Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Bored? Not for Long!!
Check out this AMAZING collection of activities and projects. There is SO many gorgeous ideas - it's just a matter of how many ink cartidges you have in reserve!! It's the activity page of Jan Brett's website... staggering!!! Check it out. (clic on the title of this post)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tanaya's Lifebook - What Worked for Me
It started out with detailed pages of questions to ask the caretakers at the orphanage - our social worker - our lawyer. It ended up a wonderful story book based on a format of 2 pictures per page (just printed straight from the computer) with a text box between them. I used Microsoft Publisher, but I imagine the same can be accomplished in Word if you were savy enough!
I started by thinking of Tanaya's life - from the day she was born onward. I started with the weather on that day (check my other lifebook posts for helpful links - I think it was weatherunder.com, but don't quote me!!), and also sent someone to the "hospital" where she was born to take as many pictures as they could. Photography at the hospital is illegal, but I did manage to get a photo on a mobile phone from the doorway of the maternity ward where she spent the first 4 days of her life with her birth mother!! It's a lousy quality picture, but I was elated about it!! I also made a page about her birth mother - the name she used to sign into the hospital, and used clip art to make two pages about how she grew inside her birth mother - just like every other child has. I did, however, not refer to her birth mother as "birth mother". I used the Swahili version, which is Mama Mzazi. I wanted to avoid as much confusion for her as possible, and having two "mothers" certainly can be confusing!
I collected, scanned, and photocopied each document the orphanage had for her - all on different colored papers so it looks a bit more official. I included each and every paper I could find that was linked to her - anything with her name on it is proudly displayed on pages in her lifebook.
From there I embarked on a chronological photo journey of her life, starting at the orphanage. We took pictures of the outside, and then added a scanned photo of her at the orphanage on the day she arrived. I took pictures of her caretakers, and the lady who chose her and brought her to the orphanage. Pictures of her crib-mates, the other children at the orphanage, her bedroom, and the bedroom of the older children at the orphanage (one bedroom for 1 dozen girls, one bedroom for a dozen boys - 4 kids per bunk bed!) I took pictures of the kitchen, and the children eating. Where they played, and what they did for fun. The best thing I did was to remove a small piece of painted concrete from the door frame of her bedroom, complete with a DVD of me doing it, and photos of it for her lifebook!! Apparently having something to touch from her life before us is helpful for her when she gets older. They suggest a stone or something from the garden, but to be honest - it wasn't safe enough to leave the orphanage unless making a straight line for the car!!
I made a few pages from mapping the orpahange on Google Earth, as well as some shots taken on the fly while driving through the dodgy neighbourhood she lived in.
I added as many pages of our visits as possible, along with a picture of each of her visitors. I bought a dozen greeting cards from the grocery store and gave them to the staff at the orphanage to write in about a week before we were allowed to bring Tanaya home. The one or two people that cared enough to write something in them was worth gold!! I scanned them - front/back and inside, and then printed them off 4 per page, and added them to her lifebook.
For the day she came home, we added pictures of everyone who came to collect her, and copies of the foster care agreement, etc. We have a wonderful picture of Meer touching her for the first time (although we missed the one of her licking her face after I asked him is she was sweet! DARN!!) We have pictures of me carrying her and our son out of the orphanage, driving home, and then of course of Meer "carrying" her into the house and introducing her to our staff. Those are the most priceless pictures, let me tell you!! SWEET!
The next pages are of her routine at the orphanage, and her new routine at home.
We included lots of pictures of her in the first few days in our family - each new visitor, as well as where she slept, where she bathed, where she drank her bottles, ate her food, etc. I also took pictures of her in a sling out shopping with me!!
The best part is recording what people said about her. I took all the comments from her photos on Facebook and made pages of quotes - each one with a different font and different color - and documenting who said it and where they were from. We were lucky enough o get three pages of quotes from around the world!!
Next we also wrote her cards, scanned them, printed them off 4 per page, and added them to her lifebook.
To be honest, that is as far as I have gotten. The bones are there, and the hard part is done. But now I have to keep up with it, and finish off the last of her first year!
Oh - and I should explain my chosen format. I went for the binder version with page protectors. I printed out each page on MS Publisher, and then trimmed it down by an inch on each side. Then glued it onto luster board (fancy glittery card stock that comes in a multitude of fabulous colors and finishes) - one color for each section. That way I can add to it, subtract from it, print it again - it's flexible and absolutely non-committal. ;-D
I started by thinking of Tanaya's life - from the day she was born onward. I started with the weather on that day (check my other lifebook posts for helpful links - I think it was weatherunder.com, but don't quote me!!), and also sent someone to the "hospital" where she was born to take as many pictures as they could. Photography at the hospital is illegal, but I did manage to get a photo on a mobile phone from the doorway of the maternity ward where she spent the first 4 days of her life with her birth mother!! It's a lousy quality picture, but I was elated about it!! I also made a page about her birth mother - the name she used to sign into the hospital, and used clip art to make two pages about how she grew inside her birth mother - just like every other child has. I did, however, not refer to her birth mother as "birth mother". I used the Swahili version, which is Mama Mzazi. I wanted to avoid as much confusion for her as possible, and having two "mothers" certainly can be confusing!
I collected, scanned, and photocopied each document the orphanage had for her - all on different colored papers so it looks a bit more official. I included each and every paper I could find that was linked to her - anything with her name on it is proudly displayed on pages in her lifebook.
From there I embarked on a chronological photo journey of her life, starting at the orphanage. We took pictures of the outside, and then added a scanned photo of her at the orphanage on the day she arrived. I took pictures of her caretakers, and the lady who chose her and brought her to the orphanage. Pictures of her crib-mates, the other children at the orphanage, her bedroom, and the bedroom of the older children at the orphanage (one bedroom for 1 dozen girls, one bedroom for a dozen boys - 4 kids per bunk bed!) I took pictures of the kitchen, and the children eating. Where they played, and what they did for fun. The best thing I did was to remove a small piece of painted concrete from the door frame of her bedroom, complete with a DVD of me doing it, and photos of it for her lifebook!! Apparently having something to touch from her life before us is helpful for her when she gets older. They suggest a stone or something from the garden, but to be honest - it wasn't safe enough to leave the orphanage unless making a straight line for the car!!
I made a few pages from mapping the orpahange on Google Earth, as well as some shots taken on the fly while driving through the dodgy neighbourhood she lived in.
I added as many pages of our visits as possible, along with a picture of each of her visitors. I bought a dozen greeting cards from the grocery store and gave them to the staff at the orphanage to write in about a week before we were allowed to bring Tanaya home. The one or two people that cared enough to write something in them was worth gold!! I scanned them - front/back and inside, and then printed them off 4 per page, and added them to her lifebook.
For the day she came home, we added pictures of everyone who came to collect her, and copies of the foster care agreement, etc. We have a wonderful picture of Meer touching her for the first time (although we missed the one of her licking her face after I asked him is she was sweet! DARN!!) We have pictures of me carrying her and our son out of the orphanage, driving home, and then of course of Meer "carrying" her into the house and introducing her to our staff. Those are the most priceless pictures, let me tell you!! SWEET!
The next pages are of her routine at the orphanage, and her new routine at home.
We included lots of pictures of her in the first few days in our family - each new visitor, as well as where she slept, where she bathed, where she drank her bottles, ate her food, etc. I also took pictures of her in a sling out shopping with me!!
The best part is recording what people said about her. I took all the comments from her photos on Facebook and made pages of quotes - each one with a different font and different color - and documenting who said it and where they were from. We were lucky enough o get three pages of quotes from around the world!!
Next we also wrote her cards, scanned them, printed them off 4 per page, and added them to her lifebook.
To be honest, that is as far as I have gotten. The bones are there, and the hard part is done. But now I have to keep up with it, and finish off the last of her first year!
Oh - and I should explain my chosen format. I went for the binder version with page protectors. I printed out each page on MS Publisher, and then trimmed it down by an inch on each side. Then glued it onto luster board (fancy glittery card stock that comes in a multitude of fabulous colors and finishes) - one color for each section. That way I can add to it, subtract from it, print it again - it's flexible and absolutely non-committal. ;-D
2009 Update
Wow. 2009 is almost over. And yes - how horrible of me to have been silent since APRIL!! I know. I know. Well - better late than never, so here is my politically correct update:
Adoption: It's going "well". Slow, but that is to be expected, I suppose. We completed the 3 month foster period, fought with the directors of the orphanage, made several large donations to the orphanage, and finally the directors managed to "feel comfortable" with relinquishing their authority over Tanaya. The horrifying part is that directors of the orphanage are friends of my parents, and live in the same upper-end neighbourhood that we do. It was just so discouraging. Don't even start me on the issue!! Grr.
After that battle, (and yes - it was!!), we waited an additional five months for our first court date, which was on December 11th. Basically we had to show up at the High Court of Kenya (no - don't picture it like that - Imagine a small office on the set of M.A.S.H. - No. I'm serious - 2 desks shoved in a room with stained curtains, and 4 wooden chairs pushed along the wall for us to sit on! "High Court" my arse!!!) The judge was frail and bored. He held his head in his hands most of the time, and basically just took notes (that were already printed out in front of him - don't ask me!), and acted as rudely as possible. Not that I expected much else - other than a proper COURT ROOM!! Gosh.
Now we are waiting for a meeting at the Child Services something-er-other in February, then a home visit from a government social worker, and then we file for another court date. That could be the last court date - the judge could grant us custody on the spot. Or he could ask for an additional document, and thus an additional court date. Who knows!
The good news is that Tanaya is with us, and has shed off most of her bad habits she acquired at the orphanage!! (thank goodness!!)
Well - more as it happens, I suppose. Thank you all for keeping up with me, and especially to 'anonymous" for the much needed kick in the ass to keep writing!!
Best wishes for a devine 2010...
Adoption: It's going "well". Slow, but that is to be expected, I suppose. We completed the 3 month foster period, fought with the directors of the orphanage, made several large donations to the orphanage, and finally the directors managed to "feel comfortable" with relinquishing their authority over Tanaya. The horrifying part is that directors of the orphanage are friends of my parents, and live in the same upper-end neighbourhood that we do. It was just so discouraging. Don't even start me on the issue!! Grr.
After that battle, (and yes - it was!!), we waited an additional five months for our first court date, which was on December 11th. Basically we had to show up at the High Court of Kenya (no - don't picture it like that - Imagine a small office on the set of M.A.S.H. - No. I'm serious - 2 desks shoved in a room with stained curtains, and 4 wooden chairs pushed along the wall for us to sit on! "High Court" my arse!!!) The judge was frail and bored. He held his head in his hands most of the time, and basically just took notes (that were already printed out in front of him - don't ask me!), and acted as rudely as possible. Not that I expected much else - other than a proper COURT ROOM!! Gosh.
Now we are waiting for a meeting at the Child Services something-er-other in February, then a home visit from a government social worker, and then we file for another court date. That could be the last court date - the judge could grant us custody on the spot. Or he could ask for an additional document, and thus an additional court date. Who knows!
The good news is that Tanaya is with us, and has shed off most of her bad habits she acquired at the orphanage!! (thank goodness!!)
Well - more as it happens, I suppose. Thank you all for keeping up with me, and especially to 'anonymous" for the much needed kick in the ass to keep writing!!
Best wishes for a devine 2010...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
As Time Stands Still...
Well – GOOD NEWS!!! We are bringing home Tanaya Jean on Tuesday morning at 11am!!! It has been a long ordeal, with difficult to obtain documents, and then a further one week delay waiting for the orphanage to process their paperwork, etc. But now it suddenly seems like it was easy and (relatively) quick!! I am sure the big hassle is still yet to come, as we have the three month foster period to complete, and then the Kenyan court system to navigate our way through. But having her home, and giving her a good bath, and lotion massage, and dressing her up in nice new clothes – I can’t wait!!!
Speaking of which… I should make a countdown ticker!!!! Anyway – 3 more sleeps, and we can bring her home… !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Visit Number Two
So I took my dad and Barb and sister back out to visit Michelle. She was sitting on the floor in her car seat in a room with al the bigger kids playing around – not THAT is one way to keep a kid awake – let me tell ya!! Gee Wiz. Talk about L O U D !!!!!
