enjoying the quietness

Brian returned from Canada this morning. Right now he and Kaneu are having a Sushi date while I am enjoying a cup of my favorite tea and the quietness. Here's a glimpse at what our typical evenings look like after dinner. Just as we are wanting to settle down and get ready for goodnight cuddles and stories Kaneu has recharged his engines and is roaring to go!



Thankfully it doesn't last too long and then we get to enjoy the peaceful moments too. Kaneu has been practicing his sign language so he can teach his little sister. These videos crack me up because Rosie is totally trying to get some attention and puts up a good fight but is finally brushed off to the side. Poor Rosie!





Kaneu and I had a great week by ourselves. I was thinking about it and this will probably be one of the last opportunities where it's him and me spending one-on-one time, just the two of us, before his little Seoul sister comes home. It was a sweet week and I, of course, let him break all kinds of rules - we ate dinner w/the tv on, he crawled into bed with me in the mornings and we slept-in until 9, one day we stayed in our jammies all day - or as the say here, had a"lie-in". We also did a ton of arts and crafts, visited our local parks and saw some friends. I really enjoy his company - he cracks me up and one of the things I love most is that he loves to have tickle parties. So, everynight before bed we'd have our tickle party followed by "a spoon". He is the most cuddley little munchkin and I just love him so much.

catching up

Life is slowly getting back to "normal", whatever that is. Scott and Angie left yesterday (poor things were delayed at Heathrow for 7 hrs!!). Brian and I went on a (long and hilly!) run today. We are participating in the Human Race next weekend. We came home and after a shower and lunch I took a 3.5 hr nap. I guess I wiped myself out!

Since the end of June life has been a blur. We've either been travelling, hosting, or somewhere in between. In case you missed it this was how we spent the summer -

June

• travelled to the US
• Greg and Sarah visited
• Brian travelled back to the US for Nana's funeral

July

• Brian back from the US
• Grammy Sue & Meme visit
• Kaneu's last day of school concert
• Kaneu's birthday party
• Cara's visit
• Baby G's referral
• Travel to Greece
• Travel to the Dammer

August

• Travel to Vegas
• 35
• Scott & Angie visit

Brian's mom, Meme, is coming back to visit in a week and Brian will be in Canada this week. I can barely keep up with who's coming and going, and because we've been so busy I haven't really had an opportunity to digest and savor all that has happened this summer. I really am not complaining at all. I have loved all of these experiences but there has also been something that I am having a difficult time thinking through.

While we were in Greece we received a call from our Vietnam agency. To be more specific I should note that it was "the call". Yes, what we thought would never happen actually did. We were matched with a 4 month old baby boy. I will forever remember when Brian picked me up from the beach that day and told me he had received a message from Rachel, our coordinator. She had been frantically trying to reach us by email and at home because she had very important information for us. My heart felt like it flew out of my body and when it returned it was bigger, as though in a split-second it grew to make room for this little one thousands of miles away. On the drive home from the beach I was having trouble catching my breath. Brian pulled over and there we were sitting on the side of the road, me with my head between my knees. I was nervous and nauseous and giddy and happy all in the same moment. I was also thinking "2 babies ... holy shit!". Within minutes it all came to an end when we explained to Rachel that we had, just days earlier, accepted a referral for a baby in South Korea. Evidently there has to be at least 6 months between the placements of the babies. This baby, she told us, would be matched with another family. And so now, a month later, I am still struggling with what I am feeling after this significant phone call that I never imagined would happen - relief, sadness, loss, confusion. I can't stop thinking "what does this mean?" Is there a lesson to be learned from this? The one thing I am certain of is that we have the desire to have a third child. That is clear and for that I am so thankful. I am also thankful that this little one has been matched with another family. It feels strange to know about him and then to read posts from his new family. I guess that's life in the adoption world.

What I am also so thankful for is our little miss in Seoul. I am trying to focus on her and all of the things to do before we move. The list is long and is causing some stress and anxiety. I haven't had much of an appetite and have even forgotten to eat a few times. If you know me then you know this is NOT normal. I love food, love to eat, but stress has a way of causing me to do some pretty freaky things - forgetting to eat being one of them! Last week we learned that my VA fingerprints expired. Evidently they are only good for 90 days. WTF? I assumed that the US Embassy would and could fingerprint me. Turns out they could, but won't for agencies other than USCIS. Thankfully Scotland Yard can and will do it next week. We spent Friday morning at the US Embassy. Thankfully it went better than our last experience. We got about 20 notaries done for our VA criminal history checks and our acceptance paperwork. This process is slowly causing me to become a cynical and grumpy lady. I can hear Brian chuckling at this, thinking "umm, no you've always been cynical and grumpy". Perhaps.

lordy, lordy look who's

40!!

Happy Birthday big brother!!

we are family

My brother, Scott, and SIL, Angie, are visiting from Florida. They arrived on Thursday and we are having a great time. This is their first visit and I am so proud of them for getting their hineys over here! My nephew, Riley, is being loved on by Grammy Sue while they frolic all over Europe for 10 days!! Thankfully we are having decent weather. We spent the first day seeing most of the sights: changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Covent Garden. Saturday we went to Stonehenge (along with the rest of the city!). The day started out beautiful and sunny and by the time we got there it was gray, windy and freezing. We still managed to have fun. Sunday we went to the Columbia Rd Flower Market followed by an evening pub crawl. They left today to do some travelling and will be back on Fri. Kaneu LOVES his Uncle Scott. He loves Aunt Angie too, but Uncle Scott is so much fun because he wrestles and plays rough with him, which is loads of fun for a 4yo! Here are some pics of the last few days.

