The Amazing Race (In Our Living Room)

The boys were hyper tonight racing each other across the living room. Jack is still faster than Liam but you ought to see my thirteen-month-old fly.

Too fast to be captured on film.

Tonight, Liam gave me a kiss when I asked for one before he went to bed. Oh, how I love his little open mouthed kisses. So cute!

Noodle Head

Liam was all about putting food on his head tonight. Can you spot the noodle?

Ridiculously Cute!

Miss Maggie's swimsuit arrived in the mail today. I took a picture of it with a lotion bottle so you could see how tiny it is. The tag says it will fit a baby who weighs 12.5 to 16.5 pounds. Mike bets the suit won't fit her. My friend Shelley found us a 6 to 9 month suit at a very good price so I think we'll be in good shape in China.

Cute bow on the back! Love the ruffles!!

Little Girl Found

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to discover an abandoned baby in China? What would you do? Rumor Queen recently posted a link to this article describing one woman's experience. Like the author, I would have trouble letting go. My heart aches for the homeless children.  

The Waiting Game

When are we going to travel? Right now, I imagine it will be the first or second week in September. The good news is that our Visa applications along with our Passports are safely at the US Consulate. Hopefully, we will receive our Visas in a week or so. If anyone is looking for a courier, I highly recommend Denise Hope at There's Always Hope. She has been great to us.

Meanwhile, we're building a monster pile for our suitcases. All kinds of goodies for Maggie - clothes, prunes (hee, hee), diapers (etc) and then some snacks for us. We'll be taking plenty of granola bars and peanut butter for treats to tie us over.

Our agency released its monthly newsletter today. Last month, the agency received referrals for just three families - we are one of those blessed families. I had the great fortune of being contacted by one of the two families in our group. We have been communicating since then helping each other with the Visa applications and figuring out what to pack. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's nothing like being a member of the adoption community. I have experienced the warmth of friendship and kindness so many times from members of this caring community.

I ordered a 3 to 6 month swimsuit for Maggie Rose since we will be in three toasty locations during our stay in China. I hope to receive the suit soon and post a picture of it. My CCAI friend found us a 6 to 9 month swimsuit in case the one I ordered is too small.

Our Yahoo friends received their baby girls today. One friend posted about the day on her blog. Wow - it's incredible to see her precious pictures, knowing that we will have our own special day next month.

Now, we sit back and play the waiting game for a little while longer. We hope to receive our travel approval this week which will allow our agency to ask for a date with the US Consulate in China which will help them figure out our travel dates!

Big Men on Campus

The boys decided to play with their backbacks the other day. They had a lot of fun carrying them around. Liam loves it when he has exactly what Jack has. Well, okay, Liam had the Spongebob backpack while Jack carried around Buzz Lightyear, but still, Liam thinks he's pretty cool.

Serious backback and serious Scooby Doo watching.

"Look, mom. No pants." What a little hippie!

Care Package, Visa Apps, Oh My!

Since we received Maggie Rose's referral, time has flown.

First, we had 24 to 48 hours to send back our acceptance letter. Last week, I put together Maggie's care package consisting of a light blanket, rattle, Hello Kitty toy (thinking about you, Amy), photo book, camera, treats for Maggie and her friends and candy for her care givers. Fingers crossed that her ophanage will actually take pictures. We hear that families from her province often do not receive their cameras back. I also would love for Maggie to be able to keep her toys. I marked everything I could. The rattle was the only that I couldn't mark.  

Yesterday, I mailed our Visa applications. With some help, the four page application wasn't so bad, just time consuming. Today, I mailed our travel paperwork to our agency.

Now, I can sit back and wait for our Passports and Visas to be mailed to us. We still do not know with certainty when we will travel. However, we may receive our Travel Approvals in a couple of weeks.  

There are a few families in our Yahoo group that are leaving for China this week! They will meet their daughters next week. I am so excited for them. I can't imagine how excited I will be when we actually travel.