The crib is up... plus lots of shopping for AC

Toys we bought for AnnaClaire and the cute picture frame Mom got.Close up of the adorable picture frame (that I picked out) for Mom and Dad.We are figuring it all out! Thanks to the hardware and instructions!HERE IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MISS ANNACLAIRE CHENHUI'S CRIB! (Notice her jammies waiting on the bar! These are the first PJs we bought her and they match her crib really well!)
Before cuddly things...After cuddly things! It looks so comfy!
I can't wait to tuck and actual baby (instead of a picture) in that crib!
AnnaClaire's stuffed animals- Pinkie or Piggie (haven't decided yet!), Teddie, and LilyBug! (LilyBug is a new one that we got today!!! She's a ladybug chime stuffed animal!)
Now... we just need our AnnaClaire!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night was really fun!!! We stayed up really late though, so I was exhausted at swim practice this morning. Anyway, Deborah's mom made homemade pizza for dinner--so good. Deborah opened all her presents, she loved them all, then we ate while watching Just My Luck (I didn't like it. It is so predictable!) Anyway, it was still fun. :) Then we talked for just about 10 billion hours and finally went to bed but not for long because we had to wake up at 7 for swimming. After swimming there was a bagel breakfast...yum. When I got home, Mom and I went to Babies R Us to make a few returns. We got AC a few toys (a really cool turtle thing that you push, and the balls in it pop, and a little mirror) and the precious picture frame pictured. We ran into Toys R Us too. We found a few cute books there (buy 2 get one free!!!) and so got those. We also got "links" to attach AC's little toys to her Floppy Seat, car seat, stroller, etc. And we found these darling pants we have been wanting. (They match a precious onesie we bought last week.) We had initially seen them at Babies R Us, but the biggest size they had was 6 months. Here they had 9 months and 12 months. We got 9 months because the 12 months were huge and AnnaClaire is TINY! I have a picture of them to post, but I can only do it on the other computer which is broken at the time. On the way home, we stopped at Chickfila and got milkshakes. YUMMMMM! We came home and guess what Dad and I did?! Finished setting up the crib! (The hardware came yesterday!) By the way, we set it up in my parents room since the nursery isn't done, so don't think that green in the backround of the pictures is her wall color. Yeah... it doesn't really match. Anyway, I love the crib. The bedding looks SO pretty in it and all her animals and blankies match perfectly. I LOVE her crib. I can't wait for HER to be sleeping in it! We got our baby shower invitation today. I am so excited for it! 3 of our neighbors planned it for us and tons of ladies from our neighborhood are coming. It's next Sunday... I can't WAIT! I have a picture of the invitation... But, yet again, it is on the other computer which is broken at the time. I'll try to post those to pictures tomorrow.

Good, good, good, good, good, good news! As said on Rumor Queen.......

SN TA’sSeptember 29th, 2006
Several agencies expect to receive SN TA’s Monday.

Oh..... I hope AWAA is one of those expecting to receive TA's on Monday... And I'm hoping that we'll be one of those ro receive it.... --NO PROMISES, THIS IS A RUMOR! Day 51... It's about time, I'm ready to go to China!!! Anyway... I've had this gut feeling it will be Monday (even before I saw the rumor!) Oh PLEASE let us get our TA on Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well... I'm just watching the Hawkeyes play the Buckeyes. The Texas game isn't televised because they are playing a really bad team. I don't get whats up with all this "eye" stuff. BuckEYES vs. hawkEYES? What's up with that?!?! GO HAWKEYES! (Only because I want any team to beat OSU, I don't care who it is.)

Whew... I'm exhausted, I'm off to bed in a few.

Oh, I forgot... We have had another *minor* name change on AnnaClaire's name. We are making the "H" lower case, so her name is now AnnaClaire Chenhui instead of AnnaClaire ChenHui. It really bugged me how it was like 2 two names smooshed together, so we had a "family meeting" and decided to change it.That is OFFICIAL (it's on the visa paperwork, so this is her name.)

THE BIG 5-0

My cool "Fifty" picture won't post.... But anyway... IT'S DAY 50! Now... where is our TA?

Tonight right after swimming, I'm going to my friend, Deborah's birthday party. A lot of us our going and we are putting our money together and getting her a huge "swim package." (practice suit, mesh bag, googles, all that.) She has like 8 brothers and sisters (2 little bros adopted from the Philipeans!) so she doesn't get everything she wants, so we all want to make her 13th birthday really special. I'm so excited about it!!!!!!!!! Well I better go get ready I have a lot to do in 30 minutes.

