Josep's B'day Pictures - 1/9/07

Still no TA - Just read upsetting news

Ok, someone from one of the groups I am on (one of many) just posted about new changes for the Waiting Child program. I thought that we would have heard something by now about TA's but I have to say that with this new rule things are NOT looking good for us. At this rate we will be lucky if we travel sometime in March or April. I really don't know what the hold up is for us but I guess it has something to do with this new rule. God, I hope not. I hope to GOD that tomorrow or Friday I "get the call" telling us that our TA is finally here. But with my luck I will get the call telling me that I fell into this new rule category and my worst fear has come true.

Here is what the new rule states:

Dear Families, With all of the new changes to the system at CCAA, we have just been made aware of another change that affects the Waiting Child program. Unfortunately, it seems as though CCAA will no longer be issuing TA's without first issuing an acceptance letter for the family to sign and return. It is not clear if the acceptance letters will arrive a little earlier than when you would normally expect your TA or if it will arrive around the same time you would normally begin to expect your TA. We will have to watch the upcoming groups for a while to make that determination. When I receive acceptance letters from CCAA, I will call the family/families and will overnight the letter via fed-ex for the parent's signature. I will need the letters to be signed and returned via overnight fed-ex so that they can be sent back to CCAA to await travel approval. When there is a group of families who receive their acceptance letters on the same date, they must all be sent back to CCAA together as a group. Therefore, it will be very important for families to sign and return them immediately so that one family does not hold up the rest of the group. We expect that the time frame from CCAA's receipt of your signed acceptance letters to the time that you can begin looking to receive the TA will be similar to that of the regular referral program. Right now, it is taking approximately 6-7 weeks. Understandably, this change is very disappointing to each of you who are already enduring the long, difficult wait to be united with your child. My heart goes out to you. Please do not allow the waiting and the program changes to steal the joy of this most wonderful journey to your child. When that 'gotcha' moment finally arrives, the joy of finally having your child in your arms will make this wait worth while.

In my eyes, this is the biggest kick in the teeth. I am so very angry and I am really, really tired. This is totally out of control. When we all heard of the new changes coming from the CCAA, we were told that they would not go into effect until May 1, 2007 and that for the people that had a LID already these would not be a problem. Well we are LID 8/9/06, and I guess we have a problem. It really blows my mind that my daughter is 16 months old and she has a family but she will have to sit there for the next 2 months or so without us. It's crazy. I know that I am rambling on and probably not making sense, so I think I will stop here and go hang out with my son.

Happy Birthday Joseph

Well, 8 years ago today my son Joseph was born. He is the reason I breath. He is the BEST part of me. 8 years ago today my life began. I still go into his room at night just to watch him sleep, like when he was first born. I would sit for hours and just look at him when he was a baby. I couldn't believe that I created him and I was in awe of him. It is 6:30 pm right now and this time 8 years ago major labor set in. Boy was I NOT prepared for that. I remember being in the labor suite at my hospital and the nurse's were getting ready to change shifts. The nurse that I had was a real nasty ass. I remember telling her to get out of my room. I think if I was able to get up I would have thrown her out myself. She told me to act like a grown up and deal with the pain. It didn't surprise me that she never gave birth. I got the epidural and a 1/2 hour later they had to stop it because my legs went numb. So for a 1/2 hour I was doing good. Even after they stopped the epi I was ok, not great but doable. I remember being so hungry and I wanted something to eat but they told me no. Most of my family was in the waiting room, except my cousin Gina (Lily's Godmother she was working at Old Navy and she said they wouldn't let her leave. I never let her forget that lol) and they ordered food. Since I was alone, my 2 cousins Siri and Kristi were suppose to be in the delivery room with me. My cousin Kristi was hosting her annual Dinner Party. Can you imagine her surprise when I called her and told her I was in labor. She had to rush her dinner and had to give the desert to go. Siri who is Joseph's Godmother came into the room with ketchup on her face and when I asked her if she was eating a burger she told me "no". Helloooo, you have ketchup on your face. That is an on going joke in my family now. We talk about it every so often.

Well anyway, my beautiful son was born 10:29 pm. When the Dr. put him on my stomach, he peed and it almost got me in the face. The Dr. laughed and thought it was really funny, but when he took him off of me I guess Joseph wasn't finished because he peed in the Dr. face. So it was my turn to laugh. Right after that my body went into shock. I had a high fever and I was so cold. I remember the nurse's kept putting heated blankets on me, but I couldn't get warm. In my hospital they turn the lights down low and give the parents time to bond with your baby. I was alone, with this beautiful little boy and I was shaking like crazy and freezing and crying and wondering why I was alone. Then my saving grace came in, my MOTHER. Thank god she came in when she did. I really thought that I was going to drop my son. That is really the last thing I remember of that night. I didn't see my son again until the next morning. I had a high fever for the rest of the night so they wouldn't bring him in to see me. Not that I remember anyway. The next day I couldn't move. My coxis (sp?) bone was broken. Seems when he came out his face kept hitting into it and it broke. His face was really bruised. But I survived and we came home on Jan. 11th (his Godmothers b'day) and my new life began. I haven't looked back since.

Now he is 8 years old and what a great kid he turned out to be so far. I am so very proud of him and I love him more then life itself.

Ok, we are starting the 3rd and final party for Joseph's birthday now. I'll be back in a few to finish this post.

Ok, it's 11:15 pm and the day is almost over. Tonight was a nice end to the birthday parties. My cousin Gina was here (AGAIN)(she really is a stalker) and my very good friend Nikki and her 3 kids and Anthony's cousin Maryann and 2 of her sons. I have to say my son is LOVED. He so enjoyed his 3 parties and he is loaded with gifts. I don't remember 8 being like this for me!!!! Differnt times back then. Well, I am done for the night. I hope 9 is a little less crazy.

