She was born Dec 14. 5lb 12 oz. I don't know when we will get her (anywhere 4 to 8 months) but I have a document signed by a judge saying she is ours. And she's gorgeous. And a small piece of my heart has been reattached.

Snow in Bmt

4 inches of snow in Bmt! We got to have a late start at school today, though Jack got up at 6am and played in it for three hours! We probably would have had the day off, but we were off for three weeks with hurricane ike. What a fun fun treat. We are 20 miles from the gulf of mexico for crying out loud!!

Nana

Michael's mother passed away suddenly Nov 30th. She suffered two major heart attacks Fri, Nov 28 and never woke back up. Mike, Jack and I were home with her at the time and dear dear Michael performed CPR. We are fine, so good to be back home as our Tgiving holiday went much longer than expected. Nana was not in good health and pretty unhappy but we will still miss her.

Charlie Brown is TONIGHT!

I love/hate the Charlie Brown specials. We'll be watching the Tgiving one tonight in my house fersere.

I love this picture. Chef T saved me in the grocery store the other day. Jack loves those little round individually-wrapped cheeses, but only the pansy flavors like cheddar and American. Of course the store is out and I'm digging through all this stuff w/ which I'm totally unfamiliar. Never fear! I just put in a call to Tracie, who had two minutes to tell me to go pick out cookie cutters and cheese he likes. Genius! So here is Jack having a very entertaining dinner of turkey cold cuts and cheddar slices. I wonder what else I can use those for...

Tomorrow we head to Austin for Tgiving and we are all really excited about it! We are blowing off grandma and great-grandma and staying in a hotel on Town Lake. Suck it, relatives! The hotel has hot breakfast for Mike and an elevator for Jack and a second room in the suit for me to read in all night peacefully!

We are watching our pennies for this hopefully-soon trip to Mexico so this is our BIG DEAL trip.

That Michael Connelly book in the background of Jack's pic is my Dad's bday present. He's so wierd. I tried to get him that new biography of the Thames or the latest HW Brands and he's all "hmmmmm--I think I just want the new Michael Connelly before it's in paperback." I can't wait to get old enough to stop feeling the pressure to improve thyself!

Been Awhile...

I didn't realize it has been so long since I last posted. Oops.

In the past couple of weeks we have also adopted a sickly kitten, who is now THRIVING and always ready to battle. She may just now be six weeks old. This picture is misleading because she is actually very tiny. Jack has named her Flower. This is a good illustration of Catfish's absolute fascination with her. Chicka is adjusting well also, we are getting much much better about going to the potty where the humans WANT us to go to the potty.

And then this weekend Jack got sick! He and Mike went Cub Scout camping Fri night and Jack had a blast running through the woods and playing football with some very sweet and patient 4th graders. Kids at this school are mostly sweet and patient. Then Saturday they came home and we had FEVER all that day and Sunday. It didn't break until Monday morning.

Friday night was fun for Em, though. I got some brie, fruit, and bagel chips and watched Oprah's from the past two weeks. I am all in the know now about sun damage, Australia, and other shit that just drains out of my brain. I did write down some stuff from the Dr. Oz show though.

Today is my parents' anniversary! Yay! 41 years together.

And I missed Tracie's birthday completely. :( She turned a year betta on Saturday and I thought about her Saturday, Sunday and Monday; but only starting repairing the damage today.

Here's the pathetic poem I emailed her earlier to blatently suck up...

A Birthday Poem to Affirm that I Can't Get Through This Life Without You

If someone wrote me a mean email and then hit send...
If I got sued and my actions I could not defend...
If my margarita mix and ice failed to blend...
If I gained 20 more pounds and it went straight to my already bulbous rear-end...
If all my clothes simultaneously were no longer the trend...
If I became incontinent and had to wear a Depend...
If I got fired and my only source of income was to turn tricks and bartend...
AND if FOX News announced the world was coming to an end...
I would still be a grateful girl because T IS MY FRIEND!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM THE SUCKY DUCKY!

New Puppy Name

On Fri Jack changed his puppy's name to Chicka. As in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

I suspected my mother had something to do with this until I heard her ask him how he thought of that name. It's very strange because Aim's mom goes by Chicka for her grandmom name. Maybe Jack remembered that somewhere in the gray cells. She's a very sweet addition. We are very happy to have her.

