Happy Howl-oween!

Click on the pics to enlarge. I L-O-V-E love Halloween! I love the trick or treating and seeing the kids in the neighborhood, the dressing up. The pugs? Not so much with the dressing up. But they sure do look cute and they'll do just about anything for their Mom when she's got a handful of treats! Kea is dressed as a witch and Ike is Frankenstein but their little hats kept sliding back. And Keekee refused to wear the little cuffs on her arms and legs. I got one of them on her and she held out her arm like it was broken and fell to the floor moaning. Who knows where she gets this drama queen thing from!? ;) The official pic for the Halloween cards this year:
Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! With love from our pug-kin patch! xoxo

Office Party

Last night was our office's Halloween party. It was a lot of fun. It was held at a country club and there was a dj, bar, food, the works. Very nice. Everyone went all out with their costumes. I loved seeing all the costumes- so much creativity! There were a couple of kissing booths, 2 couples dressed up as plug & socket, a God's gift to women, big Pimpin, Disco Stew, Ron Burgundy. The most original costume went to a couple dressed up as a night stand and a woman- one night stand. So cute! Here are some pictures. I managed to get in a couple of them. Jon had to work and couldn't go but looked at the pictures when he got home and asked if I dressed up as Aunt Jemima.

brrrrr baby

This y'all, this is the weather I love. My fingers, toes and nose are chilled. The heat isn't on and neither is the air. It is awesome. We have blankets piled high on the bed and the pugs burrow down to keep our feet warm at night. It's sunny so you're warm in the car, and you can wear a sweater and be fine without a jacket. This is my favorite time of year here. This is the time of year I wonder why everyone doesn't hop in their cars and move on down here. This is the time of year when you truly see a Carolina blue sky.

I heart Barbie

I know, I know. I should hate her. I do hate that one Barbie who said "Math is hard". But I grew up with Barbie, and I loved her. I'm just not going to get into a political thing about her. She is a doll, a toy, a plaything made of plastic. My daughters' self esteem will not be based on Barbie. If we get to stay at the White Swan, and we get the Barbie, then I'm bringing her home. I'll let my girls grow up and decide what to do with her. If Coming Home Barbie meets the same fate as 98% of my Barbies she'll be headless or naked in a box somewhere anyway, so she'll be in no shape to mold my children's futures.
That being said, have you seen the Chinese New Year Barbie? She's so pretty! And she's a BOGO right now at Amazon (buy one get one). Jon would kill me if I shelled out $20 for a doll Ling Ling can't even play with until she's like 5. I'll tell him I put her in my wish list and then I'll break him down. Since she's BOGO we'll get 2 for the price of 2 frappuccini drinks!

Squid Wrestling

Ike had a vet appointment today for a heartworm check (free and clear) and a nail clipping (Thank you JESUS for the vet ladies). They said Ike is doing great with his weight (19.9 lbs) but he needs to maintain. I couldn't find his harness and had to take him using just a collar and leash. OMG, the entire experience, from the donning of said leash to the ride there to the controlling of the pug while at the office, is just so exhausting- like wrestling an angry squid. I lost an earring in the process, who knows where that is. I came home covered in hair, my hair all disheveled, scratches on my neck and face, the works. Then I get covered in kisses as soon as we get home, so of course it's all worth it! Looks like I'm getting great practice for being a mom!

All decked out

I've got just about all of my Halloween decorations out. Weekend trips and the homestudy threw me off this year. Usually the whole house is decorated by October 2. You can see my poor kitties trying to blend in with the Halloween decor in the first picture. Shannon and her large dog Rascal were over and the sheer size of Rascal (a lab mix, but hey, these cats are used to pugs) sends the kitties up on the tv armoire. I'm pleased with the way the mantle looks this year: Jon always says if we're ever to sell our house we should do it in the fall cause that's when it looks the best. I'd have to agree. The colors of the furniture go nicely with the fall colored decorations and it feels pretty homey.
In other Halloween decoration news, my mom puts out this creepy little guy every year. And every year he gives me the heebie jeebies. And every year one of the trick or treating kids will tell this "kid" they like his costume!

