Thursday, November 30, 2006

Countdown Calendar - one more time!

Ok everyone. This is the very last time you'll see the Carmody Countdown Calendar. The kids have crossed off the last dates and our LID is included. Now we just have to wait for the referral phone call. We can officially pack up the calendar and put it away for safe keeping. We will keep it so that we can show our little one how excited we were and how every month we counted down the days as we got closer and closer to this time when we will finally see her/him for the first time. Exciting times!!





We're in!!!!!!

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The stork is on its way! Last night while I was sleeping, the CCAA updated their website to say:

"The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before September 8, 2005."


Since our LID is September 7 . . . we just made it!!! We are so excited! So now we're cheering on the stork. Fly stork, fly stork, faster, faster, faster . . . .

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

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This is kinda what I look like right now. Cute eh?

I'm so sick of all the rumours - I need some facts and I need them soon! Please CCAA, please update your website tonight so we can all know what's going on and if the Carmody baby is on her/his way or if we have to wait another month.

(notice I said please)
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Yes I'm still sitting here waiting. I haven't moved from my computer - haven't eaten, haven't slept! I'm a wreck!

Ok, I'm just kidding. I have been a little obsessive with checking the CCAA website though. I can't believe they haven't updated it yet. I thought for sure last night when we were sleeping and they were working, that it would be updated and we would know for sure whether we'll be getting our referral this month. This has been the longest part of the wait yet. Can you believe that? We started the whole adoption process 21 months ago and so far these last few days have been the hardest part of the wait. I guess especially because we don't know for sure if we'll be getting our referral this time around or if we have another whole month to wait.


Anyway, thanks for your comments, thoughts, prayers, support . . . muchly appreciated. It somehow helps to know that there are others out there waiting just as anxiously for our little one. Thanks.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006




... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ...

I kinda thought I'd wake up to some good news this morning but no such luck I guess. I did dream last night that the cutoff this month was September 14. That would be great not only because we'd be in, but also because our eastern friends from our group would also be in and we would still travel together.

Well, I guess I can wait a little longer (like I have a choice!).

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Monday, November 27, 2006

It's Monday morning and we're . . .


The employees at the CCAA office have already been through a full day's work (Monday) and are now home and off to sleep again soon. So we won't hear anything now until at least sometime tonight (when the Tuesday workday starts in China) or tomorrow morning. Hopefully they'll update their website soon and let us know if we are getting our referral this time around. Will it be this week???

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Geoff Moore - Swept Away

Since starting our adoption journey, this has been one of my favourite songs. Geoff and Jan Moore have two little girls adopted from China. If you want to read more about their adoption journey, check out the Geoff Moore website.

Here are the lyrics to Swept Away:


Swept Away
Written by Geoff Moore and Blair Masters

We would say your name
A hundred times a day
Like speaking words in faith
And with a mixture of
Hope and fear and trust
We prayed for the strength to wait
And dreamed of how we’d feel the day
You’d be in our arms and…

Swept away
Caught up in our love
Home to stay
You’ll never be alone
You’ll be amazed
At how much you are loved
Your life will never be the same
Once you’re swept away

What once was just a dream
Is now reaching up to me
And I hold her in my arms
Father thank You for the way
You held her all those days
That we had to spend apart
And now I see the impossible dream
Is holding me and I’m…

©2002 Songs on the ForeFront/Geoff Moore Songs
(SESAC) Admin. by EMICMP/Blair Masters Music (BMI)

Dora Dora Dora the Explorer

I heard on the radio the other day that Dora the Explorer was coming to a little store in our area yesterday. So I decided to take the kids to go see her. They were very excited. When we got there, we stood in line for about 20 minutes (which wasn't too bad). The kids got tons of treats - candies, stickers, little books, a poster . . . they were thrilled. Then as we got up to Dora and it was our turn to see her, Victoria changed her mind. She has never really been a fan of people dressed up as anything so I wasn't really too surprised. Dora was very large (especially her head) and I think it just scared her. Austin had no problem and went right up to her and gave her a big squeeze. Here are some pictures:




Saturday, November 25, 2006

Immunizations

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We are one more step closer to China. We went yesterday to the Travel Medicine Clinic and got our first immunizations for travel to China. It may seem like we've left this until the last minute but that's how we were recommended to do it. It's called fast tracking. We had the first set of injections yesterday, we go back in one week and then again one month after that. Then we're done and ready to go.

