Another Ornament

I think this makes five now for Madelyn (or maybe more). I'm addicted. I have to stop now but when I saw this one, I couldn't help but buy it. It's a beautiful glass ornament and I just love it.

Early Christmas Present

Tony is afraid I'll be put to bedrest with this pregnancy soon so tonight he gave me an early Christmas present....trip to a Maternity Spa. I didn't even know these existed. They are just for expecting moms. Wonder if this includes expecting moms that are adopting? I'll have to ask about that one when I go. I am going to try to get an appointment soon. I've only had one other trip to a spa and it was a gift from Tony also for my first Mother's Day present. This time I will get a facial and a massage and I don't know what else. I've never had a massage like this before and am a bit nervous about it b/c I'm a bit modest. I know it will feel wonderful so hopefully I want be too freaked out about someone else touching me I don't know.

Ornaments

Today while at Wal-Mart I stumbled by the stand with the children's ornaments that already have names printed on them. I looked for the names of all my kids (future included) and could only find the name Andrew. So, I decided to go by the jewelry department and make some with names. These ornaments are cheap but cute....$0.97. The person engraving didn't do that great of a job but I think the kids will appreciate it though one day. I have a few from my childhood that I received as gifts that I still hang on my tree. I bought the train of course for Logan. The two wagons are for the twins. I couldn't decide on which one for Madelyn but when I saw the mailbox I thought that would be perfect since right now we're waiting on our referral. I don't think it comes by US Mail but it's still the idea that we're waiting on a package from China telling us who our child is and where she is and when we can go get her.

This also got me to thinking today about when to start Madelyn's "First Christmas" ornament. I started the "My First Christmas" train from Hallmark four years ago and today bought his fourth train piece ornament. I'd like to do the same for Madelyn but I don't know if this year is considered her "First" even though she is not here or is it next year her "First" when she spends her "First" with us. Any suggestions?

More Depressing News

I got a call today that I might have gestational diabetes. I feel so down right now about it. Last week I had blood drawn to check other things b/c of the pain I continue to have on one side. After I left, the doctor added on a glucose test. I'm assuming he did this b/c the babies measure big. Normally this is not done until around 26 weeks. I was 20 last week. My glucose came back high. I have to be retested next week. They are waiting b/c I take a medication for insulin resistance and need to wean off of it before retesting. If I have GD, then I may have to go on insulin injections. Can any more stress be added on to this pregnancy? I have been told that this is more common in twin pregnancies. No Christmas goodies for me this year.

The Not So Fun Part of Parenting

Today I had to take Logan to see a new doctor. Turns out he's been holding his poop for too long now that he may have caused some damage to himself. I want go into details but it will get better. On the downside, it's going to be a messy situation until then. I have to give him medicine that is going to make all of his movements runny for TWO WEEKS. The doctor told me to go back to putting diapers/pull-ups on him. For those that know me, you know I have a weak stomach and it doesn't help that I can't handle many smells since becoming pregnant. I hope I can survive these next few weeks cleaning up this mess.

On the bright side, I did like this new doctor. She does have experience with Asian adoptees. She didn't go into much detail but did ask me if I knew they all need their shots again and I already knew that. I think I did shock her when she asked what I was having (my pregnancy is very obvious now) and I replied with the answer "Three".

Top 10 List Why the Additional Months of Waiting are a Good Thing

There was a post on the August DTC list of a top 10 list she and her husband created over the Holiday weekend. I thought it was cute and had to come up with my own except mine is a little more serious b/c some of hers really only applied to first time parents. We don't have the extra time to go out on dates/movies or the extra money to travel.

10. More time to shop for a little girl. I want her to only have the best of everything. I've got more stuff for her nursery now than I think I ever did for Logan's. (well, maybe not yet but I'm getting there.)

9. More time to get our house ready once we move to make it more childproof. Madelyn may be walking when she comes to live with us and we'll need to childproof the cabinets, stairs and other places in our new home before she arrives.

