Referrals!

Surprise....referrals are arriving earlier than expected! There's no word on the cut-off, but Dec. 19th is looking like a strong possibility. (My mantra: "Don't get down. Don't get down. Don't get down.")

Have a great New Year's Eve! We're taking it easy by celebrating at home this year. :)

We're Back!

OK....it's been a while, so I figured I'd just do a "run down" of what life has been like since Thanksgiving. Here's some highlights:

• Thanksgiving was spent with B and my mom. My mom came here and the three of us spent the day relaxing. We all contributed a part of the meal and ended up eating waaay too much. After our late lunch and nap, Momma and I put the tree up:
• November 30th - December 2nd: SEC Championship!!! B and I drove to Atlanta (yep, drove...we typically don't do car trips, but made an exception for the Tigers) and met up with Ryan, Jona, Justin and Wanda. We all watched as LSU won the SEC Championship.
• December 12th: Got fingerprinted, for the second (and hopefully final) time. We had to go to the Department of Homeland Security Office in Jackson, MS for this. B was a good sport because before we left town, he went to the yarn store with me. :) That shop owner sure is smart. She has a TV room for the hubby's with ESPN playing.
• December 15th: Celebrated Christmas twice. Celebrated in the morning with Daddy, Anita, Jeremy, Nikki, Cally and Kasey. Celebrated that night in Winnfield with my Dad's family. It's a lot of driving, but we always enjoy it.
• December 23rd: Had almost 30 people in our home....it was the 3rd Annual Smith Family Christmas! In our home anyway. :)
• December 24th: Celebrated Christmas with B and Momma.

During this time, I spent a lot of time baking, shopping, wrapping gifts, sending Christmas cards and trying to keep my sanity. It was a hard, hard, hard holiday season for me and I am very glad it's over. I'm usually sad to see Christmas leave; this year it's a relief. Another holiday and no baby...it's enough to make the most upbeat person a cynic. Here's the lowlights:

• December 3rd: I got sucker punched with the fact that life is not fair!!!
• Decmeber ???: Received a Christmas card with a baby's picture enclosed and the baby's parent wrote on the card how hectic their holidays now are, but they're so much more delightful with a baby. We had no friggin' idea the holidays would be better with a baby!!!Seriously....someone wrote this to us! Tip for you all....this is not nice to send to two people who are trying to keep their sanity while trying to have a baby!!! When I speak this person's name now, their name is preceeded by colorful adjectives.
• December 14th: 21 month LID anniversary.
• December 24th: Found out that 2 friends are pregnant...by a Christmas card. This makes the 4th person who didn't tell me themselves that they're pregnant. I realize someone might feel a little awkward, but come on!!! I'm gonna find out! What are you gonna do...wait until I receive an invitation to the baby shower to tell me? (BTW, this has happened.) Wait! I'm changing the grand total to five. I just remembered someone who didn't tell me but e-mailed me pictures of the baby after it was born.
• December 27th: Read referral rumors that the next batch will probably only get to Dec. 19th. 5 days. 5 days. 5 days. Looks like there will be no little one here next Christmas either.
• Grow increasingly cynical, bitter and angry by the day. I'm trying not to, but am not having any luck.

P.S. Will look for pictures over the next couple of days to post.

Merry Christmas

Ho! Ho! Ho! It's Christmastime again. I know I haven't posted in several weeks, but it's been a long (and hard) holiday season. I promise to give everyone an update soon on what we've been up to, but for now enjoy this song........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAwYBBuXIyM

This Month's Referrals

December 14th is the cut-off. Big friggin' deal. Merry Christmas to you too CCAA.

If the CCAA continues to refer the amount per month that they're referring now, we're looking at receiving Bella's referral in February or March 2009. I'm a lot more angry and bitter than I used to be.

(FYI....December 12th was two years and two months since we started the adoption process. December 14th will be our 21 month log in date anniversary.)

I'm Still Here

I know. I haven't updated in a couple of weeks. The holidays have hit and I'm busier than usual and trying my best to keep my mind off the fact it's another holiday season with only two people in our home. My goal is to update by December 9th. Stay tuned........

Nooooo!!!

This. Better. Not. Be. True!!!!!!!
http://notw.typepad.com/showbiz/2007/11/britney-spears.html

Monday's Ramblings

Who's not working Thanksgiving? Me! Our work sent out an e-mail...."we highly encourage you to work and would appreciate it, but it's not mandatory". That means they will only receive speech therapy 4 times this week.

Quilt update: I called the lady making our quilt at least 5 times last week asking her to return my call. I called this morning from the phone at work...quess what...she picked up. She appears to have not been picking up when I was calling before!!! I'm suppose to get the unfinished quilt back from her Wednesday. We'll just have to find someone else to quilt for us. I'm tired of Baby Bella's quilt being held against it's will.

Us vs. the Hotty Toddy's

Yesterday, LSU played Ole Miss. Our good friends, Barry and Amy, are Ole Miss fans, so we all watched the game together. To not rub salt in any wounds, I won't post the score of the game; however, LSU has still lost only one game this season. :) Here's a pic of the guys watching the game on Brian's Christmas present:

It's the back of their heads, but you can tell who is who just by looking at their clothing.

