Graduation

The last week of May was a busy one! The most important thing that happened was that my little brother graduated from high school. I can't believe that he is so grown up! I also can't believe that I am so old (I use to change his diapers). Jessica flew in from NYC and my grandparents even drove into town. It was nice to have the family together
but we missed you Jeffu.

On Friday night the Browns and Rita came over to celebrate with us and get to see Jessica.

What I did not know was that everyone was there to also surprise me with a banner and cake for my MBA graduation (which was a month ago or so). I was totally surprised and it was so great. Clark's parents even drove up and played the part of my surprise guests! Tobin got really excited when he saw them being sneaked in the front door and almost gave away the whole surprise.

Kissing Grandma bye bye! He will kiss people now if you ask him to.

Jenny was in town too and got to come to graduation!

Tobin fell back in love with his Aunt Jessa really fast! They were soon having a yelling contest.

Tobin likes to put food in his hair and this time it made a gel like substance.

My grandparents were in town for Jared's graduation and got to see how big Tobin has grown. They even got to see him do a somersault for the first time and the day they left he even said "Gigi" and "Bobba" which is what he calls them.

The graduation was great and Jared got to even lead a worship song and make his speech.

Tobin fell asleep half way and then slept for the rest of the reception and pictures afterwards.

The whole family at the graduation. We are so proud of you Jared! Now on to the next adventure in your life.

Mother's Day and Gardens

I had a great Mother's Day even though Tobin woke me up a few times in the middle of the night. We all had an early breakfast together and then went to church. Clark and Tobin had gone shopping for me and got me gift cards so I could go and buy some much needed clothes.

Tobin was really tired after church so he wouldn't smile much for our traditional Mother's Day picture. But, lately he likes to hug me when I pick him up and it is so cute. I love being a mom! All of the late nights, crying fits, and poopy diapers are so worth it when they hug you or call you mama.

I am so thankful for my mommy. Only now that I am a mom can a truly appreciate all that she has done for me. If I am ever a good mom it is only because of her!

Tobin and Destiny after church in the car! Best little friends.

Flowers that Jeff sent to Mom. It read "from your favorite Asian son". It was very sweet (good job Jeff!)

Mom looking at our present that we four kids made for her.

Tobin and Mommy's Garden!

A few weeks ago I started planting a garden and it has become Tobin's garden as well. Everyday we come out and water it. It is Tobin's favorite thing to do. He is only allowed to use a small measuring cup to water after drowning some of my seeds.

The plants have grown despite his help and he is learning how to not sit on them or dig them up. It has been a great activity for us to do together and I can't believe that we have planted some seeds and they have grown. Before this I have only killed house plants, so this is a big step in the right direction!

On the Waiting List At Last

Got the call yesterday that said that all of our paperwork is in and done! We are on the waiting list for a referral now. At this point, we are number 51. Of course some of those families want only a girl or boy or both. Soon we will be another number in the girl waiting list. While we are open to either a boy or a girl we are asking to be put in the girl waiting list. This will ensure that Tobin has a chance to get a little older before the adoption is completed.

I am very happy to finally be on the list and look forward to now just waiting. We still have to go and get our fingerprints taken for homeland security, but after that it is all about the waiting. This is the hardest part they say. Waiting and thinking about when you might get that picture of your future child. I am trying not to think about it too much. I really do want to just enjoy these next many months that we have just Tobin. Soon I will be taking care of two kids so I am enjoying getting lots of time just with my Tobini. All that to say that I know that sometimes it will be hard to wait.

Ye Old Renaissance Fair!

For the last three years we have gone to the Renaissance Festival here in Atlanta. It started as just a fun thing to do, but now it is a family tradition. Last year we went with Clark's parents and we decided that this year we would dress up. Yeah, we are that geeky. But it was sure fun! We fit right in at the fair.

Robin Hood and his mommy - though everyone that saw us said that I must be maid Marian. Emphasis on the word "maid" as in cleans us after him and gets bossed around by him. I made Tobin's costume myself out of an old t-shirt and some material. I didn't think it was that good, but he was so cute that he pulled it off.

