Well, we didn't get the call this week. Kind of bummed but Matt summed it up perfectly. He said "It doesn't matter when we get the call. It will be too late and too soon no matter what." Yep. So we concentrated on getting ready to travel. We got most of the paperwork done and finished up the shopping. I now have all the stuff on my lists. And Matt succeeded in convincing me that bringing home a new baby requires buying a brand new laptop and a cool video camera!!! The laptop is cool and all but the video camera is downright awesome! It's a tiny little gadget called a Flip. While me and Matt had fun tinkering around with it, Emma's inner film producer emerged!!! She recorded lots of typical kid-directed footage... you know like walking in on somebody changing clothes, lip singing with the hairbrush microphone - that kind of thing. That stuff was funny but this one is practically movie magic!!! To recreate this scene at home, let your kid record him/herself dangling off the couch while laughing hysterically. I have to say I'm proud the camera survived the fall! I'm pretty sure she recorded it at night with no lights on - so it's kind of dark.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Update... Made you Smile!!!!!
Here are the newest pictures and video of TJ. They finally put her in the onesie that says "Made You Smile!" Oh and don't you love how she's about to dig for gold in the second one? Hah! She's going to fit right in!!
Tag... I'm it!!!
I have been tagged by the Hegemom at chairmanmom.blogspot.com! The Hegemom is also adopting from Taiwan and is quite active on the "big" Yahoo board. She's got a great sense of humor! And, she has been down the adoption road before so she's a great resource for all of us hopping on the roller coaster for the first time! OK, so here are the game rules:
You have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog! O.K.-Here we go...
Let me start by saying I HATE my middle name... sorry mom :0 When Matt & I got married I wanted to change it to my maiden name but mom was crushed so I held onto it but shortened it to the initial on credit applications, mail orders, etc. So most of the stuff that lands in my mailbox says "Dena L." After a 17-year respite from seeing the name in print, here I am "coming out of the closet" for all the world to see!
Lorraine (cringe, shriek, gasp, sputter)
L: Laredo. This is the Mexican town Matt & I (and another couple) spent Spring Break my Senior Year. Now I'm apologizing a SECOND time in this post to my mom. No, we were not tubing on the river. Yep, we went to Mexico, shared a hotel room (gasp), and, most likely, (it's all a little foggy) drank some cerveza and tequila (double gasp). We even got stopped by the Border Patrol on our way back... the registration on my friend's car had expired... geez we were brilliant. Good times.
O: Origins. I love just about anything Origins makes! I wear the Ginger Essence perfume and LOVE the Ginger Souffle body lotion.
R: Roses. I love roses. I carried roses down the aisle at our wedding. But I have buy roses for myself. Matt thinks buying roses is stupid... period. They're expensive and all they do is die. About 10 years into our marriage we were going out for our anniversary and I told him I thought it was high time he buy me roses. So he stops at the corner and buys a single rose from one of those quasi-homeless people downtown! He's done. He bought me A rose... for $1.00! So I started buying myself roses. I do have to say he tried to redeem himself a couple of years ago by sending my a dozen roses on Valentines Day. Well, they lost the order or were too swamped to deliver them or something so about ten o'clock that night he gets ticked, tells me about the surprise that wasn't and calls the florist to chew them out. I buy myself roses.
R: Rebel. Anyone who knew me in high school will vouch. My hair is now its natural color, I have no holes in my clothing and old ladies don't point or stare at me. Otherwise, I'm the same person.
A: Art. I am a graphic designer and love art. I'm very lucky that I actually got be what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I: Irish. Matt was adopted by his step-father so his last name doesn't really reflect his heritage. Even though our last name is the first on Schindler's list, he is actually Irish and French. I'm Irish and German. We both wear Claddaugh rings.
N: Nubs. My toes are nubs. Take a look at Fred Flintstone's toes and you'll have a pretty good idea of what mine look like.
E: Ethnic. I love to cook and eat ethnic foods. Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, Indian... you name it I love it!
There you have it! I've got to go work right now but I'll announce the lucky ones to be tagged next shortly.
You have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog! O.K.-Here we go...
Let me start by saying I HATE my middle name... sorry mom :0 When Matt & I got married I wanted to change it to my maiden name but mom was crushed so I held onto it but shortened it to the initial on credit applications, mail orders, etc. So most of the stuff that lands in my mailbox says "Dena L." After a 17-year respite from seeing the name in print, here I am "coming out of the closet" for all the world to see!
