Do you really want to know how incredibly difficult it is to get 2 boys to do learning work during the summer? It's hard. Incredibly hard. Between camps, swimming lessons, vacations, and what not, it seems they would rather NOT do school work.
We've managed to get a couple of school weeks in so far, through pure force of parental will. Well, that and the deal is no "electronics" until school work is done so they have good motivation! Both boys are doing well so far. Samuel is reading but refuses to perform so we can't tell for certain exactly how well. However, he has no problems reading Katie's board books to her. JM is eagerly devouring his books, and doing his work. Katie? Well, Katie is loving her books lately and sits and "pretends" to read all the time now. It's really too cute.
I still need to order their history and geography books, but so far JM is doing a state history as well. My plan is seeming to work out pretty good so far!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
1 year ago
we were LOI for Katie. It took us another 5.5 months before we would travel. I remember those days of excitement, those first days of gazing in wonder and awe at Katie's photos. I never would have thought it would take 5.5 months before we would travel. I wonder what she was doing 1 year ago. I think about that, and I think about what her foster Mom was doing. When was her foster Mom told that she was being adopted?
I wonder what her foster Mom is doing this year? Does she have another foster child? Does she think about Katie? I'm sure she must. Katie was obviously well loved and taken care of. I remember how hard it was during those 5.5 months to think about Katie and not know how she was doing, not knowing what her smile looked like, how her voice sounded, how big she was, how big her foot was....just minor details that a parent should know about their child...but yet I did not know them. I think about her foster mom feeling those feelings now, and I wonder if her first mom/birth mom has those thoughts as well.
So, 1 year ago today, China knew we wanted to be matched with Katie and her joining our family was officially started on it's journey.
(photos from a few days ago....I just love her personality)
I wonder what her foster Mom is doing this year? Does she have another foster child? Does she think about Katie? I'm sure she must. Katie was obviously well loved and taken care of. I remember how hard it was during those 5.5 months to think about Katie and not know how she was doing, not knowing what her smile looked like, how her voice sounded, how big she was, how big her foot was....just minor details that a parent should know about their child...but yet I did not know them. I think about her foster mom feeling those feelings now, and I wonder if her first mom/birth mom has those thoughts as well.
So, 1 year ago today, China knew we wanted to be matched with Katie and her joining our family was officially started on it's journey.
(photos from a few days ago....I just love her personality)
Friday, June 27, 2008
"Dop!"
Yet another post about what all Katie is saying these days as I have got to preserve those...er...precious memories. ;)
In the van running errands, Samuel will start making noises that only a little 5 year old boy can make. Very annoying ones. After a minute or so, we hear from Katie's seat, rather emphatically, "DOP!!!! DOP!!!!!!" Katie tells Samuel to stop now.
"Gon Mahk," Katie calls to John Mark when he is in her eyesight but not paying her attention. "Gon Mahk! Gon Mahk!"
"Duck!" is what she repeats when we say "Stuck."
"Wan hot." - remember that's "Want food" She now does the sign for food as well.
Buff-fly is butterfly
dah is doll
bah is ball
Baba is Daddy
Dada is Daddy
Mah-om is me when she's angry
Mom is me when she's almost happy and only says it on her own terms, which is rarely...but hey, I have a name.
co-cola is not heard nearly as much, but we do hear "du" for juice, and "mih" for milk.
She answers practically any question you ask her with "yeah" or "no"
She will also whine "NOoooooo" when she doesn't want to do something, in perfect 2 year old ways.
She will also say, "Wan nap," "nigh-nigh," and "wan nigh-nigh" which is always music to my ears. ;)
She babbles a ton, and whines perfectly.
In the van running errands, Samuel will start making noises that only a little 5 year old boy can make. Very annoying ones. After a minute or so, we hear from Katie's seat, rather emphatically, "DOP!!!! DOP!!!!!!" Katie tells Samuel to stop now.
"Gon Mahk," Katie calls to John Mark when he is in her eyesight but not paying her attention. "Gon Mahk! Gon Mahk!"
"Duck!" is what she repeats when we say "Stuck."
"Wan hot." - remember that's "Want food" She now does the sign for food as well.
Buff-fly is butterfly
dah is doll
bah is ball
Baba is Daddy
Dada is Daddy
Mah-om is me when she's angry
Mom is me when she's almost happy and only says it on her own terms, which is rarely...but hey, I have a name.
co-cola is not heard nearly as much, but we do hear "du" for juice, and "mih" for milk.
She answers practically any question you ask her with "yeah" or "no"
She will also whine "NOoooooo" when she doesn't want to do something, in perfect 2 year old ways.
She will also say, "Wan nap," "nigh-nigh," and "wan nigh-nigh" which is always music to my ears. ;)
She babbles a ton, and whines perfectly.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Referral Anniversary - Year 1
One year ago I got a phone call that changed my life! OH how I remember the day so clearly. I knew AWAA had gotten a list and knew that I had been waiting almost a year on a SN referral. While I had thought we would get a call in April with that list, I was thinking that we might not with this list. I don't know why, but perhaps I was guarding my heart. I was in email contact with a friend and I told her I had such peace this time. I really did.
The early morning of Tuesday June 26th, my family coordinator called. I thought, "OH boy is this is?! I don't want to think it is...let me chit chat about small talk so I can prolong this amazing suspense." See, I hate to hear bad news and I just knew she was NOT calling with a referral. I had not seen anyone else post referral info so I did not know they were making calls.
She told me, "I want to go over your SN medical checklist to see if things are still the same."
I had not heard that this was normal for the referral call, so I thought "Okay, not the referral but perhaps they are going to be matching and I *might* have a chance."
She continued, "You have heart conditions marked, is that still a Yes?"
OH yes ma'am it was! I told her we were okay with that. That I knew I had confused them with the constant moving of things from Maybe to Yes, but that Dh only wanted things marked yes that we were most likely to accept the referral and the maybe answers were the ones we would consider but would have to review the file some.
She then said, "I am actually calling you about a little girl that I think will be a perfect match for your family. Do you want to hear about her?"
*silence*
I finally responded, "OH YES!!!!!!"
"Well, she's currently 10.5 months old." *I think the tears started here.* "She has a heart condition, actually the paperwork says 3." *My heart and stomach fell out from under me at this point.* "It looks like, from reading through the paperwork that one of the conditions has resolved itself. In April or May, it's hard to tell which, it looks like she weighed X and was Y tall. She really cute and looks very healthy. She's from the Yunnan Province at Kunming CWI. The paperwork says she's at the orphanage in one part and then mentions she's very attached to her foster Mom. So, I'm not sure if she's in foster care or the orphanage. Do you want to review the electronic information?"
"yes." very timid answer as the 3 heart conditions scared me a little. "Remember do not send the photos as we do not want to see the photos until we are sure we are going forward with adopting her."
I stayed on the line with her to make sure I got the email, and the attachment. All 14 pages of the attachment.
It was roughly 10am. I got online and looked up heart conditions online, I tried to decipher what the paperwork was saying the heart conditions were. I had a friend I could call whose son has a heart condition, and she had told me to contact her if I had questions about a referral of a child. I called her, and she excitedly helped me figure out what the paperwork was saying. She then sent an email to the nurse she deals with the most in her son's care asking if I could email the file to her for her advice (pediatric cardiac nurse of something or other....I just needed to KNOW what the conditions were and where to research). As I was reading her the description of Katie's personality, my friend told me "It sounds like you already love her." I did. I didn't need a photo to fall in love, I did that with the description.
So, I get the file sent off to the nurse, but I am thinking I might know what the conditions are - given possible translation issues. I was feeling LESS nervous about these conditions. I did not, however, have enough info to call Dh at work and tell him about her and explain the conditions.
I called the pediatricians office, and had to go through the phone tree to get to the nurse for our pediatrician. She was thrilled for us and went to get the doctor as quickly as she could (asking if I could stay on the line). *You betcha I could!* He got on, and I gave him the bare details...and then I told him I had it in email format. He got excited and asked if I could send it to him and he would look at it as soon as he possibly could. (It's a rather busy practice, so I knew it could be a little while). I thanked him, and sent it. I told him the 3 conditions, and he felt that it was translation issues and confirmed what I was thinking. He said one did sound closed (not surprising), one was something he would consider "normal finding," and the 3rd is our only issue. He thought, from the sounds of things without looking at the file yet, that it was a PDA. He said that MANY people have this, the question would be how severe and we really would not know that until we got her home.
Less than 5 minutes later I got the response from the nurse and she confirmed what I had thought and what the pediatrician had thought. It was enough for me to get the website URLs that explained it good enough terms for my Dh. I called him. It was around 12:15, and I really hoped he had the ability to go to his office!
He reacted much the same as I did, and he too fell a little in love with the description. He was concerned about the 3 different conditions, and what all that meant. I told him the pediatrician was looking at the file and was going to call me back, but that from talking with him he seemed to think this was minor. I also told him that AWAA needed to know fairly quickly if we wanted the paper file or not. I had to explain that getting the paper file did not mean we were sending an LOI in, but that it meant we were SERIOUSLY considering this. I then mentioned that the faster we got the LOI in, the better of a chance we would have to travel before October and the trade fairs IF we thought this was our daughter. He asked me if I had seen the photos. *boy does he know me well* I told him I had AWAA hold them, but we could request them at any point. He told me to wait as he wanted to research things a little bit, and wanted to hear back from the pediatrician. I gave him a deadline of 2pm.
