I wrote this post back in July when Illinois passed it's Civi.l Un.ion Act (CUA as I'll call it here). Well, recent events have made what I feared in that post a reality.
We live in one of the diocese that was fighting for Catholic Charities (CC) . They were fighting to have the Religious Freedom Act trump the CUA with regards to faith based organizations abiding by their own moral values. The state, however, felt that the CUA was more important and CC had to either abide by their ruling that same sex or cohabitating couples could be a part of their foster care and/or adoption programs or close their doors. They would no longer be allowed to refer these couples to other agencies.
So with much prayer and a great deal of reluctance, the bishop of our diocese had no choice but to have CC stop its adoption and foster care programs. However, the bishop and executive team at CC have worked very hard to create a plan that will not disrupt any of the children being served or any of the families in the foster care and/or adoption process.
Basically the executive team formed a new organization. This new organization has been formed. The executive team from CC is now running this new organization. It is in no way funded or connected to the Catholic Church, so it can function within state guidelines and continue to provide care.
The staff from CC is being rehired at this new orgaization. Records from CC are all being moved. The children in the foster care programs will not even feel the switch. Families may have a little paperwork but they're making that as minimal as possible. Fee structures are changing a little, but it's all for the better.
I'm glad they had a plan. It puts me at ease knowing that the case workers who have operated under a moral code for so long are going to be the same ones we continue to work with.
Yes, they will have to start accepting civil unions in addition to marriages and single people. And our case worker addressed us specifically to see our thoughts on this. We took it to prayer and really had to think about our options.
The reality is that we live in a state that is failing financially and morally. It was recent news that our state is #49 when ranked as far as finances are concerned. Only California is worse than our current financial situation. It's also a reality that unfortunately Illinois is paving the way for many of these civil liberty laws that are extremely contrary to our Catholic faith.
With those realities in mind, we know that God is calling us to adopt again. And to possibly foster down the road. He's made that very clear through prayer. So although this new agency (CYFS) will have to abide by our state's laws, we will stay with them. There is nowhere else to go, and we're not moving to a different state. I know that the caseworkers are struggling more than we are. CC in our diocese operated with the guidance of the Catholic Church for over 100 years. At least those principles (especially the Right to Life attitude) are still instilled in our caseworkers. I'm confident that they will continue to respect life at all costs and do what is best for the children.
It just saddens me that a religious organization had their freedom of religion taken away. It's sad that a country built on religious freedom is now taking those very freedoms away. It takes away some of my hope in the coming generations. It makes it more challenging to raise holy children who look to the Church for guidance.
That was much longer than I intended it to be, but for family and friends, it's important to know as this will all be hitting the news in the near future. We will be beginning the process to adopt again here shortly and we will begin with the new agency (CYFS). Please pray for all of those affected by this situation and for our upcoming adoption journey #2.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
9 Months Old
Anna is 9 months old today! Time just flies! She is doing all kinds of fun stuff!
Walking:
She started taking steps in the last week or so. She started by just letting go of things and taking a step or two. But she decided that wasn't good enough and has been walking 7+ steps and going a few feet before falling! Usually it's a toy in the way, or excitement that causes her to fall. I have no doubt that she will be full fledged walking here very soon! She also learned to climb the stairs and is quite fast and very good at it. We have the stairs gated, but when we're taking her upstairs, we let her do it herself and follow behind to make sure she doesn't fall.
Eating:
She pretty much eatswhaever we eat now. She loves cheese and all fruits. She is picky about veggies, but we've decided it's not the taste she's picky about, but more like what form they come in. For instance, if sweet potatoes are mashed, she refuses them. But if they're cut fry style or cut into cubes, she'll gobble them up. Same goes for all veggies for the most part. She just wants to be independent! She also won't eat anything off of a baby spoon, we have to use a real spoon... She definitely lets her opinion be known!
Bottles/cups:
We'd cut her down to just 4 5oz bottles a month ago, and we're starting to wean her off the bottle now. She really doesn't care how it gets in her mouth, she just enjoys her few moments of formula. So I've replaced two of her bottles with sippy cups of formula. She's doing great with that! She also loves her sippy cups! She probably drinks about 20 oz of water a day from her cups. I don't know if it's cause she talks so much or what, but she's always thirsty! And thankfully, water is her drink of choice!
