Update Time!!!

Well not much has been going on since all we are doing is waiting,. But let me say this: We have already reached our first year into our LID!!!! Can you believe that! on December 24th , 2009 was our one year anniversary, and our one year CLOSER to our baby!!!! I cant believe that has been already that long. WHICH only means that we only have a year (& half ) left to go. this is going to fly by ! Im so nervous when i sit and think about it. I also think: am i going to handle this okay??? Will i be sane? Anther child! what were we thinking!! But my heart hurts to see her, to hold her, and to just love her! And she doesnt even exist yet (probably).

When i see things for her, i tear out pictures or take notes. I imagine all the kids loving on her, and teaching her new things. We seriously cant wait!

Right now we need to update our homestudy, get re-fingerprinted, and do new background search. We need to extend our immigration status with China. this will extend it another year....and i really need to get cracking on it, it expires this month! So that is my priority right now....

I want to thank those that actually remember about our adoption and ask me how are we doing? how long the wait? that really shows that you care. Thank you!

when i have more information i will post!

Many blessings in 2010.

Love Cathy

Fears

Do i have fears and concerns? Yes I do! And i know for sure that the majority of our family has more of that too, than excitement. Which is normal, i guess. Fortunately i havent heard any of it, but i know its their.

Its hard enough with 3 kids; working for ourselves, and maintaining a house. So yes i worry and think:

-What were we thinking?
-Can we do this?
-Can I do this?
-Can I handle another child while grocery shopping, while at Noah baseball games, Ava's Tae, Leila dance classes?
-Can we afford this?
-Can we afford another child?
-Will my sanity stay consistant the way it has been?
-Will we have family support like we have now?
-Will the kids adjust ?
-How about my sanity? yes i know....i already said that, but its a concern. Being a woman, wife, mom, daughter, sister, ceo, chauffer, nurse, accountant, cook, maid Can be overwhelming at times.....

So these are some of my concerns: but my answer to all this is: We can do this! God has put this in our hearts before we even had kids. We knew were going to do this, and it still "feels" right. I pray to God to think about our daughter and to bring her to us when he feels that we are ready. Leo and I are approaching this grand thing, day by day and with prayer. The kids pray about her every single night. Ava draws pictures of our family, and she already includes "china baby". Its so touching to see that they already have emotions for her and think about her. Each day that passes brings us closer to her. She is not even a glimmer or glip in someones eye right now, but we already have that connection to her. And that is God telling me , that she will be there for us.

I cant wait til the day that all five of us are on the plane to China! And i know that day will be here before we know it.

May 2009

My sister had a good idea for me.....suggested that i post at least once a week here about my thoughts, concerns, fears, excitements of our adoption. I do have them, i guess i just process those feelings alone, to myself. Our life is so busy most of the time, that not even Leo & I talk about it. The kids do mention "her" from time to time, and people ask me, "hows it going"?...so then i tell them. But i dont bore them with my other feelings. I will start today with my excitement feelings.

I am excited about getting to the end of our adoption. Our log in date is DECEMBER 24, 08. Meaning that we should be finalizing it in Decemeber 24th of 2010; BUT i have to prepare myself to add more time to that date. BUT , the way i see it, we are already at May 2009, so according to our LID, we have a year and half left. We are going on 6 months that have passed already. So its exciting to see that each day that goes by we are getting closer. Exciting is having another baby in my arms. Funny thing: Yesterday we met Hsin-Nan/Travis' little baby girl Lexington Ava who is 8 weeks old. Hsin-Nan is chinese and Travis is American; and their little girl is ADORABLE!!!! I had first dibs on her, because i called it...and i didnt want to let her go. I just envisioned holding our little China doll in the future. I didnt want to hand Lexy off to anyone but i had to. The kids were like, we will have our little baby soon too mommy. And she might look like that , right? So cute! I see things at the store and i get excited to buy, but obviously its too early....Im not going to lie, i have bought art items for her room already...i am just holding off on the clothes....when we get closer i will start doing that. It will be an interesting chapter of our life when that comes to close.

Next week: Fears and Concerns (that may be a long post :) )

Beautiful Poem

Legacy of an Adopted Child

Once there were two women who never knew each other.

One you do not remember, the other you call mother.

Two different lives, shaped to make your one...One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first gave you life and the second taught you to live it.

The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name.

One gave you a seed of talent, the other gave you an aim.

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears.

One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.

One gave you up ... that's all she could do.The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me, through your fears, the age old question unanswered throughout the years...Heredity or environment, which are you the product of?

Neither, my darling neither.

Just two different kinds of love.


This was forwarded to me from a friend of my sister's. It made me just cry and cry....sums up adoption. I love this poem!

Thanks JT.

Meeting Strangers

During our time in Disney, we saw alot of integrated families. It is truly a beautiful thing to see, people choosing to add ohter human beings into their family and call them their own. No matter the physical difference, but giving love and care for another person. The night of our Princess Dinner, we were sat next to a couple with their little daughter. Now this wasnt your normal family: The father and mom were White American, and their daughter was Oriental. Well of course this really touched me, i get so happy when i see other adoptees with their forever family. Now i have more guts to talk to them, so i kindly ask the father, where is your daughter from? He anwered, China. Told me they adopted her in 2006. well of course i mentioned that we are doing the same and are soo excited. He said that she has been a blessing in their lives and they live, breathe their daughter. That it was a long process, theirs not as long as ours will be,i believe their wait time was 18months. But said that truley no matter the time of wait, it is compeletely worth it. She was about Leila's age now, and funny thing is: She also had the same Snow White outfit on too. Adorable! I love meeting families that have adopted, gives me hope and strength that we will need to get through this journey....

This May Be Crazy...

We have a LOOONG way to go before we get our daughter, but i cant help it when i see something cute that will be perfect for our future nursery for her. And guess why i bought these??? First of all they were on sale at Pottery Barn, secondly i havent decided on a Theme yet, i have plenty of time for that, but i thought these were too adorable to pass up. Especially since they have ladybugs on them (they are good luck in the adoption community)....I love them. So now i will take care of them, store them away until we have our new home to place them in her nursery.

We are Logged In !!!

Okay this is the call/letter that we have been waiting for since we sent in our Dossier. I was hoping to have it by Christmas Day, but we didnt. BUT it was just as amazing it getting this yesterday. Our agency called and told me that we are now officially logged in China...OUR LID is Decemeber 24th, 2008!!! Christmas Eve....Okay the good news here is that now we can sit back, and patiently wait for our turn. The bad news is it can take up to 2 years to get to the next step. But that's okay. I am just happy now that each day that goes by its a day closer to our Forever Daughter. So this is a really big deal.....Think about it, it took us a year to compile and deal with our life to get the dossier together. A whole year has passed....what are 2 more years?? Nothing..it all passes in a blink of an eye. I really see this with Noah...he just turned 9 years old; someone please tell me when did that happen. We are truly excited, and now anxiously awaiting for our day to come.

We are 6 days in and only 724 days to go!!! I call it our elephant pregnancy; they carry their babies for 22 months.....

Thank you to all that ask us about our adoption, and keeping tabs with us. Its really appreciated from our family.

Love you all, and Happy New Year!!! To all a Prosperous 2009!!!