A Blast From The Past

Do you remember this?!?!?!?

Cabbage Patch Dolls!

My sister and I both had them, and I can't remember what hers looked like or what mine looked like. I keep looking at pictures of them online (from the 1980's) and I keep thinking "That one was mine!" "No, it's THAT one!"

One thing I do remember is this: my next door neighbour had just got one for Christmas. (Remember? It was all the rage to adopt a CB Kid!) And the best part was finding out what it was! We didn't know the gender - we had to check the birth certificate!

So we put the birth certificate in a bowl of water, so the film would dissolve, and then we found out the gender - it was a _________ (I can't even remember hers!). I thought the gender reveal was amazing!

So I decided to take a look at the Cabbage Patch Kids website.

At first, I wasn't sure what to think. It takes such grown-up material and makes it cute. It makes an orphanage seem like a fun, happy place. 

And then I realized I was looking through bitter, infertility glasses. They tend to make a person cynical.

So I looked again. And I found a whole new perspective. Perhaps I chose a whole new perspective.

It puts a wonderful spin on adoption. It also tries to make it "cute" enough to appeal to kids. That's right Boys and Girls - adoption is cool.

And finally:

 

Thoughts on Parenting by Adoption

Between our two work schedules life has hectic, but good. This weekend was a (now rare) 2 whole days free together. Quite often I (Pam) will be coming off a night shift Saturday morning or working a day shift on Sunday. It was a wonderful treat.

Sunday afternoon I was off to enjoy some time with a few girlfriends (again, very rare these days). There would be 3 other women and their 4 children. Of the children, 3 were in the 2 - 4 age range.

I couldn't help but think, on the drive there, about how wonderful it will be to have our own Little One to take and share in the fun with the group. Now, this isn't a new thought - this is a thought that has been on my mind since before we were ready to try for a family, but this time if was different. We may very well have a Little One to join in come this time next year.

What a wonderful thought! How miraculous and amazing - a dream that we can realize!

Then I began to picture it in my mind. Our wonderful child, in the car seat on the way over, looking out the windows at the ocean that stretches out forever. Our child, hopping out of the car and reaching his/her small and delicate hand to mine to guide them.

What would it be like? Would s/he run and play and race and squeal with delight with the other children?

No, I don't suppose they will. At least, not at first.

There are some defences that become learnt behaviours as a child grows up in orphanage conditions. There's no fault to be had; the defences are simply product of circumstance.

Children from orphanages often have few-to-no possessions of their own, particularly at a young age before they can protect, preserve and defend their own. But they try. They always try. Leave a snack, a toy or a teddy unguarded and it can be gone.

So they learn to do what they can to keep what they have. If you have a toy, put it behind your back to guard it. If you have a treat to eat, don't let anyone get close enough to take it away.

These are justified, normal and expected behaviours.

Taking turns and sharing is new. Giving something to someone else doesn't make sense. Then being able to have it back makes even less sense.

Our child will be new to our life, new to Canada and new to this world in so many ways. S/he will face many hurdles, which we will help them over. There will be many difficulties that other children simply won't have, but with work, patience and love we will all get through, and likely be much stronger for it.

Parenting by adoption is unique. But then so are we. So I think it suits.

Finance Friday & This Week's Re-cap

What a week!

It's Friday night and we are both very tired! It's been a long week at work for both of us, but we've managed to get quite a bit done as well!

We made it through this week's medical appointments a little worse for wear but still okay - we're getting tired of these! But, alas, we have (many) more to come so at least it's for a good reason!

Adam ordered his new passport, so once that comes in the agency will be able to start our paperwork. (We need to have the passport # for every document).

We did find out this week that another couple from the same agency got a multiple entry Visa granted, which we didn't think was a possibility, so this is good! Since you only get a couple of weeks notice to travel, not having to worry about a new Visa every time will be much easier!

I (Pam) had my individual interview for our home study today. I was a little nervous and a little scared beforehand, but our Social Worker is such a nice lady. She's easy to talk to and really nice. She has a quality that puts you at ease, which is a treasure during this process. I can't discuss the details, but it was pretty much what I expected, and not nearly as scary as I had thought.

Finance Friday

We've had orders for 13 bottle of Vanilla so far!!!!

This is a fantastic start and we are thrilled by the support of everyone.

Miniature Update

Today has been a good day!

Today saw the first couple sales of our Homemade Vanilla Extract. We're so excited!

We also received some of medical paperwork in the mail, and I (Pam) picked up my employment verification letters from my HR Dept.

And our agency registration made it to the agency!

Up This Week

• Medicals (Pam, Adam, and then Pam AND Adam)
• Adam orders his new passport
• Pam's individual interview with the social worker
• Waiting for the things-to-do-to-get-started email from the agency (eek!)
• Sell more Vanilla!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

I would also like to recognize the wonderful arrival of Arie to the Adding A Burden Family. Jillian and John picked up their son today and her blog post is just wonderful to read (it had me tearing up!). Jillian has been wonderful at guiding her readers through the Russian Adoption Process, and we wish her and her family all the best!

I encourage you to read about their big day on her blog: http://www.addingaburden.com/2012/11/oh-look-what-god-has-done.html

Get Your Vanilla Here!

Hello everyone!

We'll have a few different items to sell in the coming months, but the first one is ready to go!

 Homemade Vanilla Extract!

