This is why I haven't been on line much...

The following article is from the Rumor Queen Site. My heart just fell to my feet reading this, but I have to say that she has been the most upfront blogger that I've read on adoptions...I just hope this time she is wrong:

The Backlog
December 28th, 2009
In June of 2007 I figured the backlog was likely around 29,000. In March of this year I estimated that the backlog at around 23,750.

What is it now? Good question.

Let’s assume the CCAA is currently getting around 50 dossiers a month for the NSN program, and that they referred around 150 NSN babies a month since the last time I figured the backlog. That brings the backlog down by around 100 families per month (not per batch, since there have only been eight batches in ten months: I divided the yearly figure by 12, so this is per month). That brings us down to 22,750. But that’s not what is bringing the backlog down, it is attrition that is bringing the backlog down. We figured attrition at 30% back then, and now it looks like attrition is at 43% gone. Using the bigger attrition number, that brings the backlog down to around 18,300.

Using our Projection Estimates, at 1,000 NSN referrals a year, it will take another 18 years to get through the current backlog if there are no new dossiers. At 1100 referrals a year, it will take another 16 years to get through the backlog. At 1400 referrals a year it will take another 13 years. Based on the batch we are about to get, I’d say that 1,000 NSN referrals a year might be a bit too optimistic.

Even if the backlog is now down to 12,000 (that’s the lowest estimate I’ve seen an agency give, most agencies are up in the 15,000 to 18,000 range when they give an estimate)… anyway, even if we use 12,000 as the backlog figure then we’re still looking at an additional 8 to 12 years (or more) to get through that backlog. Unless, of course, attrition continues to rapidly bring those numbers down. Which is what I think the CCAA is counting on at this point.

No matter how I do the math, it ain’t pretty. I really wish I could come to the blog to post really good news for everyone.

Christmas Spirit

It's exactly 7 days before Christmas and I haven't even started my shopping for the family!! I did some of the kids, but that's it.

We adopted a couple of families through our church for Christmas this year and I have one more to shop for on Monday. There is no way that I'm going near a mall over the last weekend before Christmas and there is a snow storm coming this weekend too so the mall will be packed!

I can honestly say that I am full of the holiday spirit this year. I still have a lot to do shopping wise but I'm having fun. Usually it's the pressure of it all that gets me crazy and I don't enjoy the season as much as I should, but not this year, I'm full of it :0)

Here are some Christmas pictures of Ollie that I was trying to take for our Christmas cards. She wasn't impressed AT ALL!

The top one ended up being the winner. I had to crop out my legs, but it came out cute. The card says "Have a Jolly "Ollie" Christmas.

I am.

Ollie at 14 Weeks...

She was 32.4lbs at the last vet visit (15 1/2 week) she is going to be HUGE!! She is my new best friend! :0)

I think that I like her more then some people I know!! hahaha

Updated Ollie Photos

Ollie will be 10 weeks old on Saturday. When we brought her home at 7 weeks she weighed 13.4 lbs and at 9 weeks she was 20.9 lbs...she is growing so fast! We start puppy classes on Halloween. I bought her a bumble bee costume and it's a large and already to small!! I was going to dress her up for her first day of training and now I have to get another costume...I'm not sure if I can get one at this point...there is just not enough hours in a day!

This is Ollie at 7 weeks when she came to work with me:



This is Ollie at 9 weeks.



She is just the BEST companion. You can't be down when you are around her...she is definitely what we needed at this point in time with our wait for Alison.

Home Study Update

#3 is now due. We have a new social worker and she needs to come out to the house for an updated home visit.

I didn't get a warm fuzzy about the new visit and this new sw actually made me cry by saying that we now have new guidelines that we will have to meet because of some changes in our status. I thought that I was beyond tears and that I was prepared for anything at this point...but I wasn't and she just reduced me to tears with one quick email.

After talking with her she admitted that she should have worded her email to me a little better...you think?

So after rearranging my schedule at work to get the home study done on the Thursday, I got an email today that we needed to move up the date to the one day that is bad for Michael...but because we are just pushing the time limit to the max to update our home study it needs to be done ASAP...whatever, we will do what ever needs to be done to keep us on the right track for Alison.

Now I just have to tell my boss that I need to reschedule my day again...between doctors visits for the updates and classes that I need to take for my license, I haven't been in the office much and she isn't to happy about that.