Until next time....

Mixed Emotions

I just felt like writing tonight. I have very mixed emotions, we did not get TA today like I was hoping too. There were a lot of families that did receive TA today. I think 3 or 4 families are going to Chenzhou, which is were Lily Rose lives. My heart hurts because we were not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I am overjoyed for all the families that have received TA this last week. You would have to be heartless not to be happy for them, but everyone who is involved with International Adoption knows what I am talking about and knows exactly how I feel. What scares me the most is that the Consulate appointments are filling up for January and if we don't get to travel by Feb. 1, we will have to wait until March. Which will just be horrible. The worst part about it, is that there is NOTHING we can do about it. Not one thing. So, I won't go on and on about it. I'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings....

Round 2

Ok, we survived round 2. Last night (Saturday) we had the family over for Joseph's birthday. I would say we had about 20 people here. My son had a really good time. We made him wait to open his presents and it was the funniest. I told him he had to wait until AFTER cake and coffee. So he sat on the floor in front of his presents for like an hour. Finally it was time for him to open them and he was crazy. He got a lot of good things. His favorite is the Mini Pool Table my mother gave him (it also has a top for playing air hockey). I think he was up until like 1 am shooting pool. He got up really early today and played more pool. Then we had to go and do the returns and use the gift cards he got. So, all in all he is really enjoying his birthday. The best part, his birthday is not until Tuesday. We will have a few more people over on Tuesday night and then that is it. 8 years old and 3 parties later, I think that's enough. Until Tuesday....

Round 1

Ok, so we survived round 1 of Joseph's 8th birthday. We took Joseph and 4 of his friends to see Rocky Balboa and then went to Friendly's. We went to the 5:05 pm show and I have to tell you that it was a great time to be there b/c it was the 7 of us and 3 other couples in the whole movie. The boys were really good and they loved the movie. I was a little disappointed with it myself, but all in all it was good. Going to Friendly's on a Friday night at 7:30 pm was a huge mistake. It was packed. They were hungry and noisy and Anthony and I were just ready for bed. CRAZY is the word I will use for that excursion. But I absolutely love these 4 boys that we had with us. I hope my son stays friends with them well into his life. It was a fun night.

We have round 2 tomorrow night with family. I didn't invite everyone but we have about 15 people coming to the house for cake and coffee.

Tuesday is Joseph's real birthday. So I will have a small cake just for us and I will give him his many presents that I have for him. Anthony's cousins might stop by also and one of my good friends with her kids.

There are 4 other birthdays this month. Joseph's godmother Siri's is the 11th, my cousins son's 1st b'day is the 13th, my cousin Nancy is the 21st and I am the 23rd. So it is a pretty busy month for us.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow.....

New Years Day Pictures

Grandma & Joseph
Anthony and Joseph


Me and Anthony

Me & my brother Ralph

Me, Gina, my mother & Joanie

Me and Gina

Me and Joseph

Pictures

Some of these pictures are of our very dear friends from VA Lisa & Derrick that we met on our Honeymoon. They made a surprise visit here the week before Christmas. We had a great time other then me getting sick. We went to Manhattan to see the Christmas Tree and my friend Lisa wanted to Ice Skate but the line was 3 blocks long. My son was very disappointed because he wanted to skate also. It was a great time anyway.

Then, some of the pictures are from Christmas morning. The IPod was Joseph's all time favorite gift. Thanks Grandma. He loved the Tattoo Machine. We are all sporting some sort of handmade Tattoo from "Joseph, the future Tattoo Artists"

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007

My family would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We wish for the New Year, Peace, Love, Health, and much Happiness.

For all the families waiting to bring their children home not only from China, but all the other countries we wish you everlasting Love.

So, New Years Eve was very quite here as my son and I are getting over being sick. My mother was not feeling well last night also. It was really hard trying to keep my eyes opened until the ball dropped. But once it did, we all went outside (I still don't know why we did that) some of our neighbors came out also and we wished all a Happy New Year and then I went inside and went to bed. Coughed all night long that I gave myself a huge headache. I still have not taken anything to help my cold along. I hate taking medicine of any kind.

My thoughts stayed on Lily Rose most of the day and night and I have to say that when the clock struck midnight I got very emotional thinking of our daughter. I can't even put into words the feelings I had because they are so strange to me. I have a daughter that I never met in person or held or touched, or kissed, but I have a daughter who will be 16 months old on Thursday, Jan. 4th. I sat in her room last night just trying to imagine her here, with her new toys, and dolls and her new clothes hanging in her closet and her freshly painted walls of the lightest pink and it broke my heart. When I was pregnant with Joseph I had a one bedroom apt. and his crib and dresser where in my room, I would sit up in bed at night by myself and wonder what this precious little baby would be like and how I would enjoy all the "first" things he would do and say and I was so very happy. I was never that happy in my life. I wondered what he would look like and what he would smell like and I couldn't wait to touch him and kiss his little face and just watch him grow each day from this tiny little person. My daughter had most of her "firsts" and someone else saw it and touched and kissed her and watched her grow from this tiny little person to this beautiful little 16 month old. As the wait for TA's is getting longer and longer, it's the other person that is still watching my daughter grow and I am still heart broken. I am grateful for the other "mother" that is taking care of our little girl until we can get to her, but it still hurts.

