Staying distracted. Staying focused.

There are approximately 2000 families still in the same situation Willow and I are in - waiting for PGN to approve and release our files. Current rumors are that PGN is going to interview every birth mother before releasing files; however some believe that they will release the easily approvable files within the coming weeks as they complete interviewing the rest of the birth mothers.

I am no longer calm - I am officially back to being obsessed. My agency notified me last week that I must pay additional money because of the length of time Willow has been in foster care. While I understand these issues are out of the bureaucracy's control, it's adding insult to injury: "You're not getting your baby home anytime soon. Oh, and you need to pay more money because of it." I'm not alone, thankfully. I've been reading online about so many families having to pay, I actually inquired with my agency about it before they contacted me. The good news is that they are fighting against paying all that my attorney is asking and they're willing to cover part of the additional cost for the families they're representing. If there was some end in sight, I wouldn't feel so frantic, but there has not been a single file released from PGN in over 3 weeks.

So, I focus on Lily. I am reminded every day that all of this waiting and worrying has a purpose and is quickly forgotten when that new little person joins our family. Here's what Lily and I did this weekend to stay busy and as preoccupied as I can be:

Farmer's Market - corn on the cob for breakfast:

Children's Museum - Lily's favorite is almost always the bubbles. Although the rooftop artpark is open for the season and she spent a long, long time out there Friday night. She also LOVES to boss other kids around in the construction site thing - it gets a little embarrassing.

We went to the Peace Garden and Rose Garden near Lake Harriet. Sort of ironic I know.
Crowning princess Dandeflower. She will not say Dandelion. I have received countless bouquets of dandeflowers this spring! We spent far longer at this little weed patch than we did in either of the other gardens. We saw a wedding party having pictures taken and Lily asked me if the beautiful girl was going to a castle after she got married.

We went to a Saints game on Saturday night. We were in our seats for about 40 minutes - most of the night was spent in line getting tickets, in line for the bathroom, and at the little playground area in the ball field.
This morning we went to Como zoo. I regret to report that Lily's favorite part was the rides. Before I was a parent I swore my child would never go on rides at the zoo - those days are over.