Talking:
Well, she does it, ALL. THE. TIME! She's saying a lot of consonants now and continues to say Mama and Dada. She now says "Mo" when she wants more and she also signs it now too. She's started fake laughing recently and will throw herself back and pretend to laugh until it becomes so funny she actually starts laughing. It's pretty cute and quite hilarious.
Clapping:
She's started clapping in the last few weeks. She tried really hard to do it before, but couldn't get the coordination down. She's very good at it now and regularlly claps for herself.
Kisses:
She does a smacking noise now when she wants a kiss. And she blows kisses, just not from her mouth yet. She puts her hand to my mouth, makes the noise herself and takes her hand away. I don't know if she thinks its funnier that way, but she won't do it to her own mouth!
Sleeping:
She's still a fantastic sleeper, going down about 7:30 at night and getting up between 6:30-7. She had a week there where she thought it was fun to get up at like 5:30, but that seems to have stopped thank goodness! Luckily when she wakes up, she almost always just plays in her bed happily. She talks and plays with her giraffe until we come get her. I'm so thankful for my great sleeper :-)!
Ta-Da!:
Okay, I saved my favorite for last. She now sticks her hands in the air and says "Du-Da!" And she expects us to say it as well. It must be something I do a lot... So now we can ask her to say "Ta-da!" and she'll perform for us. She likes to do it after she walks or stands or does something funny. It's adorable!
Here's her mandatory 9 Month picture!
The rest of these are one we had taken. Our Christmas gift to our parents was organizing a time to get our whole family picture taken. So we took some with Jeremy's family one day and mine another. And the cool thing is that they take all kinds of groupings, including ones of just Anna! And we were given the CD and the rights to post the pictures online (just not to print them anywhere except where we got them taken).
Walking:
She started taking steps in the last week or so. She started by just letting go of things and taking a step or two. But she decided that wasn't good enough and has been walking 7+ steps and going a few feet before falling! Usually it's a toy in the way, or excitement that causes her to fall. I have no doubt that she will be full fledged walking here very soon! She also learned to climb the stairs and is quite fast and very good at it. We have the stairs gated, but when we're taking her upstairs, we let her do it herself and follow behind to make sure she doesn't fall.
Eating:
She pretty much eatswhaever we eat now. She loves cheese and all fruits. She is picky about veggies, but we've decided it's not the taste she's picky about, but more like what form they come in. For instance, if sweet potatoes are mashed, she refuses them. But if they're cut fry style or cut into cubes, she'll gobble them up. Same goes for all veggies for the most part. She just wants to be independent! She also won't eat anything off of a baby spoon, we have to use a real spoon... She definitely lets her opinion be known!
Bottles/cups:
We'd cut her down to just 4 5oz bottles a month ago, and we're starting to wean her off the bottle now. She really doesn't care how it gets in her mouth, she just enjoys her few moments of formula. So I've replaced two of her bottles with sippy cups of formula. She's doing great with that! She also loves her sippy cups! She probably drinks about 20 oz of water a day from her cups. I don't know if it's cause she talks so much or what, but she's always thirsty! And thankfully, water is her drink of choice!
Talking:
Well, she does it, ALL. THE. TIME! She's saying a lot of consonants now and continues to say Mama and Dada. She now says "Mo" when she wants more and she also signs it now too. She's started fake laughing recently and will throw herself back and pretend to laugh until it becomes so funny she actually starts laughing. It's pretty cute and quite hilarious.
Clapping:
She's started clapping in the last few weeks. She tried really hard to do it before, but couldn't get the coordination down. She's very good at it now and regularlly claps for herself.
Kisses:
She does a smacking noise now when she wants a kiss. And she blows kisses, just not from her mouth yet. She puts her hand to my mouth, makes the noise herself and takes her hand away. I don't know if she thinks its funnier that way, but she won't do it to her own mouth!
Sleeping:
She's still a fantastic sleeper, going down about 7:30 at night and getting up between 6:30-7. She had a week there where she thought it was fun to get up at like 5:30, but that seems to have stopped thank goodness! Luckily when she wakes up, she almost always just plays in her bed happily. She talks and plays with her giraffe until we come get her. I'm so thankful for my great sleeper :-)!
