Trick or Treating is hard work. Gotta get some rest after flying house to house for all those treats. 

Here's our little SUPERMAN!!! 

Logan and Madelyn's Brothers

Today was the 5th scan of my twins - 1st Level II scan. After two hours of laying on a hard table and bad back pain from it, things look good so far.

We knew both babies were in two sacs but what we learned today is they share a placenta. The peri doctor called it monochorionic twins. From the research below that Tony found, these twins are identical. However, the doctor said they "could" be identical. I don't know what to believe except they are both boys and it's definitely obvious - 100%.

Anyway, at this time both babies are good. They are too young gestationally to get good pictures of their hearts and spine but from what they could tell everything is good so far.

One concern with monochorionic twins is the chance at twin to twin transfusion. There's a 15% chance of this occurring in pregnancies like mine. Right now that is not a problem. Both babies measured 18w2d and I am 17 weeks today. They are a little over a week bigger in measurements unlike Reagan who was 3 weeks behind. I will be scanned every 3-4 weeks for now and I'm assuming closer together as I get further along. So I'm guessing I'm going to be under the care of both my OB and this specialist doctor the entire pregnancy. Thank God for Insurance. Unfortunately our deductible will reset in January back to zero. My next scan with them and the specialist is 3 weeks from today and I see the OB the day after.

When we first went to our visit, we learned we had been set up to talk with a genetic counselor. We had no idea this was going to occur. She wanted to talk to us about Triploidy and the chances of it occurring again. We didn't learn anything new we didn't already know but it's always reassuring to hear the chances of that occurring again are 1%. Since there is spina bifida on my side of the family tree, they are wanting to make sure this is not the case with these babies at the next scan but at this time they couldn't tell mainly b/c the babies were so close together. I did find out my AFP test was negative which is great. It does not test for Triploidy and I also learned with twins they can not scan for Trisomies with that blood test. Amnio's were not done today and there was no concern to have them at this time. That was a relief. I think I was more worried about not being able to go trick-or-treating with Logan tonight after amnio's than the risk of miscarriage associated with it.

We are making lists of questions to ask the doctors soon. I'm concerned b/c the earliest ultrasounds look like the babies had to have separate placentas and not just one. I don't understand how they fused together. I just can't seem to have an easy pregnancy that's for sure.

Unless we change our minds, the boys names will be...
Nathaniel Cade Hooker and Andrew Cole Hooker

More babies????

Logan says to me this evening, "Leia needs to have a baby like you, Mommy." I said back, "you think so?" How do you explain to a 3 year old that his cat can't have babies like mommy? Two reasons why she can't- she's been spayed and if she hadn't been spayed, there are no male cats around in our home. I guess Leia will have to adopt.

A Beautiful Poem

Until Forever
from Tom Fisher

This morning in China a mother cries
She'll never forget her daughter's eyes
Her heart is broken and filled with pain
The tears run down like the falling rain.
She has no choice but to leave her there
The cost of keeping is too much to bear
She hopes her daughter will one day know
True love can be found in letting her go.

This morning in China a baby cries
Hungry and scared as tears fill her eyes
Her mother has left her in this public place
Another lost daughter of the Chinese race
Someone passing by has heard her soft moan
She's soon quickly taken to a foster home
It's here she'll reside in the care of another
Until she's adopted by a brand new mother.

That very same moment, in the U.S.A.
A woman cries as she starts to pray
Her heart is heavy but filled with much love
She prays for a daughter she thinks the world of.
"Dear Jesus I ask that your arms would be
Wrapped tightly around the one picked for me
Guard her in China `till I make my way
And then in my arms forever she'll stay."

What is there to do at 2am in the morning?

I've been wide awake now almost a full hour. I have to be the worst sleeper. I can't remember the last time I slept all the way through a night. Even on Ambien I can't sleep through a night. So, what do I do when I'm up?

1. Leia loves it when I get up. She wants to snuggle the entire time. She is definitely my cat.
2. Check email....why not? I tend to have abut 50 come in during the night from the adoption groups.
3. I always have to use the bathroom -10 times worse during pregnancy
4. I might play musical beds especially since moving into the apartment. I go from my bed, to the couch, to Logan's bed, back to the couch, etc...
5. I might even watch a little TV but there's not usually much on that's worth watching at these hours.

Who says I'm not ready for sleepless nights with 3 babies? I already don't sleep through a night. It will be no different except then there will be crying, lots of noise, changing diapers, but at least I'll have some company during these early hours of the morning.

