What ever happened to A is for Alligator?

It's been a while since we last wrote about Susan's cross-stitch project. Believe it or not, it's actually been 3 months! Our last post about the project was July 20, 2012. At that time it seemed like the cross-stitch was moving very quickly. It almost seemed progress was too rapid and Susan was concerned that she would finish the project long before our wait was over.

Of course, she needn't have worried. As with many worries, this one didn't come to pass. Not only are we still waiting to match, progress came to a halt as the summer progressed. The main reason was because Southern California was hit with a heat wave at the end of July soon after we wrote that post. It lasted right through the end of September and it was hard to get anything done on the cross-stitch with the heat. We also spent a lot of time enjoying as much of the summer as we could. The end of July and into August was spent having fun at the Orange County Fair and then we went on the 2012 Bead Shop Hop over three weekends in September.

Now it's almost the end of October. The cooler temperatures and shorter daylight hours make for cozy evenings that are just right for cross-stitch and other craft projects. October also marks our 18th month of waiting to match. There are some new opportunities for us, including a chance to get extra help redesigning our adoption letter. We're looking forward to this process. While it's going to be work to update our letter, it is a great chance to include new photos and freshen the text.    

"A is for Alligator" is complete except for the detailing stitches.

It seems like a good time to take stock of the progress made both on the cross-stitch project and our efforts to match. You'll be glad to know Susan did finish the "A is for Alligator" block before the heat wave hit and she got a good start on the background for the number 4 block with the giraffe. It's hard to see all the progress because of all the white thread in the checkerboard, but she's about 40% done with this block. And now with the cooler weather, she's ready to finish it up and move on to another block.

The white stitches are hard to see, but the project is coming along.
Soon there will be a giraffe and the number four. 

Right now it's also hard to see the progress we've made in finding a match, but we know the progress is there. We're already hard at work on our letter rewrite and more people than ever are following our journey.  We are grateful to everyone who continues to keep us in mind and offers their good wishes and prayers. We are hopeful that it will happen for us and that it's only just a matter of time.

Stay tuned for more on the cross-stitch project and our adoption journey.