taking baby steps

So, what is a girl to do when she's off of work and this is the weather outside?

Weather...good or bad, I decided that I was going to clean one room in our house per day while on my winter "vacation" from work (I think I'm nesting). Ed and I bought our house 3.5 years ago, and my goodness...stuff can accumulate over the years! Our kitchen is a decent size (for an 85 year old house) but there is NO storage! We do have an antique cupboard, which houses most of our stuff, but even with that, I was starting to wonder where I was going to put Ella's bibs, bottles, baby food jars etc. Well, it's amazing how some really good purging of the drawers, cupboards, and closets can free up some good usable space. Here is our first "baby step"...

Ok, so we may need a few more bottles, but otherwise...we're definitely ready for our Ella to come home!

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

(John Howard Payne)

a great christmas indeed.

Merry Christmas Baby Ella

It's December 25th in Vietnam - Merry Christmas Baby Ella! We love you more than you will ever know and we can't wait until we get to see your precious face. Stay warm with thoughts of our love tonight!

Love,
Mom and Dad

I'm sorry to say, but for the first time in years,

we didn't send out Christmas cards...

To all of our friends near and far, and our loved ones...

please know that we love and appreciate each and every one of you!

The love and support we have been shown is

immeasurable and something we will never forget!

~

Blessings to you all!

~

We wish you all an amazing, safe, and magical holiday season!

~

Cheers!

Jenna and Ed

(and Baby Ella from Vietnam)

Thank you secret admirers!

Wow, we were shown some love over the past few days. We got not one, but two stuffed boxes of goodies for our little Ella Bella!

In box #1...

and #2...

Ed and I feel so blessed to have such thoughtful and generous people in our lives. Our little girl is going to be so lucky to have such a huge network of people who love her and care about her! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

(marcel proust)

Don't forget...

Sen, the owner of Provide-n-ce still has the "Faces of Hope" 2008 calendars available. The calendar is a fundraiser for Bridging Hope, a non-profit organization raising funds to benefit the people, especially children, affected with HIV-AIDS in Vietnam. All of the photos were taken by Sen and each page has a great quote (you know I love quotes)! You can click here to order your calendar online! Thanks again for your help and support of such a wonderful mission!

-

Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something...

find it and keep it lit!

(mary lou retton)

No act of kindness,
no matter how small,
is ever wasted...
thank you.
(aesop)

A huge thank you to everyone who sent such encouraging and special messages our way. It means more than you will ever know! Honestly, the strength and encouragement that I got from everyone are what helped me get through the past few days.

We are still sad and the little girl, who we came to know as 'twinkle toes', will always hold a special place in our heart.

With all of the ups and downs on this journey, there are many things we have learned, the most import being that we can NOT give up hope. We know in our hearts that we wouldn't have been put on this path had we not been able to forge through it. We will come out of this journey stronger, happier, and together as a family of 3.

Again, thank you all so much.

And for our little "Twinkle Toes" in Phu Tho, a quote just for you...

"My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish."

-

(Rascal Flatts, "My Wish")

I do believe in Christmas miracles, but it doesn't looks like this is our Christmas for one. Ed and I have been holding on to some very special information for over two months now...two months and six days to be exact.

As many of you know, our dossier was lost someplace during the transfer to our new agency back in August. They (our new agency) had a copy of the old one along with all of our paperwork, but they needed a new original that was certified and authenticated. We scrambled to get a new one put together and during that process, we received news of a little girl. She had a mild special need, which we were open to, and our agency felt she would be a good match for us. We were told that the little girl's paperwork was ready, but because ours wasn't re-logged at the DIA yet, we weren't able to receive an official referral. So weeks went by and we waited for news...we were so anxious to see her face and to finally know who she was.

One of the few things we did know about her what that she was living in an orphanage in Phu Tho, a province that recently came under fire by the U.S. Embassy. Things began looking grim a few weeks ago when all pending cases were put on hold in that province. There were a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of families holding onto hopes they would be united with their children.

Well, we received news this afternoon that we lost the match for the little girl we thought was Ella. Apparently things aren't being worked out in Phu Tho and they have decided to cease all adoptions to the U.S. Although we didn't know who she is, she had and will continue to have a very special place in our hearts.

We are confident that she will have a forever family...it will likely be with a very lovely family living someplace other than the U.S. as Phu Tho is continuing to place the children in other countries. It brings us peace to know that she will have a family and a home.

So what happens now? Our file will be removed from Phu Tho and sent to one of the other provinces our agency works in and we will wait to be rematched with Ella. We aren't sure about a timeline...there are a lot of unanswered questions that remain.

As heavy as our hearts are, our thoughts and prayers go out to the numerous families who did have official referrals in Phu Tho and who will not be united with the children they have fallen in love with.

Please keep these children, who won't know the people that loved them from a far, in your hearts this holiday season.

stay tuned...

While there's life, there's hope.

(Cicero)

"The present is the ever moving shadow that divides

yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope."

(Frank Lloyd Wright)

speaking to me...

"happiness is like a butterfly;

the more you chase it,

the more it will elude you,

but if you turn your attention

to other things, it will

come and sit softly

on your shoulder..."

(Thoreau)

6 inches later...

and the winter wonderland continues...

3 very wet and sloppy inches on Saturday (which has now frozen into three inches of ice). 5 more inches expected tonight! I love the first few snow falls of the year, so I'm quite happy. The snow falling right now is beautiful...fluffy and sparkles like diamonds!

Adoption news...nothing. The JCICS updated their website today with a summary of the Vietnam Summit last week. Not too much to report. Overall, there are a few things that will be drafted and presented to the DIA. Most seemed optimistic that the current changes and procedures will help prevent the program from closing again. As always, fingers crossed for a happy and successful adoption future!

One kind word can warm three winter months.

-Japanese Proverb-

a winter wonderland

Our snowstorm this weekend inspired a new look for the blog. I'll update later with pics from our weekend...in the meantime, I'm busy recreating our sidebar which I LOST when I redid the blog...boo. Hope you all had a great weekend!