30 Months Since LID , 9 Days Since LOI

It has been 30 months since our LID to China on 4/30/2007.



We are now 9 days officially LOI for little emperor! It is so hard not being able to share photo's but until we know for sure we have PA or LOA I can not post them.
Sorry!!! Hopefully soon......

Photo's courtesy of Flicker Creative Common's

Yesterday USCIS and Lunch with Cora!!

Well, Hope everyone has had a good week. I had to make an impromptu trip yesterday to Yakima,WA. It is a 2.5 hour drive from where we live. The weather was rather iffy with rain,fog, snow and construction on I 90. The purpose of my trip was to go to USCIS and see where our renewal of our I 171-H is that we filed last Sept. 2008. We had our fingerprints done at the Seattle office in Oct. 2008 and then got our homestudy sent in the end of Feb. 2009. At that time you had up to a year to file your homestudy after submitting your paperwork for the I600. I never heard from them and I just kept on waiting for the formal paper to come in the mail.


Needless to say it never came. Meanwhile we found or little emperor in Zhuzhou, Hunan China. It occurred to me we still didn't have our renewal. PANIC!!! So, we (Edd at AAO and myself) took it upon ourselves to email them everyday. Finally got a response that they did not have our request for renewal. Thank goodness for FEDEX tracking system. We were able to prove it got there, who signed for it, what time etc. So, emailed her about this and attached documentation. Waited and waited... Nothing. Last week finally she responded and said she had given it to her supervisor. Nothing the beginning of this week. So, talked with AAO and we decided that I needed to make a trip to USCIS in Yakima because that is where all of our paperwork is.

A friend that I have met through AAO, April DTC 2007 group lives out near Yakima.It is Cora from Waiting For Little Miss Whats Her Name. We have been following each other's blogs for awhile and email each other to catch up on where we are in adoption and how we are feeling. I sent her an email and asked if she wanted to meet and have lunch. We decided on a place Weds. night.

So, I drove to Yakima and got to USCIS 10 minutes before my scheduled appt. time. Thank goodness cause this girl had to go before she could sit down and talk to anyone!!! So, I go up to window # 4 tell the lady why I am there and she calls to the person I have been emailing to for the last 1.5 months. That person relayed to this lady that our renewal was on her desk and she was going to process it today. They talked back and forth a little more and discussed whether we owed any money (I don't think so cause we renewed before ours expired). No money owed. She asked me if I wanted to do fingerprints while I was there I said no as hubby did not come with me and we would do it in Seattle. She said she would send a renewal for scheduling our fingerprints with our updated I600A form. Okay, and that was it! It was 11:50 when I got out to the car and my appt. time was for 11:50. It took only 5 minutes to get something out of them. They did not need any paperwork or anything.
I was so prepared!! I had stayed up until 12:45am collecting everything I need to take with me!


Proof I was there! Last time we went we forgot to take pictures. At least now I have one.

What a relieve!! I laughed so hard on the phone with my agency. It just took a little nudge that yes we want this and are serious about adopting an orphan to get them to move on our paperwork.


Autumns color on street in front of USCIS.


Then I got to have lunch with Cora!! We had fun finding each other at first. I ended up in Selah and she was in Yakima in front of a closed down restaurant. We laughed so hard over this! Thank goodness for cell phones.... We finally got to meet. It was so amazing cause we just felt like we knew each other and had this instant connection! We had so much fun just chatting, sharing news about our little boys and our hopes that we can bring them home soon.I think we could have kept on talking forever but I had to get on the road and she had to get back to work. She is just such a sweet and dear person! I am so glad we met and hope we can see each other more often. We are going to try to get the boys together for playdates. I know we should meet some weekend and have a camp out! I bet the boys would love that! I know Princess would. Friends for ever!! We made sure we took pictures so we could show you all!


Myself and Cora pregnant for 30 months and counting!! Tee hee...


I stopped at Thorps Fruit stand and Antiques on the way home. It is always such a fun place to look around. I picked up some goodies for my friend Erin who had Princess over for a playdate with her son. Hope you enjoyed them Erin. I was so cold in there I had to get a Pumpkin Pie Latte! It was a good treat for on the way home.

