The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Thank you to all who gave me input on my 'HUNT' for toys. I did find the magnets I was talking about (numbers, not letters). I think the quality has declined since I was young, as all they did was slide down my freezer door. So, for right now I'm going to hold off on magnets, and will look for some down the road. I also struck out on the plastic pots & pans, and ended up just getting her a little grocery basket with food in it. Which she just loves, and we keep it in that cabinet, and that's the only time she plays with it.

Now on to the good, the bad, and the ugly;

THE GOOD: On Tuesday I took Madalynn to the international adoption clinic at Tufts Medical Center in Boston for an evaluation. She is doing great they said, she is between 8-12 months on her various developmental stages (I won't go into where she is on which development), but she is doing great. The two areas she was 8 months were both language related which is to be expected having spent the first 7 months of her life hearing another language almost exclusively. They said they don't need to see her again because she's doing so well. We talked quite a bit about attachment, and bonding, and how she & I can continue to build that trust. Exercises we can do, and what I should keep doing that I already am.

THE BAD: Oyyyy... all I can say is Boston in the pouring rain with an infant is NOT FUN!! We left our house at 9:00am, and got home at 4:00pm, and that included a bad Mommy who decided not to stay for the bloodwork after being there for 3 hours, and having a baby that was overtired, and hungry.

They have valet parking there which I thought would be convenient (again imagine a 9 month old in the pouring rain in downtown Boston). However, when the valet finally brought my car (after 20 minutes in downtown Boston in the pouring rain with an infant) he parked it not under the protective overhang but out in the street (did I mention it was downtown Boston in the pouring rain with an infant?), then stood there politely holding my door open for me... well that's well & good but I wasn't going to pull a Britney Spears, and put Madalynn on my lap, so I had to wheel her around to the other side of the car (in the street, and did I mention it was pouring rain?) get her buckled, then go around to the back of the car, and get her stroller in & then back around where the nice valet was STILL holding my door open so that my seat & door were now soaking wet, because, in case I didn't mention it, it was pouring rain. I did give him a growl as I gave him his tip (yes I tipped him).

As I've thought about my annoyance of this situation I've been convicted that I could have handled it better, and not been so annoyed. After all he was standing in the pouring rain too, and had been all day I'm sure. Not one of my best moments, but maybe the Lord will help me to remember to be more gracious in the future.

... and now for THE UGLY; My hair after being in the pouring rain in Boston.

I'm adjusting to being back at work, and Madalynn & I have a really nice routine. I still miss her every second I'm there, and count down the hours until I'll see her again, but I'm very peaceful knowing she is home with my Mom.

Now just some pics of 'My Brown Eyed Girl' from this past weekend. I got this shirt on ebay a couple months ago & got her a 12 month hoping it would fit this summer, all I can say is 'Look at that belly!!' which I say to her many times throughout the day. I don't think she'll be wearing it this summer...