Getting yelled at

See what happens when I try to ignore the geese. This morning they wanted to be fed and they let me know it!

Baa...baa

Today some the Moms-to-be gathered for lunch to celebrate with Sonia. She has just a few days left before she leaves to meet her sweet Kailee. Sonia loves lambs so even before our lunches arrived, the caramel with cream cheese frosting, lamb cupcakes were sampled and she opened numerous gifts which fit her lamb theme. It was fun girls and Sonia, have a wonderful trip and make sure that you post lots of pictures while in China.

Oh so flash!

This weekend Eammon and I thought it best to help the U.S. economy by shopping. I now have the capability to do laundry for a family of 10 and with my flash new remote laundry monitor (pictured left), I know which cycle my washer and dryer are in at any given time and how many minutes remain in each cycle. Trust me, I wouldn't pay for this feature, but LG was offering a rebate for the full purchase price, so why not! Shoot, a remote for the laundry, might even tempt Eammon to do a load or two.


In addition, we purchased an outdoor misting fan so that we can lay out on the deck, stay nice and cool and Eammon can work on his savage tan! Hey after doing lots and lots of laundry, a girl needs to relax too.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Knock Knock

I see you eating dinner in there, now come feed us too!

The pictures below show our back yard one year apart, May 25, 2005 (left) and May 25, 2006 (right). Do you see what's missing from the pictures?


Yep our little girl, to chase all the little poopers off our lawn!

Congratulations to everyone who's receiving their referral this week!!

Best dressed baby!

This month, the August dtc secret pal theme is "best dressed baby" and thanks to my wonderful pal, Baby S will be that baby! The outfit is so adorable and on top of that, I love that she embellished the little baseball hat to match! Check out the coordinating kerchiefs and the socks, oh my gosh...Way too cute!! Of course to look completely cool a girl needs shades and my fabu pal included those as well. Am I, I mean Baby S spoiled or what???

Also included in the package was a beautiful frame, very, very much my style. I'm hoping that once the pals are revealed and we have our children, my pal will send pictures of her child that I can put in the frame,so that we'll always have a connection. Finally, what made me laugh out loud, and trust me I've needed a good laugh, was the wooden giraffe with a matching bandana around it's neck...too funny! I can't wait to dress Baby S in this fun outfit. Thanks my pal, you've made my day!

Meltdown and recovery

This past Wednesday I had a complete and total meltdown. You know the kind, ugly hysterical crying, misery and pain so deep that you not only give yourself a major headache but your grief causes every joint, muscle and fiber of your being to scream with pain. Eammon came home early from work worried about me, and he really must have been as he passed up going to the pub to watch the 2006 UEFA Championship Final. He tried to soothe and calm me but I was having none of it, I wanted to cry, I wanted to be miserable, unhappy, self pitying and in pain. As we laid in bed, me soaking his chest with my tears, he just held me and let me cry it out. For the remainder of the week, I avoided all the boards, blogs, rumors, almost all emails and even the phone. Slowly I've come to terms with the new evil timeline, (#3 Ugly) as what choice do I have.

My Mom sent gifts to both me and Baby S this week and gifts always help make me feel better. The sweater is so cute, the bunny (no not the evil bunnies of the prior post) is so, so soft. I can't wait for Baby S to wear it, I know she'll look adorable. The electronic Sudoku game will be perfect for when we do actually travel to China. It has over a million puzzles and it's a lot smaller and lighter than carrying books of puzzles. Thanks Mom!

Saturday evening was the monthly gathering of our local adopting families group. The voiceless Sonia and hubby Hugh, both a mere week and a half from travel to Kailee, hosted a wonderful cook out, bonfire evening for 33 adults, 16 children and 5 adorable babies. The children all played well together and made s'mores over the fire. The adults who are still waiting for their children, complained to and supported one another. The people with their babies already home, allowed who ever wanted to get hugs, snuggles and lovies from their little girls and shared great information on travel and the children. The babies...well they as usual were the highlight of the night and cute as can be. The picture at the top of this post is Eammon holding the lovely Mary Clare, the most recent of our group to come home to her forever family.





