Happy New Year!!

This is our year, and it feels so good to say it!! While the year has flown by, it still seemed like another year left in limbo, and now we see the not only the light at the end of the tunnel, we can actually see the end of the tunnel.

So as we ring in 2009 here in Dallas, know I am wishing you and your family, health, happiness, prosperity, and hoping all of your dreams come true. Thank you for your friendship, good wishes and blessings!!

So......out with the old, in with the new!!

Thank you Santa, this is all I wanted!!!

Oh my goodness, all I really wanted was an update on our girl, and I was convinced that was not going to happen until next week. But I came home to the best gift ever.

Look at our girl!!!! I am just head over heels in love with this girl. I think that is a little dimple coming out on one of those cheeks!!! I can't wait to get my hands on her.

Christmas Hearing

Our first hearing is scheduled for Christmas day. So less than a week from now Hayden's birthmother will have to go to court to express her desire for adoption. This is what starts our court process, and then we will hope that we hear nothing. No news is good news under these circumstances. I am sure this will be a very difficult day for her, and I will be hoping that she can find some peace and comfort in her decision. I think she wants a better life for her daughter, and we will do everything to provide that for her. But it will never leave my mind and heart that this women is giving me the most valuable gift ever, and I will never be able to thank her in a way that will suffice, other than to give her baby girl the life that she hopes for her to have.

Santa, all I want for Christmas is..............

Here was Sophie and Finley's visit to Santa yesterday!! I just want you to know the one where Sophie looks like she might be talking to Santa.....She is actually asking Santa to take Finely back to the NorthPole with him!! Finely is trying to convince Santa that she is a very good girl, and that she never ever bugs Sophie!!
Yes, I know I am a freak that I took my cockers to a boutique Childrens Store(that I do all of their embroidery) and paid to have our dogs picture taken with Santa. Can you believe how much he really looks like Santa??? He actually loves our dogs!!!

Happy Birthday Baby

*Yesterday Hayden was 3 months old!!!I am so anxious to see her update, I am certain she will have changed so much. I hope she is smiling now.

* I love etsy Lassiegirl and Pish Posh are two of my favorites. So much to buy, so little money to buy it all.

* I am picking up the dresser I bought for Hayden's room on Wednesday. They painted a very pale pink, and I can't wait to see it in her room. I am almost done with the room, and as soon as it is all complete, I will post some pictures. It has turned out even prettier than I envisioned. My friend came over the other day, and she walked in and said it looked like it was out of a magazine....now that is a compliment in my book!!

* Hayden's care package arrived last week, so I hope her foster family uses some of the items we sent.

* Went to our first Christmas party on Friday, one down and only 2 to go. We limited the number of parties we rsvp'ed to this year. Did I mention that I am sort of over going to Christmas parties.

* D and I went to a Yoga class today, and I know better than to lay by him....he got me laughing, and the teacher came over at the end of the class and said she was worried that I was either laughing or having a seizure....I was trying to keep quiet. No more Yoga for D, at least not with me:)

* We cleaned all of our flower beds out and mulched all the leaves this afternoon. I feel so much better having that accomplished.

* My Christmas cards are almost ready to go out. I think I should be able to put almost all of them in the mail on Tuesday.

* Just bought Photoshop Elements 7, we will see how it goes. Any advice, please feel free to offer it up.

* We have sent the letter to pull our paperwork out of China. It was time to be done with our China agency. Had planned on waiting until we were home, and give us a few months to decide, but it was time, and a little bittersweet, but I am glad to be cutting our ties with our agency. I wish them the best and hope that things get better for them.

*I owe many phone calls and many thank you notes. I am swamped in embroidery right now with the holidays(my busiest season) and I promise they are coming, I am going to work on checking that off my list this week.

*I sell these great address stamps for a great price on my site and if you stop by take a look, and enter the coupon code "holiday" I will give you a 10% discount on your stamp. These make great holiday gifts as everyone can use one, and mine are one of the best deals on the internet. I can get them to you in about 10 days, so if you want them by Christmas you still have time!

Well that is about all I have working right now here in the great state of Texas. Oh, my good friends are in China right now picking up their twin boys(yes, you heard me right, twin boys)

I am outta here for a bit, I will see you around the neighborhood:)

So now what?

Mostly we just wait now. We are hoping that we will get an update with pics, video and milestones, but we may not until next month. Our paperwork is there, and now we just wait to hear for our first hearing. But here is a step by step list of whats to come in the next few months. I did steal this from Lisa, and Heather....Thanks

HEARING: 1-3 MONTHS AFTER OUR PAPERWORKD GETS FILED IN TAIWANa) The family court office in the county where the child was born reviews the case/petition and a Judge is assigned to the case.b) The judge reviews and considers the case and schedules a "hearing". Hearings are handled differently depending on the circumstances of the birth family, the judge's schedule, persons representing the birth family and those representing the adoptive family. The time involved in getting a hearing scheduled depends on the judge's schedule (docket) and that of everyone else required to attend.Hearings can result in: The immediate decision to finalize the adoption (though this is rarely the case) or the judge may request more information (again, this is rare). Usually, the hearing simply provides the judge with more information about the case and allows him/her to rule on the adoption with confidence. Most often, the judge's decision (final ruling) happens weeks or even as long as months after the hearing.

