Thankfully Yours!

Okay, I have been reluctant to add a new post, cuz I don't want to bump our sweet little man down the page! :) This will be a "budget post", using less words than usual. Are those snickers I hear??.... and please relax those raised eyebrows....please? Yes, it is possible for me to be straightforward......I don't have to like it, but it is doable! Drum roll please.......

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! May you each find a bit of peace, love, light & laughter with family & friends over this long weekend. I will be away from bloggyland for a spell, but"I'll be back" ( please cue bad Arnold Schwarzenegger movie line for dramatic affect!) & eager to see how y'all spent your Gobble time early next week!! Hugs & drumsticks for everyone! Or for those of us who could truly care less about meat(like me).....Hugs & pumpkin pie!! ;) Mmm..mmm...

Thrilling Thursday ~ Update Time!

Oh my gosh, here he is! These were taken on October 27th and our little hunk of man was 3 months & 18 days old at the time these were photos were snapped! We are so tickled to see his cherubic face & maybe, just maybe we have found the new face of Gerber! Look at those cheeks! He is now up to 16 ( yes, that is not a typo! ) pounds and is 25 inches in length. That is a lot of sweet boy there to love on, cuddle and snuggle. Oh, how we wish he was home right now!! I'm starting this instant with my bicep toning to be baby ready!! :)

I'm also attaching the video we were sent and there is one brief fleeting smile at the beginning. He looks a bit overwhelmed towards the end of the video & he is very intrigued by whatever they are jingling above his head. I also want to thank everyone who left such supportive and sweet comments for us regarding the "late" updates. Just can't thank you all enough for helping to keep me sane! Thanks for stopping by everyone & please pray (or hope & wish) that all the waiting babies come home soon!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Updates, shmup-dates! The updates are late, late, late, for a very important date! :( Another family has received word that they should be sent before Thanksgiving (Yay!) so in the meantime I thought I would share a few shots from our recent trip to a local park......before it got so cold & blustery!

So proud to be holding the leash!

This one is for you Simone!! :)

Just after jumping from the swing!

Out of order, but look at that leap!

Our girls take the plunge!

Okay guys, hopefully our next post will be to share updates or some other kind of amazing news! (wishful thinking!!) It is amazing how important those updates have become to our family; many of our friends & family members have been emailing, calling and anxiously awaiting them also! Its one tiny link to our son............we treasure them so much!!

Color Me Blue!

I don't know if anyone blogs or even checks blogs much on the weekends, but this antsy Mom has had it with cleaning, purging & organizing for the moment! (I must be nesting!!) So I thought I would give a sneak peek at the spoils from my latest shopping adventure and as you can see.....its all blue! (Plus my Mom is so anxious to see it all!!) :) It has been my secret fear that I would not be able to find cute & sweet things for our Little Man. Shopping for our little Miss has always been so easy and FUN; there are so many options for girls when shopping that the real challenge is more in limiting yourself to only a few things, than finding something adorable. So imagine my delight when I stumbled into a T.J. Maxx this past week to find a store clerk just unloading these darling items AND they were such good deals. ( Always a plus when funding an adoption!! ) LOL The only non clothing item I found was the above 2-in-1 Cart Cover (shopping cart and restaurant high chair cover) & I just LOVE it! Its ecru/black and the fabric depicts children playing in a vintage toile pattern. Much of Lauren's nursery bedding was based around chenille & toile, and I didn't think it possible to work that in (in a manly way) for our son. The clerk must have thought I was batty, hugging that very last cart cover to my chest as I lugged my haul to the check out(crazed grin on my face), but I didn't care in the least! :) Course I still had to get receipts, despite buying only the roomier 9 to 12 month sizes........a cold dash of reality, but an altogether glorious adventure for this waiting for those updates, gosh darn it, gal!

*** Happy weekend everyone!!!

****P.S. The snowsuit is like a cloud & there is a tiny tag on it that reads: "Faux Fur" ; that just amuses me so much!

What's In The Toy Box?

