Our I800A approval arrived last Saturday! This approval is our permission from US immigration to adopt a child from China. Our agency can now prepare our dossier to it's trip across the ocean. You will soon see why it is such a huge deal to us that dossier preparation services are part of our agency's standard services. This last step in the US side of this process (for a good long while at least) is loosely referred to as authentications. I saw the process explained years ago on a blog that appears to be shut down, and I can't do nearly as clear a job as the blogger I was hoping to reference, but I will try to paraphrase for now. Ready? Good!
So, your whole life is laid open on 13 precious documents, condensed from (in my case) the rolling file cabinet of paperwork it took to acquire those documents. But how do the central adoption authorities know from all the way across the world that everything is in order? Those documents need to be notarized, so everyone knows that you are the one who prepared them. But how do we prove that the notary is really who he says he is? Well, the county or parish must seal the documents. But how do we prove that the county authority is who they say they are? The state must seal the documents. But wait! How we prove that the state authority is who THEY say they are? The documents must be authenticated by the designated Chinese consulate. In our case, the that would be Houston. This way, the central adoption authorities in China know that we are the Norris family and we meet all the standards set forth for adoptive parents. Whew!
Adoption can be divided into 3 mega-steps, 1. The Paperchase, 2. Matching, and 3. "Come On Already Let's Get This Child HOME!" The Paperchase includes the home study, I800A, and authentications. After authentications, mega-step 1 is done, which means our agency can send our dossier to China (DTC), and we can receive a log-in date in the system. This log-in date (LID) is important in the matching process, so I'd call it the beginning of mega-step 2. Currently matching in the medical needs program is taking about 1-6 months from LID.
That much closer to knowing the little one we are coming for! If you're praying with us, our requests are for smooth authentications, and for some relief from repairs and replacement needs on the home front. We've had quite the month! We're praying for my sweet girl's speech, as we do need to hit some big milestones this year. And finally, we are praying for this child waiting somewhere in China right now. We don't know anything else yet, but we know for a fact that this child- our own son or daughter- has already experienced the loss of his or her biological parents. Whatever people may say, early scarring is stored in a different way- like anything in your own life, it can be healed, not undone. It makes my heart ache. It makes me want to run there right now. We are praying that this child is receiving nourishment, medical care, and love. That his or her heart is being prepared for adoption and learning how to trust again after some very big separations and trust breaches during those early months, which are critical to learning attachment. We had a very good scenario with Vivienne's adoption, and we know that. We're praying for our whole family, here and overseas, to be protected and to be woven together, and we are thankful to have been able to reach this step in the adoption process!
Friday, June 27, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Cleft clinic trip recap...(and lots of photos!)
A long detour from this blog's adoption focus this evening...grab a glass of wine! So often I say we're at clinic, or we are about to go to clinic, or we just got back from clinic...and I realized I often fail to communicate why that matters. The cleft clinic we chose for Vivienne is about 7 hours away. Vivienne experiences a lot of anxiety while we're traveling up because to her a drive this long can only mean doctors, and it's an exhausting, LONG day of specialists. Surgeon, audiologist, speech pathologist, ENT, geneticist...we have a local peds dentist and the orthodontist comes later. It's actually pretty fantastic to see a true team of several specialists in action, for your child, and if I were to try and see them all in individual appointments...I'd live in waiting rooms. But I do have to psych myself up for this! We try to add in fun, but she's never quite herself, and she can be extra busy and a little emotional. There is no doubt that these trips are stressful and jam-packed, and it's all information about your child. So there's some "processing fatigue." And we go a day in advance so I can get in-depth mentoring from the team SLP. That being said, I am happy to say that this trip was really the best one we've had!
This trip, Bear came with us, which meant a week off work, starting with being fingerprinted in New Orleans on Monday for the current adoption process and extending to Thursday when we drove home from Birmingham. A week off work is a big big deal when you are self employed, but we felt that it was important to do one trip together to allow him to meet the various specialists and experience a routine trip. Bear never really gets to be off, but he was pretty out of pocket ;-) It was so nice to go together as a family, even for the purpose!
