DECEMBER
2005
On 12/14/05 received
call from Ellen at Holt our Dossier was
approved and will be sent to China on
Friday. We are DTC 12/16/06! What a
relief!
Today 12/16/05 is the day…our dossier is
on it’s way to China. I just keep
thinking…is our daughter born yet? Is she
safe and is she loved? We do know one thing,
we have loved her from the moment we decided
to travel to China and bring home our
daughter. She has been growing in our heart
since July 2, 2005.
Mel is in Germany on business, but I
finished up our Christmas cards and sent
them out today, 12/17/05. Our website should
be finished this weekend as well. Here is
the letter that was included with our card.
Happy Holidays 2005
'Twas the night before Christmas at
the Fannon house, Not a creature was
stirring, not even a mouse; the stockings
were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes
that next year, one more would be there!
The family was nestled, all snug in
their beds, While visions of babies danced
in their heads; Emily in her flannels, and
Mel in his cap, Had settled in with the
kitties for a long winter's nap,
Emily’s work solving computer
problems and Mel’s insuring quality shall
keep them both busy throughout this next
year. Running a household requires much more
than a glance; our schedules will be full,
there's no rest, not a chance.
Adopting from China requires papers
and piles, so Emily and Mel sprang from the
couch to clean out all their files. Away to
the Internet they flew like a bee, Tore open
their e-mail and chose Holt International as
our agency.
The moon became full many times this
past year, we were lost in paperwork, home
studies, oh dear! When, what to our
wondering eyes in did appear? Our government
approval, along with some tears!
With the FedEx driver so quick and so
great, off went our papers to the Chinese
Con'slate. More rapid than eagles, the plane
it flew back, and we whistled and shouted
our dossier was on track!
Now Mommy..now Daddy, Now Cons'late
and family and good friends! On dossier! On
airplane! On China we send; To Beijing! To
Guangzhou! And to The Great Wall! Now dash
away! Dossier to China (DTC), dash away all!
So now we wait a nine-month eternity,
Til your picture we see, Packing suitcases
with clothes and toys for our dear baby. Yet
we know in a twinkling, fall will be here,
and pitter-patter of feet will be music to
our ears.
As we dreamt in our heads and mulled
it around, what would this girl look like,
where would she be found? What would she be
wearing, from her head to her toes? Would
her eyes be bright, would her hair stand up,
just so?
A bundle of toys and a nursery is
waiting, On "Gotcha Day" how will we keep
from fainting? Her eyes will they twinkle,
or sparkle or cry? Or will her cheeks be red
and rosy and dry?
Will her small rosebud mouth draw up
in a pout? Whatever her looks or her tears,
we'll love her no doubt! With her broad face
and round lil' tummy, we’ll shower her with
love, hugs, kisses so yummy!
If she is chubby and plump, or a
small little self, we will love and cherish
our darling little elf, with a wink of God's
eye and a twist of his head, we trust in His
timing with nothing to dread.
He has spoken no words, but His work
divine, to match us with our Chinese
daughter so fine. We're "expecting" finally
our sweet little cherry, Thanks for your
prayers and our news so merry!
This summer we'll get her long
awaited referral, and as fall approaches
we'll jpurney to get our darling baby girl!
May God bless you, your fam'lies and your
holiday's bright. "Happy Christmas to all,
and to all a good-night!"
As you can see we have much to be excited
for in this new year, follow our journey to
China to bring home our daughter.
Logon to our website at:
http://www.myadoptionwebsite.com/journeytoladybug
Login= ladybug
Password = ladybug06
Keep in touch with us at edfknox@aol.com
This past year was a year of healing and we
now have hope. This promises to be a very
special year for us, keep us in your prayers
and celebrate our journey! Wishing you
and yours a Merry Christmas and a
Bright New Year!
Love,
Mel and Emily
Today, 12/22/05 I had to go out to Sears to
do some shopping, aka “Santa Work”. As I was
leaving the store I noticed Sears has a toy
section and it occurred to me that it might
be fun to look. It was a bit overwhelming at
first and then I noticed a doll. I thought
to myself are you really seeing an Asian
doll or are you wanting to see one so badly
you are imagining you are seeing an Asian
doll. Well as I inspected the box, in fact
“Playful Patti” is an Asian doll. She is
absolutely adorable! It then occurred to me
that there may be other Asian dolls, so I
began to take each doll off the shelf and in
fact “boinked” another shopper on the head
when I put a doll box back and it came
tumbling down. At last I found 3 Asian
dolls…Bath Time Patti…Meal Time Patti…Beach
Time Patti, they are just darling and will
bring much joy to “Ladybug” or make nice
gifts for her friends.
