The Work Continues

Marc's lumberjack duties have not ended yet, but the pile of wood is changing shape. We were really blessed a few weeks ago when a gentleman stopped by and inquired about the wood on our lot. He showed Marc the ins and outs of cutting wood and has been a huge help. He is a health and safety person at one of the industries here in town and has been a huge help! He's a woodworker and is planning to take some beautiful cherry logs. We are hoping someone will cart away the rest of the wood. We have many friends and acquaintances who heat their homes with wood and this is good stuff; ash, oak, hickory, red oak, and cherry. The basement was poured yesterday, so the house is moving right along. It is exciting! Max and I spent yesterday afternoon assembling Lucy's crib. He is a big help, no really, I mean it! I think he'd prefer helping daddy at the lot, but he's going to have to wait a few years.

The Latest on Lucy

It's back to work for all of us, and to tell you the truth, it feels nice to be back in a routine. Monday was very busy. I was back at school and everyone wanted the scoop on Lucy. I sent her translated medical records to our pediatrician, so that he could review them. Our pediatrician is awesome and he called us that evening to tell us that her report was boring, which translates to, "She's okay, there's nothing to worry about." I had to wait to send in our paperwork on Tueday, but at 12:15 I was standing in line at the post office. Believe it or not, the line wasn't too bad, considering it was April 15th. I checked today, and our agency had received the documents. Our agency will Fedex the documents to China and then China will extend to us travel approval. I am hoping that we will be able to travel in four to six weeks. We are definitely keeping busy here. Marc is cutting up trees tonight at our lot. He's really getting into this lumberjack thing! We had an awesome spring day and I was able to open the windows for a few hours. I think Spring arrived, at least for awhile.

Home Again!

It is good to be home again. Max and I went to Florida over spring break. We had a great time with our friends and my mom. It was really hard to just "relax" because I just kept thinking of our precious little girl and all of the things that we need to do to prepare. Max really enjoyed himself, though, and his swimming skills really improved. By the the last day he was putting his head all the way underwater to retrieve his Spiderman toys that we placed on the steps. Did he ever enjoy that! We arrived home on Friday to windy, but warm weather. Today, as I went out to get the paper, I noticed snow! Brrrr! I do feel that warmer weather is on its way. It's just going to be delayed.

We Have a Girl!

Inroducing Fu Na Liu

We are so excited to announce the latest addition to our family, Fu Na Liu. She is from the Jiangxi Province, which is in the south east portion of China. She was born June 4, 2007 and is from the Fuzhou SWI. She is absolutely adorable, and Max is thrilled that he has a sister. Marc was even able to return home early from his business trip. Apparently, she is active, likes music, likes picture books, and is obstinate sometimes. Heaven help us! We are delighted. And what a day to receive such good news. This was my paternal grandmother's birthday, as well as my maternal grandfather's birthday.

The Stork has Landed!
The word is that the stork has landed in Holland, Spain, and at least one agency here in the U.S. No, it wasn't our agency. It is 2:28 here and I believe our agency is 3 hours behind us. We could get our referral today, but I need to keep telling myself that most likely we will receive the phone call on Monday. The excitement keeps building!

Marc's a Lumberjack, and He's Okay

Marc had the opportunity to try out his brand spankin' new chainsaw last night. As you can see from the photos, the trees came down. We think maybe the tree man got a bit carried away, but he did leave us some at the bottom of the lot. Marc has a big job ahead of him this weekend. Does anyone need any firewood?

Still No News

The stork has not landed at our agency yet. We are still waiting to hear something. The word is that we may not hear anything until Monday. Max and I will be in sunny FL by then and Marc will be traveling for work. I think our cooridinator will even be traveling. Oh, but what's one more week? I mean, we've already waited 2 years and 3 months (Who's counting?--I am!) I hope we can post some good news tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

Something's in the Air

So the word from the Rumor Queen (see link to the right) is that referrals have been mailed to the agencies. Hurray! That means they've been shipped before Tomb Sweeping Day! It would be awesome if we still got word tonight, but I really doubt that will happen. Marc leaves tomorrow for a trip and will not be back until Saturday night. I guess we'll just have to wait until Saturday to break out the bubbly. I hope we hear something by then!

No News Yet

Rumors about this month's batch of referrals continue to fly. As of now, it appears that referrals are only covering 5 days, from January 5, 2006 to January 9, 2006. It's not official, but it is looking as though the 9th will be the cut off. That's good news for us, but bad news for so many of our acquaintances who just missed the cut off by a day. We'll keep you posted about when the referrals arrive. I'm hoping we hear something soon. I hope referrals are mailed to our agency before Friday as China will be observing Tomb Sweeping Day on Friday. It is a national holiday and government offices will be closed. Then Max and I will be leaving for sunny Florida on Sunday and won't be back home until Friday. We may just miss receiving our referral. We'll continue to keep our fingers crossed.

April 1, 2008

Building Has Begun
As if adopting a child from a foreign country isn't stressful enough...We are also in the process of selling our home and building a new one. I went to our lot this weekend and took pictures of the lot before the excavator knocked down the trees. I'm glad I took the pictures on Saturday, because the trees started coming down Sunday morning. Marc and Max went out to buy a new chain saw this weekend. Apparently they got a "professional" chainsaw (Think Tim the Toolman Taylor, "Rrrr Rrrr.") Marc's plan is is to chop up all the trees so that they can be carted off for firewood. It seemed like a good idea, but some of these trees are mammoth. So, we are managing to keep ourselves busy as we wait for our referral.