Last but not least, Shipley (2 months old) the youngest member of our group.

The good, the bad and the ugly x3

The Good: Jo, JoJo and their three goslings are all doing well. The goslings are losing their fluff and starting to get their feathers. It's so cute, the goslings are imitating their Mother and have started coming up to our French doors and pecking at them, letting me know they want to be fed.

The Bad: In thanks, they always manage to leave piles of poo behind!

The Ugly: Did you know that geese poo a pound a day! According to Eammon, it's all in our yard...guess I should stop encouraging them and feeding them.
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The Good: Over the past week the weather in Atlanta has been unseasonably cool, only in the low to mid 70's, so working in the yard, though despised far from my favorite task, has been comfortable. In the past two days I have hacked trimmed 49 shrubs around my yard. Yes, you read that correctly, 49 shrubs!

The Bad: Forty of the newly scalped shrubs are hollies and have left me scratched, stabbed and bruised. On top of that, with everything I've trimmed in the past two days and what I did last week, I'm not even close to being halfway through...plus the weeds...OMG!! Any gardeners out there interested in a lovely 4bd/4ba home on a pond? I think I hear the sweet call of a condo, as once Baby S is here, this may be much more than I can handle!

The Ugly: The picture shows only the debris from nine of the shrubs. Just in case you missed it, there were 49 shrubs cut, of which I still have clean-up to do from ALL of them! I think we're going to exceed our weekly limit of 6 bags of yard debris allowed by our sanitation company. In addition, on advise of Julie, I sprayed my gardens with this natural stuff that's supposed to deter those evil monsters from feasting on my flowers. Sure, they're cute when they're little but now thanks to them, my gardens smell like hot wings and urine...Lovely!!
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The Good: This weekend we're getting together with other Atlanta area adopting families for a bonfire. These monthly gatherings have been a saving grace in this seemingly endless wait for Baby S.

The Bad: For the past 6 months, each month I've thought, oh good, we're at the halfway point in our wait to referral only to find that the next month, with the time line du jour, we're still at the halfway point. Well, now I don't even know what to think about where we are in the wait to referral. Our dossier has been logged in at CCAA for 9 months and 6 days...not that I'm keeping count or anything. We've been climbing this mountain of wait for so long now, I can't wait to reach the top and start coming down the other side.

The Ugly: In each newsletter from our agency, they generally show a predicted time line of when they think referrals will come out for each log-in-date. For Eammon and I, the predictions always seemed to be twice as long as we've already waited. Well in this months newsletter, our LID wasn't even listed! They did predictions for referrals six months into the future and we're not there!!! Our LID is August 10, and right now our agency is anticipating that families logged-in at the end of July will hopefully be receiving their referrals in October! With referrals lately coming at the end of the month, we may not have Baby S until 2007!!!

Overdue

First, Happy Mother's day to all the Moms out there, even those who are still waiting...Our babies will be here soon...Hopefully!

Second, we must have the smartest child in the world. She hasn't even been matched to us, yet she was able to send me a Mother's day card from Atlanta!

As of this past Wednesday, May 10th, our dossier has been logged in at the CCAA for 9 months. I'm overdue, I'm cranky and ready for our little girl to be here already. So, in an attempt to turn my mood around I'm avoiding the boards and rumors and trying to do some fun things.

Saturday morning I got together with Cindy and I got a sneak peak at their nursery. The furniture, crib and fabric she has picked out are all lovely and I can't wait to see the finished room. Afterwards, she and I engaged in a little retail therapy. She found a number of really cute sun dresses and Eammon was quite pleased with my purchases, or lack there of. I only bought one cute little pair of sandals which weren't even for Baby S! After all our shopping we had to revive ourselves so off to a Cuban/Caribbean restaurant where we each had a wonderful jerk chicken sandwich.


I came home and actually got pictures of two of the little monsters that are destroying my garden. Sure, they look all cute and cuddly, but they're evil, evil I tell you! If they'd eat the weeds I wouldn't mind so much, but NOOOOOO, they feast on all my tender flowering plants! If anyone out there knows how to rid my yard of these demons, please let me know.

