Looking Back at 2007

I can't believe that 2007 is already over!! What a year that it has been for us. Coming off of a very difficult 2006, all in all 2007 was pretty good. Like a roller coaster that makes you a little queasy, yet you find yourself wanting to continue the ride. Here's a little recap:

The beginning of the year was pretty much status quo. Nothing terribly exciting, except finalizing our decision to adopt. In March, we took a giant leap of faith, submitting our application for adoption to our agency. We were one step closer to finding our child in Vietnam. The end of March saw the beginning of our home study;and it also saw the arrival of Baby Thorn, my best friend's baby boy.

In April, we continued our paperchase, completing our interviews with our social worker and collecting a mountain of paperwork. We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary and my brother's wedding to an awesome girl. She has been a great addition to the family.

May meant a trip to the USCIS office in Fairfax to have our fingerprints taken. May was also the beginning of what I like to call the "Great Fingerprint Debacle," which would continue well into the summer, holding up the completion of our home study and causing me to suspect Larry had a secret life (Just Kidding).

Summer rolled in with June, which meant I entered my thirties. I celebrated by going to an amusement park, riding all the scary coasters and realizing that I actually felt thirty when I stepped off the final coaster. I thought I would throw up my toenails. Our niece Hannah graduated from high school and the fingerprint saga continued. We lost our beloved cat Loba, but gained our new kitten Josie.

July was probably one of the best months of the year. A Harry Potter movie and a Harry Potter book...how much excitement does a girl need??? Harry and his gang were completely overshadowed, when my sister announced her pregnancy.

August saw my annual trek to see Kenny Chesney, a perfect set of fingerprints for Larry and we finally got our approved homestudy!

In September we sent off for our I71H...and waited to hear anything from USCIS.

Along with Halloween, October brought a letter from USCIS requesting clarification on a few things...including questions about a daughter that I don't have.

November was a hard month for our family, as Larry's father passed. I'm still sad our child won't get the chance to meet him.

And then came December with the arrival of our I71H and the holidays.

That is the abridged version of the journey we are on…and what a journey it has become. We’ve learned much about Vietnam, adoption, parenting and patience. There have been moments of anxiety and excitement, joy and despair, peacefulness and uncertainty; there have been tears of joy, laughter and heartache. And certainly there is much more to follow. Here's to a great 2008.

Christmas Rewind

So, my friend Leanne informed me that I'd been neglecting the blog for the last month. I didn't mean to leave anyone hanging, particularly those new readers who found us from our Christmas Letter!!!!

Numerous things have kept me from posting. Obviously the holidays kept me hopping...I can't wait to have a weekend with nothing planned. It may happen sometime in the next decade. Don't get me wrong, though. We had a great holiday season. A little bit sad at times, wishing that our bundle was already here and missing Larry's father. But the majority of our season was spent with family and friends, discussing memories and adding new ones. We are so blessed to have incredible friends and family. My grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins even threw us a surprise baby shower Christmas morning.

Not much news on the adoption front. While the beginning of the month saw our I71H, we've hit one more snafu with our criminal background checks. Hopefully we will have updated ones (along with updated employment and medical records) in our hands soon. I really want to get our dossier overseas.

Be on the look out for a recap of our year, hopefully coming tomorrow, as well as the dreaded New Year's Resolutions!!!

And now some holiday photos!!!

Belly Battle Christmas 2007! Our new niece will be here soon! We can't wait to babysit!

Aunt Jilian made this photo album just for Baby Bowen! It is soooo cute!

Thorn was very excited for his first Christmas! And he's also quite a good shopper!

Baby Bowen's Pop was quite taken with his new coffee mug, which had the Vietnamese word for grandfather on it.

Some of the gifts from our surprise shower. They will look great in the nursery!

A corsage made by my grandmother. We don't know for sure we will get a boy, but we're pretty sure.

Larry and Josie tuckered out from a long holiday season.

I've got a golden ticket....

For some reason all day, I knew that I needed to get home to check the mail...and in typical fashion, I was called into work, while Larry got the check the mail. And guess what he found??????

OUR GOLDEN TICKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We finally received our I71H and were deemed suitable to provide proper care to a child!!!! It hasn't sunk in just yet, but we both called as many people as we could. I can't put it into words. Perhaps things are starting to look up....

What a sweet puppy

Have you ever seen a sweeter face??

It's beginning to look....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house these days. We spent all day today putting up decorations and cleaning the house, preparing for the season. Now, I normally do not put things up this early, but we've got a busy schedule over the next few weeks. And I must say that Larry has been a great husband the last few days. Sometimes I don't know that I did to deserve him.

We had a great time and I think the house looks great! Here are a few photos from the day. As you can tell, we got a lot of help from our four-legged children.

Zoey is making sure everything is in the right place.

Sleeping underneath mommy's Harry Potter Christmas Tree (Yes, I have an HP tree)

Can you have a tree without a Cosmo ornament or Santa in a grass skirt?

The tree is not finished until Homer Claus makes an appearance.

Things on the adoption front are still slow. But we are taking this time to mull things over and consider our options. That being said, we did put up a stocking for Owen. It's small, but if he/she is here next here, I'm sure the stocking will be upgraded.

Thanksgiving and Loss

What a week we've had...

On Tuesday, Larry's father passed away peacefully. While we were somewhat expecting this, nonetheless it's still difficult. So, we are leaning on one another and trying to smile through this difficult time. He was a wonderful man, full of life and smiles and stories. He was a great father and grandfather. I wish that our child would have had the chance to meet him, but he/she will most definately know all about him.

