Introducing Marisa!

Our sweet daughter!  We love her already!!

China Referral!!!

I will always remember today as a miracle day because today we found out that we have a daughter!  She was born Feb. 4, 2010, so she's almost eight months old.  (We are absolutely delighted!)  At the end of July she weighed 13.2 lbs. and measured 23. 8 inches long.  Our daughter is in the Jiangxi province.  We do not have a picture yet...waiting till tomorrow. But we hear she has a lot of hair.  It doesn't matter what they would have said about her, I'd be thrilled.  No matter what she looks like, she is already beautiful to us.  We haven't decided on her middle name yet.  Her first name will be Marisa, with one "s".  We hope to travel in December to go get her.  Just depends on how soon we get all the necessary approvals from government offices.  Please pray!

Our apologies that so many family members will be finding out this information via our blog rather than a personal call.  We got the referral call this afternoon right before Mike had to leave for work.  I need to get off the phone and computer and spend some time with Kieran.  I asked him how he feels about having a baby sister, he enthusiastically said: "Grrrrreat!"

To all our family and friends, we love you!  Thank you for your support and prayers for Marisa.

A proud daddy and a happy big brother snuggling before daddy leaves for work

While we wait...

A perfect day for blowing bubbles.

No news from China.  We're doing our best to keep busy while we wait for our referral call.  Mike went camping with his brothers.  My mom & sister came to visit us while the guys were camping.  It's been a fun and eventful couple of weeks since my last blog entry.  We've been to the zoo, went shopping, went to the park and the library, and taken walks when the weather was nice.  Meanwhile, we continue to pray for our daughter and trust God with her care.  

  

No news

Nada.  Nothing from China this week.  We'll see what next week brings, but we're also preparing our minds for the possibility of no referral until October.  The good news is, we're going to get a referral soon... just not sure when.

While we wait

Nothing new to report about our China adoption.  Hopefully next week we'll begin to hear some news about when referrals are due to arrive.

Meanwhile, we are doing our best to keep busy.  I've climbed out of my funk, thankfully!  I'm sure prayers of friends and family have helped me immensely.   I'm doing a lot of mental processing right now, trying to wrap my brain around the concept of a daughter about to be added to our family.  Soon, we're going to have two children.  Wow! The days I have with just Kieran are getting fewer.  I'm treasuring the time and being able to give him my full attention.  I'm also realizing that life is easy right now with just one kid, and I'm grateful for this season of simplicity.  Funny, a month ago I didn't think having one child was easy.  Perspective changes things!  I'm also so excited to find out about our daughter.  We are imagining our daily routine with her in it.  It's bittersweet as I also realize that she's waiting for us, and needing the love that only a family can give her.  Memories of our trip to get Kieran are also rushing to the forefront of my mind.  In a few months, we are going to pack our bags and head out on a new journey to bring home our second child.  There's a lot to think about, and pray about.  I am very grateful to have God to lean on right now!

Enough with the deep thoughts, here's something fun.  Today Kieran and I made Kool-Aid playdough.  If you'd like the recipe, hop on over to my Mom Thoughts blog for all the details, and more cute pics of Kieran.

Kieran & Mommy having fun with the Kool-Aid playdough we made.

Just fiddlin' around

Kieran pretending to play the violin.  

I don't know where his idea originated, but Kieran wants to learn how to play the violin!  So, I got out his plastic guitar and the drum stick from his Bee-Bop Band to create a "violin".  We are seriously talking about lessons when he's older.  Maybe violin, maybe some other instrument.  Kieran likes to dance up and down the hall while he fiddles.  It's both hilarious and amazing.  This little person is going to grow up and do great things!

Waiting for news

It's September.  My brain is mush most days.  I should be getting the house cleaned, a meal made, laundry folded.  But instead, I'm at the computer looking for news about China.  I know there won't be any news yet, it's too early in the month for that.  September 17th is the most likely time we'll hear about a referral.  I need to seriously stay away from the computer tomorrow and get something done!

I don't understand this phenomenon that renders me useless.  It happened before we traveled to Rwanda to adopt Kieran.  I was supposed to be packing, but I just sat and stared- totally overwhelmed.  Thank goodness my sister Katie was here to help me pack.  I'm planning to pack for our trip to China well in advance of actually going so that doesn't happen again.   I'm hoping that once we know the details about our daughter, I can get out of this funk and get things done.  There's definitely going to be some shopping going on the near future!

Today I took Kieran shopping, we were in need of diapers.  Yes, potty training is on hold until he's ready.  Sigh.  When we got to the store, I made a beeline for the baby clothes.  There are so many cute clothes out there for girls.  I don't know Marisa's size yet, so I didn't buy her anything.  I can wait another two weeks, right?  We also looked at winter coats, and found a nice green one for Kieran.  (It was too hot to think about winter today, but who can pass up $19.99 for a brand new winter jacket?)  They had adorable pink ones for girls with a heart buckle across the middle.  There was a soft pink and a purplish pink.  I held them up for Kieran to help me chose one.  He looked perplexed,  something like, "Is this for me mom??  I don't wear pink, and especially not with a heart in the middle!"  After I explained that this coat was for Marisa, we decided on the darker pink coat.  It stayed at the store, but I so wanted to get it!

Enough rambling for now.  I'll leave you with a little project I made for a friend that had a baby girl this summer.  I have pink on the brain right now, can you tell?

A baby card I made this past spring.  All supplies from Stampin Up!.