Orange tomorrow????

That is the latest report. Our translated and legalized documents were supposed to be picked up today and we are supposed to be orange tomorrow. Only time will tell and I know not to get our hopes up, but at least we are moving in the right direction.

We have a passport

Our little guy has a passport and our documents are finished being translated. Now they are coordinating submission to the US Embassy for orange. Orange is the slip that the Embassy gives out to authorize your second dna. Yes, it is really orange too:0)
that should happen in the next few days. Once his second dna is taken it is sent to a lab here in North Carolina. They send the results back to the Embassy and within 48 hours, we have PINK! Our traveling appointment and Embassy appointment date. (and yes, the Pink appointment slip is pink;o)
It is really moving. I pray that we continue going so smoothly!!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Today started with us waking and taking Gareth for bagels. He is not a breakfast eater, but the kids were so excited about Father's Day that I told him if we didn't make him something, then we had to do something. So off to the bagel place we went before church. We were actually early for church. That NEVER happens on a regular Sunday morning. The service was great. We had lunch with friends that will be away for a month and then Alex had to go back to church. She is in a camp this week and today kicked it off. Tonight, we grilled out on Gareth's new grill. My father was able to come over with my mother today. He has good days and bad. today seemed just ok I am just glad that we got to see him out and about. So, my dad and Gareth hung out outside on the deck playing with his new toy. The grill/ His father's day present that he has wanted for a few years now. I have been saving and on Tuesday told him to go pick one out. I knew that I knew nothing of grills and wanted to make sure he got what he wanted. He ended up finding the one he wanted, already assembled and they gave it to him for a discount. Gotta love how I rub off on him sometimes with wanting to find the deals:0) He is the most wonderful, thoughtful and caring man. Every year, he just becomes a better husband and father. We are so blessed to have him!!! He works so hard to provide for our family and never complains. He is so selfless and considerate of every one else in this household always putting our needs first. I hope that we made him feel as loved as he is today.

My household is quiet. It is after midnight and I am going back to scrap booking. I am determined to be caught up by the time we take our trip. Not east when I am doing 3 different albulms at a time, but I can't complain, soon it will be 4!!
I hope that everyone had a GREAT FATHER'S DAY!!!!!

Names.....

So, over the last few weeks Gareth and I have been discussing names. While we were at Riverdance a few weeks ago, I saw in the program that one of the performers was named Liam. We have always liked that name, and talked about using it during Alex's pregnancy and again when we were waiting for Callum. I mentioned to Gareth that I liked it. He said, "great". The next day, I looked it up and found that it meant desire and protection. It is also short for William. I did not know that. I like William, but we always thought that a nick name for William was Wil. (which it is) Anyway, I mentioned to Gareth that Liam is short for William, and knowing his grandfather's name was William, I waited for a response. A few days later he says to me, "I like Liam if we name him William and call him Liam".
We then consulted Alex. She was our biggest critic. If she didn't like it, it was off. She said, yeah that is ok. Over the last few weeks, it has really grown on us and although we have called him Nicholas for over 2 years, we have now decided to name him:
William Antoni. Nickname: Liam!!

We were going to wait to tell all, but we didn't want a repeat of the week after Alex's birth. You see, when Alex was born, we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl. If she was a girl, she was supposed to be Carly. We had phoned England to tell them that we had had a girl and left it at that. Later that night, as I was sitting there recouping after 5 DAYS of labor and almost 3 hours of pushing, Gareth says to me, you know, I don't really like Carly and I don't think that she looks like a Carly. I then responded in a very polite way (haha), " fine, name her whatever you want". That is how she is Alexandria. Well, later that week, we started getting cards from our family in England to "carly", and it was then that we realized that we had told everyone we had a girl, but in our sleep deprived state, we forgot to tell them that we changed her name after she was born:0) Makes for a good story.

So, long story short, you know if you are friends with us, we never do anything easily:0)

We will now have a Alex, Callum and Liam. We are thrilled and can't wait!!!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

i took the kids to the beach over the past two days. We have had wonderful weather and had a great time!!! Both of them LOVE water. I kept applying sunscreen, because it was deceiving. It was so beautiful but when the wind stopped, I could really feel the sun. Luckily Alex has no burns to report. Callum has such beautiful skin and has the best looking DARK tan. Oh to have skin like that. On that note, I lathered them multiple times a day with sunscreen and forgot to keep applying it to myself. I have a nice burn all over. I hope I can get comfortable enough to sleep tonight:0) We are all well and truly tired, so it may not be a problem.

I did get a call from my Doctor yesterday. We were going to schedule a surgery to remove a huge cyst on my ovaries. For a doctor to use that term a few months ago was pretty funny. Anyway, I was a little stressed because of the timing. We should be traveling in the next few weeks and with this surgery, I would have a few day recovery period. I didn't want anything extra on my to do list. Anyway, over the past 5 months, the cyst has continued to grow. Last week I had a test done, and it has finally gone down in size, "a little" as the Dr. put it. Not much, but enough that we will hold off on the surgery and see if it continues to shrink, (or pop, yikes). The good news is, this in one thing off of our plates. The bad is that it tends to bother me quite often. Hopefully, it will continue to shrink and I won't have to worry about it again.

Gareth has been pretty busy while we were gone. He could have relaxed and enjoyed some peace and quiet. Instead, he installed 4 new ceiling fans upstairs. This has needed to be done for sometime, and he finally had the oppurtunity while we were away with no little feet under him. They all look great and I appreciate his hard work so much. I will also appreciate that electric bill when it comes. These fans should help cut down on our air conditioning bill quite a bit:0)

Off to bed now. I hope to get a full 6 or so hours tonight:0)

WE HAVE A BIRTH CERTIFICATE!!!!

We just got the email this afternoon. 7 months after PGN approval and 4 months after submission to Mixco, We finally HAVE A BIRTH CERTIFICATE!!!!!

WE are still a bit numb and in shock. I am thinking that it may take a few days to sink in.

More details to follow, but for now, we are one step closer to OUR LITTLE BOY COMING HOME!!!!!!!

Maddening Monday:0)

So, it has been over 100 degrees these past 3 days here. We have one day left and then it should cool off. PLease!!!!
We have been trying to stay in and enjoy the air conditioner. We are so lucky that it is still working!
Yesterday, we did take the kids to the Movies to see Kung Fu Panda. It was really cute. One part scared Alex a little, but luckily she knew that Po would win out in the end.
Tomorrow is the last day of school!!!! We have so many exciting things planned for the summer. I have the kids enrolled in multiple VBS's. Alex got invited and before we knew it, I think that we are signed up for 4, plus a performing camp at our church.
This really is great though, because Alex is my child that has to go out every day. She goes nuts staying in. The fun thing this year is that Callum gets to join her.
I can't believe that it is summer vacation again. It seems as though the time just flies these days. My little girl will be 7 in a few weeks and my little boy will be 4!!!
Well, it is after midnight. I should go to bed. I would hate to oversleep and have Alex late on her last day of school:0)