One of my greatest friends

Kerri - Thank you so much for being such a great friend. You show a geniune interest in my family and love my kids REGARDLESS of what they do: I spoke to Chloe this morning about her lovely artwork. UGH.

Thank you for caring about this journey we are on, for talking to me about it and being interested and for showing me that when Baby Girl comes, I know you will love her just as you do Keaton and Chloe.

Thank you for going out of your way several times trying to find me paper lanterns for Baby Girl & Chloe's room. They are perfect (she found a 5 pack at Target on a recent trip to the US) & I will always remember how hard you tried to help me find the perfect finishing touches to a room that now only needs a baby girl to occupy it :)

Like my mom says quite often: "Kerri is a true friend". My mom is right.

Shiner - Part II

Just a little photographic update on my little boy and his big shiner. Somehow he manages to still look so damn cute!

My little playlist

I've been listening to music a lot lately. I find songs I like for whatever reason and listen to them over and over and over.
Some people'd call that a rut, but I like what moves me and it's as simple as that. I checked and here are some songs I've listened to many times the past month:

1. In the Deep - Bird York (from the movie "Crash")
"Life keeps tumblin' your heart in circles... Til you let go. Til you've shed your pride and you climb to heaven and you throw yourself off."
2. The Promise - Tracy Chapman
"Together again. It would feel so good to be in your arms - where all my journeys end. If you can make a promise, if its one that you can keep, I vow to come for you... If you wait for me."
3. Top of the World - Dixie Chicks
"Everyones singing. We just wanna be heard. Disappearing everyday without so much as a word somehow. Wanna grab a hold of that little song bird - Take her for a ride to the top of the world right now."
4. I can only Imagine - Mercy Me
"I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me... I can only imagine."
5. The Luckiest - Ben Folds
"Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls brought me here. And where was I before the day that I first saw your lovely face? ...Now I see it everyday!"
6. Charmed Life - Leigh Nash
"It's a charmed life, Innocence wild. Crayola skies for a thousand miles. It's a good life in the happily ever after ...Last page of a very last chapter. It's the story of a charmed life."
7. Swept Away - Geoff Moore
"Swept away... Caught up in our love. Home to stay. You’ll never be alone. You’ll be amazed at how much you are loved. Life will never be the same I've been swept away."
8. All that I can do - Bethany Dillon
"I don't care what tomorrow brings. I won't back down for anything. I want to think that I was made for something else... I can't wait anymore. I'm ready to reach. So I'm closing the door behind me.
All that I can do is hold onto you and follow where you lead. Where you're leading me. All that I can do is hold onto you and let you bring me through ...It's all that I can do."
9. Dress Rehearsal - Carolyn Dawn Johnson
"So I'm gonna do my best to make the most of it - avoid regret, Take a breath and realize Time is irreversible. This ain't no dress rehearsal."
10. You're where I belong - Trisha Yearwood
"You're where I belong. I belong with you. You're where I belong and I know it's the truth. You're part of my heart. There's nothing I can do."
11. Glory of Love - Bette Midler
"You've got to laugh a little, cry a little. Until the clouds roll by a little.Thats the story of, thats the glory of love."
12. Little Wonders - Rob Thomas
"Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders ...these twists & turns of fate. Time falls away, but these small hours, these small hours still remain ...it's the heart that really matters in the end."
13. No place that far - Sara Evans
"Always know that I would find a way to get to where you are. There's no place that far... Baby there's no place that far."
14. Answer - Sarah McLachlan
"I will be there for you while you take the time. In the burning of uncertainty,I will be your solid ground. I will hold the balance if you can't look down"
15. Smile - Chris Rice
"Every minute takes an hour. Every inch feels like a mile... til I won't have to imagine and I finally get to see you smile."

----------------------------------------------------

It's easy to see what is on my mind.