Cute as a bug

Ling Ling's Aunt Lisie sent her a bib with her name on it. Except the name on her birth certificate and driver's license won't read Ling Ling. This poor kid will forever be known as Ling Ling though. I love it- she has a nickname and she's not even home yet!

ShanZee

We spent the afternoon at my sister Sara's house visiting with her and my BIL and my nephews. Marc made beer can chicken. I'd never had it before. It was quite tasty. All the little chickens lined up looked just like those chickens on that Pepsi commercial where they sumo wrestle.
In Nephew News: Joey is standing! He's so excited when he pulls himself up. I'm thinking he's just going to skip crawling properly and jump straight into running full speed. Jake is talking more and more now. He knows his colors and is really getting into the mimic thing. He can't quite say Shannon or even Shanny yet. He can say Aunt Sh Ann Nee. But to put it all together he calls me ShanZee. Emphasis on the Zee. So cute.

Daddy's girls

My husband is turning into a Daddy. When I came home from IKEA I showed him pictures of the crib and changing table/dresser I liked (dude, they are like less than half the price of the cribs I've seen around town. I know it's not heirloom quality furniture, but it is good stuff and we're on a major budget, esp if we need 2), and then we looked up the matching pieces on the IKEA site. Up until now any time he's talked about things we should buy the girls it is because we have to. He totally surprised me and melted my heart when he spotted the toy chest and said he wanted to get one for his girls, "cause every kid should have a good toy chest. We can put it between the cribs."
Yep, we've starting talking in terms of 2. It is so hard not to. We want two so badly and part of me feels we're jinxing ourselves, but the other part of me feels like that's what is meant to be so we might as well prepare. We rarely spoke of anyone but Ling Ling until our social worker said we needed to get ready for two cause there was a good chance we'd get two. I really hope she's right. Jon's so excited, he said "Ooh we could each have one."
I showed Jon the goodies I brought home for Ling Ling and Mei Mei from IKEA including the coveted and much hyped stacking cups. Everyone has told me to make sure to bring a set of these to China. So when I saw them on the IKEA site I knew I'd have to hunt them down in store. I got lucky and picked up 2 sets for the girls and 1 set for Joey. I let Jon unwrap a set so he could see how they worked. He played with them a minute and examined each one then announced that our kids have been ripped off. Why? "They can only drink out of one of these cups! The rest have holes in the bottom!" Bless his heart, he thought they were stacking drinking cups.

Atypical towers

I don't know if it's the heat or if it's cause we're Southerners, but it seems that we sometimes can't leave well enough alone. Why have a plain ol water tower when you can paint it to look like a baseball (like the one just a couple miles from my house that tells you when to get off the highway if you're going to see a game). Or how about a huge peach? The peach is in Gaffney, SC on hwy 85. Going North it looks right nice like a peach with it's leaf and all. However, going South down 85 it looks more like a big, peach, ass. That's Southern charm for ya. I checked with Google to see if there are other water tower creations out there and there sure are! This site has a whole list of them. Cute!

Eau de truck stop

Ah, so I didn't win the lottery. Oh well. At least I can still afford to smell nice. On our way back from Atlanta last weekend (love how I can strectch a 2 day trip into a week's worth of posts right?) I spotted this machine in the bathroom at a travel center. It cracked me up so much I had to take a picture of it. You deposit your money, turn the dial, then lean in really close. The machine will spray you with their "exquisite" version of either Sunflowers, Happy, Pleasures, etc. Apparently you will Feel Refreshed! and Feel Fantastic! Because a machine in a bathroom sprayed you in the neck or other various regions with 25 cents worth of knock off perfume. This, people, is why I love America.

If I had a million dollars...