Chinese New Year Barbie

Toys R Us will have this Barbie on November 18th. Wouldn't this be a great birthday gift for Tony? Ok, maybe not, but how about a Christmas present? I need an excuse to buy it. I love Barbie's. I can't wait to have a little girl I can play Barbie's with.

The Month of April

There's a man on the HFS groups that keeps up with dates from DTC to Referral, LID to referral, etc. Today he sent out an email and he estimates Sept 9 LID's to get referral's on April 10th.

April 10th is Logan's birthday. April 10th is my due date (however, I will not make it that far with twins). This should be exciting seeing how close the referral comes to Logan's birthday and the babies' birthday.

LID's ARE HERE

Just received this email from HFS....

Hi Everyone,I have LID's! (SORRY- no TA's yet)
August 12 LID is Sept. 9
August 26 LID is also Sept. 9
September 9 LID is Oct. 10
That's all for now folks :)

Our DTC is August 26 so we're LID for September 9th. That means we're looking for referral's to come March-April (6-7 month wait).

Ladybug Magnets for Sale

Back in August I posted a photo of a magnet Tony had made. I placed a link on the sidebar to a picture of it. We are selling them for $5 each. Buyer pays shipping. All proceeds go to our adoption fund. If you are interested, please let us know.

A Confession

I can finally tell the adoption community I'm pregnant with TWINS!!!!

Tony and I have kept from telling our agency and people I've met that are also adopting (except the ones I've personally met or trusted through email conversations). I was afraid China would turn us down or have us postpone our adoption.

Yesterday, not only were we told to think Blue but found out both babies were boys. We'll have three boys and our one daughter from China.

Thanks to FAYE for assuring us that Harrah's would not have a problem with us adopting while pregnant. She recommended I speak with Jackie Harrah and confess to her and know NOW what was going to occur with our adoption. I called Harrah's around 10am this morning (8am their time) and asked to speak with her and just came right out and said I'm pregnant with twins and still want to adopt. She said she saw no problem and congratulated us. Our homestudy already has to be updated b/c of our move and so when our social worker evaulates our new house, it will be added that we have two more additions in our house. We also need to show that we meet China's requirements for income - $10,000 for each person in the household including the one being adopted - so for us that would be $60,000.

My pregnancy is still not in the clear but as for now everything looks good. We'll know more on Monday from a level II ultrasound.

We've had many ask if we still wanted to adopt especially hearing that we're expecting twins and YES we still do. She's just as much a part of our family now as the babies I'm carrying. She'll have 3 brothers to protect her and be the only little princess in our house (as Kendra wrote to me yesterday). Three babies will be hard. We know that but we're willing to take that responsibility.

My due date is actually Logan's birthday, April 10, but since I'm carrying twins, I've been told to aim for delivery between 32-36 weeks (hopefully closer to 36). So, we're looking at having them February or March, referral around March for Madelyn and maybe going to China in May or June. We'll have a few months at home with the twins before Madelyn comes home. Hopefully we'll be in our house in February or March also, plenty of time to get ready for Madelyn to come home (but not so sure about the twins).

Think BLUE

That's what we were told after an ultrasound today. So far, so good. We will know more on Monday. Looks like Madelyn will be our only girl which is fine with us. That just makes her even more special to us than she already was if that's possible.

Poor, poor kitty

Logan comes running to me having a little panic attack b/c he was holding Leia and saw her back claws. He said we had to take her to the doctor and get the rest of her claws taken out b/c the doctor forgot to take them out. Poor kitty. This is how he carries her around. She is such a good kitty or else she would have really hurt Logan by now from the way he treats her.

We Have Plumbing

After trying out a new church today, we drove by our new house and noticed we have plumbing. Now maybe we'll see some walls soon. Logan and I were nosey and went into two other homes that were being built close to us. We'll know what our neighbors homes look like without them ever showing us. I hope they have kids the same ages as ours. Hopefully soon we'll meet them.

This is what I have done so far to Madelyn's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It's definitely going to be the perfect size for a baby. I have 7 more rows to complete. It's far from perfect. You can tell I'm a beginner quilter. 

