Nesting has its PRIVILEGES!

It has begun.  This is crazy.  Where has this energy come from? I was a HORRIBLE Nester when I was pregnant (the short while that I was).  As of right now I could cry at the drop of a hat and stay up all night long.  So, let the progress begin!  Let's hope some accomplishments can be made with this adrenaline! I hope the smile on your face is as big as ours!  Hugs ~ ~

We've Called in the Troops!

Whoever said that you "Don't need friends" must have been a really lonely person or a person of super powers (I believe the former).  I can't imagine trying to do all that we have to do and leave in just 14 days.  Luke's 4th Birthday party is on the 9th so we have to prepare for that.  We will have a bouncy house in the back yard which means it's time for the annual 'once a year' you must really do the yard work well whether it is needed or not type mode.  Let's not forget that means washing the house (pressure wash), removing the dead plants (I do believe that things need to be TOTALLY DARN DEAD before removal...you just never know when vegetation wants to get a second wind).  Therefore the early summer planting of flowers must leave the grounds and become compost.  Still have to get Maran's room done.  The painter hasn't called me back so I have a small army of friends invading Saturday am for this daunting task.  Mind you none of us like painting and we are not that good at it but Luke's room turned out pretty darn good and we had a SUPER time.  Doing something you don't like is FUN though when it's for a precious little girl who will be brought home very soon.   David is almost done making the shelves that will go in her room. (I have asked for shelves all around the room at a high level so that all the American Girl dolls can be put on them)  I will also put on there my first teddy bear, my first doll (that I didn't behead for some reason...it was tough being such a tomboy) and some baby pictures of mommy and daddy.  Her bed is delivered tonight (we hope).  Her cooking kitchen (cute little wooden kitchen set up) will be assembled over the weekend.  David (HUBBY) will be out of town in Atlanta peddling for Cancer. (His sister --my sister-in-law is battling colon cancer right now).  So Peggy's Pedalers will be racking up the miles in Georgia while our home hopefully becomes transformed.  If only I had nothing to do next week then we would be fine but I have to get all things done at the office before my departure.  I am running on adrenaline and LOVE IT!  My voice is getting hoarse though so that's a little scary.  I am hardly ever sick but LOVE to pick up strep throat every so often.  Let's not go there.  Better get back to the "THINGS TO DO LIST".  I think I have it all listed and David adds a few more things to it.  Whheewww.... this is a wonderful feeling!!  I can't wait for our friends in Alabama to experience this!  Now..... off to have some fun.  May you be blessed!!

CA is RECEIVED!

Just when we were beginning to think that we had hit another snag (and believe me we have NOT HIT MANY with this adoption but we more than made up for it with Luke's for sure) we get the CA!  October 27th at 9 am.  THE COUNTDOWN TO MARAN begins!  After being on the phone with our friendly US AIR reps for about an hour we are attempting to nail down the details.  Thankfully we have many frequent-flyer points and even better is the fact that although I have not traveled A LOT this year I have traveled FAR so the points will help us.  Of course we are running into issues with the Fair going on at the same time.  The hotels are not DRAMATICALLY different in cost but will be more money.  At this point, I think cost is relative and I personally feel it is worth the cost to get her in our arms sooner than later.  Looks like we will miss Halloween with our little Snickerdoodle Luke but that is perfectly fine.  Nammy and Pop Pop will handle it in perfect order I am sure!  October has always been my favorite month of the year.  Luke's birthday is October 6.  I wanted to get married in October but that was when my dad was a professional golfer and his schedule just wouldn't allow for a wedding so we had to get married in August (earlier).  That's OK although both David and I do NOT like heat we had a blast at our wedding and it was indeed a true party thanks to my mom.  Maran's Gotcha Date will be in October (another reason to have a party as if we needed one to begin with) and my dad's Birthday is in October.  Add FALL to the mix and YOU GOT MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR, of course second only to the holidays.  I will spend this afternoon planning the trip and will post details later.  Looks like we will leave on October 13....a mere 15 days away!! SO MUCH TO DO SO LITTLE TIME... and to think you come to the "SO LITTLE TIME" part in the adoption process.   We still pray for all the others who are waiting on CA and all the other adoption acronyms. 

China Travel

No details yet.....keep checking back please!

Waiting on TA Details regarding CA appointment

We advised our US facilitator that we would indeed travel during the games despite the extra cost.  We have NOT heard back about our consulate appointment (CA).  We are told it will be Monday.... so more details then.  SOMEONE PINCH US... we are still in disbelief!!   Hugs to all.  Have a fun and safe weekend.   HOLD ON MARAN.... we are coming to get you!