I wrote last week that I would write what I'm really thankful for, not just the superficial stuff listed last week. It's been said time and again, but I'm most thankful for my family and friends. I've got a great family and terrific friends. My husband rocks...and loves me enough to put up with me and all my baggage. I've got the best dad in the world. And I couldn't ask for better siblings (and their significant others). Without a doubt I have the two greatest neices on the planet and I can't wait until my newest neice arrives in January. There's not enough space to write about just how thankful I am for my family.

And I'm greatful our family is expanding. More love to go around and more memories to make and cherish. Here's hoping that there's an extra plate or two at the table next year.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Psychic Fortune Cookies

Oh how I hope that this fortune cookie knows something I don't. Tonight's fortune read:

"Good news will be brought to you by mail"

We shall see...we shall see.

My superficial Thanksgiving

There is really no news on the adoption front, but it's been a rough week and I wanted to blog about some of the silly things I'm thankful for this year.

1. The return of Project Runway: Oh, how I love Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. If every reality show was produced by the guys at Bravo, then I would be a happy girl.

2. Mugglenet.com: I'm just a girl who loves Harry Potter. With no more books to look forward to, this gives me a fix when I need it.

3. Bath and Bodyworks Cherry Pie Shampoo: It smells sooooooo good.

4. Rock of Love has been renewed for Season 2: You can't have enough Bret Michaels...unless they replace him.

5. Diet Pepsi Max: A diet soda with an extra kick. Perfect for those nights I'm on call, but terrible when I'm trying to sleep.

So, enough of the silliness. Next week I'll post what I'm truly thankful for.

Happenings

There are a lot of things going on in our lives, creating chaos and heartache. Today I heard the song, "Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah McLachlan and instantly felt calm. I love her voice, but the lyrics resonated with me. So, now it's the new song for this page. Here are the lyrics:

It’s not that unusual when everything is beautiful
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when its time to snow
You don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we are all a part
Of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

Its seems so exceptional
Things just work out after all
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

The sun comes up and shines so bright
It disappears again at night
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Breathe in...Breathe out

There seems to be a lot of chatter in the VN adoption world these days, and for pretty good reason. But in order to prevent another panic attack on my part, I'm going to try to focus on the positive...at least for right now.

Last weekend, we headed west to visit our niece at Emory and Henry College. It was a beautiful day on a beautiful campus and we had a great time. She even bought "Owen" a special shirt and bib. I hope that he or she will be here to attend Family Weekend there next year.

Too Cute!

The obligatory couple shot taken while I was holding the camera at arms length. I think that every picture we have taken is in this format.

Really not much to report on our front. We did send off the necessary changes to USCIS on Monday. I really hope to hear something soon. Until then, I'm focusing on the positive and remembering to breathe.

Neither a Trick nor a Treat

I promised this news yesterday, so here it goes. On Friday, Larry went to the mailbox and pulled out an envelope with the return address of USCIS. He thought that he was getting the golden ticket. Alas, it was a false alarm. Rather, it was a form letter asking for clarification in a few areas. These areas included:

1. They wanted more clarification regarding the age of the child we are requesting. A quick fix...not really to difficult to manage.
2. They wanted more information regarding the agency in charge of our home study. Again, not a big deal.
   
3. Located by a box marked "other" was a request for more information regarding the custodial arrangements for my biological daughter. This is proving quite tricky, since I don't have a daughter. Unless they are talking about the four animals that live with us. If that is the case, then they clearly live with me.

So, that last request has tripped us up. I'm pretty sure that I have never given birth. It's my understanding that I would most likely remember that. At this point, calls have been made and the situation is supposedly under control. We should have another packet off to the USCIS office by early next week.

And in my "the glass is half full" world, at least someone has started processing this paperwork. Luckily we have a lot of our dossier paperwork together already. So we will be ready to move forward when that golden ticket finally gets here.

Tonight was Halloween, one of my favorite nights of the year. We live in a neighborhood bombarded with trick-or-treaters. I know I handed out close to 1000 pieces of candy. Several of the people in the neighborhood dress up or go all out with the decorations. This year, we had a Harry Potter theme (imagine that). Tobie proudly wore her wizard's cloak, but had to go inside. I don't think she enjoyed everyone petting her. I dressed up as Tonks, from the Harry Potter books, complete with pink hair and magic wand. Here a picture of me and my buddy Kyler and one more of Tobie.

I do not normally wear so much eye makeup.

Please stop making me dress up!!!!

The Big 5-0!

Yeah! This is the 50th post. In honor of that, I thought I would post some photos. We have some news--neither great news or horrible news, but that will have to wait until after tomorrow.

Tobie's ready for Halloween. If you look closely, you will notice that she has moons and stars on her "cloak." She is looking forward to the baby coming soon, so her mother will stop dressing her as a character from Harry Potter.

Here's the most recent purchase for the baby's room. A dinosaur rocking horse. I actually thought it was a dragon when I bought it, but apparently I was wrong.

Owen's grandpa got him (or her, but that's another post) a onesie with Mommy's favorite driver! Thanks Grandpa!!

Do you remember that scene?

Do you remember the scene in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when little Charlie rips open the bar of chocolate, hoping to find the infamous golden ticket? He rips open the wrapper only to have a serious letdown when he discovers only chocolate and no glimmer of gold. Well, that's how I am starting to feel every time I check the mail. Sure we get plenty of mail, mostly bills and the dreaded credit card offers, but no golden ticket from USCIS...our I71H. What a bummer!

Alas, Charlie eventually found his golden ticket and I know that we will as well.