3rd Quilting Class

Last Monday was my 3rd quilting class. The lesson was machine applique. This is definitely not my favorite. I've been doing my homework all week and finally finished today. Those leaves were a pain in the butt to finish. I know I didn't do it right but ain't no way I'm taking it all out to redo it. I did the best I could for a first timer that doesn't even know how to sew. These three pieces will be sewn together and then eventually attached to the other pieces I've already made. Next Monday is my last class. I hope my 100 Good Wishes Quilt looks better than my class work.

Wishes

Today I assembled the wishes together that go along with the 100 squares I'm using for the first quilt I'm making. I selected a red scrapbook album - $3.98 at A.C. Moore (LOVE THIS STORE). I was going to get pretty scrapbook paper and do it all really nice but then I decided I've put so much into this quilt already and the wishes along are beautiful that it doesn't really need all dolling up. The wishes are beautiful as they are just glued down on white paper. I have over 100 more wishes but I'm not putting them in an album until I use those squares for something.

August Secret Pal Gift

UPS delivered this to us today. It's a Chinese Blossoms Handstitched Tao Journal and Chinese Lullabies CD. Isn't the journal beautiful?

A Baby Story

Today's A Baby Story on TLC channel was about a couple adopting from China. This was their 2nd China adoption. They talked about how the paperwork was the hardest. Thank goodness we're over that stage of the process. I think I cried through the entire show. Gotcha moment is so emotional. This baby also bonded instantly. I really hope our baby bonds with Tony immediately when he receives her in China. That will make it so much easier for him and the rest of his trip while there. Our day is coming and I can't wait to meet her for the first time.

LID's are coming

A message from HFS today says August and first of September LID's are coming with the next TA's (travel approvals). However, they don't know when TA's are coming.

I Saw Santa Claus Today

Yep, we met at Wal-Mart this morning. It's getting close to Christmas so it was time I speak to him. He asked about Logan and I told him he's been pretty good. Santa said if he stays good then he'll get lots of new toys for Christmas - especially his favorties - Thomas the Tank Engine and Geo Trax. I also told him about Madelyn and how she is spending her first Christmas in an orphanage or maybe with a foster family. We still want to have presents for her under the tree waiting on her to come home. This is her first Christmas so we should still celebrate it for her even if she's not here. So, he said he would definitely get her a Cabbage Patch doll and the Baby Mulan doll. However, the Sonya Lee (Little People) dolls are hard to come by these days. I told him I know b/c I've been looking myself. I've found the smaller ones and have even bought her the small one already but can't find the big cuddly ones anywhere. He's going to keep looking around and hope maybe some pop up on the shelves soon. He also asked about what to bring the new addition I'm carrying but I said I'd like to wait and know the sex first before buying.

Unfortunately we're not spending Christmas in our new house, nor old one at that. We put our old artificial tree in storage b/c it has had it's days of Christmas' now so it's time to retire. If we get a new one, then we have no where to put it once it's done at our apartment unless we carry it back to Kernersville to storage. And if we get a live tree, we have no truck to haul it in. Hum? Maybe we'll get a Charlie Brown tree and make do with that. We don't have space anyway for a tree. We'll figure something out by then.

September DTC Group ...

has a website now.

http://www.septembermoongazers.com/OurFamilies3.html

Update on our New House

While Logan was at preschool, I stopped by our new house and nothing has been done in over a week now. I was hoping to see some walls. I finally remembered my camera so I took a few pictures. This one shows the garage to the far left, outline of front porch, and the back big hole represents our bedroom, living room and kitchen, and behind the porch is a foyer and dining room.



This 2nd picture I took from what will be the front of my house. Thse are my new neighbors. We've never met them and haven't seen anyone around to even introduce ourselves to them. You can also see the new Elementary school in this picture. Except when it rains, it will be so easy to walk to the kids to school in the morning since I'm only five houses away from the back of the school. We also have their fields to play in when they are not being used and hopefully the new school will have a playground soon that we can use too.

First Present from Secret Pal

My September Secret Pal sent all of this to me. She went overboard. I had a slip in my apartment mailbox last night that this was delivered. These boxes are tiny so of course a box isn't going to fit in there. I went all the way to the post office today to pick it up for them to tell me it was left at the apartment office. I'm seeing a pattern here - if not at my door or box, check apartment office first. I haven't decided yet how I'm going to decorate the kids bathroom in our new house but I'm sure the ducks will be cute no matter what. I've never used these kinds of bath mits before so I look forward to trying them out.

Isn't this adorable?

