Adventures in Babysitting-the sequel

A week ago I received an e-mail from Wendy and Ed, who got back a month ago from China to adopt their baby girl Samantha. They asked if we could watch Sammi for a few hours this afternoon. They sent this e-mail to David and I, as well as two other "waiting families" Ana and Ron & Kim and Todd. Well, they should have know that since we are all living vicariously through their lives as parents of an adorable little girl from China that we would all say "pick me, pick me!". I did in fact, respond in that exact manner. So, instead of choosing one couple to do the task, we all went over to watch the bambina. Well, Ron had last minute final plans that involved no diaper changing, but we didn't let David and Todd in on that dirty little secret so that they would still tag along with us womenfolk. So that left us with 5 adults and 1 small child, and therefore there was no napping. At least not for the small child. My husband did fall asleep on the couch for a bit, but who could blame him with the awful Dolphins game that was on (that is another story, what are they now, 1-6, seriously...I am burning my cute little dolphins tank top, or at least peeling the logo off, I digress again) . For a much more amusing take on this day...click on Ana's blog...see Gigi's Page over on the right. I am too pooped to be ha ha funny tonight. After all, our day started with just D and I teaching Sunday School to 15 kids. I liked the afternoon adult/child ratio much better! I will leave you with a few pics of our day with little miss Sunshine. She really is the best baby I have ever watched!

Need more assvice

Nope, this isn't about the adoption and how to keep myself from going nutso-but I have another factor in my life that may push me over the edge as well. My, make that Dave's; 12 year old cat, who has never scratched any furniture or done anything ill-behaved, has suddenly decided to start pissing and crapping on our couches. This morning was about the 6th or 7th time in the past two months. I don't know what brought it on, there is no new stresses for him to be concerned about, the dog is gone, no kids to taunt him (yet). Seriously, David is so lucky it's his cat, because if mine did that (and my perfect little Higgins would never ever do anything wrong), I would give him a new home. Under the wheel of my car. Any idea what a pain in the arse it is to remove the cushion covers, febreeze the crap out of the cushions, leave them in the sun, wash the covers 10 times and repeat twice a week? This is why I am a dog person, you can't exactly punish a cat like you can a dog and have them "get it". Not to mention the deep 8 inch scar on my thigh I have from trying to pick him up. Evil little creature. Yes, I know Ronnie, cat soup does sound like a good idea.

No sugar coating here

My lovely agency just sent out their bi-monthly newletter. For the first time (probably because of all the pressure us anxiety ridden parents are placing on them) they are being honest and up front about the timeframes. As you can see, based on our 04/24/06 LID, we are looking at an Oct 2008 referral and then traveling Dec 2008-Jan 2009. We started the process in July 2005. Once again, this wonderful, delightful, optimistic cheerful news makes me want to go down a lunch of chocolate, wine and prozac. Holy crimidy. And other not so nice pleasanties I can't write in case my church friends are reading. But believe me, I am cursing and throwing things as I write this. Anyone want to give me some assvice as to how to get back to my happy place?

August-08 LIDs: 3/31/2006 4/9/2006
September-08 LIDs: 4/10/2006 4/19/2006
October-08 LIDs: 4/22/2006 5/1/2006
November-08 LIDs: 5/2/2006 5/11/2006
December-08 LIDs: 5/12/2006 5/21/2006
January-09 LIDs: 5/24/2006 6/2/2006

Too much time on my hands

If you have a minute...check out this facial recognition website. I did a few pics and another less flattering one pulled up Bridgit Fonda and Jennifer Love Hewitt. I used to get told all the time that I look like Brigit Fonda. I'm not complaining, poor David had Sean Astin and George W Bush. Poor guy!

Warning: Joke in very bad taste to follow

My brother sent me this:

Q: How can you tell the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?

A: A Democrate uses bookmarks, while a Republican prefers his pages bent over.

Bad, I know. I actually tried to contact Foley's office to help me with out whole USCIS/I-171H mess. His office never got back to me. I should have sent David into Mr. Foley's office dressed as a school boy. We'd be in China by now. I wish I'd known then what I know now!

And speaking of Chinese culture

David and I went to the coolest Asian boutique yesterday. He bought a really great black "pajama" outfit and some numchucks(I can't spell and I am too lazy to use spellcheck). It has a big black dragon on the front. He is going as Bruce Lee for a "Dead Entertainers" Halloween party we are attending. I'll be Rita Hayworth, but I'll get into that after the event....

I tried on a few of the dresses in the store, just for shits and giggles. I thought I'd get one for the Chinese New Year and Harvest Moon festivals. Let me 'splain something to you Lucy, if you are ever feeling thin and want to change that thinking, go to one of these stores and try on the clothes. I kid you not, I was an XXL. I wanted to cry. A large is a size 2, a XL is a 4 and so on and so forth. Who are the small's made for, smurfs? Mediums are for the Nicole Ritchies of this world. Not to mention, they are made in the shape of a box. By the time I found a size to fit my booty, I could have taken a tire off of my car, put my body through the middle of it and sit it at my waist, and it would have fit around the middle. Maybe they would make good maternity clothes since the hips and waist are the same size. Anyone knows anyone who can sew? I'll have to have a handmade one! Guess the only shopping I will be doing in China is for pearls and jade, not that that is a bad thing!

Celebrations

I have many many fond memories of the holidays with my family from age two and up. I cannot wait until we start our own traditions with Amelie. In addition to Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter (and the all popular Groundhogs Day, ha, ha), we will have the opportunity to celebrate several Chinese holidays as well. Many FCC families feel strongly about incorporating Chinese culture into our children's lives, but not shove it down their their throats. It's a very delicate balance. We intend to introduce the Chinese Holidays to Amelie and gently encourage her to take Mandarin language classes. If she becomes more or less interested in all of these things, we will allow her to delve into them more, or steer away from them, whatever her choice is.

