Artwork, Computer Skills and Ginger

Eliza's first school picture!! Not smiling, but I'm impressed that she was actually looking at the camera.

Eliza's teachers have been very pleased w/ her progress. Though they are still doing some hand-over-hand work w/ Eliza, for the most part her daily report is that she is working more and more independently at coloring inside the lines, cutting on the lines, glueing and her new favorite: stapling! Last week they made a turkey and a cornucopia (sp?).

P.S. Doesn't our granite look so pretty? And the backsplash that Derek did all by himself while we were in Kansas...

As you saw in my last post, Eliza loves getting on the computer these days and doing the Barney Dance Along Jukebox at pbs.org. She has such focus. I caught a great shot of Eliza and Allie side-by-side on the couch last night focused on their laptops (okay, dad's and mom's laptops). Allie was playing a "light the Christmas tree" puzzle game. It's pretty fun and hard to do. I'll have to look for the link and post it. It's a great on-line puzzle.




Lastly, here's the newest little stray that wandered (or was dropped off) to our farm. Like we need more wandering cats out here. She won't let us touch her, but she appreciates that we are feeding her. She's probably 10 weeks old. So tiny (that's a small pumpkin that she's next to) and really pretty (a tortoiseshell, no white). When I first saw her, I thought she was a raccoon. She has taken over our front porch and spends the days and nights sleeping in the rocking chair that used to be our cat, Rosie's, spot. Rosie is very miffed, as you can imagine. This little kitten tho, named her Ginger, took right over. For a kitten shy of people, it's funny how she has stayed right by the front door. As I always tell the kids, don't get attached. We have many strays (cats, dogs) that call us home for a short time and then wander on. It's sad because some have been so friendly and have stayed for months and months, then suddenly disappear and we never know what happened to them. So, for now, this is "Ginger".

Catching up on photos...

Sorry that I wrote so much in my previous blog and then didn't even post any pictures! How dare I? Well, been sick here, sorry! Here's a few from the last 3 weeks...

The 3 Witches (Eliza, Allie w/ friend Stacy): "TAKE #1"

The 3 Witches: "TAKE #99"...finally one where the hats or wigs stayed on and everyone looked!

Hogan, couldn't quite muster keeping a witch hat on him afterall!

Exhausted, sorting the loot!

Eliza on a sugar high, looking on at the sorting of candy!

On the computer, her new favorite activity!

Barney dances to songs at pbs.org!

I've always wanted to adopt...

First of all, my new header captures Eliza almost perfectly. She's always got one shoe off. She's really into watching you tie her shoes these days and tries to do it herself. So, she knows if she takes a shoe off, you'll put it back on and she can watch you tie it. She's such a smarty pants!

So, we're moving along on our paperwork. Almost ready for our agency to submit our LOI to the CCAA for a little girl. I'm so excited. Hoping that we are her family. If you don't already know, the new rules do not allow an agency to lock-in a child off the shared list for a family until CCAA approval. Meaning that other families could be applying for the same child. Still have a lot of dossier to get to, but this is going on simultaneously.

Onto today's post "title": I've always wanted to adopt... As you all know, each adoption journey is filled with paperchasing tails. I had a good one happen this morning. I went to our family dr to pick up our physicals that he was supposed to sign/notarize. Well, he signed them w/out notarizing. (The same exact thing happened for Eliza's adoption.) Big sigh, from me, in their office. They know me quite well and I feel like I've been there every day for weeks now w/ all our illnesses. Anyway, I figured I'd take the paperwork over to the Town Hall (like I did for Eliza) and get "lucky" again finding a notary that knows our dr (it's a very small town) and who would notarize it (like I did for Eliza). Get the picture here... Of course, I didn't get as "lucky" this time. She was a new notary and not comfortable notarizing his signature. Another big sigh, from me, in their office. Last resort, play the adoption card: "My agency is holding a child's file for us and is waiting for this paperwork so they can apply to China. It has to be there today." Well, the woman starts asking around to the other clerks if they know or have a document w/ our dr's signature on it that she could look at. They start pulling permits, etc. Uh oh! I quickly decide this might take a while and maybe I could ask her to drive over to the dr's with me (1/2 mile away). She looks out the window at the glorious fall day and to my surprise, says "Sure!". So, we did and she notarized it there in my dr's office. The best part of it, was when one of the young nurses overheard us and asked, "Are you adopting?" I told her this was our second adoption from China. To that she said, "You're so lucky! I've always wanted to adopt." I smiled and I said, "It takes someone who always wanted to adopt to recognize that I'm the lucky one. Usually, people say that the child is lucky. Listen to your heart and I hope that one day, you will be lucky too." She was in her early 20's. Made me think back to myself at that age. I always knew I wanted to adopt too. It took me nearly 20 years to get there. I hope she acts on it. Something tells me that she will and that made me smile for a child waiting.

