One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, we were officially placed on the ICAB of the Philippines list of approved families for adoption. We have now been waiting for our referral for 1 year. After talking with our agency a couple of weeks ago, I had high hopes of receiving our referral sometime this month. Even though the month is coming to an end with the Christmas holiday right around the corner, I am still staying optimistic and hoping that they maybe will squeeze in our referral before the holidays. There is still time. God is really teaching me about patience. Patience, patience, patience. Good things come to those who wait. :)

Two families that we have met (one through Holt and one through blogging) are traveling this weekend to Manila to meet and bring home their sons. They are even staying at the same hotel. You can visit the Nalagan family and the Ribar family through their blogs and wish them safe travel.

Tonight was the Parent as Teachers Christmas Activity Night and we went specifically to see the big guy in the red suit. Even Addy sat on Santa's lap, but not until after Jaidyn did and she knew it was a safe situation. Santa was super nice, but was wasn't as round and chubby as the books that we have been reading all month have led us to believe. We are definitely going to have to set out some cookies and milk, up his calorie intake and fatten up ol' Santa.

~ Peaceful Moments ~

Peaceful, quiet moments at our house are rare. Earlier this week, I walked out of the bathroom to find this...



I let the girls hang out in their bath towels for as long as this moment would last.

~ You've been Elfed by the Collins Family ~

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

~ Christmas On The Square ~

Brrrr! It was an extremely cold (freezing) evening, but we dug deep for some Christmas spirit, toughed it out and enjoyed Christmas on the Square in a nearby town.


Poor Jaidyn, her snowsuit from last year is way too short, but it was the only one I had for her to wear and it was too cold to go without. We tucked it into the boots so she didn't look like a complete goon with highwater snowpants. However, we all could hardly stop laughing at her all night as she looked just like Ralphie wearing his snowsuit from The Christmas Story movie. Too see her run was hysterical. Sorry about all the backside pictures, but I just couldn't resit.






The sleigh ride lines were too long so they settled for riding the cows.


Jaidyn wasn't about to sit by the Grinch all by herself, so the picture with the Grinch and the Cat in the Hat ended up being a family event. We rented How The Grinch Stole Christmas today from the library, so Jaidyn can see that the Grinch ends up being good and kind hearted in the end.

A Jaidyn Funny:
Jaidyn - Mommy, Why did you wear Daddy's underwear last night?
Me - Laughing...Jaidyn, I wore a pair of your Dad's long underwear last night so my legs wouldn't get cold.
Glad I had the chance to clarify that it wasn't actually his underwear that I was wearing. Poor girl must have been thinking about this for quite awhile since she didn't ask me this last night.

Today Addy was wiped out from preschool this morning and fell asleep in the car. She even stayed asleep after I carried her inside. She was so proud to wear her little red shoes and told her preschool teachers that they were Wizard of Oz shoes. Jaidyn is all snuggled under her blanket and pillow watching a movie while Addy naps.

My Little "BIG" Girl is 4!

I can't believe only 4 years ago I was lying in a hospital bed with this darling sweet angel in my arms. For the first time, Jaidyn had a friend birthday party at McDonald's. She has been looking forward to it since we planned it back in November. I have to admit, from a mom's standpoint, this is definitely the way to go. McDonald's did all the food, cake, and had all the decorations and party favors out and ready on the table. No pre-cleaning and no after party clean-up for me. It was soooo nice. Plus the playland was a great way to entertain all of the kids.













Throughout the week, Jaidyn has received several cards and packages for her birthday.



The Hannah Montana make-up kit was a hit. She didn't know that the little brush included in the package was a lipstick brush and she applied lipstick to her cheeks and eyelids. I didn't realize how much she pays attention to me putting on my make-up.

Wes and I let Jaidyn open her gift from us the night before her birthday. She received an American Girl KIT doll as this one looks a lot like her...blue eyes, blond bob haircut. I always wanted one of these dolls growing up, but never got one, so this gift was kind of for me too. We let Addy open her doll too as we got her a Bitty Baby doll for Christmas. Jaidyn loves her Bitty Baby doll that I found at a thrift store last year and so I figured we would get Addy a new one of her own as usually she gets all of Jaidyn's hand-me-down toys.




