Blinging Out Baby!

Ahhh.....    The Paperwork is DONE.    It took long enough, but now we can finally exhale....   At least for a quick moment.

Next step would be our homestudy interviews, but for now, for a little while, we can just relax.

....And I can do a little internet "window" shopping!!!


So since I will have plenty of time to look for more practical items after we receive our actual referral, I decided to spend waste a little time looking at a few items Brangelina or Madonna (or even Sandra, Gwen and Halle) would consider buying for their million dollar babies.  

So, go grab a cup of hot cocoa, or a glass of chardonnay, and let's Luxury Window Shop for a half hour!!!   

[The headers are all links you can click on for more info]

The Uber-Super Stroller

Whether you're busy looking cool for the paparazzi, or trying to run away from them, these strollers are the ones for you!

  $2,900

$3,500

Got Gucci?

This just seems like a HUGE show off piece to me,
but hey, what do I know?  ...lol

$600

Cute Coach Baby Bags

Healthy Child - $350

 The Addison - $485

.....Like I said.   Very CUTE!   :o)

Alright Already Ostentatious Accessories

Forget Babies R Us...  it's all about Rodeo Drive!!!!

From $1000 gift baskets, to $3100 ottomans and $14,000 wall units for the baby's room; not to mention those "Call For Pricing" luxury items.   WOW!  (I wonder if babies who use designer sippy-cups prefer non-fat lattes instead of formula...Hmmm....)

And if you have a little more time check out  Glamajama:  the fabulous baby boutique to the Stars!!!  Just ask Demi Moore, Kate Hudson, Holly Robinson Peete, Tia Carrere, Lisa Rinna, and Brooke Burke.

  

I love crazy internet window shopping .... great fun for the holidays.   Ahhh...  good times.   :-)





Research......Done!

Adoption Workshops.....Done!

H. Pre-Application.....Done!

Official Application.....Done!

PIP Classes 1 and 2.......Done!

Homestudy Paperwork......Done!



Only 9,999 more steps to go.   **LOL**

Transracial Adoptions..Interesting Read

Transracial Adoption Can Provide a Loving Family
…and an Identity Struggle
By RON CLAIBORNE and HANNA SIEGEL
March 3, 2010

They are images of joy, images of happy endings among so much tragedy. A few days ago, Duke and Lisa Scoppa adopted two Haitian orphans, 4-year-old Erickson and 4-month old Therline. "I just always felt like it would be a really enriching experience for us and for everybody involved, really," Lisa Scoppa said.
  
Among the things that lie ahead for the Haitian children adopted by white American parents are a better life materially and a chance to grow up in a loving family.

But some black children who were adopted by white parents say there's another side of the story. "I didn't feel like I was seen or understood," said Phil Bertelsen, who was 4 when he was adopted by a white family and then raised in a mostly white New Jersey suburb.
  
Bertelsen and other black adoptees tell a similar tale: They felt estranged from the people around them who they instinctively knew from an early age were different from them, and yet cut off from their own racial identity and culture.
 
"In my teens, I became hungry to be a part of some kind of black community, black identity," Bertelsen said. "What was missed primarily was, you know, strong familiar representations of black life other than the ones I was getting through popular culture and otherwise."
 
He grew up to be a documentary filmmaker and made his first movie, "Outside Looking In," about transracial adoption. In it, he confronts his own parents for the first time.
 
"Ultimately, I am a part of your family," he told them in the film. "I use my name with pride. But I am also an African-American in your family and, you know, you have to see me as that."
 
In response, his mother said softly, "Maybe we were naive. Maybe we were. I don't know."
 
Bertelsen said in an interview that adoptees "don't tend to want to shake the tree too much. I call it the gratitude complex. We finally get this family, whomever they are, that we can call our own and so we adjust, we adapt, we learn to go along and get along and that's what I did."
 

Hard Truth for Adoptive Parents
 
"So in a way, home became a safe haven ... but it was a total disconnect from the world outside and so you end up, I ended up, internalizing the questions," he said.
 
Through his movie, Bertelsen said, he was able to say what he had always wanted to say: "See me. This is who I am.
 
