Celebrating 38 months Closer to Hannah!

Saturday I celebrated my 38th Hannah~ versary!! What a wonderful day it was as I was spending the day with family, seeing referrals of friends arrive and knew that at the time we were within hours of friends meeting their precious little ones for the very first time!! 38 months is a long time to wait but knowing that 39 should be the last time I celebrate a Hannah~versary before seeing my sweet baby girl's face, it was fun and exciting!

As we were in Windsor for a couple of family get-togethers, mom and I hopped across the border to Detroit where it was time to shop for Hannah....and mommy too. I now have a Diaper Champ and bottles added to the collection of items I'll need before she comes home. It's so neat to be purchasing things that my sweet baby girl will use! And SOON!!

Congrats also goes out to 2 friends who are now holding their daughters in their arms and close to their heart! Lisa and Tate!

T, J and Emerson!


Exciting days with more and more excitement to come this summer!!!

Celebrating 3 Years Closer to Hannah!

WOW! 3 years! 36 months! 156 weeks! 1096 days!! That's how long my file/dossier has been in China! Happy Hannah~ versary!!

Want to know the really cool thing though? My dossier is so close to the front of the line that I can hardly stand it! Soon someone will be picking it up, blowing off the dust and opening it up to match Hannah and I together!!! I'm still thinking this will happen in June or July but there is a small chance I could see Hannah's face as early as the latter part of May. Oh yah...now that would be the very best birthday gift evah!!

For now, I wait and celebrate with those who are in line ahead of me. This week or next, 3 friends should be receiving their referrals and I couldn't be more excited for them!

Waiting with excitement to see my sweet baby girl's face for the very first time and trusting God for His perfect timing! And, while I wait I continue to prepare for Hannah. This weeks big purchase? Diapers! Heh....who would have known buying diapers could be so exciting? :o)

Celebrating 35 months Closer to Hannah!

Mom and Dad brought these cute little flowers over on the weekend to celebrate my 35th Hannah-versary!! Thanks Mom and Dad! Another month of my file being logged in China and Hannah is so close now I can't help but be excited! I'm still anticipating it being 3-6 months before receiving her referral but the fact that it's only that long is super exciting!!

I continue to be so thankful for the peace that God is providing during this long wait. As hard as it is at times, I wouldn't trade one minute of it for the way it has caused me to learn to lean more fully on the Lord and trust Him daily. This is a lifelong lesson and one I am thankful to continually be reminded of. God is so good and He has each step planned and daily I choose to trust Him.

35 months closer to Hannah! New referrals will hopefully arrive later this week and I'll have a better idea of when I might receive her referral. Currently I'm anticipating May - July but only God knows. Once again, trusting, trusting, trusting!

Celebrating 34 months Closer to Hannah!

Today is my 34th Hannah-versary!!

It was quite the month with referral rumours that didn't pan out but regardless, I'm another month closer to Hannah and couldn't be happier!

Even though the thought last week that we could be headed to China sooner than anticipated was exciting, I am still daily, hourly, minute by minute, trusting God for His perfect timing and this brings a peace that only He can provide!

Each day is another day closer to my baby girl and, another day to celebrate God's faithfulness!

Celebrating 33 months Closer to Hannah!

Wow! I'm not sure how it happend but another month has flown by and I am now 33 months closer to Hannah! Wheee!!

It was fun last night when I received a call from my niece asking me when I'd be arriving home as she and Grandma were waiting for me. What I came home to was so precious!
She (with Grandma's help) had gone to the flower store, chosen flowers for Hannahs' 33 month LIDiversary and also added a cute little ladybug and a little white piggybank that says 'Baby's First Bank' on it. Too cute!

The really neat thing is that for the first time since I'd started buying monthly flowers to celebrate my 'Hannah~versary' I had decided I would just reuse last month's flowers as I was going to be away part of the next week and the pointsettia was still beautiful. These flowers are now extra special as I wasn't going to buy any! Love it when stuff like that happens!

