Where is Lilly?

2008-07-27T06:00:00.003-06:00

Let's Go!

Boy howdie, that last post really got y'all all flustered! I've had calls from all sorts of long lost folks wondering what in the world was about to change. I'm afraid you may be sorely disappointed. It's not that exciting! Thanks to my friend Tiffany I got the itch for a change of scenery. I felt a little outdated and well, perhaps a bit blah. I needed some updating and a new look... a different look. So I contacted Jennisa and got the ball rolling. It's been about 3 months in the making (she's very good & apparently popular) and today is moving day. So let's go! We're moving. No... not just me and my family... ALL of US... you too. Yes, you. Let's go!

CLICK HERE! CLICK HERE!

2008-07-23T12:01:00.000-06:00

How do y'all feel about Change?

Stay Tuned....

2008-07-22T12:01:00.001-06:00

China Trip Tuesdays

Today we're going to talk about something that is not a mainstream American habit but is quite common in China: CARRYING UMBRELLAS to protect yourself from the sun. Unless you are a modern-day Scarlett O'Hara and don't want your fair skin tanned by the sun, most of us here the in States walk out in the mid-day sun with little more than sunglasses or a ball cap to protect (mainly our eyes) from the blaring sun. We drive cars with A/C... we take buses with A/C... we don't walk anywhere very far... we wear shorts, tank tops or sundresses to stay cool... we have good accessibility to swimming pools, sprinklers and clean lakes... we're addicted to sunscreen and icy drinks... we have battery operated fans that spray mist... our buildings have central air... and most adults and lots of children wear sunglasses. In China, the preceeding statements, are not true for most citizens. And thus, they use umbrellas to shade themselves from the hot summer sun. In Guangdong Province in Southern China where the climate is sub-tropical, the summertime heat brings afternoon thundershowers. Our guide Connie said the ladies of Guangzhou always carry an umbrella in their purse for both the sun and the rain.

Carrying an umbrella isn't just for the ladies. Here a group of men shade themselves while shooting the breeze. Notice how none of them have on shorts.

Here's another group I captured. I love the sweet guy holding the umbrella for his girl. I was lucky Big Daddy T gave me a couple yuan for a bottle of water. (I kid.)

2008-07-21T10:23:00.006-06:00

Camp Summertime

(This post will make my Mother's skin crawl. My Dad will wonder where he went wrong. And Big Daddy T thinks I'm ridiculous. )

The summer is quickly slipping away here in way-too-hot Georgia and that means before long we'll have to close down Camp Summertime to get ready to go "Back-to-School." I am a single mom most of the work week while Big Daddy T is in Hotlanta chasing his entrepreneurial dreams. Instead of all my kiddos piling in my bed while Daddy's away, I established Camp Summertime. You see, I gave birth to 3 little nighttime scaredy cats. When the sun goes down the jitters rise up. Heck, I remember being nervous at night when I was a kid. And I suppose if I were honest, where the kids sleep at night... specifically in their own assigned beds... is not a battle I care to fight. As long as they get sound, restful sleep... especially in the summertime when we tend to live life a little freer... I'm happy. So, I started in my big girls room, which they share, with a twin bed for each. Then I rounded up all the extra comforters from over the years and made 2 very soft... very thick pallets on the floor. Little Lilly Lu is in her crib across the hall... I'm not that nuts... and with the 2 beds & 2 pallets... all 4 of us can sleep in the same room. No nighttime jitters, no scary dreams, the kiddos get better sleep which means I get better sleep. I get 1 bed... again, I'm not that nuts... and would you believe the 3 fight over the pallets instead of the other bed? We have had such great summertime slumbers all cozy & cool in the room together... I'm actually going to miss Camp Sumemrtime when we get back in the school routine.

2008-07-20T19:55:00.004-06:00

I'm not sure who came up with these, but my favorite brother-in-law "Chief" passed them along to me. Girls... you know it's true!

9 WORDS WOMEN USE

1. "Fine:" This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2. "Five Minutes:" If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3. "Nothing:" This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4. "Go Ahead:" This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5. Loud Sigh: This is actually not a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. "That's Okay:" This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. "Thanks:" A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says "Thanks a lot" - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' ... that will bring on a 'whatever').

8. "Whatever:" Is a woman's way of saying "Kiss my GRITS!"

9. "Don't worry about it, I got it:" Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.*

2008-07-18T20:50:00.008-06:00

(Unfortunately)
I LOVE IT!!!

People, there's a reason I'm not fitting into my old clothes. Well, actually more than 1... more like 790 reasons. Yep... 790 filthy, dirty, wicked calories. And to my detriment... I'm addicted to each and every one of them! If you haven't tried Chic-fil-a's new Cookies & Cream HomeSpun Milkshake get up in the morning and go get you one. Especially you skinny folks! And you gotta go tomorrow 'cause the next day will be Sunday and then you'll have to wait another WHOLE 24 hours to enjoy the sinfulness of this beloved dessert. I have to cut back... I think I probably had 4 of them this week... perhaps 5... and I'm feeling the urge to purge... no I'm lying... looking at this picture is making my mouth water and I'm trying to justify in my mind going back for a 5th or 6th tomorrow! They might think I'm the Chic-fil-A cow and ask me to hold a sign and stand out by the road trying to get the folks driving by to "Eat More Chikin!" But that's my problem... you get shakin' (no pun intended) and go try one!

2008-07-16T17:29:00.006-06:00

Look What My Baby Girl Can Do!

It took her a few weeks to get the mechanics and rhythm of crawling down, but last week she took off. Now she's crawling around and pulling up on everything... and this week, falling down less... getting more steady on her feet. We are in love!

Here

she

comes

Mama!!!

And up my leg she climbs!

2008-07-15T18:46:00.005-06:00

China Trip Tuesday

Today we're going to talk about one of my most favorite things... LAUNDRY! Boy howdy do I enjoy doing laundry. No, really... I do. Honest. My house is pretty much the center of a tornado most days, but you can be guaranteed that all my little pigs are wearing clean, sweet smelling clothes. I do laundry every day. My friend Sergeant SuperMom says she only does laundry once a week. After I quit laughing (remember she has 5 kids) I told her she was from another planet that on the planet I come from we do laundry every day... usually all day. If I'm up and at home... I've probably got a load of laundry going. My laundry is like a baseball game... a load is always at bat and one is always in the on-deck circle and there are many other loads waiting in the dug out for their turn in the washer! So when I knew I was traveling to another country for 16 days and advised to take way less than 16 outfits I was certain I would have to do laundry in China. And it was great! In fact, I could almost get used to it. Let's take a look...

You take your laundry to the store in a bag... we used the hotel laundry bag. In Guangzhou just about every little shop on Shamian Island will do laundry and in Nanchang our guide arranged for laundry pick up... we just bagged it, took it to her room & the laundry service (The Elephant King) brought it back to us & collected their money.

Oooooo... ahhhhh.... neat huh? All the laundry is folded neatly and placed in clear, cellophane bags. I never had anything lost or returned faded or shrunk... (or is it shrunken?)

Here's another view. My only constructive criticism would be for the Chinese to discover DOWNY. I'm used to my clothes smelling oh-so-fresh. The laundry didn't smell bad... just smelled... blah... nada. But hey, it was clean, neat & cheap... I'm a big girl... I can handle 2 weeks w/out Downy.

Now get this... in Nanchang, our laundry service, The Elephant King, sewed the tags in each piece of clothing. Sewed. By hand. See the tiny little knots & the white thread. How unique is that? I was just blown away by the small detail. Some of our travel clothes still have the tags in them 'cause I haven't cut them out. It's a little souvenir. Or maybe I'm just lazy???

For those of you who may be about to travel, here is my suggestion for the type of outfits you should concentrate on when packing.

CREW neck t-shirts. I read this suggestion on Rumor Queen before I traveled and I thought "nah... this round face looks better in V-necks... to heck with that suggestion!" Well, I owe that person an apology. Once you get your baby... you'll be holding and bending and putting her in the carrier & taking her out of the carrier and she'll by climbing on you and pulling on you and sleeping on you and you're better off with full coverage. I bet I showed my boobs to 1/2 of the people of Jiangxi & Guangdong Provinces... not to mention my travel companions! To all of them, I apologize.
A sports bra. Ladies, comfort & practicality are your top priorities. Now granted, I am not well endowed... so there ain't alot of support needed for these little mamas. You'll be doing a lot of walking and riding and it is just more comfortable in a sports bra. It is.
Shorts. I did bring some skirts to China and they were o.k. and cool in the hot summer. But you will be doing a lot of sitting on the floor with your baby & getting on and off buses, airplanes, taxis. Again... practicality... it's key.
And lastly, I'll admit that AGAIN... that I did not heed the suggestions of those that traveled before me and I packed WAY too many clothes for the trip. I should have packed LESS and done laundry more. Now don't you make the same mistake. O.K.?

2008-07-13T19:29:00.006-06:00

Sergeant SuperMom
We got a HUGE surprise phone call this week from our dear friend "Sergeant SuperMom" who was one of our nearest & dearest friends during our 5 years living in South Florida. Sergeant SuperMom got her name for many reasons:

She's a total stud... she graduated from West Point Military Academy. While I was running around the sorority house with a grosgrain ribbon in my hair at a state school, this she woman was working her butt off earning a degree from one of the toughest universities in the country... not only to get into, but to graduate from.

She then went to Ranger School & jumped out of airplanes. I am nervous to ride "Goliath" at Six Flags and this girl used to JUMP OUT OF PLANES! Whew!

She had 5 kids... yes, 5 in just over 5 years. AND her husband is a football coach for one of the top programs in the state of Florida & so she's a football "widow" from August through the championships in December. Remember... she has 5 children... boom! boom! boom!

She's one of the most disciplined & organized people I know. All weekend I was like "O.K... you tell your daughter to clean her room & she cries and complains... what should I do?" I asked her for advice on dozens of parenting topics. She runs her house like the barracks... lots of fun, but no funny business allowed!

The United States government trusts her enough to give her "TS" (a.k.a "Top Secret") Clearance for us civilians.) My husband barely trusts me with a checkbook and this gal has the trust of the US military with stuff "if I tell you, I'll have to kill you!" Wow.

So, Sergeant SuperMom calls to say she's in Atlanta for two weeks of active duty at Fort McPhearson & could we get together this weekend? YES! So she drove down yesterday and stay overnight. You know you have a FOREVER FRIEND when you don't see each other for 3 years and you pick up right where you left off! Last night I was getting onto Baby #3 for interrupting me while I was talking to Sgt. SuperMom and by today I was like... "That's not really fair 'cause we've been talking NON-STOP since last night... he hasn't had a chance to get a moment alone without interrupting!"

For being a stud she's a tiny little thing isn't she? Or am I freakishly big?

She called me a sissy for only having 4 kids! Of course, I'm kidding. But she was happy Hillbilly Baby and his affection for not wearing proper clothing attire moved away from her kids. "Bad company corrupts good morals!" Kidding again... she loves my guys!

2008-07-08T16:43:00.021-06:00

China Trip Tuesdays (posted just in time!)

I have been trying to work on this post ALL DAY LONG and little Miss Prissy would not stand for it! The big girls are at camp this week which leaves me home with Babies 3 & 4 and right now little Miss Prissy has a hissy (hey, that rhymes) every time Big Brother tries to touch her. And I don't know if it's because he's a boy and they like to bother girls or because he really loves her... but he ALWAYS wants to touch her and she ALWAYS get's mad. Anyway, it's taken me until quarter 'til 12 to finally get a chance to finish this up. O.K.... back to China. And what's something very fun to do anywhere you are??? Yep, that's right... SHOP! So today let's GO TO A CHINESE DEPARTMENT STORE! This particular department store was downtown NANCHANG in Jiangxi Province where Miss Prissy is from and it's name is Parkson. Let's go.

Here we are pulling up outside the store on our group bus. Notice the store looks more like an American office building... there are 4 or 5 floors inside. Also, instead of a traditional food court in the U.S. we found several fast food restaurants around the store. This one shown here is a Pizza Hut.

Once inside the atmosphere is quite different than that of the streets outside. The store is quite opulent & sophisticated... much like a designer department store like Macy's or Nordstrom here in the States. I liked it! Here is a ritzy jewlry store on the first floor.

This cracked me up! China is a little behind the times with American style & trends. For example... we saw a lot of "Snoopy" articles... Snoopy was big when I was a kid. Kids here in the U.S. are into Spongebob or Hannah Montana. Well, same for cosmetics & beauty care. Olay here in the states is quite ordinary... available at any Wal-Mart or Dollar General. Department stores here sell high end cosmetics such as Laura Mercier or MAC. That'll arrive in China by the time I start collecting Social Security!

Escorted by our guides we make our way up the escalators to the Baby Floor.

And we arrive. The prices are in Yuan and the discounted sales are also in Yuan... making it difficult for a bargain shopper like me to figure out what I'm about to spend. We saw familiar brands & some no-so-familiar brands... but cute stuff just the same.

O.K... so here's the major difference in shopping at a Chinese department store and an American department store. Here in the States you can shop all over the store collecting merchandise from different departments as you go. Heck, I've paid for shoes in cosmetics and jewlrey in Men's wear. Once you're done shopping you pay for all your purchases at one time... or at least I do... I ain't standing in line more than once! Well, in China let's say I want to buy a dress for Lilly, some shoes for me and some sheets to bring back for my room. First, I would have to select the dress I want. Then I show it to the salesperson. The sales person writes me a TICKET for the dress & holds it for me. Then I go to the next department. I show the person the shoes I want. They write me a ticket and I move along. Until I'm done shopping.

Here's the gal in the children's department writing me a ticket for a dress I picked out. Notice the calculator on the counter. ALL Chinese salespeople... whether at a department store, a street vendor or a small shop... are fast & furious on the calculator. They always divide the price in Yuan by the current exchange rate... usually take a discount (especially is you bargain) and show you in American dollars how much the item would be. Every store... every shop... every booth... every salesperson has a calculator... EVERY ONE!

Then I ran into Big Daddy T who was bored out of his gord and looking at me like I had purple hair & polka dotted teeth... like "Why on earth would you possibly need clothes for this new baby?" Men... they just don't get it!Or is it just my man?

O.K... back to the shopping. So, you've collected tickets for all the items you want to purchase. You then find a CASHIER. You hand the cashier all your tickets and they total them up. You pay the cashier and they give you RECEIPTS for all your purchases.

Then you go back and collect your purchases from the salesperson in each department that is holding them for you. Kind of a pain huh? I went back to infants and handed the gal the receipt & picked up the dress. Then I had to go to toys and pick up something there. Honestly... and not just because I'm American... I like the American way better.

And while I was paying for and collecting my purchases, Big Daddy T went & found him some AMERICAN FOOD! After being offered fried fish heads, braised pork blood, old hard boiled eggs & more rice than the law should allow... it was like an oasis to see the KFC outside the store.

What kid doesn't love french fries?

It wasn't long before we attracted stares from some curious little ones.

They were laughing and giggling at us and the mamas were kept encouraging them to come over to see us & get their picture taken. What American parent... with all the "Stranger Danger" drilled into our heads, would send their daughters across a restaurant to be photographed by a complete stranger? I suppose we looked very sweet & friendly!

And finally they came & saw us... flashing the very popular "peace" sign. Notice the jade necklace on the one girl. Jade is a very important part of the Chinese culture. I'll talk about that more on another China Trip Tuesday... but all our guides wore jade bracelets, the director of our agency also wears one... and they took us several times to see & buy jade in different cities.

We did as the Chinese and made our daughter be photographed with strangers. She was a little embarrassed but the little girls loved it. And before she could finish saying "CHEESE" it was time to catch the bus for the hotel. With full tummies and some goodies to go, it was a fun afternoon learning about how to shop at the mall in China.

2008-07-07T12:51:00.023-06:00

Free Babysitter

O.K. friends... I'm going to give you a tip on how to keep your kiddos busy this summer while you enjoy adult conversation without them AND this babysitter will also tire your little lovebugs out so when you take them home they're totally pooped & ready for bed. So... here's what you do:

Find someone who lives on the lake and crash their dock party like we did at my parent's house on the Fourth of July.
Get a tube used for tubing behind a boat or jet ski.
Put lifejackets on your kiddos because the lake scares me to death & you want to make sure when they fall in they won't go or stay under for long.
Tie the ski rope to the dock so the kiddos can pull the tube in to the dock. They also can use it to yank the tube out from under each other & 'cause them to fall, resulting in squeals of laughter!

So... allow our family to demostrate.

Baby #3 will start us off. They begin to try to stand up on the tube.

Lookin' good...

Steady...

Uh oh... somebody's getting a little big for his wet britches... better keep focused on your balance!

Timber!!!

Good try buddy, good try! On to Baby #2

What is it with my kids flashing me the "I love you" sign? I don't think they really love me... the little punks are confused and really meaning to sign "Rock On!!! I'm cool!

Here she goes...

And another one bites the dust!

Let's see if my oldest & most experienced water baby can rise to the challenge of the tube!

No... she also falls victim to the wobbly powers of the tube.

Now have your kiddos do exactly what you've just witnessed over & over again. They'll love it... and you'll love the fact that they're busy and active. But... beware... if you break out your camera once... yes, one teenie, tiny time they'll then be busy screaming:

"MOM! MOM! MOM! Take my picture! LOOK! MOM! Are you looking? MOM! MOM! MOM! You're not LOOKING!!! MOM! LOOK! Get your camera and TAKE MY PICTURE!!! Did you take it? MOM!

2008-07-06T17:00:00.013-06:00

Tie Breaker

It was a dead even tie on last week's holiday poll between going to see fireworks & shooting your own. So... I'll be the tie breaker. And the winner is... drum roll....

STAYING HOME!!! Here baby #1 twirls a July 4th classic... The Sparkler.

Here Baby #3 'bout gives Uncle J. a heart attack when he lights his sparkler right next to the Firework Station.

So, Baby #3 runs off pretending like the fire is coming out of his pooper. What is it about boys & their butts, poo & gas? They think it's the funniest thing EVER!

Uncle J. was the "Official Firestarter."

Waiting for the boom...

OOOOOOOOOOO.....

Ahhhhhhhh...

Actually, they were quite impressive for home shot fireworks. Of course, Big Daddy T enjoys riding over to Alabama & spending enough money to buy groceries for a month on fireworks.

Of course it's impossible for Baby #3 to stay dressed for any decent amount of time & before the show is over, he's down to just his shorts... his motto... borrowing from Kenny Chesney:

"no shoes, no shirt, no problem!"

Were you wondering where Babies 2 & 4 were? They were watching the activity from the back porch. Baby #2 is afraid of just about everything except kittens & ice cream and Baby #4 was too little to participate. Besides, she was too busy remembering those oh-so-delicious baked beans she discovered at supper. See 'em smeared all over her dress? I think she's going to like American food!

And here's what I was left with... my very pretty beverage cooler from Target filled with trash. Hope y'all had a Happy & SAFE 4th!!!

2008-07-04T10:06:00.004-06:00

It's Independence Day!

I will have WAY too many pictures to share from today's Fourth of July festivities later on. It's tradition to spend the day at my parents... 'cause they live on the lake... no- I mean 'cause we love them so much! This morning I'm going to revise my Mother's oh-so-good chocolate pie recipe 'cause I've been hearing from folks who are giving it a try & seems I may not have done a great job passing along the directions... just in case you need a last minute dessert for YOUR July 4th cookout... but you better hurry... it needs time to freeze.

Sharoney's Chocolate Pie... Take 2

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese... softened

1 can Eagle Brand Milk

Put cream cheese in a mixing bowl and mix with mixer until smooth & creamy. Add Eagle Brand Milk and mix some more.

2 squares (the entire square wrapped in white paper) Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Melt the squares in a small bowl in the microwave... who has time to do it over a double boiler? Add the chocolate sauce to the cream cheese mixture. Mix thoroughly.

1 regular size container of Cool Whip... thawed

Add cool whip to the chocolate cream cheese mixture and mix thoroughly again. The pie filling should be smooth & creamy & VERY delicious... try not to eat too much from the bowl like I do.

Oreo or Chocolate crumb pie crust... store bought... I'm WAY too lazy to make my own.

Pour mixture into the Oreo pie crust... return plastic cover and FREEZE for 8 hours. I like mine a little softer... Big Daddy T likes it VERY frozen... so freeze until desired firmness.

2008-07-02T14:00:00.002-06:00

Running for Cover

Last night I had about an hour to kill before it was time to put Miss Lilly to bed. The big kiddos & some friends were in the pool so I decided to put Lilly in too. I also decided not to get in myself, but to sit next to the pool in an old, rickety, broken down Pottery Barn chair... but that's beside the point. So, like a authentic Georgia redneck I stripped Lilly Lu down to her diaper and plopped her in her red crab float with her big sisters babysitting & pulling her around. I sat down to enjoy watching my new baby girl play with my big baby girls.

"Ouch!" "Slap!" "Scratch!"

Before long I remembered why it's almost impossible to sit outside in Georgia in the summer. Those dad blasted no-see-ums are back. For those of you not lucky enough to experience these little summertime spoilers, no-see-ums are teenie, tiny black mosquite type creatures that make you itch like CRAZY! Only the females bite and though the bite itself doesn't hurt... the itching that ensues is of the likes I've never seen. So, after scratching with my sad, short fingernails for several minutes and trying to tolerate the infestation from the rickety, broken down chair I decided to move around. I started prunning my cascade rose bushes... hoping the movement would be either a.) a distraction from the onslaught or b.) get me away from where they live. No-see-ums generally don't fly far from home & sometimes changing your location will make things better. But, alas it didn't. So I went inside. Inside to get my hair brush... with which I scratched myself. I'd prune a little... scratch a little... prune a little... scratch a little... until I could stand the torture no longer... grabbed my baby out of the pool & ran inside for good. I'll come back out in the fall.