*I actually had to take the kids to karate and NOT say anything to anyone. I was surprised they didn't see my sparkling happy eyes, my inability to SIT STILL!*
1:45pm our family coordinator called to ask if we wanted the paper file to be sent to us or not. That the Fed Ex pick up was quickly approaching. :) I asked what the next steps were if we moved forward, what did I need to do, what did I have to write, etc. I told her I really thought we were going to accept her, but I was waiting on Dh to give the final say so. I then made her talk to me about those photos. OH how I was dying to see her face!!! While on the phone Dh called, said he would really like to wait to hear back from the pediatrician, but he too thought we'd move forward so go ahead and request the file. I asked him, "can I request the photo as well?" He told me that while he wanted to wait until we were LOI to see the photos, that he thought we had already fallen in love with the description so what was the point in waiting NOW! ;) I love that man! LOL I hung up with him, told our coordinator to send the paper file, WITH the photos. She asked if I wanted the photos emailed to me or did I just want to wait until the next morning to get them in the paper file.
*silence*
"SEND THEM NOW!!!!!"
I get an email from her with the subject XI XIAO LAN and I see the attachment marking. I thanked her, told her I saw the email and saw it had attachments but I was not going to open it until Dh got home from work so we could see her face together. The family coordinator laughed with me, then hung up the phone.
*I sat and STARED at that email in my inbox....for HOURS.*
Pediatrician called back and said "She sounds REALLY good on paper. It is what we thought it is." I told him a friends cardiac nurse agreed. I asked if we should have it reviewed by a cardiologist, and he said we could but he didn't feel like we had to as this was a minor condition. *tears again* I thanked him, and told him I could send photos after I saw them with Dh. He wanted to see them as well, so I told him to expect them that evening! :)
Sometime in here I actually managed to feed my kids lunch, eat lunch myself, and get dressed. I emailed the friend I had been in contact with and asked for prayers and positive thoughts...and was told she did not get a call yet. My heart was so sad for her.
4:30pm Dh comes in the door. I look at him, and then we RACE up the stairs to my computer to open the email. This was the first photo we saw:
My first reaction, "LOOK AT HER HAIR!"
It was true. Dh's as well. Then, "Oh she is cute!!! and so healthy looking!" Then I said, "She looks Centauri." Dh laughed. *We're big Sci-Fi fans, and the hair reminded us of the characters on one of our favorite shows.*
We then opened the other two, and fell even more in love than we already were. I was ready to LEAVE right then and there to get her.
We made the decision that night. She's ours. Our paperwork was signed and Fed-ex'd back to AWAA Wednesday night, they got it Thursday...and we were LOI (errr...EA which was the new electronic acceptance) on Friday June 29, 2008.
Over the next couple of weeks I stared at those photos so much, then I got a surpise of 2 more photos that were more recent (and my heart turned over and I knew I would do anything for her). I stared at my photos (and printed a TON out to give to people) for weeks...then months...the full 125 days until LOA/RA, then the 25 days to TA, then the 10 days until we left for China. It was 167 from the time we first saw her face until we held her in our arms. It went so incredibly slowly.
Here is Katie, with her "referral" photo.
(taken yesterday, because I was not sure if I would get a chance today or not...it's a busy day)
The early morning of Tuesday June 26th, my family coordinator called. I thought, "OH boy is this is?! I don't want to think it is...let me chit chat about small talk so I can prolong this amazing suspense." See, I hate to hear bad news and I just knew she was NOT calling with a referral. I had not seen anyone else post referral info so I did not know they were making calls.
She told me, "I want to go over your SN medical checklist to see if things are still the same."
I had not heard that this was normal for the referral call, so I thought "Okay, not the referral but perhaps they are going to be matching and I *might* have a chance."
She continued, "You have heart conditions marked, is that still a Yes?"
OH yes ma'am it was! I told her we were okay with that. That I knew I had confused them with the constant moving of things from Maybe to Yes, but that Dh only wanted things marked yes that we were most likely to accept the referral and the maybe answers were the ones we would consider but would have to review the file some.
She then said, "I am actually calling you about a little girl that I think will be a perfect match for your family. Do you want to hear about her?"
*silence*
I finally responded, "OH YES!!!!!!"
"Well, she's currently 10.5 months old." *I think the tears started here.* "She has a heart condition, actually the paperwork says 3." *My heart and stomach fell out from under me at this point.* "It looks like, from reading through the paperwork that one of the conditions has resolved itself. In April or May, it's hard to tell which, it looks like she weighed X and was Y tall. She really cute and looks very healthy. She's from the Yunnan Province at Kunming CWI. The paperwork says she's at the orphanage in one part and then mentions she's very attached to her foster Mom. So, I'm not sure if she's in foster care or the orphanage. Do you want to review the electronic information?"
"yes." very timid answer as the 3 heart conditions scared me a little. "Remember do not send the photos as we do not want to see the photos until we are sure we are going forward with adopting her."
I stayed on the line with her to make sure I got the email, and the attachment. All 14 pages of the attachment.
It was roughly 10am. I got online and looked up heart conditions online, I tried to decipher what the paperwork was saying the heart conditions were. I had a friend I could call whose son has a heart condition, and she had told me to contact her if I had questions about a referral of a child. I called her, and she excitedly helped me figure out what the paperwork was saying. She then sent an email to the nurse she deals with the most in her son's care asking if I could email the file to her for her advice (pediatric cardiac nurse of something or other....I just needed to KNOW what the conditions were and where to research). As I was reading her the description of Katie's personality, my friend told me "It sounds like you already love her." I did. I didn't need a photo to fall in love, I did that with the description.
So, I get the file sent off to the nurse, but I am thinking I might know what the conditions are - given possible translation issues. I was feeling LESS nervous about these conditions. I did not, however, have enough info to call Dh at work and tell him about her and explain the conditions.
I called the pediatricians office, and had to go through the phone tree to get to the nurse for our pediatrician. She was thrilled for us and went to get the doctor as quickly as she could (asking if I could stay on the line). *You betcha I could!* He got on, and I gave him the bare details...and then I told him I had it in email format. He got excited and asked if I could send it to him and he would look at it as soon as he possibly could. (It's a rather busy practice, so I knew it could be a little while). I thanked him, and sent it. I told him the 3 conditions, and he felt that it was translation issues and confirmed what I was thinking. He said one did sound closed (not surprising), one was something he would consider "normal finding," and the 3rd is our only issue. He thought, from the sounds of things without looking at the file yet, that it was a PDA. He said that MANY people have this, the question would be how severe and we really would not know that until we got her home.
Less than 5 minutes later I got the response from the nurse and she confirmed what I had thought and what the pediatrician had thought. It was enough for me to get the website URLs that explained it good enough terms for my Dh. I called him. It was around 12:15, and I really hoped he had the ability to go to his office!
He reacted much the same as I did, and he too fell a little in love with the description. He was concerned about the 3 different conditions, and what all that meant. I told him the pediatrician was looking at the file and was going to call me back, but that from talking with him he seemed to think this was minor. I also told him that AWAA needed to know fairly quickly if we wanted the paper file or not. I had to explain that getting the paper file did not mean we were sending an LOI in, but that it meant we were SERIOUSLY considering this. I then mentioned that the faster we got the LOI in, the better of a chance we would have to travel before October and the trade fairs IF we thought this was our daughter. He asked me if I had seen the photos. *boy does he know me well* I told him I had AWAA hold them, but we could request them at any point. He told me to wait as he wanted to research things a little bit, and wanted to hear back from the pediatrician. I gave him a deadline of 2pm.
*I actually had to take the kids to karate and NOT say anything to anyone. I was surprised they didn't see my sparkling happy eyes, my inability to SIT STILL!*
1:45pm our family coordinator called to ask if we wanted the paper file to be sent to us or not. That the Fed Ex pick up was quickly approaching. :) I asked what the next steps were if we moved forward, what did I need to do, what did I have to write, etc. I told her I really thought we were going to accept her, but I was waiting on Dh to give the final say so. I then made her talk to me about those photos. OH how I was dying to see her face!!! While on the phone Dh called, said he would really like to wait to hear back from the pediatrician, but he too thought we'd move forward so go ahead and request the file. I asked him, "can I request the photo as well?" He told me that while he wanted to wait until we were LOI to see the photos, that he thought we had already fallen in love with the description so what was the point in waiting NOW! ;) I love that man! LOL I hung up with him, told our coordinator to send the paper file, WITH the photos. She asked if I wanted the photos emailed to me or did I just want to wait until the next morning to get them in the paper file.
*silence*
"SEND THEM NOW!!!!!"
I get an email from her with the subject XI XIAO LAN and I see the attachment marking. I thanked her, told her I saw the email and saw it had attachments but I was not going to open it until Dh got home from work so we could see her face together. The family coordinator laughed with me, then hung up the phone.
*I sat and STARED at that email in my inbox....for HOURS.*
Pediatrician called back and said "She sounds REALLY good on paper. It is what we thought it is." I told him a friends cardiac nurse agreed. I asked if we should have it reviewed by a cardiologist, and he said we could but he didn't feel like we had to as this was a minor condition. *tears again* I thanked him, and told him I could send photos after I saw them with Dh. He wanted to see them as well, so I told him to expect them that evening! :)
Sometime in here I actually managed to feed my kids lunch, eat lunch myself, and get dressed. I emailed the friend I had been in contact with and asked for prayers and positive thoughts...and was told she did not get a call yet. My heart was so sad for her.
4:30pm Dh comes in the door. I look at him, and then we RACE up the stairs to my computer to open the email. This was the first photo we saw:
My first reaction, "LOOK AT HER HAIR!"
It was true. Dh's as well. Then, "Oh she is cute!!! and so healthy looking!" Then I said, "She looks Centauri." Dh laughed. *We're big Sci-Fi fans, and the hair reminded us of the characters on one of our favorite shows.*
We then opened the other two, and fell even more in love than we already were. I was ready to LEAVE right then and there to get her.
We made the decision that night. She's ours. Our paperwork was signed and Fed-ex'd back to AWAA Wednesday night, they got it Thursday...and we were LOI (errr...EA which was the new electronic acceptance) on Friday June 29, 2008.
Over the next couple of weeks I stared at those photos so much, then I got a surpise of 2 more photos that were more recent (and my heart turned over and I knew I would do anything for her). I stared at my photos (and printed a TON out to give to people) for weeks...then months...the full 125 days until LOA/RA, then the 25 days to TA, then the 10 days until we left for China. It was 167 from the time we first saw her face until we held her in our arms. It went so incredibly slowly.
