Books by my bed...

As I was putting away laundry tonight, I looked over at my nightside table and chuckled at my tower of books that had accumulated there. The tower resembled a Jenga block tower, and each night as I finish reading one of the books I roll over and lay it back on the top of the pile and then put my glasses on top of that. For the last few nights I have realized that I need to lay each item down very delicately to avoid having the whole thing come crashing down. So, when I looked at my Tower O'Books tonight, I concluded that rather than trying to pry one lowly book from the bottom of the heap later tonight, it was probably time to sift through the pile and decide which ones should stay and which ones needed to be refiled on the bookshelf in the guest room.

So my nightside table acts as my "Primary" stash of books I am currently reading or at least flipping through for information gathering. Then just underneath my bed, right at the edge if the bed frame is my basket of books. This is my "Secondary" stash. These are books that I want to keep handy because I will come back to them frequently, or they are novels that I have become bored with but think I may get back to relatively shortly so I don't want to actually return them to the bookshelves. ( I almost NEVER return to the novels- if they bore me it just becomes too painful to force myself to finish them).

Having no idea what other peoples' habits are regarding bedtime reading, I assess my habits and I think (no, I know) they are a sign of an insomniac. I think a wide array of books at my fingertips is my "drug" for my disorder. I never can go to sleep before midnight or 1am. And when I do crawl into bed at that time, I need to read! I can't imagine that some people can actually just crawl into bed and simply close their eyes and go to sleep. And yet I know people can do this because I am married to someone who can do this!! Then, when (not "if") I wake in the night, I may want to read a different book than the one I was reading when I first went to bed. And I may need to read part of many books before I can feel tired enough to go back to sleep. Hence, the need for a large assortment of books handy to your bed when you are an insomniac!

As I flipped through the pile, I thought the array of titles and topics was quite interesting. One the top of the tower was "Beyond Jennifer, Jason, Madison and Montana". Yes a baby naming book. Although we have decided that we will keep our Ethiopian children's first names since they will likely be older and very familiar and attached to their names, we will give them our "chosen" names as middle names. Although not a great name book, and I do own many better ones, I just haven't bothered to go the the "main" bookshelf to get a better one. And it serves it's purpose. It's kind of like reading a cookbook; so boring it makes you sleepy.

Next book in the pile was, "Real Parents, Real Children- Parenting the adopted child". A good resource book and lately I've had to flip through to find out about temper tantrums. Lily sure can let it rip! Although many books say that being adopted at any age can cause such "issues", I have to say I'm not a believer in that. I think she is like any other two-and-a -half year older toddler who just looses it when she can't have her way! Sometimes when it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck- it's a duck!

Next in the pile was "The Secret". And not to blow the secret for anyone, but basically that book is all about the "Power of Positive Thinking". Hmmm.... I'm a little concerned with how close it was placed to the top of the pile. A sure indication of that fact that I have recently felt the need to work on thinking more positively. That's a sure sign of the season!

And directly under that was a massive pile of decorating magazines that
I 've hardly had a chance to look at in a long time. They can definitely move to the guest room!

In the basket below my bed was "Steps to Independence- Teaching Everyday Skills to Children with Special Needs". This has been my Bible for so many years, and the condition of the book attests to that! However, I thought, the fact that it is under my bed in the basket was a good sign. We have not had many issues lately that needed research or else it would have be on my nightside table! How's that for putting a positive spin on my thinking! Maybe "The Secret" is working!

Also in the basket is "The Out Of Sync Child" and "The Out Of Sync Child Has Fun". Great books on sensory integration issues and fun activities that fill "the need" for stimulation. My newest bibles. But, we have great list of activities we are currently working on, so again I haven't had to look anything up in a while.

Last in the basket was " Complete Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training". Still working on the "Positive Dog Training" part, but I can easily relate to the "Complete Idiot" part. Some days keeping the dog in line is twice as hard as raising my kids. Parlee is so quiet and relaxed for the whole day when I am home, then for whatever reason at 9pm, she just bugs, bugs, bugs to be played with. My mother told me the other night, she was just like me. I've been known to start a major activity or project at 9 or 10pm! Well, I know she's just a puppy and she'll settle in time. I still need to work on training in a "positive" way when she's driving me crazy. Looks like I may need to move "The Secret" back up to the top of the pile tonight!

Does a stork carry paperwork too ... or just babies?

I think the adoption stork carries babies and paperwork. I think the storks in Africa bring babies "TO" Canada, and then on their return flight, they bring paperwork back to Ethiopia. After all, they have to go back so they may as well make use of the round trip. Why fly back empty handed??!!

So our stork left Ottawa on Friday, December 7!

Yesterday I arrived home to see a FEDEX slip on my door. I had just missed to delivery truck by 5 minutes!! (We probably passed each other on the street.) I was hoping that the parcel was the specially made training wheels that we ordered form Ontario for Kyra's bike. They were supposed to be made in about a weeks time. We sent the money mid-October. We still don't have the training wheels!! But... that's another post.

