handsful

One of my online adoption support groups decided we would have a cyber baby shower in August, so our names were tossed in a basket and we sent each other gifts. The theme was playtime and Dana chose a great gift for Lainey. I think she’ll love it! All of our kids are animal crazies, and I’m sure they’ll turn Lainey into one too. The neat thing about Dana is she lives about 15 minutes from me AND she’s leaving for China THIS Wednesday for her little girl, Tian. Her blog is http://oneroof.wordpress.com/ God speed, Dana!! And, thanks again!

I’ve mentioned before about the ladybug tradition that began in the China adoption community. Prospective adoptive parents view them as good luck symbols, or they believe seeing a ladybug means something is going to happen or has happened (maybe their baby was born that day, or an important piece of paperwork will FINALLY show up). Marley is constantly catching bugs of all sorts, and always brings the ladybugs for me to see. Seeing them just reminds me of a little girl waiting in China. And, that makes me smile.

Jack insisted that he try on Lainey’s new bunny hooded towel. Doesn’t he look happy?!

The rest of us here were also thrilled with your box of goodies, Secret Pal! Chocolates, Jelly Bellies, Pistachios, HUGE jaw breakers for the kids, shampoo rinsing cup (so neat!), 3-piece jammies, and of course Jack’s…uh…Lainey’s new towel! THANK YOU!! You truly spoil us!!

If you’ll look at the timeline above this post, you’ll notice that today marks ONE YEAR waiting for Lainey. To be more exact, our adoption paperwork was logged into China’s adoption system on 8/1/06. So, today is our LID anniversary. Since we began this process in March ’06, we’ve been waiting for about 16 months. Not that I’m counting.

Oh, are you wondering what that picture is? Since we were LID, we began a paperchain to mark out wait. We add a link at the completion of each week. I added the purple link to signify our 1 year milestone! Here’s a picture of the whole chain, as it drapes our kitchen window.

I’ll add a link on the date we receive our referral, too. The kids loved seeing what 52 weeks / one year looks like. Happy LID anniversary to us!

This gift was so cool. My July DTC Secret Pal obviously reads my blog (waving hello!), because she noticed the ribbon I used in my “Lainey” name frame I made. Somehow, she tracked that ribbon down and made a matching frame that will hold Lainey’s hairbows!! So adorable and she even included 3 of the cutest, handmade (by her, I’d bet) hairbows! Love it :)

And, this is the card! On the outside, is a teeny ladybug candle holder with 4 birthday-candle-size candles. I really like this too, and think I’ll save it to light once we receive Lainey’s referral. Thanks so much, SP!

Payton and Marley helped me open the SP present from my very generous CCAI June/July Secret Pal! Gracious!! The theme was “hats/bonnets/bibs” and my SP covered that and some. 7 bibs!! 4 hats! 3 adorable headband bows! Enough chocolate to keep me happy for at least a week (okay, much longer than that!) Water balloons and bubble gum for the kids. And a whopping 5 packages of Jelly Bellies! See the jar beside Payton? That’s our dedicated JB jar. As soon as I took this picture, Payton added all the packages and it’s now full! Thanks so much, SP! You’re very special to our family. One day Lainey will get to see these pictures, and see how she was loved and prayed for by you!