Breyers chocolate ice cream and FFF!

I just got done eating a bowl of Breyers chocolate ice cream. Yummy.

So everyone wants to know about the ebay business. Well first let me tell you that we have been working on this for YEARS! We have tried everything and bought SO many bogus supplier lists, got scammed by suppliers, read a million ebooks, and spend hours and hours researching everything we could find on the internet. Finally last December in 2007 it happened. Jenny found IT. As you may or may not know Jenny is an art director and an art director usually starts off as a graphic designer. So she can design just about anything, well more like anything. So she designs templates for photographers to put the pictures in. Doesn't sound lucrative or interesting does it? You probably thought I was going to say Nintendo Wii's or something right? Well she has 20+ auctions now going and she is always working on more. We also sell things through our webiste. We can average around $100 - $200 a day everyday. So it adds up quick. I know tacky to tell you how much, but it's not like I am telling you how much Jenny makes at her job. So that money is paying off our ENORMOUS (did I mention ENORMOUS) credit card debt, helping our sponsor family through Mayan families, cute clothes for Mia, savings, and our next adoption.

If you want to check out the website it is www.delmiaco.com Where do you think we got outr business name ?

Onto more pressing issues. Last weekend I thought it would be fun to take Mia to Rain Forest Cafe. So we loaded her up in the car and drove the 45 minutes to the mall where Rain Forest Cafe is located. This mall can either be called Great Lakes Crossing or Land of no freaking parking spots. There are NEVER enough parking spots and it doesn't help that we have had 45 feet of snow this year so they piles to snow into some of the parking spots. So we find a killer spot, because we stalked a guy coming out of the mall. Not kidding I pointed to him and said to Jenny, "follow him." We follow him and he gets to his car and hops in and another guys comes and puts on his turn signal. Saying to us this is my spot. I was about to go postal on this guy. Jenny said fine he can have it if he wants to be an ass. So we blew him a kiss as we drove by and I told him that he was lucky I had a baby in the car. Then we go to Rain forest Cafe and there is an hour wait. An hour with a hungry baby. So we go shopping and I bought Mia a really cute outfit at Children's Place and Osh Kosh. Mia and I rode on the carousel and I don't think she was really that impressed with it. Then we go eat. If you have never been to Rain forest Cafe. It has a rain forest theme complete with lions, elephants, jaguars, butterflies, monkeys, vines, and anything rain forest themed everywhere. Then every 10-15 minutes all the animals get stirred up and they make all kinds of noise. There is even a thunderstorm that happens with flicking lights and loud sounds. I thought Mia would like this, but she really didn't like it much. She was scared and cried every time the animals got stirred up and there was a thunderstorm. It was not an enjoyable dinner, but it was really loud so all the other diners couldn't really hear the crying coming from our table. The food wasn't mediocre and overpriced. So the best thing that came out of that trip was the cute outfit for Mia, which makes any trip worth while.

Here we are waiting in line.



and waiting...



and waiting...



and waiting. Check out that cute little Mia butt!



Finally on the carousel. She looks like she is hanging on for dear life doesn't she?



On the way home. I think she was tired.



Just throwing this one in because I like this picture and I love her profile.
So this is my FFF.

they say it's your...

BIRTHDAY!!!

So today I am a whole 28! I was going to write a long post, but American Idol is on and then Lost is on so I am opting out of writing anything long and meaningful. It is my birthday and I can do what I want right?

Maybe I will write some things that I am thankful for this birthday...

1. I have my baby girl home and in my arms.

2. Jenny won a gold Addie!!! this February.

3. We have a new Ebay business and are making lots and lots of money.

4. We are getting lots and lots of money back on our taxes

5. We get to pay off our ENORMOUS credit card debts because of #3 and #4.

6. My kitty who I thought was sick isn't really sick. He just wanted to see if I would spend the $300+ seeing what is wrong with him. Did I mention there is nothing wrong with him, a good thing, but I wish I would have known before the $300.

7. We starting getting involved with Mayan Families and are sponsoring a wonderful girl and we are hoping to help her family with many things for many years.

8. Jenny - she puts up with a lot of crap from me. I am bossy, demanding, and I spend a lot of money even when I shouldn't and she still loves me.