All cuddled up on the couch reading Christmas stories.

Jaidyn, Happy 4th B-day!

Wes's Christmas Survey

Here are my answers. I guarantee that most men will have close to the same answeres.


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? If I go to the mall, I will pay the extra charge to have them wrapped or ask the store if they will wrap the gift for me. If not, I will beg Jenny, Mom, Dad, or whoever to wrap them for me. I remember one Christmas when my brother and I used newspaper and duct tape to wrap a present for my mom.

2. Real tree or artificial? I like the smell of the real tree, but too much work. It is just too easy to have an artificial tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? When I lived with my mom, it was always after Thanksgiving. When we went to my dad's, we went and cut a tree the first weekend that we were at his house after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime between Christmas and New Years Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? I love Eggnog. I will drink a couple of glassess plain, but will usually add some rum to it. Whatever Dave mixes, I usually drink.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I always loved my G.I. Joe toys. I am like Jenny, I was blessed to always have many great gifts.

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, My mom gave it to us after we got married.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Jenny. Dont buy the wrong size if buying clothes. I made a good move when we had our first Christmas. We were dating and I went to Express to buy some things for her. I bought her one size too small. Her dad was very impressed. Glad I did not buy one size too big!!

9. Easiest person to buy for? The girls are easy. I just let Jenny do all the buying for them. If I am buying, it is always easy to buy for Derek. Anything Mizzou related, he loves.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A dress shirt that had some other person's name in the collar. We will not mention who bought this for me!!!!!!!!!!!! Dad? Do you remember? It would be about the same time that your brother-in-law received a plain white T-shirt. Oh, that was a funny Christmas!

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? If I did Christmas cards I would e-mail them. Jenny does a wonderful job of getting the pictures for the cards and having them sent out early.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. Clark Griswald!! Need I say more?

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Year round for me. Once again, Jenny does most of the shopping for the girls. If I am buying for the family, I usually start looking around the first of November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can recall.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I am not a picky eater. I love it all!!

16 Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear Lights. Simple and pretty.

17. Favorite Christmas song? The Hannakah song by Adam Sandler.

18 Travel at Christmas or stay home? We travel alot. Jenny has come up with starting a tradition of our own. Christmas day at our house. I do like having
Christmas Eve at Dave and Rhonda's house. We go to mass, come home and eat and drink like Kings, then open gifts. I love it.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen {and Rudolph?}. Too easy.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither one now. Our celings are too low. If we ever have a house that has higher celings, I would say a star. That is what Jaidyn wants.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both. Depends on where we are at. We will open gifts with my dad's side usually the week earlier, or somtime after Christmas. My mom is usually whenever we can get together. This year, it will be two weekes before christmas. With Jenny's family, it is Christmas Eve. Our house will be Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Everybody getting in a big rush. We should all take a deep breath and relax. We should all remember the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

23. Favorite Christmas tradition? Going to the Grandparents and seeing all the family.

24. Up early or sleeping in? Up early. It is hard to sleep in with two little girls.

25. Who hands out the gifts? Jenny. She does not put tags on the gifts yet. I would have no idea who was supposed to get what.

26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? Yes, that is what we tell the girls.

27. Do you tell the Christmas story? Yes. Jenny reads many stories to the girls. They love it. I will try and read the Christmas Story to the girls when we get home from Dave and Rhonda's if they are still awake. Jaidyn is old enough to understand it now. Addy will love looking at the pictures.

28. Do you leave cookies for Santa? Yes. We did this when I was growing up. My mom and dad would leave a note from Santa saying "Thanks for the cookies boys." Jaidyn has already told Jenny that we need to bake cookies for Santa.

