November's Secret Pal Gift

Well, I just got our Secret Pal gift in the mail today. It is so wonderful. This past month's theme was "Riding in the Car". Now we'll have peace and quiet when I tote her around town...

She has a mattress!

Well, last night I dragged (well, that may be a bit of a stretch) my friend Heather out of the house to have her help me buy a mattress for our daughter's crib. I was feeling shut-in after we got 6.2" of snow on Saturday and just needed to get out. My sister-in-law is bringing over the crib when the family comes in for the weekend. I hope the mattress will fit the crib. If, not, it's off to try again...

Out with the Old and in with the New

Well, it was time to say goodbye to an old friend... my kitchen table that I bought for my loft in Chicago. It had its usefulness, but it just wasn't what I would deem the best choice for a family.


...and time to say hello to our new friend... a lovely oak kitchen table that can actually hold 4 people, plus 2 leaves to fit another 4 more. Yippee! I feel so much better having a sturdier table for when our daughter finally does come home.

Robert's 3rd flying lesson

Yesterday, Robert went on his 3rd flying lesson. Being the brave and supportive wife, I decided to join in on the flight. His flight instructor, Pete, was very kind and didn't have Robert do any major maneuvers so I could also enjoy the ride (which I appreciated). Robert flew the airplane without any assistance and landed the plane twice. He did a great job! Here are a few photos that I took from the back seat. You will notice a few major Madison landmarks, specifically the capital building, lake Mendota and Camp Randall stadium (where the Badgers play football).

While we were away...

Well, while we were enjoying ourselves in Ireland, the adoption world didn't stop. Here is the latest update. Unfortunately, again, they only got through one weeks worth of referrals this past month. We keep waiting not so patiently for a speed-up, but I don't think it's going to happen. We are just in for a really LONG wait. Maybe another 24 to 36 months from now...

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before August 31, 2006. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before December 8, 2005.

Fingerprints redone!

Well, yesterday we spent the morning in lovely Milwaukee to have our fingerprints renewed. Now we just have to wait for our I-171H forms to come in the mail. Hopefully we won't have to go through this again, but I have a feeling 18 months from now, we'll be doing this all over again!

Thanks mom and dad for a lovely lunch! An extra bonus for coming in to Milwaukee!

Date Night

I've been a bit down lately. The wait seems to be excruciatingly long. They are now thinking that it will be closer to 30 or more months to referral. The CCAA just has not been getting through the dossiers like we would like. Looking back, they have only been getting through around 5 days worth of LIDs per month.

So, I needed a bit of a pick-me-up date night with my lovely husband. We went to see Pixar's Ratatouille (very cute movie!) and then went to an Irish Restaurant - to prepare us for our trip to Ireland. It was nice to get out of the house.

Another bad month

Well, the CCAA has had another dismal month of referrals. Only 5 days worth of LID's. But, it is progress, but not as much as we would have hoped for. At this rate it could be another 2 years before we get our daughter, but I surely hope not. They keep saying that things will speed up. Time will tell...

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before August 31, 2006. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 30, 2005.

Adopted with Love

I just received this beautiful die cut from Carly, a fellow adoptive mom in one of my chat groups. She was so sweet to send it to about 20 of us. I just about cried when I opened the envelope. I can't wait to use it in my Lifebook for my daughter.

World's Biggest Klutz

Yes, that's me! As I walked downstairs this morning to make myself a cup of tea, I slid down 3 steps and broke my toe! I just got back from getting it x-rayed and I have (to use a non-medical term) a chip fracture. I did this to my lovely 4th toe - which now has a multi-tonal look to it and is a bit swollen (and quite painful, I might add!). They are expecting it to take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to heal. Bummer! I just hope I'm good enough to walk on it a lot when we take our vacation. I knew I hated our carpeting! Bad, evil carpeting!