All things pre-Halloween!

What seems to be becoming tradition, we're all sick; upper respiratory crud, sinus infections, inner ear infections. Been battling this in our house for 3 weeks now. It just keeps going around. Not to get in the way of Halloween preparations though. Snapped a few fun pictures of pre-Halloween preparations.

As for our plans for tonight, we always walk our old neighborhood. Allie and her friend Stacey (both 7th graders) are happily going to be ringing doorbells w/ Eliza tonight. All three will be dressed as witches and Hogan will join them w/ a witch hat. Should be fun, cute and exhausting! The good news about living on the farm is that a parent doesn't get left behind to answer the door 'cause no one wants to walk down our dark, scary 1/2 mile driveway. So, we all get to participate in T or T'ing. The bad news is, no one comes to our door for T or T. I always loved that. Okay, well enjoy. More pictures after T or T!

Warning: This is a Non-Eliza Post

So, we decided to bring in a "boarder" to keep Georgie Girl company. (Georgie Girl is in the blue blanket pictured above.) Her new companion's name is "Scotch". "He's" quite a handful and not very personable towards people. Georgie likes him okay, but he's much younger and keeps her on the move. Most days, she ends limping as she tries to keep up. It's pitiful; see the arthritis in her knees. You can see the pain and annoyance in her eyes. She's a grandma and was used to having old Clark to quietly graze with. This young fella gets "silly" over the brisk air or the blue herron that swoops down to our pond; pretty much finds any reason to start galloping through the pasture. Horses being horses, she HAS to keep up with him. So, limping away, the herd must stay together.

This picture is of Scotch checking in w/ Georgie after I put her blanket on. He was freaked out by the blanket. She, of course, is reassuring him. She's so sweet and always so good about standing still for blanketing. I'm hoping he'll learn trust from her. In his defense, he didn't have a very good start in life...read on.

He didn't have a nice big pasture to play in so he loves making his new owner chase him all over the place before he'll let her catch him; yesterday it took her 30 minutes. He didn't have a herd to hang out with and learn social skills so "space" is an issue for him (both you encroaching his and him encroaching yours or Georgie's). Once he was broke to saddle, his job was to be the designated driver for a drunk man. No kidding! He would hang out waiting to be saddled, ride to a bar, get tied up outside the bar and be on-call to drive the drunk man back to his house. Now, I have no clue where this all took place because it sounds like something out of the 1800's to me. While we do live on a farm, we're quite a suburban area and within the urban sprawl . But that's the story I was told though. It's colorful; it allows me to approach his issues with comedy rather than annoyance. His (new, non drinking) owners are nice; it's their daughter's horse and she's 16. I've enjoyed having horse-folks out here again and watching someone ride. According to his new owner, for the first few months, every time she'd swing her leg over the saddle, he'd buck her off. Can't you just picture him doing this to a drunk guy and how funny that would be to watch. Though the rest of the image isn't very good, he'd get clobbered by the drunk and is now very head shy. Amanda, the new owner, has worked so hard w/ him to gain trust and let her ride him. They do beautifully together now.

That said, the cold weather has finally moved in. We've had frost two nights in a row and it's been windy, windy, windy. Since Eliza's been in school, I haven't had the opportunity to take as many photos of her as I used to. So, I decided to snap some of what's been happening around the farm.

This is the huge, 2-story elementary school being built right behind us. The next picture is what our view used to be. What the picture doesn't show is how close the school is.

I hate our new view; I hate that we can't ride horses, the 4-wheeler, dirt bikes, etc. out there anymore. I hate that I can't take the dogs out for a run in the fields anymore. I hate the all our deer and other wildlife have been run off. I hate that there's construction crews out there and we've lost our privacy. I could go on and on. The funny thing is, right after I took this picture, about 20 guys showed up on top of that burm and started picking up all the trash that's been blowing over into my pasture. I think they thought I was taking pictures as evidence. Hmmm, not a bad idea.

Of course, here's Sadie and Hogan (on the right). Look how big Hogan has gotten. He's the most handsome golden retriever (male) ever. He's absolutely in love with me and won't let me out of his sight.

Other than that, the dossier is coming along. We've had some good progress; our first homestudy update meeting complete, physicals, Hague-required child abuse clearances ordered from all states we've lived in since 18, and completing some other documents so that we can submit our intent and request PA for a little girl.

Well, Scotch is on the move again, so Georgie's heading after him. Look how annoyed she looks in the picture below. Can you see the arthritis in her knees. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Well, that's my non-Eliza update! Enjoy.

My daughter

OCTOBER 11...the day that Eliza's adoption was finalized in China. Two years ago. I am so in love with my daughter, all of her. I love her facial expressions. I love how close we are. I love the way that she kept staring into my eyes while grocery shopping yesteday and all the while with a pure, happy smile on her face. It is such an enormous and yet love-filled notion to think that a child looks to you for everything. That you are their one person; their safe place; that they can be themselves with. Eliza reminds me every day of how gentle and true her heart is.

Something I didn't share about our Yangdong reuinion trip (to Kansas) was a moment that happened at the pool. Eliza comes alive at the pool and that day, she was practicing her jumping and diving to me. Jaiden, Julie's daughter, was enjoying it and wanted to be a part of it and the two girls had lots of fun taking turns. After some time, Jaiden finally fell asleep on one of the lounge chairs. So, we started packing our things up and suddenly, Julie and I both looked over and witnessed Eliza down on her knees beside the lounge chair and sleeping-Jaiden. She took Jaiden's thumb out of her mouth and proceeded to hold her hand. Quietly, she turned her head away from Jaiden, still holding hands and stared out into the view of a pond and grass area. For me, it was akin to a sister moment or to the times I'd visit Dad in the nursing home and just hold his hand and sit quietly together. My daughter. Serene. Strong. Kind. And most importantly, knowing. In that moment, I believe she knew who Jaiden was and remembered the time that they lived together in that room in Yangdong. It was beautiful and no, we didn't have our cameras with us.

That memory of Eliza and Jaiden affects me as much as the memories of visiting Yangdong two years ago and leaving behind the beautiful children who were still waiting for families; the uncertainty of their lives and the fading promise of a family as they aged in the orphanage. It tugs at me. I was reminded of that today when I was looking at Kelly's blog and she posted some pictures I had taken that day in Yangdong of her daughter. Now I know why my heart has been led to the older children on the waiting lists...and one in particular that we're paperchasing for (can't tell you anything more yet). It's a tribute to my beautiful Eliza's heart that on this anniversary month, we're working to bring home a sister from China.

Spontaneous Moments!

My beautiful little girl! Oh my, this face still melts my heart...

So, it's October. This month celebrates two years since Gotcha Day. I thought it would be fun to look back and post a few pictures over this month...some old favorites and some new. So, be on the watch!

One thing for sure, lately, Eliza has been doing some of the most spontaneous, beautiful things that clearly remind me to "enjoy the moment" and "take a look at what's around". In this picture below, we had just come home from the grocery store. Barney, of course, goes everywhere w/ us these days. Eliza loves getting a balloon at the grocery store so on this trip, the balloon was tied to Barney. Well, when we got home, she "jumped" out of the car (her favorite thing to do these days is to jump from high places). She ran over to the front yard and layed down w/ the biggest smile on her face. She watched the balloon wave in the gentle breeze. Sheer joy. Be still my heart! I had to get the camera...forget the groceries melting in the car!