So this morning I head out to FEDEX to pick up my parcel (hoping that it's the training wheels). When the guy at the counter goes out back to look for my parcel he says, "Will it be a box or an envelope?" Again, thinking it will be the training wheels I say, "I think it should be a box". A few minutes later he comes back through the door and says, "No, it's just an envelope."
SIGH. Now I'm totally deflated... Still NO training wheels!! URRGGHH

However, my disappointment was quickly forgotten when I opened up the envelope and read the cover letter from Kids Link that says, "Re: Dossier to Ethiopia!" (She really typed the exclamation point on the subject line!!) And that was just how I felt, like a big exclamation point. And I instantly think, "REALLY?" And I continue to read the letter and the first line says, "I am happy to inform you that your dossier was sent to Ethiopia today!" Another exclamation mark... Baffled, I think, "It was?". Then quickly I realize, "No, not today. When was the letter written?" I quickly look up to the top of the paper and see the date, "December 7, 2007". OMG, it was sent Friday! When I read the date, December 7, I immediately remember that on December 7, 2004, I was in Portland, Maine with Kyra and my Mom driving through the Maine Mall parking lot when my cell phone rang. It was Daron telling me that our social worker, Marg, had left us a message saying that we were approved by the Province that afternoon to adopt a little girl from China! Wow, Lucky 7 for us, that's for sure.

YIPPEE, we are officially expecting again!!!

Now, if I could just figure out what to do about those training wheels...

'Tis The Season...

My girlfriend Andi and I are always saying that life is SO crazy at Christmas time. We'd love for our families to be able to get together MORE leading up to the holidays, and yet every year the days of preamble fly by and we hardly get a chance to see each other at all. But, that is the Christmas season!

This year is no different, December started off with a bang! Last Sunday, Kyra was in a little Christmas concert at church and she was very excited for everyone to come and watch her.

Kyra has zero stage fright, but she struggles to get the words out. Most lyrics are too quick for her, so she does a little "Milli- Vanilli" lip- sync. And even though it is a challenge for her to keep up with the pace, she loves to participate. She has great self confidence! The cutest part was at the end of their number, Kyra threw both arms up to the sky and did a little "finish" pose like a rock star. It was hysterical. Our little Celine Dion! She had all of us in stitches!

Lily was jealous of Kyra being able to perform, and kept running up on stage to get into the show as often as she could. She just kept saying "Only for big kids".


This week Lily was quite excited because in Sunday school she got to practice for the little number the preschoolers will be doing next Sunday night at the Christmas Concert. Her Sunday school teacher reads a little story and at the end of each line, the kids do a little action. So tonight after dinner we were practicing. Each time the teacher says "And Baby Jesus was born" the kids clap their hands in excitement. But tonight when I said, "And Baby Jesus was born", instead of clapping on cue, she added,"in China". In Lily's little world, all babies are born in China. I can only imagine what she'll say on stage next week for the concert!


Last Monday night was the New Maryland Toy and Food drive. The snow storm made for a beautiful night to watch Santa come by our house on his sled. He stopped in front of our driveway and got off his sled to wave his magic wand over the girls' heads to say they will have happy days from now until Christmas. It was very cute!

So, after the storm on Monday night, Tuesday was our first Snow Day of the year. The girls had a fun day. First, we all got a little cuddle in since nobody had to be anywhere that morning. Next year will be really squishy with four kids and the dog. I'm thinking we should have definitely got a King size bed when we got married. You know what they say, hind sight is always 20/20!

Then we laughed at Parlee when she came in from outside. There must have been 100 little snowballs on her belly. She has a great time playing out in the snow... the joys of puppyhood! Everything is new and exciting!

When we got up, Lily decided she wanted to play "Horsey" with Kyra. Kyra is always only too happy to oblidge. Check out the Madusa Hair Do. That's our "rocker" Kyra, she wakes up with that every day of life. Thank goodness she has so much hair or she'd be bald by now!

Then it was out to the Bulk Barn for some baking supplies and back to make gingerbread cookies. The girls did a great job and had a ball!

Head Baker

Apprentice Baker

Kyra proudly showing her cookie cutting abilities

Lily couldn't wait any longer to test the fruits of their labour!

MMMM, MMMM GOOD!

Our exhausted little "Betty Crocker"

What better way to end a day of fun than to fall asleep cuddling with Dad.

I LOVE this comic!

PRICELESS!

2nd Anniversary- Gotcha Day

TODAY I KISSED AN ANGEL

Today I kissed an angel

I knew it from the start

the first time that my angel

smiled at me

I gave away my heart

Today I kissed an angel

this angel child of mine

though not of my creation

my child by God's design

Today I kissed an angel

my heart is dancing wild

our family, by a miracle

blessed by another angel child

Two years ago today Daron and I had Lily placed in our arms for the very first time. I still remember the overwhelming emotions of love, joy, excitement, gratitude, pride, nervousness, fear and ultimately, relief. The day of Lily's arrival had finally come!

