Five months since ICAB approval!

Today is our five month anniversary since ICAB approval. So much has happened in the past five months! Our lives have changed so much in the last few months. I remember calculating when we would get to six months, and how far away the summer seemed at the time. Yet, here we are...almost at the six month mark. I never would have thought that we would be moving again so soon back in February! I'm very glad we did though. It's a great opportunity for us. I'm feeling a little stressed and nervous about finding a job for myself, but I've sent off my CV to different schools and I have to trust that things will work out the way they're supposed to. The whole adoption process has taught me patience, but also to have faith! Faith in God, and especially faith in life in general.

I love our new house, and our new neighbourhood. We still have some work to do on the house, like painting the walls in the basement, changing the kitchen counter and floor, finding a new dining room table and chairs...
Anyway, there's no rush and it doesn't all have to be done at once. We're taking it one step at a time. My goal is to have it all done by October, when the cold weather begins, and the school session is well under way. I will post pictures as soon as I get the chance.
Our new house is well-situated. There are grocery stores, banks, clinics, pharmacies, schools, parks...all less than ten minutes from our new house. There's a nice park just a two minute walk from our house. I'm looking forward to taking our child there to play!

I'm already taking our dog there for walks :0) It's her birthday tomorrow! She's going to be three years old. Yep, she's an adult dog now...puppyhood is over.
I still remember the day we brought her home. She was so scared! She didn't move at all for about an hour, the wood floors were too slippery for her, and she couldn't walk on them at first. Finally, we threw an empty toilet paper roll on the floor...and she couldn't resist running after it. She slid every which way at first, but quickly learned how to grip and walk on our wood floors. It was a real skating rink for her, the first couple of days. She still has trouble when the floors are freshly mopped!

This weekend, my husband and I are meeting some friends for lunch. I've mentioned my friend M in the past, and her step-mother's brother, who lives in the Philippines with his family. He married a Filipino lady, and they had a son together. They're in town, visiting their family in Canada. M and her step-mother organised a lunch so that we could meet them, and ask questions about the Philippines. My husband and I are very excited at this opportunity to make contact with the Filipino culture. I want to learn as much as possible about the people, the language and the culture as I can before our child arrives. I know that it's important for us to take and to be open to the opportunities that present themselves to be involved in Filipino culture. This is a part of our child's identity; it's where our child is from and will always be a part of who our child is. We cannot deny or overlook this, if we want our child to be well-balanced and to have a strong sense of identity. It is inevitable that our child will question one day where he or she came from, how come he or she looks or acts a certain way...it's only normal. Especially with cross-cultural adoption, where the differences are obvious even to a seven year old child! Since I can't pass on this part of our child's heritage and culture myself, I feel it is my responsibility to make contact with people who can! The various contacts we build now, with other Filipino families and with future adoptive families, will all serve to help our child find a place in this world, and to feel accepted. I am so grateful to be meeting other families in the process of adoption from the Philippines...not only for myself, but also for our child! Even if the kids don't become close friends, at least our child will have the chance to meet other children like him, and see that he's not alone...that he's not that different from everyone else! I think this is very important. So, thank you to my new bloggy friends! I look forward to seeing you guys at the FUF picnic :0)