Pressing on

While this past week as been emotionally painful for us, we are choosing to press on. As I have said before, we never imagined that 3 months after accepting our daughter's referral, we would STILL be waiting to get our new LID. We are accepting the fact that we may not travel until August now, which is outside the range (April- July) we anticipated when we accepted Madeline's referral. We are hoping to hear something after CC@@ gets back from the holiday break, which means the end of February for us.

Since accepting Madeline's referral last fall, we have had a new shed built in the backyard, which is really like a small barn. LOL. Patrick and Caleb have had fun cleaning out the garage and moving things out to the shed. This needed to be done to make room for the gheenoe we got for Christmas. We are looking forward to some fun times on the river, as soon as we get our hitch installed on the minivan.

Now that the workers are (temporarily) gone, I have some time and space to finish painting the closets they installed in Madeline's room and the computer room. After the closests are done, we (hopefully me and Deb) can finally paint Madeline's room. Otherwise, I'll be painting solo, which isn't an easy task with a 5yo who is so eager to "help" me paint his sister's room. LOL.

I am also enjoying the time I am spending in front of my sewing machine. I just finished an adorable party dress I made for a baby shower I will be attending this week. It's just too sweet. And I can't wait to make one for Madeline. I'll have to share some of the other dresses and outfits I've made Madeline already in the not too distant future, too. But I am finding time to upload images to my computer is not coming easy lately. Oh well....

****Edited to add: a photo of the party dress ****




On another note, I received my renewed passport this week. I was pleasantly surprised that they did not ruin the photo with the new way they are setting it to the passport book. When Caleb's came back, his precious photo was totally blown out and the white balance was totally off and "orange". His precious, handsome photo was ruined by this new process as they make room for the computer chips that are now implanted in the book. I know it's not really a big deal. But when your son's photo looks like the glowing sun, you just know it ain't quite right. Well, at least he'll get a new one in another 5 years.

Yesterday, Madeline turned 23 months old. It's amazing how quickly these last few months have passed. For that I am thankful. I can't believe how much my "little" girl has grown since her referral information. She is a chart breaker, with her height putting her at 75th percentile and weight between 50-75th percentile on American charts. She's 7 months younger than my niece Leah but so much taller. Oh how I would love a tall girl, as this is an area the Lord has chosen not to bless me. ;) Anyway, this weekend we will make some cupcakes to celebrate yet another milestone in our precious, little girl's life. We will be sending her a big cake and care package for her 2nd birthday next month. We will be sad to be celebrating her birthday without her. But we'll do what we can to make it special for her.

Well, it's back to painting for me. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!!!