Ok I have always referred to our little one from China as a girl...our sweet Lily. But there is a small chance that we could be referred a boy. Let me be honest for a minute. I am in love with the idea of my sweet angel girl. I want to dress her in frilly outfits, kiss her sweet cheeks, put pigtails in her hair. These are things I daydream about. I admit it. I am sold on the idea of having a little girl.
BUT...at the same time I know that I can not control the waves of fate and if, by chance, my world is rocked with a little boy then I will put my big girl panties on and deal with it. And I will fall in love with him too. He may not have a name, his room may be pink and green and yellow, he may have a stray pigtail in his baby-future but I will love him no less. And if the powers that be on this world and above it grant us a baby boy then so be it. He will be ours through and through and I will have to adjust my princess ideas to thoughts of Thomas the Train, denim overalls and trying to teach him to pee standing up.
Still, the chances of Lily being a boy are small. Just one more little thing I am obsessing about this weekend. And it won't be the last, I'm sure. I need a hobby.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
I interrupt this Lily obsession to interject some beach pictures
Lily's grandparents (aka my parents) came for a little visit last week and we decided to take a short trip to try to rest our weary minds. So...we were off to the beach...
Can you see all that stuff behind us?? We only went for 3 days, can you believe it?!?
We had an awesome room with a balcony overlooking the sandy beach. We also had absolutely perfect weather. 70+ degrees in February in Alabama...awesome!
Perfect weather + perfect scenery + perfect company = perfect getaway
With a great sunset walk on the beach. The sand was chilly and our feet were numb by the time we got back but it was so beautiful.
And my perfect-for-me husband, Lily's daddy, who always makes everything ok by just holding my hand and looking in to my eyes. There is only one thing that could have made this trip better...building sandcastles with our little girl.
Can you see all that stuff behind us?? We only went for 3 days, can you believe it?!?
We had an awesome room with a balcony overlooking the sandy beach. We also had absolutely perfect weather. 70+ degrees in February in Alabama...awesome!
Perfect weather + perfect scenery + perfect company = perfect getaway
With a great sunset walk on the beach. The sand was chilly and our feet were numb by the time we got back but it was so beautiful.
And my perfect-for-me husband, Lily's daddy, who always makes everything ok by just holding my hand and looking in to my eyes. There is only one thing that could have made this trip better...building sandcastles with our little girl.A Narrowed Window and a Sidebar Update
My absolute fave adoption rumor website has posted a smaller window as to when referrals may be expected. Of course, RQ (at www.chinaadopttalk.com) has said that they may come as early as March 18th but the most likely time frame for referrals to come is between March 31-April 4. Another website that posts estimated times for referrals (www.chinaadoptionforecast.com) is saying that we will get our referral on April 4, 2011. I have made these adjustments to my sidebar if you want to take a look. I think this is significant because RQ uses the number of families to make projections (which we are still waiting for) but China Adoption Forecast uses # of days referred. I am pretty confident that these are now both stating that we are next. Which, in every practical world, would mean we are NEXT. I am pretty much giving myself up to the fact that I will not be able to think about much else aside from Lily for the next month. Please forgive me if I stare off in to space, if I don't hear everything you say, if I start talking gibberish. I am hoping after the initial shock of these referrals and our impending change of life wears off, I may function a little better. For right now, I am in complete Lily mode.
A little part of me is so scared that something still may happen. Maybe we will still be denied by China or maybe our log in date has been wrong all along, maybe when we had that FedEx snafu at the very beginning where they didn't scan our dossier delivery will turn out to mean our package never really did make it to China, etc. I guess this is normal for the stage we are at right now.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
My Best Guess: Lily Between March 17-April 10
I know this seems like a wide date range but I am guessing we will see Lily's face between March 17 (3 weeks from the last referrals - pretty unlikely for the CCAA to do this twice in a row) and April 10 (45 days from the last referrals). Of course this is a guess.
