It's never to early to start the brainwashing

This week I had the opportunity to go on a recruiting trip to our alma mater, the University of Illinois. Traveling there is sort of crummy -- it involves two flights, one on a prop plane -- but it was great to visit for a little while. I also got Nora her very first Illini-wear, in two sizes so that she is never without some Illini orange!

This breaks my heart - please help

...but I know that I am a good dog and I just want to go home.

I'm sure by now everyone has seen the Pedigree adoption drive commercial. If you haven't, you can view it here. This is a truly outstanding commercial - I cry every time I see it (Rob would tell you that "cry" is an understatement, I SOB), but more importantly it has moved me to action.

I went to Pedigree's website and donated food to a shelter near our home (only $9.99 for each 22lb bag of Pedigree and they match donations if you order through their site!). And now I'm telling you, so you can do the same. Or, if you'd prefer, you can also donate to the ASPCA or the Humane Society of the United States. I wanted to adopt a shelter dog, but have been told that three pets is enough for now.

I should probably add that Maddie does not eat commercial kibble. We lost our two previous dogs to cancer and after doing some research I concluded that it was not the most healthful choice for Maddie. It is a convenient, economical option for a shelter situation, though, and I give Pedigree a lot of credit for their efforts in this area.

Quilt update

It's been a while since I've given an update on Nora's One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt - and for once that doesn't mean that nothing is happening! I have been diligently piecing away and have now completed 13 of the 24 blocks needed for the main body of the quilt. More than half, which feels really great!

Right now the 13 blocks aren't yet sewn to eachother, I just have them laid out in order so I can see how it's going to look and feel some progress. I'm really happy with it so far, but seeing it like this makes me question my choice of border, binding and backing fabric. I'll have to see how it looks once I get all these blocks together and the inside border on.

I've found that I really enjoy sewing. I keep thinking up new projects, but I'm resisting the urge to start anything new until I get this quilt top done (I will probably not quilt it myself, since I'm not really set up to handle something that size). Next up will be Nora's crib quilt - remember the ladybug quilt? - I think I need to take an applique class, I'm really struggling with getting it to look good. Maybe I just need more experience with my sewing machine...

The mailman needs a calendar

Our mailman is clearly confused. I went out to check the mail this afternoon and there was a box on the front porch. A BOX... on SATURDAY. We never get boxes on Saturdays. Boxes come on Mondays.

Anyway, it was for Nora (of course - all boxes are also for Nora) from our January DTC secret pal. This month's theme was "learning adventure".

Here's the "learning" part - a shape sorter that is also a bucket with a lid that Nora can carry around. This is a great gift - if the smarter child book is right, this is a very good toy for cognitive development.


And here's the "adventure" part - a Crocodile Creek jungle animal placemat. I have to check, but I'm pretty sure we have a bib that matches this! Plus a Good Night, Sweet Butterflies book and a Chinese New Year lift-the-flap book, called Dragon Dance

AND, if that wasn't enough, our pal also sent the cutest pink dinnerware!


Thank you so much, secret pal!!

Beware - sale at the toy store

I really don't intend for Nora's blog to be all about shopping and "stuff", but I do have to share a terrific sale at Stewart Toys.

I'm still reading that David Perlmutter book, Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten and have been really interested in brain-boosting activities. Besides being a fascinating book, it has also served to redirect my retail therapy from cute little outfits to puzzles and toys (books, of course, are still allowed).

Imagine my excitement this morning when I logged on to check the Rumor Queen (yes, I check first thing every morning) and spotted an email announcing a huge post-holiday clearance sale - 40-50% all in stock merchandise. I ordered a red Rody horse (photo above), three puzzles, a shape sorter, a stacking toy, a ball-pounding ramp thing and a xylophone! All before my morning shower. It was such a fun way to start the day.

Go. Shop. Enjoy!

Mega Mail Monday ... x2!!

Mega Mail Monday is back with a vengeance! Today Nora received her hat from the CCAI Dec/Jan DTC swap and it's a Hanna!! Thank you so much, Sandy, we LOVE it! I tried taking a picture of the hat and mittens by themself, but it just didn't do them justice so I put them on Nora's stuffed panda instead. Soooo cute!