Lorraine (cringe, shriek, gasp, sputter)
L: Laredo. This is the Mexican town Matt & I (and another couple) spent Spring Break my Senior Year. Now I'm apologizing a SECOND time in this post to my mom. No, we were not tubing on the river. Yep, we went to Mexico, shared a hotel room (gasp), and, most likely, (it's all a little foggy) drank some cerveza and tequila (double gasp). We even got stopped by the Border Patrol on our way back... the registration on my friend's car had expired... geez we were brilliant. Good times.
O: Origins. I love just about anything Origins makes! I wear the Ginger Essence perfume and LOVE the Ginger Souffle body lotion.
R: Roses. I love roses. I carried roses down the aisle at our wedding. But I have buy roses for myself. Matt thinks buying roses is stupid... period. They're expensive and all they do is die. About 10 years into our marriage we were going out for our anniversary and I told him I thought it was high time he buy me roses. So he stops at the corner and buys a single rose from one of those quasi-homeless people downtown! He's done. He bought me A rose... for $1.00! So I started buying myself roses. I do have to say he tried to redeem himself a couple of years ago by sending my a dozen roses on Valentines Day. Well, they lost the order or were too swamped to deliver them or something so about ten o'clock that night he gets ticked, tells me about the surprise that wasn't and calls the florist to chew them out. I buy myself roses.
R: Rebel. Anyone who knew me in high school will vouch. My hair is now its natural color, I have no holes in my clothing and old ladies don't point or stare at me. Otherwise, I'm the same person.
A: Art. I am a graphic designer and love art. I'm very lucky that I actually got be what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I: Irish. Matt was adopted by his step-father so his last name doesn't really reflect his heritage. Even though our last name is the first on Schindler's list, he is actually Irish and French. I'm Irish and German. We both wear Claddaugh rings.
N: Nubs. My toes are nubs. Take a look at Fred Flintstone's toes and you'll have a pretty good idea of what mine look like.
E: Ethnic. I love to cook and eat ethnic foods. Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, Indian... you name it I love it!
There you have it! I've got to go work right now but I'll announce the lucky ones to be tagged next shortly.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
FIRST RULING!!!
We found out today that our judge has issued our first ruling for TJ. Basically this means he/she has reviewed our case & found everything to be in order. Now we wait for the final ruling... this could take 14 days or 2 months. Since our judge has moved pretty quickly so far, we're hoping (against hope) that we'll be on the shorter end of that timeframe!!
We have sooo much to do before we can bring her home. I've got list after list but it's all so overwhelming that everytime I try to collect my thoughts I end up giving up and doing something productive (like reading a hundred or so blogs of other adoptive families) :P I guess reality set in for Matt today. When I told him about the ruling he said "Man, we need to start getting our stuff together!" Ummm... yeah I know honey. Do you SEE those fifteen lists I've been going over and over for the last month???
Good news is we got her room painted. Now I just have to wait for the seamstress to finish her bedding. And then I have to clean out the closet. Then I have to shop for all things baby. Then I have to buy gifts for the birth mother, foster mother, guide and agency workers. Then I have to get the paperwork together... well you get the picture. BREATHE!!!!
Truth be told if they called right now & said to come tomorrow I bet I could pull it off!!!
It really feels good to see progress but it saddens me that a good friend of mine whose court hearing was two weeks before ours is still waiting for news on her case. Sending good vibes her way!
We have sooo much to do before we can bring her home. I've got list after list but it's all so overwhelming that everytime I try to collect my thoughts I end up giving up and doing something productive (like reading a hundred or so blogs of other adoptive families) :P I guess reality set in for Matt today. When I told him about the ruling he said "Man, we need to start getting our stuff together!" Ummm... yeah I know honey. Do you SEE those fifteen lists I've been going over and over for the last month???
Good news is we got her room painted. Now I just have to wait for the seamstress to finish her bedding. And then I have to clean out the closet. Then I have to shop for all things baby. Then I have to buy gifts for the birth mother, foster mother, guide and agency workers. Then I have to get the paperwork together... well you get the picture. BREATHE!!!!
Truth be told if they called right now & said to come tomorrow I bet I could pull it off!!!
It really feels good to see progress but it saddens me that a good friend of mine whose court hearing was two weeks before ours is still waiting for news on her case. Sending good vibes her way!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Update Photos!!!!
