Whooo's 1? Grace is 1!

Now that she's almost 13 months old it seems like the perfect time for me to post the obligatory birthday post for Grace. I've been a bit busy of late -- please excuse my tardiness.

We celebrated Grace's first birthday is girly-owl fashion on Saturday, 10/30 (her actual birthday). Somehow we managed to cram in the festivities in between the ending of Jack's football season. Truthfully, when we planned the party we didn't realize we wrote down the wrong "end of season" date; once we realized our error it was too late to change things! Grace had everything owl for her party (I'm borderline obsessed with owls) with plent
y of pink to go with it. I bought her pretty pale pink Piggy Paint for her first "pedicure" -- which consisted of Luke holding her legs at still as possible while I smeared a little paint where toenails will surely be once she gets a bit bigger (she has tiny feet). The entire family feasted on lasagna and meatballs and bowtie pasta as Grace demonstrated her love for Italian food by consuming a rather adult-size portion of lasagna.

Then it was on to the cake! I so wanted a pink cake for Grace but since she has a strawberry intolerance, we had to improvise. I added some pink food coloring to the cake batter and voila! Grace tore into that cake before I was able to get a good picture of it and all it's owl-cuteness. Compared to her brothers, Grace was a champion cake eater. She ate almost half of the cake before we realized it and was AMAZINGLY clean.

After cake and the necessary bath time, Grace opened her presents. She got soooo many clothes and plenty of pink toys (had to help balance some of the boy-ness she's always surrounded with!).At one, Grace is standing independently, walking with assistance, has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom -- fortunately it seems her "snaggle tooth" is clearing up on its own!). She is able to climb at break-neck speed and she's learned the subtle art of fake crying (with very real tears!) when she doesn't get her way. Grace is a pro at saying "mama" and "dada" and she's working on "Jack" and "Sam"; she still screams in her very pterodactyl-like way to get our attention. Grace is quite the dancer and loves to clap and sway to just about all music -- which makes our cute little walking song that we sing with all the kids a bit counter-productive! Grace is 20lbs 4oz and is 28.75" long with a head circ of 18.5", putting her right around the 30th percentile in height and weight and over the 90th percentile in head circ.
Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Adoption Update

Aren't you guys tired of that title? I am, but I've got nothing else so it'll have to work. Here's the most recent update on the adoption journey.

I finally worked up the courage to contact our Family Home Developer and ask about a specific time table for placement. I say "worked up the courage" not because I'm afraid of the FHD but because I was a little worried about what she'd say. Truthfully I'm not sure there is an answer she could have given that wouldn't make me a little nervous. If she had said the new baby is on the way right now I would have freaked and had she said (which she did) that we're still weeks away I would have been bummed (which I am).

Here is our tentative time line as of this morning (the date in parentheses is the deadline):
*2 weeks to write up home-study (Nov. 18)
*1 week to review home-study and arrange for us to sign our license (Nov. 25) (obviously this is Thanksgiving Day so I'm certain that will move the time line a bit).
*2-3 weeks for the state to assign us a facility number (Dec. 9 is 2 wks, Dec. 16 is 3 wks). (This process had, until recently, been taking 2-3 days rather than 2-3 weeks. Katie, our FHD, is unsure why the delay is so long right now. She's "looking into it" but having a difficult time navigating the red tape at DFPS.).

The time line is a bit lengthier (is that a word? I have no idea and I don't care to think much about it right now) than we originally thought. We thought we'd be placed by Thanksgiving and it's looking more like Christmas. Like I said earlier, I can't lie and say we're not a bit disappointed. We are fully trusting God in every step in this process and so we know that while this delay was "news" to us it is Divinely Provided. Still, we are dealing with the discomfort of our expectations differing from God's reality. And as we settle into the new time line and learn it's rhythms, I know that we could receive an email/phone call that throws us into another "new" so it's really a one-day-at-a-time journey for us.

Just as when this journey began, we ask you continue to pray for all involved in the situation. For our family as we prepare for new; for Luke and I as we face some demons both within and out in our preparations; for the new little one(s) -- theirs is a bad situation and they need protection; for Katie, our FHD -- what a stressful job she must have; for the licensing person at DFPS -- I don't know his/her name but I do know that Katie learned there has been some turnover in that department and there's potential the delay is due in part to that turnover -- pray for easy transition to a new position and speedy hands to get caught up.

Thanks friends! I'll keep you updated as I'm able.

How big is Grace?

Grace's favorite game is "So big." When she was little we'd ask, "how big is Grace?" Then we'd stretch her arms over her head and say, "Sooooo Big!" It would always end in giggles. Once she realized that she got a laugh for it, Grace decided to take matters into her own hands. Now when we ask, "how big is Grace?" she throws her hands in the air and reaches as high as she can. It really is adorable. And on occasion, if she thinks the level of attention being paid to her is insufficient, Grace will preempt the question and stretch her hands in the air hoping for a laugh. The following pictures are captured one night at dinner during such an instance. Excuse the lasagna-covered baby.

SOOO BIG!

Here's one just for Daddy

"What's up Dad?"

A big stretch for the brothers always gets a laugh

Attention garnered, she's so proud of herself.

Playing Tough

I caught these action shots one day when Sam was playing with his friend R. Like all things with Sam, it's "go big or go home."

On the fort working on slide technique

Big Muscles = successful slide atttempt

In which I play a lady of ill-repute

For the October social night, our ABF held a Murder Mystery dinner. Pasta and Pistols was the perfect combination of dress-up fun and dinner fellowship. Everyone was randomly assigned parts; Luke drew the part of Rocco Scarfazzi, an Italian mobster, and I drew Tara Misu, his much younger girlfriend. Cue the awesome 80's garb! As we read the script, it became obvious that Ms. Tara had a less-than-virtuous outlook on life, proving my (church appropriate!) costume to be spot on. In the end, both Rocco and Tara were innocent. Thank goodness for that!

Rocco and Tara

I won best costume at my table. The awesome glasses were my fabulous prize

Rice Harvest Festival

After living in Katy for 4 years, we finally got around to visiting our first Rice Harvest Festival. Katy does rice, did you know? Boy do they ever do rice! Turns out that flat prairie land that geese and duck love so much is also pretty good for cultivating the delicious grain. The festival kicks off with a cute hometown parade on weekend 1 and then culminates on weekend 2 with the festival. It was fun and the kid had a blast! My favorite part? The bumper sticker that read, "Eat rice. Potatoes make your butt big." Here are some pics from our time at the Festival. I suppose this means we are real Katy-ites (finally!).

Jack and Sam on the carousel (Sam did NOT want his picture taken)

I looked up to see my boys walking through the crowd like this. See they really do like each other!

Oh if this doesn't speak volumes!

The firetrucks were, by far, the coolest part of the day!

more firetruck time

had to visit some more

All I really want for Christmas...

I've found it. The thing that will make this the perfect Christmas. Gee I hope Luke gets the message!