An invisible red thread connects those that are destined to meet,regardless of time,place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break.~Ancient Chinese Proverb

Friday, September 21, 2012

Keeping Busy

Well......we have been keeping busy while we patiently impatiently wait for a call from our Adoption Agency. Even though the Weatherman is calling for a high in the 90"s this upcoming weekend, the calendar still says that Fall is approaching. I have to admit, i have enjoyed seeing the crisp mornings, but it has been nice knowing that it would soon warm up throughout the day. Not really looking forward to Fall...I know for some, this is their favorite time of year. Pumpkin carving, hot apple cider, hayrides, football games....not so much, for me. I lost my Mother during the month of October (almost 12 years ago), and ever since then, i have just dreaded Fall. I really don't like anything about it. Call me silly, but I am really hoping that this year, October will bring us our newest blessing. I would love to replace the sadness that always comes with October with  joy and excitement of our future. We shall see...

So....what have we been up to??
Trips to the Zoo...dinner at our Annual Greek Festival..OPA!!!,



Muffins 4 Mom's at Alex's Preschool, swimming, fishing and just enjoying our time together as a family.

We have a Big Birthday coming up next week.....Alex turns 4! we will celebrate at school with his little buddies and also at home, as a family!

we also have another holiday coming up that we will be celebrating, for the first time, this year. On Sept 30, marks the Mid Autumn Festival in China. This day is their equivalent to our Thanksgiving, here in America. On this day, people in China celebrate all that they have with family and close friends. It is a tradition to eat and gather outdoors and to gaze up at the moon, giving all of their thanks to the heavens. And so, we plan to celebrate on that day, as well. It only felt right..as this is the country where our future daughter waits for us. She is sleeping under the same moon and stars..and so on that night of celebration..we will add an extra prayer...just for her!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Please Summer.....Don't Go!!!!

We REALLY don't want Summer to end! We love our warm weather, grilling out, boat rides and of course...swimming. While the weather is still conducive to swimming, we are still enjoying dips in the lake after school and on our weekends. We won't get out of the water until frostbite sets in!!!haha!!!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

100 Wishes Quilt-Need Squares!!!

To welcome and celebrate a new life into a family, there is a tradition in Northern China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite 100 people to donate a square of the quilt. The 100 pieces are sewn into a quilt, to represent the love, energy and good wishes from all of those who contributed a piece of fabric. We love the idea of welcoming our daughter into our home with a quilt that represents the love and good wishes from her new family and friends.
So.....what do I need?? Choose any cotton fabric of your choice, and send me a 9x9 square of it. On a notecard, attach a very small swatch of the fabric (enough to identify it on the quilt), and a well wish for our little girl. Dont forget to include your name and where you are from, on the notecard, as well.
The fabric square will go into the quilt, the notecard will go in an album.
Select ANY fabric that is meaningful to YOU!!In China, these quilts were often made with garmets of family and friends surrounding the child with luck and good wishes.




*****On a side note, while the fabric you send can be ANY color..IF you happen to choose a fabric that is pink, could I ask that you send me 2 9x9 squares? I will be assembling all of the squares into a large quilt for her bed, but I will use any of the pink colored fabric squares to make an additional smaller wall quilt which we will hang in her bedroom.****

If you are still unsure as to what we are describing, check out this link.
http:/1www.originalquilts.com/100_good_wishes_quilts.htm

Would you please take a few moments from your busy day to help us create this special quilt for our daughter. The process of our adoption has been nurtured and helped by so many of you. If you are willing to participate, please email or facebook message me, and I will gladly send you our address!!!

Thank you!!!!!!!
Blessings,
Angie


Waiting.........

"For a while" is a phrase that can't be measured. At least by the person who's waiting.....Haruki Murakami

Well, I knew that this "waiting" was going to be hard..but boy..is it hard. Even the 7 months I spent compiling all of the documents needed to complete our dossier, I felt like I was "waiting for HER". But now that all of the paperwork is done and in China's hands...there is nothing to do but WAIT.