They're Here!!! They're Here!!! (again)

We got our second set of fingerprint appointment notices today. Another fine example of the organized LA USCIS office.

They're Here!!! They're Here!!!

The fingerprint appointments are here!!!!!!!!!

However, since this is our adoption journey, it's not happening smoothly. We're scheduled for Dec. 6th at 9:00 (T) and 10:00 (B) in Jackson, MS. Here's the hitch: Brian is suppose to be in Dallas for a CenturyTel staff meeting. This is one of the biggest days of the year for Brian and him not being there is not good.

Here's how my afternoon went: I called Brian and excitedly told him we received our notice and then became stressed when he told me the dilemma. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to reach someone at the USCIS office to see if we could reschedule. Since it only took 3 1/2 months to get the fingerprint appointment, I was sure they'd be more than happy to accomodate us (this was typed very sarcastically). Also, since a phone number is attached to the fingerprint notice, you'd think you'd be able to talk to someone....you'd be wrong. I gave up trying to actually talk to someone and e-mailed the immigration officer we're working with explaining what was going on and asking if we could reschedule. Since LA USCIS has such a high reputation for customer service, I knew she'd more than happy to help (also typed very sarcastically). Then...wonder of wonders happened...the immigration officer called me at home and let me know we could go in Dec. 12th to be fingerprinted. Plus...she was friendly. Plus...she said to try to walk in on Nov. 30th since we're going through Jackson that day. I called Brian and let him know the news and shared how nice the immigration officer was. Here's a perk of Brian's job....Brian's boss had Mary Landrieu call immigration and put in a good word for us. It does pay to have friends in high places, doesn't it?

Brian's boss did tell Brian he could use the company plane and fly to Jackson to be fingerprinted and then fly back to the meeting in Dalls if we had to be there on Dec. 6th. Since she's willing to lend the plane for a fingerprint appointment, think we could get it for an adoption trip????

Holiday?

I heard today was a holiday, but I couldn't tell....I was at work. Since I work in the medical field, I'm aware I will not get holidays like other people. I understand. However, my job is trying to get all the therapists to work Thanksgiving and Christmas! Our patient care is regulated by Medicare, and Medicare recognizes these two holidays. The compromise is that we were told we didn't have to work the holiday, but needed to work the Sunday before or the Saturday after. Oh please!!! Who's going to work? All the therapists where I work have decided to "buck the sytem" and we're not working. Stay tuned....

Another adoption hurdle has appeared.....I'm having an extremely hard time getting the lady working on Bella's quilt to return my phone calls. For some reason she's avoiding us and giving me stress. Could one simple step on this journey go smoothly????

The USCIS Saga Continues

If you're not familiar with the headache we've been experiencing because of USCIS (aka "immigration"), read October 2nd's post before proceeding....

Here's the latest in our neverending USCIS Saga:
While we were on vacation, we received our receipt for our fingerprinting fee. It was dated 10/10/2007. I decided if we still had not received our appointment by Nov. 10th, I would begin contacting USCIS again. Well, today I received an e-mail from the immigration officer. She stated she's trying to process our paperwork, however, she can't because she cannot locate our fingerprint report. THAT'S BECAUSE WE'RE STILL WAITING ON HER TO SCHEDULE OUR FINGERPRINT APPOINTMENT!!!!!!! Plus....we have to send her another letter regarding this is a renewal for our paperwork!!!

We have to be re-fingerprinted and given approval by LA's government to adopt a child from another country and bring her to LA. (We're basically asking permission to bring an illegal immigrant into the state.)

In case you're wondering, no, it's not just us. I've contacted a family in Algiers who will be adopting with us and they've been waiting since July to have their paperwork renewed. However, this is only "normal" in LA. Our friends in NC have submitted paperwork, been re-fingerprinted and received their renewal paperwork from their state goverment. All this was done within the time we've been trying to get scheduled for fingerprints.

I just sent the Officer the requested letter (I was allowed to e-mail this one in) and the receipt # of our fingerprint fee. Maybe by 2008 we'll actually be fingerprinted!

Girl's Day & Shopping

I took a much needed "relaxing day" and spent it with a friend and we Christmas shopped. We started the day at Starbuck's and proceeded to Antique Alley in West Monroe where their Holiday Open House was being held. After Antique Alley, we hit P*aul Mich*el and Ko*l's. It felt good to get a start on my Christmas shopping. The goal is to be finished by Thanksgiving. We'll just have to wait and see how that turns out. :)

Geaux Tigers

Geaux Tigers, Beat Bama!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6108192989309070612

We Won!!!

We won!!! We won!!! SCC Championship here we come!!! LSU 41, Bama 34.

4th Quarter

Are penalties good? If so, we're doing phenomenal. We have 15!!! Currently....LSU 27, Bama 34.

Halftime

Look below...see the happy, relaxed couple??? They're gone!!! LSU is losing 17 to 20 at halftime!!! We could have been tied...but our field goal got blocked!!!

27 Minutes to Go!

27 minutes to the big game! The two Smith's in the house are all pumped up and dressed out for the game. All that's missing is the littlest Smith.

Game Day!