Need some assistance

I really would like to find a tandem conversion for baby strollers... so that I can buy a full-fledged infant (with infant baby seat carrier) and then just clip on the tandem (for chloe to stand on) to the back. I don't want the side conversion... I want the one that you clip/add to the back of the stroller and it rolls behind it. Chloe tends to 'wander' when we shop and I like to keep her contained as much as you can a 4 yr old.
I've looked at other tandems like the Joovy Caboose and the Stand & Ride but I think it would be easier and more practical to just do a conversion if I can find one. When we were at Canada's Wonderland this year I saw a mom with one clipped to the back of her stroller and loved it. I asked her where she had gotten it and she said it was a gift and didn't know.

Anyone know where you can order these or can you point me in the right direction? Anyone have this system and like it ...or hate it?

HELP!

Photo of the Week

Boys will be boys is how the saying goes, right?

Keaton came home today from school with a shiner. It is already darkening up and is looking like it will be a beauty of a black eye by morning. He got it playing mini stick hockey at school with friends. He bonked heads with another kid... I hope that boy made out okay. He seems okay with it and even said his friends all comforted him by telling him "It makes you look even COOLER, Keaton". Ha.

Keaton thought I was pretty silly needing to document and photograph his black eye... its not like it is his first one and I'm sure it won't be his last. It's the scrapbooker in me, I need to take photos of everything ;)

6 months DTV outfit(s)

Ok. So, if you recall I decided that I'd commemorate each month of our DTV wait by buying baby Lightfoot an outfit. Well, this month is the month of Good Deals... so Baby girl got a few things off the sales racks. Here is Keaton enthusiastically displaying them all for your viewing pleasure. I mostly got comfy things like sleepers and a few sweaters. I've bought mostly all 12 mo size just in case we are referred an older baby girl :)

2008 Family Portrait

Sometime in 2008 we will become a family of 5. I hold tight to that hope and know that it might not happen as soon as what we thought it would but... it will happen and it will happen when it is meant to.

Keaton sketched this little family portrait for me. He is always drawing me pictures and this one is so special to me... he drew in baby girl. And... he is officially calling her Meg. Yes, I think the name has stuck and I'll be really surprised if we do not name her this. For a while it was Isabel, then Maya... and I love both these names - but I think Shaune and I both think that 'Meg' feels right. And Keaton and Chloe think so too. Chloe is calling her "Meggie" all the time and Keaton likes "Meg".

This photo is hung on my cork board where I work on my computer and I know someday I'll get a photo of her while sitting at my computer and I'll be able to look up at Keaton's photo and SMILE!

Adopted: The movie

I was visiting Blanket's blog and saw her mention this movie. I followed her link and found several really informative videos on transracial and transcultural adoption. Anyone adopting internationally or transracially should go and watch. Anyone who knows someone who has adopted should go watch. There are so many valid, sometimes difficult to watch but very valid points to many of these video's. The more you know, the better you can do.

http://www.adoptedthemovie.com/category/film/clips/

I'm tagged

Jennifer and April both tagged me... so here I go...

4 jobs I've had:
1. Arby's Cashier in highschool
2. Interior Designer
3. CAD Designer
4. Real Estate Office Administrato

4 movies watched over and over:
1. Titanic
2. When Harry Met Sally
3. Far & Away
4. Wedding Crashers

4 places I've lived:
1. Belleville, Ontario
2. London, Ontario
3. Oshawa, Ontario
4. Santa Monica California (only for 1 month)

4 shows I watch:
1. Without a Trace
2. CSI (Las Vegas)
3. Biggest Loser
4. Lost

4 places I've been:
1. St. Lucia (our honeymoon)
2. Quebec City, Quebec (ski trips)
3. St. Thomas (on our cruise)
4. St. George Island, Florida (family vacation 06)

4 people who e-mail me regularly:
1. Kerri
2. Jacqueline
3. Shaune
4. Renee

4 favorite things to eat:
1. Vietnamese at Saigon Restaurant! #9 (Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio)
2. Chinese (Almond Soo Guy, Pork Fried Rice, Chicken Lo Mein)
3. Chocolate
4. Buttered Popcorn

4 places I'd rather be:
1. In Vietnam
2. Ireland and Scotland
3. St. George Island for another family vacation
4. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii

4 things I look forward to this year:
1. Meeting and loving our 3rd child
2. Decorating our house
3. My new camera in March hopefully
4. Being with my family and being happy

Ta-Da...

