Signing off stateside...

Let the adventure begin! The bags have been zipped shut for the last time and are in the car. All that is left to do is tonight is shut down the computer and put it in the carry on. Then tomorrow morning we are on our way.

But let me say, as crazy excited as we are to go and meet Kylie, we are sad to leave Maya behind. I mean, who could resist this adorable, pathetic face (she knows something is up ~ she's seen one too many suitcase over the past week...)

Oh, and yes, that is my ski coat she's laying on. So if you notice dog hair in any of the upcoming pictures, just smile and ignore it!

Kylie's dresser

So on Sunday's post (Sunday takes on a new twist) I commented about the dresser Ian built for Kylie's room. It has received its last coat of paint, has been carried upstairs, and the butterfly drawer pulls have been applied. Now all I have to do is fill it with adorable clothing...

Today has been very productive for me! I FINALLY got my suitcase packed and I'm quite proud of myself for how little I'm taking (though I dropped out of girl scouts, I'm usually well prepared ~ another way of saying I'm an overpacker!) As of right now mine and Ian's suitcases together weigh in at 58 pounds. That would be well under the 88 pound allotment that we have together once we are in China. But then there is Kylie's suitcase. That sucker weighs 48.2 pounds. I've tried to take stuff out, in fact I've already removed 6 pounds, but I'm just gonna suck it up and pay the overweight charge at this point. I'm done stressing about it!

I wish that I could even express all the emotions I'm feeling right now. I have to admit that I'd wondered from time to time if this day would ever come. And now it is tomorrow!!! Please join with us in prayer that the predicted weather doesn't cause us to be delayed.

Oh, and just in case anyone is wondering... Sunday night we stood around Mama's driveway saying the catchphrase of the day, "This is the last time we will (fill in the blank) without Kylie." This blank was about loading the car ~ which includes Maya ~ as we left Mama's house, following praise team practice and supper. As we pulled out of her driveway we were both very quiet. I knew what was running through my mind, but wasn't sure what was on Ian's mind, or if he was just quiet because he was tired. After a few minutes, he looked at me and asked, "So, am I the only one, or are you sorta nervous?" Sometimes he CAN read my mind!

Don't get me wrong, I'm so very ready to try my hand at motherhood! We fully believe that God directed the CCAA in matching Kylie to us. It's just that I start thinking every now and then, "Am I going to know what to feed her? How often does she need a bath? When does she get Tylenol and when should she get Motrin instead?" And I thought I had to make a lot of decisions as a teacher...

Thursday's weather forcast in Charlotte

Are you kidding me?

Thu, February 1

8am

Few Snow Showers 29°F

9am

Wintry Mix 31°F

10am

Wintry Mix 32°F

Deep breaths, prayer, more deep breaths, more prayer...

I know that God will get us where we need to be when we need to be there.

(Thanks to both Mama and Sam ~ Maya's dogsitter for the time we're gone, who used to work at the airport ~ for talking me off the panic ledge!)

Fiesta night!

Okay, now is the time to start getting busy! And yet when I try to think about clothing I just sorta freeze. Hmm, what can I do to procrastinate packing my suitcase today?

Oh, I know, dinner with some of my forever friends ~ that is the perfect stall tactic! So Ian and I met Jen & Chris and Sherry & Alan for some Mexican. (We'd heard that chips and salsa are hard to come by in China, so we stuffed ourselves tonight over great conversation). Thanks for celebrating with us guys! Love you much!!!

I think there is a part of me that had begun to think this day was never going to arrive. Now here it is just 3 days away. There is still so much left to do (the list hasn't gotten much shorter since Friday when we were models of responsibilty) but God has granted me peace for now. I've always worked best under a bit of pressure (I perfected my procrastination mastery back in college days where I won the "Most likely to procrastinate and still get by" Award for my class at Elon)

So here I sit staring over my laptop screen at two things, a large pile of clean laundry and my darling husband who is zipping his suitcase with a big grin on his face. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to decide what to put in mine.

Right now Maya looks sad, I think I'll go pet her for a while...

Sunday takes on a new twist

Today has seemed so strangely surreal! All day long I felt like I was sort of floating around and each place I've gone or thing I've done has been preceded with a "This is the last time... without Kylie"

We arrived at church for the Sunday morning service (for the last time without Kylie), we ate Sunday dinner at Mama's (for the last time without Kylie), Adam pointed out that we took our last Sunday naps (without Kylie ~ though we hope she will fall into that weekly routine). And so the day went...

