From Geek to Chic

This is the first mouth guard I have ever purchased. I knew nothing of mouth guards before starting roller derby 13 weeks ago so I went to the store and picked one in the middle price range and made sure it had a strap for easy in and out. As you can see, it is big, bulky and bright. The strap cut into my cheek, I couldn't talk, at least not clearly, and I had to take it out to quench my thirst.

Geek!

The other day I heard about a great mouth guard via my favorite social network. I decided to try it out.

Chic!

I know, you're probably thinking "Where's the new mouth guard?" I'm wearing it! It's thin, comfortable, I can speak clearly and drink easily. There is no need for a strap because I just keep it in the whole time! The package also claims that it is 30% stronger than conventional guards and that germs from your hands won't stick to it. It was extremely easy to shape to my mouth, especially while looking in the mirror. The Protech Dent Mouth Guard is the only mouth guard for me from here on out. A two pack sells for $39.99 and it's worth every penny. You can get yours at www.protechguard.com.

**Full Disclosure: I was given a 2 pack Protech Mouth Guard to review for this post. It did not affect my opinion of this product.

**Also, if you are my friend and you wear the 1st kind of mouth guard, I do not think you are a geek. Don't be offended!

One more step

I have been sick in bed this week and just got up for a bit to work on adoption stuff. It's a good thing I did because I found out we got our I800 approval on Monday, the letter should arrive today. I called and talked with our dossier specialist at the agency and she thinks it is reasonable to assume we will still travel in May. I sure hope so because airfare to China DOUBLES at the end of May and into June. Paying over $2000 for airfare is not in my plans. Pray for us that all the paper work will go quickly! Thanks!

LOA Baby!

This afternoon I went to open the door for my mom and there on my porch was a Fed-ex envelope! I was so excited and sure enough it was our LOA (final approval from China)! We waited 45 days which isn't too bad as the average wait is 52 days right now.

According to my calculations we will travel to China sometime in May! We have lots to do to get ready, I better get to work!

Our Valentines Project

This year is the first year that Zack had to make a valentines "box" for school. I asked him what he wanted to do and I pulled up a bunch of ideas on-line for him to see that we could maybe copy. I had a few boxes saved from Costco that would be perfect.

Well, he glanced at my "cute" ideas and firmly stated that he wanted to make R2D2. Um...really? We can't just paste some red and pink paper on a box and call it good? Apparently not.

So, I spent a whole day trying to find a garbage can in the shape of R2 and the rest of the supplies and then we had a super busy day scheduled so we had a total of like 3 hours to get this puppy done, the night before the big party.

I think it turned out pretty cute! I promise this was not one of those projects I took over and did. Zack actually did most of it. He was pleased with it and now he has a cool trash bin for his room. Win-win!

(Notice the shirt, he loves anything Star Wars)

I need your help

I am having trouble coming up with a roller derby name. So, will you take this survey and help me out? Thanks!

Our baby is 8!

Zack turned 8 years old on January 30th. It is a party year (we do them every other year but I may have to change it to every 3!) so I researched a few options and he picked the exotic animal presentation. Since my house is too small to have 14 crazy kids AND exotic animals, I decided to have it at the church and it worked out really well.

I am so lucky to have my mom and sister to help me with this stuff! Thanks mom and auntie Ally! (It's a good thing Ally was there because it turns out that my mom and I have a balloon tying handicap!)

I came up with the idea to blow up about 150 balloons, two of which had a special paper inside that said "you win!" While the kids were waiting for the animal presentation they went into the room with the balloons and had to pop them all to find the ones with the prizes. It literally took about 1 minute and was sooooo loud! Then we made them clean it up!

We ordered 6 animals and I think it was perfect because it lasted a little over an hour and I don't think the kids could have sat still much longer. But it was really hard to choose which ones we wanted her to bring. Below is the giant snake (a python I think).

She let all the kids touch or pet each animal. The kids loved it! Here is the giant bunny, who is still not quite fully grown. He was very cute and I would love to have one as a pet, if we didn't have a dog.

The striped salamander could only be touched with wet hands. I passed on petting this one.

This is a giant Tegu lizard. He actually broke out of his box at the very beginning while she was introducing herself to us! He was very curious, I think he smelled cake.

This is a chinchilla, the softest animal I have ever felt! It was adorable and I would also have one of these for a pet. Maybe when the guinea pig goes to GP heaven. Zack got to feed it some raisins.