Well, not really the toy box, cuz that is filled to the brim with Polly Pockets, Barbies, Webkinz and much more! But as I am always interested in and seeking toys & books that explore adoption and offer exposure to multi-cultural themes, I thought some of you might enjoy a glimpse at some of our tried & true faves....

In the top picture I have included an amazing matching/memory game called, I Never Forget a Face!. In addition to sharpening recognition and memory skills, this beautiful game features 24 pairs of children from around the world. There are no pairs from Kazakhstan or Taiwan, but there are children included from: China, Vietnam, Mali, Russia, Scotland, Brazil, Mexico, Hawaii, Haiti, Myanmar and many more! The game is listed for ages 5 & up on the box, but the cards are extremely sturdy laminate boards, fully drool proof and easy for chubby little fingers to grasp! ( Way too big to be a choking hazard either. ) Lauren & I adore this game that was given to us by our sweet & generous friend "T" ( actually a lot of these incredible things were given to us by "T" ) and it has prompted many requests from her to research these countries to learn more about these cultures, climates, etc.....she also thinks several of the boys are, " really cute, Mom". Ummm......I'm so not ready for that!! LOL

** This game is an Eboo.com product but you can find it for much less at this site: http://www.dollslikeme.com/ (under games & puzzles) ** This is a great site too for more multicultural toys/activities! Target also carries Eboo products.

Also in the top picture is a unique set of blocks by the Habba company. We received these blocks at one of our baby showers and have been using them since Lauren could stack blocks! This is the Russian set, and though Lauren has no documented Russian ancestry, Kazakhstans' culture has been heavily influenced by Russian traditions/architecture, etc. so this has been fun for us all! The blocks are surprisingly sophisticated and even older kiddos visiting our home have loved this set. Habba makes other country specific block sets too and their products can be found at: http://www.haba.de/

Yikes....still at the top.....Of course we have Big Bird in China and while Lauren is well beyond the Sesame Street gang, it has been fun to watch and I know her baby brother will probably love it down the road. This one can be hard to find, but I did find it listed as "on sale" at: http://www.chinasprout.com/

Also at top is Lauren's look-a-like Bitty Baby doll. This was also a gift and tailored to match her coloring & heritage. Bitty is an American Girl doll and is absolutely cherished by Lauren & I both.

Again, (at the top) is a Sagwa DVD, ( Cat Tales & Celebrations) which features a spunky Chinese Siamese cat and is based on a book written by Amy Tan. We love this one because it highlights several holidays/traditions celebrated in both China and Taiwan. I was tickled to see mention of Stinky Tofu, moon cakes and Chinese New Year. This is a PBS Kids product.

Finally at the top ( and thanks for still reading!) is the amazing See 'n Say: Kids Around the World. This was a gift from (yes, the amazing) "T" for our baby boy, but Lauren has checked it out thoroughly and gave it a huge "thumbs-up". It is two sided and features the countries of: Italy, Germany, Russia, Kenya, India, Australia, Japan, China, Canada, USA ,Mexico, Brazil, Spain, England, France and Land & Sea. Once activated it has a musical selection from each country, facts, words, counting in each language and a seek & find game. It is fantastic and Lauren can count, sing and say 'hello' in so many languages now! I could not find a website for this toy, but a random google should bring it right up! This is a great one for many ages!

The middle picture shows Lauren reading in her room with some of our favorite books that have adoption themes. I won't type all the titles as I hope they are readable above, but I will say that these have become such keepsakes for our family and they are so kid friendly and explore adoption in a very whimsical and kid appropriate way. Lauren is holding her favorite, A Mother for Choco, which is especially brilliant for multi-racial adoptions and also is a nice one to master for an independent reader like Lauren. Our other favorites are the Little Miss Spider books. In Little Miss Spiders Christmas Wish, she prays for a sibling and her Christmas miracle brings a little brother home to her family! How appropriate for us this year as we wait for our baby boy!! (Praying he can be home for Christmas, but fearful we will be sending him kisses from afar....). These books are short & sweet and also wonderful for trans racial adoptions and single parent adoptions. These were some of the first books Lauren read all by herself last year and that's a plus too for older siblings or as your child grows! Lauren can't wait to read these books to her baby brother!!( Us too!!) All the books can be found ( I believe ) at most major book stores.

Phew....are you still with me? Wow! Okay, yes, the final picture is blogger prerogative and we included Lexi with her look-a-like cuz Lauren was worried she would feel left out if we didn't add it! How sweet is that!?!

Final Thought: Please let me know if you have any great toys/books/games related to adoption or culture that your family loves!!

P.S. Updates should be coming soon! Yay!! We miss our boy so much and want him home!!!

Awareness......

November is National Adoption Awareness Month, with the last Saturday prior to Thanksgiving always being recognized as National Adoption Day is this country. How fitting that a day so close to Thanksgiving would raise awareness of adoption & celebrate the diversity, miracle & tremendous blessings of adoption. It matters not whether the adoption takes place domestically or on foreign soils; every adoption is unique and beautiful, forged in trust, faith and deep abiding love. It is a tribute to adoptive families everywhere that a month already cherished for its long standing traditions and focus on giving thanks would be designated as a month to honor forever families forged through the grace of adoption.


In celebration of this month, I wished to share a poem that truly resonated with me for its simplicity & beauty....


November..............
A time to gather and give thanks.
A time to give thanks for the blessings of adoption.
Remembering those who are daily blessed by adoption.
And those who make adoption possible.


I give thanks this month and each and every day for the 2 angels who have blessed us beyond compare. My words don't fail me often, but it is simply impossible to adequately express how their very existence has gifted us beyond measure. One child home in our loving arms.......another equally loved & eagerly awaited from afar........


I also give thanks for our loving and supportive families, who truly are the champions of our hearts and are equally devoted and crazy about these amazing kiddos! I give thanks for our friends, both near and far, who provide steady support and faith, while our family journeys along its twists and turns. Emails, phone calls, letters, gifts, visits........each one tethering us & shoring us up during the more turbulent moments. I also give great thanks to my Yah** group, whose membership has offered tremendous support, humor, sanity, resources and best of all, unexpected friendship. I am in awe of these fellow adoptive families and their courage, acceptance and faith. Equally valued are the fellow bloggers I have been privileged to communicate with since creating this site. Their giving natures, kindness, honesty & grace thrills me and provides a unique sense of fellowship in what can sometimes feel like a lonely journey, made so much less so by this incredible community.



I have much to be thankful for!

We had an amazing Halloween weekend! In addition to my folks coming up for a long weekend (yay!) we had some stray visitors in the tiny form(s) of a glamorous kitty cat and a devilish doggy! I also included a random photograph of some local color from our town's downtown square; it was so lovely on Halloween day and we absolutely could not have ordered a more perfect & ideal day for trick or treating! Boo! It is one we will remember for many years to come!

Our little slice of suburbia does some extra wonderful things for Halloween and this year was no exception! Each year on Halloween day the shopkeepers hunker down outside their stores, regardless of the temperatures and hand out treats to the local kiddos who come trick or treating. Its safe, fun, quirky and festive. We always see so many friends & classmates and this year we had almost all of the Grandparents with us as we made our way around the square! One tiny kitty cat with 7 adults trailing behind or alongside her.....I wonder if anyone thought we were paparazzi! LOL

Off subject, I also wanted to share that we, despite keeping meticulous records, were thrilled to receive a small check from our adoption agency as it seems we had recently overpaid a bill?? I have to say that this was a complete surprise and we are so pleased to be working with such a scrupulous & honest agency. I wish more surprises like that were tucked into the mail! :)

We also plan to send our second care package this coming week. We have adorable outfits from both Mimi O. and Mimi K. to include, as well as, a few other little odds & ends that Mama here has been unable to resist! We hope to send smaller but more frequent packages from this point on and are hopeful we may yet see our sweet boy in something we send.

I hope everyone reading this enjoyed a festive and spook-tacular Halloween. BTW....Lauren picked out the devil delight for our sweet pooch, Lexi! (tee-hee) Okay, I'm off to check all my other favorite blogs......with our big weekend, I have been a terrible bloggy friend!