It's the going to sleep that gets to you......

Every since we recieved our referral sleep has been an issue for me. The moment I lay down my mind starts racing........

when can we go get our daughter?
is everything going to come together as planned?
is she warm enough?
did anyone hold her today?
does she have any idea how her life is about to change?
do WE have any idea how our lives are about to change?
will we make good parents?

These questions and many more plague me everytime I try to fall asleep. Sure we had those questions before, sure we said our prayers for her before but now.......NOW......when we say those things, think those those things, there is a face. A face that is engrained in my mind, a face that I have stared at so many times in the last 17 days that I should have every speck memorized. The face of my daughter, my dream come true.

Hold on baby girl, your mommy and daddy are coming, we think of you every minute of the day, and will get to you as fast as we possibly can!!!

We have a pedi appointment!!!

For the first time in our lives (at least as parents) we have the need for a pediatrician!!!!! There is a particular physician in our town who is the best pediatrician around but also very hard to get into to see. As a matter of fact he is not accepting new patients unless you have an "inside source". Thanks to my sister-in-law, Danette, we have broken in and now have an appointment to see him later this week!!!! Paul and I will go and meet him, take Avery's paperwork, and hopefully set up her first appointment for when she finally gets home!!

Oh our lives........they are changing!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend Recap....

I meant to post several times this weekend but never got around to it so I will just give you a brief recap of our weekend:

Friday - I attended a charity luncheon with some dear friends. It was a wonderful lunch and then the girls surprised me with gifts for Avery!! She received some adorable clothes and some wonderful toys. Thanks girls!! I spent the rest of the afternoon running errands and then concluded my day with an M3 gathering at Kelley's. I was surprised to find that while I thought we were having a regular "girls night" the girls had other plans. I had my own personal M3 shower with just the 5 of us!! We had a wonderful Asian dinner, some fabulous desserts, and even a personalized button to wear that said "I'm a Mom!!" I am so lucky to have such great friends in my life!! Now for the pictures:

Welcome to Avery Lane!!!

My "Chair of Honor"


The best friends a girl can have!!!

Avery's Fabulous gift!!

True to form we talked, laughed, and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. I don't think I wound up getting home until after 2am!!!

Saturday - It rained ALL day long. It was definitely a lazy day around our house. Paul and I just hung out together not doing alot of anything. We watched some TV, took afternoon naps, played with Rowdy, and just enjoyed our time together.

After watching the Dog Whisperer, Paul decided to try a little experiment and see if Rowdy would walk on the treadmill. Suprisingly enough he actually seemed to enjoy it after he figured it out!! Yep, that's how we spend rainy Saturdays!!

Sunday - was another busy day for us. I attended a baby shower and a birthday party. We also started gathering our paperwork that we needed to take to China. We are submitting our Visa applications this week so that when it's time to make our travel plans we are ready!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Now, come on Travel Approval, we are ready to go get our girl!!!

Happy Valentine's Day Baby Girl!!!!

You are the best gift we could have ever recieved and we can't wait until we can kiss those precious cheeks for real!!!

Today we are sending all our Valentine's love and kisses across the world to our Avery!!!!

What happens next??

For all my followers out there that are not familiar with the Chinese adoption process, these are the next steps in the process to bring Avery home:

1. Send back our letter of Acceptance to the CCAA - DONE

2. Recieve Travel Approval (TA) from the CCAA to come pick up Avery. It usually takes 3-4 weeks for TA's to come in.

3. After TA is received our agency will make an appointment for us with the American Consulate. This appointment is the last thing that we must do during our trip.

4. After that appointment is confirmed the Agency will work backwards from the appt date to establish travel dates for us. It usually requires being in China 10-12 days prior to the Consulate Appointment to get all the paperwork in order.

5. The agency will give us our travel dates and we will book our trip!!

We should be receiving Avery 2-3 days after we arrive in China!!!!

Right now the agency projects us to have travel completed by March 31st. That means we should be leaving mid March. Of course all those projections rest on the TA being received quickly.

Thanks for following along with us!!!