"It was a hard truth for my parents," he said.
 
"People don't like discomfort but when you're adopting a child from another race, another country, it's very important that families understand that they [need] to put themselves outside of their comfort zone to really understand what the experience is going to be for the child...".


[…you can read the rest of the article here.]


 
What are your thoughts?

While We Wait...

Let's Learn A Few Simply Korean Words


from " Love the Children "

Father ..........Ap-ba

Mother ..........Uhm-ma

Grandfather .....Ha-ra-bu-jee

Grandmother .....Hal-mu-nee

Brother(older) ..Hyoung-neem

(younger) .......Dong-saeng

Sister(older)....Uhn-nee

(younger) .......Dong-saeng

Korea ...........Han-kook

America .........Mee-kook

Bowel movement ..Dong

Hungry ..........Bae-kop-pa

Pain ............A-pu

Stomach ache ....Bae-a-pa

Headache ........Khol-a-pa

Happy ...........Jo-wa

Scared ..........Mu-so-wa

Sleep ...........Jam-ja

Pretty ..........Ee-poo-ta

Hot .............Deu-ku-wu

Cold ............Choo-wu

Love you ........Sa-rang / hom-ni-da

Come here .......Ee-to-wa

Airplane ........Bee-haeng-kee

Bed .............Chim-dae

Cat .............Ko-yang-ee

Dog .............Kae

New clothes ......Sae-ot

Our house .......Woo-ree-jip

Toilet ..........Pyun-so

Food ............Um-sik

Cookie ..........Kwa-ja

Rice ............Pop

Water ...........Mool


Pronunciation Hints:

A-sound as in father

U-sound as in bus

OO-sound as in cook

AE-sound as in apple

WU-sound W as in water and U as in bus

I-sound as in knee

EU-sound as in new.

The accent is usually on the first syllable.

I Am Addicted!

My poor husband... I am becoming such a big bundle of mush; I cannot seem to stop myself from watching every single episode of Adoption Stories on Discovery Health Network.   I think I'm addicted to the show -- I really do.  I've watched almost every one for the past few months - even the reruns, but I think I've seen just about all of the Korean adoption episodes at least 4 or 5 times! Yikes! (Gotta love my DVR) .  I think I'm becoming obsessed!  I even make Tony watch them with me (when I can...when he hasn't run away or gone into hiding).   Don't laugh at me please... I'm a weak lady. :o)
 
...And of course by the time I get to the end of every episode, when the parents are being united with their new baby, I've gone through no less than a small fistful of tissues -- I'm becoming such a mush. A mushy mush! ...lol
 
I wonder if there's some kind of anonymous group therapy available....

Comsi Comsa

Telling members of our extended family and close friends of our decision to adopt has been a mixed bag of responses.  From super excited, huge hugs, tears of joy, a few gifts, and the beginnings of planning a baby shower;  to lukewarm hugs, complete confusion, and even a bit of denial .... the responses have run the gamut.  And, as you can imagine, some of those less than enthusiastic reactions were a bit disappointing to us, but since they were in the minority, Tony and I decided to meet such opinions with prayer, and hope that with time (and education), those still uncertain will come around and be as excited as we are about our decision to adopt.  I mean, as my sister-in-law says... who wouldn't be happy, and totally fall in love with a babyyyy!    :-)
 
Anyway, this weekend was mostly sweet.   The best part?  Well, I think the prize goes to both my mother-in-law (who is probably as excited about this whole adoption as my husband and I combined), and my Aunt Margo, who is my mom's little sister (and was only 12 years old when I was born).  They both couldn't stop talking about their "grandson" and all the fun they plan to have with him.  Yes, makes sense for my mother-in-law to call our soon to be son her grandson, but my aunt?  How does she qualify?  Well as far as she is concerned she's like my 2nd mother, and that makes her a grandmother to any children of mine...lol.   Funny!
 
Anyway, it was wonderful to hear them both refer to our soon to be son as their grandson.  (We are hoping for our referral sometime around Father's Day 2011)

Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.   :o)