Confession Time

OK... I've dickered around long enough, and it's time to come clean. This revelation is anticlimactic to probably half my pals in blogland but to some of you, yes, this is news. I'm pregnant.

Knocked up.
Up the duff, for you Anglophiles.

I've been in this condition for quite a few weeks (18 to be exact) but that doesn't keep me from waking up every morning slightly stunned. Learning that I was pregnant was indeed shocking for both Mike and myself, but truth be told we never really knew whether or not having bio kids was a possibility. Our reasons for adopting came equally from a.) a true desire to become adoptive parents and b.) concern for my health due to having high blood pressure since age 13. (Yes, 13!) The truth is, I never really had this huge longing to be pregnant; I only had the REALLY huge longing to have a family. So we chose one of a few options and never really looked back, except to grumble regularly about China's ridiculous waiting list.

Anyway. As it happens, I got pregnant, and have since enjoyed a relationship with a team of excellent docs who are checking my status regularly. The good news is that so far, I'm healthy, the baby is healthy, and we're almost halfway there. The hope is that we'll hang in there as long as possible and avoid pre-eclampsia (my major risk). We just have to take it day by day.

So... where does that leave the adoption? Our plan right now is to request our dossier be put on hold for a while. With the wait time extending further and further, we may not even have to go on hold, but we will still ask the agency about this. After the baby comes (due Jan 25th) we'll talk to the agency about updating our homestudy, and then make a decision on what to do.

We've been really committed to and excited about adopting a little girl from China. We've talked a lot about how we'd feel if circumstances keep us from being able to go through with it. It's complicated and we don't take it lightly, so for now we've decided not to even think about it because we simply don't know what the future holds. I still follow lots of China blogs and stay on top of the news, though. That's really all we can do right now.

So there you have it. Now, for your enjoyment, I've been keeping a secret blog cataloguing my ultrasounds, wacked-out symptoms, and ever widening silhouette, so feel free to read the back issues. I will probably update that one exclusively for the time being, so please join me there. I will keep you posted on that site about what's happening with the adoption.

See you at http://moyerpartyofthree.blogspot.com!

Sophie's Bad Breeding

Yesterday we went to a BBQ at my sister's house. All in all, it was a great day - met lots of cool people and enjoyed the view on the lake, and Mike got to play his beloved volleyball.

But I must tell you about a neighbor we met of Esther's, a self-proclaimed poodle wrangler and breeder with six dogs of her own (which happened to be approximately twice the number of teeth in her mouth). She wandered over to us while I was holding Sophie and asked if Sophie was spayed - if not, would I be willing to breed her? Very flattering initially, but then the scary lady began a thorough examination of my dog. We told her we suspected Sophie had some bichon in her, but she would have none of it. She then proceeded to simultaneously praise and criticize her features for the next ten minutes.

"Nah, she's a full bred poodle. But these squat legs and wide body - it's just bad breeding, is all. One of her parents was a lumpy dumpy dog.

"She's so adorable, though - God it's a shame she's spayed, I would love to breed her with mine and make some cute puppies.

"Look at these ears! She's got way too much hair in them." (at which point she proceeded to yank tufts of hair out of Sophie's ear)

"Good teeth, black nose, black nails. She's definitely a full bred poodle. Well, she's just so cute. She has a few nice things about her, but major flaws. You could never show her, look at all these flaws! But adorable. She's so short, squat and dumpy." Then she toddled away and picked up her own toy poodle, which did nothing but vibrate in her lap and occasionally snarl at people.

A barrage of counter-insults started circulating around the group that witnessed Sophie's encounter, and we gave Sophie a bit of hamburger to help her forget being violated. From now on I'll be very suspicious if we ever encounter anyone else who claims to "know poodles"!

Saturday... in the Park...

Well, it was the 14th, not the 4th of July, but anyway, we had a fantastic time at our first annual friends & family picnic! We managed to squeak out one of the nicest days of the past few weeks, and enjoyed yummy food, bean bag toss, and as you can see, a very competitive round of volleyball. And Sophie hung out and played with all the babies!

Hope to see you all again next year!!

Out of Review! FINALLY!!!

After 13 months and 3 weeks of collecting dust on a shelf somewhere in the review room at the CCAA, we learned today that they have finished the review of all dossiers received in May 2006. We're through!!

Congrats to, well, US, for surviving this leg of the ugly wait, and of course to my friend Jen (logged in a few days after us). Along with being out of review, she and her husband recently received a referral for a little boy in Taiwan, so there's TONS to celebrate! We're so happy for you guys!!!

On to the matching room, where we'll sit for another year, no doubt!

Relay for Life

Yesterday we participated in the annual Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society. It was a really beautiful day. My mom, a three-time cancer survivor, was there, as were many others. At dusk, all of the teams lit luminaries that circled a quarter-mile track, and as we walked past them all, I noticed more luminaries in memory of loved ones, far more than those in honor of survivors. I was once again reminded of how fortunate my family is, and that I should never forget to be thankful.

More and more cures will be discovered in the future, and we'll celebrate many more survivors... thanks to research funding. If you'd like to participate in a relay or start a team, click here to learn more.

Thanks to my friends and family who donated this year!!

Sophie's Birthday

Here's a picture from Sophie's birthday party... after her dip in the pool, before cake with her puppy friends. (Yes, we got a puppy pool AND a dog cake, we're that bad and we know it, in case anyone starts making references to Christopher Guest movies...)

Everyone had a blast! Happy birthday little poochie!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Mike!

And a very Happy Father's Day to all the dads, waiting dads, and granddads out there!

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blog lately but I've been busy with the new job. We did have the ridiculous but fun birthday party for Sophie last week so I will post pictures as soon as I get them.

More coming soon!