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...

Chess Challenge

So on Sunday we bought THE cutest chess set for Meer – made by Ocram Girap. It has the jungle animals as the chess pieces, and is SUPER CUTE!! Kush is quite the chess player, so he offered to play me a game… WHAT a SLAUGHTER. Not joking. And Kush being Kush – well – safe to say teaching isn’t his forte. So I looked online for some place that could teach me…

I found this super neat site – chess playing for kids, basically! It is at www.chesskids.com and has a FULL resource section of Downloadable and printable BOOKS – lesson plans, really – for you to learn step by step!! They ask for donations, but you can also print out the books for free! By clicking on the title of this post, it will take you to the page where the free downloads are…

Last Week's Projie

Our dining room chairs had been bothering me for… a good 4 years! I had been waiting for a budget to go and buy some fantastic red brocade, or something equally magnificent to recover them in. They had been a funny shade of green for far too long – which matched the dishes that you can see in the pictures. Anyway – last Monday I walked past the dining room one too many times, and decided that I MUST have SOMETHING in my fabric cupboards that would be better than staring at green for one more day! So off I went to dig through the piles…

Found this dark purple – in the same fabric that the green was – so I knew it would upholster and wear well. NOT that purple is my thing…but I just snapped, and it was the best option I had! Within a few hours the dining room was looking better, and I used the remaining scrap of purple fabric to make a table runner. All in all – I am quite pleased with it! Should have done it years ago!! ;-D

Budding Vocabulary

So Meer is really beginning to talk – it’s just a matter of us adults understanding which words he is saying! The first word he said was LIGHT – his favorite thing at the time. And then he said THIS, and then THAT. His recognizable vocabulary includes:

Light
This
That
Mama
Dada
Danger
Flower
Dog
Tortoise
Yes

Sawa (Swahili for ok)

Good

Nice

Two

Out

Shoes

I am just THRILLED to hear him say YES before learning the word NO! For some reason it is all important to me to minimize the amount of times he hears "no". Apparently it is shocking how often we hear it as children. NOT that I don't direct his behavior, but luckily with Meer, he is sensitive enough to be guided with facial expressions and little grunts! Well - that is me for you - all weird!! Anyway - he is really beginning to speak up a storm - it is SO enjoyable to hear! ;-D

Sigh...

So I got another call from New Life Home… they wanted us to come over on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 to select our daughter! How freakin’ HEARTBREAKING to have to DECLINE. I explained that we have an upcoming trip abroad, and have to wait until we come back to select our daughter – so we don’t have to leave her behind. It just sucked. I felt like SUCH a looser. I still do. I dunno. It’s just depressing to be the one responsible for the hold-up…

I’ll babble more when my mood improves… no point whining all over the place!!

Late Night Ponderings...

Thank you Tracey!!! (She wrote another very nice thing on her blog!)

Anyway - Yes - I am exhaused! Been fiddlign with this blog, and downloading the picaboo software ( www.picaboo.com ) for HOURS - my connection is so slow!! 88% now - had to restart it 5 times so far! (make that SIX...)

Anwyay - I have to admit I am kinda NERVOUS. I mean - it is one thing to get yourself approved, and quite another to have an APPOINTMENT to SELECT your new DAUGHTER!! Ya know? It's overwhelming. Truely. It's like - when they called to say we are approved to adopt achild, they said we were to come on MONDAY to select her... and I mean - MONDAY??? That is like a few HOURS away!! It's shocking. My brain can't wrap itself around it, for some reason.

It's like a hair appointment, or something casual like that!!

And I am really a bit concerned how I can handle both children at night... Meer is still fully dependant - wakes several times per night, and is used to having my full attention... ya know?

Our housegirl - Josaphine - she has just come back to work after having her baby. Her daughter is 4 months old, and living in the staff quarters. I take Meer out to see her everyday (as much as I can really!) and carry her around, etc, just to see if I can do it! So far I have handled both kids for like 15 minutes... twice. ha ha ha!! During the day I am pretty sure I can handle - especially considering I have help if I need it 8am - 5pm Monday to Saturday! But at night... I think it might be rough for a few days until everyone gets a routine down.

