Precious Gift

Today I got a special surprise in the mail. I received the most thoughtful Mother's Day gift from a dear friend from out of town. She sent me a wonderful book called
Motherbridge of Love from Barefoot Books. It is the sweetest book and a most thoughtful gift. The book is an illustrated poem about the role Mothers and Birth Mothers play in who an adopted child is. Of course, I cried when I read it. It was so heartwarming. I'm already looking forward to sharing the book with our son. Click here to listen to Amy Tan read the poem.

These last few weeks have been emotional. With even more uncertainties in Vietnam adoptions and the approaching Mother's Day holiday... It's been hard to keep my spirits up. There couldn't have been a better time to receive such a special surprise. It just takes a little nudge once and a while to boost my confidence that this adoption WILL happen, and our baby boy will be home with us in time. We are still in a race to make the September 1 deadline for referrals. We hope to be matched with our baby boy at any time now.

Also in adoption news, it is feared that Vietnam adoptions may close to all of the US due to a small number of "unethical players". Two groups are working for support from lawmakers to help Vietnam adoptions. Ethica has posted information on their website explaining how you can help. They have a sample letter as well as links to websites for your state representatives. Please consider faxing, calling, or emailing them in support of ethical adoptions from Vietnam. Please, show your support for helping legitimate adoptions to continue. JCICS will be launching a similar campaign soon. I will pass on that information as I know more. Here is the response I got from Senator Richard Lugar:

Thank you for contacting me about adoptions from Vietnam.

You are not alone in expressing concerns about the pace of adoptions in Vietnam. In response to many letters from Hoosiers, my staff has contacted officials at the Department of Homeland Security to raise your concerns. Currently there is only one full-time Department of Homeland Security official in Ho Chi Minh City who is assisted by two local staff. However, subsequent to our inquiry, an additional Department of Homeland Security officer has been assigned to assist in the backlog of adjudications. My office has been in regular contact with officials from the Departments of State and Homeland Security to reinforce to them the need to expedite adoptions in Vietnam. I will continue to closely monitor the situation.

As a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, I share your concern that the United States remains a strong advocate for fair, transparent, and compassionate adoption policies worldwide.

Thank you, again, for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator
RGL/cga

Please consider passing on this information to your friends and families. Let your voices be heard. It would be a shame for needy children to miss out on having a loving family because the two countries gave up on negotiations too soon.
Thanks for your support! Thanks "Angela Phillpot" for the wonderful gift! A.

Nursery Progress

My sister came up for a visit this weekend, and look what she left behind! She's on spring break, so she stayed for the weekend and painted in the baby's room. I wish I had better lighting for the pictures. It looks even more adorable in person. Some of the colors aren't very true in the photos. The walls of the room are a sandy brown color, and the painting looks so soft and sweet. Now, I just need to get new curtains, curtain rod, and the dresser. I have some shelves and things for the walls. I think it will really come together after that.

I have a tiny smackeral of adoption news. We moved two spots closer to getting matched with our baby. So, there is still progress there. We hope to hear some good news anytime now. Pray for patience... pray for patience...pray for patience... A.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Colleen. Here goes... Four Things You May or May Not Know About Me:

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1.) Gift Wrap Girl
2.) Ear Piercer
3.) Bank Teller
4.) IT Business Analyst

B) Four movies I would watch over and over??
1.) I'm With Lucy
2.) Something About Mary
3.) Riding in Cars With Boys
4.) Christmas Vacation

C) Four places I have lived
1) With my parents
2) Rented house
3) Apartment
4) Own home... all in the same town


D) Four TV Shows that I watch:
1.) The Closer
2.) American Idol
3.) My Name is Earl
4.) Psych


E) Four places I have been:
1.) Daytona FL
2.) Dallas TX
3.) San Antonio TX
4.) Memphis TN

F) People who e-mail me (regularly):
1.) My Mother
2.) My Adoption Agency
3.) My In-Laws
4.) My Adoption Friends


G) Four of my favorite foods:
1.) Chicken & Dumplings
2.) Bruscetta
3.) Veal Parm
4.) Biscuits & Gravy

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1.) Vietnam meeting my baby boy
2.) Vietnam holding my baby boy
3.) Vietnam rocking my baby boy
4.) Airplane bringing home my baby boy

I) Four friends I think will respond:
1.) ?
2.)
3.)
4.)