Ta-Da!:
Okay, I saved my favorite for last. She now sticks her hands in the air and says "Du-Da!" And she expects us to say it as well. It must be something I do a lot... So now we can ask her to say "Ta-da!" and she'll perform for us. She likes to do it after she walks or stands or does something funny. It's adorable!
Here's her mandatory 9 Month picture!
The rest of these are one we had taken. Our Christmas gift to our parents was organizing a time to get our whole family picture taken. So we took some with Jeremy's family one day and mine another. And the cool thing is that they take all kinds of groupings, including ones of just Anna! And we were given the CD and the rights to post the pictures online (just not to print them anywhere except where we got them taken).
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| Jeremy's family: (back) Nana and Papa, (front) Uncle Joey, Uncle Jason, Daddy, Anna, and Mom |
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| My family: (back) Aunt Julie, Daddy, Mom, Aunt Lisa (front) Grandpa, Grandma, Anna, Aunt Sara and Uncle Kel |
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| And this one is my favorite. It just totally captures Anna! |
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Late Night Freak-Out
As I'm innocently checking my email (and yes, it's way too late to be checking email, but I was wasting time waiting for the cloth diaper laundry to be ready to rotate), the hubby is taking out the trash. And then ever-so-kindly rotates laundry for me before I can get there.
And then, Jeremy, in shorts only (and its cold outside), says "I'll be in the garage...".
I pause, scratch my head, and obviously said, "Why?"
"Oh, you know, because there's a mouse..."
Pause and cue the freak-out!
So he tells me that when he took out the trash, he noticed a mouse behind the trash can, in the garage.
I then, obviously, realized that if there's a mouse in the garage, there are probably 15 more in the house... and I ended with something along the lines of waking up the baby and packing my stuff and staying at my parents while Jeremy mumbled, "I knew I shouldn't have told you."
He said I was overreacting and that it was just one little mouse, who was seeking warmth in the cold and he was going to shoo it outside (in his shorts, mind you).
And then I said something to the effect of if I find mouse droppings tomorrow, I'm not coming home for a week...
And he slipped out the door while I watched intently to make sure the sneaky mouse didn't run in as soon as the door cracked.
So there's my mouse story for tonight. Oh, and the end? I don't know yet, he's still out there shooing... And I'm still inside, freaking out!
I don't do mice. Period.
And then, Jeremy, in shorts only (and its cold outside), says "I'll be in the garage...".
I pause, scratch my head, and obviously said, "Why?"
"Oh, you know, because there's a mouse..."
Pause and cue the freak-out!
So he tells me that when he took out the trash, he noticed a mouse behind the trash can, in the garage.
I then, obviously, realized that if there's a mouse in the garage, there are probably 15 more in the house... and I ended with something along the lines of waking up the baby and packing my stuff and staying at my parents while Jeremy mumbled, "I knew I shouldn't have told you."
He said I was overreacting and that it was just one little mouse, who was seeking warmth in the cold and he was going to shoo it outside (in his shorts, mind you).
And then I said something to the effect of if I find mouse droppings tomorrow, I'm not coming home for a week...
And he slipped out the door while I watched intently to make sure the sneaky mouse didn't run in as soon as the door cracked.
So there's my mouse story for tonight. Oh, and the end? I don't know yet, he's still out there shooing... And I'm still inside, freaking out!
I don't do mice. Period.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Videos
Well, since I don't have a whole lot of time to write a post with lots of family in town :-) I'll just post some recent videos instead!
The first one is of Anna helping daddy load the dishwasher. The second she hears it open, she bolts for it and will not leave until it's closed. Sometimes if we turn away for a second, we'll catch her stnding IN the dishwasher... Don't worry, no dishes or children were harmed in the making this video :-).
This one is of her walking with her walker. It also catches her standing by herself (a very regular occurence around here lately) and clapping for herself, something she just started doing!
She's started taking a few steps there and there by herself. This one catches a few quick ones before a wipeout! We joke that her alignment is a little to the left... And she doesn't care what's in front of her, she's a bulldozer!
The first one is of Anna helping daddy load the dishwasher. The second she hears it open, she bolts for it and will not leave until it's closed. Sometimes if we turn away for a second, we'll catch her stnding IN the dishwasher... Don't worry, no dishes or children were harmed in the making this video :-).
