Doctor's visit

I thought this was an interesting story. I had an appointment yesterday with our family doctor to get my Hepatitis's shot. It a father and son doctors office, I have always had my appointments with the son. Well this time I get the father and boy what an experience. I go back into the office and he says what are you here for. I tell him I am traveling to China hopefully in the next year. I show him the info Living Hope has giving us on what shots we should get. I tell him I want to get hep A, but don't think that i want to get Hep B. Well I get a sermon like no other. For a minute I felt like I was back in grade school at the principles office. He goes on to tell me every way possible that I could get Hep B. One which was a graphic explanation that someday I could get into a car accident start bleeding everywhere and if someone tried to help me and they were bleeding everywhere are blood could mix and get into my open wombs. I proceed to tell him I am only considering getting these shots because we are traveling, if I was not going to china i wouldn't even consider either one. Well he says I do whatever you want but you should get both. I don't think he was to happy with me that I just to get one and not the other. So now he gets out the needle and I think boy am I in a world of trouble. But surprisingly he was very gentle and it really didn't hurt at all, just felt a little burn. I did say out loud I am a bit of Sissy when it comes to needles and his reply was it really is mind over matter (in a very sarcastic way). I am hoping that he really had a bad day and this is not his usually bed side manor. I have to go back in six months so i will see if her is any nicer. But for anyone considering getting the shot it really was not big deal. for about 2 seconds it felt a little warm sensation and then went away. Today my upper arm is a little sore. the soreness is really just to touch nothing to uncomfortable.

Christmas holdiay

Well Christmas day if officially over. Back to work today. This season I have felt completely different then ever before. I was extra generous to my family and strangers. After the 2 feet of snow hit my husband and I were driving home from my parents and drove past a car stuck in the snow. Normally we would of kept on driving (for many reasons one being is this just sick person pretending to be stuck just to rob us). Well we pulled into a plowed stop and went on to help this older man and women push their car onto a clear spot. They could not have thanked us enough. I really felt great about doing this. Every time I saw a red cross container I put money in, normally I walk right pass (again i aways felt is the red cross really getting this money). Not this year. I felt very giving, happy and just generous. Their are many other stories I could post about what i did different this year then ever before but I guess my point is, I have love in my heart for a daughter I haven't even met yet. I want everyone around me to feet the same kind of love and happiness. I know other parents feel this way, but I guess because I have never felt this before I didn't quite understand just how great it is . I think because I have so much love inside of me by being extra nice people will feel this way. I am not saying I never did anything nice before but I did different nice things this year for different reasons. Our nephew on my husband side has had a tough life, lots of ups and downs and lot of loss in his short 13 years of life. He could be quite a handful at times and I loose my patience with him sometimes or don't give him the attention he deserves because he is being bad or giving us an attitude. Well this year when I walk into his house I just couldn't help but hug him and give him a kiss (something I normally don't do when I see him). He could of not been more thankful for his gifts and loved everything we gave him. For the first time in the 5 years I have known him I told him I loved him. While I have been there for him and done little things for him and made sure he always had a nice Christmas' and birthdays, i never told him I loved him. Well in return he told me he loved me and gave the biggest hug and kiss. and it felt great and sad all at the same time. I felt sad because I think he yeaned this from me, I kinda like a mother figure to him. He lost his mom and grandmom and don't really have a lot of women in his life. I feel different towards him now. I really think these feeling come from us adopting. I really feel like God has givin a special blessing by allowing us to adopt a child and I have a new respect for children. I hope this feeling never goes away and only gets stronger. My hope is everyone in the world feels this great and maybe someday we won't be reading headlines in the morning paper that someone tried to bomb a plane flying over the United states.