We drove to New Orleans Monday morning for our final fingerprinting of the current adoption process. This allows immigration to finish processing our application to adopt from China, which in turn will lead to our dossier documents being authenticated and then mailed overseas over the next couple months. We took Vivi to the New Orleans zoo right afterwards to blow off some steam. We had a wonderful time and it helped after keeping Vivi quiet and confined in a government office all morning!
Tuesday we drove to Birmingham, and Wednesday morning we visited our placing agency, Lifeline Children's Services, which is based in Birmingham. We said hello there, and then on the way back we found this beautiful botanical garden and pulled over to spend some time there (Birmingham friends, Aldrich Botanical Gardens is free of charge!). Wednesday afternoon we had our speech therapy appointment, and we ended the day with playtime and friends at dinner!
Thursday morning, we had breakfast with more friends (we really got to see so many wonderful people that we don't usually get to see!), and headed to our clinic day. After clinic, we were able to finally meet a special someone in person! Logan has been our caseworker with Lifeline for both adoptions, which means she is the one who matched us with Vivienne! We got back home late Thursday night.
Before I share about our clinic trip last week, I want to give some backstory. Makes for a long log post, but I don't get that many chances to write ;-) So:
Many people we know think, cleft palate, just close the opening, one surgery, done. If you've ever told me how nice it must be to be all done, and I laughed a little hysterically...please forgive me. I am totally wishing you were right! A cleft is not really a separation in tissue, but an absence of tissue, where two approaching sides are interrupted before fusing together at midline. Treatment involves a series of surgeries spread over childhood to create a complete and well-functioning lip, hard palate, soft palate, gumline, and dentition. The most skilled, gifted surgeon cannot replicate God's design. But what can be done is amazing! Vivienne had her lip repair in China. Her hard and soft palate repairs were done last fall, and PE tubes were placed in her ears at that time. We know her future holds a bone graft for her gumline, orthodonture, and possibly cosmetic surgery later if her scar tissue causes any pulling. There is also the possibility she may need fat injections or a secondary palate surgery to help with speech. Speech therapy throughout. Which is all pretty normal and routine :-)
In recent visits, the team therapist confirmed my feeling that Vivienne seems to understand what to do with her newly repaired soft palate, but has difficulty physically making enough of a seal when she tries to close off her nasal airway (which is what directs air out through your mouth for speech). There are several potential reasons for that and it's not uncommon, but it matters because it affects every single speech sound except m, n, and ng. There are a few options to address it, but first Vivi would first need to be able to tolerate non-sedated endoscopy. She has to allow them to place a tube with a camera through her nose and down her throat, and then calm down enough to give her best effort at speaking in a way that really shows how her soft palate and pharynx are working. It is very important that when we look at the results, we feel confident we are witnessing the best job her muscles can do. The results of this scope are a big part of what guides surgical decisions, so we wouldn't want her too panicked or not understanding the task. Usually, the team is able to get valid test results at around 4 years old, with variation for individual children. But in her truly extensive experience, last fall our team therapist felt that we should be emotionally prepared for the need for secondary surgery in preschool to help Vivienne's speech.
The word from last week:
This trip, both Vivienne's speech pathologist and later her surgeon expressed surprise at how far she has come, and now they just aren't sure whether she will need surgery or not! The word "incredible" might have been used :-) So now, because Vivi's made more progress than would typically be expected for her starting point post op, we're all just going to have to wait and work and see what she does! We don't know what Vivi's future holds. But! Every bit of progress we make now increases the benefit any future procedure would give us, and could reduce her chances of needing these procedures at all. And every time she learns the placement for a speech sound, or increases the amount of air pressure she can build up in her mouth, that is that much less work she will need to do after a surgery, should she have one. Vivi's been amazing. She wants it, works so hard, and she doesn't give up!