Come home soon Alison...

Update...

I just wanted to update our "Adoption" blog with anything adoption related since I haven't done that in a while.

Referrals are still slow and I honestly haven't been checking the sites that I was glued to for the first three years. We are still waiting to see what will be referred this month and hopefully we will be out of March 2006!! The talk was that March 2006 was one of the biggest months, so who knows, your guess is as good as mine if the referrals will pick up.

I've gone through pretty much the 5 stages of grief...funny, I saw that on Grey's Anatomy last week and I do believe that I've hit all 5 stages!

Stage 1. Denial...I was in denial of the fact that the wait was really going to take 5+ years for our referral to Alison.

Stage 2. Anger...I was very angry with just about everyone involved in our adoption. The Adoption Agency, China, the US Government, GOD...just everyone.

Stage 3. Bargaining...I'll be a great mom, just give me a chance and I'll prove it to you...only one child, that's fine we only need one.

Stage 4. Depression...now this one has been going on since before we started the adoption, it's just gotten worse with the wait...it's better now.

Stage 5. Acceptance...I think that I've finally moved on with my life. I think about Alison, but not every second of every day and honestly, most days I feel that she will not be coming home and I'm okay with that now.

I am finally living my life and not sitting here waiting...doing nothing. I'm more at peace with myself and what may or may not be in store for us.

Now, this doesn't mean that I've given up on Alison coming home - I haven't. We just completed our third round of paperwork to make sure we stay current and qualified to have Alison come home, if/when we make it that far.

So thanks for checking in...we are still here, just not as often as we used to be and thanks for keeping us in your thoughts. Who knows, maybe I'll be back with good news real soon!

R.I.P**LUCY** 1998 - 2009

I can't wait to see you again in heaven. Mama's missing you already. I love you Lulu!!

Her name is Ollie

Here she is!!

Now we just need a name! She is 4 weeks old and will be coming home to us forever on October 9, 2009. I'm crazy about her...so cute!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'm EXCITED!!

I just talked to the breeder. The puppy that I found on line is now gone, but the breeder has another litter that can come home on October 3rd. and they will be 7 1/2 weeks old!!

I'm planning on going to the breeders this Sunday to check them out and pick our puppy...I'm so excited. We decided on the Blonde/Yellow Lab preferably a female. The breeder has 2 females and 4 males in this litter that's available in October.

Now I need to find a puppy sitter!! I thought that I was doing the right thing by checking out my doggie day care, but the puppy needs to be 4 months old and up to date on shots. Day care said that they would take her at 3 months and just keep her separated from the larger dogs, but I have 4 weeks that I need a fur baby sitter. THINK...THINK...THINK

Maybe Auntie Lisa....think...think...hum....

I'm taking pictures of the pups on Sunday...get ready to say awwww...

We're getting a Dog!!

I'm so excited. Finally I talked Michael into getting a dog!

I've been on the hunt for a Doggie Day Care near my office and I found the perfect one today...it's called "Camp Bow Wow" and it's awsome! It's 7.5 miles further away from my office, but definately worth the trip and not as expensive as I thought it would be.

Now I just need to find the dog! I've decided on a Golden Retriever...Michael wanted a Yellow Lab, but a Golden is a Lab with long hair and maybe a little less rambunsious than a lab.

He/she will travel with me every day to work and will be my new best friend. I was already told that I'm responsible for the "poop" patrol and I have no problem with that...finally a baby to come home!! A Fur Baby, but still, a baby.

I have a calls into a couple of breaders, I want to pick her up YESTERDAY!

We are going to rock Lucy & Cosmo's world, but they will adjust. That's one of the reasons I wanted a puppy so that she wouldn't be too intimidating with the cats at first and Lucy can still feel like the boss.

I'm excited!!

NYC

Me, Cindy and My Samantha went to NYC last weekend. We stayed in Times Square and it was a trip!! It was like Hampton Beach on Steroids!!

We took AM TRACK from Boston to NYC and our train died 20 minutes from Penn Station and we had to sit for over an hour without air waiting to be towed in...I don't think that you will ever find me on the train again!!

We went for a girls weekend before my Samantha goes off to college. We saw Chicago on Broadway and it was AWESOME!! We were third row center stage. We walked everywhere and Cindy did great considering her legs! We all bought a charm bracelet to memorialize the trip and this is something special that we can buy for each other...so girlie and special...me, my sister and my Samantha!