She's started taking a few steps there and there by herself. This one catches a few quick ones before a wipeout! We joke that her alignment is a little to the left... And she doesn't care what's in front of her, she's a bulldozer!
Friday, November 18, 2011
7 Quick Takes (6)
Thanksgiving is a beautiful time of year and one of my favorite holidays. I have so much to be thankful for and I don't want to ever take it for granted! So here are my Quick Takes:
Thankful Style
My dear sweet Anna. She is just such a joy in our lives, she's everything to us! I can't imagine our lives without her. She is so fun and full of energy. I love the way she crawls up to me, grabs my face, and plants a big wet kiss on my mouth. And the way she crawls up to daddy just to give him a hug. And the way she manages to give a beautiful smile, just when you need it. And the way she plays with my hair when she's falling asleep. And the way she giggles when I play peek-a-boo with her and lights up when I walk in the room. I could go on and on and on... I am so blessed to be her mama.
Anna's birthmom who gave us everything. I can't help but feel sad for her when I think about how joyful we are to have our daughter this year for the holidays and how much I know it will hurt for her. My prayers are always with her and I can't express my gratitude for the selfless gift she gave to sweet Anna. And I'm overall thankful for the gift of adoption. Both as an option for birthmoms who want to make the best choice for their babies and for couples like us who choose to grow our families in this way.
Our extended families. We're so blessed to live in the same town as both of our parents and all of our sibilings (other than the two away at college, but this is till homebase for them). They're so supportive, loving, and caring. We love spending time with both families and we're so glad Anna gets to spend so much time with her grandparents, aunts and uncles.
The gift of marriage and the wonderful example of our families in this holy sacrament. I'm thankful for my grandparents (almost) 60 years of marriage. Jeremy's grandparents who had been married for 60+ years when his grandma died. My other grandparents who had been married for 50+ years when my grandpa died. My parents 27 years of marriage. Jeremy's parents 28 years of marriage. Our 3 years of marriage. We are so blessed to come from such wonderful examples and to be able to raise Anna in that environment.
Awesome friends. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many fantastic friends. Especially for the Catholic moms that we hang out with a few times every week. They're wonderful people and since most of them have 3+ children, it's great to be able to learn from them. I can always get advice and ideas from them as well as share joys and frustrations. I'm thankful they're so accepting and that all of their kids are so wonderful. I'm glad Anna will grow up with these kids and have so many wonderful, holy friends as well.
My home sweet home. I'm thankful I have somewhere to live and that God has blessed us with my dream home. I'm thankful for cozy neighborhood we live in and teh neighbors that surround us. We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to afford this home and have room to adopt lots more children :-)!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Distinguished Title
Jeremy had a chili lunch today at work. They always request that he bring brownies (not just for special lunches, but he often gets requests a few times a week). I always offer to make something different, I love to bake and have many yummy recipes... and they always insist on brownies.
So when I picked Jeremy up from work today, he handed me the sign that sat in front of my brownies for lunch (even though at that point there were only 5 left, they'd all been eaten BEFORE lunch...).
It says "BEST BROWNIES EVER! (rated by a brownie addict.)"
I guess I know why they always request brownies... if it isn't broke, don't fix it!
I'm so glad I have such a distinguished title around his workplace... I'm glad that my hard work and effort (brownies from a box with powdered sugar on top) was so greatly appreeciated! (And there is some skill involved, a special pan, different temp and different cooking time than the box calls for, they're perfect every time!)
So when I picked Jeremy up from work today, he handed me the sign that sat in front of my brownies for lunch (even though at that point there were only 5 left, they'd all been eaten BEFORE lunch...).
It says "BEST BROWNIES EVER! (rated by a brownie addict.)"
I guess I know why they always request brownies... if it isn't broke, don't fix it!
I'm so glad I have such a distinguished title around his workplace... I'm glad that my hard work and effort (brownies from a box with powdered sugar on top) was so greatly appreeciated! (And there is some skill involved, a special pan, different temp and different cooking time than the box calls for, they're perfect every time!)
