15 Months Today!

I totally forgot to post that today is Sarah's 15 month birthday!!! Happy 15 months, Kiddo!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our last Thanksgiving without Sarah!! I hope everyone has a great day!!


I am most thankful for....

The Lord and knowing that He cares about me all the way to the last hair on my head

My Mei Mei and knowing that God has placed her in our home

My mom and dad and the love that they give me

The friends I have who always put a smile on my face

My brothers and the...brotherlyness they add to my life =)

And the life that God has given me and the chance that I have to live it for Him!! =D

Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your turkey!!

This Girl is OURS!! =D

She is officially ours!! Mom and Dad went to SR yesterday to sign the LOA and it was sent back to China today, as promised!! Peggy, another worker at SR, said that we should be getting TA on Dec. 11!!! Moma and Dad are going to be traveling alone and since they don't mind traveling during Chistmas, they might be traveling sooner than January!!! The travel meeting with SR is on Dec. 1st. We got the actual photos of Sarah! The ones that were taken by the Institute she's in! You can really see her cleft in it, and in her Visa picture she looks like she was ill! =(
But that was when she was 5 months! I wonder how she's doing now. Things are definatly going to speed up now! =D Unfortunatly we didn't get any updated pictures. But that doesn't matter because she's coming home soon!

Can't wait to put this on...

I can't wait until I can put this in my blinkie collection!

Adorable Little Girl

A few day's ago I was looking for other blogs online. I found this little girl on The Story of You China adoption website. It looks like the family hasn't traveled yet, she so adorable! =D

http://www.thestoryofyou.net/RBTravelFall.html



Happy Birthday Lexi!

Already The Weekend?

Gosh! I can't believe how fast the weeks are going! We're coming so close to Sarah coming home! =D I know that next year she'll definatly be here for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I can't believe that stores are taking down Thanksgiving stuff and putting up Christmas stuff! A few houses by us even have their Christmas lights up! I'm really excited for this Christmas because we might be using a real tree instead of the artificial one that we've used for years. I can't wait until next year and I get to see Sarah's little face when she opens her presents!

We've Got LOA!!! =D

Earlier this afternoon Bethanne called us with our LOA!! Mom and Dad are driving up to SR Monday to sign it and Mom's thinking that it will be sent out on Wednesday. Then Mom and Dad will either be traveling end of Dec. beginning of Jan. TA will be 2-6 weeks from LOA. I'm really tired so I'll give somemore information tomorrow.
Have a great weekend!

New Template! =)

This template is from the courtesy of Matie Kay's Creations! =) Her stuff is really cute! And totally free! And I didn't have to redo all my blinkies and Sarah's picture! =)

http://matiekay.blogspot.com/

Another Update- Really for November 15

So Mom's home now. She's still doing the same but she and Dad talked the hospital out of making her stay. They had already had her room ready for an hour when they were leaving. The nurse couldn't find Mom's file and was looking for it when they ran into her and said that there really was no reason for them to stay. Mom is supposed to call the doctor tonight and let him know how she's doing. We're still waiting for the Infectious Disease place to let us know what's going on. Today Mom has a doctor appointment, she and Dad just left for that. But all morning she's had a 99 temp. Hasn't even hit 100! =) Thanks you all so much for your comments. Mom read them and they made her smile. She say's thank you also. I'll post more when we have information from the doctors appointment.

Mom Update

Last night Mom and Dad went to the hospital because her fever was NOT going away. The doctor thought that she had pneumonia and gave her a prescription. They went to the pharmacy and to pick it up and it turns out that Mom's allergic to the stuff that they put in the antibiotic. Today Dad woke me up at 7 and said that he was taking Mom to the ER. They left at 8:30 am and got checked in at 12:30! Dad called about a half-hour ago and said that the doctors wanted to admit Mom into the hospital. She doesn't have pneumonia. The doctor says that it could be 2 days until she comes home. The doctors are going to do many more tests on her to see whats wrong. Currently they're treating her for a viruse. Please pray for us and pray that she gets well soon. When I have more information, I let everyone know.

Yikes!

Mom's been really sick since the 8th. She's had a fever that goes WAY up and then down to about 100.1. She told me about an hour ago that she hasn't had a really good sleep in 5 DAYS!=(
So on Friday I made dinner, pork chops, but they didn't get cooked all the way through so Dad recooked them. Our Grandma made three different types of soup and they dropped it off. What a blessing! Unfortunatly this weekend was my grandparents birthday weekend. Gram's birthday was on Friday and today is my Grandpa's (which reminds me I have to call him up!) we were supposed to celebrate it on Saturday but with Mom being sick we couldn't. =( Gram say's we'll just celebrate on Thanksgiving but I think if Mom's feeling better this weekend that's when we'll celebrate.