Time line for 1st ruling - 1 to 3 months after hearing.2. Part I of Final Decree(First Ruling). Once the hearing has been completed and the judge has had time to review all the information, he/she issues the first part of the Final Decree. This is a short statement signed by the judge that is forwarded to all parties involved (social services organization on behalf of the adoptive family and the birth family) notifying everyone of his/her decision to finalize the adoption. This first part of the Final Decree must go to each party and there is a waiting period of 10 days before any further court action can occur. The birth family has until the end of this 10 day period to change their mind regarding the adoption. Once the 10 day period is passed however, the judge can make the final decree.Time line for 2nd Ruling - 2-6 weeks after the 1st ruling3. Part II of Final Decree (Second Ruling). Once the 10 day waiting period is over (and the court staff finds time!), the second part of the Final Decree is forwarded to all parties. When the second part of the decree is received by your child's social service organization, the court process is DONE!


Time line for official paperwork 2-4 weeks4. Household registration change and immigration requirements. Before the adoptive family travels, a lot must be accomplished by the child's social service organization. All court documents and background info on the child must be officially translated to English and submitted with certain paperwork to AIT. Also, the child must have his/her Visa medical exam which is forwarded directly (unopened) to AIT's immigrant visa office. At some point the child's guardian must file for a household registration change. The household registration is a file located at local government offices in Taiwan that contains certificates and information about each person in Taiwan. Your child's household registration is attached to his/her guardian's file until the adoption has been finalized by the Taiwan courts.

Once the child has been legally adopted in Taiwan, the guardian files with the government office to remove the file from theirs and create a new file showing that the adoptive parent(s) are the new legal guardians.The household registration change takes a day or two or a week depending on the placing organization and the local government office.JOH families are typically given 1 to 3 weeks notice to travel. Adoptive Family receives travel date. Each organization in Taiwan is different in when and how they schedule a travel date. Some wait until all of the above paperwork is filed and then give the family notice to travel quickly. Some schedule the travel in advance, while they work at preparing the above documents.So.. that means that within 4-6 months we can travel to Taiwan to pick our girl up.

Trip to TECO

Okay so this is TECO in Houston(well the 20th floor) Greenway Plaza. You can see there are still some windows out from Hurricane IKE, but it was easy to get there and in and out quickly.....and they were really nice, very unlike my trip to the Chinese Consulate so long ago.
Here is the actual office, and I was one of 3 people in there, walked in handed her my papers, she doublechecked them, wrote my receipt, collected the money, and said to come back in 2 hours. She then asked how old my baby was, and how I was matched with her. I then of course had to show her a picture. She was so sweet about Hayden, and then proceeded to show the other ladies in the office the picture. They were all just telling me what a beautiful girl I had, and what beautiful eyes she had. It was very sweet. When I came back to get the paperwork, they had it ready for me, and as I left they said I would have to stop back by when I got her home so that they could meet her:) Yeah that didn't happen at the Chinese Consulate.

Here is the TECO stamp that you need for your paperwork. I was expecting a sheet on the front, but all of the documents had this stamp for the authentication. The paperwork for this adoption has been so much easier than our paperwork was with China. It is to the point, and clear cut on who needs to do what, and not a lot of duplication.

Our paperwork left for the agency last night with Fed Ex, and should be leaving for Taiwan today!!! So things are going well, and smooth at this point, and we are now looking forward to our first update.

High Ho, High Ho it's off to TECO I go

Well one last step in the process to get us started in our court process, and that includes a trip to Houston to TECO(Taiwan's version of a consulate) I have to get our paperwork authenticated, so I am headed this afternoon to Houston to spend the night with my sweet MIL, and will be at TECO when they open in the morning to drop off the paperwork and go back to pick it up a few hours later I hope, and then into the FedEx envelope it will go. After a stop at our agency, it should be in Taiwan on Thursday.

I will post the process that we will go through once I am back home. But I don't expect to be hearing much for at least 6 weeks or so. I do think we will be getting an update right before Thanksgiving, so we will get to see how much our girl has grown, and how much she has changed. So we will be looking forward to that update.

So that is all that is going on right now except for the fact that I have started to get really busy with Holiday stuff with my business. I am knee deep in things that need to be embroidered. So I have plenty to keep me busy for the next 6 weeks. We are boxing up our care package, and I will mail it in the next week or so. We think Hayden is probably about 2-3 weeks from being moved to her foster home. So I want to send it, so that it arrives shortly after she moves.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend, and the upcoming week looks good!!

