Pool Time!

Our day today started with Jonah's 4 year check up....we found out that he's a perfect square-- 40 inches and 40 pounds. :) Anyway, I knew he had to get at least one shot, but then found out it was actually 4! So, he earned a prize after that was all done.

Originally, we planned to go to Kings Dominion this evening, but the threat of thunderstorms made us change our plans. Instead, we went to my mom's pool.....always a bright idea as thunderstorms are threatening!! :) The weather actually ended up being great though and we had the whole pool to ourselves. Reagan got in for her first time ever and LOVED it in her little float! Jonah practiced his jumping as you will see in the video below!

Happy Independence Day!!

At 1:53pm today.....

...Fed Ex delivered our immigration petition to CIS in Norfolk!! Yes, I am a little anal about making sure stuff gets to where it needs to be...so I have been tracking our package a little obsessively. I admit it....I have issues. :)

Roasting Marshmallows and "Camping" In

The night before Jonah's birthday last year, we built a small fire in the backyard, roasted marshmallows, and then Rush and Jonah camped out in a tent in the backyard. Jonah's photographic memory recalled this information and of course, he wanted to do it again this year, and supposedly every year he "turns a new number." Unfortunately, because Rush went out of town the day after J-man's birthday, we weren't able to do all of this until last night. So, Rush built the fire (I have no idea if this is legal in our county, by the way, and neither did my police officer husband. I figured if he didn't know, then my ignorance would certainly be forgiven!) and the marshmallow roasting began. Jonah's favorite part was watching any marshmallows that happened to fall into the fire get all big and bubbly. We enjoyed watching the lightning bugs and getting sugared-up before the camping part of the evening began. It was so stinking hot, that Rush decided camping in would be a better idea for all parties involved. So the tent was pitched, not in the backyard, but in the living room. Jonah didn't care...he had just as much fun shining his flashlight in the dark living room as he would have outside. And, more than anything else, he had some boys-only time with Rush. He was in heaven. Rush didn't get much sleep....Jonah, on the other hand, was out like a light. The tent made for some good playtime after church too. But, now it's time for it to come down. And so another memory goes in the books....

Starting the fire

Let the roasting begin!

Yum!

Fun after church (in the living room!)!

On a different subject....Rush FedEx'ed all of our stuff to immigration yesterday!! Now, we wait for approval. This is the last BIG step before the rest of our dossier can be compiled and sent to China! It could take 1-3 months though for approval so please pray for our patience!

It's here!

Just got our home study!!!! Three beautiful notarized copies in a FedEx envelope! It says that we are suitable adoptive parents...boy did we put on a good act! :) Now to get it ready to ship off to immigration tomorrow hopefully. They need the home study, immigration application (I800A form), our birth certificates, marriage license and a lot of money! Yea! I can't express the relief I am feeling right now. I'm sure it will be even more so when our dossier is complete and registered in China, but for now, I'm going to enjoy this moment. I think I'll go do a little dance! :)

It's Done!!! (well....almost)

Jonah's big birthday present from us was a re-do of his room. He had still been in a toddler bed so we really needed to move him on up to a real big-boy bed. And, his room was in desperate need of painting. We decided to go with a baseball theme....something that could last for quite a few years to come. So...the painting began along with lots of other stuff. Rush reminded me of a headboard I had from college that was in the attic...I painted it red and it worked out great! I just got my last photo print in the mail yesterday (some shots I took at Glen Allen Little League) so I ran out and bought a frame this morning. The only thing left to do is paint his new closet doors and frame....just gotta wait for Rush to take them off the hinges. My original plan was to paint a few red/blue horizontal stripes about 3/4 of the way up the wall, but I ran out of steam. We'll see, maybe I'll get motivated again and do it. For now though....this is it!

Above/Outside his door

I made these from stuff I found at Michaels....pinstripes to go along with the baseball theme.

I LOVE this quilt....it has all the different players labeled and is
really good quality. Not too baby-ish either.

In other news.....I hard from our home study agency that our home study is complete and they should be Fed-Exing it to us today!!! HOORAY!!!

Hanging out with my girl.....and a little bike riding

Rush has been in Dallas this week at a physical training for law enforcement class (http://www.cooperinst.org the guy that founded this place invented, that's right, invented aerobics and is President Bush's personal physician....He was personally teaching one of their classes today) so I have been by myself with the kiddos. It's really gone well so far. It has helped that Jonah has been in YMCA camp every morning because that has given me some nice time with Reagan. I wanted to try to make a concerted effort to spend some good time with her since I rarely have time with just the two of us....and we all know what happened last week when I did (see the previous tantrum post!). Anyway, it wasn't much, but this morning after we dropped Jonah off, we watched part of a Signing Time video together and then once the playset was in the shade,we went into the backyard. She loves to swing so we did that for a while and then went and got on the hammock....definitely the highlight of my day so far (yes I know it's only 10am). Anyway, it was so awesome to just hang out with her, looking at the trees and sky above us and just laughing. She makes some funny faces and noises and loves to imitate so that was mostly what we did....hard to quantify really, but it rocked. She still takes a morning nap, so our time together didn't last long, but it was enough to fill my cup! It's easy to try to fly through the day (weeks, months...) and focus on the never-ending to-do list, but I'm going to start trying to remember that those things can always wait....and they'll always be around. My kids on the other hand, are already getting too big, and these times will be over before long.

Ok....now that I've depressed everyone, I'll share some pics of Jonah trying out his new bike! He got it for his birthday this weekend and this was his first time on it. We went to Rush's parents for dinner so I took the bike with us. Grandpa mostly tried to teach him how to steer (an important thing!)....the pedaling didn't go so well, but we'll keep practicing. If you're wondering what the heck is on his helmet...yes, it is fur. The helmet has animals on it and the lions have real furry manes. Weird in my opinion...but he likes it!

And now for a little video....