A Curvy Runner

I Can't Believe he's 2! Happy Birthday Biya!

2012-01-19T21:19:00.000-06:00

Family is the Best!

2012-01-15T12:25:00.000-06:00

Little Bear and I were fortunate to be able to travel to see my family in Phoenix over the holidays. It was his first time meeting his Pappa, Uncle Kirk, and cousins H and C. Grandma or "Hey" as all the grandkids call her had already met LB when she flew up to help after my surgery in March. I loved watching him interact with everyone, seeing those bonds forming, but it was soooo hard to leave my family at the end. Good thing Bart was here waiting for us in Canada or I might have been tempted to stay there!

Christmas at home with Daddy!

LB freaked out the first time Mr. Potato Heads' arm came off!

Hanging out with Pappa at 5am-They are both early birds!

Cruisin' at the zoo with my new BFF Chy.

Uncle Kirk is the greatest!

First Pro Family Photo

2011-11-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

Updates

2011-10-18T20:07:00.001-05:00

We are doing great. Day care worries are gone-Biya has adjusted well. He is a running (sort of), sliding, playing in dirt, throwing rocks in the lake kind of a boy. I haven't perfected the balance of mothering, housekeeping, wifing, teachering, Zumbaing, belly dancing yet....house is a disaster, I am slightly (grimace) behind on my marking, I accidentally baby talk to my husband, but....we make time for this kiddo and that is all I care about right now. I think the rest will come with time.

I DO need to get my house tidied up though before my big Bead For Life party. I love doing this fundraiser and find it an excellent kick off to the holiday season. My friends loving giving gifts that keep on giving, and the beaded jewelry is lovely. If you are interested in helping out Ugandan women and having fun doing it I would suggest you check out this site: http://www.beadforlife.org/indexB.html. It is soooo easy to run a party and it costs you nothing but time. An excellent organization.

And because no post is complete without a great Biya photo (or three):

Anxiety over day care

2011-08-31T11:37:00.000-05:00

Sadly I have to go back to work on Sept. 6th, which means day care for Biya. I am seriously struggling with this. Biya seems to be well attached and adjusted to our famly life-but what if he starts to see his new day home provider as "mama"? He will be with her from 7:45-4:00 every day until December. Of course they will have a relationship. Already I am super jealous of the time that she will get to spend with MY son. Ack!, just typing this has me crying again. There is no way that I can be the stay at home Mom financially speaking. Life is so not fair.

I am trying to console myself with the knowledge that come January when he's 2 we can move him to the regular daycare that is right next door to my classroom so that I can see him anytime I wish. It will also mean much less time in day care overall-only 8:20-3:15. Still not ideal but better. Am I horribly selfish that I can hardly wait for him to turn 2 so that he is in a bigger daycare with more kids and more adults and LESS chance of him thinking of one of the care givers as "Mama"? The lady who will care for Biya from September to Dec. is a good friend and I know she will do a good job, I am just nervous about being replaced.

I know intellectually from having watched my husband (who had to return to work the day after we returned home from Ethiopia) that the bond does happen-its a matter of the QUALITY of time spent together -not neccessarily the QUANTITY. However, my heart doesn't want to listen to facts. My heart wants to say, let's sell the house and everything we own, rent a trailer, and let me quit working!

Words of advice from BTDT would be welcomed, this anxiety is keeping me up at night (and goodness knows good sleep is hard enough to come by with a little one around!).

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T11:04:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T20:33:00.000-05:00

Is it me....

2011-07-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

or is this boy growing up too fast?

Happy Father, Happy Son, Happy Fathers Day

2011-06-18T09:53:00.000-05:00

I can't imagine how life could possibly get any better than this!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-01T11:02:00.000-05:00

Please Pardon the Snot

2011-05-12T10:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, he's a little snotty. That's the way our life rolls these days with teething and (I suspect) allergies. I love this picture anyway. I was messing around with the camera and he just spontaneously grabbed my face-I of course cried afterwards. The spontaneous hugs are increasing daily. Even after diaper changes (which he ALMOST always cries through) I will stand him up to pull the britches on and he gives me a big hug. Maybe he's just grateful that I am done? Dunno.

Mommy's Little Helper

2011-05-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

Our Mommy and Me class leader suggested letting little wee ones help with chores around the house. So when LB sidled up to me in the kitchen I let him pitch in with the dishes. We actually had a lot of laughs, it took twice as long but made dishes a little more interesting!

Figuresque Girl

2011-05-04T11:56:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

I have started a new blog to chronicle my weight loss journey. I will continue to document about Little Bear and our family adjustment here at Curvy Runner, but felt that it would be best to start a new blog that has more of a weight loss focus. I am trying to lose 122 pounds and would love for all of you to pop/click over and check it out. Words of support and encouragement are welcome! You can find my new blog "Figuresque Girl" here.

I want to be the best mom that I can be, and that means:
a. making sure that I live long enough to see him grow up
b. being a healthy role model for exercise and eating habits
c.being happy within myself, so that I am fun to be with

It's funny, I didn't learn how important it was to love myself until I had that little man in my life. I love him so much that the thought of not being here, of dying early, or missing out on fun activities simply because of my weight is simply not acceptable to me anymore.

I hope to see you there!
Stephanie

Normalizing

2011-04-22T19:39:00.000-05:00

Slowly things are getting back to routine. Little Bear has a cold right now so a few sleepless nights for all but otherwise (knock on wood) we are doing very well. He is such a smiley, happy little guy who loves to sing songs with me, we practice hugging on his new teddy, he blows kisses, and has the cutest giggle.

Since we arrived home March 5th he has progressed from not really moving much with his legs at all to crawling by the end of March and just last week he took his first steps holding onto Mommy's fingers. Its like watching everything happen in fast forward he is making such huge gains daily. He is very verbal in a babbly sort of way but you can distinctly tell mamamamama (often VERY loudly), dadadadada (with delight), and when he's ticked off I get "digidigidigi!!!".

When we first came home LB had ghiardia, which we are getting checked to ensure it is gone (fingers crossed), and some type of scalp issue which cleared up within 2 weeks using an antifungal cream. I share this info just to help other PAP's be prepared for what may happen. THere is a wee bit of a bloated belly yet, we're still trying to figure out the cause but I have to say that overall we feel that he is in excellent health and the Ped. agrees.

Now we just need to get rid of this pesky cold of his and we can really have some fun. For now here are some pics of LB's daily fun times (please disregard my general shabbiness in photos-some days just go like that):

retroesophageal abscess

2011-03-30T16:32:00.000-05:00

Sounds great right? This little tongue twister would be the reason why I have been absent lately. After we came home March 5th I kept noticing that I had a sore throat and was worried about a cold coming on. A couple of days went by and my throat was still sore but no cold so I thought I was doing a great job of keeping a cold at bay. Then a week goes by and I am SOOO tired. I couldn't believe how hard it was to get out of bed and do my mommy things. I kept thinking that maybe it was depression? perhaps a delayed reaction to all of the changes in our lives....but kept going because my family needed me. Then Monday the 21st the throat seemed pretty bad but I had to teach 2 dance classes so on I go, made it through belly dance-but now I had what felt like muscle aches up and down the back of my neck. Kept chugging water, and pushed on-by midway through my Zumba class I was REALLY worried, I could feel that my muscles were not responding properly and I had 0 energy. My class actually stopped to check on me...so we called it quits 10 minutes early and I drove home. Then followed 2 days and nights of what I thought was the worst flu I had had in YEARS. Of course during the days I am still taking care of Little Bear-but truly just barely making it through, I felt horrible physically and emotionally because I knew I was not at my best and felt that I was cheating him. Wed, I called hubby home early and inssisted on going to the Dr. who at first couldn't fit me in thank goodness for a cancellation and off to the Dr. we went. She noticed an infection, prescribed some antibiotics and other tests and off to the pharmacy we go. By the time I arrive at the pharmacy the Dr. called and wanted me back. She suspected the abscess and insisted we needed to drive (3hours) to Winnipeg emergency where she had a Dr. waiting for me. (I didn't know that left untreated this was almost always fatal). Suffice it to say that after 3 hours waiting in Emergency I finally was in had CT scans, blookwork etc. and was admitted overnight. Had surgery by 11am the next day and just got out of hospital on Saturday. My wonderful mom flew up from Wyoming to let me recover while she took care of Biya....now the road to recovery will hopefully be swift!!!

I would like life to settle into some kind of "normal" anytime now. Unfortunately we seem to attract trouble and drama. Anyway, if you don't hear from me for a while its just because I am trying to recover as swiftly as possible.

Just a few pics...

2011-03-13T13:35:00.000-05:00

ok so being a mommy is a lot of hard work. I am still learning how to juggle everything but I have never enjoyed anything so much either!

Shhhhh There's a baby in the crib!

2011-03-05T14:26:00.001-06:00

We made it back last night. Wonderful trip, loved Ethiopia, but happy to be back in my own bed. Currently both of the men in my life are catching their zzzzz's, for some reason I am full of energy and am just running around trying to get settled into our house again.

Biya is amazing!!! He has made incredible progress already in the strength in his legs-he will be walking in no time. I love his baby laugh, and I kid you not calling him "Little Bear" was prophetic. When he is happy he growls at us!!! I swear he came that way on his own-it is so perfect and melts my heart. I will try to capture it on video (as soon as I figure out how to get my computer to upload it all) I will post it. Seriously its just about the funniest baby sound EVAH.

So for now we are home, safe, and loving every minute.

Travel Time is Nigh!

