Noelle Dreams & Beyond

I've not been a very good blogger lately. If anyone actually follows my blog regularly, I apologize, and I do hope you'll keep coming back. There's just nothing much to report. We have had a pretty low-key October - the warmest I remember ever - and the driest - thank goodness for the rain this past week! (After re-reading my post, I realized our October was busier than I thought!) We made our annual trip to the state fair this month, which is one of our favorite things in the world. We love to eat all the bad-for-you food and people-watch. We even enjoy all the displays and demonstrations, which are basically the same every year. This year we actually rode a couple of rides - a ferris wheel, which was much slower than I remember them being - and some crazy spinning thing that made me scream. It was quite the rush, and I was dizzy when I got off, but it was a lot of fun. We have some traditions that we follow every year, and this time was no different: Stopping by...

As adoptive parents, Chris and I have heard stories about all the questions we will get from people we know and from strangers when they see us with our children. It's important to be prepared for this because our children will be listening and looking to us for reassurance when folks (with perhaps good intentions) make rude remarks. Rather than coming up with my own post about this issue, I thought I'd copy an article from the experts. GRACIOUS ANSWERS TO AWKWARD QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR ADOPTED KIDS by Deborah McCurdy, MSW via Lois Paul of Help the Children When we adopt a child who looks different from us, we generally feel we can handle the stares and loss of privacy that go with the territory. We may find, however, that the frequent questions and comments of strangers and relatives sometimes annoy and worry us. At the heart of our anger and anxiety is the fear that our adopted child will be hurt by thoughtless questions, or that their older siblings, who look less exotic, wil...

I got the best news from a local friend yesterday - she and her husband have received their referral from Vietnam!! They are also adopting from China on essentially the same timeline as we are (their log-in date is 8 days ahead of ours). They began their second adoption from Vietnam this past spring around the time we made the decision to become foster parents, so we are leading somewhat parallel lives relative to our parenting journeys. We are so glad we met them last year (I somehow found their blog and realized they live in our city, and the rest is history). We very much look forward to future playdates with our kiddos, along with sharing all the parenting lessons to come. Biggest congrats, Danesha and Tod! We couldn't be happier for you, and we can't wait to meet your little guy!

As I posted last month, my sister Jessica had her second baby, and just last week my friend Jessica had her first baby. Both are girls and both weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. at birth! And they both have gorgeous names: Maia Soleil and Ilsa May They even rhyme! I'm in baby heaven. Now if only their future baby buddy would arrive. I wonder if it will be a boy or another girl...Any bets out there?