YAHOO UPDATE!

Well here they are, the long awaited update photos!! I can't believe how grown up she looks! We also received her new measurements and she has gotten bigger since October. I'm not real convinced about the accuracy of these measurements, but it gives us an idea. I think maybe they weigh them and measure height with clothes & shoes on. I'm also thinking they might measure her foot inside a shoe. According to the new info her foot is bigger than Rorey's!! NO WAY! He is a year older, 7-8 inches taller and he does not have a little foot!! Either way a dream has ended, no shoe shopping for Ellie until we have her foot with us (and the rest of her of course) Also I was very happy to see she still has all of her long hair!! I was hoping they hadn't cut it OR shaved it off!! It has grown quite a bit and seems to be hanging down her back!! It will be easier for me to "do" if it is long enough to pull back. Since all I'm used to is wild cowlick ridden short cut boy hair!!

We are happy to have new info, but are still waiting anxiously on our SCL/LOA. Hurry up China!!

Picture This

Well I couldn't stand it anymore, I had to put Ellie's picture on my blog!! This is a picture from July 06. We think she is so pretty!! I can not wait to get her home with us. She is four years old now, but in this picture she is two. We are waiting anxiously for our LOA/SCL from China. Hopefully it will come really soon!!We love you Ellie, and we will come as soon as we can!

Christmas in July

Hey it's 94 degrees outside, so what does Rorey want to do this afternoon?? Go swimming, no way. He wants to watch Scrooge!! So here we are hold up in the AC, eating popcorn and watching "A Christmas Carol". Next it's going to be "The Grinch" and then he's going to want to watch "Elf". Both of my boys have a Scrooge obsession, Riley has watched it so many times he knows every word. He also used to make us pretend to be the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, while he played the part of Scrooge. My Mom especially loves to play that game!! HAHA!

Adoption Grant $

A few months ago we were awarded a $1,500 matching grant by Lifesong for Orphans. I was sooo happy because I didn't think we really had a shot at getting any assistance with our adoption finances. They were very supportive of our choice to adopt an older, waiting, "special needs" child, and offered us this opportunity. The donation period is over and we raised more than our goal!! So we also get the full grant!! Thank you God for coming through even when my
faith was not always 100%. I have tried REALLY hard to not worry about how we are going to pay for this adoption, but it is so hard for me to let go and put it in God's hands.
I think it was easier for me to put the selection of our daughter into God's hands than our financial issues. The day I truly laid down my will about selecting a child (which is a very stressful process) is the day I came home to find a VERY unexpected e-mail offering us Ellie. Those of you who have not adopted or have waited for a referral may not truly understand the pure anxiety that this type of decision brings.
I trust that God has chosen this child for our family, a decision that only he could make perfectly.

Fourth of July getaway.

EVOLUTION?? NO WAY!!!
We spent Friday the fourth of July and Saturday the 5th at the Creation museum in Petersburg Kentucy. It was so great!! Very new and very nice!! Great theaters, movies, and special effects. A cool planetarium, dinosaur walk thru, Noah's ark rooms, guest speakers, beautiful outdoor trail with fun suspension bridges, and a petting zoo. The boys enjoyed themselves and it was nice to have people with PHD's explaining how the evolution theory(and I use that term lightly) has more holes in it than swiss cheese!! If this is something your family would be interested in, check it out !!

Filling the closet!

I've been shopping!! We are hoping to travel in October at the latest, and found out that it will still be rather warm in all three locations that we will be visiting in China. Probably 70-80 in Beijing and Urumqi, and probably mid 80's in Guangzhou (although not as humid) So this means we need to take summer clothes with us for Ellie!! I'm in heaven because things are going on sale now, as the stores are gearing up for the winter clothes and Christmas decor!! So Saturday Rick and the boys watched me while I perused Target to find something to go with a shirt I bought that says"little girl, big dreams" on the front. I picked up two cute little skorts to match the shirt and a super cute bathing suit for Ellie!! They all were on sale and I love a bargin!! Ellie more than likely will not want to go swimming, but with her big brother Riley partaking she might decide to try it!! I definately want to be prepared just in case!
Now if I just knew how big her feet are!!!!

Getting closer!!

