My Birthday Present Came Today!!!!! LOA!!!!

Garrett is coming home SOON!!!! Life is so good!!!! Our LOA was completely unannounced! We had no idea it was even coming!!!! The Fedex man brought it this morning. The guy left it on our doorstep!!! No signature required!!! The most important piece of paper in the world...THE ONLY ONE LIKE IT IN THE WORLD...and we had no clue it was even on it's way. Yes, we are stunned. Yes, we are TOTALLY OVERJOYED!!! (Yes, we are a little annoyed that, again, someone dropped the ball at our adoption agency in a big way.) But we got it, and it is safe and sound and signed, and it will be on it's way back to China soon. The next step is just to wait for travel arrangements. Can you even believe it? We can't!!! It is the greatest birthday present I could ever receive!!! There is a chance that Garrett could be home right after Christmas, and that Van might be traveling during Christmas...though he would be traveling alone without our buddy, Niels, if that is the case. Regardless of that, we want Garrett home as soon as possible. We are so excited!!!! There is no way to even put it into words.

So Funny!

A very good friend of mine sent me this, and I just have to share it. It's really good for a laugh out loud.

I just want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery.

I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

Or have them put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.

Nor can I sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking one's nose.

Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I won't touch margarine, as it is just one molecule away from being plastic.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains, nor do I drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.

I can no longer buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face, disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

Neither will I go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I won't shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore , and Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but my own because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can't do any gardening because I'm afraid I'll get bitten by the brown recluse spider and my hand will fall off.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 14,000 people in the next 14 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM tomorrow afternoon and the fleas from 1,000 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Have a wonderful day....

Oh, by the way.....A German scientist from Argentina , after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse.
Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

Bad Daddy!!!

This evening, Gracie was asking us to play cards with her. I had played cards with her A LOT today. Gracie wanted to play "Go Fish". Van says to her, "Ok, I'll play cards with you, Gracie." So, they sit down. And as they begin to shuffle the cards, Van says to Gracie, "Gracie, we are going to play a FUN game. Hold on for a minute, and I'll be right back." So, I am thinking he is going downstairs to the playroom to get one of her other games. You know, Cootie or Candyland or something like that. Meanwhile, I am at my computer having some quality "me time"...not paying a lot of attention to what is happening. Then, I realize that Daddy is teaching Gracie how to play poker with chips. He called it "Single Card Poker" and went on to say that it was helping her learn about low and high numbers. Maybe that's true. But this is SOOOO wrong on SOOOO many levels. I had to take pictures anyway because even though Daddy knows better, he did it. Bad Daddy! We will be hiding those poker chips too! And that was not Gracie's Starbuck's coffee drink sitting next to her. It was Van's. :)

Hide the Scissors

Yes, it happened! She came upstairs from the playroom, and said very sadly, "I'm sorry, Mama. I am really sorry." and she put her hands over her mouth like she had done something very naughty. Big sirens went off in my head. "What happened, Gracie?", I say. And she says, "I cut their hair with my scissors." Then, I am thinking about our dog and cats. Uh-oh!!! "Show me.", I say. And she takes me downstairs, and this is what I find. Thank goodness that it was the doll's hair that got the little trim, and not hers! I hid the scissors. And we had a LONG talk about only using scissors to cut paper. The Cabbage Patch doll got a full scalping, and the Kelly doll has layers now.

My fear is that she will cut her own hair. Do ya'll realize that it has taken three years to get her hair to the length it is now? She has had no haircuts other than to trim the very tiny ends and even it up. Her bangs are still short. If she were to cut her hair at this point, we would be in BIG trouble.

I have not told her this story, but I will share it here. My hair grows very quickly, and it always has. When I was about seven years old, I had hair down to my waist. My mom would braid it every night before I went to sleep. One night, I decided I needed a hair cut, and I got my mother's sewing scissors out of her sewing box and completely WACKED OFF one braid...only one. The next morning I came down to breakfast with no hair on one side and a full braid on the other. Not pretty! Needless to say, I looked like a little boy after the lucky hairdresser finished "fixing" the mess I had made.

