A Little R n' R

2011-10-13T08:14:00.011-05:00

I have been talking about moving for some time now. It always felt like it was SO far away and would never get here. Well, it's here and lets just say, I'm not adjusting very well. Don't get me wrong. I am excited to be starting a new chapter for our family. I am SO happy that my husband finally done with everything. It has been such a long journey that has not always been easy or fun.

When we moved to this cozy little town six years ago we never expected that we would meet such an amazing group of friends. Friends that have become our family.

But as our time here in this cozy little town comes to an end, it brings the sadness of having to say our good-bye and farewells to so many people that have touched us both with beautiful friendship, sweet kindness and have been a tremendous support.

Of course I am sad and heart broken to be leaving this amazing group of friends but I feel so incredibly blessed to have met each one them!

Is moving every easy?

Saying good-bye so hard especially to great friends!!

You guys have touched my heart to the very core and I love each of you!!

I wanted to share a beautiful note that I received this morning from Tyler's teacher. Saying good-bye to Tyler's school ... brings me to tears just thinking about it. I just adore each of his teachers. The love and kindness they have show Tyler has touched my heart and I will forever be greatful for each of them.

WOW! I can't beleive it is already Oct. and Tyler's last day is Friday. He has grown so much this past year. He has enjoyed our class playing with all of his Primrose friends. Tyler, you will have to tell your new Teacher you like to snuggle on her lap for a little bit some mornings before you start your day. Tell her your favorite color is blue, you love to have converstations at Circle Time, you like to dress-up and pretend to be a fire fighter and police officer with your friends. You are an awesome block builder you can make boats, trains and airplans all by yourself. You love to play with play dough, pain and draw using the "blue" markers. You love books about fire fighters, sharks and dinosaurs. You will have to teach your new Teacher the "chicken dance" it is your favorite song to dance to. She will have to run after you outside so you can play hide-n-seek with her. When she is having a rough morning be sure to give her one of your "big hugs"

We will miss you all!!
Ms.

We are turning the page to a new chapter and a new journey for our family. It has been one heck of a ride full of crazy memories and I would not trade them for anything!!

Tomorrow is the last day ... the last day .... IT'S THE LAST DAY!

We are done, he is FINISHED!!

You did it sweetheart ... we are done!!

xoxo

2011-07-12T23:41:00.004-05:00

When I posted earlier that we had a wonderful weekend of just doing nothing ... I really meant that.

This is how we roll on the weekends.

sunglasses ... check

crown ... check

wagon ... check

treats ... check

Off to the park we go.

W.A.I.T. we need a juice box!!

We can't go to the park without a juice box. What was I thinking!!

Ah, much better now! Tyler loves the park and we are very lucky to have one just down the street. Just a short wagon ride.

Tyler was so funny this day at the park. He seemed to be very protective of his little red wagon. I knew it really wasn't the wagon he was worried about. It was stuff IN the wagon. Don't mess with his juice box.

HEY!! what is SHE doing over by our wagon mommy ....

keep walking little girl ... that is not your juice box ...

Doesn't everyone have a crown?!

mommy, it's my juice box ... my wagon ... NO!!

Tyler is full of facial expression that seriously crack me up. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to capture a couple with the camera. Today was one of the lucky days.

This is Tyler's SCARED look :) Now if you could only hear him squealing here as well you would be in stitches!

This is Tyler's SURPRISED look :) Again, if you could only hear the squealing sounds he makes with this ... just too funny!!

Everyday I see Tyler growing and learning something new. I am excited and sad at the same time. Not wanting my little baby to grow up too fast but excited at what the future hold for our smart little baby. He is full of energy and life. He makes me laugh out loud and when he wants a cuddle it just melts my heart and I want time to slow down just a little!!

2011-07-10T19:32:00.004-05:00

This summer seems to be going by so fast! We have had to sell our house, buy a new house and arrange everything in between. There are too many "to do" list at our house right now. I am trying to slow down every chance I get and enjoy the small things.

Just. do. nothing.

Have you every wanted to do that? Well, I'm doing it today with the cutest little 2 1/2 year old I know.

This is fun! Just sitting on the sidewalk drawing as many sharks, whales and trucks that my sweet little boy ask for. He get so excited and has the best imagination. He totally understands my crazy drawings some how ... he gets it and I love that!!

I love that he has started helping me draw. Alligator in one hand, calk in the other!

This might look like an ordinary fish picture. But this is so much more to ME. This is Tyler's first time at drawing the eye, teeth and the blow hole. Of course it's a whale if you couldn't already tell.

I was so proud when he jumped up and said "mommy, i do it".

This time I was the one with the big happy proud grin. My baby just put all the parts in just perfect!

He is very serious about his drawings!

This really is the best way to spend the hot summer days.

Can you spy something blue and has three wheels in this picture?

One more picture just in case you can't see it yet.

Oh yeah!! Someone got a new blue bike and I'm not sure who was more excited by the smiles in this picture!!

That is a "push me mommy" look - just in case you were wondering. OF COURSE, I pushed that baby all around until he got the hang of those pedals. He was just precious!!

100% F.U.N.

2011-07-08T21:56:00.003-05:00

This should wrap up our adventures at the farm. Sorry for the large amount of pictures. I couldn't figure out which series to leave out so .... they are all here.

More great fun at the farm ....

i want to go here daddy ...

I wish you could have heard Tyler giggle as he saw all the little baby chicks. Daddy was right there with him to show him how to pick the little furry guys up.

Be still little babies ... here comes Tyler!!

There were SO many people around the little chicks. It was hard to get a picture of just Tyler. But, I got the moment he was able to touch his first little furry chick ... just precious!

Before long, Tyler wanted in the large bucket. He was not shy at all!!

Then it was off to see the cows ... can I get a MOOOOO

Then it was off to see more cows.

What is that over there daddy ....

Watch out ... here comes Tyler!!

I just love that sweet little smile! He didn't seem to mind at all that he was the only one in the pin with the little pigs. I guess they were asleep or were they?!

One last trip through to see the cows before we left for the day.

Tyler had the best set in the house!

Bye-bye farm ... thank you for letting us come visit you!!

2011-07-07T22:11:00.009-05:00

W.H.A.T.

It has been how long since I last posted pictures?! WOW ... I need to get busy

We spent a beautiful Saturday morning at a local farm having pancakes with animals. Tyler had a blast!! We were not sure how he would act around the animals but he was so much fun. Full of energy and excitement. Did not hesitate one second when given the chance to pet the cow or pigs. I have so many more pictures to post later. I didn't want to overload the post.

You will never guess what is coming our direction here ...

a horse ... A HORSE ... I SEE IT MOMMY

TRIGGER ... TRIGGER ... TRIGGER

where is he goin' mommy

trigger come back ....

trigger ... where are you ...

i call him back mommy ...

Easter 2011

2011-05-01T13:57:00.005-05:00

Check out who was in the local newspaper on Monday morning ... just the BEST little Easter egg hunter E.V.E.R.

When the announcer said ... ONE ... TWO ... THREE ... GOOOOOO!! Tyler took off running looking for blue eggs.

Tyler had plenty of practice running after the blue eggs.

His first practice run was at school and you can tell from his face ... he means business!

mommy look ... i have eggs in here ....

i found a sticker mommy ....

MY blue eggs!

Then on Saturday we were off to the big Easter Egg Hunt in town. You can tell from these pictures that Tyler was not sure what to think about the B.I.G. Bunny. He walked up with Brynn, gave the bunny a hug then he was done and ready to find the eggs.

B.I.G. bunny

yeah ... i gave him a hug ... what about it?!

Now, we have finally made it to Easter. Tyler had big plans to show daddy just how you do this Easter Egg Hunt!

this way daddy!!

are you watching daddy?

open the eggs like this daddy~

i found it ... a treat!!

We had to hide the chocolate after he had a couple of treats because all we heard that afternoon was "i like chocolate mommy"

Who can blame him ... it is yummy!

Happy Easter!

Texas continued .... Part 2

2011-03-20T21:10:00.004-05:00

As I promised earlier ... more Texas pictures.

Tyler was so excited when Uncle Chris showed him where the food was for Trigger and Star. He just automatically assumes that is his job. At home we let Tyler scoop out the food for Jazz so he is very familiar with the scooper. Just not one THIS big ... You should have seen his eyes light up when he saw the big bins.

As Tyler grabbed the BIG scooper we heard "mine" we just sat back and watched him work away.

WOW ...

how many scoops uncle chris ...

i got it ...

what did you say trigger? i'm coming ...

i got this mommy

The best little helper on the ranch!

One Year Ago Today ... Welcome Home Baby!

2011-03-17T06:46:00.003-05:00

One year ago today we welcomed our sweet little boy home!

We were all prepared for a rough flight home. Seriously, I don't even like long plane rides never mind a 13 month old.

I had a bag full of tricks, treats and anything in between. But we were very blessed because we had an amazing flight home.

Of course I over packed .... it has taken me a year to say that out loud and Ray would be shocked that I actually admitted it {{insert laughter here}}

All Tyler needed to entertain him was bottled water and the remote control.

Everyone that sat near us played with Tyler. He learned peek-a-boo pretty quick. Got the biggest kick out of seeing his new friends hide from him. Obviously, he won new friends pretty quick.

Everything went so smooth. The airport, customs and the flight itself. Again, we were very blessed!!

We stepped off the plane to the best welcome party we could have asked for ... grandparents!

Friends waited for Tyler to arrive home.

