She might not be from China, but this black haired little girl sure makes me smile.

There's a new girl in town.

Here is our new girl. Now tell me that's not cute. I am not sure if you can tell or not, but she has red hair! Yep, you heard me right. our little Meggie is showing her true Irish colors, it is absolutely red, ginger, whatever you want to call it. Can you believe that she has this much hair. Had she gone to term there would have been enough hair for the full on bow-head look. She is a girl after her Aunt J's heart.

They are already giving her formula and breast milk(about 4 days earlier than planned) because she is doing so well. We were wrong on her weight(even on the birth certificate) she really weighed 3 lbs 8 oz, and when you are that small, and a girl it is important to have all the details right. However the stork is wrong in the front yard(didn't get that correction until it was too late) Meggie's mommy came home today. She said it was very hard to leave her behind. But she will be to visit everyday, and we hope that since all the nurses say she is a lean mean fighting machine that she will hopefully only be there for 4 weeks.

So I know you are oooohhhhing and gooooooooing right along with me. I just can't get over how cute she looks for being so early. We were all really expecting her to look like a baby bird for a few weeks. But instead we have a real red headed beauty on our hands.

***** I know you aren't looking to see pictures of woi, but please know that this is not the greatest of pictures of Aunt J, but was the best one to give you a good size perspective. I had not had more than 6 hours of sleep, or any make up the entire time I was there. Plus you can see the results of taking the kids to the pool everyday, and by the time I was done putting sunscreen on them, it never made it to my body. So while the kids never burnt, I can't say the same for myself. Oh how I will look forward to the day when I am looking like this all the time:)*****

The stork dropped off an extra one

It is with great pleasure that we announce the birth of Megan Josephine. She was born this morning at 6:13 a.m. weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs 4 oz and she is approx 13 1/2 inches long. She came out crying, and is doing remarkably well considering that she is 9 weeks early. She is breathing on her own, and they are only having to give her antibiotics, and IV fluids. We feel very lucky that she is doing so well, there are a lot of babies in the NICU that are so much smaller than Meggie. She has tons of strawberry blond hair, and looks just like Jack did as a baby. So what could be cuter??

Her Mommy is doing pretty well considering this was her 3rd C-section. She is scheduled home on Sunday. Meggie will follow behind in about 4-6 weeks. They usually keep them until their due date, but because she was actually pretty big(that is relative, considering her diaper would not even fit on a doll) they seem to think 6 weeks will be her max stay at the Ritz Carleton.

I have been so busy with Jack and Katie, that I am brain dead and a bad aunt as I showed up at the hospital without my camera.
So I will have to post pictures over the weekend of our beautiful girl.

Thanks for all of the well wishes, and I can't wait for you to see what a beauty she is.
I am headed home tomorrow, and hopefully will be back when Meggie arrives home.
I look forward to the day I can hold, and love on her.
It has been a very long road to this little miracle.

I will try to post while we are in Houston for the big HS reunion(that D is claiming he is not interested in attending anymore) too bad....we're going.

Here I go again

I know it seems like all I do is go out of town, but here I go again.

My best friend(keeper of the nest) has been on bed rest now for 13 weeks, she is 30 weeks pregnant with her 3rd child(a girl-Meggie) and while I was on the phone with her on Friday her water broke(not completely, but it broke) By the miracle of modern medicine they are able to feed her antibiotics, and keep her in the hospital while they also give her steroids to help the baby's lungs and final brain development progress. They said they can possibly keep her like this for up to 4 weeks! Who knew??
So in the mean time Jack and Katie( my two darlings) are being passed from neighbor to neighbor to friend, to babysitter. So Aunt J is on her way for the week to help out. So we will be at the pool each day, trying to enjoy summer as every other 3 & 5 year old are this summer, and not thinking about the fact that mommy is in the hospital.
So I will be there until Friday, and then we are headed back to Houston to take my MIL home(sorry I am going to miss her last week here visiting with us, can't wait to see what she does with my yard while I am gone) while we are in Houston we will also be going to D's 30 year HS class reunion(now that should be fun)
So I am outta here, and wishing a happy week to those who will see their child's face for the first time, and hoping the numbers will look better than forecasted.
I will return with good pictures, some good stories, and hopefully a good tan!

Please keep the keeper of the nest in your thoughts, she could use some good karma right about now.
Adios

6000 visitors

It happened today, around noon, and I think it was Karlee's mom who should be seeing Karlee's little face any day now.

When this started, I never dreamt that 10 people would ever click on my blog, so to have had so many people come, and visit is just overwhelming. For those that do follow along, please know how much it means to me to have you come along for what has turned into the longest journey in the world. We are going to be very good friends by the time this one is over.

peace out

We are the proud new parents of a fuzzy little girl

Okay, what happens when you breed a cream standard poodle with a chocolate labradoodle?
You become the proud new parents of a black f1b labradoodle. We just found out this morning that Zeta had her puppies last night. 9 little fuzzy beautiful creatures. 8 are cream, and the special one(ours) is the only dark, dark chocolate almost black one.