So today is the drawing for the big $340 million lotto. I'll cave and buy a ticket. I don't usually play as I like the instant gratification of scratch offs. Last night as we were going to sleep Jon and I dispersed our $164 mil lump sum payment in our heads (and dreams). The plan isn't in stone, but we've got a rough draft.
-Of course we'd adopt at least 4 kids.
-We'd fly first class to China and back to bring them home.
-A major donation to the orphanages our kids came from.
-Trust funds and college funds for all the kids in our family including our nephews and my little sister Morgan.
-We'd pay off everyone's homes and cars (on the loved ones list)
-We'd set up retirement funds for our parents, siblings, etc. (the list)
-We'd buy new cars: I want the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Jon wants a BMW. My car would go to Morgan, and Jon's car would go to someone else who needs a good car to be determined later.
-Major donations to charities and church of course.
-10 day cruise for lol (loved ones list).
-For me: laser eye surgery, laser hair removal (I'll never shave again!), twice a month spa visits for mani pedis and massages and facials.
-For Jon: backstage passes/tour/ whatever to the Minnesota Twins, a spin on that Richard Petty Experience.
-We'd build a house on 15 acres with a 5 acre pond. I want a paddleboat and a big floating dock. Our parents, siblings, and Lisa would have homes built within golf cart driving distance. Jon wants a big home gym with connecting nap room and pub. I want my own roller rink and bike path. Also a whole area devoted to lawn games: badminton, croquet, bocce.
-I'd go down to the Gulf Coast and do whatever I could to help those people get back into homes and the swing of things.
-Dude, you know we'd shut down IKEA for a day and just shop our butts off.
-We'd buy a home in the mountains and on an island somewhere.
-Of course we'd do a good amount of investing. And we'd venture into business. Jon wants his own Star*bucks and car wash. I'd love to open a funky little store full of cute things.
-I think it would be way cool to randomly leave envelopes with $100 in them for people and see their faces when they find it.
-And I would definitely organize and host a fabulous bloggy convention someplace wonderful so I could meet up with all you fantastic bloggy friends! Would you come?

And what will you do if you win?

Little rascal

Jon babysat Shannon's lab mix, Rascal, while we were in Atlanta last weekend. Rascal had been over to play with Ike and Kea a few times, but Jon had never met him. Shannon and I hit the road at 7am while Jon was still sleeping. I called him around noon to check in. He promptly asked me who let the horse in the house. He's so used to the pugs and kitties so the big lab threw him for a loop. Rascal is a sweetie though and got along great with the pugs all weekend. When I called back that evening Jon told me he was busy fashioning a saddle so the pugs could take a ride on Rascal. I swear, you can't leave a boy alone for a minute.
Oh, there seems to be some confusion from my last post. That's Shannon H. in the pic with the knight. I'm the photographer so I don't end up in many photos. For instance our honeymoon scrapbook showcases Jon standing next to lots of Vegas landmarks. It's like he went on vacation with his photographer. I did manage to snap a pic of myself while waiting in the checkout line at IKEA. Jon gets a kick out of this shot. He says it looks like IKEA got the best of me. My hair's all crazy and I'm wild eyed.

Oh what a knight

One of my favorite parts of a road trip are the roadside attractions. I love being on a loosy goosy schedule so I can pull over at whim. We stopped for our first gas up on the way to Atlanta Saturday and saw a castle across the street. So we had to go investigate! It was an abandoned video gambling joint. (Video gambling was legal in SC for a minute then all the sudden wasn't legal so there are tons of odd themed buildings abandoned or converted across the state. For some reason a lot of them went with the castle theme.) Let me tell you, we tried to come up with a plan to strap the knights in shining armour to Jorge's roof but being that they were like 20 feet tall and probably weighed 63 tons, it wasn't in the cards. I just didn't have enough bungee cords.