Proud grandparents ... the big smiles give them away!

It is so hard to believe that it has really been a year. Amazing how fast time goes by.

This morning as I walked into Tyler's room to get him up I heard, "good morning mommy" ... "up mommy, cuddle" That has to be the BEST way to start the day!!

One Year

2011-03-16T06:51:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that one year ago today we were in Korea waiting to bring our son home. Time has gone by so fast and yet it feels like Tyler has always been here with us. I guess he was always here, we had just held him closely in our hearts for a very long time ... we just had not met him yet!

Tyler is an amazing little guy! Everyday he surprises us with something new. He is smart as a whip and boy does he a personality! He loves to read books, loves to dance and sing, he is crazy about sharks and screams when he sees any big machine driving down the street - bus, dump truck, fire truck, tow truck ... you get the picture.

One year ago today we were walking down the street in Seoul.

We have waited what seemed like forever to finally meet our beautiful son. To bring him home was an answer to prayer.

As I was looking through all the pictures we took of our time in Korea I could not help but remember all of the emotions surrounding this very important day.

We were SO excited and VERY nervous but also extremely sad. It sounds crazy but it was just that kind of day.

So very excited to finally meet and hold our son. To begin our journey home as a family was an answer to prayer.

Very nervous ... did I remember everything, are we going to be late, are we going the right direction, are you sure this was the everything, and oh, I'm going to be a mommy!

Extremely sad because we had to say goodbye to an amazing family! A woman that played such a big role in our son's life. A woman that I could never express just how grateful we were for all of the love and care she gave our son! All I could do was hug her and cry!

WE are the lucky ones!! Tyler has truly been a blessing from God ... no doubt!

One year ago today ... Our Family Forever Day!!

Meet Trigger

2011-03-07T21:11:00.007-06:00

We're back ... did you miss us?!

We have been in Texas visiting family and boy did we have a great time!! I think Tyler had a L.A.R.G.E. time. He is now head over heals in love with Trigger and Star. Who is this you ask ... well, let me just show you.

Tyler, meet Trigger ...

NO kisses trigger ... please!

not so sure about this daddy!

we have to set some rules, trigger! no kisses and no biting ... ok?

i think we can be very good friends, trigger ...

i think trigger likes me daddy!!

I will try to break the pictures up into a couple of post so you don't get picture overload ... as if there is such a thing {insert laughter here}

I wish I had a little better focus for these fun picture but sometimes you just have to go with the moment and this moment was saying .... snap those pictures mommy!!

We seriously had such a great time with our family and friends in Texas! Good old southern hospitality at it's finest! We enjoyed the warm weather, good cold ice tea and just kickin' our feet up with good friends in front of an our door fireplace. Aside from our allergies deciding to give us problems it could not have been a nicer trip for all of us.

Tyler had his first experience at riding Trigger, which you see pictured here. He also was able to go for a ride on Star, a mini horse you will see later. He went on multiple rides on the tractor, golf cart and riding mower. He went fishing, dug for worms and saw the logging trucks at work. It was a non-stop week full of fun and adventures for all of us!!

Life is good!!

What to do?

2011-02-19T13:26:00.005-06:00

What do you think we should do today?

I GOT IT ... Let's go outside!

I am just kidding ... it is too COLD outside!

Let's COLOR ... YEAH!!

I loved these pictures! Tyler takes his coloring very serious :)

You are probably wondering just how many pictures can I really show you of Tyler coloring. Oh, you have no idea {insert laughter here}.

I did scale it down for you {wink.wink}

Happy Late Valentines Day

2011-02-18T16:00:00.004-06:00

This week I am going to let the candy do the talking. Especially since we have so much of if left over this year.

'Love Bug' ... no, not a good name for this bug we had this year. 'Love Bug' was not even close to the house. It was more like a yucky "Tummy Bug' had hit the entire house. Valentines Day was not even on our radar screen this weekend.

There was not a lot of sweet talkin'. Actually, there was not much talking at all around the house.

But, every once in a while I would see a sweet little smile peak out from around the covers and look my direction from both of my guys.

We both put the celebrations on hold and took a "rain check" for all Valentine Day fun until everyones tummy was better. I had envisioned this day playing out much different. But, I was content and happy because I cuddling on the couch with my two favorite guys ... Happy Valentines Day!

I Love My Hat

2011-02-09T20:47:00.005-06:00

Tyler has a BIG love for hats right now. I am sure he gets that from his Daddy.

Fireman hat, baseball hat, winter hat ... it doesn't really matter what kind of hat it is. This boy loves to wear hats!

I had laid Tyler down for the evening. Of course the hat was on ... don't we all go to bed with a hat on?!

He had insisted on having a book in bed with him as he drifted off to sleep. I could hear him as he talked to all the fish in his little book. Especially the shark!

I walk back in the room to find this ....

The book so nicely propped open in the corner of his bed. Just total sweetness!

I seriously can not plan pictures like this!! It just does not get any better than this!

2011-02-06T13:19:00.002-06:00

As you can tell my little firefighter will not be slowed down by a little snow.

go fire truck ... go ....

What about over here mommy ...

still trying ...

I'm OK mommy ...

yeah ... fire truck mommy ... GO ... GO!

success!!

2011-02-04T15:32:00.007-06:00

Our B.I.G. day in court has finally arrived.

He had the Judge at Hello.

It was such a special day for everyone!

That is one HaPpY Family!

I was so excited to have my parents fly in town just for this special Family Day!! It was a wonderful surprise. This was all arranged by my sweet husband and parents to fly into town to surprise both Tyler and myself. I could not have ask for anything sweeter!

Tyler is Mr. PeR-SoN-Al-ItY for sure! He was pointing to the Judge :)

Does anyone notice anything wrong with this picture? This is a great example of where my head was after the proceedings were done ... I am raising my "other" right hand for the picture. At least Tyler has the correct hand up. Much better job than mommy!

Now I have totally confused Tyler because he is raising both hands ... duh ...

I know this day in court was to finalize the adoption for Uncle S@m and all that legal stuff but to us this was finalized the moment we saw Tyler's sweet face. He had us with those beautiful brown eyes! There was never any doubt that he was meant to be with us.

Thank you to my parents and sweet husband .... I am speechless!

2011-01-23T16:20:00.004-06:00

Hello Blog world!

I know ... it has been a long time. I did not realize how behind I was in posting pictures until this past weekend. I was talking with a friend about backing up all my pictures onto an external hard drive. He ask me, "how many pictures are you talking about?" I said, oh ... maybe 300. I was serious. Really?! When I completed the entire process I had over a 1,000 pictures successfully backed up. I was shocked ... had no idea. That is just since Tyler came home in March.

I have decided my new years resolution is to get my pictures organized and keep the blog updated.

Several of my friends are doing Project 352 or Project 52 and that involves taking 1 pictures every day = Project 352 or one picture every week = Project 52. I am making up my own Project 52 and that will be (at least) one blog post a week. Sounds simple right ... for me it will a struggle in the beginning.

I will not bore you with 1,000 pictures of my sweet adorable little boy. I will post some of my favorites from the months passed by. We have had too much fun and I have captured some super cute moment to not post any of them. We have had our first Christmas together as a family and someone special has turned 2.

I have been a little distracted and I am loving every minute of this distraction ... I am sure you can understand.

Finding THE perfect tree

2010-12-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

We went out this past weekend in search for the perfect tree. I had envisioned taking some fun pictures of father and son on a hunt for our Christmas tree. It did not quite work out how I had thought but we had a great time and Tyler really enjoyed walking around among all the BIG trees.

At least he did walk around which was much better than the pumpkin patch. But, he was not moving a muscle unless he had a grip on mommy's hand. Now ... that could not be any sweeter! I know there will come a day when holding my hand is the last thing on his sweet little mind. I took it all in and enjoyed the morning with my two favorite boys!

Halloween

2010-11-20T13:32:00.004-06:00

We had such a fun time on Halloween. A couple of Tyler's little friends joined us and the boys were just too stinkin' cute in their costumes!! There was no "trick" or "treat" that could pry then out of the wagon. They were only interested in cruising down the street in the wagon.

We just giggled because this will all change one day!

2010-10-29T21:47:00.005-05:00

Tyler's school had a little Parade of Costumes the Friday before Halloween. All of his teachers were dressed up and we walked from door to door getting little treats.

Once Ray showed Tyler how the "trick or treat" thing worked he had a blast!

It was just too darn cute!

In the beginning he was much more excited about the helicopter that was sighted just over the playground. Of course it was a "BIG helicop"

2010-10-28T20:46:00.001-05:00

We were S.O. excited about taking Tyler to the pumpkin patch. He loves pumpkins ... no really ... he loves pumpkins. Sure, they are learning about them at school, they are scattered all through the neighborhoods but this little guy is really on a pumpkin kick.

Let me back up just a little and explain how this may have started. I was standing in the checkout line at the local grocery store. Saw this cute little pumpkin video ... only $5 ... why not, it is only $5, right?!

It only took one time seeing this cute little story and Tyler was hooked. He wakes up saying "punkin ... watch punkin ... watch punkin peese". I usually cave in and play it while we both try to wake up. It really is cute hearing him say "BIIIIGGG punkin". He kind of growls out the word pumpkin. Not sure where he heard this but I do giggle every time.

Once it is over I kindly hear "again ... peese ... watch punkin peese" I am usually successful in getting his mind off the video, for now that is.

