What the HECK are we waiting for???

The question I get asked daily....."When do you get to go get your girl??"

Oh, if I only knew!! That is the million dollar question around here!

Now that we have found our Daughter, we are waiting on a VERY important document from China, know to us in the adoption world, as the LOA. This is the formal letter of acceptance from China for us to adopt Xin Xin. We need this document before we can apply to US Homeland Security for travel approval and for our Visas.

So..when is this LOA coming? The wait for this is one of the lengthiest parts of this process . (Except for us, who took almost a whopping 7 months to complete our dossier...yikes!!!). They tell us to prepare to wait 3 mos (90 days)from when your dossier is logged in, and if you are really unlucky, you will get to enter the "Century Club" where the wait takes over 100 days (we are desperately praying that this is NOT US!!).
We are currently on Day 65....YES, we are counting...
We are hoping for the LOA to come by 90 days, or early December. (But China....if you want to send it earlier..please...do so!!)
Once we get this document, we have a few more steps that are fairly quick in timeframes to complete, before we get to board a 797 to China. Those last few steps to travel take about 2 mos.
When we do the math in our heads, we would optimistically love to travel in late February, but realize with potential delays, that it could be March.

And so, we wait patiently, faithfully and know that we will see her soon.

We also pray for updates on our little girl. Our agency will call the Orphanage for an update at Day 90 of our wait, or when we receive the LOA, whichever comes first. They cannot promise that the orphanage will comply and send an update. We just have to hope they will. We also are paying for her Sponsorship (care) in the Orphanage. They promised to give us an update every 4 months. We received one right after taking over her sponsorship in October, so that wouldnt mean we would get another one for that until February. That's a long time to see my girl.
I have had the priviledge of meeting several Moms on facebook who also have a little one waiting on them in the SAME orphanage. They will travel before us, and they have graciously offered to find our Daughter for us, while they tour the Orphanage, and get some photos for us!! One special friend has even offered to let me send her some special things and she will pack them and take them with her, to deliver to our Daughter. These are truly the best gifts we could receive during this process. The wait (especially without updates) is torture, and these friends get this....I absolutely promise to pay it forward to another Mom waiting , when it is our turn to travel.

And so..that is where we are, in a nutshell.....
waiting for LOA...

You will know when we receive this precious document!! You will hear me shouting from the rooftop!!

A Birthday Package, full of LOVE

This month our sweet girl will turn 1...

When I think of this Special Occasion, my heart is heavy and full. We so desperately wish that we were with her to celebrate this special day.
But, since that isn't possible, we did the next best thing...we sent her a care package.

For this package, we picked out a sweet pink 2 piece outfit (that just brought tears to my eyes every time i would look at it). Its just so pink and girly, and I can just SEE her wearing it. Even though she is adorable just  the way she is (drab orphanage clothes and all), she still needs some FRILLS!!

We also sent another disposable camera (hoping it will be filled with pictures!!), a Birthday Bib,another photo album introducing us as her new family, rattles, and snack treats.
We sent a large bag of goodies for the Nannies, including tea bags,rice cakes, ginger candies and some other yummies, suggested by a friend of mine, who happens to be Asian..(Thanks, Gina!!)

Brian's Mom and my Step-Parents also sent some lovies for her, just from them!

We hope that she will somehow feel the love that we have for her, when she receives our package. We hope that the Nannies will show her our photos and tell her how loved and wanted she is....

We promise, sweet girl, that these care packages, and "love in a box" will soon be a thing of the past. We are waiting patiently and faithfully, knowing that we will get to hold you in our arms soon...

we love you sweet girl!!!

Showering Mia

This weekend, I was blessed with a sweet Shower for Mia. I am so fortunate to have super supportive friends, who have rallied behind us, ever since we told them of our plans to adopt. They never once have asked us those dreadful questions, that others may ask.."Why don't you just have more of your OWN kids? Why don't you adopt HERE in the States?"...No questions...just unwavering support. The best quality you can find in a friend. And so, we gathered together on Saturday to celebrate the sweet little girl who is, in every since of the word, my Daughter.

It was a fun day, but also one I found to be bittersweet. Throughout this process, I have been flooded with all sorts of emotions. Some, I knew would come, Some, I was unaware of. On the day of the shower I found myself overcome with emotions. One one hand I was so extremely happy. I was laughing, celebrating with my friends and family. But then my mind would drift across the world, to the little girl at the center of this celebration..and my heart would begin to ache. I felt guilty for having this fun, while MY little girl, is so far away.
BUT......we must push these thoughts out of our head...and CELEBRATE!!!