Special Needs Program

Well today is the official day me and Ryan submitted our paperwork to Living Hope to be in the special needs program. I deleted my last post because one I would like to have happy posts in here in case someday our daughter would like to read this and two I was mad the last time I wrote and would just like to forget about what I wrote. One thing I need to learn after being with my husband for 5 years now is he does not make decision overnight. He likes to ponder get educated and take time for himself to make decisions. I should know this by now after many major decisions we have to make since we meet. this is how he has handle each and every one of them. My patience sometimes wears thin and I get upset or frustrated and I need to take a breath and remember all good things come to those who wait. Well we discussed and spoke to Doctors about what needs that would work for us and agreed on three with one maybe. Sarah seemed pretty optimistic that we would here something in the next 6 months. She went over the process and made us feel good about our decision. I felt a little nervous and anxious today. I woke up today and for the first time since we started this process it felt real. I could be a mom sooner than later. It really feels real now. Now that we have some kind of time line and knowledge of things it really feels real now. I think my mom was going to bust when I told her how she might have a little grandchild by next year. I bought a couple things today that I saw at Khol's today that were to cute I couldn't pass them up.
My friend Greg who is one of my oldest and closest friends just had his first baby last week. Sarah Jean Schubert was born Thurs. Dec 10 weighing only 5lbs 14 oz. She is so cute. So so tiny. I went and visited them today and got to hold her. I told him I am available to babysit anytime. Of course I must of bought them a million outfits, one cuter then the other. I can't wait till I can go out and start buying out daughter cute little outfits.
Well Christmas is right around the corner and I almost done my shopping. I have my parents done, my nephews done but have no idea on what to get my sister. to make matters worse her birthday is new years day. so i have to think of something to get her for Christmas and her birthday. Anyone have any ideas.
Our tree is done, and if i might say so myself it looks pretty good. One thing I love is decorate a Christmas tree. My husband thinks I am nuts I have about 700 lights on the tree and all kinds of balls and poinsettias and twigs, he asked is better living and homes coming to house anytime soon.

Mike and Mari's wedding

Well this weekend was pretty jam packed. I had to work Friday then left for the rehearsal dinner down South Philly. We were invited to Ryan's cousin Mari's wedding. She got engaged about 15 months ago to Mike MacDougal, if you f ollow baseball he is the Washington Nats closer. They make such a wonder couple they seemed very much in love. The place was calleed Momma Maria's. Well if you are in the mood for a 7 course Italian dinner this is the place. Everything was great from the Anti pasta then soup which was a crepe filled with cheese and soaked into a chicken broth. The a trio of pasta and sauces. I choose Veal Marsala for dinner the bean and rice and salad and after all that dessert with Lemon Chello. Very good dinner. Saturday I had work in the morning then left early to get my hair a nd makeup done. Then off the the reception. Ryan went to Mass he was a reader, I wasn't able to make the ceremony because of work. He said the Mass was beautiful and he did a good job on his reading. The ceremony was in the Bellvue down town, what a beautiful place. Everything was done top notch. Ryan's 3 little cousin were there. the youngest was the flower girl she looked beautiful. We had a great time hanging out with them. I think Ryan hinted to me that he wanted me to have a baby. I kind of ignored him and started talking about something else. Maybe some day it will be in my cards to have a baby of my own but right now I believe the best thing for me is adoption. I think he was just in the moment hanging out with the little girls and having fun with them that he said that,but I know he wants to adopt to. The food at the wedding was just as good as the food from the rehearsal. The best man and maid of honour made toasted which were beautiful and came right from the heart. We said over at the hotel and woke up the next mooring for breakfast with all the guests from the wedding. So I think i am about 10lbs heavy then I was on Friday. We had a wonderful time spending time with family and each other. Ryan even said lets get married again. Watching two people so in love makes you want to get married again. Well its now 5:30 and I am ready for bed. Thank God I don't have to be in work tomorrow till 2

