You've Probably Adopted Internationally If...

Got the idea from Tongu Momma's blog today... I don't think I duplicated
any of hers, but read her list too. We need to smile during this wait.

You've probably adopted internationally if....

You have been fingerprinted more often than most criminals.....

If you know there is a trade show in April and October in Guangzhou and
you have NO desire to be there for the show.

You know what "A Red Thread" is.

You know what "A Hundred Best Wishes Quilt" is.

You know what someone means when the talk about "The White Swan"

You needed to make one or more visits to the SS office to prove you
child is really yours.

You forget that the Hague is also a city in the Netherlands. (look it up)

If you carried a hot water thermos to mix bottles.

If you are not sure if you child was a preemie or her exact date of birth.

If you know that IA does not always mean Iowa.

If you hate explaining AGAIN that...no we haven't met him, and no, we
can't talk to him before we actually meet him the day before adoption.

If you child says "Mom I wish I knew my story" and you wish there was a
way to find it.

If you met your new child in a room with multiple other families doing
the same thing.

If you know that an I-797 is NOT an airplane.

If you smile when you see a family whose skin colors do not "match".

Did I miss any? Add yours

More Questions

I don't know if Big Sister's questions prompted the questions from Little Sister....

This week we were on the way home from dropping off the school kids, we were following
"Timothy's" mom.

Little Sister asked "Was Timothy a baby?"

I said," Yes, everyone was a baby at one time, even mom."

"Which orphanage was he in?" (can you hear my inward groan?)

(light voice) "Oh... Timothy wasn't in an orphanage, he was born into that family." or did I say-     " that is Timothy's birth family."  (hard to remember)

"But I didn't stay with my birth mom, I got to go to an orphanage, then you came for me."

"Yes God  told us that there was a little girl that needed a mama and daddy."

A delighted voice from the back says, "and that was you!"

Then she changed the subject....

At supper she told her daddy about the conversation, almost word for word.

Big Sister stepped in with, "Where is my birth mother?" ______(girl at school) says she is dead!"

Thankfully DH was there and took over while my "sizzle" calmed down....He told her to ask what birth mom looked like and who she was,                          if she knows  about her.

We did tell Big Sister again that we really do not know if her Birth Mom is alive....she probably is, but we don't know for sure.

We have been adding a prayer for both additional sets of parents in our        night time prayers...

BTW the above photos have no connection to this post...really! 
The one of the 5 kids was taken at the National Zoo... can't get them to all pose at the same time!  The other just happened to be on my computer when I snapped a picture...thought it made a neat picture.

LOOK AT the WOOL BAG TAB!

I added 2 new wool bags to the bag page....look at the top of the screen and click on "sweater bags-wool"
These bags are made from 100% wool sweaters, I washed them in hot water to felt them and VIOLA! I have felt to make bags....they are lined with 100%  new cotton fabric.
  Wool is long lasting and repels dirt...take a look.
I was looking at plane ticket prices...I have a long summer ahead of me :^)

Thoughtful Friends

This morning I stepped out on my front porch to pick up the LOA packet ( I was too slow to get the UPS guy's picture), and I found this on my porch.

It was delivered yesterday and I guess we were too preoccupied to notice the slip of paper on our garage door.

Anyway it has been a long time since the Ro*er's Flower truck was at my house.

Thanks Sarah, Brad and Bennet

Guess What!!!

On Monday evening, about 5pm I got a phone call that almost made me forget to finish making supper!
The caller ID said   ________Adoption

And it was the call!

This is our third adoption and I always worry that they will tell us at the last minute...."Ummm, you guys can't be parents again."
A psychologist would probably have fun with that, but this time I know a bit more about the process and I know DH's doctor put EVERY detail of his life from 1985 to present....the laceration from a chisel in his hand, the benign lump in his throat...If I had been along I would have advised him to stick to the important stuff, but I left him go off to a Dr appt. by himself!!!

But they looked at that valuable stack of papers and said all the i's were dotted and all the t's crossed and  Middle Brother #2 will be coming home hopefully in August or Sept. Six kids who'd a thought it! (bad English I know)

The agency also said they have some answers to the questions I asked a few months ago, they need to translate them and there are some PICTURES and he supposedly is wearing SHOES! Not sure how they managed that or what kind of shoes they put on  him, but I can't wait to see the pictures. Plus the pictures we have been looking at are a year old.

So once again I need patience....I hope God  is not training me for something...at least something not too painful....I'm a wimp about pain.... but He knows that.

Now I have a three month time frame....get the W*aver Book finished and to the press

                    Hand off the ambulance treasurer's job

                                    Shop for clothes :^) and shoes

                    Make a quilt for the new beds

                                      Buy mattresses for the new bunk beds

                    Make as many quilts as possible for the quilt shop

                                      Sell bags.

                     Clean house ????? naah!
                      
We renewed 3 passports tonite, the others should be OK.

Get busy instead of writing blog posts  :^)

Right on Time

The warned me 4 years ago about

The questions

The birth dad question

She is 8, that is what they said... around 8 they will put it together.

Tonite she said...."I never saw my birth mother"
I said "well, you don't remember if you did....most people don'tremember that long ago."

Later while reading her Life Book
"Did I have a dad?"

I pointed to her daddy sleeping on the sofa.
"No, a birth dad"

"yes, dear, everyone has a birth dad and a birth mom"

"But Kay doesn't"
"No, but she isn't M____'s birth mom either"
"oh"

"Do they miss me?" (after we looked at the page with the nannies)
"They say the nannies remember the pictures, we need to send an updated picture."

"my mom?"
" My dear, I don't think a mommy would ever forget that she had a baby. "

"I remember her, I saw a picture on the computer"

Oh my...I was afraid she would think those crowd pictures held an important person.

I explained that those pictures were taken 3 years after she was living
with us, by a friend from that city. Then she found the lady she was
remembering...it was the orphanage director.

I can't remember all that we said....she noticed my tears...my sadness 

that I couldn't answer her questions very well....                     

The last page in her Life Book reminds her that she should always ask mommy or daddy if she
has questions, or if someone else asks questions that she can't answer.

Later in bed...she told me about a girl at school that ALWAYS asks "Are
you Asian or Chinese or what?" 

She complained about this girl before...
thing is...this little girl wears hearing aids and cries if someone asks
about her hearing! or says..."you hurt my feelings."

Growing up suddenly seems harder than when I was doing it.

Where DOES it come From?!!

I know I swept my kitchen and bathroom floor at LEAST once

this weekend

Guess I must be a slob!

Otherwise where would this stuff be coming from?

Today I filled out most of my I-800 form....just in case we will be needing it soon.

Best Laid Plans...

I don't normally plague myself with a list....well...unless it is a grocery list, but this week I decided , that if I became organized. I might get a lot of jobs out of the way.
The list went something like this
 1. go to printer
 2. buy dress fabric
 3. buy shoes for middle brother (he's not really picky)
 4. Make 1 or 2 dresses
 5. Send out 175 newsletters with 5 stamps each.
 6.stitch at least 10 quilt patches
 7. Go with a class of 18- 2nd graders on a field trip.

WELL...I went to the printer 3 times, bought the dress fabric. Bought shoes twice (the first pair didn't fit right, so much for "not picky")

Got called to teach an emergency CPR class in a city 1 hours drive away. It was good pay so I took it.

Then I cut my finger...yup the knife

and the finger.

Got 3 stitches and made a mess of the nail.

Taught the class.

Went on the field trip

Did mail out the newsletters by Friday, with the help of a friend.

Made the dress, on Saturday.

The house is still a mess and didn't get any work done on the quilt but....

Happy Mother's Day!!!