Then he moves right on to the little book "Five little Pumpkins". I then hear "rea book peese ... punkin book ... book"

As we walk out the door for school the grocery stores add book for October is in his little hands. Not to pulled out under any conditions. You can only imagine how pretty the cover is with all the pumpkins. I routinely get request to"read" this book as well. His teachers get a little kick seeing him bring it in every morning.

So, you can imagine just how excited we were to take Tyler out to the pumpkin patch.

We were both surprised when he became so fascinated with the tractor that took us back to the pumpkin patch. I had thought it might scare him a little. You know, the loud noise and big tractor.

He was so sad when it dropped us off and left us there among all the pumpkins.

We had a great time! Took home way too many pumpkins (HA! You thought I was going to say I took way too many pictures didn't you). I went a little overboard ... are you surprise?!

How do you like that little finger just pointing away?!

I need to explain the one little picture below. He is standing in front of some kind of farm animal that was just waiting for Tyler to give him an apple. Tyler had other things on his mind. More like ... tractor peese nooo gooo!! Translates into please tractor just stay awhile. Turn your engine off and take a brake.

Then at last we are back on the tractor for our final ride back to the car. Tyler is very happy to share his apple with the driver. He had a great time!

2010-10-27T20:36:00.008-05:00

I am still going through pictures from this summer. My goal is to get everything caught up ... I am trying!

These pictures were taken in the backyard one sunny afternoon while he was playing on his slide. You can only guess who is waiting for him at the bottom of the slide with wet kisses?!

There is no way I could only pick just one picture to post of him coming down the slide. The entire series just cracks me up! You can see just how determined he is to make it down the slide.

He makes me laugh ~

I just love these little cowboy slippers Aunt Nancy and Uncle Chris gave him. He loves to wear them around the house ... how can you not giggle when you see them?!

2010-10-24T13:00:00.007-05:00

I promise ... I was not driving the car and taking pictures of Tyler!!

We were sitting in the driveway loading the car when I saw his eyes sparkle in the sunlight. He was asking for Elmo ... of course.

He loves wearing hats right now. When I tell you he loves hats I really mean that! It's cute until bath time and he does not understand why he can not wear the hat in the tub :/ He has his two favorites right now and this camouflage hat just happens to be one of them.

This is one of my favorite pictures.

You can see Elmo reflecting in his eyes. He takes Elmo very serious, you can tell!

Just a few of Tyler's favorite toys.

He loves trucks ... garbage trucks to be more specific. He will hold his nose and say "phew" when he sees one drive by.

He also loves buses ... any bus will do. Our sidewalk is full of caulk drawings of buses in all different sizes. He does not really care if he knows you or not but if you walk past him while he has caulk in his hands he will ask you to draw bus. No joke. He is not shy about asking anyone to draw for him. Just ask our neighbors. Everything you draw on the sidewalk must have wheels. Draw a shark ... do not forget the wheels. Draw a triangle ... do not forget the wheels. Draw a ... well, you get the message.

He also loves to play with dinosaurs ... RRRRrrroar is all we hear! I love to hear him say dinosaurs. It sounds more like "di-di-dor"

There is really not much to say about the blue goggles other than ... it is just too stinking cute!!

I picked up these cute little goggles at the dollar store and they were the best little purchase this summer. Tyler had so much fun with them.

My camera was usually not ready for pictures like this because I was giggling too much but this afternoon I was armed and ready! The crackers and sidewalk caulk all over his face ... just add a little more color to the picture. He was having a blast and I am just sitting over the side watching this little guy explore.

He makes me laugh ...

2010-10-22T21:07:00.003-05:00

We were playing outside playing in the water and riding up and down the sidewalk. I captured Tyler just at the right moment ... a mouth full of cheese and a little sparkle in his eyes. I love this picture ... if you look real hard you can see my reflection in his eyes. I just love those brown eyes!

Who said you can not have fun in the rain? Of course this was a different day but the same kind of great fun!

This was the first time I had taken Tyler outside after a good rain. We put all of our gear on and out we went. Looking for that perfect puddle to jump and splash in. Boy, did we find a nice one. He had a blast jumping around in his new rain coat from Uncle Chris and Aunt Nancy. He was just too cute. I know it will not be our last trip outside after the rain looking for muddy mess to get into.

2010-10-20T20:22:00.001-05:00

Tyler loves playdough ... I have had to hide the playdough to prevent any melts down moments that might occur because either it is too late and time for bed or time for school. He always seems to spot the playdough at the worst times. He is pretty good at looking around for mommy new hiding spot. We have been at the kitchen table with playdough as early as 5:45 a.m. I just have a hard time saying not to playdough ... who did not have fun playing with that stuff?!

Tyler's little furry friend came home from school one day with a B-I-G owie on his eye ... seriously ... I did not just put a bandaid on there for the fun of it :) I had to figure something out until I could get to the store to find a replacement.

Can you not just hear this little guy ... book peese mommy!! Which means no more pictures lets read a book.

2010-10-19T22:00:00.006-05:00

Tyler L.O.V.E.S being outside! I am not looking forward to the cold weather especially as I continue to look through some fun summer pictures.

I am not sure these pictures need any explaining .... see what you think?

2010-10-13T09:30:00.013-05:00

It has been so long since I have updated our blog. Time just seems to be flying by and there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. I would rather play in the leaves with this sweet little boy than do anything in the house!

I will be posting some pictures that I have taken over the last few months. These pictures were taken the early part of August.

Tyler loves to "wim" when he takes a bath. He just giggles & giggles ... then giggles some more. His smile just melts my heart!

This was his first experience cleaning the mixer off for mommy. Daddy is standing close by showing him exactly what to do with the chocolate. I just love his big brown eyes :)

Like this daddy ...

Oh ... I am getting the hang of this!

What are you doing now daddy ... can I have more?!

yum ... yum ... yummy!!

Look mommy ... all clean! M-O-R-E .... PLLEEAASSEE !!!!

D.O.N.E.

I think he did a pretty good job with cleaning the mixer and I'm sure he will not have any problem helping mommy out again {{SMILE}}.

Go over to The Long Road to China to see more black & white pictures.

2010-06-18T21:34:00.012-05:00

When Tyler came home and met Jazz, well, it was not love at first sight for Tyler. There were some tears in the beginning, from Tyler of course. I totally understand ... Jazz is big, has tons of energy and really enjoys kissing Tyler. It took Tyler just a few days to figure out ....

Jazz will eat anything that I drop on the floor.
Jazz will sit and look at me UNTIL I drop some food on the floor.
Jazz will finish cleaning my hands and face after mommy washes me off.
Jazz has a really comfy pillow that I really like.
Jazz ALWAYS has a bowl of water out somewhere and I will search until I find the bowl of water to dump on my nice dry clothes. Mommy tries to hide his bowl but I just do not give up until it is found.
Jazz will drink all of my bath water if mommy or daddy does not make him stop (not really, just seems like it).
Jazz will sit and watch me play in the tub.
Jazz will lick off any lotion or oil mommy puts on me after my bath.
If I cry, Jazz will come to check on me.
Jazz can knock me over very easy.
Jazz always gets up when he sees me in the morning to give me a morning kiss.

AND FINALLY THE BEST PART OF ALL .... he has the coolest little dog house that we both fit in.

I loved this pictures of Jazz. He looks a little worried here doesn't he?

Can I please get some help here ... P-L-E-A-S-E ...

See mommy ... we can both fit in here just perfect!

Priceless ....

2010-06-09T20:23:00.003-05:00

I was so surprised to see how well this picture turned out. It was just the two of us playing in the backyard. Tyler had just gotten a new slide and was so excited that he was able to climb up without any help. He and I were playing peek-a-boo when all of a sudden I saw this little face pop up over the top of the slide with the cutest little grin.

This picture is by far one of my favorites. I love that you can see my reflection in his eyes.

It is hard to believe that I saw those beautiful dark eyes for the first time just only a couple of months ago. We had been preparing and praying for this sweet little boy for so long and to finally see those beautiful eyes finally looking back at me ... well .... he just melts my heart!

The Boys

2010-04-30T14:05:00.006-05:00

Tyler just adores his daddy. He has from the very beginning.

Tyler's foster mother had told us that he had really bonded well to his foster dad. So, I knew this ... but I was still surprised at just how much he loves his daddy!

Tyler thinks that Daddy is just the funniest thing ever. All daddy has to do is look at Tyler and he starts to laugh and giggle. No one gets a bigger laugh out of Tyler than Daddy does.

Tyler loves to lay on Daddy's chest. I blame that on the increased surface area Daddy has for him to lay spread out on :)

His favorite place is on Daddy's shoulders. He gets up there and just giggles. When I hold him he will continue to say "up" until Daddy takes him all the way up on his shoulders.

It really is sweet!

Black & White Wednesday

2010-04-21T13:07:00.018-05:00

This is the first time in weeks that I have been able to join in the fun of Black & White Wednesday. To see more jump over to The Long Road to China for more great pictures

I have not had much time during the day to play around with pictures or the blog. Nap time just is not long enough to get everything done.

I did get to play around with some pictures the other day and just love this little shot of Tyler. The texture was created by Colleen over at Chasing Dreams Photography. She has some great textures and I can not wait to play around with more of them

Tyler is doing great ... at least we think so :) He is a daddy's boy and bonded almost instant with Ray. Our bond has taken a little longer. But everyday just gets better and better.

I have one more month before I return to work ... BOO!! We have started visiting his little school for one hour a day during play time. Hoping that will help him get familiar with his teachers before he starts. If anyone has any great ideas or suggestions I would appreciate them.

