FCC-LI Holiday Party

LilyRose, Santa & Joseph


Joseph with his funky hat



The Girls



Paige

Anthony - Cotton Eye Joe

LilyRose Dancing

Emily

Joseph & LilyRose

Emily & LilyRose

My Family

Yesterday was a great day for us. The FCC-LI group had their annual Holiday Party and it was awesome. We had a blast seeing all of our friends and we even made some new ones. Joseph and LilyRose had a good time too. By the end of the day, LilyRose looked liked she hadn't slept in weeks. We were amazed, but she didn't cry when she went to see Santa. Maybe it was because her big brother Joseph went up with her. She's not afraid of anything when her big brother is with her. Just think, this time next year she will have 2 big brothers to protect her...

That's right. We have a new son. His name is Jack Anthony and right now he lives in Vietnam. We are hoping to travel to bring him home by April or May 2008. He will be 8 years old in March and we couldn't be happier. Here is the link to his blog: http://www.ourjourney2jack.blogspot.com/

I have posted a picture of him and will be updating his site again today. Please stop by and leave us a comment, so that Jack can see how loved he really is. Please don't forget to leave a comment here for LilyRose and Joseph too. I guess I will have to make a blog for Joe now too.

Happy Thanksgiving

Me & LilyRose


How adorable is this outfit


Joseph & LilyRose - God they are gorgeous



Joseph getting sick again

LilyRose with her cell phone



My mother, Eleanore & cousin Nancy

Cousins Anita, Michael, Pete & Joanie


Anthony & cousin Carl

Cousins Mark, Kristi, Crystal, Joseph, Gina & LilyRose

My family Happy Thanksgiving!!

A few days late.

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. We had a great time at my cousin Michael & Anita's house. The food was good, the company was good. It was a good day. LilyRose ate and ate. I just don't know where she puts it. Joseph hardly ate anything. I don't know how the kid stands up. He is the worst eater ever. He doesn't like anything other then pasta. It's amazing.

We played this great game called Catch Phrase. It's been around for a while but I never played it. It was hysterical watching my mother play this game. She had no clue. Joseph did really well playing it. My cousin Crystal also had this little ball called 20Q. What an amazing thing this is. It tries to read your mind so to speak. It will ask you if you are thinking of an Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. Then it will ask these 20 questions and by your answer it will tell you what you were thinking of. It worked 10 out of 12 times we did it. A lot of fun.

Friday, we put up our Christmas Tree and decorated inside the house. I didn't go nuts this year because LilyRose was touching everything. It still looks great. We had fun doing it together. Then Friday night I made Hot Chocolate and we watched "It's a Wonderful Life". This is my favorite Holiday movie. I watch it every year on the night we put up the tree. I have been doing this for years and years. Anthony fell asleep and Joseph got bored and went to play video games, but LilyRose sat right next to me and watched the whole movie. She would have sat there even if nothing was on the TV. As long as she was sitting near me she was happy. lol

Saturday I had a baby shower out east. We left early and got home late. Anthony and Joseph decorated outside the house while we were gone. It came out very nice.

Sunday was a calm day. Doing nothing and loving it.

On Wednesday late afternoon we found out that we are approved to adopt a 7 year old boy from Vietnam. We are so very happy about this. I am overjoyed but sad at the same time. I will never hold the little boy from China and that is breaking my heart. But at the same time, if we accept, I HAVE A NEW SON!!!!!!

We are having his medical file checked out hopefully this week and then we will have to make our decision. The agency put me in contact with a woman who met this little boy in May and we spoke and she sent me pictures of him and she told me that he is the sweetest little boy. When we make our decision and if we accept him, I will post his pictures. Then I will make a blog just for him. I guess Joseph will want one for himself now too.

I am asking for prays now for my heart to heal and for that sweet child in China to find his family. WOW that just made me cry. I thought we were going to be his family. I can't understand how I could be happy and so sad at the same time. Any thoughts on this?

I have some pictures of Thanksgiving and some of my cousin birthday party. The top 3pictures are from Nov. 11th. Crystal's birthday party. The rest are from Thanksgiving. The camera dates are wrong.

Married 3 Years Today

This is my favorite


Love you mommy



At Last (At Last was our wedding song)

I DO !!!!

My dance with Joseph (I am your Child)

My dance with my brother (The Times of your Life)

YES, we did it !!!

