Just a quick note...
As soon as I got off the phone with the FBI - gosh that cracks me up - and was assured my prints were mailed the same time as Michael's, I heard the mail truck. I quickly ran out to the mailbox and instantly got goosebumps when I saw the large tan envelope inside. A slight weight off my shoulders.
;)
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How Quickly The Days Go By
In a blink of an eye, June will be over. In two and half more days, Michael will be done with summer school. In a little more than a month Hayden will have finished his theater camp. And our dossier is still not complete.Currently I should be calling the FBI (how strange is that?) to find out where my prints are. Michael's arrived late last week with the final copy of our homestudy. Once the prints are in I believe we are off to notarizing. From looking at the time line (and remembering back) last year around this time we were in the same boat. Except we didn't get to the notarizing until the first week Hayden was in school. Still... I thought we would have been done with this by now.
On a lighter note - we are enjoying our summer. We purchased a Family Super Pass with a local kids museum and are reaping the rewards. We have already been able to get into the Milwaukee Public Museum (a treat for Mommy's bday) for free and another local museum closer to home for a playdate. This beats the zoo hands down! And they are air-conditioned!
Hayden is truly getting a kick out of summer. He loves loves LOVES camp on Tuesday and Thursday. We are practicing Willy Wonka several times a week (yes Mom too!). He loves to act out his favorite song - just don't ask him to sing on the phone, my poor mom was on the receiving end for at least 4 songs!
In addition to camp, Hayden is still attending his therapies and has swimming lessons on Fridays. We have also added what we assume is temporary therapy - a psychologist on Saturdays. This has been a great sounding board for our family, but also great interaction for Hayden mainly to help with his frustration, etc.
Our little water bug! Hayden's camp has the luxury of taking the kiddos to the local park district pool every camp day. So Hayden gets the chance to swim 3 days a week. This persuaded mom to buy a big boy another suit to aide in the laundry situation. He couldn't be happier.
With camp, that means mom gets quiet time - a taste of what first grade will look like! And I can't wait! Though I miss my guy, it's nice to have the peace and quiet and time to be able to get things done. What a difference. And you would think that camp would tire out dear ol' Hayden? NOPE!
June has definitely been a busy month. We spend our weeks being busy running around, weekends are even more hectic... bdays, playdates, errands, etc. July seems just as crazy, minus Daddy's summer school. We hope to have more summer fun days (Wednesday is our family outing day!) and relax more in August.
For now - we are enjoying Michael coming home early, the late nights catching up on TV, eating icy pops, throwing snappers (kid safe "fireworks, check your dollar store), reading, and eating dinner outside.
I love summer... just not the 90 degree weather. I just wish it would slow down. 0 comments
Wiping Our Brow
Now that the craziness of the play is behind us... school is ending right before my eyes. Hayden is sad cuz he LOVES school and Mommy is sad cuz school is out for almost 3 months! Only one happy is Daddy cuz he's done teaching - then again, that makes Mommy happy because he can be home with Hayden while Mommy takes a break. Hmmmm.Anyway, I now know the meaning of "Soccer Mom". It has only just begun. With a full schedule lined up this summer to keep Mr. Hayden busy and active, who has time (or money) for a vacation?
Speaking of busy - Hayden was exhausted by the 3rd performance of Dalmatians. On Saturday evening, he could barely stand and continue singing - he looked physically sick. (Who's bright idea was it anyway to do 4 performances so close and 2 back to back?) As soon as it was over, Hayden was back to his perky self and running full speed ahead. When asked if he wanted to do another play... Hayden's famous words "Oh Yah! - Maybe they have a Stars Wars the Clones Wars play!!!?!!!" I don't think so bud. Either way, we conveniently found a summer camp in our park district doing a Willy Wonka theatrical camp. Two days a week, eight hours a day. When offered to Hayden... he was all over it like pigs in mud, or Hayden and Cheese Goldfish. In addition to this he will be swimming again and some other small activites.
As for Baby V... we are working on it. Our homestudy has been re-vamped. More forms have been completed and Dr. has been visited etc. It's only a matter of time before all forms are done and ready for the next step. Ugh....
So to bid adeu, we leave you with a pic of our Dalmatian. I would post more, but worry about the other children in the play - as I do not have permission to post their picture. Also, some shots turned out dark or have some freaky head in the way (always nice huh?)
