Bringing Home Baby

Jan 1: All Things New

2007-01-01T14:42:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to all my blogging family and friends. I want to thank you all for your friendship and support over this last year. In celebration of fresh starts, I've set up a new blog and family homepage. All the archives and comments have been moved over to the new blog and this blog will redirect you, automatically. To my Bloglines subscribers and those who access through RSS and other feeds

8 Months: A Snapshot

2006-12-28T11:36:00.000-05:00

Today Addison turned 8 months old. This is just crazy to me. How can she already be 8 months old? How can she be just 4 months from her first birthday? We haven't even known her 2 months but it feels like a lifetime. I just can't wrap my brain around it all. I'm going to try to do these snapshots of her at each month and then year as she gets older, more for my own sake than anyone else's. I

The Slowest Christmas Ever

2006-12-26T21:20:00.000-05:00

We started our Christmas at something like 8:30am and opened the last gift around 8:30 pm. That was one long day of consumption.Now before you go emailing me and wondering how we got the kids to hold off until 8:30 am, I'll tell you. All our bedrooms are upstairs so after we moved all the gifts under the tree, we sealed off the entire upstairs at the stairway with wrapping paper! hahaha. What's

2006-12-25T20:22:00.000-05:00

Merry ChristmasThe best Christmas Gift ever:

My Kids are SO Sweet

2006-12-21T09:34:00.000-05:00

Sarcastic? Not sarcastic? You be the judge!!!Earlier this week my eldest son came to me to say that he had thought about it and wanted to spend his own money to buy all his siblings gifts. We don't usually have the kids buy each other gifts because there are 7 kids and, well, we aren't millionaires. But he wants to do this. And he has all sorts of ideas on how to spend his own money to get the

2006: Year in Review

2006-12-20T18:53:00.000-05:00

I snagged this idea from Frectis. You can go read her list and see who she snagged it from. Please - snag it from me! It is totally fun to read other people's blog-year's in review. The way it works is you take the first sentence from the first post in each month over the last year and compile them for an overview of your 2006. Here's mine:Today I got the call from our assigned social worker for

Holiday Hoopla: Part Deux

2006-12-19T09:51:00.000-05:00

Ok, as promised (although a few days late), my responses to my own posed questions about the holidays. It isn't too late - feel free to comment with your own experiences or blog about them.What is the one holiday ritual you would absolutely never give up?Oh this is a hard one - we have so many! I can't chose one. I will chose two. First is our Winter Solstice celebration. My kids adore it and I

Bebee Leggz: Take 1

2006-12-17T15:51:00.000-05:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Bebee Leggz: Take 1, originally uploaded by sixmonkeyjungle. Today's project was to sew up some really cute baby legwarmers similar to these. The ones I made say "I (heart) Santa" and I think they are just the most adorable

Holiday Hoopla

2006-12-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

So, like pretty much everyone I know, I've been eyeball-deep in holiday preparations. Last year was the Holiday To End All Holidays and - haha - it pretty much did end all holidays. It did not end well. So this year, still recovering from last, I've been slow to ramp up and get in the spirit.When you have seven kids to shop for, Christmas is a full time job. I like to shop. A lot. And I love to

Dear New Version of Blogger Users

2006-12-14T09:51:00.000-05:00

I am sorry, I can not comment on your posts. I have written COUNTLESS comments in the last 48 hours but becuase I am using the older version of Blogger and refuse to update to the newer version, it flips me the bird when I try to post my comments. It will not let me post them annonymously, it will not let me post them with other info. It will not accept my Blogger username and password. It is

Addison's Newest Trick

2006-12-12T17:27:00.000-05:00

Monty Python & Relactation

2006-12-12T17:03:00.000-05:00

If that is not the two most oddly conjoined topics, I don't know what is! hahaI scored four press passes for Monty Python's Spamalot which is playing in Detroit tonight. Tony is taking our three biggest Holy Grail fans. We were originally offered two tickets which I turned down to the the impossibility of picking just one child to attend. Later we were offered the four necessary tickets and the

Noah's Crazy Crawling

2006-12-12T09:43:00.000-05:00

As promised, I dug out an old low-res video of Noah's crazy crawl. It's really short but it gets the point across. He never crawled "normal". He was always "efficient". Haha

Life, As I Know It, Will Never Be The Same

2006-12-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, yes, it is a bit disorganized but a girl has to do what a girl has to do to get where she wants to go in life. I'm sure what is her "crawl" today will turn into a more traditional military crawl very soon. You know, I don't think any of my kids ever crawled on the traditional hands-and-knees! Somehwere I will have to dig out the video of Noah's patented "hop-skip crawl".

