The Road Less Traveled

2008-08-24T21:33:00.002-04:00

We have been busy around here, we are getting ready for our exchange student. She arrives tomorrow night. We had a change in plans, our original student who was Vietnamese got sick and was not allowed to travel for 3 weeks and since she was just a 1 term student she could not come..... So after we thought we would end up with no student we got a call wondering if we could host a girl from Thailand because the family that was going to host her backed out. So now we will be having a girl from Thailand for the whole school year. I have spoke with her over e-mail and talked to her mom on the phone a few times.

We went to a wonderful wedding last night for some friends of ours. We took Cami to the ceremony but, then went to the reception without her. We had a great time, everything look amazing like out of a magazine. We are running out of friends to get married. We have one more in October than after that I think we are out of single friends.....

I am having a hard time with the fact that Labor Day weekend in almost here..... I am thinking about head up the my families house on Lake Michigan. I think C- our exchange student would like it. It's just nice to get away and not do much.

Cami got invited to her first birthday party. One of the little girls in our China play group is turning 2 and is having a princess party. The neatest thing I think is the party is at 10:30 in the morning, I thought that was a great idea for little kids. I need to put a tulle skirt together for her to wear.

Next Tuesday(Sept.2) is my first day off from me going part time!!!! Yeah, 5 day weekend. I am going to be off on Tuesdays now too!!! It will work out great because I can get Cami in a gymnastics class. One of her friends from our play group is in the same class too.

Football season will soon be firing up and I am excited about that, Jon will be working a lot because his business does a lot of things for the University here. I need to get Cami another cheerleading uniform for this season. Go Irish!!!!

2008-08-15T21:56:00.002-04:00

What is all this hotness you wonder????

Last weekend I went to an 80's themed bachelorette party!!! Talk about a great time, the girls that threw it rented a bus to cart us around so no one had to drive.

There were 20 of us and every single one of us dressed up.

I won tallest hair, 4.5" tall, I would have killed for hair that tall back in the day. Of coarse it took FOREVER to wash all the hair spray out of it the next morning.

Enjoy!!

2008-08-06T21:36:00.002-04:00

We are going to be hosting an exchange student until Christmas time. So, here is my problem I want to get her some things so she feels at home but, I need any ideas or suggestions.

I know I am going to get her all new towels and such, maybe a bath caddy so she can keep all her stuff in it.

A little about her, she is 16 from Germany BUT!!!! She is actually Vietnamese and lived in Vietnam until she was 9. So I am super excited about learning more about Vienamese culture.

I am nervious..... Because now I will be taking care of a 16 year old girl!!!! aaahhhhh I will try hard not to be an over the top mama bear.

HELP!!!!

2008-08-03T21:31:00.001-04:00

Picture #1 is all the fabrics I have been collecting for the sewing my mom and I plan on doing. I have been prowling around fabrics stores seeing who has the best selections.

Picture #2 This is Cami's new purse(hot I know) I am going to a bachelorette party Saturday night that has an 80's theme and I went to the Doll@r Tre* to find so cheap things for it and ran across this purse.... Cami loves it but, mom will have to borrow it.

She is so funny now about purses and when we say time to go bye bye she says's "wait my purse"!!! All those little toys are what she has been caring in her purse. You just never know when you will need a cooking pot and spoon!!!

And pictures 3 and 4 I took Cami Saturday to get her hair cut for the first time, her bangs were down past her nose and she won't let me clip them back, so I decided a little trim was in order. I also had my hair dresses trim up the back, she had a bit of a baby mullet going on so that got evened out a bit more. It looks so cute but, I think it makes her look a bit older because now she has a little style going. She did so good and held still, I have taken her will me a few times so she would know what to expect.

And on to the not so fun stuff. I really don't hit to heavy on the hard adoption subjects on this blog but, I felt like I needed to address this.

My daughter is from Nam Dinh, there has been some serious things come up about Nam Dinh adoptions in the last few weeks. I know very little about her life prior to May 2007 and now I feel I know even less. Was she one of the babies in this scandal? I have no idea and will probably never know.

Did we get a fast referral? No we we DTV 2 weeks shy of 1 year when we got matched. Did we travel fast after referral? Yes, the babies from Cami's orphanage were already paper ready when they were referred, I had heard of other orphanages doing this also so it did not seem strange. Nam Dinh was a new area for our agency to be working with, so we were one of the first families to complete an adoption from there.

There were lots of babies in her orphanage(around 20) and a 3 toddlers, I had never been to an orphanage before so I had and still do not have any idea if that is a lot of children.

Out of all this the only thing I really know is that I have a happy healthy wonderful little girl I am blessed to call my daughter. I have decided long before this scandal broke that I would always be honest with my daughter about anything I knew regarding her adoption and this new turn of events will not change it.

The truth may not be pretty but, it will be the truth. I never want her to feel that I have kept anything from her or hid it. I know I will have some very hard questions to answer one day.

2008-07-28T15:50:00.002-04:00

This scrunched up face is the new one she gives me as soon as she sees me get out the camera and she is saying cheese, so we call this her cheese face!!!

She has been acting so silly lately and cracking me up. I just love her personality.

In other stuff, my mom and I are going to try and make Cami a couple simple dresses. My mom sews very well, me..... Not so well but, I want to get better so I can do some cute things for my girl. In another post I will take some pictures of the cute material that I picked out for Cami's dresses.

2008-07-22T21:24:00.002-04:00

Sorry no new pictures.....

My sweet little girl has had a stomach bug for the last few days, with this bug she has had a very upset tummy. I felt so bad for her, my biggest concern is that she would not eat. She was drinking fine but, would not eat and for a little girl who does not have an extra ounce to spare that really upset me. I took her to the doctor yesterday, her doctor said she looked fine and was well hydrated and that when she feels like eating she will....

She took Cami's weight and at 21 months old she is 19.3 lbs, she has only put on about 1 lbs in 3 months. I know she eats good (some days better than others) but, she is so active I know she burns a ton of calories!!! I am hoping she is 20 lbs by her 2nd birthday.

Did I say 2nd birthday..... That is coming up so soon, hard for me to believe. I swear we just had her 1st birthday. I am at a loss at what to do for her birthday. Being October, it's hard telling what the weather will be like. I guess we could do a bounce house but I am not sure.... I don't know what to get her either.

We are going up to Ike@ this weekend so I am going to check out their big girl beds and maybe we will get her that for her birthday, I have not decided yet.

I am eyeing 2 classes to sign her up for this fall. One is a mommy and me dance class, I think if we do that she and I will choose to do the thriller dance for our routine..... I say that because her current dance moves remind me of that video. And there is also a class at the local Montessori school that I want to try out.

2008-07-14T21:30:00.002-04:00

We have been on zoo kick lately, this last weekend we drove over to Ft. Wayne Indiana and went to the children's zoo, it was great. Cami loves animals and we have a zoo pass to our local zoo that gets us into zoo's all over the country for free or 50% off. We are planning on going over to Toledo Ohio to their zoo some time soon.

Her favorite part is the petting zoo goats! The goats at our local zoo are older and fat, so they just lay around, not to active. At the Ft. Wayne zoo they were all babies and very active, she did not know what to think of them, so she had her daddy pick her up.

Tomorrow my not so little baby will be 21 months old!!! I am having a hard time realizing that in fact Cami has been home over 1 year and will soon be 2 years old. I love watching her grow and blossom, every single day she changes, it is so amazing to me to watch this.

Cami cracks me up, we call her our "All American Princess" because she LOVES to watch baseball (I mean is she sees anything on TV with baseball she screams baseball and run for the TV) and she loves rock n' roll and country music!!! I mean baseball, Bruce Springs@een and Kenny #hesney how much more All American do you get.

In other news, I have read over the information packet for our China adoption and it's kind of funny because once your have done 1 dossier a second one does not seem to bad!!! I looked it over and said oh no big deal!!!! My only concern is dealing with USCIS, last time it took forever to get our I-171H because they kept loosing our paperwork...... If anyone knows how long Chicago USCIS I-171H turn around time is please let me know, I think last time it took almost 4 months for us to get it.

I turn 30 in December so sometime after the first of the year when I feel motivated I will get the adoption ball rolling!!! My personal goal is to have it ready to go by September 2009. We are planning a D!sney trip for the end of September (2009) for our anniversary and Cami's 3rd birthday so I want it to be DTC by then.

2008-07-08T22:09:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone had a nice 4th weekend, okay I am a bit late but, I have pictures!!!!!

I was off all last week!!!! I enjoyed myself, got some yard work done and spent some quality time with my mini me! Jon took a 4 day weekend so we got to do some fun things as a family.

We went up to an outlet mall not to far from us and put a serious hurting on the H@nnah @nderson store for next summer. I love paying $5 for things that are normally $45!!! I bought Cami 3T for next summer in tops hard telling what size she will in a year, I think some of her shorts will fit her next year because she is so tiny in the waist and butt.

Cami loved all the fireworks, she calls them boom booms. Our house is in a great spot to see a couple different fireworks shows. I am not a fan of fireworks, I don't like loud noises.... So when we took Cami to see a fireworks show a few weeks ago at a baseball game I kept trying to cover her ears and she finally looked up at me and said "no mama boom booms good" and took my hands off her ears..... My girl is getting big.

Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds lately.... She is putting whole sentences together and sometimes adding some "choice" words here and there..... Tonight at dinner she started to eat and then all the sudden goes" dammit it hot"!!!! I almost fell over. We keep a straight face in front of her but, we both wanted to laugh. We both try very hard not to swear around her but, sometimes it's hard.....

In some exciting news for me it looks like I am going to be cutting back to part time at work, currently I work Monday-Thursday and every other Friday morning but, my new schedule looks like it will be Tuesday-Thursday and my every other Friday morning!!! I am excited that now Cami and I will be able to find some sort of mommy and me classes to take. I am eyeing a dance class because Cami LOVES music and dancing.

2008-06-30T04:14:00.002-04:00

Okay, I am really lame I have not went and bought a new disc for my camera..... It's on my list of things to do today.

Cami and I now have a new summer Saturday hang out, the zoo!! We bought a membership pass and with that on Saturday morings you can get in starting at 8am instead of 10am like everyone else. Since we are already up we have been heading over there about 8:30 walk the zoo and finish up just as the zoo opens. It's great we are always the only ones there!!!

This last Saturday Jon took the day off work and came with us. I will tell you something funny that happened to us. We were watching the tiger (he is a bit cranky) and Cami was standing up on a little step with her face to glass watching him (she loves cats) and talking to him and making cat sounds, Jon and I were back a couple feet watching when all the sudden he sprung at the glass both paws hit it. Jon and I both jumped and said "oh Sh@t" my girl never moved a muscle, matter of fact she laughed at him. This child has nerves of steel!!!! After that we moved on.....

We put a bid on the house we looked at, it's actually not a repo home, yet. It is a short sale home, so it is getting ready to go into forecloser. We are the only people putting a bit in on it and our bid is extremely low, so we will see where that gets us with the bank that holds the note on it. We just need to sell our home.

I really see a lot of great things for this house, it's in a great neighborhood and all the houses are in great shape and worth 80-100K more than what we offered the bank on this place. So with some TLC this place with go up in value big time.

I priced new floors this weekend, the carpet in that house is so stained with kids spilling kool-aid it is terrible. I am not a carpet person and since Cami has some allergies we are going to be putting wood floors down on the whole main level. Not hard wood but, the fake hard wood that I love because it's worry free.

I am running around today pricing new appliances, light fixtures, counter tops and sinks..... I am debating between black or stainless steel appliances.

In other news, we are getting ready to board that slow boat to China!!! We called Friday and spoke with our agency about their China program. When I spoke to the program director the first thing she said was I want to be very clear that families who are next up for referrals have been waiting 29 months since being DTC so this is a slow program. To that I said I know that's why we are interested in it!!! I said my Cami is almost 2 and I am not ready for another little person just yet but, I am ready to start working my way towards one and we want Cami to be about school age before she gets a sister. She started laughing and said the China is then the perfect program for us!!!

So we have decided that after the first of the year we will start the paper chase..... I keep telling myself that with this adoption I will send my paperwork to China and forget about it. But, I some how really doubt I will but, at least I am going in knowing this will take a LONG time.

We were looking at some other programs but, decided that is was important to us to have an Asian sister for Cami. Jon decided he likes being a daddy to little girls and wanted another daughter, we'll see how much he likes it in about 10-15 years!!! :)

2008-06-25T21:14:00.003-04:00

Okay, I am posting without photos (no hate mail please) I had all these great pictures from this weekend and now my camera disc took a dump and won't work......

Saturday Cami and I got together for an adoptive family play group at our local zoo, around 15 families showed up. We had a great time and Cami walked to whole zoo, she ended up taking a 3 hour nap after that. It was great, note to self take Cami to zoo every Saturday and have her walk!!!! I had a great time talking to other parents and Cami had fun watching all the animals.

On Friday night we went to our local minor league baseball teams game and the family we sat next to had a little girl just a bit older than Cami adopted from China, so all of us chatted the whole game, and come to find out they are in the China play group we just joined!!!

Okay, onto other things.... I went and looked at the repo house on Friday, I really like it!!! I was able to look past the very stained carpet and the walls that need a non neon paint color. I see lots of potential in this house. And with the price we can get it for we can pay to have it fixed up very nicely and still be way under our self set budget.

I keep telling myself that if it is meant to be it will be.

I am off work all next week!!! The Doctor I work for is going on vacation and his policy is if we is gone we can take off too or work if we want to. So I decided to take the week off, I am sending Cami to daycare Monday and Tuesday so I can get lots of stuff done around here that is hard to do with her home and then keeping her home with me the rest of the week. Jon is also taking a 4 day weekend to spend with us, that will be very nice because he works so much this time of year.

2008-06-18T20:37:00.002-04:00

Miss Cami Anh is now 20 months old.... How the heck did my tiny baby turn into a almost 2 year old???

Let's see, she communicates very well in sign language, knows all her body parts and can say them and I found out today that she knows all her body parts in Korean too.... Her baby sitter is Korean and teaches her stuff in Korean and us and the baby sitter work with her in the sign language.