This is a big prayer request. Of course we want the preK surgery to be unnecessary. We want her speech to just flourish and develop even more. After all, surgery involves cutting and suturing muscles and nerves, and with this surgery comes some risk of sleep apnea. But above that, we definitely are praying for wisdom in the critical determinations the team will make in the next year or so. Would you pray with us about all that?
If you have made it all the way to the end of this blog post...wow...thanks!
This trip, Bear came with us, which meant a week off work, starting with being fingerprinted in New Orleans on Monday for the current adoption process and extending to Thursday when we drove home from Birmingham. A week off work is a big big deal when you are self employed, but we felt that it was important to do one trip together to allow him to meet the various specialists and experience a routine trip. Bear never really gets to be off, but he was pretty out of pocket ;-) It was so nice to go together as a family, even for the purpose!
We drove to New Orleans Monday morning for our final fingerprinting of the current adoption process. This allows immigration to finish processing our application to adopt from China, which in turn will lead to our dossier documents being authenticated and then mailed overseas over the next couple months. We took Vivi to the New Orleans zoo right afterwards to blow off some steam. We had a wonderful time and it helped after keeping Vivi quiet and confined in a government office all morning!
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| She LOVED this "baby elephant" |
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| And this would be when Vivi decided she wanted to pet the goslings...and see how the path goes right between them and their mama? Oh yes. Hissing goose, lesson learned, poor baby! |
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| She was all about the rabbit! There are a few photos of this guy because we spent a "little" time here ;-) |
Thursday morning, we had breakfast with more friends (we really got to see so many wonderful people that we don't usually get to see!), and headed to our clinic day. After clinic, we were able to finally meet a special someone in person! Logan has been our caseworker with Lifeline for both adoptions, which means she is the one who matched us with Vivienne! We got back home late Thursday night.
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| Our new digs at the hospital- I'm liking the rooms! |
Many people we know think, cleft palate, just close the opening, one surgery, done. If you've ever told me how nice it must be to be all done, and I laughed a little hysterically...please forgive me. I am totally wishing you were right! A cleft is not really a separation in tissue, but an absence of tissue, where two approaching sides are interrupted before fusing together at midline. Treatment involves a series of surgeries spread over childhood to create a complete and well-functioning lip, hard palate, soft palate, gumline, and dentition. The most skilled, gifted surgeon cannot replicate God's design. But what can be done is amazing! Vivienne had her lip repair in China. Her hard and soft palate repairs were done last fall, and PE tubes were placed in her ears at that time. We know her future holds a bone graft for her gumline, orthodonture, and possibly cosmetic surgery later if her scar tissue causes any pulling. There is also the possibility she may need fat injections or a secondary palate surgery to help with speech. Speech therapy throughout. Which is all pretty normal and routine :-)
In recent visits, the team therapist confirmed my feeling that Vivienne seems to understand what to do with her newly repaired soft palate, but has difficulty physically making enough of a seal when she tries to close off her nasal airway (which is what directs air out through your mouth for speech). There are several potential reasons for that and it's not uncommon, but it matters because it affects every single speech sound except m, n, and ng. There are a few options to address it, but first Vivi would first need to be able to tolerate non-sedated endoscopy. She has to allow them to place a tube with a camera through her nose and down her throat, and then calm down enough to give her best effort at speaking in a way that really shows how her soft palate and pharynx are working. It is very important that when we look at the results, we feel confident we are witnessing the best job her muscles can do. The results of this scope are a big part of what guides surgical decisions, so we wouldn't want her too panicked or not understanding the task. Usually, the team is able to get valid test results at around 4 years old, with variation for individual children. But in her truly extensive experience, last fall our team therapist felt that we should be emotionally prepared for the need for secondary surgery in preschool to help Vivienne's speech.