Adoption Emergency Funds Needed By A Family

This was on our Loving Chinese Children and Waiting SN Children China yahoo groups this morning. If you can help this family out bless you!! I went to their blogspot and donated on Chip in.

I do not know this family personally but I wanted to let you all know
about them. They are an adoptive family in need. Due to circumstances
beyond their control they find themselves leaving on Friday to adopt
their son, without even enough money to pay their hotel. I know money
is tight for all of us. Most of us are in the midst of our own
adoptions as well. But if we could all give $5 or $10 they would have
what they need in no time at all. I believe with all my heart that if
we give to those in need, even if it is only a little, we will also be
blessed in our time of need.

Bringing Home Cooper Go here to Chip in!
To give away money is an easy matter and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large, and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in any man’s power nor an easy matter…
- Aristotle



Cooper waiting for his family. He has a pacemaker!


WE HAVE CONFIRMED LOI!!!! Yippee! It was sent electronically Thursday Oct. 22nd, 2009 AAO just let me know.

I Am Reading This....

I have started to read for the upcoming adoption. Found this fantastic book Toddler Adoption The Weaver's Craft by Mary Hopkins-Best. It is so easy to read and very well thought out. I feel like I will be more prepared for the little emperor when we go to get him. I am praying that we will be fortunate enough to meet the foster family and get to have pictures taken with them. I feel very strongly about this as it would help to bridge the bond between us and them in the emperors eyes. It will help him to let go of them and realize that they approve of us as his parents. Therefore helping with the attachment.

As I was sitting today for 2 hours waiting in the therapy lobby I noticed this poster and thought it was really neat. I took it to heart that these are such important things for us to do for our children. Enjoy!

CHILDREN NEED...


APPRECIATION, FOR ALL THEY BRING INTO OUR LIVES.


BALANCE, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TOO LITTLE AND TOO MUCH.


COMMITMENT, IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS WE DO EACH DAY THAT MATTER.


DREAMS, TO TOUCH THE FUTURE.


EMPATHY, REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE A CHILD.


FAMILY AND FRIENDS, EVERYONE NEEDS SOMEONE TO LOVE.


GUIDANCE, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.


HEALTHY HABITS, TO NURTURE BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT.


INSPIRATION, TO EXPLORE BEAUTY, WONDER AND MYSTERY.


JOY, SPRINKLE LAUGHTER AND HAPPINESS DAILY.


KINDNESS, TO LEARN TO CARE FOR OTHERS AS THEY ARE CARED FOR.


LIMITS, SET BOUNDARIES AND CONSEQUENCES TOGETHER.


MENTORS, TO GIVE WINGS TO THEIR ASPIRATIONS.


NATURE, TO DELIGHT IN RAINBOWS, BUTTERFLIES AND SHOOTING STARS.


OPPORTUNITIES, TO DISCOVER WHAT TRULY MAKES THEIR HEARTS SING.


PLAY, THE "WORK" OF CHILDHOOD.


QUIET TIME, TO RECHARGE THEIR BATTERIES.


RESPONSIBILITIES, TO BUILD SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF-CONFIDENCE.


SECURITY, FEELING SAFE IS ESSENTIAL.


TRADITIONS, KEEP THE FAMILY TREE ALIVE AND SPROUT NEW BRANCHES.


UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, FOR WHO THEY ARE NOT WHAT THEY DO.


VALUES, LIVE YOURS, AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO FIND THEIRS.


WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT, "YOU CAN DO IT, I BELIEVE IN YOU."


XOXOXOXOX'S, HUG AND KISS THEM EACH AND EVERY DAY.


YOU, YOUR PRESENCE MORE THAN YOUR PRESENTS.


ZZZZZZZZZZ'S, A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP.


Written by Meiji Stewart




Precious ones hope you have found your forever families to fulfill your needs!



On another note I have been trying to come up with how to decorate little emperor's room. I have a few idea's but would love some input please!!!

Today was Apple Day!