I usually go outside with them and then stand off to the side and let the teachers interact with him. I do want him to feel comfortable going to school and reassured that I will be back to pick him up. Ideas from other mothers that have adopted would be great. Of course I am worried and want to do what is best for him

He is sleeping really good at night. We have moved him into his own bedroom and he seems to be doing good at night (knock on wood). Taking a nice nap during the day ... without his bottle :) by the way ... that was not fun ... taking the nap bottle away!

His little school does not allow nap bottles so I thought it would be best to phase it out at home. The first day was terrible but this is now day two and he is asleep in 15 minutes after putting him down ... yeah

We have been trying different things for meals time and have found that his not a big meat or bread lover. He sticks to rice, noodles, fish, baked chicken, vegetables and fruit ... oh, I forgot ... fries. He does really well at the dinner table. He will try almost anything you give him. Wants whatever your eating

We are SO incredible blessed!

2010-04-14T13:10:00.005-05:00

WE ARE HOME!!

It has taken me a little time to get back into the blog world. I have had to figure out how to get things done during nap time :)

Tyler is home now 4 weeks and everything could not be going any better. He is adjusting very well and is a total Daddy's boy. He is saying dada, mama, Tyler, waves hi/bye and knows the sign language for "all done". He loves bath time. Switched right over to milk with no problem. Loves rice, noodles and fruit. Runs most everywhere. Loves music and will dance to anything that has a beat. He slept with us the first few nights but now sleeps in a pack n' play in our room. Sleeps through the night ... has a few cries out during the night that are settled with a little back rub. He is a very active and happy little boy.

It seems like just yesterday we were in Korea. Time has really flown by. We stayed a total of 9 days in Korea and had a really nice time. Took in some great sites and was able to enjoy the beautiful culture. I will post pictures of that later.

A small recap of our time in Korea ...

We arrived in Korea on Tuesday night and was able to see Tyler the following day with his foster mother. She is an amazing lady! I can not say enough about how wonderful she was. I know for sure that Tyler was loved while in Korea.

We had sent over a little picture album in our care package that she showed him everyday. So when we first met Tyler he walked straight up to me and it was as if he was looking right through me. Stared me straight in the eyes for what seemed like an hour. I could feel tears build up as I looked into my sons eyes. He then did the same thing to Ray. After that ... he was ready to play.

The hour play date went by so fast. Our next visit with him would be on the following Monday morning. Each play date went really well. He played, laugh and sang the entire hour with the foster mother interacting with him. She is an amazing woman with a BIG heart!

We were given the opportunity to pick him up on Tuesday afternoon. Our flight would leave the following morning. That was probably the happiest and the most heart wrenching day I have ever experienced.

We were so excited to finally be able to bring our son home and at the same time we were just heart broken to see him cry for his foster mother.

We meet at the agency around 4 p.m. The foster mother was there along with her daughter and son-in-law. The foster mother had packed a little pooh backpack filled with all the things that Tyler liked to eat for the plane ride home.

We played in the lobby for a short time. At times we would see tears from the foster family. It broke our hearts to see them so sad.

After a prayer we were rushed (maybe not rushed but it felt like everything at this point moved so fast) out the back door with Tyler. Once out the door we would see the taxi waiting for us with the doors open. Ray held Tyler tight as he was crying for his foster mother. I was able to give the daughter and foster mother one last big hug good-bye but that was all. The foster mother ran to the side of the car were Tyler sat to wave good-bye ... I have tears now as I recall all the emotions of that day.

He cried most of the way back to the hotel. Once inside the room he settled down and slept the entire night either on Ray's chest or mine.

Our flight back home went terrific. I could not have asked for anything better. Our first leg was only two hours and he sat in my lap the entire flight playing with all the passengers that sat behind us. He learned peak-a-boo on this flight.

The next leg was much longer. Again he did really well. After the meal was served he went to sleep and slept most of the way home. I had a bag packed full of little toys for him to play with only to find the only thing he played with was the remote and bottled water .... go figure.

My parents meet us at the airport to find Tyler giving the big smiles and giggles as we left the airport.

I look at him everyday and thank God for blessing us with this happy and beautiful little boy! We are blessed!

Bringing our little boy home ...

2010-03-15T08:09:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the not posting anything until now .... but we are in KOREA!!

It has been such a crazy couple of weeks. Once we received the news that we could travel, time just flew by so fast. I will write more later about our journey to Korea. It has been a crazy journey but so worth the wait. He is beautiful!

We will be able to bring him back to our hotel Tuesday afternoon with our flight on Wednesday. I will keep you guys posted and write more later with pictures!

Black & White Wednesday

2010-02-24T09:48:00.010-06:00

Psalms 24: 4-5
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalms 27: 1

The LORD is my light and my salvation

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life

of whom shall I be afraid?

How long do you have to repeat an action before it becomes habit? I have not been spending much time lately mediating on the scriptures in the Bible. Nor have I been slowing down very long to talk or listen to God. I have been paying more attention lately to how I do spend my day and I am amazed at how much time I waste on the computer.

I started a new Bible study at Church they have challenged me to change this. So this past week I have started to daily meditate on some scriptures and just sit still with God. To not only talk to Him but open my heart and fill myself with Him.

Walking home from work last week, I was moving down the sidewalk and this little note card caught my eye. I glanced down and saw Psalms written on the top of the note card in big black ink. Stopped me in my tracks. I backed up, bent down to read the above scripture written on the little card with black tire marks scaring the front. Of course, I snatched this little card up off the ground. I could not wait to share this Ray when he came home. You know I was in tears as I explained to Ray this is exactly what I have been praying the last week.

God is good and He does hear our prayers!

This was a fun picture that I took at a local park just down the street from me. The frost was all in the trees and everything just looked beautiful, still and quite ... then came Jazz busting on the scene :)

Black & White Wednesday

2010-02-17T08:41:00.011-06:00

I think we have gotten our fair share of the snow this year :) We had a beautiful picture perfect weekend with fresh snow and blue skies. It was still super cold but Jazz and I had a blast playing outside on Saturday morning.

I took Jazz out for a walk around the park with my camera ... probably not the best combination because Jazz was not O.K. with sitting still while I adjusted my camera settings. I was able to snap a few but then decided to put the camera up and let Jazz run crazy in the snow. He L-O-V-E-S the snow! I really don't know which version I like the best. His eyes were just beautiful in both.

I will post more later this week of our walk around the park.

Go over to Lisa's blog to join in the fun!

We were blessed yesterday with updated pictures of our little boy's birthday party in Korea. He looks like he is having such a good time with plenty of little smiles :)

It looks like his foster mother is really giving him lots of love and that is all I can ask for right now while we are apart.

He is growing up so fast and my heart breaks that we are still apart. I know that we will get that travel call in God's time.

**UPDATE** Just wanted to put a little updated note in here. Just got off the phone with our agency and Korea is still working on the first batch of referrals that went through the Ministry early January. We are in the second batch that was submitted on January 22. It should not be too much longer ... hopefully!

Happy Wednesday!

Black & White Wednesday

2010-02-10T06:22:00.003-06:00

I have been in a camera funk the last week ... I am blaming it on the weather. Right now my time outside is clearing snow off the sidewalk. After the sidewalks are clear, I am ready to defrost in the house with some hot chocolate. Even Jazz is not a fan of this cold weather.

I have been looking through some pictures that have just been sitting on my computer. I keep going back to this set of pictures. I love vintage cars ... the cool lines and the shine of a custom paint job. This one is my favorite. The hood ornament is just too cool pass on. I tried some different actions on this picture to lighten the hood ornament, sharpen then wanted a more vintage B&W look. If you want to participate in Black & White Wednesday, just pop over to Lisa's blog and join in!

Wedding FuN

2010-02-09T18:06:00.011-06:00

We went to a super fun wedding back in January and I totally forgot to post any pictures. It was such a beautiful wedding. Thanks J & J for asking us to be a part of your special day!

Ray is resting his dancing shoes :)

Black & White Wednesday

2010-02-03T08:13:00.008-06:00

You know I never thought that doing just one post a week would be a challenge for me but I find myself scrambling Tuesday night to finish processing my pictures. It has been a great for me to have a deadline to post. It has shown me where I need to be a little more organized and productive. Thank you Lisa for the challenge! If you want to participate in Black & White Wednesday, just pop over to Lisa's blog and join in!

Santa was super good to me this year. He left 2-43" umbrellas and a couple of pocket wizards under the tree for me. I already had one 580ex II flash so this was super fun to add an umbrella to the mix. A super nice photog friend here in town let me borrow his light (Briteck light + huge softbox) and seamless paper this weekend to practice. It really looks like I might know what I'm doing down in the basement with all this gear. I was so excited to play around with the lights since this is really the first time I have tried the umbrella/flash out.

We have been in (hopefully) the last phase of our wait to bring Tyler home. I have been trying to think about what we will be needing on the plan and those first few nights at home. Jazz has been so curious about Ty's room. I have the door shut but every now and then I find that he has opened the door and is checking it out. It appears that we are not the only ones waiting on our little boy to come home :)

My trusted model was totally game for some pictures. I wanted to snap some pictures of Jazz as he also waits for Tyler's arrival. Again, I had a hard time picking between the color version or the B&W. I would love your feedback. I have to put a little note in here so you understand how bad Jazz wanted to play with this little bear. He was SO GOOD but I could tell that he really did not understand why he could play with cute little toy!