Here are a couple of pictures...I'm not sure if they do the city justice.

Nope...no pictures...I've lost my cord to download pictures from my camera...I'm mad!! I think it might be at work..I'll have to check on Monday.

Stay tuned, picutres to follow!

3 Years...

August is our 3 year anniversary as far as starting our adoption process for Alison...our fist meeting with WHFC was in August and the outlook was grime for referrals...I think that it was 8-10 months at that time, but I don't remember...funny how things turn out isn't it.

I just finished my CIS renewal paperwork to get off to the agency. This time we have to pay for our renewal with the U.S. Government...our first renewal was free...now Uncle Sam has his had out AGAIN...we did our fingerprints back in June and those are all set.

So we had to send copies of all the papers to prove that we are who we say we are and our homestudy has to be updated.

I'm a little concerned about the homestudy because we have had a change here at home and I'm nervous that it's going to take too long to update everything and chance that we my have our CIS status lapse and then we will be subject to the new guidelines and be out of our adoption after waiting three years already.

Please keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer to keep Alison alive and well in our hearts.

Change is in the air...

I can feel it coming in every area of my life...not just the adoption, but also at work, at home, my health...just everything.

It's going to be new and exciting...I know it is...it has to be.

I'm not sure exactly what it is...but I know it's coming.

Happy 4th. of July

Kids say the darnedest things

I was talking to my niece the other day and the boy's had some friends over the house for a play date and my little Miss Gabrielle (2) told her mom that she wanted "her friends Jessie who watches me some times, Arnie Kathy (that's me) and Arnie Jojo to come over and have a play date with her" because the boys that their friends over.

She is just precious and definitely in the will...I swear, she gets me through the tough times with this wait.

Random thoughts

--Work is busy...that's always good
--Michael is super busy...that's even better
--I don't see Michael all that often...that's good and bad
--I'm gaining a TON of weight...NOT good
--Emotional eating...just plain bad
--I bought new sneaker so that I can start walking...that's good
--I'm trying to make myself get off the couch and actually start walking
--I think I need to be hit with a cattle prod! Moo
--Referrals came in for June and they referred 6 days this month
--Am I in morning or am I depressed
--It has taken 8 months to refer 33 days
--We have 332 days before we get our referral...you do the math
--Definitely in morning
--Maybe a bit of depression too...don't tell CCAA!
--I'm thinking about getting a tattoo
--Michael will not like that
--I'm thinking of shaving Cosmo...poor thing...loaded with knots
--Not just shaved, but shots too...poor Cosmo
--No...I don't want to discuss my random thoughts thank you
--I'm really being punished...It's just not going to happen
--It's been raining for a week and I'm just sad...I can't shake it
--Maybe tomorrow will be better...it's going to be sunny tomorrow
--Okay...enough joy for this month...
--Really don't want to talk about my random thoughts...thanks
--It's all just doom and gloom this week

Fingerprints

Today we are off to get our third set of fingerprints. #3!!

We have our I-600 (CIS) approval coming up in October, but we have to start the process in July along with our updated home study.

Graduation...

Wow! I can't believe that my niece Samantha is graduating high school on Friday. I have a TON of nieces and nephews, but I was young (16) when the kids started coming and when Samantha came I was definitely older and had a lot of the party out of my system and could enjoy her so much more.

I went to her award ceremony on Monday and I started to cry seeing her in her cap and gown with all her sashes and pins...I'm just so proud of her!!

We plan on enjoying her as much as we can before she goes off to college.

WE LOVE YOU SAMANTHA!! CONGRATULATIONS AUNTIES GIRL!!

Here she is all dressed marching into the awards ceremony:



And here is a picture of Samantha with her mom and dad...my sister is a wreck...her little girl is all grown up...she looks good in this picture though:

Nothing New Here

I wish that I could say otherwise.

Waiting is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do...

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that we come through this wait with as little damage as possible and hopefully a beautiful child...sounds crazy I know!! What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right...I just hope that we are strong enough.

New Rooms

I've been a busy bee the last couple of days.

Today we had our new bedroom set delivered and I LOVE IT..the side tables are on back order. It was touch and go as far as getting our new headboard up the stairs. We have a huge bedroom, but the stairwell is tiny. They scratched the back side of the headboard but I can deal with that no problem. We just have to move Jesus up a little higher on the wall...hopefully, I won't put a big hole in the wall when I try to move the cross.





