Santa has left the building...

I have to admit that for the first time I am glad the holidays are over and I think the dogs are too! Our Christmas was wonderful and spent with our families. Ila had a blast and Santa of course, didn't let her down! We went to see Santa on his sleigh the night before Christmas. He gave her TWO teddy bears -- one for her and one for her new baby sister. He knows everything! Now she is obsessed with Rudolph and walks around singing the song constantly -- even to strangers in the grocery store.


We are making progress with the adoption. Our home study has been finalized, notarized, translated and sent to Taiwan along with our photo pages. We are now working to get our dossier documents done. I am getting a care package ready to send to Ya-Ya with a blanket, doll and a photo album with our pictures in it. I am starting to really miss her and the days are starting to slow down. I pray that we get a quick judge and the court process happens quickly.


We still don't have snow in Minnesota but that can't stop me from wearing a great hat! Happy New Year to everyone and may 2007 be filled with all our dreams coming true.

Peace, Lani

Ya-Ya

Here's a few more pictures of Ya-Ya. She looks happy -- and SO cute! I can't wait to have her in my arms. Our home study has been finalized and now we are working on our dossier which are the legal documents sent to Taiwan. We need to put together photo pages of our lifestyle for the judge. They would prefer to see pictures of activities and vacations that Scott and I have done -- but without your children in the photos. Hmmm....I've looked through the 900 pictures I have on my computer and in the ONE vacation we've taken Scott and I aren't in the same picture -- because HE took the photo. And lets see, out of the remaining 899 pictures, Ila is in about 890 of them. (the remaining 9 are of Portis, Simon, Maxine and Ludwig -- and can you believe I am trying to talk Scott into letting me get a Chihuahua -- !?) Anyway, I may have to work some magic in Photoshop to get the photos they want.


Ila went to see Santa again this year and LOVED it. Last year I had to be in the picture with her but this year she did it all by herself. She told him that she wanted Candyland. She was concerned that Mrs. Claus wasn't with him though and she thought he had alot of work to do and didn't know if he could get it all done by himself. She told me that Santa is a very nice man!

I hope your holidays are filled with love and happiness.

Peace, Lani

Our Referral!

“May the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. May the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the pain you find in your yesterdays.”

It is with overwhelming joy that I announce to our family and friends the referral of our new daughter! Her name is Ya-Hui and she is waiting for us in Taiwan. She was born June 2, 2005. She is 18 months old and incredibly beautiful! From the first time I looked at her picture she captured my heart.

Today has been such an incredible day -- December 14, 2006. We celebrated Ila's 3rd birthday today at the Minnesota Zoo in 50 degree weather and we were able to make this referral news official and share it with all of you! Ila is so excited to be a big sister. She has been carrying her picture around for days. We have even received a video of Ya-Hui (we've been calling her Ya-Ya) that is so sweet it makes me cry. I will continue to update you all as we receive information. Scott and I are hoping to travel to Taiwan within the next 4 months or so to bring baby Ya-Ya home. This is by far the best birthday present Ila could have ever received and the best Christmas present for us we could ever dream of!

Birthday Girl

We celebrated Ila's 3rd birthday today by having a big party at Pump It Up. The place was incredible! The kids bounced, jumped and played until they were exhausted -- and hungry! Then we had pizza, cake, ice cream and presents. A perfect day for our little princess. Did I mention the crown and throne? She loved it! A good time was had by all -- even Grandma who took a turn on the big blow-up slide. I can't believe three years have passed and how blessed we are to have such a wonderful daughter.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Here's the latest. I was confused on the list thing. Friends of mine in another program are on a list so I was expecting the same for us. With our program, there really isn't a list. We seem to be the only family right now in our program, or at least the furthest along in the process. So a list doesn't really exist. But if there was one, we would be first. From what I understand, our home study has to be reviewed, changes made, translated and sent to Taiwan. That will happen over the next couple of weeks. Once it is in Taiwan, the orphanage will know we exist and start the process to match a child with our family. This next part is unpredictable and it could happen fast or not. Journeys of the Heart is telling me 4-6 months wait time but I am open to good thoughts and prayers for a faster referral!

Winter has officially hit Minnesota and it is 20 degrees colder this week than last. Although we haven't gotten any snow yet, Ila is eager and ready! I am thankful for this busy holiday season though and know that in a blink it will be January. Ila turns 3 on December 14th and we have a big party planned this weekend. I'll keep everyone posted as we get more information!

Peace.

So close...

The home study has been sent! Hooray!! That's the good news. The bad news is that our contact at Journeys of the Heart is out sick today. But I see nothing stopping us from getting on the list tomorrow. I plan to follow up with Journeys and get the official okay. For now, I guess we can say we are unofficially official!

Waiting to Wait

Technically speaking, our social worker has until November 30th (which is tomorrow!) to complete our home study. I never imagined it would take a month. But it has. And until now I would consider myself patient. Very patient. But now I am ready to scream. I am so ready for the next step. I saw a rough draft of the home study and some minor changes are being made so I am really counting on seeing it completed tomorrow. When this happens we will be on the official list! There is no one ahead of us in our program because we are hoping to adopt a toddler around the age of two. Most people are in other programs adopting infants and that's where the waiting lists are. So once we have our home study turned in, we could receive the referral of our daughter any day after that. Most likely the wait could be around three months but I am remaining optimistic.

On the home front, Ila went to dance class today. Complete with leg warmers. I was really expecting potty training to keep me busy for the next month or so. But she has graduated. I'll have to come up with something else. In the mean time, I will just continue to spend money and gain weight. Scott is going to kill me. But what else is a girl to do?