I think this is my favorite just because I think he eyes say it all for me ... mom pleeeease can I play with this bear! I did give the little guy a treat for being so good!

I have added these few pictures just because ...

Black & White Wednesday

2010-01-27T08:14:00.009-06:00

It is time for Black & White Wednesday again. Time really does fly by. I had big plans to take some pictures this past weekend but I blinked and it is Wednesday again. Yesterday I spent so much of my time trying to update the blog that I had to look through some pictures that I already had taken for this weeks post.

This picture was taken of Jazz this past October at one of the local parks. We were standing just next to a little stream and ducks were everywhere. I love this picture because I can tell that really wants to go play in the water and has his sights locked in on the ducks. I am a total fan of this in color because of his shiny brown coat and beautiful brown eyes so I just had to try it in B&W. I did this conversion in CS4 and really like the texture of the tree behind him and the dark features on his face. To see more Black & White pictures stop over to see Lisa's Blog. Have a great Wednesday!

Cajun Jambalaya

2010-01-25T06:39:00.001-06:00

First, I just want to ask ... what happen to the weekend? It feels like it just flew by and I am really not ready for work. The weekends are really going to fly by when we bring Tyler home. I will have to start being a little more organized.

Colleen over at the Crazy Eight has started recipe Monday and this week I just had to join. Jump over to her blog to see more great and easy recipes. With all the talk on TV this weekend of New Orleans and football we just had to cook something that reminded us of New Orleans and the South. What could possible taste any better than Jambalaya. Ray actually found the recipe on the internet and I could not believe how crazy easy is was and man oh man was is good! I think he found it www.mccormick.com We actually lucked out and had everything in the freezer so when the game started we were ready to cheer on the Saints ... shhh do not tell our Minnesota friends :) When you think about ... how could we not cheer for New Orleans? We ARE from Tennessee and we were practically neighbors. But, now that I said that you should be able to guess who we are cheering for the Super Bow! .... Peyton .... a Tennesse* boy :) Anyway, I don' want to get off track. I'll save that for another post!

Back to the Jambalay@. I would highly recommend this recipe and we will be cooking this again. The most surprising ingredient was a packet of McCormick Slow Cookers Pot Roast Seasoning. I would have never thought of that as spices for Jambalaya. We gave it two thumbs up.

Makes 12 servings.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH plus 20 minutes on HIGH

1 pound lean turkey sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bell peppers, coarsely chopped
2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 cup sliced celery
2 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed - we used skinless chicken breast
1 package McCormick® Slow Cookers Savory Pot Roast Seasoning
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Red Pepper, Ground
1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 cups instant rice

Place sausage, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and celery in slow cooker. Top with chicken.

Mix Seasoning, water and red pepper until blended. Pour over chicken. Cover. Cook 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. Gently stir in shrimp and rice. Cover. Cook 15 to 20 minutes longer on HIGH or until shrimp turn pink and rice is tender.

Growing up ....

2010-01-22T10:59:00.009-06:00

We have been SO blessed with beautiful pictures of our little boy. We were told in the beginning to not expect any pictures and that no guarantees that he would receive our care package before we traveled to pick him up. Well, we have not only received one set of updated pictured but THREE different sets of pictures AND they were all taken with some of items from our little care package. I am usually doing pretty good with keeping my emotions in check until I see the pictures of him growing up without us! This last set of picture just broke my heart ... it came with a little update that he is now walking, has four teeth and is eating items with soy sauce.

I spoke with our agency today and they have informed us that his paperwork has made it to the Ministry. On average that has taken about a month to come through. There is really NO way of knowing ... first we were told to expect a travel call before Christmas, then early February, then March/April NOW maybe within the month (February) :/ I know that everything will happen when it is meant to and the God is in control. HE is the only that knows when we are going to bring our baby home! I guess that I should finish getting our stuff together?! These are the latest pictures of our sweet little baby.

Late Christmas fun ....

2010-01-21T20:10:00.003-06:00

I have had this picture of my sweet guy since Christmas ... but I am so super late in posting. I still can not believe that the holiday season has come and gone. There is no trace that the tree was even around. Ray's schedule has so crazy over the holidays that it all seems like a blur.

We did purchase Tyler's new stocking for Santa ... I have a lump in my throat and my heart is overflowing with emotions as we are preparing for our little boys arrival ... our next Christmas will be filled with sweet joys of hearing his laughter and watching the joy on his face as he experiences the magic of Christmas.

Santa was SUPER good to me this year ... I must have been a very good little girl because Santa left me a 50mm f/1.4 and I L-O-V-E it!! After taking this picture realized that I will need to practice with this awesome f/1.4 lens to fine that sharp focus that I am always looking for :) I love the bokeh .... oh .... I will have fun ... THANK YOU SANTA!

Black & White Wednesday

2010-01-20T09:37:00.016-06:00

I have been SOOOOO bad with updating the blog. I have been so focused on trying to learn how to update the look on my blog that I have failed to post anything new.... sorry about that! I still can not beleive that Christmas has come and gone and I have not posted any pictures of our tree. Well, to be honest I only have one picture to post :) BUT before I start trying to back track and catch everyone up on what is happening here I wanted to post my Black & White picture. My sweet friend Lisa has started a fun challenge and I wanted to make sure that I posted my B&W this week. This picture is of a sweet little 6 week old that I had the pleasure of taking some pictures of last week. I made the plunge and purchased the Florabella actions to try out on this little cutie. I think this was the Buttercup action - I decreased the opacity. I am always second quessing myself with black and white pictures so I would LOVE any feedback. Do you think this picture is too white ... should I add some dark contrast to it :/ Thanks Lisa for the challenge ... this will be fun! Check out The Long Road to China for more great B&W pictures.

After looking at this picture posted up it really looks too bright ... yikes! I might play around with this post. Should I put this on a black background?

OK .... I have tried some different ideas on these little toes .... below I have the same set of toes just processed a little darker ... what do you think? I would love you feedback as I am trying to get the hang of this :) Thanks guys!!

The B.E.S.T Christmas Present

2009-12-21T09:12:00.006-06:00

We were so surprised last week to open our email up and find new pictures of Tyler. What a total surprise and the BEST Christmas present we could have received!! He has gotten so big and he is standing up .... WOW ... of course it brought me to tears! We are SO close to bringing him home ... I just know it!! Our agency has told us to expect a travel call sometime in mid-February but I am praying for an earlier call :) You never know!

I have started getting his room ready again. Once we heard that we would not bring him home this year I had just put everything on hold in his room. But now I have all of his stuff washed and put away. Cleared a shelf off in the linen closet for ALL of his bath toys and a shelf in the kitchen for his bowls and cups. It is time to get ready for our little boy!

My sweet friend sent me this very cool digi scrapbooking page with the new pictures of Tyler. I really have to learn how to do this!! Thanks Chris ... I love it!!

The most wonderful time of the year ....

2009-12-01T19:48:00.007-06:00

I have really gotten in the holiday spirit in the last couple of days. After reading all my blogger friends post about decorating for Christmas ... decided it was time to pull our stuff out and get going. The weatherman said today was going to be the last warm day for a little while ... temp was in the 40's ... so I raced home from work to start putting the lights and garland up around our porch.

I had to laugh when I pulled the lights out ... I do not remember storing the lights this way at all! WOW what a mess! Jazz was so cute. He just sat there with me while I untangled all those crazy little lights. Of course I had to pull the camera out. I think really he just wanted a treat ... there for a little while I think he was feeling sorry for me because he did show me some puppy love :))

I was so proud to get the lights and garland up around the railing before it got to dark. I went to plug it in and realized .... I put them on backwards and there was no way to plug it in .... ugh!! I did not EVEN think about that!! That is O.K. because I have chalked it up as a lesson learned. I will try the lights again in a couple of days. I have to re-group *giggle* and try to recruit some help *giggle*

We are planning to go pick our tree out this weekend and I am so excited. I always look forward to going to the tree farm. I love walking through all the trees to pick just the right one ... together!

Pictures....

2009-11-23T16:05:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned yesterday, we tried to go out to take some family pictures. Well.... all I can say is that it did not turn out like I had envisioned .... but that is O.K. because I was able to dig through some vacation pictures that we had taken a couple of months ago. I thought this one of my handsome guy actually turned out pretty good. He is patiently waiting for me to finish taking pictures so we could go each lunch. As you can see I could not get him to loose the sun glasses ... I can't have everything :)) I am sending the care package off tonight. My fingers are crossed that Tyler receives it in plenty of time to play with all the goodies that I strategically placed in our one gallon zip lock bag.

New Watermark

2009-11-22T11:00:00.008-06:00

I am so excited to have a new watermark for my pictures. If your wondering why do I need to add this to my pictures ... it is to hopefully deter anyone from trying to steal my pictures. I would like to make it as difficult as possible to copy any of my pictures without my permission. I really enjoy posting my pictures and especially since I'm really just learning how to take pictures it is so important for me to get feedback from my friends ... so Amy was kind enough to make this cool banner for me. Thank you Amy!! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me and I LOVE it :))

This little guy was such a cutie!! The hard part was getting him to look at me ... I think he is a little shy :)) I'm sure that will change with the girls start chasing him around the playground with his beautiful red hair & big eyes.