And so, it was all things Asian.....the food (sushi, noodles, egg rolls and fortune cookies) was de-lish, games of passing things around with chopsticks, trying to find tiny tiny safety pins in a bowl of rice, with your eyes closed, and the old standard..you give up your safety pin if you say...MIA!! I won!! I was listening hard!!
It was a great day, and I left with SO MUCH stuff for our princess!!! Already spoiled...just as she should be!!!

Alex couldn't believe all of the things we came home with!!!

And so from all of us....THANK YOU!!!!!

Blessings, Angie

100 WISHES FOR MIA

The quilt is done!!!
I am so humbled and honored by all those who graciously gave a square and a well wish for our sweet girl's quilt! I was able to collect way more than I expected!
My Mother in law was kind enough to offer to stitch the quilt for me. And so, I wrapped up the 100 squares, mailed them to her..and TA DA......here is the finished project!!!

It turned out just beautiful!!! I am so happy to have this treasure for Mia. When she is older we will explain the meaning of this quilt and read to her each well wish that came along from each square. It will be fun to flip through the book of wishes and help her hunt for the matching square. As I look at the finished project, I instantly recognize certain squares..and seeing them come together for this quilt makes my heart overflow with happiness.
Since we received MORE than 100 squares, my Mother-in-law is currently working on a second, much smaller lap quilt, which we can use on trips (like China!!!) and in her crib. I will post a photo of the second quilt once it is complete.

Again, thank you SO much for being part of this special labor of love...this sweet girl already has so many people that care for her!! We are so fortunate to have such amazing friends and family!

Blessings,
Angie

VOTE!!

Yesterday, we bundled up and hit the polls to cast our VOTE!!

It was such a treat to take the Boys with me. We have spent the past month explaining to them how rules and laws are made, and how WE, as Americans, have the privilege and right to help decide on these laws, as well as our leaders. What a blessing that is! We explained how many people all over the world, live in places where they have NO voice, no say-so. People fought hard for us to have those rights, and we must never take them for granted.
It was so cute to see the Boys playing a friendly game of "Presidential Rivalry". All week they would banter with each other.."Mitt is going to win!!"..."NO! Obama is going to win!"..They have no idea about either candidate (and we are the kind of parents that feel it is best to KEEP it that way! They are children, after all!). Anyway, it was cute...they were split down the middle, as to who THEY were going to vote for. (Pretty much like our Country)..

And so, we cast Mom's vote...and headed back home..knowing that we would wake up to the results.
Regardless of your political stance, you HAD to be excited about this election! I found my stomach in knots as the votes were coming in. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't hang on to hear the results. That's OK....I had pleasant dreams, anyway...

The Boys were excited to wake up this morning and to find out if THEIR candidate had won. Obviously, one was really excited..one was not...

We explained that whether or not YOUR candidate won, we are still ONE nation under GOD indivisible, with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL----and for that, we should be ETERNALLY grateful!! We have a voice!!

While we wait......

While we are waiting for our sweet Mia, we thought it would be nice to document our wait and how excited we are for her to join our family, by doing a photo shoot.
A sweet friend of mine came over and took the photos at our home. The day was sunny, weather was beautiful, and our hearts were full of love...what a perfect day for these pictures!!!
We can;'t wait to look back on these pictures with Mia when she is older and show her just how much we were longing to have her here.....

Here are a few of my favorites!!

tRicKS anD TReAts.....

This past week we celebrated Halloween!!
The Boys love picking out their costumes. It wasn't any surprise when they both announced that hey wanted to be SUPERHEROS......of course...what else???

And so, they were Thor and SpiderMan...

Our Church does a trunk-or-treat, and so we decorated our car and gave out candy at Church. Our car theme was Jake and the Neverland Pirates..one of our favorite cartoons on the Disney channel. The Boys got into helping decorate the car and really enjoyed giving out candy. And yes....they made the rounds, too..and got PLENTY of candy, themselves...

Now listen folks...I realize that Halloween is now over, but we still have another Holiday BEFORE Christmas....so let's focus on that one!!! It seems that as soon as the pumpkins disappear..out come the Christmas trees.......noooo!!!! let's take this slow. I'm just not ready for Christmas yet. Let's celebrate these holidays in order...
And so this month in our house, we will spend the WHOLE month talking about Thanksgiving, and why we celebrate this holiday. It truly is the one month of the year that is devoted to family, gratefulness and giving blessings to others. So, why would we want to rush over it, just to get to tinsel and eggnog?? We all have so much to be thankful for...we should relish in it...for a whole 30 days!!!

Blessings,
Angie