8. More time to get used to going from one kid to three before going to four. We'll have more time with just the newest Hooker's arriving and getting Logan used to being a big brother before he becomes a brother again for the 3rd time in one year.

7. Plenty of time for well meaning friends and relatives to ask "So what's new with the adoption?" again...and again...and again... (I had to steal this one from the list I saw on August DTC group. This is almost an everyday question we get asked.)

6. More time to hear more rumors going on in the chat rooms and yahoo groups. (I stole this one too)

5. Possibly more time to continue the secret pal swaps.

4. More time to lose baby weight gained in case I do decide to travel with Tony to China.

3. More time to get our new house in order before calling a social worker over to evaluate our new living arrangement. We have to take an updated homestudy with us to China since we have moved to another home. It will also mention changing of jobs (income mainly) and also will mention the twins if they are born by then).

2. (I'm going to leave this one blank in case Tony wants to fill in one here.) - Edit By Tony: Perhaps we will actually be able to sleep through the night a couple times before we go through the half day jetlag included with the trip to China.

1. More time for the idea of being parents to four kids to sink in. Not many people go from one to four kids in one year.

Too Cute Not to Share

 

Gender Request

This morning I sent an email to HFS asking if there was a way to change our request from "either gender" to "girl only." We originally didn't want to request a specific gender but now that we're faced with having three boys, this may be our only chance at raising a daughter. There's a very high chance we would received a girl anyway, but I wanted to make sure of this if possible.

I received a reply back very fast this morning that we can write a letter to CCAA requesting a girl. After we write it, we'll need to submit it to HFS and they will also send in another letter with ours to CCAA. We're planning on working on this letter this weekend. I'll post a copy on the blog when we finish.

Black Friday

I was up like every morning before 6am but I chose not to hit the early bird specials on Black Friday this year. If I wasn't pregnant and so tired all the time, I might would have done it. It's not so much for the best sales, but to see idiots that run through stores grabbing items and fighting over what's left. I've stood in lines outside before and watched people try to slide through other people to try to get closer and closer to the door and get in before the others once it is opened. It's just not worth it this year. I'd rather pay the higher price. Tony even discovered that he could order an item from Best Buy online on Turkey Day and get the Black Friday special. It's worth the $7 shipping to avoid the crowds at Best Buy. I think he still saved about $60.

We are going to head out later and look at some furniture outlets and get some ideas for our new house. I don't expect there to be shoving and fighting over the best prices at these places like we would find people doing at stores like Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. We need to take advantage of not having Logan since he stayed over at grandma's and do some sort of shopping somewhere.

September DTC Secret Pal Gift for November

Thanks Secret Pal! Again I have received another great gift this time from my September DTC Secret Pal. We were sent a Thanksgiving Card and a great Baby scrapbook with supplies to use. I haven't scrapped in a while but I do love to do it. I put all my supplies in storage b/c I knew space was limited in the apartment and wasn't sure if I would get around to it with trying to learn how to quilt (which I have slowed down with), dealing with the pregnancy and being tired all the time, the Holiday's coming during our stay at the apartment, etc. I will get back into it though once we move into our house. Logan received a hotwheels car and some stickers with his name on it. He loved them so much that he had to take them into the mall with us today. They didn't make the picture since he's already taken possession of them. Thanks again, Secret Pal. 

More News from HFS

From HFS

I have some small clarification about the changes that we might expect to see from CCAAin the near future.

First of all, please be aware that the expected slowdown will not happen overnight. It willbe something that is done gradually. There will probably be a limiting of the LID groupsgetting referrals (if, for instance, CCAA is now referring 5 weeks of LIDs per referral group,perhaps for the next two months, CCAA will refer children for 4 weeks worth of LIDs, andafter a couple of months, it may go down to 3 weeks, etc.).

Right now, CCAA is thinking that the maximum time from LID to referral will be around 12months. Your I-171s are good for 18 months. If you get your dossier submitted as soonas possible after receiving you I-171, it should still be good when you receive yourreferral. Your fingerprints (only good for 15 months) might need to be retaken however.Both your I-171 and your fingerprints MUST be current at the time of your consulateappointment. So, if you receive your referral in June and your fingerprints or I-171 expirein July, you will probably need to apply again as that is cutting it too close to account forthe consulate appointment.

