One More Seat at the Table

Just thinking how next Thanksgiving, there will be one more at the dinner table. The wait will be over. She will be here. We normally use a kids table at my sister's house, but I think I just might hold her tight on my lap. Many things to be thankful for this year. My parents ongoing health, the ability to stay home from work for a time, a happy, healthy six year old, so many family and friends that have supported us during this wait. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

She's Waiting too!

Our first little baby, who is almost 12 and 7 lbs., Annabelle. She is our beautiful Yorkie who we love and who loves her family. Ok, she might be wildly  misunderstood, poorly trained, known to guard her perimeters with enthusiasm. All right she barks, a lot. She has been known to nip neighboring  adult males ankles. She more than begs at the table, if she wasn't so small, she'd pull up a chair.  But to us she is just a kissy  girl. Always happy when we walk in the door, following you room to room, looking for her belly rub.   She adjusted just fine when Connor arrived and now they are BFF's. We are hoping for the same luck again!

World Travelers? Us?

It hasn't been lost on me that  in a few weeks, we will be going to China. China. It seems so adventurous, exotic, exciting and a little scary. China is far, really far. I have been known  to make a whole day revolve around a trip to Target, never mind somewhere on the other side of a globe.  Usually when you travel you want to experience the culture, cuisine, history, and we will. But this is a trip of a lifetime, meeting our daughter for the first time.  Before and after "gotcha day" or "family day", we will have a few days in China to travel and sight see. I am looking forward to it all,  experiencing China with her as a family.   Try and do a google map search when we are away, you just might see us on The Great Wall of China, beaming with pride.

Year of the Tiger?

If you ask Connor his favorite animal, he has always said Tiger. I am not even sure why until we got to this year and realized this past Chinese New Year was the year of the Tiger. We are taking it as a sign that just maybe she has been born this Chinese new year. Coincidence that Peter wears this shirt ? Not really, he just liked it.

Rumor Queen

The Rumor Queen is an adoption blog where you can learn, discuss,  and meet people who are either waiting to adopt or who are home. Anything about China adoption is on her blog. It has been a godsend to me during this wait, as she also does predictions of when referrals will come out and how many. Right now she is looking at  a November 29th thru December 6th referral.  Looks like we may be hanging an ornament on the tree this year with our daughters picture.
http://chinaadopttalk.com/

This Time I Mean It, We Are Next! Really!

Well, we weren't quite next in this last referral group. They made it until May 23rd, and we are LID May, 24, 2005 which means we are absolutely, positively,  next. I was disappointed at first, but as I have gotten used to during  this wait, I have to put it in perspective for my sanity. More time to work on her nursery and we will be able to spend Christmas with Connor and our family.  It is just difficult to know that our daughter has been born and is either in an orphanage or in foster care. I pray she is being protected and loved until we are able to bring her home. We may never know the circumstances of her birth, never know the story of why her birth parents were unable to raise her, but I am humbled by their decision.  In every adoption there is a loss, and in our daughter's short life, she already has lost her birth parents and will lose  her birth culture . I pray that we will be able to show her how much we wanted her to be part of our family and give her a life of love and happiness she may had never known. We will always know we are the lucky ones to be able to bring her home to our family.

Did I mention we were next?