And still we wait...

I wish I had more to post about. We are Day 60 waiting for our LOA. We are hopefully in the home stretch.

I am trying to make the days go faster. I did spend the day painting "C" man's room. He wanted John Deere, so we ordered the bedding and border. The carpet was already green, so we painted the walls yellow. I must say, it turned out pretty nice. I love to paint...I am one of those people who, when they want something done, it has to be right now, and with painting, it is an instant transformation, and you see the progress immediately. Tomorrow, I am going to paint the letters I bought for Shanxi girl's room.

"G" man was out sick from school yesterday, but luckily it was just a virus, and off to school he went today.

I'm doing pretty good with my packing list...Dan laughs at me sitting on the computer with a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in front of me. But you just wait, he'll thank me for the day we need our list to get everything packed and ready!

Please keep us in your thoughts and pray for patience for us.

Not much more to post about tonight, I am off to go hunting...

Here ladybugs....heeeeerrre ladybugs...

Starting my Packing List...sort of...

Ok, Ok....Breathe... (I have to keep reminding myself of this) So, I am in the process of compiling 4 or 5 different packing lists into one of my own. My good friend Amy sent me hers, and I googled packing lists for adoption. I have never seen so many Microsoft Excel charts in my life! I just picked out the 4 best ones, and will go from there. I have my Highlighter ready, a blanket, and a cup of tea, to keep me going. Oh, and Grey's Anatomy too, of course! I was complaining about trying to pass the time, and Amy said she was starting to compile her list of things, so when we get our paperwork back, if we need to travel within a week or so, we will be prepared.

And I thought packing for 10 days to go to Myrtle Beach was hard!

We have size and weight limits for our luggage. We can only have about 44 lbs in a suitcase. Now, that might sound like alot, but let me tell you, it adds up quickly. When we get ready to travel, I will post pictures of our luggage mountain. That, compiled with the fact that you don't want to forget anything, or leave anything out, makes for a heavy bag. I do know a must have is Ziploc bags. Every list I printed out stressed the importance of taking these along. I just have to keep telling myself it's not like we're flying to outer space or anything. And of course, they even have Walmarts in China!
I am debating on what to take for Shanxi girl and what to tote her around in. I want to try to get an update of measurements before we go. She looks big in the pictures, but, I have a feeling she's alot smaller after you remove all of her layers. I have seen the very nice Ergo carriers, and also Sling Lings. They both look nice, although the Ergo is alot more money. BUT, is is worth the money if it's a better carrier? I definetly want one of the two, since I want to be able to carry her as much as possible to help with the bonding.

Well, better go get started! If anyone has any tips or tricks for packing, please let me know!

Until next time...

I am so in love...

Didn't I tell you all? Ladybug sightings are good luck!! Here are two new pics I just got from Ann at Redthreadchina. The funny thing is,after opening them, I think she might be in foster care! I have never seen these people before, let alone a man, and she is not in the orphanage, it looks like she is out celebrating Chinese New Year! It warms my heart to see she is growing and is just so beautiful. Yea, I know that I said last post that if I got a picture it might appease me, but, it's making me even more anxious to get there and bring her home. She is wearing the jacket and hat we sent her. Looks like we did good size wise.Now I know for sure she got the scrapbook I made for her. I wasn't even sure if the package would make it the whole way from the US to China, but this is proof positive!

Come on LOA's! I want my little girl! We are at Day 47 1/2.

And so we wait....

Guess what was in our house today?

Yep-to some it might be just a bug-but to those of us in the Adoption World, we know that Ladybug Sightings are a good sign. They are considered a sign of good luck in China. Imagine my surprise when I opened the blinds today and saw this one on top of the door. I am hoping this means we will be getting our Letter of Acceptance soon. We are also hoping to receive an updated picture and/or measurements from Ann at redthreadchina soon. Shanxi girl should be getting the care package we sent to her sometime through the night tonight, since it is daytime there. It will make the wait a TAD bit easier to see a new picture of her.

The boys are doing their Valentines for their parties this week. "A"man is supposed to wear pink tomorrow and red Thursday, but when I mentioned about him wearing pink, he gave me an "are you crazy" look... "G" man reported today that since it was raining, they had recess in the gym and said with a huge sigh,"The girls chased me all recess AGAIN, mom. They must really want to catch me." "C" man made out his Valentines, but I wasn't sure if he wanted to in the first place, since he's a 5th grader now, and maybe that's just not cool to exchange Valentines anymore.

If I were to guess right now when we would travel, it would be in April, which would be fine and dandy, but, they have a Spring Trade Fair most of April in Guangzhou and the price of airline tickets and hotel rooms triple. You also run into the problem of finding open hotel rooms at last minute too.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that we can travel next month if at all possible.

Hopefully next time I post, it will be with new photos or info of Shanxi girl!

Until next time...

The time is slowly passing waiting for our LOA. We ask for your thoughts and prayers for patience. It is just so hard knowing that she is over there waiting for us. We sent a care package a few weeks, and are hoping that we can get an updated picture and measurements.

So, what do you do to pass the time? As many of you know, I am an avid scrapbooker, and we (me and my scrappin buddies) scrapbooked last weekend, so that passed some time. We also have another crop this Saturday, and I look forward to it, just to take my mind off the wait. My thoughtful husband bought me a Cricut Expressions for Christmas, and I am ashamed to say it, but, it hasn't been out of the box yet, and I wanted one so bad...


I am hoping we hear some news about LOA's and Travel Approvals coming this week, now that the CCAA is back to work.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Kristi!!!

Until next time...

SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!

After a very nervewracking game, our STEELERS are champs once again! It really was a great game down to the wire, and I probably wouldn't have said that if we lost :)

The kids were into it for the first half, but once they started hearing us yelling at the television, they retreated to their room to play Madden on the PS2.

We are at Day 38 of our wait.

Until next time...