Another step forward!

I love it when you find out that you've moved up in line!!

I 'm fulfilling a long term subbing position at our elementary school to keep my mind busy while we wait.  It it could go through Easter so I figured the timing was about right with the adoption and all.  

I found out that we are one of the last families to have filed the I-600A  form before April 1 under the old regs.  If you file after April 1st, Immigration requires you to file the I-800.  Don't worry, we are grandfathered in!!  I'm told that it takes about 90 days to process the I-800 after fingerprinting is done AND it does not go to a regional office like the I-600A did.  I'm glad that we were able to deal with our regional Immigration office.  The staff up in Buffalo was awesome!  We were in and out in no time and I don't think we had to wait a week from the time they received our homestudy to get our approval letter. Great people to deal with!!

With the new regs... you cannot even be presented with a referral until you have approval.

Soo... Gidget, get your butt in gear! I thought we were going to pick our girls up together! :)

Well... it's been a week since my last post and I don't have any more news to report on our own adoption but there are many families that are being united with their babies as we speak.

Zeena and Amy K. are in India now and are with their little girls, Zaleeya and Devika!! Erica left today to pick up Zachary.  Kristi leaves on Sunday to finally meet Shaili and Amanda will be joining them on Tuesday to be reunited with Prasun.  Yes, I said reunited!  Amanda met Prasun when she traveled to pick up her daughter last year and started the process to adopt him when she returned to the states.  It's been a long time coming, but Prasun will finally see his mama again.  Best wishes everyone!!!!

I am so thrilled for these families!  but have to admit... I am extremely jealous! I have to remember that patience is a virtue and that only God knows when the timing is right for us to know our daughter.  However, with 5 children going home, that means there is room for more children to enter the orphanage.  :)  Maybe we will have some good news to report in the next few weeks.  November is National Adoption Month and it would be great to celebrate with a referral!

Movement again!!

Congrats to Colleen and Greg on their referral of a beautiful baby girl!

That makes our "official" number on the wait list... 5.  So, we continue to sit and wait patiently for our princess! Remember though, there is still a family on hold so we are actually #4. :) Keep the referrals coming!  

Inching along...

So... as promised... any new news would be passed along!  After a brief email from our agency this morning, we have moved to #6.  This does NOT include the family that is on hold.  So... that means we are closer to the top than we think! :) Not every family participates on the adoption forum so it is hard to keep track of everyone and where they are in the process.  All I know is that another child has been blessed with a family!  Congrats to you! 

Remembering Wendy...

Yesterday was a very special day for my family. It would have been my cousin Wendy's birthday. Her life was cut short by uterine sarcoma in November of 2006 at. By the time is was diagnosed it was already in stage 3. Although she had the best doctors possible for the situation, Wendy lost her battle only 6 months later. We started a tradition this year of releasing lavender balloons with messages in them from some place we shared fond memories. This year my Aunt Shirley picked her childhood home.

Then...

(after a bottle of wine, of course!)

we all went and got our hair cut in her memory.

It is being donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths to help another cancer patient feel beautiful. My sisters and I each had 9 1/2 inches cut and my mom donated 11 1/2 inches.

This day was almost 2 years in the making. It was an extremely emotional day for me because it was something that Wendy and I were going to do together. The day we discussed donating our hair was the last day that we spent together. When she had called me that October to tell me that the treatments weren't working, she made me promise that I would still donate my hair. So... when my mom and sisters asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I asked them to donate their hair with me.

Thanks guys, it was the best be-lated birthday gift ever!

One more hop...

Congrats to Candice and her family for the referral of a little boy!! That moves us to #7. Although... rumor has it that we may actually be #6 because a family waiting has decided to put their application on hold. Any news will surely be passed along. Until then, we wait at #7.

Lots of congrats go out to the families that have received their NOC's and Guardianships in the past few weeks AND many many safe travel wishes to those of you who are traveling.

I've been tagged!!! Uhg...

Ok... so I decided to give in to Kristi and yearbook myself. Why I do these crazy things is beyond me but here are my fabulous photos. Look out cuz in 1954 I was one HOT BABE!! :) They are out of order but try not to laugh too hard!! The dates are below them.

1952

1954

Shad says this is why birth control was invented!!

This one was too funny not to include! The others aren't that bad.

1974

1968

1976

I have to admit... this was rather fun to do. I didn't pick the 80's or 90's because I'm haunted by them every time I visit my mom's. :)

A little carried away!!

Well... I'm only human!!

What woman doesn't like to shop?!

I was going stir crazy without a computer AND a camper. So I hit the garage sales and clearance racks. Above are a few of my favorite garage sale finds.

more yard sale items...

a few clearance items...

and a couple of cute onsies that were on clearance.

(and I still have another bag from the Bon-Ton that is MIA!)

I know I said I wasn't going to buy anything until we had a referral but...

I can't pass up a bargain!!!!

It's a fault of mine. :)

A special gift for our little princess!

I saw this and couldn't pass it up!! My pictures aren't real clear but it is a canvas bag with a pink fleece blanket with "HUG" embroidered on it!

(get a tissue before you read on)

And on the bag it reads...
I'm hoping to send it to our princess while she waits for her mommy and daddy to come get her!

Treyton turned 9!!

On August 25th, Treyton turned 9!! It's so hard to believe that he was my "preemie"! He was born between 34-35 weeks... and let me add...weighed 6lbs 11oz. (That doesn't sound like a preemie to me! but what do I know!) Imagine if I carried full term!! Ouch!!! I was told to expect developmental delays and to be patient with him! Ha! He is by far my most studious child! He was walking at 8 months and running by 9!! There are no delays!!

Treyton wanted brownies instead of a cake, so that's what he got! He's pretty easy to please! He didn't ask for anything except a fish! Uh, OK, I think we can handle that! So, he picked out a small 2 gallon aquarium and a beta fish. Then that weekend he got to take his friend Carter to Darien Lake. They rode all the roller coasters and rides and had a blast!

August is a crazy month for us just like March is... we have 1 full week of back to back birthdays! My sister Kate starts the week off on the 18th, Grandma Kay 19th, Mother-in-law 22nd, Mom 24th and Treyton 25th. Happy Birthday's to all!!