Thanksgiving Day Road Race

Frosty 34 degree temperatures didn't keep B and S from running in B's first ever road race... the Thanksgiving Day Road Race.

All 4.75 miles!

With 15,000 of their closest friends.

Go B!

Giving thanks today for healthy bodies.

When does it become reality?

When you write the first check.

When you notarize the first document.

When you see "You have been approved to adopt one child from the following convention country: China"

When you hear the phone ring.

When you see her face.

When you read "Your LOA has arrived" in the subject line of an email from your adoption agency.

When you say "I have four children"

When you paint a dresser.

When you glance in the back of your mini-van, see three kids, and actually panic because you thought you forgot someone, only to realize that the fourth isn't here yet.

When you sign a document written in Chinese that says her name and asks you "do you accept?"

Yes.

Yes.

We.

Do.

When you see her face.

When you start making packing lists.

When you buy bedding with pink ladybugs and purple butterflies.

When you purchase her FIRST pair of shoes.

When your children draw six stick people (2 big, 4 little) in their pictures of their family.

When you start purchasing things for the trip.

When you try on that long forgotten, never thought you would use again, baby carrier.

When you see her face.

.....to be continued

LOA!!!!!!!

Today we, unexpectedly, received our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China. Just 34 days after receiving our log-in date.... which is a whole lot faster than we thought it would take!

The LOA basically means the Chinese government fully translated and reviewed our 13 dossier documents and formally accepted our request to adopt Fu Xiao Yun (Grace!)

Our agency hopes that we will travel 11-16 weeks from now! That would mean travel sometime in February or early March.

But first we have to jump through several hoops with US immigration. Once we have successfully navigated US immigration, China will issue our travel authorization that basically says "OK, you can come now"... and then we'll go!

OK. I've got to stop blogging and get cracking on all this paperwork that has to be done by TOMORROW.

Grace, we are coming soon!!!!!

Growing Up

I spent an evening with a wonderful group of women last night.

Women that I have known longer than I've known most other people in my life (except for family of course).

We all sat there and gabbed as though we've seen each other every day for the last 17 years. Even though a few, I am quite certain, I haven't seen since I took off my cap and gown at high school graduation.

We laughed about things we did in 4th grade and 7th grade and prom (night) - yikes! The trouble we got in. The boys we kissed.

We also talked about kids, husbands, cleaning products, and kids tv shows.... because that is what us Mom's do.

I wasn't one that loved high school. Actually, I kind of hated it. As I drove to the gathering last night I wondered if those awful feelings of high school would come back. I'm thankful they didn't.... at all.

Then as I was sitting there chatting... it struck me, I realized how much I have in common with these women. They share my memories. The good, bad and ugly. And that's pretty cool.

And now, we have more in common than before. As I sat next to my friend who rocked her 9 month old to sleep next to me, I realized the extent of that motherhood bonds us women together.

As much as I pretend that I don't like getting older. Getting older isn't so bad. Because most of us grow up. We realize what's important in life. And we (hopefully) forget the bad and remember the good. Now we can share our life's journeys with open hearts and open minds.

So here's my lists of gratitudes today...

I'm so thankful I never have to go back to middle or high school. Yuck.

I'm thankful that I am 35 years old. Yup. I am.

I'm thankful for friends who have known me for 25 years+ years.

and I'm thankful for the bonds of motherhood.

Any advice for the parents?

While arguing with his siblings, a little three year old (not ours of course) stated very matter of factly...

"I am three, I can do WHATEVER I WANT!"

Umm. Yeah.

Houston, we have a problem.

Who me?

Big Giveaway Over at Ni Hao Y'all - and Hip Mom Jewelry helps another!

Stefanie over at Ni Hao Y'all is hosting a big 'ole giveaway this Christmas season! 30 Days of Giveaways!

Go check it out! Hope you win something! (click on the picture above)

Stefanie and her family are waiting on their LOA (just like us) for their 10th child (not like us). :)

Her blog is one of my favorites.

Also, Ann at Hip Mom Jewelry helped us raise $100 for our adoption, she's a woman with a heart for orphans and we are so grateful for her help! And now, she is helping our good friends with their adoption! So, if you missed the opportunity to buy a piece of jewelry from Hip Mom when we were fundraising... now you have a second chance to help another family bring home their daughter. Hop on over to their blog to check out the details. Happy Shopping Everyone!

Finally, did everyone notice we hit the 1/2 way mark on our puzzle fundraiser. YAHOO!!!!! Thanks everyone who has sponsored a piece of the puzzle!

Now... back to regularly scheduled programming...

Waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

We are 28 days into our wait for LOA.

Pass the popcorn.

1/2 way there!

We are in absolute awe of the generosity of all our friends who have sponsored puzzle pieces!!

We are SO close to getting to the half-way mark! 498 puzzle pieces sponsored! (The chip-in isn't completely accurate because people have given us cash that isn't recorded yet)

Thank you to every single one of you that has generously sponsored with $2, $4, $10, $20, $50 and even $100 donations!

If you are new to our blog, and don't know what I'm talking about... you can read here about our fundraiser! And please consider sponsoring a piece of the puzzle.

Other news...

Many have asked when we are going to travel. Our agency says it will probably be three to five months from now. Maybe March or April?

All I know for sure. Not soon enough.

We are on day 21 of our wait of LOA (Letter of Acceptance). But, honestly I don't expect to see this document for at least another month.

So, in the meantime... We've got a lot to keep us busy. Thanksgiving, two December birthdays (I know poor planning!), Christmas, painting and packing.

I'm tired already. But, I'm grateful for all these events because I'm quite sure I'd lose my mind otherwise.