As if that weren't enough for one day, we also received our Jan DTC book swap package from Karen. It was three terrific China-themed books - The Red Blanket and Little Miss Ladybug & Her Magical Red Thread, both of which I was admiring in the China Sprout catalog and Lon Po Po, a book I'd never seen before but am absolutely captivated by. It is a Chinese Little Red Riding Hood story with gorgeous illustrations by Ed Young.


Thank you so much Karen and Sandy - you made my Monday!

Too much time on my hands...

I really don't have too much time on my hands, but I am feeling anxious, like I should be doing more to prepare for Nora. Even though her arrival is still many months out, it feels so much closer now.

I bought a book (at Borders, of course) over the weekend. It's called Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten and was written by a neurologist. It is fascinating.

We also received a phone call from our agency on Monday and a "Waiting Families Support Packet" from them tonight. The support packet is wonderful - it talks about the logistics of match day, travel arrangements, attachment... 20+ pages of really useful information, all new to us. I've already read it twice and will probably print off a hard copy to read tomorrow.

Oh, and we're resuming Mandarin lessons. This time we're taking a community ed class with my friend and co-worker "J" and her DH. Nicole will be our teacher again, which is great. Our previous dropout had everything to do with our lack of discipline and nothing at all to do with Nicole. We're excited, we're hopeful and I've had enough caffeine to make me feel like I can accomplish anything.

The New Year's resolution about Diet Coke. Let's pretend I never said anything about that.

Another Milestone

Happy Anniversary to us! Today marks our one year LID anniversary - we have been officially logged in with the CCAA for a full year. Right now it's looking like we'll get Nora's referral in July or August 2007, which would be 17-18 months from LID or 25-26 months since starting the process. This would likely mean travel sometime between September and November. Feels good, really good.

I think they missed me at Kinko's

There was a time, at the height of paper chasing and in the middle of a zillion fabric swaps, when I was at FedEx/Kinko's several times a week. Now I hardly ever go there. In fact, I so seldom go there that I became concerned that they were missing me. To help rectify this situation, I've decided to start the I-171H renewal process.

I'm not quite sure of everything that I need to do to accomplish this, but I'm fairly certain that we at least need another copy of our birth certificates and marriage license, an updated home study and new fingerprints. Our state requires an annual home study update, so that's in process anyway. The part that I figured I could start on today is requesting new copies of our birth certificates and marriage certificate. Since we were both born and married in another state, I needed to request everything by mail and send copies of proof of identity (i.e. photocopied drivers' licenses). This is where Kinko's comes in. It was exactly as I remembered it.

Exploring Chinese cooking

We received a Borders gift card as a Christmas gift (thank you Holly, Jason & Jane!) and decided that it would be nice to get a Chinese cookbook. Today was another dreary day, so we decided to go over to Borders for a while and found what I think looks like a really great Chinese cookbook. I can't wait to try out some of the recipes. Maybe we'll even prepare something special for Chinese New Year!

I'm also looking for a knife skills class, btw, because the way I chop now it's gonna take me all day to make anything. If you don't like to chop, this is a book to avoid!

First two quilt blocks!

I've finished the first two blocks of Nora's One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt!!

I have about a zillion more to go, but even this little bit gives an idea of the pattern and the scrappy feel. I'm really happy with how it's going so far - the star points are coming out better than I expected and I love using my new sewing machine.

Ouch (part 3)!

Tonight after work, I went to the clinic for my third (and final) hepatitis vaccination. I thought that, except for typhoid which needs to be taken closer to our travel date, my travel vaccines were complete. The very nice immunization nurse - who, by the way, is very passionate about her job - now tells me that this may not be true. Depending on where we travel, I may also need Japanese encephalitis (a series of three vaccines over a 4-week period) and malaria (which I think is oral). If there should happen to be an outbreak I may also need protection against the whooping cough, delivered by a vaccine called TDAP.

As if this weren't enough, I then asked about the bird flu and left with a research assignment. The nurse is also going to get some more information and give it to me when I come back for the typhoid vaccine.

To anyone currently in process, be sure to talk to your health care provider about travel vaccinations at least six months before your expected travel date. It really does take that long.

