Dolce far Niente, The Sweetness of Doing Nothing

The video above was made by my sweet friend, Jim, and will be used in a project I am working on.  Jim is an AP to a beautiful baby boy from Kazakhstan as well.  The Kaz family has once again amazed me with it's generosity of spirit.  As for Hannie and I, we are doing well.  16 mos has been a crash course in parenting 101. As you can see from the pics below, Hannie is now walking ALMOST on her own, and with mobility has come independence.  The baby gates are up, anything breakable and/or dangerous has been moved to a higher shelf or locked in a cabinet.  I find myself saying many things I never thought I would say, such as:

Hannie, stay out of the doggy's cage.

Hannie Elizabeth DO NOT throw the baby Jesus in the toilet! ( perhaps I should clarify, she got a she got a nativity set)

For the love of Pete, Hannie, we don't eat sticks of butter. 

As of late, I have often been pondering  a quote I once heard from my favorite author, Elizabeth Gilbert, who said, 

"There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history.
How much do you love me?  And who's in charge?"

And anyone who has ever been in any type of relationship, be it with a significant other or with a child, knows that this is true.

Compared to September and October, our November calendar has been blessedly clear, and Hannah and I are truly enjoying, as the Italians would say, "dolce far niente", which loosely translated, means the sweetness of doing nothing. We do have a few things on the agenda, we are planning a trip to the Festival of Lights with my friend Emily, her little girl Isabella (two weeks younger than Hannah, and her BFF) and our moms, who are also friends. In an attempt to give my daughter "presence, not presents" for the holidays, we also purchased museum center passes (good for the Children's, History, and Science Museums) with 3 other Kaz Families in the area so we are looking forward to spending some time there. As a matter of fact, we went today, and imagine our surprise when we LITERALLY stumbled over a YURT!!!    

  We are also excited to announce that Hannie will get to be a flower girl in a wedding this spring/early summer.  My friend Jenny is getting married and Hannie and I are both  in the wedding.  I know I am biased, but she will just look SO cute dressed as a miniature bride.  I am already having panic attacks about how we will keep the dress and her clean long enough for her to walk down the aisle and smile for pictures. And speaking of pictures....

And I would like to end this blog, with a poem, which I stole from another friend's blog :-)

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
 

For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true!

No, I didn't give you The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.

Lots of love and light, ~Erin

Celebrate Adoption (cause life is short but sweet for certain....)

It's been a busy month. We went to the turkey festival last weekend, this weekend is the Annual Orient Way neighborhood Thanksgiving, then Sunday we are going to a Kaz Kids meetup and also there is an Adoption Celebration at church.  Oh, and in between those things, Saturday morning Hannah will be a "grand marshal" in Hamilton's annual Santa Claus parade (perks of having a godfather who also happens to be the mayor).  Then Thursday is the actual turkey day, which in our family entails eating all day and watching National Lampoons Xmas Vacation.  Then its family game night and some shopping on Black Friday!  Whew, I am tired and the fun hasn't even started yet!   As you can see from the pictures above, Hannah did not enjoy meeting the big man in red.  Not enjoyed may be an understatement.  She howeled like she was on fire the entire time we were there.  She did recover enough to enjoy a nice Christmas cookie and look at the fish (we were at Bass Pro).  Also, some random tidbits from this month...

***I recently asked Hannie what she wanted for Christmas this year.  She stared at me for a minute and then dug through my purse and handed me my car keys. Apparently, she would like her own car.  This child is ALL THINGS FABULOUS!!***

***Her new favorite books are called Everyone Poops, The Gas We Pass, and  Walter the Farting Dog.  Is this normal?! I am not so sure.***

***The KAZmaniac took her first of I am sure many trips to the ER this month.  I was not home, Mom was watching her and she set her on the kitchen counter to wipe her face.  Hannie spied the cookie jar, lunged for it, and took a nose dive onto the hard wood kitchen floor.  She's fine, except for a black and blue knot on her forehead.  Good thing the social worker's post placement visit was LAST month, LOL.***
 

Celebrating Adoption  is a photographers' organization dedicated to providing beautiful portraits celebrating a family's new adoption.  Recently, one of the photographers came to the house and snapped a few shots of Hannie. Here is a sneak peek of the photos.

The only other interesting thing going on right now is that I am involved with a VERY cool adoption project with my wonderful agency.  It's not public knowledge yet, but it will be soon and I can't wait to share it with all of you (and NO...I am NOT adopting again yet!)  Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, and in the words of Hannah, GOBBLE GOBBLE MAMA!!! XOXO ~Erin

Adoption Awareness Month

November is Adoption Awareness Month. It's a great opportunity to raise awareness about the miracle of adoption and the hundreds of thousands of kids all over the world in foster care and/or orphanages who are waiting for their forever homes.  Here is a link to a great Cheerio's commercial about adoption.  How many of us didn't use food to bond with our children during those first few days?!
http://videosostav.ru/video/f52ff5d2b8228c0484e5871361ab94c5/

Here is some NOT so good news...and a call to action! Sony is using anti-adoption advertising in their new commercial for the Playstation Move.   In the commercial, a man spouts out "You're adopted!" as an insult to the person playing against him just to throw them off their game?!!  If you can spare a minute, email Playstation’s PR division and let them know what you think of it. Here is the link to the You Tube commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YkPtWUohaA&feature=player_embedded.

Finally it is November, and I have SO MANY wonderful things to be Thankful For this year.  I have started a gratitude journal, and each night I post a few things I am grateful/thankful for.  Here is a snapshot of what it looks like so far...

It is November 1st, and I am thankful for my dog.  Even on the toughest days, there is no psychologist in the world like a puppy licking your face.  

It is November 2nd, and I am thankful for the first Christmas decorations going up.  I love them all, from the lights to the yard ornaments.  They really do put me in the holiday spirit. After all, nothing says the Birth of Jesus like a 12 foot tall fiber optic spinning snowman. 

It is November 3rd, and I am thankful for my friends.  I have AMAZING friends.  Friends who drop everything to travel to an underdeveloped country for 5 weeks with me while I adopt a child.  Friends who treat my daughter like she is their own.  Friends who know everything about me, and like me anyway.  It's true what they say, the best friends you will ever have are the first ones you ever made.

It's November 4th, and I am thankful for Summer.  Summer is my season, the one I wait for all year long.  I heard it said once that you can live a lifetime in the summer, especially when you are young.

It's November 5th, and I am thankful for my hometown of Hamilton!  It's really small, but we have an awesome ice cream stand, a sculpture park, and the distinction of being the only city in the US with an exclamation point after it's name.   With this embarrassment of riches, I am shocked more of you haven't relocated here.

Of course, I am most thankful this year for my beautiful daughter.


This tiny, demanding person who came into my life and somehow inexplicably moved my soul to dance.

Not only my daughter, but the country of Kazakhstan and the birth mother who gave me her most precious gift.  I may never know what her circumstances were, but one thing I  know for sure is that there are NO accidental children in the world.  Every child who is born is planned for and created by God. And for that, I am truly, deeply thankful.       

 

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