After 3 long years of waiting, it bring us tremendous pleasure to announce the impending adoption of our baby girl!!!!
We received the call today around 3:45 pm and were informed we were the proud parents of a baby girl, born July 27, 2008. Her name is Chen Yu Heng and she is currently living in an orphange in the Hunan province. We were told she is a tiny little peanut, weighing only 14 lbs and is 25 inches long. They say is active, a moderate sleeper and loves to play with toys and reach for things. We will receive more information on her tomorrow when our big FedEx package arrives. That is also when we will be posting her picture!
Just wanted to give everyone the great news........
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Where have we been??
Gosh, until I looked at our blog just now I had no idea how the time had elapsed since our last post! Wow, time flies when you are having fun! As you can tell by the lack of any post for the last 3 months, things have been kind of hectic.
We had been contemplating remodeling our kitchen for quite some time, but always found a reason to postpone it. Well long story short, our neighbors are good friends with a guy that owns a cabinet company. "Good friend" drops by casually on a Sunday morning, gives us some ideas on how to "re-do" this kitchen and off we go looking at sinks, faucets, doors, cabinet hardware etc. Well 5-6 weeks later after the casual Sunday morning drop by, we have a brand new kitchen and spruced up bathrooms as well. Pictures are coming, but we are absolutely thrilled with the new kitchen and baths. Money well spent and it all looks fantastic.
Then just as the big remodel was over with we hosted the annual Easter barbeque for the MacDonald clan. Patrick's family has hosted a barbeque on Easter Sunday for the last 45+, maybe 50+ years. It really is a family reunion that just always fell on Easter Sunday. As the years have gone by the younger generations have taken over the responsibility and for the last 6 years Patrick and I have been the host and hostess, along with Patrick's cousin and her husband. This year we had just about 90 people show up. The weather was nice, breeze was blowing, no rain, and the food as always was fantastic. We provide the meat and drinks and everyone else brings a dish to share. It was alot of fun, as always.
Then just about the time we finished cleaning up from the barbeque, we got news that referrals from China just may go to March 14th this time. And the rumors were coming in from all directions that this just may be the date, making the likelihood that we are in this bunch very good. Well, panic has now set in. Because once we get the referral we will leave for China about 30-60 days after that! Good Lord what have I been doing the last 3 years, we are not ready!!!! Patrick has already threatened to take me to the doctor for a "calming" prescription, and we have not even received "official" word yet. This could all be just a tease and then we go back into waiting mode again! Even now as I am typing this I have this little list running through my head about things I need to buy, good tips for packing, how clean do I really want the house to be before we leave, etc. You get the point, I am just about crazy now and if we don't get the call this month then it starts all over again next month.
Now we have the swine flu to contend with as well. It could change plans for traveling to China. Again, could, no definite word one way or the other. We have updated our travel immunizations and are preparing as if things will go on until we hear from our adoption agency otherwise.
I have said it over and over again in the previous post and still believe it now, it will all happen in God's time, and it will happen just the way it was intended to happen. Not a minute sooner, not at the moment I want it to, not when we think it is going to happen, but when God says it is time. I do have that faith and am looking so forward to the moment when we finally get to hear "I have a baby for you." Just thinking about it brings a flood of tears!
I am very emotional, very excited, very manic, very unpatient, and VERY ready to be a mom. Patrick is very level headed and calm, but has recently been saying "it will be nice if we get the call this month." He is a man of few words but the mind is always churning. He has been waiting on this with just as much excitement as me, he is just not as vocal about it. He is going to be a fantastic father, and I can't wait to see him with our child.
Well, we will keep you posted. If the "call" comes in this week I think you will hear our shouting all over the state of Florida. Follow along here for any updates as well
Until next time........
We had been contemplating remodeling our kitchen for quite some time, but always found a reason to postpone it. Well long story short, our neighbors are good friends with a guy that owns a cabinet company. "Good friend" drops by casually on a Sunday morning, gives us some ideas on how to "re-do" this kitchen and off we go looking at sinks, faucets, doors, cabinet hardware etc. Well 5-6 weeks later after the casual Sunday morning drop by, we have a brand new kitchen and spruced up bathrooms as well. Pictures are coming, but we are absolutely thrilled with the new kitchen and baths. Money well spent and it all looks fantastic.
