The Path...

I know that posts have been very far and few inbetween lately. There is a method to my madness and at times I do believe I am going mad.
When we first started this adoption, we were sooo excited. We told everyone we came in contact with but the biggest mistake was telling our son. Elias had been such a trooper though all of this and everything that he sees that is Chinese, looks chinese or could be chinese, he points it out and is so happy because that is where his baby sister is coming from. I know that all of this is taking forever for him, and I feel that it is taking forever too. When we first started this process, the wait was 12-14 months from the time our dossier was in China until we got our referral. Now the wait is up to almost 2 1/2 years and growing. Two and a half years. Wow. Try wrapping your mind around that for a minute. Elias will be almost 8, Shannon will be 39 and well, I will still be 19 of course. :) We STILL have not gotten our dossier out. Seems that everytime we try we hit a roadblock and something doesnt go right. Is someone trying to tell us something? Am I being selfish because I dont want to wait 3 years? I am just so torn right now. Sure there are other countries, and if we had maybe 20 grand more that may be an option. But it isnt. I am just really blah about the whole thing right now and pretty disenchanted about the adoption process in general. There are tons of babies that do not have moms and dads and brothers and sisters. They dont have anyone to tuck them into bed at night, no one to tell them that they love them. And I know that if you dont know any better then how can you miss something that you dont have. But I had it growing up and I think that everyone needs a mom and dad that love them. I just dont get life sometimes. This whole thing is really starting to stress me out and I am not sure that it should be. Shouldnt I be enjoying this??? Ugh. Thats it for now. Maybe later I will be in a not so foul mood. Peace and Love.

No...

we haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I am just a bit disenchanted with this whole thing right now. I am beginning to think that people think I am making this whole thing up, heck, sometimes I FEEL like I am making this up! But, I know that when it is time for Norah to come home, she will. Not sure if I wrote this in an earlier post, but we also put in our application for Special Needs if that should come open. We will love her no matter what! Peace and love.. pen

30 Months??

I spoke with our agency this week and she confirmed that the wait for referral was indeed 26-29 months. Not a happy camper right now and I think that it is time I step away from the computer for a little while. Please keep our family in your prayers. Thanks and God Bless! XOX Pen, Shan and Elias

Do I see a light?

Just a little FYI for people that read this blog... We are done with our homestudy and we just recently got an email from the dossier department in Georgia and they got our homestudy as well. They reviewed it and will let our social worker know of any problems that they found. We will then file our I600A, get our fingerprints done and begin all of the tedious paperwork for our dossier. Please pray for us that this will all go smoothly! I am not looking forward to the hours and hours of paperwork! For those of you that know me know that I am not good with staying on task and finishing a project! :) Once we send the dossier to China and it has been translated there and they rake it over with a fine tooth comb, they will give is a Log In Date (LID) and then we begin the wait. (A long wait might I add). So that's all that's going on with the adoption front... Hope all of you are doing well! XOXO The Sharp 3 XOXO

Long Time...

I know that most of you probably thought that we dropped off the face of the earth, but alas... we are here! Things are going fabulous on the adoption front. Just had our last homestudy on Friday (Shannon's birthday) and we got the rough draft today! We are just waiting for the rest of Shannon's blood work to come back and then our homestudy is DONE! We got an email from the agency today about our dossier. I feel so grown up and stuff now! We even have a User Name and password! Yipeee! Other than that we are just cruising by. Work sleep play and then repeat!

Deep Thoughts...

I don't know why, but for the last few days I have really been thinking about Norah. Maybe it's because Elias has been talking about her (ex. We went to a Chinese restaurant and he proceeds to tell the lady that his sister is in China and we are going to get her...) or maybe because I have been on the computer way too long stalking all of the web sites that recently got to see their sweet babies faces for the first time. Or perhaps its because I am a mother, or even better because I am Norah's mother. Even though I have never seen her face, I have never been to her place of birth, I know nothing about her except the fact that I am her mother. I have Elias, who is the most amazing child in this universe. Just one single smile from that kid and the whole world could crumble around me and I would stand as steady as a rock. I see him everyday, I know his favorite color, his favorite food, his incredible belly laugh, and in a room full of mothers and their children he could call my name and I would know that it is him. I know every freckle on his body and all of his tickle spots. That's my job, my calling, my heart... I am his mother.
So why is it that I get all choked up at the mention of her name? At the very thought of my children sharing a laugh or a hug or a disagreement? Why is it that I could share my heart with another child not born of my flesh and blood? Why is it that I ache to give her a warm bed to sleep in and share a good night kiss? Why is it that I would travel thousands of miles to welcome a child that I have never seen and love her unconditionally before she is probably even born? The answer is simple... Because I am her mother....

Every Little Girl Needs...

A Tea Set! I went out with my mom shopping for a bit yesterday and she bought Norah this cute tea set! I love it! I know there will be many tea parties in my future! **Notice the little ladybug on the spout??** (Mom, you rock!!)

Referral Time!

Alot of families got to see their babies faces for the first time today! This is such an exciting time of the month and it is sooo neat to see these little girls that will be coming home soon! Elias and I look at the babies at this time of the month on a website that is called the Rumor Queen. Every picture that we look at he says, "Is THAT her mom! My baby!" And I have to tell him no, that's not her that is someone else's baby. I don't know who is going to take the wait worse, me or him! Bless his heart :) Congrats to you families that saw your girls today!

Where IS My Sister??