Here is Katie, with her "referral" photo.
(taken yesterday, because I was not sure if I would get a chance today or not...it's a busy day)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Welcome to Beijing 2008!
This one movie reminds me so much of how I felt much of our trip. I'm thrilled that we will be able to watch the Olympics this summer (errr...whatever comes across on the major networks over the airwaves that is), and I'm proud that Katie comes from this beautiful land.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skan0yO-qU8
Not the best outfit for a softball game
We took the kids to see Daddy play softball, and I put Katie in this really cute adorable outfit. Her first time wearing it. Main color? white. What was I thinking?
Obviously I was not. She played in that dirt the entire game (along with Samuel). Burying the army men, the airplanes, and cars. Her purse with Little People? No thanks Mom, I want to play with army men and bury them in the dirt.
Obviously I was not. She played in that dirt the entire game (along with Samuel). Burying the army men, the airplanes, and cars. Her purse with Little People? No thanks Mom, I want to play with army men and bury them in the dirt.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
it's amazing, it truly is!
3 years ago we moved into our home, and I noticed immediately that we had no recycling bin. I was upset that I had left one at the old house (like I was supposed to), and I knew if I called that I could get one delivered to me at the new house. I enjoyed recycling I really did. So I called the 2nd month we were in the house (unpacking got the better of me). They told me, "it will take a couple of weeks, but we'll get one delivered."
Great! The next month, I called back. Same answer. The month after that...I called again, same answer. 6 months of trying, even offering to come pick one up. Nope, only on the trucks. Okay. No bin for us.
I lived without my recycling bin for over 3 years, but today...OH today, I caught the truck and asked if I could have a bin. PRETTY PLEASE?! He asked, "Did you call and request one?"
"Yes, 3 years ago for 6 months straight and we NEVER got it."
He replied, looking quite shocked actually, "well, let me see if I have one you can have."
Then a blessed blue box that appeared with his sheepish looking face, "It's not a new one, but you can have it if you want."
OH BOY did I ever! That dirty grimy blue box IS mine. So what if it has lettering for the next town over? LOL I can proudly recycle again. If I can remember what all you can recycle that is.
Great! The next month, I called back. Same answer. The month after that...I called again, same answer. 6 months of trying, even offering to come pick one up. Nope, only on the trucks. Okay. No bin for us.
I lived without my recycling bin for over 3 years, but today...OH today, I caught the truck and asked if I could have a bin. PRETTY PLEASE?! He asked, "Did you call and request one?"
"Yes, 3 years ago for 6 months straight and we NEVER got it."
He replied, looking quite shocked actually, "well, let me see if I have one you can have."
Then a blessed blue box that appeared with his sheepish looking face, "It's not a new one, but you can have it if you want."
OH BOY did I ever! That dirty grimy blue box IS mine. So what if it has lettering for the next town over? LOL I can proudly recycle again. If I can remember what all you can recycle that is.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Perfect Timing - part 2
We were dossier to China, finally, after 9 long months. I had been online reading forums and chatting with other parents in process of adopting from China. I was devouring all the blogs I could read, and gazing with longing at all the baby photos. It was a during March of 2006 that I started forming a friendship with a lady online who was planning to go SN. Special Needs?! Huh? Why?
My vision of SN was skewed. It was the vision of medically fragile children. Medically hard to raise children. I knew life did not have guarantees, and I knew if I were to get pregnant then my child might have a SN, and a serious one at that. But to knowingly CHOOSE to go down that path. I was interested in reading more blogs about these wonderful adoptive parents.
April of 2006 I was emailing Dh asking if he might be interested in SN, at least joining the interested families with our agency. He was resistive because, like me, he was thinking in that skewed viewpoint. What changed our minds? the children, the families, the knowledge we gained. Knowledge truly is power. I mean, a short year prior we had decided against a specific program because they would only allow SN adoptions.
When we started the process we did not realize that SN adoption from China mainly meant that the child had a need that would require medical attention. Some are VERY minor and some are more major. I learned that we could review a file, think about it, and then if we decided that the medical need was too great we could decline it without any penalties to our NSN spot. Okay. Why was I closing this avenue off when I had trusted Him about leading us to this specific agency, to China, to trusting that the timing would work out (okay, so I didn't do so well with that part). What if...what if our daughter was going to be on one of the Waiting Children list that AWAA got?!
It was now May, I'm more on board with SN than ever...dh is still trying to figure out the catch. We both start realizing the wait it going to be MUCH longer than the 9 months we were thinking NSN would take. Being the list maker I am, I start researching the SN that we would be most comfortable with. I send multiple emails to dh outlining the steps, showing him the MINOR SN that are out there. Why these children are considered SN. It's now June, and we're getting closer to DTC. I've progressed from researching abstract conditions, to looking at photolistings and blogs of children. I see how major some are, and how minor others are. I know we can do this. In July, I finally explain it in such a way that Dh is on board. Both of our boys had a birthmark on their foreheads. Yes, they did fade and are mostly not noticeable. This alone would have made them SN.
August 1, 2006 we got the word that we were approved for SN with our agency and were on the Interested Families List (we'd applied during the month of July).
How was this Perfect timing? Well, it works out for us being matched with Katie. See, if we had applied and been accepted on the list in, oh say, April 2006, it's likely we'd have been referred a little girl by around August, or December 2006. It was not meant to be. We were meant to be Katie's family, and she was not born until August 1, 2006! There was another little "thing" that helped delay us getting a referral for a "heart baby" as well, it was the fact that we did not fully understand the "Yes" and the "Maybe" checklist on medical SN.
There were other heart babies on the various lists AWAA got from August 1, 2006 until our referral June 26, 2007. Why did we not get a call? Well, different things kept happening and as hard as it was to live through, Katie's file was not ready and not sent to AWAA until mid-June 2007. That is the reason. She was almost 11 months old. Could she have had her file sent sooner? Yes. why not? I'm not sure. But I like to think it had to do with when we were meant to travel and who our travel companions were meant to be.
My vision of SN was skewed. It was the vision of medically fragile children. Medically hard to raise children. I knew life did not have guarantees, and I knew if I were to get pregnant then my child might have a SN, and a serious one at that. But to knowingly CHOOSE to go down that path. I was interested in reading more blogs about these wonderful adoptive parents.
April of 2006 I was emailing Dh asking if he might be interested in SN, at least joining the interested families with our agency. He was resistive because, like me, he was thinking in that skewed viewpoint. What changed our minds? the children, the families, the knowledge we gained. Knowledge truly is power. I mean, a short year prior we had decided against a specific program because they would only allow SN adoptions.
When we started the process we did not realize that SN adoption from China mainly meant that the child had a need that would require medical attention. Some are VERY minor and some are more major. I learned that we could review a file, think about it, and then if we decided that the medical need was too great we could decline it without any penalties to our NSN spot. Okay. Why was I closing this avenue off when I had trusted Him about leading us to this specific agency, to China, to trusting that the timing would work out (okay, so I didn't do so well with that part). What if...what if our daughter was going to be on one of the Waiting Children list that AWAA got?!
It was now May, I'm more on board with SN than ever...dh is still trying to figure out the catch. We both start realizing the wait it going to be MUCH longer than the 9 months we were thinking NSN would take. Being the list maker I am, I start researching the SN that we would be most comfortable with. I send multiple emails to dh outlining the steps, showing him the MINOR SN that are out there. Why these children are considered SN. It's now June, and we're getting closer to DTC. I've progressed from researching abstract conditions, to looking at photolistings and blogs of children. I see how major some are, and how minor others are. I know we can do this. In July, I finally explain it in such a way that Dh is on board. Both of our boys had a birthmark on their foreheads. Yes, they did fade and are mostly not noticeable. This alone would have made them SN.
August 1, 2006 we got the word that we were approved for SN with our agency and were on the Interested Families List (we'd applied during the month of July).
How was this Perfect timing? Well, it works out for us being matched with Katie. See, if we had applied and been accepted on the list in, oh say, April 2006, it's likely we'd have been referred a little girl by around August, or December 2006. It was not meant to be. We were meant to be Katie's family, and she was not born until August 1, 2006! There was another little "thing" that helped delay us getting a referral for a "heart baby" as well, it was the fact that we did not fully understand the "Yes" and the "Maybe" checklist on medical SN.
There were other heart babies on the various lists AWAA got from August 1, 2006 until our referral June 26, 2007. Why did we not get a call? Well, different things kept happening and as hard as it was to live through, Katie's file was not ready and not sent to AWAA until mid-June 2007. That is the reason. She was almost 11 months old. Could she have had her file sent sooner? Yes. why not? I'm not sure. But I like to think it had to do with when we were meant to travel and who our travel companions were meant to be.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
I quit!
Okay, I recently tried to turn in my resignation, but they wouldn't accept it. I tried to insist that I was not needed as evidenced by the attitudes that surround me on a daily basis. They didn't budge on their refusal to accept my quitting.
They wouldn't let me quit being Mom.
I wanted to quit doing their laundry, cleaning their bathroom, cleaning their room, changing their sheets, cleaning up their messes, cooking their meals, keeping them on task for learning work, insisting on karate practice, insisting on therapy work, and yes...telling them to brush their teeth.
I wanted to stop doing all that work, I wanted to sit and relax and read my book. The 3 board members didn't accept that at all. I'm still Mom....with a house to clean, groceries to buy, clothes to wash/dry/fold/put away...and perhaps eventually I will get a book read again. Maybe?
They wouldn't let me quit being Mom.
I wanted to quit doing their laundry, cleaning their bathroom, cleaning their room, changing their sheets, cleaning up their messes, cooking their meals, keeping them on task for learning work, insisting on karate practice, insisting on therapy work, and yes...telling them to brush their teeth.
