9/29/2011

Update on C...


We received an update today and it was great to read!  C is doing well and we found out that now that we have our NOC, we are "done with all of the central government stuff"...which means we can finally have contact with the orphanage, add them to our facebook pages, and have a sense of connection to C!   We are beyond thrilled!!!

Here's what we received for her update today!

She is about 31 inches tall and just barely 19 pounds...she's our little peanut that's for sure!

Special Notes:  Good smile. Walks and runs well. Enjoy picture books. Loving, attached and active child. She can play with paper. Plays well with toys, other children and staff. She is interested in group activities. Exhibits toy possessiveness. She pays attention to what is happening around her. Imitate adult actions and sounds. Finger feed. She says Chachi, umma, amma, ta ta, kakka, chetta. Follow simple directions. Express affection. Stack 5 or 6 blocks. Throw ball. She can drink from a water bottle. Walk up and down stairs with assistance. She can explore how objects fit together. Take objects out of containers by hand or dumping them out. She can bend down to pick up something and then stand back up to walk across the floor. Beginning to show hand preference. Vocabulary of 6 + words. Climbs in windows if given opportunity. Walk up stairs assisted. Has begun toilet training. She is a cute child. She is in the play school.

9/28/2011

Fortune...

Saturday night Cory, Allie and I were on the way home from my parents' house and we stopped by HyVee for some groceries and some supper.  Allie and I split a chinese meal.  She loved it and (like always) Cory grabbed my fortune cookie to eat.  When he opened it, he had a weird look on his face.  I grabbed the fortune to read it and...


as soon as I read it I was smiling from ear to ear.  Cory on the other hand just laughed and was going to throw it away.  I told him he couldn't and took it from him.  When we got back to the car, I placed it in my little speedometer area.  

Now for the really cool part...We are excited to announce that just three days later (last night) we received an e-mail from our social worker who said that we have our NOC!!!!!  This was the document we were waiting on that we didn't think we'd have for months!!!  We have four hearings over the next two months and after that there are just a few paperwork things that need to be accomplished before we can meet our precious little C.  The way it sounds (although things are never on a timeline with adoption) we should be traveling in 3 or so months!!!  We are over the moon excited!!!  We're coming C!!!

9/25/2011

It's been a while

Things around here have been crazy over the past few weeks and although I'd love to blog about all of the different things, I'm just going to post a few pictures from our trip to the apple orchard today!

































8/23/2011

It's the end

of my second day of school and I think that I should buy stock in the Coca-Cola corporation!  It's amazing how exhausting caring for, loving on, guiding, and teaching 19 little pumpkins nonstop for 8 hours can be.  Last night I came back to the school after Allie was going to bed and stayed WAY.TOO.LATE!  I'm beyond tired and now I'm REALLY missing my Keurig coffee pot!  I think I'm going to have to break down and get one after I get paid...we'll see!

I do just have to say that I think I (SERIOUSLY) have one of the most amazing classes I've ever had.  I have such a wonderful mix of sweetness, spiceyness, playful, yet hard working kids!  I think this is going to be an amazing school year!!!

8/21/2011

Back to school ramblings...

It's hard to believe that another summer has come and gone.  Cory, Allie and I have soaked up every second of the summer and it's been a summer we'll never forget.  Instead of taking thousands of pictures, I selectively captured important moments and allowed myself to enjoy all of the rest of the summer fun.  Even though I LOVE to take pictures, sometimes I get so caught up in the pictures that I forget to enjoy the moment.

I knew that this summer would (fingers crossed) be the last summer that Allie has our sole attention.  Next summer we will have two little daughters to love on and as wonderful as that sounds, we don't underestimate how different that is going to be for us.

Allie has had so much fun in my classroom this summer helping me prepare for the upcoming school year.  It's been fun to make the memories with her and I look forward to many years of our girls helping mom get her classroom ready.

Tomorrow I will be meeting and getting to know the 19 little darlings that are going to be my focus for the 2011-2012 school year.  I'm excited to get to know each one of them and find out what it is that makes each one of them special.  I am implementing many new things in my classroom this year which is always refreshing while I'm also continuing with the Daily 5, LIPS, VV, Visual Phonics, Calendar Math, and numerous other things we've implemented throughout the last 2 years of my first grade teaching assignment.  I'll be a great day, but I'll also miss being will Allie every day!!!

Next week, Allie will begin her first year at preschool.  She's very excited to go to school and her classroom is actually right next to mine (which I pray goes well).  Her teacher is one of my best friends who just adopted the little baby boy in one of my recent previous posts.  The adoption is a HUGE blessing, but VERY last minute (they only knew about it for 11 days!)!!!  So...Allie will now start the year out with a different teacher, but Kari should be back a couple of months into the school year.  Allie was all ready to have Kari as her teacher, so I hope having a different teacher at the beginning will go smoothly that first day.

I'll post pictures of Allie's first day soon and I hope everyone is doing well and has a great first few weeks of school!!!

8/17/2011

Another update on "C"

We received a new update on C today!  We are excited to hear that she's doing well, beginning to talk more, and is even beginning to be potty trained (I cried when I read that)!  It's hard to be so far away and be missing all of these moments with her.  According to her latest update, C is TINY!  At 23 months old, she's actually 18.5 pounds and about 31 inches long!  I think my girls are going to be on opposite ends of the spectrum seemings though we just bought Allie her first size 13 shoe and she's not even 3 1/2!!!  we can't wait to have our girls together!!!