Hello friends! I am sorry I have not posted in so long! We have been busy working on adopting paperwork and getting ready for CHRISTMAS! How is "Christmas-ing" going at your house? Do you celebrate Hanukkah? I hope it was a very nice celebration this year :)
Well, Brik and I went in and got our medical paperwork filled out by our doctor. Then, we went to the hospital and had our blood drawn. Once those results were back to the doc. we recruited our (dear, sweet, wonderful!) notary to come to the doctor's office to notarize the paperwork. She waited with us for about 45 mins before our doctor got a chance to meet with us. We signed and notarized and the next day, the doctor's office sent them paperwork off! YAY! We were so excited!
However, two days ago the adoption agency called to let us know the dates were not done correctly on the paperwork. So, we have to go BACK and do the whole thing over again. Pretty disappointing. But it's not a big deal, so we were still feeling pretty okay.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Next step: DONE!
HELLO, FRIENDS! :)
I am SO EXCITED to post that we TURNED IN OUR HOMESTUDY PAPERWORK!!!!!! WOOOO HOOOOO! This is VERY big and VERY exciting! The homestudy is PILES of paperwork, and I am SO excited we are ALMOST done with it! :) Turning in this first clump of paperwork is really exciting. (I bet you never thought you would read the word, "PAPERWORK" so many times in one blog post! Well, this is only the beginning! The homestudy step might include piles of paperwork, but I hear the "Dossier" step requires MOUNTAINS of it!)
We had to submit a bunch of blood tests, too. The other night, Brik and I went in to get the blood drawn. You all probably know what I WHIMP I am about getting my blood drawn. So, I made Brik go first. He donates blood every month or so, so it is no big deal to him. He sat down in the chair and the phlebotomist just TALKED about drawing his blood, and my head started buzzing and I felt light-headed! Well, as soon as the fourth vial was full, Mr. Gets-His-Blood-Drawn-Every-Month turned a ghastly whiteish yellow and nearly fainted! The nurse had to get him some orange juice and he sat there trying not to pass out for a few minutes! NO WAY! And SO funny...to me ;)
Then, it was my turn. Brik had to HOLD MY HAND (no, LITERALLY! He really was HOLDING MY HAND!) It hurt SO BADLY! He tried to distract me by talking about China and my most recent trip there, and I winced and cringed and held his hand so tightly mine turned all red and white...and the whole thing was rather pathetic.
In the end, we stumbled out of there like two war heroes, leaning on one another for support, heads high like we had overcome by great personal strength and will-power. We disgust me.
And as soon as we stepped outside, I whined, "Brrrr! It is SO COLD!"
I am SO tough.
I am SO EXCITED to post that we TURNED IN OUR HOMESTUDY PAPERWORK!!!!!! WOOOO HOOOOO! This is VERY big and VERY exciting! The homestudy is PILES of paperwork, and I am SO excited we are ALMOST done with it! :) Turning in this first clump of paperwork is really exciting. (I bet you never thought you would read the word, "PAPERWORK" so many times in one blog post! Well, this is only the beginning! The homestudy step might include piles of paperwork, but I hear the "Dossier" step requires MOUNTAINS of it!)
We had to submit a bunch of blood tests, too. The other night, Brik and I went in to get the blood drawn. You all probably know what I WHIMP I am about getting my blood drawn. So, I made Brik go first. He donates blood every month or so, so it is no big deal to him. He sat down in the chair and the phlebotomist just TALKED about drawing his blood, and my head started buzzing and I felt light-headed! Well, as soon as the fourth vial was full, Mr. Gets-His-Blood-Drawn-Every-Month turned a ghastly whiteish yellow and nearly fainted! The nurse had to get him some orange juice and he sat there trying not to pass out for a few minutes! NO WAY! And SO funny...to me ;)
Then, it was my turn. Brik had to HOLD MY HAND (no, LITERALLY! He really was HOLDING MY HAND!) It hurt SO BADLY! He tried to distract me by talking about China and my most recent trip there, and I winced and cringed and held his hand so tightly mine turned all red and white...and the whole thing was rather pathetic.
In the end, we stumbled out of there like two war heroes, leaning on one another for support, heads high like we had overcome by great personal strength and will-power. We disgust me.
And as soon as we stepped outside, I whined, "Brrrr! It is SO COLD!"
I am SO tough.
Friday, November 20, 2015
THANK YOU!!
The auction was a SUCCESS!
Thank you to everyone who donated items to auction, who came and bid, who shared the link...we are just SO THANKFUL! This little girl could not be coming home without the help of so many people. It is humbling. I am so, so thankful.
Okay, enough about MONEY. Let's talk about the ADOPTION! What is happening? EVERYONE wants to know! It's high time I post an update about that aspect!
* So, the last we heard from our agency, we are looking at 9-12 months to get little munchkin home. My personal goal is to have her home before next fall. So, like, Sept. 2016.
* We only have about $15,000.00 left to raise. I am SO THANKFUL for that! In fact, I have a hard time even expressing how thankful we are. I am in awe of the kindness others have shown. Thank you to everyone who has donated. (Did I just say that, like, three paragraphs ago? Well, get used to it, because I am going to be saying it a LOT! I AM SO THANKFUL!)
