Lama Barn Goings

If that means anything at all to you (and you would know almost instantly what I am talking about if it did), then please leave a comment...I need to find out if what I have is correct.

Does it lead to sandbagging?

If so, then HELP with sandbagging! LOL

If you are 100% completely clueless, then I'll need to post something soon on this. It's been great at keeping me busy so I do not think about how slowly the world of International Adoption is moving. :)

What an amazing year!

It has truly been an amazing year for us. 1 year ago I was anxiously awaiting approval from our agency to start the process of adoption. We needed one doctor's letter verifying the information we had given them before they would approve us. Samuel wasn't potty trained. We had only been in the house for 1 year with lots of projects still undone. LOL we still have those projects undone! It's amazing what all can happen in one year.

Most of all, I'm thrilled that I started blogging. That I have found so many people online who share my passion for adoption and adoption from China (I have a quote about that passion versus obsession but I'd have to go look it up and I'm way too lazy tonight to do that). On my list of things to do is to update my blog with all the blogs that I read. :) I also want to update the look of things, change the theme out (and I need to talk to someone about that).

On the subject of to do lists, does anyone else have one that seems to only GROW in length? Mine never seems to shrink. I keep adding more than I mark off. One thing that I will be marking off soon is New Year's Resolutions. We always make them, and some we actually keep. "Get out of Debt." Is NOT one, rather it's more like "Pay $xx to debt to reduce it." Why this way? It's an attainable goal, and "out of debt" includes the house in our books. This year though, I think I'm going to put in a resolution of "eat out only X times per week...or month" Then another will be something like "exercise Y times per day...week...month...year" LOL Dh wants to lose weight, and I think I will resolve to help out in anyway I can (which means no more chocolate binges during that week of every month IYKWIM).

As soon as I get business stuff taken care of (end of year stuff), and as soon as we get our 2007 budget squared away (ooooh boy that sounds fun doesn't it?), I'm going to post some photos - Then/Now for the Friday Foto challenge, and "year in review" type of thing. It always amazes me how much the kids grow each year, how much older they look in December than they did in Jan. Where is that pause button for Life?

Why is it?

Why is it that I can think of wonderfully witty blog posts in the van, but when I sit down to blog them I have forgotten them? Why is that?! Oh, it's probably "Mommy brain" you know that phenomenon that occurs when you become a Mom. You suddenly have so much on your mind (like did you match up the number and dollar amount of stocking stuffer for both boys or did you make a boo-boo and they are unequal...because you KNOW that 8 year old will figure it out) and since you have such innane things on your mind you can no longer remember important adult like things...such as what you were going to post on your blog.

Blech.

Was it about the Christmas songs you were listening to?
Was it about the super cool anniversary trip you just took?
Was it about the stupid drivers on the road who are rushing around for last minute shopping and driving you crazy?
Was it some silly quip the 4 year old made?

Who really knows at this point. LOL

OH YEAH!!!! I remember now!!!! It was about our trip. *giggle*

Dh and I were in EPCOT, and visited this Coca-Cola place where they have flavors of Coke from around the world. One flavor was from China, and I found it quite yummy. It was a very sweet watermelon type flavor. Being the sweet, loving, adoring wife I am, I got a sample of the China one for Dh and then proceeded to get him a sample of Italy's "The Beverly." Now, admittedly, there are descriptions above each flavor, and "Beverly" said something to the effect of "bitter tasting drink that is supposed to stimulate the appetite." I had heard on the Disboards that it was foul. I too had a sample of "The Beverly" and I took a sip. Being someone who never drinks, I am assumming that this cola is similar in flavor to some nasty alcoholic beverage, and I thought it tasted remarkably like pure soda water...you know the nasty stuff that comes out in the drink fountain with the syrup for Dr. Pepper is gone? So, here I am with a sip of this foul concoction in my mouth and I notice Dh take a BIG OL GULP of the stuff. I, of course, started to giggle. BAD idea with a sip of nasty foul tasting soda in your mouth. Not wanting to spew it out everywhere I try to swallow. Dh, has of course swallowed his huge gulp and I heard, "It's not....OH MY WORD the aftertaste." Oh...I could feel it....the burning on my tongue, and I knew it would really really hurt to come out of the nose. I had to turn around and swallow quickly because just thinking of Dh's reaction and looking at his face had me rolling with laughter. I got my teeny tiny sip down. I gulped down the wonderfully sweet China cola, and that aftertaste...oh that aftertaste was STILL there. Dh and I were laughing like crazy (he didn't finish his Beverly and I tossed the rest out). The rest of the colas were decent. The ginger one was not too bad. I don't remember the others that much.

So, there's my advice...don't drink "Beverly" at EPCOT! LOL

Oh, and when you leave, be sure to pay attention to all the people who give you weird looks for laughing so hard with your beloved. :)

2nd tip of the day...baby wipes in the toilet are NOT a good thing.

What do you mean there is NOTHING Mulan in Disney?

Dh and I just got back from a wonderful 3 day anniversary celebration trip to Disney World. :) We honeymooned there, so for 10 Wonderful Years together, we went back...without KIDS!

I figured, okay, I've struck out EVERYWHERE finding a Baby Mulan doll for Katie. I figured I could find at least something Mulan for Katie in Disney World. I was WRONG. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. No Mulan stuff? I couldn't believe it!! Sure I could have gotten a photo taken with her at the China pavilion, but to NOT have anything to purchase with Mulan on it? I was shocked. Not to mention dismayed. If you find anything Mulan, please please please let me know. Well, nothing too expensive!

