Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Where Have We Been?

Wow, it's been three months since we've updated this site.
Needless to say we've been very busy and yet there is no news to report on the adoption homefront. Time has basically stood still in that department. It seems about the time we started our wait which was supposed to be 6-7 months. China began to slow down the process and basically began referring days worth of referrals instead of a month's worth each month. We had hoped they would catch back up and even begin to double up on months but unfortunately the trend has continued and there is any hint that it will speed up anytime soon. I knew 6-7 months was just to good to be true! After waiting 14 months for Claire, 7 months seemed like a dream and I guess it was! So we are trying to be patient and enjoy our last months together as a family of three. We have realized that we will never have this time back again and we want to enjoy it. Claire is having a bit of hard time understanding what is taking so long and she asks about her baby sister daily. So here it is, our latest referral time prediction Scenarios (I can dream about #1, can handle #2 but just don't let myself think about #3 yet. ):
1.The "Best Case Miraculous" Scenario: Referral in August travel in October ( Just like we did with Claire)(Not likely to happen unless we see double months next month)
2.The "Most Realistically Hopeful" Scenario: Referral in October travel in December (Christmas in China?...Hmmm.....)
3.The "Keeping with the Current Trend in Timeframes" Scenario: Sometime in 2007 (Don't even want to go there yet)

Meanwhile here are the last three months in pictures:
On Mondays (Ed's day off) we are either at Disney or the beach if it's too hot. Claire is definately a beach lover and she has no fear of the water which gives daddy something to do while mommy gets some sun!


We also gave Claire's room a makeover. She has been asking for a princess room and really had outgrown her toddler bed. So we found a great deal on a castle bunk bed on ebay and daddy took a road trip to Louisiana to pick it up. Mommy painted the room and the new bed and Clair "supervised". She was very happy with the way it turned out and she loves her new bed. She tells me often "Mommy I luv my woom!"


Easter was very busy for us but we managed to get in an Easter Egg hunt, decorate eggs, and get our annual Easter Sunday picture taken. We sent Claire on a scavenger hunt to find her Easter basket that came a day early due to the craziness of Sundays at our house!


Claire has also started Gymnastic lessons. She loves the parrellel bars and is very brave on them. She has just learned to do a tumble and is very proud of herself. She has to show everyone that comes to visit what she can do and then she stands and proudly says "See dat's my new twick"! We'll post some gymnastics pitures soon.
We are thrilled that Kristy's cousin, Kara and her husband, Ben, have received a referral for a baby boy in Guatemala. Baby Broden is now 4 months old (his birthday is one day before Claire's) and we cannot wait to meet him. Claire is so excited that Aunt Kara is going to be "a big sister like me"! She hasn't quite figured it all out yet but she's excited nonetheless.


Nana came to stay with Claire a few days while mommy and daddy went to a "boring place for meetings" (District Council). Claire had a great time and tried to convince Nana to stay and move in with us but Bapa wouldn't let her! Before she left we all went to Disney together.


Well that's about it for now. We'll leave you with one more. If you haven't figured it out yet, this is who hold the pants in the family!