My church had its first children's consignment last weekend. Since I've moved away I was unable to attend but a few friends bought this for me plus two other things. Isn't this adorable? The size is missing but I'm guessing it's about 18 months but I'm not sure. Madelyn will look so cute in this. When we get her next year, it's going to be getting close to summer so she'll have to wait and see if it fits next fall. Thanks Sharon and Mary!!!

Leia Needs Her Own Quilt

I was thinking after I finish Madelyn's quilt that I would attempt something for Logan but it looks like Leia may be next in line. She loves this one so much already. She's been playing with it in the floor. I could probably just give her some fabric and let her go at that.

First Row is finished. This is going to be the bottom row of the 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It's definitely far from perfect. This will be my first quilt without an instructor and not in a class. I'm sure it will be lop-sided, but at least I'm trying. 

Look What Leia Did......ARGH!!!!

The CAT almost lost another life today. Look at this picture and compare to one previously posted. She did this. We left her almost all day by herself and she didn't touch a thing in the apartment, but after we got home, she went nuts and attacked my squares. I even found one square in Logan's room. She was carrying them in her mouth. I was ready to strangle the cat. I locked her in my room after I chased her in there and shut her up until she calmed down.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

I completely forgot what today was until I read my email tonight. Today is the day set aside to remember those that have lost babies during pregnancy or as a young child.

Remembering Our Babies

We've had so much going on lately that we didn't remember the importance of this day. We've lost three, two to early miscarriage and one in 2nd trimester. I've met many women in the past few years that have lost babies. Some of these have lost many and some may have lost just one. No matter how many, it still hurts no matter what whether it's one or ten.

A nurse I saw recently at my reproductive endocrinologist's office after loosing Reagan told me about her loss. She said she had 5 children. I think it was her 4th that she lost during childbirth. Her children are all grown but she says she still thinks about that one baby she lost. We talked about all the stupid comments people made to a person after loosing a child. I'm pretty sure now I've heard them all. This is the first nurse I think I've ever had to share her experience with me like she did that day.

To all the Moms and Dads that have lost babies, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Will She Look Like Me?

Probably not.

Recently I met a lady who has a granddaughter from China. She showed me her pictures and said she tells everyone that her granddaughter looks like her.

Look at these pictures.

Tony and Logan - no doubting these two aren't related.

She will have the NC Southern accent though even if she doesn't look like us.

After a few hours of Tony and I both rearranging all the squares I cut out, I decided to go back to just a random design. I did put in the top left hand corner the first square I received. In the middle I placed red squares. Traditionally in a log cabin pattern, the center is red and even though this is not a log cabin pattern, I decided to make the center red anyway. I still have many squares left over so if I mess up sewing this one together, I can try again. On the bottom row is one square sewed to some purple fabric. This is the color I'm placing between the squares. I hope it looks good when I'm finished. 

It WAS Here

Kricket left me a comment that I should call the apartment office and ask if my package was there. It was. When I got to the office, a FedEx delivery guy was there. He looked at my package and said he didn't deliver ground packages but said that they are suppose to try to deliver to our apartments first and if not there, then they are suppose to leave a message on our door. So, I complained to the apartment office and FedEx man that this was not the case and I had put in a claim for it. Hopefully this will not happen again. (Probably will but at least I know now to check the office and don't assume they'll call if something was left there for me.) Now I have to cancel my claim and report back to seller it was delivered.

FedEx Didn't Deliver

This morning I pulled up FedEx website to see when the crib bedding I ordered for Madelyn would be here. I had been sent the tracking number over a week ago but had not taken the time yet to look it up. I thought it would have been here by now. Turns out it was delivered on Oct 5. The note says left at door, no signature required. So, this either means it was stolen from my apartment door or it was never delivered to me to begin with. Oct 5th was a Wednesday and the time delivered was 8:33am and I know I was here that morning. I was busy faxing papers to the lawyers office b/c that was our closing day on the house. If it was delivered to my door, no one knocked to let me know it was here. The apartment office hasn't called to tell me if they have a package either. I've now had to file a claim for lost package and I'm probably going to be out of the money for this. I've also notifed the seller. Needless to say I will not be buying from them again if they can't place signatures on their packages to be delivered.

Postcard Swap/Secret Pal Swap and more

Today I mailed out 45 postcards - 10 of those to another country. It took me 3 days to write them out. I'm so used to typing everything that handwriting all of those cramped my fingers, hand and wrist. I did get my first one back in return from Kansas City, Missouri. Darn post office put a big white strip over the bottom part of the picture and it's suppose to go on the other side where it clearly states "space below reserved for US Postal service".

