Swine Flu

Okay, enough with the swine flu already. I'm done with it. No longer interested. Let's move on to a new topic in the news.

Also, I read that Russia is protecting themselves against infection by installing thermal-screening machines in the Moscow airport that will "screen" passengers and alert them if someone is bringing in the flu. I am not sure how exactly this works...so I'm assuming it has to do with body temperature, and whether or not a person has a fever. They say they have set up the airport as a quarantine area in case they have any suspected cases.

So of course now I'm picturing: Jim or myself (who am I kidding, it will be me) stepping off the plane a little bit warmer than usual, and having nets thrown over me while sirens go off and Russian soldiers in gas masks seal me up and take me to a rubber room for a month or so. And this is being optimistic that they even let us in the country.

Enough already. It's the flu. Everyone please just stop sharing bodily fluids, and wash your hands.

Random Weekend Pics

And yes, in reference to my last post where I said that abbreviating standard language bugs me, I had to force myself to write "pics" above instead of "pictures". I do it, in the hopes of appearing normal, but I have to say it just feels wrong. Maybe it is my rule-follower personality...

A Man of Letters

Liam's best friend in Kindergarten is a boy after my own heart. He is single-handedly bringing back the art of letter writing. We don't have to worry about him only being able to write in text-message form, or in Twitter tweets. I respect that a lot. I am the kind of emailer who can usually not bring herself to abbreviate anything, like LOL (laugh out loud) or IMO (in my opinion). I just like for everything to be written out properly. I am also old enough that I have a stack of actual letters - real, paper, hand-written, not even typed, letters - that I received from family and friends while I was in college and even after college while I was traveling. When I traveled from country to country in my auditing job my parents would track me down, even if it was in Bogota, and send me a letter to the hotel. I did my part as well, of course, sending letters and so many postcards. Yes, now I'm left with a stack of paper to deal with, but there is something so nice about seeing a loved one's handwriting, and feeling the paper, and reading those completely formed sentences. I love email, but I do get nostalgic for letter writing.

Back to my story of Liam's friend - he is a letter writer. Granted, he is probably too young for email, and someday he will most likely prefer texting and Tweeting. For now, though, I love to see a letter in the mail from this little guy (he only lives a few streets away). They usually start with something sentimental like "My Dear Liam, my best friend in the whole wide world. You are the best boy ever." Oh, to be young enough to express emotion this way again. It is sweet, I tell you. So very sweet.

Leaving The Light On For You

So, the Dossier Two paperwork should be on the way to Russia now, and we just wait for travel dates. Last Friday our weekly update from our agency mentioned that there were some court dates available in the Region right now, and they are just waiting for families with completed paperwork. So, fingers crossed, that we may hear something soon. It would be so nice to be able to make trip plans. Unfortunately, they are also saying the 10 Day Waiting Period is not being waived right now, so we may end up having to make three trips in total.

Meanwhile, we finally got Owen's room painted, and cleared out some of the junk that had somehow piled up in there over the last year or so. It's still not finished, but just painting it made it really feel like it is his room now. I picked blue and yellow to match the nursery bedding. It is the same nursery bedding that I used for both of the other kids. No, I'm not imaginative when it comes to nurseries. Jim thinks it looks too babyish, but I think he IS a baby still.

Notice the long row of little shoes, waiting. We think some will be too small already, but they are Liam's old shoes (and one very cute pair of crocs from a cousin). At that age they don't wear out too much. He has at least as many coats and jackets in the closet too. Jim has a fascination with coats.

Liam and Natalie both seem to really like the room too. It seems every time I go by the room I notice one or both of the lamps are on, and I know Liam has been in there. The other morning before school I found Liam sitting in the rocking chair, with both lamps on, his feet up on the ottoman, and a pensive look on his face. He looked so serious. I told him, "I think Owen is going to like this room." Liam just nodded his head and replied very soberly, "Yes. He will."

We're leaving the light on for you, baby.

A Few Favorite Sayings

The Lemony Falcon - Liam's term for the Millenium Falcon in Star Wars.



IckDonalds - Natalie's term for McDonalds. She doesn't realize yet how appropriate it is.

Happy Birthday To You

Happy Birthday to you, Mom! You're still as beautiful as ever!

