omg! What do you mean tomorrow is March 1st!!

I can't even express the nerves going on in my tummy :)

I just can not believe tomorrow is March 1st and 1 week from traveling!!

The time is just going SO fast!! It is so scary! The whole rest of the process seemed to drag endlessly, but not now :)

Last night we had company, friends that we have not seen since we moved here 2 years ago!  The husband was hired by my last company and actually lived with us for a couple of months when he moved to FL from CO. His wife is from the country that our new little one is from and she is SO excited that we are adopting from there. She was nice enough to go through the translations on my picture book and fix the ones that were wrong :)

Ms V got this beautiful dress with matching dress for her doll!!

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Can you tell how much she loves it!!

Danny got this really cool outfit!!

Dan was sent off to the range for a defensive shotgun course today so the kids and I kept busy.

I told him to have some fun me time cause he will be alone with the kids for who knows how long while I am gone :)

We spent the morning playing outside in the sun :)

Danny had a GREAT time on his scooter!

The really cool thing about the tummy nerves is that I am getting lots done!! And I have lost 4 pounds :)
I packed the big suitcase for their vacation. They leave on Saturday and I leave on Monday.
They will be gone one week for the annual family vacation. I hate to miss it :(
It will be easier for the kids since they are SO excited to be with Grampy, Grammy and the cousins!!
I don't think they quite understand that 1) I am not going with them and 2) that I am dopping them off at the airport and leaving and 3) that I will not be here when they get back.
At least Dan will have other adults around to help keep the kids busy!
So much to do - So little time!!!!! Needless to say my sleep has been horrible :(

Our Trip to Danny at OneTrueMedia.com

Today marks 6 years since gotcha day!! Six years ago we were in Grodno, Belarus in front of the judge who approved us as new parents!!
We love you!!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh Man oh man oh man!!

To Do Checklist:
"Ordered" our new money. It is supposed to be in around Wednesday of next week :) - CHECK
Transfered money to cover the adoption money - CHECK
Had all of Hubby's embassy paperwork notarized :) - CHECK
Find notary to notarize my signature on a POA for hubby - CHECK
Update Wills and find notary to notarize - CHECK
Stop mail delivery while away - CHECK
Stop newspaper while away - CHECK
Double check dog sitter is ready, update dog memo and write check - CHECK
Pick up Cipro for just in case - CHECK

oh man - getting nervous now!!!
Did anyone see the article in the paper about Lufthansa canceling flights because of a strike!!!!!
Want to guess who I am flying????????

Some cuteness from yesterday:

Do you HAVE to take pictures??

I LOVE to fingerpaint!!!

Hey! What is this on my belly???

Danny was not home for all this fun.

He went to the symphony with nana to see the Three Little Pigs :)

Blue & Gold Ceremony!!

Lasyt night was Danny's Cub Scout Pack's Blue and Gold Ceremony

Here is his Tiger Cub Den

Here he is getting his Tiger badge pinned to his shirt by a very proud daddy :)

Everyone clapped and all the kids giggled :)

Here is his painted Bear Claw!!

We celebrated by taking him to Dairy Queen!!!

We are so proud of you Danny!!!!!

Hard to believe that in 3 days it will be his 6th gotcha day!!

wow-bought the tickets!

Big day!! Bought the tickets!! Leaving on a jet plane on March 8th :)

My mind is just spinning with trying to think of everything that has to get done.

Ms V has been croupy again, but we think it is allergies. She can multi-task!

Here she is getting a breathing treatment and watching Cars on my ipod touch!

She can do so many things on the ipod touch! Dan is just amazed at how quickly she can play games on it!

Danny needed his hair cut too - so out came the dog clippers :)

He was so proud of his 'do. Can't believe how big he is getting :(

Ms V is growing up so fast too, she is finally into her doll house.

Just in time to have to SHARE it!! 

Ginger and Lexie were giving me the eye - guess it is dinner time :)

This is for all our friends and family freezing their behinds off:

65 degrees and outside in shorts!!!!

na na na na boo boo  :)

We Got It!!!!!!

Just got the email!!

I will be in Eastern Europe in 3 weeks!!!!

Playdate!

We had a great time at the Museum of Contemporary Art:

Victoria and Danny were trying to do a puppet show :)

Really cool light table

Creating funny little critters out of junk

Working with a collage and figurines,

Danny and his friend Emma :

Ms V tried :)

They had a great time :) Ms V suddenly announced "momma lets get outta here!!"
Everyone started to laugh, we promptly packed up and left. She was asleep in the car within 5 minutes :)

Hey baby it is cold outside!