Rebecca was also sporting a cute new hat and she looked adorable! We did an impromptu photo shoot in the front hall and she had so much fun! Oh how I love this little girl and I cannot wait until she and Hannah are together!!

1000 Days in China!

Wow!! If you'd ever told me in March of 2006 when my file was waiting to be sent to China that it would be logged in for over 1,000 days before receiving Hannah's referral, I would have laughed for sure! 1,000 days? Not a chance!

But here we are 1,000 days later...and 1,000 days closer to Hannah!!

O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done marvelous things,
things planned long ago.

Isaiah 25:1

Praising God for the marvelous things he has already done and trusting Him for what He will do in the future!

New Referrals = Guess What?!!!

Pssst...wanna hear something really, really cool?!! CC*AA sent out 6 days of referrals and they matched up to and including February 23, 2006. Do you know what that means? It means the very next time the 23rd of a month is reached I WILL BE RECEIVING HANNAH'S REFERRAL!! Yes....the final month of LIDs countdown has begun! Wheeee!!!

There are now only 28 little glass beads in the jar on the left and most of them are in the jar on the right!! There is light at the end of the tunnel and it's slowly getting brighter. No need to shade my eyes or put on sunglasses just yet but at least I can see the light.

Based on an average of 5.8 LIDs covered per month I'm still tracking for a May referral with July travel. It may slow down a bit since there are a lot of people logged in in March but that's ok, Hannah is getting closer and that's all that matters!

Congrats to Ozimum who will be seeing her sweet baby's face next week and to wonderful PIPO who will see her baby girl's face (or, that adorable little 4yo Asian son who speaks Italian that she's been dreaming about) next for sure!! So happy to be celebrating with you friends!

6 days closer and so very thakful! Praising God for the way He continues to bring Hannah together and all that He is teaching me during this process.

Celebrating 32 months Closer to Hannah!

Another month closer to Hannah and the feeling of excitement is palpable! I believe that there are still 6 plus months ahead of me before Hannah's beautiful little picture will be before my eyes and yet she seems so near! I guess since I'm quickly approaching 4 years since God placed the desire to adopt sweet Hannah on my heart, 6 months is 'doable!' Also, the sheer excitement of friends (Ozimum - LID 02/22/06 and PIPO - LID 02/24/06) being 'on deck' adds to the daily excitement!

Precious Hannah,
Just believing that you're born is beyond exciting!! It may be some time yet before God brings us together but I pray for you daily as do many, many others. May you know love, comfort and so much more as we wait to become a family. Mommy loves you so much baby girl! I cannot wait for the day when you're in my arms and our lives change from those living half a world away from one another to those living as a family! God is so good and I continually trust Him to bring us together at the exact moment He prepared long ago. I think often of what it will be like to receive 'THE call!' How fun it will be to see how it actually plays out. What I do know is that it will be a life changing moment and one I CANNOT wait for!! You are already the love of my life sweet baby girl. Mommy is waiting excitedly to meet you and begin our lives together.

I love you so much Hannah. Love, Mommy xoxo

Celebrating 31 Months Closer to Hannah!

Yay! Today I'm celebrating my file being in China for 31 months which brings me another month closer to Hannah! Wheee!!!

It has been an absolutely crazy busy month and has flown by. Work is busy, home life is busy and to top it off I'm in the middle of a small home reno which I've looked forward to having done for years and is finally happening. I teach piano in the evenings and currently my piano is in the family room upstairs which is really just an open concept room with the kitchen, eating area and family room all together. It was going to make things challenging for the babysitter when I was teaching and Hannah was hungry so moving the piano to the basement will be really helpful. (I'll do a post on the teaching studio renos when they're all done.) It's really exciting to be doing something so tangible in preparing for Hannah to come home!! Just moving the box with her crib in it from one side of the basement to the other made my heart beat faster last week. I like to think it was because of the excitement that the box actually contained the crib my baby girl will sleep in but I think a good part of it was also that the side of the box said 'Weight 97lbs' :o)

31 months closer and celebrating! Praying daily for my baby girl who I believe is now living on the other side of the world. May she know love, comfort and so much more as we wait for God to bring us together. Mommy loves you baby girl!

