DOSSIER UPDATE

Our Dossier is on its way to Holt. What's that mean?

Our SW will log it in Monday, make sure it is ready for Thailand, put us on "The List" and send it to Thailand.

Then we wait for a looooong time. It's very difficult to predict how long. Once we know where we are on the list, we'll get a ball park time frame.

SCHOOL IS OUT!!!

My two guys yelled FREEDOM to the principal as we passed her in our car (which is a convertible so it was very loud and clear) leaving the carpool line! Then we headed to our fave hotspot for our usual mint chip, oreo and caramel icing cupcake! Of course, the song playing on the jukebox is California Dreaming. They are ready so the question is...

AM I?

Notice the hat - the little blue piece which sticks out 5 inches from his head? I asked Mark where the "Canada" hat came from and he answered Lost and Found. Apparently, he FOUND it.

Not how I would do it, but good enough

I asked Mark to organize the shoe mountain this afternoon. After much complaining, he did it.

I looked at this finished product - thinking he was being difficult and calmly asked what his method of organization was and he said,

"Right shoes on the left, Left shoes on the right."

Looks Great to me!

Shoe mountains bother me. The second picture is how I organized the shoe mountain at Austin's graduation weekend. You can see the difference in me and my son. My shoes were not only matched but sorted youngest to oldest. I've lightened up a smidge since then. Can you say OCD?

Fun and Flames

Indy Jones is one of our favorites so of course, we jumped on the opportunity to see #4 this weekend. The boys loved it (although Mark covered his eyes during the ant scene ugh - it was bad). It was PG-13 which we normally don't allow, but it received that rating for the ant scene and some other jump out and scare you moments. If you liked the others, you'll like this. Harrison Ford is the same and still did some of those really "stupid" things he did 10 years ago. Shia LaBeouf is great too.

Threw together a couple dishes yesterday for a spontaneous cookout with our neighbors and "leaked" a bunch of goo all over the oven. I set it to auto clean this morning and after about 15 minutes smoke started rolling out of it and flames had filled the oven... Nice. My stupid comment of the morning was "Is that supposed to happen?" as I turned it off and prayed my kitchen wouldn't go up in flames while mentally locating all the fire extinguishers in the house. All was calm and after we scraped the fried goo out of the oven, we were able to reset it to clean without flames.

Lucky Charms and Toddler City

I came home from taking the boys to school and forgot the cereal was still on the counter. Today's choice was Lucky Charms. I started cleaning it up, completely shocked that Mario didn't eat it and then realized... He ate all the marshmallows out of the bowls leaving the cereal behind. Of course, he walked out of the kitchen like "maybe she won't notice" kind of walking slowly and glancing behind at me every few steps. I decided to let him off the hook this time.

Toddler City in my court yesterday. I couldn't count them all maybe 10 (good thing I wasn't in charge huh) riding little cars, trikes and pushing various things. The parents didn't leave any behind so I guess they counted. Darn. My boys were having a ball playing with all these babies. They were very gentle and even taught one little guy some baseball rules after the court cleared out. It's was comical as they told him where the bases were and showed him how to hit, lay the bat down and run faster faster faster around the bases. Mine are a bit competitive LOL so this little guy was even told when it was his turn to play the outfield! And he went with no problem fielding the ball a couple times and then told them "it was his turn to bat and their turn to go get it".

Dossier to DC

I've never carried around much money - I mean 20 bucks or so - but today I carried 3 1/2 months of work around downtown Louisville and the state capital. My grip on the folder downtown was kind of incredible. Take my purse, Take my car but get your hands off my pink folder!!!

Well, after a few small delays this week (who knew the notary seal needed to expire after 2009?), our Dossier is on its way to Washington DC and will arrive tomorrow via UPS by 10AM.


What does that mean? It means that I'm trusting some guy, call him Bill, who I don't know, to hand carry my original Dossier around DC. Bill's taking it to the US State Dept, then to the Royal Thai Embassy getting it stamped, sealed and even wrapped up with a bow I hear. From there, Bill will overnight it back to me to send to Holt to send to Thailand. We aren't on "the list" until it gets to Holt. The list is growing - Thank goodness for Bill - he knows more about this than I do. It's in good hands with Bill!

Today - I got over my need to act like I know where I'm going. I think I got that from my Dad. Today I walked in 3 offices before getting to the right office for the county seal. It's 4 if you count that yesterday I went to the office I thought was correct and asked if it was the correct place... These were my instructions from one gal, go to 5th and 6th and Jefferson - it's the old building, you know you enter through the alley. I finally got to the right building and security told me to turn left when the hallway gets dark. I mean, do they never replace the light bulbs or what? It is the end of the budget year I guess. I then drove to Frankfort without directions (forgot those), found my way to the state building and went in the wrong building. Someone felt the need to personally escort me to the next incorrect stop. That guy escorted me to the right office. That lady wanted me to send her a picture of our little girl.

