Introducing Ms. Pei Jung Sullivan!!!

I really can't believe I am writing this post. It feels utterly surreal. Today at 11:40 a.m. I was sitting at my computer trying to decide if I should send an e-mail to JOH or simply call and beg them to tell me if we were close to the top of the list. Just then, the phone rang and it was a 206 area code. Well, let me tell you, everyone who is waiting for a referral from JOH knows what that means! Tien (the Taiwan Program Coordinator) was on the other end waiting to tell me that she had a referral of a beautiful baby girl born in the early morning hours on Friday June the 6th. Wow!!! I opened my e-mail to a precious little face and knew it must be a Sullivan baby because she was as bald and serious as all the Sullivan babies have been. I owe a huge thank you to our dear friend Dr. Tess who came right over and reviewed all the information. She said everything looked great! We have a name in mind, but we haven't decided definitively yet so for now we will call our daughter by her beautiful given name Pei Jung (pronounced "pay yong"). After 8 months and 4 days of waiting, we feel so fortunate to finally share with you our referral photo AND a little video. Enjoy!

Welcome Babies Annabella and Qwill!!!

I have to take a break from our family to give a shout out to two families with new additions. First, I want to extend a heartfelt congratulations to my cyber-friend Casey and her family who received a referral of a beautiful baby girl from Taiwan in mid July. Hurray for baby Annabella! Casey and I were waitlisted about two weeks apart and she has been a very important part of my support network as we have navigated the tricky and sometimes turbulent waters of international adoption together. Because they began with a different agency and later switched to JOH they have been waiting over 2 years for this referral and I could not be happier for them!! Perhaps one day our little girls will have the opportunity to meet in person(and Casey and I too!!)

Second, I have been hoping to post a picture of this new little cutie, but I can't get it to attach (Arrrrg!)So I'm going ahead, sans picture, with a big greeting to baby Qwill, a beautiful English Setter puppy who is joining a wonderful family and great friends of ours here in Helena. Shannon, Erik, Zoe and Dash we can't wait to meet your new little darling as soon as you get her home.

Welcome to the world babies!!

Happy Birthday Sam!!!

Seven years ago today, at just about this time, our beautiful son Sam made his way into the world. Our lives have never been the same since. I can't believe our beloved first born is seven years old!! How did this happen?? I guess it's true what they say, time flies when you're having fun. We love you so much Sam! We usually have a big kids party but decided to hold off this year due to Sam's finger injury (a little less pinky to worry about thanks to a big door with a sharp hinge - ouch!) We will have the "real" party in a few weeks when the finger is healed. Fortunately, Dan's sister and her husband came to visit all the way from Germany just in time to celebrate so we've had lots of outings to keep us busy. Here are some pictures of our weekend. (notice Sam is STILL wearing his triathalon shirt! We really do wash our clothes around here.)

Brags on My Boys

When you have children you dream about them enjoying a full beautiful life better than your own. You want them to be happier, healthier, smarter, stronger, richer in all things. But what I didn't anticipate was that they would be surpassing me so soon! At 40, I've participated in a variety of athletic events but my dream of competing in a triathlon (the shorter sprint distance, mind you!) was cut short when I started having children almost seven years ago. This weekend our oldest son, Sam, completed his first kids mini triathlon! I was so proud of his interest and enthusiasm. He had great focus and did a fantastic job!! He is following in the footsteps of his studly father who at 43 is running faster than he did when he was a teenage track star. (This year he won the masters mile with a time of 4:38!) He does triathlons himself but at this race was just the running leg (his team of course won, what can I say, the man's a physical marvel) Our youngest son, Luke, was right in there cheering on his brother and father and is all set to give it a try at next year's event. Perhaps I will be ready for my comeback then too! Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Trudging into Month Eight!!

~Sigh~ Tomorrow we wrap up seven months of waiting for our little girl and I am sad to report that we are no further along than we were at the end of May. JOH had NO referrals for the month of June. = ( This is nothing to worry about, just par for the course in this crazy unpredictable ride called International Adoption. The wait is becoming increasingly difficult and, for me, the anxiety is mounting. I constantly wonder about our baby: Has she been born? What is her birthday? What does she look like? Does she have hair? What time of day was she born? How is her birth mother handling all of this? Was the birth easy or difficult? Where is she living? Is she sick? Is she well? Is she happy??? These are some of the questions I think about during the looooooong days of waiting. I feel like each month I say we are about number 4 on the list. This is because Taiwan doesn't REALLY have a list. One can only surmise a place from other people in the program to whom you've been speaking. So, perhaps I should just stop trying to guess when we are going to receive a referral. Some days I think I'm just dreaming all of this and it's not really even real. The group of us waiting now are among the first in this program to wait over seven months for a referral. Do I sound depressed?? Well...I am, a little. Please keep us and our baby and our baby's birth family in your thoughts. We could probably all use a little support right now. Onward to July!

May Referrals

The JOH monthly newsletter arrived announcing program III had seven referrals in the month of May (4 girls and 3 boys!) So, once again we climb higher on the list. I really think we are near the top now and I am very much hoping to hear some exciting news for our family in the next six weeks. I want everybody to be thinking positive happy thoughts for us! [ and I thank you in advance for that : ) ] but more importantly for our little girl and for her birth family. We hope all of them are healthy and being well cared for at this time. Congratulations to all the JOH families who have received great news in the last month on referrals, hearings, rulings and travel plans!! We look forward to joining you all on cloud 9.

Six Months and Counting...

June 3rd marked the end of sixth months of waiting for the referral of our little girl. We really do think we are getting close now. JOH told us to expect a wait of about 6 to 8 months and, based on past referrals, they seem to be quite good at predicting time lines. We really hope we get a referral before August so that perhaps (just maybe) we can have our daughter home by Christmas. Chinese New Year is early this year on January 26th and travel becomes more difficult and expensive during this holiday season. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We know our program received at least 2 girl referrals in May so we are moving up the list. Summer is almost here and we hope all of our friends and family have a fantastic season!

[Post-note written 08-30-08]: As I am sitting here re-reading old posts, I realize that this one was written on the day our beautiful baby girl was born. This was posted at 9:43 in the morning on June 5th which means it was 11:43 p.m. in Taiwan. Our darling Kathryn Pei Jung was born about 45 minutes later in the early morning hours on June the 6th. Kate, I so wish I could have been there to watch you take your first precious breath. I cannot wait to hold you in my arms sweet girl and once I get ahold of you I will never let you go. Please know how desperately I wish I had been with you always. All my love to you, mom