My scare

Let me start of the story is all my pets are fine. Well I think today might of been a test for me for becoming a mom and I might of failed. Thurs nights my husband gets home from work late. So it is the only night I get to come home from work and have a few hours to myself. Well I have four pets to take care of when I get home. First I let my dog Lucy out back to do her business. In the meantime Sadie and I go out front for her to do her thing. I refill the water bowl get Sadies snack so she can take her medicine and give Lucy's treats. Go check on the cats and make sure they are alright and give them some attention. Well that's what happened tonight but somewhere in the mix of this and cooking dinner and changing in my pjs I lost track of Lucy. I thought she was outside. I remember letting her out she came back in for her treats, went upstairs with me while i was getting changed and I swore (would of bet my life on it) that I let her back out. So some time passed my husband came home from work and I asked him to let her in. I heard him calling her she didn't come in, he said I am going to take a shower Lucy doesn't want to come in. Well it was getting late and cold I don't want her out there anymore I get up I am at the back door calling her and nothing She doesn't come when I call. This went on for a full minute I couldn't see her or hear her. So now I am in a panic my hearts racing I run in the house put sneakers and sweater on and go out back (our back yard is pretty big and dark plus we have an in ground pool) start calling for her waking around the pool praying she didn't fall in. So my mind starts wondering I think she died somewhere in the yard a wild animal got to her and killed her. I run upstairs make my husband get out the shower and help me look for her. He gets the flash light and goes through the whole yard no sign of her anywhere. I don't know what to do at this point I am asking St Anthony to help me find her show me a sign where she can be. In the meantime when my husband went to take a shower he brought the cat upstairs with him. Lucy and Buddy the cat (or so we thought) don't get along we never leave them in the same room together because we thought Lucy would hurt her. So my husband goes back in the house and for some reason decides to check the house for her and there she is Laying on the bed in the spare bedroom like a queen and guess who is in the bedroom with her Buddy the cat. Well instantly I start crying. I was so relieved I really thought she was dead somewhere in the yard. I am standing there crying and hugging her and she is looking at me like What I was here the whole time why are you crying. For 5 years now we have keep the dogs and cats away from one another and tonight because of my absent mind they were hanging our not even caring they were together. What a great mom I am going to be I can't even keep track of a 4 legged dog who is suppose to come when called. I guess the lesson in this check the house when you can't find the dog and don't just assume something bad has happened.

The Philadelphia Phillies

Well the Phillies lost. What a great fight. I am sad that they lost but happy they had a great season. They came out with heart, They had a tuff start this season by losing Harry Kalas. I am sure that took a toll on the team he was the heart and soul of the team. The rest of the city got to mourn him but the Phillies still had to work. We battled injuries, death and even a birth this season. They were in the World Series with the New York Yankees, that says something about this team. The Yanks have a big payroll the Phillies don't players for the Yanks go there because they get paid more than their worth it. Phillies players come to this city because they want to play baseball with a city who has just as much heart as they do. I love this team they gave us a great season. Watching them I get to spend time with my family, go to games with my sister and nephew, have discussion about who stinks and who is great ( of course we all have different opinions). The Phils brought us together as family. I haven't sit down in my parents living room since I was a little girl and laid on the couch and watched a baseball game. I got to listen to my dad complain how they stink(he is their biggest fan he never misses a game but yet no matter what always thinks they stink. It is his thing) Me and my mom yell at the TV like they could here us. We are either cheering or wishing we were their coaches because we know better. My husband is off in his own world and has totally different views then anyone I know. Well Phils Thanks for a great season can't wait till April. Hopefully I will be there for opening day.

Halloween weekend

Well this weekend has been a mix of fun and games. Well first I got to see all my little friends sons. My oldest friend Lisa who grew up across the street from me has two little boys Kyle and Colin. They were dresses as a Cowboy and Race car driver. They looked so cute. Next up is my friend Judy who I have been Friends with now for about 6 years, she came into my life when we started working together. She took a part time job at my parents restaurant and we pretty much became instant friends. Her so Michael was dresses as the incredible Hulk. He was so funny, when I went over there is was just starting to get ready, he is 5 years and did not want to get the green makeup on his face. He was giving his mom a hard time her Patience was wearing thin SO I stepped in and he let me finish spraying his hair and he was a perfect angel for me. We went trick or treating and got to go to some really cool haunted houses. I think I was more scared then him. We went to the hot dog ladies house and got hot dogs and chili. She even had beer for the adults. After Judy's house I went to visit my friend Lane at work. Her family owns a local tavern in the city. Well here comes the games. The Phillies game well as everyone knows they lost Saturday night. I was sitting at the bar with a bunch of strangers and the only thing we had in common was the hope the Phillies would win but they lost and our hope now was that they win on Sunday. Well here comes Sunday and we got an extra hour of sleep, but someone forgot to tell my dogs so they got up at 9:30 and were ready to go out so I up playing on the computer till I had to get ready to go to work. Work was slow and pretty boring. After work I went to visit my closest and dearest Friend who is my cousin Rose and her son Cayden. He is will be 3 in March; Rose dressed him so I could see him in his costume which was a pizza delivery man. He looked great. He had on jeans and flannel with a little apron and vest with a pizza sown on his back and he carried a box of pizza. Pretty creative. After I left Rose's house I went to my parents to wathch the Phillies game. They could not seem to pull it together homers with no one on base. No hits when someone was on base and Lidge just couldn't pull off a 3 out inning. Well they lost, while I am sad I am still hoping for a win in the next 3 games. If anyone can do it, it will be the PHils. While I had a nice time hanging out with all my little Nephews I can't wait to dress my daughter up for her first Halloween and take her trick or treating. I am thinking for her first Halloween I want to dress her as a Panda Bear. How cute will that be. Well I am signing off for the night and hoping the Phils get a win Monday night!!! Go Phils

