OCD on the swing set

Chloe has learned this fun new trick. Seems she's figured out that she can grab my hand and lead me to wherever she wants. She doesn't seem to do this to anything else.


When we go out back to play, she employs this tactic a lot, pulling me over to the swing set. Now, my back yard is a pretty good size, so what this usually entails is pulling me about a quarter of the way there, then insisting that a pick her up, followed by excited pointing to the swing set.
Now this swing set is definitely not one of those super fancy kinds you see all the time. Its (somewhat rusted) metal with a baby swing, two regular swings, and a set of rings. Here recently she's really taken to the "big girl" swings. But even so, apparently there is an order that we do things.


First, we swing in the baby swing. Then she moves to the big girl swing. Then back to the baby swing. Then she plays on the rings. Never to we deviate from this system. Two times today I tried to put her on the big girl swing first...it was disasterous. Trust me. It must be said routine EVERY time. Weird, I know.


But here are some pictures of her enjoying herself on her big girl swing...

Garden, Part II

If you guys remember, I started a "farm" last spring. I had tomatoes, jalapenos, green peppers, raspberries, black berries, blue berries, cantaloupe, zucchini, cucumbers, and a wide variety of herbs. But then we got Chloe's referral and after coming back I didn't much help with anything and just couldn't keep up with everything. So it failed...

This year I decided to try again...this time just a smaller garden though :) . We kind of got a late start, so today Chloe and I went out and got some starter plants. We got some tomatoes, patio tomatoes, banana peppers, Serrano peppers, jalapenos, green peppers, and red peppers.
After Chloe got to bed, I went out and got every thing planted except for the regular tomatoes. It was quite the sight, me out there in the rain, planting peppers...just ask my neighbors. They were nice enough to offer to do it for me. But no, I did it myself.

Some proof:

Patio Tomatoes

Pepper Garden

Chloe and I made some fresh, homemade salsa tonight. It was SO good. As most of you know, I LOVE salsa. But I've never tried making it fresh. Until tonight. And I thought I would try a mango salsa, just because it sounded good. So we went out and got some FRESH tomatoes, mango, onion, avocado, jalapenos, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro. Hand diced all of it, mixed it together, and here's what we got:

Trust me, it's SO good. Sadly, I very rarely do much in depth cooking these days. Its tough just cooking for Chloe and I, and if I do, we eat the same thing for days, which I hate. But we just went for it tonight. Tomorrow we are going to make either some grilled chicken breasts or tilapia and top it with the salsa. I think it'll be awesome. The only thing I'd really change about the recipe is to up the spiciness. I added an extra jalapeno, but it didn't do much. So next time I think that I'll either use some of the seeds, or try a hotter pepper. We'll see. Tomorrow I'm going to the farmers market to get some more produce to make again. :)

And last, no post would be complete without some pictures of the baby....

Mother's Day

Mother's Day will always be extra special...

Mother's Day--last year--was the day we first held Chloe in our arms.

Mother's Day 2007:

Mother's Day 2008

What a difference a year makes!!!

Spring Time...

So it finally happens...

I've avoided posting on this topic for awhile now as I have enough stress going on that it's been hard to sit and actually think about this enough to actually post my coherent thoughts.



Almost anyone involved in Vietnam adoptions know about the issues going on over there right now. The accusations of ethical violations, fraud, etc. Let me say now that this post is not meant to place blame or bash any specific adoption agency. And I would appreciate any comments related to specific agencies or accusations to be left off.



So there has been an official announcement that US adoptions with Vietnam will end as of September 1, 2008. All dossiers must be submitted by July 1, 2008, and as of September 1, only those families who have received a referral will be allowed to continue with their adoptions. For those of you who wish to read the specifics released by the US Embassy:



Announcement



Detailed Summary



I will say that the Vietnam's DIA (Department of International Adoptions) have denied these accusations. People say that the US is just bullying Vietnam.



To be honest, I don't know what to believe. I admit that I'm not the most unbiased person to talk to on the matter. I'm big on not believing everything that you hear. When I first got back from Vietnam, I was constantly having to defend my adoption and correct accusations that were being made about MY adoption experience. I would read things that people posted, and when I tried to correct them, i was being called a liar. What!?!?! I was the one there going through the situation!

I guess my point is that I wish people would only say/write about things that the KNOW to be true. That way information could be more reliable. It's scary how much people take things that other people say to be fact.

I urge everyone involved to read the two articles above from the US embassy. You don't have to believe everything that is contained in the reports, but make yourselves aware. Do your research. Come to your own conclusion.

No matter what side you fall on, it seems perfectly clear that there ARE problems.

But I guess my reasoning in posting isn't really to debate the issue of corruption and fraud.

How is this going to effect our babies? How is this going to effect Chloe's life??? I think that any responsible adoptive parent needs to consider this question. In my heart, I know that this will more than likely come up. Chloe, at some point, will be curious about where she came from. And it would be very irresponsible of me to believe that I can hide this information from her, nor would I want to.

