Thanksgiving Recap

It's over. I was thankful for all I have, I cooked a turkey, had lots of family over, ate a lot of turkey, cleaned a lot of dishes and at the end of the day I was still sad that we had another Thanksgiving without Lily. Don't get me wrong, the day was great but I just am really ready for this wait to be over. Alright, back to Thanksgiving... I use the day to try and take a picture of the boys for the Christmas card. It was not happening this year, Bryce was just not in the mood! The one picture I did get had the lawn furniture in the background. So, back into the sweaters the boys will go and we will try again! The boys had a great day with their cousins and the adults were treated to puppet shows throughout the day. Pumpkin martini's were flowing so when my grandfather had to ask "who's baby Lily?" I was able to let it go. My grandmother quickly reminded him that Lily is the "Chinese baby". I just sat quietly and couldn't believe the conversation that was actually happening. Well, next year Lily just has to be here for Thanksgiving! Oh, that reminds me that today is that day that I said I would stop commenting on. Yup, 22 months of waiting. I know I said I would stop counting but I just can't so we will just go without the visual this month. So far this month there are no rumors about when referrals will arrive or what the cut off will be. I will keep you posted!

Hope and Perseverance

Hope without perseverance is anxiety. This is what was talked about during the homily at church yesterday. These words resonated with me. They were said and I knew exactly what they meant to me. In order to get through this wait I need both; hope and perseverance. I have hope most times and I feel like I am persevering but I know that sometimes I have lost hope and I have felt like giving up and my anxiety about our adoption goes up. I plan on holding on to these words for the next few months, I think I will need them!

Our "99er" friends found out that they leave on December 6th and return on December 19th. They will be united with their daughters on Dec. 10th. I am so excited for them and can't believe in a few short weeks 3 of the "99er" girls will be home with their families!! I am starting to feel like we are getting closer but I think it is only because our friends are so close to having their girls and it feels like it should be happening for us. Referrals should be arriving in 2 weeks and we will have a better idea if we are still on track for April. I plan on spending the rest of the week preparing for Thanksgiving. Let the cooking begin!!

Men at Work

We started taking the wallpaper off the walls in Lily's room! It was a family affair and we have made a lot of progress. The boys were very excited to help but their attention span is not that long and soon enough they left Pat and myself to complete the job. I overheard Shea telling Bryce we were painting the walls pink because girls like pink! So cute! Shea then informed me we should get some "China stuff" so Lily remembers China when she comes home. I just can't get enough of that boy, he is the sweetest 5 year old! My new thought is to put white bead board up on the bottom half of the wall and then paint the upper half of the walls pink. I am starting to get nervous about 4 pink walls! I have some thinking to do; bead board or not??

Yesterday my "99er" friends received their TA! TA is travel approval and that means they will know very soon when they will be traveling. They will definitely be going to China in December and be back home with their daughters by Christmas!! What a gift! This is the time of month where nothing exciting happens in adoption world and I just obsess on when the next set of referrals will arrive and how far they will get. As of now it looks like the next set of referrals will arrive around December 2nd and I am hoping for another 8 days or better. The new rumor on RQ today is that the wait will probably reach 4 years. Our wait of 2+ years is hard but I can't imagine a 4 year wait and it makes the chances of Lily having a sister from China very slim. For now I am going to continue to focus on the positive and hold onto hope that April will be our month!!

Finally, a picture...

Every year the boys get invited to Aunt Alice's work for a Halloween Party. The picture was taken last Friday and Alice was nice enough to send it to me. Thanks Alice!! Scooby Doo is really enjoying that lollipop!

Trick or Treat

No pictures! I had to have my camera overnighted to me because I left it at a friend's house and UPS never delivered it yesterday. The good news is that my in laws let me borrow theirs but it is the "old fashion" kind so I can't download the pictures. The boys were adorable and had a blast! Bryce was Scooby Doo and his tail would wag between his legs whenever he walked and Shea was a transformer. So now I need to start throwing away the candy or we will be eating it until next Halloween!!

Our agency confirmed yesterday that the cutoff for referrals this month will be December 8th. I REALLY wanted it to be at least December 10th but 8 days is more than the CCAA has done in a while. I am always tryng to stay optimistic and December 8th is actually not that bad. I am still thinking that we could get a referral in April and that is only 5 months away!

Our friends who received referrals last month are now waiting for TA. TA is travel approval and once you get that you can book your flights. We are really hoping they can travel in December. The waiting never ends until we have our daughters in our arms!