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Our weekend in pictures
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| Anna thorougly enjoyed the hotel pool! She just loves the water! |
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| She most enjoyed the stairs because she could stand by herself. |
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| We went on a picnic at Starved Rock. Anna was fascinated by the giant leaves! |
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| And the cardboard box... |
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| Time with daddy! |
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| Time with mommy! |
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| Family picture |
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| Playing in the hotel room when a certain someone decided to wake up way too early :-) |
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| Anna and her caseworker |
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| Our family and the foster family that took care of her before we got her! This was at the National Adoption Month Potluck. |
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| Anna and Katie had a blast playing together. Since Anna didn't have a name when they got her, they just give the babies a name until they go to their adoptive families. Katie and her friends combined all of their names to create Anna's name. It was "Angelicity" while she was with them and they called her Angie for short. |
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| Anna and her buddy Jim, she was one of his favorite babies that they've had, and they've now had 25. Anna was number 21. They had Anna longer than they usually have the babies, and she was such a good baby that they became very attached. He was so delighted to see her and spend time with us! |
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Right Mass
So this weekend we've been staying in a town about an hour from where we live. We have an Adoption picnic close by today and we had two free hotel rooms to use by December. So we made a weekend out of it!
We have enjoyed swimming in the pool, picnicking at Starved Rock, accidentally happening upon an eagle release at Starved Rock, and just bummin around the hotel room. It has been extremly relaxing and even though Anna thinks that when we're away from home she need to get up at the crack of dawn, it's been fun to spend family time, even at 5 in the mornin :-).
Yesterday we decided to go to Mass so that this morning we could get all packed and ready and be out by check-out time without rushing too much. We had four churches to choose from and a few different times. Basically we decided based on when Anna wok upfrom her nap. So we decided 4:30 at St. Patrick's.
When we drove up, we saw J, D, and K, the newborn foster family that took care of Anna for 5 days before they brought her to us! They were walking in to church. We parked and walked in and after seeing us, they motioned for us to sit with them (they were in the cry room, they had another baby this weekend whose adoptive parents will pick him up Monday or Tuesday after surrenders are signed!) We knew we'd see them at the picnic but had no idea that they were even Catholic, let alone attended this Church and came to this Mass! We really did pick the right Mass! I thanked God over and over again for the wonderful people who cared for my daughter when I couldn't.
They loved watching Anna be her crazy self during Mass, they rarely get to see the babies they've cared for after they've been adopted. They love seeing her, they still claim she was thir favorite baby, and the best one they've had. Even their 11 year old daughter said that! They just couldn't get over how busy and chatty she was! And how big she's gotten since they saw her last! We email them updates, but it's not the same as seeing her in person!
They then invited us to pizza with them and we sat and chatted for a long time. They're wonderful people and we're so glad we ran into them at Mass. They enjoyed hearing her whole story as they aren't given much information when they get a baby. Anna's story is much like the one of their daughter who they got on February 28 (Anna's birthday) 11 years ago. They were so grateful for the opportunity to see Anna. And the best part! We get to see them again today! Hopefully we'll remember to take a picture of all of us.
We have enjoyed swimming in the pool, picnicking at Starved Rock, accidentally happening upon an eagle release at Starved Rock, and just bummin around the hotel room. It has been extremly relaxing and even though Anna thinks that when we're away from home she need to get up at the crack of dawn, it's been fun to spend family time, even at 5 in the mornin :-).
Yesterday we decided to go to Mass so that this morning we could get all packed and ready and be out by check-out time without rushing too much. We had four churches to choose from and a few different times. Basically we decided based on when Anna wok upfrom her nap. So we decided 4:30 at St. Patrick's.
When we drove up, we saw J, D, and K, the newborn foster family that took care of Anna for 5 days before they brought her to us! They were walking in to church. We parked and walked in and after seeing us, they motioned for us to sit with them (they were in the cry room, they had another baby this weekend whose adoptive parents will pick him up Monday or Tuesday after surrenders are signed!) We knew we'd see them at the picnic but had no idea that they were even Catholic, let alone attended this Church and came to this Mass! We really did pick the right Mass! I thanked God over and over again for the wonderful people who cared for my daughter when I couldn't.
