Finalization / the situation in Guatemala

I really can't wait. I know I've said it a million times, but I didn't think it would mean this much to me. It's just a "formality." But, I've been reading up on the situation with Guatemalan adoptions. Have you heard about this? I've read blogs about parents who have been in Guatemala since being matched with their baby. One couple has been there for five months WITH their child and now there is the alarming possibility that they might not be able to adopt him. And where would he go? Right back to the orphanage. Why in the world would this happen? Who in their right mind would say this is the best thing? According to this site the Guatemalan government feels there are too many unethical adoption practices linked to international adoption. I won't waste anyone's time and argue that it's not true, because we all know adoption can be ridiculously corrupt. So fine - go ahead and reform laws and work on the system. But do it starting now. Don't say that couples already matched and in love with their baby have to go home or start the process again. They're already parents to that child in their heart. It's not like buying a new car - like they can just get back on the list and start over and be fine. We're talking about families here. Families already made.

The good news is that apparently both sides (US and Guat.) are caving a bit and saying that adoptions already in the process can proceed, but how long with that last? It makes me NUTS!
So, back to my original reason for this post - hearing about families already so bonded and in love with their babies makes me want our finalization done NOW. It's a formality, but it's one I want to be over and done with.

Also, if you have more news on the situation in Guatemala, please comment. I'd love to learn more!

Sitting up!

Just LOOK at this girl! She's sitting up all by herself. (yes, that's a squishy exercise mat under her - we're not taking any chances.) It was really overnight - she just decided she wanted to do it and now she can sit there for an hour and just play with her toys and babble to them and us and well...just to herself. It's the greatest! AND it's really freed me up SO much to do other things. I can sit her in her high chair with a toy and she'll just play and hang out while I clean or cook or whatever. I LOVE IT! It's funny how hard this mom thing can be at times and then there are other times where it really just clicks!! I'm in one of those click times right now and life is good :)

Time Flies

Happy six months, my beautiful girl. I can't believe it's been half a year since I first saw this beautiful face. Thank you for the best six months of my life so far. Nothing is better than being your mommy.

I love you!

Final Post Placement Vist - OVER! :)

We had such a wonderful weekend. The weather was gorgeous, we had friends and family around us, and most importantly, we finished Lily's post placement! Our meeting Friday couldn't have been better. Lily put on her best show:) She rolled over and sat up and squealed and giggled at our social worker. She said that Lily may be the happiest baby she's ever seen. It made me feel so good and almost validated as a mom in a way to hear someone who is supposed to be ensuring that we're doing well tell us that we're raising a happy girl! :)

Also, I've taken up a new mania. I have given in to the craze that is scrap booking. Oh my gosh, it's like crack. I don't know that first hand, I'm just making a comparison from what I've HEARD about crack and it's addictive qualities :) Anyway, I literally spent every single free minute this weekend scrap booking Lily's lifebook. It brought to the surface all the incredible joy of first seeing her. It made me stop in my tracks and pray so hard for Autumn and her family. It's been very therapeutic and has reminded me so much how blessed I am! Also, it's darn fun. :) Lily sits in her high chair and plays with toys while I scrapbook. It's so much fun to see her growing into a little girl. I feel like she's my little pal now while I do things.

AND, I can't believe I almost forgot, we had to move her up into a "big girl" car seat!! No more snug ride! Yes, I got a little teary:) I can't believe she's six months old tomorrow! So cliche, but where does the time go? Happy Monday, all! :)

It's the small things, really

Two posts in one day. I'm on fire. :) I have to be a total nerd right this second and say how excited I am that the fall tv season is starting. Does that make me lame? Perhaps. Do I care? NO!!! Dancing with the Stars is on THREE nights this week. And all the new shows that looks so great are starting up soon. It really is the little things in life, you know? :) SO....what new shows are you looking forward to this fall? Go ahead, don't be shy. If I admit to watching three nights in a row of Dancing with the Stars, you can feel comfortable to tell me what you're watching. :)

Also, this is the sight I got tonight when I put my girl to bed. She talked to her "friends" in her crib for awhile and turned herself totally sideways. I just had to go in and take a picture. The "experts" would come down on me for going back in once I put her down. What do they know? :) They can kiss it, because if I hadn't, I would've missed the most beautiful thing I've seen all day! :)

100th post AND some great news!

