It's A Jet Lag Thing

Happy Mother's Day To Me

Not only have I been blessed already as the mother of these two loves...

... but I also got to spend this week with my daughter-to-be in Eastern Europe.

My heart is full.

To all the moms in my life, Happy Mother's Day!

The Haps In The Kitchen

In many ways, the kitchen is the hub of our home which, at this point in our lives, is a mixed blessing.  I enjoy cooking and baking and appreciate my kids' interest in both, but sometimes they really slow me down when they take up residence in front of the pantry or fridge to watch me work.  Things get even messier when Emilia tries to help.  I give her a chance to be involved whenever possible, but sometimes it's just gotta get done fast.  And Rex won't leave my side when his favorite foods are cooking because he really doesn't want to miss the moment they are served.

This was quite a while ago, but Rex took these treats in to give to his classmates on Valentine's Day.

One day I had a massive hankering for warm, fresh dinner rolls, so I baked some from scratch.  They were so good and all I ate that night with some butter and jam.

Craig, Emilia and I really like curry, so one afternoon I threw together this simple thai inspired potato curry.  It turned out to be delicious and we will make it again... as long as I can remember what I put in it.

Twice a year parents organize a luncheon for the therapists at Rex's school.  There are some vegetarians in the group, so it often falls to me to prepare the vegetarian main dish.  Last month I decided to make black bean burgers with avocado cream and mango salsa.  Yummy!

I had been wanting a dessert that would combine the flavors of tart cherries and almond for several months, so Easter gave me the perfect excuse to try out a new recipe for a cherry almond streusel cake.  It was scrumptious, especially when refrigerated.

Emilia and her best friend Cooper are crazy about hummus, so when one of them has it for lunch, we always try to make sure the other does as well.  Here they are with their respective tubs of hummus eating away, no sides needed.

And that's the haps in the kitchen.

Preparing For Our Trip

Since we will soon be leaving to meet Big Sister, I have begun preparing for our trip.  I have several categories of "stuff" that I am getting ready.  Here's a sneak peek:

1) Emilia's travel entertainment.  Emilia is old enough and interested in wearing her own backpack, so we filled a mini one with things for her to do while we are en route to Big Sister's country.  There are some books, her letter cards, some matching cards, stacking cups, finger puppets, play dough, wiki stix, a plain page notebook and colored pens (her preferred scribbling utensil).  We will also have a current favorite toy, a magna doodle, and the Kindle in my carry-on for her.

2) Rex's travel entertainment.  Rex is not a fan of wearing a backpack, so his things are in a big ziploc bag that I will be carrying.  He's got some bubble wrap, spinning tops, flashlights, silly putty and glow in the dark putty, balloons, light-up toys, masking tape, cars and a fidgeting toy.

3) Snacks, snacks, snacks.  I have measured out a bunch of GFDF snacks into portions for the kids to eat while we are traveling.  I will also be packing sandwiches, individual servings of hummus, and bananas for them.  We requested special diet meals from the airlines, but I know from my experience as a vegetarian traveler that this does not always pan out.  We were fortunate to find a bakery/restaurant in the town we will be staying that is going to make us several loaves of GFDF bread which will be delivered to us upon arrival.  Their menu sounds delectable.  They're like a Panera Plus.

The two containers in the back
are for checked luggage.

4) Kids' entertainment while in country.  We hope to spend a lot of time outdoors with the kids sightseeing etc. when we are not at the orphanage, but just in case those plans don't work out, I am packing a few things to do indoors.  I have three cans of shaving cream, bubble wrap to pop, balloons, and a beach ball.  Our apartment will also be in close proximity to two parks which will be helpful in keeping wee Martinis happy.

5) Fun activities for Big Sister.  I think that our visits with Big Sister will be very different from the ones we had with Rex and Emilia.  Big Sister is completely verbal and quite bright which means she will understand what is happening.  We want her to feel comfortable with us and enjoy our time together, so we are bringing supplies for joint activities.  I am not going to lie, most of these things came from clearance racks, the one dollar bins at Target, and some we even already had at home.  We are bringing a purse, coin purse and compact mirror along with hair accessories.  We have stickers, markers, crayons, paper and play dough to get creative.  There are two beach balls, balloons, more balloons to make animals, bubbles, a hat and most importantly a custom made book that explains to her how we found her and how this adoption process works.  It's got photos of us and of her in it and I left several pages blank to add more photos from our time together as well as for her to draw or dictate her experiences into the book.

6) Orphanage donations.  I don't have unlimited luggage room, but a donor made 52 beautiful summer dresses for the girls at the orphanage.  Since I didn't want the boys to feel left out, I reached out to some amazing mommy friends and with their help was able to gather 10 t-shirts, over 60 new toothbrushes, and 34 pairs of socks for the boys.  Now each of the 126 children at Big Sister's orphanage will receive something new.  In addition, a few of my friends made generous cash donations that I can use to buy more things for the kids while in-country or that I can add in with any funds raised this summer for whatever we may realize or be told is needed at the orphanage.

7) Carry on.  Aside from the items I already mentioned, our carry-on luggage will contain an extra outfit, diapers and wipes for each child, a blanket for Emilia, our passport, tickets and other paperwork, small toiletries and toothbrushes, antibacterial wipes, and snacks for grown-ups.

IAC 278 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 278 which was held on March 26, 2014:

1) Spanish dossier from July 2010 referred a male child aged 5 years and 6 months

2) German dossier from December 2010 referred a male child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status

3) French dossier from February 2011 referred a female child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status and a family history

4) Italian dossier from December 2011 referred a male child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status and a family history

5) French dossier from March 2012 referred a male child aged 5 years and 1 month with features in health status and a family history

6) US dossier from July 2012 referred male twins aged 6 years and 9 months with a family history

7) Italian dossier from August 2012 referred a male child aged 9 years and 1 month

8) US dossier from November 2012 referred a female child aged 2 years and 5 months with features in health status

9) Irish dossier from December 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months with features in health status

10) US dossier from September 2013 referred a male child aged 1 year and 4 months with features in health status

11) French dossier from November 2013 referred a male child aged 4 years and 8 months with features in health status and a family history

12) Canadian dossier from December 2013 referred a male child aged 1 year and 1 month with features in health status

13) US dossier from January 2014 referred a female child aged 9 years and 7 months

The Joy In Our Boy

Pure. Simple. Unparalleled.

Nap Time Selfie

If Rex could (or would) speak, I am sure that every single day he would say, "Daddy, I love you so much.  You're my best friend and my favorite person in the whole wide world.  I never want to be without you."

But then again, words are quite unnecessary.