Photo of the Week

I almost forgot my photo this week! This photo makes me smile. How do I describe my son, Keaton? HE is enthusiasm extraordinaire. He is also the sweetest little guy who cares and feels deeply. He has more energy in his pinky finger than most people (myself included) have in their whole being. He is gentle and he is loving. He is emotional! He is a wonderful son. He is also 7 ...which I cannot believe and he is growing up.

This photo about sums K up. Riding his scooter, even on the grass, and he loves to run like the speed of light and dive toward this swing and glide in the air. He always says he wishes he could fly and he is very resourceful about finding ways to do just that.

Hard to resist

Buying something as simple as a baby sleeper (see previous post) and giving myself "permission" to start buying for her has opened the floodgates, perhaps. I was shopping for Chloe this morning on my favourite online site and found these 2 things for Baby girl, I love Baby Lulu on baby girls.

http://www.forgetmenotkids.com/Baby-Lulu-Florentine-Paisley-Tiered-Dress_p_0-5461.html

























http://www.forgetmenotkids.com/Baby-Lulu-Hyacinth-Garden-Elizabeth-LS-Dress_p_0-6342.html
























...and just so Chloe doesn't feel left out (honestly, she could care less!), I've had my eye on this Trish Scully set and it went on for 40% off so I had to get it for her for Spring (or maybe Easter - it is usually still pretty chilly here at Easter time). Sales & Free Shipping got the better of me today.


http://www.forgetmenotkids.com/Trish-Scully-Moulon-Rouge-Pleated-A-Line-and-Sweater-Set_p_0-6148.html

A few things for Baby Girl

I have not bought many things at all for Baby Girl. I think the fact that our age range is wide and we aren't sure if we will be referred an infant or a toddler has stopped me from making clothing purchases... simply because we aren't sure what size she will be and what we will need.

We gave away EVERYTHING after Chloe grew out of it, the clothing went to my neice Adah & the furniture was given away. So, we will be starting fresh. We are holding off on buying another crib til we know for sure her age and if we will need one. Same with picking out an appropriate stroller, etc.

I see so many clothes that I want to start getting for her. Did I mention I love buying kids clothes... boy or girl, doesn't matter - they look so cute I can't resist.

The sleeper is the one and only purchase so far I've made (clothing wise) so far for Baby Girl. Since we are slowly getting closer to where we will know who our daughter is, I want to start to celebrate each month closer we get to her. I told Shaune that we would buy her one new outfit or 'necessity' each month on our DTV anniversary to start celebrating each month closer, instead of thinking of the waiting we are doing. It can be something I look forward to doing each month and a fun way to count through the months until she is in our arms. I'm buying everything in 18 months or larger so that it will fit her eventually whatever her age :)

























We got her this cute Elephant at Old Navy... I loved the color (it matches her bedding colors) & Elephants are good luck, right?
























Shaune's parents got her this pretty teddy bear, it is so soft and sweet - I'm really thankful they celebrated her this Christmas with us :) It was a nice gift to find on Christmas day.

A few photos til I can get more organized

We leave in the morning for toronto for Disney's Highschool Musical on Ice. The kids are excited. I'm exhausted. I need to get to bed. I have a bazillion Christmas photos to sort through but here are a few I got off my one memory card, I will post maybe a few more when we get back home and settled in for New Years Eve! Wow this past week has been crazy.

Good news

Our agency sent out an update today - it was so nice to see some news and know somewhat where we are in our wait. Over the past few weeks they have referred 7 boys and 4 girls and in the next week they expect to add another 2 boys and 2 girls to that. October and November were slower with proposals but December appears to be much better. There is a glimmer of hope in my heart for that Spring referral after all :) They also have a few families over in Vietnam right now being united with their children - how wonderful!
Ok... I needed to post some good news at christmas time and this is good news for the families in our agency.

Also, regarding the house fire in our neighbourhood, it is staring me in the face everytime I look out the window. As tragic as it is I found some good in it... their pet cat somehow escaped the house and lived to tell about it and after the fire was out, firemen found the pet goldfish, intact and swimming in his bowl. Can you imagine?! The house was big and it appears from our view that the one side is completely gone as well as the top floor but the family room adjoining the inground pool area 'survived' although it must have incredible amounts of smoke damage, etc. The family is safe and material possessions can be replaced (as hard as that still must be) and I know they must take some much needed happiness in the fact that their family pets survived.

No words

We had a wonderful Christmas. I will post more on that at a later time.

Sadly our neighbours did not. We got a frantic phone call tonight as we were about to sit down for Christmas dinner, our neighbours house was burning down. I just cannot believe it. It was a beautiful home and I am full of sadness for the family. Thank God no one was hurt but the beautiful house is pretty much destroyed (as far as I can tell - it is pitch dark on our country road right now other than all the flashing fire trucks lining the street). I cannot stop thinking of all they've lost and on Christmas day of all days.

Tonight I feel so lucky that it was not our home and I also feel so helpless and sad for Amy and her family, that do not have a home tonight to celebrate Christmas in.

Downer post I know. I will post some happy stuff tomorrow. Pray for this family as I know they are in shock and feeling really sad on a day that they should feel such happiness.

Photo of the Week

Keaton scored a goal in his Hockey Tournament over the weekend. His coach affectionately calls him "Wheels" - he is one speedy little boy on skates. We were over the moon proud of him and so happy because we knew how thrilled he'd be to score. My photo this week is of my little man in his hockey gear. Go Keaton Go!

