It's Been Awhile...

Yes, I'm still around...and yes I still write.  My writing for the last...well, almost ten months has been sporadic to say the least and of the personal or LJ variety.  It's a cycle folks...my creativity has always been at its highest when I am at my lowest.  Sad but true.

As an update to the last post...the MRI guided biopsy went very well...much better than the first time.  Yes, The Emperor Ass Hat was at his best...they couldn't even find him at the hospital and he was an hour or so late.  But he and I understand each other now.  He knows I'm not putting up with it and I will call him on it.  Aftercare was very different this time...I have no idea if that had anything to do with me or the dozens of other women who probably went home and bled for 24 hours straight after having the same procedure.  In any case, it went well, and I heard the words I wanted to hear, "It's benign."

Six months later, time for the follow-up MRI.  Guess what?  Yep.  Again.  This time, thank God, they were able to find the spot on an ultrasound so I was able to have an ultrasound guided biopsy instead of another dreaded MRI.  And you're never going to guess who did the biopsy!!!  Yep...The Emperor Ass Hat.  Again...we have danced so many times I'm able to lead.  And again, "It's benign."

Did I mention that the week before I had the ultrasound guided biopsy I also had an area removed from my left arm?  That was to make sure they got everything that was left of a "funny freckle".  Typical Mel Results, "Well...it's not cancer.  But there is far too much cellular activity and if we leave it alone it could become cancerous."

I continue to take my roadtrips at least four times a year.  I just did one on Tuesday of this week as a matter of fact.  And as I look at the calendar I can see that next Wednesday is the TWO year anniversary of my very first one.

Claire graduated preschool to the strains of "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts while Mama held Hopie and sobbed into her hair.

Hope finished second grade with flying colors after a major hiccup near the end of the year.  Her beloved teacher...undoubtedly in my eyes sent from God especially for her...had to retire in February for medical reasons.  It was devastating for all involved.  The teacher they hired to take over, while I'm sure she is more than competent, was nothing like the original in any respect.  It was like starting the year all over again.  I don't know how the rest of the kids handled it but it took Hope a good long time to completely switch gears.  I thank God she got through it and it's over.

We took a long overdue trip to Walt Disney World at the end of May and spent ten days soaking up everything that Uncle Walt and The Imagineers have to offer.  It was far too crowded...and far too hot...but it's DISNEY for crying out loud!  How can you NOT enjoy yourself?  One of many cherished memories from that trip centers around an impromptu stop at The Voyage Of The Little Mermaid.  It is a combination live action/animated show put on at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  We were all far too hot and tired of walking.  We walked past the theater, I checked the wait time which was 10 minutes...thinking seats and air conditioning...and I said, "Let's stop here."  As we were going through the turnstiles, a cast member stopped us and asked the girls if they would like to help her welcome everyone to the show.  She took their names and then placed us up front and told us to wait for her...she'd be back.  Shortly before the doors opened she reappeared with personalized certificates for each girl, thanking them for their help, and signed by both Ariel and Prince Eric.  She got out her microphone, introduced my girls, then placed the mic between them.  Hope said, "Welcome to The Little Mermaid!" and grinned from ear to ear.  Claire...did nothing.  The crowd applauded...Mama cried.  I think I may have forgotten to mention that Vivien, the cast member who chose the girls to help her...was Chinese.  ")

Now....I've just reread this post...and it's missing the Mel trademark.  I can just hear Carolina saying, "But Mel...where is your heart?"

Oh...it's still here too.  It is broken and battered and flawed to a fault.  But it's still here.  You'll hear more about that in the next post in a few days.  I know...you can't believe it.  Shut up.

ABC Wednesday---L Is For Lilo

ABC Wednesday is hosted by Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.

Near the end of January 2002, Garry and I took our annual trip to Walt Disney World. It was to be our last trip there as a couple. At that time we knew we were going to adopt a baby from China but had yet to formally start the paperwork.