Chinese

Hi Pam! I have a confession: I am addicted to Emily's journal (when I click on LINKS). It's completely charming. I have a friend who's fiancé works at the International School and HER friend is in the process of adopting from China. So the teacher used her Chinese typewriter and typed up these "words". I thought Emily would enjoy them. Counting days for you (and Emily and AnnaClaire!) Betsey

That's the email Mom had when she got home! Of course she sent it to me so I could print out the words and post them here. :) This is actually the mother, Mrs. Ward, of the girl, Cindy, Mom babysat for when she was younger. And how wierd is this... A few months ago Mrs. Ward emailed us telling us that Cindy had just gotten the referral for their daughter, Haddie, from China! Isn't that so cool? Haddie is SOOO cute. The girls will have to have some playdates! Anyway, I thought these Chinese words were really cool and especially that they were typed on the typewritter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today after doing school and going to Grace, Mom and I went out to eat at Qdoba. Then we went to the "Mail" store to mail a package (the little something I talked about yesterday.) While we were there, we say some really cute pink gingham totes. We were about to get one but the font we liked wouldn't fit well. In other words AnnaClaire is a very long name. But we found one I liked even better as we were leaving, it had a bigger space for a name, and the have them with a ladybug on, so we are considering that one now! :) Now we are home. (Obviously!) We just ordered the new "Spirit of Adoption" c.d.! It came out today! I'm so excited for it to come!!!!! I really was hoping that maybe we'd get our TA call this week. Wouldn't that be awesome? Which we still could tonight or tomorrow. If it doesn't come tonight or tomorrow, there is no way to get it until the week after next. (Because the holiday in China.) So maybe, just maybe, it will come soon. I know that's a lot to ask, after all it is only day 49, but it's happened before, so it could happen again! Right? Oh come on TA, I'm tired of waiting!

Excuse my obsession of footies.

*We could not help it. They are just so cute. They had them in her size. She only has 7? other pairs! (Excuses for getting yet abother pair of footy pjs.) Well. After doing school, Mom and I went to go pick up our car. The leather looks AWESOME! It also smells AWESOME. Then we went to Costco to get a little something for AnnaClaire's new friend. And of course we saw the absolute cutest footy pjs ever and we had to get them. Besides AnnaClaire only has one other lime green pair and they are only partially lime green. You have to admit, her new pair is pretty cute with the princess attire! So we got those for AC. We'll call it an 11 month birthday present. Which brings me to... Happy 11 month birthday, AnnaClaire!!! I'm a little sad that she is 11 months old today. I don't want her to grow up without us! Come on, TA, we want our baby! Oh, how wierd is this? As you know, in July we ordered a Floppy Seat. Well, when we were at Babies R Us on Saturday we found a pink one. We had never seen a pink one. We immediatly thought, we will return our hot air balloon one and get this pink polka dot one! Of course the return policy said you can only return it within 30 days of purchasing. It had been almost 2 months... Anyway, I went on and emailed the owner of the store and she said she could take it back. I told her we LOVED the Floppy Seat, but we had recently found a pink one that was a little more girly for the baby girl we are adopting from China. This morning I got an email from her saying the lady who used to own the store is awaiting TA to go get her daughter from China, as well! It is a small world!!! You should check out the store. They have some great stuff! www.rockabuybaby.com. Okay, enough with my advertising. ;-)

I am a little stumped on what day it is for the TA wait. It's either day 48, day 47, or day 44. Does it really matter? No, not really. Here's my explanations for each day. Day 48 would be counting from the day we sent our LOI/the day they received it, (Aug. 11- day 1). Day 47 would mean we were counting down from when it was sent saying that Aug. 11 were day 0, Aug 12- day 1. Day 44 would mean we were counting from when the CCAA received our LOI in the FedEx package. I think it is day 48. Maybe because someone in our LOI group says that, but I have a better explanation than that. There are 3 families with our LOI date. Our LOIs were the first (for our agency) to try this new process known as sending the LOI electronically. To make sure the LOI got there, they also sent it via FedEx. But our LOI got sent electronically on August 11 and would've been received that same day. In other words, August 11 would be day 1 of the wait since the LOI was recieved on August 11. So my opinion is that you count down from the day your LOI was received at the CCAA. In our case, because it was sent electronically, that would be August 11, making today day 48 for the TA wait! I promise this is the last time I am going to switch my mind! I'm off to change the ticker!

Fun couple of days!

**Good news. Dad got the crib figured out; the company is sending us hardware and instructions that should be here sometime next week. Then the crib can GO UP! YIPEE!

Not much else. Sorry I haven't posted much. Yesterday was the 2 month anniversary since we first saw our little sweetie. I can't believe it was 2 months ago. Then she was 8 months old. Tomorrow she will be 11 months. Ohh, I don't want her to grow up without us! Come on TA, we want our baby! Yesterday... lets see. We brought the car in to get the leather installed!! And the people started our hardwood floors [FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] We are now living in the bonus room. Last night at swimming, we were doing dryland, and my friend accidently threw a 8 pound medicine ball at my face. Oww, my nose is 3 times to big and my lip is all swollen. I'm feeling better now though! :) Today after doing school, I had Grace then we went to Chickfila, then Latin. After Latin, Caroline and I went to Cory's birthday party. It was fun we had milkshakes and got in the pool. Right after that, I went to swim practice which went really well. When I got in the car, Dad surprised me with Chinese. Yummy!!! Well, I'm so excited about all the referrals coming out. The babies are sooooooooooooooooooooooo cute. Congrats everyone receiving pics!

Where is our TA? Day 43...

"The" crib.

Here I am dusting it off. It was so incredibly dusty!

Getting ready to set it up!
Starting to set it up. Love this one with the dog "helping". She loves to be where we are!!!