I also painted the dressers and mirror for Alison's room...I totally have a desk job for a reason and we have to remember that the imperfections are what make it perfect. I also finally got to put the dresser knobs on that I bought two years ago and I love them!!

I painted a couple of the drawers different colors...my sister wants me to add a blue that I bought for stenciling...I'm not sure if I will or not yet...I did enough painting today (93 degree's today too).




So the room is almost complete...the two major things missing are Alison and her bed and then some minor decorating that still needs to be done...and I have to clean out her closet that is full of my clothes now...I'll be removing the closet door and making it a play area with a doll house and books and a big beanbag chair.

WE'RE STILL HERE

And we're glad that you still check in on us.

As you can see by the date of my last post, I've been avoiding the Internet in all forms...our blog, my online support groups on yahoo, rumor queen, site's that I follow regularly (Hi Kristen, Kelly, Tricia and Jane...Danielle you need to start a blog so I can follow you too...I'll be visiting all of you today to see what you've been up to with your little ones :0)), I've pretty much stopped everything for a while.

We have been busy around the house and I have some pictures now and more will be coming soon...I'm excited for the first time in a long time.

We have been doing a lot of work on the house. Our house is old and we have that "horsehair plaster" throughout the house...I really don't like these walls...it's so hard to just hang a picture or curtains...I always make big holes in the walls...or the curtain rods fall out. I haven't had curtains in my upstairs windows for 6 years!! Guess what....I now have curtains thanks to our painter Doug!!

Doug was doing such a great job on the walls that I asked him to re-do Alison's room (I tried to hang a shelf on the wall and made it crooked and put a big hole in the wall). He fixed the hole, did a plaster skim coat on all the walls in her room and re-painted...it looks awesome. I also had him paint the large walk in closet a darker purple.

I found the cutest curtains at the Christmas Tree Shop last year...they are sheer white panels with green and purple butterfly's embroidered on the panels. I got them for $5 per panel..."Don't you just love a bargain".



I finally had the curtains cut down...one set is longer then the other set and I'm afraid to bring them back to get fixed because I don't want them to get ruined completely. It cost me $120 to cut down my $5 per panel curtains!! I'm in the wrong business...I need to learn how to sew.

I also found a really cute valance at BB&B...I'm still on the fence if I like them or not...they are shredded and have flowers embroidered on them...what I'm not sure about is that they are colored like a rainbow...what do you think?



Here is the final look at the curtains for now...not sure if I like the rainbow of color on the valance:



Today I'm painting the mirror that you see in the last picture...those pictures will be coming soon.

One more thing...I found this at the Hallmark Store and just loved it...it says it all right?

Look what I found...

It's real big and kind of obnoxious, but it makes me smile...it's a bank.

I just did IT!

I'm not sure how I feel, but I just sent an email to our social worker inquiring about domestic adoption...I think I'm going to be sick...and I'm very sad.

I've been so torn about waiting for Alison and wondering if she truly will come home to us and we are not in our 50's when she does come home.

We have to get real...do we want a family or not. Of course we do! Do we want to wait for Alison to come home from China...Absolutely! But how long do we wait?

I know that family's are now waiting 3 years for their referral, and you figure we already have two years behind us, but realistically, it could be another 4-5 years before we even get close to our referral date.

So today, we are inquiring about domestic adoption...this is scary too as there is no guarantee with domestic adoption either, but we are just looking for information now...

We are not pulling any paperwork...we are staying in line for our dear sweet Alison...but we have to look at all options now if we truly want to become a family of three.

Please pray that we find our way to our family...I'll take all the good prayers that I can get right now, for Alison or another child domestically that is meant to complete our family.

Fur Babies!

I think that Fur Babies are going to be our babies...really.

I want another fur baby now! We have two cat's, Lucy and Cosmo, and since it's looking like a child, our child, is so far out of reach right now and even a couple of years from now I want my dog now!

I'm planning on paying for child care IF Alison comes home, so I can use that money for a dogie day care...that works right?

Michael was looking at a breed called "Chinook" here is a picture:



They are part Shepard, part Lab and part Husky...they are sled dogs what are supposed to be very good with children and they are just as happy to be a coach potato with you on those coach potato days. They are also very good therapy dogs, and I think that I would like to explore that with Charlotte...Yeah, I really like the name Charlotte for our new fur baby...Michael may have other ideas, but I really like Charlotte (did you hear that Michael).