Amen & Cheerio

Lisa & Eammon (pronounced like Amen), invited us Shannons to stay the night with them after shopping at IKEA. Lisa cooked a fabulous meal and we had a great time getting to know each other. Their home is just gorgeous- I was very careful and didn't break a thing! Amen is Irish but from London and I had the best time listening to him talk. It was so hard to keep from breaking out with my "British" accent. Amen and Lisa said it sounded like Dick Van Dyke from his Mary Poppins days mixed with Pakistani! They were so nice to let us stay over with them. We were so tired from shopping all day at IKEA so we really appreciated the rest before driving home. Of course I forgot to take pictures, we were too busy having fun!

ATL

So at the crack of dawn this morning, Shannon and I hit the road for Atlanta to go to IKEA. We got a little lost (damn Map Quest) but found it eventually. It did not disappoint. I had prepped Shannon before we left with "wear comfortable shoes, bring water, follow the arrows." And I brought walkie talkies if we got separated, which we did. All of Atlanta was shopping today. At one point I had called her to find her and after she made her way over to me this man stopped in his tracks and said "Oh no, you do not have walkie talkies." He couldn't believe it. I said have you seen how big this place is? If we got separated Shannon ran a big risk of finishing out her days in IKEA because odds of me finding her after a cripplingly long day of shopping were slim to none. We ended up using our walkie talkies a lot. Shannon loved IKEA (how could she not) and bought a coffee table and dresser along with a buggy full of goodies. I got some roman shades for the den to replace the mini blinds that I hate. Of course the shades are the wrong size. I did really well and stayed within my budget. It was easier cause I was shopping vicariously through Shannon. We used the travellator to get down to the parking deck after we checked out. It was a wee bit scary. The wheels of your buggy lock into place. Thank goodness cause otherwise Shannon would have been bowled over by 2 buggies full of fabulous housewares!

Damn Right

Thank the Lord, cause sometimes I feel I'm running a little short in the skill and knowledge department!

It's me

I noticed recently that just about every message on our machine at home, or on my cell phone, all start with "Hey, it's me." Everyone is "me". I do it too. I didn't realize I did it until I heard a message I left at home. The problem is sometimes I'll hear messages from women who all sound alike. So I have a chorus of It's me's to call back, but no idea who called! That's when it's best just to run through speed dial, calling everyone and saying "Hey, it's me."

Product pimping

So some of you asked how did I like the pumpkin frappy thingy from Star*bucks. It was good- rich. So rich that the little sample we got was all I'd need. I can't imagine drinking a venti size. It was like pie in a cup.

I learn so much from reading blogs, esp about new products or things I should be using. Janet at Slice of Pink talked about using a concealer brush one day. I'd never thought to use a brush. The next time I was in Target I grabbed a $1.99 jobby and it is awesome! You use so much less product and it goes on more smoothly.

I must also take a minute to sing the praises of Dove deodorant. I know that's a weird thing to get excited over, but I have sensitive skin. I'd been a Secret girl for most of my life, but then I got a free sample of Dove in the mail and tried it. Before I started using it I had huge excema patches all over my underarms. It itched and hurt. After using Dove for a week it cleared up! I couldn't believe it!

Oh, and I pay attention to Carmindy on What Not to Wear when she's talking about makeup. I learned how to use eye shadow as eye liner- use an angled brush and put it right at your lash line. It works great and doesn't bleed all over my face. Pencil or liquid would sometimes smear. My favorite is my 99 cents Wet & Wild eyeshadow- makes a great liner!

I've also found that when you share your news about adopting, people get all excited and those in the service industry hook you up. I've gotten all kinds of free stuff and discounts just by mentioning it in conversation! I've read so much about people hearing negative feedback when they say they are adopting from China, but I've yet to encounter anything but gushing supportive and encouraging comments. And the next thing you know I hear "Oh, it's on me." or "I threw in a freebie and some samples for you." Of course now my list is really growing of all the people who want to meet LL & MM when they come home. But I'm sure the girls won't mind some mall time!

