Holiday Traditions

As the holidays are fast approaching some of our Holiday Traditions begin with when we’ll be visiting family in California.  This year it’s for Thanksgiving.  Since we drive down I actually prefer going in November because there is a lot less snow and ice. I love taking the dogs to the beach to run and play and the warmer temps make it more enjoyable for us all.

Our drive down typically has us stopping to visit long time friends in the Sacramento area before heading south to spend the holiday week with our families. While we get to visit with them the dogs have a blast in the large fenced yard playing with our friend’s son. I think besides the beach it’s what they look forward to every year.  They get super excited as we pull into the driveway and literally pull us to the house. The other must is In n Out burger. I've actually made a list of where they are for the drive down this year.

Once we get to our hotel we break up the week with a day to visit each family cluster with Thanksgiving Day with Don’s family. Usually after Thanksgiving we will stop at Don’s parents for breakfast before we head out to drive home.  We once again stop in at our friend’s place for the night and head out early the next day for the longest portion of the drive home – 12 hours.  I drink lots of coffee that day.

Once we get home the real fun for me begins.  After unpacking I get to drag out all the Christmas decorations and begin decorating while I listen to Christmas music or watching my favorite holiday movies. Christmas is my favorite holiday by far.  I will probably pull the boxes out and put them upstairs before we leave this year since Thanksgiving is so late in the month. On years when we’re home we go to the farm and get our tree the day after Thanksgiving and I spend the day decorating it. Then over the next few days, as the tree settles, I will move things around. I can’t wait to share getting the tree and the decorating with our little one.

Colin loves to play with the trains around the tree

Once the weekend hits we move outside to put out the lights. I love just sitting outside with nothing but the shine from the Christmas lights. I enjoy seeing all the decorations as I drive down the streets; we have some spectacularly decorated homes on our street.  We go with the basics though, Santa in a sleigh on the roof and lights around the house and garage.

I love cooking and baking for my family during the holidays and can’t wait to share that with our future child.  I remember doing that with my mom and aunts every year and can’t wait to pass it in. So we host Christmas most years sometimes for my whole extended family and others just my immediate family. When it’s just a small gathering rather than use china, I always have fun bringing out the Looney Tunes Fiesta Ware for Christmas dinner.  Other people use china and I go with a fun approach more than a formal one.  It’s always fun asking the nephews what character they want and setting it all up on the table. This year will just be us, my mom and her husband and my nephew and it’ll be Christmas Eve dinner instead of Christmas day. I don’t mind though as we want to spend time with my nephew and with his mom having Christmas off this year, Christmas Eve is the day.

wish they still made these

My mom no longer eats meat so I called to ask about certain dishes this year for the Christmas dinner and our nephew yelled out I want ham! Well OK I guess we’re having ham and lots of Veggie dishes. Don will be on board with that since he’d rather not eat 2 week’s worth of turkey in a 4 week span. This seems to be a new tradition we’re forming after I made ham for Colin last year.

We will wind down the holidays on New Year’s Eve by watching the movie of the same name, playing games and then watching the ball drop in Times Square or watch the Space Needle fireworks. We don’t like going out unless it’s to our friend’s place earlier in the day and then we just stay the night.  We don’t want to be out on the road.

November is National Adoption Month

I've been reading a lot of quotes and statements so far this month and prior (thanks Pinterest) and I thought I’d say what open adoption means to us.

Adoption is a journey without a time frame

Adoption is not for the faint of heart or weak of patience

Adoption is “The Wait”

Adoption is the path to fulfill our dreams of becoming parents

Adoption is not an easy path to parenthood

Adoption is a way to bring us joy with an extended family

Adoption is about trust

Adoption is about loss for all involved

Adoption is stressful

Adoption is an expectant mom making the choice out of love for her child and herself

Adoption is the community that brings you up when you’re down

Adoption teaches you to play to your strengths; you will need them in the wait

Adoption is about living everyday waiting for the phone to ring, email to come in, or text

Open Adoption is about families coming together

The Adoption Wait is taking vacations to take your mind off the waiting

Adoption is having faith and hope that your child finds you

Adoption is about the child having a connection to their birth families

Adoption is a unique journey for all involved

Adoption is going to be so worth it!

To buy or to make

So someone I follow on Twitter mentioned making baby food tonight and it got me thinking on the subject.

I used to make our dog food and dog treats along with meals for ourselves to put in the freezer for the week, every Sunday.  A few hours’ worth of work to ease the work week was so worth it to me.  We had a friend who’d come over on Mondays and ask what kind of “Pates” I’d made for the week and could she have some (She loved the beef or liver with vegetable ones).  I usually gave her some for the week and she’d eat it with bread or crackers more than her dog would.  You may be thinking ewwww! But it was human food ground up so it was a Pate.  She even asked how to make it when we moved away.

I rarely make the dog’s food or treats anymore with so many organic 100% USA sourced grain free products available but do enjoy making the whole families pet’s goodies for Christmas.

Since I no longer work outside the home I don’t need to do our food  anymore but I already know I’ll be tackling the baby food around here so I know exactly what our baby is eating. I’ve seen these elaborate baby centric food makers in the stores and online and I think, WHY? A good Cuisinart or blender does the same job and I already have them.  I also have strainers to ensure it gets the right texture and without chunks for stage one and two foods.  I understand that maybe you’d like to be able to pouch up your food for trips with a toddler but that won’t be me.  I’d prefer to keep the aluminum away from their food as much as possible.

I have canning jars in a 4oz size and those will work great for baby food. They even make plastic lids now for the jars.  I also have tiny glass Pyrex containers I can freeze the food in.  With the cost and/or additives even in organic baby foods, I just prefer to have them eat what we are eating since I’m cooking it anyway.