She talks very well when she wants too, I am amazed by her language skills. She is very good at putting puzzles together and loves I spy type books.

As far as us, we cancelled the house we were "trying" to build..... We signed paperwork in December and here it was June and they had not even started it. Yes, we were approved for the mortage, so they knew we were good for the money. Yes, we were approved to buy this house without selling our current home.

So, with all that being said we are looking for another house. I found a repo house is a great neighborhood that I love, I am going to look at it Friday, from looking in the windows it looks like it needs mostly cosmetic help (paint and new flooring). So, I'll see for sure when I get inside. This house is well below our budget so that would leave us plenty of money to fix it up just how we want. However, our house has not sold yet and even though the bank feels we can afford 2 mortgages we are not comfortable with doing it. So, I would appreciate and positive thoughts that our house sells so we can buy a new house.

I really love this other neighborhood, that house has a very large yard and really nice houses around it. It's in a great school system so we would not have to send Cami to private school. It's very close to my parents and lots of our friends. And you can't touch a house in this neighborhood for the price this place is going for. If it's ment to be it will be I keep telling myself. I am so tired of having a house for sale, it makes it hard with a small child running around.....

However, with wanting to move I would have to find a new sitter and we love Cami's current sitter so much. We really thought about waiting longer to move because Cami does so good there.

As you can tell from the pictures Cami loves water!!!!

2008-06-08T20:18:00.002-04:00

One year ago today we became a family of three, it's so hard to believe how quickly this last year has gone by and how much our little girl has grown.

Today we spent the day enjoying our girl, we played in her pool and ran in the sprinkler. She loves water so that was right up her alley.

Our baby girl is getting so big, next weekend she will be 20 months old. She has become a very active toddler who runs, jumps, climbs, dances and kicks!!!

I really don't know what to say today because I am beside myself that it has already been one year..... It has been a bit of an emotional day for me, I keep thinking back to how tiny and sad she was and how big she is now and how she is a truly happy child, she has a laugh that comes from deep down in her belly and sometimes she will get to laughing so hard she will lay down on the floor and roll around.

I am excited to see what the next year brings us as far as Cami's development and how much she grows.

2008-05-07T20:37:00.003-04:00

One year ago tonight our phone rang and our lives changed forever.

It was a phone call I almost did not answer, we were outside working in the yard and I ran inside to get something and the phone rang just as I was going back outside , for a moment I hesitated answering it because I was busy..... But, something in me said answer it. I recognized the voice on the other end being our program director, she said Hi Jody do you have time to talk, I said yes and then the next words out of her mouth caused me to loose all sanity.... She said I am e-mailing you pictures of your sweet baby girl. Jon was in the front yard watering the lawn so I ran to the front window and yelled get in here it's M and we have a baby, I swear it took him 2 steps to get into the house. So as M is giving me our babies info Jon is on the cell phone calling everyone we know. As soon as we got her photo I forwarded it to all the people he was calling.

I was hardly able to sleep that night, I was so excited.

We were DTV just shy of 1 year when we got that call, and it took us exactly 1 year to become DTV.... We sent in our application to our agency in 2005 when Vietnam re-opened but, we did not start our paperwork until January 2006 when our agency got their license, then it took 6 months to be DTV. Thanks to everyones favorite USCIS.... They lost our paperwork twice and then took forever to approve us for our I-171H so we dealt with them for almost 4 months, so needless to say I was so glad to get that piece of paperwork. Now having my daughter I know there is a reason it took so long....

Along this bumpy adoption path we were open to some SN, we received info on one little girl that we had to turn down, she had a very serious heart problem that can not be fixed, we met her when were in Vietnam and it broke my heart that she would never know the love of a family and that she would not live much longer. Our agency flew her to Hong Kong for surgery and once the doctor say her and what was going on he would not operate because she would never survive and sent her back to live out what time she had left in the orphanage.

We also received info on another little girl with a SN, we decided that we wanted to adopt her, so we told our agency, showed her picture off to some friends and family and we were very excited for a few weeks until we got a phone call saying that they contacted the orphanage saying we wanted this little girl and were told that they waited to long and her info was given to another agency and someone else wants her.... So we lost her, I was devastated.

Now I know why we lost that little girl, she was meant to be someone elses daughter and we were meant to have our daughter.

We were a bit surprised when we got our referral call saying our daughter was a healthy 6 month old, being that we were open to SN up to age 3.

Adoption was a very long bumpy road for us but, to be honest I look forward to hopping back on the adoption ride and doing it again.

I think often of how much our lives have changed in the last year and more so how much Cami has changed in the time we have been a family. She is loving, strong willed, feisty, sweet and whip smart. We always say that we know she will never be a pushover.

I often wonder how we got so lucky to be the parents to this amazing little girl.

Oh, and the picture of her feet is these super cute sandals I found at Wal-M@rt for $5 (and her really cute toes, that are very long) she had a major melt down last night when her dad made her take her new sandals off to take her bath.....

Also, if you are wondering why she always seems to have a Sponge Bob band aide on it's because she loves Sponge Bob and if she does not have a "Bob" on there is hell to pay!!!!! (So no worries that she keeps getting hurt in the same spot, it's fake)

2008-05-03T20:36:00.001-04:00

We had Cami's 18 month check up last week, it goes as follows:

18.2 lbs
30" tall
And her Doctor marked all other things at excellent. She is small but, very healthy.

I have been trying to find a gymnastics or dance class for her to take because I think she would love those but, no luck...... All that is offered in this area for her age group is on a weekday morning, that does not really work for me being a working mom. Apperently I am the only working mom in this area with a daughter who would enjoy an activity...

I am going to Colorado next week for work for almost a week.... This will be the first time I have ever been away from Cami, I am trying hard not to fall apart over it but, I will miss my sidekick so much. Her dad will do great because he is a very hands on dad but, still I will miss her. Luckly there are 2 more of us first time moms leaving our kiddos behind so we can all cry together.

Cami's verbal skills are growing so much. Now if she sees an animal she knows on TV she says it's name and what sound they make. She absolutly loves animals. Next weekend for Mother's Day me, Cami, my mom, my grandma, my aunt, my cousin and her daughter are all going to the zoo for Mother's Day. I know Cami will love that. My cousin is a Vet so her daughter (who is Cami's age) is always around animals so I know E- will love it too. And most of all, my 85 y.o. Grandma will love watching her "babies" play. She introduces them to everyone as "my babies"! She say's I have one blond and one with black hair, then she always tells me how she always wanted black hair.

I really need to get some pictures taken of Cami but, she does not like strangers and I know she will give her famous "evil eye" to anyone trying to take her picture..... Any suggestions would be great.

2008-04-22T21:46:00.004-04:00

As you can see I have a big helper with the dishes, she loves to help empty the dishwasher.

The side shot of her head is to show you that Cami has curly hair in the back!!!

And, I have a confession to make, Cami has been titled the ultimate fighting champion at daycare..... If someone dares to mess with her she apparently does not hesitate to beat them down. Last week she had to put a smack down on a 4 year old apparently she smacked him in the head and pushed him down... So I some how doubt that we will ever have to worry about Cami being a pushover!!!

Most people would never believe that my sweet tiny little girl could ever act like that but, trust me she is feisty!!!!

Cami has her 18month check up on Friday and we are hoping she has hit the 20 pound mark..... Fingers crossed.

Also, It appears that Cami has her 4 top front teeth coming in along with her molars on the bottom. I can see all of them and feel them at the gum line. She currently only has 2 teeth, poor thing 18 months old and 2 teeth..... But, I think we will be making up for lack of teeth very very soon!

2008-04-15T20:46:00.002-04:00

Today my little girl is 18 months old, she is growing so fast. We have been together a little over 10 months now..... Hard to believe!

She is definitely not a baby anymore, she has made the turn into a big girl. We have been working on potty training for about 2 months now, she is getting pretty good at telling me when she has to go, she will say "mommy poo poo" and then run to the bathroom. She has a little toilet seat that sits on the regular toilet and sometimes she will bring me the seat and tell me she has to go. We are not really pushing it but, figured we would introduce it.

She is picking up so many words these days it's mind blowing to me. She loves animals, so needless to say we bought a pass to our local zoo.

Her new favorite thing is to have a Sponge Bob tattoo on her arm, on Fridays at daycare if she has been good all week she gets one. Once we get home I have to put it on her right away and then she makes sure her sleeve is rolled up so she can show everyone. She will say "look Bob" and then show who ever the tattoo. If you look closely at one of the pictures above you will see her Bob tattoo.

We have her 18 month check up next week and I am hoping she is 20 lbs.... She is such a skinny minnie with the tiniest little butt and waist. Everything I buy her has to be adjustable waist or it will fall off her, even with a diaper on her butt it super tiny!!

I am looking forward to summer, my family has a lake house up on Lake Michigan and I am excited to take Cami there this year. We did not go up last summer, I thought it might be to much for her. We just bought her a wagon to pull her around up there, we also bought bikes and a pull behind cart for her to ride in. I had not ridden a bike in over 15 years, so needless to say it took a few minutes to remember how to do it. If bike ridding does not kick your butt I don't know what will!!! Our neighborhood has a cute little park in it with swings but, in order to get to it it's all up hill, I was hoping my bike would tip over so I could just lay in the street and hope someone would run me over...... We'll see if I do better this weekend.

Since I am feeling a bit chatty tonight, I too might as well hit on the sleep subject I have read on a few other blogs since everyone has kiddos that do different things.

With Cami, she was just under 8 months old when we met. In our hotel room we had 1 queen bed and 2 twin beds. Jon and I took turns sleeping with her and then the other would sleep in 1 twin bed and my mom would sleep in the other. Cami needed someone close to her so she could touch them, in her orphanage they did not have cribs so all the babies slept together snuggled up, so she was used to close contact with others. And being that she had never been in a crib before, we did not want to scare her there.

We would have to hold her and rock her and bounce her until she fell asleep and then you could lay her down and pat her back for a while. Most of the time she would wake up and scream so you would have to start all over. She co-slept with us for 8 months and a lot of the time she would crawl right up on you in the night to sleep, so we went 8 months with not much sleep.

Finally about 2 months ago I rocked her to sleep and laid her in her crib and she slept all night (I must have checked on her a million times) and after that night she has slept in her crib. She is a wild sleeper now and I think she has more room to stretch out more in her own bed. Now when it's bed time I say "time to go night night Cami" and she says "okay night night" and gets her blanket gives Jon and I hugs and kisses and then she walks into her bedroom and waits for us to put her in her crib. To us, this is the most mind blowing thing considering all the sleep issues we had for 8 months. My mom about passed out when she witnessed it, she always says " this is not the same baby we met in Vietnam."

She has changed so much from being a baby that we had to hold all the time and cried alot into a very secure and happy little girl that hardly every cries. She is so independent now that is unreal to us.

I personally did not read any parenting books, I read several adoption books to kind of get an idea on what to expect. Probably the best advice I picked up from a book was "REMEMBER YOU MAY HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CHILD FOR YEARS BUT, THEY HAVE NOT BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, THEIR LIFE IS ALL THEY KNOW SO GIVE THEM TIME" it is something along those lines. It's a hard truth because we all waited so long that we want our child to be so happy to come with us and love us right away but, that's not how it goes. Now 10 months into parenthood we have a little girl who will stop playing for a second and come give us a hug and kiss and them go back to playing, it's a hard road but, so worth it.

I may be rambling now but, I just want to stress to waiting people that adoption is a long hard bumpy road but, it is so worth it. You know it's worth it when you have a little girl who cried a lot but, now falls on the floor because she is laughing so hard.

Cami has brought more joy into our lives than I could of ever imagined, it's so hard for us to believe our 1 year as a family is coming upon us soon!!!

2008-03-25T20:48:00.002-04:00

Okay, I have the time and energy for an update!

I'll start with the not so great stuff fist.....

We had to put our almost 13 year old Bulldog Shelby to sleep, I was and still am heart broken over it. She was a wonderful dog and loved Cami so much and Cami loved her. Shelby lived almost 5 years longer than what most Bulldogs do, however, in the last few months her kidney's had started to fail and she was having problems with going potty in the house. We had been putting off putting her down but, I finally mustered up the strength to do it a few weeks ago. We miss you Shelby Ann.

Then the day after we put Shelby down Cami got bitten by my MILs dog on the head, it left 1 small puncture wound and 2 welts. I did not see the bit at first because it was hidden by her hair. Now, this was an unprovoked bite, Cami was just walking by the dog and the dog lunged at her, I flew across the room and grabbed Cami. I stayed calm and just looked at Jon and said we are leaving now!! As soon as I got in the car I lost it, I have seen lots of people with dog bite scars and I would never want my daughter to go through that. I called my mom as soon as I saw the puncture wound (my mom was a ER nurse for a long time) she had me bring Cami over to her house and she cleaned everything up and gave me some stuff to clean it with. It was not a bad bite but, it was to close for us. Cami is no longer allowed to go to my MILs house. This of course has turned into that I am being mean and making to big of a deal of it according to my MIL..... Of coarse if anything remotely close to that is ever mentioned to me by anyone I will not hesitate to hand them their ass! We are sticking to our guns and if the MIL wants to see Cami she can come to our house.

And finally, we are getting the run around from the builders for our new home, we signed everything and gave our deposit almost 4 months ago and guess what..... They have not even started on our house yet! They had tried to get more money out of us saying that because we made so may upgrades that they need more money, I told them they would get more money when the house was done and they knew all the upgrades we were making before we put our deposit down. So, we are giving then another 2 weeks to get their act together or we are canceling the house. We love this house but, I am not getting dicked around and I know plenty of other builders would be happy to build us our dream home. So what will be will be!

Okay, onto good news Miss Cami is almost 30" tall and 18.4 lbs. So she is getting so big. She is long and skinny (she did not get that from me!!!) I have been looking for a fun class our play group for us to join but, since I happen to work and all these things are only offered during the weekday mornings so we are out of luck. However, I had a patient the other day whose sister is Cami's age and from China and the mom and I got to talking and she mentioned that she worked so she could not get L- in any groups so we decided to start getting our girls together and maybe start our own working moms with Asian kids group!!!

