Goodbye June

I am very happy that June has come and gone. I was hoping to get our referral early in July, but now I don't think that it will come until later in July, which is really okay, I guess. What is a few more weeks? Well actually, a few more weeks feels like an eternity. Maybe I will get a very nice surprise and it will come earlier than expected. That would be wonderful.

I am going to the lake this weekend with some friends. I am excited about that. Should be a great time. Other than that, not much going on in my neck of the woods. I wish that I did have some exciting news to post, but I don't.

What to do while we WAIT AND WAIT

All of us who are adopting and in the process of waiting for our referral know how agonizing this part of the wait can be. As I posted before, I am on a "Positive Energy" kick and have been doing projects and some other fun things to help pass the time as Justin and I wait for our referral of Miss Lucy. I am doing anything to keep my mind off of only thinking of this wait. I thought that I would share some of my ideas with you all. I hope you enjoy!!

PROJECTS TO WORK ON WHILE WAITING FOR A REFERRAL:

1. Work on your yard. I am constantly out in our yard picking weeds and planting new flowers. It is so rewarding to see how your hard work turns out. Justin's parents helped us get this beautiful flower bed started and I have done my best to keep it going. I LOVE having blooming flowers. They are very happy!!



2. Paint a toy chest for your child. I found this toy chest at a "flea market" in Canton, TX. It was just unfinished wood. Now it is a precious chest just for Miss Lucy. Justin and I painted it and put the letters on.


3. Give your animals or children some extra lovin. They are going to be put on the back burner for a bit while we all adjust to our new little bundles of joy being at home. So, I am trying to show Bruiser and Bianca an extra lot of attention for the time being.

Bruiser is going to be very jealous of his new sister.

Bianca is wondering, "Where is my sister??"


4. Spend some quality time with your family. I live 5 hours from my family, but we try and get together as much as possible. I am #2 out of four girls. These are my beautiful sisters. I love them so much. God blessed me with an amazing family!!


5. Organize your closets or office, or in my case your closets, office, and guest bedroom. This little project will keep anyone busy. I am still working on this, but here is my progress, which I think is pretty darn good.





6. Join a quilt swapping group. This is also a very time consuming project, but it is so much fun to get the squares and wishes in the mail. This is the square and information that I am sending out for the Vietnam Cultural Quilt Swap. My topic was the Ao Dai. Once again, I am more pleased with my information card than I am the fabric, but whatever.


7. Work on the nursery or child's room. I have posted plenty of pictures of Miss Lucy's nursery, so I am not going to make you all see it again except for this adorable "I Love Lucy" sign. This has been so much fun for me. It feels so much more real to me when I have a room set up. I know that some day it is going to be Lucy's room. I imagine her playing with her toys in her room, me changing her diaper, and just rocking her.


8. Prepare for the baby to come home. For Justin and I, that has meant power shopping. We have had so much fun picking out clothes and shoes for Lucy. Here are the shoes that we have gotten her. I am like every other girl and love my shoes, so I have stopped buying them for me so much and started buying for Lucy. Soon we will be able to start buying the stuff that we will need for travel. I can't wait for that day.

This shoe rack is filled all the way up with some of the squares having 2 pairs. You can't see the ones at the top that are black, but they sure are cute!! We LOVE shoes!!

Lucy's daddy loves Converse. These were the first pair of shoes he insisted she got.

Every girl in Texas needs cowboy boots!


9. Blog more. I wish that everyone would write in everyday. It is so exciting to me when there are new posts on the blogs that I follow. Other adoption blogs are inspiring and encouraging. They are kind of like having someone to lean on because we are all in the same boat and going through the same hard times.

10. Become happy and content with yourself. This is one that I am really working on and it is something that we should all be working on all of the time. I am working to become a better wife, Christian, and soon-to-be mom. I am a very lucky girl to have my wonderful husband, family, friends, home, and life. I am working on always being appreciative of what it is that I do have and not always wishing for more - not just more possessions, but more everything.

So, there are my suggestions. I know that they have helped me, so I thought that I would share with the group. I know that many of you are struggling with the slow passing of time as we wait and wait and wait. Always remember that you are not alone. There is someone feeling the same way as you. Most of all, remember that we all will eventually come out of this with a beautiful boy or girl who will be in our lives forever!! Thanks for all of the support!

