The Flu and Today's Other Loveliness

When I said this week was going to be exciting, I had no idea.

Lil' Miss called me after napping for half an hour this afternoon.  I thought I was going to open the door to, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom." 

Nope.  It was, "Mom, I have throw up on my hands."

Um...yeah.  And on her skirt, her pillowcase, her lovie, her blankets, her sheets, e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.

It gets better.  We had company this weekend, so Lil' Miss begged to sleep on the top bunk of our bunkbed (which is pretty much being used as a giant play structure until more kiddos join our family).  Have you every tried to get a sick child, blankets, and a lot of puke off the top bunk?

So. Not. Fun.

By this point, the puke has spread.  (How is that even possible?)  Our visiting friends - who had the bad luck to still be visiting - are packing up as quickly as possible.  I have a puke-covered child in the bathtub (still puking) while I'm trying to clean up the puke-covered bedroom.

I'll spare you the rest of the details.  Suffice it to say, it was not the lovely naptime I had planned to spend watching Bre*king Dawn engaged in meaningful conversation with my friend.

Four hours of puking later, I get a text from my friend.  She has a flat tire less than halfway home and is sitting by the side of the road (with a three-year-old) waiting for a tow truck from Big D*ddy's Towing to show up and help her.

Six-and-a-half hours of puking later, I get an email from our adoption agency.  There weren't any kids listed in China tonight who are a fit for our family.  Not the news I wanted to hear.

So here I am: up W-A-Y too late, hoping I don't start puking, and blogging because staring at the computer hoping some amazing news is going to magically appear is getting old fast.

The plan for tomorrow is 7-*p, blankets, movies, and no puking (please!).

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

It has been a wild and wooly week in Adoptionland, and it looks like it's going to get even more exciting.  Our social worker emailed on Wednesday to say that she is proofreading our home study.  Once the final copy is approved by her boss and our China agency, we can send our application off to U.S. Immigration and begin our wait for the last piece of paper we need to complete our China dossier.  I've been hoping to get to that step by the end of February.  That's not looking super likely, but I'm still holding out hope.

--- 2 ---

Jeremy and I are doing this diet.  We unknowingly started on the first day of Lent, appropriate since we are giving up a whole bunch of yummy things.  (Bread, I miss you!)  Thankfully the diet is only 17 days long - not 40!  Today is day three, and I am seriously craving a chai and BREAD (French bread, muffins, cereal, Goldfish...I'll take anything).

--- 3 ---

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that we started this process hoping to adopt two children from Ghana.  Since then, our adoption journey has taken us in many different directions, but we've always planned on welcoming two new little ones to our family.  When our adoption in Texas fell through, we began talking with our China agency about adding a second child to our adoption.  They have been 100% supportive and are doing everything they can to match us with a second child.  China releases the profiles of available children once a month, usually on a Monday.  Our agency was notified last night that the new children for February will be added this Monday!  That means we could wake up to our little one's face on Tuesday morning.  Please pray for us to have peace and wisdom as we have the opportunity to consider another child.  Lil' Miss said to me the other day, "Mom, let's get all the kids in China cuz I really want a lot of kids."  Sweet girl, I am so with you on that one! :)

--- 4 ---

We had our little man's file reviewed by an international adoption doctor earlier this week.  The doctor had a couple of concerns about some of the early medical records in the file and asked us to try to get some updated growth and development information.  I have to confess to doing Go*gle medical research and pretty much completely freaking out after talking with the doctor.  It's pretty scary thinking about medical issues that your child who is thousands of miles away might be facing.  ACK!  

Thank goodness for my rock of husband who brought me back to earth. :)  I have taken a deep breath (or 2,000) and am feeling much calmer about everything.  (Forget bread, I need to give up worrying for Lent!)  We have asked for an update on our little guy, and I am counting the days until we receive it.  I can't wait to see how he's growing!  And, yes, I will totally share any new pictures here.

--- 5 ---

So. Ready. For. Spring.

--- 6 ---

I "met" this little girl last night, and my heart is incredibly heavy for her.