During our visit to the then active animation studios we were treated to a brief presentation by one of the studio animators. He drew us a picture of "Stitch" one of the characters from their new movie "Lilo and Stitch" that was coming out that summer. It was interesting...Stitch was this blue alien...thing...that in one picture had four legs and looked like a dog if you kind of tilted your head and squinted...and in another picture looked like an alien with about 8 arms and antennae sprouting everywhere. We also saw headshots of the actors who were going to do the voices for the animated film. I was excited because I recognized Kevin McDonald, who voiced the character of Pleakley. Some of you may remember my total and complete obsession with the Kids In The Hall many years ago. No? Ok...moving on...

Never...never...NEVER could we have imagined the impact that this presentation would have on our lives. N-E-V-E-R.

By the end of 2002 we were completely immersed in the paper chase for Hope and had moved into our "real" house leaving behind our not so child friendly condo. The nesting instinct was pretty strong and we started buying Disney DVD's to have around once she arrived. (Notice I didn't mention that I love Disney movies...and cry at them...all of them...) The Disney Store had sent us an email saying that Lilo and Stitch was coming out on DVD and that we could pre-order it along with a mini stuffed Lilo and Stitch. I ordered them all and we had them before our first Christmas in our new home. We even have pictures of Lilo on our mantel at Christmas time.

From December of 2002 to January of 2004 I don't know how many times Garry and I watched Lilo and Stitch. I bonded with Lilo. Here was this strong, independent, creative kid...who looked like what I imagined my daughter would look like at age six. At one point Garry wanted to name Hope, Lilo. There were a lot of tears shed during each viewing of that DVD. Especially during the utterances of two different quotes. The first being, "O'hana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind...or forgotten." The second: "This is my family. I found it all on my own. It's small and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good." We bought a rather large stuffed Stitch toy and put it in Hope's crib.

Fast forward to January of 2004. We were leaving for China at the end of the month to bring Hope home. We had all of our suitcases in the middle of her nursery trying to decide what to take and what to leave home. Her little suitcase was busting at the seams. When I tried to get the stuffed polar bear in that her Daddy had purchased for her, it just wasn't happening. No room at the inn. The large Stitch was also a no go...he was bigger than the polar bear...plus we figured it might scare her. Remembering the tiny Lilo and Stitch, I went to Hope's closet and pulled out the mini toys that came with the DVD...they fit perfectly!

All of the pictures taken of me while I was waiting at the hotel for Hope to arrive? I'm holding little Stitchie, as we had started calling him. While baby Hope was fascinated with Stitch, she was completely, madly, totally in love with Lilo. She bonded to that tiny doll as fiercely as she did to us. This shot was taken on our last night in Guangzhou. At one point she was laying in her crib, gurgling to Lilo, making her dance and playing peek-a-boo with her!

Little Itty Bitty Lilo, as she is now known, was Hope's VERY favorite toy. After we had been home a few months we found a slightly larger version of her at The Disney Store and bought two of them. One was for sleeping with, the other one was for playing with downstairs or taking with her in the car. I cleaned up Little Itty Bitty Lilo as best I could and put her in the box of China treasures that we pull out every year on the anniversary of Hope's Gotcha Day. So far, Hope is mildly interested in the clothes she wore, the bottle that was marked as hers from the CWI, her tiny shoes...but Little Itty Bitty Lilo? She can't wait to dig into that treasure box and hold her!

For Hope's first Halloween I made her a Lilo dress. I looked all over for a pattern and then thought, "Hello?" How much easier do you want it to be?" I bought a red women's t-shirt at Old Navy, cut out the leaves from muslin and bonded them to the t-shirt. The next picture was taken in October of 2004.

Not realizing how beloved that Lilo dress would become and how often she would want to wear it, I ended up having to make Lilo dress 2.0. This time I actually appliqued the leaves on.

Shortly after her second birthday Hope had her, well, one and only bout I can remember, with some type of stomach bug. She threw up all over...yes...Lilo. I was mortified. The kid KNEW the difference between "Upstairs Lilo" and "Downstairs Lilo" as they were...and still are called! Even though at that time they were identical she could smell them and tell you which one was which. After I cleaned Hope and her bedding up, I gave her Downstairs Lilo to nap with; threw Upstairs Lilo in the washer saying more prayers than you can imagine; then hit eBay looking for another one. I found a SAINT who had FIVE of the dolls that The Disney Store no longer carried or manufactured. I bought THREE of them and they are STILL tucked safely away in her closet upstairs because Upstairs Lilo cleaned up like a dream.

We didn't take our next trip to Walt Disney World until November of 2005. Hope was 2 1/2, we were expecting our referral for Claire in February of 2006 (we didn't get it until November of 2006)...we figured this would be something special for Hope before she had to share Mama and Daddy with a baby sister. This is a picture I snapped of Hopie on the airport shuttle...notice who is sitting beside her?

Once we made it safely to Orlando we started our quest to locate Lilo and/or Stitch. We were told you could find them most days at a certain spot at The Animal Kingdom. Did I mention we HAD to pack the Lilo dress too? ;) We finally ran into Stitch one day at that certain spot. It was almost our turn to talk to him when the woman who was there helping said to us, "I'll get your baby up here as soon as I possibly can. Right now I've got a Make-A-Wish child that wants to meet him." Please? Like we're going to make a fuss over THAT? Hope was perfectly content waiting and so were we. As if meeting Stitchie wasn't magic enough? After the Make-A-Wish girl left, the woman there turned to everyone in line and said, "Well folks! We thought that you weren't going to have a chance to meet Lilo today because she's in the parade over at the studios. But guess what? She's HERE!!!!" She took Hope over to Stitch and EVERYONE applauded. Dang it...I'm leaking again just remembering it. Hope gave him a GIANT hug...and the smile on her face was priceless. The woman asked if I had made the Lilo dress...when I said yes...she said, "You ROCK Mama!" Stitch took a LOT of time with Hopie...and then after we had taken several pictures he came over and gave me a huge kiss. If that would've been the only interaction we had with them it would've been more than we ever could've imagined! I can still see the tears in Garry's eyes...

A couple of days later we did some checking around and found out that BOTH Lilo and Stitch were to be in that spot at a certain hour. We RACED to The Animal Kingdom and sat on the bench under the tree with plenty of time to spare...and waited...and waited...and waited...until well after that certain hour. Garry asked some folks what was going on and was told that there had been a change in schedule and they would be an hour late. We stayed right there and were the first ones in line. When they saw her in that dress...again...more than we ever could've imagined. They held her...they patted her head...they hugged her...they played patty-cake with her...we ALL had our pictures taken with them. And when we were leaving? Lilo took Hope's face in her hands...and kissed her. In Hope's mind it was no big deal. Hey, it was Lilo...she's her best friend. In Mama and Daddy's mind? It was the sweetest, most precious thing that could've happened. More tears.

Several days later we were at the holiday parade at the studios. The Wicked Queen from Snow White walked up to Hope and said, "Do you like apples?" Garry said, "Tell her no honey." Then she said to Cruella DeVille, "Cruella! Did you know that Lilo had a little sister?" Moments later Aladdin and Jasmine rode by. Jasmine points at Hope and says, "Look Aladdin! It's Lilo!" It wasn't long before Lilo and Stitch's car appeared. The very INSTANT they spotted Hope on the curb? Well...look for yourself. What an awesome, AWESOME trip.

The love for all things Lilo and Stitch is still going strong. Hope has requested a Lilo and Stitch birthday cake for ALL of her birthdays except one. She still wants "Lilo toys" for Christmas...and she's asking for a Lilo lunchbox next year. I hope I can find one!

In January of 2007 our Lilo finally got her Stitch. And in October of 2007, Mama finally realized a long time dream of hers when it came time to go trick or treating. I had BOTH of my girls and they could dress up like Lilo and Stitch!

Below are Princess Lilo and Baby Stitchie!

Oh! And that Lilo dress? Well...using an idea that was originally in Life magazine...I've taken a picture of Hope in it every single year. I'm putting all of her Lilo dress pictures in chronological order in a Lilo and Stitch album. I'll do this every year until she's 16. You want to see just how quickly your child grows? Wow. Look at my big girl in her Lilo dress picture from last fall. And yeah...that's still Upstairs Lilo she's holding. She can't sleep without her...even though her one arm is only an arm in the loosest sense of the word...I've sewn and re-sewn and sewn some more.
So that's the story of how a little orphaned girl from Hawaii and her blue alien became a beloved part of this O'hana.