I wanted to stop doing all that work, I wanted to sit and relax and read my book. The 3 board members didn't accept that at all. I'm still Mom....with a house to clean, groceries to buy, clothes to wash/dry/fold/put away...and perhaps eventually I will get a book read again. Maybe?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Perfect Timing - Part 1
2 years ago, on November 18, 2005, we sat down at the computer and applied online to America World. We paid the online fee, and read that it could take up to 7 days for them process and approver our application. 5-7 Business days that is. That week, just like the one in 2007, was the weekend before Thanksgiving. It took until after Thanksgiving to hear from them. We were told that due to a question they had, we needed a full doctor's letter written to explain the question. Nothing major, but it did need to be done.
It wasn't a huge deal since we had started the process 5 months prior to my 30th birthday, and since you had to be 30 to adopt from China, we were still hopeful we'd be DTC right at my 30th birthday.
Well, I didn't explain (i.e. write out the letter that AWAA needed) for the doctor, so it took me a little while to get it. 7 weeks to be exact. 7 weeks of calling the doctor to find out if they had gotten it written, and if they had gotten it notarized. The notary part took an extra week since their notary was out of the office for Christmas. We finally got our approval from AWAA and were officially their clients in early January 2006. We paid our first program fee!
Perfect timing: End of year bonus/medical reimbursement/savings allowed us to start this journey with cash!
Since I had been advised not to get started on the homestudy portion as we were not sure we would be approved to start, we now contacted our homestudy agency. I had done lots of research and found the name of the social worker who I had heard was super fast! That's what I wanted, a super fast homestudy completed.
As it was now January, the homestudy agency was doing seminars and workshops and training. I had applied the first week of January to the homestudy agency, our "intake" appointment was February 1st. 3 weeks of waiting for phone calls back, filling out paperwork to apply to the homestudy agency, and finally getting in with the social worker (not the one who would be writing the homestudy). We got our further instructions, and it was now 2 months until my 30th birthday. I still had hopes we could make it.
January 26th I had mailed our I-600A form to USCIS to get our fingerprinting appointment!
As part of our homestudy approval, we must have child abuse and neglect clearance checks done. This involves local fingerprints to be cleared through state. We went on February 2nd for our state fingerprints, this only involved a quick trip to the local sheriff's department for good old ink fingerprints - 2 cards each. We mailed these in, along with the payments for the CAN clearance, homestudy fees, and post-placement fees.
Perfect Timing - income tax refund allowed us to pay cash for this as well.
February 10th we went for our USCIS FBI fingerprints. These are not to be confused with the above fingerprint which also had to go to the FBI (just not the FBI USCIS office).
I called the doctor to get in for physicals, the earliest she could get us scheduled was February 27 and February 28. I gathered the boys' medical forms, got them notarized. I paperchased for our birth certificates (mine, Dh, and the boys'), our marriage certificate, etc. Can you believe it took us 5 states to get all the information? We also did our online education requirements for our homestudy agency (the completion form had to be turned in to get our first homestudy visit scheduled). While waiting for that first homestudy visit, we got the notice that Dh's fingerprints had cleared and he had cleared CAN. I got notice that my fingerprints had cleared state, but not the FBI (not the USCIS FBI) and I had not cleared CAN. I called the homestudy agency to question this as we had started that together. They advised we wait for 6 weeks and if I had not gotten a rejection notice, then they would call and find out my status.
We had our visits for our homestudy done. The social worker was AWESOME and fast. All our visits were done in less than 2 weeks, and 2 weeks later she had it written. We were now waiting on my CAN clearance.
Agency called to check, I had been rejected they just did not tell us. So, I march back down to the sheriff's department and get fingerprinted AGAIN. It's middle of March. Our homestudy is basically done. I have all papers required by AWAA gathered, notarized, and sent off for state authentications. I'm waiting on that CAN clearance.
April rolls around, it's been 4 weeks and we've heard nothing. My birthday is past, I'm waiting on CAN clearance so we can send our completed homestudy to state for approval. At the 5 week mark we know we're headed out of town for about a week, so I get more fingerprints done and sent to the homestudy agency so they can send them for my CAN clearance if we're rejected. While gone for the week, I get a call that I was FINALLY approved! We are now waiting on that official letter from the state saying I was approved. It must be attached to my homestudy when they send it right back to state for approval (yes the same building it was issued from).
So, we get home, I was fully expecting to have that piece of paperwork. Did not have it. I called the homestudy agency, they did not have it. A few days later, still didn't have it. They noticed they had the paper from other families approved AFTER me, so they called state. State made us wait the full 2 weeks from approval before reissuing the paper. It was now early May.
We got the paperwork, sent it RIGHT BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM!!!! This time with the homestudy attached. State looked it over and approved it May 23rd. It was then sent to USCIS, and while they don't send it trackable mail (oh the agony) we estimated it got there May 26th. We were told 4-6 weeks for processing. I thought, GREAT end of June!!! I quickly sent all the rest of our dossier for full authentications. I got it all ready.
4 weeks came and went. I started getting online to look to see where the USCIS office was in processing. I found out that April wasn't even through yet! Actually I found out the officer in charge of adoptions was not working, and that the USCIS office was saying 90 days for processing as the website states. Then in mid-July, we were told it was 90 BUSINESS days. The last week of July I found out someone with a June 12 2006 date of documents getting to the USCIS got their approval, but where was MY approval? We were skipped. So, I started having people look into it. No one had phone numbers. I called our state reps. Shortly after August 1, 2006 I got our 171h form in the mail!!! It was a Saturday, so we immediately took it to the bank for the "original copy" notarization. Monday morning we took it for county certification. Monday night we drove to the state capital, walked it in Tuesday for same day processing and I sent it on to Houston for courier service. I had it back in hand Monday. I shipped it priority overnight with 10am delivery to America World. The entire dossier was shipped, and it felt like I was shipping off the most priceless artifact known to man. Since Fed Ex does not insure documents, I sent it UPS - insured for some insane amount.
I watched it via tracking - lets just say we went the scenic route, and at 3am it was in Lexington, KY with a label "adverse weather conditions"
Okay...it was August. In Kentucky, the document had come from the South. It's AUGUST. No snow. I checked Weather.com, accuweather.com, intellicast.com, and weatherunderground.com. There were no tornados. There were no thunderstorms. There was no rain. It was a clear night. No high winds. No fog.
What adverse weather conditions?
Since I had insured it, I was told I could get the amount back for between "next day 10am delivery" and whatever it made it if there was an error.
Since UPS put in "adverse weather conditions" they told me that they did not have to refund my money. They can't be responsible for weather. I asked them WHAT was the adverse weather conditions...I checked for the entire southeast and could NOT find it. I asked why it went from our city to Birmingham to Atlanta to Knoxville to Lexington when it was headed for D.C.?
"Adverse weather conditions."
Okay, I was mad. I told the guy that UPS had caused me to miss the cut-off for sending in a dossier THIS WEEK and that it had been a 9 month process! I was emotional.
I called AWAA, told them what had happened, and since I had been so good about sending in copies, my family coordinator knew I had it all correct. She told me that IF it got there Thursday early, then they might possibly be able to get it in with the shipment for Friday August 18.
We made it!!! Our DTC was Friday August 18, 2006. Exactly 9 months to the day after we applied to AWAA. 9 months for our paperchase, when I did everything in my power to push it along, and basically had our dossier complete by mid-March. If not for the CAN clearance, I would have been DTC in April 2006. Our USCIS office was processing in 2-3 weeks during the month of March. Of course, you can say that if the doctor had written the letter quickly, we would have been through CAN earlier. True. There were a lot of "delays" with our paperwork.
Perfect Timing: Because it took 9 months we were able to pay cash for the 2nd payment as well. At this point we had not gone into any debt whatsoever for the adoption. We'd not paid down extra debt, but we were not further into debt. :)
It wasn't a huge deal since we had started the process 5 months prior to my 30th birthday, and since you had to be 30 to adopt from China, we were still hopeful we'd be DTC right at my 30th birthday.
Well, I didn't explain (i.e. write out the letter that AWAA needed) for the doctor, so it took me a little while to get it. 7 weeks to be exact. 7 weeks of calling the doctor to find out if they had gotten it written, and if they had gotten it notarized. The notary part took an extra week since their notary was out of the office for Christmas. We finally got our approval from AWAA and were officially their clients in early January 2006. We paid our first program fee!
Perfect timing: End of year bonus/medical reimbursement/savings allowed us to start this journey with cash!
Since I had been advised not to get started on the homestudy portion as we were not sure we would be approved to start, we now contacted our homestudy agency. I had done lots of research and found the name of the social worker who I had heard was super fast! That's what I wanted, a super fast homestudy completed.
As it was now January, the homestudy agency was doing seminars and workshops and training. I had applied the first week of January to the homestudy agency, our "intake" appointment was February 1st. 3 weeks of waiting for phone calls back, filling out paperwork to apply to the homestudy agency, and finally getting in with the social worker (not the one who would be writing the homestudy). We got our further instructions, and it was now 2 months until my 30th birthday. I still had hopes we could make it.
January 26th I had mailed our I-600A form to USCIS to get our fingerprinting appointment!
As part of our homestudy approval, we must have child abuse and neglect clearance checks done. This involves local fingerprints to be cleared through state. We went on February 2nd for our state fingerprints, this only involved a quick trip to the local sheriff's department for good old ink fingerprints - 2 cards each. We mailed these in, along with the payments for the CAN clearance, homestudy fees, and post-placement fees.
Perfect Timing - income tax refund allowed us to pay cash for this as well.
February 10th we went for our USCIS FBI fingerprints. These are not to be confused with the above fingerprint which also had to go to the FBI (just not the FBI USCIS office).
