I came home to 2 cards waiting for me and some harijuku perfume.

Fri. I got 2 more boxes, one was the fabric I ordered for the quilt my Aunt is going to help me make and the other was 2 sock monkeys that a friend of mine made. My friend told me the one was a gift to me from her, how sweet.

Sat., my hubby managed to get the day off. We went to Ikea in the morning, came home for a little nap, went to an awesome pizza place in downtown Orlando and then off to Nude Nite. This year, I missed a dear friend of mine who usually exhibits. We still had fun though. There was tons of interesting art and people there, there were a couple of geisha girls and I LOVED their outfits.

Sun., we slept in a little, went to breakfast, came home and took a nap, then out to dinner. I loved dinner it was so wonderful, that was my gift along with some juggling clubs to my hubby. The night was romantic, fun and just relaxing, I love talking to my best friend and just gazing into his eyes. I can always see his love for me in his eyes, they tend to sparkle a little. Love, love, love that man!!!

Mon. & Tues. was stressful at work.

Wed., was a nice day at work and my brother-in-law started demo on the kitchen, Yippee!!! I can't wait to see the finished project. Finally, a kitchen that will be functional and have more space!!

All in all, I had a wonderful week.

Side note, Sun. Feb. 14th was the Lunar New year, we have officially entered the year of the TIGER!!! This has and will be an awesome year!!!

Adoption Bug

We have our own little store front up!! Yippee, for every shirt that is purchased through the link below, a portion of the proceeds come back to us for our adoption!!

http://www.adoptionbug.com/elliott/

4 Months

It has been 4 months now since our paperwork has gone to Korea. Time seems to be passing a little faster with everything I have been up to. I can't believe it is Feb. already. I sure hope we get our referral soon. I learned something new today, my nephew can count to 10 in Korean. He learned it in Tae Kwon Do. He blew us away with it, I told him maybe he should go to Korea with us and help us barter. (he is only 7 yrs old by the way)

That time again!!

Well, it is that time again. We have to renew our I-600A, many of you are asking why? Well, we took our I-600A out of China and moved it to Korea so, that means we have been waiting almost 18 months since we first sent our I-600A in for China!! I can't believe it has been that long already, yikes!!! I am just glad to be on a different track right now to getting our baby boy. Anyway, better go get all the paperwork I need rounded up!!!

funny, freaky, ferocious Friday!

So, I spent a lot of my day mulling over conversations I have had with people since we started the adoption process. I found some of the conversations helpful and relatable, some of them were a little freaky and some a little strange.

I remember one conversation I was having with my cousin's wife which I found kind of FREAKY and a little FUNNY. I was telling her about our China adoption. We had just gotten our paperwork over to China and we had our LID (log in date). The conversation went a little like this:

Me: we finally have our paperwork over to China.

her: that's great

Me: Yes, now we just sit back and wait

Her: So, they just start sending you children's files to look at?

Me: Umm......no, we wait for a referral

Her: I know that but they send you files and you just pick one

Me: Um.....no, we have to wait for them to match us with a baby

Her: Ok, what does that mean?

Me: when they get to our file, they will look at it and match us as best they can with a baby

Her: So, you don't just get files to pick from?

Me: No, they match us

Her: I am confused

I still don't think she fully gets it. I thought the conversation was freaky because I was picturing what she was saying and then I found a little humor in it because she had no clue. Then, I thought of it as being a little sad, not only because I found humor in her not understanding "the Process" but because what if the really did do what she suggested in some countries? I don't think I could just pick a child and leave the rest behind.

Other conversations I have had brought a lot of understanding on why people who can have biological children adopt and it has also allowed me to see that the struggles we have had are not unique to others.

So, this brings me to why I am doing the project I am. I am doing it to educate others on adoption, I am doing it to bring people together that have a common bond that may not of otherwise been brought together and I am doing it for my son so that there is public awareness about adoption and my son will be comfortable talking about adoption with others.

Adoption news: I got an update from my agency today, there were 4 referrals in Dec. and 4 in Jan. They expect to start getting travel notices again soon, wait times are 6-10 months for referral and about 4 months to travel. Praying for an April referral over here!! I want to have my son in my arms this year! Happy Friday!!

The world of coffee and a good cause!!!

So, I am still getting the website together for the project. If you want a little taste of what I am doing and are in the mood to order some coffee, check out my store front. A portion of the proceeds come back to my organization to support my cause. Come support me and the cause, trust me, it is worth it!!! TALC coffee shop.

Adoption news, there isn't any!!!

