Saturday, September 30, 2006

Baby Gifts From Janice





My mentor at school, Janice Carter, really surprised me this week! For my birthday she gave me a WONDERFUL cake that she had baked and some baby gifts for Rebekah! Janice is one of those people who always has a positive attitude and you just LOVE being around her. I was so surprised! She gave me a little teddy bear applique, a journal that has places for photographs too, and the softest and cutest PINK matching socks (one pair for baby and one pair for mommy)! I cried when I saw the little socks! Thank you so much Janice!!!!!!

100 Wishes Scrapbook Update 09/30/06






Well I have been having a LOT of fun putting together Rebekah's 100 Wishes Scrapbook! The time flies when I sit down to work on it because I enjoy it. I think about how one day SHE will be the one looking through it and reading all of the wonderful wishes for HER! Thank you to all of the friends and family members who have sent us a sweet wish and fabric square for the quilt. Below are some pictures of the pages. Besides the pages with the wishes, I've also made a couple of pages out of the address labels and stamps that were on the many envelopes that were sent filled with such dear sweet wishes for our baby girl. It was neat to see the many many places that the wishes came from. We have them from many of the states and Canada. Thank you to EVERYONE who is so kind-hearted and helpful in this memory-making endeavor. We send our love and heartfelt thank-yous! We have 72 wishes and are looking for a few more so I can begin sewing the quilt. (To see any of the pictures up close, just double-click on the picture)

My Sister Stacey's Fabric For The Baby Quilt



Ok, y'all are going to love this fabric that my sister, STacey, sent for the baby's quilt. It has witches and black cats on it!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love it! Stacey and I have ALWAYS loved to have fun with Halloween. We would dress up every year and go to a friend's house (Geneva Anderson) and help her hand out candy to the kids that came by. We lived so far out in the country that we NEVER had trick-or-treaters so Geneva would let us come help her. It was a blast! And of course we grew up having lots of fun with it and have many many family memories of costumes, and walking from house to house as Daddy would park MILES from where we were! hahahaha This is just perfect for MY baby's quilt because I hope that she grows and enjoys the holidays as much as we were raised to. Thanks Stacey for WONDERFUL cloth! It will definitely stand out on the quilt just like all of the memories that we shared growing up will forever stand out in my memory! LOVE YOU GIRL!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Thanks Felicity and Mike!


Our internet buddies, Felicity and Mike, from Melbourne, Florida recently went on a trip to Las Vegas. Today we received a surprise box from them with lots of cute things for Baby Rebekah! What a neat surprise! They sent a ladybug cup, Chinese Goodluck Money holders, a magnet, chopsticks, and postcards. There were also some of the tiniest little hairbows that I've ever seen....just perfect for a little baby's hair! Thanks to you both! We were definitely surprised to receive that! We share the same Log-in-Date with Felicity and Mike and hope to one day be in China at the same time to get our babies! Much love to you both!

Our Secret Pals Are Wonderful! (Sept. Surprises)


We are just blown away each month when we get our surprises from our March 2006 DTC Secret Pals! For September, the theme was "Reading Is Fun" and since Susan is a teacher and absolutely LOVES children's books, she especially couldn't wait to see what her secret pals would surprise us with. Upon opening the box, we found books that were tied in with the theme of adoption when we saw the one, "The Lamb-a-roo" by Diana Kimpton and "China In My Heart" by Emma Ling Zhu Davy ( who was six years old when she wrote the book and illustrated it too)! Susan cried when she read The Lamb-a-Roo because it is a touching little story of a baby lamb in search of a Mommy who is adopted by a kangaroo. The lamb notices how he is different from the rest of the kangaroos and tries to find a way to fit in. (We won't give the entire plot away, but is VERY cute!) We also got a little book version of the classic, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. What an adorable size of this children's classic! Then there was the VERY colorful book called, "Surf With Squirt" that I'm sure ANY child would LOVE because the pages are huge and FULL of color! Also included in the box were three hairclips with school buses and school related things on them and then gift certificates for each of us: Doug got a giftcard for Borders and Susan got a giftcard for OLIVE GARDEN!!!!!! The giftcards were our birthday presents from our secret pals and came with birthday cards. WOW, Secret Pals! You guys never cease to amaze us. THANK YOU!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Little Chelsea Has Surgery


Hey all! Our kitten, Chelsea, had surgery this week. We had her spayed and she is now home safe and sound and doing well. Just thought everyone might like to see her fancy "headgear" she had to wear for a bit to keep her from tearing out her stitches. Isn't she a cutie pie? We love this little cat! Her big sisters, Tabitha and Savannah missed her while she was away and searched the house high and low for her.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Our "Sonogram"




Ok Y'all, yes, I've lost my mind! hahahahahahaha I was browsing the internet and saw this sonogram on someone's adoption site. I LOVE IT! It's the only "pregnancy sonogram" I'll ever have! hahahahahaha Just thought you'd kick out of it. So, yes, we're pregnant! 5 Months and counting as of 04/05/06.....of course we KNOW it won't just be 9 months! ENJOY!

We Wonder How Long It Will Be?






Everyone always asks us how long it will be before we actually get a referral and travel to China to get our baby girl. WELL.....that's not something we really know. When we first started the process, the wait time from the LID (Log in Date)to the Referral was six months. NOW, the estimated time is about 13 months. Then we wait another month or so before we get to travel to China to get her. So, basically we just wait and wait and hope things speed up over there in China. Apparantly this slowing down and speeding up is a common cycle so we're trying to think of it as being our typical "Appleton Luck" hahahahahaha. Keep praying that things will speed up! Anyhow, this little ticker we found will help us keep up with just how long it has been since we were logged-in in China.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Started Rebekah's 100 Wishes Scrapbook




Well, today I started putting wishes that people have been sending in to Rebekah's scrapbook. It was fun to sit down and look at all of them again. We have 63 so we still need 37 more. If you'd like to send one, email me at mommychinaadopt@yahoo.com

Anyhow, I have pictures of the front cover (which I might change), the title page (I need to add the story of the 100 Wishes Quilt tradition), and the first page with wishes from Doug and I for our baby girl. I think I just need a day or two to sit down and work on it for a long time. But then again, if I do a few pages every now and then, I can relax and really enjoy it.

As I made it, I couldn't help but think about the daughter that we will one day have and the joy this book of wishes will bring to her. I can't wait until we can look at them together and have her realize just HOW many people went the extra mile to send us a wish and fabric square for her quilt. I hope that her quilt will come together easily and be something that she will also enjoy and treasure for years to come. The tradition of making a 100 Wishes Quilt could be used for ANY baby ANYWHERE because of the love and wishes for a happy future that are a part of it. Of course this will be my first attempts at making a quilt so it might not be a grand work of art, but I think it will be a work of HEART that will mean much more!
Thanks to everyone that has sent us a wish and fabric square. I'm going to also include a list of people who sent wishes and their hometowns in the back so that she can see the many places that the wishes have come from(from Virginia to California to ALASKA!) What a special memory the wishes book will be for her too! THANK YOU ALL!
"Life is not measured by the number of Breaths we take,but by the moments

that take our breath away"... - Anonymous



I was reading other adoptive couples' posts and looking at their "Gotcha" videos today and thinking about when it will be our turn to experience that moment. Right now the wait is so hard and at times, frustrating, but all of these other parents experienced that too. I am comforted when I see their journals and blogs and read how all of that waiting and heartache was forgotton once that sweet baby was placed in their arms. THAT is the moment I dream about and look forward to. That is the moment that will surely take my breath away!