Today..tomorrow? Funny Coincidence.

Several of my adoption buddies have reported that their agencies are tracking a referral package from China and it is expected tomorrow! My agency has told me we are matched and the referrals are coming soon.

I find myself reminiscing about the times that Will and Harry were born. I remember with each of them we had just put the finishing touches on their rooms and then my water broke.

We had just moved into a new home when I was 8 months pregnant with Will. I "nested" and unpacked like a fiend. Everything was done in his room except we needed to hang a quilt above the crib. We hung it on a Saturday night and I said to Dave, "Okay, now we can have this baby." Sure enough a few hours later my water broke and Will was born the next morning. I was not even due for three more weeks.

It was a similar story with Harry. My water broke in the middle of the night exactly when I told everyone I wanted to have him. My plan was to have him during a break in the Christmas party schedule and he followed my plan precisely! Again, I was not due for a few weeks.

So, this morning Dave and I finally hung six botanical prints over our daughter's bed. We have had these for about a year and a half but we just did not hang them yet. We need to hang one more thing tonight and then...I think we are ready for this referral. Let's see if the trend continues. Maybe we will see her tomorrow after we hang that last thing in her room tonight.

Love,
Kim

Is the Stork on its Way?

One of the adoption sites that shares information and "rumors" has posted that some reliable sources are reporting that the referrals have been mailed. This is very exciting news because if it is true, we could see our daughter's face in mere days! Please pray and keep everything crossed. I will update you as I find out more information. Can you feel my excitement?

I called Dave and had him practice what he would say if the adoption agency called him first with the news. He passed with flying colors as he said, "Um... I think you had better call my wife first with this information." What a great husband! Of course, I hope we are together when we get the call but chances are he'll be at work and I'll be sitting staring at the phone.

A LONG Week...

Friends and family,

I think this will prove to be one of the longest weeks of our lives. I think the two weeks Dave and Will are in China will be very long too though. This ought to be the week we have waited 3 years for. This should be the week we see our daughter's picture. I say this with slight reservation because the one thing this journey has taught me is that nothing is certain. There is always the possibility it could be early next week too. During the past few days, I have felt as though time is standing still.

I cannot imagine what it will be like to be together as a family and look at her photo for the first time. I think it will be so exciting to finally see who God has chosen for our family. It is my plan to wait until we are all together to look at her picture. If the boys are in school, this means either going to get them early or waiting until they get home and Dave can get home. I will have to exercise the utmost restraint not to peek but I think I can do it. I am hoping to also capture this moment on videotape.

I think I will also have to choose a name for our daughter. This is going to be tough. I know that I have had a very long time to come up with one but I am still undecided. Hopefully, seeing her sweet face will help me in this endeavor. I am still open to suggestions. Please feel free to put your suggestions in the comments section of this post.

Please continue to pray for our daughter's health and well being. Please also pray that the paperwork issues are resolved and that we can travel quickly to bring her home to her "forever family."

I promise that I will post her picture for all to see right after I celebrate with Dave and the boys. We have champagne chilling!

Blessings,
Kim

Snow Day

Scout's first snow day.
Hmmm...what is this stuff?

After all that snow..I need to chew on my tire.

Scout's Soccer Ball

Cuddling with Harry after a day of romping in the snow.

Warm and cozy.

Scout's Bath

We have given Scout two baths so far and she is so good and cute when we do!She looks so skinny when wet!
Look at that evil eye she is giving me.

Here we go....

My Handsome Boys

My good friend Elissa took these pictures of Will and Harry for our Christmas card this year.

I love them and all of the photos Elissa takes of our family.

In fact, Dave bought me the same camera (Nikon D80) for our anniversary this year. Needless to say, I am not the photographer that Elissa is though.

Will and Harry 2006

On our front porch.

She really captured Harry.

Will and his expressive eyes.

From Baby Bee to Spelling Bee

We had no idea when Harry was just a baby bee (for his 1st Halloween) that he would grow up to represent the kindergarteners in his school Spelling Bee. This week, Harry and another boy from his class competed in front of the whole school (with a microphone and all). He lasted a few rounds and we are very proud of him! We have never practiced spelling with Harry so we didn't know he had this talent. But we do read a lot with him and he is a good reader as well. We hope there are more spelling bees in his future!

Soon..very,very soon

We'll see her soon!
I received a phone call from my agency and an e-mail the day before yesterday with instructions on how to proceed once we get our referral. Our agency said they are expecting them at the end of January or the very beginning of February and they will usually get notice a few days before they are sent from China.

First, they try to get the referrals translated from Chinese to English. They have someone in China that can often get them from CCAA before they are sent and have this done immediately. Once the agency receives them, they take about 1-2 hours to log them in and process them in their office. After that, they start calling us with basic information such as her Chinese name, date of birth, province etc. Hopefully, later that day they will e-mail us a photo. The next day or a few days later, we will drive to Richmond to meet with our Social Worker and receive the complete file. We are supposed to take the file to a pediatrician for review before we officially "accept" the referral.

I know it will be a whirlwind when this all happens but I promise to post information and pictures as soon as I get them. A few weeks after referral, I will close my babyjellybeans website (it has limited memory for photos and video links) and this will be our website, so please bookmark this or add it to your favorites. I will have both running for about another month. Please continue to pray for her safety and well being. Also, please continue to pray that our paperwork gets here soon so that we have no delays in our travel. We thank you.

Love,
Kim

Playtime with Scout

This was taken right after the boys realized that the puppy in Dave's arms was not a stuffed animal. They were so surprised but very calm.

