our Halloween treat 

Halloween Kitty

Somehow it seems appropriate to the holiday that we stumbled upon this sweet little kitty on the 15th hole at the Druid Hill Disc Golf course. He was in the woods across the street just crying, while the boys played through, I went to investigate and found him. He was scared of all the traffic. We can't quite figure out what the deal is-I think he was dumped, because it' a pretty dodgy area of Baltimore, and he's too tiny to be an outdoor cat who got lost. So for now he's loving in the laundry room away from Gus and Tabby until we can get him to the vet. Tehn he may go to cat rescue, unless we're so in love we can't part with him. It's gonna be close, as we've already named him-Merlin, because we found him at Druid Hill.

All Hallow''d Out

Phew. Took my MIL to see 1 nephew and 1 niece at their Halloween parades/parties. Chaos and confusion-I remembered how much that stuff drove me nuts when I was teaching. It looks like fun but is a lot of work for the teachers. A. is in 3rd grade, so he was pleased to see us but no big deal when we left-he had cupcakes and Doritos to finish! G. is 4 and her daycare was just crazy with parents and crying toddlers who didn't want to keep walking in the parade but would rather be held by mom thankyouverymuch. What drove me nuts were the parents ignoring their toddlers tears in order to get a photo opportunity. Gah.
G. looked quite the beautiful princess in her Cinderella dress. She didn't mind me and Granny leaving once her dad showed up. Amidst the chaos, I suddenly realized that *I* could be there with my own child in a couple years-wow.

Sadness

It's hard to keep up daily with all the fantastic blogs out there-it took Grrl to let us know the heartbreaking news for Cecily and her husband. I remember following her IVF cycles and cheering when she found out she was pregnant with twins. It's just so, so unfair. Much love and support are coming their way through the blogosphere.

Waiting

Our social worker returned my call today-they've sent the forms off to P's therapists (on the 20th). Once they are returned, then we should hear something. I hate waiting!

The Smackdown

American League Champions-the Boston Red Sox. The Evil Empire, a.k.a. the New York Yankees completely and utterly choked the big one over the last 4 games. And a nation rejoiced!
Thank god the series is over so I can finally get some sleep!

12 Degrees of Separation

For amusement I will hit the "Next Blog" button at the top of blogs hosted on Blogspot-odd ones usually pop up, but it's always fun to see what will randomly appear. Tonight, after 12 times, my blog was the one that came up-I found myself!

The Lull

So I've gathered that adopting is much like trying to conceive, in that there are periods of activity marked by a lull. Nothing's going on right now, besides waiting for a phone call or letter telling us what to do next.
So for your enjoyment, my cats!

Tabby girl looking grumpy 

how Gus spends 80% of his time 

little kitty feet! 

How To Be Happy

So tonight we let P's family know our news. At first, I think they needed a few seconds to process the fact that we weren't telling them I was pregnant, because their reactions weren't instantaneous. Looking at them, I really think that's what they were expecting to hear. As it sunk in, and the more we spoke, the excitement was building. Lots of questions were asked and hugs went around; our nephew Adam is in charge of compiling names he likes since he was interested in that end of things. It felt good to tell, and to bask a little in their happiness for us. Over the last year especially, we've had so very little to feel happy about. It's kind of hard to reverse our mind set: that this will work, we will have a baby, and we have things to be happy about. We're trying to learn how to be happy.

Giddy

I feel giddy.
I tempted Fate and did the Unthinkable: I purchased an item for the future baby K.
Last week at the mall I saw the cutest little Halloween fleece hat-it looked like a black kitty. Since we both used to have black cats we loved, it's only appropriate to get it, right? Anyway, it's done, Fate be damned. Big fat raspberries too-I'm going to let myself be happy about the future.

That Went Well

So. My family knows. According to my mom, she started crying when she read the letter, and my nephew Christopher was dancing around. He already asked us for a baby boy cousin-guess he wants someone to share his huge Lego collection!! No word on dad, but I imagine he's fine. Now it's P's turn to out us to his crew.

Coming Out of the Closet, Part II

Hmmm, I seem to be fond of 2 part entries lately.
Well, we're outing ourselves to the family. Never an easy thing to do, P and I have always kept our lives pretty close to our vests when it comes to family. Especially his. His sister loves nothing more than knowing exactly what is going on with everyone. We need to let them know, and be happy for and with us.

This needs to be in every RE's office

This is so freaking true, it's amazing. Someone needs to get Tertia a contract to write a book on IF; co-authored, of course by Grrl.

Coming Out of the Closet

We've started letting friends know what's going on.
It feels good.

In the Mail, Part II

Well, the application is finished, and in the mail. I dropped it off at the post office this morning, so it should arrive downtown tomorrow. Should I take it as a good sign that ahead of me in line was a very blond woman with an Asian toddler?

New Roommate

It was little things at first. Pile of books on the coffee table, bookmarked websites, agency application left out, whispers of "send for copies of your birth certificates now so you'll have them for the homestudy". She even managed to sneak into the ballgame with us last night to start a conversation about whether we would keep the Korean name as first or middle.
It's official now.
Hope has moved in.
This time it looks like she'll actually stay.