Birthday Shout Out

2006-12-09T12:36:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to my dear husband. Today we get to fill the day by doing the things HE wants to do (which I'm pretty sure will end up including stroller and crib shopping -oops!) and eating where HE wants to eat (Bahama Breeze).Want to know what to get him for his birthday? Buy the book! You will stay safe online and we will get to pay our bills! Woohoo - win/win! hahaHappy Birthday honey!!!!

The Good Santa

2006-12-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

Today we made the annual trek down to the Good Mall to see the Good Santa. This is the Santa that does not smell like smoke OR alcohol. The kids love it, it is a lot of fun. I know some of you reading this have experienced the Good Santa so you know all too well exactly why it pays to travel so far and so wide for The Experience. For the rest of you, let me share:First you must know that in order

All The Things I Took For Granted (or Where Has Nicki Been?)

2006-12-06T12:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, I am really struggling in the computer department. Withdrawal!!!!!!! I was not mentally prepared for how little computer time I would have after we returned home with Addison. Our room is not really babyproof. It is sort of the central repository for all major projects in the house. And it is also Addison's bedroom. And my office. So while she sleeps, I can't use my computer. While she is

Update

2006-12-01T09:46:00.000-05:00

My Dad and stepMom have been here staying at our house for the last few days for a visit. It has been nice and the kids have had a great time, as usual. They are thankful for some massive doses of attention that have otherwise been missing for the last few weeks. They just loved Addison and spoiled her with gifts and attention. The combination of Tony's kids returning home after their extended

Post-Adoptive Workup: Round Deux

2006-11-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

So I got to thinking that I just wasn't ok with the basic well visit I had with our family doc for Addison. I wanted the full post-adoptive workup. Which is a little odd for me, we are very holistic and naturalistic in our medical views. I don't do well-child visits, for the most part, we don't vaccinate and I can count the number of times on one hand that all of my kids, collectively, have had

Mission Accomplished!

2006-11-26T07:29:00.000-05:00

They did it! Last night Noah slept all night without waking once (even despite going to be at 7pm) and woke up at 6am! And Addison only woke for one bottle at 3am. I had so much recuperative sleep I had no idea what to do with myself come 6am and I did the unthinkable and offered to let my husband sleep in (he looked like a zombie - apparently he can't handle uninterrupted sleep? haha) which he

I'm One Of Them!

2006-11-25T14:13:00.000-05:00

I have turned into 'one of them' in more ways than one.First of all, I am one of them. Those people (you know who you are!) that are terrific bloggers while traveling and then crash and burn once they get home. That's me! I have a lot to say but NO time to say it! It does not help any that it is the holiday season and I have out of town guests arriving in a few days. Or that pesky new baby! But

What I'm Thankful For: Part Deux

2006-11-24T16:43:00.000-05:00

What Are You Thankful For?

2006-11-20T07:23:00.000-05:00

I am taking Jenn's challenge and sharing my own thankfulness this morning.Frivolously and immediately, I am thankful that my 4 year old only woke up 2 times during the night and had a decent night's sleep for the first time since we returned home from Vietnam last Wednesday. I am doubly thankful that Addison also had a decent night and only a rough morning of frequent waking. Yay for a good

Look What I Won!

2006-11-19T06:42:00.000-05:00

While we were in Vietnam, on a whim, I entered to win this tshirt from AdoptProud and won! I'm so excited!! I entered at Cool Mom Picks, one of my favorite blogs out there. Just had to brag, that's all :-) I never win anything so I think it was good karmic timing :-)

Medical Update

2006-11-17T00:25:00.000-05:00

We had our medical this morning and it went fantastic! She got a clean bill of health although we still need to have her bloodwork done. NOT looking foreword to that. Her ears were both free of infection and structural abnormalities. Yay! She passed all her little screenings with flying colors and was a total giggly smiling charmer with our doctor :-) Also she gained 1.5lbs. That is since our SOS

We are home!

2006-11-15T18:07:00.000-05:00

We are home! We landed just over 12 hours ago. I will update more but wehave one very needy little boy on our hands and two adults who are a totallydifferent sleep cycle from him. If anyone wants to know how they can help,PLEASE come and help play with and give a little attention to Noah thesenext few days while we all adjust. Dalton and Teegan are just fine, Addisonis just fine. Noah? Not so

Sick of me yet?

