Keeping things in perspective

Although I REALLY wish I was in the US right now I'm trying to keep some things in perspective.
1) The girls are OURS. There is no waiting for the adoption to finalize or waiting for someone to decide if we are good enough for these girls. That part is done. Just need the immigration stuff to go through and then we'll be done. There is no doubt that they'll be approved, but there is just a process that has to be followed. Unfortunately, it takes time.
2) My family is together. We don't have 1/2 of us in the United States while the other half is in Morocco waiting.
3) We are healthy. I had a virus earlier this week and when I was talking with the embassy nurse about my symptoms she said "Is there any chance that you are pregnant?" Without even skipping a beat I responded "Dear God, I hope not!" I think my response startled her a bit.
Granted that would be a miracle that we would need to be appreciative of, etc. but I feel quite complete with a precocious 6.5 year old, twin 11 month old girls and a husband that is about to be gone for 22 months! I feel like I'm being a good sport with all of that, I don't need any more "fun" added to the mix! :)
4) There are a LOT of things one can do online. We've ordered cell phones, we are about to buy a car and we've watched more movies and tv shows on itunes than I'd like to admit.
5) I've had more time to play with my graphics programs and web design. I've got one little thing to figure out and then I can show off some of my creations. That has been quite relaxing to do and I'm not left feeling like I should be doing something else.
6) We are saving a little money and I'm easing back into doing housework. We found our housekeeper and gardener jobs and since we were supposed to be gone by now we arranged for them to start their new jobs this week. So, Josh and I have had to start washing clothes again and picking up around the house. I know no one feels sorry for me on this one. :)
7) I have a great sister who has been helping us get things set up in our new house. She has arranged to get our utilities turned on, she's receiving our things we stored while in Morocco (mostly furniture), she's purchased Andrew's school supplies and uniforms and she's asking for a grocery list of things we need right away so we don't have to rush to the store as soon as we land. It has relieved a lot of pressure to have all of this done before we land.

We bought an iPod for Christmas for the family. We were given some money as a present and were told that we had to buy something for all of us. So we decided on an iPod and I think Andrew is better at working it than we are! :) We have movies, tv shows, music, etc on it. Andrew has enjoyed controlling it and deciding on songs we listen to in the car. One of his favorite songs is "Don't Worry 'bout a Thing" by SheDaisy. He was playing it today and I was thinking that the chorus was fitting for this little bump in our lives. The words are:
Life is funny, life's a mess
Sometimes a curse, sometimes a blessing
Don't worry 'bout a thing, don't worry 'bout it
Life gets sticky, life can bruise
Sometimes you win sometimes your losing
No matter what it brings
Don't worry 'bout a thing

I AM a little homesick but I know that this will be over soon and we'll be back in the US soon. Things could be MUCH worse and I'm thankful that they aren't.
--Rachel

Don't mind me . . .

I'm playing around with the blog trying to design a layout that I like. I'll probably change it 1,000 times before I'm happy. :)
--Rachel

Andrew-isms, etc.

The other day we hailed a taxi and got in. The driver explained that there could only be 3 people and the girls count so we had 5. Josh told him to find another taxi and we'd split up and take 2 taxis. Andrew asked what was going on and Josh explained. Andrew's response? "What do you mean they want us to split up. Who do they think we are? Shaggy and Scooby?"

The other night we went to TGIFridays which opened here a few months ago. We've gotten to know the American managers quite well and one came by to talk and she said "I see you have your drinks. Did you order yet?" We said yes and she asked "Do you need anything?" Josh responds "No, I think we're good!" Andrew then says "I need something!" She said "What's that?" Andrew said "A kiss!" She walked over and gave him a kiss!

Caught this picture of the girls today. I think they want to go outside!

--Rachel

Our visit to a local palace (Palais Tazi)

Here are the pictures of the palace I promised in a previous post!
We had the opportunity to visit this palace last January. Our friend, Touria, is friends with the daughter in law of the family who owns and lives in this palace. She had us over for a tour and a delicious lunch.
Here are some pictures:

Well, we aren't alone!