They loved watching Anna be her crazy self during Mass, they rarely get to see the babies they've cared for after they've been adopted. They love seeing her, they still claim she was thir favorite baby, and the best one they've had. Even their 11 year old daughter said that! They just couldn't get over how busy and chatty she was! And how big she's gotten since they saw her last! We email them updates, but it's not the same as seeing her in person!
They then invited us to pizza with them and we sat and chatted for a long time. They're wonderful people and we're so glad we ran into them at Mass. They enjoyed hearing her whole story as they aren't given much information when they get a baby. Anna's story is much like the one of their daughter who they got on February 28 (Anna's birthday) 11 years ago. They were so grateful for the opportunity to see Anna. And the best part! We get to see them again today! Hopefully we'll remember to take a picture of all of us.
Friday, November 11, 2011
7 Quick Takes (5)
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We had one sick little girly around our house this week. She had a double ear infection and it caused a high fever (103+) and had her down and out for like 3 days. I HATE to see my baby sick. She was pitiful and I wanted to make it better. She's been fever free for two days now and is back to her usual self!Jeremy took his Actuary exam this week. We really hope he passed it this time!
After his exam, Jer raked leaves for hours last night. The pile spans the entire width of our lot and is almost 4 feet high! We put the neighbors' piles to shame :-)
My aunt got married today! Congratulations Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bobby! 11-11-11, fun date for a wedding! And I'm a little jealous of my parents who went to Florida for the wedding. They keep posting beach pictures and its cold and yucky here!
I'm excited for the National Adoption Month Potluck for Catholic Charities in our Diocese this weekend! I love it when we get the chance to celebrate adoption!
For the Adoptin Potluck, we were asked to make some kind of visual telling of our adoption story. It reminded me (although I've thought about it a lot lately) that a year ago next week was when we were first identified by a birthmom. She then decided to parent when the baby was born in February but a lot has happened in a year! I find it really neat to be able to go back and read the emotions and events going on at that point. I'm so glad I have this blog as documentation of what we went through, good and bad!
Wow, being cooped up in the house all week sure makes for boring (and hard to come up with) Quick Takes!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Thankful
Well, besides the most important, my wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter, our loving families, our perfect home, etc... I'll get to that post closer to thanksgiving :-)
Today I am most thankful for:
1) My motherly instinct that had me rushing an all-of-the-sudden lethargic, unenergetic, feverish Anna to the doctor last night to discover a double ear infection.
2) My Bumg.enius 4.0 cloth diapers. Because of those ear infections and the antibiotics Anna is now on, she had the world's biggest stinky diaper today. And that wonderful diaper kept it all contained... In fact, I didn't even smell it or know it was there until I went to change her before naptime! They're simply wonderful! No fancy pants disposable could have kept that amount of poop in!
3) Our brand new diapersprayer. Our other one broke (apparently it's a manufacterer's flaw... wish I'dve know that sooner). So we ordered one this weekend and it arrived just two days later and boy have we used the heck out of it already! I love it way more than the other one and it had no negative reviews like the other one!
Today I am most thankful for:
1) My motherly instinct that had me rushing an all-of-the-sudden lethargic, unenergetic, feverish Anna to the doctor last night to discover a double ear infection.
2) My Bumg.enius 4.0 cloth diapers. Because of those ear infections and the antibiotics Anna is now on, she had the world's biggest stinky diaper today. And that wonderful diaper kept it all contained... In fact, I didn't even smell it or know it was there until I went to change her before naptime! They're simply wonderful! No fancy pants disposable could have kept that amount of poop in!
3) Our brand new diapersprayer. Our other one broke (apparently it's a manufacterer's flaw... wish I'dve know that sooner). So we ordered one this weekend and it arrived just two days later and boy have we used the heck out of it already! I love it way more than the other one and it had no negative reviews like the other one!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Scrapbooking
I've been working on Anna's scrapbook for a few days now. I love to scrapbook, but I really like to do a lot at once. So I've waited. All along I've been organizing her pictures into folders on the computer. All of our pictures are sorted first by year, then by event (or in her case, Anna's name), then sorted appropriately in each category. Anna's are sorted by her age in months. This helps me to be able to easily find pictures and know exactly how old she was.
Now, starting her scrapbook was a daunting task. As you may have noticed, I've taken a billion pictures of her and continue to do so... So picking just a few to highlight was hard. I picked up to 10 from each month as well as her newborn pictures, the day we got her, her baptism, adoption day, and 6 month pics.
