Love me some monkey!

Little Owen Danh and his sweet mommy and daddy presented me with this precious little Vietnamese monkey for Benjaminh. Owen demonstrated that he loves him some stuffed monkey with slobbery open mouth kisses of joy. I can hardly wait to get a photo of the 4 little ones clutching their monkey loves close to their hearts (and their slobbery mouths apparently).

One baby home, 3 more to go.

A reason to wait

Here, my bloggy friends, is a wonderful reason to wait.

His name is Owen. I met him at nearly 11 pm local time.

He is the son of my friends, Ange and Gavin, over at http://www.theroadtovietnam.blogspot.com/

He is home.

Forever.

I believe in Benjaminh

I do, I do, I do believe in Benjaminh.

Deep down inside, when I'm thinking of my little guy (which is practically every waking and sleeping moment) , he is there. He is wiggling restlessly in his hammock waiting for a turn to be cuddled and fed and changed and cared for. Perhaps he is being held gently in the arms of his special nanny. Some days the sun is shining and the orphanage is warm and comfortable. On other days it is overcast and humid and cooler winds blow across the open window into the baby room. But he is always there. He is sleeping or eating or playing with his hands or smiling at his nanny. He is living the life of a baby boy. He doesn't know he is waiting.

I'm waiting and boy do I know it. Some days I'm good at it and some days I'm not. 3 babies will arrive home to Canada this Saturday and you better believe I will be at the airport counting the seconds until the very moment I see Owen, a sweet baby boy destined to be Benjaminh's friend (Oh, I'm also looking forward to seeing Owen's mom and dad ;- }

5 new referrals are out there and those 5 families have grown both in size and love during the past week. That's 8. 8 steps closer to Benjaminh. The higher the number of referred babies, the shorter my wait for Ben. And wait loss is a beautiful thing.

Adoption Trailer

My dear friend Ange is over in Vietnam pacing back and forth through her hotel lobby waiting for the van that will take her to a destination I've come to call Mommyville. Gavin is certainly pacing right alongside Ange on his way to Daddyville. Perhaps they are weepy, for in 10 minutes, if all goes according to plan number 2, they will leave for their Giving and Receiving Ceremony. Owen will soon be theirs forever and ever. Pictures of this joyous event will be viewed from far and wide when North America wakes up tomorrow morning (here's hoping they post promptly!). Take a minute to visit www.theroadtovietnam.blogspot.com

While this is unfolding in the chilly daylight of Northern Vietnam the rest of us are waiting at home with baited breath. This is it. This is the agency's chance to show those of us left in the program 15 months after licensing that adoptions will be completed. Families will be built. That waiting the endless wait will be worth it in the end. The 3 babies being received today are the beginning...I'm going to be sleeping with my fingers crossed and all of my bedtime prayers will be for Ange, Gavin and beautiful little Owen.

In the meantime I am an emotional train wreck. Yesterday was the big 14 month marker since I was DTV. The date I believe my agency is actually using to assign referrals to families is what I call the "registration" date, or the "sign this agreement and write a check date". January 27th will mark the 18th month since I registered. I have no idea when my turn to travel to Mommyville will come. I'm obsessed with the math of it all, trying to figure out x and y without knowing the value of a and b. The agency tells us nothing... a few, soon, close, a number. Words without value.

The thing with value right now are the minutes. 10 of them. Until the real journey begins and that sweet boy joins his mommy and daddy forever. The rest of this has just been the movie trailer.

Preparing the Nest for Baby B

I've spent much of my adult life dreaming of the day I would become a mommy. I've spent all of the last 19 months gathering, sorting, regifting and washing stuff. mountains of stuff. really big mountains of stuff. Enough stuff to clothe a small rural Vietnamese village filled only with children birth to 6 years of age. I have purchased only a few items. The incredible generosity (or closet purging) of friends has left B needing nothing. I thought I would use my little point and shoot camera to demonstrate that of which I speak...

Here is a series of photos of the little outfits I have purchased for Benjaminh. Light, cotton, two pieces. Perfect for Vietnam travel.

I have dedicated myself to the virtue of restraint. Practicing restraint. Always.

(except last night when I was eating a mocha chocolate lava sundae thing with the waiting mommies group...but I digress)

This photo shows the contents of the large storage bin dedicated to size 12 months.

18 sleepers, 20+ onesies, 20 pairs of pants , various coordinated outfits, sweaters, hoodies, etc...

I have a bins just like this for 3m, 6m, 9 m, 18m, 24m+size 2, size 3, size 4, and sizes 5+6.
It is completely and utterly out of control. And I love it.

Benjaminh's summer hats were not able to be present for today's photo sessin as they are winging their way to Vietnam right now with Ange and Gavin from theroadtovietnam.blogspot.com

Watch for Benjaminh's hats on baby Owen when he is revealed early this week!

Photo Phun Coming Your Way Soon!

I got a cute little diaper bag digital camera for Christmas. It is a Canon A570. As a die-hard SLR user the digital SLR caught my eye but the size just did not make the cut. I wanted something I could easily carry around with me when little B starts filling up my carrying space... This little camera will be just right for snapshots and I can always use my Nikon for the special at home photo shoots that are sure to occur often.

I'll leave you with a summer shot of my puppy love, Boomer (a couple of years ago). This is a SLR shot. No digital shots will be coming your way until I get the programs uploaded and play around a bit first.

I'm going to break in the digital at a little waiting mamas spa day on Saturday (after we've had all of our beautifying treatments of course!).

Stay tuned.

Snow, apple cider and a shallow novel...

I've been shovelling, all day long, and frankly I've had enough. It is time to drink some hot apple cider and read a shallow, smutty novel.

The driveway is clear at this very minute and if I had to go to school at 7:50 pm I'd definitely make it. The wind is howling and the driveway may very well cease to exist by 6am. I have 240 sick days saved up. If the driveway disappears it will make me feel very nauseous and I may need to take a day off.

Boom loves the snow. He whines at the door to go out and once out in the back yard he burrows around with his head under the 45 cms of snow (18 inches for my American readers) looking for his lost treasures. Chewed up tennis balls mostly. My neighbour took a few cute shots of Boom frolicking in the snow today. Just for a bit of perspective, that sign is hidden amongst the upper branches of two young trees for much of the year!

In adoption related news the first 3 families with referrals from my agency have tentative travel dates for mid January. Bring on the babies! It is my dearest wish that wee B is waiting for me by the time they travel so that I can get some early photos of the little dude. I may not know who he is yet so I hope they take pictures of all of those precious little babies waiting patiently for their forever families.

On that note, yesterday marked 13 months since DTV. I'm going to buy wee B his first Christmas story this week to celebrate this milestone. On another family's adoption blog I read about an idea I loved...wrap 25 winter/holiday stories and have the child pick one to unwrap each day of December leading up to Christmas day. That book collection is well on it's way as I have a very serious book buying syndrome but I figure I need about 10 more stories. I'm taking suggestions in the comment section. What is your favourite holiday story? Name a new one and an old classic if you can.