In adoption news I am getting increasingly frustrated because we cannot file our I600 paperwork yet. Our police clearances just expired last week. Evidentally they are only good for 90 days!! So, we head back to the Embassy to get the request notarized and then we wait. Sigh. Nobody said this was easy but I am running out of patience!!

vegas baby!

Vegas was an absolute blast. I am so glad that we went. We hung out with friends that we hadn't seen in a few years and it was just a great time. We ate too much, slept too little and had so much fun. The jetlag (8 hrs!) was brutal but we spent the afternoons by the pool and tried to rest up before our late nights out. We celebrated our friend TJ's birthday in style - staying at the Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay and going out to clubs (Tao and Body English)with VIP table service! This is a new one for me - I'm not so much of a clubber, but I could definitely get used to this!! The Four Seasons was incredible!!! We got misted with Evian and our sunglasses cleaned throughout the day. It was heaven!!

on the (10.5 hr)flight




we were trying to spy on mark mcgrath (singer from sugar ray)

this is how we spent the days

...and the nights






at tao beach ... delirious with exhaustion

i think brian was saying "can i go to bed now?"

birthday boy tj


the wynn

beautiful flowers in the lobby

Kaneu stayed in London with Meme. We missed him SO much and I was ready to come home when we did. Thankfully we are staying put for a little while ... until our 10 yr anniversary in a few weeks. Celebrating 35 and 10yrs of marriage in less than a month is crazy overwhelming!!

the big 3-5

It came, it went, it wasn't so bad.

I haven't really been looking forward to turning 35 (ok, I've been dreading it)but I've come to accept that it's gonna happen regardless of how I feel about it, so I may as well figure out a way to get positive. Somewhere along the way I've come to the realization that getting older equates to more life experiences, and I am really looking forward to all of what I hope to see, do, feel, etc. So what I say is "bring it on" because this time next year I will be the mother of two beautiful children and hey, maybe even planning on a third! I am blessed and so thankful for my family and friends and for little miss sweet cheeks (who is the best birthday present ever!!). I think I'm gonna enjoy 35 :)

thank you!

Thanks for all your comments about Miss Sweet Cheeks! For some reason a bunch of the comments are gone. I have no idea what happened to them?? We are so, so, so excited and still cannot believe it. Our agency thinks that we'll be travelling by November if not sooner. I hope so. Her birthday is Nov 30 so I'd be so happy if we could celebrate it together. We are beginning to plan our move back to the US. It's bittersweet because we really, really love living in London but we need to be in the US for 6 months after we bring her home to finalize her adoption - and we need to be living there soon so that we can file her I600 and prepare our house that we've rented. Thankfully Brian's company is flexible and are willing to work with us on all of the logistics.

Tomorrow we're jetting off to Vegas for a few nights. My MIL is watching after Kaneu for us so we can go. We are meeting a bunch of friends there to celebrate our friend, TJ's, birthday. We weren't sure if we were going to go with all that we've been doing but we decided this may be one of our last trips like this for a while. It should be loads of fun!

Here are some photos of my weekend in Amsterdam. Cara and I went directly from Greece for a girl's weekend. We had so much fun!

doing what I do best - shopping!

vondelpark

sweet cheeks

Q: why are all of these people smiling??

A: because we are looking at the newest member of OUR family!

We have happily received and accepted a referral for a baby girl from S. Korea!! In case you were wondering why I've been so quiet lately ... we've been keeping the news to ourselves for the last several weeks but we learned about her on July 10th and have been in a state of bliss ever since. It was an incredible moment when we got the call - our moms were here visiting and Brian had just flown in from the US. As soon as our "angel", Kathy, started saying the words I thought I might fall over. We were completely shocked and blown away - we weren't expecting this so soon, but needless to say we are on cloud nine! Kaneu is over the moon - he wants to show her picture to everyone. I think he's gonna be a great big brother. I have tons of details about her and photos but I am not going to post or share those just yet. Perhaps I'll change my mind down the road but for now I am wanting to wait. Just know that she is beautiful with the biggest cheeks and sweetest little face AND very wild hair. I cannot wait to hold her and squeeze those cheeks. For now I am comforted and thankful that she is loved and well cared for by her foster family. We have photos of her being held by her fostermother and I think it's clear to see that they are both very special ladies. I can't believe we have our girl!!

3 words

I.Love.Greece.

We have returned from one of my all-time favorite places I've had the pleasure of visiting. It was truly one of my top five vacations. I'm going to keep the exact location a secret because that's how much I love it - and a woman I met there asked me not to share! It's that special of a place - where you want to keep it all to yourself and hope that everyone else does the same so that it doesn't turn into a major tourist attraction. It was magnificent - the food, the beaches, the water - it was one of those trips where everything just kept getting better, and better, and better. The night sky was breathtaking. I have NEVER seen so many stars in the sky. There were so many (thousands?) that it was difficult to find the few constellations that I'm familar with. It was stunning and I cannot wait to go again someday.

off the plane and waiting for the ferry to take us to paradise


no car seats? no problem!

views from our villa






greek salad and spinach pie ... oh my!


daddy's scooter

we visited different beaches everyday


brian's office


"yogurt special"

kaneu is now a water-loving fish!

We celebrated Kaneu's 4th birthday with a day at the beach, followed by a pool party. Cara made a delicious dinner and we followed it up with Greek ice cream treats. Still can't believe our little man is 4!!

More pictures to come!