Well, our 2008 Family Edition Biggest Loser competition has come to and end, and the winner is.........ME! Way to go, me! I've lost 44 pounds since January 1st! Our group total weight loss was 185.6 pounds (seven participants over 6 months!). That's an entire person! I'm so proud of everybody for all their hard work in making themselves healthier! I'd still like to loss another 20-25 pounds! Maybe before I can get the rest off before I climb the Great Wall of China!

27 Months and counting.....

Hey! I know, I'm a couple of days late for our LID-anniversary post! We've hit the 27 month mark! Crazy, huh?!? We've decided to go ahead and plan our 10th wedding anniversary/vacation for mid-November, thinking there is no threat of getting our referral before then, or even then. Maybe it will be like washing you car then having it rain! That'll be okay; we can always change our plans! This last month's batch of referral covered 8 days (through 1/20/06), so at 49 days between the last LID referred and our LID of 3/10/06. If that stays the average, and CCAA doesn't skip a month of referral during the Olympics, we could POTENTIALLY have our referral in January 2009. A speed up, of course, would mean sooner, and a slow down would mean later! I have a gut feeling our referral will be in Feb 2009 (around my birthday!) with travel in Apr 2009 (around David's birthday!). And while I'm predicting, I think Micalee has already been born, probably in May (around Mother's day; maybe because of the poem Jeanie wrote for me "from Micalee") . We'll just have to wait & see! So, I hate to say it, but for some reason I have a renewed excitement about this whole thing. I know I shouldn't, because still, anything can happen. We still have to renew our fingerprints, have our homestudy updated and renew our Immigration approval (171-H expires in November). We'll probably do that late Summer or early Fall before we go on vacation. At least we should qualify for the free extension this time!

A very special Mother's Day gift...

I wanted to share a poem my sister, Jeanie, wrote for me for Mother's Day. Maybe other waiting mothers will find comfort in it, as I did.

A Million Stars

A Mother's Day Poem from Micalee

26 months ago the Angels started singing your name,

God told me I would be going home to you;

25 million stars light the way of the path,

That lets me see my new dream come true.

24 hours a day I watch you as you go,

You think of me so often, and each time, I know.

Too many times I have watched as you cried,

Not knowing when I will com home;

But, Mommy, I am swinging on the moon humming a song,

So the time doesn't seem to me so long.

15 giggles I have laughed out loud,

And I thought you heard me, although I wouldn't know how.

So many stories I have heard about you,

From those who once held you so dear;

They met me first, but can't wait to send me off,

Though the say they'll miss me up here.

10 times I have whispered to you,

And though you may not have heard me, I think that you knew.

You see, God made me special and especially for you,

And this is all a part of his plan;

And when we're together and meet that first day,

You'll think back and then understand.

3 Mother's Days I have sent down my love,

In the sunshine, the starlight and dew;

And though I'm not there, you're still Mommy to me,

And I am waiting for you, too.

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!

I Love You from a Million Stars,

Micalee

***Thank you SO much, Jeanie!****I have read this poem over and over again, and I still cry! Blogger is not letting me put space in between segments of the poem! Sorry; it makes it harder to read!!!

Mother's Day Eve....

Well, here I am on the day before Mother's Day, 26 months since being logged in to get Micalee, and feeling very sorry for myself! And what's even more depressing is I can't be certain that this will be the last Mother's Day that I'm not a mommy! I'm hoping so, but not really convinced yet! The last month only covered 3 days of LID's (not good!) and the effect the Olympics may have is still unknown. I've been an emotional wreck this week! I watched P.S. I Love You last night and sobbed during the entire movie! My eyes are still red! It was probably good to let it all out, though. David has been super understanding and even left me roses and a Mother's Day ("to be") card this morning. Of course, I cried again! There's not much to say on when I think we'll get our referral, because I'm just not sure. I keep saying "this time next year", and it eventually has to be true. Only 57 days worth of LID behind the last referral group, but the end seems to be nowhere in sight! Happy Mother's Day to those who already have children at home and those whose children are only in their dreams and hearts!

25th LID Anniversary...

Well, nothing new to report. Still waiting and will be for a while longer! CCAA only referred 5 days worth of LID's this past month; not good! So, no speed up this month! Someone in our LID Forum on the RQ site calculated when referrals might potentially be, based on average days referred per month. Here are the potential referral dates based on our LID. If CCAA starts averaging 15 days per month (yeah, right!) then we would get our referral in July 2008; for 13 days/month, in August 2008; for 11 days/month, in Sept 2008; for 9 days/month, in Oct 2008; for 7 days/month (the average trend right now), in Dec 2008; for 5 days/month (like this month was!), in March 2009; and if only 3 days/month, in Nov 2009 (you get the idea)!!! We are only 60 days past the date that referrals have been made through. Sounds like we'd be getting SO close, but as you can see, every little day counts! I just keep waiting for some kind of speed up, but it hasn't happened! And no one is really sure how the Olympics (in Aug 2008) may affect things! Just more waiting to see what happens! On a good note, our Biggest Loser Family competition is going very well!!! In the first 3 months we (7 participants) have lost a combined weight of 155 pounds!!! That's a whole person! And so far, I'm in the lead!!! I'm hoping I can keep of losing and hold on to the lead (the competition is close!). I'm proud of all we've done, and we are all getting so much healthier! That's truly the best part of this competition! I'll keep everyone posted!

Happy (?!) 2-Year LID Anniversary to us!