Yesterday Danny's cub scout troop had to do a hike at a local park.

Did I mention that it was REALLY cold! It was 41 degrees outside :(

Here are the kids getting ready to head out on the hike:

Do they look a little cold??

Just hanging out by the very cold river!

Hard to see, but that is an eagle's nest in the crook of the tree. While we were looking at it a big beautiful bald eagle flew around the tree and settled on the nest :) :)

Victoria and I headed back to the playground and sun. Here she is telling me to catch her:

She was running around the playground like a crazy lady. She learned how to climb this chain ladder all by herself and went to town :!

Here is the slide - it is actually rows of rollers. The kids just LOVED going down it.

The kids had fun, but it was too cold :(

I actually had an ice cream headache from the cold wind on my face.

We left and went to a pizza place for lunch - ah heat :)

I just had to post this picture! WOW!! what a bad hair day :)

It is amazing how much she and Victoria look alike, especially in the mornings :)

Today we are off to the Museum of Contemporary Art - I hear they have heat :)

Too darn cute!!

Tonight while Danny and I were doing homework I heard Dan and Victoria just chatting away.

When I walked into the living room I found this:

Dan is playing with all her treasures!! What a guy :)

He doesn't do all the voices, but that's ok :)

She gave him a big hug and said "love you daddy"

What a GREAT DAD!!!

We still have not heard anything about a travel date, hoping and praying we hear soon!!
Will let you all know when we do :) :)

First Time!!

On Sunday we had brunch with Nana at River City Brewing in Jax.

It was right on the water and oh so pretty!

The kids were fascinated by the Koi Pond!

After stuffing ourselves silly we walked around the docks to look at boats:

We were all color coordinated!

If you look really close at the BIG boat at the end of the dock you will see that it's name is Victoria!!

Danny looked and looked but could not find one with his name on it :(

Nana had some things to do at her house for the superbowl dinner at our house so after eating and walking the waterfront we headed our separate ways.

SO for the first time Danny AND Victoria went to Nana's all by themselves!!

Hubby & I were ALONE!!! It was so quiet! It took Nana much longer than normal to get her stuff done, but the kids had a great time! Nana's kitty was very happy when they left. 

After our Gumbo dinner Nana and the kids made cookies:

Yes, they were very proud!

And we were very happy to watch the big game and see New Orleans win!!

Today was back to the usual.  After school Ms V and I headed out to get our hair cut.

Luckily she does not mind, as you can see :

Dan went to the barber while we were at the salon and we are all coifed and ready!

Danny will get the shears at home :)

Birthday Party!

We had a birthday party at Jungle Quest in Jax for a friend of Danny's in Cub Scouts. Place is really cool.

Ms V really liked the toddler area with pyramid and slide:

She did climb up the rope ladders, would not go down the big slides so I had to go up and rescue her. You can't really tell but she is sobbing in this picture. (bad mommy with the camera)

Danny was amazing! He got right up there with his harness on and just went to town!

They had a really cool obstacle course, several zip lines in the back and a large rock wall.

Here is Danny on the obstacle course:

His balance has always been an issue, but he did GREAT!

Do you believe this is the first time he has EVER climbed a rock wall!

Here is the group shot

How cool is this cake! If you look close you will see the zip line strung between the palm trees with a picture of the birthday boy hanging on it just above the open jaws of a croc!

AFter we left the party we made a quick run to the base which was across the street. They had a bunch of stuff on clearance so we picked up some pretty pink stuff for Gerri Sveta:

And best of all - I was able to find a jacket for Gerri on clearance!

This is all that I had left to get for her!

I think the colors are going to look great on her :)

Helping Daddy :)

Victoria's turn to help with dinner. Daddy decided pancakes sounded really good.

Here she is getting a cup out of the cabinet :

Blurry because they are getting the lumps out :)

do those pj's look a little big?? turns out she raided Gerri's dresser :)
I didn't think they looked familiar....
(when I asked her why she was wearing Gerri's clothes she told me she missed her...)

Woo hoo!!!

Just heard - WE HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED!!!!

Hopefully we will hear in about a week when we will be traveling!!!!

Happy Dance :) :)

We are famous!!

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