Fourteen Months

Yep - it has been 14 months since our LID. Will this wait never end?!









Well, at least referrals finally came out today! The CCAA got through September 27th. I wish they had gotten through all of September - oh well. One more full month in front of me. I just have to hang in there!

Dinner And A Show

A few months ago, Doug told me he had a surprise evening planned for me for the night before Christmas Eve. I was so excited, I couldn't wait to know. So, about two weeks before the surprise evening, Doug told me he was taking to me to see Cirque du Soleil's Corteo which was playing at Atlantic Station. We are huge fans of Cirque du Soleil.

First, Doug and I dined at Dolce, which was absolutely delicious. I had a "to die for" lobster pasta and Doug had scallops. Then we walked around the shops of Atlantic Station for a little while. In the middle of the Atlantic Station, there is a square which has a huge decorated Christmas tree during the holiday season. At 7PM, there are machines that turn on that blow fake snow. It was really cool, especially for us Atlantans that don't see snow but maybe once a year (and it is usually a dusting). You northerners would be laughing so hard at us because of how neat everyone thought it was!

We walked over to the Cirque tent after the fake snow event. Doug got us tickets in the front row. We could reach out and touch the performers we were so close (of course we weren't allowed to!). The show was phenomenal. We have seen several Cirque shows, and this one was one of the best. I can't thank my sweetie Doug enough for planning such a perfect evening!

And, I want to say a big "Happy New Year" to all of my blog buddies! I hope you all have a wonderful year 2007!

More Meaningful Gifts

I have been so busy the last week and a half that I have not had a chance to blog! I feel like I am going through withdrawl! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I want to wish all of my friends, family and blog buddies a very happy 2007.

Though I wish more than anything that Briana had been here with me this Christmas, I did manage to enjoy the holiday thanks to my friends and family. I received so many thoughtful gifts the last few weeks and I want to share them with you.

First, this is a doll that I saw with my mother in a doll shop and fell in love with it. She looked so real, and when my parents gave her to me for Christmas, I picked her up and she felt real. Every time I feel like I want Briana here with me, I will pick up this doll and hold her and dream of the day when Briana is with me.

This next gift was from my sister Amy and brother-in-law Andy. This is Ling, and she is one of the Language Littles. She speaks Chinese when you squeeze her hands and her knee. Ling will be wonderful in helping Briana learn several Chinese phrases.



This ornament is from my friend Becky. She just brought home her gorgeous daughter Charis from China right before Christmas. She sent me this ornament that she bought in China. As soon as it arrived in the mail, I placed it on the front of my tree and it made me feel closer to Briana.



These charms came from my cousin Michelle. Michelle just adopted her wonderful son Ethan from Russia in May. She went to a party a few weeks ago with a Chinese theme, and charms with Chinese characters were handed out. She received one charm, and then she went around to her friends to get the other three so she could send all four to me. They say "beauty", "luck", "happiness" and "love".



This adorable ornament came from Kathy. She wrote the nicest note on the back, and everytime I look at it, I know that Briana will be home soon.



These adorable little shoes are from my friend Jennifer (who I have been friends with since middle school). There is Chinese writing on each one. The left shoe is pronounced "fu", which means luck, and the right shoe is pronounced "so", which means longevity.



This beautiful plate was sent to me for Christmas by my sister-in-law Ann and brother-in-law Wes. The plate says "Harmony". I have it proudly displayed on my coffee table!



And last, this is my swap gift from my swap buddy this month, Wanda. Our theme was hair glitz and glamour. She absolutely spoiled Briana with hair goodies and accessories!



Thank you to everyone who gave me such thoughtful gifts for Christmas. It means so much to Doug and me. You all are the best!!!

Ta-da!

I bet you all were wondering when I was going to finish painting Briana's nursery. The room has actually been painted for a while now, but I wanted to show my mom the room first before I posted pictures. When my mom entered the room, she started to cry. My whole family has been waiting for a baby to come into our lives for so many years, the room makes us feel like this will really happen this time. We have no furniture just yet, but we will in the next couple of weeks (if my mom cried at an empty room, what is going to happen when she sees one with furniture? Oh boy!). We have a few pictures on the wall now. The picture next to the closet is of the Chihuahua from "Lady and the Tramp". I have always loved that dog! My mom actually drew the picture and framed it for me years ago. I always told her that when I had a baby the picture would go in the nursery. And here it is...

The wainscoting was quite a job. I painted it two coats of white paint before Doug put the pieces on the wall, but then we realized that could see seams. So, I had to go around the room again painting the wainscoting to get rid of the seams.

It was so much work, but I think it turned out really nice in the end. Time to go furniture shopping!!!

Happy Chanukah

Growing up, I was lucky enough to celebrate both Christmas and Chanukah. My dad is Jewish and my mom is Catholic. As kids, my sister and I couldn't wait to light the menorah each night during Chanukah.

