Thursday

Thank you Lannie McKee. Your generosity is always amazing.... I wish we could thank you in person.

Is it Thursday already... and the last day of January already.... wow, this year is already flying by!

ok, so I have to tell you about last night.... :)

So we went to the Y for Daniel and I to work out and afterwards, we were going to run in to walgreens and get 4 pics printed out for Gabe's science project/board, but their photo lab was down, so we begrudgingly went to walmart, where all the USB ports to the instant picturemaker were not working, luckily I had the flash card with me, but it only worked in the 1 hour machine... but since we only had 4 pictures printing, I honestly didnt think it would take an hour so we asked the girl behind the counter how long it would be and she promptly told us an hour (wonder why I didnt go to walmart first?)..... so I was pretty upset with myself b/c if I would have remembered, I could have just uploaded them from work and they would have been ready to pick up... so I was feeling pretty bad about myself as it was a kind of stupid decision on my part... it was 7:00 and the kids hadnt eaten dinner.... so we were going to go home, feed the kids and then daniel would drive all the way back across town for the 4 pictures.....

but on the way home, daniel saw the chic-fil-a sign and decided that we needed to eat out tonight... it also meant the kids could play on the playground and he wouldnt have to drive all the way back across town.  I dont know about yall, but we dont eat out hardly at all b/c a family of five can cost quite a bit, even at fast food... so its a real treat when we go out.

So we were all sitting and eating and talking and a guy comes up to our table, tells us that he wants to pay for our dinner tonight, lays $20 on the table and walks off.

I about busted out bawling right there at the table... and had to hold back tears so I wouldnt lose it in front of the kids.

And the kids were just as taken back as we were..... Gabe even said "we should have given him a hug"... and I so agreed.... we barely got a thank you out before he was already out the door.

So good samaritan guy... wherever you are.... thank you.  You honestly have no idea what your random act of kindness meant to us.  Normally, we are stared at - and not in a good way - for having a large family and an asian child with special needs.... so for someone to do something tangibly nice for us.... it encouraged us more than you know... thank you.

Seriously, yall, I about want to bust out in tears just thinking about it.

And if yall want to do something nice for someone else for the cost of a stamp, here is your oppurtunity
http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2013/01/guest-post-again-thursday-update.html


Thanks for reading our blog.... yall are always an encouragement.... and we got a notice in the mail on Tuesday that they had received our I800A application and will be scheduling our fingerprint appointments soon... so excited!  Lets continue to cross our fingers that all this moves at a super fast pace... :)

Blah

Not too much to say... there has been alot of drama going on between us and the school over Wallace.

Since I know nosy people at his school read this blog (hi! nosy people!) - I cant go into much details.

but suffice to say Wallace is not getting an adequate education (or any education lately).... and the school keeps giving us the runaround for things that should be standard.

But I guess that is just how some schools treat their special needs kids.

Its really sad.

You would think people could be decent sometimes... but apparently not.....

And they like to make us the bad guys because we dont lay down and let them walk all over us.

So yeah....

besides that, still waiting to get approval for the I800A... and then our documents head over to China... yay!  My mama heart sure is missing my little one lately.

Thanks for all the love and support... :)


test, test

Thursday Thursday!

Thank you Lannie McKee!

So yesterday around 2:45, I got an email saying they had received our I800A application... that is good news... lets all hope it gets approved soon, soon, soon... :)

I also got all of the paperwork together to send in the application for Wallace' certificate of citizenship... so we got that in the mail as well yesterday.... lets all hope that it gets approved really soon as well....

All this is so exciting...

If you have never done an adoption, then you have no idea of the stacks and stacks and stacks of paperwork involved.... whew... glad to have another step done...

Been thinking about our little girl lately and how little she will be (she turns 2 in april) and how utterly scared she is going to feel when she gets home... it breaks my heart.... but I know it will be the best thing for her in the long run...

In other news, our puzzle fundraiser has totally stalled out... thanks for everyone who has given and shared on facebook.... hopefully we will have another surge come in soon b/c I cant put the puzzle together with so many pieces blank.... :(

Anyway.... its been a good week, and we are rejoicing in how everything is coming together... :)

Wednesday

Ok, so I took all of our passport required pics and they all turned out well and meet the photo requirements so Im happy to have that done!

So now, we have to just put everything in the mail and take it to UPS and mail it out.... hopefully Wallace's certificate will be approved soon.... really need it so we can get his SS# so we can have it for taxes...

With the photo, that pretty much means we have everything for our dossier except for the I800A approval.... and so far, we havent gotten any notice that theyve even received it... which is making me a bit nervous since there are alot of important and personal documents in there... but Im sure it will all work out.