And, note to self, remember to schedule a follow up appointment as soon as Nora's referral arrives.

Music for Baby

Thank you so much to our wonderful Dec DTC Secret Pal for the marvelous musical gifts -- two Songs for Learning cds and a Little Tykes piano! I haven't listened to the cds yet, but I can tell you that the piano promises endless fun. I've played with it several times already. Nora's going to love it!

The start to a productive year

The new year is off to a productive start at our house. Today I not only finished cutting 848 1-1/2" and 121 2-1/2" background squares for Nora's quilt, but I also finished her butterfly bookends.

I'm not sure I ever mentioned it here, but several months ago I purchased unfinished wood butterfly bookends for Nora's room. I couldn't find anything pre-finished that I really liked, so I decided that I would paint something to match her bug art and wall letters. It took a couple of trys, but I finally have something that I can live with.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy 2007!

Those who refuse to make New Year's resolutions because they always break them anyway miss the point. Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.
~Eric Zorn~

That said, I resolve to exercise more and drink less Diet Coke*. Really. I mean it. I'm going to have Nora to chase this year.

*I've already had one 24-oz bottle this morning

The best $0.67 I've ever spent

It has been grey and dreary here all week. So dreary that I need to be sure to get out every day or I start to feel down. Today was especially drizzly and nasty so we went to the second happiest place on earth (I've have said happiest, but thought that Disney might have some sort of license over that claim) - Borders!

There is a promotion this week of 3-for-2 Dr. Seuss books and I still had ~$15 left of my "holiday reward dollars", so while Rob copped a free read of Popular Science, I headed back to the children's section to pick out 3 Dr. Seuss books for Nora. The regular, standard issue Dr. Seuss books were all $8.99 and I decided on Fox in Socks, Green Eggs and Ham and There's a Wocket in my Pocket. I'd have liked to have gotten Horton Hears a Who and The Lorax, but they were out of those two.


Anyway, it turns out that deals can be combined and I had a personal shopping day (10% off) that expired today, so I got all three books for $0.63 plus tax, for a total of $0.67. I kid you not, here's the receipt. I saved $20.34 (or, as I prefer to think of it, 97% off)!!

How often do you get to buy something great with pocket change?!

By the way, I think the 3-for-2 sale is good through tomorrow. If you need some silly rhymes, check it out!

Holy Hannah, what was I thinking???

Perhaps you remember Nora's One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt. I started collecting squares more than a year ago and am finally getting to the piecing. I've selected a pattern called "Morning Star" from the book Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth. I think it's a really nice pattern if you have a lot of scraps.

I've spent the entire day trimming and arranging the patterned squares on the dining room table. See your squares in there?? Some are on reserve for the border and anything flannel or fleece is going into a stroller blanket, but everything else is in there, including Steve's Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety polo shirt (just typing that makes me smile!).

This afternoon I moved on to cutting the background pieces (as you can see I've commandeered the kitchen island for this task - good thing we don't cook much).

Tomorrow I start sewing. Christmas shutdown needs to be about a month longer, I think. There's no way this is going to be finished in the next two days!

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to Nora's quilt. I know that this will be a very special keepsake for her and I am really looking forward to playing "I Spy" with all the great fabrics and telling her the stories behind each piece.

(not-so) Happy Anniversary

Today is our 1 year DTC (dossier-to-China) anniversary. DTC marked the end of our paperwork phase and the beginning of our official "wait" for Nora. Who'd have ever thought a year ago that we'd still be waiting for our little girl. I sure didn't. All I can think at this point is that - no matter how long the wait - every day that passes brings us one day closer.

Is it or isn't it??

Last year I thought for sure that Nora would have been born by Christmastime (that would be Christmas 2005!), now it's Christmastime again and again I'm wondering about Nora. Has she been born? Is she still with her birth family? Is she in an orphanage? Foster care? Is she warm and loved and cared for? I hope so.

And in case this is her first Christmas, we have an ornament for her collection.

Merry Christmas!

New CCAA Rules

The China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has released the long awaited new rules for intercountry adoption from China. You can read the new rules here, on the Rumor Queen's site.