Have a great week!
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Things That...
For the past week I have gone outside and heard this whistling bird (it seriously sounds like it is whistling). Either I am walking Hayden to the bus, doing some light gardening or watching the kids play outside. Every time I've heard this bird I find myself smiling, sometimes turning to see if I can find it. I haven't but it doesn't stop from adding that little "umph" to my day. With that, some people ask/imagine how we make it through the day or week during this hard time in our life. With what seems like a "return to the beginning" we do keep chugging. I thought I would share how I keep moving along.Things that make my week a little easier:
- Seeing Hayden’s sweet and charming smile.
- Reading Michael’s morning notes that always end in “I love you”.
- Watching Grey’s Anatomy & The Mentalist (Simon Baker is HOT!) and looking forward to the next episode.
- Hearing the same bird that whistles every time I am outside (either I am a pretty mama or it’s looking for a mate, LOL).
- While taking a break, one of our cats climbs into my lap nuzzling, purring, and begging to be petted.
- Having a good hair day.
- Hearing a friendly voice.
- Viewing the wonderful works of Hayden.
- Sitting down to a hot cooked meal – courtesy of a drive-thru. ;)
- Seeing another bloom on my flowers sprout or open up.
- Hearing my favorite song – and playing it over and over again.
- Driving my car with no traffic, tunes on, on a beautiful spring day.
- Having no electronic breakdowns, no colds, no unexpected bills………………..
Starting From Scratch... well, kinda
It's been quite a whirlwind around here the last couple of weeks. Easter came and went, a birthday was celebrated. And now we gear up for Hayden's 101 Dalmatian play.
It's hard to believe my little boy turned 6 years old. And in celebration of his fantastic day - I created a music video (thanks to animoto.com) to show just how much fun he had. I can't get past the fact that 6 years ago nurses were jumping on top of me trying to get this stubborn child to come into the world. Six years later - he is still just as stubborn, if not more, and just as happy!
Besides that, we have been working on paperwork. Monday morning we had our caseworker from our homestudy agency come and to do an update. In addition to the forms we are filling out - nothing new is going on in the adoption world - which is a good thing. Quite frankly we are glad we made the switch as the corruption in Kyrgyz continues and sounds worse with every update. I just wish we would have switched sooner.
On a happier note... Easter, more birthday and April Fool's pics are posted on the right column. We hope you enjoy! 1 comments
It's hard to believe my little boy turned 6 years old. And in celebration of his fantastic day - I created a music video (thanks to animoto.com) to show just how much fun he had. I can't get past the fact that 6 years ago nurses were jumping on top of me trying to get this stubborn child to come into the world. Six years later - he is still just as stubborn, if not more, and just as happy!
Besides that, we have been working on paperwork. Monday morning we had our caseworker from our homestudy agency come and to do an update. In addition to the forms we are filling out - nothing new is going on in the adoption world - which is a good thing. Quite frankly we are glad we made the switch as the corruption in Kyrgyz continues and sounds worse with every update. I just wish we would have switched sooner.
On a happier note... Easter, more birthday and April Fool's pics are posted on the right column. We hope you enjoy! 1 comments
Heading Down a Different Path
When Michael and I first started our research, the "Stan" countries were ones definitely on our list. Uzbekistan, was once a choice and has since closed and not reopened (least not to my current knowledge). These countries gave us the flexibility of adopting a child of an Asian decent without the strict rules and wait that China has a huge rep for. With more research, came more setbacks... travel time being too long for example. In addition this put Kazakhstan as a country to "fall back on" - not that we ever thought we would need to.With that, life always seems to toss us a curve ball. The beautiful, yet industrial feeling on my laundry room ceiling proves this. A tiny leak can cause major stress. The ever so leaning backyard fence that may yet again have to wait another year to be replaced. The kitchen appliances that I am surprised have not keeled over or sparked. It just never seems to fail or surprise me that something is always going on in the "V" household.
Enough of my moaning and more on where our baby girl is coming from and what all entails:
For more country info, head to WIKI... I love this site for a quick history lesson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
To start, Kazakhstan is different from Kyrgyzstan. (As you can see our blogs weather, time and map has now been changed to reflect this.) This country is significantly larger, wealthier and more tourist friendly. Not that Kyrgyzstan wasn't... but from what I've read/understand they are still old-fashioned. Kazakhstan is more populated, hence more people.
