Its Armageddon.....with sleds!

Ok, not really- it's actually just a predicted major snowstorm in the South.  Even after all our years of living, we transplanted Midwesterners still get a kick out of the total over-reaction.  Still, you would never know the world wasn't coming to an end as people here frantically shop for supplies like milk, bread, hamburger (yes, apparently very necessary for an apocalypse), and sleds.  "Wait, what?", you say.  "Did you say sleds??"  Yes, yes I did. 

We are predicted to have anywhere from 1-6 inches of snow here in the South over the next 24 hours and although the food raids are understandable, the sleds are the HOT commodity.  And it is total supply and demand at work.  There are literally none to be found anywhere in three counties and I swear people would pay anything for a small saucer at this point.  Oh, and did I mention?  There is not one flake on the ground or in the air yet!  LOL!

On Facebook, some people have started posting some of their more "creative" solutions so they might enjoy the snow.  Thankfully, we already have a sled, but here are some of the more interesting ones I read:
Laundry baskets with homemade silicone spray (didn't know you could make that...)
Wrapping paper storage containers (you know, the long ones?)
Boogie boards greased up with Pam
Trash can lids
Cardboard boxes
Plastic sandbox covers
Lunch trays
And (oh boy) the hood of an old VW? 

We just have to laugh and laugh.   Its fun to see the excitement and the kids are loving the idea of playing in the snow, which happens only a couple times a year.   And it gives us experienced former northerners a chuckle. 

And away she goes!

Today we sent in that monster of an application better known as the I-800A!  No, it didn't look like this, but I would much rather picture it as this because, well, I love Sully!  lol
 


It feels good to have yet another thing checked off the adoption 'to-do" list, but I must admit, as soon as I handed the Fed Ex envelope to our express mail guy, I felt a bit freaked.  But why should I worry?  I mean, I double-, triple-, and quadruple-checked everything.  All the forms were there.  The check was there.  The application was signed and there.  The evidence required was there.  And even the pre-paid return envelope was there!   Still, I won't be satisfied until we get that text/email they have received it and then get the approval letter from USCIS.  I know this anxiousness is a normal feeling for all prospective adoptive parents, but I also know that its because its regarding something (and someone) very important.   So now we wait, but soon that dossier will be complete and ready to go.  And we'll be one step closer to our son!

Happy New Year!!

We want to wish everyone a very Happy 2011!  Today we are doing what we LOVE- watching Michigan football (so glad we can again say Happy New Year and Go Blue at the same time!); watching the Rose Parade (I am a 3-time veteran having marched with the Michigan Marching Band when in college), and cheering for the Big Ten (now 12- don't ask, lol).  If you ever get a chance to attend a Rose Bowl, do.  It is truly spectacular!  If you also ever get a chance to go to the Big House, do.  Again, spectacular.  So until next time- Go Blue and Happy New Year!

 

An early Christmas gift!

After months of filling out forms, gathering information, and waiting, we were very excited to receive our completed and approved home studies from our agency on....wait for it....Christmas Eve!  Seriously, at 4pm the mail got here and there that bad boy was!  I took that as a really good sign.  Of course, since it was not only Christmas Eve but also Friday, we had to wait to get that I-800A in the mail until this week.  I have to admit that I wanted to enjoy the beauty of the weekend and not let it stress me.  And I figured what was the rush since government offices might not necessarily be the quickest during this time.  ;)

Instead, we celebrated by going to Christmas Eve mass, making cookies for Santa, getting on our Christmas PJs (Bernard, Santa's elf leaves them for us every year) and enjoying the evening.  The next morning, we continued to celebrate with a great Christmas Day, family safely arriving from up north, a wonderful dinner with our close neighbors, and unbelievably- a white Christmas in SC!  We had at least a couple of inches and it was absolutely beautiful!  All of it just seemed like God saying "Chill out.  Its all going well, so don't worry and just enjoy the birth of My Son."  So we did just that.  

This week, we got back to "work" and got the needed forms and documents together.  We'll get them printed, signed, and by week's end, away they will go!  In between, we'll be enjoying each other, watching college and pro football (especially cheering for Michigan, Clemson, Wisconsin, and the Packers), and relaxing.  Still, it feels good to have yet another task completed and even if there is more waiting, we're ready.   Every bit is progress and we're are getting closer and closer.  As we told our son, next Christmas you will be a big brother.  We can't wait!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all many blessings (and children) in the New Year! 

Mary Did You Know?

Merry Christmas everyone!  I haven't written on the blog in a while because for the last month or so, its been basically a back and forth between our social worker and the agency to perfect the home study.  Here I thought it was looking great according to the agency, but our social worker had trouble with some of the ways sections and sentences were worded.  She felt the grammar was thin and took it a little too personal (in my opinion) rather than looking at the reasons behind the wordings (ie ease of translation, not raising red flags or problems in either the US or Polish govt/courts, etc).  I have to admit to a certain amount of frustration because it seemed like the discrepancy was not over content, but how it was expressed.  I can understand both sides (no, really I can!) but while the haggling was going back and forth, I started to feel like this:

When I should have been feeling like this- its Christmas after all! :

So why the added frustration? Well, I have been also clicking off the days before we could get our documentation submitted to the USCIS since our goal was to have that in by the first of the year.  Now, although the home study is done and we should have it in our hot little hands this next week, you know the US govt is going to be moving at a snail's pace during the holidays.  So our overall goal of having the dossier in by the new year with hopefully a referral to follow soon afterwards is pretty much:

 

plllbbbbbbb!!

