December 10, 2006

Hello everyone!!!

I know that my last post was depressing.........and the wait is still hard. But there is alot more to life than waiting around for news that seemingly takes forever! :):):)

We are in the 3rd month 2nd week of our HOPEFULLY 14 month wait for a referral or even better, a homecoming reception for Hannah. I am still hopeful that I will have her home for NEXT Christmas.......... It's really unreal for a person to wait for much longer than 9 months for a child! But, I know that this time will ensure that I have the right child at the right time in our lives!

I finally have figured out where I need to stand and what lights to turn on to make sure my digital camera has enough light for good pictures indoors..........so that means I will start posting my quilt squares/wishes.......and my cyber shower gifts........VERY soon!!!

I also am collecting for Hannah's quilt and another for Ann and would love more sqwishes from family and friends for either of the quilts. I may end up making a blog specifically for Ann's quilt with some more information about her to post and keep everyone updated!!!

Thank you everyone for all of your prayers.

Our current prayer needs are:

1. The CCAA will start to speed up referral times so that we WILL be able to
have her by NEXT Christmas.
2. Gary will get a full-time teaching position quickly!!!! Some districts won't
give the family medical leave act time off without being employed for a full
year! If this is the case and he doesn't get a job before Christmas, he may NOT
be able to go with me to get her before next Christmas!!! YUCK!!!!!!!!
3. Our health would continue to improve. I've lost a little more than 45 lbs. so
far and have a lot more to go!! Gary's lost about 20 lbs. We need to pick it up
with the weight lifting though, so we can carry our daughter all over the place!
4. Gary's family will come together to help deal with some issues within it, or
that Gary will be able to let it go.
5. That our dd's birth will be a smooth one. That her biological mom will be
healthy during this time and that she will be at peace with the adoption. I
pray that she will somehow know when her dd is no longer in the orphange and
that she is safe and healthy.
6. Pray for the birth parents salvation, as well as for Hannah's salvation. Pray
that she will ALWAYS know who Christ is and see Him represented well by us and
others.

Thank you for every prayer that is offered up.............and for everything else as well.

Terri

2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends

Leslie sent me this!!!

Recreate it on your blog or email so I can see!!! :):):)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps ALL the presents
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored sometimes, white at other times.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? NO.........maybe that'll change a little after Hannah comes
5. When do you put your decorations up? We've not done it the last couple of years because we'd been out of town..........and no children to make a "home," but we are doing it THIS week!!!! YEAH!!!!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Stuffing
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Decorating the tree as a family, and sitting on top of the heating vent first thing in the morning (probably around 5:30) waiting for everyone else to get up!!!! :):):) 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? All I remember is that when I said that they were sants, my mom or dad asked me about the red suit and I said that it must be in their closet somewhere..........
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We have in the past, but we haven't decided what we'll do when our dd arrives.
10 How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? All kinds of different ornaments that I've collected since being out of my parents house.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love it!!! I wish we had more REAL snow here (TX)
12. Can you ice skate? Not well, but Yes. That is when I can find skates that fit alright over my large calves!!! :):):)
13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being around family. We hope to start a lot of new family traditions next year with Hannah.
14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? For some reason it's lemon meriangue(sp) pie............or a non-frosted angel food confetti cake with strawberries on top.
15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? opening gifts while everyone else is sitting around and watching...........handing them out to different people one at a time..............with a fire in the fireplace and Christmas music in the background
16. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving and seeing them opened!!!! :):):)
17. What's your favorite Christmas Song? I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
18. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum, especially in hot chocolate!!!!

CCAA Update

Hello everyone.

I found out today that the CCAA has only gotten about 14 days farther than last month with their completion of adoptions. They are up to September 8, 2005 from August 25th last month. It is disheartening because it really means that we may be waiting even longer than NEXT Christmas. There were SO MANY other ways we could have gone that would have been quicker or possibly easier. I don't really know how to feel about the wait time.

However, I do know that God has Hannah's timing in mind. She's not born yet and possibly won't even be next year. I hope we get her before I turn 40 (Dec. 08)!!! I'd also work on a domestic adoption (at the same time as the China adoption) because it'd mean we'd have at least 1 of our children next year, but our agency doesn't allow us to work on other adoptions while we are working with them......... :(

God's timing is perfect, even if we don't always see it that way. I pray that we are able to get Hannah quickly. It's bad enough that we've been waiting almost 5 years just for a biological pregnancy, while all of my relatives CONTINUE to get pregnant and Gary's neices and nephews are starting to have theirs. Another wait feels like an eternity and an unfair fate for us. How many friends and relatives do we have to watch with their children before we are able to have even 1 of our own? I feel like Hannah or Rebecca (in the OT), when they were being looked down upon because of their infertility. With adoption the mockers have an opportunity to say that I'm just rushing God or that I'm forcing a situation. With this wait, it just makes it SEEM all the more true. They continue to laugh, and I continue to cry out to God in prayer. Please pray for me.

Terri

We have a Log In Date with the CCAA!!!!

YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

We finally have received word of our log in date (LID) with the CCAA. Our Documents to China (DTC) date is 8/10/2006 and our LID is 9/1/2006.............earlier than I thought it'd be!!!!!

Praise GOD!!!!! I'm 2 months pregnant (paper pregnant that is!! :) :) !!!!!!!

We also received news that the CCAA is working on completing referrals for February 2006 (the LID is in February), while working on some all the way in April (the ones in February that aren't finished are waiting on answers to questions).

April is only 5 months before our LID!!!! We could be out of the review room within a few months!!!! Then off to the matching room (currently they're still finishing August 2005:( ).........the wait may be long, but we're in for the long ride!!! :) :) :)

Thanks everyone!!!!

Terri