The word from last week:
This trip, both Vivienne's speech pathologist and later her surgeon expressed surprise at how far she has come, and now they just aren't sure whether she will need surgery or not! The word "incredible" might have been used :-) So now, because Vivi's made more progress than would typically be expected for her starting point post op, we're all just going to have to wait and work and see what she does! We don't know what Vivi's future holds. But! Every bit of progress we make now increases the benefit any future procedure would give us, and could reduce her chances of needing these procedures at all. And every time she learns the placement for a speech sound, or increases the amount of air pressure she can build up in her mouth, that is that much less work she will need to do after a surgery, should she have one. Vivi's been amazing. She wants it, works so hard, and she doesn't give up!
This is a big prayer request. Of course we want the preK surgery to be unnecessary. We want her speech to just flourish and develop even more. After all, surgery involves cutting and suturing muscles and nerves, and with this surgery comes some risk of sleep apnea. But above that, we definitely are praying for wisdom in the critical determinations the team will make in the next year or so. Would you pray with us about all that?
If you have made it all the way to the end of this blog post...wow...thanks!
Friday, May 30, 2014
Love Crosses Oceans
Our shirt design is ready, and I love it! I hope you do, too :-) Love, love my oceans and can't wait to see my children playing together at the beach one of these days, and it just came together so easily with this verse that seems to follow us through both adoptions. Without further ado, here they are!
The shirts come in Adult, Youth, and (yes!) Toddler sizes, and you have a choice of Jade or Charcoal colors.
The shirts come in Adult, Youth, and (yes!) Toddler sizes, and you have a choice of Jade or Charcoal colors.
If you order a jade toddler shirt, keep in mind the shirt color is a little lighter due to availability in that size bracket. Here is the toddler jade version:
Adult shirts: $18 each or $20 shipped
Children's sizes: $15 each or $17 shipped
We will place one large order later this summer and deliver/ mail the shirts to you. Because we are using a local company, we anticipate a good turnaround time once the shirts are printed!
Now for the fun part!
To order, comment on this post or email me at elizabeth@norrisfamilyins.com!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
One Year!
Vivienne has officially been with us a year! It's been only a year since God blew us away with His grace, when a little girl just barely 24 months old walked into a hot, red room holding her caregiver's hand.
It's such a sensory memory, the heat of the room, the red paint, how solid and warm she felt in my arms, her scent, her damp hair, and those sweet little hands. Yes, she was afraid on this day we celebrate- how on earth could anyone prepare a child to start their day like any other morning, and drive literally down a mountain side and into this city of about 8 million people, with the clothes she wore, a starter kit of the formula she was used to, and a little bag with our care package items inside? How do you explain that everything is going to be okay, even GOOD?
Time. A week, 2 weeks, a month, 3 months, 6 months...12 months. "You can trust me." "I love you." "Mama helps you/ Daddy can do it." Over and over and over. We celebrate gotcha day! It was the beginning of us together! We "got" each other, all of us. We became mama, daddy, and daughter that day. She fell asleep in my arms before she finished her bottle that first night, which as the time was amazing (even if her utter exhaustion might have contributed!). We waited 15 official months and prayed for her before we knew her face. We set up the nursery and nested like crazy. Thousands of miles and dollars and tears, sleepless nights, and joyful anticipation went ahead of that day. Even going through the adoption process again now, and although I'm quick to look again to the barriers we still have to climb, I have this constant reminder playing at my side (okay, on me lol!) that not only was she "worth the wait," she's worth it all and more, over and over again.
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It's such a sensory memory, the heat of the room, the red paint, how solid and warm she felt in my arms, her scent, her damp hair, and those sweet little hands. Yes, she was afraid on this day we celebrate- how on earth could anyone prepare a child to start their day like any other morning, and drive literally down a mountain side and into this city of about 8 million people, with the clothes she wore, a starter kit of the formula she was used to, and a little bag with our care package items inside? How do you explain that everything is going to be okay, even GOOD?