I have a link off to the side to Rich and Cindy's blog. They came here from the US about a month ago to adopt two boys. They were told that Rich could spend a week here and do everything he needed to do and Cindy could spend 2 weeks and do all that she needed. They brought their 9 year old son and their 3 daughters stayed with family and friends in the states.
Rich ended up staying an extra week or so and Cindy and her son stayed much longer.
Well, it's been at least a month and they finally got their little guys' visas on Friday. They went to the airport today. They adopted 6 month old Cohen and 2 year old Jordan. Reservations were made through Delta and Cohen would be a lap baby on the trip. The flight from here to the US is with Royal Air Maroc (partners with Delta). When Cindy got to the airport with the 3 children she was told that she had to pay for Cohen to ride in her lap! Because of numerous logistical issues, she missed her flight. She called me and I got on the phone with Rich and he got on the phone with Delta. After the Delta agent yelled at the RAM agent over this it was determined that Rich would have to pay hundreds of dollars for Cohen to sit in Cindy's lap for the first leg of the flight.
What a let down that must have been to be all the way at the airport with your bags after a trip that lasted MUCH longer than anticipated only to have to turn around and come back. They leave tomorrow. Did I mention Cindy is pregnant? She isn't supposed to fly after this week! So we are sending well wishes and prayers that this sweet family gets out tomorrow so Cindy can have that baby in the US!!!
I did get a picture of my girls with her two boys. It's not that great, Leila is in her pose that signals she is ready for a diaper change, but you can hop over to Cindy and Rich's blog for great pics of their kids. :)

Now here is the neat part. For about a year Cindy has been carrying around this picture of a baby when she first learned about the orphanage here from my friend, Mary, who just left Morocco (Mary, coincidentally is coming back next month to adopt 2 children). So, Cindy felt that she needed to give this baby a home. She went to the orphanage and started playing with a little boy while someone went with the pictures to figure out who the baby in the picture was. The nurse came back and said it's the little boy she was playing with! It gets better!
Over a year ago Cindy's father in law was visiting Morocco and there is a picture of him holding a little boy. Cindy took the picture to the orphanage and sure enough, it's Jordan! So she has a picture of Jordan from when he was a baby, at about 10 months and she was able to adopt him at age 2! I thought it was neat story. You can see the actual pictures on her blog. It's the July 23rd entry about 5 nurses.
--Rachel

Leila does her sick baby imitation

Leila does this, but Leah doesn't. It's pretty funny! :)

Enjoy!
--Rachel

Tag Post

Memory Post -
1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.
If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. I can't wait to see what people remember.It'll be fun! I tag all of y'all!
--Rachel

Whoooooooooooooooooooo are you? Who? Who?

Yesterday, after the bag was stolen, the police sent out their Crime Scene Investigators, referred to as "Policiers Scientifiques". The team drove up in their little blue car and each had a little case of forensic gear. We weren't quite sure what they were planning to do at first.
During the search the local police learned about Josh's background and followed his lead to search the dumpsters in the area, based on the common criminal patterns. Josh and one of the security guards found the bag in a dumpster a few blocks from our house.
So when the little CSI group arrived, the regular police explained Josh's assumption that the thief busted the window and took the bag out without opening the door. Baffled, the police asked why he thought that. Josh politely replied "Well, the door is still locked." This was only important because it meant that it was very unlikely the thieves left fingerprints on the door.
Now, please understand these were the friendliest men and they truly do the best they can. The police here do not get the same training as American police. That all being said, they spent 3 hours dusting for prints on the car, etc. I snapped a few pictures:
The first one shows the CSI team's little blue car on the left, our Volvo in the background, about half of the police that came out and the little CSI cases along the wall on the right. The guy on the left near the white police car was one of the many onlookers, he eventually asked Josh to let him clean up the broken glass so we paid him. He was very nice, but I wasn't overly thrilled about his need to hang out all afternoon and watch.

Next is a little closer to the car, onlooker guy is in front of the car to the left and everyone else is police.

This next one onlooker guy is gone but the guy in the glove is dusting for prints.