My heart and soul

Cousin Gina & Brother Ralph

Nikki & Cousin Dale

My mom & my Joseph

Boy do I need this drink

A family at last

Well, today is our 3 year wedding anniversary.

I remember being a nervous wreck at this time 3 years ago. I also remember that I cried most of the day. So many tears for such a happy day everyone kept telling me. So many people that were missing that day I kept telling them. My father, my nieces, all of Anthony's family. I swear at the very last moment before I walked down the aisle, I turned and could have sworn that I saw my father standing there in a tuxedo. My father never thought that I would get married. He didn't think that anyone would want to marry a girl that had a child. He died 2 months after I met Anthony. He never got to meet my husband. I never got to tell him he was wrong, that someone did love me even though I had Joseph. I just really wanted to tell him he didn't have to be ashamed of me anymore.

But... We had an awesome wedding. We got married at the Jericho Terrace. It was where I always wanted to get married. Anthony's Uncle knew the owners so things were above and beyond everything I wanted my wedding to be. We had some issues, like the photographer and video guy. My photographer was a piss face and her brother who was doing the video called me the morning of my wedding and told me he wasn't going to be able to video the wedding because he was passing his stones. I almost jumped through the phone. I told him that he was going to video my wedding because he was going to pass his stones at Jericho Terrace in a jar in between breaks. He sent someone else that was a big moron. The florist forgot to send the flowers for my cake and when I got my flowers they had cigarette ashes all over it. I so wanted the trumpets and I couldn't wait for that and they sucked. One was like 7 feet tall and the other was 4 feet tall. They were off key and at one point they weren't even playing the same tune.

All in all we had a great day and it really was the wedding of my dreams. My gown was the best part of the wedding. It was the only gown that I tried on and it was prefect. I didn't want strapless but it was. It had a lace jacket that went over the gown. It had bell sleeves and the train was 3 inches longer then the gown train. It was the prefect gown for me. I loved it.

I can't believe it's been 3 years already...

Sad & Confused

I just read a post from one of the groups that I am on that waivers are being given to Large Families. I just don't understand the logic of it all. How could it be that a family with 6 or 7 children (or more) could get a waiver to bring another child into their family and my husband and I who only have 2 children but are only married 3 years can't ???????

I am not saying that parents with large families are not good parents. I would think they are stretch to their limits though. Just because we are not married 5 years, doesn't make us bad parents. My husband was married almost 18 years to his ex-wife. She decided that she didn't want to be married anymore.

We would love to adopt this one little boy that I first saw in April of this year. He was on this list for a while and I called about him. The woman in charge of the SN WC list told me that no one had called about him so far. Well over the next 6 months I called and e-mailed almost everyday. She would tell me the same thing each time I contacted her. "No one has ever called to look at his file but me, and there was nothing she could do for us". She would not even try to get us a waiver. Finally she stopped answering my calls and my e-mails. Well, needless to say, his file was sent back to the CCAA and I have no idea where he will turn up next. Not that it really matters anymore. No one will fight for us. No one will take a stand for the many families in my situation. They are all afraid that the CCAA will "punish" them for trying.

I think that we would be able to give this beautiful little boy a very good home. A safe, happy, healthy and loving home. Why won't anyone listen and take a stand? I would write the letter myself, but I was told it wouldn't be taken seriously. WHAT???????? How could a plea for a child's life not be taken seriously???? What is wrong with this picture? Someone please tell me.

Now, I know that I could go to another country and most likely we will. We are talking about Taiwan or Vietnam. Actually, there is a little boy in Vietnam right now that I am waiting to get his file. He is adorable and he needs a family. We could be that family. The problem is, I close my eyes and I see the little boy from China. I open my eyes and I see the little boy from China. I look at my children at the dinner table and I see the little boy from China sitting next to my son and daughter. I started shopping for Christmas presents for my kids and I see the little boy from China opening his presents next to my son and daughter on Christmas morning. When I tuck my kids in at night, I see the little boy from China waiting for me to tuck him in. I see the little boy from China everywhere I go, in everything I do, awake and asleep!!!!!

So, yes I could wait 2 years and go back to China, but the little boy who's face I can't erase from my mind most likely won't be available anymore. I have experienced heartache before and this is one that will last a lifetime for me.

