***PS***

Let me just add a little PS to today's blog...

So after my small, little, wait list mis-counting revelation, I was-as I'm sure you noticed-a bit bummed. But I had a piece of pie and read THIS! Nothing like pie and a blog-friend's referral to make things seem happy and hopeful again! Congratulations Ellen!

So things are good again. I really mean it (now) when I say--it will happen when it is supposed to happen. And there's nothing I can do until then except eat more pie!

xoxooxoxoxo--Kat

psss... oh Harmony, I'm SURE you can mail cheesecake. All you have to do is leave a little piece out for the mailman and I just know he would be willing to help deliver it! :-)

Good News :-) Bad Counting :-(

Wahoo!!! Today at least 4 Gladney families passed court and soon will be traveling to Ethiopia to pick up their children!

Amy, one of the new moms who passed court today, and I haven't known each other for very long. But you can tell by looking into her eyes that she is READY to be a mom to little Liv Tunsitu. And you could tell by the amazing baby shower thrown for her by friends a few weeks ago that Amy has a large village ready, willing and happy to help welcome Miz Liv Tunsitu HOME. The best part of this whole adoption process so far has been getting to know other families on the same ride. And the bestest best part has been seeing them get referrals and pass court. And the yummiest, bestest, most fabulous part is when your new friends introduce you, in person, to their child. THAT is truly a golden moment.

Congratulations Amy and all the other families who passed today! b/t/w... if I am reading Amy's travel plans correctly she will be holding her daughter for the first time on April 26th...which in my humble opinion is one of the best days of the year...(no gifts necessary but I do love cake!)

In other news, a not so golden moment: realizing today that no, we aren't just starting our 7th month on the list, we are starting our EIGHTH MONTH ON THE WAITLIST.

Seriously?

I was sitting here downloading some photos for a blog entry I wanted to write about Fisher Price toys, when I decided to see if there was a new post on The Holloman's blog. Today she says they are just starting their 8th month on the waitlist. Huh? How can that be... we went on the list one day after they did and we are just starting our 7th month? Let's see...we went on the list on Aug 29th. Hmmmm...Sept 29th, Oct 29th, Nov 29th, Dec, Jan, Feb, March 29th ... OMG!

Huh.

I mean, this doesn't change anything. We are still waiting. There are still families waiting ahead of us. We still have more time to wait. I guess I should be happy by this. We miraculously sort of 'missed out' on a whole month of agonizing waiting ... and yet, this realization makes me sorta sad. 8 months sounds sooooo much longer than 7 months. When we started on the list, the average wait was 3-5 months. Sigh.

Oh well. Month 8 it is. No big deal. There is too much good news out there today to waste time dwelling on this new calculation. Things are moving forward for all Gladney adoption families and that's what matters. When it's our time, it will be our time, nothing I can do about it.

I'm ok with this news, really I am, but I think I might have to postpone the perky Fisher Price blog until tomorrow. Right now I think I just need a piece of coconut cream pie ...
xox--Kat

Vacation...I want to go to there. Again.

So some people have been asking about our little vacation... They probably were just being polite but you don't have to ask me twice...

We spent A LOT of time just lying around...reading, napping, dreaming.

We hung out in our little lanai playing lots of cards while snacking on Taro chips and beer.

Luckily for us, the Taro chips brought out all the neighbors.

We enjoyed a few sunsets.

We spent a fair amount of time in line for the water slide at our hotel.

But don't think we were lazy the whole time. Oh no, we did a crazy 4 mile hike up and down the Na Pali coastline...IN THE RAIN. The red mud made you feel like you were hiking through Thai Iced Coffee...up hill...

But it was worth it for these kind of views. Somehow for the whole 4 hour hike, it managed to only rain directly over us, never in the horizon, go figure!

The Esquire's favorite vacation lunch was lau lau pork, which is wrapped and cooked in ti leaves. He wasn't the only one in love with the lau lau... check out Mr. Jungle Fowl, trying to be all stealthy and sneak a bite!

And of course, we took our signature one handed self-portrait (we pretty much take these kind of photos everywhere). This one is Blog Approved by The Esquire.

All in all it was a great trip... just what we needed right when we needed it. The adoption process, and by that I mean: the WAITING, was beginning to get to us a little. For awhile we were all, "it's never going to happen...waaaa!" And then we would talk to someone and suddenly be all, "It could happen ANY MOMENT! " But 10 mins later we'd talk to someone else and plunge back into, "Waaaaa!" (And by 'we' I mainly mean 'ME'... the Esq. is also totally over the waiting but he's not quite as up and down as I seem to be lately.)

So needless to say, this little get-away helped us step away from the emotional roller-coaster we lovingly call part of International Adoption. It was a chance for us to just spend 5 days doing what we love most: explore, nap, eat, play cards, nap some more but in a different location, eat something fried, float aimlessly, and dream.

But of course, we are never too far from our adoption hopes. I mean, what do you think we dreamed about? That one day soon we'll return to this magical little island so we can buy one of the shirts on the far left...

Aloha...

xoox, Kat

We're back ...

Hey ya'll... so we're back from our little mini vacation. It was a perfect time away...we're relaxed and fat and happy and excited to continue waiting (this weekend we start our 7th month on the waitlist).

I'm hoping to post a few pictures this weekend (you know, just to make you all jealous) but let's be honest, who knows when or if I'll actually get to it; I'm not exactly the most consistent blogger. But in the mean time, I want to pass on this really amazing article from yesterday's LA Times. After you read it, go back and look at the photo at the top again, you can see the affect the experiment has on these kids. Some interesting weekend reading.

