Baking

Of course one does not get through the holidays without baking.

This year I made mounds of sticky buns as gifts. Rolling out the dough causes quite a mess...which of course draws a crowd (or flock) of helpers.

Within 5 minutes they were covered with flour...but at least they had fun.

The Ringleader is the most pristine of the gang...perhaps because he talks the others into doing his dirty work. Once in awhile he loves to pose dramatically for the camera.

Lil' Rocker was beyond estatic to stick his hands in flour.

The Ringleader and Sha Sha played for almost an hour making their own "dough".

It amazes me what I see after the pictures are taken...I don't remember Lil' Rocker holding a knife!

And of course, what kind of nostalgic family event would it be with out screaming, crying or a tantrum?

Who knows what that was about.

I actually do enjoy baking with my kiddos!

A peaceful tree

After the memory filled choosing of a tree, it's time to take the tree home. I love this part of our tradition. We always buy pizza and soda. We then eat together as we watch a Christmas video. This year it was the Veggie Tales, the Toy that Saved Christmas!

When the video is over, it's on to decorating the tree. I just love getting all of the ornaments out. It's so nostalgic. Of course, the kiddos "play" with the ornaments more than decorate, but it's so fun to hear their excited voices regarding the treasures we had packed away for over a year.

Sha Sha intensely studies and tenderly examines each ornament.

This is the 1st Christmas that Lil' Rocker is really "getting into". He loves to hang ornaments on the tree. Only he continuously hangs them on lights instead of branches. He gets so angry when they fall.

The Ringleader lives up to his name in that he tells everybody which ornament they can hang.

The grand finale is placing of the angel on top of the tree. Sha Sha gets the privilege each year as she is the only one light enough for the Rockstar Nurse to hold up. Perhaps Yao Yao will get the honor next year.

There is nothing as peaceful as a Christmas tree decorated with memories.

The nostalgia of a tree

Wow. Christmas has come and gone. It's hard to believe. I realize that I have not posted one post about Christmas and our festivities. Well, I did post my Twas the Night before Christmas post...but other than that I was MIA in Christmas blogland. But since this is MY blog and I can reminisce if I want to (you should hear the song playing loudly in my head right now)...I will allow you take a peek into the Christmas lives of the Flamingo flock over the next couple of days.

Ok...I probably have lost another reader or 2 over the next few days, now that you know it will not be that exciting.

But here goes anyway....

The tree. We love the tradition of choosing a tree. I for one am completely wierd and perhaps "scrooge-like" in that I would prefer a green plastic tree. Seriously. Real trees are such a mess and I actually am not fond of the smell of pine. But there would be a revolt from the Rockstar Nurse himself, so we will continue the agony of the real tree.

Now, the other "pathetic" part in our tree tradition is that we have 1 special place we go every year for our tree.

Lowes.

We go to Lowes for a tree.

We did try a real "cut your own" farm one year. But $50 later decided to find somewhere else.

And quite frankly, the trees at Lowes are nice and cheaper.

And the tradition of picking a tree lasts all but 2 minutes. The kids are freezing each year!

And poor Lil' Rocker. We woke him up from a nap to go pick a tree. But he thought we were going to go get pizza (which we always do after the tree buying episode)...he was crying because he was SOOO cold and just kept saying "zza" , "zza".

Poor lil' guy. (I bet he would be on my "fake tree" side :)

So, after 1 minute of frigid air, Lil' Rocker and mommy sat in the nice warm car.

See how nostalgic this tree thing can be?

Lowes. Friggin cold air. Crying children.

Why would anyone want to change this tradition?!

Twas the night before Christmas....

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house....

Ok...so it is NOT Christmas Eve. You are probably thinking the Flamingo Mama has lost her mind from all of the hustle and bustle.

And quite frankly, I probably have lost my mind. However, it has nothing to do with the hustle and bustle. In fact, I have decreased my hustling and bustling this year. I did not send Christmas cards.

Gasp!

I typically send a Christmas novel, I mean letter. and take a reminiscent photo with the children. However, after the episode last year where I copied and pasted children into the photo to make them look like 3 happy siblings, I dreaded it this year.

