"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
As if one fabulous baby shower was not enough, I spent yesterday at ANOTHER fabulous baby shower for Sproutie.
I am completely astounded by the group of spectacular women I have somehow managed to collect throughout the years. I was surrounded with friends from high school, college, law school, old jobs, the current job, friends of the family, family members - you name it.
The one thing they ALL had in common? They are all truly outstanding women - smart, accomplished, powerful, funny, wonderful, wise, generous.
Every single one of them. (Seriously - no slackers.)
I spent much of the time at the shower just marveling at this assembly of women, and being gobsmacked that they were there for me and the Sprout.
Last night as I was falling asleep (or trying to) I kept thinking about the whole "it takes a village to raise a child" thing.
If this is my village, then Sproutie and I are truly blessed.
Best wishes to all of you my beloved readers, for a happy, healthy, and prosperous year in 2008.
And if you are venturing out this evening, be safe!
(look, the mommy worry gene is already kicking in!)
Me, I'm staying very much IN tonight with a warm dog and a stack of Netflix DVDs. Woo hoo! (Gosh I'm boring...)
Much love,
chou-chou
OK, now that I've slept (well, not much, really - laid there with my mind running circles until the wee hours), I can relay more info about the Sprout.
She is 4 months old, and from southern Ethiopia – a small town called Aleta Wendo (about 40 miles south of Awassa) in the Sidama region. (Here's a map.)
She is 10 lbs, 13 ounces and 23.2 inches tall. (Very small for U.S. growth charts but quite normal on the Ethiopian charts). The International Adoption pediatrician checked out her info and told me last night that she looks like an “excellent baby”. Woo hoo! (I already knew that of course.)
I got the call telling me about her yesterday afternoon, although her information arrived at my adoption agency on Christmas Day (Merry Christmas to ME!). How very amazing that Christmas turned out to be the day.
Yesterday, I was wrapping up the visit with my mother, who had flown down for the baby shower and Christmas. I was getting ready to leave the house to drive her to the airport – we were almost out the door when the phone rang. Mom sat down when I gestured wildly to her that this was THE CALL.
To my mother’s mortification, my response to the adoption agency person when she told me she was about to give me the big news was “are you SHITTING me?!!?!?!?!” (I’m so polished, no?)
I blathered on a lot, and I think I asked a bunch of questions, but I can't remember much of that conversation at all - I was just kind of in shock. Will have to call the agency tomorrow and try again. :-)
So…. what comes next?
I don’t get to go to Ethiopia just yet, I’m afraid. First, the attorney who works with my adoption agency goes to court over there on my behalf to formalize the adoption under Ethiopian law – I’ll let you know my court date, but it will likely be in late January or early February.
Then I wait my turn to get the all-important embassy date, at which I must appear in person with Sproutie at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa. That will likely be in late February or (more likely) early March, but I won't know exactly when until after the court proceedings are finished. This date will determine when I will travel to go get the Sprout!
Please keep Sproutie in your prayers so that she stays healthy and happy, and that the court date is successful so that I can officially become her mother.
Guess whose referral arrived at the agency office on Christmas Day???
I present to you - the Sprout:
*** PHOTOS TEMPORARILY REMOVED***
(More data soon, but wanted my bloggy family to get to see Sproutie in all her glory right away. Just found out a few hours ago...)
I am completely, utterly, ridiculously smitten.
(did you see the dimples???? I mean, really.)
I am better at giving than getting. Not that I'm morally superior - oh no. It's in fact quite a humiliating part of my personality, I'm afraid.
I love giving gifts to people - it makes me feel good. But, also, it satisfies some tiny gremlin in my psyche and makes me feel safer in relationships because who wouldn't like a gift-giving kind of person? The gremlin figures, who wouldn't want to be my friend if I'm the generous type? Better seal the deal by making sure that is always the case.
That gremlin is no longer (thank God) the driving force behind gifts for me and it's been pretty quiet since my childhood years. But it's still lurking there, waiting and watching, and I am realizing it keeps track of the overall karmic balance in my relationships.
And when that karmic balance tips too far, that little pyscho gremlin speaks up.
And, I have been blessed lately with many situations when the karmic balance is out of whack. Witness the baby shower – the first of TWO that I’m going to have, which is so lovely and also slightly extravagant. All those people getting together to celebrate my impending mommyhood, giving me gifts. Definitely fuel for the gremlin.
Last night, the gremlin spoke up again. I went to dinner at the home of Paige and Albert, two incredible people who have been ridiculously generous to me. Paige is a superstar by just about any measure.
They invited me, my mom and my sister to dinner (my sister was ill and couldn’t make it), and you should have seen the spread! It was asbsolutely gorgeous, and Paige had to be cooking for DAYS to pull off that meal. Three soups. THREE. And two deserts – both extraordinary. And little mittens as placeholders that Paige made herself, matched with individual little wreaths that her 8 year-old son made himself. It was stunning.
And then they gave me a truly humongous CRATE of gifts for me and for Sproutie. This, on top of a gazillion gorgeous hand-me-downs from their amazing daughter (who came home from Ethiopia in March).
The karmic balance is now so far out of kilter I cannot even imagine how to get it back. There is no quid in the pro quo, if you know what I mean. The gremlin is having a field day.
Paige and Albert have been so generous, I truly don't know what to do with myself. Or with them.
And, as I wrote in an email to her this morning, I guess all I can do is be incredibly grateful for wonderful friends (I am!). (And cry quietly into my herb tea that they are moving away – nooooooooooooooo!)
And work on my humility (which needs work).
And tell the gremlin to SHUT THE F@*K UP and just trust that it is truly OK to let someone else have the karmic favor for once.