We did not trick-or-treat on Friday. Jack didn't want to get back into Boba Fet so he handed out candy at home. I just knew all those people coming to the door thought we were religious nut-jobs who wouldn't let our child dress up for Halloween and then forced him to hand out high-fructose corn syrup to the heathen hoard.

I just think he's still scared of the dark.

Meet Firecracker

Jack's new 8-month old puppy Firecracker. She's a terrier mix with one underdeveloped leg that we will probably have to have removed. She was next on the "put down" list at the shelter when a friend rescued and fostered her until we met her. These are pictures from Jack and Firecracker's first meeting.

Cub Scouts

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Our newest Tiger Cub Pack!

Some Bridge City Pictures

If you don't know what I'm talking about here take a look at the previous post.

Here is a shot of their belongings in the yard waiting to go to the dump. There is very little grass even left in Bridge City. Salt water is a killer.

This is what the Bridge City house looked like when they opened the door. The water had tossed everything around and there was a layer of sludgy stinky (and probably toxic) mud on the floor.

It's been a while

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I'm also not keeping up with my facebook page. I'm pretty much just checking email at this point.

Things in Beaumont are getting back to some kind of normal. Many people are displaced but able to rent houses in the area. There are no available rooms for 90 miles!

Yesterday Mike spent the day in Bridge City, a town that almost doesn't exist anymore. He helped an 80-year-old couple gut their house. They had six feet of water in their house so they lost everything. Mike spent the day hauling every single thing these people own to their curb, then ripping up their flooring to the subfloor and tearing out the walls to the studs. Can you imagine starting over from scratch at that age? There's nothing unique about their story here.

Em

Heading back to the dark

I think tomorrow we will move back to Beaumont.  We don't yet have power.  The mandatory evacuation has been lifted so hopefully school will start up again around Sept 30.  I'd REALLY like to have electricity by then!  Entergy says 100% power restoration on Oct 6.  I will miss air conditioning but I miss hubby more.  I visited home for a few days last week.  It's hot and there are mosquitoes everywhere, but I definitely need to be there right now.  We have a debris pile by our street over ten feet high!  And we're not done!  I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to post again.  I can check email though and have really appreciated all the sweet messages.

A little adoption news:  we are now the FirST couple on the list waiting for a baby!  Before you get too excited, we were no. 3 in January so it's taken nine months to move two places.  

Suck it, Entergy! (okay okay my last suck it title)

Yes he's smiling crooked.  He has one HUGE permanent tooth in on top and it throws everything off.  This chinaberry tree came down in a neighbors yard in my parents' town, three hours north of landfall.

Our house is fine, Mike is safe.  That storm was 1 click below a category 3 storm and it was really scary for him.  I don't think he'll stay for any more that strong.  Lots of flooding, lots of tornados, lots of scary-ass wind gusts of 100 mph.  We don't have power at home, but really no one has power.  Luckily our town still has water and sewer.  How do you clean your bathtub well enough to drink out of it?  

The power situation is what is so troubling, hence my title.  Our power company, Entergy, is reporting catastrophic power failure.  Something like out of 187 transmission lines 119 are down.  And they don't even take care of Houston.  Those poor 5.6 million people use Centerpoint Entergy.  So anyway (here comes my political hat) thanks to deregulation work forces for energy companies have been cut to cut expenses, maximize profits and give all the executives the salaries they deserve.  Yay deregulation.  What that translates to is our sweet little house not having power for 3 to 7 weeks.  So no work, no school, no being at home for 3 to 7 weeks.  

But who's complaining??  We are SAFE and our house is FINE.  I'm a happy camper, emphasis on camper (lol).

Thank you, dear ones, for the sweet calls and emails.  

Gustav come, We leave

After work today J, Catfish, Bookmark and I are evacuating.

Mike can't leave until Sat.

A Peak...

I missed the adoption conference call this past Tues. Here are some uplifting excerpts from our caseworker. Oh and our caseworker is leaving Gladney. This is the second caseworker we have gone through.