Fortune Cookies

Fridays are day at work when we typically order out. However since a majority of my team's job responsibilities revolve around crisis intervention and psychiatric emergencies. Luckily, today we got to eat together as a unit, deciding on Chinese food. I open my fortune cookie to read:

"All of your hard work will soon pay off"

I'm hoping this is true, even though it came out of snackfood.

An unexpected ray of sunshine

I've been wanting to mention this for the last few weeks, but I wanted to make sure I had approval from my sister. Now that I have approval, I am so excited to let everyone know that I am going to be an aunt!!! That's right; My sister and her husband are expecting a baby girl in January. I simply could not be more excited! She told me the big secret by asking me if I thought Owen would be ready to be a cousin when we brought him home. My response was "of course," and then I realized what she was telling me.

I cannot stop shopping for this little girl. She and her cousin already have matching t-shirts and BLING pacifiers.

Our family has had a rough couple of years, but things seem to be getting better. And I think this little miracle and our bundle from Vietnam are the icing on the cake. I don't think January will get here fast enough.

No news is nothing new

There is not much news to report on the adoption front. We continue to wait for the arrival of our I71H. I check the mail daily hoping to see that magical envelope. So far...I have received over 200 credit card offers, several political flyers, some magazines and a reminder to update the dog's vaccines. But no I71H. In the meantime, we are continuing to work on our dossier, paint in the nursery and have even started to call this child something other than "Owen." It seems that things are moving...they're just not moving very fast.

I've not been blogging because I've been so frustrated with the speed things are moving. I was wearing a gigantic pair of rose colored glasses when we started this process. We've waited so long to have a child and we want him or her here as soon as possible. As of Friday, we have been involved in this process for only six months, but sometimes it feels like we have been doing this forever.

We had the chance to attend a picnic for our homestudy agency yesterday. There were families who had completed both international and domestic adoptions. It was refreshing to see families that had completed the process. Seeing that you can actually get through the process and bring home a beautiful child was the shot in the arm that we needed.

Here are a few pictures:

Colvin and Josie enjoying a Sunday afternoon nap


Another Nursery Spoiler

Famous in a Small Town

Yes...I know that I have been a bad blogger. You can stop giving me a hard time...you know who you are.

Larry and I had a great date night last Friday, going to see Miranda Lambert at a local bar. She was great. We had a blast, until the high concentration of smoke in the place started to get to me.

We were having a great time, but our night took an unexpected twist; a good twist, but altogether unexpected. As we were sitting at our table, procured several hours before the show, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, an unfamiliar face asked me "Who is the morning personality for WYYD?" I answered correctly and then this unfamiliar face responded " Well, how would you like to meet Miranda Lambert?" He then proceeded to hand me two backstage passes. Here's the proof:
All in all, it was a pretty great date night.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was great for the both of us. We spent all of Saturday with my best friend Leanne and her family to celebrate her graduation from a strenuous MBA program. We left Lynchburg early in the morning and had a blast. I'm so proud of Leanne! She completed this MBA program, worked full-time and gave birth to an adorable 11 pound baby in the spring. She Rocks!

We got to Richmond a little early and spent some quality time with Thorn, the aforementioned 11 pound baby, who is now a thriving 5 month old. He's going to be a heartbreaker.

After the ceremony, we had a fabulous dinner and even more laughter and good times. Alas we could not stay in Richmond last night. Since it was race weekend, there was not a hotel room to be found in the city. So we drove back to Lynchburg....or should I say Larry drove back to Lynchburg and I slept.

There's not a lot of news to report on the adoption front right now. We're waiting on our I71H and compiling our dossier. Larry's on the ball and has gotten several of the necessary papers together already. Not me, Not yet. I hope to get a move on it this week. I have been working on the nursery a little more and I'm posting a picture with a brief hint.

Who can resist that face!


Best Friends have good hair days.

Larry getting in some practice holding a baby!

A spoiler for the nursery!

Welcome to the World, Baby Addison

It's always a wonderful day when a new baby enters your life. Congratulations to our good friends Kim and Chris on the birth of Addison Carter. What a wonderful addition to a great family. And congrats to big brother Cameron and big sister Peyton. Larry and I were at the hospital this morning to greet Addison, mere minutes after her arrival. Mom and Baby are doing well.

Addison Carter

At Last!

As of 4:30 pm today our home study is on the way to USCIS. Here's hoping for a quick turn around!!!

I was smiling all afternoon and evening. I feel like this is such a big accomplishment.

Houston...we have a home study

Almost five months into this journey and we finally have a completed home study, ready to go to USCIS. If all goes as planned, it will be in the mail tomorrow morning. Finally, it seems that we are ready to move on to dossier preparations. We've collected about half of the documents we need for the dossier. It actually feels like we are making some progress.

What I wish I could say!!!

Anne over at MN to VN posted this. And I think that it's hilarious!! I wish I could say this to some people!!!

Freeze Tag or Blog Tag????

Yeah!! I love to play tag. Stacy tagged me, so here goes nothing!

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!

Here we go:
L- Listener. I'm a therapist by day, so I get paid to listen. And listening to music of all types is
one of my favorite past times.
E- Excited about being a mother. I've enjoyed seeing one of my best friend begin her journey
into motherhood this year and I can't wait to join her.
I- Impatient. I am so so so impatient. I'm working on this. I promise!
G- Gossip Blogs are my biggest weakness. I can't get through the day without reading at least
three celebrity gossip blogs.
H- Harry Potter is one of my biggest weaknesses. I LOVE anything having to do with HP!

So, there you have it. I know that I'm supposed to tag five people, but it seems that I am one of the last people to get tagged. So, if you would like to play, then please do.


