Halloween

Our friends Lora, Dale and Ava stopped by to Trick or Treat on halloween. Max made a great bumble bee!

Bryce

This is Ava's future playmate Bryce. He's six months old now and keeping his Mommy on her toes. He's a busy little boy and oh so cute. Just look at those eyes!

Our friend Lora let Brian borrow this lovely hat! He thought it would look great on my Dad and I think Dad agreed! Of course Brian made sure we all got to try it on. Dale really liked it as well. I may look like I'm drunk but I wasn't. Just exhausted from watching the Patriots play the Bears!!! Anyone who watched the game will agree!

Ava's new things!

Andrea flew down for the weekend a few weeks ago. We decided to take a trip to Lancaster, PA to shop in Amish country. We went to tons of fabric stores and fell in love with their quilts. We stopped in a unfinished furniture store and found this bookcase. I thought it was so cute! I called Brian so he could convince me to buy it. We haven't decided how we are going to finish it yet. The princess sign is from EBay and the adorable ladybug dress is from Andrea.

New squares

I was asked to post all the fabrics I receive so everyone can get a peek. We have gotten 30 squares so far. We are on our way to 100!! These six are from my Dad and Marie. My Dad called me last week to tell me how much fun he had buying fabric. Never thought I'd get a call like that from my football loving Dad! I have to say the two of them shocked us. My Dad picked out the fabrics in the second picture. Each one of the fabrics coordinate with his wish. He picked out beautiful flower and butterfly prints. We thought he would buy Red Sox or Patriots!! We think he made great choices! Marie surprised us the most! She picked out the Patriots fabric (Marie what have we done to you???). The celestial fabric fits her perfectly and we love the Children of the world angel fabric. You can click on each picture twice to enlarge them for a better view.

Lots of squares!!

Our friends Tim & Lora had a great time shopping for fabric. They picked out 13 fabrics! I had so much fun looking through them. I told them to pick out their favorites so I can add swatches to their wishes. Tim picked out the fish and Lora picked out the yellow w/ flowers and butterflies. Lora's children Dale and Ava (yup, another Ava) picked out the sports and princess theme's as their favorites.

Our fabric

I had such a hard time picking out fabric. I guess it's because I'm trying to find the "perfect one". I really loved this one!! It's silk so Andrea may have to do some extra work with it to avoid fraying. It's washable so it should work. I'd still like to find a few more.

More squares

We received six more squares from our agency group. They have all made great choices! I love the little girl fabric at the bottom.

Wishes

Most of these wishes come from our agency group. They have all been really creative. Most people are using quotes or poems as their wishes. The bottom right wish is from my Dad. He put so much thought and feeling into it. Of course he made me cry! I'm sure Ava will love it just as much someday.

Ava's first squares

Our agency has a yahoo group that consists of families who had their Dossier's sent to China in September/2006. We will travel to China to get Ava with many of these families. Our yahoo group is a great way for us to get to know each other before we travel. Since many of us are doing 100 Good Wishes quilts we decided to swap squares. I was so excited when Brian brought the mail in today...we got 5 squares from our September/2006 DTC group. I added a picture so you could see her first squares.

We are also doing a secret buddy exchange. We each have one person that we send a gift to every month. It can be for the baby, parents or siblings. We are exchanging gifts until we receive our referrals for our babies at that point we will reveal who we have been sending gifts to. Our first gift was a National Geographic DVD called "China's lost girls". It is a very informative and emotional look at Chinese adoptions. It also tells the heartbreaking story of why these little girls are living in orphanages.

100 Good wishes quilt

We "borrowed" these pictures from another blog so everyone could see a finished quilt. We are very excited about Ava's quilt and hope everyone participates. Andrea has volunteered to make the quilt with some help from her Mother in-law. We have already received some questions regarding the quilt so I figured I'd address them here:

1) Can we send more than one square? Yes: We need 100 squares but only sent out 78 letters. We can definitely use some extras. We would really love it if those of you with children would send a separate square from them. Our friend Angel is planning on cutting a piece of a blanket that her Son and Daughter had used when they we're born for their square.

2) What should we write for our wish? You can write anything you like! What would you wish for your own child's life? We are using lyrics from a song for our wish. Here is a small excerpt from it: "My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to, your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, you never need to carry more than you can hold". It can be a prayer, poem or something that you write personally. It can be short or long! We will attach a piece of your fabric to your wish.

3) What kind of paper should my wish be written on? It can be on a note card, personal stationary, decorative paper or regular 8x11 paper. I also included a picture of some wish notes. Your wishes will be placed in a 12x12 album.

4) Can I pick any fabric that I like? Please pick anything that you like or something that you think is special. It can be new or something sentimental that you already have. Our friend Andrea has picked a sunflower pattern. She loves sunflowers so I always think of her when I see them. We would love it if you picked a fabric that reflects your personality, hobbies or interest's.

When I purchased fabric they would not cut it to 10 x10. Joanne's fabric will not cut into smaller pieces. If you let them know that you need a piece of fabric that can be cut into a 10x10 square we will cut it to size when we receive it.

If you have any questions please feel free to call!! If you would like to receive emails whenever our blog is updated send your email address on a separate piece of paper with your square and wish.