Where is she?

The latest e-mail from our Agency stated that they will receive 105 referrals this month.

46 children are waiting for their parents in the Jiangxi Province

16 in the Hunan Province

7 in the Chongqing Province

9 in the Gansu Province

27 in the Guangdong Province

Anybody would like to guess where Annalisa is?

It would be nice if she is from the Guangdong Province, that way we only have to fly from Beijing to Guangdong and back to the US.

Every American adoptive family travels to Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong Province for the last part of their trip. This is where the American Consulate is. If Annalisa is in Guangdong then we can spend our entire trip there while staying at the White Swan Hotel instead of going from Beijing to Annalisa's Province, then to Guangdong.

Plus the weather there is very similar to the weather in Miami. It should be very nice the latter part of October, beginning of November.

Anyhow... I don't care where she's at. We'll shortly be on our way there!

Stork Alert!

A stork has been sighted leaving the skies of China and is predicted to arrive at the offices of Great Walls Of China in Austin, Texas in a few days. Stork Union Regulations forbid them from flying during a holiday weekend so the ETA is for next Tuesday!

My, oh my!

Zippe dee do da, Zippe dee day,
My, oh my, what a wonderful day!

Plenty of sunshine heading my way,
Zippe dee do da, Zippe dee day!

Good news! We just heard that China is about to mail the referrals!

Thank Goodness for Girlfriends with big purses and Sisters that can cook!

It would seem that my girlfriends along with my sister are all trying very hard to keep me distracted and content during these last few days before the referal FINALLY arrives.

Tuesday night my girlfriends took me to the movies to see: "Must Love Dogs". I know they really wanted to see "Wedding Crashers" but let me pick the movie anyway. As an added bonus, they sneaked in a bottle of wine. So we watched a cute chick flick, eating popcorn and sipping wine.

Thank you girls for leaving your husbands and children at home for one evening and go see a movie that you really didn't want to go see in the first place just to keep me company. I love you all!

Last night my sister made homemade Italian meatballs with spaghetti and ragu' sauce. Keep in mind that the poor girl has a 2 1/2 year old daughter to attend to, is expecting her second child and in the middle of "major" house renovations. Her house looks like a tornado has gone through it. They have no carpet on the floors, all their possessions are in the garage or piled in the kitchen...but she still cooked me some comfort food!

I love you sis! You make all the difference in the world!

They keep comparing these last few weeks (until referal) to the last two weeks of their pregnancy. The MAJOR difference between a pregnancy and a paper pregnancy is that...I CAN STILL DRINK!

Any day now... my whole world as I know it will change soon. I can't wait!

Rina

I finally got some Therapy!

Shopping therapy that is!

Could not resist, I got Annalisa some cute stuff on sale last night at Baby Gap.

Annalisa Referral Announcement!

I dedicated this entire weekend catching up with Annalisa's Good Wishes book and getting started on her Referral Announcements.

I got the idea from another adoption blog I follow and I decided to use it as my inspiration piece.

After many trips to the craft store (thank you Pam for letting me use your blades), I finally came up with the right design. I have all the pieces cut and ready to assemble as soon as the referral picture and information comes in.

Here is a sneak preview:

Annalisa's "Good Wishes" Book

The album cover. Thank you "Secret Buddy" Amy for hand making this!












The first Page with Zia Grazia Baby Shower Invitation!













Our Wish page...work in progress!











Zia Grazia, Zio Derek and Isabella's wish page!














My mom and dad; Zio Tommaso; Zio Franco and Zia Cristina wish page!













Close up of Zio Tommaso's drawing!













Auntie Cherrie, Uncle John, Brook and Summer wish page!













Auntie Laura, Uncle Chuck, Amy, Hanna and Matthew's wish page!













Auntie Maria, Uncle Judd and Ashley's wish page!













Auntie Jenny's wish page!













Auntie Sara, Uncle Charles and Zachary's wish page!













Auntie Carey, Uncle Mike and Grace's wish page!













Close up of the Italy wish page title!













Zia Ida, Zio Franco and cousin Anna's wish page!














Cousins Gianfranco and Maria; Zia Clelia and Zio Gianni; Zio Pierino wish page!













Pam, Steve and Delaney's wish page!
Thank you for all your help Pam!













FCC Families!

Where are we going...

This is what we know so far about our trip to China.

We'll travel from Jacksonville to Beijing and spend two or three days there recuperating from the long trip, visiting the Great Wall, Tienamin Square and the Forbidden City.

From there we'll travel to the capital of the province (the equivalent of a state here in the U.S.) where Annalisa's Orphanage is. We'll probably get Annalisa on day three or four of our trip. We'll spend 5 to 7 days there waiting for all the Chinese paperwork to be completed, then travel to Guangzhou where the American Embassy is.

We'll be at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou 5 to 7 days completing the required immigration paperwork to bring Annalisa in the U.S. She'll be an American Citizen as soon as the plane touches American Soil.

Bai Jia Bei Preview!

This past weekend I got started on Annalisa's Bai Jia Bei (100 wishes quilt). So far I just cut the main pieces and started to organize them. I have no idea on how to actually sew them on the blanket yet, maybe I took on too much of a project given the fact that I don't really know how to sew.

Here is a preview:


The main piece in the middle will resemble a Chinese pajama. The four pieces on each corner are all hand embroidered.
The top left and bottom right are from sister Grazia square. They are actually part of a crib sheet that my mom embroidered when we were babies and was passed down to my niece Isabella when she was born.
I embroidered the bottom left piece. The top right was embroidered by my friend Cheri.