2011-02-18T11:05:00.000-06:00

We are approaching our flight date; flights are booked, hotels, rides to and from airports arranged, bags....no where near packed. House, nowhere near clean-dog keeps shedding on everything and if she drools on my floor one more time after I have JUST steam cleaned it there might be a new rug on that floor soon!

Clearly I have some issues. I think I am just so excited to just get on that plane and go that NOTHING is happening fast enough for me right now! Big Bear is frantically trying to get ahead on his assignments. I have to give him credit, working full time, night classes, and getting ready to go on the adventure of a lifetime-he handles it amazingly well.

Soon, soon, soon our Little Bear will be in our arms and this Mama Bear just couldn't be happier (despite all the dog hair).

Crisis Averted-I Get to go to Ethiopia!

2011-02-09T21:22:00.000-06:00

Oy, I am so sick of immigration issues, if it's not our sons, its mine. Good news, I figured out a way to make it work. Because my PRV travel document expired (a week ago-and it takes a YEAR to renew!) I cannot come back in to Canada via airplane (at least not without major hassle). BUT, we figured out that since I am a US citizen I can fly out with Big Bear, spend the week in Ethiopia with BB & LB, fly out of Ethiopia, and into Dubai with them. Then, Big Bear and Little Bear will fly back via a Canadian route, I will fly back a US route and then drive across the border. Seriously, a weird system we have here but its going to work. Most importantly I get the go to Ethiopia and revel in the joy of my son, and soak in Ethiopia.

I cannot tell you how crushed I was to think I would have to miss the trip.

So, we leave in 11 days. 11, I can't believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He has changed so much:

Referal at 3 mos. Update at 6 months Update at 11 months

Mama Bear and Big Bear Have an Announcement

2011-02-04T22:53:00.000-06:00

We have a VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too many exclamation points? I think not. :)

Overwhelmed, excited, relieved, you name it we feel it right now.

Presenting Little Bear: Biyadegelegn Marcus James (Biya)

12 months

More waiting....

2011-02-03T12:51:00.000-06:00

That's all....just MORE waiting......

you don't even want to know the kind of crap we're dealing with. Happy to say though that our agency has been very supportive.

Screw excited...crushed

2011-01-28T16:59:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah, the Dr. signed off, tests came back clear. Imm. folks finally found the paperwork. BUT OH NO DON"T THINK WE ARE DONE...yes you guessed it, more testing! So let's see, x-ray CLEAR, blood work CLEAR, horrible sputum test results that we waited 12 weeks for and just came back 2 weeks ago CLEAR. So three tests, three CLEARS, Dr. signed it off (5 months all told so far, going for 6? just in medical all together we are now at almost 8 months total VISA wait)....but someone who sits in an office and has never seen Little Bear decides that he must be ill because he coughed (like twice while getting his exam-not my words-CAFAC's, the Dr.must have written it/ noted it) and so we need more tests. The agency is as shocked as I am.

Once I recovered from my shocked/horrified/furious emotional tornado I was on the phone, the email, and everything trying to get a straight answer. The vagueness that is imm. is staggering.

I have sent out Big Bear for comfort food, and tampax. Yes, I am so freaking freaked right now my husband volunteered to publicly buy my tampons just to get out of the house.

To Get Excited or Not to Get Excited...

2011-01-27T16:45:00.000-06:00

That is the question. So the good news is Little Bear finally was ok'd by the Dr., the paperwork is signed off and sent on to the powers that be....after 5 months, 5 months of waiting in which EVERY SINGLE TEST HE WAS GIVEN PROVED THAT HE WAS HEALTHY AND YET THEY KEPT ORDERING MORE TESTS!!! (Not that I am bitter or anything). Theoretically we can begin getting excited because that SHOULD be the last hurdle. My faith in the process however is low for good reasons... as in how we were told (yesterday) that the results were sent but none of the "powers that be' seem to know where they are now. Huh.

The Conversation That Wouldn't Die

2011-01-23T13:02:00.000-06:00

You know the one I mean....well this had an interesting twist .

Scene: After Zumba workout (Keep in mind I tried really hard to be nice because she is a client)

Her: Conratulations on your adoption!

Me: Thanks we are very excited to bring our little boy home.

Her: Yes, your daughter is lovely.

Me: We have a son, but thank you, we think he is adorable too.

Her: No, your daughter, the dark girl who rides my sons bus.

Insert my confused look. I know the girl she is referring to, who is hispanic, and adopted but no relation to me.

Me: Oh, you mean *****, she is a lovely girl but not my daughter. As I said, I have a son, who is currently living in Ethiopia. At this point I am desperate to get out of this conversation "thanks again" I say trying to get her to go....but oh no....

Her: SO you have a son....

ME: Yes, he is 12 months old, we hope to bring him home soon, lovely talking to you, I have to run.....

Her: So, you know (mischeivious twinkle in her eye) that as soon as you bring him home you will get pregnant right?

Me: What makes you think that? (Now I jsut want to see how big a hole she will dig herself into)

Her: Well, my sister-in-laws cousin was overweight like you and as soon as she was chasing that toddler around the house and lost some weight she got pregnant right away.

Me: Well, I guess its good that I am leading the Zumba fitness classes then.

Her: Oh yes, plus it will help you relax. That's key you know, relaxing, it seems that people get too tense trying to have babies and that mental block gets in the way. Once you relax and lose weight it will all get better.

Me: Un huh, so that's all it took? Relaxing and losing weight....wow, 7 years of Dr's visits and they missed that. Thanks for the tip.

Her: Not a problem, have a great evening! (No she never caught on to the sarcasm)

....and she finally walked away

Ok, so I am childless, fat, and tense......thanks for hitting all of my sensitive spots in one quick blow.

Limbo

2011-01-20T17:13:00.000-06:00

No, not that kind. The kind where a person has no idea what is happening, if anything is happening, and no one is willing to give them a clue. Supposedly the medical results were to be in on Jan. 10. No idea if they actually came back. No idea if they were clear. No idea what the Dr. did with them if the results did come back. Apparently nobody knows nothing, and the people in charge of Canadian Immigration Doctor stuff aren't sharing. Theorietically all kinds of stuff COULD be happening, and the information is just not being passed on to us. I think more likely our stuff is stuck on somebodies desk somewhere being ignored. At what point do parental rights kick in and someone will think that maybe, just maybe, it would be good for us to know what is going on?

No News...but Presents!!

2011-01-12T16:54:00.000-06:00

Little Bear's birthday was not forgotten! Look at these adorable gifts our families sent:

Thanks Mom-you know I love books!

Thanks Aunty Jen for making this lovely and OH SO SOFT blanket-sure to be a favourite! I cannot even tell you how soft this thing is- I want one for me!!!

Little Bear's Aunt Nichole and Uncle Brian making sure he is well outfitted!

So no news...but lot of love and people thinking, hoping, wishing, and praying for our LB. For now, that's pretty amazing.

Finally, thank you to everyone out there in the Blogosphere-your help, and support do keep me going!

Anticipation builds....

2011-01-05T16:08:00.000-06:00

as we wait to find out next week if we are finally moving on past the medical stage of the visa wait. The paperwork is supposed to be ready on Monday the 10th. I don't imagine we will know anything until Wednesday the 12th. Fingers crossed they will finally sign off and send our paperwork back to Nairobi by Friday the 14th. Who'd have thought a decision we made years ago to go the PRV route instead of Citizenship would cause this much of a hassle. And again I ask, if the darned 2nd medical check is so important then why isn't it required for both processes? That baffles me.

Happy Birthday Little Bear!

2011-01-02T11:48:00.000-06:00

Dear Little Bear,

I can't believe you are a year old today. Don't grow up too fast little one! Mommy wishes she could be with you to hug and kiss you all day long and tell you how special you are. How loved you are. Hopefully we will be together very soon.

Make a birthday wish for your VISA ok? We would like to come get you for Daddy's birthday at the end of the month, or Mommy's birthday in February, so how about if we combine all of our birthday wishes together? Oh, Grandma's birthday is in February too...wow, that's a lot of wishing and hoping we can combine together....see you soon my son.

Love, Mommy

Come On 2011!

2011-01-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

My Theme Song for 2011:

Goodbye 2010! Don't let the door hit ya on the way out!!! 2011 ARE YOU LISTENING??? I want all positive all the time 2011. No more of this "hurry up and wait" junk. No more bad news.

I have such highs hopes for 2011, making that amazing trip to Ethiopia, becoming a Mom, getting some schooling done, getting caught up on projects for the house-so many things that I am looking forward to. Most of all looking forward to getting to know my son....this is our year-it has to be.

Winter Wonderland!

2010-12-16T13:08:00.000-06:00

Ok, I have to admit this was pretty cool....snow day!!!! Gotta love those stolen moments where you can stay home and snuggle up in bed.

Seriously....

2010-12-15T17:55:00.000-06:00

you don't even want to hear the language that came out of my mouth today. We've been waiting for a very long 8 weeks to pass to prove (for the 3rd time) that our son is ready to come to Canada free of any illnesses. I should mention that AT EVERY SINGLE one of the tests he's had so far he has been proven completely healthy (except for a cold) but they refuse to sign off his medical ...WTF? So we find out today....yep gonna have to wait another 4 weeks for those results. Are you freaking kidding me? At this rate the EARLIEST we will travel will be February, assuming all goes well from that point on. Let's be realistic, NOTHING HAS EVER GONE SMOOTHLY OR QUICKLY FOR US in this process.