And this one you can see the little cases, one of the guys taking a smoke break, Andrew looking on and Josh (in the tie) in the back. I wanted to take a pic of the some of the crime scene tape (written in French) but Josh told me to leave their stuff alone! :) Basically they brought out the tape, but then realized that the police, the onlookers and everyone else had trampled all over the area and that the tape would be pointless. :)
One final addendum to this is that tonight, a friend from the embassy told us that the Moroccan police are sure that they caught the thieves. Apparently, shortly after breaking into our car, they broke into another one a few blocks away. They were caught in the act and were later apprehended. Josh asked if they had confessed to breaking into our car. The response was, "No, but they will." Moroccan police are not known for gentle treatment of criminals. I'm not sure what the punishment will be and I think I may want to be "out of the loop" with that part. We don't really care if they recover the palm or the keyboard. We doubt that we'll get money to pay for the window so whether the theives were caught or not wasn't really on our mind.
--Rachel

Update from yesterday (repeat)

Note: This is from the comment section yesterday. I wanted to have it in the blog itself because I have our blog printed into a book and wanted this for the girls to see one day.
--Rachel


You are NOT going to believe this!
After I wrote this post I went to an online discussion board that I frequent and asked for prayers. I was planning to send out an e-mail but . . . within 10 seconds of hitting send that my housekeeper ran in and said in French "Good news! Come! Come!" I went outside and there was the bag with DH and at least 10 police officers! The only thing missing was a Palm that he is replacing as soon as the new replacement comes in (possibly today) and a portable keyboard. Obviously neither we cared about.

ALL the paperwork was in there.

The Palm is useless b/c it was broken (only could do a few things throgh the host computer) and the keyboard was on it's last leg.
I broke down in tears and said "Al-hamdolilah" which in Arabic means "Praise be to God" The police officers all smiled and repeated the phrase and I got a few kisses on the cheek.
DH took me aside and told me what had happened. He said they were driving around and he kept hearing in his head "Look in there!" as they kept passing this particular dumpster. Finally he told the guy. "Stop! I HAVE to look in there!" and there it was!

Rough couple of days

This will probaby be brief as I'm not up to talking a lot right now. Yesterday we were notified by the people in charge of the girls' visas and were told that it will take a few WEEKS to get it done. They went on to say that they had no idea why we were told it would be days. So we cancelled our flight for Sunday and have been trying to accept that we have a few weeks more in a empty house.
Then today Josh came home for lunch and within an hour our car window was smashed and Josh's bag was taken. The contents?
ALL of our passports
ALL of the girls' paperwork with the adoption
NOTHING valuable to a thief.

Josh and the police along with Embassy security are out searching the neighborhood hoping the bag was dumped. Josh, Andrew and I can get replacement passports within 24 hours. The girls' paperwork and passports are another story. Remember all the fun with getting that in the first place?
I'm trying to be positive and tell myself that it could have been worse. The girls' carseats and stroller was in the vehicle and it wasn't touched. We are all healthy and safe. We'll get through this too.
--Rachel
UPDATE: click on the comments section to see what happened next! If you don't know how to get there look below this entry and you'll see "Posted by Rachel and Joshua at 1:49 PM comments" Click on the word "comments"

Moving Day!