In regards to a referral, Kazakhstan is completely different. We will meet our child after we travel to the country once our dossier has been approved/processed. There we will spend about 15 days (at least) during the bonding period and either wait for our court date or return home and then come back again for the 2nd trip to go to court. Once we have been to court, we wait to hear word that our daughter is officially ours and we are able to go back to get her... or we can choose an escort to pick her up.
Here's the fun part. Since we are switching countries, we get to do our dossier papers all over again!!!! YEAH! So much fun. Back to the doctor, another round of finger prints, and more notarizing. We also need an update visit for our home study.
In the end, we hope changing directions benefits us as we truly weren't sure if and when Kyrgyzstan was going to move. Deep down it's heartbreaking and I personally feel like I am losing something by letting go. I'm sure over time it will heal... 4 comments
Are You Calling God?
On our way home from therapy this morning Hayden and I were discussing the important phone call that Daddy and I were going to receive about baby sister. He was under strict instruction to go downstairs, have lunch, watch a movie and be hush hush. Of course... a curious 5 (almost 6) year old wants to know why. So I explain to him that Mommy & Daddy need to talk about baby sister. Somehow out of the blue, Hayden drops the God comment on me... I didn't know whether to laugh (which I did) or hit the breaks and pull over the car for a discussion about God making phone calls.
Anyhoo... it was quite sweet and humorous to hear Hayden say later that he is going to pray for baby sister. You and I both kiddo. Which brings me to the big news. This time last year we thought we would have a girlie bundle of joy to welcome to our family and friends. It just won't happen soon enough. Unfortunately with the shake up in Kyrgyzstan there is no promise when (or if) the process will start picking up again for anyone who did not receive a referral.
With that, Michael and I have mentioned switching countries, thought about it back and forth, and today received the information we needed to make our final decision.
Kazakhstan here we come.
Travel will be hard, but our daughter will be worth it. We know she will be worth the wait.
More news coming soon.
Hoppy Easter! 0 comments
Anyhoo... it was quite sweet and humorous to hear Hayden say later that he is going to pray for baby sister. You and I both kiddo. Which brings me to the big news. This time last year we thought we would have a girlie bundle of joy to welcome to our family and friends. It just won't happen soon enough. Unfortunately with the shake up in Kyrgyzstan there is no promise when (or if) the process will start picking up again for anyone who did not receive a referral.
With that, Michael and I have mentioned switching countries, thought about it back and forth, and today received the information we needed to make our final decision.
Kazakhstan here we come.
Travel will be hard, but our daughter will be worth it. We know she will be worth the wait.
More news coming soon.
Hoppy Easter! 0 comments
Spring Is Here... Or Is It?
I remember when I was younger, running outside in the springtime waiting to climb into the car for school. While I waited, I anxiously combed through our yard for dandelions (now a days death to anyone's lawn). Growing up, I learned this was a sure tell tale sign Spring was here... Unfortunately, as much as Michael calls dandelions a weed (and fights to keep them at bay), I don't see these yellow bursts of color coming anytime soon.Which highlights another topic of ours that hasn't been blooming much lately. We haven't received much word that things have been moving - though we continue to keep chugging along.
Though there is a possiblity of snow today (yes for those not in our local area you read it correctly), my orchids have been having the time of their life. The picture above simply does not do it justice. And though I see no signs of spring in my yard yet (though my neighbor has some) I can always count on my blooms on my kitchen sink. I may not have a green thumb - but I am able to make these babies thrive!
We've been keeping busy here. "Daddy" just had a birthday and his spring break all rolled up into one. Hayden's spring break will be this following week. Birthday parties galore and weekends filled with play practice. I can now tell you Hayden is vibrantly singing most all the words on his 101 "Dog" CD and requests it frequently. (Yeah mom!)
Speaking of Hayden, my little boy is growing up. We are so proud of him and excited to share the news of him attending a Reg Ed 1st grade class next year (with an I.E.P). He is also most excited. He woke us up this morning all roaring to go. He dressed himself and even put the toothpaste on the toothbrush (the later took some coaxing). The fact that he didn't need us to tell him blew us away.
