The Beginning of Baby Sissy's Quilt

We are so thrilled that fabric is starting to arrive for Baby Sissy's quilt. Here is what we received so far.....

Square #1

Square #1 came from my new friend, Jenny.

Jenny and her husband live in Macon which is a couple of hours south of us. We "met" at orientation in January 2007 at the start of our adoption journey. Our dossiers to China were logged into China's system in May 2007 and we joined a May 2007 Yahoo Group. A few months after Mike, Harrison and I switched over to our agency's Waiting Child program, Jenny and Robert switched over. They are waiting for their first child and I am sure that they will be great parents. Jenny has been a wonderful support for me through this process and she COMMENTS ON MY BLOG! Gotta love that!!!!!

I love this fabric for many reasons. One, because its my first square. Two, because of the new friendship that it represents. Three, because its beautiful....don't 'ya think?

Thanks Jenny!

Square #2

Square #2 came from another new friend, Sue.

Sue has two amazing beautiful daughters from China and is waiting for kiddo #3. Her amazing duo have the cutest little cheeks. I have no idea how she and her hubs make it through a day without squeezing them and smooching them all day! Sue's dossier was also logged into China in May 2007 and she is a member of our May 2007 Yahoo group. I really hope that I get to know Sue better because she has been so nice and thoughtful and SHE COMMENTS ON MY BLOG! Gotta love her for that.

:)

I love this fabric for so many reasons. One, because its beautiful. Two, because it comes from someone who I know - without really knowing - is a great person. Three, it came in a super duper puffy envelope, which once you get to know me better will find that my mom taught me how to LOVE great packaging. It's really a disability. Sue, squeeze and kiss those adorable cheeks tonight. Thanks so much for being so supportive.

Thanks Sue!!

Square #3

Square #3 came from my new friend, Amy.

Amy and her hubs were also at our orientation in January. They live somewhere in the greater Atlanta area - which is getting "greater" and "greater" every year. (Jenny, pretty soon I think we will call Macon - South Atlanta). Amy has a little boy a little bit older than Harrison and they also switched over to the Waiting Child program a couple months before us - ok, so she is smarter :) In April, Amy and her family received the referral of a GORGEOUS little girl. They have a private blog so I cannot link it, but trust me she is a super duper cutie.

Amy and I have shared some really lovely emails. Her mother-in-law has cancer so we talked about how Harrison is dealing with Nanni not being here. I know that Amy's M-I-L is thrilled to see her new grandchild and I KNOW she will be even happier watching them come off the plane and meeting her in person. Amy, I want a photo of that moment!

I love this fabric for so many reasons. One, because its adorable...can you see Poo and Tiger? Two, it came from ML's family (baby's initials) and let me tell you, ML is a cutie patootie - so I am diggin anyone she hangs with. Three, it came from Amy who has sent many kind words my way and who I hope I get to officially meet in person one day. Hopefully when Baby Sissy comes home we can get together with the boys and new little ones.

Thanks Amy!!!

Squares #4, 5, 6, 7 & 8

Squares 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 came from my wonderful Aunt Katie, Uncle Jim and my great cousins. The squares came today and were a wonderful surprise!! Actually it was perfect timing -- let me tell you why...

Last night I had a dream. As a bit of history, my mom always planned to come to China with us to get Baby Sissy. She came with us to our first informational meeting, went through all the paperwork, and was our number one supporter. Meeting "Baby China" (as my mom referred to her), became one of my mom's goals through her cancer treatment. Unfortunately, this is one of life's plans that just didn't work out. Ok, back to the fabric and my dream...

So last night I had a dream that Mike, Harrison and I were getting off of the elevator at the hotel to go wait with the group of families to get the babies. It was "Gotcha Day" in my dream. We got off the elevator and turned to go to the group, but Harrison in his typical fashion looked the other way and started to turn away....then, he started to run screaming "Aunt Katie, Aunt Katie." In my dream, my Aunt and Uncle had flown to China to surprise us and to be there to meet Baby Sissy. Of course, I immediately got hysterical and couldn't compose myself. After running up to them, bawling my eyes out and telling them how surprised I was, I ran up to the elevator door to reapply my eye makup and wipe the snot off my face so I would look nice for Baby Sissy. A little crazy and unrealistic of a dream, but it made me wake up with happy and sad mixed emotions.

So, throughout the day I kept thinking of the dream and how strange it was and how I had to tell my Aunt. Then, I get home and get the surprise package. So this is how I have figured it out --- the dream and the package of fabric was just a little reminder. A reminder that while my life in many ways is not how I wanted it to be, in many other ways it is still perfect in its own joyful, blessed and heartbroken way. It's perfect because of the people that I love and those friends and family, who support me in everything that I do. I think the dream was my mom and dad's way of saying that even though they cannot be with me, that family will be supporting me the entire way. Then, just in case I was a dunce and didn't get the message, my Aunt followed through with a nice knock on the noggin sending the fabrics.

I love these fabrics for so many reasons. One, because they are from my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. Two, because my my mom's sister and my cousin flew down to be with us during the very last days of my mom's life (my other two aunts did too - don't want to slight anyone if the word gets out) and the support that their visit offered me, my mom and my family is inexplicable. Three, because they are adorable....can you see them, did you actually look? And, there are 5 ----wooo hooo.

Thanks McManus Gang!