Sappy Sunday

So, I was looking for some Korean music, I found Brown eyed girls an Big Bang. Then I found this video. It is sweet and sad and full of sacrifice, no matter what the Language. Enjoy!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexUdNhPFVI

Friday!!

Well, today is Fri. and I am glad the work week is done. Work can get stressful for me as I work for a utility and it seems like people like to yell at us. I always wonder why, I could make your life miserable within the realm of reason so why yell at me? Anyway, it is what it s.

My Cousin's wife had the baby. She was born on Thurs. at 2:26, I think. She weighed 5 lbs, 2 oz. Little pea, they are naming her Mia Amore. Don't ask.

Still working away at my project.

Adoption news, there is none, just getting closer to referral and that is always a good thing!!

Today?

So, my cousin's wife is still in the hospital and they are inducing labor. It may turn into an emergency c-section depending on the situation. I will be happy for them when the baby comes and everyone is ok and can go home. I know it has been wearing on them, especially with a 2 1/2 yr. old.

Well, I am getting ready to launch my project. I am need of adoptive family's photos or pictures of adopted children for the website. I am putting together a not-for-profit which will help raise awareness of adoption in my community and hopefully it will grow like a beautiful flower into other people's lives. I am also going to help pull resources together to educate others on adoption. I am currently working on my website and hope to have it live shortly. If you are interested in sharing pictures, please let me know.

Adoption front, still in a holding pattern. This pattern is making me dizzy!! LOL

Cruise, booking it tonight!! We are going on a 3 night bahama cruise in March!! Yippee!!!!

Closer

I am getting one step closer to getting my "project" up and running. I had fun today with my hubby looking at different options and meeting with people. It is going along great!! I am very excited about what I have seen so far. can't wait to see where this journey takes me!!

In other news, my cousin's wife is still in the hospital and they are still trying to figure out when this child will be born. The tentative time is Thurs. but who knows, they could change theirs minds like they have 5 times now, I think?? I quit counting!! LOL

No new adoption news, just wondering who will do our post placement visits. I guess it won't matter too much since we will have our child when they are done!

I have been staying away from soda, 4 days now, that is good for me. Might explain some of these headaches I have been having??

Still planning on going on a short cruise, Captain, Take me away!!!

New Beginnings

First in adoption news, the agency we used for our homestudy is closing it's FL office. At this time, we are not quite sure what that will mean for post placement visits. I guess time will tell.

In other news, I have decided it is time to make a commitment to myself. I have been talking about losing weight, eating right and exercising, so far, I have failed at all of these items. I am not grossly overweight or anything, I just feel like I need to do this for me and our future child. I am going to have to teach this child the proper way to nourish his little body and keep it fueled, he is not going to learn that unless I do this for myself. It's not that I don't know these things, I just don't do them, my excuses..........laziness and stress. Are those valid, yeah sure, if I don't want to get anywhere with my health. Again, it is not that I am unhealthy, I just know I could eat healthier and take better care of myself. I deserve it and my child deserves it too. So, I am going to start putting some new, healthy food choices into my diet. Thank you Kara, you are an inspiration. I am vegetarian so, you would think I would be skinny as a rail, well, I love chocolate and soda, that definitely hinders my diet!!

I want to run a 5k within the next year and I want to eat healthy and be at a weight I am comfortable at. So, that is my new beginning, I will have one last pow wow this weekend and then on to a new way of fueling my body, less junk in, less junk out!!! I want to have my engine revved and my body raring to go when this child comes!!! I will need all the energy I can get to keep up and I am looking forward to that!!

Kind of Bummed

So, I emailed the agency today wondering how things were coming along. I was wondering if they were getting a lot of referrals, when we could expect ours. All the things you wonder about while you wait.

The response was, they got 4 referrals in Dec. and because of the end-of-the-year slowdown, the wait has gotten a little longer than when we first started. So, we most likely won't see a referral until somewhere between April and August. UGH.................

On the flip side, I did get a Macbook today, I am trying to navigate my way through. We are also thinking about doing a 3 night cruise here in the next few months. I figure why not? I need a break from work and we have not been on one in a few years. Might be the nice little break we need to getaway and relax.

Happy Thursday, can't wait for the weekend!!!

Family

I think family is important but sometimes, you have to know when to step away and look at the big picture. There has been a lot of "drama" type events going on in my extended family and I just have to step away. I hate when they try to get me in the middle of things, I have enough to deal with without the extra "drama". Granted my cousin's wife is in the hospital because she is having to be monitored, she is 34 weeks pregnant and they are concerned about her and the baby. I just want to stay out of the way, call me if you need something or if the baby comes. Don't call me to give insight on why so and so did such and such.