***Now for those of you that don't realize, Sunday is a rather sacred day in our family. It involves going to Bethel UMC for worship and Sunday School and then all of us (my sis Traci, her husband Adam, Ian's mom, me, Ian, & of course Maya ~ who is dropped off on the way to church) going to Mama's for a big Sunday dinner. After we eat, it is understood that at least Adam will take a siesta, but often the rest catch a few zzz's too. We take our day of rest very seriously and therefore engage in activities (if not sawing logs) like reading, knitting, or just catching up on the week in conversation.***

Sadly there was no nap for Ian today. He has been determined to finish building a dresser for Kylie's room! He has spent hours in his "makeshift woodworking shop" ~ otherwise known as our garage ~ here at home. To add a whimsical touch, he decided to use Mama's band saw to cut out butterfly drawer pulls (remember the bookshelf he made?). There are six drawers on the dresser and each of us (Me, Ian, Mama, Mom, Traci, & Adam) painted a set of the butterflies. Each "artist" used the same two colors ~ the pink and green paint from Kylie's room ~ but no two sets of butterflies are the same. (And if you are wondering, yes, you can EASILY pick out Traci's butterflies, we were all jealous of her talent). But it meant a great deal to us that Kylie's "Sunday relatives" participate in one more piece of her nursery.

Winterplace Day

Tank of gas to get to Winterplace, WV ~ $34

Room at the SleepInn Friday night ~ $73

Two 8am to 10pm lift tickets at Winterplace ~ $110

Cost of last weekend fling before responsibilites of being parents ~ PRICELESS!

Let me say that whoever first thought about strapping long sticks to their feet and heading downhill at a rapid pace was most likely considered a lunatic! But kudos to that brave soul!!! Ian and I LOVE to ski and have spent many weekends since 2000 hurling ourselves down a mountain (these days much more in control for me than back then...)

We've explored the slopes of NC, three in WV, one in Maine, Taos out in New Mexico, and even four in the French Alps, but the important thing is that we've explored them together. We've laughed at each other's "dork moments," helped one another up from falls, learned from each other, cheered one another on, raced to the bottom, and enjoyed spending time in God's amazing mountains together.

One thing to note, this was the best way we could think of to spend our last weekend as just the two of us (well, we couldn't get a flight to Les Deux Alpes arranged in time ~ or begin to afford it...), but we couldn't help wondering how long it will be before we can introduce Kylie to our favorite sport!

Models of responsibility!

Or not...

So we are at 6 days and quickly counting. I do have Kylie's suitcase (over)packed, but still need to tend to our suitcases, figuring out carry-ons, leaving detailed instructions for the dog/house sitter, make photocopies of important documents necessary for the adoption, finish cleaning the house (see Muddy footprints), prepare some meals for the freezer for when we get home, write a few more thank you notes for some baby gifts, work on Kylie's 100 Good Wishes scrapbook, and find time to sleep!

So what are we doing tonight?

Heading to Winterplace for a last impulsive ski fling. Hey, its our LAST weekend in the states before we are parents! See ya slopeside! (And don't worry moms, we'll be careful!)

Muddy footprints

So our first "child" is a Golden Retriever named Maya. She is such a love! Maya joined our family just before our dossier of paperwork was logged in with the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs. We weren't looking for a dog, the opportunity just "fell into our lap," and when we met Maya, we knew that she was part of our family.

Maya was 5 months old when she came to live with us. She was so small back then! She was only about 25 pounds and at that time it didn't seem like such a bad idea for her to be an inside dog. But I should have paid attention to those feet...


We've been weighing things lately (I know that there is NO WAY we are going to stay under the 44 pounds of checked luggage per person in China ~ my stupid suitcase is 11 pounds empty!) and Ian decided to see where Maya is checking in. A mere 72 1/2 pounds! Goodness gracious, our baby has grown!
Now she is lovable and is always happy to drop whatever she is doing ~ or get up from any nap ~ to take a de-stress walk with us. Usually she is within arms reach of one of us in the house. But having such a large inside dog has it's share of disadvantages!