One of the big Chinese holidays that just passed is the Harvest Moon Festival. The Moon festival (also called the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival) falls on October 6 in the year 2006. What is the Moon festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result.

Luckily for us, we don't have to try to create this festival by ourselves. The FCC community does a fantatic job recreating this event in Palm Beach County. I am very much looking forward to attending with our daughter!

Dave's blog

David started his very own blog. His is a little more heartfelt, a little less sarcastic and a not full of much-ado-about-nothings like this site! It's deep man. Hey-ya gotta have balance. Check it out! www.ouryangnu.com Like mine, except leave out the blogspot part

dog days

After another night of sneezing, itchy red eyes and a runny nose, we decided to let Henry to go another family this morning. A freind of the previous owner who has a few kids and a fenced in yard just lost their boxer to a car accident last week. We decided to give him to their family. I miss him and his big beautiful blue eyes, but he will be much happier there. After all that drama begging David for a dog. We are wheaten people anyhow, it'll happen again : (

Welcome home Sammi!

Last night our good friends Ed and Wendy and their baby Samantha returned home to the US from China. Several of us crazy FCC families went down to the airport to greet them with big signs and alot of noise. We are planning on making this a tradition. We are so happy for them...finally, a family at last! Congrats!

Almost home!

We saw the puppies today! We saw the puppies today! I think I decided to name our new little monster after my grandfather Henrico and call him Henry. It just seems more fitting than Finnegan but the jury is still out. What do you think? All 9 of the puppies were outside running around, but ours would take just a step or two then fall asleep on the grass. I hope he just has narcolepsy and isn't unhealthy! We'll go see him one more time Saturday before he comes home with us next Wednesday.

Here are a few pics of him. In the last one, he was drinking some water when one of his sisters came and sat on his head. Too cute!

As the world turns

I can't believe it's been a year since we turned in our application to our agency. My life seems like a soap opera in one very peculiar way. No, my husband is not having an affair with my evil twin sister, nor did I just come back from the dead and find my best friend married to my father, who it turns out is not really my father but my brother or perhaps my uncle. You know how if you watch a soap opera once a year, it's like the same thing is happening, nothing is really moving forward? It's like the writers drag out a story line for like, years at a time. Anyhow, I do lately feel just like that. Any progress with your adoption? Nope. Is your file in the review room? Nope. Any word as to how long it will be? Nope.

Ah well, maybe my life is more like the movie Groundhog's Day.

Well, starting next week I'll have another distraction from the wait. A soon to be 70 pound drolling shedding panting smelly lovable distraction. Can't wait!

CCAA Roller Coaster

Good news this morning, the CCAA referred/matched 18 days worth of LID's this month. Over the last 6 months, the days referred ranged from 5-9 days. So, maybe it won't take 2-3 years. If they keep this up, it will take 19-20 months. Yesterday was month #5 in the waiting game for us. If I was pregnant pregnant and not paper pregnant, I'd have a big belly and be more than halfway through. So, we still have a long way to go, but at least temporarily there is a little brighter outlook.

The CCAA just finished reviewing December 2005 LID files and word has it they are already looking at some March 2006's. Ours is April 2006 and I can breathe out, just a little, when we are past that stage. (In case you are confused, your file goes through two stages over there, the review room and then the matching room). David was never able to obtain the elusive "certification and authentication" stamps from his home country. I have a bad feeling the CCAA is going to demand this, and it will be back to South America for David so he can get that done. Keep your toes and fingers and everything else crossable, well, crossed!

Happy couple

This weekend I had the honor of co-hosting an engagement party for our good friends Wendy and Claus. It was luau themed and it was a success! Too much food, but never too many laughs were had by all. They are getting hitched on the same yacht that D and I had our reception on 5 1/2 years ago, so I will actually get to enjoy the wedding from a guest's point of view! Ours was such a whirlwind, that as much work as I put into it, I barely had time to sit back and completely take everything in. I can't wait until thiers. Hopefully the way our dance lessons are going, we'll be pretty good by then!

Speaking of dancing, I am totally hooked to Dancing with the Stars! I loved it last year, but now that I know the basics(and maybe a little more) of the Tango, Foxtrot, Cha Cha, Rhumba, Salsa, Waltz and as of today's lesson the beginning of the Hustle(stop laughing, really stop now, you are hurting my feelings : ) ), I really appreciate the moves the celebrities make. Plus, have you seen the legs on these dancers? Holy moly! Of course, that is their life and since no one is paying me to dance and I can only spend a few hours a week in the studio, the weight isn't exactly dropping off. Probably doesn't help that I come home with the munchies and eat half a bag of lime tortilla chips. I am sure those dancers satisfy their hunger with a tic tac and a half a grape. Whatever!

Itsy bitsy bits of hopeful news?/ I heart Clay

If you have wandered over to the Rumor Queen website(and why would you unless you are adopting), for the first time in a very long time, there is an aire of optimism regarding the wait. Many people are hearing through the grapevine that the wait is going to stabalize from 14-18 months. That would mean at 18 months, we would have a referral next October and travel in December. THAT would be fan-friggin-tastic. Eighteen months sounds like heaven compared to the 2-3 year wait. Not getting my hopes up yet, but at the least the woah-is-me syndrome has subsided a bit.

Then there's this, a letter I received from House of Representatives member Clay Shaw:

Thank you for contacting me with your support for the Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act (H.R.5888). You will be pleased to know that I am a consponsor of this bill.

H.R. 5888 was introduced by Rep Heather Wilson of NM on 07/25/06. As you know, the bill would direct the Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security to ensure that an individual may file an orphan petition for at least two years after approval of an advanced processing application.

