Spring is Here in NY, Finally!!

April has been an absolutely horrible weather month, here in NY. We had maybe one or two spring days early in the month, then it stayed cold and rainy, not to mention the "Nor' Easter" that came through about 2 weeks ago. My continued prayers go out to those in New York, Conneticut and New Jersey who are still trying to recover from the flooding.
About a week ago, I believe spring finally arrived. The temperature finally reached 60 degrees and above. With that, the trees and flowers started to bud and bloom.
When I see our Wheeping Cherry tree blossom, then I know spring is finally here.
The sad thing is, that I thought Renee would be here to see this with us this year, but that was not to be, we are still waiting, and probably will for months to come.
I'll talk more about that in future posts.
At any rate, we are so glad that spring is finally here!!!!

Hi, I'm Back!!

I have lot's to post, I have to try to remember it all. so here we go!!

Thank You Karen!

I am so lucky!! I also feel so bad that I haven't posted!!
Thursday, March 22nd, was our 1 Year Log In Date Anniversary .
On that day, I had a busy day scheduled at work. My partner and colleague Karen and I were presenting all day educational sessions to the nurses where we work. We had been working on this project for the last 2 months, and were finally seeing it to fruition!!
Well when I arrived at work that Thursday morning, Karen handed me the above package!
If you'll notice the Lindt chocolates attached!! They were (operative word being were) lady bugs and bugs in general, and were delicious. No, I didn't eat them all myself, John helped :-)!
Inside the package was a lady bug wind sock!!!! that you see above. As soon as John get's a new flag pole (the last one cracked in the wind several months ago) this wonderful wind sock will be flowing in the breeze in front of our home!! Thank you so much Karen. You don't realize how much you have helped me over the last several months. You've kept me sane!!!!!!
Also, a special thank you to Karen's son Bobby, who created the page on the package with the cute picture of the lady bug. You are awesome buddy!!!!!

Would You Believe It's Almost One Whole Year!?!

Take note of the little lady bug above that has been slowly making it's way through the tulips:-).
In 3 days it will be our 1 year LID anniversary. How surreal that feels. I remember counting one month, two months, three.... wow now it's going to be 12 months since we were logged in.
On the bright side we are definitely through the review room, hurray!!! On the not so bright side....how much longer do we have to wait ? The average wait is now up to about 17 months from LID and still climbing. How do I feel about that?? Sometimes I get so angry I want to scream. Sometimes just a few tears make their way down my cheeks when no one is looking.
Both John and I are trying so hard to be patient. We know that the Lord is in control and that everything will work out for His glory. With that being said, that dosen't mean we both are not longing so much for the day we bring our daughter home. And sometimes that longing just takes my breath completely away.
Another frustrating thing, is that we need to reapply for immigration approval, as it will probably expire before we receive Renee's referral. That means another $685.00, not to mention a home study update which includes another set of physicals, PPD's, financial forms.
Oh, and another set of finger prints.
Well, it's time to get to bed, as I hit the ground running at 5:30am, so good night and I'll be back soon!

I know It's Been Awhile!

It's been a rough couple of weeks. After John's Mom's funeral, I just started to feel really, really stressed. That culminated to chest pain that landed me in the hospital at the end of February. We thank God that everything was fine, but that was a wake up call to us both to try to make sure we live healthily, and to try to handle stress better.
We received the paperwork yesterday to reapply to the USCIS for approval as ours will probably expire before we receive Renee's referral.
Good news!! March is completely out of the review room.
More to come.....

So Sad But Thankfully Rejoicing

This past Wednesday, on Valentine's Day, my dear mother-in-law Joy, died to this world and went to be with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. She had been ill for the last couple of years, but the last year had really been tough on her. She died peacefully with my husband at her side.
Our family is in mourning for this remarkable woman, that includes her husband, 3 children, 8 grand-children and 6 great-grand-children! We mourn that we have lost her, but we are joyful as we also know that she is in heaven with our Lord for all eternity. Although Joy had suffered greatly, you could always count on her for a sweet smile and a kind word. She is greatly missed.
Love you Mom,
Sue

Are We Still In Or Are We Out??????????

