Find on craigslist

Last week I started perusing craigslist and found a local listing for a p.eg p.erego aria OH (one hand!) for $100. The woman said that they had 4 strollers for their 10-month old and this one was used once. We live a town away from each other, so we met at the Target. It was in great shape and looked like it was never used. So, I bought it. My first purchase on craiglist and I think it was a good one!

Head spins and other calamities

Let's see...so where did I last leave off? My last post was me moaning about my birthday. Also, we had just signed with an a.doption c.onsultant. There's been some activity going on, but nothing HUGE. Some of the interesting tidbits over the last 2 weeks are listed below:

a) 7/6 Talked with our "actual" consultant, M, for the first time. I really like her. I especially like that she and her husband went through the adoption process themselves less than a year ago. She wants to touch base at least once a week(?!).

b) 7/14 M wanted to introduce herself to hubby on the phone, so they talked for a few minutes. Before she was supposed to call, hubby admitted to me that he was a little nervous. I had to remind him that she is working for us and she wasn't planning on interrogating him! Anything she asked him was to help her to help us. I thought it was kind of cute that he was a bit anxious about it. He really liked her too.

c) 7/15 Called our f.acilitator to check in. She said that we were profiled once in the last month, but another couple was chosen very quickly. Nothing else is going on with our profile. I informed her that we signed with another adoption pro. She kind of poo-poo'ed it for a minute or two and sounded disappointed. I reminded her that we have been waiting 18 months , which caused her to back off a bit. She said that she understood why we felt the need to add another resource. She said that since we wanted to adopt two children and if the consultant matched us first, she would put our profile on hold. We would just need to let her know when we were ready for #2. I realize that she doesn't have a lot of control about who actually matches and what types of situations come across her desk. She said that she wanted to be the first one to help us match. So, hopefully this will give her extra motivation to get this accomplished.

d) 7/15 evening Call from consultant M. She emailed us an intake on a potential birthmom who was going to look at profiles the next day and were we interested? We ended up deciding not to send our profile. Our criteria didn't match up as well as we would like. We feel that after all of this time waiting and money invested, we should stick to our guns and wait for the situation we really hope to be considered for and chosen.

e) 7/16 I was at work getting ready for a busy afternoon. Consultant M called about a healthy baby girl already born three days earlier. The bmom wanted a closed adoption, was in the Midwest, was unsure of who the bfather was, had some questionable drug and alcohol use, and the cost was at the very tip-top of our budget because she was not approved for Medicaid. Oh and by the way, M added, the family that says yes first will have a daughter and needs to be on a plane by tomorrow. Say what? She needed to know within the next 15 minutes. It was about this time that my head started spinning and my mind raced. I called hubby at his work, we discussed it quickly and decided we had to pass. Some second-guessing went on in my head (on top of the spinning) as this was as sure a thing as they get, but M eased my mind and said that she could hear it in my voice right from the get-go. She said that while we probably won't ever feel 100% about a situation for whatever reason, we will know when we are ready and willing to go for it. I appreciated her saying that because I was feeling silly that we are turning anything down at this point. I so hope that the family that was meant to have that baby girl already has her in their arms or are on their way to get her. I'm excited for them.

f) Because of the above, I finally informed my boss, who is the last of 'who need to know' at work, of our adoption plans. When I said that I had something to tell him, he said, "Let me guess...you're pregnant." Not quite was my reply.

In those 2 days, I learned first-hand that working with 2 different adoption entities are 2 entirely different experiences...like night and day in regards to approach and amount of contact. How and who matches us is still anyone's guess though.

Also during this period, we got some very bad news. My MIL was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer. She is a breast cancer survivor. There is some more testing to be done before we know the severity and the treatment. Needless to say, we are worried, scared, and upset that she has to go through this again.

38

I happened to skip over the fact that my birthday was a few days ago. What is it about birthdays? I guess other holidays (I think of my bday as a holiday for me) can have the same effect...a feeling that time is just slipping away and I haven't accomplished one huge thing at this age...becoming a mom. I believe that the main reason I feel old is because I don't have a child yet.

I were at a party recently. There were 3 zillion kids there under the age of 13 and it made me feel even more so that hubby and I are woefully behind our friends in the family department. When we start thinking about preschools, many of our friends will be talking about middle school and some, high school!

I read an article about some pl.ayboy floozy (K.endra Wi.lkinson) who recently married an NF.L football player (an Eagle!). They are expecting and due in a few months. The sentence that stuck out for me while I was reading was that they wanted to be "young parents". Yeah, as if they planned this pregnancy.

Truthfully, sometimes I wonder what we're thinking. No, we're not going to be the oldest first-time parents in the world. But I can't escape the fact that we will be older-than-most parents. If we are fortunate enough to have a baby placed with us soon, I will be 40 with a 2 year old. Then I'll be 41 with a 3 year old. And 50 with a 12 year old. You see where I'm going with this. But then I remember that they're just numbers. We have a lot more going for us than we did 10 years ago...life experience, financial stability, bigger house. Nevermind that we have lost some things over the last 10 years, namely skin elasticity, hair, and muscle tone.

Birthdays can be depressing, especially when you are waiting. However, this year I did have an awesome day. Turning 38 wasn't so bad. Maybe it will be a memorable year...first-time mom at 38 (gasp!).

I like it.

Officially signed on

I received a phone call from our *new* adoption c.onsultant, D, this morning. Our application package was received. Yay! We had to decide on an actual consultant. Before things get too confusing, I should explain...it was the owner and president of the consultant group who called me this morning. There are several consultants that work for the group throughout the country and they have a team approach to matching clients.

So, she asked me if we would be interested in a consultant in MA. She is new to the group, but is a new adoptive mom through them. She has a social work degree, currently works in a high school, and according to D, is very enthusiastic and "hungry" for new clients. I'm all for enthusiasm when it comes to us getting matched! To be honest, I was a bit hesitant because she is new, but since they work as a team, I don't see it as much of a problem.

I agreed to talk with her and D will give her our contact information so we can get started.

I've spent most of this day updating our profile so it will be ready to go out as soon as possible. Still working on it though...I thought I was done with this, but it needed to be done anyway even if we didn't sign with another adoption person.