Well, yesterday was a BIG day! I had swim practice 8:30-11. Mom picked me up and we drove to Concord Mills, where the nearest Babies R Us (that we know of) is. We ate at a Panera next to it. I forget how much I love Panera! We got to Babies R Us, and boy did we SHOP! We got a crib matress, all these baby meds, a bottle warmer, more nipples, a few toys, organic matress pads, a formula dispenser/snack cup, a few onesies, another pack of bibsters, a tooth brush & tooth paste, baby lip balm, a food pad thingy, and a "sisters" picture frame and some other things. Then on to Walmart! It was a new Super Walmart in Indian Trail. It is MUCH nicer than the other ones. It is way more organized and they have a HUGE baby section. (Well atleast bigger than what I'm used to for Walmart!) So we got diapers, wipes, washcloths, burp cloths, some baby lotion stuff, really cute sippy cups (for when shes a little older), organic formula, and we decided to get those fruit puffs everyone goes on and on about. Except ours aren't Gerber ones. I'm pretty sure thats it, but I might be forgetting something. I think we are pretty much ready for our trip (as far as for baby!) So... wheres our TA??? Anyway, after our big shopping expedition, we got home and guess what I *somehow* finally got Dad to take out of the attic? Yes. The CRIB! It was in the very back so we went through the stuff in our attic. Then we came to it. THE CRIB. The crib that was purchased 19 years ago! WOW, that's kinda wierd. Anyway, even though it's brown and old, it is PRETTY! I love it. Only it's more beat up than any of us remembered. Mom says theres no one to blame but me for the10 year old milk all over the crib. She says I shook my bottle all the time and that explains the milk. The crib was also extremely dusty. I spent just about 3 hours scrubbing and dusting the crib, and it is almost as good as new! So now to set it up! (We wanted to set it up so we would have a place for all the sutff we bought.) We didn't get to far because we realized Dad didn't save the hardware. To Walmart he went. He got all kinds of screws and we found some that worked. We screwed in the bars so it started looking like a crib... Then, well. What's after that? We tried the matress holder thing. We couldn't figure out how it stayed attached to the crib. So we did the bars. We got one in, and when we pulled it down, it went all the way to the floor! That's not right! We pulled out the old photo albums to see what the crib looked like and figured out we are missing a few peices. Great. It doesn't seem easy to get hardware and instructions for a 19 year old crib, but Mom thinks that the cribs from that company probably are assembled the same way and with the same hardware. So, no the crib is not set up, only half set up, but it's getting there. (My dad is an engineer, how come we can't even get a crib assembled?) Anyway, I was glad to see it. So yesterday was great. What about today? Today was fun too. First was Church, than we went to Five Guys (it's our new tradition.) YUM! We came home and watched the Panthers game. It was looking like a sure win considering the score was 17-0. The Panthers actually intercepted and scored in the first minute of the game! Well... Soon it was 17-7. Then 20-7 then 20-14, 20-21, 21-23, 23-24, 26-24. And yes, the Panthers won, thanks to a Kasay FG in the last 8 seconds of the game. So Carolina doesn't have the (as the reporters went on and on about) 0-3 bad in history record. That belongs to the Bucks, sorry Mrs. Byrne!

WHITE WATER RAFTING!!!!!!!!

(Above) this is a picture of a group white water rafting where we went. It's not us. I'll post pictures of us once I can get them from Mr. Pugh's camera.

Today we had school off. It was such a fun day!!! Will and I went white water rafting with the Pughs. It was so much fun. There's a white water rafting place that just opened about 35-40 minutes away from us. It's kinda in the middle of no where, but it is the U.S. National Whitewater Center. I have never been white water rafting before, so it was a BLAST. The course is really cool. There are 3 different parts of it and my favorite one that is the class 4! We got soaked, but no one fell in. There were 6 people in our raft- me, Will, Elizabeth, Ben, Mrs. Pugh, and the guide. It was so nice to have a fun activity today. We even had a nice picnic lunch at the place! After our fun outing, I had swim practice. Then I ate dinner and watched some lady win $750,000 on Deal or No Deal. I love that show!!!

GOOD NEWS! Someone in Mom's AWAA SN yahoo group got TA YESTERDAY! They were LOI 8/18. There were LID 10/12/05, so that is most likely why they got it in 31 days (they'd already been through the review room.) Anyway, this is great news, and congrats to this family. We're so happy for you! They are leaving on October 26. I really, really, really, really hope we can get TA in time to leave with them and the rest of that group. That would be so awesome. TAs really are flowing in. Another family I've been following was LID 7/7 (LOI before DTC) and got TA on Monday. Hopefully ours will come really soon, I'd love to get to China on my sweet sisters birthday and get her 3 days later! Day 39 for TA. Come on, COME ON!

Electrical work!

LADYBUG SIGHTING!
New wall sconce!!! Isn't it pretty? I'll post more pictures of our latest things tomorrow.
The hole in our ceiling. Isn't it lovely?


Today was fine. I had school then Grace which was great, I'm looking forward to our newest project. Mom and I also looked at a few Home Depots and found a light kit for AC's fan, a new faucet and light fixture for my bathroom, light bulbs, and looked for a mirror too. As you can see, we are working on all our house stuff at once! We also went out to eat at "Carolina Cafe and Bakery." Yumm... I loveeeeeeeee that place. They have the greatest grilled cheese and their deserts are amazing. Anyway, the electricians came and wired and put up my pretty fan in my new room, put a fan in Drew's new room, wired and put a sconce in the stairwell, and wired AC's nursery for a fan and light in the hall part of her room. At one point the one of the men doing it fell through the ceiling! Don't worry, he is fine! But still... OWW! (He was wearing a Ohio State hat, so he deserved it... just kidding!) They still have to come back and wire and put in the foyer light fixture, but they're doing that after the ceiling goes in. So our house has a few changes. They look really great!!!

