Just sitting & waiting & blogging

I can't believe it's been 100 days since DTV, here's to another 100, or 200 days.

Number 1 on my list

Why do we live in a world that is so fixated on lists and ranking things? We number everything. There's the first dance, first kiss, number one movie, most popular in school, best school, best neighborhood, and so on.
Is it possible to believe that adoption can be someones first choice?, instead of believing that a couple MUST be infertile, and therefore adoption must be a second choice?.Because clearly ( being sarcastic here), biological children would be first choice, followed by children that "look like your family", third choice would be children from the same country,and finally if you just have to have children the last resort would be to adopt from another country. This is crazy really, why can't people let other people live their lives the way that they choose, no matter what that choice is.
People are funny when it comes to accepting/thinking of adoption as a family choice. They say things like "don't worry, as soon as you adopt you'll get pregnant and then you'll have two babies!"(because clearly two is better than one)or they say "If you think you can have your own, why would you adopt?"(because clearly my adopted child won't be my "own")
I think we need to be proud of wanting to be parents, and choosing to be parents, instead of focusing on the way we become parents. Deciding to adopt a baby is about choosing to start a family, it's not about being infertile and choosing the "second best" option.

Our moving day

Where to start.... let's just say moving day was pure CHAOS. First off we spent two hours at the lawyers office, followed by three hours in the emergency department at the hospital. Gavin cut his finger after we moved the first item onto the moving truck,figures. Then, we had a flat tire on our van (the same tire that has had two previous flats) and had to call CAA. We finally loaded the moving truck & van by 1am.
That was Wednesday.
Thursday my mom came over to help clean our old house for the new owners (thanks mom),and Gavin and I went for our "pre delivery inspection" on our new house. Now usually the PDI would be done a week before you move in, so that they have time to fix the minor screw ups, our PDI was scheduled for move in day morning.
First thing wrong, they put laminate in the kitchen when it was to be tile, the same tile we've been fighting over for months. Then, they put the wrong tiles on the bathroom floors, therby making the floors not match with the tiles around the tub.
Also, they claim that the cabinets are "backordered" and it will be at least a couple of weeks until we have a kitchen, or bathroom vanitys. Not to worry we have the most ugly, temporary kitchen and bathroom sink and counters. So all in all our new home is "live in ready".
They started to fix the floors on Friday, they finished the kitchen by Saturday, and started on the bathrooms upstairs. The tile guys tiled over the old tile ( which apparently is alright from a tiling point) however, the toilets and our fake vanity wouldn't fit back in the room properly. The home builder decides it to be best to have the tile guys come back and tear out all the tile and start again. The tile was finally finished and toilets back in place yesterday.
Next problem,the phone and cable company were late arriving (a day late for the cable guy), it seems that even though you give directions to these people, because you are in a new subdivision they can't find your house. Then the appliance people went to the old address, even though I called twice, with directions to confirm delivery to the new address. Then, our new gas stove didn't work,and we have to eat out, or eat really crappy microwave dinners until someone can come to fix it. The appliance repair guy gave me a two hour window of when he'd be there to fix the stove,between 2 & 4 he said. He came by after 7pm, can you say "IDIOT".
Oh and to top it off, our computer has viruses making it very difficult for me to blog!
Nothing new adoption related, we're just waiting. The only good thing about all of the moving day chaos is that it took my mind off of the baby for a few days. But, my mind is back on baby now!

Math stinks!

INCREASE IN FAMILIES WAITING + DECREASE IN BABIES = LONGER WAIT TO REFERRAL all of this = CRAPPY no matter how you put it.
Average time to referral as estimated by our agency has increased from 6-9 months, to 9-12 months. However, I decided to clarify with our agency as to if they were calculating the wait from log in date, or from dtv,& to my surprise they are estimating from DTV. I should have asked this before, it's been weighing on my mind for a long time. Realistically I know we have a long wait ahead of us, like close to 9/10 months to referral, but at least it's not a year from today!
Those of you in the adoption world can appreciate the glimmer of hope this brings! I was beginning to feel like we were being tested, like someone was saying " are you sure you want to do this?... how about now?" almost haunting and taunting like, strange I know. But, this little glimmer of knowing we were waiting already is what I needed to keep going.
YEAH! for small victories!

