Finally got our acceptance packet in the mail. Woo hoo! It feels very good to have that complete and on its way to the right people.
Now I can think about the fun stuff! Baby showers! Decorating the Nursery! Shopping! Mailing AJ a package! Yay for babies!

I’m currently working on our acceptance packet. Its got a lot of crazy paperwork. Statement of Adoption, Interstate Compact, Affidavit of Support, I-864 and I-864A, Affidavit of Tax Returns and on and on and on. The majority of which needed to be notarized. Thankfully (and I’m even more thankful now than I was before) we have friend’s in our church that are notary publics. They kindly notarized all our documents this weekend (for the low low price of our precious company at lunch).
Except I forgot one. That tricky Interstate Compact slipped by and when I was double checking things yesterday, I realized it needed to be notarized to. Since we wouldn’t be seeing our kind friends again till Sunday and I wanted to get these forms in the mail before then, I set out to find another, random, notary public.
And I found one at a local UPS office. She would be available after work, and she charged $5 a signature. Now, when I heard the price quote, I thought she was charging for HER signature. Cause well, Steve and I can sign whatever we want for free, its her signature that I’m paying for. But, thats not the case. Cause after we signed, and she signed and stamped, she said “That’ll be 10 dollars.” Huh? What. *Sigh* Fine.
Thank God I only forgot one form! Because if we didnt have these great friends, we would have paid about $160 to get this packet notarized. From start to finish (of the adoption), I can imagine the whole thing could cost around 300 bucks. That’s crazy!
Seriously, next time we adopt, I’m paying for a reliable friend to become a notary. Let me know if you’re interested.

I had my first “what a beautiful girl!” experience. And I was complete caught off guard. “Huh? What? No, he’s a boy.” Then after the awkward “sorry” and “He’s very handsome” (yeah, whatever), I sat staring at his picture wondering if his features were feminine. Not that it matters, it a picture of a 3 month old baby. But still, since I knew he was a boy before I even saw the pictures, I never even considered it. After all, he wasnt dressed in pink (or purple, for that matter). And yet something about the picture said “girl” to this person.
It’s interesting how “Dude, thats my son you’re talking about” defensive I got. That’s not a girl! He’s a man! A manly man! He could kick your ass! Yep, its a fact, I’m a proud mamma.

I have to admit, shopping for a baby boy has proven very very difficult for me. I really hadnt thought about it, up until this point. Considering that everything I like is, uh, how do I say this… PURPLE, and for some reason purple is not considered a manly color, its not easy to find something I like enough to buy. I just gravitate towards purple, and far far from baby blue. In fact, I’m almost to the point where I despise baby blue. I’m a fan of other blues, I guess. But enough with the pastels!
However, I’ve only been to Target, Walmart and Kohls, which are very pastel laden by nature. I’m hoping Old Navy will provide more bright colors and I’ll find a nice compromise.
Also, its not easy to shop for a baby you’ve never held. Especially since I have no idea how much he weighs now, or how much he might weigh a month from now. The crazy thing is, according to Carter’s, my baby at 3 months (14 lbs) would be on his way out of 6 month clothes and into 9 month clothes. Whoa baby! At that rate, he’ll be slipping into my jeans when he gets home.
I’m in the process of collecting a few things to send AJ in Korea. A couple of outfits, some toys, things to snuggle (that we will snuggle with first so they smell like us) and my favorite, a family photo album. I’ll also be sending a couple of small gifts for the foster family and some disposable cameras for them to take pictures of AJ over the next couple of months. I may also be taking it a bit too seriously, as I stand in the store for 20 minutes, debating if AJ will like something when I know he’s incapable of holding my choices against me. Unless there’s a picture of him in the cute monkey butt pants I bought him… then, when he’s 14, he might hate me. At least he’ll know where the nickname “monkey butt” came from.

Just so its clear, all future needles to my arm (or any other location) must occur the day of, or day after I receive the referral of my child. Apparently, this is the only way I can get through such hell.
Amazingly enough, I did not shed a single tear as the nurse stabbed me. Perhaps I was all out of tears at the time, perhaps I was channeling my Super Mommy powers. Either way, I survived and have the crayon band-aid to prove it.
And now I have 90% immuned to Hep A and Hep B. Woo hoo.