Gung Hay Fat Choy!

How wonderful that we now have two New Years celebrations each year, plus a Harvest Moon festival! Tonight we celebrated with the other FCC families at our favoirte spot-Pei Wei. We may need to find a new place soon since we are getting a bit too big for our britches! I love that our group is getting so big, and we really are one big happy (but not disfunctional as most are) family. Hopefully we will all have our adorable babes home for next year's big day!

Here is a little history on the Chinese New Year:

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.

The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

For the Chinese this is the Year of the Pig. The Chinese zodiac follows a twelve year cycle following twelve animals - snake, rat, pig, dog, goat, bull, and another six animals. The zodiac is ranked in order of the animals, who came to pay their respects to Buddha when he was sitting under the tree.

Every twelve year, cycle also starts with the animal current in that year. This year is a new, 12 year cycle beginning with Porky. So this year is- called the Year of the Golden Pig. Which is supposed to bring lots of prosperity and money.

As in Britain, people in other parts of Europe create their own nativity scenes for Christmas. This also happens in the US where stores and hotels will have a small scene of Mary, baby Jesus, a couple of angels, a cow and lambs etc. Similarly the Chinese in Singapore make their own 'nativity' display to celebrate their festivities of the New Year, but with a difference! This year they have Walt Disney type plastic and rubber pig mannequins wearing proper clothes and shoes and standing on two feet offering prayers or welcoming guests. One wonders how they are going to handle the year of the snake or dog?

Despite these animal capers, the Chinese are very good at the almanac - their lunar and solar calendars are very accurate. The Chinese New Year started on Monday 30th. January 1995 because that is when the new moon was 'born'. In quite a ridicules contrast the Muslim scholars go out to sight the moon for Ramadan. If they don't 'see' the moon then the Ramadan is not cancelled but the moon is as assumed to be there anyway!

Whew!

Seems like Fergs is going to be just fine. The doc thinks she probably just ate some bad stuff over the weekend when she was running around our friend's backyard-licked a frog, ate some snails, sipped some chlorine water. Who knows. I am just grateful that she is better. Thanks for all of the doggie wishes!

Now if I could just get them to stop barking in their crates. I have read up on how to stop it, but nothing is working yet. I taught them quiet, and they will stay quiet for a few minutes at a time if I have a treat in my hand. But I need quiet for hours and hours. The funny thing is that Wheatens rarely bark, so Miss Annie is teaching Fergs how to carry on. It's hard to get angry at Fergs though, because unlike the high-pitch, nails on a chalkboard yelp that Annie owns, Fergie sounds like she is really just trying to carry on a conversation. Her little voice is very low and goes up and down in tone. As cute as it is, it has to stop, especially when they decide they want out at 6 am, and mom and dad aren't ready to start their day until 8. Any suggestions?

I need a 12 step program

Hi, my name is Kristen, and I am an RQ addict. HI KRISTEN!

The Rumor Queen is on hiatus right now, apparently she is on a business trip, but I have a sneaky suspicion that is in China getting dd #2. No one knows who she is and she wants to keep it that way. I have seen pictures of people in China with their babies wearing "My mom is not the Rumor Queen" shirts and bibs. For the next few weeks, she will have no posts. She is pretty much mine and every other waiting parent's source of information and rumors. Not only is she "out to lunch" for a while, but the CCAA will probably skip referrals this month because of Chinese New Year. We are also in the review month right now-meaning some worker over there is analyzing every inch of our lives, making sure we are fit to parent. When RQ is around, there are usually rumors around that speak of when and what month is getting out of the review toom.

No rumors, No referrals, No review room info.....how is an anxious waiting parent supossed to deal? Breathe, breathe!

I am feeling a little stressed, like the Yo Quiero dog in the picture.

Cuteness

Well, Fergs is still very much under the weather. We may have to run some blood tests today and hospitalize her overnight. Send a little doggie prayer her way!

Here are a few more pics of the girls for your viewing pleasure.

Bits and Pieces

Wow, well I hate to compare adopting dogs to adopting a baby, but I really think this week has taught me some valuable lessons in mommyhood. I have learned to be patient-Annie is a little devil dog. She is constantly biting her sister's ears and legs and barks ALL OF THE TIME! Having her has taught me that there are alot of areas of my house that need baby proofing. I have also learned to put my dependents before myself. Poor Fergie is so sick, and I get up 4 times a night to clean up throw up from her crate. I love my sleep more than most people. As a matter of fact, my favorite place in the world is my bed. But, I can no longer sleep till 8:59 to be in the office by 9. See, good prepration for the Empress. They are training me well!

This week was David's b-day. We celebrated at Moquila's and at our friends Danny and Heathers on Saturday. We brought the girls up with us (before they got sick) and celebrated with great food, wine and three cakes!

Last night we had a wonderful waiting family meeting, there were three new couples there, so we are no longer last in line. Ed and Wendy brought Sammi's "gotcha day" video-lots of kleenex was used to dry all of our eyes!

Just a quick huge thank you to Kellee, who played Santa and dropped off a big bag of adorable baby clothes for me this morning! It's like a shopping spress without the credit card guilt!!! I have no shame in asking for hand-me-downs. If you are reading this, I will take anything 6 months and up! : )

Noah's Ark

As you know, I have been longing for a dog to create some fun and chaios in our lives ever since Quincy passed. I have been wanting a goldendoodle and David wanted nothing but another Wheaten. Over the past few months I have been going online looking at shelters hoping to find a wheaten or goldendoodle with no luck. People just don't get rid of these dogs since they are so wonderful (and expensive).
On Monday I saw a picture of a wheaten at petfinder.com (at Peggy Adams). I called that day, and even though they were closed someone anwswered the phone. She told me the wheaten was just dropped of Sunday afternoon and another couple had her on hold. I went in yesterday before they opened at 10, not knowing someone had her already, and was told she was on hold till noon. There was also 50 pit bulls, a few lab-mixes, one ugly chihuahua mix and a goldendoodle puppy. Of course, the doodle was also on hold. She was also dropped off Sunday night and they were doing a background check on a lady who wanted her. I ran some errands with my friend Heather (I asked her to meet me because I was a nervous wreck, I needed the Wheaten) and they called me at noon and told me she was mine. I raced back over at 12:01. Well, the girl who had her on hold came in at ten after and was so so so mad. I felt bad, but I just knew she was meant to be mine. Then, on the way out, I saw the goldendoodle from earlier that was also on hold. I told the girl behind the desk good luck with her and her new home-she said that she was available again-the other family didn't work out, so Heather who was with me convinced me to take both. The volunteer that owns a wheaten and said she had a good feeling about me, there must have been 5 other people waiting to take her home. She also said they don't like to adopt out more than one dog per person, but they would make an exception for me. I am sure I pissed off so many people yesterday by taking both girls, but for once I didn;t feel too guilty!