The following was discussed on Tuesday’s call:

The child born on 8/14 will not be placed for international adoption.

There are currently six birth mothers pregnant that were said to be due sometime in August, but as we can see the end of the month is nearing and it is not likely that all 6 will give birth by the end of the month. Please remember that these due dates are best guesses and will not always be 100% accurate. We do not know if any of these children will be boys or girls.

One of the six birth mothers is due any day and has been going to the doctor to discuss possibly inducing the baby. This child should be born very soon and so far, she has expressed her plans for placing this baby.

Please remember that 10 hours of training are due before you travel. If you have extra time and want to do something for the adoption while you are waiting for your referral, you can access these trainings at:

http://www.haguetraining.com

The next call will be on September 9th.

How's that for optimistic and fuzzy? No one working there is rude, they are just cold. Every once in a while I think it's good for me to skip the calls.

Bittersweet

Landry has started Kindergarten! That's right, Aim's older little girl has taken her first step on her journey to take over the world. Let me just share with you the very very special place this kid holds in my heart.

L is 18 months younger than J. By the time L came along I knew there would be no more pregnancies and I was actually doubting that I could ever love another child as heartbreakingly and euphorically as I loved my J. Then Aim had her papoose and I met her. Stars in my eyes, yall! Let me elaborate on this cutie pic I posted of her.

Incredibly inquisitive--wants to know who what when and where and can sniff your bullshit a mile away. Curly curly CURLY hair. It defies gravity and your imagination. She's tall, almost J's size who is tall for a seven-year-old kid. This is strange b/c her mother under 5' tall. And mom will be pissed I'm telling you so.

So Landry's gift to me: I can love another baby just as completely as my J. That's when I knew in my heart and soul that adoption is for us.

adoption snaption

Another adoption conference call yesterday. LOTS of pregnant women (10 due in Aug!) but no idea is anyone is having a girl, no guarantee that they will relinquish. blah blah blah...

My problem is that I get EXCITED and then SO not excited because the reality is always harsher than my plan. Oh and there's a legal backlog because the courts took the summer off. Yay.

First Date

Jack (Rachel's, not mine) and Sara's First Date.

Goooooooood babies, dating with mommy supervision.

I think you guys are at my favorite spaghetti haunt.

I miss you all!!

Click here for Amianne's Birthday Present Spoiler!!!

Check out these AWESOME shirts. It's a little home-grown business from one of our Mom's here. I'm getting Amianne the one that says "The woman formerly known as martyr" because she's such as ass-kicker now! I also love "Don't spank your inner child" and "Your opinion of me is none of my business".

Gather 'round the tube

Michael Phelps just won ANOTHER gold metal. We've also been heavily into gymnastics and this morning Jack would NOT go to the bathroom until I paused the women's volleyball USA vs. Japan. We are all about the rings right now! GG and Pop are in town tonight (also watching the pool events). Did anyone else NOT know that Bob Costas wears a toupee???? I feel so out of it.



Did anyone else catch the opening ceremony? It was unbelievable. I just cried and cried, much the way I did during Mama Mia. You know, those "happy to be alive cries"? I also cry like that when I hear the Aggie band, during the opening song of the Lion King, and when I'm watching Jack feel perfectly happy like getting a strike in bowling or making a basket at basketball camp. I'm looking forward to seeing how this new little girl will bring the tears. Fuck you, I'm a crier!

One of my friends is boycotting the Olympics b/c of China's record with human rights. China supports dictatorship gov'ts. Not like the US has ever wanted a dictator in charge of a foreign power rather than a democratically-elected gov't. Didn't we help overthrow an elected official in Nicaragua? China is on the wrong side of the atrocities committed in Darfur. What exactly has OUR gov't done for these poor souls besides made Don Cheedle a household name? China censors and spies on it's own citizens in the name of security. Hellooooo Patriot Act. I'm not defending China, I know they have problems. But I'm not sure turning my back on what all these athletes have been working on is an effective way to get the country of China to change a thing. And I'm telling you, we have our own ducks pitifully out of row.



Also, so sad about Bernie Mac today. He could really make me laugh. I just loved the way he would pop his eyes for emphasis. So sad.