So, lets hope and pray that we hear that TA's are rolling in and all of us can go and get our children to try to catch some of those "firsts"

Here is to a wonderful New Year

Just some thoughts

Well, today is Dec. 29th and we have not heard anything relating to our TA. I have been checking the groups that I am in and no one has heard about or seen any TA's. So I guess that we will not be leaving on Jan. 11th like I thought we were. So now I have no idea when to expect to leave. I just hope that it is before the Chinese New Year starts. C.N.Y. is Feb. 18th 2007. I believe I heard that everything closes down like a week before and stays closed for 2 weeks. So at this rate maybe it will be March that we leave. I really wanted to get Lily Rose home for my mothers 70th b'day which is in the beginning of Feb. I thought that would have been a great b'day present for her. I'm just glad that I have Joseph's communion all set. We are having it here and an old friend of mine has a party business. She has all kinds of characters and tattoos, face painting, clowns and she has that big bouncy thing. So I already called her and told her to save the date of May 12th 2007. I am really excited about his communion. I am also glad that I most likely will be home for his First Penance which is on Jan. 20th 2007. But if they were to call me and tell me that we got TA and I needed to be in China on the 20th, I would be ok with that too. I think Joseph would also be ok with that, as long as I was here for his b'day which is in the beginning of Jan.

I have Lily Rose's suitcase packed already. Can you tell we are anxious? We have an appointment with the International Specialist on Jan. 3rd to go over medications that we will need to bring to China with us. I am excited about this meeting too. I want to make sure that I have everything we need to help Lily if she gets sick or anything. I can't wait to see her in person and hold her and just kiss her face all over. Her cheek's are so round and full and she is just beautiful. We are so very blessed that we found her and she is ours. I love her just like I love my son and I haven't even seen her in person yet. It is truly amazing the bond I feel with her. I am preparing myself for her not attaching to me right away. Reading other families post while they are in China has prepared me for this. So many mothers writing that their new children are just attaching to the fathers. It's sad and hurtful but there is nothing we can do about it right now. So as long as we prepare ourselves for it, it won't hurt as much. As least that is what I am telling myself. Now if I only believed it. HAHA

Her room is coming along nicely. We just painted again, and her new furniture should be here anyday now. I can't wait to finish her room and decorate it. We just put French doors in for her. So very girlie looking. Now all we need is LILY ROSE!!!!!!

Come on you guys, leave some comments. It takes a lot of thought for me to write this stuff. Would like to know what you think and feel.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Also I would like to wish everyone that does not celebrate Christmas, to enjoy their holiday as much as we enjoy ours.

We thought that we would be spending this Christmas in the hospital this year. Joseph was so sick Friday. I was really scared for him because his asthma attack came out of nowhere. Thank God I was able to get it under control with his medication. It took a while but it worked. The more I tried to get him ready to go to the hospital, the more he couldn't breath. So we just worked on it here and it turned out fine. He was so upset because he didn't think Santa would come to the hospital to bring his presents. It is very sad when you see you child so sick and upset on top of that. He finally fell asleep but I went into his room every 1/2 hour to see if he was ok. He woke up yesterday and he was fine. I, on the other hand was like a zombie, but when it comes to your kids it really doesn't matter how you feel, as long as he was fine that's all that matters.

This will be a very special Christmas for me this year. I always thought that Joseph would be an only child and now he will have a sister. It still amazes me every time I think of it. I will always remember him waking up and running into my room to let me know that Santa was here. Now next year, he will be able to go and get his sister first and then let us know that Santa was here.

I remember as a child myself my brother always getting up first. He would peek at the tree first to see if the presents where there and then come and get me. Then he would take my hand and we would go into our parents room and wake them up. Then the fun would begin. I hope that my son and daughter have that same bond.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

OUCH x's 2

Well, I survived the 2 shots but boy did they hurt. First off, I would like to know why the nurses would take phone calls when they are in the room with you? The nurse that was giving me my shots knows that I have a problem with needles, so why, why would she take a phone call right before she was going to give me a shot? Here she is fixing both needles and putting a lot of "juice" in each needle right in front of me. Like, "helloooo, that is going to be in my arm a lot longer then necessary with all that "juice". So, now I get ready to get the shot and the phone rings. Best part is, she picks it up and starts talking. By now the sweat is pouring off me and dripping down my back and I'm getting dizzy. I start waving at her to move it along and she hangs up and gets ready to shoot me up. So, the first shot is the flu shot. She says to me, "you ready" and as I am about to tell her "no" she sticks me. Well, I almost pee in my pants and actually yelled Ouch. She cracks up laughing like it's the funniest thing she has ever seen or heard. Me, I am not to happy because my arm is bleeding and I feel faint. Now off to the next arm. So I am ready for her to say "you ready" well she didn't say that. She just sticks the needle in my arm and again, I yell Ouch. I look at her and asked her where the warning was. She laughs and said "I gave you a warning on the other arm, one warning per patient." WHAT?????????? I know she was joking but still, give an old girl a break here. I survived, but my arms will bare the scars. LOL

I go to Joseph's holiday party and it was really cute. Although my son is sick and boy did he look sick. I wanted to take him home but he didn't want to leave. He loves school. The kids were cute and I am glad that I was able to be there for this party. The cupcakes were a big hit. Nothing like having someone else do all the hard work and you getting to take all the credit. I even got to take a few home. Some kids were out sick or something.

Well, I just got Joseph off the bus and his Christmas vacation officially begins. He is a mess. He has fever and this dry hacking cough with a major stuffed nose and he is down stairs with my mother and I think he is coughing all over her lunch right now, because I hear her telling him to take a walk. HAHA The party begins.

I am going to try to make him take a rest right now. More again later....