In adoption news, I have it on very good authority that we should be receiving our home study any day now. All I can say is that it's about time.

In non-adoption news, I had a chance to see Kenny Chesney in concert this past weekend. My dear friend Taryn and I took our usual summertime jaunt to Virginia Beach to take in the latest Chesney show. Kenny was fabulous, but I must say that Sugarland, who opened the show was INCREDIBLE. I love Sugarland anyway, but seeing them live was amazing.

Venting, Insensitive People and Some Good News

From the very first time Larry and I began to tell people we're adopting, the majority of responses have all been pretty positive. Family members immediately embraced this unknown life as a welcomed addition to the clan. Close friends started doling out parenting tips. Coworkers eagerly ask questions about where we stand in the process and when we might know something more. We both know that our child will be welcomed and accepted, just the same as a child who would share our DNA.

I realize that international adoption is not really something that you encounter on a routine basis, particularly in small town Virginia. However, in recent weeks I've come across some rather insensitive people who have a tendency to say some rather insensitive things. I realize that not everyone understands everything about adoption or international adoption or Vietnam. But I wish that people would ask questions and wait for answers rather than say something really, really stupid and hurtful.

Since this is a subject that has really bothered me, I figured I would post a few answers to these questions.

• We are not paying for the baby. We are paying for the agency's services, mailings, education, orphanage service fees and medical exams, among other things.
  

• I don't know exactly why it takes so long to process things. It takes nine months to complete a pregnancy and we are well within the time frame.

• Just because I'm not going to experience natural childbirth does not mean that I am not going to be a real mother. Nor does it mean that Larry is not going to be a real father. We struggled with infertility for awhile and decided that it meant more for us to be parents than to continue down the fertility treatment road.
  

Sorry for the rant! Some things have been getting to me lately.

In more positive news, we should have three original copies of our home study in our hands by Monday at the latest!!!!!!! And then it will be on its way to USCIS office. We are working diligently to get the rest of our dossier together. The dossier is a packet of important documents that will go to Vietnam. This is a huge step for us.

We've also started working on pulling together a nursery. So far it looks great! I'll post pictures when it's completed.

While in Vietnam...

While we are still in limbo concerning our home study and fingerprints, Larry and I are growing more and more excited about the prospect of meeting our child sooner rather than later. But this state of limbo impedes the blogging process. I was chastised about not updating often enough, so I am going to make an effort to blog at least every few days.

We watched two very interesting shows on the travel channel throughout the week about food in Vietnam. One was with Anthony Bourdain, who I love, and the other was about bizarre foods. (Thanks Jilian for the recommendation.) I must say that the program featuring bizarre foods, had a few choice moments, which caused all of the color to drain out of my face. I'm not sure if it was the snake cracklings (like pork rinds) or the stewed bull penis. At one point, Larry looked at me and said through his laughter "You're not going to eat anything when we there, are you?" While I hope to not eat the aforementioned delicacies, I am looking forward to most of the Vietnamese cuisine.

I also thought I would post a map of Vietnam. Our agency works with orphanages in the provinces of Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh, Danang, Quang Nam and Yen Bai.

Stealing Quizzes

I saw this at MN to VN and had to take it. I love books and thrive on reading. Typically, I have at least three on the nightstand. But, I was surprised with the outcome, because it is a book I absolutely love. I don't buy the analysis that came with it, but love the book choice. According to the book quiz, I am most like:

You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire
faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest
this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking
moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT
SOUNDS LIKE THIS!

In Motion Once Again

After three trips to Roanoke, two trips to the county jail, three sets of smeared prints and numerous miles logged into the car, I can finally rest easy in the knowledge that my husband actually has fingerprints and he is not a criminal or from another planet. That is correct...Larry's fingerprints have cleared. Larry had his fourth set of prints scanned, rather than inked. And I must say...they were fabulous prints. I must confess I was starting to believe my husband was dipping his fingers in battery acid when I wasn't looking.

So, where does this leave us now? Well, hopefully this means our home study will receive its official stamp of approval and head to the USCIS office. Once there, we will wait for our I71H, which is approval to bring home our Vietnamese cutie. I'm not sure how long this will take. There have been rumors that the office we have to go through is picking up the pace, after becoming notoriously slow. In the meantime, Larry and I are beginning to compile our dossier, which I will discuss in a later post.

Needless to say, we are both relieved to have officially jumped through this hoop. I must confess I was beginning to wonder if the wheels would ever start moving again.

Where is the nearest brick wall?

After Friday, I feel like we are beating our heads against a large brick wall. Once again, Larry's fingerprints were thrown out because they were smudged. This was the third attempt. And I was so upset. Last time they were thrown out, I was angry. This time, I felt defeated. I'm beginning to wonder if we will ever get over this hurdle. In reality I know that we will, but this really took the air out of my sails.

I really just don't understand what the problem is. I mean, the people doing the prints fingerprint inmates every single day. It's their job. You would think they might realize the prints are bad.

So, I'm asking that everyone send some postive thoughts our way. Larry is going to have his prints scanned on Monday. Hopefully this will do the trick.

Will we ever move forward????

I had hoped we would be close to moving forward by the end of July. I was wrong. Larry was notified today that his second set of local fingerprints were no good as well. So off to Roanoke he went to get another fingerprint card, instead of waiting for the mail. Who knows if they will be acceptable.

And because of this wait, our background checks have expired, which means we have to do another. I am hoping this doesn't set us too far back. But this has been a real downer!

We're trying to get something together for our dossier, so we will be even closer once all of this red tape has been handled.

Tag!! You're it!

