Soccer!

Trace is right in the middle. Defending his goal!
He played really hard!
And managed to block several goals! 

Well, for some reason they didn't all load the first time, so now you have to look at then in reverse order! Sorry!

That's my baby girl! 

The "stork" (aka FedEx man) arrives!

We spent the whole morning anxiously awaiting the big moment! Trace and Rick stayed home for the morning. We were all right there to open the door before he even made it up the walkway! I guess I don't really need to label each picture, they are pretty self-explanitory!

 

Chopstick lessons!

Caden and I bought some chopsticks in Target's bargain section one day. So naturally we had to have rice for dinner that night! The boys had a lot of fun with it, despite the mess!









Success! (Just don't breath!)

Caden's card

Aunt Chris sent Caden a birthday card that played the Star Wars theme song. He absolutely LOVED it and was totally shocked when he opened it! I think he walked around with this look on his face for about ten minutes! Thank's Aunt Chris! 

HERE SHE IS!!!

Meet our BEAUTIFUL baby girl, Paige Nicole!
We might be biased, but she IS the most beautiful baby girl ever! 

Look at the fat little wrists and hands! She looks so healthy! 

Look, even a little smile! 

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!

After waiting all day, and having a racing heart every time the phone rang...
We finally got THE call around 5:30pm.

What we know for now...
Name: Xiu Feng (pronounced - Shoe Fung)
To Be: Paige Nicole ?

Birthdate: February 28, 2006 (only 7 months old!)

She lives in Jiangxi Province which is somewhat toward the south and east.

We will get pictures and more information on Wednesday - I promise to post them!

We made the cut!!!

The China Center for Adoption Affairs just updated their website. They have completed matching babies to families up through August 9, 2005 (we are July26th)! Yeah!! Now come on Fed-Ex - bring me my baby!!! (Ok, her picture!)

The Stork is in SanFrancisco!

Unofficial rumor has it that the stork has landed on U.S. soil! Agencies should start receiving referrals tomorrow. I'm not expecting to hear anything until at least Wednesday though. Keep checking back....

STORK ALERT!!!

While it hasn't been confirmed yet, multiple agencies have said that referrals are in the air! They were mailed Friday in China (late yesterday here). Hopefully the "stork" will be on U.S. soil no later than Monday! Paige is on her way!!!!

A Quick Paige update...

I know most of you are checking here often waiting to hear something! A few have even called and asked "what's going on?" Well, we are waiting. I know, big surprise huh? It seems like things are going similarly to last month. A few VERY early rumors followed by silence, and then out of no where referrals show up! My personal guess is that we will start to see referrals arriving by the end of this week. Our agency will be one of the last to contact us because they have everything translated and double checked first. I am hoping to know who she is by the end of the week and have a picture by next week. That is best case though. We may not hear until next week. Trust me, I will put anything I hear up here as soon as I can!

Forty days and forty nights...

well ok maybe it was only one night, but it was over four inches in a little more than two hours! Trace woke me in the middle of the night asking what a noise was. Rick sat up and told him it was thunder - I had no idea, slept right through it. When I went to tuck Trace back in I heard it myself. Holy Cow! I've never heard thunder that loud before. I love thunder stormes, but I couldn't get back to sleep with this one. Just as I'd start to relax the thunder would hit again. It felt like the house was going to explode and the kitchen clock was even knocked off the wall! It dawned on me that the neighbors basement had flooded several weeks ago. Then I really couldn't get to sleep because I was worried about ours. So first thing in the morning I headed down to the basement. The smell of wet cement met me even before I saw the water. Thank goodness we had almost nothing of value down there and several things were in plastic totes. From now on everything will be in a plastic tote!

This is what it looked like when I first went down into the basement! At first I thought the blower to the bounce house (the yellow thing) was ruined. Little did I know it was going to become a huge help! 

Caden is standing at the edge of one of the "deep" places. I think at worst it was maybe an inch in spots. 

Caden had fun playing "floating" soccer. 