The mood is lifting from this house because it's game day! LSU football is big in this household, especially today. I went to Brookshire's this morning to pick up "football food" and about half the customers in the store were dressed in LSU clothing. Our fingers are tightly crossed for the Tigers to win. Geaux Tigers!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwvfHmU6kiw

I'm ready to get off now

I'm ready to get off the roller coaster. Here's today's latest: In the past two days, agencies have let people with LID’s of the 9th, 12th, and 15th know that they will not be included in this batch. And, agencies have let people with LID’s of the 5th and 8th know that they are in this batch.

It's not official yet, but it's close. Looks like it's going to be Dec. 8th. I'm stepping off the rumor roller coaster and will probably get on board again next time.

I usually do not report rumors, but I wanted to everyone to have an idea of what this process is like...emotionally exhausting. For the past two years, we've been getting up every morning and going about our day to day life. This adoption process has been going along with us. No matter where we are, what we're doing, what's happening at the CCAA is always with us. It's a huge burden to carry. We try out best to keep it (and our emotions) in the back of our mind, but we're constantly asked "Have you heard anything?", "What's the latest?", "Are you any closer?". It gets harder and harder to answer the questions because you just don't want to talk about it. We certainly did not plan on being married six years before beginning a family. (February will be six years. God willing we won't make the seven year mark.) We definitely didn't plan to be in our 50's with teenagers, but it now looks like we'll be the "old parents" at graduations.

Until next time......

Almost Stopped

Here's this morning's latest: Word is coming from another direction that the cut off is the 8th.

8 days. 8 whole days. I'll post more when I'm not so frustrated/mad/angry/tired/emotionally exhausted/depressed.

It's Coming to a Halt

Looks like Dec. 8th: A European (and not Spanish) agency has said the CCAA has matched five or six days of LID’s.
UPDATE: An agency says the 9th is not in, and the cut off is the 8th.

Eight friggin' days. We hope.

Goin' Down

I got up first thing this morning to see how things were going in "Adoption Land". I'm now depressed, in a bad mood and my day has been ruined.

The Spanish site is now saying the cut off might be the 5th-9th instead of the 12th. They say two sources are saying the 12th and one source is saying the 5th-9th.

I could type more, but don't have time. I have to finished getting dressed and then go work in a nursing home. Let me re-phrse that: I need to put on a smile and have to go "help" people (who not all want my help) while all I want to do is crawl in the bed, leave the covers over my head and come out when the CCAA makes it to 2006 with referrals.

See why I sometimes look frustrated when you ask, "Have you heard anything?"?

LSU vs. Bama

Saturday night is LSU vs. Bama. For those of you who don't know, Nick Saban, LSU's former coach, is now the coach at Alabama. It's a long story, but basically, he swore he'd never leave LSU and he did. The game is very highly anticipated and even Southern Living has voted it "game of the week". Want to get fired up for the game? Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_XXRr8dGTE

Clink, Clink, Clink

After a quiet weekend, the rumor roller coaster got moving this morning. Here's what I read: A Spanish agency is reporting the cut-off is Dec. 12th. Another agency has told someone with a Dec. 15th date that they're not in. Another agency is reporting there will be two referral batches this month.

Funny how you're perspective changes. This time last year I would have been depressed over a 12-day referral batch; now I'm praying for it.

I've been busy posting rumors and haven't reported what we've been up to: Nothing much. :) We did go to Baby Depot this weekend, just to look around. Looking at baby things always does put me in a good mood.

Still going fast!

I just read this:
There are two agencies who do not believe that matching has begun yet, and a few who do believe that it has begun.

Hmmm. If matching hasn't started, how do some people supposedly know the cut-off date? Could it be it is actually just rumors??? But they're so good!!! No!!!

Clink, Clink, Clink

They're coming fast! Here's another new one that made the round today:
Hi, I spoke with my agency today. They said that we should have referrals next week. They are pretty sure that the CCAA willalso do another batch at the end of November. Meaning two batches for November!!!!! My agency will not predict anything ever. So I totally believe what they say. So this is great. I have a feeling that the 12th of Decemberis definitely in.

This was posted on the www.chinaadopttalk.com board. This would be phenomenal news (if it turns out to be true.)

Goin' Up!

The rumor roller coast is going up! Here's today's latest: An agency is reporting the cut-off is Dec. 12th and possibily Dec. 13th. Could it be??? Could the CCAA actually get back to referring "double digits"??? Could we be 12 or 13 days closer to the front of the line??? Even though I hate to admit it, my hopes are going up!

Today's Rumor

Here's the latest: Today's rumor is that matching has begun. I guess we'll find out if this is true or not in a week or so.

New Rumor

Here's the latest on the rumor roller coaster:

A family with a Dec. 5th has been told "they're in". I've also read this family was told it was "probable" they're in. Does this mean they're definitely in or does this mean Dec. 5th is the new cut-off rumor??? Stayed tuned!

P.S. There's also a rumor circulating that China is going to start referring the same amount of boys as girls. Should I take the pink bedding back???

Rumor Roller Coaster

I thought I'd take my "readers" along on the rumor roller coaster this month. When a new rumor regarding the next cut-off appears, I'll report it.

This weekend the first rumor appeared. It appears someone was told December 10th was in. This doesn't mean December 10th is the cut-off date, but it's in.

Hold on tight! Some months this ride is bumpy.