* I FINISHED MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY for the home study! It was, like, 32 pages of essay questions. I thought I would DIE. But I finished it! WOOO HOOO! My goal is to turn in our first set of paperwork and our first check to the home study agency (different than the adoption agency, FYI) on Tuesday! Wish me luck! :D
* We are still undecided about Taiger coming to China with us. Lots of pros, lots of cons. Taiger himself goes back and forth about it. (I think this topic is going to end up having it's own full blog post at some point, so stay tuned...)
* A VERY GOOD friend of mine asked me randomly if we needed clothes for LongLong. This was ANOTHER of those "tender mercies"/ "miracle" moments. I have been so stressed about getting my little girl clothes. Yet I couldn't tell anyone because it really does sound SO petty to be worried about CLOTHES! I mean, not that she would go naked! But I was going to give her hand-me-downs from Taiger and the other boys. Really, SO not a big deal!!!!! Only....SO a big deal to a mommy who can't do anything for this little girl a billion miles away, and all I can do is shop for her and give her clothes when she arrives and find things that will be comfy and cozy and soft for her and I have wanted a girl for a thousand years to dress in cute floofy dresses, and yes, this DOES make me shallow, but it is really how I was feeling! (PHEW! That feels good to just get it out!) So, deep down in my shallow, ridiculous heart...I wanted my little girl to have some nice clothes. Something other than handed down clothes from her big brother. Well, this sweet friend out of the blue told me her little girl had grown out of her 4t sized clothes and she was going to get rid of them and did I want them. I almost started crying. (Yes, over CLOTHES.) Well, this sweet friend gave me a bag of clothes for my little girl. And guess what size I think she will be when she arrives here? 4t. Of course. And can I just tell you, in that bag was the floofiest, poofiest, PRETTIEST dress I have ever seen?! And, once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has done something for our adoption! From donated money to donated clothes and everything in between. THANK YOU!
Well, that is all for the update. I think the theme of this post is definitely THANK YOU! I think that better be the post title :).
Thank you to everyone who donated items to auction, who came and bid, who shared the link...we are just SO THANKFUL! This little girl could not be coming home without the help of so many people. It is humbling. I am so, so thankful.
Okay, enough about MONEY. Let's talk about the ADOPTION! What is happening? EVERYONE wants to know! It's high time I post an update about that aspect!
* So, the last we heard from our agency, we are looking at 9-12 months to get little munchkin home. My personal goal is to have her home before next fall. So, like, Sept. 2016.
* We only have about $15,000.00 left to raise. I am SO THANKFUL for that! In fact, I have a hard time even expressing how thankful we are. I am in awe of the kindness others have shown. Thank you to everyone who has donated. (Did I just say that, like, three paragraphs ago? Well, get used to it, because I am going to be saying it a LOT! I AM SO THANKFUL!)
* I FINISHED MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY for the home study! It was, like, 32 pages of essay questions. I thought I would DIE. But I finished it! WOOO HOOO! My goal is to turn in our first set of paperwork and our first check to the home study agency (different than the adoption agency, FYI) on Tuesday! Wish me luck! :D
* We are still undecided about Taiger coming to China with us. Lots of pros, lots of cons. Taiger himself goes back and forth about it. (I think this topic is going to end up having it's own full blog post at some point, so stay tuned...)
* A VERY GOOD friend of mine asked me randomly if we needed clothes for LongLong. This was ANOTHER of those "tender mercies"/ "miracle" moments. I have been so stressed about getting my little girl clothes. Yet I couldn't tell anyone because it really does sound SO petty to be worried about CLOTHES! I mean, not that she would go naked! But I was going to give her hand-me-downs from Taiger and the other boys. Really, SO not a big deal!!!!! Only....SO a big deal to a mommy who can't do anything for this little girl a billion miles away, and all I can do is shop for her and give her clothes when she arrives and find things that will be comfy and cozy and soft for her and I have wanted a girl for a thousand years to dress in cute floofy dresses, and yes, this DOES make me shallow, but it is really how I was feeling! (PHEW! That feels good to just get it out!) So, deep down in my shallow, ridiculous heart...I wanted my little girl to have some nice clothes. Something other than handed down clothes from her big brother. Well, this sweet friend out of the blue told me her little girl had grown out of her 4t sized clothes and she was going to get rid of them and did I want them. I almost started crying. (Yes, over CLOTHES.) Well, this sweet friend gave me a bag of clothes for my little girl. And guess what size I think she will be when she arrives here? 4t. Of course. And can I just tell you, in that bag was the floofiest, poofiest, PRETTIEST dress I have ever seen?! And, once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has done something for our adoption! From donated money to donated clothes and everything in between. THANK YOU!
Well, that is all for the update. I think the theme of this post is definitely THANK YOU! I think that better be the post title :).
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Our Adoption Auction begins in FIFTEEN MINUTES!