By the way, David knew I was going to look at the Wheaten while he was at an appointment. I told him she was on hold and stuck with the story until I got home. I didn't call David about both because I knew he would say "are you crazy?"! So, my plan just to let him fall in love before he could say no worked. I am a mastermind!

I named the doodle Annie, because she looks like an orphan with her crazy hair. She is 3 months old and is very rambunctious. Fergie-the wheatie, is 6 months old and is very calm and sweet. It's beyond me why anyone would give these girls up. My theory is that they were Christmas gifts for their kids and didn't realize that they take work. Whoever had them (seperate families) did crate train them . They went right into their crates at 9 pm and slept through the night without a peep. Annie knows a few commands, but Fergie knows nothing. They are a workout to walk though, they just want to play, play, play! I love them so much-how could I not take both?

Super Samantha Sunday

We had a wonderful Super Bowl Sunday. We started off at Wendy and Ed's to see Samantha and say happy b-day to Ed. Kim and Todd and Ana and Ron were there as well, so we toasted to Kim and Todd's referral. The Ed put on a "how to change a diaper" presentation for David, Todd and Ron while the girls listened in through the baby monitor and snickered.

Later that day we went to Outdoor World (for 3 hours) and then to his cousin's superbow party and then to our friends Heather and Dannys. We even won the square game and I said I would put that eighty bucks towards the puppy fund. On to that later....

Lots of reasons to be happy today!

1. Of course, seeing Brea's face yesterday

2. CCAA has reveiwed files through February 2006. They have been stuck on them since November. Hopefully they will fly through March and April's so we can breath a sign of relief and know we are on our way.....

3. The 171H bill is under review again with Congress. If it passes, we may not have to redo all of our paperwork.

and 4. (whihc has nothing to do with adoption)...I am 1/3 of the way towards my weight loss goal. My super power abilites to deflect incoming girl scout cookies are working for me!

Living vicariously

I admit it, and don't tell David, but I got like ZERO work done today! Why, you may ask? Not only did referrals come out today, but our good friends Todd and Kim were due to get theirs today. I barely left the computer so that I could wait and wait and wait to see my new "neice's" face! Her name is Brea, and she is so cute and SO young! They are blessed! Here she is!

Evil girl scouts

So, here I am, counting every blessed calorie that goes into my mouth in dire hope of losing a few pounds (ok, more than a few) and becoming a hot mom by the time A gets here. Everytime I go to the store to stock up on fruits and veggies and fish, this is what I have to see! Mean, I tell you, just pure evil!

Love this picture, I swear it's me 25 years ago......

007 engagement party

Congrats to our good friends Traci and Ed who FINALLY (: ) ) got engaged. Saturday, us hostesses with the mostesses, threw them a 007 Casino Royale/Vegas themed engagement party complete with Elvis and shakin-not stirred- martinis. I arrived a few hours early to help make the tapas and left, apparently, too early and missed some of the fun. I notice from the pictures that were sent to me the next day that the decorative huge martini glass turned into a regular drinking glass. This would explain why Greg was caught in his kid's treehouse playing with a wooden chicken rather late in the evening. Next time I will sleep in late so I don't miss all of the excitement.

On a happy note, I did get to meet a couple at the party who are in the midst of paperchasing for their daughter in China. I hope they join our little FCC group.

Congrats to you crazy kids-the future Mr. and Mrs. Licht, can't wait for the big day!

9 months pregnant and not even showing!

Today marks our 9 month mark of being "paper" pregnant. Aren't we supposed to go into "paper" labor soon?

Year of the Golden Pig

How wonderful for Amelie!:

In the Chinese horoscope, some of the 12 zodiac animals are considered lucky, including the pig. And this year, which is the fifth Year of the Pig and falls every 60 years, is known as the Year of the Golden Pig.

What this means is that couples are rushing to get married so that they can have babies during the Year of the Golden Pig. Children born in this auspicious year are believed to be destined for great material wealth and happiness, since their guardian pig is said to be under the influence of gold and never worries about anything beyond food and sleep.

How cute is that?

I went to the grocery store tonight and saw a little old man bumbling towards me down the isle with nothing in his big ol shopping cart except a roll of paper towels and a baked potato. "Excuse me, miss, may I ask you a question" he asked. "Sure", I replied. "How do you make a baked potato". Anyone under the age of 140 I may have been inclined to give a snarky anwer to, but he reminded me of my dad, and how he would have been had he been on his own (I lost him at age 84 a few years ago). It was really cute, but I wonder if he really didn't know, or if he wanted to chat up a younger "broad", he looked kinda onrey like Archie Bunker or Benny Hill.

Yup, sadly this is the best post I can get out right now with NO adoption news. Sorry gang, at least I am not boring you with another Marvin cartoon....

Anxiously awaiting this months referrals

I am anxiously awaiting to hear what the cut-off is for this month's referrals more than usual. Our friends Kim and Todd should be getting a call within the next two weeks that their stork has landed. They have been "paper pregnant" for 15 months now and are very excited to meet their little girl Brea! They just created their own website, I have added it to the left side of this page...check it out : )

Dear Diary;

I have never been good at keeping diaries, although come to think of it this blog is sort of like one. I did try to start a food diary once to count calories, but that didn't last long. Shocker. I started a new type of diary a few weeks ago and I really hope I keep up with it. I am writing down on a weekly basis in a journal D and I's events and happenings. I am even adding what is going on in the world. Why am I doing this? Well, unlike a biological child, I have no idea when Amelie will be born, just that the likelihood of her birth is high for 2007. I figured if I write down what's going on in our lives this year, I can look back to my journal once we get our referral and her birthdate and I'll know what we were doing that day. Plus, I can store it away and show it to her years from now. Is this totally cheesy? Probably. If anything, it makes the time go by a little quicker!

Let them eat cake

Not much going on in the rumor world or much else for that matter now that the holidays are over and no trips are planned for awhile. Thought I'd share an old family favorite-it's an Italian cake that as one of my mom's friends once said "It's the only cake I've ever wanted to stick my face in". It takes 2-3 days to make, but it is worth it. I made it for Christmas and for New Years this year.

Cassata Alla Siciliana

Serving Size : 8
Prep.Time: About 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 fresh pound cake 9"long 3"wide (or you can make 3- 9 inch round chocolate cakes if you are a chocoholic)
1 pound ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Grand Manier or other orange-flavor liqueur
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped mixed candied fruit
2 ounces semisweet chocolate -- coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped pistacios

FROSTING:

12 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate -- cut in small pieces
3/4 cup strong black coffee
1/2 pound thoroughly chilled unsalted butter -- cut in 1/2" pieces

Directions

With a sharp knife, slice the end crusts off the pound cake and level the top if it is rounded. Cut cake horizontally into 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick slabs. With a wooden spoon or electric mmixer, beat the ricotta cheese until smooth. Beating constantly, add cream, sugar and Strega. With a spatula, fold in the chopped candied fruit, nuts and chocolate. Center the bottom slab of cake on a flat plate; spread it generously with the ricotta mixture. Carefully place another slab of cake on top, keeping sides and ends even; spread more ricotta mixture. Repeat the process until all the cake slabs and filling are used up, ending with a plain slab of cake on top. Gently press the loaf together to make it as compace as possible. Don't worry if it feels wobbly; chilling firms the loaf. Refrigerate the Cassata for about 2 hours, or until the filing is firm.

