farmers market, friends,

We gave Kaneu the camera for the day and let him have a go. Our budding photographer had a blast and here's a look at his point of view. Pretty neat, I think.

Jetting off to VA tomorrow to be fingerprinted again, at CIS. The fun never ends!

me??

I want to thank Colleen for nominating me, little old me, for the Smile Award. I am so honored and delighted to win, because I never win anything, but more importantly that I make her smile. Colleen just received I-600 approval which means she will be meeting little Rosemary very soon!! She cracks me up and has been SO positive throughout the very long wait. Her blog is truly inspiring for me to focus on the positives and to find the humor even when it's hiding in a very dark corner.

Here are the deets of the award --

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude.
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

These are the rules for The Smile Award.
1. The recipient must link back the the award’s creator
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

And the nominations are ...
1. Kristin - wrote THE funniest blog posts of all time about her haircut. I was seriously laughing hysterically. Not only did she make me smile, but I nearly peed my pants. She brought her beautiful daughter, Lilly, home from Vietnam in June and hasn't posted in a looooong time. If you think that my hinting to see Lilly's nursery was bad you haven't seen anything yet!!
2. Susan - she is mom to Gem. Gem will soon become a big sister to their beautiful son, Tuan, who is still in Vietnam. Susan is an extraordinary sewer and inspires me to get off my lazy bum and make something beautiful. Her quilts are so incredible they make me drool (and smile). You must see for yourselves.
3. Di & Bri - my bff and parents to our 3 Godsons. Bri is a stay-at-home dad and his stories of the boys definitely make me smile. They love kids - mine included!
4. Kristin - will be travelling to Vietnam on Friday to meet her daughter, Payton. Throughout her very long journey I have been inspired by her heartfelt and positive attitude - and her faith, which is unwavering, has been incredible. And if that wasn't enough the girl can sew!! Payton's nursery is sweet, cool and hip.
5. Jess - is mom to the adorable Phoebe, who's photos create the biggest grin on my face. Jess does things that I wish I would and could do ... like getting into Phoebe's crib WITH her. Plus, if dogs could marry then Dudley would be my pug-in-law!

update on sweet cheeks

I'll bet you are wondering - does this baby have a name? We *thought* we had a name and have actually been referring to her by this name for months and months, even before we received her referral. For some reason I am having a sliver of doubt on the name. I am worried it's going to become really trendy and though I really love it I just don't want her to have a name that will be everywhere. My friends and family have assured me that they never hear this name but how do you know, right? We are definitely going to include her given name as well, which is hyphenated. I also really want to use my grandmother's name and don't know if it will be too many names - or is there such a thing? I'd love to hear how you decided on names and how you incorporated the baby's given name, if you did.

OK, so onto the update!! So I know these cropped photos are a little wierd and I promise that at some point I will show you her cuteness in entirety, but for now these little snippets will have to do. The girl has THE cutest hair-do. Oh my. Her foster mother has pulled it partially back into a little clip directly on her head, so it kind of looks like a mini mohawk. Apparently in Korea they like to highlight the child's forehead as it is a sign of intelligence.

She is currently 19.5 pounds and is between the 25th and 50th percentiles for height and weight, and between the 50th and 75th percentile for head circumference. I am so happy that she is healthy and growing big and strong. She is crawling and cruising, saying "um-ma" and "appa", claps when she is happy, is very curious, makes eye contact with people she knows, avoids eye contact with strangers, loves bathtime, sleeps from 10pm - 6am with 2 thirty minute naps, and is eating some porridge (mixed with rice and anchovie soup w/boiled veggies). Her sleeping habits are exactly the same as Kaneu's and I guess since the family sleeps in a communal room the kids are up until the family goes to sleep. I am so excited and thankful for having this update and to know she is healthy and happy.

We sent her a care package a few weeks ago. We included a photobook of us, some clothes, and toys, along with photobook of London for her foster family. Knowing that she is touching and playing with things that Kaneu picked out to give her is so heartwarming. I know that when the time is right we will all be together but it really is so hard. I know so many of you understand this. Having gone through it previously with Kaneu doesn't make the waiting any easier, unfortunately. My body physically aches to be with this little one.

oh what a night!

