3 Weeks To Go!!!

Court is 3 weeks from today!!! I can't wait!!!!! This 3 year journey is coming to the most glorious end! We have both trips all planned. We are staying at the Courtyard again for the court trip and the Marriott Grand for the final trip. Now I need to start thinking about what we need for the final trip. Do I need bottles? pacifiers? scabies cream??? I guess we will have to ask all this while on our court trip. Any advice would be great :)

I feel like I'm way too relaxed. I must be forgetting about 20 things!

New York City - Our Last Hurrah!

We went into NYC this weekend to visit Brad's sister, Amy and her boyfriend, Rob. It was good chance to squeeze a mini trip in before the baby comes home, since we will be homebound for a while. We had such a great time! Our first stop was the Empire State Building, which we wanted to visit since Nate just did a project on it. We had no trouble with long lines and had a beautiful clear day. We then took the subway (mine and the boys' first time!) to Amy's apartment. I have to admit I was a little nervous with Brad being our tour guide. But the subway was nothing like it is in the movies :) We hung out at Amy and Rob's place for a bit. The boys got into all sorts of trouble (see pics)! Then we were off to Central Park! It is so pretty there, but weren't really able to enjoy it fully since half the time was spent looking for unlocked or uncrowded bathrooms! With grumpy, tired and hungry boys, we then made it to lunch. After everyone had food in their stomachs and legs were rested, we headed to the USS New York, Intrepid. It is an old aircraft carrier with a hands-on museum and lots of cool aircrafts. You can also tour the inside of the ship. Very cool!!! Thanks for such a great day, Amy and Rob!


We made it! The Empire State Building!



View from Empire State Building.

Nate in handcuffs!

Rob handcuffing my two troublemakers together!


Outside Amy and Rob's apartment.

Central Park!!! My first time :)

Giant rock in Central Park.

Rob getting ready to toss Aidan off the giant rock!

Walking through Central Park to lunch.

Lunch at the City Grill.

Heading onto the Intrepid. They were so excited!

Inside the Intrepid Museum.

Net climbing!

The 3 boys playing.


Aunt Amy and Rob

On the flight deck of the Intrepid.

Need Some Help...

on gift ideas for Orphanage Director and Doctor. I don't even know where to start. All I know is that it should be about $25 each. Gifts can be so personal and I don't know these women at all. Would love any advice you have. What did you buy???

Peace Valley Field Trip

Nate had a field trip to Peace Valley Park to learn how to make syrup this week. It was a very interesting trip. Did you know that it takes 40 gallons of sugar water from the tree to make a one gallon container of syrup??? No wonder maple syrup is so expensive! We lucked out with a gorgeous day! The best part of the trip though was when I got my court date phone call :)

Cooking down the sugar water into syrup.

The Native Americans would cook down the sugar water into syrup in logs like this. They would put hot rocks in to cook it. Pretty smart :)

Beautiful sunny day!



Don't fall in!

Look at all that sweetness!

Using a stethoscope to hear the sugar water in the tree.

Nate and Tyler

Nate carrying the sugar water back to the fire pit.

More about the Court Date

Ahhhhh! Deep breath :)

I had a feeling I might get a call today. Simply because my day was so busy. I chaperoned Nate's field trip this morning, had about 1 1/2 hours to run some errands and then had to take poor Aidan to the dentist to have two teeth pulled. He did fantastic! I did manage to get flights reserved for the court trip and pick-up trip. I'm giving it a day or two before I actual book them...our track record hasn't been the best. I also got hotel booked for the court trip. We will be staying at the Courtyard in case any of you will be there. I'm still in the research mode for where to stay for the pick-up trip. I'm not really a "rent an apartment kind of girl". I like hotels :) We do want some space, a good location and reasonable price. Am I asking for too much??? We'll take any advice you adoption vets have!

The boys are very excited! In 7 weeks they will have a little sister! We have decided not to take them with us for the pick-up trip as we had originally planned. Brad isn't so on board with the new plan :) He likes the idea of them going with us and experiencing all of this. So do I, but he doesn't think about the big and little details. Both boys said they don't even want to go. Nate has his spring concert (chorus and baritone) that he doesn't want to miss and Aidan is probably afraid of the food :)

We will have court on April 19th, come home for the 10 day wait and return home to be a family of five a couple days before Mother's Day! I think this may be my best Mother's Day yet :)

Happy 11 months, baby girl!!!

Court Date!!!!

Happy days are here again!!! Got the call while on a noisy school bus with Nate's class! Going to court April 19th! Now I will start shopping :)

I'll post later with pics from Nate's trip :)

One More Month

Our baby girl will turn 1 year old a month from tomorrow! I so wish we could be with her for her birthday. I can't believe we have been home for 6 weeks and only have about 4 more until we are legally allowed to go to court.....only we don't even have a court date yet! I've been in a real funk lately. Consumed with worry and frustration. Boy, I'm really becoming a grumpy blogger!!!

Maybe My Phone is Broken

Still haven't heard about court. Five weeks since we saw our baby girl! With each passing day, I get more anxious. I'm really running out of steam with this adoption. We hit the 3 year mark this month that we started with adoption and I really feel we have paid our dues. I just want to go on with my life. I'm tired of being consumed with paperwork, waiting for phones calls and just plain feeling like our lives are on hold. With all that being said, of course we will keep plugging along. There is the most beautiful baby girl waiting for us, too! Some how I think she is probably being more patient :)

Freaking Out!!!!

Many of you PAPs have heard the recent story of Nathaniel Craver who was adopted from Russia in 2003 and has died. Horrible story! This article is out today and I'm freaking out!!!! Russia is calling for a suspension on US adoptions! We are so close to being done this 3 year journey and am so scared what this may mean for all of us waiting to go back. I want my baby girl home!!! As far as I know, nothing has officially happened. Keep praying! Here's the link:


http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/03/nathaniel_craver_is_15th_or_16.html

1 Month Down

It has been 4 weeks since we have seen our baby girl :( Time is moving along and we are one month closer to having her home forever! I've been pretty calm and patient the past month, but I'm starting to get anxious. I just want her home. We had hoped to hear about a court date last week since we were told it would take about 3 weeks to hear. I thought for sure we would hear this week, but nothing yet. I know some of you have waited or are still waiting for referrals or court dates and I shouldn't complain. But my fear is that something will go wrong. I still won't let myself buy lots of baby clothes for fear that court will be postponed and she won't even fit in anything. I have only bought a couple things so far. Some retail therapy would probably help with the wait, but I want that phone call!!!! Ring, phone, ring!