And say THANK YOU, thank you, thank you.
The family baby shower hosted by my sister was today - it was so much fun!!
I (finally) got over my weirdness about not having a referral, and had a great time.
I got tons of really thoughtful lovely things, including a handknit blanket from my mom, some great books, receiving blankets, clothes, toys, etc. etc. etc.
And, one of the coolest things was that everyone at the shower wrote in a little notebook that my sister created (using the shower invite she made as a front cover). In it, they each wrote a bit of parenting advice - some serious, some funny, but all wonderful!
I am so blessed.
Photos are here in slideshow form (hope this works) for those who want to see...
Nice #1 OK, y’all are so nice!! Thank you so much for the encouraging words and lovely comments on my last post, and for not making me feel like a whiney spoiled brat stamping her petulant foot, which I kind of suspect I am.
Nice #2 My fabulous sister is hosting a small baby shower for me this weekend. My mom is coming into town and we’re having some family members get together at my sister’s house for a shower. She planned the whole thing, sent out hand-made invitations, and everything. SUPER nice.
Crazy: I think the shower tomorrow makes me extra freaked out about not having a referral. I realized last night that I feel GUILTY attending a baby shower for me and not havin
g a referral. Guilty!!!
Part of me feels like it’s my responsibility and I've screwed it up by not getting it done in time. I'm verging on full-on crazy.
Hallelujah!
The President of Sudan has pardoned British teacher Gillian Gibbons, and she is safely on her way home.
(For anyone who doesn't know, she is a teacher in Khartoum, who allowed the students in her class to vote on the name of the class mascot, a teddy bear. The children voted for "Mohammed". She was subsequently arrested and charged with insulting Islam and inciting hatred. Craziness.)
Read more about it here.
Several families I know found out today that their cases made it through court in Addis Ababa, and they are now officially parents!! So exciting.
Even better, several of them are traveling at Christmas time to pick up their new kids - what a great holiday gift.
Jen and Lionel are one of these lucky families - they are great people who live about 1 1/2 hours from me... go on over to their blog and congratulate them on their new daughter, Amara.
Hi y'all.
As I have mentioned previously, I am on a quest to get more healthy for Sproutie. (AKA, Project Gabby.)
I want to have lots of energy and be as fit as I can when she arrives. And also I want to *comfortably* fit in those horrible airplane seats for the loooong trip to Addis and back. And, I admit it, I also want to be a hottie more attractive and comfortable in my own skin. I want to verge on hottie-ness. :-)
I'm moving along, but it has been slow going so far - but I have plans to ramp it up. Now.
I'm looking for a few inspirational quotes or ideas that I can post for myself... I want to focus on becoming, not on losing. Growth and health and moving forward.
My new favorite, which I just ran across this morning, is a Poem, called "Risk", by Anais Nin:
Risk
Today I met a very nice woman named Lisa who is adopting a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. Her daughter is now 11 months old, so has grown out of some of the baby clothes that Lisa has.
And so she kindly gave them to me.
Added to the tremendous stuff that Paige has given me, I now have quite the pile of cutey clothes for Sprout!!
I love that this community of adopters is so generous. And I absolutely plan on passing my stuff down to someone who comes behind me.
Cheesy but true - I believe in that Pay it Forward stuff.
I'm back! And holy cow - I missed you guys!
I will write something a little more meaningful and longer (and even interesting!) later, but just wanted to give the internets a little wave hello.
I forgot to report that at the end of last week, yet another waiting person – the fabulous Kate in Seattle, got her referral.
Her little girl is itty bitty. She’s two months old and about 6 ½ pounds right now. Can you imagine? I am so so happy for Kate and hoping that she gets to travel before Christmas.
No photos yet, but if Kate posts any publicly, I’ll link to ‘em for you!!
Here's the part that makes my heart go pitty pat - I think the number of people ahead of my at my agency is now very very small.OK, not really, but it's raining REFERRALS!!!
Head on over and congratulate Jen and Lionel on their super fantastic news.
Then, click over to see Diane's fabulous announcement.
At least one other family I know of received their referral in the last week, too!
You know what's extra great?? They are ALL with my agency, so it's doubly-exciting (means I'm getting just a schoosh closer to my own referral!!) We don't really go in order, but this just means the total number of people waiting is down by at least 3... and it means the referral pipeline is definitely moving.
Also, stop on by to see Anna and Ben's double-whammy. They aren't with my agency, but still.
Yay!!
Check me out!
My superstar friend and all-around spectacular person Clare made me this header. It helps that in real life, she's a fine artist and professional label designer, so she knows what the hell she's doing.
Do you love it?
I luuuuuuuuuuuuurve it.
I was thrilled to find out today (thanks, Paige!) that TWO people who are using the same adoption agency as I am got their referrals this week - and in both cases they waited 5 months.
That is such great news, because I've been secretly (OK, not very secretly) really counting on getting my referral by Christmas. It's the one thing I have told everyone and I tell myself, too, when I start to spin out about how long I might have to wait.
But, I've been seeing some looooong referral waits out there and have started to quietly despair that I might be waiting much longer than I thought. And I'm telling you, if Christmas comes and goes with no referral for me, I will be in a bad place.
But then I got the great news of the two relatively short referral waits, and that has both buoyed my spirits AND made me impatient all over again. :-)
You probably also noticed that I changed the template of this blog - mostly because I think the dark background/light lettering is a lot easier to read. But stay tuned, I might change it again at any time... I'm like that.
This is an amazing, humbling, powerful thing to watch. You will not believe what this mobile-phone salesman is capable of.
(turn your sound ON!)
