What a Cutie!!!

Here are the newest pictures of our pumpkin.

What can I say about our beautiful daughter except that she has stolen our hearts. Everyday she continues to amaze us. She is talking and babbling like crazy. Her vocabulary is increasing every week, the latest are kitty ( which is everything furry), Hi, cup and no no no. Although she's not quite understanding the meaning of no no she does think it is pretty fun to say especially to Dad. Oh she is also signing pirate (for pirate booty) and the word more. Her voice is just adorable also, it's this little tiny high voice that is amplified about 10 times whenever Baba is near. She is such a Daddy's girl. She is also a Momma's girl and tends to come to me for the "mom" stuff (comforting, food, snuggling, etc). Jaili girl is so much fun and is growing like a little weed. She is up to 18 lbs now and is almost walking. She's has taken 4 steps so far on her own and is learning that if she slows down she can take a few more. This weekend we were in Bend with her Auntie Meg, Uncle Paul, Cousins Anya and Seth and she watched Seth pretty closely with his walking (Seth is only a month older than Jaili). Her walking has improved alot just after this weekend. We guess that she should be running by the end of next month. I am loving being at home with her now. I changed my work scheduled so I can be at home with her most of the time. Mondays are the only days that she needs to be watched and she stays with her Auntie Allison and cousins Logan and Tay and my brother Adam (Uncle Buck) then and has a great time. She is such a joy to be around. She is happy and laughing most everyday. We are having a few issues sleeping right now and wants to sleep right between Shane and I at night. We arn't sure if it is teething or something else. She has gotten in 2 more teeth. 3 on top and 3 on bottom now. Adjustment has gone very well and the attachment started getting so much better after I changed my schedule. I can't imagine our lives without her. She is our little miracle and we are beyond blessed with our sweetheart. Shane and I are talking about starting the process for a sibling for her next year but we will see what God has in store for us. Hope all is well with everyone and I will update next month.

God is Good!!!

Letting Jaili out of her kennel and the family at the Alamo

O.k. first Jaili was just checking out Mila's kennel. She doesn't really stay in the kennel (only at bedtime)HA HA just kidding anywho, it has taken me a bit to update (I don't want to spend time on the computer when our pesky pants is up and about) but we have had a wonderful past few weeks! Jaili is adjusting miraculously! She is bonding fantastic with both Shane and me. She is one funny goofy kid who loves to be the center of attention. For those of you who don't know Jaili was considered a waiting child when we received her referral. Her special need was that she tested positive for Hepatitis B. She was considered acute in July at the time of her referral. After doing research and praying we knew that Jaili was our daughter and the Hep B didn't matter to us. It would be manageable. During the research we found that their was a possibility that the Hep B could get worse and as she got older their would be a small chance of her needing a liver transplant. We planned on boosting her immune system with natural medicine and organic foods. We also learned that their was a 10% chance that her body could convert the Hep B and she would build a natural immunity to it and not have the Hep B at all. We had everyone praying for her but did not put this last scenario in our thoughts at all. Well 2 weeks ago we went to the Hep B and international adoption specialist at OHSU and after reviewing Jaili's current blood work and examing her we found out that she is our true miracle. Jaili is completely free of the Hep B. She is in the small percentage that was able to convert the disease. Our specialist said that Jaili is the first baby adopted from China with Hep B that she has personally ever seen that has converted. Shane and I are so very blessed. We know that we have a very rare adoption story and that things usually don't go as smoothly as this. God is so glorious and Jaili is such an enormous blessing in every way. We are planning on doing a waiting child adoption with all of our kids and already do not expect to have the same amazing results that we have had with Jaili. God knows the plan for us and we are so thrilled that he has healed our beautiful girl.
On another note we just back from San Antonio, Texas where we visited Jaili's auntie Shannon. She did so well! We were a little worried about the travel but she just rolls along with everything and was her usual pesky silly self. We went and saw the Alamo and had a wonderful time. Thank you so much everyone for all of your prayers!If anyone would like any info on Holt, special needs adoption, Hep B or whatever please email me. Shane and I are in complete awe of the beautiful children that God has made and there are so many that need wonderful families. Shane and I are so blessed that the Lord has led our lives to "special needs" adoption and just adoption in general. It is such a special journey and we are amazed everyday that we have been chosen to have our children this way. Hope everyone is well and love to you all.