I wake up each morning, wondering...will THIS be the day that we get THE CALL?? Could I know who our daughter will be TONIGHT? Oh, how I long for that to be. And even while I wait..I am assured...it will happen. Because I am impatient, I sent a casual email to our agency.."Any idea HOW long we could expect to wait for the call?" Instead of the "politically correct answer I have gotten in the past, this time I got a little more encouraging response. (Keep in mind...they STILL have to be politically correct, and not promise me the moon). They kindly replied that since we were requesting a young girl and also open to a child who has been born with a cleft lip or palate, that we had a very favorable file. They went on to state that the child we desire to add to our family is the type of files they receive the most of, and so we should not expect to wait TOO long....REALLY??? That's all you're gonna give this anxious Mommy??

NOPE.....That's all ya get....

And so, that's what we will do..and Pray. I'm not going to lie..every weekend  at Church, I pray that God will show us our daughter, SOON. And while I know that it is in HIS perfect timing, I still pray...Lord, let it be soon.

Nesting has surely set in. I just loaded up 8 XL lawn and leaf bags full of old clothes and toys, and headed to drop them off to donate. It felt so good. I nested so bad right before both of my Boys were born, so I can't help but wonder if this emense need to "purge", is a SIGN....
My husband jokes that he hopes we find our daughter soon..if not, we will be sleeping and eating on the floor, because I will have given everything away.
I have been fortunate enough to already have received lots of things for or Little Miss. Thanks to Family and 2 awesome Secret Pals from my Adoption group, she now has a Rubbermaid container full of stuff. As I would get the stuff, I would just set in in our hallway coat closet..out of sight. Well, during my intense cleanout, I decided to go through everything people have sent for her and tuck it all nicely into a large box, while we wait.

And so...as I close, let's hope that we receive our call quickly, or else THIS blog may turn into a whining mess....

The wait is long,my dream of you does not end......Nuala O'Faolain

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Dossier To China!!!!!

FINALLY!!!! Our Adoption Dossier is complete, sealed and headed on a plane to China!!!! It took us almost 7 months to complete all of the steps needed to have this mailed off. (Our agency told us 3-6 mos). But, thanks to loads of Government and State workers taking plenty of vacations, our paperwork spent many weeks on desks...untouched...
But...why re-hash the past????Because we are CELEBRATING!!!
What does it mean now that it is headed to China? That we are finally officially waiting to be matched with a little girl! Some of you are probably thinking...."wait a minute..havent you BEEN waiting???"..Well, yes, waiting in our heart, but not "officially" waiting.Once China receives our dossier (about 3-5 days from last Friday) and logs our dossier into the system..we get a log-in-date. (Otherwise known as a LID). This officially marks the beginning of our wait. The matching department at our agency has now been alerted that our dossier is on the way to China. Now, as children's files come into their office, they will start looking for us a match. We have requested certain factors..(age, gender, medical history), and so when they see the perfect match for us, we will get THE CALL!!! We are told that this call can come at ANY time....the very next day (and yes,we have seen some lucky enough for this to happen) or we may wait several months. Obviously we are hoping that we receive the call quickly. I have joked, telling my best friends and family, that if they need to reach me during business hours, they better text me before calling...to spare me a heart attack each time the phone rings.
And so, while we wait for our call, we "nest", we plan, we dream...all about the little girl who is out there waiting to join our family. Although we have said that we would be open to a newborn, we feel fairly certain that she will be at least several months old, if not older, and so it strains our heart to know that she is out there somewhere...waiting for her life to change..forever.
We know that HE is in control of the timing. HE will deliver her file into our agency's hands at just the right time, and when we see it, we will KNOW that she is OURS....


Birthdays & Anniversaries

We have celebrated 2 very special events during the past week-our 11th wedding anniversary and Brian's 40th Birthday.

I just love thinking back to our Wedding Day, 11 years ago. What a special day!! We had a beautiful Greek wedding, full of dancing (and drinking)..opa!!!! I can look through our albums over and over again and never tire of seeing the pictures, and how much fun everyone had.