Chicago Trip

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What?! Last Post in January?! No Way...

Its a terrible thing when you start facebooking, first-grading and just getting caught up in the every daying of life. We have had a lot of fun in the past few months. We adopted AGAIN...this time a 3 year old Boston Terrier named Bitsy...who we love. We traveled to Sanibel for our yearly trip with Matt's family, we planned a first grade picnic with some wonderful friends from Maggie's school, ...oh my gosh I won't bore you all with it but I thought I would at least post a picture of the girls. I am on my way this week to Mexico with my friend Traci! I can't wait. We will try to have a little bit of fun some how, some way... take care all....check back soon! We are taking the girls to the American Girl Doll Store at the end of the month. I hope we have some great pictures from that trip!

Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! To celebrate, our Taiwan adoption group got together for some wonderful food and fun. Sarah planted a big kiss on one of our newest members - Kai. The picture is so darn cute I wanted to post it!

Brrrr....

Its been so crazy cold here! One day we had -25 wind chill and they had to close the schools down. Then we have been getting a lot of snow on top of that. So, the kids (Matt is included in this category) are having fun going out to play in the snow while I hide inside. I am just not cut out for winter. Maybe I need to move to Phoenix. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids in the snow.

Merry Christmas!

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Happy Birthday Maggie

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Wedding in Missouri

Maggie was a flower girl in my neices wedding last week. We had a great time and are doing well now after a case of strep (me) and a case of strep in Maggie's foot. Yes in her foot. So weird I know! Here are a few pictures.

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Maggie goes to school

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Sarah's Party Pictures!

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Sanibel

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Shewwww!

It's been an incredibly busy month. First of all, Sarah has really turned a corner - it seems almost overnight. We had a tough first couple of months but now she is such a happy baby. She still isn't napping very much, but she sleeps 12-13 hours a night without waking up...I know it is fabulous...please don't send me hate mail.

Maggie graduated from kindergarten on May 30th - they sang songs and were as adorable as could be. It's off to first grade for our little girl next year. She loves her school!

We also went to Sanibel Island in Florida for vacation - we were there for 10 days with Matt's family. We go almost every year and the cousins have such a good time - Maggie was in HEAVEN. She had so much fun. My sister-in-law Beth held Sarah a lot which was so nice - I think Beth is in competition for the best aunt award..:) Sarah loved the pool and Maggie is doing a great job with her swimming. Matt had to go to Europe for work (poor baby) so I had to travel back home alone. It was actually just fine -- although handling all the luggage was a little stressful.

This week my best friend and Maggie's fairy godmother came to town. It was girl talk the entire time. So much fun and great to see her. Another treat...my friend Angela was in town so I got to see her and pictures of her new ADORABLE baby. Father's Day was fun with a cookout with neighbors. Sheww. I think that's about it.

Next week my parents and aunt are coming for Sarah first birthday! Its been a really busy summer!

Sarah's Baptism

Happy Easter!

We have been home for 2 1/2 weeks - it so hard to believe. Sarah is doing well. She is a great sleeper - thank goodness but I may lose my hearing from all of the crying. She pretty much cries unless she is being played with or on a walk or at the mall. Her sleeping schedule is a little whacky - but I am going to give her more time to adjust before I change her schedule. Right now she is sleeping 7-7 then goes down for a long morning nap. No afternoon nap though. She pretty much eats everything...no issues there!

Here are a few pictures...

Pictures!

We are finally home!

After years of waiting, one homestudy, one homestudy update, one addendum to the homestudy, 6 doctor letters, taxes since the day Matt and I were born, letters of reference, fingerprints, re-fingerprinting, applications, forms, authentication, certification, notarization, cashiers checks, police clearances, birth certificates, soul searching, message board chatting, adoption books, employment letters, tears and frustration, blogging, praying, excitement, disappointment...Sarah is finally home and boy are we tired! She is on Taiwan time so I am making breakfast at 12:00 am and watching a lot of late night TV. I have bought 3 sets of knives and dryer balls. Who knew?

Our trip was fabulous. My parents went with us which made it even better and easier on us. We met friends i have met on line who are also adopting - it was great to get to meet everyone. Katie and Alex even waited for us when we got off the plane. So nice! Their little Leo is so absolutely adorable. We went to some great places and saw some really beautiful sites. Its a beautiful place with truly the nicest people! The teenagers LOVED Maggie and she was often asked to pose for pictures with groups of high-school kids. Maggie has always wanted to be a rock star, so it was and early lesson in dealing with the paparazzi. :)

We were able to meet Sarah's foster mom but unfortunately we did not get to meet her birth mom. Meeting Sarah was completely surreal. They just handed her over to us - she was so brave. The foster mom obviously cared a great deal for Sarah. While we are so exhausted, its hard to imagine what little Sarah has had to endure.

OK - sorry to anyone that flew from San Franciso to Chicago Saturday morning. It was pretty ugly.

I will definately post more pictures later but wanted to share a few now...before I fall asleep on the keyboard (yes, its only 5:30 pm)

I left what ... where?

Clearly my brain has left the building. I consider myself a fairly smart person but ever since we got THE CALL, I have drain bamage. For instance, tonight I had dinner with friends, picked out the restaurant myself, then showed up at the wrong restaurant. I lost my sunglasses. Having to return a pair of shoes to Target has really gotten me perplexed. I restate the obvious on any conference call I have. I left my credit card at the restaurant. I see people's eyes glaze over when I speak. I think maybe I am not making and sense at all anymore. I am so preoccupied its not even funny. Honestly, its just like the days leading up to giving birth to Maggie - no brain, lots of shopping.

Not that I am counting but we are leaving in 52 hours (which is about as long as it will take us to get there..)

We are official!

We are meeting Sarah on March 3rd! It's so great to say and such a huge weight off of our shoulders - I can't even describe. We will be leaving for Taipei on February 28th. We leave at 6:00 am, fly to Dulles, then to San Francisco and get on a flight for Taiwan at 4pm! We get there on Friday night - late. Then we have two days to get ready, see some sights, and anticipate the arrival of our little girl. Two days we have AIT appointments to make it all official. What an overwhelming time. We are just so blessed.

We are leaving Taipei on Friday March 7th at midnight and getting into San Franciso on March 7th at 6pm. Crazy - we lose a day going but gain a day coming back.

We are all booked and ready! I wonder if the next 1 1/2 weeks will be slow or fast?! Its hard keeping focused on other things I need to do... Here we come Sarah!

THE CALL!!!

Yes, we finally received THE CALL. What a great Valentine's Day present! We are very happy and now are starting all the paperwork we need to get done. Of course, there is a small hitch. The agency is having a difficult time getting our AIT appointments. Tentatively, the appointments are for March 4th and March 5th - we would meet Sarah on the 3rd. But, we don't know for sure, so we can't start making travel arrangements or anything like that. Maybe we will hear today when our appointment will be, and then we can really start making plans. It doesn't seem real - she is ours now and any fear of her not being able to join our family is gone! She is officially a Damski-Dorfer! I wish there was great news for everyone waiting. It’s hard to celebrate when you know there are others waiting by the phone for their good news.

My sista- it's coming my friend! I will see you in Taiwan!