Ok, I did it. I stitched and sew'd my way to my first sewing project FINISHED. I really like them and can't believe I actually made them in 2 classes worth of time. I had a lot of help and encouragement from my sewing teacher, so kudo's goes out to her. I just did valances for the tops of my windows, since I'm a huge fan of letting as much light into our house as possible. These add some oomph to the kitchen without blocking all that yummy sun.

Next up is a pillowcase dress for Chloe & a vintage-style apron to hang in the kitchen. I'm going to make Chloe a little one too.

The weekend

Goodness I love the weekends. Everyone at home under one roof, so much to do or nothing to do at all... our choice. This weekend has been nice.

Last night we played Monopoly with Keaton (while Chloe did her 'own thing') - the kid loves this game... as long as he doesn't lose. Shaune seems to have a horseshoe up his butt and wins every time. I like to think it is luck and not skill - he disagrees.

When the kiddies went to bed Shaune and I finally got around to watching a movie we rented the weekend BEFORE. We laughed and laughed, we like a good silly movie. We watched heartbreak kid and enjoyed it. Our kind of humour for sure.

Today Shaune gave me the morning to sleep in. I didn't get up until almost 10am! I was restless last night and ended up taking a sleeping aid to fall asleep at around 1:30am... so I think it took til 10am to wear off. I NEVER sleep that late.

Anyhow, that was a nice treat.

Keaton had a hockey game today and that is always fun. I run into one of my best buds there every weekend (her son plays usually right after Keaton). I love watching Keaton play... he tries so hard and I'm so proud at his outlook on things. Today his team lost and the boys were all pouting and sad... Keaton took the time to compliment a few of his friends on how they played, he hates to see people sad. We really try and teach him that as long as he tries his best and has fun, winning isn't really the most important thing. I'm glad he seems to agree. He is constantly surprising me with what a great kid he is. While Keaton played, Chloe did her usual thing - the minute we find a seat out in the arena... she goes and sits as far away from me as she is allowed (where I can still see her). I have a very independent little gal. She can entertain herself like noone else and happily chatters away to herself, and sometimes makes friends with other sisters at the arena. She is not a hockey fan and I really don't think she watches even one minute of Keaton's games. LOL!

Tonight my mom & dad invited us up to their place (they live a few doors up the road) for a ham supper... delicious. After, my brother came down and played playstation with Shaune and Keaton for a few hours. Again, Chloe did her own thing... watched some tv and hung out with mommy a bit :)

Oh... I got a photo of Chloe's hair cut. I posted it on our family blog (click here) for anyone that was curious :) It turned out cute. But it aged her about 1 1/2 yrs I think. She looks so 6 now instead of 4 ;)

Photo of the Week

...Photos of the week, I should say. 2 fav photos of my happy boy during a family vacation to Florida last year. He certainly looks the 'beach boy' part here, huh.

August 2006

St George Island, FL

Baby Bedroom

I am still slowly puttering away at getting Chloe and Baby Girl's (Meg will be her name I think, but it isn't set in stone yet so I'll keep calling her Baby girl for now) bedroom finished. Today I bought a really cool curtain to go on the same rod as her blue check ones. It is orange. This room is turning out very bright and funky. I think I'm okay with that. It suits Chloe's personality (and matches her wardrobe) & I can't imagine Baby Girl won't get a kick out of her bright surroundings.

For anyone that didn't see or doesn't remember... here is the bedding:
http://www.kukunest.com/bedding.php?theme=lantern

.............................................................................................