Well, Tessa Jane is NOT going hungry!!! Aren't those cheeks hilarious??? She's definitely smiley now which makes me sad that we're missing so much :(
She still seems to have a little bit of a rash on her forehead & some discoloration on her top lip. I'm thinking it's eczema or infant acne. Should I worry???
She still seems to have a little bit of a rash on her forehead & some discoloration on her top lip. I'm thinking it's eczema or infant acne. Should I worry???
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Hearing Date!!!!
Good news!! We found out yesterday our court hearing will be held August 20. This is fantastic news as this is much sooner than a lot of other families ahead of us. We're hoping this means we got the "fast" judge but there's really no way to tell.
Everyone keeps asking what the process is at this point and it's hard to explain because there are so many different scenarios. Basically three things have to happen: 1) Hearing 2) Civil Ruling 3) Final Ruling. Unfortunately, the timing of these three events varies widely from case to case. There are a few cases where the judge gone ahead and issued the civil ruling at the hearing. In this case, the final ruling would be issued around two weeks after the hearing/ruling. This is VERY rare. More likely, the judge will look over the paperwork at the hearing and schedule a date for the civil ruling. The timing of it all completely depends on the schedules of the judge, attorneys and birthmother - so there are cases where it all came together very quickly (a little over a month) and cases where it seemed to take forever (4 months). After the civil, the final ruling will be issued at least 10 business days after the civil or when the judge has time. Clear as mud???? Yeah I know!!! We're just happy to have gotten news at all! Every little tid bit keeps us going!!
Hopefully we'll get update photos this week so stay tuned!
Everyone keeps asking what the process is at this point and it's hard to explain because there are so many different scenarios. Basically three things have to happen: 1) Hearing 2) Civil Ruling 3) Final Ruling. Unfortunately, the timing of these three events varies widely from case to case. There are a few cases where the judge gone ahead and issued the civil ruling at the hearing. In this case, the final ruling would be issued around two weeks after the hearing/ruling. This is VERY rare. More likely, the judge will look over the paperwork at the hearing and schedule a date for the civil ruling. The timing of it all completely depends on the schedules of the judge, attorneys and birthmother - so there are cases where it all came together very quickly (a little over a month) and cases where it seemed to take forever (4 months). After the civil, the final ruling will be issued at least 10 business days after the civil or when the judge has time. Clear as mud???? Yeah I know!!! We're just happy to have gotten news at all! Every little tid bit keeps us going!!
Hopefully we'll get update photos this week so stay tuned!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Big brother & the tattoo mom
NO news to report :( We're hoping to get new update photos of TJ next week and possibly (pretty please) word of a hearing date. In the meantime, I've been furiously working on getting her room together. My mom did an AWESOME job on the crib skirt and I found a great seamstress to put together her crib quilt and twin size quilt for her big girl bed. It's really looking precious!!! I'm also almost done paiting her room - 13 ft. ceilings - what was I thinking!!!! I don't want to post photos until everything is done but I can tell you my idea of theming the room around vintage, shabby handkerchiefs is coming out better than I'd imagined... :)
Also, I decided to tinker around with the blog. I've been trying to install a counter to see how many people are popping by but apparently blogger didn't like any of the ones I tried to install. Well, I found a great alternative. The map ---------------> over there is a counter AND it tracks the location of my visitors. Nifty huh? I suspect my map will not be as exciting as some the more prolific bloggers out there but it'll still be fun to see where everyone's from. The only bummer is it requires several days of data before it will generate the map :(
As an aside, if anyone out there has any advice on how to handle this I could use some help. Here's the situation: So I pick up Emma from Day Camp today & ask her the usual questions about her day. Usually I hear cute stories about what they did, etc. But today she tells me she got in a fight with "Shelby." It appears "Shelby" told Emma she no longer wanted to be friends because she knows "Your mom doesn't like my mom!" I ask Emma if I've EVER said anything about Shelby's mom & she says "No! I told her you NEVER said anything about her mom. But she says I'm lying and doesn't want to be my friend."
Now for the nitty gritty of this story. Okay, this lady is definitely not your typical suburban soccer mom. Her arms covered from wrist to shoulder in tattoos (I don't mean neat artistic stuff either - they're rather crude and almost "home made" looking), she has eyebrow, nose and lip piercings, wears concert T-Shirts circa 1980-1985 and drives an old Firebird. To make things more interesting, we often hear about this little girl's daddy (the parents are not separated or divorced) who works away from home for months at a time and can only see his daughter for two or three days every several months. Of course, we've never seen this man. In fact, we've ONLY seen her mother with a YOUNG woman (early 20s) and they are always holding hands. I had assumed she had an older daughter but the little girl says she is her mommy's friend.