J) Things I am looking forward to this coming year:
1.) The Referral
2.) The Meeting
3.) The Travel
4.) Being a Momma

Special Package

How cute is this! I got this sweet hand-knit caterpillar in the mail today from my "Secret Pal". What could be more special than a hand-made gift for our baby. The package was also filled with other fun baby size toys and books. Thank you "Secret Pal"! Caesar obviously loves it too. He wouldn't stay out of the picture.

I don't really have any adoption updates except to say that our agency says we are still on track to get our referral before the 15 month mark. That is about as good as we can expect to hear at this point. Until we get the news that we are matched with a baby, there aren't a lot of updates available. When we are matched, there are several steps we go through on our way to a referral. Our agency will keep us posted as our paperwork travels through these steps. It will nice to be able to track our progress.

Congratulations to the Vietnamese Ladybug family on getting their I-600 approval. They are coming home soon! A.

I Hope You Dance

This is a book illustrated by my sister and written by one of her fellow teachers. I can't wait to get my copy. She promised to autograph mine ; ) Be sure to contact them if you want one too! A.



Teach, learn, and master dance with… The Elements of Dance" and “From Cha Cha to Rumba”. Two Books for the price of one!!!!
The Elements of Dance, describes and illustrates the dance elements required by the Kentucky Core Content, in an easy to remember rhyming format.
The flip side of the book: From Cha Cha to Rumba, describes and illustrates a variety of ballroom dances, in an easy to remember rhyming format.

This soft cover book is a beautifully illustrated 36 page book which sells for $11.95 plus tax - $12.67. Shipping is $5 for up to 5 or 6 books. Order now by emailing : terrie.white@lyon.kyschools.us or cashw@vci.net Get one now, before they’re gone!

Faith and Uncertainties

I feel like I have been put through the ringer this week. First, on Monday the US DOS issued a warning concerning Vietnam adoptions. The warning primarily pertains to families looking to start a Vietnam adoption now. It is an uncertain time. The adoption agreement between the US and Vietnam expires September 1 of this year. The two countries must either sign to extend the current agreement or draw up a new one.

No one can be sure at this point what will happen or how long it will take. I will confess that I was a little short on faith this week. I finally felt like we were really getting close. This just seemed like a punch in the stomach. I gave in and called our adoption coordinator. She reassured me. She really believes that we will have our referral before the expiration. She also believes that Vietnam will continue to work with in-process cases even if the agreement is allowed to expire. This was comforting to hear even though I know there are no guarantees. So, all we can do is pray and have faith that our baby will come to us when the timing is right.

Well... I guess I can pray and knit! Knitting is still a comfort to me. I am still selling a lot of them but not as many as December. I don't think I could keep up that pace. Peas & Carrots are a couple I did last week. I'm knitting more for our baby now. I want to make sure he has lots of light weight hats to cover his little head when we are in Vietnam.

I guess that's all for now. I need to get to work on my Pho post ; ) A.

Adventures in Pho (part 1)

My adventure started at the local Asian market. I took the book with me so I wouldn't forget any of the ingredients I needed. This particular market is narrow and deep. It is full to the brim, taking advantage of every available space. Cardboard boxes were in a row on the floor. They were filled with herbs, fruit, and fish. Yes, I said fish. There were boxes lined with plastic and ice with fresh whole fish on top. I have to say, they were some of the freshest looking fish and shrimp I have seen.

I have been there before, but never on a mission like this. It was crowded that day and I was not sure where I would find my ingredients. The first thing I needed was whole star anise. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was able to find cloves and black peppercorns. For future reference, the Asian market is very reasonable on spices. I easily found fish sauce, cilantro, and rice sticks. Then, bingo, I stumbled on the Vietnamese section. They had all kinds of spice packets for making Pho. Some looked like bullion cubes. Others were an assortment of whole spices, including the elusive star anise. I chose some of each for experimenting. I headed to the counter with my collection. The lady at the counter started checking me out without a sound. Then she said, "You make Vietnamese Pho... very good. You got everything". She gave me an approving nod, I paid my $10 and headed home. More to come later...