Nesting

Here's how www.thefreedictionary defines nesting:

v. nest·ed, nest·ing, nests
v.intr.
1. To build or occupy a nest.
2. To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge.
3. To hunt for birds' nests, especially in order to collect the eggs.
4. To fit together in a stack.

It's been said pregnant women, when they get to the end of the pregnancy, begin to "nest". They begin to become obsessed with organizing their home; anticipating baby's arrival. I'm here to tell you, this phenomenom relates to paper-pregnant women too. Since we've been home from vacation, I have spent every afternoon organizing parts of our home. I went to Wal-Mart twice this week and had the best time looking at all the shelves and cubbies I could buy to help organize and nest! I've given away two car loads of things to a local high school for a garage sale. BTW, Brian is 100% on board with the phenomenon. His hope is that it continues.

Vacation Update

Without a doubt, I could be a beach bum! Last week was so relaxing and we didn't have a care in the world.


It started with an uneventful flight to Raleigh. Stephanie picked us up and took us on a tour of Duke's Cameron Stadium. We got lucky and were able to walk through the stadium while a couple of the players were practicing. We also got to go through the trophy room and got pics.
That night, after Chris was finished with soccer practice, the four of us had dinner in downtown Raleigh.

Wednesday morning it was off to the beach! The condo was fabulous and the weather was perfect. The guys spent time fishing and Stephanie and I spent time visiting with a glass of wine or two. :)

We had to leave the condo on Saturday, but made it back to their house for the LSU vs. Kentucky game. I won't go into details, but I didn't watch it with Brian and LSU is no longer the #1 team in the country.


Here's some pics of our trip:

Steph and I are in matching shirts that have "Wait, Hope, Dream, Repeat" written on them. The words surround China with a heart in the middle. My shirt was a birthday gift from her. (BTW, today is my 29+5 birthday.)

19 Months

Today we're 19 months "paper pregnant". 19 months. Yep, 19 months.

We're On Vacation!!!

Before I get carried away with vacation talk, here's an update on our fingerprint appointment: I mailed everything USCIS said they needed (along with a cashier's check) on Wednesday. According to the USPS web site, here's the latest on the delivery: Your item arrived at 7:51 AM on October 5, 2007 in METAIRIE, LA 70001. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later. This doesn't say it was "delivered" and I'll feel better when I see "delivered" when I track the package.

Now for vacation talk.....
We're flying out of Monroe tomorrow morning to go visit our friends in NC. We'll be spending time at Ocean Isle Beach, so we have big plans of doing a lot of nothing. We're both so excited to have some time off work. We really need the break to re-charge ourselves. I'm off to finish our packing! Pictures will be posted when we return. :)

Why I Hate Louisiana (plus referral news)

Alternate title to this post: Why You Can Be An Idiot & Work at USCIS in LA

Flashback to Sept. 2005. We begin our initial adoption paperwork. In Dec. 2005, the social worker sends our homestudy report to USCIS (aka "immigration") and we were fingerprinted by Dept. of Homeland Security. In Feb. 2006 (after waiting 9 weeks and me having to contact someone before they did their job), we finally received approval from LA's USCIS to adopt internationally. (We're basically asking for permission to bring an immigrant into the country.) We released a huge sigh of relief as our paperwork headed to China.

Fast forward to Aug. 1, 2007. Our approval and our fingerprints have expired and we have to file this paperwork again. I mail the application and our fingerprint fee and asked for another fingerprinting appointment. The fingerprint fee was returned to us (by USCIS) with the explanation we didn't have to pay the fee again since this was just a renewal. We knew the application fee would be waived and were pleasantly surprised the fingerprint fee was waived too. Good....so we thought.

Fast forward to this morning. I faxed the immigration officer (as suggested by our social worker) regarding our fingerprint appointment. We haven't received it and I sent a very friendly reminder that we really needed to be scheduled. Well, I received a call around 4:00 today stating that we had not been scheduled for fingerprinting because we didn't send the fee. What?!?!?!? We send the fee and USCIS sent it back to us!!!!!! Our paperwork has been sitting in New Orleans collecting dust because some incompetent employee (which basically includes all of USCIS) returned our money to us!!! International adoption is hard. For us, and many others, having a family is hard. Why must every step of the process be a struggle?

Our adoption agency warned us they have trouble with immigration in two states: New York and Louisiana.

Onto referral news....the cut off is Nov. 30th. Yep...5 whole days. I'm off to pour a glass of wine now.

What We've Been Up To

I don't know if I haven't blogged in a few days because we've been so busy or because there's not a lot going on. (i.e. "We're boring") Here's some highlights of the last few days:

• Poppie T and Mama Nita sent the cutest little onesie to us. Who knew there was a Smith University out there! Wonder if they'll waive tuition for us one day?
• Football Season is going strong. As of today, LSU is the #1 ranked team and the Broncos lost another game. I guess you really can't win them all.
• Last night I went to an Autumn Moon Celebration. Autumn Moon is a Chinese Celebration and the local group of adoptive families always meet together to eat and then go to the park so all the girls can play. Here's some info. on the Autumn Moon Festival: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival
• The new TV season has started. We're both hooked on Survivor (we even have a "fantasy Survivor team"....more info will be blogged later) and I'm hooked on The Office. It started last Thursday and I was excited all day because of it.
• Friday was the last day at the nursing home in Bastrop that decided to go with another company. Starting tomorrow, I forsee a lot of driving in my future.
• Onto referral news....not looking good again this month. As of right now it looks as if 5 days will be included. I have nothing else to say on this.

