Father's Day!

Wow! Another Father's Day in waiting! The difference is this year we really do see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been a teary-eyed mess on and off all day just thinking that next year we will have Lexi. I know that Geoff is already a father to Sara and Grandfather to Brennen and nothing can ever take away from that but it will be different for him to have his very own baby to love and feel the joy of watching her grow before our eyes.

Well, this year we had a very nice Father's Day celebration with my family. We all went to my sister's house to cook out and play in the pool. It was so nice having everyone there and we all had such a nice time. We had a feast!!! To make the day even more special my mom had a GREAT surprise for Geoff and me! She finished the 100 Good Wishes Quilt!!! It's been mostly finished for over a year now but still had a few stitches to be completed. Mom finished them yesterday morning and wrapped the quilt in the most precious baby girl paper and put the most perfect card in the box for us. As things started to wind down, they called my Dad to come inside and I followed to find everyone gathered in the living room. (Sneaky Geoff hid behind the camera so that is why he is not the pictures!) I had no idea what was in the box and was quite confused as to why I was opening a present on Father's Day. Needless to say, tears welled up in my eyes as I began to realize what was in the box! I did complain about the fact that I was in my bathing suit, no makeup and hair all messed up for the pictures... some warning would have been nice! Apparently mom has been waiting for quite some time to put the finishing stiches in the quilt and for a family gathering. I can't even begin to express how happy this quilt has made me. It started out as something to do to help pass the time and it was a huge request to make of Mom. It turned out to be a very special "event" over time where I bonded with family, friends, and strangers over the making of this precious quilt. It is time with my Mom and a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I can't wait to meet everyone at the airport with my Mom and Dad there waiting with the quilt. Lexi will get wrapped in it at the air port even if it is hot! The pictures below show that she most likely won't mind because Brennen sure loved playing in it! We've really had a great time looking at the fabric in the quilt and remembering who sent the scraps. I used to know almost all of them but have gotten a bit rusty during the wait. I love the star fabric on the back as it reminds me of the many wishes in the quilt and of our very own wish to bring our daughter home. Mom has made me promise not to put it on my bed and sleep with it to make sure it stays clean and fresh for Lexi ... but I know that every so often I'll be cuddling with it dreaming of the near future and the little bundle that will be wrapped inside!

Enjoying the summer...

Tomorrow marks two things in my mind... Most importantly~ Susan and Riz head to China join Sophia and then non-remarkfully - - - the end of the 2nd week of summer school (2 weeks to go!) I can only imagine how the Susan and Riz must feel! I can't wait until it is our turn! I also can't wait to meet little Sophia! This is so exciting!

I can't remember a more busy summer than this one. I am not sure if I just have packed it full of business or what! Today I told one of the custodians at work that I would NOT be back at work getting dirty in the garden. Well, after lunch with Sara and Brennen what did I do but head BACK to school and work in the butterfly garden until almost 6 o'clock! I counted the number of milkweed in the garden before I left and have a little over 100 plants to work with! I have about the same number at home! I am making sure that the Monarch butterflies that come my way this summer find a plenty of milkweed to lay their eggs on. This is my "mission" for the summer!

On another note... a few weeks ago I was just venting about not having a "vacation" over the last 3 years. We DID book a condo on the beach just one hour away for July! It made it easier that my sister and her husband split the cost. She loves the beach as much as I do and we will gladly soak up some sun in our nearby habitat! With the cost of gas, we really didn't want to go too far away. Afterall, a beach is a beach... is a beach, if you really love the beach! Both of us have invited our daughters and their husbands and children to come up for a few days. We will have plenty of room and I'm sure we will have an awesome time. I actually had a DR. appointment tomorrow but postponed because every day I teach Summer school pays for about one day that we will be there. After tomorrow, just two more weeks!

And speaking of July, on July 2nd Brennen will be one year old! I can't believe that last year this time we were awaiting his arrival! If I had not witnessed his development over the past year, I could not be certain that he is ours! I do think that in December he will welcome a baby sister! I just have a "feeling". Sara's pregnancy has been so different this time! I just think a baby girl would be perfect but who knows... our heavenly father knows what is best for all of us! But you never know.... my feelings about a baby girl could just be a sign for our Baby Lexi! The time is near..... we still patiently wait.

