Current Fundraisers

We were DTC on May 7 (almost 7 years to the day from when we submitted LOI for Reese- May 5, 2006). We're still waiting to get our LID and then starts the countdown to LOA (Letter of Acceptance or Letter Seeking Confirmation- it has a lot of names).

We currently have a couple of fundraisers going. One is through Sevenly, which is a site where you can buy super cute t-shirts with special designs that change every week. $7 of every item's price goes to the weekly charity (Love Without Boundaries this week). In addition, now you can order through this link: http://www.avantlink.com/click.php?tt=cl&mi=11269&pw=137731&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsevenly.org ,  and you can not only help the weekly charity but you can also help our adoption. We get a 12% commission from every purchase made through that link, which will go to help bring Ana-Cherie home.

Also, through May 30, we are having a Thirty-One fundraiser sale. You can access that through this link: https://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/eventhome.aspx?eventId=E3204464&from=MYEVENTS. 
Thirty-One has super cute bags, wallets, lunch totes, and such, some of which can be monogrammed or have your favorite sports team put on them. We get 25% of the sales from this, all of which will go to our adoption fund.

We were also given a grant by Brittany's Hope. It's a matching grant, so we need to raise $1000 first, then Brittany's Hope will grant us another $1000. Proceeds from our Thirty-One fundraiser will be going to this grant, and tax deductible donations can be made through this link: https://www.brittanyshope.org/seedling/davidson/

Please check these fundraisers out. We really appreciate it!

LET THE REAL WAITING BEGIN!

(post from the mom, Cheryl);
I generally leave the posting to Monica (aka Kaijinsbigsis), but there is so much to share...
It's been nine months since we did the paperwork and asked China if they would consider old, falling-apart parents like to us to bring home one more daughter. Much to our surprise they said "yes". Have you seen the movies where the pregnancy test comes back positive and the dad passes out? Not quite that bad, but similar. I am sure we were both shell-shocked. I had tried to be optimistic, but not get my hopes up. James wasn't even worried. He knew they would say "no".

SURPRISE!!!

After the initial shock wore off, we set about in paperchasing mode. That's where we have been. FOR NINE MONTHS.

Today, I can say all of our paperwork is in the hands of our adoption agency. If not on it's way to China tonight, then probably tomorrow. DTC baby!

I haven't allowed myself much time to think about all the things we are missing with our Ana-Cherie. As the paperwork wound down, though, my arms ache for her.

Reese has grown so much. It has been almost six years since I held her in my arms for the first time. I look at the pictures of two year old Reese, and... wow. We finally have the laser treatments down (settings, pain control, even what she wants to eat after). Thank goodness James retired two years ago, because it seems like any week he doesn't have to take her to the eye doctor for a pressure check (glaucoma), is an "off" week. We are still battling high pressures.

Right now we have no idea when we will travel to China. My best guess is that we will leave September 23, with a "gotcha day" of September 30, and return home about October 10. We'll see how close I guess.

Little Rock Feis 2013

Some of you know we do Irish dance around here. Well, Reese has been exposed to the art since she came home and our awesome dance teacher, Mrs Judy, has been working with her since she was 3, before she was able to start proper classes at just short of age 5.

Reese made an excellent showing for the McCafferty School on Saturday at our feis. Reese got 4th in her light jig, 5th in her reel, 2nd in her slip jig, 2nd in her single jig, 1st in her treble jig, and the icing on the cake was the 3rd place she got in her treble reel. That came with a trophy, which she is so proud of.

Congrats, Reese. Hope the medals keep coming.

As for our adoption, we got our I-800 approval on 4/24, paper copy in the mail 4/27. Sent it off to be authenticated on 4/29. Next step, DTC!

Pics from Chinese New Year

 

These are some pics we had made at our local Chinese New Year celebration back in February. I thought I'd share them. I didn't take them, and I can't remember the name of the photographer who did, but know I'm not taking credit for them. And look, Mom and Dad in a picture for once!

Reese is wearing a dress I wore for an awards ceremony in 8th grade. It was a bit big, but not a ton. Mostly she was just a bit short for it (the hips were around mid thigh). Good thing Mom is going back to China, because we need some more (bigger) silks!

We submitted our paperwork to the USCIS, and we're back to waiting. Waiting for our fingerprint appointment.

