Thank you Secret Pal

It's time to thank my secret pal once again. Yay - I'm so glad I signed up for this exchange. It's been a lot of fun.

This month I received a nice cozy baby blanket - it's so, so soft. Our baby stuff has been pretty pink lately around here with Samara being the youngest and so I love it that this blanket is blue - it's so boy! I also got a sippy cup in the package which is great. Since this will be our fourth child, he will get a lot of hand-me-downs - especially things like blankets and sippy cups. It's fun to receive some new things so that not everything will be used. I have a feeling he'll appreciate a sippy cup without chew marks on the lid! :)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH SECRET PAL!

Falling Apart

I turned 34 on Saturday and now that I've officially entered my mid 30's, look what happened:



I know you're wondering how it happened and I can't really answer that. I just woke up one morning and it started to hurt. It got progressively worse until after about a week it was so painful, I could barely use the hand. I went in to see the doctor who twisted and turned my hand every which way and nothing hurt until she moved my thumb away from the hand. Aha! That's where the pain was coming from – the bottom of my thumb. So she said it must be a repetitive strain injury of the abductor tendon in my thumb. She was trying to figure out something I do to repetitively use that tendon and the only thing she could come up with is picking up Samara all the time. So that's what we're going with. We're blaming it on Samara. She gets blamed for the majority of things around here and 99.9% of the time it really is her. :) So we'll just add this one to the list too. When I came out of the doctor's office and was telling Mike about it, Samara came up to me with her arms extended saying "up". Seriously, how can I resist the cuteness? I just have to now use my forearm instead of my hand to pick her up on the left side.

Oh, and just to make sure that it's just a repetitive strain injury and not something going on with the bone in there, I had an x-ray done yesterday. The reason I mention this is because it's a cool story. I went in to the x-ray department at 8:30 am to make sure I would be the first one there and wouldn't have to wait very long. Sure enough I was the first and only one there and so I got called in right away. The x-ray technician happened to notice my jade necklace that I wear all the time and commented on it asking if I had gotten it in Beijing. When I said yes, she told me that she had also been to Beijing. I went out on a limb and asked her if she happened to be there for adoption and she said yes. So the more we talked about it, we came to discover that we were in China at the exact same time last year adopting our daughters. We were even in the same province and better yet, stayed in the exact same city! She received her daughter on January 31 and we got Samara on February 1 (different orphanages). Her and her husband also have biological children. How coincidental is that??? I actually ended up being in the x-ray room for almost an hour because we were talking and talking and talking. Isn’t that cool?

(By the way, this is nothing compared to Mike's injury. He tore the medial collateral ligament in his knee last week. He's been on crutches and the whole works so hopefully that gets better soon too!)

Clean Teeth

After our kite flying on Sunday afternoon, we all went inside for a cold drink and bathroom break. I guess Samara lingered a little longer than the rest of us in the bathroom, because when she came out, she was chewing on this:



It's Grandma's toothbrush!!!

Oh man. I know it's really disgusting but I can't stop laughing about it. She was so proud of herself and looked right at my mom and said "teeth"! In other words: Look Grandma - my teeth are all clean!

Kite Flying

This past Easter the kids got new kites from Grandma and Grandpa C. So since then, we've been waiting for the perfect day to fly them. Today was the day (maybe not perfect but good enough). The wind wasn't super strong but strong enough to get those kites up there with a bit of effort. Let's just say we all had our exercise running around at Grandma Z's house.

Here's Austin flying his kite. His little legs were going as fast as they could and he was so excited when it got wind underneath and flew high in the air.

See how red his cheeks are from all that hard running?

Victoria felt quite frustrated at the beginning but once she got the hang of it, she also had her kite flying really high.

Aren't they beautiful (and large) kites?

Samara also joined in the fun running up and down the field with her legs just going as fast as they could. At one point she even got her little kite flying up in the air behind her. Unfortunately I didn't catch it on camera so here she is running with her kite dragging behind her on the grass. She had a ton of fun and loved seeing the kites high up in the air.



Thanks for the great kites Grandma and Grandpa!

Violin

Last summer Victoria decided she wanted to play violin. This came as a bit of a shock to us as we had just assumed she would play piano (since we own one and where to practice wouldn't be an issue). But when the idea of violin came up, we had to give it some thought. Since it was totally her idea and she seemed quite eager, we thought we better at least let her try it out rather than discourage the idea. So after doing a bit of research and talking to a violin teacher, we set it up and in September she began her lessons. It's been very convenient as she can have the lessons right at her school and we are even able to rent a violin from her teacher (as opposed to spending the money on purchasing one - just in case she change her mind).

If you know anything about the violin, you'll know that it's quite a challenging instrument to learn. It takes weeks just to master how to hold it correctly and so you don't actually get to play on it for quite a while. But Victoria was pretty determined and stuck with it. Once she had the holding down pat, she was so excited to begin playing and has learned songs such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, Old MacDonald had a Farm, etc. It's been a lot of fun and she's really enjoyed learning it. Finding time and energy to practice hasn't always been easy but she's done really well.

