Brian's mom

We have sad news. Brian's mom passed away a week ago Friday, only two months and a day after his dad. She had been sick on and off for a long time and went into the hospital with severe pneumonia on the Friday before Mother's Day. About a week later, they told us that the antibiotics weren't helping and she was put on comfort care and then hospice care. Brian and I and his brothers were at her bedside for almost a week, and she passed away very peacefully. The past few weeks have been so difficult and we feel lost. It is hard to imagine that Brian and his brothers have lost both parents in such a short time period. We were prepared on some levels for his Dad, but not for his mom. We have spent a lot of time this week going through old photos, and we all know that we need to start the process to sell his parents house, but it is so difficult to do. His parents lived there for over fifty years and the neighbors are like family. We will make it through this, but it is difficult to think about how much will be different this year and in all the years to come. Amelia was very close with Brian's mom, they were buddies and loved to pick raspberries from the bushes that grow at their house. We have talked about planting some raspberries at our house in her memory.

Ironically, Brian's mom died on the day Brian was supposed to have his shoulder surgery. He postponed the surgery when we knew that she was so sick and still has to reschedule it, so we don't know when that will be. Although the adoption is the farthest thing from our minds right now, it is still difficult knowing that this will be pushed back as well, probably into 2010. I will have to tell our agency that we can't look at files until much later this year. It is probably for the best at this point, we have so much else to deal with right now.

My wonderful husband

Look what my wonderful husband is making for us! We have wanted to put built-in bookcases on either side of our fireplace since we moved to this house. Brian has decided that this will be the one project he finishes before he has his surgery in a few weeks. He has been working like a madman to complete this. It isn't finished, but when I woke up this morning he couldn't wait to show me that he finished one side AND FIT ALL OF OUR FAMILY GAMES INSIDE!!! These games have been in a pile in the corner for at least two years and we couldn't stand looking at them. This is better than Christmas! Both sides of the fireplace will have a cabinet on the bottom and bookshelves on the top. I will definitely post photos of the completed project, but I was just so excited about this that I couldn't wait!

Good fortunes...

Not that I plan my life by fortune cookie fortunes, but these were the last two that I got, and I got a kick out of them (OK, one is from a cookie, one is from a lottery ticket...). If you can't see the photo clearly, one says "There may soon be a new person in your life" and the other says "You will soon be crossing the great waters". Hmmm...

I finished a project!

Last night I finally finished a project. I have so many started right now, I decided to start trying to finish them. This is a little sweater that I started quite a while ago. It is the first crochet project that I have done that isn't a blanket. I think it turned out really cute. (OK, so I still need to add the buttons, so I guess it isn't REALLY finished, but almost!)

Our handsome devil

Here is our handsome boy, Spencer. He has a vet appointment tomorrow for a check up and updated shots. The last time we went to the vet, our vet walked in the door, took one look at him lounging on the exam table (he was as relaxed there as he is at home), and said, "Well aren't you a handsome devil!". We couldn't agree more! He is such a sweet cat, lets Amelia carry him around like a baby, and actually LOVES to have his belly rubbed.

Tianjin?

I have been having some very vivid dreams lately, and the oddest one (that I remember) was one of me looking for a place called Tianjin (or possibly Tianjie) on a map of China. I googled Tianjin the next day, and found that Tianjin is both a city and a province near Beijing, but one that I didn't really remember hearing about. I am sure that this is just my subconscious working overtime, but won't I be surprised if this ends up being where our child is from? One of my travel mates dreamed about Hunan before we got our referrals for our Hunan girls...

The past month....

This past month has been a whirlwind of ups and downs. First and most importantly, Brian's dad died a few days after St. Patrick's day. He had been ailing for quite a while and had gone into a nursing home at the beginning of February when it got too difficult for his mom to take care of him at home. He was actually doing much better, and we had started to talk about ways we could bring him home for the day on Easter, so it seemed very sudden when we lost him. He was a wonderful man, always made me feel so welcome in the family, and was such a giving member of the community. We will miss him so much, and I think it is finally starting to sink in that he isn't here anymore.

A few weeks ago, Brian went to see his doctor about his shoulder and finally got the go-ahead to schedule his surgery. His surgery is now scheduled for the end of May. We are praying that everything goes well and that he will be good as new and won't have to worry about his shoulder ever dislocating again. Of course, we are also looking forward to being able to move ahead with our adoption. We have put ourselves on "hold" until after his surgery, and we have told our agency that we will be able to view files from the SN list beginning sometime over the summer.

Last year I had contacted a local surgeon who specializes in one of the specific needs that we are willing to consider. His office staff was wonderful and very encouraging. They told me that they were very willing to review the files of any children we might be looking at, and we thought we were all set. We talked a lot about how fortunate we felt to have such a good specialist right in our community. So, I called the office again once we knew that it was possible that we would be looking at files this summer, only to get a voicemail message saying that the doctor had retired and his entire office has closed! I was completely devastated and as close to my breaking point as I have been throughout this adoption. I did remember that there was one other specialist in our community, so I called that office. The secretary didn't really understand what I was talking about when I asked if they could review a medical file for us. Finally she told me that she would have the doctor call me and answer my questions. The doctor called me at home and we talked for a long time about her experience, long term prognosis of the types of needs we are looking at etc. She was wonderful! She said that she would be happy to look at the medical information for us when we finally have a referral. She really put my mind at ease and confirmed for me that they types of needs we are considering are needs that will most likely be very manageable. Somehow I feel like this might just happen after all! :)