Well, this is a milestone (see picture....pun intended!)! Our Dossier was officially logged in 2 years ago! WOW! We've been waiting a loooooong time! Four times as long as we originally thought this process would take (and still a good while is ahead of us). Alot has happened in the past 2 years; friends and family have had babies that are now toddlers, debts have been paid off and we've managed to build up a little savings(that's a good thing!), we're finally getting in shape (waited 'til the last minute!) and of course older (not so good!), and we have started and finished a wonderful nursery that just needs a little girl in it to make it really complete. But at the same time, everything seems to have been on hold for us. We're just waiting! Not sure what to do next. Are we actually close enough now to start checking out Day Care options and Pediatricians? Should we not schedule a 10th Anniversary Vacation because of the chance we may be getting our referral around that time? So we still just wait. Wait to see what the next batch of referral looks like; and then the next, and then to see how, if any, the Olympic will affect us, to see if we can judge when we may be getting our referral. When we can start actually planning and enjoying this process again. When we can finally have an idea to tell family and friends when they might be able to finally give us a baby shower. When we can get all the little last minute things we want to get for the Nursery. When we can start worrying about luggage and what we need to pack for a child who doesn't know us. When we can look at airline tickets and hotels in China. I'm so looking forward to being overwhelmed again, with all that we will need to do! I'm tired of just waiting! I want to be preparing again! I need to be preparing again! And I think that time is getting close. Even if we don't have Micalee home by Christmas (which of course would be the most wonderful thing ever if she was here!) , I think we'll know who she is and have picture of her by then! I think this is our year! I could be wrong, but I just feel it. So Happy LID Anniversary to us for all that we've endured in the past 2 years of waiting. All the questions we've tried to answer, when we really didn't know the answers (and still don't)!
Hopefully, we have alot less waiting ahead of us!

23 down.......? more to go! I just couldn't let the day go by without acknowledging our 23 month LID anniversary. Not something really to celebrate, other than the fact that we've kept our sanity for this long (or maybe not!). But that is 23 months behind us, and for every month behind us, that's one less in front of us! So, I guess it's not that bad of a thing! So for everyone else waiting along with us, we ARE getting closer and although it's very hard to even imagine anymore, this WILL happen!

As of the first of the year, David & I, along with 5 other family members are in a little friendly family "Biggest Loser" competition to see who can lose the biggest percentage of their body weight by the 4th of July. Our first month's numbers are in, and I am SO proud of all of us! We lost a combined weight of 86.6 pounds (between 7 participants)! Tracy & I lost the most (16 pounds each in only one month!), but Tracy had the biggest percentage ('cause I weigh alot more than she does!). Watch out, Tracy! I'll be working extra hard this month to take over the lead! Our reward, besides being healthier and thinner, is $700 (we each contributed $100 to the reward)! At this rate, we will all need the money to buy a new wardrobe!!! Keep it up, everybody!

22 months of waiting behind us!

Wow! I almost forgot to post our LIDiversary! Yesterday was officially our 22 month mark. That explains the funk I was in yesterday (that has continued into today)! I just thought I was hormonal, but I must have remembered way back in my brain what the 10th of the month symbolized; another month of waiting. Oh well, that's one month closer to finally seeing Micalee! It will happen, it will happen, IT WILL HAPPEN!!!! And we will continue to wait, as patiently as possible, until we do finally get the call and get to see a picture of the little girl we have been waiting for for so long! We've decided this will be the year to get ourselves in shape (finally!), so we can climb the Great Wall without needing a paramedic when we're done! We're doing pretty good so far, losing weight by eating healthier and exercising. Of coarse, it has helped by making it into a competition, our own version of the "Biggest Loser"! Watch out, Jeanie, you know how competitive I can be!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy 2008, everybody! We hope everyone has a wonderful, happy and healthy new year. We hope all of your hopes are fulfilled and all of your New Year's resolutions are realized. We hope those of you still waiting have their children home this year. Come on 2008, bring us Micalee!!!

This Christmas, I found myself with a new unexpected challenge. I "fostered" this cute little puppy for an entire month so that my nephew would have a big surprise from Santa on Christmas morning. I thought the challenge would be to feed, house train, and clean up after this little guy, but the real challenge was letting him go! It's amazing how attached I got in such a short time. I think he helped me get through most of the holiday season without thinking too much about not having Micalee here; he just kept me too busy and helped fill that empty space in my heart. But now that he's gone from our home, that emptiness is back, stronger than ever before! It also made me realize what Micalee's birth mother will be going through, and yes I know there's a big difference between a puppy and a baby, and maybe I shouldn't compare the two, but it did make me think of the pain she will be experiencing (and on such a larger scale). I have never cried so hard as when I had to leave this little guy on at my sister's doorstep. My heart was breaking. Maybe I'm just too emotional! At least I can see this puppy grow, and I know he's happy and loved in his new home. She'll always just wonder, but never know for sure. I know I'll always be grateful to her for her ultimate sacrifice.

21 Months and counting...

Blackjack?! Well, it is now officially (as of yesterday) 21 months since our LID for Micalee! How many more to go?! Well, if I knew that, things would be alot easier! Will she be home, or will we at least have a picture of her, by NEXT Christmas!? The way things are looking now, the answer is no, but I'm still holding on to hope that things in China will speed up, and we'll have her home in 2008! If you look at numbers, only, it doesn't look to hopeful. But the thing is, there was a time when the wait got up to 18 months (and yes, we're way beyond that now!), and then things starting speeding up and got back down to 6 months, so anything is possible. So for now, we're just concentrating on having the best Christmas possible, knowing that it's another one without our little girl home with us. But we have the best, most supportive family, and we know we'll have a very special Christmas, and we know that we will eventually have our little girl here to help us celebrate the holidays and enjoy all the little things that go along with them!