Cute Baby Alert!!

I received these pictures late last night from Adele at Blessed Kids. I contacted her about a month ago to see if she could get some updated pictures of Sophie. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.....

What Do Ya Think????

For the last two months I have been searching pictures from Sophie's SWI looking for a picture of our girl. Often parents will go visit the SWI and click away and post the photo's on our Datong parent's yahoo board. The truth is I am afraid that I won't know her face when they bring her to me. I hate that. It makes me so sad. I am her mother, how can I not know her face..... I have studied her sweet face in her referral picture. So I search through photos of children, looking for my daughter. The only picture I have of Sophie is her finding ad in which she is an infant, and her referral picture in which she is about 5 months old. Babies change so much and so quickly.

Chris and Hannah were looking at some recent photos taken of some children at the Datong SWI and spotted a baby that they think looks like Sophie. I think they are right. What do you think?

Sophie around 5 months old


Sophie in Nanny's arms on the far right....


Sophie in Nanny's arms...


Click on the photos to enlarge and compare. Let me know what you think!
Update*** Since we have received our new pics I don't think this is Sophie**** But is a good picture of all of her friends at the SWI

The Oscar for Best Director Goes To ......Tracy!

Ahhh our weekend the one y'all must be sick of reading about....sorry but here is the photographic evidence of our fabulous time! Tracy did a great job going through everyones pictures, there had to be HUNDREDS (see post below Sophie). All I can say is that this was one amazing group of women and I am glad to call them my friends!

Soon Baby Girl

We got our LOA Monday. A waiting family with our agency just got their TA, and "only" waited 16 days. So if ours comes just as quickly we are probably looking at traveling the first week of September. The kids go back to school August 27th, I go back the 20th (I think!). I'll have 2 weeks of work before we go which is good, it will give me a chance to get my schedule in place before we leave. I have also found a sub! This is huge and finding a sub has be causing me MAJOR stress. My sub is a certified teacher who said " don't worry about lesson plans, let me just know the objectives for the weeks you will be out are and I will do the LP's." Huge relief on so many levels for me, someone I can trust with my kiddos while I'm out and someone who is easy to work with. Hannah used to play soccer with her daughter and we have had many chats about school and teaching. I am so happy that she will cover my class while I am home with Sophie.

Bloggerrazzi

I hardly took any pictures at Melissa's......now you know why! Look at all those cameras!! Tracy is working on a video which I am sure will be "wonderful" . I can't thank Melissa and Darren enough for having me. I am so glad to have met everyone. There really were no suprises, these ladies blogs truly do reflect who they are...... Smart, funny, generous ( I will post all my bloggy gifts later), and kind. I am very lucky to have been in their company.

Miss ya girls!

I'm Back.....

Just got home a little bit ago and had a GREAT time at Melissa's! But first things first! We got our LOA today for Sophie!! Now we are just waiting on our TA and we will be off to bring our girl home!! Happy News!!

Now for the blogger weekend.......have lots of secrets to reveal. Just kidding all of the secrets are safe with me for the right amount of cash! We hardly slept, we ate and ate some more, had a few drinks, but most of all we laughed and chatted like old friends! I am wiped out today and have not seen my kids so I will post some about the weekend tomorrow.

Thanks so much to Melissa and her fabulous husband Darren. The man is a saint to put up with and cook for a house full of hens all weekend!!

I 'm Off.....

See ya Monday........maybe Tuesday depending on how crazy this weekend gets!!

Still Here!

Hmmm where the heck have I been you ask??? Well we are on week number 2 with the fam visiting. My Mom was here last week and we had a great visit. She spoiled all the kiddos, including Sophie! No sooner did my Mom roll out, my Dad and my sister and her girls rolled in! Kids and all of there stuff is scattered all over our house. Ben is sleeping in our room on an air mattress, I tried having him sleep in the front living room in an effort to perserve some "husband -wife time" ......but that didn't work out. Chris and I may need to meet at a hotel room before the week is over! My sister and our have been busy going to the pool, roller skating, and Tuesday we are heading to Carowinds for some over priced fun! In the middle of all this I am having a "dental issue" that needs to be taken care of once my dentist gets back from the beach. Ugh! My husband is in a major nesting mode, which means lots of projects around the house, its kind of cute. Oh and speaking of Chris I should wish him happy anniversary. We have 2 wedding anniversaries and we always forget the summer one. Chris and I got married the first time by JP. Chris was just starting his business and was diagnosed with an eye disease that required special and expensive contacts. He didn't have any insurance and I did. We got secretly married so he could get his contacts on my health plan. Only our parents and siblings knew about our first wedding, we had our big wedding 4 months later. We never forget that anniversary!


I just took a look at our LOI counter and can't believe that our LOI has been in China for 25 days today. Last week we found out that Sophie has not had her surgery. This is good and bad news. Bad news because this can impact her overall health, but good that we found the BEST doctor for her SN at the Cincinnati Children's hopital.People come from all over the world to go this clinic and see this doctor! Our agency is trying to expedite our travel etc so we can get her home and to a doctor. We are hoping to send antibiotics and vitamins with a family that is traveling soon or through our agency. I am hoping that we hear something this week about our LOA. Chris keeps reminding me that our girl is strong, she has lived in China without her surgery. She is waiting for us to come get her and get her all fixed up! Hang in there baby girl we are coming as fast as China will let us!!

As for you Bodacious Bloggers out there.....I'll see ya Friday!!!

Lucky Mommy!

Congratualtions Colleen and Jim! And Welcome to their sweet little Hannah!

Our Last 4th of July WITHOUT Sophie!

Our last 4th of July without Sophie! It feels really good to be able to say that! Every 4th of July since we moved to NC we have gone to a baseball game and then stayed for the fireworks. This year as we were watching the fireworks it hit me, next year I would have a toddler with us at the game…..I can't wait!

It was a perfect night for baseball. It wasn't hot or humid, there was a nice breeze and the Grasshoppers won! My mom, aunt and her friend joined us at the game for beer, hotdogs and fireworks. It was a fun time for all! Hope everyone enjoyed their day, and for our Canadian readers Happy belated Canada day!

Ready or Not......

How can I not be ready, I have had 15 months to prepare! I walked around Target yesterday with my "mega list" and felt overwhelmed and not prepared. Sure it doesn't help any that we don't know when we will travel. LH sent our travel packet last week, and we will submit our documents and photos for our Visa's as well as our room requests for the the hotels we will be staying in while in China. I have not had one shot. Ben and Hannah both are up to date on their vaccines, but I need to arrange for them to get the Hep A vaccine. I guess I should get started on my Hep B and Hep A vaccines, although I won't finish the series for the Hep B in time for our trip. I really need to get my act together.

On another note the number of medicines recommended on my "mega list" is a little crazy. I am going to bring Tylenol, Motrin, a broad spectrum antibiotic, and Elmite. Most OTC meds aren't recommended for children under 2 years old anyway, and I am worried that Sophie could have some weird reaction to the meds while we are in China. That would not be good. I will talk it over with our pediatrician and get his imput. As for the rest of us, I will bring the usual stuff and a broad spectrum antibiotic. I am going to end up with a suitcase that in comparable to a CVS!

Well I am off to work on checking things off my "mega list." That is the title of the packing list that I have saved to my desktop for 15 months. I have no idea where I found it. It is a nice spread sheet with a box to check things off as you purchase or pack them for your trip. I really need to get my act together.....