Adoption Q & A

I forgot to answer some questions left in my comments last week. So here we go:
You mentioned that 8 months is how old your girls will be when you get the referal, how does that work? 8 months is an estimate. The youngest you can get is 6 months, and most of the babies being referred to people our age is around 8 months. The younger you are, the younger your baby.
When will they actually pick out babies for you? Once our dossier is sent to China (that means we are DTC), the Chinese officials will log us into the system (LID) and about 6 months from LID we'll have a match. The Chinese officials match us to our babies.
Will you get pictures? Once they match us up to our baby or babies, they will send what is called a referral. Your referral consists of pictures of the child/children and information about them: health info, size, age, approx birthdate, characteristics.
What happens if girl girl twins aren't available but boy girl twins are? That would be rather rare because we're talking about adoption in a country where 95% of the children available are girls. Most families will not give up a boy for adoption in China.
Is that an option or would you prefer one girl? We just want a family. We're pretty set on a girl or girls right now because we know that's what you typically get from China. We would not turn away a boy at all. And as far as twins go, we're not guaranteed twins. They are fairly rare, but not all adoptive parents request them. So there have been numerous cases of twins being split up and adopted into different homes. We would hate to see that happen. Plus, we'd love to have at least 2 children, but the reality is we may not be able to ever afford to adopt again. We can barely afford it this time. So we figure, if we can get two at once then we'll be all set! If we don't get two, we'll try our hardest to make it back to China, but we can't count on it.

Some other questions we get asked a lot:
Is it expensive? Not much more than if you have a baby biologically. The main difference is we have to pay it all in a much more compressed time period. See, our baby will be at least 8 mos old. That's 8 months of formula and diapers and day care and doctors visits etc. that the orphanage is paying for. So when I tell people about how much it will cost- around $25,000 when all is said and done- it shocks people. But do the math. Add up maternity clothes, pre-natal dr. visits and medications, Lamaze, hospital bills, then the 8 months of expenses mentioned above and I'll bet we'll all come out about even. Plus, we're paying for a service, not a child. Just like other people. They didn't buy their kids from the hospital, they paid for services. And lots of people will go out and drop at least $25k on an suv or car without batting an eye. It's just Ling Ling won't come with an easy payment plan and a low interest rate! By the way, I know some of you might be shocked that I'd be that open about the financial end of it, but hey, it's the age of the internet. I might as well tell you rather than clam up cause you could just go on google and find out yourself anyway, so it doesn't bother me.
Will you have any information about her background? Probably not. And if so, very little. Since it is illegal to "abandon" a child in China, most are left in a public place where they are sure to be found. A few might have a note pinned to them explaining their birth dates or bearing a message from the parents, but that's rare. The only nugget we may have is a finding ad. You can pay to have this researched. It is the ad the officials place in the local paper with a tiny photo of your child explaining that the baby was found, thereby providing an opportunity for the parents to step forward. But again, it's illegal to "abandon" a child in China, so they don't step forward. I use "quotes" around abandon because it is a brave and caring thing these parents do. They risk arrest to make sure their children, who they can not keep because of population control laws and longstanding customs make it financially impossible to do so, are placed in a public spot where they are sure to be found in the hopes that they will be adopted. I don't see that as abandonment, more like doing all they can to ensure a future for their child.

**Update! New Question via comments: When will DTC happen and how long after referral ( where you see pics and have an actual child ear marked for you), will you get to go get them? Since we just had our homestudy, we still have a mountain of paperwork to do. One form that goes to the US government for approval takes at least 3 months to get back. We're hoping to be DTC by the end of January. So then we start the 6-7 month countdown til referral. Once we get the referral you travel about 6-8 weeks later. We'll be in China for 2 weeks or so, then we'll be home!

So, any other questions? Ask away! I'm by no means an expert, but I'll tell you what I know and think and feel. I want everyone to know what a wonderful thing adoption is. A positive, loving way to grow a family.