9. My friends. Both blogging and not blogging.

10. My red hair. I know vein, but my mom always said that I would love it some day and I am finally there.

11. President Bush is FINAlLY getting the hell out of office.

12. That American Idol is back on.

13. My baby girl - is happy and well adjusted.

14. I get to eat YUMMY Chinese food this Saturday. OK I am getting desperate, but I LOVE this Chinese food restaurant

15. I get to see my daughter dance A LOT.

16. Mia is now saying mama all the time and it is SO cute!

17. I never have to work at a stupid job with a stupid boss, because I am a stay at home mom, which is my dream job.

18. Seeing the world through Mia's eyes and seeing her discovering new things.

19. I NEVER have to hear another "State of the Union address" from Bush.

20. Mia's wonderful foster mom, Maria, who took such good care of her for the first 9 months and loved her so much.

21. Jose Juan is going to have a loving home even if it isn't with us.

22. Jenny says we get to adopt another baby soon. Ok she didn't say soon, but I just threw that in there.

23. My new DVR. This deserves its own post, but I am VERY thankful for it.

24. Breyer's Chocolate Ice Cream it's delicious.

25. My litter maids that clean the litter boxes for me.

26. The cleaning lady that cleans my house every other week for me.

27. My trailblazer with the DVD player in the back so Miss Mia can watch her video's.

28. Everyone being happy and healthy.

OK that is it. Some of those were a stretch, but I had to do 28 of them so that is A LOT.

~Pictures~

I finally have some pictures. I decided to stop being lazy and get my blogging work done!

We decided to get Mia a potty chair. I know you are all thinking she is only 17 months old, are you crazy? I need her to have something to entertain her while i go to the bathroom besides tearing up the toilet paper. So now I put her on her potty and she "reads". This is her trying it out for the first time.



Before Jen came over (from Jen, Dean and Gracie) we had to clean a little. So I was folding laundry and Mia was "helping. I use the term "helping" VERY loosely, because it is more like taking all my nicely folded clothes and throwing them onto the floor in a big pile. So anyway, she was trying to put my t-shirt on so I decided to put it on her and she wore it the whole day. Then I put the apron on her that I got with her play cleaning kit, it says I love cleaning. Check her out I finally got a picture of her standing independently.



Then we put the dogs bandanna on her. Doesn't she look like one of the dwarfs!?!



This is her gangsta look. I think she is trying to look hard!

FFF

Not much else to say. I have had a bad mama night so I don't feel like talking. I know she is so damn cute though! Let's hope tomorrow is better.

It's all in the name

I am sure everyone wants a lesson on Mia's name and where it came from. Since everyone wants to know I will tell the story. Before we met Mia we had a name picked out and that name was Addisyn. No we didn't watch Grey's Anatomy and we didn't even know that name was popular. We picked it because my great grandmother's name was Addie and I wanted to name our new daughter after her. We got Mia's referral picture and everyone (including us) called her Addisyn. We weren't sure what her middle name was going to be, but it would have been one of her birth names. Then we visited her in January and from the moment we saw her I knew she wasn't an Addisyn. It didn't fit her.

Mia's birth name was or is (do I use past tense?) Delmy Yanira. So on our way home from our visit trip we kept ourself busy thinking of her new name. We wanted to keep part of Delmy, because she "seemed" like a Delmy. I sort of wanted to keep Delmy in whole, but everyone said it sounded like dumby and I knew in school someone would come up with that and I didn't want to set her up to be teased. Then we thought of Delmya, but I didn't really like it as much as I liked Mia so we changed it to Delmia. So half way through our trip we knew her name was going to be Delmia. We still had to come up with a middle name. While sitting in the airport in Charlotte waiting for our plane to Detroit we met a woman, who was a veterinarian, and told her our story and she came up with the middle name Rae. I wasn't completely sold, but open to the idea. I then looked up Rae and found that the Hispanic spelling was Rey so I was sold. So her name is now Delmia Rey K. W. We had her name changed and she is official and has both of our last names. So actually Mia's name is really Delmia. That is the story of her name. I will post some new pictures later - I have to download them, then resize them, and then post them. Sometimes that seems like a lot of work!

Inquiring minds...

Where have I been? I am sure inquiring minds want to know where I have been lately, why haven't I been blogging, why haven't I been commenting on your blogs, and where are new pictures of Mia? I know you ALL (all 3 of you) of you must be on pins and needles to see where I have been and what Miss Mia has been up to lately. Well Miss Mia, Jenny, and I have had an important visitor and it wasn't Aunt Flo it was Jen. Not to be confused with Jenny, but Jen from Jen, Dean and Gracie. Jen is one of our (if not the most) dearest friends and her and her family lives in Chicago. They moved away for culture or something. We don't get to see them as often as we would like, but we see each other a few times a year. We even rent a house in the summer with them. Well Jen was visiting family in Michigan and had this week she had off of work so she stayed three fun filled nights with us. When she is around laughter in contagious and fun in inevitable. Here are some old pictures of fun times. Jen if you are reading this we already miss you!

