Ladies and Gentleman, Children of all Ages

This past weekend we took Shasha to the Ringling Brothers Circus that came to town. It was quite fun and considering the tickets were only $10 each... a pretty cheap outing for a VERY rainy day. Of course, we did also pay $10 for a cheesy circus hat filled with cotton candy. I think the cotton candy was Shasha's favorite part of the circus! She was disappointed because there weren't any donkeys, monkeys or horses there as well. But I am not really sure why she was expecting donkeys at the circus anyway?????

Our Little Pumpkin... The Apple of Our eyes!

Yesterday, while at a family birthday party I was asked, "Why are you adopting two more children?" Is that a question that really needs answering? Of course, I did answer with a smile on my face. But the more I think back about the question the more I ask myself why it was asked. Do these pictures of our family not show happiness? Joy? Love? Shasha truly is the apple of our eyes!! We know that we have enough love to share with more children. We have never questioned why we are adopting more children. And to be honest we have never questioned why the adoption of two more... after all, who knows maybe there will be more! We simply know that our family is not yet complete. Only time will tell! Right now... we are happy living our lives around Shasha and she is our every joy in life. SHE makes us want more children! SHE has shown us what true and unconditional love is all about!

We went to the pumpkin patch last week and this week we went picking apples!I believe that Shasha preferred picking apples... or maybe it was EATING apples!
Stay tuned for pictures at the circus!

Oh, what a difference a year makes...

Last year... Shasha at almost 2 years old...
This year... Shasha at almost 3 years old...

Last year... Capris, Tank top, flip flops... still hot!
This year... Pants, Long sleeves and a sweater, gloves... still cold!

Oh what a difference a year makes!
I will post more pictures of my little pumpkin very soon... right now... I am off to sit in the freezing cold temperatures, and wind...while bundled in any warm clothes I can possibly fit on, snuggled under at least 2 blankets as we cheer on the Phillies as they take on the Rays. Now we could do this from the comfort of our warm living room couch... but why do that when we can FREEZE!!!???? Scott says "when will we be able to do this again??" HHHmmm....

Our Taiwan Homestudy... and POOP

I received an email from our social worker that our Taiwan homestudy has finally been approved and sent for notarization!!!! OK... we are so ready for the next step! I guess that means we start our educational course now so we can "learn" about adopting internationally -AGAIN! 10 hours of class on the horizon!

Oh... and tonight we went to our local YMCA and signed Shasha up for dance classes and swimming classes! She is very excited and was singing the YMCA song all the way home. I didn't even know she knew the YMCA song... huh? She received her very own little membership card and I will forever see it and think of it as the poop card. Yup... the poop card. She sat down to get her photo taken and instead of saying "cheese", she said, "Mommy, my belly hurts and I have to poop." I swear that the photo was taken just as the word "poop" was said! Well.. anyway she starts next Wednesday with her Dancing Divas class! Now, I just have to be sure to leave school early enough to get her there!!!!

Finally... adoption news

There is finally some news for us on both adoption fronts... China and Taiwan! And though it certainly isn't "we have a referral" worthy... it is worthy none the less.
FIRST Taiwan... I start with the Taiwan adoption news because though we started our Taiwan adoption second... it is expected to happen first. I received an email today from our homestudy social worker telling us that our homestudy looks like it has finally been approved by our new agency and that it is expected to be sent out for notarization on Friday. Yes... this Friday. Seeing an end to our Taiwan homestudy journey is a relief. We were stuck in homestudy limbo for 3 and 1/2 months. Our first social worker visit was on June 25. Our homestudy was waiting for approval since the first week in August when our Taiwan agency suddenly closed its doors. Then... it sat with no one to approve it! It seemed at first that no one could help us. Thank goodness for our social worker! She stuck by us. She was our only line of communication for a long time. She helped us complete our homestudy! Once we have our homestudy we can finally send out for our I-600A for Taiwan. We have our fingers crossed for sending that out next week! Finally... we move one step closer to our child in Taiwan... Shasha's baby brother or sister!

SECOND China... This certainly doesn't sound like great news... but it is... for us anyway. An announcement has been made by USCIS that "grandfathers" us into the pre-Hague I-600A. Our current I-600A is only good for 18 months. Then, we get a free extension. That means that we would be good for 36 months of waiting. But now... with USCIS's new announcement... we can pay for another I-600A before our free extension expires and then apply for yet one more free extension. I know... it's kind of confusing. But in the long run it means that we can now wait up to 6 years for a child from China before we have to worry about changing agencies or OUR government standing in our way. I don't think we need to decide on a name anytime soon... our wait could very well be 6 years!

Blowing Pretty Bubbles...

One of Shasha's favorite things to do is to blow bubbles... pretty bubbles in the air! The bubble mixture drips all over everything... creates a huge mess...makes everything slippery... but Shasha is happy and so is Cindi Lou! Cindi Lou, our little doggie, loves to chase the bubbles as much as Shasha does! IMO, Gymboree does have the best bubbles going... they last so long! If we blow bubbles in the house... many of them will still be stuck to the carpet hours later. It is kinda cool:o)

Made in China...

I just couldn't resist taking these photos of Shasha with the "Made in China" box! She just decided that the box made a great little seat and my camera just happened to be not so far away. Shasha truly is the best thing made in China! Oh... and NO... she didn't come in the box...