Fingerprinted (AGAIN)

Well, we've done it again. Another year, another set of fingerprints done. Yesterday I went to the courthouse to make sure I was doing my prints right (you would think after 4 times I would get it right). In Kentucky Wednesdays are the day that adoptive parents can come in to do fingerprints, so yesterday I went downtown to make sure I had everything I needed for today. Good thing I did. When I got to the office the man instructed me to go get the letter we needed from the 3rd floor to get our prints done. I remembered doing this last year so I headed up to the 3rd floor. When I got up there I found out that the office is closed on Wednesdays so it was a good thing I was there to get it on Tuesday. The lady working the desk was the same one from last year so I was nervous to even talk to her as last year she was extremely mean. Surprise, surprise, she went out of her way to help me this year. She pulled our file and right away told me to put away my checkbook as this set of prints would be free. I had completely forgot that, saving us a big $160.00! She got me through the line and even gave me Mike's papers without a hassle. On the way out she even wished me good luck and told me she just knew we would have our sweet daughter soon! So today I met Mike at lunch downtown and went to get our fingerprints. I always laugh when I go in there as we are always the only American people in the place. The man remembered me from yesterday and said he would take care of us and get us done right away. Less than 5 minutes later we were having our prints done and out the door in 15 minutes! It must have been our lucky day! By the way, the lady doing the prints said she felt that things are going to speed up since the Olympics are over (like we haven't heard that over and over) but I sure hope she is right. Since today is August 27th it's getting closer and closer to seeing what is in store for next month. Everyone cross your fingers!

Still around

Believe it or not, we are still alive and well! I know it has been forever since I posted so I will try to use the bullets and give a quick update on the last (um...) 5 months!

• I know that in March I told you that we were getting the house ready to sell. Well, we put the house up and had sold it in 2 weeks, closed 2 weeks later and became homeless 5 days later! We are staying at my parents until we find a new house. They have been so wonderful to take Mike, Jack and me in.
• I found out that house hunting is no fun. Where do some of these people come up with these prices! Right now we just hope we have a home to bring Emma home to!
• In July we took a family vacation. Everyone was able to go, except Courtney (sorry Court). It was such a relaxing trip and it was wonderful to spend time with the family.
• I mentioned Courtney didn't get to go on vacation. Well, she was picked to go to Gov. Scholars, which is an amazing opportunity. We are all so proud of her.
• Mike and I have been trying to get in shape. In the spring we watched the Biggest Lo*er and became motivated. This time we have done it the right way: walking, working out and eating better. Mike has hit his goal and I still have 7 pounds left to hit my goal. So far I am down 32 lbs. If we ever take some pictures I will post one of our progress.
• The adoption is still moving at snail pace but we are making progress! The last batch of referrals finished up January 2006! We are now down to 57 days! Close but still so far away.
• School has started back up so we are excited to go watch all the nieces and nephews do all their activities! It's going to be a busy fall!
• While we are staying at my parents we don't have high speed access so believe me I am still checking in on everyone and all the rumors. I will try to post more.

I hope everyone is doing well. I know this was a very quick update but I just thought I would let everyone know that we are still here and still waiting!!!

One Day Late!

3 Word Sunday

This 3 word Sunday is very special but it is a day late (oops!). Yesterday, 3/29/08, was a special day for 2 reasons: the first is that it was my wonderful husband Michael's 40th Birthday. Michael, I hope you had a wonderful bithday. You mean the world to me. I love You!

The second special thing about yesterday was that it was our 2 Year LID Anniversay! Waiting has been the hardest thing we have ever done but we both know that when Emma is finally placed in our arms that it will be worth every single minute we have waited! By the way, Jack wants to know where his little sister is!

A day off!