Anyway – I picked her up, and as soon as she saw me she GRINNED! Yup. And I am not even making it up to make myself feel good!
She was hungry, and kept nuzzling into me and cramming her fist and/or bib into her mouth. We sat together for awhile, and then I was lucky enough to be there to feed her lunch! I was given a plastic cup with a cereal/formula/milk mixture inside, and a spoon. So I started to feed her with the spoon. She was fussing a bit, and spitting out some of the formula. I looked over at the other lady giving Claudia her lunch, and Claudia was sucking nicely from the side of the cup itself. I did the same with Michelle, and sure enough – she just about finished the whole thing!! It was officially my first “cup feed” – something which I didn’t even think was possible until today!
After she was (extremely) full, we changed her diaper into her first Pampers, and she fell asleep in my arms. Sweet little angel. I tucked her into bed, and had to leave… which is harder than it sounds!!
Diaper Delivery
So our sweet little girl Michelle happily wears a folded up towel with a piece of thin plastic pinned around it as a diaper. Now I am sure this is normal practice in rural areas, and I certainly appreciate the practicality of it. But to think that Michelle is OUR DAUGHTER, and sitting in a village with a towel and piece of plastic as a diaper… that is just too far off from the reality of OUR family. Meer always had the best, driest diapers we could find – even if we had to import them ourselves! His sweet tooshie has never even experienced a “Regular Pampers”. So today’s mission is to go to Nakumatt and buy as many diapers as I can for Michelle, Claudia, and Obama. And then drive out to the orphanage to deliver them and visit with Michelle with my dad and Barb. I’m not sure if it will count as a visit as far as the adoption goes, but I think it will. I’m bringing an actual camera, so more pictures are on the way!!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Orphanage
So this is a google Earth picture of the orphanage. You can tell by the photo that the courtyard within the building is the only outdoor space the orphanage has. When I get more details, I will post them... ;-)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Progress. It is??
So I spent the morning chasing around the adoption trail… turns out there isn’t a 3 month old baby girl ANYWHERE!!! The ones born in November are already fostered out to adoptive parents. We even went to a different orphanage on this side of town that had reported having a baby girl, but they also turned out to be 7 months old and 1 year old. So that sucks.
Basically we can have our social worker send our paperwork to New Life Homes – which is when they can be open about the status, gender, and ages of the children they have (although the youngest girl they have is 7 months old). Then basically we wait for baby girls to be brought in, and grow up to 3 months in age. I am hoping they have one that is maybe 4 or 6 weeks old, but from what the social worker said – they don’t.
At least our application is officially DONE, and the letter of approval is being signed today, and sent off to New Life… so we are officially in-line! Who would have thunk it, huh??? 2 million orphans, and not one 3 month old healthy baby girl. UGH!!!
I KNOW it is all in God’s time, and when the right daughter for our family comes along, it will work out perfectly… but still so frustrating to be so close, and yet still have nothing tangible. Sigh…
Basically we can have our social worker send our paperwork to New Life Homes – which is when they can be open about the status, gender, and ages of the children they have (although the youngest girl they have is 7 months old). Then basically we wait for baby girls to be brought in, and grow up to 3 months in age. I am hoping they have one that is maybe 4 or 6 weeks old, but from what the social worker said – they don’t.
At least our application is officially DONE, and the letter of approval is being signed today, and sent off to New Life… so we are officially in-line! Who would have thunk it, huh??? 2 million orphans, and not one 3 month old healthy baby girl. UGH!!!
I KNOW it is all in God’s time, and when the right daughter for our family comes along, it will work out perfectly… but still so frustrating to be so close, and yet still have nothing tangible. Sigh…
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tick....Tock....
The Certificates of Good Conduct (criminal background checks) are ready to be collected from the C.I.D. Finally!! So I should see them tonight when dear hubby get’s home from work – then scan them to make a copy for the adoption scrapbook. Tomorrow I am HOPING to go to Little Angels Network and drop them off in the morning as soon as traffic clears up a little. Then scoot by New Life Home Trust to speak with a social worker about which babies are available at this time, etc.
I am being hopeful that there is a new little angel that is just waiting for us, and will be 3 months old in the middle of April. That is what I am REALLY hoping for!!!
Tomorrow Meer is also 1000 days old!!! Yes – the only reason I would ever have known is that handy little ticker at the side of this page – who knew it would be so useful when I installed it years ago, hey??
So that is that. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting….
I am being hopeful that there is a new little angel that is just waiting for us, and will be 3 months old in the middle of April. That is what I am REALLY hoping for!!!
Tomorrow Meer is also 1000 days old!!! Yes – the only reason I would ever have known is that handy little ticker at the side of this page – who knew it would be so useful when I installed it years ago, hey??
So that is that. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting….
Friday, March 20, 2009
Paperwork...
Mission successful! After waiting for a good hour in the parking lot for someone to arrive, we have gotten our finger prints officially taken, and our applications for Certificates of Good Conduct are due out on Monday. How GREAT is that??? So Tuesday I can go and drop them off at Little Angels Network, and then they can immediately refer us to New Life Homes to select our daughter.
We still do have company coming, and it might still work out best for us to bring her home immediately after returning to Nairobi… I suppose we have to wait and see when exactly we can meet our daughter, and take it from there. All in all, a GREAT day!!!
We still do have company coming, and it might still work out best for us to bring her home immediately after returning to Nairobi… I suppose we have to wait and see when exactly we can meet our daughter, and take it from there. All in all, a GREAT day!!!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Paperwork Update
The update is, we have an appointment at C.I.D. (aka: Kenya’s highest police division, called the Criminal Investigation Department) set for Friday morning. Which means – if all goes quickly, we should have our Certificates of Good Conduct (aka: Kenya’s version of a criminal record check) handed over to Little Angels Network sometime next week.
My GOAL is to have our documents completed and handed over before our friends arrive on the 29th. Then while we are busy around town and on safari, our paperwork can be referred to New Life Home Trust, and we can set up an appointment to “select our child” for as soon as we get back from safari – most likely April 13th or 14th. Then my mom will still have about 10 days to visit her grand daughter at the orphanage, and a couple weeks to help us all adjust to the new addition when we FINALLY get to bring her home!!!
So you know what they say about idle hands...
My GOAL is to have our documents completed and handed over before our friends arrive on the 29th. Then while we are busy around town and on safari, our paperwork can be referred to New Life Home Trust, and we can set up an appointment to “select our child” for as soon as we get back from safari – most likely April 13th or 14th. Then my mom will still have about 10 days to visit her grand daughter at the orphanage, and a couple weeks to help us all adjust to the new addition when we FINALLY get to bring her home!!!
So you know what they say about idle hands...
Pink Baby Blanket
Until all the paperwork and WAITING is over, I am hell bent on keeping busy! I found this stellar wool last weekend when I was trolling for sewing notions on Biashara street. It was all together too expensive, but when I saw the pink with GREEN flecks in it – who could resist?? I could only afford 2 balls at the time, so am making the smallest blanket that is still usable, with the intention of edging it with a crochet pattern of some sort to increase the size once I know how big it will finally be, etc.
I started with 100 stitches across, and then a border of 10 knit stitch on each end of the rows – to make a border of some sort.
I was leery to start purling, but turns out I am faster at that than I am at knitting! Who knew!!
Now all I have to do is get this house put back together, and then I will have a chance at getting it all done before life gets too busy again… fingers crossed for that one!!!
Monday, March 16, 2009
39 Days Later
Caroline called this morning at 10:42, with the news that the LANS Case Committee sat down last week, and approved our case PENDING the receipt of our Certificates of Good Conduct. SO – that means we are a couple more weeks away from being referred to New Life Homes… which is ok, I guess. I can live with it.
We have guests coming from overseas, so we will be out of Nairobi on Safari from March 30th until April 11th. So as long as we are referred BEFORE we return, I’m ok with it.
The big hold up is that I have never gotten my little plastic "resident card", which is something that we need before I can request a Certificate of Good Conduct from the C.I.D. So that is the jist of it. I have a few ques to line up in, and then we are in the clear. It can take about 2 weeks to get both documents - so 4 weeks in total. Not too keen on waiting that long, but have to wait until tomorrow to see what we can do speed things up. God bless Kenya, hey??? So often the system can work in our favor, and I am hopeful this will be one of those times!!!
