Looking Back at 2007

I can't believe that 2007 is already over!! What a year that it has been for us. Coming off of a very difficult 2006, all in all 2007 was pretty good. Like a roller coaster that makes you a little queasy, yet you find yourself wanting to continue the ride. Here's a little recap:

The beginning of the year was pretty much status quo. Nothing terribly exciting, except finalizing our decision to adopt. In March, we took a giant leap of faith, submitting our application for adoption to our agency. We were one step closer to finding our child in Vietnam. The end of March saw the beginning of our home study;and it also saw the arrival of Baby Thorn, my best friend's baby boy.

In April, we continued our paperchase, completing our interviews with our social worker and collecting a mountain of paperwork. We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary and my brother's wedding to an awesome girl. She has been a great addition to the family.

May meant a trip to the USCIS office in Fairfax to have our fingerprints taken. May was also the beginning of what I like to call the "Great Fingerprint Debacle," which would continue well into the summer, holding up the completion of our home study and causing me to suspect Larry had a secret life (Just Kidding).

Summer rolled in with June, which meant I entered my thirties. I celebrated by going to an amusement park, riding all the scary coasters and realizing that I actually felt thirty when I stepped off the final coaster. I thought I would throw up my toenails. Our niece Hannah graduated from high school and the fingerprint saga continued. We lost our beloved cat Loba, but gained our new kitten Josie.

July was probably one of the best months of the year. A Harry Potter movie and a Harry Potter book...how much excitement does a girl need??? Harry and his gang were completely overshadowed, when my sister announced her pregnancy.

August saw my annual trek to see Kenny Chesney, a perfect set of fingerprints for Larry and we finally got our approved homestudy!

In September we sent off for our I71H...and waited to hear anything from USCIS.

Along with Halloween, October brought a letter from USCIS requesting clarification on a few things...including questions about a daughter that I don't have.

November was a hard month for our family, as Larry's father passed. I'm still sad our child won't get the chance to meet him.

And then came December with the arrival of our I71H and the holidays.

That is the abridged version of the journey we are on…and what a journey it has become. We’ve learned much about Vietnam, adoption, parenting and patience. There have been moments of anxiety and excitement, joy and despair, peacefulness and uncertainty; there have been tears of joy, laughter and heartache. And certainly there is much more to follow. Here's to a great 2008.

Christmas Rewind

So, my friend Leanne informed me that I'd been neglecting the blog for the last month. I didn't mean to leave anyone hanging, particularly those new readers who found us from our Christmas Letter!!!!

Numerous things have kept me from posting. Obviously the holidays kept me hopping...I can't wait to have a weekend with nothing planned. It may happen sometime in the next decade. Don't get me wrong, though. We had a great holiday season. A little bit sad at times, wishing that our bundle was already here and missing Larry's father. But the majority of our season was spent with family and friends, discussing memories and adding new ones. We are so blessed to have incredible friends and family. My grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins even threw us a surprise baby shower Christmas morning.

Not much news on the adoption front. While the beginning of the month saw our I71H, we've hit one more snafu with our criminal background checks. Hopefully we will have updated ones (along with updated employment and medical records) in our hands soon. I really want to get our dossier overseas.

Be on the look out for a recap of our year, hopefully coming tomorrow, as well as the dreaded New Year's Resolutions!!!

And now some holiday photos!!!

Belly Battle Christmas 2007! Our new niece will be here soon! We can't wait to babysit!

Aunt Jilian made this photo album just for Baby Bowen! It is soooo cute!

Thorn was very excited for his first Christmas! And he's also quite a good shopper!

Baby Bowen's Pop was quite taken with his new coffee mug, which had the Vietnamese word for grandfather on it.

Some of the gifts from our surprise shower. They will look great in the nursery!

A corsage made by my grandmother. We don't know for sure we will get a boy, but we're pretty sure.

Larry and Josie tuckered out from a long holiday season.

I've got a golden ticket....

For some reason all day, I knew that I needed to get home to check the mail...and in typical fashion, I was called into work, while Larry got the check the mail. And guess what he found??????