11 more days

A Christmas Wish

Every Holiday Gavin writes me a poem/card, this year was no exception.
This was the poem in my stocking this year

A Christmas Wish...

This Christmas I wish for you, everything that I can't do.

I'll get us a baby if I can, I'll run to Vietnam and back again.

I'll build us a house with my two hands, I'll even follow our new house plan.

I hope the wait won't make you blue, this is my Christmas wish for you.

Merry Christmas, Love Gavin

Wrong Date

I posted today but it posted as December 6th!

Does anyone know?

I'm trying (really I am), to be patient. It's not a word I like much, actually patience " I hate you!" so there. All I want for now, is to know if our file has been translated/logged in. Is that too much?? Urgh! It's been 45 days since it left Ontario, and I want to know when I can start the OFFICIAL WAIT.

What Tarot card are you? Take the test! & Just because

You are The Hierophant

Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching.

All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.

The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I got this Tarot card thing from another blog, but it was awhile ago and I can't remember who it was. So if you are reading this fellow blogger Thankyou. I think it sounds like me (besides the patience thing)"Divine Wisdom" I like the sounds of that!
Anyway, take the test it will give you something to do for the next two minutes other than read blogs.

On other news, yesterday was hubby's birthday! he turned the big 29. We went for dinner with family, it was nice to be able to see everyone again. I think Gavin really enjoyed himself.

As for the house, we went for an inspection this morning. Everything looks pretty good and they've done alot of work over the last little bit. I'll post pictures after the siding is on. The siding looks to be the colour we liked so that's great news. The framing, plumbing,insulation and electrical is complete, and today it looks like they are planning on working on the drywall. Things are coming along, and head office of the home builder says our home must be complete by the 18th of January. Although, I'm still expecting it to be "live in ready", but I'm alright with that as long as we can move! I don't want to put our stuff into storage, and rent somewhere fo awhile.

As for the adoption, I have no idea what's going on. I know that we are within the first 11 files sent, ten of which are translated, which ten? I don't know. Our agency rep. is in Vietnam, maybe he's back now,I don't know that either. I'm going to guess we aren't translated yet, makes it easier to deal with the dissappointment. So the 6-9 month wait for referral is still on, wishing on the shorter end of that.To steal my hubby's favourite line "we'll see....".

Here's hoping that 2007 brings good things to everyone, and that everyone has a very happy holiday!Especially our babies that are waiting for us on the other side of the world, I hope they receive an extra long hug on Christmas morning.

Another cute adoption video!

This weeks new purchase

We saw this baby diaper shirt while visiting family in Ottawa and just had to buy it!

46 Days to Completion?

The wait that ends all waits

I don't like to wait. There I said it, now it's time to get over it. I had this "discussion" with Gavin last night it went something like this, Me-"Why can't I have what I want BEFORE I even know I want it?" you can imagine for yourself the look on his face, and if you're my mother you would be thinking "that poor poor man".
Does that not sound like the most juvenile thing to say in the world? Of course Gavin with the ever logical explainations said " So what are you going to do, not wait? No one promised you any different".
As I waited for him to apologize for not listening to my feelings, I realized he was right again. No one ever promised me that the wait would be easy, or would it be a short wait. But, I've always known for myself that the wait would be worth it, and if this baby can wait for parents, I can wait for this baby.
Then I thought to myself that things could be MUCH worse. I could be my baby's birth mother who has to "WAIT" for the terrible day that she must leave her baby and walk away knowing that she will probably never know what has become of him or her.So as I wait for my life to begin, she waits for a piece of her life to end. I'm going to endure the wait, and be happy in the end, forever grateful to someone else that is sacrificing so much more than I ever could imagine.