Our Children

Carla

Buddy

Lucy lookingl like the queen of the castle

Sadie Sleeping as usual

As we are waiting for our daughter, I can introduce you to our 3 furry daughter and our furry son. Lucy and Sadie our dog daughters. The best dogs you could ever ask for. I love them so much. They are the cutest and most lovable dogs in the world. Lucy is a little bit of a loner, she loves to be outside chasing the squirrels and rabbits in our backyard. She love sitting in the sun and watching the birds fly around above her. When she comes in she loves cuddling up with her mom. While she is an obedient dog in the house she is not so obedient outside. If she gets out the front door, she takes off through the neighborhood and comes home when she is tired and needs a nap and drink. Thank god this has only happen a couple times and we live in a quiet neighborhood with no main highways. We had to get a six foot fence because she could jump over out first fence of 4 foot. Lucy is an a rescue dog form the Pennsylvania SPCA she is a Lab/Shep mix. She has the body and hair of a Lab but the marking of a Shepard. She is 7 years old. Sadie is the complete opposite of Lucy, she is a 90lb baby. Mommas girl. If she could find a way to permanently attach herself to me she would. I always joke and say i am going to make a kangaroo pouch for her so she never has to leave my side. She hates to be outside. She is house trained so she goes out does her business is back in in less then 2 minutes. Where ever I am she is right behind me. She is big Ofe. I just love her to death. I don't think she could get any cuter. She is so dumb but yet so smart all at the same time. I never have to worry about her getting outside, she would never leave the front patch of grass. we go out front together and i lay on the hammock and she lays right under neath me. Another dog could walk by and it doesn't even phase her. When she wants to play I leave that up to my husband. She only weighs about 20lbs less them me, so when she jumps on me she knocks me right over. She is also a rescue dog from the SPCA and is 6 years old and is a Doberman/Rottie mix.

Our next daughter is Carla she is our cat who i found as a stray at my work one day. She is the cutest thing when she was hanging around our work one day she was so tiny and skinny. I decided to take her to the vet have her checked out. Then bring her to the SPCA for someone to adopt. She was in perfect healt except for one thing, she had a botfly growing in her nose. It had to be the grosses thing i ever seen. The doctor pulled it out of her nose it was twice the size of her nostril is had to be so painful. I thank god everyday that I found her and was able to help her. Well the plan to drop her off at the SPCA didn't go so well. After two days of keeping her in my house and playing with her I fell in love. So now 5 years later she is running around and finding crazy hiding spacing in the house. She keeps to herself but when she want to be pet she lets you know. Next is Buddy, he was Ryan cat before we met. He found him while working in West Virgina. He is the biggest cat I think I ever saw. He is very lovable.He loves to snuggle under the blankets with you, he loves everyone that comes into our home. I swear he talks and says Ryan. He buy far loves Ryan more then me, the other three love me more then him. We are so grateful to have such wonderful children and I hope they are all still here with us when our daughter comes home from China.

100 Wishes Quilt

We got this idea from another family adopting from China. She had told us about this tradition that started in China. To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. Part of the patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other part of the cloth can go into a creative memory notebook with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

We started this quilt right after we put in our application to China. When we started to tell our family and friends we gave them a copy of the 100 wishes quilt. We have received some really creative thing from people and love making the scrap book. I actually look forward to getting the mail everyday hoping for a new peice of fabric. One of my cousin is friends with a lady from China and she wrote her wishes in Chinese that was really great.