I realize I am writing this without a baby and the sleepless days and nights aren’t upon us yet but coming to us eventually. So I may be reverting to the once or twice a week cook and freeze method of a few years ago but at least I know it’s that important to me to make it myself. 

Photographic year in review

It’s officially our one year anniversary for the adoption “Live” date. 

Here is a picture review of how we've spent that year. You'll notice I'm usually behind the camera and didn't include all the gardening, pumpkin picking, and pet photos. 

October 28, 2013

 Iheart page

November 2013

Driving to CA to see family

December

 Date night

 

our nephew at our place for Christmas

January 2014

Our Maui trip

February

Superbowl

March

Playing games

April

 Volunteering

 Painting

Our 18th wedding anniversary

May

grandpa's 91st birthday

Don's birthday

June

 Las Vegas trip

 my birthday

family time

Seeing friends and family in Dallas and Brady

July

 redid the front deck

BBQ and movies with friends

 Swimming at the lake

4th of July

August

Dragon Con in Atlanta with friends

Finished the upper patio and walkway

September

The guys out salmon fishing

Happy dogs

October

baking bread

Ghana trip to build schools

A Letter...

To Someone I've never met,

I know we talked through messages about 6 weeks ago.  I know you are being proactive in searching your soul for an answer that only you can find. I want you to know I am here if ever you need me.

I can only see what you let me and what I do see is an incredible lady who is wise beyond her years and has a great sense of humor.  I see that person hurting and lonely and yet loved and supported. I see your faith, determination and strength of will.  Hang onto that as you continue forward.

Only you can determine what is right for you because ultimately it’s your life.  Don’t let those with closed minds or hearts disrupt yours.  You are a beautiful person inside and out.  Let yourself shine bright and enjoy everything around you even if it seems hard, you will get through it.  If life didn't have challenges we’d never learn how to navigate the world and the others in it or to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.  

I've been asked why I care about someone I don’t even know and the answer is simple.  I care because it’s who I am and you reached out to me.  I care because as I watch from a distance my heart breaks as I read some of what you’re dealing with.  I can’t imagine how you feel but I can empathize with you. I know when something happens and I send a message that it will go unanswered and that’s OK.  I’m sending it anyway because I want you to know you aren't alone.

As you travel along the pregnancy road remember to be kind to yourself.  It isn't easy navigating pregnancy as your body changes and growing baby is keeping you up.  It’s increasingly more difficult to keep up with work and school when you’re exhausted and sick.  You are doing it though!

We don’t know if you will make an adoption plan or if you’ll parent but either way please know we are here and we care about you.  You can talk to us anytime if you need someone outside your circle to talk to without pressure to choose one way or the other.

Respectfully yours,

Nicole

When in a crunch....

Last week Don was asked to make large stencils for Adanu, the charity he is working with for the school buildings.  He came home and said they need to be 3 feet by 3 feet.  My reaction was one of panic. Stencil materials sold in stores are at best 12” by 18”.  My mind went into a spin of what the heck can we use that is durable, easy to cut, thin, and can be rolled up to get over to Ghana in checked luggage.

After some time double checking the internet and no time to order the stencils made from a specialty shop, I went in search of whatever may work at the various stores in our area.  I looked at For Sale signs but they didn't come quite large enough and would probably crack if rolled.  Next up, carpet padding but it isn't thin enough and would absorb too much paint. I even looked at car mats and desk mats but they have those carpet grippers on them.

Off to the vinyl flooring which I didn't hold out much hope for since it is usually sold in boxes of 12” by 12” tiles these days. I got lucky because they had pre-cut rolls that were 6 feet by 9 feet and affordable. It was also nice and thin so it’d cut easily and just like regular craft stencils it won’t absorb the paint and will be durable to use over and over.

I bought the flooring and brought it home.  Don took it to work to project the images and get them traced for cutting.  Everyone was floored and excited because they never would have thought to look at vinyl flooring as an option for making stencils. Don will finish the last stencil tonight and get it packed up with the others.

When in a crunch always look in the most unlikely of places to find what will work. So if you ever need to make large stencils cheaply; head to the local home improvement store before spending lots of money elsewhere.

I now have a pin for Pinterest that doesn't seem to be represented much, if at all, so thanks for the challenge! I'm glad I met it with creative success.

The front of the flooring and flip it over to trace out your design.  Don uses a ruler, box cutter and Xacto knife to cut it out.

I talked with our AC (Adoption Coordinator) yesterday.  It’s always nice to touch base and get her perspective on our questions.  I love that she’s an adoptive parent and can give that insight from her personal experience as well as her professional.  

We are in a non-IAC state meaning we have a different set of regulations we’ll go through once we are matched with an expectant mom. It’s all the same paperwork and processes but it will go between the state the mother lives in (unless it happens to be an IAC state) and our state agency. We also had our Home Study completed by our state.  Our State social worker is also an adoptive mom and she’s such a wonderfully supportive woman. This year at our home study renewal she told us she just had her first grandchild. I can’t wait to say that one day.

I can’t imagine trying to navigate adoption without all the support we've had. Not just through family, friends and the agency but the community as well.  It’s great to be able to ask questions or just vent and get the insights of others going through it now or in the past.  It also helps reading other peoples posts to the forum or blog posts. It’s been invaluable through our journey so far.

So as we close in on our go live date 10 days from now I have to say we've come a long way and are looking forward to what lies ahead. Here’s hoping our baby finds us soon. Visit our Iheart page or Adoptimist