2006-11-14T00:45:00.000-05:00

So we should have checked out by now but it is 12:40 and here we sit. Why? Because our super-efficient and always-on-the-job agency already picked up Addison's visa earlier today so we don't have to leave an hour early to do that task! Incidentally, they also took our tickets to the EVA office this morning first thing to get our last leg confirmed with the little flight change stickers so that,

With Trepidation, A-Go!

2006-11-13T19:47:00.000-05:00

Well we are checking out of the hotel in about 5 hours. We confirmed the final leg from LAX to Detroit so we are a-go! We should be home very early the morning of the 15th. I am feeling particularly sad and mournful this morning about leaving. I wish I could have really enjoyed Ha Noi like I wanted to, I wish I could have exposed the boys to so much more, I wish I could stay for much longer.

Homeward Bound

2006-11-13T01:11:00.000-05:00

We had our final Embassy interview and approval for Addison's visa this morning and they ok'd my request to pick up her visa earlier in the day tomorrow so we will be checking out of this hotel around noon and heading to get her visa and going straight to the airport. Barring any significant delays at the Embassy or the airport, we should have no problem catching our 5:30 flight out of Ha Noi.

Referral Photos

2006-11-11T07:41:00.000-05:00

I never posted a full referral photo to this blog - just bits and pieces of her sweet tiny body, usually in black and white. Now that she is legally my daughter, I thought I'd add her 3 sets of photos to m Flickr account. We got the original photos at beg. July 2006 and then another set in August and the last set in September. I really love these photos as it is a glimpse into her life before we

Your Questions Answered

2006-11-11T02:03:00.000-05:00

Many of you have asked questions in my comments, via email, etc so I'll try to answer those now. If I miss something, drop me a line or comment.1) Ear Tags: Addison was born with preauricular skin tags on both ears which are extra growths of skin that are on her face near the opening to her ears (on her tragus). She has them on both sides. They are basically just cosmetic growths of skin that can

My Girl: 10 Days Later

2006-11-10T19:41:00.000-05:00

So here we are on Day 10 with little Miss Addison. I thought it would be fun to reflect on how much has changed in the last 10 days.When we got her she was like a newborn in a lot of ways. She had no neck control and holding her required support of he entire neck. She was still a happy girl and liked to roll and play with toys. She had clearly never been sat upright or bared any weight on her

Videos From Today

2006-11-10T06:28:00.000-05:00

Thursday, November 9, 2006

A Momentary Miracle

2006-11-09T20:12:00.000-05:00

Something miraculous happened this morning. For one small fleeting second, my ear cleared! haha. Wow, the world is LOUD! And I was only alone in the bathroom! And then, just like that, it was gone. Back to the solitary confines of my own voice in my own head. I am agressively trying to clear my head. I'm doing a combo of steam, saline nose spray and pseudoephedrine and as soon as I can find some

News!

2006-11-09T07:16:00.000-05:00

(I wrote and sent this 12 hours ago - i am fed up with sending blogger posts via email!!! They never seem to post anymore! Update at the bottom...)Addy's passport is done! Woohoo!!! And we are just about to take off to go to the SOS International Clinic in order to get her visa physical and then we have one last stop before we are allowed to come home: the final visa interview. I'm not sure when

Politics: Half a world away

2006-11-08T02:24:00.000-05:00

If you are politically interested, as I am, this is QUITE the way to experience mid-term elections. I am literally glued to the tv, which is possible thanks to the time-difference. My kids get to do their government homeschool lesson life during the daytime. While you all are asleep, I'm watchig results roll in in real-time on CNN. Both Tony and I did our part to shape elections by voting

Day 8: Dress of the day

2006-11-07T21:09:00.000-05:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Cheesy Face, originally uploaded by sixmonkeyjungle. This dress, 6-12 months, is from the Janie & Jack layette line. It is Tony's favorite dress of Addison's. I love it too. I really love the hat but as you can see it is

Another one bites the dust

2006-11-07T20:48:00.000-05:00

(I wrote this yesterday but it got lost in email cyberspace I guess)This is the post where I complain, just be forewarned up front.Noah is sick. He has a cold which is getting slowly worse. This morning hewas so congested from sleep that he had trouble breathing/coughing and wokeup afraid at 4:30am. After he is up, he is fine. Audibly congested butthat's it. He swears he is not sick. But he ate

Video of the day

2006-11-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

A better day

2006-11-06T02:47:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers and well-wishes deliveredvia comments and emails. It really really helps!!Today is definitely a better day. I feel very very good. My energy level isvery good and I am pain-free!!! I still have no hearing in my right ear butassume, at this point, that that won't resolve for a long time to come. This morning Teegan wasn't feeling well after he was