And as guilty as I feel about not extending my family's "love" this year, I do not remember anywhere in the bible that Christmas Cards are part of the meaning of Christmas...so I have recovered.

So back to the Christmas Eve thing on the 23rd...it IS Christmas Eve here in the Flamingo household. See, the Rockstar Nurse works on Christmas Day. Remember, he is a nurse after all. So, we will celebrate "our Christmas" on the 24th.

But don't be sad about that! Seriously, Christmas is not about the 25th...it's about the celebration, the traditions, and the reason. So it doesn't matter what day we celebrate.

Everyone asks, "aww...aren't your kids sad?"

Uhh no! What for kid would be sad about getting all of their gifts a day early?!

So, tonight as everyone is out last minute shopping (uuhh, ok...I still will be doing that tonight too), I will be placing the gifts under the tree and the cookies out for Santa. And tomorrow morning we will celebrate as a family. I am sooooo excited!!

So, Merry Christmas!!!

A Rockstar Nurse anxiety

I really don't talk much to the Rockstar Nurse about my anxiety or my stress about the wait. It's not that we don't talk.

Supposably the average couple talks 3 minutes a day? That cracks me up. We make up for all of you that don't get in the average;)

However, I don't talk much about how the wait sometimes wears on me because why stress 2 of us out? Seriously. I don't want him to worry or stress. He thinks I'm calm and together. The fact that I've gone crazy is just a secret I share with 1 million of my closest friends;)

And anything on this blog is a secret considering the Rockstar Nurse doesn't read it!;)

Sooooo, back to the anxiety thing. I finally started talking about it tonight. I shared with him the fact that our wait may be much longer than we hoped for (another whole post). And I told him that I will be an absolute mess if we miss sharing her 3rd birthday with her. That will not be okay with me.

I never hear the Rockstar Nurse share much about his struggle with the wait other than it's stupid that she is just sitting there waiting for this dumb paperwork (and quite frankly it is stupid).

However, tonight he shared his concern...and I quote...

"I hope the wait isn't that long...for goodness sakes...I don't want her to be 16 when she comes home and our 1st stop off is for her driver's license!!"

I couldn't stop laughing. I guess it makes turning 3 not seem so bad.

And as I walked away he said, "go ahead, put it on your blog."

That's just where I was heading.

I love how this man knows my inner thoughts;)

A visit with Santa

Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit with Santa.

The Rockstar Nurse asked the Man in Red for the Steelers to win (looks like Santa complied)


The Ringleader had a long list...guitars, airplanes, legos....(and his 2 front teeth?)

Lil' Rocker was not going near this gentle ol' man.
He loudly exclaimed, "It biiiite! It bitttte!!

And Sha Sha? Well, she was the 1st out of all the children to jump on his lap. She has no fears and never has of Santa. And of course, she knew exactly what she was asking from the jolly ol' man.

A dead pony.

(click here for the whole story)

Oh yes she did. She asked Santa for a dead pony.

Poor ol' guy. I never saw such a perplexed look on Santa's face. How does one respond to such a heartfelt request?


We have another party with Santa this weekend. Let's hope she asks for something different this time round!

Chapman Christmas letter

I saw this on a friend's blog. It is a Christmas letter for the Chapman family written my MaryBeth. This family has just been so inspiring and amazing in light of their tradgedy.

Just thought you might enjoy "catching up" with them;)

Dead horses and wrapping paper

Sometimes my children are able to make me laugh even in my "I'm not awake yet" morning state.

The Ringleader and Sha Sha were having a conversation half with me and half among theirselves.

"Hey mom! I want a guitar for Christmas a real one! I sure hope Santa brings me one." said the Ringleader.

Sha Sha pipes up, "I want a horse for Christmas!! A real one!!!"

"Sha Sha you are not getting a real horse for Christmas"! demands The Ringleader

"Uh huh!! I want a horse!"

"Sha Sha just listen to me! You can NOT get a real horse for Christmas! Santa would never give you one."

"Why?" asks Sha Sha because she knows the Ringleader has all the answers.

"Because that horse would NEVER stay inside the wrapping paper!"

I couldn't stop laughing. But then the conversation doesn't end there.

Sha Sha runs over to me and continues.