H.R. 5888 was referred to the full House Judiciary Committee. Please know that I support H.R. 5888 should it come before the full U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely, E. Clay Shaw, Jr Member of Congress

New puppy pic

Here is my little man at just 3 weeks. I just want to eat him up!

Houston we have a problem

Finally! Here are a few pics from the trip : )

Greetings from Margaritaville

As promised, I would share some rather unflattering pictures of David from this weekend in Key West. Ok, so he won't let me in case he runs for President, but I am sharing a few of all of us from our wonderful weekend. We first stopped at Robbie's in Islamorada on the way down-in case you've never been stop on the way down to KW-it's mile marker 75.5. You pay a few bucks to go out on the docks and feed these ginormous tarpon-I'm talking 6-7 feet long and 150 pounds. I had a great video of David trying to feed them, a few of them jumped out of the water and D squeeled like a 6 year old school girl. At least he got close to them, I was a total chicken.

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind, it was our friend Ty's first time in KW, so we wanted to show him every inch (of the island you naughty fools-although it is KW and we did try to go to one clothing optional bar but it was empty). We rented bikes and cycled to all of the mandatory historical spots. We were dying of heat, and most of our stops were of the National Lampoon's Vacation type (take a picture and run). I won't bore you dear people with every detail, but there were some highlights: we went to this great shack by the water called Bo's Fish House-it looked like it was falling down and held together with chewing gum, there was a dirt floor, cats running around a few manaquins (sp?) laying around too. Note the picture of David sitting by the one that looks like a giant Ken doll. During the sunset at Mallory Square that evening, Ty somehow ended up in a Straight Jacket briefly in a part of one of the sideshows. I took a few pictures of the gorgeous sunset right after, not a bad job, is it?

Quick thank you to Jamie and Ted who were great hosts! They live in a fabulous house right north of Key West and let us stay there for a few nights. You are the best!

Sept 11th

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of a very horrible day in our country's history. It is one that I pray we will never see the likes of again. Everyone, in their lifetime experiences at least one moment in time so shocking, they forever define the moment by where they were, what they saw, what they felt... where were you when Kennedy was shot, or when the shuttle exploded , Pearl Harbor... every generation has at least one. I was not yet born when the JFK assasination occured, I came along decades after D-day, and barely remember the Challenger tradgedy. I am just grateful my child did not have to witness the 09/11 event. She is probably not even born yet.

I will always remember exactly where I was on that Tuesday. I was working at NCCI and the whole office, like every other one across the country, stopped. When I heard that a plane hit that building, I went numb. I have never been so terrified in my life. The office and everyone in it grinded to a halt as we all crowded around computer screens watching live video streams from the twin towers, the silence and gasps as the first tower crashed to the ground. We were all too stunned to continue to work. My brother was working at the Pentagon at that time. My manager let me go home so I could get in touch with my family. Because cell phones were virtually down that day, it took at least 6 hours for my brother to finally be able to contact my mother. Yes, many people died at the Pentagon that day, just over 200, but I thank God that the plane hit a section of the building that was all but unoccupied. It could have been much worse for them, and for my family. My old manager had a brother who was a NYC police officer, he died in the WTC that day. My family was blessed. My brother and I are much closer now I think, and a part of me believes it has to do with this day. I don't think he reads my blog, but if you do, I love you Bo Bo.

On this 5th Anniversay, may each of the surviving family members and friends of the victims of 9/11 find peace in their life and the ability to truly survive and continue on with life.

Margaritaville Bound

Gosh, my little blog has been so boring and un-funny, I can't even bear to read it lately! Really nothing new and interesting to report-adoption or elsewise. Time for a quick vacation (sans family, although I love them all...um yes sans family would be nice). We are headed to Key West aka Cayo Hueso in a few days. It will be so nice to shop-eat-drink-tan-sleep-repeat(not necessarily in that order) for three whole days! If I'm lucky I'll have a few pictures of D is some comprimising situations to post.

After this trip, we'll have to stay put for a bit because our little one will be home soon. No, not that little one. The dog-little one. Well, he'll only be little for a few weeks. I forgot to mention to D that labs can get to be 100 pounds. Shhhhh.......

Till next week!

Ernie was a big wuss

If you listened to the local media, Ernesto was a cat 5 monster. I have plenty of friends who put up shutters and are no doubt spending the day in their little caves. I am so glad, and so is D, that we decided to leave the shutters to collect at least a few more weeks of dust and cobwebs in the garage. Ernie didn't pack much of a punch, wind or rain-wise, but we still had a small hurricane, I mean tropical storm, I mean tropical depression, ok... passing shower gathering at our neighbors. They all played a card game and I played a few rounds, but mostly I passed the time stalking the new puppies. Here are a few of the now week old pups. They are starting to resemble some sort of canine. If you want to see what Finnigan will look like, there is a picture of proud papa Kiro(yellow in Japanese). Notice they all have pinkish brown noses just like their daddy. I think that is really cool because almost every yellow lab has a black nose, so Finni will be different. I hope the next 5 weeks fly by, I can't wait to bring him home!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

First the good: Meet Finnigan, the newest member of our family. Well, he will be in 6 more weeks. He is a yellow lab pup, but right now he looks like the cross between a guinea pig and a chihuahua. He's only 5 days old right now. Oh yeah, David caved. And I can't rotate the picture, I am a dummy. The little girl is our neighbor Shiori-one of the little girl's who are the owners of Finnigan's mom and dad. I can't wait to watch him grow! Of course, I already stocked up on toys, fancy bowls and other stuff. I've gotta spoil him, he's gotta follow in the footsteps of Quincy, the best dog ever...

The bad: We may have another guest, well, I am certain of it. His name is Ernesto and he is, or will be by tomorrow, a hurricane.

