Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Chosen Heart

**Our newest family member!! I can't wait to meet him and smother him with kisses.
You may recall the 10-week mandatory pre-adoption course Grant & I attended in the spring called PRIDE...we've kept in touch with one of the other couples from PRIDE and they are now expecting - CONGRATULATIONS Marycon & Trevor!!! Marycon shared this poem with me today...

The Chosen Heart by Teri Harrison

Longing for a child to love,
I'd wish upon the stars above.
In my heart I always knew,
A part of me was meant for you.

I think how happy we will be,
Once I adopt you, & you adopt me.

I dream of all the joy you'll bring,

Imagining even the littlest things.
The way it will feel to hold you tight
& tuck you in every night.

The drawings on the refrigerator door

& childhood toys across the floor,
The favorite stories read again & again
& hours of fun with make-believe friends.

The day you took my outstretched hand
A journey ended but our love began.
Still mesmerized by your sweet face
Still warmed inside by our first embrace.

I promised to give you a happy home

& a loving family all your own.
A house you've now made complete
with laughter, smiles & tiny feet.

A parent is one who guides the way
Know I will be there every day
Rest easy as each night you sleep
A lifetime of love is yours to keep


Longing for a child to love
I'd wish upon the stars above.
In my heart I always knew
A part of me belonged to you.

**Our nephew and godson at 4 days old - he's grown quite a bit from when this picture was taken


Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Where do we fit in?

I have a fantastic husband who is patient with me and my many baby obsessions. I'll admit I have a slight stroller obsession (or maybe I secretly want to be an ADP authorizer for seating and mobility, nah, my unused writing aids ADP IA is enough for right now!) and I wrote last week about a new stroller I found - UPPAbaby Vista. I tracked down the most convenient retailer and convinced Grant to stop at Kiddies World in Etobicoke on our way home from church on Sunday. We had fun looking around at all the furniture, toys, accessories and of course strollers. However, our service was horrible! I had to seek out an associate and drag her to the UPPAbaby Vista to ask how to collapse it. She was having difficulty and asked another associate to demonstrate and as soon as he showed us how to collapse it he was off helping another couple - the female associate I first asked was long gone by this point. I could sense Grant's mood change and mine did too - we went from having fun & daydreaming to wanting to get out of the store as fast as we could. Something just didn't feel right about our shopping experience and Grant nailed it on the head - we didn't really fit in with the whole baby-shopping crowd, at least the associates didn't treat us like viable customers. Grant & I are still expecting a baby, I just won't be sporting a baby bump for the whole world to see as evidence that we are serious shoppers for baby gear!!

Now, to my stroller review :)

The UPPAbaby Vista looked great online and it had raving reviews...but, yes, there is a but...it was a lot bulkier than I expected and the bassinet was ridiculously heavy. I walked out of the store feeling like there was no way I would be able to manage that stroller on my own - it was too heavy to easily lift when collapsed and I felt so tiny handling it. On my drive home I was seriously reconsidering what I really want and need in a stroller for our baby and what, when & where we would use our stroller the most. Grant & I hope to be baby-carriers more than baby-pushers, so we don't really need a bassinet for the early months (although one would be nice so we could have our baby sleep in our room for the first few months) and we enjoy going to different outdoor events, so we need something that can handle a multitude of terrains...which brought me back to the BUMBLERIDE Indie. With the foot-muff and ability to recline completely flat, it has a bassinet-like feature (see image below) to use when needed and the price point is more reasonable. I just wish that our baby would arrive soon so I could stop my stroller researching addiction and finally buy one!!!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

It's a small cyber-world

When Grant & I first discussed blogging our adoption journey, we never imagined how wide our story would spread. We are greatly appreciative and grateful for all comments left on our blog by people we have never met before offering their support, prayers and sharing their own experiences with us. Just the other day I stopped off at Angel Worn where I am consigning my maternity clothes to pick up a few baby & maternity gifts (btw I found fantastic diapers bags with a very reasonable price range!) and provided the sales associate with my full name to check if any of my clothes sold. She paused after typing in my name and asked if I had a blog - I guess Janet Carioni is pretty unique!! I prefer shopping at stores like Angel Worn for gifts because they tend to carry unique products chain retail stores don't carry and products from local Canadian companies.

Grant & I are also very grateful for the friends in our lives that continue to offer their support and prayers as we continue to wait for our homestudy to be conducted. On Tuesday FACS did a presentation at my work, mainly to let us know when we should be reporting incidents to FACS. The social worker who made the presentation shared some horrific stories and I could feel the anger bubble up inside of me - How could a woman who leaves her baby alone in a crib for an entire weekend while she flies down to California be a mom? How could parents be so physical with their infant that he has 19 broken ribs and 2 skull fractures and while that child is in court to determine crown wardship the parents become pregnant again? As the anger in my heart deepened the social worker spoke about the adoptive families for these children and my friend Heather placed her hand gently on my shoulder and said "like you" and I had to fight back some serious tears, just as I am right now trying to type this (it's difficult to see the screen through tears). Somewhere in all of this there is a light at the end and Grant & I will hold our child in our arms for the first time and all of the waiting will finally be over.

I'm not sure what I was looking for on the net, but I came across another stroller, new for 2007, that is a very strong contender for baby Carioni... the UPPAbaby VistaI I think the UPPAbaby Vista might take the lead over the Stroll-Air NV2. The consumer reviews are better (haven't found a negative one yet) and the one feature I wasn't loving on the NV2 seems to be better on the Vista, but until I get to play with one I won't know for sure.

I should get going as I need to start making Thanksgiving dinner. Grant & I are hosting 4 international exchange students attending UW - I hope they like turkey and pumpkin pie!

Until next time...Janet