Boyd Orchards - A Helping Hand Adoption Reunion

Today we had a wonderful time at Boyd Orchards in Versailles.  We were there attending our first AHH (A Helping Hand) Reunion Picnic.  It was a lot of fun - beautiful weather, a really neat orchard with many fun activities for Alexis and lots of adoptive families with happy, healthy and smiling children! 

 Mommy and Alexis with the largest chair we've ever seen!

Nee Nee and Alexis brave the SLICK slide!

 Wipeout on the slide!

 She is fearless!  This was a REALLY tall slide!

 Posing to show off her butterfly face paint!

 Alexis got to "adopt" a bear and name it...she chose the name "Teddy Bear!"

 Family pic

 Mawmaw and Alexis strike a pose...

Alexis, Nee Nee and Tyler - she has little use for us when they are around!

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See...

...I see a waiting family looking at me!

Alexis and I have been attending a parent/child zoo class at the Louisville Zoo.  While visiting the zoo today, she made this art creation with one of the art vendors.  She chose the panda bear because "they have panda bears in China."  The Eric Carle book, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, is one of her favorites, and we've been reading books about China with panda bears as characters.  She wanted to make this for Annabelle's room (her idea) and I thought it would be a sweet memory to share with both of them some day. 

Monday night a new "shared" list from China will be released and our agency will be working - very late at night - to match families.  We are at the top of our agency's list, so we are very, very hopeful that Annabelle will be found within this month's list!  However, we know that the RIGHT baby may not be on the list, so we may have to patiently wait for another month.  We truly believe that we will be matched with the child that is meant for us....that needs us....and that we need, too!  The waiting part is just hard - and so stressful!

We will be at White Mills Christian Camp for the Performing Arts Camp I am directing next week.  If we are matched, we will be contacted (while at camp) on Tuesday morning.  We will have internet access at the camp, so we will let everyone know if we have good news to share.

We are also excited that tomorrow we are going to the annual A Helping Hand Family Reunion for families who have - or are pursuing - adoption through our agency.  The reunion is a picnic at Boyd Orchards in Versailles, KY (which is near Lexington), so my sister and her boyfriend, Tyler, will be able to join us as well.  Sarah Lynn (my sister) is traveling with us to China, so we are anxious for her to meet other AHH families and their adopted children.  It's so exciting to think that, this time next year, we'll have two little girls to take to the reunion!

Waiting for "The Call"

It's been a while since I have posted, so I thought I would share an update.  We are at the top of our agency's list, awaiting a "match" at the end of this month.  Our agency matches once a month, when the shared list is released from China.  This typically happens, to my knowledge, toward the end of the month on a Monday.  We're thinking it will likely be Monday, the 27th, or possibly the Monday before that.  Our agency will be reviewing the list, looking for a baby that meets our criteria.  We are very hopeful and anxious that this month will be our referral month, but we know that it may not.  Without all the paperwork to keep me busy and distract me, it's challenging to just "patiently" wait.  I think the paperwork also gave me some feeling of control, because I was accomplishing tasks, checking things off my list and meeting deadlines.  Now, we just wait.........and wait........

If our agency is able to match us this month, they will call us the next morning.  We will all be at church camp in White Mills, so I'm glad we will be too busy to sit and be nervous.  Well, we'll probably still be nervous......but 50+ kiddos under the age of 10 will help serve as a distraction!

I found this poem on a website someone sent me.  I thought it was a beautiful way to describe the waiting process:

Daydreaming

I stepped into her room today
Knowing she's not there
This waiting for referral
Is more than one can bear
But taking in the moment
I sit down on the floor
And dream of her here with me
When waiting is no more.
A little giggle fills the air
As I rub her feet
I place my hand upon her heart
To feel its every beat.
A song is sung so very soft
Her eyes begin to close
She’s meeting me in dream land
A place where love still grows.
My vision now is very blurred
The tears stream down my cheeks
I’ve dreamed of her quite often
Throughout these past few weeks.
Suddenly a sound is heard
The phone rings in the hall
Waking up I quickly pray
Please let it be "The Call."
_{Tom Fisher
© July 19, 2005}

Several people have asked me when we will be able to go to China, after a referral is made and we accept it.  It will likely be 4-6 months, averaging out at around 5 months.  So, we are hoping for sometime around December.  However, there is a lot of paperwork (fun, fun) to do once the match is made, so we will have to WAIT (some more) and see!