Then came the fun part. Ordering them. I signed up for Shut.terfly and got 50 free prints. So that took care of some (I had a total of 136 to print). I then looked on Sn.apfish where I already had an account and realized that I had 25 free prints to use. Ok, over halfway there. Then they also had a deal where prints ordered to the store were only 9 cents a print! So in the end, I got 136 prints for $6. Not too bad!
My mom had given me a bunch of baby girl paper to use. Thanks mom! So I got started! In just two days, I got all caught up and am current! I plan on doing the next "batch" just before her birthday so that she has a completed scrapbook to show off!
Here are a few pictures of a few pages I've done... And stupid auto-correct wants them to be up and down. It annoys me!
Now, starting her scrapbook was a daunting task. As you may have noticed, I've taken a billion pictures of her and continue to do so... So picking just a few to highlight was hard. I picked up to 10 from each month as well as her newborn pictures, the day we got her, her baptism, adoption day, and 6 month pics.
Then came the fun part. Ordering them. I signed up for Shut.terfly and got 50 free prints. So that took care of some (I had a total of 136 to print). I then looked on Sn.apfish where I already had an account and realized that I had 25 free prints to use. Ok, over halfway there. Then they also had a deal where prints ordered to the store were only 9 cents a print! So in the end, I got 136 prints for $6. Not too bad!
My mom had given me a bunch of baby girl paper to use. Thanks mom! So I got started! In just two days, I got all caught up and am current! I plan on doing the next "batch" just before her birthday so that she has a completed scrapbook to show off!
Here are a few pictures of a few pages I've done... And stupid auto-correct wants them to be up and down. It annoys me!
And here are a few current pictures of Anna just because I can't resist sharing!
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| Rocking out with her guitar. She was bouncing up and down to the music. |
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| Reading a few of her saint books on All Saint's Day! |
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Quick Takes (4)
Yesterday was my monthly meal making day. I made a months worth of meals including lasagna, vegetable soup, and enchildas. It's a lot of work in one day, but it all pays off when I can open the freezer and pull out dinner. And my house smells yummy! And when I do it all at once, I take the time to make it all from fresh ingredients and make it all from scratch.
I could not live without my Mei Tai. It makes life with two babies so much more managable. For instance, when Luke eats lunch, Anna begs for food and whines at me to pick her up. She wants in on the action, she hates to be left out. So I put her on my back and she's happy as a clam. She gets to spend time with us, on our level, until it's her turn for the high chair! And it also helps when I go somewhere, I can have one in a stroller and one on my back. It's so much easier than a double stroller. I love babywearing!
We planned a little getaway weekend and I cannot wait! Jeremy has his Actuary exam next week. He spends four months studying, takes a test, has two months off waiting for the results and then gets back to studying. If he passes, he moves on. If he doesn't, he studies for that one again. So we always go out to celebrate the end of a study period. This time we're using free hotel nights we have and we're going to just have a relaxing weekend. Also that weekend is a National Adoption Month potluck for Catholic Charities in our diocese and its in the neighboring town to where we're staying.
While we're gone, we're hoping to meet up with the newborn foster parents who took care of Anna before we got her. They're such nice people and they live minutes from where our hotel is! I would love to see them!
We're absolutely ready to get moving on Adoption #2. I wish tax season would hurry up and get here so we can recycle Anna's adoption money. We can't really do anything until then!
Isn't my little ladybug so cute? She had so much fun answering the door on Halloween. And she got lots of treats from her grandparents who got her baby snacks and formula! She enjoyed all of the attention and just looked so stinkin cute!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
National Adoption Month
First, let me say Happy All Saint's Day! What a wonderful day to celebrate those holy men and women who gave their lives to Christ. I hope to follow in their footsteps! And we're definitely celebrating today!
I wrote this post a year ago. I'm amazed at the amount of hope I had. I don't remember feeling that way, but I'm glad that I was hopeful. It was not a few weeks later that we learned that we had been identified by a birth mom. I'm glad I can look back and see my hope because sometimes I only remember the hopeless feeling and I forget my positive emotions as well. So here goes again (I've editted a few parts, simply because a lot has changed in a year. For the original post, unedited, go here.) And everything I said was so true.