You Make Me Smile Award

I nominate Lexi and Staci for the You Make Me Smile Award. I always love getting your comments and emails! You always make me smile and put me in a really good mood! =)

This Will Work!!! =)

Never Mind =(

Well I love the way this looks, but my pictures aren't showing up right so I'm going to have to change it again. =( What a shame! I really liked this layout!

Enough...

Okay, I think that's enough changing for now. It'll probably change for Christmas, though. Thanks for all the comments!
Have a great weekende everyone!

This would be Jonah's doing. I'm not sure but she looks like she's not enjoying it at all. The only blanket that she really enjoys being wrapped in is the one that Mom and I sewed.
We came home one day and found her like this!
This is what Roxi does when we're away from home. Two of these pictures are of her behind our couch. =)

New Makeover?

As you all have notice I've changed the way the blog looks. It's going to constantly change through out the week, I think.

Geeze-Lu-Wheeze!

Okay! Here's the picture! I can never post picture without having to try again a second time!! UGH! Anyway! Isn't the doll so adorable!! =) I just love her! I was in AWWWWW mode when I saw the doll, booties, and blanket. The blankets are soooooooo soft!

If it works here it is

Baby Doll Pics With Blankets!

I've finally gotten pics or pic for Sarah's doll. She's also on some really soft blankets that we've gotten for Sarah that Mom and Dad are bringing to China. Oh! And a pair of booty's! :D

HOLY COW!! :D

I was just thinking today that I can't believe that it's already November! Only a month or two until Sarah comes home! :D Did any of you JieJie's ever get butterfly's in your stomach and like never stop smiling whenever you thought about your Mei Mei coming home? I'm grinning ear to ear right now just thinking about her!!! I opened my closet this morning and burst into a smile when I saw all her clothes! When I was brushing my hair after my shower I looked at the spot where her crib is going and thought "In a month or two I get to say "Good Morning Sarah."" I can't stop thinking about her now. We should be getting our LOA next Friday according to Mom's calculations. Right now I'm feeling so giddy you'd think I was on caffeine (okay so I had a whole can of Arizona Rasberry Ice Tea, but I think this is mostly baby giddy). :D

Funny Mother-Daughter Thing

So I think this is funny. You guys might think its just plain stupid and think "Why on EARTH did she post this. She's gone mad!" Those of you who have been emailing back and forth with me know that I have a very strange sense of humor. Which I will admit very loudly and clearly I do! I am the girl who laughs out loud at a joke that was said an hour ago that I hadn't understood and then finally figured it out and thought it was funny. Wait...I'm getting off track. Okay, back on. Yesterday Mom brought home our first package of diapers for Miss Sarah Grace. Right away we both wanted to see how small they were (MIGHT I ADD THAT THIS LITTLE GIRL IS GOING TO BE SO TINY!!! :D). Well Mom and I went all "AWW! They're so tiny." or at least that's what I said, I can't remember what Mom said. Well then I had to open my big mouth and say a comment that went like this, "Well they're very cute now but the next time we open these it won't be 'AWW!' it'll be "Ohhhhhh! NO! JONAH IT'S YOUR TURN TO CHANGE SARAH!" Anyway, I have no idea why I'm posting this, but lately I've been lacking in normal posts about what's going on at home.

Tag question

Okay, I have been wondering about this since the first time I was tagged. Who starts a tag? Do you just start a list of questions, answer them, and then say "I tag so and so"? LOL. Anyway, I've just been wondering about that.

We've found a brown haired doll

for Sarah!!! She is so adorable! Mom found her at target and she has no rattle! Now all we need is a carseat and this little munchkin is set!!! :D Right now the file that the picture is on isn't working so I'm going to try again sometime else.

Soap Testers Anyone?

Okay, so I'm starting this new online business and I'm selling homemade soaps. But I need some soap testers. So if any ones interested, email me. It'll be completely free and all you have to do is let me know if it worked, you liked it, or if something was wrong. I'm pretty sure everone has my email address but if not its, meimei4me@gmail.com or luckyroxi@sbcglobal.net. I would rather be emailed at the first one for this particular thing but either one is fine. Anyway, just thought I'd try this out. The website isn't published yet because I haven't tried all of the soaps, but if anyones interested I promise I'll post the URL when it is published.

ARRRGH!!!!

Okay, I know a lot of you use ShabbyPrincess for your blog templates. I have tried so many times to download one of their things and it won't work! It keeps telling me that the program cannot be displayed! Do any of you have this problem? I've tried it everyday and the same thing comes up.

ADDRESS FOR SARAH'S ORPHANAGE!!

Mom got an email from Bethanne with the address to Sarah's orphanage - institute actually!!! Now we can send a care package!! YAY! One step closer!!

HELP!!

