Chloe Grace Day...2 years ago

Chloe Grace, June 29th 2008 in Chongqing, China

Chloe Grace graduating from kindergarten, June 4th, 2010

Two years ago we were in Chongqing, China. We were axiously waiting for our guide, Alison, to call and tell us our sweet girl had arrived. We didn't have to wait long. The last 2 years have been wonderful! The time has flown by, really. Chloe Grace has come so far. She was such a scared, yet brave girl when we met that day. Now she's confident, loving, and oh - so sweet! She's such an amazing little girl! I'm so grateful to be her mommy.

I'm still in denial...I can't be the mother of a teenager!!!

Jarod and I - June 6, 1997

Jarod and I - 13 years later - June 6, 2010

Jarod turned 13 a few weeks ago. He's such an amazing young person! He wanted a "Survivor" themed birthday party, so that's what we did! The kids all had a great time. There were 18 kids that we divided into 2 tribes. They each named their tribe and designed their tribe flag. We had "Pickles" and "Gryffindor". They competed in various challenges: an obstacle course, a food challenge (they had to pair off and eat not-so-kid-friendly food; grapefruit, black beans, jalepenos, brussel sprouts and saurkraut), who could stuff the most marshmallows in their mouth, who could jump on the trampoline the longest without falling...we all had so much fun! And now, I'm the mom of a teenager...it just doesn't seem possible. Jarod...I'm so proud of you. You've been such a blessing to our family. You are smart, fun, witty and caring. You are a great brother and an amazing son. I'm blessed to be your mom!

Light at the end of the paperwork tunnel

We're almost done with our paper chase to bring home our sweet Sophia. I mailed a package on Monday to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) with our application in it. I've been told it's taking families about a month to receive their approval. If that holds true, then we might be able to have our dossier to China within the next 6 weeks....my goal is to be DTC (dossier to China) before school starts in August.