So good news, bad news, good news, bad news!!! UGH!!!
We have guests coming from overseas, so we will be out of Nairobi on Safari from March 30th until April 11th. So as long as we are referred BEFORE we return, I’m ok with it.
The big hold up is that I have never gotten my little plastic "resident card", which is something that we need before I can request a Certificate of Good Conduct from the C.I.D. So that is the jist of it. I have a few ques to line up in, and then we are in the clear. It can take about 2 weeks to get both documents - so 4 weeks in total. Not too keen on waiting that long, but have to wait until tomorrow to see what we can do speed things up. God bless Kenya, hey??? So often the system can work in our favor, and I am hopeful this will be one of those times!!!
So good news, bad news, good news, bad news!!! UGH!!!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Caroline Calls...
Ok. I’m annoyed. Well – half annoyed. On a good note, we got a phone call from Caroline. On a bad note, she requires some more documentation from us. So that sucks. She says the LANS meeting has yet to be set, and just basically requires these certificates of good conduct. Yeah. So now I have to get on that, and keep waiting… I guess! Gee wiz.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Week One of Waiting
Still waiting. Have managed to keep very busy around the house… made new shelving units for the bathrooms, and am now filling my Gran’s old dining room hutch with all my sewing bits and pieces! It’s a bigger job than it sounds… have bought every matching storage container Nakumatt has to offer! Everything is organized by type ant then color – with all my thread now officially in one drawer! That’s a first!
Spend 3 days online getting our daughter’s clothing ordered from Please Mum in Canada. My mom is coming over to help when we get the baby, and is willing to lug everything over with her – so that is a fabulous thing! Then my friend Chad is hitting this big sale in a couple weeks time to get all the missing bits – can NOT wait for that one! She is coming over for a visit with her family at the very end of March, so that will work out perfectly well too. (SO excited!!)
Other than that, I’m just trying to keep busy and stay productive. In the dust cloud of my massive cleaning attempts, I found my stash of powder pink alpaca wool… it’s screaming for em to sit on my butt and knit, but I somehow doubt I will be finding the time for a that anytime soon… also found the half knit blue alpaca wool blanket I started for Meer when I was still pregnant, so enough said about that!!! Ha ha ha!! One year, though… one year!!
Went to a different Nakumatt this morning and found a couple more sets of storage containers for the “craft hutch”… off to see how I can get my massive inventory of Velcro to fit inside and look pretty… dare I say it’s the last items that need to find a home in the hutch! Day number three though – it certainly didn’t happen over night!!
Spend 3 days online getting our daughter’s clothing ordered from Please Mum in Canada. My mom is coming over to help when we get the baby, and is willing to lug everything over with her – so that is a fabulous thing! Then my friend Chad is hitting this big sale in a couple weeks time to get all the missing bits – can NOT wait for that one! She is coming over for a visit with her family at the very end of March, so that will work out perfectly well too. (SO excited!!)
Other than that, I’m just trying to keep busy and stay productive. In the dust cloud of my massive cleaning attempts, I found my stash of powder pink alpaca wool… it’s screaming for em to sit on my butt and knit, but I somehow doubt I will be finding the time for a that anytime soon… also found the half knit blue alpaca wool blanket I started for Meer when I was still pregnant, so enough said about that!!! Ha ha ha!! One year, though… one year!!
Went to a different Nakumatt this morning and found a couple more sets of storage containers for the “craft hutch”… off to see how I can get my massive inventory of Velcro to fit inside and look pretty… dare I say it’s the last items that need to find a home in the hutch! Day number three though – it certainly didn’t happen over night!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Home Visit Completed!!
Oh my goodness. Where to even begin. Well, it took all of about 7 minutes. She came in and asked to be toured around the house... which I did. She said it was "very nice". Her main concern was how many people lived in the house, and where the baby would be sleeping. She took notes on teh back of a folded piece of paper, and that was about it.