2008-07-01T12:19:00.014-06:00

China Trip Tuesdays

Welcome to a new segment here on the blog... China Trip Tuesdays. So much happened during our 16 day stay in China and it's taking me so long to go through all my pictures, that I thought I'd begin a weekly segment focusing on different parts of the adoption trip to help me go through it all. Today, we'll see THE RED COUCH PHOTOS! The Red Couch is just that... a red couch in The White Swan hotel that is a traditional photo spot for adopted children. As a waiting parent I was under the illusion that there was 1 Red Couch... a special and specific Red Couch. Come to find out... there are lots of red couches on the 2nd floor lobby of the WS Hotel and you & your group just pick one. With a large group of babies (18 total) to coordinate it was a hoot to watch... for the parents at least. From the look on some of the babies faces... they weren't having as much fun. Here we go...

Here our families are arriving on the second floor lobby. I have pointed out all the numerous red couches just within this shot. There are more.

A red couch has been selected and the parents begin arranging the wobbly infants and cautious toddlers side by side on the couch.

Good... good... now here's a few more to squeeze in.

Nope... that's not going to work. Regroup & rearrange.

O.K... Red Couch Photo "Take 2."

Almost there... we're lookin' good! No one appears to be in total hysterics!

And here's our best shot- (do I sound like Tyra on "America's Next Top Model?" Our best shot minus 1... there should be 18... don't know how they missed the famous photo. I love this picture because it's Lilly's girls. The girls, though she'll never know them, that shared her journey into a new life in a new world. I'll never forget these sweet families... they were a great encouragement... and fun to get to know. It's been really neat to look back through the pictures at these familiar faces that I only knew for a couple weeks. I kinda miss 'em and I do wish we lived closer to see them often... they're all Yankees! hee hee

Whew! Fun's over... we're outta here! Another Red Couch Photo for The White Swan's history books!

2008-06-29T19:58:00.002-06:00

Lilly Goes to Church

Now that Miss Lilly's nighttime schedule is a little more regular, I feel like a human most mornings now instead of the loser in an Ultimate Fighting Championship. And instead of running back to bed and hopping back under the covers to nap while she naps, I get ready and go places now. Normalcy is slowly returning. One good place to be back in is church. Last week Lilly napped during the service but this week she hung out in the nursery and did great! I don't know if that's good or bad... healthy attachment or not??? But she was happy to see me return and I was refreshed after getting an hour of free babysitting & listening to the service instead of juggling a wiggly baby! Praise the Lord!

Lilly meets Pastor Boyd for the first time.

2008-06-28T19:19:00.004-06:00

Baby Shower Saturday

This morning the ladies of our church celebrated Miss Lilly with a very sweet baby shower. I had resisted at first... what self respecting Mother of 4 has a baby shower??? but am glad I did it. Mrs. Molly, Alicia & Amy were very kind to open their home and we received so many nice things... including some basics I haven't replaced after Baby #3 outgrew them 6 years ago. Gifts like a baby monitor... a pack & play... life got a little easier this morning!

Whew!!! Thank you to my G-Ma "Mama Ree" for what possibly was the best gift of all... especially for my pocketbook... about 6 weeks worth of FREE DIAPERS! Good things also come in big packages after all!

“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” Song of Solomon 2:1

Despite my brownish/black thumb, my Mama gave me Lily of the Valley plants for my yard. My Mom & Dad have an equisite yard... one I've mentioned here before... and I may need her to help me not kill these beautiful plants!

Thanks to Mrs. Tomma, Miss Lilly got a comfy set of arms to rock her while the party wrapped up. I can't think of a better way to end her introduction to the church ladies than in the arms of a sweet, kind & generous friend!

2008-06-27T10:00:00.001-06:00

It looks like CHOCOLATE PIE narrowly beat out apple pie as the crowd favorite. If you're looking for a good apple pie look no further than your grocer's freezer... Marie Callender's makes the best around. Top w/ ice cream and you couldn't make it better... believe me... I've tried. Since it's summertime I thought I'd pass along my Mama's frozen chocolate pie recipe. She's been making and we've been eating this for years... Big Daddy T even requests this for his birthday "cake" every year!

Sharoney’s Chocolate Pie
Our family’s FAVORITE chocolate pie

Oreo pie crust
1 can Eagle Brand milk
1 block cream cheese
1 container Cool Whip
2 blocks of Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
Allow cream cheese to soften. Mix cream cheese with cool whip & Eagle Brand milk. Melt chocolate squares in the microwave and pour into cream cheese mixtures. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour into Oreo crust & freeze 8 hours. Yum! Yum!

Check out the new poll for the holiday week!

2008-06-26T19:28:00.006-06:00

Today is June 26th and it's the 1 month anniversary of our "Gotcha Day..." the day Yan Ni Lu became Lilly Lu and our daughter. It's quite appropriate I end our referral story on this day... and I'm glad... I'm ready for some more kitty pictures... how 'bout you? :)

I could not believe what I had done. After all that had happened over the past 2 weeks and 2 days to make this miracle a reality, I had to go and mess it all up by leaving Big Daddy T’s passport in the copier at Staples. It was nearly 10:00 p.m. and the store had been closed for an hour. I immediately pick up the phone and call my friend Harriet. Harriet & her husband know EVERYBODY in our small town.
“Who owns Staples?” I blurt into the phone to Harriet’s husband… not even taking time to say hello or ask to speak to my friend.
“Uh… well…” he stuttered. He was probably ½ asleep or engrossed in a book at that hour and my question was a peculiar one.
“I’m not sure” he continued, “but I know K.K. works for Staples.”
“K.K… great!” I knew K.K. His wife C.K. was one of my mom’s best friends. I could call K.K. and that’s just what I did.
“K.K…. this is ANJ” I used my maiden name so he’d know exactly who I was. I explained briefly what happened… the potentially grievous mistake I had made and asked if he could help. ”Beep” My call waiting was going off. ”Hold on K.K… let me get this in case it’s Big Daddy T.”
It was.
“Did you find out anything?” he asked
“I’m working on it.” I say desperately
“Well, it seems like one of my cousins (who lives in a neighboring small town) used to work at Staples… I’m going to try him.”
“Great… I’ll keep working here.” I clicked back over to K.K. who informed me he worked for the corporate side of Staples, making calls to businesses to sell Staples’ goods & services. But he said that 911 usually has a “call” person to contact in case of an alarm & he would call & see who was the “call” person for emergencies.
“Oh, that would be great! Call me back and thanks a million, gazillion K.K.” I had known K.K. since I was a teenager and he probably thought I grew up not only to be really flaky but down right dumb too. How could I mess up something so important???
I was now waiting on two people to get back to me. In the meantime I went to my closet and literally got ON MY FACE and prayed to God for just one more miracle. I was in a pickle and He was the only one who could get me out. What if we couldn’t get in? Could we call 911 and explain our situation? What if we got in to Staples and the passport wasn’t there? What if someone found it and walked off with it? I was about to throw up. The phone started to ring. I hopped off the closet carpet and ran to answer it. It was BDT.
“Hey… what did you find out?”

”Well, my cousin does still work there and he said he could get us in at 6:30 a.m. I told him that wouldn’t do… we are leaving at 5:30 a.m. so he’s going to try and call the manager.”
“O.K… keep me posted.”
As soon as I hung up K.K. called.
“911 doesn’t have a call person for Staples which is really unusual,” he informed me. Yeah, and really unfortunate too! He also said he knew a girl who worked there and tried to call her to find out the manager’s name but she wasn’t home. Also, unfortunate. He promised to keep working & I thanked him again. About 5 mintues later Big Daddy T called again.
“Hey.” I was almost afraid to ask what he found out. Our options were running low.
“The manager is on his way back to the store. My cousin called him and he was on his way home & has turned around. He knew exactly what we were looking for… he had put it in the store safe earlier… I’ll be home in a few minutes.”
And with that I about passed out from relief. Thank you God… thank you for once again confirming that Your hand is all over this situation and that NOTHING is impossible with YOU! From that moment the verse Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…” was upon my heart and mind. I never would have imagined that I would be about to board the same plane as those who had unintentionally left me in the “referral dust” of that April day. I never imagined that it would be possible for all the necessary paperwork and travel arrangements to be accomplished in 2 weeks time. I had prayed for this baby so many times and He gave me everything I asked & more. To sit back and look at where we were and what had been overcome was astounding. It was divine.

It was dark when my Dad arrived early the next morning to drive us to the airport. As I walked out the front door I looked around my dimly lit house. I would come back through that door as the mother of 4. I left with a peace and a thankfulness and an awe about all that had happened. A journey that had highs that far outweighed the lows and with the best yet to come.

2008-06-24T19:17:00.003-06:00

I wanted to get moving right away on whatever we needed to do to get ready to travel to China. I had been reading on… what else?... The Rumor Queen that since everybody & their brother was trying to go to China for the Olympics, the time required to obtain an entry visa into China had really slowed down. The process that usually took around a week, was taking up to 6 weeks and sometimes more. We received our original documents via FedEx from CAWLI Monday afternoon, May 5th. I had talked to M. briefly during “The Call” the previous Friday about travel… and specifically that the visa application says to guesstimate an “arrival date” into China 6 weeks after referral, and did she think that would be the case for us? She said yes… they were shooting for June 19th… no earlier. We had talked to Lillian, the director, even earlier than that. We were now a group of 1 instead of 1 in a group of 18. What did would that mean for travel? She assured us we could travel alone but we would not have a doctor accompany us, as is the norm for all travel groups, and that we may incur more costs because we would not be splitting guides, tips, blocks of rooms, etc. with 17 other families. We were fine with that. We would rather go alone to pick our daughter us ASAP, than wait until the agency had another group scheduled to go ??? perhaps even after the Olympics. So, after receiving all our documents Monday morning, Tuesday I emailed M. at the agency to confirm we were ACCEPTING our referral and to please pass along more instructions for our visa applications. I had made myself busy with all the paperwork when the phone rang. It was Big Daddy T.
“Hey what’s up?” I answered
“Not much… have you talked to Lillian today?” he asked.
My heart sank. Talked to Lillian? The big kahuna? The empress of the adoption world? I would probably only talk to her if something was wrong. Was something wrong? T. actually did sound kind of serious.
“No… why? What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.
“Well, she called me not too long ago and said they’ve been talking at the office this morning and said…
It sounded like his voice was in slow motion… like a record being slowed where the voice is distorted. Said what? Out with it man! Spit it out… I wanted to yell…
“ that they think it would be a lot easier if we could just go to China with our original group and wondered if we could do that?”
Bonk! Crash! Splat! Thud! I hit the floor. Once I regained a level of consciousness and picked back up the phone I said “Are you kidding me?”
“No… she said she didn’t know 100% if we can pull it off but she’s going to try and we need to book tickets and overnight the visa applications no later than tomorrow. Do you want to do that?”
Was he on crack? YES! The chance to leave in 2 short weeks to pick up my daughter? YES! The thought was unbelievable. CAWLI was unbelievable! Lillian was trying to pull off another miracle and my faith in her was as solid as ever. Now, would the Chinese government cooperate?
Within 15 minutes Big Daddy T had booked 3 round trip tickets to China & back on United Airlines. Lillian had told him where to fly in & where to fly out and SHAZAM! It was done! I was a maniac all afternoon doing paperwork, making sure every “T” was crossed and “I” was dotted just right… there was no room for error with the time crunch. I bolted over to FedEx the next morning and overnighted the expedited visa applications to New York City. The expedited turn around time claimed to be 2-3 business days and that gave us a little room to spare. So… 5 days after we received our referral we had:
1.) Tickets to China… check!
2.) Visas applied for… check!
Now all we needed was in the next 13 days was:
1,) TA…. Travel Approval. The province where each baby/child lives in China issues prospective adoptive parents “approval” to travel to China and come pick up their baby. This usually happens 3-5 weeks after parents have accepted their referral. TA’s are usually good for 3 months from the issue date, but families try to travel ASAP… around 2-3 weeks after receiving their TA. We now needed our TA in 2 weeks and all we could do was wait.
2.) CA… Consulate Appointment. Once parents complete the Chinese side of the adoption in their child’s province, ALL American parents must fly to Guangzhou to see the United States consulate to obtain an immigrant visa for the baby to enter the USA. Consulate Appointments cannot be made until TA is issued.

With additional waiting and worrying on my hands, I also had the monumental task of packing for a 16 day trip ½ way around the world for myself, my husband & Baby #1… PLUS, get a detailed scheduled lined up for leaving Babies #2 & 3 home without me for 16 days. What I had planned on doing in 6 weeks would now be crammed into 2… heck, I planned my wedding in 4 months so by golly, this itty bitty trip to China would be cake… right?

Day 6 after receiving our referral I get another call from my agency. The Chinese consulate had our visa apps. but wanted proof that Baby #1 is indeed a student. I needed to fax school records ASAP. Were they kidding me? Did they really think I had the time or energy to be smuggling some 10-yr-old counter intelligence spy into China? NO! The kid is a kid. But… in typical fashion… I jumped through China’s hoop. Mrs. J at Baby #1’s school got hopping right away on the task and within 22 minutes of the agency’s phone call we had a letter on fancy school letterhead & attendance records in New York City! After 3 ½ years, I had this hoop jumping thing down to a science!

May 16th… two weeks after receiving our referral & 6 days from being scheduled to leave our visa’s arrived! Hallelujah! I emailed the agency’s office to see if that was the last major hurdle. No. Darn! We were still waiting on TA… I forgot about that pesky little detail!
“But, no worries… if it doesn’t come in before you leave we’ll just have a copy faxed to the orphanage.” Sounded risky, but I trusted them completely… they had never let me down before! I looked like we were a go!
May 20th… 48 hours before leaving I got an email from the agency. Subject: “Good News!” I clicked on it to learn they had received a faxed copy of our TA… the original would be waiting for us in China. That allowed CAWLI to contact the US Consulate and make a request for our Consulate Appointment.
May 21st… 24 hours before leaving we learn the original TA arrived at our agency. All systems go… our CA was scheduled for June 4th… we’d receive her visa on the 5th and be coming home on the 6th. Do you know how huge that is? What a miracle? Literally three weeks before I didn’t even know if I was getting a baby and now, I was zipping up suitcases and kissing babies goodbye to go pick her up? Folks, all I can say is THIS is when you KNOW what kind of adoption agency you have. All agencies look good at information meetings. All agencies look good when things go smooth. Most agencies can handle little hiccups here and there. But, when things go wrong… when nightmares happen… THAT’S when you see what your agency is made of. THAT’S when you see the character of those who are working on your behalf. How do they advocate for you? How do they fight for you? How do they move heaven & earth to make things happen for you? Go without sleep… make hard phone calls… and ask brave questions? Lillian and her staff at China Adoption with Love had done all those things. She was not going to rest until we had our baby. And we were on our way. This was happening. In less than 24 hours I was going to be on an airplane on my way to China to FINALLY pick up my baby. How many times had I driven past the Atlanta airport and thought about that day? Thought about sitting on those runways and taking off for a land far, far away?

It was dark outside. Babies 2 & 3 were already at my mom’s house and in bed. Suitcases sat by the front door. I got my handy, dandy passport neck carrier out and got ready to put all our important papers in it for the trip the next morning. ID… check. Wallet… check. Passport 1… check. Passport 2… check. Passport 3… passport 3… WHERE IS PASSPORT #3??? That afternoon I had 3 passports and now I only had 2 and I was leaving at 5:30 a.m. for the airport…. WHERE IN THE HECK WAS PASSPORT #3. Searching… scrambling… papers flying all around my kitchen… I couldn’t find the passport. I looked through my document file. No passport. Where could it be? No passport… no plane. No plane… no trip. No trip… no baby. SOMEBODY GET ME A XANAX PRONTO!!!! O.K… calm down sister… think. I retraced my steps. I knew I had the passport that day. I had to make copies for both the Chinese and the American sides of the adoption. Yes… copies… I made the copies. Oh &*#*@^… the copies!!! I knew what I had done. I left the passport in the copier. Time: 9:45 p.m. Please God in Heaven let Staples be open until 10:00 p.m… please God, PLEASE! Big Daddy T. hopped in his Chevy Silverado and raced to town like a wild cowboy. Time 9:55 p.m… phone rings. It’s T… Staples is closed.

To be continued......

2008-06-23T18:19:00.003-06:00

It was my agency on the phone. What did they want? Was it good news or bad? I didn't want to know... I was too nervous.

“Oh hey M… how are you?” I tried to act casual. I truly was caught off guard. NOTHING had come across The Rumor Queen site that morning. NO ONE had posted any emails confirming a “call.”
“I’m very good. I’m just sitting here looking at a picture of your daughter." she said with a slight hint of pep in her cool voice. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!” I shrilled into the phone.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I could not believe she just said those words. It had happened. We DID INDEED receive a referral. Less than a month after that sad April morning when I thought all had gone wrong with the world, everything had been set right again and now M. at the CAWLI office was holding an assignment sent just for me.
“Hold on, hold on… “ I said breathlessly as I scrambled around my office for that fancy ladybug “The Call” sheet I had printed off another parent’s blog and a pen.
“Okay, Okay… what time is it?” I started filling out the sheet beginning with “Time of Call” and “Person Calling.”
“She was born August 20, 2007.” M. started giving me my daughter’s information slowly. I wrote her birthday on the “Child’s Chinese Name” line and from there it was a hopeless cause with the sheet… I just started writing as fast as I couldm, wherever I could.
“Oh my gosh…” (that would be an annoyingly repetitive statement from me throughout the call) “she’s not even a year old… how old does that make her?” M & I started doing the math in our head. Eight months. Oh mercy this is too good to be true!
“She is Jiangxi Province in the town of Nanfeng.” I got a Jiangxi baby too!!! Could this be real? I had been so excited the month before when I heard my LID group was getting babies from Jiangxi… I’m not sure why… I just always wanted a Jiangxi baby.”
And so it went. M. continued the list of facts slowly making sure to spell each detail so I got it just right. Her Chinese name, her height & weight, her medical information, her schedule.
And finally I thought to ask… what does she look like?
“She’s VERY CUTE!” M. replied.
“Really? Does she have hair?” my kiddos were always baldies and I wondered if this one would be too.
“Oh yes… she has lots of hair.” Cha Ching! Hairbows here we come!
M. assured me she would scan & email her pictures right away, along with copies of all the referral documents with the originals arriving via FedEx Monday afternoon. And before too long the call was over.
I sat stunned alone not only in my office, but in my house. Unlike Referral Day the month before, where I was surrounded by family and had a video camera catching my every move, this Referral Day… MY Referral Day was quite different. It was just me. And my new baby… just us. I called Big Daddy T and then my Mom. She and my very pregnant baby sister rushed right over to be here when the emailed photographs arrived. We told the kiddos who all ooohed and ahhhed over their new baby sister. We managed to go about our jam packed weekend… doing all we had to do from Cloud 9… and woke up early Monday morning ready to move along… little did we know that we needed to tighten our seatbelts… we were about to go on a WILD ride!

To be continued….

2008-06-21T14:43:00.003-06:00

I had no idea what that email would say. Over the weekend parts of me thought perhaps our agency’s director would have an assignment for us right away. That she would talk to the CCAA… that they would apologize profusely for the oversight and fax a referral immediately to the CAWLI office for Lillian’s devastated Southern family. Parts of me worried the CCAA would say that they didn’t even know what was happening with our file and that our wait could be indefinite. Maybe we weren’t approved after all? Maybe we were in parts of the line that still lacked months before making it to The Matching Room? The scenarios seemed endless.

Holding my breath, I clicked on the email to open it up. The email was short. Lillian always was brief in her correspondence. She is so busy, I’m sure.

“The CCAA has approved your application and does not require any additional documents...” was line 1. Whew! What a relief. So we really had made it through the Review Room. It was no longer a question of “if” we would receive a referral, but now “when.”

The second sentence stated she was trying to get us an assignment as soon as possible and ended with the usual “I’ll be in touch.” I wanted her to say “I’ll write back tomorrow at 3:15 p.m.” or “I’ll call you Tuesday at 10:55 a.m.” The vagueness of “I’ll be in touch” drove me batty.

And that was that. Two short sentences. And though it did not provide all the nitty gritty details I craved, it was proof she was on the case. She had spoken to the CCAA. They knew about our situation. She was committed to working on our behalf for a referral. I was able to sleep a bit easier that night.

Monday morning dawned and it was time to get back to Georgia. Our Spring Break had been a memorable one for sure… unfortunately for reasons we did not prefer… and it felt good to be home and back in the routine. Big Daddy T. needed the weekend to process Friday’s events and was ready to get in the “driver’s seat.” You see, for 3 ½ years, I was the one who was in charge of the adoption. I spent months researching agencies, I set up interviews, I picked CAWLI, I collected all the documents, I wrote all the checks, I handled all the paperwork, I communicated with the office, I read all the rumors all the while Big Daddy T did what he was told, showed up when necessary and signed on the appropriate dotted lines. But now, he was ready for action. Not only was he tired of the process… he had seen me devastate and I don’t think he liked that too much. Once the kids were back in school on Tuesday we formulated a plan under the direction of Dad:
1.) The past was the past. It was not going to do any good to focus on what had happened the previous week. The best thing for everyone was to move forward and work together for a common goal.
2.) We weren’t going to wait for CAWLI to contact us… we were going to be the “squeaky wheels” that got the grease. We decided to set specific times to call the office & speak with the director.
3.) We wanted the agency to know we trusted them. In all my research I had never heard anyone have a negative comment about our agency… NEVER! Bad things happen. That’s life. It could’ve happened to any client with any agency… and it does! Now is when we would see what kind of agency we had signed with. How would they handle this problem? What kind of reputation did they have with the CCAA? How willing would the CCAA be to work with them in resolving this issue? Did our director have problemsolving skills as well as a big heart? We would see.