Last night Victoria had her very first violin recital. When her teacher first started mentioning the recital, Victoria was not keen at all on the idea. We talked about it quite a bit over the last few weeks and practiced the song she would play. We told her that she could stay on the floor by the piano to play instead of going up onto the raised platform. She often told us that she wasn't going to play. Her teacher was okay with that but really wanted Victoria to at least come to the recital to see what it was all about so that perhaps next year she'd be comfortable enough to play. Once in a while she would show some excitement about the upcoming recital but we really didn't think she would play.

Well, she surprised us last night. Her name was on the program and when it was her turn, she strolled right up the stairs to the raised platform, did her opening bow, played her song, did her closing bow and sat back down. She then looked right over at us and smiled from ear to ear. Needless to say, we were beaming too!

Way to go Victoria! Mommy and Daddy are really proud of you!

Sleeping Beauties . . . and the handsome prince

A few years ago when Victoria found out that we check on her at night before we go to bed, she was really bothered by this. We would tell her that we'd cover her up and sometimes she would talk a little bit to us and she couldn't stand it that she didn't remember this in the morning. Well now she finds it kind of funny. She always asks questions about what she did the night before when we checked on her and if she said anything and now she asks what she looks like when she's sleeping. So I told her I would take a picture of her sleeping. I couldn't resist taking a picture of Samara and Austin too. They look so peaceful (and innocent) when they're sleeping.

Here they are:

Piano

Hey Miss Catherine? Would you be able to come to Dundas every week to teach me how to play this thing? I promise I'll comb my hair and wipe my breakfast crumbs off the bench! Please?

My mommy says I have to be more gentle when I play my music but I think it sounds great. I really am a natural - even first thing in the morning.

Playing at the park on field day

Field Day

Victoria had field day yesterday at school and did really well. We usually don't go to these kind of events because she seems to participate better when we're not there. But she really wanted us to come so we showed up for the afternoon and I'm glad we did. It was a lot of fun and turned out to be pretty good weather. We were able to watch her do ball throw and standing long jump.

Here she is doing ball throw:



And here she is doing standing long jump. She jumped far enough to get a second place ribbon!

Please Pray

MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME
NASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08... At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.

More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles. (taken from this link)


We do not know the Chapman family personally but we've enjoyed the music of Steven Curtis over the years and the Chapman family has been a huge inspiration for us as we've travelled these adoption journies. They've done so much in the world of adoption. We can't even imagine the pain they're going through right now. We will continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers. May the God of Comfort grant them what they stand in need of during this difficult time.

Secret Pal strikes again

A nice brown box arrived in the mail yesterday - addressed to me with no return address. I knew it was something from my secret pal. May's theme is "Something for Mom". When I opened the package, I was so surprised. Earlier this week I was on someone's blog and saw this book "Sweetness in the Belly" by Camilla Gibb. I really wanted to read it and was planning to ask for it for my birthday next month. But lo and behold, I no longer need to. I'm so excited to read it . . . if I can only find the time. Perhaps when I'm soaking in the tub with my lavender bath essense that was included in the gift set as part of the treat.

Thank you very much Secret Pal!

Mother's Day 2008

I got bombarded in bed by all three kids on Sunday morning. Victoria and Austin had made cards for me at school. I love homemade cards from the kids. So much love goes into them.
















This is Austin’s card. You have no idea how much it meant to me when I read that he loves me more than computer games. That’s HUGE! He could play on the computer all day long if we would let him – that’s how much he loves computer games. And guess what? He loves me even more! Yay!



















Victoria’s card was so pretty. Here’s what she wrote inside: “Happy mother’s day! You are my best mom in the whole world. I love you very very much! You are the best! Love Victoria.”

All of the exclamation marks had hearts at the bottom instead of periods. She’s becoming such a good writer, and it means so much that she thinks of it and writes it all by herself.






Notice both kids picked orange for their cards . . . mommy’s favourite colour!

Waiting Mommies Dinner

On Saturday night I had the priviledge of attending another Waiting Mommies Dinner in Toronto.

Tammy (my driving partner and navigator) and I headed out and this time we had company in the van. Victoria and Samara were also invited to join us at the dinner this time. Victoria was so excited that she got to come because every time I leave for one of these dinners, she begs me to take her along. Her and Samara were both very good and had a lot of fun.

Victoria sat beside "Mrs. Tammy" and I heard a lot of giggling going on across the table! Samara also had a lot of fun being silly and goofy and even surprised "Miss Catherine" at the end of the night with a huge squeeze and a kiss.

Notice the pretty hairbands in their hair. Liz and Ava brought little surprises for the kids - hairbands, stickers and chocolate princess lollipops.

Thank you Liz and Ava for being so thoughtful!

The group is getting larger all the time and it's so neat to connect with others on the same journey.

(These pictures are all courtesy of Catherine since I can never remember to bring my camera - she is really a serious blogger and doesn't leave home without the camera.)