Elias always wonders where exactly Norah is. He talks about her alot, which is really cute! So, Aunt Laura gave Elias an inflatable globe and we circled China and then the US. Now he can look at it and see where she is!

Homestudy, Finally!

We have the date for our home study! We will be doing the first one February 19th at 9:00. Now all of you that know us, know that we are not early risers! Even Elias will sleep until at least 10 if we would let him! But we are going to live a little and try getting up at zero dark thirty! Please say a prayer for us that things will go smoothly! It should only take about an hour and a half!

Happy Monday!

What a wonderful weekend! Friday night Valarie and I had a girls night! It was needed! We closed on our loan and our girls night turned into a celebration! We went to a children's boutique in Mt. Pleasant at the Towne Center. This place was amazing! Val bought Norah a cute little back pack that is red and purple and has ladybugs on it! I will post a picture in a few days! Then we had a really nice dinner on Sullivan's Island with NO KIDS!!!! How does that happen! It was so nice having that time and talking about things to come!
Earlier that day, my mom and I hit the outlets! Mom bought Norah a really cute purse and a picture frame.... as soon as we get that referral picture it will be in there! I got her a little teddy bear with a pink bow and a pink tutu on! I can't stand it! I want to buy everything!
On an even better note, my friend Peggy and her husband Paul just finished their paperchasing! I am so happy for them and I can't wait to see baby Gracie! I know that Gracie and Norah will be spending alot of time together as they grow! Awww she already has a friend! I am so thankful that God has placed people around us that are adopting from China as well! I will post some pictures as soon as I can! For now it's off to bed. I have to work tonight! XOXO

Well that settles it!

We have officially named our daughter:
Norah Catherine Sharp
Awww :) I LOVE that name because it means so much to so many people! My grandma, my mom and my sister are all Lenora. I just shortened it and added and "h" and there ya go! Sweet Norah! I am so thankful that we have such a supportive family going through all of this. And by family that also included friends that are family as well! Catherine was my dad's moms name. I never got the chance to meet her, but I hear she was a wonderful woman and mother. My parents named me Penny Catherine and I always knew that if I had a daughter her name would also be Catherine. Shannon's Aunt Laura's middle name is Katherine and so is his great-grandmas. So, there you have it! I am just thrilled pink about all of this! I love her and I can't wait to see her and hold her in my arms! XOXO

What do YOU think???

As all of you know, we had originally planned to name our daughter Gracelin. We have called her this since day one, and that name seemed so appropriate then.
Well, we have changed our minds on the name and wanted to run a few names by all of you to see what you think. (I think there are only about 4 people that read this anyway, and I have asked you and I know what you think!)

So here goes:

Norah Catherine "CN" Sharp - Norah for my mom, sister and grandma, and Catherine for my dads mom and also a few lovely women on Shannon's side of the fam.
Addison Catherine "CN" Sharp - random name that I like.

So, questions, comments or concerns? Or maybe some names that YOU like??

Will write more soon!

XOXO The Sharp Three ( Can't wait til its 4)

Cute....

I finally got another digital camera today from my mom and dad in-law! I am so happy! I had to put "precious" (Digital Camera #1) down a few months ago and haven't been the same since! Now I have "Precious #2"! I took some pictures of our daughters clothes and little things that we have gotten along the way and thought I would share them! Hope that you all had a great Christmas!

Finally, A Tree

We finally got our Christmas Tree up last night! Elias said to me the other day, "Mom, why doesn't our house look like everyone elses house?" It was then that I realized that Christmas was less than 2 weeks away and we had not put up a tree, decorations, or done ANY Christmas shopping! We finally got the tree and decorated it last night. Elias and I made home made gingerbread ornaments, which turned out really well! He made 2 ornaments at the Christmas tree place and then we had a few from last year! So we are on our way to a Merry Christmas! Hope you guys are all in the Christmas spirit!!!!!! XOXO The Sharp 3 :)

Phew!!!!!!!!!!

Well, after a panicked phone call, a call to my mom in sheer agony, a phone call to my agency and a call to the Big Man Upstairs, I think we are okay as far as the regulations go! I was beginning to freak just a bit. This is one amazing rollercoaster ride, I'll tell ya that! But it's one that I wouldn't get off of for a million dollars... (then again for a million dollars, we could get back in line for 2 more baby girls!) I have attached a few pictures for your viewing pleasure :) Peace and Love!
*Not sure why the pictures on the side is sideways, but I can't fix it!! UGH!!!

And the Rollercoaster continues....

Well, the CCAA set down some pretty tough ground rules the other day that just might push Shannon and I right out of the wait. Among them....
* Beginning 1/1/07 the CCAA is raising its service fee. * No big deal... it's just money right. ugh
* No single dossiers accepted after 5/1/07 * Happily Married - out of this one!
* Changes to the waiting child program *
* weight restriction - * I think we are okay on this one too
* substance abust * None of that stuff for us!
* health problems * Thank God we are all healthy!
* minimum net worth requirements ($80,000.00 NET WORTH!!!!!!) Wow! I am not sure what to think about this! I don't know if we have $80,000.00 net worth!

So here we have it. I emailed my agency tonight at work and asked them what was going on. I don't want to spend all of this money and have all of our paperwork sent to China and then be rejected! That is too too much on the old ticker! Not to mention the wait is expected to increase to 24 months here shortly. Ugh. Is it so wrong to want another baby????? I just don't know what to think about all of this really. I will post more when I hear back from my agency. I can't talk about it anymore.

My favorite... I love this man!!!!!!!!!!

Me and Shannon at the wedding....

Me and Elias at the wedding....