Progress!

But not on the adoption front.

The Thursday before Thanksgiving I received an email from our social worker telling me it would take another week to get our homestudy typed up. And with Thanksgiving being the following Thursday, I was wishing, hoping and praying that the typist that had our home study sitting on their desk would get the urge to go the extra mile and get the work done before Thanksgiving break. Well, I was wrong.

So, to pass the time and keep my mind off of the process I decided to potty train Ila. I pulled out her little potty on Wednesday evening and put it in the kitchen. We ran to the grocery store and when we got back Ila sat on her potty. I was putting away groceries and she asked me to come and look. She had done it! Not potty -- the OTHER! I was in complete disbelief! We sang songs as we danced around the kitchen and celebrated with M&M's. I was so proud of my little girl. I mean, what a way to start!

The rest of the weekend included dragging the porta-potty to Grandma's house, asking Ila every five minutes if she had to go potty and countless bribes. We had an accident here and there. But by day 3 she was doing it all by herself. Then on day four while out at Target she asked me if they had a toilet. We went to the restrooms and she went potty! My sweet little lla! She totally comes through for me in time of need. I needed something like that to get me through this weekend. There's nothing like a little pee in the potty to make me forget about all else and put a smile on my face! Thank you sunshine.

Baby Steps

"Mommy, is my new baby sister coming on Saturday?"

"No honey, we'll have to wait a little longer."

"Oh, pickles!"


Throughout the adoption process, any little piece of the puzzle that you can complete is a milestone. Whether it's a phone call from your social worker or something that comes in the mail, you feel like you are actually doing something and you feel accomplished. Even if it's the smallest baby step. Today we received our appointment for our fingerprints (yes, we did fingerprints once already at our local police station) but these are the ones done through Citizenship and Immigration Services that will be cleared by the FBI. We go in next Friday...yeah! In the meantime, we wait. I'm thankful for the holidays coming because we all know how it will be January before we know it. And since it's 68 degrees outside in November in Minnesota, I have nothing to complain about.

Big-Sister-To-Be Ila Marie

Our Adoption Journey So Far

"The family is one of Nature's masterpieces." ~George Santayana

For anyone who knows me, you know that I have always had it in my heart that I would someday adopt. I have known since I was a little girl that I wanted children, I wanted to be a mother, and I definitely wanted to adopt. Thankfully I met and married Scott who shared those feelings with me.

One Sunday last April while in church, I looked over at a little boy playing with his mother. The image stuck in my mind and I came to the realization that the time to adopt was now. As we left church, Scott and I discussed the possibilities regarding adoption. I made some phone calls (thank you Andrea!), started collecting information, and we started planning for another child. We have decided to journal our experience here so that family and friends can stay informed with the latest information and more importantly, experience this journey with us. We know it will be filled with emotion, excitement and love.

The initial steps of the adoption process included lots and LOTS and LOTS of paperwork. We had to provide copies of our birth certificates, marriage certificate, fingerprints, letters of reference (thanks to those of you who did this for us!), doctors reports, background checks and family photos.

Next we had to attend a two day seminar at our adoption agency. It was two long days filled with so much great information that we were overwhelmed and even more excited. We had to make a decision about which country we would adopt from. After some soul searching and restless nights, we decided that Taiwan was the country for us.

We then had homework to complete which consisted of writing a paper about yourself. In the end, mine was about 12 pages long and Scott's about 10! The questions covered everything -- from your childhood and upbringing to your coping skills and parenting styles. It took us ten days to answer all the questions. Once it was turned in we were assigned our social worker. We met with her twice. Once at the adoption agency and once in our home. Now that our home study is complete, we are waiting for it to be written up and turned in to our placement agency, Journeys of the Heart. Our social worker has until November 30 to complete this step. Of course, we are hoping it happens sooner. The next step will be to get on the waiting list. And I guess that sums it up because then we wait. It should take about 3 months to get a referral for a little girl from Taiwan. We will receive her picture and medical information and once we get the referral, there will be more waiting. It takes about six months for the court process to take place in Taipei. We will then travel to Taiwan to bring our new daughter home.

We have been talking to Ila a lot about her new baby sister and she couldn't be happier. We have been working on the nursery together and every time we go out she wants to buy something for her new baby sister's room. She has already picked out a name for her and can't wait to teach her to dance and share her M&M's with her. She has been wonderful through this whole process and we know that she will be an amazing big sister!

Thank you to all our family and friends that have been so supportive of us. We couldn't be happier or more excited about this new chapter in our lives and we are glad to share it with all of you.


FROM GOD WITH LOVE

Children are a blessing sent from God above
For us to care and nurture and most of all to love.

God calls us to be parents and gives us all the tools
And when we feel like giving up, our strength He will renew.

Children are a gift from God that He so freely lends
To make it through the childhood years, on Him we must depend.

From childhood days to a child full grown
Their joys and hurts are a parent's own.

Times of joy and laughter and those times of tears
The times spent raising a child are surely the best of years.

There comes that time in life
when a child will leave the nest
We must send them off with love and a prayer
and leave to God the rest.

We've shared the Word of God,
we've taught them right from wrong
Now it's time to let them go
and let them write their song.

The faith instilled, the examples lived,
and the lessons taught
All gifts that we've given our child,
which will never be forgotten.

There are many paths a child can take,
right or wrong will remain unknown
But rest assured that in the end,
they all lead back to home.