PS: It's now 9:15am and I just returned from a doctor's appt. Can I tell you it gave me goosebumps to book next year's follow-up appt. taking nap time into consideration as I'll be off on maternity leave with my baby girl?!! Wheee!!!

Celebrating 30 Months Closer to Hannah!!

Wow!! 30 months! 2 1/2 years!! I can honestly say that if you'd told me when I started Hannah's adoption that my file would wait in China for 30 months I would probably have laughed right out loud! But it has, and that's ok.

Why? Because God has one child and only one who will be my daughter. Hannah. He knows her by name and every little detail about her. He knows her smile. Her eyes. Every crease in her tiny fingers. Every beautiful raven black hair on her tiny little head. He is using this time to prepare me to be her mother and to prepare her to be my daughter. It's not just any child in China that I'm praying for and waiting for but, the one and only child that God has already chosen to be my daughter and in His time, He will bring us together.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139: 13 - 16

I cannot tell you the number of times today that my heartbeat has raced with the joy and anticipation of knowing that I am coming down the final stretch of the wait! My hands tremble and a silly grin is on my face that just won't leave!! I'm anticipating that it will still be another 9 or 10 months before Hannah is placed in my arms but when it's been 30 months since my file was logged in China and 44 months since God laid it on my heart to begin her adoption, 8 to 10 is a relatively short time!

By next summer my little girl will be in my arms!! I will know her smile as if it were my own. I will look into her beautiful almond eyes! I will see every crease in her tiny fingers as they wrap themselves tightly around mine! I will know every beautiful raven black hair on her tiny little head as I gently caress it and tenderly kiss her sleepy brow.

Today I celebrate being 1 month closer to my precious baby girl! God has an amazing plan for our lives and I can't wait to see it unfold! Thank you to all of you who are loving us through this journey; encouraging me and most of all, thank you for your prayers for Hannah and I! More than anything, they are what mean the most. Love you.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

Celebrating 29 Months Closer to Hannah!!

Another month has sped by and oh what an exciting month it has been! CC*AA has completed matching files through January 2006 which means next month we'll see LID's for February 2006. Wow....they're matching the month before mine!! I get goosebumps realizing how close it's actually getting! After almost 2 1/2 years of my file being in China, 9 months seems like so little and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Add to that the excitement of watching the Olympics in the country where my daughter is probably already living almost takes my breath away! It's been so neat to meet the people of China and see the beautiful country via the special interviews as well as the sports venues. Did you see the triathalon? The swimming portion with the beautiful pagoda in the background was gorgeous! I also enjoyed seeing all the jumps in the equestrian events. LOL...I think I might have been the only person who was enjoying the beauiful jumps almost more than the horses and riders jumping them.

So today I celebrate one more month that my file has been in China and one month closer to my sweet baby girl!

Mommy already loves you so much Hannah!!! I can't wait for the day when I hold you in my arms and together we visit parts of the beautiful country that you now call home!

Celebrating 28 Months Closer to Hannah!!!

Wow! Did this month ever fly by! I'm guessing a big part of it was because I was blessed to spend much of it in the company of friends who are in the process of adopting or who have already brought their amazing children home. I tell you, nothing could be better to help with the wait then the fun, laughter, giggles and spending time with precious friends and their adorable cuties!! I've laughed this week at how quiet my house is and more than once I've replayed the 'wake-up Cafrin' video just for the fun of hearing their sweet little voices for a moment.

I must admit that lately Hannah has been on my heart and mind even more than normal. Now trust me, if I go more than an hour or 2 without thinking (and talking) about her that's a l-o-n-g time but right now my heart is turning to her birth. Is she born yet? Will she be born within the next couple of months? I'll know next spring when I receive her referral but until then, my heart hurts to think that my baby girl may now be in an orphanage. Oh how I wish I could bring her home right now! My prayers are that the caretakers would be there for her and that she would be loved, cuddled, comforted, fed and know that she is loved. Trusting God to provide the care she and the others with her need until we are brought together.