***** Can you guess which one is ours?? LOL***** We couldn't be more excited. It has taken a long time for us to even considering bringing another dog into our house. We are both still actively grieving the loss of our 12 year old cocker. I hope this puppy will bring some new life into the house, and make it active again. I look forward to going for walks, and trips to the park, and rides in the car.
It is all very strange. We both had agreed that we wanted a labradoodle, but we spent a great deal of time searching for the right breeder. We knew that we wanted a second generation as they are less likely to shed. We thought that would be good for the baby, as she might have allergies. Plus need I remind you I am a little OCD, and so dog hair in my house does not work for me and my illness. We came across what appears to be a wonderful breeder who doesn't breed that often, and they specialize in chocolate doodles. I have a thing for black and chocolate dogs. I knew that Zeta was due memorial day weekend, and this particular breeder does not do a list, she tells you when the dogs are due, and you keep in contact and if she has a puppy that fits your desires than she makes a match. I emailed her last night when I went to bed, and sure enough we awoke to an email announcing that 9 puppies had been born. She told me that she thought that she had the puppy we had been waiting for as all of them were cream except for one. We knew that this was meant to be. So I sent her the deposit this morning, and then she emailed me this afternoon, and told me that she had a closer examination of the pups, and that our girl is really more of a dark, dark chocolate or almost black color. She said that she could not believe it, as they had never had a black pup, and how did they get a black pup from a cream daddy and a chocolate momma?? She said I hope that black is okay, as she is beautiful. I almost cried I was so happy. Chocolate was fine as I have always wanted a chocolate dog, but the fact that she is black just makes me buzz with happiness. I know that she is the dog for us. D responded with....."that is so awesome" So I told her that we were thrilled, and to take good care of our girl, and we can't wait to see pictures of her. We should be able to get her in about 8 weeks, so the end of July we will make the journey to pick up our new girl.

I hate to divuldge what I think our new fuzzy baby will be named as I know a few folks that are naming their daughter this. But I must tell you that this named was picked because I love this name, and it was on our name list for the baby. So if I can't name our daughter this, I decided that I had one last chance to use it. So as of late her name will be Ruby. There are still a couple of choices on the table, but this is my vote.

New York, New York

Okay kids, we have been in NYC since Saturday, and don't leave until Wednesday late afternoon. We have been looking forward to this trip for about 5 months. D has a conference this week, and while we have both been to NYC a lot(we both have worked here for extensive periods of time) we haven't been here together in quite some time. So we have had a great time so far. The city has been very busy considering school isn't out yet. We are staying in Midtown-not somewhere we typically stay(too busy, too touristy) No complaints, we have subway stop just 2 blocks away, so the location has actually been very good.

The weather didn't really cooperate on Saturday, so we just grabbed some dinner, and headed back to the hotel with the smartest elevators in town! But yesterday we slept in, headed out for some brunch, and then hit the streets. Even with the number of times we have been here,neither of us had visited ground zero. I look forward to seeing it when it isn't just a construction site, and there is a proper memorial for those who lost their lives. We then headed for Canal, and I must tell you to heed my advice; don't do it on the weekend. I have never been down there on a weekend, and will try not to do it again. If this is anything like what we will experience(amount of people) in China, I may have really big anxiety issues by the time we return. It was shoulder to shoulder people...sweaty people. But must tell you that did not slow down my bargaining power. I am feeling very good about my purchases.

D had a dinner meeting at some swanky place, it was a bit funny as D is not a sushi eater... so when you are going to a place called Koi he was already off to a bad start. He did say that they had some great appetizers. He is a meat and potato's kind of guy, bt I don't think he is complaining about his Kobe beef he enjoyed, while everyone else ate sushi. But while D was being swanky, I headed to the west side to see my lovely friend Comanche. She is a wine rep, she is funny, cute, smart, and I just love her to death. She had always been so gracious to allow me to stay with her in between my trips during my days of flying. So it was awesome to see her and catch up since I have not seen her since last Oct. We headed out for Indian, and let me just tell you the food, the service, the weather, and most certainly the company were incredible. We sat there for 2 hours and caught up, ate and drank until we were stuffed!! May I suggest you try the mint naan.

Tomorrow will be a highlight of our trip. We are going to see David Letterman. I have wanted to see this show my entire adult life, and finally we have tickets. So tune in on Tuesday when Dave will have Charles Barkley on, and we will be in the audience. We are really excited.

So this is all I have of our trip right now, but will update with pictures and more about our trip to Letterman when we return.

She's Home!

Welcome to our newest US Citizen!

It has been a privilege to watch this trip. It really became part of my morning ritual to get a cup of tea, sit down at my computer, and see what has been happening in the world of Emme Lu. I really haven't visited this site much since we were paperchasing last summer. When I discovered this site it was an immediate obsession. I had read every single story, including every single day of their trip to China. For the families that were in China at the time, for me it was as good as reality TV. It felt as though I really knew them, I felt like I was right there with them on Gotcha day. I would wonder about them long after they were home and hadn't updated their site. But once we were logged in, and the reality of the "real" wait began to sink in, it was almost too much for me mentally to even think of jumping over there for a look see. Well fast forward about 7 months, and that is when I learned that we would be watching the trip to get Emme, it all became so new, so REAL for me to be watching someone from my group go pick up their child. If you missed it; trust me on this one you don't want to miss it, you will want to sit a spell, go here get a cup of joe and read every word, and see every picture of an amazing trip to China to pick up an amazing little girl who looks wise beyond her years.
It is one of the best China stories I have watched. I am sure it meant more to me because I feel like I know this family.
I love how it feels to be as excited about "my friends" going to get their children as I know I will be when it is our turn. It makes my day when I hear someone that I know is getting their referral, or that someone has found out that they were picked to be the lucky family to a WC. We have had a lot of good news amongst my group lately, and it is the good news we have all been needing. I think I will be watching at least one family at all times this summer, and I am really looking forward to seeing all of those families joined together. I think it makes it feel more "real" it makes you feel like you are making progress, and that it will actually really happen to you someday.
So I am excited to watch this little one thrive in her new home, with her forever family. I think she is going to do amazing things. Our family is wishing her a BIG welcome home, and a BIG thank you for letting us tag along for their journey of a lifetime.

Your word is all you have at the end of the day!