Quilting Bee for Me???

So, I have really tried to work on my quilt swaps this week so that I don't have to worry about getting this done any longer. I had NO IDEA how huge of a project this was going to be for me - especially since I am in two swaps at once. Do I know how to quilt you are wondering? Absolutely not. I know nothing about quilting in fact. I thought that this would be a simple and fun little project to pass the time. Oh no. I don't think so. Here are my issues thus far with these quilt swaps:

1. I went to JoAnn's because it is the only fabric store that I know of that won't cost a zillion dollars - most of the fabrics are UGLY!!! I had to pick out an animal fabric (which are cute) and an Asian fabric. There are some fabulous Asian brocades, but those aren't 100% cotton, so they are out - BOOOOOOO HISSSSSS!! Therefore, I had the girl show me the "Asian" fabrics that they have that are 100% cotton. UGH! She hands me a few and says, "Here, these are from the Kimono Collection and they are Asian." Well, just because the word Kimono is in the title does not mean that it is Asian looking. A few were, and I just picked the two least ugly fabrics - let me just go ahead and throw this out there, I DO NOT think that the fabrics that I found are great. They are satisfactory based on my limited choices.

2. I get home with my fabric and my new rotarty cutter and cutting board and decide to plow right in. OOPS, I didn't wash and dry the fabrics first. I ended up throwing away the fabrics that I did this to because they were dubbed as "too ugly". Oh well.

3. Once I do get started on the washed fabrics, I realize that I don't have enough fabric for a couple of the patterns and I have to go back to JoAnn's. I get home only to realize that I had forgotten something and have to go back. The ladies in there think I am a total freak who has no idea what is going on. Sadly, they are right. I have asked them some pretty ridiculous questions and gotten some pretty priceless looks back from them. Whatever. You have to learn somehow.

4. My wishes turned out adorable. I do love them. I LOVE to scrapbook and so this was the easy and fun part. The problem is, it was quite time consuming.

I am done now - with one of the swaps. I just need to get postage and mail them. Overall, I am happy with how they turned out. I know that it is going to be very fun to get everyone else's squares and wishes. I have a neighbor who goes to a church where there is a quilting group. She said that I could pay them and they would hand stitch together Lucy's quilt, which I am quite excited about!!

Here is what our wish to everyone said (I thought you all could use a good wish even if you aren't in the quilt swap):

“Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.”
--Thich Nhat Hanh
A Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, Poet, Writer, and Peace Activist

We wish you and your children a life full of love, happiness, compassion, and fulfillment. May your children always know how much you love and cherish them.
With Much Love,
Kelly, Justin, & Lucy (wherever she may be)

June 27, 2006
Dec2005 DTV Quilt Swap


My kitchen table that has been overtaken with this quilting project - this is way cleaner than it had been - good thing it is so big


The quilt squares and wish for the girls - poodles and "Asian" flower print

The quilt squares and wish for the boys - frogs and "Asian" something - I know it has flowers on it and it is for boys, but at least it is not pink!

Positive Polly

I have started this new week with a great attitude. Yesterday in church, the sermon was about making your life more positive and how that will affect everything around you. I felt like the pastor was speaking directly to me. I think that a dark cloud sometimes follows me around, especially lately. I hate it when I feel that way and have noticed on many occasions that I am the most negative person when I am feeling down. I HATE that!! Not only is it not fun for me, but I know others around me don't like it - especially my poor husband who I take most of it out on. SORRY HONEY!! It is easy to feel negative and sad as we go through this adoption process. There are so many days when we all just want to bitch and moan about everything around us - I am the queen of this. I decided yesterday that I am going to put forth a serious effort to work on my negativity, my complaining, and my overall attitude and make my life happy again. After all, I am working at something that is going to make my life fulfilled - I should be rejoicing. No one ever said that this was going to be easy, so I knew that going into this. I am taking the approach of "battling" the negativity when it comes over me. I think some positive thinking can go a long way to get me past a bad day. I am trying to focus on Lucy and her needs, the good in my life, and how I can make myself a better person before she gets here. I really think I can do this!

