An Even Sadder Day....

The news is not good as we had to made the sad decision to end Buddy's suffering this morning. He is no longer with us. Thank you for all of your support both on this blog and privately. This is a very tough time for us as we prepare for one of the happiest times of our lives and yet we feel so sad right now. We know that time will heal this wound for us and for Gabby, our Chihuahua, but right now it just plain hurts.

We are very sad today

Marc and I have two furry children, Buddy the Miniature Pinscher and Gabby the Chihuahua. Buddy was Marc's dog before we married and Gabby was mine. When we introduced the soon to be siblings it was not pretty. Neither one of them was going to have it. They both ruled their respective roosts and did not share well with others. Marc and I would not let the initial setbacks scare us away from trying to make our newly created family more harmonious. After weeks of challenging moments to say the least, they finally fell into a rhythm of sorts and now are inseparable and have been for almost 7 years. Whenever you see one the other is not far behind. They even sleep curled up next to each other.

Unfortuately, we found out recently that Buddy who is about 14-15 years old has age related Kidney failure. We have been trying to slow it's progress but he has had a major setback last night and is at the Vet now for a few days while they try to stabilize him. Gabby is despondent without her "buddy" and so are we. If we are able to rally Buddy we fear that while we are in China he may take a turn for the worse again.

We are so worried and sad today and would be very appreciative for any positive energy that you all can flow our way.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!

Today we received our itinerary and found out that Katie Starr will be brought to us in the Civil Affairs office in Lanzhou, Gansu Province China on May 14th ****Mother's Day**** Katie Starr will be placed into our loving family and I will have my two children with me on Mother's Day!! I am so happy about that.

Here is our basic itinerary:

5/9 Depart Fl for China via Los Angeles and Guangzhou
5/11 Arrive in Beijing
5/12 - Tour
5/13 - Tour
5/14 - Depart Beijing arrive Gansu and Katie Starr Day!!
5/15 - Complete Adoption
5/16 - Shop
5/17 - Tour
5/18 - Tour
5/19 Get babies passports and depart Gansu arrive Guangzhou
5/20 Photos/Medical Exam/INS paperwork
5/21 Tour
5/22 Consulate Appt
5/23 Evening depart China to US arrive Los Angeles and stay overnight
5/24 arrive home!!

Of course in addition to all of this we will be leaving to go to Gainesville, Florida on 5/5. Justin graduates from The University of Florida on 5/6 and we arrive home on 5/7. One day home and then off to China. May is going to be quite a month for our family!

Happy Birthday Katie Starr!!

Today is Katie Starr's first birthday. We will celebrate it with family in her honor. We will make her a special party when she comes home but in the meantime...HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET KATIE STARR!! We love you so much and will be there very soon to bring you home forever.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy and Justin

We have TA and CA!!!

Hi all

We were notified today that we have a consulate appointment in China on 5/22 at 11:00 am. What this means is that we will be leaving here on the 9th of May to get our Katie Starr!! We are in the process of booking our flights. The day that we receive our sweet girl is 5/15 which is actually mothers day here. Many people call this day "Gotcha Day". The term has never appealed to us much so we are calling it "Katie Day" We will keep you posted when everything is confirmed.

Waiting for TA and Preparing

Hi All:

We are still waiting for travel approval and slowly but surely preparing for our journey of a lifetime. You cannot even imagine the lists that I have going right now but I am really knocking off the items pretty quickly. My friend Shannon, who is in China now has informed me to stop preparing and wait until she comes home so I can look at the notes that she has made for me. I hope to be able to post news about when we travel within 10 days. Believe me...when we know you will know :)