I also mailed out my two secret pal gifts. One of them may end up finding out who I am b/c the post office required me to fill out a customs form since it was to another country and I had to sign it and tell what was in the package.

I also bought some fabric that I'm going to use in between the squares of Madelyn's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. Tonight is cutting night and I'm going to start cutting everything down to size and maybe even sew the first one or two squares to see if it's going to look right with the fabric I chose. Thankfully I have more than 100 squares so if I mess up, I can make another one.

Perfect Frame for Referrel Photo

I saw this and just knew it was the perfect frame for when the referrel pictures come. I tried to lighten up the photo but the blog keeps showing it dark.

What is LID?

I've been asked by several now "what is LID?".

I copied this from another blog...

LID stands for “Logged In Date” and it is the date that China confirms the following:
1. Received the dossier
2. The dossier is complete to their standards - VERY IMPORTANT!
3. We’re now on the waiting list to have a child assigned to us!!!

Still no word on our LID.

LID Info

I just found out no one from Harrah's has received LID's since July's group. I've seen other agencies giving out LID's to DTC dates after mine. This doesn't make any sense to me why some agencies get them and the others do not. Hopefully this will be cleared up soon.

Here's all three pieces now that I've quilted together for my class I'm taking. Somehow these will attach but not sure how yet.  

This will be my 3rd creation. Tomorrow I"m going back to sew these pieces together. All three pieces will eventually be sewn together. I think that will happen in the last class. 

Here's my 2nd creation at my quilting class. This will eventually be sewn onto the first piece. 

See what I mean by Logan being mean to the poor kitty? 

One minute Logan is sweet to the cat and then the next he can be so mean. 

I've been tagged again

and didn't realize it so here goes....

7 Things that scare me:
Thunder and Lightening
Tornado warning/watch
Death
Something horrible happening to Logan
My husband being in a car accident (well this one is low now b/c his drive was cut from 180 miles a day down to 2 to get to work)
Loosing another pregnancy
Driving in Charlotte Traffic

7 Things I like:
Learning a new craft
My kitty Leia
To be pampered
Relaxing with the remote on the couch with a warm blanket
Tickling Logan
Chatting with friends via email or blog or phone
Window Shopping by myself (if I had money it would be just shopping)

7 Things in my room:
(some of what's in our apartment bedroom is not what is normally in our room)
Computer desk and laptop
Currently a husband snoring and a 3 year old watching cartoons
Bookshelf
Clothes
Laundry baskets
Leia asleep at my feet
Boxes and suitcases still unpacked from moving

7 random facts about ME:
I hate to cook but love to eat
I hate being overweight
I've been pregnant 4 times
I hate having PCOS
I love playing in my little band from church (even though I am going to miss lots of practices and performances since I've moved)
I hate having flat feet
I do like my eyes (its about the only feature of me others comment on - Tony even wrote a poem once about my eyes)

7 Things I plan to do before I die:
Watch my children grow up
Spoil my grandchildren
Travel the USA, Europe and/or Australia
Take the family to China after all the kids are a little older so Madelyn can see/experience her home country again
Take a cruise
Retire
Learn how to flip a pancake

7 things I can do:
Play flute
Cross-stitch
Crochet just a tad (not much though)
Karaoke (b/c it doesn't matter if I sing a wrong note)
Kiss boo-boos and make them better
Swim
Soon I'll be able to quilt

7 things I can not or will not do:
Bungee jump
Swim in a pool or lake while it's lightening
Pose naked for anyone
Abuse my children
Wear daisy dukes
Body peircings except the one hole in each ear already there
Get a tatoo (I hate needles)

7 Things I say the most:
Stop that Logan
No
I don't think so
I'm hungry
I have to pee (since I'm pregnant)
Do you need to potty (To Logan while potty training)
When are you coming home? (to Tony after a long day home with Logan)

And I'm going to skip the 7 celebrity crushes b/c I can't remember peoples names

7 people I tag to do this - next 7 readers to my blog

Stealing a Photo from Another Blog

Here's a pic of my baby boy and one of his girlfriends. Ain't they cute?