A few pictures of our beauty queen!

blogger wouldn't let me post these with my previous entry so here is our little love!

Our spirited one!!

Jaili has had an amazing week. She has come along way from the baby we received 1 month ago in China. Everyday she shares something new with us. This week has had a few firsts which has been lots of fun. She snuggled with me for the first time last night. She started crying at around 3 or 4 so I picked her up and put her in bed with Shane and I. Her usual routine is to fight and roll away from us as I try to keep her close and no one usually gets much sleep although she does stop crying. Well this morning I picked her up layed her on my chest and she snuggled right into me and fell asleep. Even when she rolled to her side she still wanted me close beside her. What a fantastic feeling! Then when it was time to wake up first she cried then she gently reached up and started patting my face. I rolled her over to Shane and she looked at him and said BaBa several times until he looked at her and she gave him the biggest smile. She has grown leaps and bounds over the past week even. I know that she still has a long way to go and we may have some setbacks as I go back to work, but we are making definate progress. She is attaching to me more and more everyday and has kept up the attachment to Shane. We had our first post placement visit which went great and our wonderful social worker Kathie made me feel good to let me know that often times the little one has to attach to one parent first, but that Jaili seemed to be doing very well. I'm thinking that Shane and I are just about on equal ground with her now. She had her doctor visit yesterday and the poor girl not only had to have 4 immunizations but had to have her blood work drawn as well. She was NOT a happy camper. She is just a trooper though and was back to being her feisty self by bedtime. We will most likely hear about her blood work in a few days. We keep praying for her health. It is God's hands and I wouldn't want it anywhere else. I look at her and think she is just a miracle. How did Shane and I become so blessed? Each day we see a new light in her eyes and she is responding to us on a more intimate level now. I think she knows that she is home and we are never letting her go (at least I hope she knows this). Oh another first.. she saw her first snowfall today and she thought that it was pretty cool. She sat in the front window and laughed and played. It was the cutest thing. Of course I have pictures of it, I just haven't downloaded any yet. I hope all that are reading this feel the amount of love and blessings that God has brought to our lives. I have never birthed a child, so I cannot compare it with adoption. Adoption, especially on an international/racial level and adopting a child older than a newborn, is a totally different experience that you cannot explain adequately ( you just have to experience it for yourself). To me it is a perfect example of God's love for us all. Though there are difficulty's along the way I know that when we look into our daughter's eyes that she was ours from the moment the Lord knew her. Everytime we hold our beautiful sweet girl it just confirms God's plan and our plan for our lives. That we are not have our children biologically but from another women's womb and I would never want it any other way. It doesn't matter where our children come from they are all God's children and he has just chosen us to love them and guide them through life. Adoption is a miracle in itself and Jaili is just proof of that. Love to all and take care.

We are Home!

O.k. it has taken a bit to get into our routine but we are home and adjusted. Jaili had her 1st birthday party on the 30th. She wasn't sure about the cake at first but was lovin' it by the time we got her out of her high chair. The adjustment has been going pretty well. She definately bonded to Shane faster than to me but I expected that. We had a backslide once we got home. We had Shane's mom staying with us (thank goodness) to help us out. She was awesome but I think Jaili got confused about who was Momma and the one taking care of her. We went to me being the only one giving her bottles and just Shane and I holding her and she has swung back my way again. We tend to have boughts of her wanting to push me away, hitting in the face, etc. Each day is better than the previous and today I got a smile and laugh from her when I walked into the room and asked if she wanted Momma. It has been a great day today. It's amazing what a full night's rest for mom, dad and baby will do. She is getting over an ear infection and I think she is finally beginning to feel the best she has felt in a long time. The doctor here said that she has had the infection for a long time. We have another appointment next week and we will get all of her blood work checked out. She is one funny kid! Shane and I keep wondering where the days go. We know that we've done things but the time goes so quickly. She is just a joy to sit and watch play, sleep, whatever. We just love this little one so much. I don't know what we did in our lives before we had her. Anywho, I'll update more next week. Take Care everyone.