Ah! It's moving day #6 in 6 years. I find that I start to get the "I don't really care" attitude with some things that used to bother me. For example, in previous moves it REALLY bugged me when the movers would take something from one room and put it in a box with stuff from another room. Dishes and sheets don't go together. Some moves I've carefully remove all wall hangings and put them together so they'd be packed together because different houses have different sized walls, etc. So a print that may have hung in our dining room here might hang in our living room in the states. I've even purchased several rubbermaid containers and learned that if I fill it up with something the movers will leave it alone so I would pack certain things in my type-A way.
Today it was "get the junk in that stupid truck and get it on that boat so it will get to the US ASAP" attitude. I didn't care if the wall hangings were together. I don't care if some stuff from the girls' room is mixed with stuff from my room. JUST GET IT OUT OF HERE! My goal today was to get the girls their naps. I even went as far as moving stuff out of their room so they'd get their afternoon nap too. Naps = happy babies. Happy babies = sane mommy.
Now, let me back up bit. First, we originally made requests with the embassy to have our 1000 lbs (AKA air freight, hold baggage or unaccompanied baggage) gathered on one day, then have 2 days for the big packout of our house. Well, the appointments didn't get made so we were told it would all be done today. We thought MAYBE if they sent a bunch of workers they could do it. In CA they sent 2 guys to do the packing. Didn't turn out so well. Today we had a lot of packers but about 3pm they realized that they would NOT finish. A guy from the embassy came by and said to us "You really should have scheduled 2 days for this!" Now, most of you know that I'm a pretty reasonable person but once you push me over the edge, look out. I went to bed last night with a migraine after nursing a sick husband all day. We got up at 5am to start the day and both admitted that we didn't feel 100% but we didn't have a choice about moving today. I looked at the guy and snapped "We asked for 3 days but your coworker didn't make the appointment and could only get us 1 day before we fly out!!!" He had quite the shocked look on his face and knew he had crossed the line. :)
Needless to say they will come back tomorrow to finish up. Honestly, they seem to be doing a good job with the actual packing. I have noticed some vague descriptions of the box contents like "plastic box" for the tool box with tools inside but in Japan it was "Misc." for almost EVERY box. So we'll play guess what is in this box when it all arrives. I can handle that. :)
So, I took some pictures today:
This first one is the stuff from our balcony that we plan to mail or put in our luggage. We are allowed 10 checked pieces, 5 carryons, 2 carseats and the double stroller. We are going to manage to check 6 checked pieces (including 2 portacribs), 5 carryons (1 literally FULL of pre-filled bottles of Enfamil), 2 carseats and the double stroller. Granted a LOT was out of the bags in the picture but one suitcase was completely empty!

The next is from one of our living rooms.

Next is the trampoline in pieces. I found out that it will not fit in our new backyard but it WILL fit in my sister's yard (across the street) so I think her 3 teenagers will be happy. :)

Here is our 1000 lbs. Actually it weighed at around 600. Mostly kitchen items, clothing, bed linens, pillows, tv, playstation and computer printer. I also threw in Halloween decorations since these items will probably arrive before Halloween but our main shipment won't be here until close to Christmas.

Next, is how I kept the girls entertained for about an hour before I found something else for them to do. Hooray for Solo cups! :)

Then I introduced the girls to Andrew's wagon and pulled them back and forth for a bit. They LOVED it. Here they are with our gardener, Aziz. He is an AMAZING gardener. I have the most beautiful yard!

Here are the girls with our housekeeper, Rachida. We will miss Aziz and Rachida. I have never had ironed pajamas until I met Rachida! :) She has greatly spoiled me and I do NOT look forward to washing clothes, doing dishes, etc. when I return to the US. I know no one is feeling sorry for me so I'll stop! :)

Finally, I got a shot of Leah in one of her closets.

Overall, all 3 kids were troopers through the whole process and it went MUCH better than I had anticipated. We ended the day with nice warm baths with LOTS of soap and now we are all tired and ready to get a good night's sleep!
--Rachel

Could they look a little more pitiful? :)

Just had to share Leah and Leila's passport pictures:

Leah is on the left and Leila is on the right.
--Rachel

Never a dull moment around here!