I called the doctor to get in for physicals, the earliest she could get us scheduled was February 27 and February 28. I gathered the boys' medical forms, got them notarized. I paperchased for our birth certificates (mine, Dh, and the boys'), our marriage certificate, etc. Can you believe it took us 5 states to get all the information? We also did our online education requirements for our homestudy agency (the completion form had to be turned in to get our first homestudy visit scheduled). While waiting for that first homestudy visit, we got the notice that Dh's fingerprints had cleared and he had cleared CAN. I got notice that my fingerprints had cleared state, but not the FBI (not the USCIS FBI) and I had not cleared CAN. I called the homestudy agency to question this as we had started that together. They advised we wait for 6 weeks and if I had not gotten a rejection notice, then they would call and find out my status.
We had our visits for our homestudy done. The social worker was AWESOME and fast. All our visits were done in less than 2 weeks, and 2 weeks later she had it written. We were now waiting on my CAN clearance.
Agency called to check, I had been rejected they just did not tell us. So, I march back down to the sheriff's department and get fingerprinted AGAIN. It's middle of March. Our homestudy is basically done. I have all papers required by AWAA gathered, notarized, and sent off for state authentications. I'm waiting on that CAN clearance.
April rolls around, it's been 4 weeks and we've heard nothing. My birthday is past, I'm waiting on CAN clearance so we can send our completed homestudy to state for approval. At the 5 week mark we know we're headed out of town for about a week, so I get more fingerprints done and sent to the homestudy agency so they can send them for my CAN clearance if we're rejected. While gone for the week, I get a call that I was FINALLY approved! We are now waiting on that official letter from the state saying I was approved. It must be attached to my homestudy when they send it right back to state for approval (yes the same building it was issued from).
So, we get home, I was fully expecting to have that piece of paperwork. Did not have it. I called the homestudy agency, they did not have it. A few days later, still didn't have it. They noticed they had the paper from other families approved AFTER me, so they called state. State made us wait the full 2 weeks from approval before reissuing the paper. It was now early May.
We got the paperwork, sent it RIGHT BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM!!!! This time with the homestudy attached. State looked it over and approved it May 23rd. It was then sent to USCIS, and while they don't send it trackable mail (oh the agony) we estimated it got there May 26th. We were told 4-6 weeks for processing. I thought, GREAT end of June!!! I quickly sent all the rest of our dossier for full authentications. I got it all ready.
4 weeks came and went. I started getting online to look to see where the USCIS office was in processing. I found out that April wasn't even through yet! Actually I found out the officer in charge of adoptions was not working, and that the USCIS office was saying 90 days for processing as the website states. Then in mid-July, we were told it was 90 BUSINESS days. The last week of July I found out someone with a June 12 2006 date of documents getting to the USCIS got their approval, but where was MY approval? We were skipped. So, I started having people look into it. No one had phone numbers. I called our state reps. Shortly after August 1, 2006 I got our 171h form in the mail!!! It was a Saturday, so we immediately took it to the bank for the "original copy" notarization. Monday morning we took it for county certification. Monday night we drove to the state capital, walked it in Tuesday for same day processing and I sent it on to Houston for courier service. I had it back in hand Monday. I shipped it priority overnight with 10am delivery to America World. The entire dossier was shipped, and it felt like I was shipping off the most priceless artifact known to man. Since Fed Ex does not insure documents, I sent it UPS - insured for some insane amount.
I watched it via tracking - lets just say we went the scenic route, and at 3am it was in Lexington, KY with a label "adverse weather conditions"
Okay...it was August. In Kentucky, the document had come from the South. It's AUGUST. No snow. I checked Weather.com, accuweather.com, intellicast.com, and weatherunderground.com. There were no tornados. There were no thunderstorms. There was no rain. It was a clear night. No high winds. No fog.
What adverse weather conditions?
Since I had insured it, I was told I could get the amount back for between "next day 10am delivery" and whatever it made it if there was an error.
Since UPS put in "adverse weather conditions" they told me that they did not have to refund my money. They can't be responsible for weather. I asked them WHAT was the adverse weather conditions...I checked for the entire southeast and could NOT find it. I asked why it went from our city to Birmingham to Atlanta to Knoxville to Lexington when it was headed for D.C.?
"Adverse weather conditions."
Okay, I was mad. I told the guy that UPS had caused me to miss the cut-off for sending in a dossier THIS WEEK and that it had been a 9 month process! I was emotional.
I called AWAA, told them what had happened, and since I had been so good about sending in copies, my family coordinator knew I had it all correct. She told me that IF it got there Thursday early, then they might possibly be able to get it in with the shipment for Friday August 18.
We made it!!! Our DTC was Friday August 18, 2006. Exactly 9 months to the day after we applied to AWAA. 9 months for our paperchase, when I did everything in my power to push it along, and basically had our dossier complete by mid-March. If not for the CAN clearance, I would have been DTC in April 2006. Our USCIS office was processing in 2-3 weeks during the month of March. Of course, you can say that if the doctor had written the letter quickly, we would have been through CAN earlier. True. There were a lot of "delays" with our paperwork.
Perfect Timing: Because it took 9 months we were able to pay cash for the 2nd payment as well. At this point we had not gone into any debt whatsoever for the adoption. We'd not paid down extra debt, but we were not further into debt. :)
Friday, June 20, 2008
Why China? Why adopt?
this is probably going to be a really long post, and for that I'm sorry. But honestly, to get through to WHY I need to make you understand where I was when we made that decision.
Dh and I, on an agonizingly long drive cross country right after we were married, had a long discussion about how many children we were going to have. I wanted 4. Dh wanted 2. We compromised at 3, possibly 4. Dh wanted to adopt, and I had wanted to adopt from China since I was 14 years old. Dh wasn't sure on country and would not commit at that time. I was 20, he was 26. We had years to wait on China adoption anyway, and I knew we wanted bio kids.
Being the "list maker and planner" that I am, we discussed timing. I wanted the kids 4 years apart. Dh just wanted them all born before he turned 36. Why 36? 36 + 25 = 61, or getting fairly close to retirement age. 25 years of "rearing" them through college. Remember he was 26 at the time. That gave us 9 years. 3 kids 4 years apart each takes 8 years. Not so much time left huh?
Our first, JM, was born when I was 22 and Dh was 28. 2 years later we discovered something called Secondary infertility. It's quite real, the pain is real, and oh yeah...it threw our entire plan off. Our second, came along 3 years and 10 months after JM was born - so I was 26 and Dh was 31. Boy that is an understatement of how much my life was changed with that entire experience. We'd have a 3rd, then we'd adopt was my original plan. More secondary infertility, failed treatments this time, and the frustration with all things medical and infertility were at an all time high for me. January 2005, watching a baby dedication at church, I realized that it wasn't another baby I wanted. I wanted a daughter. Dh came to the exact same realization that Sunday as well.
We knew we had a greater than average chance of having a 3rd boy (look at our clones in the header). ;) Boys are great, but I did want a daughter. Dh asked me about adoption programs. Could we specify gender doing a domestic adoption? Did we need to go international? After the pain of infertility, which program was the most stable (let me pause and laugh for a minute here)...and which program can we get a baby. I was 28. We started looking into different programs, but my heart from childhood was always with China.
I found out I had to be 30 with China. But none of the other programs I ever looked at felt right. It seems so downplayed to say "felt" when it was such a strong pull in my heart to China. In February 2005, Dh and I had a "family meeting" with each other and we decided on China. He just suddenly came around to it one day. I had sent him the links to different agency programs, links to different costs, and pros/cons to each that I could find. Remember I'm that "list maker" personality. He's an "enginerd."
February 2005 on I started researching agencies. I read blogs. I looked over lists of recommended. But I kept coming back to America World. Why? I don't know. I felt "pulled" to them. I'm ashamed to say that I never once called any of their references. I would read blogs of their clients, but never talked to them personally. November 2005, I was finally at least 29.5 and able to start the process and we chose America World and China.
Why? Because we wanted a daughter and knew it was unlikely we'd have our own. Since we'd always planned to adopt as a way to add to our family, it just became child #3 instead of child #4. Why China? Quite honestly, because that is where we felt led to go, where we felt our daughter was. It seems a little "lame" and overused, but it's truthful. We did feel like their program was the most stable (insert laughter here), and it did not hurt that we have always admired the culture. We have loved studying about ancient China, been in awe of the Great Wall, and it just all seemed to fall into place and click in our minds when thinking of our future daughter.
Will we have a child #4? I don't know. I won't rule it out, but if we do, I will tell you it will most likely come through adoption.
Dh and I, on an agonizingly long drive cross country right after we were married, had a long discussion about how many children we were going to have. I wanted 4. Dh wanted 2. We compromised at 3, possibly 4. Dh wanted to adopt, and I had wanted to adopt from China since I was 14 years old. Dh wasn't sure on country and would not commit at that time. I was 20, he was 26. We had years to wait on China adoption anyway, and I knew we wanted bio kids.
Being the "list maker and planner" that I am, we discussed timing. I wanted the kids 4 years apart. Dh just wanted them all born before he turned 36. Why 36? 36 + 25 = 61, or getting fairly close to retirement age. 25 years of "rearing" them through college. Remember he was 26 at the time. That gave us 9 years. 3 kids 4 years apart each takes 8 years. Not so much time left huh?
Our first, JM, was born when I was 22 and Dh was 28. 2 years later we discovered something called Secondary infertility. It's quite real, the pain is real, and oh yeah...it threw our entire plan off. Our second, came along 3 years and 10 months after JM was born - so I was 26 and Dh was 31. Boy that is an understatement of how much my life was changed with that entire experience. We'd have a 3rd, then we'd adopt was my original plan. More secondary infertility, failed treatments this time, and the frustration with all things medical and infertility were at an all time high for me. January 2005, watching a baby dedication at church, I realized that it wasn't another baby I wanted. I wanted a daughter. Dh came to the exact same realization that Sunday as well.
We knew we had a greater than average chance of having a 3rd boy (look at our clones in the header). ;) Boys are great, but I did want a daughter. Dh asked me about adoption programs. Could we specify gender doing a domestic adoption? Did we need to go international? After the pain of infertility, which program was the most stable (let me pause and laugh for a minute here)...and which program can we get a baby. I was 28. We started looking into different programs, but my heart from childhood was always with China.
