Hmmmmm

I was going to post something stimulating and interesting, but nothing happened today! I grabbed the kids from school, ran to piano lessons, dance lessons, and karate lessons, and met up with JR for (gasp!) a fast-food dinner at Arby's. Got home at 7:30 and read 3 books to Jazmin to fulfill her Book-It for January, got James to start on his weekend homework, and plugged myself into the computer. Tomorrow I'm going to sell my car (anyone want a 1997 Geo Metro with only 39,000 miles??? - great price!) and start counting down to Monday when the CCAA opens up again. We are hoping they come back raring to go and plop our TA in the mail ASAP! To all my good buddies waiting with me, this week'll be over soon!

Bumming in Missouri....

Hi, all! Been awhile since I've posted; check out our new family photo, too, down at the bottom of the blog. This one's from Christmas; it's also the one I had put on the picture pillow I sent Judi in her care package. It's actually two put together; it's hard getting 5 people to stop moving all at one time!

I was all excited last week anticipating TA and THEN, nothing..............not a word. Now the CCAA is off for Chinese New Year and our TA is still sitting on someone's desk. So now our travel may be pushed back to March. I really wish I understood why all these delays have happened. I still can't believe we started this process right before Judi's 3rd birthday and now she's almost 4! Jazmin has a little calender on her wall; every night she checks off one more day and asks me again when we're going. I have the girls' suitcase mostly packed; Jazmin has insisted on matching clothes so we have matching hoodies, Princess crocs, shirts, pants, and dresses in size 6 and size 2-4T. On the advice of another mom, I'm bringing safety pins for Judi's clothes in case they fall off her little hinny!

We also didn't get new measurements for Judi, so I'm operating under 6 month old numbers; it'll be so much fun to shop for the two girls in China!

I'll post an answer to the joke tomorrow; stay tuned!!

TA, TA, where are youuuuuuuuuuu?

Well,
we're still hangin' in there just waiting for TA. TA is Travel Approval. China first gives you pre-approval to adopt, then waaaaay later, the real approval, THEN the approval to actually enter China! The good news is today we got our passports back all stamped and ready to go.
Chinese New Year is Jan. 26, and if the CCAA holds true to form, they will want to clear their desks before the holiday, meaning we might get TA next week! There is one glitch though; there is news that there is a new step in the TA process, where the LOAs have to go back to immigration here in the US for re-approval or something! It is really crazy; they don't think about the kids waiting for their families; it's just all bureaucratic nonsense! Pray that this does not slow us up even more; there are so many families this would affect and these children wait so long, they shouldn't have to wait longer!
On the home front, we're doing well. Jr's still employed, Jessica's doing really well so far this semester, and Jazmin already has her "airplane" bag packed! I keep saying i'm going to get packing, but can't seem to get to it. I'll probably be throwing things in a suitcase the night before we leave!

LOA, LOA, LOA, LOA, YEAAAAH!

Ater 110 days of waiting, we have final approval from the Chinese government to be the parents of little Judi, who will be 3 years and 10 months old when we meet her! We are so excited and I admit I'm a little scared of how she will react to us, being so much older than Jazmin was. I can only pray that it will all come together as it is meant to be.
Jr took the kiddos to his Mom's and then Dad's house for 4 days and I had all these plans to do stuff in the house. But working and getting a sinus infection and Dad and I snuck in one last trip to Silver Dollar City, the house is at least presentable. But for the next 6 weeks, it's going to be a whirlwind of packing, cleaning, organizing, and storing things!
Love to you all and hoping you have a wonderful New Year! We're celebrating with some friends for the first time in a long time, so we're pretty excited about that, too!

A wonderful Christmas gift!! and 103 days waiting..

The lady we posted about, Sarah S, from Massachusetts, that won our gift card raffle has given us the most wonderful Christmas surprise: she has offered to donate the winnings back to us for the adoption! What an incredibly selfless gesture; I am still in awe of her generosity. Thank you, Sarah, so much; you hold a special place in our hearts!
Debbie and Jr; now 103 days waiting for LOA

And the winner is............

Each kid got to choose one name, then............ The Winner!!!--->>

Sarah S of Massachusetts!!!! We faced the daunting tasks of putting everyone's name on slips of paper to be drawn by our kids; thank goodness for spreadsheets!! We put all the names in a box, and had Jessica, James, and Jazmin each pick one name (see pics). Then Jazmin got to pick the final name, which was Sarah's! Thank you all so much for your support and wonderful comments! We are getting excited and sooo hoping our LOA comes this week. I keep thinking Judi is getting older every day and we've already missed almost 4 years of her life; I don't want to miss another minute! The waiting has begun to be hard on the kids; they literally ask every day when our approval will come. Jessica, my teen, even told me the other day she will miss us; be still my heart! This is the same kid who alternately will say she can't wait til we go, because she's excited about staying at her friend's house! I still wish so much we could take them, but with the increase in the orphanage fee, that's pretty much an impossibility now.

Debbie

First Christmas Program!

Tonight was Jazmin's first ever school Christmas program! She was so excited all day and couldn't wait to dress up! She loved having the jingly bell thing in her hair; all the way to the school she kept shaking her head, it was too funny! After the concert, I got the at least James and Jaz to sit still long enough to snap some photos. Jessica saw the camera and took off! I'm still determined to get all of us, even Grandpa, to sit down together and get at least one family photo!

Debbie