Okay. So does anybody know where I can get a soft (like one that Sarah could sleep with without hurting herself) dark haired baby doll that doesn't have rattle?? I keep finding ones that have rattles, but we don't want her rattling away at night. Also, what kind of carseats do you recommend? We'd like one that goes up to 100lbs, but we can't find one that's not on a safety recheck or something like that. One more thing. My mom was wondering what they should do about a carseat for when they're in China. She doesn't want to be carrying one around the whole time. For those of you who have already been to China, what did you do? Thanks!!

Another One

Thanksgiving Is...
by Bob Smiley

Thanksgiving is a time when families come together to embarrass kids everywhere! There’s more eye-rolling at family gatherings during this holiday than at the Optical Olympics.
Last year, we had 33 people to our house for dinner. My dad gave a stirring Thanksgiving Day speech. He said, “Today is about family, love and . . . and throw the ball! He’s wide open!” (We can see our television from the dinner table.)
Mixing my family with my wife’s family is like washing a white T-shirt with red pants. Someone is going to turn pink from embarrassment. Allow me to introduce the main characters that keep it interesting.
Wendy’s grandmother: She doesn’t want to be a bother to anyone — no matter what. Note the following two conversations from last year:
Bob: “Hey, Grandmother, you’ll be sleeping in the guest bedroom upstairs.”
Grandmother: “I don’t need a whole room. I can sleep on the floor. Actually, I can sleep in my car. The seats recline, you know!”
Wendy (right before the feast): “We need one more chair for the table.”
Grandmother: “I can just eat outside on the porch!”
Wendy: “It’s sleeting outside.”
Grandmother: “Then I won’t need a water glass!”
My dad is also an interesting person. If he were Adam, we wouldn’t have had Eve, because I don’t think anyone could take a rib from him. He’ll eat anything. He’ll walk up to someone and say, “Are you going to finish that?” OK, so you’ve heard people ask that question before. But Dad does it while the person is actually chewing on the food!
Uncle Wiley: He knows every cheesy joke ever told. Each year he shakes my hand. I automatically say, “Oh! A hand-buzzer. That’s funny.” He then gives me permission to use that in my comedy act if I wish. I tell him that I don’t shake a lot of hands during my routine. He then starts telling me all the funny “observations” he’s made in the past year in case I want to use any of them on my “next 8-track.” (Yeah, I know. Most of you don’t even know what an 8-track is! Think of it as an ancient and really big CD.)
The cousin’s kid: Wendy’s cousins have the most talented child on this planet. I know this because they tell us every year. They think their son is a genius because he knows how to push the red button on the TV remote. In fact, this kid will probably go on to cure cancer if he has time to spare from his rock ‘n’ roll touring. That’s right. He’s going to be a rock star. I know because I’ve been privileged to hear hours of songs including that classic rock anthem “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
This kid has diversity, too. You should hear his country version of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Of course, now that I have two boys, I understand their bragging a bit more. I’m not proud of this, but last year while trying to act amused at the off-key verse of “Merrily, merrily, gently down the stream!” ringing in my ears and simultaneously answering Uncle Wiley’s question of “Knock, Knock” and telling my dad that I do plan on finishing my chewing gum, I actually stopped and shouted, “Hey! My son’s looking out the window! I bet he’ll be an astrologer one day!” Wendy was so embarrassed that she got up, put on her raincoat and went outside to eat with her grandmother.
The cool thing is, though, no matter how strange my family is, Christ still loves us. He proved that on the Cross. And trust me, if He can love my family, He loves you, too! So be thankful this Thanksgiving. And remember, it’s all about family, love and “Throw the ball! He’s wide open!”

Funny Thanksgiving Article

So I was just on Briomag.com and I found this article. It's pretty funny!

The Way I See It — The Lamest Meal Ever by Patrick Dunn

Close your eyes and think about Thanksgiving. I bet you’re thinking of nachos and sandwich meat.
You’re not? Well, here’s proof that guys and girls are very different.
I spent one Thanksgiving with my brother Brian. Neither of us could be part of a family gathering out of town. You do the math:

Two guys + No girls + No mom = Nachos and meat

That’s all we ate. We went to a gas station/mini-mart for our Thanksgiving meal. Certainly if two sisters were in the same situation there would have been at least stuffing, a hot dish or even that canned cranberry glop that stands up by itself.
Despite winning the “Lamest Meal Ever” award, we still enjoyed two other important parts of Thanksgiving: the morning football game and the afternoon football game.
For most guys, Thanksgiving means breaking last year’s pie eating record and watching football.
By the way, girls, if you ever want to know if a guy you’re interested in has an emotional side, secretly watch him during a football game. You will see:

Crying. Disgust. Laughing. Screaming. Possibly yodeling . . . and some type of prehistoric “gut quake” tribal dance. (Most of this occurs before kickoff.)