Almost Home!

Today will be the last post until we get home as we only bought so much time for the internet in our room. Jaili is feeling SO much better now and has been a complete ham the past 2 days. She loves to put on a show for people so every morning at breakfast and everytime we are in the elevator. She laughs, makes fart noises with her mouth and snorts at people. She is the funniest kid! She yells mama at me when she is mad and baba or dada at Shane. She is talking (ok really babbling)so much now. She as also started this thing with just me where she scrunches up her face and makes this little snorty sound and then I have ot do it back to her. God definatly had a glorious plan when he gave our daughter to us. She is like us in so many ways it is crazy. She loves a crowd, has to be the center of attention, has really stinky feet(that's all dad), sleeps fantastic, gets really grumpy when she needs to eat and , very stubborn (we are in for it) and loves to make people laugh. Her personality is coming out so much. She isn't fond of big crowds where people are touching her alot though they can look at her from a distance just no touching (only Mom and Dad and the people she knows). We learned as of yesterday that she can crawl. She is cruising all over. We are really hoping that the walking thing doesn't start until after we come home. On a different note, Shane and I took turns watching Jaili and we each got a massage yesterday. The massages felt great, different than at home. They massage through towels so that felt different. We also got a ginger wrap on our backs that is supposed to take out toxins. It felt cold and slimy when they put it on and then they wrapped plastic and towels aroung our backs and it turned into FIRE!!! It literaly felt like there was a fire on my back and my skin was going to fall off. The nioce thing was that for about an hour afterwards it felt like you had a heating pad on your back. Shane loved it, as for me not so much. We are excited to come home and show everyone our beautiful daughter. She is awesome. Shane and I are still having a wonderful time here. It has been beautiful (between 60-70 degrees). I am sad to leave the weather and go back to cold ) : On the other hand it really doesn't feel like Christmas in any way. Which I am O.K. with considering I don't really like all of the hub bub of the gift buying etc. I do miss having the true meaning of Christmas here (Jesus's birth and all). It is commercialized here Santa and everything that goes with him but no spirit of our Lord. Anywho, that's all from us for now. Take Care everyone and have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Much Love to You All!

Our little sweetie is sick

We took Jaili to the chinese doctor (who was so fantastic) today because her rash is just progressively getting worse and she is sleeping a ton. He checked her out and she has a virus. He didn't say what kind but he gave us MORE antibiotic (a stronger one) and some chinese herbs and vitamins for her. I am not thrilled about the antibiotics part at all. She has been on them since we got her and I'm sure it is just tearing her little immune system and body apart. Hopefully this will help her. She has been quite cranky the past 2 days. Today is a little worse than yesterday. I just feel so bad for her. The rash is on her face and eyes, down her neck, on her back and chest and it itches her quite a bit. Everytime she cries it just breaks out hearts. It will be nice to get her back home to see the doctor and Corky (grandpa) to get her on the road to health. We have her visa medical appointment today but that is just a basic physical. We are officially ready to be home. It is hard being away when your little one is sick. Everything is beautiful here but living out of a hotel is not the greates thing in the world. Anywho, if everyone could pray for Jaili and her health that would be wonderful. Thanks everyone

Free Day!!

The last several days have been free days for us and it has been so nice. Shane and I have done entirely to much shopping for everyone for Christmas but we think we have it covered so far. (We are beginning to hate going down the street and be harrassed by the shopkeepers). Guangzhou is absolutely beautiful. The weather has been great. There is a gorgeous courtyard just down from the White Swan with that Shane and I like to hang out and just relax and watch people. Jaili has been doing great. We don't think she feels very well today becuase she has done so much sleeping and hasn't been as happy. She has developed a rash on her face, chest and back that everyone assumes is excema, we will have her checked out completely when we get home. She is such a little tropper though. Today one of the shop keepers tried to hold her and she did o.k. for about 30 sec and then looked over to me and started to cry. Momma had to hold her, she wasn't up for anyone except for Shane or me holding her today. She is sleeping right now also. She's eating very well though so that is a good thing. Tomorrow we have the red couch picture and the medical appointment for her visa. We are almost home and can't wait for everyone to meet our beautiful and wonderful daughter.

