Almost there...

...just one last document to submit to Salem Probate Court & then we get our appointment date to show up & hear, loud & clear, that Ruby is MY DAUGHTER as seen through their eyes.
Why readopt? Well, a few reasons, but the biggest one for me is that it felt unfinished until this last leg of the journey was official. Secondly, once completed, I can then obtain a birth certificate from our town, something that can't be done until/if readopting is final. (At least for our state.) Having this birth certificate for her will make registering her for preschool (next fall) just that much easier.

Below is a letter my social worker asked me to compose for her so she can write the final home study report requested by the court. She asked me to just tell her a little about Ruby & our life together & fill me in on her most recent doctor visit, height & weight stats & the latest immunizations.
This is what I wrote...


Ruby Cate Pei Mu:

Ruby is a happy, healthy, silly little girl with her 3rd birthday fast approaching! Sept 7th is the big day & we can't wait! (She's asked for cup cakes with funny 'pokey dots' on them! AKA: Funfetti!) My girl loves to read and go for walks with me and adores her grandparents (who live downstairs)! Her Nannie & Nonno (my parents) are a VERY BIG PART OF HER LIFE and she sees them every day without fail! Ruby's Nonno is originally from Italy and speaks Italian as his first language, I speak fluent as well so it goes without saying that my daughter has not only come to understand us when we speak to her in Italian, but she is now speaking it on her own as well. Sometimes when prompted to do so and still many times of her own accord just because she knows she can and is proud of that fact. It's amazing to watch this little girl who, when I first held her, could barely crawl & only babbled, turn into this amazing little person with likes & dislikes and probably the worlds most amazing laugh on the planet!

Ruby loves PLAY DOH! Hands down, her favorite thing to play with besides her friend Bear. Bear was handed to Ruby on Nov 20th 2005, the same day Ruby was handed to me. The two have been inseparable since & it's a slight love affair if I ever saw one. Every day I think to myself how unbelievably blessed I am to call myself this child's mother. She's my living, breathing, walking, running, giggling, smiling, laughing, snuggly dream come true and I am so very very happy!

Ruby's most recent doctors visit went as follows:

Nov 17th, 2006
Height: 35.25 inches
Weight: 30 lbs

Ruby is up to date on all her immunizations, the most recent ones being:
Chicken Pox
Influenza

Ruby has completed Early Intervention & has progressed above & beyond their expectations, it's bitter sweet for us because although we're both happy that she's growing into a bright talented little girl, ending our sessions with EI means we don't get to see our dear friend Lisa who came faithfully, every Friday.

Ruby can run and jump and ride her tricycle and loves to play outdoors and enjoys swimming in our pool ( with help from Momma of course ) and she especially loves her sandbox and planting seeds & caring for & watering them as we watch them grow into beautiful flowers.
Her curiosity for life & everything around her gets bigger every day and is a gift to watch & help nurture.

I cannot imagine my life without this child.

My favorite quote that really sums up how I feel is:

"In the lottery of my life, my daughter is the six numbers AND the bonus! " -Unknown

I'm rich beyond any monetary means and thank God for that every day.

Tea 4 Seven?

Pools were made for swimming...

...& SMOOCHING!

hee hee

**WARNING!!**

THE FOLLOWING LINK COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE YOU FEEL NAUSEOUS!

http://www.myspace.com/antiadoption

(I know it did me...)

So sad that IGNORANCE is still ALIVE & WELL
when the calender says 2007.
Does anyone else out there have a calender that has BC on it?
Have I missed the boat?

I was so enraged when I stumbled across this page this morning!
I was searching for MYSPACE BACKROUND LAYOUTS that SUPPORT & WELCOME adoption,
and that garbage reared it's ugly head.

I need a minute.
I honestly couldn't think of how to put together a proper sentence to tell this woman just exactly what I thought of her page, so I came here to you all & vented.

It's what I do best.
I am just sitting here with my jaw in my lap.

WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL SO IGNORANT IN THIS DAY & AGE?
Makes me want to cry.

Auntie Tracy...

...these are some big shoes to fill!

Well listen, if I'm gonna wear the shoes,
then you might as well let me drive the Mustang, k?
*grin*
(c'mon Momma, help me out, GRAB THE KEYS!)

Once Upon A Time...

...Shhh Momma, can't you see I'm reading?

Sometimes, instead of a bedtime story...

...we opt for a bedtime TEA PARTY!


Bear & Pupper can sometimes get a little wild at these things
but Ruby knows just how to keep everyone in line...

The ONLY way to watch tv...

...UP SIDE DOWN!
At least it's the only way Ruby will watch her shows!
She'll ask:
'Watch a up side down Ruby show Momma?'
And as you can see, she usually gets a 'Yes'.