What a busy but fun day we had! Our apple tree was just starting to drop some of it's apples so we thought we had better pick them! I think we picked about 50 apples and we still have half of the tree covered in apples. I have no idea what kind of apples they are but they are sweet and good for baking. We have a bunny that likes to frequent our yard and munch on the garden. He loves the fallen apples and the cabbage. I have tried to take a picture of him, but he is fast.









First thing I made was a batch of applesauce and its all ready to store for the season.





The last thing I made was an Apple Pie! Of course we will have it A La Mode !
Boy did the house smell fragrant and good! I think tomorrow I will make an apple cake if I can find my bundt pan.

Enjoy the fall season!

Searching my soul and rejoicing

Let your father and your mother be glad,
and let her who bore you rejoice.
Proverbs 23: 22,24-25







And she made a vow; "O Lord of heaven, if you will look
down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me
a son, then I will give him back to you and he'll
be yours for his entire lifetime......
1 Samuel 1:11



Oh little pumpkin, I praise God for you and your birth. I feel the sorrow and the pain that your mother and father must have felt placing you in a public place where you would be found. They so loved you that they knew they could not take care of you and wanted so much to give you a life they could not provide for you. I pray that we will honor their wish and be a family where you just blossom into the most loving and caring Christian boy.....

I am there with you little one ...look up to the stars over head they are shining brightly for you my sweet precious boy.


Moon beam kisses!

Wordless Wednesday

Photo's Courtesy of Creative Commons


I though these were just too cute to not post! Happy Wednesday! Just think next year Baby Sweet Cheeks will get to celebrate fall and all of the fun traditions around our house.
I can't wait!!!!!

IT'S TRUE.......

We have found our child! We have alot to do filing paperwork for LOI, waiting for PA and LOA and then TA to Zhuzhou,Hunan China. HE yes it is an adorable boy that is just 17 months old and is in a foster family and is developing typically in all aspects. He does have a SN but I want to keep that private. There is so much to do! I have to find boy stuff and set up a blog site for auctioning off all of the girly stuff. We are just so very excited and joyful! I am very happy it is a boy and the moment I saw him I knew in my heart he was mine! You know all along I have thought it would be a girl, but God has a remarkable way of giving you what you need. HE so impressed upon me this was my child. The child that I had prayed for and dreamt about.

First things first though is I have my right ankle surgery on Nov. 6th. I am thinking about renting one of these so I can get around the house and do laundry, cook etc. What do you think?


I love the color! It sure would make life easier than with crutches for 6 weeks.

So for now I am looking at changing my blog to something a little more color appropriate. I have some idea's. I have started another blog for HIM but so far it is private.

The one thing I have not shared is USCIS has lost our I171 H renewal. We are in the pits of sending emails everyday to them asking where it is. Thank goodness for FED EX varification. DHS is telling us that they never got our extension request last year. Which I can prove otherwise. Thank goodness!! It was such a crazy year with family tragedies that our home study got put off. Apparently they did not like that.

We may have to file a I800 now or get a lawyer. I am trying to figure out which will be the fastest and least amount of money to spend. LOL....

Hope you have a beautiful fall!

Wordless Wednesday

HAPPY MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL!!

The Yo-Mei Mountain Moon
by Li Bai
The autumn moon is half round above the Yo-mei Mountain;
The pale light falls in and flows with the water of the Ping-chiang River.
Tonight I leave Ching-chi of limpid stream for the three Canyons.
And glide down past Yu-chow, thinking of you whom I can not see.

Happy Moon Festival little dumpling! May you have a wonderful time.... Can't wait to celebrate with you soon!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE........

Thank you so much for all of you wonderful gals that entered for my 100th Post Give Away!
It was such fun reading all of the posts. The adoption community is just so amazing to me. We all just have this common bond even though we are separated by distance. I pray that we all will see our children's faces soon.

Okay enough blabbering..... There were 52 entries for the give away! YEAH... The name that Princess picked out of my Longaberger basket was.... SAMMONS!!! This is a precious couple on their way to go get their adorable daughter Lexi in Nov! Please all go and see their darling little girl at Waiting For Lexi and congratulate them!


Happy Fall Y'all!!