Sunday Update

After visiting a new church today, we stopped by our new house site. The road in front of our house is not paved yet so Tony got out and walked down it in the mud. He said the brick foundation is up. YIPPEE!!! At least that's a start. This week I'll take my camera if it's not raining and try to get some shots. Hopefully we'll see walls soon. This apartment is not for us. One week has been about all I want here but unfortunately we've got a few more months.

The rest of today has been lazy day. How often will we get these again come Spring? Never!!! Logan doesn't let us do this that often either and I'm sure with more kids, this will be non-existent. We've been able to be couch potato's and watch movies on this dreary Sunday.

I still can't decide what to send my secret pals. I really need to do some searching. Maybe tomorrow I can get some time out by myself since Tony is home (Banks don't work on Columbus Day) and go out and shop for them.

Hooker's can attract lots of women. 

Monthly Themes

Now I have themes for my secret pal exchanges...

For August DTC group:
October - Something for Mom and/or Dad
Nov - Baby bath time
Dec - Welcome to your forever family
Jan - Chinese New Year
Feb - Something to travel (to China)
March - Something for baby and/or nursery/cyber shoewr as well as something little from your hometown or state and secret pals will be revealed then

For September DTC group:
October- My little Pumpkins Bed N Bath
Nov - A picture is worth a thousand words and I am thankful for each one
Dec - The gift of Love
Jan - Bringing in the new year with thoughts for travel
Feb - Candy Kisses and the Sweetest Wishes
March - Its all about Baby

This should be interesting trying to come up with some ideas of what to send and also what I receive.

Doctors Don't Tell You Everything

This post has nothing to do about adoption but I wanted to write this down. Last Friday before our move I picked up my OB records since I was transferring doctors. I now know why doctors don't tell you everything. I knew before reading my records there was probably some information about our daughter Reagan in there that I was never told and I was right.

In my records were amnio results, surgery report and lab results from my pregnancy with her. For those that haven't kept up with my blog, I lost her to Triploidy which is an extra 23 chromosomes. This was confirmed by amnio results.

As it turns out, Reagan had many, many deformities I was never told of. I guess at that time it wasn't going to make it any better to know these. I never got to see her so I didn't know of these things. The amnio results even labeled her as "non viable" with life. I even read that there was a big chance of me hemorrhaging had I not gone to surgery. I'm not going to list her deformities here but I made sure I had copies for myself before giving them to my new doctors to keep with everything I have from her such as items I had bought for her, sympathy cards, etc. I have shared these with my closest friends and mom but most probably wouldn't want to have these images in their head. It's not a pretty picture.

It was 6 months yesterday that we lost her and it still feels like yesterday sometimes. It it wasn't for Logan, Tony, and working towards the adoption I don't know how I would have made it through these 6 months. I worry everyday with this pregnancy what the outcome will be. On October 31st, Halloween Day, we will have a Level II ultrasound to rule out neural tube defects and look for any other signs of birth defects and if there are any signs pointing to these, I will be having another amnio performed. I also believe in AFP testing now. I might have known earlier there were problems with Reagan had I not refused this test.

I miss you, Reagan, always will.

This picture is similar to what I want Madelyn's quilt to look like.

Or I may do something like this one

Both are pictures from http://www.originalquilts.com/100_good_wishes_quilts.htm

Another Good Adoption Book

Yesterday we got new library cards for Mecklenburg County libraries and while in the children's section with Logan, I found this book and checked it out. It is a sweet story of a little Chinese girl who's biologicial mother dropped her off at an orphanage. The adopting father traveled to China to pick her up and took her home to meet her new mother. I think we need to buy this one since Tony may be the only one traveling to bring home Madelyn. It definitely shows the love adopting parents can have for children that are not biologically theirs.

I hope I put this together right. I emailed this photo to my instructor. While Logan was at preschool, I went to the store I am taking classes from and finished this section of the quilt we're working on for class. Today I got to use the $1000 machine instead of the $699 one. I doubt I'll be getting either of those, but they sure are good machines.

BTW, you can tell how small our apartment kitchen is in this picture. To one side of Logan is the fridge and the other is the dishwasher. Just a few steps forward and you're out of the kitchen. It needs to stop raining here so the builders can put up my house b/c I really don't like this apartment life. Today I did see a pile of bricks on our lot.

September DTC Secret Pal

Now I have a secret pal for September DTC group. I hope I don't get these confused. Different swaps will occur for the two I'm on.

Need Some Ideas

My first secret pal swap is to buy something for mom and/or dad. I actually signed up for both the August DTC swap and September DTC swap. August since our DTC is 8/26 and September b/c our LID will be in that month. We could possibly travel with either group.