Other than that... day 38 on the TA wait. I told my mom this morning that I am getting to the point where I AM READY TO GO GET MY SISTER! Come on TA, come on!!!

Oh yes... Not only were there 1 but 2 ladybug sightings today! One was on the sidewalk. We were running at swim practice and I saw it. I was so excited. Well then when I got home, there was ANOTHER ladybug! It was over our new wall sconce. Maybe TAs are coming soon... I sure hope!

Visa stuff is on its way to AWAA!

(Left) Me with the visa stuff!

Well! The visa stuff is off to AWAA! It will get there around Friday. AWAA is sending out all the visa applications on Oct. 6, so that's when ours will go out. From there, I think it'll go to the Chinese Embassy and our passports will be stamped with a red stamp. Then our passports will come back to us and WE'LL BE READY TO GO!!! YAY! Well, after we get TA, that is. Someone posted that their friend got it yesterday. They were LOI the same day as us, so that means 36 days. 36! Of course, they were logged in in October, so had already been through the review room. That's most likely why theirs came so fast. I hope ours comes really soon. Today is day 37. 32 days shy of the average!!!

TA wait day 36

I'm ready for my sister!!!!!!!!!!!! We're getting all the visa stuff ready and are FedExing it to AWAA tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! Today I had school. After school I had Grace which was fun. On Tuesdays Caroline and I go out to lunch between Grace and Latin. Our moms trade off every week. Today was her mom's day and we went to Chickfila! Yum... I love Chickfila. Then was Latin which went very well and was fun. Mom and I went to the mall quick to get my friend, Cory's b-day present, and while we were there, we checked in a few baby stores. Saw tons of cute things but they were either not in her size or not on sale. Come on, sales!!! I'm getting anxious to go to China. I hope our TA comes really, really soon, because I don't think I can stand it much longer. It's hard to look at "that face" and know she is in an orphanage. I wish we could do something to get there sooner. Tonight at swimming, I saw a rainbow. Not only one, but 2! A rainbow over a rainbow! And as I looked at those rainbows, it reminded me that God has a promise. It seems like He put those rainbows in the sky to remind me that our TA will come when He wants it to come, and I need to not worry about it. The rainbow seemed like it was His promise to me that our TA would come. I just pray it will be really, really soon. Day 36.

May the packing begin!

This morning we worked on all the visa and travel paperwork. I think we are pretty much set! Yipee!! After a little school, Mom and I went to Qdoba. Then we picked Will up from school during his lunch break to go get photos taken for our visas. We walked into AAA to get them done, and guess what I spotted? The cutest, most adorable ladybug suitcase EVER. Of course, Mom wouldn't buy it for AnnaClaire. I was very dissappointed. It was like $40 and was really small, so I understand why, but ohh, I wanted that suitcase for my sis! So anyway, while I was admiring and begging for the ladybug suitcase, the lady called us to get our pics taken. It was fine, they actually turned out really well! (A lot better than the passport photos!) Anyway, as mom was paying, I spotted a bright lime green suitcase -for me. (Now, I have one suitcase, and its a cloth duffel bag that holds enough for a weekend trip. Not what I am going to bring to China!) Well this suitcase just caught my eye and I had to show Mom. She pointed out a pink aloha print one next to it. I didn't like this one quite as much but thought it was still really, really cute. We looked at the prices. The lime green one was $90. The aloha pink one was $99. For a set of 3!!!!!!!!!! Plus, the aloha pink one is much bigger than the lime one was!!! And I decided I liked the aloha pink one much better! So of course, we decided we would not find a better deal on a suitcase nor would we find a cuter one. So not only do I have one huge, I mean HUGE suitcase, I also have a smaller one (for suveniors) and a little tote too! They are well worth $99! The lady said it's a really good brand, too! I'll be traveling in style! =] So... LET THE PACKING BEGIN! That will be so hard. I like to have 14 outfits for 14 days plus 2 extras. None of that, even that wouldn't fit in my suitcase, although it is huge! Well, I LOVE my new suitcase! =] (oh and Mom, and all other computer lingo challenged people, the =] is a smiley)

From Rumor Queen:
SN TA’s September 18th, 2006
I’m told that someone has reported recieving a SN TA.
I hope this is the beginning of another flood of them.

I like her thinking... Maybe, just maybe, we'll get our TA really soon! It's day 35!

Tag away!

