Ashlyn & Earrings

After almost a year of wanting to get her ears pierced, Ashlyn gets her ears pierced! Ashlyn told me this morning that she wanted to get her ears pierced today. We have heard this SEVERAL times before with nothing happening. But she was determined to get them pierced today. And guess what? She did it! We are all so proud of her! She is very afraid of needles so this was a big deal for her. You can't really tell in the pictures but her earrings are pink flowers. They are really "fashionable" (that was her word!).

What the Kids Have Been Doing!

The kids started martial arts 2 weeks ago. And they LOVE it! They want to go every night during the week. They even went on Saturday morning last week. One thing really nice for PJ & I is that both of them can attend the same class.
We are enjoying the summer. The girls (my Mom, Aunt, GG, Ash & myself) started on changing Ashlyn's room to Ashlyn & Sydney's room. The bedroom is the old master from the original house. It is a BIG room with two walk-in closets. We are still waiting on our RA. The 100 day mark will come next weekend. Hoping the RA comes soon! I'm trying to remain somewhat positive during this wait and not enter my pity party again.

***not sure why Ashlyn's head is cut-off in the pictures. Sorry!

All About Sydney Hope

We received our Sydney update early this morning. All four of us just stared at the pictures. She has grown so much since the last March pictures (yes as in 3 months ago!). Sydney is just so cute! Super chubby cheeks. The update included the answers to almost all of our 10 questions, new measurements & 4 photos. I'm sure this sounds bad--but I really wanted the new pictures. Sydney is still sporting the orphanage haircut but she is rockin' it. Her face is just so cute!
One of Sydney's favorite activities is going out to morning tea. In Guangzhou, people enjoy morning tea. They also have some congee and dim sum. And then she also enjoys going to the park in the afternoon. There is a sad answer to our question of how she soothes herself. She will calm down after crying for a little while. I was expecting them to say she sucked on her fingers or had a special something for some reason. Breaks my heart to think about her crying for any length of time.
Sydney's personality is self-willed & obstinate sometimes. She is fairly active, pungent & extroverted. What does pungent mean? I wondered if this was a translation thing. But it was kinda funny reading that word next to fairly active! The orphanage calls our little Sydney--Bao Bao Lian. KM's mom said Bao Bao means "Hold Me". Philip & Ashlyn used to say this all the time to me. OK--how did Bao Bao Lian come from Li Si Xin? I would love your comments about this.
Sydney's favorite food is fried tomatoes with eggs and Chang Fen. I'm going to need to learn how to make a few things other than Tex-Mex, pasta & scrambled eggs! She has grown a little. And her arms are really chubby. I love that!
We are wanting to hold Bao Bao Lian. Can't wait for Gothca Day and to be able to post her pictures! Come on RA (referral approval)!

Summer is Here!

OK-so obviously I have not posted in a long time. Sorry for the 3 people that follow me on a regular basis (just kidding)!! The kids had so much "stuff" going on school--it was crazy! And then Memorial weekend & my grandparents came for a visit. We went to my parents house in Clarendon over the holiday weekend. I apologize in advance--the pictures are not in correct order but blogger was not cooperating tonight.

Ashlyn taking a rest from ladder ball at the ranch.
Philip getting the potato launcher ready to shoot. (The gun in the background is not real.)

Philip & Ashlyn on the last day of school. Kinda a sad day for me.

Ashlyn at her Author's Tea Party. I thought she had the best book.

Philip at his track meet at school.

We placed the order for an orphanage call for Sydney earlier this week. With this call, we can ask 10 questions and hopefully pictures and updated measurements. We are praying that her orphanage answers the questions & sends pictures. The last 3 months have been long. We are on day 82ish waiting for our RA (referral approval). With the kids being so busy, the days have flown by! Other than the call, we have no "new" adoption news.

Please check out our friends Dave & Sheri for really great news! We hope that everyone has an awesome summer!

Pity Party is Over!

Pity Party is over! I actually felt better after writing the last post. Writing down all of "that"--released emotions (I guess)! I also met the girls for our monthly Birthday Club. I look forward to this every month. But honestly, the comments from the last posting were AWESOME! I printed them out & have been reading them several times daily. You girls gave wonderful advice and you were all right. Thank you! Thank you! I love the AWAA moms. They are so supportive and I love that. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend and week! Summer is coming.

