Keeping hope alive!!

I am writing this blog really quickly before I have to go teach my first dance camp of the day. I am responding to the people who are wondering where the 10 months comes from and those of you who are so negative at this process.

We are 12 months and 11 days into our adoption. We do not go the CCAA website every week or even once a month for updates. I feel that that just makes you go crazy, and feel really frustrated. I also feel that there is so much information out there on the wait time that nobody really knows how fast or slow the process is going to be or take. So, 10 months is our next goal. That will bring us up to 22 months and then we will go from there. The original timeline we were told was 18 months but that was when we started the application process. We know it will be longer...much longer. Anyways if they are saying 25-28 months then it's not much longer than what we've predicted. So then we will get to those dates and go from there, could it be longer...sure.

There is SO much out there on the internet about the wait time and SO much about people thinking it's not fair and getting totally frustrated. There are so many blogs and websites, and negativeness out there...it's not for us. I think all of us that are all in the same boat should really support each other and not be negative in the slightest. It doesn't help anyone's situation to be negative. Be positive, there is always the chance that things will speed up. All of this looking to see how many referrals they got through in how many days per month, just makes you go crazy with the waiting.

We have decided not to dwell on the situation. We will start Avery's nursery this Fall, not being in a hurry. Her nursery will wait for her until she gets there. I believe in thinking positively about this situation. Do I have bad days where it makes me crazy...sure do just read back in the blog. But 10 months is our next goal. Let us get there, and actually I'm going to break it down on our way to 22 months. We all have to handle this in our own way...she is always on our minds...she will wait for us until we get there. The wait is long but worth it...no matter what and no matter how long it takes.

God bless and love to everyone in our family and our friends, and people who are in our situation...just believe!!
Keep hope alive!!
~Alli

Zhou Nian Kuan Le to us... again!!!!

Happy 1 Year anniversary of the adoption dossier being in China to us!!!

Yes, it has been 1 year since we sent our dossier. The year seems to have gone slow but also very fast at the same time. We are expecting to wait another 10 months...fingers crossed that that's all we have to wait. So, Avery should be born anytime within the Summer if our calculations are correct.

Stay tuned for another blog to be put with this one. Now that we are 1 year in, I am going to start a Dear Avery journal. To say what we want to her as we wait the last months before her arrival. To document our days, and so we can look back and see what we were doing on the day she was born. Maybe there will be something special that happened that day that made me think of her, or something special was said or whatever that would relate to her birth.

It feels like we are in the home stretch. We have re-done our breezeway and the downstairs bathroom. Those were two things we wanted to do before we started the nursery. So we are on our way.

So happy Shou Yang to us. That means adoption in chinese.

If you have squares for Avery please send them in to us as soon as possible!!!

Love to all,
~Alli

A journey of a thousands miles...

That saying is used over and over and over again in International adoptions. In conjunction with the red thread saying for China adoptions you always see this saying also. I was in Syracuse the other day walking at the Carousel Mall, and planned my entrance and exit through JC Penney a certain way so I wouldn't be back tracking through the store and I only had a certain amount of time before I had to pick up my Mom at the train station. So, I went into the Mall through their 2nd story and left through their lower level. On my way out I passed the jewelry section and saw these neat rings and bracelets, and necklaces, with all sorts of sayings and words on them, ones that I've seen in a catalog called, Femail Craeations that I love. But the catalog is really expensive and I just haven't ordered anything from them. They have necklaces that say, "Live Fully", "Dance like no one is watching", things as such...sayings I love and use all the time.

As I was passing I saw a ring, it was sterling silver, and had a twist in the band and had a saying that went all the way around it. The saying was, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step". Meant to be!!! I bought it of course, the price was 1/2 the cost it would have been in the catalog. If I had not gone out this way through the store I would have never seen the ring...fate or whatever...I love this ring, and the more I look at it the more it gives me hope and that we can make it through the next 10+ months left on our wait time.

I also bought a ladybug bikini for Avery. It was $7.00 at Babies R' Us...CUTE!!!! I bought 24 months, it is adorable and I couldn't resist.

We have started renovations on the house. The downstairs bathroom, the deck, and the breezeway. Then after that we will start on the nursery.

That's it for now.

Love to all,
~ALli

I'm late blogging for Father's day...sorry!!!

Zhi Ba Tian
Pronounced- Ji shee-Baa-T-yen

That's how you say Happy Father's Day in Chinese. Hopefully someday soon we can teach it to Avery and she'll say it to Gary. We plan on teaching her some chinese. Plus, we want to learn some anyway before we go to China.

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day!!! We had my Dad over for breakfast. We had egg souffle, and belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Indiana sausage, and bacon...it was really good if I do say so myself!!!

We went to Steve & Beth's for a BBQ late on for Ron. WE had hamburgers, hotdogs, sausage, chicken, 3 types of salads...really good again. No wonder I wasn't hungry on Monday at all!!!

We are starting to plan on re-doing the deck and getting paint for Avery's room and the downstairs bathroom.

I've been on vacation for a week and of course I have a million things to do...but I'm bored. Never happy, either too much to do, or not enough. Been signing dancers up for Dance Camps since the day after the Recital. Gary is finishing up the dvd's from the Recital.

Other than that it's all the same. We just got word from our adoption agency that 4 families just left for China over the weekend to go get their sons and daughters. Quite a Father's Day gift-WOW!!!

I am wondering with the earthquake, and all the monsoons and everything over there if this is going to put us behind even more. Hope not...can't take that!!

Hope you all are having a good end of the school year!!!

Love to all
~Alli

Crib...a no go

So, we didn't get the crib last weekend. We are going to still keep looking around. We have plenty of time though, we don't need to be in a hurry. We'll work on her room now and the house and in the mean time keep looking.

Looking forward to having some time off now. The Recital is tonight and then I'm off for 3-4 weeks. We'll be busy during those weeks though. We have a bout 8 grad parties to go to this year. I've got to get out in my gardens some more, and start my vegetables on the deck.

I have over 23 little ballerinas in my Recital tonight, looking forward to the day when we'll have a little ballerina in a pretty pink tutu to do a Recital.

Love to all~
~Alli