Express yourself

Today we went to brunch with my inlaws then headed over to my sister's house for some football watching and family togethering. My nephew Jake was sick with a fever (a present he brought home from his first week at pre-school), but Joey was putting on the charm. He has the most expressive little face! And he's realized that the camera means he should bring out the smiles. He's become quite a ham!

Mega Tiny

I love things that are either huge or teeny. So I was delighted when they were passing out wee samples of some pumpkin frappucino at Star*bucks today. Complete with teeny little straw.
In stark contrast is the cake my dear husband purchased when we went grocery shopping later. He is a sucker for birthday cake and buys a full sized one just about every month to snack on. He put it in the buggy and while he was looking on another aisle I ran to the bakery to get them to personalize his cake.

A tune in a bucket

Well, tropical storm Tammy won. She came ashore and beat up Wilmington pretty good. My aunt and uncle emailed saying there were flooded streets and wind damage and don't come. So we didn't go. We didn't want to take the pugs down there and ride for 5 stressful hours through a monsoon just to sit around inside while it rained outside. Luckily the owner of the house we'd rented is amazingly gracious and is letting us carry over our deposit to March. So we can celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary at the beach and not lose any money. Yay!
So what's a disappointed, soggy, rained out couple to do? We went and drowned our sorrows in lemonade, fried chicken, and bbq at Shealys. On our way back home we drove through some nasty storms and Jon had turned his music off. Well, I was blissfully unaware while I laid back in the seat with my eyes closed listening to Liz Phair on the iPod (my boss bought one last week and I talked him into letting me have it for the weekend). When I sat up I found out what a patient, dear man I'd married. He told me my singing was just horrific. I thought, now I know I'm bad but when I'm singing along with someone I can't be that bad! So he challenged me and we taped the next song so I could hear myself. People. It was so not good. If I can figure out the audio blogger thingy I may just let you listen to it. Consider it a public service. If you're ever feeling down you can play my little ditty and know that you're a lucky and wonderful person because you neither sound like me nor have to listen to me. And just in case you were wondering, I sing with gusto baby.

DINKS

Once upon a time we were two people with two incomes and normal expenses. We didn't know we'd have a ginormous adoption bill to pay, or hospital bills from multiple surgeries. We didn't know we'd have fertility drugs to buy or specialists to see. So if we wanted something, we'd usually figure out a way to get it. For our 2nd wedding anniv. Jon gave me a beautiful Coach bag. It was blue and so cool and I loved it. I carried it in the spring and summer and noticed the blue started wearing off in strange places where it shouldn't. I put it away for winter and forgot about the wearing. Recently I stopped by the Coach store and told the people about the bag and they told me to bring it in. So I did and the other day I got a letter in the mail from Coach saying I could use that letter as a credit in the store for over $200! For a 3 year old bag! Now that's what I call service. And here I thought my days of Coach shopping were over! Twist my arm to find something to spend $200 on!
Last winter we made reservations at this way cool cottage at the beach where we were going to celebrate our 4th anniversary. Then I got sick with girlie mess and ended up back under doctor's care and we had to cancel the trip. But I'd already sent in a deposit. I called the owner of the rental and explained and she let us change the date to today. So today we're going to try and make our way down to the coast while tropical storm Tammy lashes the beaches with wind and rain. And we're taking the pugs. We are suckers for punishment! But it doesn't make sense to lose that money and we're being comped on our meals (gifts from family) so it really won't cost us anything. Plus we have family there so it will be good to see them. We could really use the break after the homestudy and all the adoption paperwork we've been dealing with. I just feel weird going on a mini holiday when I feel like I should be home fund raising or something. But who doesn't want to go to the beach for the weekend in the middle of a tropical storm? Watch out Tammy, here we come!