Big Daddy T wrote an extensive email to the director outlining our plan and set up the first scheduled call from us to see what progress was being made. We would call Thursday afternoon. Very graciously, Lillian replied thanking Big Daddy T for the email, apologizing AGAIN and ended by confirming she would be ready to speak with us later in the week. And that is how the next few weeks passed. Lillian always took our calls, and if she was away from the office, she always called us back. She was kind. She was gracious. She was working hard. We began to learn that what I had read about on The Rumor Queen was true. Being “skipped” is a very real scenario for families who are asked questions in The Review Room. For those of you who are confused let me break it down a bit to try & make it easier to understand:
1.) Families send their adoption paperwork to China in a packet called a “dossier” (pronounced doss-e-ay.)
2.) Upon receipt, the CCAA logs families into their system. That day is your place in line… it’s called your LID or log-in-date. Our log-in-date was 1/5/06. Families with a LID of 1/4/06 and before were ahead of us in line… people with a LID of 1/6/06 and after were behind us in line. Everyday paperwork comes in and new LIDs are assigned. It’s quite automated.
3.) Once logged in, files sit on a shelf, in order, and wait their turn to enter The Review Room. Once in The Review Room, reviewers look through families paperwork to make sure everything is in order. If they have a question, they ask. Questions can be about medical information, employment information, immigration approval information, home study questions, criminal record clarifications, etc. Until the questions are resolved… your file stays open and “under review.” If there are no questions about your file, it is approved and passes out of The Review Room to sit on another shelf until it’s ready to enter The Matching Room. What happened with us, and other families as well, is that the rest of the 1/5/06 families files were “approved” and left Review before ours did. Once all the questions about our file were answered, maybe they were on 1/10/06 or 1/20/06… we never knew for sure. Back in the good ‘ol days when the CCAA used to refer months at a time, you would never know if you had moved from 1/05/06 to let’s say 1/16/06… because ALL January families would get referrals at the same time. Since the MAJOR slowdown, though, where only days are being matched a month… it is a HUGE deal to be back further in line. Being simply days behind can mean the difference in MONTHS in receiving an assignment. Our agency therefore was basically asking the CCAA to pull our file out of line where it sat and match us with a baby since our original LID group had already received assignments. Whether they would or not was another story.

Lillian told us according to the CCAA, there were no more babies that month so we knew we would have to wait until referral time came ‘round again to see if we would be matched. Lillian continued her conversations with the CCAA. They agreed to “consider” giving us an assignment in May but did not guarantee it. One week down. Then two. Three went by and before we knew it, rumors began trickling in about the May batch of referrals. Would we be included? When watching the rumors that month I didn’t really care about how far they would get… I was focusing on WHEN they would arrive. Lillian told us if we did receive an assignment it would be sent with the entire group of US referrals. Lillian was hopeful we would be matched but admitted she was “nervous.” Great… if she’s nervous that made me double… no, triple nervous! We didn’t even begin to address the question of if we didn’t receive a referral in May then what? June? July? And if we received a referral in the summer what did that mean for:
1.) Travel. Rumors had already been circulating that travel would possibly be suspended to China for adoption due to the Olympics in Beijing beginning in August. Would we receive a referral and then have to wait again to travel in the fall? The torture would continue!
2.) Paperwork. Our home study would expire the first of June. Would we need a valid home study at the time of our referral? That would mean more paperwork… more money… more documents… more meetings. How much were we going to put into this before we yelled “mercy!”

May 1st arrived. The first solid rumors from the European agencies that the January 12th would be the cut-off for May referrals. Many speculated that since the CCAA would be closed for a holiday on Friday that they may have already sent the referrals before closing up shop for the week, yet no official “stork alert” was issued. Would they arrive Friday, May 2nd or would families have to wait until Monday, May 5th? Would we be included?

May is a busy, busy time at our house. Babies #1 & 2 play softball. Baby #3 plays baseball. We spend 2-3 nights a week at the ball fields. Baby #1 swims on our local swim team 4 days a week. Juggle that with school that was about to be out for the year and it keeps me spinning. Unlike the month before when I was waiting for referrals on vacation with not a lot I had to do, this month I had so much to do that it was easy to keep my mind busy. That weekend was Baby #2’s birthday. We had a party planned for Saturday night… I had to get ready for that. Baby #2 also had a spring recital for her Youth Choir that Sunday… I had to get ready for that. Big Daddy T was out of town for work as usual that Friday morning. I had a gazillion things to do that day including getting Babies #1 & 2 portraits made that afternoon so I was using the morning to get organized. Of course as part of my daily ritual I checked my email & The Rumor Queen several times. I knew the drill. People would start posting furiously the happy news of their new arrivals. I also kept an eye on the clock. I knew that referrals usually arrive at the CAWLI offices in the morning… approximately between 10:00-11:00 a.m. EST. It had been a little after 10:00 a.m. that crazy April morning that I heard referrals were at the office… everyone’s except mine. Would ours arrive this month? If the phone rang it could be good news or it was just as possible to be bad news. It was quite possible CAWLI would “regret to inform us” that we did not receive an assignment and that they would keep working. I was prepared for that scenario. I had no clue…no hunch as to what the outcome could be. The CCAA is unpredictable. They don’t have to do anything. They don’t have to do favors or make exceptions. It’s their game and they make the rules. We comply because they have what we want… what we work for… what we pray for… our children.

Day: Friday
Date: May 2, 2008
Time: 10:56 a.m. EST
My cell phone rings on the table behind me as I sit at my desk. I lean back in my chair and grab the phone. I instinctively look at the screen to see who’s calling. I don’t recognize the number.
“Hello?” I say cautiously. I didn’t want to talk to someone trying to sell me car insurance or give me a better rate on my mortgage.
“Amy?” the young girl’s voice asks.
“Yes?”
“Hey, this is M. from China Adoption with Love.”
I was caught off guard. This was it. Was it good news or bad?

To be continued….

2008-06-20T19:13:00.004-06:00

The video camera continued to roll.
“Ummm…we did not receive your assignment… there was… uh… “ S. was fumbling for the right words. Her thick Chinese accent and soft voice was fading …
I wanted to say “put M. on the phone!” I needed an American telling me in plain English what was happening to the last 4 years of my life… the blood, sweat and actual tears I had put into this “paper pregnancy” that was due to deliver that morning.
“Hold on,” S. said quickly.
I looked over at Big Daddy T who was still pointing Sony Cybershot video camera in my direction. It had been a Christmas present to me in December and instead of capturing the thrill of a long-awaited phone baby announcement, it was capturing my worst adoption fear come true.
“Stop filming! Stop!” I yelled over at him, trying to control myself from lashing out at anyone & anything that crossed my path. Big Daddy T quickly put the camera down & turned it off.
“What’s happening?” he said.
“They don’t have anything for us.” I replied sharply.
“What do you mean?” he was trying to understand.
“It happened. We got skipped. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.” I mumbled. And I did know it. Ever since those questions, although simple, were asked while our file was under review… I knew that it was a very real possibility that we would not remain with the original batch of dossiers we began with.
“Hi Amy… it’s Lillian.” The director of my agency was on the phone. Not M... this was the big kahuna… the one who had the power to tell me what the heck was going on and what that meant for my future as an adoptive parent.
“I don’t understand how this could happen… “ I began… my voice for the first time beginning to shake with emotion.
“Oh Amy, I am so very sorry. It seems that we had some delay with your assignment.”
That part was obvious.
“Why?”
“Well there were some issues in review. It was about T.’s salary.”
“WHAT???” Now the tears flowed freely. I was confused. “No, no, no… we were asked a question in Review about our original USCIS approval.” I corrected her… beginning to sob.
“Ummm… with Todd’s work they wanted a specific salary number. You sent a letter from your accountant.” it almost sounded like she was scrambling in the background… flipping through our file… searching for an explanation as to why one of her families did not receive an assignment.
“I have NEVER heard that before… I thought we were asked about our USCIS approval. We had an updated one… we faxed it to you and you faxed it to Beijing.”
The room full of my children, my husband & my brother-in-law were deathly quiet, sitting stunned and staring at me as I sobbed into the phone… going back & forth with Lillian about what exactly went wrong with our file.
“I will talk to CCAA next week and find out what happened.” she finally said.
“NEXT WEEK?” I shrieked into the phone. Next week? Was she kidding? I’m sitting here devastated on a Friday morning with a million unanswered questions and no baby and she expects me to wait until NEXT WEEK to get some answers?
“Uh, yes… next week… CCAA is closed now it’s nighttime and they are closed for weekend.” Dang! She was right. But who cares! Wake someone up… sound an alarm… make an exception!
“When next week?” the original answer was too vague. I needed specifics and I was going to demand them. I was verging on angry. How could they not see this coming? How could they be as surprised as we were?
“I will call them Sunday night and then I will be in touch. I am so, so sorry.”
“O.K.” was the best I could come up with. What could I say? What could I do? I was powerless. I had no control. The only option I had was to wait.
“O.K. then so I’ll be in touch,” Lillian said. I could hear the sadness in her voice… this kind woman. She is a true champion of Chinese children & orphans. She is good & honest & hardworking & self-sacrificing. I knew she would NEVER do anything to intentionally hurt or confuse or sadden one of her families. She’s like a mother bird… working and flying around furiously all the time to make sure her chicks have what they need.
“Bye.” I blubbered out and I hung up the phone.
I didn’t look at anyone as I walked back to the master bedroom of the beach condo and crawled into bed… assuming the fetal position and continuing to cry. Big Daddy T gave me a little space before coming in and asking me exactly what Lillian had said on the phone. I told him and then the phone began to ring. It was my Mama. I heard Big Daddy T giving her the abridged version of what had gone down over the past 15 minutes. Then he walked back to the room and handed me the phone. What is about when you talk to your Mama about what’s hurting, you release all you have pent up inside. Like you’re a little girl again… cuddled up on her lap as she blows on a skinned up knee and wipes your tears. And as I talked about what happened I began to think out loud. Am I working too hard for something’s that’s not meant to be? Am I pushing for my plan instead of being open to God’s plan? Why is this so difficult? The road up to this day had not been easy. Wait times that increased from 5-6 months to over 2 years… expired paperwork… renewed home studies… hoops to jump through, hurdles to cross. And I began to let go. I can’t fight anymore. I have 3 beautiful children. Am I being selfish to keep needing more? Why am I doing this? The line is so, so long… do these babies even need me? Do they need our family? There are thousands waiting.
My mom promised to check on me later and Big Daddy T took the kids out on the boat. I was left alone to lay in bed with the curtains drawn, closing out the bright Florida sunshine and process what had happened. I eventually got up and got back on the computer. I looked through my Inbox and found the specific emails I sent with the old agency staff member who assured me we would be fine even though we were asked questions. I have saved EVERY email my agency has ever sent me. It’s a sacred folder that I protect heavily. I forwarded them on the director and telling her we trusted our situation would be a top priority for them the next week. Not long after I received another very apologetic email from the director, promising to “be in touch.” How long would that weekend seem?
Later Dad & the kids came back from fishing and we all dressed to go out. My kiddos were so sweet to me… like I was a wounded little kitten that needed careful attention and coddling. They talked softly, held my hand, watched my face carefully to see if I was crying. We went and saw two movies, we rode a ferris wheel, we ate at Johnny Rockets and fed nickels to the jukebox. It was a fun evening with my babies. But in the back of my mind, unable to be shaken was Lilly. My “China baby.” Was she ever going to happen? Would she always remain a dream? Would she be something I tried to do once? And before long the weekend came to a close. The time had passed more quickly than I expected. We had played in the sand, swam in the pool and tried to maintain normalcy despite the looming questions of our adoption. I received lots of emails of support from cyber friends in the IA community as well as many phone calls from worried friends back home. As I got ready for bed on Sunday night I looked at the clock. 9:30. It was Monday morning in Beijing and the CCAA was open for business. Was Lillian on the phone right then? Would she call us the next day or would she wait a couple days until she had some solid answers before getting in touch? I hated not knowing. And as my mind played games with me an email popped up. Gulp… it was from Lillian. Subject: Talked with CCAA.
To be continued…..

2008-06-19T20:15:00.002-06:00

Today is June 19th. This is the day we were supposed to leave for China. Instead I am home and my Lilly Lu is sleeping in her nursery directly below my office, in her blue kitty cat pajamas with her Silky! blanket. How did we get here? For the next couple days I'll bring you our story. It starts off bad but has a happy ending. Enjoy!

It was a Friday April morning. The news was filled with segments remembering the anniversary of the assignation of Martin Luther King, Jr. I didn’t expect referrals to come until Monday, and so when I routinely checked The Rumor Queen website that morning I was surprised to see reports that the assignments had arrived in the U.S. A bit of panic set in. This was it. Today was our day. After 26 months of “official” waiting, it would finally be our turn to receive the exciting news we had been waiting for for so long. I had my email open as well as an Internet browser to constantly watch for new developments on The Rumor Queen. Emails came. It was confirmed shortly after 10 a.m. that my agency, China Adoption with Love, Inc. had indeed received referrals and calls were beginning to be made. I had my cell phone & Big Daddy T’s cell phones charging on the kitchen counter. Since we were at the beach for Spring Break I had left my cute ladybug adorned “THE CALL” sheet at home & instead rustled up a phone bill envelope and wrote “Lilly’s info” on the back in blue ink. Back & forth I went between the email & The Rumor Queen. Emails continued to come in as the clocked ticked from new CAWLI parents. Brief stats were reported. The babies were from Jiangxi Province. YAY! The babies were young. Double YAY! I could not believe the news was so good. The phone rang. I ran to the kitchen chanting “oh my gosh! oh my gosh!” and ‘bout threw the thing across the room when the caller ID displayed Big Daddy T’s number. He had snuck it from the kitchen and called me as a joke to get me all flustered. It worked. Mean joke. Back & forth… back & forth… burning the keys on the laptop computer. 11 a.m. and no call. I posted a quick email that I was going crazy with no call. I received a quick response from a mom who was last to be called in her group with her first adoption and how she too was nuts waiting for her turn. Gentle assurance…. the call would come. 12 p.m. Noon and no call. Now I was getting worried. In the back of my mind were messages left on The Rumor Queen forum of families who were skipped. I was haunted by warnings from The Rumor Queen herself that being skipped happens sometimes when families are asked questions in the Review Room. We were asked questions. I had obsessed over this years before and had specifically wrote an email to my agency asking this very question: “since we were asked questions would we be reassigned another LID or would we return to our original place in the very slow, very long line of waiting parents?” I was assured by an office staff member that no worries were necessary… things remained the same. I began to debate… should I send CAWLI an email or just wait? I knew these first phone calls were brief. Most CAWLI families live in the Boston area, where the main office is located. I knew the protocol for Referrals Day. Families are called and congratulated with some brief information… sex, birthdate, province. Then a time is scheduled for the families to come to the office to go over the referral documents and see pictures of their child. How long could that phone call take? Three minutes? Five? Seven max. Surely it didn’t take over 2 hours to make fourteen 5 minute phone calls? Finally I made a decision. My stomach tangled in knots could NOT take the suspense one more minute. With Big Daddy T filming my every move with the camcorder I walked to the kitchen & got my cell phone off the charger. I dialed the agency’s office. “Welcome to China Adoption with Love please listen to the…” uggg the prerecorded greeting… was there an option for finding out where in the heck my baby is? What number do I select for referral status? I pressed 0 for a live body.
“China Adoption with Love… this is S.” the voice answered.
“Hey S. it’s A. from Georgia.” I tried to sound cool, calm & collected.
“Oh hi.”
“I know referrals are in & well, we will wait here all day if y’all are still making calls but I just want to double check that nothing is wrong. I know calls started a couple hours ago.” Was I making sense or were my butterflies confusing all my words?
“Uh… yeah… uh… we didn’t receive anything for you.” S. stated nervously
What? Had it really happened? Really? It wasn’t just a horrific scenario from the land of the Rumor Queen… this was real. We had been skipped.
To Be Continued…..

2008-06-18T13:24:00.007-06:00

Lilly & Buzzy

2008-06-17T14:12:00.006-06:00

Cool in the Pool
Yesterday was the first time we got Miss Lilly out in our pool. She LOVED it! Even though she wasn't feeling 100% she enjoyed splashing around & riding the noodle with Daddy in the deep end. Enjoy the pics!

Daddy's so shy... I couldn't get him to smile for the camera. Like most other times in the day... Lilly is happiest when someone is holding her.

Her first little bikini! A friend of my baby sister's gave her two HUGE tubs of baby clothes and I found this suit in the mix. Since my new neice only weighs about 7 pounds my sister let me have first call on what was in the tubs. I haven't found a lot of spare time to shop for swimwear for Lilly, so it was very convenient that I came across a bikini in the tubs. What did you say? You want a close up picture? O.K... if you insist!

It was hard to get any big smiles or giggles out of her yesterday... this weak grin is about as good as it got. Poor little dear... it's awful to have a summer cold! At least she looked good even if she didn't feel good.

2008-06-16T06:24:00.011-06:00

Whew... What a Weekend!
TGIM... Thank God it's Monday... I don't think I could handle much more of this weekend. I'm tired.

I went to the pediatrician's office 3 out of the 5 days last week. Once for Lilly's check up and twice when Baby #3 and then Baby #2 had strep throat

The weekend started out on a very sad note when we learned that NBC's Tim Russert died suddenly of a heart attack Friday afternoon. Most TV news personalities drive me nuts... but I liked Tim Russert... I think everybody did. My dad summed it up best: "we're all just a heartbeat away." Live each day to the fullest... I think Tim would agree with that.

Saturday morning while my kids were visiting the in-laws I treated myself to some "Mommy Time" with a quick pedicure. Walking around China for 16 days was hard on the tootsies... and it was a bit of a return to normalcy to do something without a baby on my hip!

We got a night out Saturday night when my great friend Harriet's daughter got married. I paid for it later... not with a hangover, but with a baby that wouldn't sleep. I got in the bed by 11:30 she was up at 12:00, and never really settled back down again for good until 4:30. That "I just got ran over by a bus" feeling returned Sunday morning when I woke up. She finally went down for a nap at 10:00... was up at 10:30... down again at 10:32 and up at 11:00. I contimplated running away.

This is part of the problem. That child's nose has run like a faucet since the day after we got her. I first blamed it on the air conditioning. Next I pinned it on her two front teeth coming in... then possibly a cold. Now it's turning yellow & she has a small fever. She's also thrown up twice after a bottle and I think it's because she has so much mucous on her stomach. I'm giving her one more day & then she's heading BACK to the doctor.

Yesterday we took Baby #1 to college. I can't handle four kiddos so we had to make one go off to school early. Oh, I kid. We did take her to college though... but only for a week of Swim Camp. I did think about what it would be like 8 summers from now when we really will drive her there... set her up in her actual dorm room... and leave without her. I will be sad... very sad.

So with all we had going on we didn't have much of a Father's Day. It was Father's Day raw & real... no escaping. After lunch my Dad laid on the couch watching the U.S. Open... laughing inside at my husband who now is in the trenches he once occupied. My Dad's battle scars are healed and fading... all of his kids now grown and parents themselves. And so instead of wiping noses, heating bottles, changing poopie diapers and calming fussing, he instead enjoyed the rest & leisure he has earned. Thanks Dad & hang in there Money Maker... your time on the couch is coming!

2008-06-12T09:12:00.007-06:00

New Poll for a

New Name

I'm not happy with my husband's screen name. I originally dubbed him "The Money Maker" because that's his main function. He's not "The Bath Giver" or "The Homework Helper" or "The Pancake Maker" (even though he occasionally thrills the kiddos with the breakfast treat "egg bread.") He works away from the house... gone for 3-4 days a week and so, mainly out of frustration one blogging day, I gave him his current title. I'm ready for a new name. His current name sounds kinda haughty... like he brings home bags of salary money or like he's some corporate kingpin. That's not the case. He's just a regular Joe... with an irregular job. So I'm putting up a new poll to help pick his new name. See the sidebar on the right and cast your vote... please... I'm still too jetlagged & sleep deprived to do it on my own. Here are the choices:

A.) My Baby Daddy (it is what he is)

B.) Demo Dad (he's in the demolition business)

C.) The Bossy Boss (he is kinda bossy sometimes)

D.) Papa (a nickname the kids use sometimes)

2008-06-11T04:56:00.002-06:00

Another New Girl in Town

It's baby city 'round here. I was too frantic packing to announce her birth three weeks ago, but my baby sister had her beautiful baby girl the day before we left for China. A big storm blew threw on a full moon night and POP! went her water. Baby Elis was born 3 weeks early but is doing fantastic. She joins her big brother & new cousin Lilly, who is smack dab in the middle of the two. They'll be three peas in a pod soon!

Sharon Elisabeth

May 21, 2008

6 lbs. 4 oz.

2008-06-10T17:39:00.002-06:00

A New Crop

In the blink of an eye we're old "has beens" and a new crop of babies has landed in the US. Click HERE to see some of this month's batch! Congrats to all the new families!

2008-06-08T10:16:00.004-06:00

We're Home

Home Sweet Home. Were there ever more truer words spoken? We are so glad to be home. Downside is I feel like I've been run over by a train... is there a way to pause life for about 2 days so I can crawl in a dark cool room and sleep uninterrupted? No? Darn! Like having a newborn, I am trying to sleep while Lilly sleeps... and that just drives The Money Maker crazy... he teases me ruthlessly about my napping... but call me a lightweight... Mama needs some zzzzz! Lilly is adjusting marvelously well- even though our nighttime is just one big nap... 3 hours down, 1 hour up. Last night she practically passed out at 8 (we're trying to keep her up as much as possible during the day to switch her days and nights) but then she was up at 11 down at 12... up at 3 down at 4... up a little before 8. Whew... that's tough! That's the WORST part of having a new baby... the sleeping! I can handle just about anything during the day if I can sleep through the night. Getting up is rocking my world! I love my new Lilly... but I'm done... stick a fork in me... I don't want another baby! So besides feeling beaten by a gang of hoodlums my house looks like a tornado went through it! I've emptied one suitcase but have 3 more to go. But I've been repeatedly kissing and hugging my washer and dryer... it has been a beautiful experience to wash my own clothes again with laundry detergent & fabric softener. Ahhh... simple pleasures! More later... after another nap... and then another!

2008-06-05T07:04:00.006-06:00

Going Home

"Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong...
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old.
So I'm going home.
I'm going home."