Ups and Downs

2006-11-05T06:06:00.000-05:00

It's been one of those days. It started with no breakfast and a very weakand hungry, hormonal and sick Nicki. That quickly led to a major meltdown onmy part where all the world's problems seemed imminently overwhelming andequally important. Really I am just so sick of being sick. I am sick ofmissing out, I am sick of not feeling 100%. I should say that I am feeling alot better. My throat and

Life Without Toys

2006-11-04T19:23:00.000-05:00

Conversation I just overheard:Noah: I have a great idea! For a change, let's put the water in the bottlefirst and THEN the formula!Daddy: we can't do it that way.Noah: Whyyyyyyy??Daddy: because then I won't know how much water can fit.Noah: awwwww! But that would be soooo fuuuuun!Bwa hahahaha I guess that ranks right up there with picking out her dressesevery day and watching her

A very good day

2006-11-04T19:03:00.000-05:00

Despite not feeling any better myself, yesterday was a very very good dayhere in Addy's world. First she got to go swimming for the first time. The look on her face waspriceless. She was so confused about this liquid she could touch but notgrab and hold. She did enjoy it and I look forward to having yummy warm bathsplashing fun together later today. We had a good bonding moment following a sad

Photo of the day: Day 4

2006-11-04T00:21:00.000-05:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Day 4, originally uploaded by sixmonkeyjungle. So today's outfit is courtesy of Old Navy, size 0-3 months. She really is that tiny!! The story behind this outfit is that I saw it an fell in love with it early in the summer.

The Addy Nitty Gritty

2006-11-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

A few people have asked me to share the details about Addison's schedule sohere goes:She eats 8 oz bottles of whatever we feed her at whatever temp it is(usually room temp or cold - never warm) with slow flow nipples. She makes aHUGE mess with the fast flows, can't keep up. So no fast flows. She takes 4bottles during the day and 1 4 oz bottle sometime in the night just to topher off. Not sure

Hanoi Traffic from above.

2006-11-03T17:47:00.000-05:00

View from City View Cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam.I am stealing this idea from Ange at http://theroadtovietnam.blogspot.com/

Quick Update

2006-11-03T08:13:00.000-05:00

I'm still pretty sick. My ears are killing me. Bad infection. I'm taking Cipro which I am fairly sure won't really help but it is all I have. Additionally Addison's ears are bugging her and it is making her miserable. She is still a happy miserable but it is no fun, particularly the sleep portion of the day. On an up note, my throat is getting better and my glands aren't so painful and my

The Dance of Attachment

2006-11-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

A lot of you commented on how great it is that Addy is so laid back and yes,it is wonderful. But it has its downsides. She did not appear to be all thatattached to anyone at the orphanage. She seems to have not cried often andconsequently was not picked up or played with often. She has the advantageof having pretty good development so she can do all those normal six monthold things that kids do

Update

2006-11-02T03:27:00.000-05:00

I've been really sick. Thanks be, I felt better for a huge chunk of the dayyesterday to really enjoy it but the long day took its toll and I was a messby last night. You know if I don't blog it is because I am really sick. Sothat's the deal. The idea of sitting down to jot down all my thoughts was sooverwhelming that I just couldn't do it. It was easier to upload picturesand video, for sure.Today

Some video

2006-11-01T16:52:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 Please excuse the ridiculous Mama-has-a-baby-girl voice :-)

Going to bed

2006-10-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm not doing well. I have a really sore throat, swollen glands, my earsare still crackling and today they started hurting too (although it isalways a toss up if it is the glands radiating up). I took my new-normalregiment of cold meds plus Advil but it didn't help a whole lot. So off tobed I go for the night and hope that I feel a little human in the morning.My stomach is also totally

Halloween Update

2006-10-30T23:04:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN – we made it through the night! I eventually got more sleep and everyone except me got up around 4:30am. I slept for a few more hours which I desperately needed. In fact I’m thinking of claiming a bed all my own for tonight so I can get some real deep restorative sleep. Right now I feel TERRIFIC thanks to Comtrex with a side cocktail of Advil. Haha. I sure hope I don’t run out

Hello from Hanoi!

2006-10-30T13:45:00.000-05:00

note: if this posts twice, I apologize. I sent this an hour ago via Gmail and it never showed up but Gmail is frequently very slow. So I'm doing it manually - it may double post eventually.We are here! We got in about 14 hours ago. I should be sleeping but I screwed up and fell asleep this afternoon and, oops, there was no one left to keep an eye on the children (Tony was out for a bit) and so

Hi from the airport!