Now that we are close, a lot of my co-workers and friends are asking questions. What will happen when we get the picture? Well...we may or may not know that our referral is on it's way to our agency. Referrals are delivered by DHL to the adoption agencies and then it is the agency that will call us and give us the information in the packet that is in English and tell us to come to their office to sign papers, see pictures, etc. Agencies didn't know this month that referrals were on the way so a lot of people got calls in the morning and were told to expect their referral call that day. A lot of people found out on www.chinaadopttalk.com (Rumor Queen) that referrals were starting to arrive and then they called their agencies. Ideally, our agency will know that our package is coming , they will let us know and Jeff and I can arrange to be off work so we can get to their office ASAP. Michelle, our agency rep, will call us and tell us Lily's Chinese name, date of birth, weight, maybe describe some pictures and tell us to come NOW. A lot of her referral information may be in Chinese and they will have to send it to their China reps for translation which could take 24 hours or so.
Once we get the referral package, we will accept it unless there is something glaringly wrong. Our agency will send our acceptance back to China and then we will wait for China to send us back approval to travel (our TA). When we get that, we can schedule our consulate appointment (the appointment we have to have before we come back to the US), etc. Our flights and hotel can then be booked around the consulate appointment. Ultimately we will end up travelling about 6 weeks from when we see Lily's face.
This really feels like the final countdown. Jeff and I are experiencing excitement like none we have had during this entire process. I can't stop thinking about Lily and where she might be, how old she is, how long it will be until we hold her, if someone is nurturing her and keeping her safe and warm and healthy. Jeff has been taking his breaks at work to make lists of pediatricians and even researched carseats on the internet yesterday. We are so close. So, so close. It's been 5 years and 4 months since we started this journey. I hope some day Lily will truly know how much we wanted her, planned for her and dreamed of her for so long.
Now that we are close, a lot of my co-workers and friends are asking questions. What will happen when we get the picture? Well...we may or may not know that our referral is on it's way to our agency. Referrals are delivered by DHL to the adoption agencies and then it is the agency that will call us and give us the information in the packet that is in English and tell us to come to their office to sign papers, see pictures, etc. Agencies didn't know this month that referrals were on the way so a lot of people got calls in the morning and were told to expect their referral call that day. A lot of people found out on www.chinaadopttalk.com (Rumor Queen) that referrals were starting to arrive and then they called their agencies. Ideally, our agency will know that our package is coming , they will let us know and Jeff and I can arrange to be off work so we can get to their office ASAP. Michelle, our agency rep, will call us and tell us Lily's Chinese name, date of birth, weight, maybe describe some pictures and tell us to come NOW. A lot of her referral information may be in Chinese and they will have to send it to their China reps for translation which could take 24 hours or so.
Once we get the referral package, we will accept it unless there is something glaringly wrong. Our agency will send our acceptance back to China and then we will wait for China to send us back approval to travel (our TA). When we get that, we can schedule our consulate appointment (the appointment we have to have before we come back to the US), etc. Our flights and hotel can then be booked around the consulate appointment. Ultimately we will end up travelling about 6 weeks from when we see Lily's face.
This really feels like the final countdown. Jeff and I are experiencing excitement like none we have had during this entire process. I can't stop thinking about Lily and where she might be, how old she is, how long it will be until we hold her, if someone is nurturing her and keeping her safe and warm and healthy. Jeff has been taking his breaks at work to make lists of pediatricians and even researched carseats on the internet yesterday. We are so close. So, so close. It's been 5 years and 4 months since we started this journey. I hope some day Lily will truly know how much we wanted her, planned for her and dreamed of her for so long.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Surprise Referrals
Today I was at work around noon and feeling very fortunate to get a lunch break since we were extremely busy and lately lunch breaks have been the exception rather than the rule. I heated up my little Weight Watchers points friendly meal, sat down with my co-workers, pulled out my cell phone to do my as-frequent-as-possible check of the China adoption sites when I saw something that made my heart flutter. Referrals came out today.
