Happy New Year!

In a month I'll be wishing you happy new year again when Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dog) rolls around. Last year Lance, the kids and I all went to a local Chinese New Year celebration and had a blast. We had just turned in our application to adopt and had talked on the phone with the social worker who was to do our home study. Our first appointment was that very week. Lance and I bought sweatshirts for the Year of the Rooster, believing our daughter will likely be a Rooster, as is her big sister Lauren. We bought the kids beautiful silk jackets that they'll likely wear again this year. We want to make it a family tradition; next year we hope to go back with the little one.

The quilt squares have started rolling in, and we're really thrilled with them. I get so excited with each one! I know a lot of you are stressing about how to word your wish -- stop it! I'm not going to edit them, I promise! Your written wish can be as simple as a word or two and your signature. One friend drew a beautiful bouquet of flowers and wrote, "bloom!" Think of something you'd wish for our child and write it down, and please don't obsess about it so that it stops you from taking part in this wonderful project.

As the wait for a referral gets shorter, I'll try to update the site more frequently. I postponed this update for awhile because I was hoping to post a photo of Lance and the kids wearing their Christmas gifts -- sweatshirts with the Chinese characters for "Dad," "older sister" and "older brother." But of course I couldn't get them to wear them all on the same day until about the last day of their vacation -- and then I couldn't get them together for a photo. So maybe for Chinese New Year, huh?

Thanks for checking in, and we hope to have some exciting news before long!