Lax Weekend

The boys have been tagging along with Mike to the Davidson College lacrosse games this year. They have been diligent at practicing their shots, so someday they can get a full scholarship (don't we wish!) Looks like they got a pretty good work out, since they both slept all the way home!

Why I love my job!

I have some of the best students!! They came in at 8am on a Friday morning to decorate my office and bring some homemade treats while I was teaching!!! They made my day!! What a great surprise!

We think alike!

I can tell by the look on Avery's face, her and I are thinking alike these days. We have had ZERO movement, and it looks like she knows that as well! I know she doesn't and they caught her at a sad moment, but I haven't seen her look that way in months.

The update on our file is the same as last month. I feel like I could just cut and paste last month's update and paste into this post....We are still in IBESR, awaiting a presidential dispensation due to our biological kids, and that's all we know at this point.

I feel myself starting to pull away from the blogs and anything that reminds me of adopting, because it feels like a slow torture reading the same stuff over and over without any "new" news out there. That's why my posts have been kind of sparce lately....just not in the mood to blog when I have nothing new to blog about!

Anyway, sad or not, it always makes my day to get a new photo....so here it is!

Valentine's Day Survey!

Found this over at Terry's blog, and figured I would give it a try! I have nothing new at all to report on bringing Avery home, so the blog is really slacking off lately. So, might as well participate in the Valentine's Survey. If you're reading this...TAG...your turn!

♥How long have you been together? 17 1/2 years...Married for almost 11
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? a couple days...about two?
♥ Who asked who out? Mike asked me out, he tugged on my pony tail at school
♥ How old are each of you? Mike 35, Tracy 33 (until next week anyway)
♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? Mine, I have two younger sisters that were and still are always around!
♥ Do you have any children together? 2 amazing little boys
♥ What about pets? 1 yellow lab- Gracie, 1 Ragdoll Cat-Charlie
♥ Are you from the same home town? Yes, in upstate NY
♥ Who is the smartest? Tracy...hee hee
♥ Who is the most sensitive? Tracy
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? We get take out most
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Barbados, Antigua on a cruise
♥ Who has the worst temper? Tracy
♥ Who does the cooking? Tracy, if you can call it cooking
♥ Who is more social? Tough call, depends on the situation
♥ Who is the neat freak? neither, wish we were!
♥ Who is the more stubborn? Tracy
♥ Where was your first date? A high school football game
♥ Who has the bigger family? Immediate families are about the same size
♥ Do you get flowers often? Nope, b/c when I do I think they are a waste of money!
♥ How do you spend the holidays? With our kids/parents/siblings
♥ How long did it take to get serious? maybe a month or two if that
♥ Who eats more? Mike, but not by much...we both eat more than we should!
♥ Who drives when you are together? Mike, always, which is fine with me!

Our baby is growing...

Our little girl is not quite as little anymore. She is growing taller and looking just a bit older in each photo we receive. We haven't had any written updates on her since September 2008 but we did get a tiny bit of information last week. She is now 19lbs and 30 1/2 inches long. Which means she gained 2.5 pounds since September. She also has 4 teeth on top and 4 on the bottom. According to US growth charts, she is not even on the chart for weight (not surprising) but she is almost an average height for a little girl her age! I have a feeling she might end up being the tallest one in our family!

I was hoping more than anything to learn more about how she is progressing. Does she eat any solid food yet? (When I visited in Haiti she had still only been introduced to bottles, no cereal even though she was 14 months old at the time!) Does she stand up? Babble? All that milestone stuff that us mommies like to take note of.

Apparently, running the generator at the O has gotten so expensive, they only run it for 1 or 2 hours a day...which mean no electricity all the other 22 hours of the day. This makes it very difficult for them to get on the computer to do updates.

Anyway, we are just so thankful she is growing and appears healthy! We are STILL in IBESR of course, with 200 or more other families. We'll keep you posted if we hear otherwise!

A Surprise Snow Day!

There's nothing better than waking up to a surprise snow day on a cold Wednesday morning! There is actually just enough for the boys to possibly make a few snowballs, so they are looking forward to their first snowball fight. And, what better way then to spend the morning cuddled up with our dog, Gracie! Let it Snow!

Disturbing?

Is it me, or does anyone else find this story anything less than disturbing.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,486645,00.html

Still in

Two families at our orphanage got out of IBESR last week!! Congrats Susan and Suzanne! This was GREAT news because we welcome any movement in the right direction. Unfortunately, it sounds like we, along with about 200 other families, are still awaiting dispensation. This is basically like a Presidential Pardon (from the President of Haiti....someone correct me if I am wrong.) This is because we have biological children which is goes again the Haitian Adoption Law from 1974....or something like that! As you can tell, I really don't care what the reason is why we need dispensation, I just want it done already! PLEASE!!! And even more disheartening was an estimate given by our program director. Apparently once we do get out of IBESR, she is predicting about 12 more months until our little one comes home. So that honestly was some of the worst news I could have imagined, however, I am not surprised. This is Haiti and nothing is surprising at this point

Yes, I was hoping for a miracle or sorts, to get our little one home this summer, but I knew in my heart that was likely impossible. So then I thought it might be reasonable for Avery to be home for her 2nd bday (Sept 13th) and then possibly Christmas 2009? Now I am not sure any of that is realistic.

Anyway, enough about that. She is worth the wait and we'll continue to wait....and wait and wait...as long as it takes. So that's the news (or lack thereof) for now!

Super Bowl is starting! Go Cardinals!