Eammon and I were going to go out and bundle up all the branches I had cut earlier in the week but luckily I was saved by the bell, or a phone call. Daphne called saying she was in the neighborhood so I convinced her to come over and visit. Greg volunteered to take all my cut branches to the dump, so he and Eammon loaded up his truck and saved me yet again from having to deal with all of it. The best part of their visit though was the playtime Eammon and I had with Emily...and the sandals not only matched her outfit, but they fit her perfectly!!

Daphne then helped me out by suggesting we join them in going out for dinner (at the restaurant she and I decided we wanted) and of course Eammon quickly agreed, so I got out of cooking too!! Even better to top off the day, my dinner was FREE!! Not because anything was wrong, but because it was the week of my birthday.

Once again, happy Mother's Day and I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Poo

Pulling up to my driveway this morning I thought I had been left the biggest pile of goose poo ever. In light of the slowdown with referrals and given my current mood, a big pile of poo wouldn't be totally inappropriate. When I got closer though, I could see that it was actually a huge turtle with some really vicious claws. (click on picture to enlarge) It's difficult to determine the size from the picture, but it's pretty big, about 18-inches long.

This afternoon I spent a few hours venting my frustrations by hacking branches off of trees, weeding and trimming some bushes. The pictures below are what's left of my destruction, which Eammon will be "thrilled" beyond words to help me bundle up this weekend.

Now I'm knackered and in desperate need of a shower. Luckily, Eammon is out for the night, so I don't have to prepare any dinner! I'm going to take a nice long shower, get into bed early, watch my final recorded episode of Texas Ranch House, then Survivor and early to bed.

Maybe when I wake up the big pile of weeds and branches will be gone, the sun will be shining and CCAA will have matched at least 65 days worth of parents-to-be with their children. Here's to wishful thinking!

Nine months paper preggers and no end in sight!

Well the original six to eight month wait was shattered last month and here we sit, nine months into the wait with no end in sight. It seems that the closer we get to the finish, the finish line moves farther away. We should've been home celebrating Mother's Day this month with our little girl but obviously that isn't the case. We're ready, more than ready so come on referrals!!

Cindy, Cindy, Cindy

This past weekend was all about Cindy and little Miss Amelia. Friday, Cindy was surprised as a group of us gathered for lunch with balloons, cupcakes and presents for Amelia. Then on Sunday, it was a lovely baby shower where Amelia raked it in! Cindy was glowing all weekend, she is so ready to go and get Amelia and with all the loot she received, that little girl is going to be one well dressed and spoiled little angel.

Can I say WOW!!!

Last evening an extremely large box was at our door and it was packed with gifts for Baby S, Eammon and myself. My CCAI Secret Pal truly out did herself with everything she sent for the April swap. First, she included a note saying that she shops with her heart and doesn't always stick with the monthly theme. Well, to my pal let me say, we are very lucky that you shop this way and we know by your gifts and notes that you have a huge and very kind heart. We love and appreciate each and every item that you send to us.

First in the package, to help Eammon and I relax during the long wait, my pal sent candles in three beautiful little tins. To help me stay organized and to display pictures (already being used to display our friend's referral photos) an absolutely adorable giraffe memo board. Then, for Eammon and I to celebrate when we finally receive our referral, she sent bath confetti...very cool!

So, not only is my pal spoiling us but she went crazy with gifts for Baby S. First there were bibs; bib, bib, bib, bib, bib, yes five in all, but I will say the cutest was the one with the giraffe! Next there was a nice soft hooded towel and matching wash cloth, which also sported a giraffe. Third on the list of Baby S items was a Baby Einstein book, Jane's Animal Expedition. I love Baby Einstein books and this one is adorable with lift flaps revealing different animals in various habitats, one of which is a giraffe. Hmmmm...does my pal know a little something about me???? The final gift I unwrapped for Baby S had a note on the front, stating that she just couldn't resist buying this item as it really caught her eye. Well lucky me...I mean Baby S, as she has an adorable outfit with Snoopy on the bib and leg of the overalls and the shirt matches the patch pockets on each leg...Adorable!!

Thank you my CCAI pal, we love how you spoil us!