Aside from becoming Positive Polly versus Negative Nancy, I did not get near all of my projects done this weekend. I did get to IKEA for the organzing stuff - didn't get near enough and made a second trip yesterday. I had never been to IKEA. I must say, it was a bit overwhelming and at one point I really felt like I was trapped in there with no way out!! Once I learned my way around, I found some awesome bargains and am very pleased with my purchases. I got some organizing done, but this is going to be a LONG process. We have a lot to do. It is going to look so great though when it is done.

I did not get to the fabric store, so my quilt swaps are no where near being done. OOPS!! I will get that done this week though. One of our neighbors had a cookout last night and it was so much fun. I live in such an awesome neighborhood - we have made some amazing friends!! Also, Saturday night I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant. It was AWESOME! I loved the food so much. It was only my second time to have Vietnamese, but it really was so delicious. There were several little girls playing in there and they made me really miss my Lucy. They were precious.

I really hope to hear of some referrals this week - I would love to hear of mine, but I just don't think that this is the week and I am okay with that. I hope that this week flies by though so that maybe next week will be my week!!!!

Happy Birthday Momma!!

Today is my Mom's Birthday!! I hope that she has the best birthday in the world because she deserves it. She is the BEST! I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

I am so ready for this day to be over and for it to be the weekend. I have not been home for a weekend in so long and I have so much that I want to get done. First, I will be going to IKEA to buy lots of organizing items. Then, I am going to completely get the guest room and the office organized and clean. I am going to put some stuff on Ebay to sell. I am going to pick out my fabrics for my Vietnam quilt swap. By the way, this is my first quilt swap and I really hope that I don't screw up!! It should be interesting. I am not sure why I am participating in the swap since I will probably never get the thing put together, but I would really like to at some point. My wonderful mom did say that she would help me. I would like to at least get my squares cut out. So, my plate is pretty full for the weekend. I really should be able to get it all done though.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. We should all try to not worry constantly about getting our referrals and try to enjoy ourselves!! HA!

Asian Baby Dolls

I try and keep my eyes open for baby dolls that are Asian in appearance. I have found these two that are so adorable I can barely stand it. The first one is made by American Girl - it is the Bitty Baby line. I made Justin go to the American Girl store with me in NYC. You should have seen it. There was probably 500 little girls and their moms in there running around like crazy trying to buy everything in the whole store. Justin was a trooper, but basically told me to find whatever it was I was looking for so we could get the hell outta there. She was $42 and I am sure that you can order her online - just google American Girl. They make all of these precious little outfits for the babies too. The second one was recommended on one of my Yahoo groups. I ordered her online, but have absolutely no idea where from. Sorry I can't be more helpful on where to get her. She came with this little Vietnamese outfit and a Chinese outfit. She also has a Vietnamese passport and a Chinese passport. Also, she has a smaller version of the same doll that can be attached to her back with a little baby carrier thing. SO CUTE!! I just love these baby dolls!

The Misery of Working Out

So, until 3 weeks ago, I worked out on a very regular basis. We have been so busy for the past 3 weeks that working out got put on the back burner. Well, Monday I started back by going to my regular classes - which is abs class and then a class called Cardio Chisel. Now, these are VERY intense classes, but I thought 3 weeks wasn't that long to miss. I was severely mistaken. First, I thought that I was going to pass out or puke through the entire class. Second, the class seemed a million times harder than I remembered it being, and finally, I can seriously barely walk today - the stairs at our house are my worst enemy at this point. I am walking like a grandma. How could I get THAT out of shape in 3 weeks?? It just doesn't seem possible. The classes were always challenging before my little hiatus, but not that hard. Of course I just kept pushing myself knowing that I was going to massively pay the price. I figured it was punishment for getting so lazy and eating so badly for the past several weeks. Now I really don't want to work out. By the way, I am NOT someone who enjoys working out. I think that it is important for health reasons, but that is it. It does NOT make me feel better, it does NOT give me added energy, and I truly HATE it in general. I find the gym to be a beating on any average day!!

So aside from the pain, I do have a small bit of adoption news. I had thought that my dossier had not been authenticated because I thought that my check to the embassy had not cleared. Well, I was wrong, it cleared on June 9th, so I am assuming that it is good to go. Our agency handles this, which is why I didn't know before. So, we are officially DTV!! I am about to call our agency and see if I can pry some referral information out of someone. It would be great to hear anything at this point. I am really hoping for a referral in July.