What a crazy day!

Best Parental Advice in a Long Time

How often do you get parental advice? Many times unsolicited parental advice.

Well a couple weeks ago after witnessing my son take his meds, Jenn told me her mom taught her to take a pill by swallowing M&Ms. Makes sense they taste good if they melt in your mouth - if you swallow it, it dissolves in your stomach.

It seems so simple, right? Why didn't I ever think of this??? One of my kids takes medicine everyday. A capsule which we have to open up and pour the little beads on chocolate syrup on a spoon which he swallows (can't chew) and chases with water. They taste bad and it's a chore. We've tried apple sauce, pudding, etc. but chocolate syrup has been the latest and seems to cover up the bad taste. We've tried to get him to swallow the pill several times but no success. It's an adult size capsule so it's not easy - I get it.

He's been trying to swallow the M&Ms for a few days. Today was the day. Swallowed a few M&Ms and then - he swallowed the capsule. Talk about a celebration! Hugs, high fives, belly bumps, you name it!

I thought I should share this story in case anyone is in a similar situation. I'm sure our mornings will be a lot easier now.

THANKS JENN!

One Step Closer! HS Approved

When can the FedEx guy make you cry?

When he brings the home study approval! I was expecting this to arrive snail mail much later but it was delivered today! Holt never fails to amaze me!

It's incredible how it takes forever and then BAM it's finished. Our Dossier is ready as soon as I pick up the Notarized copy of my home study! See no valid reason why that can't be today or at least tomorrow. Might go sit in their waiting area until they print it.

As a response to my excitement - Matt said, "I will get excited when we book our flights; no, maybe when we step off the plane in Thailand. I thought we were approved like months ago." He doesn't understand that there are 50 million different approvals to go through - neither does anyone who has not lived this.

Happy Mother's Day!

I salute all the Moms:

The Moms who grow babies in their belly
The Moms who grow babies in their heart
The Moms who love them enough to know they are not able to parent them
The Moms who travel half way around the world to parent them
The Moms who parent them in the meantime

The Moms who work
The Moms who don't

The Moms who don't have any help
The Moms who hire nannies

The Moms who quickly buy a new hamster just like the old one
The Moms who teach life and death

The Moms who never give their children sugar
The Moms who feed their children candy for breakfast

The Moms who play nurse
The Moms who pass out

The Moms who stand in the rain for a great view of the game
The Moms who sit in the car and say yep I saw it

The Moms who stay up half the night finishing a science project
The Moms who go to bed and say I told you not to wait until the last minute

The Moms who fix every meal from scratch
The Moms who scratch their head and call for take-out

The Moms who watch their children go to war
The Moms who don't see their children come home

There are so many moms and one thing is for sure, it's the most rewarding, hardest job we'll ever have.

Here's to all moms on this fabulous day.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Birthday Terri!

Today might have been one of the most perfect days! Our Home Study Report is on its way to Holt for approval! YEAH!!!

That's all I wanted for my birthday! It's been 3 Months since we pushed the button and applied to adopt from Thailand.

I woke up to the smell of Starbucks coffee delivered by Chris. I went to Mark's soccer game where he played his little heart out and actually had a shot to score. Then it was on to Matt's baseball game where we walked up in time to see the ending score and watch them shake hands. Padres (us) won 11-6. Matt walked and had 2 great hits and pitched one inning (of course, since I was at the soccer game, I missed all that - could have been a more perfect day, I guess). He got the game ball and was very excited. We had pictures developed for our Dossier, rode around most of the afternoon in the convertible (so relaxing). The weather was just perfect 75 and sunny. We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory which is one of my favorite places. Got home in time to meet the sitter. Chris and I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall - too funny. A little obnoxious but funny.

Mark and I wrote a new song - well just 2 lines -

I'm in love with a beautiful boy

Who's in love with a beautiful girl

He's so sweet and even at seven still wants to marry his mommy!

I'm fairly certain the people walking through the Target parking lot thought we were nuts as we sang and danced our new tune. Who cares!

The boys were so great today - it was truly one of the best days of my life.

Home Study is in the Approval Phase

Today our SW finished the home study report. She is giving it to her supervisor and us to review tomorrow. We will send it to Holt to review tomorrow or Monday depending on our changes.