Looking forward to another week!

Sweet Video

While drinking my coffee and playing around online, I came across a "gotcha day" video. It can be found at http://www.holtintl.org/flash/index.shtml. Look at the bottom of the page and there's a link to click. It comes up as a "pop up", so you'll need to temporarily allow pop ups.

BTW, this isn't our agency, but an agency a friend used a couple of years ago.

Last Weekend

Last weekend was very nice for us. To help celebrate Brian's birthday (which has turned into "Briantember"), my mom came in. She cooked for us Friday night, so we both ate way too much. On Saturday, we went to Century Tel's annual picnic. "Picnic" is really too small of a word to describe it. The pecan grove, next to Century Tel, is turned into a small carnival. There are rides, booths and tons of food. The weather is nice and we tried to enjoy ourselves. However, being the childless couple at a family function is never fun. On the upside, only one person asked "Have you heard anything?". (This is the person who asks Brian this question every single time he sees her!)

After the picnic, we went to the mall to pick up nursery decorations. What is going on Bella's walls has been a source of discussion for quite a while now. :) B and I had both seen some things in Kirklands we really liked, but while we were looking around, we found other things we wanted instead. Here's the final verdict: Bella's walls are going to be decorated with sunflowers and nursery rhymes. Here's the best pics I could get:

We can't wait to see all of these things on her wall!

Saturday night, the three of us were sitting outside. There was just three of us...obviously someone was missing....our little girl. I guess she decided to send her proxy because look what landed on the table in front of us:

A ladybug! Ladybugs are considered to be good luck to the Chinese adoption community. Was it just coincidence this ladybug flew on the table as we were sitting outside without Bella? Maybe, but it's more fun to think it was a "sign". :)

Sunday was spent decorating for fall. I love this time of year and always look forward to having fall decorations around the house. After the Louisiana heat in the summer, any sign of fall is always welcome. Here's a few pics of our home:

Forgotten Anniversary

We've been waiting so long, we don't even realize when we hit "mini-milestones" anymore. September 14th was our 18-month anniversary....18 months since our paperwork was logged in. Maybe it's a good thing these dates slip by us??? Maybe we're just too numb now???

There will be a longer post in the next few days. We had a busy weekend I'd like to type about, but it was a very long day at work, so I'm off to enjoy dinner with my husband.

In the News

Funny how a top Yahoo news story can grab your attention and directly impact you becoming a family....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070915/wl_nm/china_family_planning_dc

Happy Birthdays!

Happy birthday to Daddy-to-be ...and Poppie-to-be!

Love you both!!!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary

It was two years ago today that we mailed our application to our adoption agency, Harrah's Adoption International Mission. I remember rushing to the mailbox that morning to put the application in it. We never, ever imagined it would be two years later and we'd still be waiting on our baby girl. Brian and my dad's birthday is tomorrow, and I remember telling both of them she'd be home for their next birthday. Little did we know what the CCAA had in store for us. We'll continue to wait, as long as it takes, and hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later.

In honor of our anniversary, here's a very sweet song from Steven Curtis Chapman.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=demRHgul2Zk

Top 10 Signs

I'm home sick today, so to entertain myself, I decided to post this to our blog. I came across this post a couple of months ago on a message board. It made Brian and I laugh out loud!

Top 10 Ways You Know You've Waited Too Long For a Referral From China:
10. You've stopped telling people you're adopting from China because chances are the next time you run into them you'll still be waiting. Done!

9. When someone tells you a far off date in the future as 12-18 months you think to yourself "wow, that's coming up so soon!" Done!

8. You know people who have had two kids in the time you've been waiting for a referral from China. Done! (It's very entertaining when these people choose Brian and I to complain to about how much trouble their children are.)

7. The last Olympics were happening when you started trying for a family and there's a good chance you'll be in China for the '08 Olympics there. Done!

6. You know couples who have gotten engaged, married and had a baby all while you've been trying to start a family. Done! (See #8 above)

5. You try out all the baby stuff on the cat to "practice"--and you take pictures to post on your website because there's no other news to report. If it weren't for Brian, I'd totally be doing this. Does posting pictures of yarn count?

4. You automatically convert the time to Beijing time in your head because you think maybe the CCAA is working on referrals. Done!

3. Your nursery bedding has been discontinued. The bedding hasn't been discontinued, but the furniture has been.

2. You've had to dust cobwebs off the changing table in the nursery. Done!

1. You'v e gone on your last childless vacation.....5 times!!! Done! We've actually lost count of how many "last childless vacations" we've been on.

God Said "Ha"

Did you read yesterday's post? If not, you need to before you read this one. Here's what happens when B and I make a plan:

I've been working for over a year now in two nursing homes. The homes are around the corner from each other. I go to work early and leave work anywhere from 1:00 to 2:00 (usually). It's really a perfect situation. Every now and then I have to travel to another nursing home, but it's OK because not only do I get paid my "drive time", I get paid mileage. We've recently decided my mileage checks will go towards the one remaining credit card debt we have. Once again, it's pretty perfect. B and I have been talking a lot lately about how this will be a great setting for me once Bella comes home. I have tons of flexibility and the nursing homes aren't too far from our home. I might could even just work part-time and leave work earlier than 1:00!

