Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Baby Baby Baby


Well Blogger friends I have waited long enough....I can't go on any longer without telling you my news...I feel almost guilty that I have waited so long, but I had to be pretty sure that nothing would go wrong. I am still worried and will be until....well, until I have this baby I am expecting February 6, 2007 and then Tya in my arms. I have been wondering how to write this and also realize some of my blogger friends...who happen to know me in real life too...have been being careful not to write anything on my blog until I was ready, which I appreciate and love them for. I didn't want to say anything for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I wanted to talk to my social worker and the province to be sure there would be no hassels. The story actually began when we heard about the long wait times and we called our agency to ask them if we should just put our file on hold as we wanted to try to get pregnant and the original 8 month wait was do-able but we were concerned with the indefinite wait time that was looking like atleast 16-18 months. Our agency said that we could do that (put file on hold) but they said that also because of the long wait times we would probably have to re-do and re-pay for a lot of the documents we had already done. They said as our due date for the baby I am pregant for is so much ahead of the time we would likely travel that there would be no problem with them or with China and the only province that they had ever had trouble with before was Ontario and even then the parents contested in court and won. Next I emailed a family whose blog I had been following where they had twins while they were in the process of adopting and asked their advice...thanks to them as well. I then spoke to our social worker and she spoke to the province...they said that they would flag our file in their office but send nothing to China and that after I have the baby our social worker would have to come for a home visit and make sure we were adjusting well and able to handle another little one. I am hoping and praying that it all works out. I am ready for a fight if I need to but so far everyone seems happy and supportive of us...only time will tell. I have wanted a large family for as long as I can remember and I still hope to adopt again after Tya someday...Jeff wanted to adopt Mohawk children (as he is Mohawk and grew up raised by his grandmother and saw the need for children on the reserve to have good homes) before he met me and always said that he would do that even before he was sure if he wanted biological children or not...so maybe we will adopt a baby that is Mohawk someday.
The picture I have included is the bunting bag ( I think that is what they are called) that my mom gave to me in a bag with a bunch of old baby clothes that used to be mine and my siblings. First, she had tried to pawn them off on my brother Rodney. I was going to throw the whole bag in the Salvation Army bin but just as I was about to heave the bag into the bin I opened the bag and took out this bunting bag...I could hear my mother's voice, "Aren't you even going to keep the bunting bag I brought you all home in?" Melt my heart...I took out the spit up stained treasure, picked up some Baby Purex and soaked it...and Wala...good as new and ready to take home another baby from the hospital.
And last but not least a great big CONGRATULATIONS to Natalie and Daniel...you can click on their link on the right to see their story...they have finally received travel approval and will be travelling in November!

Friday, October 06, 2006

Moon Festival


A woman clad in traditional Han Dynasty costumes kindles a lantern
during a celebration to worship the moon in Beijing Thursday, October
5, 2006. China is celebrating its traditonal Mid-Autumn festival which
falls on the 15th day of the 8th month on its lunar calander. This
year, the festival falls on October 6.
( people daily online, http://english.people.com.cn?20061006-309511.html)

Definition of Moon Festival from Wikepedia: Moon Festival, or the August Moon Festival. In Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, it may be referred to as the Lantern Festival, similar in name to a different festival which falls on the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year) is a popular Chinese celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty.
The Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar (usually around mid- or late-September in the Gregorian Calendar), a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. At this time, the moon is at its fullest and brightest, marking an ideal time to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest. The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake, of which there are many different varieties.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year), and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. It is also common to have barbecues outside under the moon, and to put pomelo rinds on one's head. Brightly lit lanterns are often carried around by children. Together with the celebration, there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting sweet-olive trees, lighting lanterns on towers, and fire dragon dances. Shops selling mooncakes, before the festival, often display pictures of Chang'e, floating to the moon.
Here are a couple of links if you are interested in learning more about this holiday!
http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/augustmoonfest.htm
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa093097.htm
We will be thinking of all of our friends and Tya tonight as we look at the moon.