Farewell to Kentucky

Today i leave my lonely little apartment and head back to Hawaii! I truly did have a really great 6 weeks in Kentucky. I spent nearly every weekend visiting with family. That is the biggest thing i have missed the last 3 years of living in Hawaii. It is really amazing to be a few hours drive away from the people you really care about. But, I can't wait to get back to my own house, and husband and dog babies. Hopefully they remember their mama. Little Summit goes crazy when we come home, and wags her tail so hard her whole butt shakes. So i am really excited to see our little butt-wagger.

Then on to my 8 weeks of Night shift. But when that is over, i will be have made it to a term pregnancy, and ready to meet little Nova-baby.

Right now it is raining so hard, and i am dreading having to carry my humongous suitcases down to the car to load them. I'm gonna wait til the very last second and maybe the rain will stop.

Guess I'd better get back to packing and cleaning. I get on my flight this afternoon adn fly to Dallas, then LA, then off to Honolulu! Whoo hoooo!!!

And finally here is a family pic from our baby shower. This is Cris' whole fam, including Grandma Nova who Baby Nova is named after. I know you can't really see it, but she has a genuine twinkle in her eye at all times. She is a wonderful wonderful lady!

60 + years and still in love!

bye bye kentucky

Well, today is my last day in Kentucky. I am so happy to finally be heading home. I did have a fantastic rotation, and i spent nearly every weekend visiting with family. It was really great to get to be driving distance from the fam. I am definately considering requesting to be stationed here next summer when i finish residency.

anyway, i leave this afternoon, and fly to dallas, then LA, and then Honolulu! I land just after midnight Hawaii time (5 a.m. Ohio time!). Saturday i will get unpacked and rest some, and then i start my Night shift rotation.

Cris also has a few busy months ahead, with continuing to collect data for his research project and dissertation. I really think the next 10 weeks will fly by, and before we know it Little Nova will be here! Hopefully Juneau will be arriving either shortly before or after.

As far as the adoption goes, we are still waiting for 1 final document for her paperwork to be complete. I got an email this week that said they anticipate that document will be ready in the next 1-2 weeks. It is a form that the local government officials have to fill out stating that a local newspaper ad was run for 30 days reporting that a child had been found and looking for any relatives to claim her. She has already been through this 30 day waiting period, but we are just waiting for the signature. Once that document is complete we move to the final stage of waiting. This is submitting our I600 to the US Consulate in order to approve her visa. This is supposed to take no more than 60 days, although it has recently become unclear as to whether this is 60 business days or 60calendar days. But regardless of that, once we submit the I600 we should be traveling within 2-3 months. I am anticipating that we should have the I600 submitted by March 15.

I am so sad that i won't be able to travel to Vietnam to pick up Juneau. I have been looking forward to that very moment for over a year, and it is unbelievable that the timing has been so crazy. I will likely be either way to pregnant, or have just delivered our little Nova to travel to Vietnam. Cris is already working on recruiting a companion (or two!) for his trip. Fortunately Coral, as well as Dad and Mom Stickley are getting their passports ready to go in case a little trip to Vietnam is in their future this summer!

And finally, here is a Stickley Family Picture taken at our baby shower 2 weeks ago. I think there is room to squeeze in a couple more little girls on that couch!

who would've thought

I didn't think i would be a huge fan of Nashville. I'm not really into country music, and i just didn't think it would be my thing, but i have to tell you, i Love that city! I had such a great time visiting with my mom, sister, sister-in-law, and 2 adorable little nieces. My sister had an action packed weekend all planned out, and we ran all over the city. We shopped at some really neat little stores, ate some great food, and had an awesome time listening to live music. We really needed a few more days to really explore.


I'm about to start my massive packing project. If you could see the little apt I'm staying in you'd have a hard time believing i've only been here six weeks. I've accumulated a ton of stuff over the last few weeks, and I'll have some major problem solving to do when it comes to getting everything home! Fortunately since i am traveling on military orders i get a little extra leeway with the luggage requirements, so i think i will be able to make it work.



And just because they are adorable, here are Juneau and Nova's cousins Hope and Secily. It was a little hard to get Secily and Hopey both looking at the camera and smiling in the same shot, but this one was pretty close.

who would've thought

I never would have imagined that Nashville was such a fun city! I'm not a country music fan. I'm not a hater, just not a fan. So i really wasn't so sure Nashville would have much to offer. But i have to tell you, i love that city! My sister had planned out an action packed weekend, and we ran all over the city. it was so incredibly fun. We shopped at a bunch of neat little stores, and listened to lots of live music, and ate at some really cool restaurants. I got all caught up in the moment and nearly bought myself a pair of cowboy boots and a rhinestone studded Nashville t-shirt.

