Well, it's been 5 months...

Happy 5 month anniversary to us! It has been 5 months since our log in date. 5 long months since we finished our paper chase. 5 long months we have been waiting so far. It has actually been one year now since we began the adoption process all together. 1 year since we first went in and asked our social worker what our options were. 1 year since we decided to pick China. 1 year since I have felt a huge relief from the pressure of trying to get pregnant. That one year has its advantages. I dread thinking of how many more months we will be waiting. I try not to think about it. Last post I was really feeling the pressure of the wait. I guess it comes with those paper-pregnancy hormones.

Here's the latest update on our family.... David graduated from basic training yesterday!! HOORAY! What an accomplishment that is! We are so very proud of him. Also, today is his 26th birthday. Happy birthday, David! Dwaine and Ryan drove to South Carolina to his graduation and they are taking him to Maryland for his next round of training. This won't be anything nearly as demanding as basic training. He will graduate in October. I was unable to go to this graduation due to work conflicts. I am planning on going to the next graduation, though.

Ryan is off to band camp next week. That lasts for two weeks and then it will almost be time to start back to school. This summer has flown by! He hasn't had a whole lot of free time this summer due to summer school and now band camp. He has kept really busy. That is good for him, though.

Chris will be moving to Columbia to start police academy here at the university. He will be here until Christmas time. I am looking forward to him being here and I hope he decides to move here or somewhere close to Columbia. He has found an apartment and will be moving here around Labor Day weekend.

We are getting ready to sell my childhood home. Since Chris is not planning on coming back to Quincy, we are going to put the house on the market. That is a tremendously difficult thing to see happen. I grew up there and did not know any other home besides that one. There are a ton of memories that come flooding back when I think about that house and all of the wonderful holidays and events that took place there. It is also the house where both of my parents spent their last days on this earth. It is a sacred place for me. It was the place I could run to when things weren't going so well here. Anytime I needed to, I could always go home. I still call it my home even though I live here now and have lived here for 20 years. I have lived here longer than I lived in Quincy but 908 Locust is still home.

On a lighter note, I am putting out a plea for more quilt squares. So far I have 30 something. I need 100 in all. So if you would still like to participate, please send an 8x8 square of 100% cotton material and enclose a postcard with a wish for Ryleigh. Also, please attach a small sample of the material to the postcard because those will go into a scrapbook.

Here's an example:

This is from my friend Heather in PA. The wish says: "A girl's got to have a lot of class and a little flash! Have fun with life!"

You get the idea. You can write anything you want just as long as it represents you in some way. I'm looking forward to putting them together. So keep 'em coming in!

Have a great week everyone!

Kelley

Just thinking....

I have been thinking about a few things lately. Probably because I have had a little extra time on my hands the last few days. Dwaine has been in Washington, DC and I have been solo for the last 3 days. Sometimes it helps me to journal to get my thoughts in perspective.

I have been thinking about the adoption the last several days. Mostly in part because I have been looking at that stupid Rumor Queen site. This last month there were again, only 7 days worth of referrals. That puts us into the middle of November 2005. We were logged in Feb. 2007. If they only do one week of referrals per month, we will be dead before we get to go to China. I know that is very pessimistic and usually, I am not so much so but for some reason, I can't stop thinking about it lately. I don't want to be a mom who takes her kid out in public and everyone thinks the kid is her grandchild. I don't want to be too old to take good care of my daughter.

The other thing I have been thinking about is my dad. For whatever reason, he has been on my mind a lot lately. He will never see my children. He will not be a grandfather. This makes me incredibly sad. I miss him more and more all of the time. Just when I think it gets better, then it hits me all over again. I really hate that. He was such a good person and I always want to be like him.

I miss you, dad.

Kelley

Hello again

Hi everybody,

Just a quick update and a few miscellaneous items. Mostly though, I wanted to send a few pictures.

For those of you still interested in contributing quilt squares, I still need many more. I think I have around 30 now from various parts of the country. So far most have been from my Yahoo group. They have been very unique and all very cute. I can't wait to start looking at quilt designs. I mentioned that I have around 30 squares so far. Did I mention that I need about 70 more? (Hint, hint) You can send one, or more than one. I know many are looking and working on it. So far, I have only received 2 from friends of mine from here. All others have been from people from my online group. So be original, and make it something that represents who you are. Remember, the fabric should be 100 % cotton and preferrably pre-washed. Please enclose a postcard with a wish for Ryleigh and attach a small piece of the fabric to the postcard. If you have any question, please e-mail or call me.

On a side note, I mentioned that we had just gotten back from New Jersey. Here are a couple of pictures of Carrie in her pageant. She competed last year and placed in the top 10. She did a much better job in the pageant this year. Her singing gets better all of the time and of course she sang for the talent part of the competition. She was more confident and less nervous this year. She didn't place at all but none of the girls that placed last year did as well this year. I guess it is because you never know what the judges expect. They are different every year. We are really proud of her though. She came home this week and will be here until Tuesday. We have all had a nice visit and she and I spent a day at the spa last week. We have been having a good time. I wish she could come home more often. She will be going to Washington DC to spend the rest of the summer with her boyfriend, Gus. Then back to Westminster to begin grad school in the fall.

David is doing well. We haven't heard from him this weekend but last time Dwaine spoke to him, he sounded really good. He had rifle training a couple of weeks ago and scored high enough to be classified as a sharp shooter. Maybe those video games have paid off ;)

Dwaine and I are doing just fine. Still waiting to start remodelling on our house. I can't wait! We are refinishing the basement, getting new kitchen cabinets and countertops and combining the two back bedrooms to make one large master suite with a huge bathroom. We are putting an additional bedroom in the basement so we will still have three bedrooms. We are also adding a shower to the downstairs bath to make it a full bathroom. Right now we are waiting on the contractors to give us the word to order the cabinets. We are waiting on them to finish up another job before they start ours.

Well, hope you are all doing well and all of you please stay in touch.

Also, congratulations to my friend Becky who is expecting her third child! Congratulations!

Love you all,

Kelley & Dwaine