Christmas 2008

What a great time our Christmas break has been. Staying up late, eating WAY too much food, watching movies and so much more. We are at my husbands parents place in Lethbridge. We went skating today with Jayden and she had a hoot showing off to the grandparent and aunties and uncles. The cousins went home a couple days ago, leaving with the flu, that my daughter gave to them! oppsies, guess the sharing of the recorder wasn't the best idea.

It has been a good time to reflect on the past year and realise what a great year it has been. A few trips have been had, lots of family memories, fun at Clearwater lake and the cabin, Jayden starting school, a great harvest, and so much more.

The other thing that makes me glad is I am almost certain that this will be the last Christmas with it being just the three of us. I pray that this adoption process speeds up a bit and we find out who our daughter from Ethiopia is. All of our family is ready for our new addition. So here's to our last Christmas being Adam, Krista and Jayden Lawson.

Cheers

Elvis was in the house!!!!

Okay...so I took a little more than a few hours to be grumpy about my phone call with CAFAC. I took a few days. Let me fill you in on what got me to change my "Grumpy, I want to know who my daughter is" status.....

Last night was my sister's Christmas party. My sister Penney is handicapped, and lives in a group home during the week. Every Christmas they have their annual Christmas party. I wish all of you could attend, but she only can invite 2 guests. Of course my mom goes and now that my dad is passed away, his spot goes to one of us sisters.(there are 3 of us). This year was my turn.

To start it off, as soon as I walked in the door, and I mean hardly both feet were in the door, one of the girls who really has taken a liking to me, Rosemary, spots me and runs at me and gives me a huge hug and tells me she has new shoes. And that it's the Christmas party so she needed new shoes to dance! It was a great way to start the evening. Then to open the party up, the lady who helps with activities coordinated my sisters group to shake bells to the song Jingle Bells(very appropriate I would say!). My sister loves loud noises and had a great time and laughed the whole way thru. It was a hoot.

The meal was great, then time for their Christmas bonus. Now each of us has a different mind set of what "Bonus" means, but for them it is an envelope with 5-5$bills in it. You should have seen how excited they were. One guy raised his hands in the air, as if he won a gold metal as everyone cheered for Malcolm. Then Perry got high fives from his whole row when he got his envelope. The next girl kissed her envelope and pointed to her mom. It was great. What would you do if you got an envelope of 25 dollars?

Now to the dance. To kick it off "Elvis" made his entrance. It is a man who works in another town with handicapped kids who has done an awesome job. He sings(very much like Elvis) and has 2 of the clients follow him around the floor, and they are the body guards. Then Santa made his appearance and danced with Elvis and passed out goodie bags. Then the dancing started. It was great. The highlight of the night was my dance with Malcolm. He loves to dance. He has been waiting for the Christmas dance since last year! This particular song only about 5 people were dancing and everyone was sitting around the dance floor. Malcolm started to "scan" the crowd, doing "Elvis" hip movements and had his arm outstretched and was pointing as he went around the circle. When his finger was "scanned" at me, he turns his pointed finger over and starts doing the "come here" motion and says "Come here baby!!!!!" It was so cute. So of course I danced with him and it was a hoot. The bird dance was also a big hit.

So this kicked my negative attitude to the curb! All the people there are so happy and had the best night. It shows me the true meaning of Christmas. They were overwhelmed with receiving 25 dollars as a gift. They were excited when their friends also received their gifts. They danced with everyone, not just their friends, they included all who were there. They truly believed that Elvis was at their party. What a great way to get my spirits back up.

Thanks Penney for inviting me to the Christmas Party. Too bad it's Ronda's turn next year. Oh which doesn't matter anyhow, cause when Perry found out that I might not be able to come because there wasn't enough room, he told me that he will invite me to sit at his table, cause he has an extra seat....

Cheers

Not what I wanted to hear.....

I had to call our adoption agency CAFAC today to ask some questions about our application for our daughters Canadian Citizenship. I got my answers that I needed and I thought, I'm just gonna ask.....

Me..."So those people who are getting their referrals lately,....when did their dossier get to Ethiopia"
Her..."I'm not sure....let me go ask someone who knows. Just hold on"

So as I'm on hold, my mind is thinking, I bet it's the ones whose dossier arrived in Ethiopia in about Dec of 2007. Maybe Nov of 07, but I'm pretty sure it is Dec of 07. My heart gets a little excited cause we would be getting close to the top of the pile.....

Her..."Hi, I'm back. So those who have just gotten their referrals sent their dossier to Ethiopia in August of 2007. Does that answer your question?"
Me.... "Oh yes it does, thanks. Have a good day."

Really. August of 2007. Are you kidding me. So 5 months from now is.......mid May 2009, when we possibly would hear who our daughter is. Then 4-6 months until we can go pick her up. So that is......Oct-Nov until we may have our daughter home here with us. Seriously...That phone conversation is not what I wanted to hear. I know that they have told us once our dossier arrives in Ethiopia, it can be between 8-14 months. I guess I just have always banked on the 12 month wait. Right in the middle.

I know I shouldn't be so negative right now, but this sucks.......I will give myself a couple hours to dwell in my disappointment, then I will post something I'm "suppose to say," but don't feel like saying right now.

Daydreaming

I found this poem on a fellow adoption bloggers blog post(does that make sense?) It has so many "truths" to it. I thought that I would share it with you.

Daydreaming...
I stepped into her room today
Knowing she’s not there
This waiting for referral
Is more than one can bear

But taking in the moment
I sit down on the floor
And dream of her here with me
When waiting is no more.

A little giggle fills the air
As I rub her feet
I place my hand upon her heart
To feel its every beat.

A song is sung so very soft
Her eyes begin to close
She’s meeting me in dream land
A place where love still grows.

My vision now is very blurred
The tears stream down my cheeks
I’ve dreamed of her quite often
Throughout these past few weeks.

Suddenly a sound is heard
The phone rings in the hall
Waking up I quickly pray
Please let it be “The Call”.
By Tom Fisher

Those of you who know me, understand that I probably haven't cried over the wait, or the dreaming, but the wonder and dreaming about our daughter is definitely true. Wondering what she will look like. Will she have curly hair, what shape will her nose be, will she be walking already, or will she still be on a bottle. Will she nestle her head in my shoulder, like Jayden did, when she is tired. All these things I think about.

I am thinking about these things more and more, I guess since obviously our date to get the referral call gets closer day by day. But there is not much I can do, so I will keep myself busy in other ways! Christmas concerts, Christmas parties, hockey practises....life keeps busy..

Anyhow I must go.......the phone is ringing!!!!

Cheers