bye bye

I am sorry i have not posted in a while our computer is gone BYE BYE so we need to get a new one. so i hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas. I also would love it if anyone who has any pictures of Z if you can email them to me I have lost them all i am so sad.

Happy anniversary

Today is the anniversary of our first kiss. 14 years to be exact. We were at my parents house outside and the house was all lite up from the Christmas lights and he laid one on me LOL it was actually very romantic. I am not the one who remembers this it is R he remembers all the little dates like that. Happy anniversary R. I love you

no news

There is nothing to say..Thanksgiving was good. We don't do much so there is not much to say. We did find out that one of R's friends died. He had not spoken to him in some years but still very sad. In fact that seems to to the them going on in my world. At the first of November a girl i went to high school withA real good friend of my brothers) died and just today a friend of the family died he was only 19 too sad. So that is all i have to say and all that has been going on not good news but news none the less.

Happy turkey day

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night....... Oh you get what i am saying. (:


I hope everyone has a great holiday

Thankful from A to Z

I've been tagged to do a 'Thankful for Thanksgiving' blog... so here's what I'm thankful for from A to Z...



A... Adoption this process has changed my life


B.... Birth mom without her our life would not be complete



C... cats i love all of my cats



D... dogs i love my dog


E...everyone who puts up with me everyday and still talks to me


F...Family and friends they make my world go round


G.... generosity.... of so many people and something that i think this world needs more of



H.... Halloween the day I was married and Haiti.... I am thankful for this country for all it has given me


I... I pod everyone could use a little more music in there life


J... Joy to the world and my everyone live how they want.

K.... Kisses little or big i am thankful for kisses (not the chocolate)

L.... Lee she is the greatest my greatest Friend

M.... Miracles the miracles that happen everyday to make life special

N... Knowledge...... To empower people with this great tool would make the world a better place (and yes i know how it is spelled)

O.... Orange sticks they are a great treat


P....Patience witch i have learned to have more...but still needs improvement

Q.... Q tips need i say more



R..... R he is my life my love my everything



S.... Santa i am thankful because for the fist few years i can blame the really lame presents on Santa LOL



T.... twilight books who knew i would be a fan and they keep my mind busy



U.... Untied Sates of America to live in a world of freedom to make my own decisions to live the way i want to live my life it so wonderful



V.... Vacations i love them everyone needs to take them (even if it is to a third world country)


W.... wine... sometimes a glass just makes everything better


X..... xanax its the only word i could think of


Y..... Yams i love yams



Z..... Z she makes my life complete



I am not going to tag anyone but if anyone would like to tell me and there blogger views what they are thankful for that would be just great

Not much to say

I have not posted in a couple days not much to say. I have been busy with a new job. At least my mind will be busy trying to learn my job and i am not obsessing with the adoptions. My mind and heart is always with Z but this way i get a distraction for a few hours a day.

My Birthday Party

R and R

R and My great friend Chans

Kelly (the bar tender)

Jacob Black (twilight) lol I am not sure what his name is

My friend Katie

Chans and Jan

Self portrait

Steve and Shanna

I had a great birhtday party. We all had fun.

Thoughts

When all you have is memories of your family it is hard. The memories of Haiti keep us going every day and we just keep tyring to think positively that Z will be home sooner than later. It still is not easy. I keep looking at the pictures over and over and keep watching the video over and over but it dose not fill the hole in my heart the constant worry that i feel every day. I know...i know this sounds so negative and i need to keep my mind in the positive and i try really hard but when you get news that sets you back it just mentally overwhelming. This is one if my times when I am going to say adoption is hard and I know in the end it will be all worth it.

I just read all these blogs and it seems that we all go through our time when it becomes hard. (and i am not speaking for everyone. just an observation) The holidays are coming and all i can think about is one more Christmas with out her one more tree to put up with out her help. I guess i could go on and on but i won't i am just feeling sorry for myself.

I am going to start being grateful for the thing i have (like a wise women i know Michelle) So i am grateful that I am adopting a wonderful, funny ,loving child for Haiti and that before i know it will be here and i will not even have time to blog.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

On this day my 35th birthday i am so happy that i have these two people in my life. One has made me a mother and one has made me a wife. These are the best birthday gifts a girl could ask for. So Happy Birthday to me

page problem

I am having a problem with my page i changed it and now i can not add all my friends back. I will keep tyring

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

When me and Lee first met Notice the perm


after a long night



at our birthday party i think about 10 years ago (that is her husband now)

Her birthday last year or the year before

Today is my greatest friends birthday. I have known her for 15 years. And I just wanted to say to her HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEE

UPDATE

Word on our file is the the DNA testing is DONE and we are in parquet. At least our file has some movement and movement is a good thing in Haiti. The DNA being requested slowed us down a bit but for what Charely (our adoption guru) said that DNA is being requested on just about every case anymore do we are done with that and moving on slowly but moving on
any more word and i will keep all 3 of my readers posted LOL

VOTE

Today is the day America pick s a new President. What an exciting day we will either have a African American President or a female vice President which will be a first for this country either way. So get out and vote, it is the most American thing you can do

