We've had a couple of full weeks around here lately, I guess it's that time of year.  In the next 3 weeks alone, we have 3 graduations, a wedding, and a milestone birthday to celebrate.   Some day, I will look back and wonder where all of these days have gone.

This past Saturday, we attended the wedding of a co-worker (mine);  traveling west to be there.  I also did the wedding cake, which was a lot of fun and maybe a little stress, but that's part of the job.  Driving with several sheet cakes and a large table cake in the back of your car for several hours made me a little nervous, but we made it all intact.  It turned out well and everyone seemed to have a great time.  

We also recently visited a new school for Caleb.  He has been in speech therapy for almost a year now and has been making a lot of progress.  But the past couple of months, I have been a little concerned that maybe he doesn't have as many consonants as he did.  It almost seems like he has regressed a little: words he tried to say months ago, I cannot get him to even acknowledge anymore.  I voiced these concerns to his speech therapist who agreed with me and said she was glad I noticed because she has been a little concerned, too.  Now, taking into account that my son came to the US at 18 months of age and didn't speak a word of English anyway, plus having a mouth full of scar tissue from a repaired cleft palate--it's enough to set anyone back some.  But we also can't sit back and say, oh well, that's just how he is.  So, we visited a preschool that he could possibly attend next fall.  It's through the public school system and he can receive speech therapy several times a week instead of twice a month as he is currently getting.  The program is for kids age 3-5, so we went to see a classroom.  My first thought when we walked in the door was, "oh my gosh, all these kids are so big!"  Caleb did not seem big enough or old enough to be anywhere near that classroom.  But the teacher explained that half the class is 5 and attending kindergarten next year, and Caleb won't be starting (at the earliest) for a few months anyway.  He just seemed so small.  I know, I know, I'm just being some kind of overprotective parent.  I don't care.  

But I am interested in this program and we sat through some of their activities and classes.  Russ is going to go and visit next week to see what he thinks.  We don't even have to make a decision right away, but we are thinking ahead depending on how things go with the speech.

On a further note, we also recently filed immigration paperwork for baby 2.  I'm not sure how to refer to this child.  We do not have a match yet, so there is no name or identity to think of yet.  I guess I'll have to be vague for a while.  Anyway, before traveling for an international adoption, for many countries (including China), you must file immigration paperwork.  It's a pre-approval of sorts.  This way, when we return to the US, our new baby will automatically be a citizen when we arrive.  To file this for this status requires filling out a 10 page application and sending a copy of our homestudy.  This was recently delayed because our final copy had a typo that needed to be corrected and it took several more days to finish and remail.  As I've said a million times before, such is life in the adoption world.  We're hoping to hear that it's been approved and receive an appointment to be fingerprinted at the Dept of Homeland Security.  Of course, there is always a chance that it will not be approved--well, just need to be changed--so we will have to make the changes to the application and/or homestudy and then send it back again.  And it keeps going from there.....

On a final note, in the midst of all of our traveling, Owen lived with my parents for a while.  He loves being at the farm and they, too, seem to enjoy his presence (at least more than I do at times).  So, he got to stay at his favorite place for several days and to repay my generous parents for that: he ate my dad's hearing aids.  Anyone who criticizes a beagle owner for having a fat dog doesn't understand that beagles will eat anything.  This proves my point.  Apparently, my dad thought it was safe to leave them out of his ears and on a coffee table.  Obviously not.  He left the room briefly and returned to find Owen sitting on the floor, chewing them up.  How's that for gratitude?  

Ok, I'm off to call the insurance company.......

