Party of Five

1. It is over
2. Stop picking on us
3. We just really, really want a baby girl

We found out this week that our adoption is not going to happen. Vietnam is closing down and we were informed by our agency (only because I asked outright) that we will not be getting a referral. Yesterday, I opened a fortune cookie that said "You will enjoy a trip to Asia," which would have been funny if I had opened it 3 months ago, opening it yesterday just made me think someone is messing with us.

So now what?? Well that is the $64 million question. We have no idea. We have many options, none of which feel right at this moment. We could pick another country, go domestic, try to get pregnant again on our own, or just do nothing at all. We can't decide between all of these options each of which has its own drawbacks. So we are in wait and see and pray mode.

We are obviously pretty disappointed about all of this and can't really believe that this is the way this has all played out, but it is what it is and we can't change it, so we will go on. To all of you who have supported us on this journey, thanks for the prayers, the calls to congress, signing petitions, I wish I could say that your efforts made a difference, but it doesn't look like it at this time. I know you all will be on the edge of your seats waiting to hear what we will do next, so stick around, when we figure it out, we will let you know. In the meantime, hopefully my boys will do something cute or say something funny so I have something to post.

So, I was part of a commercial today, that's right, for those of you living in the Brazos Valley, you will have to see my face on a commercial for the clinic during the Olympics. It was pretty funny being on camera, not my favorite thing at all, but we had fun. Oh, and I am going to be on TV, how funny is that.

So we went to the local Methodist church today, they have a huge indoor play area that the kids really like. It doesn't open until noon, and we were a little early so I thought I would feed the boys lunch there before we played. We went to their cafe and Brandon said he wanted soup for lunch. Well, the only soup they had some crazy name like spicy sweet potato and chicken. Ok, well, let's taste it and see if he still wants it. The lady gives us a little sample cup and Brandon is eating it when all the sudden the lady says, "Good, isn't it, you would never guess there is peanut butter in it." Um, What, excuse me, did you say peanut butter? So I give the soup back, let her know my child is allergic to nuts, and then try and calm down my screaming 5 year old who thinks I am about to shoot him with an epi pen and take him to the hospital. When he finally calmed down enough to talk to me, he shows me his bottom lip that is now looking more like a huge bubble than a lip, so we leave the church, and run home for benadryl. So who puts peanut butter in soup at a church with hundreds of little kids around without even mentioning that there is nuts in it??? I know, I know, most little kids don't eat soup, but mine does, he can't be the only one. I hope they have learned their lesson and put a little disclaimer on the menu the next time they serve that.

All's well that ends well, we gave him the benadryl, his lip went down, and we went back to the church and played. But from now on, I will be asking about secret ingredients in foods that I am offering to my child. And I thought this day was going to be boring.

Hello, my Dad pointed out that I had not posted in a while on the blog. Since we are back from our trip and just enjoying the lazy days of summer, I have nothing to post really. I did break my toe at the pool this week, good times. I was trying to climb down the cargo net thing to catch Ryan at the bottom of the slide, and lost my balance and fell, my little toe got caught in the net and the rest of my body kept falling, it felt really good. So now I have a black and blue and purple little toe. I x-rayed it at work over the weekend and it is actually broken, guess that explains the multi-colored toe. My sister thinks I need to be wearing a special shoe, but it is just too hot for that, so it will have to heal on its own.

The pottytraining is not going well, Ryan just doesn't care. He wants to sit on the potty when he wants to, not when he actually needs to go. I really got spoiled with Brandon essentially training himself, so I am not really sure what to do with Ryan. Those of you who know Ryan know that the child will do ANYTHING for candy, well, he won't sit on the potty for candy. Bummer. Well, we will keep trying.

My dad also suggested letting everyone know that the hurricane that is coming into the gulf and is going to hit Texas is not going to be anywhere near us, unfortunately. We need some rain, really, really need some rain, but the hurricane will be about 500 miles from where we live, so no evacuation or boarding up the windows for us.

So, I think that is all the updates in our boring little life. Hope you guys are having a little more excitement than we are.

Aren't you glad you decided to look on my blog today, isn't that the news you were hoping to hear? Well, it is the first time it has happened in his 3 years on this earth, and it is darn exciting to me. He has on big boy underwear and everything. His shorts are falling off though, he is a bit of peanut and without a diaper, his 2T shorts are riding pretty low. Oh well, we will figure that problem out, but soon, maybe in my life, no more diapers for Ryan!!!! I am so excited!!

Hoorayyy!!! We made it home, it was a long drive, but we did it! We got up this morning, let the kids swim for about an hour to get some energy out, and then we were loaded up and on the road by 9:30. We did not let the kids out of their carseats until 5:45 when we arrived back home. I don't know how we did it, but somehow it worked. There was also minimal crying, even when the DVD player stopped working. I think the boys were also anticipating being home and just settled in for the ride. When we got home, Chris unloaded the truck, I ran and got dinner and then the boys spent the rest of the night playing the Wii. I feel a little guilty how well our trip went, the drive for our friends Brian and Amy was a little more drawn out, but they made it home safe too. So now, we don't know what to do with ourselves, our vacation is over and we have no big plans for the rest of the summer, I am sure we will fill our time, but our trip sure was fun. I do hope we all sleep until 8am tomorrow.

So we went out yesterday to get a bit of civilization, not that the country isn't fun, but shopping was calling to us. So Amy, Jessica (her sister in law), me and the boys loaded up the suburban and headed to Mulberry street. It was supposed to have lots of little shops and cute stores, but instead everything was closed. They took and extra day of vacation after the fourth, we were disappointed, but we persevered and headed to the mall. We shopped forever, both boys fell asleep in their strollers. We have been trying to get Brandon to take a nap here for a week and he won't do it, but take him shopping, and the boy just gives up. We ended the day at Bass Pro, a little reward for how amazing the boys had behaved during our 9 hour shopping spree.

Today we went to see Wall E, it was really cute, the boys laughed and laughed. I love taking them to movies. When we were leaving, we all went to the restroom for a little stop and somehow in the craziness, we managed to lose Ryan. I ran out to the lobby to see if he went to check out the games and Amy looked around in the bathroom. He never answered when she called his name, but in the very last stall, she looked under and there were 2 little crocs and a diaper sitting on the ground. He needed to go potty. OK, I admit it, he is almost 3 and half and not potty trained, but he will be soon. He sat on the potty wanting "privacy" for a few minutes and finally he unlocked the door and let me in. He didn't ever go, but when he got off the potty he said "My don't need diapers, my a big boy." Ok, Ok, I get it, you want to be potty trained, when we get back to Texas, that is first thing on my list, I promise.

Well, tomorrow ends our time with Amy and her family for a few days. I am driving up to Birmingham to visit my friend Belinda. We will spend a few days with her, and then come back down to head to the beach with Amy's family. Chris and Brian are meeting us there, and I am so excited. We are all missing our guys. Brandon is counting down the days until he sees his dad. We have had so much fun here and I am so thankful that the boys have had this experience!!