Some girls do rush to the TV during the day’s football games—but usually during the commercials to see where the best after-Thanksgiving sales will be.
To guys, this is a mysterious annual event. Why? Because this leads to girls getting up when the entire continent is still dark, actually rushing out the door without makeup and racing through a store to find anything marked 50 percent off.
The description of these sales sounds like a football game: people smashing into each other, body parts flying through the air, chasing and tackling.
Shopping at 5 a.m.? Most guys would get up that early only to fish, hunt or do something else that leads to meat sizzling in a pan at the end of the day.
Of course, there is more to Thanksgiving than football or shopping. There’s the gift of family and a chance to eat six days’ worth of food in one meal.
Here again, guys don’t understand girls. Have you ever seen a guy’s plate at Thanksgiving? My brother Mark can stack food to the height of a small car. His plate resembles an explosion at the gravy factory. Scary? Maybe. But Thanksgiving is a day to eat!
While guys race to see who can eat the most without falling through their chair, they curiously watch the girls at the table, who neatly place a few items around their plate.
Guys and girls even cook differently. If mom cooked the turkey, it was probably oven-roasted—traditional and time-tested. If Dad cooked the turkey it may have been deep fried, crammed in the fireplace, thrown under the hood of a pickup or blown up by firecrackers, just to see what happens.
Count your blessings this Thanksgiving; God has surrounded us with so many. And take time to thank Him for never having to spend a Thanksgiving with my brother and me, a pile of cheap ham and a plastic tray of nachos.

Funny!! Must C!

This is hilarious! A must see!!

Way Back When

So I just looked at some of my posts from "way back when" and I have come a long way! It's kind of funny how I didn't know how to do some things, when they were so easy to do and firgure out! :) We STILL haven't gotten anything from SR yet.

It's OFFICIAL!

I think! Anyway! I really, really like it! :D

Thanks for the warning and Jonah's Soccer Game

Thanks for the warning Lexi! But I have to admit, decorating a blog is probably the funnest part! :)

Today Jonah had his second to last soccer game, which they won! YAY! Jonah is an awsome soccer player, probably one of the best on his team. The thing with his team though is that most of the kids don't try! So the games aren't usually that exciting, because I'm guessing their gonna lose. Since Jonah and like only 3 or 4 other boys want to try, they're exhausted! My birthday had to have been the best game they played because Jonah scored like 6 goals! :D After next Saturday's game? The next time we'll be on the field we'll have Sarah!!!!! YAY!!!!

New Bloggy Look!!

So I finally found a website (Thank you Lexi!) to makeover my own blog!! I might change it a couple of times, but I'm not sure. I really like this layout. The only problem is, is that all my blinkies and icons are gone, so I have to redo it all. Oh well! That is probably the funnest part of blogging. At least for me. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Boys Will Be Boys

I found these pictures of the boys! I love the ones of Jonah. The spiky thing on his head is one of those squishy things you can buy at the zoo or the Shed Aquarium. The other ones are of the boys trying out sharpshooting a a family friends farm. They really enjoyed that. Dad shows up in a couple of them. :)

We have a video recorder for China...

and it fits in your pocket!! It's one of those tiny ones. It is really cool! I'm testing a video to see how it works. This is of one of Jonah's soccer games. If anyone watches the video Jonah is #2 on the red team. I hope this works!

LOL!!!

Okay, I just noticed the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" post that Mom posted. I never went on to blog yesterday, so I never saw the post until now!!! LOL! Mom just told me that she was waiting all day for me to come on and blog, but I only went on to check my email! When I saw it I didn't know who did it until I saw Mom's face and read the post! LOL! Thanks Mom!

Yesterday was soooooo much fun! JCPenny's finally opened in McHenry and my grandparents(on my Mom's side) bought me this really cute and soft pajama set! It's like a sea foam green and feels like those really soft socks. They also got me a pair of those really soft socks! Jonah got me the second Christy Miller Volume and Christopher got me this really cute 3/4 sleeve top! Mom and Dad got me a soap making kit, which I have used pretty much all of the Glycerin up! My grandparents (on my Mom's side) split my laptop with me when I got it so that was supposed to be my present, but then we went shopping and they bought me a whole bunch of clothes! I also got some money from my aunt and uncle, and a half dollar from my grandparents (on my Mom's side). We had Chinese :D for dinner and Sundays for dessert!

This was my last birthday without Sarah!!

Still no LOA yet :(
Have a great rest of your weekend everybody!

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY CAITIE!!!!!

We love you very much and thank the Lord everyday for blessing us with you. HIS love and faithfulness abound! You are a treasure on this earth and we are so very proud to call you our daughter.
With all our love, Mom and Dad
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"Many daughters have done well, but you excell them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:29-30

We've Got PA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've got PA!!!! I'm so happy!! Only 2 more steps to go!!!! We didn't get the updated picture with it, though. I'm thinking if we don't get it when Bethanne gets back from China we might get it with LOA. But so far it's looking like we're going to be traveling in December!! YAY!!

We're almost there Missy!!!

Nice Matters Award

Staci has given me the Nice Matters Award!

