5th Anniversary -from Clay-

It seems like 5 is too big of a number, but it is true. It has been a very fast, eventful, and family filled 5 years. Although, it also seems like we've been waiting to go get Violet for about 10 years . . . The best part of our anniversary was getting a video of Violet from Dillon. It was so great. I sat and watched it five times. She smiled at one time, but was mostly silent. She's going to fit in well, we're a very quiet family!

We went to Carino's for our anniversary.

Noodles was our previous favorite, but they changed their bread and pizza. I like the new bread, but Amanda doesn't. I don't eat the pizza, but Amanda does. The chicken parmesan was excellent as always, but for a restaurant to be our favorite, we both have to like it best.

Carino's might have been our new favorite, but their chicken parmesan was kind of like rubber chicken parmesan. I had the lasagna last time and it was great, but you can't be my favorite with bad chicken parmesan.

CLAY

Noodles in Trouble, Girls' Clothes

OOO NO! We went out to my favorite restaurant, Noodles, this week and they have CHANGED THEIR BREAD!!! I am soooo sad over this! I also ordered pizza like always and it was different and awful too!

Well, onto a more positive subject - my youngest is 6 months old as of yesterday!!

So, according to babycenter.com she could possibly be rolling all around, maybe sitting up, & imitating sounds. I wish so much that I could know what she was doing! I wonder if she will be starting solid foods this month. Being pre-term they may have her wait. I wish I was making that decision. I am sure her foster mom is taking good care of her though. I wish I could get more pictures or send another package! I thought we were going to get a video of the last visit, but we are still waiting!

I love blogs with lots of pictures! Colorful, fun pictures! I came across this blog today full of pictures of strawberries! I also love Aunt Ruthie because she finds the BEST pictures for her blog! I have no idea where/how people find their pictures! I love finding pictures to put on my blog also (they just make me so happy!), but I am not so good at it. Maybe I will try a "theme" sometime like the strawberry page :).

I LOVE having a daughter and I cannot wait to have TWO! I love my son, but girls have the cutest clothes (and he does not like me to pick his clothes)!! When I was little I always wanted two little girls that I could dress alike and I hope I get the chance to do that one day soon :) In the meantime, my current hobby is searching out the cutest clothes for girls...

Here are some of my favorite finds on Etsy.com *sigh*:

Okay, so I am pretty terrible at updating this blog. We did announce our referral of our precious little girl! Sunday at church, my parents, Clay's mom and one of my brother's and SIL came, so we had a nice full pew. Clay did an excellent job. It was a surprise to me, too, as he would not tell me how or when he was going to announce it. He began his sermon by talking about patience and used our adoption as an example and then up came her pictures on the overhead screen and there was a big GASP! from the congregation and my mom started crying and I leaned over and saw my son point & say "That's my sister!" It was so sweet! So we have been getting a lot of congratulations and questions from lots of family and friends. It is so sad that we have to wait 8-12 months before we can bring her home.
So it has now been ONE month of waiting. 11 more to go (or hopefully 7!).So what to do for the next 11 months? I have NO idea! I have, however, bought 2 Asian baby dolls off ebay that my daughter, Faith, loves to play with and carry around with her and she calls them both "Violet". Which brings me to another announcement - we have officially decided to name Bo Ra, Violet! It has been nice to call her Violet and every time I see something purple I think of her and want to buy it! But I don't. I want to buy her clothes so bad but I don't know what size she will be when she comes home. I don't know if or when I will get to send another care package. Right now we are also trying to save money. We still do not have all the funds needed for travel. I guess there is a positive side to having to wait 8-12 months - time to save up! We also are focused on gifts for her foster parents. I am really nervous about finding just the right gifts. They need to be items made locally (or at least in the USA). These people are and always will be so special to us. I really like this clutch and may get it...it takes me a long time to make decisions. Drives Clay crazy, LOL.
So because of the expense of the adoption/saving we decided to have a STAYcation this year. Clay did get a grill for his birthday from his mom and he had fun grilling lunch and dinner almost everyday! And I had fun eating it! We went to the farmers market (which I LOVE) and got a lot done at home. Clay and I love to eat out at our favorite restaurants. We went to Johnny Carinos and I had the best pizza! It was even better than the pizza at Noodles, my favorite restaurant! But Noodles has better bread, so they will keep my business ;)