Take for instance what happens when you leave her outside for a while, after there has been lots of rain (see Digging to China). Then say that you don't notice how dirty her tennis ball is because she's dropped it in the mudhole and then brings it in the house. Someone is going to throw the ball and when it hits the wall, it leaves a mark (or if you don't pay attention and throw it again, numerous marks). Or better yet, she chases after the ball and uses the wall as a springboard to change direction and leaves muddy footprints on the wall (YES, it has really happened)!

So then you are left with REALLY dirty cream colored walls. And you have a new baby coming home in a few weeks (and nesting is kicking in, HARD). And you have already stopped working because you thought you were leaving today (and didn't feel like having to explain to your preschool parents why you aren't already in China). So you're at home trying not to go out in public and spend more money, but you can't bring yourself to put clothes into your own suitcase just yet ~ remember that Kylie's is already packed ~ so what do you do?

Well, you get a bucket, a microfiber cloth, and my new best friend and break out some elbow grease. After three Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and about 45 minutes, I had cleaned the kitchen, entrance foyer and dining room walls and baseboards. That means only the living room and stairwell to go, luckily the mud seems to disappear before she makes it upstairs...



The walls down here look so much better! But you can just about see a gleam in Maya's eye that says, "Don't worry Mom, soon there will be two of us to tag team you and keep the walls a mess!"
Looks like I'll be stocking up on Mr. Clean!

Kylie's suitcase is officially (OVER)packed!

Today came and went faster than I can believe! At the rate the hours are slipping by to the amount of preparation I'm getting done, I think we're gonna be sliding into a parking place at the airport next Thursday morning with the brakes squealing...

I mean, really, how many times can one pack, unpack, and repack a suitcase for a 10 month old baby? Well, for me it would be three times now, and by repacking I didn't necessarily use less space. I went from a small suitcase for Kylie (it is pretty much full and overflowing)...
...to a much larger one that once I finally added the "pharmacy" we are taking for "just in case..." is crammed to the gills!


And I have yet to even lay out one item of clothing for myself... At least the "pharmacy" for Ian and I is laying on the guest bed!

Speaking of the pharmacy... I'm trying to decide what to do about the boxes that medicines come in. I was going to take everything out of the boxes and leave bottles sealed in the original packaging, but someone in our group told us that they are leaving the bottles in the original boxes. I'm thinking that is a waste of suitcase space ~ by the time I get rid of the boxes, I should be able to squeeze in one more adorable outfit for Kylie, right?

One quick funny before I sign off for the night! So Monday night Ian (unbeknownst to me) decided to test out our baby monitor to make sure the batteries work. I was in our closet hanging up my clean laundry and saw him walk back out of our bathroom and simply assumed he had forgotten something downstairs. So I finish hanging up the clothes and go into the bathroom to brush my teeth, not noticing that he has the a monitor receiver in there. As I thought he was downstairs, I nearly had heart failure when suddenly there is a LOUD male voice in the bathroom with me! (Traci, you will appreciate that I fell to my knees ~ I'm still wondering how I managed not to pee in my pants!) And then he comes back in ~ guess he heard my thud ~ and innocently says, "Did I startle you?" Aaargh!

Day 9 rapidly fades...

In the morning we will be saying, "8 days!" I sure wish I could say that I was really productive today, but in all reality, I wasn't so much...

Sure I did get a few things done including quilt wishes for Caroline and Marisa (someday I will figure out how to put links along the side of the blog ~ who are currently living in Lianjiang SWI with Kylie), fixing three meals for Ian and myself, and spending three hours at the Toyota dealer getting a new catalytic converter for the Highlander (thank goodness for warrenty ~ no cost except for the hours of my day).

We also had Bible Study tonight which is such a highlight of my week. Our group ranges from those still in college to several young married couples, but I love each of them dearly. They have been so supportive of our adoption process and are really excited to meet Kylie in a few weeks!

But the important task didn't get finished today... Kylie's suitcase didn't get any more attention since I put it in the guest room last night. I've emailed two new China mommys for some advice on the packing list. Newly armed with their answers, I feel ready to tackle that issue again in the morning!

The countdown is on!

So today I spent most of the day packing Kylie's suitcase. I started with full intention of packing just about everything that was on the couch in photo from Wednesday's post (And the Packing Begins). Shortly after I tried ~ in vain ~ to get all of that into the bag, I realized that she will have time to wear her clothes here in NC too!

