A special thank you to Michaela in Orlando, FL, who had my name in our WWFChina 2006 swap for January.  The theme was “It’s too cold outside….let’s stay in and play”.  Well….isn’t that the truth!  It was wonderful to have the doorbell ring and find my postal carrier at my door with a big box of goodies!  And they are perfect for Elyssa! We will be taking her Crayola Buddy Backpack with us to China, as she can store her crayons and markers in it for our quiet play moments, our many in-country travels and for the flight home!   I’m already looking for her big backpack that we can stuff full of surprises to take with us for the day we meet our new cutie!

Thank you again Michaela and I hope that those referrals speed up for you soon!

We ordered another care package for our baby girl…..she will see her mommy and daddy’s faces for the first time.  We wish we could see her when she opens her new photo album, but we’ll have to just imagine how happy she will be!

  We also included a Hello Kitty toy and some tea and cookies for her foster family to enjoy!  Oh….and a letter too!

We received news today that our transfer has been done at CCAA and we have a new LID of 01/22/10 with The Barker Foundation!  One step closer to getting on that plane to bring our beautiful baby home!

We are very excited….and busy!

Hold on tight Elyssa Baijie….we’ll be there soon!

Last night we were invited to our dear friends, Jane, Charles and Anna’s home to share in making a true home-made Chinese dinner and celebrate our PA to bring Elyssa home.  Anna just came home last month and is now 17 months old.  She is absolutely adorable and she warmed up to us after we were there for a while.  Jane and her sister helped me wrap my first home-made dumpling….and I then went on to help them wrap the chicken, pork and veggie dumplings.  The dinner was magnificent……the dumplings, the Chinese vegetable, the chicken, peanut and veggie dish, the wonderful sweet potatoes and the  pork and mushroom soup!     We enjoyed a large plate of fresh cherries, grapes, and watermelon for dessert!  Oh….and Charles opened up a bottle of Chinese liquor so we could make a toast to our daughters and try the liquor.  Whooooo….it was really strong, and after a few sips we’d decided we’d have enough.

Anna also enjoyed her dinner and then got down to play for a while.  Adrian was the magician and did a great job of keeping her entertained.  Jane and Charles then presented us with a gift from China…a beautiful bracelet and a beautiful silk outfit for Elyssa.  They also bought one for Anna and when Elyssa comes home, we will dress them both in their outfits and get a picture.  I’m sure it will be priceless.  Thank you so much Jane and Charles….it really is very special to us!

This morning I came downstairs and checked my email…..this is what I found !!!!  What a beautiful surprise!  Priceless pictures of our beautiful baby girl…….we hope you had a beautiful birthday and know that we love you very much!

Happy Birthday baby……we love you very much and can’t wait to bring you home!

Today, our beautiful little girl, turns 3 years old! We sent her a birthday package through Ann of Red Thread that included a large cake, a stuffed toy, a bag of candy for the orphanage and foster family, and a special letter from her new mama and baba.

 Elyssa…….We wish you a very happy birthday and we love you very much!  We hope you stay safe, warm and healthy until we can get there to bring you home.

Wishing everyone across the globe a very Happy New Year!  We hope that 2010 brings you happiness, good health and much prosperity!  May all your dreams come true!

Bai Jie, we hope you know that we love you very much and your new year will be filled with a new life, much love and your forever family!  We will get there as soon as we can to bring you home!

Elyssa got her first Packer hoodie from Uncle Jimmy…..so…..a Packer fan she must be!  He also bought her a cute pair of blue jeans with pink ribbons….adorable!   And she also got her first tea set and princess T-shirt from Karen….we can’t wait to see Baba sitting with her sipping afternoon tea!

Merry Christmas sweetheart!

We love you very much and cannot wait to bring you home to your forever family!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year!  We are certain that this year will be the best ever….as this is the year we will hopefully get on that plane and bring our little girl home!

our pre-approval for our daughter has arrived! We are overjoyed to introduce……

Name:  Xia Bai Jie

Date of birth:  01/09/07

From:  Nanning City, Guangxi, China

Referral date:  12/14/09 (Pre-Approval)

Our journey to our daughter has been long with many ups and downs along the way.  Those of us in the adoption community describe it as like a roller coaster ride that just keeps going and going….and as you try and hang on and get oozy and hope that the ride will end……you just hang on, never knowing when it will ever end…..and you go for another spin around the track.  Well…..although we are still on the ride, we are finally slowing down and hopefully riding on a straight track to the gate!

As we are not that young anymore :-), and we have waited for over 3.5 years since the start of our journey, we decided recently to be very proactive in searching for options.  I truly believe that we were meant to take this fork in the road….we decided to switch agencies as our daughter was on a different agencies waiting list.  Well….to make a very long story as short as possible….we are in the  process of making the switch.  It means more paperwork and more cost…..but the reward is priceless.

We have our daughter and can’t wait to be able to get on that plane to go get her!  Come on…..LOA (Letter of Approval)……..the sooner the better!  We are hoping to travel in late May or early June.

We want to thank everyone for all of your support, your understanding and your continuous prayers throughout this process.  It means everything to us!   Without you….this would not have been possible.