For the frosting: melt the 12 ounces of chocolate withe the coffee in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is completely dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the chilled butter, 1 piece at a time. Continue beating until mixture is smooth. Chill frosting until it thickens to spsreading consistency. With a small metal spatula, spread frosting evenly over the top, sides and ends of the chilled Cassata, swirling it as decoratively as possible. Cover frosted Cassata loosely with foil and chill at least 24 hours before serving it (this "ripens" the dessert).

I am such a goober

Last weekend David and I went to Babies R Us to get a gift for a good friend who is due in February. We were standing in line for the registy and I looked arund and saw nothing but very pregnant bellies. I just got this overwhelming feeling of belly envy and started shaking. David must have seen me go pale, because he looked over at me and asked if I was ok. I said in a whisper "I can't do this". Thank goodness for giant Paris Hilton sunglasses. I didn't expect it, but the tears just started coming and we ran out of there before I made a total ass out of myself. Anyhow, thought I would share what a big bowl of emotional gooberness I am!

Disney Mania

Whew! What a week! We went to Orlando for the week to see my mom and stepdad. They were kind enough to get us our own timeshare "honeymoon" suite after I expressed my displeasure of having to sleep on a pullout for four nights. We had park hopper passes and hop the parks we did with all of our might. We hit Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and MGM all in one very fun and very exhausting day. The next day we had a much more leisurely day at Epcot. It was nice to have one final Disney trip sans diaper changes and temper tantrums. Ok, well, D had a small temper tantrum because we couldn't dine in Japan in Epcot. Apparently you can make reservations 6 months out to eat. Silly us, we thought we could just walk right in! It worked out though, China got us in and dinner wasn't half bad.

I only saw a handful of FCC parents, and I was a good girl and refrained from doing the stalking thing to them. My mom on the other hand, struck up a conversation with a lady and her 5 year old daughter adopted from China. I don't know how she started the conversation(we were in a different part of the park), but I am too shy to mention to FCC families that I don't know that we are in the process. I wish there was some sort of secret hand signal or something. I can't wait to bring Amelie to meet Disney and spend a mortgage payment on her Disney princess outfit and ears. I always said I would never spend frivolously on that type of thing, but I know I will-and it can't come soon enough!

The "experts" at CNN

If you can tonight watch CNN at 8 pm, they are having a segment on China Adoptions. Last week they did this show with Paula Zhan (sp?) and made us FCC (families with Chinese children) look like racist idiots. The show was actually about racism. It started out talking about China's new restrictions and the "expert" panalists ended up discussing how us FCC families adopted from there because we want smart, quiet children who will be little "China dolls". They talked about us and our future children like we are trying to obtain the newest Hermes bag. It made me sick to my stomach. These "experts" made statements like "why don't these people adopt from Iraq, are they afraid they will grow up to be terrorists" and "what is wrong with the black kids in this country? Are they afraid they will be lazy?" Wow. They said NOTHING about the fact that Chinese people rarely smoke or drink or do drugs, and therefore the children are very healthy, nor did they mention how difficult it is to adopt from the US and that you have to be chosen by the birthmom and she can come back a year later and take the kid back. Plus, you can't adopt from Iraq-there are very few countries that are even open to foreign adopters.Anyhow, the wonderful FCC community got so pissed (including myself) that over the weekend we bombarded the producers of CNN and all of the commercial sponsors. They are doing a rebuttal tonight and are having actual experts on the subject, including an adoption agency person, FCC members, ect. If you get a chance, please watch.....

If you read my blog back last spring, I also wrote about how Leslie Stahl and her crew at Dateline also made us look really bad, but at least we were never called racists....

Finally! The babies are here!

Each month, for one day, I like to live vicariously through the lives of others. If you click on RQ's webpage to the left, it will take you to see a whole lotta lucky family's webpages who just were referred their bambinas! They referred 18 days worth of LID's this month, but apparently those were smaller days, so the fact that it's more than the avg 15 days doesn't mean a whole lot. We are still on track for summer of 2008 I believe.

The stinker of it is that the CCAA homepage hasn't changed the review room update in 3 months. 3 months! I thought we'd at least be out of the RR by now, but they are still reviewing February. One of my many new years resolutions was not to buy the Empress anything until our file is finished being reviewed. It's so hard, now that I know we will meet her next year, I want to go buy more pink things! C'mon April!

2006 and why I am thankful for it

I keep saying that I am so damn happy it is a new year. In a way, 2006 was a tough one. We lost Quincy and we are still childless. However, I reflected on 2006 yesterday and realized that I do have alot to be thankful for. Here are 06 reasons why 06' was a good year for me:

1. We were DTC on 04/24/06.
2. We were able to travel and vacation more last year than any other time in our lives-Maryland, DC, Atlanta, a cruise, Key West, Naples, Sanibel Island and of course skiing in Utah!
3. God blessed us finanically last year. We are very very close to being debt free, and that is a great feeling.
4. We met several great couples through our FCC group, many of those have become good friends.
5. I reconnected with a few friends that I had lost touch with over the years.
6. We are one year closer to meeting our daughter!

What are you thankful for from 06'?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and Happy Chinese New Year! This year is the Year of the Pig! This time last year I assumed our daughter would be not only home with us, but also that she would be born last year, the Year of the Dog. Obviously we were worong on both counts. I am 99% sure she will be born under the sign of the pig. This is actually a good thing....Read on!

Contrary to its rather negative reputation in the West, the Pig of Chinese Astrology may be the most generous and honorable Sign of the Zodiac. Pigs are nice to a fault and possess impeccable manners and taste. They have so much of the perfectionist in them that others may be inclined to perceive them as snobs, but this is a misconception. Pigs are simply possessed of a truly luxurious nature, one that delights in finery and riches (in surroundings, food, lovemaking and otherwise). This Sign believes in the best qualities of mankind and certainly doesn't consider itself to be superior. Pigs also care a great deal about friends and family and work hard to keep everyone in their life happy. Helping others is a true pleasure for the Pig, who feels best when everyone else is smiling.
A Pig with no one around to appreciate its giving nature is a sad sight. Pigs are so magnanimous they can appear almost saintly; this can lead some less-than-well-intentioned souls to stomp all over this Sign, and the bad news is, the Pig will take the blows! Pigs make great companions in part because of their refusal to see the more negative or base qualities in a partner, but that rose-colored view can lead to this Sign's allowing itself to be taken advantage of. Contrary to their seemingly benign dispositions, however, Pigs can be quite venomous in response to being crossed by a lover, friend or business partner.
Pigs are highly intelligent creatures, forever studying, playing and probing in their quest for greater knowledge. They can be misinterpreted as being lazy, however, due to their love of reveling in the good stuff; this Sign could happily spend hours on end making love, napping, taking a long bubble bath or dallying over an incredible spread of rich foods. Pigs tend to make wonderful life partners due to their hearts of gold and their love of family. Even so, Pigs can be rather exclusive, choosing to spend time with those who will appreciate them most and ignore the rest of the populace. Pigs would do well to realize that there's more to life than being needed. When they open up their world to a diverse group of people, they will truly bloom.