2 shots for me today

Ok, I am so not happy right now. I have to go and get 2 shots this morning and I feel like a little kid feels when they know they are going to the Dr.'s. I have to get the Hep A and a Flu shot. I still need to get the 3rd Hep B shot but I am not scheduled for it until March. The way it looks we will be traveling sometime in the end of Jan or early Feb. So I am a little nervous about not having the 3rd and final shot of Hep. B. But there's nothing I can do about it.

Now, back to the 2 shots for today. I am a grown women who gave birth and all that and I still get that sick feeling when I have to go for a shot. I think it's funny that when my son has to go for his shots, I'm like "come on Joe, no big deal, it will be over before you know it." Now here I am with pains in my stomach and the cold sweats. lol When I told Joseph this morning that I was going for 2 shots, his words to me were, "come on Mom, no big deal, it will be over before you know it." HAHA Smart kid :)

When that is done I have to go to Joseph's class Hoilday party. If you can believe it I am suppose to be a "baking mom". Well, little do they know is that Stop & Shop is doing the baking. I will go and buy the cupcakes and then go home and put them in a nice holiday tin and no one will be the wiser. Totally under control.

Ok, I need to go and get ready for my SHOTS!!!!!!

We have new pictures of Lily Rose

We finally have new pictures of Lily Rose. A huge Thank You to the Horner Family. This wonderful family that is in China right now were able to get pictures of our beautiful daughter Lily Rose. On Dec. 13, 2006 they were invited to the SWI where our daughter is waiting for us. Their daughter AnnaClaire is also from this SWI. I asked them before they left if it was possible would they check on our daughter for us. Well, they did. They got to play with Lily and said she was a sweet baby girl. They also told us that she loved the attention and that she is really adorable. I am so very happy and we will be forever grateful to this family for life. It is the best Christmas gift to have updated pictures of Lily. Joseph was so happy to see what his sister looks like now. It makes it more "real" for him. We have not been able to stop looking at her since we got the pictures. Can you tell we are in awe of this beautiful little girl. Please let me know what you all think of our precious miracle.

I would like to thank Bruny for fixing the pictures so that I could post them here. I just love Bruny!!!!!

Gifts

Ok, My husband Anthony was working on a job in NYC a few months back and met a man named Joe B. He is an Engineer. Well, anyway, they hit it off and Anthony told him we are adopting a little girl from China. So when Joe returned to NY (he lives in Canada) he handed Anthony a little box and told him it was for our Lily Rose. Well, in the box is a pair of little hoop earrings. I was blown away when Anthony got home and handed me the earrings. This, from a total stranger. He gave me his address and a business card. I couldn't read part of the address, so I wrote an e-mail to him. I never heard back from him. So today I decided to call and leave a message for Joe B. No sooner did I hang up that my phone rang and it was Joe B. I was so excited to speak with him and thank him and his wife. I have his address and now a Thank you card will be mailed. Joe was recently in NY and tried to call Anthony, but Anthony just got a new cell number and Joe couldn't reach us. Next time he comes to NY I hope that I will be able to meet him and thank him in person.

Then last night Anthony comes home from his friend Joey's house and hands me another box. He said that a few weeks ago when he was there, Joey's wife had a jewelry party and he was telling all the ladies there that we are adopting from China (can you tell that Anthony tells everyone that will listen to him about Lily) and apparently one of the ladies bought Lily Rose a ladybug bracelet. Anthony doesn't even know her name. Isn't this great!!!! Total strangers that want to give our daughter gifts to welcome her home to her new life with us. We are waiting on her name and address so that we may thank her the proper way.

It's just amazing that we are surrounded by wonderful, caring people. The world STILL has good people in it.

Baby Shower Favor

My very dear friend Liz made our baby shower favor. It was a Hershey chocolate Bar and she made the wrapper. It is the cutest thing. On one side of the bar had the picture from the invitation and the other side had Lily Rose's picture. I absolutely loved it. Liz also gave us beautiful gifts for Lily which I will post the pictures later when I download them here.

A great big Thank You to Liz.

Our Baby Shower - Dec. 3, 2006

How bad am I!!!!!!!

My mom and my cousin Gina gave us a Baby Shower on December 3rd. I am just posting about it now. Here is the invitation, how cute is this!!!!! I was waiting to receive some pictures of the shower, but have not received any yet. Not from the lack of trying though. I will take pictures of the "opened gifts" and post later.

I have to say that they tried to keep it a secret, but considering that I live in this house (upstairs) they did a good job up until the very weekend of the shower. When I saw my cousin Gina here that Friday night cutting cheese (how funny does that sound) I kinda knew. Then Saturday when Anthony's cousins Maryann & Joe (Lily's godfather) sent the chairs over, wellllllll, I knew. So Sunday, I got up, took my time getting ready and went downstairs way after Gina got here. The house was decorated and it looked great. Although it was Lavender (really don't like Lavender) but nice all the same. So Anthony and I went out so that my family and friends didn't feel funny when they got here and I answered the door. Joseph stayed home because he knew that one of his friends were coming here with his family.

We went shopping so I could get my charm bracelet for all my Chinese Charms that I have. Then we went to pick up the hero for the "boys" that were going to be upsatirs while all the "girls" were downstairs for the shower. Then I even went to pick up the cake. Nothing like helping out for your own shower. lol So, we got home and when I walked in I yelled "SURPRISE" As I am kissing everyone hello I walked up to my friend Lori who adopted a beautiful little girl named Paige in June. I am saying hello to the baby and I notice 2 ladies one standing and one sitting. It just didn't register who they were. My mother says "Look who's here" Well, it was Stacey and Danita from my agency. I think I let out some kind of scream and just hugged Stacey first and then Danita. That was my surprise. I had no idea they were coming down from Delaware. It was a highlight of my day. I really love these girls. Mind you, I have only met them once, but talk to them more then I do my own husband. I have a very strong bond with them.