The theme for the optional gift exchange this time was a book theme. I got the book "M is for Maple". It's a Canadian alphabet book. I love this book and have wanted a copy of it for a long time. In fact, I almost bought it the other night when I was buying my gift for the exchange. But I'm glad I resisted the urge cause I got it! It's even the board book version. (Thank you so much Leslie!)

Oh and I should mention that while the girls were enjoying a girls night out, the boys were also having fun at home. Tammy's husband Mike came over to hang out with Mike and Austin and apparently the three of them had a lot of fun. I know Austin did as he couldn't stop talking about it the next day. He had a lot of fun playing the "punch game" (boxing) and bowling on the Wii. Thanks for coming over and sharing your toy with my guys Mike!

The courier came to the agency today, picked up our file and it is officially on it's way to Ethiopia! Hooray!

Finally . . .

After nine long weeks (+ two days) we finally received our official Ministry approval letter. For those of you who aren't familiar with the adoption process, this is a letter from the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services that gives us permission to adopt another child. We are breathing a huge sigh of relief and Mother's Day will be that much better now.

Many of you know that over nine weeks ago, we brought our homestudy and other parts of our dossier to our agency in Cambridge. We were told at that time that it would only take 2 - 4 weeks for us to get our ministry approval since our homestudy was only an update (it's an update because it's our second time adopting). So that was really good news and we thought it was great that we wouldn't have to wait the 6 - 8 weeks it was taking at that time for original homestudies to get approval. After four weeks went by, I emailed our agency to see if they had heard anything and they said they hadn't. They also said that things were taking a little longer at the ministry for a variety of reasons so not to worry. At six weeks I emailed again and they still hadn't heard anything. I was starting to get a little more anxious but I was still holding it together and remaining somewhat calm.

At eight weeks and one day, I was on the verge of losing it. I was worried we weren’t going to get approved for some reason, I wasn’t sure if our file was lost or if it even got to the ministry. I emailed our caseworker again (by the way, her name is Julie and she’s the best caseworker ever!) to voice my concerns and see if there was anyway we could check the status of our file or contact the ministry by phone to see if our file even made it there. Julie got on the phone right away and found out that yes, they had our file and it was “being processed”. They told her that it would be done by the end of the week and we should hear something the following week (that would be this week). Ok, that sounded really good to me. And the other really good thing was that, because we had all our paperwork together and at the agency office and because Julie is the best caseworker ever, she worked ahead on our file so that the next step would be shorter for us. She told us that instead of the next step taking 2 – 4 weeks, it would only take one week for us. Yay Julie! (See? Isn’t she the best caseworker ever???)

Soooooo, that brings us to this week . . . the week we should be hearing from the ministry. Monday – I didn’t assume we’d hear anything yet. Tuesday – I thought maybe we would hear something but was somewhat ok that we didn’t. Wednesday – I thought was a very strong possibility that we’d hear something – I mean how long does it take to send an envelope via courier or even snail mail within Ontario? I emailed Julie on Wednesday just to make sure she hadn’t received it and forgot to tell us (Ya right! After all, she is the best caseworker ever!) By the time Thursday came around, I was falling apart. What was going on??? Are we approved or not approved? Why is it taking more than nine weeks when it should have been 2 – 4 weeks??? There is only one day left for us to hear something this week - I can’t go through another weekend not knowing for sure if we’re approved or not. And yes, I emailed Julie last night (Thursday night) to voice my concerns once again.

Ok, I need to interrupt to tell you more about how great Julie is. This whole time as I’m emailing her, she has been the most patient, understanding, kind person. We’re still just at the beginning of this process and already she’s done so much for us. She even went so far as to tell me I could email her everyday to check in and not to apologize for that (I was apologizing in every email because I felt like I was bugging her). See how great she is? We are truly blessed to have her as our caseworker.

This morning (Friday) at 8:33 am, I received an email from Julie saying that she had contacted the ministry last night before she left work. She was told that we were officially approved on May 2 (last Friday) and that our letter was on its way. That made me feel better but I still wanted that final confirmation . . . the official approval letter. Julie also told me that we received our declaration back from Ottawa (part of the next step that’s supposed to take 2 – 4 weeks) so as soon as they receive our approval letter, our file is on it’s way to Ethiopia.

This afternoon at 2:20 pm, we received the following email from Julie:

Hi Mike and Karen,

I just wanted to let you know that I received your letter of approval today! Congratulations – you have been approved to adopt “a healthy male child, as young as possible, up to the age of 12 months, from Ethiopia”.

As I mentioned before, I have your file all ready to go. I will be sending your file to Ethiopia either Monday or Tuesday (depending on when I can get DHL here, but it will be going soon!). I will certainly let you know what day it gets picked up and you can certainly celebrate that milestone!

Have a great weekend and HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

HOORAY! We are so excited to have this part of the process behind us. We know that it will still be many more months before we see a picture of the precious child that God already has picked out for our family, but we are so happy that we are finally officially expecting again. Let the real waiting begin!