NINE....

Today we are nine months into our wait. I know the road is still a long one ahead, but with each month we get a step closer to our daughter. June 2006 is out of review and onto the matching room - We are moving on up the line.

Look who's ONE!

I am a little late with this post but Happy, Happy first birthday to our beloved Ms. Boo. She turned one on the 12th but with traveling and not having my camera charger - YES ALL PHOTOS POSTED ARE WITH MY TREO CELL PHONE - UGH!!!! I have this awesome new camera and I'm using my phone. Anyway, we love you Boo, you have brought us so much joy.

Dear Boo - You came into our lives unexpected. We were not ready for another dog because we had one, Chloe. Unfortunately, she was taken from us suddenly and there you were - living in Michigan waiting for the right family. When Robin (your breader) told me about you she said "you need to come get Boo, she is perfect for your family"..... "she is also discounted because I did not dock her tail at birth because of her size". You were the runt apparently. Well your big ol' tail fits you perfectly and we love it and you!!!! Heres to many, many, many birthdays - we love you.

You don't have a stump for a tail, but this poem says it all.....

You can't buy loyalty, they say
I bought it though, the other day;
You can't buy friendship, tried and true,
Well just the same, I bought that too.
I made my bid, and on the spot
Bought love and faith and a whole job lot
Of happiness, so all in all
The purchase price was pretty small.
I bought a single trusting heart,
That gave devotion from the start.
If you think these things are not
for sale, Buy a brown-eyed puppy with
a stump for a tail.
--- author unknown ---

Tagged

Terri has tagged me - The tag is to list 8 interesting or unique things about myself - Not sure how interesting my list will be, but here goes.

1. I can wake up any time without an alarm clock.
2. I cannot sleep without holding another pillow - preferably a neck roll type pillow.
3. I was not named upon my birth - not sure how long it took but my birth certificate had FEMALE as the first name. Was a big issue when doing the paper chase. To explain why - my 3 siblings all had "D" names - not intentional. When I came around, my mom wanted Stephanie, my dad thought I should have a D name - well, he wanted Desiree and my mom didn't. They finally agreed on the name Daniella. By the way, never could find anything with that name on it and I really hate when people call me Danielle - which by the way my mother and husband do on a daily basis. Please stop :)
4. I do not love Italian food - even though I am Italian. I don't hate it, but it is definitely not my favorite food.
5. When I cry my eyes turn green.
6. I hate if my house is out of order. Can't stand it. Everything has a place and should be in it. I'm a little nuts about this.
7. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my dad who died almost 7 years ago.
8. When I was pregnant not a morsel of meat passed my lips - the thought or smell of meat, made me sick. Wonder if this is why I have a vegetarian child?

Okay, not so painful and really not that interesting either.

I'm tagging Wendi, Joanne, Theresa and anyone else who wants to play along...

Times flies....

I can't believe we have been up North for 2 weeks already. Another two and we go home. We took the ferry to Delaware a couple of days ago and headed to Maryland to visit our friends, Tommie Jo, Alfie and Devon. They were very kind to open their beautiful home on the Chesapeake Bay to us and we had a great time. We got to be their last visitors upon their wonderful boat the "Tommie Jo" - We look forward to their new "Tommie Jo" - we wish you guys all the best and may you have many, many years of fun on her! (Alfie, I really mean MANY YEARS!!!) They took us to Annapolis by boat and what a beautiful city - so much history. We also went to a very cool place for dinner called Medieval Times - this place was so much fun. Check it out!

Ms. Boo had her first sleep over with their very cute and lovable Boxer, Sophie. At first I was a little freaked out by her size but after we just let them be, they became good friends. They were so cute together, going outside and just playing. On the way back we stopped at a a World War II Memorial and Joseph could have stayed their all day. He lost his tooth while we were there and the tooth fairy must have known b/c she left him a die-cast Japanese Zero model. He was so excited. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Sophie & Boo - too cute!!!





Chesapeake Bay - view from back deck of our friends house




Too cool~~~


Cousins ~~


Doing a little shoppy

The sun will come out tomorrow....

I started this post last Friday - just getting to finish it and update it.
......And it did! Perfect beach day today. We have been North almost a week and settling in. The weather has been unseasonably cool and there have been some damp/windy days but today was PERFECT. We went to one of our favorite parts of the beach and met up with some summer friends and had a blast. My mom, bro, sis-in-law and nephew have been here since we arrived and I was glad the weather cleared up. The water here is much different than the Gulf so I tried to get some good pics of the waves and I did but I also have a new camera (thanks to my wonderful DH) which is waterproof and all, but I somehow have pics on the camera drive and not on the stick and can't get them off - ugh!!! I swear I have some awesome big wave shots - the one above will have to do but does not do justice to the waves today. It was fun watching the surfers. The kids spent the day building a fort and burying my brother and then Joseph....







Today: Tuesday 7/10/07
My mom and the crew left on Saturday and Sunday and my sister and niece arrived on Sunday afternoon. We've been having lots of fun with them and spending the days at the beach. Yesterday was a great beach, today not so good. Again, I did not have my memory stick in the camera so no beach shots from yesterday or today. Today was a great kite flying day so we took out our bi-plane and flew it high.

Ms. Boo will turn one this week and has learned so much the past 2 days - My sis and niece thought it was crazy that she didn't know how to sit on command - well she does now. If they can only get her to stop biting/licking my feet we'll be good!



It's been so much fun checking all the blogs of the families in China and those who have just received their referals. Congratulations to all these families. May is out of the Review Room so we are inching up the line slowly. Seeing these families unite with their children this week, gave me the boost I needed to keep the faith with this horrendous wait. One day it will be us. When - who knows. We will wait.... Dreams do come true.

Happy 4th

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. We had fun even without the fireworks! Due to the wind, the Coast Guard canceled the barge that comes in and does the usual display here in NJ. The picnic still went on, wind and all. Games, face painting and BBQ still happened - fun with family and friends :) Referrals are on the way and the usual anticipation isn't there for me this month. I didn't let my heart/mind believe they would finish November so the cutoff of the 14th it seems to be - Congratulations to all who are soon going to see their babies faces! For all who are about to travel - Congratulations to you!!!! Happy Summer -