I ended up taking everything out and started over trying to make sure I had a balance of different weight clothes to accomodate the temperature shifts. I think what I have now is more reasonable... (but probably still much more than we need!)

I feel sorry for anyone trying to talk to me from now until after we get home. I can manage to talk on a topic that doesn't involve Kylie or our trip for about 3 minutes before something makes me think of my sweet baby and suddenly I'm gushing on about her again! Guess there is something to being able to hold up fingers to represent days until...

10 and counting (or as my darling sister and I used to say in our childhood anticipation of Christmas, "10 sleeps until...")

It's a Sunshine Day!

Wow, I just had to take a minute out of packing Kylie's suitcase to express how amazing it was to wake up today to the knowledge that FINALLY (over two years after the idea of Kylie entered our minds) we know when we are going to meet her!

She has gone from the general idea of adoption, to prayerfully choosing China, to a paperwork chase, to a long, quiet 15 month wait, to a photo that we've carried everywhere, to a reality that we will hold on Monday, February 5th for the first time!!!

God has held us in the palm of His hand during this roller coaster ride ~ I'm sure there are more sudden drops to come, but for today we are basking in the sunshine, both outside and in our hearts!

Back to the task at hand ~ how many outfits does a baby need for 12 days anyway???

We have plane tickets!!!

Oh my goodness, this just got real!!!

Before I say anything else, let me say that God is amazing! Just Wednesday night we were back in the "unthinkable pattern" of knowing it would be possible we wouldn't meet Kylie until March. Now just over 48 hours later, we have plane tickets and will meet our darling daughter on Monday, February 5th!

Okay, so here's the run down... I was feeling kinda icky again (love my preschoolers, but they have this thing about coughing in your face) and decided to sleep late today ~ yesterday was my last day in anticipation of leaving next week. So I came downstairs and greeted Ian and Maya and decided to check my email while my cup of coffee brewed. And there was one from AWAA that stated our consulate appointments were confirmed and we'd be leaving on the 1st.

Next came emails giving our tentative flight itinerary for us to review as we waited for them to call us and go over the details. We waited, and waited and finally got our call. The only problem with ours was that our family has to come home early due to the CCC Charity Ball ~ I can't believe Ian and I are missing it this year, we had so hoped to introduce our CCC family to Kylie at the event. So it was a nervous few hours after we told Ashley that they needed to come back early and she said, "I'll have to ask our head travel coordinator and I'll get right back to you."

After two hours of silence, the phone finally rang again with her cheery voice on the end of the line saying, "I have good news about the switch for your family..."

All that to say that we do have tickets. We leave on the first and fly to Beijing through Chicago. We will be meeting Kylie on Monday the 5th of February (two years and one day after submitting our initial application to AWAA ~ wonder if with the time zone thing if we will actually be meeting her on the 4th in US time?)

Two steps forward, one step back...

Ugh!

Yep, that about sums up yesterday afternoon and evening!

Funny that as I was finishing up with yesterday's post, I my computer chimed to let me know, "You have mail!" So I added the picture to the blog, published it, and then looked to see if it was news from the agency. And it was, but not the news that we wanted to hear...

Instead it said, "I know this email finds you all anxious to get to China to meet your precious children! We are anxious to get you there as well. I wanted to update you on the information we have received from the Consulate in Guangzhou. Unfortunately, they are booked for the week first week in February so we re-requested appointment dates for the following week."

It felt like I had been kicked in the stomach ~ hard! Or actually more like I was standing to help block a penalty kick in soccer and somehow didn't get out of the way fast enough when the best kicker from the other team let loose and wailed on the ball from some 15 feet away. Or like when you're standing not paying attention in a pick up football game and someone charges ~ well, I think you get the picture.

So we did what all people with serious let downs do, we went out for dinner (Thai) and then did some serious retail therapy. (Thanks to all of you that gave gift cards to baby stores!) After we got home, we felt a little better and today feel even better yet.

I'm going back to my thoughts from a friend last week ~ her words encouraged me then, and they still do now. (Click here if you want to read what she said.) We have new tentative travel dates, but I'm not going to get my heart set on them until we have plane tickets. We're praying and ask if you love us to do the same!

