Queen Missy

Here's a photo Brad took with his cell phone camera last night before rehearsal. I was donning my dressing room robe, not the beautiful gown I wear as Queen Maisie in Cinderella. Brad's photo doesn't show that my hair is about another foot higher with a crown perched on top. It's quite funny. In my robe and my beehive, I said I was Golden Girls meets Designing Women (think Delta Burke with her crown). Anyway, the rehearsal went really well last night. I got lots of compliments on my comic stylings. You can see my throne in the background. The king and I sit up there while everyone else (Brad included)dances...Ahhh, it's good to be queen!

Over the moon!

That's how I keep describing the way we feel. It's so exciting. I actually found a children's book for adopted kids called "Over the Moon." Of course I ordered it. It may not be any good...we'll have to see. We had a lovely weekend. We spent a lot of time writing our autobiographies. That is a lot of work! You have to be specific about a lot of things. They're typically 5 pages long but mine is 7 pages, single spaced. It took that much room to adequately cover all the topics. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

We met with two other adopting couples from our church for dinner Friday night and had so much fun! We're so fortunate to be able to share the ups and downs of this process with Misty, Joel, Laura and Greg. We're looking forward to regular meetings with you guys! Here's a photo of me and Brad at dinner Friday. Thank goodness Misty is a better photographer than me...or was it Joel who took the picture?!?!

Children's Books

The next time you are in a bookstore, go to the picture book section and look for "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born" by Jamie Lee Curtis. At the recommendation of several friends, we found the book today in Borders. It was such a struggle to keep back the tears as we read this book. It's an amazing story designed especially for adopted children. We are ordering a copy along with some other books we want Lily to have. I've started a stash of Lily goodies in the room that will be hers one day. It's so neat to have all her little things laid out on the chair. We expect to get going on the home study visits in the next two weeks. We'll keep you posted...

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B-Day Wishes

Thank you for you for the b-day wishes! I love snow on my birthday and sure enough, I got me some snow. That was cool! Ok, now I'm ready for some warm weather.

We're getting ready for church. Sister Weed is going to play a guitar and sing. I know she will rock! Today will be a great conclusion to a great weekend! Weed goes back home tomorrow (boo-hoo!) but we have had a blast! Have a fabulous Sunday everyone!

Happy Birthday to Me!

There's definitely a theme to my 30th b-day...Brad got me a scroll with the name Lily written in Chinese characters!! It was made in China. It's gorgeous. I'm going to get it framed and hang it in the living room as a reminder of hope. Weed arrived Thursday, about 5 and a half hours later than scheduled (more details to come on her journey). For my b-day today, she presented me with a bag full of baby goodies, including a bib that says, "Spit happens!" I was rolling on the floor laughing! But I was also tearful thinking about our Lily. Mom sent me a beautiful card and a lamb beanie baby (named Baaabsy!!). She said to put it in Lily's room when I'm finished playing with it! Hahaha! Brad's mom shipped two Lou Malnati's pizzas to us this week. My faves!! Thanks, Terry! YUM!! Last night was a blast too, having a celebration dinner with some of my buds from work...and they got me sweet gifts too. From Tina, a lovely pillow with the words, "Faith, Hope and Love" embroidered on it and a candle holder from Rachel! I'm so blessed! Even with all this love, I do feel a little weird about turning 30. My best friend Katie (who turned 30 yesterday!) suggested and I agree that we should celebrate "backwards birthdays" from here on out. So, from now on, we get a year YOUNGER on our birthdays! I love it! Thank you all for being a part of my life and for sharing your love with me...that's the best gift of all!

PS I had a blast at The Skinny Improv last night. I was totally embarressed by the attention on stage but it was hilarious and only fed my secret desire to be a comedianne! (Shhh! Don't tell anyone!)

Happy Birthday!

Now we're both on the other side of 30. MRB begins her fourth decade Saturday.

Friday, we enjoyed "Dreamgirls" then tapas. Then comedy (pronounced co-MEE-dee) at the Skinny Improv. They got Missy on stage for her "funeral" in the year 2084.

Enjoy this clip:

Book 'Em, Dano

Missy and I went for our fingerprinting this morning. It's for the home study agency to confirm my past in trafficking black market firearms and Missy's work as a domestic spy in Mizzou's "journalism" program.

(I also got to play with my sweet new cell phone with a camera.)

Still Cold and Icy!

We're still cold (near zero last night) and layers of ice are making most power lines droop close to the ground.

I hope to hear from Great Wall this week that we've been approved to proceed with the adoption. We will get email and phone confirmation. Tomorrow morning, Brad and I will do our state fingerprinting. We worked on our essays for the home study Tuesday night. We're slowly chipping away at all of it! As they say, that's how you eat an elephant...one bite at a time!

Power to the People

We got our power back on Sunday night and it has stayed on since then. Praise the Lord! At last count, 25,000 people in our city are still without power. We survived Saturday night by boxing up the cats and heading out of town to a hotel where rooms were available. The cats were quite amazed to be in a new setting since the only time they leave the house is for a yearly visit to the vet. Little Bud explored the room while Pierre Clovis hid in the folds of the bedskirt.

On an adoption note...I had a wonderful conversation today with a woman who adopted a 15 month old girl from China eight years ago. I was nearly in tears as I listened to her describe what it was like to hold her daughter for the first time. She also couldn't get pregnant. She said the same emotions that are in the delivery room are present when they place your child in your arms the first time. She said she was amazed at the beauty of her child...as she put it, "I just wanted a child to love. I didn't even ask for a child with beautiful hair but she has the most beautiful hair. I didn't even ask for a child who is brilliant but she is brilliant." It just gave me goosebumps all over to hear her stories.

Hope all of you are keeping warm. Laura, seriously, send some of that Florida sunshine our way! We could use it!

