Ellie's Quilt

Carrie is one of my "bonus" friends. I have bonus adoptive parent friends and bonus IF (infertility) friends. Carrie fits in the first group. We were mutually friended with another prospective adoptive parent (in Florida) through Facebook, and Carrie realized that in a world as small as ours, we lived only a half hour from each other.

We shared the same agency, the same dream for a child from Ethiopia, the same corner of New York state -- and the same frustrations over our agency and our potential children from Ethiopia. We met this summer at Panera and finally had someone to vent to, who understood exactly the place we were in.

After that -- was it a direct result of our counseling session with each other over the "You Pick 2" or was it the final push we both needed -- we both made changes. Carrie went with another agency and very quickly received a referral for a little girl from China, and I met with the woman who is now my attorney for domestic adoption.

Over one of our shopping trips, after receiving the referral, we found fabric for a quilt for Ellie. On a shopping trip with an IF friend, I found a few more fabrics to compliment what Carrie and I had bought. I finished the top of the quilt in time for Carrie's shower, and was able to bring it -- and take it away -- so she could see it.

On Christmas night -- Ellie's third birthday and last without her forever family -- I finished the quilt. A woman at work told me ladybugs are good luck in Chinese culture, so I was excited when I found some fabric that had both a lady bug and an owl (to go with theme of the quilt) so that I could make a patch for the back.

Carrie took the plunge and started a blog so you can see Ellie's sweet little face and read along as Carrie goes over (hopefully in January) to bring her home.