1. FIRST NAME? Emily
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My middle name, Ann, is after my grandma
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Don't remember... I cry easily though.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's fine. In 4th grade I got the "neat" award for neat handwriting, neat desk, etc. but my handwriting isn't the greatest anymore except for my cursive.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Turkey. Don't really like lunch meat though.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yep
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No way!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey nut cheerios!
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Mint chocolate chip, but it has to be green! The white isn't as good.
14. SHOE Size? 81/2-9
15. RED OR PINK? Pink
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My fingernails.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My brother who's at college 17 hours away.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Jeans and birkenstocks.
19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The music on peoples adoption websites.
20. WHERE IS THE ONE PLACE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE RIGHT NOW? In Hunan, getting AnnaClaire.
21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Pink.
22. FAVORITE SMELL? Cookies in the oven!
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My dad
24. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Smile
25. FAVORITE DRINK? Water. I like apple juice too.
26. FAVORITE SPORT? Swimming
27. WHATS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? Lime green
28. HAT SIZE? Let me check. Small.
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes! I couldn't live without them!
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Anything Italian.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings
32. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Green
33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Have to agree with Mrs. White there. Neither! Fall... The weather is perfect!
34. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
35. FAVORITE DESSERT? hot fudge sundae on a peice of chocolate cake! Yumm
36. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Red Scarf Girl. (Learning about Tiananmen Square!)
37. WHAT'S ON THE MOUSE PAD? The world. I see China.
38. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Sunday night football!
39. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SOUNDS? Babies.
40. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Europe.
41. WHAT ARE YOUR SPECIAL TALENTS? Piano, swimming, organization, stripping wallpaper.
42. AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? The Woodlands, Texas.
43. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I decided to do it from buckeyesinchina (Mrs. White)
44. WHAT DAY IS IT? Monday. September 18.

Whoever is reading this, you are tagged!

Happy Sunday!

Well today was a nice Sunday. I woke up and we went to Church. One of my little girls in my 3 year old group, Lindsey, had the most adorable outfit and I want it for AC! It was a white smocked dress with tiny light pink and light green roses under the smocking. So cute. Anyway, "barnyard" was fun. We had some rascals. They are all so cute though!!! After Church, we went to Five Guys with the Pughs. Yummmm. I love that place. If you have a Five Guys near you, you MUST try it. They have one thing on the menu that isn't a hotdog or hamburger, a veggie cheese or grilled cheese, and I'll tell you, that veggie cheese is goo-od. They also have amazing french fries. I went to Costco with the Pughs after lunch. Then I came home and watched the Panthers game, which was pitiful. One stupid pass from Gamble, after a punt return, caused a fumble, and Minnesota pretty much got a free TD. The game went in OT and Minnesota won. Atleast we used to live in Minnesota, so it wasn't terrible, although we don't exactly like the Vikings. Next weeks game is vs. the Bucs... They better win that, or else the "supposedly SB team" will be not undefeated, but defeated. That would be sad. Anyway, after the loss, I went to our Church youth group. It's called Timothy Project or T.P. and it started back today. It's 2 hours long and is games/dinner then worship songs, then a speech, then group time. It was really fun. We played some strange game called "Cockroach, foot, atom ball" or something like that. It's their version of "Rock, paper, sissors." We played some other games too. TP was quite fun though. I came home and had a slice of pizza. I've been working on a project ever since and am just finishing it up. Time for bed now! Busy day-- the kind of day I like! I'm sad the weekend is over though... Mondays=bleh. I better go now. Still waiting for TA. It's been 34 days (so it's not like we were expecting to have it now.)

A trip to Toys-R-Us (and a fan for AC!)

Stylin' hangers for the cutest baby in the world.

Wooden stacking rings for, yet again, the cutest baby in the world!

Yesterday I had a book club. It was at my friend Cory's house. It was really fun. They have a pool so we swam in it after we did our projects... Lots of fun. I went to the mall, too. I love the mall! :) I slept over at her house which was really fun, except I have a bad cold. Today my mom picked me up and we went and looked at some lighting for our "new" foyer. She had looked yesterday and found some lighting she liked. She and dad got AC's fan and Drew's fan yesterday. AnnaClaire's fan is precious. It has beadboard blades... Awww! Drew's is really cool too, it has brown wicker blades. Today we got a cute chandelier for the foyer and a fun pineapple wall sconce for the stairwell. We also went to Toys-R-Us. Mom wanted to look and see if they had the "water and sand table" she wanted and look at a few other things for our baby shower registry. (Thanks in advance for the baby shower, Mrs. Pugh!) We found some little pink and green hangers that we just had to get. Every baby has to have her clothes hanging in style, right? Mom isn't so big on the electric toys, so when we found the wooden section, we had to buy something! They had all kinds of fun wooden toys! Wooden puzzles, wooden block sets, wooden pully train things, wooden animal stringing things, wooden everything. We found this cute little set of wooden stacking rings. I think they are much cuter than those plastic ones!

Now we are eating pizza and watching Texas dominate Rice. (Score is 38-0; it's half time.) GO TEXAS!!! I was also excited that the most overrated team in college football, Notre Dame lost big time.

Day 33 for TA wait. I hate waiting... Come on TA, come on!

A toy to celebrate 1 month.

Today I had Grace. It was great! Then Mom and I went out to lunch at Qdoba. Yum! I love Qdoba. We went on a few errands including Costco. While we were at Costco, we looked in the baby toys section. We found this great toy! It's a "Sort & Spin Hippo" and an "Activity Triangle." The Hippo has little slots where you put the shapes and then they come out the hippos mouth. They triangle has all sorts of activities including a mirror, spinny things, etc. Cool! I can't wait to see AnnaClaire playing with it! =] She'll be so cute! We saw a few other toys that we want to get also, but they were bigger, so we are going to wait on them (retro kitchen and vacuum cleaner activity thing.) We came home and oh goodness does the nursery look different! There's now a frame, floor, and doorframe!

