Now add in some music...maestro, something with a little octane...

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What You're Really Here For...

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Ethiopia Conference Call!

I'm on my first conference call for families waiting for a referral from Ethiopia with our agency. It just makes it all seem more REAL! Exciting, exciting!

Prayers for Sick Babies!

Several of the Ethiopia babies who came home with families from our agency within the last week or so are very sick. Please pray for them to be healed, for the families, and the medical staff that's working with them. I remember how scared I was when Zeke went through his bad illnesses last winter. Just pray for their quick healing.

Moon River and Me

I got to meet Andy Williams yesterday. I went backstage at his theater and waited for him in his dressing room/apartment. He actually lives in this swanky little space right off stage. His apartment is tastefully decorated with wall art and sculptures. He and his wife have a really nice home on a nearby lake but he has the option to stay at the theater when necessary. Anyway, he was super nice and very charming. An NPR reporter interviewed Andy about his new memoir "Moon River and Me." He told some really great stories during the interview. He would give me a sly smile when he told some of the amusing tales as I sat there recording him. I'll post a link when the story airs and is posted online.

Why You Can't Adopt from Vietnam Right Now

    HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A Vietnamese court official says six people have been sentenced to up to 4 1/2 years in prison for
arranging more than 300 fraudulent adoptions.

    Among those sentenced were the heads of two welfare centers who helped persuade unwed pregnant mothers to give up their babies in exchange for free food and shelter.

    Chief judge Dang Viet Hung of Nam Dinh provincial court says the six were convicted of "abuse of power and authority." Ten others were given suspended sentences in the scam, which involved filing false paperwork for 323 babies.

    Many of the babies are believed to have been adopted by parents in the United States and Italy.
   
    (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

All About Hair

One of the fun parts of being Quilla's mom will be doing her hair. What mom doesn't look forward to playing with her daughter's hair?!?! Well, it is a little intimidating considering I can't even seem to get my own hair to look decent half the time...and that's why I'm glad I found this website where an adoptive mom demonstrates hair techniques on her daughter. Check it out by clicking here. It's great!

Zeke is such a squirrel. He woke up at 11PM last night, crying, didn't want his "didi" (pacifier) and just wanted me to pick him up. So, I did and I turned on the lamp to see what was wrong. I asked him what he wanted and, looking as pitiful as possible, he pointed to the hallway. I set his feet on the ground and asked him to show mommy what he wanted. He led me down the hallway to the guest bedroom and stood by the bed. Yep, he wanted mommy and Zeke to lie down in the big bed. So, I did for a little while. Once he was asleep, I moved him back to the crib and he slept the rest of the night. We will have to figure out a way to wean him off this because he needs to go back to sleeping all night in his crib, which he did most of the summer without any problems.

Pumpkins!

We went to the Rutledge-Wilson Harvest Days Saturday with Zeke. We have some fabulous photos of him in the pumpkin patch and sitting on a big old tractor (his favorite part of the day!)...but as usual, we are slow uploading them. I'll try to get them posted today or tomorrow. We also took Zeke to his first college football game. He almost lasted an entire quarter. I don't blame him for being fidgety...he was sleepy and feel asleep once we got him in the car. That allowed me and Brad to have a quiet, late lunch at a favorite restaurant while Zeke snoozed in his stroller. All in all, it was a great weekend.

It feels like fall here and I'm loving it!

I'm working on an NPR story this week...Will let you know when it's going to air...Maybe Friday or early next week.

T Shirts

So, for Mother's Day this year, we got the grandmothers these hip t-shirts. Missy's mom (Lolo) got a cool beach-y tee from Old Navy and Brad's mom (TT) got this cool Paul Frank shirt:

I really wanted to get one of these tees for myself but when I ordered TT's, it was the last one in the size I needed. So imagine my pleasant surprise when some internet roaming led me to discover this very tee, in my size on sale!! Woot! So, it's on its way to me now. Sweet! It's the little things, ya know?

Anyone else watching Survivor? On the first episode, we laughed so hard at the woman who goes by the name "Shambo." Does it get any better than that?!?! And how about that evil Russell? Burning the socks of another player and dumping their clean water...what a mean guy!

Happy for Two Families!

Two families with our agency got THE call yesterday. One family was matched to a baby girl and the other family was matched to a young girl. I'm so happy for them! The first moment you see that beautiful face looking back at you through the glow of the computer screen is amazing...the only thing that tops it is the first time you see your child in person and hold your child for the first time!

Know someone who needs help with cover letters, resumes or papers for class?

I'm offering my services as an editor. If you know someone who might want me to review a paper or essay, have them email me at this address: youreasyedit@gmail.com Since we can do everything electronically, I can help any student, anywhere. I have very reasonable rates ($1/page for class papers and essays), accept Paypal, and since I do this for a living, you're guaranteed to get meaningful feedback. For a fee of $5 per document, I'm willing to review cover letters and resumes. (It's a higher price because it's more specialized writing.) My cover letters have quite a reputation...my boss STILL talks about how good my cover letter was after more than a decade!

Here are my qualifications: I've worked more than 10 years writing and editing in professional newsrooms. I taught journalism/writing courses for a state university for more than 5 years. I've reviewed resumes and cover letters for students and professionals for more than 10 years.