Incidentally Mike's nickname has improved. He's no longer motherfucker, at least not for three more weeks. He's now Home Fries. Everyone is, actually. I'm calling all you motherfuckers home fries right now.

Dude swimming is HARD. I would look totally different if Mike would put in a pool. Right?
:)
Em

Every once in a while, it's a hurricane

Hello Edouard.

That's the name of tropical storm that came ashore this morning. I'm so glad it is small. We are still in the middle of it and I am lucky enough to be sitting in the a/c posting on the ol' blog. Fortunately we only lost power for about an hour. Edouard briefly reached hurricane status out in the gulf, but by landfall was downgraded to a tropical storm. About 10 months ago we also got to experience hurricane Umberto. The latinos no gusta Jefferson County.

I know some day we'll have to board up the windows and evacuate, and I'm not excited about that day.

Here's what my MD friend Shannon sent me:

A recent study by Dutch professor Femmi Juffer challenges that adoption hurts a child’s self-esteem in that adopted kids would unconsciously blame themselves for the loss of their birth families and on some level feel that they hadn't been good enough for their families to keep them. Juffer compiled data from 80 studies and concluded that adopted children are not at risk for low self esteem, even in the case of interracial adoptions and international adoptions. Differences in race between a child and their adoptive parents did not matter and children from interracial/international-adoption families performed the same as children adopted into families of the same race/culture. In the long term cultural differences were not as problematic as expected, and even older adopted children, those thought to be the most difficult and more severely and permanently damaged, adjusted over time as well. Overall, although adoption may have initial adverse effects and negative experiences for childhood, the children are capable of change and development for the better. But Steven Nickman of Harvard Medical School who recently did a review of the adoption literature says that while Juffer's study is careful and methodologically sound there are some limits to her research. Essentially, Nickman says, the study doesn't include any of the most difficult cases and as someone who works with adopted kids, Nickman knows that not all adoptions turn out well. Some are incredibly painful. Still, he finds Juffer's work encouraging.

I won't include her comments, but basically it boils down to the fact that none of the talking heads know our daughter. Yes yes I know, Shannon rocks.

We got up early (shocking I know) so I'm going to go try to take a nap.

Em

The next girl born at Tiempo Nuevo is ours!!

Stupid computer. Stupid technology

Sigh.
My computer hasn't worked for over a month so I haven't been able to jump on and update this poor bastard like I wish I could. I hacked into Mike's work computer to post this. Hacking may be taking it a little far, he uses variations of the same password. But I wish I could share a photo or two of the J this summer.

Anyway. It's that lovely time of the month where I have racing thoughts, lots of anxiety and insomnia, and knee-jerk temper issues. I didn't have this crap when I had the iud, but since I'm all nice and sterile, the cycle has returned. I mean it I'm a mess. I can lay in bed and convince myself that I will absolutely die of a shark attack the next time I'm in the ocean, never mind that I rarely go in past "knee deep".

My term of endearment for Michael has temporarily become "motherfucker" and I left him speechless earlier my demanding to know what the hell was wrong with him. Seriously I am ga ga for this dude, he is typically a coddled hubby and does not know how to handle me like this. Esp since I didn't ovulate for seven years (various high-powered birth control methods). He's WAY out of practice.

To top it all off I am reading the most terrifying book ever published. It's about adoption, naturally. The short version is that our child will come to us terrified and drowning in abandonment issues.

Abandonment issues?? Yes apparently she will struggle with her sense of loss her whole life. So now we already have two broken hearts. Hers become she will be placed in my arms broken, mine because I am seeing this terrible burden she will carry and there is absolutely nothing i can do to keep this from happening. Of course the book does say there are some adopted kids/adults who have never have any issues, but that in all likely hood, OUR baby will have this pain.

In her shoes I'm sure I would. Yes socialization is huge, but so many traits are inherited. My father and I sometime try to out-anxiety each other. I haven't been in many emergency situations Thank God but when I am I recognize my mothers complete unflappable faith that we will experience a good or great outcome. How crazy would I be if I had never meet these people? And other things too. Nobody else in my family has green eyes. They are all a beautiful bright blue. No one knows where my eye color came from. This is mildly annoying to me, and I can only imagine how slippery my footing would be if I could not find my chin, nose, and cheekbones in my parents.