So, what would be a good gift to swap for the parents? I can't say what I end up sending b/c that person may read my site but ideas can be shared. Thanks.

We Are No Longer Homeowners

Our house closed this morning. The new owner is probably moving in now. It's all over and done with except for us getting our money and I also have to mail her a check. When the inspection was done, the inspector told the buyer one of the doors in the basement must be fire rated per code. We added the door during the addition of the basement. So she asked for it to be fixed. We only had a 2 week notice so we decided to give her the money instead. I got an estimate from Lowe's and we now have to mail her a check. I'm sure she'll pocket it for something else. Why replace the door if you don't have to? If she had gotten an FHA loan, then it would have had to be done first but that's not the case. If I was her, I'd pocket the money for something else myself. The door works perfectly fine.

Yeah, we'll miss it. I already do. We're so crowded in this apartment. I hope our new builders get on the ball and put our house up quickly and there are no hurdles they have to cross to get that done.

About Me Again

I saw a new OB doctor today and am officially labeled high risk. I knew that but no one ever said it to me. Due to my history I'll be having lots of scans, more appts than most OB patients. Today everything was good - bp, no weight gain, found on doppler. I'll have a level II scan in 3-4 weeks. I might even post the sex once we know.

Of course when telling the story of our adoption to the doctor I was asked "so you're not adopting now, right?" YES WE ARE!!! He is the father of two sets of twins so if he and his wife can do that, we can do this. There's a possibility of postponing a month or two if there are complications later on but right now that is not an option. Our plans are that we deliver and Tony goes to China to pick up Madelyn and our family will be complete.

I know I'm getting old when the doctors start looking younger. This new doctor looked so young compared to me. I wanted to ask him his age but I didn't. I don't think I've ever had one this young before. Maybe it's just me getting older and now I'm the same age as these doctors.

This is what I've learned to do so far in my quilting class. This is not material from the squares I've collected. This is only for practice. I'm suppose to double this before next Monday if I find a machine to work on by then. Next week we learn a different pattern. 

I was too tired to even get out of the car to take this picture so I rolled the window down and snapped the SOLD sign. As you can see, the car was loaded up front to back. 

We weren't the only ones pooped from moving this weekend. Logan konked out on the couch. 

Gotta hate moving....this is only one room that is a disaster since moving into smaller quarters. We brought too much stuff.

First Quilting Class

I took my first class last night at Sew Much Fun in Concord, NC. There were about 5 others besides me. I was the only one without a sewing machine but the store let me use theirs. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about my homework b/c I don't have a machine to complete what we started. We learned the proper way to cut material and measure and tools to use. We also started making squares. I have two complete and need to make two more. I'll post pictures later but I can't find the cord to run from the camera to the computer to upload them. It's somewhere here in boxes that are not unpacked.

I told the instructor about the squares I have already received and she wants me to bring some next week to show her. She's going to give me some ideas of how to get started with making the 100 Good Wishes Quilt for Madelyn.

Postcard Swap

I also got added to a postcard swap in the DTC groups. Now I've gotta find the best places to buy postcards around the big city of Charlotte.

Secret Pal

I now have a secret pal for the August DTC group. I don't really know all the rules yet or when it starts. I also can't post what I send either b/c I don't know if she/he will read my blog. It's gotta be a SECRET. This should be fun. I can't wait to see what all we get for our family and for Madelyn.

A VERY Busy Weekend

We are finally moved, not settled, but all of our belongings are either now at our apartment or in storage buildings. Many, many thanks to those that helped this weekend. We couldn't have done it without you. We spent most of Saturday just loading a truck and didn't even make it back to our apartment until late that night. Unloading took very little time. It wasn't until after midnight that our heads hit a pillow. Then Sunday, we were back up early cleaning and loading all of what was left into our car and van.

Logan was very upset Sunday when he saw for the first time at our house that our furniture was gone. He spent the day with a friend and once he got back Sunday, he cried and cried b/c the couch and table were gone. It broke my heart and made me cry. He hasn't even seen the mess at the apartment yet b/c he fell asleep on the way home and hasn't woke up yet this morning.

It was an emotional weekend. I'm going to miss living there, not just the house but everything else that came with living there like friends. I've moved many times but this was definitely the hardest to leave behind.

Another Amazing Adoption Story

http://snipurl.com/i3tt