I am so disgusted with Survivor, and the integrity of it's players that I may be done watching it******Well that was until they announced that the next season will be Survivor China. Can't help it, but I won't be missing one single episode. **** This is so much worse than when Johnny Fairlane or whatever his name was, lied and said his grandma died(that guy was scum too)

Dreamz, I hope you sleep well at night, and wish you the very best, as you didn't win the money(like you had a chance) you don't know the definition of integrity, and at the end of this day you only have a truck and some really BAD KARMA!!! Good luck with that. Sucks to be you!

Thank goodness it was Earl, as Cassandra was just along for the ride, and really didn't earn her spot in the top three. Yao Man should have won, hands down.

Can I ask if anyone noticed if the other two won anything? Usually the second runner up wins like $100K, but it didn't appear to be the case this season. Maybe I missed something as I was off throwing up in pure disgust.

I am happy that this season of TV watching is coming to a close. I hate to see my favorite shows end, but I am so productive during the summer, as I watch very little television.

So just a couple of weeks, and our TV will be going on hiatus.

Last but certainly not least Happy Mother's Day or mu qīn jié to all of you yummy mummies out there(sorry love the shopaholic series) I have been thinking about what we will do special to recognize and observe our daughters birthmother on this day. I think it is important that we are always thankful to her, and hope that she finds peace in the hope that her daughter has gone on to a happy, loving, and secure life where she will have opportunities that she may not have had otherwise, such as a good education. I hope that we can find something that is heartfelt, and something that would be considered very respectful by Chinese Standards. It does appear that they do celebrate this holiday. I will be interested to see if you have any things you are planning on doing to recognize your child's birthmother on this day. Maybe planting something, or maybe writing letters that we can put away and read someday.

I know that this day will always be a bit bittersweet to me once we have our daughter here with us. It will always remind me that someone else had to lose a treasure for me to have the greatest gift of all. I want to respect that, and I want our daughter to recognize that there is a very special woman out there who really did a very selfless gesture, and her "mommy" is very thankful for that gesture.
In celebration of this holiday, I received a great surprise from my secret pal. I told you my secret pal rocks. What a beautiful surprise. I love the book, and loved the card, but especially loved the surprise. Thanks!
Someday my friends I will look at your blogs and see a beautiful child's face in the pictures, and there will be lovely pictures of our mother's day with our children. Oh, I can't wait for that day!

Pelvic thrust no more, and some other idol chatter.

People, I must tell you it is about time this dude was voted off. Not only was he a bad dancer, it was hard for me to even look at him. If he had done one more pelvic thrust, I was going to have throw up, and give up one of my favorite shows. He needed to go a lot sooner than he did. I was put into complete panic mode when Joey was in the bottom two with this hillbilly. I am betting on Joey and Apolo going to the end. Sorry to any of you that are big 90210 fans, but Ian has a major chip on his shoulder, is too skinny, has a weird neck, really big white teeth(where do all of those celebrities get their teeth whitened? my crest white strips are not doing the job. Finally, he tries WAAAAAAAYYYY too hard. He is next on my chopping block. He has even made me not really enjoy who has always in the past been my favorite dancer (Cheryl Burke)
I must tell you that I thought Julianne and Apolo's tango was the most amazing dance I have seen to date. I am telling you that once D and I start our dance lessons, we are going to be tangoing.....is that a word? constantly. That will be sight that everyone will look forward to, including myself.
It will be hard for me to decide between Apolo and Joey, because I heart Joey, and yes I do have a few Insync songs on my ipod.
Okay kids moving on to TAR. I have to be honest here. Not my favorite season. Didn't miss an episode, but really disappointed with the outcome. There is consolation in Eric and Danielle(please put a shirt on)winning this season. That is the fact that I am not having the expected post partum that I usually have when this show ends, and I immediately start counting the days until it comes back on. I wasn't really thrilled or rooting for any of the final three teams, but I would have to say Eric and Danielle were at the bottom of the list of the remaining teams. I don't think they were even that good at the race(I know some would disagree, as they encountered some really bad luck, but seemed to prevail) I certainly did not like the Blondie's, but you have to admit they were ferocious competitors. Then Myrna and Charla bugged the hell out of me, but again, you gotta give it to them....great competitors. So in the end I would rather that great racers win than someone who really just got lucky. I would have felt a bit better if either of those teams had won.
But I was really rooting for Danny and Oswald. Damn the karma, but what else could they have done except convince the Blondie's that it should be Myrna and Chyrmna. They were my favorite in their first season, and I had really hoped that they would win it all this time. Damn the karma. Oh well. Until next season Phil, I will miss you.

Yao man is where its at on Survivor. This has not been one of my favorite seasons of Survivor, but, I am really backing the Yao Man team. He is so cute and smart, what more could you want? I am certain it is driving those 20 somethings crazy that this "50 year old, little smart Asian man" is still in the race and has the immunity idol to keep him around a little longer. By the way I think it is a stupid rule that you have to relinquish the idol before the vote. It really takes it value away. Has that always been the rule? because I don't really remember that being the case.

So Yao man...Cheers to you, and I think you have a lot of fans backing you. I am sort of watching the Bachelor. This show is like a train wreck to me. You know you shouldn't, and you don't even like looking, but..........you just can't help yourself. Andy drives me crazy. I don't think he is cute, I don't really find anything about him cute. He doesn't come across that smart, and well he just bugs. The girls they picked this season bug more than they have ever bugged me before. They are perfect for the "not so cute" bachelor, as I didn't find many of them that cute. I am backing Tessa, but it may be Bevin despite her admission to a previous marriage(her bad) I think this should be the last season of this train wreck.