St. Patrick's Day

Reese dancing at the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday (it won't rotate for some reason)

Reese doing a Jig

Reese, M, and A doing a reel at the show after the parade

Reese, M, and A dancing

Dancing in the parade (sorry it's rotated)

St. Patrick's Day brings a number of performances to our neck of the woods (being Irish dancers and all). On Thursday, Reese performed with Marisa on the noon show of one of our local news stations. You can see the footage here: http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=645542. Marisa and Reese are there with our dance teacher, Mrs. Judy McCafferty.

Saturday brought the 14th annual Rock to North Little Rock St. Patrick's Day Parade. Reese and Joseph marched in the parade, and I rode in the back of the truck, while Dad helped carry the banner and Mom drove the truck. It's a family affair. :) After the parade, Reese and Joseph performed on a stage outside of an Irish pub at the end of the parade route. I posted some pictures of Reese dancing there above. Joseph and I then went back to Little Rock, and Joseph performed with the other senior dancers in front of Dugan's Pub.

You can see a video of Reese and other dancers from our school dancing a circle reel here: http://youtu.be/mjboA67i-5c.  Sorry it starts late.

Today (St. Patrick's Day), Reese performed early this morning at St. Edward's Catholic Church for their annual St. Patrick's Day Mass. Joseph is performing again this afternoon in Dugan's. Like I said, St. Patrick's Day is a busy time of year when you're an Irish dancer.

In adoption news, we finally got our copies of our home study last Wednesday (the 13th), and we sent off our paperwork to the USCIS with a copy of the home study. Now we're in a waiting position again, waiting to get our fingerprint appointments and such. We're hoping to be DTC May 1-ish.

Some Pictures and Video of Ana-Cherie I Found

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5hmPMEUOJjo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That's a video we got with Ana-Cherie's referral from October 2011.

Ana-Cherie in the front row in the red pants and yellow jacket

Ana-Cherie in the pink jacket

In the pink jacket and orange pants

Ana-Cherie with a nanny (?- not sure who it is)

Ana-Cherie in the pink jacket behind the little girl with the light pink jacket and orange pants

Here's a video from Feb 3, 2013, that I found on baidu.com. It's of a local bank giving a donation to the Yinchuan CWI. You can see Ana-Cherie in it.

In other news, our home study has been approved by our agency! There were some hiccups due to various things, but hopefully those are behind us. Next step, sending off stuff to the USCIS so we can start this immigration paperwork. Then once all of that is done, we can get everything certified by the Chinese consulate and we can be DTC. :)

Giveaway! End Feb 2!

So, in order to continue to raise funds for our adoption (planning to be DTC for Ana-Cherie in February!), we are hosting a giveaway!

Enter to win:

An American Girl Bitty Baby doll in your choice of style. Options are: light skin, black hair, and black almond-shaped eyes; light skin, dark brown hair, and blue eyes; light skin, red hair, and blue-gray eyes; dark skin, textured black hair, and brown eyes; light skin, blond hair, and blue eyes; light skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes; or medium skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes.

A copy of The Crockin' Girls Slow Cookin' Companion Cookbook, donated by The Crockin' Girls themselves. The hardcover book has almost 400 pages of delicious, simple recipes and beautiful photographs, featuring dishes that range from tasty appetizers to family-filling main dishes and delightful desserts.

A copy of The Heirloom Life Gardener: The Baker Creek Way of Growing Your Own Food Easily and Naturally, donated by The Baker Creek Farm. The Heirloom Life Gardener is the first comprehensive guide to heirloom gardening—whether you're just starting out in your backyard or have been gardening for years. The Heirloom Life Gardener is not just another boring how-to book based on the latest gardening trends. It is a fun-to-read book that weaves Jere's and Emilee's personal lives and life-long adventures in gardening into a resource of tried and true methods of gardening based on necessity and economy—the way it is done at Baker Creek. Both beginning gardeners and already successful gardeners will benefit from tips to help them avoid many costly mistakes.
And last but not least...

An AUTOGRAPHED copy of Buddy Booby's Birthmark, a personal favorite book. Signed by both Donna and Evan Ducker, and donated by them personally. In a colorful cast of Galapagos Island creatures as they learn some valuable life lessons about tolerance, self-acceptance, sensitivity, and perfection, from a most unlikely character--a red-footed booby bird with a birthmark. When a magical Galapagos sea hawk grants the booby bird a wish, everyone is sure he will want his birthmark removed. But will he? Would YOU? Readers might be surprised! This creative story also teaches readers about the Galapagos Islands and its unique animal inhabitants!

