One year down.....

Here are some shots of Jonah's last day of preschool and his end of the year ceremony.

Snack Time

Reagan joined in too

Goofball

With his teacher, Mrs Gordon

Jonah and his best friend in the class, Xander

What a group!

Ready to celebrate!

Like a deer in the headlights....

One last run down the slide until September...

What's in a name?

Oh....the baby name choices....again! We had a pretty easy time choosing Jonah and Reagan's names. We didn't intend to keep the R and J theme going at the time. Reagan was actually my favorite baby girl name since college or so and Jonah just came easily to us. Anyway, we feel compelled to go ahead and give our next daughter a name. Maybe it will help make her more real, considering she won't even be born for a couple of years probably. :)

We are having a tough time with this one though!! We already know that we want to keep part of her Chinese name, probably somewhere in the middle. But, wow....we are really having problems! I'm wondering if the R/J thing really matters....will it make her feel like it's just one more thing that makes her different in our family if we choose something else? It might seem like I'm reading way into it...but I think when you choose to adopt a child that will blatantly look different than the rest of the family, it's something you think about.

Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions are welcome! We'll make our decision known whenever we decide!

Prayers please!

I LOVE Steven Curtis Chapman and his awesome family. They have adopted 3 little girls from China and have an amazing story. Yesterday, they experienced a horrible tragedy and are probably in desperate need of prayers for peace and comfort. See below....

Daughter of Christian music star killed by car

"The 5-year-old daughter of Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.
The girl, Maria Sue, was hit in the driveway of the family's home Wednesday afternoon by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother, said Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The brother, whose name and exact age weren't available, apparently did not see the girl, McPherson said. No charges are expected.

"It looks like a tragic accident," she said.

Several family members witnessed the accident, which happened in Williamson County just south of Nashville. The girl died later at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, hospital spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said.

In a statement, Velvet Kelm, a publicist for Chapman, said Maria was the Chapmans' youngest daughter.

Chapman, who is originally from Paducah, Ky., and his wife have promoted international adoption and have three daughters from China, including Maria. They also have three biological children.

The singer's Web site says the couple was persuaded by their oldest daughter to adopt a girl from China. The experience led the family to adopt two more children and create Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation and ministry to financially assist thousands of couples in adoption.
The Chapmans did missionary work at Chinese orphanages in 2006 and 2007, according to the Web site.

"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing — our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman says on the Web site.

"We've really wondered whether or not we should just go to China and stay there. But I don't think so. I believe God is saying, 'I want you to go, get your heart broken, your eyes opened, and then take this story back to the church in America and around the world.'"

The 45-year-old singer also has released a book about being a father titled "Cinderella: The Love of Daddy and his Princess." He has won five Grammy awards and 54 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association, according to Kelm.

Moving Along....

Well, we are officially knee deep in the adoption paperchase. Our homestudy is in progress...this is basically a compilation of information a social worker puts together discussing us as individuals, our family, our home, etc. We had to each write autobiographies, sign a sworn disclosure statement saying we weren't criminals, sign a corporal punishment statement, be cleared by CPS ($10), etc. Today we went up to Warrenton (about an hour and a half away) for a face to face interview. Rush and I each met separately with our social worker, Clair, for about an hour a piece. It was basically a review of the information in our autobiographies, and her chance to ask for clarification or more details. The rest of the homestudy was $1800 ($2100 total with the application fee). Afterwards, we went to the Police Department and got fingerprinted ($100) and "good conduct" letters indicating we did not have a criminal record.

Right now we are waiting on our medical exam and bloodwork results (which we just had done on Saturday...a very interesting experience at Patient First and a story for another time), employment verification letters and a financial statement. Also, the kids need health forms filled out...Reagan has a check up on Wednesday morning so I'll get those done then. We're also working on our 10 hours of education (about $150) which fortunately is on-line so we can work on that whenever.

Whew!!! It's a lot, but we're getting there. I'll be glad when this part is done....it's not doing it that's stressful. It's just the fact that everything is so specific and one little mistake can really delay things. Also, the idea of doing some of these things twice is not pleasant! :)

Anyway, I'm beat.....it's been a busy day. Thanks to my mom for watching the kids while we did all of this stuff today. :) What a lifesaver!

On another note, Jonah's last day of preschool for the year is tomorrow! I can't believe he's about done and that my little man is about to turn 4!! We've got one more year of preschool before kindergarten. Say it ain't so! I am not ready!

Ok...off to bed. My house is a disaster but it will have to stay that way for now.

New Adoption News!

Today we are submitting a few more things.....our service agreement with Great Wall China Adoption and an agreement for their dossier assistance program to help with all the certification of our paperwork. It's being mailed off today!!

Service agreement: $2500 -$100 early bird discount for applying within 2 weeks of being accepted into program= $2400

Dossier Plan: $2100 - $25 for returning both plans together=$2075

Another check off the list....it's a long list, so I am excited about each and every checkmark I can make!

Our family is growing!

So, the blog thing seemed like a good idea at the time. A long time ago..... What can I say? With 2 small kids, I am kept pretty busy and this whole thing has been put on the back burner. Oh well...

Anyway, we have big news. We have decided to expand our family! No, I'm not pregnant and not looking to be any time soon, if ever again. We have, however, decided to adopt a little girl from China! We've been thinking, praying and discussing for a long time. Over the past few months, we've done a lot of research into it and have really felt like this is the right decision for our family. We've just started the process. Here's how it's looking:

4-28-08 Submit application to Great Wall China Adoption based in Austin, TX - $250
4-29-08 Receive notice that we have been accepted into the program!
5-1-08 3 copies each of Jen and Rush's birth certificates and 2 copies of our marriage certificate ordered - $184.45
5-2-08 Submit application for Home Study with Forever Families Adoption Services in Warrenton, VA and application fee - $300

There's a long road ahead, full of paperwork and notaries...but it feels good to be on our way! WOW!

Pathetic!!

Wow, I'm doing a great job keeping up with this thing, huh?