D can't stand that I would waste one minute on this show. He thinks it may be the most ridiculous show on television. I would have to agree, but I can't seem to not catch up each week on TIVO. At least I watch it commercial free, so I only waste about 25-30 minutes per week on it. But I just figured out that he erased it from the TIVO when I wasn't paying attention. Crap, now I need to log on and see who he booted. I am sure it was the girl who's family didn't show. Plus she is only 23. Hello, what is a 23 year old doing on that show. Someone needs to offer that girl some motherly advice; No marriage until you are a grown up.

I watch Idol as well. But have not followed it as closely as I usually do. I am voting for Melinda. But I also like Lakeesha(sp?) But am really fine with whoever wins this season.

Let me know what you think of my reality list, and give me an update on the ones you watch. I am an admitted reality TV junkie, but I am considering recovery. But don't let that stop you from sharing with me.

Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore

***edited**
first Happy Mother's day next week. I totally thought it was this weekend. So much that I sent all of my mother's day cards out yesterday....what a OCD freak.

Then I have no idea why I thought that the booting off part of Dancing with the Stars was on Wed. I know it is on Tues, but somehow I was confused this week, and thought it was being interupted by the weather. But then when I looked at TIVO it showed that it had taped it. So I was convinced that TIVO is so smart( and it is) and that since the weather wasn't on everywhere else in the country that it still just taped the network and not the local version of what was on....okay just work with me here. Yes it was a very blonde moment, and my husband said he didn't say anything to me so that it wouldn't hurt my feelings and he knew I would figure it out. DUH!!!!

I am so over due in updating. Time just seems to fly by. I would say that is a great thing while we are waiting, but it isn't flying by that fast. But here is what has been keeping me busy.



I have lived in TX for 17 years, and grew up in the Midwest, so this tornado thing isn't something new to me. But I must tell you, for the last two weeks(actually for the last 2 Wednesday-I know this to be the case, because I keep missing who gets booted off of Dancing with the Stars for god sakes) But last Wednesday we were fairly certain that there was a strong possibility that we were going to actually experience a tornado first hand. So we grabbed our stuff(for me that included my purse, cell phone, our dossier, our scrapbooks that I loaded into trash bags, and some sneakers-Not sure exactly what "D" grabbed-I am sure more practical stuff) The sirens started going off, the sky got a strange green hue to it, and the wind picked up. But it still didn't feel that scary as "D" was here, and he was calm as usual. We didn't actually get into the closet except to make sure we would fit with all the cushions we had put in there. It all passed by pretty quickly, and I think there ended up being only one tornado that actually did only a little bit of damage, and it wasn't even that close to us.
But then yesterday rolled around, and while I knew that storms were forecasted, I was not the least bit worried. Well that was until I saw the GIANT band of RED headed towards us, and the reports that there were rotations reported, and that there was torrential rain, and up to 100 mph straight line winds. OKAY friends I am now home by myself, and I am FREAKING out. Freaking out so much that all I grabbed was my purse(with my phone) flashlight, and this wind up radio thing. So I call "D" to tell him to not leave the office(which he had and was sitting in traffic) He tells me to be calm, and just a make sure I have a flashlight, plenty of cushions, and to crack a window. Well about that time I see our patio table and umbrella go flying pass the window and into the yard, and the trees are sideways, and it is raining so hard that I can't see the houses across the street. The lightening was terrible so we decide that we should hang up, and I told him I would call him back to give him an update to when he would be getting the brunt of the storm. Well about 3 minutes later the siren that is right in our neighborhood went off, and needless to say, that was all she wrote. Thankfully we don't have our daughter yet, as I would have scared her to death. I just started crying like a little girl. I thought this was really going to happen, and I was going to have to do it all by myself. I have never seen it storm like this before. I mean we have 30 foot trees in our front yard, and they were leaning so far over I thought there is no way for them to not just snap like a toothpick. The icing on the cake was when the electricity went off, and now I could no longer hear or see the TV to know what was happening. That part really sucked. I just sat in our downstairs closet on my cell phone while crying on the phone and chastising my husband for always working too late(like that was useful-I apologized later) and he just stayed calm as a cucumber, and kept telling me that I would be safe, and it would be okay. He was right, it was okay. When it was finally over I needed to go to bed as I felt like I had been through a tornado, I was mentally exhausted.
So this was the first time in nearly 40 years of living, I really thought this was going to be a scene out of The Wizard of OZ. But here I am no worse for the wear. This tornado thing really sucks. I think that once again we were very lucky, and our area escaped with minimal damage.
However we did get much needed rain. I think they said that there are still 200,000 without electricity.

Okay, the next thing I want to share with you is the attachment/bonding seminar I went to last week. It was presented by Lutheran Social Services. The facilitator was Dr. Karyn Purvis, and it was the best 8 hours I have ever spent. She was a great speaker, and just a wealth of information. If you ever have a chance to hear her speak I highly recommend it. If you can't see her, I recommend her book The Connected Child, and you can go here to get it. She is the director of Child Development at Texas Christian University. I learned more in that 8 hours than I think I ever learned in a semester class in college. I think her book would be helpful to any parent who might be having behavior/sensory issues regardless if they were adopted.

On the referral front. I am happy that we are finally into November, I really just want to get into 06' This may be the first month that I felt that referrals wouldn't go as far as they did. The referral thing is just so relative. This is the like the gas situation we have going on right now. Remember when gas started inching towards $2.00, and everyone was freaking about it?? Then it passed $2.00 and went to $3.00, so when gas went back down to about $2.30 we thought it was so cheap(ridiculous thinking on our part) Well when we had only 2 days of referrals last month, the 6 days this month was such a relief...even though 2 of those days were weekend days. Same sort of thinking, they have us thankful that they produced another measly batch. I am not complaining, as 6 is better than 2, but I think it is time for them to stop taking vacations, and get to work. I must say that I am pleased to see how young the babies were this round. I have really seen some beautiful pictures in this batch.