Well....today God said "ha".

Around 2:00 today, our Area Manager informed us that we will no longer be providing services to one of the nursing homes I work in. After several years, the nursing home has decided to go with another company for it's therapy. Where does this leave me? It leaves me with a job, but driving all over north LA to get all my hours. It also leaves me with no "extra" mileage checks. It leaves me with a schedule that will be difficult when a baby gets here. Trust me, I know I'm lucky. One of my co-workers will no longer have a job, but it's just another example of of plan falling apart.

A Quote

I'm currently reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. There's a quote in it that made me laugh out loud: "If you want to see God laugh, make a plan". That quote so describes the last three years of our life.

Referral Day

The CCAA announced the cut off date for the referrals scheduled to arrive this week. It wasn't two days like I was expecting; it was four. Four friggin' days of referrals. Pardon the bitterness, but when we started the process the CCAA was referring a month worth of dates at a time. Better luck next month.

Another week has come and gone

Another week of working (B and T) and watching rumors (just T) has come and gone.

The biggest thing that happened in our house was the start of the LSU Football Season! LSU beat MS State 45-0! Brian and I both wore our LSU clothing and snacked on football food while we cheered on the Tigers. Hopefully, Bella will be cheering with us next year. Everyone is thinking positive that she WILL be here, so Mimi-to-be went ahead and bought her some LSU clothing too:

The second onesie says "Future Cheerleader". Brian said she can wear it, but it'll never happen. :)

A few more highlights for you:

• This week also marked the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The effects of the hurricane are still being felt throughout the state. Thanks to Katrina, we had a few more hurdles added to our adoption journey.
• Saturday, we went to the movies and watched Halloween. I probably should have waited until after Brian's upcoming trip to watch a scary movie. I'm going to be alone a couple of nights this week waiting on Michael Myers to appear out of nowhere.
• After the movie, we went to Boudreaux's for dinner. There was an Asian family there and they had a daughter who looked around one-year-old. We both became stalkers as we watched this little girl throughout our dinner.
• I'm now hooked on Design Star on HGTV. My favorite, Will, was booted off tonight. I have no idea who I'll vote for next week. Isn't it amazing this will be something I'll think about during the week? Maybe I need another hobby.
• On the referral front, it looks as if referrals could be arriving at adoption agencies this week. I'm bracing myself for a cut-off date of Nov. 24th. That's right....it looks like it will only be two friggin' days of referrals this month.

Why We Hate This Question

Here's a popular question we hear: "When do you guys think you'll hear anything?". We alway come up with an answer just to placate the person who asks, but we honestly have no idea. Every month there are rumors regarding how big the referral batch will be. (For info. on referral batches and how important they are, look on the right hand side under "countdown".) Basically, the larger the referral batch, the closer we are to our March 14th date.

As of today, here's the latest rumors (courtesty of http://www.chinaadopttalk.com/):
A European agency seems to think some of December may be included in this batch.
A North American agency seems to be hopeful that the 28th may be included.
Most other agencies are pointing to the 24th and 25th.

See why we can never truthfully answer, "When do you guys think you'll hear anything?". The hundreds of adoption agencies have no idea what's going on, so why should we. I want to hope that the CCAA will make it to December, but the realist in my squashes that thought and I have to realize it may only be a two-day referral batch.

I am guilty of looking at rumors on a daily basis. They're all I have between me and my baby. It's very disheartening to read that a referral batch may only bring me two days closer to my baby. When I'm having "one of those days", it's almost enough to bring me to my knees. (Keep in mind, when we started, the agencies were referring a month of dates at a time.)

This is all a big roller coaster and our cart is going up and down constantly.

The Things People Say.....

Brian and I have heard some doozies come out of people's mouths since we started our adoption. As soon as we mention to someone we're adopting, people jump to personal questions. Does someone who is pregnant get asked about their reproductive organs? If you're adopting, you do. Do you get asked why you're doing "that"? If you're adopting, you do. I wanted to share a couple of things we've heard in the past few days:

• "I know someone who can get you pregnant." - The person was referring to a reproductive doctor, but my husband definitely does not like the way this sounds. (This was not the first time this statement has been presented to me.) Here's the kicker to this statement....this was said to me at a family member's funeral. I feel as if it's never a good time or place to discuss my reproductive business with someone I just met. It's really NOT a good time or place to discuss it in a funeral chapel.
• "You didn't want any childeren of your own?" - Brian got this one at work yesterday. I could type on and on about how Bella is our child, but I'll save that for a later post.
• "You just wait." - I've covered this earlier, but once again, WE ARE DOING NOTHING BUT WAITING!

I think I've vented enough for one night. I'm off to pour through adoption message boards for any little rumor I might come across.