Still to do:
1. Buy pink, red, orange & blue globe paper lanterns to hang in a cluster in corner over bunk bed. 2. Probably buy a white crib, but we are waiting on this until we get our referral since our age range is wide.
3. I want to put in new carpeting but Shaune doesn't feel the need. Hoping I can talk him into something eventually.

4. We need to do some custom closet arrangements in order to fit 2 little girls clothing into one closet. Yikes. Chloe's fills it to the brim right now, we'll need to get a lot of storage options into it.

5. I have a pink shelf I need to hang. I'm not sure why I haven't gotten around to it yet.

6. I need to make a bench cushion for the mirrored vanity in their room, now that I'm sewing I can do something in a few weeks time :)

7. We have 2 IKEA flower wall lamps that I need to hang up behind Chloe's barbie house.

Most importantly, this room will not be complete until Baby Girl is here to enjoy it with Chloe.

Unpredictable 4 yr olds!

So, I'll start by saying my Chloe is a very independent girl. I love that in a girl. She knows what she wants and she can usually figure out a way to get it.

Case in point: Today... she wanted to take her hair bun out. Mommy wasn't around. She figured out her own way of getting it out.

Details: We went into the city shopping. Chloe fell asleep on the drive home. Mommy took her into the house when we got home and put her down on the sofa to sleep. Mommy marveled in how angelic said child can look when she is asleep. Mommy marvels in how when the hair hits her auburn hair just right, it looks like spun gold or hot caramel topping - delicious. Mommy goes upstairs to check her email. Mommy comes back down 20 minutes later. It is still quiet so I assume she is still asleep. I get downstairs, but she is not on the sofa sleeping anymore. I hear her call to me from the bathroom... "Momma, I'm in here". Mommy walks into the bathroom and quickly discovers a sink full of hair and a pair of scissors in her proud daughters hands.

Yes, my 4 year old girl has cut the hair bun out of the back of her hair and also gave herself a nice trim in the bangs that we've (and by we've I guess I mean me) been growing out this year.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I think I did a bit of both. Then she got very upset once she realized her hair was ruined. Then I told her she would have to get it cut into a bob cut like her cousin Erin...then the smile returned.

A little later, while telling my mother what she had done, I hear her chime in: "I cut it but it still looks beautiful."

Maybe she has a career in hair styling.
This is the 2nd time she has done this. Last time she only got the bangs cut before I caught her. This time, its major. MAJOR.

I called and booked her an appointment to have her hair cut (properly) after school tomorrow. Her long hair is history. WAH.

In other news, today we celebrate 6 months Dossier to Veitnam. 6 months closer to bringing our 3rd child into our family. Then Chloe will have someone else's hair to cut too (NOT!)

GTA Waiting Mommies Night Out

Saturday was a great day. Jacqueline drove down from Kingston and then I drove into Toronto for the bi-monthly night out with the GTAWM group. (GTA stands for Greater Toronto area although the group has expanded over the year and now has members from Kingston, Belleville, Kitchener/Waterloo, Buffalo NY, etc).

It was at the Pickle Barrel at the Yorkdale Mall. I love the Yorkdale Mall and usually spend way too much there but after 1+ hr of shopping we headed to the dinner and I didn't purchase anything. I was as shocked as my husband was... nothing spoke to me and I must of been feeling a bit cheap on Saturday. RARE!

Dinner starts at 6pm and we left the dinner at 10pm (or around that time)... 4 hours of chatting and good food. The group consists of waiting mom's (and a few that are now united with their child) from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia.

I can hardly wait to do it again in March.

Thanks Jacqueline for being a great driving companion. Thanks B for so much great knowlege on the process. Jules, I am hoping you hear word VERY soon. Leslie W... it was great to meet you and I hope you can have som great news in the coming month or two also. So much to look forward to.

