Okay... so I was wrong...

I just got off the phone with Jessica with the Waiting Child Program. And I was wrong on how things work.

So after our homestudy is done, it will be sent to Holt in OREGON. And that's when we can start the process of 'officially waiting'. I don't think we'll ever go to Korea. Or maybe we will... I'm totally confused at this point.

I guess the important thing is that once our homestudy goes to Oregon we can feel like our wait can officially start. And it's not a normal 'next in line' process. It just depends on what child comes through, and what medical conditions we're open to.

So all that to say... we're making progress. Kind of.

What we've been up to...

... man... another month has gone by. And here I thought that in 2010 I'd be all 'up to date' on my blogging. Oh well. I'm over it.

So the past month has been crazy busy. I keep saying to myself 'NOW things will calm down...' but I've been saying that for the past... oh... 5 months. But this time I think I really mean it. And just so you know that I'm not lying about being busy - here's a condensed version of what our past 6 weeks have been like:

1) I got sick. Which added to the fact that I was finishing up the 'Etsy Sale from hell', made for a really unhappy momma.

2) Claire got sick. Enough said.

3) I got sick AGAIN. (anger pretty much set in at that point)

4) Decided to get some ceiling lights installed in 2 of our bedrooms since the light switches were currently connected to wall outlets (HATE when they do that). We also decided to get the rooms painted as Bob and I are OH so not gifted in that area. (trust me on that one)

5) During that 'project' it was discovered that our heat/air unit in the attic was pumping approximately 80% of all heat/air into our attic due to 2 LARGE holes that someone tried to 'cover up'. We also discovered that approximately 300 sq ft of attic space had not been INSULATED. Awesome.

6) On a phone call with a 'problem customer' of mine (sorry - but I do have them) I knocked a soda on my computer and fried it. Lovely.

7) 'Found' a little boy in the 'Waiting Child Program' ( a program for children with 'special needs') that I REALLY wanted to adopt. So after feverishly trying to get the rest of our paperwork in (since of course we hadn't gotten it all done...) and very UN-patiently waiting to review his file for a few days, we decide that we won't be able to move forward with the adoption due to some medical 'concerns' that we had. It was very sad for us (mostly me as I can get very emotionally attached to people/things/ideas REALLY easily) but the good news is that he WILL have a family - and that's whats most important.

So that brings us to 'now'.

*** I know, you're so stoked that you're still reading this, huh! I mean, this wasn't a total waste of time now, was it! ***


Next weekend we'll be doing 'power interviewing' with our Social Worker. She'll come for about 5 hours on Saturday and complete the 'couples interview', our separate interviews, and then a home tour. I invited her to dinner (since we gotta eat some time during this!) and hope that my lack of culinary skills won't actually result in 'negative points'.  But in all seriousness, we're totally NOT stressed over this part of the process and I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.  Here's how the process will go from here:

1) The Social Worker will write up our home study and it will be sent to Korea (I'm thinking it should arrive around mid to late March).

2) We then wait to get a 'call' about a child's file that we can review. (again, we're doing the 'Waiting Child Program' and when a child becomes available that fits our 'preferences'  they call us)

3) We then have 2 weeks to decide if we want to move forward. During this time most families get the child's medical records reviewed by a 'specialist'.

4) If we DO decide to move forward, then it's possible that we could be 1 of a few families that are interested in the same child. Once all parties have confirmed they're 'moving forward', the child then goes to 'Committee'.

5) Thursday's are when 'Committee' is held. Basically, it's an actual 'committee' (I believe made up for social workers and agency personal - don't quote me on that part) who sit down, read the child's file, and each of the families home studies. They then decide who they think would be the best 'fit' for the child. If we're chosen, then we can decide to 'accept the referral' which at that time we'd be officially 'matched'.

6) Once that happens, then we get to start a whole other slew of paperwork. I'll save the details on that one, but basically it could take anywhere from 3-6 months for it to be completed.

7) And when that part is completed, we'll then get the TRAVEL CALL. In our case (due to policy changes) we will actually be traveling to KOREA. I know. Crazy. Me in Korea. I'm still wrapping my brain around that one.

So there you have it. That's what we've up to, and that's where we hope to be soon.

Question...

Does anyone else find this photo slightly disturbing?

Decorating Christmas Cookies with a 2 Year Old is Totally Over-rated

Sadly, I'm totally not kidding.

I thought I was in the right frame of mind.

It was going to get really messy... and I thought I'd be 'cool' with it...

And for someone who loves to spread 'butter on bread'

you would have thought she'd jump at spreading

'icing on cookies'

But something about those green sprinkles mesmerized her.

I tried to decorate cookies as well...

And discovered that I get really mad when I can't get

the icing to spread evenly.

So what is a girl supposed to do? Well, she QUITS, that's what she does. I managed to frost and 'decorate' some round shaped cookies and THEN we officially 'quit'. I was taking them to our local Post Office as a little gift from Claire because there are 4 people who we regularly see when we go in (which is alot... especially when I have sales). Her favorite is actually Bob, but Marcie, Liz and Sean are a close 2nd.

I had used the 'whipped' frosting that comes in a plastic 'can' thinking it would be a better choice. WRONG. It's super sticky, and I don't think it 'hardens'. So if the edge of one cookie touched another they got all messed up. SO annoying. I ended up putting the cookies in a pyrex dish... totally not the festive cheer you'd think when presenting cookies, but at least I got them out of the house.

And to make matters even worse, I just frosted one of the sugar cookies with chocolate frosting (my favorite) and took a bite. Not that great. In fact, I almost couldn't eat it. (key word being almost)

So to Bob, Marcie, Liz and Sean - I apologize for the groady cookies, but just remember it's the thought that counts... right? (please say yes... please say yes... please say yes...)

