Post Placement Review

So we had our post placement review last night.  I actually had to pick another company to do my review than the company that did my original home study.  Originally I used Nathanson's, but I couldn’t use them for the follow up. Mostly because I think the owner, Helene Nathanson, is a complete B. She is rude, condescending, demeaning and power hungry. Not to mention, she totally upped her prices for China once she found out that everyone would have to have yearly renewals.  So there Helene. You’re a B and I’m not giving you a dime more of my money. Kiss my a$$.   My actual social worker was a doll, so I was sad not to see her again, but I just couldn’t give any more business to that hateful owner. It stuns me what line of work some people go into. Like, how on earth did she pick putting together families when she is to mean to be allowed to live?  Life is full of surprises!

 

Anyways, my NEW social worker came last night. She was very young, but she was super nice. We cleaned the house like maniacs this last weekend to get ready for this follow up. I was also a little nervous about T, because he wasn’t on any of the original paperwork. But everything was fine. It took all of 40 mins and she barely looked at the house. (all that cleaning for naught!)  I should get the report next week and then off it goes to my agency (which for the record ALSO sucks, but I’ll do a rant about them later)   I’m glad it’s over. We’ll do one more visit in Dec for the 1 year mark, and then we are done!! YAY!!   We are also trying to find an adoption lawyer so that T can adopt Emily once we get married.  Our SW is supposed to get some names to us in the next few days. We have time, of course, since we aren’t getting married for a few months, but I’d like to know what paperwork we need to get in order.  According to the SW, it should be pretty easy, just one form. HA HA HA, one form?!? I could do that in my sleep!! LOL 

 

 

 

 

It's About Time

Check this out on CNN.  It’s about time companies started offering more adoption benefits!! I hope this idea is catching, it’d be great if all companies did this, wouldn’t it?!?

 

 

 

Friday Happy Dance!!

It’s time to do the Friday Happy Dance!! WOOOO HOOO!!!  I’m soooo glad today is Friday. We have no plans for this weekend, and that rocks.  We might actually make it to the pool for the first time this year and I can’t wait.  I’m pasty white. I don’t want to burn, but a little color might be nice. This reminds me to get some sunscreen.  Anyways, I’m looking forward to relaxing a wee bit and getting some play with Emily time in.

 

In other news, I’m trying to find a cow to buy. Not a milk cow, or like a cow to raise, but an already grown cow that’s been butchered, and preferably frozen.  I saw Jon & Kate + 8 episode where they went out to a farm and bought like ½ a cow. I thought that was pretty cool. And then yesterday on GMA they did a whole bit on how it was actually cheaper to buy it like that from a local farmer and then freeze it for a year (or 6 months or whatever).  Also, you can get a cow that hasn’t been fed hormones or anything, and I sort of thought that might be wise. I understand that the FDA says feeding hormones and whatnot to animals is fine for us to ingest. But, personally, I have my reservations.  It just seems like it wouldn’t be the best thing to do.  So now, I’m on a mission to find a local cow to eat.   Any suggestions on how to find a cow would be welcome!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Review

So I went through a bunch of photos tonight. (I got both the computer and the camera to co-operate tonight. WOOHOO!)   

It totally amazes me to see Emily over the course of time. How much she has grown and changed in just the short time she's been in our lives.  I notice, but don't, ya know? And then I go through the pictures and I'm floored. Really. She is so incredible.  

I have my post placement check up next week. We're supposed to pick 4 or 5 pictures to send in with the report. HA HA HA, how on earth am I supposed to pick just 5??!?  I could pick 500 easily! 

The Day We Met

She was sooo tiny and so BALD.  And she had this horrible rash on her face. But she was still really super cute and unbelievably, ours. 

January Pics

February Pics

March Pics

                                                    I love her cheesy grin!! 

April Pics

May Photos

                                       Playing with Madeleine.
                                                  YAY for the Swing! 

Emily is NOT a fan of Daddy holding her cousin Cody Ryan.  She's giving him the evil eye right now. 
 "No Daddy! Pick ME up!!"  

Em Checks out Aunt Erin's Groovy Laptop

                                             What's this?!?
       How does it taste??? 

The Weekend Recap...and the truth about the pictures

OK …well I did TRY to post some pics up last Thursday. I really did. But for some reason my camera didn’t want to work with the computer. I kept trying to upload the pictures but they wouldn’t go. They said they were going, but they weren’t. I don’t know if it’s my camera, or if it’s my computer. *sigh* Either one not functioning is not really a fun thought.  But I didn’t have time to play with it this weekend so I don’t know what the real damage is yet. I do know I could TAKE more pictures on that camera, so…it’s looking like the computer isn’t working right??? YIKES.

 

We spent the weekend at my sister’s celebrating Father’s Day.  It was really nice. My parents came as well, so we had a lot of fun. My parents love having all their grandbabies in the same place at the same time. It is babies galore. Big Boy Colin, almost 3, Emily, 15 months, and chubster Cody Ryan, 7 months.  Baby heaven!!  

