I'M LOSING IT!

My blog description reads.....Will we lose our minds in the process? Only time will tell. I'm here to tell you folks that I'm indeed losing it. Yep, I have been holding it together fairly well up until now. What the heck is up with only sending out 9 days of referrals? If they continue at that rate it will take 3 freakin' years to receive our referral. When the wait doubled from a 6 month wait to a 12 month wait everyone freaked out. God, I'd give anything for it to be a 12 month wait! Then, it was said that it may take 18 months from LID to referral. Again, we all freaked out. NOW, at the rate they are going it looks like much longer. How many times are we going to have to update all of our paperwork? I can't even believe I'm saying this...............CCAA, 18 months is alright with me. If you could keep it to that timeframe, I promise to relax and enjoy the wait with my family. Honest (nothing crossed).

Referrals!

It looks like some agencies have received referrals today and other agencies are expecting them tomorrow. The cut off date appears to be July 22. That means they only matched 9 stinkin' days worth this month. Congratulations to M3 and all the other families that will be seeing their babies faces for the first time. For everyone else, it looks like we have a long road ahead of us. I'm just so thankful that at least we have each-other as we continue down it.

It's Weigh In Wednesday!!

I am so happy to report that I am back online just in time for my weigh in. My little Bella decided that she wanted to chew the cord to my lap top. I was online at the time (are you really that surprised?) when it went ZAP! Complete darkness! I was worried that I would be able to find a cord for this ole' computer but I did without a problem! Not only did I have success with finding the cord, I'm down this week!!!!! I have lost a total of 9 pounds to date! I have lost 9 pounds with no exercise!!!!!! How cool is that? However, I decided that if I want to lose faster I need to add some exercise to my daily routine. Yup, I can't even believe I'm saying this......... I will begin an exercise program tonight after work. No more excuses. It's time.

THIS PLACE IS A ZOO!

I'm sure all of you know Luna. She really doesn't care much either way about Bella joining the family. She still knows that she will always be number one with her Mommy. I'm just hoping that Bella takes after Luna. I know it is quite early to tell however, I think Bella may have Luna's outspoken personality. I think it won't be long before she is getting into it with Jeter too.
Rylee is probably taking the longest to warm up to our new addition. He often is heard growling at little Bella Jean. It's usually when she is attacking his tail.
Here is another picture of our 3.1 pounds of terror. Please note that this couch is in our camper and NOT in our home. Why is it that even newer campers are still decorated as if it were the 1980's??? Mauve Baby, Yeah!!!! Also, I never noticed the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray bottle that is sitting behind the couch. One word.......Kids! I do have to say that this stuff is GREAT on popcorn.
If you noticed all the pictures of the animals have been of them on the furniture. This is why. Bella is trying to go after poor Maxfield. He's not even safe to hide under the furniture.
Maxfield just wishes that I would stick her in this crate.
This is Gracie. This is her favorite perch in the house. She really could care less about Bella.
This is Margo Marie. She also wants to stay away from the terror.
Ruby is just glad that she lives in a cage. She often screams when she see's Bella Jean run by. She also is a great watch bird. If she notices anyone (like those damn golfers) in the backyard she yells..................Ma Ma! A funny story about Ruby.....When our social worker was here for the first time to do our homestudy, Ruby kept yelling Ma Ma! I was trying to ignore it but then thought I better explain that it was my bird yelling for me. She had seriously thought that it was it was one of my kids and wondered why I didn't respond!

And these girls or guys are Ellie (or Elwood, not sure on the sex) & Sophia. I love the name Sophia or Sophie for a little girl but, already used it up on one of my pets. I also am a big fan of Gracie or Grace but have already named my cat that. Melissa, before meeting you we even talked about Grace for Ava's middle name. I LOVE the name but I thought I shouldn't name her after my cat. Great minds think alike.

It's Weigh In Wednesday!

So how are you doing? Nuff said.

THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY

I want you guys to know how hard I worked to get a picture of our new fur baby to upload on blogger. It seriously took me about 45 minutes! I was determined NOT to throw in the towel and let blogger win. I don't want to complain too much since blogger is free and all but..........FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY CAN'T I POST PICTURES??!!!! I had several pictures tonight to post of the ENTIRE family (entire fur family, that is) but all I was able to get blogger to upload was one. One. Every single time I tried to type under the picture (or on top of the picture) it disappeared. I decided it was better to be safe than sorry and use two posts because, I'm telling you right now, I would have been throwing this lap top across the room if my picture disappeared! So in the post under this one is a picture of Miss Bella Jean. I know it's a bit hard to make out her features since she looks like a curly black mop. I am amazed that something so small (3.1 pounds) can be such TROUBLE! My other babies are just trying to stay out of her way! Bella was born on May 15th. I have to tell you all that our Bella is one smart little girl. She already knows her name (since the 1st day we got her!) and can play fetch! She is doing "pretty" well with potty training. She has not gone #1 in the house for several days but does go #2 every once in awhile. It's no biggy (literally) and we are sure with a little work she will get that down too. Enjoy the picture of Bella Jean!