WWE & Halloween

Joseph, lilyRose, neighbor & Daniella


Kristi, Joseph & Siri



LilyRose banging on door, Joe & Della

Gina, Joe, Della & LilyRose

Need I Say More

Joe, Della & LilyRose

The Undertaker & Batista

Batista

Joseph

Ok, here it is.

Tuesday night Joseph went to the Nassau Coliseum to see the WWE Smack Down/Raw show. We got him these tickets months ago. They cost an arm and a leg but he was so excited. I had no idea what the seats were going to be like so I had my fingers crossed. Anthony ran into a friend of his a few weeks back that works for the WWE and told him to call and the friend was going to see if he could get Joseph in the standing only front row. Anthony had the guy on the phone right before he left the house and the guy said he was there already and that they should meet him by the flags. Well, the guy never showed up. Now if you know Joseph, you know that he was crushed. So they get on line and Anthony calls me and said that Joseph looked like he was waiting on line to get a shot from the Dr. WOW, I know that look and I felt so bad for him. 1/2 later the phone rings and Joseph was talking so fast that I couldn't understand him. What he was trying to tell me is that they had the BEST seats. They were something like 10 rows from the rink. He said the seats were better then were the standing only section was. He was over the moon. I was so happy for him. I am not a big fan of wrestling but I was really excited. He called me once or twice to tell me his favorite guys were out and he was so close to them. Ray Mestrio and The Undertaker. His all time favorites. He got home at midnight and of course had to wake me up to tell me all about it. Little does he know that I get very little sleep as it is (tons of stuff running through my mind at warp speed) I was only sleeping for like an hour and then I was up for the rest of the night. I am like a zombie during the day lately. Poor Anthony was dead to the world. He gets up at 4am every morning. He usually goes to be at 8:30pm so he was way passed tired. But 4am came and he got up on 4 hours sleep and went to work. WAY TO GO ANTHONY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for Halloween....

Joseph was buzzing all day I am sure. Even though he was exhausted, once he got off the bus from school he was raring to go. LilyRose on the other hand had no idea what was happening. I got her dressed at 4pm. My cousin Gina was here already and my niece Daniella was on her way, as well as my cousin Siri and Kristi. Siri is Joseph Godmother and Kristi is her sister. They have been Trick or Treating with Joseph since he was born. Gina started coming with us a few years ago and now that will be LilyRose's Godmother she has to really get into it. We made LilyRose knock at my mom's door(she lives downstairs from us) just to get the idea of what she is doing. She had no clue. But I have to say after the 3rd house she picked up really quick. By the 4th house she was running up to the door and banging on it yelling TrickTreat, TrickTreat. once they opened the door she was grabbing the loot right out of there hands. She even tried to get into some of the houses at one point. But the best is when she would bang on a door and they didn't open it... She would look at the door and yell TrickTreat and had this look on her face like, hey they are suppose to open the door and give me something here. Too funny. But the best is that we need to send Godmother Gina to Halloween school. Anthony kept saying that we needed to put knee pads on LilyRose. Hey G, her knees are starting to heal!!!!!!!!!! lol haha I was so glad that my niece wanted to hang out with us. It has been years since Danileela and Joseph got to T ot T togehter. She actually was over the night before to hang out with us. We had a few laughs and T or T was really fun this year.

Then we ran into one of Joseph's friends and so we walked with them for a while. We stopped to grab some dinner and then we headed over to my cousin Joanie's house which is Gina's house too. We always go there on Halloween. As we were leaving our house, my niece Christina pulled up. So she followed us there and hung out with us for a little bit. Then my mother walked in and it was a nut house, but we always have lots of laughs together. After we TorT at Joanie's we go across the street to Annie's house. Well, LilyRose decided she wanted to get a better look at Annie's house. When Annie opened the door LilyRose just waltz right. It went to a few more houses and ran into Kathleen. She was so happy to see Joseph and LilyRose dressed up. By now it was almost 9pm so we packed everything up and dropped my niece off at her house and home we went. LilyRose was out cold. We were washing her up and changing her and she never opened an eye. It was a long night and I am glad it is over.

The pictures of wrestling are kinda dark. I think 1 or 2 are ok. So I hope you enjoy the pictures.