So, then we ate. My mother had food for like 100 people. I think we had something like 45 women in our house. Then of course all I kept hearing was open your gifts, open your gifts. So I opened my gifts. Joseph helped me out, he was so excited to be a part of this day. He gave his sister the cutest Robeez shoes. They have Ladybugs on the front of them. My poor mother hid my card and then forgot where she put it. She had a picture of the baby's furniture that she bought for us. She was so upset and I didn't let anyone know that she bought it either. It slipped my mind. So, to let you all know "MY MOTHER BOUGHT LILY ROSE HER BEDROOM FURNITURE" Lily's Godfather Uncle Joe and Aunt Maryann also gave a gift card to put towards the furniture. Aunt Gina, Lily's Godmother bought the stroller for her. I will do another post with other gifts and pictures and who bought what after this. I need to get the gifts in order.

I was very happy with my shower and all the great gifts for Lily Rose. She is one LOVED little girl and she is OURS.

I have to send out THE BIGGEST THANK YOU to my MOTHER & COUSIN GINA FOR A JOB WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have our Christmas Tree up

We put our decorations up Thanksgiving weekend and I am just getting around to posting these pictures. I am so laxed lately. I had Anthony pull down ALL of our decorations and then decided to put up only a few. Our tree is usually covered with ornaments, but I felt that since we are waiting for TA and it can come at any time, I didn't want to have all these decorations that I would have to take down and put away either before we left for China or when we got home. So, only a few. Joseph had to put all of his though, which is ok because last year we did not put anything up because of the construction. We also put some stuff outside but I have not taken a picture of that yet. When I do I will add it here. I have to say that I put most of my Lenox collections out. If you know me, you know I love Lenox. My China is Lenox, all my lighting in the house is Lenox and my everyday dishes and silverware are Lenox. I even have Lenox in my bathroom. I would have named my daughter Lenox but Anthony said "no way". I told him, now I have to buy Lily Rose some Lenox for her room. I have to see if they have a Lenox ladybug. How exciting. The Santa and the Snowman was made by ME in ceramics. The doll pillows are so cute. Another favorite of mine is Gingerbread Men. I guess you can say I have a lot of favorites.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I had so much to be thankful for this year. My son is healthy, my mom and brother are great, Anthony and I are healthy, but most of all we were blessed with a beautiful daughter. I thought of her often today and had some sadness wondering what she was doing and if she ate enough and if she was warm enough. I am sure most of all the parents in our situation had the same thoughts. But, I kept telling myself that soon, very soon we would be on our way to bring her home and we will never have to think these thoughts again, God willing.

I felt bad also because I did not make it to the cemetery to see my father. My father had 2 days out of the year that were his favorite. Thanksgiving and Christmas. When my parents split, I never spent another Thanksgiving with my father because it was the one holiday that my mother had at our house. With 4 sisters and a brother each one took a holiday. I would call him and talk with him, but didn't go to see him. He lived in Brooklyn and we lived in the island. I'm sure that it hurt him and I never really thought about it because he always said he understood, but now that he is gone, boy do I feel bad about it. I was never really close to my dad growing up, but when I got older things changed. We had our times that we didn't talk for a while but I always loved him. The best memories I have of my father are the times that he spent with my son. My father got sick when Joseph was 4 and he didn't want my son to see him get sicker and sicker. He died within 3 months. It took along time for my son to get use to that. I still can't believe it.

Wow, I guess I needed to get that off my chest tonight. In all my joy and happiness I still have some sadness . But isn't that always the way.

Well, I hope that everyone had a great thanksgiving and I am going to bed now because I will be up and out by 3 am to shop.

Ok, Ok This is Lily's SN

Alright, this is for everyone that keeps asking me what Lily Rose's special need is. She has a "Hearing Abnormality in her right ear". She had 2 hearing test and we had 3 ENT's check them out. The first 2 specialist are with Winthrop Hospital here in L.I. Dr. Lee is the Specialist that we contacted to look over her medical report, but he is not and ENT so he asked his colleagues to look it over for us. I don't think they really wanted to because they were not being compensated for their time and they were very vague and said that the reports were inconclusive. " Ok, thanks a lot for your help!!!!" I posted on one of the groups that I belong to just asking if anyone had experience with this type of SN and I got a ton of responses. One women in particular wrote to me and told me her husband was an ENT and that he would be very happy to look at her medical for FREE. Can you believe that their are still wonderful people in this crazy world. So I e-mailed Lily's reports to him and he called me on the phone 2 days later. He told me that the first test was no good. He said it was way off the charts and it was probably not done right. That test was done in Feb. 06 They gave her another test in July 06 and he said that although it was done at a very high level of sound, it seemed from what he read that she can hear and that maybe she just has a slight problem. It really is a leap of faith that we are going on, but at that point I had her picture for 1 month and I was crazy, mad in love. Anthony and I decided that whatever her problem is, we will just do what we have to do to get it fixed. God so had his hand in this whole process and I refuse to turn my back on what he made so clear to us.

Chen, HengYun aka Lily Rose is our daughter then and now. She will be loved just like I love my son Joseph. I always said that "Joseph was the reason I was born." So now Lily Rose is also the reason I was born.

THANK YOU BRUNY

I have to send a big Thank you to my friend Bruny. She did a big favor for me and I just wanted to let her know that I really appreciate it. If I could ever return the favor in any way, shape or form, just let me know.

