Mary Clare Anne

Fellow local adopters Tracy & Lee have a beautiful new daughter Mary Clare Anne. Checkout their blog for all the details and updated information.

Congratulations to all the new parents who received their referral this month. Check out all the beautiful new babies, listed in the side bar under "We have our Referral."

August Secret Pal strikes again

A big thanks to my August Secret Pal who hooked me up with some wonderful travel items, one of which I had never even heard of before.

First, she sent some cute I.D. tags, a travel package of disposable bibs and wipes, a medicine dropper and she topped it off with a cute card which will be added to Baby S's scrap book. The coolest item, or really the warmest item was the Grab 'n Go Bottle Warmer. I've never seen these and it's really nice. Yes, of course I had to try it out and it works well. Now all I need is my baby who'll need a bottle and I'll be all set.

Thank you August pal, I'll be sorry to see the swap end next month as you've been a wonderful pal and your packages each month have helped with the wait to referral.

July cyber pal revealed

Tonight was the July Dragonflies cyber shower and the reveal of my Secret Pal, Regina. For the cyber shower she sent some wonderful items. Eammon especially likes the fun bib and I can't wait for Baby S to be here so that I can put her picture in the frame and she can play with the Baby Bugs. I love the card that you included, it looks handmade, it is so beautiful and I'll be adding it to Baby S's scrapbook. It's sad to see this swap end as I really looked forward to receiving your package each month and I enjoyed seeing all the fun items that you included. You know I'll be checking your blog and following your journey. Thanks for being such a great pal!

Rain doesn't put a damper on our fun!!

Tonight was scheduled to be our local Adopters group bonfire night. But, mother nature had other ideas with a full weekend of rain on the schedule. So, after watching the weather closely day after day, it was decided late last week to make a change of venue, thereby not allowing the weather to stop us. Seth and Jill Zimmerman stepped in to save the day, being so gracious and volunteering their lovely home to save the party. So, the bonfire became an indoor party with the only fire being the grill. Hugh was the grill master while our favorite pyros Seth and Eammon stood by and provided moral support! We had a large turnout with 38 people in attendance, many familiar faces with a couple of new ones too. The children were so well behaved, they all played, ate and had fun together.

Hard to believe that I, yes me, forgot to pull out my camera until most of the people had already left!! Must have been those two sips of champagne, made me silly and tipsy!

We had a beautiful table laden with food. Perfectly gilled burgers and dogs, potato, pasta and Greek salads, chips, chips and more chips all waiting to be dunked into one or more of the fabulous dips, queso, 7-layer Mexican, veggie and spinach-artichoke-cheese...All fabulous! Desserts, OMG! Eclairs, chocolate mousse-filled chocolate puffs, raspberry and custard napolians, chocolate creme-filled roll-ups, a chocolate cream cheese cake, fresh fruit tart, fresh fruit with a luscious raspberry cream, a wonderful chocolate capuccino trifle and cupcakes. The spread was unbelievable as we have some excellent cooks in our group.

Rain, didn't bother us at all. The evening proved to be lots of fun and a wonderful time for everyone.

Julie, Elizabeth & Jill
Charleigh and Bubba Jr. practice their camera skills.
Eammon and Mia singing together on the swing.
Nan & Tully
The big boys.
Slayden being tired and shy.
Such good children.
Eammon practicing, reading a final bedtime story to Mia.

Thank you Jill and Seth for stepping in and hosting, it was a blast!!

Let's talk food

Since there's no new news on the adoption front, other than Daphne and Greg should only be a few hours away from touch down in Hong Kong, (it's almost Fubo time!!) I've decided that I'm going to share some of my adventures in food. Of course I have been doing that all along, but now it gives me something to focus on other than referral rumors.

So today I met Trixie for a "quick" three and a half hour lunch at one of my favorite lunch places, where I enjoyed a delicious fried green tomato sandwich and Trixie made a shrimp po'boy "healthy" by ordering it on whole grain bread! We were two of the first customers when they opened and by the time we left, the kitchen staff was eating lunch. Our lunch ran so late, that I barely had time to stop at the grocery for final dinner ingredients.

Eammon and I both have been feeling somewhat under the weather, fighting off the plague or whatever it is infecting everyone. So in an attempt to avoid my annual bronchitis and Barry White sound-a-like voice, I decided the best thing for us was to sweat out whatever evil lurks within us, with hot peppers and of course chicken soup. For the best of both, I made one of our favorite soups, Tom Kha Gai. We both enjoyed the soup but it's funny how we each experienced the heat of the peppers. I thought the soup had a little kick and it made my lips tingle. Eammon on the other hand realized the full sweat factor, making a lovely dinner partner stripped down to his boxers, wiping his brow with a towel. Hey, if the soup doesn't cure me, having dinner with a handsome half naked man sure works wonders!

Tom Kha Gai
Spicy Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Milk

4 c. chicken broth
1 T. lemon grass, fresh minced
3 T. Thai fish sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh grated ginger
3 Serrano peppers, thinly sliced into rounds
2 tsp. chili-garlic sauce
juice of 4 limes
2 (14 oz.) cans coconut milk
2 chicken breasts, boned, skinned and sliced thinly
1 (10 oz.) can straw mushrooms, drained
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped

In a stockpot, bring the chicken broth, lemon grass, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, Serrano peppers, chili-garlic sauce and juice of 4 limes to a boil. Stirring, add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add chicken allowing it to cook through in the hot liquid. Add the drained mushrooms and the cilantro.

Check it out

I just listed some new items on eBay, including this Kecci Diaper bag. Check it out, Baby S still needs new shoes!

I love you!! (updated with recipe)

I am all set for Valentine's day tomorrow with plenty of sweets. Last year Eammon's office mates got heart shaped brownies but this year, I hope they're in the mood for lemon.