She's five years old, has a gorgeous smile, and loves folding paper airplanes with her foster brother.  She's in China waiting for her mama and papa to find her.  She's been waiting for over a year.  This little girl has two very manageable special needs.  She lived with her birth family for eight months, spent one day in an orphanage, and has lived with a foster family ever since.  If we didn't feel so strongly about adopting children younger than Lil' Miss, I would go get her tomorrow.  (I still might go get her tomorrow. :)  Feel free to share this sweetie's picture and information.  You are welcome to email me at whatitmeans2beheld@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you're interested in adopting "Laura".  You can also click on Laura's picture to be taken to our agency's website.

--- 7 ---

 I'm off to a yummy snack of green tea and veggies.  Happy Friday, everyone!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Meet Timmy

I'm slowly learning how the China adoption process works.  Every country's process is incredibly different, so I'm feeling like a total newbie again after spending months researching Eastern Europe.  

One part of the process that is unique to China is that some waiting children are assigned to specific agencies for advocacy.  The agency is given about three months to find families for those children, and they are the only agency who can request a family be matched with one of those children during that time.  There are pros and cons to this (and I'm not even going to delve into them here), but that's the way it is right now.

Our agency received a new group of children (dubbed Special Focus Group 5) the day we sent in our China Pre-Application.  Quite a few of these kiddos have found families - yay!  Unfortunately, there are several precious little ones still waiting; most of them are sweet boys.  (It seems to be that most people think "baby girl" when they consider adopting from China.  In reality, however, most of the children currently waiting - about 65% - are boys.  These sweet little guys often have a hard time finding families.)

One of our agency's waiting children has stolen my heart, and I would love to see him find his family.  His agency name is Timmy (not his real name).  Our agency will only have Timmy's file for a few more days, so I'm praying he can find his family very soon!

Meet Timmy.

 

I know, he's pretty much stinkin' adorable.  

Timmy's diagnosis is mild CP.  Wait!  Don't stop reading!  I know CP sounds scary, but I've recently had the opportunity to "meet" several children with CP online, and they have amazing potential.  (You can click here to meet my friend's little girl, Vi.  She has a similar diagnosis to Timmy and is absolutely capable and precious!  How can you not love that toothless grin?)  CP is not progressive; Timmy will only continue to improve in his physical mobility.  Also, Timmy has the awesome advantage of living in a physical therapy center.  He is making great progress there, and recently started walking.  (He sure looks steady on his feet to me!)

If you are interested in more information about Timmy, please email me at whatitmeans2beheld@gmail.com.  I would love to answer your questions (if I can) and/or connect you with our agency so you can review Timmy's file.

You do not need to have started the adoption process to commit to Timmy.  Also, if you have started the process to adopt from China with another agency or if you would prefer to choose your own agency, our agency is willing to transfer Timmy's file to keep him from waiting any longer.

Thanks for taking a few minutes to meet this precious boy.  I'm praying that he has a mama and papa to give these kisses to very soon!

Happy Valentine's Day

Dinner and Target with the man I love 

(on Monday night when there was no wait :)...

A fun day with my sweet girl...

Flowers from my daddy...

An evening of sledding with both my valentines...

There's only one thing that could have made this Valentine's Day better...

Praying that this is the last Valentine's Day our little man spends away from us.

From our family to yours...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

A Very Merry UnBirthday to Lil' Miss!

No, it's not Lil' Miss's birthday today.  Her birthday isn't even in February.  In fact, no one in our family actually has a February birthday.  But, I've been meaning to write this post about Lil' Miss's last birthday for a V-E-R-Y long time (let's just say that her next birthday may or may not be closer to today than her last birthday was), so here goes. 

Thanks to her slightly OCD mama and her more-than-slightly enthusiastic tia Jessica, Lil' Miss has been able to enjoy some pretty awesome birthday parties (and Jess pretty much earns the Tia of the Century Award).  

Lil' Miss's first birthday was a watermelon-themed bash (not because she really cared anything about watermelons at the time, but because you can do way too many fun things decorating with watermelons).

