Jan DTC Secret Pal - Revealed!!

HUGE thanks to Kim R for being our Jan DTC secret pal! I think that Kim must be channeling my thoughts because she sends exactly the kind of stuff that I would buy myself. The pig plate was especially weird, because I came very close to buying the same plate myself about three days before it came in the mail.

This month's theme was bath time for baby (or something like that) - Kim sent a very cute hooded towel and wash cloth set, farm animal bath squirters, baby bath products (including California Baby calming bath wash!) and a swimming stingray and lobster. The lobster, by the way, is a HOOT.

There were also marshmallow peeps (claimed by Rob, of course) and Panda bookmarks (claimed by me, of course).

... and a chewy bone for Maddie! The picture is of Kim's pugs, Caesar and Louie. They are Maddie's new best friends. She's never met them, but anybody who'd get you a bone and not eat it themself first has got to be special!

Thank you so much, Kim!!

*** Update ***

Maddie LOVED her bone - it lasted about 5 minutes, including time spent deciding where to eat it! Isn't she cute??

Walking the dog

It is a lovely Spring day today - 64 ° and sunny! - and Rob has gone into the office, so I decided to take Maddie on a walk. Oh my goodness. We have a lot of work to do before Maddie can walk with a stroller. She pulls, she's distracted by wildlife (especially squirrels - which she chases) and she doesn't pay attention to me like she should.

We have a gentle leader from our obedience classes, so we started off using that. That experiment lasted about 4 blocks, then I switched the leash over to her regular buckle collar. She needed a lot of correction at first, especially when she spotted a squirrel, but by the end of our walk she was at my knee where I wanted her. She was even good when we passed people she knows and when our neighbor Mason (who's about 7 or 8) passed us on his scooter.

I called Rob when we got home and we've made a pact to only walk Maddie on her leather lead (not the flexi) and really work on her pulling and squirrel chasing. If she doesn't improve, I won't be able to take her on walks with Nora and that would make me sad.

Dec Secret Pal - Revealed!

...it's Kim B! Thank you so much for all the cool gifts and kind words of encouragement. We have really looked forward to opening the box each month - Rob tries to be stoic, but I know he secretly loves all the baby things.

This month's gift was typically wonderful -- a bright rattle, bath squirters and a V-tech ball that will be great for Nora when she's crawling and learning her animals, shapes and colors. Thank you again for everything - you've been a terrific secret pal!

A Sad Day

Today we said goodbye to a good friend...

Our Missy lost her five month battle with kidney disease this morning at 16.75 years of age. Stinky, we'll really miss you and all your sassy, dog-like ways. You've been a great friend and companion to all of us. Someday we will see you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. Until then, I know you'll have a good time with Tyler, Cody and all the other furkids who are waiting for their people to join them. God bless you little one. I love you.

Gearing up

While I've bought some toys and books and a couple of little outfits, I really haven't purchased any of the baby gear that I know we'll need. No high chair, no car seat, no stroller... I know that we have plenty of time before Nora comes home, but I'd like to spread the expense if I can and avoid the big cash outlay right at the time when we'll be paying for a trip to China. So what I've decided to do is watch the sale sections on all my favorite websites and start snapping up some of these necessities.

This morning I found a Combi Urban Sling diaper bag for $24.99 at BabyStyle. That's an awesome price for a diaper bag and it's stylish and neutral enough (we got the black) that I think either Rob or I could carry it without embarrassment. I'll let you know what we think of it once it gets here.

By the way, the downside of frequenting all these websites is that I find a gazillion other things that I'm not shopping for but can't resist. So, in the box with the diaper bag, there will also be a 12-18 month velour track suit.

Ready for Spring.

After much looking, we've decided on a larger tent!

It's a Columbia Cougar Flats 2-room tent. It's a 2006 model, so we were able to get a really good price. We also bought a double sleeping bag (more family-friendly than our mummies) and an adjust-a-grill for the campfire. I know it's not a top-of-the-line tent, but we've never had a great tent anyway, so this is still a step up for us. Truthfully, we will not be camping in any sort of extreme conditions for a while anyway. Mostly we just want a little quality family time at the park.

So, what else do we need to take Nora camping??

The Three Questions

1. When is the best time to do things?
2. Who is the most important one?
3. What is the right thing to do?

.

Having not bought a book for a few weeks, we decided it was time to go to ... (all together now) Borders! And we found a gem from Nora's wish list among the sea of children's books. The Three Questions is a Tolstoy story retold and beautifully illustrated by Jon Muth who also wrote Zen Shorts and the Chinese version of Stone Soup.

It also carries a powerful message: There is only one important time, and that time is now. The most important one is always the one you are with. And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side.

This is a must have for every book collection.

