Laughter Is SO Good!

"Someday... I will be a Jedi."
"Mom, does Appa have a cleft lip?"
"I not booty-full... I Alpha Pig!"

Nika wrote her deepest Jedi-wishes on her school library book mark.

Mama was teaching Kole about needs people may have & he asked if Appa had a cleft lip & needed surgery. He was very concerned that we needed to take care of Appa's needs....Appa is the Shih-tzu & his bottom teeth come over his upper lip.

Jadyn has the talent of morphing into new Super Heroes whenever Mama blinks. FYI: AlphaPig is on Super Why?... pbskids.org

Kole had homework the other day from preschool. It was "have your parents discuss these cards". One was a picture of a hammer. "Kole, what is this?" "A Hammer." "Kole what does a hammer do?" "It hams." "Mommy, why are you laughing?"

Milana has yet to comment on these events. hehe






Today was Dentist Day for the kids. We went to a dentist who is from Taiwan and showed her pictures of Milana (I know, you guys don't even get to see them... soon, very soon). Anyways, I scared her half to death when I joked that we were going to rent a scooter & sight-see because my husband rides motorcycles ! Although, it still sounds tempting, nixing the scooter for a "safer" taxi will probably be our plan. For those new to Taiwanese drivers, the rules of the road go like this (so I've heard).

Whoever gets the nose of their vehicle in the spot first has the right of way. Yield? Who has ever heard of Yield? Military vehicles always have right of way and they know it. Next buses, trucks, etc. since they are bigger... obviously size matters here. And on the bottom of the totem pole... you guessed it Pedestrians!!!! You wanna see how fast I run?!?! p.s. Never trust the signals... run like you have a fire in your pants & when in doubt... get a taxi just to cross the street!

P.S. Here is what people mean by Spit Fire!! Look at Jadyn's face! MAAAADDDDD!


Appa took my Spa Day?!@#

Another Friend's Final

WOW!!! WOOHOO!!! Those judges are on a roll; another family from my agency just received final ruling and will be tentatively leaving in January. Ruth, Congratulations on finally being able to go meet your son and bring him home to your family. It's so great to see so many families come together through the miracle of adoption. Congratulations to everyone again. Happy packing & traveling!!! Wow, you all get to see Taiwan start to get ready for New Year celebrations as well. Take Care. =0)

Friends' Final Rulings

I have fantastic news from my friends Sarah W http://journeytohannahclaire.blogspot.com/ and "L" (no blog, not her thing =0) ... they have their final rulings and they will be going to pick up their children in about a month and a half! This is so wonderful to hear about families meeting their loved ones for the first time. Sarah waited oh so long (which was heartbreaking to watch) and "L" had a surprise shock of a case that was destined to take forever but fate changed destiny to bring "baby in the corner" home sooner! ;0) Congratulations and may you have safe fun travels.... now get packing!!!! =0)

Thanks everyone for giving me words of comfort... Tiff http://blessedwithsweetpeas.blogspot.com/ wrote about how the days just seem sooo long while she waited... which for me, has strangely been a blessing in disguise. My children have grown up extra slowly these last 2 years and I've been loving it. Every moment I have with them, I think about how Milana would be joining in this way or that way and it makes the moments with my children so much more special and the hugs and squishes so much longer, the bedtime stories & daytime stories more plentiful & the laughter ring through my house like music. I've said "no" less (when it's just not important to say no), I've lost my temper less and we've had fun together preparing for Milana to come home. The only one who probably had it the hardest was hubby! He had to endure days and nights of me talking about adoption related issues while I sorted them out in my head. Sorry... I love you Mister. When friends receive final news, it seems to make me reflective & think about what's important. =0)

Anyways... Congrats again to those Mommies & Daddies who will be seeing their little ones so very soon. Big Hugs & much XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO.... oh and those you can spread the wealth and give some to your babies! =0)

Pigs Fly

Okay pigs are flying?! Does that mean that it's time to go to Taipei?!@

Maybe if I can find a picture of a flying elephant, we'll really be able to have a Milana Homecoming!

