Feeling Nostalgic

Since we have become DTC again, I have been looking at old pictures and remembering what it was like when we were DTC for Natalie and how excited we were when we went to China to get her. These pictures are for all of us out there that are DTC now with what looks to be like a long road ahead of us. No matter how long the wait, this will be our end result and it is SO worth it! This picture above is from our very first day with Natalie. She totally crashed on the way back from the Civil Affairs office. Phil and I laid her down in her little crib next to our bed and just stared at her for hours. So precious!

This is right after she woke up and started to process what was going on. Doesn't she look like she's thinking..."um, sure, I'll take a picture, but, okay...just wondering what on earth is going on and who in the heck are you?"

I should have know from the very beginning that she was going to be a daddy's girl. She has always been so comfortable with him. This is a familiar sight even today. You can't tell very well in this picture, but daddy's eyes and face are totally red and swollen from crying so much that day! This is still the first day and is just after she woke up and had her first bath and new jammies on. The p.j.'s are too short but I, of course, had to put them on her because they had cows jumping over the moon and were too cute. Definitely, a first time mom who had been waiting a little too long to put cute things on her child...

Okay, this is one of my most favorite pictures of N. I think it's just that innocent look on her adorable little face and then, of course, how messy it is from her prunes. The kid loved prunes and sweet potatoes. She couldn't get enough of them. Actually, at 14 lbs at almost 11 months, she couldn't hardly get enough of any kind of food. She ate like a horse and was so tiny. We couldn't understand where it was all going...

Love this one too because of how little she looks. She is just too cute. Still needs to have something in her mouth to this day. It's her "security" thing when she starts getting tired or overwhelmed. My sweet baby girl...

What A Difference...

My Pictures didn't load quite in the order that I thought they would and i don't know how to fix them...Oh well... This is from the tail-end of the weekend. I just wanted to show how pleased Natalie is with herself for playing daddy. She's thinking..."sucker...mommy would have never given me the whole thing back here by myself..."
"I'll give it the ol' college try!!!" There aren't more pictures because luckily mommy came back to the car soon enough to intervene before disaster struck. She still ended up falling asleep with a nice little chocolaty smile on her sweet little face.
So I'm so struck by the difference between these pics and....

(love that mug!!)
these pics!!!!! Taken same place two years apart. Oh my gosh...where has my little baby gone? In just two years, my baby has gone from the cute little chubby faced (well, chubby for her) little baby to this child...this sassy, funny, sweet, opinionated, stubborn, smart, tender-hearted, little girl.
I don't know why I'm so shocked...she is three and a half but these pictures really show me just how much she has changed and grown. Boy, have the years gone fast too! This August will be our three year celebration of becoming a family. Time has flown by too quickly. Prior to Natalie, I was told by so many moms to just savor every moment because they grow up so fast. I have really tried to do that but have recently caught myself wishing that she were a bit older, already potty trained, etc. This potty training thing is not fun...But looking at these pictures again is a great reminder to savor every moment of this time with her...naughty and nice...because in a flash she will grow and change and be a different person and I'll miss her at this age. All of the funny things that she says and does. In fact tonight, we were driving to go to dinner with grandma and grandpa and Natalie was holding one of her babies (Sophie Marie in honor of her sister...everyone is Sophie Marie now)and singing to her and telling her how cute she is. She said to me "mommy, my baby is one year old now and she's so cute...she's from the same place I was born..." How cute I thought to myself and then asked her where that was...waiting to hear all about China... "CANADA" she says. What?!? Oh my gosh, we laughed so hard. Well, she got a great response from that so don't be surprised if you hear from her now about being born in Canada. Oh how I will miss these days...

UBI's...

When I was in the Peace Corps, one of the program director's would have a UBI session, otherwise known as "useless bits of information." So here are some UBI's (some more "u" than not)from our homestead... As you can see, the bunny did make it to our house. Can you guess which basket is mine?
Natalie immediately declared this basket as hers. She told me I could have the basket with one piece of candy. Nice...
Okay, so I'm proud of my dessert. Actually, the whole meal was great thanks to the Food Network. I made Paula Deen's Texas Brisket. Oh my gosh was that good! We also had a potato casserole, asparagus (should have roasted it but didn't have the oven space at the time) and the above little yummy for dessert. It is Tyler Florence's Lemon Curd Trifle. It is a great springtime dessert...okay really anytime would work..Loved the fresh berries and the lemony curd. You mix the lemon curd with fresh whipped cream. Yum-Oh.
Natalie starts her T-Ball practice next week. Her coach called a few days ago with all of the info...okay my three year old has a coach?!? You must be some kind of saint to volunteer to coach a bunch of three year olds...lol... It will by hysterical to watch. She is going to play with her friends Lily and Brandon (brother and sister) who will also be going to the same school as her next year. More pics and video for your enjoyment to come soon...I'm sure!!
Two weeks from today we'll be on an airplane with our friends Jim and Mary Anne and their daughters to pay a visit to the mouse. It's been too long!

On the adoption front, referrals just were sent this week for only two days worth of dossiers from October of 2005!!! Can you believe only two days? I hadn't heard until yesterday that October was one of the largest months ever for the CCAA with over 2000 dossiers sent in. The CCAA has been sending out referrals for October for the last 4 months and they still aren't finished! I have heard that November is similarly a large month so who knows how long that will take? At this rate, we will be lucky to get our referral by the end of 2009...I know that we are just beginning this process again and I TOTALLY feel for those that have been waiting since October 2005 to see their children. Can you imagine if you missed the cut-off date yet again? I'd be pulling my hair out...

We do have the option of going through the special needs program which does seem to speed things up a bit. Phil and I have been talking about this option since before even deciding to adopt again. We're actually working out a profile now for what types of needs we feel that we can accomodate in our family. We're contacting our insurance company to see what types of things are covered and talking to other families that have adopted or will adopt through the SN program. Really, all of the children adopted internationally are "special needs" if you think about it. China just considers those with some type of physical deformity more SN than others. That, obviously, isn't the only type of thing considered to be SN but appears to be the bulk of it. We have had such amazing help and services available to us with Natalie and I know how to access the system for whatever Sophia may need. We'll just keep plugging along and see what God has in store for us. I just will keep on having faith that all will work out as it should.

That's all for now folks... Jennifer-out!

Next on TLC... A Hair Story

I'm sure that we will find this much more amusing than the average Joe, since this is our adorable child, but thought it was too cute and had to post. This is the day after the following conversation happened.

Nat - "Mommy, Charlie & Lola is on"

Me- "That's great honey..." (as I know that it is not Charlie & Lola on, but is Stanley)

N - "Mommy, I'm ..... (something incomprehensible)"

M - doing laundry in another room... "wonderful sweetie..."

N - "I'm putting lotion on..."

M- "What the hell...?" as I run into the other room

Miss Natalie had decided to begin her foray into her beauty product empire by testing the development of her own brand of guacamole hand and face lotion. She proudly told me to "beel my kin" and "it mells good." I told her that she might have to go back to the drawing board. While her customers would surely appreciate all of the hydrating and softening properties her lotion provides, and the fact that it is multi-purpose because it could be lunch one minute and then a moisturizing skin refresher the next, I didn't foresee them much appreciating the fact that they would walk around all day smelling like their local Mexican food establishment. Maybe she should stick with the hair gig?

Our Weekend...A Pictoral Essay

A little bit of this........

and this......

and this...

and don't forget this....

and finally this!

As always... busy, busy, busy, but never without fun, fun, fun!!