IVF baby gives birth

From the Yahoo! news page:

The first test-tube baby is now a Mom. That's neat.

Then from the Chinese adoption file, This story about the demographic impact China's policies are producing. The ladies have their pick of the litter.

Also just as "Lost" prepares to crank it up for 16 week uninterrupted run, the creators are figuring out how it ends.

And finally, Yahoo loves cat pictures. So do we.

Ice, ice baby

Ok, yes, I've used that title for a post before. But this time, it's REALLY appropriate. Where we live is COATED in ice. We lost power sometime last night and ended up coming in to work to warm up...ok, and to do some work too. We are now preparing to head back home and will try to make a restaurant stop before settling in for a long, chilly evening. Brrrrr.

PS The cats are so adorable and adaptable. They were just lounging around the house this morning while we were huddling under the covers. Eventually, Little Bud did crawl under the covers with me and curl up. It was better than an electric blanket or hot water bottle.

The Cat Has Exited the Sack

Yes, the cat is out of the bag...At least for my co-workers. I told my boss this week our big news and then sent an email to all my co-workers. I've gotten such a positive response! It's been great!

Thanks to everyone who has commented on the blog recently. Your words lift us up and keep us going! I scheduled our fingerprinting appointments for next Thursday. This is the state fingerprinting, not the FBI fingerprinting (which requires a jaunt to KC).

Side note to RTB: Mom told me Wilma Dykeman passed away. I was really sad to hear that. It makes me treasure my signed copy of The Tall Woman even more...

Application received!

Just got an email from Great Wall saying they have our application and are reviewing it. We will hear in 4-10 days whether or not we are accepted. I'm just relieved to know it arrived. I'm being so totally cheap these days that I sent it First Class and not Priority. So, I was worried! A dear friend of ours made a video about a family who adopted from China. The video is great...Check it out at http://michellesherwood.blogspot.com

Our First Essay

For the first application, we had to write about why we want to adopt a baby from China. We thought you'd enjoy reading this:

Like so many couples, when we decided to expand our family, we thought it would mean having biological children. We felt we ought to give the biological route “our best shot” while age was still on our side and for us, that meant in vitro fertilization. We did get pregnant following IVF but it ended in miscarriage at 9 weeks. After looking in our hearts, we realize that the journey is about finding our child, not about getting pregnant. So after much prayer and discussion, we believe we’re meant to find our child another way.

In April, 2005, Missy visited China and fell in love with the people, country and culture. She heard from the translators about China’s population control measures and the plight of the orphans touched her heart deeply. Given that firsthand experience and the feeling that God’s moving us toward international adoption, we feel China is where we will find our child.

We have always believed God would give us a child…it would just be a matter of discovering how God would bring that child into our lives. As it turns out, our child may be half a world away. And that’s fine with us. The only thing that matters is that we will finally get to hold our child in our arms.

While some people look at our long journey and see heartbreak and disappointment, we see a legacy of love. One day, we will tell our child about the long journey we took and it will be a story filled with love and hope.

Human Heart

Another song from "Once on This Island" that speaks to my heart these days:

"Human Heart"
The courage of a dreamer
The innocence of youth
The failures and the foolishness
That lead us to the truth

The hopes that make us happy
The hopes that don't come true
And all the love there ever was
I see this all in you.

You are part...
Part of the human heart
You are part...
Of all who took the journey
And managed to endure
The ones who knew such tenderness
The ones who felt so sure
The ones who came before you
The others yet to come
And those who you will teach it to
And those you learned it from...

You are part...
Part of the human heart

This is the gift I give
Through your love you'll live forever

Sharing the love

We are having a blast sharing the news of our adoption journey with our friends. It was a blessing to tell our family over Christmas. We should hear next week (the following week at the latest) if our application has been accepted by our agency. After that, we really dig in and start the paperwork.

Back in May, I was in a production of "Once on This Island." It's the best musical you've never heard of. It's told as a fable of love complete with island gods, peasants and Grands Hommes (read: snobs). Anyway, I was watching the DVD of our show the other day and it came to a song called One Small Girl. It had not occurred to me previously that the song, nay the entire show is about a peasant girl who is *adopted.* Anyway, here's an excerpt from the song that brought tears to my eyes when I was watching our performance...It refers to how the lives of the peasants changed after they adopted the little girl:

And their hut was crowded
And food was scarce
But somehow, their lives held more
One small girl
To live for.

[A STORYTELLER]
They named her Desiree Dieu-Donne or
"God-Given Desire." But in their affection, they called her simply Ti Moune.

[LITTLE TI MOUNE]
What does Ti Moune mean, Mama?

[MAMA]
It means little orphan. Saved by the gods for something special!
******************************************************************
A little girl saved by God for something special. We know that our baby will be a gift from God, destined for "something special."

Big News!

If you haven't heard our big news, here it is: We have started the process of adopting a baby girl from China!! We will name our daughter Lily. She will be between 9 and 14 months old when we get her. Yesterday morning, the first round in a long series of paperwork went in the mail. We are preparing ourselves for a lengthy wait. You may have heard on the news that new regulations for China adoptions will take effect May 1. The Chinese government is hoping to slow the number of applications coming into the country. Right now, it takes about 15 months to get a child referred to you once your application is in the country and China would like to process the dossiers much more quickly. It takes about 6 months to get your dossier assembled and in country. We had thought in December that we could beat the May 1 deadline but after consulting with our agency, I don't think that will be possible. But we still qualify under the new guidelines so we are not worried. We still plan to move as quickly as possible to get our dossier to China. We will keep you posted on our progress via the blog. Sorry for the long delay in posting. Expect more regular updates. Please keep us in your prayers. Pray that God prepares our hearts for this adventure! And thank you for sharing this journey with us!