Seating for 7

I recently had a conversation with someone about how I have a list of blogs that I follow, and, while I check them periodically, no one seems to want to update them as much anymore. I'm blaming this on Facebook. I actually do like Facebook: it has allowed me to learn about new babies, engagements, new jobs, gives birthday reminders, and just keeps me up with what is going on with most of my friends. I even recently was able to connect with a dear friend from high school, whom I haven't seen in several years, through Facebook. It was wonderful to catch up. So, Facebook is not my enemy. I just think it has replaced a lot of blogging that normally goes on, and I kind of miss it all. I was explaining this to someone, and they responded, "you're right, Meg. I check your blog all the time and you don't seem to update yours much either." Ok. Point taken.
As I write this, in a couple of hours, I will be leaving for the west to attend a graduation for a friend of mine. We're going to be carpooling with another couple and their daughter. We recently bought an SUV. We traded in my pickup that only had a small jump-seat and is not conducive to carrying toddler(s) around. So, we upgraded. Our new (to us) vehicle is touted as being able to seat 7 comfortably. Seven? Do I need to fit that many? When we were buying it, I was sweating. I thought, seven. That's a lot of children. Visions of the future were running through my brain of it being full of nothing but children. The screaming, arguing, DVD's playing, etc. I almost turned back. I mean, we're only working on our 2nd child here. But, we went for it, and now that we are transporting adults in it this weekend, I can definitely see the advantages of it. So, it was a good idea. And, I like to drive it.
Our 2nd adoption continues and we have finished our home study. I really like our social worker. I mean, she's very efficient anyway, but I also just like her as a person. We are currently trying to file an application for citizenship for our new child, so that when we go to China to bring them back, they will become a US citizen when we arrive. It has to be done before paperwork can be sent overseas, and is also almost always done even before you can be matched with a child. So, as always, there are snags. Communication problems, mail delivery issues, etc. I forgot how frustrating it can be. I imagine it is like what people say when they deliver a baby: you forget about the pain after the child has arrived. I've (sort of) forgotten how difficult it is to adopt because we have Caleb now and I haven't thought of it anymore. Until we are faced with these delays for our new one. I'm trying to be upbeat about it and do other things that are fun (or at least distracting). For instance, recently Phil Keoghan of the Amazing Race was in town, as he was riding his bike across America to raise money for MS. We're big fans of the show, so my sister and I found out where he would be and went to see him. No, we did not stalk his hotel room. He was signing books at a store nearby, so we met him and got his autograph, and he was a very nice guy. Not that I encounter celebrities all that much anyway, so what do I know? He took a picture with us, and we did not make him re-enact a scene of running up to the mat at the Pit Stop (if you watch the show, you know what I mean), but a woman and her husband who were in front of us did just that. He graciously went along with it and said his part so they could get the whole thing on film. Hmm. And I thought we were the big fans.
I'm off to go pack and get ready for the weekend. This post has been sort of a ramble because so much goes on in between the times that I actually do post on here. Then it becomes sort of disorganized, so please forgive my blathering on about the mundane. Wait. That's all of life. This is the same as Facebook; it just takes longer to read.

Newness

Spring can not come soon enough. That is all I have to say.
Ok, maybe a little more. We were lucky this week when the "blizzard" that was supposed to arrive ended up being simply cold weather and a bit of snow with hardly any accumulation. The flowers that have started to come up in our front yard have not known what to think. Our grass even needs to be mowed already. Now we just need some consistently warmer temperatures to go with it.
I love spring. It doesn't get enough credit from me, I think. I mostly really like fall because of the changing leaves, crisp air, etc, and that it is a prelude to the holidays. Spring is a prelude to summer, which I don't care for at all. But for those few weeks in late April through May, things can be quite nice.
This spring, we have much to be happy about and new things are going on all around. With Easter being only a few more days away, we decided to try and color eggs with Caleb and his cousin, Maesa.

This was actually not as much fun as I expected, probably because, when you are 2 years old, you are more interested in sticking your hands in the colored vinegar/mixture and eating the Rice Krispie bar shaped eggs that grandma made. The "fun" is really only what your mom and grandma think it should be. Such a time it was: we had the colors, eggs, stickers, the whole Paas kit laid out, but sometimes the fun comes when the kids are just a little older. Although, my niece, who is almost 4, did a great job with the coloring and the finished product turned out pretty great.

Caleb and I did enjoy one of our new Easter traditions, which is making Smeeps. We had the much simpler version where we heated the Peep in the microwave instead of delicately browning it over open flame as some would suggest, but it really did taste delicious. Since we are big fans of Peeps around here, this was a tasty new way to eat them. And the look on Caleb's face when I sandwiched it all together was pretty funny. Oh, and he enjoyed eating them as well.


There is one more thing that we are happy about that is new these days: our social worker will be coming for a visit for our homestudy next week. We will have two visits, and then we will be done! The part that I didn't say before all of this was that the reason we are doing a homestudy is because we are processing a 2nd adoption. After a year of being home from China, our family is "expecting" again. We hope to go back to China and go through the same program as we did for Caleb. Actually, we'll just have to see how that goes because in the adoption world, planning anything can actually be quite a downfall (see previous posts from about 18 months ago). Anyway, we are looking forward to a possible new brother or sister for our guy in the (relatively) near future. I'll keep posting as our process moves along.
Happy spring!