Ok, enough rambling about that. I am getting closer to launching the project I have been working on and lately and I have been pleasantly surprised on that front. I have put my heart into this so, I will continue to do so as I want to see it succeed and see my mission/goals achieved. It is something that I can be proud of and hope that my son will want to be a part of when he gets older. I have had all kinds of support from friends and strangers that it just warms my heart to know that people care. My family as you can tell has had their hands full with other things.

Anyway, if all goes well, I should have a new baby girl cousin in the next week or so. I do hope that my cousin's wife continues to remain ok and that the baby comes through to this life healthy. Ahhhh........the never ending lessons to be learned!! Hope everyone is having a great week. I am looking up, staying positive and know that WE are not in control, we are merely passengers in this adventure called life!!!

3 Months

So, today marks three months since we have been waiting. I know many people are saying, "Big Deal" well, it is a big deal because we could get a referral anytime between now and July. Hopefully, the time frame does not get longer. I am excited that we are now in the "referral could come at anytime"zone!! I hope it comes sooner than later.

In other news.....I woke up this morning and I knew I was going to get some news, good news. I just had that feeling, I was not sure what it would be or where it would come from but I just knew. So, I am sitting at work getting some things done for my project and I have been checking my email frequently. Well, I saw an email from another adoptive parent, he has been a wonderful email friend. I got to finally meet him last month and he has been there this whole time cheering me on and sharing his experience with his China adoption. He had helped me with my decision of which agency to use for our China adoption. I have known this man for years now. Anyway, I saw an email from him and I knew they were in the process again. I just knew this was an email I could not wait to open until later. I was right, I opened it and it was the good news I knew would come today. He got his referral and I was just ecstatic for him and his family. What a wonderful way to start the new year. The funny part was they had requested a girl but was also open to a boy, this whole time, they just naturally expected a referral for a girl but God stepped in and had another plan for them. Isn't it just awesome that God decided that this little boy needed a family and it was his family that the little boy needed. I just love stories like that!! I knew this was going to be a year of unexpected surprises!!! To my wonderful friend and his family congrats, your boy is just gorgeous and you are all truly blessed to be brought together!!

What a beautiful day for wonderful news, can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

Asian Baby Laughs

New year's eve, my nephew who is seven, was at my office for a few hours. I have tried talking to him about our adoption and he gets it a little but I am not sure exactly how much. I have some photos of random cute Asian babies up in my office, it just makes me happy. Well, this picture was hanging up, I love this picture because it is just cute. I love the wrinkled nose, the hair standing up, the squinted eyes. My nephew looks at the pictures and asks who the babies are and I say,"they are just some Asian babies." He stopped at this picture and says, Asian babies can't laugh that much. I looked at him, kind of surprised and said, "really, why not?" I am expecting some off the wall answer. He proceeds to tell me that he can't laugh that much so there is no way an Asian baby can laugh that much. I said, "Well, how do you know?" and he continues to tell me, "they are no different than me and aunt Heather, if I can't do it, they can't." I said, "ok, you may be right." I was relieved to hear this coming from him because I was wondering how much was getting through to him. My nephew is such a good kid and I am just happy to see that when we get our child, he will have a wonderful cousin to learn from.

The Decision was made

I decided to take my blog off private. I figure I can always switch back if I want. Right now there is a lot going on and I want my blog to be available in case others want to follow along.

I have had a great New Year so far, minus the starting the year off with getting rid of a cold. I figure, at least I was getting rid of it, right??

Anyway, the project I have been working on is really coming together and I am getting a lot of response, I am grateful for that as I was starting to doubt a few things. I know this is a test and I have to remember that. I am so excited about life right now, I feel like I have found my passion and it will quickly become a reality. I am working on getting a website together and I hope to be able to get it all out there within the next few weeks.

As far as the adoption front, there is nothing new to report yet. I know this will be the year of many great memories to be made.

So..........fasten your seat belts, this here is the wildest ride in the wilderness!!!

New year

I am so glad it is the New Year! I am hoping for many exciting things this year. We are expecting our referral and to travel to get our son this year, I am working on launching something this year and I plan to blog more. I haven't blogged lately because between being sick and feeling down, I haven't felt the urge. I try to keep my blogging positive so, when I feel down, I just rather not blog about it.

I am thinking about making my blog public again. I was never asked by my agency to make my blog private, I thought it may be a good thing to do but I am having second thoughts about it.

So, here is a great new year with many exciting things!! What are you doing this year?