handsful

I realize we have all the time in the world to find a crib set. But, nevertheless, I’ve been searching for just the right one. With our first child, we didn’t know if she would be a boy or girl, so we went gender-neutral with Noah’s Ark. Loved it. With the triplets, we knew that they would share a nursery so we, again, went gender-neutral with primary colors. Very cute. This time, I KNOW it’s gonna be a girl. So I want something girlie, with pink!! I also wanted ladybugs on it. You can see how my search criteria narrows things down a bit. Well, I actually found it last night on ebay and Randy graciously allowed me to purchase it. It’s a discontinued pattern from Pottery Barn Kids called “Bright Stripe Ladybug” and just exactly what I’ve been looking for. We went ahead and purchased it because it’s difficult to find new, and in a complete set.  I hope Baby Clark will like it!

I got home today to find a box on my front porch from “FTD”. My mind quickly scanned what day it is. Birthday? No. Anniversary? No. Hmmm… I opened the box to find a beautiful red vase, bag of small black rocks, and a gathered bunch of bamboo stalks! I dug through all the styrofoam peanuts….no card! Then, I thought to look at the shipping papers. It was from my husband, Randy! Thanking me for being a great mom. Awwww!!!! As I thanked him later, he told me that he had chosen the bamboo to send on purpose, knowing it would remind me that there is a little baby girl (or WILL be a little baby girl…is she born yet?) waiting for me to be her mom. Bamboo originates in Southeast Asia, and is known for symbolizing health, love, luck and good fortune. I don’t believe so much in luck. However, when I look at my bamboo, I will most definitely think of love!

We received the email this morning from Jack Song (he works at CCAI in the dossier and China departments) that our dossier made it safely to the China Center for Adoption Affairs in Beijing, China! Whew, that feels good! To know that our part is over, and it is now in the hands of the CCAA is both comforting and nerve-racking! We have no control over the process from here and can only believe that God’s hand will lead us to the child meant to be in our family. We know this to be true!!

Our dossier is on it’s way to China, as of yesterday! We got the email today, letting us know that our official DTC (Dossier to China) date is 7/18/06! Once it gets to the China Center for Adoption Affairs office, we will be notified by email. Then, when they officially log our dossier in their system, we’ll get our Log In Date (LID). The count-down to referral is officially “on” from that date! Referrals are currently coming in approx. 12-14 months from LID. But, that could change.

We received an email from CCAI today…our dossier made it through it’s critical review process mistake FREE! Woo hoo! It took them 11 days to give it the A-OK and now it goes to the translation department. They will condense our dossier information into a summary format and translate it into Mandarin. One more step closer!

Our dossier is still at our agency, CCAI, undergoing it’s critical review. They will make sure that there are zero mistakes…it is actually looked at 3 times by 3 different reviewers! They are very thorough. Today is “Day 9″ and we’re told that critical review should take 10-15 days. We’re also told that no news is good news…if there are problems, they will contact us. When it’s through critical review and on to the translation department, they will contact us. I’d prefer to wait for THAT call!

Other than waiting patiently (or trying to act like we’re waiting patiently), our summer is going well. Swimming in our pool, sports camps, reading club at the library, Marley-Payton-and-Ethan’s 8th birthday parties, trips to the beach, VBS, and lazy days at home…that sums up our summer so far :)

One last thing. We went furniture shopping the weekend of July 1st and 2nd. We found this beautiful, though economical (you won’t ever see it on the Antiques Roadshow) white wardrobe and bedside table. It looks so nice in the room, with the white ceiling fan and white trim. This room used to be our office; but it’s slowly becoming the nursery. The dining room (which we never used anyway) has become our office / schoolroom. It looks so much better than it ever did as a dining room!