My heart also aches for her birth mother as I cannot begin to fathom what she must endure to place her child in the care of someone else for the rest of her baby girl's life, never again knowing what happens to her. I pray for her often and ask that you would pray too.

Dear Lord,
As Hannah is again in the forefront of my heart, thoughts and prayers, I ask that you be with her. May she be born safely and cared for by her birth mother for the amount of time that she feels she can do that. I pray that you would bless this precious woman who is giving up her child. May you comfort her and heal her heart as she places her child in the care of others. I thank you Lord for this woman whom I will never meet but you know her as well as you know me. May you grant her the comfort that only You can give.

As sweet Hannah is placed in the arms of her new caregivers in the orphanage may you please allow her to trust them. They are there for her and may she know this. May they be the arms that hold her, lips that smile at her and kiss her forehead, the voice that sings to her and heart that beats beside hers as they hold her close. I thank you Lord for these precious ladies who daily care for the orphans of China and many others like them around the world. How hard it must be for them too to care for these children from newborn to months and sometimes years old and then place them in the arms of their forever families. I thank you for these women. May you bless them for the precious gift of love that the shower upon our children.

This wait has been so much longer than I'd ever anticipated Lord, yet I know that all of this is in your plan. You will bring Hannah and I together in your perfect time and I wait for that day...with love in my heart for my daughter and words of Praise to You, who is bringing it all to be. I love you Lord. Amen.

Celebrating 27 Months Closer to Hannah!!

Even though I'm far from home this month as I celebrate my 27th LIDiversary, Hannah is never, ever far from my heart, dreams and prayers. Necessity is the mother of invention so being away from home I improvised a little with this month's flowers. Sharon and I found these bright, sunny daisies and thought they would be a fun way to celebrate Hannah's 27 month LIDiversary.

I love you baby girl and am SO EXCITED that this month for the VERY FIRST time, I'm telling people that I anticipate meeting you within a year! No more, 'one more year' but now...'probably around Mother's Day next year.' What an exciting thing this is to say!! As I consider this I also wonder if you're born or not? I've started keeping a special calendar so that I can look back and know exactly what I was doing the day you were born. I love you precious Hannah. Praying for you as God watches over you in China. Love always, Mommy.

8 Days Closer and Very Happy!

This month CCAA matched 8 days worth of files - January 13 to 20, 2006. That's an 8 day batch... WAHOO!! What does this mean? This means that there are now just 61 days of files in front of mine and if CCAA continues to match files at a similar rate to what they have lately, I will see my precious Hannah's face just in time for Mother's Day next year!! Wheee!! What a amazing Mother's Day that will be!

A number of months back I took 2 glass jars and filled one with glass beads to represent the number of LID's in front of me. At that time all the beads were in the jar on the left. Today I moved 8 more beads to the jar on the right and now I think there are more beads in the right jar than the left! Every month closer!!

Things can change and they often do but, this month they changed for the better and I'm celebrating!! Rather than her referral date moving further away, today I moved one whole month closer to my baby girl!

You know what else is REALLY, REALLY exciting?? Today I found myself responding to people's 'how much longer' questions with 'probably around Mother's Day next year' rather than 'probably one more year.' YES!!! I finally believe I'm within a year of Hannah's referral!! Praise God...He is always faithful!!

Celebrating 26 Months Closer to Hannah!!

Normally today is a day of celebration but today although still one of celebration also contains much sadness. As much as I am thankful for being another month closer to Hannah, my heart still aches for the Chapman family. As I type this, this beautiful family is facing one of their first days without their precious Maria. Tonight is the visitation and tomorrow is her funeral so if you can take a moment to pray for the Chapman family I know that they would appreciate it. Their daughter is safe in the arms of Jesus yet I'm sure at the same time their arms are aching to hold the precious baby girl just one more time.