I am going to go indulge in something chocolately and try to calm down enough to function again.

Bah Humbug!

2010-12-12T15:08:00.000-06:00

Seriously this is my attitude right now. Not the skinflint part, thank goodness there is a part of me that still knows how to give to others. However, the sentiments about Christmas....well.....right now I totally agree with Scrooge. I feel hard and sharp inside; eaten up with bits of loss, jealousy, and feeling defeated. For a season of hope....I have none. I am tired of hoping only to be shot down.

We have not put up a tree, no decorations, no baking, no visits, no parties, no presents. We are boycotting Christmas. We were driving around the other night and were crabbing about the idiots who waste their money and time on putting up outdoor lights...what's the point- you just take them down in a couple of weeks anyway? For a long while I couldn't figure out why every year we care less and less about these "trappings" of the holidays. It has definiftely gotten worse over the last few years-for both of us. We have no family around to visit, the only friends that I would want to spend the holiday with live too far away, and oh yeah, ALL of them have these beautiful children. I love them dearly...but right now can't stand to be around that...it just makes our absent son seem that much more obvious and painful. We truly thought we would have our son home for the holidays...the fact that he isn't here, with no end in sight is just too depressing for us to contemplate celebrating the holidays. I truly do love and care for my friends but seeing them all living their lives, moving on, popping out babies they weren't even sure they wanted...that hurts.

And, dear readers if you remember this previous blog: jealousy, well, I'm outta luck. They had a beautiful baby girl, a month early. Now, a good person would be all kinds of excited for them, and after a difficult pregnancy and an emergency c-section they had their babe A MONTH FRICKEN EARLY!!! I know myself enough to know that I WILL love this new babe, once I see her, hold her and fall in love with her. But in the abstract, it is SO NOT FAIR(she screams as she stomps her feet). See how hateful I am? Don't worry, I don't even like myself very much right now.

Huh, I kinda enjoyed that pity party! I think this is what is called "rock bottom".

Timeline check: our journey to bring children into our home began in 2004, after years of trying we lovingly embraced the idea of adoption, paperwork began in 2007, official DTE July 2008, referral April 2010, passed court June 2010 he has legally been our son for 6 months. Visa is no-where in sight....sure I can be perky for the holidays right????? HA! I am tired from this 7 year journey, I have become a royal crankpot...much like Mr. Scrooge.

If You Buy a Woman a Dress...

2010-12-03T12:33:00.000-06:00

I bought this dress.......

so that I feel totally hot at the holiday parties.

Of course a great dress requires great shoes.....

These seem perfect...and walkable/danceable.

Then, of course since I will be dressed so beautifically I just had to make an appointment to get party hair....

Which will be followed by a search for the perfect makeup....

Then we have to get my handsome beau a new set of duds so that he can show me off properly...

I am worse than the mouse that was given a cookie!!!

Still Crazy Busy...or Perhaps Just Crazy!

2010-11-29T22:19:00.000-06:00

Honestly it could go either way depending on the day. The good news is that work is going great, I have 2 classes of wonderful students who bring me great joy. Belly dance ended tonight not to resume until March. Zumba carries on....ah Zumba how I love thee....the greatest stress reducer EVER!

Unfortunately still just waiting waiting and more waiting on the baby front.

On the other hand, it HAS taken us the entire time since referral to finally settle on a name for Little Bear. We have waffled on this so much it drove me crazy(er). For a while the poor guy had 6 names plus our last name. We have narrowed it down to three plus the last name. Much more manageable. We will unveil when we know we are traveling-give you something to look forward to. I think the difficulty was that we are afraid Little Bear might be our only child (we would love a houseful but not sure we can go through this emotional upheaval again) and so each had names to include that were important to us. Thank goodness that is settled!

We haven't had an update since September, and call me crazy but I am guessing that from 7/8 mos to 11mos old there are some big changes happening in a babies life....I'd like to know if he is crawling yet, have they started him on any foods besides formula, does he sleep well, oh I could go on and on about the questions that keep me up at night.

Still, I am comforted knowing that he is well cared for at the TH. I just wish I felt like I knew more of what he was going through. For example, in the Sept. pic we noticed a scar on his leg that was not there before. How he got it we will never know...I don't want the pile of "stuff we will never know" to keep growing.

I pray daily for a Christmas miracle for our family, not necessarily that we will go get him over the holidays, but that we could at least know that he passed his medical and the paperwork has been sent on. That would definitely be the best gift I could ever receive.

A Little Retail Therapy for MOI

2010-11-13T15:13:00.001-06:00

Ok, so its not chocolate and wine but these ARE pretty awesome!

I have been working out so much (zumba 4 times a week) that my old shoes just wore right out. These new Zigs are amazing to wear and so far I love them! But I had to buy a men's shoe as I refuse to wear the saccharine girly colours. Surprisingly these are narrow enough for a woman to wear comfortably.

For my down time my little nerdy self was ecstatic to find the latest book from the Wheel of Time series on sale-woot woot!!

See, I CAN find things to enjoy in my life today. Right now. I think I had a whole hour where I wasn't worried about adoption. It felt great.

Hurry Up and wait ...again

2010-10-26T19:49:00.001-05:00

So we are likely not getting that Christmas baby present like we hoped. Currently looking more like a February baby???????? I was so furious, I am much calmer now-I know there is nothing that I can do about any of it-which makes me more frustrated-I HATE not being in control!!!

Here's the scoop:due to Little Bear's cold/ear infection the immigration Dr. woudn't sign off on the medical form for immigration. Ok, so no big deal, the Dr. says that if the chest x-ray comes back clear the medical will be signed and approved without seeing my babe again (same case for another adoptive family whose son shares the TH with our son). So, the x-rays come back a week later, totally clear-no problems at ALL....the Dr. signs off on the other little boy but does not sign off on Little Bear's medical- WTH???? Then, keep in mind my son has at this point presented as completely healthy...they put him in the hospital for 1 or 2 days (details unclear) shove a tube up his nose and down into his stomach to do a stomach secretions test......that will TAKE 8 WEEKS to get the results back. This is just to get the medical done...doesn't even count however many weeks immigration will need to sign off their approval afterwards.

I understand that Dr.'s are under a lot of pressure to ensure that all immigrants are clear of TB, what bothers me is the seemingly random nature of just picking Little Bear to be the medical version of an audit...yep, he's a TB audit. This just stinks and I am trying really hard to keep a cool face to my colleagues and local folks but the truth is that I am livid over this. How DARE they treat my perfectly healthy baby that way. I could understand doing the tests if there was something in the x-ray that was bothersome...but there was NOTHING wrong!!! Like my son needed that kind of trauma? At this rate we are going to miss his first birthday, seeing him crawl, there is just so much that we are missing it breaks my heart.

I need a hug...and chocolate...and wine....

Another step forward....kinda

2010-10-13T18:54:00.000-05:00

Yea! The Visa folks have issued the request for a medical, 'course that was last week...Little Bear had a cold/ear infection so nope...Dr. wouldn't sign off. Sooooo a week of antibiotics, if he is better by Friday MAYBE the Dr. will sign off? Who knows. I hope it works and that we go get him soon the boss is already trying to give away my job...I mean find a mat. leave replacement for me. :) To my American friends- I am extremely grateful that I get a whole 6 months of maternity leave-how awesome is that!?!?! To my Canadian friends-WTF kind of prejudice is this- I only get 1/2 the time that a birth mother gets? no wonder I am so mixed up-I don't know whether to be elated or pissed off and "gipped" feeling.

I am still holding out for the best Christmas present EVER!!!

I want to kiss these lips people!!!!! How cute are they!?!?!?

Back to the Distraction List!

2010-09-26T14:17:00.000-05:00

I am driving myself nuts with stress and worry so back to the distraction list.

Technique Number One: Keep VERY busy
My Current Schedule looks something like this:
1. Full Time Teacher-40 hours minimum per week-find time to mark and plan in evenings and weekends.
2. Teach Belly Dancing Monday nights for an hour (super excited to get this going tomorrow!)
3. Teach Zumba Monday (after Belly Dance), Wednesday, and Friday evenings
4. Add in teaching Zumba on Thursday nights starting in October.
5. Find time to practice presentations for Math program (presenting to other teachers 3 times over next two months), create posters, refine power point, make and take games etc.(of course my division does NOT give me time to do this-all the prep is on my own time), then facilitate monthly meetings thereafter
6. Present on second math technology program once in Oct. (must remember to prep for this sometime)
7. Start Dance Club to be held 1-2 times per week after school (I refuse to coach a sport so this is my compromise)
8. This week alone I have 2 "must attend" school functions

Technique Number Two: When not doing one of the above listed items-cook!
I am no Julia Child but lately my nesting habits have been in overdrive. This weekend alone I have made "Dump Cake", meatballs in 2 different sauces (one for parties one for spaghetti), 2 casseroles, and Parmesan potatoes (currently in oven). I also have ready to go in my freezer homemade stew, hamburger soup, buffalo chicken wing soup, and a lentil bake. No I am not crazy! Cooking this way ensures healthy meals for my wee family that merely need to defrost and heat. We have enough now that I shouldn't need to really cook for about 2 weeks. If I don't do this type of cooking every night becomes "I'm too tired to cook" and we spend way too much money on pizza and other eating out. Which we cannot afford to do given the extended adoption wait times and US$ each month that we are shelling out for Little Bear's care. I am not in the slightest upset about providing for my son- he is ours and WE WILL CARE/PROVIDE FOR HIM....however ask me how happy I am about the extended wait times, constantly changing process, lack of information, and general VISA wait issues and my left eye starts to twitch....ahem back on topic :)

Technique Number Three: When in doubt drink!

