Dinner by Travis

Travis made dinner last night. It was not only beautiful, but delicious. It was New York Strip topped with peppercorn and rosemary with a pomegranate and brown sugar glaze, baby spring greens with EVOO and balsmic vinegar dressing and garlic parmersan bread. It was yummy! I wish we always had time to make a nice dinner and sit down as a family to eat.

Callie is 7 months old today!

Unfortunately, no new pictures of Callie. Today Callie is 7 months old. I hope she is having a good day. I know our wait to meet her has grown due to the meeting of the quota on EPs. This saddens me, but I know that everything will work out.

Pictures from Halloween

This was the first year that we took Jenny out of the house on Halloween. We have always dressed her up and took pictures, but never ventured outside the house. Jenny really didn't get the whole Halloween/trick or treating until the end of the night. Then she kept letting me know that she wanted to go some more. Travis and I carved the pumpkin while Jenny took her nap. We had a great time, but didn't have many trick or treators at our house. That was pretty surprising. I posted a few pictures. Jenny was Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street this year. Jen loves anything Sesame Street!

On the adoption front, we are just waiting. Right now we are waiting on Callie's legals to show up. Since we aren't even a full month into the wait, I can say it hasn't been bad. However, I know that will change. I'm just glad that the holidays will keep us busy. I'm sad she won't be with us for Christmas, but I know that she is loved in her foster home.

New Name

After many attempts, we finally have a name for our new daughter. She will be called Callie Lynn JeeMin Ragland. We are so excited for her to come home. The wait will be long and painful, but we know that she has excellent care and is happy. That provides us with comfort. Now, the buying begins! We need more car seats, another high chair, baby furniture, nursery decorations . . .the list keeps growing!

Our New Daughter

We received a referral! She is a beautiful girl born on April 12, 2009. She is living with her 35 year old foster mom and her family in South Korea. We hope that we will be able to go get her in 3 to 6 months. We are so excited and can't wait to meet her. I've attached four pictures. The woman in the picture is her foster mother. This is the foster mother's first baby. My heart breaks for the birth mother that had to relinquish such a beautiful child, but the foster mother will definitely have a hard time after caring for this wonderful being for so long. Pray that time passes fast!

We have been waiting for a referral for 7 months today. My patience is still holding. Luckily, we are so busy that there isn't much time to think about a referral. We held our annual benefit for the day school. The crowd was low this year, but we still received lots of donations. We truly enjoy giving back to a school that helped us through the first year of Jenny's life. Travis is still really busy with school. I've been on a frantic search for both flu vaccines for Jenny as well as both of us. The mass flu clinics being held around the state seem to be our best bet. I just want to make sure that Jenny is protected. I guess I just can't understand those parents that refuse to vaccinate their kids. Both vaccines went through the same testing process. I definitely think any risk with the vaccines is outweighed by the risk of serious complications from either form of the flu. I know of two children with Jenny's disorder that passed away last flu season from complications from the regular seasonal flu. I wish all parents would take the precautions because even if your child survives what about the child that contracted the flu from your child? What if that child becomes seriously ill or even worse dies? I guess I will get off my soapbox for now. I just get frustrated with parents that can't see the danger they put all kids in by not vaccinating, not just theirs.

Family Photo Session

We had family photos made a few weeks ago. It was our first ever family photos. They turned out pretty good. Jenny is not always an easy subject to photograph. She hardly smiled in the group pictures and my mouth seems to be constantly open! I was talking-imagine that! I've posted a few of the best pictures. A woman I went to high school with that is a few years younger than me took these. She is very gifted! If you need pictures, check out her website. (www.melissamccrotty.com/blog/) She is located in the Russellville/Pope County area.