~ Chris Daughtry, "Home"

2008-06-04T04:43:00.039-06:00

Let's Walk 'Round De Island Mon

Today was a beautiful day here on Shamian Island here in Guangzhou. When it's not raining, it's hot but it felt so good to get out and walk around without an umbrella... and Miss Lilly seems to like her stroller which makes walking even better. Let's see what we can find:

Bidding us farwell in the hotel lobby are two ATM machines. The Citibank one is in English and specifically for International financial institutions. You receive your money in RMB and away you gooooooo...

Right ouside the White Swan is another ATM machine. I think this one gives you money in American dollars or can... I think... Some shop owners love American dollars... some do not... some you can use your credit card.

Let's talk a bit about these shops that surround the "baby hotels." Illustrated in the picture above are the 3 major features all of them have: a ramp to get you AND your baby into the store, laundry services and clothes, shoes, toys, art, fans, jewelry... you name it- specifically targeted at adopting families. And yes, I'm a sucker... I visited them all!

One of the first shops we encounter is Ben's Gallery/ The Lucky Tailor. See if you can find the 3 major features of Shamian Shops... they're there! I liked the girl here... her name is Grace.

My new friend Kelly was looking for a snuggly little blankie for her new daughter Addie. While visiting Grace's shop she found some big blankets & Grace offerred to make her small ones in only a couple hours. I had some made too! Custom, handmade little snugglies... I picked my fabrics. 4 for 200 yuan... that's 200/4= 50 yuan a piece... 50/6.9= $7.24 American dollars each! What-a-deal!

Grace also has a little kitten she calls "Meow Meow." We are used to seeing Meow Meow each day... he's a playful little sucker!

Here's looking back towards our hotel. A couple shops offer you the use of a free stroller during your stay in Guangzhou. We chose this one because it's right out the back door of the hotel & we took our laundry here ALSO because it's so conveniently located. They did a good job & it was inexpensive... double bonus!

Looking out across the street there are shops lining both streets of the corner... one after the other. Also, roadside kiosks. These shopkeepers are clever and smart. They know what you look at, when you're leaving and talk to you as you pass by... quite high pressure. Today as I walked passed one shop the sales girl says "You still want painting?" I had looked at a painting in her store and she remembered which one. "Yes... but we're headed to Starbuck's now," I replied. "O.K... you be back before Friday... when you leave?" She had my schedule down. Scary!

There are about as many 7-Elevens here in Guangzhou as there are KFC shops in Nanchang. This one is across the street from the hotel. Great for picking up inexpensive drinks, snacks (stay away from the aisle with the pickled chicken feet) and diapers.

There's also a photo shop across the street. We easily had our children's visa photos taken here and had the cameras from the orphanage developed. Parents are invited to send a care package to their child after referral and are encouraged to send a disposable camera. We missed out on this tradition... our agency said we'd get to Lilly before the package would! We were happy with the trade!

I bought some really pretty artwork in this shop. The girls followed me around which was typical, but annoying, BUT... they were very sweet. This store is also at a pivotal intersection. Turn right for Starbuck's... left for A Gift from China.

The sidewalks around the island ALSO have convenient ramps for strollers and bikes.

Look familiar?

Yep, you guessed it... the inside of Starbuck's. Looks just like home... except for Guangzhou coffee mugs. Baby #1 thinks we gotta stop every time... it's too hot for a latte in the middle of the day and we won't buy anything cold because you shouldn't eat the ice. But she looks happy doesn't she?

We turned left and visited my FAVORITE shop on the island... "A Gift from China." No pressure, but friendly sales people is the BEST! You can look & browse at your leisure. You can see in the left of this picture a guy from another store acosting Baby #1 to go visit his store. Some of these stores are not only on you like white on rice IN the store... the come find you on the street. That drives me banans! I won't shop in a store that stops me & bugs me while I'm walking. It's my personal shopping policy!

The owner of this shop is an adoptive mother from the UK. The sale proceeds from the store go to help orphans here in China. They have really neat merchandise... it's different and unique... not the same 'ol stuff you find in all the other shops.

Back down the main street there is a "beverage" store... perfect for cheap crying baby & bad food relief!

Take a look at the bike parking for this apartment complex!

Turning left at the next intersection and down a bit we come to massage center. We didn't go but some other adopting Americans did and they said it was AWESOME! Only thing... if you girls get the willies having a male massuse you outta luck... the Chinese belief in "ying & yang" makes girls get guys and guys get girls. But the other Americans said "totally worth it!"

On the corner of the next intersection is the Thai restaurant "Cow and Bridge." There are some suspect things on the menu like "pork intestine" and "beef tongue" but the noodles and rice are great AND the Spring Rolls were awesome! We ate here twice!

Next we pass the Victory Hotel. Another major hotel on the island that adoptive families use for their stay here in Guangzhou. I just have to say, it's not even in the same league as The White Swan. It is a fine hotel... but The White Swan is so much more in every way! I have a friend staying at The Victory now and so I know this first hand. Daily you hear of families switching from The Victory to the White Swan. If you're on a strict budget though... The Victory is a good choice.

Nestled away in the center of the island is this Catholic chapel. The first and only "church" I've seen in the past 2 weeks!

Here's another restaurant choice "The Station." We didn't eat here but families in our group did and said it was pretty good. It's on the opposite side of the island than the massage place.

A mote of sorts surrounds Shamian Island separating it from the city. Here you can see the pedestrian walkway that you can use to walk safely from the island to the city sidewalks. The traffic of that main street is pretty brutal... you'd be pretty courageous to brave it. Take the walkway!

One day on our walks we heard children laughing and found a school. All the kids wear white shirts and purple pants. The were eager to pose for our pictures... this cutie flashed the peace sign at the prompting of her teacher.

Lucy's Restaurant is popular with the adoptive families though I've heard many mixed reviews... people didn't get sick until they got to Lucy's and ate "western" food. The Money Maker and Baby #1 ate here one day and were fine. They said the burgers tasted like home... much better than McDonald's.

Jordon's is another typical Shamian store but Jordon is just doggone nice I had to give him a mention. He sells clothes, diapers (only the Chinese brand "Fitti"- I liked them by the way,) squeaky shoes, and trinkets of all sorts.

Jordon speaks very good English and is good with the babies. Little Miss Lilly just giggled away... I think she liked hearing sweet Chinese baby talk again... I'm not too good at that.

And, Jordon will write your babies name in English & Chinese with translation for free. He's also very low pressure... we were free to shop at our leisure without someone on our arm with each step.

And before you know it we're back at The White Swan. Though pricey, the restaurants in The White Swan are the best on the island... and you don't have to stay here to enjoy them. Even a snack at the bar on the 2nd floor is delicious. We didn't eat anything here we didn't like and the breakfast buffet is so grand it just about ties us over until dinner.

2008-06-02T18:05:00.009-06:00

Just Playin' Around

I have been reading & learning about Chinese Adoption since the summer of 2000. There are 3 things I learned about very quickly: hot pots, squatty potties and The White Swan hotel. For eight years now I have been waiting for my time to stay at the famous "baby hotel" located on Shamian Island here in Guangzhou. And here we are. And it is more glorious than I ever imagined. I used to pray we'd be referred a baby from Guangdong Province so we could stay here the entire trip. But I think being at differernt hotels and seeing different cities made me appreciate our stay here all the more. One of the nice things about The White Swan is the playroom... appropriately named "The Swan Room." Sponsored by toymaker Mattel, The Swan Room gives these new adopted children their first introduction to battery operated toys that sing, light up and dance. There are stuffed animals, legos, cartoons and Disney characters to entertain little ones trapped in a hotel room for a house for days on end. Being able to go & stretch out, run & play is wonderful. Here's some shots of Lilly's first introduction to Westernized play.

Here's a photo I snapped last night on our dinner cruise down The Pearl River. The White Swan is beautifully lit up at night.

Wow... I could get use to this!

Who's that pretty girl in the mirror?

Big sister loves The Swan Room too!

Playing with Big Sister is the most fun!

2008-06-01T00:24:00.013-06:00

Last Stop: Guangzhou

If you are American and are adopting from China you HAVE to go through Guangzhou. This is where the American Consulate is located and where you must apply and receive your baby's visa to enter the US. So... here we are. Guangzhou is located in Guangdong Province in southern China... a climate very typical of south Florida... hot, humid & rainy during the summer. We arrived here late Thursday night (more about the flight later) and have settled in to the White Swan hotel and we're in HEAVEN! After over a week of traditional Chinese food we were ALL (and I'm including our other 13 families travel partners) dying for some good 'ol American grub. The White Swan has not disappointed! We had all been anticipating our arrival here... sure that a glowing, heavenly light surrounded the place... and some of us are sure we heard a faint chorus of angels singing as we checked in! The breakfast buffet has delivered me from my rut of toast, diet coke & orange marmalade and has now filled my tummy with good coffee, french toast, muffins, waffles, omlets, yogurt.... too much to mention. We had Italian food last night... a pizza & a beer for me... it was divine! We're going to branch out tonight and try a local Thai restaurant and we have a dinner cruise scheduled for tomorrow night on the Pearl River that boarders the hotel.

Guangzhou is a nicer city than Nanchang... more wealth is located here. The traffic is still crazy but I'm not sure any traffic in THE WORLD can compare to Nanchang... it was insane! This is a pretty big commerce & business center... my father-in-law actually worked here for several years while working for Bell South. 9 million people live here compared to the 4 in Nanchang... we could see it in the grocery store last night. I have never seen so many people crowded into a supermarket in my life! I told someone it reminded me of a light snow coming to Georgia... people rush to the store! But the locals use tiny little carts & buy very little at a time. It's MUCH different from the way we Americans fill a big cart with a week's worth of groceries at a time!

I will finish with some pictures of some of our activities from our first two days here and will try to update better... yesterday was busy & I was tired from the nightmare flight Friday night (again... more later.)

We started out the day as a group heading out to get the babies physicals for their visas. Lilly must have overheard me talking about our destination and passed the information along to her bud Addie.

Here we arrive at the medical building. The White Swan is located on Shamain Island here in Guangzhou City. Shamain Island is very green, lush & beautiful. It was colonized by the Europeans during the Opium Wars & the architecture reflects their influence. You'd think you were in Charleston or Savannah instead of in the middle of Asia!

Look at these nurses! Have you ever seen a nurse or medical assistant in the US wear strappy high heels to work? I think it's very important to young, hip Chinese women to look beautiful & fashionable.

Inside we moved to 3 different stations: weight & height, ENT & medical. Here she get's checked out in the medical department.

Well look what we found! Could our day get any better? Starbucks in the middle of China. We ordered lattes & had a whole wheat carrot muffin. It hit the spot after our morning in the med clinic.

Walking back to the hotel we saw this couple posing for their wedding photographs. Though it look more like a prom couple from the US (the blue dress & gold tux aren't traditional for Americans brides & grooms huh?)the photographer & his assistant worked to get just the right photo just like mine did on my wedding day. But the cheesy position was not... can you even imagine The Money Maker agreeing to pose like this with me?

Here's our happy girl. She is beginning to smile more on cue... respond when we call her name & laugh. Can you believe she's already been ours for almost a week?

This morning we went to visit the oldest and most famous Buddist temple here in Guangzhou. They had Buddahs all around the place and we got an up close & personal look at people practicing another religion. They offered us a "Baby Blessing" by a Monk... but we passed... worshipping other gods was not on my "Things to Do" list for today. I told The Money Maker that this looks just like the inside of my nail salon at home. They have a golden Buddah & put fruit & flowers in front of it. Funny, I didn't see any of the statues eating or stopping to "smell the roses!"

This was my and Baby #1's favorite part of the temple tour... we found a cat! First cat I've seen (perhaps not eaten... kidding... I hope) in almost 10 days! This pretty kitty was sitting on top of a table where insence was laid. Not sure if was an offering or just found a cozy place to nap. He sure had lots of visitors petting him. Perhaps he was high on insense smoke and couldn't move?

That's all for now. Off to grab some dinner & leave the room for a while... more later.

2008-05-28T18:52:00.011-06:00

What's Goin' On

One of the most frequent questions we get asked is why we have to stay in China so long. It will total 16 days by the time we make it back to Georgia. We spent 3 days in Beijing... from time arriving to leaving... and the main purpose there was simply to sitesee. That was optional... we could've skipped it. But the experience of The Great Wall & The Forbidden City and really, 3 days to adjust to new timing & geography was nice. Day 4 we received Lilly and the next 3 days we remain here in her Province completing the CHINESE side of the adoption. It was really just one morning of paperwork... and then 2.5 days of waiting for her Chinese passport. Here's how that morning went down:

We arrived at the Jiangxi Center of Adoption Services (I apologize for the bad photo... The Money Maker is not obviously not "The Picture Taker.") This is where we finalize the Chinese part of the adoption.

You go from room to room in this main hallway.

See how the hallway soon becomes crowded with families. There were also other families from other agencies there... it was crazy... we ran into a family from Tennessee who sat in front of us on the plane ride from D.C. to Beijing!

Here's The Money Maker paying the money... $4100.00 in clean, new US $100 bills. They count it very carefully... several times.

Then we go and talk to a lady. She "interviews" us... asking if we like the baby... do we have other children... why we wanted to adopt... and then we sign the adoption papers.

Then it's off to the Nanchang Police Department to get Lilly's passport picture taken.

Lastly, we wait again at a Notary's office to get Lilly's documents notarized. Here she chats it up with her new friend Addie from Ohio.

We answer more questions from the Notary... do we like her, etc. You see our guide Chen translating for us. Chen is AWESOME... what would we do without her? She moved that process along so fast... 14 families in & out like clockwork. And she does it all for $45.00 a day. And we all went back to the hotel & crashed!

2008-05-28T06:53:00.007-06:00

Rainy, Rough Day

Well, I suppose you could say the honeymoon is kinda over. She is doing some things better (eating & pooping) but Miss Lilly had a rough night last night & has a bad cold. Her nose is running like a river and last night she woke up whining about every 45 - 90 minutes... same thing with her naps today. She still goes to sleep quickly... but staying sound asleep is another story. I'm hoping it's the cold. Plus, it rained all day here in Nanchang and that meant finding something to do all day with a baby INSIDE a hotel. If you've never tried it... it's NOT fun. We're hoping to explore tomorrow... rain or shine! I'm VERY tired but wanted to post some new pictures... she's so darn cute it's hard not to snap them every few minutes! More details later.

Finally getting used to the bath tub!

Playing with sister

Riding on the bus with Daddy

Happy Girl

Night, Night Baby Lilly

2008-05-27T17:27:00.002-06:00

OK...you have to re-watch the video below....Todd mistakenly posted the wrong video last night...he posted the draft version he had been working on....but this morning discovered it and re-posted the correct one. If you have already watched the other, watch the one below....it is better and has the audio mixed in with the live video.

2008-05-27T06:19:00.008-06:00

First Full Day

As y'all are waking up the the States... ready to start your Tuesday... we're getting ready for bed. We've had our first full day with Lilly Lu and I would CERTAINLY say it's been a success. She is THE CUTEST baby... big, shiny brown eyes... we get comments from everyone about her eyes. She goes to sleep like a champ... is eating well... and we're just waiting for poop. She has yet to poop and it's driving me crazy. All healthy babies poop... every day. She started with a runny nose today and sneezing. "Dr. Jerry" is our trip's pediatrician. He is WONDERFUL! A pediatric infectious disease specialist, Dr. Jerry Nasenbeny has worked with children in Haiti, Central America and now Eskimo in Alaska. This is his 8th adoption trip to China as group pediatrician. He's so down-to-earth... sweet with the kids and looks like a skinny Santa Claus... a white beard & glasses. I'm 'bout ready to take him home with us. He's been attentive and kind... giving each of the babies a thorough 30 minute examination yesterday and being "on-call" all day today. We'll have him with us through the weekend. What a blessing!

Let's talk a little about Nanchang. One thing about China that Todd & I say shouldn't be a surprise... but is... is the fact that there are people EVERYWHERE. People on the streets ALL DAY LONG! They ride bikes, they ride scooters, they drive cars, they take buses, they walk... and they're everywhere. Second, the traffic is INSANE! You would not believe it unless you saw it for yourself. How there are not 1,000 fatalities a day is beyond me. It's no rules traffic... cars, bikes, taxis, buses, pedestrians... all dodging and swerving and stopping and starting... it's unbelievable. Third, China is SO CLEAN! There is no trash. There are always people sweeping sidewalks and emptying trash cans. The cities are pretty too. Flowers line the street medians and traffic corners... petunias, geraniums... all very colorful & manicured. There are some funky smells from time to time... but the cities are CLEAN!

Today we had a busy morning. The adoption was finalized here in Jiangxi province, we paid our money (whew... I was ready to get rid of all that cash... too nervewracking) and then we went to the Nanchang police department and applied for her Chinese passport. Now I'm understanding more why we're here so long. We are waiting for her passport to come in so we can leave the country with her. Then we'll leave here on Friday and travel to Guangzhou to complete the American side of the adoption.

I'll leave you today/tonight with Todd's video. It contains pictures and live video footage of the first moments we got to meet Lilly on Monday morning. It's his latest obsession... personal video director extrodinairre! Lilly's asleep and like all new mom's I better sleep while she's sleeping... right? More later... and it's interesting... a trip to Chinese Wal-Mart!

2008-05-26T16:07:00.008-06:00

Gotcha Day

We don't have a lot of time this morning to write and Todd's been working on a fancy video of the whole morning... but I wanted to post some pictures until we were able to upload that. Lilly Lu is adjusting well... she slept awesome last night and is in for a busy morning of paperwork. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement... I promise to write more details later.

2008-05-25T08:57:00.006-06:00

Tomorrow

O.K… we’re on the flight from Beijing to Nanchang and I finally have some time and I am awake enough to write more about our trip. We flew Atlanta to D.C. to Beijing via United Airlines and had a good trip. The worst experience so far was that the Atlanta security dude took my Neutrogena Face Scrub that I love and want to marry!!! He confiscated it in security… it was over 3 ounces. It’s not liquid… it’s soap… thick, scrubby, amazing, wonderful, soap. And now I’m a pizza face ‘cause I haven’t had it in 3 days. I’m still fuming! Anyhoo- it was amazing because we flew backwards… going up and over the North Pole… it never got dark. So we woke up on Thursday morning and it didn’t get dark for us for 36 hours when night fell in Beijing. We arrived about 2:00 in the afternoon Beijing time… which was about 2:00 a.m. Atlanta time. Our guide Chen Chen (she’s an amazing Mother Hen… hasn’t left us alone for a second) met us right outside baggage claim and took us to the hotel. Then she showed us a local grocery store where we picked up some bottled water and Coke “Lights” and she also showed us a local restaurant with English on the menu. It’s amazing how much in Beijing is in English. I suppose it may be in preparation for the Olympics… but so far it’s been very easy to find our way around and understand directions because almost all signs have English as well as Chinese. We were so tired and decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant the first night… not having the strength to go out and be brave. The majority of our group was flying in from Boston and Chen Chen had to return to the airport to pick them up. The beds in Chinese hotels are notoriously hard…. and they have lived up to their reputation. But I was exhausted enough not to care. They had run of rooms and upgraded us to a suite… which was sweet. A big bedroom… a living room and 1 ½ baths. The master bath was huge… marble… big walk in glass shower and a deep tub. We’ve been good about keeping the water out of our nose & mouth while showering and using bottled water to brush our teeth. Bottled water, soft drinks, juices and even canned coffee are everywhere. Whether at the hotel, in restaurants or The Great Wall… we have never had a hard time finding bottled drinks. Now… not that they’re always cold. Chinese cold & American cold must be different. American cold is icy. Chinese cold is cool. And NO ICE. How many times in the last 3 days would I have killed for a icy Cherry Limeade from Sonic??? The next morning we met the rest of our group. We have met some really, really nice families. Each is a little different from the next… most from the Northeast… but all very friendly. The best meal of the day is breakfast. They have many American choices such as toast with jelly, an omlet station and bacon, along with many traditional Chinese selections like fried rice, sautéed vegetables and dim sum. Todd and Carli have been able to drink the orange and apple juice each morning without any problems… I’m not as brave and am sticking with my Coke Light. Today I had buttered toast with honey… I love honey. I ate 3 pieces… gotta stock up on the carbs with the way we’ve been moving. I did not imagine the trip to be so busy. Day 2 in Beijing was the trip to The Great Wall… which I wrote about briefly yesterday. Whew… by the time we left there everyone was very tired. Poor Chen Chen was trying her best to keep us awake by talking to us over the bus PA system… but many of us could not resist the cool air conditioned bumpy ride lulling us to take a quick nap. After The Chinese Acrobat show we finally headed back to the hotel and dinner. Dinner was bad. Really bad. Group dinners have been all the same in style. Big round tables with big round lazy susans in the middle. Cold appetizers, hot tea, rice and a variety of hot dishes are served family style. They provide chop sticks and western silverware. Last night’s dinner must have been sitting out for 30 minutes… it was stone cold. Blech! They did bring out small bowls of warm rice… I loaded it with soy sauce and gulped it down. On the way back to our room we spent 12 dollars on 3 tiny (way smaller than a pint) Hagen Daas ice creams… they were heavenly! Hot showers feel good after these long, hot days… and the hard beds are a welcome end to the busy day. Todd has been actually setting his alarm to get up in the middle of the Chinese night so he can make phone calls and send emails to the US that are work related. As a result, he’s finding it hard to fall back asleep after working an hour or two. Yesterday he was mighty crabby, but he’s much better today. Thank you Lord! This morning we had to have our luggage outside our room by 8:30 to fly to Nanchang this afternoon. Before leaving for the day we called home again. We are using a service called Skype… it’s voice over IP technology. Todd bought $10.00 worth of time which is approximately 4 hours worth of International phone calls. AMAZING! We’ve been able to talk to Babies 2 & 3, as well as my mom & sister in from Ft. Lauderdale to babysit. My Baby Boy was sad today… saying he wished he could “see me” and telling me he’s been looking at pictures of us together. Breaks my heart. I love that boy. I miss him. I miss kissing him and hearing him talk non-stop and hugging my neck with his chubby little hands. I miss snuggling with him at night and watching him wake up in the morning. What is it about mothers & sons? It’s indescribable. I love my girlies… but there’s something unique about how I feel about my boy. This would be a hard trip for him… it’s hot. It’s busy. It’s crowded. But, it’s a long 2 weeks being without him. I hugged and kissed my baby girl good bye and was sad to leave, but when I had to tell my boy goodbye I lost it. I cried like a baby. O.K… back to the trip. So after we packed up and checked out of Hotel #1 it was on to our tour of Tienamen’s Square and The Forbidden City. You’d think in the 4 years I’ve been at this adoption I would have done some reading and research on Chinese history… but I haven’t. I will though and get back to you. These historic places were crowded. Lots of Chinese tourists. I suppose they visit there perhaps the way Americans would visit Washington D.C. or New York City.