Paperwork That Won't Stop

Thought I would post an update about the adoption, since I haven't mentioned it in a while. I don't have much to write, and I have actually been trying not to think too much about it. We finished up the second set of paperwork that they call Dossier Two. Now it sits with the Secretary of State, awaiting a seal called an Apostille. They (Secty of State) received the package at 9:32am on Monday. Not that I'm counting, or anything. I was going to complain because I keep checking the Fedex site and they still haven't put it in the mail back to me, but lo and behold, I just checked and it is expected to arrive here by 3pm tomorrow. Then I will Fedex it overnight to the agency, and hopefully, the paperwork will be done. THEN (and only then) we will officially wait for a court date. If it seems like this takes a while, it does. We weren't even supposed to get the Medical Forms done until 30-45 days after returning from Trip 1, because it takes 3 or 4 months to get a court date, and yet the Medicals are only valid for 3 months. Go figure. Yet, they won't set a court date until they receive all the paperwork. Makes perfect sense, I know.

This round of paperwork has seemed particularly excruciating. Not in volume - it wasn't as much as Dossier One, for sure. But the first round of paperwork was done long before actually receiving, or meeting in person, a baby. Now I feel like every single minute that anything is delayed is a minute older that Owen grows without me. As much as I try to separate the two, I can't.

At this point, I am just holding my breath, hoping that nothing throws a wrench into this last leg of the journey. Our agency this week announced that they will only be working Monday thru Thursday now, due to the decreasing number of adoptions (economy related, as well as all the changes in int'l adoption that have made wait times increased, etc.). I feel bad for the employees at the agency, but underlying it all is an intense fear that something will happen and we will never get Owen. So I try to distract myself with other things. That usually isn't too hard, with the kids around.

The wait continues... I looked at vacation pictures from last summer and remembered how I fretted about taking a vacation because I was afraid we would get a call about traveling. Ha. That seems absurd now. Of course, I also remember the days when we "knew" that we would be home from China with our baby before the Olympics in Beijing. Crazy.

Bunnies and Chickens

This is what the chocolate bunny looks like after Natalie's Easter grazing. I don't know why it made me laugh so hard, but it did. One minute he was a cute little chocolate bunny sitting on the table, and the next time I looked over, he looked like he'd been through a battle. Missing one eye, both ears, and a foot. I didn't even see her do it.

We had a very low-key Easter, which was nice. I made an attempt at homemade waffles this morning. For those familiar with my cooking skills, it will come as no surprise that they were a flop. I got angry, insisting that I followed the recipe exactly, and the funny taste must have come from the waffle maker somehow. Then I realized...it was supposed to be 3 tsp of baking powder and not 3 TB of baking powder. Oops. I guess that will do it. Jim laughing about it did NOT help my mood.

The kids enjoyed hunting for eggs this morning, although I think Liam was having a hard time accepting the whole Easter Bunny idea. This probably stems from seeing the bunny at the mall the other day, when Liam declared, "That's a person in a suit!" I am so bad at lying about this. The bunny suit seems totally ridiculous to me as well.

The one thing I am okay with lying about, or at least glossing over in an intentional way, is the source of the meat we eat. I know, this is not something I should hide or turn into something shameful. But this is the boy who has such a strong gag reflex that he can vomit before an odd-looking (or not so odd-looking, but perhaps not the exact same shape, texture, color, or smell as expected) morsel comes within an inch of his lips.

So the other day I was talking about growing vegetables in a garden (talking is much different than actually doing, mind you), and Liam said he wanted to grow chicken. To which I replied, without thinking, "No, silly, chicken doesn't grow on plants! Chicken comes from chickens! You know, chickens. Cluck, cluck. They live on farms."

Liam just said, "No, Mom, not that kind of chicken. The kind you eat. You know, with the skin (breading) around it."

And I looked at his innocent little face, and I realized that if I pointed out his mistake in this matter, there would be a very good chance that his food groups would be reduced by one more category (meat). This would leave possibly only Dairy, until the whole milking a cow's udder to make cheese conversation ensues. So I just smiled and told him we wouldn't be growing chicken. Mommy will be the only chicken living here.

Officially Spring

It must be officially Spring now - we colored Easter eggs this weekend, and Liam had his first t-ball game of the season.

It was a long day at the field, because they did team pictures before the game, and had about an hour in between pictures and game time. Natalie did pretty well, all things considered, but you can see from the look on her face what she thought about it. Liam had a good game. His hitting is looking good this year. And of course I think they all look adorable in their uniforms. Adorable is probably not the look that the boys are going for, but that is what they are. Coach Jim might possibly be the most excited kid out there. He really does love being a coach. I think it is his dream job, whether his players are 4 and 5 yrs old or major-leaguers.

Back Seat Conversations

And why wouldn't I want to add a third voice to conversations like this?

Natalie: I'm going to name my blanket Shirley.

