Practice and the joys of sharing.

What a busy couple weeks we've had. Okay, maybe not that busy, but as I seem to be sharing the family cold/sinus infection crud, it seems much busier because I'm so much more wiped out. I seem to catch whatever the children in the family get, so I'm actually looking forward to Acer's being exposed to these things so that I'm exposed to these things in small doses instead of sudden sledgehammer doses.
Poor Bill, I've been boiling him at night because the higher temperatures keep my coughing down. Normally our heat stays about 60 degrees at night, but with the crud, I've had to keep it about 70 to stop the hacking. I'm not sure which is worse for him, not sleeping well because I'm not sleeping well or not sleeping well becuase he's being baked; then there are the times I can't catch my breath & whack him one with a flailing arm! Thankfully this should be over soon and we can go back to sleeping in our lovely cooler temperatures.
I volunteered to babysit our youngest nephew Crash (or CJ). Crash is the baby my brother was babysitting the night before I had to take him to the hospital. So he did in one Tomlinson, then I babysat 2 Saturdays ago. I haven't changed a boy diaper since I was 12, watching a 2 year old at a camp in the UP. This little 4 month old would be good practice for Acer, we wouldn't be able to communicate and I'd have to change diapers. I'm usually pretty good at discerning diaper change cry vs hungry vs tired cry, but not with Crash. He cried, arching back, red face, the whole deal for almost 3 hours straight. Thank heavens for the baby in the mirror, for brief respites from the chaos. I wasn't really trying to torture the poor little guy, it just turned out that way. So he did in two Tomlinsons.
Last Saturday I went back for round 2, armed with new information like - his bottles should be HOT (body temperature) because his mom breastfeeds he's used to warmer stuff, not just above room temp. and that he likes to stand & jump and other little things like that. He was also awake and in my arms when Mom left so there was no sudden who the heck are you shock. We had had a much better time, older brother Logan (5) was there also but I managed to not only feed him and change him twice, but also to get him down for a nap long enough to do the dishes and feed Logan.
I tried to fold laundry but was defeated in the sock matching because Joe has too many almost the same socks. Crash was back awake by this time and he didn't think I should be looking that intently at anything but him.
One funny thing was, when I changed him into a new non drool soaked outfit, I chose one, carefuuly looked it over & then just as carefully put it on him backwards ! Oh well. At least Acer will be in mini adult clothing so that I shouldn't run into these problems theoretically.
I was also able to get a load of stuff to a very nice lady who is going over to pick up her daughter on the 23rd. Because she's flying on an adoption ticket, she has an extra luggage allowance (I HAVE to look into this!) so I packed up donations to the CHI rehab center and took her a full suitcase. Through a connection at Bill's work, this cause has been taken up by a group of Red Hat ladies so we had a variety of donations. Some we just won't be able to get over to China because of size issues, but we'll donate them to an at risk pregnancy center locally.
If you have new or like new baby items you'd like to donate to either cause, just let me know & I'll get them where they're needed.
One thing we really need prayers on is finances. We've taken a couple unexpected hits lately and need to be able to get back on track quickly.

Glass

I love glass, it has always been my favorite art material. I love the way it feels, looks, everything about it. So when I decided to finally take those glass blowing lessons I'd always wanted, I was overjoyed to find out it was an art form I could actually do. The Good Lord blessed me with many abilities, few of them artistic. Okay, actually aside from singing and writing bad funny songs he hasn't blessed me with much out of the fine arts world. Then I discovered glassblowing, the dangerous, pigsweat hot, exhausting art of glass blowing. I love it. Few pieces I make actually turn out exactly the way I expect, and the few 'twin' pieces that my friend Leigh and I have tried to make alike definitely don't turn out anything alike. But I love it. So I'm putting my website up for other people to enjoy them too.
http://homepage.mac.com/heatherbt/PhotoAlbum14.html
And, Yes, I do know what a few of the pieces look like, they weren't supposed to look like that, but they do.
Heather

Multiple subjects

Well, our (hopefully) next to the last last piece of paperwork left on its way to St. Louis yesterday. As expected, I have neither HIV or Hep issues, which obviously is good. The last piece of paperwork should be our SCL, and then we just wait for our TA.

My good friend Jo, who is adopting Hannah out of Acer's group of waiting children, got her seeking confirmation letter from the CCAA yesterday. This will be sent right back to Beijing and then the CCAA will issue a travel approval. We were hoping to travel together because many of our paperwork dates are the same, but the three requests for more information of one sort or another, including this last one, have slowed us down. So now our only hope to travel together is there to be a Chinese New Year slow down, but that would delay her and I don't wish that for her.

I spent most of the day Sunday and half the day Monday at the hospital with my brother James. They still aren't sure what happened, but as he was feeling better they sent him home with a 'follow up with your Dr.' We figure it was a combo of his hurt back, that section of back having the nerves that go to the stomach, having a high blood pressure migraine and then it went from there. The great news is, he didn't have a heart attack and I didn't lose one of my favorite people in the whole world.

My brother and I have (I think) a very unique relationship. We're ALOT alike, our likes & dislikes (but not food ones) our senses of humor, thought processes, and looks. Despite the fact that he's 3 years older, we're often mistaken for twins (why he had to get the tall skinny genes and I the teddy bear genes I just don't know). He's one of my best friends and I was really really scared I would lose him. It really makes me glad that we have the habit of saying I love you. I wouldn't have wanted him dying without knowing that he's my brother and a huge part of my life and I love him for it.

1 set of paperwork on the way

Our ammended dossier items are on their way to Beijing today - Yeah! They've been MIA for a couple days as I forgot to put an Attention: on the 3x5 card I wrote the address on & gave to Bill. Thankfully, I remembered I'd forgotten and alerted our caseworker and she went on a hunt for them.
One of my best email adoption friends whose daughter is from the same batch of waiting children and whose LOI & LID dates about about the same as ours, got her seeking confirmastion letter this week. While I'm sad it doesn't look like we'll be traveling together, I'm happy for them and hopeful for us. It means that (probably) as soon as we get our latest info (my new HIV & HEP tests) back to Beijing, we should get our SCL in that very next batch.
BIG PRAYER NEED - that we would be able to travel & be back by 4/1 before I have to go back to work.