Done Deal

Everything seems to be a go with the new house! Our inspector found that the roof was in desperate need of replacement and after some deliberation the sellers insurance will be taking care of it. What a blessing to start out with a new roof! We close next Friday. Can. Not. Wait!

We had to update our homestudy to reflect our new address. As soon as we had a signed contract I connected with our wonderful social worker, Shirley, who came right out. We are going to call her speedy Shirley! CCAI, our agency, sent the paperwork off to the National Benefits Center in Missouri who will in turn send us an updated I171H form. We need to have that form in hand the day we get "the call" or our travel can be delayed. If you think about it please pray for speedy processing. Typically it takes 2-3 months, but we are praying we'll receive our form in a month.

Only 3ish weeks to wait for the next set of matches from China! Not that I'm counting. Praying for a really big batch this month. Every day they match gets us that much closer to seeing Lucy's face. My heart skips a beat every time I realize how close we are to seeing her and holding her in our arms! It's hard to believe five years of "pregnancy" is coming to and end. Thank you for all of your prayers and support through it all!

Six Days Down!

China has matched the next set of families with babies!

This month they matched families with LID's (log in dates) of July 1-6, 2006. Our LID is July 22, 2006 so there are 16 log in days left until we are matched with sweet little Lucy! It seems as though it will take about 3 months (give or take) to get through those 16 log in days, which means we could get "the call" that we've been matched toward the end of September. We are so close!

This particular set of matches was especially meaningful for me as two dear friends received "the call". When we started out on this journey our agency put us in contact with other families who share a LID in July 2006. We thought we'd chat online and get to know each other for a few months before traveling together to China. Here we are, years later, a tight knit group affectionately known as the MaMa Sisterhood. The first ones in our group have LID's on July 6th and yesterday they became mothers, one for the first time and one for the third time. After all these years of laughing together, crying together, struggling together it is like a taste of sweet victory to finally see my sisters meet their little girls! The beautiful thing is that every month until we get our call we will get to watch each one or more of our sisters come to the end of this very long wait for a match! In our group there are families with LID's of July 7, July 14 and then there are three of us ending the month on July 22. Just 30 more days to wait for the next set of matches!

Nestless Nesting

Historically people who are expecting and getting closer to the big day begin to nest. It doesn't matter how the Lord brings children into your family, right before they arrive you have this uncontrollable need to prepare. Unfortunately, we have never been ones to do things the easy way so... as we are expecting this time around our nesting has consisted of selling our nest and finding a new one.

That's right, we sold our house the beginning June! We couldn't find exactly what we were looking for in a new house right away, but we finally found the perfect fit. Everything is looking right on track for us to move in toward the end of July. In the mean time we are staying with my parents, who thought their nest was empty. Surprise! The babies are back!

Having the urge to nest and no nest to prepare is ruffling my feathers! I want shift my attention to focus on buying everything we need for our new little one, but that is a bit tricky until we get our match. She could be anywhere from six months old to two years old. We may need an infant car seat... or we may not. We may need bottles... or we may not. Should I prepare a nursery with a crib or go straight to a twin bed? The suspense is killing me! So I'll just go back to getting everything else ready in our house. Oh wait, we don't have one. I guess I'll just have to focus on Mom's house! And so we are painting Mom's house to nest for our daughter. Whew! I feel better!

Nearing the Top of the Hill

I love roller coasters. I love the big hills that make your stomach drop, the sharp corners, the tunnels, the speed. But what I love most of all is the beginning. That conflicting feeling as I climb the first really big hill. The car ever so slowly climbs higher and higher and all the thoughts that go through my mind make me feel like a pressure cooker about to explode. “Oh my goodness, I want off! Why did I get on? I can’t wait for the drop! Look how high we are! Is this safe?” My mind is racing a hundred miles an hour while it feels like my body is nearly at a standstill. The anticipation and anxiety of what lies ahead in the big drop and swoops and loops and turns nearly over takes me and it continues to build with every kaching, kaching, kaching of the coaster inching up the track.

In March 2006 Bryan and I climbed on a roller coaster. It's been slowly inching it's way up that first big hill for five years now, building anticipation, anxiety and excitement every step of the way. Orientation for China adoption (March 2006), kaching. Paperwork and homestudy complete, kaching. Dossier accepted in China (aka LID - July 22, 2006), kaching. Parenting classes complete, kaching. Homestudy and paperwork expire, kaching. Everything updated and renewed, kaching. Expired again, kaching. Renewed again, kaching. Expire, kaching. Renew, kaching.

We are nearing the top of the hill. The build up of anticipation is almost too much to bear! The CCAA, China's adoption organization, finished matching precious children to families with June 2006 LID's and they are now working on matching families with July 2006 LID's. It's our month! They are working on our month!

It's almost time to let go of the bar, throw our hands up in the air and scream with joy through the wild ride ahead. The anticipation has been building for five years. We are excited, scared, nervous and ready/not ready at the same time. More than anything we can’t believe it’s actually happening! It’s our turn!

We'd be honored to have you join us on our adventure as we finally meet little Lucy and bring her home.