Happy Chanukah to my dad, family and friends who are celebrating the festival of lights!

Christmas At Home

I have had my house decorated since the beginning of December, and I wanted to share a few pictures!

This is my Christmas tree lit up at night. It's a real tree, and it is filled with ornaments that tell the story of my life.

This is the view of my tree from my family room. As you can see, my kitty Asia loves to sit in front of the fireplace.

This is actually a picture of my house from last year. I haven't taken a picture of the outside of my house yet this year, and I really like this shot. My house is decorated the same way this year, except we added a cute little light up snowman in the front.

Holiday Potluck

Saturday afternoon, our Atlanta waiting families group got together at Mick and James's house for food, drink, gift giving and holiday cheer! We had a great time. Toward the end of the night, we had a white elephant gift exchange, and I went home with the cutest book called "Shaoey and Dot". I can't wait to read it to Briana. Thanks so much again Mick and James for hosting a great party!

Trip To Minnesota

Finally! I have time to blog about my trip to Minnesota!

When Doug and I got into Minnesota on Friday, and it was cold. I mean really cold. When I asked Doug what he thought the temperature was, he said "one". He was probably right. So to keep warm, we decided to hit the Mall of America. It was unbelievable. I can't believe there is an amusement park inside the mall - it was amazing! And when Doug spotted the Lego store, he was in heaven!

Here are a few pics...

The next day we got up bright and early and headed to CHSFS for our travel orientation. For 2005 LIDers, CHSFS assigned each LID group a letter starting with group "A". My group is Group GG (Nov 3 LID). Year 2005 is the first year that CHSFS assigned groups double letters - that is how much the China program has increased in number.

Here is a picture of my agency...

We had already met one of our travel mates (who is a single mom-to-be!) last May when she came to Atlanta for a conference. So we got to see her again, which was really great. Then we met another woman who is in our group who will be traveling with her adult daughter. And that's it. That is all of Group GG - just three families. Now Group HH (Nov 14 LID) had about 15 families, so that was a large group. Depending how matching goes, we may or may not travel with Group HH. And it's possible we could travel with Group FF (LID Oct 27), but again, it all depends on where the matching room cuts off. This meeting was only for November LIDers, so we didn't get to meet any October LID families.

We were flooded with information for over four hours, and our heads were spinning when we were done. Toward the end of the meeting, a panel of parents who had already traveled to China came in the room with their children (who were absolutely adorable) to give us important travel tips.

Here are a just few of the things that I learned:

1. There are three important items to bring to China with you because they may be hard to find...sunscreen, dental floss and deodorant.

2. Pack very light. You can pretty much find everything you need in China. One of the dads on the panel jokingly said, "Remember, everything is made in China."

3. Casual dress is fine to wear, including dresses and shorts. Do not wear flip-flops because they are considered to be house shoes.

4. Feeding tips...babies from orphanages often like to sit up and drink bottles on their own rather than being fed. Cheerios are a must! And the Chinese like warm and hot water - no ice.

5. Sensitive topics for the Chinese are politics and religion, Tibet and Taiwan and personal opinion. Non-sensitive topics are income, age, marital status and appearance. (Someone in the room asked if there was anything besides flip flops that might be inappropriate to wear in China. One of the China program coordinators - who is from Hunan province - joked "don't wear a shirt that says "Free Tibet". Ha!)

6. Preparation before travel: try to learn phrases in Mandarin, call a medical office to ask about immunizations, obtain medications needed for travel, contact health care provider for overseas health coverage and consider traveler's insurance, purchase a money belt and purchase gifts.

7. The biggest thing to remember is to try to have patience and expect the unexpected.

There are about a thousand more things to learn and remember, but I don't have all night to write about them! I am so glad we went to not only meet members of our group, but to meet the China program coordinators. It is so nice to be able to put faces with names now.

Well, I have a few more months to prepare for China, and now I have the notes and knowledge to help me do just that!

Two Items Down, One To Go

Well, we are on our way to renewing our I-600A. I just got my copy of my updated home study from my social worker today in the mail, and she mailed a copy to the CIS on Tuesday. Also in the mail today I received an updated I-797 (I-171H) with my new fingerprint expirations - good through February 14, 2008. All I need to do now is fill out a new I-600A application form and send with a check which I will do next week - and that is gonna hurt. Hopefully, I will get my brand spankin' new I-797 in the mail in a couple of months. Fingers crossed!

And I promise to blog about my trip to Minnesota in the next few days! I have been so swamped since I got home I haven't had time to write about it yet. I need to sort my notes! :)

Thirteen Months

Doug and I got back from Minnesota this afternoon, and we are really tired! The travel orientation was really great, and I am so glad I got to meet the CHSFS China program staff and my fellow travel mates. I will write more about our trip this week.

As we were flying home, I realized today is our 13 month LIDiversary. I can't believe we have been in the adoption process for 18 months - that is including the 5 months we spent paperchasing!