I'm in a very "waiting" sort of mood... where I'm having a difficult time. My husband "got" me the other day. Normally, I stay fairly level head-ed... well as normal as I'll ever be. Anyways, my husband asked me what I wanted to get Milana for Christmas because she would feel left out if the other children had presents to open and she didn't. I lost it... felt very sad... He is so optimistic and I want to be, but Home by Christmas??... is SOOOOO optimistic. So here are some great photos that cheered me up! Enjoy!

Caretaker gets a big hug from his elephant in Spain... I so could use one of those.

This picture is in Kyrgyzstan during a traditional hunting festival. Absolutely awe inspiring Golden Eagle.

Tinkerbell Gone WRONG!!!

A poodle shows off his Olympic Spirit in China! He even has flame torch ears! ha ha ha

Snake Massage in Israel!!!

The fattest Cat I've ever seen! He's 44 pounds and he was a stray.

This surfing dog's face is totally hilarious.


p.s. My blog roll on the right broke so I don't know how to check anyone's blogs right now either... kinda of boohoo-ing. Hopefully will fix it soon. P.S.S. I read everyone's blogs... don't always (well hardly ever) have time to post... But I LOVE 'EM! =0)

Make Lemonade!

This lovely little number is a gift from Sarah W http://journeytohannahclaire.blogspot.com/! It was a surprise that happened to reach us at 1 AM. Okay here's the story. We just get back from Disneyland, the kids are off to bed (which is funny because they are already asleep little zombies), and Donnie goes to get the pounds of week forgotten post. In comes a little package for Milana?! Our agency is in Utah & that was the return address. He's thinking, "who sent Milana a gift & who actually spelled it correctly?" I open it and looking inside, I see lemons... so I told him in my half-asleep-Disney-for-too-long stupor... she got lemons. What?! He's lost because I'm loopy sleepy.

Anyways, I love the dress. It's very sunshiny & very summer. Nika also has a thing for lemons and dubbed Jadyn, Princess Lemon before she was born. On our trip to CA, Nika also picked lemons off my Aunt's tree & made fresh squeezed lemonade... I think she would wear this if it would fit. So thank you again Sarah W... can't wait to put Miss Milana in it with a cute yellow bow & yellow sandals.


Finally got the official picture of the family from D-land.

ADOPTION FRONT:
No news except someone who just received travel news heard that St. Lucy's Orphanage is trying to push through as many adoption cases as possible through the court system before closing for the holidays. Can we please be in that rush? Pretty please? With strawberries, whipped cream & sprinkles on top?

Oh and look! I've gotten a lot better at writing Milana's characters! I also put a piece of paper in the care package with her name written the way they sent it to me just in case I'm way off base. ha ha


Nika made a "Grumpy" photo just for you all! It's just so cute... I had to post it. Who doesn't love a Care Bear!


Enjoy that big full moon tonight and make it a geat day. =0)

Squid.

That's right, squid! My husband brought home from work Squid Jerky from Taiwan. Prepared Shredded Squid. Okay the smell is pretty gross. Nika thought it was nasty, but HELLO... she ate it!!! I thought it tasted A LOT better than it smelled. It was salty, and had a very strong taste like Sardines but it wasn't bad. It pulled apart fairly easy and was slightly chewy. I don't do slimy well, which this wasn't. I actually was going to try more but my husband was laughing at me for making weird faces & he said it stunk. He made me chuck it... I was planning on continually eating it until I grew accustomed to the taste (but I had an empty stomach which usually isn't best to try new foods with). It really wasn't bad.... for salty, dry sea animal.

This is a picture of Kole and a giant solar system floor puzzle, which we borrowed from his preschool. WOW! Kids love floor puzzles! Even Nika & my 10 year old neice loved it. Hint to parents... buy or borrow floor puzzles. We've borrowed about 3 and his school has about 20. Nnnniiiice!