Time. A week, 2 weeks, a month, 3 months, 6 months...12 months. "You can trust me." "I love you." "Mama helps you/ Daddy can do it." Over and over and over. We celebrate gotcha day! It was the beginning of us together! We "got" each other, all of us. We became mama, daddy, and daughter that day. She fell asleep in my arms before she finished her bottle that first night, which as the time was amazing (even if her utter exhaustion might have contributed!). We waited 15 official months and prayed for her before we knew her face. We set up the nursery and nested like crazy. Thousands of miles and dollars and tears, sleepless nights, and joyful anticipation went ahead of that day. Even going through the adoption process again now, and although I'm quick to look again to the barriers we still have to climb, I have this constant reminder playing at my side (okay, on me lol!) that not only was she "worth the wait," she's worth it all and more, over and over again.
This girl is fun, adventurous, generous, compassionate, smart, and sweet! She loves with her whole heart, and I am so excited to see her grow into the person God made her to be.
We are blessed beyond measure to call her our daughter.
For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted my petition that I made to him.
1 Samuel 1:27
Friday, May 23, 2014
I800a Time!
Our home study has been finalized! Our agency submitted our application to adopt a child from China to U.S. immigration, and in the last two weeks we've received both our receipt and fingerprint appointment. Yes, more fingerprints! This time we get biometrically fingerprinted at the immigration office in New Orleans. Anyone else ever wonder why all fingerprints would not be considered "bio metric?" Am I being too literal? :-) Although the state and federal levels have run our prints, immigration also needs prints as part of approving us to adopt internationally. This entire approval process seems to be taking 30-45 days total lately, which is faster than two years ago! Once we have approval from immigration, we can send all our dossier documents through the certification and authentication process, preparing the entire packet for it's trip across the ocean.
Time to celebrate this milestone and welcome summertime!
Finally, I am also very excited to announce that we were approved by Adopt Together! This allows for tax-deductible donations to be designated to our adoption through the Adopt Together button on the right column of this blog. If you look at the tabs on the Adopt Together website, you can learn more about how this works. While we hope to offer fun opportunities to help, we personally have had times when we preferred to give a small amount to a family's adoption rather than make a purchase. There's absolutely no expectation, only our sincere appreciation if we even make it on anybody's "to think about" list.
If you are following our progress,
Adoption costs covered to date: $6,805.75
Next milestone in costs: $3,857.75
And just because she says it so well, I have to include a link to an article written by one of the women who encouraged me to look deeper at our desire to adopt a couple years ago:
http://showhope.org/guest-post-stefanie/
Time to celebrate this milestone and welcome summertime!
- It's finally adoption shirt time, and I am so, so excited about these! Be looking for a new post soon with design photos and purchasing into!
- And until then, a friend is throwing a Jamberry nail party on Facebook, benefiting our adoption. If you haven't been added and want to start off the summer with super cute nail wraps, let me know! Here is the link if you just want to shop:
Finally, I am also very excited to announce that we were approved by Adopt Together! This allows for tax-deductible donations to be designated to our adoption through the Adopt Together button on the right column of this blog. If you look at the tabs on the Adopt Together website, you can learn more about how this works. While we hope to offer fun opportunities to help, we personally have had times when we preferred to give a small amount to a family's adoption rather than make a purchase. There's absolutely no expectation, only our sincere appreciation if we even make it on anybody's "to think about" list.
If you are following our progress,
Adoption costs covered to date: $6,805.75
Next milestone in costs: $3,857.75
And just because she says it so well, I have to include a link to an article written by one of the women who encouraged me to look deeper at our desire to adopt a couple years ago:
http://showhope.org/guest-post-stefanie/
Thursday, May 8, 2014
April showers after all!
Thank you for being so patient while we "recovered" after the yard sale! Made possible by many of you (thank you over and over!), the sale was great! Together with savings, we were able to cover our upcoming dossier preparation costs, which is really wonderful...because we recently received news that it is indeed time to get our dossier together! More on that in a separate post in the next day or two.
