DTC!

Yeah! Heather, over at Diggin a Hole to China, is DTC! Congratulations my east coast friend, I'm thrilled for you! Now go out and celebrate with that hubby of yours :-)

my not so good day....

If it’s not one thing it’s another…

Be warned, this is a major downer post...

The CCAA only matched from August 25, 2005 to September 8, 2005 this month. The wait is getting longer and longer every month. It’s downright depressing. If this keeps up, month after month after month, I won’t be meeting my daughter for another 2-3 years. Ouch. I'm certainly not getting any younger either. double ouch.

North Idaho is a winter wonderland right now. We have about 6 inches of snow covering our area and are supposed to get another 2-4 inches today. As I drove into work this morning, very carefully in 4-wheel drive I might add, I came around the corner and just as I was pulling into work guess what happened? My passenger door window decided to go down. all. by. itself. What the? Apparently it’s possessed and decided to fall off the track without anyone pushing the down button on the snowiest damn day we’ve had yet. Neato.

So, what do I do? I call up our auto-body repair department for advice as to where I might take it to get fixed, like now. Cal, my friend and the instructor for the program, said “pull it around Sara, we’ll tear it apart and take care of you!” As I pulled into the garage he said “you know, your going to be a mother soon, we can’t have your windows falling down randomly”…in my crabby mind I was thinking, yeah right, in like three freaking years…so, now the jeep is tucked away in the auto body repair department waiting for Cal and his students to rip apart my door and put the window back on its track.

**Update** sigh, it just gets better…the window didn’t just fall off the track, the window regulator is bad = $200.00 to fix. The good news is that I provided a very teachable moment for the auto body repair program and I don’t have to pay for the labor.

I had a wardrobe malfunction today at work. I’m chalking it up to the fact that I have been eating like a hog for the past 2-3 weeks with zero exercise…doesn’t take long for the ol’ pants to get tight again does it? Better get back on the weight watchers/exercise saddle like now.

Thank god tomorrow is Friday and a new day.

Arrrrgggghhhh!

Don't ya just hate it when RQ's website goes down due to the massive traffic of folks trying to figure out the monthly CCAA cut off date. I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is going on? Are referral's here or what? How far did they match into September...oh the suspense, I can't stand it!

Dream

I had a baby dream last night, the first one in a long time.

I had undergone a hospital procedure to become pregnant. I told my family I was pregnant and they were so mad and appalled because my being pregnant had halted my adoption proceedings. I was sooo sorry and distraught, and I remember my thinking was that since the wait was so long I could give birth to a baby in the meantime and still adopt my little one from China. Come to find out the procedure didn't work...so everyone could breath a sigh of relief, I was still able to adopt my baby. Then I was at some sort of family reunion/Tom Cruise's wedding (not even kidding) and my social worker pops over for a visit. It was chaos. There were babies there from Vietnam and China who had just been adopted, but their adoptive mothers were not taking care of them, neglecting them. I don't really remember much after that.

Thinking about it this morning, there are commonalities in my dream and what I would imagine my baby experiencing in her first days...fear, anger, sadness, tears, chaos, and stress.

I'm noting this date. If my daughter has been born, I am praying that she is safe, has been found, and is being cared for....

20 days!

It's been 20 days since my documents were sent to China. My agency reports that it's taking between 3-4 weeks for China to log dossiers into their computer system which = the all important Log In Date (LID). Any day now, any day....

p.s. someone hit my blog from BEIJING CHINA

Giving Thanks

I’m overdue for the Thanksgiving post, but I’m putting it up anyway.

Thanksgiving was a success. I cooked and everything turned out great except…I made my stuffing with chicken stock and it turned out too salty AND my gravy was bad, I mean really bad. For some reason I can’t figure the whole gravy thing out. I know I know, everyone says “it’s so easy! You do this and that and let it thicken up”. Well, I did this and that and it still was the consistency of water. Ewwww! Thankfully, the fam were good sports about it and poured it all over their plates anyway. Speaking of the fam, in attendance at my house on Thanksgiving were my sisters, brother-in-law, nephew, Dad, and someone special. We had pies up the wazzooooo and everyone left with bags of leftovers. All in all it was really good.

I am thankful for...

the opportunity to create my family through adoption

the overwhelming support I have received from my family, friends, and co-workers – it really is amazing how much this little girl is loved already!

my family

my friends

my someone special ;-)

my new blog friends and the network of all things China adoption I have found through the internet – truly truly amazing!

Hoping you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dear Munchkin,

Your mommy is nutty.

First, I got up at 4:00a.m. At 4:45a.m. I was standing in this line

with these friends


so that I could buy you all this loot for 50% off

can't wait to meet you baby girl!!

I love you and think of you all the time...

Mommy

Progress

Here I am painting the baby's room last weekend (Dad helped too).

And finished!! The paint colors are perfect Mom! Daisy Garden bedding from PBK is the theme...so cute!

My Dad finished up the trim this past week and now all we need to do is install the closet shelves.