This was first thing in the morning. Notice the tiny dry spot next to the computer? There were about four little spots like that in the basement. Obviously the ground is a little higher right there. Now who would have thought, when we put the computer on the FLOOR in the BASEMENT, that we would choose a "high " spot? 

We used three methods to try and dry out the floor. The space heater (the silver thing in the back.), the box fan, and finally the blower that goes with the boy's bounce house! The blower actually worked the best. This picture was taken after we had moved everything one time. It was soon all moved again and hopefully very soon it will be moved to its final spot! 

Finally! After roughly 10 hour of cleaning, we had all of the standing water out! 

I thought I'd better take this picture before his body went into shock! This was Caden's choice for lunch one day - a banana, a pear, and a soy butter sandwhich! 

Five years ago...

I was sitting at our computer timing my Braxton Hicks contractions and starting to wonder. I told Rick as he left for work that I might be calling that night. It wasn't until 5 the next morning though that I decided we needed to go to the hospital. And at 10:26am our Caden surprised us all! He was two weeks early and we had convinced ourselves he would be a she! What a rollercoaster it has been with him in our lives! Never have I known a child who could make us so mad or laugh so hard! Half the time he just has to look at us and we start laughing. He loves to cuddle and snuggle just about any time, he is smart as a whip and remembers everything! He has taught us a lot too. Patience, you can never have too much cinnamon, or eggos, patience, that everything we thought we knew about discipline doesn't work oh, and did I mention patience!? We love him to death and wouldn't trade him for anything! 

Are we ready for this?

I think we are all feeling a little differently about this question! When I asked Trace this morning he was quiet. So I asked if he really believed it would happen and he said "not really". That's honest and fair considering how long it has taken! Rick is ready to get it over with and a little excited about the trip. As far as a daughter, he really wants one but is cautiously guarded. It is a huge leap of faith to adopt! With a birth child you pretty much know you will love them. With your first adopted child there is that unknown fear of whether or not you will be able to love them as much as your birth children. For me, well I'm dreading waking up in the middle of the night again (many of them have night terrors and a hard time adjusting for a long time), potty training again (and the diapers before that!). The higher level of supervision that a toddler needs and I've forgotten about. But I can't wait to hold those fat little baby hands, rock her to sleep with a bottle, listen to the contagious laugh that any baby has and just watch her grow! I guess we are ready. Just like the end of a pregnancy I guess!

A new update...

Several people have mentioned that they are checking here almost daily for an update and noticed I haven't updated for a while. Well, there just wasn't much to say after the last referrals came out. Nothing positive that is! Thank you so much for all of your caring messages - Cheryl, Kim, Cheri, Robin and others! I did finally have a brief little cry, but got over it pretty quickly - what else could I do?

Trace started school two weeks ago and has absolutely loved it! His teacher is great and he can't wait to go each day. Caden starts pre-school tomorrow and he is really excited. His birthday is Thursday so he is really happy he gets to take treats on the second day of school! We are having a little party with the neighbors on Saturday. Caden wanted an Army Guy party, so I'm trying to come up with an obstacle course and I think we will have a 'grenade' launch (water balloons). Other than that it should be low key!

NOW! The reason you are really here...
As of right now the rumors have been very consistant this month so far. Most agencies are saying they expect the next batch of referrals to cover through July 28th (we are the 26th). I am trying to stay calm and not get too excited. Although I do believe the rumors will be correct, I am so scared of getting crushed again! It is a delicate balance right now. If things go according to plan we will see our baby girl's face in just a couple of weeks! Looks like we will have something to really be thankful for this Thanksgiving - a daughter!

P.S. We have purchased our tickets to Vancouver for Christmas! Mark your calender for December 17th - we hope to have an open house to introduce you to baby Paige!

Climbing trees...

Aren't they cute?! Trace had just cut his leg up pretty bad and was trying really hard to not look like he was in pain for me! But I just had to try and get the picture! 

Labor Day at Jellystone!

We spent the weekend together as a family and had a great time! The boys played on the playground, went on "hayrides", rode their bikes, and played games. We also saw Brother Bear 2 at the outdoor theater in our lawn chairs, went to a magician and a real campfire! It was beautiful weather and a very relaxing time.