I found out I had to be 30 with China. But none of the other programs I ever looked at felt right. It seems so downplayed to say "felt" when it was such a strong pull in my heart to China. In February 2005, Dh and I had a "family meeting" with each other and we decided on China. He just suddenly came around to it one day. I had sent him the links to different agency programs, links to different costs, and pros/cons to each that I could find. Remember I'm that "list maker" personality. He's an "enginerd."
February 2005 on I started researching agencies. I read blogs. I looked over lists of recommended. But I kept coming back to America World. Why? I don't know. I felt "pulled" to them. I'm ashamed to say that I never once called any of their references. I would read blogs of their clients, but never talked to them personally. November 2005, I was finally at least 29.5 and able to start the process and we chose America World and China.
Why? Because we wanted a daughter and knew it was unlikely we'd have our own. Since we'd always planned to adopt as a way to add to our family, it just became child #3 instead of child #4. Why China? Quite honestly, because that is where we felt led to go, where we felt our daughter was. It seems a little "lame" and overused, but it's truthful. We did feel like their program was the most stable (insert laughter here), and it did not hurt that we have always admired the culture. We have loved studying about ancient China, been in awe of the Great Wall, and it just all seemed to fall into place and click in our minds when thinking of our future daughter.
Will we have a child #4? I don't know. I won't rule it out, but if we do, I will tell you it will most likely come through adoption.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
New Orleans
It was a vacation, but not one of our normal vacations. We went to visit with family, and enjoy their company instead of "tour tour tour tour tour...oh yeah and tour some more" kind. While we did do stuff, we mostly walked around the city, ate some really yummy food, let the boys swim, and let Katie enjoy her family. :)
I'm only posting a few here, if you want to see the rest check at the bottom of this post for links.
Samuel - gosh I love his expressions! His eyes, those eyelashes, and his silliness.
Katie's smile and laughter make me happy as well.
My 3 kids, all dressed up and almost fully cooperating!
Thumbnail view OR Slideshow If you do the slideshow, be sure to click the i in the circle on the first image when it comes up - you get "captions" that way. ;)
I'm only posting a few here, if you want to see the rest check at the bottom of this post for links.
Samuel - gosh I love his expressions! His eyes, those eyelashes, and his silliness.
Katie's smile and laughter make me happy as well.
My 3 kids, all dressed up and almost fully cooperating!
Thumbnail view OR Slideshow If you do the slideshow, be sure to click the i in the circle on the first image when it comes up - you get "captions" that way. ;)
Hilton Head, SC
does anyone who reads my blog live near there? Okay, other than the people that I know already live there who are from First Baptist. If so, could you post a comment here with email and I promise to not post the comment. :)
Thanks!
Thanks!
Life is short
Someone I met online quite a few years ago (and I refuse to mention exactly how long as it ages me quite a bit) has recently gotten some devastating news. It truly does put so many things in perspective. Life is short ya'll. REALLY short. I look at my family, all of them, and think of how blessed I am. How much I love them. How much I am thankful they are in my life.
I'm going to hug my Dh extra today. He truly is wonderful to me, our kids, and our extended family. I don't appreciate him nearly enough.
My heart is aching for the person I knew/know. Even though I've not talked with her online in a few years, my heart aches for her.
*sigh*
I'm going to hug my Dh extra today. He truly is wonderful to me, our kids, and our extended family. I don't appreciate him nearly enough.
My heart is aching for the person I knew/know. Even though I've not talked with her online in a few years, my heart aches for her.
*sigh*
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Upcoming posts....
I've had a few questions IRL about "Why Adopt? Why China?" and as this blog is both a journal for myself, an online scrapbook for our family, AND a means for our family to keep up with all that is going on in our lives...well, I'm answering them here so I have something to get my thoughts in order and keep a record of it. With the hopes that I can refer to it later when I need to.
:)
:)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Samuel Brag
We're so very proud of him! He's going to enjoy swimming at the grandparent's this summer, and perhaps this next year we can work on the next major childhood milestone - riding a bicycle without training wheels!
I think we covered PE this week. More than covered it with swimming lessons AND karate.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
6 months with us.
Katie has been with us for 6 months now. Where is she? How far has she come? How is she doing?
First off, she's turned into a true "2 year old" before our eyes. She's still itty bitty tiny, but full of spirit. She can be naughty, and delights in being naughty. From running away from me at Karate classes (onto the mats) to trying to dart out into the street at home, she is showing us that she wants to be independent. Developmentally I would guess she is on target. According to this chart Katie can do a lot of the things, some I'm not so sure.
"Takes off clothes" - yes, she takes off her shoes in the van, unzips her pjs at night, and takes off the diaper.
"Dumps an object in imitation" - yes, she throws such things away as remote controls, wedding rings, cell phones, toys, plates, cups, bowls, sippy cups, etc.
"Helping around the house." - she takes the folded laundry and shakes it for me. ;) She showed us in Jamestown that she can sweep...well sort of.
"draws a straight line" - ummm, she scribbles sort of well. The scribbles can be straight lines, but I'm not sure they are intentional.
"Walks up and down stairs." - oh that's a good one! ROFL I won't allow it. She does go up and down the stairs...on her bottom or crawling. She can walk up a single small step, and down it.
"follows 2 step directions" - when she wants to she can.
"sings simple tunes" - umm, depends on whether what she is singing in what sounds like Chinese is truly a song or if it's baby gibberish nonsense. It's got a tune though. Okay, she does sing the Imperial March very very well. This baby can carry a tune!
Those are the highlights, and I would say she's right around the 22 months mark which is PERFECT, but not everything from each column.
I noticed on this "milestone chart" that she is supposed to have a certain number of words. I need to count, but it's hard because she imitates words well. We just do not know which she actually knows what it means. She is definitely not using words to communicate with us. She understands what we say, but she'd rather point and scream for a drink instead of saying "Want juice." Okay, so Katie would say, "Want coca-cola instead." ;)
Attachment. Katie seems to prefer me unless we're in a strange situation, then she wants Daddy. Okay, honestly, she seems to prefer both of us. Some days she leaps into my arms, other days it's Daddy. Sometimes she asks me to pick her up, other times Daddy. We've left her in Sunday School, but not worship care. That is soon. She has done really well, but we can tell it slightly bothers her. She knows though that it is church and that we will come back. It's the new places with lots of people that it takes her about 30 minutes or so to relax enough to realize we aren't leaving her. If she is scared or frightened, she definitely wants her Daddy. If she is hurt (from falling down) or perceives herself to be hurt (from walking into a stuffed animal) or if her feelings are hurt (from someone denying her greatest desire..of oh putting a lego in her mouth), she'll come to me. She gives Daddy kisses and both of us get hugs.
Katie sleeps through the night and is somewhat easy to put down for bedtime. She needs her music playing (I changed it up recently and started playing Disney Lullabies). She likes specific blankets (imitation of her cousin who is slightly older than her). We notice that she doesn't sleep well after "stressful events" such as going on vacation, daddy working late, or being "babysat" by grandparents.
Katie in December 2007 - These were two of our "better" photos. It broke my heart too much to take the ones of her rejecting me, screaming when she saw me, and crying her grief out!
Katie now! :) (yes I know you've seen it, but I love it!)
First off, she's turned into a true "2 year old" before our eyes. She's still itty bitty tiny, but full of spirit. She can be naughty, and delights in being naughty. From running away from me at Karate classes (onto the mats) to trying to dart out into the street at home, she is showing us that she wants to be independent. Developmentally I would guess she is on target. According to this chart Katie can do a lot of the things, some I'm not so sure.
"Takes off clothes" - yes, she takes off her shoes in the van, unzips her pjs at night, and takes off the diaper.
"Dumps an object in imitation" - yes, she throws such things away as remote controls, wedding rings, cell phones, toys, plates, cups, bowls, sippy cups, etc.
"Helping around the house." - she takes the folded laundry and shakes it for me. ;) She showed us in Jamestown that she can sweep...well sort of.
"draws a straight line" - ummm, she scribbles sort of well. The scribbles can be straight lines, but I'm not sure they are intentional.
"Walks up and down stairs." - oh that's a good one! ROFL I won't allow it. She does go up and down the stairs...on her bottom or crawling. She can walk up a single small step, and down it.
"follows 2 step directions" - when she wants to she can.
"sings simple tunes" - umm, depends on whether what she is singing in what sounds like Chinese is truly a song or if it's baby gibberish nonsense. It's got a tune though. Okay, she does sing the Imperial March very very well. This baby can carry a tune!
Those are the highlights, and I would say she's right around the 22 months mark which is PERFECT, but not everything from each column.
I noticed on this "milestone chart" that she is supposed to have a certain number of words. I need to count, but it's hard because she imitates words well. We just do not know which she actually knows what it means. She is definitely not using words to communicate with us. She understands what we say, but she'd rather point and scream for a drink instead of saying "Want juice." Okay, so Katie would say, "Want coca-cola instead." ;)
Attachment. Katie seems to prefer me unless we're in a strange situation, then she wants Daddy. Okay, honestly, she seems to prefer both of us. Some days she leaps into my arms, other days it's Daddy. Sometimes she asks me to pick her up, other times Daddy. We've left her in Sunday School, but not worship care. That is soon. She has done really well, but we can tell it slightly bothers her. She knows though that it is church and that we will come back. It's the new places with lots of people that it takes her about 30 minutes or so to relax enough to realize we aren't leaving her. If she is scared or frightened, she definitely wants her Daddy. If she is hurt (from falling down) or perceives herself to be hurt (from walking into a stuffed animal) or if her feelings are hurt (from someone denying her greatest desire..of oh putting a lego in her mouth), she'll come to me. She gives Daddy kisses and both of us get hugs.
