This week at the Irish Household

This week has been interesting, to say the least, in the Irish household. I've had people come out twice to look at my stove, which broke on Monday. If you know me, this is especially funny since cooking is not my forte. What is not so funny, is that they have come out twice to look at it, and can't get it to work. Right now we are living off of PB&J, things I can cook on the top of the stove, and using our toaster oven. It's working. :-)

We are replacing the carpet in our basement. Not by choice. We had water damage down there because of all the rain. It will be fun to have new carpet, except when that bill comes! :-)

Khaki closed on her condo today, so that's exciting!! We are going to do a couple things to make it more "hers". We'll start that next week! :-)

Keegan had Zoo camp this week! Absolutely LOVED it!! Which is saying a lot!

Never Before Seen Photos

I have had the rare opportunity to get pictures of Batman on his day off. He was in khaki shorts, and enjoying a nice dinner of Tigger Tail pasta and broccoli. Please enjoy these fresh off the camera photos...

Our Latest Projects

Keegan & I made a pillow. I sewed it, and he did ALOT of the stuffing. He did an awesome job and had a lot of fun. I also made my cow blanket today. I'm going to use it in the back of my car. Because doesn't everyone need a cow print blanket in the back of their car???

Day of Fun!

Alot of families from GPC went to Tee Time. It was a LOT of fun!! Keegan really enjoyed the go-karts and the putt-putt. Momma & Dad really enjoyed the go-karts also!!

LID List - We're at the TOP!!!

This does not necessarily mean that we are next. China has done LID dates until 1/20/2006. So technically 1/21/2006 is next. We are just next at our agency. Definitely a sign that we are getting closer!!!!!

Splish Splashin' Fun

Daddy's Little Caddy

We watched the US Open this weekend. Can you tell...

Some Q & A regarding the 100 Wishes Quilt for Kathryn Grace

I have had a great response regarding the 100 Wishes Quilt. I have received some questions, though, and thought I would address them in case others had the same questions.

1. When is the fabric due? We are really hoping to have our referral in August. I would really like to start the quilt when we receive our referral. I think this would just be a nice "anniversary" time to do it. It would mark getting our referral, and also 3 years since we started our paperwork.

2. Should we wash the fabric? Please don't worry about washing the fabric. Please send me at least an 8x8 square of fabric that hasn't been washed. If you want to send a bigger piece, that is awesome. Just in case I fall short of 100! :-)

3. What should we write on the card? Just write whatever comes to your mind. Regarding my card to Katie - I am by no means eloquent, but I am hoping that she gets the jest of what I'm trying to say. Hopefully! :-)

4. How should I attach the fabric to the card? Don't stress about it. If you just want to send a bigger piece of fabric, I will take care of attaching a piece to the card.

Thank you again to all!! I can not wait to show you the finished product!!

Shout out to my friend Michelle in Peoria, IL

Thank you so much for sending in the material! It is Purrrfect!! I did not think I would get as emotional as I did when it arrived. Really looking forward to this project. Thank you again!!

Historical Look at Log In Dates (LID) in Front of Us

Chad came up with this graph to show our progress in the adoption. It starts at our LID, and continues to current. He is showing the number of days in front of us, and you can see how the days are getting less and less.

Please keep us in your prayers!! Thank you to all for your love and support!

Pool Party

Keegan had a few friends over today for a pool party...

Surfin' in with my 3rd post today!!

Keegan was out surfing today. Thought I would share the pictures...

And yes, that is his snow sled from winter.

100 Good Wishes Quilt

Hello!

Well, I've been debating and have finally decided to try and do a 100 Good Wishes Quilt. We would love if all of our friends and family could participate, but completely understand if it's not possible. Here are the "guidelines" for the quilt...