Day 31 for TA wait! Wow, it's been exactly a month since the LOI was received. Hopefully we won't have too many more weeks to go! (Thanks Mrs. Liptack for the picture =])

Our travel packet came!!!

This morning, the builders came out and started the nursery (see www.emilysmeimei-nursery.blogspot.com). I did school, then we ate soup for lunch, then I had piano. Piano was good, I showed my teacher AC's pictures and she said that she was darling!!! We ran a few errands and picked up stuff for dinner. We came home and guess what was in our mailbox? Our travel packet!!! (No, not travel approval, our travel packet) We had been anxiously awaiting this since we have to have the visa stuff to AWAA by Oct. 6. The packet contains the visa applications, other paperwork, in China itenerary, tons of other paperwork, forms, etc. All this is inside an AWAA tote bag!!! This has been a really gloomy day- pouring rain. So it was nice to come home to this. It's feeling more and more "official". DAY 30 FOR THE TA WAIT!

Here's the In China Itinerary: (=])
-Thursday: Depart U.S. for China!
-Friday: Arrive in Beijing!
-Saturday: Beijing tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and Summer Palace.
-Sunday: Church service, Great Wall, and Beijing Duck Dinner.
Monday: Morning flight to Hunan!!!!!!
Afternoon: MEET ANNACLAIRE CHENHUI H.!!! Start the paperwork
Tuesday-Friday: Civil Affairs and Notary Appointments. More paperwork, sight-seeing, and shopping.
Saturday: AnnaClaire's medical exam and more sight-seeing
Sunday: Filling out consulate forms.
Monday: Consulate Appt.
Tuesday: Pick up AnnaClaire's visa.
Wednesday: Bring AnnaClaire home, she is officially a US citizen!!!!!!!!!! YAY!
(This is just a sample)

Nursery and stuff..

(Can't post pictures... grr)

Guess we won't be starting the nursery until tomorrow... I set up a blog for the nursery... It's more like a link to this one... www.emilysmeimei-nursery.blogspot.com you can go under etc. on this one and click on AnnaClaire's nursery to get there too. They delivered the wood today! I'm about to add pictures on that blog so go there next. We have narrowed it down to a few colors to paint the nursery. My favorite is "sweet taffy". It's a really pretty light pink!

Nothing much today... went to design class. We are supposed to design 8 types of calling cards! Fun!!! She gave us the topics and one is baby announcement. I'm going to post it on here once I do it. Then Mom took Caroline and I to Chickfila before Latin. At Latin we reviewed and then played 2 games (I won- well tied for both =]) It was fun.

I'm ready to get AnnaClaire! SOOOO ready! When can we go, already? 29 days and counting since LOI was received...

NEVER FORGET 9/11

5 years ago (yesterday) something horrible happened to our country. I remember the day like it was yesterday and not 5 years since yesterday. I was in the 3rd grade, and we were leaving for recess. My teacher told us that there had been 2 very bad plane crashes, and our parents were going to come pick us up. All the 4th graders went around at recess spreading rumors of what had happened. I didn't know until I got home. My mom and dad were watching the news. It was the most depressing day.

NEVER FORGET 9/11! The people in the Pentagon, the people in the World Trade Centers, the passengers on the plane, and the flight attendents, the captains of the plane, and although its hard to, the people who did such a horrible thing.

You can see a list of the victims on Mrs. Liptacks blog: here

So 5 years ago today, we all woke up, and we knew something had happened. We saw the replays of the attacks, and knew that is is something we would never forget. And we never will. Keep the victims in your hearts and their families in your prayers everyday even if it is not the 11th of September.

LOI sent 1 month ago! We're starting the nursery!!!

Short post... I have to get to bed!!! One month ago, we sent out LOI to adopt our little Chen Xun Hui. One month ago!!! I can't believe it!!! On the 14th, it will be a month since it was recieved, meaning we will be in the TA timeframe (1-3 months). YIPPEE! COME ON, TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!

Big news! We are starting the nursery addition tomorrow or Wednesday! Right now, we have a 2 story foyer. We are flooring that in, making a nursery instead of having such an open foyer. It will be pretty small, but will fit AC's stuff just GREAT! At first we thought we couldn't put a closet in there, but turns out we can!!! I'm so excited about the nursery. We have been looking at paint samples today! It feels so REAL!!!

Well, I kept forgetting to update today... I promise I'll do a longer post tomorrow.

Last day at the pool for the year!