Entries:

$5 gets 1 entry

$10 gets 3 entries

$15 gets 5 entries

You get to pick which item you want to be entered for, put all of your entries in one item or spread them around. Please mention that your donation is for the giveaway and how you would like your entries used. You can use the chipin or the donate button to the right to enter.

The drawing will be held on February 2nd!

We really appreciate your support in this adoption, and in bringing Ana-Cherie HOME! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

For helping us bring this sweet girl home.

Christmas Tree Farm

The tree farm

Reese pretending to be the Statue of Liberty

Reese and a dog that followed us for a while at the farm

Mom and Reese

We went and got our Christmas tree last week. For as long as I can remember, we've gone to the same Christmas tree farm and gotten a live tree. The tradition started long ago after Mom bought a live tree from one of those road side places, and brought it home. And as the tree warmed up, all of the little baby spiders started to come out. Yeah, sounds fun right? Never had that problem here.

Yes, it was warm enough here in Arkansas to wear shorts (if you were warm natured) and short sleeves to the tree farm. I personally am cold natured so I was in jeans and my jacket. It was in the mid-60's that day. A dog owned by the family who owns the farm followed us and played with Joseph and Reese while we wandered about looking for the tree. Soon we found one we could all agree on and brought it home. It's still sitting outside in water since pretty much everyone came down with the plague soon after (okay, not quite that bad- sinus infections, ear infection for Reese, and the sinus infection settling into the lungs, plus fever for Mom and Reese). We're still fighting that off.

And I leave you with some shots of Ana-Cherie....

Ana-Cherie is in the front row, the first one on the left in a red shirt

Ana-Cherie is there on the left, front row, by the stroller.

Update and Oireachtas

Reese and Daddy

Reese with hot chocolate (one of her favorites)

Reese by the Christmas decorations at Chris' wedding

Stretching before Oireachtas

With her participation patch

With her 8-Hand group. They placed 17th!

We've had a lot going on in the last few weeks. Reese's pressure has been consistently staying down since her surgery. She was cleared to go back to dance 2 weeks post-op. We had another meeting with our social worker for the home study. And on November 27, Joseph's brother, Chris, got married. It was a small family affair, just our family and their family (Chris' wife, Daphne, is from France, so none of her family was here.)

On November 30, Reese competed in her first Oireachtas. Her solo competition was on Nov 30 in New Orleans. She didn't recall (get to dance her 3rd round so she could place), but she did well and it was a good learning experience for her. And she looked adorable, as you all can see. On Saturday, she competed in the Team Competitions for Figures in 8-Hand and 4-Hand. Her 8-Hand placed 17th, and we're all very proud of those girls. They worked hard, both for figures and solos. Also, Joseph placed 6th in his competition, which qualifies him to go to Worlds in Boston next year! Very excited for him.

Some items that will be in our silent auction

Eventually, not sure of the dates at the moment, we will be having an online silent auction that I hope all of you will check out. I will, of course, post a link when we get to that point. But I wanted to share some of the items that will be available at that time.

This lovely book was donated by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This books retails for between $20 and $30.

"Tired of genetically modified food every day, Americans are moving more toward eating natural, locally grown food that is free of pesticides and preservatives—and there is no better way to ensure this than to grow it yourself. Anyone can start a garden, whether in a backyard or on a city rooftop; but what they need to truly succeed is The Heirloom Life Gardener, a comprehensive guide to cultivating heirloom vegetables.

In this invaluable resource, Jere and Emilee Gettle, cofounders of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, offer a wealth of knowledge to every kind of gardener—experienced pros and novices alike. In his friendly voice, complemented by gorgeous photographs, Jere gives planting, growing, harvesting, and seed saving tips. In addition, an extensive A to Z Growing Guide includes amazing heirloom varieties that many people have never even seen. From seed collecting to the history of seed varieties and name origins, Jere takes you far beyond the heirloom tomato. This is the first book of its kind that is not only a guide to growing beautiful and delicious vegetables, but also a way to join the movement of people who long for real food and a truer way of living."

We also have a copy of The Crockin' Girls: Slow Cookin' Companion, donated by The Crockin' Girls. It retails for $32.95.
"The hardcover book has almost 400 pages of delicious, simple recipes and beautiful photographs, featuring dishes that range from tasty appetizers to family-filling main dishes and delightful desserts. All the ideas you need to prepare nutritious, time-saving, people-pleasing meals."

I also have 5 (I think it's 5) adorable hairbands from A Beau Ideal. I'll have to figure out the exact retail value of that. But they are so cute.

I also have a copy of A Home for Harley, by myself. It retails for $10.