November is National Adoption Month!! So maybe during the month of November, say some extra prayers for all of those involved in the adoption process:
~ Birth moms who face the toughest and most important decision of their life and the life of their child
~ Case workers who deal with everything from the most touching to the saddest cases you can ever imagine
~ Foster parents who care for and give a temporary home to those waiting to be adopted
~ Adoptive parents who are in any and all stages of the adoption process
~ Those discerning adoption as a means of expanding their family
~ And most importantly for the Children involved in the process whether born or unborn, especially those who are waiting and are desperately longing for a forever home
This is fitting as November also marks the point, last year, at which we began to pursue adoption two years ago. It's hard to believe that two years have gone by, but that November (2009) was when we learned the devastating news that (more than likely) we will not have children of our own. It was also the month that we prayed constantly for guidance as to what God's plans were for our future family. It was those prayers that led us to Catholic Charities where we began our adoption process.
The last year two years were a total roller coaster for us. We have had some extreme highs and some extreme lows. However, I know now that I can look back and understand it all more clearly, at least I hope :-).All of the mountains of paperwork, money, time, effort, tears, smiles, and sweat were blown away the moment we became parents. I'm so grateful for the gift of Adoption and what it has meant for our family. I love Anna more than words can describe. She is 100% totally and completely our daughter and I can't even express how happy that makes me.
I am so thankful to her birthmom, R, for her courageous and selfless choice. I thank her for taking such good care of her for those 10 months and for giving her a great start to life. I thank her for choosing life for her daughter. I thank her for choosing us to be Anna's parents. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about what a wonderful gift R is to our family. I hope that someday I can thank her personally. For now, I hope she knows!
So to end my nostalgic post, here's a link to my Birthmom's Day Celebration post. And here's the adoption song that I have listened to countless times since. Happy National Adoption Month! Say some extra prayers this month for all involved in the Adoption process!
I wrote this post a year ago. I'm amazed at the amount of hope I had. I don't remember feeling that way, but I'm glad that I was hopeful. It was not a few weeks later that we learned that we had been identified by a birth mom. I'm glad I can look back and see my hope because sometimes I only remember the hopeless feeling and I forget my positive emotions as well. So here goes again (I've editted a few parts, simply because a lot has changed in a year. For the original post, unedited, go here.) And everything I said was so true.
November is National Adoption Month!! So maybe during the month of November, say some extra prayers for all of those involved in the adoption process:
~ Birth moms who face the toughest and most important decision of their life and the life of their child
~ Case workers who deal with everything from the most touching to the saddest cases you can ever imagine
~ Foster parents who care for and give a temporary home to those waiting to be adopted
~ Adoptive parents who are in any and all stages of the adoption process
~ Those discerning adoption as a means of expanding their family
~ And most importantly for the Children involved in the process whether born or unborn, especially those who are waiting and are desperately longing for a forever home
This is fitting as November also marks the point, last year, at which we began to pursue adoption two years ago. It's hard to believe that two years have gone by, but that November (2009) was when we learned the devastating news that (more than likely) we will not have children of our own. It was also the month that we prayed constantly for guidance as to what God's plans were for our future family. It was those prayers that led us to Catholic Charities where we began our adoption process.
The last year two years were a total roller coaster for us. We have had some extreme highs and some extreme lows. However, I know now that I can look back and understand it all more clearly, at least I hope :-).All of the mountains of paperwork, money, time, effort, tears, smiles, and sweat were blown away the moment we became parents. I'm so grateful for the gift of Adoption and what it has meant for our family. I love Anna more than words can describe. She is 100% totally and completely our daughter and I can't even express how happy that makes me.
I am so thankful to her birthmom, R, for her courageous and selfless choice. I thank her for taking such good care of her for those 10 months and for giving her a great start to life. I thank her for choosing life for her daughter. I thank her for choosing us to be Anna's parents. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about what a wonderful gift R is to our family. I hope that someday I can thank her personally. For now, I hope she knows!
So to end my nostalgic post, here's a link to my Birthmom's Day Celebration post. And here's the adoption song that I have listened to countless times since. Happy National Adoption Month! Say some extra prayers this month for all involved in the Adoption process!
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