Summer Fun With Brennen

What fun summer is through the eyes of a child! Especially when that child is experiencing things for the first time! Sara and Brennen came to see me today to play in his little pool. These are some of my favorite shots of him that we took today. By the way, he now has another tooth coming through up top and the two bottom two are on their way. Before his first birthday next month he will have 4 teeth! I just can't believe how that little black haired infant has morphed into this sandy blonde boy!

This is Brennen's cheese ball grin!

A Cute Little Ladybug Just in time for Referrals

Last Saturday we were working in the yard and I came across this beautiful ladybug on one of my Milkweed plants. I know there are hundreds of kinds of ladybugs but I've never seen one like this. She looks very Asian don't you think? (Click on the picture to see a great close up!) She hung around for awhile and then left. So far we have no aphids for her to eat (and hopefully it will stay that way!)

Ahh.... now that's better!

I can't believe after my long winded "vent" last night that this evening we got an email from our agency informing us that the official "cut-off" date for referrals this month is Jan. 22! That's really good! I'm happy with that! Now there are 36 days between where they are and US! I know in the world of Chinese adoption 36 days could take a long time still but I am hopeful that this trend will continue. If and that's a BIG IF, they were to continue to this kind of progress each month we very well could have a referral in the fall! I know too well though to get my hopes up too high. Patience, Wanda... Patience.

Things were better at work today too. I had to ease up on myself and just realize that it is okay to not have things PERFECT. My brother has been helping me at school too. He is always a terrific help! Before we left today, I checked on the garden and low and behold I had 3 zucchinis ready to pick! I'm like a kid in a candy store! I had to take them to the office and show everyone and of course, we had one of them tonight! I love watching things grow! Especially things that I planted, nurtured and picked! I know sometimes it takes so little to amuse me!

It's June 3rd... What is going on?? Time to get real!

Ahhh.... I'm frustrated!!! Normally by now referrals would be out or at least RUMORED to be out but this month nothing concrete so far!!! It's driving me a little nuts. ME.. the one who has grown accustomed to WAITING with PATIENCE! Don't get me wrong, I still have patience and I still will wait but I just need to know SOMETHING!

Maybe it is just TODAY that is bothering me so badly. I am in my 3rd day of Summer School. I had one day to prepare and did not get my list of 450 students until the last three hours of work time on our "preplanning day". I didn't have kids on Monday but began with ever bit of effort in my body today. I'm working with teachers from all around the county that think I am also a trouble shooting technician... NOT!!!!! I was coping fairly well today until about mid-morning when a "group" of teachers decided to rearrange my schedule WITHOUT telling me. This in my #1 pet-peeve! I AM an educator who PLANS for her class as much as ANY OTHER TEACHER and this threw a curve ball in my plan. I had stayed late... worked at home for 2 hours to plan to TODAY'S classes. Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper! I did make sure the teacher knew that I was irritated with THEM... and as professionally as possible let the kids know that this was NOT my normal routine. .... TIMEOUT... I'm teaching Summer School not because I need something to do but because I don't want some random teacher in my room messing with my stuff!!! I've been teaching 21 years and this is my 3rd summer school class with the first two being my FIRST TWO years of teaching.

I know I'm venting! Bear with me.

So after another hard day at work, I came home and laid in bed for a few hours just trying to relax. Tomorrow will be better... tomorrow will be better.... yes! And referrals WILL come soon!

As I laid in bed today I began to think about the YEARS we have waited. We have not taken a vacation since we began. Can I tell you how many vacation days Geoff has LOST in the name of "our referral will come THIS year"???? I don't need a fancy vacation... I just want to not plan our entire life around WHEN the referral will come. At this point, I'm REALLY thinking we should brace ourselves for a December referral and the dreaded trip DURING tax season. (The best thing here is that Geoff's new employers totally get it and will not balk if he is gone during the height of tax season... God bless them!!) This does hurt a lot. At this point, I'll be happy if I'm wrong.