If you would like to contribute here is what you do.

If you would like to contribute here's what we would like for you to do:
1. Choose any 100% cotton fabric that you like. We hope that you will be able to find a piece of fabric in your craft supplies, old decorating projects or among old clothes that you no longer wear.

Some ideas for selecting the fabric square include selecting a fabric that is meaningful to you or is a pattern or design that you think is pretty. 100% cotton fabric is best because it will hold up longer and wear better. Try to avoid fabric that stretches such as t-shirt cotton or jersey because it is very difficult to work with.
2. Cut one 8 x 8 inch square from the fabric. Cut a second 2 x 2 inch square from the fabric.
3. Print or hand-write a good wish note on a sturdy type of paper such as an index card or cardstock. Remember to include your name!
Ideas for good wishes notes include anything that you would wish for a newborn child including good health, happiness, compassion, patience, or a sense of humor. It could contain your favorite scripture, poetry, the lyrics of a favorite song or just your own words. It could be serious or light-hearted, so long as it contains your heartfelt good wishes for our daughter.
We have not decided on a name yet so if you would like to address her as Our Special Blessing.
4. Assemble all three items above and mail to us at the following address:
Danielle and Ryan
1181 Bristol Pike
Bensalem PA 19020

Phillies

Go Phillies, they have only 5 more wins and they will be world Champs again. I can't wait. What great stories we will have to tell our daughter when we bring her to her first Phillies game.

Our adoption journey

After we celebrated our 2ND anniversary we started to talk about the adoption process. We now knew that we could start the process. We googled China Adoptions and found Living Hope. We liked the idea that they were so close to home. Living Hope was celebrating Chinese New Year and had an open house at a local Chinese restaurant. Ryan and I took a ride and meet the staff of Living Hope. Sam explained everything to us and Sarah had went over the details of the planning process. We really felt comfortable with the staff and handed in our application the following week. In the mist of the paper chase and the online classes we decided to buy the building we were renting that our business was located at. So the stress started. Tyring to get the classes done, gather the paper we needed. Well we were lucky enough to purchase our building at a fair price and get our adoption started. Things were looking good, we passed our medical exam with fling colors and now the home study. We met with Sarah and she made the process pretty simple. We were very at ease and it was nice to have some more of our questions answered. Our home study report was done and off to immigration for our fingerprints. I thought the day would never come and one day I opened up the mailbox and there it was, our approval for adoption from immigration. I immediately took the papers to Living Hope, I didn't even want to wait one day for the papers to get there. When I walk in, no Sarah she was on vacation. So we had to wait for her to get back to work before we could send out paper work out for translation. When she got back everything was sent out and we received our Log In Date about 6 weeks later. So August 6, 2009 is our official date from China and the waiting begins again. So now we are reading other people's blog, meeting other families who are waiting and researching everything I can about China. Hoping that our daughter will come sooner than later. Tossing around girls name and talking my mom and sister out of buying everything they see for little girls. While I am tempted to buy really cute things I do stop myself. My husband thinks it is bad luck to buy things to early. Even though I did buy one thing that I could not pass up. A plaque that read "my prince has come and his name is daddy". I gave it to my husband for our anniversary.

About two years ago Ryan and I decided to start our own business. Well technically I wanted to start the business, Ryan had some reservations but fully supported me. I really had a great time planning my wedding and thought I would be good as a Bridal Salon owner. Ryan put his trust in me and heled me getting the business up and running. We scouted locations and fell in love with this charming stone farmhouse. All hardwood floors and completely remodeled. We decided to rent for 2 years to see how things would go and make sure this is really want I wanted to do. After about 1 1/2 business was doing well and decided to buy the building. I love having the bridal store. I love going to work and everyone is always happy. I actually had a mother come in today and was so excited to be there, that she game me a hug even before I started helping her daughter. How many people can say they have a job like that. My husband is a civil engineer, he works for a landfill. He is head of the Engineer department and oversees all aspect of the company. On occasion I make him come to work with me. He enjoys it but gets nervous if he has to help a bride. One thing I can't wait for is to bring my daughter to work with me and playing dress up. I will have her in every flower girl dress. I will have her posing for pictures with veils and dresses. (watch she be a total tomboy and hate dresses). While we both have bad days at work, we do love our jobs.
If any one is in need of a dress and live in the area stop in. Our website is www.sadiesbridal.com
We carry bridal gown, bridesmaids, Mother of the Bride and flower girl dresses.