Katie sleeps through the night and is somewhat easy to put down for bedtime. She needs her music playing (I changed it up recently and started playing Disney Lullabies). She likes specific blankets (imitation of her cousin who is slightly older than her). We notice that she doesn't sleep well after "stressful events" such as going on vacation, daddy working late, or being "babysat" by grandparents.
Katie in December 2007 - These were two of our "better" photos. It broke my heart too much to take the ones of her rejecting me, screaming when she saw me, and crying her grief out!
Katie now! :) (yes I know you've seen it, but I love it!)
Monday, June 09, 2008
VBS 2008
She stayed for 3 hours in nursery care while I did my thing at VBS today! I'm so incredibly proud of her. 4 strangers, and she didn't really soothe herself. We did not notice "shut down" either! She's been a little "mad" at me though because at 30 minutes to go in the "day" she saw me and I could not take her with me. That was the ONLY time she cried.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Flying with us...
or heck, traveling with us, is probably not in your best interests I believe.
6 months ago, we set out on our Adoption Journey to China. Only to hit a few "snafus" with flights. 45 hours later, almost no sleep, we were finally in Beijing. 45 hours, which covered 7 scheduled flights we were supposed to have been on, only 4 of which we actually managed to make it on the flight. It was crazy. It was stressful. We endured, and learned quite a bit ourselves and traveling. Mainly, we would NOT make good Amazing Race contestants.
Our DC vacation, well, what would be an airplane ride without incident in actually getting to take that flight?
On the outbound trip, we got hit with new baggage rules. We could only take 1 checked bag and 1 carry on item. Each. Extra bags, we were told were $10. The day of, the fee had increased to $20. Overweight fee was $29. We checked 5 bags, one was 2.5 pounds over, the other 4 were WELL under the weight. Atlanta charged us $49. *grumble grumble*
On the return flight, our flight was scheduled for 2:53pm. We were told to check in 120 minutes prior to departure, absolutely NO check in 45 min prior to departure. We left our hotel around 9:45am (give or take a few minutes). GPS unit said 1 hour and roughly 30 minutes of travel time. GREAT! We could actually get the rental car turned in without extra fees. We chose against seeing more museums for fear of brains exploding from too much knowledge. ;) We started down I95, all was well for about 5 minutes then we noticed lots of red brake lights. LOTS of them. 3 lanes full of them as far as we could see. We thought, okay, traffic snafu. We got in the HOV lanes, all was well for about 5 minutes (if that). 1 mile prior to "re-entry" to normal interstate, it was a standstill. Complete and total standstill. 5 lanes going into 3 that were already backed up. We managed to merge. (Notice, I would give us having gone roughly 10-15 miles TOTAL at this point) It was now around 10:45am. 1 hour. 1 hour to go a lousy 10-15 miles.
We tried "detour" feature on the GPS. We were cruising along at a pretty good trip, for about 10 minutes, and finally thinking..."we just might get there in plenty of time to eat lunch!" Yeah, until the we hit the thousands of other people who had the same idea as us to use "detour" feature on their GPS units. Brilliant.
We pulled out the laptop, hooked up my cell phone, and searched. "Incident at mile marker 131." Okay. Nice to know, where did that leave us? We had no idea where we were in relation to that. It did mention, "traffic congestion due to incident at mile 131" though. Where was this "congestion?" Mile marker 156. Yes. 25 miles. Our hearts sunk. We tried to detour around the US highway congestion, but learned, the GPS unit doesn't really detour from the detour. It would only send us back to the congested interstate that resembled a parking lot, or send us to the US highway that was the parking lot we were on. We watched the "arrival time" creep up. We decided that surely the interstate was moving faster, got on, around 140 I think. 9 miles. 9 miles took roughly 1 hour. We called the AirTran to see what our options were. We were now in danger of not arriving outside the 45 minute window, and we had to drop off a rental car and check in!
We tossed some snacks back to the boys. Samuel got a little choked (he swallowed a pretzel piece whole), and yes....he vomited. Luckily into a bag. I leaped into the back to help him out. Climbed back up front. Then realized just how badly I needed to stop for a restroom. See, it had been almost 3 hours by this point since we left. We'd gone maybe 30 miles. The van needed gas unless we wanted to pay the $5.80+ a gallon for the rental car to fill it up. We were short on time. The decision was, "Bathroom break worth possibly missing the flight?" I finally said, YES!!!! It took us 5 minutes to refuel and use the necessary. ;) Dh drove great, the kids were troopers, Katie thought we were never going to feed her again! We made it to Richmond Airport 1 hours and 10 minutes prior to departure. Dh dropped me, the kids, and the luggage off to check in. He returned the van. I had us more "evenly packed" and we only had 4 bags, this time all weighing CLOSER to the weight limit.
We made our flight, a little stressed, but going home.
We got to Atlanta, finally got to the van....it wouldn't start. The battery was dead due to 3 interior lights being left on. Thanks kids. AAA to the rescue, and one lost code for the entertainment system in the van meaning NOTHING TO LISTEN TO ON THE WAY HOME! We made it...finally. The bed never felt so good.
6 months ago, we set out on our Adoption Journey to China. Only to hit a few "snafus" with flights. 45 hours later, almost no sleep, we were finally in Beijing. 45 hours, which covered 7 scheduled flights we were supposed to have been on, only 4 of which we actually managed to make it on the flight. It was crazy. It was stressful. We endured, and learned quite a bit ourselves and traveling. Mainly, we would NOT make good Amazing Race contestants.
Our DC vacation, well, what would be an airplane ride without incident in actually getting to take that flight?
On the outbound trip, we got hit with new baggage rules. We could only take 1 checked bag and 1 carry on item. Each. Extra bags, we were told were $10. The day of, the fee had increased to $20. Overweight fee was $29. We checked 5 bags, one was 2.5 pounds over, the other 4 were WELL under the weight. Atlanta charged us $49. *grumble grumble*
On the return flight, our flight was scheduled for 2:53pm. We were told to check in 120 minutes prior to departure, absolutely NO check in 45 min prior to departure. We left our hotel around 9:45am (give or take a few minutes). GPS unit said 1 hour and roughly 30 minutes of travel time. GREAT! We could actually get the rental car turned in without extra fees. We chose against seeing more museums for fear of brains exploding from too much knowledge. ;) We started down I95, all was well for about 5 minutes then we noticed lots of red brake lights. LOTS of them. 3 lanes full of them as far as we could see. We thought, okay, traffic snafu. We got in the HOV lanes, all was well for about 5 minutes (if that). 1 mile prior to "re-entry" to normal interstate, it was a standstill. Complete and total standstill. 5 lanes going into 3 that were already backed up. We managed to merge. (Notice, I would give us having gone roughly 10-15 miles TOTAL at this point) It was now around 10:45am. 1 hour. 1 hour to go a lousy 10-15 miles.
We tried "detour" feature on the GPS. We were cruising along at a pretty good trip, for about 10 minutes, and finally thinking..."we just might get there in plenty of time to eat lunch!" Yeah, until the we hit the thousands of other people who had the same idea as us to use "detour" feature on their GPS units. Brilliant.
We pulled out the laptop, hooked up my cell phone, and searched. "Incident at mile marker 131." Okay. Nice to know, where did that leave us? We had no idea where we were in relation to that. It did mention, "traffic congestion due to incident at mile 131" though. Where was this "congestion?" Mile marker 156. Yes. 25 miles. Our hearts sunk. We tried to detour around the US highway congestion, but learned, the GPS unit doesn't really detour from the detour. It would only send us back to the congested interstate that resembled a parking lot, or send us to the US highway that was the parking lot we were on. We watched the "arrival time" creep up. We decided that surely the interstate was moving faster, got on, around 140 I think. 9 miles. 9 miles took roughly 1 hour. We called the AirTran to see what our options were. We were now in danger of not arriving outside the 45 minute window, and we had to drop off a rental car and check in!
We tossed some snacks back to the boys. Samuel got a little choked (he swallowed a pretzel piece whole), and yes....he vomited. Luckily into a bag. I leaped into the back to help him out. Climbed back up front. Then realized just how badly I needed to stop for a restroom. See, it had been almost 3 hours by this point since we left. We'd gone maybe 30 miles. The van needed gas unless we wanted to pay the $5.80+ a gallon for the rental car to fill it up. We were short on time. The decision was, "Bathroom break worth possibly missing the flight?" I finally said, YES!!!! It took us 5 minutes to refuel and use the necessary. ;) Dh drove great, the kids were troopers, Katie thought we were never going to feed her again! We made it to Richmond Airport 1 hours and 10 minutes prior to departure. Dh dropped me, the kids, and the luggage off to check in. He returned the van. I had us more "evenly packed" and we only had 4 bags, this time all weighing CLOSER to the weight limit.
We made our flight, a little stressed, but going home.
We got to Atlanta, finally got to the van....it wouldn't start. The battery was dead due to 3 interior lights being left on. Thanks kids. AAA to the rescue, and one lost code for the entertainment system in the van meaning NOTHING TO LISTEN TO ON THE WAY HOME! We made it...finally. The bed never felt so good.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
As we were in Washington DC and it's the inaugural season in the new stadium for the Washington Nationals, Dh wanted to see a game. I mean, REALLY wanted to see a game. I told him that we should stick with the "cheap seats" and we could wait until we got there and just buy them at the gate. Good plan!
We got there Tuesday night, for a game against the Phillies, we were there about "right at game time" and thought "we'll get in by the 2nd or 3rd inning. Wrong. We stood in line for 45-60 minutes, and still had at least 30 minutes to go. Dh was keeping track of the game on his "crackberry" and they were already in the 4th inning. We decided to just go on back to the hotel. I mean, what is the point if we don't get to the ticket window until around the 7th inning at the earliest!
We decided to go back, get online and purchase tickets online to be picked up at "Will Call" the next night. It worked! Like a charm! However, we failed to looked at the weather forecast prior to purchasing tickets and it was cold. AND wet.