I have taken some beautiful pictures of Chinese children we’ve encountered. They are so dadgum cute!

After a 3 hour tour we had another Lazy Susan Style lunch and then headed for the airport for Nanchang. I tell you… this trip is so orchestrated it’s amazing. The agency & our guide Chen Chen have every detail down. For a petite little Chinese girl, Chen Chen is a whipper snapper… she is on the ball and gets it done. I feel very safe and trust her completely! Nanchang is the capital city of Jiangxi Province… and where Lilly lives. She lives in a town called Nanfeng, which is approximately 3 hours drive from Nanchang. When we land in Nanchang. we’ll check into Hotel #2 and try to get settled and ready to bring a new baby into the family tomorrow. Tomorrow. I cannot believe it’s almost here. After all this time… all the hoops we’ve jumped through and hurdles we’ve crossed. Tomorrow is THE DAY. Lilly doesn’t know. She doesn’t know that tomorrow her life will change FOREVER. Tomorrow she will have a family. Not foster parents, though kind and caring, REAL parents… parents that would give their life for her. Tomorrow she will have all the things she never would in China. Think small: air-conditioning, clean clothes, a big yard to run and play in, a warm bath & lotion that smells oh-so-good. Think big: education, health care, sisters & a brother. And the biggest… think eternal: Lilly will now never know a day that she doesn’t hear of the Lord and His goodness to her. That she doesn’t hear of His love & salvation. His plan for her life and the way He moved Heaven & earth to bring her into our family. By His grace, she will become part of the family of Christ and have a life that will never end. What a mind-boggling day tomorrow will be. This tiny girl. What are the chances that she would be our child. Todd thought about it one day. Realistically, we have a better chance to win the lottery. Of all the children born in China… of all the children orphaned… of all the waiting parents… what are the odds she would be ours and we would be hers? We know better than odds. We don’t believe in fate. We know that it was the plan of The Father. Before the beginning of time and the foundation of the world, God had already chosen Lilly to be our baby. Period. And so here we go. I can begin to feel the plane descend. Soon this short flight to Nanchang will be over and we will be in the city that will forever be remembered as the place where we “had” Baby #4. You always remember the days you had your babies. My babies LOVE and BEG me to tell them the stories of the days they were born. They love to ride by the hospital when we’re in the town and see the site. And tomorrow will be Lilly’s day. The story of what happens in Nanchang will be told at countless bedtimes and sleepless nights. The next time I write I will have pictures to share. Oh Happy Day!

2008-05-24T16:24:00.009-06:00

Full Day: We're Pooped

We started out early this morning. We weren't all that impressed with the breakfast buffet but if we knew what was in store for the rest of the day we would've thought it was fit for a king. The hotel is VERY NICE... and even though the beds are rock hard (the stories were true) and we are very impressed... it's much nicer than any US hotel we'd stay at... sorry Hampton Inn.

We all loaded the tour bus. Here our very sweet, very smart, very protective guide Chen Chen gives us information about China on the trip.

Look! They have KFC! Get a load of all those power lines. They're every where. Guess it takes a lot of power to keep this city of 17 million folks running!

First stop was to a jade factory. Here a man carves. We learned only MEN can carve... the women polish.

Here's Todd next to two huge jade horses. In Chinese culture horses symbolize success. Todd needs a whole herd to take home! hee hee

Ahhh... the Great Wall. Of the 3700 miles of it we only saw a tiny portion but it's impressive indeed. You cannot from the pictures imagine how steep it is... Todd approximated about a 70 degree angle. The steps are huge.

Up they go. I only got 1/2 way and decided the responsible thing to do would be to rest... save my strength... and chat it up with my new group of friends... in the shade... with a Chinese "Coke Light."

Whew... that sucker makes me tired just looking at the picture.

We ended the day with a Chinese Acrobat Show. I love Chinese acrobats. I can barely touch my toes and these contortionists can bend and turn their bodies in unbelievable ways. Carli and I got our picture made with one of them. If I were her I'd be in the ER... or an ice bath... or in a body cast. But they make it look oh-so-simple.

I'm with ya girl! The day was so busy. PLUS we still adjusting to being awake when we are used to sleeping and sleeping when we're used to being awake. The Money Maker is getting cranky and crabby... he's been getting up and working at night since the US is open for business while we're trying to sleep. He's going to crash & burn or we're gonna divorce if he doesn't get some good rest soon. Today we're going to The Forbidden City & Tienamen's Square before flying to Jiangxi. Tomorrow is GOTCHA DAY!

2008-05-23T05:26:00.007-06:00

Guess Where I Am?
The story on how we got here so fast will require much writing. And I will. But tonight... I haven't really slept in two nights and I took a Unisom about 15 minutes ago so I'm just going to give highlights from today's trip. We are settled in at the beautiful Chang An Hotel (a.k.a. Days Inn) in downtown Beijing. They ran out of regular rooms and so we're enjoying a suite... it's quite swanky. I've already been to the Grocery Store (more on that later) and we had a very American dinner. I'll be braver tomorrow. Here are pictures from today's

Here's the giantic 747 that brought us here. Hi plane... thank you for not breaking & crashing!

Here's our mid-afternoon snack. Guess they thought it wise to prepare our diets for what was coming. A bowl or Chinese (a.k.a Ramen) noodles and some yummy lemon shortbread.

Let me enjoy you one last time delicious iced beverage. It's not safe to drink the water or ice in China... so luke warm cokes for 16 days will be on the menu!

The coolest part of the trip was flying over the top of the world to get here. Instead of traveling west... we traveled north... up & over. So we saw lots of frozen, snowy, icy earth. You don't see that everyday do ya?

href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BwkP0NlJrJ4/SDat6mwFjoI/AAAAAAAAAyw/jnLE11_qbJk/s1600-h/Flight+to+Beijing+019.jpg"

This picture was taken right as we were flying directly OVER the North Pole. Hey... is that Santa?

Ahhh... we made it. I didn't think the flight was that horrible. The Beijing airport is new... just opened in March... and it's all glass. It was very, very clean and all the staff were very helpful.

And then they brought us to our hotel. Here's a picture of it taken on the way back from the Grocery Store... we loaded up on bottled/canned drinks. Whew... that Unisom is kicking in... write more tomorrow. Thanks for ALL THE PRAYERS. Tomorrow is the Great Wall tour... can't wait!

2008-05-21T22:44:00.004-06:00

Divert Your Prayers

So many of you have been committed to pray for us in our trip to China tomorrow. But I just found out that this afternoon, MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, daughter of contemporary Christian megastar Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed this afternoon. According to reports she was playing in the driveway when one of her brothers came driving in. He did not see her and, as a result, struck her with his car. She was LifeFlighted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville where she died of her injuries.

You'll see Maria pictured below sitting on her father's lap in this family photograph. She was 5 years old and the 3rd daughter the Chapman's adopted from China. The Chapman's have inspired us FOR YEARS in our pursuit to adopt from China and have championed the cause of not only helping Chinese orphans, but ALL the world's orphans.

PLEASE, PLEASE before you pray for us & our trip... PLEASE pray for the Chapman Family tonight. Pray for Steven Curtis & Mary Beth as they grieve for their daughter. Pray for their son who will now carry a burden of guilt too heavy to imagine. Pray that as the storm winds blow around them tonight and in the days to come that they will cling for dear life to their foundation in the Lord.

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

Psalm 34:18

2008-05-19T06:56:00.003-06:00

Organized Chaos

I am packing. Packing to go on a trip 1/2 way around the world for two weeks. I have never been where I'm going. Though many are guiding my steps, I am trying to think of every possible thing I'll need that I CAN'T get there and leave behind those things I can. It's a tricky situation. PLUS... dealing with weight restrictions... not for me... for the luggage... can be an added difficulty. So, let's see how it's going. Lilly's nursey is the Official Packing Station.

Luggage. Since Baby #1 is going that gets me another BIG rolling suitcase. I haven't started shoving it all in & weighing them yet... that might be ugly.
New Fancy Camera. The Money Maker gave me a new camera for Mother's Day. He did it because I told him if he didn't I was going to buy it for myself. That way I still get the camera and he gets the credit. I know how he works! The books (yes, books) and DVDs that came with the camera are going to be my entertainment on the plane... I have 17 hours to learn how to use the thing.
Clothes to be washed. These are for Lilly that need to be washed in Ivory Snow. I'm having a hard time finding Ivory Snow. All I can find is Dreft. I used Ivory Snow with Babies 1, 2 & 3... where are you old friend?
Gifts. We have to take gifts for somebody. I swear... you'd think after waiting for this moment for 4 years I'd know EXACTLY what was for who... but I don't. All I know is that I need 6-10 "gifts" for some people in China associated with Lilly. It cannot be made in China. I bought Atlanta Falcon t-shirts for the guys (something Georgian) and Bath & Body Works gels & scrubs for the girls.
Toys. We've been advised to bring a few small & interesting toys for Lilly. So we are.
Hmmmm... how to describe? This pile is for stuff like duct tape, baggies, umbrella, flashlight, tongs to get bottles out of boiling water... stuff like that. Practical things?
Smell Goods. I've heard how the hotel rooms smell of either A.) mildew or B.) cigarette smoke and so I'm bringing scented candles & room nuetralizer. This one in the can claims to rid rooms of cigarette smoke smell.
Sanitation Supplies. This pile is totally devoted to hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial hand wipes, plastic gloves & kleenex. I'm not a germ phobe... but prevention is the best medicine!
Food. Several different boxes or Gatorade, Propel & Crystal Light to mix in water bottles. Mac-n-Cheese, Ramen Noodles, Beef Jerky, Peanut Butter. I'm a little bit scared of the food. I don't have a weak stomach, but it's not an iron one either. I'm also bringing plastic utensils as well.
OTC Medicine & Toiletries. I'm bringing about a gazillion Benadryl pills for The Money Maker... and all the other "stuff" bandaids, Neosporin, Immodium AD... etc. and travel size toothpaste, deoderant, etc.
Box the arrived from Gymboree. I couldn't help myself. They had a sale. Gymboree is my FAVORITE store... LOVE IT! And Baby #1 & #2 are too big for it now... and too cool. We gotta shop at Limited Two, Justice or places too-cool-for-school! Pa-leez!
Car Seat. We're not taking it to China but my Mom, Sisters, G-mas gave me this very cool Britax car seat. I'll have whoever is picking us up from the airport put it in the car.
Pictures. The Money Maker has been promising me a day to finish up some things in her nursery... I'm still waiting. He's got 3 days left!
More "stuff." The pink portfolios are for documents & money... bubble wrap in case I buy something fragile (every time I write or say that word I think of the dad from "A Christmas Story" when the leg lamp arrives at their house with FRAGILE stamped on the box and he says "FRA-GEE-LAY"... it must be French!" That' s my favorite Christmas movie by the way.) And wrapping supplies for the gifts so it doesn't get all wrinkled & smushed on the trip over.
Lilly's things. Diapers, wipes, bottles, etc. You know, baby stuff.
My packing list. More and more things are getting checked off.
Random doll. It's not new. Not sure where it came from. I want Lilly to have little Asian dolls... dolls that look like her. This caucasian doll will not do.
Round table I still have not made the cloth for... will have to wait.
Baby #1's Recorder Music Notebook. The 4th graders at her school have been learning to play the recorder this year in music. It's amazing how well she can play it. She played to me while I packed... she can even play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" blowing air out of her nose. Sounds sick but it's hilarious.
Nasty carpet. Scheduled to be cleaned Wednesday between 12-3. Have been determined NOT to let Lilly come home & crawl around on nasty carpet. So, it's gonna get cleaned.

2008-05-17T09:07:00.011-06:00

Buzzy Got Back

I am a "cat person." C-A-T-S... love them! I like dogs too... but I L-O-V-E cats. We've been through several since I've gotten married. My mean, horrible parents would never let their poor, sweet daughter have a cat growing up... (just kidding Mama:) so when I got married... I got me a cat. Actually The Money Maker got me my first cat for my first wedding anniversary. Her name was Shelby. She was mean. She loved me... and would tolerate The Money Maker... but anyone else was fair fighting game. I'd cradle her in my arms like a baby at night and watch T.V. When Shelby died of kidney disease when I was prego w/ Baby #3 I laid in bed and cried like a maniac all day. I swore I would never have a cat again... it just hurt too much to let go! (Can you say drama?) Well I got over that moment of insanity and got another cat... and now have 3 in fact. Sara, Jackson & Buzz. Jackson came from the streets. He showed up at my parents house and once again... my mean, horrible parents kept shooing and scaring him away... (kidding again... 'bout the horrible part, not the shooing part.) So one day I loaded him up in my mini-van and brought him home. He's a bit aloof, but very sweet and becoming a more familiar part of our family. Then Sara is a survivor. After returning home from a camping trip once we found her very lathargic with two very noticiable bite marks on her very swollen neck. I rushed her to our vet who said she was probably bitten by a water moccasin (on the leg too... also very swollen.) And then we have our "fat cat" Buzz. Buzz's biological sister was the one killed by my brother-in-law's lab in January. Buzz is a big 'ol teddy bear. He's fat and sleeps a lot. And the FUNNIEST thing about Buzz is that he always sleeps on his back. I have had 7 cats since I got married 13 years ago... and have numerous friends who own cats... and have never seen a cat who, like Buzz, always sleeps on his back.

Here's Sara sleeping soundly in the morning sun. Do you like what The Money Maker's DOG did to my good arm chair? He's never gotten it fixed for me. I'm mad about that. Seeing it in a photo makes me madder.

Then a few feet away we find Buzz. No surprise... he's on his back!

One bad thing about cats is their hair. Especially in the late spring in the South. They're shedding their winter coat to get ready for the brutal heat of summer. I put a throw on their favorite spots to try and protect my furniture. The cats are supposed to be "outside" cats. The Money Maker and Baby #2 have bad allergies. But sometimes when I'm home all alone I let them sneak inside for a snooze!

Another day I found him on my bed. Buzzy loves my bed. I do too... in fact, I may need a nap.

He was trying to polietly ask us to leave him alone by yawning. Aren't cats cute when they yawn?

We happily obliged him and allowed him to return to dreams of decapitating birds... catching baby moles & stalking summer lizards!

2008-05-16T13:21:00.005-06:00

Lilly's Group of Girls

Today we received a list of the families that we will be traveling with to go get Lilly. On the list... along with the names of the parent(s) are the babies American names. Y'all know I love baby names. Love 'em! I like to play that game... "if I were to have another boy/girl I'd name him/her _______." It changes often. So I found it was interesting to see the other China Girls that will be coming to their new home with Lilly. What a bond forever!

Annika
Abigail (wonder if she'll be "Abby" for short? That's Baby #2's BFF's name)
Sarah (we LOVE this name... we thought about it too late for our bio girls and have since named 2 cats Sarah... )
Lily (Hey... we like that name too... so much... we're using it! This is "One 'L' Lily")
Meilu
Lia
Grace
Larisa
Adelaide
Lilah (oh... that was a front-runner with us for this baby... I like it... ALOT. My great-grandmother's name was Lila.)
Luran
Brighton
Zoe
And last but NOT least... Lilly (that's "Two 'L' Lilly)... and she's ALL MINE!

2008-05-16T06:38:00.004-06:00

One Last Hurrah!

This year has been unique for me. Why? Because for the first time in 10 years I have had my "days" back. All 3 kiddos are in school... ALL DAY! I drop them off at 7:45 and pick them up at 2:30. All the hours in between are MINE! It has been great... I say selfishly... I admit. I have been able to do things this past (school) year I haven't done in a long, long time. Well one thing I did was take a children's leadership position with our community ladies Bible study. And in giving back... (as happens with God so many times...) I received so much more! One of my greatest gifts has been my Bible Study girlfriends. I LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! these girls! We are 4 peas in a pod... and though we're different ages & have different backgrounds... we enjoy the same things and most of all- enjoy being together! For the past year we have been together 2 days a week... lunched (a lot)... gone to the Spa (what a luxury) and celebrated birthdays!

In little over a week from now... my life will change radically. I'll "start over" again. Bringing Lilly home will change my lifestyle completely. No more leisure lunches in quiet restaurants. No more shopping trips to boutiques. And for a while... no more "girls trips." I'm having a baby. And I'm excited. So Tuesday, to celebrate one of the friend's birthday... I had one last HURRAH. A day & night away with my girlfriends.

This is what happens we "Girls Go Wild." We shop. I love to shop. Not all girls do. My mom doesn't. My baby sister doesn't. But... I do. I can shop for me... my kiddos (my fave)... my house... for makeup... plants... you name it. This was the back of our car by mid-afternoon.

Here's the birthday girl & my friend Saint Cathy (that's the most GENEROUS WOMAN on the face of the planet) at dinner. They heard me talk all year about The Money Maker's restaurant & I finally took them up there for supper. The Strawberry Lemonade martinis are the best... I have to say... you can see mine in the foreground.

And so now I'm home. Nesting. Getting ready for my baby. And I'm happy.

2008-05-15T06:10:00.003-06:00

New Poll

Whether I like it or not... if I want Lilly to come home... I HAVE to GO GET HER. I have to board a plane... fly 15 hours... take 2 different flights within China... and then fly home. Lots of flying. And I HAVE to do it. And I want to... but flying is not my favorite activity. When I was in high school I LOVED it... the more connections the better... more times to take off! Somewhere in my aging into adulthood I got a little more nervous about the process. I think it came with becoming a mom... the possibility of leaving my children behind to be raised without me. The thought makes me crazy! When you're 17 you think you're invincible... approaching mid-lifehood you become more aware of your mortaility. And so now there are tickets with United Airlines with my name on it headed for Beijing. I'm starting to get nervous about leaving my 2 kiddos to pick up my one... (Baby #1 will go down w/ the ship... she's going with us.) But... no use fretting... it must be done. I will see my doctor next week for some flying "aides"... and ask the number of glasses of airplane wine I can mix with them to sleep for 10 hours and wake up refreshed. Is that possible?

I have put a new poll up on the right to see who's company I'm in. Are you afraid to fly or are you an adventure seeker and love the thrill of modern technology?

2008-05-14T19:20:00.004-06:00

Lilly's NOT in Horrible Earthquake!

The Money Maker and I both have been receiving very concerned phone calls and emails about the possibility of Lilly being effected (or is it affected?) by Monday's devestating earthquake in China. I am thankful to report that Lilly lives 755 miles AWAY from the earthquake site! Praise the Lord! Lilly is in Nanfeng a city in Jiangxi Province and the earthquake occured in the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province. See map below.

I calculated on a map of the United States how far that would be... something to compare it to... see additional map below:

If something happens in Texas... it's not going to effect (or is it affect... that's so confusing) us here near Atlanta way back east in Georgia. China is a BIG country... and we are so happy that this week's disaster was hundreds of miles away from our Lilly. We are praying for the thousands & thousands of victims and their families. We ask you do the same. Enjoy this day... you just NEVER KNOW when in an instant your life will change forever!

2008-05-10T07:12:00.016-06:00

Field Day

Ahhh, Field Day. Such sweet memories from my youth. Field Day is a yearly tradition in Elementary Schools that is only rivaled by Santa Claus for evoking great excitement in children. I still remember burning up the grass in the 50-yard dash... I've been almost 6 feet tall since... uh... birth! The Sack Race... 3-Legged Race... Egg-in-the-Spoon Relay... who can't recall Field Day with vivid precision? Yesterday my kiddos had Field Day. Noooooo problem waking them up yesterday. BOING! they sprung out of bed & were dressed in their specific grade-colored t-shirts and tying their tennis shoes before I could say "Wakey! Wakey! Eggs and Bakey!" Off we went... me included. As a Field Day volunteer I was assigned the "Bubble Gum Booth." It helps to kiss up to the gym teacher throughout the year... for you see, the Bubble Gum Booth is inside a gazebo close to the woods... it's cool... it's breezy... it's perfect. I could've gotten stuck at the "Sack Race" on the unshaded baseball field or the "Fireman's Freenzy" on the steamy black asphalt. But because I love Ms. Lewis (she really is cool... it's easy to be nice to her) she gave me the Bubble Gum Booth where I watched 600 children try to blow big bubbles all day long in the shade! And since I was stuck in The Bubble Gum Booth I couldn't follow my kiddos around cheering them on to victory like a wacky stage mom... but I was able to sprint across the school yard in between bubble gum contests & snap a few photos!

We'll start on the Third Grade Hall. On the way to my station I snapped this photo of Baby #2 with her gal pals. You see that none of them respected the hard earned $10.00 their parents volunteered to fork over for their Field Day T-shirt. Tradition is to have your friends "sign" your shirt. Isn't that what yearbooks are for? Also notice the disregard for perfectly good sticky notes... they turned these purple ones into scarves to prance around in. Geez!

Outside I found my much wiser kindergartner, Baby #3. Instead of wasting perfectly good Sharpie marker on a brand new t-shirt, he and his boyz and just happy with the potential to get some dirt under their fingernails and kick some tail. Baby #3 even had the kahunas to tell another kindergarten teacher her class was "goin' down" on tug-of-war! Field Day is serious bizness!

It was easy to get pictures when the kiddos came to my station in the cool, shady gazebo. There weren't a lot of bubbles blown in the lower grades... I suppose it's a talent mastered with age. Here's Baby #3 working up a bubble. Instead he spit the gum across the gazebo, landing in the floor. Game over buddy!

