Great Poem

Different kinds of Love


There were two special women, they never knew each other.
One you don't remember, the other you call mother.
Two very different lives together make yours one.
The first one like a shooting star, the other like the sun.
One gave to you the gift of life, one showed you how to live it.
The first one gave a need for love, the second was there to give it.
One gave you roots of heritage, the other your good name.
One gave you seeds of talent, the other gave you aim.
One gave to you emotions; the other calmed your fears.
One saw your first endearing smile, the other dried your tears.
The first one had to give you up, it was all that she could do.
The other prayed for her own child and then was led to you.
I hope you see my precious child, that you're the product of,
not just one but two hearts, with different kinds of love.

By - John Trapani

Still Waiting...

Anyone who occasionally checks our blog, you may still notice changes in the name. We are still waiting for our official Log In Date and it is so amazing that after 4 long months of paperchasing, how relaxed we are at this point.

We are in China!

As of last Friday, August 18th all our hard work is now safely in the hands of the people at the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs). We received a confirmation email that our Dossier was hand delivered so you would think we are at ease by now. I am so excited but Drew is still insisting, until we receive the next and final email for a very long time (well over a year), that we wait to "officially" celebrate when we receive our Log In Date.

We attend monthly luncheons here in Tampa at the Hao Wah. These are gatherings for families in Tampa who are waiting or have just adopted little ones from China. There is usually a guest speaker each month and of course lots of beautiful little girls to stare at. The first couple we met when we started going to these just received their referral after 1 year's wait. They will be leaving shortly to travel across the world to bring their beautiful little girl home. I have NO idea how this must feel after such a long wait! Also, a good friend of mine who is also a Media Specialist just joined the group as well. Her and her husband are working their way through their paperwork and they are right behind us! Hooray for Jennifer and Calvin!

Maya's SO excited!!

For most of you who know us well, Maya is our first daughter. Her and her little brother Jackson look forward to the new addition to the family. (Not really, Maya doesn't really like kids) but that will all change real soon!

Can't you just tell I am way overstimulated at our news today???? Drew thinks I'm nuts, but he is very tolerant with the girls in his life because he knows if they are happy, he is happy too.

An Exciting Day!!!

Today is the biggest milestone yet...We are officially DTC which in adoption terms means Dossier sent to China! This means that we have done everything we can do on our side and our adoption agency has translated and sent ALL our "stuff" to the Chinese government. They will now put us in their system, which is called the Log In Date, and from this day forth the wait begins. We are officially in line to wait for our beautiful daughter. We should receive news in 3-5 days that the mail was hand delivered to the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) and we will receive confirmation of our Log In Date within 8 weeks time. Typically this date happens within a couple of weeks, but we may not receive notice of this for up to 2 months.

Her Name???

Drew and I have been doing a lot of thinking lately as we anxiously await an email telling us our "file" is in China. We have been discussing the name of our daughter and originally we thought it might be Lily. As time goes on, we are really not sure. We come across beautiful names every day and we have loads of time to think about giving our daughter the perfect name meant just for her.

Chinese Cousins to be in the Family!!

As of today we are out of critical review and our agency is now translating everything to send to the Chinese government.....Whoo Hoo! We were told we were 3-5 business days until we are mailed out to China. This is the best news yet...Come on August Log In date!

Officially as of today, August 8th, 2006 our daughter will have a Chinese born cousin! Someone she can grow with and have a special bond sharing the same heritage. My dear little Brother, Brian and his wonderful wife Heather have officially announced their plans to adopt a little girl from China using the same agency as us, Chinese Children Adoption International. Most of you know they have adorable twins, James and Isabel who will will be 3 years old in September. We are so thrilled and cannot wait to start our family so we can share the joys of parenthood with our family and friends.

If all goes well, we are only 2-3 business days away for being "DTC" which in the China Adoption world means "Dossier to China" where all our hard work and time spent on paperwork is finally over. We are in "translation" right now so we are praying that we will receive this great news by early next week.

We hope everyone is healthy and well~

Message from DH (in adoption chatrooms this means "Dear Husband")

As of right now we are still waiting on CCAI to tell us that all of our paperwork is in place and it is on its way to the Chinese government. We seem to be more excited about this than anything so far. Everything seems like we are racing to get things done as quickly as possible, but in reality, every day that we are delayed by some unforeseen "red tape" is just another day that is matching us perfectly with our daughter. If we get set back by a few weeks because something wasn't signed or notarized, that is just someone telling us that our daughter wasn't ready for us to come and get her yet. Every day that we wait is just another day of room in our hearts for her to come home.