Anne over at MN to VN very kindly tagged me. I'm new at this, but it looks like fun!

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:
1) Beginning my junior year at Randolph-Macon Woman's College
2) Considering a career as a musician
3) Spending my last summer in my hometown
4) Writing lots of songs
5) Spending a lot of time at the Waffle House

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1) Oranges
2) Cherries
3) Sugar Free Popsicles
4) Wheat Thins
5) Sugar Free Pudding

5 Songs I Know All the Lyrics to:
1) The Entire Indigo Girls Collection
2) Every single Poison Song
3) American Pie
4) Anything by Mary Chapin Carpenter
5) We Didn't Start the Fire

5 Things I Would Do If I Were a Millionaire:
1) Pay off my student loans
2) Quit my job
3) Let Larry quit his job
4) Adopt more than one child
5) Travel

5 Bad Habits:
1) Shopping
2) Gossiping
3) Procrastinating
4) Reality Television
5) Ebay

5 Things I Like To Do:
1) Elliptical Machine
2) MySpace
3) Read
4) Crossstitch
5) Blog

5 Things I Would Never Wear Again:
1) A perm
2) Tight Jeans
3) Pleather
4) A Poison T-shirt
5) Red Acrylic Glasses

5 Favorite Toys:
1) My iPod
2) Nintendo DS
3) The Sims 2
4) Digital Camera
5) MySpace/This Blog

A perfect onesie

While I was working the other night I had a bit of downtime. I was on the internet and found the perfect onesie for the new addition. My dad (and the grandpa-to-be) says he's not mentioned on this page nearly enough. So here is the perfect tribute to him:


You can find this at Cafe Press.

This is your life...in 8 pages

After three and half months, we received the draft of our home study for our approval. It's not 100% finished, as we are still waiting on Larry's fingerprints. But for the most part it is complete. It's amazing to see your entire life condensed to eight pages! EIGHT PAGES. I don't know how our social worker was able to do that, but she did. And the end result is pretty darn good. I told Larry last night that we looked pretty impressive on paper. I am hopeful that the prints will be back within the week.

And with the draft of the home study, the reality of this is starting to sink in. I'm so excited about the next few months. Some of the wait times with our agency have increased slightly, but I am still hopeful that he or she will be home with us sooner rather than later.

Harry Potter Bowen???

I have zero adoption news to report right now, but we are hopeful that the next few weeks will bring news of some sort. Maybe something along the lines of a completed home study.

But, I am keeping occupied with all things Harry Potter. Our niece Hannah and I arrived at the local movie theater in time to catch the very first showing of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." It was fabulous!!! From the moment the initial music began until the closing credits, it was incredible. It gave me goosebumps! Yes they left a lot out of the film that was essential in the book, but the book was almost 800 pages long. Transferred to film, that would equal about five hours. I love Harry Potter, but I don't want a 5 hour movie.

When people talk about the HP movies, they often mention the actors growing up on film. We've seen Harry and his friends from eleven year old baby wizards to teenage wizards capable of holding their own against evil. As I was waiting for the film to start, I thought about this particularly. You see, I took Hannah to see the first film in the series on opening night, when she was the ripe old age of 13 and in middle school. We didn't really know each other that well, but we had fun nonetheless. Now, Hannah is 18 and getting ready to leave for college. She's now ready to face the challenges that lie ahead and can hold her own in the real world. So best of luck to her. I just hope she'll take Owen to the movies when he's older. I'm not sure I'll be able to make a midnight screening by then.

And now the wait is on for the book! I can't wait until next weekend.

One more hurdle cleared!!!!

OUR PASSPORTS CAME IN TODAY!!!!!!

After waiting diligently for twelve weeks, our passports finally arrived. Which is great, because we will need copies of them for our dossier. And aside from my mugshot photo, they look great!

Distractions

Waiting for things to move forward with the adoption is clearly one of the hardest things I have had to do. Maybe not the hardest --that would be losing my mother and my stepmother-- but clearly it is beginning to rank pretty high on the list. But I am trying to keep my mind off of things and focus on other things.

Creative things. I've started working on several new projects, including a scrapbook, a blanket and a quilt. I realize that several member of my family are rolling their eyes at my tackling a quilt. You see, I have quite the history of failing to finishing what I start. It took ten years to finish one cross-stitched blanket. But I will say that I knitted four complete blankets so far this year.

The concept behind this quilt is actually pretty cool. Several prospective adoptive parents from one of my email groups are participating in a "Vietnam Culture Quilt Swap." Every person involved picked two topics to research and complete a one page write-up. Then, we choose a fabric that corresponds with the topic and cut a quilt square. Also included in the write up is a wish for the child. So far, we've gotten a few squares in the mail. It has been so much fun. At the end of the swap, I should have enough squares to make a quilt, as well as a scrapbook full of write-up on Vietnamese culture.

Larry and I have also turned to gardening to occupy our minds. Larry constructed a raised bed off of our patio. I planted several varieties of tomatoes, some squash, green peppers and sweet peppers. I didn't think that it would do that well. However, it has virtually exploded. Larry has also been planting some flowers which are starting to bloom. And I picked our first vegetables today, the squash pictured here.

Some green peppers

Roma tomatoes almost ripe

Feeling some Frustration

The last 24 hours have been so frustrating for Larry and I. We've been waiting for awhile for our home study to be completed and on its way to CIS. But in order for the home study to be completed, we needed one more background check/fingerprints to be processed. Yesterday, I got an email from our social worker letting us know that my fingerprints were back, but Larry would have to have his redone. WHAT???? Needless to say, I flipped out a little bit. It took almost a month for the initial fingerprints to come back. So how long will it take for these new ones to come back? And would this hold up our home study?