Jaili Girl

So I had to post and say what a truly fantastic daughter we have (no I'm not biased at all). After the orphanage visit yesterday it was like someone flipped a switch and we have a baby that is bonding with us. She was very attentive with us at the orphanage and as soon as we got in the van to come back to the White Swan we had laughy happy baby girl (which she WAS NOT at the orphanage) We had an almost 4 hour ride home and she played and laughed with us the whole time. We think that God just let her know and she feels that she is HOME! She is so funny. She likes to get us laughing also. God has blessed us with such a great baby. She eats awesome(except watermelon), sleeps fantastically ( nap a day and slept from 8-7 last night).She not fond of strangers holding her alot but loves to look at people and play with them as long as we are right there or holding her. Breakfast is her favorite. We had bananas this morning and she thought those were pretty fantastic. She is at the beginning of the bonding process where she does NOT want us to put her down. She likes to be able to see both of us and she does not like to feel like she is alone. She's going to the bathroom normally now (yeah!!). Her favorite thing's to play with so far are the lid to a water bottle and the empty water bottle so she can bang the 2 together. She definatley likes drumming type things, music and those little rings that you hook together (which we don't have, she keeps stealing them from Kate, John and Kristi's daughter) Anywho, just wanted to let everyone know that she is AMAZING! and we are blessed beyond belief. The picture is of her on the bus ride home yesterday. I posted more on flickr also. Take Care

Orphanage Day

We went and visited Jaili's orphange yesterday and it broke our hearts. We started the day at 6:00 am with breakfast and left for her orphanage with Kristi, John, Charlie, Sharon, Leah and Lauren (the other wonderful family that is with us) Their daughter was adopted from the same city as Jaili but a different orphanage. It took about 3 1/2 hours to get there and the kids did fantastic. We first went to Kate's orphange (John and Kristi's new little one). The director and the staff where very excited to meet everyone. They gave us a tour and the babies a bottle (Jaili did NOT want it). The orphanage was very clean and friendly lots of kids but they had toys and looked to be well taken care of. We then went to Jaili's orphange and finding site. Our orphange was a different story. First the staff was unprepared for us even though we had an appointment. The main director was at a meeting so the women who was the 2nd in command seemed very upset with us being there. Our holt guide, Catherine (who is amazing) talked with them and they finally agreed to let us and only us see only Jaili's room that she was in. We weren't allowed to take any pictures except of her crib, but Shane was sneaky and filmed the whole thing for Jaili to have later. The babies were all wearing the same thing (so the picts we got were purely for our benefit) and were lying on straight boards. So many wer in there and they were crying. Alot of the babies were doing the self soothing of rocking bakc and forth and banging their heads with their hands. Thier were no toys present so the only thing the babies had was a cloth chinese diaper to hold and play with. It absolutely broke our hearts. On a good note the director said that most of the babies were being adopted soon. Jaili did awesome. When her caregiver and director came to talk and see her she looked at them looked back at me grabbed my sweatshirt and snuggle in to me and ignored them. Her caregiver was even commenting on the fact that Jaili already ignores her and knows who her Momma is. They also commented on how young Shane and I were and they said that Jaili's birthparents were most likely very young and couldn't take care of her. The section of city that Jaili is from is rural and very poor. Most of the people that live there are farmers. You see ALOT of boy children but almost no girls. We then went to Jaili's finding place. She was found at a gas station about 10 min from her orphanage. We got lots of pictures. Just looking at the area and at our sweet daughter I could never imagine leaving her with nothing by a gas station hoping that someone would find her. It amazes me that the Lord had such a plan to bring this little girl to us. She is truly a miracle and I can't imagine our lives without her. I thank God everyday for my beautiful family that he has brought to me! I just love her so much and pray that Jesus will just continue to guide our lives and just be with Jaili and all of us everyday. I've never seen God's love for us like I see it when I look into my daughter's eyes. Shane and I are just astonished and astounded every second by our precious sweetheart. Although we don't understand his plan all the time we know that his plan his perfect and Jaili just confirms it.

We have been blessed!!!!