Me with my sister and sister-in-law out and about in Nashville.
You can see my new haircut in this picture. The color is actually a lot darker than it looks, but i think the flash kind of reflected off it and makes it look really blonde. But at least it's not "black and white" like before!


AND we got a video of the J-bug. She soo stinkin' cute i can't stand it. Cris got the DVD in the mail from our agency, and it had about 6 minutes of footage from the orphanage from our agency's visit in January. It had about 1 minute of Juneau footage. It was soooo cute. It was taken the same day as the most recent pictures i got, so i recognized her outfit and little sweater.

guess that's all for now. i'm going to start my massive packing project in preparation to leave for hawaii on friday! You would think i'd been living here for years based on the amount of stuff i have to figure out how to get back to hawaii. this packing is going to be a multi-day event.

Peek-a-boo with June-bug

A pleasant surprise was waiting in the mail today - video footage from our agency director's recent visit to Tam Ky orphanage. Even Emilie hasn't seen this video yet. I trimmed it down from 6 minutes to about 2 minutes of prime footage with peek-a-boo glimpses of our little girl. Remember what she is wearing in the pictures? If not, scroll down and remind yourself before watching the video, then keep a look out for that cute little face and orange sweater.

weekend recap

What an awesome weekend! I had high expectations for a really fun and wonderful weekend, and it was better than i had even hoped for. In spite of the fact that Cris came to Ohio carrying some sort of nasty Tropical Flu Virus, he had a great visit also. I'm so glad that we decided to make it work for him to come, even if it was a short visit.

In the bad news area, we had our digital camera and video camer stolen from Cris' checked luggage somewhere between Honolulu and Detroit. Crazy. I guess it is a bigger problem than i realized, because after doing some internet research about what we should do, i found that TSA has over 2,100 claims/month filed for missing items in luggage. I don't think there is much that can be done, but we will still try to file a report.

But not to worry, because we had an amazing weekend anyway. I will try to post some pictures in the next couple of days from our shower that Cris' mom took with her digital camera.

Anyway, the highlights of the weekend:
1. Hanging with the Matus gang in Toledo. I'm not sure who was more worn out after hours of playing really hard, Cris, or Alex, Lyndsey and Brent. They played hard for a couple of days straight!
2. An awesome baby shower hosted by Cris' Grandma, Mom and Sister at Grandma and Grandpa Stickley's farm! We were overwhelmed by the generosity and good wishes and prayers from our friends and family who came to support us and our new little family! We are beyond grateful that we both have amazing families and extended families who really love and care about us. THANK YOU!!!! We also got the chance to visit the little Potsdam Missionary Church, who has been following along our adoption journey. We really appreciate the prayers and support from our extended church family!

So I am down to only 10 days before i return to the Island of Aloha! I can't wait! As soon as i get home i will be starting in on 8 weeks of Night Float (6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday through Friday!) Fortunately, I don't really mind working nights at all, although the downside is that Cris and I often go days without even seeing eachother since our schedules are completely criss-crossed. But the bright side is that i have every Saturday off. Also, hopefully it will help the last 10 weeks of pregnancy fly by! By the time i am finished with night float i will be 38 weeks! I can't believe it! I've finally crossed over into the Third Trimester! Whooo-hooooo!!! I'm optimistic that things will continue to go really smoothly. I am loving pretty much every part of being pregnant right now, so hopefully things will stay really good as long as possible!

yummy po' boy sandwich

I love yummy food. It's one of the toughest things ever, because I hate watching what i eat. Pregnancy is like double trouble because not only do i love to eat, but i can consume mass quantities of food at very close intervals throughout the day. Bad Combo. Add to that equation being away from home. and bored. and voila! A feeding frenzy non-stop. I am sad to say that i have gained about 10 pounds in the 4 weeks I have been in Kentucky. yuck. So every night before i go to bed (after i inspect my stomach and thighs for stretch marks) I swear that i will eat really healthy food all day the next day. I really want to do good. But then by about 10 a.m. i've already started back into my old habit. So anyway, for lunch i had this amazing fried (yum) shrimp po'boy sandwich and fries. It was delicious.

Guess I'll continue on with the bad news of the weekend, and then go to the good news.
1. I gained 10 pounds in 4 weeks.
2. Our digital camera and video camera were stolen from Cris' checked luggage sometime between Honolulu and Detroit. Bummer. Apparently there isn't really a whole lot to be done about that. We can file a report with TSA, but i guess they get an average of 2,100 reports/month, and something tells me nothing will ever come of it. Plus we need receipts and whatnot. and I'm sure i don't have those. This also means no new haircut pictures until someone sends me some of their digital pics from our shower.