Note above, that the CCAA has finished the review of dossiers logged in before March 22, 2006.
What is our log in date............ MARCH 22, 2006!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, the question remains.....Is our dossier still being reviewed by the CCAA, or are we out of review????????????????????

Well, if you read the second paragraph, "The CCAA has finished the placement of children whose adoption documents (dossiers) were registered with our office before October, 13, 2005"

What this means is that families with LID's of

up to and including!!!! October 13, 2005 have received their referrals.
So.......based upon that, one might infer that March 22, 2006 is included in those dossiers that have been reviewed by the CCAA.
What does it mean to us to be out of the review room????? We can't describe how happy that makes us, as the next step is the matching room. It means that there were no questions about our dossier, and we're that much closer to meeting Renee (even if it may be months away).
Congratulations to all the families who have just received their referrals. We are so happy for you.
Last but definitely not least!! our friends from church, Dave and Barbara, are in China NOW!!
to meet their daughter Maya, they should see her for the first time on Monday the 5th of Februarly, only 2 days away!!!!!! Our prayers and good wishes are with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks and Praise To God!!

Have You Seen Any Ladybugs Lately??????

Those of us who are involved in the China adoption process, know the significance of Ladybugs.
The story goes... after the sighting of many Ladybugs, baby referrals were soon to follow and very abundant in number. So......I too have gotten onto the Ladybug bandwagon.
I looked around the house, and noticed some new and some old Ladybugs hanging around :-)

This is a flower pot that I've had for years.

This is a crystal Ladybug I bought recently.

This is a rug that we saw at National Liquidators on Christmas Eve, and I just had to have it!!! It's on the floor in Renee's room.

This is Renee's first bath towel!!! Isn't it cute?? It was given to me by my work partner Karen. Thanks Karen, I love it!!!!!

During my Christmas shopping, I saw this little Ladybug pocket book in Kohl's. Had to have it :-). See the book "10 Little Ladybugs"? My coordinator at work, Mary, gave that to me for Christmas, thanks Mary!!!!

Happy 10 Month LID Anniversary!

Today is the 10th anniversary of our dossier being logged in, in China (at the CCAA).
On one hand it does feel like time has flown by, on the other hand, it also feels like time has ticked by slowly, second by second.
Right now the wait for a referral has increased to at least 16 months from LID (log in date). So, that means that we still have 6+ months to wait. Oh boy!!!!! The Lord is definitely teaching me patience.

Wow, What A Week!

After watching the CCAA website almost hour by hour, it was finally updated on Tuesday night. Congratulations to everyone who received their referrals!! How we look forward to that day!! The CCAA is up to September 27, 2005, and we are March 22, 2006. That means there is approximately 177 days between these 2 dates. Oh boy!!!

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!

John and I wish everyone a very blessed and peaceful Christmas.
It is our prayer (which I am sure is joined with everyone who is waiting for their child as well), that next year at this time, we are all home with our little ones.
As I've noted with many of my blogger friends, today is a happy day although bittersweet, as many of us had felt that we'd be to China and back already.
Regardless, John and I are so thankful for all we have been blessed with, and we wish you all God's perfect peace and blessings for 2007.
Enjoy your day!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Day Is Almost Here!

Where has December gone? The last time I checked it was still the day after Thanksgiving, and now Christmas Eve is only 3 days away!! Oh, I know.... I've spent it working, shopping, wrapping, working, shopping, wrapping...get the idea??
In all this hustle and bustle though, I stop and remember "the reason for the season"!, we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Peace and good will toward men is something we all need to practice every day, not just from Thanksgiving to New Years.
Along with the above busy activities, decorating the house and our Christmas tree, also took considerable time this year. I felt like we would never get finished. We're still "tweaking" here and there.

This is when the tree was just about done, and before our Christmas present to each other. See if you can guess what that is??
If you said the curtains and new valance, then you are right!! We decided to pool our resources and do what needs to be done in and outside the house, so things are ready for when we finally bring Renee home. Yes the draperies need to be ironed a bit, but we were so anxious to get them up to see how they'd look!!
Also, note below the 3 light blue wrapped packages. They are my December Secret Pal gifts, and will be opened Christmas morning!!!
Lastly, here is a picture of the Christmas lights John put up this year. He is just a kid at heart and loves all holidays, especially Christmas.

Hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful, joy filled and happy holiday!