In some very exciting news Cami has started pooping on the potty!!!!! I found the best thing ever, it's a little toilet seat that fits on the regular toilet seat so mo cleaning up a potty chair!!! She is starting to let me know when she needs to go, she will point towards the bathroom and say poo. And then we cheer and give high fives after she goes.

Her latest favorite word is cool. Which cracks me up.

She has been doing a great job about going to bed, I will say night night time and she will give Jon and I each a hug and a kiss and then grab her blanket and say night night and we just lay her in her crib and that's the end of it. We co-slept with her for over 7 months so this is a huge deal to us, we used to have to hold her until she fell asleep every night before we could lay her down, so now we are on cloud nine.

We have started talking more about child #2 now that Cami is becoming such the big girl. We will not be starting anything until fall 2009 so we have plenty of time to see what is happening the the world of International adoption. After hubby and I talking we are currently leaning towards China (I know long waits) that is why we are leaning towards China because Cami would be almost 6 when we get #2 home and we like the idea of Cami being an only child for that long and forming a strong bond with her before adding another child. We are thinking we will say a child between the ages of 0-3 years and see what happens. Of coarse, we said that for the last adoption and we got matched with a 6 months old (imagine our surprise!!!).

Well, I think that is everything in a nut shell for now!

Sending positive thoughts to everyone involved in Vietnam adoptions.

2008-03-22T22:08:00.001-04:00

Yes, I know it has been a while since I last blogged.....

Let's see, what is new around here?

Cami is now running like crazy and happens to be faster than greased lightning. She knows around 30 words and now also says several sentences.

We just got back from spending a week in Arizona, we had lots of fun in the sun. Cami did great on the trip, I was not sure what to expect because she has never spent the night away from our house. But, as usual she did great.

Cami is now 17 months old and has been with us for 9 months. She is turning into such a big girl, she is not my tiny baby anymore. She has such a good personality and has been called "charming" on several occasions.

Honestly, not a day goes by that I am not amazed by this little girl.

I will try to update more later but, I have to get to bed.

2008-01-18T05:24:00.000-05:00

Still around here..... It took Emily getting her approval to bring me out of the wood work, now we need Heather to get hers so she can get her sweet baby girl home too.

We have been so busy lately between work, building the new house and getting this one ready to go on the market.

To add to all that Cami is walking full time now!!!! Okay, more like running. It seems like in the last couple weeks she has went from being a baby to a little girl. We can hardly believe how big she is getting, she has reached 17lbs and I will soon be buying her 18 month size pants because she is getting so tall (thank goodness for adjustable waist).

She now feeds herself with a fork and drinks out of a big girl cup... Not so well but, hey the dog cleans up after her good!!!

We have booked a trip to Arizona for spring break, we are looking forward to getting out of this cold weather. We will actually be visiting on of my husbands brother and his wife, they have not seen Cami since right after we got home with her.

In house news, our lot is cleared but, no hole dug yet for the basement, weather has been a bit bad around here. I am very excited we ordered all our new appliances and a new front loading washer and dryer, I can hardly wait to wash 17 pairs of jeans at once...... Okay we have a little stackable now so it takes forever to get laundry done!!!!

In getting our current home ready for sale we have been getting rid of a lot of stuff (feels good) and our house is looking better than it ever has in the six years we have been here!

I am however a bit annoyed with a realtor.... We met with a few Realtors to see what they had to say, we felt 2 were on target with their price suggestion according to what other houses around have gone for around us and the third one suggest a price $50,000 LESS that the other two saying with that price he could sell it in a day..... I basically told him to hit the road after he suggested that...... He than hard the nerve to call me yesterday and say he had an offer on our house, I said how can you get an offer when it is not ever listed yet, of coarse someone would want it and turn and make a $50,000 profit!!!!

So off the house crap and onto more important stuff..... Cami is developing a really great since of humor, she cracks us up so much. I am loving this age except the whole not listening thing... ;)

She talks so much and knows so many words that it blows my mind. She gets after the dog and tells her "you go lay down"!!!! I am also happy to report that at 15 months old we have 2 teeth.

Basically nothing to wild and crazy going on around here, we are living a Design to sell episode.... If only we had all that help.

2007-12-17T07:46:00.000-05:00

What has been going on in our lives you may wonder, since I have not blogged very often???

Well, the truth is, we have some very exciting news...... We are building a new house!!! We are so excited, the pictures are of the builders model home that is the same home we are building. We lucked out, the builder gave us the lot as a promotion this month, so that saved us about $35,000. With that big savings we were able to do some big changes with the house and still come in under our target budget!! We extended the back of the house out 2' and one side out 2', we also added that nook you see in the picture and a fireplace.

The new neighborhood is in one of the best school systems in Indiana, so we are excited to get Cami into their schools.

We are so excited about this house, it is a ranch with split bedrooms. It's 1400 sq.ft and then the basement is also 1400 sq.ft, we will have that finished with another bedroom and bathroom and a big family room, toy area and a storage room.

Besides getting the free lot, we also got $6000 in free upgrades, so we are going next week to pick out all our goodies!!!

Now onto more important news, Cami is taking about 5-7 steps at a time, well on her way to walking. She is getting so big, it amazes me. 6 months ago she would tip over if you sat her up, now walking!!! She has changed so much in the 6 months we have been a family.

My husband keeps asking me what I want for Christmas and my answer is, nothing! I seriously have everything I have ever wanted: my daughter being the most important.

2007-11-29T14:18:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of the world's least thrilled baby..... Oh, how she loves wearing a hat with a chin strap.

Cami's now has a love for playing the piano, I think we are going to get her a little one for Christmas.

And then, the last three are me trying to get a Christmas card photo this weekend. The dress is her Christmas dress and I love it.

Tuesday night was not a fun one around here Cami threw up 9 times in less than 3 hours and would not drink, after calling her Doctor we had to take her to the ER. We ended up being there for about 5 hours..... The problem seems to be a sever inner ear infection, we would have never known, she was not acting different or running a fever.

The ER Doctor said I was jumping the gun a bit to bring her in when she had not been throwing up for at least 24 hours. That made me a bit mad, I told him I was not messing with my daughter's health and I was not going to wait around until she needed an IV and to be addmitted to the hospital. Then he said I guess I understand.....

So, long story short. My girl is back to her normal self, thank goodness.

We put our Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving and Cami is doing a good job of leaving it alone, she loves to move her chair in front of it and just look at it. It's only
half decorated, we kept all the bulbs out of her reach.

2007-11-20T20:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I feel so blessed this year to have our little girl home, she has been such a blessing to us in so many ways.

In other news we FINALLY have a tooth!!!! Thank goodness.

The pictures from above are from this last weekend, we went up to my Grammy's and had an early Thanksgiving with my mom's family. My cousin came down with her baby that is the same age, her daughter is not around other kids because her grandma watches her, so she was all over Cami..... My Cami takes after me in that she likes her personal space, she kept telling E- no and pushing her away.

This Thursday my parents are coming over for Thanksgiving breakfast and then we are going to the MIL's for dinner..... Hopefully I will not want to drink after that.

I am still finding it hard to believe that it is the holiday season already. I have started some Christmas shopping but, still have plenty to do.... I don't think I will be heading out Friday morning, people get to crazy for my taste.

After waiting 2 years for our girl I am definetly on cloud nine this holiday season.

2007-11-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know I have been MIA...... Time gets away from me and Cami has not been sleeping well so neither have I.

Anyway, we had Cami's 1 year check up. We were so excited to see that she is now 15.8 lbs and 28" long. I can't believe how big she is now. Her Doctor is so excited to see all the improvements she has made.

We have our 6 month post placement visit next month, so I have been filling out all the paperwork for that. 6 months..... WOW, time flies. I plan on taking the pictures this weekend that will be sent back to Vietnam.

As you can tell from the pictures Cami was a pumpkin for Halloween, she would say boo to the trick-or-treaters.

I am having a hard time believing that Thanksgiving is just a few short weeks away. I started some Christmas shopping last week and I also found Cami's Christmas dress.

Oh yes, and the teeth that are driving us nuts are still NOT in yet.... I can see them and feel them but, they have not broken through yet. I had a dream the other night that all of her teeth came in at once..... Seriously almost 13 months old and no teeth.

I will post more later but, I am tired and need some sleep.

2007-10-22T08:15:00.000-04:00

I have been a bad blogger but, honestly I have been to tired to blog..... Cami is teething and has been getting up a lot at night so all of us have been going to bed about 7:30.

Last Monday was Cami's 1st birthday, we spent the day together. We went shopping, I tried to get her some shoes at Stride Rite, after the lady measrued her feet she said come back when her feet get bigger because they are to small for the walking shoes. We then had lunch with some friends. All in all it was a good day.

We got her a American Girl doll Bitty Baby, she is very interested in that the eyes open and close.

My Cami cakes is getting so big, I am truly amazed at how fast she grows. 4.5 months ago she could hardly sit by herself, now she is on the go soon to be walking. She is getting tall too, soon her 9 month jammies will be to short. Tall and skinny, that's my girl.

We have her 1 year check up Friday and I am hoping she has hit the 15lb mark. With her being thin and tall, I had to make her a belt to keep her pants up.....

So far we have had our pumpkins for 2 weeks and the crazy lady down the street has not stollen them. I marked them this year and have a good friend who is a cop in our area and she said if the crazy lady steals them this year she is going to go down there and have a chat with her..... Basically, she thinks it's funny and would give her a break from dealing with some of the other crazies!!

And please send good thoughts that Cami's first 2 teeth FINALLY come in..... She has the tooth lumps and I can see them but, they just have not boken threw yet.

2007-10-08T08:50:00.000-04:00

What a busy day we had yesterday! First Cami was baptized and then we celebrated her 1st birthday!!! She had a great time yesterday, except when she saw me holding another little girl.... She crawled over to me as fast as she could and crawled up in my lap and tried to push the other little girl out. And then they proceeded to give each other nasty looks......

Besides that we had a great time, around 20 people came. I wanted to keep it small but, everyone wanted to come help Cami celebrate her birthday.

I was thinking yesterday exactly 4 months earlier I was stepping off a plane in Hanoi and being handed a tiny little baby, now my tiny little baby is growing fast. 4 months has flown past and she has changed so so much.

As Cami's birthday and finding date draw closer I find myself thinking more and more about her birthmother. I wish there was a way to tell her what an amazing little girl we have and how so many people love her. I think I will always have a bit of a pit in my stomach because I will never be able to answer some of the most important questions in my daughter's life. It makes me sad that I do not know her exact date of birth but, I do know the day she was found and that her birthmother placed her in a very safe place to be found. I will also be able to tell her how her given name came about, Ha Kieu Anh, they thought she was a very beautiful baby so they named her after a Miss Vietnam who is now a big movie star over there.

Actually I find it funny that she was named after a Miss Vietnam, because when Cami waves it's not like how regular kids waves, she does a pageant wave (I kid you not)!!!

2007-09-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

Cami is getting bigger by the day.... She has turned into Spider girl and is pulling up on everything and wanting to walk so bad. She will be 1 in a few short weeks and still does not have teeth, I can see some little white spots so I know they are coming.

Friday we are taking Cami to a pumpkin patch to pick out her first pumpkins. I see some of you remember that last year my crazy neighbor lady stole a few of my pumpkins, well after talking to a few others in our neighborhood that lady is REALLY crazy not just because I said so. Apparently she is some sort of "mail order" bride from Russia..... I think that her husband should get his money back.

So with Halloween coming up soon, Griswald put up his decorations.... That's right orange lights all over the house. I'll have to post a picture.

And in some exciting adoption news congrats to all those who just got referrals, travel calls and bringing their babies home.

2007-09-16T20:25:00.000-04:00

We have been busy around here, last weekend my MIL had a princess party for Cami. It was actually more of a baby shower with the baby there. It was titled come meet the princess.

On the cake, you can see there are chocolate tiaras. And Cami sleeping on me is after the party, she was tired from all her hostess duties!!!

Cami turned 11 months old yesterday. We are truly amazed at how much she has changed in the 3.5 months we have been a family.

Cami is working so hard on walking, she talks up a storm, and is now 14.6 lbs.

We are so excited for all the up coming Holidays, for so long I dreaded them but, finally we have our daughter home and a true reason to celebrate. We are decorating for Fall/Halloween next weekend, I can hardly wait to go pick out pumpkins!!!

This weekend I started to pack up her summer clothes because the cold weather is fast approaching. I was sad to pack up her tiny little clothes, knowing that she is growing so fast and she will never be that small again.

We were laughing today saying we are not sure we could handle another girl.... Cami is a total drama queen and when she gets mad, look out all hell is going to break loose.... She will slam her fists down and scream at the top of her lungs and let you know that is NOT how she wants it.....

She hardly cries anymore but, she makes up for it by her screaming!!!! She can also throw a great full body tantrum arms and legs going, the whole bit!

I have to laugh because she looks so funny because she is so little. Actually, I love every minute I spend with her.

2007-09-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

Help my daddy tried to get me ready for bed!!!! If you look closely you will see a foot coming out of the arm....

Cami shopping at Ikea.

Self feeding like a big girl!

2007-09-04T21:06:00.000-04:00

I have been tagged by Julie over at "Love From Vietnam" we also happen to have the same middle name...

Here are the rules of this tag...

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!

A- Anh, Cami's middle name.

N- Next adoption??? Baby boy..... you never know!

N- No brothers or sisters, that's right people, I am an only child!!

I tag anyone who wants to be tagged.

In other stuff, Cami is crawling faster that greased lightning and pulling her self up on everything.

We made a trip to Ikea Sunday and loaded up the ol' family truckster with purchases. We were looking at big girl beds for our little peanut because hopefully she does not sleep with us forever.... We are leaning towards a bunk bed but, we have plenty of time to decide.

I have decided not to have a theme at her birthday party, I am just going to go with pretty fall stuff. I know I am probably ruining her life because it's not a character theme and I dress her in Baby Gap!!!! ;) She is not partial to any characters, as her favorite toy is a wooden kitchen spoon.

So that's the latest here.

2007-08-30T20:35:00.000-04:00

Cami is getting Baptized on October 7th, we are then having her first birthday party after that.