OUR GOLDEN TICKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We finally received our I71H and were deemed suitable to provide proper care to a child!!!! It hasn't sunk in just yet, but we both called as many people as we could. I can't put it into words. Perhaps things are starting to look up....

What a sweet puppy

Have you ever seen a sweeter face??

It's beginning to look....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house these days. We spent all day today putting up decorations and cleaning the house, preparing for the season. Now, I normally do not put things up this early, but we've got a busy schedule over the next few weeks. And I must say that Larry has been a great husband the last few days. Sometimes I don't know that I did to deserve him.

We had a great time and I think the house looks great! Here are a few photos from the day. As you can tell, we got a lot of help from our four-legged children.

Zoey is making sure everything is in the right place.

Sleeping underneath mommy's Harry Potter Christmas Tree (Yes, I have an HP tree)

Can you have a tree without a Cosmo ornament or Santa in a grass skirt?

The tree is not finished until Homer Claus makes an appearance.

Things on the adoption front are still slow. But we are taking this time to mull things over and consider our options. That being said, we did put up a stocking for Owen. It's small, but if he/she is here next here, I'm sure the stocking will be upgraded.

Thanksgiving and Loss

What a week we've had...

On Tuesday, Larry's father passed away peacefully. While we were somewhat expecting this, nonetheless it's still difficult. So, we are leaning on one another and trying to smile through this difficult time. He was a wonderful man, full of life and smiles and stories. He was a great father and grandfather. I wish that our child would have had the chance to meet him, but he/she will most definately know all about him.

I wrote last week that I would write what I'm really thankful for, not just the superficial stuff listed last week. It's been said time and again, but I'm most thankful for my family and friends. I've got a great family and terrific friends. My husband rocks...and loves me enough to put up with me and all my baggage. I've got the best dad in the world. And I couldn't ask for better siblings (and their significant others). Without a doubt I have the two greatest neices on the planet and I can't wait until my newest neice arrives in January. There's not enough space to write about just how thankful I am for my family.

And I'm greatful our family is expanding. More love to go around and more memories to make and cherish. Here's hoping that there's an extra plate or two at the table next year.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Psychic Fortune Cookies

Oh how I hope that this fortune cookie knows something I don't. Tonight's fortune read:

"Good news will be brought to you by mail"

We shall see...we shall see.

My superficial Thanksgiving

There is really no news on the adoption front, but it's been a rough week and I wanted to blog about some of the silly things I'm thankful for this year.

1. The return of Project Runway: Oh, how I love Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. If every reality show was produced by the guys at Bravo, then I would be a happy girl.

2. Mugglenet.com: I'm just a girl who loves Harry Potter. With no more books to look forward to, this gives me a fix when I need it.

3. Bath and Bodyworks Cherry Pie Shampoo: It smells sooooooo good.

4. Rock of Love has been renewed for Season 2: You can't have enough Bret Michaels...unless they replace him.

5. Diet Pepsi Max: A diet soda with an extra kick. Perfect for those nights I'm on call, but terrible when I'm trying to sleep.

So, enough of the silliness. Next week I'll post what I'm truly thankful for.

Happenings

There are a lot of things going on in our lives, creating chaos and heartache. Today I heard the song, "Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah McLachlan and instantly felt calm. I love her voice, but the lyrics resonated with me. So, now it's the new song for this page. Here are the lyrics:

It’s not that unusual when everything is beautiful
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when its time to snow
You don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we are all a part
Of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

Its seems so exceptional
Things just work out after all
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

The sun comes up and shines so bright
It disappears again at night
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Breathe in...Breathe out

There seems to be a lot of chatter in the VN adoption world these days, and for pretty good reason. But in order to prevent another panic attack on my part, I'm going to try to focus on the positive...at least for right now.

Last weekend, we headed west to visit our niece at Emory and Henry College. It was a beautiful day on a beautiful campus and we had a great time. She even bought "Owen" a special shirt and bib. I hope that he or she will be here to attend Family Weekend there next year.

Too Cute!

The obligatory couple shot taken while I was holding the camera at arms length. I think that every picture we have taken is in this format.

Really not much to report on our front. We did send off the necessary changes to USCIS on Monday. I really hope to hear something soon. Until then, I'm focusing on the positive and remembering to breathe.