Good Weather, Good Times: My Nephew Cole

My sister, Amy, e-mailed me these pictures. Her family spent the afternoon outside enjoying a beautiful Prince Edward Island spring day. Cole, my nephew, found a ladybug and played with him for awhile, but then decided it was time to let him go. Later, he went looking for him again and found him again! Amy told Cole she wanted a picture to send to me because it would make me happy. She also told him that ladybugs make us think of baby Kennedy. Cole will be three in May, so he's processing this all very well for a three year old. I know he's anxious to meet Kennedy. When he watches his "Baby Einstein" video, it shows baby, after baby, after baby. When it gets to the Chinese baby, he says "Ah, that's baby Kennedy"! Too cute. I can't wait for Kennedy to meet her cousin Cole. We love you Cole!
P.S. The bottom picture is Cole with his daddy, Trent, going for a bike ride.

This is MY quilt!

Yaz has claimed Kennedy's quilt as his own. I think he's starting to figure out that he's going to have to share the attention around here pretty soon. I know you all are getting tired of seeing pictures of my dog, but Marvin will not pose for the camera! By the way, we started the actual "quilting" this past Monday. It's going to be lots of work, but hey, we've got a little time on our hands.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best Mom in the world. I hope you had a wonderful day.
Thanks for coming to help with the quilt. Sorry for yelling at you about your sewing. I didn't realize how hard it was until I tried it myself! Hee-Hee! Most of all thanks for all your support. Love you!

The wait...wait...wait

Hi everyone. Well, the wait continues...and it's not getting any shorter. Actually, it's getting longer. I cannot tell you when we will go to get Kennedy. I pray it will be before Christmas. I do not want to have Christmas without her. Everyone wants to know "why". Why is the wait increasing? It's difficult to explain, mainly because there is no exact answer. The CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) works at their own speed. They are not required to report to us on why things speed up or slow down. There are many people who speculate as to why this happens, but we don't know the answers for certain. What I do know is it has been like this before, speeding up and then slowing down. It's no one's fault, it's just the way it is. Those of us adopting are following the CCAA and the rate that they are presently sending out referrals. It's still impossible to predict because of the simple fact that it may speed up as quickly as it slowed down. BUT, if things stay at this speed, I would venture a guess that we may not get to China until 2007. Trust me, I don't even want to go there, but I'm "gold" and I need to always remain realistic. I'm a planner, which is a terrible way to be for this process, so I need to make plans in my head, even if those plans get changed several times.
So, there it is. Simple as that. Only it's not simple as that in my heart. It's weighing heavy on both Marvin and I. We're starting to see all the holidays go by one more time when we thought Kennedy would be here with us. Ho-hum.
Chin up. Carry on. Can't wait for summer vacation.

Introducing Darcie!

This is Darcie! Isn't she sweet? Her mom and dad are Sue and Marty. Sue and I lived together for 9 years in Charlottetown. We have been there and done it all together and had lots of fun doing it. Anyhow, that's a post for another time. Darcie was in her Aunt Krista's wedding this past weekend so Sue sent me this picture. Cute as a button I'd say!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I'm so looking forward to this long weekend. No big plans really. Lots of little things to do around the house and ofcourse vists with family. I'm thinking about next year at this time and how nice it will be to have Kennedy here with us. Every occassion that passes by without her makes me think about what it will be like to have her here. Mother's Day is just around the corner. The hardest day of the year for me for quite a few years(harder than Christmas, birthdays, etc). Last year was much, much easier because we had started our adoption process and this year it's all good because I feel like a mom in my heart. Hopefully Kennedy is home and in our arms long before next Easter. It's just so uncertain right now. I just remind myself about how long and uncertain the domestic adoption process is...possibly 7-8 years for those waiting for a baby. Now that is a long wait. We can hold on a few more months. Plus, Marvin still has some renovations to do!! We're in constant renovation mode, I swear!
Happy long weekend everyone. Enjoy your time with friends and family!

This is not my quilt but...

I found this quilt on the internet and we used it as a model for our quilt. I debated about using black to surround each square but I'm so glad we used it now. It just sets each square apart from the other. I wanted each square to have it's own space set apart from all the others. The only difference with our quilt is that we will just have black around the edges (they have a patterned material, as you can see at the bottom of the picture). The back will be red. I can't wait to get it finished and show it to everyone!

Quilt Progress!

As requested, here is a picture of the quilt squares sewn together. Can you believe I actually gathered 100 squares? After all, it is a 100 wishes quilt, but I never thought I would get to 100. I'm so impressed with how it's come along. Leah has been here faithfully for 5 consecutive weeks. I serve the pepsi and chips and she works away. I try to help out where I can and I must say, I know much more about making a quilt now (but still couldn't make one on my own :) Next quilt get together...Monday, April 17. I'll report back then!

Someone is missing...

This is my family. From left to right, Me, Amy, my dad (Eugene), my mom (Aldona)and Kim. But there is someone missing...my little brother Doug. He's not all that little anymore. He's 25 actually, but he'll always be my little brother. He left in January to go to work in Alberta (he's an electrician). I made him promise he'd come back, but I don't think it's going to happen. He's young and single and he likes it out there. I even gave him one of our suitcases to use thinking he'd have to come back because I need my suitcase to go to China! I think I'm going to have to buy a new suitcase. As long as he's happy, I'm happy, but I do miss him. Hopefully he will be home to visit this summer. I'll see if I can find a picture to post.

Your cousins are waiting for you!

Yes, dear Kennedy, your cousins are waiting for you! These are just some of the cousins that are awaiting Kennedy's arrival. In the top photo are Cody, Paige, Brett and Cole. In the bottom photo are Chloe, Breanna and Landon. Also waiting for Kennedy are her cousins: Melanie, C.J, Lori, Matthew, Taylor, Aaron, Adam, Asia, Chip, Daniel, Chelsea, Anthony and Kiana. Ofcourse she also has many aunts and uncles waiting also. Marvin has 8 sisters and 3 brothers and I have 2 sisters and 1 brother. Also, Great Grammie Milligan is anxiously awaiting the arrival of another great-granddaughter. Soon, soon she will finally be here!

Ladybug baby by Anne Geddes

Today, my mom and my two sisters, Kim and Amy, gave me this cute little ladybug doll. It's so nice when people just surprise us with things out of the blue. It just gives that little extra encouragement to hang in there when the wait is getting longer. Thanks so much you guys! You ARE the BEST, you know that, right? xoxox