Hugs and blessings,

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know...where in the heck have I been? Enjoy the following updates/rantings!

Disney World was wonderful. Hope was absolutely amazing. She basically rolled with the punches and enjoyed herself and her first vacation to the fullest. The last couple of days were kind of dicey as she was years beyond tired, but other than that she was a trouper. The kid is a character magnet. I've never seen that many characters in my entire LIFETIME of trips to Disney parks, let alone one single trip. Let's just say we have well over 300 pictures to commemorate Hope's First Trip To Disney World. In retrospect, the timing of the trip might have been tweaked a little. It was rough getting back just in time to prepare for the holidays. But...we wouldn't have gotten to experience all the neat Christmas-y things at Disney World! Will we do it again? Of course! Soon? I'm thinking no.

Did someone mention the holidays? I know I have quite a few people upset with me because I've been EXCEPTIONALLY quiet. To which I can only say I'm sorry...but get used to it! ") Seriously, I cut out SO many extra things this year hoping to evade the usual mind/body/soul numbing sickness that inevitably descends upon me after the whirlwind of holiday activity stops. I did better...I truly did! I had time to actually ENJOY a portion of the season myself! However, the past week was spent in a haze of hacking, Vicks, Tylenol, Puffs Plus tissues, and late, late, LATE night television. It is only in the last two days that I've actually become interested in personal hygiene again! LOL Garry had it over Christmas...Hope was New Year's...Mama was last week. This is NOT a legacy I want to pass on to my girls. I do not want them to labor over creating the enigmatic PERFECT holiday for everyone else only to miss it for themselves and end up sick as a dog afterwards. So, be forewarned...if I have to cut more computer time...I will! ")

Quite a few folks have been commenting on Hope's size lately. The comments run the gamut from, "She's just not growing is she?" to "Wow! She's so big!" It occurred to me that most of these comments are coming from people who only see her in pictures. I can see where that would be confusing! She was weighed and measured at her pediatricians' office last month. At that time she weighed 25 pounds and was 35 inches tall. So folks, she's still shorter than a yardstick. Her doctors assure us every single time we see them that she is growing normally and there is nothing to worry about. This, dear friends, is all I care about. To put it in perspective she is wearing anywhere from 18-24 month size clothes with a couple of 2T's thrown in for good measure...but she still has some 12 month stuff that fits! She's tiny...but in her doctor's words, "She's in perfect proportion." Well duh!

So, what's the news on Claire? There isn't any. Ok, other than we bought her a carseat and a bathseat a few months ago!

Recently I gave up reading all of my Yahoo groups...save one...I'm cutting down on computer time you know! ; ) I was thrilled to read a post from someone who said they actually CRINGE when someone asks them about the status of their adoption. Another waiting family added that they wanted to place a tattoo on their foreheads stating, "We don't know anything!" This is how we feel my friends. I know that I haven't posted any news in quite awhile so I can more than understand why many of you have started to ask questions again. In an attempt to answer as many as possible in one fell swoop I included a "fact sheet" with our Christmas cards. In that sheet I stated that we more than likely wouldn't know anything until the end of February. Today is January 8th, and I'm not even going to tell you how many people who received that fact sheet have asked us if we've heard anything. I know, I know, I KNOW that these people care for us and simply want to let us know that they care. I am begging everyone to find another way! LOL This time is not a joyous one for us. It is not something to look forward to. It is arduous, grueling, and gut wrenching and frankly, I spend most of my time trying not to think about it.

We had folks asking us way back in July, before the papers even went to China, if Claire's room was ready. Umm...no? We prepared Hope's room about two months before she joined our family. As far as I'm concerned THAT was too early. The only reason we "hurried" on that one was because we wanted the cats to get used to the new sights and smells before she came in and disrupted their perfect little furry lives! On a practical note, it's a room that's not being used but still gets dirty! I don't want or need another room to clean. On an emotional note I remember going into Hope's room before she arrived and SOBBING into her little clothes that were hanging in the closet. Friends, this process is not like a pregnancy...and frankly I may kill the next person who tells me that it is. When a woman is pregnant, does she wonder if her baby is warm enough; if she is getting enough to eat; if she is receiving adequate medical care; if she's been born yet; and most importantly...when you are pregnant do you have to wonder WHERE your baby is?