This bit of news led to a great deal of frustration on my part. I was starting to feel like we were being pushed and pulled in several different directions, yet not accomplishing anything. There were lots of tears last night, which I have come to realize is something that is common in this process.

Twenty-four hours later, things are looking somewhat brighter. Larry contacted the agency this morning and will be reprinted tomorrow. The prints will then be overnighted to Richmond, along with a letter stating that they are a re-do. The first draft of our home study is also going to the agency director for review. Hopefully we will have a copy of it to review by the end of the weekend or early next week. I'm still optimistic that we can start preparing our dossier and receive our I71-H before the summer is over, if not sooner.

I've added a quote to the page from a song by Carolyn Dawn Johnson. My sister-in-law Jilian recommended it a few posts ago when I was feeling frustrated. It has helped me tremendously in the last 24 hours and is my new philosophy in this process. So, Jilian, I may owe my sanity to you this week!

Weekend Adventures

This weekend, while Larry was working, I had the chance to get away for the weekend with some of my girlfriends, affectionately known as the YaYas. We had a great weekend and it was the perfect distraction from work and the adoption process frustration. Usually, I come back from one of these weekends having shopped too much for myself. However, this was the first shopping trip as a prospective parent. I learned a lesson this weekend; that it is now more fun to buy for this new person coming into the family than it is to buy for myself. I wonder how long that sentiment will stick around.

Here's what was added to the baby collection:

Baby's First Stuffed Animal

Maybe we can take this on the airplane

My Daddy Loves Baseball

Dinosaur Pajamas

So these new discoveries have been added to our growing pile of baby items. I just can't wait until we actually have a baby to use them!

Making the right decision

When we started researching adoption agencies, we were literally overwhelmed by the amount of information we received. Ultimately we chose the agency closest to us in proximity, but we also chose this agency because we felt they were able to help us achieve our goals of becoming a family. Our decision to go with this agency was reaffirmed yesterday.

Early yesterday morning, I went to the agency website as I often do. On the homepage, I read a blip about an important announce for the agency's Vietnam program. As of today, the agency was temporarily no longer accepting applications for the Vietnam program. They felt that they had reached the maximum number of clients that the program could handle without having to extend the waiting time for a referral (which is currently 3 to 6 months) . But never fear, we have been in the program for about six weeks. Our program coordinator called yesterday to reassure me that we were okay. I think that it's great they want to focus on keeping their referral times down, which was one of the things that drew us to them in the first place.

Now if we could only get our homestudy completed!!!!!!

An unexpected visit to the ER

Late last night, Larry and I made an unexpected trip to the Emergency Room. I say unexpected, since I spend most of my time there for work and Larry works in the same hospital. The ER is the last place that we want to head to on our nights off. Alas, a medical catastrophe.

Last night, while working on the computer, my eye felt irritated, so I rubbed it, which is a rather routing event. A few minutes later, I realized my eye felt funny and really hurt. I looked in the mirror and my iris appeared misshapen. My eye was beginning to swell shut. Larry looked at it and almost immediately says "Let's go to the ER." When I hear this, I start to freak! He worked in the ER for 20 years and rarely considers things extreme enough to warrant emergency intervention. I just knew that I was going to be blind before the end of the evening.

By the time we arrived at the ER, my eye was more swollen. And the white of my eye was filling with fluid. Talk about gross. I was sure I had damaged my retina or contracted some rare eye disease. No, nothing that exciting here. Just your average run of the mill...PINK EYE. But pink eye to the point of my eye swelling shut and having to stay out of work for a few days.

Now, you might be asking yourself, "Doesn't she know what pink eye feels like?" The answer is no! I never had pink eye as a child. I had mononucleosis, but not pink eye. But at least now I am prepared should Owen ever come down with a case of it.

Not really much of an update

I know I promised an adoption update, but the truth is that there is not much to update. Right now we are just waiting. Waiting for a background check to be completed so we can wait for our home study to finally be complete.

We did meet with our agency last week and met our program coordinator. She filled us in on the travel aspect of this journey as well as preparing our dossier. We are both anxious to move on towards getting this dossier together.

Hopefully I will have a more substantial update in the next few days.

The newest member of our family...

Today we added a member to our family. No, it is not a baby and it is not from Vietnam. We've added another cat to our brood; this time a tortoiseshell kitten who goes by the name of Josie. We went to PetSmart this afternoon just to look...and Larry fell in love. And truth be told, so did I. The other animals are not too keen on her just yet. That will take some time.

Josie is actually the name she came with. See, I am a bit picky when it comes to names for animals. For some reason, every animal that we have had together has had an "o" as the second letter of their name. And Josie fit beautifully.

I initially did not want to get another cat. I was very set against it. We loved Loba (and still do) so much. To imagine bringing another animal in to the mix so soon was something I didn't think I could do. But the other animals in the house have been moping around all week. They are grieving the loss harder than I expected. And in no way are we trying to replace Loba. But there has been a void in the atmosphere of the house. Josie seems to brighten things just a bit.

And now on to the photos. And I promise to update with some adoption info tomorrow.

Up close

A profile view

We also want to congratulate our niece Hannah, who graduated from high school today. We are very proud of her!

Another year older...

As of yesterday, I officially left my twenties in the dust, entering my thirties in style. What a great few days I've had. I spent Friday with my good friends Taryn and Kyler at Carowinds, riding some of the coolest rides. If you have a chance to get here, be sure to ride Top Gun and The Borg. Both offer thrilling rides. We had a blast. It was really hot that day, but the crowds were minimal. Lots of fun. Even the trip home, which took 6 hours, when it should have only taken 3 and a half hours, was loads of fun.

