Had a great Thanksgiving, just the two of us! Would have loved to be with family, but it just didn't work out. We managed to get our Christmas tree (a real one - gotta love that fresh piney smell) up and decorated and decorated the rest of the house. Will hopefully post pics later!
Am having a very nasty allergic reaction (I guess) at the incision site on my left arm. Itches and burns frightfully. Red, swollen and blistered. I go to the doctor tomorrow - wonder if I am allergic to the dissolvable stitches or if it was the steri strips. Don't know, but it sure isn't fun to be awakened in the middle of the night to a severe burning and itching that makes chicken pox seem like a very small irritant. I was a bad girl and went ahead and removed the wrap and the steri strips today. Isn't itching quite as badly. Just oozing from every blister. By the way, lest anyone think I am taking this lightly, I did call the ortho doctor on call and she simply told me to wash any remaining Betadine off and take some Benadryl. I told her I was worried about possible infection, but she wasn't, even kinda laughed at me, so... I'll see what my ortho doc says tomorrow.
On to other things - our ADOPTION HOME VISIT IS FRIDAY!!I'm kinda freaking out about that cleaning, cleaning clearing up clutter, etc. I will be glad to have that over with.
Other things of note - the population in our fish tank is declining, Smudge has had a positive attitude adjustment for which we are all (Nick and Little included) truly grateful, and we had a truly relaxed Thanksgiving weekend. TaTa for now!!
It's been a while since I've been on here! A lot has happened in a couple months. Dad was in a serious car accident in October and is still slowly recovering in a hospital in Denver. I flew out to be with Mom and Dad for a week right after the accident. To keep up with his progress, check out my sister Dixie's blog - she writes updates daily.
We are stiil working on adoption stuff. I have another educational worksheet to finish and send in, then our homestudy home visit can be scheduled. We are hoping our homestudy will be completed and sent to immigration before 2008 is over. We also have some online adoption education modules to complete.
I had outpatient surgery on my left wrist yesterday - DeQuervain's release. I've been having trouble with it since April, had cortisone shots, wore a splint forever, etc. but nothing worked, so hopefully the problem is corrected. It's in a half cast and wrap until December 1st, then probably another splint and therapy. It's slowing me down quite a bit, which is very frustrating. But as my husband tells me I had better be careful so I don't damage any good that's been done.
I have SO MUCH to do in the house before our home visit and now I have to rely on my hubby to do much of it. Bless his heart, he's gonna be lugging stuff all over for me, as well as putting up the Christmas tree (hopefully next weekend.)
I know I haven't posted much lately, but life has been busy! Yep, that's what they all say! We are moving forward with our adoption process, working on the homestudy and all its requirements! We have a meeting with our home study agency next Friday. I'm trying to get as much paperwork in process as I can. If only I had known I would be doing this at age 35, I might not have lived in so many different states. I have to obtain a criminal and child abuse clearance from every state I have lived in since I was 18. That's seven clearances! Many forms, many $$ and much headache. But I will persevere! Oh, we also need 9 letters of reference - 6 for the home study process(NJ requirements) and 3 for our adoption agency. And that's only the beginning... P.S. Mike only has 2 state clearances to obtain - lucky dog!
Smudge - all grown up. She's a year old now and just a little jealous of her new
brother and sister, but she is adjusting.
Am having difficulty with this thing. I posted some other pics of the wedding, but obviously, they didn't post. Not sure why and it's time for bed, so maybe another day!
Wow! it's been over a month since my last post. It's definitely been busy. I have been working many hours on Mother's Day frames. A BIG thank you to those of you who ordered.
We've been fingerprinted for our immigration / adoption approval, got photos for passports (finally) and received Mike's birth certificates. My little sister Lyndi got engaged and is getting married June 7th. June 7th - yikes! that is not too far away. I am also trying to work on the flowers and the reception decorations in my spare time! :) Smudge had surgery on Friday and is recuperating nicely. I believe we will have a much calmer kitty as a result. We also had company in the last month! That's a rare and welcome thing in these parts. We don't live close to any of our family so rarely see them, but Mike's mom and dad came for a few days following their spring church convention. It was great to have them here.