She is getting Baptized in the same church we got married in and by the same Priest that married us. I am glad it is the same Priest that married us, extra special that way.

I had an outfit made for her in Vietnam but, it is WAY to big, so I think it will fit for her second birthday....

This is her Baptism gown, I call it the Princess Diana version. It's wonderful and over the top and I love it. Maybe if she has a daughter one day, she too can wear it.

2007-08-27T08:31:00.000-04:00

I knew I had to share this super sweet photo.

So, I have had some interesting conversations with some Vietnamese friends of ours and the conversation is of coarse about Cami. They think that Cami has some Caucasian in her, I think so too. Cami's hair is brown with red tones in it, actually we have the exact same hair color (minus my gray hairs I am thinking of making disappear....) My mom and mil both agree too.

I find it interesting, we of coarse will never know for sure. Whatever her background is we are crazy about her!!!!!

As Cami's first birthday approaches I am thinking more and more about her birth mother. I am so grateful for the decisions she made. We love this little girl to the moon and back, we give her the life and the love that I hope would make her birth mother feel more at peace.

We feel so privileged and blessed to be raising this little girl.

In some exciting news, my parents are moving here to be closer to us (okay they just want to see Cami all the time). We had talked about moving to Nashville but, hubby decided he did not want to leave his job. They just bought a 2 acre lot on the river here with a small house they are going to tear down and build a new one. I am working on them to let us have half of their lot so we can build a new house on the water too. Their property is in a really good school system here. My parents do like the idea of us living next to them because then Jon can help them with the yard and up keep.

It works out good to be an only child!!!!

2007-08-21T21:40:00.000-04:00

We are the proud owners of a king size bed now!!!!! YEAH

As you can see, it makes Cami look even smaller :)

I will share some of the latest things our little one is up to....

She stands herself up in her crib and yells "hey mama" until I go get her....

She has turned into Spider Girl and is climing everything.

When I am talking to Jon on the phone she will say "hi dada" to him and she will do the same thing to me if I am on the other end.

We are truly amazed at how fast she picks up words.... Yikes, I really have been watching what I say.

Cami is now a whopping 14 lbs and I have moved her up to 6 month size clothing (still a bit big). She wears 9 month size pj's because she is getting long.

Still waiting on teeth, I think they are coming soon (I hope, she turns 1 soon).

2007-08-15T19:51:00.000-04:00

Today my Cami cakes is 10 months old!!!!! She is getting so big and is now 14 lbs. I had to get her 9 month size pj's because 6 month were getting short, so she is getting long.

In the picture with the other baby, that is my cousins daughter who is 3 weeks younger than Cami you can tell the size difference. They had so much fun playing, there was a lot of squealing and arm flapping. This all took place at my Grandmas little apartment and she loved every minute of watching her great grand babies playing.

I was once again reminded how small the world really is, we got to talking to a Vietnamese family in our neighborhood and the dad was originally from Nam Dinh (same place Cami is from) how crazy is that...... Here we are in a neighborhood in Indiana and we both have Nam Dinh ties. They are a very nice family with 2 super cute kiddos.

So I am hoping to join the dark side one of these days..... The dark side you ask, is being a mini van mom!!!!! :) I drove my best friends moms' new Honda Odessy and LOVED it!!!!! The 3 of us took it with Cami to a craft show and I loved all the room and how easy it was to get Cami out of her car seat. So now I eye all the Odessy vans and think sweet ride! Since my car is payed off it will be a few years until I feel the need for a new car payment but, a girl can dream right!!!!

2007-07-29T06:41:00.000-04:00

This child is going to be sick of getting her picture taken soon.... :)

I love hats on her, everytime we go shopping I am always trying hats on her.

I am hoping this is a good week for referrals and for TA's. My friend Heather has been waiting 12 months for her referral..... 12 months, we waited 11 months and I thought that was bad but, 12 months!

And, my friend Kimberly has been waiting for her TA to go get her baby boy. If he does not get home soon, I think her husband is going to need to get another job to support her habit for buying yard toys!!!! Her baby boy and Cami are just a few days apart in age, and we are hoping to take the kiddos to Disney next year for their 2nd birthdays.

Cami is 9.5 months old today, hard to believe that in a short 2.5 months she will be 1 year old. We are still trying to decide what to do for her birthday. We are thinking about having her birthday party the same day she is baptized, and just have the party for family and close friends. The same priest with baptize her that married us, so I am glad about that.

One of my closest friends has her own cattering business, so I have been talking to her about food and such. She is going to do some Asian food and instead of plates she is going to use the Chinese take out boxes and chopsticks. For birthday cakes she is going to make some small cakes that are shaped like pumpkins and than a sheet cake with a fall theme on it. She makes the best tasting cakes.

It's low key around here so not to much to post about!

2007-07-24T21:55:00.000-04:00

I have been tagged by Jenn at Yellow Tulips, so here I go.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago....
1)Graduating High School
2)Moving to Florida
3)Working at Disney World
4)Starting College
5)Getting a fake ID....

5 Snacks I enjoy
1)Cucumber and Ranch
2)Pop Tarts
3)Nutty Bars
4)Freezer Pops
5)Salsa and Chips

5 Songs I know all the words to
1)Anything Bruce Springsteen
2)Anything Bob Seger
3)Big Hair bands from the 80's
4)Christmas songs
5)Anything Kenny Chesney

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire
1)Spend as much time as possible with my husband and daughter
2)Build me dream home and have it decorated by Candace Olson from HGTV!!!!
3)Set up a grant foundation for families looking to adopt
4)Show my daughter the world
5)Hire someone to clean my dream house and do our laundry!!!!

5 Bad habits
1)I bite my nails when I am nervous
2)I hold a grudge
3)Starbucks.....
4)Keeping up with laundry (I am doing better, I try to do at least 1 load a day)
5)Online....

5 Things I like to do
1)Spend time with my daughter
2)Take daily walks with the husband and daughter
3)Make my girl laugh
4)Plan things
5)Show my daughter new things

5 Things I would never wear again
1)Tights and big sweaters with big belts.....
2)Crimped hair
3)Pleat at the waist pants
4)Mall hair
5)Tight rolled jeans

5 Favorite toys
1)Computer
2)Cell Phone
3)Dishwasher (we went 2 years without one until we had our kitchen re-done)
4)Vacuum (I love to vacuum)
5)Tivo

2007-07-23T20:42:00.000-04:00

Boy oh boy is this Mom job busy!!!!! I love it.

We had our evaluation by the first steps program and I am happy to report that they feel Cami is right on track and a bit advanced in some areas, so with that she does not need their services. They did say they would call in a few months and see if we want her evaluated again.

We have been 4 weeks now and things have changed so much in just 4 short weeks:
-Cami can now sit by herself
-She is pulling herself up to a standing position
-Waves
-Belly laughs
-and countless other things that I love

We have so much fun each day, I just love it.

Is it possible to give a baby to many kisses????? She smiles so big when she gets kisses.

2007-07-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

Just some random cuteness for Monday!!!!! If you look closely the shirt says "kiss me I am too cute" ahhhh how true is that. (and for anyone wanting to know where to get one like it, it's Carters brand, so it should be easy to find).

Today holds a very special place for me, it was 9 months ago today that my baby girl was found and so began the red thread that led us to each other.

As we read over her finding information the date October 16th kept ringing a bell to me but, I could not put my finger on it. Well, a little while ago it hit me why that date meant something to me. October 16, 2004 is the original wedding date Jon and I had picked out (because we love Fall here and thought it would be a great time of year for a wedding, I had a great Fall theme picked out) anyway to make a long story short when we went to book our reception hall someone else called and booked it without seeing it (over the phone) so when we got there for our appointment to book it we had to change our wedding date in order to get the hall we wanted. So we ended up getting married September 18th instead of October 16th. So October 16, 2006 would have been our second anniversary.

2007-07-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

Today my baby girl turned 9 months old, we spent the day outside enjoying the nice weather and the breeze off the lake.

These are just some random pictures of today and of coarse my favorite is the scrunched up face look, she does that when she is very happy.

She is talking more, when she wants me she says Mama or if she wants Jon she says Dada. She is waving and saying bye-bye more. She is also doing a fake cough.... Last night at Mass a guy by us started coughing and then she started doing her fake cough..... Every time he coughed, she would!!

I really think I need to get a job a The University of Notre Dame so she can go to school there for free!!!!!

Juneau Mom Emilie posted a really great web site on her blog www.celebratingadoptions.org it's photographers who donate their time to adoptive families (home 1 year or less) to take photos, sitting fee is waved you pay for photos you want. I have already sent the local lady here an e-mail to set up an appointment this fall to do pictures of Cami. I thought we would then give the photos for Christmas presents for some family members who would like it. There are photographers all over the country who belong to this group.

HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY CAMI ANH!!!!

2007-07-12T21:41:00.000-04:00

Because Heather said I needed to post more pictures of Cami, I took some random shots today.

Cami loves our dog Shelby and Shelby of coarse is happy to let Cami pet her. Shelby sleeps in Camis' room and seems to always have an eye on her.

The next picture is how I get some things done around here, wearing Cami in my Babyhawk. The strap works great to hold a bottle so your hands are free. Cami gets fussy when she is tired so I put her in the Babyhawk and give her a bottle and she will then fall right asleep.

I have been working everyday with Cami saying bye-bye and waving well tonight the MIL came over to see her and when she was leaving she said bye-bye Cami and Cami looked at her and goes bye-bye and waved. I looked at Jon and said did you just hear what I heard, so we were all excited then when MIL was walking out the door Cami says bye and waved again!!!!! We can not believe it, she actually spoke words we understood (not baby talk).

We are having Cami evaluated next week by First Steps it's a program through the state that does different kinds of therapy for little ones (physical, speech etc). Our Doctor suggested that she get evaluated, her exact words were "I think she is on track but, First Steps is free through the state so why not see what they have to say." So we will find out what they have to say. Their social worker came out today (they do everything at your house) for me to fill out paperwork and answer questions about what Cami can and can not do. After I answered all her questions she said Cami sounded good but, she will leave it up to the physical therapists to decide and she also told me that if they think she does not need their services they can re-evaluate her in 3 month intervals to make sure keeps on track.

2007-07-11T21:09:00.000-04:00

Today Cami and I and a friend of mine went to the zoo today. Cami had so much fun, she was waving at all the animals. Her favorite animals were the goats at the petting zoo (that she petted on her own) and some Canadian Geese that were just hanging out.

My favorite part was there some bad boys (maybe 10-12 years old) teasing the male lion and the lion turned around and sprayed them with his pee!!!! We started laughing so hard and I said that what you get.

Enjoy the photos and the last one is her fast asleep after we got home from our big day.

2007-07-09T23:18:00.000-04:00

So my girl went from 12lbs 15oz to 13lbs 2oz in 1 week, I was hoping for a few more ounces but, she is healthy so that's most important!!!

She had to have 4 shots today, that was so hard to watch her cry while she had them done. They don't seem to be bothering her but, I have been giving her some Tylenol anyway. We went swimming after the appointment and she had a blast.

I also wanted to say to all my single parent blogger friends that you are my hero!!! Being Mom or Dad is the hardest job in the world and to do it by yourself you are made of some tough stuff!!! As much as I love spending all my time with my best girl, I love it when Daddy comes home and gives me a break. So my hat is off to all single parents.

Sorry, no pictures today I hope I don't get hate mail for it!!!! ;)

2007-07-08T22:03:00.000-04:00

My little fish went swimming again today. Tomorrow we start her shots, so I am going to take her swimming after to take her mind of it.

I am excited to see how much weight she has gained in the week since her last appointment. She now eats 6 stage 2 jars of food a day (2 dinners, 2 veggies and 2 fruits) plus 5- 8oz bottles a day and cereal with fruit for breakfast. I have yet to find a food she does not like. We are working on a sippy cup and self feeding with puffs.

She seems to get funnier with each day, she laughs so hard now that it makes me laugh. I think I give her a million kisses a day and she is learning to give kisses back (more like a lick) she is also waving now.

She is not much a napper yet..... I hope that changes soon so I can get some things done...... She is sleeping a lot better at night though.

I have been on the Mom diet since we got home..... Coffee, so today my hubby got me a new coffee maker (my $10 one was on it's last leg) he got me a fabulous Cuisinart one that is titled "The ultimate coffee experience" and for $100 it should be!!!!

Tomorrow I may get up before Cami and enjoy a cup of coffee and possibly...... Take a shower!!!!!! Since my girl does not nap I have to wait until hubby gets home from work to take a shower.....

I will post tomorrow Camis' new weight, she was 12lbs 15oz last Monday, so we are super excited to see how much of an increase we have (her 3/6 month clothes are fitting her better finally).

2007-07-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, have we been busy..... This little one keeps me on my toes but, I am loving it.

As you can see she is starting to get a little belly!!!!!

We had her first Doctors appointment this week, Cami is 12lbs 15oz..... On the U.S. charts she is in the 3% group but, our Doctor is going to chart her growth on the international chart so it's a little more fair to her. We go back Monday to start her shots..... And they will check her weight again.

This little girl amazes me everyday, she is so scary smart and catches onto everything so fast. We have done a few outings and she LOVES to look at everything. She is the neatest person I have met, she is so happy now.

When we went to Vietnam I had very low expectations of how she would be (to much reading) and Cami has blown us out of the water, she is right on track and a little ahead in a few ways.

We have been blessed.

2007-06-28T10:45:00.000-04:00

I figured it was in my best interest to post more pictures of my sweet little girl!!!!

She is doing so well here, each day she is smiling and laughing more.

We are trying to get her on a schedule, she seems to be a party girl who thinks sleep is not for her..... But, we are working hard at changing that.

She is eating like a champ and seems to enjoy jar baby food..... In Vietnam she was about 12.9 lbs at her SOS appointment and her first Doctors appointment is Monday here so I am curious to see how much bigger she has gotten.

We had the biggest laugh the other day she had on size 3/6 month Gap pants and we were playing with her and lifting her up and her pants fell off!!!! Her butt is so little 3/6 month are still big, I wonder if they make baby suspenders????