Gotcha! One year later

One year ago, we were in China and we met our Caleb for the first time. The next day (a year ago today), we headed to the civil affairs office to adopt him in China. As I look back over pictures of that time, I'm amazed at how fast it all has gone. The changes in him have been so subtle, to me, because I see him every day. But looking back at those pictures, I think, "wow! where's his hair? He's so skinny!" etc., and I know that things are definitely not the same.
I remember the day we met: we actually started out in Beijing, trying to figure out how to repack everything for another flight. We went to the airport and flew to Lanzhou. I remember thinking that once we got there, we could just go to our hotel and settle in for one last night and meet Caleb the next day (as planned). When we landed, we were met by Xixi, our guide and we loaded our stuff on the bus for the hour drive to the hotel. The first thing Xixi said as we settled into our seats was that the babies were going to be at the hotel that day when we arrived! Yikes! For the next hour, our guides talked about such things as the landscape around the Lanzhou area, what the Chinese names of our children meant, etc., but I barely listened. I was too distracted by thinking that we were going to meet Caleb, and very soon. What would he be like? What if he looked so different that I didn't recognize him? I don't know how to be a parent! What do I do??!!
We got to the hotel and nearly destroyed our lovely room by trying to put gifts together. We met in a conference room. After a few minutes of waiting, a man walked in and said, "excuse me, but the babies are here." And, one by one, they each came in, carried by their nanny/foster mother. I remember when the first child came in. It wasn't Caleb, but for a second, I feared that it was and that maybe I just didn't recognize him. But then, he came into the room, and I knew right away. I remember saying to Russ, "that's him! Look at those eyes!" And they were those same big brown eyes from all of his pictures. Those same ones he has today. The same face--he was smaller in real life. But real.
Soon, he was running around the conference room. In an effort to not totally overwhelm him, I did not attempt to pick him up at first. In fact, the first time I remember holding him was when he made a dash out the door and I grabbed him. Not exactly the tender moment that I imagined the first time I picked him up was going to be.
When his foster mother left, he cried. I actually didn't find out until later that she was his foster mother, having been told that she was his "nanny". Had I known, I would have tried to allow for more of a good-bye for them if I could. He came with us, though. Maybe he felt like he had no where else to go at that point.
After that, we either carried him or he ran. It was one of 2 things only. By that evening, we realized just how small he was--he had been bundled so much and was a skinny little guy underneath. We took him for dinner to KFC and he fell asleep in our hotel room. Day one.
Fast forward 365 days. He's asleep now, only it's in his crib in his room with his blankets and stuffed animals. He's now 2 1/2 and still running. Working on potty training. Wearing some of the same clothes as a year ago. He knows some numbers and letters, and chatters on about everything. He has friends at daycare and is taking speech therapy. He loves macaroni and cheese and pickles. His favorite song is "wheels on the bus" and his favorite movie is "Cars". He loves trains, cars, tractors, buses, trucks, and semi-trailers. And we love him.
The perfect addition to our family. Introduced to us one year ago. Amazing! One year and we're here where I never imagined it would be. We love you Caleb.

Winter isn't over yet

We received 4-5 more inches of snow last week and it's supposed to be 60 degrees on Thursday. Hmm. Welcome to Nebraska.

January

What to say?  It's January, and around these parts that means cold weather and post-holiday attitudes.  Maybe not so much at our house.  We were just watching a recap of the Presidential inauguration on CNN.  What a proud day for our country!  We are still basking in the joy of our recent adoption, and Russ is happy in his new job and thankful to be working.  These are some good times.

Last week, we had Owen farmed out (literally) to live with my parents for a while.  He has been so out of control lately and I know he needs more exercise than he has been getting here.  It's been a quiet week here with Zeus, who is the non-barker/obedient dog of the two.  But because Owen has some sort of tenure in our household, he will never completely go away.  Just for short periods of time now and again. My feelings for him did actually waver a little after seeing Marley and Me.  It made me want to go home immediately and hug him, which I did.  But the next day, things were back to normal, and the feelings were short-lived.  My parents report he is happy with them, so I'm not in a huge hurry to bring him back--yet I do not want to take advantage of their generosity--any day, they could call up in an angry state demanding that he has to leave.  Ok, I doubt that will happen, but you can't underestimate the power Owen has to annoy people.