We are off to the East meets West conference this weekend. I would like to not go as it is being hosted by Great Wall, and I really have mean, negative feelings about this agency because of their involvment in this adoption. While I appreciate everyones personal opinion on this particular situation, I must tell you that I feel great pain for this family, and I feel like they their treatment was reprehensible. Everyone seems to be pointing fingers at this mother, and I ask that you to try as hard as you can to stand in her shoes, consider all of the circumstances, and then point the finger at the agency first. This is what they are suppose to specialize in, they have been doing China adoptions for a long time, and to claim that they have never had this happen or they don't know what to do is irresponsible. This could just as easily been you or me, and then I think everyone would change their mind on whether their treatment was fair. So having said that, we are still going to this seminar as I think it will be full of good information. There will be an orphange director there to speak to us...the part I am most interested in. But we have spent a lot of $$$$ to register(it was not cheap at all) so we will still go. But I will never tell someone that I think that they should use this agency. For all of us in line, I tell you to read this to arm yourself with the proper information so this doesn't happen to you.


Happy Mothers Day to all of you.

It makes me tired just reading it!

Well, well, well, well, well.

I know I have been horrible about not keeping up with my blogger obligations. But let me just tell you how busy my life has been for what seems like weeks at this point.

I did make it back from my nest watching duties. It really was a needed trip to help them out. The "official nest watcher" is now 24 1/2 weeks pregnant, and has at least 8-10 weeks left sitting on the nest. Yes, she is going crazy if you are wondering. While I was there I literally stepped into her mommy shoes and off to town we went. Jack and Katie were both willing participants, and Brian, well lets just say I think I saw a tear roll down Brian's face when he dropped me at the airport. We had a full schedule, including back and forth to school. **I will be signing up for the pre-school that comes to your car and takes and puts your child in and out of the car seat....that is a supreme benefit** We went to gymnastics, swimming lessons, dance class, baseball, open gym, grocery shopping, Easter bunny shopping, Easter bunny paw print making at midnight before Easter morning, wedding gift shopping, 24 meals made at super suppers, dog walking, closet cleanings, returning all the dishes to the rightful owners(yes, such great neighbors bringing meals several times a week-thank you so much!!) You name and I had it on my list. Including the full day at the hospital with her dad while he had hernia surgery. He is doing fine, and actually the day there was not so bad either. We had the best nurse ever...Jamie. Jamie if you are reading, just want you to know that you rock my world. You made the day go by so quickly, and I so enjoyed visiting with you all day!!
I really need to make one more trip back before Miss Meggie makes her appearance, but not sure if it will work into my schedule. We have the busiest 3-4 months ahead than we have ever had. We are traveling every single month, Big C will be home for what sounds like a quick Maymester, and then he will be off to work at a camp in the Hill Country. Then we have to prepare for our exchange students arrival. She is for sure coming. I have her registered with the district, and so it really is a done deal. A 17 year old living with us for 10 months. So a quick trip back to KC may just not be in the cards. I will be going back though when the baby is born to help out for 2 weeks. We just are not sure when that is going to be right now.

We just arrived back home from a weekend in Austin. We had dinner with Big C on Friday, and then we went to Earth day in Austin on Saturday. Then we were off to see a group of adopting families that had travelled from all over the country for this weekend. So we had a great time with all of them on Saturday night. Bar-b-Que, drinks, lots of laughter, and lots of fun. I was so excited to meet this group, and now reading their blogs takes on a new meaning...because I actually know you now!! We look forward to meeting up with a few more adopting families throughout the summer. While I would have told you a year ago that meeting friends on line is a bit strange and unusual. I now would tell you that I am not sure what I would have done this past year if I had to have walked this journey alone. So here's to the friendships I have made throughout this process. There are so many of you that I would love to meet in person.

Here is our group picture from Austin. Trust me, we had a really good time that night.

This is us prank calling Shelba, since she couldn't make it.

This is when the party got really going!! **sorry we had to protect the guilty from prosecution, so you will just have to wonder what everyone looks like***

Here is a band that we listened to at Earth Day in Austin, yes they are about 12 or 13, but let me tell you those little boys are going to be famous someday.These were the belly dancers we watched at Earth Day. They were amazing, and I wish I could move my body like them, and actually I wish my abs looked theirs.

Finally, here is my first secret pal gift that we received. I really have the best secret pal, but don't want to hurt anyone elses feelings. She is so thoughtful, has great taste and clearly has a sense of humor. If you remember when I posted Katie's picture when she had found the marker while she was suppose to be napping....and did the body work of art. Well my secret pal sent Katie some bath markers...how funny is that?? Thank you secret pal. I hope my secret pal has received her gift from me. She has not posted it yet, so I am worried that it hasn't arrived, and it should have.

So that is all for now. Have a very busy week ahead. I have quite a pile of embroidery that needs to get done. But that is a good thing!!
Wishing you a happy week ahead!

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Run down before I blow this popsicle stand

Have deleted my excitement over the the secret pal that I was assigned. I decided that I had said too much, and didn't want her to have a clue of who I am. So I wonder, wonder, wonder who she might be???

I am out of here again for 2 weeks. I am off to help the "the keeper of the nest" If you don't already know my best friend(for 20 years) is pregnant with her 3rd child and on full bed rest with a 3 & 5 year old. So I am going back to help keep them afloat. So won't be posting much if at all. I will be watching though. I will try and check in with you all in about a week or so if I have some down time.