ABC's

It's been a very quiet week, at work, at home, on the RQ board....So, instead of leaving you with nothing to read, I will leave you with this. Until the New Year. And Happy New Year at that!


Now You Know My ABCs

A is for age:
33 and not quite a half.
B is for Beer:
Ich. I'll take a glass of Reisling.
C is for Career:
Own a business with the hubs-mortgages and finaincial services.
D is for my Dog’s Name:
More like D is for don't make me cry. Our amazing Wheaten, Quincy, died 6 months ago. When we get another it'll be either Murphy(boy) or Fergie(girl)
E is for Essential Item I Use Everyday:
Toothpaste, floss, whitening rinse and mouthwash. I am a sucker for clean teeth because I hate having any work done to them.
F is for Favorite T.V. Show:
The Office hands down.
G is for Favorite Game:
Scene It-Music edition. I will challenge anyone. I will rule.
H is for Hometown:
Balmer, Merlin (that's Balmer-ese for Baltimore, Maryland)
I is for Instruments I Play:
I used to play the piano, but just play my I-pod now. I really hope that Amelie will want to play an instrument.
J is for Favorite Juice:
Lite Cranberry
K is for Whose Butt I’d Like To Kick:
G"W"B. Stupid war. His fault.
L is for the Last Place I Ate:
I just ate the head off of a chocolate reindeer and now I have bits of chocolate shavings on my keyboard. Can you guess what time of month it is?
M is for Marriage:
I've been married for 6 years.
N is for my Name:
Kristen
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays:
None, just lots of long hour day stays. And lots of those Broken bones, tonsils out, benign tumor removed, dehydration from the tonsils being taken out, and once I passed out in a college class from what were just really bad nasty cramps and was rushed to the ER.
P is for People I was With Today:
D, my hairdresser Rhonda. The people at the gym (negated all of the calories I burned by just finishing off said chocolate reindeer).
Q is for Quote:
Nothing intellectual. I quote movies way too much for my own (and everyone else's) good. Especially Tommy Boy, Old School and Office Space. BTW-I can't stand it when people put inspirational quotes at the end of their e-mails. Not sure why it bugs me so.
R is for Biggest Regret:
Wish I would have picked a different major. Not much you can do with Sociology and a minor in Criminal Justice and Women's Studies. I am happy doing what I am doing now, so I guess everything happens for a reason.
S is for Sport:
Yeah right. I did do a 150 mile bike ride a few years ago. And we are getting decent at ballroom dancing (shut up, it is a sport, isn't it a part of the Olympics?)
T is for Time I Woke Up Today:
9:00. But I laid in bed reading till 10:30 am. I am not lazy! Ok I am a little. I am off work this week and I figure I might as well sleep in now, because once the Empress arrives, sleep will become last priority.
U is for Current Underwear:
New skivies that D got me from Victories Secret. Oh, black.
V is for Vegetable You Love:
tomatoes, any and all actually. except califlower. ich.
W is for Worst Habit:
saying "like" all of the time "like" some stupid valley girl. I get my nerves frayed quite easily, and usually over "like" nothing. I feel like I trip on my words alot and come across less intellegent than I actually am. Not that I am a genius mind you.
X is for X-rays I Have Had:
Many. Broke bones in my arm, my leg. And all the dental ones.
Y is for Yummy Food You Ate Today:
I made snapper in a lemon buerre blanc sauce with capers and crisp proscuitto for dinner with a side of sauted fresh spinach and baby tomatoes topped with melted gorgonzola. Oh and I made eggnog pancakes for breakfast. Yum-O. Yes, I love Rachel Ray.
Z is for Zodiac:
Cancer/Year of the Ox (figures, moo)

Ad(o)ption

This is the sign outside of the new CCAA building. Double click to enlarge.....there is apparently only one "o" in adoption. You would think that someone would have double checked the spelling, there are people who speak English over there, especially those working with the CCAA. I thought it was kinda funny. Maybe it'll end up on David Lettermen's nightly segment of mispelled signs and ads.....

The mysterious Review Room at CCAA

Just found this on RQ's website. Doesn't seem like that much work now does it? What is taking them so loooong (whining voice)?

Mom, I'm hugry!

Last night, I had the strangest dream (now I am humming that song with the same verse) about Amelie. She was home with us for a few weeks, except it was in my childhood home in the Keys, and she kept biting my arm. I looked at the clock and it was 1 pm. I asked D if he fed her at all that day and he said no, hadn't changed her either. I replied "oh, that's why she is biting my arm, I haven't fed her either". Oh boy. The funny thing is, this happened yesterday in real life, except it was the cat who was biting my fingers. We put him on a diet and are trying now to feed him once a day. Weird how your subconscious works and mushes all of your thoughts and actions for the day together and really messes with your head!

Geez, I thought I cried enough during last night's viewing of It's a Wonderful Life!

This Christmas song breaks my heart. It's by Third Day. I can't read it without bawling like a baby. I am such a dork. Kleenex please....

Lyrics:

There’s a little girl trembling on a cold December morn,
and crying for her mama’s arms,
At an orphanage just outside a little China town,
where the forgotten are,
But half a world away I hang the stocking by the fire,
and dream about the day I can finally call you mine.
It's Christmas time again but you’re not home, your family’s here and yet you are somewhere else alone,
So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms and tell you from my heart,
I wish you Merry Christmas.
As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights,
I’m warm by the fire’s glow,
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
make angels in the snow,
Half a world away you try your best to fight the tears,
and hope that heavens angels come to carry you here.
It’s Christmas time again but you’re not home,
your family’s here and yet you are somewhere else alone,
So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms and tell you from my heart,
I wish you Merry Christmas.

And I leave you with this Christmas wish....

Ok, so I can't think of anything overly warm and fuzzy to say to you all this wonderful Christmas night. I am in a "food coma" state(see previous entry). I did have to share these pictures I found online of the world's "Most Wanted" mall Santa's. Enjoy! And Merry Christmas everyone!

