no news is no news

Nothing to update regarding babies in our house. New Stork told me thursday she was not expecting to hear from the other counties by the end of the week and she was off on vacation next week. Of course someone will cover for her if there is major news for us, but at least I can quit obsessing about "the call" for a week while she's doing what ever New Storks do on vacation.

SOOoooo - one of the other things I like to do with my time is stay crafty. Scrapbooks are a big outlet for me. I have been wanting to detail our ups and downs of TTC since we have been married, but it's been too painful until now. I dug through the box of Blobby memorabilia last night, no tears, but I didn't take a long looks at the multiple US pics. I need to find my folder with medical receipts and get the 2006-2009 calendars out. We have had two wonderful cats die during these years as well.

Huey

Xeno - the old man at 21 years!

Each time I was pregnant it seemed a cat would die. We put Huey to sleep on the same day we saw the heartbeat of #2 pregnancy. Thank goodness the pregnancy didn't end on the same day as our poor Huey's life.
Oh yeah AND we remodeled our house from March 2008 until December 2008. We had to move out to an apartment for 4 months during that time.
So we've had just a smidgen of extra stress in our almost 4 years of marriage.

Our remaining cat Carly is 19 years old and very much the typical chatty tortie type. For the past year or so she has been growing lots of little bumps. We had a couple removed in the last few weeks and now they seem to be growing even faster and cropping up in new places. Poor old kitty, she seems fairly happy and loves to just be close to people, but I can tell we are coming to the end of her life. The vet said her kidneys were the size of raisins now. Carly will STILL try to fight any cat that comes into her yard - spunky she is, but not smart. She only goes out for small supervised sessions.

Carly - she always looks pissy

Happy end of ICLW to everyone - thanks for reading!

Hey baby . . . :o)

So today I did hear back from the New Stork :o). Baby Girl has her social worker checking us out and says they are making a decision on a family by the end of the week. I guess that county looks at several home studies and then chooses? I have many more questions to ask about BG, but somehow it feels rude to ask when I am not sure we will be the chosen family. Ya know? What is the etiquette?
Also we heard back about Toddler Boy. He'll be 2 in early September and his parents have already had their rights terminated and do not get any visits. Now that is an attractive feature! Again I have some questions about his development and why he is behind. Good news for him - he has only been in one placement since removal from his parents.
I gotta call New Stork and get some details.

Obsessive behaviors . . .

Currently I am checking my email way too frequently. Looking for any email from the New Stork, she had promised to get back to me about those marshmallows we have toasting over the fire! And again I find this process to be very much like dating. "I'll give you a call" means SO much to me, but it might not mean the same thing to the Dude dropping the casual line.
Please don't say things you don't mean and be accurate with your words! I am a person who actually listens and makes a mental note in her calendar highlighting the days you might be calling.
Another current obsession - followers! I am amazed that people have found my blog and sign up AND leave comments! My followers are in double digits now - 10! A whole TEN people, most of which I do not know IRL. It's so exciting!
That's the post for now, but I'm sure I'll be checking back often today. It's still early :o)

checkin' out my profile

This is starting to feel a little like internet dating . . .

New Stork sent an email letting us know our info had been requested for a 2.5 month old baby girl. Very exciting!  Several marshmallows are in the fire, we'll see which one sticks!  Now I want s'mores.

Feeling random, can you tell?  Hey did I ever tell you guys about my state fair cookies? TAH-DAH

spicy mexican mocha chocolate chip cookies!

I entered them in 2 contests at the CA state fair this year. They were judged to be a first place cookie, but did not win the division. In another contest they got an award of merit - yay me!

alrightee - nighty nite bloggy pals

New Stork, New Stork

So last week we met with both the old and new Adoption Storks. Old Stork is moving to another office in the agency, oh AND she is clearly pregnant now - due in November. Well, good for her, good for us getting a New Stork.

Kinda cool side note about our New Stork, she was recently laid off from my employer and was lucky enough to land this adoptions job. While I recognize her name from work I never worked directly with her.  But New Stork KNOWS the craziness of my job and current employer.

We talked about 4 possible matches last week. One boy now 6 months old we heard about when he was 4 months old, turns out they aren't going to place him until September, so who knows. Another 2 children presented to us have severe enough health conditions that makes us say no thank you.

Just writing this makes me feel picky. If a child was born to me with a condition I would be all for it, my baby, my life and off we go. But when given the choice, I figure there is a better match for us.

The other potential child is not born yet!  Mom is due in September and will be involved with choosing the family for her child. We know nothing else about this situation, but I can assume if the woman is planning to relinquish her child through the child welfare system, then there is some sort of CPS history. I never expected to potentailly get a newborn!

At any rate looks like we will be waiting for another month at least while things continue to shake out. Oh well, September has always been one of my favorite months :o)

DIY adoption placements

Doing nothing just doesn't sit well with me. "Relax and wait, its in good hands." Nope can't do it!
All this waiting for "the call" is for the birds! I know that's how it happens, but I don't like to feel like I am in the dark.
SOOOOOOOO since I work with social workers for child protective services and I can't get a child from my own county, I have started reaching out to other counties.  A few weeks ago I emailed friends who work in other counties our family available form. Just a little shameless self promotion.
Yesterday I called the nurse in a neighboring county that does the same job I do. No I don't know her, we have never talked. I wasn't even sure I had the right phone number. I left a vague message in my sweetest voice and got a call back within an hour.
I had to admit my inquiry about adoption was for myself. The nurse was just a doll! When I told her my husband and I were a home studied family and are ready and waiting for a child, she said "oh that's so exciting!" This nurse also said their county has had lots of safely surrendered babies lately, but she'd check with the adoptions workers about placements out of county. I thanked her profusely and expected a call back later in the week. Surprise she called back in an hour and told me to have my social worker send my packet to her lead adoptions worker. The nurse said there is a woman they are working with who wants to safely surrender her child and she wants to help select the family!  She is due in September and wants the family to come to the birth "would you be interested in something like that?"
uh, YES!!!!  So call to the adoption stork and our info was sent off!
More later about our transition to a new Adoption Stork and the possibilities of other children :o) . Feels like things are starting to move for us!

getting a new Stork

The Adoption Stork called again the other day. No, not THE CALL. She's moving to another office, so we are getting a new Stork. Hubby and I were so deflated that this call wasn't about a child, who cares about a new stork.

We are meeting on friday with the old stork who is passing us off to the new stork. I really don't care one way or another as long as placing our child with us is the result. Oh and now we've been waiting 6 months - child please - I am done waiting - thank you.

I really want to quit my job right now!

No really - I do. If I wasn't addicted to money and healthcare I'd be outta here!  I can't even claim to want the "stability" that some jobs provide, because STABLE is not a word that describes my workplace.

So here's the basics without naming names -
I work for a government agency in a California county greatly effected by the poor economy. Public service is severely cut these days.
I have a very nice lady as my supervisor who was moved into our program a year ago because of cuts.
She has not been able to learn our program, but that was okay because all of the people under her already know how to do their jobs.
More cuts this year resulted in us losing experienced people and taking on new people who were cut from other areas. Again all very nice people and BONUS they are all very competant.
This year I got demoted, but am essentially doing the same job minus a few extra duties that now fall to my boss or to no one.
Problem comes when the boss can't train the new people to do the job!
Poor newbies are frustrated, bored and confused. Boss is increasingly overwhelmed. Me and the last standing experienced co worker are trying to hold down the fort. Jumping in and doing the Boss duties is very frowned upon as that might undercut her authority. Downward spiral, circling the drain, ahhhh crap!

So get another job you say?

Plus side - Potential for happiness. Gaining access to foster children from our county currently blocked due to conflict of interest. (I would have a kid by now if i had access to our county's kids!)

Negative side - Losing the ability to take massive time off from work when a child comes into our lives. Vacation, sick, bonding time, 9/80 work schedule, super short commute. BUT you can't take massive time off at a new job. That pile of vacation and sick time? You can't take it with you!

Well just call me Major Major Major Major cause I'm in a Catch 22!