A Final Kiss with the Little Mrs.

(This all actually happened last week, but I didn't want it to get lost and not have the Little Mrs. see it in Australia so I moved it up till today.)

Tonight we met the Little Mrs. and her family for dinner and a local pizza place. We picked a great spot outside on the patio where we could run around and have fun. Unfortunately, about 1/2 way through dinner a large family was seated next to us that didn't find us as amusing as we found ourselves. Harrison and Emma had a blast running around, being silly and just enjoying each other. Emma leaves with her family early Tuesday morning and we really hope that one day we get to see her again. She almost had me crying off the bat when I went to help her in the restroom and she said.....Ashley, I love you! I almost started boo hooing there, but had to keep my cool :) The truth is , we are just crazy about the Little Mrs. We all tell her everytime we see her how much we love her and how beautiful and special she is. You should see her face when Pa tells her how much he loves her - its adorable!

After dinner we convinced everyone to go out for icecream. It was so yummy and the kids ordered eyeball sundaes! What a special treat! Emma insisted that she ride in our car and then didn't want to ride home with her parents, so Mike agreed to take her home. As soon as we got in the car, she started asking to spend the night. Tomorrow is our big day to do taxes and we quickly remembered that Emma didn't sleep much during her last sleepover...so, what did we do? Of course we immediately told her that she could if her parents said yes. We knew it was our last time so we certainly were not going to pass it up! Lucky for us, her parents said yes and we headed home.

Once home, the kids immediately went to get Pa. Pa came up to play for a while. Then, Emma walked straight out the front door. I was getting changed so I ran through the house yelling her name. Did she stop? No! This was not like her at all so Harrison and I flew out the door after her. We caught her on the way down to Pa's apartment. When we asked her what she was doing, she told us that her special flashlight was in Pa's place and she was simply going down to get it. Makes sense and as we all know, Pa has good flashlights. We grabbed the flashlight and went to play making lights in the trees.

The kids later headed in to play and boy were they riled up. It was WAY past Emma's bedtime, but I can never get her to go to bed on time. They all headed upstairs and decided to attack Mike. He loved it!

Yes, they are smelling each other's feet. Harrison is a bit obsessed with it and the Little Mrs. was happy to play along.

After a bit of a hard time, Harrison and the Little Mrs. are both asleep. We had to make a Harrison and Emma sandwich to get them to finally settle down and Emma thought it was really neat that she got to be the jelly. We did have a few tears, but hopefully they are the last for the night. We are just so thrilled we get this one last opportunity to spend the night with the Little Mrs.

And, of course the next morning IHOP was the selection for breakfast.

Baby Sissy is Getting Closer!

After weeks of being depressed with China's slowdown on referrals, this week has shown a flurry of excitement. Our agency requests that with China's new program we wait about 25 days after our referral to tell the "World." Of course for those that aren't involved, the "World" is our crazy loony adoption online world that we all hang on for every tidbit of info. Well, some of my online friends just couldn't help themselves so they gave hints like: read between the lines, today is a good day, wow this week is fantastic, etc. It so exciting even though its not yet our turn. I do keep a list of those with our agency that have slipped and given hints and we are moving up on that last. Right now, we are number 18 and that is not counting those parents who follow the rules and don't let anything slip. I finally feel like Baby Sissy may be real!!!!

BABY SISSY IS SO SPOILED!

Harrison, who is the so incredibly spoiled it worries me, has now proclaimed that "Baby Sissy" is too spoiled! Add that to the fact that he has no idea who she is, how old she will be, what she will look like, and when she will get here and you come out with one frustrated, but handsome, 4 year old.

The number one person who has really be spoiling Baby Sissy is my friend Amy. Up until a few weeks ago, Amy and I practiced law together and while we probably would never have gotten to know each other since we are in different offices, fate stepped in at the right time. Amy needed an attorney to teach a class to some of her clients, and in my "extra" work time I network by teaching classes. A match made in heaven. When I went out to teach the class, we went for lunch when she told me that her family was in the process of adopting from China. I immediately started asking a million questions and the rest is history.

Amy brought home beautiful MeiLi one year ago - they actually met for the first time on Harrison's birthday. Amy has been a tremendous support for me over the past year. She is an amazing person, friend, mom and attorney. Plus, she is my new idol because she just "retired" to be a full time mommy. I definately need to get on that plan :)

Through the recent changes in the length of time for China's program and the recent changes in the Waiting Child program, Amy has been a huge help. In fact, I can get her so wrapped up in my adoption drama that she is up crunching the numbers and searching the sites for kids, just like me. I secretly think she is gearing up for kid #4, but she tries to semi-deny it!

To help pass the time and make our wait a little easier, Amy planned a weekly e-card and gift for Baby Sissy. She even tried to calculate how long it would take for our referral and do the same number of weekly gifts. She presented them all to me in a huge box at our families' fairwell dinner on Chinese New Year. She made me cry ... and historically I have not been a crier - only now after this last year I find that more often I am crying more often than not!

Each week we get to open a present for Baby Sissy. I usually have Harrison help me because he loves it, but sometimes I am so bummed at work because of the latest China adoption news that I have to open on there. I have tried to take a picture of each goodie bag - and these are great goodies! Take a look......


Now, Amy has moved to another city far, far away, but I know that she reads this blog and I know that she will continue to email me helping in our search for Baby Sissy. I know this because she is an amazing and wonderful person and I am honored to call her my friend.

"It Puts Hair on Your Chest"

Harrison and his Pa were having dinner tonight and discussing their meals. Pa started to tell Harrison that his mom used to make chicken feet soup and that she would pull off the toenails before she put the feet in the water. Harrison was horrified! Pa kept going knowing that he then had a captive audience. After listened to all the details, Harrison said.....

Pa, I guess it puts hair on your chest.

What??? Where did he get that statement? Too funny! I immediately started laughing and Harrison knew he had struck a funny bone.

Thank you Secret Pal

We have the best Secret Pal who surprised us this weekend with a lot of goodies. I was so surprised to get the package and was thrilled to see what was in it. Take a look at all of our great things for Baby Sissy....

Harrison was thrilled to see that he also had an awesome special present....3D sidewalk chalk. I thought it must be a gimmic, but it really was 3d. Super Cool!!!!! My super sweet lovie even posed for our Secret Pal!

Thank you Secret Pal - you are the best!

6 Months Seems Like Just a Moment

Six months ago today on October 4th, my wonderful mom died. On one hand it seems like it was last night and on the other hand the reality of how difficult it has been seems like a lifetime. We are all so thankful everyday that we were able to spend so much time with Nanni. Not a day went by in my life that I did not speak with her multiple times and she was always our constant vacation buddy. The wonderful memories that we made.

Thankful Thursday!

Pictures say a thousand words.....