Eight is (not) enough

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve will mark our 8 month wait. I wonder if we are a third of the way there, or just a quarter? I do know that when 12:01 am strikes on Jan 1st, I can say and be 99% damn sure we will be parents the next year. Well, have to keep this brief, preparing a monster brunch for D's family on Christmas day. D said "Scrambled eggs and bacon is fine", but when it comes to me and my kitchen, I like to go all out. Want to see the menu? I am getting hungry just writing it! C'mon over, there will be plenty!

Cesear Salad
Vanilla Bean Sour Cream Muffins
Begals with choice of Strawberry Bruscetta or Smoked Salmon w/ Wasabi Creme Fraise
Charred Asparagus and fresh herb Frittata
Hash Browns
Coconut Panettone French Toast with a topping of mixed winter berries in a maple syrup infused whipped cream
Bacon and Sausage
For the b-day cake: Cassada ala Siciliana (Italian Spongecake with ricotta pistacio filling and chocolate espresso ganache )
Mimosas
Bloody Mary Slushies

Oz

Lately I have been having dreams that the CCAA is actually The Great Wizard of Oz! This news doesn't help "Agencies have been telling their clients that CCAA would no longer take calls regarding when referrals were coming or give out new measurements of infants who had been referred". It also said that CCAA would “report” agencies who did not comply with this request to stop calling them and asking them questions like this." This just came from another wiating parent, but still, it's probably true.

I picture myself as Dorothy, Toto is being played by Higgins our cat with Casey our other cat as the understudy, and David as the Tinman or the Lion or the Scarecrow-you pick. We are standing in front of the giant Oz asking him nervously where our daughter is and when will I see her. Then the curtain gets pulled back on some 95 pound Chinese woman who is screaming "Pay no attention to the person behind the curtain, I am the great leader of the CCAA!" The wicked witch in this is, of course, the USCIS. Anyone who is going through this will appreciate that. The good witch is our FCC group, and the yellow brick road is the slow boat to China. I think SNL could do a skit on this, don't you think?

Article in the Wall Street Journal

No kiddin! I love that they are trying to increase the number of babies available instead of making them grow up in orphanages, but I think it's awful that single people can no longer adopt.


Agencies: China tightens adoption rules

(Beijing-AP, December 19, 2006) - China is tightening rules on foreign adoptions, barring parents who are unmarried, over 50 or obese, but says it will try to increase the number of children available to those who qualify, according to U.S. adoption agencies.
The move comes amid a surge in foreign applications to adopt Chinese children. The United States is the number one destination for children adopted abroad, but the number going to Europe and elsewhere is rising.
The restrictions are meant to limit adoptions to "only the most qualified families," said the Web site of one agency, Harrah's Adoption International Mission in Spring, Texas.
An employee of the government-run China Center of Adoption Affairs, the agency that oversees foreign adoptions, said it has issued new guidelines but refused to confirm the details released by the American agencies. He wouldn't give his name.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Beijing said it was looking into reports of the new regulations. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with embassy rules.
The Chinese agency also is trying to increase the number of children available by creating a new charity to improve conditions in orphanages and "keep infants and young children alive and well enough to be adopted," Harrah's said.
Americans adopted 7,906 children from China in 2005, raising the total since 1989 to 48,504, according to the Joint Council on International Children's Services in Alexandria, Va., an association of adoption agencies and parents' groups. The group's Web site lists 110 U.S. groups that arrange adoptions from China.
Under the new rules, only people who have been married for at least two years will be eligible to adopt, according to Harrah's, the New Beginnings Family and Children's Services Inc. of Mineola, N.Y., and Families Thru International Adoption Inc. of Evansville, Ind.
Beijing previously allowed adoptions by unmarried foreigners. The agencies said Chinese officials disclosed the rules at a Dec. 8 meeting in Beijing. They take effect May 1.
Among other restrictions, couples must have a Body Mass Index - a measure of obesity - of no more than 40 and be aged 30-50, with people up to age 55 considered for children with special needs, according to the agencies.
The rules bar parents who take medication for psychiatric conditions including depression and anxiety or have "severe facial deformity."
Many Chinese children adopted abroad are girls who are given up by couples who, bound by rules that limit most urban families to one child, want to try for a son. Others are left at orphanages or by the roadside by unmarried mothers or poor families.
A sharp increase in foreign applications for adoption has led to a backlog in approvals, with waiting times rising from six months in early 2005 to as much as 15 months now, according to adoption agencies.

A new look

I was getting a little tired of the bright pinks and yellows and blues of my blog, they were a little too "Miami Vice" for me. Not the Miami Vice with Jamie Foxx, the Miami Vice of Don Johnson Days. What do you think, a little classier now?

Always a bridesmaid and never a bride....

More like always an auntie and never a mom. Yesterday I became a proud aunt for the 7th and 8th time. Meet Allison and Gregory. How in the world my sister-in-law Shelley had twins sans drugs is beyond me. She is a super hero in my book, or just downright nuts. Allison was born at 4:05 weighing 5lb 6oz, then came Gregory into the world at 4:10 weighing 4lb 9oz!!

A picture is worth a thousand words

Here are a few pictures from our days in paradise....thank goodness David did catch any of me in my fallen poses.....

Falling forward

Just returned from an amazing trip to Park City, Utah. I have been lucky enough to have skied in several ski resorts all over the US and in Italy and this was by far the best ski trip thus far. Some of the trails are incredibly long, so you spend much more time on the trails and not waiting to get on a lift chair. Park City actually has three seperate ski areas all within ten minutes of each other and there is a great little downtown area full of cool shops, bars and cafes. We even went to the Olympic Park and got a chance to witness a live Bobsledding trial up close. They go so fast you jump if you are anywhere within ten feet of the track. On the last night we went tubing so we could revert to our 5 year old selves (like we didn't do that the rest of the trip).

As for the skiing, I somehow managed to stay in an upright position and did not fall once the first three days. Amazing for a soul as accident prone as I am. On the third day we rode up a lift with a ski instructor-a Cuban dude named Orlando originally from Miami. On the 15 minute ride up to the top he asked if I had taken a lesson and I told him it was my 7th time skiing. He told me everyone should take a lesson and gave me one, for FREE (hello, private lessons are over a hundred bucks an hour-cha ching) on the next trail down. He actually helped my technique quite a bit, even though I still, well-suck. Like I said, I did great until the very last hour of the very last day. Read on.

Here are a few lessons I learned this trip:

1. It is nearly impossible for a girl to do the hover and pee move while wearing ski boots. I can't quite explain it, except that it seriously cannot be done.

2. The "Please wait" sign posted on the padded gate as you wait for the next lift chair is there for good reason. On the last day I was so excited to get back on the mountain that the top half of my body was working much quicker than the bottom half-my skis were a few feet behind my head-not good. When my turn came to get on the ramp to wait for the chair, I had one of those "yellow light" moments-ya know, the kind when you are driving along in your car and you are 20 feet from the light and it turns yellow and for a second you are debating whether to stop or go? I totally should have stopped. All of me. I got my jacket caught in the damn gate since my feet were so far behind me. Down I went in front of a nice long line of laughing (ok, in their heads they must have been) spectators.