And these are the Days of our Lives... At work we have to turn in our vacation requests at the beginning of the year for the entire year. Who knows what they want to do for the entire year? I haven't got a clue what the year holds for us. In 2006 I thought that we may get a referral toward the end of the year so I planned accordingly. In 2007 I thought maybe we will travel in the summer or fall so I choose my days around our adoption. I took Halloween off because how could I miss Emma's first Halloween and I took Christmas week off so I could enjoy the holidays with her. What was I thinking? Now here it is 2008! In January I sat down to fill out the vacation paper but this year I decided not to plan around Emma. We were heartbroken for 2 years to see all of these days slip by and nothing. So this year I took a variety of day with nothing special planned. Today is one of those days. Now I have nothing planned (since there is a 100% chance of rain and flooding) so this morning I am curled up on the couch catching up on my Tivo'd episodes of Days of our Lives. Sometimes it is nice to climb into their world for awhile and forget about all of the stress going on in my own life. Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Wednesday.

Special 3 Word Sunday!

I wanted to make sure I sent out a very special birthday wish to my wonderful secret pal! I know this will be the very last one without your sweet Tate! Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

3 Word Sunday!

I'm a little late on the 3 word Sunday, but I thought I would join in! Next week I will be a little more creative!

It keeps snowing!

It is now 7:30 am and here are a few updated pictures of the snow. I'll try to get some better ones once I get dressed and venture out.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We finally got a big snow (well, for Kentucky)! I tried to post these pictures of the snow last night but I couldn't get blogger to work. These were taken Friday night after the first storm came in. I can't wait to dust of the sled and go to Mom and Dad's to tackle the hill. But for last night I was very happy to eat some pizza (cheese of course since it is lent) and curl up on the couch with Michael and a good book. More pictures to follow.

I'm really here!

Yes, I really am still alive and well! I am sure you noticed I have a new look here on the blog. I decided that if I was going to FINALLY going to start blogging again, I needed a change. Things have been really busy here in the Kramer house. Staying busy is the only thing that is keeping us sane during this LONG wait. I want to apologize to all my friends who stop by now and then and see that I am no where to be found. Now, that is only half true. The fact of the matter is that while I have am guilty of not posting I have been reading everyone else's blog (I know, that's not very nice!) I guess I forget that you actually want to know what we are up to here. It's really a combination of not really knowing what to blog about and being so busy that I would rather spend my computer time seeing what everyone else is doing! I appreciate all the emails checking in on me and I promise I will try to post more regularly.
Since I last posted we have celebrated our 20, 21, 22, and 23 month LID Anniversary. At this point we still don't have a clue how many more we will have to endure. I keep thinking that each month we are getting one baby step closer to Emma. For those of you who aren't in the adoption world the new referrals should be out this week. It looks like we have finally made it to 2006!! It looks like January 4, 2006 will be the cut off. That is 8 days of referrals (small days but at least there are 8 of them!). That brings us to 84 days away from our LID.
While the wait has grown and grown I felt like we had put our life on hold. We didn't take some much needed vacations, we scheduled our work around the hopes of traveling, we saved and saved, and we kept everything the same. Well, a few months back we decided we needed to start living again (we should have been all along). Don't get me wrong, we still wait, hope and pray for Emma everyday but we know that time keeps moving and we have to move with it. In doing that we have been planning trips and preparing our home to sell. We have been talking about moving back into Louisville for some time but we kept putting it off because of our China trip. Well, the time has come so we have been working hard to get the house in order to put it up for sale this month. I just hope that we can get the house sold and find a place in town before our referral comes (I sure hope it doesn't take that long to sell!) We have already switched Emma's room twice so she will be on to her third before she ever sees it!
Well, I am just rambling now so I will do some more updates later. Just know it's good to be back!

I'M BACK!

Hope everyone has a very Happy Halloween!

STORK ALERT!