On Sunday, September 21, we attended the Peace One Day concert. We went last year and it was incredible, so I was worried that they wouldn't be able to top it, but this year didn't disappoint. Jude Law was the MC (again, thankfully!) and there were some really awesome performances, including a surprise at the end ... but even more incredible than the concert was the film they showed The Day After Peace. It chronicled Jeremy Gilley's 10 year journey, working with the UN, to declare September 21 as an internationally, globally recognized day of ceasefire and non-violence. It was inspiring beyond words; to what one man has dedicated the last 10 years of his life. Thanks to his dedication, this year on Sept 21, over one million children in Afghanistan received the polio vaccine. Incredible. The UN received a letter from the Taliban that stated they would not harm any vaccine workers on Sept 21. It's incomprehensible what he has been able to accomplish on very little money and being told "it'll never work, you're crazy". You don't want to miss this. I don't know if it's showing in the US but you can purchase it on the web site. OK, onto the music!

Annie Lennox performed and I have to say her songs were a bit more somber than last year. She was still great and, wow, that voice booms. Peter Gabriel was good. He sang a really sweet song he wrote for his 96 year old father. Bryan Adams sounds exactly the same as he did way back in the 80s and I have to say that a) he's hot, b) I loved all the songs he sang, and c) he sounded incredible. At one point he was singing a song, from 1985 (according to Brian), that up until Sunday night I thought the lyrics were "I'm gonna rent a room". Little did I know (for the last 13 yrs!!) he was actually singing "I'm gonna run to you"!!! All this time I thought the song was about some seedy guy renting a hotel room to get it on w/his probably-married lover. Oh wait, I think that's still the case, or maybe he's the married one, because it does mention something would "change if she ever found out about you and I"Nonetheless, I think the song still has an underlying message of unfaithfulness. OK, so now you must confess - what are some of the funnier versions of lyrics you've sung to?

And now ... for the surprise guest, who had taped an earlier performance because he wasn't able to attend BUT just before they brought out the last performer (John Legend, who, by the way, rocked it out w/his big band. so good!!) Jude comes back onto the stage as Jeremy is announcing how many lives were saved w/the vaccinations and says "surprise" and out out walks Lenny Kravitz and some sketchy-looking guy who totally rocked the bass. It was so great. I have 2 videos and I have to say that I forgot I can't use the zoom while in video mode, so you'll see a major close-up of brian's nose - oops!

procrastinating again

Today is my day to clean before our friends (from Chicago) arrive in the morning ... only I keep finding myself online, which has greatly prolonged the task at hand. What could have been done in a few hours is going to take the entire day/night. I don't know why I do this. Sigh. I am trying to multi-task and it always fails. I'm doing laundry, cleaning, packing, uploading pictures, blogging, on the phone AND keeping track of my 4 yo (don't be alarmed! he's watching "Jumbo"). The current state of our home is WORSE than it was when I began this endeavor this morning. Piles everywhere!!! Anyhoo ... I wanted to post some pictures of our weekend. We did a little roadtrip to the Norfolk coast. Can I just tell you how gorgeous and stunning it was?? It was a kickass day - and I don't really use that term much, but it was!! It was sunny, warm-ish and just a perfect day. We spent a few hours on the beach and enjoyed fresh crab sandwiches ... so good! Later in the afternoon we took a little boat trip out to Blakeney Point to see the seal colony. It was incredible. The villages in England are so quaint and picturesque. I really love it here. The perfect day indeed.

I was going to sum it up with just this photo mosaic ... but I couldn't stop there and so instead you'll get to see the "extended version". There were just too many pics to choose from!! And thanks to Kelly I have finally ventured into the world of Photoshop. Who knew you could use it for more than cropping and red-eye reduction!

I don't know if you can tell but the guys have matching shorts!!


We had to wait for the tide to come in before we the boat could get out


I think this is Rosie's long lost twin!

And to top off such a kickass weekend ... we learned today that we WILL be returning to London after Sweet Cheek's adoption is finalized. Yeahhhhhh!! We are definitely celebrating tonight!!

manners

I want to take a quick moment and gush about my little guy. Good manners are a theme that we have been teaching since the beginng. When Kaneu was still a baby we used sign language to teach the basics, please and thank you. We also have several books that we like to read. It's really funny when we find Kaneu reminding US to not talk with food in our mouths, to say "good morning" to Rosie, etc. So, this morning on our way out the door to school he steps aside and motions with his arm while saying "after you Mama". I was stunned! My little man is growing up so quickly and while (I think) he has incredible manners this gesture was just SO sweet that I almost started to cry. I mean, what four year old does this??

first day of school

portugal

We had the best trip ever. It was such an incredible experience and one that I am so thankful for. We relaxed and just had an amazing time together. It was so good for us to get away, alone, and have some focused couple time.