The ugly: I know, I know, stop reading Rumor Queen. The newest, most horrifying word is the the CCAA may impose new restrictions, and strict ones at that, immediately. By immediately I mean no grandfathering in those with log-in-dates. Some of the restrictions that are rumored about would kick us, and 50% of everyone else right out of the program. Like the soup nazi, NO BABY FOR YOU. Seriously, you can just lock me up right now if that happens. So, please, say a little prayer, wish on a rainbow, even rub your voodoo doll if you must, but just send good wishes this way. I need it.

August referrals are here

Well, the CCAA manages to get through a whole 9 days this time. Woo-hoo. They have been averaging this for the last 6 months. At this pace, we are looking at a 3 year wait. Ay-carrumba. I just opened a fortune cookie from the restaurant last night-it says "You will soon be crossing the great waters"-yeah, whatever.

Adoption for Dummies

Last night we met a few other FCC couples at Pei Wei for our bi-monthly dinner. After we finished eating, us gals decided to surprise out hubbies with a "Adoption for Dummies" trivia game. I was very proud of David, he came in a tie second place. Ed, who is traveling to get their little Samantha next month with his wife Wendy, won the game with a tie breaker question. His grand prize was a 6 pack of beer. The other boys good booby prizes-candy and slim jims. It was a riot. I think Pei Wei staff hates us, one of the girls went to the bathroom and came back and said "dear Lord, I can hear you guys from inside the stall", nice. Well, I guess since we are such a rowdy crowd we'll have to go to Chucky Cheese, but I am trying hard to never step foot in there, kid or not! I think the boys are threatening to give us their version of a trivia game, it'll probably involve questions on playboy centerfolds, NASCAR and computer parts.

Here is a picture of the boys after the game with their prizes. It looks like they have been drinking, but all we had was tea and sodas! The girls picture wasn't so flattering, my hair was all frizzy from the rain, so I'll pass on posting it.

One thing that came out of our dinner...we decided we are going to the airport at midnight when the Spector's come back from China with their baby and we are wearing our pj's and slippers (that is slippers, not strippers, Ron). We'll do it again in September when Ed and Wendy come back. It'll be so nice to see friendly faces when you get off of that 20 plus hour flight!

Happy 4 month anniversary

Ok, so I haven't celebrated monthly anniversaries since David and I's first year of dating back in college. I haven't eaten ramen noodles or drank nickle beers since then either. Alas, here I am looking forward to the 24th of each month, counting the days sloooowly, sloooowly. For everyone who promised the time would fly by I have one thing to say to you...Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! Tomorrow will mark 4 months since the day we were LID (reminder for those of you international adoption for dummy readers-LOG IN DATE). I am in my second of probably eight trimesters-or octomesters more like it. I look pretty damn good for being 4 months (paper) pergnant, not even a pound have I gained! Of course, this is partially an effort by (shameless plug warning)-the detox treatment I got at my friend Amy's new spa Radiance (it's on the corner of Congress and Boynton Bch Blvd by the Pier One-tell her Kristen sent you : ) ).

We will celebrate with our fellow FCC gang at Pei Wei tomorrow night. The wives thought we'd make a trivia game for the guys since they are pretty much clueless abut the whole process. I am far from the only one who did 99% of the research and the paperwork and just said "sign here". People ask D what our LID is and he gives them a deer in the headlights expression. I think I'll start with the Jeapordy $100 questions for him-Ok, David-This is the country we are adopting from . Um, what is um, um, shut. I'll pass. More later on who won.

Sun, sand and boogies

D and I headed to Sanibel during the past weekend. It's a very quiet little island on the west side of Florida and it reminds me alot of what the Keys looked like when I grew up there. Not alot to do, just some island shopping, sunning and not much else. It was nice! We stayed with my brother, sis in law and their munchkins (3 now, 2 more on the way). We rented bikes and mozzied(am I spelling that correctly?) around the island. Here is a picture of the lighthouse and the beach. Had to include a few pics of baby Micheal from this morning, I caught a few candids of him on the other side of the patio door. What a cutie!

Quilt square update

I just counted...I have 108! Yeah! But, if you didn't get me yours(hellloooooo family on both sides...) I am still pleading to include one from you!

And the long wait continues

More confirmation that our wait will be a very long one. Our big China agency only just predicted that the CCAA will only refer two weeks of LID's per month from now on. That puts us at March 2008 for a referral and travel in May or June 2008-which is when the Olympics in Bejing are being held. Not good, not good. Putting fingers in ears and saying "la,la, la,la, la...I can't hear you...la,la,la,la,la...."!

A Few Good Eggs

Reading a really funny book right now that is helping me deal with the whole infertility thing. The first few months after our LID, I kept thinking "yippeeeee...we are off to China eventually!". Now that a few months have passed, the initial excitement has worn off and my thoughts have turned to: "we may not get to China for a few years and the fact that everyone around me is pregant and probably will be a time OR TWO more is really getting me down, man".

I picked up the book "A Few Good Eggs" and it has definatly helped me cope by allowing me to realize that my feeling of "womb" envy are quite validated. The book kinda like "taking Charge of Your Fertility" meets "Sex in the City". It goes on to say that it's ok if I turn down alot of baby showers right now, particulary if the person isn't one of my close friends. For close friends, the book says, suck it up and put a smile on your face. Now, for those of you reading this whose shower I did turn down this year (Neal, Janna, Sori), I really did have other events planned for that day. I have witnesses, I have alibis! It's ok to vent a little when someone else gets pregnant, but not to the person who is actually pregnant. I have been doing well so far by living up to these rules of infertility living. Right? Right?

