Wendi and Lily's birthdays

There seem to be a lot of birthdays in December this year. I guess it has been that way for a while, but I just didn't notice. Wendi really celebrated her birthday on 3 seperate days this year. While out in PA for thanksgiving we did some shopping for her birthday (yay for no sales tax on clothes in PA!!). We found her 3 really nice sweaters and a shirt. That is what she requested for her birthday this year....to go shopping.

We also went to one of our favorite restaurants, Kokoro, for her birthday dinner on December 5th. We love that place and had a great time. ON her birthday, Dec. 7th, all she wanted to do was decorate a gingerbread house. I got her one and made her some extra icing and here is what she came up with! Pretty good for a first time I think.

Our "great" neice Lily also has a December birthday and we went to her party last Sunday. She is turning 2. Lilly is just the funniest kid. She always makes the biggest expressions and had a great time blowing out her candles and opening her presents. Here is a photo of her with her "bike" she got from her mom and dad. Sorry about the red eye...I swear that she is a sweet kid and not evil.

Overheard at the Quach's House

Mark and I arrived at my sister's house on Sunday afternoon. We love hanging out here and playing with our three energetic and fun nephews. Unfortunately, our oldest nephew Brandon has mono ... thankfully, he's not contagious to us so we can still visit. However, he does have to rest and can't rough-house as he usually does. So we were showing him some of the things we brought along for the Taste of Ethiopia that we're doing for our family and friends on Saturday night. Brandon says, "Taste of Ethiopia? Is that a holiday in Indiana?"

Cracked us up!

Maybe someday it will be!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

This is our nephew, Andrew. He is the middle son of my sister and brother-in-law and he is turning six on Tuesday. Happy Birthday, Andrew! It's hard to believe that you are now in Kindergarten and 6 years old. Where does the time go?


Andrew is a very sweet and compassionate little boy. He loves animals, especially his dog Tazz. He has an aquarium full of fish and is always interested in adding more fish to the family. Andrew is an excellent soccer player and is also very good at riding his bicycle on the local pump track. Andrew is also very caring and concerned about others. He is the most self-less child I know! And he is very good at taking turns with his brothers. One time, he told my sister that he thought she worked too hard and that he would do the dinner dishes for her. See what I mean? He's a true sweetheart!

Here is Andrew showing us his skills on the pump track. He loves the outdoors and is not afraid of bugs ... he is very curious about the world around him. He has a very calm demeanor but is still a very active boy!

This is one of my favorite photos of Mark and Andrew. They goofed around for probably 20 minutes, 'boxing' in slow motion and making funny faces. Andrew is a very fun and sensitive boy and we are so proud that he's our nephew!

Happy 6th Birthday, Andrew! We're looking forward to seeing you and celebrating with you next week!

Seven Months and Counting

I haven't been very good about blogging lately, mostly because I'm not sure what to write about. We started this blog when we began our adoption journey and have added a lot of posts about our daily life, travels and events. There's been many daily life kinds of things going on lately but not much to update regarding our adoption. Believe it or not, we've been on the waiting list for seven months and nine days. Wow. We had hoped that we'd be closer to receiving our referral by now but in reality, we are probably only half-way through our wait to learn who Baby Ailor is. On the other hand, we are probably half-way through our wait! It's a glass half empty vs. half full kind of place to be.

So how are we doing? We're doing ok. August was a very hard month. We wanted to see lots of referrals and that didn't happen. September and October gave us hope as we creeped up the waiting list. And actually, the fall is going by very quickly. Just two weeks from today, we'll be on our way to visit my family in PA for Thanksgiving. And then December brings my birthday, Christmas, and lots of activities so before we know it, 2010 will be here -- the year we will finally become parents!

One confession ... I did purchase a 2009 Baby's First Christmas ornament for our tree, just in case we learn next year that Baby Ailor was born sometime in 2009. I just want him/her to know how much he/she is already loved and wanted and anticipated and thought of minute by minute of every day!

Mark and I seem to both have up and down days in feeling stress or anxiousness and luckily, so far, when one of us is down, the other is up. Something we like very much about each other --our ability to balance each other and lift the other's spirits. Mark finds himself clenching his jaw when he sleeps -- that's how his stress in waiting is manifested. I tend to become introverted and quiet. But we continue to look ahead and find ways to anticipate and prepare for Baby Ailor and to mark the waiting time with fun things. For example, we continue to enjoy building friendships with others who are already home with their children, from Ethiopia, Guatemala, and through domestic adoption. Seeing our friends with their children gives us so much hope! We are also continuing our one project a month, choosing some kind of project or task around the house that will help us to be ready for Baby Ailor. Last month, we found a book about baby sign language and will be trying to learn some basic signs that we can use with Baby Ailor. This month, we are hosting one of our Taste of Ethiopia events in PA so that our family and friends there can learn more about Ethiopian food and culture. We've shared this event with our family and friends in Indiana and are really looking forward to taking our show on the road!