Here is Jen and I when we were visiting them in Chicago. We bought these new sunglasses at Macy's what do you think?



This is Gracie their beautiful daughter. She is 4!



Gracie and Dean when we rented a house on a lake in '06.

FFF

Here is my favorite photo. I just had this one posted, but we always comment on how much Mia looks like Boo from Monster's Inc. So I thought I would share. It always helps that I have her hair in pig tails.




So do you see it? or are we just crazy?

Valentime's Day

Yes I said it's Valentime's Day! We had music class today and the instructor said, "look she's in her Valentime's Day outfit." Yes Valentime's Day. Sigh. I hate it when people say Valentime's Day! IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY PEOPLE WITH A "N" NOT A "M"! Ok I am done yelling about it. So sorry blogging world (all 3 or 4 people who read this) if you are mistaken and have been using the wrong word your whole entire life then everyone has been making fun of you behind your backs, but you were wrong and I am right!

So music class went pretty well. Rosa and Mia were standing in class between songs and activities and I said, "Mia why don't you give Rosa a kiss." Rosa leaned in and Mia and Rosa kissed! It was SO cute!!! Of course they hit heads and almost fell over, but they kissed and it was really cute to see! Jonquil said that Rosa and Mia played really well together last Friday. I think they are going to be great friends.

Here are some pictures from today with Mia in her Valentime's day outfit.

Full view of the Valentine's Day outfit!



Cute look!



She was so sad this morning.



See so sad. This is her fake hold me cry.



Bouncy, Bouncy, and let me OUT!



This is the escape artist at work. Step 1.



Push, Push, Push that Gate. Escape Step 2.



And Step 3. The GREAT Escape. Off she goes.



We went out to get lunch today and Mia fell asleep on the way home. She NEVER falls asleep in the car. This is what happens if she goes to sleep at 9:45 , which made me miss American Idol, and not make me happy, and then gets up at 5:45. Did I mention I missed American Idol and was not happy.



She sleeps a lot with her eyes half open and it's creepy!



Still sleeping and I'm still taking pictures of her sleeping.



I put her in her highchair thinking she would wake up and would eat. She didn't wake up, I even put her bib on and she still didn't wake up. I guess making mom miss American Idol makes a girl sleepy. Ok, did I mention I didn't get to watch American Idol. No I am not obsessed, but my life is complete now that American Idol is on and last night it wasn't complete. That's all.

Sad News...

So I have some sad news. We finally got a hold of Guillermo and he said that Jose Juan is not available for adoption. I guess that means that he already has a family. We got word through Benjamin that there was someone who was thinking about adopting him and Maria said that they were okay, but she wanted us to adopt him. I am really sad about this and I know that he will be loved and taken care of, but not by me and I guess that is the way it is suppose to be. I just hope whoever these people are will give Maria updates and send pictures to her. It really means a lot to her. I don't know what else to say....I'm sad. In a way though I feel a sense of relief because now I am not stressing that he will not have a home and trying to come up with the money. I was really stressing about the money thing and whether or not we would actually be able to adopt him through Guillermo. So I sit here a bit relieved and really sad with a bloody mary and my cat. He will forever be a part of our family and in our hearts.

All Gussied Up

As promised the pictures from our night out. We got to Jonquil and Scott's house around 5:30 and stayed and played with Mia until about 6:15. We said our good byes and then left. We were ok. I actually didn't cry, which surprised me because I have never been away from Mia for longer than an hour and Mia was with Jenny. We called 10 minutes after we left and they said everything was okay and Mia was fine. Then we called about 20 minutes later and they said Mia was okay still. Finally about 9:00 we called and they said that Mia was tired and sad. They said that she didn't cry, but was looking for us and getting fussy. Jenny still hadn't gotten her award so I immediately left and Jenny stayed behind to get her award. When I got to Mia she clung to me and laid her head on the shoulder. I packed up and left. When we got home we played and I kept her up with us until we went to be at 11. She usually goes to bed at 8, but I knew she wouldn't go to bed without me. We had a really rough night and I could tell that she was really upset with me. She hit me and pushed me away, and she hasn't done that since we first got home. Today has been better, but I think we may be in for another rough night. I hope I haven't done something that will affect our bond. Who knows? Being a parent means feeling guilty about everything and second guessing yourself. Maybe she is too dependent on me, because we spend 24 hours a day together. Maybe we shouldn't be co-sleeping. Maybe I shouldn't have went last night. Maybe this and maybe that......who knows?

