hạnh phúc Phục sinh, Happy Easter, Buona Pasqua

Waiting….

Well I had a strange week….this hasn't happened since 2010 when things started to move towards a possible referral…in other words, checking my email many many times a day, calling home to see if I have any phone messages….looking for signs everywhere and anywhere that I will hear about a new child who is meant to join our family….but so far nothing!!  so so hard to wait and harder with the expectation of thinking I'll hear soon!!…so for now, still trying to keep busy, do have lots to do…midterm marks, professional development days, and Easter…though of course I wanted to hear before Easter…I wanted to hear before NOW!! but I know in this journey, the timing is perfect but is out of my hands and beyond my choice and control and though I know, from my experience with Matteo, that after it happens it will all seem so right, but for now I want it to happen NOW!!!

okay just had to get that off my chest!!

hope everyone has a great weekend….my plan is to get the deck ready for lots of spring sitting….because finally finally we're supposed to get some spring like weather!!  in honour of this weekend and the warmer weather, we decided to start our weekend with some ice-cream from an ice-cream place we've been wanting to try out.

So Bunny says, it was an ear infection after all!….

When Matteo woke up this morning with a fever yet again, and complaining about his ear, I really could not accept that he didn't have an ear infection. We went to the clinic on Wednesday night and other than lots of wax in his ear, the doctor couldn't see any redness. This morning I tried to very gently remove some of the wax that was at the outside edge of his ear cancel with a cue tip…..yes yes, I know we're not to use those on children, and I really only touched the inner edge gently trying to see if I could coax some wax out..and when I took the cue tip out it was a little bit pink!!….so after a conversation with a tele-health nurse, off we went tot he clinic again.

….and we were about to leave the clinic a second time without an ear infection diagnosis…she did notice that the lymph nodes were swollen Matteo's left side, same as the ear, and that side of his body always registered higher on the thermometer,  and when I insisted the doctor look at the inner canal where the pink was from she looked and realized it was very red….the inner ear was fine, but as she moved the wax and took a second look not way inside, but the canal area, behind the wax, it was red…..so finally, and for the first time, Matteo is on antibiotics….and after two doses, no fever tonight for the first time in 4 days.

…So all this to say, a mother's instincts, and a little boy who knows what hurts and what doesn't and sometimes some calm insistence with doctors in clinics, and finally we get to the right diagnosis!

…So that was the first great news today, and the second was that the bunnies have arrived at the local pet stores all ready for Easter deliveries…..and they sure have cute ears too.

"It's hard work being a mommy."

These were Matteo's words to me tonight while I was dressing him after his bath and he was shivering more than his usual because his fever was up again…..We were home again today and Matteo started his 2.5 day with a fever, not a high fever, but still, this is the longest.

He had lots of energy today for the most part except when his fever started to creep back.  I am so tired of winter. I have been sick off and on now since before Tet when we had to postpone our Tet party. Last week I was home on doctor's orders and today Matteo was home. My sister generously took care of him Wednesday afternoon and yesterday as it was a busy time at work and parent teacher night so hard to book off…but today, my little one needed lots of cuddles, snuggles, television watching, and reading.  It was so sweet of him to somehow realize how much work it was to be taking care of him. It isn't work of course, it is love.  However he is so sensitive and it was so sweet for him to acknowledge how he was being cared for. 

 He is fast asleep and I'm praying that his fever breaks.   That I finally get rid of this flu/cold/asthma/bronchitis, whatever it is!!….and so want the sunshine of Spring to finally bathe us in some of its healing power.  We so need it in our home!

Matteo wearing mommy's hat on a healthier day!

Another small step towards Adoption #2

 Well last week I had a strange feeling that I would hear from my agency.

 When I got home, in my mailbox I found an envelope with a receipt from a donation I had made, so I thought that must have been it.

   However, today I decided to write to my agency as this feeling was still nagging me. I got a quick reply back asking me to call them....

    I discovered that my file was making some movement so they were discussing it.  So this was it.

While my dossier was in Vietnam already, from what I understood in the fall,  I was told that it would now be deposited at the Department of Adoptions (DA) in Vietnam.  So now we are even closer to the top of the list and depending on the children that are proposed to the agency the next time around, and the special needs I'm approved for, we may get a referral sooner than later.... also the other good news is some problems that developed in the fall have also been dealt with so there should be no more difficulties in that regard!...that was so good to hear!! and now I'm feeling a bit more positive......

    What is also interesting is that tomorrow would have been my dad's 100th birthday had he still been alive. Matteo's birthday is in May which is the same month where my mom's birthday was....so all to say it is nice to think that in a spiritual way, my adoptions are tied to my parents.

    So excited and nervous....however before I get too excited...the process was explained and now I understand a few more things......and for the special needs files once I get a "verbal referral"....this is only the beginning....the investigation on the child's dossier will only take place after this verbal referral,  (like it was with Matteo's file) and the investigations from what I was told, on average are taking longer...anywhere from 6-12 months...it is only after this investigation where the DA in Vietnam will issue Article 16 which is the "Official" referral and then I meet with my social worker and then she "approves" the match and sends the paperwork to the Ministry of Children here in Ontario, who then "approves" and issues an Article 17, a copy of which gets sent to Vietnam.  It is only after Articles 16 and 17 are issued where travel can be planned soon after...perhaps one to one and a half months later.......so so so so.....who knows we might be travelling in November on the anniversary of Matteo's adoption? or maybe 2015, though of course I'm hoping we don't have to wait until 2015!!!

  For now leaving you with some funny faces of my sweet boy and eating his first beaver tail.  Recently during our nightly prayers that we say on some of our nights, has now been asking God for a brother instead of the sister that he had been asking for. When I ask him why he's changed this. He has no reason. When I ask him if he'd be disappointed if he had a sister, he tells me he's okay with that too!

An important topic....

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Family day first....

Matteo has been asking for a few weeks to go skating, really he is asking to learn how to skate. He is being influenced by some of his friends in preschool so not sure if this will be a short interest or something he is really interested in. We have been taking a second music class and it is hit and miss with his concentration and interest, though not sure the time we go is helping?

Anyhow over the past month we have been preparing and then were delayed when we were both sick. Additionally had trouble finding a proper helmet for him.  So today, on family day, I decided if it wasn't too cold and if Matteo was willing, we'd try it out....and he did!!