You Know adoption was meant for you if...

1.The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

2.You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3.You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4.The fact that if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child,there would be no orphans in the world,is convicting to you.

5.You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.

7.You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)

8.You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacy's you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word Dossier means and you can actually pronounce it!

13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have them in your life.

15. When people tell you adopiton is the cure for infertility.. "they still don't get it."

16. There is always room for "just one more" at your dinner table.

17. As a small child you were worried about the Sally Struthers ophan commercials pleading for help for the children.

*list started by unknown author, If you want to add to this list post a comment and we will get this list growing!

Check out my Slide Show!

Just like the Beach...except no sand in my eyes..

"Let's Imagine we are at the Beach!

Still very cold here. We all escaped the indoors to take in some snow play and driveway cleanup. All Michael wanted to do was ride his big wheels. We could not get the path clean enough for him, we did try. I ended up giving pulled sled rides and burrying them in the snow. This kind of day makes for a nice early bedtime.

Referral News! Happy Valentines Day

Our agency recieved 3 referrals 2/14, I think that puts us at around #4 or #5, not sure how the list is managed, but I do know that we had some upward movement. I get emabrassed to ask our agency each time referrals come in, its like kids in the car asking every 2 min "are we there yet?" The news from USCIS did not show in todays mail, so with Monday being a holiday we probably will not hear until Tuesday.
Our family had a very sweet Valentines Day, it was great to see how they shared cards and yes even candy that came home from school. I am happy that candy for breakfast was over today, they each viewed TV with the dip- n- sugar sticks...pick your battles, when the candy is gone, its gone.

Who Are You?,,,Who Who Who WHO!

You know that CIS opening song? Well it played on the radio two times today, during our race to USCIS and back home before the school bus returned home with our daughter. I was instructed before getting fingerprinted a second time, "bring a note of no criminal record" from your local police dept. basically just 3 short secenteces that states I have no records on file with the police. Bright and early go into the station ask the officer at the window if they would do this for me. He and the other officers gathering around acted like this request was beneath them and said we had to go to the county office. "Come on, do something nice for a local family" "please don't make us run all the way over there. They clearly said no and turned me away. Yes anger was swelling, if I was in that positon I would of done it if asked. Well 30 additional miles later we got our "golden" letter and headed off to USCIS, Its a done deal and home with about 30 min to spare! I was told the turn around time for me would be 2 days, so hopefully some kind of notice Mon. Keep your fingers crossed.

Pu Pu Platters for all!

Sinking Feeling

Well our first set of INS fingerprints are ready to expire, still no referral yet. So our current process is getting them "renewed" with the one time waiver of the fee. Thats the plan! Right,,,Wrong! We reprinted 1/23 and today in the mail was a letter from USCIS, boy that was fast, I got inside, took off the coat, did the bathroom thing (its so cold here...makes ya want to pee) Wanting to savor the moment when I opened it. Only to read "THE FBI WAS UNABLE TO PROCESS YOUR FINGERPRINT CARD" "Please apprear for another attempt!!!!! noooooo! Urgent call to my husband, what's your work schedule? I will take the 90 mile trip by myself, well sounds like a plan, but he insist on traveling with me. YES, this will be his Valentines Gift to me, the offer just rolled out of his mouth without hesatation I felt so relieved. Thats the "Just Do it" attitude you need to get through this paper maze. So we have a date for Wed with USCIS. Back on track.

We had a wonderful night out to celebrate the Lunar New Year, the best part for the kids was the "fancy drinks" and not being afraid of the lion! They had a great time and hopefully this is creating a tradition that they can grow up and have fond memories of.

If Born "The Year of the Rat"

A child born in the year of the rat will be sweet and loving. He may be shy, but inwardly he is fiercely competitive. Often, he resorts to crying to get more attention and usually clings to one or two people with whom he identifies. Although he has a charming disposition, he is possessive of parents and friends and jealous of attention given to others. He will talk early. He likes to eat (mention of his favorite foods always makes him light up) and he takes an early interest in cooking and other household chores. Being affectionate and demonstrative, he will not like being left alone. He will enjoy group play, can concentrate on detailed work and make friends easily. You can depend on him to keep things tidy or at least know where they are. The Rat child will start to show his calculating nature very early in life. He will insist that he get the bigger half of the apple, exactly the same number of cookies as his older brother (preferably more, but under no circumstances less). It will be hard to cheat him on anything. He learns fast and never misses a trick. He takes regular stock of his possessions--so don't try to give away any of his old toys thinking he won't miss it. Then again, if you consult him, be prepared for a struggle as the selfish little Rat won't part with anything easily. With younger children, the Rat child will tend to be motherly; at his worst, he will boss them around mercilessly. Given the proper encouragement, he will be ambitious in school. He will be most eager to participate in anything that stimulates his sharp mental powers. The vivacious Rat will be an avid reader. He will learn the importance of the written word early and be able to express himself well. Many of the world's greatest writers and historians were born in the year of the Rat.