Missed th 49th month, but we are into May!!!

We were on vacation for the 30th so no number. That's okay, I am so excited to report matching for May has begun!!!! I can't wait to see those sweet faces united with their forever family. Whoo Hoo! I am prayerfully praying for October, but realistic that it will most likely be November or December.

48 Months!

This post is a little late, but here just the same. I am hoping beyond hope that we will receive our referral before the end of the year. I can't believe how fast this 4 years has flown by. My oldest who graduated today was in 8th grade when we applied. I would never in a million years have believed she would be in college when we finally received a referral.


We are so proud of A and the young woman she has become. She is truly as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. We wish her the very best and know she will be wonderful in whatever path she chooses.



And finally, M celebrated her 8th birthday today! She is a girl that LOVES to celebrate her birthday. We were able to have a special party the night before, so she would be able to shine. A was also gracious about celebtrating graduation and her little sisters birthday on the same day.

We had a fun day, and enjoyed celebrating with all of our family.

47 months!

We have one more month until our big 4 year anniversary. What a day that will be, our oldest daughter graduates from high school, our youngest turns 8 and its our LID anniversary. What a special day it will be, I think we will be so focused on the happy parts we won't have time to dwell on the sad.

46 Months!!

Here we are again with another month down. The rumor today is they have matched through April 17th, that leaves us with 42 days logged in before us. Whoo Hoo!! I am excited and hopefull that the C2A2 will continue matching the files as they have children available and not by numbers of days!!!!

Have a happy, blessed Easter.

45 months!

Here we are again at another milestone I could never imagined we would see in this adoption. The latest buzz around referrals is very exciting, I am trying to put it in the back of my mind and carry on. Every time we get excited, thing seem to fall through. As a result, I have worked really hard the last several months to guard my heart. I guess time will tell.

AHGG!

I have some cute photos from Chinese New Year! Blogger will not let me post. Maybe it has something to do with me only posting numerals for way to long.;)

Our FCC Chinese New Year Party

We had the privilege of joining our FCC group for Chinese New Year again this year. We have the best group of families, they are so excited and encouraging. Every year we struggle with making the decision to go or not and every year we walk away so blessed. The girls had fun, LL has reached the age where she is too "mature" to participate in the dragon dance, but M is right there with all the kids. LL blessed us so much this year by choosing the party over a basketball game. When we began this process we were advised to make sure our children were on board with adopting. They consistently amaze us in their commitment to bringing home their little sister.

44 Months!

Here it is again, another LIDversary! I am starting to feel the nesting urge again, but am still hesitant to start. I have a funny feeling that after waiting 4 LONG YEARS our referral will suddenly be here. I am hoping to maybe start doing a few household things that I would like done before we travel. My kitchen cupboards and interior doors all need a good touch up, as do a few walls. Then of course I need to finish a few graduation related items. Then maybe I will start on our 100 good wishes quilt and then her lifebook. I will keep you posted.

43 Months!

Here we are again, 43 months in. We wish you all a Happy New Year. I am praying for a wonderful year, we have had a tough year in our community. I am looking forward to 2010 and a year of happiness. Praying this year is the year we will recieve a referral.

42 Months!

I was really hoping for this to be the month of improvement. Looks like we are still in the same spot as before. 61 days of log in dates ahead of us, and a mile of them behind us. I was reading through Beth Moore's study on Daniel, and the time of waiting for him was 42 months, turns out there are many places in the bible pointing to 3.5 years as God's time of waiting. I was really hoping that would be true for us as well. I guess God has other plans for us and our little girl. *sigh*

On a brighter note Miss Jubilee Promise is not going to have to wait any more for her family. Run on over to http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/
and read about their God sized miracle to this sweet girl waiting for a home. They are such an inspiring family.

Where I am today...