2006-10-28T18:05:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it through the baggage check and all luggage was at or below weight limits. Whew! Security check was a breeze, nothing got tossed including my knitting, no problems with the boys' passports, we were in and out in under 5 minutes including two baggage searches. So here we sit with over 2 hours to kill. More from LAX. Boy will you guys be sick of me!!!!

To All You Unorganized People.....

2006-10-28T09:59:00.000-04:00

You are SO onto something.Because here I sit. It is 9:30am and we can't leave until noon at the earliest. The kids are antsy and sick of waiting. I am antsy and sick of waiting. I don't even know what to do with myself.Who amongst you wrote in your blog that you were anxious not to do too much too soon to avoid thumb-twiddling? You were RIGHT ON!!!!!!!Interesting conversations we've had to pass

The Morning Of

2006-10-28T07:07:00.000-04:00

Well I slept.At least until 5am or so. At which point I had the absolutely brilliant idea to wake up and watch The Omen. No, sadly, I am not kidding. It didn't seem odd in the moment. We rented it a few days ago and have to take it back on our way out of town and we fell asleep in the middle of watching it last night so I wanted to finish it up. Ok,

I think I'm going to puke

2006-10-26T18:28:00.000-04:00

Just so you know!About a week ago I noticed that randomly I would realize how real this all is and burst into tears of happiness, anxiety, nervousness, overwhelming emotion. Usually this happens at very inopportune times like while I'm driving home from the store or while I'm AT the store. As the week has progressed, those realizations have come

Sleepless in Detroit

2006-10-25T23:12:00.000-04:00

So we are at 2 days and counting. Apparently this is really happening.We have tickets, visas, passports and hotel reservations. Wow.Somewhere along the way the reality met up with my psyche. It happened atapproximately 3am, actually. I woke up thinking and was wide awake and couldnot sleep at all. My psyche informed me that we could not find the salinenose spray that I recently bought because

Path Report

2006-10-25T10:20:00.000-04:00

NEGATIVE!Carpe Diem, Mom!!!!

Cramming

2006-10-24T14:23:00.000-04:00

Well I'm home for the day, frantically trying to check off things on my list.No news on my Mom's path reports.I went and made 12 meals at my favorite make-and-take place today. They are so great - they told me if I do not have time to come back in when we get home with Addison that they would make me my 12 meals and not charge me the extra fee for

Update

2006-10-21T08:10:00.000-04:00

My blog titles are getting entirely generic. My creative juices are zapped.I do have some updates:Family: Mom is doing extraordinary. Still no pathology reports but she is hoping to go home today - 3 days before scheduled! That could change but so far so good. Also a shout-out to my Daddy who had a birthday yesterday! Apparently he is livin' it up on

Surgery Success

2006-10-19T01:05:00.000-04:00

I'm home from the hospital after spending the day waiting out my Mom'ssurgery. It went extremely well. In fact she was in and out in just an hour.It took longer to recover from the anesthetic than the surgery itself! Sothat is great news. The surgeon seemed very pleased. So now we just wait forpathology reports in the next few days. Until then, I'm off to keep hercompany and clean her house in

The Craziest Thing

2006-10-16T22:41:00.000-04:00

I won't bore you with more details about my preparation to leave. Suffice itto say, I had a productive day. I should be able to ALMOST wrap things uptomorrow so that is good. Goal (mostly) met!My day started by being woken up by the air duct cleaning guys. That isn'tso crazy but what is crazy is that at some undetermined time they opted todrive their van into my back yard, across my sod and down

The One About Travel

2006-10-16T09:53:00.000-04:00

Well, we bought tickets!!! We don't have them in-hand yet but they should bearriving via Fed Ex tomorrow. Now if only we could get those pesky visas Icould rest easy. We ended up choosing to fly out on the 28th. The earlier flights were allbooked and we would have had to back it up to the 24th to get a flight outon the airlines we want (EVA). So we are cutting it close. We hope to arrivein

Life In The Fast Lane!

2006-10-13T21:40:00.000-04:00

So I can't sleep. I woke up at some insanely early hour. Not cool. I actually got up and started getting stuff done. Then I headed out for an appointment I had with Santa Claus to put in my request for a Nintendo Wii. It is sick and wrong how excited I am about the Nintendo Wii. Remote control gaming and nunchucks? What could be more exciting?! Just one thing: Trauma Center: Second

The Ticker Dance!

