Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the soon-to-be and already mothers, everywhere! Maya and Mandarin (our cat - and honestly we've had him for almost eight years, so he was named before we ever thought of adopting from China), gave me some beautiful red roses and a fancy new iron, (our old iron malfunctioned and the electrical connection on it blew up.) Our 'children' are so sweet and thoughtful. Here are two poems that I found on another family's blog.

Not flesh of my flesh

Nor bone of my bone,

But still miraculously

My own.

Never forget

For a single minute:

You didn't grow under my heart

But in it.

--Fleur Conkling Heyliger

"I didn’t give you the gift of life,

But in my heart I know.

The love I feel is deep and real,

As if it had been so.

For us to have each other

Is like a dream come true.

No, I didn’t give you

The gift of life,

Life gave me the gift of you.”

– Unknown

We are still waiting for our TA, of course, it's the weekend and the agency is closed. Rumour has it that the Civil Affairs office in Jiangxi is not confrming appointments, meaning that adoptions cannot be finalized. This is because of the flu. Many families have their TA's and even their plane tickets, but cannot travel until their appointment is confirmed. Someone wrote on their blog that it's like a court hearing and if it's not confrmed, then it's not a go. I sure do hope that tomorrow brings some positive news about this because it would be a nightmare to have to reschedule trips for the affected families. It would also push everyone back even further.

This part of the adoption process has definitely been the hardest. I know that we have many more challenges ahead of us, but at least we'll have our daughter. Let's hope and pray for a positive, uplifting week!