More Family Fun

Do you remember last year when I decided that camping would be a fun family activity? Well, I still think that (I know - who'd have thought? Until last year I thought that vacation involved room service!) . We have a reservation for Memorial Day weekend and will probably do at least one more trip between then and Nora's referral. Our goal will be figuring out what we need for a successful family camping trip with a ~1 year old.

First order of business is a larger tent. Our little three-man dome is barely big enough for Rob, Maddie and me. We are thinking about Kelty Mantra 7, Sierra Designs Moken 6 or North Face Trailhead 6. We'll only be 4 with Nora, but I still think that a 2 (or 3)- room tent would be nice for the separate living/sleeping quaters. We do have a screen room, but that usually goes over the picnic table and it doesn't have a floor.

We're also thinking about getting a *gasp* canoe. Yes, much less cool than the kayaks, but much more family (and dog) friendly. Probably that will be next year.

If anyone has any tips for camping with little kids, please let me know. We've got some time to experiment this Spring.

Immigration Update

After we sent in our I-171H extension application, I asked our social worker how long it would take to receive a receipt and fingerprint appointments. She said that our local USCIS office had been taking about 2-3 weeks for this logging in/scheduling process, so I've been trying hard to be patient.

It turns out that that 2-3 week estimate is about right. Yesterday we received our fingerprint appointments - they will be on 3/28. We also got the receipts for the fingerprinting fees, but not for the I-600A application fee. I'm hoping that will come soon. I think I remember it taking a few days longer last time also. Fingerprints and applications must go their separate ways within the CIS office.

Right now my main concern is getting all the paperwork in order so that we don't have any problems when it's time to bring Nora home. The other bit of pressure is that Rob is trusting me to keep track of the adoption expenses, so I want to be sure to get that receipt!

Update: I just checked the USCIS website for the processing times at our local office. As of February 20, they were processing documents received on November 20, 2006 - so three months. That is approximately how long it took the first time through. Ugh. Anyone who needs to reapply, start early.

Say hello to my little friend

I have a new "toy" - a brand new crackberry pearl from work (yes, I know it's not a toy, but the idea of 24/7 availability sits a whole lot better with me if I think of it as a techno-cool plaything instead of an electronic ball and chain).

So far I've got the phone part working ... and my work email, my calendar, and two personal email accounts. Pretty good, I think, for day 1 set up. Now I'm starting to wonder if it will work in China, possibly as a backup plan for posting to this blog.

I googled "blackberry in China" and found this. The posts are a little bit old, but still encouraging. I'm going to check with my carrier and see if it will work. My employer will probably not be thrilled with the $2.99/minute, but if it keeps me connected to the office and lets us publish an occasional update to the blog it will probably be worth taking along. I never would have guessed that it would even work. The last time we went to China my supposedly global cell phone was completely useless.

Has anyone out there gotten either their cell phone or blackberry to work in China? What did you need to do to set it up?

One step closer

I just did my weekly Wednesday evening check of our agency's website and see that families with LIDs through 10/24/05 received their matches yesterday. I had no clue - see how out of touch I am without the Rumor Queen?!

That means there are 84 LID days between us and Nora's referral. My brain is already shut down for the evening, so I'm not sure what that equates to in real time. 6 or 7 months I think, but I don't have the brain power to make a good guess right now. Referral in October maybe ... so she *might* be home for Christmas. I hope that's true.

A picture (book) is worth a thousand well-pruned synapses

A couple of times I've mentioned a book that I've been reading called, Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten. It was written by a neurologist and has taught me a lot about brain development and the importance of early experiences.

Because we will have missed roughly the first year of Nora's life, I want to be sure that in addition to our boundless love we also give her the right kind of stimulation while she's still very young. It really matters; developing the right neural pathways early on affects your ability to learn and process information throughout your life.

One of the first sections I read was about books (you know how much I love books) and it said that there are two kinds of children's books - picture books and storybooks - and every child's library should have both. Now, Nora's got a nice, growing book collection (you can see the current list by clicking on the "Nora's Library" link under the site navigation section on the right), but I realized that she mostly has storybooks and very few picture books. Since that's obviously going to have to change, I bought a nice picture book when I was at Target.

I think that, in addition to teaching some words, it will also help her to learn colors. Hopefully she will also develop a love of books and reading.

Sometime I'll show you her puzzles...

Thank you secret pals!!

Rob made a little discovery this week. I came home one evening and the first thing he said to me was "Jenn, I went into Nora's room. Have you seen it?! She's got a lot of stuff!"

We've had some great new additions this week too, with packages from both secret pals. First on Wednesday we received a shopping cart/stroller bar cover (a genius idea!), plush caterpillar rattle and pretty pink bibs from our December secret pal.

Then yesterday we received a quartet of pink photo items from our January secret pal. This month's theme was "Pretty as a Picture" and we received a painted wood frame, a soft magnetic bunny frame, a baby brag book and a little flower frame.

Thank you very much to both our secret pals!