From what it looks like, this award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. :D

Aww! Thanks so much Staci!

I now nominate, Lexi, Olivia, and Ally.

No email yet...

...for our PA. BUt we are out of the review room!!!! Now Mom's thinking that instead of getting PA we're just going to jump right ahead and get out LOA. We're hoping that's the case because then TA follows right after and then Sarah Grace comes home!!! I am still so frusterated with Sunnyridge. I can't get over what they're doing. Julie (our SW) said that when they get our PA she'll email it right away. *sighs* If we do get LOA instead of PA we'll be traveling in a month-an-a-half!!! Oh well, the only thing we can do right now is pray that Sarah is safe and healthy. And check Mom's email everyday. :D

Liar, Liar, We Just Want Our Daughter (or in my case sister)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I just want to fly to China, grab Bethanne by the ear and drag her back to the States just so she can gives us everything she's been keeping from us. I'll start from the beginning.

Mom has found the moms of Sarah's adoption "sisters"! Sarah and these two little girls are in the same Institute as she is. Cool, huh? So with one of the families, it turns out their file waited two weeks - as did ours. Bethanne had told this family that they were waiting for someone else to get the paperwork done. They assumed it was us. Remember how in July I posted that Bethanne said we were waiting for another family to finish their paperwork? Well we assumed that it was this family. So it turns out that the family we were thinking we were waiting for another family but it turnes out that their paperwork was already done and at Sunnyridge! So everyones paperwork was held two weeks for no reason!! AAAARRRR!!!!! Bethanne says she cares so much about these children but apparently not enough if she's lying to everyone and holding files longer than they need to be.

Also! Yes there is an also and this also is making me so insane!! SunnyRidge has updated pictures of Sarah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they won't send them to us until we're PA!! We were supposed
to get these pictures with her Medical Update but they were never sent. Bethanne said she would email the pictures to us with the medical info! Mom has figured out that we should be getting PA on Monday if everything is done right.

Mom has figured out, also that we have 3-4 months until travel. So we'll probably be traveling around the week of Christmas. So far that's the only news thats kept me from screaming.

Have a great weekend, everybody!!

No Posts/ Middle Name Meme

Hey! Sorry about not posting in a while. I've had some problems with my wrist latley and nothings really come up with the adoption. So I haven't been able to post anything for this blog. Anyway, Staci's tagged me for the Middle Name Meme, so here goes nothin.


You have to post these rules before you post the facts:
1. Players, you must list some fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
2. When you are tagged you need yo write your own blog post containing your own middle name facts.
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged.

N is for Not able to do this very well because I can't think of anything good for N.
I is for Interested in adoption.
C is for Caitie, because that's my name.
O is for Opinionated. I like to give my opinion. But only when the time feels right.
L is for Laughs. I love to laugh.
E is for Elegant. At least that's what my mom says.

I never knew that characterizing myself would be so hard! Anyway, I now tag Lexi, Olivia, Holly, Ally, and Emmie. I can't think of another person so whoever I missed who hasn't done it yet? Go for it!

NEW MEDICAL INFO!!

YAY!!! Sarah's medical info is here!! All I understand with these numbers is that she's 17.1 lbs. :D My little micheline (SP?) baby. No updated pics though. Darn. Maybe with the LOA or PA?

Another Picture Malfunction

Okay so it looks like this pic didn't come up the first time so here it is. :D

Quick post!

Hey! Okay. I have made another blog. http://www.diaryofacountrygirl.blogspot.com/ !! :D Please visit it and also tell other bloggers about it?! I also need some help finding a good song to put on it so if anyone could help me, that would be just great. You all have my email address so you could just email the title to me. Also, I just realized I write so so much on here and no one (sorry Staci I'm going to have to remove you from this category:D) knows what I look like! So here is our family adoption picture (the one that we sent to CHina with our dossier -sp?-) I really hope it comes up, I've notice that some of the pictures I want to show up don't.

Happy Birthday Dearest Sarah.............

Happy Birthday To YOU!!!:D Today is Sarah's 1'st birthday!! Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

OOPS....

sorry about about not posting even though I said I would. I was really busy this weekend. On Friday Christopher and Dad left for Wisconsin, leaving Mom, Jonah, and I home without a car. :D The day before Mom and I had gone to the video store to get a bunch of movies for Friday and Saturday night. We really actually only got three movies, Around The World in 80 Days (Jonah and I had already seen it when it came out but thought it was so funny we had to get it again), Unaccompanied Minors (which I may say was pretty funny), and Kicking and Screaming (WORST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN! okay there were a few funny parts but other than that? Never again will I see that movie.) So on Friday night we watched ATWI80D and UM. I also must add that we had one whole back of chocolate covered raisins, Twizzlers (SP?). We had to be up until about midnight watching movies. On Saturday? It was pretty much like every Saturday. My grandparents came up from Chicago and spent the day with us. We went to Sears and Michaels and found some really cute outfits for Sarah, but we didn't get them since we're still waiting for her medical info. Okay, I'm actually going to have to take a pause in telling about the weekend to explain. As you all know we've been waiting for Sarah's medical info -which we still haven't gotten yet. Mom said that we're not going to buy anymore clothes until we get her info because we don't know how much she weighs now and if she's still in the 18 months sizes or if now she's all the way in the 24 months. Bummer. Especially since it's already been a week and still no info.