Both our children came into our lives after long, hard journeys that were filled with anticipation. We finally became pregnant with Kyra after two years of trying, and we finally had Lily after a year and a half of paperchasing and waiting. At this point, we have no idea how long the wait will be for our next two children, but I know that the day we finally have them in our arms we will experience all those emotions that we had the day Kyra was born and the day Lily came into our family.

They say the greatest rewards are felt from the things we work hardest for. I couldn't agree more. I am so thankful that we had to work so hard to bring both of our children into our family; for us there is no greater joy than having the privilage of being the parents to two such beautiful children.

NYC- Day 2

So day two, we wake up exhausted, but still are out by 8:30. Our plan is to go for a good hearty breakfast (so we can shop through lunch again!) and then hit the uptown stores...Saks, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, FAO Schwartz...

On our way over to 5th Ave, we head over to Rockefeller Plaza. To our surprise as we get to the Plaza concourse, we see Matt Lauer on the outdoor stage for the Today Show and he introduces James Taylor. What luck! Here's a shot of him on stage singing...

And here's me calling my girl friend Andi... and she's not home!! I'm SCREAMING onto her voicemail, "We're on the Plaza concourse and we just saw Matt Lauer, and we are listening to James Taylor. I can't believe you're not home!!"



We stuck close to "The Evans". We figured it was our best chance of getting on TV. When the camera pans out over the crowd, they are going to get all the Evan Almighty's on! Sure enough, my grandmother could see us! I couldn't think of who else to call that would be home.
I can't believe we were one of the screaming idiots trying to get on camera at the Today Show! I swore I would never do that. Just goes to show you, in the heat of the moment, you never know what you'll do.
After all the Today Show excitement we found a great restaurant below Rockefeller Plaza and had a wonderful breakfast at the window beside the outdoor skating rink. During breakfast, watching everyone skate around we decided we would go to the skate shop, rent some skates and do a couple laps before we hit the stores. We walk into the skate shop, the ticket lady tallies up the register and says, "$48!" Okay we didn't want to skate THAT badly. Let's hit Saks instead!!

This is us "going into" FAO Schwartz...

This is us "inside" FAO Schwartz...

...And this is us "leaving".

When we hailed a cab, I almost had to tell him to remove his spare tire from the trunk so we could fit all our goodies inside!

These next few photos are for my dad. Every time my Mom talked to him on the phone he kept saying, "I hope you're taking lots of pictures", or "Don't forget to bring the camera so you can take lots of pictures". So..

This is us on 5th Ave in front of Cartier...

Still on 5Th Ave, in front of Tiffany's...

This is us on 6Th Ave in front of Macy's...

This is us back on 5Th Ave in front of Lord and Taylor...

So we did take lots of pictures, but somehow I don't think that is what my dad was envisioning. He was probably thinking Empire State Building, Flatiron Building, Central Park, Statue of Liberty.

NOT!

So, we had a great mother/daughter weekend and we have lots of fantastic memories that we'll keep for many years to come. Hopefully one day, I'll be able to do that with my girls.

The BIG Apple- DAY 1

Okay, so here's our story about our little mother/daughter adventure in New York...Look at the first pictures we took. We are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves...




... and we are still on the tarmac in Montreal! We haven't even taken off yet and we are a couple of giddy girls!





This is truly the city that never sleeps (us included!) Although, I do appear to be sleep-walking across Times Square here!


We came home completely exhausted, but had an unbelievably fun three days!




We landed late on Sunday, but because we were staying RIGHT IN TIMES SQUARE, we had the world (literally) at our doorstep. We headed to the Meridian Marquis rooftop restaurant and had a great view of the whole Manhattan skyline. It was spectacular.









And of course, we had to go shopping after we finished our dinner. Where else could you finish dinner at 11pm and then go shopping on a Sunday night until midnight. How New York!!



We had a great time shopping the next day. We were up and out by 8:30. We first landed at Macy's, then headed down to Century 21. A great designer discount dept store. We should have definitely gotten there earlier. So many racks... so little time.



On the way back we stopped at Canal Street and had a great time getting our knock-off bags. We would ask the vendors if they had any Coach bags, they would check to make sure the coast was clear, quickly lead us into the back room, dig out the hidden remote control and pop open this secret door on the back wall that wasn't even visible 10 seconds earlier. It was all very clandestine!! It was just like being back in China once the bartering started. I quickly realized my mother had no knack for bartering, she's such a softy. So I did all the talking. We had a good time and left with 6 bags. These are our treasures from day 1.


Unfortunately Broadway was on strike while we were there, so we had to see an off-Broadway show. That was a little disappointing, but had a good time regardless.

We had a great late dinner in Times Square at Bubba Gumps Shrimp Market. We had a prime seat at the window overlooking the Square. It was funny to watch a giant flat screen TV playing the final episode of The Bachelor and seeing the face of some poor girl being dumped, and realizing that not only is it happening and being seen by millions, but surely she can't know that her face is three stories high on what is arguably the busiest intersection in the world! Something one should think about if ever considering participating in a reality show!! Humbling to say the least.



Next post will be about Day 2.