We have accepted a referral!

Yep, you read the headline correctly. We have accepted a referral for an 18 month old little boy! Let the rejoicing begin.
So, let's celebrate with some music




I love the words to this song- especially:
So Just Remember,
The Next Time You Feel Like December
Remember That Night In September,
When God Wiped All your Tears Away

Adoption events

If you are thinking about adoption but haven't decided if it's right for you, I encourage you to attend an Adoption Seminar or Adoption Expo. Check out America World Adoption Event page. There are seminars and expos being held all over the country this fall.

A catchy tune...

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?? I have the Addams Family theme music stuck in my head. For several days I have caught myself humming this song. Why?? Igor's teacher is teaching the days of the week to the Addams Family theme music. Igor loves to sing this song-
Days of the week (snap, snap)
days of the week (snap, snap)
days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (snap, snap)
There’s Sunday and there’s Monday,
there’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday,
there’s Thursday and there’s Friday
and then there’s Saturday!
Days of the week (snap, snap)
days of the week (snap, snap)
days of the week, days of the week, days of the week

It's a very catchy tune and Igor loves singing it but I hope to replace the song in my head with something else soon. Is it stuck in your head now??

Igor's kindergarten teacher, Ms. Molly, is awesome. She reminds me of Ms. Joya (Igor's nursery school teacher). Ms. Molly is calm, creative, very organized and connects with the children in a very special way. The transition to Ms. Molly from Ms. Joya has been an easy one. YAHHH!!

Did you know that Friday was talk like a pirate day? I didn't until Igor walked off the school bus and greeted me as his matey. At school they made pirate hats and talked like pirates. At dinner Igor insisted that we talk like pirates. It was very fun but my "pirate speak" is limited matey. Next year I'll be more prepared. I googled, "How to talk like a pirate" and there are so many resources. Arrgh!, See Ya Chum!

While I have some free time I am volunteering in Igor's science class. Last week we went on a nature walk. We all carried picture cards to help us identify poison oak and ivy! Luckily we did not spot any. The kids were great and Igor seemed excited to see me in his class.

Our church body has had some very difficult days. A lot of different things are going on and I've lost track of so many things. (which is very unlike me) Yesterday Rob had a funeral at 2PM and I was going to Susan's baby shower. For some reason, I got confused, I thought the baby shower was at 2PM. Imagine my horror when I realized that I had arrived ONE HOUR LATE! Ugh... I have no idea what I was thinking. The good news, I made it for the last hour of the shower.

I hope to have an update this week on a referral!

Mom, I want to have a party

Since school started Igor has talked about having a party at our house. He asked about it for 2 1/2 weeks before I took him seriously (bad mom). He was very specific-

1. we are going to have a party and invite so and so over
2. we are going to have cake and cookies
3. we'll have decorations
4. we'll play cars, games, take a nap and play some more (ahhh, nap?)

Friday after school we had a back to school party. We had cake, ice cream and cookies. I did not have decorations up so I was quizzed by my son (the party planner) - "Why don't you have decorations MOM?" Really, I didn't think decorations were that important... Everyone had a great time. Igor is talking about his next party.

I don't have any pictures of the party because the shutter of my camera won't open. The electronics shop wants $50 to tell me what is wrong.... ugh. For now I am using Rob's old
"film" camera. I have had a roll of film in my purse for a week. This is a total bummer.

Tomorrow is "Picture Day" at school. After school Igor is getting his hair cut. His bangs are finally growing out and they are uneven. Now, I need to figure what he will wear tomorrow.