By the wonderful grace of God we have been blessed with the most amazing and breathtaking beautiful baby girl! She is the most special little one. Shane and I are awe struck and so in love! She is already a daddy's girl. We received our precious baby at 4:45 on Monday. She did fairly well at the hand off. She has a scrap of cloth that was her only toy in the orphanage so as long as we have that she does well (She screams when it is out of her sight). It is her since of security so we will be keeping the lovey with us at all times! She has been pretty pensive the last day and half. Trying to get a grip on everything that is happening around us. We got our first smile from her today and at breakfast she was a completly different baby. She is quite a goofball when she starts feeling secure. She loves being around people, being outside, baths and razberries on her tummy. She is definatly not a fan of having her diaper, clothes or really anything changed at all. Time goes by so fast, Shane and I will just be holding her, staring at her or feeding her and we look at the clock and and hour as already passed. Words cannot describe how wonderful she is. She is not a huge fan of being in the room right now. Which is not the best at the moment because mom is a little sick. She is slowely adjusting to us. She is so sweet and gentle. We will have a chance to visit her orphanage tomorrow but we are not going to take her in since she is just now starting to attach somewaht to Shane and I . One of us will stay outside with her while the other goes in. I apologize for taking so long in updating the blog. We have been non stop busy with paperwork etc since we received her. Right now Shane is holding her and she is a little fussy because she is tired doesn't want to sleep and does not want to be in the room. I will update more tomorrow, we are goi9ng to file for her passport in about 1/2 hour so I have to run. check out the picts of our sweet Chinese princess on flickr.

CHINA ADVENTURE DAY 3

We actually got a normal night's sleep last night and it was so refreshing! We woke up today and had our delicious breakfast of crepes and various goodies and then had orientation at 9:00 were we received all of the info that we will need for the upcoming days and the best thing of all we received new info on Jaili!!! We got 2 new pictures of her and man does she have a haircut. Her hair is shaved on the sides and spiky on top. She will match her dad pretty well. She will be wearing alot of pink for awhile becuase everyone will think she is our son. She is so stinkin cute though. Her new info says that she loves baths, is kind, soft and happy. The wording is "If you stay and play with her for awhile she will like you!" Shane and I are going to have to keep it relatively calm the first bit because it also states that she doesn't like noisy areas or strangers. We are so beyond excited because at 3:30 tomorrow we get our daughter. I am actually going to be a mom!!! This has been the most amazing experience. I don't know what it is like to birth a child but I'm sure there is just as much excitement. I would not trade this for anything in the world. We are already talking about when we want to come back for #2 and get Jaili a sister! The people that we have with us and the Holt staff are so fantastic. Everyone treats you like family and have been so welcoming and wonderful. The other families that are in our group are fantastic!! I'm so happy that we have such great people around us to share this experience with. We have been recording everything so be prepared family to watch hours upon hours of our experience.
After orientation we went to the Temple of Heaven and Tiannamen Square. They were so beautiful. Our tour guide Sherri and Holt staff Les have been with us the entire time and have made this such a memorable time. The temple of heaven has acres upon acres of park that the Chinese people exercise, play music and games and just hang out in. I will try to post as many pictures that I can but we are quickly reaching our limit on flickr and I'm trying to save room for picures of Jaili. We may open another account on flickr so I will post that when we do. Anywho, good night for now!! This is our last night without children, so we are going to go out in Beijing and make the most of it. My next post will be of JAILI!!!!! I was going to put a picture in but blogger is having issues. I'll try later

China is AMAZING!!!!

What can I say about China but AWE INSPIRING!!! Beijing is so fantastic. The people are so nice, the history is amazing and we love it here. It is a totally different way of life here. It is so safe. You can go out late at night and you don't have to worry at all about someone trying to hurt you or do something to you. The people are so active also, everyone is out and about riding bikes, playing music in parks it is great! We went to the Great Wall yesterday and there are no words to describe the beauty and history of it. Truly amazing. It was about 27 degrees outside but with the wind chill it was about 0 degrees. The wind would rip tight through you, but as long as you kept trucking up the steps you kept pretty warm. The view was breathtaking, it is so hard to put into words the greatness of it. It was something in my life I never thought I would experience and to be there was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life. We also went to the cloisonne factory afterward and had a scrumptious meal there. We got to see how the cloisonne vases and jewelry were made. I purchased a few goodies to bring home. Shane and I have absolutely fallen in love with China! If anyone ever gets the chance to experience this country you should most definately go. Truly life changing!!!