Currently I am a big fan of these wines: http://www.grandprewines.ns.ca/winery/wines/ their Pomme d'Or is amazing, also love http://www.blomidonwine.com/ the Baco Noir with any BBQ food is fabulous! We brought back several cases of wine with us from Nova Scotia and these two vineyards were our favourites. But hey -anything will do for distraction. I personally love to sip wine while gazing out at our currently spectacular view of the lake in its Fall foliage.

Stay tuned for more distraction techniques! I hope your life is blissful enough not to need them!

Too Confused to Blog?

2010-09-19T14:16:00.000-05:00

I don't know how else to explain my brain these days. All I hear in my head is "when, when, when will that visa arrive?", all I feel in my heart is "sad sad sad" my arms seem to echo "empty empty empty", much like the crib that sits in the room that I can't bare to walk into anymore.

With the latest "hey let's s*%$w with the adoptions of families by asking for new and different VISA documents-just because we can and with no explanation" I think I have finally reached my limit for "must maintain a positive outlook" quota. I am officially done with being patient, optimistic, and silver lining-ish. Congratulations VISA people-you've beaten it out of me! The woman who was previously known as "sunshine" by most of her friends-is on hiatus. Now there is just a whole lot of stormy, pissed off, mother bear.

Pictures of Summer Moments I Loved

2010-08-26T15:55:00.000-05:00

Deck Building:

Lake Moments

My helpers building the crib

Uncle Bart and Curly Sue

Hot Guys and Volunteerism

2010-08-15T19:21:00.000-05:00

We live in an amazing community. The military community tends to be very close knit, friends become your families, your co-workers have usually saved your life at least once, and friendship means a lot. To this end you would not believe the way people have rallied around us throughout the adoption. The latest in a long line of amazing and supportive ideas is that the community wants to raise monetary donations for us to take with us when we finally travel to pick up Little Bear and use as seems to best fit needs when we get there possibly orphanages, schools, etc.

How are we going to raise the funds you ask? Well......here's a clue:

Now this is not the actual calendar we will create (I borrowed it off another website: hotguysandbabyanimals.com) but you get the idea. Our calendar is going to feature soldiers and babies. This is the amazing photographer that is VOLUNTEERING her services: www.amandalazarskiphotography.com

The newborn page on her website will take you to a sample of her photography that embodies the "look" our calendar is going for (especially the part with daddies and babies). The guys are very excited to help out; we are happy to have another way to raise donations to bring on our trip. I think it is pretty much "win win" all around!

He Has a Name!!!

2010-08-11T14:58:00.000-05:00

Just for sh&%$ and giggles we logged into the Canadian Immigration website and there it was! No longer a "null" but an actual name!!! Progress is being made...slowly but it is progress. The little things that can brighten a persons day....

How To Tell When You are Ready to Go To Ethiopia

2010-08-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

Your husband is ready and willing to try on the Babyhawk!!! Note the ultra cool and manly calaveras design!

A 50's Party to Celebrate Parenthood

2010-07-31T15:24:00.000-05:00

My girlfriends were so excited about Little Bear's referral that they just had to throw a party. Being my wild and crazy girls it ended up being a 50's theme party. Enjoy the pics!

The happy parents-are ya diggin what Bart calls my Julia Childs look?

A Little Domestic Goddess action

Bart getting some Daddy practice

Yeah the final stage!

2010-07-27T07:54:00.002-05:00

What a miracle, we have been informed that our docs are being sent to Nairobi for VISA processing!!!!! woot woot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There have been so many stages of waiting during this process, its a little unreal that we only have one more waiting stage to go and it should be relatively short. I hear a variety of timelines, but the most consistent thought at the moment seems to be 12-16 weeks until the VISA is issued. I would be over the moon to have our son home before CHristmas, before his first birthday in January, and hopefully before my sister-in- law gives birth!

I love my in-laws desperately, they are sweet wonderful people but its just a matter of principle that we- who have been trying for YEARS- should get to bring our child into the family first. "She who got pregnant on her honeymoon" (my affectionate term for the SIL), after a 3rd degree sunburn, jelly fish sting, and broken leg (yes she still managed to get pregnant)is due in the first week of January. Come on VISA people-don't let me down!

Don't hate me people, I am just one crazy Momma who has waited forever to know the face of her son.

Hitting the Sanity Wall

2010-07-19T12:12:00.006-05:00

I can feel myself edging toward that crazy place again. That place that only an adoption process can take a normally calm reasonable person and turn them into a psycho who checks email/websites constantly, obsessively talks and dreams about the future while not enjoying the TODAY, and ignores other important things and people in their life. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO ME!!!

I have stopped exercising-which I love- yay ZUMBA!!! Started eating crappy food again-hello can we say "emotional eater"? and in general have disappointed myself and sadly my DH who loves me beyond measure and worries for my health, especially after I did so well this last Fall and Winter.

NO MORE!!!!

I had so much fun yesterday going to my friends' competitive event (Mud Bogging) where she took two first places and one fifth place. I thought to myself, when was the last time I had done something that was taking a risk, and I felt proud of myself for accomplishing something? Welllllllll not since I received my Zumba teacher certification and taught my first class-a year ago. The good news is that I only gained back about 5 pounds of the 30 I had lost so not too much damage done, but I definitely need to get re-focused.

Time to recapture that feeling.

I have decided to begin the Body for Life challenge. Not officially, as I missed the deadline, but on my own to give myself a different focus, to live in the now.

So today is my day 1 of my 12 week challenge. I have already finished my upper body workout, and eaten healthfully so am off to a good start.

My hope is to do this 12 weeks so amazingly that my DH will be inspired and want to officially enter the contest with me in the next round as a couple. He's in pretty good shape-don't get me wrong, he can run a 5 K without stopping etc, but he eats horribly, and I think it would be great to try this together.

So there, some goals, a plan, and hopefully a return to sanity.

The Golden Onion

2010-07-15T08:15:00.003-05:00

I learned some great lessons from having my niece and nephew visiting. The fancy toys that cost a tonne of money? Not nearly as interesting as... wait for it... THE GOLDEN ONION!!! Oh yeah. Not only can it be taken outside and used to hide fabulous treasures like pinecones and bugs- but with a quick rinse at the hose (and then later by auntie with soap) it magically turns into a FABULOUS tub toy! The Golden Onion can scoop and pour water, lock water inside that won't leak out...the list of wonders is amazing!!! Hehehe, who woulda guessed?

Momma is Ready!

2010-07-12T10:43:00.005-05:00

My wonderful family just left this morning, I am a sobbing mess. We had so much fun, I practiced my emerging Mommy skills on my niece and nephew-I feel more ready for Little Bear now than ever before. Thank you little brother for letting me practice on them, they are a treasure. It was hard to let them go, the hugs and kisses, poopy diapers, messy fingers....I loved it all, and I love them. My father was amazing, he fixed my lights, switched out old ones, fixed outlets, replaced amps...the list never ends-I love you daddy! My mom is an inspiration and gave me amazing tips and pointers for when Little Bear gets here, I hope I can be half as good of a mother as she is. I feel like I was really able to reconnect with my family after so long... great healing took place in my heart. I hope we never again let so much time go between visits.

Who couldn't fall in love with these faces? I admit I wanted to keep them, they made me happy to get up in the morning...and now my house, which was previously my sanctuary, is simply tooo big and quiet.

Little Bear needs to get here soon, my arms feel empty.

The Family is Coming!

2010-06-29T22:05:00.003-05:00

I can hardly wait! For the FIRST TIME EVER my family is coming to visit. I have lived in Canada for 7 years now and this is the first time they have ever come to see me. Of course all are coming at once so let's do the math... 2 (Bart and I) + 3(Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Rich) +4 (Mom,Dad, Niece, Nephew) =9 people and oh yeah---ONE BATHROOM! This should be fun ;)! My niece and nephew are so adorable, I can hardly wait for the "kiddie practice". Thanks to my little bro for letting me borrow the kids for a while.

Hayden is going on 4 and Cheyenne is just under 2. I can't wait to love on them. I am afraid that they will get tired of me pretty quick. I hope to get some great photos of the two kidlets as I have NONE! Its a long story as to why I don't have any pictures of the kids...but hopefully that will be fixed soon.

Mommas New Shoes and Baby Stuff in the House!

2010-06-24T18:35:00.004-05:00

The crib bedding arrived yesterday....I love it! It is so soft and perfect for Little Bear I think.

And My New "I need to feel like a girl" shoes. Just because!

A New Look

2010-06-19T10:17:00.001-05:00

Just was getting bored with my blog's old look. I am going to try a few diffferent things and see what I like best. Its fun to play with the different options. Also, great way to procrastinate when doing report cards!

Cruising

2010-06-17T18:59:00.002-05:00

RIght now we are just trying to relax -"cruise along" and prep to bring Little Bear home. We finished painting his room last weekend. Went shopping for his crib and other furniture (which won't be installed until after all of our guests have cycled through our house in JULY), and just have been generally enjoying having made it this far in the process. This weekend is for putting up closet organizers.

June is a crazy month at work so I am just trying to focus there for now, only a week and a half to go and then SUMMER vacation. Then I will start worrying more about when and how things will move along for paperwork,visa etc. I am sure. NOt that there is much I can do about it all anyway.