We are currently in a holding pattern in our adoption process. This is for financial reasons. Not the way I really want it to be, but Mike and I have discussed it and decided it would be for the best for a few months while we try to pay some things off and perhaps have an adoption fundraiser or two. While waiting there are still quite a few things we can do, like apply for passports, finish our pre-adoptive training, collect some of our paperwork, write our autobiographies for our homestudy, and work and save like crazy. I have been following the adoptions of several families and while I am very happy for them, I so want this to move faster. But God knows what He is doing and sees the big picture that I don't see. If you have any fundraising ideas, money-saving tips, etc. let me know!
I know I don't post daily, but it has been very busy around here. Mike has been sick with a nasty virus most of the week, which required me trying to fill in for him as well as do my job at work. We are also working on a new inventory control system and it is a hairpulling experience to say the least. When it is complete, it will be great, but until then...... ADOPTION UPDATE: We have turned in our contract and fee, our application for USCIS approval and fee, and have started our pre-adoptive training. We have been officially accepted into the Colombia program and received our Dossier instructions on Friday. It looks quite overwhelming at first, but as my mother always says, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." I think I have been trying to do too many things at once, running the risk of choking :) I have received all 5 copies of my birth certificates, requested our marriage certificates and am finally finishing up the request for Mike's birth certificates, now that I think I have all the correct info. That has taken a few chunks out of the elephant, but believe me, there's a lot left!!! This week, we should apply for passports, complete 2 or 3 more hours of training and fill out some more paperwork. I have also turned in my rough draft of our Letter of Intent to Adopt and am waiting to hear feedback from the agency. I have also talked to two different families who have adopted through La Vida and they can't say enough good things about the agency. That really made me happy with our choice!
We have been accepted with the new agency to adopt from Colombia, South America! We are both very excited about this and have to decided to request a sibling group of two or three as they often are the children that wait the longest. Colombia tries to keep siblings together as much as possible, and not many people wish to adopt more than one at a time. The scary part is that this could really reduce our waiting time, which means we have to come up with the financing a little quicker. We have stacks of paperwork to get started on, birth certificates and marriage certificates to order. I have already ordered 5 copies of my birth certificate and should have them in about a week to a week and a half. Mike's is a bit more complicated as he was born in Guatemala (also a lot more expensive) and could take up to 8 weeks to receive. We hope to get the first round of papers and money turned in this week. It's a big step, but we are trusting God to work it all out!
Thank you to all who left kind comments on my last post. I spent some time crying and praying about all this and then spent several hours online the other night checking out different agencies, countries and requirements, etc. I found an agency I think is for us and another country. I requested an info and application packet and received it today. The agency is in PA, not far from the other one. I also talked to someone at that office yesterday and she was very kind and very helpful. Sooo... we are going to fill out this application, send it in and see what happens. I must say I am even more excited about the prospect of adopting from this country than China, and so is my husband. The country requirements are not near as strict, so Mike being one handed should not be a problem. The lady I talked with at the agency said she was sure it wouldn't be, but she would double check with that country for our peace of mind. This adoption could possibly go even much quicker than China, provided we can come up with all the fees in time. I'm not sure whether to say which country or not until I find out if we'll be accepted or not. So hang in there with me and I will let you know!!
We have been officially rejected by China for adoption, because Mike is one handed. We are not even allowed to adopt a child with a similar physical problem. That hurt, also made me quite blue. It is one of China's newest requirements for prospective parents. Our agency really tried. They petitioned the CCAA for us several times but the answer was still NO. Now, it means starting the process all over with another agency and another country. We are looking at Bethany Christian Services as a possibility. Anybody know anything about them??
Just a little late posting I know, but we did have a good Christmas. We were able to see both of our families. Now that's pretty good for living so far away from everyone!! It's hard to believe January is almost over. Where does the time go?? We've started pursuing our adoption a little harder only to have possibly run into a wall. With China's newest rules, we may not be eligible for adoption. We are still waiting to hear from our agency who was contacting China's Center for Adoption Affairs. We will be disappointed if we can't adopt from China for that means we will have to find a new agency to adopt from another country as our current agency does only China adoptions. I don't mind trying another country but we both really like the agency we're working with. They have a wonderful staff of caring people.
I read so many stories in the news about parents who have killed their children and it makes me want to cry. I love kids and would love to have a couple and can't, while so many parents are "throwing their children away." Sin has created many monsters in this world, sad to say.
Not trying to get morbid here, so on another note I will try to post some pics of our Christmas and the time that has elapsed since my last post almost two months ago! Wow! has it really been that long since I posted??? It has been busy. Hopefully my pictures will be up before the weekend is over.