WE GOT OUR TA -- My Water is FINALLY Breaking!

WE GOT OUR TA!!  I have waited for this day for what seems like forever but it has really been about 10 months.  I can't believe it is here.  We have been asked if we will go during the "Pan Asian Games".  I will call good ole' US AIR after I drop off Luke to see what kind of miracles they can hopefully work for us.  We should know a date later.  If we are willing to go during this time then we could be leaving around the 20th or so of October.  OH MY GOODNESS!!  The real issue is making sure we can do the airfare.  Boy am I glad I have traveled so much the past few weeks.  Those points will be put to GREAT USE if we can use them and if the availability of dates works. So let's HOPE for some availability on those flights. YIPPEEE!  More details on CONFIRMED dates later I promise!  (Oh wow... my stomach is starting to hurt.... guess I TRULY have to get the room done now.... so much for no more procrastination but I have heard that pregnant women should not paint because of the fumes... haven't you heard that too?  JUST KIDDING!).

I AM LUKE AND MARAN'S MOTHER!

OK so just when you think you have heard it all you get taken aback.  First and foremost I usually am not a trouble maker and if given the chance I take the non-confrontational route (unless it is with my boss and that's a whole different issue and another blog...we just know each other too well).  I have always been super positive and I try to see the best in everything even if it is collard greens.  (I am from the south but don't do greens because they smell and like raisins they do weird things in your mouth).  However,  here goes.............  "DON'T TELL ME I AM NOT A MOTHER".  Also if you say one more thing to me about 'buying a baby' I may just come unglued on you and believe me that is not a pretty sight.  Passive Aggressive... oh yes... when you tell me I am not a mother.  No I did not give birth to our children.  There is NO WAY that we could love Luke and Maran any more than what we do.  Each and every day our love grows and it is INCREDIBLE to me.  I have the "PROTECTIVE" tendencies that many mother's have and I hurt when he hurts.  I hurt when I see others being mean to him and I can cry when I talk about him.  If there is a problem with him being a 'gift' then I am sorry.  Should I call him a "parcel" instead?  Should I call Maran a "parcelette".  I understand if people see adoption as "UNCONVENTIONAL".  In a way it is because we have been taught that a man and a woman marry and they have children.  Pretty much end of story right?  Well, not all story books are the same.  I feel sorry for those who feel that it is OK for children and young adults to grow up without a family.  I feel even sorrier for those who think that people adopt to "SAVE A CHILD".  I am not saving a child.  I am selfish.  I want a family and this is how my family will become. Conventional or not it is our route and we would take it again ANY DAY of the week.  We have the most perfect family picture of all.  Mom is chubby, Dad is going bald (which I think is totally sexy) Luke is the cutest thing ever and Maran will just up that "CUTE" factor a few notches.  We have not "saved" anyone.  Our children have saved us.  They have come into our lives when we needed it.  Just when we were taking life too seriously Luke was placed in our arms.  Three years later and countless laughs, smiles and hugs we could not be in a better place.  He knows only us.  He doesn't recall his foster home days and he clearly does not remember his birth mother.  I am grateful for his birth mother and think of her often.  I thank her for caring for herself while she was carrying him and thank her for allowing us the opportunity to be his family.  We will never see her.  We have a picture of her but she does not know where he is. The picture is in our safe deposit box. She only knows that he is in America somewhere and has a house that has a big back yard.  That was pretty much all she was told.  If Luke ever wants to see the picture he can. (He clearly looks like his birth father although it is uncanny that he has my nose).  Luke and Maran have some resemblances... the dimples and pretty skin color.  My mother would LOVE to be here to put her fingers in Luke's dimples and Maran's too.  I tried to make dimples for my mom when I was little.  She always loved everyone else's dimples and I have none.  I taped peas to the sides of my face in hopes to make dimples for her.  It clearly only did some exfoliation work for me.  Oh well.  So this MOM is now going to get her son and take him to swim lessons and field play.  I will also give him hugs and kisses and ask about his day.  We will eat a snack and we will wait for Daddy to come  home.  We will play and we will talk.  We will read and we will snuggle.  We will talk about Luke's birthday and we will talk about our guesstimate of the time frame before we go to get his little sister Maran.  Tonight we will pray for our entire family and for Maran and her now orphanage family.  When he goes to bed I will continue to go through the PRE-K paperwork and figure out what our options are for him for the next school year.  I will attempt to learn some Chinese words (this I have NOT been a success with) but I will continue to try.  So, if I am not a Mom I am not sure what I am. 

We Got Our Shots!