The most notable changes are:

• Married M-F couples only
• Net worth must exceed $80K and income must come from stable employment (so even if we win the Powerball we need to keep working to qualify for Nora's Mei Mei)
  
• BMI must be less than 40 (30 is considered obese according to CDC guidelines, so I'm thinking that 40 is pretty heavy -- at 5'5", for example, I could weigh up to 240 lbs)
  

I guess you can't argue that the CCAA is trying to select the most stable homes possible, in the most objective way possible, but my heart goes out to everyone who is affected by the new regulations.

We have no willpower whatsoever

Do you remember several posts ago when I mentioned that Nora had received a Christmas present from Rob's Aunt Jan and Uncle Dave? Well, after looking at it for more than two weeks, we couldn't take it any more and decided to open it. We told ourselves it was because we'll be spending Christmas with my Mom and Dad and couldn't cart all the mailed gifts along with us, but the truth is that we just couldn't stand the suspense any longer.

Anyway, I'm so glad we opened it because it really brought a smile to my face. It is Nora's very first Dr. Seuss book, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish", and an accompanying stuffed blue fish! Isn't it great??!

Nora update

Today we received the monthly newsletter from our China agency. They have projected referrals through LIDs (log-in-date) of 12/8/2005 which are projected to arrive in May '07. You may remember that our LID is 1/16/2006. Continuing the timeline in our agency's projection, it looks like we would expect Nora's referral in August 2007. That would mean travel in October or November next year. So we have almost a full year to go. When we started the wait was 6 months.

Are we going to stick with China? Yes. Why? Because Nora is there.

The science of cuteness

Ok, so I logged in fully intending to do something else, but when I got to my Yahoo! homepage there was picture of a baby panda

and a link to a great CNN Jeanne Moos report on cuteness. It turns out that most people think that baby pandas are even cuter than Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt (aka the Brangelina baby).

Need more pandas?? Click here.

Yes, it is MEGA MAIL MONDAY!!!

Mega Mail Monday is BACK!!! Today, in addition to the heap of catalogs, we received a package from our Jan DTC Secret Pal. It was such a great surprise - she remembered everyone!!

Chocolates for Rob and me:


Treats and toys for the pets (it was upon opening the cat toys that Rob said "Who is this person? She is really nice!" I have to agree, she is really nice!)


And two hats, pink tights and a soft blankie (fleece on one side, satin on the other) for Nora:


Thank you so much Secret Pal! You are the best! Merry Christmas!

A Family Tradition

One of our family traditions is the annual Lorie Line Christmas concert. Our anniversary is December 21 (15 years this year!!) and for the past four years this has been our anniversary outing. This year's concert was earlier than usual, but still close enough to count I think.

They have a nice tradition of having all the kids up on the stage. Usually it is a visit with Santa and Rudolph, but for this year's more traditional show it was a nativity. I don't know how well you'll be able to see the picture on the blog, but there were a LOT of kids, all of them in costume. I think that officially only age 3 and up are allowed to come to the show and 4 and up are invited on stage, but yesterday there were babies in the audience and some kids who were no more than 3 on stage. So, of course, I mention to Rob that next year we will bring Nora. I hope that's true...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

As sad as I am that the wait is so much longer than expected, Christmas still lifts my mood. Nora has some presents (thank you Aunt Jan and Uncle Dave -- so nice of you to think of her!) and we are participating in an ornament swap with the Precious Pandas Jan DTC group. Yesterday we received our ornament from Kathy - thank you so much! - it's a Panda with the Chinese character for love on the other side. Very special.

Hope, if you're reading this, I mailed yours today - should be there by mid-week. Bet you can't guess what animal yours is!

Even better than a mega-mail Monday...

... is a post-holiday, post-mail-hold Monday! We stopped by the post office on our way back into town with a cute little tote bag to carry our mail from the past week and left instead with a huge corrugated postal tote. I'm still sorting through all the catalogs and magazines, but I did quickly find the three really important pieces of mail:

(1) letters from our doctor stating that we are of good health (the last pieces of documentation needed for our home study update)

(2) November gift from our Dec DTC Secret Pal. This month's theme is mealtime accessories and our secret pal covered ALL the necessities -- sippy cups, a bib, utensils and two kinds of lidded bowls! All of it very much appreciated by us newbie parents!