While the original plan was to do a Friday/Saturday event, for logistical reasons we had to let that balloon fly away. We decided to try Saturday/Sunday, with a late start Sunday so we weren't yard selling in place of church...optimistic, but it's what we came up with in a pinch! Saturday morning started out so...mmm, quiet. Our ads and signs were all there...The weather was gorgeous...The neighborhood sale this coincided with is always so big that finding parking can be a challenge. Not so much this year! I have theories, but I doubt we ever will know why- It was just plain slow. Steady though! From 7:00am until late afternoon, we had people here.
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| It's okay if I don't see another moving box for a few years. |
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| Just hanging out mom. |
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| See? We tried to prepare! I really don't know how it happened, except that every dollar adds up, but by Sunday afternoon we were ready to send a check to immigration and send our dossier through the authentication process. Not only that, but we learned that an adoptive family at our church organizes a big garage sale here in town every year. When I say big, I mean they keep a warehouse big. They collect all year, and the proceeds go to provide for children living in an orphanage in China. SO all those items you donated, sold at our own sale or not, seem destined to bless! |
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| Balloons- entertainment AND a toddler tracking device! Who knew? |
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| Relaxing with Aunt Rachel after the sale |
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| Okay, so this one is from the day before set-up day! I thought we could use some special time before all the commotion. Little did I know this child would be totally into the event!!! |
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
April (hold the showers please!)
Here we go! This crazy huge yard sale is right around the corner. This weekend, Greenbriar Hollow will be packed as our neighborhood hosts its annual event. We begin early Saturday morning, and are hoping for big crowds and beautiful weather! This weekend. Gasp. We are excited, nervous, you name it! We are also incredibly thankful. 20+ donations, and (get this) no less than 6 family members and friends offering their time early on a Saturday morning to tackle a yard sale out of love and a passion for adoption! Not to mention those lending us much-needed tables, offering pricing advice, praying, encouraging me in weak moments...I'll be saying this a lot, but thank you. Oh, the dozens of hours of sorting, labeling, boxing, and arranging in a toddler-resistant manner ;-) Thankfully, as long as the items are boxed, a little someone could care less about them...hence the boxes! Pray for us this weekend?
So, on to the adoption this yard sale is supporting! We just heard that our home study is ready to be finalized and notarized, at which point we begin our application to US immigration to adopt a child from China. Here's hoping this component continues at it's current nice little pace!
Because this part of the process, the "paperchase" as it's known in adoption circles, is a pretty dry reading, I thought- a little family fun news. This month, Miss V celebrated Easter for the first time in her life, as we approach her 3rd birthday and her 1st adoption day anniversary. What a special way to celebrate as our year of so very many "firsts" for her comes to a close! Our pastor refers to celebrating Easter as stepping into the stream of joy that has been flowing for 2,000 years...He told us Sunday morning that the celebration began hours ago around the world, and it was our turn now. So awesomely true, and we get to celebrate openly! Speaking of joy, this month we did a lot of finger painting, and well, we kind of love what happened! Incidentally, this sweet look is all for her daddy standing to the side. Her daddy forever and ever 11 months ago.
Something a lot of people do for Easter is "Forget the Frock," where families buy a set of shirts to support a cause instead of traditional Easter wear. We forgot the frock with twist I guess :-) This spring we decided to buy adoption shirts in place of any t-shirt or summer shirt that needed replacing. Kind of neat, it supports the family adopting, and it supports adoption all year long. And, bonus, as children come come into their families forever, it is SO fun to wear a shirt and remember them. I have my "Lucy" shirt, my "Alex" shirt, my "Brighton" shirt...so much more fun that my "pink" or my "aqua" shirt! We wore clothes we already had, in little bit's case, a dress I had set aside for her 3 years ago...before we knew her little face. I'm so excited that on her first Easter, she just so happened to be a perfect fit for it! The bracelet was her baptism gift from us, the pearls from China. Sometimes a girl needs to feel special, and it was a mama thrill to see that she really did feel extra special that day!
