dressed in their best
red & white gingham
fresh, hot clam strips
lure us from La Mer's siesta
into Keyport's winter wonderland
where the sun is a spring tease
& we savor Sunday's sweetness
28.2.10
25.2.10
Lady in waiting
YES! . . . We are finally entering waiting mode, the next leg of our adoption journey. Of course, now we're waiting for word that Mr. R. has received our file in the Philippines so that he can turn it over to the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB). And then we'll wait for word that ICAB is reviewing our file. And THEN we'll wait to be pre-matched, so that we can wait for our official match . . . The waiting will go on and on for a while.
Strangely enough, I wasn't howling with excitement when I received D.'s email from PSB. My heart did a little flip, and that was it. When I shared with A. the news, he was reserved and said, Well that's to be expected. I asked him, Aren't you excited? No doubt he is. He's just so practical and logical when it comes to letting the process happen.
When I look at the stars in a winter night's sky, I know that my dad is somehow involved in this process. I'm just thankful to be a lady in waiting.
20.2.10
Pregnant in my heart
During one of our home visits with our social worker, she asked if I'd had enough time to grieve over the loss of a birth child. I responded, I don't think I was ever devastated at not being able to become physically pregnant, not like some of the women I know who've invested so much time and money in IVF as well as multiple surgeries and procedures. But once the realization set in, that becoming pregnant wasn't happening at the time we'd been trying up until the present, I was sadly disappointed. So much so . . . that it does make me cry and sometimes feel just a little inadequate as a woman who's supposed to be child-bearing. Then I run through inane thoughts like, I married too late, my time has passed. I usually regain my sanity and know, this is the way it's supposed to be. We are meant to be an adoptive family . . . because we'll be pretty damn good at it.
Still, those piercing moments tend to nip at me like annoying mosquito bites. Like when pregnant women talk about how they can't wait to lose all the weight they've gained or what kinds of cravings they've had. I'm not angry, but sometimes feel a little stabbed. Or maybe it's just a pin prick like when they draw blood for a routine blood test. I make sure to check myself. I'm aware it's my stuff and no one else's. I'm also realizing, folks are extremely respectful of our privacy and choice to adopt. It's paradoxical. Part of me appreciates that, and the other part of me is wistfully wondering, Why aren't they excited for us? If we were physically pregnant, there would be such hullaballoo.
I've romanticized for some years now, what it might be like once we walk through the gates at Newark Airport, returning home to the States after a long journey to pick up our child. I've begun to think about our child's welcome ceremony, how to personalize it, and whom I would want to celebrate with us. A. says he doesn't want too much pomp & circumstance around our future child's homecoming. Me? I go back and forth. There are some things, I know I would love to do, and there are others -- not so much. Every so often, I surf through the net looking for different ways to channel my excitement. And then, I stop myself. Maybe it's too soon to be overjoyed. We don't have a child match yet.
But I am . . . delighted . . . because I have been pregnant in my heart for so very long.
15.2.10
Lucky numbers
6 - 3 - 3 - 0 - 1 - 8. Perhaps I should play those numbers. They are the numerals associated with our most recent adoption processing fees. It's been mostly piecemeal since September. $300 here. $600 there. $100 here. $50 there. $7 at the UPS store. And now the more substantial fees are creeping up on us. Maybe that's a good thing because that means we're moving closer to being officially in waiting mode. We're that much closer to eventually receiving our match, and we're that much closer to planning a trip to bring our child home.
Sometimes the range of emotions catches me off guard. Stretches of time between paperwork, and just when I feel a sense of accomplishment having completed one set of forms, there's another set due. With all sorts of complicated instructions, required documents and of course -- more fees. Though I have to admit, I actually think the adoption paperwork has been much easier than any government RFPs I've labored over since writing city/state/federal grants for work.
In addition to the unending paperwork and check-writing, A. & I realize how real our adoption journey is. We have made this very serious and committed choice to bring a child into our family, and we are preparing financially, emotionally and physically for this child's arrival. We're in constant discussion about money matters, feelings about becoming parents as well as all the purging of unnecessary items from our home once we receive a match. All in anticipation of adjusting to a little person in our lives, and we are very aware of how we may be out-of-balance for a while as we figure out what it will be like to expand our family. On an even more upside, Mom says she looks forward to being called Lola and taking our toddler to the park.
Not sure what role numbers play in our fortune, but I do know how lucky I am to be on this journey to parenthood with A.
14.2.10
Honoring Gaea
the quiescent fallen snow is my blanket
the wind sings tenderly to me
a dulcet lullaby
inspired
i pray to Gaea
6.2.10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)