Jin Jin The Dragon

Today we rode down to Greensboro, NC to see a presentation by Carolina Adoption Services. They had the author, Grace Chang, there reading from her children's book, Jin Jin, the Dragon. She is also an illusionist and did a little magic show with the kids and had the puppet of Jin Jin there. It was a GREAT little show and we bought the EXCELLENT book which talks about the journey to discovering your own identity. What a super lesson for not only kids, but adults as well! We totally enjoyed it! We bought a copy of the book and she graciously autographed it to Rebekah! It was also great to see other families there with their Chinese children! It renewed our faith that we will soon have our Rebekah!
P.S. Her book is for sale at bookstores too and the website for her is www.changimagination.com

Referral Countdown Calendar!

Well today I did something that I have been waiting to do for a long long time! I made a Countdown To Rebekah's Referral Calendar to post on our refrigerator. A lot of people make these and cross out the days to their LID is given referrals. I just couldn't bring myself to do this until the CCAA at least got into the same year of LID. Since our LID is 04/05/06 I have a heart on that date and have put an X on the days that have been processed for referrals. Rumors are that they are already processing referrals even though usually we don't hear any news like this until around the 5th of each month. Rumors also say that they are covering more days than ever this time so I'm hoping and praying they get through a HUGE numbers of days so I can cross out a LOT of dates. I decorated our calendar with ladybugs and even had the cats there helping me by walking across the stickers! hahahahahahahahaha So, it's UP on the refrigerator and I'm a little excited about seeing the X's getting closer!

New Book

This is a new book that I got today from the author, Phil Wong. He sent me a copy of his beautiful book, The Little Girl, for FREE! For some reason, I got an email from him telling about this book and saying that the first 20 people who responded to his email would get a free copy. WOW! What a beautiful book! Thanks to Mr. Wong!!!!

Another School Year Has Come And Gone......Still No Rebekah

Well, this is the THIRD school year that we have been through since starting the China adoption and still we wait and have no baby Rebekah. My students asked me last week, "Mrs. Appleton, when are you going to get your baby?" hahahahahahaha Good question! In about 5 weeks I will be starting another school year.....I wonder if it will happen THIS year??????
Anyhow......life goes on and I suppose it will happen whenever......here's a little poem that my friend Fliss had on her blog that made me smile....I guess we all need little pick-me-ups to get us through life. Thanks Fliss!

T.J. Bearytales

Ok, today we went to Toys Are Us and had a ball looking at toys and picking out a few! hahahahahahahahahaha What fun! One of the toys we got for Rebekah is a little bear called, T.J. Bearytales. He is this electronic bear that reads stories. The books are so cute and when T.J. reads them, he moves his ears and eyes, and arms and is REALLY animated! The stories are fun, imaginative, and I must admit that we bought 2 books and I have already listened to them both. He also has songs and games with each book and the book cartridges slide into this backpack that he has on his back. It is just plum adorable!!!! We had seen this bear about a year ago and added him to our Toys Are Us Baby Registry and at the time he cost over $50 but they have him on clearance now for $19.99! They only had two left in the store and we got one plus two of the storybooks/cartridges which were $4.98. So.....if any of you out there are looking for a toy that encourages literacy, imaginative play, and is just adorable, then rush out to your Toys Are Us and get this! As a teacher I tend to evaluate toys a little closer and look for the educational value in toys more than most people and this is just GREAT!

Happy Father's Day Douggie!

Well, today we celebrated Father's Day....another one without baby Rebekah, but we KNOW that she will one day be in our arms and Doug will be her Father! What a wonderful man I have married to be the father of our daughter! Doug is going to be such a great father because he truly WANTS to be a daddy, and amazingly he wants to be a daddy to a little girl! I can just see him as her hero, and she will have him wrapped around her little finger like most little girls do their daddies and he will LOVE it! So....here's to you honey, you know I love you so much and there's no one else I would ever want to be married to or share a baby with than you! You are my best friend and together we will be parents soon to a little one that is going to be loved more than any baby has ever been loved! Happy Father-To-Be Day!!!!

Hats From Our Secret Pals!

For the month of May, the theme for the Secret Pals Exchange was "Hats Off To Baby" and we were to send hats and stuff related to that. We got our little box of goodies today and had a ball seeing the hats that our secret pals picked out for Rebekah to wear one day. There was a purple/white ball cap, a pink crocheted hat, a lilac woven hat, a winter black/white hat with mittens, and the cutest little pink floppy hat! Then they had extended the "hat theme" by purchasing two children's books about hats.....one being The Cat In The Hat! hahahahahahahaha How cute!!!!!! Mr. and Mrs. Secret Pal KNOW how much we love children's books! Rebekah is going to have the BEST collection of books to love and enjoy!!!!Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Secret Pal! You guys are the best!!!! I can't believe that we have had the same pals since we first started this Secret Pal exchange and they know EXACTLY what to send!!!!!!! You guys are awesome and we love you so much!!! I have decided to start on a special project just for Mr. and Mrs. Secret Pal so that in the end, we will have something from our hearts to give back to them just to let them know how much we love them and appreciate all that they have done for us through all these months of waiting and enduring. Their friendship has meant a LOT to us!!!

Could It Be True????

Well, I've been reading some of those yahoo group messages and noticed that quite a few have been saying that the CCAA has referred LID's up to January 22, 2006. That's 10 DAYS!!!!!!! Last month they only did three days! So, it is with great tripidation that I even DARE to post this with great hope that it is true! I am hoping that things will be speeding up and that we'll have something to celebrate! So.........I'm holding my breath in anticipation and just hoping and praying that these posts are TRUE!

Something For Us All To Think About

MusicSRC.com - Music Videos
I watched this video (which made me cry) and then the part afterwards when Steven Curtis Chapman talks about how he wrote Cinderella. It really makes a person to think about all of the times in life that we rush around and don't take the time to really appreciate the people in our lives that mean the most. I hope that when I get Rebekah, I can remember this and just slow down and enjoy every moment of her growing up. I never want to catch myself "wishing her life away," like I've heard some parents do when they say, "I can't wait til my baby can walk, talk, eat solids, go to school, etc." I want to enjoy EVERY single moment of her life and not wish for her to grow up too fast. I want to enjoy every single moment of being a mommy after waiting so long for it to happen! ENJOY the video!