Give Me A "T"! Give Me An "A"!........

........What does that spell?!

TA!

.....and what does that mean in the world of China Adoption?

TRAVEL APPROVAL!

Today, Wednesday, January 27, 2009 the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs has notified our adoption agency that we have been approved to come into China to bring home our Lily!

Our last part of our paperchase waiting journey is waiting for the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China to make our appointment to get the ball rolling to make Lily a U.S. Citizen.....this appointment typically takes place the day before families fly home at the end of their China trip......

Our agency is 'guesstimating" we should leave February 18th-19th.....and Jack & I are planning leaving a couple of days before that to have little second honeymoon for a couple of days in Hong Kong.......

YAY for our TA! Our family is growing, and I am sooooo overjoyed! See prayers really do get answered!

Thank you all for your kind thoughts & prayers for us! :)

New pictures have arrived!!

Here are a couple of new pictures that we got of our Lily. One of the things they tend to do to the children is bundle them up all nice and cozy. Can you see how many layers of clothing she has on? Oh well, she's still adorable and we can't wait to bring her home.

Where Lily Waits For Us....

Here are some pictures I found of the GaozHou City Social Welfare Institute in the Guangdong Province of China. This is where Lily is waiting for us.

This is where her referral pictures were taken, it is called a playroom......

this is one of the baby rooms and the type of crib Lily is sleeping in...

the outside of her orphanage.....the left side is a school and the right side is the orphanage.

Our "Lily Bird's" Full Name........

Jack & I have decided upon Lily's middle name:



Hope is the thing with feathers that Perches in the Soul
and Sings the Tune Without Words
and Never Stops
at all.
...Emily Dickenson


Without hope in this mommy's heart, she never would have made it through this extremely hard experience in her life. She foolishly thought the pregnancy in her heart would be easier than Paige's pregnancy under her heart. But with hope in her soul, God in her life, Jack's help & her sweet baby girl, Paige, she was able to survive the last 4 & 1/2 years.


So ladies & gentlemen, our new daughter's full name is


Lily Hope Adler

......has a nice ring to it doesn't it?

I Think Paige Is Turning Japanese! I Really Think So!

here she is with her new hair do, styled after a Japanese Geisha Girl! Looks good huh?

I am a very talented hair stylist in Japan, you didn't know that about me did you? :)

The Side View.......

The Front View

and a very short video of Paige's Japanese language comprehension thus far :)

have I mentioned how much I love my kiddo?

a momentary blog break from our china adoption & our now 5 year old!, daughter paige:

My very precocious 4 year old niece, Miss Claudia, no she's not Hannah Montana; is getting ready for a vacation with her family to California.

You know how you never really "know" what a child thinks in their brain? For example, Paige who spoke to her Aunt Thel the other night, (Aunt Thel lives in Tampa, Paige lives in Orlando for those of you new to my blog- a little back info) so Paige says after hanging up the phone, "The next time I go to visit Aunt Thel do I need my passport? Because Tampa is in another state, you know Mom!" Can you tell Paige's parents are gearing up for a trip to China? There is MUCHO talk about passports, visas to China, etc. etc. etc.

Ok, so back to my precocious niece, Miss Claudia who is getting ready for her vacation to California, she says to my sister, "Mommy, I need to pack my jewels!" (she is obsessed with her plastic beaded jewelry) "And we should see Miley Cyrus' house while we are in California!"

Ummmmmmmm, yup! Claudia so very much "gets" her upcoming vacation to California! Get your Aunt Catherine an autograph while you are there & some Harry Winston jewels while you are at it! Love you kiddo!