Then just as the big remodel was over with we hosted the annual Easter barbeque for the MacDonald clan. Patrick's family has hosted a barbeque on Easter Sunday for the last 45+, maybe 50+ years. It really is a family reunion that just always fell on Easter Sunday. As the years have gone by the younger generations have taken over the responsibility and for the last 6 years Patrick and I have been the host and hostess, along with Patrick's cousin and her husband. This year we had just about 90 people show up. The weather was nice, breeze was blowing, no rain, and the food as always was fantastic. We provide the meat and drinks and everyone else brings a dish to share. It was alot of fun, as always.
Then just about the time we finished cleaning up from the barbeque, we got news that referrals from China just may go to March 14th this time. And the rumors were coming in from all directions that this just may be the date, making the likelihood that we are in this bunch very good. Well, panic has now set in. Because once we get the referral we will leave for China about 30-60 days after that! Good Lord what have I been doing the last 3 years, we are not ready!!!! Patrick has already threatened to take me to the doctor for a "calming" prescription, and we have not even received "official" word yet. This could all be just a tease and then we go back into waiting mode again! Even now as I am typing this I have this little list running through my head about things I need to buy, good tips for packing, how clean do I really want the house to be before we leave, etc. You get the point, I am just about crazy now and if we don't get the call this month then it starts all over again next month.
Now we have the swine flu to contend with as well. It could change plans for traveling to China. Again, could, no definite word one way or the other. We have updated our travel immunizations and are preparing as if things will go on until we hear from our adoption agency otherwise.
I have said it over and over again in the previous post and still believe it now, it will all happen in God's time, and it will happen just the way it was intended to happen. Not a minute sooner, not at the moment I want it to, not when we think it is going to happen, but when God says it is time. I do have that faith and am looking so forward to the moment when we finally get to hear "I have a baby for you." Just thinking about it brings a flood of tears!
I am very emotional, very excited, very manic, very unpatient, and VERY ready to be a mom. Patrick is very level headed and calm, but has recently been saying "it will be nice if we get the call this month." He is a man of few words but the mind is always churning. He has been waiting on this with just as much excitement as me, he is just not as vocal about it. He is going to be a fantastic father, and I can't wait to see him with our child.
Well, we will keep you posted. If the "call" comes in this week I think you will hear our shouting all over the state of Florida. Follow along here for any updates as well
Until next time........
Sunday, February 1, 2009
I am now 40 years old!!
Well-as you can tell by the post I (Jennifer) celebrated a monumental milestone by turning 40 this past week. I can remember asking my mom things when I was young, like maybe 6 or 7 years old, and always saying things like "Mom, back in the olden days did you...." Now my mom was 25 years old when I was born so that made her around 31-33 years of age when I asked her these types of questions. I thought she was soooooo old at the time. Now I think I must have been losing my mind-she was just a baby herself when her and my dad had me! And I don't feel like I am 40-but I guess the numbers don't lie.
I took a few days off from work to celebrate my birthday and play catch up on some things. We spent the weekend before my birthday going to Lakeland to visit with my parents. On Saturday, my folks, Patrick, myself and my sister and her husband all piled in our van and drove about 50 minutes into Myakka City, Florida to see the ranch where the Lippizan stallions live when not touring. This is also their training facility. So on Thursday and Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings they put on a show (ours lasted about 1 hour 20 minutes) and go through some of the horses most famous moves and performances. This was all free and very cool! Those horses are beautiful and they tell you all about them throughout the show. Check out their website: www.hlipizzans.com. If you have a free Saturday morning (or Thursday/Friday afternoon) this is a great day trip to take.