I have heard nothing about China imposing a weight limit on families. (If this is implemented, Tony and I are out. We don't qualify for Korea b/c of our BMI. You gotta be skinny to get a child from them). I know that Koreahas this stipulation, but doubt that China will do this.

From recent news I have heard, age limits will be stricter (perhaps requiring both parentsto be under 55, perhaps continuing the current policy of only one must be under 55 butmaking stricter assignments of children based on the parents' ages. We will know for sureonce CCAA makes this decision.

I also expect that singles will be effected, with no single men being allowed to adopt anymore, and perhaps stricter guidelines for single women. We will know for sure onceCCAA makes this decision.

CCAA may also screen families more carefully, looking for health or criminal activity

The good news is that CCAA will continue to allow the adoption of their beautiful andamazing children by American families wanting to parent them. And what better newscould there be?

I hope they wait to implement any more changes besides the weight until after we've brought home our child.

Brown Envelope Arrived Today

It's here! It was origanally sent to our old house but it made it here. 

Bad News about Slow Down of Referral's

This just in from Jackie Harrah with HFS....

Our Beijing representative has spoken with several of the directors at CCAA about theslowdown rumors. He confirms that CCAA will be slowing down the LID to Referraltimeframe in the near future. There are several reasons for this including the new, greaterresponsibilities given to CCAA, the internal restructuring of CCAA, the preference of socialwelfare institutes for finding domestic families to adopt children (it is easier for theorphanage to complete a domestic adoption since it involves only the local Civil Affairsoffice and not Beijing or a foreign country) thereby reducing the number of children whocan be adopted internationally, the greater number of dossiers being submitted to CCAAby US families and other foreign countries, the reluctance of the Chinese government toincrease the total number of adoptions yearly, and other factors.It can be expected that CCAA will continue to refer half-months' worth of dossiers untilthe time is expanded to ten to twelve months from Login to Referral. This lengthening ofthe overall process will be done gradually and will apply to all non-Waiting Child families.As far as anyone knows currently, there will be no similar slowdown for Waiting Children.

Another poster mentioned that June LID's may not get referrals until April 2006 so that could put us into getting our referral mid to late summer now. As time gets closer to our turn, we'll have to make sure our I-171H and fingerprints do not expire before our Consulate appt. Also, the longer the wait, the higher chance of the twins and our Chinese daughter/son being closer in age.

Check This Out

http://chinacarechronicle.blogspot.com/
This person is blogging about her volunteer work in Beijing Children's Home.

I have a weekness for Barbie's

I couldn't resist. I ordered the Chinese New Year's Barbie I recently posted about. It came today by UPS and she is beautiful. I plan on leaving her in the box. Guess I'll have to get another one to play with.

Nate and Drew

I had another level II scan today. The perinatologist has said that both babies seem to be healthy. This a big relief. She however thinks both have their own placentas but they are beside each other so it looks like it could be one. Since there is a thin membrane between the two, there is still a possibility of them being identical twins and a slight risk of twin to twin transfusion and b/c of this I will be scanned again in 3 more weeks and this will continue the entire pregnancy seeing the perinatologist. Babies are estimated to be weighing about 1lb1oz (A -measured at 21w4d) and 1lb (B-measured at 21w3d). Each baby is measuring over a week ahead (I'm 20 weeks today) so it looks as if I'm growing some big babies. By the looks of my large belly, that's pretty obvious. We'll get to see them again on December 12th.

What if we are....

referred a BOY? We've been asking ourselves this in the past few weeks. There's no way we could turn it down but he might be wearing some pink clothes. We didn't know we would be expecting twin boys during our wait time for refferal when we wrote in our application letter to China that we wanted to adopt a child either boy or girl, no preference. Now I really want a girl. The percentages are much higher at being referred a girl than a boy but there's still a possibility of getting a picture of a boy come referral time. We're planning on a girl. We have a girl name, girl clothes starting to build up, pink towel (thanks to our secret pal) and girly crib bedding. I guess if we get referred a boy, we'll just have to go back to China in a few years and specify that we want a girl that time.