Momma & Ruby...

Momma Kisses...

The Oven, The Notary & The Jimmies:

So, I don't know how many of you are aware of this but, once you adopt your child & return home from China, some states require you to 're adopt' them within your state. Now, this is purely for obtaining a 'name of town here' birth certificate which, in all honesty, wouldn't be such a big deal EXCEPT for the fact that someday, I am going to enroll my daughter in preschool/school etc... and having a U.S. birth certificate will just make that process a whole heck of a lot easier.

Here in Massachusetts, it's not hard to do, but just more paperwork, which as you all know is the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!

So, I'd had this paperwork sitting in her file forEVER now. Always meaning to 'do it' but never actually following through. Figuring that, I had plenty of time, I don't have to enroll Ruby in preschool till Sept of 08' so what's the rush, right?

Wrong!
The state prefers that your most recent & final post placement report from your social worker be no older than 6 months.
OOPS!
My last one is dated Sept of 06'.
Hmmm, not a big math major but I'm pretty sure that was longer than six months ago!

Once I found out from the court that I could still file, but it would have to be asap, I called my social worker, who is a personal friend of mine, and she came over, as a FAVOR to me (she didn't have to do this as she wasn't scheduled to come here again unless we invited her for a cookout etc...) and she looked over my paperwork & made sure I had dotted my i's & crossed my t's.
I had.

So yesterday, off we went; my Mother, Ruby and me to the oldest & hottest courthouse in MA!
All brick, 4 floors, old windows, NO AC!

(for those of you who live out of state, yesterday was up in the 90's with nearly 90% humidity)

Not the most fun place in the world to be the courthouse on ANY day, but yesterday it was UNBEARABLE!

I found the woman I was looking for, walked up to her desk & presented her with all my paperwork.
She looked it over & said "Well Amy, everything looks great..."
*I felt a but coming*
"...but this one paper, needs to be signed in front of a notary."

DAMN IT!
Grrrrrrrrrrr I knew I'd forget something!
In a panic I asked her if there were ever notary's roaming the building daily?
She said "Yes, sometimes they can be found on the 2nd floor."
HOLD THAT THOUGHT!

I grabbed my water, the piece of paper, a pen & out I went running leaving Ruby with my mom.
I ran down two flights of stairs to the 2nd floor, TONS of people everywhere, didn't know how I should handle this so I just did what came naturally.

I stood in the middle of the room, proudly & loudly made my presence known & asked, in general of the room, if anyone here was a notary & if so, could they help me out?

(remember that scene in Tommy Boy when Cris Farley goes into Callahan Auto's bank & screams 'LISTEN UP THIS'LL ONLY TAKE A SECOND!'
It was kinda like that only, I have longer hair than Chris and I wasn't strapped down with fake dynamite. LOL)

I think I may have scared a few older women who weren't expecting some stranger large women to start bellowing out from the center of the room, but hell hath no fury like a hot, tired single adoptive mother who just needs a notary's signature!

Some nice gentleman said "Miss, I can help you, do you have your id?"
DAMN IT!
HOLD THAT THOUGHT!

I run back up two flights of stairs in the sweltering heat (in JEANS mind you!) and run back into the first office to grab my id & one cold bottle of unopened spring water from out of Ruby's diaper bag. (aka: my mom-purse)

Without saying a word, I ran back out & down the two flights of stairs again and found the kind man who was not only NOT afraid of me, but WILLING TO HELP!

I presented him with my ID AND that cold bottle of water, saying: "It's the least I can do, I wish I had something more for you..."

He smiled & said " well you could pour it over my head because I'm pretty sure that if you don't, in about five minutes I'm due to collapse from this heat!"
I smiled at him, and signed the paper, to which he then added his own signature & he shook my hand & asked, "Adoption?"
I smiled & said, "Yes, my daughter."
He smiled back, cracked open his water & began to guzzle it and then said, "Congratulations!"

I smiled & ran back up two flights of stairs to the first woman & presented her with the paper & a tired sweaty slightly faint smile on my face.

She looked everything over & smiled back & said " Well Amy, you're all set, you can expect to hear from the court within the next two weeks for your hearing date where you will be recognized by the State and the judge, who will do a really cute little ceremony so you may want to invite family & friends & be sure to bring a camera etc... .
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO
I'M DONE!
NO!
MORE!
PAPERWORK!

I nearly collapsed in the chair next to Ruby & grabbed her & held her tight & whispered in her ear, "we're in the home stretch baby, it's almost done!"
Ruby looked at me & said, "Momma ok?"
Smiling through tears, I said, "Yes baby, Momma's very ok!"
Sweaty & all I was squeezing her tight & she pulled away & looked at me & said, "Momma, get a ice cream? A mint one? Pwease?"