Lefsa

Lefsa making....

Dad cooking on the griddles

I want to help! Pleassssee...

The finished product - turned out pretty good for my 2nd try ever!

Sampling the goods

I've got the fever

Baby fever that is.

As I type this, my Dad is in the baby's room fixing a crack in the closet and then the painting begins!

I am also missing Grandma...so.....

I ordered this

now Grandma and munchkin can have all the tea parties they want together!!!!!

:-)

p.s. NOW is the time for internet shopping people, FREE shipping on most sites for the holidays! Wheeee!

TBD and Unknown

I am very lucky to have the very best child care center in my region on-site where I work. It is not just a daycare, it's a child development learning center. Earlier this summer, I visited the center to see what I needed to do to enroll munchkin. After touring the facility, the director and I decided that it would be best if I submitted my application as soon as I was DTC so that I could be added to the waitlist. They can only take 66 children per semester and our students children have first priority, then faculty/staff.

Yesterday I submitted the wait list application on-line and had to write TBD for her name and unknown in the birthdate box. That was weird. There wasn't an area for comments, so I followed up with an email to the director letting them know that I estimate starting her sometime spring semester 08, if not fall semester 08 for sure. She responded and told me to forward her name and birthdate as soon as I knew as they organize the wait list by classroom...for now she is on the infant wait list.

Her name is giving me anxiety...why can't I decide? Why does it seem so easy for everyone else?

Right on!

Way to get your groove on!

Much better...

Ahhh! Feels good to be among the living again. I finally kicked whatever it was I had Monday afternoon.

Yesterday, I received the copies of my dossier that were sent to China last week from my agency. It was pretty cool to see all of the official certification and authentication sheets and the cover letter written in Chinese. It gave me goose bumps to know that the original copy has probably arrived in China and is now sitting on someone's desk at the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs. CRAZY!

I also joined the December 06 DTC/LID Yahoo group! For those wondering, it's a yahoo group set up for adoptive parents around the country who are DTC or LID in December (I should be LID in Dec). All of the members are waiting parents who are basically on the same timeline. Cool. It's another great way to gain advice (there are tons of parents adopting their second child in my group), support, etc. while we wait. We will eventually come up with a catchy little name like the March Moonbeams or July Dragonflies. Cute. Then, at some point, I hope...someone will set up a secret pal exchange and I am going to join up! How fun to buy and receive baby gifts in the mail each month to help pass the time...

This coming weekend, my Dad and I are painting the nursery as this might be his last visit to the States before munchkin arrives...pictures to come for sure! The colors are frosted lemon on the walls and marsh fern (looks like a light apple color) in the closet. I have no idea why I want to paint the inside of the closet, I just thought it would be fun. I think I might buy a natural wood toy box or something and paint it the green color as well...maybe a dresser? Who knows, but I'm excited. It'll be fun. Then, next weekend we are installing the new closet shelving system and new closet doors.

My Dad and I are also going to attempt to make lefse, a Norwegian flatbread, this weekend. My Dad loves lefse, his Mom used to make it for him. Last year, my Mom taught me how to make it before I left for New Zealand and I surprised him by making a batch when I visited him for Christmas. It turned out pretty good for a first timer...if I do say so myself.

Icky...

I'm sick, I've got the crud and it's no fun! My Dad arrived safe and sound from down under. He is battling jet leg and I am battling the flu...wait, it can't be the flu, I had a flu shot last week. Whatever it is, it's got me down and out. I'm surviving thanks to advil, alka-seltzer cold, and Nyquil. Yuck. Hopefully I feel better soon...

Last night I made my Dad sit through my version of show and tell. I pulled out all of the baby stuff and showed him each and every item I have bought for the wee one thus far. He was a pretty good sport...I told him he had to do it, it was his duty as a new Grandpa.

Sometime in the next month we will be putting in a new closet shelving system, painting the nursery, as well as installing new closet doors. Fun!

The confirmation :-)

From my agency:

Sara,
You are officially DTC as of today. Your log-in date will follow in about 3-4 weeks. The log-in date (LID) is the date that you will refer to most. This is the date that CCAA uses when they are matching. I will get your copies of your dossier out to you in the mail next week.
Have a great weekend!

My first ultrasound

DTC!

After four months of paperwork, I am absolutely thrilled to report that my documents are on their way to China as of TODAY! 11/9/06

I am DTC!

YAAAAAAHOOOOOOO!!

Time to change the ticker!

Oh - the suspense!

I should be DTC (Dossier/paperwork to China) sometime this week!

My agency sent me an email this morning indicating that my docs should be returned to them from D.C. mid-week and then off to China they go! Just the thought makes me want to jump up and down several times and do some funky, touchdown/endzone type dance. Oh, so very cool.

I'll keep you posted.

Sweeeeeet!!

Do you notice anything different on ye ol’ blog? I bet you do…

A very special THANKS to my new bloggy friend Heather over at Digging a Hole to China for my blog makeover.

It is so awesome Heather, I love love love it!