WE ARE HERE!!!

We have finally arrived after almost 24 hours of traveling to Beijing. The trip was pretty good. Airplanes are never comfortable but that is to be expected. China is fantastic so far. Shane and I were able to sleep from about 11:00 last night until 7:00 this morning. Jet lag hasn't been to bad. We are both very tired now but are making ourselves stay awake. Today we took a tour to the Summer palace and the Forbidden City. Both were absolutely amazing. There is such beauty and culture here in China. Just looking at everything it is incredible to see the amount of artistic talent and labor went into these beautiful places. Our tour was a private one because there are no other families going on them at this time so we were chauffered around and Sherri our tour guide took us everywhere. We then ate lunch at a traditional sichuan chinese restaurant and the food was amazing!!! America has it so wrong!! The food here doesn't even taste the same as our "chinese". Thank goodness for our guide because we would be so lost without her. No one in the restaurant spoke english so we had some fun trying to find the bathroom thank goodnes for hand signals (speaking of bathroom I have now mastered the "squatty potty", no toilet paper in most though so that was slightly disturbing). We posted all of our pictures on www.flickr.com/photos/ninjasquirrels so check them out. That's all for now. Brain is not working that great. I NEED SLEEP!!!

Mila's baby sister is coming home!!!

Friday night I did something fantastic! I purchased the tickets to go get our sweet pea. We leave Portland on the 6th and arrive in Beijing on the 7th. Shane and I are taking a couple of tours, one to the Great Wall and the other to the Forbidden City. We are super excited. On the 10th we have orientation and then on the 11th we fly to Guangzhou and get our Jaili Joi!!!! We are going to be parents!EEEEKKK and YIPEE!! There are so many feelings that we are experiencing right now. It's hard to describe and navigate them. It feels like the air has been taken out of the room and at the same time one of the most amazing feelings ever. I imagine it's probably what mothers go through at about a week before they give birth. It fills my eyes with tears and my heart with such wonderful joy to think about the first time I will get to hold our daughter in my arms! Shane and I have anticipated this day for so long. We got use to the waiting so the fact that it is actually time is somewhat surreal. There are so many fears that go along with everything... is she going to attach, what if she doesn't like me, am I going to be a good enough mother..etc (there are about a million more but I'll spare you and stop there) I know that Jesus has planned this from the very beginning and if he blessed us with the opportunity to be this sweet babies parents then what the heck am I worring about? It's been along road to get to where we are right now. I don't know what the future holds in store for our family but I know that as long as we have our faith in God, eachother and our daughter, our family and friends and an endless support system I'm pretty excited to see how the Lord is going to guide our lives! I will try to post several times while in China, so stay tuned for the continuation of our journey.

We are going to China!!!

We received the best news yesterday! Our travel approval to get our Jaili Joi!!! It is hard to put into words the excitement that Shane and I are feeling. We also received an email today that our tentative consulate appointment is for the 21st of Dec which means we would be leaving the 7th of Dec for Beijing and returning home on the 23rd of Dec. That is only about 2 weeks!!! YIPEE! We are almost there after such a long wait to have a baby. It seems unreal that in less than a month we will be holding OUR DAUGHTER. What a truly amazing and faith building experience this has been. It just proves that our God is wonderful and he has such an amazing plan for all of us in our lives!!! I just can't wait to be able to take care of our sweet pea and officially become a mom and Shane a dad!! Wow mom and dad (how weird). It's almost scary if I think about it too much. A baby girl to totally depend on us. Holy smokes!!! What a huge responsibility. I just rest in the fact that God has prepared us for her and he has had us picked to be her parents all along. What a blessing!!! Thank you everyone for sharing in our joy! It's been a fantastic and sometimes bumpy adventure ( and it's not even over yet) but I'm praying that it will only get better from here. Your parents are coming to get you Jaili Joi!!!!I pray that the Lord keep all of us safe and happy during these holidays and thank him so much for providing Shane and I with such a blessed life. Take care everyone, I'll keep updating when we get the updates.