FIVE KIDS??? What am I thinking? Okay, so we may stick to having Four Boys.

August DTC Secret Pal Gift for November

Mail is not delivered at our apartment until 5-6pm, and since the package I got was too big to fit in our box, I had to wait until today to get our package from the apartment office. (Another reason why I can't wait to get into our new house.) Tony dropped me off at the office and I ran in and was given a box that said Broccoli Florets. I was pretty sure I wasn't shipped Broccoli but I told Logan I got Broccoli and he had to eat it. I got a card (which hinted that my pal reads my blog since she knows we "have been blessed beyond belief") and Logan was sent some Sour Punch Straws and a self-portrait of a 2-year old named Gracie. It's so cute. Logan put the candy in his Halloween basket. The best part of the gift was the Pink Bunny Towel and Washcloth set. I also got some Johnson's bath products too.

Thanks DTC Pal. We love it!

My Son the Photographer

Logan picked up my camera this morning and turned it on and told me he was gong to take pictures of the babies in my belly. This is one of his wonderful photos. I'm not so sure photography will be his expertise. This was the only one with the finger not covering the majority of the photo. 

Moving Sooner????

I got a call from our broker's agent who had spoken with the salesperson with our homebuilder and they are aiming to finish our house by end of January now. I am so excited!!! I hope they can keep that schedule. I know we need rain, but let's keep the good weather coming so these people can work without interruptions. I would love to be moved in before the boys arrive and have plenty of time there also before I have to call a social worker to come evaluate for our updated homestudy. I'll be bigger than a whale then but I'll at least have my new bathtub to sit in and relax the remainder of the pregnancy.

Our First Thanksgiving Card this Year

Logan came home from preschool today with a Thanksgiving card he made. He had colored a picture on the front and then on the inside it read...

I am thankful for my Mommy and Daddy and Thomas the Train.

At least we ranked first before Thomas.

We have a TUB

Yep, our master bathroom has a bathtub and the shower was in the process of being installed while we were visting our new house today. We didn't check upstairs to see if the showers were installed yet b/c there were men working on the plumbing up there and we didn't want to get in the way. I can't wait for the day I get to take my first bubble bath in that tub.

Is this China?

"Is this China?" Words out of a mouth of my three year old while I'm sitting on the table at the OB office ready to be examined today. He was upset we left the room with no babies today. I think he's a bit confused on where all the babies are coming from.

More Excitement

This is the good news I mentioned in a previous post but I wanted to wait until notice was given before announcing.

Did you know if you buy an expensive suit that you can get a new job offer very quickly? Last Wednesday Tony was called at home twice for two separate job interviews and following those calls he was asked to come in Thursday for a face to face interview. He went out that Wednesday night and bought himself a new suit, which he looks really nice in by the way, and immediately following the interview Thursday, they called him before he made it home from the interview and offered him the job.

On Monday, November 28th, Tony will be starting his new full-time job with benefits at Charlotte Radiology as a Business Analyst/Tester. We're very excited. This is a great opportunity for him. I'm so excited that it is full-time instead of contract work like he's been doing since May. He'll get paid Hoildays and vacations again which means now he'll get paid for taking time off for my delivery and for the trip to China. With his current job he was going to have to take that as unpaid leave. Our insurance premiums that we pay will be cut in half. One big benefit is x-rays are covered 100% since he is working for radiologists. With four kids, we're bound to have some x-rays done for something. I hope we have no reasons to need x-rays but this benefit sure will come in handy if we do.

Tony
Thanks hun for working so hard at taking care of your family and giving me the opportunity to be a stay home mom.