I have been able to at least get my ETSY site up and running. So you can go here to see what I have. I have posted it all on here, but now you can officially buy it without emailing me. I have not gotten everything up yet, but will once I return. Taking good pictures of your products is the hard part. Thank you to my helper for getting my banner up and looking so pinkalicious. My web site is still under construction. But hopefully will be up and working soon. I really appreciate everyone thus far who has bought something from me!! I hope you are enjoying what you bought, because I really enjoyed making it for you.

Here is some really interesting news. I think we are going to host a Chinese Exchange Student starting in August for the school year. She is from the Chongqing Province, she will turn 17 right after she arrives. She will be a sophomore in HS, she came to the US last summer for just a month long exchange. She is in the top 5% of her class of 1000, and she looks darling. Not really sure what prompted this decision, but we are both are very excited, and as we were making the final decision today, we ran into a family at the grocery that is hosting a girl from Thailand who is approx the same age and has been here for most of the school year. Her English was beautiful, and she said it was the opportunity of a lifetime, and that she is having a great time. She said she was homesick the first month, and now she says.....not so much with a BIG grin on her face. She said she even got to go to the Caribbean. The mom said it had been a great experience, and that they would probably host again next year. So that is BIG news around our house. We think it will be a great opportunity for us to learn a lot about Chinese first hand. Hopefully she will be helpful in tutoring us in Chinese; especially helping us with our tones. She says she loves to cook, and hopes to be able to teach us to cook Chinese food. So I think she is going to be a great fit for our family.

So that is about it from Texas. When I return from this trip we are headed to meet a few other adopting families for a weekend in Austin. We are really excited to meet everyone, and I think it will be a lot of fun! So to all that will be there that weekend, we are looking forward to meeting you all. Have a safe trip to the Lone Star State, and don't drink too many margaritas before we get there!!!

So I will look forward to checking on you all. I am hoping to hear that The Singing Bird is on her way to pick the beautiful Emme Lu. So I will be watching your site, and please share the pictures if you do happen to eat any bugs.

Here's to referrals being just around the corner(we hope) and here is to getting into November folks....it is about time. 06' we are coming atcha!

Are you up to the challenge?

This was a letter written by someone at Love without Bounderies. It was posted on my agency board and found it to be profound. These are all things that I have been planning for, expecting, and trying to learn how to recognize, foster, and resolve. I think that it is truly very difficult for most people to understand what institutionalized life would be like. But I think that Amy spells it out beautifully. The lives that our future children are living are not lives that we would ever desire for them, and would never expose them to if they were home with us. But it is the cold hard reality of their lives, and we must make every effort to understand their lives before us, and to actually respect where they have come from. It really is a hard knock life for them.
If you are adopting, it is your responsibility to educate yourself as if you were preparing for any other life changing moment. We must take to heart that by making the choice to adopt, and to adopt internationally that we are actually the chosen, and we must take that responsibility very seriously, and have a strategy of how you will handle what is ahead. This adoption is not about bringing home your "china doll", staying at the White Swan for your Red Couch photo op, or your Barbie that is given to you when you arrive. This is not about ladybugs & red threads.

This is as serious as it gets. For a lot of us this may be the most serious issue we deal with in our entire lives. I feel like I have one chance to do this right, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure I am prepared for the challenge. If it ends up no a challenge at all....that will just be the icing on the cake.
I personally have done a ton of reading(and will continue for a long time) I am trying to go to as many seminars as I can to educate me and help me be the best"adoptive" parent that I can be.
You are welcome to take this letter and copy it off of my blog.

