This is hilarious!!!!

I saw this on someone's blog and it just cracked me up!!!

A nest filled with hope

A little robin has built a nest right outside of our kitchen window. It was so perfect it almost looked fake. And it is right there for us to see like our own little biology experiment. One day we were thrilled... and I mean, we were all genuinely thrilled when we saw 4 little blue eggs inside the nest! So far 3 have hatched. They are all cute and pink and fuzzy. And now we are waiting for that last little egg to hatch. And now it feels like I have a kindred spirit in this little robin as we both anxiously await our 4th little one. Her wondering if the giant people behind the glass will ever leave her alone and me wondering if the swine flu will go away and if we'll receive the call. I honestly kept checking on the status of that fourth egg all day long; while trying my best not to freak the Mom out. All day long, I took care of my children, checked Rum*r Queen, checked the nest. *repeat a dozen times* According to RQ today NSN referrals are on their way, which means things are moving again in China, which means we are getting closer!

Celebrating 9 years of marital bliss!

Wednesday was our 9 year wedding anniversary! 9 years? I can hardly believe it. It really has gone by in a heart beat. Sunday we'll go out and celebrate (read: we are getting a sitter so we can really and slowly enjoy our meal and talk... to each other). Anyway, the photo is of Derek's present for me. He came over so proud and presented it to me with an enthusiastic "Happy Anniversary Mommy"! So sweet! It is a present like only a 3 year old little boy can make :) And actually I read that the traditional gift for a 9th wedding anniversary is "pottery and willow" and darn, if play-dough and and a jaunty green pen sticking out of it don't come as close as you can get to pottery and willow on a 3 year olds budget! The kid is just the best. They all three are. I could eat them up. I ask them if I can and they run screaming!!!

Just for fun!

OK, I have decided that I will stop wallowing in self pity about the swine flu, and adoption related isssues!!! Instead I will play this mindless, yet fun little ipod game I found on someone else's blog and just be happy. Because truth be told, I do have so much to be happy and grateful for and being unhappy about things just gets old after a while. So here goes...

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Instructions:
1. Put your iPod (or MP3 player) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN AS YOUR ANSWER, NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag some Moms you admire who could use a laugh and a song.

HOW DID YOU BECOME A MOM?
Get the party started - Pink

WHAT DID YOU THINK THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW YOUR BABY?
Christmas time is here - Diana Reeves

WHAT DID YOU DO THE FIRST MORNING AFTER A SLEEPLESS NIGHT?
Wouldn't it be nice - The Beach Boys

WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN SOMEONE COLORS ON THE WALL?
Baa Baa Black Sheep - Baby's first Animal Songs Album

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A TODDLER’S BODILY FLUID ISSUES?
The check's in the mail - Luther Rix

IF SOMEONE SAYS “Can I have a snack?” YOU SAY?
The Leader of the Pack - Shangri-Las

IF SOMEONE LEAVES THEIR STUFF ON THE FLOOR, YOU SAY?
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight

IF SOMEONE ISN’T SICK TODAY, YOU SAY?
La Vie En Rose - Louis Armstrong

HOW DO YOUR KIDS ENJOY YOUR COOKING?
Living for the city - Stevie Wonder

HOW DID YOUR KIDS DO IN SCHOOL TODAY?
Homeless Blues - Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHILE SITTING IN CARPOOL LINE?
Time to say goodbye - Andrea Bocelli

HOMESCHOOLERS, WHAT IS THE FIRST SUBJECT TAUGHT OF THE DAY?
Slow dancing in a burning room - John Mayer

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS WANT TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP?
I'll be home for Christmas - Fats Domino

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY AS A MOM?
Let's stay together - Al Green

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE AS A MOM?
Wipeout - The Safaris ...uh-oh ;)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO AS A MOM?
Chantilly Lace - The Big Bopper

HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE REALLY A MOM?
Believe - Lenny Kravitz

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MOST OFTEN AS A MOM?
It's not unusual - Tom Jones

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY AS A MOM?
On the Run - OMC

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET AS A MOM?
I'm just wild about animal crackers - Mel Blanc

WHAT IS THE BEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE AS A MOM?
Fire - Ohio Players

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Gentle on my mind - Dean Martin

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Pump up the volume - Colourbox

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Knowing me, knowing you - ABBA ... I guess to know us is to be scared of us! Ha!

HOW DO YOUR KIDS DESCRIBE YOU AS THEIR MOM?
God only knows - The Beach Boys ...hey, what's that supposed to mean?!

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Lazy Mary - Lou Monte

WHAT WILL YOUR MOM OF THE YEAR CERTIFICATE SAY?
Kissing a fool - Michael Buble' ...ha-ha!

Wow! Some of those answers were weird, huh?! Behold the power of SHUFFLE!!! ;)
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I tag my friends at the following blogs...
The Womble Times
Hold on My Hearts Giving BIrth
Our Wuxi Girl
1 Crazy Journey
Our Xingfu Baby
Come Full Circle
Raising Devils

Multiple Log In Dates

I had a recent blog visitor ask why we have two LIDs at the bottom of our blog. Good question. Technically speaking we should have 3 LIDs posted at the bottom of our blog. Lots of families have had three LIDs... of course many of those people actually have adopted at least one child if not three. We, on the other hand, have completed and logged in 3 separate dossiers and have yet to adopt. But I guess the ways times are in International Adoption we are in good company.

Back in the summer of 2006 when started this journey, we were gathering all of our documents for China. The agency we worked with before sent their dossiers over to China in batches so we got ours done and waited. We anticipated a December 2006 LID so I dutifully joined the December 2006 DTC/LID Yah**! group. It was great! The group even had its own logo :)

Due to a mishap with our agency our dossier was delayed a month. In hindsight it was a sign of things to come. But no biggie, we just joined the January 2007 DTC/LID yah**! group. Look how cute this logo is!

Then long story short, we went to Vietnam. If you have been following international adoptions for the past few years I don't have to tell you what happened there.

After two unfinished adoptions we wondered what to do. Do we dig a little deeper? Do we take a leap of faith? Or do we turn on some B*rry White, crack open a bottle of wine and do things the old fashioned way? ; ) Well, we thought if we really believe our daughter is out there then we will do what we need to do bring her home. So we did. We tried one more time with fingers crossed that the third time would be the charm. We collected all the documents again and got fingerprinted again and sent it all in again and got our third LID. We logged into China's SN program.

It has been quite a ride but deep down I believe that this is the path we needed to go down to bring home our daughter. I have faith that at some point all the stars will align and we will meet our daughter and we will be so thankful for the delays and re-directions that brought us to "our child", the child we were always meant to have. We will tell her all about how we were all journeying toward each other from around the world and the miracle of how we found each other. How we all became a family. Every good love story deserves a happy ending.

Easter Egg Decorating

Word On The Street

I picked up an email from the director of our agency while we were away on vacation for spring break. Yes, I can no longer help myself from checking email even when on vacation. I even sent our director an email saying "hey, we are going on vacation so here is all of our contact info incase you want to get in touch with us with a referral" :) Of course, she never responded. And of course, I told myself she was just too busy trying to find ours and other families children to respond. These are the things I have to tell myself to remain moderately sane in this process :)

Anyway back to the email from our agency director. The word on the street is that our agency was "invited to place a large number of little ones from Shanghai Orphanage". As usual, I am cautiously optimistic. I even popped over to the library where we were vacationing and picked up a China travel book so I could read up a bit on Shanghai. Shanghai seems very ooh-la-la :) Actually all of China seems very ooh-la-la to me. I have never been to any asian country and I am asian so I am thrilled with the prospect of going, let alone going to bring home our daughter. But we won't have more details till one of the other directors goes to Shanghai in mid-May. Our director said once they are back from this trip the matching can begin which puts us around the beginning of June for a potential match. So the official word on the street is "soon" ... and as usual "maybe". Fingers crossed XX