I worked this weekend and actually had to float to pediatrics on Sunday night.  I don't think I've been there for over a year.  It was similar to the clinic stuff as far as the age of the kids I cared for, but in a much more acute setting.  I had a great conversation with a co-worker (also a nurse floating from another unit) who I hadn't seen in a while.  She was asking a lot of questions about China, the process of adoption, etc. and I was happy to give her the information.  Hey, you never know when you may talk to someone who could be interested in going through it themselves.  In the middle of our conversation, the nurse who normally worked on the unit approached us and entered the conversation.  She was more than a little pregnant.  When my other co-worker excitedly told her, "Meg went to China this year and adopted a little boy!", she responded with, "oh, that's so nice! But....don't you ever a child of your own?"

Sigh.

During our homestudy, we took classes to prepare for stupid comments such as these.  In my head, I've always had some sort of a comeback, like, "nope! We thought we would just rent Caleb for a while."  And yet, I never think of those things in the moment, when someone asks such a question (and it isn't the first time it's been asked).  How to respond?  My irritation aside, I actually felt sorry for this woman, who, by taking such an attitude, has missed out on one of the greatest joys I never imagined I would have.  And that's what this blog is about anyway, right?

In short, this has been a small rant.  But it's not to say that others don't deal with dumb people in other areas of life.  Or that I never thought I would hear such  comments.  Oh well, this kid is mine.

Adopted!

After spending nearly 10 months together (already!) we had a milestone within our family yesterday: we went to court and officially adopted Caleb. It's final! In our hearts and minds and, according to the Peoples Republic of China, he is already a member of our family. But the state of Nebraska requires a 6 month waiting period before a legal adoption takes place. We started preparing for this in September, but after processing paperwork and trying to get a court date around the holidays, we were able to do it yesterday. Our friend Karen graciously represented us as our attorney. We were sort of expecting something relatively laid back, but I was a little intimidated being in the courtroom before a judge on a bench, who was actually a little stern. I think it was more of an act, like he really had a sense of humor under it all (he even joked with my parents, who also attended), but I was too nervous the appreciate the humor. But we got through it and we are so happy to be finalized!
We had a great holiday season, very busy with all kinds of things. We held our annual New Year's Eve party here with several friends that we don't always get to see throughout the year, so it was nice to celebrate with them.
Our 2009 is getting off to a great start! Happy New Year!


Our little guy getting ready for his big day.


Caleb and Mommy before we leave for the courthouse. Many early pictures of Caleb have him simply staring into the camera, without a smile. Despite our attempts to say "cheese!" or "smile!" he would never do it. One day, it occurred to me that maybe he didn't know what "smile" meant, so I showed him. Now he understands a little more what to do when the camera is ready.


Right after the court proceeding has finished. We only took one picture, and I decided to close my eyes at the precise moment.

Our happy family

Christmas time

Our first Christmas season with Caleb has arrived! I remember last year when we were still wondering when we would travel, or what it would be like to have him here. We've been having fun decorating the house, watching Christmas movies, and looking at lights. Today we went to my mom's house for our annual cookie baking day, which he happily participated in.
This season has also taken another especially happy turn for us: Russ accepted a position with our public school system in their facilities design department. It's a great blend of what his last job was (site work, crawling in ceilings, etc) and what he has been working toward in his graduate studies (planning, zoning, mapping, etc). He will begin working there next week after the preliminary stuff is done. For those who have been following this journey and praying for him, we want to say thanks. A difficult journey can be so much more bearable with friends who care.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Lord, we are very grateful for you all! Merry Christmas everyone!

Why is there a tree in our living room?



Trying eggnog for the first time

Learning to sing "Deck the Halls"--Falalalala is the best part!