OK, went this morning to the Dr... a doctor who specializes in travel shots and stuff.  They gave me a TYPHOID shot and a FLU shot.  MIND  YOU I HAVE NEVER HAD A FLU SHOT.   I religiously had my mom get one while she was alive but I have never been too keen on them. I don't do needles very well and I am not sure why after all that I have had in me the past 5 years.  Infertility should have taken me away from my needle phobia but it enhanced it.  You haven't lived till you have had a progesterone shot in the tush.  Add to that a husband who HATES BLOOD and needles more than I do and you have a great combination.  I am one of those who will take my chances regarding the flu and have been very lucky to have not had it in years.  I usually end up with Strep Throat.  So now that my arm is hurting and the lady harpooned me with the injections I am feeling good.... yes a joke.  Truly I don't feel bad.  I feel bad because of my 27  hours of flight time and being up again for another 37 hours straight.  In the past ten days I have flown a total of 57 hours and a total of  about 37,000 miles.  My tail bone hurts the most.  It is good to be home.  It is comforting to smell my house again and to hold Luke in my arms.  Maran's room has been cleaned out so that it can be painted.  There is an echo in that room now which is weird.  (Maran's room was my parents old master bedroom... see we live in the house I grew up in....more on that later).  Luke has my old childhood bedroom which is pretty neat.  So now that our immunizations are done we still have to do one thing.... WAIT for TA!

SO CLOSE --yet so far away!

OK to think that I am SO CLOSE to Maran right now is scary.  During my long flight I thought about hopping over to the orphanage and just picking her up along with her BFF Alice who will live in Alabama when her forever family gets her.  Believe me..... I pondered this thought VERY HARD.  After all when you are on a flight for so long and delayed in an airport for 6 hours many things run through your mind.  Since I have dropped a few pounds I figure I can run faster but with two little girls in tow I am not sure.  Guess I will remain patient and wave as I fly near and just say  "I will be back in hopefully a few weeks for you".  We've played it by the book so far so why get silly stupid now?  I am sure the Chinese jail serves Pigs Feet... something I don't like looking at when they are alive let alone dead. 

Article 5 Picked up from the Consulate/ "There's no place like home"

After a 9 1/2 hour flight from Italy it was nice to land in the GOOD OLE' USA with some great news.  I am a little too old to be 'awake for 24 plus hours' any more but that is what life brings to me every few months.  I love to travel.  I don't like leaving home but I am so blessed with my work set up.  For many years (before my mother's illness and before Snickerdoodle Luke of course) I worked MANY hours a week.  David traveled as well so I helped to build a small company into what is now a pretty big one.  It was a super journey.  All those 90 plus hour weeks are now paying off as I pretty much set my own schedule.  I am surrounded by incredible employees who can really hold the fort down which helps.  I can work from home, I can go into the office for a while or I can spend the day or afternoon with Luke.  I also work with a man who absolutely loves Luke.  Luke lovingly refers to him as "Buddy".  Whatever is presented I have the flexibility to do what I want.   Not a bad trade off for all the tireless energy I gave for so many years.  Don't get me wrong.... I still work hard and I do work from home some late nights and some early mornings but it works.  I still get to travel but the best part is coming home and my travel schedule has been abbreviated SIGNIFICANTLY since Luke's arrival as it should be!  Every time I land back in the US I have tears in my eyes.  I listen to Michael Buble's "Home" and Kenny Loggins "Celebrate me Home".  As well we have to give credit to Carolina's own James Taylor and "Carolina in my Mind".  My world presents the words "THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME" often.

All that said, our Article 5 was picked up from the consulate and couriered to CCAA.  We now wait for our TA.  Goodness.... my water REALLY IS GOING to break!  I have to get home and get her room done!  I have procrastinated enough...however, that is how I work best.  Put the fire under me and I go.  Here's to more waiting but it will come.  We continue to pray for our friends waiting for their I-800 approval (Yes Jen that's you) and everyone else who has been waiting for any of the LOVELY ACRONYMS to pop up in their life that comes along with China Adoptions.  Patience is golden but not easy.  We will all get there. 

Hugs to all and hugs to our children waiting to come home. 

We Got our Visa's!

We received our Visa's today ---- thankfully it only took 4 days to get them turned around.  SO NOW.... we still hurry up and wait.   In hopes of holding our daughter soon we remain optimistic about the timeliness of the rest of the process!!!  Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Thoughts for a Friend

Who has had another delay in their paperwork process.  If anyone ever said "ADOPTION IS EASY" then I want to meet them.  Not looking for something easy but I am hoping for some "GOOD VIBRATIONS" to go to our friends in Alabama so we can get our little girls who are BFF's in the orphanage home soon.