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Look What I Made!

My partner at work, Karen, belongs to a group called "Homemakers" and they meet every Wednesday evening and "craft". I've looked into it and there are groups closer to where I live. I'm thinking of joining as I love to "craft" too.
Karen showed me pictures of a wreath she had made out of fabric and it was awesome! So she told me how to make one and so I gave it a try. The results are above and below.

The view above shows where I've placed the wreath. It's on my dining room wall just off the kitchen. My plans are to create a "Tuscany" feeling in the kitchen and dining room, so I chose to do the wreath in rich colors, like deep green, burgundy, purple. It's really easy to make. Hope you like it!!

Gone Fishin'

Any one who knows my husband John,knows that he is an avid fisherman. It is his hobby and his passion. He truly believes the saying "A bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work!!".
John was informed by a good friend of his, that there was a "blitz" (that means lots of fish :-)), of striped bass off the south shore of Long Island where we live.
John is what is known as a "surf caster", which means he fishes right off the beach. He has a special "4 wheel drive pass", that allows him to drive directly onto the beach with his truck.
Well, to make a long story short. Last night (yes I said night), John went fishing and caught the above pair of striped bass. He came home extremely cold, but extremely happy!!
I'm not a big fan of striped bass, to me it tastes really "gamey and fishy :-)", I like fluke and flounder. So...since our freezer is already overflowing with frozen fish he has already caught, John provided the neighborhood with fresh fish last night!!

Holiday Party with the FCC- Long Island!

On Sunday, John and I attended the annual FCC "Families With Children From China" Long Island Chapter, annual holiday party at the Dominican Village in North Amityville. We really enjoyed ourselves. My favorite part was watching all the little ones in their beautiful holiday clothes, dancing to the DJ.
It was a "Brunch" menu, and was delicious.
John got to meet "Maya", our friend Tina's 11 month old daughter. They have just been home about 2 months. It warmed my heart to see how Maya took to John. They looked adorable together. We hope that our Renee will be with us by for the next holiday party.

The CCAA Site Has Been Updated!

The CCAA updated their site on November 30th!! Congratulations to all who received their referrals!, including our friends Barbara and Dave, who have finally after 15 months (from LID) seen their daughter Maya! John and I are just ecstatic for them!!!
I'm now waiting to see the CCAA update the review date at the top. It now reads, January 31st, 2006. John and I will breath a sigh of relief when it reads "March 31st, 2006", as that would mean that our dossier has made it through the "review room". The next step would be matching us with our daughter. Oh my, just the thought makes me weak with excitement.
How much longer do we have to wait???? Well, that all depends on the CCAA, and how many children they assign each month. The wait from LID to referral has increased to approximately 15.5 months. So, based on that, we might receive our referral in June 2007. If the CCAA should suddenly speed up, than we could see the referral sooner (but I really doubt that), but if they continue to slow down, it could take longer.
Part of the reason that I haven't posted that much (I think), is I've just been a "ball" of emotions. Not sure how else to describe it. Although I'm not emotional outwardly; I don't cry at the drop of a hat, and I'm surely not depressed either, I just haven't been able to blog as much as I'd like (or see other's do).
I think I know some ways to make that easier on myself. I intend to get a new cell phone that can take pictures as I hate it when I forget my camera (and that happens way to often!). I always have my cell phone with me, so since our contract year is up, John and I are going to get new phones !! (as soon as I can get him to the store :-)!!)
Also I have a new lap top!!!! When I left my last job I had to give back my work lap top, and I've missed it ever since. Our home computer is a Dell, and Dell (great advertising on their part)kept snail mailing and emailing us sales circulars. Early November (I spent almost all of Election Day waiting for UPS!) we finally decided to purchase a lap top. I am now blogging on my Inspiron E1505 and I love it!! It's sure easier to blog from here at my dining room table then go downstairs to the office. I'm also thinking about how great it will be to blog from China on it, when we finally travel to get Renee. I just need to load my digital camera software, so that I can load pictures on it as well as on our home computer.
So, I WILL blog more often. For me, for whomever may read it... for Renee... bottom line is I just will.

"God is greater than man. Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words? For God does speak-now one way, now another-though man may not percieve it."
-Job 33:12-14

Happy 8 Month Anniversary!!

