Finally! First Part of the Final!

Milana Is Coming Home!!!!!!

This is her sweet hospital photo that was xerox'd with her referral.

Hello? You all can get up off the floor. Of course I haven't picked myself up yet either! AAAAHHHHHHHHHH Just have to scream it out. I check my email a few times each day... it's been habit for years now and even more so in the last 10.5 months since referral.

I was on the phone with my husband when I cut him off and said, "Love. There is an email in the inbox and it says Great News!!!" I started shaking terribly.

"What does it say?"

"I haven't opened it... I can't."

"Open it Woman."

"But I can't handle it if it's not it."

But it was!!!

We were notified by SLC that we've received the first part of our final decree from our judge. SLC will set a travel date for us as soon as they receive the second part of the final decree documents from the court!!! OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! It is still not feeling REAL. How can words express emotions for something so huge that your head & heart feel like they will burst?

I called a few friends yesterday and let them know (I'm so sorry if I forgot anyone because I really am a basketcase right now!) ... I fairly fainted talking to one of them, probably from irregular breathing.... who knows... all I know is everyone keeps telling me it's real... that she is really coming home.

I don't know if I can post recent pictures of her yet until we get that last part of the final.... so I posted her year old picture since she is almost 2 and looks quite different.

I went to Nika's school at lunch and had to tell her right away. Milana also made my sister's newly applied mascara to run down her face when she heard the news. This IS TOTALLY WICKED AWESOME! Yes, you can imagine wierd surfer accents or whatever... I'm just beyond thrilled. 10 and a half months... a week before Milana's second birthday and we know she really is our's and will come home soon to join our family and enrich all our lives.

Oh we think we may travel in early June (AIT has summer vacation days scheduled in May so short-staffed) When we pick her up, it'll be a total of a year... and I am so excited to have many, many years with her I'll let you all know more when we get INFO! FINALLY! Now please excuse me while I go run naked down the streets. ;0)

P.S. Sarah K... I'm waiting... I need your Great News now. =0)

P.S.S. I really have to thank SLC and FEC for working so diligently to get this done... we actually got court done in a week from the paper submitting of last week. Once all the ducks were finally in a row... thank Heavens. After trying and trying to get court rolling for about 6 months... I can't say done though... I've grown superstitious of counting chickens before they hatch!

Happy Birthdays! Nika & Sara (hey that's me)

Just so cute!

Kole's lifelong dream to meet a Storm Trooper... this was at a movie theatre.

Nika's elusive camera (read further down)

This is my unscripted Nika, something you rarely see as she automatically can't help but pose when she sees a camera... this is my true joyful beautiful child.


HaPpY BiRtHdAy Nika and Me! Nika and I share the same birthday... one of those coincidences in life that make it all the more fun. We had our birthday a couple weeks ago... I wasn't putting it off the post though; story goes: went on vacation to Arizona and forgot my camera, luckily we bought Nika one for her birthday, used that camera all week and now, can't find the camera with all the birthday and vacation photos. Bummer. I don't know what's worse, knowing you can't have photos or remembering the ones you took and lost.

But we did have a fantastic time. Donnie took some with his cell phone so that explains the grainy pics. What we did to celebrate... besides brownies, strawberry pie & cupcakes... indoor amusements park (basically Chuckie Cheese on some serious Rock Star or amp'd or Red Bull... mad lib energy drink), bowling, family fun with my siblings and cousins... lots of those very fun entertaining little people, some car sickness, massage, I got my hair cut & dyed and had a great photo for ya... on the lost camera.

To my Nika... you are a sweet darling one of a kind. You have such exquisite depth and talent... you amaze me everyday. I could never ask for another birthday gift after you were born... it's so fulfilling to watch you go through life and learn. You have such grace and poise as well as one crazy ham! I love every minute of our 9 years together... even when you tell me I'm wrong (Sara's never wrong silly ;0)... or that I have a big butt. You have so much potential, a super strong moral compass, and I know that with every growing moment you just become more prepared to Rock This World with your awesomeness. Just remember to always slow down and be a kid every once in a while... You're never too old to still be my baby Chou Chou forever... I love you Bugbug. Love, Momma.

