Cyber shower gift arrived!

I just received the CUTEST bathing suit for moonbeam from Steffanie in Texas. I'll try to post a picture - we'll see if it works. Hang on , I'll be right back.....


OK, how fun is that!

I love the little polka dot band and the sweet daisy. Steffanie suggested taking the beach ball to China since it will be easy to pack and MB (moonbeam) will love playing with it. I think that's a great idea.

Bittersweet Addiction

I’ve had a little trouble with insomnia over the last five or so years, and just when I was making some lifestyle changes and getting it under control, I found my new addticion– blogs! I have substituted reading blogs for housework, yardwork, grocery shopping, and sleeping. I think if my friends truly knew the level of my addiction, there would be an intervention.
But, I can’t help myself – maybe as the adoption process becomes a more of a fixture in my life, and not so new, I’ll be able to control this beast. But for now I really want – no, need - to know how Lily’s nursery is coming along, how Zoe’s trip to Disney world was, do they have salsa in China. I have to read, to gain knowledge, from those ahead of me in this process. I love hearing the thoughts so similar to mine that others are sharing during the wait. To hear the excitement and anticipation over referrals, to see the beautiful faces of the ‘lucky” girls getting ready to meet their forever families, and the detailing of the trips. Pure magic… as addictive as any drug.
This week my addiction has been driven to new heights as I watch for the first time – referrals. I scan the pages looking for reactions of people meeting their daughters for the first time- even if only through photographs. But, Oh those photographs! Beautiful – they reach out and grab my heart. And I think one day, it will be my girl I’m seeing for the first time.
This is a dangerous addiction, it toys with my emotions. I’m caught in the wave of excitement as families are joined, then I turn off my computer and am alone in my house with only my wishes and dreams for my referral day, my trip to China, my making a family.

Reason #1 for my little girl's nickname "Moonbeam"

I’ve always found it comforting that the night sky is a constant. No matter what (depending on it’s phase, of course) the moon will rise. And, no matter where you are, you can see it. It’s comforting to me that I can be in Colorado and viewing the same moon as my family in Missouri. It makes the world seem a little smaller, loved ones closer. I think of this often at night while dreaming of my girl. I found this poem by Tom Fisher that shares my thoughts.

A Moonbeam
Take a glimpse into the sky
And if a moonbeam hits your eye
Follow it back to whence it came
And dream of a child who'll bear your name.

A little one may look right back
And follow a beam along it's track
And see a mother awaiting the day
In who’s arms forever to stay.

Tom Fisher

The Beginning

The first post is a bit daunting. I merely want a place to document what's happening as I wait for my little moonbeam. I'm not much of a writer, but hope that this becomes a place to purge a bit as I wait to adopt my little girl.

Here are the details:
application accepted at CCAI(I won the lottery!) 1/18/06
home study started 2/6/06
DTC 5/4/06
LID 5/16/06
I've been told the referral date ( when I'm matched with a child) is anywhere from 11-14 months from my LID with some saying perhaps even 18 months. A long wait so I must distract myself. BTW did you realize "wait" is a 4-letter word?

More to come...
Peace