We are not keeping any information from you. We don't HAVE any information to keep from you. The last little bit of info I read on the web stated that those with LID's (log in dates) in April had been matched. If that is true then it really doesn't bode well for those of us with LID's in August being matched by the end of February. Now...Garry and I can be as gracious as the next person but we are truly going to mame the next person who reminds us for the 3 millionth time that Chinese New Year is at the end of January and will probably slow the process down even more so.

Folks...the entire process to bring us to Hope took 20 full months. MANY of those months were spent with even less information than what I've provided for you here. We have just reached our 12th month in the process for Claire. Obviously God knew it was going to take 20 months for our perfect, precious Hope to be ready to join our family. He and He alone knows when Claire's time will come too.

Ok...did I make my point? ") Believe me, NO ONE is more interested in receiving news about Claire than WE ARE! You won't be able to keep us silent once we do! Thanks to all of you for reading my rantings...this will be the first place to look for news! You know I don't like the telephone! ")

Ok...remember this statement from a couple of posts ago?

"We are all just trying to smile and keep positive attitudes while we work through the junk!"

Well folks, the junk continues. I've kept smiling and kept my positive attitude...until today. (Linda, please note the day of the week!) In short, the last couple of weeks have been absolutely exhausting both mentally and physically. Why you ask? Read on...or not! :)

1. For reasons I don't care to get into on the worldwide web, Hope became frightened of darn near everything. It started with a couple of our Halloween decorations which I immediately put away. It then progressed to things like the television...so much so that she wouldn't even enter the family room to play with her toys. After that it could be anything...things hanging on the walls or sitting on an end table that have been there for years...Humphrey...you name it. The child who chased Humphrey through the house trying to pet him was now crying if he was even in the same room with her. After a lot of love, talking, and extra attention she's just about back to her normal happy self and all is right in her little 2 year old world...and she's chasing Humphrey through the house trying to pet him again!

REASON TO SMILE? It's over...we lived through it...and she now knows that TALKING about something that bothers her is a good thing.

2. The tendonitis in my foot is trying to creep back. After 10 days on Prednisone it was feeling better and I had about a week of pain-free normalcy. Don't get me wrong, it's still better than what it was, it's just so dang ANNOYING! Add this to the fact that during those 10 days on Prednisone I ate darn near anything that wasn't moving I now feel, in the words of Gaston from Disney's Beauty & The Beast, "...I'm roughly the size of a baaaaaarrrrge!"

REASON TO SMILE? The foot does feel better...it has its good days and bad days. I've been able to cross one med off of my daily who gets what and when calendar! Please notice I didn't say I *am* the size of a barge, only that I *feel* like I'm the size of a barge. There is a big difference! I've worked long and hard to change those evil thought processes!

3. I’ve been working in Claire’s room cleaning out the closet…tossing things…putting things in a pile for a yard sale…organizing. My wedding dress is in a big storage box on the top shelf. On top of that were some of my old toys and a bunch of my baby things that my mother insisted I take. As I was reaching for something on top of the box, a box containing my old electric baby food dish toppled off and fell to the ground. I ignored it and continued to go through things. A few minutes later I went to pick it up and there, underneath it, on my cream colored carpet, was a straight line of about ½ dozen dime sized spots of SOMETHING that was deep forest green. I touched it and it was wet and oily. I opened the box containing the dish and all three compartments were FULL of this green oily slime. I grabbed it, wrapped it in some old blanket that was nearby and raced it downstairs to the trash. I spent the next block of my time trying to get it out of my carpet. I think I’ve got most of it…can’t really see it but if you get too close you can smell the stuff! ICK!

REASON TO SMILE? When we got the carpet we got really GOOD carpet. The guy told us that if we ever needed to cut any out and patch it you’d never be able to see it. AND the wretched thing only leaked on my carpet. It must’ve dribbled out of the compartments when it fell…there was NOTHING on the outside of the box of my wedding dress. Although I told Garry that I’d almost rather that it was on the dress instead of the carpet. I can’t imagine either one of my girls ever wearing a 10 in anything!