(3) November gift from our Jan DTC Secret Pal. This month's theme is favorite children's music. Our pal sent a terrific cd with all the classics like B-I-N-G-O, The Bear Went Over the Mountain and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, a darling ladybug jewelry case (thank goodness -- a place to keep the little doo dads that have been accumulating on Nora's shelf!) and two Suzy's Zoo board books.


Thank you very much to our two fantastic secret pals and also to our doctor for getting those letters out so quickly!

Good Morning China!

I've written before about an amazing organization called Half the Sky Foundation, which is dedicated to improving orphanage care in China. Please take a minute to visit their site, read their story and donate if you are able. They also have a small online store that sells, among other things, this terrific limited edition picture book by the artist Hu Yong Yi. The illustrations are gorgeous. It is - I'm sure you've guessed - the latest addition to Nora's library.

Keeping Count

My Chinese is not good, but I can count to ten and today is our ten month LID anniversary!! This time last year I really thought we'd be in China for Thanksgiving this year. Now it looks like we'll be lucky to be there next summer. Things don't always go as planned, do they? The good news, I guess, is that perhaps Nora can wear that cute little Christmas dress next year.

While I'm practicing numbers, here's another one for you:It is yi1 bai3 - one hundred - and this is my 100th post to this blog!

Now that I'm thinking about it, I really should pack the Chinese CDs for our Thanksgiving car trip. That would be a good opportunity to get in a little practice.

Worth a read

I was just on the Rumor Queen's site for my daily visit and found a really helpful post about transitions and attachment. Please check it out -- click here.

A little reading material

I've set aside Barack Obama's book (fully intending to go back and finish!) to read the latest addition to our parenting bookshelf, Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew. I've just started, so if anyone else out there is thinking of reading it and wants to play book club, let me know!

While we were at Border's, I also picked up a couple of new additions for Nora's library. I'm putting a greater emphasis on board books now, since those are the ones that she'll get to "read" first. I always liked dog books when I was little, so I'm hoping that Nora will like them too!

WOO HOO!!!!!

According to the CCAA's (China Center of Adoption Affairs) website, documents logged in during the month of January 2006 are now out of review --- this means that we have PASSED CHINA'S REVIEW and are one step closer to Nora! Hang on, baby, we'll be there as soon as we can!

Cold toes, warm heart

Cold Toes. We did keep our weekend camping appointment. It was sort of funny, we stopped at the park office to register on Friday and the young woman working there called me by name. I thought she either had telepathic powers or a really excellent memory, but in reality we were THE ONLY CAMPERS and we were IN A TENT. We must be crazy. It was actually fun as long as we kept active. Yesterday we hiked with our mountain goat dog, Maddie, most of the day, not because we wanted to walk that much, but because it was too cold to just sit and read or play cards. This morning when we woke up there was a frost and it was 24 degrees - yikes! My toes are just beginning to thaw.
Warm Heart. When we got home, there was a package from our new Dec DTC secret pal. This month's theme was children's books. Our pal sent three board books, which will be so great for little, paper-tearing hands. The first one is called My Peekaboo Fun, which is a lift-the-flap book about opposites and colors. It has a lot happening on every page, I think it will be really fun to read with Nora - she can learn shapes, colors, animals, opposites! The second is called You're My Little Love Bug which has not only a sweet poem, but music, lights and a place for Nora's picture! Last, but certainly not least, is Hippos Go Berserk!, a hilarious Boyton numbers book about a lonely hippo whose party gets a little out of hand. I can't even do it justice. It's very funny. My favorite is the little beast that arrives with 6 of the hippos. He shows up on several of the pages wearing a big grin and creating mischief.

Cutie Pie

This is Nora's new kitty cat doll, found on Etsy. Her name is Cutie Pie. I first saw her a week or so ago and have been back every day to make sure that no one else has bought her. Today I broke down and ordered her. I hope she's as soft and cuddly as she looks.

Here's the description from Etsy:

Oopsy ... this doll's ears are lopsided, her nose tilts to the right. As I tossed her aside, a little girl saw, she scooped up the doll and hugged her with awe. She said, "Her nose is crooked, but don't toss her away. She is not perfect, and I LOVE her that way!" That is how alli-oopsies were born. They may not be perfect, but never mind, that just lets you know it's one of a kind!