For Birthday #2 we chose a zoo theme (because the zoo is pretty much one of Lil' Miss's favorite places ever).

And last year was an Under-the-Sea theme (because you can write a pretty cute rhyming invitation for an Under-the-Sea party when your kid's turning three).

Jessica just about pulled an all-nighter working on the cakes - a tiny one for Lil' Miss and a big one for everyone else - and they turned out A.W.E.S.O.M.E.  (I take zero credit for these adorable masterpieces.  And, yes, those are tiny bubbles floating up from that miniature snail's mouth.)

All the kids had a blast playing in the giant "beach".

And swimming in the "ocean".  What's not to love about a party with lots of sand and water?

While I didn't have anything to do with the cake, check out my cooking masterpiece: Octodogs!  I know, they're more than a little gross looking, but they tasted yummy!

 

We had candy sushi thanks to one awesome babysitter who stayed up almost as late as Jessica did rolling Rice Kris*ie Treats.  You rock, Steph!

 

The main course was pasta shells (both "shark"/carnivore and "manatee"/herbivore style).

The project that took the most time and thought (besides the cake) was the centerpieces.  I don't have a great picture, but we filled vases with blue J*llo and gummy fish and then added googles for extra cuteness.  The only downside was that the blue J*llo was kind of dark, so you really had to look to see the little fish floating around in it.

All in all, it was a fun day with friends and family.  And, even though a certain man in my life would definitely accuse me of going a little over-the-top, it was a special way to celebrate this beautiful three-year-old.

Lil' Miss, you are one of the most precious gifts God has ever given me.  You're spunky, kind, silly, and so full of life.  I'm incredibly grateful for the three birthdays we've been able to celebrate with you in our family.  I know you're going to be a fantastic big sister, and I can't wait to see you love on your little brother.  

Merry UnBirthday, sweet girl of mine!

Time to Catch Up

If you've read my blog recently, you probably know that January was pretty much a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad month at our house.  You also might have noticed that I haven't posted in wwwwwaaaayyy too long.  Well, thanks to my lovely friend Erin, I am sitting on my couch in an empty house with a slice of yummy banana bread and a mug of amazing Tr*der Joe's chai.  (Soooo delicious! If you haven't tried it, you need to.  Just don't blame me when you're hopelessly addicted.)

So, it's time to catch up.  I'm going to stick with bullet points since most of the things in this post are going to be a bit random.

*While I haven't done a good job posting over the last couple of weeks, I have spent some time messing around with my blog design.  Thanks to this amazing website, it's goodbye orange and hello vintage pink and teal.  What do you think?  I'm still debating about whether the narrower margins make my posts hard to read.  Any input? (If you're reading this on Google Reader, you'll have to click on the title of this post to check out my new look.)

*Winter has pretty much been MIA this year.  I am not disappointed.  AT. ALL.  Jeremy keeps warning me that winter doesn't just miss the Midwest and that some gigantic blizzard is bound to show up soon (even if it waits until April).  We'll see.  I've got my fingers crossed for a 2011-12 winter free of one-digit temps and sub-zero wind chills.

*Here's proof that the weather has been mild.  Check out this picture of Lil' Miss and Miss H.  It was taken January 31.

 

Yup, those are my girls splashing in the melted snow springy rain puddles in January.  Spring has to be just around the corner, right?

*If you read between the lines last month (okay, maybe not so between the lines), you know that I pretty much had a total meltdown over our adoption paperwork (and maybe just adoption in general).  Thanks to all of you who prayed for us and provided encouragement and support during that especially rough month.  I know that God has called us to this journey.  I know he has a very special little boy (and maybe someone else....) waiting at the end of this road.  In spite of the terrible, horrible days, I am determined to continue - one step at a time.

*On that note, I have some happy adoption news.  Our social worker was finally able to make it up for our home visit.  In fact, she not only made it up here, she scheduled three of our four visits with her within eight days.  WOOHOO!  After one crazy month, we are now done with our end of the home study: visits, adoption training, TB tests - done!  We are now waiting on our social worker to write up our home study, send it to our placing agency for their approval, and then mail us the final copy.  At that point, we'll be able to apply for U.S. Immigr*tion approval (which, unfortunately, is not the quickest part of this process and kinda' makes me feel queasy just thinking about it).