Nov. 1

my niece


My great niece there twins


My great niece



me and Freddy

my brother girlfriend

no comment

My niece

my great nephews

my brother and me

yes he is Richard Simmons

my nieces boyfriend creepy

What a fun Halloween

Happy aniversary

Engagment Pic


2008


Five years together I love you R

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

i think i will go loco

what to do to keep my mind busy while I wait to wait. The first time we went to Haiti to Meet Z the trip was overwhelming. We were given the baby and then we were parents??? It took some getting use to. We were in a third world country and we have a baby in a hotel room, needless to say it was hard for the first few days..... what am i saying it was hard period. We were in culture shock (me more than R) and we HAD a BABY. As the five day went in The culture shock went away and it sunk in that we HAD a BABY. Were was only four months old so she slept and ate. Were got a little glimpse of her personality and that was about it. So we waited to go see her again not easy but nothing like we feel now.

This time was so much different. We knew what to expect there was a little bit of culture shock and Z, what a small letter to describe a BIG personality. She the love of our lives. nothing I mean nothing give us more joy in life than her. She has the greatest laugh and if so funny. I guess we were a little surprised that we feel in love so quickly. But now we are hooked we need our Z. Living without her it something we just do not want to do any more. If we ever had any doubts about being a parent we DO NOT any more we just want to start our family NOW.

So waiting........What to do, What to do. I am open to suggestions.

Did i ever mention i hate to wait.

SAY CHEESE

Let me just tell you that Z did not like the camera she hated her picture taken and would not smile until after the flash went off and then she would smile. This is just a few of the great non smiling pictures

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED

My friend Lee tagged me and i am supposed to tell you 6 of my quirks so here is goes

1....... I have to have all the doors closed..in all rooms anything opened has to be closed

2..... I can not take the first thing off the shelf i have to so to the back of the shelf and take that item

3..... I do not like to drink water out of a glass i would rather it be plastic

4..... I can not sleep if the bedroom is messy

5..... I have to read the safety card on the airplane or i do not feel safe

6..... housework relaxes me


now i am not going to tag anyone but if you would like to share anything about yourself that is border line obsessive compulsive than go right ahead

We are HOme

We are home. Our week in Haiti was wonderful. Z could not be more cute. She has the most infectious laugh, and the greatest personality. Very independent. She loves music and love to sing and dance. She did have scabbies pretty bad when we picked her up from the orphanage but we treated her and she started to look way better by the end of the week . She did not like getting her picture taken so there are very few of her smiling. so I will post a few pics now and more to come

We are here

we are here safe and sound. Z is healthly a little chubby and has scabbies we have been treating her for two days and she already looks better she is a good eater. Tonite we made her laugh she loves to be tickeled it is so cute. she is a really good sleeper. I will post pic and maybe some viedo when we get back.

THANK YOU

We just wanted to thank everyone who has made it possible for us to travel to Haiti.

Steve and Shanna thank you so much for the hard work you did for the fund raiser.

Bill and Heidi with out your donation we would not be going so we thank you for that.

The Wadsworth construction company would generous donation with bring some much needed relief the the children in the orphanage.

And I would like to thank My husband for working so hard to get the donation from Wadsworth construction company. I love you and I am so proud of you for doing that

AND WERE ARE OFF

Well we leave tomorrow. We will fly all day and stay in Miami for the night and then fly into Haiti on Monday morning. Wow I am excited. I can not wait to hold my little Z. I hope she remembers us. I know that this is a common fear amongst the adoptive families will your children like you and how will they act. One whole week with Z and what a great week it will be. We are meeting some new families this trip that should be fun. I just wish we were bringing her home. Just stay positive and just remember that when it does happen it will be the great time of our lives. I am kind of just rambling on about nothing. It really cold out side and snowing. The first snow fall of the year Yeah I like snow. Well until we get back . There will be plenty of photos to share.

YELE HAITI

We are leaving for Haiti in just a few days and we could not be happier. This country is a beautiful country and extremely poor. I say this for anyone who might be reading my blog and not know that. I have attached the link to Yele Haiti. This is Wyclef Jeans Haitian fund where you can donate to help all the families that were effected by the hurricanes and it has some pictures of the devastation from the hurricanes and also great music

http://www.yele.org/

If you have to ask why then you will never understand

If you have to ask why then you will never understand. I heard that today and thought how true this is for international adoption. I have people ask me all the time WHY did you go all the way to Haiti to adopt. I try and explain and they always nod their heads and say OH with a blank stare on their face.

Did I ever mention I hate to wait!!!!!!!!!

It has been a while since my last post and i still do not have any news. I guess this means my life is pretty boring. All i have been doing is dealing with my back injury. Boy that is a treat. But we have good news on the food for our orphanage here is the link to a great mom who say things a lot better than me and She has all the details about the food we are taking

http://countdowntohomecoming.blogspot.com/2008/09/donations.html

We only have 15 more days and we are off to the wonderful third world country of Haiti. Our bags are almost packed, just some last minute items and we will be ready come on 15 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Freedom

Today is the day to remember all the people of 9-11.(Not only today everyday) The the victims and all the survivors and all the people who are directly affected ..... And every time I am in the security line with my shoes off at the airport I am reminded of all the troops that are fighting for our freedom and i do thank them every day not just today. All i am trying to say is i am glad to be an American and THANK YOU to all the troops for keep us safe.


