Merry Christmas!

Recipe for a great holiday:

3 ornery kids
2 exhausted parents
5 warm mugs of cocoa with marshmallows
1 dozen gingerbread cookies
6 striped stockings
1 freshly cut tree
400 tiny white lights
Generous amounts of family and friends

Mix well, and sprinkle liberally with snow. Enjoy!

Wishing you peace and joy this Christmas Season,

Steve, Monica, Mikaela, Jacob, and Joseph

DTC 2 Months

Today it has been 2 months since we sent our dossier to China (dtc). We have been hearing of the possibility of our referral time extending to perhaps 8-10 months. Hopefully, the trend will change to a shorter referral soon and won't extend our time. Some days it seems like the wait has already been forever. I can't even let myself think about our travel being delayed until next fall.
We have started to receive some of the quilt squares and wishes for our baby. It's so amazing to me that so many of the people in our lives already seem to love our little girl, too. After the holidays I hope to get a chance to start choosing the pattern/design of the quilt.

Ouch!

Today we all 5 went to the health department for our travel immunizations. The kids and I have already been vaccinated for Hepatitis B, so we just needed to be vaccinated for Hepatitis A. Steve, however, had to be vaccinated for both A and B. Everyone did fine, but after a few minutes, Mikaela started to black out. She felt dizzy and said she couldn't see or hear right. I had her sit down and gave her a little drink of water. The nurse made her lay down on a mat on the floor and put her feet up on a garbage can. Her forehead was all clammy and she was as white as a sheet. She was a little embarrassed, but eventually she got some color back in her cheeks so that we could leave. Poor Mikaela! We got to see Michelle, a former neighbor, who works there, and her sister too.