BooBoo was their favorite, but Yogi was ok too! 

The Minooka Summer Fest!

The neighbors all dressed the kids up Hawaiian style for the kiddie parade. Even though the parade was rained out they still won 3rd place! 

Well the tears haven't started yet...

but they will come I'm sure! It was a huge surprise today to find out that referrals have arrived at several agencies here in the US. No one, and I mean NO ONE, agencies included, expected them. Unfortunately it looks like they will only cover through the 22nd of July. Remember, we are the 26th. I feel like there is a rock in the pit of my stomach and I've got a major headache. I guess I just need to have a good cry and get on to waiting again. This will push our projected travel up to the first part of December - MAYBE. I almost feel like I don't care anymore. I do. But I guess I don't want to care anymore. Think I'll go crawl in a hole now...

TA's and CA's are comming!

A TA is your travel approval from China - or permission to come pick up your baby. CA is your Consulate appointment where you apply for your child's visa to come home. You're agency can't schedule your CA without a TA. The CA is pretty much the last stop on the journey. For those who got referrals last month (end of July) TA's started arriving yesterday and a couple agencies are trying for CA's the first two weeks of September! That means the families will be leaving the end of August!! Four weeks from Referral to Departure is almost unheard of. It is typically 6-8 weeks at least. It is good news though that something is speeding up in this process!!!

Referral information is expected out this week. Of course we would get the month where there are virtually NO rumors until the very end of the month! I think we will actually see referrals arriving the end of August/first of September.

Almost back to school...

We went to a picnic yesterday for Trace to meet his classmates. Today we picked up papers at the school and met his teacher. He got to put his stuff in his desk and find his locker too. His teacher's name is Mrs. Kraker and I think she is going to be great this year. She is high energy, very organized and best of all - FUN! She also seems very interested in working with us on the allergy issues. I'm looking forward to the new year and the best part is, it starts monday!!! Whoo-hoo!

We are still waiting for the rumors to start in ernest this month. There have been a few but they are all conflicting, so basically nobody knows anything yet! As soon as I know I'll post it here - I know there are lots of you waiting!

By-the-way I'd love to know who all is checking in here. If you have a chance drop me a note by clicking on 'comments' below this (or any) post! Thanks - I can't wait to 'hear' from you!

Indiana Beach

We took the trailer out for its second trip last weekend. Two of our neighbors went also. It was about a three hour drive to Indiana Beach and we avoided the freeway where the sniper shootings have been. We spent all day Saturday at the park. In the morning we mainly played in the water. Caden and Jenna were too short for the water slides but they had fun in the swimming area. We went back to the trailer for a nap and dinner then went back to the park until eleven! The kids had a blast on all of the rides - Trace especially loved the roller coasters! Caden surprised me by loving the bumper cars! He kept yelling at Rick to get Sarah or Jacob. All in all we had a great time with friends and can't wait to go again (Labor Day).

No new news on the adoption front but keep checking frequently! We could start hearing rumors as early as this week that are reliable. The general feeling is that we will be included this month!

We tried and tried to get Caden to raise his hands - but there was no way! He held on with a death grip and smiled the whole time! 

The fabulous five! Waiting in line for the Frog Hopper at Indiana Beach. We went back in the evening after spending the morning mostly at the water park behind the kids. They rode this ride 3 times and wanted to go again! 

Just a Quick note

I've had several people ask me 'What's next?'. Well, we THINK we are next, but we won't know more positively for another week or two. I promise to post here anything I 'hear'. IF we are next then we will probaby know by the rumors about a week before referrals arrive. Again, I'll let you all know! Once referrals arrive we will get a phone call from our agency telling us her name, birthdate and where she lives. The next day we will receive pictures and a medical history via overnight fed-ex. We have a doctor review the information and then send back our acceptance, which is faxed to China. Then guess what we do? WAIT AGAIN!!! This will be the hardest wait because we will know who she is. If all goes well, we will be in China to pick her up about 6 weeks later. We won't know until about two weeks before we leave the exact dates though. We would appreciate your prayers this month!