The Motor Boating SOB's

Confused by the title of this post? It's the "official name" of Brian's fantasy football team. If you're a Wedding Crashers fan, you'll understand where the team's name came from. As I type, Brian is in the middle of his draft. Not only do we get to cheer on the Broncos this football season, we also get to cheer on the Motor Boating SOB's players. I tried to take a picture of him sitting on the bedroom floor, typing on the computer surrounded by sports magazines and notepads, but he wouldn't let me. Instead, I'll attach a picture of his team photo: BTW, I'm not making fun....anyone who stood in line to pick up the latest Harry Potter book at 12:00am isn't allowed to make fun of anyone. :)

Another Week & Weekend

Another week and weekend has come and gone. Here's a few highlights:

• Brian took Thursday and Friday off work. Don't be alarmed! Hell has not frozen over! He decided since he had worked 20 straight days (weekends included) that some R & R was in order. He worked in the yard, had lunch with friends, got ready for Fantasy Football and got a massage.
• I am proud to say I'm in the habit of working out on a regular basis. It took a lot of motivation, but I'm there.
• I had a few friends over Saturday morning and we enjoyed private "CAbi Shopping". Because of this, I now have more discounted clothes. :)
• It's beginning to look a lot like football season. The Broncos played the Cleveland Browns in a pre-season game. The Broncos lost by one point, but don't mention it to Brian. (BTW, my cousin, Chase Pittman, was recently drafted out of LSU and plays for the Browns.)

On a separate note, it's now the time of the month when the referral rumors begin. The prelimary cut-off rumor is Nov. 29th. That would make 8 LIDs covered. What's shocking is that I'm excited by the rumor! Funny how your perspective changes over time.

Weekend Recap

Brian now has a playmate! Our 17-year-old nephew, Jantzen, is starting ULM this week and moved into his dorm Friday. His parents, George and Jana, spent the weekend with us while Jantzen got used to living in a dorm room. We're both looking forward to him being here. Here's a few pics of the boys playing catch: Also this weekend.....Saturday night I once again proved why you really, really want me on your "Scene It" team. (I did feel a little awkward when I realized I was the only one answering questions correctly.) Also, I've officially stopped knitting my scarf. It's currently thrown all over the living room right now. I missed a stitch somewhere and spent 20 minutes backtracking trying to find what I did wrong. It dawned on me I'm knitting to relax; not to become aggravated at yarn. I decided I'd feel better if I threw it, so I did. When I feel like picking up the mess from my temper-tantrum I'll re-roll the yarn and use it for something else.

Daddy's 1st Purchase

When I arrived home this past Wednesday, there was a package by the door. I happened to be on the phone with Brian and asked if he had ordered anything. He said he did and then wouldn't tell me what he ordered. He surprised me with his purchase. It's the very first thing he's bought (without my help) for his baby girl:

Sweet baby bib and booties

Front view

Back view

Hopefully, the little Bronco fan will be here watching football with Daddy next season.

My $#@%ing Scarf

Just look at this! Is it possible for yarn to have something against me??? I worked on this scarf last night and it was looking good and had some good length to it. Unfortunately, I missed a stitch somewhere and had to pull a row out. Well, one row led into many, many, many rows. All the loose yarn you see? It's what I had to pull out of my scarf! It stayed on the floor for a long time because I was too aggravated to deal with it. I'm determined to finish this scarf...it will not win!

Here's a funny side note to the day: Brian is out of town on business. Our TV cannot be changed from Nickelodeon. I've tried to change the channel numerous times and I can tell the Direct TV thinks the TV is changed, but the picture has not left Nickelodeon. You'd think Bella were here with how many children shows I've had to listen to today. Also, today was "craft day" on QVC. You think Brian might have fixed the channel changing before he left???

I'm back!

It's been two months since I last posted. I had good intentions of staying up to date, but obviously did not. My "mid-August resolution" is to post on a regular basis. Since I'm now officially overwhelmed by two months worth of posts to catch up on, I thought I'd give some highlights (and low lights) of our last two months:

• June 15th & 16th - I attended Arbonne's ACT Now traning in Houston, TX.


• June 22nd to 24th - We spent a belated "father's day weekend" with my dad in Madison. I was determined to visit the local yarn shop while I was there....it was closed that weekend. We had a fabulous dinner at an Italian restaurant and the restaurant was out of the main dish I wanted and the cannoli I wanted for dessert. Obviously it wasn't "Tonya's day weekend".
  
• June 24th to June 30th - Brian was in WA on business this week. This means I didn't cook for 7 days in a row.


• July 4th - Happy Independence Day! Unfortunately, my job doesn't recognize holidays, so Brian was the only one off work that day.


• Mid-July - picked up Bella's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. Just the top layer though. The lady who is sewing it wanted us to look at it before we picked out the border color. We decided on red since it's good luck in China.
  
• Also in Mid-July - Bella's baby furniture was delivered! The CCAA isn't speeding up, but that doesn't mean we can't.
  
• July 21st - My geek flag was flying high because I was camped out at Books-a-Million to get the latest (and final), Harry Potter Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I read the entire weekend while Brian almost fainted outside because of doing yard work in the heat. (BTW, the book was finished Sunday at 1:00.)


• July 28th - The 1st Annual Jacob Hughes Memorial Golf Tournament was held in Pineville, LA. "Team Jacob" didn't come in first (or even place), but all the proceeds went to Jacob's family which thrilled us.


• July 29th - 30th - Ryan, Jona, Morgan and Madison were in LA and spent Sunday day and night visiting with us.


• Somewhere in this time frame I decided I needed something else to do, so I signed up for a knitting class at Michael's. It's been a month and I'm still trying to finish a scarf!!!