I cried as I watched this fun little video of Maria helping her daddy with the dishes just two short months ago. It's precious yet so hard to watch knowing this will never happen for them again.

The song Cinderella (video below) was written by Steven last year for his daughters. Who would have known that his little girl would not be walking into the arms of her Prince Charming but rather dancing into the arms of the King of Kings?

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1

Lifting the Chapman family up in prayer....

April Updates

Tricia, Nate and Gwyneth Rose
I wanted to wait until I heard back from Nate to see if he would mind if I posted a couple of pics and he gave the 'go ahead' so here are a few pics to share with you:

Family pic, April 26, 2008

In my last post I mentioned how Gwyneth Rose had grown since her mommy's surgery. Here's the pics to show you how God has strengthend this precious little girl! (You can use the little Pug as a guide) Wow...what a difference 3 weeks can make!!!

April 1, 2008 (the day before mommy's surgery)


April 23, 2008 (just 3 weeks and 1 day later! WOW!!!)

God is SO good! Please continue to pray for this precious family. Their story is reaching around the world and with it, the truth of God's handiwork in their lives and His love is reaching around the world with it!!

25 Month LIDiversary Tulips
Here they are!

This weekend I was treated to seeing Hannah's beautiful tulips burst forth in all of their glory! I'm going to save the bulbs once their finished blooming (and whatever else needs to happen. Better read up on that) and then plant them in the garden in the fall. I get goose bumps thinking that next time these bulbs are in bloom I should be very close to seeing Hannah's picture for the very first time! Now if that's not encouragement I don't know what is!

Celebrating 25 Months Closer to Hannah!!

Oops! I've known since last month that I wanted to buy tulips to celebrate Hannah's 25 month LIDiversary. Guess I should have been a little more organized and purchased them a few days ago so that we had flowers instead of just leaves! Oh well. This way I'll get to watch them grow and blossom over the next little while...just like one day my little girl will grow and blossom right before my very eyes!

25 months closer and celebrating!!!

Celebrating 2 YEARS Closer to Hannah!!

Can you believe it?? 2 years ago today someone in China picked up my file, took an initial look at it, logged it in their records and I was officially logged with the China Center of Adoption Affairs!!! 2 years friends! In some ways it seems like forever and in other ways I remember that time like it was just yesterday.

I just looked back and reread what I'd posted to this blog on March 23, 2006 and honestly it gave me goose bumps!!! You see, just minutes ago I just finished writing an update letter to my email family and friends who may or may not follow this blog. Today I wrote,

'I would ask you that as I am anticipating her birth sometime this year that you please pray for Hannah. Pray that she will find love in the orphanage. Pray that she will have a caretaker that takes a shine to her and loves her in a special way. This type of love is so important for the formation of her little brain and the critical stages of formation it will be going through before she is in my arms. I cannot be there physically but God can put someone there to hold her, love her and care for her and this is what I’m asking you to pray for. Please pray that she will be loved and know that she is loved. I love her already.'

and if you read the post written on March 23, 2006 you'll see much of the same there. Too cool! The really neat thing is that the night I wrote the original post I had absolutely no idea that that was the day my file was logged in China. I would not find out that piece of information for almost 2 months!!

The other commonality of tonight's letter + the 2006 post that makes me laugh is the sentence 'my baby girl may already have been born!' Ummm...ya. That didn't happen! LOL!! This year though...this year!!!!!


Today I also purchased a little something for Hannah since it's a big day! I've had the Playskool Busy Ball Popper on my wish list so decided today to pick it up and put it away for her.


At 6 months I made her a Build a Bear.














At 12 months it was a new rug for her nursery.

18 months was a t-o-u-g-h time during the wait so I didn't purchase anything at that time but now I'm in a much better frame of mind and so today we celebrated with 24 long stemmed roses and a Busy Ball Popper!