Now, the only problem we may have is that Michael wanted a special dog, and we found out that the dog that my brother Scott adopted from "down south" is a Chinook...they weren't sure what he was when they got him, but they told us last night...I hope that this isn't going to ruin it for Michael, because I think that I'm in love with them...just look at the picture...they are beautiful and have a great temperament.

LET'S KEEP OUR FINGERS CROSSED THAT MICHAEL AGREES!!

At lease we can get one baby home with us!

Thank God for Kids!

All is can say is THANK GOD FOR KIDS! I had my kid fix this weekend. My nieces three kids came for a sleepover pajama party and they always lift my spirits...Michael's too.

We went to lunch on Saturday and then went bowling...Devin did great, he is 9, Kyle was getting the hang of it, he is going to be 7 next month and aunties little princess Gabrielle who is 2, scared the crap out of me when she tried to throw the bowling ball, but her gutter ball actually knocked down two pins...just seeing her face when it was her turn to bowl made my day. I'm so mad that I forgot to bring my camera bowling!!

We got some special treats for the kids and my Kyle was coloring a special velvet poster of kitty's for me and he made them look like my Lucy...he is so proud and couldn't wait to finish the poster for me:



So I'm hoping that the next time I see him I have some new art work for the walls...Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to hang it.

We went to the bakery and the kids got to pick out something special for dessert...can you guess what Gabrielle picked....



This is exactly how cupcakes are supposed to taste!

I took them home on Sunday just as the snow started falling...they are the best thing that I could ask for in this crazy wait for Alison...I know that it would be so much harder not having them around...they truly are beautiful, wonderful children and they help to keep me sane.

Adoption Update

We got word that the CCAA only referred up to 3/6/06, which translates into 4 days this month. You have to understand that before this horrible slowdown in referrals, the CCAA averaged approximately 15-20 days referred per month...sometimes even and entire month.

I started to track the number of days referred each month once we hit 365 days or our one year mark to our LID date and that was in October 2008. Since October 2008 - March 2009 there have only been a total of 18 days referred.

I KNOW!! IT'S CRAZY RIGHT! It has taken the CCAA 6 months to refer what used to take a month. IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU CRAZY AND THINK THAT YOUR ADOPTION WILL NEVER, EVER HAPPEN, because your getting to old or you may get sick...it's odd, the fascination you get about getting sick...it's just morbid...every little cough or blotch you think it's the worse and it's incurable...I'm getting paranoid...really I am and I'm making Michael CRAZY!

But this is what China Adoption does to us waiting parents. I actually think that if my sanity holds out and we get Alison home, that I'm going to be the MOST patient mother this little one could ever have OR I'm just going to turn her into a completely spoiled rotten brat...well maybe just spoiled...not really rotten or a brat.

More Snow! THINK SPRING!!

ugh! I'm so ready for Spring!

We got another storm that started yesterday and got worse over night...we were supposed to get between 10-15"...I think that we have 10", but it is still snowing. It's very pretty, but I'm over the very pretty, clean, snowfalls for the season.

Finally...I finished a project!!

So...what do you think? I started knitting this fall when I bought my secret pal a knitting kit to make a scarf. I have not knitted since my late teens and even back then I never completed anything.

I made a heart blanket for Alison's room. I initially started it in a multi colored purple yarn and I ripped it out about 30 times, always at the same point...so I figured I'd switch colors...because you know it was the yarn color that was messing up and not me! I'm so glad that I stuck with it!!





Those are my hearts just waiting for Alison to come home...corny huh!

Our 2 Year LID is today....

2 Years...or

24 Months...or

730 Days...

However I want to look at this...I'm really not sure how I feel. We knew that it was going to take a long time to get Alison home...we were told between 14-18 months when we started and I was very optimistic back in August of 2006 that we would have her home by now.

We are still waiting and trying to stay sane but that is tough to do when you see life moving on without her. We are still waiting and we are going to see where we are this time next year.

Currently we are ONLY 350 days (paperwork wise) away from referral, but when you look at how the CCAA has been referring out days (this month was only two days) those 350 days could translate into years...many, many years.

There are the rumors that because the orphanage donations have increased that we may see a speed up in the number of referrals that are sent each month...but to keep sane, I can't get my hopes up until it actually starts to happen.

