We've got SWIMMING

What is there to do on these chilly and grey days of winter? Well of course- lets swim. Jack began swimming lessons this week at the pool in a neighboring town. He loves it and mommy is super impressed with the teacher and the program. Jack goes to lessons on tuesday and thursday mornings. He loves to make aligator hands- for diving, foating on his back, kicking his feet and pushing off the wall. He is thoroughy loving his time in the pool. Mommy loves that he comes home with a little less energy.

Dad's Night at Preschool

This last Thursday marked an important night of Jack's preschool career. It was the much anticipated Dad's night. Every child was to bring their dad to experience all the splendor and chaos of preschool.In one room they did a craft, in another they made a snowman snack and they rode scooters in the last room One of the most exciting things was getting to shave dad's face. Jon was thrilled (as you can imagine) and Jack thought it was terrific.

Go to work with Mom....

and look what happens! This week Jack got the chance to come with mom when she did youthgroup. Of all the nights for him to come this week was one of the best "DUCT TAPE NIGHT". Yes a whole evening devoted to all things duct tape. Games, projects and random trivia were just part of the fun. Jack had great time being duct taped to the wall (under supervision of coarse) and hanging out with "big kids". At the end of the night he even came away with a rocking duct tape shirt to boot. When you are a wild and crazy four year old..there are some perks to having a mom who does youth minstry.

Sunshine and Sand

Today was beautiful, but cold. The sun shone bright and so Jack and I hit the road and headed up to GreenLake in Seattle. It is one of our favorite places to go when the sun is out. I picked Jack up from preschool, we enjoyed special lunch and then we walked around and played at GreenLake. Even on this chilly day the park was packed. Jack spent a lot of his time building volcanoes in the sand. When it came time to wash off all that sand Jack just looked at me and said " Mom, can't I just go swimming. That would get me clean." Because a general no was not going to suffice we walked over to the lake and watched the ducks and seagulls walk on the ice. This visual seemed to get the point across.Once again the sunshine spurred our desire for some warm weather and more sunny days.

Adoption Update | KICKED OUT

UGGGGHHHHH... We received a phone call this afternoon from our adoption agency informing us that due to two minor issues our case has been kicked out of PGN. We had hoped that our stay in PGN would have been swift and uneventful. However at this point we can probably add two more months..at least..to this process called adoption. On top of this, due to recent changes our case will have to now have to be registered with a new department known as Central Authority before it can be put back in the stack to wait to enter PGN. I have to admit that today I am feeling deflated. I realize now how much I had allowed myself to get excited about Max coming home. Please pray that our minor changes happen quickly, we are registered with CA promptly and that our entry to PGN will also move along. We appreciate all the support and prayers.

A Little Bit of Sunshine

After much rain and gray sky, today the sunshine broke through. All day the sun's sweet rays were upon us and the temperature outside actually hit above 50 for more than an hour. In celebration of this we put on layers of fleece and hit the road for a beautiful drive to Snoqualmie falls. There we met about 300 of our closet friends who also had the same sun starved brilliant idea. We watched the falls, the squirrels and the tourists. How spoiled are we that the beautiful falls are in our very own backyard (so to speak). Jack loves the falls and we love to hike down to the falls, but due to all the recent rain the trails were closed today. To meet our need to hike we loaded back into the car, drove 5 minutes up the road to the Ridge at Snoqualmie. We walked the neighborhoods, looked at the beautiful mountains and found a fun park. The hours of sunshine made me long for the spring and for summer. We shall see how my tune changes come mid July and all the heat.

Sidenote-Jack has entered the famous and oh so lovely "Lyons Boy" stage of life where when asked to have his picture taken he gives funny & half hearted smiles...or he refuses to make eye contact with the picture taker. This photo loving mama though refuses to let that put a damper on picutres...we will just click through this phase...like all the others!

A Hard Days Work

This morning Jack decided that he wanted to play office.I think that this has been fueled by the fact that he has been reading books about a busy mouse who works in a newspaper office. He wanted to be a "sir" that had lots of gold and that went on "many travels to the pyramids of Egypt" and that wore a tie. This office play lasted for an amazing 2 hours (I was SHOCKED)Jack sat for a while at his desk and did some writting and stamping on important forms. He brought his assistant (aka his lovely mother who was happy to assist in between scrubbing toliets, wiping down the showers and moping bathroom floors) some documents to mail and to sign as well as preparing travel plans. He enjoyed a coffee break with apple juice and goldfish crackers. A little before noon he spent some time writting letters to his friends and resting before "his long hard trip to Egypt". So much to do. So little time. Ahh, the such is the life of an important "sir".

Yeah Shinny Teeth

Jack has caught onto the world of blogging. He enjoys looking at the pictures especially. As we speak he is trying to decide on the name for his blog so that he can do some writing of his own. We shall see. So when we set about our morning Jack asked me if I had my camera. He wanted to make sure that if something exciting happened "we could put it on the computer". So per Jack's request I now present our exciting day (drumroll please) TA-DA : Jack had an appointment at the dentist this morning. He handled it like a pro. He had his moth open before his butt even hit the chair. Jack sees a Pediatric dentist and even though he loves it,I his mommy am a little creeped out when I am there. The room is brightly colored and has odd shaped furniture. The assistants and the dentist are overly friendly, have huge,perfect smiles. They wear kid themed smocks and crazy shoes. While they clean the childs teeth they sing disney tunes, the have tools named "magic straw" and the "tooth tickler". While a bit overwhelming to the adult senses in the end my kid loves the dentist, sheds not one tear and will actually sit still an let a strange crazy lady put her hands all in his mouth with no threat of biting...so to that...Yeah Shinny Teeth!

Who gets the banana baby?

Jack has the latest picture of Max in his bedroom. Sometimes it is on his bulletin board, other times it is a book mark, other times it is shoved under his bed. (Ahh brotherly love). This morning Jack called me into his room. He was on his bed looking at the Max picture. "Mom" he said " Who gets the banana baby?". For a moment I was confused, then I looked again at the picture. In every picture we get of Max he is sitting on a check up table in front of Anne Gedes style pictures with babies dressed up like giant fruits. One is an apple, one a bunch of grapes and one is a banana. Jack pointed to the picture of the baby dressed as a banana and again asked "Mom, who gets the banana baby?". I explained that the babies were wearing costumes and they were just pictures. He responded " Oh. Okay....(pause).... it would be okay if we did get a banana baby. Daddy and me love bananas."

Adoption Update

Today marks Max's seven month birthday.(UGGGHHH.. We are so anxious to have him home)He continues to be developing well and is in great health. On the adoption front there is big news in PGN (our final stop in the process). As of January 2nd PGN has shut down and is no longer taking new applications and if you have been kicked out you cannot be resubmitted at this time. We were one of the final families to enter PGN. Currently our case is safe. However it is now more than every very important that we do not get "kicked-out" of PGN. Please join us as we pray that our case is reviewed promptly and that we don't get kicked out. It is uncertain at this time when PGN will reopen. It most likely will be several months as the new President takes office and they set in to place some of the Hauge Convention implementations. We covet your prayers and we will keep you posted.