BELLA

This -N- That

Hello! I'm sorry that I have neglected my blog lately. Our other computer crashed last week and the kids have been using my computer. Every free moment that I have to get on the computer it seems like one of the kids are already planted in front of it. I just sat down now to check my emails and look at a few blogs and along comes my son looking to get on the computer again. I told him, "Don't even think about it, it's my turn." KIDS!!! I have also been busy because we have a new addition to our family! We got a new puppy last Tuesday night. I tried to post a picture of her but so far blogger was not being cooperative. I'll try again later. She is 12 week old toy poodle and boy is she cute! The first night we had her I hardly slept at all. We put her in her crate and slept with it on top of our bed. I really thought that she would need to go out during the night and I couldn't sleep because I was worried that I wouldn't hear her if she cried. I was amazed that she slept until 6:30 in the morning! I took her out of her crate and she went potty on my shirt and finished the rest of her business outside. I learned that it is probably a good idea to take the entire crate outside in the morning and not try to carry her with a full bladder. She has had a few accidents in the house but overall she is catching on pretty quickly. I was soooo tired on Wednesday that when I got in the car to leave for work, I noticed that I was wearing my slippers. I guess I'm blaming my fatigue for missing Weigh in Wednesday. I did weigh myself on Wednesday and was down 1/2 pound. I also weighed myself this morning and quite frankly, I'd rather not talk about it! I had to get up early this morning to head to the hospital for my very first mammogram. Since turning 40 (cough cough) my doctor said that it was time to have it done. I really have been dreading it because I have heard horror stories about how bad it hurts. I'm here to tell you that it was not painful at all! Quite frankly, I think I've been grabbed harder by some of my old boyfriends (kidding, sorry Jeff). If you haven't had it done or have been putting it off..........Get it done, it's nothing! This afternoon I have to go to my other doctor's appointment. Yup, it's round #2 with my ole' foot wart treatment. At least this time I was smart and got all my food shopping done this morning in case I'm limping around this evening. I'm sure the kids won't be happy but if my foot is sore I'm going to take over the computer this evening and maybe even all day tomorrow. So, I'll be around if anyone wants to stop in and say hello!

THE NUMBER 5

Today's post is brought to you by the number five! Today marks our 5 month anniversary that our precious dossier was logged in to China! The current wait time from LID (log-in-date) until you receive your referral (your childs picture & information) is about 13 months. As many of us are aware this timeframe can either slow down or begin to speed back up. I personally have not witnessed it speed back up but apparently it has in the past. Basically what I'm trying to get at is.............WE HAVE NO FREAKIN' CLUE WHEN WE WILL GET OUR REFERRAL! When we started the adoption process in August, 2005 the current wait time was 6 months from LID to referral. Ahh, those were the days! The good news is we are one month closer to bringing our Ava home where she belongs.

IT'S BEEN A YEAR & A DAY!

My husband and I were out having lunch today when our waitress asked us how the adoption was going. She said, "When are you going to be getting your little girl?" We explained that it would probably be sometime next summer. She said, "Oh, that's not so bad, a year is not that far away." After she walked away (BTW only using curse words under my breath) I was thinking....... YEAH, BUT WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN WAITING A YEAR!!! Then it hit me when I thought about today's date. We sent in our application to GWCA on August 2, 2005. I remember filling out the application and dropping it at the post office on my way home from work. I pulled up to the mailbox and gave the envelope a kiss for good luck. I can't believe that it has already been a year and a day since our journey to Ava began.

It's Weigh In Wednesday!

I'm not sure if I had an accurate weigh in this morning. I was putting more weight on my left foot and standing with my right foot on it's side (because of my sore foot). I was UP 1/2 pound.
Actually, I wondering if I might be up more. When you lean doesn't that make the numbers go down? Hmmm. I'm a bit worried now. I really am surprised that I have gained at all because I have been soooooo good lately. I'm sure it's water. Yeah, HAS to be water. So, how are you guys doing?

Waiting on the Blister

If you are REALLY grossed out by the title and have NO IDEA what I am talking about then you better go read yesterday's post. If you are REALLY grossed out but are up-to-date with my foot wart(s) saga then we shall continue. So, I was told yesterday that I would have some big ugly blister form on my foot by yesterday evening. I was rather scared to take a gander at my foot this morning so I made Jeff do it. He said, "Nah, no blister." Where the heck in my huge blister? Should I call the doctor? Does it mean that his treatment isn't working? What. To. Do?
My foot was a bit sore last night but I still managed to shuffle through the grocery store. My 15 year old thought that I should use one of those motorized carts. I told her no, but the next thing I know my daughter is driving down the aisle in one of those carts. I just tried to pick up my pace and pretend I didn't know her. When I watched her drive I realized we did make the right decision in not doing drivers training this year. She was a bit embarrassed when some kid yelled, "Hey, weren't you just a band camp today?" Served her right. Anyway, I think I'm going to call the doctor in the A.M. if the huge blister doesn't arrive by then. I just think this little guy is a fighter. He's been around for over twenty years and he's not leaving without a fight!