As you can tell the ramblings become more sporadic for this working mom as the busy-ness ensues. I usually do my blogging on my "down time" at work and well, I haven't really had that lately.
And even now, at this current moment I am blogging only because I am avoiding working on our training submissions to the lovely Department of Children and Family Services for approval. The more mundane and boring part of my job.
But overall, I couldn't be happier at my job. The past few months have been a whirlwind of trainings and workshops. But all were highly successful and we are slowly but surely getting our name out there as a force to be reckoned with in the post adoption world. Come here for services and you will get an earful. Just ask my friends who are currently going through the process :-)
Oh, and I got interviewed by a local newspaper about adoption. My words were not quoted exactly as I said them. I wouldn't normally say "putting your child up for adoption"; I actually said "placing your child for adoption" but I'm not going to hung up on the language when our message got out there and our services were advertised. http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/lemont/features/x1821248175/Lemont-couple-teaches-early-on-there-s-no-shame-in-adoption
But besides work, us Shepard's are keeping busy. We are moving forward with applying for loans and working on obtaining a real estate agent so that we can "move our cheese" in the near future. We still don't know exactly where we will be moving to, but it will be west and north of where we are now. We just need some more SPACE!
Ethan received his first trophy for his participation in soccer. He was beyond ecstatic. He told me that he got the trophy for "his first kick". So cute.
Reese is now 16 months old and is off the charts height-wise. I was at the library recently and asked another mother how old her son was and he was two months older than Reese but a good inch shorter than her :-) She is also talking up a storm. And perfecting tantrums.
We battled through 2 rounds of the flu at our house and now Jimm is on to a sore throat and cough. It's been awesome. Ha.
We're excited about some upcoming school and church holiday activities! Ethan will be on the wise men in the church play along with his best friend Graham. Reese will be singing "Away in a Manger". Can't wait to see if they actually get up on stage! Ethan's school will also be doing a little production and the 4 year olds usually have bigger parts. Not sure if Ethan has any speaking parts yet, but I'm not holding my breath. I can certainly see that my girl will be the ham in the family and not my son :-)
We are also going on the Polar Express train ride in a few weeks. We tried to get tickets last year and they were sold out so this year I got them several months in advance. Polar Express or "Magic Train" as Ethan calls the movie is one of his favorites. He will watch it at any time during the year, so I'm very excited to see his face when we do this!
I'm NOT looking forward to putting up a tree this year. My nosy, curious 16 month old is squashing my excitement about this. Trying to figure out the best way to deal with the hands-i-ness of my little stinker.
With Thanksgiving creeping up....as in tomorrow....I am aware of so many things in my life to be grateful for:
My husband who is also a wonderful father.
My incredibly cute, talented and gifted children.
Our families who continually amaze me in regards to their generosity with our kids, especially my mother for watching them 3 days a week.
The close and incredibly fun friendships that we have developed through our church. And the crazy connections that we have made through those friendships. God works in amazing ways.
Our friend Hannah who watches our kids the other 2 days a week while we both work full time. The kids feel completely comfortable with her and we've got a pretty nice routine down now. Of course now she's going to go and mess it up by wanting to adopt a baby soon :-)
The amazing friendship that we have developed with Danny and Andrea (and they also want to adopt a baby!), who also happen to be the parents of Ethan's best friend, Graham. We also happen to live next door to her grandpa, down the street from her parents, around the corner from her brothers and a few of her aunts. We like to keep things all in the family, ya know.
My husband's business has really taken off this year (now called Fidei Group, Inc.) and we are fortunate that his business partners are good friends of ours and I am also proud to call their wives my good friends!
A church that not only embraces Jesus, Home and Others First, but also reaches out to the community and the world by taking up intiatives such as providing clean water for those that don't have it and assisting Abolition International in the fight against Human Trafficking.
Friends who put up with my liberal political views even though they may not agree with my opinions.
The incredible freedom that I have by being a U.S. citizen and the men and women who make that happen.
My health. Knocking on wood, I will be cancer free in June of 2012 for 5 YEARS!
The health of my friends and family. I will never take that for granted after battling cancer. Never.
My awesome job and the people I work with.
And they already made it on the list....but I have to say again how thankful I am to be a mama to 2 of the most adorable, fun, crazy kids ever. My love for them just gets stronger with every minute of every day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Dear Glee;
I decided that I would not jump on the bandwagon of signing a petition regarding your recent adoption storyline until we could see where things were going.