Seen any great diaper bags?

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What is a girl to do with her wait for baby? Why search for the perfect diaper bag of course! However, I love all of these options and need help deciding, so please help me and vote for your favourite diaper bag! I'm leaning towards the blue shades of the diaper bags,(our stroller has blue on it) but I really LOVE them all so please help!

With only 64 days and counting

This is what I have to move into in less than 64 days! Can you believe it? did you notice that there is no roof?!. Good God what are we going to do if this house isn't finished on time? We've sold our other house already, and we have until January 18th to be out.I know that subdivision houses can be finshed really fast (too fast) but they can also be finished very slowly like this one. Our original closing date was August 30th, see the problem here?. With it being close to winter, Christmas holidays etc. I really don't see how we will be able to move in with only 64 days left to go. I think that the homes head office will need another phone call from a "crazy" wife.

Saigon Traffic Video

Saigon Traffic Video

Please try to ignore the terrible music on this video! This is what the traffic is like in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City),there are few if any traffic rules. Apparently the best way to cross the road is to not look, close your eyes and hope for the best!.I suppose it may be best not to know what type of vehicle took your life (a bus, car scooter?)would it matter?
Anyone that knows me could probably picture this scenario: Gavin and baby across the street safe, while I am left stranded on the other side trying to build my nerve up to cross in that chaos! I can picture it now, and for the record that had better not happen!

Dossier to Vietnam!

This morning we received an e-mail from our agency informing us that they have sent our dossier to Vietnam. We are so excited about this news, we weren't expecting our dossier to be sent for another week or so. The next step is translation of our file, and submission to the International Adoption Office for processing. Things are finally moving forward, this has been a very good day!

Waiting for November & random thoughts

On Tuesday we learned that some files have been sent to Vietnam. Our agency rep. is going to Vietnam the first week of November, he is taking with him a batch of dossiers, ours is in that batch. I was hesitant to post anything because I was hoping to know more information, but I guess we are living on a "need to know" basis.
I've been living through other peoples blogs, latley. There has been some really great news posted regarding referrals, and travel approval for some families. Congratulations goes out to everyone that has received the news they've been waiting for.
Really this is my day - make coffee, read blogs, drink coffee, read blogs, get ready for work, go to work, think about adoption (oh yeah I'm at work), try to work, come home, read blog, go to bed, think about adoption, sleep.... start day over.You know it's getting bad when you've paused waiting for your own news, and started wondering/worrying about everyone else and their business. As though I don't have enough stress right now (building a new house, adoption etc.), I'm taking on other peoples stress,like did Mrs.Broccoli Guy get travel approval yet, has mellowandyellow's adoption agency open to begin Vietnam adoptions, really things are starting to go to far.The worst part is that most of my conversations start with" I read on this blog...." My poor husband has to hear non stop about not only our adoption but everyone else's. Although he has been great, he dosn't share the same blog addiction that I have right now!
I need a vaction that's what I know for sure, anyone up for it?? Somewhere warm...maybe just say Vietnam? It's 28 degrees there (and that's during the night)and 5 degrees here hmmm....
(Pep, I know you'd go on vacation with me!)

OH HAPPY DAY!

We've just received an update from the agency stating that Vietnam is open to our agency, and files for families in waiting will be sent over the next 2 weeks.I can finally breathe(and sleep)!, no more worry for a few weeks, until the next step. WHOAAA!!!! what a great feeling. As soon as we are DTV(dossier to vietnam) we are going out to celebrate!!! I've been waiting months and months for this news. This is going to be one hell of a good day, and it's not even 9am.

Adoption Video

This is one of our favourite videos of a couple who adopted from China. Even though we are adopting from Vietnam, we expect the experience to be similar. This video reminds us of why we chose the adoption route. (Be sure to turn up the volume, if your a Beatles fan!)