Another section of the book titled "when people you love say stupid things" really had me cracking up. I have heard so many of these comments, especially number 1 and 4, and I heard both of these on Sunday. So, here is "what not to say to a friend experiencing infertility":
1. Just don't think about it, and it will happen!
2. Maybe you're trying too hard. (Which is the same thing as, don't stress about it and it will happen. That has NOTHING to do with old, sleepy eggs and two headed sperm-yes, it's a real thing)
3. But I bet it's fun trying (sure, it's a blast and so romantic with the thermometer and all)
4. Just start to adopt-then you'll get pregnant! That happened to my friend's sister's hairdresser's cousin's teacher.
5. You are really lucky-you can do anything you want. We never get to go out anymore.
6. Don't worry, your'e still young. (Actually, now that I am 33, my eggs are going faster than a speeding bullett-sorry that is the most clever thing I can come up with on my Benedrly haze)
7. Anything new on the baby front?
8. Are you keeping your legs up after sex?
9. Does your husband wear boxers?
10. Are you taking your temperature?
11. Are you using and ovulation predictor kit? (I had someone ask me that a few weeks ago, I said rather sarcastically before I could stop myself "No, what are those?". I have in actuality spend hundreds on those in the course of two years)
12. You should probably have more sex.
13. You probably need a vacation.
14. I get pregnant just by looking at my husband. (I used to get this a-lot)
15. Give it time.
16. You can have my kids, they drive me nuts.

One in 5 couples over the age of 30 experience infertility. If you know a married couple and they don't have a baby within a few years of marriage, there is a good chance they are having issues. Maybe they just don't want kids yet or ever, but chances are they are having issues and don't feel like discussing it. I am an open book, too much so sometimes, but others aren't. I now know not to ask the dreaded "So, when are you going to have a baby"?

If you have a friend who is experiencing infertility the best thing you can say is "I don't want to keep asking you about the baby stuff, if you need to chat/vent/cry, please know I am here for you".

That is our lesson for today, class!

Bon Festival

Last night we attended the Bon Festival at the Morakomi Japenese Gardens in Delray. For those of you who don't know, Obon (Bon Festival) is a Buddhist event and one of the most important traditions for Japanese people. It is the period of praying for the repose of the souls of one's ancestors. People believe that their ancestors' spirits come back to their homes to be reunited with their family during obon. I thought of my Dad and Quincy and Aunt Teri quite a bit last night, even though I am not Buddest nor Japenese (really, shocked, aren't you?) We had a great time, even though it was 182 degrees at 7 pm. Of course the reason I really wanted to go was to see all of the little Asian girls dressed in their kimonos. And plenty I saw! Our neighbors were there, and their little girls are part Japenese. They had their summer kimonos on and spent most of the night playing some Japenese game that allows you to catch a goldfish (not unlike those days at the fair trying to throw ping-pong balls into the goldfish bowls). I swear I am going to kidnap one of them one day, I am in love with them! Ok, patience Kristen, and her mom might not be too happy. I was going to post a picture, but it is taking an hour to download!

FCC friends

David and I have been so lucky to be in a circle of a great bunch of couples who are also on this crazy adoption roller coaster. We started getting to know each other at the end of last year through "waiting families" meetings and discussed everything from serious subjects such as attachment issues to not so serious subjects such as should the $3500 cash we are required to take to China be shoved in our bras or in our underwear. In the past few months we have "kicked it up a notch" to use Emerril's line. We now get together once a month or so and have dinner or a bbq. Not only do I feel like I have a special connection to these people because of the adoption, but all of our little girls will be good friends as well. It's so important that our daughters have their "Chinese sisters" to relate to and bond with. I am very much looking forward to that chapter in my life. I just wish it was happening quicker(we have the latest LID of the group) , but in the meantime, I'll enjoy watching all of our FCC friends bring their babies home!

mean hubby!

So, there is now another pregnant girl in my building...that makes 7. Her name is Missy and she is brown. She would give me her baby, but David said no. Now before you read that sentece twelve times...Missy is a chocolate lab and the daddy is a yellow lab. Her human parents will give us one for free! But no....David is a big meanie, he doesn't like the shedding. I have to do some serious whining over the next few weeks! Wish me luck!

Cheeseball Alert!

So, D and I started dance lessons of the latin type last night...samba, salsa, rhumba, swing (yup, it's considered a latin dance). Go ahead, laugh it up. This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from 40 year old virgin.."Hey, you know how I know your'e gay?". It was a blast though. I thought I would do horrible, since I got kicked out of ballet when I was 4. My coordination has somehow improved during the last 29 years! I was actually quite impressed with myself, so was David. Even the instructor told us that we moved ahead much more quickly than 90% of his students. Then again 90% of his students are well, 90 I think.

Anyhow, if anyone is interested, they have three private lessons for just $20. It's a good "waiting for referral" distraction! We signed up for 20 lessons, we should be ready for season 5 of "So, you think you can dance?"! HA!

One small step....

Yesterday we received a nice surprise in the mail, it was the long awaited "brown envelope" . The brwon envelope is a letter from the American Consulate General in China acknowdedging that we have been approved by the INS to adopt an orphan from China. It doesn't really mean too much, it's just nice to know that they still have our file. The CCAA just moved offices over in China, and I was paranoid that our file would end up in a black hole! Right now, the reveiw room is going through the November 2005 files. Once our file is out of the review room(hopefully by the end of the year) we can breathe easier. After the review room, it goes to the matching room, which will take months and months and months. I believe we are still on track for an early 2008 referral, or early 2007 if we are lucky.

I added a new link on the right...it's a website desined specifically for April 2006 DTC families such as ourselves. We are called the Flying Tigers. It's nice to be able to chat with people who are in our same timeframe. We also do quilt square, kids books and secret pal swaps, it certainly helps to pass the time!

Everybody Hates Chris

No, not the show...never watched it. I am talking about the lovely little storm brewing by Puerto Rico and moving towards us. I feel like we just took our shutters down, and we did, just 9 months ago with Wilma. We are well prepared this year-we have a monster generator(good, becuase I just bought 3 weeks worth of groceries since David apparently couldn't find the store while I was up north). As Jimmy B would sing in one of his songs...tryin to reason with hurricane season.....