I have been busy getting our little care package ready to send to Korea. I have been pretty surprised at what I can stuff in a one gallon zip lock. I'm hoping to send it to the agency Monday. Fingers crossed that Tyler receives it. I have had fun doing a little shopping for the care package. I bought a couple of little toys that ... oops ... they don't fit in the zip lock bag ... darn honey ... we will just have to save this one, oh, and this one... rats honey here is another one that won't fit :) we will just have to save these little toys for Tyler when he comes home :))) My husband loves that trick. The hardest part is getting together a little photo album for him. I realized that we don't have any recent pictures of just us ... we're going out today to play with the camera ... I'll keep yah posted on how that turns out ... heeheehee.

I think that I might have found the next super model ... she is a natural in front of the camera!

PaRtY for Tyler

2009-11-11T21:59:00.002-06:00

It feels like it has been forever since I have posted any updates on the blog. I have neglected the blog... boo hiss ... I keep waiting to post some great news about going to Korea to pick our boy up. The bad news is that we will not be traveling to Korea this year!! We just received this news last week & I am SO bummed out. We had really hoped that we would have him home for his first birthday. But, God has other plans for our little guy right now.... that is to sit tight in Korea for now. I am just very thankful that he is in a loving home and he will be coming home early next year.

Some of the girls I work with had a little baby shower for us and boy oh boy did we get some fun stuff!! We had such a blast ... we are blessed with such sweet friends... sniff, sniff!!

We have been gathering some items to send to Tyler in a little care package. We giggled when the agency told us the size of the zip lock bag we could fill.... a ONE gallon zip lock bag.... only ONE - ONE gallon zip lock bag! Does that sound crazy or what. I need a small box :) how in the world and I going to narrow my items down that small.... yikes!! I need to work on the care package. I have until the end of the month before someone is going over that can deliver the package to Tyler. I need to put some thought into how I can pack this little bag... ugh!!

.YUCK.

2009-10-20T10:39:00.011-05:00

Well, I have contacted our agency to let them know we received our "Notice of Approval" ... wanted to know what is next, should we be doing anything, can we send a little package or could we get any updates. The basic stupid questions. We did get a response back and of course there are a couple of key words that no one wants to hear like ... moving at a snail's pace.... challenging time of year ... may be awhile before anything arrives... YUCK... YUCK... DOUBLE YUCK!! While this is not what I wanted to hear, I really have no reason to grumble or complain because I know that our sweet little baby will arrive when he is meant to. In God's time.... all in God's plan. I have a beautiful little boy that I will soon hold.

ThE bEsT...

2009-10-16T15:52:00.013-05:00

I went out this past weekend to practice taking some pictures and I took my favorite model out for his photo shoot :) He was SO good and was super cheap. He only required a belly rub after we left each location. I am really happy with how some of these turned out. It can't be much different than trying to shoot a toddler, can it? I had an a hard time getting him to look my direction without him running to lick my face. Well, alright.... I guess that would be the BIG difference ... only Jazz would lick my face :)

Good new this week on the adoption front... we finally received our Notice of Approval form in the mail!! So YEAH, we O.K. now to proceed :) whatever that means. I'm told now that we just sit tight & wait on Korea. The agency told me that Korea is now working on the last batch of visa that will be approved this year. We are praying that we are in that last batch..... we would love to bring him home before his birthday!

Jazz... over here boy....

Look this way boy.... I'll give you a treat :)

GOOD BOY.... he finally looks my directions :)

.Wait.

2009-10-12T08:46:00.007-05:00

And the wait continues... the waiting sometimes feels like I'm on a roller coster. I can't even begin to describe how crazy this all feels. Maybe because I really can not put it into words or because it would be a long jumbled post that would not make any sense to anyone but me! It does drive me crazy that our little boy is now just sitting over there waiting on us. While we are waiting on, what do you call it, the process or the agency or just more hoops we still need to jump through. Whatever it is ... come on already!! We have been waiting on our 1-600 to arrive from the USCIS. We were told it should take one month. Well, that was sent in September 2 and it's now October 12 and still no I-600. I contacted our agency and just received this email -

This is directly from CIS: I have located the I-600’s! Thank you for inquiring about the case. I will be able to complete the processing within the next few days. Notices should be forthcoming soon.

Now, I'm glad that it will be processed in the next few days! But, the first time I read this "I have located the I-600's" it sounds like it was just sitting around on someones desk & they had to open up the mail. Oh yeah, look, here it is ... come on guys!! Maybe it is not as it sounds but yikes! OK, I feel better :) I just had to vent a little.

OUR LITTLE BOY .....

2009-09-15T15:32:00.014-05:00

I would like to introduce you to Tyler Han. Is he not the cutest little thing you have ever seen!! Of course we are extremely bias but HE IS just a little doll!! We are just crazy about this little peanut who has stolen both of our hearts! He is truly meant to be with us... he is 100% our little boy and we are in love with God's precious little gift. God is so good and has answered our prayers!! It feels like we have been waiting forever to see his sweet little face.... We are bringing our little boy home!!

Ty will be one on December 27. We are really praying that we will get to bring him home before his birthday. He is from Eastern Social Welfare (I know some people have already asked me that). I'm always a little scared about how much information to share on the blog so if you have any questions just private message me.

Good Fun

2009-09-14T17:42:00.015-05:00

Sunday morning I had such a good time hanging out with my friend, Amy, from Ten Tiny Toes. I meet her at one of the parks in the Minneapolis. It was a beautiful day and a cool park. I had such a nice time just walking around watching her "work" her magic with a 3 year old :) Thanks Amy for the coffee & letting me pick your brain :)

As you can from some of my pictures I'm having such a hard time coming up with what my watermark should say. I don't want it to be cheesy or goofy just something simple & nice. Then there is the question - do you really need to watermark all of your pictures? I understand it for childrens pictures but other things... I don't know... Do you guys have any ideas or suggestions? I'm stuck :)

2009-09-02T09:52:00.009-05:00

Dear R and R,

We received your child’s legal documents from Korea. We will now file your Form I-600 with USCIS. Please let J** know when you receive the “Notice of Approval of Relative Immigrant Visa Petition” in the mail. J** will be your main contact on the Korea team for the rest of your adoption process.

Regards,

The Korea Team at CHSFS

OK... so what does this mean you ask? I had to call the agency myself because I really didn't know what to expect next. I'm told by CHSFS to expect this step to take roughly about 1 month to get in the mail. If I have not received my Notice of Approval forms in the mail after 1 month I give my contact person at CHSFS a call. She is in the process of sending me a travel packet that will have some time lines and what to expect next. Which will be very helpful because we truely are taking this one step at a time. I'll keep you guys posted.

IT'S A BOY!!

2009-08-27T10:24:00.001-05:00

IT'S A BOY!! It's now official so I can post... we have a beautiful little boy born 12-27-08 in Anyang, Kyeonggi-do Korea. No idea when we will get to bring him home just yet. I will post pictures and his name later. I guess now would be a good time to get the nursery ready :)

Gull Lake continues.....

2009-08-14T17:12:00.022-05:00

I have really had fun with the pictures from Gull Lake.... as you can tell :) I loved this picture of all the leather in the background and cool lines. Tried to grab the light off this little glass with some wild flowers my nephew picked for me ... what a sweet heart I know!!

I thought this window was pretty cool just laying in the grass with the purple wildflowers all around. Plus, my nephew was tired of me chasing him around with the camera :)

Natural Beauty

2009-08-12T09:30:00.005-05:00

I have been going through my pictures of our weekend at Gull Lake. I L-O-V-E this picture!! I just happen to be at the right place at the right time and was TOTALLY lucky with my camera setting to snap this crazy picture. We had such a great time chillin' with my parents & my nephew. We had a hard time keeping Jazz out of the water long enough to catch a fish :) It was a great weekend for everyone....

Still lovin' the train.

2009-08-11T16:57:00.007-05:00

I think this picture has a great feeling to it, with the warm color of the car and sprinkled with writing.... the name "outlaw" totally fits.

I really liked the wild colors and mixed with the great lines of the train.... feels fun & alive with color.

As you can see I'm really enjoying the train tracks. This is my rusty flare - This is how I feel sometimes here in CS4... rusty but I have flare ... lol

FuN on the TrAcKs.

2009-08-11T11:23:00.009-05:00

I went out on a photo walk with Chris & Megan a couple of weeks & had such a good time. I'm always learning something new & Chris really helped me with my night shots. I'm just now sitting down to edit the photos & see which ones are keepers. We spent some time on the train tracks & I loved the colors & lines. I'll post more later but I wanted to get some up now. Thanks guys!! I had fun :)

Right now this one is my fav... I LOVED the colors & the way the light is reflecting.

I think this one is cool with the dark lines & circles.

Photo Walk ...

2009-07-18T19:57:00.009-05:00

I went out this afternoon to take a couple of picture in the neighborhood. I wanted to join in the Photo Walk. These are a couple of shots from my stroll. I had fun playing with different textures and actions in CS4. Jazz did pretty good modeling for me. I had a hard time keeping him out of the flowers. He thinks every time I get on the ground it's to play with him .....

Give the boy a treat.

2009-07-18T15:36:00.012-05:00

I have been ~~playing~~ practicing with my new flash and I have the best model a girl could ask for. The only thing he wants at the end of each session is a treat.... shhh don't tell daddy it's my secret trick for getting him to behave :) How could you say no to that face.... seriously?!

Wedding blues.