Now seriously, stop and look at the above picture....Go ahead, look at it again. Do you remember being a kid and flopping down in the grass to gaze up at the clouds. I sure do. I remember laying there w/ my cat and dog and watching the clouds go by and the birds fly. I remember looking up into the trees and wishing I could climb to the very top. Do you remember feeling completely in that moment; completely happy and worry free? Ahhh, feels good doesn't it. Look at her straight legs, toes pointed, each hand holding Barney's, clutching Barney into her chest, as if to say, "I love you Barney, I love this place, I love everything and everyone"...you can't see her smile in this little picture, but I tell you, this picture, that moment, captures a peace-filled heart.

I've been meaning to post a picture of Eliza in her new (spare, back up) pair of glasses. These are dark, purple wire frames and flexible. I actually like these better. I think they fit her nicely. Pictures don't do them justice. They are very cute and very chic. I'm going to have to get some new glasses to keep up w/ her. Look past the toothpaste dribble on her shirt...every day now...ugh...the joys of her brushing her own teeth.

My tv junky!

Okay, so my daughter walks in the door after school, drops her backpack, turns on the tv and jumps on the couch. No kidding! Here's some random shots of Eliza watching Barney or Berenstain Bears... And no, I didn't cue her to "smile for the camera". These smiles are for "Barney" and/or "Brother and Sister Bear"... Does it matter who the smiles are for? To me, they're priceless!




The next one is my favorite, at least on the big screen, because you can see her pudgy belly and she just looks so layed back...

Silly for Fall...

Eliza still loves going to school. She came down w/ a cold around day 6, which slowed her down and made her a little out of sorts, but she gladly passed it onto mommy and was feeling much better by the end of the weekend! As for me, not so great.

We were teased w/ some gorgeous cooler weather over the weekend and of course, today is the first day of Fall. Hooray for that!

You know those first few days when you're trying to fight getting a cold and your body just feels run-down? Well, that was me yesterday. I gladly snuggled on the couch. Eliza feeling better, still wanted to snuggle in w/ me...sort of. She was being very silly. Clearly, she didn't understand that I was not feeling well. She was trying to tickle me, stick her finger up my nose, write in my Sudoku book, jump on my stomach. I guess it's not often that I'm sitting still long enough for her to enjoy tormenting me?! So, here's some rare photos taken of Eliza and I, dressed in our pumpkin colors as we celebrated the start of Fall. I looked better than I felt and you can thank Eliza for that!

E didn't like the substitute!

(School lunch note #3 was a little note simply explaining to Eliza that today was Friday, the end of the school week, etc. and thanking her for being a big girl.)

Some Eliza "funnies" shared by her teacher's today:

Apparently Eliza did NOT like the substitute teacher that they had in the a.m. She was described to me as a very tall, very large and very loud woman. Hmmm (that was me, to them while they're telling me about this). Typically in the AU (autism) classes, the teachers are quiet and do a lot of kneeling down at the children's levels, etc. Well, not this sub, she was frightening both Eliza and the other newby. They said that Eliza's eyes were huge and she was climbing up the teacher's aides (both of them) like a monkey. Hmmm again. They said they almost called me to come and I'm glad that they didn't. One of the TA's took Eliza to the library where they picked out a Barney book and had some quiet time, then they took a walk and visited some of the K and 1st Grade classrooms. Awww! They said that they'll recommend not to use that sub for AU again. (Sorry substitute...)

Another thing they shared was how smart Eliza is and how quickly she's catching on. They use the PEC (picture exchange communication) system. That means that her calendar has velcroed PEC card (pictures) of each task that she will work on that day (that inclues a picture of a potty and lunch, etc.) Through out the day, each child is to take the next card off their own calendar and carry it, with them, to the appropriate "center" within the room. They said that Eliza already has figured out where each center is and how the system should work. In the afternoon, she had 2 tasks left on her calendar and at the very bottom is a card w/ a picture of a backpack (obviously meaning, time to go home). So, Eliza went to the calendar and took the next card, scanned her eyes to the bottom and grabbed the card w/ the backpack on it and handed it to the teacher. They laughed really hard and told her not yet. She put it back on, started to walk away, but went back and grabbed it again. So, they laughed and said not yet again. She wiggled her shoulders and upper body (her shy way of laughing) and did as she was told. They thought that was neat. I could picture everything. She does that when I say no to something she wants; she's persistent as if saying to me, "are you sure?". Pretty awesome!!