Then on Tuesday Patrick and I went to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. I don't think I have been to the Magic Kingdom for over 15 years. It was just as fun as ever. The weather was warm and beautiful and the crowds were very manageable. We really did not have to wait in line anywhere other than to get some food at lunch. Since I got in on a "birthday" ticket they gave me a button to wear that had my name and Happy Birthday on it-after about the 6th person told me Happy Birthday that day, Patrick said he was going to stand in line with someone else because he didn't know how many more times he could hear that in one day! Ha-forget about it! Remember we went to the Panama Canal for his birthday so he was just going to have to tough it out with the birthday wishes from the Disney cast!
The rest of the week was spent going to a few medical appointments, both for myself and the dog. And just basically relaxing and doing what I felt like doing, but not really having to do anything at all if I didn't feel like it. All in all it was a great week. But all good things have to come to an end so I went back to work on Friday, and this was my weekend to work as well.
The CCAA was closed last week for the Chinese New Year, so referrals should be coming in the next 7-10 days. The last batch of referrals went to March 2, 2006. Again, we are log in date March 14, 2006. We sent our updated paperwork to USCIS last week and I was able to confirm the documents made it to Chicago on Monday, January 26th. This is paperwork that had to be updated due to our loooooong wait for a referral. We hope and pray that this paperwork is processed and our fingerprints are done (for the 3rd time now) before we get "the call." We are sweating a little that we will get a referral and then have to plead to immigration to process our paperwork so that we can travel. Hopefully, none of the above will happen and we will get our immigration approval long before "the call" happens. I have faith that everything, and I do mean everything, will happen in the time frame that God says it will happen.
I'll keep you posted on the referral news and what the cut off date is for referrals this month. We are closer than we have ever been but still have no idea how long it is going to take to get to March 14, 2006 log in dates.
Until next time
I took a few days off from work to celebrate my birthday and play catch up on some things. We spent the weekend before my birthday going to Lakeland to visit with my parents. On Saturday, my folks, Patrick, myself and my sister and her husband all piled in our van and drove about 50 minutes into Myakka City, Florida to see the ranch where the Lippizan stallions live when not touring. This is also their training facility. So on Thursday and Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings they put on a show (ours lasted about 1 hour 20 minutes) and go through some of the horses most famous moves and performances. This was all free and very cool! Those horses are beautiful and they tell you all about them throughout the show. Check out their website: www.hlipizzans.com. If you have a free Saturday morning (or Thursday/Friday afternoon) this is a great day trip to take.
Then on Tuesday Patrick and I went to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. I don't think I have been to the Magic Kingdom for over 15 years. It was just as fun as ever. The weather was warm and beautiful and the crowds were very manageable. We really did not have to wait in line anywhere other than to get some food at lunch. Since I got in on a "birthday" ticket they gave me a button to wear that had my name and Happy Birthday on it-after about the 6th person told me Happy Birthday that day, Patrick said he was going to stand in line with someone else because he didn't know how many more times he could hear that in one day! Ha-forget about it! Remember we went to the Panama Canal for his birthday so he was just going to have to tough it out with the birthday wishes from the Disney cast!
The rest of the week was spent going to a few medical appointments, both for myself and the dog. And just basically relaxing and doing what I felt like doing, but not really having to do anything at all if I didn't feel like it. All in all it was a great week. But all good things have to come to an end so I went back to work on Friday, and this was my weekend to work as well.
The CCAA was closed last week for the Chinese New Year, so referrals should be coming in the next 7-10 days. The last batch of referrals went to March 2, 2006. Again, we are log in date March 14, 2006. We sent our updated paperwork to USCIS last week and I was able to confirm the documents made it to Chicago on Monday, January 26th. This is paperwork that had to be updated due to our loooooong wait for a referral. We hope and pray that this paperwork is processed and our fingerprints are done (for the 3rd time now) before we get "the call." We are sweating a little that we will get a referral and then have to plead to immigration to process our paperwork so that we can travel. Hopefully, none of the above will happen and we will get our immigration approval long before "the call" happens. I have faith that everything, and I do mean everything, will happen in the time frame that God says it will happen.