"Mom can I have a horse... a real one?" ( I guess the Ringleader's explanation was not fully believed)

"No honey" I said, " we have to live on a farm to have a horse so that it has room to run."

Sha Sha then said something I couldn't interpret (she has some speech impediments), but had something to do with playing or play.

"Sha Sha...I don't understand what do you want?" She must have been saying that she wanted a little toy horse that you play with because her next statement was,

"Mom, I want a dead one."

I saw her again! I saw her again!!

Oooooh!! I think I spotted her again.

Now before you roll your eyes, I think you need to take a look. I really think it is her!

A family from my agency is traveling right now. They visited Wuxi Orphanage this week. They had this picture posted on their blog. I was not following the blog, but a fellow adoptive mom emailed me and told me I needed to check it out because she thought my daughter was on there!

I couldn't pull up the page fast enough!!

And then I saw her!!! And yes, I really think it is her!!!!

Aaaah! This so bittersweet. Pictures like this make it sooooo much more harder! It's like viewing your newborn from the window at the hospital nursery and not being allowed to go inside and and hold her!!

And I have decided on her new blog name...it will be YaoYao. This is her "nickname" in China so it makes sense to use it here. It is pronounced like Yah Yah (at least that is how I heard it).

And so if you disagree with me and believe this is not my precious YaoYao...please let me know, but if it's not her, she has a twin there!

oops!

This is an important announcement. I will no longer be using the name "China Doll" for our precious daughter in China. I just discovered that this name can have an offensive and deragotory meaning!

I plead completely ignorant of this and I will choose another name for her until she comes home. I do not want to offend anyone!!

Crazy

Wow! One week! It's been a whole week since I've been able to blog. Quite honestly, I'm not really able to blog right now anyway, however I've decided to take an hour this morning sipping coffee and "catching up" on all my blog reading....because once again I am just way to far behind.

I really have no idea what this post will be about. (great, I just lost anyone that was reading this far). I think I am just going to write about what is on my mind.

Honestly, my mind is gone. I have been very overwhelmed this past week. Yes, life is busy, but I feel that something else is going on with me. I was able to talk things out with a wonderful group of friends (hey guys!) and after processing things, I think I have a handle on what is going on.

I think my adoption has finally tipped my mental scales. I have done REALLLLLY well with the wait , the process and the finances. Well, the paperwork through me over the brink a couple of times, but I held my head up.

I think it has all piled up because I am realizing how soon this is all going to happen (yes, February/March still seems soon). I still am ok with not stressing about finances, but an unexpected $2,000 increase is a tad disappointing. The paperwork is non existent until we prepare to leave. The thought of details of planning , packing , copying and more paperwork makes me nauseated.

Where I have finally taken the plunge is the wait. I hate this. I've been so patient and have been ok with the wait. But for some reason, I am not anymore. Yes, I still dread the possible sleepless nights and the screams of a grieving child, but I am ready. I can not believe that we may have sooo many more weeks until we even get our approval.

I know it seems really wierd to some of you that I would be so sad over this child that I did not even meet yet. It honestly suprises me that I have bonded with her already. In adoption, parents bond with their children differently and at different stages. For some it's when they see the photo. For others it's the minute they meet. For others it's weeks even months later.

I NEVER thought I would be one to "bond" through a photo. When I was pregnant the first time, I definitely was not "bonded" with the little guy inside of me. And I definitely didn't bond when I 1st met him. I remember them putting this little coneheaded baby (he was a vacuum baby) on my stomach and thinking, "ok. now what?" It took me several weeks to know I would jump in front of a train for him.

But my little China Doll. I would jump in front of the train already. I miss her, but yet I never met her. I know it sounds crazy. And that's ok, because that is what I'm trying to announce here.

I have gone crazy.

This is her....it really is!!!!!

Regarding this little "mix up"....

First off, I want to make 2 quick statements to redeem myself as a mama!

Regarding me "identifying" another child as my daughter (I'm sorry, this still makes me chuckle). We have 5 sets of pictures now of our China doll at completely different ages. Every set, she looks completely different! The pictures previous to the ones previously on my blog, she really did look like that little girl...my sister in law thought the same thing. So, I'm not going crazy!

