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.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
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!
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!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
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
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
Friday, January 4, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
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!
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!
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