One neat thing that has come from our longer wait ... our agency is now able to offer us more background information about our child. They will be giving us both a DVD and a lifebook to share with us and our child, as much information as is known about his/her background and birthplace. We are extremely grateful that we'll be able to have this information to share with our son/daughter as he/she grows up. One thing that you as our friends and family need to know is that this story belongs to Baby Ailor and is something that we as his/her parents will be keeping very private. It's important that little Ailor is able to share his/her story as he/she wants to. It's not meant for gossip and we, as his/her parents, want to be the ones who share his/her story with him/her as he/she is developmentally ready to know and understand it. Feel free to ask us more about this because I'm not sure that I'm making sense.

That's about it for our update. We continue to (almost) patiently wait and know that the day will come when we are united with Baby Ailor! Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers -- your support is felt and appreciated!

Dora and Diego

Here's one last photo from our time of taking care of David ... a trip to see Dora and Diego at a local car dealership! David liked them well enough when the window was between him and the characters ... not so much when it was his turn to say hello! He did give Diego a high five but that was about it. This photo cracks me up because I NEVER thought I would see the day that Mark would be in a photo with characters like this AND smiling about it.

House Guest

I know, I'm a bad blogger lately. But for the last week or so, I have a good reason for not blogging -- we've had a house guest! Our friend David has been staying with us for two weeks while his Mommy is traveling in China for work. We had a break over the weekend but we have really enjoyed having a 3 year old in our home. David sure livens things up around here! Here are some photos to show you what we've been up to.

David loves to look out the front window. He likes to watch for the birds, squirrels and chipmunks as well as neighbors walking their dogs. He had a lot of extra time to watch out the front window last week ... I was home with him for two days due to a fever and a bad cold.


Here we are crashed out on the couch. We felt so bad for David with his tough cough and runny nose! Now Mark and I both have a touch of those same symptoms. Fun!


David very creatively built this 'house' out of pillows, baskets and toys between the coffee table and couch. It was so cute because he gave a running commentary as he 'built' each piece of the house.

Mark and David really enjoy playing and wrestling on the floor. Here, David is giving Mark an airplane ride! Ok, not really, but the photo looks convincing doesn't it!?

Bird watching ... a favorite past time around here. Notice that the binoculars are upside down!

We even got David to help with some of the yard work. Unfortunately, Mark pooped out before David did! If only David were big enough to empty the leaf catcher himself ... just kidding!

Tonight, we went for a walk to feed the ducks. The ducks are very aggressive right now! Notice that the ducks were taking food directly from Mark's hand. That's why David is being held by Mark ... the overly assertive ducks kind of scared him! (And me, too!)

We were looking for an activity to do to keep David busy so we decided to bake some brownies from scratch. He LOVES to help Mark cook. He stands on a chair next to Mark and is a pretty good helper!

David did pretty well with dumping things into the mixer ... he only missed a few times! And we caught him just in time before he tried to add the egg shells. Whew!

Obviously, he liked the batter!

So that's what we've been up to! David is with us through the end of the week. We've been having a blast taking care of him. We have never been more aware of train tracks, car washes, police, fire trucks and ambulances or just how many buttons there are that he likes to push (on the car, the garage door, elevators, etc.) It's been so fun to see the world through his eyes! We are so flattered that David's Mom asked us to care for him and are truly enjoying our time with him. Stay tuned for updates later this week as we anticipate going to Boo at the Zoo and a trip to see Diego!

Family Photos

I know, I know ... I've been lazy about blogging lately. Mark and I have both been busy over the last few weeks with our respective jobs. And there's been no news with our adoption. Well, there is a bit of news but don't get too excited -- we have not moved up on the list. I'll post later about what we did learn last week.

Anyway, until then, here are a few photos from when I traveled to PA for Grampy's funeral last month. When my parents picked me up at the airport, we went to meet my sister and her family at a near-by restaurant so we'd all have more time to visit. My Grandma taught Brandon and Andrew how to play the card game 'Golf.' You use Skip-bo cards. Brandon could hardly wait to teach me how to play! That's my brother-in-law, Thinh, in the background.


This is my sister, Heidi. I know, we don't look much alike do we? I think we may have the same nose and we definitely have the same coarse, naturally curly hair but beyond that? I favor my Mom and she looks like my Dad.

This is Brandon, my oldest nephew. He is 8 and in the third grade. Brandon is a good soccer player and a fast runner. In school, he enjoys science. He is a good big brother.

And this is Andrew. He will turn 6 in November. Andrew also enjoys soccer and is good at riding his bicycle. He is very kind, patient and compassionate to others. Andrew is an animal lover.

And last but not least is Mason. Mason is a very busy three year old. He is so busy that it's hard to catch him on camera. I was fortunate enough to find him pausing for just a brief moment in my Mom and Dad's refrigerator. Mason is fun-loving and charms everyone he meets. He likes to do whatever his older brothers are doing. And he is passionate about bowling.

Mark and I are planning a trip to PA for Thanksgiving and are looking forward to seeing all of our family. But we especially enjoy spending time with these three great boys. They change so much in between our visits! We're counting the days until we can visit together with them.