Well...this is exciting:) I can't believe this is my 100th post. All of you with 500 posts, hush! Let me have my moment:)

Now that that's over...the great news. We have a finalization date!! It is set for October 24th. I know it's a technicality and all that, but it feels so important and exciting to me. It will be such a beautiful moment to finally have her "real" name on a legal document. I just can't wait.

Our final post placement visit is Friday, and I can't wait to show our social worker all the new things our girl can do. She is so good with her hands now and has just discovered that toes (her own) are a great toy. It's really incredible how much they learn literally over night.

Woman suing RE for twins from IVF

Have you SEEN this? I love more than anything to watch Morning Joe on MSNBC when I wake up. This morning, I read this on the ticker:

CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian woman who gave birth to twins instead of a single baby after receiving in-vitro fertilization has sued her doctor for the cost of bringing up the second child.
The woman, who cannot be identified because of a court order, is seeking more than 400,000 Australian dollars (US $332,000) to cover the expense of raising one child until age 21.
Testifying in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory on Tuesday, the 40-year-old mother said she told her doctor, Robert Armellin, that she only wanted one child. But an embryologist under the doctor's supervision implanted two embryos in her uterus, resulting in the birth of non-identical twin girls.
The woman told the court that she and her partner were devastated when they learned she was carrying twins, and had even considered putting one of the babies up for adoption.
She said that while she enjoyed some aspects of her pregnancy, such as decorating the girls' nursery, other parts were distressing, including purchasing a stroller, or pram.
"It was like the last frontier of acceptance to spend hundreds of dollars on a pram," she said.
The couple, whose combined income exceeds A$100,000 (US $82,875), are seeking A$398,000 (US $329,000) to cover the costs of raising one of the girls, including private school fees. They also want around A$15,000 (US $12,427) to compensate them for time off work and medical expenses.


Okay, I can understand being upset if you said specifically to implant just one, but as someone who once prayed and hoped so hard for a baby, I can't IMAGINE suing the doctor because I had twins. And going in for IVF and then wanting to place one for adoption? Why does this make me SO furious? I don't know, but it does. Seriously, I'm so angry about it. It seems so ridiculous to me. I'll adopt your "extra" baby, lady.

Solid Foods - finally SUCCESS:)

I have a hidden bad mommy secret. I didn't want to start Lily on solid foods at all, and I have been very lazy about trying to get her to eat them. We tried a few times with no luck at all - she just had zero interest in it. She turned her nose right up at it. BUT, today it was just like something clicked. I made a tablespoon of rice cereal (a bit thicker than the previous times, which I'm sure helped), and she ate the entire thing. I really think like so many things in life, she just had to be ready for it. It was the greatest, and I had so much fun with it. Here are a few of the obligatory food pics; now that I look at them closely, she looks a bit frightened. :)

Book Review: On Borrowed Wings

I am loving doing these book reviews! The Mother Talk book I have just finished is "On Borrowed Wings" by Chandra Prasad. This is a book I would've chosen for myself off the shelves at any bookstore. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and the premise of a young woman in the 1930's taking on the persona of her deceased brother to enroll at then "males only" Yale is one that would've surely sparked my interest. I love novels with strong female protagonists - they are hard to find. Adele is a bright, sharp, yet sensitive dreamer. She has grown up in a world where marrying someone who works at the local mine is what is expected of her. I loved watching her sense of adventure and longing for more in her life unfold. Prasad has written a lovely coming of age novel.

I will say that the idea of a woman disguising herself as a man (Shakespeare's Rosalind in "As You Like It, Viola in "Twelfth Night") is not a new one, and it is one with which I struggle to suspend my disbelief. The only pause I gave the novel was accepting the idea that any woman could truly impersonate a man so well as to be able to live, sleep, eat, learn, etc. with them and not be discovered. There were also a few scenes that just didn't play well with me. Adele seems to step out of herself a time or two and engages in some things that were strange and uncomfortable to read.