STORK ALERT!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THOSE WHO WERE LOGGED IN FROM

NOVEMBER 15 - 21, 2007

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I know I have said it several times this summer but man, I am such a slacker! I was sitting here thinking back to last fall and thinking about how much time I spent on the computer and about all the times I posted. These days I don't even have the time to check my favorite blogs. The funny thing is that when I check in on all of my favorite blogs and see that they too must be so busy that they don't have time to blog, I get bummed. I miss seeing all the posts! So tonight as I was checking out the new babies (more about that in a minute!) I thought to myself, I should be mad at myself. I haven't posted in weeks. Of course I already know what's up in my life so I assume (you know what that does for me) that you know what's up with me too (sorry). So here is my update...

1. Baby update - Referrals are coming in today! I love this time of the month and I hate this time of the month! This month the referrals go until November 21, 2006. Congratulations to all of those who are getting their precious little ones this month. While I know it is still 4 months and 8 days away from our date it is one tiny step toward Emma. I just keep hoping and praying that once November is done that things will speed up. Anyone have any thoughts on this one?

2. I want to thank my secret pal again for the wonderful gifts she sent us last month. I promise to get picture posted soon. I just haven't got to get the pictures on the computer. You won't believe these wonderful gifts.

3. Last weekend I took a girls trip up to South Bend, IN to visit a wonderful friend that I have known since I was little. Holly, Beth, and Amy went with me. We had such a wonderful time just hanging out, eating waaaay to much and playing with Jenny's adorable kids. Oh, and while we were there I got a glimpse at Jenny's neighbors daughter (yes, you got it! She is from China!!!) Once again I will have to post some pictures.

4. Yesterday, my good friend Leslie and her husband Larry left for China to get Lily. Click on her link if you would like to follow her journey. I can't wait until Lily is home safe and sound! Congratulations Leslie and Larry!

5. On our way to South Bend I got some sad news. Katrina, my family advocate at AHH, called to let me know she is leaving AHH. While I am so excited for her new adventures she is heading off for Mike and I are so sad to see her go. Katrina has been wonderful for us and has been here for us from the start. Who would have thought that she wouldn't have been here to see Emma come home. When we first talked with her in Oct. of 2005 we thought we would have Emma home by the fall of 2006 and here we are still waiting! Katrina, I just want you to know how much your help and support has meant to us. Thank you for everything!

6. On July 29th we celebrated our 16 month LID Anniversary. How many more are we going to have. The wait right now is at 21 months and rising quickly!

7. On August 9th Mike and I will be celebrating our 10th Anniversary. I kept thinking that our trip to China would be the most amazing gift we could give each other but now it looks like it will be our 11 year anniversary gift, which by the way is right around the Olympics. I sure hope we go before then.

8. We got our paperwork back from INS so we are good for another 18 months. I hope we will not be redoing that one!

So for those of you who haven't been posting, what have you been up to? Until next time...

Back to the grind!

Well, vacation has come and gone. Boy am I sad to be back at work. I had a whole 12 days off and I enjoyed every moment of it. I even stayed away from the blogs for the most part which I am sure was needed. I do have to say that we snuck off one morning after our walk on the beach to check out all of the beautiful babies that were referred. Of course they were as cute as ever! We had a wonderful time at the beach and after being around my sister and all of the kids for a week our house sure is quiet. It made me even that much more anxious for Emma to be running around the house making some noise (I am sure I will eat those words one day!) I was also excited to hear that my friend Leslie got her date to go get her sweet little Lily. She leaves the first week of August. I can't wait to follow her journey. I know I have a lot to update I just need to find a little time. Hope everyone is doing good.

Oh! For those of you not in the adoption world referrals came out while we were on vacation and the dates were from Nov. 8th- Nov. 14th. Not great but it could have been worse. We just keep hoping for some kind of speed up. At this point I feel like the earliest we will get Emma's picture will be in March but most likely next summer.

July 4th!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

I will post soon about what's going on around here but this morning we are off to the beach for a little July 4th trip. Of course I have the laptop so I will try to post while we are gone. I haven't gotten the pictures on here yet but I wanted to say a big thank you to our wonderful secret pal as she has out done herself again! You won't believe all of the wonderful gifts that were packed in this box. We really loved the blanket and hat that your Mom made (can't wait to post the pictures)! So thank you, thank you, thank you! Anyway, we are headed to Florida so I will post soon. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday!