By the time Baby #1 and the fourth grade got to my station it was getting harder to judge. These kids had blowing bubbles down! Though she didn't win, here Baby #1 puts forth a good effort!

I caught some shots of the fourth grade in action at the "Hillcrest 500." This was a tire rolling relay against the other classes. Relays are the best! Nothing brings out competitiveness in children (or adults) of all ages better than a good relay.

Here's Baby #2 at "The Football Sweep." Her team didn't win. I think the responsible thing to do, as a parent, is to starting working with her NOW to train for next year. That's right... training... that's the key. So, I'll start her sweeping the house everyday for the next year and by Field Day '09 she'll smoke the competition!

Look-a-here! Baby #3 has got some moves! He was actually really good at the "Field Day Classic: The Hola-Hoop Contest!" The winner was the little boy in the red shorts behind Baby #3... he was great!

The Creme-de-la-Creme of all Field Day contests... TUG-OF-WAR!!! Oh the kids hyped this contest up for weeks. Talkin' trash all through the hallways... (kidding)... all dreaming of watching their competitors fall face first into the mud soaked grass! Here's Baby #1 actually in a Boys vs. Girls challenge. Though her class as a whole took 2nd place... the girls dominated the boys in a easy won victory. Of course, the boys pouted upon their defeat!

It's 2:00 and Baby #2 is has had it. Too much sun. Too much fun. She's ready to enjoy a cool drink in the A/C.

And so, we were off. Another Field Day tucked neatly away in the memories of my children... just as Field Days of the 80's are in mine. Nothing's changed... it's still a magical highlight of childhood. And as we drove away from the school the kiddos concocted plans of how to win better, win more, next year.

2008-05-08T10:30:00.005-06:00

She's Growing!

Today our agency received UPDATED measurements on our Lilly.

May 7, 2007: she weighed 18.74 pounds and was 26.77 inches long. AND she has 2 teeth... both on the bottom!

I have always looked forward to my Chinese peanut. My homegrown kids are BIG.... their birthweights were 7.9 and two at 8.10. They each grew a pound a week for the first 6 weeks (don't even get me started on the amount of breastmilk I had!) and typically always wore clothing that's size was double their age... at 3 months they wore 6 at 6 they wore 12, etc. I'm not even sure what a typical 8 month old is like. Do they wear clothes 6-9 months? Luckily, I've heard China has great... inexpensive shopping for children's clothes. That sounds right up my alley!

2008-05-07T15:02:00.012-06:00

The Next Louisa May Alcott?

(I guess I better write about something besides Lilly before I get the "you love Lilly the best" guilt trip from the other 3! I don't put it past them!)

Baby #1 attended a private Christian school in Florida for 4 years... Pre-K3 thru 1st grade. Then we moved back to Georgia. We weren't sure where we would root ourselves... close to family or back to the big city and so to avoid making her learn a new school two years in a row, I decided to homeschool. I had lots of homeschool friends. I hold a degree in education. I am a teacher, by golly... if I can teach a trailer full of 32 rowdy senior boys surely I can teach my own 2 precious children. Right? Well, year #1 went really well. So I decided to do it again. Despite the fact that we settled down in my hometown and had no plans to move for a long, long time. The fall of our second homeschool year went fine. Then the next year came. My Dad's dad was admitted to our local hospital with pneumonia on December 26th. Over the next 6 weeks we went back and forth between hospitals & rehab facilities & finally hospice until he died in February. I had never lost a grandparent before. A week later my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer at only age 56. Her father was rushed the emergency room the same day as her diagnosis, with blood clots in his lungs. My mom's an only child and so while she was seeing oncologists, formulating a game plan to save her own life and beginning chemotherapy, I helped care for her dad... my grandfather. Six weeks later he died. And our school year was kaput!

I tell you that sad story to justify why I didn't do a very good job educating my children last year. Baby #3 was in preschool, but Babies 1 & 2 learned a lot of "life lessons" on caring for those you love when they need you most and when it isn't fun or glamorous. With the future uncertain for my mom (she's doing great by-the-way... keep praying you faithful prayer warriors) and a new baby on the way, The Money Maker and I decided the best thing to do for this past year was to put the kids back in school. I wanted Christian school... The Money Maker wanted public... and he won... he always does... even though he'll say that's not true! And it's been great. We love the kids school. But it wasn't an easy adjustment. They were behind. Doing school half-heartedly for that spring semester really took a toll on their reading and especially math. And testing. Boy howdy do public schools love to test! Standardized tests out the ying yang! And I had never given mine a standardized... pencil in the circle test. So it was an adjustment. But I'm proud to say that with the end of the year in sight... how far they've come. They have done more than adjust... they've thrived... they've flourished!

Monday afternoon we were invited to go to the Georgia Young Author's banquet celebrating the winners from each school from across the county. Baby #1 won for 4th grade for her paper on Jackie Joyner Kersee. My kids aren't readers but they are writers. They're always writing me stories or pop-songs they're sure Miley Cyrus will want on her next album. They journal and beg to write my grocery list even. So, it wasn't a huge surprise that this was the area in which Baby #1 excels. After accosting the FedEx man as he walked down our driveway we were off to the banquet!

Here she is in the car on the way to the ceremony... isn't she pretty? I cannot believe I'm already 1/2 way done with her... it makes me nauseous... she's 10... in 8 years she'll be gone! I have made all my kids promise they'll live next to me when they graduate from college. I hope my neighbors have plans to leave.

There were probably 10 of these signs all the way from the parking lot to this one right outside the banquet room. I made her pose by each one... she was ready to leave for college by the 10th one... I was embarrassing and inconveniencing her.

Here she sits by her dad waiting for her name to be called. She won from her school but would she win from the county and proceed to the state competiton??? The Money Maker is biting his nails in suspense! Well... she didn't win. Her dad demanded a recount... he blamed it on a "hanging chad"... he yelled out "RIGGED!" Just kidding.

Here she stands with the winners from the other schools.

Surprise! Her good friend from swim team was a school winner too and we didn't even know it! I guess smart people gravitate towards each other! (Kidding, again.)

Here she is with her WONDERFUL principal! I love this woman. She is so kind. Last year when we were checking out the school she PERSONALLY took us on a tour of the school and the grounds and answered all our questions for almost 2 hours. She rocks!

2008-05-06T17:09:00.009-06:00

Humble Beginnings

We continue to learn a little more each day about our Lilly and the city she comes from, Nanfeng (pronounced NAN-FUNG.) She was found by a man on August 21st at "the gate of an apartment for aged people of Nanfeng County." The man took her to the police station and together they brought her to the Nanfeng SWI (Social Welfare Institute) that same day. She was not found with any sort of note and so, based on the condition of her umbilical cord she was given the birthdate of August 20, 2007... assessed to only be 1 day old. After the admission procedures were completed, she was sent to a "countrywoman's home 8 km away from the county town for childcare." We are assuming she has remained in this woman's home. Here are some photographs I have found to help illustrate some more information.

This is Director Lu. All the babies that enter the Nanfeng SWI under his administration receive his last name as their last name. Lilly's Chinese name is Yan Ni Lu... but in China the last name goes first... so really it's Lu Yan Ni. This is who Lu is. He is reported to be a very kind man who cares about the children very much.

This is a pictures of the Nanfeng County SWI. Look at the area that surrounds it. Doesn't look like America does it? The area appears to be undeveloped & rural, even though the buildings seems fairly modern. Most buildings here in the U.S. are surrounded by concrete and manicured landscaping of some variety.

Here is an undated photograph of a waiting child and her foster mother in Nanfeng County. Again, the neighborhood appears to be very humble. I have been told by families who have adopted from Nanfeng that people are very wonderful and loving, but extremely poor. I would doubt that most families have the luxuries that we take for granted: Publix, a hot soapy shower, air conditioning, Orkin pest control, carpet, minivans, a clothes dryer... shall I continue?

Here is another photograph of a Nanfeng foster family with their foster child. Again, the area appears to be poor, as described. These families must have big hearts to take these children in and care for them when they probably have very little themselves.

2008-05-06T06:11:00.006-06:00

Special Delivery

We were on the way out the door yesterday afternoon around 2:30 when the FedEx man arrived. We had a Georgia Young Authors banquet at which Baby #1 was a winner...(more on that later)... and my mom was over to babysit the other 2. So it was perfect timing... I had camera in hand and another adult there to take pictures!

He is starting to get suspicious when he pulls up to a house with a porch full of clapping people. This is no ordinary delivery... we know it... he's thinkin' it!

In this FedEx envelope are the original photographs of Lilly that we received via email Friday. Also, her medical report. AND most importantly... the ACCEPTANCE LETTER... which we've already signed and have ready to return to our agency!

The FedEx dude was a great sport! We told him why we were acting like Hollywood paparazzi snapping pictures of his every move. He jumped right into the picture we've been waiting YEARS to take & then he actually said "Uh...oh... I didn't shave this morning." I said "It's o.k... I didn't diet this morning!"

2008-05-05T11:07:00.003-06:00

Class of May 2008

Yesterday, I attended my good friend Lisa's son's graduation party. So in keeping with the Graduation spirit... it IS that time of year... may I present to you the Referral Class of May 2008.

Go HERE to check out some of the the other babies in Lilly's Referral "Class."

Blogs NOT TO MISS:

Check out "As We Wait for LilyKate"- a family also from the Atlanta area... they got "doubly" blessed!

Check out "Strawberry Blonde"- apparently NOT all Chinese babies are black headed!

2008-05-05T06:09:00.013-06:00

Seeing is Believing

The kiddos were at school when we received "The Call" about our Lilly. Here are a couple snapshots of when we told them & showed them her pictures for the first time. Baby #2 and Baby #3 had friends sleeping over... so they got to be in the moment as well.

And it only takes about 2 seconds of gushy, cutie pie, baby talk before we lose the boys... so typical!

Psalm 127 : 3-5

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,... like arrows

in the hand of a Warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How

blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them..."

2008-05-04T06:24:00.002-06:00

Crazy Day

Nine years ago today started out typically normal. Within an hour of waking up all hell broke loose. I was 38 weeks pregnant with my second baby and as I was getting in the shower I began gushing bright red blood. I'll spare you the additional gorey details that follow, but instead tell you that despite it being a crazy, hectic day... at 7:20 p.m. my baby girl was born. Today is her 9th birthday and we are in for another crazy, hectic day... scheduled to the max. I've got some fun pictures to show of her getting her ears pierced last night... but they'll have to wait until tomorrow morning when things calm down and all I have to do is wait for the FedEx man to arrive!

2008-05-03T07:54:00.003-06:00

LID to DOR

In the International Adoption world there are lots of "code." DTC, LID, LOA, TA, DOR, NSN, LOI... all these symbols mean something to those involved in adopting a baby. Those involved here know what it means LID to DOR... to the rest it means this: it was 848 days from the day the CCAA logged our dossier into their system to the day we received Lilly's referral. 848 long, agonizing days. Let's see... 848/365= 2.32 years. And that's just the "official" wait. That doesn't include the time lapsed between DTC and LID (the time of our dossier traveling to China and being logged in) or the time it took us to paperchase... (get our dossier ready.) Lilly's referral has the date Apr 29 stamped on it. So it took 3 days to get from China's hands to our agency's. But I've got a sneaky feeling it's gonna be all... totally... completely WORTH IT!

2008-05-02T19:25:00.011-06:00

Referral Day: 5/2/08

I had no plans to go anywhere today. Yesterday, to celebrate her house closing after being on the market for over 3 years, my friend Harriet treated us both to an hour massage at a spa out of town. So, today I had to hunker down and get some much needed housework done. Most information on China Adopt Talk pointed to referrals arriving Monday... but as we know (all too well) the world of International Adoption is VERY unpredictable and so I had a hunch referrals may arrive today. I went about my housework but kept a close eye on the China Adopt Talk forum to see if any families were posting that their "call" had come in. 10:00... nothing. 10:15... nothing. 10:30... nothing. 10:45... nothing. Then at 10:56 a.m. EST my cell phone rang. I did not recognize the number. Could it be?

"Hello," I said.
"Amy?"
"Yes."
"This is Meg."
At this point I don't know what to think. Is it good news or bad news?
"Oh hey Meg... how are you?" I reply coolly.
"I'm very good. I just received a package with your daughter's picture."
"OHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! MYYYYYYYYYYYY! GOSHHHHHHHHHHH!" the freak out begins.
Meg laughs.

I had a neat "Call Sheet" that I had downloaded from the Internet with cute little ladybugs and neat lines and perfect questions to collect & document all my daughter's pertinent information. That went out the window after questions 2... one was the time of the call... two was the date of the call... and after that I just started writing as fast as I could every word that came out of Meg's mouth. The first thing she told me about Lilly was her birthday. (I wrote it on the line that was for "Child's Chinese Name") August 20, 2007. "Not even a year old!" I thought and said outloud to Meg. Next, came where she was. Jiangxi Province. They always have the prettiest babies. I was so excited last month when my original group began receiving their referrals because they were from Jiangxi and I was so happy I was going to get a baby from there. I have noted over the years of waiting how pretty Jiangxi babies are. I would have to wait a little longer... but I do believe my Jiangxi baby is the prettiest of all. (Others who beg to differ... let me have my moment here! :) Here is Jiangxi on the map. She is in Nanfeng. And we believe she is in an orphanage but not 100%... our agency will confirm next week.

Then Meg told me her Chinese name. Her first name is Yan Ni and her last name is Lu. All this time I have been very adamant about not keeping any of her Chinese name but now I kinda think Lilly Lu has a very cute ring to it! Then came her medical stats:

Medical Exam was conducted December 5, 2007
On that day she weighed 6 kilograms=12 pounds and was 59 cm tall=23.2 inches
All her blood tests were NORMAL
Her heart rate was 120 beats per minute
Her physical exam concluded she was NORMAL

Next came some facts on her Motor Development:

She can hold her head up when she's on her stomach
She can visually follow toys
She laughs out loud
She can differentiate between people she knows and people she does not know

Then we got a few facts on her routine:

She gets up at 9 a.m. and then naps at 11 and at 4 and goes to bed at 8 p.m.
She eats 6 times a day. Her diet is milk with rice powder and sugar
She is restless & obstinate
She likes all toys
She likes to play outside
She can give a ready smile
She is a deep sleeper

All the information was coming fast. Meg advised us to have our Pediatrician look over the paperwork when it arrived via FedEx on Monday. Then she promised to email the pictures within the 1/2 hour and she did. We all agree she is VERY, VERY CUTE... and if I said I wasn't worried I'd be lying. I'd love her if she had 10 eyes and a elbow on her head... but I wanted her to be cute and I have to say... "I hit the JACKPOT BABY!"

Now, y'all don't be mad 'cause I'm bragging on my new baby. I just can't stop looking at her. We hope to travel in June to pick her up and bring her home. I hope the time will fly! I sure do love my baby already!

2008-05-02T10:59:00.007-06:00

Here SHE is!!!!!

Her Chinese name is Yan Ni Lu pronounced (Yon-Nee-Lou)

She was born AUGUST 20, 2007 and she is in JIANGXI PROVINCE

2008-05-02T05:07:00.002-06:00

Remember This?

Can you believe it's been 4 weeks since that awful Friday morning when we waited for the phone to ring with referral news and it never did? I took this picture initially for Lilly's scrapbook... a small documentation of our preparation for that moment when we "met" our daughter for the first time. It's still on my camera... but without pictures of a celebration to follow. Well... life has gone on. The month has passed rather quickly and now we wait again. A "Stork Alert" has been issued for families up to January 12, 2006. I have no idea if we will be included or if we will not. Better go charge those phones just in case!

2008-04-30T12:11:00.023-06:00

The Apple and The Tree

You know the old saying used to decribe children who grow up to be much like their parents. I am an Apple... my parents are The Tree. Sometimes apples DO fall far from the tree... very far indeed. Springtime is in full bloom... and will very soon give way to summer here in the South. I must admit... my parents have a beautiful home. Their yard is equal in beauty to the house. It sits on a lake and every nook & cranny of their yard displays botanical treasures that they pick up from friends, nurseries and garden centers across our area. Many of their prettiest flowers have bloomed already and too quickly are losing their blossoms... their Camillias, their Snowball bush, their Granny Gray Beard and my favorite, their Forsythia. Soon the summer flowers will come... the roses, the Confederate Jasmine and grandest of all- their Hydrangeas. My yard, on the other hand, is not so grand. And below, I make my case:

Here in my parent's front yard is a bed of Sweet Williams... neatly enclosed in a stacked stone flower bed... perfectly weeded.

This 55 gallon drum sat in my front yard for over a week. The Money Maker got it to hold water for our new "farm" (a.k.a. his hunting land) until the property has running water. Yeehaw!

Here are some pretty purple flowers that serve as a ground cover in my parents yard. I got a close up of these small beauties... but there are hundreds more.

Here's what covers a good portion of my yard. Trees that The Money Maker... his brother and my Dad cut down WEEKS ago. Have they been cut up and stored as firewood for the winters to come? No. Has the mess been cleared away? No. Has the new pool house been erected where these trees once stood... thus, being the reason they were cut down? No.

Look at these beauties. I do not know their name... my Dad told me last spring... but they are so pretty when they're dried. They're a mustard yellow color and my parents have a huge mound of them in the front.

In my yard you'll find a spare tire for our camper. Why you ask? I'm asking the same question.

Here's a picturesque spot. An antique iron bench nestled along a garden path, under an old oak tree. My kiddos were photographed here for our Christmas card this past year. I sat here with my mom just a few weeks ago as we watched my Dad pull weeds and my nephew Cohen play. She was tired and rested her head on my shoulder. I loved that moment.

The Money Maker must have needed to rest too after cleaning our our pool. I suppose he was so exhausted he couldn't muster one more ounce of strength to put the vacuum hose away.

Here's another one of my Dad's pretty flower mounds. This one is in the back yard. My Mother cuts these flowers and brings them inside for the prettiest arrangements around her house.

Look what I found walking in my backyard!!! Not only did one of my kiddos sneak one of my precious Pibb Zeros out of the refrigerator... they drank it and then thoughtlessly tossed the empty can in the woods.

Hostas are one of my favorite flowers. That's because they thrive in the shade. I also thrive in the shade. These hostas live on the shady side of my parents house.

This broken down "For Sale" sign was in my front yard as I drove into the driveway one afternoon. "Are we moving?" I inquired to The Money Maker. No... the kiddos had found it in the woods and drug it to our front yard. After stubbing my toe on the bent post seen here walking to the mailbox the next day and then screaming "*&^%$#@#$"... I drug the rickety old sign to the side of my house. I suppose I need to eventually drag it back to the woods???

Look at this lovely pot of purple Salvia. I think it's beautiful against the thick, rich green ivy backdrop.

Against the green backdrop of my grass I found a decapitated bird last week. How lovely was that?

And here's my precious little "putty tat" that is quite possibly responsible for the aforementioned decapitation.

And I couldn't put my camera away without 2 more photos.

Here in my yard are a couple of dead Boxwood bushes that The Money Maker pulled up from around our pool but never discarded, burned or hauled away.

But you can see he has been burning. Here's the fire pit? burn area? designated location? that he loves to burn old foliage. Nothing is more exciting than to take a Christmas tree 6 months after Christmas and see how fast that sucker can dissolve into a pile of ashe. This is also the favored burial plot my son uses to bury rodents my animals kill. Squirrels. Moles. Rabbits. Obviously birds. With 3 retired barn cats and a farm dog roaming the premises... many small animals meet their demise in our yard. I don't see much death at my parents place.

I want a place like my parents. I want to be the apple that doesn't fall from the tree. 'Cause it's such a beautiful place to land!

2008-04-28T18:45:00.003-06:00

Inside The Matching Room

According to all my friends over at The Rumor Queen's site, several agencies are reporting that the CCAA has begun matching May referrals. Let's take a peek at what may be happening across the ocean right now... it being Tuesday morning in Beijing & all. This is a real photo of inside The Matching Room at the CCAA (even though the comments are mine.) Will they find our file & match it or will we wait & wait & wait & wait & wait & ........................

2008-04-28T07:20:00.003-06:00

Question

If I eat a bag of cookies with a diet soda... does the zero calorie beverage cancel out the calories from the cookies?

2008-04-25T07:52:00.005-06:00

Something to Chew On

The Money Maker & I are taking the kiddos camping for the weekend. So I thought I would leave you with some of the latest statistics from The State Department to ponder over the weekend. Thank The Rumor Queen for this chart.

This is interesting!

IR3- Only one parent travels to pick up the child.
IR4- Both parents travel or the child is escorted to the States

In 2005, 7,906 children were adopted from China. That means 2 years later the numbers are down 2,453… almost 2,500 kids.

2008-04-24T06:05:00.016-06:00

Decorating feels the Gas Crunch

I am finding a hard time thinking of things to write about... don't know why I'm so uninspired this week. So, I'm going to drag you through some projects around the house I'm working on. I've always got "a project" going on. It drive The Money Maker absolutely crazy. Crazy I tell you. But, he's survived almost 13 years... he'll make it a few more. Anyhoo... this week, one of the projects I've been wanting to undertake is switching out the fake flowers that adorn my front door. Sounds nice huh? I noticed over time that some fancy-smancy houses around our small southern town had door buckets on their front doors displaying seasonal flowers. I liked it. And because I'm a copy cat decorator... if I see something I like, I copy it. It's not pathetic on my part... it's a compliment on yours. So I started this in January. I took down the Christmas wreath and put up my new white tin door bucket. I drove 40 miles to the nearest Hobby Lobby store to pick out some fake flowers, berries and other dried "stuff" to hang on my front door for the next couple months. I love Hobby Lobby. It sucks me in and forces me to spend money. It meets so many of my needs... from scrapbooking to party decorations to decorative accessories to gift wrap. It is one of my most favorite places in the world... a Disney World for domesticated 30 something women like me. The floral department is excellent. My mother has never used "silk" flowers (silk is fancy talk for fake) but I have found that they work much better than real in certain decorative situations. And the Hobby Lobby floral department is very excellent indeed. Well, fast forward almost 4 months from that late December day. Gas prices have SOARED! And since I am spending a small fortune buying gas to drive my kiddos to activity after activity this spring I am now thinking twice before driving 30-45 miles (one way) to the larger towns that surround my small one to visit some of my other favorite hang-outs like Target and Macy's. My small town has a Wal-Mart. Doesn't every town today? And so the other day in between picking up hair detangler & milk I thought I'd just browse the Wal-Mart floral department to see what they had to offer... and thus spare myself the 1/2 tank of gas it would take to drive to the nearest Hobby Lobby store. Wal-Mart had a lot of this:

and this:

I was scared. But I determined to keep looking for some diamonds in the rough as the visions of the climbing gas price numbers on my local BP gas station marquee kept popping up before me. And after several minutes of digging and careful examination... I selected what I thought had potential to (hopefully) beautifully adorn my front door for the next few months.