This morning we went to Church. At Church, I do something called the Barnyard. It's a 3 year old "nursery" thing. First is playtime like with bocks and such then is storytime. Then is singing, and then puppets. Then we work on a memory verse with hand motions. After that, we go into group time. We color pictures, eat snacks, read books, do crafts, etc and teach them about Jesus until their parents get there. It's so much fun. Well today was the first day with our new groups. I do it with my friend Caroline, and we have the SWEETEST group this year. There are 3 little girls and 2 little boys that were there today. They are so sweet. It makes me think how much I want my sis. While I was holding Piper and Nathanael on my lap, I was just thinking about how wonderful it will be when AnnaClaire is sitting on my lap. I can't wait!!! So after Church, we went to Five Guys. It's a hamburger place. Well, I don't like hamburgers... they had ONE thing on the menu that wasn't a hamburger or a hot dog: A veggie cheese. Its all these cooked veggies with cheese and then put on a bun. OH MY GOSH! It was amazing! We also got lots of fries... So good! Then we took Will to his friends house. They were having a Panther party thing. When we got home, I watched a little bit of the game, then went to the pool. It was the last day it was open this year!!! My favorite lifegaurds where there! :) We played, watched the game in the "room", ate, played, ate. It thundered a little, and everyone left except for me and a couple of friends. We all went in the gaurd shack and just talked and ate (FREE FOOD!) for like an hour. It was SO fun. Then we got back in. Hardly anyone came all day because of the bad weather, so that was so awesome. After my friends left, I played frisbee with some lifegaurds across the pool. That was really fun! I just kinda hung out there until after 7:30. By then it was lightning a little, so everybody who had come late had now left. There were 2 people there (other than gaurds). The lifegaurds gave us all this free food. Tons! Lots of candy... twizzlers, starbursts, ringpops, butterfingers, m&ms, over 40 packs of cookies, (Famous Amos... MY FAVORITE!!) 10 cans of soda (specially for mom and dad!), a few bags of chips, and a box of ice cream sandwichs. The last day of the pool is the best. It was so much fun, especially since it was not crowded at ALL, so we got to do stuff we normally never do (like sit in the gaurd shack!). Today was an awesome day. Except for the fact that the Panthers lost! :( It has NOT been a good football weekend with the Panthers and the Longhorns losing!

NOT such a good game.

Okay, Mrs. White and Mrs. Stevens. You can have blogging rights. That was lots of fun though!!! Can't wait till next years game... (BE READY FOR REVENGE... next year we will have AnnaClaire in her cute little Texas cheerleading outfit. That's gotta get them to win!) Good game.

If you didn't watch, you can probably tell Texas lost (by way too much.) They stopped their winning streak and their home winning streak as well. I'm dissapointed but must point out that Colt McCoy is BRAND new.

Well, I'm going to go to bed now. Next game should be a breeze. It's at Rice, 6PM on Saturday.

Go Texas!!!

^ I'm ready for another one of these! The game starts in 20 minutes! :)

HOOK 'EM HORNS! LETS GO!!!

Today was fun. Dad, Will, and I went on errands. We even had Chinese for lunch... YUM! At the place we ate, they had Hunan chicken!!! While on errands, we got lots of comments because we were wearing our Texas shirts. Later, Sadie and I stripped wallpaper in Drew's room. We're ALMOST done! YIPEEEE! Well, the game is about to start! Time to get comfy.

LETS GO LONGHORNS!

day 26 for TA. Can't wait till it comes!!!

HOOK 'EM HORNS!

Tomorrow is the big game!

Ohio State Buckeyes at Texas Longhorns! (8PM)

I'm so excited (to see Texas win.) Here are the family "team" pictures, I promised... And no, Mrs. White, as for the picture order, I did not put us in the middle because OSU is going to squish Texas(because they aren't!) I put us in the middle so that no one could get me back because of my comment. (First is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest--sorry, Stevens)

So who's your pick? Will it be TEXAS? (of course!) or will it be Ohio State (of course not!)

This rivelry has been lots of fun, Whites and Stevens, just don't be too sad when your team goes

D

O

W

N

!

The Whites (no comment)

The Horners (GO TEXAS!!!)
The Stevens (no comment)

HOOK 'EM HORNS!

This post doesn't have a name.

Well this week has been the week everything starts back up. Tuesday: school and Latin. Wednesday: piano. Thursday: Grace. Friday: Babysitting for 5 hours!!! YAY!! Anyway, back to today... Grace is short for Grace Academy. Grace Academy is a school for homeschoolers... It offers a lot of classes. Anything you can think of. I like to think of it as a school which teaches you stuff your parents cannot teach you. Anyway, I take a "design" class there. My teacher is a belt designer (www.preppypotato.com). So that's what I did this morning (after I finished school.) Anyway, today was a good day. Probably because I got some new shoes! My rainbows broke last week, so I got some new ones. I also got Birkenstocks! YAHOO! My mom promised me I could get them once my feet stopped growing. I got a tanish color. They are very cute. So I'm really excited with my new shoes.

Not much on the adoption front... Day 24 for TA (I'm back to counting from when it was received.) Yesterday, someone in Mom's WC yahoo group posted that their friend just got TA IN 40 DAYS!!! 40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope ours comes that quickly. That would be pretty much AWESOME!

AC now has a CA dress! (with some bows!)

Bows for baby!
New dress for AC!!!

Today we went to Karrousel Kids, a children's shop in Matthews. We found this really cute jumper with panties for the great price of $5.50!!! Yes, 5 dollars and 50 cents for that adorable little dress! We had found a Tommy Hillfinger one at another store that was cute, it was red with navy stripes also. It was double the price though, and for used clothing, we didn't want to pay that. Well we had been kinda wishing we had bought it, and so when we saw this one for half the price, and MUCH cuter, we got it! It is AnnaClaire's Consulate Appt. dress! We are still on the lookout for a coming home dress... Oh and look at those tiny, cute little bows we got!!! The navy one goes with her new dress, and the others go with outfits she already has! She is going to be so cute! I can't wait to take her out of her oversized coat and slip an adorable dress on her! (After a nice, warm bath, that is!)