2006-10-12T11:16:00.000-04:00

Did anyone notice my new ticker (thanks to Christina for the idea!!)?Fourteen days until we leave for Vietnam!!!!!!That's right, we finally got TA!!!!!!!!!!!Addy-Mai, here we come!!!!!!!!!!And in case you thought I was kidding about the snow (notice fall leaves still on trees!! haha):

PoshPouch, Packing and Vacuum Justification

2006-10-11T17:51:00.000-04:00

Today my Pink PoshPouch came. So NOW I am ready to bring Addison home. Just in time for snow. Ever since I found out that it is not safe to have a kid wear a big heavy coat while in a car seat, I've been shopping for alternatives. Apparently those car seat covers that go inside the car seat are also unsafe. What's a Midwesterner to do? Enter:

Snow, Stalling and Nesting

2006-10-10T20:23:00.000-04:00

So this week it is supposed to snow. It seems like ages ago that my agencywas saying I'd travel before the end of summer. And although it is onlybarely autumn, snow makes it feel like 100 years ago that this conversationoccurred. Here I am, waiting, hoping. And dreading the snow. My kids, ofcourse, are thrilled. It won't stick but SNOW! Now maybe my husband willunderstand that I was not, in fact,

Ready, Set, GO!

2006-10-06T09:48:00.000-04:00

First, thank you ALL for all your supportive and uplifting comments. Lastweek was one hard week. We still don't have any firm solutions for anything. My Mom has a tentativesurgery date and we have a tentative idea of when we will be heading out ofthe country. One fun thing is that I learned that because I was thepetitioner on the 171H that I now need to travel at least for a portion ofthe trip. I

The Day That Time Stood Still

2006-10-02T16:53:00.000-04:00

I've been pretty quiet and those that are very very observant might notice that my adoption travel ticker is no longer up on the site. I've been very very sad and very very much in denial and was waiting for more info. I still don't have more info. But here I am.On Friday morning I got an email from my husband saying that travel....the travel we had hoped to make in the next 3 weeks...may be

Vietnam Adoption Blogs

2006-10-01T12:50:00.000-04:00

This is a list, pulled from my Bloglines, of all the Vietnam Adoption blogs I've found. There may be some without RSS feeds: those won't be included, generally as they are hard to link from and get updates from in Bloglines. If you are not listed, please let me know!

All The Fingers On One Hand

2006-09-28T16:56:00.000-04:00

That's how old Addison is today. 5 months old! 5 months of orphanage life. 5 months without a Mother or a Father. 5 months of growing and learning and understanding the world through a whole different lens than what she will soon experience. According to Baby CenterAddison should be learning to roll over and entertain herself by playing with her hands and feet. I am pleased to note that, based on

On NOIDs

2006-09-26T14:25:00.000-04:00

For those who don't know, an NOID stands for "Notice of Intent to Deny" and they are given by the US Embassy when there is a decision to deny a newly adopted child their US-entry Visa, essentially creating a situation where the parents can not leave Vietnam with their newly adopted (in the eyes of Vietnam) child. The solutions are to either relinquish the child or live in-country for 2 years at

I Can't See It!

2006-09-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

I know I've blogged, before, about the surreal detached sort of anticipation that is the Adoption Process. Well it has hit me hard, yet again. As we cross off our to-do list, one item at a time, it becomes startlingly more real but unreal all at the same time. I know it is not PC to use pregnancy analogies so, at the risk of offending the singles out there, I'm going to use a wedding analogy. You

Back-Breaking Labor

2006-09-23T20:38:00.000-04:00

With no new news in AdoptionLand, I have no choice but to proceed as if travel will still happen as (I) scheduled. Haha. I figure, based on my Ideal Timeframe* I have a good two weeks of lackadaisically preparing for baby Addy-Mai before The Rush To Travel begins wherein we need to do things like gather medications, luggage, prescriptions, airline tickets and the like.So today I finally did it -

Wasting Time

2006-09-22T11:25:00.000-04:00

Today is the day we hope to get an update on travel. We have felt, lately, like the update won't be one filled with hope and promise. So I'm pretending today isn't going to be a day of immense disappointment and, instead, focusing on other things. So I have a cold. Just the run of the mill cold but it kept me from exercising yesterday. Today I woke up with a really sore throat but otherwise that

My Addy-Mai!

2006-09-18T12:37:00.000-04:00

Today we got an update on my sweet baby girl. We got four new pictures and new measurements! I just absolutely love every single new piece of info we get. I have found that the wait to travel is surreal in that it is easy to get detached from the idea that somewhere in the world my daughter breaths, cries, messes her diapers, drinks her bottles, learns and grows. I can't even wrap my mind around

The Dam Just Broke!

