Beached

Today we spent the afternoon at the beach with some really great friends. It was pure bliss. The kiddies had fun we were all so relaxed and then someone who will remain nameless said if we wanted to beat traffic we needed to leave now! So we trekked to the car, sand and all and headed off of the Key and into the worst rush hour traffic known to man. I knew it would take forever to get home and I really didn't want Miss Lil to fall asleep in the car so I did what all good mummy's do and I bribed her. "Lily I will give you $1 if you can stay awake all the way home, but I know you won't be able to do it". Money apparently talks even at this tender young age cos the little whippersnapper kept her eyes open and her mouth in gear for the whole trip and as soon as we pulled into the driveway she squealed, "you owe me one dollar".

Pic's from the beach

Ed, Jenny and the adorable Ebby (for those new to this blog Ebby is not his real name but the way Lily pronounce Evan when he was born. Somehow it stuck and he has always been Ebby to us) I love the little guy he is just so gorgeous.

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If you don't know who this is you are in worse shape than me.

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Running Late

Who knew you could be late for your own vacation? We initially thought we would be there by now but we appear to have hit a speed bump. Never fear all has been revamped and we are now leaving on Wednesday of next week. Lily and I will head over there together and spend lots of time with Nannie and Grandpa and all her cousins and then Jacob will join us later on. At least this time around he will be coming. Summer is so very busy and I thought it would be all layed back with no school etc.etc.
Lily actually went to camp today. A craft camp. It is only for 2 hours but it is called camp. She was so intensely excited last night that when I put her to bed she reappeared within minutes and asked me for a clock so that she would know when she had to get up. I showed her that when it showed 7.00am she could get up.When I went back a while later to check on her the clock was on her pillow. This morning she came bouncing into our room at 5.32 saying that she thought she may have missed the 7 on her clock. I groaned and mumbled that she was early and she just bebopped out of the room all giddy that she wasnt late! She had a great time and Jacob said that when he dropped her off she couldn't get rid of him fast enough.
Tonight was gymnastics and her and her friend Mia had their usual adventure.Thankfully there were no back flips tonight but she did do the balance beam which was quite amusing. She has such a great time and I love to see her having fun. And if you were wondering just how many leotards Miss L has I will never tell. Suffice to say I have a friend who connected me!


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Just Lily

Before I start with Lilys latest antics: if anyone is interested in getting a custom made bracelet for themselves (see yesterdays post) and their daughter in beads and a design of their choice, with the professional opinion of Emma thrown in, just let me know and I will pass on her email addy to you. I received an email today and she would be very happy to make them.

So today Lily and her dad went out for the morning and then I came home at lunchtime to take over the mummy duties. I went upstairs to change and she tagged along. The nut job was running around on our bed when I pointed out something to her. The twit didn't stop and just kept running but she turned her head to look at what I was showing her and ran right off the edge of the bed. I swear it was the funniest thing I have ever seen her do. Our bed is very high and she plummeted to the floor. The look on her face was priceless. She looked at me and said, "was I running in mid air mummy?" Then I couldn't hold it in any longer and I exploded into hysterical fits and she followed suit. Perhaps we should have called her Grace!

We had to run an errand this afternoon and I stopped in at Old Navy to see if they had a shirt for her and she saw a bikini that she liked, It was a whopping $5 so I figured I would get it. We scoured the shop looking for her size and just spotted one and this woman swooped in and snagged it. (Can you say, HAG?) We searched the whole shop but there was not another one to be had so we bought something else and once we were in the cue to pay I realised that the hag was in front of us. She held up the 2 bikinis she had and asked the sales man to help her choose one. I immediately put my hand over Lily's mouth so that she wouldn't show any interest and in my head told her to buy the other one. She chose the one Lily wanted. I told Lil we would try another shop. The chap rang her up and she handed over her credit card and it was declined. She went back to her wallet and tried again, ZING...declined again. I figured she would pay cash but she didn't she left the stuff and walked out. Lily got her new bikini! She was so happy and kept saying, "because I'm lucky" in a really freaky voice.
Since she had a new bikini we had to go for a swim.


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Beautiful Bracelet.