Bloomin' Thanks

I was visiting my sister Sara Sunday and she showed me the coolest thank you gift she had just received. Sara had taken some food and goodies to her neighbor who had just given birth to her 4th child, and the neighbor brought over the cutest thing. How this woman had time to whip up this craft gift AND watch 4 kids AND recover from giving birth AND, oh I don't know, breathe, is beyond me. What it is is a flower pot, hand painted of course, filled with flowers. But the flowers are actually pens. So cute! I was thinking this would make a great centerpiece for a bridal shower, then everyone can take a flower pen home as a favor. Maybe I'm behind in crafty news, but I'd never seen this and thought it was quite clever. Now, if only I had a shower of some sort to plan!

Girls and Boys

My nephew Jake started pre-school today. How on earth? He's only 2 & 1/2. He's so excited though and showed off his turtle backpack and his little lunch box on Sunday. So cute. Man, it seems like he was just born! Joey's now 8 months old. It hit me that he's about the age my girls will be when we get the referral. Wow. He's tooling around in his walker now, just dying to run around if only his little legs would let him. And he makes the cutest little crooked face when you point the camera at him now. Ooh, did you see that? I said my girls. I'm trying not to get my hopes up that we'll get referred twins, but we would just love that. Ever since our home visit we've both started talking more about our girls than just Ling Ling. It's so hard not to get excited. One would be a blessing, but two? Two would complete our family and make my dreams come true.

Rawhide

As part of my fall cleaning pre-homestudy spree, I pulled all the slip covers off the sofa and arm chair and washed them. Ike and Kea were not thrilled. This meant I found their secret hiding place for rawhides. While I was putting the slipcovers into the machine, Kea made sure to remedy the rawhide free sofa situation and in less than 5 minutes found and brought 7 rawhides up to the sofa- back to their rightful hiding places. Ike was just mad that the back cushions were missing for a while during cleaning. Poor thing could not get comfy no matter how hard he tried!

Home Studied

Our Social Worker, Teresa, visited this morning and it went great. The house looks great and we got a lot of things crossed off our home project list like paint mailbox post, paint front door, transplant flowers for front porch, paint both up and downstairs hallways, the half bath etc. Teresa was so friendly and easy going. She has a great sense of humor. First thing she said when she came in was "You didn't have to crate the pugs!". I told her Ike could be a bit of a barker with new people and he did bark at her a little, but then she pet the pugs and they quieted down and went to sleep. We got into the den and she said to Jon "I see on your autobiography that you don't have much experience with children as an only child, but that you think raising your pugs has prepared you somewhat for raising children. So I'll just go ahead and mark down that you like to keep your children in cages." She also nailed him on one of the weaknesses he put for me- that I don't like yard work. Well, she says, what's wrong with that? Find me a Southern woman who likes to get dirty! She was really great and easy to talk to. Jon's very quiet with strangers and well, with everyone, but he even felt comfortable with her and opened up a good bit and was quite chatty. She told us she knows a couple like us, the man is quiet and the woman talks all the time (what?! I'm shocked! I know you are too!) and she asked the man why was he so quiet and he said because he can't get a word in edgewise. Heh, well, that's probably true! DaBrie turned on the charm and cuddled up with Teresa on the sofa. After going over our autobiographies and talking for a while she gave us some information and pamphlets then toured the house. And that was it! I took her picture for Ling Ling's life book and she told me I'll need to make 2 books. I said I know we're asking for 2 but we don't want to get our hopes up too much as we've heard twins are rare. But she said not very many people ask for twins so that ups our chances a great deal. We're so excited! Now that this is over and we know we're being approved for twins we feel like we're officially paper pregnant! Up til now it's just been paperwork and check writing, but now someone official has told us we can parent a couple of Chinese babies and we are thrilled!

The Doors

This is what our front door looked like when we bought the house. Country blue and in dire need of a good sanding and paint job. Frankly it was in dire need of a mercy killing, but a new door is not in the budget. So I painted it. And this is what happened: At first I really liked the red, but then I realized it clashed with the brick. So I hated it until I finally found a color I liked that no one else on the street has. I painted the doorknob silver (again, no budget for new hardware), and Jon re-installed our door knocker and kick plate and here's what it looks like now: