So Busy So Little Time

Things are going into full swing with the kids. Emily is almost done with her first month of school. Emily is a joy. I cannot believe how much she has grown up - now 8. Seems like yesterday she was my baby. She will always be my baby girl. She has definitely become a young lady. Don't tell her I said this but she like Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers. I bought her a teen idol magazine (I couldn't believe they still have Tiger Beat!) and she cut out all the pictures of Joe Jonas.

We are trying to juggle alot of things which in all is more difficult because we now have a second child. A good thing but still a struggle as we learn how to do everything and be everywhere as a family of 4.

There are alot of Ricky anniversaries coming up...

On September 2nd is Ricky's second birthday - his first with us. I think about all he has been through - all the changes and he has seemingly come out a happy and well adjusted child. Heavy in my heart is his birthparents. I cannot help but think they wonder about him. It maybe unspoken but I'm sure they will think about him on this day. I know that they wanted him to have a better life than what they could give him. I wish there was a way I could let them know he is happy and healthy. I have to say we knew going into this that a Chinese adoption would mean no contact with the birthparents but it hard not be able to fill in the missing pieces for Ricky.

On Sept 4th is the one year anniversary of seeing Ricky's picture for the first time. Since we went SN, we didn't get the typical referral picture moment. In the NSN line, you know when it is your turn. You can video tape the call, ask all the appropriate questions etc. With SN, we really didn't know when it would happen, if we would accept the referral - we were very nervous about the whole process. I remember getting a call from Bill saying CCAI called - he let it go to the answering machine at home. Then they tried to call me at work - again I missed the call. I ended up calling them back when I was at work. They told me a little boy needed a mommy. I remember saying a Mommy needs a little boy. They gave me info over the phone and then emailed me everything including pictures. I told myself I wasn't going to open the pictures. I wanted to read the medical first. But when I got the email, the pictures opened up automatically in the email. When I saw his face, I said to myself, he is our boy.

On Sept 7th we are having a small family gathering for Ricky's birthday. He is celebrating it with Grandpa Z as their birthdays are very close together. I hope this day is very special for him. We are also going to our first Asian mentoring playgroup at Emory. We want to expose Ricky to his culture and one of the ways we are doing is by joining a playgroup mentored by Chinese students at Emory College. How neat is that!

Of course I have update photos of the kids but I'm writing this at work so I cannot upload. I got to run - back to work!