If the weather is nice tomorrow I will take her swimming and get some pictures of her in the pool, she is priceless in the pool.

Better go see what her and Dad are up to.

2007-06-25T15:14:00.000-04:00

Vietnam..... Where do I begin?

Vietnam is a country I will be forever thankful to for allowing me to adopt a wonderful little girl.

In this I will share my opinion of our trip to Vietnam, I will stress that this is only my opinion.

Our trip to Vietnam was the first time Jon and I had been outside of America, needless to say it was a real eye opener.

We stayed in the Old Quarter so it was helpful as far as getting around, we could walk every place we wanted to go. We stayed at the Hoa Linh Hotel, it was a decent hotel and for $28 a night it made it even better. They are very friendly there and I would stay there again.

The draw back about the area we stayed in is it was very dirty and anytime you went outside you about had to beat off the people trying to sell you things. That gets old VERY fast, you get tired of them trying to guilt you into buying something from them.

We walked around a lot checking out all the little stores and we got to the point that if they were nice and friendly then we would buy from them but, if they were rude and pushy we would just move on.

The traffic is a bit hard to deal with at first but, I promise you that after about 3 days you will move around just fine. I got annoyed because everyone parks their scooters and some cars on the sidewalks so you have to walk in the street. Also, people will drive down the sidewalk to get around traffic, so you not only have to watch them on the road but, on the sidewalk too!!!

We took our Babyhawk baby carrier and it was a life saver! We did not buy a stroller while over there(it would have been great when we were out to eat) but, I would not push her in a stroller on the road, traffic was to scary for me to do that.

We basically ate at two restaurants, Bobby Chinns' and Mama Rosas' the food was good and safe.

I got very very sick while over there with stuff coming out of everywhere and also broke out in hives..... We had eaten at a local place and we think I got some food poisoning. I had more stomach problems over there then I have ever had in my whole life, I seriously lost between 15-20 lbs (I could stand to loose it).

The heat in Vietnam is like NOTHING I have ever felt and I have lived in Florida. We were in the north the whole time so I can not even imagine being in the south. Don't bother bringing cute clothes. By the end of the day all my clothes were just hanging off of me. I am not a sweater and over there I sweated through my shirts, you just feel nasty so when you shower at the end of the day you will feel like a new person.

Be prepared for all sorts of strange smells.... People are cooking lord knows what on the sidewalks. We saw a guy gutting live black birds on the sidewalk, so be ready for anything. You will notice that there are not stray animals running around and there is a reason for that..... People eat cats and dogs over there (a Vietnamese friend told me that). Also, if the restaurant has a picture of an animal on it that is what they are serving.... When we went to Nam Dinh we pasted a restaurant with a picture of a cat and a dog on it, and that's what was on the menu. (we traveled with a couple that spoke Vietnamese so they were able to translate stuff for us).

When we were shopping if I felt the price was fair they were offering I would pay it, I just got sick of trying to haggle over $1 or $2. I mean come on, I don't hesitate to pay $4 for a Latte and these people are so poor. I did buy several of the hand stitched wall art and payed $90 instead of the $120 she was asking.

Chances are very high that your kiddos will get sick when they come to stay with you, remember they have never been in AC and are not use to going from hot to cold like we are. Take lots of little people medicines.

Now onto the best thing out of Vietnam, our daughter!!! Cami is such a brave little girl, it took her about 2-3 days to really accept us once she did she wanted nothing to so with anyone who had taken care of her before we got there, she would not even look at them and would hide her face in our chest. When it was time for us to leave she let them hold her and tell her goodbye but, we had to stand right there or she would scream. She figured out right away who we were to her.

Our girl is scary smart, she inspects ans studies everything and everybody. She wants to know how things work. When we got home and we showed her how the toys work on her jumparoo and walker we only needed to show her once and she got it, not to bad for a little one who never played with toys until we got her!!

She loves the water and I am sure will be a great swimmer in no time.

Each day is better and better with this little girl and when she smiles at us it just makes everything better.

2007-06-24T04:54:00.000-04:00

Finally some pictures for you!!!!

It's kind of a mish mash but, I hope it buys me some time.

A couple fun pictures of Cami, the one is Jon and I signing "the book" at the G&R, the one of Jon, my Mom and I is the first time we met Cami.

We got in Saturday morning, Cami did so well on the flights, I was very impressed.

When we looked at her sleeping in her crib for the first time it was priceless.

She is very interested in what is going on around here and she LOVES watching the dog.

My parents are staying at a hotel close to here so we are going to take her swimming today.

I know I am all over the place but, I am working on a post about our experience in Vietnam and some suggestions and information for those of you who will be making your way to Vietnam one of these days.

Off to go watch my girl sleep in her crib that has been waiting for her for a long time!!!!!

2007-06-21T20:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had some divine intervention shine down on us!!!!!

We went to the U.S. Embassy to have Jon sign their power of attorney so he could go home tonight and I could stay and finish the adoption. When we get up to the window I tell the lady what we need and she asks us to hold on one second and comes back and tells us our approval just came through and we could do our second interview right now so we could all leave on Friday night together. I almost passed out all 4 of us started crying (me, Jon, mom and M- our agency worker).

They then asked if the other family was with us, they were not because we had just stopped by to take care of our business, so M- raced out and called them and they flew over so they could do their interview too. All of us were crying and hugging and so thankful to be able to go home. The other family was able to get on our flight out tonight so I am very happy for them.

We got to laughing and saying "well coming here and finding out we can get done today and out tomorrow is the least we could do for all the help they have been to us with translating"!!!

Next post will be from home and it will have pictures!!!!!!

2007-06-20T23:01:00.000-04:00

Hello again!!!

Sorry for the long delay, I got some sort of terrible stomach bug Sunday and was down for a few days....... I think I lost about 10lbs from it.

Lets see, Saturday we went to Ha Long Bay, it was very pretty. I got abit annoyed because on our boat the workers kept trying to sell us stuff instead of leaving us alone to let us enjoy the sights. We took Cami with us, she did great but, we did not know it was 3 hours each way plus a 4 hour boat ride. That's to much for a little person..... The husband and I got annoyed because if she wouls fuss one of the girls working on the boat would come and try to take her away from us and say "I can do better." Needless to say that pissed us off, finally my husband stood up and looked down on the lady and said "no, do not touch her." This lady would try and pull Cami out of our arms.....

We have no problem at the few restuaraunts we eat at letting the girls hold her but, this lady really pissed us off. Enough about that.

Anyway, before we went on the boat ride we stopped at a small local restuarant and ate lunch. I am not sure if I hae mentioned this before but, the family we are traveling with is Vietnamese Americans and they are a total blessing to us. They tell us what is going on around us and truly have made this trip for us. At the restuaraunt you go up and pick out what you want then they cook it..... I mean we had to pick what fish we wanted what squid and what shrimp. Talk about fresh!!!! Maybe that's how I got sick??? It was very good though.

We also found out the meaning behing Cami's given name Ha Kieu Anh, they told me she is such a pretty baby that they named her after a Miss Vietnam who is a big Actress and Model now. They say our Cami will be Miss America one day!! :)

We had our first Embassy appoinment earlier this week and are waiting on the second, we are scheduled to go home tomorrow..... But, since Miss America has no Visa we are stuck here. Jon is going home tomorrow though and my Mom is staying with Cami and I. We decided to do it that way so hew can get home and rest and when I get home I can rest and he can take care of Cami. We hope to head home Monday or Tuesday.

Please keep sending more positive thoughts our way.

2007-06-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

We got Cami's Vietnamese passport this morning!!! One step closer to heading home! We may also be able to get into get her medical exam today. (fingers crossed for that).

It's raining really hard so I think we will stay in and enjoy the AC!!!!

I got my girl to laugh last night for the first time!!!

As much as I would love to say that everything is perfect and wonderful, it's not, Cami is doing very well with all the changes going on in her life but, she has some hard times too. Plus, she is teething..... She knows the husband and I and reaches for us and smiles at us, she makes good eye contact with us and pets our skin. But, sometimes she just cries the saddest cries, it's very heart breaking. Each day she is getting better and I know this will continue.

We are looking forward to getting home and getting into a normal routine, I think that will help out a lot.

Cami is a wonderful happy little girl and we would not change any of this for the world.

I better get back upstairs and give my girl some more kisses!

2007-06-13T18:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a down day and the weather was much cooler so we decided to walk around Hoan Kiem lake and have a late lunch at Bobby Chinns' (a must do in Hanoi!!!).

The hubby had decided he wanted to wear Cami in the Babyhawk carrier we brought, that caused some major uproar!!!!! Their were tons of people around the lake and they would all stop and stair at him and some would take his picture.

When Cami is in her carrier, you really don't even see her because she is very little. I have a huge pink sun hat I put on her outside and then she fits down in the carrier.

We also had a first the other day, I had Cami in the carrier and her hat on and a lady came over to look at her and said "oh baby to hot" mark that down as a first here!!!!!

2007-06-12T17:14:00.000-04:00

We had our G&R on Monday, all went well. It was maybe 5 minutes tops, sign this and this and congratulations!!! Short and sweet. We then went to the orphange, that was hard to see the kiddos needing parents but, they are being well taken care of. I took pictures of all of them.

Our girl is doing great, she is really catching onto the idea that she is the center of our universe!!! Now she will not even look at our agencies people who helped care for her in private care, she wants nothing to do with them and when she first met her she was always smiling and laughing at them. She knows!!!

She is also getting the hang of playing with toys.

She loves having her daddy carry her around and hold her up high!!

We have not done much shopping yet but, thanks to Susan we found Ha Dong silk shop. This place is a must go to here, they make their own silk and then custom make all sorts of wonderful things. I am having pants and a top made and bought a purse to match, I am having Cami a matching out fit made too. The pants are black and the top is a sassy pink!!!

We are still using the hotel computer so can not upload pictures but, when I get home I will share lots!!

And for those who asked, my sleepy pills were Ambian. I had NO jet lag, I may take them on the return flight and the husband will take care of Cami so when we get home I and doing good and he can rest. He said if that's what I wanted to do that would be fine by him. We do have bulk head seating with the bassinet, so that will help too.

My husband is truly amazing me at how well he is adjusting to being a dad. You can so tell Cami is his princess!

We also think she is on track developmentally for her age. She is trying to crawl she can scoot and sit by herself (if you help her up) and she is trying very hard to sit up on her own. We are very happy with the care she has recieved until we got her.

I am amazed at the feelings I have for this little girl, I lay awake and just watch her sleep, she is breathtakingly beautiful!

2007-06-10T08:55:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we head out to Nam Dinh for our G&R, we are being picked up at 6am....

This little girl of ours is sweeter than sugar.

2007-06-08T22:09:00.000-04:00

I will start out by saying internet at the hotel will not let me log on with my computer so I am using the hotel's computer so no pictures...... Sorry, I will share photos one of these days.

Our flights over went fine thanks to a little RX from my Doctor... I fell asleep before we left the ground in Chicago and woke up upon landing at LAX and then took another sleepy pill and fell asleep before we left the ground at LAX and ended up sleeping about 13 of the 15 hours on the way to Hong Kong. So I felt great and have not had jet lag, now coming home I know I will get me butt kicked because I can't be a total pill popper...... Or maybe I can and let the husband take care of her..... ;)

We got to meet her at the airport and she did okay with us, not scared, just looking and touching us.

And for others who will soon be coming here, HOT does not even describe it properly!!!!! If I could walk down the street in my underwear I would because it is so hot. Florida in the Summer can not even touch this.

I believe we are going to Halong Bay tomorrow and then the G&R is Monday or Tuesday, so I will update more later.

2007-06-08T04:18:00.000-04:00

Gretting from Hanoi!!!!!

I just wanted to drop a quick note to say we are here and have met our girl, she is PERFECT!!!!

I will post more and photos when I have a chance.

2007-06-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today is the day! The husband woke me up this morning saying "wake up mommy, lets' go make our dreams come true"!!!!!

We have decided that June is our special adoption month, we started this adoption June 2005 by sending in our application to adopt from Vietnam (licenses were not given out until January 2006, so we had to wait). Our Dossier went to Vietnam June 2006 and now here we are June 2007 and we are finally going to meet our daughter.

Today is a very wonderful day to us, the emotions I am going through today I have never felt. I am scared out of my mind because we are first time parents but, I know we will be fine and I am filled with pure joy and excitement.

I would like to thank everyone for all their kind thoughts for our family, it truly means a lot to us.

I am signing off for now from Indiana and will sign back on tomorrow from the other side of the world!

(I know I kind of jumped from one thing to the next but, my mind is all over!!!!) ;)

2007-06-04T11:33:00.000-04:00

I am off work today, I work tomorrow and then I am off until after Labor Day!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

My Mom and I stopped in to see my husband at work today...... Well, I think he is getting really nervous!!!! I know he is really excited but, I think it is really hitting home that we are getting our girl. I am doing surprisingly well.... I thought I would have been the one getting all worked up and he would have been the calm one.

I think I am going to have to start slipping the new Dad some Xanax!!!! And, maybe I take one for myself for good measure.....

Thursday night (Indiana time) we will be seeing our girl. Vietnam is 12 hours ahead if us here in the Eastern time zone, so I know that is going to kick my butt, oh well!!!

I am just truly amazed that we meet our girl THIS WEEK!!!!!!

2007-06-03T21:25:00.000-04:00

It's getting late on Sunday night, so our last weekend being baby-less is officially over!!!!! We have been looking forward to saying that for a long time.

My mom got in last night, so today we went through all our bags and made sure we are not taking doubles of things then re-packed and got the final weight on the bags. What a pain in the butt!!!! Oh well, its done now and we are good to go.

I can hardly believe in just a few more days we will get to see our daughter for the first time.

I will try to post from Hanoi, of coarse time and baby permitting!!!!!

2007-06-01T20:39:00.000-04:00

I am just chillin' waiting for my mom and dad to get here and spoil me, just so you know, they leave in 4.5 days!!!!!

2007-05-31T18:08:00.000-04:00

We leave for Vietnam in 6 days!!!!

We are all packed, that means I am done with my packing list.....

My mom comes in on Saturday, so we will then check everything for the millionth time and weigh the bags...