Happy Friday... Kat

A hui hou, I’m off to hele with my ipo! *

Happy St Patrick's day... no time to ramble on right now cause I have a mile long list of things to do (buy toothpaste, self-tan, find bikini bottoms in back of closet, print airline tix, decide which straw hat to take, fret over size of found bikini bottom, self-tan more {fat looks skinner when it's tan right?}, make room for 3 straw hats in suitcase, empty fridge, realize The Esquire also would like a little room in suitcase...take out one hat, water plants, cancel mail ...) before we leave for here:


yup... The Esquire and I are off for one last Childless Vacation... a Baby-Moon if you prefer. At least we hope it's the last one we have time for before our referral!! Personally, thanks so much for asking, I am in a good mind/heart place right now... a "it's ok to still be waiting because the end result will be REALLY worth it" kinda place. Of course this new calm could just be the knowledge that in less than 28 hours I will be on a lovely beach with a fruity drink, a good book, and my favorite traveling partner. Sigh... I'm happy just thinking about it!

So please, have a great week everyone. I hope to return (safely tanned and very relaxed) to an inbox full of news about friends passing court and everyone receiving Their Call. Seriously, if I'm willing to go explore paradise for you, the least YOU can do for me is get your Referral Calls!

xoxo--Kat
* according to my googlictionary that means 'Much love, I'm off to walk around with my sweetheart!'

Good week / Friday Sharing #3 **EDIT**

It was a good week for Gladney families...there were at least two referrals that I know of. Slowly, slowly, things keep moving along.

**EDIT** We just found out that our around-the-corner neighbors also received their referral this past week for sibling sisters! Wahoo! Let the magic continue! And let it continue in our neighborhood :-)

And I predict it will be a good Gladney weekend here in SoCal also. Tomorrow is her baby shower. She received her referral for little Miss Liv just days before Christmas...pretty cool present don't you think? Her court date is at the end of this month so keep your fingers crossed for Amy and her sweet LT.

And then on Sunday, at the Gladney California Ethiopia Family Dinner we get to meet this man...
This is Belay Tefesse, part of Gladney's Ethiopia Program In-Country team. This is the man who will help match us with our child/ren. Can you stand it! In our eyes he is magical, a celebrity of sorts and we can't wait to meet him in person.

And finally, for Friday Sharing time, here's a short entry from one of the families who received their referral this week. I love her writing and highly recommend all of her entries, but this one just seemed like the perfect way to help kick off a great weekend. So go here and bask in the glow with them.

xoxo-Kat

What to do when there is no news and the husband is out of town...

...why, make succulent terrariums of course!

I've been a bit itchy to make something lately. Those of you who know me, know that I am kinda crafty. I have big dreams and endless patience (sometimes) but only so-so talent. I come from crafty stock--my maternal grandmother was a Home Ec. teacher and my mom was always making toys for me when I was little--so I have the crafty gene just not the crafty talent. My efforts are always just a little bit...off. For example: I was going to knit baby hats for everyone. But then the first recipient said, "what is it?"...and well, a hat should be pretty easily identifiable at first glance don't you think? I did crochet a great baby blanket once...granted it was just 9 squares sewn together, but still, it LOOKED like a blanket and the little girl still uses it as a blanket so I'm proud of that one.

As I was saying...I've had the itch to make something...but I couldn't put my finger on it. And then I got this in my email. It's the March Schedule of Classes at ReForm School, a very cool crafty/eco-friendly/fun shop in Silver Lake (LA neighborhood, just east of us). We love ReForm School because it's where we bought this, our soon to be kid/s, very first toy:

But Kat, tell us more about the Terrariums! Why, of course. Since the Esquire had to go out of town tonight, I went to ReForm School and learned all about terrariums. Turns out they are super easy to make...

First you start with your supplies... clean, pretty gravel, clean sand, and some nice rocks. All this can be found where ever they sell supplies for fish tanks. You also need cactus soil, which you can buy at any nursery.

Then you need an assortment of succulents--all shapes and sizes are good

And of course you need the containers. Thrift shops are a good place to find clear glass bowls in different shapes. Don't forget the fun stuff... little plastic creatures to inhabit your new landscape.

You start with about an inch of gravel--this is for drainage, then about an inch of cactus soil. You want to press each layer down tight so the layers don't seep into each other.

Ok, at this point I was busy making my own terrarium, so the picture below is from ReForm School's flickr site (that is my hand though). After you lay down a layer of gravel and a layer of soil, then you put in your plants. It looks really nice when the plants are different heights and textures. After you have the plants all situated, you slowly add the sand (we used paper funnels to help us place the layer of sand smoothly on top).

Finally, add your creatures and viola--you are done! Here are some terrariums made in class tonight:

I like how the dinosaur and the giraffe are both peeping through the 'trees'

and then here's one I made...

I know, I know... once again my adoption blog is about anything BUT adoption... It's just that there IS NO NEWS. We are still just waiting. We've been on the wait list 6.5 months and probably have a few more months to go until we get The Call. So for now... I'm trying to focus on other things. Things I can control. I might not be able to control the adoption process but I can be Master and Commander of my own personal little landscape in a bowl! And I have to admit, that feels good.

xoxo-Kat

PS... if you live in LA, or happen to be visiting in LA sometime soon...I highly recommend you stop in at ReForm School in person... 3902 Sunset @ Hyperion... really, it's worth the trip!

Dr. Seuss in a whole new light

Today is Dr Seuss' 105th birthday. I noticed this fact with glee but then moved on with my day.

Not so over at Dandies in the Sunshine... oh no, somehow she managed to take this happy day and make it even more significant. Check out her blog here. Trust me, it's worth the click... for it's only at her blog you'll find wonderfully true, heart-filling sentences like this:

...women that have chosen (for whatever reason) to be
mothers of children that were meant to be theirs,
but who came from someone else...

She just slays me.

xoxo- Kat