Ange was not able to attend this months get-together dinner... but she had a very valid excuse... she was on a plane - on her way to Vietnam to finally be united with baby Owen, whom she was referred back in August. I am so excited for her and can't wait for an update.

Proposed Haitian Adoption Law Petition

A family I've been in contact a few times through email (that lives in my area) is adopting a beautiful little girl from Haiti. I've seen her photos and she melts me. I recieved an email from the family tonight which brought my attention to this. Essentially the rules/laws may be changing so that families that have 2 or more children already in the home can not adopt a child from Haiti. This is very sad and will mean that many children will live their lives in institutions/ orphanages instead of with a loving family. A law like this would of excluded us from adopting if we had applied to the Haiti program. If you are interested in reading more about this or signing the petition, please go to this site for more information:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Haiti-Adoption-Law/

The petition deadline is only a few days away so go and look now if you have a chance. Deadline is January 16th.

Photo of the Week

This photo about sums up Chloe.

Dora hat - mangled and loved and worn at all times ...she loved this hat last summer.

Candy - nobody can pack in the candy like my girl can.

Tangled hair - we have an agreement at our house, I don't make her brush her hair unless we are going to town. She really hates getting the knots out of her wild hair.

Pink - her signature colour!

Crocs - her footwear of choice until the snow falls!

Sunglasses - she picked those out!

She is my one of a kind little Miss. I love the spunk in this photo. Photo taken August 2007.

A group of gals...

I belong to a group of adopting mom's in the Toronto and surrounding areas. I haven't been able to attend any of the bi-monthly dinners-out since May when we first started this process. Tomorrow night I will finally join up with them all again. The group has grown since I first went and there are many waiting mommy's, most adopting from China but I think there are about 6 of us adopting from Vietnam. It is just a nice night out surrounded by women that understand. A network of women I hope I will be able to turn to for advice and comraderie after our daughter is home and a group of women who are building their families the way we are.

We come from all different walks of life, are from various cities surrounding Toronto and have various reasons for adopting - and I'm really looking forward to hanging out again.

My friend Jacqueline is going to drive with me (it will be nice to have someone to chat with since I'm a 2+ hr drive from our meeting spot) & it shall be a nice day, surrounded by waiting mom's like me.

We are meeting at a restaurant at the Yorkdale mall... Jacqueline and I are heading into Toronto a bit early so we can do a bit of shopping. Can't wait!

My friend

A friend of mine just returned from a trip to Vietnam. I didn't even know she had went until she was home and emailed me about it. It sounds like she had a wonderful time and I enjoyed looking at all her photos she took of the landscapes, especially Halong Bay. For anyone interested in looking at some of her photos, as well as her thoughts on Vietnam... you can visit her blog here.

Thanks Carrie for contacting me and filling me in on your trip there. I cannot wait to hear more about your time in this country that holds such special feelings for me.

A new hobby?

My wondeful friend Kerri has intrigued me with her New Years Resolution of learning to sew. It is something I have always wanted to do or try but I am so not brave at trying new things sometimes.
I think I'm going to this time though. We start classes tomorrow night, all we do is take a beginners pattern of our choice and our materials and she provides the machines and expertise to teach us about sewing and how to make these things.

So, that sounds casual and my pace. And a night out with Kerri is always fun.

Now I have to think about what kinds of things I...
1) want to sew/make
2) am capable of doing!

So far I've thought of making a pillowcase dress for Chloe and one for Baby girl too. I also have always wanted to customize some of Chloe's jeans with the bazillion fancy ribbons and twills I have in my scrapbook space. Slipcovers for my sofa and chair is way out of my league but maybe I'll meet someone at the classes (like the teacher) with the capabilities?

What else would be fun to sew and not TOO hard to learn? Any suggestions?

I also bought a new book today called: Becoming a Family by Lark Eshleman, PHD. I am only on chapter one but it seems to specifically concentrate on international adoptions and some of the attachment and bonding issues that can arise, as well as what ways you can promote good bonding with your new child. So far, I like the book. I haven't read much so will give a better review when I'm finished.

