Catching Up - April 2011

April went by like a big black hole, as usual.  It's the worst time at work - lots of stress and usually lots of extra hours for accountants like me who do personal taxes.  However, we always know it's all over at the end of the month.

Molly and I took advantage of the spring weather whenever we could.  We got a call from Nhan one afternoon, and joined him at our favorite park.

We took the bikes, and they had fun riding around the basketball court

Another sunny afternoon was spent on the swings with our neighbors. 

And later, Molly helped Mama out in the garden.  Molly planted flowers and peas and birdies.

The Easter Bunny came and left some pretty eggs for Molly to find on Easter morning.  It took Molly a little time to catch on, but after she had found them all, she kept asking for more.

And here's that Easter Bunny herself!







Catching Up - March 2011

March is the beginning of so many memories, anniversaries and celebrations that last for the next 3 months.  I met Molly on March 5, 2010.  Here is my story of A Year Ago Today of the 2011 anniversary celebration. 

The next most exciting event this month was... we had a visit from Aunty Loan, from Vietnam!

Our adoption agency holds a big gala every year to raise money for the orphanges. They invite a delegation from Vietnam to come to the gala, and this year Loan was one of the guests. They were able to spend one night in Vancouver, then flew back to Vietnam from the Vancouver airport. We arranged to have a breakfast reception with them at our favorite family-friendly restaurant, and had an emotional, way-too-short visit with them.

Here is a link to another posting about Loan from last year, which explains why we love her so much. 

The other guests include Trang Dai, who is the woman in the picture holding Molly, above.  She is the director of the orphanage in Vung Tau where a couple of Molly's friends are from.  She owns the residence hotel where Molly and I lived for our last month in Vietnam, and was very good to the two of us while we were there.  It was really nice to see her again too!  The other two gentlemen are officials within the provincial government offices that have a part in processing our adoptions.  We don't meet them while we are there, but I am very grateful for their participation in helping Molly and I become a family.  It was wonderful to show them how much we love the children they allow us to adopt, and I was quite proud that as a group, the Vancouver families were able to show them our close friendships, pictures of the many activities the children have had together, and a desire to keep their Vietnamese heritage an active part of the children's lives.

Catching Up - February 2011

The biggest event in February was celebrating Tet, which I already blogged about.  The other special event was a visit from Aunty Margie and Uncle Larry.  They came through town with arms laden with gifts for Molly, and we had a fun time with them:

Catching Up - January 2011

Despite my lack of postings over the last 6-8 months, we have still had a lot of adventures, and there are stories I want to tell here so that Molly and I can look back at them later to enjoy the memories.  I'll get started now, and try to make each month a posting:

Molly's first snowman!  We were visiting the family that provides Molly's daycare, during one of those rare snow days we get on the West Coast.  We built a snowman, and were quite proud of it, but then Ginger ate the snowman's nose.

Molly's new hair-do.  I am still reluctant to cut her hair, but the bangs-in-the-face look just isn't appealing.  Early one morning she let me play with her hair, and I was able to get the bangs into a ponytail.  She was thrilled with it, and so was I.  She has such a beautiful face, and now we can see it!

Jonathan's birthday party.  We were thrilled to get the invitation and celebrate with Molly's little buddy.

A good time was had by all, but no kiddies in the picture as I don't have permission from the parents.

I'm Still Here...

Wow, its been almost 2 months since I last posted anything.  You can probably guess why - I've gone back to work full time.  Yup, now I'm a working single mother.  That means:

1. Sleep deprivation - not Molly's fault, she is a good sleeper.  But I have so much to do every evening after she does to bed.  I'm up until almost midnight most nights getting prepared for the next day.  Packing the diaper bag, cooking meals for the following day, laundry, chores, etc.  Oh, and eating my dinner and sometimes getting a shower too.  I'm always sooo tired.
2. No time - when I think about the first months a year ago when I got back to Canada with Molly, I just have to laugh!  Why did it take me 2 hours to get out of the house?  Why did I think I was so busy?  HA!  Just look at me now!  My house is a disaster, my car is a pig sty, and it is still hard to get out of the house, but again, not Molly's fault - there is always too much to do.  Ergo - no time to blog!
3. Stress - yeah, crying in my doctor's office, hoping she has a magic pill for me.  We decided on a couple of changes I need to make to help me though.  The biggest thing I need to change is to find a nanny to care for Molly in our home.  That will relieve a lot of my stress, and Molly will be a lot happier too.
4. Financial shortfalls - I can't afford daycare.  I run out of paycheck twice a month.  I need new shoes.  I thought that going back to work full time and getting paid would be a good thing, but I obviously don't make enough.  Ah, I wish for the good old days last year when I was living on EI and draining my savings. 

I have actually written a couple of blog postings about going back to work.  I haven't posted them because they are too whiny.  I've been doing lots of whining!  But seriously, are we really supposed to adopt a kid from an institution, drag them across the globe and stick them in another institution for 5 days a week of the rest of their childhood?  Are they supposed to be away from us more hours than they are with us?  Are we supposed to go to work so that another woman can raise our children?  Then pay her lousy wages for taking care of our most precious loved ones?  I'm not judging, just whining.  I know that some of us, including me, have no or few choices to do it any differently.  I know that this is the only way I am able to have a family of my own, and I know that things will get better as Molly gets older and can start wiping her own bum.  I would do it again and again, if I could.  I just wish that lotto ticket in my Christmas stocking had been a winner...

Happy Easter

About a Year Ago

This is what we were doing: