Getting Close

We are getting so close to bringing Taite home. We had a little hold up with the consulate but I got an email tonight saying that our article 5 was picked up and that now we are waiting for travel approval. So it looks like March I will be heading to China to pick up our little girl. We have been working on finishing Taite's room and it is looking pretty good so far. It will look even better with our little one inside of it.

Christmas

/> We spend so much time getting ready for Christmas and then it is gone in a flash. This year was a great Christmas for the kids. Before Christmas we did the usual tradition of driving around and looking at Christmas lights and getting milkshakes. It is a strange tradition since most people have hot chocolate but one year when Lennah and Delylah were little we stopped at Steak and Shake to pick up milkshakes while we were looking at lights and the girls never forgot about it so we have to go all the time. The bigs ones also fell in love with this tradition so we have just went with it.
We also hit up Pettit Creek Farms this year to check out the lights. We hadn't done that one since Delylah was really little; mainly because Lennah got bit by a camel when we went there and she had never forgotten about it. Well low and behold she still remembered and did not want to go anywhere near the camels this time.
Christmas morning was the usual mess. The kids get up at the crack of dawn and wake up the whole house (my parents always spend the night on Christmas eve). Everyone was so happy that they got what they asked for and I was happy that I was able to get Heather the laptop she was begging for a great price. Santa even left some gifts for Taite under the tree that we are saving for her until she gets home. Overall it was a great holiday that is now over. Tomorrow I head back to work and the kids go back to school on Monday.

Happy Birthday Taite

Taite is 2 years old today. We wish we could be with her and we could be celebrating together. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Little one you will be home soon!

Growing Up and Catching Up

 Most recent photos of Taite

It has been awhile since I last posted so I figured I would play a bit of catch up. This month has been super busy; as well as last. Between Thanksgiving and birthdays, then to top it off we have Christmas ahead we are zonked. I guess I will back track to Heather's birthday since I now realize that we never put it up. Heather turned 15 on October 15th. We had a small quiet day at the house to celebrate since she still only has a small cluster of friends. She was just happy that our family was there to celebrate and she finally got a cell phone. It took me awhile to give into the electronics but I figured that it would help her mature a bit and at 15 she is growing up. I think I have a hard time with the big kids growing up because we have only had them a short while and it seems like we will blink and there time with us will be gone. I don't mean their time with us as if they were going away I just mean there time living with us and us guiding them into adulthood is happening so fast. We also got to spend some quality mom and daughter time watching Breaking Dawn 2. We may be years apart but at least we both share the same love of twilight.

We also celebrated Lennah's birthday right before Thanksgiving. It is hard when you have a December birthday and you have to work around holiday parties and such. Now that big girl is 6 she was very adamant about having a birthday at the American Girl store. We figured we would keep it small and she got to take two of her friends with their moms. It was nice to have an intimate birthday party rather than a bunch of little kids screaming and hollering around the house or at Chucky Cheeses.

Today Lennah also lost her first tooth. It seems as if not only are the big kids growing too fast but the little ones are doing it too. I still think that she is just a baby toddling around the house. In addition to losing teeth she also reads me books at night. Lennah has been doing awesome in school and is on first grade sight words in kindergarten. I feel so useless now since the kids can do so much on their own. It is bittersweet to listen to your kindergartner read you Pete the Cat when just last year you were reading books to her to put her to bed.

I also had Delylah's Pre-K conference today. Like Lennah she is ahead in school and doing awesome. Since she has been so far ahead we now work on kindergarten sight words so she will have a jump start in school. It was amazing to hear all the wonderful things her teacher had to say about her. While hearing this and being a teacher it is also sad to know that so many kids at there go home from school and their parents don't spend the time working with their kids to ensure that they have a successful school future. I guess I should not be surprised so much because I heard stories from the big kids about how when they were younger no one was there to support them and ensure that they were on track; let alone ahead. But I still wish more parents would take the time even if it was five minutes just to hear about their kids day. I know nightly we sit down, no matter what, and the kids go around the table telling me how their day was. When I talk to my middle school students and I ask them if there parents eat dinner with them most tell me "no" that their parents just watch tv while they eat. It is so heartbreaking.

 Logan's artwork from school. We think he did an awesome job

Happy Birthday Heather!

LOA

Exactly 2 months from Log In Date we have an LOA for Taite. We are one step closer to bringing home our little girl. Yeahhhh!

Officially Logged In

Last week we found out that we were officially logged into China on September 26. Apparently now we wait for a letter of approval from China. I have heard that these can take 30 days to 90 days. Actually due to timing with work we will be freaking if it comes soon since I cannot imagine traveling right after the 1st of the year. I guess everything is in God's hands. But we did get a little update on her today no photo :( though. She is doing very well and still going right along developmentally with peers. Her problems with her arm are not holding this little girl back at all.

Fall Fun

 

I just love this time of year the leaves are changing, sometimes the air is crisp, and we take a trip to a pumpkin patch. This weekend we headed up to North Georgia to visit a patch and have some family fun. This patch had several activities for the kids and we thought this year we would find something to do that we typically don't do and that was a corn maze. I will say that the little ones did not find it fun to wonder around; nor did big sister find it fun to let the little brother take the lead and have us keep wandering in cirlces. Of course mommy and daddy thought it was hilarious that Zach kept saying we haven't gone this way before knowing good and well we just came from that area. This place also had a very small petting zoo (at least they did give the kids food to feed the animals), a pony ride, a hayride, and a giant inflatable slide for the kids. The kids will always have fun playing on slides and playing with animals so that is where we spent most of our time.

New Photo of Taite

While we were away we got a quick update on baby girl. She is definitely growing fast by looking at her picture. We are still waiting to hear that our dossier was officially logged in so hopefully we will hear something soon.

Vacation

Living in Georgia does have some perks one being that a lot of counties have a break in September and we get to take another vacation when the crowds aren't bad in places. Last week we hit the beach and just spent time with the kids. We had a great condo that fit all of us, plus had a washer/ dryer, and a full kitchen. When you have a large family these things become a must. We just have too many people to get hotel rooms especially since we would definitely need two, then have to eat out because of the lack of a kitchen, and come home with mounds of laundry. Anyway it was nice just spending time with the kids with nothing on the schedule to run to.
Most of the time we stayed at the beach or in the pool but we did take the time to visit some cool local places. One day we hit Gumbo Limbo which is a nature center. It was pretty cool and the kids got to see some really little turtles, huge lobsters, stingrays, lots of gross spiders, etc. Another day we also hit up a local children's science museum. The kids had a great time here and we couldn't get them to leave. It had a lot of hands on activities and was perfect for the little ones. The big kids even got in there and played to their hearts content. The only other major activity we did was head to Lion Country Safari. The kids all loved this park since for the first part you drive through a safari and get to see a ton of animals. Then you visit a small amusement park section. There were a few kiddie rides, boat rides, paddle boats, a petting zoo, and just some other animals to see. The kids had a great time here and it was worth the trip. They even got to feed giraffes which they thought was the most awesome thing ever. Overall it was a great trip with some much needed family time. This time next year we will be chasing the 6 of them around on vacation.

Officially DTC

Yep that's right today our agency express mailed our Dossier to China. We are one step closer to baby Taite. Wow it has been a long journey so far but one hurdle is now crossed.