Ending the last show with Quinn declaring that she was going to "get her baby back. full custody" left me with my typical "really" feeling that I often have when shows and movies try to depict an adoption story line. But again, I decided I would give it a chance.
And then we had this week's episode. In which you made Quinn look like an idiot birthmother. Hiding hot sauce, baby sacrificing books and other paraphenalia around the house that was supposed to make the adoptive mother (who...by the way...is also Rachel's birthmother....but that's another story) look "unfit". Puh-lease.
But perhaps my favorite line was when Quinn told Puck (the birthfather) that she called child protective services and "they were backed up but they should have the baby back in a couple of weeks". WHA?????
What does that even mean? There are so many things wrong with that statement I don't even know where to begin! Why would child protective services take a call from a high schooler and just take her word that the adoptive mother is unfit? And even if they were going to do an investigation and find her unfit, why in the world would they place the baby back with the birthmother when she VOLUNTARILY relinquished her rights. ARRRRGGGGHHHH.
They COULD have done so much more with this on a real, in depth level. They could have explored how difficult it is to place your baby for adoption and the heartache, grief and regret that one might feel after they have made that choice. I would have been fine with that. Because it's absolutely true.
And then the kicker at the end of the show. The birthfather and the adoptive mother kissing....hooking up, evidently because of the shared emotions that they are experiencing regarding the baby. HELLO. That makes sense. She's a teacher at the high school and he is a high school student...senior...so maybe he is 18, maybe not. So...of course I can only imagine where this is going. She is having an inappropriate relationship with a student, will be charged and then will be declared "unfit". Then somehow the baby will miraculously be returned to the birthmother. And everyone lives happily ever after.
SIGH.
I just wish for once, just once that a TV show could depict adoption with the truth and dispell myths and stereotypes.
Some movies have done an ok job.
As much as I love Modern Family, it is pretty unlikely that a gay couple could have adopted from another country. Here in the U.S., yes. But not from Vietnam. They might have been able to adopt as a single parent and then do a second parent adoption....but otherwise no.
Glee, I used to love you. But I have a feeling a break-up might be in our future.
It's you, not me.
Ending the last show with Quinn declaring that she was going to "get her baby back. full custody" left me with my typical "really" feeling that I often have when shows and movies try to depict an adoption story line. But again, I decided I would give it a chance.
And then we had this week's episode. In which you made Quinn look like an idiot birthmother. Hiding hot sauce, baby sacrificing books and other paraphenalia around the house that was supposed to make the adoptive mother (who...by the way...is also Rachel's birthmother....but that's another story) look "unfit". Puh-lease.
But perhaps my favorite line was when Quinn told Puck (the birthfather) that she called child protective services and "they were backed up but they should have the baby back in a couple of weeks". WHA?????
What does that even mean? There are so many things wrong with that statement I don't even know where to begin! Why would child protective services take a call from a high schooler and just take her word that the adoptive mother is unfit? And even if they were going to do an investigation and find her unfit, why in the world would they place the baby back with the birthmother when she VOLUNTARILY relinquished her rights. ARRRRGGGGHHHH.
They COULD have done so much more with this on a real, in depth level. They could have explored how difficult it is to place your baby for adoption and the heartache, grief and regret that one might feel after they have made that choice. I would have been fine with that. Because it's absolutely true.
And then the kicker at the end of the show. The birthfather and the adoptive mother kissing....hooking up, evidently because of the shared emotions that they are experiencing regarding the baby. HELLO. That makes sense. She's a teacher at the high school and he is a high school student...senior...so maybe he is 18, maybe not. So...of course I can only imagine where this is going. She is having an inappropriate relationship with a student, will be charged and then will be declared "unfit". Then somehow the baby will miraculously be returned to the birthmother. And everyone lives happily ever after.
SIGH.
I just wish for once, just once that a TV show could depict adoption with the truth and dispell myths and stereotypes.
Some movies have done an ok job.
As much as I love Modern Family, it is pretty unlikely that a gay couple could have adopted from another country. Here in the U.S., yes. But not from Vietnam. They might have been able to adopt as a single parent and then do a second parent adoption....but otherwise no.
Glee, I used to love you. But I have a feeling a break-up might be in our future.
It's you, not me.
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