Referral Rumors

Looks like rumors are showing referrals through November 21, 2005. Only 21 days of LID's between us and our Mei. :) If CCAA can keep up with the seven days a month trend, then we should see our Mei's face by November. But of course all that could change for the good...or the bad.

Something New

So I decided to try out some new colors for my blog. Tell me what you think. Do you like this one, the old one, or neither?

Babysitting Part II

I know I was supposed to post yesterday, but frankly I was just too darn tired. Sunday Morning.....well let's back up to Saturday night. The 9 and 8 year old were in their beds and the 4 and 18 month old were in their beds. Now where to put mine. Three rooms left were the oldest girls, the oldest boys and the master bedroom. So I put Nathan and Charlie in the boy room. And Madi on the master bedroom floor. I left the girl room alone. Too pretty for a 3 year old to sleep in. Ok so everyone is in bed and about 10 minutes go by and Charlie comes out and says, " Daddy I don't like that Moose." Turns out the Moose was a Deer head mounted on the wall. So daddy removed the deer mount and all was well. My kids did not sleep well...Charlie was up once and Madi was very restless on the floor. So Mike and I really didn't rest well either. The 4 year old was up very early at 6:30. So of course everyone decided to get up. Sunday morning getting ready was nuts. Really not much more to say but kids were everywhere and I barely ahd enough time to get myself ready.

The family left us their twelve passenger van so we could get everyone to church. It was very useful and roomy. So off to church we go. And really they did great!! I just think Mike and I were a little over worried that things would get out of hand. Mike had to work the overhead transparancy for worship while I kept an eye on the kids. I guess at some oint I looked a little frazzled so he looked across the room and motioned for us to switch. So as descreatly as possible we switched roles. As I passed him he tagged my hand like in wrestling. Too funny.

So we are very tired today, but things couldn't have gone better. The kids were great and we have alot of fun memories.

Babysitting

So Mike and I are babysitting for a family in our church this weekend. This family has six children. Two of them are with their parents so we have the privilege of keeping the youngest four. They are 9,8,4,and 18 months. And with my 7,5, and 3 year old, we've have a wild time. We are all staying at their house for the night. All I can say is "Thank God". Their place is huge!!! Five bedrooms and 3 full baths. A pool. A huge yard. It's been great!!! Although Mike did look at me this evening and said, "I don't think we could handle seven kids." :) It's not so bad. It's just overwhelming when you are one handed pouring milk in a bottle, a baby on your hip, and trying to help a three year old find a sippy cup. And that was just me. Mike was desperately trying to get all four boys in the shower while cleaning up the playroom with Charlie having a meltdown for a reason not yet known. We got through it though. And they have been great!! So now we are off to bed. We need to get an early start tomorrow with church and all. I'll fill you guys in on tomorrow's adventure.....tomorrow.

Missing Mei

I don't know about anyone else in the adoption community, but there are some days that I ache from missing my daughter. Yesterday was one of those days. I woke up with her on my mind and I thought of her all day long. Some of you may do this on a daily basis, but with three children already, I tend to put Mei in the back of my mind. I think it really is a coping machanism because if I woke up every morning feeling like yesterday, I don't think I could make it. I know my family would suffer. But what I try to do is pray for her on days like that. I pray for her safety. I pray for her caretakers. I pray for her birth parents. I pray that the Lord will give her dreams of us so she will know us when we get her. When I pray into my worries and my aching, it eases the pain. I know we are so close to seeing her beautiful face. She just sometimes feels so very far away. And although we've never met, she is already apart of our lives. And we miss her not being here with us.

Craziness

The Rumor Queen posted a crazy rumor about early December being included in the August batch. She's only rated it an R1, but how crazy is that?!!! And then this morning she had another R1 rumor about late November being included in August. This rumor is a little bit more believable, but still crazy. CCAA has only been sending 6-7 days of referrals at a time. To get to the end of November it would be referring 16 days worth. That would be quite a jump. So in my head I think this is crazy and there is no way this can happen, but in my heart I so very much hope it's true. :)

Nathan Then and Now

Nathan Anderson Talley was born July 13, 2000. He is the older brother of Charlie and Madi and soon to be Mei. Nathan is a joy to everyone around him. He loves to make new friends and has a genuine love for other children. Nathan is our rule follower. He makes sure that everyone else around him understands the rules and why they are there. My favorite thing about Nathan is his amazing faith in Jesus. He knows that Jesus can do anything and believes that Jesus will come through for him. His dream is to one day see a blind man healed. And I believe he will see that happen. Happy Birthday Nathan.

Summer Mini Vacation

This our attempt at a family photo. It's difficult to get eveyone looking in the right direction and smile, but I think it turned out good. We always have a blast in Tampa. We stayed at this hotel with a pirate ship pool for the kids. We had a great time!!!

July Referrals

Just wanted to let everyone know that referrals went through November 14th of 2005. That means there are 28 days to refer until our turn. And at 7 days per month that would mean 4 more months left. That is unless they do more days or less days. But I'm hoping for more days. :)