Besides that not too much going on... its been a fairly quiet week so far, so I am enjoying that... still a ton to do, but nothing super pressing... so thankful for so much.

Hope yall are having a great Wednesday!

Tuesday

So yesterday was MLK Day so Daniel and the kids were out... and of course, I had to work... yay me!

It also meant that there was no mail running, so I am hoping our I800A gets to where it needs to be today - they are supposed to send an email/text when it gets in, so I will be excited to see that!

I have also gotten all of our documents together for Wallace's Certificate of Citizenship together... well, all but one - the passport photo... you would think that would be the easiest part.... but nope, apparently all the places around here do not know what they are doing.

Well, being a photographer myself, I decided that it couldnt be that hard, so i would do it and print it out for 1 hour... well, apparently, the only place in town that does glossy one hour prints is broken and has been since friday... they were supposed to be fixed yesterday, but I have checked today and nothing.... not sure what Im going to do b/c shipping is just too expensive and it will still be days to get them... ugh!

So yeah, thats about it.... :)

In other news, I am working myself into a frenzy trying to get photoshoots put together and huge props made... it always drives me crazy, but I know in the end, it will be worth it...

Speaking of photoshoots... remember when I told yall about the art show and I had 6 pieces in, and we could really use that money for our adoption so we really needed them to sell.... well, only 1 sold and it was the cheapest one... I had to go pick up the rest on Friday, so that was a bit of a kick in the gut to my ego.... but not much you can do, I guess...

there are other things going on, but I probably shouldnt talk about them.... so Ill be good today...

Happy Tuesday

Friday!

So glad its Friday... :)

Its been a weird week.
- Monday stayed home with sick Wallace
- Tuesday stayed home with sick Emma
- back to work
- Snow... Daniel and the kids stay home
- today.

Looking forward to a boring weekend full of sunshine - its been a week since weve had any and Im so ready for it.... and I can finally make some clouds for a upcoming photoshoot... and need to do some extra pics of wallace... and need to look into a potential photo location... and need to do passport pics of me, Daniel and Wallace... among other things.

So our I800A went into the fed ex system yesterday and its supposed to be overnighted to the lockbox in TX... so I dont know if that means it will get there today, tomorrow or Monday... my suspicion is that it will be Monday... Id love for a miracle and to be approved almost instantly.... but Im quite aware (and not holding my breath) that it will be the standard 30-60 days.

Also, we need to turn in the documents to get Wallace's certificate of citizenship.... b/c it costs $550... ugh.  Yeah, if your adoption is finalized outside the US (like with China adoptions), you automatically get this in the mail at no cost... but if you have to wait to adopt your child after they are back in the US, then you get to do a bunch of paperwork, pay a large chunk and then wait..... yay!

Until we get this paper, we cant get Wallace a SS number, and therefore cant get him on Medicaid, which would help pay for daily expenses like pullups and suppositores and all the dr appointments that he goes to... which would be hugely beneficial to us.

Anyway.... definitely looking forward to a sunshiney weekend.... hope yours is good!

Thursday

So I was going to post a pic today but blogger is being kind of a butthead, so yeah, I guess maybe later...

But it was going to be a picture of the snow we got today... yes, SNOW - here in Mississippi.... so weird... I cant get over it.

Schools were closed today so Daniel and the kids got to play in it and stay home... Im a little bit jealous...

So yesterday, we got our finalized, approved home study in the mail!  I think the angels sang as I opened it.... but hallelujah!

Which means I have all of our I800A documents in an overnight fed-ex mailer today.... oh, Im so, so excited.

Getting the I800A appointment usually takes 30-60 days and during that time we will get a fingerprint appointment.... oh how I wish that a miracle would take place and it would all happen in a few weeks.

After the I800A approval, we send in the rest of our dossier documents and once its checked, then it goes to China...

Its all so exciting.... but we still have $5-10K to come up with before we travel... eek!

Its crazy, but I know its all going to come together... and be so worth it!

On a totally unrelated note... can you believe Mardi Gras is less than 3 weeks away... what?!!!  love it!

Wednesday

So we had a good weekend... Gabe has his first upwards basketball game on Saturday morning and the rest of the weekend was just spent at home together... mostly laying on the couch and just enjoying each other...

And then Monday, Wallace woke up with a high fever, crusty/boogery nose and didnt want to get out of the bed... so we called me and him in sick and put him back to bed... he woke back up at 8:30 with no fever and no sickness...

then that night, Emma started complaining that her stomach was hurting and was eager to go to bed early.... then at 2:30 AM, she threw up and developed a fever...

when we got up the next morning, she was still hot and didnt feel well, so I called her and me in sick.... she stayed hot until she took a nap around 12, and woke back up fine

Is it possible to need extra sleep so much that it makes you sick?

