Happy 2 year "Gotcha Day" Libby!!!

Today we will celebrate Libby Sofia LiHua's 2nd "Gotcha Day." Hard to belive that we have only been a family for 2 years. On December 11, 2005, we met a tiny 10 month old little girl in Guiping, Guangxi province, who was waiting for her mommy and daddy. Today, on December 11, 2007, that little girl is now a very talkitive and happy almost 3 year old.

Happy 2 year "Gotcha Day" Libby Sofia LiHua Jones! Mommy and Daddy love you so VERY much!!!!

Way too long!

You never think that life can change so much as it has in the last almost 2 years as it has since Libby has entered our lives. We will be celebrating our 2nd "gotcha day" in just a few short weeks and we can't remember what our life was like before her. She is just such an important part o four life and we love her so much.

Now for an update! Wow, April.... that was........ 7 months ago. I haven't been too good at this thing! We had a wonderful summer and Libby is growing like a weed! She will be celebrating her 3rd (!) birthday in less than 3 months. She is turning into a little girl. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Todd and my family at our house. We are anxiously awaiting Christmas and this year is so much fun because Libby LOVE Santa Clause! Libby and Mommy went to visit Santa the day after Thanksgiving and she gave him a whole list of what she wanted!

On the "mei mei" topic, there is not much to report. The wait for China has gotten VERY long and we are still at LEAST another year away from meeting Ella Paige if not more. Very discouraging but Libby is keeping us busy. Right now the last LID matched was 12/8/05 and we aren't a LID until 12/30/06, so that's at least a year away, more like 2. We are trying to stay positive and still feel that Ella is in China. We have thought about switching countries but feel that we are in it for the long wait.

Here are some pictures of Libby:

Playing w/ Mommy's cell phone.... she loved it unfortinately

"shopping" at the Children's museum before Halloween

Her new ballet tutu!

Libby was a duck for Halloween, a very cute one at that!

She still loves her ice cream!

Libby and Mommy

"I love the monkey!"

No news....

We were hoping for some referrals to come in this week, but none so far. Anxious to see how far the next batch goes!!! We still have quite a ways to go. We are looking forward to some time off of work next week for Easter so that we can spend some time with Libby. Will post pictures later.

~Todd, Kellie & Libby

Happy Spring!

Happy spring from the Jones family! We are having some beautiful weather here in Savannah! Libby and I went up to NY to visit my family and so Libby had a chance to play in the snow. Here are some pictures.

I'm very excited to be starting working with CHI as Outreach coordinator for Savannah! It is definately helping with the wait for Ella. It is a part time job and so I do all my my work from home in my OFFICE! I sent Libby over to some friends house for a few hours twice a week so that I can get some work done. So far I love my job! I call families from the Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina area who are interested in adoption. I have made some great friends! I also hold adoption seminars and informational meetings. I'm hoping to start some adoption parenting classes this summer. I had to go to St.Louis for 3 days in January for training but now I think that I have everything under control. I'm very excited about it.

No news on the Ella Paige front. We have been logged in for almost 3 months, which if this was back when we adopted Libby we would be almost halfway done with the wait. However, unfortinately the wait is up to almost 17 months, so we have at least another year left unless China speeds up their referral process very soon. It is hard for us but we are enjoying our time with just Libby. She most likely will not travel to China with us next summer (when hopefully we'll be traveling) as she will be over 3 years old by then.

That's it. Hope everyone is having a nice spring! We are very excited about Easter break coming up!

~Todd, Kellie & Libby

Our Birthday Girl!!!

Well here are finally some pictures from Libby's 2nd Birthday! We are so blessed to have this little girl in our life. Enjoy the pictures!

~Kellie, Todd & Libby

Libby's party at the climb & slide - 2/3/07

"It's my BIRTHDAY!" - 2/1/07

Opening presents - 2/4/07

"I love this cake!" - 2/4/07

playing in the snow! - 2/5/07

Libby mesmorized my Sesame Street Live! (her birthday present from Todd and I) - 1/27/07

Running in the snow - 2/4/07

Our Birthday Girl! - 2/1/07

Mommy & Libby at Sesame Street - 1/27/07

Happy 2nd Birthday Libby Sofia LiHua Jones!!!

That is right. Miss Libby Sofia LiHua is now 2 years old!!! So hard to believe that our baby girl is growing up so fast. Of course her birthday was a week ago and I am just now getting around to posting about it. It's amazing how much time I had to write these long posts while we were waiting for Libby but now that we're waiting for Ella, I just don't have the time with a busy 2 year old who craves my attention. Libby had a fun birthday where we went our for Chinese and gave her her gifts. We then had her "kids" party on saturyda, 2/3 with 5 of her friends, 2 of which are from China. I will post pictures later.

The wait is up to about 16 months now from LID until referral so that puts us at an early May referral and July 2008 travel. We will see.....

Kellie
DH: Todd
DD: Libby Sofia LiHua - 2
DOB: 2/1/05 DOA: 12/11/05
Guiping SWI, Guangxi
LID: 12/30/06
waiting for Ella Paige

LID!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't posted in over a month! Things have been just a little crazy at the Jones household. We had a wonderful Christmas celebration with friends and family and on 1/2/07 we received wonderful news. We have a LID for Ella Paige!!! We barely made the December cut off and have recieved a LID of...... drumroll please........... December 30, 2006!!!!!! We were hoping for a little earlier in December but we are not going to complain with the long time that things are taking in China now.

Now the wait begins. We have been logged in for just a few weeks now but we are all ready for Ella! We have now joined the December 2006 LID group for both CHI and also the DTC page. We're having fun getting to know potential travel mates. Actually many of the people who were on the March 2005 DTC yahoo group are on the December 2006 one. I'm having fun with it!

Well it is hard to believe but Libby's 2nd birthday is coming up VERY soon! That is right, less than 2 weeks away. It is so hard to believe that our baby is going to be 2 so soon. Seems like she was just 10 months and in diapers. Amazing how the time flies.

I'll post pictures soon. And the wait begins!!!

Kellie
DH: Todd
DD: Libby Sofia LiHua - 2
DOB: 2/1/05 DOA: 12/11/05
Guiping SWI, Guangxi
LID: 12/30/06 for Ella Paige