Hair cut is scheduled for Saturday morning...

Pedicure done....

Brow waxing scheduled for Monday night with G- the brow waxing goddess (who takes forever to get into...)

House is clean and ready for a little person...

My friend M- is coming over the day before we get home and re cleaning our house (bless her for that)....

Me, the husband and the soon to be grammy are all getting full body massages on Wednesday morning (we leave in the evening).....

I can no think of anything else that needs to be done. Amazing.

We got an e-mail saying that when we get into Vietnam and if we are up to it we can go visit our girl..... I said "Oh I think we will be just fine to see her." What I wanted to say was hell yes we want to see her, I don't care if I had to swim the almost 10,000 to get there I would go see her right away!!!!!

We bought a new DVD camcorder for the trip and I think we need to make sure we know how to use it before we go.... I packed the manual on it just to be safe.

We are all so excited to go on this trip, however, my dad is bummed he is not going. He has to many responsibilities at work..... He is coming up to pick us up at the airport. They live in the Nashville area and we are flying into Chicago, so he is making the 470 mile drive to the airport. He insisted on it. He is driving my mom up Saturday and then driving our giant SUV back to TN, with the baby seat all loaded up and ready to go and then will pick us up in Chicago in our SUV.

My dad would have been a great site to see in Vietnam... He is almost 6'8", needless to say he would have been A LOT taller than people over there.... My husband is big too, so I am sure he will not blend in either!!!! :)

I am just rambling on here because my brain has turned to mush.....

2007-05-27T20:40:00.000-04:00

I wanted to start out by saying that I am truly thankful for all the friends I have made during my adoption experience. Thank you to everyone for your kind works and good thoughts for us as we finally become a family of 3.

I have 2 friends I would like to single out and thank personally. First, K- thank you so much for the great box of goodies I received yesterday for my sweet little Cami. K- loaded down a box with some super cute clothes, bibs, a baby Einstein book, travel meds, travel info, a soft blanket and a beautiful scrap book for Cami's pictures. K- I am so over whelmed by your generosity, thank you again.

Also, I would like to thank Susan (From God's Hands) other wise known as Lily Ana's mom now!!! She just got home with her little girl and she took the time out of her very busy mom schedule to call me today and give me the 411 on Vietnam travel. I took over 4 pages of notes(that I will recopy in my non-serial killer handwriting) the information you gave me is great and I know it will make our trip easier since you have BTDT. Thank you for sharing, and I can't wait to get our girls together this Summer.

10 days from today we will be on our way to Vietnam. I just really can't believe it is finally happening!!!!

We have been so busy around the house trying to get little things done (and big things too) and tomorrow we have even more to do..... Since we are all packed, we can concentrate on house stuff.

I'll admit, that I am probably borderline OCD with the packing.... I keep checking and re-checking that we have everything we need. I am a list maker and if I did not have organization I would keel over!!! Yes, I know my organization will go out the window once Cami gets home but, I won't care then because she will be home and I will have everything I need here or know were to find it.

My goal tomorrow is to get the family room ready for a little person and set up all her stuff in there.....

10 more days!!!!!!!

2007-05-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

So it's official, I am crazy!!!!

I'll give you a little incite on how much my mind is racing.... This morning I hopped in the shower got all cleaned up got our got dresses and after I blow dried my hair I started looking at it and then it dawned on me that I washed by hair but, forgot to use SHAMPOO!!!! Seriously who forgets to use shampoo????

2 weeks from right now we will be on our way to LAX to catch our flight to Hong Kong and then on to Hanoi!!!!!

2007-05-22T22:19:00.000-04:00

Hotel Booked: CHECK
Travel Visas: CHECK
Plane Tickets Booked: CHECK
Packed: CHECK
Paperwork Done: CHECK
Extra Copies Of Everything: CHECK

I think I have crossed everything off every list I have!!!!!

We leave on June 6th out of O'Hare. I really truly can not believe we will be united with our daughter soon.

The feelings I have go from excited to scared. Excited because we will finally have our baby girl and scared because we will finally have our baby girl!!!! It has been the husband and I for several years and I can't believe that now we are going to parents, FINALLY!!!!

It sounds funny to me when I talk and say "well my daughter....." I just can't believe our dream of a family is finally coming true. Amazing!!!!

2007-05-21T19:34:00.000-04:00

CURRENT MOOD: I feel like a Spider Monkey all jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!!!

Really, I am so excited it takes all my will power not to grab total strangers and scream "I AM GOING TO VIETNAM IN 2 WEEKS!!!!!"

2007-05-20T15:43:00.000-04:00

The Road Less Traveled is getting ready to take this show on the road!!!!

That's right people, we are leaving for Vietnam on June 6th, as I am typing this I am getting a bit teary eyed.....

We have decided to leave a few days earlier than necessary, just to get settled in a bit before Miss Cami joins us. Okay, I am probably lying to myself thinking we can get settled.....

We are packed, we have our travel visas and tickets will be booked any minute!!!!

I really can't even begin to describe the emotions we are going through, I say we because the husband and I are super excited but, my mom is well...... she wants to see her granddaughter. My mom is an RN, and she works about 2 days so she knew going with us would not be a problem. She sent me a text message this last week saying "I have the whole month of June off, let's go get our girl!!!"

I think the funniest one though is my dad. My parents have Harley's and drive all around on them, with that being said I get a call this week saying that they got Cami her own baby jean jacket and my dad is picking out Harley patches for it. So Cami will appear to be a seasoned biker with her jean jacket and Harley patches!!!

I have spent all weekend washing little people stuff (and loved it), cleaning and organizing.

We have the house sitter/dog sitter lined up, a good friend of mine offered to come over right before we get home and spruce up the house and the freezer is full of ready to heat and eat food.

When we finally meet Cami, it will be almost 2 years to the day we started this journey.

This morning we went grocery shopping for the last time with out having a baby with us. I guess that got us thinking, because next time we go it will take planning not our usual roll out of bed put on a hat and go. CRAZY!!!!

I still am getting use to the fact that I have a daughter!!!!!

2007-05-14T17:38:00.000-04:00

Because I could not stand to deprive all my blogger friends of the cuteness any longer here is Cami Anh!!!!

We got these photos today and I love how happy she looks.

We are going to be leaving in the next 2.5-3 weeks!!!!

2007-05-13T16:02:00.000-04:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO EVERYONE, because we are all mom's!!!

My husband, who I happen to be crazy about got me these flowers for Mother's Day. You will also notice the lime, that is for the Corona I got too, nothing like beer and flowers for Mother's Day!!!!

I am floored that I am a mom this Mother's Day. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we have a sweet baby girl waiting for us.

When I look at Cami's picture, I think of all the potential she has and how much joy she is and will bring to our lives. I spend all my free time looking at her pictures!!!!

We where DTV for 312 days when we got the call about her, and I can say without a moments hesitation that I would do it all over again for this little girl. I know everything is not going to be rainbows and butterflies but, I know she is worth it.

I know our lives will change forever the moment she is placed in our arms but, to be honest I look forward to it. It has been the husband and I for 7 years now, so we figure that's plenty of us time.

Happy Mother's Day, remember even thought the wait stinks the outcome is great and well worth every single minute of it.

2007-05-10T05:49:00.000-04:00

I am up early today so I thought I would post. 3-4 hours of sleep seems to be enough for me these days!!!!

I will be honest in saying that I was not prepared for these emotions I am feeling, I am totally in love with a little 1 inch photo. I have this little tiny picture posted everywhere between work and home! I am expecting new photos today (hopefully).

I did some shopping on my lunch hour yesterday, I just bought a couple cute little Carter's one piece outfits for our trip. I have been washing some little clothes to get ready, for the first time in my life I loved doing laundry. I also ordered her some little white Robeez sandals.

My family and friends are cracking me up about us getting a referral. A few have turned her picture into screen savers and make everyone they work with come and look at her!

MIL had to drop in her stupid comments but, I do not feel like saying what she said. We know she will try and play grandma of the year when others are around but, not really have anything to do with her in private. She is to self centered and if a cute baby is around than it would be harder for people to focus on her!!!

I some other great news, our agency has something worked out with Cami's orphanage that we were given the option of having her moved into private nanny care. Of coarse we jumped on it, I hated to take her away from the only place she has known but, we felt she could get some more one on one care with the nanny care.

I am currently gathering some donations to take to her orphanage, I have contacted Robeez hoping they will donate some shoes for the kiddos.

I am still on cloud nine three days later!!!!

2007-05-08T21:25:00.000-04:00

I have now had a day to process the fact that we have a baby. Know we actually know who our girl is and where she is at.

I could stare at her tiny little picture for hours, I printed off a million copies and make everyone I come across check her out.

Sorry I am not speaking in complete sentences tonight, my brain is still on over drive. I think I only slept for maybe 2 hours last night, I kept getting up and looking at her picture.

The funny story is when the call came in we were out in the yard doing some work, I happen to come inside to get a key to our shed. I could not find the key (or else I would not have been in the house) then the phone rang, I almost did not answer it because I wanted to get back outside. When I answered the phone our Vietnam Director said "hi Jody do you have time to talk?" I said sure. Then she dropped the bomb on me "I have a baby girl for you" I said "are you freaking kidding me"???

Then I asked if she could hold on for a second so I could get the husband in the house, he was outside watering the flowers. So being the classy lady I am I screamed out the front window "get in here 911" he said "what do you want" I said "it's M- we have a baby".

The look on his face was priceless, he threw down the hose and ran for the house, she then told us all about our girl and then e-mailed us her picture and information. When she was giving me Cami's information I was writing it down and the husband called my mom.

I then forwarded her picture to everyone.

I called her back today to just go back over everything because I could not think straight when she called.

I can not get over how absolutely stunning she is. I am not just having a mommy brag here, her complexion is perfect. Her eyes are beautiful and of coarse her nose and lips are perfect.

I am overwhelmed with the blessing that she will be to us.

My best friend kept calling me last night, all that she would say was "oh my God your a mom" and then she would hang up and call again later doing the same thing!!!!

The joy in our hearts is so indescribable.

I will steal a line from my friend Susan: My cup runneth over, not only did it run over, it is all over the table and dripping on the floor. That is how full my heart is.

Thank you for all the kind words, that is also priceless to me.

2007-05-07T21:16:00.000-04:00

THEY SAY GOD'S TIMING IS PERFECT, NEVER EARLY, NEVER LATE.

Tonight at 7:07 pm our life was forever changed. We received the call we have been waiting 312 days to get, we have a daughter.

CAMI ANH CALVIN is waiting for us in northern Vietnam, she is absolutely the most beautiful child I have ever seen, when I saw here for the first time I knew she was my girl.

I am waiting to post pictures of her until we have her in our arms in Vietnam. We hope to travel in the next 4-6 weeks to bring her home.

She will be 7 months next week.

I would post more but, frankly I am beside myself with pure joy.

2007-05-06T19:01:00.000-04:00

I just looked this up, we have been DTV 311 days!!!! That is a long time people. I am feeling that our wait is not going to be much longer (okay hoping and praying).

Looks like our agency is getting some referrals in from the new orphanage they have signed with (according to the director). They sent out a memo on Friday telling everyone about the new orphanage and that there are some fee increases if you accept a referral form there (you do not have to accept a referral from there, you can wait for a referral from the other orphanages they work with) with that being said, we have told them that we would gladly accept a referral from the new orphanage.

If we get a referral from this orphanage then we will fly in and out of Hanoi, I wanted to see Ho Chi Minh but, I think I can survive not getting to go there!!!

I am having fun looking at all the different little hotels there are in Vietnam. I go to www.hotels-in-vietnam.com it gives good information. At first I was stuck in my, we must stay in a western style hotel, I was thinking Somerset or the Hilton (I am a snob about hotels). Today after looking at some of the smaller hotels and talking it over with the husband and my mom we have decided that we want to stay at a small little hotel owned by local people. The one we want to stay a has several pages of great reviews and it's in the middle of everything.

Up until now I have been a bit nervous about this trip, we have never been out of the states before, now I am chomping at the bit to go. I want to experience as much of Vietnam as I can, not only for myself but, for my daughter. It is really hitting me that she will only know about Vietnam what we tell her and show her. We would love to take her back one day but, you never know when and if that will happen or if she will even want to go back.

I don't know that my thoughts and feelings about Vietnam can ever be truly expressed, this is a country I will be forever grateful to for giving me the greatest gift possible.

I know that I complain about being DTV 311 days, I also worry about how much time I am missing in some little girls life. But, I have decided to look at it differently now. I may be missing a few months of her life but, I will have her the rest of my life. I will know how wonderful, talanted and smart she is, Vietnam will not get to see that. Vietnam will see it as she is a lucky baby, coming to America to be raised. I see it as we are the lucky ones, we get to tuck her in at night and watch her grow and flourish.

It is becoming more and more clear to me just how much responsibility it is to be a parent, not only to a child but, a child from another race and culture. (Before some says, well ya duh.... I knew it was a lot of responsibility from the start, now that our referral is closer it is really hitting home).

When we get Kittens' referral I will announce her real name!!!!! I know some of you may be shocked to find out Kitten will not be her real name.....

2007-05-04T14:14:00.000-04:00

Well my dear Internet friends, I spoke with our Vietnam director this morning to see what else she had to say....

We are officially #7 on the 0-12 month healthy girl list and #2 on the over 12 months healthy girl list!!!! We are also open to some SNs, so if a girl with SNs that we are open to and fits into our age request happens to come in she is ours!!!! Not that I want a girl to have a SN just so we can have her but, maybe something soon.... We will see.

I hope what I am typing makes since, I am all crazed on ice tea right now.

The new orphanage they are working with is in Nam Dinh, she said about 3 hours outside of Hanoi, I believe east....

I talked to Kitten's grammy the other night (my mom) she was in the Pottery Barn Kids store and got her girl a hot pink super soft blanket, so I am excited to see it. We are also talking about all the shopping we want to do while over there. Thank goodness the husband is so big and strong, he will have to be to carry everything.

My husband is to cute, he is so excited to get his girl home. He has all sorts of plans for things they can do together. I know Kitten will turn her big bear of a dad into a mush bucket.

