7 days of people in front of us...

Referrals are coming out for the early January batch and it looks like China only referred 5 days worth of log in dates. This is not good news. It's looking like they got through 12/19/05 and 12/20 is a HUGE day with lots of families logged in. China only sends out referrals when they've completed a day so it's possible that they got through matching part of the 12/20 families but didn't have enough paper ready babies to complete that day. This is what I'm hoping. They would have to get through 8 days of referrals for us to get ours next month. They haven't gotten through that many days for quite a while and with the 12/20 group being so big I'm just not feeling optimistic. It's anyone's guess. I'm so tired of thinking we're just about there and then having the rug pulled out from under us. In 2007 China only referred three months worth of families. That's insane!!! I can't even believe there are two years worth of people waiting after us. I wonder if they understand how many years that could possibly take. So...never thought I'd say this (which is my mantra these days)...but it could be early March before we get a referral now. I know, I know, I'm hearing your collective sigh. Please continue to pray for our wait. With each month we grow wearier. If we weren't so close I think we'd say forget it. But then I think of that little girl at the end of the journey and I know that in God's timing all of these extra months are just a drop in the eternal bucket. Soon....we're almost to the front of the line.

Christmas at the McD's

Christmas was fun for us all. As usual, we were all spoiled by our friends and family who blessed us with special gifts. The kids had a blast and this year they really took the time to see who the gifts were from and to see what they were before moving on to the next one. They really are getting older. Not having the baby home yet was hard but this really is our LAST Christmas without her here. I took down all the Christmas stuff yesterday. I was ready to put the house back in order in anticipation of the new year. Our rule is that Christmas and birthday presents never get put away before an equal amount of stuff leaves the house so I took a car load of stuff to the thrift store yesterday. Here are some pictures from Christmas morning...

The kids waiting anxiously to open their gifts.

Josh's new movie. (He loves the TV show.)

Melissa's new embossing stuff. Yeah, I can get in touch with my crafty self.

Brandon and Ashley's new game...I'm not sure anymore if I'm smarter than a 5th grader.

Josh's mom, Mona with a picture of her and Josh that my mom took in October.

Cousins, cousins everywhere

This weekend, Josh's Uncle Jim, Aunt Donna and cousins Zoie and Bill came for a visit. The kids were of couse thrilled that they got the ultimate sleepover all piled into Ashley's room and then got to open a couple of their Christmas presents early.

Josh's brother Clif and his girlfriend Judy spent their vacation in Lexington last week. They live in Wisconsin and have three boys (Adam, Keith and Andrew) between them who are all 10-12 years old. So Brandon and Ashley were SO excited to meet their cousins (although Ashley did say, "Oh man, no girls.") and had a good old time. Josh's dad was excited to see them all together and I was pretty pumped to be Aunt Melissa. I've never really gotten to be an aunt before. Josh loved getting to see his brother after many, many years and Judy and I went shopping together and hit it off really well.

Welcome to the zoo!

Like a husband, two step-kids and a baby on the way weren't enough, we have a little zoo of our own. But I love our animals. They're such good little companions. We don't have cable, but that's okay, because Max (grey cat), Ellie (orange cat) and Brody (the puppy) are VERY entertaining!! Brody wants to be friends with everyone, but Max HATES Brody. We thought they'd adjust, but Max just won't have anything to do with the dog. So Max mainly stays upstairs now because Brody isn't allowed up there. At this very moment, Brody is staring at the ceiling and barking loudly. He's never done that before. Smart as a box of rocks...

I should work for Charleston's tourism department...

Josh and I went on vacation last Thanksgiving to Charleston, SC. I LOVE CHARLESTON!!! Such a beautiful place. I know it will be a vacation spot for us again. Really I just came across this picture and I really miss the beach. Isn't Josh cute?

Here duckie duckie

Josh's mom and I took the kids to the park to play and feed the ducks a few weeks ago and we had a GREAT afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day! The kids are getting so big...I can't believe how time flies. (Can you tell I was organizing my pictures and getting our media stuff together in preparation for our trip to China?? I promise to post pictures more regularly of the whole crazy family.)

Only 12 more days until us!!!

China got through 12/14/05...only six days this months. We had hoped for a couple more days...but we're excited that there's only 12 days worth of people in front of us. It's not impossible that we'll get a January referral, but not really likely. BUT WE LOOK SOLID FOR AN EARLY FEBRUARY REFERRAL...I think that we are NEXT NEXT. Hopefully only one more month of people getting their babies before us. I can't believe it. Okay, I think we need to start the nursery now. We'll be in China sometime in the next four months....YIPPEE!!

Thankful for the holidays

I've decided that I'm a little sad that Katelyn is not home this year for the holidays and at the same time I'm really thrilled that our last couple of months of waiting are falling over holiday months because they are speeding right by. I can't believe the first week of December is just about through. I have no idea where November went. Although I can't wait for our referral, I'm starting to get a bit panicy. We've done nothing but wait for so long and the reality that there will be a buzz of activity soon is a little daunting. What do we need for the baby? What do we need to bring to China with us? How are all of the travel arrangements made? How much notice will we really have before we actually know our travel dates (Some people get the okay and they are flying out within the week...yikes). What if I'm not a good mom? What if we mess up our kid? Will she adjust quickly? Will she resent us later for taking her from her country and moving her around the world? Will we ever get our carpets clean enough so she's not constantly putting dog hair in her mouth? How often does she need to eat? What kind of bottle will she like? Will the dog jump all over her and knock her down (he's still a puppy)? How will Brandon and Ashley feel about her? Will they feel threatened? What if we can't keep all the plates spinning? What needs to be child proofed? How old will she be? Do I need psychotherapy? (Don't answer that...) So you see, I'm getting a bit manic!

We're waiting for this months referrals to come out. Rumor has it that they are going to get through December 14th or 15th...we were hoping for a bit farther. If they only get through 6-7 days, it looks like we will in fact get an early February referral. Spring in China sounds good to me. Hold on tight folks...the new year's going to be exciting....and not another Mother's Day without my baby!!! Whooo hoooo I say!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!