Just thankful everyone is feeling better today... :)

Oh, and our home study got approved on Monday, so that is wonderful... just waiting to get it in the mail so we can file our I800A... woo hoo!

I asked when we could get updated info, and they said at any time, but they could only request it 1-2 times throughout the process, so I think we will ask after our dossier is approved in China and then shortly before we travel, so we can have the most up to date info as possible.... At that time, I will share what I can and maybe some pics too... :)

Yay... happy Wednesday!

Friday

This week has flown by and I am thankful that the weekend is almost here... :)

Wallace's ear appointment got canceled for today since the dr had to go out of town earlier than expected, so that will get done in a few weeks... but we are still putting drops and cotton in his ears every night - thankfully Wallace doesnt complain at all... and the opthamologist appointment was made during spring break, so that was helpful

so still waiting for our home study to be approved... and then we can send in our I800A - its all ready just waiting to go...

Not much else to report... looking forward to a laid back weekend and some good family time... :)  Hope yall have a great weekend!

Wednesday

This will be a short post as I need to be going but wanted to mark parts of our journey.

Our homestudy is likely to be approved tomorrow... which means once I have it in my hands, we can apply for the I800A - which I already have ready to go....

I also learned today that it is pretty impossible for us to travel during the summer... and it will most likely be between September and December - close to the same time when we traveled for Wallace.... I think I was initially disappointed, but Im kind of over it now as I know the first time we see our daughter will make everything else fade away.

Holding tightly to hope... :)

Monday

Its Monday again... woo hoo... Im so excited... insert sarcasm there... :)

Anyway, I just realized that I totally have forgotten to update about Wallace's dr appointments.

On Dec 26th, he went in to have a hearing test to see if that would reveal any answers about him being so non-verbal.... but the dr wouldnt even do the hearing test b/c he had so much compacted wax in his ears, so instead of the hearing test, he had wax scraped out.... and he had more wax taken out this past Thursday, Jan 3rd.... and he still has more to go - his next appointment is this Friday.... so that was a pretty huge discovery and we are hoping that Wallace will be able to hear more and therefore be able to talk more... so exciting.

This past Thursday, he also went to see an opthamologist... and we were in there for over 2 hours - I think they forgot about us in the back room when they dilated his eyes.... the dr referred us to a pediatric opthamologist in Jackson, and he may need to have surgery on his eye muscles as they turn in so badly... so we go to that in March.

As far as the adoption goes, this past Saturday - Jan 5th - we sent in our first dossier packet to our agency... its so exciting b/c it means one step closer... still crossing our fingers that we will get to travel during the summer... :)

The kids, Emma especially, were not ready to go back to school today... but it is what it is and now we have to get back into a routine.... lovely... :)

Hope yall are having a great Monday!

Recap

Since I havent posted in awhile, I couldnt remember what I had posted and hadnt.... so I thought I would try to do a quick recap...

Christmas was great... Wallace was sick, then Daniel and then me... ugh, but we made it through and I took a lot of naps.... but overall it was great and the kids got a ton of stuff.

This past Saturday to celebrate my birthday, Daniel's mom watched all 3 kids so Daniel and I got to have a day in Birmingham all to ourselves... we did alot of thrift store shopping and even ate a really nice dinner... so that was a much needed break

New Years Eve I turned 34... and we mostly just layed around the house until it got dark... then we went over to my grandparents house and shot fireworks

New Years day, we went back to my grandparents house and ate some black eyed peas... and I got another nap... it was a good day

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As far as the adoption goes.... we are still waiting on one piece of paper that they just now decided to tell us that we needed for the home study... so yeah, not super excited about that.

I am starting to think traveling this summer is a pipe dream....

And we still havent decided on a name yet...

so yeah, still stuck in the mire... hoping to crawl out soon.... never thought the home study would take this long... once we finally get this part done, then the rest of it should speed along... crossing my fingers... :)

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sorry Im so boring.... :)

2013

And just like that, its 2013.

Crazy... :)

Yesterday, we all loaded up and headed over to my grandparents' house and ate a big ol pot of black eyed peas.... hopefully that means that 2013 will be good to us.... better than 2012, I hope.

Seems like 2012 was hard on most people... just thankful we all survived... and the resolution is to make 2013 fantastical... :)

My real resolution is to clean out my closet and house and get rid of a ton of stuff... we will see how that goes.

I am now also 34.... officially in my mid-30's.  I feel kind of old and wonder how long I will still be able to pull off the cool mom thing.  I guess we will see on that as well.

Well, here is to 2013... I hope it brings our daughter home....

love you all!