It is official.

Well, we signed the papers last night to put our house on the market. The sign is in front of our house now. We will be going some time soon to look at some houses. I hope that we are able to move before I travel to China. Our realtor actually has one picture of Hannah's room on realtracs that has Hannah in it. He should have told everyone that she was not included with the house.

Potty training

Friday after getting home from daycare I put panties on Hannah. I was determined that this weekend we were really going to work on the potty training thing. I have started giving her 1 sticker for using the potty when I take her and 2 if she tells me she has to go. Friday night she did great. We had no accidents. I was very proud of her.

We will let her sleep with me on the weekends sometimes. Saturday morning I awoke to "Mommy I pee peed in my pull up." I got her out of MY BED and went to change her. She did not have a pull up on. she still had her panties on. I was busy packing up our kitchen and Greg was on the computer. She went to her room and got her pjs and put them on by herself. Greg did not check to see that she had a diaper on when he put her to bed.

Saturday she wore the panties all day long. We had two accidents. I thought that wasn't too bad for all day. Sunday she wore a pull-up all day. I was still proud of her. On the way back from my Dads home she said that she had to pee pee. I asked her to hold it until we got home. She held it. I told her that she got 2 stickers and asked if she knew why. she proudly stated because she said "pee pee." She loves getting those stickers. I think it just might work.

The Blog Fairy has struck again.

It is great having a friend that know how to create awesome templates. This is my new blog that was created by my friend, Verna. She is awesome. If any of you are interested in a new blog template you should contact her. She has many nice ones.

I really like this template. Verna took into consideration cherry blossoms that I asked for and tea which I love. I also think that it is a very femine template. She did this in honor of our son, Ethan, whom we just received our referral for. THANK YOU VERNA, I LOVE IT.

Favorite Photo Friday

This is one of my favorite photos from our trip to China. For those who did not travel with us, this is Mary and her new baby girl Maggie. I love this picture because of how much the girls look like each other. After we got home I would show our family and friends the picture and ask which one they thought was Hannah. You would be surprised at how many people thought that I was holding Maggie. I have shown Hannah this picture since being back. When I asked her which girl was her she too pointed at Maggie. I love this family and all of the other families that we traveled with. I wish we lived closer together so the girls could get together.

Update

Well, today we went to turn in our LOI (Letter of intent) for Ethan's adoption. You actually have to type this on the original form that CCAA sends with the referral pack. Of course Greg and I were asking where on earth is there a typewriter. I haven't seen one of those in about 7 or 8 years. Thankfully our agency had one in their office. We were able to go there so I could type it up.

They were having a meeting tonight with families that are in the process of adopting internationally. They asked us to come and share our story with them. Of course they asked for Hannah to be there with us. She knew that everyone was watching her so she decided to put on a show. When it came time to share I was the one that was lucky enough to speak. Speaking isn't my favorite thing to do. I would rather sing in front of a crowd any day. I can do it though. We had some questions asked of us. It was fun to share our story of Ethan and Hannah both.

I have been in my new job role for about three weeks now. It is more stressful but I realize it is partly because I am still learning my job responsibilities. I think am going to enjoy it though.

More pictures

Here are some more pictures that received today with Ethan's paperwork. When we pulled up to our adoption agency Hannah asked, "where's Ethan." I thought that was so sweet. When we got up to the office we had to wait just a few minutes for our social worker, Lisa. I don't know if you can tell or not Hannah wanted the other pictures that were in the packet. She kept insisting on holding "her Ethan." We had to give her her own picture to make you happy. She is so sweet. She will look at it and say, "Oh, my Ethan."

We have decided that his name will be Ethan Qiang Shockley. Ethan means firm and Qiang means strong. Also, we have a friend whose name is Qiang. I like that they have the same name. I hope that you all enjoy the pictures.

Please keep us in your prayers as we are trying to get the rest of our money together. We are waiting to hear from two different grants. I know that God will provide.

The Long Awaited News

May introduce you all to Ethan ______ Shockley (You Guo Qiang). He is two years of age. His date of birth is 2/14/05. He is from the Xinxiang City Social Welfare Inst. in Henan, China. If I remember the map correctly his province is just above Hunan. That will make it easier on visiting both when we go back with the children.