I know I am getting ahead of myself - still have to go and "select" our daugher. But now that we CAN... it's so much more real! And the waiting is harder to do, considering WE are the ones dragging our feet... we basically HAVE TO wait until we come back from our trip... and it is almost painful not having definate dates for our trip, etc. And then...

Is our daughter born yet? Is she crying right now? Is she scared? Is she not born yet? Is her birthmother thinking kindly towards her if she isn't born yet? Is she being cared for by someone? Is she safe?

Oh - I could go on. It's a whole new emotional ride to keep my brain and heart busy while we wait...

Breaking News...

Kush was home from work “early” today (before 6pm, at least!) so we ate some food with Meer, and then as we were getting ready to take Meer out for one last spin in his car, Kush got a phone call and went into the living room to take it. Meer and I carried on our way out the door. Kush caught up with us within a minute, and had two cereal bars in his hands. He hands me a bar, and tells me to open it – he had good news!

So we both open our bars, and began walking and pushing Meer in his car…

Kush was like, “We’ve been approved.” And I was like – “What? By WHO?” (yes – completely oblivious!), and then he was like, “To adopt a child!”!!!

WhooOooOoOOooOOooOOoo HOOOOOOOOO!

I think it was a phone call from New Life Home orphanage – I saw a missed call from tehm on my phone. But then like – the ORPHANAGE calls to tell us we are approved? Not our social worker??? I am a bit confused about that part. And that we were to go on MONDAY to select a child??? Something like that.

Which has spun us into another dilemma, because Kush has upcoming work abroad, so have to wait a bit before we can actually select a child… once we have found our daughter – we can’t leave her behind!! Ya know? And our daughter cannot leave Kenya until her passport and adoption is finalized… a slight pain in the ass, but nothing unexpected.

So the jist of it, we are waiting until about December or January to go and find our daughter… but somehow now that we are APPROVED, it is more painful to wait. I dunno. It’s hard to explain. But then again – I was giving Meer his bath tonight, and was thinking – I can do this for TWO kids at once??? I can still be a great mom to Meer AND another infant?? Suddenly I can see why parents tend to wait for 2 or 3 years between children!! Maybe it is just a slap of reality hitting me…

Anyway – off to bed! Just had to share the good news as soon as possible!

Many blessings…

Rationing of the Tylenol...

So we're here - having a GREAT DAY! No Tylenol usage yet! Yesterday was a 4x day - which put a serious dent on our rationed Infant Tylenol and Panadol supplies! Even had to slip in some local Panadol - imagine the injustice! Poor Meer swallowed it, though. Anyway - nothing so far today! Hoping the DHL supply from my mom arrives by Saturday. We have about 2 doses of the good stuff left, so I am hoarding it for a true teething emergency!

Well - there you have it - another day in the life. I will be back tomorrow with a FULL blabbering of everything juicy and fun! Until then, MUCH love...

;-D

Mrs. MIA...

Ya - ya - I Know. DAYS since my last post!! To be honest - Meer is cutting in SIX teeth - pretty much all at once, so the poor little guy... welll - he needs me more than average! As luck would have it, we are practically OUT of Infant Tylenol - luckily my mom is sending some DHL! Should be here by Saturday - fingers crossed. Well - here we go again - I can hear him calling me! ;-D

Sunny Sunday

So we made it to church – for a new record of FOUR Sundays in a ROW!!! Not joking. Meer really likes seeing the other kids in the nursery, and apparently Kush enjoys listening to the sermon! How handy is that?? Shocking, I know.

We go to a church called, “International Christian Fellowship”, which is non-denominational and meets in the theatre of a local private school near the UN. It’s a small gathering – about 100 people, or so. It is a good mix of people – and even about 5 or 6 families that have gone through, or are going through, the adoption process here in Kenya.

Anyway – it is a great way to start the week. Good people. Good feelings. Good times!

I am trying to find a link to the church, but have come up blank! Anyway – if you clic on the title of this post, you will go to the website for Rosslyn Academy...

