Pre-K Graduation

Lennah's Pre-K graduation was this past Saturday. It is so crazy to think that this little girl was brought into our lives just a few short years ago. Time is going so fast.
Her graduation was so cute.The kids did several songs for all their families and they even put on a little play of the Three Little Pigs. I think we also have a tiger dad on our hands because Lennah's part was holding up a painted tree and Keith asked me later on that night why Lennah didn't have a speaking part. For some reason Lennah's Pre-K teacher says Lennah is shy and doesn't talk much in class (I find this hard to believe since Lennah is our wild child) so I think maybe she was just too quiet in class for a speaking role.
Our big girl will be going to Kindergarten in just a few short months. I wish I could keep her little forever but she is growing up before our eyes. I hate to say but my parents were right when they said when you have kids that it goes super fast. We love Lennah so much and are so proud of her. I am so thankful that we get to take part on her journey through life.

 Lennah's Big Screen Debut in the Three Little Pigs

 Lennah and her friend Jamillah

Jamillah, Lennah, and Mallorie

Mother's Day and Lennah's Gymnastics Show

Sunday was Mother's Day. I don't get too caught up in any holidays but Christmas but of course it is a lovely day to be appreciated. My hubby got me some beautiful cards and I told him not get any presents because of our next adoptionand I got my mom a gift for her and I, but of course he did not listen. He got me a beautiful jewelry box from the kids. He is so awesome and always thinks of me. Anyway to get to my mom's gift we are going to get massages in three more weeks together and then are heading to a restaurant in Atlanta that we have talked about going to for years.  To end my day Zach came to me before his bedtime and handed me his card that he had personally made. The schools always have the little ones make stuff; Lennah made me a bath crystals jar and Delyah had made me a fan at school but this from Zach was truly a special gift. Zach had made a card that told me how much he loved me, how I made him giggle, what a great mom I was (I don't know about that because sometimes I feel like I make too many mistakes), etc. It was so touching because he has been with us just under a year and for him to be so emotional and lay his feelings out there was amazing. It is a gift that I will always treasure.

Last night was a busy night since Lennah had her year end gymnastics show. She did so awesome and it was wonderful to see how much she has learned from this class within the past year. I am so proud of her and all my kids for trying there best at whatever they are doing.

Zach's Mother's Day Card



Officially Paulsen

Officially a family forever

Yesterday was a big day in our home; Heather, Logan, & Zach became official. Wow adoption is such a rollercoaster ride that I never thought would end. The kids have been with us for almost a year but unlike international adoption you do not get to officially adopt the children until they have been with you for a while. Our meeting with the judge was fairly quick since our lawyer had everything ready to go but we can officially say they are ours forever now. Our wonderful social worker also joined us for the celebration and so did my dad.
I know the kids were super happy and we are super happy that we get to share our lives with these children and will hopefully led them down a path that will make them successful adults. We don't want anyone to take our use of the term succesful as meaning in terms of money but what we want for our kids is for them to become caring, responsible, and understanding people who try their best to make the world a better place. We are excited that we get to lead these children on their journey through life. God has blessed us so much and hopefully we will take care of his children to the best of our ability.

Dancing Delylah

Saturday our little girl had a beautiful recitial. Delylah has been in dance for this whole year and she has done so awesome. She definitely has a little talent. We try to ensure that all the kids get a chance to do activities so this way they can build confidence and build their social skills but of course it also gives Mommy and Daddy the chance to have bragging rights about our great kids.

Delylah was so brave and just got up on stage and danced her little dance. I hope that she loved dancing as much as we loved watching her. Our little girl is growing up too fast. Next year my baby is going to Pre-K and I am having a hard time swallowing how fast she has grown up. Where has my baby gone?

Working our way

Well we are still working our way to completing our dossier for this adoption. It seems that our homestudy is slow to go with these child abuse checks and just getting our last visit in which isn't for another 2 weeks away. Hopefully our homestudy will be in our hands shortly after that so we can apply for our I-800a. Once we have that approval we can get our dossier in. Those are the last two pieces of the puzzle for now that we are waiting on.
Over the weekend I was lucky enough to get a quick update on our baby girl and a photo. I hate that it will take months to get her here. I guess I have to look at the positives since I will have time to work on Heather's room being moved into my office and getting Heather's room ready for Taite to move into.

Other than the adoption we are all eagerly awaiting the end of the school year. We also have a busy few weeks ahead since Delylah's recital is coming up this weekend and in two more weeks we have Lennah's PreK graduation. It is all going too fast. I also got transferred to another school closer to home for next year so that will put me at having more time with the kids at night since I can shave some time off my commute. I think Heather and Logan are also excited to be heading to a brand new school with me too.