4. So much for any of us rotating out of our 8 or more week periods of ringworm meds. Yes, The Hageman Family will now and forever be known as The Fungal Family. Horatio and I presented right around the same time in late August and started our meds in early September. He's officially done today but read on. I'm still applying the cream. All three of my spots are very faint and almost gone. Once they are gone I still need to use the cream for two more weeks. Hope got her little happy spot early in October. So far she only has one and the over the counter stuff her nurse recommended is working great. Humphrey started his bout in late October and his earliest cut-off date is December 2. However, to prevent Horatio becoming re-infected we will have to continue with his meds until Humphrey has had no new spots for two weeks and hair has begun to re-grow.

REASON TO SMILE? Garry has been spared. The meds are definitely working. No one is itching like crazy anymore. The vets will have to administer the meds while we are in Florida for 10 days! Let me tell you...giving a cat liquid medicine twice a day is not a fun proposition. Horatio does much better than Humphrey...whom during administration is known as "El Diablo".

5. Wednesday night I heard this weird hissing noise…but I could only hear it in the laundry room. I asked Garry if he heard anything. He said no…I told him to listen in the laundry room. He did and said it was coming from downstairs. He went downstairs and our hot water heater had sprung a leak. Honestly, the first thing out of my mouth was, "GREAT!" The first thought was, "Gads...what next?"

REASON TO SMILE? Hope had already had her bath for that night. Our builder was a genius and has the basement set up so that if something like that ever happened that it simply drains down a small slope and into the drain in the floor. I quickly took a shower with what was left while Garry filled the sink to wash the dishes. We had the new one installed by dinner time the next day by a really nice young guy…couldn’t have asked for anyone better. It could've happened while we were on vacation...but it didn't. It could've sprayed everything all over the basement...but it didn't. It could've blown up...but it didn't! Those three statements were my next thoughts right after the discovery and I held on to them for DEAR LIFE! ")

6. Last Thursday, while the new hot water heater was being installed, I sat down to work on Hope’s Halloween costume. I was, seriously, about an inch away from being done when my sewing machine literally ate her costume. I could not free it no matter what I did. Garry had to take the miserable thing apart and then I was finally able to gingerly work the costume out…however during it’s adventure there was now a cigarette burn sized hole in it…along with a couple of oil stains. Friends, I had just about reached my limit! LOL I simply went into my office while Garry worked on putting the machine back together and played on my computer and tried not to cry.

REASON TO SMILE? After he finished I went right back to it and finished that last inch. And now I know why I was able to find an exact match between red thread and red t-shirt...have you ever tried to match reds? It was so I could mend the hole and no one would see it. I also know why I decided to start on the back instead of the front! I worked on the front all afternoon on Friday and finished it Saturday. YAY!!!

I don't mean to offend anyone or their beliefs by what I'm about to say. I figure everybody reading this already knows what I believe and either shares those beliefs or loves me in spite of them! ; )

I truly believe that God has been allowing Satan to poke and prod at me so that I can be ready for our next great adventure. This may simply be our trip to Disney World this month or it could be our trip to China next year. In any case my patience and strength of will obviously needed some work. Heaven knows that a flight of *any* length can be pretty stressful when you have a two year old along. I just hope I passed the test because I've had enough for awhile!

I remember going through a stage of very intense anger and frustration during the waiting period for Hope's referral. Well, I guess today begins (and hopefully ends!) that stage for Claire. I simply had reached my limits and took it out on some poor woman who called to tell me that, "Since I was such a good customer I qualified for blah, blah, blah." When I asked her why she didn't tell all of this to Garry when she called two nights ago she said, "I can't. It's federal law. It's to protect your privacy." Ok...so if Garry would've said he was me, then you would've spoken to him? "Are you saying you'd like to be placed on our Do Not Call list ma'am?" I said, "Ma'am I've asked REPEATEDLY to be placed on your Do Not Call list." "Well ma'am I have to read you a disclaimer!" I really don't remember a whole lot after that other than I'm pretty sure I heard myself raising my voice...and I know I told her to leave me alone several times...and then I hung up on her. ::sigh::

Am I whining? Probably. But my BIG point here is that several years ago any ONE of these things would have immediately triggered a migraine headache, anorexia, or a 2 a.m. trip to the emergency room for some much needed drugs to stop the uncontrollable nausea and its side effects. I am amazed at how far God has brought me and how much strength He has given me. I don't have time to get sick! I have an incredible, God given family I need to take care of and enjoy! Thank you God for Garry, Hope, Humphrey, Horatio...and Claire too! You have blessed me beyond my wildest imagination!