100 Good Wishes Quilt
Bai Jia Bei History: We are sharing good wishes and beautiful fabrics to make quilts for our children. A tradition exists in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei (a.k.a. 100 Good Wishes Quilt). When a baby is born, family & friends donate to the child's mother fabric with a written wish for the new baby. It is said that the luck, energy and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed the fabric surrounds the child when she is wrapped in the quilt. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.This tradition shows our children just how much they were loved before they even arrived home, and becomes a special heirloom for them.

Family & Friends send an 8"x8"(or any size you would like) square fabric along with a 4X6 card with a 2"x2" swatch of their fabric (same fabric as the 8x8), their name and address and the positive wish they wish for your child written on it.

Collect all the fabric and wishes and complete the quilt to your liking, pattern or random. Place the note card with the swatches into and album or scrapbook so the baby can later match the fabric in the quilt with the wish for her/him by matching it with the swatch.

Ideas for selecting Fabric• Choose a 100% cotton, quilt quality, fabric that you like. It can be from a fabric store or a quilt store. 100% cotton fabric is best because it washes & wears best.*Try choosing a fabric that has some meaning to you even if it is as simple as a favorite color or character or you just loved the fabric.• The wishes themselves can be just a heartfelt message, afamous or not-so-famous quote, song lyrics, scripture passages, a family recipe. Or well what would you wish for an infant to have in her life? Some ideas are good health, perseverance, compassion and a sense of humor. You name it as long as you feel it will be uplifting to the child and family.• The 4x6 index card can be as plain or as fancy as you want to make it. You can hand write it, computer print it, use scrapbook supplies, scan the fabric and color print it on the paper, use cardstock, use stickers, use stamps.... it is completely up to you.*Have them mail the fabric and note card to you in a sealed Ziploc bag so it doesn't get wet and make the writing or fabric bleed.*Ask them to be accurate with their measurements-if they are not comfortable with that they could either send a larger piece for you to cut to size, or ask someone in a fabric store to cut the squares for them, or you could request slightly larger squares and just plan to trim them down yourself.For some ideas of completed quilts, go to www.Originalquilts.Co*It makes it a lot easier for everyone (including yourself) if you wash,dry and iron your fabric prior to cutting, though it is not arequirement. If you choose not to wash, dry and iron your fabric,please ensure you cut your pieces larger and include a note lettingeveryone know as it needs to be done prior to piecing it together.*Another suggestion on prepping your squares is to spray the squareswith 'Magic Sizing' fabric finish while ironing (or some other brand ofsizing--you can find it right next to the starch). It makes it easier to lay out and sew the squares if you prep the squares this way.

Thank you so much to all those that read our posts!! And I can't wait to start receiving the fabric in the mail!! Email me with any questions or concerns...

Correction

Just received an email from our Adoption agency. CCAA (China) has confirmed that they have matched through 1/20/06. So, two less days than we thought. But it is definitely a step in the right direction!

As a sidenote, I added under Adoption links, Family Adoption Websites. You can go into that link, and then hit family websites (bottom far left). It's fun to see the blogs of the people that are traveling in China right now. I LOVE seeing their GOTCHA DAY! photos!! Also, I think this is going to be the website we use while we are over in China. Just so you know where it is and how to find us!! :-)

Hope everyone is having an awesome week!

Referrals are out

Hello All!!

I am so happy to report that referrals have been received today. It is rumored that China went through 1/22/06. We have confirmation that they at least went through 1/16/06, because that is what our agency has regarding LID's. That means that our LID, 2/9/06, is next on our agency's list. Which means we are at the TOP! We have traveled through the three rows and have finally made it to the top! Now, this does not necessarily mean that we will get our referral next month. What it means is that the next time our agency receives referrals, we should be in there!!! It also means that of the 18 LID days in front of us, 9 of those are empty!!!

As a side note - Our agency received 15 referrals today, 13 girls and 2 BOYS!

Rooney comes to visit, T-ball, VBS, & swimming - Oh my!

It's been a busy couple of weeks at the Irish household. Here are some pics! Enjoy!!