 

First Mom, Erin & I headed out to David's Bridal to find my sister a bride’s maid dress for my wedding. We found a great dress in “truffle” which is really chocolate brown. She looks really good in it.  I also got an adorable dress for Emily, ivory with a matching truffle sash that has a big giant bow in the back. It is sooo precious!!

We also got a veil and headpiece for me and some other stuff which I can’t tell you about on the off chance that Tony would pick today to read my blog. But trust me, I look FABULOUS and it really makes my simple dress shine!  I kept looking at myself in the mirrors. I guess all brides do that.  I even started to cry, which was surprising. But it was just, everything. I looked like a bride all of a sudden. It was a quick cry, not like a heaving turmoil at the dress shop, so at least I didn’t cause a scene or anything!!    We had a really good time together. Mom loved helping us out, but I think she loved people watching all the other brides even more.  You can see some really…ahhh…interesting…bridal choices at a big shop like that!

 

Then when we got back to the house we played with the kids and had a big cookout. We got the guys nice Father’s Days cards and yummy coconut cake for T and peanut butter pie for Erin’s husband.  Delicious.   

 

Emily is really truly walking now. She can’t walk far, but she can do it. We had big fun having her walk to each of us. She thought it was fun too! She really gets a kick out of her uncle Kevin. She just laughs and laughs with him. It’s so sweet. And she was really fascinated with her cousins. She likes Cody Ryan, as long as me or Tony aren’t holding him.  If he is down on the floor or in a walker she likes to hang out with him. But as soon as we pick him up or try to love on him, she has a fit. Crying, crawling over to shove him out of the way. It’s funny, but I also feel a bit bad for her. She doesn’t know that she’s irreplaceable to us!   

 

Tony had a really nice 1^st Father’s Day.  He really loves being Em’s Daddy. He does a good job too! I’m really really glad he is in my life and Emily’s.

 

 

 

 

6 Months

Right about now, 6 months ago I was getting on an elevator to go up to the 14^th floor of the government building in Chongqing.  I was already almost crying, just thinking about her.  And then we got off the elevator and turned the corner and there she was. My beautiful little girl, bundled up like she was exploring the Antartic, in walker on the floor. Amid workout equipment I might point out!  I got down on my knees and said Hi Emily. I’m your Momma. And she reached right up and touched my cheek. Just like in a movie. That’s about when I lost it. Tony scooped her up out of there and gave her a big hug and told her how much we loved her. It was the best moment of my entire life.   I hope Emily loves hearing this story as much as I love to tell it. 

 

 

 Pictures tonight, I promise.

 

 

 

Six Months

6 months ago today I was in Beijing China. I was a nervous wreck because TOMORROW I would finally FINALLY meet my Emily. I even took sleeping pills to make me sleep that night. (they only worked until about 4 am, after that I was wide awake!)  I remember just being beside myself that we were actually going to meet her and get to take her home with us. I spent the whole night worrying that she would freak out when she saw us or be sick or just hate us. I worried for her not knowing that while it was my last night without her, it was also her last night in her orphanage, and she didn’t even know it.  I worried myself sick. I was so excited and nervous I thought I was going to puke, but then I didn’t want to waste any time being sick either! It was quite the conundrum, let me tell you!

 

It’s hard to believe it’s been six months. She is absolutely the center of my life and a complete delight.  In some ways it has sped by. These last 6 months certainly went by much faster than the 6 months I was waiting before then!  It is really remarkable, how 6 months together have really united us all and made us a family. A real live family. Tomorrow (or maybe later tonight) I’ll have some pics up. You can see how big my little munchkin is getting. These 6 months have been good to her!! And they have been awesome for me!

 

 

 

 

An Update from the Emily Household

1. I got a job! YAY! And it’s for the same company I work for now, just doing something else. It’s good.
2. Emily is in a biting phase. She bit her cousin (another Emily) in New England a few weeks ago, which was horrifying. And of course, she has bit me and T.  And then this week, she started biting kids at day care.  As her teacher said, “she bit that girls arm like it was a piece of fried chicken”!!  *sigh*    I’m not real happy about it, but a kid finally bit her back yesterday. In a way, it is good, because maybe now she realizes how much it hurts when she chomps down on someone.  I know it’s a thing most kids do, but it’s hard to know that my kid is inflicting pain on other kids.  It’s also a little bit funny because Emily is by far, the smallest kid in her class. But she is definitely the bully.  She knows what she wants and she makes sure she gets it. And if that means a few shoves, and a bite here and there, so be it.  The problem is that she doesn’t do that when it’s just us at home. So I don’t get any chances to discipline her. (and I mean, what can you do with a 15 month old other than say no and remove her from the situation?)  But the day care folks seem to be on top of it, so I’m dealing.
3. Still planning the wedding. Still stressful
4. Emily claps along with songs on the radio. It’s pretty funny. The bigger the beat, the more she seems to like it. We grooved to SuperFreak this morning. HA!
5. I’m thinking of going password protected. Someplace like wordpress or typepad. Any one who uses those have any pros or cons they want to share with me?