3. The "Please sit all the way on the back of the lift chair" sign while boarding the lift chair is also there for good reason. In one of my least proud moments, I somehow managed to not get my fat butt all the way on the seat before we were at least 6 feet up in the air. David was talking to me one second and the next he was looking down 90 degrees to see me laying on the ground like one of those CSI Miami victims that got pushed off of a roof. Fortunatly David Caruso was not present, but instead there were two cute ski lift operators there who picked me up under my arms and loaded me onto the next chair, but not before my graceful actions made all 100+ passengers swing in their stationary chairs while I was placed in the next chair.

4. The "Please keep your tips up" sign while unloading the lift chair is also there for good reason. You think I would have this embedded in my tiny brain by now, but you start chatting with the very interesting couple from Boston sitting next to you, you go to get off, and BAM-you find yourself french kissing the end of the snow covered ramp.

5. It happens to everyone, right? Well, 2, 3 and 4 would not have been quite so bad if it hadn't all happened in sequence. I kid you not. If I had a tail, it would have been between my legs. And that brings me to #6....

6. Just when things couldn't get more humiliating: I was just boasting before my Three Stooges impression that I hadn't fallen once-and then after making an arse out of myself on and off the lift I took a deep breathe and promised myself I would finish out the day without any further incedents-at least I hadn't actually fallen while actually skiing. Yeah-good job. I obviously couldn't find a wooden tree to knock on. That very next trail off of the cursed lift was actually a cursed trail. I fell not once, not twice, but three times. There are several types of falls people have while skiing. They range from "God, I am so STUPID" to "God, Please let me walk again". My three falls were something in between with the last one closer to the latter type. At the end of a very long, but beautiful run over covered bridges and under tunnels my left ski hit a few rocks and off went my ski-at least 20 feet below me. My pole was 20 feet above me. I usually love when I find a quiet trail with no one around for minutes at a time but not at this instant. David was already around the corner and didn't see my acrobatic display. I lay there in pain for a few minutes before crawling uphill to retrieve one pole before sliding ass first (how many time can I use the word ass in the post) to retrieve my ski. My binding had ice shoved in every crevice and my boot just would not go back on. Finally two snowboarders came by, I thought they would help me. Instead, being the nice teenage idiots they were, they sprayed me with snow from the edge of their boards and laughed as they sped away. Nothing like adding insult to injury. All I know is that David, who had stopped to wait for me when he noticed I wasn't behind him, didn't know I was laying helpless on the hill until he heard me screaming "#$&%*&@@@&*%^*^&%&*" at the punks. Hubby finally met me halfway as I walked down to meet him. Luckily I was close to the lift back to the lodge at that point. I was so done.

7. Not that this has anything to do with skiing, but I would move out west for the good hair days alone. No flat iron needed.

I can't wait to go back-next time I will just try to adhere to the signs.

20 hours and counting

We are off to Utah for 5 days of powder skiing in less than 24 hours. I am getting absolutly zero work done today. I am breaking the refresh button on the weather.com and skiutah.com pages. It was negative five again this morning, warmed up to 10 above, think I'll bring my bikini and flip flops! Will post some pics when we return! Have a great week!

The newest Palm Beach FCC referral

One of our group members, Belynda just got her referral yesterday. Her name will be Tatiana, she is only 9 months old! I love the baldness, her husband told her "look honey, she has your smile, and my hair", I love it. I am so happy to be living vicariously through other FCC families lives while we are waiting, it makes it all the more real! I can't wait to go to the airport with the other waiting families and welcome her home!

November Referrals

Congrats to all those who will soon meet your babies! The CCAA just sent referrals for those with LID's of 08/26/05 and 09/08/05. A measly 13 days. Not even a half month. This wait will just keep getting longer. I don't think we will meet her until after the Olympics in Bejing -summer of 2008.

In the meantime, I will share the newest Marvin cartoon...I hope this looks like our Thanksgiving table next year....

New, slightly healther, yet temporary obsession

For the past few weeks I have been a good girl and only stalked the rumor queen pages a few times a day. Why the change you ask? I have found a new reason to wear out the refresh key.

www.skiutah.com

It's 11 degrees and snowing there today. 24 inches in the past 2 days...we are off in 6 days, 12 hours and 18 minutes, not that anyone is counting!

Today's episode is brought to you by the number 7

Just passed another LID anniversary on Friday. Luckily, we were so busy in Atlanta that I truly did not think about the wait at all. I thought about the adoption and we all talked about Amelie, but the wait did not get to me at all! We'll have to get out of town more often-oh wait, we are! Off to Park City, Utah in 9 days!

Georgia on my mind

Just got back from our Thanksgiving week in Atlanta. It was nice to get away to see my brother and sis-in-law, but wish we had a few more days with them. It took us 13 hours to get up there because we worked on the way-we had to find hotels and restuarants with wireless services but we got the job done. Ok, so a little run down on our trip:

On Wednesday while David went to a library to work, Devanie( my sis-in-law) and I went shopping for Thanksgiving dinner at the DeKalb International Food market. If you ever in Atlanta, you must go there. It's an indoor market the size of 3 Costcos. The veggie and fruit section is the size of a Publix and had produce from all over the world, most of which I had never heard of before. There are two full aisles full of marinades and dressings, two ailes just with teas and a huge ginormous wine section. I could spend the day there just browsing, and we nearly did because of the amount of shoppers there. After our shopping exursion, we picked up David and went to see her new pottery/glass-making studio. We then went to the Atlanta Cycloroma and learned all about the Civil War. I am usually bored to pieces by that type of thing, but I enjoyed it very much. We then walked around the adjoining park and admired the fall leaves. That night we stayed home and made some preperations for the next day. We also got into a few bottles of wine, and danced around the living room all night. My brother put on a Led Zepplin DVD and I told him to turn off the Whitesnake. That was the laugh of the trip....but I guess you had to be there. Poor Devanie who rarely drinks was in no shape to cook the next day. Good thing she made the pumkin pie at 2 am, even though she doesn't remember. It was actually quite good!

On Thursday(Turkey Day), we made the rest of dinner, watched the parade and the dog show(a stupid poodle won, again...but a Wheaten came in 2nd place in the terrier group so I was thrilled) then ate our big fat meal, wacthed football, drank some more wine and hit the hay early(must have been the wine/turkey tryptophan combo.