Liam: You can't name it Shirley. I named MINE Shirley. And my other one is Mother Shirley. (It's true. I'm not sure why, but he named his favorite blankie Shirley recently. I think he is proud of it, because he is finally coming up with creative names for things. As opposed to naming a blanket "blankie" or a stuffed dog "Dog". You get the idea. )

N: Okay. I'm going to name mine....Cakemaker.

Me: Wow, that's a really good name, Natalie.

L: (Obviously not happy with someone else being given kudos for creativity) Natalie, you can't name it Cakemaker. That's a real word, it's not a name that you just made up.

N: I'm naming it Cakemaker.

L: Natalie, you CAN'T name it Cakemaker.

N: Yes, I can. It's Cakemaker.

L: Natalie, it's a word that we use all the time. All the time we say 'Hey, where's the Cakemaker?'

For the record: 1) We don't usually make cakes. and 2) I know we have never used the word Cakemaker in a sentence.

L: If you are going to make up a name it has to be something brand new. Like "Pppffffttt".

N: What?!? Here's my Cakemaker.

L: Ppppfffft (quietly, under his breath)

N: What?? Nice little Cakemaker.

L: Ppppfffftt.

N: What??

I may never be able to re-enter the workforce again. My mind may actually be mush now.

We Have Our Dates to Russia!

Did I get you?
Happy April Fool's Day!

No, we don't really have our travel dates to Russia. I'm still thinking it will probably be June, but we probably won't know for a while. We are in the final stages of finishing up our Dossier Two, as they call it. We were instructed not to have our medical exams done until we had been home 20-30 days after Trip 1, because they are only good for 3 months, and we'll have to re-do them if they expire before our Court date. This makes total sense, because my health changes at least every three months. ha

So on Monday Jim and I had our exams, and Tuesday we got blood drawn for the blood tests. I totally annoyed the Dr by arranging for a Notary to meet us at his office to witness his signature on the forms, not realizing that he was shutting the office down right after our appointment (he really only had to wait about 10 minutes, if that.) But I didn't feel too bad. I think there is a reason he didn't have any more appointments after us. The man is good at writing prescriptions for any kind of medication, but he has a very odd bedside manner. Let's just say he's not very...doctorly.

What, you want an example? Hmmm...could be the time he lost his wallet at the hospital and I had to spend about 10 minutes of my appointment assuring him that all would be fine - my husband has done this lots of times and it is nothing that can't be fixed (sorry Jim!). Or when he did the medical for my Dossier One form, and laughed hysterically while asking me some of the questions. As in "Ummmm, I'm guessing you don't have any STDs or mental illness? woo-ha ha ha ha ha" Well, if I did, I sure wouldn't mention it NOW. And now, on this visit, he again was laughing over the questions on the form. Yes, I know they make no sense and mean very little. But then he asks, "So how much have you spent on this adoption so far?? No, really. How much? ha ha ha ha ha It would have been so much cheaper to just have one naturally, you know. ha ha ha ha Why didn't you have one naturally? Really?" sigh...

I know people may think those things. But really, a doctor should have better sense than to say it. Next he told us a story about a friend of his who was "getting a foster baby" and had to transport his sperm and then it went bad....OK, he then mentioned that word about 10 more times, and I finally realized he was talking about a surrogate situation, not a foster situation. And I never want to hear him say that word again. Ever. Then he answered his cell phone while in the exam room with us and proceeded to talk about a patient in front of us. When this is all over, I'm definitely moving on to a new Doctor.

Last week we trekked over to get fingerprints taken for a State Background check, and received the results back in the mail this week. Unfortunately, they had Jim's middle name spelled wrong, my birthdate year wrong, and Jim's citizenship wrong. At least it correctly said we had never been arrested. So that is being re-done now....

Nothing about paperwork is ever easy. Did I mention that the Notary, upon arriving at the Dr office, then signed and dated her signature..2008...so she crossed it out and wrote 2009 and put her initials next to it, and so help me if that causes problems I will hunt her down. Once we get the background check back again, we can then send everything off to get the State Apostille seal on them, and then off to the agency. Simple. Then we wait for our date.

Meanwhile, at gymnastics today Natalie was being chatty with her instructor. This is a new development. She has been chatty at preschool as well, and her teachers are so excited. Up until now she has been extremely quiet around anyone other than family (go figure!). Anyway, after they were done with class, her teacher told me, "She talked to me a lot today, especially when we were doing the trampoline. But she kept talking about Russia? She told me her brother is in Russia?" I had to laugh. I told her, "Well, he is, actually. We're adopting her baby brother Owen from Russia." She just went, "Oooooohhhhh. She did mention Baby Owen too. I didn't know she was right!" Poor woman must have thought Liam was vacationing in Russia.