I Love You

LilyRose walks around the house now saying "I Love You" I tried so many times to catch her saying it and every time I got the camera she would stop saying it. I got lucky today and had to share it with all of you. She sounds much clearer when the camera is not on, but you can hear her saying it here. She is the cutest!!!!!!!!!!

It was a long weekend

Front of Quilt


Back of Quilt



Ming and us

Stacey, David, LilyRose & Joseph

Where to begin....

Friday morning I finished my quilt. I think it came out pretty good if I do say so myself. It was also Mom's Night Out. It was pouring rain most of the day and night, so Anthony drove me out to my friend Vicki's house and he stayed there with her husband and the kids and we went to Mom's Night Out. I always have a good time when I go there. Just a bunch of women talking about their kids and adoption. Maybe it's because I don't get out much that I enjoy myself. Who knows.

Saturday we got up super early and packed the car and headed out to Delaware. It took us 3 hours and when we finally get to Stacey's house, she was still at the store. No big deal. We waited 5 minutes and then she got home. She has the cutest condo ever. We loved it. Joseph was not feeling well on the drive up, but he said that it was allergies. I wasn't to concerned at that point. We went out to dinner and had a really nice time. LilyRose loves Stacey and her boyfriend David. They were really good with her too. When we got back from eating, Joseph really started not to feel well. I knew he was getting really sick. Of course I forgot his asthma machine and medicine. I gave him Advil and he slept ok. Sunday we had the Adoption House Picnic. It was a really nice day and we got to meet so many other families. The girls are all beautiful. Ming was in from China and she had a blast seeing all her "girls". She never got to meet LilyRose as we were in Beijing before we got LilyRose. I gave her the quilt as a kind of Thank You for her kindness. Now I have to make one for Stacey. I was originally going to make Stacey's first but when I heard Ming was coming I decided to make hers first so I didn't have to ship it to China. Worked out well for us. As the day progressed, Joseph got worse and worse. The ride home was horrid. His chest was killing him and he couldn't breath very well. Of course we hit all kinds a traffic and didn't get home until 10 pm. He had a lot of treatments during the night.

He didn't go to school today and I really thought that we were going to end up in the ER at some point today. We went to the Dr.'s and he said it was bad. We have all new kinds of medicine to take this week. Tonight was his very first Basketball practice, but he won't be there. Probably won't be going to school until the end of the week. LilyRose is not a happy camper either today. I don't know what is wrong with her but boy is she cranky. She is not use to Joseph being home all day and he is getting tons of attention and she just doesn't like it. I am totally exhausted right now. It's 4:55pm and I could go to sleep for the night right now. That so will not happen but a mother could wish... lol

I have a few pictures, enjoy.

FCC-LI Halloween Party

Our FCC-LI group had it's 1st Halloween Party on Saturday night. Yes, I know, it's Wednesday already and I am just posting about it now. Hey, I am getting better, at least it wasn't next month that I am writing about it.

SOOOOOOO, anyway, Anthony had to work and Gina was no where to be found, so I went with just me and the kids. Joseph asked me to call and see if that kid Brandan was going to be there and his mother said that they couldn't make it. Right after that his friend Vincent called and asked if Joe could hang out. So I told Joseph to ask Vin if he wanted to go and he did so that worked out well for him. We had a really good time and I stayed longer then I thought I would, so when Anthony got home I told him to come up there and meet us. He had fun meeting more of the families and seeing the kids. LilyRose was a little "off" that night. She kinda wanted to be held by anyone that would look at her, which kinda freaked me out. I had never seen some of these people and neither did she, but that did not stop here from running over to them when she made eye contact with them and throw up her arms and snuggle in. I really do not like that. She hasn't done that in ages and I have to say that I went over and took her out of their arms. I just don't like it. (Can you tell I don't like it)? lol Then I don't know what she was doing, but she ran right into a wall. BAM, knocked her right on her skinny little butt. She was dazed for a minute. Her father walked in right after it happened, couldn't have come at a better time for me. She didn't cry or anything but it was just weird. I have been keeping an eye on her since. Just want to see if any other strange behavior comes about.

Other then that, things have been quite here. We are going to Delaware this weekend for a picnic that Adoption House is throwing for the families. Ming is here from China and it will be great to see her again. She did not get to meet LilyRose as we went to Beijing first. So this will be a nice weekend I hope. I will post about that next week.

Until next time.....