2006-09-15T10:47:00.000-04:00

Have you ever felt like you had a huge huge laundry list of things to do and no motivation? Not just no motivation but something holding you back? And maybe not just any something but something you can't quite pin-point? That has been me for the last several weeks. I have had a long and growing list of things to do. Deadlines pressing. And I wasn't making real headway on any of them. I was

I was kidding about the rain!

2006-09-13T18:43:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it is still raining here. Thunder, lightning, gloomy from morning until night raining. The kind that affects your mood and casts a sort of hazy film over everything in sight. That kind of rainy. Ok, so I was kidding about the rain! It can stop now. Or yesterday.To match the gloomy rain, I have a nice gloomy sore throat. And a severe lack of sleep. I have been getting about 50%

Rain Rain (Don't) Go Away!

2006-09-10T19:50:00.000-04:00

Today is a day that can only be described as 'sleepy'. It doesn't help that I was up very late last night and then the sweetest little pumpkin in the world woke me up at 7am. Yes, 7am is early for me. You can at least pretend to have sympathy.I thought for sure I'd need a nap today but I made it! I'm dog tired though. And then the rain started. And it rained and rained and rained. Any plans we

I am crabby

2006-09-08T13:54:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have one of those days when absolutely everything that any given person says grates on your nerves? I'm having one of those days. It's one of those days when I think, out loud to myself, many times a day "are people always this annoying?? what is WRONG with people?" and then I realize it is, yeah, um, probably just me.So if you cross paths with me today and I seem, well, bitchy? You

6 Random Thoughts

2006-09-07T18:31:00.000-04:00

1) My dogs have a fun new habit. They do this as soon as anyone gets up out of their seat sensing opportunity. They know it is naughty. I don't know what to do about it! They are clearly dumb since they never touch the open bag of dog food in the open pantry or dig through the garbage like normal dogs. They won't even pee outside. They are total sissy cat-dogs. Don't tell them I told you that.2)

A Dark Chocolate Dove Cookie for the Teacher Please

2006-09-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

Today is Back To School day. In our house that means hubby's three kiddos go off to school and it also marks the day we officially begin homeschooling for our next school year (we casually homeschool throughout summer but now the big guns are drawn). Usually we do something snarky and fun to celebrate 'not back to school' day but I wasn't in the mood today. Actually I wasn't actually prepared to

Part 2: I miss my baby!

2006-09-04T09:38:00.000-04:00

So while our vacation was nice and enjoyable, I just couldn't shake that feeling that something - or someone - was missing. Ironically, or maybe not, this was supposed to be our sort of last hurrah. An outing with the "big kids", doing all those things we won't be able to do - or at least not as easily - once Addy-Mai comes home. But, instead, all I could think about was how empty my arms felt.

Part 1: I'm home!

2006-09-03T14:13:00.000-04:00

I'm home from our not-so-spontaneous spontaneous summer vacation. We decided to hit the west coast. Of Michigan. haha. There are sand dunes out that way that my family has never seen and I decided if we were going to ever move out of state, now might be our last good chance to see a bit of Michigan before we leave it.Hubby traveled with us. The deal was he was going to work during the day while

Ethical Agency List

2006-09-02T16:52:00.000-04:00

We all have our opinions on which agencies are ethical and doing their job in a solid and reputable way. I'm no exception. So...in true American style, here is my list of agencies* (in no specific order) that I currently consider to be ethical. This may change as time goes on and new information becomes available:Pearl S. BuckHolt InternationalCHSFSChildren's Hope InternationalVietnamese Orphan

Baby Shopping

2006-09-01T15:19:00.000-04:00

I've sort of held off shopping for Addison except for just some cutie boutique clothes or sales stuff from Old Navy and Target. We are also not doing a nursery. We co-sleep for the first little while. We do have a crib in case Addison just sleeps horribly with us but we won't be setting it up or shopping for it unless we end up needing it. So that takes all the fun out of nursery shopping!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's out of town I go!

2006-08-29T13:56:00.000-04:00

Well we are off! We are heading to the other end of Michigan for a few days of R&R on the beach. Then we aren't sure where we'll go but we are thinking of hitting up an amusement park for a day or two and heading back home in time to get our dogs Tuesday morning. Hubby is coming with us but he'll have to work through the end of the week so he'll stay behind in the hotel while we are out

4 months!

2006-08-28T00:28:00.000-04:00

Happy 4 month birthday, tiny baby Addison! I wonder how you spent your day. Are you smiling often, giggling easily? Are you rolling yet? Do you still use a pacifier? Have you stayed healthy? Have you grown much? Have you lost any more of your baby hair?Although I've handled the wait to travel very well so far, today I found myself sort of sad and lonely in my heart for my baby girl. I miss her -

I've been tagged!