So my thinking is that all of this AGGRAVATION of teaching summer school should fuel a much delayed vacation for us. I don't need a fancy long vacation.. just something beyond our pitiful little town and not a visit to relatives (no offense intended!). So we are on the look out for a place not too far from us but not too close either. Gas prices are KILLING everyone! I like the beach... Geoff likes the golf course. So where oh, where do we go??? Maybe a vacation and spending money that we SHOULD be saving for our adoption expenses will turn things around. We shall see.... and please CCAA PLEASE send some referrals!!! I am ready for some news. I don't care if it is ONE day of referrals as long as we see that progress is being made.

On another note... Sara, Chris and Brennen returned home yesterday from a week long trip to visit his family. Let me just say... Brennen IS NOT allowed to go away for another whole week EVER again. I missed the little guy so much!! He even cut his first tooth last week while away. Sara brought him to see me today at work during the height of the frustration of my day and I must say I now truly know what it is like to be ADD. All I wanted to do was scoup him up and kiss him all over! To my dear grandson's credit though, when I did have a "moment" for him, he gave me a KISS! He melts my heart like no other!

Some Miscellaneous stuff...

One of my newest passions has been working with the kids at school on our school garden. I'll have to take a new picture and post it because it has grown so much more since this picture was taken. I now have a pretty good farmers tan and had some really great experiences with the kids. Sadly, the school year is over now and I won't have any help weeding and harvesting anymore! Today my friend Melaine and I picked some radishes, tomatoes and snow peas. Everyday is fun watching the plants in the garden grow.

The picture of me and Brennen below is at school too near the garden. My brother and I put the pond in one day and thought it was really nice until a few tornadoes came through and ruined it. So later that week, my dear parents came to school and pretty much redid it for me. Here is the finished pond complete with Brennen. Geoff and I brought him to see it a few weekends ago because we were babysitting and now that he is walking, we need LOTS of things for him to do! He absolutely LOVED the pond and wanted to get into it so bad!
I soooooo love this picture of Geoff and Brennen. A proud Grandpa and his Grandson. Of course, Brennen thinks he needs no help walking!
We took these pictures at my parents house. Brennen had a great time visiting them! He really loved the backyard. One funny thing was that mom tried to give him a flower but he had nothing to do with it. Instead he wanted to play with some dried leaves. Now that's our grandson!

I love this picture! We framed it and gave it to mom for Mother's Day. My mom is so great with kids! She and Daddy just can't wait to get their hands on Lexi.
This is one that same day with Geoff. Brennen was pretty interested in Molly but Molly was more interested in who the little guy was that was taking my attention off of her. Molly is the dog that my sister rescued from a dumpster and I nursed her back to health. Mom fell in love with her and she ended up with her but Molly still claims me as her own any time I visit.
Finally, I doctored this photo with Picasa. I love this little guy so much! I can't believe how much he has grown! He will be 11 months old in just a few days!

Congratulations Friends!!

Referrals are in! I've watched referral days come and go now for a long time. I've always read blogs and viewed pictures in wonder and anticipation of ours. I have toadmit though that for at least the last six months I wasn't nearly as excited and just felt like this process is never going to end. Well, I have a new found anticipation and excitment after this month's referrals. Several of the people that we know just got their referrals!!! And if my reaction to their referrals is anything close, we better just go ahead now and stock up on Klenex. This time there are three couples that I have met at least the new mom and it really personalizes things so much more. I am sooooooo happy for these new families! The babies are precious! I opened my email yesterday after Brennen went home (we kept him Friday night) and immediately I knew that something had happened from the number of messages in my box. As soon as I saw Susan and Riz's message I began to cry and scream for Geoff to come look at pictures. Sophia is just beautiful! Take a peek!

http://wwwchinaladybug.blogspot.com/

Then I found Hope and Scott's message about Isabella and did the same thing all over again!!! Poor Geoff, he just kept running in and out of the kitchen to look! Isabella looks like a little princess to me! She is beautiful!

http://www.babyizabella.blogspot.com/

Then we found a message about Susan and Jonathan's referral. TWINS!!! I couldn't believe it! They were waiting for LilyKate and got Elenanor too!! I guess they, like us also said they would take twins! I can only imagine how they must feel! And again, the babies are beautiful!!!

http://waitforlilykate.blogspot.com/

We are so happy for everyone who got referrals this month! It's so awesome and we now have a new anticipation and excitment for the process. We know that the wait is worth it!