"Decorating" cookies at grandma's



The finished product, courtesy of cousin Maesa (every red-hot available was used)

2 Year Old Beagle: Free to Good Home

Or, at least that's what has been going through my mind lately. Ok, so I'm not 100% ready to let the little beast go (we are talking about Owen here), but he really is getting on my nerves. Recently, Caleb was given a wonderful little farm set, a belated birthday present from his uncle Matt and aunt Michelle. The kid loves anything having to do with farms, which is great since he has easy access to one in our family. Matt and Michelle gave him a little tractor that plays "Old McDonald" and various animal noises, and comes complete with a pig, sheep, cow, horse, and a farmer to drive. Caleb loved it:

So, I have a child who loves farms. I also have a beagle who loves to chew. He will chew almost anything he can get his paws around. Ok, maybe not absolutely everything, he has refrained from gnawing on table legs, but most anything else has to be monitored. If I turn my back for one minute, any small, preferably plastic or cloth item becomes the next victim. After putting Caleb to bed tonight, I got busy working on a newsletter on the computer and wasn't paying attention, until, well, enter Exhibit A:

In case you can't tell, the one on the left is the remains of the pig and the brown one on the right was a horse. I'm sure they can still ride in the wagon, but it won't be the same. I'm fairly certain Caleb will notice when he wakes up tomorrow.
Why does Owen have to be such a menace at times? Am I a poor dog owner or is he just being a beagle? We recently took him to a new place to have his nails cut--something I put off as long as possible normally because he is a freak about it. We took him to the same place where he has been boarded before, just never groomed. I warned them that the last nail clipping at the vet required him to be muzzled. I just didn't want anyone to get bitten, that's all. As they carried him gently away, the tech referred to him as simply being "toenail sensitive". So maybe he really wants to be coddled and it's my fault for not paying enough attention to him, I don't know. All I do know is that we are going to have to figure something out soon or all of Caleb's toys will slowly be consumed, piece by piece.

It's our last day of good weather for the year, I think. 70 degrees today and 40-something tomorrow. Caleb and I just came inside from a brisk walk to the post office. We had headed next door to Ace Hardware where they had mums on sale for $1 at end of the year clearance, but they were just too heavy to carry back while trying to manage a 2 year old near the street at the same time. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow.

Further changes have ensued around here. What I believed was "settling in" for our family was really only some type of notion in my head. We have no one to blame, though, except ourselves. I believe we really are trying to make good decisions, at least it seems that way at the time, anyway. I have officially changed jobs again. What is with me anyway? Ok, to tell the truth, working in an office (at least the one I was employed at) was dull. Bear with my cynicism here for just a moment, but I was witness to several "crisis" events that took place that sent people scattering to find the crash cart: quick! we have a life to save! Only, in my head, I wouldn't call them emergencies at all. I feel as if I've seen some real emergencies, and these weren't it. I was afraid that if I continued to work there (or in other non-critical care settings), I would become complacent, accepting of the mundane, and I would turn into one of those freak-out people who don't know how to use an oxygen mask. I'm just not ready to go there yet. (For anyone reading this who works in another sector of nursing that I have just deemed boring by my standards, I'm sorry. It's just me, that's all). I resigned from that office, and the people there were great about it. They were all very supportive of my choice to leave, stating that I'm going back to where I used to work because "it's what I do". Anyway, I'm returning to NICU. Not the fantastic schedule I have enjoyed for the past year, but I guess it's more important to me to do something I am challenged by, something I feel really good about.

Change #2 in our home: Russ is officially done with his job at Windstream. He is currently still looking for a job and continuing with his master's degree. The jobs he has applied for have run the gamut from professional to blue collar/permanent to transitional-until-he-graduates jobs. Who knew the Dow would have the biggest drop in recent history mere weeks after deciding to quit? It probably doesn't seem so smart to be looking for a job right now, what with our economy so poor, but I really think something will come through. It's really only been 2 weeks since his last job ended: we're not worried at this point, but we would appreciate the prayers for him to find the right place. Hey, maybe with the election finally over, we can see some immediate benefits and change??! Who knows.

With all of this going on, we're happy to enjoy life and our other moments of family and just simply having a good time. There are quite a few things going on around here this time of year, and it's been fun to watch Caleb discovering new things (Halloween candy, for instance).

Caleb dressed up as an Indian brave for Halloween and Russ and I decided to be pilgrims.

A visit from cousins Madisen and Thadd.

Saturday at Fallbrook fall festival. They had one of those huge inflatable jumping castles. Caleb is not quite sure about the whole thing.




Then, after a trip down the slide, he decided it was a lot of fun!


Downtown at the train station


Playing around with cousin Maesa. Exactly how many kids can you fit into a diaper box?