FFF

This is a picture shortly after we came home with Mia and it was the first "real" picture where she was smiling. We used it for Welcome Home invitations. Check out those chunky monkey legs!

Tonight is the Addy awards, wish us luck because this is the FIRST time we are leaving Mia! She has been home nearly 8 months, but I am not sure how she is going to handle it. We are leaving her with our friends Jonquil and Scott (they have the 3 yr old and 18 mo old from Guatemala). We see them more than we see anyone else and I think they will be able to distract her. If things don't go well we will only be about 10 minutes away from their house. I will post pics later of us all gussied up!

What's that brown thing?

Today we had music class for REAL! It was a lot of fun and I think Mia really liked it. She has been dancing a lot and clapping when I sing if your happy and you know it song. It is SO cute.

So yesterday during bath time I was taking my mustache off. Yes I have a mustache and a special occasion is coming up so I didn't want to be sporting my mustache. Mia was in the bath tub playing and all of a sudden she grunted and I just sat down to finish rinsing her before getting her out. I was getting new water out of the faucet and looked down and thought to myself, "what is that brown thing Mia is holding. She doesn't have any brown bath tub toys." In one second it dawned on me that she was holding poo! Her poo! She pooed in the tub and it was in the water and in her hand! Just as quickly as I thought that I grabbed the poo out of her hand (screamed) and threw the poo in the toilet. I grabbed Mia wiped her bum and washed her hand. I yelled to Jenny, "go look in the tub." She said, "oh, no she didn't." I said, "yes your daughter did." She said she was going to throw up, but grabbed a DISPOSABLE cup and scooped up what she could and after she was clean I disinfected all her toys and the tub. I guess this is what being a mom is all about. Not thinking twice about grabbing poo out of your daughter's hand and with your bare hand. At least she didn't eat it!

On a more serious note. We received a letter from Maria last week and just finally got it translated. She was thinking us for the package we sent down and at the end she said that she still had Jose Juan and she was going to keep him until we can be his parent's. I almost cried, well I did cry. We NEVER told her that we were going to try to adopt him and I don't think she is getting paid anymore to keep him, but she couldn't bear him going to a state run orphanage so she is keeping him. We sent a package down with someone from "the forum" who is staying at the Tikal and they are going to give it to Benjamin. We have already talked to Benjamin and he is going to call Maria and translate a letter from us to her and then email us with what she says. So we will know more in a week or two. I am trying not to get my hopes up that we will get to adopt Jose Juan, but it is so hard. I feel attached to him already and I know my heart will break if we can't adopt him. I try not to think about it, because it is not in our hands and we can only hope. I never thought I wanted a boy until him and I already feel like he is our son. I can't bear the thought of him not coming home. At least we know he is safe and loved and that is all that really matters, I suppose.

Here are some pics form before music class today!

Check out her Valentines Day outfit! Also, she has a cold so I was trying to suck her boogies out that is why she is holding a booger sucker. I was not successful.



Can you tell she is in a trance watching tv?



Yawning.



Clapping.

Touching Poems

These are two poems that I found that really touched my heart so I thought I would share. The first one is for Jose Juan and the second is for Mia. I guess I am feeling sappy tonight so I thought I would share my sappiness with everyone.

Adoption brings out many emotions in everyone and we all hope they are happy sunshine feelings, but for me it always isn't that way. I feel sad for all the first mother's who don't know how their precious children are growing, learning, and loving. The other side is the happiness us adoptive parents feel every day with our children.

So lets all feel sappy.

May you be safe while you're waiting...
Author: Anonymous
May you be safe and sleep soundly through the night
May you be safe as you wake to the morning's light
May you feel our love from so far away,
May it comfort and protect you throughout each day.
We will pray for you my little one,
Until our time of waiting is done.
We will pray that you are kept safe from harm,
Until the child of our hearts becomes the child in our arms.




