Life with Ava

Got another letter from our (I can almost say former) adoption agency. This one was congratulating us on completing Ava's readoption which, by the way, is for the readoption they told us we needed to have an attorney to do and oh, by the way again, they just happened to have one they could recommend.

Sorry, I digress. My bitterness is showing.

This letter was sent not only to congratulate us but also to let us know that we can now apply for both a Virginia birth certificate AND a social security card. I'm so glad they advised us of this, especially since a vital records request was required by the court as an accompaniment to the adoption petition AND since we already have a social security card for Ava that was obtained shortly after we returned from China. Gosh, I just knew all of my time spent educating myself on the processes and seeking my own answers would be fruitless since I have the Bethany team looking out for us and providing such accurate information.

Oh yeah, and they want us to know it would be their pleasure to assist us with any future adoptions. I do hope they're holding their breath while they wait for my call - which will be made to them shortly after hell freezes over. Oh wait, that already happened when I bought the country CD so I guess they'll have to wait until after pigs fly.

The sarcasm is coming through loud and clear, right?

But. I was so very happy to see another survey also included in the envelope. I attacked it with glee, proudly wrote my name in big letters on the top of the page (no anonymous comments from me), and covered the measly remarks area as well as the back side of the page with my reasons for the ratings that I gave.

I doubt they'll listen.

I am amazed, however, at the difference in quality of services provided by our new agency. I know we're just beginning and are still in the honeymoon phase, but man-oh-man. Just the information provided and the presentation of said information is light years beyond what we ever got from Bethany and that pisses me off all over again because I see how much easier Bethany could make it on their clients if they wanted to.

On another note, I owe several folks some return emails so if you've emailed me through the blog recently please know that I have not forgotten anyone and am not purposely being rude. I am in my very busiest time of the year at work and won't see the light of day for another 2 weeks. December 6th is the light at the end of the tunnel when I hope to learn what sleep is again and to not feel like I'm pedaling 100mph and still getting nowhere fast.

I think everybody already knows how I feel about TV viewing for toddlers, right? I don't think I've been shy on expressing my opinion on that. I'm pretty firm in my belief that TV is not good for little ones so Ava has truly watched only a very few minutes of TV here and there. Our house rule for TV in the evenings is that it isn't on as long as she's in the room which means, with few exceptions, that it stays off until she goes to bed. We spend that time together as a family - eating dinner, reading, and playing before the bedtime routine starts. We do have a few signing DVDs that she's watched a handful of times. Like maybe 3 or 4 times max. I think those are fine - in moderation and with one of us with her while she's watching so we can reinforce the signs.

What she does get to watch occasionally is YouTube. She loves to see other 'babies' so she's a regular viewer of Abby, Sophie, and the Salsa Twins. We also have one or two Muppets/Sesame Street song videos that we watch with her.

But now I think we've created a YouTube monster…

Do y'all remember the Mah Na Mah Na song from the Muppets? She LOVES this and it's so freakin' cute when she sings along that we'll let her watch it over and over again just to marvel at the cuteness as she warbles mahnamahna, with brow furrowed and concentrating furiously to ensure she sings at the right time. So much for the limited viewing time, I guess. (Joking! - she only gets to watch it about 540 times per day.)

Here she is trying to entice Dad into joining her for yet another screening of vintage Muppets:

And here she is totally entranced:

And one more where she was right in the middle of hands waving wildly in the air and chortling with laughter at the same video she's seen 90 billion times already. I think if she had a lighter she'd surely have it in the air by this point.

I'm pretty much okay with this because, hey, it's the Muppets - you know, good clean fun and all that.

But then, while in search of random trivia because I'm weird like that, I discovered that the Mahnamahna song has a somewhat seedy history. Apparently the song was originally part of the soundtrack for an Italian soft.core por.nography movie which was a pseudo-documentary film about wild sexu.al activity and other such behaviors in Sweden. Who would ever have guessed that this cute little song got its start by accompanying a  se.x scene set in a sauna?

Hmmm - never thought I would use some of the words in the above paragraph while talking about a video we let Ava watch at the ripe old age of 19 months…

I typed out a lengthy post - with pictures even - and wordpress ate it. Grrr.

I'll redo it tomorrow. Too tired and frustrated to deal with it now.

I've not done much this weekend. Mostly just hung out with Ava and J and cleaned house - meaning there's nothing much to blog about unless you want to hear that none of us bothered to get out of our PJ's today or that Ava has developed a most annoying habit of keeping food in her cheeks that we'll discover HOURS after her last meal.

So even though I typically don't do memes I'm feeling lazy and will do one today since I'm trying really hard to keep up with NaBloPoMo again this year despite my lack of interesting things to say. I ran across this one on It's Not All Mary Poppins and decided that since I really want to go to bed that I'm taking the easy way out tonight.

So the idea is to go here, pick out your birth month, and strike out what doesn't apply to you. Seems easy enough…

My birth month is…

SEPTEMBER:
Suave and compromising.
Careful, cautious and organized.
Likes to point out people's mistakes. Too much so, sometimes.
Likes to criticize. Yup - not my best personality trait.
Stubborn. I got this from my Mom.
Quiet but able to talk well. Not so much on the quiet part.
Calm and cool.
Kind and sympathetic.
Concerned and detailed.
Loyal but not always honest. It's not that I intentionally lie but I am guilty of, ahem, omitting information occasionally.
Does work well.
Very confident.
Sensitive.
Thinking generous.
Good memory. Like an elephant. Comes in handy at work - not so good in relationships sometimes. Poor J.
Clever and knowledgeable.
Loves to look for information. I've read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica - the old school ones. My parents had the whole set and I loved them. I'm always chasing after trivial bits of info and occasionally work as a ChaCha guide which has been amazingly entertaining and informative to boot.
Must control oneself when criticizing. I occasionally remember to think before I speak. Not often enough, though.
Able to motivate oneself. I was way better at this pre-Ava.
Understanding.
Fun to be around. I'm not fun anymore - I'm boring. I'm totally okay with this, though.
Secretive. Believe it or not, despite blogging, I'm a very private person and jealously guard our privacy.
Loves sports, leisure and traveling. Even though I griped about it and hated being away from J and Ava, I loved being able to get on a plane and go somewhere new (even if it was St. Louis). I love to travel and can't wait until Ava is old enough for us to take her to London and Scotland and Paris and China and…well, you get the picture.
Hardly shows emotions. Although I definitely do more so now that Ava is in the picture. J and I come from way different places on expressing emotion and affection so Ava has certainly helped me in that aspect.
Tends to bottle up feelings.
Very choosy, especially in relationships. Well duh, aren't we all?
Systematic.

I'm such a Virgo.

It's so good to be home.

And there were some lovely things (other than J and Ava) waiting for me when I arrived.

1. J installed a propane fireplace log set while I was away. We bought this on clearance about 4 years ago and it's been sitting in our closet ever since. Due to J's diligent efforts while I was away we had a fire tonight. It was so warm that it put me to sleep in about 4 seconds.

2. Ava's readoption papers came letting us know that the judge signed the finalization papers on Monday. So now the Commomwealth says that she is well and truly ours and we can get a certificate of foreign birth issued listing J and I as her parents. This is a pretty big deal for all of us so we're pretty stoked. Not to mention the glow of pride knowing that I succesfully managed all of the paperwork myself and saved us hundreds and hundreds of dollars by not hiring an attorney.

And now, goodnight y'all, 'cause I'm going to sleep. I can't wait to curl up in my own bed (Tempurpedic ROCKS!) and sleep in later than 530AM for a change.