2 Years LID in Family Pics!

Today is our 2 year LID anniversary! It's hard to believe that two whole years have passed since our dossier was logged in at CCAA. Much has changed during these last two years. We have had a lot of good times. We have seen so many holidays, birthdays, and graduations come and go. We have watched as our children have all set out on the journey to their own lives. We have been through some not so good and scary times, too. Adam and Justin, and Marie's boyfriend, James, have all been in very serious car accidents, and by the grace of God all came out with only minor cuts and bruises! The most saddest and devastating event in the last two years has been the death of my beautiful mom. We are all so very sad, but very comforted to know that she is Home with Jesus Christ in Heaven. When we look back on these last two years, it is as if everything is falling into place just as it should. We truly believe that everything does happen for a reason and God has a plan for all of us. The day we finally have Kaelin placed in our arms will be exactly in His perfect timing.

Kaelin's window seat is finished!

We finally finished the window seat in Kaelin's bedroom. I love it! My sweet wonderful sister, Sue, made the beautiful soft cushion. She is so talented when it comes to sewing and cooking for that matter! The valance is Pottery Barn Kids Pink Daisy Garden which matches her crib bedding. All we need now is my PBK pink dream glider to make the room complete. And, of course, a baby would be nice, too!

Empty Nest!

Well, it's official! For the first time in 26 years we are just the two of us! As of last weekend, Gary and I became empty nesters! Justin and Marcus moved to a condo just 3 miles down the road. It's really weird rattling around in this big house with just the dog and the cat! They even seem to be a bit mopey! I miss my kids something terrible! Even though the boys only live a few miles away, and I talk to my girls nearly every day, I still hate it! I have been keeping myself busy by cleaning and organizing! Most houses have at least one or two junk drawers. But not our house! Every drawer and closet in our house has become a haven for junk! I am partially to blame, I am a sentimental sap! I save everything! So it is going to be really hard for me to let go of a lot of this good junk! One thing I am glad I did save is a lot of the kids toys! Just the good stuff, though, like the Brio blocks and train set, Legos (we have enough to build a full scale home) and play dishes, fake food, and dolls. I can't wait for Kaelin to play with these and a lot of other great toys the kids loved so much! Not to mention all of the new stuff we have bought during our wait!

Thank God this emptiness is only temporary! I have a feeling we will see a lot more of our kids once we bring our little Kaelin home. Yeah! A full house, again! This thought, alone, is what keeps me from going stark raving mad! Okay,okay, I admit it! I think I went stark raving mad when the wait for referrals hit the two year mark!

Happy New Year!

What a beautiful way to welcome the new year! As much as we like to complain about the weather in Michigan, there is no denying that this is soooo pretty. The air is so crisp and clean and everything is covered in a soft blanket of fresh snow (over a foot)! How gorgeous! Our dog, Storm, loves it! Poor Gary, our snowblower quit, so he had to do a lot of hand shoveling! I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be a fabulous year! Happy New Year, everyone!

CRAP!!!

Seriously! How much more of this can we take? It looks like CCAA will only get through December 19! Since our agency doesn't have anyone logged in before then, there will probably be no referrals for them this month! This is so disappointing! We are literally moving backwards right now! With a LID of January 23 it would seem like we are so close, but at this rate, we could still be 6 months away! One thing is for sure, we will not lose hope in bringing home our daughter (or son) from China! We truly believe IT WILL HAPPEN!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year, too!

23 Months!

I can't believe we have waited this long for our Kaelin! If someone would have told me last Christmas that we would not have her by this Christmas I would have said they were out of their mind! Well here we are a year later and no Kaelin. But you know, I'm not that sad. I have my 5 beautiful, sweet, amazing kids and a great husband and I love tht we are all together home and it's Christmas! God has chosen the perfect little girl for us and it is just not time for her to be here yet. We have a really good feeling that she has been born and now we just pray that God will fill her little heart with peace and keep her warm and fed until we can come get her and love her forever. Next Christmas is going to be unforgettable!

Ta Dah!

Kaelin's room is almost done! I am so excited that Kaelin's room is finally coming together. After 5 trips to the paint store and 3 different carpet stores her room is almost finished! I chose fernwood green for the walls and cinderella pink for the ceiling. The carpet is the softest shag and feels so good under bare feet! All we have left to do is order the roman shades for the windows and finish the seat cusion for the window seat! The bedding is Pink Daisy Garden from PBKids and the crib is a Babi Italia Eastwood in dark cherry from Babies R Us. Instead of buying the dresser that went with the crib I decided to use the dresser I used for all five of my kids! I love that I am using it for Kaelin too! All I did was paint it white replace the old hardware with the cutest ladybug knobs I got at Target.com. I also scattered the prettiest little fairies around the walls, they are precious! The chandelier is also from Target! The best part is my sweet adorable husband, who I love beyond words, is getting me the Pottery Barn Kids Dream Glider in the light pink cotton twill for Christmas! It takes about 6 to 8 weeks to come in so it will be a while before I can post pictures of the room completely finished. The pictures above are just a sneak preview!

Referrals thru December 14, 2005!

Today our agency received referrals for 15 families! Even though CCAA only did 6 days worth, it is still an encouraging step in the right direction. At this rate, we should see our referral for Kaelin in May. Who knows, maybe right around Mother's Day! Of course, any sooner would be even better! Congratulations to all you lucky families!

Newest Members of the Family!

Meet Hannah and Fiona! Hannah is my daughter, Sarah's, new foster dog, and Fiona is my son, Adam's, newly adopted kitty. Hannah is a two-year old Basset Hound who was found abandoned on the streets of Memphis last month. Sarah is a volunteer for an animal rescue league there and took Hannah in until she can find her a loving home. Hannah has been through a lot as she was abandoned soon after delivering a litter of puppies. Even considering the trauma of losing her puppies and being homeless, Sarah says that Hannah is an absolute sweetheart! Although Hannah was a bit emotionally traumatized when Sarah first took her in, she is now doing well and seems to be recovering nicely. Sarah is bringing Hannah home with her for Christmas and we all can't wait to meet her! I hope Sarah can find a home for Hannah, soon. I am such a sucker for animals, hmmmmmm. Gary is already rolling his eyes and saying Good Grief!

Fiona is a lovely brown and black tabby cat. She had been hanging around Gary's company's warehouse and sleeping in a high-lo for several days when Adam decided to adopt her. Needless to say, she has been at my house most of the time and loves her new family! She is so affectionate and gets along very well with our cat Tigger and our dog Storm! She actually chases Storm (our 75 lb English Setter)! It is too funny!

Since we have been logged in at CCAA our family has taken in two dogs and three cats! Now, if we could just add one Chinese baby girl to the mix, our family will be complete!