February is a short month...let's see what March has in store for referrals. We just have to take it one month at a time I guess.

Ouch!

I went to empty the trash tonight is slipped off my stairs and banged my head really bad on the bottom concrete step. No, I didn't go go the hospital...I didn't want to wait around for three hours for them to tell me that I may have a concussion and there is nothing that they can do for me. I did scare the crap out of Michael and my sister Lisa...I made my way back into the house and called them both on my cell phone crying...yes, I'm a big baby when it comes to banging my head on the concrete. The bleeding has finally slowed down, I hear that head wounds bleed more than other areas of the body.

So we will have to see how I'm feeling tomorrow...I already feel the big goose egg in the back of my head!

***UPDATE***
So now it's the next day...I feel like I've got whiplash...my neck and shoulders are killing me and I can't turn my head properly. I'm glad that I took a sick day today, I think I would have a hard time driving today. Hopefully this won't last to long.

So much for hope :0(

It's looking like the first rumor I heard about March 2006 taking an entire year to work through may just be the rumor winner! The current rumor is that February 2009 is only going to receive two days worth of referrals bring us up to March 2, 2006.

It's going to be a very long year.

HOPE

I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach tonight...it's called hope. I know that I've been in a rut and I know that I still am, but tonight I have a little bit of hope...I feel almost giddy and I shouldn't...I'm afraid to feel giddy.

Hope...I've been staying away from the rumor boards. I took a look tonight and I saw a rumor post that gave me a little bit of hope...I didn't realize that I was losing hope until I read that post.

The Rumor Queen is only reporting it because that is what she does...reports rumors...

The talk on the boards has been that the March 2006 Dossiers could take a full year to get through to receive referrals. The February 2009 batch of referrals is starting with the March 2006 (did I confuse you). The RQ is not saying how many days are rumored to be referred for the February batch of referrals, but she said it's rumored to be better than her projections. I just read someones post that her better projection is the end of March 2006.

I hope this rumor gets stronger and that a lot of days will be referred in February.

Hope is a funny thing...I didn't realize that I was losing hope, but I also don't want to put too much hope in a weak rumor.

I'm just going to have to wait and see like all the other families that are in the same boat as we are.

Take a look at the Rumor Queen link on the right side of my blog...you may feel a little bit of hope too.

I'm stuck in a rut...

Here we go again!!

I'm not very motivated to do much of anything now that the holidays are over...I guess that I just jumped on that wild roller coater and never realized I was standing in line for the emotional side of the coaster...I try to avoid that line for all I'm worth...but it sneaks up on you and you find yourself in the front seat going down the big scary hill...

This has been my week (or two)...I get up super early (my company moved...now I'm 50 miles door to door in the worst traffic you can imagine), I work all day (very busy at work), rush to leave work on time so that I can get home and hopefully beat some of the traffic (I leave at 4:00), think about maybe cooking dinner (poor Michael), maybe do some laundry and I'm in bed by 9:30 to start all over again tomorrow.

Today is was siting here thinking...OMG...is it me and really not the roller coaster?? Am I going to do this when Alison comes home??

NEVER...NO WAY...NO HOW...we will be to busy doing just everything.

Waiting for our first child has many ups and downs...today, I'm feeling like we are just coasting along now not knowing what's next and feeling like that kid that just graduated high school that doesn't know what direction to go in and you figure you can just sit it out for a couple of years until you have it all figured out...Only, I have it all figured out, but I have to sit and wait anyway.

Did I tell you, ruts make you ramble.

GREAT NEWS!!

I'm going to be a GREAT AUNTIE AGAIN!!

I just got word this morning that my niece Jody is expecting her second child...this just is the best news!!!

They currently have a two year old son, Kayden...I hope this one is a girl because the boy's out number the girl's in this family, but another boy works for us too!

CONGRATULATIONS JODY AND CORY!!

Happy Bithday Michael

Happy Birthday Husband!!

I am hoping that this is the last birthday where you are not a real daddy...I know that Lucy and Cosmo really don't count and I'm praying that we will have a real family celebration soon.

Love you Husband! Happy Birthday!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Let's hope that 2009 is a good year and that it doesn't take an entire year to get threw the March 2006 referrals...that's the nasty rumor that is out there...March 2006 is supposed to be a very big month and it could take close to a year.

Here is hoping for a great year!!