Aww...

East Meets West

Yesterday we attended GWCA's East Meets West adoption conference in Minneapolis. It was a very nicely organized event with a number of interesting sessions about such topics as cross cultural parenting, bonding & attachment, chinese culture, community support, travel, etc.

The best session we attended was "Cross Cultural Parenting", presented by Cheri Register, author of Are Those Kids Yours?: American Families With Children Adopted From Other Countries and Beyond Good Intentions: A Mother Reflects On Raising Internationally Adopted Children. She offered a number of insightful comments such as "Listen to what your child tells you about race and racism; do not assume color-blindness." and "Stay in touch with the internationally adopted community because this will probably be where your child finds her identity". She also recommended listening to and reading the writings of adult adoptees and being prepared not to like everything you hear, but acknowleding the validity of the comments. I've been doing this already and, she's right, theirs is not an easy meassage to hear, but it is so important I think for adoptive parents to listen and learn.

Rob went to a (similar? hard to tell since I wasn't there myself) session presented by an adult adoptee and adoptive parent representing the local FCC chapter. Rob said she talked about some of the uninformed and insensitive comments that people make in the presense of children - the example she gave was her mother in law saying something really horrifying like "aren't you glad her eyes aren't very slanty?" (this said to her Korean daughter-in-law and in front of her Chinese granddaughter!) - and the need to educate friends and family in advance of receiving the baby. What she didn't say was how precisely to do this, which would have been very helpful!

We also bumped into a few people we knew at the event. Our friend Annette (hi, Annette!) introduced us to a new book called Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections. I flipped through it a bit at breakfast and it looks like a fantastic reference. Its list price is $29.95, but Amazon has it for only $19.77 ... or you could use a Borders Rewards coupon, which is probably what I'll do since it's an excuse to go to Borders.

Pandamonium!

I had the day off today (which meant that I worked a half day from home) and decided to do a little shopping in the afternoon. I found some things I wanted - gifts for my Secret Pal, actually - and was standing in line to pay. The woman in front of me had a huge basket of stuff that she was buying, so I was standing there waiting for quite a while. I was just kind of looking around, up higher than where I normally look and I saw IT - a stuffed panda on a shelf labeled "Clearance"! He's 17" tall and was marked down to $5! He came home with us. He doesn't have a stain on his belly, by the way, that's just some weird shadow that showed up in the photo. He is perfect :)

I ran the bear up to Nora's room when I got home and on my way downstairs I noticed a box on the porch -- it was the first gift from our new Jan DTC secret pal. She sent Nora a t-shirt and socks from the San Diego zoo (home of the PandaCam), a bunny stroller toy and two packages of Halloween tissues.
Thank you very much, Secret Pal! I think you told me something about yourself with this gift. I've narrowed your identity down to someone who (1) lives in SanDeigo (2) has visited SanDiego (3) knows someone in SanDiego. Let's see, who can I cross of the list of possible Secret Pals... uhm, no one. Bummer. Well, maybe next month.

Worries... and some hope

I've been reading some of the blogs of adult Korean adoptees and growing more and more concerned about my ability to make the right choices for Nora. I want her to know and appreciate her Chinese heritage, but I'm not Chinese. How do I do this? We've joined the FCC. We have a few Chinese friends (not adoptees, people who either live in China or have moved here from China as adults). Reading some of these blogs, though, I feel like even observing someone to be Chinese makes me a racist.

I was just about at my wits end, when arrives - seemingly from nowhere - an email from a co-worker who tells me that she has heard (from another coworker) that we are adopting a child from China. She goes on to tell me that she was adopted from Korea. Even better, she is actively involved with one of the local adoption agencies and is a mentor to other Korean adoptees. She is willing to share her experiences. We are going to have lunch and talk. I feel really lucky to have met her!

January DTC Secret Pal Revealed!!

It was one of those happy, box-on-the-porch kind of days at our house! It was the October gift/reveal from our January DTC Secret Pal -- Cindy P! And what an incredible gift it was -- a jack-o-lantern cap, Halloween bib, Thanksgiving bib, soap leaves, stroller hooks and the cutest flower onesie (with pretty flutter sleeves that unfortunately don't show in the photo) and khaki skirt with a "Cutie" applique.

