Camille

You are my analytical child.

You ask a million questions and genuinely want to know the answers.

When I don't know the answer you tell me to "Google it."

You love spending time with Daddy.

You refuse to wear pants.

You love princesses, glitter and anything that sparkles.

You are a singer, a dancer and an actress, all wrapped into one.

You don't always remember someone's face, but you always recognize their hairstyle or shoes.

You love "one-hundred-twenty-five" and asking if something happened "in real life"

You are the Mayor of St. Francis.

You are an incredibly-outgoing child.

More than once a total stranger has told you that you made their day.

I hope you always love people the way you do now.

You are wise beyond your years.

You can't understand why some people don't believe in God.

You love to sing and dance. And you do so, every single day.


Every night you give me Hollywood kisses and Eskimo kisses and butterfly kisses and then giggle and ask if I'd like an American dog kiss too.

Everyone should be so lucky.

Just being around you makes me smile.

You're the girl who never forgets to tell me that she loves me to the moon and back.

You're also the girl who then asks if Mars is farther because if it is you love me to Mars and back.
I love you too baby girl.

Appointments

Mike is pretty confident that We'll have TA and be home by the first week of March. I really hope he's right. Given the timeframe, and the doctors we want to see, Mike thought we should schedule the appointments now.

If you're in the Philadelphia area, and you're not familiar with CHOP ADOPT, we highly recommend it! We had Camille enrolled in this program, and it's absolutely fabulous! Very comprehensive and they have a variety of doctors and different specialists there to examine your child once you arrive home. They also have a medical referral review service, prior to your LOA.

International Adoption Health Program at CHOP

We also have an appointment for Jon Paul to See Dr. Alex Levin, he's a world renowned pediatric opthamologist. Here's a short article written on his return to our area from Toronto.

Dr. Alex Levin - Wills Eye Hospital

Visas

Mike and my dad went to the Chinese Consulate in New York City today to get Visas for our passports. They took the train from Hamilton station. When they arrived at the consulate, they encountered a very long line. They expected a long wait and a long day. Fortunately, the security guard on duty recognized Mike (and Otis, his Seeing Eye Dog) from their visit this summer when they were doing some "city training" runs in New York. The security officer took Mike and my father right to the front to drop off their passports. So kind! Then the guys had breakfast at a local diner and spent the day exploring the USS Intrepid before it was time to pick up the passports and head home. A great day, two-fold... Our visas are done and my husband and father had an enjoyable day of male bonding. God is good.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Cabled!

We recieved our NVC letter letter in the mail today. It's kind of like getting a little Christmas present from US immigration. We faxed it to MAA and it will be cabled to Guangzhou on December 30. They only intake these letters on Mondays and Thursdays and we had already missed the deadline for submitting it on Monday.

Our Article 5 will be ready to picked up and carried to the CCAA on January 13, 2011.

In the mean time, we have plenty of other things to do. Get Jon Paul's room ready. Put the finishing touches on paperwork that we need to take with us. Continue to fundraise. We'll need to stock up on "toddler things". We have no sippy cups, diapers, etc, but I guess that's small stuff to worry about right now.

And so this is Christmas

Celebrating far...

And near... Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dance

Camille was selected to model for a dance costume company's catalog again this year. This was her 3rd year selected. The company took one of the photos she did last year and put it on a big promotional poster.

It was a fun day. Our "girly-girl" loves to dress up (she's always thrilled to get hair and makeup done!) and she had a great time with the other little girls who were there too. Can't wait to see the catalog when it comes out in August!

Jon Paul's Party

Jon Paul's package arrived just in time for his third Birthday. I'd say he loved the truck the most!

A Birthday Party for our sweet boy!

Jon Paul with his new clothes... you're going to look so handsome!