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

Welcome Baby Michelotti!!!

We are so happy to announce that our dear friends, John and Lori Michelotti, after a patient 14 month wait, just accepted the referral of their beautiful little girl from Korea. We can't wait to welcome Hee Yoon Lee, born November 25th 2007, into our lives! We hope our little girls will be close in age and able to grow up together. Congratulations John, Lori, Rosie and Nick!! Your family of five is now complete!

Behind the Scenes

Part of the international adoption paper chase is to ensure that forms get to where they are suppose to go. It used to be that the I171-H (permission to adopt a foreign born orphan) was sent directly from the INS to Taipei Taiwan. The U.S. govt recently changed the rules so that everything now goes through the National Visa Center in Portsmouth New Hampshire. On the advice of our agency, I spent an hour on the phone today making sure that our physical file had been sent from Portsmouth to Taipei. It was fun to find out that it had indeed been sent on April 15th. (tax day! I wonder if that means anything???) It was exciting to learn that things are going on behind the scenes even when we don't know it. So, hang in there little girl, between ourselves, multiple agencies and two governments we are preparing to come get you! Yay!