The great news and not so great news.

Do you want the great news first, or the not so great news? Well, the great news is that we received the I-797C approval in the mail yesterday authorizing us to adopt our precious son!!! Hooray!! This was done so quickly!

The bad news is that Motherbird's fingerprint expiration date is listed incorrect (and incorrectly expired which it is not). :( Hopefully this is something that will not impact us time wise. To be continued....

I-800 in process!!

I just opened the mail and we got verification that our I-800 form is processing! Hooray! This is so exciting! Our next step is for it to be approved, and then we can work on getting our travel approval from China. I cannot believe in just a matter of weeks we will have this child forever. Everyone is so supportive and happy for us, and we are so thankful. Soon it will be time to board that plane and start this new chapter in our lives.

Ms. sassafras and I were in the car this morning, and she tells me, "Sometimes you're a good mommy, and sometimes you're a bad mommy." Of course, I'm a "bad mommy" when she doesn't get her way. I've explained to her a million times that it is not nice to say mean things like that, but on the other hand, this is her opinion, and she is entitled to that. She ended the conversation with, "But I'll always love you mommy, even if you're bad." Then I said, "And I'll always love you, even when you are bad." I believe two can play at this game. Stinker.

Where did the time go?

Ms. sassafras is 3 1/2 years old already. I still remember the moment she was put into my arms. My prayers were answered, and that moment changed our lives forever. At eleven months old, she still had trouble sitting up. By the time she was 15 months, with the help of physical therapy, she learned how to sit up, crawl (like a bear on all fours - too cute) and walk.

We know that she was loved in her foster family - that was very evident. She had a foster mother and two teenage foster sisters. Her paperwork said "likes to be held by adults". She still loves that! The way she bonded right away was amazing. She was put into my arms, and she kept smiling at me and put her hands in my mouth. She seemed at peace. And my dad says, "She was just waiting for you." I know that God created her for us. I am so grateful.

They say that the children may bond to one parent, and that one parent was me. It was pretty tough in China in the fact that when I put her down the first three days, she would scream, and she needed that close contact to feel safe. I, of course, did not deny her that. I could not even sit her down beside me so that our legs were touching. I felt like my right bicep muscle would fall off. Oh well, who needs it anyway? Hehe. Not to mention the fact that she had a cold, and I had THE WORST cold of my life. Uncontrollable coughing fits at complete random. So this upcoming trip to China, I pray that I stay healthy, as we stayed a lot in the hotel room and did not sightsee as much as we would have liked to.

She is an amazing little girl. She is very confident. There is no doubt in my mind that she will get what she wants out of life. I wouldn't be surprised if she was running a company some day. Cut throat, I say. But she has a good heart and a very witty mind. She will come right back at you with a comment to yours in the blink of an eye. And the comment is funny, and makes sense. She was blessed with common sense. And that makes her dad so happy. He's the type of guy that appreciates that kind of stuff.

So enjoy these flashback pics of "our baby girl". It makes me sad sometimes that she has to grow up. On the other hand, we are happy that we are over the teething thing. Wow. Many sleepless nights and sleepless nights make for a crabby Motherbird.

Just wondering how life will change again with Big Brudder. Hmmmmmmmm.......

Mei Mei's big heart

Last night, we were eating dinner at the dining room table, and Motherbird had an idea to act like "big brudder" for Ms. sassafras. Of course, she excitedly dove into the opportunity. It beat me acting like Santa Claus AGAIN as I had for the past seven consecutive weeks! I could tell she was so excited to play this game. And, no surprise to me, the game continues today. If I take a peek into my crystal ball, I see that this will be going on until the day we leave for China.

Anyhow, she admitted for the first time that she asked for a football from Santa so that she could give it to her "big brudder". God bless this child for thinking of this for him. I do remember her sitting on Santa's lap and telling him she wants a football (along with another toy for her), but I was kind of thinking that she thought of it so that she could share it with her brother. It melted my heart right then and there. Here is a pic of our baby girl. Who would have ever thought she would be a mei mei? We thought that she would be the BIG sister, but God had other plans....

On the news front, we got the I-800 application form from the adoption agency in the mail yesterday. It will be over-nighted to immigration tomorrow. Even though this is another step up the ladder, I feel that this is a huge one. Once this form is processed, we will be on our way to getting our travel approval. And then the trip will be booked! I am anxious and excited and I keep thinking about what it will be like to meet this precious boy. Stay tuned!

Package sent (finally)

The holidays were a complete whirlwind. It was Thanksgiving, and then we blinked, and it was Christmas. And then we were ringing in the New Year.

In the midst of everything, we prepared a care package for our son. It included an album of pictures, (mom, dad, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin, house, pets) a baseball cap, a back pack and several matchbox cars. I wrote descriptions of everything in the album, and our sister-in-law wrote the descriptions in Chinese as well, so his foster parents can read it to him. We are so lucky that she is able to help us in this way.

So the package should arrive to him next week.

Here are some pictures of our daughter in her glory on the sled. It amazes me how she doesn't complain being out in the cold. It's probably because I am so sensitive to the cold. And as I type this I am looking at the outside temperature being a mere 14 degrees. Oh, and she loved eating the snow. YUM!!!

It's been a while....

Well, the holidays have once again taken a toll on Motherbird. I think I am starting the recovery process. We had a very Merry Christmas. Happy Birthday Jesus! And we had a nice New Year at home. Yesterday was an organizing day. It was as productive as can be expected in one day. It's funny how the New Year has a way of giving you new light, and a new focus on making improvements.

Ms. sassafras got some wonderful gifts - mainly some small appliances to add to her kitchen supplies, some clothes, and some medical supply kits complete with a crash cart - can you believe they make these sorts of things for kids? Oh, and some organizing bins for her toys, which Motherbird loves - hehe. But the best gift of all (please sit down for this one) was a bin full of regular tape, blue painter's tape and multiple packages of bandaids. Her face was absolutely priceless, which unfortunately I didn't capture in a picture. Here is the actual gift. Isn't it funny that the kiddos love the silliest of gifts?

So here are some more pics of our Christmas. We were so happy to ring in 2010, because this is the year that we get our precious son!

The latest with our adoption news is that the agency is still clarifying some information on our son for an immigration form that we hope to process this upcoming week or two. Hopefully, we are still on track to travel in March.

Happy New Year everyone!