Yesterday we sent of the girls' immigration documents to Rome via FedEx. They will arrive today and everyone involved has promised that they will expidite the process for us. Who knows if we'll get out of here in 8 days or not. We'll see.
Today we were packing because although we requested specific times and dates for our 2 packouts (1 consists of 1000 pounds that will arrive fairly quickly to the US and the other is the rest of our stuff that will arrive hopefully by Christmas). Typically anyone who is sane will want the 1000 pounds one one day and the rest on another day. The biggest obstacle is keeping your luggage separate, etc.
Sooooooooooo, we were informed last week that the person at the embassy never made the appointments and the movers are booked so they will take EVERYTHING on Monday. Therefore we have to pack our suitcases (even though we aren't leaving for at least 8days) and separate 1,000 pounds from the rest of the stuff so everything doesn't get mixed up. We decided that we'll put our suitcases and things we are flying with out on one of the balconies, the 1000 pounds on the patio and leave everything else in the house. FUN! FUN! FUN!
Well, today while I was packing upstairs and the girls were napping, Andrew was outside playing. I heard him crying and I heard Josh talking to him. I realized that from the tone of Josh's voice (he was calm, but there was still something different) that something was very wrong. I came down stairs and Andrew's hand was covered in blood. I calmly said "Well, let's just get that cleaned up!" Then I realized that it wasn't his hand, but his HEAD! He would look down and blood would drip off of his forehead. It took a while to find the source. We finally discovered it was on the top of his head and it was about 1/2 inch long. I've always heard that head wounds bleed a lot. THAT IS TRUE!!!
So, I called the nurse at the embassy and she agreed to look at it and let us know if he needed stitches. We went in and she said that it wasn't cut down to the bone so we could go either way with stitches. I promised to keep it clean and NOT do the stitches!!! She said this would be the biggest obstacle.
Andrew has been great about keeping an ice pack on it (to keep the swelling down) and in a few days when a scab forms, we can resume washing his hair. This kid stinks so much that I wash his hair EVERY DAY! I can't imagine what his hair will be like in a few days! EW!
So, I guess since there is nothing else we can do for the adoption but wait it was time for another crazy adventure in our house! *SIGH* :)
--Rachel

Adoption Celebration

A good friend of ours (Touria) who lives here in Morocco has been instrumental in helping us adopt our girls. She has helped another family adopt a 2 year old boy and a 6 month old boy (Cindy and Rich). She is helping Mary and Neil come back next month to pick up a 6 year old girl with mild cerebral palsy and a very charming little guy who is about 18 months old.
Touria called me last week and asked if we could meet her at a certain time on a certain day for a surprise. Last time she asked this we ended up in a palace! I need to post pictures of that some day. This time she took Cindy's family, Mary's family and my family to the home of a friend of hers. There was a BEAUTIFUL view!



Inside the kids were able to crawl around. Here is big brother Andrew with Leila and big brother Dallas with Jordan.

I know this isn't a great picture, but I wanted you to see the view this room had. Two walls were like the one behind me. Absolutely stunning view!

Then the ladies came out with LOTS of delicious (and SWEET!) treats. They bought a cake to celebrate that the children can be US citizens? I LOVE what they picked as the American icon!!!

Next, they wanted to take pictures of the children with their new families. Did I mention how HOT it was and homes are not typically air conditioned? :) Andrew didn't want his picture taken:

Then we HAD to get a picture of the twins holding the twins. The boys mother was the one hosting this event in her home.

Here is Touria and her beautiful daughter. Touria just got approved to move to the US in August. She will be going to DC. She's worked 22 years for the State Department and is fluent in English, French and Arabic. If you know of any jobs in the DC area, I know she'd be grateful to hear about them.

Finally, I wanted you to see what the entrance to the house looked like. The front door is to my left (I'm taking the picture). You can see doors along the path (there is a blue one on the left). THe boys enjoyed running down the steps. Those steps were NOT fun to navigate while holding a 20 pound baby!

Recent announcements from Andrew

1) "When I grow up I don't want to get a job. I just want to sit around and play video games."
**I have NO idea WHERE he plans to do this because it WON'T be in MY house!

2) "Sometimes I like to put butter in a cup and melt it and then drink it!"
**I haven't seen evidence of this so I wonder if it's true!

--Rachel

I've never felt so stupid!

