Bella Turns 15 months today!

Today our baby girl turns 15 months. Hopefully, she will be in our arms soon. We are waiting on a court date. It normally takes about 2 months after getting your referral to get your court date. We are hoping to have a court date by nid December. I'm so glad we have her beautiful picture! We will be getting monthly updates that include a picture, height, and weight until we bring her home.

George, LiLi, and I had a great weekend. After church on Sunday, we went to The Please Touch Museum. It just opened two weeks ago and it is INCREDIBLE. We stayed there for three hours and could have easily stayed there for 3 more.

The weather has been great..highs in the upper 50's and lows in the low 40's! Everyone is adjusting to city life well! We are having a blast..but it will be nice to visit Charleston in a month..to see all our family and friends!

Okay..we've calmed down..a little!

Our daughter's name is Dasash Mulu. We will name her Isabella Dasash Thornley (Bella).

Next step: we officially accept the referral, then we will have a court date in approximately 2 months. After court, we can travel approximately 4 weeks later. Since we are having her escorted to the US..it will take about 4 additional weeks.

We are so glad that we have a picture of our daughter. It feels like we have been on an emotional roller coaster for the past year and a half..we finally have our daughter!

We are going to an Ethiopian restaurant tomorrow night to celebrate!

Thanks for everyone's support!

WE GOT OUR REFERRAL! :)

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! We got THE CALL at 2:51 today. We have a beautiful baby girl born on 7/27/07. She weighs 18 pounds and is 28 inches tall. She has 8 teeth. She appears extremely healthy.

It was so amazing since Anna flew in to visit last night and George had the afternoon off work. We were all here to open the picture for the 1st time. LiLi seemed really excited about seeing her picture..than said, "okay Anna, let's go play barbies"!! :)

We are so excited! It really is true what people say..you get the call when not expecting it!! I even saw the area code and thought it was another insurance guy calling. What an amazing feeling. It was Friday afternoon and we thought...well, another week without our referral! What great news!

Diana and George

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

I've Been Tagged!

The rules are:

• Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post. and include links to their blogs
• Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

http://ourlittledumplings.blogspot.com/

1) How I met my husband..I was his waitress.

2)My husband and I are starting Chinese lessons with our daughter LiLi (very lucky to have her)

3)I quit The College of Charleston when I was 20..but later received my LPN degree, then even later became a RN (Registered Nurse)

4) I LOVE helping others..volunteering at Homeless Shelters, Junior League, etc.

5) I have the best husband in the world!

6) I have always been very outgoing..or as my family says, "very talkative"

7) I have no sense of direction..can get lost anywhere!

http://kathyirwin.blogspot.com/

http://adoptingaria.blogspot.com

http://adventuresofdoubled.blogspot.com

http://babyethiopia.blogspot.com

http://thenolteclan.blogspot.com

http://taylorandturnerslade.blogspot.com

http://eastandwestkids.blogspot.com

PICTURES!!

LiLi at Reading Terminal Market

LiLi loves her sushi!

Nana, G-Daddy, LiLi and

mommy at the Aquarium

Dossier to Ethiopia 4 months ago today!

Our dossier left for Ethiopia 4 months ago TODAY! Our wait time from Dossier to Ethiopia to referral (picture and info about our daughter) is estimated to be 3-6 months. The agency did say that latelythe wait time has been mostly 3-4 months. We pray every night that our Baby Bella stays safe and healthy until we are able to brinh her home.

We had a great weekend. My dad and stepmother came to visit. We took them to The Redding Terminal Market, Macy's, The Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey, and to see many other sites. We also took them by to see LiLi's preschool. My Dad and Terry took us to a WONDERFUL Mexican restaurant in Center City. They had an awesome guacamole dip..George and I will definitely be back.

I will post some pictures of the weekend tomorrow.

Diana and George

Photos!! Hope you enjoy!

Happy Birthday Kevin!

George's son, Kevin, turns 31 years old today. We hope you have a great birthday!

LiLi's surgery went wonderful. She is healing very well without any complications! Praise God!
It was a little tough at first...she seemed to get really spoiled..really quickly..but the last couple of days have been great. They were able to successfully complete the surgery. She finally does not have any type of prosthesis in her mouth. The doctor said that she can start eating gummy worms, popcorn, peanut butter, etc. on Halloween night! She had many visitors at the hospital. Thanks to everyone who came by and called!

We are back in Philadelphia. My friend, Wendy, and i drove up last Thursday and Friday. We spent the night in Fayetsville, NC. The cats did remarkably well. We had a great trip. We are finally getting settled here. LiLi started preschool today. She will be going Monday and Friday 0900-1130 and Wednesday from 0900-1530. She had a GREAT first day and really seemed to enjoy it. George is loving his job and it's great seeing him so excited about work again. :)

It has been 3 months, 2 weeks and 4 days since our dossier left for Ethiopia. We are hoping that the phone will ring very soon with news of our referral! We will definitely keep you posted!

Oh..I changed the background to pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Let's pray for a cure!

Diana