Good News:
1. I had nearly the perfect weekend getting to see my long-lost husband, and hang out with our families. I love love love my hubby, and i was so happy to get to see him and hug him and kiss him. Even if he was spreading his Tropical Flu Virus all around to everyone.
2. I go home in 10 days!
3. I go to Nashville in 3 days to hang with my sister and niece and mom
4. I had a Great shower. Well, as great as can be expected considering the attendees were all Cris' extended family, and I wasn't quite sure which purple hair aunty i should direct my smile and "thanks" too when i opened each gift. I kept having to whisper "now which one is aunt olive again?" But overall we were overwhelmed with generosity and good wishes and wonderful family and friends.

so i guess that's about it.

Adoption-news wise, we still haven't filed our I600. It's been about a month since referral. Supposedly her dossier is translated, and ready to be mailed to the embassy, we are just waiting on one piece of paperwork that confirms that she has indeed been through the 60 day waiting period looking for any relatives or domestic adoption opportunities. I guess this comes from some government office, and has to be included in her dossier. Sooooo, once we get that little piece of paper (and really, who knows how long that will be) we will file our I600. Then wait 60 Business days (which could really be up to 3 months!) and then go to get our girl.

We snagged a Phil and Ted Stroller

I've had my eye on this phil and ted stroller, and i really really wanted it, but really really didn't want to pay the almost $500 price tag, so i have been stalking craigslist on a daily basis, and yesterday was our golden opportunity! I found one listed for $200, and cris went over to look at it.

it's actually funny, b/c the family lives in our neighborhood, and apparently they actually knew us, because the husband is an ENT resident at my hospital, and somehow they had heard about nova and june-bug, b/c the wife knew our whole little story.

anyway, we are super excited about our find, and now we just need a couple of babies to push around!

(but ours is red and gray)

oh, about the new haircut, i'll post pictures after our baby shower this weekend.

*new* stroller

I've had my eye on this really cool stroller. It's made by a company called Phil and Ted. They have devised a cool way to push around 2 kiddos without the big wide double stroller. The other great thing is that the 2nd seat can easily be removed, and it can also be used as a single stroller.

anyway, i love this stroller, but unfortunately the price was ridiculous, so we have been watching for a used one. And yesterday I found one listed, and cris gave them a call and secured us a basically brand new stroller (used less than 6 months) for less than 1/2 the regular price!

Now all we need are a couple of babies to push around!

4 days counting today....

3 days not counting today, and 2 days not counting today or thursday until my fun weekend starts!
Cris was telling me about how excited his nephew, brent, is to see him. When Coral finally told Brent that Uncle Cris was coming to visit in 5 days, he wanted to know if it was 5 days counting that day, or starting the next day. So cute! But now I find myself counting down the days. I am REALLY looking forward to this weekend! I'm going to try to get Friday off work so i can drive up to Toledo on Thursday. Then I'll be able to hang with the Matus Gang Fri and Sat a.m., then drive on down to visit the Stickley's and see our friends and family at our Baby Shower!

i had a great visit with my parents in willard this week. I think this is like the first time EVER that i have been the only kid at home, even if it was just for a couple of days! We ran around and did some shopping and had a great time. Then back to work today. I need to run out to Wal-mart to pick up some stuff, but i just don't know if i can face the cold! I was really thinking of moving back to Ohio after residency, but this freezing winter is kind of making me reconsider! I had to use and ice scraper this morning for the first time in 3 years! I guess I would eventually re-adjust to the winter wonderland, but right now it's kind of a shock on my tropical weather loving system.

big trip to willard

Friday i made the 7 hour (which after some terrible traffic in cincinnati become a 9 hour) drive from Kentucky to northeast ohio. it was totally worth the long drive to get to see my mom and dad. even though i just saw them at christmas i was so happy to get to spend the day hanging out and shopping with my mom. I got a bunch of my hair cut off, and colored kind of darkish. it's a good change i think. closer to my natural color, so hopefully i won't get what my friends and family lovingly refer to as my "skunk root". I should have taken a hint from my 4 year old niece, who was having a good ole' time "braiding" my hair. she handed me a handful of hair and said "ok aunt emmie, you hold the white hair and i'll hold the black hair and then we'll put them together". hmmmmm.....i think that's what nudged me to get some professional hair help.
It's just i HATE spending so much money on hair. I've never really been a hair person, and i don't really worry much about it (which is why the skunk root rears it's ugly head so often). AND as an army gal i really only can only wear my hair in 1 way - pulled back in a tight bun. So what's the use of a $50 haircut when no one ever sees it?

but anyway, i paid the big bucks for a cut and color and overall i like it. and i certainly don't have the black hair/white hair problemo.

so willard was fun. i just spent Saturday there, and then drove back on Sunday.
I'm gonna try to hint around and get Friday off, since Cris is flying in this week. His sister is having a baby shower for us, and we are excited to see lots of friends/family.