Oh yeah, just so you know... I have refocused my frustration on the packing efforts. The guest room has become the "catch all" location for the things around the house I've been collecting for the trip. Here's a peek...

And the packing begins...

Well, still no word from our agency on definate travel dates. We are hoping that the tentative date they gave us of January 25th ~ which would put us meeting Kylie on the 29th... or wait a minute, with the whole China is one day ahead of us thing, would we really be meeting her on the 28th? I have to think about that one... ~ will hold true. All we are waiting for now is the US Consulate Appointment so that her citizenship will be established before we leave Guangzhou.

I don't work at the preschool on Wednesdays, so I've been busy preparing for the trip ahead today. Finally I've cut tags off of Kylie's clothing and started washing her tiny clothes. There is a load of crib sheets, blankies, and socks in the washer right now, but here are the other loads I've done so far...Oh, and yes, things are stacked on top of one another...

So do we need that much clothing for a little person for two weeks? My answer is "I have no idea!" I've never packed for a baby for a weekend trip, let alone two weeks! Do I pack just a few things and plan to use hotel laundry service for her clothing, or do I way overpack for her in case the hotel laundry detergent irritates her skin? Oh, and it has mostly been in the upper 60s to lower 70s all month there, but a few days were in the 40s. So what weight clothes do I pack? And then of course comes the fact that I only know how big she was in August, what size clothes do I take??? So yes, I'm probably taking everything on the couch, it is a variety of sizes and clothing weights ~ at least her stuff is small so I can cram lots into her suitcase...

My suitcase is another story for another day!

We're going to China!!!

So how about I got so excited when we got a critical email around 12:45 yesterday that I forgot to update here to let some of my close friends know that our travel authorization finally arrived!
I came to my computer after lunch with Ian (I'm off on Fridays and Ian telecommutes from the house) and decided to check email ~ even though I had sorta written good news off for the day ~ before I started my "afternoon to-do list."

Funny how just a few minutes before we had been saying that we were confused because we had both felt that either Thursday or Friday was going to be "the day." I had told him not to worry because right before I joined him at the table for our gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I had "pulled out the big guns" of prayer and sent an email explaining what was going on to both our Bible Study group and our Sunday School class. I knew that with all them on the job (plus our entire extended family that I had called into prayer service on Tuesday night) that our TA would be here by Monday at least.

Little did I know that it would arrive as we discussed it over lunch...

So when I checked my email, I just started yelling, "It's here, it's here!" and when Ian came running out of his office and into the living room, we just started jumping up and down and spinning in circles. If our sweet dog Maya hasn't thought we were nuts before, I know she did then! But she got caught up in the excitement and started chasing her tail and spinning in circles with us.

Best part is that our tentative departure date (depends on if we can get consulate appointments at the right times ~ please continue to pray about that!) is January 25th. Yes, that is less than two weeks away! Wowzers!!!

China, or more importantly, Kylie, here we come!

Still waiting...

I am overwhelmed with the outpouring of love my family and friends have been showing during this shorter, yet more urgent, stage of waiting for Kylie. Amazing how six weeks can seem soooo much LONGER than 15 months now that we know WHO we are waiting for...

Anyway, I've had folks emailing, calling, and checking in person to see how I'm holding up. And funny that though I'd take some pretty crazy measures to ensure we get to China before Chinese New Year, I have a peace about waiting. I have no doubt that it is the prayers that you are all offering on our behalf! I've even found myself the calm one while talking to a family member in tears who was worried about me and how I'm coping.

I'd like to share some words a dear friend of mine shared with me in email yesterday.

Kristi, As I prayed for you, Ian, and Kylie last night I thought of how God is working in each of you to make His plan complete.  I cannot imagine how difficult it is for you right now as you await Kylie in your arms, but I know that God is working in someone's heart in preparation of His grand plan and I think it could be one of the caretakers for Kylie.  You remember how He used a baby before to save the world?  Maybe He is using Kylie to show His love to one of the caretakers.  Anyway, you are in my prayers constantly and I await the great news that you guys are on your way to get her.

If that doesn't put a smile on your face and a song in your heart, I don't know what does!

"I Will Praise You (God) In This Storm"...

