Pleased to Meetcha

Next up, we have Debbie's request for a little biographical info.  This post is probably going to be overly linky, but I figured I'd give you some archive stuff to read if you're so inclined. 

I was born in the Midwest, but I grew up and went all the way through high school in a small town in Georgia, where we moved just before I started first grade.  I did not exactly fit right in, to put it mildly (among other things, I was downright TERRIFIED of my teachers), but early in my first grade year I did meet Allison, who remains my best friend to this day (even though she has the audacity not to live right next door to me, as she SHOULD).  Allison probably sacrificed a lifetime of popularity to be my friend, as I was, well, a gigantic dork.  We were kindred spirits, though, in our love of unicorns, rainbows, "Annie", spying (inspired by Harriet the Spy) and Little House (more the books than the TV series, because we were purists).  We also engaged in light criminal activity on one occasion in fourth grade, in an attempt to make our pioneer reenactments more authentic.

By junior high, I decided to take nerdiness to another level and not only attended Space Camp, but was unofficially voted to be the ugliest girl there.  (Admittedly, I was not the cutest thing around.)  Perhaps to my benefit, I attended the all-girls public junior high that my town had established for seventh and eighth grades, where we were taught useful life skills such as makeup application.  Meanwhile, Allison began to experience some anger issues during adolescence, which led to some memorable moments (I still go back and read that post from time to time, and it always makes me bust a gut laughing.  But then, I am easily amused). 

Things didn't improve greatly in high school.  I went on precisely two dates in all four years and continued to be generally unpopular, if not completely marginalized.  This was partly my own fault, as I was focused on (a) becoming valedictorian and (b) spending about 100 hours a week in a ballet studio.  Although I could have become a professional ballet dancer, my practical side won out and I went to college instead.  It's one of those things I sort of regret, since I loved dancing so passionately and then just...gave it up in favor of taking a much more mainstream path in life, but then I figure that I wouldn't have the life I have now if I'd chosen differently, so there's no sense dwelling on decisions past. 

After college, I decided to go to law school either because I didn't really know what else to do or because of a Guatemalan gypsy curse that had been placed on my father before I was born.  Regardless, it turned out well enough, since I met my husband Joe after I became a full-time law firm associate.  We got married in 2003, and shortly thereafter welcomed a rather adorable Italian greyhound puppy into our lives (my rescued cat was grandfathered into the marriage, much to Joe's chagrin).

After practicing law for a little while, I took some time away from work to try to pursue acting.  Aaaaand then I went back to practicing law.  In 2005 and 2006, I ran the New York City Marathon, which was an amazing and excruciating experience that I'm not sure I'll ever repeat -- having proven that I CAN run 26.2 miles all at once, I'm happy sticking to recreational running, with the occasional half-marathons and 10Ks thrown in for kicks.

In the fall of 2006, my husband and I decided -- because it seemed like a great idea at the time and I wasn't terribly interested in getting pregnant -- to adopt a child from Vietnam.  We'd been to Vietnam before and fell in love with it, and the adoption seemed...well, it just seemed like the right thing for us.  We went through the usual REAMS of paperwork, and then we waited.  And waited.  And WAITED. 

A year after we got on the waiting list (which was about seven months after we'd started the process, so more than a year and a half total of WAITING), we received a referral of an 8-month old baby girl.  We fell in love with her and readied her nursery and had baby showers and did everything that excited, expectant parents do to prepare to welcome their child home.  A few months later, when we thought we were going to be traveling soon to bring her home from Vietnam, we received a devastating call:  our agency had discovered that she had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and had severe motor, cognitive and developmental impairment as a result.  We made the agonizing decision, after consulting with lots of expert-types in this area based on the new medical information we had, to withdraw from her adoption. 

We were told, even though the Vietnam adoption program was days away from shutting down, that because of our exceptional circumstances we would be permitted to proceed with a second referral.  In September 2008, we received a referral for another beautiful baby girl.  Although we were still grieving the loss of the first child, we felt that perhaps there was a greater reason for this turn of events, and we grew excited to bring this little girl home.  But then, a few months into the pre-travel process, we were informed that the Vietnamese government had changed its position on second referrals, and we (along with other families who'd had similar terrible things happen with their initial referral) would not be allowed to complete our adoption.  We spent months fighting this and advocating for ourselves and for the baby we felt was our daughter.  Ultimately, despite negotiations between the US and Vietnamese governments on our behalf, the decision not to allow second referrals was made final in February 2009, and our adoption "journey" was over.

Pretty much immediately thereafter, we decided to try to have a kid the old-fashioned way, and here we are, a year later, just weeks away from welcoming our daughter into the world.  And that's...it?  I guess?  Or those are some highlights, anyway. 

To close, some pictures of our nursery, as requested (and one of Miles, for good measure):

Comments

[Lisa Guzik]

I think you are forgetting the part where you worked at a certain other law firm, and met ME!

So excited for your baby :)

[H]

I had missed the story of Miles and being a dog lover, I had to go read it. Our dog is nearing the end of his life and your description of what Miles means to you, at the end of that post, had me in tears. What a beautiful tribute.

[Christine]

I love Miles's gray muzzle. So cute.

Also! the baby nursery: squee!

[AmyB]

Well. I didn't cry at my own (amazing!) wedding, either, but I totally just choked up reading your history and then coming to the part where you are now weeks away from bringing home your baby girl. I've been a loyal reader of yours for quite a while (since the 1st adoption attempt) and I cannot tell you how happy I am for you and Joe! This baby girl is simply the luckiest.

[Marie Green]

Oh, man, I had so many things to say, but then I saw the baby's room and I went to "SQUEEEE" in my head. I'm sorry to say that I haven't returned yet from "SQUEEEE", so therefore have nothing else to say.

Oh, except that my youngest daughter's nursery/room (she's now three) is also a soft blue, and I LOVE that color for a little girl's room. So delicate and feminine in an unexpected way.

[Dianna]

I'm still waiting for the dog-in-the-stroller photo and I refuse to be satisfied until I see it.

[Debbie]

Thanks for the bio. My husband and I grew up in Michigan, but our kids are growing up in Georgia. It is so different down here.

Your baby's room is beautiful. I love the wall color.

Debbie