• Also in this time frame....the CCAA decided there's no need to speed up, so referrals kept arriving at the usual speed....very slow.
  

That's it in a nutshell! Enjoy these pics of the past few months and I vow to do better. :)

Sweet baby furniture

The beginning of Bella's "120 Good Wishes Quilt". We actually had more than 120, but had several duplicates. To save space, only one square of each pattern was put in.

Go "Team Jacob"! L to R: Jacob's brother Jantzen, his dad George, Uncle Brian and Uncle Arnie. The matching shirts (in Jacob's favorite color red) were Brian's idea. We had "Team Jacob" monogrammed on the chest and "JH" monogrammed on the sleeves. We surprised everyone with them before the tournament started.A small view of the anxious crowd at Books-a-Million.

Walking to the counter, with my ticket, to pick up my book. :) It was about 12:10am!

Madison and Morgan Windham. While they were here, the girls and I "simpsonized" ourselves to see what we'd look like if we were Simpson's characters. These were their before pics.

15 Months

Once again, happy anniversary to us.

My Life

I took a quiz to let you know how your life is. Here's what the quiz said about mine.....Your Life is Better Than 70% of All People. You really have things pretty good - so stop a minute and appreciate how great your life is. You likely have a cheery outlook, supportive friends, and plenty to keep you happily busy. You are usually content - and with good reason. You have a lot to be happy about. So when things don't go well, remember that you have it better than most people!

I'm really going to try to remember this, but the person who wrote this obviously never completed an international adoption.

Busy, but good, day

Today was a busy, busy day. It started with a trip to Monroe Symphony League's Book Fair. MSL has this book fair every 3 to 4 months and it's a huge fund raiser for them. I have to take a tote bag with me because I always find so many books I can't wait to read. I always try to get there when the doors open so I can hit the fiction books before anyone else does. This time I got 14 books for the bargain price of $11.50! Here's a pic of my loot:












Later in the dad, Mom and I went to Bossier City to see Paula Deen at the Century Tel Center. She was very entertaining, but surprisingly, didn't cook a lot. However, I was able to snap a picture of her during her brief time in the "kitchen":










The trip was completed with a trip to Strawn's to pick up Brian a chocolate pie. This was done in the rain, so I hope it was appreciated! :) Must have been, the pie disappeared quickly

Dining Outside

I love, love, love it when Brian decides to cook. I love it even more when he decides we need shrimp and crab for dinner. As Brian was boiling shrimp and crab with our "outdoor cooker", he read the directions closer and realized it's an "indoor cooker". Oops! Oh well....hasn't hurt anything yet. Here's a few pics of our meal. I'm not including my pic because I didn't like it. (When you're the one blogging, you can pick and choose the pics. :) )

My New Purse

I am a complete bag addict! When I see a cute purse or bag, it is truly hard for me not to purchase it. Trust me, I can rationalize the purchase.

I started crocheting almost three years ago, but when we moved to Monroe I got out of the habit. I recently decided to pick up my yarn and needles again and am so glad I did. It is so relaxing for me to sit and crochet. I now wonder why I stopped? After coming across a pattern for a very cute (I think) handbag, I decided to tackle it. I would now like to show off my very first crocheted purse:

14 Months

Today is our 14-month LID anniversary. When we started the adoption, the wait was 6 months. I am now 8 months overdue.

Last month, on our LID anniversary, I tried a little humor. Because of my joke about having the "gestation period of an elephant", some of you think we're 9 months away from referral. Sorry to report this, but you read too much into the joke. We have absolutely no idea when we'll be receiving our referral. Check out the update on the right side of the page to see where we are in line.

Happy Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day. We celebrated by taking mom to the horse races on Saturday (her choice of how to spend the day) and cooking out on Sunday. Just an "fyi" for you....Brian came home $50 richer, Mom can home $100 richer and I came home $33 poorer. My tactic of betting on horses who have cute names doesn't seem to work.

There's so many things I could type about me not celebrating Mother's Day with our daughter, but I won't. We can only hope and pray she will be here with us next year.

Phenomenal Weekend

We've had a very, very relaxing weekend. Of course, there's always something else we could be (i.e. "should be") doing, but we took the time this weekend to do nothing at all. Saturday, Brian caught up with an old friend at Starbucks. While he was gone, I didn't want to venture too far from the loveseat, so I rewatched some of the third season of Sex and the City and crocheted. (FYI...I did laundry too. I'm not that lazy! :) ) Once Brian made it home I decided I needed to move from the loveseat, so we walked around the yard and noticed the first rose of the season has bloomed. Here it is!










Here's a great pic of the entire flower bed. Brian did the entire thing himself. We can't wait until all the flowers begin to bloom!










After sleeping in Sunday morning, Brian went to the driving range and hit golf balls. When he came home, he prepared a great lunch for us: Steaks with portabello mushrooms on the side. We opened a bottle of red wine and enjoyed it with our meal. Here's Brian setting our table:










Have you ever seen our wine glasses? We have several different types, but here's Brian's favorite:










Yes, that's a Denver Broncos wineglass. Since this weekend was Cinco de Mayo, I added a fun charm to my glass to celebrate:

I guess tomorrow we're both headed back to the real world. We both have a busy week ahead of us, so it was nice to be able to spend some time without a care in the world.