My friend Katfish has tried to comfort me on this subject. Not our dog Catfish. I could pour my heart out to her and she would say "Bitch go dig that pizza crust out of the trash for me".

Katfish was a social worker in another life and she married the Wrong Man who cheated and left when their baby girl was four. She says I am WAY ahead of the curve. She watched her child get "broken" as a preschooler and says the process was so absolutely revoltingly painful she's not sure she would even have her daughter if she had it to do over again. I find her statement shocking, but brave. I will know the pain is there, she says, I can handle it because I will see it coming and ride it with her.

I suppose I should comment on Motherfucker's take. He says that it sounds awful, but not near enough to keep from having her. Yeah yeah he's father of the year.

I know I'm writing a book here, but there's just one more thing. J got into a fight at computer camp! I punished him and all that jazz (no tv, had to mop) but it cracks me up that our nerdy little guy poked another kid in the eye over who was going to get technical assistance first.

Em

Here's beautiful Baby Benjamin from Maryland! Congrats again to Sherry--I think he's well worth the wait.

Welcome Baby Benjamin

Hooray!

My friend Sherry in MD has been trying to have a baby for 8 freakin' years and today she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Welcome little Benjamin! Congrats to the happy parents. I don't have any cutie pics to share, b/c I love sharing other people's business. :)

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Em

Click here to see where I spent the weekend

Pouty Bitch

I am so a pouty bitch right now.

Right this second I am supposed to be hanging out in Hilton Head, SC with my two girls Aim and T. Where am I? At work. My flight out last night was cancelled due to all the electrical storm drama here and in Houston. Stupid hurricane season.

I am on another flight tonight and of course we are already hearing thunder. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all will be well.

Sigh. Of course this problem pales in comparison to my friend Sherry who is nine mos preggers and just learned the doctors have put her on the countdown clock for inducing if she doesn't go into labor naturally. News like this never bothered me when I was pregnant, but of course I felt like I was dying (b/c I was) so I was all in favor of ending my time no matter how. But really, how's that baby supposed to know to start heading south? It's not that little boy has been born before! Look at the pressure we heap on even our unborn for crying out loud!!

Don't mind me, I'm just a pouty bitch.
:(

Em

Heavenly Image

Shannon and new baby Sara.

Any adoption news?

Nope.

That's why you good people keep getting little news bits about Jack and Mike. Hopefully soon I will have some encouraging news. We are still no. 3 on the list. There are about 9 women working with Tiempo Nuevo who are due this summer. There is no way to know who will decide to follow an adoption plan and who will keep their babies.

In other baby news, my dear friend Shannon in Maryland just delivered a BEAUTIFUL little girl. I wish I could post the picture she sent me, but my computer is evil and not talking to me right now. Welcome Sara Caroline!

And Happy Bday Jack! He is now 7 for crying out loud. When my computer has stopped pouting I'll post a picture of him at his bowling party wearing his amazing party outfit. We just got back from spending a week in Austin (toured the Capitol, saw my MeMe) and stopped in Schlitterbahn for a day.

If you are unfamiliar with Schlitterbahn I pity you. It has been awarded the no. 1 water park in the country for 10 years! All our kid likes to do is float the lazy river so Schlitterbahn is not too much work for us.

:)
Em

Work Smerk

Sigh. Back to work. Here are a few beach pics.

Life's a Beach!

We are here at the beach and it is wonderful. I haven't downloaded any other picutes yet so I'll put some more on later. It's hot but windy, our rented beach house is wonderful (and equipped w/ wifi!)

We sleep late, eat, hit the beach, come in for lunch and naps, then hit the beach again, then hang out watching Deadliest Catch or playing bingo, connect four or leggos. Lots of reading and napping--so my kind of week!!

Like the shot of hubby sippin beer a la drink umbrella? Vaca Babeeeeee!

The last day of school was horrible. Totally wild and everyone pissed about grades or library holds on report cards. I was yelled at by people who I thought were my friends, but I guess the truth is I'm just a secretary w/ no friends here. I'm over it now but I was pretty upset on Friday. So, you know, fuck em.