Not going to lie, this was a tough week. Another month with out referrals, a change in the C2A2director, and uncertainty in Ch*na adopt*on. I allowed my self to get sucked back into the negativity and fearfullness once again. Why do I allow my self to do that? I know with my whole heart that God is in control and I am not. But, I continually try to make things happen instead of trusting the Lord that he will make it happen. I saw this prayer over at Bakers Sweets, I think I am going to type it out and pray it over this stubborn head of mine until I have it firmly in there. I think this is more of a head problem than a heart one.

"Lord, I praise You for Your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details. With You, nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, and no experience is wasted. You hold in Your own power my breath of life and all my destiny. And every trial that You allow to happen is a platform on which You reveal Yourself, showing Your love and power, both to me and to others looking on." – Author Unknown

41 Months and it's not about us...

As we were carving pumpkins last night, our adoption came up as it does whenever we are doing something as a family. J asked, do you think our daughter will be home next year for carving pumpkins. I said yes, which of course my girls have to add, you say that every year. But, you know it really got me thinking that it is not about us, it is about following Gods will and his timing.

Then about an hour later during dinner M made a comment that adoption is not as painful as giving birth. I had to argue with her on that one, it may not be a physical pain with delivery, but it is an emotional pain. I know that God will use it for his good, its just hard to go through.

I also wanted to share a great link go here http://blog.showhope.org/?p=217 and read why its so hard to adopt. And then pray for all that God has called to adopt and those he is still calling. One of J and I's biggest motivators early on to pursue our adoption was to be an example, a light, so that others may follow us. But, that is hard, because after watching us wait for 41 months, who would willingly go through this. I have even had someone come up to me and say, "we thought about adoption, but after watching how long this has taken you, we decided against it." That was a difficult to hear. We have tried really hard to remain optimistic and upbeat, but I think in our society of instant gratification the true meaning of waiting on God's timing is sometimes lost.

Anyway, we are now 41 months closer to our daughter.

Forty Months!

What a cute little positive number this is! What do you think? This month we are all about the positive and letting go of the negative. We are 40 months closer to our sweet girl, time to get to work. We still have the bedroom situation to work out, a one hundred good wishes quilt to make, a life book to start, and oh yeah we still need a name!

Lisa Leonard

Head on over to the Lisa Leonard jewlery give away from simple mom! You have to check out these great pieces from Lisa, I really want the sterling ring and the link bracelet. Hint, Hint!


http://simplemom.net/giveaway-time-score-handcrafted-jewelry-from-lisa-leonard/comment-page-15/#comment-60589

Thirty Nine Months

I thought I would switch things up a little for this month! Clever huh! Yeah well, how many things can you really add to a monthly count down... On a brighter note, we are 39 months closer to our daughter, we have approval for another 18 months, and fingerprint approval for 15 more months. Oh and there are only 6 more LID's left until March is completely matched. Come on CC*A, match some babies!

Last first day and more first day of school

A took her last first day of school photo, I have taken one each year since preschool. Maybe I will get inspired and post them.

LL & M also started their first day of school, even with homeschooling I think it is important to mark a first and last day. We dress up and enjoy getting back into our school routine, we have switched things up this year and all in all it went pretty well. M was under the weather and slept most of the afternoon, but L was able to get through every thing. I am hoping to start a homeschooling blog soon, I think it will be a fun way to mark our progress and achievements throughout the year.

We have approval! Again!!!

We just received our 3rd immigration approval today! I didn't even recognized the form, I thought maybe we had to supply more information! We have approval until February 20, 2011, yikes! That would be a 57 month wait, I can't even imagine. Hopefully I won't have to.

Get your verse on giveaway!!

How cute are these new kids shirts? Go on over and give them a look-see, my wish list is getting longer and longer!

http://www.wildolivetees.com/

Third times a charm???

J and I trecked to Helena for our 3rd (yes 3rd) fingerprinting appointment. We were in an out in 15 minutes and back on the road home. Hopefully this third 171 will be the charm.

Our 3 year LIDversary

'nuff said.....