Anyway, back to my weekend. So after we went shopping we came home and ordered Chinese. Yum!! After Gram and Papa left, we popped K&S in. I won't say anything more about that movie. We went straight to bed after the movie. ON Sunday, Mom let us sleep in later than usual. I think I slept until like 11 or something :D. Christopher and Dad came home at 1:30 PM and we had Tacos for dinner. Then Mom, Jonah, and I went to PetsMart and I got four fish and a snail and Jonah got some filters for his tank. Today we went back and Jonah got 2 snails. :D

Congratulations to Olivia and Trent!! I can't wait to see your little girls face!! I'm sure you're a lot more anxious than I am. :) We're all praying for you guys.

YADA, YADA, YA,

Yeah I know. I haven't been posting much and when I do their "nice" and short. And I dedicate the-slowest-moving-adoption-center award to....take a wild guess, I'll give you a hint. It starts with Sunny and ends with ridge. Put it all together and you get Sunnyridge (I think I just ruined the Pattycake Song). Sorry. I've suddenly got to stop writting so I'll continue later or tomorrow.

One Big Sad Face Comin Up :(

Yeah I know, it's not that big, but whatever. The point is, is that Bethanne still hasn't emailed us the new medical info on Sarah!!!! Mom goes online everday to check her mail and still no email. We're not sure if Bethanne is just taking her sweet old time like she usually does, or if she just hasn't gotten the info yet. :(

New Medical Info!!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while!! There hasn't been much to post about lately. Still no PA or LOA, but Bethanne did email Mom two days ago and told us that some new medical information on Sarah has come in!!! YAY!!!! We're hoping to be getting that around next week and we're also thinking that PA might come with all of this also. But China must be looking at our files if info is being sent out to us! HURRAY!! We're getting closer!!!

I just realized

that today is my 101st post! YAY!!!! I can't wait until 1 year anneversary!! *Gasp* Sarah will definatley be here for that!!! *Sigh* I can't wait!! YAY!! :D Have a great weekend everybody!!!

PS: If anyone has noticed I'm a little hyper right now!!! And we're going out for ice cream in a little bit so that should really calm me down. ;D Haha!

Her Cleft Lip/ Palate....

...is not so bad!! Yesterday Mom took Christopher to get his sports physical and she ended up showing our doctor Sarah's picture. She (dr.) told Mom that she didn't think we have to worry about Sarah's nutritan. She said that her face had a lot of color and that her cleft lip looks minor, she said that it looks like it didn't go through her gum. She also said that since Sarah is so chubby, she doesn't think that her palate is that bad. She said that since her picture is of her at 5 months, Sarah has to suck on her bottle or whatever way she feeds and it looks like she's doing a pretty good job if she's this chubby. :D So it looks like surgery isn't going to be as major as we had thought!! I'm so happy! I really didn't want to put little Sarah through so much.

(I just can't get enough of that face!!!:D)

Thanks so much, Ally! It looks great!

Thanks Ally!!

Thanks so much, Ally!! It's so cute!

Day At The Beach (No Pics)

Sorry. No pics. The camera was out of battery's and we didn't have any extra ones. But the beach was so fun. COLD!! But fun. Two of Christopher's friends, Mike and Justin, came and they were a hoot! Three sixteen year old guys singing (let me rephrase that. Trying to sing) on the way home will make you laugh so hard you're crying, especially when one of them doesn't know the words to most of the songs and just adds in his own. :D We first went to Lake Geneva but the beach was so crowded and you had to pay $5 to get in. Dad was like no way. So we ended up driving about an hour (it was actually only 4o minutes away from Lake Geneva but Dad took a wrong turn and we had to drive an extra 20 minutes) to another beach connected to Lake Michigan that was free and a lot less crowded. The boys, including Jonah, all brought there skateboards and left me to go in the water alone. :( After about ten minutes, the boys finally got really hot and came over to the water. Except they took forever (just Christopher and his friends) to get in because it was so cold! Finally Mike gave the go ahead by tackling Justin into the water. LOL!!! It was hilarious! We all waded out and had a blast whenever the waves came. We swam for about an hour and then the boys went over by the rocks to climb. I didn't want to climb so I went over by Mom, who was on the blanket, and asked her if she could put the tanning lotion on my back. She did and we both relaxed on the blanket. To bad the sun only stayed out for a little while and then hid behind a cloud the rest of the day. After about 20 minutes of that the boys climbed off of the rocks and back into the water. It took about 10 minutes for us to wade to the sand and then about another 10-20 minutes for us to dry off and get into the car. We were all very thirsty, so Dad found a little store and we all got something to drink. About halfway home Christopher, Mike, and Justin started singing songs that they well...sort of knew. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life!!! It was to hilarious!!!! Well that was Dad's birthday! I hope everyone else had a great day.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Today's Dad's birthday!!! He took off work and we're going to the beach!! I'll post picures either when we get back or tomorrow. Last night Jonah and I stayed up really late decorating the house and there were like 3 times that Dad came out of his room and we were almost seen. Even though we decorated his door and when he came out there was a bunch of streamers and stuff. That kind of gave away the whole surprise. Oh well. Have a grreat day everyone!!