Dentist and adoption update

Do you hear that banging noise?? It's me banging my head on the desk.
I went to the dentist today. I saw my new favorite dentist who I really like and have a lot of confidence in. We were finishing up the appointment, the dentist said everything looked great and then he said (insert foreboding music here), "Let me take look at that X-ray again." My internal monologue went something like this- must we look at the X-ray again, really, everything is fine, my teeth are happy, it's time for me to go. But instead, I said nothing. The dentist and the hygienist were discussing a back molar, he flipped to an X-ray that was taken when I was having a terrible tooth pain. The dentist had me look at the x-rays taken over the last few months. he showed me a dark spot on one of my teeth. He said, "Candy, I think I can save the tooth and avoid a root canal and crown."
I thought- What? save the tooth, avoid a root canal? I'm here for a cleaning, we haven't finished dealing with the tooth that was pulled- ugh... how much is this going to cost? Of course, I did not say any of that, I smiled and nodded my head.
So, after I paid for the visit I pleaded with my teeth- Stop it! We are adopting!! Why are you causing trouble?? Alas, they are teeth not people so I was talking to myself. heavy sigh. On the 24th the dentist will try to spare me from a root canal.

The conference call was jam packed with information. I won't post everything because it's too much to post. Here are some of the highlights from the call-

• The Transitional Home (TH) is full. Children who have been recently referred will remain in the orphanage until the next travel group picks up their children.
• The TH's lease is up in October. They may renew the lease because they have been unable to find another suitable building.
• AWAA has signed on with another orphanage- Espansia(?). It is located about 4 hrs from Addis
• Duni has hired two staff people in ET, an adoption director and an assistant to the director. They continue to hire more nannies and are looking to hire another nurse.
• Travel will be different, families will stay in a guest house instead of the Hilton

I am trying to get clarification on the toddler boy wait time. We are well beyond the wait time quoted of 5-7 months. I know our situation is unique, so I have asked our family coordinator to provide us with a wait time specific to our family. I will let you know when I hear something!

One last thing- I miss placed my reading glasses. The school sent home a form to review and I cannot read it! Now where is the magnifying glass??

Fingerprint appointment!

On Saturday we received a letter with our USCIS fingerprint appointments! I was surprised since we sent our request in two weeks ago. I thought it would take much longer to receive the appointment letter!

Igor is enjoying Kindergarten. His favorite part of the day is riding the school bus. Last week he survived the monthly fire drill. The teacher's aide allowed Igor to call home after the fire drill so he could tell me how brave he was. I love his teachers and aides!

Last week out of the blue, Igor said that his little brother won't be able to listen when he comes home. We asked Igor why he thinks this. Igor said, "Remember when I was 3 and 4 years old and I didn't understand?" (translation- remember when I was 3 and 4 years old, I didn't understand English?) Oh, my sweet boy... we do remember. I have no idea how that feels but perhaps you can help little brother when he cannot communicate with us.

Tomorrow is our monthly conference call with our agency. I don't know that we will learn anything new but if we do, I will post it.

A quick update (random items)

I don't have a lot to post... just some random items. We hope to announce that we have a referral soon but it's completely out of our hands. We've been waiting over 11 months! Yikes. Right now, I am okay waiting. Thanks to everyone who is praying or has written encouraging notes on our blog. We appreciate you all!

Last week the remnants of Hurricane Fay dumped 5 inches of rain on us in 24 hours. Igor was fine with all the rain! He thought the mushroom in the yard was very cool. He wanted to bring it inside so we could cook it... hmmmm... no thanks.

Igor is doing great at school. His favorite part of the day is riding the school bus!

We finally opened the pickles I canned in June. They are so yummy we've eaten 2 jars! I canned more garlic dills this morning so we'll have some this winter.

Have you rented Martian Child yet? On Friday night Rob and I finally watched it. The first half hour is very slow but it gets better! We really enjoyed the movie which focuses on adoption.

This summer we have enjoyed homemade Popsicles. I purchased molds that are BPA free. I make the Popsicles with 100% fruit juice (no sugar added). Igor enjoys one when he gets off the school bus in the afternoon. He prefers them to grocery store Popsicles.

Do you compost? If you do, I have to share these compost bags with you. The bags keep our compost pail on the counter top clean and it's so easy to dump the bag in the compost bin outside. I was buying them at Amazon.com but I recently asked our local Whole Foods to stock them. They called me in August to say they have them on the shelf! Who knew you could bring items to the grocery store and ask them to stock the item?? I'm so glad I asked.