A few weeks ago I was reading my friend Emma's blog, The Thomas Family European Adventure and she had posted a photo of a really gorgeous bracelet that she had made for her daughter. I commented on it and said if she made some with Ladybugs on them she would be very popular in the China adoption community.

Last week she emailed me and said she was updating her address book and wanted to be sure she had the correct address for us and I fell for it hook line and sinker. Since we both move around alot it was a reasonable request but today in the post Lily received a simply gorgeous ladybug bracelet made just for her by Emma.

Emma thank you. Lily loves it and has been parading around all afternoon with it on. Then she takes it off and packs it away just the way it was when it arrived and then puts it on again and the pattern repeats over and over again.

Isn't it lovely? The photo doesn't really do it justice. Em' sent a little paper with it stating what all the various beads are.

The Water Is Freezing I tell Ya"

For years and years people here in Miami have told me all about the Venetian Pool and asked if I have ever gone. The answer has always been, no. I am not a big public pool person, I get all germy freaky and if any water goes into my mouth I nearly drown. ( I really do need some sort of therapy). Anyway today we trotted off to the Gables to go to the Venetian Pool. It really is quite beautiful and as far as I am concerned way to deep. I like my tootsies to be able to hit the floor but the shallow bits were 5ft and being a very tall 5ft 2, the water went straight over my head just fine the deep bits were just some odd abyss as far as I was concerned. The pool has caves in it that you can swim into and also a waterfall. Lily had a blast but in order for her to go into the deep end she had to sport a life jacket, which she thought was the most fun ever. The pool was originally a rock quarry and consequently the pool is cut out of rock and not particularly smooth rock either so when when you accidentally hit the bottom with you tootsies it hurts like the dickens. The inside of the caves is reasonably shallow and has lots of ledges in so that you can park your bum on a craggy rock if you so desire, Lily of course desired this so Mama had to follow suit. We really did have a great time and the "Fish" was in her element swimming into the caves and under the waterfall.

The Waterfall

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This is why she liked the life jacket!

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The Fish and her Dad

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Me looking like I have way to many shots of something good.

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Yesterday

I don't think it was blogger that was giving me problems I think it was me. I was using the laptop for the first time to blog since that is the only way I can view Somewhere In China, without it crashing my computer. So now I need to know what I am meant to be doing on a Mac in order to blog. All I get is a screen with spellcheck and the photo tab but no other editing tools. Connie, any suggestions?

Yesterday was great. I have been in a total cleaning and organizing frenzy for the last 2 days so I decided that Lily needed some fun time so we trekked over to my friend Amy's house so that she could play with the boys. Nicolas and Marco were the first friends Lily ever met and they get on famously. Nicolas was in a very sweet mood yesterday and treated Lily like a Goddess. He even picked a flower and so gently placed it behind her ear......ahhh a touching moment.


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Lily Gets A Bit Too Adventurous With The Hose

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Snack Time

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Lily And Her Little Guy

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Look At This, It Melts My Heart.

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Lily and Sammie. Happy B-day Colin

From Lily's very first day at school she has been attached at the hip to a little girl called Sammie. They stick together like glue. Many months ago when Lily received her first phonecall from a friend it was Sam, when they went on field trips Sammie was right there next to us and so it goes. Lily has wanted to have her over to the house for ages but it hasn't happened until today that is. We, the parents, talked on the phone and it turned out that the only way they could get together was if Sammies mum could drop her off here but not stay. I was fine with this and so were the girls.

Promptly at noon the doorbell rang and 2 shrieking girls were united. The noise level was almost scary, Jacob looked terrified and went outside since he was on the phone. I served lunch but they were much to giddy to eat so they nibbled a bit and took off. I really might as well have been invisible as these 2 played without a moments discord for 5 straight hours. Lily requested that they make cupcakes so I was allowed to be involved but other than that I was an unnecessary disturbance who was occasionally allowed to serve drinks or snacks. Once I was allowed to set up a board game for them. ( for those of you with little ones the games made by Cranium are really super and the kids love them)

This was a really wonderful experience to watch Lily hard at play with no whining, arguments or parental intervention. After Sammie left to go home she rang Lily 3, yes 3, times to thank her and to ask if they can do it again. Well Sammie, we loved having you and of course you can come back, lots of times but since you are only 5 the sleepover you girls want to do so badly will have to wait!