I'll keep you posted on the referral news and what the cut off date is for referrals this month. We are closer than we have ever been but still have no idea how long it is going to take to get to March 14, 2006 log in dates.
Until next time
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Things are starting to happen!
Well, just a little update on the adoption front. As I have posted before we have a log in date (LID) of March, 14, 2006. This is the date you watch for your batch of referrals. CCAA (chinese center for adoption affairs) has just completed referrals for families that were LID up to 02-28-06. That means we are now 14 days until you get to our LID.
CCAA has been referring, on average, about 3-5 days each month, of LID. So you figure there are 14 days to go to our LID, say they process 4 days each month until you get to our LID and we would be looking at a referral in say-April, May or June.
Now the exciting part of this is-you never know exactly how many days the CCAA will do-it might be 2 days it might be 7 days, you just don't know. So our adoption agency contacted us this week to confirm our contact numbers, and to check in which order they are requested to make "the call." Now that would be the call telling us we have a baby. It is now really starting to get real! I am just on cloud nine at this point. There has been ALOT of talk about this adoption over the last 3 years and to have it soooooooo close can just not be put in words.
I am so happy to finally be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And for those of you that know me well also know I am starting to panic a little. I am a BIG TIME planner. If I could know what I am doing one year ahead of time I am a very happy person. So this whole time thing of not knowing for sure when we will get "the call" is a little nerve wracking. Not to mention, we have alot of stuff to get done! What have we been doing the last 3 years??? Most people only get 8-9 months to prepare for a baby, what is our problem?????
It will all come together, everything will get done and hopefully in the next 6 months we will begin a very long journey to China. What a truly humbling thought. Thanks to everyone who has said a prayer and thought of us and this adoption for the last 3 years, it is overwhelming to think of how many people have been wanting this for us. We are truly blessed.
Check back here often-I'll update any new information as we get it
Until next time-
CCAA has been referring, on average, about 3-5 days each month, of LID. So you figure there are 14 days to go to our LID, say they process 4 days each month until you get to our LID and we would be looking at a referral in say-April, May or June.
Now the exciting part of this is-you never know exactly how many days the CCAA will do-it might be 2 days it might be 7 days, you just don't know. So our adoption agency contacted us this week to confirm our contact numbers, and to check in which order they are requested to make "the call." Now that would be the call telling us we have a baby. It is now really starting to get real! I am just on cloud nine at this point. There has been ALOT of talk about this adoption over the last 3 years and to have it soooooooo close can just not be put in words.
I am so happy to finally be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And for those of you that know me well also know I am starting to panic a little. I am a BIG TIME planner. If I could know what I am doing one year ahead of time I am a very happy person. So this whole time thing of not knowing for sure when we will get "the call" is a little nerve wracking. Not to mention, we have alot of stuff to get done! What have we been doing the last 3 years??? Most people only get 8-9 months to prepare for a baby, what is our problem?????
It will all come together, everything will get done and hopefully in the next 6 months we will begin a very long journey to China. What a truly humbling thought. Thanks to everyone who has said a prayer and thought of us and this adoption for the last 3 years, it is overwhelming to think of how many people have been wanting this for us. We are truly blessed.
Check back here often-I'll update any new information as we get it
Until next time-
Sunday, December 28, 2008
A late Merry Christmas and early Happy New Year
It is now December 28th and Christmas has passed-let me take the opportunity now to say to everyone we hope you had a very merry Christmas. We had a nice day indeed.
Christmas Eve started off very questionable with a 4 am wake up call due to the police helicopter flying over our house! Still not sure what was going on but it is safe to say that you really can't fall back to sleep with complete confidence knowing there is a law enforcement helicopter just above your head.
Then, knowing the day would be busy and there was still alot of baking and cooking to do, both Patrick and I got out of bed. Patrick went to kitchen and started making a batch of stollen, which is delicious, and gets better each and every year-he placed a pot of sugar and butter on the stove and walked to another part of the house. Well, you guessed it, the sugar and butter came to a boil all over the stove top! Then I walk out into the kitchen to start my baking and step onto the tile floor and it feels like sand all underneath my feet. It appears, the sugar bag had a hole in it and when Patrick was placing the sugar and butter in the pot the sugar spread all over the kitchen floor. We managed to get the stove top and sugar cleaned off the floor and things were going well for about one hour when all of a sudden Patrick yells out "S***!" I asked what was the problem and he says he forgot to put the eggs in the stollen dough that he has just mixed up and is already starting to rise. Complete and utter chaos in our house that morning.