Well I'm still crossing my fingers, but I think our internet is finally back!! Yahoo!! No e-mail or blogging in the comfort of my own home for nearly 4 weeks is enough to push me over the edge! Not that there is much to blog about right now, we are waiting on China to send our LOA. We are expecting it in about 7-8 weeks! Then we should have a good idea when we will travel.

For now we are getting Ellie's bedroom ready, buying some dolls and cute clothes etc. Things I've never really looked at before since we have two boys! It is feeling REAL finally, and every time I think of how close it is my stomach flips over!!! What if she doesn't like us? What if she doesn't want to leave China? What if I don't know what to do with a GIRL!!

Also it's going to be really hard to leave Rorey here, even though he will be in hog-heaven, staying at my Mom and Dad's house! Maybe even going on vacation with them if we travel at the right time!! And then of course there is the flying!!!!!!!!!! AUGH!! I'm going to need medication!!

STILL NO INTERNET!

Well I can't believe it, but we still have no internet service!!! These people are crazy if they think I'm paying the bill this month! Really nothing is happening with the adoption right now as we are waiting for China to approve all of our paperwork. We will be expecting a letter and official referral in late July or early August giving us an estimated travel time. So I will keep you all informed if anything else happens!

YAHOO!!! LID

Well I called CHI after whining in my last post and they had received our LID this morning!!!
Our date is May 30th! So now we wait for China to OK everything and say come get her!
I'm very excited, but also sort of nervous! I'll keep you all updated!

Still No Log In Date!

Well as you can see, we still have no LID. Our internet is still not working correctly, not that we noticed since we had no power after Monday nights storms until Wednesday morning at 7:30. The boys and I went to my parents Tuesday night, since we didn't have water either!! Rick stayed home alone in the dark, and hooked up a generator. Next time this happens at least we will be able to flush the toilets!!
I guess I'll call CHI and try to figure out why there has been no word about our log in date. We are DTC as of May 9th!!! Most people have the LID 3-4 days later!! This is actually what I should have expected since NOTHING else has gone smoothly thru this process. Well I take that back, one thing did go smooth- Picking Ellie- Thank God!!!

Computer Blues

Sorry everyone, our Internet has been on the fritz for the last week! I'm at the library now trying to give you a little something to read!! We are still waiting on a LID. My social worker said today that she would check on it. My friends and I have noticed that surprisingly things seem to be going faster than they used to with the LOA's and traveling dates!! This is good news for us, as we now are only waiting for China to give us the go-ahead!! Of course in the same breath (or typing cramp) my stomach starts to flip over every time I think of it! The flying, the new child, the whole language thing, my boys, the bathrooms in China!! Bathrooms are important to me and I'm in big trouble once we leave our hotel in China!! The good bathrooms in China are like a urinal, but set in the floor! They are called the "squatty potty." The average ones are just like going out in the woods here in the US- in an alley or empty spot behind a building somewhere. This is bad for me!! I can't even go in a porta-potty!! Oh well, Ellie better appreciate my sacrifices!

Sick boy has birthday party!

Today was Rorey's 5th birthday party! Unfortunately he started in yesterday with a fever and complaining of a stomach ache. After sleeping all night, this morning he had a 102.7 degree fever, was crying and saying his stomach hurt again! I had to go to church because I was singing on the praise team for two services so Daddy stayed home with Rorey. I loaded him up with Tylenol and took off! Amazingly he was doing fairly well when I got home, so I loaded him up with Advil and we went on with the party!! Poor little thing had fun opening presents, but didn't eat much cake and ice cream because of his stomach problem. He is such a trooper! What do you want to bet he picked up this little germ at Chuck E. Cheese on Thursday?

DTC Finally!

It's official, we are DTC as of Friday May 9th!! For thoses of you who don't know the lingo that means we sent our "documents to China." We should have an LID soon. (log in date) Of course the earthquake in China may slow us up, but right now we aren't sure what will happen.

Happy Mothers Day!

Welcome to our Mother's Day "free show." There was dancing, singing, laughing, you name it the boys did it! They looked pretty cute all dressed up in their play clothes, especially Rorey in the sombrero! Riley loves to wear the derby hat that belonged to my Uncle Bob before he passed away. I keep thinking next Mother's Day there will be three little cast members performing in our family room! Can't wait!