Being a Mom, you learn about puke. LOL I've learned that I can't stand it. One thing you learn in Disney is that puke is sometimes unavoidable...kids, lots of "rich" foods, rides, and then sweets is a BAD combination. Here were some of the phrases we heard:

Waiting to ride Dumbo (yes Dh and I rode Dumbo...at night, in the rain):

"Just a couple of minutes! One is extra wet and one is not so pretty." It was raining, so I guess the "extra wet" one was peed in, and the "not so pretty" one was puked in. LOL We stayed away from those and managed to get in an elephant that didn't go up and down. Not a problem though as I didn't care about that part.

Going on the "Green" side of Mission Space (you know the not so intense version):

"We're experiencing technical difficulties in the more intense version so we're letting the "Orange" riders use the "green" side with spinning turned on. It should only be a few more minutes before the technical difficulties are cleared up."

Then walking down the street I hear one cast member say to another:

"We have a protein spill just outside of Buzz Lightyear. Who is on that duty today?"

Then...I heard from an older-than-little-kid size person (could not figure out if she was 12, 18, 20, or 25)..."I don't feel so good." Yes, I quickly WALKED away.

Overall, we were lucky as we were not around as many "sick" sounding people as we typically are during our September trips. See, I'm the lucky one who ALWAYS (and I mean always) sees, hears, or just about steps in puke on our trips. Never fails...the kids sitting next to me at Beauty and Beast lean over and puke between the bleachers. The kids sitting down from us at Spectromagic pukes all over the sidewalk. The people sleeping 5 doors down from us in the hotel have balled up bedding outside their room...with suspicous looking stains. Ah yes...just LOVELY memories. LOL This trip I only had people around me complaining LOUDLY of sore throats, or they were coughing, or they were sneezing. So many kids sounding like they had bronchitis. So many feverish looking tweens. Airborne was taken daily. Dh did come home with a cold.

I'll have to share photos and share more stories of our trip. My feet are aching, more so than normal. I wore Crocs for 1.5 days, and my arches were not happy. They are GREAT for rainstorms (yes we had that). I feel like I pulled some muscles around my ankles and outside of my feet. Walking was interesting, but it is amazing what you can "push through" when you are having fun with your dh. :)

Missed the kids, of course. They didn't really miss us. Grandma is GREAT! She kept them busy busy busy. Now we can not wait to take the kids back to Disney (trip coming up this year).

Here's one photo - from the day after we heard "One isn't so pretty" in riding Dumbo.

*removed because it's been long enough*

LOL...oh the new point and shoot focused on DUMBO not on us. :) *giggle* I have back focus problems with the big camera, and notice focus issues. Ignore the focus issue here, just enjoy the snapshot of us on our anniversary trip. :)

Not this time.

That's my update.

Actually, my agency received 29 referalls, 12 of which were girls and VERY few of those were in our requested age. We are really wanting to preserve birth order and after 2 boys I am wanting a girl! I need some more girly things in this house. I mean, even the cat is male (well neutered but male). LOL

I was amazingly okay with not getting a referral. I did not really expect it, I had hoped. I told some friends it was much like getting that negative HPT after TTC for 3 months. You really hoped for it to be positive, but when it wasn't you didn't fall into a deep dark place. Now, a year from now if we are STILL waiting and I don't get a referral? I just might fall into that deep dark place. However, and this is a BIG one, I know I can survive. I know I will have a child at the end (well I hope so anyway). It's all about trusting in Him and His timing. My daughter is coming to me, everything about this adoption would NOT have happened the way it has unless He had a plan and He had a daughter picked out for us.

Then, it's almost Christmas! (heck of a topic change huh?) I can not believe another year has passed. I can not believe that it's almost Christmas. It's been quite hectic this year, and luckily we're done shopping. Now, it's time to focus on us...on our family...on celebrations. One thing we're doing this year is the Jesse Advent Tree, and it's been truly awesome. That's the first link that popped up from Google. :)

Now that my Christmas Rush season is just about done (last day for orders was today), I'm hoping that my house can regain some semblance of order soon. I am also hoping to be able to start on getting the kids rooms situated, pics posted, etc. The boys are enjoying the bunk beds. All of Samuel's toys are the "boys" room. I am *almost* ready to start on Katie's room. It's going to be SLOW going until we get a referral. Of course, I've fallen in love with some bedding, and I hope to catch it on sale soon. It's Cherry Blossoms from Pottery Barn Kids.

There I am. No referral. Christmas is almost here and I'm giddy about it. Christmas rush is over. I have vague ideas for Katie's room. :)

I have an 8 year old now.

Wow. I can not believe that my oldest is 8 now. Seems just like yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital. He truly is a joy and so smart! Well, we think he's just the smartest. We have been discussing birthday parties and expenses. We offerred to send him to Parent/Child weekend at Space Camp or another similarly priced type of Camp (or multiple camps) in exchange for doing a big birthday party. He agreed. It was a bit rough leading up to his birthday, but he seemed okay with it.

We were going to make his actual birthday all about John Mark. Anything would go, he got his way. 2 things happened though. I ended up watching my friend's twins. She's very close to delivering her 3rd baby, and with the twins in daycare and she thought she would be having a late appointment at th doctor's yesterday. It was fun. 2nd thing, now that we are "twin free" I think I am getting sick and so is Samuel. Strep again if I can diagnose myself correctly. I mean, I just had strep last month! ugh

Other than that, we're just waiting to see if the Special Needs list contains our little Katie or not!