I have to share the story of us being matched. I hope that it is ok to share. We were not told not to share. As you all know we had asked to be considered for one of four boys. Yesterday our social worker called Greg. She told him that Grand Rapids wanted us to look at three of the boys and decide on which one we would prefer being matched with. Greg and I narrowed it down to two of them. One of the boys is two months older than Hannah so we thought it would be best to go with one of the younger boys. I then asked Greg how do we decide which of them to choose. It is much easier when China matches us. I called my baby sister to ask her opinion. At that time Greg was asking Hannah which of the little boys was Ethan. She kept pointing to Guo Qiang. She would always say that the other boy was a baby. My sister heard Hannah talking about it and said that since Greg and I had it down to two that we should let Hannah tell us who Ethan is. Hannah is very proud of her brother already. She was carrying his picture around with her last night.

Now the wait begins. I also have some shopping to do . I need to go buy some little boys clothes. I am ready to be in China hugging and kissing my little man. Maybe I will be able to go get him before our reunion so you all can meet him.

Oh, also we are putting our house on the market within a week or two. We have somethings around here that we need to do first. So much exciting things are happening.

Another video

Here is another video from the Back Dorm Boys. I just love watching them. They always make me laugh. I always wonder what the guy sitting at the computer is doing.

Enjoy!

4 Little Boys

The Children of Promise (a list of children that have mild to severe special needs) list came out on Thursday of last week. We sent our social worker a letter stating that we are interested in 4 of the little boys. We should hear something tomorrow on whether or not we were matched.

New Hair Color

I had my hair colored tonight. I lady that I work with did it for me. It took Hannah awhile to realize that it is different. I really like it. I have always wanted darker hair.

DTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3/13/2007 WE ARE DTC!!!!!

For my friends that have not adopted from China this means that our paperwork was sent to China today. We are very excited here. We are another step closer to being united with our Ethan.

The Back Dorm Boys

The first time Greg showed me one of their videos I couldn't stop laughing. Every now and then I have to go to You Tube to watch one. I hope you enjoy it.

Favorite Photo Friday

Hannah and I went to the store last night. While we were there she saw the electric toothbrushes. She told me that she wanted one. I had been thinking about getting one for her so I started looking through the choices. I pulled out Cinderella and Ariel. She picked Ariel. This is a picture of her using it for the first time. She likes it. Especially when it tickles her lips.

Tribute to my father.

This is a tribute to my father, Senior Master Sergeant Robert Roehl. I don't have any pictures from Saturday so I thought I would just post this picture. I have grown up in a military family. Granted my father was in the Air National Guard the whole time that I remember him being in but he had also served full time in the Air Force. He always taught us to be grateful for the men and women who have and continue to fight for our freedom. I am thankful for his teaching. This April 13 my father turns 60 years old. The military in forcing him to retire although I think he is probably ready. This past Saturday they had a retirement ceremony for him. I was waiting for him to start crying. I actually thought he was going to cry. My father loved serving his country. Since he was in the Air National Guard he wasn't really called up to go places. Most of his deployments were voluntary. I remember during the first Gulf war that he told them that if he ever needed him to go he would. If people would tell him that they prayed that he would never have to go to fight he would always tell them not to do that because he joined to fight. I have great respect of him for that.

My father wasn't only a great serviceman; he is also a great daddy. I have always been able to talk with him about anything. He wasn't always at home all the time but he worked 2 jobs most of the time during the week. He always provided for us. My daddy also taught me not to judge people by the outside but what is on the inside. He is always there when I need him. I always talk about how big of a Daddy's girl Hannah is. I think that I am probably just as big of one with my Daddy. I love my Daddy. Thank you Daddy for all that you have done for me and taught me over the years.

New Job

Today I started learning some of my new job experiences. It was kind of a hectic day so I didn't learn too much. I think that I will like it for the most part. I just pray that I will do a good job. I want my workers to know that they can come to me about anything. I will try my best to help them out.

Favorite Photos Friday

Ok my fellow travel mates, how many of you remember this? I was looking through my China pictures and knew that I had to post this one. The lovely squatty potty in China. Once I got past the smell I didn't mind them too much. I actually learned the trick to squatting properly. I just wish that I would have know the trick when I was little so that I would not have had all of the wet pants after trying to go behind a tree. When I go back to China the next time I hope my knee will be able to take them.