Today I will have a moment of silence....for all who have been lost and for all who are fighting for us.

NeW PaGe

I changed my page again. The other one was to hard to read.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

TODAY OUR DAUGHTER TURNS 1 YEAR OLD AND WE CAN NOT WAIT TO CELEBRATE YOUR SPECIAL DAY WHEN WE GET THERE

WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU Z

I just wanted to share Z's referral pictures. I can not believe how chubby she was (and still is)

MIssing Her So Much It Hurts

Today I am feeling very sad. As i go through this adoption process it is like a roller coaster of emotion . Sometimes i am happy and so glad i am a parent other day i miss her so much it hurts. Today is one of those days. I am not saying i do not miss Z everyday because i do but some day are just harder than others. So i will set here all day wondering what she is doing and wishing that he was here to comfort me.


I love you Z and miss you come home soon

New Pgae

If you know me at all you know that i love Halloween. So i changed my page to reflect that. At our house i put up my Halloween decorations Sept. 1 and take then down Nov. 1 I decorate more for Halloween than any other day of the year.

Storms in Haiti

Many of you have been asking about the storms in Haiti. So far every thing is good the children are safe and the orphanage director was able to go out and get food for the children. That is all the news we have received. I will keep you posted if there is any changes

Thank you

Steve & Shanna
THANK YOU

A BIG THANKS

Well we need to give a big thanks to some people. Over the last few weeks we have been planning a fund raiser to help us get to Haiti. It all started when the owner of our local pub wanted to help us raise money to get us to see Z in October. So our planning began. We when to local businesses and had prizes donated for a raffle and we also had a poker tournament that people could donate and play poker and win fabulous prizes. We had the fund raiser on Sunday and it was a success we made our goal. We get to see Z.


A few people that we need to thank

My brother Steve..... He is my heart and soul. He did such an amazing job. He spent countless hours trying to get people to sign up for the tournament and promoting this for weeks I do not know how i will ever thank him

Bill and Heidi.... the owners of our local pub (Brewskis a private club for members )
With out their willingness to do this and there support this would of never happened and there generous donation of plane ticket and more we would not be going to Haiti.

And i would like to thank all our friends families and well ...perfect strangers that came together and supported our cause

and last but not least i have a very very special thanks

Shanna ....she is really the reason this all came together. She spent hundreds of hours putting together poster flyer's getting donations. I do not know how i will ever thank her enough. When this whole thing started Shanna and myself were friends and now i consider her my family. She has went beyond what anyone normal human being would do. She has a heart of gold. I love you Shanna Thank you so much

Good News

Well there is good news from Haiti. They have found a teacher to come to the orphanage and he speaks fluent English. This is so great because now the children will be mentally stimulated and start to learn English which will make there transition easier. YEAH

OUr Adoption Story

It has just accrued to me that i started this blog to keep in touch with our adoption family and i have really never shared our story of adoption. Well R and i really never thought about having kids but 2 years after we got married we got the usual pressures for friends and family "when are you going to have kids" i guess that is the next step in most marriages. So we started to talk about it and adoption was the only choice for us.. I have always wanted to adopt ever since i was in the sixth grade and I got my first cabbage patch doll. I told my mom then that i wanted to adopt.

So growing up I never wanted children. Even when R and I first met i still did not want children and neither did he at that point in are lives, we were only 21 at the time so as time went on and we dated for 5 years we talk about marriage and children but it just was not in the cards and that time. We broke up and went on with our lives.

After four years we both were single again and coming out of fairly long relationships I called him out of the blue to see what he was doing and to my surprise he was happy to hear from me he came to my house that evening , two months later he propose and a year later we were married.

We started talking about adoption couple years after we were married. We researched agency and we found WIA. At first we wanted to adopt from the Ukraine so we requested info and WIA sent us a packet. One Day while i was looking through the info i was watching The Adoption Story on TV and this family was adopting from Haiti. I call R into the room and basically that is how we started to adopt from Haiti. Once we seen the children it was over we, submitted our application and here we are today waiting for a beautiful baby girl who we call Z

So this is our story, simple but all ours. Everyone has their own reasons for adopting and for the most part they are all different but one thing that is the same in all the stories. We all just want to be parents.

THe Greatest Band On The Planet Earth

Dave Mathews Band is the greatest band on the planet earth. I have enjoyed their music for like 15 years now. I have seen them in concert probably 20 or so times.



Isn't funny how music can bond you with someone. Me and all my friends just love the Dave Mathews Band. We all started listing to them at about the same time and as our group of friends have grown so has the love for DMB. When we first met R did not like DMB and i told him "you have to see them live" so he did and now he is hooked.


I suggest if you have never listen to DMB just give it a try you will be surprised. It is some of the greatest music ever written

LeRoi Moore

Yesterday one of the great musicians of all time died. LeRoi Moore the saxophonist for the Dave Mathews band.

He will be missed

http://www.dmband.com/