Still Waiting to Be Signed...

This is what Laura told me when I just called PGN. I was expecting either that answer or that we had received a previo so this was the best I expected today. Sure there was a little piece of me that was thinking, maybe I'll hear that we are out, how great would that be?! After all, this is the last day PGN is open before the end of the year and the new laws go into effect. It would certainly have been nice to be out before things could potentially get messy. But I have been following different forums and watching the PGN time lines, and it appears that there are many end of October submits still waiting to get out. PGN seems to go in order, cases being approved right around the 8 week or 2 month mark (despite the random lucky few that get through faster for some unknown reason) but with the holidays, time lines seem to be a little behind the "norm". So, I'm hoping for good news maybe the end of next week or the week after. I'll keep you posted...

Christmas Recap

Christmas always seems like such a whirlwind! We had a great holiday here, I was even able to relax and enjoy Christmas Eve whereas I am normally still running about like a headless chicken. We were able to spend a very enjoyable day making cookies for Santa, playing games and just hanging out before we ventured out for our usual visiting. We are fortunate to have both my and Greg's parents within 5 minutes of us so to spend time with both families on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day is not difficult. And that's exactly what we did! Christmas Eve started at Mimi and Bumpa's house (Greg's parents), and then continued over at Nannie and Papa's house (my parents) where my mum always prepares her traditional feast of calzones, quiche and other yummy goodies. We were able to see (Michelle and Mike) my sister and brother-in-law (their first married Christmas!), and caught (Steve and Amy) my brother and sister-in-law on our way out. We couldn't stay long because Ian is truly a child who needs his sleep to be even remotely pleasant. I didn't want to spend Christmas day with an over tired Ian, it's not a good thing! We had experience with over tired Ian on Saturday night and it was not enjoyable. We had planned what I thought would be a very fun activity. We live nearby a farm/small zoo called Charmingfare Farms, and they do all sorts of activities around the holidays (they do lots of sleigh and hay rides). During the summer months they do normal daily hay rides through the back of their property. There are little houses, and sheds that, at Christmas time they decorate with lights as well as having animated characters and other neat things. Well during the holidays, they offer a horse drawn carriage ride to see all the decorations. There is a bonfire where you can keep warm while waiting for your ride, and you can get hot cocoa and stuff to make s'mores as well. You can visit with the animals, and it all culminates with the ride bringing you to Santa's reindeer barn where you can meet Santa and his reindeer. I thought this would be a special activity to do as a family. Well, Ian spent the previous night at Auntie Shel's house and was up pretty late, so needless to say that by 6pm he was tired and was just a mess most of the night. In his defense, it was pretty darn cold, and it was very busy so it made getting near the bonfire difficult. Add that to the over an hour and a half long wait for our ride and we had a recipe for disaster! I do think we'll try it again next year, but we know better now how the process works and can maybe gauge timing better (plus sorry Auntie Shel, we'll have to make sure a sleep over is not planned for the night before!). We were able to get a few good pictures, even though we had a grumpy boy! The one with a funny face is because he was feeding a goat and didn't like when they licked him!

Anyways, I've digressed from Christmas, haven't I?

Ian, remarkably, didn't wake up until about 6:45 Christmas morning and we spent a nice morning opening gifts, and enjoying apple cinnamon muffins and egg nog. Santa brought Ian a Magnetix maga case which was very exciting to him. He also brought Ana a walker (Ian was happy to open Ana's gifts up for her). Greg surprised me with a glider chair for Ana's room. We had one for Ian when he was a baby, but it has ceased to glide over time. It was so thoughtful and sweet, thanks honey! We headed over to my parents house around 11:00, and had a great time opening gifts there and visiting with my family. Ian came away with a giant stuffed dog (which he is currently laying on while watching Underdog for the fifth or so time) from Nannie and Papa (among many other wonderful things like spy gear, movies and Ben 10 figures), a cool radio control car, and spin art from Auntie Shel and Uncle Mike, and a radio control airplane and NERF gun from Uncle Steve and Auntie Amy. Everyone came bearing gifts for Ana (a baby doll, toys, clothes and girlie colored blankets!) as well which was very thoughtful. I just love the way our families have embraced her right from the start, it's just so touching! We wrapped up the day with dinner (spiral cut ham, potatoes, rolls and Bumpa's delicious carrots, yum!) and presents at Greg's parent's house. Ian got some Ben 10 figures he's been wanting and a star theater that he can play in his room at night and project the stars on his ceiling and walls. Ana received an adorable baby doll (the only non-caucasian one that the store she went to had!). Thanks also to Mimi and Bumpa, we will be having China Jade (one of our favorite Chinese food restaurants) for dinner soon and we are also the owners of a new cordless phone, for those of you who know our luck with phones, it is very exciting to be cord free again. Oh, and a special thank you as well to Nannie and Papa (among other awesome gifts) for the gift certificate to the grocery store, it is much needed after all the holiday spending!
Anyways, thanks to everyone for all the wonderful things we received. We love each and every one of you so much! I'm so happy we are able to spend the holidays together! Well, I'm off to try and make sense of the mess that remains. There are toys from one end of the house to the other! Just one last story though. We were on our way out visiting on Christmas Eve and Ian pipes up in the back seat:

"Mumma, Christmas isn't all about presents, you know what it's all about?"
"What's it all about Ian?"
"It's about spending time with all our family!"