Whine and Cheese

Not to harp on and on about the down side of things, but getting PHOTOS uploaded to this blog – is a HUGE pain in my arse! I am talking – like… I try to send one about 30 times throughout the day, and it almost always (except twice so far!) times out and says “Internet Explorer cannot display the Webpage”. UGH!!! See? – It just did it again. Anyway… I will keep on trying, and when you see a super cute little boy on top of my “Adoption – the 1st step” post, you will know I have been successful!! Ha ha ha!! Sigh… one more time – just for the FUN of it…

;-D

This is for the Birds

Ah – it’s nap time around here again! Phew. Today our project is making Suet and Peanut Butter Bird Food Feeders! Seems birds are Meer’s favorite thing to go and look for around the house (yes – on his circuit!), so we are trying to increase the population. The handy thing is that there are SO MANY birds around, that we can almost ALWAYS see a bird sitting on a power line, or fence post.

Anyway – we went to the butcher this morning and got half kilo of beef suet, and then bird seed from the pet store… The jist of the recipe is to melt the suet, stir in a small jar of crunchy peanut butter, and then add a cup of bird seed, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, sunflower seeds, and oatmeal. It turns into a kinda gloopy mess, but doesn’t smell as bad as it sounds!

So you fill molds – we used a paper milk carton with a stick poking through both sides for a perch - and chill them until they are set. And then cut out little windows on both sides above the stick for the birds to access the suet inside. The leftovers I heaped onto a pie plate, and suspended on the hedge close to where the birds already hang out in the mornings. So far no takers, though… OH! Have two little chirpers sitting on the power lines above the pie plate… should be soon…

;-D

Link to Tracey's Blog

Hey, Y'all!!

If you clic on the title of this post, you will scoot off to my friend Tracey's blog. She lives in Vancouver, and is in the process of adopting a daughter from Kenya. She is TOATLLY prepared, and ready to come over here - HOW exciting! Looks like we will both be selecting our daughters in December... ish! Gotta work in the formula for "African Time"!! Anyway, we are both super excited! Feel free to check out her blog - it is really great.

Well... now I am off to dream land... more in the morning... zzzzzzzzz....

Dawn of the Triple C Circuit...

Wow. So Meer’s new thing is driving in his Cozy Coupe Convertible – up the driveway – down the driveway-over the ramp - onto the lawn-over to the dogs - back to the staff quarters - around the laundry lines – back around to the swing- over the curb-past the cars – back up the driveway – over the ramp… onto the lawn…. Over to the dogs… and I am talking ALL DAY LONG! Luckily the car had a metal handle, so Meer just sits inside and gets pushed the whole way – he LOVES it!! Terribly serious. Anyway… it’s EXHAUSTING!

He’s sleeping now. No big plans for the afternoon… Bela is bringing dinner over, so I don’t have to cook! How lucky is that??? I know. I know.

So I called Little Angel’s Network this morning to find out when the LANS Committee is meeting – not before next Wednesday, basically. Possibly the Wednesday after that. So it will still be awhile before we get word. No biggie – since we have 4 months from the date of the letter to select our daughter, and we want to do that IDEALLY in January.

Apparently the elections have been moved to December 28th, so people can vote when they are back at their villages. I dunno! That is the logic, though. So if we aren’t here for the elections, we aren’t here for Christmas either… and that sucks! Christmas is such a fun time for children… oh well – time will tell! No point worrying about it yet.

Well – that is all that is new… not much of anything other than a firm counter-clockwise circuit around the house!! Ha ha ha!!

Hope all of you are well…
;-D

Counseling 101

Good morning everyone!!

So our counselor’s meeting yesterday was quite interesting… for a start, each time I called to get directions to the place, I got a different answer. So I had James (our driver/personal assistant/friend) call. So we go to the place he was told… it’s on the “first floor”, meaning the second floor (buildings start with a “ground floor” here). Had to climb up this little tiny staircase – narrower than what you have in your own house, let me tell you! And there was no parking outside, so Meer couldn’t stay and “drive” with Uncle Jimmy (his favorite pastime!). So there we were – I’m huffing up the stairs first – having to side step people coming down all the time, with a toddler in my arms and on uneven slippery tile stairs…. Uneven slippery DIRTY tile stairs! Ha ha ha!! Kush is behind us - yelling (- oh. I mean "talking"!) on his mobile ohone the whole way! Anyway – we get up there, and find that is the MAIN OFFICE. The counseling offices are ACROSS THE ROAD on the THIRD FLOOR of a different building. Sigh.