Even though I don't know how much longer I will have to wait for Hannah's referral and then to meet her, I will wait. I will wait with a longing in my heart and an ache to hold her in my arms but...I will wait. Continuing to lean on God and trust Him.

Hannah,

I love you so very, very much. I cannot wait to meet you, to love you, to hold you in my arms and tell you how much I love you. I pray that even before you and I meet, that you will know love by those God puts in place to care for you in the orphanage. May you know what it's like to feel their loving arms hold you and may you know friendship with the other precious babies that will live their lives in the cribs near you. God has amazing plans for your my sweet baby girl and I am humbled to think that He has chosen me to be your mother. I love you baby girl. Mommy loves you....

Many Reasons to Celebrate!!

As anticipated, this week's referrals included families whose files were logged in with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CC*AA) in 2006!! Let's hear it for 2006!

I'm also here to mark another HUGE milestone in the adoption of Hannah! Those who have been here any length of time know that I love to play with the numbers and averages. Today, for the VERY FIRST TIME since my file was logged with CC*AA 23 1/2 months ago, I am able to move my guesstimation date CLOSER rather than push it further away!!!! Do I hear a big Yippee?!!!!

For the last year or so I have chosen to calculate my referral guesstimation based on the previous 12 months of referrals. (Referral stats for the past 2 years are available in my sidebar under 'Tracking Referrals'. Feel free to use this chart any time you wish.) With the most current batch covering 8 days, I was able to move my guesstimation back from July 2009 to April 2009! Yes folks, that's 3 whole months!! Could it move further away in the future? It could for sure, but for today...I'm celebrating!!

Please know that I've been 'knocked back' so many times that I tend to calculate based on conservative numbers so my dates may not be the same as yours. That's fine. I'm really hoping that I'm wrong and that my date moves even closer next month. The second month after the Chinese New Year holiday has historically been on the smaller side when it comes to referral numbers so for myself, next month will be a tell-tale month as to which direction things are going to move.

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone but I'm still holding onto the belief that I could have my referral before Christmas of this year and travel to meet my precious baby girl early in 2009! Can you imagine what a Christmas that would be having Hannah's picture in my hands and knowing I was only days away from holding my sweet baby girl in my arms???!!!!!

Yes, the excitement in the China adoption world is almost palpable these days!! We're up! We're excited and we're encouraged beyond explanation!

Welcome 2006! You were a long time getting here but we're sure glad you've made it!!!

Ready to LEAP into a New Year!!! Bring on 2006!!!

This probably seems like a funny title for a February post. It's not our 'normal' New Year. It's not even Chinese New Year. What New Year you may ask am I referring to. I'll tell you....

2006!!!

The next batch of referrals is just around the corner and it looks very, very likely that some January 2006 Log in Dates (LIDs) will be included!!! What more perfect time to Leap into 2006 than on February 29th?

Why is this so exciting you ask? Well...here we go.

The first batch of referrals that were sent out that included January 2005 LID's was in JULY of 2005! It took 2 years and 7 months to get through the files that were logged in 2005! Are you beginning to catch the excitement of seeing referrals for 2006? (Oh, and have I mentioned that my LID ends in 2006?!)

Another way to look at it is that when my file was logged in 23 months ago, LID's dated in May of 2005 were receiving their referrals. In those 23 months that my file has been logged, babies have been placed with 7 months of LID families. I'm sure you're quickly catching on to the '2006' excitement!

I truly believe that CC*AA is doing the very best that they can and are placing children as soon as they're able. It's just taking longer than I (and everyone else too) originally anticipated. I know that God's timing is perfect and it has never changed. My guesstimations were off but that's ok....He understands. He created me to be the person that I am with all my flaws and good points too and everything in between. God created me with a Mother's heart and he knows the desire of my heart is to hold my daughter close. I am just very, very thankful that God knows where Hannah is and that until my arms are able to hold her, He has others doing that job and that He will forever and for always be there for my sweet baby girl.

So, on this day that signifies a Leap Year....let's Whoop it up, pop the sparkling apple cider and

Welcome 2006!!!