Radiohead Junkies

Okay, so I know that there are some of you out there who LOVE Radiohead. Justin and I went to the concert in NYC and were able to get the camera in. The pictures suck because the lighting and smoke make it very difficult to get a clear picture. I just thought I would share a few of the ones that we got. This way you can feel like you didn't totally miss out!

I do think this picture is cool!

Justin and I out at Red Rocks one night in NY. A friend of Justin's owns this bar. This is my best friend since 3rd Grade, Katie - who lives in Manhattan.

Obsessed Beyond Belief

I have found myself completely addicted to blogs all of the sudden. I really knew nothing about this whole thing just 2 weeks ago. I am constantly reading other people's blogs for updates and just to pass the time. I wish everyone would write in more - so get with it folks.

I wish that I had some adoption news to share. I have realized that I haven't even really shared much about our adoption journey. I keep an online journal in addition to this blog. The journal has all of the details of our journey thus far. The website for it is www.youbelong.net/lucy. I have found myself using this blog more for just idol chitter-chatter, which I have thoroughly enjoyed thus far. The journal will be used to show our daughter how exactly we came to find her.

A quick overview of where we are and how we got here. Signed with an agency in January of 2006. Did the homestudy in February - waited what seemed like forever for our social worker to get the final copy to us to send in to CIS. Got our I171-H in May. Switched agencies in May because we didn't want to wait 12 months for a referral of an infant girl when there were other agencies with much shorter waiting lists. By the very beginning of June, had our dossier to the new agency. We are #2 on their waiting list. Are currently waiting for our dossier to be authenticated and then it is off to Vietnam. So, we are essentially just sitting around with nothing more to do than wait for our referral to come!!

The waiting in this whole process is more than wearing on my nerves. I am the kind of person who likes to get things done in a quick and efficient manner. I am truly working on my patience. I think that I am improving - my husband even thinks I am doing pretty well.

Justin and I are trying to really enjoy our last months together as a no-child couple. We have been going on some trips, staying out late, etc. We always end up talking about Lucy though - which reassures me that we are ready to have babies!! So here we are, just two fun-loving people waiting for "The Call" from our agency telling us we are going to be parents. Sure do wish it would come today.

Happy Late Father's Day

I forgot to post a Happy Father's Day shout out to my dad. I have the BEST dad in the world!! He is wonderful. Thanks for all that you have done for me Dad! Justin and I were talking the other day about how wonderful Mother's and Father's days are going to be next year. It is so crazy that we will get to celebrate them as well! Justin is going to be a spectacular Dad. Happy Father's Day to all of you Dads out there!! I hope that you had a wonderful day! Here are some of my favorite dad pictures:

My dad napping with his only grandchild for the moment, John (who was named after my dad)
My entire family at my baby sister Katy's high school graduation: Justin and I, Holly and Adam, Katy (the graduate), Amy, Mom, and Dad
John's dad, Adam, kissing on him!! Adam is a wonderful daddy!
Adam and John in the pool in Florida this summer. They sure are handsome!
My whole family at home in Arkansas for Memorial Day.

The Fashionista's Closet

Here are some of Lucy's goodies from NYC!!

Dresses Galore!!
TOO CUTE - Baby True Religions
A stuffed closet - I swear baby clothes are an addiction

Back to the Daily Grind

Justin and I got home last night from a wonderful trip to NYC. We got to stay with my best friend, Katie, who we rarely get to see. It was great to spend some time with her. We went to a Radiohead concert, ate at some amazing restaurants, and spent the rest of the time shopping. We literally shopped so much that I am so sick of shopping I don't know what to do with myself. There is just too much to do in Manhattan. Lucy made out like a bandit. She has a closet full of clothes and shoes. We did buy everything in 12-18 month size, so surely it will fit her one day. I sure do wish that some referrals would come in to VORF this week, but I don't think that they are going to. I have started making a list of projects to get done around the house before she gets here, so I will be working on those for the next several weeks.