Garrett's Room Is Ready...

Here are the pictures of Garrett's new bedroom. We are so ready to get him home!!! Gracie loves it. She has hung blankets and has made forts already underneath the top bunk. Notice that the bunk beds have stairs not a ladder! I love this set. The stairs are also drawers. We have lots of storage here. There is a huge drawer under the double bed too. Mama will NOT be sleeping on a hard floor this time when Garrett comes home. (Remember that I did that on many nights when Gracie was little. I even got used to doing that because it happened so frequently.) Also, the cats love this room now. Chance, our VERY moody kitty, has decided that his favorite spot is way up on the top bunk where no one can bother him.

Positive News!!! OUR LOA COULD BE ON THE WAY!!!

We received a call and email from Kathy at our adoption agency. This is the news we have been waiting for, folks! We are hoping and praying!!!

Kathy writes:

Good morning!

We got an e-mail from Lily over the weekend. Your dossier was given to the director of the Waiting Child Program on Thursday. We HOPE that your LOA will be sent out sometime this week. We’ll keep you updated when we hear more.

YEA!!!! YIPPEE!!! "Oh Happy Day!!!", "Don't Worry, Be Happy." Those songs are playing in my head as I write this.

We'll let you know when it arrives!!! Notice I said "when" and not "if" because I believe it is coming!!!

The News Speaks for Itself...

Well, Van emailed our agency to see if they could guestimate our departure dates for China...even though we have yet to receive our LOA. Would it be late November or December?

This is the response we received...AND it REALLY speaks for itself...

Van,

The chances of traveling before the end of this year are getting slimmer. Once we get the LOA, we are still looking at 2-3 weeks for the Travel Approval and then travel approximately two weeks following. We also have Thanksgiving and Christmas in this mix.

I’m so sorry, I wish that I could tell you when, but so far, CCAA hasn’t confirmed anything with us regarding when the LOA might be sent. As soon as I can get any info from them regarding this, I’ll get it to you.

Kathy

Looks like CCAA in China is really slowing down, folks, and we just have to continue to hope and pray that this one document, the LOA, comes to us sometime VERY soon. I wrote the agency and let them know our feelings about the situation, but their hands are tied. Apparently, another family of theirs has been waiting even longer than we have for their LOA. It was promised to the agency MANY weeks ago and it still has not arrived. The agency's rep in China, Lily, says there is no sign of our LOA at all.

We have an update on Garrett!!!

Here is the cutest boy on the planet! And he is all smiles for us. The update came with these two pictures this morning and a written update giving us his weight, height, and other information. Just as we thought at almost two and a half years old, Garrett is bigger than Gracie as far as weight goes. Garrett is 33 pounds and 34.5 inches tall. Gracie is 31 pounds and 38.5 inches tall. Life is so good!!! Come on, LOA!!!!

Here is the written update:

Update information for Hao Chen Guang
DOB: July 26th, 2006
Weight: 15kg
Height: 88cm
Character: outgoing, smart, active, restless, laughs a lots
He likes cars with sound, likes to play outside, likes to ride bike with Dad and likes to wear new clothes.
Hao Chen Guang is a very cute boy. He looks very kind and honest. His shining eyes show he is a smart boy. He has developed very well. He can sit alone, walk alone and run fast. He enjoys playing with his brother. He never stops and always walks a lot everyday. He goes to visit neighbors all the time and plays outside with other kids. He can say “Baba, Mama, come, no”, some simple words. He is learning to talk. When you ask him, he would answer you something which you can’t understand. When you call his name, he knows where you are. He is very solid and hardly gets sick. He doesn’t feel scare of strangers. He will laugh when you play with him. He is a charming boy.
He likes to go outside. Mom always take him to play outside and he is happy everytime.
He is getting bigger and taller. He totally understands people’s talking. Sometimes he can help Mom. He loves the foster Dad and is very attached to him. Dad always buys him some snack. He is very friendly and likes to share with people.
His favorite food: rice, noodle, egg. He can eat all kinds of table food. He is not picky. He likes fruits, such as banana, apple, kiwi and other snacks.