YOU BET'CHER BOTTOM BABY!
YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH!
LET'S GET SOME ICE CREAM!

And with that, we left the courthouse (aka:oven) & headed for cooler pastures, complete with mint ice cream, some chocolate chips & some chocolate jimmies, which Ruby has decided are now her FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD!
"More jimmies momma!"
"You got it baby, more jimmies!"
And as always, tons & tons of COLD WATER!

"All By Self!"

Tonight, we went to a work sponsored cookout
for family members of Ruby's 'Nanna T'.
As you can see, there was face painting!

Ruby, in addition to getting her hands AND cheeks painted,
decided that it was time to take matters into her own hands...

...and without warning,
proudly proclaimed "BEAR'S TURN!"
and grabbed the paint brush from out of the woman's hands
& immediately demanded 'RED!' to which the woman complied.
(after asking me if it was ok, which I said it was...)

Then she said "BLUE!"
and voila' got blue & got busy painting.



Our friend Bear has never looked more handsome or more filthy in all his life.

Just before taking these pictures, I asked her, "Ruby, what happened to Bear?"
She looked at me & said "Ruby paint a face all by self!"
Yes baby, you did paint Bear's face all by yourself, good job!

God bless my little artist!

I'm tellin' ya, these are good times.

Workin' At The Car Wash...

Now, THAT'S Italian!

For your listening pleasure,
Ruby's version of 'Fra Martino'.
(Which is the Italian Version of 'Brother John',
which of course, we all know as the french favorite titled: Frere Jacque.)



Yes, my kid learned an Italian song before learning an English one...
...heh gotta love Nonno!
LOL

Have Bear, Will Ride!

"So Much..."

...so tonight, as often happens, miss Ruby requested some 'snuggle time' with her Momma.
It's the usual for
A. wanting to snuggle
and
B. trying to avoid bedtime.
LOL
It's cute, I let it slide, plus I adore snuggling.

So, one time, probably about a week ago, when she asked
'Snuggle Momma?',
I replied with,
'You know what Ruby, that's a great idea, let's go wrap up in a snuggle.'
Don't ask, it's just what I said.

So, from then on in, my daughter NOW calls snuggling with me,
'Snuggle a wrap, Momma!'

As if that wasn't cute enough, behold my gift from my daughter this evening:

Ruby: 'Snuggle a wrap, momma?'
Me: You got it baby, let's snuggle a wrap!
*minutes after snuggling up all warm & toasty under the covers of Momma's bed*
(oh trust me, that's a blog for another day...)
the following conversation takes place:

Me: *big squeezy hug* I love you Ruby.

Ruby: *looking up at me and smiling* "So much." she said, then squeezed my hand with hers.

Are you kidding me?
The hell with the lottery, I've already won & my prize talks!
She just told me 'SO MUCH!'
You got it baby, so so SO so much, you'll never know!

hehehehe
Man, life is good.
*teary smile*

Because sometimes even Bear needs a Nonno kiss...

Just Because I Love This Picture...

We're On A Roll Here People!!!

You'll all please notice that in EVERY ENTRY, it's with her Auntie Kristen that she finds success in pottying. With Momma or Nannie? Not so much...

But Auntie Kristen?
If I listen outside the door, I can hear plain as day, the following conversation:

Ruby: Kristen sit on potty?
Kristen: Yes Ruby, are you going to sit on your potty too?
Ruby: "YES!"
*sitting*

Kristen: Ruby, I went potty, did you hear it?
Ruby: Uh, listen! I hear it!
Kristen: Can Ruby go potty now?
Ruby: I see it?
*peeking in the big girl potty at what success looks like*

Ruby: YEAH! KRISTEN DO A POOP!
Kristen: *laughing* Yes Ruby, I went potty, now it's your turn, is it coming?
Ruby: Shhh wait for it... is coming!
Kristen: You can do it Ruby, push!

*pushing noises, enough to make you split your pants laughing it's so damn cute!*

Ruby: Listen! Listen! Wait for it!
Kristen: Is it coming Ruby?
Ruby: LOOK!

*potty full of pee pee*

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
both of them start screaming and I hear Ruby say:
"HIGH FIVE KRISTEN!"

hehehe

Hell, if it works, I'll make Kristen breakfast & coffee EVERY DAY UNTIL MY KID IS IN BIG GIRL PANTS!
(she's currently in pull up's but still mostly uses them as diapers, but you gotta start somewhere, right?)

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
PEE PEE ON THE POTTY!
PEE PEE ON THE POTTY!
MOMMA LOVES AUNTIE KRISTEN!
MOMMA LOVES AUNTIE KRISTEN!

Life
Is
Good.

*big cheezy smile*

2 for 2 !!