Why are we adopting?

This. This is why. A friend of mine sent it to me and I think it absolutely shows perfectly why we have chosen this path. Now, any questions?

http://www.kristinjphotography.com/Slideshows/Day4_Slideshow/Ethiopia_Day4/

Add this to the list....

...of things I never would have said before having kids:

"Reagan, camels do not go in the dishwasher." At least in our house....

Tonight Jonah was in bed and it was just one of those moments in which I looked at him and it hit me like a ton of bricks how big he has gotten. Anyway, I told him he needed to stop growing and stay little for me. "Mommy, I can't do that!" he said. "Why not?" I asked. His response...."Because I eat carrots." Ummm, ok. Maybe that explanation would hold slightly true if he actually ate carrots...but, he doesn't. And of course, when I challenged him on that, no explanation. It made total sense to him! Maybe I'll use that as my next excuse when I can't think of anything else....I wonder if it will work!

This week......

...has been busy so far! We've had a lot going on with the start of fall right around the corner. Rush was at the racetrack working Nascar all weekend, we started a new parenting class at church, my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group is about to start up again which I am coordinating the discussion groups for, and Jonah started his 2nd year of preschool today! Oh...and Reagan is officially 17 months old today. So, without boring you with all the details of those things, here are some pics. (And hopefully, we will be hearing from Immigration any time now!!).At Jonah's preschool open house....he looks tiny! He goes to Glen Allen Baptist Pre-K which we love. We don't go to church there, but it's right down the road and a much shorter drive than going to our church!

Heading off to work...
Tiptoes trying to get a book!

Our pretty girl...

Hello up there!!

Hugs before Jonah leaves...

Ready for the big day!

It's amazing to compare with his picture from his first day last year....he's grown up so much!

By mom! See you in a few hours!
He had a great day!

Before I go, let me just share the quote of the week by Jonah....we were eating lunch and Reagan decided to throw some food on the floor to the dog....which drives me nuts. Before I even had a chance to address it, Jonah says, "Mommy, I think she's just being difficult. She's just trying to get my attention." Ha! I guess someone actually listens to every word I say....scary. :)

Back to the old routine...

I have found myself craving fall....I absolutely love the season in general but also, I have been ready to get back into a bit of a routine. Jonah starts back to preschool on the 10th and will go Wed, Thurs and Fri mornings each week. We have his open house in the morning. There's a few of the same kids from his class last year in his class, and although his main teacher is new to him, his teacher from last year, who he loved, is going to serve as the teacher's aide as well! 2 teachers for the price of one!! :) He's really excited...as am I! It's so hard to believe that this time next year, he will be in Kindergarten!!

Rush and I went last week to Norfolk to be fingerprinted at Immigration. It was a little ridiculous to drive all that way....and we were literally in there for like 10 minutes tops. I was surprised there's no Immigration place in Richmond to take care of that. Plus, we just got fingerprinted in Henrico a few months ago and it was exactly the same....both were done electronically. Why can't they just share the info is beyond me. Regardless, it's one more thing that's done and now we just wait for approval!

We've been enjoying the election frenzy recently at our house. Jonah has totally caught the fever as well. In fact, tonight, he begged to stay up to watch John McCain's speech. I don't know how long he'll last considering he didn't take a nap today. He's had his bath and is in his pj's just in case. The other night, he fussed at Rush for turning the TV from FOX News to baseball. I think we've created a monster.

Here's some pictures from the past few weeks....

Reagan loves Jonah's sand table.

I felt like she was a little old lady about to smack someone in the head with her bag. If you know how feisty Reagan can be, you will understand!!

Too cool....

The coolest balloon creation ever!

Ready for a bike ride!! (The dog is in there somewhere too!)

Fingerprint News!!!!

We just got our fingerprinting date!!! We go next Thursday, August 28 at 1pm to the CIS office in Norfolk! HOORAY!!!! After that, we wait for official approval, sent it to our agency, get it certified, and then SEND IT TO CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recap

I've been bad about keeping up with posting recently, so here's some pics to recap what's been going on!

We received a quick notice from Immigration today again stating they received our application and that we would "soon" receive notice of when we need to get fingerprinted. I already knew that, but I guess some correspondence is better than nothing.

Reagan coloring...or eating the crayon...I'm not sure which.

Kings Dominion

Race!

At Maymont

Those are some big fish!

Jonah hiked up to the waterfall

Seriously?

I was cleaning out our coat closet and Jonah decided everyone needed "superhero "costumes.....I guess superheros tend to get a little chilly. Rush joined in on the fun too.

Jonah just finished his 2 weeks of swimming lessons! He did great! He can jump in and swim from one side of the pool to the other and lots more!

Sibling love...sometimes. I don't know what's up with Reagan's hair in this one! :)

Night Night!

Reagan is talking like crazy. She recently said her version of "football" and "spaghetti." Unfortunately, there's a lot of things she'll say a few times, and then won't say any more. By far, the cutest thing she says right now is "Mmm Hmm" for yes. She gives us her fair share of "no" as you can imagine. She also likes to come up to you with her lips puckered and give you a kiss followed by a big "Mwah!" She also took about 10 steps today. She's done a few here and there before, but this is by far the most we've seen. Of course, now she won't demonstrate any more of her skills! Oh well....I caught a little on video. Sorry it's sideways! Enjoy!

2 good books

I've actually made it through 2 books recently...well, ok, it's taken me a few months. Anyway, they're both about experiences of Chinese adoption and both are awesome. They are both written by journalists so their descriptions of the journeys, the details, the process, the country, the political situation, etc. are amazing , eye-opening, and thought provoking.

The first, China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage, was interesting to me because it was written from the perspective of a father. Most books I've read have been written by women, so this was definitely a nice change of pace. Their daughter was about 2 when they adopted her. When they first were united with her, they discovered a large gash on her head which no one could account for, no matter how much they tried to find out what happened. For a while, they even thought she might have brain damage. He describes so well his feelings of uncertainty, anguish, anger, and worry. His daughter turned out fine and they even adopted another little girl a few years later, but it was a great read. The next book, by Karin Evans, The Lost Daughters of China, goes into more detail I think about her pre-adoption journey, the wait, and the details within China and the political and social situation. Also a great read...and they also adopted a second time.
I read another book as well, Forever Lily (I forget the author's name) which was a little crazy for me...she had these weird dream sequences in which she came to believe she was a Chinese Empress in a past life and was killed after becoming pregnant by another man....yeah...a little distracting from the real story which would have been really interesting had it not been for the weirdness of the other stuff.

Anyway, I came to realize that all of these books were written by agnostics. I thought this was strange because it seems like a lot of people that adopt internationally, or at all, are Christians seeking to care for the fatherless as mentioned Biblically. So, where are all the books from a Christian perspective? I'm on the hunt now for a change of pace. Our faith is a huge factor in this process and in our decision to adopt so I'm curious to hear some other similar stories.