Oh, Hobby Lobby... what is this hypnotic power you have over me? If the Money Maker ever kicks me out for doing too many "projects" can I come live with you?

This was my winter floral arrangement. It sure looked better IN the door bucket than laying on my pollen infested front porch. I promise.

This is what I came home with .

This is my door bucket. The white tin looks good with the white trim on my brown house.

My oldest child was bored and decided she would help me with my new design. She asks a lot to be on the blog so I think she thought if she helped me I would include her on this post. It worked.

Her hands were in the way so I made her turn around so I could use her back to steady the bucket. Two seconds after this photo she would run along to find something better to do. So much for being "trusty."

Here are the proper names of my Wal-Mart selections. I think labeling the arrangement with the proper name gives it a bit more sophistication... how 'bout you?

And I think it turned out nice. I really do. And I saved at least $20.00 in gasoline. More money to shop on eBay for more Southern Living at Home products... just kidding Money Maker!

2008-04-22T06:18:00.006-06:00

Keepin’ it Real:

Country Grandma

I am really lucky to still have my Grandmas. Both my Grandmas are awesome but, I have 2 very different Grandmas… I have City Grandma and Country Grandma… kinda like the childhood story of the city mouse & the county mouse. City Grandma is never at home… she’s either playing cards, on a cruise, at the beach with her girlfriends, antiquing in the mountains or at supper club. Country Grandma is always at home. Except to go to Wal-Mart, the beauty parlor or a doctor’s visit she doesn’t go outside. She lives with my parents… in a basement apartment designed just for her & my grandfather (God rest his kind & beautiful soul.) County Grandma loves TV. She also loves to talk. Talk & talk & talk. She knows lots of information because she watches lots of T.V… and do I mean LOTS! Country Grandma is 87 years old and probably because her mind is older and in the house 99% of the time & always watching TV, her real world & her TV world are beginning to collide. And boy can it be confusing! I remember when my best friend Mandy’s Grandma Barbee used to think the weather man on the local news was one of her doctors. She’d compliment his choice of ties or remind someone to remind her to tell him how handsome he looked on TV. We used to get a big hoot out of that. Country Grandma isn’t there (yet.) She realizes these people are on TV but she’ll talk about them like they are her family or friends. Here’s a recent conversation:

Me: Did you see when Cohen (my nephew- her great-grandson) gave his stuffed Elmo his pacifier the other day… it was so cute!
Country Grandma: Yeah, wasn’t that so cute. You know Elizabeth was talking today about the hard time she was having getting her little girl to give up the pacifier.
(At this point I’m like… Elisabeth? Who is Elisabeth? Do we know an Elisabeth?)
Me: Oh really… how old is her little girl? (I play along hoping to acquire some more clues on who this Elisabeth is.)
Country Grandma: Oh… I don’t know… 3 maybe. She had her before Rosie came on the show.
And suddenly I realize we’re talking about Elisabeth Hasselback from "The View." And we continue the conversation about pacifiers and how Elisabeth made up a story about the “Passy Fairy” and that her baby might take to sucking her thumb if she does get that pacifier away. Just a normal conversation about our family friend Elisabeth Hasselback.

One day last fall we were all ohhing and ahhing over how pretty my mom looked in her new wig. She lost her hair with chemo and got a “hair prosthesis” which was actually very beautiful and becoming on her. Here’s how that conversation went:

Us: Oh Mother… we like it… really like it… it looks good.
Mother: Yeah, I like it too and it doesn’t get messed up in the wind.
Us: (Laughter)
Country Grandma: Well do you know last week Lynette ripped her wig off in front of everybody to tell them she had cancer. They were all just shocked!
Us: Oh, that’s terrible. (We have NO idea who “Lynette” is… we know we don’t know a Lynette. So we have to ask…) Now who is Lynette again?
Country Grandma: On Desperate Housewives… don’t you watch that?
We’ve told her 100 times we don’t, but she does and it’s just like she’s the 5th Desperate Wife and keeps us informed on what’s happening with the gals on Wisteria Lane.

We mostly get updates from all her friends from ABC's Daytime line up... Regis & Kelly, the gals from "The View" & all the characters from her "stories" (soap operas.) She tells us all about the local news and focuses on the smallest stories and is always so shocked when we don't know about them too. Example:

Country Grandma: Did you hear about those horses up in _______ County?

Me: No... what happened?

Country Grandma: (in a disgusted voice) Oh come on... they burned in a barn fire!

Me: Gasp

Country Grandma: Yeah... all 5 of them... couldn't save a one.

And on she chats about robberies, car thefts or other "news" stories on page 10.

But, I'm happy these "friends" keep her company throughout the day. They're dependable and consistent. The news informs her, "Dancing with the Stars" entertains, her "stories" have been a lifelong companion... out living all her friends, she stays young & hip thanks to "American Idol," she keeps an eye on the weather and informs us all of anything severe coming our way, she can catch church on TV if her back hurts too bad to go. I love Country Grandma and when she's gone (hopefully a long time from now) I'll probably miss the stories that confuse and catch me off-guard today.

2008-04-21T06:29:00.041-06:00

Hamburgers 1o1

I'm not sure why I'm on this food kick. But, I am. Springtime will soon give way to summer and in our neck of the woods that means grilling out... A LOT! And the food my family loves to grill out the most is hamburgers. I agree... there is nothing quite as delicious as a well grilled summertime hamburger. Cheese... lettuce... mayonnaise... salted tomato on top... yum! yum! Problem is... by July 4th, I've eaten so many grilled hamburgers that I'm turning green and I've ingested so much charcoal, propane and/or lighter fluid infested animal flesh that I'm sure I'm growing some sort of massive tumor in the deep recesses of my gut. But for last night... they were good... the first burgers of the season. The Money Maker had the kids out on the boat. I made the sides... and kept putting off making the patties because I don't really like mashing raw meat with my bare hands. But alas, the time kept passing by and I knew if I wanted to eat before midnight I better have everything ready to grill when he got home. So today, I thought I would share a hamburger making trick that I have learned. This trick, I learned from The Money Maker and it works surprisingly well. It's a guarantee for even patties that will all cook the same.

Start with the pack of meat. I can't look at it or I won't eat it. I'm scared what may be in it. I try to cut into even chunks.

Then get a salad plate and a soup bowl. These poor dishes have digressed in ways they never imagined when they sat on a well kept, beautiful, sweet smelling store shelf in the mall. They have fed animals... they have been left under the playroom couch filled with spoiling cereal milk... and now they are tools used to smash raw meat into patties.

Here is the chunk I cut off.

Then work the chunk of meat into a ball. This is the worst part. I hate when I can feel the juices (a.k.a cow blood) squishing through my fingers. I have to do it over the sink in case I barf.

Then sandwich the ball of hamburger in between the plate and the bowl.

Mash gently.

Wah-lah. A perfect patty. I'm sure there are machines I could buy off an infomercial for $19.99 that does the same thing... but why when I have the tools right in my cabinet.

I clean the entire area with my favorite product for cleaning raw and potentially hazardous food materials and cow blood left on my counter.

Here they are. Pretty, ain't they? All even. I sprinkle with salt... add a little Dale's (I prefer Worcestershire sauce but we didn't have any) and wait for the grill to heat up and grill them to perfection.

2008-04-18T07:54:00.004-06:00

Springtime Sandwich

Do you ever get in a pattern of eating the same thing everyday for lunch? My girlfriends and I always eat salad on Wednesdays at Ruby Tuesday's. Growing up, my dad ate tomato soup & grilled cheese everyday. Well these days I'm addicted to tuna fish sandwiches. I put as much dill relish as tuna in the mix. Yum! Yum! It's cold & fresh and feels like springtime. Do you like dill relish? The other thing I MUST have dill relish with are hot dogs... or kilbasa. We use to eat a lot of hot dogs in our house but then Baby #1 saw a show on T.V. (my kiddos are addicted to the Discovery & History Channels) about how hot dogs are made of animal organs. We all barfed a bit. But I love to talk about how hot dogs are made because Baby #3... my Baby Boy... informs us they're made of "pig contestants" ... instead of intestines! Hee hee... I think it's so funny. I don't ever want him to outgrow it. Even if the other kids make fun of him. This is a worthless piece of personal information about me and my son and even my dad, that you wondering why you now know.

2008-04-17T06:30:00.012-06:00

Housewife Drudgery

There are certain things I like about being a housewife. I enjoy laundry. I enjoy vacuuming. I enjoy sewing. There are other things I don't enjoy. I don't enjoy mopping. I don't enjoy doing dishes. Sometimes I don't enjoy cooking. And I NEVER enjoy cleaning out my refrigerator. As a result... it ends up looking like this:

So bright and early Monday morning I was ready to tackle this infestation of grossness & confusion. I won't gag you with the moldy spaghetti I found or shock you with the number of expired yogurt containers I had to toss... but I did document some interesting discoveries.

I'm not really sure the last time we had K.F.C... I know it has NOT been in 2008!

This graphic photograph speaks for itself!

I do use parmesean cheese a lot... we love Italian! But 4 bags? Have I never heard of making a grocery list? As you can see I'm not a brand snob... I must alternate between name brand parm and bargain brand parm. If I'd use an entire bag first I may save enough money to always buy name brand... or even organic!

I was sick when I discovered this 1/2 a roll of old cookie dough! How did that go uncooked... or even eaten raw with a spoon... yum! What a waste!

And after filling a bag and a half of garbage I was left with this. Ahhh. I even took out the shelves and cleaned them with hot, soapy water. It's Thursday and it still looks like this. How long can I keep it going?

2008-04-16T17:43:00.002-06:00

Gotta Bust His Chops

This is why Dads don't do sunscreen. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but I'll have to admit that Day #1 at the beach I was in charge of sunscreen... and did a darn good job. I've already posted about my infatuation with SPRAY sunscreen and the miraculous job it does protecting my kiddos from the sun with only a quick spray of the skin. Day #2 dawns. The Money Maker decides he's going to "do" sunscreen this day. He huddled all the kids in the condo bathroom (because he said I wasted 1/2 the spray doing it on the balcony because of the wind) and I suppose thought he was doing a "better" job by spraying and then rubbing the spray into the skin. This is the result of his work. OUCH! Baby #1 came in with a nasty back burn. We spent the rest of the night applying coat after coat of aloe (tip: keep the green jelly bottle of aloe in the fridge... cools the skin & feels good!) How much more simple can "SPRAY" sunscreen be? You "spray" it on the skin. No rubbing required. This is why we give him one name. He's proven that besides not being The Bath Giver or The Supper Cooker or The Carpool Driver... he's also not The Sun Screen Applier!

2008-04-14T18:01:00.001-06:00

New Week. No News.

We're into the 2nd week of April now... 1/2 way done and we still do not have any new news about our Lilly. We are to contact our agency in "a couple weeks" to see if they have new information. We sure thank all of you for your PRAYERS and KINDNESS... so many of you have been a tremendous encouragement to us. I have some good posts to do but The Money Maker has my cordie thingie to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer... so I'll be back tomorrow.

2008-04-10T06:07:00.006-06:00

I Love It!

I'm back with a few products that I totally LOVE and want to pass along... one girl to another.

First, I'm absolutely addicted to these fuzzy, chenille "lounging" socks. The ones that are so soft & warm. Now... I did NOT use to be a sock person... except when wearing tennis shoes. But our house that we have now was built on a crawl space & in the winter the cold air underneath the house really chills the tile & wood floors. So I started buying these socks to wear around the house at night. Then I started sleeping with them on. And then I bought more pairs. Now, I wear them all the time when I'm at home. Problem is... it's starting to warm up... they're going to make me hot... I might have to walk around barely dressed to keep cool 'cause I won't take off my fuzzy socks. When at the beach last week I didn't take any. I suppose packing I thought... beach, sun, sand, surf... fuzzy slipper socks didn't fit into that equation. I missed them desperately. Though my feet weren't necessarily cold. Odd.

Second is SPRAY SUNSCREEN! This is the greatest invention since sliced bread! Oh the time I spent rubbing in lotion sunscreen on wiggly, squirmy little bodies when the kiddos were small. Now... it's zap the front... coat the back... wah-lah!!! all ready to go outside! It's TOTALLY worth the 6-9 dollars you pay per can! We were laying on the beach & I dig in my bag and pull a can out to spray my legs. The Money Maker goes... "how much does that stuff cost?" Uh oh, I thought. So I mustered up the courage to be honest & said "'bout 7 dollars." He shocked me by saying "It's worth every penny!" And when The Money Maker says that... you KNOW it's worth it. And I don't think I'm the only one. Moms all up & down the beach were spraying their kiddos too. It's "da bomb baby!"

Finally, my favorite of all is the Neutrogena Sunscreen Face Stick. Love it! And the Neutrogena one is THE BEST! With SPRAY sunscreen I usually buy the CVS brand... I have discovered generics work just as well as Coppertone, Hawaiian Tropic, etc. But with the face stick... I stick exclusively with NEUTROGENA! You cannot find it at Wal-Mart... you have to go to a CVS or Walgreen's. I have an affection for Neutrogena products anyway, and love this one because it's a.) oil-free... I have enough face trouble without jamming my pores with some lard based sunscreen b.) it doesn't irritate my face... mine & little kiddo faces can be sensitive. If I come at my face with that Coppertone pink baby sunscreen, it starts stinging before I can get the top off. This will not sting sensitive skin.

2008-04-08T20:22:00.007-06:00

Where I Stand

The kiddos are tucked in bed & I come upstairs to my office for a little computer time. I ran across this blog:

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

If you don't have time... make time to skim through it. If you want to see REAL strength... TRUE grace... read what this family has experienced these past few months. It makes our situation look like a tiny scrape on the knee. Life, this side of glory, is full of trials. Some are big... some are small... some endured easily... others shake us to the core. The key is foundation. When the winds blow... threatening to tear your world apart... what keeps you anchored?

"My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand."
~Edward Mote

2008-04-07T20:07:00.006-06:00

Still Waiting

We're home. Whew... what a trip. The weather got a "D"... definitely below average. The kiddos were good. But the referral situation was a fiasco. I still can't think about those grueling hours. It mildly compares to the day we found out my mom had cancer. That day we were waiting in the waiting room for her surgeon to come tell us what he found during a biopsy he was preforming on one of her major organs. We saw other doctors come in the waiting area... find the family group of their patient... talk briefly and then leave. It was slow motion when my mom's doctor came in. He went and spoke with the receptionist. We then heard her say "so you need a conference room?" It was like POW!!! Kick straight to the gut! I couldn't believe what was happening. The surgeon walked over to us and asked us to follow him. I knew what was about to transpire but I couldn't believe it. This is not real... this can't be happening. We knew it was a possibility but when the actuality occured it was surreal. Almost an out of body experience. Finding out news like that was FAR more grievous than this situation. Last Friday we're sitting there waiting for the phone to ring. Families start emailing that they've received "the call." And as one hour turned into two I'm beginning to fear something bad. Finally, I call them. The intention of my call to the agency's office was to say, "look... I'll keep waiting all day, but I just want to make sure everything's o.k." And when I heard the staff member say "we don't have anything for you" it was that waiting room feeling again. No... no... this can't be real. My fear has come true? Is this really happening to me? The Director got on the phone & tried to calm, comfort & explain the situation. The conversation seemed to go so fast & when I hung up it was over. No baby. Nothing to do. Wait.

I have to keep this in proper perspective. Losing a child... serious illness or disease... accidents, deaths, those in the adoption community who have struggled for YEARS with infertility & miscarriage... does my disappointment even compare? I don't think so.

We have been in contact with our agency in the past 24 hours. They, in turn, have been in contact with the CCAA in Beijing. Our assignment was DELAYED due to questions that arose while our file was under review. Our agency told us we HAVE BEEN APPROVED to adopt... and that they are working with the CCAA to get us a referral as soon as possible. Hopefully, next month.

2008-04-06T10:47:00.003-06:00

"How often do we learn patience through times of suffering? God makes no mistakes, yet His purposes are often too deep for afflicted men to comprehend. We must learn to trust Him explicitly, as One who does all things well. No circumstances are so dark that God's presence cannot make them light, and even in the most adverse circumstances, God can fill our hearts with overflowing joy."

Mrs. T.M. Constance

2008-04-05T06:49:00.002-06:00

I woke up with this verse in my head and it will be my heart's song for the weekend...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him

and He will direct your path.

Proverbs 3:5-6

2008-04-04T11:45:00.010-06:00

I Had a Feeling

I know this is confusing. To me it's infuriating.

Calls from our agency began this morning around 10:15 EST. By noon we had not received a phone call... other than prank calls by The Money Maker calling me from his brother's phone giving me a heart attack both times... the mood was light-hearted and exciting at the time. So, I was like... what is going ON??? These calls only take a few minutes to make... they only have like 10... why aren't they calling? But in the back of my mind was The Rumor Queen.

The Rumor Queen (God bless her little cyber heart) had warned the Adoption Waiting Community on occasions before that families get skipped. I've even written about families here that have been skipped. Usually the reason is this. All dossiers go through inspection in the Review Room before they are given the stamp of approval. If the CCAA has questions about finances... immigration approval... health... they'll ask agencies to get further documentation or clarification before approving the file and sending it on to wait to be matched. WE WERE ASKED A QUESTION IN THE REVIEW ROOM. It was about our immigration approval- that during the longer wait had expired and China wanted an updated copy. We provided that. And we were told we made it through review and SPECIFICALLY TOLD that we remained in the same place in line. It's like being in line at Disney World. You're waiting to get into the park. Security stops you to look in your bag & make sure you're not carrying weapons. Well while they're checking your bag, they don't stop the line... they continue to let those behind you without bags to inspect, into the park while they're making sure you're O.K. to go in. Then they let you go in, but now you go in BEHIND those were previously behind you. Does that make sense? It appears now though that DESPITE what we were told by staff members at our agency... we did not keep our same place in line. The rest of our LID group received referrals while our family did not. The WORST part of this is that:

It is now the middle of the night in China. The CCAA is closed for the weekend. It will be Sunday night USA time... Monday morning China time... before the director of our agency can even speak with the CCAA about where our file is. When she was trying to explain to me the situation over the phone this morning while I sobbed in her ear I about blew out her eardrum out when she told me she'd try to get some information "next week." "NEXT WEEK???" I shrieked... You gotta be (*^%#!$^& kidding me... I'm dying here and now I have to wait until "next week" to get an idea of what the heck is happening to the last 4 years of my life... the time, the trouble, the money, the emotion I've put into this baby I was expecting today and now is lost in the stacks of backlog at the CCAA??? (I didn't say that last part out loud... but boy howdy I was thinking it. Heck... I still am!)
We have NO $%$#&*#$ clue where we stand in line.

Our agency's director told us today the hold up had something to do with The Money Maker's salary. That there was a question about a specific number. We weren't even asked about that once we were LID... the question from the Review Room was about immigration forms. So that is confusing.

Our director told us today that we were "approved" and I'm just so &*(@^#% tired of waiting I could scream and throw this *(&^%D@#! laptop off this beach condo balcony. Ever since that question came through while we were in the Review Room I have been paranoid about this happening. I was told it wouldn't but guess what... it did. I have SOOOOO many questions. How did this happen? Why could our agency not see this coming? Why could they not check to make sure each from from our LID group had been assigned when they knew the CCAA was matching? I hope they know how desperately we want answers and that not putting this as their number one priority Monday morning would be cruel. I'm off to reassume the fetal position with my red swollen eyes... stuff, drippy, snotty nose... head swirling with questions and wish it was all a bad, mean dream!

2008-04-04T09:05:00.001-06:00

I have received word that REFERRALS HAVE ARRIVED AT MY AGENCY! My kiddos are wrestling with their Uncle James and getting on my nerves... I'm about to expel everyone from the condo so I can wait and obsess in peace. The Money Maker is agging them on... he's got to go too.

2008-04-04T08:20:00.004-06:00

The STORK HAS LANDED...

CALLS ARE BEING MADE...

I have no information about our referral... I'm so nervous I am about TO PUKE... my heart is beating a million miles a minute and I want everything quiet... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

2008-04-03T08:22:00.005-06:00

1.) It's Thursday, April 3rd and I have no GOOD reason to believe that Referral Calls will be made today. In fact, there are increasing rumors that calls won't be made until Monday. When we say Referrals usually come in the "first of every month" it means the first PART of every month... not necessarily the first DAY of the month. Most agencies are not open on the weekend, so referral packages arriving on Saturday wait until Monday morning to be opened.

2.) I've now been to the store a total of 4 times and still forgot batteries. So that means I need to go AGAIN today... making Trip #5.

3.) We ate at a local restaurant last night on the beach. We ran into one of Baby #2's friends FROM HER CLASS... small world. They had a big time playing in the sand.

4.) My children have consumed close to 100 Cream Sodas.

5.) Upon arriving "home" last night we discovered Baby #3 had left his shoes at the restaurant in the sand. So, The Money Maker & Baby #3 hopped right back in the car to go get the shoes. The restaurant is only 5 minutes from the condo... so it wasn't more that 7-10 minutes that we had been gone. Upon approaching the restaurant to retrieve the shoes The Money Maker & our Boy Child saw that a horrendous head-on collision had just happened. No ambulance had arrived... no police... no firetrucks... just smoke & spinning tires & a woman screaming. They drove past, picked up the shoes & turned around quickly to get past the wreckage before the road was shut down. We soon learned that a woman driving one of the cars was dead. It was a terrible reminder of the fragility of life. In the 5 minutes after we drove that same stretch of beach highway a woman had lost her life. Over. Done. The tragedy reminds me to enjoy the preciousness of my life, The Money Maker's life and my babies. I can so often get bogged down with the "burdens" of life... laundry, sunburns, breaking up fights, saving money, waiting... that I allow the joy to be robbed from the gift of simply existing in my very good life. I am blessed.

4.) I'll leave you will a scene from our boat ride yesterday.

As I sat next the The Captain (The Money Maker) we witnessed a moment of sibling bonding and sweetness that can be rare among our children some days. As they talked and laughed together I thought they looked to sweet in the light of the setting sun. I'm off to apply sunscreen and pack the cooler. And be glad I'm here to do it!

2008-04-02T13:10:00.001-06:00

The Rumor Queen is reporting that "SOMETHING IS IN THE AIR!" Travel Approvals have arrived so yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking...

Breath... hee, hee, who... hee, hee, who...

2008-04-02T08:41:00.005-06:00

Where's the Sun?

And Where's My Baby?

We're settled in here at the beach... been to the grocery store twice... already have a pile of laundry to do... and dishes piled up in the sink. 'Bout the only thing that's changed is my geography! The clouds are heavy this morning with light drizzle misting... they kept us from watching The Blue Angels practice. We've been coming to this beach since 1991 and have never been here when The Blue Angels were scheduled to practice. Today was our lucky day. But... due to low visibility (they need at least 3 miles they said) it was a no go. Bummer.

No "Stork Alert" has been officially issued from my trusty rumor sources. I have heard rumblings that we may see babies faces as early as Friday. I'm starting to wonder if it'll be next week after all. This is predicted to be a small batch... I sure am glad we're almost through and feel so bad/ sad for those who are behind us in line. Stay posted....

2008-04-01T07:21:00.002-06:00

I don't think I'll get a deep, bronze tan... the temp is not forcasted to get above 80... I should've headed to Cancun with my friends Harriet & Dana for that. But The Money Maker is taking his boat and will drag me out to fish... the kids will like that. Here's my biggest beach pet peeve: We have a pool at our house and we'll take the kiddos all the way to the beach... sand, surf, shells... and 15 minutes after setting up camp beside the ocean they'll whine "I wanna go to the pool!" Ugggg... I can see the scene playing out in my mind already! I've alerted my Adoption Agency (the best agency) of our travels and given then all the numbers to contact us, should referrals arrive before we return next Monday. I'll be blogging... don't think that The Money Maker goes ANYWHERE without Internet access... ohhh... the horror!

2008-03-31T15:00:00.003-06:00

Late off the afternoon press are some snippets of information from China.

1.) We have an agency (or two) reporting that the cut-off for this month is January 9th. While the cut-off doesn't matter to us this month, this is interesting because perhaps the CCAA has completed the matching process and know how far they were able to go. Now they just have to get those bad boys signed and FedExed to the U.S.A.(I now have sympathy for those 1/10ers that will POSSIBLY miss the cut-off by a day... that was rough.)

2.) A family is reporting they received their TA (Travel Approval) today from China. Again, though this doesn't matter to us... usually referrals are close behind TAs arriving.

I told my Mom & Baby Sister last night I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't hear anything about Lilly until NEXT Monday, but now I'm a bit more optimistic that referrals may come in this week. We'll see. I'm beginning to get nervous... so much is unknown!

2008-03-31T11:07:00.004-06:00

Where'd Everybody Go?

"Woo-ooo-woo." Can you hear the old tune from a John Wayne Western as a cowboy enters a deserted old ghost town? Our small southern town is eerily the same during the week of Spring Break. Church services are cancelled... extra practices are called off... businesses close their doors. Living so close to the Florida Panhandle most folks pack up & hit 85 south as soon as the school bell rings leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot empty and cats & dogs to be fed by kind Grandmothers for the week. We'll be heading out in the a.m. No news has come through from China... only a small rumor that matching is still taking place. Looks like Lilly could be a beach baby... we may find out with the sound of the surf in the background.

2008-03-28T11:20:00.003-05:00

Writing on the Wall

I am a copy cat decorator. I am also a magazine addict. I love to investigate & pour over decorator magazines. One of the things I've always wanted to try was writng on my walls... stenciling & painting sayings onto a wall. Here are some websites that offer such products:

It's fun to look at these sites and see some of the very cool things you can do with custom stencils saying ANYTHING you want to say. They offer lots of suggestions or allow you to come up with something all on your own. I wanted something for above the shower in my girls' bathroom. It's not a big bathroom... and didn't want to overcrowd it with lots of knick knacks, pictures or useless "stuff." And here's how the project went.

The stencil comes in a small little box. This is a second one I've already ordered for our foyer.

I drew a level line in pencil where I wanted the saying to be. The pencil is EASILY erased with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Sponge. The stencil is a one-time use stencil that has sticky backing. The bottom of the white backing is level and I lined it up on my pencil line. Then I used the "Dry Brush" method of painting the letters. I put on two coats to make it the shade of blue I wanted.

And look HOW COOL it turned out! I LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! it. You can see a bit of the snazzy (if I do say so myself) shower curtain I made last week... I pulled the blue out from the fabric. I can't wait to do the next one!

2008-03-28T06:06:00.002-05:00

Begins today at 2:30 p.m. EST. Hallelujah! That means 10 glorious days of:

NO Alarm Clocks
NO Homework
NO Ball Games
NO Spelling Tests, Book Reports or Study Guides
NO Mandatory Swim Practice or Youth Choir Rehearsal
NO Carpool Lines
NO Fixing Lunches in Lunch Boxes
NO Struggles to get in the bed at a decent hour after I've overscheduled my kiddos and we're at the ball field until ungodly hours of the night
NO Missing American Idol

Baby #3 was pumping himself up for school in the car this morning saying to himself "one more day... I can make it one more day!" I'm with you brother!

2008-03-27T07:48:00.003-05:00

(im)Patiently Waiting

Well, isn't just my luck that the Rumor Queen would fall deathly ill the week(s) prior to ME receiving my referral. Thank goodness for "The Forum"... where fellow waiting parents share information they've received. The Rumor Queen has been very quiet (I supppose being sick in bed with the flu will do that)... there hasn't been any RQ "official" rumors posted. We have heard from the agencies of fellow adopters that MATCHING IS IN PROGESS... but no word on when they plan to be put in the mail... or when they expect to arrive here in the U.S. I thought I would be calm(er) this month... knowing our LID was next up... but OH-NO... I'm more impatient than ever... wanting to know! know! know! when those referrals are coming.

2008-03-25T08:10:00.004-05:00

A-OK to go to CHINA

The Money Maker & I have been going round & round & round about Baby #1 going to China with us. She is DYING to go... begging, pleading, groveling. Anyone who has ever gone has told us to take her. The Money Maker has been concerned mostly about the $$$. But, yesterday he told us... SHE'S GOING. So we scurried off to the Probate Court because, as chronic procrastinators, we still have not gotten her passport... AND we realized that we don't just need it to get her on the plane... we have to send it in with our VISA applications... like in just a few weeks. So we paid to have it expedited and hope to have it in only 2 weeks. So we'll see how it goes. Hope we don't lose her, allow her to drink the water or get food poisoning.

2008-03-24T08:48:00.010-05:00

When Egg Hunts Go Bad

My kiddos couldn't wait to finish Easter Lunch and go on an Egg Hunt with all the beautiful eggs they had dyed the night before. Each of them had favorites they wanted to find. They couldn't stop asking when it was going to happen... when was I going to hide the eggs... it was going to be so much fun... And it was... for a while.

My kiddos started the day looking like this. Ain't they pretty? Except that Baby #3 ALREADY has his shirt untucked. But don't they look happy & full of love?

And they're off. They begin to search for the eggs. Baby #3's Kindergarten class had an egg hunt on Friday. There were basically 400 plastic eggs stuffed with unmeltable candy laid all across the playground. Not too many places to really "hide" the eggs so they didn't really have to "hunt" for them. The kindergarten "egg hunt" was really a "egg pick-up." But it was fun & all the kids got a basket full. Well, we agreed that for our family egg hunt Mommy would "hide" the eggs. I didn't dig holes & bury the doggone things... but I hid them. Some were in plain view (i.e. in a tree or on a fence post) and some where a little more obscure (i.e. in our car's tail pipe or in a flower pot or in the hole of a tree.)

Well, there already off the beaten path and starting to complain that they can't "find" the eggs. I remind them this is an "egg HUNT" and they need to keep looking. They also begin to pair up so they can cheat off each other. When one yells "FOUND ONE"... the other races behind them hoping to grab the egg first.

Now they're yelling at me. "We can't find the eggs... boo, hoo, hoo." They're all 3 together complaining and squabbling. Those lazy little bums. Yet, I am slow to anger and give them ANOTHER pep talk... my brother-in-law, Brandon, gives them some clues... and we encourage them that this "is fun" and "they can do it!" We then begin the "you're getting warmer... oh, you're cold" hints.

Uh oh... things are getting ugly now. Baby #3... coming down off a sugar high induced by eating too many Peeps... is now completely dejected that he can't find as many eggs as his sisters. The sisters like to announce their total each time they add a new find to their collection... "I have 16... Now I have 17..." While Baby #3 only has 5 or 6. I gather my chicks and tell them... calmly... that the spirit of the Egg Hunt is turning sour. They need to split up... LOOK for the eggs... they're not going to fly up & hit them in the head... and I whisper some extra clues in my baby's ear to help him along.

But my efforts are fruitless. After missing out on an egg he found but his sister grabbed first, he sits down and crumbles. And the Egg Hunt is officially a disaster. And now I'm mad. I tell the girls to find the rest of the eggs on their own... giving them clues so obvious they'd be morons to miss... and then practically have a coronary when they ask "Can we do it again?" WHAAAAT??? No! No! No! Next year I'll have a legal agreement of good sportsmanship, kindness & proper attitudes for them to sign IN BLOOD before beginning Egg Hunt '09.

2008-03-23T17:41:00.006-05:00

Kids Play '08

I am NOT a kid at heart. I still feel young... but there are things that I once did as a child that I would not choose to do anymore if it weren't for the fact that I have children. Now I do these things for the one single purpose of creating memories for my kiddos. My parents did it for me & I'm passing the tradition along. Some of these activities include:

Carving Pumpkins
Building Sandcastles
Going to Disney World
Trick-or-Treating
Ride Rollercoasters
AND... Dying Easter Eggs

But nevertheless, I hopped in with excitement & joy last night and dyed Easter Eggs with the kids.

I actually read the directions on the back of the box and they suggested setting up the materials on TRAYS... to keep the materials contained and help with clean up... it was genius! So here's our set up... the kiddos got a dozen eggs each... it would've been WWIII to watch them split a simple 12. And they actually did very well... didn't even keep count. They oooed & ahhhed over everybody else's creations.

Here's one going in....

Here it is coming out. My hillbilly son actually just got out of the shower... that's why he showed up for the party with only half his clothes on. I use that really effective, yet lazy, parenting technique of "you can't do ______ until you do _____" to get what I want sometimes. It was NOT a chore to get him soaped up & smellin' good for Sunday Church knowing he had to do it before joining in the fun. I love bribery.

Homeboy here got a little bored & decided to get jiggy for the camera!

And didn't we end up with a pretty Easter Basket! Tomorrow I'll tell you what happened to these beautiful eggs. But for now, just enjoy the goodness of children having fun & making memories... spending time with each other (actually getting along!) and with their Mother! I try to remind myself to treasure these moments as precious gifts that I'll always remember too!

2008-03-23T07:26:00.000-05:00

2008-03-20T05:39:00.002-05:00

Almost Everyday Now

With 3 kiddos and a busy schedule I use my calendar A LOT! I seem to keep myself pretty busy as well. And now it seems like everyday I make some sort of appointment & when I make it I think "when we do this... we'll KNOW about Lilly!" I saw my dermatologist last week... he wanted to see me back in a month & I thought it. I took Babies 1 & 3 to the dentist Monday... when I made Baby #2 her appointment for next month... I thought it. When I got the notice that Spring Ball picture day is April 12th... I thought it. Yesterday, I took Baby #2 to our pediatrician for a recheck for an ear infection she had 10 days ago. The dadgum thing wasn't much better (Baby #2 has issues we won't get into today... the child's a medical trainwreck.) Anyhoo... they wanted to see her back in ANOTHER 10 days... which will be in the middle of Spring Break so we had to make the 2nd recheck for AFTER Spring Break, being the 2nd week of April and I thought it. Baby #1 has to register for a swim meet next month... I thought it. I'm getting my hair cut this morning & when I schedule my next appointment for 6 weeks from today... you guessed it... I'll think it! The closer & closer we get to our referral the more my life begins to INVOLVE Lilly than not involve her. I'm getting closer to having her than not having her. And it won't be long that her name will be on my calendar too... doctor's appointments, getting her picture made appointments, play dates, hair cuts... hope she's ready for a wild ride!

2008-03-18T14:58:00.011-05:00

Going Against the Grain

I have been a member of the Chinese Adoption community for nearly 4 years now. And in those 4 years I've seen (via cyber space) lots & lots of babies come home to their new families. I wound venture to say the the majority of adoptive families keep part of their new baby's Chinese name as part of their new "legal" name. Lilly will not have any of her assigned Chinese name as part of her new legal name. Here's why:

She's MY daughter. I named my other children and I'm going to name this one. When I had Babies 1, 2 & 3 the hospital administrator didn't assign them a name. My obstetrician didn't make me agree to name them after him before extracting the child from my writhing & contracting body. The Mayor of the city we lived in didn't set forth a decree that all children born during his term must bear his name. I had a baby and I named my baby. Simple. These orphans in the Chinese Welfare System are give names by people who care for them... not love them... not planning on raising them... not moving heaven & earth to bring the home to love & safety. Babies found after being abandoned are often given names like pets at the Humane Society are given names. Perhaps a beautiful baby is given a name that means "beauty" just the way a frisky dog is name "Rascal." We adopted a cat once named "Second Chance" because the shelter had rescued it from a kill shelter on the day she was supposed to be put down. Before I got her home I named her "Sara." It's a sweet sentiment... but no thanks, I'll give my baby a name that means something special to me.
Many adoptive parents give their daughters 2 American names... the same most American born children receive a first & middle name at birth... AND then tag on part of their Chinese name to the end... like a third name. Too much for me. Plus, I don't think she'll like it and eventually drop it. I could be TOTALLY wrong, but I think most AMERICAN teenagers don't like attention drawn to them. You know those kids you snickered at on the first day of school when the new teacher was calling roll for the first time... it's one thing when a teacher announces "Amanda Lynn Jones?" and the girl says "It's Mandy." But for a teacher to say "Robert Herbert Smith?" and the poor kid gets teased & called "Herbie" instead of "Bobby" for the rest of his life. The Money Maker's middle name is Eliott. Well we grew up in the age of the movie E.T. Ask The Money Maker how many first days of school he spent hearing "Hey, Eliott... E.T. need to phone home?" or something stupid like that. So I just see Lilly dreading & cringing each first day... each new class... when some new teacher announces "Lilly FuLing Johnson?" Some parents might think it's a good character builder... I just assume save her as much trouble as possible.

Now, this is ONLY a name. It's like getting babies ears pierced. I wouldn't pierce my babies ears... but I don't think bad about people who do. Families who DO keep part of their daughters Chinese names I'm sure have good, wonderful perhaps even very convincing arguments for why they did. It's just not for me. And I'm sharing this not to talk bad about keeping part of the Chinese name... but only because I know people will ask and now you know!

2008-03-17T13:08:00.009-05:00

Let's Look at China

Before I started this process of adopting a baby from China all I knew about the geography of China was where to locate it on a globe. I didn't know that the country was divided up into regions called PROVINCES... I didn't know that the climate of China mirrors that of the U.S.... and I defintely didn't know the names of the provinces. One of the first bits of information we will received about Lilly on Referral Day is where she lives. It will be the second stop on our trip. We fly into Beijing (Northern China)... go to her province to pick her up... then finish our trip in Guanghouz in Guangdong Province (see it in gray in Southern China) to finalize the adoption at the US Consulate. Last night we had our Travel Advisory Meeting with our parent liason, Janet, who told us there are 3 provinces that are considered MAIN FEEDERS to the CCAA with children available for International Adoption. One is Guangdong... where the US Consulate is in Southern China, two is Jiangxi Province just north of Guangdong. And I can't remember the third. (Perhaps another parent can remind me.) Other provinces are considered MINOR FEEDERS and send far less children's file to the CCAA... but do send them and families do travel there. Lately, I have tried to memorize or at least become familiar with the locations of the provinces and how to pronounce them, so that on Referral Day I look like I know what I'm talking about.... sort of... hopefully.

2008-03-15T17:56:00.004-05:00

Last night I had one of those dreams. Have you ever had one? You know... those dreams that leave you feeling weird the next day. Like they were so real that you had to remind yourself it was only a dream. I had one once in Middle School. I dream I kissed this boy. The next day when I saw him at school I was all silly & giggly feeling inside. I felt like it had really happened. I was shy & embarrassed to see him in the hall. Well, I had a dream like that last night. And I woke up this morning scared... with cold feet. I dreamed we got Lilly. At first in the dream she had blonde hair & blue eyes. I was tearing off small pieces of strawberries (must be leftover from the Strawberry Shortcake the other night) and feeding them to her as she was cuddled in my lap. But I was confused. Then her hair was in a pony tail... and the hair was that of an African American... coarse... and standing up in the pony tail. And I remember thinking... this little girl in NOT Chinese. This is not what I wanted. And so I woke up this morning feeling weird & somehow afraid that Lilly will not look like the Chinese baby I have pictued in my mind. I'm better now... even though a small tinge of the dream remains in my mind. I think about the moment when I'll see Lilly for the first time a lot. When I had my kiddos, I knew basically what they would look like. Naked. Newborn. Probably bald. I remember being so surprised when Baby #2 was born because she looked just like Baby #1. I remember saying "Oh my gosh it's another one!" And that meant... just like Baby #1. And years later Baby #3 came out looking the same... only with boy parts. But with Lilly... just about anything BESIDES naked, newborn & probably bald is possible. She could be 3 years or 7 months. She could be pale complexted or have darker skin tones. She could have very almond eyes or they could be more rounded. She could have lots of hair or hardly any at all. She could be chubby or a peanut. I just picture myself sitting at this very computer when those images of my daughter come across for the first time. I know it sounds vain... but I'm scared to death! But no matter what she looks like, I can be certain she WILL be Chinese... unlike the uncertainty of my dream... and I will love her and cuddle her and feed her strawberries if she wants.

2008-03-13T14:18:00.003-05:00

Henry Doesn't Like Strawberries!

Sometime I'll have to tell you about our dog Henry. He's got quite the tale. But for today I'll just tell you... 'cause I know you're dying to know interesting tidbits about my mut dog... that apparently he does not care for strawberries. I made Strawberry Shortcake for dessert last night & piled the uneaten portions on top of the uneaten dinner portions... (from the kiddos... I cleaned my plate... for proof, see last night's post.) Anyway, I gave Henry the table scraps after cleaning the plates. When I came back I saw Henry had managed to eat every morsel of leftovers without touching & ingesting a single, sliced & sugared strawberry. They even had whipped cream on top! Silly dog!

2008-03-12T21:23:00.006-05:00

I'm Not the Pope But...
The Vatican came out this week with some new sins. Yes, that's right... new sins. Why these things weren't sins before I'm not quite sure, but, then again, I'm not Catholic. Anyway, the "new deadly sins include polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely rich, drug dealing, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice." Seems like most of these are no-brainers... but back to the point of this post. So, in the spirit of the Pope's new rules I thought I'd play along. Yesterday I cleaned out my closet. I got all the sweaters packed up (awww...) I tucked the wool slacks, turtlenecks, coats & jackets in for their summer hibernation in the guest room closet... I boxed my boots to make room for flip-flops & Tevas. And then I began to go through my "Summer Wardrobe." I don't like my summer clothes as well as my winter clothes. (I've been studying Genesis in my weekly Bible Study and my new wardrobe motto is "Winter have I loved, but Summer have I hated." Those of you who know Genesis will get the joke... but may not be laughing... is that wrong to joke like that? Mom, let me know.) So that's the 1st strike against the summer clothes... I'm just not as excited about pulling out capri pants as I am a thick, snuggly sweater. So as I go about my regorganizing I use my shoe organizer as a split between what I can wear and what I've gotten too fat over the winter to wear. As I went through the clothes the sides grew uncomfortably even. Take a look:

My closet is not wide enough to get back enough to get a good shot. It's long & narrow. But in this picture you can see the shoe divider & the two sides.

Here's the side I can still wear. It mostly contains items with elastic waistbands, frumpy "Life is Good" t-shirts, NOTHING sleeveless and anything I've bought new since getting fatter.

Boo... hoo... hoo.... here's the side that I cannot wear. Sure I can zip most of the zippers... but nobody wants to look at that. It's ugly... it's lumpy & bumpy & gross. Most of all, it's uncalled for- that's what it is!

So here's my new sin:

Thou shall not gain so much weight that thou can not fit into perfectly good & stylish clothes. Thou shall not buy new clothes to fit thee's growing buttocks. Thou shall not eat so many Reese's Peanut Butter Easter eggs that thou canst fit into what remains of thee's summer wardrobe.

And I don't need to go to confession... I need to go to the gym! I need to go on a diet! I need to go to a hypnotist so each time I reach for the fridge door I cluck like a chicken or better... run around the block! Maybe go spend Spring Break at a fat farm going through detox from sugar, chocolate & well... just chocolate and other sugars! Wondering... do I get a break for being pregnant (even if on paper) for 3 years???