Last Day of the Year!

Wow, how can this year be over already?

As always, it was pretty exciting. We moved - again. This time into a permanent home that we will be in for years to come. Kinda scary when you think the one consistent thing in our life has been that the next move is surely just right around the corner!

We got a new cat who is doing the best he can to prepare us for parenthood. I haven't slept in months and I really need to childproof catproof our cabinets and drawers.

One of my highlights of the year was visting my friends and family in Germany, which I don't get to do nearly as often as I'd like. Next time I go, I will have the Little One with me, and will be able to outfit him/her in a Lederhosen/Dirndl.

We did lots and lots of adoption stuff. There was the paperwork, fingerprints and more fingerprints, the home study meetings, conferences, waiting parents meetings.... I read a ton of adoption/attachment books (and have yet to read more). While I know that I have so much to learn about adoption, I have come such a long way compared to where I was a year ago.

It was a great year!

My new obsession

My mother in law gave us the baby the cutest books for Christmas. I especially love the two Jan Brett books. I am sure all Americans know them, but I didn't until now. What can I say - I am in love and will have to collect all of her books! The drawings are just fabulous and I love that the stories take place in different parts of the world.

There are a ton of free activities on her website: http://www.janbrett.com/
I can't wait until I have an excuse to do the coloring activities...

In Search Of....

I have known what kind of carrier I will want for months now, and just yesterday I checked on the internet just to see if I could find it anywhere for a little less than retail. Come to find out, they don't make the design I wanted anymore! It's a tragedy ;-)

You can't buy it in the US anymore at all, but I did find it on a German website. Thanks to the exchange rate it's 1.5 times as much as it is here and I will have to think about how much I really want this specific design.

So, if you know anyone who is selling their Beco Butterfly II with the Owl design - I want it!

Merry Christmas and Frohe Weihnachten

In Germany, today, Christmas Eve, is when we celebrate Christmas. The day is spent decorating the Christmas tree and waiting for the "Christkind" to bring the presents. The day is spent in anticipation, and there is just nothing like being called into the living room and seeing the lit candles on the tree (yes, we used to have real candles on the tree) and the presents under the tree. My mom would always make us sing Christmas songs before opening the presents, which was actually quite dreadful since none of us can hold a tune. Our family tradition is to have fondue on Christmas Eve, and to this day I refuse to have anything different for dinner on Christmas Eve. At midnight, we'd go to mass in one of the nearby churches.

I always get a little very home sick on Christmas and miss my parents, my friends, and Germany in general. We'll see how long I'll make it today before I'm in tears ;-).
I also miss being little and being able to enjoy this day to the fullest.

This year may be the last year that The Husband and I spend Christmas without children. I've managed to keep as much of "my" traditions alive as possible since we moved to the US and I hope that we can keep some of these traditions when the Litte One is home. It makes me a little sad that our child will never be able to experience Christmas the way that I did, but I do hope that this day will be as special and magical to him/her as it was to me.

A year ago today

I finally dropped off our application at our adoption agency.

I remember the whirlwind of activity that ensued and am very very happy that all those appointments are behind us.

My wonderful husband

Even though he does get on my last nerve from time to time (male humor, anyone?), I feel so lucky to be married to him, for many reasons.

As we're growing our family, I'm the one who has been reading most of the adoption/attachment books and knows every little step that has to happen in the process to bring our baby home. But there is barely a day that goes by on which he doesn't mention our child. On the 8th of every month he comments that it's been x months since our paperwork went to Korea. He proudly tells all of his friends and acquaintances that we're adopting and that this is so exciting. He talks about all the things he wants to do with our child (no, I will not be coming along on that wilderness trip). He is even researching schools (even though it's a bit early for that one).

It is the most special thing in the world to see him look forward to our child and I can't wait to see the two of them together.

It's been three months...

since our paperwork went to Korea! Time is flying. While I know that the average time frame to referral for our agency is 6-8 months, I know several people who have gotten theirs around the three month mark. Our Korean agency is almost out of referrals for this year, but secretly I am hoping that we will get a referral in January along with two friends of mine so we can all travel together. You can always dream, right?