FIFTEEN MINUTES! Only FIFTEEN MINUTES until bidding opens! Put on some comfy clothes, grab a mug of hot chocolate and come SHOP WITH A CAUSE!
We have some AH-MAZING items for auction. You won't want to miss this! So CLICK HERE to go to our ADOPTION AUCTION facebook page! The fun is about to begin!
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Some Auction Advice from Michel Gerard
Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! AUCTION day! YAHOO! I am SO excited! We have some AMAZING pieces for auction, and I really cannot wait to share them with all of you! PLEASE "LIKE" our Adoption Auction page to join in the fun.
You may not know what to expect from an auction. You may think:
But you are DEAD WRONG!
In fact, some people say:
They can be kind of fun! There are many exciting aspects to an auction, such as:
That might make you think:
But don't worry!:
Oh, Michel Gerard! We do!
So, here are three tips from Michel:
First, you mustn't be too eager.
Well, Michel, eager is the name of the game in THIS auction! Get that item you want and get it NOW! We only have 48 hours to do this thing!
You must always be extremely careful of your paddle movement.
Hmmm...no paddles at this auction! But please remember NOT to bid unless you MEAN it! No deleting bids once made!
How is your arm raise?
You may not know what to expect from an auction. You may think:
But you are DEAD WRONG!
In fact, some people say:
They can be kind of fun! There are many exciting aspects to an auction, such as:
That might make you think:
But don't worry!:
Oh, Michel Gerard! We do!
So, here are three tips from Michel:
First, you mustn't be too eager.
Well, Michel, eager is the name of the game in THIS auction! Get that item you want and get it NOW! We only have 48 hours to do this thing!
You must always be extremely careful of your paddle movement.
Hmmm...no paddles at this auction! But please remember NOT to bid unless you MEAN it! No deleting bids once made!
How is your arm raise?
This is a great question, Michel! Because we all need our arms to be good and strong for the FIST PUMP when we get that amazing item we were bidding on!!
So, thank you, Michel Gerard, and thank YOU for LIKING our Adoption Auction page!
Monday, November 9, 2015
AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY!
FOUR DAYS until bidding opens for our Adoption Auction!!
We are having a drawing for a $15.00 gift card! All you have to do is invite your friends to "LIKE" our Adoption Auction page! If 5 of your friends "LIKE" our page, your name goes in to the drawing! Pretty easy!! So, go LIKE our page and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! If 5 of your friends "LIKE" us, post your name on our page so I can put you in the drawing! I mean, who DOESN'T want $15.00 to spend on Amazon?!
Find our Adoption Auction page HERE!
We are having a drawing for a $15.00 gift card! All you have to do is invite your friends to "LIKE" our Adoption Auction page! If 5 of your friends "LIKE" our page, your name goes in to the drawing! Pretty easy!! So, go LIKE our page and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! If 5 of your friends "LIKE" us, post your name on our page so I can put you in the drawing! I mean, who DOESN'T want $15.00 to spend on Amazon?!
Find our Adoption Auction page HERE!
Saturday, November 7, 2015
We had a wonderful phone call with our adoption agency today. (Our case worker is the BOMB, by the way. :) She is always so patient with my insentient questions, and she has a fantastic sense of humor!) (No, she doesn't read this blog, and she didn't pay me to say any of this! HA HA!)
Anyway, you know how I had thought our adoption would take between 7 and 14 months (probably closer to 14)? Well, I was wrong! We are looking at 9-12 months! YES! The "longest" it will most likely take is 12 months!
I have a goal. My goal is to have LongLong home by her birthday next year. For security reasons, I won't share the date, but it is in the fall. With this new possible timeline, that goal doesn't seem so unrealistic.
(Oh, how I want my little girl home!)
The auction is only 5 days away! If you haven't "liked" our facebook page, you are MISSING. OUT! I have already posted a few "sneak peeks" of auction items, so some people are already preparing their bids and planning their course of attack to get the items they want! Don't be beat! Join the facebook page today to plan what you want to bid on! (Don't forget, in a few days I am going to post how you can win something before the auction even begins! But you have to "LIKE" the page to know how to win!)
Click HERE to go to our "Adoption Auction" facebook page! :D
Lots of love to you all!
Anyway, you know how I had thought our adoption would take between 7 and 14 months (probably closer to 14)? Well, I was wrong! We are looking at 9-12 months! YES! The "longest" it will most likely take is 12 months!
I have a goal. My goal is to have LongLong home by her birthday next year. For security reasons, I won't share the date, but it is in the fall. With this new possible timeline, that goal doesn't seem so unrealistic.
(Oh, how I want my little girl home!)
The auction is only 5 days away! If you haven't "liked" our facebook page, you are MISSING. OUT! I have already posted a few "sneak peeks" of auction items, so some people are already preparing their bids and planning their course of attack to get the items they want! Don't be beat! Join the facebook page today to plan what you want to bid on! (Don't forget, in a few days I am going to post how you can win something before the auction even begins! But you have to "LIKE" the page to know how to win!)
Click HERE to go to our "Adoption Auction" facebook page! :D
Lots of love to you all!
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