Our New Header

Thank you so much Annie (from Sweden!) for our beautiful new blog header. It is so cute! I especially love the pink bow (and the ladybug, of course)! I don't know how she did it, but it was a very sweet surprise!

Lantern Festival

Tonight we braved the cold, dreary, miserable weather to check out the local Lantern Festival. Apparently they have done this every year for over 100 years. It is a local tradition, but people come from all over to see it. The Lantern Festival is a weekend event, with activities and festivities all 3 days, but we only went tonight to see the play, which was based on an ancient Chinese tale, and the fireworks. All throughout the town the houses and businesses were decorated with lanterns. It was very beautiful!

Worth the Wait

A friend of mine just got home from China last week with her beautiful new daughter, Amelia. She is absolutely precious and I am so happy for the new family! Congratulations, Rebecca and Zachary!
I asked for permission to post her picture on our blog because I thought that seeing her sweet face might help our friends and family to understand why we're going through all this, and how worth it this will be! Isn't she beautiful?!

Two More Marbles...

OK, so the CCAA only matched 2 days worth of LIDs this month, BUT they were 2 very big days. March 21st and 22nd 2006 were huge days for logging in, and the 23rd is another huge day. I guess they just couldn't handle 3 big days in a row.

I am still hopeful for a speedup for several reasons. First, the CCAA put new rules and measures into effect back in January of this year, and it takes at least 6 months to get a baby "paper ready" (or ready for adoption). Therefore, assuming these new measures have worked, it will be at least 6 months until we see an increase of paper ready babies. That would mean that the paperwork for these babies should just be arriving at the CCAA this month (July), so perhaps next month (August) we will begin to see the speedup. It has been said for awhile now that the speedup will begin in the fall of this year. Also, March 2006 was an insanely large month as far as families getting logged in. Adoption from China was hugely popular at the time and the CCAA was bombarded with dossiers in record numbers. As soon as we get through March 2006, there should be a natural speedup because April 2006 is much smaller, then May is even smaller.

So here are the marble jars as they now stand:Jar #1 now has 1,095 marbles; we are 14 days closer to Caitlin!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A lot of people have been asking me questions about the adoption process, and I have come to realize that there is a lot of interest- as well as some misconceptions or misunderstandings. I thought it might be a good idea to try to answer some of these questions here in my blog. This will keep my blog active during the long wait, and provide something new to read! All the FAQ posts will be filed under the "FAQs" category, and can be accessed by clicking on the link under "Labels" in the column on the right.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me and I can add it (anonymously) to the FAQs. Don't worry, I've probably heard it before so please do not worry about offending me!

Ladybugs in Wisconsin

Look what we spotted today in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin:I hope this means good things are to come!!

Today is our 4th anniversary, and we decided that instead of spending money on ourselves (especially since both of our birthdays are within a month of our anniversary), we should put the money we would have spent on gifts for each other towards something for Caitlin. Actually, it was Paul's idea. Sweet, huh?! He's already thinking like a daddy!

I saw this crib bedding set at Babies R Us months ago and immediately fell in love with it. It has embroidered flowers,butterflies,and, of course, ladybugs!Oh, and it's pink, of course, but not overly pink.

This is the comforter,crib bumper,and bedskirt that goes with it.Anyway, everyone kept telling me that if I loved it so much I'd better go ahead and get it because they don't keep patterns forever, but you know me: I was waiting for it to go on sale! Then I noticed that JCPenny was no longer carrying it, and I was seeing it online for cheaper than I'd ever seen it, so I started to worry that it was in fact going out of "style". We got a great deal at Amazon.com: on sale, no tax, AND free shipping! Can't get better than that!

Another Gift for Caitlin!

Mandi sent Caitlin the cutest ladybug outfit:It is just adorable- Thank you, Mandi! I love all these ladybugs! :)

6 More Marbles!

China sent out more referrals on Friday. We got to move 6 more marbles!Slowly but surely, we are making our way...Jar #1 now has 1,097 marbles; we are 12 days closer to Caitlin!

How cute is this?!

Check out this adorable outfit that my mom sent for Caitlin:It has tiny ladybugs all over the jeans, and it even came with matching shoes!
SO cute! Thanks, Mom- I love it (and so will Caitlin)!