We were fortunate to receive an update and Little Bear is doing well. He is growing -10 cm in 2 months! He is so cute I can hardly wait to hold him, we have his picutres hung up everywhere. I never get tired of gazing into those big brown eyes.

Good luck to everyone in the adoption world. May whatever stage you are at go quickly and smoothly for you!

We PASSED!

2010-06-09T18:33:00.001-05:00

Don't ask me how, but it happened we are officially Biyadegelegn's parents. Little Bear is ours!

Here he is showing you that he is number one in our hearts!

How am I feeling?

2010-06-07T17:48:00.002-05:00

People keep asking me this at work. I want to say (and I think they expect) that I am thrilled, nervous etc. The truth is that right now I feel empty. I do NOT think we will pass court tomorrow -too many strikes against us in terms of paperwork issues that just never end.

So how do I feel? Like I just want tomorrow to be over so that we can move on to our REAL court date.

What a Negative Nellie I am huh? I am just tired I guess, tired of paperwork, tired of hustling to do my part when others can't be bothered to get their part done, tired, tired, tired. Most of all, I know that we have had it pretty easy relative to others in this process and I pray that we will not have any more challenges because I can't take it any more.

Happy Anniversary...

2010-06-05T12:22:00.003-05:00

to us! Bart and I have been marrried 6 years today. This guy is my rock. When I was freaking out yesterday becasue YET MORE paperwork problems presented themselves he stayed cool. He fixed it, and drove the papers in to the agency personally so that they could be there on time to hopefully help for court Tuesday. Getting time off from the ARMY dudes isn't easy but he did it, and he did it for me and for our son. Is is any wonder I love this man!?!

Some other things I totally dig about my muchacho:

He dressed as close to Prince Charming as could be for our wedding. Cheesily I wanted the whole Cinderella feel and he tried to give it to me.

He loves to travel as much as I do (this is our trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon)

He dislikes hockey as much as I do (so unCanadian I know)...but I loved watching him play rugby!

Bart adores children and is a favourite "uncle" to many!

He never complains about my HUGE burpy, smelly, farty, drooly love bucket-Kyah.

Oh yeah, and he's ALLLLLL mine! Happy Anniversary Bear.

Court Date-Must maintain hope.

2010-06-02T20:49:00.002-05:00

Found out that some of our paperwork from the socialworker still isn't in to the agency. Court is on Tuesday people-what are the chances of it all coming together in time? Struggling to keep positive....help!

Bellydancing Babyshower

2010-05-30T23:16:00.005-05:00

Ok, so maybe I went over the top a bit decorating for the baby shower, ya think? But well, I am a glamour girl and if you ask me to throw a party I CANT DO IT HALFWAY!!!

A Song For My Little Man

2010-05-27T20:47:00.005-05:00

Because I can't wait to hear my Little Bear say "Mama" and "Dada"-(hopefully in Animal's voice-wouldn't that be cool!) I thought this song would be appropriate for today, and its just plain fun to watch this video! I mean, who doesn't love Queen, or the Muppets? Put then together and wellllll.....

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Woohoo a Court Date!

2010-05-22T10:17:00.002-05:00

Mark it on your calendar June 8th is the big day! Rationally I know that most folks don't make it through on their first court date...sometimes not even second, third, fourth etc. I can't allow myself to be negative about it though. I am trying to ride that fine line of cautious optimism and we JUST MIGHT get that lucky. At the same time trying to be realistic so that we don't have the tremendous letdown if things go awry.

It looks as though we slipped in just under the deadline and will not be having to attend court in Ethiopia. I am of two minds about this. Initially the extra cost caused a minor panic in our household...but we came up with solutions and have tremendous support in our community so we knew that we could handle it. Then I started to get excited about the idea of getting to see Little Bear sooner, the chance to hold him and love on him would be worth anything to me. So now I don't get to...kinda sad about that.

But, holy smokes people that court date is only 17 days away!!!!!! I was anticipating a July or August court date initially so I feel like I have won the lottery in that respect.

Great Day!

2010-05-17T17:12:00.005-05:00

So what makes a great day in my world? Well, lately I feel more like myself, all the weight I've lost is bringing back the face I recognize! See photos 1 and 2! Second thing that makes a great day is receiving official papers to sign accepting our referral-hooray for paperwork!!! One step closer Little Bear....we're coming for ya! (It gets rating in #2 slot because it is after all paperwork which is yucky in general but awesome today!)

The third great part to my day is this wonderful gift from my dear friend, and former university roomate, Jen. She sent me this sweet Memory book for adoptive families. It has a beautiful layout and focuses on our first year together as a family, his story- a built in lifebook essentially with bonus space for continuing his Canadian journey.

Finally, as if my life wasn't blessed enough today, I get to come home to beautiful weather and walk my dog here:

Life is GREAT!!!

Before/After Remodeling

2010-05-13T22:01:00.010-05:00

When we purchased our house in October it was ... in rough shape cosmetically. So after a lot of hard work here are some of the before and afters. You might notice i tend toward bright colours-hey, after years of living in apartments and military housing with nothing but white-I WANTED COLOUR!!! Caveat-not everything is complete so you might notice missing baseboard etc. but you will get the sense of our style. So, without further ado....(click to enlarge)
Dining Room Before:

Dining Room After:

Guest Room Before:

Guest Room After:

Master Bedroom Befores:

Master Bedroom after:

Special Friends and Great Husbands

2010-05-11T22:34:00.005-05:00

Thank You to my amazing friends and neighbors Simona and Derek. You guys are the best! These adorable shirts for Little Bear were an amazing surprise on Mother's Day. I can't thank you enough for thinking of us!

Big Bear knows that there is nothing like a little retail therapy to cheer me up. So, the day before Mothers Day my husband and I also went shopping and brought home these cute and practical items. They hang on my refrigerator-I just love seeing them every time I am in the kitchen!

Fuzzi Bunz and Going Environ "MENTAL"

2010-05-08T17:03:00.006-05:00

I think that I have flipped. This former Diva of manicures,pedicures, $200 haircuts, and consumate clothes shopper type person that I once was is pretty much all gone. In the last few years I stopped doing all of that stuff (with the exception of the occasional pedi) to save money for our fabulous adoption. Which, by the way, was totally worth it-especially once I saw Little Bears' face!

Lately though a whole other "Earth Mothery" side is coming out. I mean, Big Bear and I had a whole "environmental impact of disposable diapers" conversation that led us to decide to go with cloth diapers...who knew that a little baby thousands of KM away would change the very nature of my conversations! I actually was excited to talk diapers, liners, wipey thingies, snot suckers.....which formally in my world was-"ewww gross" and in the last two weeks turned into "hmmm guess I need to practice".

So, thanks to my good friend Missy for getting us started down that conversational road. For the moment we are going with Fuzzi Bunz We loved the feel of these diapers, and while they are more of an investment up front after pricing the disposable diapers in the stores we are confident it is the more cost effective way to go for us. Also, I can still express my diva side through the awesome colour that this diaper comes in- what a great compromise :)!

Great Book Gift!

2010-05-04T21:48:00.005-05:00

I found this book a few months ago and HAD to have it. Bart has always been my "Bear", and now we have "Little Bear" being added to our family. So, when I saw this book I just new it was perfect. The illustrations are sweet watercolours and the story of how the family came to be together is beautiful. Handles a lot of the adoption topics such as the fact that families don't all have to look alike to be a family very gracefully. On the last page it says, "I wished for you, and you are always and forever my wish come true". I want to paint this on Little Bear's bedroom wall with a little family of three bears...but I am not terribly creative so hopefully I can get some of my artsy friends to help out.

The Call-Long POST!!!

2010-05-01T11:11:00.004-05:00

First, thank you to all the well wishers. Bart and I enjoyed reading the comments-it just keeps that referral high going!

Second, because I know everyone is waiting with baited breath for details here are the vitals: We love his name- Biyadegelegn, he is 3 months old-will be 4 months pretty soon, healthy, beautiful big brown eyes with lonnnnnng eyelashes, long skinny fingers (piano player fingers perhaps???) and already the biggest joy in my life. I carry his picture everywhere with me just to remember that this is real. I also practice saying his name a lot- it pretty well rolls off the tongue now but it took some practice. I would love to know if anyone has heard it before or knows its meaning as I have been unable to find it referenced anywhere.

Third-The Call!!!!
I was at work when the school secretary buzzed my room and asked if I wanted to take a phone call. (I almost said "take a message" but it was close to recess so decided just to go for it and let my student teacher handle the kiddos.) I get down to the staff room and answer the phone. When I realized it was CAFAC calling my first thought was that there was a problem with the money order I had sent (which there was)and that's how the conversation began. I HAD NO CLUE PEOPLE. Then J. started asking when Bart and I would be getting home etc and I still DIDN'T CLUE IN. Meanwhile the staff room is filling up with people on their break. I asked if there was something wrong with the paperwork that was delaying us and if that was why she wanted us together and she says-"No, Steph....but can you handle getting good news at work today?" well I starting sobbing and stutter out "is this THE CALL" and it was!!! I think I said something like "I just want to know if its a boy or girl and how old!" which led to a funny conversation where she told me he was three months and I kept trying to convince her that she must have read the paperwork wrong because he should be three years old(ok I was a bit hysterical and we never allowed ourselves to imagine that we would be referred an infant).

Of course the staff room was dead silent as people tried to figure out why I was sobbing like a freak. I then told J. that I would have to find Bart because he had the day and was running around town doing "Manly things". But that We would call her as soon as we came home. I hung up, shouted "I'm a MOMMY" to the room in general and was then tackled and hugged to death by my wonderful co-workers who have supported me through the whole process. A whole lot more crying ensued.

