April is Panda Month!

I just found this on someone elses blog. Click on this PANDACAM and have a look, arn't they adorable!?!?

1 Year...ALREADY!?!?!

Today marks our 1 year anniversary of delivering our adoption application to Children's Services! In other words the beginning of our adoption! It is so hard to believe we have been working towards our baby this long, and the long road still ahead.

Yesterday I received an email from our agency validating our fears; our wait time has increased by approx. 6 months. Larry & I kind of knew this in the backs of our minds but once I received the email, reality hit hard. Just when we get excited about having another month of waiting under our belts ... WHAM, we hit a brick wall. This was not the kind of news I wanted for my birthday. As most of you know though, this is a worst case scenario for us to use as a guideline. So for the months to come we will pray and prepare for our baby girl, and hope that the wait shortens.

On a happier note:
I had a nice day and received some wonderful gifts! I will post pictures this weekend. Larry and I are going to enjoy a relaxing evening watching 2 movies:


The Pursuit of Happiness


Happy Feet

New Blog Feature >>>>

Look over to the right>>>>>>>>

See that little box that says "Subscribe With BLOGLINES", that is a life saver for me. As most of you know by now, I have a major BLOG addiction. This little feature, BLOGLINES, tracks all of the blogs I read on a regular basis and lets me know when they post something new, so I don't have to spend time checking if the haven't posted anything! To a blog-adict this is a fantastic discovery, lol! The reason I put a subscribe link on my site is so that any of you can subscribe too, if you wish, and then whenever I enter a new post you will receive an email to notify you. This way you can save time from checking when there are no new posts and you won't miss any when I do post!

Today is beautiful outside (as was yesterday) and it is supposed to be even better tomorrow! I love the change over from winter to spring ... feels like everything is fresh and new, oh yeah and a little muddy to.

Beautiful Poem

I was reading one of the blogs I follow on a regular basis and I found this poem. Please take the time to read it.

An Orphan’s Prayer

I am writing…somewhere far…far…away on the other side of the world.
I may not know who you are or what you look like,
But somehow deep in my heart I know you are out there.
That one day you will come and find me,
It’s a long journey, and it takes a lot of time…
I wish it could be easier.
But I know that the ones who come for me will not count the cost.
They will only see the joy of finding me.
For now I abide in the fields of the fatherless.
Day by day wondering why I was born here and not somewhere else?
Asking…why my life couldn’t have been different?
It is so lonely…
Even though I am surrounded by hundreds of other children,
I know that something is missing…
I know in my heart I need a place to call home.
My arms long to be wrapped in a father’s embrace…
I long to be saved by a mother’s love…
Gazing out the orphanage window, I offer a prayer of hope,
“Oh God please help them come quickly.”
Even as I lay in the darkness each night somehow I feel assured,
That no matter how lost I appear, I am not alone.
Holy hands guard my steps;
sacred fingers wipe my tears, touching my lonely heart. The one who made me,
The God that knew me before I was born,
Hears me every time I call.
He whispers His promises in my ear.
I listen with hope to His voice.
But what I worry about most is that no one wants to look for me.
The fields are vast and there are so many scattered all over the earth.
I wonder how one little child, so lost, can be found?
Yet He calms my heart and assures me that He will find you.
That He will make sure that you hear His voice clearly.
He has promised me that He will make a way through the fields,
That He will personally cut a path,
and lead you right to my orphanage door.
My prayer is… When He speaks…Please don’t forget to listen…
When He calls, don’t be afraid to go
For I am waiting…somewhere, far…far…away
On the other side of the world
To come Home.
Author: Unknown

Thank you to DAWN for sharing this special poem.

CBC Series

- Get Your Own

I spent a great March Break with Sydney. We were busy everyday! We went bowling, shopping, golfing, played card & board games and ate out … a lot!! I will post pictures soon.

I just wanted to put these videos on my blog so that if anyone missed them, they can see them here. This was a 4 part series that CBC aired a few weeks ago about Chinese adoption. They did a fantastic job! The videos are in order, from top to bottom. ENJOY!!

Sydney's First Blog Entry

Hi this is Sydney, and I'm Nikki and Larry's niece. Nikki asked me to make an entry into her blog, so here I am.

I am spending March Break with them. The room that I sleep in when I am at their house is going to be the baby's room when she gets here. This room is getting very crowded with all the babies new clothes and toys (mainly toys!). I am very excited that they are adopting and I can't wait until they bring her home! I am interested in learning all about China and being able to teach things to the baby when she arrives.

We are going to watch a movie now, I will try to write in the blog again soon! This is the movie that I am going to watch:

"Adoption Lingo"

I know not everyone is familiar with all of the terms that Larry & I use about our adoption process, so I thought this might help.
As I think of other terms I will add them to this post.

Traditions And Terms Found In The Chinese Adoption Community:

• The Red Thread- "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." - An ancient Chinese belief.

• Ladybugs- Believed to be good luck in the adoption community. They say if you see a lady bug while you are waiting for your referral, it means that your referral is going to come very soon!

• 100 Good Wishes Quilt-To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the Northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei or "100 Good Wishes Quilt". It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy and good wishes from all the family and friends who donated a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. Waiting families often collect the wishes along with a sample of each fabric square into a scrapbook for their new child.

• Dossier-The set of documents that represents the adoptive family. It includes the medical reports, birth certificates, employment verification letters, police clearances, financial statement, homestudy etc.

• DTC-Dossier To China. This is the milestone day when all of the documents finally make their way to China. This represents the end of the "paperchase" for the adoptive parents, and the beginning of "the wait" for a refferal of a child by the Chinese government.

• LID-Log in date. This is the date that the CCAA logs in your dossier on arrival in China.

• CCAA-China Center For Adoption Affairs. That's where the dossier's are processed, and the children who live in China's SWI's ( Social Welfare Institutions) and/or foster care, are matched with families.

• Referral-Notification from the CCAA that they have matched a family with a child. Referral information usually includes the child's Chinese name, date of birth, height/weight, a medical report, one or more photographs, and a few notes about the child's nature.