It's amazing how great it feels to have this hurdle behind us! We started this process almost 3 months ago - at that time they predicted a 21-24 month process. If it holds true, we'll have a daughter in 18-21 months.

From the boys point of view
Matt wants a 6 month old - younger the better he said
Mark wants a "12 month-er"

The latest is Matt wants the baby to sleep in his room and they are all smiles as we tell them we are officially approved by our SW. They are very excited to be getting a little sister!

17 years ago today Chris and I started dating - we had lunch at Subway. He was out of town today, but I did have lunch at Subway. Kind of fitting we get such great news on our "dating anniversary".

Top 10 Derby Week Quotes

10. Think we missed Stephen and Jenn while we were talking to Brian Brohm?

Did you taste the Lilly?

9. In 20 minutes, they won't be laughing at your boots babe.

Did you taste the Lilly?

8. That dress is see through.
Did you see that dress?
Do you think she knows her chest is hanging out of her dress?
Nice tat.

Did you taste the Lilly?

7. Chips and Queso? What Que what? Chips and Queso? What's queso? Cheese - Why don't they just say Nachos - it's one word instead of three.

Did you taste the Lilly?

6. Would you like the large or small salad - I'll take the smaller of the two.

Did you taste the Lilly?

5. We went to Illinois - you did? - Yeah, um wait - where's Cincinnati? - Ohio

Did you taste the Lilly?

4. I'll give you $100 to go away.

Did you taste the Lilly?

3. Spell Blizzard backwards - D - R- A - D HAHAHA I knew we couldn't do it

Did you taste the Lilly?

2. You're So Vain - Oh yeah that's it

Did you taste the Lilly?

1. Did you taste the icing?
I'd like to order a cake with caramel icing and no cake.
Can we buy the icing?
We're buying the icing.

Did you taste the Lilly?

Lilly - 1 part cosmopolitan mix, 1 part water, 1 part vodka

Derby 2008

What do I love most about Louisville? Certainly NOT the weather! Where can it be 40 degrees, 80 degrees, sunny and rainy, windy and calm all in the same 24 period? Right here in the Ville!

I love Louisville, KY for The Kentucky Derby - The fastest 2 minutes in sports. The buildup to two minutes is a bit crazy but isn't that why people love it or hate it?

We're among the lovers. Every year we need plenty of coffee, Advil and cheek massages from laughing until our face hurts.

On the day before Derby - (OAKS DAY) we go to the track. No need for fancy dresses and hats as we go to the infield. We take canopies, ponchos, chairs and money to burn. We might see a horse if it rains hard enough to encourage those unprepared for rain to go home. Cali Jenn calls this lucky. She prays for rain. She's not right! At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if it's rain or shine or if we win or lose, it's about spending an entire day laughing with old friends and family and meeting new ones! This is my favorite day of the year second only to Christmas. I put my money on Little Belle (of course) for the Oaks race. She ran second. What do you see in the infield? Just about everything. 20 matching Pink suits on men, nice dresses and hats, bare feet and people who should put their shirts back on.

Derby Day is party day. We throw a party for about 70-100 people. I haven't counted this year but it was a good crowd and lots of fun to be had. Big Brown took the race this year. Louisville's favorite as we're the main sorting hub for UPS. And of course, Eight Belles ran second. We didn't bet but I would have had that Exacta if we did. I didn't think to bet it Friday. And you probably heard Eight Belles was hurt and had to be euthanized at the end of the race. I feel very strongly that the Derby should be limited to 15-17 horses although they say that didn't cause the injury. I always say One of these days... It's an amazing sight to see 20 horses race. Also a scary one. Aside from Eight Belles what a great day. We are so fortunate to have family and friends who share in the craze of Derby.

The Derby After Party is always a blast. And of course, more cheek massages as we all get a little bit slap happy. This year we have 2 new quotes which I won't explain but they will have us doubled-over for years for come. "D" and "You're So Vain".

Then it's over for an entire year! And we'll do it all over again! I love it and if I'm ever lucky enough to get to relocate to the beach, I'll miss this.

I thought Derby would take my mind off Mia and my lack of homestudy report but not so much. Our SW said our homestudy report would be completed a month ago. We've been patient but we're ready NOW. M's in our thoughts everyday and I just want to know that we're on a waiting list. My niece Lucy wanted to know if she'd get to meet Mia Derby Day and she then remembered she'd be 6 when she meets her. She's such a sweet little girl and Chris and I just eat her up! Lisa (her mom) and I had a good laugh as I told her she'd have to train me on little girls hair since I'm 100% clueless about girls.

The rainy picture is from Oaks Day and the sunny picture is from Derby Day.