Christmas Survey

I am finally responding to the Christmas survey that I received through email from one of my Aunts and cousins a week before Thanksgiving. I usually never take the time to answer these as I am on the computer enough the way it is that I generally skip things like this. However, I really enjoyed reading all of their responses and don't want to be the one Scrooge in the family who didn't take the time to answer the questions. Aunt Cheryl and Jessica, this is for you. :)



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both - I usually try to wrap everything, but it almost never fails that I run out of scotch tape and the bags in my gift closet are just too convenient.

2. Real tree or artificial? Definitely artificial. Real trees are way too much work. Watching my Dad one Christmas crawl under the tree everyday to water it and then have to vacuum all of the fallen needles confirmed the fact that I will never have a real tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? I am almost embarrassed to answer this. We put all of our indoor Christmas decorations up 2 weeks before Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime between Christmas and New Years Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yuck! No Eggnog for me, I would much rather have a glass (or two)of my mom's Christmas punch.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I was very fortunate to have received many wonderful gifts each Christmas.

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, Grandma Penny gave us one for Christmas after Wes and I got married.

8. Hardest person to buy for? The in-laws.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Definitely the girls. I always have their presents bought way early.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? When I was teaching we had a secret pal gift swap that went on during the month of December. One of my gifts, was a Dollar Store (or at least it looked like it) candle in a sleigh. That wasn't the worst part, it had been already used (several times)as half of the wax was gone. My secret pal was definitely recycling gifts.

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Snail Mail, I just sent them out on Monday. I love sending out the photo Christmas cards.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I like all of the kid cartoon movies...Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Grinch Stole Christmas, and Frosty The Snowman. This past weekend my mother-in-law treated all of us girls to the movie"Four Christmases" with Vince Vaughn and Reece Witherspoon. It was hysterical, a complete hoot. I definitely recommend it.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? For the girls, I usually shop all year round. Most of my other shopping is done the week or two after Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not too often, but I am a big fan of recycling in general.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Spinach Artichoke Dip, Spicy Fried Pheasant (Dad do have any of this to fry up this year?), and Reece's Peanut Butter Bars.

16 Clear lights or colored on the tree? I Love the simplicity and sparkle of clear lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I love Christmas music in general and tune my radio to 105.9 as they play Christmas the day after Thanksgiving all through December. I am not sure I know the exact name, but I love Faith Hill's song that she sang for the Grinch Stole Christmas movie...Where are you Christmas? O Holy Night is also one of my favorites.

18 Travel at Christmas or stay home? Lots of Traveling. Family is all over the state of Missouri. We love spending time with everyone during the holiday season.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen {and Rudolph?}. Thank goodness that I just read The Night Before Christmas yesterday. :)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We don't have either as our tree reaches the ceiling without either one. Jaidyn has mentioned on several occasions that we need a star, so if we were to ever get one, I guess it would be a star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both - I grew up opening presents on Christmas eve so we still open presents with my side of the family on Christmas Eve. We do our Christmas at home on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Sometimes I get wrapped up in all the things that I need to do during the season and don't get to enjoy it as much as I would like. Sometimes the real reason for the season is overlooked.

23. Favorite Christmas tradition? I loved the excitement of going to church on Christmas Eve knowing that Santa was visiting our house while we were gone. Opening presents and then sitting around in our pj's playing with our new toys.

24. Up early or sleeping in? Early bird gets the worm! :)

25. Who hands out the gifts? Usually me, as I know who gets what.

26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? Yes, he loves using any kind of paper with pictures of him on it.

27. Do you tell the Christmas story? Yesterday, the girls and I read a book "Who is coming to our house?" about the Christmas Story from the animals point of view. Cute book! I have several different versions that we will read throughout this month.

28. Do you leave cookies for Santa? Absolutely! We have a special plate just for this occasion. Back when I was young, Santa (my Dad) signed the back of the paper plate that we left cookies on, "Thanks, Love Santa". My sister and I held on that plate for several years after.


Note: Tag your it! Anyone who reads this blog post has been tagged to answer these same questions. Wes, that means you. Also, I would love to read any of our fellow adoption bloggers answers. :)