Here is a more detailed picture of the main piece. The collar is from Cristina's (my sister in law) wedding dress fabric. The pocket is my mom's square. The heart on the pocket (you can't really tell from this picture) is from my brother Tommaso's square.

The other pieces will be cut into hearts of different shapes and will be scattered around the blanket.

Who said this was going to get easier?

I guess it's always true! Things have to get worse before they get better! Haven't we learned that lesson well!

But at what point you allow yourself to think that you are around the bent and that things are looking up?

We just got an e-mail from our agency which knocked me off my feet for a few minutes:

"As indicated in our Travel Guide, families do not travel to China during the National Holiday: October 1-7 and the Guangzhou Trade Fair: October 15 – October 31. Provincial closures and closures at the CCAA make this a very difficult time for families to travel to China. "

Travel dates are usually 4 to 6 weeks after referral. With a late August referral we expected to travel in the middle of October (coming back just in time for Annalisa's first Halloween).

The above message pretty much said that unless a miracle happens and that the CCAA sends out referrals in the middle of August (Yeah! Right! And cows will start flying soon!) we won't travel until the beginning of November.

I know in my heart that it's only a couple more weeks but ... I am drained and I'm just ready to crawl into bed and sleep for the next couple of months!

Wake me up when is time to get on that plane to China please!

The "Waiting game"...Does it ever end?

How do you keep yourself distracted in the last months of your pregnancy (physical or on paper)?

Any of you women out there have any advice for a "Soon to be mom"?

Please leave me a note (in the comments area below this post) and let me know your favorite activity during the last few months of your pregnancy! I am all out of ideas! Not even shopping is working for me at this point.

People ask me how I am doing and honestly I don't know what to answer. I guess the best way I can put it is...I feel mildly agitated. I am not jumping out of my skin and I am not going insane (yet). I know the referral will definitely come in a few weeks but since we don't know when I am trying to stay calm and go on with my daily life.

We are getting very good at this "I don't know when, we just have to wait and see" game. We have been playing it for years now. That's why it feels like it's all a dream. Very little is concrete at this point. Everything is up to the CCAA. They could send out the referrals as soon as next week or as late as early September. In the last few months they have been sending referrals later and later in the month. For example in March they came in on the 16th; In April on the 18th; In May on the 25th; In June on the 27th; in July on the 29th.

Patience, patience, patience!

We are Nesting!

This weekend we got a new car. The lease of our PT Cruiser ended and we wanted to get something bigger and safer for when we bring Annalisa home (soon we hope).

We opted for a Chrysler Pacifica!

It has a black exterior with light beige leather interior. A third row seating. Lots and lots of safety features for Annalisa and cool features for mom and dad! All we are missing now is Annalisa!

Strange Dreams and Furry Things!

For years I listened to my sister and girlfriends talk about the weird dreams they had while pregnant. We always assumed the reason was the changing hormones in their bodies.

Well, a few days ago I dispelled that myth!

Usually I have some pretty weird dreams (as my husband would tell you) but this one was WEIRD ... Even for me.

My grandmother Rina (I was named after her) came into my dreams. She passed away when I was 14. Our relationship was never good. She had a very hard life and was always in a bad mood (to put it mildly). So having her in my dreams is never a good thing. In the dream her face was very clear and she sounded exactly like her (amazing how much information you keep in your memories). She kept telling me: "Go, Go Now!" over and over again. Her tone was alarmed, urgent. I woke up from the dream thinking that she was trying to warn me about something, but what!

My interpretation was that something was wrong with Annalisa and that I had to get on a plane to go get her. If I only knew where she was (sigh!)

My cats obviously got scared too since I must have been thrashing around the bed and disturbed everyone. They looked at me like: "Chill woman, you are upsetting us!"

So I tried to fall back asleep comforted by the warmth and closeness of my cats. The cats fell back asleep, I lay in bed for hours trying to do the same.

Speaking of furry things it's amazing how much company and comfort your pets can give you. We have four cats, a dog and, since we got rid of the carpet and installed wood flooring, lots and lots of "Fur tumble weeds" rolling around the house.

My oldest cat is George, he'll be 20 years old this November. My youngest is Stella, she is about 1 1/2 years old.

Then, there's Mittens and my White German Shepard Bianca. They both are 5 years old. Mittens is polydactyl (better known as Hemingway's). Lots of extra claws and personality.

Lastly is Cuddles. Her name says it all, she is 4 year old.

It's good to come home after a long day and be greeted with such enthusiasm. I hope Annalisa will love them as much as I do.

Here are more funny pictures of them!

Mittens in her favorite position, on the couch next to dad!

George sun bathing under the lamp!

Cuddles playing peek a boo!

Stella, hiding in a basket!

Bianca playing with a young Stella!

The nursery is ready!

Painting the bed's headboard in the garage!









Painting the walls!











Painted dresser
with new flower knobs!











Closeup of the knobs!










The "Red Lantern" corner
above the twin bed!


















The twin bed...work in progress!
The artwork was provided by my niece Isabella!

















The painted Chair.
We found this chair at a flea market along with the headboard and footboard. My niece Isabella was sitting on it while my sister Grazia and I looked at the headboard and footboard. We turned around and she was sitting on it. We had to buy it!
Many coats of paint later...here it's the final result!

Getting started on the curtains!

My Grandmother's Grazia espresso cups!

Tie Backs Detail!

The Venetian Mirror and the Hat Lamp!

Almost there!

Getting Closer!