Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Quarantined-Day 3

I'M BORED-SEND HELP.

No seriously, being cooped up with strep infection kid for three days is getting kind of old. He really seems to feel fine and isn't acting sick anymore, but I don't know how long he's contagious for and I don't want to pass it along to anyone, so we've been stuck in the house for three days. I'll give it another day or so and then I'll feel OK about exposing him to the world. In the meantime, we've watched a lot of movies, read a lot of books and played a lot of Thomas Trains. I can tell that he's going a little stir crazy and so am I.

So it occurs to me that for a blog that is supposed to be about adoption and photography, there hasn't really been a whole lot of either. So today you get an adoption update and a random photo.

In adoption news...there is absolutely nothing new. Great update, huh?! We turned our updated homestudy in to USCIS and now we're just waiting for them to approve our 1600a form. That usually takes about 4-6 weeks or so, so we should be hearing something in the next few weeks. I'm not worried, it's basically just a formality, but it will be nice to get it out of the way.

That's the last thing that has to be completed until they match us with a baby. Once we get matched there is a TON of paperwork that has to be done and we get to send them all of our money again. But at least then I'll have our baby's sweet photos to look at to remind me why we're doing all of this. I hang out on a Korean adoption message board from time to time and seeing all the referral photos just melts my heart every single time. I'm so happy for all the families who are being matched with their babies, but I'm so impatient for it to be my turn!!!

You know, it actually just occurred to me that it's now been a YEAR since we started this whole process. It was right about this time last year that I was researching agencies and we were picking a country. Hopefully by this time next year we will know who our baby is and we'll be waiting for her to come home. I can't wait!


Ok, so there was my adoption update, and here is my random photo. This is an old photo that I took last year, and it's not really anything too special but it's one I'm particularly proud of.


It was this time last year that I was taking photography classes and learning to really get the most out of my camera. One of the very first things I practiced with when I still didn't really know what I was doing was freezing motion. It's particularly tricky to take a photo of a moving object without it being blurry. Even now that I've had a ton of practice at it, it's still tricky. It involves a high shutter speed, perfect lighting and a lot of luck. So last summer we went to a lavender festival, (which I LOVED and am planning to attend again this year!) and in the midst of shooting lavender I realized that bees apparently love lavender because there were a ton of them.

So while my family impatiently waited in 100 degree heat, I became obsessed with capturing a bee in flight. Several hundred photos and two cranky kids (and a cranky husband) later, I got this shot. I'm proud of it because it was probably my first good nature shot. It was the first time that I was confident enough with my skills to be able to capture a tricky shot.

That was also the day that I realized how much I really love photography. I'm not particularly fond of bees and I'm definitely not fond of 100 degree heat. But I love photography SO MUCH that I will sit in a field of bees in 100 degree heat all afternoon until I get my shot and I'm happy as a clam doing it. So while this photo probably wouldn't win any awards, every time I look at it it reminds me how much I LOVE photography and how hard I've worked to get where I am. This photo is currently framed and hanging in my main floor bathroom, so if you ever come to visit, be sure to visit the bathroom so that you can admire it on my wall, OK? :)

3 comments:

Jenn said...

Hi! I "think" I found your blog through bbc. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that your son is only contagious up to 24 hours after he starts medicine. So, you're fine to let him out.

Great blog and great pictures. I hope you hear about your daughter soon. Good luck!

Heidi said...

oh man... sick kids are NO FUN!

I'm really excited to follow your adoption process... I would *love* to adopt at some point - we'll see if it's in the cards for our family. :)

And that picture is just DIVINE! I *love* it! I want it in MY bathroom! ;)

Katherine said...

I love lavender! What a great shot! Where was the lavender festival?