This month, they only got through 3 days. They are now up to January 12,2006. Our LID is February 27th. It will take many months to get to us but we are not complaining... we are patiently waiting for OUR DAY. A day that will be like none other and it will be worth every single day that we have endured.

Wow! Time Flies!

I just can't believe that I've gone almost 3 months with no posts to the blog. I don't even have an excuse. We stay busy with just life in general. I did think about posting around our 2 year LID "anniversary". But the day came and went and I really didn't think about it until it had pasted.

Tax season is over THANKFULLY! I really hate it when Geoff has to work late all the time and weekends were lonely too. He survived another one though and is still loving his new job. The only drawback is the drive especially now that gas is so expensive!

In the time that has passed, Brennen has started walking! He is a little over 9 1/2 months now. He's so cute walking around! And he is so tall. He's already 31 inches tall and according to the pediatrician he is in the 98 percentile in height. His hair has turned light light brown and he still melts my heart every time I think of him. I'll post some pictures soon.

And I have other news! We found out about 2 weeks ago that Sara is pregnant again! She is due in mid December! I am so excited for her and Chris! I can't wait for Christmas this year. We'll have two grandbabies and hopefully, we will have Lexi too! Imagine how much fun that will be!!!

Next week we are having our THIRD homestudy. Our other one expired in March. We also have to resubmit our I600 form again! We thought we had that covered this summer but our paperwork got lost somewhere. So it expired in August. I was freaked out about that but not now. Chances are with the wait lengthening we would of had to resubmit before we go to China anyhow. So at least all of our paperwork will be up to date and won't expire until after we come back.

This evening we are heading to Atlanta. I am judging in the Ga. Media Festival again this year. Geoff is driving me up and since it is my birthday weekend, we are going to stay an extra day. We really don't have any plans but to spend some time together.

Last weekend we went to Virginia on a quick trip to visit Geoff's grandmother. She has been very ill and we hoped that going to see her would lift her spirits. I don't know if that is what did it but she is doing much better. I talked to her last night and she sounded like her old self. I love her so much! I don't have any living Grandparents so I just took Geoff's as my own. Nanny has always made me feel very special and she calls me her Granddaughter. I love that! She is very special to both of us. Seeing her so ill really scared us both. It also made us realize that our time with those we love is really precious and we should not take one moment for granted. We plan to go back up next month for another quick trip. I hope she will be home this time. She is having to go to a rehabilitation center from the hospital. She has become so weak that she can't walk so they will be working with her to gain her strength back. I just pray that she will fully recover.

I'm going to try to do better with my blogging and I will post some Brennen pictures soon.

My first Voice Thread

The conference in FL was awesome! I learned so much that my head is still spinning with things to investigate. Here is one of the sites I learned about after researching some of the material. It's so cool. I'm learing to use it to see all the ways it can be used in school. However, I couldn't resist learning about it with my favorite photography subject!



http://voicethread.com/share/49798/

Use this link to go to the site and add your comments by typing text or recording your voice! I'm not exactly sure how it works when posted on a blog so I posted it here to see. This site is WAY cool!

Heading to Florida!