On Friday my brother had to work, so David, Dev and I went to Stone Mountain Park and climbed to the top to work off the 10,000 calories consumed the prior two days. It's just 1.4 miles to the top, but some of it is steep and slippery and my buns felt like buns of stell after(sadly, they don't look like it). We parked over 2 miles from the actual mountain (it's really a giant hill made of granite), so it really was a good workout. That night we went out for Italian (because we needed to replenish the 10,000 calories we burned) and then to a funky bar/restuarant to meet some old pals I hadn't seen since high school for some drinks. We had been in touch for months now looking forward to meeting up. They even called a few hours before and said they had a sitter, but alas....I got stood up. Oh well, I just got to catch up more with my family.

That's it folks! Trying to get my brother and SIL to get their buns down here, Dev has never been to Key West and it's about time. I think we could tear up that town! It's sad that we go almost 2 years without seeing each other, but maybe once Amelie comes they will miss her and we'll see them more often.

Road trip

D and I are heading to Hotlanta to see my brother and sis-in-law for Thanksgiving. I hope that by the time we get back, there will be some update as far as rumors go for this month's referrals. I pray they do more than two weeks this time! Happy turkey day all!

Unreal

This is from an article in a UK newspaper, I can't imagine how I would feel if I were in these people's shoes!

Police sorry after race-quiz outrage

Police have apologised to a white dad who was quizzed by officers after taking his two mixed-race daughters out for a pizza.
Paul Wrightson was questioned by the officers because they thought a white man with two Asian girls was suspicious.
But it has sparked fury from the family and particularly Mr Wrightson who fears he will be under suspicion when out with daughters Sita, 18, Asha, 15, and Sonia, 13.
Mr Wrightson, 43, of Bingley, has been married to his Asian wife Sherlinda, for 19 years. He had taken his two younger daughters for a treat at Pizza Hut in Bingley on Monday while their mum was busy helping a friend when he was asked by two Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to accompany them outside.

"We had caught the train from Forster Square in Bradford at about 6.40pm on Monday and we got off in Bingley. I took the girls to Pizza Hut for a treat and I had just finished my pizza when I noticed the officers come in.
"I joked with the girls that they were probably coming in for their tea. The two officers came over and asked me to come outside.
"One officer stayed in the restaurant with the girls and the other explained that a member of the public had seen a white man with two Asian girls acting suspiciously," he said. The officer asked Paul if he could prove he was their father and he explained that he didn't have any sort of documentation because he had met his girls after work to get some dinner.
Paul said the PCSO told him it looked strange a white man being with two Asian girls. "I just gave him my name and my date of birth," he added.
In the meantime a female PCSO asked Asha and Sonia who Mr Wrightson was and they also explained that he was their dad.
Asha also told the officer that she was embarrassing them and that the whole restaurant was looking at them.
Paul was eventually able to go back to his daughters who were visibly upset by the questions that the officer had been asking. "Is it getting to the stage where I can't go out with my own daughters?" asked Paul, who works at Dudley Hill Carpets.
Sherlinda, 46, who is a catering assistant at St Luke's Hospital, told the Telegraph & Argus that her daughters and her husband were all very upset by the incident and in particular the way that the officers handled the situation.
"I was devastated when Paul told me what happened. I've never come across anything like it my life. I was beside myself and one of my daughters had trouble sleeping that night," she said.
Paul has received an apology from an Inspector and Sergeant at Bingley Police Station and he hopes that this does not happen to another family.
"I shouldn't have to explain to anyone who I am when I have done nothing wrong expect take my daughters out for a meal. This may have been the first time that this has happened but does that mean it is going to be the last?"
Sherlinda said that she hoped the police would be more sensitive and a bit more open-minded in the future.
"They should be more open- minded, I mean we are living in a multi-cultural society. When I married Paul it was in more difficult times. I expect people to more open-minded now."
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "We responded to a report made in good faith by a concerned member of the public. We apologise for any inconvenience or embarrassment that was caused."

Just a little cuteness to brighten up the day

This is an adorable picture of Samantha, she will turn one in just a few days. I am looking forward to being at her very first birthday party!

Also had to show you another too cute comic!

Adjustment issues

On Tuesday we went to our monthly FCC meeting. There was an attachment therapist there who gave us waiting parents (and a few already back folk) some great advice on dealing with attachment. Alot of this I have heard before, but it doesn't hurt to hear it over and over again. For instance, as much as we want our family and friends to be able to hold and hug and kiss on the Empress, this is a huge no no. The biggest piece of advice she could give is don't take any advice from people who only are parents to bio kids. How you raise bio kids and adopted kids is a 180 degree difference. I am already getting the deer in the headlight look when I tell friends and family that the Empress will be sleeping either in our bed or in our room for at least the first year. This goes against everything a bio child should do. Strollers are strongly advised against, they want her to be carried in a snuggli for as long as possible. No trips or vacations for the first year either, unless it's a quiet trip to see family and even then the babe needs to be within eyesight 100% of the time. Another must: limit stimulation-have very little toys around and keep the nursery-if you have one as she will be in our room-in minimalist style. Use red if you can, because that is the one color that is everywhere in China. So much for my pottery barn watermelon pink and lime green theme! The most interesting thing she should have is us.

Why all of these crazy rules you say? The first year she is home, we must recreate for her what the first year would have been like if she was ours biologically. She needs to become totally dependent on us. Even if she is 18 months when she comes home and can feed herself, we can't let her. I know alot of people looking outside in will think us FCC parents are over protective, too uptight, somewhat nutso, but these things must be done in order to have a healthy toddler and a healthy adult later on. The thinking is she must go through all of her stages, even when we have to start at stage one.

Some other interesting advice the therapist gave us:

- Practice alot of eye contact, usiing mirrors if she won't look directly at you

-Learn a few words in Chinese. While we are in China, she'll still have some familiar smells, tastes, ect...but once we get home, everything will be unfamiliar. Kinda like taking someone from Amish country and bringing them to Vegas by themselves. It would probably be frighteneing. If we speak some Chinese to her, she'll have something familiar to her.

-Exchange something of value for something the nanny or fostermom wore, so that she has that familiar scent around her.

-Buy a Chinese lullaby cd to play at night.

-when you hold her to rock her to sleep, cradle her in your arms so she can have that eye contact.

-Tell her that she had a story before she came in her forever home, she wasn't just adopted, she was born.

-One Mother's day, light a candle for fer birth mother. This will help deal with the grief she will always have.

One thing I was very happy about Tuesday was the new families that I met. We are no longer the last ones to get our baby. Two new couples have Oct 06 LID's, and they will travel after us. I am not trying to sound selfish here, it'll just be nice to have people before and after us!

Comic Relief

Did you see in the daily comic page that Marvin has a new little sister? Just adopted from China. Love it! Check more of her out here ! Her name is Ming Ming. Kinda sounds like a panda's name, but still....