4 oz.

Price: $10.00 CAD

Great Stocking Stuffer!

For now we're only offering this in HRM, Truro and the Annapolis Valley. We're still trying to figure out a shipping method that isn't too expensive for us or our customers/supporters. We'll keep you posted.

Please EMAIL us to place an order @ pamandadamadopt@gmail.com 

Also, thank you to those who have shown us support. We appreciate it!

Welcome Family & Friends!

As you know, we announced our adoption plan on Facebook last night. We're very excited!

We're also thrilled to have you with us on this journey. Please feel free to ask us anything about our adoption. We're very happy and ready to spread the word!

A lot of your questions can be answered on this site, so take a minute and look around. And most of all, thank you for your support!

Hey, it's Adam's first post!

This week we have completed our paperwork for the local Social Worker, except we are still going through a few medical appointments. At the same time though, the social worker is being super-helpful and letting us go through the homestudy interview process. Pam and I have our individual appointments all set.

We have received tons of donations that will be going to the Russian orphanage. We also went to the Mic Mac Mall Zellers clearance sale yesterday and bought out a bunch of shoes, since we heard that the orphanages are sometimes short shoes (which makes sense, because shoes aren't something that people donate much...). Which means we now have these:

We also bought one of these on a great sale:

And tonight I also posted our announcement of adoption on facebook for those who we hadn't told early in the process (hi new people!).

Tonight we sent the first of our paperwork to the agency in Toronto too - Pam is excited - she always loves mailing things:

After all the time we spent trying, it's awesome (and a little weird) to be making actual recognizable progress towards getting a child!

Oh, and the cats were very well behaved getting their shots tonight. Good job little guys!

First Round of Paperwork

. . . . . .  is being handed in tomorrow morning! (With the exception of our medicals).

Adam has an appointment with the doctor tomorrow for another step in his medical clearance, and I'll be picking up another donation tomorrow afternoon.

Also, a nurse I work with gave us a wonderfully large bag of clothes.

Progress!

Donations & Shopping & Fun!

Last night we had a wonderful night.

We got more donations (our second bunch) and again the woman was very nice.

Warm Little Mittens!

Then we went out to do a little window shopping. We need to piece together a child's bedroom after Christmas and we aren't too sure what we want, so we took a little look around. And I couldn't resist buying a couple little items that we will need no matter what.

 

And then we had a wonderful dinner at my favourite restaurant to celebrate my birthday last week. And I got presents! Adam lavished me with a beautiful card, day at the spa and a calender of Russia! 

 

Today we had a early morning blood work (*yawn*) follow by another appointment with our doctor for forms. In between, however, we managed to slip in a nice breakfast. Adam was tired and playful.

And then I (Pam) spent 4 hours (yup, 4) working on a questionnaire for the home study. 

So far so good here!

Orphanage Donations!

One thing that adoptive parents will often do when adopting from Russia is gather items for an orphanage donation.

These items can be (but ofcourse are not limited to):

• Warm Clothing
• Shoes
• Snow pants, snowsuits and winter jackets
• Hats, mittens

Another couple over at Adding A Burden have identified the following as the most needed items:

• Children’s Tylenol and Children’s Advil
• Neosporin and Benadryl Skin Cream
• Expectorants and Antihistamines
• Disinfectants
• Children’s Allergy Medicines
• Multi-Vitamins
• First Aid Dressing Materials
• Desitin

So Adam and I decided to put an ad on Kijiji asking for donations of clothing. You can see the add here.

Well, we asked and someone already answered! A lovely lady with a new baby at home got in touch offering us some warm clothes that her Little One has already out grown or hasn't worn. We went over tonight to pick the items up and when we got home and opened the bag we were shocked at her generosity!

And look at this adorable moose hat! I would love to keep it for our Little One but it would be too small. So we'll take it to Russia as a little token of Canada!

Perhaps Aunty could make one . . . ?

Also today, I received the 4 (FOUR!!!) original birth certificates I had to order. They have a lot of security features in them and it makes them look so pretty! It doesn't look like a fundamental legal document at all!

Next on the list is paperwork (yes, there's more), blood work on doctor appointments on Thursday and officially registering with our agency!

Medicals For The Whole Family!

Hello everyone!

Part of the paperwork process is getting a lot of medical information on paper and having your physician sign off on it.

In our case, being Nova Scotians adopting from Russia with a Ontarian adoption agency there is a lot of forms needed!

First thing - the basics!

So, being as we very rarely have time off at the same time, we both booked a vacation day on my birthday. And what's a more special way to celebrate a *cough* 29th *cough* birthday than to get needles!

(I get a laugh out of this pic!)

So we are all up to date with our shots now, and only need to get the one for Cholera & Traveller's Diarrhea within a couple weeks of travel. We also got a great deal of reference material that has some good info it for international travel.

 

And then it was off to meet a friend for coffee at Tim Horton's. They always have great fun with us and on this day we stuck on Adam!

Our next medical appointment was with our family doctor. As it turns out getting this paperwork finished up will take 3 appointments each, plus blood work in between (which takes about 2 weeks to come back). So we hope to have that completed by the end of the month.

But for fun, here's a pic of Adam on the exam table :)

And for the other members of the family, they have an appointment for shots next week! As you can tell, they are thrilled . . .

November!!!

It's November! Yay!

Also, it's Adoption Awareness Month!