#2...I never said I was a perfect mom and so there is your proof.

But now on to the good stuff. I have new photos of my precious beauuuutiful little girl!!! These really are her!! My agency took them for me!

I think she is just adorable. I will say though, we gotta get that hair growin!

So here is our China doll as of 2 weeks ago!

She has such amazing lips! My mom and I both noticed that!

Regardless of the photo "mix up", the update stays the same (which is the most important thing to me). She is very interactive and from the looks of her pictures, she loves to smile and laugh!

She will fit in quite well here in the Flamingo flock!

ps. I did remove "the other girl's" pictures from my blog. There are wierd rules in posting kiddos that are not pre-approved, so I didn't want to cause some kind of chaos in China! I'm sure this blog is read by millions there.

Would the REAL China Doll please stand up?!

Ok...I am laughing....REALLY laughing! We just confirmed that the precious little girl that I thought might have been our little China Doll, is not our China doll!!

Oh my. I am cracking up.

To be honest, I am not suprised at this point. When the Rockstar Nurse came home, he said, "are you sure that's really her?"

By that point, NO, I wasn't sure anymore. I started to look at her old photos and calculated that her hair was REALLY long for only growing 3 months. And their were other features that the more I looked, didn't match up.

Plus, you have to realize that I confirmed this picture with my agency...they didn't give me 101% approval...and they tend to get confused alot:)

However,

I just received a WHOLE slew of new pictures of the REAL China doll!

Oh my. I think I better take down the other little girl's picture. And don't tell my little girl I thought she was someone else!;)

you will have to wait for the newest photos

We have an LID!!!!!!!

HUGE NEWS!

We have our Log in Date (LID). For those that have not gone through an international adoption, this date is no big deal. However, for those that have, you will KNOW how important this date is for peace of mind.

It's a date that tells you that your paperwork was logged in in China's computer system. The reason this is important is that your paperwork is crazy precious and you are always worried it will have gotten lost somewhere.

We sent our dossier to China on September 23rd. We have been waiting 10 weeks to find out our LID....10 weeks!!!!

We finally just received the information that our dossier was logged in on October 10th. Whew! They didn't lose it.

The other important thing about this date is that you can start to figure out a little bit better how soon you will travel.

On AVERAGE it is 12 weeks from your LID until you get your LOSC (your approval letter). We are already 8 weeks into waiting! So that means we can expect our LOSC anytime after January 2nd (not saying it can't come before). HOwever, it may not come for up to 4 weeks after that. My poor friend Florence Nightingale has been almost waiting for 16 weeks now.

Once you recieve your LOSC, it's another couple of weeks until you receive your travel dates...and then it is another 2-4 weeks until travel.

Again, these are all averages. And crazy things can still happen. The CCAA can still ask you for more information which will hold up the case.

As it stands now, we are still looking to travel sometime in February. I'm trying not to have palpitations here, but quite frankly I feel that it is VERY soon. I have NOTHING ready for the poor girl.

Oh well, I will figure it out!

Praise God we have our LID!!!!!

Playing drums

Warning the following post is for adult audiences only and is rated as M for Mature audiences only.

Tonight as we were tucking Sha Sha and The Ringleader in for the evening, an interesting topic arose.

The kids were goofing off and The Ringleader was asking Sha Sha to play his butt like a drum. (please don't ask how or why these things get started, but they just do.) Innocently, she started to hit him in, well...I don't want to get R rated here so I hope that my audience has the ability to read between the lines.

So....as soon as she started hitting him there, The Ringleader said, "hey Sha Sha...don't hit me in my #%*&$. That seems to hurt alot more than when you hit me in my butt. "

The Ringleader continued, "You know Dad, that really does hurt. And remember there are 2 things and they have those balls inside of them...like marbles. What exactly are those balls there for...what do they do again?"

Man, I am soooo glad I am not a single mom in times like these. The Rockstar Nurse always pulls out a brilliant explanation that quiets even The Ringleader for a time.

and before you ask, in summary he told him that they will enable him to turn into a man when he gets a little older :)

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

I finally am back to real life and my Thanksgiving vacation is officially over. I "go on vacation" every year starting on Thanksgiving. Thursday is the holiday, Friday is another holiday (Black Friday lol) and then The Rockstar Nurse leaves for 5 or 6 days to play hide n seek with Bambi (gotta hate when Bambi loses that game;)



Soooo, starting 10 years ago, I decided to celebrate my hubby's absence and make it a special time for me. I will post more details in days to come with what exactly I do (or don't do). So that is why my Thanksgiving wrap up is a little late.