I'm leaving tomorrow for a technology conference in Orlando. *** By MYSElF!!*** Geoff has printed out all of my directions for me AND emailed them to himself as well. :-) I am very excited because I have heard of this conference for YEARS! It's supposed to be one of the best in our area. The funny thing is I AM going alone even AFTER last year's broken toe traffic nightmare of a fiasco in Atlanta when Geoff had to constantly give me directions and swore I couldn't travel alone EVER again. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning and arriving in time to listen to the opening session where the speaker is Discovery Channel's Jeff Corwin. Why do I think this may be interesting??? I don't know but I'll be there! Then I plan to go to the vendor's hall opening which is sponsored by Hewlett Packard before I head to my hotel and exercise and crash. (I've graduated from walking to running and am proud to say that I can now run 2 miles without stopping OR Dying and haven't done that much since college 20 years ago!... I'm very determined to be in shape to meet Lexi!) HOWEVER!!! The highlight of the trip will come on Friday night after it is over when I drive to see Lori and Andy!!! I can't wait to be reunited with my Philly roommate and her dear hubby (that we met last Spring). They are gracious enough to open their home to me and spend some much needed Panda time together. I'll come home on Saturday. Now for the KICKER... Geoff keeps telling me that he is going to babysit Brennen while I'm away on Friday. I even called Sara last week and asked her if she would let Brennen stay the night without me here and she said YES!!! (much to Geoff's amusement!) Sara just said, "I trust him with Brennen!". This is so sweet because there's no way in the world she would leave him with her bio-dad! She recognizes the great dad Geoff will be and already knows the fantastic Papa he already is. I don't think Brennen will really be here but if so, that's just fun for both baby and Pop! Of course, I'll try to get some pictures of Lori and Andy on Friday. I'm very excited even though I will miss being here with Geoff very much!

Glimpse into the future???

Yesterday morning I was working with 3 students in my computer lab when one of my dear friends (who is a county techie that helps me all the time) popped in for the first time this week. I was working with the students on a Media Festival project during a free class period. It so happened that one of the students was a Vietnamese girl. Well, when she popped her head in I immediately started asking her where she had been and that I missed seeing her this week. She didn't really respond. She just stood there looking at us and then finally said, "I'm sorry, I just had a glimpse of the future." I was confused of course but then it dawned on me. I looked at the little girl and told her I understood. She saw me with the student and was thinking of me with Lexi in the future. What a sweet thought! I explained to the student what we were talking about and she told me that she would still be at our school this year when we get Lexi. I'll certainly have to show her a picture of Lexi. This child by the way is so sweet and smart. She is 8 years old and can type with both hands as well as I can and yet she has had no formal typing training. It's amazing! Anyhow, it was a nice thought and a nice sentiment by my friend. Lexi is in our future... it's just a matter of time. (((*sigh* )))

Another slow year???

Of course, we keep getting asked about our progress in the adoption process so here is an update.

Our 1-600A has expired. (This is the form we need that gives up permission from the US to adoption an orphan from a foreign county.) We actually sent the renewal paperwork off during the summer but somehow it is lost. So we are back tracking trying to get the new one taken care of.

Our homestudy for GA. will expire soon. Remember last February we had our 2nd homestudy. They are only good for one year in Ga. So we are about to work on that again too.

However, after receiving an email from our agency I'm not in any hurry. I think waiting until after tax season might be a good idea. Seems that the slow in referrals is likely to continue. At one point the information we were getting indicated that after CCAA gets through November and December of 2005, things would speed back up. We did get a glimmer of hope the last few referral months as they had two months where they got through 7 days of dossiers. This month, referrals went through 5 days. So as of now, CCAA has made referrals for Dossiers logged in through December 19. There are 70 days between the 19th and our LID of 2/27/06. So do the math... if it continues even at a pace of 7 days we are looking at the END of 2008 and possibly this time next year. Ugh! It's frustrating but we STILL have hope of a fall referral. Hope and faith is all we have to help us through this process. (And a lot of little Brennen doesn't hurt either!)

So why rush the paperwork renewal? It all expires so quickly (if you can call a year and 18 months quickly!) and each time we have to renew, it's MORE MONEY! Waiting a little on the homestudy just may be the thing to do and the lost I-600 could be a blessing since it is only good for 18 months.

So as we wait... everyone will have to endure more Brennen. He is our Sunshine in a very bleak process. So MORE BRENNEN PLEASE!