I have to say, I'm really not a fan of getting needles - in fact, I'm a big wimp. However, it's funny how when you know why you're doing it, it's not nearly as bad. Plus my kids were there watching and I had to be tough! No tears here!

Friday, November 24, 2006

Fast Forward Please


If only we could just fast forward time . . . just until next week.
Apparently more agencies are now saying referrals are coming next week. But . . . time . .. is . . . going. . . . sooooooo . . . slooooowly!
C'mon CCAA - bring on our baby!!!

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Another little rumour . . .

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The latest is that referrals will arrive sometime next week. . . .

The excitement is mounting!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Rumours . . .



Didn't I say I wasn't going to listen to rumours anymore? When we're this close, it's next to impossible . . . especially when they're good ones!

Well, the first rumours are in. . . and they're lookin' good! The rumour is that the CCAA is going to send referrals for everyone logged in for most (if not all) of September. We're September 7 so we should be included! Hooray. In just a few short weeks we'll see our little one's face for the first time. Can't wait! Now if they could just give us an exact date, we'd know when to expect it.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman



I've wanted to add this video to my blog for a while now but didn't know how to do it. A friend finally showed me how to do it (thanks Dawn). So here it is - Steven Curtis Chapman - When Love Takes You In. If you don't have time to listen to it, here are the words:

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

Friday, November 10, 2006

Why God Made Moms

Hopefully in just a few weeks, I will be a mom again for the third time. The following is the type of thing that makes me laugh. A friend of mine sent this to me (thanks Julie) and I just had to share it on here - especially for all those moms and moms-to-be. Hope you get a chuckle out of it too!

Why God made moms - answers given by elementary school age children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice inthe world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your Mom?
1. My Mom has always been my Mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your Mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work & work at home, & dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your Mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on her back.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

A few pics from our getaway . . .


Create Your Own!

14 months!?!?!

Yikes - I totally missed our LID anniversary yesterday. As of yesterday, November 7, we have officially been logged in at the CCAA for 14 months. I can't believe that - and I can't believe I missed it. I am so focused on the end of the month, the present is all a blur!

So congrats to us - hopefully we don't have to celebrate another one.

Thanks for the reminder Doris! :)

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Hooray CCAA!

We came back from Quebec to some good news:

"The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before August 25, 2005"

So that was 16 days worth of files. That's great news. Now they only have to match 13 days in November and we're in! Can you believe that in less than a month, we will probably be seeing our little one's face for the very first time? It's been such a long, long journey so far that I have a hard time believing it's so close.

Anyway, we'll keep you posted as we hear any tidbit of news - especially when the stork is on its way. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers - this may be the longest month yet! :)

Here are the monthly pics of the kids crossing off the days on the countdown calendar. We're so close!



Monday, November 06, 2006

The Bear and the Princess

Here are our cutie patooties all dressed up for Halloween last week.

Aren't they cute??





We're Baaaack!

Ok, the reason I haven't posted on here for a while is because we were in Quebec City. And by "we", I mean Mike and I. We had an awesome time!! Mike actually had to go there for work and I got to tag along this time. Even though he had a lot to do, we actually got to spend quite a bit of time together. We left last week Wednesday morning and came back late this afternoon. I feel very relaxed, refreshed and rejuvinated. It was a much needed break and I'm sure the last getaway we'll get to enjoy for a long time. (well until China anyway . . . and I'm not sure how much of a vacation that will be!)

By the way, the kids also had a great time. Grandma Carmody came to stay at our house with them and they had so much fun. Thanks Peggy for helping to make this getaway so relaxing. We knew the kids were in good hands and didn't worry one bit about their well-being. Good practice for China eh?

So needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do. Stay posted . . .