Does it matter?

ENOUGH SAID

(one baby step closer to Emma)

Wonderful and Amazing People!

Once again I am way over due on posting but tonight I wanted to share a very special gift with you. This gift comes from a very special couple that I have never even met. Dana and Mike are friends of my sister Tommi. They live in her neighborhood. They had started the process to adopt from China but life took a different turn and they have since stopped the process. I feel for them as I can only imagine how hard of a decision that was to make. Dana had bought some wonderful things for her little girl and since life has changed she has sent these wonderful things to Mike and I for Emma. We were overwhelmed with Dana and Mike's thoughtfulness. We couldn't believe that they would give these wonderful gifts to us. Check out what they sent us!

This is a picture of everything they sent us. It was hard to get it all in one picture!! Can you believe they sent us all of this?! I took a few close-ups of the pictures ...
This beutiful doll has so much detail. I wish you could see it all in the picture. This one is going on Emma's shelf. Sorry Emma, you won't be playing with this one!

Dana's Mom had bought this for her. I can only imagine how special this was to Dana and I hope she knows how much I will treasure this. I can't wait to have Emma home and get her picture taken in this!
Okay Emma, you can play with these! The Corolle doll is so cute! Dana and Mike sent both of these for Emma. One to play with while she is little and then a larger one for when Emma gets a little bigger. I have to confess, I have already been playing with these!
I only had room to post one more picture so I chose the Precious Moment adoption figurine. I love Precious Moments and have the perfect place for this! If you check out the first picture again you will see an adoption book that I just loved. Mike and I sat down the first night we got it and read it. We also got such a cute asian lamp. We wanted to send out a big thank you to Dana and Mike for sharing these incredible gifts with us. I hope you know how much they have meant to us!

I also wanted to send a very special Happy Father's Day out to my Dad, my father-in-law, and of course my wonderful husband. Thank you all for being so special and always being here for me. I love you very much!

Passed me right by!

We missed our 14 month LID Anniversary! Anyway, another month has come and gone and we are still waiting! To all of those who share our date, happy anniversary to you!

Boy are we spoiled rotten!

When I got back home from out of town I had three packages waiting on the table to be opened. I couldn't believe that Mike didn't open them. You know me, I had to get them open ASAP. First off from my book swap I got 2 wonderful books Shoey and Dot and a My first Counting Book. I just love books and can't wait for Emma to be sitting in my lap reading along with me.


Then I got 3 bath books from the book swap. 2 of them can even be used in the tub! I love them!
Once again my March Secret Pal has gone way overboard! Look at all of this great stuff. Mike and I were so overwhelmed with all of the goodies (I almost couldn't get them all in one shot)! Kozmo was very interested in seeing what Emma got and believe me Jack wasn't far behind! Here is what was included: 2 stuffed babies one of which plays music, a plush growth chart that you can put pictures in, window shade, 3 ever so cute books and CD kids sing along set, skid proof bowl, 2 cute picture frames one of which is for friendship (maybe one day I will be able to put a picture of my secret pal and me in it! hint, hint, if I only knew who you are!!!), ladybug shirt, pooh sleeper, Dora sweatsuit, and a beautiful quilt. Hey secret pal, did you make this beautiful quilt? I love it! I can't believe all the thought and time you put into this wonderful gift. WOW!! I really can't wait until the day we know just who to thank. You are incredible!

Where does the time go?

Where has the time gone? It seems like for months I sat in front of this computer just watching days go by waiting for Emma. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still anxiously waiting for our Emma, but things around here have really been busy. I haven't had much time to even check out my favorite blogs and I haven't read RQ in a month! It really has been good for me. While I miss each of you I feel refreshed and exhausted at the same time.