Thank You

I will never be able to email or write thank yous or call everyone that has been in touch with me the last week. We received so many nice wishes, and congratulations, flowers, gifts.....it was all so overwhelming. You forget how many people care about you.

I truly want to say thank you to each and everyone of you that has been a part of this journey with us. I do not know how I would have ever made it without my friends, the friends that I made, the stories, the blogs, the good and the bad and the ugly. This is really a journey no one understands unless they witness it themselves.

So from the bottom of our hearts please know how important each and everyone of you are, and know how thankful we are to have you in our lives and along for this journey.

We are still just flying high, and looking forward to finishing up our paperwork and getting this court process started.

You can go to You Tube and search Hayden referral and see the video I have of our little Missy.
I think she is already a little dramatic just like her mama!!

Our turn has finally come!!

For reasons I will not share, I have had to remove our good news. Thank you to all that have sent such lovely messages to us....they have meant so much. I especially would like to thank everyone for their friendship over the last 30 or so months, could not have made it without you. You have helped make this one of the most amazing weeks of my life.............I am a MOMMY!!


I will be going password protected, so make sure to those who know me, and I have communicated with to send me your email so I make sure you can continue along with our journey.....it is just starting to get to the good stuff!!! I will send you an email letting you know the new address as soon as I get it ready, trying to do it myself, and redecorating my house~piece of cake, new blog~not so much:)

"i" love you

Look at my newest toy!!! I am in love:) My very sweet husband was feeling bad for me(those who know me, know why) and he came home on Thursday night and surprised me with this little gadget that I didn't even know that I wanted, needed, or couldn't live my life without. Now I understand why everyone that has one says it is amazing, and you can never go back to a regular phone. I am pretty sure this phone would clean my house and do a few loads of laundry if I asked....it is that amazing. So thank you to the sweet man I married, it did make me feel better, and now I also have a really cool phone too.

Project Dogway

I bought the dogs pink coats....no, not for winter, no, not to keep them warm and dry, mostly because I thought it would be funny.....it was and it is, not so much to them:)

If only I lived in PA.

If I lived in PA or NJ or even NY, I would be driving to the Lilly warehouse sale. Someday, I will actually make it to this preppy crazed shopping experience. I will be in heaven, and I will buy to my preppy hearts content. If you live in the area I highly suggest you high tail it over there and check it out.....I have heard it is amazing. Oh how I love pink and green and boy do I love LP, hail to the Lilly!! They will have really cute little girl clothing as well.

Look what the postman delivered!!

I have been patiently waiting for this pinnie to arrive, and it did today. It far exceeded my expectations. How cute is this pinafore? It is reversible, and I can just see it with jeans, leggings, a long sleeve t-shirt under it, maybe some cute bloomies. I am just in love. It could have only been made better had I been able to monogram it. I bought it here
Ashley's things are really well made, and the fabric is great quality. Trust me when I say that I will be frequenting Lassie girl's shop a lot. I covet many of the things she has on there. Go visit her and let her know I sent you:)

Can't wait to see my sweet girl in this darling dress. It is my favorite thing in her closet right now.

Look what I made.

I have no idea if I will need this or not, but I have always wanted a boppy, and now I have a boppy. You can buy a boppy insert at Jo-Ann's using your 40% coupon, and I have had this old chenille bedspread for about 3 years now waiting to do something with it. Well now I have done something with it. How cute is this cover?? I tell you I don't care if we ever use it, it looks really cute, and right now that is what I care about:) It can just look nice in the nursery.

Is there a twelve step program for this??

I don't think the numbers are that bad if you are already home with your baby, in fact I think you could use a bit more in the way of choices if you are already home. But considering we have no idea when we will be home with a baby this seems a little obsessive. I know you all can make me feel better with some good justifying reasons for having this many accessories when it is all still pretend. That is 19 pairs of shoes and 51 hairbows. I have actually added to those bows since this picture was taken, I now have no room left on the hanger and will need to take off the ones that will be too big for her to wear for a bit so that I have room to add.

$o You Think You Can Dance???

Yup, I love this show!!
Yup, I love Twitch!!
Yup, I was there Friday night, and I will load some pictures tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. It was awesome, it was better than the show, and they did all the dances I loved on the show.
Yup, it was great!!
Yup, there were a lot of teenage girls there!!
Yup, didn't care, we still had a ton of fun.
Yup, if it comes to your town it is worth the price of the ticket!!

For the love of Monograms

I am absolutely giddy with how the baby's monogram turned out. It is in chocolate brown, and I think it looks amazing. I ordered it from here This is above the daybed I have in her room, and I think it has added a nice little touch to the wall.

What I love about fall

I love how my entry way looks in the fall.....how cute is that wreath holder....zoom in so you can see what it says.

Look at that little pumpkin

Sorry, but just had to post this picture. Look at my little girl!!! Is she so cute or what??

Wishing everyone a great weekend!!