"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break." -Chinese Proverb



30.1.13

Back to work

All good things must come to an end.  I return to work on Monday after being home with Ryan for the last 20 weeks.  Hubby will be doing the remainder of the the 15 weeks of parental leave.  Over the last few months, there have been many ups and downs......and huge gains made by Ryan as he adjusts to us, learns new things and figures out everything going on around him.  There have been many many appointments, play dates and lots of family time.  Today we are going on a short family vacation that we are all super excited about.......as come Monday morning, things will change again for our family.  The only guarantee is life, other than death, is change......and what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger!  As we cultivated our family and grow stronger in us, we watch the boys grow stronger, more self assured and happier......
 

26.1.13

Godfather

We are Catholic.....are boys are (will be) baptized Catholic and attend Catholic school.
When we found out we were getting Adrien, we chose my older younger brother and his wife to be his Godparents......and for Ryan, we chose my younger sister, her husband and my youngest brother.  We are looking forward to getting Ryan baptized as soon as the adoption is finalized!
I finally got a good picture of my brother and Adrien....one, where no one is blinking and bother are looking.


first attempt

16.1.13

Cake

My best friend celebrated a birthday today.......and to true fashion, I made a cake......



My best friend is the best.......I love him more now than I did 13 years ago......Happy 41st Birthday to my dear husband.....the man who stole my heart and so gently tends to it.....

14.1.13

Sick

There has been some nasty bugs through this house over the last few months.....and I've been lucky enjoy to dodge the bullet.....but this one.....this one is something......it invaded Friday night.....and I've been trying to trick it, trying to ignore it, trying to sleep with it.....until today.....three nights of horrible unrest and almost four days of zero tolerance for ANYTHING...(I LOVE the sick husband commercial) .I gave in and went to the walk in.  After a negative Strep test result was given to me, the dr snorted, it's viral, you should be at the end of it now.......so....in an attempt to upset the illness enough to leave my body, I began a full force attack.
(please note that I am not proud of some these pictures, but I was willing to try anything to breath through my nostrils)
My ammunition was on hand and I began.........with some Advil......and a NetiPot rinse (so addicting by the way!)

Best tissue idea EVER

Something my neighbour gave from from Holland

Breathing the stuff from Holland...made my eyes water

Call my mom.....I'm sick....


13.1.13

Bullying

Bullying and the implications attached terrify me. It terrifies me for my children, my nieces, my nephews and all the kids I love. As a kid, I was bullied and was a bully.  In grade 5, my best friend and I had grade 8 girls waiting for us every night on our walk home.  They would torment us with their words and would threaten to hurt us regularly.  It lasted about two weeks.....it was horrific....Thankfully it ended because my babysitter went to the close by high school and one of her friends witnessed it and got the entire football team to our defense and my mom took us to the junior high school the girls went to.  The principal didn't do a thing....NADA.......One of my biggest regrets in life is being mean to a certain kid when I was in grade 6. I was lucky enough to bump into him as a young adult and was able to apologize. He accepted my apology and shared that he didn't remember the bullying. Whether he remembers or not, I felt horrible.
 I fear for Adrien, he is such a sweet, laid back kid who won't even take a toy from his brother.....and I'm perplexed as how to best equip him to protect himself as I'm not there in his life every second.  
The suicide rate that is connected to bullying is staggering.....I know bullying will happen....I know it will, in some form,  both of my children will be bullied.....whether it's because of the things they like, how they dress, how they speak, because they were adopted.....for any reason really.....It breaks my heart to think meanness will enter my boys' lives, I guess my job as their mom is protect them.....and the only way I can think of protecting them is teaching them that they can come to hubby and me with ANYTHING, and to trust grown ups around them enough to ask for help in the immediate situation.  I also want to teach my kids the courage to stand up and step in when they see bullying happening....not to be afraid and to speak out.  (Any ideas around how I can lay the foundation would be appreciated)
As a professional who goes into schools, I see bullying a lot....and the lack of support to the victim by peers and staff.....It makes me want to cry.
A group of Canadian artists have done a cover on Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors".....when purchased on iTunes, all the proceeds go to the KidsHelp Line.  I think it's a good start but we as a society have so much work to do about teaching our children the effects their words and actions have on others.  And  how lonely people in our world really are......
I hope I can support and protect the kids in my life from bullies.....but I think I'll need a lot of help!

4.1.13

Saying Good Bye

Life with Ryan is improving.....and getting to feel normal.....it's wonderful.....
Today I received an email from Ryan's social worker that the foster mother had called, leaving a message with the social worker demanding to know when she would get to see Ryan again (note to self, call the Greats to tell them how amazing I still think they are!)....the social worker contacted me via email asking me to write a letter so that foster mom can have closure.  After talking to social worker on the phone, we had a draft of a letter but it didn't sit well with me as my intention isn't to bash them but to say good bye to them so I called our social worker who walked me through what I think was a great good bye and thank you letter.  It was sent and two hours later the foster mother had contacted the social worker demanding to know how we are allowed to do that, how foster parents need to be aware that this can happen (that's what the training class is for) and how unfair it is to her.  Needless to say, while talking to birth mom (about other things) I believe that we made the right choice for our son and we are moving up and on wards.  I kinda feel bad for foster mom but she can't be bad mouthing me to the birth mom, and claiming to be a Christian......more on that soon!

Happy New Year

Still alive.....just busy......want to see some new pictures, please visit www.adrienandryan.blogspot.com

Vents and complaints are in the works.....stay tuned!