Had an AWESOME visit from dear friend Jeffrey over the weekend. Mike, J and I all just think he's tops. I'll write more about his amazing project later. I'm in beach mode now and all this typing makes me need a nap!

Sand and sun baby!
Em

Goooood Communication

Example conversation btwn this here husband and wife:

W: What did we spend our tax refund on? I was just thinking about it in the bathroom b/c I forgot to bring in Texas Monthly so I had to think about money.

H: a dor.... (fades into silence, started low to begin with)

W: A DorK?

H: (laughing thru a sip just like a sit com) yes, we bought a dork. No, a DOOR.

W: What door? All our doors are still old!

H: (already absorbed back in laptop b/c we own his and hers) We haven't bought it yet, remember babe?

W: I hate the space time continuum.

H: (doesn't even bother to roll his eyes at wife's totally incorrect reference to space time b/c she never took physics, not even in high school, she refers to the negative box as the x-box for godsake!)

The moral? Never try to engage your husband when he in deeply involved in porn. Mike is addicted to two types of porn: Bronco and Land. In all fairness he has a 1968 Bronco that almost runs and loves to blow (a pun, HA) money on the website Tom's Bronco Parts. As for the land the poor contral TX dude still dreams of moving to a small (or large) hill country ranch on the banks of the Comal, the Guadalupe, the Frio or (what the crap) all of them.

Why the play-like posting? I am inspired by friend Jeffrey, a bona-fahde play dude. He is coming to TX to visit and there's a good chance we'll run into each other.

Only 3.5 more school days till summer! Only 7 more days till beach vaca!!

Mike Rocks!

Blatant kiss ass post for awesome hubby!

Mike took our crappy gold truck to La Fayette and traded it in on this cute little Saab for J and I to putter around town in. Forgive the run on and dangle there, good sentence syntax is overrated!

It's SO much better on gas than the 'burban and it's NOT WHITE!!! J and I LOVE it. Go Mike! Later on I'll have to type a post where I'm totally pissed at Michael to keep the universe in balance.

T-Ball 2008

Here are some awesome t-ball shots. Michael and I had a fantastic time watching J be "sporty". Enjoy the pics!

Live long and prosper

Just a matter of time before he starts to collect comics I'm sure. J was so impressed that Pop (my dad) could do this, he practiced until he could also pull it off.

Well it sucked.

The adoption conference call was painful and frustrating. The short version is that the home in Mexico helps pregnant women deliver healthy babies safely, it is NOT expressly a home for women to stay in before they give up their babies. So only about 20% (figure rounded up) of the women give up their babies for adoption, and less than that for international adoption.

When Michael and I signed on for Mexico we thought the home for mothers there was like the Gladney home in Ft. Worth where most women intended to give up their babies. Don't get me wrong, I think what they are doing in Mexico is wonderful! I want Moms to have their babies in a safe and healthy environment and I would never want any Mom to feel pressured to hand over her baby.

I just feel misled. I feel like we didn't have all the facts when we chose the program and it's a brand new Gladney program. Maybe Gladney didn't have all the facts when we started, but do they now? There's not a lot of trust on behalf of the families waiting for these babies. During this conference call we had tears, yelling, hurried assurances, apologies, the whole nine yards. I just really don't need to listen to a woman sobbing on the phone b/c she wants her baby so badly. It opens up places in my heart I really try not to visit unless I absolutely have to.

We started the adoption process when J was FOUR and next month he will turn SEVEN. You betcha most of the time I push this stuff out of my mind. Michael has observed that I am already "parenting" this baby that we don't even know. "I'd like another kid but you seem to need one", he's said (not unkindly). It's b/c women are absolutely nuts and become insane as mothers. I not only parent this baby already in my heart, I actually morn the babies Mike and I will never get to have.

So yes a low point, a couple of gray days. Today dawned better though, and God bless M and JD who love me when I'm crazy and sane.

Em

Another crumb? But I'm obese!

I'm up late (10 pm is late for me!) and a little tense b/c tomorrow I have another conference call with our adoption case worker and all the angry and desperate families waiting on Mexico. The tension is b/c I'm sure there will be little if any change in our sitch and we will get a crumb of new info.

Wow this is three depressive posts in a row! So not like me. I'll tell a Jack story to cheer us all up.

Tues night J and I are playing Old Maid and watching Dancing w/ the Stars (I know reality tv is depressing, stay w/ me). Tuesdays they spend an hour telling you who gets the boot and the show is filled with any mix of strange goings on. Last night they had "jr. dancers"--little kids who shake it ballroom style. One couple could not have been more than 10 yrs old and both cuties were obviously hispanic.


J: I think that kid (kid always means boy) is from Me-hi-co.

E: Why do you think that?

J: I think they shake more there.

E: Best answer ever, Dude.


:)
Em

Roll On Baby

Jack note.



This kid is so determined. He's taught himself how to snap, whistle, wink w/ both eyes, wiggle his ears, make the Vulcan "v", double-cross his fingers, make the shadow puppet dog bark, and so on. Due to his slight speech impediment he has trouble making "r" sounds. Shark, when he says it, comes out shahk. Beer is beeya.



Well J is in Spanish this year, and he has decided he will learn to roll his r's. And he has come a long way! His perro sounds awesome! As an added bonus he has started to roll many other consonants as well. You should hear him say "tottttttttttttttaly" or "oh nnnnnnnnnnnnno". Yesterday my coworker almost wet herself laughing when J came in to get $ for "lllllllllllunch".



That little tongue just vibrates all day long now. This is what it sounds like for me to put on mascara: "pllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll". While I straighten my hair I zen out to "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr". And the background music for my morning news show is "ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt".



Roll on, baby!

Em

Ah Beaumont!

Just a quick "slice" of Beaumont:

Our Spanish teachers at the school are both Mexican immigrants and students get Spanish at all grades here. So, you know, it rocks. The other day a parent came in to complain about our elementary Span teacher.

A note on this parent: we call him "the asshole in the Aggie cap". He's a stay-at-home dad for his oil company engineer wife. He always parks in the fire lane and brings his two german shepards *alert*alert* everywhere he goes. He's REALLY into good posture and wears clothes that show off his Marky Mark pecs.

Back to the story. He comes in to complain about the teachers political ramblings. How dare the Span teacher bring up this global warming nonsense and who cares what color Barak Obama is he's still a liberal freak trying to ruin the country. I told him said teacher is currently in the lounge would he like me to call him up for a quick conference. Mr. A in the Aggie Cap lowered his piercing gaze at me and said he can't stand to be in the same room with "that man". I almost clapped and jumped up and down this was making such a good story!

Here's the kicker--his wife just got transferred to VA to watch out Maryland!!

:)
Em

Oh that spam

We are slammed at work so I am totally irresponsible and typing a quick post. We get this crazy-ass insane penis spam in our private Christian school email mailboxes. Today I got messages with these subject lines:
Significant penis thickening with strong orgasm (this sounds a bit Asian to me)
Love tool deserving of a titan

There are also the less-inspired:
Make her scream with pleasure all night long (or let your little boy watch the Goonies on TBS and listen to him scream when the dog nudges his bed)

All right all right--must go run off grade level meeting materials, ready admission tests, and run lunch report. I'm dropping articles, do I sound Asian? Me so fun-neee.

I'll be burning in hell if you need me!
Em

Waiting to hear

Well one of the birth moms living at Tiempo Nuevo has given birth! Before she had her baby she favored an international adoption with one of the Gladney families. No word yet if she has handed over the baby, and there's no telling if she really will. Of course moms everywhere, not just Mexico, change their minds about giving away their babies. So very soon we will hear if we are still family no. 3 or if we have moved up to no. 2!

Bday was good. Watched J play t-ball, then hubby took him to the team pizza party and I got to go have my haircut. Did everyone get to Sam's Club to buy their rice?? A lot of rice is grown (and eaten) in SE Texas so people here are either panicked b/c of de gumbo or like "shut up, I got de rice in my backyahd".

Em

Amianne Rocks!

Tomorrow is my birthday. Yep, me and the Earth were born on the same day. But today the most AWESOME thing happened. I got my bday present from my best friend Aim in the mail!

I have many friends that I hold close to my heart, but my friends Amianne in Dallas and Tracie in Hilton Head are sisters of my soul. We were all roommates in college and have stayed best friends for 13 or 15 years or something insane like that.