I couldn't track down THAT MAN anywhere! He doesn't beleive in carrying a cell phone so you can imagine how that went. Finally I called my girlfriend and asked her to check our haouse bacause I knew that if he was outside working on the yard he wouldn't hear the phone. She also had instructions to lie to him tell him I was sick and come pick me up at the school. Which is exactly how that all played out.

About twenty minutes later he pulled up in the car and I walked out of the school holding a big sign that said "IT"S A BOY!". His first thought? "If she bought a puppy she is in so much trouble" (does this tell you how little we were expecting this call?) Then he sees the tears streaming down my face and finally catches on, forgets to put the car into park as he tries to get out, fumbles the car into park and then BIG hug time. Bart can't actually cry (side effect of a long ago surgery) but believe me he was that emotional.

We raced home, called the agency, and saw our sons' face for the first time. We immediately knew he was ours. Now we jsut need to figure out what comes next, and pray that it goes smoothly waiting for and passing our court date.

THE BIG WAIT IS OVER!!!

2010-04-29T15:53:00.003-05:00

We have a referral for a beautiful little boy. He is 3 months old and absolutely perfect. I am being very careful with info etc as we are so new to this but OMG I am so happy!!!!!! We will be very careful about not sharing photos until all is official but let me tell you he is one handsome dude. I am going to go cry some more happy tears now!

Steph's Tips for Keeping Busy During "THE BIG WAIT"

2010-04-20T13:32:00.005-05:00

I have become as expert at keeping myself busy while waiting for my adoption process to reach its full maturity. Here is a list of what I have tried (for better or worse) and things I will try in the coming months:

1) One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt-excellent project can draw it out for months-or years depending on how fast family and friends respond

2) Painting-baby's room, whole house, pictures whatever keeps the hands busy

3) Crocheting-I did 4 baby blankets in one particularly tough summer of waiting

4) Babysit other people's children- not only is it good practice but then after they start screaming and go home I don't mind the quiet in my house so much!

5) Read read read-adoption, attachment, on Ethiopia

6) Blog blog blog- great support, find other people who truly understand what you are going through

7)Try new hobbies-I became a certified Zumba instructor and now teach classes 3-4 nights per week. This has been the greatest for my sanity and I am helping other people get fit while I work on my own fitness!

8) Belly dance-course I used to be a "professional" but now I just dabble to keep myself up on my skills. Good way to kill a long Sunday though. I am throwing a belly dance themed baby shower for my good friend next month!

9) Pierce something! Yep this was great-had my nose done last year-unfortunately I lost it one day teaching gym class to my little ones and the hole closed before I could get back to the piercing place. UP side=now I can get it re-pierced. It doesn't hardly hurt at all to get it done.

10) Closely related to number 9-Tattoo something. I had my first tattoo done last year (took 3 hours-only the last 20 min. was really bad) I am thinking of going back and getting tally marks tattooed for every month of waiting...jk. But I do want more work done.

11) Spend time with your partner. My DH and I have been really enjoying our quality time together. Movie dates, dinner out, long walks. We are trying to get in all the dates that we should have done before we got married (we were a long distance couple so most of our dates were via phone).

12) Scrapbooking-I am SOOOOO not artsy but I am enjoying putting our photos that have been hiding in closets into a fun format. I hope someday to use them to share about our family with our little one. Esp. since we live 3000kms away from most of our extended family.

13) Speaking of closets-clean some! Getting sorted and throwing out collected crap gives a person a feeling of accomplishment. I recently threw out my "fat" clothes-ok, actually I donated them but same principle.

14) Do something that scares you. I joined a theatre group last year and performed with them. Scared me to death- I will shake my half-naked self in front of anyone but DO NOT ask me to speak- YIKES. But I did it and it was so FUN.

15) Take trips. It would be fun to go somewhere exotic but not everyone can afford that. But make small trips fun. I took some girlfriends across the border for a quick overnighter shopping trip sans husbands. It was great!

16) Save up to go somewhere exotic. Seriously-just the saving part can be fun. I have put some of my Zumba earnings aside to attend the International Zumba COnvention in Orlando, FL this summer. Some girlfriends are coming with to split hotel costs and whamo-affordable trip! I got hotel room for $99/night. Flight from Minneapolis for $200 round trip. Can hardly wait :) although Florida in August???? Hmm

17) Have something to look forward to...friends visiting, look for local events and do a countdown to those -having some activity that actually arrives on the promised timeline can do wonders for a person.

Need more ideas? Let me know. Have some great ideas to share? Let me know those too.

Here's to all of us engaged in this long wait...

Serenity

2010-04-09T15:39:00.002-05:00

I can hardly wait to get out in a kayak or canoe and enjoy these sights this summer. Great way to keep myself distracted during my "gestation" period.

The 21 Month Freak?

2010-04-05T20:52:00.004-05:00

Yep its our 21st month of waiting anniversary. I have been doing pretty good for a while. Starting to feel my frantic side kicking in though. You PAP's and BTDT folks know what I mean. Suddenly it is imperative that I am reading all of the adoption literature again. Checking emails constantly. Reading through the CAFAC materials, checking to see how many people are ahead of me (sadly waaay more than I would like!)on the DTC site, wondering how many people are not on the proboard site so that I can try to figure out some kinda time line. Aiyiyiyiyiyi I think I will be a nut case by the time it finally gets to be my turn for a referral! The way that things keep getting extended I am so afraid that we will be the first couple to hit 30 months waiting...seriously having nightmares about that. In fact, I am way more concerned about the wait than the whole two trips issue everyone keeps talking about.Although of course nothing definitive on that front either. You know, I remember being told how fraught with risk and roller coastery this journey was...I just hoped that was only for other people and NOT ME!!! Hmmmm....back to the search for serenity.

Just to clarify, I am not wishing bad things for others in fact I hope everyone ahead of me gets the perfect child of their dreams...I guess every human just assumes that they will be the one exception to the rules...

My DH is a Closet Photographer

2010-03-28T20:52:00.007-05:00

I just had to find something great to blog about for this week. I want to share with the world one of my darling husbands many talents...photography. He has never had a class, but I think he has amazing potential. Here are some samplings of portraits, action, landscape... it was hard to choose just these few (you should be able to click on the photos to enlarge them for better viewing):

I'm Proud of This But Still Tough to Post About

2010-03-13T14:51:00.009-06:00

So I am coming fully outta the closet about my weight loss. I hit rock bottom due to massive comfort eating over the adoption and topped out at almost 300lbs last summer folks.

Pause for the shock effect.

I have made a comback in the last 6 months due to my own desire to be fit, my husband unfailing support (he truly is amazing and thought I was beautiful anyway)
and the combined effort of my success on the LA Weight Loss plan and my excercising with Zumba 3+ times per week I have gone from this....

to this

in 6 months.

I have lost 21.5 inches. 11 of them just since January! I feel great, my husband took me out and bought me a celebratory workout outfit that will stay up now! the others kept falling off my hips! I think i even look happier in some of these later photos.

Obviously I still have a ways to go but I want to celebrate anyway. Oh, and forgive the no makeup/glasses/etc in the after-it had been a long day. I have actually lost more inches even since these photos. My waist went from 42 to 36 inches, my hips from 53 to 44 and my bust from 51 to 46.

I just felt the need to share...maybe someone out there will see that this is possible and feel motivated to begin their own journey to a happier existence.

Not a Teen Anymore

2010-03-02T21:54:00.005-06:00

Here is my problem...I keep trying to reach the finish line in this jalopy. What I need to make a pit stop and switch out for this car! Surely we can make it to the finish line faster now!

Woohoo, here's celebrating 20 months of waiting as of this coming Friday.

Question For Those in the Know

2010-02-25T08:07:00.002-06:00

I don't want to call the agency and bug them right now so can anyone tell me if timelines are faster or slower for those families requesting singleton's instead of siblings? Most people whose blogs I read lately seem to be requesting sibs and I am a little freaked out by some of the timelines I am hearing about. As my beloved husband and I approach 20 months DTC we are trying to figure out some kind of timeline...I thought I had it all figured out but..............I am just not sure anymore. If it helps our basic requests were: infant to age 3, either sex.

I had been hoping for a June referral which would be around the 23rd month of waiting. Am I setting myself up for utter disappointment? Should I just tell myself (and all of the eagerly awaiting extended family) not to hope for anything until Septemberish (26 months?)

HELP I am slowly losing my mind (as each month passes)!!!!

Trying to Manifest...and oh yeah a pic of me

2010-02-11T15:26:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I am hearing a lot of talking lately about bringing about the life/desires one wishes by willing them into being-aka "The Secret". I must be doing something wrong because no amount of my "willing" is moving ANYONE any faster in the adoption process. I have been trying to use my incredible powers of the mind to speed along all of the paperwork, glitches, etc that other adoptive families are facing. Hoping of course that this will help our referral to arrive more quickly. No such luck. I am quite sure there are many others out there "willing" with me....

Looking ahead....hmmm referral hopefully by June/July (I hope I hope I hope), waiting waiting waiting for court-what averaging 5-8 months right?...all the other paperwork/visa hoops to jump through.....I'll be LUCKY to have this wonderful Bebe home by hmmmmm let's do the math......earliest probably Jan 2011, latest could be....well we just won't even go there! I am not going to give that thought a chance to "manifest" itself. This is getting to the point of being kinda crazy. Manifest schmanifest....

