This is what happens when doughnuts are left unattended :)

Technical Difficulties

For the past couple of days I have tried to post photos and have not been able to do so. Working on solving the problem.
Thanks,
Cindy

Ryan's 3rd Birthday!!!!

Today is Ryan's 3rd birthday! For the past year, every time we would tell him he's cute, he would quickly respond with "No I not! I toddler!" What ever we said he was...cute, nice, smart, funny...the response was always the same, "No I not! I toddler!" So for a while now we have been prepping him for his birthday telling him once he turns 3 he won't be a toddler anymore, he will be a big boy just like Evan. He seemed to accept that so today Ryan is officially a big boy! We couldn't be more proud of him. Ryan is a genuinely sweet, happy go lucky boy and we are so lucky to have him in our family!

Cindy's Ultrasound :)

The Infamous Big Brown Envelope!

We got our Big Brown Envelope this week!!!! Essentially, its an official letter from the American Consulate in Guangzhou, China saying, "Congratulations! The US Citizen and Immigration Services recently notified the US Consulate in Guangzhou that the Dept of Homeland Security has approved your petition to adopt an overseas orphan." Have you ever read anything more exciting????!!!! :) It just makes it seem more real to us to get it and for some reason not everyone gets this letter/aka the big brown envelope so we feel really lucky that we got it. If you don't get it, it doesn't mean anything, your agency will just give you the paperwork to fill out. The Big Brown Envelope is filled with assorted adoption paperwork. Luckily the paperwork is both in Chinese and English :)

Peppermint Pearls Secret Pal!

We have joined a few email groups that let us communicate with people that are adopting from China around the same time we are. It has been wonderful and a great source of comfort, friendship and information. They have so many things that you can participate in i.e. Secret Pal swap, Quilt Square swap, Post Card swap... there is a lot of swapping going on! :) Anyway, today we got our first gift from our Secret Pal. We were late for a b-day perty when we saw it outside. As soon as I saw it I thought, we'll just be late because I have to open it...it's our first gift for our daughter! The theme was nightime comforts. Inside we found (see photo) cute PJs, a CD, a book, a teddy, a candle (for Dave and I) and stickers for the boys. I can honestly say I was as excited for the gifts for our daughter as I was for the stickers for our boys. It really made it so exciting for them and made them feel a part of the adoption process. In turn it makes it that much more special for Dave and I. I am really grateful to our Secret Pal.

We sent our secret pal gift out too this week but I don't want to post what it is in case she reads my blog :)

Evan is registered for Kindergarten

This past Thursday I registered Evan for Kindergarten in the fall! The past 5 1/2 years have flown by and I can hardly believe my sweet Evan is starting elementary school. I am so proud of him and so excited for him. Evan is an extremely bright and sensitive little guy and I hope the transition to kindergarten is a smooth and happy one. I took some pix before we left. You can see how happy Derek is about the whole thing. Unfortunately that very same morning Derek had an allergic reaction to some crackers I gave him. All of our boys and Dave are allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. The crackers I gave him had neither of these things. They were however ranch flavored and Evan had some allergies to pepper spices when he was younger and then eventually grew out of. We are guessing that is what Derek reacted too but to be sure we are making an appt with the allergist for him and Ryan for some further testing. Derek's reaction was pretty immediate. Withing minutes of one bite of the cracker he was vomitting and sneezing all over the place. I had to give him benedryl but did not need the epi-pen. It was pretty scarey but over quickly. Unfortunately to add insult to injury the benedryl I gave him threw off his whole sleep pattern. He is still playing catch up. I hope tonight is an easier night for all of our sakes.
The next pix are of Evan and Ryan before we left for Kindergarten registration. The last photo is with our neighbor's (lauren and Andi) and Evan's best friend Lauren. We all drove over and registered Evan and Lauren together. The had a great time! At one point the prinipal walked up to say hello and Ryan yelled "Monkey Poop". The kids were all hysterical...luckily the principal laughed too :) Outside of Derek's allergic reaction, it was a very good and memorable day!