So from Aim I get a High School Musical bday card (daughter Landry picked it out) and the movie Juno! We had the day off from school/work today, so of course I've already watched it today. That movie just makes me cry and cry. The whole adoption, being pregnant/not being able to be pregnant, and watching your daughter have a baby thing just overwhelms me.

I'm not the only one, when we say it in the theater Mike totally cried. Actually we weren't able to see the ending in the theater, Aim had to tell me over the phone b/c we had to rush to pick Jack up from a Parents' Night Out at our church. So Aim, being a sister of my soul, stuck a pink post-it on the movie telling me to pull out the kleenex and think about how my baby girl is on her way. I love you Aim!

Tomorrow, the actually Bday, will NOT rock. We have a t-ball game (yay!) and our team pizza party at CiCi's Pizza after (boo!). Plus I have to go back to work. Today was perfect, though!

Em

The First Tooth!

Big day for Jack Dorris. He has lost his first tooth!

Actually he lost it on Friday after Field Day at school. Thank goodness Mike was there so we could make an appropriately big deal about it.

Jack, actually, is very scared of blood. He used to panic at nosebleeds and when he cuts his finger or scrapes his knee he has to lay down or else he passes out. Needless to say I don't think he's going into medicine.

So I tug on J's very loose tooth but he stops me and twists it out himself. He's all very proud and happy, but then there's more blood than he expects. So he hands me his soaked paper towel and runs to the trash can to gag and gag. Poor kid. Then he starts to sob b/c he just feels so crappy. We lay him down on the nurse's couch and Mike and I hang out with him for a while b/c our kid is WAY pale. This all happens in the office where I work, thank goodness. Soon my lovely co-workers start coming through to ooh and aah over Jack, so he starts to feel better.

Friday night after Jack puts his tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy I ask to see it. He could only show it to me with his eyes closed b/c he says it still "freaked him out". And he could only sleep near the pillow, not on it. Poor kid! The tooth fairy left him a bundle, but only b/c it was the first tooth, and only because it was hard as hell on him.

Here's a picture of the cutie, I haven't loaded any of his "new hole" yet. Poor kid, Momma's saving for a new tile floor so neither of us have had haircuts for a few weeks. He just looks like a sloppy spoiled private school kid, right?

Em

After almost two years...

Here's a few highlights of our adoption process.

We started working on all this while living in Frederick, Maryland. After several months we finally finished our homestudy and were just about done with all of our US Gov't requirements when Mike got transferred to TX and we had to move to Beaumont.

After moving we ended up having to redo lots of paperwork, the gov't "lost" us and denied our adoption request, and we had the pleasure of paying for several things again. I strongly advise you not to change states in the middle of an adoption! Then we switched adoption countries, because we like to punish ourselves.

Actually Gladney advised us to change from Colombia to Mexico. Colombia's placement timeline was so slow that we could have waited YEARS before getting our referral. Mexico was supposed to be quicker, so we switched. Of course now Mexico has slowed down but, as our caseworker reminds us, we are no. 3 on the list! So cross your fingers, pick a daisy, or pray for our little family.

Em

Why adoption?

Why have we chosen adoption to expand our family?

After our son was born six years ago I was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy, a heart condition where pregnancy causes congestive heart failure. It's pretty rare and there's not a lot of info on it, but we have been told that death for mommy is a common outcome, especially during a second pregnancy. Thankfully after three years my heart was completely recovered and I don't have to have to take any meds or watch my lifestyle (hello beera!).

Mike (hubby) and I quickly decided that international adoption was our best choice for our second child, it's a closed adoption and we can pick the gender of our child. It did take us four years after J was born to get to the "right" time to begin the process. Moving around so much was making it hard to complete the process, and money was always an issue. The adoption will probably total out at around $30,000.

We are very happy with our agency, Gladney in Fort Worth. They have been in business over 100 years and have placed thousands of babies. I'm so about old movies, and there is a pretty decent one about the life of Edna Gladney called Blossoms in the Dust starring Greer Garson. Incidentally Greer also does a decent turn as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Kiera rocks the role, though).

Em