On the way out to her car I asked her when the LANS Case Committee would be meeting. I don't know if it is just the standard answer, or the truth, but she said it could be between 2 and 3 WEEKS. (GASP!!!) I have been asking her everytime I see her about when the next LANS meeting will be, and she always says "It is not set yet". But when I first went into Little Angels Network, I asked another gal, and she said that adoption had increased in Kenya since the first time we applied, and that the case committee was meeting TWICE A MONTH. So I just don't know. Being out of control of the situation just SUCKS!!!
Anyway - I'm completely bummed out... although slightly cheery that the house looks so great! Imagine. But I still just want to hop into bed and watch bad movies on teh Hallmark channel until... sometime in March!!! Ah - so annoying....
On the way out to her car I asked her when the LANS Case Committee would be meeting. I don't know if it is just the standard answer, or the truth, but she said it could be between 2 and 3 WEEKS. (GASP!!!) I have been asking her everytime I see her about when the next LANS meeting will be, and she always says "It is not set yet". But when I first went into Little Angels Network, I asked another gal, and she said that adoption had increased in Kenya since the first time we applied, and that the case committee was meeting TWICE A MONTH. So I just don't know. Being out of control of the situation just SUCKS!!!
Anyway - I'm completely bummed out... although slightly cheery that the house looks so great! Imagine. But I still just want to hop into bed and watch bad movies on teh Hallmark channel until... sometime in March!!! Ah - so annoying....
Waiting...
2 1/2 hours until the Home Visit.
The house is in fine shape - dare I say even clean, attractive, and fabulous!! Other than washing the dog prints off the front porch, and putting out teh new welcome Mat - we are golden!!
Now I just need time to pass quickly, so I can start another project and make a mess! ha ha ha!!
The house is in fine shape - dare I say even clean, attractive, and fabulous!! Other than washing the dog prints off the front porch, and putting out teh new welcome Mat - we are golden!!
Now I just need time to pass quickly, so I can start another project and make a mess! ha ha ha!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Baby Options
The minimum age for adoption in Kenya is 6 weeks, but the orphanage we have selected has a strict rule of the minimum age being 3 months old. Their reasoning behind it is half medical, half legal… The medical part is obvious – the health and developmental ability of the children can be assessed quite well by three months of age. The legal part I am a bit more confused about… the social worker at New Life Home Trust explained it to me (twice – shh!), but I didn’t have the courage to keep questioning her until I understood it completely. The jist of it that there is a six week period where the parents can come back and claim the child, or something like that. Or it’s a form that takes 6 weeks to process in the courts? I don’t exactly know – but something like that. Basically New Life Home Trust waits until the health of the child is confirmed, and the legal status of the child is confirmed. Thus the minimum age of 3 months to adopt. (heavy sigh.)
Anyway – they have two baby girls that are around “the right age” to be adopted. One was born on November 4th, and the other on November 26th. Apparently one of my Aunts was born on November 4th!! …she had breast cancer, and passed on a couple years ago. So that is pretty cool… NOT that my Aunt passed on, of course, but that there is a baby waiting to be adopted that was born on her birthday. ;-)
Our other option is to see if any baby girls are available at New Life Home Trust’s orphanage in Mombasa. If there is, we can fly out there and meet them/her, and adopt from there.
Or we can wait until another baby girl becomes 3 months old… I’m not sure how many younger baby girls they have though.
Technically we can also switch orphanages and choose a 6 week old baby girl from somewhere else. I really don’t want to do that, as New Life is the “best” orphanage in Kenya, and I obviously want our daughter to have received the absolute best care and medical attention before we can provide for her ourselves.
Now waiting to be approved is absolute AGONY… I don’t know what else I can paint, remodel, or build, to keep me occupied until we are, but I most certainly will have to keep myself swamped with projects – just to keep my sanity!!
Anyway – they have two baby girls that are around “the right age” to be adopted. One was born on November 4th, and the other on November 26th. Apparently one of my Aunts was born on November 4th!! …she had breast cancer, and passed on a couple years ago. So that is pretty cool… NOT that my Aunt passed on, of course, but that there is a baby waiting to be adopted that was born on her birthday. ;-)
Our other option is to see if any baby girls are available at New Life Home Trust’s orphanage in Mombasa. If there is, we can fly out there and meet them/her, and adopt from there.