Below is a letter from Amy Eldridge, from Love Without Boundaries, addressing the recent adoption disruptions and parental preparedness. If you are reading this, think about posting it on your site - a waiting parent who reads your blog may benefit from it.*****I have been so saddened by this situation. I most definitely wish there was a way to educate ALL adoptive parents about the truths of institutional care, however I have come to realize in my daily work that there are just as many parents who are not online reading everything they can find on adoption as are.There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of parents out there who have no idea what life is like for a child in an orphanage, and who head overseas to pick up their "China doll" only to be handed a baby who is unresponsive, thin, unable to eat..and on and on and on. While adopting my son last month, I walked several times over to the White Swan to talk to parents, and over and over I spoke with moms and dads who had no clue whatsoever about the issues their kids were having. I heard so many times things like, "she won't eat solid foods" (oral aversion), "she has no muscle tone" (muscle atrophy from lying in a crib all day), "she won't smile" (pure grieving from being taken from her foster mom). I guess since I live China 24/7, I assume everyone adopting does, too, which is not the case.I talked to at least a dozen parents who didn't even know their child's orphanage name, and while I gently said "you might want to memorize that for your child's sake", at the same time I was trying to process how many parents get all the way to China without ever reading about post-institutional issues. It was sobering to me.Babies in the NSN (non special needs) as well as the SN (special needs) path can have issues with attachment, motor skills, emotional issues and more. I think all of us on the WCC (Waiting Children China) list acknowledge that, while also acknowledging that all children (whether bio or not) can have these same issues. Living in an orphanage of course increases the odds.I think the easy out is to say that agencies have to do more, as well as social workers, but I do think that most of them do try to give information to the parents but often parents don't want to hear it or else think it won't happen to them. Again, I am often surprised to talk to parents leaving soon and to realize they are not prepared. One family was adopting from our foster care program, and when I told them that the child was DEEPLY attached to the mom, the father said, "guess she might cry for an hour or so then?" An hour or so? She had been in foster care for over a year! I tried to explain that this little girl was about ready to lose everything she had ever known, and that they should not expect her to be sunny, happy, and full of personality after an hour. I told them to please remember the 72 hour rule.......that after 72 hours they would probably see her spark, but that she would probably grieve for a long time after that as well.I think for many adoptive parents, they just don't want to read the "bad stuff", and so I do think that ultimately it is the parents who are at fault for not doing more to educate themselves. There certainly are books galore out there about post-institutional issues. I equate this to when I was pregnant with my kids and I would read "What to Expect When Expecting", and I would get to the C-section part and always skip it. Each and every time I would jump to the next chapter as "that wasn't going to happen to me". Well, on my fifth baby, when they were rushing me in for an emergency C section, I sure was wishing I had read that section earlier! But at that point in the OR, while they were strapping my hands down to the table, it was too late, and so I felt complete panic when I could have been prepared. I think adoption from China is very similar to giving birth...it is much more rosy to only read the happy stories on APC, but I now encourage every family I meet to read the harder ones as well, because if you are the family who is handed a child that is limp and listless and who looks autistic, what you have learned in the past will help you make the right decision for your family during those very emotional first few days.I have been called many times in the last few years by parents in China worried about their children. I agree that having a support network to help you through the initial time is essential. Everyone should go to China with at least one phone number of someone they can call if they are panicked upon meeting their new child. I remember feeling so alone when I was handed my daughter and she was so tiny and limp. Because our foundation often helps with the kids who have been disrupted, I am aware that sometimes there are children who have much more serious issues than originally reported..and that is such a hard thing for a parent to get to China and then discover their child is truly autistic or has serious mental delays. I think everyone on both the China and international side would agree that it is absolutely wrong of an orphanage to not be honest in their reports, and no one would excuse that, but I also know without a doubt that the majority of kids who are disrupted are just suffering from institutional issues and would catch up quickly in a loving home. It is always a very sad day for the orphanage and everyone involved when a child that they know is absolutely fine, but perhaps thin and grieving, is returned by their new parents for being "delayed".I think far too many people believe their child's life is going to begin the moment they meet them. The truth is, and everyone must realize it..a child's life is going on RIGHT NOW in China, and all of their experiences are shaping who they are. The vast majority of aunties that I have met in China are such kind and caring people, but it absolutely is not the same as having a mom and dad at your beck and call. I have had new parents call and say "we didn't think living in an orphanage would affect her at all", and those statements truly puzzle me. How could they not contemplate life in an orphanage?Walk through Babies R Us and you will see every gadget known to man to make our children's lives here as ideal as possible. Now Americans have two way video monitors, so that when baby awakens not only can mommy see when to immediately rush in and comfort him, but she can talk to baby so that he doesn't even have one single second where he feels alone. How many new parents would have a newborn and then put that baby in a crib 22 hours a day on their own? How many would only feed their baby, even if they were really crying hard, every 8 hours? Or prop the bottle in her crib and then not watch to see if she ever really ate?Of course no one would do that..we feed newborns on demand, comfort on demand, love continuously..and whether people want to recognize it or not, that is NOT the life of an orphan in an institution. ...even when the aunties are as good as gold. I remember one night when I took some volunteers in for the night shift in an orphanage, when normally just a few aunties are working. One mom looked at me with tears in her eyes as she slowly realized that it was absolutely impossible with just two hands to feed every child, to comfort every child, to soothe every baby who was crying. She said her heart was aching to realize that her own daughter most likely had many, many times where she cried without someone to comfort her.....and she told me that for the first time she finally understood why her daughter had such a deep seated fear of being out of her mom's sight.The aunties are trying their absolute best, but that doesn't equal mother/child care. I remember being in an orphanage in the north this past winter and the aunties were so proud of how they had 6-8 layers of clothes and blankets on every baby to keep them warm. They were swaddled so tight that they couldn't move, but it was freezing in the orphanage and so the aunties wanted the babies to stay as warm as possible. What alternative did they have? It really was freezing there..I was cold in my wool coat, so the babies couldn't be up and about with just 1-2 layers on, with the ability to move their arms and legs. To stay warm they had to be immobile, and so of course all of those kids have weak muscle tone. But the aunties were truly trying their best, and when a parent is given one of those beautiful children on adoption day, I am sure they will go back to their room with concern and say "she can't sit up by herself..she can't put weight on her legs". That is absolutely the truth, but she also survived 10 degree weather in a very cold province and she will catch up soon enough with parents to encourage her.To not acknowledge that living in orphanage circumstances can cause lower body weights, low muscle tone, inability to make good eye contact is very sad to me. Can it be overcome? Most definitely! The one thing I have learned over and over again about the kids in China is that they are fighters and survivors. But for some reason, people seem to want to ignore these issues in public forums.Recently, one of our medical babies that we had met several times in person was adopted, and we all knew that this child was a "spitfire". When the family arrived and spent a few days with her, they decided she was too much of a handful for them and they wanted to disrupt. She absolutely was not what they expected. When they called their agency, they were told they had two choices: adopt the child, bring her to the US, and change their expectations of what they were hoping for, or adopt the child, bring her to the US and the agency would have a family waiting at the airport to adopt her locally. Option three of leaving the child in China was never once given. I admire that agency so much, as they were thinking of the child and the child alone. The family followed through with the adoption and handed the little girl to a new family upon her arrival in the US. As horrible and tragic and emotional as it was for everyone involved...I still feel this was the right decision for the agency to make. It was done in the absolute best interest of the child, who had waited a long, long time for a family. I wish more agencies would advocate for the rights of the child, instead of always seeming to give in to the parents, especially in those cases when they know with absolute certainty that nothing is permanently wrong with the child. Recently with another disruption, the agency I spoke with told me that it was "easier" to just get the family a new baby.Sometimes easier does not equal right. The first baby who was rejected has now been labelled "mentally challenged" even though the agency knew the child was really going to be okay.I think all of us, who do realize that delays occur and that babies can usually overcome them, should be these children's advocates by continually trying to educate new parents on what to expect in China. By helping them be better prepared, we just might help stop a disruption in the future. I love Chinese adoption with my whole heart, and it is my life's work..but I also want every family who goes to get their baby to go with their eyes open and to be as emotionally prepared as possible, for the child's sake.