A good friend did a photoshoot after my last performance (hence the slightly sweaty look) and I quite liked this photo. Keep in mind this was taken pre-weightloss!

Success!

2010-02-02T20:41:00.003-06:00

As of Saturday I am down 10 inches since October! This means my hiney (from which I lost 2 of those 10 inches) is that much closer to being comfortable in the airplane seat on my long trip to Ethiopia!

Attitude Shift...

2010-01-15T14:53:00.005-06:00

I felt like this this morning:

Then this helped cheer me up. So did the prospect of the weekend and a raise at work! Suddenly life doesn't seem all that bad. Pretty sure it was all the kitty though!

Bummed...

2010-01-06T10:24:00.003-06:00

Don't know why but I am feeling so bummed today about the whole process. For some reason it feels like the adoption process is unending with fun dashes of terror about all the different things that can go wrong with the process. I feel terrible because sometimes I think its not worth it- all of the stress and waiting. Maybe it would just be easier to give up altogether. I mean we have a pretty awesome life with just the two of us.

But then I see a Mom with her children at the mall, or at the school and I think, I WANT THAT!!! That relationship, the love, even the cruddy times (sick kids, crabby, etc).

I don't know, I guess I am just confused.

Bummer...

The Promise of a New Year

2010-01-04T05:42:00.003-06:00

The New Year has started out right! We've officially hit 18 months waiting. I celebrated by taking a girlfriend down to the US and doing some damage in the shopping malls! Keep in mind this was my friends' first trip ever to the US, so it was fun seeing her experience my home country for the first time. Not to mention clearing up a few erroneously held stereotypes she had about Americans. Seriously, do you really think there are THAT many stupid Americanos that would strap skiis to their cars in the summertime? I mean think about that,how many people claim to know someone who has seen that...is it really possible, or just urban legend that lets us feel more awesome? She was also very surprised at how good the service was in restaurants...having been told that American wait staff are rude etc etc...I mean come on, are there no bad waiters in Canada? I'm just saying...don't be a hater. I love both of my countries. And yes, I work equally hard to represent Canada positivly to my American bretheren as well. No, we don't all say "Eh", "aboot" etc.
Ok, apparently I needed to get that out...carrying on with the fun stuff... :)

Found a great pair of jeans. There is just something about finding jeans that make your butt look good that makes a girl smile. Especially since it was a size smaller than I used to wear. That's right folks, I am officially down three sizes from this summer! Zumba is rocking my world.

I teach my first official ZUMBA class on Thursday. A little nervous...I am worried people are going to be thinking "That chubby girl is going to teach me fitness?" and walk out. So my plan is just to address that right at the start of the class. I want to use a combination of humour and my own personal quest for fitness (not to mention the fact that I am the only one in our rural area with the training) to address this issue. Then blow their socks off with a fun hour!

Vanocka

2009-12-23T20:26:00.002-06:00

Pronounced Va-noch-ka is the Czechoslovakian Christmas bread that my family makes every year. Its a sweetbread with a touch of orange and/or lemon flavor, sweetened with golden raisins or cranberries. So good at breakfast Christmas morning. Mmmm....can you smell the yummy goodness coming outta Grandma's kitchen?

What is Zumba?!?!?

2009-12-07T11:25:00.003-06:00

Wow, I got a lot of questions about what Zumba was-well let me tell you it is the newest fitness sensation to hit Canada!!! Why do I love it? It is great exercise disguised as FUN! The motto is "Ditch the Workout,Join the Party!". You DO NOT need to be a good dancer to do Zumba. (It does help if you plan to be the instructor). Zumba is appropriate for all ages, fitness levels, and physical capabilities. In fact, the class I will take in February is to help focus myself on accommodating elderly, "differently abled", and people that are significantly out of shape.

The concept is that it should feel like a party. There is supposed to be a 70% emphasis on Latin musical rhythms, and the other 30% are various world/international including belly dance, bollywood, rock and roll etc. The Latin rhythms include merengue, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, cha cha, samba, and flamenco.

So, if you have two left feet but would love to do a dance workout its OK to go to Zumba, it is not a dance class so noone cares if you trip over your feet as long as you have fun doing it! Check out the Zumba website for a class near you! www.zumba.com

Another One Bites the Dust and ZUMBA!!!!

2009-12-04T07:50:00.003-06:00

Months that is. We've hit 17 finally. I can remember when our DTC was first sent out that some people were FREAKING OUT because they had hit 17 months and hadn't had a referral yet, now its pretty much the norm to expect to wait 24 months, its funny what a person can get used to. I REFUSE to let myself be depressed about this at Christmas time. I have a Christmas concert to put on, dancing lessons to prep for, and am truly blessed in many ways...

So in the spirit of being positive let me tell you about my own NEW PERSONAL PASSION. You may have heard of it: ZUMBA!!!

I LOVE ZUMBA. I love it so much I went out and got certified to teach it! And I am going back in February for another level of certification. Now you have to imagine that I am NOT a size 2, 4,6,8,10, 12,14,16....oh yeah just keep going. So there I am in this class full of petite personal trainers all taking this training, and then me. THANK GOODNESS for my dance background- i was able to pull it off! In fact, I found out that just being a personal trainer does NOT mean that you know how to dance at all!!! Thank you to all the lovely latino men that taught me how to dance when I lived in Arizona..... yum uh I mean....that was great.

And, since I have been practicing so hard at getting my Zumba materials perfected (I start teaching a class in January) I have lost almost 20 pounds!!!! Now doesn't that make a girl happy?

16 Months Down...

2009-11-03T16:03:00.002-06:00

5-8 more months to go. I finally worked up the courage to contact our agency. These are the numbers we have been given (not a big surprise). I just needed to feel as though they knew that we were still here. As always they were gracious.

SO, April at the earliest July at the latest for that ever elusive referral.

Anyone know where I can get a poll to put up here? I think we need some kind of pool going here...

Taking A BIG Leap of Faith

2009-10-29T17:36:00.004-05:00

Ok folks, I'm gonna do it. I am putting up the infamous "COUNTDOWN TO REFERRAL TICKER" do you hear the dramatic voice in that statement? We are at 16 months DTC next week, and I need less counting up, a little more counting down. I am setting the little guy for June 30/2010 which would be the 23 month mark for us. Seriously, if it goes any longer than that I WILL mutiny!!! Notice the slight bit of strain to my zenness...

Oh well, we all knew it couldn't last forever...but I'm still trying. Ommmmmm Ommmmmm Ommmmmmm ahhhhhh medication uh I mean um meditation yeahhhhhh :).

Too Cool Not to Share!

2009-10-21T15:42:00.003-05:00

Check out this link-these girls are amazing!

They are performing at the Army Navy game in Ohio as the half time show. I have never seen jumproping look so COOOOOL! Wish I could do it!

15 Months and Counting

2009-10-07T07:20:00.002-05:00

Still holding onto my "zenness". With all the talk lately of another 6-8 month wait it COULD be depressing if I let myself wallow-which I refuse to do. The reality for me is that another 6-8 months would mean a referral between April and June- ok I can live with that. Likely will NOT make it through court before closures (lets be realistic) therefore won't be doing any traveling until hmmmm....winter 2011? Which puts us at traveling WAYYYYYY to close to my husbands retirement which means he wouldn't be allowed to travel with me....so I am simply going to "will it into being" that we get through court and have fast times on medicals and everything else and can travel before Dec. 2010. Perhaps wishful thinking but....HEY PEOPLE I AM TRYING TO MAINTAIN MY ZEN HERE!!!!

Moving Day!

2009-09-24T20:03:00.004-05:00

Wow, I can hardly believe it, the majority of the renovations are finished and we are moving in on Saturday! We have all new flooring, new tub,shower surround, toilet, sink,vanity, all paint finished (except hallways), new furnace which we used to replace baseboard heaters, all new electrical outlets and lights...I think that's it. Still work to be done but it is things we can just work at slowly over time. I can hardly wait to get some "after" pictures up here. Stay tuned for the "big reveal".

Feeling Peaceful in my Heart

2009-08-19T14:09:00.004-05:00

I can't really explain it but I truly do feel very peaceful and unstressed about the whole adoption process. My new "Zen" perspective on everything has just manifested in the last month or so. We've been through so much, and seen other people go through far worse(ahem...CBC fiasco, Imagine etc) that I just have realized that stressing about it doesn't make it happen faster. When I stop and look around at my life I am very blessed: great husband, great family, good job, all things that I never thought I would have. The adoption WILL happen, when it is meant to, and I am trusting in that, and it feels good!

How to Escape the Baby Waiting Blues....Buy a House!

2009-07-24T21:35:00.005-05:00

Yes folks that's right we have bought our first home. It takes me 20 seconds to walk from my front door to the edge of the lake! This house is a "minor" fixer upper, needs the bathroom overhauled, new flooring, some paint and then we are good to go! We hadn't intended to buy until after the baby was home but sheesh that's been taking so long we actually were able to manage this. The main floor is around 1400 sq. ft plus about 600-700 sq.ft. of basement. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath...and did I mention the lake :)? yes, I am in love with my home.

I was looking for a project to keep me busy in the coming months-guess I found it!

This is our view of the marina from the front yard, looking up the street.

This is our lake view from the driveway/yard.

The yucky bathroom.

Basement, also to be redone-but not until winter.

The kitchen is small but functional.

Looking into the masterbedroom-you can see the "ensuite office".

Our open concept living/dining rooms which I love!