And more on the growing up front... Hayden will be turning 6 in a couple weeks. Invites are mailed and party supplies, etc. are being planned as we type. Too bad he grew out of the simple stuff, like trains and cars.
A funny quip from a still 5 year old... We are driving in the car - the 3 of us, Michael and I talking, and as usual, Hayden butting in. This is our everyday occurrence. It gets frustrating after awhile. So we tell Hayden that Mommy and Daddy are talking and he needs to wait his turn, to take a break from talking. He answers back... "But I love talking!" LOL
Now, anyone who knows Hayden would understand he didn't talk until 3 years old (ish) and once he did he popped like a firecracker and hasn't stopped since. So for him to make a remark like this shouldn't have come to us as a surprise.... but it did.
Hayden managed to stay pretty healthy the past couple of weeks. Though Michael and I caught the stomach flu, we were lucky enough that Hayden didn't catch it. However, shortly after the stomach bug, Mommy mysteriously caught strep throat. We are all crossing our fingers that that one stays out of harms way for everyone else.
That's it for now. We are anxiously awaiting spring, tooth #2 to fall out, and Hayden's birthday (Mommy secretly wants summer so Daddy can be home and give her a much needed break). I could sit here all day and list things. ;) 0 comments
February Ends With a Bang
Michael got his car back a couple of weeks ago and couldn't be happier. That doesn't mean you won't hear him complain about it though. ;) Conveniently, he lost his front license plate in the accident. And instead of going to a currency exchange and being charged a huge fee to get new ones, the "car shop" guy recommended going to the DMV and asking for plates. What a weird, yet bright idea! So, on a busy Saturday morning (before Hayden's play practice), Michael moseys on up there and stands in what he thought would be an hour wait at least. Before no time, he paid $26 to get replacement plates (after explaining he was in an accident) and was home in a jiffy, back in time to watch Hay get ready for play practice.
Hayden is sooo excited about his 101 "Dog" play. (I don't like to name drop.) We listen to the practice music EVERY TIME we are the car and now even Mom knows the lyrics. Yeah ME! He was casted for the roles, Yes ROLES of a policeman and a boxer dog. I don't quite know how that will work or his lines exactly as the director mentioned changing the script to accommodate everyone. Either way, Hayden is happy and that's all that matters.
The last week of February we had the stomach bug visit our house. Michael got it first, then me. I am the weaker of the 2 (i.e. stomach) and have been testing my limits with real food and it hasn't been going over very well. So yesterday I went back to the B.R.A.T. diet I loath so much and finally had a good night sleep. We will see what the day holds. I could really use some real food! Thankfully Hayden has NOT gotten this bug - yet. If he does, I'm in big trouble.
Adoption news. Last week there was nothing to report, we try to keep everyone updated about what's going on when it happens. With that, I do have something to share today. Good or bad, you never know these days. The "big" meeting has been delayed until March 31st so we won't know anything for a few weeks.
First of all, for those families that do have referrals (not us) paperwork 6 months and over has to be updated. More time and money paid out. :(
Second, here is a copied and pasted update from our latest agency email:
March 3, 2009 - Joint Council is pleased to confirm that U.S. Embassy officials in Kyrgyzstan met late last week with the Vice Prime Ministers Office regarding the 65 in-process intercountry adoption cases and the future of intercountry adoptions from Kyrgyzstan. At this time Joint Council cannot confirm the exact contents of the conversation.
Further, we can confirm that police investigations are occurring in Kyrgyzstan in regards to accusations surrounding child buying for intercountry adoption. No further information on this subject is available at this time. As soon as more information is available Joint Council will release it on our website.
While being sick this weekend and stuck on the couch I had the pleasure of watching a certain "women's TV channel". I ended up watching numerous sappy films about teenagers getting pregnant, teenagers wanting to get married... but the one that stands out ironically is the one where these parents were helping the cops catch a man selling babies. Hmmm, who knew.
Now onto March, filled with birthdays (cousin Kathleen turns 4!!, Daddy, Papa, and Uncle Joe), play practices and who knows what else. I'm hoping for warmer weather. Though I've been saying that for a while now - waiting at the bus stop really puts the chills in ya!