Keep in mind that they just came out 3 weeks ago today. And in the last few months they have been closer to 45-50 days apart. We weren't expecting a batch for at least another 2-3 weeks. What a fantastic, amazing turn of events. I really was just speechless for a few minutes before I ran to every one of my co-workers and told them. I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.
This batch of referrals looks very much like it will go to June 9, 2006. Can you please deduce what that means for us?!!? We are June 14, 2006....they covered 7 days with this batch....we are NEXT! While there is no real sure thing in this process, I am so optimistic that we will see our sweet Lily's face with the next batch of referrals...which could be 3 weeks or 6 weeks from now. Let the count-down, the freak outs, the last minute worries begin. I am so psyched.
Keep in mind that they just came out 3 weeks ago today. And in the last few months they have been closer to 45-50 days apart. We weren't expecting a batch for at least another 2-3 weeks. What a fantastic, amazing turn of events. I really was just speechless for a few minutes before I ran to every one of my co-workers and told them. I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.
This batch of referrals looks very much like it will go to June 9, 2006. Can you please deduce what that means for us?!!? We are June 14, 2006....they covered 7 days with this batch....we are NEXT! While there is no real sure thing in this process, I am so optimistic that we will see our sweet Lily's face with the next batch of referrals...which could be 3 weeks or 6 weeks from now. Let the count-down, the freak outs, the last minute worries begin. I am so psyched.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Our Construction Project - Bathroom Edition
Jeff and I have been thinking of re-doing one of our two bathrooms for a while now. This is "my bathroom" and I primarily use it while Jeff uses the one off the master bedroom. Don't ask me why we work this way...we just do. Of course "my bathroom" will probably become Lily's bathroom when she gets older but for now she will have to share it with me. It is also the one that all of our guests use when they come visit.
We had done some work on it a few years ago...namely stripping wallpaper, painting the walls, painting the vanity and medicine cabinet. It was a little superficial re-do. This time around, we decided to do a gut job. I think we have been watching too many shows on HGTV.
I forgot to take a picture before I started ripping out the storage shelves but you can get a basic idea of the "before"...
It's not a very big bathroom but it was a big enough job. Jeff tore out the vanity, shoveled up the peel n stick tile, removed the toilet and medicine cabinet. After the gutting was done, all that remained was the tub, the walls and a hole where the toilet should connect to the floor.
Jeff started with cutting and laying down the cement backerboard for the tile (he said it was a crummy job), then the actual tile cutting and laying began. We had to rent a tile saw from the home improvement store and this became my job. I am so glad I took 2 years of wood shop in school. I did the measuring and cutting of the tile and Jeff used the thinset stuff to lay it, making sure it was reasonably level and spaced appropriately. After we finished that, we let it sit for a while before grouting. I grouted, Jeff sponged. Just the gutting and floor laying took us 3 days. Really. Then the attempts at the toilet re-install began....
We had done some work on it a few years ago...namely stripping wallpaper, painting the walls, painting the vanity and medicine cabinet. It was a little superficial re-do. This time around, we decided to do a gut job. I think we have been watching too many shows on HGTV.
I forgot to take a picture before I started ripping out the storage shelves but you can get a basic idea of the "before"...
It's not a very big bathroom but it was a big enough job. Jeff tore out the vanity, shoveled up the peel n stick tile, removed the toilet and medicine cabinet. After the gutting was done, all that remained was the tub, the walls and a hole where the toilet should connect to the floor.
Jeff started with cutting and laying down the cement backerboard for the tile (he said it was a crummy job), then the actual tile cutting and laying began. We had to rent a tile saw from the home improvement store and this became my job. I am so glad I took 2 years of wood shop in school. I did the measuring and cutting of the tile and Jeff used the thinset stuff to lay it, making sure it was reasonably level and spaced appropriately. After we finished that, we let it sit for a while before grouting. I grouted, Jeff sponged. Just the gutting and floor laying took us 3 days. Really. Then the attempts at the toilet re-install began.... I will skip all the details and just say that we had to wait a week for a plumber to come and re-install the toilet flange and give us back our "facilities". In the meantime, we painted the walls a lighter, neutral color, cut and re-cut baseboards and installed them, put in the vanity with new sink and faucet and medicine cabinet. 