Waiting

This waiting is HARD! I've kinda been in a funk since before the weekend. Waiting on this RA (referral acceptance) has been difficult. In the beginning, I felt such a peace about the whole process. "We are just waiting on our RA!". My mood is not so chipper anymore.
I wake up in the morning--think about what Sydney is doing (but she does not know her name is Sydney yet!). She is probably getting ready for bed. Think about her when I pack the kids lunches (her pictures are staring at us on the frig). PJ & I have actually had "conversations" with her pictures. Yes--we are crazy! I think about her when I go to bed--this is the hardest part. Sydney is just getting up for her day--what is she doing, eating, are they taking good care of her, is she hungry--the list goes on & on. The kids & I are always talking about her.
I think we are on day 54 of waiting for our RA. My guess is we will not receive our RA til we reach around 100. I need to change my mood NOW! If anyone has any ideas (other than praying bc/I have been doing that), please send them to me!
I do feel guilty for this funk or "pity party" as PJ calls it. I realize that so many families are still waiting to see their precious child's face or waiting on their homestudy to be finished or waiting on USCIS approval etc! But I'm still ugh about the waiting. Thanks for letting me vent!

Good Stories:
My kids are wonderful! PJ overheard Philip talking about his "baby sister" tonight at his soccer game. Not sure how adoption came up, but Philip was telling his buddies that his sister was coming from China. 4th grade boys DO NOT like talking about sisters in general. Since I shared one about Philip, I need to share one about Ashlyn. We took the kids to stay the night at a hotel last weekend. Ashlyn & I were flipping thru channels trying to find something "kid friendly". I came across CNN (obviously not kid friendly) & they had a picture of President Obama & Hillary Clinton & some other cabinet member (male). Ashlyn said to me "that is President Obama & his parents". I love the fact that she does not think about the skin color of people. My family is truly blessed!

Ashlyn's Picture from Church

Ashlyn made this picture at church last Sunday. Ashlyn is posting the rest-It is of Jesus and me. The picture has flowers, sun & a sky. I love Jesus very much!

Adoption Questions or Comments

After PJ & I tell people that we received our referral for our beautiful little girl, so many people say "you guys have waited so long" or "are you glad it is almost finally over" or some variety of those. But in adoption reality (China), we did not even wait one day. Your "waiting period" in China does not actually start til your dossier goes to China. Our referral came in hours before our dossier went to China. PJ & I feel blessed beyond words that we were matched with no waiting period. And honestly--sometimes we feel guilty. But then we remember that this is totally a God thing. If you are waiting to be matched with your little one, remember that God already knows who they are.

Sydney will have the last name Vinyard. Not sure what her exact name will be but right now we are thinking it will be Sydney Hope Li Vinyard. But that could change tomorrow! But her last name will be Vinyard!

Even though we know Sydney is our daughter, we just can't book tickets to China & go pick her up. China has a lot of rules/regulations/stuff we have to do in order to adopt. Once you decide to adopt from China, you just accept those rules & try to finish them as quickly as possible!! We are awaiting on our RA (referral acceptance) now.

Why China? PJ & I researched several countries (including the United States) in the very beginning of our process (Feb '08). But we felt like China just fit our family--stable program, cost, we saw the greatest need in China. It was not the whole "girl thing". PJ & I did not even know if we wanted to adopt a boy or a girl. By the way, China does have A LOT of boys that need to be adopted.

Will Sydney speak English? No she will not. This is a question we hear a lot! And then people ask what will we do to communicate? I really don't know! But for some reason, I'm not stressing or worrying about it. (I know several of you are SHOCKED!) I think having two older children in the house will be a great help to Sydney.

My least favorite question--how much does "Sydney" cost? Ugh. I'll just leave my comment to Ugh. Our agency stated at the beginning of our process that the total process would be $20-$22K.

Will we meet Sydney's birth parents? No we will not. We have Sydney's finding ad & know that her mother kept her from Oct 22 to Oct 25. She then dropped her off at the Children's Hospital. Sydney's birth mom made the ultimate selfless act. She put Sydney's needs first. Sydney was born very premature & only weighing 4 pounds at birth. I'm assuming this is all we will ever know. But THANK YOU to Li Sixin's birth mom.

Are we finally "done"? Honestly, we can't answer that. We said "yes" after we had Philip. We said "yes" after we had Ashlyn. And then God placed adoption on our hearts. This journey to Sydney has been AWESOME. It has brought our family closer to each other & God. I'm not sure how it will work with 3 kids. But I know that we will figure it out! I'm sure I will need a lot of advice from the BTDT crowd.

Please comment directly on the blog! Just click on the "notes from a friend" to leave a comment. I'm going to burn the blog (not sure how?) for the kids after we get back from China & then yearly after that. Kinda like a baby or memory book for Sydney.

Spring Carnival

We attended the Spring Carnival at our church on Saturday (yes I'm a little behind on posting--sorry!). It was a blast! Everyone had a great time. Can't wait for next year.

Someday

I found the following poem in Philip's (our 9 year old) folder today. PJ & I both teared up when we read it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Someday

Someday I will hear my neighbor's old voice again.

Someday I will be a Marine in combat.

Someday I will feel my great-grandpa's hand.

Someday I will hear the Harley's motor again.

Someday I will be a man.

Someday I will have a sister from China.

Someday I will have a perfect life.

Someday I will die.

Someday I will go to Heaven.

Someday I will see God.