Having friends over is nothing new but the mums usually come too.



The 2 Beauticians (Lily is showing Barbie her face in the mirror, I wonder if Barbie liked it)


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Perhaps not the most hygienic way to mix cupcakes but they had fun


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Getting Sticky


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I want to wish my wonderful BIG brother a very happy birthday today. He is having a milestone birthday and probably won't be reading this for a few days because his partying will take precedence over the blog. Happy Birthday to a truly kind and wonderful person who I am lucky enough to call my brother. Have a wonderful birthday.....month. We love you.

Lily Flipped

No really she did, today at gymnastics the child did a back flip. One of those things that real gymnasts do. One second she was talking with the coach and she gave it a try but landed on her face (more heart beats that I will NEVER get back) and then "ping" she flipped. I would have caught it on camera for you but I was so shocked that I just stood there with my mouth open wide and then I think I uttered the words OMG. This is only her 3rd time she has attended class and she is already doing flips. She is so determined and won't stop until she has mastered something.
I thought today was going to be a disaster cos her friend Mia who also happens to be from China has switched her class so that they can be together so I thought for sure that they would be constantly getting into trouble for yipping but as it turned out they helped each other. The coach came up to me after class and said that Lily appears to be a natural and should get some private lessons to improve her skills. I think not at least for now. If she wants them later she can have them but I think it is a bit early to start making a gymnast out of her. Who knows it could be just a line they use on suckers to see if they will bite.
Anyway this is the little bit I did capture of her. Nothing very exciting cos I get riveted to the spot when she does death defying feats and forget to snap a piccie.


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Apparently the child smooshed her face a lot today cos here she is doing it again. She is wearing black and turquoise.

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Catching Up

This post is written in no particular order and hops around all over the place from subject to subject so if you are still interested may I suggest a Dramamine to ward off sea sickness.

We finished the flower bed out front yesterday and as of a few minutes ago everything is still alive which is a huge accomplishment to us. I hope they grow quickly because that electric metre is really ugly and also because the wall needs to be painted and I dont fancy that task in this heat.

Then

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Now

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Last month I don't think I mentioned the referrals or the cut off date at all. Call it, self preservation. Due to the fact that this blog was initially set up too detail our adoption journey to Chopstick I think I need to pull my head out of the sand and note these events regardless of how they make me feel.

If you are not already doing so and it is hard for me to believe that there are people out there who havent already heard you need to follow this blog right now as Miss Hannah just met her mummy and daddy for the first time. She is absolutely gorgeous.

Do you need a barf bag yet cos I am about to jump again?

When I opened the cupboard yesterday this is what I saw! I am just thankful that I opened the cupboard cos bedtime would have been a disaster if we couldn't find Bunny and I am sure I never would have looked in there.


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Upon questioning a certain child as to why there was a bunny in the bowl she said he liked it and please don't take him out??? I later found him in the middle of the floor like this:

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Is it me or does he look like he is waving?

No more jumps. I am ouut of here. Good Night all.

Gardening.

The word gardening implies a wonderful time spent nurturing the earth and flowers. Well let me tell you that is not how "The Jakemeister" does gardening. He is more of beat the shrubs into submission type of gardener. Divide and conquer is his motto.

We haven't done a thing to our front yard since we moved in except add a few doodads and a pot of flowers here and there and we have never liked the "landscaping" and have always planned on changing it. Today was the day.

We set off to the nursery, we live one block away from a part of Miami called Horse Country and nurseries are on every street corner, to see what we wanted. We picked out some stuff, pavers, plants, a gardenia bush to honour my MIL and a few other things and headed back to set to work. We had to pull out 2 large shrubs and a pygmy date palm which had thorns the size of Bangkok. With Lily's help the first 2 were reasonably easy but the pygmy had a mind of it's own. At one point hubby attached it to the back of his SUV and hit the gas but the bloody thing still wouldn't budge. By now Lily had had enough so she went and got her chalk and decided hopscotch was alot more fun. I agreed but the manic gardener wouldn't let me leave. It was only about 94 degrees here today so you can imagine the delightful time I was having. We finally got it free and then set to work putting down some pavers and filling in holes. It took so long that all we had time to do at this point was shower and head off to the closest restaurant, starving hungry. We will finish tomorrow. Send me your good luck vibes cos this hubby of mine is off his rocker, fallen out of his tree, one sandwich short of a picnic, you get the drift!