Phillies

Wow Phillies just won National League Division series. Yea!!!! For the next month we have something to look forward to instead of waiting for LH emails and seeing if any referrals were given. We have baseball games to watch. Watch out LA here we come.

Ryan' s family

Ryan nephew Timmy

Ryan's sister Angela and cousin

Well I am writing this not Ryan so this is my idea of his family. He is one 3 he has 2 sisters. His parents are Linda and Jerry. His dad passed away when Ryan was in his early twenties. His Mom passed away about 4 months after we met. I am sad that I didn't really get to know her. I know she was a really great person. Her eulogy was beautiful she had a friend who talked about how wonderful she was, her funny quirks and what a great mom and wife she was. Ryan has nothing but great things to say about his mom. His mom married Carl Ryan's step dad when Ryan was 14. He is really close with him. Carl is a great man. He helps us all the time with things around the house and the bridal store. Ryan sister Angela has a son Timmy who currently is playing football for his second season. We are not sure if he likes it but he goes to every game and practice. Last week was his first week where he got to play the whole game and he got a sac. Ryan other sister is his half sister her name is Nicole we don't get to see her that ofter she lives pretty far away. I did get to meet her a couple times and she is really nice. I will post some pics of Ryan's family.

Deb,Mom,me,Dad and Nicky

Deb,friends of ours, Nicky and Me at the Phillies home operner 2009

As we are preparing for our adoption, I thought I tell everyone a little about our families. My parents are now semi retired. They own their own Seafood retail restaurant for over 30 years. Before that my grandfather started the business until he sold it to my father. I worked their until 2 years ago when me and my husband started our own business. We opened up a bridal shop. When I left my parents retired and my sister now runs the business. My parents had two daughters, my sister Debbie who has one son and me currently waiting for our first child. We had a pretty close knit family I guess because of the business we got to see each other every day. We always and still do have family dinners and love to watch Phillie's game together. We are a baseball family. My dads loves watching games but does not like to go to the games. My sister, nephew Nicky, Ryan and I go to many games together. My nephew Nicky just started high school and so far he likes it. Both me and my sister whet to the same high school as him and we are amazed that he has some of the same teachers as we had. My sister is 11 years older than me so the same teachers were there in 82,93 and present. My mom battled with colon cancer and is now 5 years in remission. It was a long battle of surgeries and treatment but thanks to our wonderful family members helping out on a daily basis everything went smoothly and my mom had wonderful support system. I will post some pics of my family.

Danielle and Ryan Inch

We decided to start this blog after learning from other families that are currently adopting a child from China. this is a good way to meet other families and post the updates and hear from other families that understand what you are going through. Well I guess I will start out with how we met. My cousin Rose was getting married to Bob who is friends with my husband. Their wedding was Sept. 4, 2004. Ryan and I were in the wedding. We had briefly met a couple times before the wedding but were never really introduced to each other. We started chatting after the ceremony about wedding and instantly hit it off. From that point on we were inseparable for the rest of the wedding, in fact I caught bouquet and he the garter. We even joked about kids, I said do you want any children and he said yes 1 little girl that we can adopt. I had always known that I wanted to adopt and here was a man I just met and he felt the same way. We exchanged phone numbers and whent on our first official date the Thursday after the wedding. We really had a good time and pretty much saw each other everyday we could after that. We got engaged Dec 30 of 2005 and got married Oct 6th of 2006.

After we married we went on our honeymoon to Europe. Our first stop was Paris, France. We visited all the known landmarks(check out some pics). We then flew to Venice, Italy. That was the best part of our honeymoon is was so neat there. The water taxi over to our hotel we got soaked (pic). Then off to Sorrento, Italy one of the most beautiful parts of the country, with mountain tops surrounded by a beautiful body of water. Then off to Rome. Rome was a little hectic lots of traffic and people. We then returned home to the States to have dinner Olive Garden for some real Italian food as my husband put it. We knew we wanted to adopt right from the start but had to wait until we were married for two years because that was one of the rules from adopting from China. So the wait really started from then.