Sarah's 11 Months Old Today!!!

I can't believe that it's been a month since we've known about Sarah!!! It's going by so fast!!! Anyway!! Today Sarah is 11 months old!! It's a shame I can't put quotes around it since it's not really her Birthday. Hope everyone has a great rest of their weekend!!

Quizes for Fun While Waiting For TA

So I guess for now all we're doing is waiting. I may not post for a few days since nothing big has been happening. Here's a quiz that I just took, to pass the time.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You are totally loyal, faithful, and honest. However, you don't trust others to be as ethical as you are! Straight forward and direct, you really aren't one for small talk. You are a great listener - and an agreeable companion when you're in a good mood! You are most compatible with a Tiger or Horse.

What Year Should You Have Been Born Under?

Totally Figures!!

So yesterday I tried posting Missy's picture and apparently it didn't turn out!!! Figures!!! I finally get to post it and it doesn't work!!

Anyway. I have another picture of Chloe and Ruby.

(Ruby is the black and white one.)

They love having the run outside. :D

Here She Is!

Problem Solved! Here is beautiful Sarah!!!

Miss Sarah Grace!!!!

Miss Sarah Grace: 5 months old!!!

Here is our precious little girl!!! I love all the little fuzz on the top of her head!!! She looks like Baba!!!!

Homestudy Went Great

First off, the home study went great!!! Julie came at around 3:30 and she stayed for 2 hours. We showed her around the house again and Mom and Dad asked questions on travel and stuff like that. She also told us that she's getting married this Saturday!!!! Congratulations Julie!!! Other than all of that though, everything went just fine! We're thinking we're going to be getting our LOA in about 2 weeks at the least to 120 days at the most. Mom told me that it looks like it's just like the LIDs. It takes about 2 weeks to get it. I can't believe how fast everything is going!!!

Second. Mom's trying to make it so that I only post one of Sarah's pictures instead of all 4. There are only 2 that turned out the best. One of them is her visa picture and the other is a close up on her face.

And thirdly. I can give all of Sarah's information out now!!! Sarah's Chinese name is Peiyu Qing and she's from the Ginsu province and is in the Qingyang Welfare Institute. She's 10 months old and the pictures we have of her are from when she was 5 months. She was born on August 22, 2006. She wore a red flower coat and was found with a piece of red cloth. She was found by a Security Guard the day she was born.

New Blogger!!!!!

Hey everyone!! Jonah has made a blog on our journey to Miss Sarah!! It doesn't have a password yet, but it will very soon. Please visit his blog and welcome him!!!!

http://sarahmakes6.blogspot.com/

Social Worker/ LOI/ Crib/ So Much Information

HEY!!! Okay I have a lot to catch everyone up on!! First off on July 12th our LOI was sent out to China!!!! So today Julie (our Social Worker) is coming at 3:00!!! It's been a hectic morning, trying to get the house cleaned up and ready for her. Also a family that we know is giving us one of their cribs!!! So on Sunday we'll have a crib!! The longest we have to wait for our LOA is 120 days, November 9th, which is on my grandma's birthday!!! The shortest is 55 days which is on September 10th!! I'm guessing we're probably going to be getting Sarah the same time Staci and her family got Sarah Lu!!! We've also been figuring that since we're already logged into China that things might go a little faster!!! I hope so!!!! Rumor Queen is saying that June is currently being reviewed in the review room and that July is in it too, but we're not entirely sure if it's been reviewed. If we were still doing NSN we probably wouldn't be getting Sarah until 2010!!! Which is completely insaine. I hope everyone had a good weekend!!!

Beautiful Day & Cool Blog Thing

First off, today has been the coolest and sunniest day we've had for two weeks!! Lately its been humid and in the high 90s!!! Yesterday and the day before it stormed like crazy!! Today its 70 out!!! Great day for the cousins to come!!!! Not to hot and not to cold!!

Second, about a month ago I found this really cool blog/myspace website. It has a bunch of stuff to decorate you blog or myspace page!! I got my cursor and the sparkly Sarah and Caitie off of it.

www.webfetti.com

STILL NO BETHANNE!!! :(

NO BETHANNE!!!!! And Possibly No Posts Until Saturday

Still no Bethanne!!! We're all getting kind of upset right now!!

