Continuing the Journey

A Celebration, a Migraine, and Mother of the Year...

I promised to post pics from our birthday celebration, but ended up with a horrific migraine headache Tuesday evening (details later), then yesterday ended up getting too busy.

ANYWAY...

We bought a small cake for Molly...
...sang "Happy Birthday," and then had a pizza party!
Uh, Carson, we are not having "see food"...could you close your mouth?!?!
Meggie (who was already dressed for ballet) decided to do the honors and cut the cake...
...but when she acted like she was going to stab it...
...Carson had a fit! He kept yelling, "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Initially, he didn't want us to even eat the cake. He kept saying, "But Molly not here!" However, chocolate cake was too much for him to resist, so we ate cake in Molly's honor.

I got an e-mail Tuesday evening from Adele Hall with Blessed Kids. She let me know that the cake will be delivered and digital pictures requested...we should expect an e-mail within the next week confirming cake delivery and letting us know when the pictures will arrive. I can't WAIT to see updated pics of our little princess! Yes, we technically missed her birthday since the cake hasn't been delivered yet -- that's OK. I seriously doubt the orphanage keeps track of every child's birthday anyway...the fact that Molly will know she is loved when the cake IS delivered is what's important.

Now for the migraine story...it's a doozy!

While waiting for the I-797C, I decided to get the rest of our dossier documents authenticated at the State and Consulate level. I got them back from the State on Friday. I decided Tuesday to go ahead and mail them off to the Consulate in New York. I wrote a cover letter and shoved the documents into an envelope. I got the required money order from the bank and headed to the Post Office...feeling like an old pro since I've done this all before. I ran home from the Post Office to get Meggie to a dentist's appointment and on the way home...I realized I forgot to put the required Application Form in that envelope!

AAACCKKK!!!

I drove home like a maniac (not really...OK, really...) and immediately called CCAI. Kim in the Dossier Department was very calm and told me I could just mail the Application Form separately but that it would be BEST to intercept that package and add it.

Intercept an Express Mail envelope? At a Post Office??! Doesn't she know that Post Office employees aren't typically friendly and super helpful?!

Well, I called the Post Office branch and the guy who answered the phone (was his name Andy?) listened patiently to my story then put me on hold...forever. When he came back he told me he got the box "off the truck" and was wading through "over 200 packages" to find my package. He kept murmuring about the "over 200," but he also kept looking. And he found it! And he put it at the front counter and told me to come by before they closed.

We finished our pizza party, I dropped Meggie at ballet, and then headed directly to the Post Office. Tom was working the counter and semi-willingly helped me put the Application Form into the package. Since we had missed the 5:30PM cutoff for Express Mail, the package became a "second-day" package instead of an overnight...which required Tom to do some computer stuff to cancel the overnight and have the package put correctly into their computer system. He didn't smile at me and seemed to be quite put out, but he did it!

A few minutes later, I headed to my minivan. As I pulled out of the parking lot, my head started to pound. By the time I got home, I had a raging headache. I put on my glasses, hoping it would help...it did not. I had planned on driving dance carpool but as Daddy and I discussed my ability to drive with such a headache...I started retching! Every time I tried to talk, I would start gagging and retching. Daddy got the point...he led me to the bedroom where I took a hefty dose of Excedrin Migraine and laid in bed trying not to barf. (Lovely imagery, I know.) My wonderful husband got Carson to bed and drove carpool for me. Ugghhhh...

As a migraine sufferer for years, I have finally discovered that stress isn't my big trigger...it's the aftermath of stress that does me in! While I was figuring out how to fix my big mistake, I was focused and determined. Once the situation was fixed, my brain decided to explode.

Enough about that.

Meggie and I were perusing blogs last night...hey, it's what we do in our spare time...and she made a realization that completely floored me. On the left column of the blog, under "About Me," I put a picture of the kids and a little blurb about the blog...this is considered my blog "profile." Meggie brought to my attention last night that Carson and Molly are mentioned by name in there, but she is conspicuously absent. "No, you're NOT!" Uhhhh...read it, folks...yes, she IS!

I am a horrible mother.

It should be clear to anyone that reads my blog that I adore my firstborn...go back through the posts and read of my adoration. But I started my first blog as Carson's "adoption blog." When I transferred everything to this blog, it became more about our family's journey as a growing family, not about a specific child. It never occurred to me that I had ignored Meggie in my blog profile. Well, that will change. The next time I post on the blog, I will be changing my profile...I need a few days to think of the best way to word the fantastic and wonderful things I'll add about my oldest daughter.

You think the "Mother of the Year" Committee will still consider my name??