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Christmas with the kitties
Playful Patti Asian doll
Ladybug's first doll
Adoption bracelet
Blondie opening presents
Ladybug trinkets |
As I waited in line to pay for them other
shoppers commented on how adorable they
were. As I left the store I began to think
about our daughter and wondered is she born
yet…is she cared for…is she being warm and
does she feel loved.
Well when Mel got home I showed him the
adorable “Asian” dolls. Well little did I
know what he would share…”you know I had a
baby doll…a black baby doll”. Not sure I
heard him correctly I repeated …you had a
baby doll, why did you have a baby doll?
“No, I had a black baby doll”. Oh really,
how old were you? “I was 4 or 5”. Why did
you have a black baby doll..who got it for
you? “I just wanted it, it got my
attention!” For those of you who don’t know
Mel he is known for saying the unexpected,
there is never a dull moment in our house. I
then decided to ask his Aunt Essie about the
doll and try to find out more details. I
spoke to Aunt Essie and she did not really
remember the doll but she said, “if he
wanted something they got it for him.” One
time Melvin told Richard, “cry like I do and
you may get something.” Richard said, “it
won’t do me know good”. A parent’s love is
not always understandable or explainable but
in this case it sure made for a good story.
One of my sisters asked me how many Asian
dolls I bought and I explained all of
them…3. She said good thing there were only
3 you might have come home with 20!
Today, 12/23/05 my friend Dee Dee came by
and visited. We shared Christmas gifts and
she gave me the cutest pair of ladybug post
earrings and some yummy homemade goodies.
She also gave us a neat package of treats
that were wrapped like a pyramid.
Well the Christmas present we got each other
arrived today…the “big screen television”,
it is huge. We should have many fun times
watching movies and ballgames.
I also received my bracelet I had made in
Abington, VA over Thanksgiving. I will share
a picture it turned out really nice.
Today is Christmas Day, 12/25/05! We had a
beautiful Christmas, but we were missing one
thing…our daughter. We couldn’t help but
think about her many miles away and wonder…
is she born and is she cared for. Our
Christmas won’t be complete until “our
gift” is in our arms and right now that
seems very far away, but in some 8-10 months
we will know.
One of our adoption friends Shana (http://www.waitingforsophie.blogspot.com)
shared her adoption video on Christmas day.
I just can’t say how thankful we are for
those who have traveled this journey before
us and who share their stories. To the
waiting family, following these stories and
watching these videos helps make a process
that is very lengthy and full of ups and
downs seem very real and gives us some
encouragement and hope that our dreams, like
theirs will come true.
Well it was back to work for me today,
12/26/05 and this was hard. I couldn’t help
but reflect back to a year ago and what we
were experiencing in our lives at that time.
Last year it had just been one month since
losing dear Martin Dean and I was still on
FLMA. I didn’t return to work til January
10, 2005. Because I had to work today I was
not able to join Mel and the Eller family at
their lunch time gathering. Of course when
you reflect back you also project forward
and I just can’t help but wonder…this time
next year will we have traveled and returned
from China and will we be a family of 3?
Only time will tell…let’s all pray for
expeditious processing of paperwork by the
CCAA and a reduction in the current wait for
referral from 10 months back to 6 months.
I know…I probably should not even suggest
such a prayer..our time will come and it
will be the right time.
We had a special visit with family today
12/28/05. My sister Teri brought my niece
Angela and Angela’s fiancé Christopher and
Angela’s daughter Alley for a short visit.
We shared a nice meal, good conversation and
of course playtime with Alley. It is always
nice to spend time with family and friends.
Well today, 12/29/05 Mel is feeling sick and
I am also feeling a bit sick, let’s just
hope that we can feel better before our
party on Saturday.
Our house is full of germs apparently!
Today, 12/30/05 Mel is not better and I feel
very bad as well. I was able to work, but as
soon as the day was over I was in bed.
Goodness do we continue with the party plans
only to share our germs with family and
friends or do we cancel…we will decide
tomorrow early.
We are both flat on our backs sick,
12/31/05…Mel with some kind of respiratory
infection and me with “flu like” symptoms.
What a way to ring in the new year! We
cancelled the party and went back to bed. We
woke up just prior to midnight with a moment
to reflect on this past year and to imagine
all that is possible in 2006, it promises to
be a very good year. |
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