Thank you so much Cindy for being such a wonderful secret pal! I hope we have a chance to meet in China!

Back to Borders

It has been weeks since we've been to Borders. Seriously. WEEKS. At least three. I hadn't even seen the October issue of British Ideal Home¹.

So, today, armed with Nora's book list and the latest coupons from the Borders Rewards email, off we went. Rob missed the turn. Understandable, since we hadn't been there in so long. Finally we arrived and found it just as wonderful as we remembered. We drank coffee and read magazines. I bought Nora a book, The Story About Ping, and a cd, Sing Along With Putumayo. It was a lovely afternoon.

¹ Ideal Home is my absolute favorite decorating magazine. I never buy it, but I read it every time we go to Borders. The pictures are great, but it's a little frustrating that none of the products are available in the US. If I ever move to the UK, though, boy will I know where to shop.

First October Bibs!

Today we received the most incredible bibs and burb cloths from Dee -- she embroidered them herself with Nora's name! Aren't they adorable?! Thank you so much, Dee!

Thank you Cris!

The January DTC group is doing single month theme swaps in addition to the secret pals exchange, which is more of an on-going thing. There have been a few of them, but so far I've only participated in two - the hair bobber swap from a couple of months back and, most recently, a blanket/lovey swap.

It was a nice swap for me because I shopped for Karen (who I've known quite a while from the OHGWQ group) and my shopper was Cris who I've been co-hosting the December Secret Pals exchange with. Sort of fun to get matched with people you "know"!

Cris sent Nora the softest pink blankie with satin binding. It's just the sort of thing you know a baby would love. The textures are incredible. Thank you so much Cris, I know Nora will love it!

Family Fun

I've decided that tent camping would be a fun family activity. Since we aren't really campers, we're trying to find some good spots nearby and get in a little practice before attempting it with Nora. Rob and I have camped twice in the past month and have another reservation for late this month (I'm a little afraid that we might get a taste of winter camping with that one!) . Gradually we're figuring out what we need to make this work - for example, we now have a screen porch and better cookware and are looking for a bigger tent (our little 3-man dome barely fits the two of us and the dog).

Speaking of Maddie, this is working out great for her. Lots of walks in the woods and an endless supply of squirrels to chase. Doesn't she look at home in the wilderness??

December Secret Pal Revealed!!

For many months, I've been receiving the most wonderful, thoughtful gifts from our December Secret Pal and trying very hard not to do too much detective work based on postage that looks like this (and why is everybody else's postage so much more interesting than mine??).

Finally, today the reveal arrived and -- it's Nana in Denmark! Obviously I knew my pal was in Europe (although today's postage was the first with a really obvious country stamp), but luckily there are a few people on the list in Europe -even a couple in Denmark- so I really didn't know for sure who she was until today.

Oh -- and Nora's September gift is a gorgeous beaded barette (very sparkly and fancy!!) and sweet lady bug bracelet, just the right size for a little girl.


Thank you so much, Nana, for all the fun gifts and encouragement. You've been a terrific pal, I'm very lucky!

P.S. The card had ducks on it! I don't think I've mentioned this here, but when I was 3 or 4 we had a pet duck named TD ("The Duck"). I could swear that he lived in a box under the kitchen table, but I could be wrong about that. Steve or Mark, if you read this, could you click on the comment link below this message and give me the lowdown on why we had a duck under the table?

Update: Nana posted to the list that she bought the ladybug bracelet in Venice, Italy in a local shop specializing in children's jewelry. Isn't that a great story?? And how wonderful that there exists a place where there are shops specializing in children's jewelry! Somebody please remind me to make sure this gets in Nora's scrapbook so she knows the story behind her ladybug bracelet!

Spend much time on the computer?

After spending an embarrassing amount of time on the computer, I finally hit the wall. I don't know if it was life, work or general weariness with the "wait" - or some combination of all three - but I've had ZERO interest in any of my online China waiting family stuff for several weeks.

This is Gaily (aka Abigail) and my laptop. As you can see, she spends more time "on" the computer than I do!