Just some thoughts on when-Quilla

While I hope that we get our referral by next July or earlier, it's possible it could be more like August. That would mean we'd likely get caught in the court closure. Courts in Ethiopia close for August and September. That would add some time to our wait to bring her home. So, when anyone asks when we expect to have her home, here's the way to say it...Quilla should be home in time for Christmas next year. I think that allows time for a little bit later referral and also for the possibility of not getting a court date until October. All that being said, I know the timing, whatever it is, will be perfect!

Like a Hungry Person Coming to a Feast

That's how I slept last night. Thank goodness! Zeke slept through the night. He was stirring a little this morning when I was getting ready for work but he was quiet when I left the house.

We booked the pavilion at a local park yesterday afternoon for Zeke's birthday party. It was well timed because apparently, another family had expressed interest in reserving it for the same day and time. But since I was there in person, ready to pay for the reservation, I got it! I felt kind of bad but I had no idea anyone else wanted that same day and time. I already have the invitations for Zeke's party...Halloween-themed of course. I think we will once again encourage guests to wear costumes or Halloween-y clothes. FUN!

The package I sent Zeke's birthmom is in Vietnam and has cleared customs. I'm hopeful it will get delivered to her soon!

Sleep Troubles

It seems Zeke will have several weeks of good sleep, where he won't wake up in the middle of the night and require parental attention. I think these are times of bliss for him as well as us. He seems well rested and is happy during the day. I expect he'll be grumpy today...like his mom who was on duty last night. Zeke woke up multiple times with prolonged crying fits. I think that antibiotic he's on for his sinus infection is causing him to have an upset tummy. Poor baby! We only have 3-4 more days left of medicine so I hope this gets better soon. We're feeding him a meal plus yogurt with the medicine, per our pediatrician's suggestion to help with the upset stomach. Any other ideas?

Happy Forever Family Day!

Scenes from One Year Ago...Outside the orphanage in Lang Son...

Meeting Zeke

Nanny holds Zeke at the Giving and Receiving Ceremony
Zeke's getting tired.
Our first family photo!!
Zeke giving Mom a once-over.
Two women who love this baby very much! Nanny and Mom
Getting ready to leave Lang Son...We had a Baby Einstein Touch and Feel Animals Book.
Mom can't help staring at the baby!
Baby starts to conk out...

Halloweeny Pajamas

Just in time for the UT-Florida game, Zeke's Big Orange Pajamas.







We think he looks like Tim Burton's Oompa Loompa..

One month down...10 to go!

The first month of our official wait for Quilla is behind us. If the current wait times hold, we should see her sweet face 10 months from now. That's so amazing to imagine! Please pray that God will continue to prepare our hearts for her and will be with her birth family in the months ahead. Based on the age we are requesting, I'd say she hasn't even been born yet.

Tomorrow is our Forever Family Day!

One year ago tomorrow, we adopted Zeke. It was also the first time we got to see him in person, the first time we held him, the first time we saw him smile...so many firsts were bundled up in that one day. I love thinking about how Zeke nestled onto my chest and fell asleep in the van on our way back to Hanoi. It was so comforting to know he felt comfortable enough to do that. It also gave me a feeling of immense peace after what was probably the most emotional experience of my life (meeting my child for the first time and meeting his birth mother). When we first met him at the orphanage, he came right to me. He definitely gave us a look like he was "inspecting" us. The only time he cried at that first meeting was when I tried to set him on the floor to see if he would crawl--the nanny told us he loved to crawl. I love to remember how Zeke acted the first night in our hotel room. We put him on the big, white, fluffy comforter on our bed. He put his face against it and just rubbed his hand over the soft surface. It was like he had never felt anything like it before. That thought made me sad because babies should just be enveloped in softness. Since then, we have done our best to overcome those first 11 months he spent in the orphanage (though it was clear his nanny loved him very much and had spent time working with him on his development). After a year, I think we can safely say that Zeke is absolutely thriving on all levels. He's moved up several percentiles with his weight. He's putting words together more and more and he's getting more articulate when he talks. He's very nimble on his feet, running and climbing and monkeying around as much as (maybe more than) any child his age.

We will be celebrating tomorrow by taking Zeke to the zoo. Zeke loves animals and we hope he enjoys our little excursion. He certainly enjoyed the zoo we visited in Pennsylvania with TT! So, it will be a fun, low key day...but our hearts will be full as we reflect on all those events that happened a year ago on our Forever Family Day.

Thanks!

Thanks for the prayers and good thoughts...they're definitely working! I had a great rehearsal for my TV show and I feel like everything will go well tonight. And at the end of this long day, I get to go home to my Brad and my Zeke. That makes me happy and thankful.

A Rough Day

This is Missy here. I'm having a really rough day...and it's not even 3PM! I spent most of the morning with Zeke...he was wonderful and that has been the highlight of my day. But I've had two really cruddy things happen that just...well, you know what it's like to have two things really rain (and I mean pour buckets of rain) on your parade. Anyway, I have an important work thing I have to do tonight...say a prayer that I'll be able to just shrug off this junk and not carry it with me anymore. Bad vibes be gone!