Christmas is coming

Wow, how did we get to the 20th of December already. The kids have one more day of school tomorrow and then they are off for a while. I'm looking forward to some time as a family, Shaune is off too and doesn't go back until January 2nd... I feel so lucky that we get this time together.
Shaune and I are going to finish our Christmas shopping tomorrow because we will have busy weekend at the arena. Keaton has a hockey tournament for the Tikes and it is going to be so cute :) He is excited to go and play. Last year they lost every game but Keaton tried his best and won a trophy for 'digger of the game' - he really does give it his all!

On the adoption front, I just saw an email that another referral came in. She is an infant girl and she is precious, I saw her photos. What a wonderful Christmas gift for her new parents to recieve their proposal today. Congrats to all of them! This also means I guess that we are now approximately #12 of those in our agency awaiting a girl referral. We are now 5 months DTV. What a journey we are on!

Photo of the Week

Okay, it seems Fridays always zoom past and I'm forgetting to do my Friday Photo - so I guess I'll call it photo of the week instead, surely i can remember once a week if i don't have to do it on a specific day. :)

I found this photo this morning and although it is kinda blurry I love it. Love how excited Shaune is and encouraging. Chloe's first day walking. We wondered if she'd ever bother. She was just shy of 16 months old, she certainly took her time about it. But she was so proud of herself when she finally gave it a try and succeeded. This seems like a century ago, but was really not THAT long ago - October 10, 2004.

Now I can't get her to stay still :)

Where we are...

...so a couple weeks ago I got some new information from our agency. Anyone waiting for a referral knows that information is GOLD... anything new you can hold on to means something!

I'm finding the waiting difficult, for the most part because I feel how uncertain things in International Adoption can be and I've invested my heart. With adoption in Vietnam it is not centralized and there are so many uncertainties along the way, I'm finding I feel lost in it all at times.

We are approximately the 13th family on the 'list' with our agency awaiting a girl referral. That sounds so good to me. 13 is not that many, and unlike many 13 is a good number to me - my husband and my son's birthdays both fall on the 13th of a month. So, we wait. We hope and we pray. We think of her a lot but do not talk about her much at the moment, there is too much time still ahead and for some reason I find myself distancing myself a bit, even though I don't want to. I suppose it is a protective measure while we wait what we've been told is likely to be another 5-8 months for a referral. In the grand scheme of things, that is not so long away, is it? I think my uneasiness comes from the good chance of that wait time extending past 5-8 months. Whoever said that 'the only certain thing about IA is how uncertain it can feel' knew what they were talking about. I'm going to have to learn to cope better. Patience was never my strong point.

A video

...more than 1/2 million orphans in Vietnam.
...on average 3 in every 100 babies born is taken to an Orphanage.
...moms unable to keep their children due to poverty, amongst other things.

This video makes my heart sad. It also makes me frustrated with the 'process' and the wait. I want to be the mom to one of these children. Waiting is hard when I see this, but also so worth it. SO WORTH IT in the end.

Playing catch up...

I missed my 2nd week of FPF. (Favourite Photo Friday).

Here is one I love.... I miss this Chloe with this thumb. It was permanently in her mouth from almost birth (I think she discovered it at around 5 wks old) until she was about 3 1/2 yrs old. She gave it up surprisingly easily once SHE decided it was time. That was some love affair though, while it lasted. She is 3 in this photo. :)


In other news, the wait is killing us at times but with such a long wait still ahead we are trying to stay positive but live each day at the same time, not obsessing on how our family WILL be but how it is now... and how blessed we truly are.

This week we celebrate Keaton's 7th birthday, how crazy is that? I cannot believe that boy of mine is 7 years old, it seems like just yesterday he came into the world and turned everything golden. I can still remember his newborn smells, grunts and coo's. He is a ray of sunshine and the past 7 years have flown past. I still see him as my baby but I am so proud of the little boy he has become. His birthday party was yesterday and it was fun seeing him as he is... a friendly and excitable little guy that loves to have fun. Happy Birthday Keaton.


Shaune and I drove to the US (Watertown NY) for some shopping on Friday. We got some great deals on things and it was nice to go shopping without the kiddies (so much more productive and 'enjoyable'). We hit Red Lobster for an easy but yummy seafood supper and the drive was fast (it is about a 2 hr drive) and easy.

We also decided (I think) on a name for baby girl Lightfoot on the drive home. Meg. I love this name. Always have. Shaune suggested it. It is not 100% for sure that will be her name but it is probably the top contender at the moment. I will call her Meggy - I'm a Thornbirds mini-series fan from WAY back. This has always been a favourite name of mine. Maya and Isabel are still in the running though. Her Vietnamese name will be her middle name so we will decide for sure once we have our referral!!


That's it - I'm caught up again. Everyone ready for Christmas? I'm not.

A video feel-good

I saw this video made by a mom growing her family like we are... and it picked me up today when I needed something to pick me up and smile. The wait ahead seems very daunting and so unpredictable at times, sometimes I let it get to me. This video was a nice reminder as to why we started down this amazing journey and what is waiting for us at the end of a very winding road - and that is worth it all now, isn't it?!

Annual Christmas Card

I have been doing our Christmas Cards digitally now for 3 years. It makes for super quick cards to send out to family and friends. I just have them printed at 4x6" and send them out inside our regular Christmas cards, where I can write longer messages to our loved ones.

Getting a photo of K & C together is next to impossible, Keaton is always smiling and Chloe is always making a funny face or pushing her brother away. lol. I don't have to tell you which one loves the camera and which one does not!

So... I just used 2 photos I love - one of each of them. Side by side it struck me how much they are starting to look alike. The eyes, I guess. Anyhow, the digital kits are all from 2peas and a mish-mash of several of my favourites.

Next year there will be 3 beautiful children on our Christmas card photo, and even more reason for the happiest of holidays. I hope and pray that she will be home with us long before Christmas 2008.