We're Logged In!

(The following post was written in a notebook but not actually posted on the blog until we received our referral because we didn’t tell our family that we were in process. We waited until we had the referral for our son before we published on the blog because we wanted to do this “covertly” and have it be a surprise to as many people as possible.)

Today (for about the 1000th time) I checked Holt’s website for LIDs (Log In Dates) and FINALLY(!) they got word from the CCCWA that we were logged in in China! Our LID is June 20. Yippee! Now we just have to wait for the next CCOP release of the shared list! That may come before (or possibly DURING) our cruise! We just have to wait and see!

All month we’ve been thinking about what COULD happen, checking out the email and cell phone service and costs on the ship and in Alaska. I’ve contacted doctors and have, at this point, heard back from one of two. I’ve asked for referrals for specialists because Holt asked us to look at the list of minor and correctable conditions again because they say that cleft lip only is very rare. So, based on the conditions we have decided we are open to, I will be contacting orthopedists, ophthalmologists and a plastic surgeon, just in case we receive a referral that needs one of those specialists.

June

Oh, my!  June is almost over already!  June has been a very stressful month.  We're busy, busy, busy!  We are dealing with the flooding of the Missouri River.  Click here to see photos I've taken of the progression of the flood near our home.  Our home is not in danger of flooding but our route to get in and out of Ponca Hills has changed.  It's a very stressful time at work, too, because they are remodeling and right now, it seems like the ENTIRE dealership is having something done to it. And tomorrow it's supposed to be 100 degrees or more.  Ick.  We are also working on several things that we hope to get done (or need to get done) before we go on our cruise in a few weeks.  Wow!  Can life get any busier?

Tony is working on improvements to the two-car garage (i.e. putting cement block underneath the plate that was built directly onto the cement slab and has rotted away over the years) and then it's my job to paint it once he gets the siding put back on.  A lot of the siding has rotted, too, so it's pretty much all new siding, too.  AND when it was built tar paper was put over the studs and then the siding -- no OSB board.  SO he's putting OSB board, house wrap and THEN siding up.  When it gets done (which I hope is soon) it will be so much better and stronger!

I had my 30-year class reunion.  Only 10 of us were there but it was good to see people again.  Here's a couple pictures.

And we had a Father's Day BBQ at our house.  We prepared for WAY more people than came so we had some friends over last Friday evening to help us eat more of the meat.

Meighan and I dowsed ourselves with Off last night and went out and picked green beans.  We got a pretty good amount so I'm sure I'll now ALSO have to find time to can some of them!

Other than that, we have quite a bit we want to get accomplished and we are feeling overwhelmed with the little time we think we have to get it done.  Can't wait to relax a bit on the cruise!

DTC!

(The following post was written in a notebook but not actually posted on the blog until we received our referral because we didn’t tell our family that we were in process. We waited until we had the referral for our son before we published on the blog because we wanted to do this “covertly” and have it be a surprise to as many people as possible.)

Holt called today asking if they can cash my check yet. I called my bank and asked if the money was definitely there and they said it was. I called Holt back and said to go ahead and cash the check.

The reason for the timing on this is that they send dossiers to China on Fridays. Sooo…we are DTC (Dossier to China) June 10, 2011.

Now…the dossier will be translated and logged in at the CCCWA (formerly CCAA). Once they let Holt know we are logged in (which can take up to 6 weeks), Holt can begin looking for our son!

So, we are in a holding pattern right now We have a busy summer planned and we still hope to travel this year, if that’s in God’s plans.

Yee Haw!!

(The title of this post will become apparent towards the end.)

Wow!  Have we had a busy month!  We've also had several good photo ops so I'll include some of the good ones as we go.

Starting way back in April...

On April 30, we drove up towards central Nebraska to Monroe for a 50th birthday celebration.  Before we went there, however, we went on to St. Edward to visit a high school friend of mine and her family.  They have quite the menagerie!  Meighan got to see cows, horses, a goat, dogs, cats, a young rooster, a couple very cute ducklings and a baby pig!  She even got to ride a horse and has been talking about it ever since!

On May 5, Tony took the day off and went with Meighan's preschool class to the zoo.  He got some pretty good pictures.

For Mother's Day, all the daycare kids made a gift for their moms.  I thought it was pretty cool!

One day she came out from drawing on her chalk board and told me to come see what she drew.  She drew Mama, Daddy and her!  (Mama is the one with the big head ;-P !)  Still, it's pretty good for 3 years old!

And now, her newest "thing."  Tony has had a pattern for a tire horse swing for a couple of years but has never had time to get to making it.  He saw it on sale at Tractor Supply this last week so he decided to just spend the money and buy one.  She LOVES it!  Here are pictures of her swinging and a video of her seeing it for the first time.

And, for anyone interested, I now have the ability to upload YouTube videos into my account that are longer than 15 minutes, soooo.... I uploaded our coming home video from April of 2009.  Just click on the YouTube link on the right side of the blog and find "Welcome Home, Meighan - 4/17/2009" on our channel.  Enjoy!

Referrals (not for us, yet!)

(The following post was written in a notebook but not actually posted on the blog until we received our referral because we didn’t tell our family that we were in process. We waited until we had the referral for our son before we published on the blog because we wanted to do this “covertly” and have it be a surprise to as many people as possible.)

We received an email from Holt the other day letting us know that there will not be any referrals from the CCOP program in June. This doesn’t really affect us because we are expecting to have a chance at our son in July, not sooner. Apparently he’s not ready for us yet. We know that God has a very special little boy picked out for us and we will get to bring him home soon!

Our 11th Anniversary AND Dossier off to Holt!

(The following post was written in a notebook but not actually posted on the blog until we received our referral because we didn’t tell our family that we were in process. We waited until we had the referral for our son before we published on the blog because we wanted to do this “covertly” and have it be a surprise to as many people as possible.)

We were able to get our dossier taken to FedEx today and get it off to Holt! Finally! However, due to the holiday and the fact that I started transferring money from our savings account to my checking account too late, I have to let them know not to cash the check until I know the money is in my account.

Dossier to DC!

(The following post was written in a notebook but not actually posted on the blog until we received our referral because we didn’t tell our family that we were in process. We waited until we had the referral for our son before we published on the blog because we wanted to do this “covertly” and have it be a surprise to as many people as possible.)

Oh! It’s so good to have our dossier off to DC! A little time to relax from the paper chase! I never thought we’d get to this point a few months ago!

I was able to concentrate on cleaning house today! It really needed vacuuming, DUSTING and other cleaning. Some things kinda get pushed back when you’re working on a dossier! Glad that part is almost over!