Now.. I AM NOT a judgemental person. Anyone who grew up with me remembers the crowd I hung with and our rather interesting clothes and hair colors. I have made small talk with this woman on numerous occasions. We've joked with one another about our kids' funny behaviour, waved as we left the parking lot, etc. I have NEVER given this woman any reason to be upset with me in any way. So unless I'm completely socially inept, I'm pretty sure this isn't coming from the mom... it's coming from the kid. I'm thinking this kid is insecure about her mom and is telling other kids these things to see if anyone will fess up & admit the girl's mom's a bit freaky.
So, what do I do??? Tell Emma to tell the little girl AGAIN that I do not dislike her mommy? Do I tell the little girl I do not dislike her mommy? Do I tell the teacher? Do I tell the mom, "Sweetie, I'm sure you're a great mom and a genuinely nice person but you *really* do look like you could be running a meth lab or maybe a chop shop down the county road. Your daughter is clearly insecure about your appearance and it is affecting her friendships." Do I ignore it and hope it will go away? I have to do something because Emma had a situation at another day camp earlier this Summer with a kid making stuff up & being catty (a genuine bully/brat) - and we ended up moving her to a new camp because of this kid. Emma takes these things very personally and does not understand why someone would lie just to hurt someone's feelings.
Arrgh!!!
Also, I decided to tinker around with the blog. I've been trying to install a counter to see how many people are popping by but apparently blogger didn't like any of the ones I tried to install. Well, I found a great alternative. The map ---------------> over there is a counter AND it tracks the location of my visitors. Nifty huh? I suspect my map will not be as exciting as some the more prolific bloggers out there but it'll still be fun to see where everyone's from. The only bummer is it requires several days of data before it will generate the map :(
As an aside, if anyone out there has any advice on how to handle this I could use some help. Here's the situation: So I pick up Emma from Day Camp today & ask her the usual questions about her day. Usually I hear cute stories about what they did, etc. But today she tells me she got in a fight with "Shelby." It appears "Shelby" told Emma she no longer wanted to be friends because she knows "Your mom doesn't like my mom!" I ask Emma if I've EVER said anything about Shelby's mom & she says "No! I told her you NEVER said anything about her mom. But she says I'm lying and doesn't want to be my friend."
Now for the nitty gritty of this story. Okay, this lady is definitely not your typical suburban soccer mom. Her arms covered from wrist to shoulder in tattoos (I don't mean neat artistic stuff either - they're rather crude and almost "home made" looking), she has eyebrow, nose and lip piercings, wears concert T-Shirts circa 1980-1985 and drives an old Firebird. To make things more interesting, we often hear about this little girl's daddy (the parents are not separated or divorced) who works away from home for months at a time and can only see his daughter for two or three days every several months. Of course, we've never seen this man. In fact, we've ONLY seen her mother with a YOUNG woman (early 20s) and they are always holding hands. I had assumed she had an older daughter but the little girl says she is her mommy's friend.
Now.. I AM NOT a judgemental person. Anyone who grew up with me remembers the crowd I hung with and our rather interesting clothes and hair colors. I have made small talk with this woman on numerous occasions. We've joked with one another about our kids' funny behaviour, waved as we left the parking lot, etc. I have NEVER given this woman any reason to be upset with me in any way. So unless I'm completely socially inept, I'm pretty sure this isn't coming from the mom... it's coming from the kid. I'm thinking this kid is insecure about her mom and is telling other kids these things to see if anyone will fess up & admit the girl's mom's a bit freaky.
So, what do I do??? Tell Emma to tell the little girl AGAIN that I do not dislike her mommy? Do I tell the little girl I do not dislike her mommy? Do I tell the teacher? Do I tell the mom, "Sweetie, I'm sure you're a great mom and a genuinely nice person but you *really* do look like you could be running a meth lab or maybe a chop shop down the county road. Your daughter is clearly insecure about your appearance and it is affecting her friendships." Do I ignore it and hope it will go away? I have to do something because Emma had a situation at another day camp earlier this Summer with a kid making stuff up & being catty (a genuine bully/brat) - and we ended up moving her to a new camp because of this kid. Emma takes these things very personally and does not understand why someone would lie just to hurt someone's feelings.
Arrgh!!!
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