Travel approval is almost here!!!!

O.K. the picture has nothing to do with travel approval, I just thought it was funny/cute.
TA IS COMING, TA IS COMING!!!!!
Shane and found out 2 weeks ago that our dossier had been moved into the last part of the review room and would soon be moving to the travel approval room, Holt has been just amazing with the whole process. They have been contacting their person in Beijing to find out where all of our paperwork was since we are nearing the 4 month mark on the wait for travel approval and they called yesterday to let us know that the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) should be issuing our travel approval in the next 2 days and Holt should receive it either by the end of next week or the beginning of the next. After they receive it they will schedule our appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou and then Shane and I buy our tickets and we will be off to China!!!!! Shane and I are excited beyond words!!!!!! We are praying everyday for that TA to come in. We are so close to get our little girl, I'm starting to feel the labor pains so come on Jaili Joi!!!! Keep praying for us everyone. It's all in God's hands. We are hoping to be home for Christmas and Jaili's 1st birthday. I set up a picture viewing site where we will be posting our pictures of Jaili and China when we are there. Feel free to take a peek. Go to www.flickr.com/photos/ninjasquirrels. I know awesome name huh!! Ninja squirrels cracks me up. That was all Shane of course. Take Care everyone I'll update when we get more info.

Jaili's 2nd Baby Shower

Yes, I'm FINALLY updating the blog. Sorry I've been so slow just haven't felt like being on the computer. Anywho, we had Jaili's 2nd Baby shower on Oct 8th and it went fantastic! We have just about everything we need so thank you so much for coming everyone and for the lovely goodies. Jaili already has so many people that love and care about her it is just amazing. We are so blessed! Also in other news we are in the midst of a career change for Shane. He will be spending some time at home with Jaili when we first get home with her because we arn't sure of the extent of her needs at this time. He then would like to get into project management with an emphasis in finance. Teaching has been great but it is time for a change. We are doing well and just thank God everyday that he has bestowed so many blessings on us.

Jaili's Room is done (almost)

After 2 years of working on our daughter's room it is finally done (except for small things, Changing pad, a few organizers, etc). I started the painting about 2 years ago when we moved into our house. We knew that it was going to be our child's room when we finally had them and since we didn't know at that time whether we were going to have a daughter or son first, I decided to go with an underwater scene so it would work with either. Whenever I had extra time I would paint a new fish on the wall. A couple of friends also contributed which was fantastic. After our dossier went to China I started to make the room look more girly. Then when we received Jaili's referral I went into overdrive. I love to paint and decorate so I decided to make it into a beach girl theme instead of just underwater sea creatures. I found the bedding on line that I wanted but it was about $150.00. I knew I could find a better deal so I started stalking Ross Dress for less in search of the things I need and after 2 months of going every Wednesday I found it! It was an amazing deal which I got for about $100.00 less than just the original bedding set that I was looking at. I got the comforter, body pillow and curtains all or about $50 YEAH! Anywho, needless to sayI am so excited that her room is totally ready for her. Now all we need is her referral!! Come on TA. Jaili girl needs to come home.

First Baby Shower for Jaili

On Sept 9th one of our closest friends (and Jaili's auntie) Meg threw us our first baby shower and it turned out awesome. Meg is the best!!! She and her husband Paul set us up completely with diaper goodies, an ergo carrier and so much more. We had a great turn out and Shane and I are so thankful for everyone that came! Jaili already has so many people that love her. Our niece's Taylor and Anya and our nephew Logan were fantastic helpers! Since Jaili wasn't there to open the presents her cousins did any amazing job of helping out. We couldn't have opened the presents with half as much of the enthusiasm that the kids could. Shane and I had been waiting for a baby shower for our baby for along time now and it was truly fantastic. Our sister-in-law Allison, Shane's mom and my mom are throwing us another shower on the 8th of Oct and we are pretty excited about that also. So thank you soooooo much everyone for your love and support. Shane and I are very grateful and appreciate you all so much. Take care everyone and we love you. Oh yea keep praying for a quick travel approval for us. Today is 61 days and we could get our travel approval anytime between now and 2 months from now!