All in all, I did enjoy the novel. The character of Adele is well-written, and as previously mentioned, I always like reading something with a strong female protagonist.

But wait, aren't we still going to try?

Oh, how I wish I had a laptop in the car that I could somehow blog on! I was going crazy last night driving home from my mom's house because I had this great post working in my head. I know it won't come out as well the morning after:)

We were visiting family this weekend and my husband and I had the longest talk about infertility, adoption, and continuing to "try" for a bio baby. I started out talking to him about the post I had previously written detailing the whole aren't you still trying thing. I felt bad when I read Mayhem's comment (NOT because of the comment -I love Mayhem, her blog, and her comments!, but because of what it made me realize.) I have tended to post only the negative comments we've gotten because I let them bother me way too much. At the heart, people aren't trying to be mean - they just can't possibly understand the "stuff" behind what they're saying. I need to try to focus on all the unbelievable support we've had. My mom is my rock. She quite possibly loves Lily as much as I do. My sister, brother, sisters-in-law, mother-in-law - they are all so nuts for our girl. I need to remember how little it matters what some near-stranger thinks or knows about our family. I need to turn my focus toward the fact that six months ago, I had no idea that this beautiful little person was on her way to us. And when (because it will happen) people make stupid comments, I need to respond with all the love that I have in my heart for my daughter.

BUT, that's not really what this post is about:) I started talking to my husband yesterday about the post and about how bad I felt for not posting more positive things sometimes, and he comes out of NOWHERE and says, "Well, aren't we still going to try?" Um....knock me over with a feather. How can it be (and I know you've all been there!) that I spend about 90% of my time with this man but sometimes I have no idea what's going on in that head. We talked and talked...and talked some more about the issue. Here is another thing that is truly behind my complete lack of interest in pregnancy. I would do anything in the world to protect Lily from feeling like she's second best. If she ever felt like she was just part of the "meantime" while we were waiting for a bio child, it would break my heart. Because nothing in the world is farther from the truth. I know lots of families have a combo of adopted and bio kids- my good blog pal Jess is currently mommy to beautiful Ava and has a little one on the way- do you ever worry about that? Is it okay to ask that personal of a question or am I being one of "those" people? :) Maybe it's a great way to teach kids about love and what family truly is - not genetics, but people who love, support, and care about each other. I need to do some more thinking about it. :) I'm excited to read comments about this - I want to know how others feel/deal with it.

And way down deep at the bottom of my psyche - I do not want to open my heart to the pregnancy door again. I don't want to venture into any more pain. I truly have dealt with the grief of accepting I probably won't be pregnant and give birth. I don't want to go down the path of RE visits and shots and drugs and sperm washes and the intense pain of negative pregnancy tests with still only a REMOTE chance of ever conceiving. I can't do it - not when I know in my heart that adoption is the way we are supposed to build our family. My husband totally understood and agreed, and I feel so blessed to be married to this man who loves me and our daughter so completely.

Adoption isn't for everyone, and I feel like it IS the way for us to build our family. And this is not at all intended to knock anyone who disagrees or anyone who has a blended (adopted and bio) family. I think any way a family is built is beautiful! And it's not just so I can be spared the pain of infertility because heaven knows adoption is not pain-free. :) But, adopting Lily has been the best experience of my life. I can't imagine not doing it again. It was one of those experiences you can't fully appreciate until you look back because you're not capable of processing so many intense emotions all at once.

This post is ALL over the place, but I have to end with a few pics from the weekend. My gorgeous nephew is still trying to decide how he feels about Lily. He is so gentle with her, but he doesn't like it much that she gets a bottle and he no longer gets one. He's also not a fan of Lily on his mama's lap! :) But, he pats her so gently on the head and when he comes around a corner and sees her, he gives a little squeal and giggle. According to his mom, he doesn't pay that kind of attention to any of the other babies at church. And she just lights up when she sees him. It's amazing and it totally warms my heart. THAT is what family is! :) Isaiah, if you recall, isn't biologically related to us, either. He and Lily share no blood, but they already "know" and "love" each other (in their own special baby ways!) Finding someone who will also put a tupperware bowl on their head with you - that's family. :)