My actual birthday was Saturday. Larry and I spent the day with family and friends. I got some great gifts and thoughtful cards. We are also spending the weekend in my hometown, relaxing and enjoying time together.

Tomorrow we plan on heading down to Greensboro, NC, to meet with our program coordinator for Vietnam. It will be nice to put faces to names as we go through this process. In adoption news, we are just waiting for our home study to be completed. We're waiting on another background check to come through before this can be completed. I really wish it would hurry up.

Look how cute I was 28 years ago!!!!

Such sadness....

Today was such a sad day at our house. Our beloved Loba died peacefully after a battle with cancer. I was by his side throughout the day and was with him when he died. We are all so sad at the loss of such a great cat. He was beautiful and stoic. He came into our family shortly after Larry and I moved into our house. I went to PetSmart and saw this scrawny little black cat. I knew he belonged in our family. He screamed the entire way home and then proceeded to poop in the back seat of my Geo Prism (I'm sure his cousin Grisman would later go on to do much worse in said car).

He started out scrawny and quickly grew into a massive cat. He weighed close to 17 pounds when he was in his prime. And he ruled the house. He had huge paws and teeth, which would often scratch you if he was smoothing you. He was such a treasure and he will be missed.

We'll miss you, big man!!

Hip Hip Hooray

The past few days have brought about a few new developments on the adoption front. Larry and I met with our social worker on Saturday. The meeting was brief, basically to go over what we still needed in order to complete the home study. While she was here, she said that there were a few things that we still needed, including two background checks that we had sent off about a month ago. I had my heart sent on the home study being complete soon, so I immediately fell into a little funk. But it was nothing that a little shopping couldn't cure.

Later that afternoon, the social worker called back and said that she had found the missing background checks. Only a reference letter and my statement of employment were still out. And as of this afternoon, they had both been received. Which means that OUR HOME STUDY IS ALMOST FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!

I'm very excited about the prospect of having it completed by my birthday!

It's difficult when I find myself becoming upset about the process and the amount of time that it seems to be taking. I'm forced to bring myself back to reality when I realize that we have only been in the process for two months. But it feels like forever!

Time keeps on ticking...

It seems that we might be entering into a period of time where we will be doing a lot of waiting and waiting and waiting. But we do have a few pieces of news to report:

We're almost done with all of the requirements for the home study. Our social worker should come by sometime this week to pick up a few remaining pieces of paperwork and meet with us one final time.

I (Megan) passed my medical workup, meaning I don't have syphilis or HIV and I "would be able to physically and emotionally meet the requirements of raising a child." I did have to have a booster shot for the mumps. I now know why babies cry when they get their vaccines. Not because of the needle, but because it feels like someone is injecting you with liquid fire. A week later and my arm is still sore.

We got a packet from Carolina Adoption Services last week about preparing our dossier. (Makes me think of James Bond every time I say that.) Half of it is in Vietnamese. By starting to work on this, it means that we are one step closer to getting our referral. I like to think that we are almost in the second trimester.

And I just want to remind those of you read this that my 30th birthday is right around the corner. I would love to have our homestudy completed and off to USCIS by then. What a great gift that would be!!! But I'll still take gifts as well.

Mommy-to-be Day

So, for most of you reading this that know me well, then you know that I love getting presents. I love giving them as well, but I LOVE getting presents. And I was so excited when I read in one of the adoption books that we should celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day, since we can consider ourselves expecting.

That being said, I celebrated Mother's Day this year. Larry was a great husband. On Mother's Day I received cards from Tobie, the cats and Larry and Owen. Larry also gave me the Willow Tree angel entitled "Child of My Heart," which represents adoptive moms and babies. It is sitting on my desk at work, helping me get through the days.

My dad also joined in giving gifts. He sent a beautiful purple azalea, with a card that read:

"Mom,
You, Dad and I can watch these flowers grow.
Love, Owen and Grandpa."

The plant is beautiful. I'm trying to figure out the perfect place for it.

I will note that Tobie was upset that she didn't receive any flowers. When the delivery man came to the door, Tobie took off running down the street, looking for her gift from Grandpa. She kept running from me and was headed towards the road. Luckily one of our neighbors saw her and called her name. Tobie trotted towards her like she didn't have a care in the world. Tobie is a little too precocious for her own good.

I wanted to congratulate Todd and Jilian on adding Cash to their family. Tobie can't wait to meet him. I hope Cash and Tobie get along better than Tobie and Grisman. (Cash and Grisman are Tobie's canine cousins)

Inkless Fingerprints

Last Saturday, Larry and I traveled to Northern Virginia to be fingerprinted, which is a requirement for international adoption. We left Lynchburg by 7:00 am and arrived at the Citizenship and Immigration Office around 10:30 am, after taking the scenic route through numerous Civil War battlefields. While this was obviously not the most direct route, it was a very pleasant drive.

We were about an hour early for our scheduled appointment, so we thought that we would have to wait. Fortunately, we were able to begin the fingerprinting process immediately. I had envisioned that we would be covered in black ink at the end of the process, but luckily I was wrong. Instead, I felt like I was on CSI. The fingerprints were scanned into the computer. No ink and no mess. There were a few slip-ups, like Larry's wedding band rolling under the machine and I had the luxury of being fingerprinted twice. But the whole thing moved rather smoothly.