Today is the 8th month anniversary of our dossier being logged in at the Chinese Center For Adoption Affairs (CCAA).
Rumors say that the CCAA may be matching as we speak, hopefully they will get through most of September 2005. That's my hope, because that would keep us on target for a 14 to 15 month referral. That would mean receiving our referral May or June and traveling this summer. Oh, how wonderful that would be!!!!

The CCAA Site Has Been Updated!

The CCAA has been pretty busy this week! First on November 2nd, the CCAA website was updated that referrals had been made up to August 25th 2005. Then 24 hours later, they updated the review section to show they've completed the review of dossiers up to January 31st, 2006!!
What does that mean...?? Well, first off congratulations to all the August 10th through 25th families who have received their referrals. Many blessings do I wish you all!!! For those August families with log in dates from the 26th through the 31st, you are in my prayers as well. I know how hard this must be for you, and now you can be as certain as possible that you will see pictures of your babies next!!!

Secondly, it means that families with January 2006 log in dates, can now breath easier as they have passed the review phase. What does this mean for John and I??? Well, since our log in date is March 22, 2006, there is a good chance that the CCAA is now reviewing February and March 2006. Which means we are finally in the review phase!! Phew!!

John and I are hesitantly optimistic. The wait is long, but getting shorter, day by day and hour by hour.

Part 5- The Trip Home

We caught some awesome pictures getting ready to drive home, and as we made our way back home. The trip home took almost 2 hours. I forget how "long" this island actually is. What an awesome day we had.

Look at the sky, isn't it miraculous looking?? The clouds suddenly came up just as we got to the point. We had a couple of quick drops of rain, some wind, but that was it.
Last but not least, this is the beautiful sunset we were able to catch as we headed back west. What a great day!!!

Part 4- Our Trip to the "Orient" Continued

I have been trying to post the rest of our pictures from our Saturday "adventure" on the north shore of Long Island, and blogger, for whatever reason has not been letting me upload the pictures. But note above, that we were only 9 miles away from Orient Point, the northern most tip of the north fork of Long Island.

Here we are, this is the northern most point of Long Island.

Here is the ferry at Orient Point that will take you to New London, Conneticut

Week In Review: Part 3- A Visit to the "Orient"

Yesterday, we decided to get into the car and head east!! We live on Long Island and what a beautiful island it is in the fall. Here we are driving (actually north by this point). We decided to visit the north shore of the island and then go as far east as you can. Which is "Orient Point". The leaves are changing in spots, there is lots of color. I think we'll peak this week coming.




Aren't the mums beautiful, what colors. We visited Lewin farms next store for fresh vegetables, oh and a couple more candy apples :-)
We also stopped at Roanoake Vineyards. There are many vineyards on the north shore. We did some wine tasting. Even John enjoyed, even thought he really isn't a wine drinker. Picked up some good wine for the holidays. Here is a picture of a vineyard (sorry if blurred, we were moving at the time).



We stopped for a late lunch (or early dinner!) in Greenport, as the sign notes below we have only 9 miles left till we reach the northeastern tip of Long Island!
PS blogger is getting "Kvetchy", I'll try to post the rest a little later.

The Week in Review: Part 2-Anniversary Dinner

Thursday night October 12th, was our 4th wedding anniversary. Yes John remembered!
Not sure where he hid it, but their was a beautiful bouquet of peach colored roses waiting for me when I woke up that morning.
Later that day, although I had been feeling rather poorly that day, we kept our tradition up and went to the Snapper Inn for dinner. We were married there under a tent in the pouring rain!!, but it was one of the happiest and most fun days of my life!!!
The picture above is what you see when you drive up to the Snapper Inn, John asked why it wasn't a Snapper?? Good question,don't know. Well we had a wonderul dinner! The Snapper has a dinner special on Thursday nights (how perfect!!) called the Shore special of lobster, mussels, clams, barbaque chicken and red potatoes. Yumm, not to mention soup or salad before and dessert after. We enjoyed the dinner so much.
And afterwards, visited the tent were we said our vows 4 years ago. The last 4 years have been awesome, filled with lots of love and many blessings. We thank the Lord for bringing us together and for blessing us with this wonderful marriage, and ask the Lord to continue to be with us as we wait for our daughter to join us.