19 Weeks

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant with these two boys I'm carrying. This past April 4th I was also 19 weeks pregnant the day I was called on the phone with amnio results telling me my daughter would never live. My boys are alive and kicking and healthy as far as we know and we'll get to see them again a week from today. We're very happy to have these babies but still grieve for our loss. I worry still about the outcome of this pregnancy especially right now. I know I wouldn't be expecting our twins boys if Reagan had survived but I still would love to have her here. We will not be trying for another biological daughter. Madelyn will be our daughter and we will love her like any other child of ours. I can't wait to meet the boys and Madelyn. Year 2006 will be filled with excitement having three children in one year.

Happy Adoption Day

Tony was at Target earlier and found this book.
It's actually a song by John McCutcheon and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. In the back is the music and words together. I'll have to pull out my flute sometime and play it and try to learn the tune of this song.

Pain, Pain Go Away

Last night I made my 3rd (I think) in a lifetime Emergency Room visit. It wasn't pregnancy related. I've had enough of this pain in my right upper quadrant now and was hoping to get an answer to why it hurts so much. Last week I spoke with nurses all week and saw my OB on Thursday and was treated for indigestion. I know it's not that. There's no possible way. I think it's just a way of saying "your pregnant and most women have indigestion so that's what is has to be," but I have listened to them and took Zantac twice a day since and it's only gotten worse.

Yesterday I had had enough so Tony and I made a trip to the ER. After 3 1/2 hours at the ER, I left with no answer. Everybody I have explained the pain to has said it was my gallbladder. WRONG! It's gone, almost 2 years now since I had the surgery. I even had a gallbladder u/s last night I guess b/c they wanted to make sure it was gone. The doctor had no idea what was wrong and sent me home with a prescription for 10 pills of Darvocet. Well, at least I got something for pain but honestly that's not what I wanted. I want to know "why". I have taken a pill today and it's only taken the edge off a little but I still hurt.

This pain is only getting worse and will probably not get any better as my pregnancy progresses. Pregnancy is probably causing the pain but no one can tell me why. I'm so frustrated. I hate hurting. The next step will probably be to see a gastroenterologist and I'm sure they'll either say they don't know or they will not touch me until I have the babies. I don't know what I'm going to do.

Our New House Nov 11

After leaving the mall with an unsuccessful attempt to have a family picture taken of the three of us (thanks to Logan for misbehaving the entire time and getting no photos of us), we rode by our house again today. We were able to drive up to it this time. We have a roof and windows. I even tested out one of the windows to see how easily it slid up and down.

This big widow is over my bathtub. This will take some getting use to. I'll need some really thick curtains or blinds or both. I might could understand having a big window here out on the mountain where you have a nice scenary to look out at but my window will face another house eventually. We may even have met those neighbors today. We met a man that was retired looking for a lot for himself and his wife.

US Consulate in Guangzhou

I was informed today that I could email The US Consulate in Guangzhou and let them know we did not received our brown envelope. http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/guangzhou/acivu/ My guess is ours was lost during our move with the change of address, so I sent an email off this morning requesting another brown envelope.

Wrong Way, Leia

Now this is relaxing. I was given this pillow by a chiropractor this summer after I was rear-ended but I didn't like sleeping on it. Leia LOVES it. It's better than any cat bed. Even as I write, she's balled up in the middle of it sleeping.

Logan beat his record

Tonight Logan beat his record for the number of slices of pieces he could eat. We had some good news (which we'll share later) and it needed celebrating so we went out to eat at Carrabba's and Logan ordered cheese pizza. The pizza was as big as the plate and you can see he ate it all but the crust.

He was so good at the restaurant, but that didn't last when we went to Kohl's afterwards. He picked out a toy for being so good (yes, we spoil him). Well, the goodness wore off. He couldn't stop touching everything else and I was afraid he was going to break something. While in the purse department, I told Logan to place his hands in his pockets to keep from touching anything. When he placed his hands in his pants, he pulled them down some and thought it was funny so he pulled them all the way down to his ankles. He says "Look at me, Mommy" in front of two other ladies I know of and not sure if any others were looking. Of course I laughed b/c it was funny but that was the wrong thing to do. After I pulled his pants back up, he said "let me do it again" and down the pants went. The fire alarm went off shortly after that so we had to leave everything we had picked out so he didn't get his toy, but he didn't deserve it anyway after misbehaving. When we got in the van I said to Tony, we have two more boys on the way to pull their pants down in public and he said back "well, our girl will probably pull up her dress." He's probably right. 

