Noelle Dreams & Beyond

Just wanted to check in and say happy new year to anyone who happens to stop by. We are in the final stretch to the arrival of baby #2 with only 6 weeks or so to go. It's really hard to believe. We don't even have her room ready...actually we haven't even started yet! cc just keeps us so busy, and these days when he's sleeping or his dada has him, I'm sleeping. Just SO TIRED and so much to do! cc will be 10 months old in 2 days, and he continues to amaze us with his skillfullness. He's been walking behind a push toy ever since my mom gave it to him a few weeks ago as if he always knew how. He'll actually try to turn it when he runs into something. He occasionally says bye-bye and attempts to wave, and his fine motor skills get better every day - this requires me to keep the tiniest grains of dirt off the floor unless I don't mind him ingesting whatever he picks up. (We try, but our house just isn't that clean.) We have him sleeping on a tw...

I plan to post a pregnancy picture soon. Just wanted to say hi until then... I think November has been even busier than October! We have lots of projects in the works, such as the baby-proofing we didn't worry about until cc began crawling a few weeks ago. We also have a nursery to do and Christmas shopping and baby shower planning and the usual stuff that goes along with having a home and a family. I am forever sleep-deprived, especially since cc is in our bed again. (More to come on that front...I simply cannot let him cry it out as much as everyone keeps suggesting it.) I also want to say biggest congrats to our friends who recently got their referral from China!!!!

I thought I'd take the opportunity on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to put in another plug for this amazing and important webblog - Anti-Racist Parent . We've got a long way to go yet.

Well, it's the eve of the last day of 2007. I have to say I'm ready for 2008 and the hope that it brings. Of course this year has brought lots to celebrate, and we have ended it with a wonderful, busy, fun-filled Christmas with family. We're so blessed to have the love of family at Christmastime and every day throughout the year. I thought I'd share some of our joy in pictures: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks since Thanksgiving. I celebrated my 33rd birthday this past Monday and haven't had time to blog about it until now. I'm working 4 days a week again at my day job (temporarily, until we hire another replacement for me - don't ask), and I've been feeling pretty wiped out between that and teaching yoga and holiday preparations - not much energy left to blog. But I have some updates, and I want to share some birthday pix. Turning 33 was not all that fun for me, I must admit. Chris and I certainly thought we'd have kids by now. I was actually a bit glum when I woke up Monday morning, knowing that we'd be spending another Christmas without children and without any idea of when there would be children in our lives. But with Chris' help, I pulled myself together and made the best of the day. To start off, he gave me the loveliest gifts - two scarves from my favorite store, Ten Thousand Villages, and a hat to match one of ...

For children here and children-to-be and doggies and home and laughter and tears and sunshine and moonlight and rivers and streams and mountains and snowfall and parents and grandparents and vacation and weddings and sisters and brothers and rain and fertile soil and nieces and nephews and meadows and wildlife and trees and flowers and old friends and new friends and birthdays and holidays and long walks and talks and health and yoga and work and play and community and unity and spring blooms and autumn leaves and oceans and lakes and summertime and boat rides and dancing and dinners and peaceful moments and CHRIS and so much that I receive every day - for all of this and more I am thankful .

This essay was posted by the NY Times this month in a series of international adoption stories. A father shares his experience of finding and connecting with the Chinese gentleman who discovered his daughter the day she was abandoned and took her to safety. This story in particular deeply touched me, especially when the father, who doesn't speak Chinese, describes how he longed to express his gratitude to this man, who doesn't speak English, during their first phone call -- he was overcome with emotion and didn't have the words. His friend who translated for him during the call whispers simply, "Xie xie" - thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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...

Chris and I have been married nine good years as of this past Wednesday, June 20th. NINE YEARS!!! That is hard to believe when I really think about it. Time sure marches on... And yet this last year has felt like an eternity at times. This Saturday, June 23rd, marks one year since our official wait for Noelle began (the date our adoption paperwork was logged in with the China Center of Adoption Affairs). When we received our log-in date last August, we were absolutely elated, and we thought that by this time our daughter would be home with us - or at the very least we'd be on our way to China. So this is a somewhat bittersweet anniversary. However, we can say we're a year closer to holding her, and that is truly something worth celebrating. We are excited to be spending the weekend in one of our favorite places - Ocracoke Island. We dream of the day we'll take Noelle there for the first time. Perhaps not next summer, but surely in two summers we'll be watching Noelle pl...

Happy Father's Day to Dad, Keith and Kevin and all fathers in the world! And most of all to my dear husband, who feels the absence of his child as much as I do. Thank you, Chris, for your strength, devotion, steadiness and amazing, unconditional love. You're going to be the BEST dad. I love you.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers throughout the world!!! To birth mothers and adoptive mothers and foster mothers and surrogate mothers and mothers-to-be and brand new mothers and step-mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers and mothers-in-law... And especially to my fellow waiting adoptive mothers. Peace and joy to all, Kathryn