Off to the East Coast

Vacation! It's such a nice word, especially after a really crappy month. I'll hope that while I am gone, everyone who is expecting a referral will get one. Wouldn't that be nice. And hopefully the rest of us 'waiters' can see some progress as well.

Adios.

I should delete the last entry

Sometimes no news is good news and ignorance is bliss. I got a call from Andrea and she wanted to give me an update on g-ma's prints. I knew it wasn't good when she started out saying I know you of all people don't want to hear this but. What kind of into is that? Apparently the one person at the DOJ that handles the prints has been out of town for 2 weeks (how nice, a vacation) so Andrea received a call that everyone who submitted prints has been delayed 8-10 weeks!!!! What the? Two and a half months before I possibly hear any update. I am so deflated right now. Fortunately Andrea has talked to the lady at the DOJ a lot and the woman even knows my case as soon as Andrea calls (I guess at a time like this, that is a good thing), so the DOJ lady returns on Monday and Andrea said she will call her by Wednesday or Thursday and see if she can set a priority (please God, I hope so) and then we'll see. I told Andrea I am going to be out of town the first two weeks in October so I will call her when I return, I don't want to hear anything until then. Hopefully her response will be that they have mailed everything off and I will be awaiting a fingerprinting appointment to complete my coveted I-171H. I know I am feeling disappointed because all I want to do is sleep. (I get very avoidant when things are stressful.) That and I have been constant caregiver to my mom while she slowly recovers from the flu from HELL. Part of me thinks at least I will know what it's like to have a sick child in the house. I wake up everything she has her coughing fits and/or vomiting issues and then I spend all day running the home preschool. I will be so very thankful when October gets here. Come on vacation!!! (We are taking an East Coast cruise up to Canada, that should be nice.) This vacation marks a huge milestone in 'The Wait' I will be glad when it begins and even gladder (if that's even a word) when it's over. I just want to proceed and have a face to go with the name. Dear universe, I would really like my referral now, please. I would even settle for a fingerprinting appointment.

Good News?!?!?

Who knew it was possible, I actually received some decent news from the agency. Andrea, the coordinator hasn't received anything in hand yet, but according to the automated system, g-ma's fingerprints have been reviewed. Hopefully that means they have been rejected a customary second time and that a background check has been completed. This is the final piece missing to complete my homestudy. My SW called to review my information and to make sure nothing has changed, she then said she wanted to make the age range from birth-24 months. I was a little put off by this because I really want a baby not a 22 month old referral. I think it sounds a little selfish, but I want the first teeth and first steps and ba ba ba's and da da ma ma's. She said she would change it from 24 months to 12 months. I just know me and I don't think I could turn down a referral and think that I would be the sole person responsible for not giving a child a home because I wanted a baby. Oh, well, it's not that big of a deal, I'm just fixating over it for nothing. Andrea also said that she is sending out some info to get me started on the dossier. She sent out info for me to complete that does not expire. So far she is hearing that the CIS is taking about 2 weeks to process homestudies and give fingerprinting appointments, and even with my g-ma's prints needing to be done twice I could have my I-171H in 2 months from submission of my homestudy. That would be really nice. Maybe I will have a referral by the first of December instead of the last of December. We'll see. It was just nice to hear some good news on the adoption front.

Good News and Cute Baby Items

My mom is finally feeling a little better. It turns out she has some evil flu that landed in her intestines. Hence the extreme stomach pain. She is still walking somewhat doubled over and needs help to just get out of the recliner. She has been sleeping in the recliner for the past few days because her bed is too high for her to get into. Hopefully by the middle of next week she will be feeling more like herself.

Since I have been at home the last couple days I have been surfing the net and found some really cute baby stuff. The first (and my favorite) being carseat covers. They are kinda expensive, but can be personalized to whatever colors you want. I love the paris one, but with the white in place of the pink. I talked to the designer and she said she can make any color combo you want. They even have infant seat covers. Too Cute!!! Her website is http://www.emilyjuliette.com/























I also found the cutest pacifiers. I am usually not one that goes the pacifier route, but some of the children I have seen in referral pictures have pacifiers, and if my baby is used to using one then I want them to have that familiar item as well. I found some really cute personalized pacifiers at www.itsmybinky.com They are $5 a piece, but sooo cute.

Hospital Visits

What a day! I awoke to my mother saying she could no longer deal with the pain and she thought she needed me to take her to the hospital. Let me tell you, when you hear this out of a dead sleep your heart is beating out of your chest. This is also coming from the woman that takes Tylenol 3 times a year or less and hasn't been to the hospital in about 35 years. I tried to rub her back and after just a few moments I brushed my teeth and we were on our way. I feel so bad, because I am so money focused with this adoption that I did not want to call 9-1-1 and have them charge some crazy amount per mile. (We live way too far from the hospital for that.) I also realized I kinda like driving 60+ miles an hour down every two-land road in town with an excuse ('my mom needs to go to the hospital'). This overall was not such a great idea because the roads are so bumpy and uneven that the whole way to the hospital she was moaning and groaning. I felt TERRIBLE. We spent a good 7 hours in the ER to find out that, after the second CT scan, there was nothing showing up. The doctor gave her a prescription for pain pills and sent us on our way. "Come back tomorrow if your not feeling better and we'll run some more tests." That was the end of the doctors advice. It was nice to know there were not operating, but still a little concerning that the pain medication helps her to be able to walk, but she is still not feeling well at all. The doctor thinks it may be some kind of virus or infection in her stomach (and no, she hasn't had any of that tainted E-Coli spinach). She has an appointment tomorrow with a doctor friend of ours, so we will see what 'magic' he can preform to help her feel better. I ask for your prayers and hopefully all of us will have a good/better weekend.

Remembering

I felt unable to write on September 11th. Just saying the date makes me weepy. There are no words to describe how so many people and families were affected by the events that unfolded on that day. I think I am truly sppechless. I remember where I was and exactly how every hour of the day unfolded until about 3 p.m. I will never forget! I will/have been saying prayers for all the families affected.

I am going to New York in just a few weeks and I will be taking another 300 pictures of so (how I do love photography) of the skyline and sites. I do regret that I never physically saw the twin towers in person. I only went to NY for my first time a year and a month after the towers fell. Again, I am speechless. It really is a bad time for an update.