Annabelle got mail...

When I woke up this morning and checked my emails, there were 5 of them from New Hope with photos attached of our beautiful Miss Annabelle opening up the care package that we sent to her! They are priceless!!! Here are a few of the tons that we received....



"That's my Mommy, Daddy, and my sister Francesca!"




"I got a backpack too...that my sister picked out just for me!" (I can't seem to put down the photo of my family...)

"I also got a cuddly pig!" (and check out my new outfit)

"I am so excited!"

(check me out!)

"Are they all for me!!!!"

Isn't she just precious! As I am typing this, I can't seem to hold back the tears..."We are coming for you baby...soon...so very soon..."

(I am going to be posting more of the photos that we received to Annabelle's babyjellybeans.com web site this afternoon. Just wait to see them all...words can not express what these photos mean to us!)

Stay Tuned...

We got an update on our Annabelle Faith this morning...so please check back for all the photos....

40 days and counting.....

It has been 40 days of waiting for our LOA...and I am going crazy counting the days!!! I do truly think it is going to take 75 days before receiving our LOA (making it around Sept 15th) but oh how wonderful would that be if we got it sooner...

Here are some updates from this past weekend...

As for the double stroller, I...yes...ME...was able to put it together Friday afternoon and the stroller is amazing! It is so easy to use. Francesca and I invited our neighbor's little boy Gavin to come for a stroll with us to try it out. We were gone for almost an hour because we were all having such a great time! The stroller is super easy to move and having two children in it that weighed around 40lbs each...that's saying a lot! (by-the-way the stroller can support up to 50lbs per child /100lbs max).

Francesca FINALLY went pee on the potty today...and I mean peeeeeeeeeeee! (lots of "yellow" in the bowel) I can't begin to tell you how proud she was to be able to "let go" and just "do it".

As for us, we had a quiet weekend at home. We went to Dickson City Days here in Dickson City to celebrate our town and have some fun. I left the camera at home because I just wanted to have some fun time with my family without trying to capture that perfect shot (plus I am so glad I did for I had my hands full of food, drinks, winning game prizes, and at times...Francesca herself).

Well, that's it on our end, at least for now. Here's to a speedy LOA for us....

Our Beautiful Francesca Mei

(need I say any more...)



Hope you all have a great weekend!

by-the-way: We got our double stroller delivered to us today and Francesca is so excited! She keep tapping the box repeating over & over that the stroller is for her and Annabelle. She wanted to take it out of the box, but I told her we had to wait for Daddy to come home. Never the less, she is truly excited about the stroller, about Annabelle, and especially about Daddy coming home tonight!!! (which I am sure he is going to be putting together a stroller as soon as he walks through our front door)

Thinking about traveling to China!

OK...so I know we will be returning to China hopefully soon, so I have been looking for a baby bag that is a little bit more stylish than the normal baby bags that are out there today. Having already been to China once before, I knew exactly what I am looking for and the other day on ebay I placed a winning bid on this....

a Vera Bradley Cargo Sling in fabric color, Puccini! (and I won it at a fraction of the retail price). The bag finally arrived and it is better than I imagined! I can't wait to try my new bag out! It is exactly what I was looking for....

(May sure you check out the double stroller we finally decided on in the post below. It is amazing how last time we needed "all this stuff"...crib and bedding, pack n' play, high chair, toys, clothes, shoes, feeding supplies, a car seat...and so much more and this time all we needed was a double stroller and a new travel/baby bag for me....oh ya...and I did purchased Annabelle a few new clothing items and a few new toys that I am sure she is just going to love!)

A New Stroller for Francesca and Annabelle!!!!

After doing a ton of research and test driving so many with Francesca (and a HUGE thank you to all the other mommies that were in the stores when we were window shopping that were so willing to help us out in our stroller search by letting their child go for a test drive with Francesca to make sure that we really liked it...) we finally found one that we all loved!

It is from One Step Ahead



...it is so easy to move...has a ton of sitting room...cup holders...plenty of room on the foot rest...5-point harness safety...great visor shade...not as big as you might think...and it was one that we all loved! (and at an amazing price too!)

We tried just about every double stroller out there...and let me tell you..it just seemed like we could not find one that fit all our needs, until this one! (I was so looking into getting one of those Sit N' Stand ones, but Francesca so disliked it - and that is saying it nicely - main reason for her was that if she was sitting, she was sitting backwards and she was so not going for that plus the area where she would stand didn't seem very wide...as for us there were a lot of things we didn't like about the Sit N' Stand...the basket area - that was way too small - was not easy to get at...the front seat was so small that I felt it was more for an infant rather than a toddler and if we are spending that kind of money on a stroller I don't want the kids to grow out of it too fast...the way it folded up...the lack of storage...and when the front seat was in the reclining position while Francesca was sitting down, the reclining seat back was actually resting on her head/shoulders/back area...) So like I said, after much research, test driving, and hearing what other BTDT moms had to say/suggest, this is the one we purchased...

We can't wait...and from what we were told, it should be here sometime next week!!!

(we also got this stroller brand new and at a rock-bottom price with free shipping...how could we pass up a deal like that!)

How did this happen...!

It is truly amazing how similar Francesca and Annabelle are! When we accepted our referral, we knew so little about Annabelle...the main thing was, yes she has a mega colon (just like Francesca) and that she is shy and is a introverted (just like Francesca as well) but we just received an update directly from New Hope today...and it is amazing how much they are so a-like!!!! I can't believe it! Even down to their favorite toys...how could this have happened! We are truly blessed!


We got a ton of questions answered that we had regarding our soon-to-be newest addition. We were also told to email a family photo so it can be printed out and show Annabelle and her nannies. It is truly a blessing to have this kind of support and communication ability with the very ones who are taking care of your daughter! (I am going to be posting a lot of the information that we received this past weekend on our babyjellybeans.com website within the next few days.)


Waiting for Annabelle...

(this is the family photo that I sent to Christina at New Hope)


"I love you so very much!"

Three generations...

And here is some additional updates as well....

We are sending out our first care package to Annabelle tomorrow! Francesca is so excited because she picked out a few things that just had to be added.

As of August 1st, we have been waiting for our LOA 30 days! (counting from when we sent our LOI)

and...

Our LadyBug Afghan Raffle is still taking place (see post below)! THANK YOU for your support to everyone who has already purchased some tickets!!! How will we ever thank you...