And yes – by this time we are already 10 minutes late!

So we cross the road – still no parking, so Kush grabs Meer and off we go – marching up another four flights of stairs. Luckily these stairs were a normal width, and had those open bricks on the one main wall – so there was fresh air, and it was almost pleasant!

So we get to the top, and an askari (guard) opens this grill gate thing for us. Kush asks him if the security is ok, and the guy smiles and says (in Swahilli), “Yes it is not bad.” To which we all laugh – because why would they have a security gate at the top of a staircase if the security was GOOD??? (***Tracey – this is the part of town where the orphanages are… kinda yucky as in no green trees, and lots of litter and dirty concrete)

Anyway – we go inside and are waiting to meet “Violet” – she is the head of the counseling department, apparently. We are a good 15 minutes late by now, and Kush has a meeting scheduled in 45 minutes. I had lied and told him it would take an hour – our social worker said it was less than 30 minutes, so I figured I was safe with doubling it.
Turns out we had to wait about 10 minutes for Violet to show up, and by this time Kush had a slight lather to him- looking at his watch constantly and a bit of tension showing up in the face… ya know what I mean?? Well – for those who know him – it worth a quick chuckle!!

So we go into this room with this middle aged African Lady… we sit down. Kush takes Meer and feeds him some puffed wheat. Violet hands me this three page form to fill out – which I do immediately. As I am doing it she explains to us that the meeting will take between one and one and a half HOURS, and that we can talk about anything, blah, blah, blah. I am not looking, but I can FEEL Kush clench up!! So I mention (as I am fillign out a form at the speed of light!!) that Kush has a meeting, and we were told the session would only last 30 minutes – so if we could do the short version – I would appreciate it. Violet agreed, and commented that she had seen Kush look at his watch about 20 times since entering the room! So I was relieved, but then we sat in silence while I worked at the form! I was like… uh….

Eventually I broke the ice myself, and said, “Hey Hun – do you have any questions about adoption? – I do. What are we supposed to tell the child about her birthmother if her birthmother had thrown her away in a pit latrine? Are we supposed to tell the truth? Or lie? Like when the child asks and is a late teenager or early adult? Do we tell the truth?” So THAT got things going! By this point in time I was following Meer around the room as he investigated everything, and Violet asked me what I would want to know if I was the one that adopted and asking. I had to admit I would rather hear the truth – as an ADULT, that is. Anyway…

We were outta there in about 35 minutes – including the time it took Violet to write us a receipt (so I could put it in Our Future Child’s scrapbook!!!!) All in all it was lovely! We have to go back with our daughter and Meer – so she can see how we are bonding, etc. Got to admit – she was a truly lovely person! Even Kush really liked her! So top snaps to that.

Well – Meer is outside driving around in his Tiny Tikes car with Uncle Jimmy… I had best get out there before Kush has to go to work! Meer freaks when they leave, so I like to have something exciting in the works for the departure – as a distraction.
MUCH loving…

We're BACK!!!

I know. I know. It's "AUGUST"!!! I can hear you all yelling at me already! Point is - I am BACK!

Luckily I was surfing around and met this chic from Vancouver (same as me!), and she sent me the link to her blog, and then I got to thinkin: "Oh YAH!! I used to have one of those!!" So here I am! All thanks to my gal-pal Tracey.

Anyway - a BIG shout out to everyone! Gretchen - How the heck are ya?? How is XS?? I am thinking of hooking up Tracey at Bid Apartments - how cool is that?? (Gretchen stayed there when she was here for the summer doing a law class thingy a few years back)

So - the BIG news is that Kush and I are in the process of adopting a daughter! We haven't met her yet, though. Just in the planning stages. We have a counselling appointment this afternoon, and then our case goes to the board for approval. Kush has some business to do out of the country,so as soon as we get back (Christmas time?), we will be in a position to select a child (or be selected by the child!!), and will have her living with us within the first week! COOL, huh?? We are super excited.

Anyway - that's the news!!

Also have internet back at the house now, so will do my BEST to post a few times a week - while our super-great son is napping!

MUCH love to all of you... xoxoxoxoxox!!!

100 Days

Happy 100 Days Birthday Meer!!!!
We love you SOOooOOOooOOooooOOoo much!!