I then went off to work shortly after 7 am and it was also a day to remember. One of the busiest days I have ever had in my work history. As many of you know I am a nurse practitioner and spent Christmas Eve rounding on patients at one of our local hospitals. I work with people who have kidney disease, and absolutely love my job. However, this day was one of the busiest days I have ever worked, and also having to see some of the sickest people I have ever seen in one day. But, I was able to make it out in time to attend Christmas Mass with my inlaws and husband and then a simple, quiet dinner at their home.
Then Christmas morning Patrick and I opened our gifts to each other and then loaded the car and headed to my parents house. My sister and her husband, my mom and dad, Patrick and myself all opened gifts and had a fantastic lunch and then later in the afternoon Patrick's brother who lives about 50 miles from my parents, came up to spend a few hours with us as well. It was a great day and definitely beat out the day before in terms of fun!
Now we are passing the time until New Years. Hoping and praying that 2009 will be "our" year in terms of being able to travel to China and complete our adoption. Neither one of us was in much of the Christmas spirit as this is now 3 Christmas' since we started this process that we don't have our child. I have said in previous post and still feel to this day, that it will all happen in God's time and that when we look back on this time years down the road it will all make perfect sense. However, even with that faith it is still hard to feel "great" or "complete" all the time. This entire process has forced me to be patient, and that is not something I do well, just ask Patrick!
We both want to wish each of you a healthy, happy and prosperous new year and we will continue to keep you posted on the adoption news just as soon as we know anything
Until next time
Christmas Eve started off very questionable with a 4 am wake up call due to the police helicopter flying over our house! Still not sure what was going on but it is safe to say that you really can't fall back to sleep with complete confidence knowing there is a law enforcement helicopter just above your head.
Then, knowing the day would be busy and there was still alot of baking and cooking to do, both Patrick and I got out of bed. Patrick went to kitchen and started making a batch of stollen, which is delicious, and gets better each and every year-he placed a pot of sugar and butter on the stove and walked to another part of the house. Well, you guessed it, the sugar and butter came to a boil all over the stove top! Then I walk out into the kitchen to start my baking and step onto the tile floor and it feels like sand all underneath my feet. It appears, the sugar bag had a hole in it and when Patrick was placing the sugar and butter in the pot the sugar spread all over the kitchen floor. We managed to get the stove top and sugar cleaned off the floor and things were going well for about one hour when all of a sudden Patrick yells out "S***!" I asked what was the problem and he says he forgot to put the eggs in the stollen dough that he has just mixed up and is already starting to rise. Complete and utter chaos in our house that morning.
I then went off to work shortly after 7 am and it was also a day to remember. One of the busiest days I have ever had in my work history. As many of you know I am a nurse practitioner and spent Christmas Eve rounding on patients at one of our local hospitals. I work with people who have kidney disease, and absolutely love my job. However, this day was one of the busiest days I have ever worked, and also having to see some of the sickest people I have ever seen in one day. But, I was able to make it out in time to attend Christmas Mass with my inlaws and husband and then a simple, quiet dinner at their home.
Then Christmas morning Patrick and I opened our gifts to each other and then loaded the car and headed to my parents house. My sister and her husband, my mom and dad, Patrick and myself all opened gifts and had a fantastic lunch and then later in the afternoon Patrick's brother who lives about 50 miles from my parents, came up to spend a few hours with us as well. It was a great day and definitely beat out the day before in terms of fun!
