We've had a couple of full weeks around here lately, I guess it's that time of year.  In the next 3 weeks alone, we have 3 graduations, a wedding, and a milestone birthday to celebrate.   Some day, I will look back and wonder where all of these days have gone.

This past Saturday, we attended the wedding of a co-worker (mine);  traveling west to be there.  I also did the wedding cake, which was a lot of fun and maybe a little stress, but that's part of the job.  Driving with several sheet cakes and a large table cake in the back of your car for several hours made me a little nervous, but we made it all intact.  It turned out well and everyone seemed to have a great time.  

We also recently visited a new school for Caleb.  He has been in speech therapy for almost a year now and has been making a lot of progress.  But the past couple of months, I have been a little concerned that maybe he doesn't have as many consonants as he did.  It almost seems like he has regressed a little: words he tried to say months ago, I cannot get him to even acknowledge anymore.  I voiced these concerns to his speech therapist who agreed with me and said she was glad I noticed because she has been a little concerned, too.  Now, taking into account that my son came to the US at 18 months of age and didn't speak a word of English anyway, plus having a mouth full of scar tissue from a repaired cleft palate--it's enough to set anyone back some.  But we also can't sit back and say, oh well, that's just how he is.  So, we visited a preschool that he could possibly attend next fall.  It's through the public school system and he can receive speech therapy several times a week instead of twice a month as he is currently getting.  The program is for kids age 3-5, so we went to see a classroom.  My first thought when we walked in the door was, "oh my gosh, all these kids are so big!"  Caleb did not seem big enough or old enough to be anywhere near that classroom.  But the teacher explained that half the class is 5 and attending kindergarten next year, and Caleb won't be starting (at the earliest) for a few months anyway.  He just seemed so small.  I know, I know, I'm just being some kind of overprotective parent.  I don't care.  

But I am interested in this program and we sat through some of their activities and classes.  Russ is going to go and visit next week to see what he thinks.  We don't even have to make a decision right away, but we are thinking ahead depending on how things go with the speech.

On a further note, we also recently filed immigration paperwork for baby 2.  I'm not sure how to refer to this child.  We do not have a match yet, so there is no name or identity to think of yet.  I guess I'll have to be vague for a while.  Anyway, before traveling for an international adoption, for many countries (including China), you must file immigration paperwork.  It's a pre-approval of sorts.  This way, when we return to the US, our new baby will automatically be a citizen when we arrive.  To file this for this status requires filling out a 10 page application and sending a copy of our homestudy.  This was recently delayed because our final copy had a typo that needed to be corrected and it took several more days to finish and remail.  As I've said a million times before, such is life in the adoption world.  We're hoping to hear that it's been approved and receive an appointment to be fingerprinted at the Dept of Homeland Security.  Of course, there is always a chance that it will not be approved--well, just need to be changed--so we will have to make the changes to the application and/or homestudy and then send it back again.  And it keeps going from there.....

On a final note, in the midst of all of our traveling, Owen lived with my parents for a while.  He loves being at the farm and they, too, seem to enjoy his presence (at least more than I do at times).  So, he got to stay at his favorite place for several days and to repay my generous parents for that: he ate my dad's hearing aids.  Anyone who criticizes a beagle owner for having a fat dog doesn't understand that beagles will eat anything.  This proves my point.  Apparently, my dad thought it was safe to leave them out of his ears and on a coffee table.  Obviously not.  He left the room briefly and returned to find Owen sitting on the floor, chewing them up.  How's that for gratitude?  

Ok, I'm off to call the insurance company.......

Seating for 7

I recently had a conversation with someone about how I have a list of blogs that I follow, and, while I check them periodically, no one seems to want to update them as much anymore. I'm blaming this on Facebook. I actually do like Facebook: it has allowed me to learn about new babies, engagements, new jobs, gives birthday reminders, and just keeps me up with what is going on with most of my friends. I even recently was able to connect with a dear friend from high school, whom I haven't seen in several years, through Facebook. It was wonderful to catch up. So, Facebook is not my enemy. I just think it has replaced a lot of blogging that normally goes on, and I kind of miss it all. I was explaining this to someone, and they responded, "you're right, Meg. I check your blog all the time and you don't seem to update yours much either." Ok. Point taken.
As I write this, in a couple of hours, I will be leaving for the west to attend a graduation for a friend of mine. We're going to be carpooling with another couple and their daughter. We recently bought an SUV. We traded in my pickup that only had a small jump-seat and is not conducive to carrying toddler(s) around. So, we upgraded. Our new (to us) vehicle is touted as being able to seat 7 comfortably. Seven? Do I need to fit that many? When we were buying it, I was sweating. I thought, seven. That's a lot of children. Visions of the future were running through my brain of it being full of nothing but children. The screaming, arguing, DVD's playing, etc. I almost turned back. I mean, we're only working on our 2nd child here. But, we went for it, and now that we are transporting adults in it this weekend, I can definitely see the advantages of it. So, it was a good idea. And, I like to drive it.
Our 2nd adoption continues and we have finished our home study. I really like our social worker. I mean, she's very efficient anyway, but I also just like her as a person. We are currently trying to file an application for citizenship for our new child, so that when we go to China to bring them back, they will become a US citizen when we arrive. It has to be done before paperwork can be sent overseas, and is also almost always done even before you can be matched with a child. So, as always, there are snags. Communication problems, mail delivery issues, etc. I forgot how frustrating it can be. I imagine it is like what people say when they deliver a baby: you forget about the pain after the child has arrived. I've (sort of) forgotten how difficult it is to adopt because we have Caleb now and I haven't thought of it anymore. Until we are faced with these delays for our new one. I'm trying to be upbeat about it and do other things that are fun (or at least distracting). For instance, recently Phil Keoghan of the Amazing Race was in town, as he was riding his bike across America to raise money for MS. We're big fans of the show, so my sister and I found out where he would be and went to see him. No, we did not stalk his hotel room. He was signing books at a store nearby, so we met him and got his autograph, and he was a very nice guy. Not that I encounter celebrities all that much anyway, so what do I know? He took a picture with us, and we did not make him re-enact a scene of running up to the mat at the Pit Stop (if you watch the show, you know what I mean), but a woman and her husband who were in front of us did just that. He graciously went along with it and said his part so they could get the whole thing on film. Hmm. And I thought we were the big fans.
I'm off to go pack and get ready for the weekend. This post has been sort of a ramble because so much goes on in between the times that I actually do post on here. Then it becomes sort of disorganized, so please forgive my blathering on about the mundane. Wait. That's all of life. This is the same as Facebook; it just takes longer to read.