IT'S OFFICIAL!

Yup...Washington now recognizes our family of four.  Funny, the U.S. government makes us jump a bunch of hoops (for good reason) to be approved for adoption and immigration, but our state makes us jump through more hoops when we get home!  Anyway, it's done, thanks to a couple adoptive family friends who are AWESOME!  Because you know what?  There's no set way to do the paperwork in most counties.  Kinda a shot in the dark.  Just about the only clear thing is the fee!

Passing the time by TRYING to get some pictures.  C likes to make it a challenge.

The judge was super nice and wanted to make sure we had a picture of ourselves as petitioners.

And now, we let paperwork get through the system and then begin the process for citizenship.  And more government fees. Yay. :)

If you need help, go to the Washington Readoption blog that an AGCI family created.  If you are filing in Clark and want some help, email me.  We used all of the docs on the blog, but there are some little things that I can share with you about Clark that might save you some time and stress!

REASON #89 I'M GRATEFUL FOR MY YEAR AT HOME

I learned how to sew on Tuesday.  Okay, okay...so I can sew one thing.  A purse. And I certainly need to work on sewing a straight line.  My worst grade ever was in 8th grade home economics.  Mostly because my sewing was atrocious.  These are Christmas gifts for my nieces.  Thanks to my mom for being my machine consultant and the boys for being my style and design consultants.

Now the boys want purses too.  And I'm left pondering how to boy it up.

Last night, Aaron got the boys in the car as I finished getting ready.  I jumped into the car with a scarf...for the first time.  D thought it was HILARIOUS that I was wearing a "towel" around my neck.  When we returned back home, he tried to convince me to let him wear the "towel" around his neck while he brushed his teeth.  The funnies of living with a "foreigner" -- totally cute.

Tomorrow, we're off to see the judge...hoping that he/she is cool with our paperwork and declares our adoption as FINAL!  Can't wait!

WHEN IT'S ALL COMBED OUT

Thought it was time to see how "big" his hair is so I combed it all out.  He got a kick out of his picture...he thought it was pretty funny.  Not sure where we're going with this hair.  I did trim it a little the other day and that made the back of his head (such a pain!) more manageable.

Making some gifts...

I'm really glad we ended up buying a full/twin bunk for Derebe because all four of us can jump in, cuddle, and read together at night. :)

The boys sorting while I clean out and organize our learning/creative cabinet.  We probably go through almost two dozen eggs a week and occasionally, those cartons come in handy!