One of these days, I'm going to get a photo of her at pick up time. She's always dragging and so tired (she refuses to nap at school so far). Here's a picture I took at drop off in the morning though.

E loves school!

School day #2 Lunch Note:

Today's lunch note,
Celebrates day two;
And like we talked about,
Smiles all the day thru.
So no tears today,
I'm always thinking of you;
And when the school day is over,
I'll be in the lobby again too!


Today, I didn't walk Eliza to her room. She was dropped off in the carpool line in front of the school. Her teacher opened the car door, said good morning, helped Eliza out and hand-in-hand they walked into the building. No tears, no looking back. My heart was both happy and melancholy today. With a hankering for Starbuck's though, I pulled away from the school and went to the grocery store and shopped enjoying a cup of coffee and the freedom to linger in the aisles a little bit. Ahhhh... As usual, I spotted two other Chinese girls w/ their moms (we have lots of China adoptions in our area) and I smiled and pouted for a minute, missing my daughter...

Eliza loves school and was happy to grab her backpack, wear it and go to school this morning. She was happy at pick up in the afternoon too. She continued to be full of herself, babbling and laughing into the early evening. Then, she crashed at 7:30 p.m. exhausted! She enjoys science (they are learning about tornadoes right now and how they swirl) and she loves story-time. As far as self-help skills, she is learning to wash her own face this week, in front of a mirror. All is great and I am so proud of her! She's amazing!!

First day of school!

Today's Lunch Note:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Your first lunch note,
From me to you.

Your first day of school,
I'm so proud of you,
Always remember,
Mommy loves you!

Eliza chose this morning of all mornings to sleep in. Can you believe I had to wake her at 8:00 a.m.? We've been talking about school for days and days. So, once awake, she was very excited this morning...full of herself, actually.

Once at school, she walked into the classroom and joined the circle. The other little ones all said "Hi". Then she turned around and gave me a hug and a little wimper, saying "e" (which means, Barney; I didn't let her bring him into class). I knelt down with her and participated in the activity until she turned back around to her classmates. She was immediately into what they were doing. Then, I snuck out the door and NO, I DIDN'T CRY. I actually smiled and felt very good about this new day for her. My mother laughed and told me that I was probably the only mom who didn't tear up. We laughed about that.

I thought about her all day and confess that I wanted to call the school to check on her. I actually did tear up though when I went back to pick her up and waited for the class in the lobby. (They release the pre-k first so they don't get swept up in the elementary school frenzy: those that have been in the carpool line know what I'm talking about!) Anyway, around the corner came Eliza's class with guess who, front and center, holding the teacher's hand. Yes! She was walking hand-in-hand, smiling and babbling really loud. What a site! Let's hope tomorrow brings the same excitement. Her teacher said she loved "science and the puppets", one of which the teacher made sure was Barney, the best! She only cried a little in the a.m. during the first hour.

As for me, I had a great day!

Update tonight and some other tidbits: Eliza has been chatting very LOUD tonight. Funny. She smiles when I talk about school. Note in the pictures that Eliza is always holding Barney's hand? Barney is the only "doll/animal" that she holds by the hands. Yesterday, she was watching Barney and started frantically looking around the family room. Next thing you know, she beat-feet upstairs and came down w/ Barney. Awww!!! Yes, she's turning into a tv junky. She turns on the tv all the time now.

While I was making dinner, I caught this. She never plays w/ these little people this way. She actually made them stand up and face each other. You can't see it here, but the little girl has a backpack on. Hmmm....I think she was making an important connection and maybe learned a little "social play" today... Could that be, already? I had tears in my eyes watching this.