Old Dog?

You know the saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"... well, I'm thinking that may be true with language. I am trying to learn a LITTLE bit of Vietnamese while we wait for our referral and travel, but it is certainly not easy.

I bought the Rosetta Stone learning program and like it. It comes with head sets with a microphone so you can say back the words and phrases to see if you are anywhere close to using the correct pronunciation. I sound like such a fool. I am determined to keep at it and have promised myself I will do at least 1/2 hr of learning each week day. With months ahead of us I should be able to pick up some things but I'm not kidding myself into thinking I'm going to master this language anytime soon. I do like the program and how it uses photographs to help teach. I've just never been really great with language and failed miserably at retaining any french after many, many years of learning it in school (Canada is bilingual and we learn french in the classroom from an early age).

Thought I'd send you over to Kristin's blog, a fellow VN blogger who shared the news of their referral... I am really excited for her and her husband. They started the process around the same time as us I think, they live in the USA and are with the same agency as my friend Renee, who is adopting from Ethiopia.

9 months along

Today marks 9 months since we mailed in our application to our agency and started on this wonderful journey. It has gone by fast and yet seems so slow at times too. I never imagined how many sleepless nights I would have & how excited I would be all at once.
I look forward every day to following other families blogs, seeing how they cope with the wait, watching as they are united forever with their children and learning so much from strangers who I've come to admire along the way.

It has been a quiet weekend around here.... actually LAZY would be a better word for it. The kids have taken advantage of winter holiday break and are sleeping in every morning... they are in for a rude awakening tomorrow when it is off to school again. Shaune and Keaton are still in bed and it is 10am. Chloe just woke up. I'm always the first one up lately. We are spoiled in the sleeping department and I know that when baby girl is finally home, we are in for a huge adjustment. We are all very used to 8-9 hrs sleep (me less than that because i'm a night owl) so it will surely be a shock to our lazy bones system at first. I adjusted just fine with both Keaton and Chloe as babies though so I'm not too worried. I'm ready for all that a young baby entails, I miss it... all except the diaper ;)

Today I think we are finally taking our Christmas tree down. Its funny how putting it up is so fun but taking it down is truly a CHORE. UGH, so many things I'd rather be doing. It will be nice to get the house back in 'order' though and find space again where Christmas decorations are crowding our home at the moment.

On a totally unrelated side-note... if any readers from Ontario know of a place I can find just plain old solid coloured lanterns (the round globe ones) I am STILL looking. Apparently this is a summer thing but I don't want to wait til Summer to finish Chloe and Baby girls room. I'm looking for orange, red, pink & greens to hang close to the ceiling in a cluster, above the bunk beds.

Kristin - For you...

A while back I was asked my a fellow VN blogger for some quick tricks/fixes I use with photos in photoshop. I summarized a few in my latest write-up for Better homes and Gardens blog I write for. I thought I'd post the link here for Kristin and anyone else that likes to spruce up their photos a bit on the computer. I find it fun to take a crappy photo and turn it into a good one.

http://my.bhgscrapbooksetc.com/sbe/persona.jsp?userId=a6a21c1fc30a72048ad97f63f41037f0&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aa6a21c1fc30a72048ad97f63f41037f0Post%3a5aa16c14-4d29-4041-b05b-334e498bcf99

Photo of the Week

Its hard to think back to 2004 and remember Chloe at this age. I remember she was an easy baby. All it took to make her happy was her thumb, her mom & her crib by 7pm each night. She is 10 months old here. Wow, time flies... I'd just gotten my first Digital SLR camera and was always taking photos of her. She NEVER liked the camera (and still doesn't) but I love this photo of her. She was a happy baby and always giggling, her giggles would get the attention of anyone within earshot (that hasn't changed much either).