For Nika



Hmm...I had all these plans for this post, but something came up... wonder what it was... until then... I live by music. I love it. Any kind... all kinds. Give me classic, jazz, rap, punk, funk, rock, pop, hip-hop, Broadway shows, muscials, country, other languages... kids shows... you name I adore it, any and all. So just fun stuff for me:
Supersitition

Don't Fence Me In

Smooth

BOB
Outkast ...seriously fun hiphop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XBgXBvI8a0
Shakira http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAlTlcXGGe4
This Shakira one I used to sing at the top of my lungs alone in my room in high school.

If you're still with me, there is more to come... hang in there. ;0)

ooo... I tried adding some punk put we are having technical difficulties =0)

Hot Pockets & fun stuff

You will only get this if you've ever encountered a hot pocket.



Kole was reading a Children's First Bible the other day sounding out words, he got to Shepherds and quickly decided, hey I know that word, it's Shephertists! Ha ha He knows about the Separatists on Star Wars and decided that the "Shephertists" were following the star to come see baby Jesus. I can only imagine what ideas were going through his head at that moment. I miss being a kid.

Ringtones, Guilty and Thoughts

What is your ringtone that your husband has picked out for you? My husband has decided mine is Darth Vader. It does make me laugh, although I can't figure out if it's to make others laugh or whether he actually uses it to forewarn himself!

Guilty confession time: When I was living at my brother and sister-in-law's house when I was 18, I loved to go into her bathroom and eat tons of vitamin C she had in a giant bottle under her sink cabinet. Only problem, I ate so many that it started to burn a hole in my tongue and I couldn't eat or taste anything for days. So I am apologizing to you Sara for eating your giagantic bottle of Vitamin C that were soooo yummy.

Only reason I remembered this is my husband just bought two giant bottles of vitamin C... I'm trying not to be tempted again.

Jadyn has me help her in the restroom. The other day she yelled at me that she was not a "Pooh-non-ear." Pooh-non-ear?! What in the world is that? Well turns out she thinks "Please get up on here" is "Please get Pooh-non-ear. "

I think I may have a small variation of dyslexia. I know that dyslexia is a serious disorder and people should not be belittled for suffering with difficulties from it. Having said that, my confusion with words can be quite entertaining and luckily my husband and I have a sense of humor. My words are often flipped in normal conversations, like adopted and orphaned was joined to make adorphaned. I check my cash instead of cash my check. As a child, I wrote things quite phonetically but far from correct.

I rarely hear things correctly the first time people say things, which can result in my staring confused at people saying "what" or I just start giggling. Numbers can elude me. I somehow managed a 4.0 gpa in High School, which still makes me scratch my head. I made it my goal in life to memorize every rule when the brain fog would set in. I actually almost flunked kindergarten! I struggled and worked so hard to become "normal" that when I actually surpassed "normal" and the school wanted me to skip a grade and go into the gifted and talented section, I flipped out. No way was I going to stand out! Growing up in the ghetto, people who stood out were sitting ducks. Now I have no problem being the odd duck.

When I speak on the phone with Sarah K, she usually says nothing and dismisses my word mistakes, but she always hears my husband snickering in the background. She tells him he's not supposed to say anything. I just laugh. Sometimes when something comes out of my mouth and it's blarringly wrong, I freeze and look around to see if anyone has noticed. Hubby always does & we can't help but laugh. It's very odd to have a photographic memory and excellent organizational skills, but my words just can't come out correctly at times.