So, if you remember, I was cooking for a crew of 21. There were no disasters that I recall. Perhaps there were and I blocked them out of my memory. The hardest ordeal is figuring out how to get 6 casserole dishes, a turkey, a tray of filling and 2 dozen biscuits warm at the same time. I'm getting there...just not quite there yet!



So, somehow after looking like this....

It came somewhat together. Of course when the Rockstar Nurse came home Wednesday evening he was able to help redeem my floors. Let me tell ya...there is nothing more sexy than a man with a mop. :D

With the major work behind,

Thanksgiving was just a downright fun day to celebrate with family

Of course I had the "kid table". They are the best! We had 1 teen, 7 kids, and 1 baby.




After the traditional dinner is inhaled and cleaned up, the tradition of scouring the papers for the Black Friday sales begins. I get so excited for this and make everyone else sit down and look too. Of course, I am typically the only one that goes out shopping, but they love to point out the deals to me.

And of course the male tradition involves sleeping and football.

The kids were soooo good and had a blast.

Sha Sha was in pony heaven with all the little girls to play with her.

The boys were in Lego heaven. Of course they were outnumbered. ..3 boys to 6 girls!

The kids didn't start to get restless until evening and then chair spinning began to take place. (The Ringleader would spin them round as fast as he could).

We had such a wonderful time with our family and friends on Thanksgiving. I couldn't stop thinking all day of how awesome it will be for our China Doll to be with us next year!

No matter how much chaos the day entails, there is always room for just a little snugglin and lovin!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!!!

An early Christmas gift!!

I am soooooo excited!!! I unwrapped the most awesome Christmas gift a little early today! I just spotted a photo of our little China Doll!!!!!

About 2 weeks ago, the directors of our agency were in China. They were able to visit the orphanage on Sunday November 23. They just posted photos from their visit there and I saw a little girl that looks JUST like our daughter.

I emailed my friend Florence Nightingale (who also has a little girl at the same orphanage). She emailed back quickly and said..."I think it IS her...I thought the SAME thing when I saw the picture".

I then called my agency director. She did not 100% confirm it, but she said she thinks it is her too.

Isn't she beaaaauuuutiful???!!! She has more hair too!!! Woo hooo!!!

UPDATE: THIS PHOTO WAS REMOVED BECAUSE ALTHOUGH THIS LITTLE GIRL IS BEAUTIFUL SHE IS NOT MY CHINA DOLL :D

The other most awesome part of my present was the verbal update I received on her. My director had the opportunity to interact with her...here is what she wrote....

This is a lovely child..She blew me kisses.She is very interactive, and her caregivers says she speaks very well.Her receptive language is reported to be great, and she can follow directions with no problems.

On the phone she told me HOW interactive she was. Apparently she stood out to her. She said that the speech pathologist was amazed with how advanced her speech was

My director continued to say how many kisses she was blowing and how adorable she was and that she did talk quite clearly (in Chinese of course;)

I actually recieved the emailed update last Wednesday. I was hoping to recieve at least 1 picture to go with it before I posted.

I have to be honest, I cried when I read the email to my hubby. It was one of those unexpected lumps in your throat cry. I told him that the reason I was getting all choked up was because on that unexpected day in May when I recieved an email on a little girl with speech delays, it caught my breath. I had been very open to speech delays because of our experience with Sha Sha.

Now, it seems as though she (our China Doll) may not have them. It causes the lump for me because I NEVER would have called for her file if she wouldn't have had that written in the original email!

Of course when we get her home (sometime in eternity;), I will have her evaluated. But from the reaction of my director, I am feeling very postive in those regards.

It is a whole other post, but I am starting to get VERY itchy in regards to waiting. This is a welcome shift in emotions and attitudes for me. Having an update on someone who was charmed by meeting my daughter only increases my "itchiness".