Tobin was the hit of the fair. Everywhere we went people said he was so cute and asked to take his picture. He was also given free ride tickets and candy from one of the vendors. He had such a good time running all over the place. He didn't stop all day.

His favorite part was the petting zoo where he finally got to see sheep and ducks that weren't just in a book. He wasn't scared at all and let them eat grain out of his hand.

Sippy cup and sword! Don't mess with Robin Hood! Clark bought him the sword at the fair and he went around hitting everything.

Grandma and Grandpa with our little Robin!

Our little family! Clark's Dad bought me a pirate hat. Yeah, that's right I have a Captain Jack pirate hat! The little kid in me that loved to dress up and play pirates was so excited! I am telling you dressing up for a Renaissance Fair is so much fun!!!! Clark and I figure that it will be something we do every year and get better and better costumes. Our kids will love it! Until they become too old, and then it will be so un-cool!

Tobin loved his hat so much that he wore for the next two or three days.

Dossier Sent Off!

Last week I finished all of our adoption paperwork and got the home study corrected. Tobin and I went to the post office and mailed our completed dossier to our adoption agency. After months and months or hard work and jumping through tons of hoops for our state, country, and Ethiopia we are done with the big part of the paperwork. I also sent off our I-600 A petition to adopt to homeland security. They will have us come in a month or so and get our fingerprints done again before accepting us.

Hopefully everything was done correctly with the dossier and then maybe this week we will hear if we are on the waiting list for a baby. Right now they are saying that the wait is 4-8 months for a referral. A referral is when you are given a picture and information about a child that needs to be adopted. You have ten days to accept or ask for another. After you accept, the adoption starts to process and a few months later you travel to Ethiopia to pick up your new son or daughter.

Since Tobin is still so young (just 18 months old) we are asking for a young baby and will probably have to wait the whole 8 months. But, you never know. We could also get a referral for a toddler Tobin's age, which would make Tobin and the new baby twins of sort. More likely though they will be around a year apart.

I am very glad to have this behind me and most of my part of the adoption process over for now. Now we wait and pray that God will take care of our new baby wherever she or he might be.

Ethiopia T-Shirt

Look at what my wonderful husband had made for me! He surprised me the other day with this t-shirt. It has the Ethiopian flag on it and the Bible verse "I will not leave you as orphans". Clark has one too (though not pink), now we need to get one for Tobin. We are starting to look for books about Ethiopia in order to learn its culture and history.

In adoption news - there is not much. I got the completed home study in today but it had a mistake in it so I will have to wait another week for new ones that are correct. This is exactly why we started this process with Tobin still being so young. Little things like this can make it a long wait for a new baby. Ethiopia is still the fastest and cheapest country to adopt from. China wait lists are now up to 3 years just to get a referral.

Meanwhile, Tobin is growing fast and loving the nice weather. We are outside every day and he could stay out there forever if we let him. Clark was gone all this last weekend camping with his college friends. They camp twice a year and it is always a big deal. Tobin liked helping pack the big camping backpack.

He really missed Dada while he was gone. Anything that we did that reminded him of Clark (like hanging him upside down by his feet) got him asking for dada and then crying when he was told that dada was bye-bye. We are glad to have him back now.

Our home study was just approved by our adoption agency! That means that we did everything right and all of the paperwork was turned in correctly. Now we are waiting for the home study agency here in Georgia to print out and notarize the final copies and send them to us.

The next stage of the paperwork process in adoption is the dossier and the application that goes to CIS (use to be called INS). The dossier is the paperwork that goes to Ethiopia and gets us on the wait list for a referral. The CIS application is what will allow us to travel and bring an orphan back into the U.S. We need both, but both need the completed home study. So I am just waiting. We are so very close to being done with our part of the paperwork. The rest will just be waiting 4-6 months for a referral.

I have to say that while the paperwork process can be overwhelming at first, I think we waded through it pretty well. It was not as hard as I thought. The next time we adopt in the future it will be a lot easier.

In Other News......
After 3 long years, I have finished my MBA classes and I am out of grad school! I am so excited not to have homework that I don't know what to do with myself.