Conversations with Claire

So I'm actually one of those people who LOVES to hear about funny conversations that kids have with their parents. And now that Claire has graduated to 'conversationalist', there have been many times where I have been quite amused. The mind of a two year old is complex. Sometimes you think they don't understand a thing, and then the next minute you realize they know more than you do. Weird.

So here's a few of my favorite recent conversations with Claire (and it won't hurt my feelings if you stop reading at this point):

•  I love hearing, 'Mom - can I listen to 'Toxic' please?' when we get in the car (and yes, it's the one by Britney Spears - don't call CPS on me)
• I love hearing her sing 'The Wonder Pets' theme song
• The other morning I wanted a few more minutes of sleep when Claire came in. So she sat on the bed by me. When I sat up she said, 'Mom! You're getting up! You can do it! Good job Mom!' and then she got down and ran to my side of the bed. I was watching her, smiling, while she said, 'Mom - don't stop, you can do it! Good job Mom, you're getting up!' (nothing like having your 2 year old act like you getting out of bed is an amazing accomplishment)
• When going to the mall one night Claire turned to Bob and said, 'Dad - you got any cash?'
• Today Claire asked me, 'Did Daddy wash my penguin pajamas?' I said, 'no, I did'. To which Claire replied, 'oh... great job Mom. Great job.' (Nice to know that my laundry skills meet her expectations)

 I must admit, Claire makes me smile, and now that I'm finally caught up on all my orders, I want to do nothing but have conversations with her.

Snow in the City

Okay, so maybe 'city' is a bit of an exaggeration... as we're more like the 'suburbs', but getting snow of any kind of a rarity out here.

Good thing I had snow clothes ready to go this year. (Last year I waited too long and everything was gone and I couldn't find anything to fit her) So even though it was over-kill, I still put every bit of 'snow clothing' on her (including her snow boots).

Claire had a fabulous time as we basically stood outside our house.

I think it's mostly gone now... and it's only noon... but I have to admit - that's my kind of snow! No shoveling, no power outages... it's just enough to make you like it. Perfect.

Natural Consequences

My sister and I always talk about natural consequences. You know, it's the stuff that 'naturally' happens after you make unwise decisions. For instance:

Decision:

Drink 10 tequila shots

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Natural Consequence:

End up on You Tube

Decision: 

Make cupcakes for no reason

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Natural Consequence: 

Your clothes shrink 2 sizes

Decision:

Potty Train your daughter when she doesn't want to

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Natural Consequence:

Get psyched out because your daughter goes pee-pee in the potty the first 1/2 day you try it but the next day only does it twice and then gets mad at you. She then poops in her undies 5 minutes after her last 'try' which results in you having to 'cut them off' (yes, with scissors) because you're freaking out that you're going to get poop all over you. And then it doesn't stop there - it happens 2, yes, TWO more times that day - with one of them being 'mommy - there's a piece of poop in the playroom' because it fell out of the undies because they don't make princess undies in size 12-18 months. And then when you think you can't take it anymore, she starts being totally compliant by the end of the night so you think that maybe it's starting to click, but then the next day she has a total melt down the first time she 'tries' because you just stripped off her warm fleece jammies and she's sitting naked on a cold, plastic Dora toilet-seat insert and even the weird skull candies in the plastic beaker-thingy won't calm her down. Skip past the 3 more melt downs and throw on a diaper and head to the doctor's office where said child gets the flu and N1H1 vaccine (and didn't even cry!) and then head up to meet Daddy for lunch. After arriving home from lunch (and complaining to said Daddy) you feel that maybe you over-reacted and decide to put undies back on for the last 30 minutes before said daughter goes down for a nap. And while you're on the phone with  a particular cursed & evil personal training facility (California Peak Fitness - boycott those dirty scoundrels who steal your money and won't do anything about it and will not return phone calls) you realize that there is a nasty stench coming from the living room where you find your daughter standing in front of the TV with DIARRHEA coming down her leg, destroying the cutest, polka-dot wedges that you bought 2 years before she could even fit into them, and the green pants she's wearing are from Gap - so you really don't want to have to take the scissors to those, so you breathe through your mouth (as not to inhale the toxic fumes) and start trying to remove the soiled clothing, only to have poop get all over you because her feet get stuck (should have taken those shoes off first!) and she falls against you. That's when you notice the carpet has 3 stain marks but instead of getting something to start 'lifting' it out, you gab the girl and run to the bathroom where you plop her on the Dora seat and see that a poopy film is covering both her legs. You feel like crying, but instead wash your hands and arms as thoroughly as you can, and after saying 'DON'T MOVE, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK' you run and put some wipes on the floor, stepping firmly on the 'spots' hoping that you're doing something remotely close to helping the stain lift while thinking 'this is why we don't have a dog'. After a few more 'steps' on the stain, you get the soiled clothes, throw them in a plastic bag (because you don't want that to touch your other dirty laundry which is actually looking pretty clean to you right about now), and you take the undies that you cut off and throw those in the garbage too. Then after your daughter is 'all done' you give her a 'sponge bath' in the bathroom (that has no bathtub) for fear that another 'lift & carry' episode will result in a trail of vileness and you just can't 'go there' at the moment. And after the chaos has finally calmed down and each of you are clean (though you swear you can still smell 'it') your daughter will turn to you and say, 'Mommy... are you still mad?'

And that's when you know you've hit the lowest of lows in Natural Consequences.

Tomorrow Claire - we're just going to take it easy.

And I'll let you have any color you want - even if you don't go pee-pee in the potty.