What we've been doing this week for Chinese New Year... and the adoption in general...

Well, as I stated before we decorated our kitchen for the New Year. We have chinese lanterns, and garland. Year of the Ox stuff around, dragons, and signs. Buddhas, and all sorts of stuff. Our house already had Asian influences to it because we are getting it ready to have Avery in our life and incorporating her heritage in our lives and our families. I've been looking up celebrations all over to see what been going on in China, and other places. Someday I would love to be in China for the New Year celebration, with Gary and Avery. All the pictures I've looked at this week are absolutely breathtaking. The colors, the history, the dances, and dancers, and costumes-all gorgeous!!

I did send a packet to our nieces and nephews about Chinese New Year. I had a really fun time putting it together. We have picked up red envelopes in Chinatown in NYC 2 years ago. It was probably the first time we had been there since we started the adoption process. So, we used them for Noah, Owen, and Sammy. I drew their animal signs on the outside and traced them in gold. Each one got a crisp new dollar bill, and some gold chocolate coins inside. For Jessica and Jodi we used chinese red envelopes, that had fans on them, and flowers that I had gotten in my travels around, they also got a crisp new dollar bill, and the gold coins. We sent a history of Chinese New Year, and the story of the Chinese zodiac. We sent "Year of the Ox", mazes, and word searches, and puzzles, and a panda sticker sheet, and a chinese character cling for their window. All sorts of stuff to celebrate the New Year in a new way for them, to see part of Avery's heritage and already help us celebrate and be part of her heritage in the way we could right now.

I was really excited to send the packages, it was a lot of fun to put together and research, it helped take my mind off the wait. We sent the package to Noah, Owen and Sammy on Tuesday morning with Steve to work. Steve and Gary went to work in Sackets that evening, and when Gary got home that night at 10:00PM, Noah and Owen had already colored some of the pages, and made some things after dinner, a card and chinese characters for us...it made my night!! I was happy to see that they had taken part and were into it-Thank you guys!!!

We have a "Year of the Ox", bank on our kitchen table, it's really neat. We think she will be born this year, and if something happens that she's not or older than we thought, I'm still year of the Ox so it's all still good. Our Chinese Santa is still out, our little tree with all of Avery's ornaments and all of the Chinese ornaments on it is still out. The lanterns in our kitchen are white with Chinese characters on them, there are 10 of them, and they are strewn about. We're going to leave them up for a very long time, we're really enjoying them. On Sunday I swept the kitchen and the bathroom to take out all the bad from 2008, to leave room for all the good of 2009-another Chinese tradition. I'm kinda hoping to get to Chinatown at some point to go looking for some more year of the Ox things for her life book and such. I don't know if we'll get there in this economy but hopefully, probably not til November though, the usual trip for work.

I have so enjoyed this holiday. Learning about the traditions, and sharing it with family and my students at the studio. I do a newsletter every month, and for January I wished everyone Happy Chinese New Year, and told everyone we were adopting from China. Most of the parents know by now, but some didn't and wished us congratulations, and that's always nice.

About the wait time and the adoption in general...
I still get down about the wait time, and frustrated a bit. But I also feel like we're starting to be able to see a little light at the end. It's our busy time right now withe studio. Lots of choreography, and rehearsals, so that helps. We will 19 months next Tuesday. Really can't wait for 20 because then it should be less than a year left. WAHOO!!

I think of the day we will get the referral, it seems unreal to me, I can't really wrap my thoughts around it. I have so many questions about being a parent...a Mom. But I have kinda little Mom moments every day. Just this week, my little dancer Addy came in and put her arms around me, and said to me, "I hope you feel better Miss Alli", and then later in class yelled to me, " I love you Miss Alli"...made my whole night!! Just little things that happen day to day, that sometimes make the wait not so bad to know that eventually we will have a little Avery say, "I love you Mommy & Daddy", on a daily basis.

So, maybe I've gotten past the resentment of the wait, not all of it, and I don't want to be like some of the waiting parents I've met and seen. You can see the pain and frustration on their faces and feel it. I'm sure I'm like that at some times, who wouldn't be? And sometimes comments from tv shows, and movies, and story lines about barren people, adoption, etc., bother me, and I think too much about it, but who wouldn't? But Avery will be here and our lives will change...we know that...everyone says that, and we're fine with that, bring it on!!! I am 35 and ready for a BIG change, a change for the better, and a change that will enrich our lives, and love and teach us new things about ourselves everyday. So we say-BRING IT ON!!!

So there's my daily thought. Hope you're having a good day, and are surrounded and see the joy in your life, and appreciate it!!

Love to all~
~Alli