Refresh,refresh,refresh,refresh,refresh,refresh,refresh,refresh,refresh,refresh,...repeat.

Anne on the DHL Website. Still in Oregon.

God Speed!

Our dossier is en-route to Ethiopia as of 12:15pm, MST

December 30, 2010

(From our hands, to God's...)

Happy New Year & Namaste!

Happiness.

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."

~Prince Gautama Siddharta

Heart-swell. Heartbreak. Heart-swell. Heartbreak. Heart-swell...

I am so happy for our friends who are either having babies, or getting their children home! And at the same time, each time I hear of this amazing news, despite the immense beauty, I feel like I've been kicked in the gut and the wind knocked out of me. I cannot breathe.

I don't want to be selfish.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
-Buddha

So, I practice bringing myself back to the moment - and sending love and good thoughts.

Namaste.

Saying Stupid Things. But Not in World Market.

So I have read a lot of blogs / articles and seen "required adoption videos" lately stating, simply, that people pretty much say stupid things.

Well, this is true, especially (but not limited to) situations where parents and children are different colors. Incidentally, this left us in a bind this morning when we were at (of all places) World Market, and saw the most adorable African-American little girl with white parents. (Why we were at World Market the last Saturday before Christmas is another story.) We chose to resist the temptation to approach these parents and tell them a.) how beautiful their little girl was b.) ask if they had adopted her and from where, and c.) announce that we, too, are attempting to adopt a child of a different race. After taking a moment to reflect on all of the videos warning us NOT to approach people and tell them how beautiful their children are, or ask about their situations, we were able to hold our inappropriate selves back. So we bought our cheap wine and half-priced Christmas wrappings and left. (This was not the case this summer when, despite my husband's attempts to stop me, I chased a family down the block at a festival in Golden to learn that they had just brought their adorable son back from Haiti. In my defense, this was before the videos.)

But these rules to "not" communicate confuse and frustrate me. I mean, the pregnant women get a "club". All of my pregnant friends have told me of this club - where in restrooms they discuss due dates, cravings and probable lactation problems with total strangers who are also obviously pregnant. Parents with infants have this same club - I have seen and admired it from afar... So where is our club? I want a club! Shouldn't World Market be our club? Where we can discuss our referral dates, trade Ethnic recipes and calm fears with total strangers whose families happen to look like us?

All of this does make me wonder... if these are people with whom we have something so deep in common - what is OK to say? What's not OK? What about our friends and families - they have questions, too! Perhaps it depends on the spirit in which questions are asked or statements are made? Or the personalities of the people in the situation? How will we feel if and when we ever get our child home? 

Please bear with me if I am unable to contain my enthusiasm and curiosity about your beautiful and unique family and I say stupid but really well-intentioned things.

If at first you don't conceive...

This has officially become an adoption blog again! 

Before Nepal shut down we had actually started the process of adopting from Ethiopia for #2. Well, number 2 has become number one! We took a few months to mourn Nepal, and to get our wits about us again, now we're officially back in the process, publicly.

So, our dossier is finished and out of our hands in record time, thanks to my very detail-oriented and committed husband (finished in less than 2 months). Our families have been informed (which I might add, went very well!). We're meeting people locally who are or will be adopting from Ethiopia. We're taking classes and learning about Africa and Ethiopia. And so on and so forth.

My girlfriends have asked how I feel. My answer is "1/3 excited, 1/3 relieved and 1/3 scared to death." One wisely commented: "You're balanced!". Not a word I'd use to describe myself - but hey - maybe motherhood is changing me already.

 

December 9, 2010

Family.

My parents were here for Thanksgiving - we had a really great week. (Why is it that you don't really appreciate your parents until you're O-L-D?) 

As Terry and I work towards having our own family - I'm struck by the good things we got from my parents that I want to pass on. They instilled us with tremendous independence and allowed us to find our own beliefs while raising us with strong morals and work ethics. My mom taught us love of family and for animals. My dad encouraged us to take risks and love nature.They're still married, and put 3 of us through braces and college.

We talked a lot about my family history. (As a child, my grandfather named himself after a horse he liked. My grandmother single-handedly ran the family farm for months after my grandfather broke his hip). I wish I would have known my grandparents better and am fascinated by hearing stories... I could listen to them for days.

We'll spend Christmas with Terry's family - who bring us an entirely different set of blessings and stories. We're very, very fortunate. As this child will be, once it finally gets here. (700 days today.)

Namaste and blessings.