2009-07-14T17:51:00.006-05:00

A friend asked me if I wanted to help him shoot a wedding this past weekend. Of course I jumped at the chance to help out, see the ropes, practice shooting, hold reflectors - you name it - I was ready. It was a sunny day and the bride was just beautiful, great smile & very photogenic. The only problem was my pictures.... I was so disappointed when I pulled my pictures up. It really showed me that I HAVE to practice. If anyone out there reading this knows at what f stop leaves multiple subject in focus I would love to know the magic number :{ do I have to say anymore..... I have a 50 mm now to practice with & several books to read. Now I just have to get out there!!

Rain drops....

2009-07-14T17:37:00.009-05:00

I was not expecting to see this. Ray & I were out on the back patio the other day watching the chipmunks and the squirrels try their very best to get our birdseed. I looked down & oh..... wait a minute.... I've seen a picture like this somewhere before. I had to give it a try. The picture was totally inspired by my friend Debbie. I got up as close as I could with my 18-200 mm lens. I love all the little rain drops!

Playin' with textures

2009-07-09T22:46:00.008-05:00

I've been having fun playin' around with textures from FloraBella. I have to admit.... I'm not a big of too much texture. I'm trying to achieve the look of a "little soft" texture. Not really sure if you can even tell in some of these pictures but then again.... that's the fun of practicing :)

I know what your thinking.... aren't they almost the same shot? But hey... these are all I have to work with & I'm having fun in the edit room. Bear with me. I will soon be finish with all of Maria's pictures & then I will bore you with pictures of faithful little four legged friend.... Jazz.

Photo edits continue

2009-07-08T12:51:00.003-05:00

I have been playing around with some more of my shots from the photography workshop. I really need to practice and play around in the edit room some more. I have found that as I'm getting older... if I don't use/practice what I've learned.... I loose it!!

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart :)

2009-07-06T22:23:00.002-05:00

This month is our wedding anniversary & time has flown by. It feels like just yesterday that we were getting married on the beaches of Maui.... I'm a VERY lucky girl!!

Triathlon 2009

2009-07-06T20:19:00.006-05:00

We had such a great time this past weekend working at the triathlon here in town. We went out in the kayaks ready to save lives :) I took some photos & have been having fun editing them in LR & CS4. Let me know what you think. I've been playing around with some textures. That is a hole new world to me.... would love your constructive feedback.

Photography Workshop

2009-06-26T10:42:00.008-05:00

I had a GREAT opportunity to attend a photography workshop a couple of weeks ago taught by an amazing photographer Debbie over at Pixel Fairy Princess . Debbie started Friday evening and didn't slow down until lunch on Sunday. I was hoping for nice weather but mother nature had other plans. It was a cold and rainy weekend but man oh man did I have a great time & I learned SO much!! It's taking me a little longer to edit the pictures so I only have a few here to show you. I am editing them in Lightroom and CS4. Meet Maria... she was with us for about 4 hours on Saturday. It was a cold and rainy day but that didn't slow Debbie or Maria down. I had a great time working with Maria. My biggest challenge was getting use to a small lens (50mm) & using ME as the zoom instead letting the lens do all the work. I also got introduced to the POCKET WIZZARD. It has now been added my "wish" list :)

This shot has a great story. We had to travel accross town. Walk down some pretty steep wet stairs in the dark & set up in the mud. But, I love the shot!!

Homework... using those actions

2009-06-04T22:08:00.007-05:00

I was at the market a couple of weeks ago and loved all the different colors of fruits & veggies. This is my first attempt to use my new actions on CS4.... not too bad for my first try :)

We happen to stumble upon a antique car show downtown. The cars were beautiful!! Couldn't help myself :)

I think this is my favorite... I was a sucker for all the hood ornaments (I'm sure there is a proper name for them).

Behind on my homework :)

2009-05-21T22:04:00.007-05:00

I am so behind on my homework assignments.... shhhh don't tell :)

Home work :/

2009-05-15T17:07:00.006-05:00

Debbie, AKA The Pixel Fairy Princess, has recently started online Photoshop classes. It is run like a webinar and everyone can interact, talk and listen as she is showing us what to do on the computer screen. I just started taking her photoshop 101 class this past week & I L-O-V-E it! The class was fantastic & she is super patient with me!! I had no idea how to work CS4. I now have home work everyone... practice, practice, practice! But, as I sit in front of my 7 pages of notes and my pictures.... I think I'm starting to get the hang of some of these tools. I think I had my AH-HA moment this week & it's beginning to make sense :) She challenged me to take one photo a day of something around the house... anything. Sounds easy doesn't it... well, it's not! But, here is my attempt - I'm a little behind at posting.

I think the strawberries turned out too red... what do you think?

Our "BOB"

2009-05-03T18:53:00.014-05:00

We've had "BOB" now for a couple of months and now feel it's time to show you "BOB". My neighbors probably think I've lost my mind... pulling "BOB" out in the front yard for a picture. It's a great excuse to get the camera out :) I'm very proud of our new stroller & L-O-V-E the fact that it has a name. My friends that play golf with me will totally get that.

I pulled "BOB" out now because we just received our new passports & we are now R-E-A-D-Y for Korea - we have our stroller & passports. My friends here are laughing right about now... mainly because they know this is ALL I have gotten ready so far :) We'll get there!! We still have plenty of time!

Everything here is in full bloom right now & I'm lovin' it!! It went to this.... overnight!!

I planted these last fall and totally forgot about them. I didn't have to adjust the color at all in these pictures. The sun did all the work for me today!

As you can tell, I had a hard time just picking just one or two pictures to post. The colors were just amazing.... I love spring!!

Where are we.....

2009-04-20T13:17:00.007-05:00

I just received an email from our social worker and thought I would share. I was going to try & wait until the end of April before I nag our social worker about where we are in line & please tell me we have moved up. Her reply.... "you are “approximately” at slot #23 because we always have families on the list who may be looking at a referral, but who have not accepted yet, so we leave them on the list. Realistically, that would only move you up 2-3 spots. " So, it sounds like we are #20 or 21 for a boy? For a girl we are "approximately" #30 or 31. At least we've moved up.... yeah!

Visiting Grandma

2009-04-20T09:36:00.009-05:00

We had a busy weekend traveling down to visit Ray's grandmother. She lives with a great group of people. I couldn't help but bring the camera to try and snap some great shots of everyone while we visited. She probably wouldn't be too happy of the close up I'm posting but I think it turned out pretty good.

We did drink a lot of coffee.... maybe we always drink a lot of coffee, I never really noticed.

Yes, we drank more coffee.

I just loved the parking lot for all of the walkers.

This is just how they role....

Lunch is over ... they are up & rolling.

We weren't the only ones needing a nap.

Night Photos... I'm learning

2009-04-13T12:39:00.011-05:00

Well, Friday was my first adventure out to take night pictures. I didn't realize how difficulty it would be. I took over 200 pictures and only kept the ones I'll be sharing with you. If you have any advice or helpful hints I would gladly take them.... remember, I'm learning :) This was somewhere around 7:30pm.

I really like this picture but I don't think it's that clear. I was focusing on the first meter & if you look closer ... oh, I don't know maybe that's as good as it gets.

My focus here was the second meter. I think it's a little better than the first try.

The lights blink so again it took several tries to get all the lights on.

I think this is a pretty cool shot but again if you look closely the details are not very clear. I thought I aiming for the light in the center of the shot. These were the lights on the ground that surround the fountain which is above.

I had A LOT of the these pictures. It was hard to tell at the time when I got a good shot. This is a truck in motion and incase your wondering they are not suppose to be in focus :)

Well.... I know some of them are out of focus a little but it's so hard to tell at night. I thought I had the focus point aimed for the best spot on the pictures but as you can tell that it doesn't always work out the way it was planned. I would love any feedback or advice you might have.

R n' R

2009-04-09T14:11:00.017-05:00

This past week I was able to escape with my sweetheart and we had such a wonderful time away from work, computers and cell phones.

It was great to see this ......

Easy to relax when your doing this.....

and some of this.... Oh, I'm paying attention :)

This could be an add for Callaway golf balls. Just think what the golfers behind us thought when they saw me lay on the ground. Maybe thought I had a new trick to hitting the ball down on to the greens ...heeheehee!

I needed a small break from chasing my ball around the course. I need more practice.... yikes!

At least I LOOK like I know what I'm doing on the course ... I've got everyone fooled!

That's my guy... lookin' good sweetheart .... say cheese!

I think everyone was trying to enjoy the sunshine... shhhh be quiet so you don't scare them off.

Again, laying on the course was not the most lady-like thing I've done! But, the things I do for a picture. Oh, well... I'm learning.

What a great time with my sweetheart.... I only wish we had blue skies in this picture. It was really was a nice morning. I guess this means the morning sun does not photograph very well :(

Our Trip to Australia....

2009-03-23T09:02:00.005-05:00

This is a beautiful poem that a friend shared with me that has been through the adoption process a couple of times. I just loved this poem and I wanted to pass it on. Maybe someone can relate...or get some strength through it... I know I have!

Our Trip to Australia (Poem By Diane Armitage)

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You’ve heard it’s a wonderful place, you’ve read many guidebooks and feel certain you’re ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.

So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you’ll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait—and wait—and wait.

Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, “Relax. You’ll get on a flight soon.” Other people actually, get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry “It’s not fair!” After a long time the ticket agent tells you, “I’m sorry, we’re not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat.”

“By BOAT,” you say. “Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane.” So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat. It is a long trip, many months over much rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three times, marveling about each trip.

Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with others who also traveled by sea rather than by air.

People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are able to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, “Oh, be glad you didn’t fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy.”