Once the fingerprints were finished, we were off to have lunch at Saigon City, which used to be a Pizza Hut. Larry and I both had a bowl of pho --Vietnamese noodle soup. Pho is very good, but different than what I was expecting. Each bowl was chockful of rice noodles and chicken breast. The broth was very flavorful, with a hint of ginger and garlic. We also had grilled meat summer rolls and crispy pork rolls. I rounded out the meal with a pineapple crazy bubble tea. Bubble tea is like a fruity tea smoothie with tapioca pearls in the bottom. I'm not sure I was too crazy about the bubble tea.

When lunch was over, we headed to my favorite place on Earth...IKEA. We got a bookcase, several rugs, some knick knacks and shelves for the nursery. And didn't break a hundred dollars.

Then it was on to Richmond to visit Leanne, Ingram and Thorn, before Leanne leaves for China. We had a blast. Thorn greeted me by spitting up on me, which is becoming par for the course when we see each other.

In the upcoming week, Larry and I have to get fingerprints at the local police department. And for now we're just waiting. We're waiting on our passports, waiting on our homestudy and waiting for CIS approval.

Thorn sleeping. If you look, you can see where he spit up on me.

Adoption excitement

Yeah...we've had some progress. Our I-600A application is in process, which means we are one step closer to Owen Bowen.

We're were initially scheduled to attend a seminar in Roanoke on Saturday, however we were notified on Monday, April 30th that the conference was canceled. I was bummed about it, but figured that we could spend the weekend working around the house. Then Larry checked the mail. And waiting for us were appointments to have our fingerprints taken in Alexandria, one of the steps in processing our I-600A. So, we're heading out early in the morning, getting our fingerprints done and then it's off to IKEA, my favorite place on earth.

But through all this excitement, we received some sad news. Our cat, the same one that was sick last week, is even sicker. It seems that his cancer has returned and there is really nothing that we can do. So Loba is home and we're lavishing him with attention. He's such a great cat and I am so sad about his prognosis.

Faith

Keeping the Faith

Since Larry and I began the process of expanding our family, faith has been has been an integral part of keeping me sane. Not just through the process of trying to have a baby, but through several other things as well, particularly the illness and passing of my stepmother, who was like my second mother. The bracelets in the picture above all have a single charm, on which is inscribed the word "Faith." When Anne got sick in '04, I found these bracelets and gave one to her, my sister and kept one for myself. We wore them as a reminder of what we needed to help through the difficult time. I stopped wearing mine shortly after Anne passed away last year. But last week, I found myself wearing it again. And each time I look at it or hear the charm clink against the bracelet I'm reminded that I need to have faith that we will get through this process, we will meet our child and we will have the family that we've longed for.

Time spent with family...

is always time well spent.

Larry and I spent last weekend at the beautiful Inn at Riverbend in Pearisburg, VA, celebrating my step-brother's wedding. The weekend was wonderful and the wedding was beautiful. I'm so glad that they have found one another.

The weekend away was also a way for Larry and I to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. Hopefully this will be the last one with just the two of us.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Just look at the form in that cast!


Owen Bowen's uncle and grandpa throwing gang signs?
If I didn't know them so well, I might be concerned.

The view from our room

Homestudy,Bloodwork and a Sick Cat

Tuesday was the scheduled date for my homestudy interview and the walkthrough of the house, which looked great. Alas, when you think everything is going smoothly, there is always a kink in the chain.

I got home from work on Tuesday a little early because I had to stop by my doctor's office to have bloodwork done for my medical clearance form. And by bloodwork, I don't mean a routine chemistry screen, I mean tests for HIV and syphilis. The lab tech, who happens to know Larry, looked at me and asked if Larry and I were still married, since I was having tests for all these STDs. "Yes we're still married, but we're adopting and we have to have this medical form...blah,blah,blah...like it's any of your business anyway."

After the doctor's visit, it was straight home, where I found Loba, our black cat, laying in his litter box, obviously not feeling well. He recently had surgery for a cancerous tumor, so I freaked out. I moved him to the sofa where he hung out during the homestudy.

Our social worker arrived as schedule and the interview was a breeze and actually a lot of fun. She had some really great questions. And then she did the walkthrough which was also a breeze.

Once Larry came home, we conferred about the cat...and it was off to the Kitty ER for the Bowens. Loba had a fever of 105.5 and some underlying infection. He's doing better now, but still not back to his old self.

In other news, today is our 4th wedding anniversary and we're off to my brother's wedding. What a great celebration!

A first time for everything

Over the weekend, I headed over to Richmond to visit friends and their new baby. The purpose of the trip was to hang out with Leanne, her husband Ingram and baby Thorn before she left for China. And we had a blast, at least Leanne and I think so. I'm not so sure what Thorn thinks, since he managed to spit up on me three times. But Thorn and I got in some quality snuggle time, which is really what's important.

Thorn's just hanging out

We got the chance to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch, which was my first experience with the cuisine. LOVED IT!!!

We had steamed pork dumpling and wonton wrapped fried shrimp as appetizers. I was a bit thrown off when the shrimp's little legs were sticking out of the wonton wrapper. On to the main course which included fried rice, a seafood hot pot (with flames shooting out of the dish) and shrimp grilled on sugar cane. There was a lot of laughter, particularly when I tried to wrap my food in the rice paper wrappers provided. Not a pretty picture. Leanne and I had planned on trying a drink called crazy bubble tea, but we were simply too full to even try.

After lunch, it was off shopping. And I bought our first nursery purchase. I've been trying to refrain from buying anything for a nursery, for fear of jinxing myself. But with the homestudy looming, I broke down and bought curtains.

Finally, our day was over and I headed back home to prepare for our home study visit and walkthrough.