The week before last Mike and I took a few days off and headed to Gatlinburg. We had such a great time relaxing in our cabin, checking out the moutains and doing a lot of hiking. It was a much needed rest. The picture below is a view from our chalet. It was so peaceful up there and I sure enjoyed the time with Mike.

I took this picture while Mike and I were on a hike. The weather was beautiful so we decided to stop and play in the Little Pigeon River.
We got home on Monday night and then on Wednesday morning I flew up to Conn. for work. Terri and I had to do a special training course at US Surgical. We got in early Wed. so we took the train up to New York to do some shopping. This was my first time in New York so I really enjoyed the sites. The picture below is from Time Square. We had a great time in the city and then it was off to training for Thursday and Friday. It was a interesting trip and I really enjoyed meeting such wonderful people from all over. We were suppose to fly in Friday night but our flight out of Conn was delayed which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Pittsburg so we had to spend the night there and fly out early Sat morning to Atlanta and then finally home to Louisville. By the time we got home I was exhausted and of course the airline lost our luggage. They found it in North Carolina?! The delivery man decided to bring it to us at 1:30AM!

So here it is Monday night and it is back to work tomorrow (yuck!). I am yet to have gotten to check up on everyone. When I got home on Saturday I had 3 packages waiting from my book pals and my secret pal. Tomorrow night I will show you all the wonderful things that I got. For tonight I am off to snuggle up with my wonderful husband! Talk to you tomorrow!!

I'M BACK!

Yikes! It has really been a tough month here and when I finally sat down to post tonight I realized that I hadn't posted since April 14th. So many things have been going on in my life right now that not only could I not find the time to post but I also couldn't find the words. So many of the people I love have lost such special and wonderful people in their lives over the last few weeks. I can't quite find the words to write about it yet but if you could keep some very special people in your prayers I would greatly appreciate it.

As I sit here I can think of so many things I would like to talk about and share with you, my bloggy family and friends. The past month has been filled with sorrow and stress but there has been a little joy along the way. We did celebrate 3 special birthdays: Charlee (April 14th), Corbyn (April 27th) and the birth of our newest nephew, Logan Michael, on May 2nd (congrats to Shelley and Mike). We survived another LID Anniversary, the big 13! Things were so crazy that the day came and went (I did remember it but it didn't make me sad this time).

I wanted to share this picture of Mike and I with 7 of our nieces and nephews (taken on Easter). It made me smile thinking about how each one has touched our lives in so many ways.

Now, I owe a huge apology to my incredible secret pal. In the mist of everything going on at our house Mike and I came home late one night to a HUGE box on the porch. It couldn't have come at a better time as we both needed a lift and boy did we get one. Check out ALL of these gifts that were packed in the box! We got a wonderful collection of books (which I can't wait to read when we finally get to sit down), a photo book, plush panda book, the cutest teddy, Asian note pad (so cute!), such cute clothes (a bath wrap, sweater, and sleeper), the sweetest sand dollar with Emma's name on (made me cry!), and the cutest travel playset. All I can say is WOW! Secret Pal, you went way overboard! I have to say Mike and I sat in the middle of the floor and just cried thinking about what wonderful and special people would think so much about us to send Emma these amazing gifts that we will all treasure for many years to come. I am just so sorry that it took me so long to post about these wonderful gifts. They all meant the world to us!
I tried to take a closer picture of the gifts, can you believe all of this is for Emma?!!
Here is the sand dollar our pal sent for Emma. I already bought a little stand and put it in Emma's room. I just cried when I saw Emma's name on it! Thank you so much for all of your thoughtfulness! I can't wait until the day I find out who you are so I can really thank you!
Hopefully things will start to get back to normal. I have missed blogging and have really missed out on what is going on in all of your lives. I could use a whole week to catch up! I also wanted to send out a congrats to everyone who got their referrals this month. Oh, for those of you who aren't from the adoption world, referrals went from Oct 25-Nov 1! (A baby step closer to Emma!)