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Adoption Journey Soundtrack

For our Post-Wedding Tour Extravaganza (honeymoon), Alison and I put together a couple of mix-tapes (iPod generation click here) of songs that meant a lot to us during the weeks and months leading up to our nuptials.

The other day I came up with the idea to do something similar for our adoption trip, and it was amazing how quickly we were able to come up with this list. Each of these songs were significant to us in some way in the months leading up to Lia's adoption. (I know that I'm going to ruin my indie cred by including Dashboard Confessional, but he got me in a moment of weakness.)

I'm in a foreign country and I'm waiting for a sign
That it's OK for you to care
Cause I'm not going anywhere
And while you wonder if you should let me in
I only want it to begin ~Ben Lee

1) Begin - Ben Lee iTunes
2) Into the Mystic - Van Morrison iTunes
3) Chinese Translation - M. Ward video iTunes
4) Last Day of the Year - Reid Jamieson iTunes
5) For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti - Sufjan Stevens video mp3
6) Here at the Right Time - Josh Ritter iTunes
7) Dans un Spoutnik - Daniel Bélanger
8) All is Full of Love - Björk iTunes
9) In the Sun - Joseph Arthur video iTunes
10) I Love You - Daniel Lanois iTunes
11) Si Paloma - Sun Kil Moon
12) Transatlanticism - Death Cab For Cutie iTunes
13) Song for the Angels - Great Lake Swimmers iTunes
14) Heartbeats - José González video iTunes
15) Ghosts - Mark Geary mp3
16) Dragonfly - My Brightest Diamond video
17) Born - Over The Rhine mp3
18) Stolen - Dashboard Confessional video iTunes
19) First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes iTunes
20) Sons & Daughters - The Decemberists iTunes

Procrastinating

I should be buying groceries right now. Instead I'm reading The New York Times. My name is Alison, and I am a narrative addict.

Who Is This Child? And What Will He Be Next? (via Twice the Rice)

This is what I look forward to most about meeting our daughter: discovering who she is, what she likes, and what she wants to become.

Typing with Tykes

Shawn sent me an article about working from home with children. I think we're both curious about how that will go. Shawn is taking six months of parental leave (February to July), and from March to June I will be attempting to work from home with both Shawn and Lia knocking around.

The article addressed a few of my questions: does the working parent sequester herself behind a closed door, or allow child and spouse to wander in whenever it strikes their fancy? I had enough trouble when it was just Shawn talking to me from his office down below (my loft overlooked his office like a mezzanine). I can't imagine I'll be able to concentrate with an irresistible toddler in reach. Who wants to work when you can PLAY?

Like many things in our lives right now, I guess we'll just have to play it by ear. I always have the National Library down the block if the family just gets too distracting.

If you have any wisdom about working with kids afoot, please do share!

P.S. I tried to apply for Employment Insurance today (Shawn and I are sharing the 35 weeks of parental leave benefits) and, after spending thirty minutes on my application, learned that adoptive parents can't apply until after they receive their child. How come nobody told me?! (Probably cause I didn't ask.) I printed out the more complex sections and I'm going to try again when we're in China.

The Story So Far

You can tell how busy we are by the fact that we haven't posted any updates in almost two months! Here's an executive summary to bring you up to date:

We spent a giddy weekend telling all our friends and family the great news about the referral.

The following week, we received the translated referral file with more information about Na Fei. We found out that she is in foster care, that she loves to be outdoors (Algonquin, here we come), and that she sucks on the corner of her pillowcase while she sleeps. It ends by saying "she really is a lovely little baby." (We couldn't agree more.)

We met with our doctor to review the medical information--no problems there--and also with our social worker to review the referral and complete some paperwork.

Despite several assurances that we could not travel before Chinese New Year on February 18, our agency changed their mind in mid-December (no doubt due to pressure from anxious waiting families!) Our large group of over 30 families turned around the paperwork in record time and our departure date was set as Wednesday, January 31. We were ecstatic to be getting Na Fei a month earlier, but panicked that we had a month less to prepare. At this point, we really kicked into high gear.

We made a very reluctant decision to cut short our Christmas visits. We spent a few days with Shawn's family in St. Catharines, but were not able to make the drive to Grand Rapids to see my extended family. We used that time to start work on getting the house ready, storing and giving things away to make space for a baby to play and sleep. Shawn even cleaned all the carpets! Who knows when we will have another chance.

We spent New Year's in Kingston with my parents and younger siblings. I finished work at Adobe on January 5, marked by a surprise lunchroom shower. Since then, I've been at home doing some client work, finishing the year-end bookkeeping for church, and working on my novel. I make sure to exercise every day so I'll be ready to carry a baby up the Great Wall.

We went to a holiday potluck for Common Ground, our cohousing group, and were stunned and grateful to receive a bike trailer from our good friends there! I will have to post the clever poem that Dwayne wrote for us.

My mom came last Thursday to help us clean and organize the house. In order to create a bedroom for Na Fei, Shawn and I had to consolidate our two offices into one. That was a toughie. Now we will be sharing a desk and jockeying for space. I'll post some photos of the new nursery this week.

Last week we enjoyed two more showers, one with Shawn's coworkers at SRDC, and one hosted by our friends Brie and Zach. We were overwhelmed by people's generosity and good wishes. We are very close to being fully outfitted for a ten-month-old. Who knew Shawn could get so engrossed in car seat specifications (we don't even have a car!).

With a little over a week left before we get on the plane, we still have lots to do (including hopefully a last date!). We seem to be on track though . . .

Oh, and we're working on an exciting development which we'll share as soon as plans are firmed up.