I am really doing a happy dance over it. So glad that I met you.!!!!!!!!!

I would like to wish everyone a Healthy, Safe & Happy Thanksgiving.

Phone Call Details

Ok, here is how it happened for all of you that asked me for details on the CALL.

I call AH on a regular basis. Yesterday I called in the morning but the answering machine came on and I hung up. lol Joseph was off from school yesterday because of Parent/Teacher Conferences. So he had a boy scout "go-see-it at Carvel. I didn't hear my phone ring and when I got home I happen to see that I missed a call. It was my agency's phone number but no message. So at 1:46 pm, I called Stacey back and we were just talking about nothing important and then I asked her what she was so happy about and she told me that they just sealed the envelope with someone's Dossier in it and where sending it to China. So yes that is a happy thing.
Now, I usually ask Stacey if she heard anything on our PA and she always tell me "no". So I said to her "I am not even going to ask you if your heard anything on our PA because you never do". So, Stacey got really quite and finally said, "well, I don't have anything officially in writing, but you do have a verbal PA"!!!! Well, I almost fell to the floor. I was jumping up and down and sputtering words which I don't even know what I was saying. She then starts to tell me that I need to have my travel meeting very soon because TA can come at anytime. WOW, was so not prepared to hear that. I have so much to do and I have no idea where to start. I am on overdrive now. Have not slept because my mind is going a mile a minute and to top it all off, I have to start calling for Jury Duty in a week. Can you believe that.
I am not going to stress out just yet. I will get it all done and hopefully it will all work out. So that is my story. I hope you enjoyed.

We got PA !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I just got the call today that we have PA !!!!(Pre-Approval) for our beautiful little girl Lily Rose. This is what we know so far. She was born on September 4, 2005. She was found on September 10, 2005 at the gate of Guo Tai Building in Chenzhou City. She was wearing a light yellow hat, and blue clothing. On that day she was brought to the Chenzhou City Children's Welfare Institute and the staff named her Chen, HengYun. "Chen" is the first character of the name of the city, Chenzhou. "HengYun" is their wish that when she grows up, she will have a constant drive to thrive & succeed & also will always have luck. That is the institute's good wishes for Lily Rose.

She likes to sleep with her hands over her head. They say that after she has a bath she likes to stretch her limbs without clothing.!!! Watch out daddy :~) lol She loves to be outdoors. She likes eggs, minced meats and noodles. They said she has fair, beautiful skin and she has cubby cheeks & a sweet loving smile.

I am so happy that I can finally post her picture for everyone to see. So here she is (if you click on the picture it makes it bigger)

APC Adoption Conference

Well, today was the APC's 26th Annual Tri-State Adoption Conference at C.W. Post College. Anthony and I went last year when they had it in New Rochell. That is how we spent our 1 year wedding annivsary. That was the beginning of our journey to Lily Rose. We went this year because we are now in the SN program and wanted to hear some of the International Specialist speak. Well, I am so glad that we went. We met wonderful people today. First off we met Bruny & Joe. A wonderful couple that lives 20 minutes away from us and they are also adopting a little girl from China. They are going the NSN route and have a LID of 4/4/06. We wish them lots of luck in their journey to their little girl Faith. We hope to become friends with this family and have our girls know each other. I will be calling Bruny sometime next week.

We were listening to Dr. Jane Aronson speak and I asked a question about our daughters SN and when the lecture was over a women came up to us and asked if she could speak with me. Well, I am so very glad that she did. She has a daughter with a similar SN from China that our Lily Rose has and she offered her knowledge to us, which I am grateful for. Her name is Lauren and she also is the Co-Coordinator of the FCC L.I. Region. We spoke for a while and I felt a connection with her. I will be joining the FCC LI group this week.

Right after I met Lauren, another woman came up to me and ask to speak with us. Her name is Michelle and she has extensive knowledge of our daughters SN. She gave me her number and e-mail address and a few places I can call for info on Lily's SN. I have to say, just meeting these 4 people made my day. I was very happy today even though Anthony and I were up and out @ 6:30am.

We also got to see some of the great people from our agency. It was a lot of fun talking and laughing with them and just hanging out. The info at this conference is awesome. We walked around and spoke with different people and it was just great. We also got to see the International Specialist that we used to look over Lily's medical reports from China. We will see him 2 weeks before we travel and then Lily Rose will see him when we return home with her.

So, all in all it was a great day and I look forward to next years confernece.

We sent our LOI - for our Daughter

I was not going to post this until we heard that we had PA, but I really can't wait anymore. We are really happy and I wanted to share this happiness with all of you. We sent out our LOI (Letter of Intent) for a beautiful little girl on September 29th, 2006. We are so in love with this little angel. She has the sweetest face and the cutest heart shaped lips. She is 14 months old and we hope to travel by March of 2007. We have not heard anything as of yet. We are hoping to hear something by the end of the year. I hope that I am not jinxing myself by posting this without having PA (pre-approval) but I figured the more prays the better. So that is what I am asking of any and all that read this blog, please pray that we are approved and get TA (travel approval) asap. We really want to bring her home and have her SN (special need) taken care of. I will post more about her SN after we receive PA.

I just this very moment received our "brown envelope" This envelope contains all the forms needed for our Consulate visit in China to finalize the adoption of Lily Rose. This just made me really happy. Now, if I could just get that PA phone call, I would be over the moon.