Lucy's nursery is almost done. We are just waiting on her rocker to come in. It is toooooo cute. We just got the blanket that is on the crib and the pillow in the crib. My friend, Katie, got Lucy the metal "I Love Lucy" sign and it is to die for. We love it.
The view from the door to the Nursery
Some fun friends for Lucy to play with
Where Lucy hopefully will sleep Her bookshelf

Agency News!!!!

I just got off of the phone with our agency and got the best news ever!!! We are #2 on their waiting list for an infant girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so so so so so so so so so excited. I can't believe that we are so high up!! It sure is a good thing that I rushed around like mad woman to get that dossier put together. I knew my organizational skills would pay off. I am floating on cloud nine right now. I sure do hope that 2 referrals come quickly. Today is a very good day for me, Justin, and Miss Lucy!

New York New York

We are leaving today from DFW at 5:30!! I cannot wait to get to NY. We are supposed to go to the Radiohead concert tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. How awesome is that?!?!?! It should be amazing. Of course, Justin is beside himself. I had one of those nights were you get no sleep at all - I was constantly thinking of things that needed to get done before we leave. Oh well, I guess all that matters is that I have packed enough clothes, which I DEFINITELY did. My friend Jessie is taking care of my dogs while we are gone. Bianca has not been feeling well, so I was worrying about her last night. She is fine, just a little sick from the vaccines that she just got. Poor baby. I have attached a picture of Bruiser and Bianca - they are my BABIES!! Bruiser is the one at the top with white in his coat. That picture of Bianca is when she was a baby, so she is actually bigger than Bruiser now. They are SO CUTE!! They are going to be very jealous of Miss Lucy when she finally comes home. Bianca will be fine. She loves my nephew. Bruiser, on the other hand, is not going to be so fine. He is the biggest brat in the world. He loves me and Justin only, with me being at the top of his list. I don't know how he is going to adjust. Part of me is on the optimistic side and thinking that he is going to be happier because I will not be going to work any more. Most likely though, he will pout and be a baby for quite some time. I am sure that he will adjust at some point........maybe! He does okay with my nephew. That picture where he is snuggled in with him is a bit misleading. He still growls at him when he makes any sudden movements. We will all have to adjust our lives a bit when Miss Lucy gets here.

I sure do wish that some referrals would come out of my agency this week!! It is about time!

Wedding Weekend

I went to Abilene, Kansas this weekend for my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and great fun to see my family. I got to see aunts, uncles, and cousins that I never get to see. So that was wonderful. I also got to see my parents, 3 sisters, and my nephew John, who just turned 8 months. He is the most precious baby - see pictures below. He just smiles, laughs, and talks to everyone. Two of my cousins also have kids. It was great to see them. They are so happy and fun to be around. One of my cousins has a one month old and I had forgotten how little those newborns are. I just adore children. These kids made me want my Lucy even so much more. I can't wait for John to have a cousin to play with!! I am just continuing the wait for a referral. This week won't be so hard though. We are going to New York for 5 nights. We leave tomorrow night. I cannot wait. My best friend lives there, so we will get to see her. I haven't seen her in a while, so I am very excited about that. I also LOVE to shop in NYC. We don't need to be spending money there, but I know we will. I really really really wish that I knew how big Lucy was going to be so that she could get some stuff. She would be quite fashionable with a NY wardrobe! I am sure that we will come home with all kinds of stuff that will never fit her. I just can't seem to help myself.
My Nephew John - SO CUTE!!
John is trying to learn to crawl.

John napping with me and my babies - Bruiser and Bianca

Waiting, waiting, waiting

For the past 6 months, I feel like all Justin and I have done is wait. We waited for our agency to get their license to work in Vietnam, we waited for our social worker to do our homestudy, we waited for the doctor to do our physicals, we waited for our immigration approval to come in the mail, we waited for our documents to get certified, etc. I guess you get the picture. Now it is getting even worse. Now we are just waiting for a phone call from our agency saying that they have found our daughter. This is so so so so so so so hard for me. I am not a patient person. I am ansy all of the time. I like to feel in control. None of those things mix well with adoption. I am learning to get better with each day though. I am learning a lot from this whole process, which is definately a good thing. I just wish that the day would hurry up and come where we are no longer waiting. That day will not be until we are back home with Lucy. I am keeping this blog to be able to vent and to share our experience with our friends and family. I hope you enjoy!