Some other April adventures while we waited on paperwork:
First pony ride
First strawberry patch
(Yes, her bangs are super long...we are deciding to "grow" or "cut" and she opted out of a bow at the strawberry farm- oh well!)
What else? Oh! Daddy became Baba when Vivienne is extra happy or wanting him to stay (instead of going to work). We had originally planned to be Mama and Baba to our sweet girl. But with her cleft palate affecting speech, so that consonant sounds were all /m/ and /n/, Baba sounded just like Mama. To avoid frustration, Bear became Daddy. Now, out of the blue this week, if Miss V is calling for her Baba every once in a while. So sweet- I think someone's heart melts every time, regardless of whether he ends up being Baba, Daddy, or Dad!
Hey, and if you ever stress about the concept of a home study...I won't lie that I don't clean the house top to bottom...Although my standards for "clean" are a lot more relaxed since becoming a mommy ;-)...But. if we can host our social worker with pizza and a house full of yard sale, I think most of you out there are good, ya know? ;-)
So, on to the adoption this yard sale is supporting! We just heard that our home study is ready to be finalized and notarized, at which point we begin our application to US immigration to adopt a child from China. Here's hoping this component continues at it's current nice little pace!
Because this part of the process, the "paperchase" as it's known in adoption circles, is a pretty dry reading, I thought- a little family fun news. This month, Miss V celebrated Easter for the first time in her life, as we approach her 3rd birthday and her 1st adoption day anniversary. What a special way to celebrate as our year of so very many "firsts" for her comes to a close! Our pastor refers to celebrating Easter as stepping into the stream of joy that has been flowing for 2,000 years...He told us Sunday morning that the celebration began hours ago around the world, and it was our turn now. So awesomely true, and we get to celebrate openly! Speaking of joy, this month we did a lot of finger painting, and well, we kind of love what happened! Incidentally, this sweet look is all for her daddy standing to the side. Her daddy forever and ever 11 months ago.
Something a lot of people do for Easter is "Forget the Frock," where families buy a set of shirts to support a cause instead of traditional Easter wear. We forgot the frock with twist I guess :-) This spring we decided to buy adoption shirts in place of any t-shirt or summer shirt that needed replacing. Kind of neat, it supports the family adopting, and it supports adoption all year long. And, bonus, as children come come into their families forever, it is SO fun to wear a shirt and remember them. I have my "Lucy" shirt, my "Alex" shirt, my "Brighton" shirt...so much more fun that my "pink" or my "aqua" shirt! We wore clothes we already had, in little bit's case, a dress I had set aside for her 3 years ago...before we knew her little face. I'm so excited that on her first Easter, she just so happened to be a perfect fit for it! The bracelet was her baptism gift from us, the pearls from China. Sometimes a girl needs to feel special, and it was a mama thrill to see that she really did feel extra special that day!
Some other April adventures while we waited on paperwork:
First pony ride
First strawberry patch
(Yes, her bangs are super long...we are deciding to "grow" or "cut" and she opted out of a bow at the strawberry farm- oh well!)
What else? Oh! Daddy became Baba when Vivienne is extra happy or wanting him to stay (instead of going to work). We had originally planned to be Mama and Baba to our sweet girl. But with her cleft palate affecting speech, so that consonant sounds were all /m/ and /n/, Baba sounded just like Mama. To avoid frustration, Bear became Daddy. Now, out of the blue this week, if Miss V is calling for her Baba every once in a while. So sweet- I think someone's heart melts every time, regardless of whether he ends up being Baba, Daddy, or Dad!
Hey, and if you ever stress about the concept of a home study...I won't lie that I don't clean the house top to bottom...Although my standards for "clean" are a lot more relaxed since becoming a mommy ;-)...But. if we can host our social worker with pizza and a house full of yard sale, I think most of you out there are good, ya know? ;-)
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