A Big Thank You to a Special Family

I have to send out a big Thank You to the Cox Family. First off, thank you Maureen for notarizing all of our documents. What a huge help that was to us. To Noel for helping Anthony paint the 2 new added rooms in our home. That saved him so much time. To Kathleen, Elizabeth and Thomas. You guys are great. Thanks for being such good friends to Joseph. How much fun will we have in the summer of 2007 with LilyRose here? This family has given us so much for our daughter Lily. Beautiful clothes that were saved from when the girls were young. Beautiful little green velvet dresses for the holidays, Mary Janes, lots of summer dresses and so much more. I am trying to get some pictures to show what great stuff we got from the Cox Family. The girls gave Lily a doll accessory set which includes a doll crib, stroller, highchair, doll carrier. I have to take a picture of this because it is the cutest. We are truly blessed with wonderful friends. Love you guys.

My Mom Is Great

My mom has been great. At first, she wouldn't talk much about the adoption because she felt that if she got over excited and things didn't work out, that would be a heartache for her that she could not handle. So now that we are moving towards something HUGH (which I will talk about in a later post) she can finally be excited. She is planning a baby shower for me and she has started to buy things for her new granddaughter. She really is very happy. I have to laugh because the shower is a surprise but we live in the same house. The construction on her part of the house is finished. We are almost finished on our part. So we have been cleaning her part like nuts so of course I "know" that the shower is soon. I am very grateful to her and my cousin Gina who will be Lily Rose's Godmother. Gina has been running around and coming here and helping my mom with all kinds of things. I have to say that I have been blessed with a great family. Yesterday, my mother and I ran to Toys R Us for some Christmas gifts for my son. Well, we came across the "seven dwarfs" and my mother had to buy them for Lily Rose. The cutest plush toys ever. Can't find snow white in a plush toy but still looking. I will post a picture in another post. But for now here are some of the things my mom got. The first little dress has little ladybugs on it. The white dress has little hearts all over it. This is a beautiful dress. My mother loved the 2 sweatsuits and she picked up the red ladybug also. So, our daughter is being so spoiled and she is not even home yet. But that's what it is all about.

More Thank You's

Here is another thank you that is a long time coming. To my special friends Peggy and Bob. Isn't it strange that you can feel such a bond with someone that you never met in person. Well, I have to say that I have a strong bond and a special place in my heart for Peggy. I have never met Peggy and Bob, but I am hoping that we can meet up soon. As soon as our girls are home. They are waiting on a Lilly too. (we are spelling it differently) If it wasn't for Peggy, I would not be waiting for my Lily Rose. Peggy helped me see that this is where I was suppose to be and she gave me hope and strength to continue in this adoption, which I am forever grateful to her for. So needless to say, she will be near and dear to my heart for the rest of my life. A month ago I received this big package and it had her name on it. When I opened it up, out came a bunch of clothes for our Lily Rose. I was so overjoyed. Then a week or so later another box came and it had some cute little things in it also. So, I just wanted the world to know how much we thank you.
I didn't post all the pictures of the clothes but you can get an idea of some of the great stuff I did receive.

Sending Out Thank You's

I just wanted to send out thank you's to our friends that have sent beautiful gifts to our Lily Rose. This cute little bear and beautiful blanket came to us a few weeks back from our friends April and Sean who are waiting for their adorable little boy Aiden. We are hoping to travel with them. April and I became fast friends recently. I look forward to our phone chats, with the last one lasting 2 hours. I can't wait to meet April and Sean in person. I can see that we will be friends for a long time to come. Being in this process and going through this long wait is hard enough, you need to have friends that are going through it too. April and I have been in fabric swaps together for a while also. We met on the OHGWQ group. Actually, I met some wonderful ladies from that group, but April is the one I speak with often. So April, I am so glad that you are one of my new "Forever" friends.

Halloween Is Over

Thank God it's over. This is one of my worst days. I have never liked Halloween, even as a kid. I would never get dressed up or go trick or treating. My brother would share his candy with me every year. So how ironic that this is one of Joseph's favorite days. He got up at 6:15 am and stood by my bed and didn't say a word until I opened my eyes. Then it was a free for all. He wanted to get dress at that very moment. The school allows the kids to wear their costume for the day. It was a crazy morning. Then he got home and he was ready to go. His Godmother loves Halloween also. (see picture) She gets dressed up every year and comes over and takes Joseph trick or treating. I usually walk behind them and she takes him to the doors.
This was the first year that Joseph wanted to have a scary costume. So he choose Scream. He loved it. We started out at 4:30 and got home at 6:30 we had dinner and then we go to my cousins house a few blocks away. We have done this same routine since we moved out here. So needless to say, Joseph has like 3 full bags of candy. Thank God he knows that he cannot eat that much and we send most of it to the school for the teachers to give out during the day.
But for all the moaning I do, I get a kick out of Joseph every year. When he goes up to the door and the people say "take as much as you want" Joseph will take one piece and say "Thank You". I always get compliments on that from each person who answers their door. He might be the biggest pain in the neck sometimes, but he is very polite. He can't wait for his sister to get home so that he can take her trick or treating. I hope all the children had fun yesterday.