Dave told Harry that he drove to North Carolina to get our puppy and Harry hugged Dave so tightly and said "You did! Thank you so much Daddy." He sounded like he was crying when he said it. So I asked, "Harry, are you crying?" He replied, "No Mommy, I just have water in my eyes because I am so happy!" Harry didn't know that one could cry tears of joy!

Harry LOVES his new friend.

Puppy in grass.

Hmmm..what is this litte furball?

Devyn (our sweet friend) chasing me around. We are both too cute!

Willie taking me down the slide for the first and last time. I was shaking. it was scary!

Going for a ride in my automobile.....

Our New Arrival (she has 4 legs)!

Last Sunday, Dave drove to North Carolina to get our schnoodle (poodle-schnauzer mix) puppy dog. We totally surprised the boys with her! She is seven weeks old and we have named her "Scout" after one of our favorite literary figures. Scout is the smart little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird and our Scout is smart too. She is learning to fetch, already knows what to do outside, and catches on very quickly.

Scout is also the name of a little friend that Will had in pre-school in Houston. He helped her learn how to read and she had a huge crush on him. Will always wanted to name our little sister Scout but I thought it fit our puppy perfectly.

Christmastime in New York City

On December 27th we took the kids to NYC for the first time. We rode the train up from NJ and the boys loved the adventure. Then, we took a taxi to Rockerfeller Center. After exploring and looking at the Christmas decorations, we went across the street to St.Patrick's Cathedral. We lit a candle for my step-father, Al who recently passed away. We also lit a candle for our little sister and we prayed for them both.

After the cathedral, we ate lunch in an authentic NY deli. It was delicious. Then, we were off to the biggest Toys R Us in the world. There was a ferris wheel inside. The boys had a blast but it was so crowded you could hardly move. My pictures need to be rotated or I would post them here.

After the toy store, we went to see the Lion King. Words cannot describe how wonderful it was.

The boys had an awesome time on the train. We got the last four seats.

The boys in front of the tree and skating rink at Rockerfeller Center.

We took the boys to see their first Broadway show. We all loved the Lion King. I loved watching the boys faces just as much as I enjoyed the show. It was priceless.

Wow, Harry look at all those TV'S! Yeah, but Mom would never let us watch them all.

The boys looking out on Times Square.

Christmas visit with Family

After we opened gifts on Christmas morning, we drove to PA to spend the week with our family and friends.

Harry hugging one of cousin Ashton's puppies at my sister's house.

Harry giving Mimi some love.

Cousin Ashton's funny face


Sweet Cousin Ashton.



Cousin Ashton giving his favorite Uncle Dave a big hug.

The boys always have a great time rough-housing with Uncle Moon. This was right after a huge wrestling session.

Will and his cousin, Ashton watching TV in Ashton's playroom.

On Christmas Day in the Morning

The boys woke up at about 6:30 a.m. on Christmas morning. It was still dark out so my photos are a little dark. After we opened gifts, we piled in the car to drive up to PA to have dinner with my Mom.

Harry found a letter from Santa and one of Prancer's antlers. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can read what Santa had to say.

Will's teacher, Mr. H generously hand-made a display case for Will's butterfly collection. Mr. H is a butterfly enthusiast and he has encouraged Will's new hobby. We are so thankful for his kindness and generosity. He has really touched Will's heart in many ways.

Will, Will, Will. My sweet boy has a habit of asking Santa for something that is virtually impossible to obtain. Last year, he wrote asking for the antlers that Comet shed (Santa delivered). This year he asked for Lego Rock Raiders. In our research, we found out that the Lego Company discontinued Rock Raiders seven years ago!Since Will is only 9, I am not sure how he ever even heard of these in the first place. He wasn't worried though. He was confident that somehow Santa could get them. I convinced him to think of a back-up plan just in case Santa had difficulty. So, he chose Lego Aqua Raiders instead. However, upon further reading (in the Lego catalog) we discovered they were not available until January 2007. Why do the Lego people do this? Somehow, Santa worked a miracle because they showed up under our tree. Will and I are forever grateful. Thanks Santa!


After the boys opened gifts upstairs, Harry wondered if Santa had left them anything in the terrace in their playroom. So, off he went to check. When he calmly came back upstairs, I asked, "Was there anything down there?" He replied, "Only the BEST present EVER!" I think the smile on his face shows just how much he likes the air hockey table.

Christmas Eve Part Two

For about the last six years, we have always had pizza after Christmas Eve Mass. I usually cook a big breakfast and dinner on Christmas Day, so I just want to do something easy after church on Christmas Eve. Since we moved here two years ago, we have been going to Christian's Pizza. It is a silly tradition but our whole family loves it. It is always interesting to see who else is in there on Christmas Eve.

After our very fancy pizza dinner, we went to see a renactment of the Nativity and the town of Bethlehem around the time of Jesus' birth. It was really moving. Here Will is feeding a Zebu at the live Nativity. They became fast friends.

We hung the stockings with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Each year, I buy the boys a nutcracker that reflects their interests of that year. Will was very interested in collecting butterflies this year. I never thought I would find a butterfly catcher nutcracker but to my surprise--I did! Then, I discovered an even better surprise-- it has a ladybug on it. Ladybugs are considered good luck in Chinese adoptions and Will has been looking for ladybugs all year. Only about 200 have invaded our house this year. Whenever he sees one, he tells me to go check the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) website to see if our sister is coming. Sorry the photo is sideways. I am just learning to blog and don't think I can rotate it.

Harry played soccer this fall and was one of his teams' high scorers. Therefore, his nutcracker this year was a Santa soccer player.

We always end the night by reading "Twas the night before Christmas" and the story of Jesus' birth.