Fun Friday

Well, since all I can think of today is the fact that we're going to Florida tomorrow to see my best friend, H, I'm going to do a travel post.
10 great trips I've taken (I can't guarantee it's the top 10 but 10 that have been great in no particular order):
1. Europe with family when I was 9
2. Cross Country Trip with parents, brother, and grandparents when I was about 11(?).
3. Trip to FL to visit H and family then SURPRISE trip to Disney (surprise for the kids) with my in-laws!
4. Disney with LOTS of family after Brian returned from Iraq
5. Honeymoon to Disney (yes, we are Disney nuts - I am just a big kid in some ways and Brian inherited his love of all things Disney from his Mom)
6. Trip to Disney before Brian started Active Duty - best part of this trip was that it was impromptu - decided a week or so before hand that we were going and we loved it! So relaxed!
7. Trip to Gettysburg after Brian's first deployment. Awesome time just the 2 of us.
8. Trip to France in High School
9. Trip to Texas to visit A and E (and E and M's wedding)
10. Trip to VT with N (this would be H too but I have two good friends named H and N is a good nick name), K, A, E, and A. 4 of us worked together at a camp in VT over 10 years ago now (scary thought) and we got together for a 10 year reunion!

These may not all be to the most exotic places (only a couple of big trips really) but they're all trips I've truly enjoyed! There are many more but I could go on all day about traveling! ;) Such fun, even though it's more challenging with kids. Looking forward to a VERY exciting trip to Korea eventually! :)

Good News for Prospective Adoptive Parents

The Adoption Tax Credit has been extended to 2011. We are not sure that our adoption will be finalized by 2011 (it takes about 6 months from when we bring our child home) but I'm hopeful that if it isn't, there's a chance that they'll extend it to 2012 as well. There's also a bill on the table to make the tax credit permanent. That would be great! In any case, it's good news and great for all of those who are able to finalize in 2011! :)

Waiting Wednesday

Many of the blogs I follow have Waiting Wednesday posts - always creative and it's exiting to realize another week has gone by and the process is moving along (especially during the long USCIS weeks coming up for us).

This week I wanted to post about Korean Food:
We were blessed this past Sunday. The wonderful family who hosts our church home group is Korean and A was willing to have the other women come over early and allow us to help her out (I think it was more work for her to have us there - it's like when kids "help" you do things) in making a Korean meal and then our whole home group ate it.

I've never had Korean food and was a bit nervous. I actually loved the food and amazingly even my kids found things that they really liked (my picky 6 year old asked for more of one dish!). I wish I could tell you what I ate but I'm still working on it.

Adoption process

OK, many people are new to the adoption process so I'll catch you up as to what we've been through so far.

1. December 1 - Application accepted and started the paperwork
2. December - LOTS of paperwork, 4 medical exams, recommendation letters, 2 birthdays, fingerprints, Christmas, had papers notarized, sent $ to adoption agency, FBI, NY, KS, IN, and VA, New Year's Eve.
3. January 2 - All paperwork sent to Barker (adoption agency).
4. End of January - assigned a wonderful social worker.
5. End of Feb - Homestudy began. A homestudy is a series of interviews with a social worker so that she (or he) can get to know you and make sure you, your family, and your home are ready to receive a(nother) child.
6. March 17 - last homestudy visit, house walk through, and she met the kids.
7. Now she's finishing up the write up of our homestudy and the next step is USCIS approval (more on that soon!).

Our next step is a nice vacation! Visiting my best friend H! Can't wait! Wish Brian could come with us. The kids can't wait b/c H's kids are some of their best friends as well! :)

New to Blogging

Hi! I'm new to the world of Blogging. I've been following some blogs, mostly about adoption and/or parenting, and I'm finally jumping in and creating one as well. I'm Christy, married to a wonderful husband, Brian. We have two beautiful children - B and G (aka E if I forget later). We're in the process of adopting #3.
It's a long process and we're only about 4 months in which really doesn't bring us very far into it (more on that later).
This blog is mostly an outlet for all the thoughts swirling in my head and a way of documenting our journey and our family adventures so that I can share it with all of our children one day.
Hope you enjoy and don't judge me too harshly! :)
Thanks,
Christy