Back to the sunshine state!

I am so happy to be back to "cool" weather! It was 102 degrees when I left Maryland this morning. Holy Crap! It was too hot to do anything up there, so we couldn't do as many touristy things as usual, but I'll save those for when David and I drive up in the spring. We did get to go down to the Inner Harbor, went shopping and went to the Science center to see two Imax movies in 3-D. Saw a bunch of my family on Saturday and went to a very cool up-and-coming neighborhood called Canton for dinner and drinks last night. I had a prikley pear margarita and a quesadilla stuffed with crab, spinach, shitake, roasted red peppers and goat cheese. As if that wasn't enough to gorge myself on, we hit Vicarros(the famous Italian bakery) for a chocolate dipped cannolli afterwards. I cannot wait to get my butt back to the gym. The jeans that I had on the way up are too tight now. Embarassing but whatever.

On a very very ecstatic happy note, our friends Wendy and Ed received their referral yesterday for their daughter Samantha. She is too cute! The orphanages just love to dress the kids like they are going snowmobiling in Antartica for their pictures! I'll try to add a picture when I can, but I need to ask if they mind first!

Ok, off to unpack and smootch on my honey!

A small adoption update

Here is an article in a New Mexico newspaper. Finally, one congresswoman has listened to an adoptive family's plea to extend the 171H. She is going to try to get this bill passed. I really hope it does, I can't imagine having to redo EVERYTHING again and spend another 4 grand on all of the paperwork since our moneytree blew away with Hurricane Wilma last year:


Wilson Helps New Mexico Families with International Adoption
Introduces the Helping Families Adopt Orphans ActWashington, DC – Congresswoman Heather Wilson today announced she has introduced the Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act, legislation to aid families adopting orphans from foreign countries. “This legislation updates a policy on international adoption that makes sense, given the longer wait times families now experience in processing the adoption of orphans,” said Wilson. “This problem was brought to my attention by a constituent, and it is a simple change we can make to build strong families.”Andrew and Constance Johnson of Albuquerque had written to Wilson in May about the possibility that their I-171H form would expire before their adoption of an orphan from China was complete. “We wrote to Heather Wilson about our problem, and to our surprise we got a call from her office two weeks later saying she was introducing legislation to fix our problem,” said Constance Johnson. “My husband and I want to adopt a child from China, but we worry everyday that our paperwork will expire before we have our child. Reapplying would be expensive, time-consuming, and burdensome. The 18-month expiration no longer makes sense.” The legislation would extend the validity of the I-171H “Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition” form to at least two years. This form is issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. It is the final form needed to adopt international orphans and is the ticket to adoption for many families. The form is currently valid for 18 months, although the time needed to complete the adoption process has significantly increased over the last few years because of delays in travel approval, visas for orphans, and additional processing time to gain approval by foreign governments. The I-171H form has an application fee of $545, plus $70 per person for fingerprints. Several other forms are needed before receiving approval, including a home study to ensure the home is safe and stable, birth and marriage certificates, health and financial records, criminal background checks, and other information. The entire cost of international adoption can be thousands of dollars. If the form expires before the adoption is complete, a family must reapply and re-submit all applicable forms, fees, and evaluations. This can be prohibitively costly for many hopeful parents.

Waiter, there is a fly in my suitcase

Well, I am up in the great state of Maryland, enjoying a very relaxing week with my family doing not much of anything. My mom's house has a nice big back yard with a fabulous garden and gazebo. I have been sitting back there most of the day and reading. In the morning I have been getting up early and walking/jogging through the neighborhood hills. I thought I was in decent shape, but my calves are killing me from the inclines-no hills in the sunshine state! Last night we went to some funky art museum called the American Visionary Art museum. I guess you need a certain vision to appreciate that kind of art-most of it looked like a 5 year old painted it. We all kept looking at the "art" and then at each other and stuttered "Ohhhh-kaaaay?" After our rather short visit to the museum we headed to Little Italy in downtown Baltimore. It's a sin, but I have never been there in all of my visits up here so I insisted. Little Italy consists of 6 blocks of nothing but Italian restaurants and pastry shops. We finally settled on one place that looked exactly like the basement of the castle where we stayed at on our honeymoon in Italy. I loved it. They had a prix fix menu that included cesear salad, veal piccata and a ginormous piece of Tarimusu(I ate every last bite). I felt like Fat Bastard (Get In My BELL-AY) afterwards. Good thing I walked the hills this morning!

Oh, what is the title of this post all about? The first night here, about 1 am, a fly got into my room. I was up until 2:30 chasing it and trying to give it it's rightful death. I was trying so hard to not wake up the folks, but it's quite difficult since I was up and down on the bed, swatting at the curtains, the lamp, the ceiling fan, the ceiling. I finally allowed it to meet it's dimise by spraying it with a half a can of hairspray. I should have thought of that in the first place.

Well, gotta run, have to go to the drugstore, I need to replace the hairspray!

Book Worm

I certainly have been catching up with my reading lately. As I have written before we don't(gasp) have cable, and as with cable, there is usually shit on tv(I can say shit, our pastor said it during the sermon said it this morning, it was really funny and he turned bright, bright red...oops). Anyhow, I am a super quick reader, a speed reader if you will.

My favorite book this summer was a gift from David, I mean the kitties, for my b-day. It was called "The Memory Keeper's Daughter " by Kim Edwards. You can read more about it here but it's about a man in the 1960's who after his wife has twins, one healthy boy and one girl with down syndrome, asks the nurse to take the girl and drop her off at an institution. The father tells the mother the girl was stillborn and it deeply emotionally impacts her. The nurse, who is single and wants a child decides to raise her on her own. The decision the father and the nurse made that night provide a very interesting story line(s), The father and the nurse keep in touch with letters but don't meet until 20 years later and the end of the book. It's a really good read.