Beautiful view of the Washington Monument in the sunset....
Did I mention we wanted "cheap seats" as we knew Katie would not stay long? Can't get much cheaper than this.
It was quite chilly way up there in the nosebleed section.
Just how far WERE we actually?
See that fence? It surrounds the top of the stadium. That would be Row X people. The TOP ROW. *faint*
So, how was the game actually? It was supposedly a great game. High scoring. The boys did get to see a homerun, which was exciting. However, with the cold night air, the over abundance of teens hopping in and out of their seats around us (and walking over the rows, standing in front of us, etc.) we did not stay long. Katie and I stayed even less time than the boys did. She wanted to walk around.
Here she is in motion, please ignore the sound...
I'm asking her how she is, how old she has to be to do something...and then how old is she (we're working on that now). She responded in her gibberish but you can't understand her with the crowd noise and wind noise.
We got there Tuesday night, for a game against the Phillies, we were there about "right at game time" and thought "we'll get in by the 2nd or 3rd inning. Wrong. We stood in line for 45-60 minutes, and still had at least 30 minutes to go. Dh was keeping track of the game on his "crackberry" and they were already in the 4th inning. We decided to just go on back to the hotel. I mean, what is the point if we don't get to the ticket window until around the 7th inning at the earliest!
We decided to go back, get online and purchase tickets online to be picked up at "Will Call" the next night. It worked! Like a charm! However, we failed to looked at the weather forecast prior to purchasing tickets and it was cold. AND wet.
Beautiful view of the Washington Monument in the sunset....
Did I mention we wanted "cheap seats" as we knew Katie would not stay long? Can't get much cheaper than this.
It was quite chilly way up there in the nosebleed section.
Just how far WERE we actually?
See that fence? It surrounds the top of the stadium. That would be Row X people. The TOP ROW. *faint*
So, how was the game actually? It was supposedly a great game. High scoring. The boys did get to see a homerun, which was exciting. However, with the cold night air, the over abundance of teens hopping in and out of their seats around us (and walking over the rows, standing in front of us, etc.) we did not stay long. Katie and I stayed even less time than the boys did. She wanted to walk around.
Here she is in motion, please ignore the sound...
I'm asking her how she is, how old she has to be to do something...and then how old is she (we're working on that now). She responded in her gibberish but you can't understand her with the crowd noise and wind noise.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
More Vacation photos
I'm working to figure out a better way to share photos! Uploading and posting one by one is getting very old, and I'm sure you are bored to tears reading about our vacation. So, I'm trying to join the "new digital photo sharing age" and have a flickr account I just set up.
But, I'm posting a few of my favorites here, and if you are REALLY bored and have time to waste, you can see the rest of them. ;)
As the vacation wore on, I took fewer and fewer photos. I also remember less and less. Something about overload on the brain or something. Or it could have been the stress and gray hairs we got trying to keep Samuel from darting out into the traffic (he only ALMOST stepped out in front of a bus one time...heart stopping OH MY GOSH almost stepped...would have if I had not yanked his shirt back quickly).
Samuel loved the "HIGH" preacher pulpit in the Jamestown church. He could see all the way to the last row.
Katie and Mommy at Mount Vernon (she wanted down to run around)
"Hey there?! Whacha doin? Huh?" Samuel's personality FULLY shines through in this photo. Truly.
I told Dh that the next time he forgets my birthday or our anniversary he can make it up to me by buying this little "bauble" for me. ;)
WOW. Just wow seeing this document in person, and the others. WOWEE.
By the way, "true size" copies of the Declaration of Independence are $8 in the giftshop. The giftshop also sells the National Treasure DVD. ;)
click here to see a slideshow of the rest of the images (all 51) be sure to click the (i) in the middle of the slideshow window to read descriptions
click here to see thumbnails
But, I'm posting a few of my favorites here, and if you are REALLY bored and have time to waste, you can see the rest of them. ;)
As the vacation wore on, I took fewer and fewer photos. I also remember less and less. Something about overload on the brain or something. Or it could have been the stress and gray hairs we got trying to keep Samuel from darting out into the traffic (he only ALMOST stepped out in front of a bus one time...heart stopping OH MY GOSH almost stepped...would have if I had not yanked his shirt back quickly).
Samuel loved the "HIGH" preacher pulpit in the Jamestown church. He could see all the way to the last row.
Katie and Mommy at Mount Vernon (she wanted down to run around)
"Hey there?! Whacha doin? Huh?" Samuel's personality FULLY shines through in this photo. Truly.
I told Dh that the next time he forgets my birthday or our anniversary he can make it up to me by buying this little "bauble" for me. ;)
WOW. Just wow seeing this document in person, and the others. WOWEE.
By the way, "true size" copies of the Declaration of Independence are $8 in the giftshop. The giftshop also sells the National Treasure DVD. ;)
click here to see a slideshow of the rest of the images (all 51) be sure to click the (i) in the middle of the slideshow window to read descriptions
click here to see thumbnails
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Day 3 - Jamestown
We were headed back to "snoresville" as JM said after an exciting day at Busch Gardens. I think he was pleasantly surprised at how interesting Jamestown was. He enjoyed it, as did the little kids.
First, we walked to the historic area....it was a rather "long" walk to Katie. ;)
JM was a HUGE help this vacation by being able to carry a backpack!
Once we got down to the dock and the ships, I had the responsibility of watching Samuel (making sure he didn't go into the water). ;)
He loved the dock!
JM got to try his hand at steering, and found it was rather more difficult than the thought.
Um...Samuel?! SAMUEL!!!! Oh yeah, I was supposed to be watching him. ;) He was looking to see if he could see the rutter. *wrong end buddy* Yes, we did get on to him, and no he did not fall into the water. Scared us a little though. It was a foreshadowing of our trip in DC though. I now officially have a few more gray hairs.
Safely back on land, the boys learn about how to carve out a canoe.
They then tried their hand at rowing a canoe...yes, on dry land. We learned that these canoes could be walked in without capsizing though. JM would like to do this a as a school project. We tried explaining to him that it was a LONG process. He is convinced we can do it. I think we'll wait a few months at least!
First, we walked to the historic area....it was a rather "long" walk to Katie. ;)
JM was a HUGE help this vacation by being able to carry a backpack!
Once we got down to the dock and the ships, I had the responsibility of watching Samuel (making sure he didn't go into the water). ;)
He loved the dock!
JM got to try his hand at steering, and found it was rather more difficult than the thought.
Um...Samuel?! SAMUEL!!!! Oh yeah, I was supposed to be watching him. ;) He was looking to see if he could see the rutter. *wrong end buddy* Yes, we did get on to him, and no he did not fall into the water. Scared us a little though. It was a foreshadowing of our trip in DC though. I now officially have a few more gray hairs.
Safely back on land, the boys learn about how to carve out a canoe.
They then tried their hand at rowing a canoe...yes, on dry land. We learned that these canoes could be walked in without capsizing though. JM would like to do this a as a school project. We tried explaining to him that it was a LONG process. He is convinced we can do it. I think we'll wait a few months at least!
I pulled the plug.
Oh yes I did! Can you believe it? We no longer have cable of any kind. We can only get over the air through the antenna. Wow. Shocked?
Why did we do this? Well, we had been talking about it for a few months, and basically we were spending roughly $50 a month for all these channels we NEVER watch. I asked Dh, "Do you get $50 worth of benefit from the TV? I know I don't." It boiled down to only keeping it for the Sci Fi channel, and since they video stream some of the shows we watch online we can do that. OR we can wait until the end of the season and buy the DVD collection (like we've been doing anyway).
Our goal, with the savings, is to either pay for Disney OR purchase a Blu-ray player and new Blu-ray movies.
We still get PBS though. So far the kids haven't missed it. I'll let you know when we finally miss it.
Why did we do this? Well, we had been talking about it for a few months, and basically we were spending roughly $50 a month for all these channels we NEVER watch. I asked Dh, "Do you get $50 worth of benefit from the TV? I know I don't." It boiled down to only keeping it for the Sci Fi channel, and since they video stream some of the shows we watch online we can do that. OR we can wait until the end of the season and buy the DVD collection (like we've been doing anyway).
Our goal, with the savings, is to either pay for Disney OR purchase a Blu-ray player and new Blu-ray movies.
We still get PBS though. So far the kids haven't missed it. I'll let you know when we finally miss it.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Day 2 - Busch Gardens!!!
Okay, the funny story behind this is that we were planning our vacation and I mentioned going to Busch Gardens. JM said, "Great. A gardens. Mom just loves taking pictures of flowers and us in gardens." He made it way too easy to just play along and not tell him that it was more of a "garden of roller coasters" that we were going to!
He was THRILLED when we got there. It was definitely a highlight of his trip.
Samuel and Katie rode a few rides, but we quickly learned that Katie does NOT care for riding without her parents at all.
We rode the Tea Cups as a family, and unlike the Tea cups in Disney these spun so fast. Katie clung to me and did not like it at all.
Samuel, poor thing, is too short for most of the roller coasters, and here he was showing me that he FIT in the seat. I had to explain that while he fit, it was more his body size and the gravity forces that the coaster would put on him that he could not handle.
All was better when he got to ride his FIRST big rollercoaster - Big Bad Wolf. :)
It was a good day all in all, and the kids loved going to the "gardens" after all.
He was THRILLED when we got there. It was definitely a highlight of his trip.
Samuel and Katie rode a few rides, but we quickly learned that Katie does NOT care for riding without her parents at all.
We rode the Tea Cups as a family, and unlike the Tea cups in Disney these spun so fast. Katie clung to me and did not like it at all.
Samuel, poor thing, is too short for most of the roller coasters, and here he was showing me that he FIT in the seat. I had to explain that while he fit, it was more his body size and the gravity forces that the coaster would put on him that he could not handle.
All was better when he got to ride his FIRST big rollercoaster - Big Bad Wolf. :)
It was a good day all in all, and the kids loved going to the "gardens" after all.
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