Today marked 42 days since we got the phone call that told us we were parents. Tomorrow will be 42 days since we first saw our daughter's face. And that means 42 days have passed without being able to hold the child we have longed for these past 6 years.

I write that to say that becoming parents was something we were ready for 6 years ago. I know already that we had to wait until now to get "our" child. God knew of her in December of 2000 (as He already knows all that have already lived and all that are yet to live) and knew that she, Lian Bao Zhen ( soon to be forever known as Kylie BaoZhen) was suited to be with us. Or better yet, that we were suited to be her parents. Of that I have no doubt! God picked Kylie as He will select siblings for her one day. I have His peace about Kylie being THE child for us.

The hard part now is this uncertain wait. 42 days have come and gone. Someone else has seen her first smile of the morning, heard her cries for hunger, fed her bottles, changed her diapers, kissed her sweet cheeks, stroked her "fuzzy" head, carried her around, watched her learn to crawl, put her in her crib for a nap, listened to hear her babble when she wakes up, taken her out in the sunshine, played "peek-a-boo" with her, talked baby talk with her, laid her in her crib at night, rubbed her back, and watched her sleep. I have no doubt that she is cared for deeply. But SOMEONE ELSE is the one caring for her right now. Yesterday was her 10 month birthday and I haven't even met her yet. And what's worse is we still don't know when we will...

With no travel authorization, we are stuck in a dreadful holding pattern. No travel arrangements can be made until we have that TA. From that point our Consulate Appointment (necessary for Kylie to become an American citizen) will be made by our agency (AWAA), but CA appointments fill quickly. And with Chinese New Year on the near horizon, the delay of getting our TA could mean that we can't travel until AFTER CNY is finished, which would put us meeting Kylie right around her 1st birthday. Not that I would love her any less, but oh how I long to begin getting to know my daughter.

And yet I still have a peace. God is capable of more than we can begin to imagine. He made us realize that adoption was the plan He had for us to grow a family. (We were planning to take a mission trip for our 6th anniversary and found ourselves drawn to trips working in orphanages...) He led us to select China as a birthcountry for our child (the world is such a big place, how do we choose?) He led us through several "hiccups" in our paperwork process (it's a pain when you live in NC and work with a company in CA). He got us through a 15 month wait from Log in date to referral when we expected a six month wait. (Yes folks, that's time and a half there!) And just yesterday a dear friend looked me in the eye after hearing that there is a possibility (though very slight) that we won't get to travel until March and said, "How in the world are you holding up? How do you have a smile on your face and a good attitude to back it up?" And I had one simple reply! "God is getting me through from all the prayer that has been lifted by our family and friends!" One of my favorite songs by Casting Crowns is "I Will Praise You in This Storm," and that is what I'm doing now. God has sustained us and made each day bearable as we wait. Without Him, I know I'd be in a depression right now!

Please join us in praying that our TA will come quickly enough for travel on the 25th of January! We're expecting great things from our Heavenly Father!

One of the dumb things we've said...

Waiting for Kylie has been a long process. Occasionally it has somewhat melted our brain and we've found ourselves saying some really dumb things! Take for instance:

My mother-in-law was coming down to house-sit for a long weekend earlier this year while Ian and I went to volunteer at a mission trip training. We were giving her the daily run down and reminding her of trash day, checking the mail, bringing in the paper, ect. When we got
to the part where we said, "And if the house were to catch on fire, please make sure to run into the baby's room and grab our file folder ~ it has a document (the ever-critical I-171H) that we must have the original of when we get to China..." we realized what we were asking her. (Nothing like saying, "Hey Mom, would you please run UPSTAIRS in a burning building to grab a paper because we are too lazy to buy a firesafe...) So Ian went out late that night and bought one before we left the next morning!

As I think of some of the other times that the paperwork process or the semi-eternal wait has caused us to say dumb things, I'll post them. Cause as of right now we are on day 47 of waiting for our TA...

About Christmas cards...

So it just occured to me that Ian and I never got Christmas cards out to our friends and family this year. Well, actually, we decided not to send them a long time ago, but I never really got around to explaining why...

So here goes! For the most part December was a blur to me. After all, I'd finally seen our baby's face. The first week was spent deciding what name went with that face. Then the second week was really spending time showing her off to everyone. The third week was in anticipation of the shower that was thrown for us and then in amazement at the outpouring of love shown. The fourth week was Christmas. Add to that various Christmas parties, dinners, church music programs and then remind yourself that I'm a first time mama in love with my new baby!