You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself

Fresh air.... I love it!!

2009-03-22T15:13:00.007-05:00

Today was just beautiful outside. The birds were singing and the sun was out. I just had to open up the windows in the house. I don't know if any of you have a home that was built in 1918 but let me tell you it took some time to get the windows open for the first time this year. I had to talk sweet & give it some elbow grease to convince them to open. Took a little time but well worth the effort!!

Honey... fire up the grill!!

2009-03-15T20:11:00.005-05:00

Since we are both from the South, we have never needed an excuse to fire up the grill. Everything taste better on the grill. Today the weather was beautiful.... temperature was a sweet 55 degrees and we had blue skies. Springs can't be far... can it?? This was also a perfect opportunity to pull the camera out & practice.

With the end results tasting oh so good!! My guy can grill a mean burger!!

Ready for SPRING!!

2009-03-14T17:11:00.006-05:00

The weather man promised this weekend would be nice & man, oh man was he right!! Today has been in the 40's & I am beginning to see the dead grass again in my backyard. For some time now my backyard has been iced over.... Jazz could ice skate back there but now..... it's melting!! Only problem with the melting of the snow is that I have begun to see Jazz poo that has been buried. Now, you would think his poo would sit nicely up on top of the ice... NO it sinks down into a nice little hole that I have to chisel out with the shovel. Today, it took me over an hour to get all the Jazz poo up. But, it's done & I no longer have a sewer in my back yard... oh, that sounded yucky. I am totally done with winter & have my fingers crossed that the snow is done, over, no more snow.... PLEASE!

Waiting... and waiting....

2009-03-10T17:09:00.004-05:00

I received an update on the Korea program from one of my blog friends who is also waiting on a baby from Korea. She told me the wait time has increased.... 6-9 months for a boy. I know your shaking your head now ... what?? ... increased wait... no worries guys... that is what I was told in the very beginning. The entire process is crazy & mind boggling. Does anyone know what's going on?

Dinner?

2009-02-26T20:25:00.001-06:00

Who says this can't be dinner?!

My Guy

2009-02-22T21:57:00.006-06:00

Playing out in the snow today. It's looks nice but holy cow was it cold out today!!

Jazz had a great time!! I'm testing out the camera setting & so far Jazz has been a great model!!

I think he is telling me "no more mom... please!"

My First Hockey Game

2009-02-17T22:11:00.011-06:00

Your surrounded ... run, skate, whatever, go, go, go!!

OUCH!! That is going to hurt in the morning!!

I'm new here but isn't that puck thing suppose to go inside the net.....

This was my first hockey game & WOW.... there was some hard hittin' & fast moving guys out there. I took my camera to try and learn how to take pictures inside using a fast shutter speed. Needless to say I didn't get many good shots of anyone flying through the air because I was too busy watching them fly past me. Maybe next time I'll have better luck. At least Mayo won!! Well done guys!!

Valentine Treats!!

2009-02-14T19:55:00.016-06:00

Today is Valentines Day & my sweet heart is at work... bummer, I know!! I decided to make him a treat to share with friends at work. I found this great recipe online & if you want me to share the recipe with you just let me know... I was surprised at how easy it was.... don't tell my Valentine... I want him to think I slaved in the kitchen :) I thought I would tackle trying to master the kitchen along with trying to work my new camera. What do you think? Not too bad for my first time... right?? I also played around with Photoshop. Well, anyway ... Happy Valentines Day!!

What?!

2009-02-12T09:45:00.012-06:00

I'm a little bummed out.... we received an email from our social worker yesterday and she has not finalized our home study for Korea so... it has not been sent to CIS. CIS is currently taking around 3 month to process applications, sometimes longer (I'm told). My response...... WHAT!? Our last home study visit in DECEMBER! Are you kidding me! To make the story even better, she left for vacation until the 17th and she still has to send our home study to the editor/typist to put it in the final form. Then she can send the study to CIS on our behalf. WHAT?! I didn't know it wasn't sent to CIS yet. Our social worker told us this should not delay us & we are still on the list moving along at a snails pace :) but I'm totally disappointed that the study has not be sent off... ugh!!

My Flair

2009-02-06T14:35:00.004-06:00

If you have been on Facebook you have seen the flair that gets passed around. My girlfriend made this for me today & I LOVE IT!! How cute is this!! Thank you Chris... you amaze me with your creativity! This is just SO sweet...

What are they talking about??

2009-02-04T14:34:00.013-06:00

OK, I am sitting at my desk with the manual to my new camera (3 different books) and it sounds like they are talking a different language. I know it's the English manual because I did check that! Aperture, ISO, time value.... I'm trying to make sense of these new words.... honest!! I'm going for lessons... yikes!! Any advice for the new budding photographer that I know I will some day become ... I know, your going to say practice, practice, practice. I think I've heard that before, haven't I sweetheart?? I'm thinking that Jazz & Charcoal will get tired of me chasing them around with the camera. Charcoal is a little camera shy!

Choose HAPPY

2009-01-29T09:36:00.012-06:00

I have never been good at putting my thoughts or feeling down in writing. Some people just have a gift for that. I was reading one of the blogs that I follow and if you have time click over and read her post for today. I loved it!! She had a great quote:

"We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."
– Carlos Castaneda

How true it that.... how many times have I choosen to grumble about the work week starting again when I really have the best job!! I grumble about it being so cold outside when my house is nice and toasty :) Your right... to be miserable... it's an easier habit to form than being chronically happy. Why do I grumble over the small stuff... I found myself just this morning grumbling over being sore from exercising too much on Tuesday... instead of being happy that I had such a great work-out. Do you grumble or is it just me??

Re-new Passports

2009-01-28T09:57:00.003-06:00

I just printed off the paperwork to get our new passports & I'm a little sad that I have to send in our old expired passport. I understand why... but looking through it last night, my work permit for Ireland is there and all those fabulous trips abroad are all maked. I know I have the pictures but...... Does anyone know for sure that I won't get the book back?? I am hoping that I have the wrong information.

He's a keeper!!

2009-01-25T16:54:00.005-06:00

Not ONLY is my Prince Charming handsome but he COOKS..... he's a keeper!!

Passport Photo

2009-01-25T16:11:00.006-06:00

We have been talking about getting our passports up to date for our travel to Korea. Jazz perked up once we were talking about passport photos. Jazz is thinking that he's going to Korea with us! I don't have the heart to tell him that he is staying behind....... not now... how could you with that face :( But that's a GREAT mug shot buddy!!

Look WHO this is....

2009-01-25T15:11:00.001-06:00

Look WHO we ran into at Pottery Barn..... for some reason I could not convince my dear husband to stand next to him for a picture. Can't imagine why....

SURPRISE!!!

2009-01-25T14:58:00.005-06:00

WOW!! I was totally surprised by my dear husband with this incredible camera last night!! I have no idea how to use it but I do know were to start.... read the manual!! Hopefully I'll be a pro or at least half way decent photographer by the time our little boy comes home. I have a lot of practicing to do.... so a word to all my family & friends..... SAY CHEESE!!

Bedding.... check

2009-01-25T09:20:00.009-06:00

Yeah.... we bought out crib bedding yesterday!! I'm excited ..... now we just need to buy the crib :) On the link I've added - look at the display with the bedding - that's it!! I hope to add more pictures when we get the quilt this week. Is that cute or what?!

Jazz meets a baby

2009-01-24T17:31:00.009-06:00

We had the pleasure of babysitting our neighbors little boy who is now 8 months old. It was great to let Jazz - our 5 year old lab - hang out with a little baby for the first time. It was SO cute!! At first Jazz just wanted to smell & lick him all over. Then he was fixated on the little boy's caterpillar. It was just precious to see him watch the little baby.

Is someone here to visit!

May I play with your toy?

May I PLEASE play with your toys !?

I think I like him....MOM can we keep him?!

2009-01-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

Say a prayer for Harper

My Nephew

2009-01-18T18:57:00.008-06:00

This is my nephew and he just turned 7 years old yesterday. It is amazing how fast time flies by. Today was his birthday party & I was told by my nephew that it was going to be "the place to be"!! I know you guys had a blast & I only wish we could have been there to celebrate with you. I would have won "Hot Potato" & you would have had to give up the prize money :) Happy Birthday big boy!!

Homeland Security Mail

2009-01-15T17:52:00.005-06:00

Wow... I have mail already from homeland security. Can't wait to see what I have - better not be something returned to me again.... grrrr.... what?! Appointment notice to have my biometrics taken? I'm guessing this is my fingerprint appointment? Oh, look.... it's on a day that my sweetheart can't make .... are you serious!! There is a section at the bottom "request rescheduling of appointment" and a phone number. I will be making a phone call. It says in bold & ALL caps - IF YOU FAIL TO APPEAR AS SCHEDULED, YOUR APPLICATION WILL BE CONSIDERED ABANDONED - yikes!!

Child Care Follow-up

2009-01-14T10:48:00.006-06:00

Well, we meet with the owner of the new child care center that is being built here in our little town. She had a great presentation. It all sounded wonerful. I had to giggle though... she asked if we had any questions & the first thing that popped in my head was.... is that price for a day, a week or a month :)

Child Care

2009-01-09T17:47:00.004-06:00

I just made an appointment to talk with someone about child care. How weird is that?! I was told there could be a big waiting list here our little town so I made the call. I don't know what he looks like or what his name will be but we might have child care all sorted ..... that sounds a little backwards doesn't it?