WE ARE NEXT!!!

WE ARE NEXT IN LINE FOR TA!!! (for our agency atleast) 2 people from our agency received TA today! Congrats to both of those families!!! Well anyway, with those people getting their happy news today, this leaves us NEXT!!! WOOHOO! There are 3 families with our same LOI date and 2 families who were LID a few days after us. (They wrote LOIs before being DTC.) I'm guessing we will all receive TA together, but I don't know. There are also quite a few families with LOIs sent 1-2 weeks after us. China doesn't always go in order, but from what I can tell, it is common that they do. It is only day 26 since the LOI was sent (most people are counting from when it was sent instead of when it was received, so now I will too!) But in a few weeks, I hope we will have TA too!!! YIPPEE! I am SO excited for the families who received TA today! Here's to this rest of the TA waiters! Praying for us all to have a very speedy TA!!

WE ARE NEXT! YIPEE!!!

Thank you Grandma!

Well, look what we found in our mailbox this afternoon! An adorable sleeper with hearts and a cupcake, a darling princess hooded towel, and a fun quilt square and very sweet wish. Thank you Grandma, for all these things! You will mean so much to AnnaClaire, and I'm sure she will love all these great goodies! We love you!!!

The promised picture of our lisence plate (with the longhorn next to it!) *Beat that!*

A really cute picture of my dog that I had to include. (It's a little blurry)

Oh yeah... I started school today!!! It went great! I also had Latin this afternoon!

OSU vs UT/Whites and Stephens vs us

Day 22 in the TA wait. Wow it's getting long. Has it really only been 22 days? It seems like so much longer!!! Well, atleast there is football to keep me occupied! ...Which brings me to my point... This Saturday is the big OSU at UT game!!! It'll be a toughie without Vince, but I just know the 'Horns will pull it off! We are having a little competition: Big OSU fans the Whites and the Stephens vs. big Texas fans the Horners! Right before the game, I'll post family "team" pictures! (As Mrs. White so creativly said!)

Oh, I just checked the latest college f/b rankings, and Texas is now number 2. (NOT FOR LONG, after this weekend, they'll be up at the top... #1!)

WHO WILL IT BE????

OSU BUCKEYES (no) UT LONGHORNS (yes!!!)

HOOK 'EM HORNS

(My name takes after that... hook EM HORN(er)S!)

I'll have to post a picture of our awesome lisence plate on my dads car

Miss Maura Xiao Mei

Today my friend, Keara, met her sister, Maura, for the first time. Isn't she just precious? She went to her family with a few tears and seems to be adjusting well. Keara, I am so happy for you! Maura is so adorable!

This weekend was fun! I went home with Caroline after church yesterday and we saw a movie and hung out all day. (Which is why I didn't post yesterday.) I slept over at her house and today we went to their pool. It was really fun. I even saw a "mei mei". She was really cute! Her name was Jade, and she was just the cutest little thing!

We just finished eating Chinese food!!!!!!!!! YUMMY! I love Chinese!

Fun, fun!

^Bevo :)

Today I woke up and got some reading done... Then I went over the the Pugh's for a little. Sadie came over and we stripped wallpaper in Drew's room. I'm going to move into Drew's room because it's a little bigger, is closer to my bathroom, and has an alcove for a window seat! :) We also watched the Texas game. Texas totally dominated and won 56-7. Sadie and I cleaned out my room and went through my too small clothes. (Which I gave to her.) We had a good dinner of mashed potatoes, salmon, and veggies. Now we are watching more college football. I am so hoping GT will beat ND (the most overrated college f/ball team!)

Day 19 for TA wait!!

It's September!

Can you believe it's September? Wow! it's hard to believe 9 months ago, we started this adoption process. A lot has happened in 9 months!
-filled our application to adpot
-collected all the important paperwork
-I turned 13
-went to Europe
-Drew's graduation
-our dossier went to China
-when we thought we were going to have to wait for 5 years, we found AC 3 days after our LID
-got a call with the file for a beautiful 8 month old baby
-accepted her referral
-she turned 9 months old
-sent LOI
-took Drew to college
-Will started 10th grade
-AnnaClaire turned 10 months old
-now we are anxiously awaiting TA to bring AnnaClaire home!

I am just thanking the Lord that we have found our little girl. The newest rumor is that referrals will go through July 28, 2005 this month. 6 days. Is that not pitiful? I am praying that it will go further into August, for the sake of all the waiters.

So here's to September! May it be a big referral month and a big TA month! (Maybe, oh maybe this is TA month for us...)

Oh and Mrs. White, Ohio State is going DOWN next week!

Favorite Foto Friday

(above) We look so happy! I love this one. It's at a beach in Massachusetts!
(above) The girls (WE NEED ANNACLAIRE TO COMPLETE THE GIRLS!) saying bye to Drew

I know, its 2, but I couldn't decide! I love them both!!!

By the way, Drew, I miss you a lot!!!!!!!!!!