*In addition to happy adoption news, I made a very happy adoption purchase this weekend.  Overall, we're pretty set for another kiddo (or two) to join our family.  A friend very graciously gave us a crib/toddler bed with a matching dresser, so we now have two crib/toddler beds, a full bed, and a bunk bed (that I snagged at a garage sale for $25).  I'm feeling pretty well prepared in the furniture department for any combination of genders and ages.  Also, thanks to my garage sale-ing addiction hobby, I've collected quite a pile of 3T and 4T boys clothes.  I'm guessing our little man will probably be in 18 months or 2T when we bring him home, but that's just a good excuse to go to more garage sales this summer. :)  So, I'm down to just a few big purchases on the Getting-Ready-to-Grow-Our-Family List.  One of them is a certain double jogger that pretty much makes me drool.  The other is a new car seat or two.  

Well, guess what?  On Saturday I found this...

on clearance at our local T*rget.  Check out the price tag.

Really, a brand-new Brit*x car seat for $39.04?  Yes, PLEASE! 

I don't think "Jonathan" is going to love the pink-and-brown.  I'm pretty much convinced this means we need to add a little girl to our crazy adoption story.  (More on this sometime soon. :)

*So, that's my life right now.  I hope this post finds all of you enjoying some almost-springtime weather wherever you are!

Two Cuties & A Sled

We got six-and-a-half inches of beautiful, powdery snow on Friday.  Perfect for sledding!  (Not so perfect for social workers who don't love driving in the white stuff.)

Jeremy had a busy day at work on Saturday, so I decided to take Lil' Miss and her buddy, Miss H, to our local sledding hill.  (I have to tell you that this hill does not compare to the sledding hills I remember from growing up.  There's something about sledding in a state where speed bumps aren't considered higher elevations.  Either that or the sledding hills of my childhood are just big in my memory.  I was kind of little back then.)

Here are the girls, all bundled up and ready for an adventure.

The weather was perfect, and the hill was full of kids sledding and snowboarding.  Here are the girls on the sled Lil' Miss got for Christmas.  

You can't really tell in this picture, but the sled is black and sort of odd looking.  It's fast, though.  A friend we ran into at the sledding hill suggested we name it the "Greased Booger".  (Not really sure I could say that with a straight face.  "Honey, could you please grab the Greased Booger out of the trunk.")

Lil' Miss has gotten super brave.  She found a friend from church who is in first grade, and the two of them went down together over and over again.  Miss H was brave too.  She actually went down once all by herself, and this was her first time on a sled!  (No, I'm not a bad babysitter.  We're talking Midwestern sledding hill here.)

Lil' Miss and Miss H went down together a few times.  It was pretty hilarious watching them try to get back up the hill.  Lil' Miss was sure she could pull Miss H and the sled.

Here's a picture just for 'Buela.  My mom loves "butt shots".  (Yes, my rear end is all over our family photo albums.  Lovely, I know.)

It was a wonderful way to spend a snowy Saturday afternoon.  When the sun started to go down, we headed to the local coffee shop for vanilla chai (for me) and hot chocolate (for the girlies).  Fun day!

**********************************************
Quick adoption update...Our social worker didn't make it up for our home visit on Saturday.  Please pray that she is able to come next Saturday!  We are headed down to see her tomorrow.  If she is able to come on Saturday, we'll just have one visit left (at her office) before she can write our home study.

Some of you might remember this post, where I shared a picture another China mommy passed along to me.  This mama is adopting a little guy from our son's orphanage who is a month younger than our little man.  She just emailed me another picture.  Yay!

Her son is on the right in the purple, and she thinks our son is sitting next to him (in the blue-and-green striped sweater).  What do you think?  

Here's the really amazing thing.  If this is our little man, he's sitting between two boys who are in the process of being adopted...by families who live in the next state!  His two buddies will be just a three-and-a-half hour drive from our house.  How awesome is that?