handsful

The theme this month for my CCAI Secret Pal was “Something for Mom”. What a box full of cool things! The Bath & Body lotions are the EXACT scents I would have chosen…how did you know? The bathing suit cover-up for Lainey is just perfect, I can just see her in it. The bibs made me smile, and I know Randy will fight me on how often Lainey wears HIS bib over mine! The kids treats are great, Marley just came in and snatched her water balloons! Chocolate…always a hit with this Mom! Jelly Bellys will go in the jar…Randy loves that you seem to fill that up each month! Thank you!!

My great friend, Janet, sent me some Canadian goodies today! She lives in Alberta, Canada…we’re about as far apart as we could be distance wise, but we’ve become very close via email and our China adoption email boards. She’s a Christian, homeschooling mom of 4 kids (2 girls, 2 boys). Sound familiar? Her site is http://www.tuiningaadoption.blogspot.com/ Thank you, Janet! The kids are already proudly wearing their new buttons, we’ll share the maple sugar candies, and the chocolate is mine. Allllll mine!! (insert sinister snickering here)

…and she came all the way from Illinois! I received a package full of goodies today from my friend Lisa. Lisa is one of the gals on my “Ladybug and Red Thread Believers” yahoo email group. All the ladies in the group are in the process of adopting from China, and we talk EVERYDAY. Our name is a combination of two common China adoption symbols AND the fact that we are all Christians. So, we’re sisters in adoption and Christ! Even though most of us have never met, we’re very close and pray everyday for each others praises and struggles. It’s been a huge blessing to me!

So, why did Lisa send me Ladybug goodies? Well, we get pretty silly on our email group! Somehow (and, I’m told I started this, though I don’t remember how!) we ended up having a contest to see who was the FUNNIEST gal in the group. It was between me (yep, me) and Janet, a crazy lady from Canada (I mean that in a GOOD way, Janet!). Well…I lost. BUT, Lisa promised to send us both a prize and I got mine today! The ladybug wind thingy, ladybug pens for the kids, ladybug magnet, wooden mirror with Chinese writing, ladybug key chain, AND chocolate (she knows me well!). Thank you, Lisa! Your gifts certainly made this Friday even better!

I received my May gift from my Fireflies group yesterday! The theme was “travel toys” and she really hit the mark. Here’s what was in the package: Musical keys (you can insert a photo in each key!), roll-up fabric crayon tote (ingenious!), adorable onesie with a heart and tag that says “Mom” (that was my Mother’s Day present from her!), and a great assortment of candy for the kids. LOVE it all.

I so look forward to my Secret Pal gifts, just like I really enjoy buying gifts for MY Secret Pals. It really helps the waiting time pass by, and I love imagining Lainey with each gift we receive. Thank you!!

As of today, our paperwork has been in China for 9 months. Our “paper pregnancy” is full term! We are hopeful that we’ll be matched with Lainey in the next 3-6 months, through our agency’s Waiting Child program. Our Waiting Child paperwork has been with our agency for 6 months…the AVERAGE wait for a WC referral is 6-8 months. I think average sounds just fine! We’ll keep you posted.

The theme this month was “Frames”. This present came from my “new” SP…several of the gals in our group had to quit the SP program, so I was matched with someone new! We received a beautiful white frame, just waiting for Lainey’s referral picture. She also included a child’s photo album just for Lainey, complete with pictures of all of us! There is also a wonderful fridge magnet frame with a wonderful scripture verse! And, she may be my new pal, but somehow she already knows of our love of Jelly Bellys and MY love of chocolate ;) Candy necklaces for the girls and bubble gum bats for the boys! Thank you so much, we love everything!

Spoiled again! We loved our CCAI June/July SP gift for April! The theme was “Lullaby CD”. We received FOUR CDs! Sing Me to Sleep Mommy, Sing Me to Sleep Daddy, Disney Babies Lullabies, and a Baby Einstein! Can’t wait to listen to these. And, as usual, she filled the box with goodies for the kids (including the “big” kid, my DH)….Jelly Belly jelly beans and lolly pops, Ghiradelli chocolate (Mom ain’t sharing these…), chocolate ladybugs, and chocolate balls!

Thank you again, SP!