Finally, we have a completed bathroom. It is so hard to take a good "after" picture of a room that is like 6 ft x 4 ft.
See the gorgeous floor?!?! I think it just looks prettier to me because it was such a collaborative effort between Jeff and I.
It's not perfect by any means. There are some areas that we had to fill with grout cause some of my cuts were off. There is still some places we dinged the paint when we were finishing the installation of baseboards and things. There are some accessories to be added. But all in all, I think we will call it a success.
Finally, we have a completed bathroom. It is so hard to take a good "after" picture of a room that is like 6 ft x 4 ft.
See the gorgeous floor?!?! I think it just looks prettier to me because it was such a collaborative effort between Jeff and I.
It's not perfect by any means. There are some areas that we had to fill with grout cause some of my cuts were off. There is still some places we dinged the paint when we were finishing the installation of baseboards and things. There are some accessories to be added. But all in all, I think we will call it a success. Sunday, February 13, 2011
Countdowns
I'm freaking out a little bit these days. Maybe it's PMS. Maybe it's nesting. Maybe I'm just neurotic. Quite possibly it's a magical concoction of all of those and more. Jeff and I are counting down to Lily. My personal guess is that we are 2 referral batches from our little girl. That means 2 months-ish. I have approximated our timeline a million times before and have been proven wrong so nothing is concrete about my 2 months-ish projection but we are, indeed, closer now than ever and we will hopefully be travelling to China before the official start of summer.
My own personal countdown is a challenge that I have issued to myself. I want to be back at my goal weight by the time I become a mommy. Of course, I won't be upset if my baby girl joins us before that happens but I will be uber pleased with myself if I can accomplish this feat. I re-joined Weight Watchers at the end of October and, so far, I am down 23.6 lbs. I have 11 lbs left. My weight is definitely something I beat myself up over. It is an everyday struggle and I have vowed time and time again that I will never let my food adoration control my life again. Then life happens. Stress happens. Ice cream happens. I can only hope that I will never again be in my pre-WW body (in 2002 when I first joined at 352.6 lbs). To be back at my goal when I meet my baby girl will just be so empowering. And I really want to be a good role model for Lily.
My own personal countdown is a challenge that I have issued to myself. I want to be back at my goal weight by the time I become a mommy. Of course, I won't be upset if my baby girl joins us before that happens but I will be uber pleased with myself if I can accomplish this feat. I re-joined Weight Watchers at the end of October and, so far, I am down 23.6 lbs. I have 11 lbs left. My weight is definitely something I beat myself up over. It is an everyday struggle and I have vowed time and time again that I will never let my food adoration control my life again. Then life happens. Stress happens. Ice cream happens. I can only hope that I will never again be in my pre-WW body (in 2002 when I first joined at 352.6 lbs). To be back at my goal when I meet my baby girl will just be so empowering. And I really want to be a good role model for Lily.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Happy Year of the Rabbit!
Today is the Chinese New Year...the most celebrated holiday in China. This begins the Year of the Rabbit and it will be OUR year.
Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!!
Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!!P.S. Referrals are out for this month through June 2, 2006...see the side bar for the update.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
I'm sorry Lily...
...there is a toilet in your room.
We are in the process of basically gutting one of our bathrooms for a major re-do and it's taking us longer and forcing more Home Dep0t trips than we could have ever imagined. In the meantime, we have "extra seating" in Lily's room. ;)
We are in the process of basically gutting one of our bathrooms for a major re-do and it's taking us longer and forcing more Home Dep0t trips than we could have ever imagined. In the meantime, we have "extra seating" in Lily's room. ;)
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