Hot Amaye

My friend Doreen gave me a coffee mug yesterday. It says "Waiting for my child since May 2010."



It was so sweet. I love it.

Oh...and "hot amaye" translates to "hot mama." :)

July Raffle

Calling all baseball fans and my Baltimore peeps....

8x10 signed picture of Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis
custom matted and framed

Drawing July 31, 2010

The Rules

Courtesy Maroon PR and Nick's Right Side Foundation





Note: No purchase necessary. To enter, email your name, address and phone number to lauriebaseball (at) gmail (dot) com before July 30, 2010.

Take a Chance -- The Rules

* Monthly drawings on the last day of each month
* $5 per chance or 5 chances for $20
* Enter as often as you like
* Your chances enter you in all "pools" until you're name is drawn -- in other words, YOU HAVE AS MANY CHANCES TO WIN AS THERE ARE DRAWINGS!
* More chances, more chances to win. Same person can win more than one drawing if they've entered more than once
* Enter online or in person with raffle ticket
* For consistency of drawings, all online entries will get ticket(s) filled out for them
* All items have been donated for this specific cause -- to help offset costs of international adoption
* All proceeds will be paid toward adoption costs
* Winner will be notified by email and listed on website by first name and city
* If not local, items will be mailed priority mail within one week of drawing. Winner will be sent tracking number.
* If you retweet or post to your Facebook, let me know, and I'll give you one free entry

I hate asking for helping

I'm the person who organizes the fundraisers. Who delivers meals or drives friends to the doctor. Who checks on the cats and picks up mail, and leaves baked good when you arrive home from your trip. I send funny little cards for no reason.

But in the past few years, I've had to ask for help. I've needed people to go to the doctor with me, to stop at the store and bring some ice cream when I needed cheering up. But just because I've had to ask for help, doesn't mean that I like it.

I don't. I haven't. But I need to ask for help again. And I need people to not wait for me to ask for help. Over the course of the next year and a half, I will need people to remind me that 18 months really isn't that long. I will need people to understand that sometimes, still, seeing a baby hurts.

And I need help with the raffle. Selling tickets, keeping me motivated, even when I feel like giving up. Even when I'm feeling humbled beyond words at needing to ask for help, and just want to give up.

It won't be every day. It won't be every week. But it'll be. It'll happen. And that's when I'll need you.

72 Weeks

Or maybe 76.

That's my estimated wait time. Officially, it's a 12- to 18-month estimate. But the latest reports are that families getting a baby 0-12 months are now waiting 19 months; a baby 12-24 months are waiting 18 months. My immigration approval is approved for a baby 0-24 months.

But the good news is....I'm officially on the list. All paperwork is in. Here we go, the longest year and a half of my life.

Three Weeks and One Day

That's all it took for my "up to 90 days" approval.

Yesterday, I received my notice from the Department of Homeland Security: "Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application For Advice Processing of Orphan Petition."

And so, as long as everything in my dossier looks good, I am ready to go on the waiting list. And I'm only 12 to 18 months from learning who my baby will be!

Babies, babies and more babies

A friend in Rochester is due with her third boy this month.

A friend from work had a baby girl on my birthday last month.

Another friend from work goes on maternity leave tomorrow.

And three friends (one from high school, two from Baltimore) both announced on FB today the sex of their babies due this fall -- a girl for one, boys for the others.

And that is my life. And I almost started to feel sorry for myself, and then got an email from a friend who is also adopting from Africa, and just awaiting her travel dates. She was writing to see where things are with me.

I told her my dossier was mailed into the placement agency (yeah!) and I am three weeks into my "up to 90 days" wait for USCIS approval. Once I get that, it's an estimated 12 to 18 months until referral.

Her response was perfect, and just what I needed: "You are almost done with your job....and that's a good feeling."

And she's right. I am almost done with my job. Then it's waiting, and preparing, and taking care of me, so that when the baby arrives, I can do nothing but take care of him (or her).

And so, this weekend I will continue to work on the marketing plan for the fund-raising raffle, work on this website and the graphic element, and work on the adoption grant applications.

It will also be about sleeping in, lounging around, going to the gym, going grocery shopping, and just taking it easy. Taking care of me.

Because Jo is right, I am almost done with my job, and it is a good feeling.

Happy Mother's Day

My friend posted this as her FB status today, and it touched my heart.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends -- those with their babies in their arms, babies in their bellies on the way, and babies waiting across the world to meet them! ♥