Or we can wait until another baby girl becomes 3 months old… I’m not sure how many younger baby girls they have though.
Technically we can also switch orphanages and choose a 6 week old baby girl from somewhere else. I really don’t want to do that, as New Life is the “best” orphanage in Kenya, and I obviously want our daughter to have received the absolute best care and medical attention before we can provide for her ourselves.
Now waiting to be approved is absolute AGONY… I don’t know what else I can paint, remodel, or build, to keep me occupied until we are, but I most certainly will have to keep myself swamped with projects – just to keep my sanity!!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Big Brother Training 101
I have been trying to get Meer used to the idea of having a new baby around the house… I put a teddy bear in a baby carrier sling and walked around the house... The first couple times Meer was quite disturbed by it and would instruct me to take the teddy bear out, and put Meer inside instead!! So I did, and lugged Meer around in a back breaking sling pretending he was my “tiny little baby straight from the hospital”! We have a rule too – “Baby’s don’t talk.” So if he is playing baby – he can’t use any words. That makes the game last only so long, before our Big Boy is back and eager to show us how tall he is! We pretend we are all shocked that a baby could grow up so fast, and everyone has a good laugh.
I have been looking for a “brown” baby doll to use instead of a fuzzy teddy bear, but was unsuccessful until last week, when I found a brown baby doll at a grocery store across town. The quality isn’t there (of course!!), but for the $20 it cost, I think it is still well worth it, if only to get Meer desensitized to the look of a little baby around the house. It’s kind of a cute doll too – it has a squishy body, and cries if it doesn’t have a bottle or pacifier in it's mouth.
Now when Meer is playing, or is engrossed in some activity, we make the baby cry and ask Meer to help us make the baby stop crying. Meer will stop what he is doing right away to come over and instruct me that the baby needs milk, and will push the bottle right into the baby’s mouth and hold it there, and say, “Stop crying baby... it’s OK.” It is SO cute!! Originally the baby used to make a sucking sound, and the bottle would move up and down a bit, but with Meer’s help to feed her, it now just makes a mechanical groaning noise and the bottle doesn’t move one bit. I went back to the grocery store and bought another one – so we have a spare for when this one breaks... which seems inevitable and in our near future!!
About 5 days into the experiment Meer now isn’t possessive of me when the baby is around. He has figured out that the baby is just more work for someone, and this morning even suggested that I hold the baby while it drinks it’s milk instead of putting in it’s bed.
Naturally we applaud him like crazy for being caring towards the doll, and he is really relishing all the praise he gets for being “such a good big brother”!! Here is a picture of Meer the first time he gave the baby doll it's bottle...
I have been looking for a “brown” baby doll to use instead of a fuzzy teddy bear, but was unsuccessful until last week, when I found a brown baby doll at a grocery store across town. The quality isn’t there (of course!!), but for the $20 it cost, I think it is still well worth it, if only to get Meer desensitized to the look of a little baby around the house. It’s kind of a cute doll too – it has a squishy body, and cries if it doesn’t have a bottle or pacifier in it's mouth.
Now when Meer is playing, or is engrossed in some activity, we make the baby cry and ask Meer to help us make the baby stop crying. Meer will stop what he is doing right away to come over and instruct me that the baby needs milk, and will push the bottle right into the baby’s mouth and hold it there, and say, “Stop crying baby... it’s OK.” It is SO cute!! Originally the baby used to make a sucking sound, and the bottle would move up and down a bit, but with Meer’s help to feed her, it now just makes a mechanical groaning noise and the bottle doesn’t move one bit. I went back to the grocery store and bought another one – so we have a spare for when this one breaks... which seems inevitable and in our near future!!
About 5 days into the experiment Meer now isn’t possessive of me when the baby is around. He has figured out that the baby is just more work for someone, and this morning even suggested that I hold the baby while it drinks it’s milk instead of putting in it’s bed.
Naturally we applaud him like crazy for being caring towards the doll, and he is really relishing all the praise he gets for being “such a good big brother”!! Here is a picture of Meer the first time he gave the baby doll it's bottle...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