Lucky

Although I really would love to see a few leaves change color or some snow on the ground, I am so happy to live in the Sunshine state. Friday we met some friends who were in town from Michigan. They went scuba diving that morning and caught twentysome lobsters and a giant grouper. We reaped their rewards and stuffed our bellies with the delicious crustaceans and fish fillets that evening. Tonight some friends from college invited us over to join them in enjoying a fresh caught dolphin they caught off of a drift boat earlier in the day (is that a run-off sentence, sorry Professor Rose). One day D and I are going to live in the Keys (where I grew up) and live like the song "Tin Cup Chalice" by Jimmy Buffett. My favorite line is "Give my oysters and beer, for dinner everyday of the year, and I'll feel fine".

On another note, just want to say congrats to Cyndi and Jon & Fernando and Neal on their beautiful new two week old babies! Lily and Sebastian are so stinkin' cute! Remember a few months ago when I whined, I mean wrote about how everyone I knew was pregnant. Well, now everyone I know has a newborn. Well, almost everyone. My sis in law is having the twins anyday now, and then seriously, everyone I know will have a newborn, or newborns. But that's ok, I don't have to get up every 3 hours right now, so it's a very very very small consolation for me. I do love my sleep-and my seafood. Good night-going to go dream of Amelie. And swordfish in a lemon buerre blanc sauce.

I broke down...

Oh boy. I said I wouldn't. I promised myself "not til we are out of the review room", but...I did it. I bought the Empress some too-cute-to-be-passed-up-plus-they-were-on-the-sale-rack clothes. Ok, I will try to be good from here on it, seeing that we have another two years, but it's going to be so hard. I almost bought her a winter outfit today-but there is two problems with that-we live in Florida(it's 86 here today) and I haven't a clue how big she will be her first Christmas here. We'll be off to Park City in three weeks, I may come back with a 2T ski outfit. I just may!

Another possible hold-up?

A couple of agencies are now confirming that if you are asked questions in the review room your dossier will be batched with whatever month is in the review room for your agency at the time that all questions are resolved. Right now they are reviewing Feb-April 2006. So, anytime between now and January, we can be called by our agency and asked to clarify some things. David was not able to get his birth certificate certified and authenticated in Colombia. We sent it along with a letter of explanation with our fingers, toes and every other body part crossed that they would accept it as is. If the CCAA won't move our file forward without it, David will have to trek back down to South America. That could take weeks or even months to do. I know, I am just working myself up into a tizzy as usual, but if that does happen, our file will no longer have an April LID date. It could be much much later, and as you know, they take 2-3 months to get though each LID month. In other words, if we are pushed back with the June LID files, it could mean an additional 4-6 months of waiting. Keep your happy thoughts on us so that they have NO QUESTIONS! I really need some part of these to go smoothly!

Material girl

I have to say, alot of people are giving Madonna critism on what appeared to be a spur of the moment decision to adopt from Africa. This is fact, not actually the case. According to Madonna, she actually was in the process of adopting for years and said it was the hardest thing she has ever been through (Amen, sista). She just did not publicize her desire to adopt, and really, who blames her? I love her response to a stupid question regarding the adoption in Time magazine:

"And by the way, say I did cut the queue? Say I did cheat and not have to wait two years to adopt a child? Well good for me! Do you know how many children are going to die in the next two years? It's a stupid law. Change the law."

I totally agree. I mean, I know they have to do background checks, doctors visits, ect on all of us waiting parents, but waiting more than a year for an orphan from any country is just wrong, especially for the children. See my previous post, which made me tear up while I was writing it. I haven't been a fan of her music since I myself was wearing leg warmers watching Family Ties and the Facts of Life, but you have to give this lady some respect.

Missing the good stuff

Today my friend Cynthia stopped by with her precious two week old baby girl Lily Anna. I got to hold her for a little while and smell that sweet newborn baby hair and watch her teeny face wrinkle up as she dreamed her innocent dreams. As I looked down at her, I was sad for a moment. You see, Amelie will be anywhere from 9-18 months when we meet her. Sure, I am a little sad for David and I that we won't have the chance to have a newborn in our arms to call our own, but I am more sad for Amelie. She will have 9 or 12 or 15 or 18 months with no one to comfort her cries in the middle of the night, no one to kiss her boo boo's when she falls down, no one to take seious note of her first crawl or first step. Yes, she will have nannies to witness some of her first's, but no one will jot down the dates of these first's in a baby book. No one will take pictures of her firsts and frame them on the fridge or on the dresser. I know she will be loved by the nannies at the orphanage, but she just won't have all of the love and attention a baby needs and deserves that first year of her life. We'll just have to somehow make up for at all when she is home, safe with her forever mom and dad.

Whew

Ok, I just want to say a big fat congrats to all of those August 9-25 LID'ers who got their referral today. The CCAA really had everyone on the edge of their seat not letting on as to when they were going to give out referrals. Even though they were a week late giving out referrals, they did 15% more than the usually do. This is a great sign. I hope they can continue to speed up. I hate to keep whining, but I just don't want to imagine waiting until the end of 2008 to meet Amelie! I miss my girl already. Is it possible to miss someone you have never met?

How to make 10,000 waiting families jump off a bridge

Ok, so the CCAA has not referred any babies to any families in the entire month of October. No word out of China as to why this is happening. No travel approval for families that have their referrals either. I can't even imagine what the people who were expecting referrals are feeling right now!

Rita Hayworth gave good face...vogue

What's up with the cheesey Vogue lyrics in the subject line? Saturday night we attended the first annual Dead Celebrities Ball at our dear friend Heather and Danny's home. I was, you guessed it, Rita Hayworth. Hubbins was Bruce Lee, although he kinda looked like a monk with his hair the way it was. The costume's were amazing, I won't describe everything, but a picture is worth 1000 words, so here are a few. Congrats to our friends Ana and Ron (friends who are also adopting or FWAAA-ha, ha) won best couple's costume, they were the Crocodile hunter and the stingray. Danny, the host got voted best male-he was Christopher Reeves, first as Clark Kent, then changed into Superman, but had a wheelchair and ventalator to boot. It was so wrong, but so very funny. My best friend from high school, whom I have seen twice since then 15 years ago also came. I think she had a very good time, but I think I broke her. Poor thing was not feeling so well the next day! Gotta run, lots of work to catch up with today and I am suppossed to be working right now, but a girl's gotta prioritize!

Today's episode is brought to you by the number 6

Today marks the 6th month anniversary of our Log In Date. When we started in Oct of last year with our paperwork, the referral date was 7 months after the LID. Ha, ha, ha. How times have changed. It's frustrating to think if we would have started our paperwork just 6 months earlier, we would be on our way. Now, we have to wait another 18-24 months. Trying to find the silver lining in this. We have decided to forgo all nursery decorating for at least another year. The closet in her room is still shut tight, I can't look at her clothes. I know several people in my April LID group that are done with their nursery's. I just can't imagine having it sit empty for what seems like an eternity, but I guess everyone deals with this in a different way. Here's to hoping and praying things speed up before I am too old to be a new mom!

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 : (