Snow

It snowed. In MARCH. SNOW! Ok, so not much & it didn't stick, but still - Snow in March. Alright all you midwest people who read this - stop laughing. Keep in mind, I live in Seattle. We don't get snow in March in Seattle. Come to think of it, we don't get snow in JANUARY in Seattle that often. So yes, I'm being a bit ridiculous, but like I said - SNOW in MARCH in SEATTLE. I wish it had stuck...and that it had built up more...and that it would come back. It was sure pretty falling, while it lasted anyway. Ah well, that's Seattle weather for you!

Dr. Visit - Part 2

I meant to blog about this earlier, but the weekend got crazy. I got the results back from my Dr. appointment & pincushion day. Turns out I'm actually very healthy. Probably more than I have any right to be, if I'm being honest here... In any event, I'm a little anemic & a bit vitamin D deficient, but other than that I'm totally healthy. Not bad for an overweight not-quite-quit-yet smoker, huh? Yeah, working up to the whole quitting the cigs, but it hasn't exactly been the right time yet. I will, though. My goal is to quit before LB comes home - don't wanna be the smoker mom (that's also when I want to lose the weight by - don't wanna be that mom, either). I want to be able to play with my baby at the park, go for walks, things like that - don't want to be too heavy or unable to breathe right so that I have to just watch from a bench. So yeah, except for the weight & the bad habit - I'm healthier than I expected. Especially since I haven't had a checkup in YEARS! Actually, when I got the letter from the Dr. I had to reread it several times - kept thinking they must have someone else's records! So, big happy moment here - another step officially down!

Dr. Visits

I absolutely LOATHE going to the doctor. I think that is probably why I haven't done it in years. Seriously, it has been a LOOONG time - I can't even remember when I last had a check-up. So anyway, I went & got a FULL physical so I can get the Dr's note signed off on for the adoption packet. I've never met this guy (yes, guy) before, and I had to have him all up in my business down there. And he told me to RELAX?? How on earth is that possible? Not likely, that's for sure. Anyway, so far so good though - looks like I'm a lot healthier than I probably should be, what with the fact that I need to lose a good 50 pounds or so. But, blood pressure is good, pulse & breathing etc. all check out. I'll know for sure when all the bloodwork from today (yup 4 vials - SO not cool) and the results of the other stuff (the reason I really couldn't relax well) all come back in. Oh - back to the bloodwork. Yes, 4 vials. I was NOT expecting quite that much. Did I mention that I am absoutely terrified of needles? I mean, sure I have 12 earrings and 2 tattoos. And sure I want to get more of both of those things. But that's DIFFERENT. This kind of needles (shots, blood draws, etc) terrify me. I hate 'em with a passion. Then the day got even better... they handed me a little plastic cup & pointed me to the restroom. Not good. I hate having to pee on command. Especially since I had to fast all morning for the bloodwork. It was not a pretty sight, but I finally managed to convince my bladder to cooperate. Oh well, I may have hated it all, but it's something else taken care of so I can get that homestudy going. And we all know what that means - it's one step closer to having Lil' Bit here, where he or she belongs. So for that, I'm glad. Yup - I'm actually thankful that I got this done (well, as thankful as I can be what with all the hating of physicals & needle-fear and everything!).

Not Much to Report

There aren't really any new developments on the adoption front at the moment. I'm trying to get the last little bit of paperwork together that my SW wants so I can start the homestudy, then things will start moving again. I'm feeling fairly frustrated lately, since a few of the missing items are out of my control to an extent - I just keep praying for patience, and that I will be able to get my part done quickly. And of course praying that God will continue to provide (materially - ie financially) because I don't want the $$ end of things to be what winds up holding the process up when it comes to dossier - sending time. Oh well, I'll just keep walking in faith, trusting that any delays are what is needed so the Lil' Bit is ready when I am. I know God has a plan for both of us, and we will be a family in His time.

A Momentary Lapse, Perhaps?