Brothers to Be

Well we decided to add a little human interest to our boring blog with some pictures of our big brothers to be! Both of these pictures were sent to Ellie in her little photo album of our house, family, dog, etc. Hopefully they are preparing her for the transition by showing her these photos everyday and explaining who we are!! She may need some extra explaining when it comes to Rorey! This picture shows his true personality! Riley of course is Mr. cool as usual, posing like he is in GQ magazine! All four of us are getting really excited and

a little nervous as this process seems to finally be coming to fruition! The realization that we are adding a new child to our family, and a four year old one at that has caused a little anxiousness but mostly happiness with our boys. We can't wait (well at least I can't) to get some girl stuff in this place!

Ni Hao! (hello)

Tonight Rick, Riley and I started Chinese leasons!! Of course all we learned tonight is how much we don't know! In addition to speaking, James is also going to teach us Chinese cooking once a month. He said Riley "has good tone." In Chinese there are four "tones" and if you say a word in the wrong tone it means something different! Hopefully by the time we go to China we will at least be able to ask for the bathroom! HAHA! We hope to keep Ellie speaking in Chinese, Riley learning and maybe even Rorey (once we get him to speak English correctly!)
It was exciting to start this new "family project", and I feel like a one hundred pound weight has been lifted off of my chest since our paperwork is out of here!

Paperwork off to St. Loius!

Well on May 20th it will be one year since we started this journey and finally, all of our paperwork is done and sent to our adoption agency! I'm so glad that it is out of my hands, and on it's way! It could possibly go out to China tomorrow if they don't need to make any changes and I haven't forgotten anything! What in the world! I'm not sure I would have done this if I would have known the problems we were going to come up against! Of course when we get that little girl in our arms it will all be worth it! One whole year of anxiousness, turmoil, frustration, nervous stomach,tearful days, and sleepless nights. Will I ever be the same again?
Now we start a new period of waiting! Waiting for China to give us our "official referral" and also our "travel approval." As everyone already knows, the Olympic games are being held in China in August. Obviously we DO NOT want to be there right before that! Realistically we are expecting to travel in late September or early October. I'm not sure what I will have to post about while we endure the two to three month wait for word from China! Maybe regular life stuff like Riley's baseball games, or Rorey's allergic reaction to Sulfa drugs!! Let me tell you, even without all of this adoption craziness, there is never a boring day at this house!

If you could see me now!

We have been gutting out all three of our upstairs bedrooms closets for the last week. I spent about 6 hours yesterday ripping, tearing, and shreading the wallpaper off of our walkin closets walls. Today I have been mudding and sanding in all three closets, and painting in the boys. I am filthy and my hair is covered in dry wall dust!! I will never understand why any one would wallpaper a closet, even though it is a walkin and doesn't really have a door. I took a picture of the horrible, ugly, mauve and federal blue flowered wallpaper with my cell phone, I'll see if I'm techy enough to get it to this blog! This will all be worth it when our closets are soooo collected and organized!! Oh yes and another surprise, we found the nastiest old carpet under a built in closet shelf. I have never seen carpet that ugly!! It is yellowy-orange kitchen type carpet with brown pea sized blobs all over it! At first I thought it was some kind of molded old padding or wood-that is how ugly it is!!! Well having an OLD house is never boring!

Express mail to Chicago!

It's Wednesday now and all of my paperwork should be on a desk somewhere inside the Chinese Consulate in Chicago! Hopefully they will have it back to me
by Tuesday of next week. I think I have everything ready to send to CHI
(adoption agency) who will send our dossier to China for us. They send them
every Friday, so I'd like to get it there before May 2nd. If not ,after all of this
waiting what's one more week!!! We are getting really excited now and it is
starting to sink in! We have another child out there! We just want her home.

Hallelujah Birthday

I never thought I would say this again, but this was the best birthday ever!!!!! I won't say how old I turned today, but I recieved the best present EVER!!! I came home to find our I-171H in the mail box! FINALLY! Our homestudy has been done since mid October and we finally have all the paperwork we need!!! Tomorrow I will be going to the Sec. of State to have it certified, then immediately to the post office to mail it to the Chicago Chinese Consulate. Hopefully we will have it back and sent off to China the first full week of May!!! Everyone join me in the song; Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!