HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

2009 is the year of Ji Chou. The year of the OX. Maizie is the year of the pig, T is the year of the Tiger and I am the year of the horse. For more info on the Chinese New Year go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

Tonight we plan on celebrating the new year at PF Changs. Not only do i love their food but my favorite kids store is in the same mall! I think Maizie wardrobe will be expanding tonight! We can also celebrate that our dossier is finally notarized and state certified! Later this week we are driving to NYC to the Chinese Consulate to have or dossier authenticated and then it will be off to our agency to be translated and then to China. I will be so happy when i don't have to think about it anymore and i can actually start thinking about putting Maizie's room together. Right now it is a mess. I would post pictures but i am a little embarrassed about how messy it is at the moment.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I was tagged!

I've been tagged by fellow adoptive parent (ok technically I am not an adoptive parent yet but i will be in 4-5 months) Cinnamon at http://nutmegmama.blogspot.com/. This is my first tag, yeah!

Q: five names you go by:
1. Jessica
2. Jessie
3. Jess
4. Bep (when my brother was little he couldn't say Jess so he called me Bep.)
5. hopefully mommy soon!

Q. three things you are wearing right now:
1. Jeans
2. black sweater
3. Uggs

Q. two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. Maizie
2. To finally be done with my dossier!

Q. two things you did last night:
1. Watched Damages but fell asleep half way thru
2. Went to Target

Q. two things you ate today:
1. Tomato Soup
2. Bread for my soup

Q. two people you last talked to on the phone:
1. Tracy
2. The police department (our local police clearances are FINALLY ready)

Q. two things you are going to do tomorrow:
1. Have my dossier notarized
2. Leave work early because it will be Friday!

Q. two longest car rides:
1. From NY To Florida with my mom
2. To Maine

Q. two of your favorite beverages:
1. non-fat latte with sugar-free caramel from *bucks
2. water

Q. the people you’d like to respond:
I was a little late at doing this so anyone who hasn't done it yet.

Ellie

Yesterday was a rough day for us. Our cat Ellie died very unexpectedly. T and I were downstairs when we heard her throw up so T went up to get her. When he went to put her down outside she collapsed and wasn't moving. I was freaking out and thought she might be choking. I ran and got a towel so T could wrap her up and we jumped in the car to take her to the emergency vet. When we got to the vet they told us there was no heart beat. They tried to resuscitate her for a little while but she was already gone. The vet said she could have had a heart condition that we didn't know about or she could have had a stroke. They let us say goodbye to her. They had her wrapped in a blanket and she looked so small. It was like she was sleeping. She was still warm and still smelled like popcorn. She was still so soft.Tracy held her the whole way to the vet. He said he knew she was gone soon after we got in the car but didn't want to tell me. Ellie (her real name is Ella but Ellie fit her personality) was such a good little girl. She was our first pet together. We got her a few days after T bought his first house. She was the runt of the litter. She was so small and had this little pudgy face. She was only 7. She had never really been sick and was playing with us 20 minutes before it happened. It was really hard to go to bed last night with out her. During the day she really didn't pay much attention to us but once we were in bed for the night that was the time she always wanted to snuggle by us. She was so soft. Most nights she slept by my feet. And in the morning when i woke up she would come say hi and try to curl up with me. Some mornings before i was even awake i could feel her walking on me. She was such a good little girl.

Ellie we miss you and we will never forget your little pudgy face.

2008 in review

I cant believe it's 2009 already! Where does the time go??!! 2008 was a real roller coaster ride for us. It started on a high note and ended on a really high note but the middle had some ups and downs. I don't really want to reflect on the negative things that happened. Just the good things.

In January (after months of researching different programs and agencies) we started the adoption process.

In April I celebrated my 30th birthday in style in St Lucia.

This is how we spent most of the week. In the pool or on the beach with a drink in our hand.

In August T and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I cant believe we have been married for 5 years! We decided to go to my parents condo in Florida for the weekend to celebrate.

T playing in the ocean. Some boys never grow up!

In September (after the Vietnam program we were in closed) we started looking into China's waiting child program.

In October we choose an agency and began to update our home study.

On December 4th we saw our little girls face for the first time. On the 9th we officially told our agency we wanted her. Isn't our little Maizie just so cute!!

2009 is going to be a great year. We... ok I am looking forward to getting Maizie's room ready for her. And we are of course looking forward to traveling to China to pick her up. In the last few weeks it's been so nice to say "next year when we have Maizie..." or "When we have Maizie..." Our lives as we know it are going to change and we cant wait.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!