I made cupcakes, filled with my luscious (in my humble opinion) home made lemon curd and then topped with a pink lemon glaze and a Sweetheart. I could O.D. on these as I love lemon curd...almost as much as chocolate!! Hmmm...may need to make some chocolate cupcakes with lemon curd filling and they might remind me of these.

Remember, there are many ways to say I love you and next year I'll be saying them all to Baby S!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've had numerous requests for this recipe, so here it is:

Love Cakes filled with Lemon Curd

Make your favorite white cake recipe (box or scratch) as cupcakes. Fill the cup papers only half way as you need room in the cups to add the glaze later. Bake and cool completely.

Lemon curd recipe is here, make and cool completely. Or you can use store bought.

Put cooled lemon curd in a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. From the top center of each cupcake, insert the tip and squeeze in a small amount of lemon curd.

I don't have a recipe or amounts, but the glaze is just icing sugar, lemon extract, some food coloring and water. Just mix to a thick glaze and spoon quickly on to top of cakes so that it settles nice and smooth. If the icing starts to get too thick, thin with a little more water. Allow icing to dry at room temp. for a few hours. Refrigerate.

If you make these delicious cakes, be sure to post pics and let me know how they turn out.

Enjoy!!

Man plans, God laughs

Today is the six month anniversary of our log in date with CCAA. Officially, we started the adoption process for Baby S a full year and 3 days ago! After months of research, we finally chose and submitted our application to CCAI on February 7, 2005. At that time, we anticipated that we would have our little girl by February '06 and be a family of three. But here it is, February 2006 and no little girl in sight.

During the paper chase we had a few delays with getting some of the paperwork from England thus, getting our dossier submitted and logged in at CCAA took a little longer than anticipated. But, based on what was happening with referrals we were at least, still on track to get our referral by February '06. In my mind, everything was set. Travel to China in the spring of '06 where we wouldn't have to worry about winter clothes, wouldn't sweat our butts off...Perfect! Have little Baby S for 7 or 8 months, working to get her adjusted and into a routine before it was time to whisk her off to Aruba in December for a few weeks of beach, sun and fun. Then we would follow that with a trip to England in the Spring of '07 to meet and see Eammon's Mum and family.

Well who knows what the timeline is now and I have given up tying to plan. Why? Because someone is having a giant belly laugh... I planned and look what happened!

Julie is the bomb!!

Today I had a long morning at my rheumatologist's office, why it always takes so long there is beyond me. I then did a little shopping and found an awesome little gift for one of my secret pals. There was a huge sale happening so I bought Eammon, I don't even know how many, new shirts for work. Then I popped into Eatzi's to pick up something quick for lunch. Even well beyond lunch time, Eatzi's was still quite crowded. I couldn't decide if I wanted a salad, sandwich, something hot, cold, sweet or savory. So I wandered around looking at everything and mindlessly tasted all the samples they had out. By the time I trekked around and checked everything out making sure to taste all the samples...at least once, I realized that I wasn't hungry anymore and left without buying anything! Bad girl, bad girl!!

Traffic coming home was awful and I was happy when I finally pulled onto my street. Then when I pulled into the driveway, I saw a package at our front door. I thought it must be from one of my secret pals, but then I saw the return address, it was a package from Julie. Oh how cool, what a treat! Why I wondered, was the Goddess of all things crafty sending something to me? Well she sent a thank you gift because I organized and ran the August Yahoo dtc Secret Pal Swap. It really wasn't necessary, but Oh my gosh, I was dancing around the kitchen with the stuff because I LOVE it. Check out the giraffe, the giraffe dress and the wonderful card that she made. Does she have me and my love of giraffes pegged. Julie you are the bomb. Thank you!!

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

Looking out my back door I saw this funny white stuff falling from the sky. I'm sure that panic grocery shopping has begun as we had almost five full minutes of this freak storm before it all turned to rain. Oh my gosh, do I have milk, ice cream, chocolate...it may snow again and we may never be able to get the essentials!!!

Worse than trying on bathing suits!

That's how I feel about buying a new purse. I need a purse that's fun, not too big, not too small. Something that can go with any outfit (not that I change purses or outfits if they don't match) just something that reflects my personality. I've been carrying my favorite monkey purse on and off for about three years and it's just time for something new. I have a whole list of criteria, but two of the biggest are, it can't be too expensive and it definitely can't be advertising the designer's name or initials. If designers or companies want me to advertise for them, let them pay me to carry their purse!

So today after much searching and debating, I did end up purchasing two bags. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep either of these or maybe I'll keep both...still to be decided. Pictured are my purchases for your viewing pleasure and your critique. What do these bags say to you and what personality do they reflect?


One purchase that I will be keeping is the Mamas and Papas Giant Activity Toy, Lotty Ladybird. I got it for a steal at T. J. Maxx, mark down on top of mark down on top of mark down!



This baby is huge, it is pictured on a queen size bed! It has so many different textures, patterns and colors, I'm enjoying playing with it. Each leg makes crinkle sounds, one of the spots flips open to reveal a baby safe mirror and the hat flips forward to reveal a large mirror and a cute ladybug and leaf applique. The flowers on the antennae squeak and rattle. I also love the mini ladybug rattle, with a mirror on the tummy, it hides in one of the big ladybug's legs.

Pink sky in morning sailors take warning

This was the view from our dock around 7 a.m. So tell me why does such a lovely morning sky lead to such a lousy overcast, rainy day. Guess the cold, gray day was an excuse for me to clean out my pantry and get rid of ~~>
Why you may ask am I throwing them out? Because the little cookie monsters are in the neighborhood selling again. Which means, these little morsels are at least a year old and I fear that one of the boxes of Thin Mints is from 2004!