WE ARE OUT OF THE REVIEW ROOM!!

This is so exciting. It means that our dossier has been reviewed and accepted by China. This is pretty much the final step before getting our referral. Unfortunately, our referral is many, many moons away. We are hoping to have one in 18 months, but it could be 2 more years of waiting.

An Elephant?

Brynn's new masterpiece! It's an elephant, of course!!

We have a new niece!!

We literally just got the call--Kevin's brother and sister-in-law are in Guatemala adopting their daughter and it is official. Katherine is now a legal member of our crazy family and we couldn't be happier!! Congratulations to Uncle and "V"!

The Sleepover

Kevin promised Brynn a sleepover for just them, but then he went to the ER, so the promised sleepover didn't happen. Brynn was heartbroken. So Kevin and she set one up for Friday night. She was so excited. We grabbed some blankets and sleeping bags and Brynn made the "bed". Brynn is so blessed to have such a great Daddy. (although I don't think another one will be happening for awhile without the air mattress!!)

Great Cartoon

I just love this.

The Diagnosis

Kevin found out from the doctor yesterday that he has arthritis in his neck. My not even 36 years old husband is falling apart! This could be a result of his many years of karate earning his black belt or maybe it's his genetics. I just hope that doesn't progess at all and he just stays healthy

Good news for those of us adopting

This is probably old news for some, but I just read about it today.

From the IRS website...

Adoption Benefits Increased

For 2007, the maximum adoption credit has increased to $11,390. Also, the maximum exclusion from income for benefits under your employer's adoption assistance program has increased to $11,390. These amounts are phased out if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is between $170,820 and $210,820. You cannot claim the credit or exclusion if your MAGI is $210,820 or more.

We only had a credit of a little over $10,000, I think, so this increase is great news to us! Hopefully, the credit amount keeps increasing until we get to China.

Watering Grammy's Flowers

Brynn loves playing in water and she always has to water Grammy's flowers. As you can tell, she is quite the fashionista. She dressed herself. Don't you love her socks and sandals? Or maybe the red string around her waist does it for you? I look at all these other blogs and the kids are always dressed perfectly. What am I doing wrong:-)

Move over KFC. Here comes Hooters!!

China gives us techology. We give them Hooters. Comparable, ha?

Believe me, there is a whole bunch of sarcasm in this post. Hooters has now opened in Beijing. Won't that be wonderful during the Olympics? All the Americans can feel right at home.

Our weekend

We had big plans for this past weekend. Unfortunately, they didn’t happen. Kevin woke up for work on Saturday at 5 am and had a major muscle spasm in his neck. It knocked him to the ground and made him very nauseous and cold. We headed to the ER after dropping Brynn off at my Stepmom’s house. (Boy I hate to wake people up that early!)

We hate our local ER. The hospital itself is wonderful, but the ER department stinks. Kevin was the only patient there—no one else anywhere, just him—and yet he waited an hour and a half to see the doctor. At one point, the nurse came in and was stunned that the doctor hadn’t made his way in to see him. Now, I understand that Kevin wasn’t an emergency, but he was the only patient. We assumed the wait was crazy when the nurse asked if the doctor had been in yet and was surprised when we said no.

Once the doctor decides to mosey in, he says that Kevin has spasms in his neck. And he went to medical school for how long? Yeah, we knew about the spasms. How about some medication? He is prescribed a shot and pain medication and given a neck brace. The brace doesn’t fit. It doesn’t hold his head up. Can’t wait to see the bill for that! The doctor doesn’t care what caused the spasms obviously since he didn’t order any x-rays and he just told us to follow up with our family doctor.

Kevin goes to our wonderful family doctor Monday. Our doctor questions everything that happened in the ER. The brace doesn’t work, the pain medication is too strong (knocks him out cold) and the anti-inflammatory is too weak. And, of course, no x-rays. Ugh, love that hospital.

So, Monday, he got x-rays and hopefully will get the results today. He has slept pretty much continuously since Saturday morning and still can’t turn his neck to the left. So, say a prayer for him. Poor guy.

Our anniversary

Today is our 14th wedding anniversary. We were young and stupid when we got married, yet somehow have remained completely happy. So, happy anniversary to my best friend in the world.

Words that melt a parent's heart

Kevin's parents, Butch and Judy, were at our house last night and as they got ready to leave Brynn says to them "I hope your dreams come true." Ah, makes my heart happy.

Brynn has a pen pal

Brynn has a penpal who is also 3 years old and from China. Her name is Mikaila and she is waiting for her little sister, Annika, just like Brynn. Mikaila sent a package for Brynn and baby sister Delaney--matching hairbows. Aren't they cute? She also got some money for spending money in China. She loves this and talks about Mikaila all the time. Can't you imagine the type of conversation these 2 3 year olds could have?

She also got a CD full of music that we have been dancing and listening to. Brynn is just so much fun right now.

Brynn does Yoga!!

Anyone else notice her clothes are Steelers colors? And she dressed herself! Is Daddy brainwashing her already?

We Are In The Review Room!!!

Yikes. Our dossier is in the review room. This means that China is checking to make sure all of our paperwork is correct. They will also ask us questions through our agency if they have any. This is so awesome. We don't know if our dossier has already been reviewed or is still being reviewed, but it is great to know that we are one step closer to being done. If only it meant referrals were speeding up.

The Demolition Derby

You may be wondering what a demolition derby is, especially if you aren't hicks like we are. This is a competition where people drive old cars into each to see what vehicle is still running in the end. It's bumper cars for big boys. This is what we did last night. We watched the demolition derby at a local fair. Isn't our life exciting?

Brynn and Daddy's bedtime

Brynn and Daddy always have fun at bedtime. This was them last night.

Brynn's First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Brynn's first day of preschool. She was so excited. I drove her to the school and walked her to her the room. I would love to say that she clung to me and told me never to leave, but that didn't happen. She ran immediately to the toys and only waved to me as I was leaving. We actually are so happy that she didn't mind me leaving. To me that shows that she has attached to us and knows that we will always be with her. That is very comforting.

Her First Day of School Picture


Her new backpack and lunchbag. They are lilac and she picked them out because "purple is my favorite color, Mommy".


Kevin picked her up from school and she fell asleep in the truck and slept for 2 hours. School can be exhausting!!

September Referrals

Well, referrals for the month are in. They only went up to people whose dossiers were logged in to November 25, 2005. Again, this means nothing to us other than they are almost through the month of November. This is a post from Rumor Queen and it pretty much states what everyone is thinking.

And now it is September
September 1st, 2007
How did that happen? Last year just crawled by, but this year is flying. I can’t believe it is September and summer will be over soon.

When we hit September 1st last year they had referred through July 22nd. And as of right now they’ve referred through November 21st with us thinking this next batch may go through November 24th. That’s four months in one year. There is no way to put a positive spin on that. Sure, you could say at least they haven’t brought the program to a complete standstill, but that’s about all I can come up with.

We knew October and November were big, and that November was going to be hard to get through. But, this is really hard.

Yes, you read that correctly. CCAA has only gotten through four months of Logged in Dossiers in one year. That is why we can say with the most certainty--we have no idea when we will get our referral. We only hope it speeds up a little so that we aren't paying for college for Brynn and #2s adoption at the same time!

To say that this is hard is an understatement.