I am reading Authenticity by Diedre Madden right now. It's ok, a book has to be pretty bad for me to stop halfway through.

Next up I'll dive into a Bridgit Jones's Diary type book...Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner.

I am off to Baltimore tomorrow for a week to visit my mom, so I'll be doing LOTS of reading while I am off of work and just relaxing! Poor D has to work all by himself!

Hu Yong Yi

Ok, how great is this artist? I have to have one of his prints to go over the crib, or maybe for the living room?

More B-day pics

Apparently, one can only add 5 pics at a time...so here are a few more of the Cottage and one of the Sundy House brunch for your viewing pleasure.

Birthday Memoirs Part 3

Went to the Sundy House on my actual day with friends from Michigan-April and Zack, but forgot my camera. Went to Sol Kitchen for dinner then to GiGi's for some dancing.

For the big celebration, about 30 of us gathered at the lovely Cottage in Lake Worth.

There was even a magician who stopped by and made us elaborate balloon animals and did amazing card tricks- some with fire. Check out the picture of the magician and David with the deck on fire!

On Sunday I had a "girl's brunch" at the Sundy House. Ate too much food, drank too many mimosas. Perfect day with my girls!

Till next year!

Birthday Memoirs Part 2

I always include July 4th as a part of my b-day since it's just 2 days away. De Ja Vu-we went to Tom's place off of Atlantic to watch the fireworks on the beach. You can see at least three fireworks displays up and down the beach with the main one straight ahead. I love Florida. Tom made an awsome "pre-game" dinner and "special" lemonade. Thanks Mr.T!

Birthday memoirs Part 1

Thought I'd share a few photos from my birthday week! My friends certainly had me partying till the cows came home!

This is from the balcony of the RiverWalk hotel off of Las Olas in Ft Lauderdale. We stayed there overnight, enjoyed an scrumpoius dinner-note the mini chocolate cakes-yum, and then had brunch and mimosas at the Jazz Fest the next day. Ronnie liked the golden lion at the entrance of the hotel, and yes I know the picture is upside down, but I am nowhere near a techie so it's staying.

Quilt progress

84 down...16 to go.... It's looking pretty darn good!

I want this!!!!!!

Damn, my birthday passed. Happy Battle of the Boyne Day is this week, according to my Tim McGraw calendar (I am embarrased) . Anyhow...I want this.

A few random things about moi.....

Ok, probably a little too much about me, but I am not too big on secrets....

1. I DETEST ricotta cheese , the texture of it makes me gag. Yes, I will refuse lasagna easily. My Italian grandparents would be ashamed.
2. I once broke my ankle and foot in three places-on a stationary bike. I was like 11 and clearly retarded.
3. I am petrified of escalators and will go out of my way to find stairs or an elevator to get to any lower level. Dude-my aunt fell down one when I was 3 and I fell on top of her-now you know why. Doesn't explain the fear of ricotta though.....
4. In college I got stood up by Steve Guttenburg. I also got my fake ID taken from me that same night for having a coca cola(yup-straight) in my hand. Yeah-that was a college low-point evening. It's a good story-I'll have to share it with you-over a coca-cola(I'm "legal" now).
5. My dad dated my step-grandmother before dating my mom. My brother is a year younger than my mom. I have a neice who is 10 years older than me. No, I did not grow up in West Virginia, why do you ask?
6. I can never chew gum for more than 30 seconds. I will spit the gum out and then grab another and repeat. I wonder after an hour where that damn new pack of gum went.

CCAA news

Ok, I know I haven't posted anything about the adoption lately, because well, there is nothing to share and nothing is new. The latest word from the agencies and the CCAA is that the CCAA can process only around 700 applications a month. They are receiving around 2000. You do the math, it's too hard for me(not mentally hard, just emotionally). Ok, if you can't do the math, it'll take them around 3 months for each month of LID's. So we won't see funshine's face until 2008-maybe? Argh. So-my coping skills for this adoption drama, in case you can't tell is to JUST NOT THINK ABOUT IT! I haven't even so much as opened the guest closet to oogle the baby clothes. I refuse to purchase anything for at least another year. BTW-alot of boys were referred last month to families who requested girls. Which is another reason I can't buy anything else, it may have to go back and that receipt will long expire. Baby Amelie may in fact be baby Max.

So, I am sorry to disappoint for those of you hungry for any adoption updates on our front. I'd like some updates too. For now I'll have to entertain you with snippits and pictures from my over-active social life. I celebrated my b-day 5 times. I am not complaining, I love it-I just wish at the end of a crazy night I came home to my precious daughter(or son?). Then again, if I had her home I doubt I'd be celebrating 5 times-maybe 1 or 2 at the most. Trying to keep repeating to myself "enjoy it while you can", but it's not very reassuring! Soon, Kristen...soon.

Color me happy!

I love surprises! My great friend Heather surprised me with this today from Red Envelope. I can't wait to wear them with Amelie!

Didya catch Dateline?

I just got finished watching Dateline and since it's an hour till the best show ever-Grey's Anatomy-I thought I'd share some thoughts on tonight's Dateline story. It was about a bunch of couples who were infertile and were desperate to have a baby. They all used the internet to do research on adopting and all of the couples found a mother wanting to give up her baby. The unfortunate part of the story is that the pregnant mother duped each of those couples. She told each and every one of them that she chose for them to be the parents. She scammed the poor couples for "rent money", "grocery" money and gift cards. Dateline followed her and her girlfriend after they got the money and watched them dine in fine restaurants and splurge on baby items for a baby they clearly intended on keeping. They did the whole hidden camera thing with one of the hopeful couples and the pregnant mother talked for hours with her about giving up the baby. Man, was she ever convincing. So, now these couples have an empty nursery(one of the couples actually was referred and given another baby a month after the interview). It was so sad, I was bawling(doesn't take much these days). It could have easily been David and I had we decided to go the domestic route. I know for every case like that, there are 100 families who do end up with a baby, but still. The most disgusting part of this story is that police have nothing to charge her for and she doesn't have to pay back any of the money, that is the law. I think somehow they could charge her with fraud but I guess not. For all of the crap D and I have been through, it's nothing compared to these poor families. I just can't beleive someone can be so evil and cruel and hope somehow justice wins.