Lastly was the chameleon lizard. The picture doesn't do justice to the pretty turquoise color he had on.

I think the adults enjoyed the presentation just as much as the kids. It was really well done and I would recommend this company to anyone who wants to have a fun, interesting party. They are called Wild Things Science. (Zack with grandma Bernice.)

I have a friend who lives down the street and she does cakes. I wasn't up for making the cake this year so I called her and told her Zack wanted a Poke Mon cake and asked if she could even do that. She was like "no problem". I wasn't expecting too much because, well probably because my imagination is stunted. Anyway, I went to get the cake and this is what she comes out with: !!!!

She is amazing right?! Zack loved it and I was sad to cut into it, it just seemed wrong! There must have been like 6 cake mixes used to make it because it fed everyone and then there was a ton left over. Unfortunately it was delicious too and I pretty much ate most of it by myself due to the fact that Steve doesn't really love cakes.

All the kids were begging to eat the ears and tail so I gladly handed them over. Imagine their surprise when they bit into...Styrofoam! Yuck.

It was a fun party and Zack was happy and I am happy to have it over and done with! (I have a party throwing phobia you know so I must reallllly love my child to do these kinds of things!)

Love you Zacky! You're my best boy!

I love it!

I just completed my 4th roller derby class on Thursday last and I LOVE IT!

My back is finally healed enough that when I lay on the damaged part it just hurts a little. I can now move around normally without wincing in pain or crying out. So I guess I didn't break my pelvis after all!

This week was the most fun so far. Instead of breaking into two groups (veterans and new girls) we all stayed together and literally skated around the track non-stop for over 2 hours. It is a really good work out, more than you would expect.

First we did a time test. We had to skate 25 laps and see how long it took. Eventually we have to do it in under 5 minutes, to pass the minimum skills test. I came in last place at 8+ minutes. I would have been really embarrassed but everyone is so freakin nice that they all cheered for me the last lap. Everyone is very supportive and encouraging, it's really great.

Next off we paired up and took turns pushing each other around the track like shopping carts. Imagine the front person (cart) crouched into derby stance (see derby stance photo) and the rear person pushing them around by their hips.

Next we learned how to whip each other around corners. I was so scared but it turned out to be doable and really fun. Whenever the teachers tell us we are going to do something I immediately think "there is no way I can do that!" But then, I try it and am amazed that I actually CAN. The whipping was really fun.

Lastly we all got in a line and started skating, fairly close to each other. The front person had to skate really fast around the track to catch the back of the line and then weave in and out of every person and then skate around to the back again and the new front person would do the same. It seemed like it took forever! By the time we were done I was so tired I couldn't skate anymore and it was almost 10:00 (class is supposed to be over at 9:30). Some people stayed a while longer to do the exercise again but this time with some hip checks thrown in. I'm glad I didn't stay for that because I saw a lot of falling down going on.

All in all it was great and I can't wait for next week. I am hoping to get some good practicing in this week so I can get better.

Here are some pictures from last week and this week:

This is derby stance. We practice this for hours, until our legs are jelly. Wanton Rebellion has no mercy!

More of the stance. It really is amazing how much more stable you are while skating with this posture.

Our team logo which was artfully designed by one of our teachers "England's Glory". Love it!

Last weeks practice. Not sure what I am concentrating so hard on, probably just not falling!

This weeks practice. The track is bigger than it looks in this picture. Trust me.

I really need to get some cool derby clothes. (It's just sooo cold in there!)

**Oh yeah, I was going to ask: if anyone can think of a good derby name for me I am taking suggestions. I have a couple of ideas but I am not sold on them yet. The one I really wanted is already taken (you can't have the same or similar name to any other derby girl in North America).

Did somebody say "Roller Derby"?

Alright, it's time for me to confess. Don't laugh.

I signed up for a ROLLER DERBY class.

Here's how it happened:

I had never even heard of roller derby until a few years ago when I heard about a movie called "Whip it". Soon after, I rented the movie and I loved it! It looked really fun and bad-A.

One night at work I confessed to my friend Brooke that I had always wanted to do roller derby and she was like "no way! I'VE always wanted to do roller derby!" I told her to tell no-one of my deep, dark secret. Of coarse I could never actually do it, I can't even roller skate!

Sometime around the end of December, I took Zack to get his haircut at some cheapo dollar cuts place. As I was waiting I perused one of those alternative newspapers and there was an article which told of the upcoming RED ROCKETTES roller derby classes for ALL levels of skaters to participate in.

For the next week I couldn't stop thinking about it and knew I had to do it. But, to go alone? Never! Then I remembered my friend at work and so I told her about it. She was excited at the prospect but didn't say much more. The class was set to start on the 6th of January and as the week progressed I grew more nervous. Should I do it? Could I go alone? Finally at the last minute Brooke contacted me and said she wanted to do it. Yes! I rented skates and we bought cheap pads at Play it Again.

We showed up that cold night to an even colder warehouse in an industrial park. We were freezing! There were about 20 girls there ready to go. We all geared up and then were told to warm up by skating around the track. WOW! Within 5 minutes my shins were on fire. Half the girls were whizzing past me, weaving in and out of the pack, the other half looked like me, stumbling along, trying really hard not to fall down.

After our warm up the class began. Let me just say that everyone was so nice and so welcoming. The girls teaching us are great and very encouraging. We did a bunch of exercises to get us comfortable on the skates, practiced derby stance, practiced stopping, etc. Then we played a game with everyone and it was time to go. It was 2 hours long and tons of fun.

A few days later I went and ordered all my gear. Elbow, knee and wrist protection, helmet, mouth gaurd, and skates.

This last Thursday was our second class. As I sit here writing this 2 days later, my body is one big mass of bruises, sore muscles and possibly one broken coccyx. I am beat down!

This second class we focused on learning how to fall. A proper derby fall involves falling on your knees and elbows or a side-slide fall. An improper derby fall, which I specialize in, involves falling backward and slamming your tailbone into the concrete. I did this three times. The first time was so hard it kind of knocked the wind out of me and I just laid there in shock. Wanton Rebellion (our teacher/leader) came right over and told me to get up. I was like "um, are you crazy? I think I'm paralyzed"! She insisted. I got up and felt like I was going to faint. She told me to skate around the track a few times. I was like "I think I'm done for the night". She told me in no uncertain terms to "skate it off"! I'm not one to argue with a derby girl so off I went. I was surprised that I could actually still skate and it did feel a little better. Then she told me to come back to the class and practice my falls some more. In my mind I was thinking "there is no way I can do this"! But, Wanton was so encouraging and so sure of me, she made me think I could. And I did! Yea for me! I'm tuff! And then I did the improper fall two more times. And I kept going.

Who knows, maybe I have ruined my tailbone forever. Time will tell. But I sure hope it is better enough by Thursday that I can go back to the class because this is really fun stuff and my excitement about it is getting me through the most awful month of the year. January - bleh. Plus, I now have an excuse to buy leg warmers, love them!

Thanks Red Rockettes!

Zack Says...

Zack: If I ever DO get married someday, I want to cut the babies cord.

Me: Oh yeah, that would be cool huh? So you MIGHT want to get married now? Who would you want to marry?

Zack: Well, Allysa said she loves me, but she's not my type.

Me: Oh? What's your type?

Zack: You.

Cute huh? I think this conversation was inspired by my brothers new baby. We were all speculating before the birth if we thought Uncle Sean would be able to stomach cutting the cord. Actually we were wondering if he would be able to stomach being in the room while the baby was born. It turns out he did great, even though his wife needed an emergency c-section. Everyone is doing great now!

----------------------------------------------------------------

I was putting Zack to bed the other night when Steve came home from the gym all dripping with sweat. Of coarse he had to come smoother us with hugs right then and so Zack and I were yelling at him to get off us and go take a shower and ewwww!

Steve pretended to pout and said we didn't love him and he was going to go find a new family that did. I said "good luck with that!" sarcastically and Zack said: "Yeah, maybe a family of werewolves!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

(I forgot to post this one with our new bathroom update post earlier.)

As soon as our bathroom was finished, Zack wanted a bath. He was sick of showers. I got it ready for him and he got in and started laughing hysterically and then giggling he said: "Why am I laughing? He he, Oh, it's because I'm so happy!" Then he laughed some more. He really missed his baths!

Our Dossier

All of our hard work over the last few months is finally on it's way to China as of yesterday! Yea! I am so happy. We are waiting to hear our LID (log-in-date of dossier) and then we will be officially waiting for LOA from the Chinese government (FINAL approval to adopt our baby). LOA is taking an average of 51 days right now but I think it will be slowed down by the holidays, especially Chinese New Year which happens at the beginning of February, so we will see how long it actually takes. Pray for a speedy LOA for us! Merry Christmas!