So Unexpected

2009-07-14T11:54:00.003-05:00

My heart is breaking for all of the families struggling right now with the news from Imagine. I don't know what I would do were I in your shoes. My thoughts are with all of you as you battle through YET ANOTHER hurdle. As if adoption isn't tough enough...

Ticker Baby Fell Off...

2009-07-05T21:33:00.002-05:00

What can I say folks, we hit 12 months "officially" waiting this week. Of course anyone that knows me or understands adoption knows that we have been hoping, planning, saving, and working towards this adoption for the last four years. I imagine that it will be quite a while yet before we have our baby home. :(

So the ticker baby has returned to the front end...lets pray she doesn't have to fall off again before we can be a forever family.

I seriously need a quality project to keep me busy over the next few months....hmmmm what kind of trouble can I create?????

Fun Tonight!

2009-06-30T07:47:00.002-05:00

I can hardly wait. Tonight is the staff party to celebrate the end of our work year. It's going to be so much fun. People, we are having a CAR RALLY! A scavenger hunt with our vehicles. No one is allowed to go insane but it will be competitive and fun. No way is the boy team going to beat my team! Of course all of this crazy fun is followed by a fabulous steak dinner BBQ at the end. Whew-we made it. One more year down!

OOOOO.....Ahhhhhh....IT's..... A Brand New Car!

2009-06-18T06:54:00.004-05:00

For you non car people out there this is a 2009 Kia Sportage LX V6 Luxury model. Does it sound like I'm bragging??? Hellyaaaaa! I have NEVER bought new, and it felt soooo good! We don't get it until Friday because it hadn't even been taken out of the plastic yet!!! Ours is "Black Cherry" in colour with black leather interior and heated seats!

Now for those of you thinking this doesn't seem like much to get excited over you have to understand what I have been dealing with. All winter long I have driven my 1996 sedan (Chrysler Condorde) over snow packed gravel roads with one hand on the wheel and the other gripping an ice scraper; So that I can scrape the inside of the windshield when it is too hard to see out of. No matter what we did the heater just couldn't keep up with the cold. The seals were all shot so I literally froze EVERY SINGLE DAY on my way to work.

Of course with the kidlet on the way in the next year we also needed a bigger vehicle as I am pretty sure the kid won't want this on their lap:

OK, our girl is not quite that big but you get the idea! Now we have space for both of our loves!

Have a great day everyone, or not, the choice is yours.

As Promised....

2009-06-16T18:07:00.002-05:00

Many of my friends not "experiencing" the adoption world have a great many questions about the process, attachment and bonding, and any "issues" otherwise associated with adoption. I think its great that my loved ones want to be more informed of the process and I am happy to oblige them in providing information as best I can. I am no expert, rather I am a Mom-in-Waiting who reads a lot. My latest bit of reading is entitled Keys to Parenting an Adopted Child by Kathy Lancaster Ph.D. The information is quite good but it reads like a textbook so I'll try to paraphrase the info.

Strengths of Adoptive Families:
Adoptive families have a great many strengths. Most adoptive parents were required to examine their motives for parenting before placement. Determined to become parents and to provide healthy, nurturing families for their children, they tend to enjoy parenting and to work hard at it. Without genetic connections to their children, they tend to accept each child for who he is rather that to bring preconceived expectations to the parent child-relationship. They believe that adoption is a wonderful enriching experience.

Seriously folks, there can be no safer person on the planet to have babysit you own child than an adoptive parent. They have been inspected, interviewed, approved at a variety of governmental levels, fingerprinted, medically checked, psychologically checked...we go through a lot for the amazing privilege of being entrusted with another life. Having to go through this extreme process really leaves its mark on us too. Kind of makes me wonder why bio parents don't have to go through it. I mean, does the ability to copulate qualify a person for parenthood? Just something to think about.

Where You At, Baby?

2009-06-10T23:33:00.005-05:00

I love the double entendre of this title. I am in fact thinking both in terms of where my baby is in the world these days as well as trying to figure out my own mind about this whole adoption adventure.

Sometimes I lay awake at night trying to process the fact that my baby might be out there somewhere. Out there with a birth mom and dad and a family, and here I am waiting for something to go wrong so that I can have the chance to be their mom instead. Man what a head trip!

Some nights I just try to imagine what it would be like to hold a child in my arms and not have to give them back to someone else...

Anyway, I heard this song the other day and it just totally summed up how I feel, go ahead, have a good cry if you need to...I did!

You can imagine that I don't sleep much or well lately.

Knowing now that our wait times are longer I...well I mostly just try not to think about it too much. Sometimes I succeed for whole hours at a time!

Oh yeah, and yet another baby shower to attend on Friday. I will go and I will smile and I will cuddle. But in the end I must remember that it is very wrong to smuggle a baby home in my purse :) ! Just kidding of course, but man, I am really starting to hate baby showers. Of course I also have to deal with teh fact that this particular new mother (while I am very happy for her) had been in the middle of the domestic adoption process and then just "popped" up pregnant. Just like ALL those mythical stories people always tell me about. You know the ones, "Oh honey, I knew a woman who got pregnant as soon as they started the paperwork." Yeah, because I chose adoption as the magical cure to my fertility issues. Sheesh!

I'm Not as Smart as I Used To Be

2009-06-09T15:39:00.003-05:00

Recently I purchased Jane Eyre, a favorite book from when I was a teen. Holy Cow, the language is more complicated than I remember! Obviously reading trashy romance novels(however fabulous and fun they are) has allowed my brain to rot. I still love the story though...

Anybody else noticed such issues? Maybe its just me?

Double Anniversaries!

2009-06-04T15:17:00.003-05:00

Yep, we hit the 11 month mark and our 5th Wedding Anniversary can you believe it? I love him more now than the day we married, which I didn't think was possible. I guess with all that we have been through together it has really helped us to appreciate each other. So, in the spirit of appreciation I decided to list 5 things I love about my DH:

1. He never complains about how messy I am even though he likes things neat.
2. He supports me in every new endeavor-and usually believes in me more than I do!
3. He reads Barbie stories in a Yoda voice to the little nieces in our life.
4. He is willing to workout with me every night and keeps me going even when I want to quit.
5. He is always kind to my friends and doesn't mind being the only guy in the group!

Book of Secrets

2009-06-03T14:59:00.004-05:00

One of my students handed me a book today with a passage marked. He said to me, "Mrs. E., I thought of you when I saw this page and thought you might want to read it." The book is called Book of Secrets and the page he had marked is the secret of successful parenting. Here is what the book had to say:

Parents can only advise their children or point them in the right direction. Ultimately people shape their own characters. ~Anne Frank

There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you.~Peter DeVries

Children aren't happy without something to ignore, and that's what parents were created for. ~Ogden Nash, Poet

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise the to do it. ~Harry S. Truman

Hmmmmmm, I wonder what message this child is trying to give me about being a parent? I THINK that knowing how I am waiting to be a Mom he was genuinely trying to help me out. Still, I thought it was pretty cute that he even took the time to share it with me.

Adoption Talk

2009-05-27T11:52:00.002-05:00

I presented to a class of high school students this week about adoption. I was surprised at their insightful questions and the amount of attention that they gave to me. Having taught for about 10 years now I generally know what to expect in a classroom but this was a wonderful treat for me. I only had about 30 minutes so you can imagine how hard it was to cover everything. I really tried to stress that while adoption may not have been the initial road many people expect to travel, it is also not a "second best". It is simply another way of making a family.

Many of them only know about adoption through news on celebrities so the first thing I did was to straighten out some of those misconceptions. Secondly, we had a very honest talk about the different avenues for adoption domestic vs. international etc. and why people may choose one over the other. This was very important to them as, being all knowing high schoolers :) some thought that it would only be right to stick to adopting within Canada domestically as the "right" thing to do. I tried, and believe I was successful, in opening their eyes to the world of adoption and the very difficult decisions that we have all had to make in this journey.

I told them that for my family the most difficult and at times heated part of our decision were during the homestudy process when we had to really examine what we were looking for in a child. Age, sex, health etc. and what we had to do to reach an understanding. I also shared how valuable and necessary those conversations were in helping us understand each other.

All in all I wish I had had more time but I think I pulled it off! Next time I get asked to do that I want to have some show and tell...like maybe have some guests come who have been to Ethio. and back. Or maybe jsut bring in my own kiddo....ahhhh that would be awesome!!!

Lengthened Timelines...Again

2009-05-19T15:40:00.004-05:00

What can I say... When we received the update this weekend that said our timelines have officially moved I was soooooo upset. 17-21 months are you kidding me? When we started we were at 9-15 months. Now its going to take at minimum 2 months longer than we had ever been told to expect??? The finish line keeps getting moved. It's not anyone's fault, things are just taking longer. For my family this means no news of referral until December at the EARLIEST (17 months) possibly nothing until May 2010 (21 months). And that's just for the referral (pictures/medical records). Then we get to wait another 4-9 months after that to pass court. At the momemt best case scenario means I could be home with a baby May 2010 worst case scenario puts us at nothing until early 2011. How much can a mothers heart take? I guess we are going to find out????

Laughter Therapy and the Magic of Anders

2009-05-13T15:05:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to share a great show with you. "Anders" came to my workplace and wowed us today! If you have an event and you want to have some great entertainment call this guy!!! I laughed so hard I cried. This is a local MB boy who has hit the big time and travels all across Canada and the US with his show. The laugh did me a lot of good today. The magic tricks are pretty amazing as his his comedic talent! Check out his services here

I love the power of laughter, I feel a lot better now!