Hope for Bio baby yet!

Ok, so I still have 30, er make that 29, years to get pregnant:

LONDON (Reuters) - A 62-year-old child psychiatrist has become Britain's oldest mother after undergoing fertility treatment abroad, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Imagine for a moment

An Accidental Adoption

(I "borrowed" this from another mama blog-it's no big crime, everyone is doing it! ha!)

You hear all the time about "accidental" pregnancies, can you imagine couples who experience "accidental" adoptions?

Picture this:

Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.

What is it?

Well, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. I went out to the mailbox today and ... well, we got an I-171H.

A what?!? An I-171H? As in, we're going to have a(nother) baby?!?

It looks that way.

But how? We've been so careful! I put away all the blank I-600A forms. Didn't you hide our homestudy update?

Of course I did. But don't forget, there was that one night...

What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night. But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn't print clearly. I didn't even use ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun. (giggles)

It was, wasn't it? I'll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints.

So now we've got our I-171H, eh? But that doesn't always mean you'll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn't you see the agency or something, make sure everything's okay?

I already did.

And?

I'm five documents along.

Five documents!

And they're all notarized, certified and authenticated okay?

Just great.

There was one small scare when the agency couldn't see the Notary's middle initial, but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass.

Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay?

I'm feeling fine. As long as I know you're happy about this.

Happy? I'm thrilled! It's always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I'm happy.

.....hehehehe :)

I am an Ass...or maybe a Whale

As noted by one of the other adopting blog mama gals, right now, the referral wait ('gestation') is running around 345 days. We are currently at 78 days-but who's counting(oh, me).

At this point, I won't even mind having a lot in common with an Ass, or even a whale(that's about 15 months) - just keep me away from those stinky Elephants! :)

Hippopotamus -- 240
Horse -- 336
Ass -- 365
Whale -- 457
Elephant -- 624

You Know the Wait is Getting Long When....

Ok, so it's only been 2.5 months of waiting, but I am already sympathizing with some of these:

You Know the Wait is Getting Long When....

Somebody posted this in one of the groups, I thought it was cute and oh so true. Some of these I wrote myself, the others are copied. Still funny though.

You know the wait is getting long when:

1. The nursery closet starts bursting because you decided to buy her just one outfit a month.

2. You start calling all the Chinese names in the phone book asking them if they have any relatives that work at the CCAA.

3. You have switched from dressing up your 20lb bag of rice bear to dressing up your cat.

4. Your agency informs you that you really aren't required to call twice a day to make sure that they have your correct phone number on file.

5. The Fed-Ex truck is no longer allowed to drive down your street, because someone keeps chasing the truck.

6. Neighbors duck into their homes when they see you walking to the mailbox - especially after you decked the last person that said "Have you heard anything yet?"

7. You start wondering if it would have been faster to have actually dug that hole to China instead.

8. You have practiced packing your luggage so many times that you have to buy new luggage because the zippers have worn out.

9. What started out as a cute hobby of putting out a ladybug house in the garden, has turned into a wholesale business of selling ladybugs worldwide.

10. The highlight of your day, sadly, is to run to the mailbox to get new quilt squares.

World Cup Widow No More!

I am actually quite proud of myself. I found myself sitting and watching at least 5 or 6 games with the hubbins. I even asked thoughtful questions and learned a bit. Soccer isn't nearly as daftly boring as I thought it would be! Just don't tell D I said that. Our little secret, ok? I am however, very very glad the next WC is another 4 years away.

Changing my birthDAY

Ok, so for the umpteenth year in a row, I am changing our celebration plans. It rains 9 times out of 10 on my birthday. We had big plans to celebrate tonight outdoors at the Cottage, but no...Mr. Weatherman says it's going to downpour. So, we'll do it next week. I am not too disappointed, I had a fabulous week already! Have I mentioned before that I heart my friends?

I am changing my birthday to a less rainy month-say February. While I am at it, I am changing the year too. My new DOB is 02-14-82. Come join me to celebrate my 25th on V-day next year! While I am at it, I am changing my weight(down) and salary(up) too!

Go shorty, it's your birf-day

Well, this week I celebrate the big 3-3. I thought by the time I was 35 I'd have a couple of rugrats running around, but I have made peace with the fact that our house is disturbingly quiet(especially with Q's passing, sniff sniff). I am appreciating my time sans little ones right now. As a birthday gift, our friends took us down to Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale and got us a room and took us to dinner. We had a fabulous time. We even got a few mimosa hours in on Sunday at the Riverfront park before a tropical system moved through. Thanks to all who braved the weather. For those who didn't get to come, I hope to see you on Friday. I am celebrating the whole week long(I am still 32 until 4:30 am on Thursday).

On a disturbing note, I just found out that I share the same birthday as George Dub-ya. Ew. I seriously can't believe in the who astrology phenomenon now-there is no way in hell I share any characterisitics with-well-I'll be nice and just call him Mr. President. Sly Stallon aslo shares my day as well as the twins from that terrible 80's show "Sister, Sister". Can't I have anyone remotely cool share July 6th-say I don't know, George Clooney, Janis Joplin, Bono, even Bill Clinton?

Hopefully next year a miracle will happen and Amelie will celebrate my 34th with me! Now that would be an amazing b-day gift!