I made it through the night

Well, I survived the sleep over. I can not believe I made it but I did. I have to say that I will probably never do that again for as long as I live. Hee Hee

My son had THE best time ever. We arrived at the Science Museum at 5pm. Of course we had to be the first ones there and the place was hugh. It is a mansion that was built in 1903 by a women who bred dogs for Kings and Queens for the Fox Hunts. The place was awesome. The other 7 boys arrived with a whirlwind. We feed them dinner and then the fun began. The science teacher that was the guide had them in an uproar. They saw all kinds of rocks, and even got to paint some of them. Then they all made there own volcano's. Even got to see one erupt. That was great to see. So at this point I am like "ok, this isn't that bad". No sooner did that thought enter my mind we were suited up and out into the woods for our 9pm pitch black nature walk. Hellooooooooo, it was like 10 degrees out. Out of the 10 flashlights, 2 worked. Yeah, dark, very very dark. The boys got to build a camp fire and out came the marshmallows. Did you ever try to get burnt marshmallows off your hands and clothes. Not a pretty sight. Anyway, back into the woods we went after an hour. Hiked deep into the woods trying to get back to the mansion. Finally get back and it's below zero inside. Finally get the boys ready for bed and realized that I forgot our pillows. Soooo, not only did I have to sleep on the cold hardwood floor but I had no pillows. So I rolled up sweatshirts for my son to use and I used my arms. Needless to say that I DID NOT sleep at all. A few of the boys kept kicking off their blankets and I kept getting up and covering them. 2 fathers showed up instead of the mothers and they were the first ones to go to sleep. Of course it was their sons that kept kicking off the blankets. 7 am did not come quick enough for me. 8 am we were hiking to the beach. Mind you no coffee and no sleep, I was not a happy camper. 9:30 am we were on our way home. My husband will be on sleepovers from this day forward.
My son had a soccer game today and I have to say they got beat really bad. But my son scored the only goal for his team today. I have no voice left. He really is very funny. After he scored the goal he ran up the field with the biggest grin on his face. He really loves soccer and he's really good at it too. His last game he scored 2 goals for his team. Can you tell I am really proud of him.
Until next time...

Wow, a long time has pasted

I can't believe this long has past since I was last here. So many things are going on this past month. We have been so very busy with our son. He is involved with so many different things and having the time of his life. His name was in the local paper for the first time last week. MVP for his soccer game. He is so very excited. Now as most of you know I am Den Leader for his Cub Scout Troop. We are having a sleepover Friday night at a Museum and I am so not looking forward to sleeping on the floor. None of the fathers are going, just the moms. My husband is so upset over this. He wanted to go, but can't b/c it is only moms. We signed our son up for this so that the "boys" can do this stuff together. Oh well, I'll let you all know how my back feels on Saturday. HAHA
Anyway, good things are happening for us on the adoption journey, but will post about them at a later date. I will be back again soon. Until then...

The first day of school

Well, today was the first day of school for my son. He was up at 6 am (bus doesn't come until 8:45) he was so excited. 2nd grade is a big deal to him. He was so excited to get to wear his new sneakers. Nothing else excited him but those sneakers. lol I was so excited that I did the Cha Cha when I saw that great big yellow bus driving down my street. But seriously, I am excited for him this year. He has a good teacher and he has some of his good friends in his class and he makes First Holy Communion. So this will be a great one for us. But now the running begins all over again. We just returned from his first soccer practice. He loves soccer. Plus he starts Fall Baseball soon. Now he wants to join a bowling league for the winter. So we will be very busy these next few months. But I'm glad, he loves it all and I love it because it makes him happy.
I just hope when I bring his sister home that she just likes Dance for now. lol I hope she loves sports as much as her big brother. With the size of my family, we will have no problem. Thank god for big families that live so very close.

We got our LID

Well, we got the call today that we have a LID. August 9th, 2006. We are very happy and ready to relax a bit. It was really funny how I was told that we have a LID. I e-mailed my agency over the weekend to let them know what was happening with the Crazy people and they called me today to discuss MY CONCERNS with OUR adoption and also to talk about my concerns for the other families involved with adoptions through them. As we talked for a very long time it was finally time to hang up and right before I hung up the phone I was told that we have a LID. It was a very good phone call as far as I was concerned. This is what it is all about. Hearing that you are one step closer to bring home your child. There is no better feeling.

It takes all kinds

I have been trying to keep off the boards and not get involved with all the bull---- that is out here but I have to say that sometimes you just have to open your mouth. International Adoption is a very hard process on it's own, but when you have people out there doing things to "stir up the pot" it's just adding more negativity to this process. There is a situation going on that involves my agency and ultimately will affect us in the long run. I felt that I should try to halt any further damage so that not all of us will suffer. Well, I have to say that I was attacked. It blows my mind that 2 people that none of us know will maybe cause all of us to not be able to adopt. As everyone knows, we are DTC on July 17th, 2006. After these 2 people get done what they set out to do, my DTC and hopefully soon our LID will not mean anything. I have nothing to do with what is happening between these 2 people, but boy will I suffer when they are both done. I was taught to mind my own business and let everyone do what it is that they must do. I was also taught never to intentionally hurt someone. I guess these 2 missed those lessons. I am really angry. My husband told me not to say anything to these 2 as did my agency, but I thought that since we are all adults and trying to accomplish the same things that it would be ok to voice my concerns, well I guess I was wrong and to think that I felt bad for each of these women.
Lets just hope that we all finish this process and bring our children home. Which was why we are all here in the first place. To bring our children home.

Even More Confused

Well, I had made my decision on the SN child that we were interested in last week and I called my agency to let them know that we were not going to take the referral and the agency told me that the medical info we had was incorrect. Some of the children's pictures got matched up with the wrong medical reports. Well, I almost fell off the chair. Of course the little girl we had was involved with the mix up. When they told me what her real SN was I cried. It was one of the things I feared most. I asked for the new medical report anyway. I hand delivered it to the Specialist myself on Friday afternoon. We have not heard anything yet since it's a holiday weekend. Hopefully we will hear from him this Tuesday or Wednesday. This is so very hard. We fell in love with this beautiful little girl. We look at her picture everyday and we really want to take her home. I am hoping beyond hope that the Dr. gives us some good news. Asking everyone that reads this to keep your fingers crossed for us.