The before

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The Team

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Abandon Ship

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All CLean!

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While We Were Gone

Here are the photos from our weekend getaway. It was so lovely and I can't wait to go back again. I was going to post pictures of our trip to the zoo this evening but I failed to take a camera and I have no idea how to get the photos out of my phone so I don't really know why I used it!!

Oh this little girl has just stolen our hearts she is so gorgeous.

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A Daddys Girl In The Making

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Jacob and Lily loved this statue but for different reasons. Lily liked the dolphins, Jacob not so much!

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The Hotel

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I think the ghost of Christmas past was playing games with the light in this one.

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A message to my hubby in the sand

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Lily was bothered that she wasn't included so I had to edit and re-do it!

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Lily's sand drawings

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It just makes you want to grab a bevvy and relax doesn't it.

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And finally Lily decided to do some videoing in the car on the way to dinner one night and this is her take on the weekend.

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Another Milestone & My Purse Meme

Just as I was about to serve Lily her lunch I asked her to go and wash her hands so she trotted into the downstairs loo and suddenly announced in a very excited voice, "I don't need this anymore." I asked what and Jacob went to investigate. After all there isn't alot in a downstairs cloakroom that you can do without. She no longer needs her little step for the sink. For as long as Lily has been in this family all the sinks have had little stools in front of them so that she can reach the basin. I am so used to straddling them that I don't even notice them anymore.
No sooner was she done drying her hands her and her dad went around gathering up all the steps and putting them away. Meanwhile I am still in the kitchen yelling, "why don't you keep them out for a bit longer in case you want to use them". But it was in vain, they are gone, packed in a closet to gather dust. This just seems to be such a big step, no pun intended. She really is getting big. Dannye, even though you posted a comment this morning on how much taller she looks, I won't blame you. LOL

Anyhoo onwards....I was tagged decades ago to do the purse meme. I didn't even carry a purse for years so this will be disappointing since I carry the bare minimum with me. This is my "work" purse but even when I switch it I literally dump the contents straight into the new one so they don't vary with the exception of when Lily adds a thing or two to it.



The contents


My wallet, lipstick, cellphone and keys (which along with the key chain are all nice and new due to the fact that I had a huge blond moment recently and lost my others.) This has always been one of my worst fears but now I can say it isn't so bad, just one call to a good locksmith and a trip to Brighton Collectibles for a new key chain and voila, problem solved.
Ahh yes back on track to the contents: Purell, I would die if I didn't have this with me 24/7. Hand cream, same is true with this. 3 pens, it would appear I have a pen fetish but I don't I think Lily put some of them in it. Some gum, I have to chew gum. My itty bitty Swiss army knife which used to be on my key chain but I got ticked off every time some security person told me to remove it so now it floats free, a Band Aid stash and some sunscreen, 2 red envelopes from Chinese New Year and a stack of gift and business cards. Most of that stuff goes in the side pocket and only my wallet, cellphone, lipstick and pens are in the big bit. So there you have it. Job done.

I will post the photos from last weekend soon.

Parades, Picnics And Fireworks, Oh My.

We had a busy 4th of July and it was so much fun. In the morning we drove to Miami Springs to see a parade. We started doing this 3 yrs ago and love it so much we go every year. It is only little but big enough, if that makes sense. Most of the floats throw things over the sides for the kids and by the time we left Lily had a loot bag as big as her.


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Only In Miami! There was no one of importance in it.

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We were not sure if the fireworks were going to happen because at about 2.pm it started to pour and then the storm started and it went on and on. Yes, I DO know that we need the rain and yes I am glad we are getting it but it has rained here in Miami everyday for weeks and weeks and I don't mean the typical afternoon showers I mean hours and hours of storms. Since the big cookout and fireworks looked questionable had to improvise a little bit and here is how we did that:


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Lily said it was the best dinner she had ever had. My little girl is so easy to thrill!