Also, let me explain the other half of the title. My cousins are in from Florida and they're coming over tomorrow and spending the night until Friday.

About an hour ago it was raining cat's and dogs!!!! Thunder, lightning, and lots and lots of wind and rain!! I can't believe how fast it ended!

(You can't see them really well but this picture is of when we first got Chloe(left) and Ruby)

It was actually a lot darker, but this is how it turned out

~Rylee Beth~

I'm so happy that Rylee Betth is in a home that will take good care of her until she's adopted!!! We're praying that her Dr. Appointment goes well, Ally!

Bethanne's Some-What Disappointing Information

So Bethanne emailed Mom back and said that she's right now waiting for another LOI to come and at the soonest our LOI will be sent out on Monday. Here's the thing. Bethanne promised Mom she wouldn't wait for any other LOIs!! I really am hoping that the other family will hurry up. Do we really need a travel mate????????

Picture Malfunction

I know I posted two days ago that I would post pictures of Sarah's wardrobe, but the computer has been freezing up whenever I download pictures. I'll try and do it sometime, if I don't ever post them, you'll probably end up seeing them on Sarah. Have a great weekend!

What's In My Purse?

Holly tagged me! What's In My Purse? Okay I have like 3 purses so I'll just do the one I use the most.

• My wallet
• Sarah's Picture ~Can't post it. ;)~
• 2 things of lip gloss
• A brush
• $48
• 2 Pens
• Sunglasses

My purse is pretty much empty! I tag......Staci, Ally, Olivia, and anyone else who wants to do it!

Changes And China's 7 Days of Referrals

Okay. I was wrong on my post yesterday. Sarah is actually in the 3% height and in the 50% weight. Her head is actually in the 50% also! LOL!

Also Mom was looking at the CCAA and China has only done 7 days of referrals!!! If we were sitll doing NSN then we wouldn't have our baby until 2009!! I really hope things speed up for all of you other families! This is totally insane!

Shopacholics!

Shopaholics! That's what I am! I think I'm baby drunk. LOL. Anyway, we finally went baby shopping and I think Miss Sarah has more clothes than I do! We went to Childrens Place and they were having a great sale! Everything was $1.99! I got Sarah two packs of socks for $.99!! I'll post pictures tomorrow of all her little outfits.

Mom was also doing some math today and this is really hilarious.

At 5 months ~ Sarah was 13.2 lbs and 23" ~

At 15 months Sarah will (approx.) be~ 20 lbs and 28"~

This all means that she is 13% in height and..........50% in weight!!! Our little Sarah is a very short and chubby baby!! LOL!! Her information did say she loves to eat. Mom says she's just like me when I was a baby! The sizes we've been getting in clothes are 18-24 months. The problem is, is that she's so short and these clothes are so long! We want to get her those footy-pajamas for after her surgery so she's comfortable in the hospital, but they're so long she'll trip! We're also trying to find her those little, really soft, brown haired baby dolls, but all everyone has are the blonde haired ones! Does anyone know where I can find one? I also have a question for Emily. Where do you guys get AnnaClaire's dresses? They are so adorable!!! Anyway, I hope you all had a great 4th of July!!

Password Protected!!

Okay. I did it! It's password protected. Now all I need is the PA and then Sarah Grace can be introduced to you guys!!!!

Butterflies

Who doesn't love butterflies? Not moths! Butterflies. I think they are one of the most beautiful bugs that God has made! All the colors and designs on their wings? It's amazing. It truly is.

Butterfly Poem
I caught a little wormy

a crawling up a tree.

He wiggled here

he wiggled there

he wiggled right at me.

I put him in a shoebox

and told him STAY RIGHT THERE.

But when I opened up the box

a butterfly was there.

I don't know how it happened

I couldn't if I tried

cause only the great Lord above

can make a butterfly. Author Unknown

Cousins Are In!!! & Baby News

Hey!! Okay so my cousins just flew in from Florida today!!! I have no idea when they'll be staying here but when they do, I probably won't post in a while (not that I have anything to post about because Bethanne still hasn't contacted us!!!! GRRRR!!). Anyway, just thought I'd warn you all.

Bad new's first. Bethanne still hasn't contacted us on how the process is going. Nothing! Nothing on if she sent our stuff to China or if she's waiting for the other family. Good news is, is that Julie~our Social Worker~ is coming on July 16 to redo the homestudy!!! More good news is that the waiting time for SN has decreased a little! I don't know how much so I'm sticking with the other travel times ~late November, beginning of December. I swear I have the worst case of butterflys I have ever had!! It's coming so fast!! My grandma said that we need to hurry up and go shopping!! I really can't wait!! I think we're going either tomarrow or Thursday!!