Merry Christmas to all

I have to confess. It took me a while to get in the Christmas spirit this year. I got my shopping done fairly early, but I just wasn't as excited for Christmas to actually get here. Maybe this adoption wait is making me a more patient person. Not likely, but it's a thought. I did get a burst of Christmas joy just in time.

We had a wonderful and simple Christmas at our house. My family spent the night. We were up until early morning playing games. It wrapped up with a trivia show down first with my sister and I versus the husbands... then a face off with the husbands. D's parents will be here later in the week to celebrate his birthday. So, our celebration will carry on most of the week. D got me this Vietnamese Madame Alexander doll for Christmas. Isn't she sweet?

I got some good adoption news on Friday. I stopped by the agency to drop off a small gift for our coordinator. She told me that we are still on track to get our referral at 15 months, but it could happen in as short as 12 months. That puts us at April to July for our referral. There have been several referrals at our agency and more coming. It always helps to be reassured that things are still moving along. We are much closer to being matched with our baby. It has been 8 months now since we turned in our dossier. The wait has been hard. Every month that passes brings us closer to our family. I am working on a list of things to do after the first of the year. I will post it on the side bar so I can keep track of my progress. I don't want things to sneak up on me. If you have suggestions on anything I might be missing, let me know ; )

In knitting news, I was pleasantly surprised by the quick success of our Etsy site. I did not expect to get so many orders so quickly. On top of that, I was surprised with 6 email orders from friends of friends of friends. I was still able to make a few Christmas gifts, but I was very busy, I am well over 100 hats sold towards our adoption fund. I need to tally up the exact figure. My goal is still to give away at least as many hats as I have sold. I think I should still be in good shape there. It has been a blessing for the fun that I have had doing it and for how it has helped me with the wait. I highly recommend a hobby for all those anxious waiting families out there.

I think I'll stop rambling now. Merry Christmas! A.

Shopping for Christmas

My sister and I have started a little shop at Etsy. We have both always been crafty, just in different ways. She is a graphic artist/art teacher. She is very talented and is currently illustrating a book. She painted some adorable baby shoes. I just started posting them tonight. I hope to have some more added this weekend. I have also added some of my baby hats to the shop. There is a link on the side bar that will take you straight to our site. It's not real fancy just yet, but we are working on it. I think I will ask Hannah' Claire's Mom to help us out with a shop banner. She does such a great job!

I also want to say a big Congratulations to Alexia's new family! A.