By 7pm the rain had stopped se we jumped in the car and headed for the fireworks. The place that we usually go to was unable to hold an event this year so we stayed much closer to home and other than the fact it took us 20 minutes just to get the car out of the parking space when we left it was fabulous.


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One Thing Here Another Over There

To my Father, Happy Birthday. Have a really super day and we will see you very soon.
Love us.



To all the readers here in the States, I wish you a happy and safe Independence Day.

That Life Changing Moment. Long

We are back and had a really super time. Thank you for all your anniversary wishes. I will post more about the weekend in a day or two but today is the anniversary of "The Call".


As I have mentioned before we didn't blog or belong to any yahoo groups when we adopted Lily so we just sailed along surviving on information from our agency. We were emailed a list of families that we were likely to travel with so we all started emailing back and forth. We were the chatty ones ( surprising? I think not!) along with another family who we became quite close to well before we travelled. Jeff and I would email back and forth and on occasion we would phone each other. He kept abreast of all the groups and seemed to really know his stuff. Back in 2003 we were told the wait would be approx' 14 months. The SAR's outbreak gripped China and all things adoption came to a halt. This was so sad but it was out of our control. According to Jeff the CCAA was still matching but was not referring during this time. He also said that the CCAA had started to refer 2 and 3 months worth at a time and once the travel ban was listed we could be next. I thanked him for that information but really didn't think he could be correct. I mean our agency said 14 months and it had been 12.


Jacob was so nervous during our adoption process that I gave up telling him anything unless it was a definite thing. Every morning when I woke up I would check the World Health Organisation's (WHO) website to see the latest SAR's stats and one day I finally broke down and blurted out to hubby that if no more SAR's outbreaks were reported that day the ban would be lifted tomorrow. He grunted but that was about it! The next morning the W.H.O. lifted the travel ban. Jeff emailed and said we could be next. As many of you know that means nothing as pigs could also fly but until you see one you don't actually believe it. On July 2nd I told Jacob we could be getting a referral any day now and I swear on my life this was his response, "Don't tell me this crap I only want to know for sure things".


On the morning on the 3rd I received a very early morning email from Jeff saying he thought today would be the day. It was a Friday and the Friday before a long weekend so the wait was going to get even more wicked if it didn't happen. By 9.00am I got another email saying the boards were lighting up with referrals. I swear I had no idea what boards he was talking about but it was good enough for me. I ran and checked the phone, it was working. I checked my cellphone, it was working and ditto my pager. I had one back then for work. We must have emailed every 10 minutes. I was a wreck. I hadn't said anything to Jacob cos he only wanted for sure stuff. I paced, I hyperventilated, I paced, I checked all the phones. I rang myself 800 times to be sure everything was fine and I paced a little bit more. Our agency is in Seattle so they are 3 long hours behind us so it was going to be a long day but I was ready, whatever that meant.


I only had one appointment that day in the afternoon so I knew everything would be fine. I swear my heart was trying to pound out of my chest. The excitement was killing me. The emails continued and time kept passing with no call. Jeff finally asked me to ring WACAP and see if they had received their referrals, I did. The girl that answered the phone said I couldn't speak to my coordinator as they had just received the referral package and were trying to get through it that day so that the new parents would know before the long weekend but that she would ring me back. I think I hung up without saying a word. I immediately rang Jeff at work and said they were in.


I rang Jacob and told him that today could be the day. He grunted. I tested all the phones again, and then decided I had to get out of the house. I took furniture to the charity shop. I mean lots of heavy furniture all by myself. Lifting it didn't appear to be a problem. I suddenly realised I was a nutcase for leaving the house and raced back home to check the phone and pace some more.