Oh, something else funny that's hair related. this morning i got out of the shower at 05:15 and went to brush and dry my hair. I have super stringy hair, and when i get out of the shower it's like a giant dreadlock. it takes a lot of work to get it all brushed out. but i realized i didn't have a hairbrush cuz i left it at my parents. there was NOTHING i could find that work work. i thought about trying a fork (i was Desparate!!) but ended up just trying to pick out the tangles with my fingers. it sorta kinda worked, but i gotta run over to walmart now and buy a brush so i don't have the same dilemma tomorrow.

Nova in 4 dimensions

today was super fun! We had a great day in the O.R., with 2 really good teaching cases, and lots of good stuff to learn. Then, in the afternoon I came back to the clinic, and one of the ultrasound techs did a quick 4D ultrasound for me! We don't offer 4D ultrasounds at my regular hospital, and so i haven't actually even seen one done before, only the pictures.

Little Nova co-operated pretty well. There was definately some wiggling around, and a fair amount of hiding behind her hand or umbilical cord, but overall she posed quite nicely for her glamour shots, and we got to have a little glimpse of what our girl might look like. Too cool!

the weather here in KY was quite nice today. When I left at 0530 it was already > 60 degrees! Awesome. That kind of weather and sunshine alone makes for a great day.

And we got some measurments. Looks like June-bug weighs about 12 pounds, and is 24 inches long at 4.5 months. That puts her in the 45% for weight and 75% for height on American charts. I'm wondering if maybe she isn't a little older than 4 months. In her pictures she really looks a little bit older, like more about 6 months. I know a lot of times the birth dates are an estimation, and may be more like the date she was taken to the orphanage. anyway, she is beautiful, and looks happy and healthy.

a little glimpse at little nova

Today was very exciting b/c one of the girls at the office i am working in did my 4D ultrasound! It was so much fun to have a look at little Nova. we didn't take her measurements or anything, just tried to get a few glamour shots of her face. she co-operated pretty well overall. there was a little bit of wiggling around, and a fair amount of hiding behind her hand or her umbilical cord, but we got a few shots of her little face.

As you might have noticed we are now into double digits on the Nova counter, with only 98 days left! If only we could count down the days to bring Juneau home, it would certainly make that wait much easier.

We are nearing Tet (Vietnamese New Year), which means a couple of weeks of absolutely no adoption progress or news while all of the government agencies shut down for the holiday. It should be over by the middle of February.

On Friday i will be heading to Willard to hang out with the fam for the weekend. It is so great to be within driving distance of family again. Hopefully the Army will give us a great assignment after i get out of residency next summer, and we will be able to live near our families again. We have LOVED our time in Hawaii, but are looking forward to moving back to the mainland sometime! We have to be sure to give the Grandma's (and Great Grandma!) ample opportunity to spoil these little girls rotten!

35!

On Friday Cris chalked up another year, bringing his grand total now to 35! I was really sad to be so far away, and not able to celebrate his birthday.

but some of his co-workers and students were looking out for him and had this delicious cake.

i'm sure it will embarass him that I'm writing a post all about him in celebration of his birthday, but since i'm the one who primarily writes on this blog, I figure i can write about whatever I want!
So here are some things I have really appreciated and loved about Cris over the last year:

I've probably mentioned this before (or maybe like 100 times) but he can fix ANYTHING! Cars, trucks, washing machines, dishwashers, cameras, computers...you name it, he can fix it. sometimes it takes a little time, and a little frustration, but in the end whatever it is that was broken somehow works again.

He is a HUGE support during a difficult last few years. Not only did Cris leave the continental U.S. to move to Hawaii, but he continues to be completely sacrificial and supportive during a difficult residency. He gets up extra early to drive me to work on the way to his job, and then often ends up waiting over an hour for me to finish up at the hospital so we can drive home together.

Cris is FUN and makes the best of any situation. There is no one i have a better time with or enjoy spending my free time with.

Not to mention he is incredibly hard working, ambitious, level-headed, faithful, and thoughtful. Am i lucky, or what?!

So, now that i have thoroughly embarassed my husband, check out what bloomed in our yard last week! We have had these little pineapple plants growing for almost 2 years. They've gotten really big, but no signs of any little pineapples until last week, when Cris saw this little guy starting to pop up! Finally!