Until next time y'all!

Ok! So someone is REALLY reading this thing? WOW! After reading a recent post in Jennifer's blog as to how she doesn't know what's going on in my or her other friend's lives I must let you all know that I feel appropriately shamed. Mind you this comes from the girl who didn't bother telling me she was seeing anyone...let alone getting married and I only found out by accident when I was looking at her Amazon wishlist! ; ) I love you my girl...I really do!

Yes, things are progressing and I have plenty to tell. However, it is that time of year when I like to be out playing in my flowerbeds instead of sitting in front of the computer during naptime! I have been using my computer time to catch up on my job for the Ohio Arts & Crafts Guild. I volunteered to type, print, and mail the membership certificates and what with all of the adoption paperwork I HAD fallen woefully behind. I am almost caught up and will get back to posting here next week! I PROMISE!

We did indeed book our Disney World vacation for this fall and that's just about all Hope can talk about. Last night at the dinner table I asked her, "Hopie, who is your favorite princess?" I SWEAR to you I gave this child no coaching...she thought for a moment and then said, "MAAAAAAMA!" That's my daughter!

A bit of happy news to share...congrats to the Teuscher Family! Rick and Vanessa adopted their daughter Kylie at the same time we adopted Hope. As often happens, after adopting Kylie, Vanessa discovered she was expecting. As of 11:10 yesterday morning Kylie has a new baby sister! All are doing well but in the words of Vanessa's mother, "Gramie is a wreck!"

Until next week...

Technically, it's not time for fun stuff yet. During Hope's adoption we delayed the right to have fun until our dossier was in China. This time? NOT!!!! We are still so ridiculously happy about receiving that silly I-171H form so quickly that we've thrown caution to the wind! ")

Last Saturday I picked up the Morigeau catalog that we got at Baby Tyme during our last visit. Baby Tyme is a fabulous store specializing in, you guessed it, baby furniture. We looked at all the big chains when we were furnishing Hope's nursery and were highly disappointed. Baby Tyme was the only place we found that sold "real" furniture...not stuff that looked like it was going to deconstruct before you had a chance to use it. As Garry said, "What? You think I'm going to go all the way to China to get my baby and then bring her home and put her in something that's going to fall apart?" The staff there is so friendly...we wouldn't think of going anywhere else. Remember folks...that's Baby Tyme Furniture in beautiful downtown Hartville, Ohio! ")

All right, back to last Saturday and the Morigeau catalog. Morigeau is the name of the Canadian company who manufactured Hope's furniture. I finally came to the point last weekend where I'd had enough of looking at the catalog and I was going to make a decision then and there. I chose the same collection that we have in Hope's room, only in a different color combination. When Hope got up from her nap we all piled in the car and headed for Hartville. When we got there we went straight to the back of the store where the color samples are and Garry and I tried out all the combos until we settled on one we liked. Hope's colors are "Latte & Wheat". Claire's colors are "Latte & Mahogany". Hope has the crib, mirror, changing table (minus the shelves), free standing bookcase and wall shelf. We ordered a mirror and a changing table for Claire, and she will be using the crib we already have...it won't match exactly but who cares?! We ordered Hope the twin bed and night stand. Melissa, from Baby Tyme, called on Monday to say that the bed, night stand, and changing table would be on the next truck. Things are definitely moving faster than last time!

And...drum roll please...Wednesday, July 6 is our adoption roadtrip day! Our day will start at 10:00 a.m. at our lawyer's office getting the dossier notarized. Once that is finished, two hours in the car to Columbus to get the dossier certified. Two more hours in the car to drive home so I can make copies of everything in the dossier. Back in the car for the 30-45 minute drive to the agency to turn everything in. Then...you know what we are going to do? BOOK OUR TRIP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!