Then we realized that it is no longer about us (Ian, Kristi, & Maya) and is now about that precious child that so many of you have been praying for! So we decided that we'd send out Valentine's Day cards complete with new family pictures. Now of course we've decided that it will probably be Chinese New Year cards, but you get the idea.

So if you didn't get a Christmas card from us this year, don't cross us off your list just yet. Something is coming as soon as we get home, I promise!

ps ~ Here's the picture that would have gone out in cards this year... (See, we are getting a taste of what family photo shoots will be like ~ how do you get a child to look at the camera?)This is one in a series of about 10 pictures before one with all three of us looking at the camera with pleasant looks on our faces was captured...

Digging to China

I'm not sure what your weather has been like lately, but we've been having LOTS of rain. It will rain for two or three days and then we'll have two days of sun. But just when you think the sunshine is here to stay for a while, it rains again. That has made for some really soft ground. And when you have a combination of very soft ground and a 70 pound Golden Retriever (who LOVES to dig), you get this...

Here's Maya proudly showing how dirty she got during her frolic in the backyard yesterday while I was taking down Christmas decorations. Doesn't she look proud of herself?
Of course she wasn't quite so happy when her daddy cleaned her to try and save our carpet... Oh, and yes, that is the kitchen sink ~ it was cleaned with comet and clorox after we were done!

So anyway, as irritated as I wanted to be with our sweet dog for tearing up the yard and getting herself ~ well, more the kitchen floor than herself ~ so dirty, I was actually quite pleased. You see, Maya knows that I'm getting impatient about going to China to bring Kylie home. I'll admit I hadn't thought of this strategy since I was a kid ~ she's just trying to dig us there...

Today's strategy on getting to China

Have you seen the commercial? (If you've seen it, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about, if not, watch more TV... it's a funny one!)

So we were watching TV last night for a few minutes after praise team practice. Then this commercial comes on for some kind of pick-up truck ~ Dodge maybe, I'm not the target audience for commercials... I can remember what happens on one, but can't tell you who advertised it!

So this truck gets dropped off of something ~ a car carrier, a shipping container... again, I wasn't paying attention until later in the commercial ~ and it is so "heavy and tough" that it makes a HUGE crater. But it doesn't stop there, it continues to fall straight through the earth, passing some big firey creature in the "underworld" and eventually pops through on the other side in some Asian country. So get me one of these trucks, I'm willing to try almost anything right now!

On a totally different note, I just wanted to post about Kylie's Bai Jai Bei (100 Good Wishes Quilt). We have received so many beautiful fabric pieces and even more beautiful wishes from many of our friends and family. I'm still trying to figure out how to share them with you ~ thinking about creating a second blog that I will link from here...

Anyway, there are still some of you out there that haven't sent one yet. I don't in any way want to make you feel obligated, but just wanted to let you know that we'd love for you to contribute. It isn't too late! (I've had several friends and family ask that in the last few days) I'm at this point thinking that we may not get construction started on the quilt until we get home. So as long as you get your wish to our house before we get home from China ~ meaning you wrote the wish before you met her ~ I'll make sure it is included. Leave me a comment (remember that I have them emailed to me to approve now before they post ~ I had some spam on my blog) or email me if you have questions about it in any way.

Thanks for praying for us as we wait! I'd have to have been committed by now if you hadn't been!

Ready to swim!

Some days I feel a bit like a broken record...

Today marks 5 weeks since we learned that we were parents! To the average reader, 35 days may not seem like such a long time, but to me it is about to put me over the edge. I learned 35 days ago that what I've dreamed about for six years (being a mommy) had finally come true. And for 35 days I've anxiously awaited news of when we can go so that this mommy thing becomes a reality instead of a dreamy vision.

Do I know that my life is going to change? Yes
Do I know that there will be many sleepless nights? Yes
Do I know that most folks will be more interested in seeing her than me? Yes
Do I know that I'd get on a plane tomorrow with nothing more than a toothbrush and a hastily packed diaper bag for Kylie? YES!!!

However until that ever sought TA arrives, our agency can't even make tenative travel plans. So we wait... and I'm not near as patient anymore!

I'm ready to swim!