Well, here is to wishful thinking that May will bring us some good news.

2007-05-02T18:22:00.000-04:00

Okay, does it getting any cuter that these????? I saw them today and had to get them, size 12-18 month, so they will fit whoever happens to be our girl.

In other news, our agency added another orphanage to the list of ones they work with. It's in the north by Hanoi, I have not looked it up on a map yet to find out how north or how close to Hanoi but, I will.

They are hoping that this will bring more referrals..... I hope so, there has been a very LOOOOONG dry spell of girl referrals. Our director did tell me they just got 3 complete referrals in today, 2 boys 1 girl. So I am excited for those families.

Other things I know..... There is 1 family ahead of us open to a boy or girl, so 1 of those boys is theirs and then of coarse the little girl goes to another family ahead of us....

The good news then today for us is, we moved up 2 spots!!!!! Now, if they could get about 8 or 9 more girl referrals in then that will cover anyone I know waiting..... And while I am wishing I would like this to happen by Mother's Day.

2007-04-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

I came across this and wanted to pass it along to people who would understand it.

I am pregnant, but my tummy isn't growing,
And no one ever calls me "little Mom"
The public simply isn't overflowing with questions that I'd handle with aplomb.
There are no special clothes to mark my waiting
Nobody stops and smiles as I walk by,
The absence of a due-date is frustrating
And looking at the nursery makes me cry
When I am over due no one will worry
The phone won't ring and ring as friends check in.
I can't hurry my labor in a hurry My new life as a parent to begin Adoption is a worrisome endever and waiting alone is not much fun
To be "with child" for a year seems like forever
Dear God, we'er ready!
Please send our little one.

2007-04-28T14:29:00.000-04:00

I could not pass these up today at Target, they were on clearance for $5. I got size 18 months and love them!!!!

I have no idea what she will wear them for but, for $5 who cares. I am thinking they will be great for pictures.

Now, if only I had a little girl to go in them....

2007-04-25T21:14:00.000-04:00

Here is a cute picture I took this weekend of G- and Shelby. Nothing like a semi-naked baby!!!!

Shelby and I can't wait until we get our own semi-naked baby running wild in the house.

2007-04-21T13:14:00.000-04:00

Since I have nothing worth while to blog about, I figured I would post some pictures from Kitten's room.

On the shelf by the crib, those pictures are some really neat ones I found on the Internet of Vietnam. So, I printed them off, I have 6 different pictures around her room of Vietnam, I can't wait to include pictures of the 3 of us over there.

I found the "our family" picture frame a while ago at Target and can't wait to put a picture of all of us finally together in it.

Above the dream, you can see the ceiling is painted like a sky.

I really love how her room turned out and can't wait for her to be home and snuggled into her very own bed, with her furry sister Shelby sleeping in there with her. Okay, on the floor but, if Shelby could figure out a way to sleep in the bed with her she would.

2007-04-18T18:37:00.000-04:00

So, it's official, I am a stalker!!!!!! I am trying my best to stalk my way into getting a baby, hoping that they will give me a referral to make me go away....... Of coarse it has not worked for the last 10.5 months but, I will keep trying.

I have been keeping busy by moving some things around in Kittens room. I had to put a 2nd dresser in there, one is just not cutting it. I love her room a can't wait for her to be in it, the dog loves to sleep in there.

My mom and I were checking out the spa at the Omni hotel in Ho Chi Minh, looks like a must visit. Prices are great, and she thinks a new mommy, daddy and grammy may need some special treatment, like a massage.

2007-04-15T18:34:00.000-04:00

Please bring our girl home, we want to be played with.

2007-04-14T19:48:00.000-04:00

Here we are enjoying ourselves before the Cubs game started. We went up to Chicago and froze our butts off today.

That's right people, that is a parka I have on. Plus, when we were outside I had on a hat and gloves..... It's the middle of April and I am dressed in 3 layers!!!!

Oh well, our Cubs won and it was a good game. We had a great time and the ice cold beer tasted great, I can't even remember the last time I had a beer, and at $5 a beer I only had 2.

And, if Spring time is listening I would appreciate it if you would pay us a visit.

I must also say, that as you notice I am taller than the husband!!!!! Okay, he happens to be sitting on a bar stool. He likes to give me a hard time for not being all that tall, I am 5'5" and he is about 6'4".

2007-04-12T18:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, does it get any cuter than this?????

Thank you Secret Pal, it made my day to get this fabulous gift.

Sorry, I have not figured out how to rotate the picture.

2007-04-11T22:03:00.000-04:00

I called our agency today to ask about our USCIS approval, it will be a year old soon...

Anyways, we will need new finger prints. But, hopefully we will not need a new I-171H. Our I-171H expires in December, if I do not have Kitten home by December I am afraid I can no longer be held responsible for my actions.......

I am also glad we do not need to update our homestudy for new finger prints, so for us this is some decent news....

In some GREAT news, Susan leaves for Vietnam next week to meet Miss Lily Ana.

Boring post, I know. Nothing exciting going on around here.

2007-04-08T20:08:00.000-04:00

We went to Nashville for the weekend to visit my parents. So needless to say I had to hit the Greenhills mall because they have my favorite store there, Janie and Jack. They happen to be having a big clearance sale on their winter items.... I got the tops and dress there, $250 worth of stuff for $60. The jeans were on clearance at Gap too. I got everything in 12-18 month sizes.

We had a nice trip and just love the area my parents live in.

I also got to meet my friend Susan (From God's Hands) she got kitten some great stuff (so, thank you). She is such a sweet person and I hope she gets her travel call ASAP!!!!! I can't wait until my next visit to TN so I can meet her little one. Hopefully we will have our Kitten soon so we can get the girls together...... Maybe do some shopping at the Greenhills mall!!!!

And, in great news my friend K- got her referral for the cutest little guy I have ever seen, so I hope his mommy and daddy get him home soon too!!!

In other news, my mom is now planning on coming to Vietnam with us, as she put it, she will be our medical consultant!!!! (She is an RN) She wants to help us out and take pictures and run the video camera so we can enjoy Kitten. She was cracking me up with how excited she is about going. She is already working on her packing list!!! She kept saying, I'll run any errands you need so you can enjoy Kitten.

2007-04-05T11:19:00.000-04:00

10 months ago today our Dossier left for Vietnam. The word from our agency is still a 10-12 months wait for a healthy infant girl referral.

As of this morning we are #9 on that list..... There is one more family ahead of us up open to boy or girl, so if a boy comes in next he is theirs.

I really do not feel the 10-12 month wait is very accurate because I know of another family that is going on a 13 month wait with our agency.

SOOOO, I guess time will tell how long it really takes before we get a referral.

2007-04-01T13:35:00.000-04:00

This coming Thursday we will officially hit the 10 month mark of our Dossier being in Vietnam.

So, that got the husband and I talking yesterday. We had said that we wanted to wait a few years after we get Kitten home to adopt again, however, it looks like most international adoptions are going to take a long time.

With that being said we have decided next winter (2008) we are going to start adoption #2, we are planning on adoption from South Korea. We had originally looked into adopting from there but, soon learned you had to be married 3 years to qualify for there adoptions, the 5 years we dated before we got married did not count (we will be married 3 years in September).

It looks like Korean adoptions are taking about 2 years, 12-18 months for referral and 3-6 until travel. So, we figured with all that it would equal our plan to have a few years in between adoptions.

And the best part...... No Dossiers are needed!!!!! Just a homestudy and I-171H. I will not know what to do with myself not running all over the place gathering documents and having them notarized, state sealed and authenticated!!!!

I know we must be crazy, already planning for #2 when we have no idea when we will ever get #1 but, I guess we need something to keep ourselves busy.....

2007-03-28T21:26:00.000-04:00

I saw this article the other day and then Law Mommy posted about it, and it really got me thinking...... See for yourself.

Couple Sues Fertility Clinic for Wrong Sperm
Lawsuit Says Baby Darker Than Either Parent
AP

NEW YORK (March 23) - A couple can proceed with a lawsuit against a fertility clinic they filed after the wife gave birth to a daughter whose skin they thought was too dark to be their child, a judge has ruled.

Thomas and Nancy Andrews, of Commack, N.Y., sued New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine, accusing the Manhattan clinic of medical malpractice and other offenses. They claim the Park Avenue clinic used another man's sperm to inseminate Nancy Andrews' eggs. Three DNA tests - a home kit and two professional laboratory tests - confirmed that Thomas Andrews was not the baby's biological father, state Supreme Court Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam quoted the couple as saying.

The couple says that they have been forced to raise a child who is "not even the same race, nationality, color ... as they are," the judge said in the ruling.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, came to light Wednesday after the judge issued a decision that allows them to proceed with parts of the lawsuit while dismissing other parts. The judge quoted the couple as saying that after their daughter, Jessica, was born Oct. 19, 2004, they knew something was wrong because of her physical appearance. They say that "while we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her; it is simply impossible to ignore," the judge's decision said.

The judge, in her ruling made public Wednesday, dismissed the claims against Dr. Martin Keltz, who had advised the procedure and had performed the embryo implantation. She allowed the case to proceed against Dr. Reginald Puckett as owner of the clinic but threw out the case against him as an individual. In trying to have the lawsuit against Puckett dismissed, his lawyer, Martin B. Adams, told the court that Puckett "did not examine, communicate with, care for or treat plaintiffs."

The judge found Carlo Acosta, the non-physician embryologist who processed the egg and sperm for creation of an embryo, also could be held liable.

The couple's lawyer, Howard J. Stern, did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.

This family needs some SERIOUS counseling.... They look at it like they are being forced to raise a child of a different race. Look at all of us who are standing in line to raise a child of a different race.

I feel so sad for this little girl, one day she will be old enough to read court transcripts and know what her parents said about her and the circumstances surrounding this "terrible mistake".

I realize that the wrong sperm was used but, the mother is no less the mother if it had been her husbands sperm.

I guess what really got me thinking was, what about my own daughter? I should hope that my daughter never views the situations surrounding her birth and the start of her life as a "terrible mistake".

Maybe when we get a referral we will know a little about her birth mother and her situation but, chances are we won't. So, I guess I have a little bit of time to mull this over.

2007-03-25T20:10:00.000-04:00

So this is what I have been up to this weekend. Getting my house back together after painting.

I got: A new area rug, coffee table/ottoman(with storage) curtains, throw pillows, throw blanket and black picture frames.

I am really liking the new look. The husband just needs to put up the crown molding I want now....

And the 13" TV for some reason does not cut it for the husband.... We actually have a finished basement that our family room is in with a TV I feel is WAY to big!!!!

When we bought our house we had a deal that I could do what I wanted upstairs if he could make the basement his area..... His "area" is slowly getting taken over with toys and pink and it will only get worse!!!!!

The dog cage is new for Shelby. I am working on cage training her now, maybe I can teach and old dog new tricks!!!!! As you can tell the cage is huge, so I am calling it her condo. I am working on this so that when Kitten comes home Shelby will have her very own space.

I am also loving the new rug I got for the future Kitten play area. I needed some girly stuff to help block out all the Chicago Cubs and Bears stuff. I am planning on using the shelve thing for toy storage. I got the rug at Target ($99.00) I loved it and it is a really nice rug, I did not think the price was to back it is 5'x7'. The shelve and baskets are from Target also. Can you tell I love Target??????? I am now looking for a little person table and chairs to go on the rug.

I am holding off putting stuff back on the walls in the living room because I want to see what I can get when we go to Vietnam, I think it would be really neat to decorate with stuff I find over there.

Here is to a new week, the last week of March, may it bring good news to those of us on pins and needles waiting for phone calls (referrals or travel calls).

2007-03-24T22:16:00.001-04:00

I continue to expand my parenting experiences, so by the time Kitten comes home I should know what the heck I am doing (kind of)!!!!

Miss G- whom I babysit turned 1 on Tuesday, so I have been babysitting her for almost 10 months now. Thank goodness for her because before her, I had never changed a diaper or fed a baby.... That's right you read correctly I was never around babies until her, so, she has saved me.

Now, I think, I have lots of experience from explosive diapers to food flinging!!!!!!

Tonight I did something new...... I gave G- a bath, I had never given her a bath before but, now she is self feeding, so she tends to me a bit messy. So after her dinner she needed a bath in a bad way!!!

My only concern is wet babies are SUPER slippery!!!!!! Holy smokes she was slippery. We had fun with the bath splashing around.

Once I know how old kitten is I am going to start looking into some type of smaller tub to wash kitten in or a tub safety seat. I think a wet baby will make me nervous!!!!!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated for those who know what they are doing.

2007-03-20T22:07:00.000-04:00

We survived Las Vegas!!! I think I need new legs from all the walking we did. The wedding and reception was very nice, they were at the Monte Carlo hotel.

We have always wanted to go there, so now that we have, I doubt we will ever go back. I have never been so glad to come home from a vacation before.

I did not take my computer with me, so I have been trying to catch up on all the stuff I missed. But, it was nice to not think about the adoption to much.

I did get to enjoy an afternoon by the pool, I thought I was in the shade but, apparently not..... I ended up red as a lobster on the front half and my usual pale pasty self on the back.

Now back to reality!!!

2007-03-13T11:55:00.000-04:00

So, I just saw on www.people.com that Angelina Jolie will get to pick up her new son soon. I am glad to see the attention it is bringing to the children of Vietnam that need families. I also am excited to see the kind of things she will do for the orphans of Vietnam like she has done for her other children's countries.

They say she is adopting a 3.5 year old little boy, and I am glad this little guy will get a family. I am a fan of Angelina Jolie, I think she does a lot of great things for people all over the world and brings light to subjects we do not hear much about here in the U.S. There is a very good article on her and the work that she does for the U.N. in this weeks Newsweek, if you can, read it.

The thing I am a bit down about is that we are 9 months and 1 week DTV and I have absolutely no idea when we will get a referral. Last time I talked to our agency I was told we are #8 and #10, how is that..... Well, she said that there are 2 families ahead of us open to a boy or a girl, so if they get boys then we are #8. (Hi K- I hope you get your referral soon)

I am just so frustrated with this whole process.... We turned in our application to the agency June of 2005, when Vietnam "re-opened" unfortunately licenses were not given out until January 2006. We waited until our agency had their license before we started our dossier (they were one of the first to get a license). It took almost 3 month to get our I-171H so our dossier did not get to Vietnam until June of 2006.