 

Anyway,  regardless of all that I have been very busy focusing on preparing for Christmas and it has been a happy distraction.  My son, Case, is 9 this year and although he has asked a few questions, he still believes and we are happy he does.  We have talked about the spirit of St Nicholas and are preparing for the transition that will eventually happen, but for now he loves all things Christmas and looking for our elf Eddie (the Elf on the Shelf) to tell Eddie things meant for Santa. 

But most importantly, Case is acutely aware of the reason for the season- the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He has taken his job of doing our nativity advent calendar very seriously.  It entails reading a part of the Christmas story everyday and hanging the daily wood cutout on the nativity scene.  When all the pieces are in place, it displays the famous scene.  I'm probably not describing it well, but suffice to say he loves it and it gives us a fantastic way to discuss the Nativity every year. 

Which leads me to the title of this blog- "Mary Did You Know?"  By far, this is one of my favorite Christmas songs (that and "My Grown-up Christmas List).  It is the most poignant, beautiful, and emotional songs I have ever heard.  As a mother, especially a mother of a son, it truly speaks to my soul.  Here is the link:

 

Think about these verses in the song: "When you kissed your little baby, you kissed the face of God"; "This child that you delivered will soon deliver you".  Wow.  When I hear this, I feel the depth and breadth of emotion throughout my soul.

 

I admire and love Mary beyond words.  She has been my "mother" since mine went to heaven and for me, she is the role model I look to in my parenting decisions.  And sometimes- actually often- I marvel at the mystery of how she was able to do everything she did.  I love my son with my whole being and I know she did the same; yet, she knew what it meant to bring Jesus into the world and what must happen down the road.  How did she do it?  Mary, did you know?  There was all the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy, not to mention the strain it might have caused her and Joseph, and yet, she accepted it and her motherhood without question and wholeheartedly.  And at one time, she was like me- a new mother looking down at her newborn son fill of love and wonder and hope.  I wonder, although Mary knew what Jesus' life meant, did she truly grasp the magnitude of important things he would do when she held him as a newborn?   Maybe she did, and how completely wonderful it must have been for her.   She never looked at Jesus as anything other than her son, although she knew he was destined for great things.  But more importantly, she knew she was destined to be his mother, end of story.   She loved him because God brought him to her- even if it was unconventional, to say the least. 

And that's why this song speaks to me.  Not just because of the son I have and gave birth to, but also for the son we are destined to have that will be brought to us by God.   So, as we are finishing this (often frustrating) paperwork, I have to look to Mary.  There is a little boy out there that will need me as a mama and I will need guidance and support to help me be the mother God intends me to be.  Did Mary know?  We'll never know.  What we do know is she handled herself with grace, loved Jesus beyond measure, and ultimately gave the world our Savior.  And I know when my time comes, I will look to Mother Mary for guidance and support and never, ever forget the lessons she taught us- a mother's love is infinite and can make all the difference. 

Blessings to you all during this beautiful Christmas season!

Home study- small step forward, ho!

We got an email yesterday from Erin, the agency social worker reviewing our home study that she was forwarding it on to Lina for review and approval! We are really happy! We are also glad because we needed to do a few revisions ourselves since Ann, who did our home study, is on vacation and apparently we did ok. Ann did a great job and changes consisted mainly of re-formatting, spelling corrections, and eliminating redundancies. Still, it was pretty time consuming. I definitely have a renewed appreciation for what social workers do when preparing a home study!

I also appreciate the meticulousness of our agency in finding any discrepancies, suggesting additions/subtractions, and overall thoroughness. Their commitment to helping us through the process smoothly has been amazing. Lina will now look at it, hopefully approve it, and then forward to Ann for her approval of the changes. The best part is we were able to accomplish the corrections while Ann was away so we didn't lose precious weeks in between.

We are definitely getting closer to having that vital piece of the puzzle done so we can move on to getting USCIS approval. A small step, but we'll take it!

One of the many benefits of being a US citizen

Yep, I got out there and exercised my constitutional right! And since he had the day off school ( a SC thing, I guess), I again took my son with me. It was relatively painless and hardly any wait at 12:30pm- the last name grouping we are in (R-T) is usually one of the worse so I was glad we were in and out in about 15 minutes.

I absolutely love taking Case with me when I vote. It is such a prime time for learning the hows and whys of choosing our government. I also take the opportunity to reinforce why it is each citizen's civic obligation to vote. Being in 3rd grade, he is totally into it now and has been paying attention to the (ungodly amount of) political ads out there. We have talked about why some can be misleading and the need to read the issues and where the candidate stands for ourselves.

While in line, we saw other people we knew- neighbors, teachers, friends- and it was such a prime time to talk about why we vote and how blessed we are in the US to have the right to vote. We talked about what "government for the people, by the people" means and how other countries have to wait for days in line to cast their vote. He remembered a little bit about voting for President 2 years ago, but that time he was more fascinated by the electronic ballot and thought it was kinda a game (thanks alot Leapster- lol). Thus, unfortunately the one point that stuck was that he couldn't vote because he wasn't an adult. This time was very different. He has studied SC history and we are voting for governor so he really was interested. We went to the electronic voting booth together and I went down each candidate and the job they were running for. I did have to be brief since we had that 3 min limit, but he understood it for the most part. We then talked about the proposed amendments to the SC State Constitution, their importance, and what it actually means to "amend" something. He was completely captivated by the process and said he "loved voting". What more can a US mommy ask for?

So I realize we are on the right track with one US citizen and look forward to teaching our other son-to-be about the whole process here as well. And while I used to wonder if we could really help a child from another democratic country "get it", I now realize through my own experience that he will be too little to really have learned about one system over another. There will be many opportunities to teach the lessons of electing our government (and how it is similar and different from others) and like Case, he will probably first be interested in the video screens and electronics and then love the system. And I am SO looking forward to sharing it all again with our second child.