Time Flies...

Time really does seem to fly when we are back in school. I feel kinda like a ping pong ball most days. But, I have to admit I am liking being on a schedule and not having to come up with things to cure childhood boredom all day long. And, it has helped keep my mind off all the adoption. I don't know why I said that- it's not true. Adoption is always on my mind ;)
And, because I mentioned it let me give you an update.
I sent in my final payment to my home study agency
and she said I should have my report next week.
My passport came in the mail.
And, I mailed off my home study review fee and some docs to my placement agency.
I am really hoping to be on the wait list by the end of Oct. But, we will have to see?

Anyhoo here is a little photo update of our life the past two weeks.

We celebrated my Grandma's 81st Birthday

Said Good Bye to my Brother and his Girlfriend B
as they left to go back to school in MI

Hung out together for some sibling love

Wordless Wednesday

First Days of School & Haircuts!!!!

We started school Monday and my oldest baby is now in first grade. He will be turning 7 pretty soon which I have a hard time believing. There were no tears and he loves his new teacher!!!
ps- That is my baby sister standing with him... they go to the same school... crazy right?

Cuddlebear started preschool again on Tuesday and he was so adorable. He is the super excited kid that asks a million questions while the teacher is trying to read her first day story. Cuddlebear is also so good at making friends he says hi to everyone. He also is very lucky and has a wonderful teacher this year too!!!

The first days were great, but what I was most excited about was Hubby took the shaggy boys to get haircuts. They actually ended up really happy... I think the long hair days were requiring too much effort with the early mornings.
Don't they look handsome?

Wordless Wednesday

I want to join the Wordless Wednesdays in blog land too... I am such a follower :)

Characters

We went to Disneyland this past weekend to celebrate the last day of summer vacation and we ran into Frozone. I was pretty excited to see him especially after just running across this...I always wondered when Disney was going to have a black princess. There was a Native (Pocahontas), a Hawaiian (Lilo), an Asian (Mulan), and a Middle Eastern (Jasmine). Plus, they had represented multiple hair colors with Belle, Tink etc... But, never a black princess. This is Princess Tiana, and she will be in the new princess and the pea movie opening this December.
I would say its about time :)

Hi... I am a mailbox stalker

Seriously... I am stalking my mailbox for birth certificates, passports, and the list goes on. My husband has always had a weird obsession with the mail. Regardless of what else might be going on the first thing my husband does when he comes home is get the mail. This includes after coming home at 1am from a theme park. He loves mail. But, as he recently pointing out to me... I have now become the obsessed one. No longer can I tease him :(

Although, I have come to the realization that once these documents are delivered in my mailbox there are only a few more things that I have control over. And, for those of you who know me well... saying I like to be in control is an understatement. I would say that if my husband is obsessed with the mail... I must be obsessed with having control. So this will be a good life lesson for me (whaaaa... I am already crying about it though).

You see up until now I have been in control of our adoption, and even though I am thrilled to be moving forward... I am not as thrilled to be entering the point where everything is out of my hands. You see I have finished all of the paperwork I could do on my end. There are just a few documents that I am waiting on and then I go to have it all authenticated by the Sec. of State. Then it happens... I mail it all away to my placement agency and with it goes my control. We will then be entering the waiting stage where absolutely nothing happens... really nothing!! Until...

we get THE CALL!!!

So, I will indulge myself in these next few weeks of being in control... and then I will have to put my A type personality in check. And, stay busy with all the other craziness that goes on in my life.

Luckily, I have these cute bugs to keep me busy. (Not to mention its busy season at work)

Some Random Thoughts...

This picture has nothing to do with my post.
I just like the colorspash app. way too much on my iphone :)

I have some stuff I want to talk about so here goes... I really feel like adoption is a lot like pregnancy except only to me and my husband and not the rest of the world.

Like right now I feel like I am at the stage where I just found out that I am pregnant. You know the excitement, joy, etc... You start thinking about the future, looking at the calendar trying to figure out when you are going to meet them, what they will look like, if you can love them as much as the children you already have.

It is interesting because we announced to our family back in May that we were planning on adopting. We received a couple (literally we have a ton of fam and friends and I think maybe 2) emails, phone calls with excitement but mostly silence. I think people don't understand why we would adopt when we have already had three children. And, we have boys and a girl so we aren't doing it to get a certain gender etc... I know that if we had told them we were pregnant it would have been a whole different story. It seems to get even quieter when they learn that we are adopting from Ethiopia.

Anyhoo, we keep going through the process (which hasn't been very eventful yet) and we try to talk about it sometimes with the silent ones... but nothing. I have been okay with it but as we are nearing being done with paperwork and moving on to the waiting I feel like I am sad that there is no excitement. With my agency they said plan on a 1-10 month wait once your dossier is completed. I am almost done with the paperwork and then I figure I just have to wait (just like pregnancy) to at least see the face of my sweet new little boy. I had to wait with the other 3 for nine months so I can do this. Plus, because our age range is pretty broad it may even be a little shorter. I am ready to get excited people.

This is just another fantabulous (fantastic and fabulous together) reason why I love love love all the support I receive from blogland, facebook, and all the other adoption support groups. You guys share the excitement with me and help me deal with the fact that my friends and family most likely won't be joining in on the excitement for sometime.

If anyone out there has been in my shoes do you have any tips for me? And, at some point does the silence turn into excitement???

Getting Closer

TB shots... check (and I found out my husband is a bit of a wimp about shots), Police Clearance done and Notarized... check, Passport pics taken and passports ordered... check, first doc sent to be authenticated... check.-- You get the point.

We will get our tb shot sites examined tomorrow and then our medical forms will be done, and as long as my references mailed their letters all I will have left is to drive to *** to get my notaries certified by the county and then over to *** to get my dossier docs authenticated. I also have to hand deliver the rest of my home study b/c my agency is having trouble with their mail.. ahhhh!!!!

At some moments I feel so close to being done (like when I first sat down to write this post)... and the next minute (i.e. Now) I feel like I am never going to finish. Someday I will be done and someday I will get that call and someday I will hold my sweet boy in my arms... but for now it is just someday.

Here's to happy paperchasing.

Online Classes Done!!!

Hip Hip Hooray... I am narrowing that list down. I am just waiting on some friends referral letters, my tb test, go to the post office with my passport docs, and send it all to get authenticated. I am sooooo ready to be done with the paperwork, but I have recently become stressed with the age range I want to tell my placement agency. Our home study is for a boy 0-4 years.
I go back and forth whether I would like to have a broad age range and just see what comes. Or if I should be more picky and really narrow down a smaller range. Any one have any advice, or tips on how they decided on their age range. My bio kids are 6 1/2, 4 1/2, and 23 months. I would love your thoughts!!!