So now that I've been interrupted typing this at least 12 times, I will update more later as news comes available... or if I'm bored. ;) 1 comments
Hayden is sooo excited about his 101 "Dog" play. (I don't like to name drop.) We listen to the practice music EVERY TIME we are the car and now even Mom knows the lyrics. Yeah ME! He was casted for the roles, Yes ROLES of a policeman and a boxer dog. I don't quite know how that will work or his lines exactly as the director mentioned changing the script to accommodate everyone. Either way, Hayden is happy and that's all that matters.
The last week of February we had the stomach bug visit our house. Michael got it first, then me. I am the weaker of the 2 (i.e. stomach) and have been testing my limits with real food and it hasn't been going over very well. So yesterday I went back to the B.R.A.T. diet I loath so much and finally had a good night sleep. We will see what the day holds. I could really use some real food! Thankfully Hayden has NOT gotten this bug - yet. If he does, I'm in big trouble.
Adoption news. Last week there was nothing to report, we try to keep everyone updated about what's going on when it happens. With that, I do have something to share today. Good or bad, you never know these days. The "big" meeting has been delayed until March 31st so we won't know anything for a few weeks.
First of all, for those families that do have referrals (not us) paperwork 6 months and over has to be updated. More time and money paid out. :(
Second, here is a copied and pasted update from our latest agency email:
March 3, 2009 - Joint Council is pleased to confirm that U.S. Embassy officials in Kyrgyzstan met late last week with the Vice Prime Ministers Office regarding the 65 in-process intercountry adoption cases and the future of intercountry adoptions from Kyrgyzstan. At this time Joint Council cannot confirm the exact contents of the conversation.
Further, we can confirm that police investigations are occurring in Kyrgyzstan in regards to accusations surrounding child buying for intercountry adoption. No further information on this subject is available at this time. As soon as more information is available Joint Council will release it on our website.
While being sick this weekend and stuck on the couch I had the pleasure of watching a certain "women's TV channel". I ended up watching numerous sappy films about teenagers getting pregnant, teenagers wanting to get married... but the one that stands out ironically is the one where these parents were helping the cops catch a man selling babies. Hmmm, who knew.
Now onto March, filled with birthdays (cousin Kathleen turns 4!!, Daddy, Papa, and Uncle Joe), play practices and who knows what else. I'm hoping for warmer weather. Though I've been saying that for a while now - waiting at the bus stop really puts the chills in ya!
So now that I've been interrupted typing this at least 12 times, I will update more later as news comes available... or if I'm bored. ;) 1 comments
The Long Road
As I ready myself to write this latest entry, gather my thoughts, etc... I first searched for a picture that depicted how I was feeling today. I first started with a person standing in the dark leaning up against the wall, obviously in angst over something. I scratched that and moved onto a picture that I always toss and turn with. A lake with a pier. Is this a good omen or a bad? So I kept looking... I then found myself looking at stalled cars. Not finding what I was looking for and only realizing that with cars, sometimes they can't be fixed - I moved onto "The Long Road". The first picture screamed perfect to me. Not only is it long, but bumpy. Exactly what this ride has been. And at least with a road, you know there is an end in sight... somewhere. Just hang on for the ride.With that comes our latest update from our agency and Kyrgyz. With our confusion out of the way, our dossier has been sent to D.C. and once it returns it will be sent to country. Ugh on the delays. However with the latest news, it wouldn't matter anyhow. With the new authorities and regulations going on over there, no cases will be processed until March 20th. This is due to the wait for the findings of the commissions report. Regardless... there is still reason to think there may be delay for us after this report. Since Kyrgyz doesn't technically know us yet, any new paperwork or changes they implement to their "program" will affect us. Hence the picture above. We are hanging in there, but it gets harder everyday.
To keep ourselves busy these days we are more than thankful to have Hayden. He is the light of our life. On good days and on bad. In addition to Hayden's therapies we are always on the lookout for something for him to do socially or physically in the park district. Last summer we did soccer (if you may remember). He kinda enjoyed it, it was hard for him to understand it was a "competitive" sport. So when we found the 101 "Dog" play in the park district we gave it some serious thought.
After our questions were answered and Hayden jumped for joy - we signed him up. Hayden will be "acting" in the May performance of this renowned play and we are so proud of him. He was a bit tired after practice this weekend (For 2 hrs every Saturday from 1-3pm), but at the end he was bouncing around like crazy!
More on news next week. 0 comments
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