Still down and out

Yieks! Still sick. I am so glad we don't have little one home right now. I would be soo worried about her getting the flu, and I have no idea how I would take care of her! I am not sure when I have been this sick. It really stinks. I am getting pretty tired of my bed and I shudder to think about what the rest of my house looks like with mom on the down and out for soo many days! I am hoping to make it out into the world for at least an hour or tow tomorrow. Kinda have to as E goes out of town tonight. Once the mommy, always the mommy!

The sweetest thing in my hazy dayz...B has taken to taking care of his sister. He took the cabbage patch doll out of the crib and has been carrying her around, singing to her, holding her, feeding her, and changing her diaper. Now for a busy almost 5 yr old boy, this is pretty sweet! He keeps talking about his Ellie and other than occ. carrying her by her hair....it's too sweet. Sooner than later, he can sing to her for real!

Well, time to lay back down. The energy is zapped. More later!

Ugh..I Think it's Influenza

Yuck! I think I have the flu. The bonafide- feel like I've been hit by a MAC truck- coughing, body aching, fever creating flu. And I really suck at being sick. After a couple days of oj, tea and Little House on the Prairie re-runs, I still have to work awfully hard to rally to get up and out of bed. It is really time for February to be over. Really, really, really time. March can only be an improvement!

I promise to write something amazing, thought provoking, and awe inspiring after I return to my normal self...but for now, I think I have exhausted the energy reserves for now! Time for more OJ and tea...and maybe a Hallmark Channel Movie!

When it rains it pours!

So it was one of the coldest nights of the winter last night. Lows in the -teens and windchills at -40 to -50. At about 3am, I woke up and could smell something hot. I have a hyper sensitive sense of smell, hubby often can't smell what I can smell. I got out of bed and sniffed around the room. It smelled like an overheated curling iron or a melting electrical smell. Living in an almost 100 yr old house, you tend to pay attention to those hot smells! The smell came and went. I was freezing and had found no imminent danger, so I crawled back in bed. At 545 I woke up with an even stronger smell assulting my nose, something was not right. I woke up E, (and B who was in our bed by then). He of course couldn't smell anything and I think thought i was a tidge off my rocker. But B could smell it too. I checked cords and lights, the treadmill, nothing felt hot or smelled hot to the touch. I went so far as going down to the garage (right under the bedroom) to see if something in there smelled. Nothing. Now I really thought i was crazy! When I got back upstairs I realized how cold our bedroom was compared to the rest of the house. (It has a seperate furnace) Sure enough it was 60 and falling as I watched. I found the source of the the smell, the furnace. So E went out in the garage to see what he could do, a lot of banging, more stinky smells and no heat. So long story short, seems the smell I smelled all night was the motor on the furnace burning up...so no heat in our part ofthe house....and I am guessing a heafty bill to have it fixed. At least I know I am not crazy!

It's Snowing Again

Ugh, it is snowing again. The wind is howling, the temps are in the single digits, the windchills are somewhere far beyond zero and I am cranky with a capital C!

The adoption wait is really taking it's toll on me right now. We have been sitting at 37 for weeks and we just moved to 38! I really don't want to move backward. I am now getting concerned that we may have to wait through court closures (CHSFS stops giving referrals in June as they don't want families to get stuck when the courts close during the rainy season in Aug and Sept) That would mean we would maybe have her home by Thanksgiving. Oh I just shudder to think that is a possibility. Unless there is some amazing movement in the next few weeks, I don't know how we can move up the list in time to get a referral before closures.

I just can't seem to catch a break right now. The shop is kicking my a****, we seem to have had sick kids since Christmas, I am so tired of it being cold and snowy....and I am tired of being chief cook, maid, activities director, chauffer, and all around buck stops here girl! I need a vacation! But alas, that isn't in the future either. SO there is the pitiful story for the day. All around cranky and crabby cakes...signing off....must find chocolate....

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Truly hated this day as a teenager, but as a mom, I must say the construction paper hearts and cards are better than 1 million roses! B made me a sweet little valentine in preschool that is absolutely adorable and brought tears to my eyes. Nothing like a preschool valentine to warm your heart!

Things on the adoption front are really slow. We are just a few short weeks from hitting our "window" in the 6-9 month wait. There have been very few referrals in the last few weeks and the waiting families are getting cranky. It really feels like we might not have her in our arms until late Aug or September. Never thought it would be that long when we started this journey. I guess it is all part of the unknown. I had a crazy dream that we were flying to Ethiopia to pick her up, but we had no referral, and I hadn't packed anything for her. Of course given the chance to just hop on a plane and go is pretty appealing!

It is COLD in MN again. Heading back into the single digits again today and tomorrow. I am holding out for March....it is just around the corner...and March means Daffodils, Girl Scout cookies and the Dairy Queen opens for the season....so here's to March getting here quick!

Happy valentines one and all and to any forum friends reading this....may VD day bring a FLOOD of referrals!

Any News?

So it seems people are getting anxious to hear about this little girl of ours! An acquaintance stopped me at the Y today to tell me she had heard we were getting close! E said people at work are asking how soon we will travel. It feels like that last month of pregnancy when everyone keeps saying..."no baby yet??" And we still have soo far to go. Once we get a referral (of which there have been hardly any in 2008) we then get time to review the file and accept the referral. Then the staff in ET is contacted and they start the process of making her officially ours. We will wait for a court date, then her birth certificate and then our travel date. So all in all, once we get the referral, it will be another 12-16 weeks before we go and get her. (And you think I am impatient now!!) I am really hoping that we travel before September...but time will tell! I have been overdue with all the boys, so no reason for this to go ahead of schedule! So, we promise, as soon as there is any news...as soon as there is a chance of any news...heck even if we hear someone else has news...we'll keep you posted!

5 months Waiting

Yay! We made it to 5 months waiting. But oh the wait is taking it's toll. Things are really off to a slow start. There haven't been very many referrals at all yet in 2008. They (our agency) is predicting a wait of 6-9 months. On the unofficial list we are 27th for an infant girl. Not sure where we are officially. So cup half full...we could have a referral by Easter....cup half empty, we could have a referral by memorial day or the summer solstice! Can't decide where my cup is today. I must be enrolled in the remedial patience class cause I just keep having to wait! I am definitely flunking this class!!

Things I am going to do to stay busy....
1. clean my kitchen cupboards
2. clean all of our closets
3. Find the box with all our baby stuff in it ( this alone could take a month!)
4. Weed out all of our gluck
5. Paint my bathroom
6. Paint the back hallway
7. Go out for coffee / wine with all those people I have been saying I want to get together with!

Have any more suggestions? I guess I will also raise the 3 kids I do have at home, run the business that needs a little TLC right now....and try not to only make cookies to eat the dough!

So there is the we made it to 5 months pity party...how pathetic...think I'll go make cookies!