When we arrived we were greeted with glasses of sparkling wine. It seriously felt like a honeymoon! The hotel was wonderful. We visited two Quintas (estates) and toured their grounds and tasted the local varietals. If you have never tried Portuguese wine you are missing out! So, yes we drank a lot of wine and port. We also soaked up some rays by the pool and visited the spa. After seeing how hilly the area was we opted to not do the bicycle tour. We weren't quite up to that kind of adventure! We were laughing about how tame our actual anniversary night was - especially compared to our first anniversary ... which involved a beautiful B&B in Newport, RI, way too much champagne, which resulted in us leaving our ATM card in the machine (and then some loser came along and withdrew $500, which we didn't realize until the next day when we went to pull out cash), and finally ended with Brian puking into the linen closet of our bedroom. Good times.

Here are some pictures I shot of Brian tasting Port. I don't think he was a fan.

Whenever we are on vacation Brian takes a respite from shaving. It's not uncommon for him to grow a beard or sometimes something even a bit more creative - like the "neard", or neck beard. He was very proud of it. Thoughts??

ten

As I am writing I am giddy with excitement. We are hanging out in the Douro Valley, Portugal, celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary!! I will post pictures when we get back to London on Monday but let me just say that this hotel we are staying in is the most tranquil place I've even seen - situated on a hillside overlooking the Douro river and the wine terraces of the nearby Quintas. It's heaven and we are loving every minute so far. Also, on Thursday morning, before we left for the airport, we took Kaneu to his first day of school. He was so excited to see his teachers and friends. He was grinning from ear to ear. I was so proud of him, wearing his new shoes and big guy clothes. He looked so handsome and was so happy. I have some really cute pics but no way of uploading while here in paradise. That'll also have to wait until Monday.

I am so thankful to God for bringing Brian into my life. I am beyond blessed and am honored to be his Mrs. I really am such a lucky girl to have him to share the good times and the bad with. Brian is an incredible husband. He spoils me rotten and loves me even when I know I don't deserve it (I can get a little grumpy and am not always so pleasant to be around). He puts up with my moods, my chocolate cravings, my shopping binges, hair-color changes, and loves me despite it all. He is so encouraging - always supporting me in whatever interests I want to explore. Best of all he makes me laugh like nobody's business. I wonder what the next 10 years will hold. I honestly could not ask for more.

It's unbelievable to me that we are at 10 years already but when I look back it really has been a loooong time. We have seen, done and grown so much in this time. And speaking of time, things have really changed! Even as I was trying to find wedding photos I was reminded that we were married in the days of using FILM! I couldn't find any digital photos of us pre-2003!

We were married in the Outer Banks of North Carolina a few weeks after hurricanes Bonnie and Danielle. I remember being a nervous wreck but thankfully we had beautiful sunny skies on our day. It was perfect in every way.

In addition to being so very thankful for my loving husband I am also really thankful that I still love my wedding dress. I would be disappointed if I cringed at the photos but they make me smile. Now only if I could still fit into the wedding dress :) Let's say it together. Never. Gonna. Happen.

A little walk down memory lane ...

our first baby ~ we brought rosie home 4 months after we were married
#5 in New Zealand
we celebrated #6 running a half marathon in va beach ~ note: not the

most romantic way to spend an anniversary but we had fun!
a week later we renewed our vows in Vegas lucky #7 ~ NEW (and very tired) PARENTS!!
#8 in Tuscany
#9 in Croatia

I don't have any digital photos of anniv #1-4. This really bothers me - the prints and the negatives are all in storage back in the US. At some point I am going to have a very big project of scanning years and years worth of photos. Surely there are companies that will do that for you, right?! I can't imagine having that kind of free time on my hands when this little munchkin comes home!

little miss sweet cheeks

Ok, must get back to this lovely, lovely place.