it's just a little snow and ice, people

Now I've talked about this before, but I live in good ol' Ohio and the weather here can be stinky to say the least - 70s one day and freezing temperatures overnight, snow, ice, rain, humidity all in one week. Living in the Midwest gives the meteorologists plenty of time to determine the weather "headed for us" as it travels across the country. Any time it is going to snow or be ice-y, you would think that the world is coming to an end...the grocery stores sell out of bread and anything in the freezer section. Really? What are you going to do, sit around and eat sandwiches made out of corn and peas? And if the weather is actually bad, you will be able to get out of your house in about two days, so you aren't likely to starve. I estimate that we could live in this house for at least 10-14 days, so no way you would find me at the grocery today! 

The horrible, treacherous conditions are headed our way, so I'll let you know how bad it really is. If we're stuck in this house, I'll have plenty of time to blog :)

adoption #2 update

So I've been meaning to update y'all on where we are in the "baby sisser" adoption process...we were fingerprinted last week for USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration) and we have begun to gather dossier documents.

Damon and I - post fingerprinting

The adoption "rules" (for lack of a better word) will be changing in Moldova effective February 1, 2011.  The two biggest changes for us as adoptive parents is that the children will need to be on a national registry for a longer period of time (from 6 months to 12-24 months) and a longer stay in country (from 2-one week trips to 30 consecutive days). There are other changes, but they wouldn't affect us like the above two.

Now as parents who are "in the process" (I LOVE to be able to type that), it is unclear right now whether we will proceed under the old or the new rules. We have sent in enough dossier documents to be registered with the Ministry of Labor, but we could be under the new rules because we haven't accepted a referral. There could also be delays in the processing of adoptions as the new rules are implemented.

As always with international adoption, so much is in flux right now, but just like with Ukraine, God's timing will be perfect :) Ukraine stopped adoptions for about 5 months after we had sent in our dossier in 2007, and I just remember thinking that everything (aka my thoughts on how the adoption should progress) was messed up then. Of course it wasn't because Wesley wasn't available until the day we had our second appointment. I really thought that I knew when it would be best for us to travel to Ukraine, but I was SO wrong!! Besides Wesley not being available, we would have been in Ukraine in the winter - no thanks!!

Please pray for us (mainly Staci) as we (again, mainly Staci) work on the dossier. We have to find a notary who is able to travel to our dotcor's office to notarize our medical papers, and I am not feeling all that motivated to get things done. I think the weather has gotten me down. It has been downright dreary here in Ohio with no sun and inches upon inches of snow. Lately it always seems to be snowing which I enjoy when I am home in my pajamas, but not so much when I have to run errands or drive to work.

I am not going to end on a depressed note, so I do have some good news to share...Damon has been offered a new job!! I have been praying for him to get a new job since we started dating (seriously), which was over 10 years ago. He will still be working in government, but in a job much more suited to his talents and abilities. We are so thankful for this opportunity  for him, and I pray he likes it as much as he thinks he will :)

By the way...I FINALLY had time to make a new background!

Happy birthday, Doda!!

Today is my sweet Mom's birthday! I won't post how old she is today because I'm not looking for trouble...  :) At this point in his life, Wesley has almost learned the birthday song, but we're working on it. I practiced with him earlier today and spent a long time explaining the difference between "dear" and "deer." He kept telling me that Doda (his name for Grandma) "is not a deer, she is a girl" and that "Doda does not pull Santa's sleigh." Thank you, Wesley, I was confused. When he sang the song to her on the phone, he sang

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to my Doda, dear Doda  

Happy birthday to you

So happy birthday, DEAR Doda!! You're the best & we love you!!!

CHRISTmas update in photos

We had a wonderful Christmas! I could babble on about it, instead I'll show our day in pictures.

Wesley saw Uncle Scott's iPad and fell in LOVE!

my parent's fireplace and tree

the gift-opening begins

(notice the tongue sticking out? It was a theme of the day)

Pawpaw rocking out on the new guitar

now Wesley takes a turn

"riding" the new scooter in the box

now using it as it was intended

part of a wonderful gift from my parents  (makes me a little teary even looking at it)

Wesley's gift to Doda (looks like my mom, doesn't it? NOT at all!)

Wesley's gift to Pawpaw (words fail me, I have no idea how he picked this out for my Dad except that my Dad likes salt)

I'm sure you are wondering what Damon and I received...Wesley purchased a tiny picture frame for me (about 1" x 2") and Damon received a yellow plastic bracelet with the word "honor" on it

playing with a new train

Katie modeling her christmas wear

the basement Christmas tree on Christmas morning

the train Santa brought Wesley

instead of playing with the train, he sat down to read a book (just like his Momma would do)

Uncle Scott showed Wesley how cool iPhones are

pouting

another new train

showing the train to my cousin's daughter (I LOVE this picture)

the Christmas tree in the family room

our niece's daughter giving Katie a kiss

Wesley having a spot of tea

Katie was able to sleep amid the chaos

Wesley warmed up and started playing with his train

a picture before heading to bed (I cannot believe I didn't get a family picture all day!!)