2006-08-25T22:38:00.000-04:00

Nicole from Fo(u)rt Robinson tagged me with a challenge to write 5 weird things about myself. How can I come up with only five things?Here goes:I am absolutely literally phobic in the true medical sense of the word to teeth. How, you might wonder, does one function in life with a phobia to teeth? Well, not easily, I might answer. :-) The thought of cleaning them makes me nauseous, the thought of

My friends and family are so cool!

2006-08-23T16:34:00.000-04:00

So I'm collecting for a 100 Good Wishes quilt which I'm just about ready to start cutting and sewing. I have the pattern all picked out and all the fabric I need to complete the quilt top. Most of my wishes and fabrics are from various square/wish swaps I've participated in. But I've finally started getting some from friends and family and they are, of course, the most special of all. My best

Life, Liberty and the Persuit of Happiness

2006-08-22T14:00:00.000-04:00

So yesterday was the last get-together with my best friend who has spent the last 3 weeks up here visiting. I'm not particularly social, by nature, but these last few weeks really drove home how isolated I've been up here in The Grand Ole Country and how badly I need out. I know enough to know that having a friend who you really mesh with AND whose kids your kids really love is a rare find,

Top 10 List

2006-08-21T11:24:00.000-04:00

As promised awhile ago and inspired by others, I thought I'd write up a top 10 parenting goals list - the things I aspired to be and do as a Mommy before I had children, with comments on how my goals actually lived up to the reality:1) I thought I'd try for a natural childbirth which meant, to me, avoiding an epidural but all other drugs were game :-) [reality: I had that birth but went on to

Packing Lists

2006-08-18T14:48:00.000-04:00

Ok, here's an attempt to keep track of my packing lists online. I thought I'd share in case anyone else wants ideas or wants to call me crazy for over packing!Notes: my husband and I are traveling with 3 children ages 4, 9 and 12. Our daughter should be around six months old at the time of travel.Medical Supplies:Tylenol: infant drops, kids chewables, adultMotrin: infant drops, adultTylenol Cold:

Ponder this with me:

2006-08-15T12:03:00.000-04:00

How many life changes is it wise for one to attempt accomplishing at once before it is safe to assume that they will internally combust?Hubby is playing around with a job change. There is nothing WRONG with his current job, but he was approached and I guess it planted a seed that has grown exponentially. This new job prospect would be a work-outside-the-home gig. He has worked at home for most of

The boy speaks out on cereal

2006-08-11T16:59:00.000-04:00

N: "Do you know what cereal I'm totally crushing on?"Me: "um, no, I guess I don't"N: "Totally fruit loops, the really fruity ones"So there you have it. If you, too, find yourself in dire need of a new *crush*, you should take yourself to the nearest grocer to pick up the fruitiest of fruit loops. If your kid is 4 and a boy and talks this way is it an indicator that they perhaps watch too much TV?

I'm getting itchy

2006-08-07T10:20:00.000-04:00

I've got the travel bug and man do I feel itchy. I swear it is all I think about. You know how everything can remind you of your adoption? Even things so ridiculous a normal person might think that there could not possibly be a correlation to adoption? "Boy these apples sure do look ripe and the price is great! Hrmm. I wonder if they sell apples in Vietnam and if Addison will like applesauce!"

Five Years Ago Today....

2006-08-04T13:11:00.000-04:00

At this very moment, I was standing in the parlor of our church, lining up our wedding party and listening to beautiful piano music serenading us all as we waited for my wedding procession to begin. Five years ago today, I was so sick I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it through the day. It wasn't the cold feet or nerves, it was our little bundle of joy tucked secretly in my uterus making his

Our Mini Vacation to Stepford

2006-08-02T12:28:00.000-04:00

Well we are back from our last-minute trip to Stepford, USA. My kids are honestly very very good on an ordinary basis - a fact which I don't take credit for and truly feel blessed about. But this was very very different. It all started when the little guy slept in suspiciously late and his brothers even later giving me a freakish boost of energy after an unusual restful night of sleep. If that

Spoiled Girl Gets Reality Check

2006-07-30T17:06:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow very early - much earlier than I ever get up - my dear hubby will be heading out of town for a unplanned break silent retreat from children week-long work emergency. I'm none too happy about this turn of events, mostly because I'm incredibly spoiled. I am blessed with a work-from-home husband with flexible hours and an ability to multi-task like you have never seen. Or at least better