Tooth Trouble

Doodle is my girl that has broken her front tooth twice. The dentist glued on the broken portion the first time but the second put a crown on it. We call it her "beautiful tooth." She's also had one cavity (must be Dan's tooth genes). So for a 5.5 year old, she's been to the dentist a lot. The last time we went, the dentist suggested we buy her a helmet (I'm not kidding.)

Last week, she told me that she hit one of her bottom teeth on her water bottle. Sure enough, it was loose. I frantically sent her out to find a tooth fairy pillow with Mary Poppins. I was picturing a pretty, lacy pillow. She came back with this:

She picked out this ugly doll (the name of the doll, but also my commentary) and named him "Little Huggy Face." She thinks he looks like a tooth. I sewed on the purple fleece pocket part, because I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to attach the tooth otherwise.

We also bought some books on losing baby teeth. I wasn't prepared for her to lose her teeth, so we really hadn't talked about it. The books helped her anxiety, but the blood freaks her out. Doodle spent most of the weekend with a paper towel sticking out of her mouth.

The tooth came out yesterday--but not all of it. She appears to have broken it near the base. We have a dentist appointment this morning. Poor girl. She hates the dentist now, and I don't blame her. She's had more visits than most adults. Sigh. I'm dreading it too. I think he's going to bring up the helmet again. I'm not sure he believes me that she is so klutzy.

She's going to fit in just fine

Ok, so since you have seen the newbie at her best--at least the best from her social report-- I can post this about her: at least two places in the social report it mentions that she sticks her tongue out when she's happy. Here's an example (there were a couple of tongue shots to choose from in the social report). She's going to fit in just fine with this nutty family! All she needs now is a Star Wars t-shirt and a pint-sized lightsaber.

She's Ours!!!

We passed court today!!! The Newbie is officially ours! We expect to travel in 5-6 weeks. These photos are taken from the social report, which we received this morning!

Stacey and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day -- So Far

So I knew I had to do some yucky stuff at work today, but I was looking forward to getting our social report. Pictures! Information! Lots of goodness about the newbie! And I've got nothing, zero, nada, zilch, zippo. Our wonderful, very patient social worker told me that they tried to send social reports from Ethiopia today but are having problems--blackouts, dial-up Internet, you get the picture. Ugh. And now its 10:00 p.m. in Addis and I am losing hope.

Let me be clear: I am a type-A, detail oriented person. Less so since I had the girls, but way more so that the average human. I've spent the last 10 minutes trying to think of scenarios of how to get the information.....maybe one of the adoptive parents there can load it on to their zip drive and send it from the guest house computer! Maybe....yeah right, not helpful.

This is one of the more frustrating things about adoption and this adoption in particular. It is a concept that everything happens on it's own time, not on your time. In my case, I'm now thinking of it as Africa time. My head understands how difficult it must be to do business when your power goes out unexpectedly and you are using not the latest equipment and you have dial-up; but my heart just wants to see those pictures. To see that the newbie is happy and growing and to give me some hope that we will pass court tomorrow.

On a positive note, if you haven't read Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day you should, even if you are a grown up. It is great. I think Mommy is going to choose the bedtime reading tonight!

First Bike

Last weekend, the weather finally turned nice enough to bring out the bikes. Doodle's legs were finally long enough for her to ride her "motorcycle" (Big Wheel), so she was riding on that. Moo Bear decided that the only thing she wanted to ride was Doodle's big girl bike--no more tricycle for her. So after a week of bike fights--"Mom, tell Moo to get off my bike, I want to ride it"-- I left work early on Friday for the bike purchase. We go to a local bike store where these guys have been working on bikes since the 60's. They like nothing better than to help a girl pick out her first bike, and they are the most patient people on the planet. Moo had just woken up from a nap so she wasn't as outgoing as she normally was, so the bike guys were a bit disappointed that she wasn't over the moon. By the time we got home, she was raring to go. Most of the pics I have are blurry, since she wouldn't stop riding long enough for photos. Oh, and she picked out the exact same bike as her sister, just a different color. I'll post more pics in the slide show later.

Feeling beautiful

I've been thinking quite a bit about Africa and our travel. Trying to decide what donations we will bring with us. It is a challenge of space and weight and need. A story problem in and of itself...what can we pack in two 50 lb bags (or more) that will make a difference? Both our care center and AHOPE, a care center for HIV+ children, have urgent needs for diapers and formula. Diapers seem to be a no brainer--they are light and I think I can squish a whole heck of a lot in those space saver bags when you take the air out. Formula will be a bit more problematic. We're bringing some, but it is really heavy!

But reading the list of needs for AHOPE, something struck me-- particularly as the mom to girls. They need hair accessories. A part of me feels like, why bring hair accessories when other needs seem more urgent, like vitamins or anti-fungal cream? But thinking back to when I was an eight year old girl, I remember barrettes being tremendously important. Remember when there were those metal barrettes that you would string with ribbon and finish off with beads at the end? Or the rainbow barrettes with your name on them? Or those hair scrunchies in your school colors? How cool and beautiful you felt when you wore them for the first time? How powerful it was to do your own hair in the way that you wanted (not the way your mother wanted), to claim ownership of yourself and define your own style?

So we are bringing hair accessories along with the other donations. Because I think feeling good about yourself is important, whether you are a preteen in the US or a girl in a care center in Africa. Feeling pretty for a little while can be as nourishing to the soul as vitamins are to the body. Besides that, every little girl deserves a little sparkle in their life.

If you want to send me some hair elastics or barrettes, I would be honored to carry them with me. In the meantime, the girls and I have some fun shopping to do.

Blog Union '09!

Ok, so I lurked from afar, watching my favorite bloggers attend Blog Union '08 last year. But this year, we are in! You have to have a blog, be officially waiting (with background checks, fingerprints, etc.) for a baby from Ethiopia or have a child home from Ethiopia, and be signed up on meet up (with pictures). Here's the link if you are interested:http://www.meetup.com/blogunion/

I am so excited. It's even close to where we live!!! I do hope that some people read my blog and recognize me, otherwise I'll just be the creepy stalker lady with the cute baby girl from Ethiopia.