Amy Eldridge,

Love Without Boundaries

Two of the loves of my life

Here is Jack and Katie, the little apples of my eye. There mom is my oldest dearest friend, more like a sister than a friend. She has blessed me with these two adorable little monkey's. I spent last week with them while they were on spring break. Their mom is having their 3rd child(little Meggie) and has been put on bedrest. As we can all imagine trying to run your entire household, and take care of a 3 & 5 year old from the comfort of your bed is pretty freaking challenging. So Aunt J came to help, and am headed back in just about 10 days. It was non-stop for 5 days, but worth every minute of it when you hear the giggles, the I love you's, and just the sparkle in their little eyes. We saw Disney on Ice(a must see...if you are under the age of 7) We had playdates with Jack's friends(not everyone has well behaved children) Slurpee runs, and a lot of camping out with Mommy to help keep her company.

There were some funny moments as well that might make them think twice about having Aunt J come back to help. The dog(Molly) ate an entire bowl of mashed potatos, and macaroni and cheese in one sitting, and then an entire stick of butter in another. I was given a pardon on this one, as they know I am only use to a dog that is about 20 inches high, and not one that can stand on her hind legs and help herself to whatever tasty treats Aunt J leaves out on the counter. I have now become the apple of Molly's eye, she can't wait for me to return. Then Miss Katie whom I refer to as the "perfect child" was put down for her nap(mind you without crying) and while I did check on her at one point during the 2 hours she was in her room(where she was found to be sound asleep) When I heard that she was awake, and went in to retrieve the cute little pickle, this is what I found!!

Yes, she had found a magic marker, and had gone hog crazy with it. Fortunately for me, and for her room she had spent most of her time working on her body art. It was everywhere, feet(top and bottom) hands, belly, diaper, obviously she looks like a coal miner with that face, and most of her shins were covered as well. She did make it to the dresser, the shutters, and a picture frame, but with luck, and a baby wipe that all came off.
We all had a good laugh, and "the perfect child" has been renamed "The Gremlin"
Yes, I was pardoned again, and told that this was really good practice for all the things my little gremlin would be getting into.

I hate that there is a medical reason that I am having to spend a great deal of time with them, but must say that I love seeing them, love spending time with them, and enjoy every minute with them. We will all look back, and laugh when it is all said and done and we bring home the new little one. So by July I will have 3 little apples.

Some more items I have available

For your friends with babies on
the way. I have one for the little
prince's on their way too. In blue.
$25 Black or White 100% cotton


The little ballerinas in your life
will love this t-shirt. I have it
in White, Mauve, Yellow
$18 100% cotton



These little mono alligator clips
have become my most popular
item. I have the above colors
available, and can do a single
intial. $10 for the set.

I'm Baaaaaaack

Celebrating the year of the dog, or for all of the golden
pigs being born this year. $22.50 each. Black or White



Large 3 inch Mono ponies.
$10 Single intial.

Large Poly Shopping bags, great
for the beach or for your grocery
shopping.
$12.50 with Monogram, or family
name.

Business is great, and thank you to everyone that has ordered. I hope you have received your items, and are enjoying them as much as I enjoyed making them for you. If you have any cute pictures of your little ones in their zodiac shirts, and are willing to let me post them, I would love to have them. I love doing these shirts, it really is one of my favorite items.


I have a few new things to add to the site, but this was all this post would take, so I will add some additional photos.

Happy St. Paddy's day

Happy St. Paddy's Day....tomorrow. I am getting ready to head out of town, and I knew I would not have time to update tomorrow. So hopefully you are getting out the green beer, the corned beef, and cabbage and are headed for a festive day of green, the Irish, and leprechauns.

Just wanted to make sure that you are aware that you can email me to order anything from Pink Polka Dotz. I am still working on a website, I have an ETSY store under construction, and so I will shamelessly have to hawk my goods here until I have both of those up and running. Bear with me until I all of this business stuff ironed out...it is not my forte-I am left handed for goodness sakes, I am a creative one, not a business one. I have a paypal account so it is very easy to order and pay. If you are wanting a different font, or want to choose different thread colors that is very easy to do as well. You just have to let me know.

I am off to KC again, my dear friend who is pregnant with her 3 rd child(sweet little Meggie) was just put on full bed rest, and has a 3 & 5 year old on spring break next week. So Aunt J is coming to rescue the troops and have a more peaceful week at home while mom is going crazy in bed. 2 weeks down 17 weeks to go. I then will go back in April as her father(who lives with her family) needs to have surgery, and that will be difficult when there really isn't anyone to even take him to the hospital. So I again will head off to play Florance Nightingale for 2 weeks in April. So I apologize as updates will be few and far between.

Thanks again to all of the nice people who have been so supportive of this new business. I have had a great response from blogger land thus far. It always is surprising when someone emails me to place an order, but it sure makes me giddy.

Cheers, and make sure you have something green tomorrow....I would hate to have to pinch ya!

In case anyone is wondering...we really are adopting

Hey, went to the mailbox today, and low and behold there was our BROWN ENVELOPE!!!
What a nice reminder that we really are adopting, and someone other than us actually knows this tiny tidbit of information. I have been wondering for 6 months what it looks like, and never expecting to actually get my hands on one.

I really did not expect to receive this.
It does feel good, because I actually do feel like someone else is aware that we are adopting, and it is not a figment of my imagination. WOW our dossier actually arrived!!! Yeah!

It was dated September 18, 2006 Two days before our LID.