It's a Christmas Miracle!!

So you remember how I said I went to get fingerprinted and I have no prints and they were going to fail and we have been waiting for a MONTH to find out so we can send our dossier to China? I prayed and prayed that my prints would pass because this is taking longer than usual anyway and we don't want to wait to get re-fingerprinted. Well, prayers are answered!

I got the letter in the mail today and everything passed! I am so grateful and happy! Next step: Dossier to China! Woo Hoo!

On a side note:

A woman just barged into my house and sold me a box of steak meat for for a large chunk of change. She should get saleswoman of the year! There was never a question, I was taking that meat!

Ethics in Adoption

One thing I have learned in researching adoption for the past 3 years is that there are a lot of ethical concerns in adoption. At least for me there are. I guess that is one of the reasons it has taken us so long to adopt. We probably could have had a baby 3 years ago if I didn't research everything so much and question everything so much and worry about the rightness or the wrongness of everything so much. But at what cost? I can only guess, but I am so glad that I took time to learn about the "issues" and then make an educated decision. (None of this is to say that I am by any means an expert on the topic. I still have so much to learn.) I really feel like we are going into this with our eyes wide open and with a willingness to learn all that we need to so we can be good adoptive parents.

There are a lot of things that go on in adoption that Steve and I are just not comfortable with. We spent a lot of time talking and deciding what we would be OK with or not. The following are some ethical concerns I have read about and my feelings about them. (PLEASE do not be offended if you have adopted or are planning on adopting and any of these things are a part of your adoption story, I am NOT judging you if this is the case. We all have to do what we feel best about and that is different for everyone. Also, some things that we don't feel comfortable with right now, could later change if we developed more knowledge or experience on that subject. You just never know.)

1. Open adoption
2. Race based adoption fees
3. Utah adoption laws
4. International adoption
5. Trans-racial adoption

I will break these issues down into separate posts, starting tomorrow.

An excellent Post on China Adoption

If you have ever wondered about China adoption and the issues in China that cause children to be abandoned, this is an excellent blog post.

The person who wrote the post was at a conference where a talk was given on the subject and she recounts what she remembers about the talk. The person who gave the talk is Amy Eldridge who works to help "orphans" in China. She comments at the end of the article and adds some more information which is really good, so scroll down to see the comments if you are interested.

10 Common Misconceptions about Adoption

This is a really good article written on 10 common misconceptions about adoption.

I wasn't sure if I could post the entire article or not so I just copied the link. I like the whole article except the last part rubbed me wrong. Here are the misconceptions, you can read what she wrote if you go to the article. My comments are in parenthesis below.


1. Birth mothers are all teenagers. (We were surprised to learn that the average age of birth mothers who place through LDS Family Services is 25 years old.)

2. Open adoption is confusing to kids. (I have done a lot of reading on this and I wholeheartedly agree that open adoption is best for everyone involved. I am really sad that our baby from China will not have ANY info on her birth family.)

3. They hate girls in China. (The issue of abandonment of babies in China is a very complex one, I will post more on this later.)

4. Black babies are the latest trend among celebrities.

5. Adoptive parents are saintly for adopting.

6. Adopted kids are lucky. (I have heard people say that adopted kids should be more grateful to their parents, etc. It makes me so mad! Have you ever met a kid who is grateful for their parents? At least not until they have kids of their own!)

7. Adoption costs a lot of money and only rich people can afford it.

8. There is a high level of risk that once adopted, a child will be given back to/taken back by biological family members.

9. Birth mothers are saintly for placing their children in adoption. OR Birth mothers are demons for getting pregnant unintentionally/being “unfit”/not loving their children enough to raise them.

10. Adoption is the opposite of abortion. As long as we have one, we don’t need the other. (Well, I'll just say that I don't agree with abortion except in extreme circumstances and then it is a very personal decision that I would not judge.)

My favorite adoption themed movies

Australia - cried
Baby Mama - laughed
Benjamin Button - enjoyed
Juno - cried and laughed
Martian Child - loved it
The Blind Side - inspiring
August Rush - looooved the music
Meet the Robisons - need to see it
About a boy - need to see it
Despicable Me - does this count? They did get adopted. :)

Do you have others to add? Please comment!