Now we are passing the time until New Years. Hoping and praying that 2009 will be "our" year in terms of being able to travel to China and complete our adoption. Neither one of us was in much of the Christmas spirit as this is now 3 Christmas' since we started this process that we don't have our child. I have said in previous post and still feel to this day, that it will all happen in God's time and that when we look back on this time years down the road it will all make perfect sense. However, even with that faith it is still hard to feel "great" or "complete" all the time. This entire process has forced me to be patient, and that is not something I do well, just ask Patrick!
We both want to wish each of you a healthy, happy and prosperous new year and we will continue to keep you posted on the adoption news just as soon as we know anything
Until next time
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The southern Caribbean and Panama Canal
Hello to all, and a happy late Thanksgiving as well. We have officially been back on US soil now for about 28 hours. We left on Wednesday, November 19th from Fort Lauderdale aboard Holland America's Zuiderdam. We then spent the next 10 days cruising around the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. We visited Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, Aruba, Curucao, then cruised through the Gatun Locks in the Panama Canal. Once we passed through the canal the first time we did pull into Gatun Lake and waited about 4 hours to get clearance to go back through the locks and back into the Caribbean Sea. We then went back through Gatun Locks again and docked in Panama for a few hours. The next day we were on to Costa Rica. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, living a life completely different from the one we lead at home. We both managed to exercise everday (except the day we went through the canal because there was just too much to see and we didn't want to miss a minute!), ate a late breakfast, later lunch and then dinner around 8 pm. I read 5 books, played bingo several times (didn't win a dime), saw several shows, watched a few movies-well you get the picture! ALOT of relaxation and no specific schedule to follow, just living in the moment.
This was our 5th cruise with Holland America and we continue to love this cruise line. This was the biggest ship yet that we have been on, and only fit in the Panama canal by about 2 feet all the way around. At times, if you were at a window you could literally reach out of a window and touch the sides of the canal. It was simply amazing to think that those walls were built almost 100 years ago (first voyage through the canal was in 1914) and how many people have passed between those walls. I think we prefer the smaller ships in the Holland America fleet, this one was just a little too big for our liking, but none the less, this cruise line really knows how to cater to its passengers. We are already wondering if we could squeeze one more cruise in before heading to China. We would love to do Canada/New England or go back to Alaska once more. We have been to Alaska twice already but have only scratched the surface of what there is to see.
We did have some nice photos taken on this cruise of us together-I don't think we have had any good pictures taken of us since our wedding in 1996! I will try to post those here later.
Well the Christmas countdown has begun-since we have only been in civilization a few hours the panic part has not set in yet, however, I know the clock is ticking and there is shopping, christmas cards, baking, etc to be done before the big day! I hope you all had a truly great Thanksgiving and all have something to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my wonderful family, great friends, a job I love, a beautiful home, our health (both mine and Patrick's), Grady and many, many more things that I don't have space to list!
Wishing you and yours a safe, happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season-
Until next time
This was our 5th cruise with Holland America and we continue to love this cruise line. This was the biggest ship yet that we have been on, and only fit in the Panama canal by about 2 feet all the way around. At times, if you were at a window you could literally reach out of a window and touch the sides of the canal. It was simply amazing to think that those walls were built almost 100 years ago (first voyage through the canal was in 1914) and how many people have passed between those walls. I think we prefer the smaller ships in the Holland America fleet, this one was just a little too big for our liking, but none the less, this cruise line really knows how to cater to its passengers. We are already wondering if we could squeeze one more cruise in before heading to China. We would love to do Canada/New England or go back to Alaska once more. We have been to Alaska twice already but have only scratched the surface of what there is to see.
We did have some nice photos taken on this cruise of us together-I don't think we have had any good pictures taken of us since our wedding in 1996! I will try to post those here later.
Well the Christmas countdown has begun-since we have only been in civilization a few hours the panic part has not set in yet, however, I know the clock is ticking and there is shopping, christmas cards, baking, etc to be done before the big day! I hope you all had a truly great Thanksgiving and all have something to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my wonderful family, great friends, a job I love, a beautiful home, our health (both mine and Patrick's), Grady and many, many more things that I don't have space to list!
Wishing you and yours a safe, happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season-
Until next time
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