Referrals are out

I was wrong. I misunderstood when I wrote earlier no referrals were coming out but that was just for Harrah's. Oops! Can't wait to start seeing all the new faces of pictures that everyone will start posting soon.

Just Me

I've been a little slack lately b/c I haven't felt so good. For over a week and a half now I've had lots of pain in my right side exactly in the same area where I use to have gallbladder pain. My gallbladder was removed almost 2 years ago. I've talked to nurses all week and finally went in today and still all I get is "It's indigestion." At first he said it was my gallbladder but I had to remind them I don't have one anymore. How can it be indigestion? I think I know what indigestion is. It's pain, really, really bad pain that I have and tylenol doesn't even touch it. I asked if it will get worse as the babies get bigger and the doctor said it's possible but we'll have to wait and see. My next appt is less than two weeks away now and I see a different doctor so maybe he'll have another suggestion to what it is if I make it that long before going back. I hate being miserable like this.

I did get the chance again to ask about monochorionic twins. This OB said not all are identical. That makes two doctors now that say they could be either fraternal or identical and we'll just have to wait and see after they are born. Everything we've read though says they are identical. It really doesn't matter to me as long as they both come out healthy. I was told I'll have frequent ultrasounds b/c they share a placenta. We'll see them again on the 21st.

Our Home Nov 10

Today I couldn't drive up to my new house or walk to it b/c workers were getting the road ready to pave that goes in front of it. I could tell that my house has a roof now and it looks like it is prepped for shingles to go up anyday. I also saw a cover over the front porch and windows installed. They've really worked on it this week. It's about time they got on the ball and put it together.

No Referrals This Month

I saw a post from HFS that no referrals are coming this month. I'm not sure what this means for the rest of us expecting them in the next few months. I'm assuming it prolongs everyones referrals. I really hate this for the ones expecting their referral now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to DADDY

Today is Tony's 31st birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a great Dad and Husband. Logan was excited to give presents to his daddy this morning. I wrapped them in wrapping paper covered in Trains. He told Tony they were train presents. Next birthday will be even more special with four kids wishing him a Happy Birthday.

It's not just me buying the Chinese dolls now. Mom bought this one and gave it to me.  

This photo was taken tonight at Tsunami Japanese Steakhouse. Logan is so picky with food. We were surprised that he actually ate some of the onion soup. I had to take a photo of this b/c it's unbelievable that he's eating something other than chicken nuggets, french fries, and pizza. Tomorrow is Tony's birthday so we went out today just in case I wasn't feeling good tomorrow since I was having a good day today. We had the table to ourself and we ate like pigs. It was delicious. 

More photos of our house

We walked through our house for the first time today.
The second floor was framed and you could identify rooms. Logan was excited to see his playroom. The playroom is the biggest room in the house. It will definitely get the most use with four kids living here. We plan on putting our old living room furniture in there and also our old kitchen table to use as a game board table. I'm sure the floor will stay covered in trains and other toys. Pretty much the entire upstairs belongs to the kids. They even have two full baths.

This photo is the back of the house. Our tiny backyard (I say tiny b/c it's much smaller than what we're used to but in this area, that's how all the homes are) backs up to a pasture with cows. We are going to have to eventually put up a fence to keep the kids away from the bobwire fence bordering our property.


When we walked the upstairs, we labeled all the rooms for Logan. We pointed out his room and he was happy. Then we pointed to Madelyn's room and he said "okay" and then we pointed to the twins room and he said "okay". No arguing over who has what room. It only makes sense to give the twins the biggest room upstairs (besides the playroom), then Logan gets the next to the biggest and Madelyn gets the smallest. I know there will be arguments later on that girls have more stuff, but right now, Logan has more stuff than anyone, including me and Tony.