In my heart, I really want to believe that Chloe's background was honestly given to us. That her birthmother willingly gave her up because she couldn't raise her. By her own choice, not based on promises that she would get her child back at some point, not because she couldn't pay a hospital bill, not because she was promised that she could visit her child whenever she wanted.

But in reality, there is no guarentee. So what do you do? I don't know what the answer to that is at this point.

All I can do is be honest with her. But it breaks my heart that she will have to deal with these things as she gets older. It really upsets me when people act like it won't matter--that all that matters is that she knows she is loved now. Because you know what? Chloe and all of these children have suffered a loss. And it's a loss that they are going to grieve for at some point, in some way. And it's something that none of us are really going to be able to comprehend because we've never had to experience it. And on top of this, they are going to have to deal with the accusations of widespread corruption and fraud.

I know Chloe is young now and its going to be a long while before we have to really deal with these things with her, I just think its important to start thinking about now. And I think that EVERY adoptive or future adoptive parent needs to also be thinking about how they will handle this. And I think that it will do a HUGE disservice to them to act like the problem doesn't exist. The problems are REAL. They do exist. The question might be to what extent.

No matter what you believe to be the truth though, the information is out there and its up to you how to explain it to your child.

I would also like to post the following websites:

Bring our Children Home

Voices for Vietnam Adoption Integrity

Like I said, I urge everyone to do their research and not to take everything at face value. Understand the differences between fact and opinion. First hand accounts and rumors/speculation. And most of all, don't just cover your eyes and ears and pretend this doesn't exists. Think about these things and how they are going to impact your life.

Just a Few Pictures...And points to anyone who can identify the tree in the middle....

Spring is in the Air

The weather has been SO great here recently. Chloe and I have really been taking advantage of being outside. We've been doing a lot of picnicing, playing, and gardening (I use this word VERY loosely).

Some of you may vaguely remember my attempt at a "farm" last spring/summer. Yeah, it didn't turn out very well with the sudden travel, new baby, and everything else. I kind of gave up on it midseason. Well, fear not, I'm going to take another stab at it. Only this time I'm going to be a little more conservative and realistic. I'll probably just stick with some tomatoes, jalepenos, and green peppers, possibly grean beans, and see what happens. I think Chloe will really be up for helping me this year. We'll see.

Some of the things I'm looking forward to in May:
*My "farm"
*Watching Chloe discover playing outside, in the water, etc.
*City Market Farmers Market. (Every Wednesday)
*500 Festival 5K (You might have to remind me that I said this, I might not find it so exciting once it actually gets here)
*Primary Election Day
*Memorial Day

So I've really been wanting to post some pictures, but unfortunately I can't for the life of me find my usb cable. So until then we will be picture free.

Bad Blogger, But I need a favor

I know, I know. It's awful.

But I've been without my computer for awhile now. It got a virus and has been out of commission. I ended up have to completely reinstall windows and lost a lot of things that I had saved.

Unfortunately, all the links on my favorites list are gone. Do you know what that means? I don't have all my favorite blog addresses anymore. So if you are reading, and you have a blog, if you can either comment with your address, or send me an email (amhunter82@yahoo.com) I would REALLY appreciate it!

Quick update:

Chloe had her 15 month well baby checkup last week. Remember how I said she was 23lbs??? Turns out I was wrong...or at least my scale was. She's only 19lbs. So not so much of an impressive weight gain. But what do you do. She's healthy and happy, what more could I ask for!?!? :)

World's Cutest Cubs Fan

Chloe

Future Star...

Chloe got her very own basketball goal for Easter! I was a little concerned as last week I tried to get her to play basketball outside with a full size ball, but all she was interested in doing was playing soccer. But with her new goal, she shows that she's a complete natural!

First time's a charm!

And she tries again....
And again....
And again....making it each time!
See....she's showing me how it's done!
Well, that's enough of that. I can't spend all night trying to teach you to play.

Every super star needs a break every once awhile...no more cameras!

And lest you all think that was making this all up, I told the little super star that we needed to get video to show off her skills. So here it is. Enjoy! :)

So I stuck Chloe on a scale today...looks like she's right at 22.5lbs! We'll see how accurate that is...

This first picture is of Chloe playing right before bed. If you notice, she has this habit of taking one sock off and leaving the other on. It's an everyday thing.

Chloe playing on her slide. Note the one sock....

I went ahead and let her have ketchup at home. Here she is enjoying some french fries and a nice veggie burger.

Look how good she is using a fork!

Well, that didn't last too long. Notice she's starting to get ketchup on her face....

Do you guys know what fun dip is? You know the candy stick that you lick and then stick into powdered candy and then suck it off the stick? Well, ketchup and french fries are Chloe's fun dip. She basically uses the french fries to eat ketchup!


By the end, ketchup is everywhere. I especially love the hair!