I started to cry. I think partly it was my little breakdown about not having our family all together, we certainly were missing a piece this year. To miss Ana's first Christmas was very difficult. I couldn't help but think on several occasions what she was doing, and if she was getting any special attention on Christmas, I can only hope so (these are the moments I really wish she was in foster care). Mostly though, I think the tears were because it was just so sweet, and exactly what I hope my children will believe. I was so proud at that moment! Of course then he followed it up with:

"You know where I heard that mumma"
"Where buddy?"
"From Ben 10 Christmas special!"

Well, at least he's getting it somewhere!

Merry Christmas!

I want to extend my apologies to all those who generally receive Christmas cards from our family (and those who we are blessed to receive cards from). This year I dropped the ball. I spent the time designing the perfect card, and had them printed yet still they sit on the kitchen table in a sad pile. I'd still like to share the card with you all, so here it is. My wishes for a wonderful Christmas are still there, even if you didn't receive them in paper form. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

PGN Update, as promised...

Okay, Greg just got off the phone with the PGN and he was told the same thing I was on Tuesday, that we are waiting for sign off. He asked if she could tell if we are awaiting approval or if we had a previo, and she said she couldn't tell. She did however say that if she had to guess, that because of the timing she would guess we are awaiting approval (boy do I hope her instincts are accurate!). At any rate, if we are nearing approval, I would think that news would come the very end of December, to the first week of January. It seems that even after reaching that "waiting for signature" status is reached, you still get out around the two month mark (January 5th). From observing people currently announcing out's, they are approving cases that entered around the week of October 21st. We're hoping for some wonderful news to begin the New Year!!

My little ham...

I really enjoy taking Ian's pictures. I've been doing them myself since he was 2 months old. Not only do I save myself a ton of money, but we can take them whenever he's in a good mood, no rescheduling of appointments, and I end up with not only pictures that I can give to friends and family but a collection that really shows what his personality is. I finally got around to doing his 6 year pictures yesterday (Christmas cards may be more like New Years cards this year, hold on friends and family, they're comin'!) and thought you would like to see what a photo shoot with Ian looks like, he's a real ham that's for sure! I hope Ana likes the camera half as much!

Is it Good News or Bad News?

Well folks, after going on and on yesterday about how I didn't want to call PGN until after Christmas, a friend gave me some good advice. She said that in this unpredictable process, calling PGN is the one thing that allows us a little control. Often when you call PGN you are finding out information before your agency, sometimes before your attorney, and you can use that information to possibly get a jump on getting things moving. She said worst case, we've received a previo, and if so we can notify the agency to hopefully get to work on fixing it instead of waiting for the attorney to hear about it, pick up the case, then report to the agency before anything is done. So I decided that she is completely right (thank you so much, I know you will be reading this) and that I should call and get an update. What I was told has left me not knowing what emotion to feel. We were told we are waiting to be signed off. At first, I was so excited! But as I understand it, even when you receive a previo, it needs to be signed before being released from PGN to be fixed, so we could have received a previo. I ended up calling PGN back this afternoon because I just didn't know if they could give me any clarification about what the story is. I was told that she couldn't determine if we were waiting for final sign off or if we were waiting for a previo to be signed. She suggested we call back next Friday. Greg is home from work on Friday, so I know he's going to want to call then, which is fine with me. You never know what can be determined over the next three days right? So we are either looking at an amazing early Christmas present, or a bit of a holiday downer, I'm not sure which yet. I'll keep you posted of course.

Oh and we received a couple new pictures today (a total surprise, they came so quick!) that I wanted to share with you all. Her outfit is another one we sent down, a comfy Christmas one. I love the Christmas tree behind her and the Santa hat, very cute. I can't wait to kiss those cheeks again! Anyways, check back on Friday, we are praying for good news!

Better...

Okay, so I temporarily forgot that I could take these pictures into Photoshop and lighten them. So that's what I did and they are a lot better. There are three out of nine that are usable, but you know what? It's better than what I had yesterday. It took me a little while to step back and remember that!