The Week In Review: Part 1- Pumpkin Picking

Lots of fun things to share this week. Should have posted at least three times. Well here is everything today, though seperated out for easy viewing :-)

Went pumpkin picking with my sister Karen, my niece and nephew, Dana and Anthony and our friends Cheryl and her son Corey. What a beautiful day! Here's Dana on a tractor.


Here is Dana, Anthony and Corey as we enjoy a hay ride.



Dana and I were the "brave" ones, we took on the corn maze while the rest of the group picked out pumpkins.

See why we were brave?? "Welcome all you yummy boys and girls", what exactly is in that corn field?
Whew!!!
We found the exit!!


Here is Dana eating her "First" candy apple. Her Aunt Suzi had one too :-). We had a blast and really enjoyed the day.

Renee's Room Update

Sorry for not posting sooner. Gosh where does the time go!!
Saturday my sister Karen, my niece Dana and I went to the annual "Autumn Moon" picnic for the FCC-Families with Children From China) of Long Island Waiting group. It's actually for both waiting families and families who have already returned with their children. It was held at Belmont Lake State Park. It was chilly under the trees! Dana made a monkey puppet, personalized little bags for her and Renee, and we both made a daisy lady bug catcher. Oh, and we ate "moon cake cookies", yum.
My sister kept noting how adorable all the children were. I can't wait till we bring home "our own adorable" little girl.
Now on to the "Renee Room Update".
If you remember the last pictures, we were just taking down the furniture, spackling the walls...essentially the prep work. Well, John has made a lot of progress...

The room is painted but the new carpet has not yet been put down.

New padding in place for the new carpet.

New carpet in place, changing table and rocking chair in position!

John putting the crib together.


Voila, crib now put together and the border is up!!!
I realize it may be months and months till we receive Renee's referral and ultimately travel to China, but I can't express what joy there is to just sit in the room (and rock!)and pray for our daughter whom ever and where ever she is. It's a peaceful feeling that I hope stays with me for the rest of our waiting time.

Happy Anniversary!

Boy did I scare John yesterday morning! I woke him up by saying "Happy Anniversary".
He bolted up in bed and said "Oh no!" (our wedding anniversary is October 12th and for some unknown reason he remembers it as September 12th so he thought he had missed it!). I quickly calmed his fears and reminded him that it was our "6" month anniversary for our dossier being logged in, in China.
Visably calmed, he layed back down for a couple more minutes of snooze time and I got ready for work :).
But yes, it's been 6 whole months since our dossier left and was logged in to China. Rumours on the web say that the CCAA may be reviewing March dossiers as we speak, and they have completed December 2005. Only place to go from there is 2006, Hip Hip Hooray!!
I wish Happy Anniversary as well to all my friends on the Marching Panda Yahoo group, as day by day we all are reaching that 6 month landmark!!
We are still at least 6-8 months away from receiving our referral for Renee, but, inevitably time is moving forward, however slow it feels, it still moves along.
On Renee's room:
John has completed painting, and I think we've picked out the carpet color.
I'll post later with photo's and the details!
Till then... Happy Saturday!

We've Started Working on Renee's Room!

The rumors on the web have been depressing me (increasing wait times till referral), so I said to John that what I thought would cheer me up, would be to start on Renee's room. Well...this weekend we started by clearing out all the office furniture and bringing it down to the new office in our finished basement. The house looked like a bomb went off, with books, journals, papers, furniture all over as it was all brought down stairs. Now I have to organize the office, I'll get that done, soon...
So, I took a couple of pics of the "before" of Renee's room so you can see where we began. We have lot's of work to do. John started by taking down shelving and spackling. I'm actually leaning on Renee's bedroom furniture!!
Oh, we chose the paint color for Renee's room, it's so beautiful. It's called "Cascading Water". No it's not blue but a very pale green. When I placed the bedding set on top, the pink just "popped". Trust me this room will be gorgeous when we are all done!!!!
Well, I'm sitting on the floor of this room cause that's where the computer is right now. I've gotten the PCI card so we can move the computer downstairs and still be connected to the internet. Just have to install it. Ugh. Will get that done too!
15 more days till our 6 month LID anniversary!! Woweeeee!!