I never have had a formal diagnosis for any delays and I don't need one because I learned to function with whatever it is just fine and I'm happy. For those who need help, get it; I think I would have loved not having to hide it and struggle in silence. My sisters told my husband on my wedding day that even though I acted ditsy, I really was smart so don't let me "fool him". Truth is... I am ditsy and smart... you can be both.

I never suffered from being teased from my spoken words; I don't think anyone should be teased for their supposed disabilites... I actually think disabilities are a challenge, something that is our very own life puzzle. My son works on speech therapy and some sensory issues. I believe he has a talent that is undiscovered lying deep in these supposed hinderances that will become great assets to him some day. I chose to turn my slight dyslexia into a little bit of a comic relief for myself. It also made me very determined and quite a spitfire. We all have something. I hope whatever hinderances each of you have can be seen as something more grand. Good luck on your puzzle. May your talents be with you. ;0) Big Miss Piggy "Mwhaaa"

Brief Redirect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY Okay so maybe I need a reality check and this woman just knocked my socks off. Reality check is, I have so much to be thankful for... just needed something beautiful and someone's dream to come true before my eyes to see what I have.

Fun Sucker

Okay, not completely back. I realized I am a fun sucker. I have sucked the fun right out of a few things including my posts. I'm trying to get back to normal but with things so rattled right now... I just feel like a funsucker.... just sucking the fun outta everything. Good news is my paperwork that was needed just got to TW... now what?... I don't know. What I want? The judge to get the papers quickly and say okie dokie and sign off a pretty little paper called final... tomorrow is good for me. I'm getting this out before the birthday post for Nika and myself.... no fun sucking on birthdays! Sorry to everyone who has had to endure this fun-suckage lately.

I'm back!

Back from AZ and back to say HELLO!!!

Tisra has her very important first step done for her adoption in India! Tisra, how awesome is this! You and I talked about everything involved with waiting and the nerves & look!!! Hello, quickly! I'm excited for both of your journeys! And there is always great news in bunches! Courtney's big news of her little girl & Jennifer's darling little man have made their presence known in this corner of the world and I am so happy to hear of all this great news! Courtney, you have ridden the roller coaster with me for so long and I am so happy that you now know whom it is for. whew! And Jennifer, I am so excited that your little one will become a big sister (and to such a darling little guy is a huge bonus ;0). I hope I am not missing anyone, I went on vacation and now I'm back.

Well, we went on vacation, which was good because of paperwork mess and getting my mind off of it all. The papers are now on their way back to Taiwan... on to Tainan and on to court... I need some seriously good thoughts sent this way that this will finally be it. That we will finally after 10 months know that we are on our way. I need the judge to finalize... so very badly; I need no more stumbling blocks... I really am at my wits end. My husband and I know that this has to happen now. I need to bring Milana home now; it is time. The papers reach Taiwan on Monday.... I'm on my knees.

So... after tomorrow, we will post about Nika and my birthdays that past because not only are we having Easter tomorrow, but a little party for Nika-chou where her big present that couldn't come along to our Arizona vacation will be revealed...hee hee. I am now 30! Nika is 9 and Milana will be 2 ... she's next! One great highlight.... I got a surprise massage for my birthday!! I am also over my sinus infection... which was hilarious to go to a massage therapist all stuffy and have her do acupressure on my sinuses! Hello tissue. Also Nika is over her ear-infection and I can't wait to post pictures. I forgot my camera at home but luckily we bought Nika a little one for her birthday so we do have some from our trip... I just don't know how to hook it up to the pc yet... but I will figure it out. I can't forget my sister's and my bro-in-law's b-days are this last week too... Happy birthday!!!! I also have a few nieces and nephews that had birthdays as well so Happy Happy Birthday all around!

So I know I missed a lot of life's adventures from everyone while making some of my own, so feel free to leave news of things. It's good to feel refreshed and off I go to finish unpacking my mess! =0) Sorry I was MIA for a bit, but it was out of necessity to keep my mind off of the fact that paperwork was technically in my hands... again.