Brennen At 6 Months

Brennen got his 6 months shots last week along with a flu shot. He didn't like it too much and neither did his Mommy and Daddy because the shots made him sick. So after a couple of days of being fussy, feverish, and not sleeping he got well enough for Sara and Chris to let us keep him and give them a break. We had a blast. I just got a new camera from writing a grant at school so I figured what better way to learn to use it than do a photo shoot of Brennen! We only took about 230 pictures of him that day! The slide show below shows some of the better ones and I thought it would be fun to put them up as his 6 months pictures. This monthly slide show just may become a habit!

The pictures of him eating the cookie show him having his VERY FIRST cookie (biter biscuits). His peditrican said that he could have them since he is eating so well. It was so funny but afterward we just put the little guy in the sink! What a drooling nightmare!!! He also saw his first fire in the fireplace. He was really into it and wanted to get closer! We really have to watch EVERY SINGLE move he makes now as he crawls all over the house. We are finding that the hardwood floors are really tough on the little guy's head. I sometimes wish he had a helmet!

Lexi's things are getting broken in with Brennen. We took him for a walk in her pink stroller and just hoped no one would ask us why we had a boy in a pink stroller! LOL! One day he will grow up and ask us why he had everything pink over here! Aside from the 3 hard wacks of his head on the hardwood floor, the most challenging thing was NIGHTTIME! Having conjestion he couldn't stay asleep very long and we literally were up with him EVERY HOUR ALL NIGHT LONG!! Geoff is so fantastic with him. He doesn't shy away from anything and just jumps in to help all the time. It gives me a great preview of the wonderful father I have always known he will be. Sleep or no sleep we are looking forward to the next sleepover!

Brennen's Music Video Debut

When's Santa Coming??

Brennen on Christmas eve after a nap... ready for presents!

Yea! Presents!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! This is a picture of Lexi's Christmas tree. We decided to decorate it with some of her cloth alphabet pieces, and linking chains and then top it with one of her books. I even spelled out her name in the middle of the tree. Last year we said we would have her this year... and now once again, we say we WILL have her next year. The good news is that we really believe 2008 is our year. CCAA has made referrals for dossiers logged in through Dec. 14, 2005. Our log in date is Feb. 27, 2006. I just can't imagine that it will take longer 12 more months for them to make referrals for 75 more days. We will wait as long as necessary of course but in our hearts hope by late summer or early fall. It's harder to wait during the holidays. Especially since this is the 3rd Christmas we have had since we began the process. Geoff bought Lexi another Christmas present this year which we will have for her when she gets here. I'll admit I've teared up a few times thinking about her but try very hard to just put it out of my mind and look forward to the blessing we will eventually experience. So Merry Christmas everyone! (Of course, I'll be putting some Brennen pictures up soon. I've got to collect pictures first!)

Look at this Big Boy!

I got an email at work today from Sara with these pictures in them. Brennen decided that he could sit up by himself today. He's growing up tooooo fast!!

Later they visited me at school. Brennen suddenly decided that strangers are bad. Everytime someone tried to talk to him he scrunched up his face and started whining until he would eventually cry. Poor thing! It made me so sad for him. He usually smiles and laughs at everyone. I sure hope this is a quick stage.

Our Visit to the Christmas Tree Farm

We went with Sara, Chris, and Brennen to the Christmas Tree Farm last weekend. It was sunny and HOT! It's funny to be picking out Christmas trees in 80 degree weather. I think Geoff had the most fun of all. Once again he was the baby-hog. He walked Brennen all over the farm and even let him take a cat-nap under a big oak tree. These are a couple of the pictures I took. Afterwards we took off with the little guy and went to Savannah. We took him out to eat at a restaurant and he was PERFECT! When we were getting ready to leave a woman walked over and asked me how old he was. Then she told me that he was the happiest best behaved baby she had ever seen. I was a proud Granny!

Brennen At 5 Months

Last week Sara and Brennen stayed with us while Chris went on a hunting trip. We had a blast! One afternoon I took a bunch of pictures of Brennen in his Santa hat. Then I took some of them and made Sara and Chris's Christmas Cards. (So anyone in the family reading this will get a preview) I also took a lot of him doing other things so I decided to post them in this slide show. This little guy sure does add sunshine to our lives!