10 months old... soon I will be back to a baby girl so young. Do I remember how to do it? Diapers and bottles and a lot less sleep than I'm getting now. I can't wait.

I know the little girl in this photo (who is now 4 1/2 yrs old) is eager to be my 'assistant' and be a big sister.

An inspiring Link

If you have a moment, go and watch this link. (scroll down on the right hand side bar and pause music playlist first)...
http://thevoiceofadventure.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-story.html

It spoke to me and explains (better than I could) a lot of why we are doing what we are doing. I know there are people that don't understand our reasons for doing what we are doing but truly, we are just following our hearts and doing what we feel we are called to do. And it feels so good.

Something or someone or a combination of many things... planted this dream of adoption in both our hearts and finding the courage to do what our hearts told us to do (this has been in our hearts for over 10 years) was not easy but I know I've learned so much during this process about trusting my feelings and listening to the voice that leads me in life. Angel (fitting name I think) in the following video link explains beautifully her story and why adoption was the answer to her heart's dream.

Decisions

2008 is here and all of a sudden we are starting to realize that our time will come. We hope, hope, hope for a referral in the upcoming months and perhaps travel in the Summer sometime. Our plan has always been to bring the kids (Keaton is 7 and Chloe will be 5 by Summer) with us but the more we think about it and examine what is best for us, for the kids and for our baby... I think we have come to the HARDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD decision that we will leave them in the very capable hands of our family. My mother is wonderful and has offered to come and live at our house with the kids (and our dog) while we are away, allowing them to be at home and in their normal routine (although if it is summer when we travel... the routine is basically stay up late and sleep in - bad mommy!)
I think if we take them, it would be a wonderful experience. They'd meet their sister the same time we did... as a family. They'd experience a different culture, a different country and see where their sister spent her early life. But, I think we will have our handsfull and we know we need to put all of ourselves into bonding with our daughter and making her feel safe and loved with us... strangers to her.
Taking them with us meant I wouldn't have to miss them or worry about them AS much. But those are selfish reasons on my part, aren't they? They will be happier at home probably. I have never been away from Chloe and Keaton for more than 7 days. 3 wks is going to be beyond difficult. Shaune has never been away from the kids for more than 2 days.
I mentioned/hinted to Shaune that with all the $ we are 'saving' by not buying 2 extra flights to Vietnam... we could go on a family trip to Disney in 2009... or another Disney Cruise. He didn't comment, but I guess he didn't say no either. ;)

In other preparations for the coming year, I finally called the health unit today to talk to them about what vaccinations we will require or that are recommended for visiting Vietnam. We go in next Thursday to start and apparently need to return for the 2nd part of the vaccine a few months later... then the 3rd part when we return from VN. Talk about lots of needles. She mentioned needing a typhoid vaccine also. The costs for all these needles is crazy... $70 per shot, per person x 3 . Luckily our policy covers it or that would be hurting the pocket book!

Another family...

a family in our agency got happy news of their referral... what a happy new year 2008 has started off to be for them! She is beyond precious and 2.5 months old. Every happy family ahead of us that gets their referral brings me such happiness... for them but also for us as we know our wait is eventually coming to a happy end. I can barely think of anything else lately and we still have a while to wait :) I have a feeling our baby girl will be an infant (we indicated baby or toddler) since that seems to be all our agency is referring (that I've heard of) - I wonder every day if this is the day she maybe is born. Crazy stuff like that running through my head non-stop.

In other news, we had a fabulous New Years Eve. We rented rooms at a hotel here in the city and just hung out with good friends that also have kids - we swam, listened to music, talked and rang in the New Year as a group in one of our 3 rooms. I couldn't help but feel a bit emotional thinking of how much will change in the coming year for us... a young child again, a sister for Chloe and another sibling for big brother Keaton. Shaune is a wonderful dad and I know he is quietly anxious too, to begin this new chapter in our wonderful life. 2008 is our year to become a family of 5!