My house has first floor walls as of yesterday morning. There were men working on it so I didn't roam through it. We'll probably make a trip through it sometime this weekend when there are no workers there. I can't wait to see the 2nd floor go up. 

Not-So-Bright Idea

I thought I had a good idea when I walked into Target today with Logan. I wasn't planning on making a baby registry but I thought "hey, this might be fun with Logan b/c he'll like playing with the "gun" that you use to register for gifts". I sign up to make a registry. I'm not expecting a shower(s) b/c I have almost everything left over from Logan and I don't work outside of home so no showers from co-workers. I do need some more things for the three babies coming but we can eventually get them all if need be, but I wanted to make a list of those things mainly for our use. The registry asks for sex of baby if you know but doesn't allow for twins or an adoption option and definitely not both. I'm sure many want to register when they are adopting too especially first time parents.

So, Logan gets the "gun" (not sure what they call those things) and starts waving it around everywhere. I'm trying to show him how to use it to scan the items and it's just not happening. He did eventually catch on but let's just say it was exhausting more than exciting. I'm glad we tried that there where there's not as much baby items instead of someplace like Babies R Us. I'll probably still make a list at BRU but not with Logan. He's not a shopper and he has very little attention span.

Since I posted a photo of Logan from Halloween, thought I'd post our other scary monsters. Here's Nathaniel and Andrew posing as Skeleton's on Halloween Day. 

Auction

This email was sent to us asking for helping advertising this fund raiser. I will post a link also on the sidebar.

My name is JoAnna Moskal and I'm writing on behalf of a small non-profit, Angel Covers. It's an all-volunteer organization that works to help children in orphanages world-wide. They provide much-needed items, like vitamins, blankets, toys and clothing directly to orphanages in China, Russia, and parts of Africa. Volunteers work with orphanage directors to find out how to best support children and orphanage staff.

I came across your blog and thought that you might be able to help spread the word about an online auction that Angel Covers is hosting starting November 7th. It's called "Gifts from the World" and its an auction of art and hand-crafted items that have been collected by volunteers over the past few months. If you are interested, you can read about it here: http://www.angelcovers.org/gftw.html The money raised will support education programs around the world.

We'd love any help you could give on spreading the word - either on your blog, or among your friends and family! We don't have a marketing department :) so we're relying on "word of mouth" to get the news out. If you have any suggestions of groups that might be interested, please let me know.
Thanks for your time! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,JoAnna S. Moskal

4 MORE MONTHS

We locked in an interest rate today for 120 days for the loan on our new house. It runs through end of February. That means we should be in our house by then. YIPPEE!!! I hope so being there is no wall up yet. I'll be 34 weeks pregnant at the end of February if I make it that far. With twins, I've been told to aim for 32-36 weeks for delivery so we don't know which place the babies will come home to first. Hopefully it will be their new room in our new house. We have our apartment through mid March so we don't have to hurry and get everything out immediately at least. I should also have time to get a new homestudy done before referrals come in. I need to check on this soon with Nathanson's.

My First Trip to an Asian Grocery Store

Sunday we took Logan to Rock Hill to stay overnight at Kricket's house. While we were visiting, she took me out to her favorite Asian store. I was warned of the fish smell and sure enough, it stunk in there. Luckily it was the afternoon and I wasn't nauseated at that time due to pregnancy so I was okay in the store. It was definitely an interesting experience. I had never seen bagged and dried sardines until then.

Kricket bought these chop sticks for us. Aren't they beautiful? She also cooked for us that night fried rice, rice cakes and some noodles. I attempted to eat with chop sticks but I gave up. I was too hungry and a fork works faster. Maybe I could be skinny like many of the Asian people if I did eat with chop sticks.

I found these at a consignment shop close to Logan's preschool today. Both items had new tags on them. The Harley outfit was too cute not to buy. It is 6/9 months and lately what I've heard from others is that is what the babies are wearing once they get to China. This will go to China with Tony since it is a summer outfit. The jeans had new tags also. I bought both items for total of $6. I'm going back to this store again b/c they really had some good deals. I need to get some things for the twins too.