For those who don't know, I work with a group of 6th grade girls at church most Wednesday nights. They're good girls, but honestly sometimes those children scare me! Anyway, a couple weeks ago they were asking about my apartment - how big it is, where it is, etc. When they found out it is 3 bedrooms, they wanted to know what I was using all the space for (nosy little things, huh?). So I told them 1 room is my bedroom, one is an office, and one will be used as a baby's room - hoping they wouldn't catch that last part (I mumbled it quickly). Well, of course they did. Like I said, 6th grade girls. They started asking if I'm pregnant, do I have a boyfriend, am I getting married, you know the drill (like I said - sometimes they scare me!). Once I told them that no, I'm not pregnant & I am very much single they calmed down. So I told them that I'm adopting a baby from Ethiopia - you wouldn't believe how excited they got! They all asked if they can babysit (even after I told them that it may be quite a while before I actually have the LB home). Of course my little cousin announced very firmly that if anyone will be babysitting for me it will be her! These girls are crazy - they all started in arguing about it. I finally had to remind them again that I don't know exactly when I will be getting the baby, but that I'm sure I will need more that one person to call for babysitting Lil' Bit. So I think that is ok now, but we'll see what happens next time I meet with them (no meeting tonight). Not sure what exactly I was thinking, telling them so early - maybe I just wasn't thinking at all!

The "Why" Post - LONG!

Ok, so I've had a few people now ask me a few questions, about the blog & about my adoption. So I decided to clarify a bit.

First of all, the easy one. The reason I decided to title my blog "To Build a Family". No, it isn't that I think I don't have a family already - I have a wonderful, close-knit family. Immediate and extended - we all (for the most part) genuinely enjoy eachother's company & it's great to know there are so many people who are in my corner no matter what. The family I am building is the one that most of us dream of having someday - parents & children. I admit, I'm doing it in a rather unconventional manner (to many people), since there isn't exactly a daddy in the picture yet, but it feels right. After all, I'm not really a "conventional" kind of person in a lot of aspects!

Now the tougher one. Well, it really was the easier decision for me, but it's the tougher one to answer. I've always known that I wanted to adopt - that was a no-brainer for me. See, I'm adopted myself (actually, so was my birth mother) & I have wanted to have at least part of my family come together that way as long as I can remember. I haven't always had the best taste in men, so had told myself that "someday" if I hadn't found Mr. Wonderful yet, I would pursue adoption as a single woman. Honestly I didn't really expect "someday" to be yet, but last year I very strongly felt God leading me to start the process. I have to admit, I wasn't sure why he told me to start it then - I was working part time & living in my parents' basement. Not exactly a suitable situation, as far as I was concerned. But God kept telling me "do the research & be ready". I knew that I had to start looking into things so that when He said "Now" I would be able to follow. Once I started listening to him & taking care of my end of things, everything else started to fall into place. He told me my baby would be waiting for me in Ethiopia, so I started to research the country & agencies. I got a good job that lets me support myself & will also allow me to provide for LB. A few months later I found a large apartment for a very good price - plenty of room for me to bring home my baby. The only roadblock at that point was the fact that things just weren't coming together with the agency I had chosen to work with. I wound up looking at my first-choice agency's website (they hadn't had an Ethiopian program when I had talked to them before so I had gone with my 2nd choice) and discovered that they had just started a pilot program in Ethiopia. That's when things REALLY clicked. So, now here I am. I've been accepted into the program & things are starting to move. Now it's just a matter of doing what I need to do & following God's timing to bring the Lil' Bit home.

This brings me to the 3rd question I am asked. I've been asked lately what people can pray for regarding LB, me, and the journey to make us a family. The biggest thing is for LB's health & safety - or for the health & safety of the birthmother if the Lil' Bit hasn't been born yet. The 2nd thing is that I will be able to get everything together on my end. I am walking in faith big time here folks - trusting that God will provide everything I need to take care of everything involved in this adoption (spiritually & materially). And, of course, strength & patience for me. As I said in earlier posts - I don't do waiting well!

So, I'm sorry about the LONG post - if you made it all the way to the end you have my sincere admiration! Hope this answers some of those questions, but if you have any others or would like more clarification, please feel free to ask!

This is SO TRUE!

I'm not even physically a parent yet (I say physically cause in my heart I feel like I already am the Lil' Bit's mama) and I still identify with pretty much all of this! Saw this today on my blog friend Holly's website & had to "borrow" it!


YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN ADOPTIVE PARENT IF ...
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who've experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt, but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing He'd provide. (& He does!)
9. You've taken an airplane half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart & family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means & you can actually pronounce it correctly!
13. You've welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child's so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you're the blessed one to have him or her in your life.