Here we have the newest ice skating Olympic Champions: Jadyn and Nika! They really were pretending to ice skate.

Unidentifiable Picture Update

We have pictures! And measurements! And Teeth! And HAIR! Milana is 23.3 pounds and 33 inches which on the U.S. charts is 23% for weight and 55% for height...that's really good in my book considering circumstances and my son was 15% for a while in the weight department. So here are unidentifiable pics courtesy of Sarah K! Thanks hun and much love and fast court wishes, prayers & hopes for us all.

Milana is modeling..... Our Outfit We Sent Her!! She is munching on a lovely scrumptious pop-tart thing that has cream filling in another picture. And she is totally scoping out the picture book we sent of our family (very intently... wonder what she is thinking). Needless to say... we are in love!

I woke up early (5 am) on Tues... hoping for pics but they weren't there yet. I didn't want to wait all day so I turned off the pc. Sarah W. calls me at 7 am and i run to get my cell phone because I left it in my son's bedroom (oops) and it is a loud Punk song ringer. haha Boy slept through it! Anyways, she says, Turn on your pc.. NOW! And there she was! 5 pics total and she is just a bundle of joy. You can tell she is taken care of well and is happy (which is bittersweet...I know she'll miss her foster family more than words; and boy will she show me in more than words, I expect).

Of course, I started to cry when my sister started to cry about how sweet it was to see her and then Nika started crying because she missed Milana and wanted her home. Comforting Nika was good for me... good to hear myself say, "We're almost there." And we are: our agency said that our papers were recorded in St. Lucy's (the orphanage) last week and that they are filing everything on time.... which means we are in court. Now we wait but hopefully not too long for the judge to say, Yes! She is your little girl! Until then Milana, stay happy healthy and safe. Big Kisses and Mama Bear Hugs... love you.

Whirlwind!

Time? Time! Who's Got The Time?!@# Literally... that's how I roll. Here's some pics from our trip.

Our kids and my husband's brother's children. (yes... they're all looking at different cameras)

Minnie Mouse Giving Some Sugar. Jadyn LOVED her.

Nika was invited to dance with the High School Musical 3 parade.

I love catching Donnie with the kids when they aren't looking.

Kole used to HATE getting wet!

Heimlich is just for you Joann. Jadyn "adopted" Auntie Joann this week & only wanted her even for the scary Matterhorn!

My amazing Aunt Virginia, the kids and I at her "pixie hollow" as Nika & I call it.

Jadyn and Kole enjoying pixie hollow... it was a "No Pants" day for Jadyn. First impressions as well... first day she met her Great Aunt and she decides NO PANTS!

My Boys... yup he's in his underpants.

Nika LOVES the beach! Look at her action magazine pose!

This photo is just funny... they look like they're running from a massive wipe-out wave and it's about the size of a bathtub swirl. ha ha

Jadyn didn't like the waves at all and she finally got used to the sand... when she saw Kole in his underpants and then she had to be in underpants! eye-yi-eye

Enjoy the pics... they make me laugh.

ALIVE

Yup... we're back from Disney. Still re-couping from a week in CA but will post soon and catch up on what kind of rucus other blog people have created & survived. =0) Also came home to an email that said my agency has updates (don't know if they are necessarily for us, but here's hoping). I probably won't be able to post photos of these either but here is a little bit of her other photos (of course unidentifiable).


Sarah K made this for me since I can't do a close up without losing major detail. Thank you for my gifts Miss PC Thang! She made these different effects on my pictures and I just sat staring at them for so long. I had been so focused on her face that I didn't notice her hands touching each other just so. I will tell you that Milana looks dainty but oh so isn't! And look at those neatly clipped nails!? That foster mom has skills!

And Sarah W... HELLO!!?? What an adorable surprise! Thank you so much... I have more to post later with pics but I don't have time yet.

Just wanted everyone to know WE'RE ALIVE! WOoHoO