I do our taxes almost every year. I have no trouble figuring out what to put in each blank and how much to pay or how much I get back. I came out of college calculus with an A or a B (don't really remember). Filling out the forms to get the girls' visas is a challenge! Can't figure out exactly how much to pay. Do they want one or two copies of my fingerprints? What about all these extra forms they keep listing in the e-mails when they avoid our direct questions?
*SIGH* I just want to go HOME to the USA!!!
No idea if we'll make it out on time. Only time will tell . . . We'll keep you posted!
--Rachel

Andrew video

A couple of Christmases ago we made a video of Andrew's first five years for the grandparents. I got it out the other day and it is the girls' favorite thing to watch. I like it much better than something like Teletubbies but the 3 songs are wearing thin a bit.
Here is part 1 of the video:

This is part 2:

--Rachel

I love sales :)

I got the dress with matching hats plus a shirt/short set that matches the hat. I paid about $12 for each set for each girl so a total of about $25. I find it more difficult to tell Leah and Leila apart when they have a hat on. What do you think?

--Rachel

Got the passports!

The girls got their Moroccan passports today! They were quite tasty. :)

Another thing to check off the very long list of things to do before we leave. We are scheduled to fly out July 27th but I'm starting to get worried that we may not leave on time b/c everything is still moving much slower than promised. *SIGH* Oh well! :)
--Rachel

The girls go swimming for the first time

We decided to let the girls in Andrew's pool for a bit:



Leila was NOT too pleased:


Leah was VERY mad:


So we took them out and let them watch Andrew swim. Leah was still mad at me in this picture. :)

--Rache

Andrew's poem, Rachel's creations

At the end of the school year, Andrew's class had a poetry reading. Here is Andrew reading his poem. The children off to the right are acting the poem out.


Here is a copy of the poem:

It reads:
The Restaurant, by Andrew
A baker made a cake with a snake in it. When the person ate the cake, she had a tummy ache. The ache had gone already. She did not know that there was a snake in it. Oh for goodness sake!
I have to explain the outfit. Andrew is a huge Ronaldhino fan (he plays soccer for Barcelona). Josh found a uniform for him and it is almost impossible to get him to wear anything else. He tries to wear it everyday!!!

On another note, I started a separate blog for my digital scrapbooking, etc. You can see it here: http://princessladybugcreations.blogspot.com/ Today I posted a copy of the invitation I made for the Leah and Leila's first birthday party. Enjoy!
--Rachel

Happy Independence Day!

--Rachel

The Moroccan side is FINISHED!

Yesterday we spent the entire day in the courthouse with two babies and a lively 6 year old. We spent the majority of the time in the hallways. The concrete courthouse has no air conditioning and no fans! It was sooooooooooooo hot!!! It was 105 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Finally after 5 hours we were drenched in sweat but we were finished.
The next adventure is getting the visas done. We have a form here that we have to mail out (can't do it before Monday) to Germany where a satelite office that did our homestudy is located. Once they receive that form, then they can mail the homestudy. Once we receive the homestudy, we can apply for their visas. Typically it takes 25 days but since we are with the embassy, most of our requirements have been met (background checks, etc) but we leave the country the 27th. We would appreciate prayers that this all works out.
The girls had a check up and vaccinations today. They had most of their vaccines already but they needed 3. They cried and cried and cried! Leah is 20 lbs and Leila is 17 lbs. They are healthy and are doing great. I am so amazed at how far they've come in the past 4 months. They went from being developmentally behind in everything to being right where they need to be at this age.
Today Josh got an award. It was the Joint Service Achievement Medal, or JSAM. Here are some pictures:

Posting of the orders


Ambassador Riley putting Josh's medal on his uniform


Presentation of the award and time for Josh's comments.
--Rachel

How I'll be celebrating my birthday this year

Josh and I wanted to take some time during the Christmas holidays to get away as a family. We plan to visit both sets of grandparents but since Josh will be gone from August to December, we felt it was important to have some time as a family (the 5 of us).
We looked at going to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida but in order to have enough time to spend in all 4 parks we would have to spend about a week there. This plus spending time with both sets of grandparents was going to cause Andrew to miss some school either before or after the Christmas break. Not to mention the difficulty getting twin 15 month olds around all of these parks, etc.
So, we decided to book a Disney cruise! We'll leave on my birthday (December 28th) and go to the Bahamas. We'll even get some alone time while the kids participate in some activities geared toward their age.
Needless to say we are excited and are looking forward to this. We have a ticker at the bottom of our blog to count down the days, too! :)

--Rachel