By now it was getting late and I had to go to work at 5.50 for a 6pm appointment. Note I say, had to go to work (?) the most important day of my life and I am going to work. Oh my how things have changed! It was 5.45 and I swear Jeff and I must have sent 50 emails each when suddenly the phone rang and it was not them but Jeff saying he had a daughter. He couldn't say much as he was on the other line with his wife but I was to stay put as they were calling me in a minute. I hung up and thought, Oh my God I have to go to work NOW. I got in my car shaking and breathing like a woman in labour and started to drive to my client. I had just made it to the end of the street and my phone rang even though by now I was convinced it was broken. When I glanced at it I saw the number was from Seattle and I knew it was the call. I couldn't answer it not in the car. Then my pager went off. I got to my clients house and my phone rang again. He had been my client for years and my accountant for even longer so he knows us very well. He told me to answer the phone and I told him I couldn't as it was our agency calling to say we had a daughter. He said, answer it and I again said I can't. He said I will then, and I told him no.


I knew that I had to be in my own home to take the call as I would probably fall apart. He told me to leave and I said no, I would do his massage????(don't even think about asking me where my brain was cos I have no idea). I did his massage in about 1 minute it was meant to be an hour and I took off like a bat out of hell. I swear I drove home doing 100 which is no easy feat if you knew where I was. I rang Jacob to tell him that we had been called and he said he knew they called him too but he didn't answer cos he wanted me to hear the news first.


I took a deep breathe and with pen and paper in hand I dialed them back. I asked to speak to Sharon and they said she was gone for the day. My heart sank. They said to hold on cos Elizabeth R had our information. This voice came on the phone and said, Dawn, you have a baby girl and she is beautiful. She then told me her name her birth date and where she was from. We were expecting to be referred a toddler so when she said her birth date was 6-6-2002 I wrote down 6-6-2000. She said some other stuff but I was deaf. Then I realised something was wrong with what I had written and asked to repeat the birth date and she did. I was in shock, she wasn't 3 she was just a year old, a baby, my baby. Oh my God. She asked if I had any questions and I am sure I was meant to have loads but I said no. She then said go and check your computer her photos are there. We said good bye and I hung up and cried and cried and cried. Through my tears I rang Jacob and said, Hi daddy. He of course said, what did you call me that for? I told him he was a daddy and all the information we had. I told him I would not open the email until he got home and I hung up. About 3 seconds after that I threw up! I was shaking so much and by now it was to late to ring my folks in the UK so I just wandered from room to room with a sh*t eating grin on my face. I had to wait for Jakey to get home and that wouldn't be another 2 hours. I kept logging on to the computer and checking that the email was still there.


Finally Jacob rang and said he was on his way. In my head I drove him home, he wasn't driving as fast as my head! When he walked in we just laughed and smiled and said it has finally happened and all that kind of stuff and then he jumped in the shower cos he (are you ready for this) wanted to be nice and clean when he saw his daughter for the first time. To give the poor guy some credit in this post he was super quick. We sat down together at the computer and opened the email. Back then we had dial up so first we saw her hair and then it disappeared and her nose appeared. Without saying anything to each other we both got up and ran from the room. We waited until she had downloaded and ran back in. We looked and we both started to cry. Jacob said, she is the most beautiful child I have ever seen and I just stared at her. She was beautiful beyond words. She was my heartbeat.


We memorised every single piece of her and then all hell broke loose and we started making phone calls and emailing her picture to everyone. We printed out a gazillion pictures and put them everywhere around the house. Since Jacob was so superstitious along the way many of our friends and some of his family didn't even know we were adopting so the phone calls went on for hours. We finally fell into bed and lay there talking about Lily, our girl, our child, our kid, our daughter. It felt so great. For sure we were the only people in the world that had ever done this. Even Jacob was invincible at this point. No more Mr Scared Silly. I don't think we slept we just talked about Lily and how she was the most beautiful girl ever and how we would do this with her and that with her and before we knew it it was morning and we needed to get out of bed. I ran and checked email and no sooner had I done that my Mum rang and she was hysterical and couldnt stop crying. The phone calls carried on all day and then my dad rang to say Lily was the best birthday present he had ever received, (he really does know just what to say) He received the photo the following morning which is in fact his birthday.


That was the call that changed our lives forever. The feeling doesn't go away it just gets better and better. And here is the face that made everything in life so perfect.







I can't wait to go through it again but this time there is no way I am going to work if I am expecting the call.


Am I the only one crying again?