When our dosseir went over it was a 3-6 month wait, then a 6-9 month wait now it is 12+ month wait for a referral.

We requested a girl 0-18 months (with them knowing that if one comes in that is almost 2 years old to let us know) we are open to minor SN. You would think with this we would get some sort of bone thrown our way......

Will we do an International adoption again? We are not sure, if so it will not be for a few years. If we do, I am going to go with a country that is more stable and predictable (not to say Vietnam won't be by the time we want to do this again) With all the changes in China we would still qualify for their adoptions once I turn 30 (in 1 year 9months!!!!!!). So, I guess time will tell.

Today is just a crummy day for me, every place I went today there were cute little Asian girls and their adoptive mommies..... My friend was with me and said "what the hell, you are being teased".

I think the husband is letting me redo everything in the house because he is afraid I am on the verge of a breakdown and maybe shopping and keeping me busy will prevent that.

I am so glad we are going to Las Vegas on Thursday for 6 whole days. It will be nice to not be here walking past an empty baby room. I keep the door closed and don't go in there very often anymore but, I still know what is behind that door.

So off to some fun in the sun.

2007-03-11T22:09:00.000-04:00

If I never paint again in my life it will be to soon.... I have decided that our next house I will hire someone to paint for us.

I repainted our hallway, foyer and living room a mocha color. And I repainted our eat in kitchen a dark grey, it matches the counter tops and the tile. It turned out really good, makes the dark cabinets look great and I like the look with our white appliances.

I am having the husband put up crown molding in all the above named areas. I still need to paint the trim work. I also want to put hardware on the kitchen cabinets.

And to add the cherry on top of the redecorating cake, the husband said I can buy whatever I want to go with the new look!!!!! I started with some great curtains from Target that look like Doupioni Silk, they are a pale blueish grey. I will post pictures when I get all the goodies I want. I plan on getting a new coffee table, end tables, lamps, rug, more accent pillows, kitchen curtains and towels.

Of coarse, I found almost everything I want at Target (I love that store) A lot of our stuff is hand me downs from when we bought our house 5 years ago.

I will post some pictures once everything is done.

Thursday we leave for Las Vegas. The weather is in the 80's there so I am excited to that. Hopefully everyone behaves themselves..... I did book us at a separate hotel than what everyone else is staying at so we can have some peace.

Also, we are now in our 9th month of waiting for a referral. You ask how I do it???? I drink morning, noon and night!!!!! I am kidding but, that might help. I think drinking might be a better idea than what my MIL suggested.... She said (hold tight for this one) "Once you give up all hope then you'll get a baby"!!!! Great idea......

2007-03-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

I got tagged by Bunnies Mom KellyO, to list 10 things that make me odd!!!

#1 I am freaky about my food, I do not like different food touching each other. My husband always tells me it ends up in the same place but, I don't care I don't like food mixing.

#2 I eat pizza with a fork and a knife.

#3 I give my husband facials on a regular basis, I also pick at his face and pluck his stray eyebrow hair.

#4 Working in the dental field, I love picking at peoples teeth!

#5 I refuse to cut or paint my own toe nails. I have been getting a pedicure every 4 weeks by the same man for about 6 years. I absolutely love D- who does my pedicures!!! He is from Vietnam and he cracks me up. We always laugh that it's our date. I have NEVER been to someone who gives a better pedicure.

#6 In the summer I always walk around the house in my underwear and a tank top, my husband gets after me saying the neighbor's are going to see me. I tell him let them see my smokin' hot body!!!! Actually I figure if they see me in my underwear they won't look in my windows anymore.....

#7 I research EVERYTHING. Before I buy just about anything I research it. Cars, car seats, high chairs, strollers etc. No joke my friends who want to buy something call me up to ask what I have read about it and if it's a good product.

#8 I have a hand gun permit and know how to use all sorts of guns. I grew up in the country and was an only child, so my dad showed me everything he would have taught a son. He always said you never know when your going to need this.

#9 I am absolutely terrified of snakes but, I love to watch shows on snakes like on National Geographic and I also like to go into the reptile house in zoo's. But, if I see a snake in person out in the wild or if someone is holding one I freak out and almost start to cry.

#10 I will only swim in a pool, I am scared of lakes and the ocean. I don't like not being able to see what is going on around me.

It was hard to come up with 10 odd things about me, not that I am perfect but, to me all these things seem normal to me!!!!

2007-02-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

I am sad to say that the little girl I mentioned in an earlier post is no longer available for us to adopt. Her referral was given to another agency.

We knew this was a possibility but, it does not really help our disappointment. We just hope that she finds her family soon.

We have had her picture for a couple weeks and as hard as we tried to be distant from it and about her, there really is no way you can be. All that we saw was a beautiful little girl who needed a family to love her and spoil her and frankly we wanted to be that family. So we will pull ourselves together and move on with this journey.

We have been DTV going on 9 months, so I am sooooo tired of waiting. Soon we will have to get a new homestudy so we can get a new I-171H.

Some days I wish I could just crawl into a hole until we get a referral.

2007-02-26T20:57:00.000-05:00

The latest topic around the adoption boards is about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt adopting from Vietnam. If that happens to be true I think it would be great for Vietnam orphanages, look at all they have done for Cambodian and Ethiopian orphanages.

I like both Angelina and Brad, I think they do a lot of good with there money. Would I personally want to add 3 children to my family in two years? No. But, I also do not have the financial resources that they do to hire staff to help when needed.

So with that being said, best of luck to the Jolie-Pitt family in whatever it is they choose to do.

I am doing my Vegas count down. I need some good weather. I am going to start laying out our clothes, since we have no need for warmer weather clothes here in the Artic Tundra!!!!

The word of the day is annoyed: I called the MIL to tell her I got the bill for our airline tickets to Vegas. (She has told us several times over the last few months that she wanted to buy our plane tickets) her response was "oh do you need me to help you out with the tickets?" I said "No you told us you wanted to pay for our tickets, we did not ask you for anything" then she said "well, I guess I can pay for your tickets."

What the heck!!!!! She is paying for the husbands permanently unemployed brother and his girlfriend to go. She bought their tickets payed for their room and is giving them spending money.... Come on he is 34 years old!!!!

I would probably not be so annoyed but, she pulls this crap on us all the time. If she did not have the money that would be one thing but, she is very well off. I will say, she did give us $5000 towards our adoption. She called one day and said "I have $5000 I want to give you guys for your adoption" and the husband said "great, I'll take a cashiers check Saturday" so we had to act quick to get the money or we would have never seen it.

Since I feel like griping I'll make a list of broken promises:

When we bought our house she said she would match whatever we put as a down payment so we could have an even larger down payment.... Guess what? No money.

Then she said she would buy us a nice living room set from La-Z-Boy as a house warming gift...... As you probably guessed, no furniture!

She said she would give us $10,000 for our wedding.... No such luck.

These are just a few of them, I don't want to bore anyone. But, the unemployed brother went out and bought a brand new Harley last year knowing he was loosing his job (she pays that payment now) he has about $60,000 in credit card debt and she pays on that too!!!! Why would he want to get a job if mom keeps paying everything for him.

My FIL passed away 8 years ago from a car accident, my husband said if he were here this would not fly. Rich said his dad and the moron always fought because of how lazy he is.

I am waiting for the husband to snap one day about all this crap. This is why he want to move away from all this.

Well, enough b#tching today. Thanks for listening!!!

2007-02-25T15:20:00.000-05:00

It is a super nasty day outside, sleety snow that will be freezing tonight. Needless to say, I have basically spend the day in bed under my electric blanket. I am currently watching the movie "Ray" on TV, I have been wanting to see it so now is my chance. It's a great movie, Jamie Foxx does an awesome job as Ray Charles.

Since there is not much to post this will be another random one.

So now that I am closer to motherhood, I have been thinking about how much has changed so far and all the changes yet to come. Here are a few things that we talk about around here.

My husband laughs because now instead of checking out sports cars we are eyeing Honda Odyssey mini vans and Volvo station wagons..... I always said I would never drive either of those vehicles but, I can pretty much guarantee you that my next car will be one of those. I love my Jeep Liberty but, I dream of having automatic opening doors!!!!

The vacations we talk about now no longer involve white sand beaches and a bar in the pool. They some how all are revolving around Disney. Do we do Disney World, Disney cruise or Disney Land? Well, I have found the answer my friends. We want to do that Disney cruise with a few days at Disney World first, ahhh the best of both!!!! We love Disney World to begin with, so adding a child to the mix is our excuse to go more often!!!

We head to Vegas soon for my BIL's wedding, I am so excited to get out of this crappy weather. I did a little shopping yesterday for some new things to wear while in Vegas. I still want to get a few more things. I finally bought a pair of those Goucho pants, I am loving them. I plan on taking them to Vietnam.

Speaking of going to Vietnam, I keep making all these lists of things to take. I would love for us to pack light, one suit case for us and one for kitten. I am not sure if it is possible but, I am going to try. We are planning on staying in the Somerset Apartments while over there. I like the idea of having more space, a kitchen and a washer/dryer. I think if we have our own washer/ dryer I can pack lighter. I'll be honest, by me packing lighter, I can buy more while I'm over there right?????

2007-02-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

I got my new Britax Marathon yesterday, actually it's for my husbands car. The one for my car is pink and creamy yellow with pink roses on it. The husband said it was to girly for his manly SUV!!!! So I ordered him this one. I could not just buy a plain colored one, that would be to boring for me, I need some spunk!!

On the adoption front, we reviewed information on a special little girl and we told our agency we would love to adopt her, so now we are waiting to see if she is still available. I am not getting worked up, I keep telling myself if she is meant to be our daughter then it will all work out. I will ask that everyone prays for this little girl that is we are not her family that she is united with them soon.

Once I know one way or another I will pass it along.

I also hope everyone that is traveling soon to meet their newest family has great trips!

2007-02-12T20:30:00.000-05:00

So, the surprise party for the husband was a surprise!! It turned out really good and everyone had a great time. I was glad to do something nice for him, he is always doing nice things for me.

Still no news on the adoption front. And it's still very slow around here.

I have decided that I am going to keep myself busy while I wait for a referral by painting our kitchen and living room. But, first I have to primer the walls. And, since I am repainting everything I guess I have to get all new goodies like pillows, curtains and rugs!!!! I love new stuff, I have not gotten new stuff since we bought our house 5 years ago....

Just a few more weeks and then we get to go to Vegas!!! I will be glad to get out of this weather.

The husband is trying to twist my arm into going to Hawaii this spring (he found really good prices out of Chicago). Now any other time I would love to go because I LOVE Hawaii but, I am planning on going to Vietnam this year and I want to make sure I have lots of spending money for all the goodies they have for me to purchase over there.

Tomorrow night should be interesting the MIL is taking us out to eat for hubby's birthday, I suspect she will behave. However, my BIL will probably run his mouth and be his usual ignorant moron self!!!!

The BIL is a real peace of work, he has some mental health issues he chooses to not take any medicine for but, instead self medicates with alcohol. In the 7+ years Rich and I have been together his brother has never has a stable job. But, I guess when your mom pays all your bills including paying for a new Harley that you bought while unemployed!!!

Yesterday we stopped by the MIL's house to have some birthday cake she made for Rich and the BIL was there (shocker), he started talking about when he builds his house (blah blah blah) after listening to this "house" he is going to build I finally could not take it anymore and said "how are you going to build a house when you don't have a job, do you think your mom is going to pay for that too?" I had to say that, my inner b$tch came out. His response was "I work" and I then said "being your mom's around the house helper does not count." And to top it off my MIL snorted with laughter. Enough of that drama!!!

Congrats to Rachel who gets to go get her girl in a few weeks!!!!!!

2007-02-01T16:28:00.000-05:00

Well, as you can tell we have gotten a lot of snow!!! With more to come this weekend.

This will be yet another random post since there is not much going on here.

I did end up planning a surprise Birthday party for the husband. I am having it at a resturaunt we like, I told him I made reservations for the 2 of us when in fact there will be about 20 of us. I ordered a cake for him from my favorite bakery (they did our wedding cake). He is going to be 30 so I wanted to make a big deal out of it.

No new news on the adoption front, the director of our agency got back from Vietnam on Monday so I will call next week to see if any more referrals have been given out.

And, in closing, only a few more days until my BEARS win the Super Bowl!!!!!!!

Oh, and could all these babies now home from Vietnam get any cuter? I don't think so!!!!!

2007-01-25T21:34:00.000-05:00

I would like to send a special thank you to my secret pal for my gifts, I really appreciate it. Frankly, I can hardly wait to wrap a freshly bathed Kitten in her new ducky towel!!!!

In other news, today is our 7.5 month mark we have been DTV!

We got about 6" of nice powdery snow today, it looked so pretty coming down.

I really have nothing going on so this pretty random today....

The husband turns 30 in a few weeks, I am thinking about throwing him a surprise party!!!

And in most important news my beloved CHICAGO BEARS are going to the super bowl, I have been waiting 21 years for this. Now if only my CUBS would get to the world series, okay I would be happy with making it to the playoffs.....

GO BEARS!!!!!!!

2007-01-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

Here is my new BabyHawk carrier, I love it so far. And the this is the lovely Miss G- being my model. I had her in it and she fell asleep while I was doing some things around the house. Now, I hope it works that well for Kitten!!!

2007-01-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

Here are the husband and I messing around until our dinner reservations. We went to an awesome new restaurant in town. It is kind of Asian food but, with a twist. Very good food and I was able to finally find a Vietnamese beer, that was good too.

I was also exited because I did not wear sweat pants!!!! I wore dress pants and did just fine with them.

On somewhat shocking note Griswold took down all of the Christmas decorations including the outside lights!!!!

I spoke with our agency yesterday, the director is going to Vietnam next week. I asked if he could go ahead and bring us a baby home.... Come on she won't take up much room!!!!

Monday will be the 200th day that we were DTV.... Not that we are counting!