The Gift of Life
Author: unknown
The Gift of Life
I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true.
No, I didn't give you
The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.
--- Unknown

Music Class

So Mia and I started a music class. It started this Wednesday and we signed up with our friend's Jonquil and Rosa. Rosa is adopted from Guatemala (17 mo old) and also has a brother (3 yr old) that is from Guatemala. We met Jonquil and her husband Scott through our agency's yahoo group and they live 10 minutes away! We have actually became pretty good friends with them. So anyway back to music class....the class is every Wednesday at 9:15 am. Yes 9:15 am. Last Wednesday was one of the coldest days this year. The wind was blowing 50+ miles an hour and the wind chill was something like 15 below zero. So we braved the cold and made it to class. We were the first one's there and then Jonquil and Rosa showed up then a cute little boy and his mom and another girl and her mom. We all sat there talking and before you knew it, it was 9:30 then 9:45, then 10:00 and there was no instructor. So we were all a little annoyed and people that worked there kept on poking their heads in and not saying anything and then walking away. It was all very strange. Then a man shows up and asks if we are the 10:00 class we said, "no we are the 9:15 class dumb ass." (still inspiring me Kelly : ) well we didn't say dumb ass, but I am sure we were all thinking it! He said oh, I just the "new" list I called everyone from last term at 7:00 am to let them know that I was sick and because of the weather I cancelled the class. The funny part is that those people were from LAST term so he called a bunch of people at 7:00 am who weren't even in the class! So he came in for the 10:00 class even though he was sick and the "weather" kept him from coming in. The weather as in he didn't want to get out of bed because it was too freaking cold so he stayed in his warm cozy bed until he felt like getting up! So we didn't even have music class on our first day of music class.

Mia and I before music class. Apparently when I take a pic of us I have a double chin, oh who am i kidding I do have a double chin!



Mia before class! Don't know what kind of smile she was doing, but it is funny!



Mia in the class room for music class.



Jenny had her hair done Thursday night so Mia ans I were playing with her bows while we were waitng for her to come home.



It's her halo because she is an angel.



Sitting in her big girl chair.



this si Mia's new place to play on the fire place.



Of course we don't have a fire going !

FFF

I haven't been blogging much because I have been too tired. Miss Mia seems to think that 3 am is our new wake up time. So I have been in a daze! You would be happy to know that last night we all slept great and we didn't get up until 7:30! YIPEEEE!!! I never thought I would be happy about getting up at 7:30, but it sure as hell (see you have inspired me Kelly : ) beats 3 am. She has been teething and in this house teething equals getting up at 3 am to start our day. I hope or think that the tooth is through so we will wait for the next tooth to start coming in, which should be some time next week probably!

I am going to keep this short so I can blog about more important things tomorrow, but I couldn't miss out on FFF. I hope the rules don't say that it has to be our children, because mine is my dog, Rudy. He is getting so old we think he is around 11 or 12 or maybe even 13. We don't know because he was a stray, told you all I am a sucker for a stray animal! I was working at a vet clinic when I was 19 or so and a client called and said that there was a dog laying in someone's front yard, but on the other side of their fence by the road and had been there for a few days. So a co worker of mine hopped in her blazer and drove over there. We got there and sure enough there was a skinny sad looking black lab looking dog. We had dog food so we tried to coax him over with the dog food and he came running and ate it up. We slipped the leash around his neck and lead him into the blazer. We took off for the vet clinic. About half way there we looked back and I said something like, "oh what a cute dog" He then stepped between us and started growling! We were freaked out a bit, but kept driving. We got to the clinic and long story short he stayed at the clinic getting his shots, fixed, and he lived there for about a month. He weighed 40 pounds, had cigarette burns on his stomach, dog bites on his ears, and scars all over his face. We think he was abused and/or used for some kind of fighting dog. Maybe even a bait dog. I was the only person who he would let pet him and I would go in on my days off to walk and pet him. The owner of the clinic decided that because he was aggressive he couldn't be adopted out of the clinic because there would be a liability so he told us to take him to the humane society. So my friend and I took him to the humane society and told the workers to call me BEFORE he was put down if he didn't find a home. They called me 2 hours later and said that he tried to bite someone and if I didn't come and pick him up in 2 hours they would put him down. So I picked him up and here we are. We have come a long way and he has always been by my side through everything. Through my dad dying when I was 20 to my mom dying when I was 22 through everything. All he ever wanted was to be loved and feel safe and I hope he has always felt that. He is a different dog now, but not perfect. I can't let Mia around him unsupervised and his life has drastically changed since she has been home, but he is still here in the house. Jenny still walks him everyday and he is still loved. One day he will not be here and I don't know when that day will come, but I am sure it will be too soon. So hope you don't mind but here is my Rudy or Boo Boo as we call him.

this is his senior portrait look!



He looks a little crazy in this one!