Good Grief!

Bailey had an encounter with a kite eating tree and it just about ruined her. When I saw them at home at the end of the day Bailey just sighed dramatically. That was when Jenn told me what happened. Bailey opened up at that point by saying, "I had the saddest day of all". I tried to snap her out of it and tell her that we should do something for mom because she had a bad day but Bailey was quick to interject, "Not as bad as me". The poor girl.

This kite was not the ordinary run of the mill plastic kite but one of the really good nylon ones. It was a gift from Santa and when she wasn't flying it, it hung on her wall she loves the thing. Fortunately later that week it fell from the tree with no apparent damage. When Bailey reported the kite's recovery I asked if it was okay and she said, "It's still beautiful".

So all is well that ends well. We will undoubtedly tangle with the kite eating tree again but until that day we will enjoy the victory.

Bailey The Prophet

Just call her Nostradamus. Our daughter is trying her hand at the prophecy gig. As we have posted there will be a new baby girl coming to our family this April which we are all very excited with. Bailey, however, is taking it a step further. One day she was speaking of the new baby and she referred to her as "him" and "he". I corrected saying "Remember Bailey we are getting a baby girl?" To which she replied, "Yes, a baby girl and a baby boy."

Since then she has not let up on the two baby theory. She has even picked out names, "Nick" and "Sally" which are of course inspired from PBS' The Cat and The Hat Knows A Lot About That (pictured above). Well, I'm not the biggest fan of Sally but if the two baby thing comes to fruition we may just have to let her name them anything that she wants.

It's been a while huh?

Well, so much has been happening and we haven't blogged a thing. Well we sure left out some big stuff. Ok, so what you missed last year was Matthew and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on a Cruise...with a 3 year old. It was a lot of fun (I still miss the food). The biggest news however is we will be getting a new BABY GIRL in April. And after getting through Christmas It has finally hit me how close that is and how much I need to GET THIS MESS OF A HOUSE ORGANIZED! Yeah, good luck to me on that.
Well aside from that we have been pretty busy (especially Matthew) with work/school/house, you know all that life stuff. Bailey is in a preschool co-op (meaning some of us Moms take turns teaching) and is in Primary at church, (a classroom instead of a playroom) and she is doing great. Although she has expressed that she misses the toys. She is working on writing her letters and numbers (iPods make everything fun). Ok so here are some pictures.
Well, so much has been happening and we haven't blogged a thing. Well we sure left out some big stuff. Ok, so what you missed last year was Matthew and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on a Cruise...with a 3 year old. It was a lot of fun (I still miss the food). The biggest news however is we will be getting a new BABY GIRL in April. And after getting through Christmas It has finally hit me how close that is and how much I need to GET THIS MESS OF A HOUSE ORGANIZED! Yeah, good luck to me on that.
Well aside from that we have been pretty busy (especially Matthew) with work/school/house, you know all that life stuff. Bailey is in a preschool co-op (meaning some of us Moms take turns teaching) and is in Primary at church, (a classroom instead of a playroom) and she is doing great. Although she has expressed that she misses the toys. She is working on writing her letters and numbers (iPods make everything fun). Ok so here are some pictures.

Graduation Interrupted

The plan for this year was for me to graduate in May and then to complete my internship in August. I received an e-mail however from the dean of the College of Education that changed all of this. The internship is no longer offered as a graduate level course and as a result I will need to complete it as an undergraduate.

In practical terms this means that it will cost me less money and for all practical reasons it will be better for me. It is however a blow to my ego to no longer be able to say that I will be graduating from college in May. Regardless, 2012 will be the year that I finally graduate from college.

Because You Asked

In talking to a number of our friends and loved ones I have discovered that the adoption process is somewhat of a mystery. I would like to try and explain what we are going through in order to offer some perspective. This is not meant to garner sympathy it is intended to be informative so please try not to read to much into it. Also, our experiences are with LDS Family Services, agencies will differ in their methods and procedures.

Once we decided that we wished to adopt again we needed to initiate the process by paying a small deposit and getting interviewed by a social worker. From there we needed to complete several background checks. We had to be fingerprinted and checked by both the state and federal government (the FBI takes forever to get this done so if you are considering adopting I would do this first of all). Our financials are also reviewed to ensure economic stability. Lastly, we undergo a physical examination.

The social worker visited our home to complete a walk-through and check the overall safety of the environment (as a result we purchased fire escape ladders which I am quite frankly glad to have).

The toughest part is the paperwork. Included in it is a letter to the birth mother, family backgrounds and histories. Perhaps most daunting is the preference sheet. This is where you express your comfort (or discomfort) in having a child placed with you that has different psychological or physical disorders. Your preferences are specific to each disorder (we spent a lot of time on WebMD while completing this). You can also express ethnicity preferences as well as age and gender.

Once all this is done you are able to complete your on-line profile that is first reviewed by the Family Services staff and then is posted once your background checks are cleared.

All the background checks are renewed annually and an annual service fee is charged.

From this point you wait. This is the stage that we are at. Birth mothers can search your profile and even contact you with questions. They also fill out preference sheets which can then be matched with your own to determine compatibility (along with other profiles which also match).

Referrals are really key in the whole process. Because someone at Church knew that we were adopting we were put in contact with a wonderful woman who chose adoption for her unborn child. The decision was very difficult for her. She did it out of love for our mutual daughter and her name will forever be honored by our family. We love and respect her so much.

I want to have another child so badly. I sincerely hope that it is the Lord's will that another be placed with us.

Memorial Day

Well we have had a great day, and by we I mean Me, Bailey and Matthew. As per tradition the schedule went as follows:
Drive to Fallon a little later than planned
Visit Deceased relatives and mentally shop for gravestones
Eat Lunch none too soon because Jennifer forgot to eat breakfast
Visit Living relatives for longer than planned and look at all the dogs my Uncles dog kennel
Drive home with the sun in our eyes and try to stay awake luckily the one who managed it was the one driving.

We did mix it up a bit, Matthew got to go out with the boys this morning and fill his need for firearms. And a benefit to having a bit of land (as my parents have) is that people will let you borrow some pretty cool stuff if you will store it for them. Woot for Bailey and Daddy!
It was a great day. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Anderson for taking us.

Paying our respects (as I taught Bailey to say it)


All the flags...they just make you grateful.

My sweet little girl. She helped cut the flowers from my parents house too.

I am so glad I came across this, and no I have no idea who it is.

Tuckered out Bailey.
Very much energized again Bailey. I don't even know whose that is.



My prize picture.

When You Think No One Is Looking

So the background is that Bailey offered to help vacuum while Jenn took care of some other chores. That was when Bailey discovered just how much fun the vacuum cleaner was to play with. Fortunately the vacuum was so loud that Bailey didn't see Jennifer going for the camera and she just played away. Notice her reaction as soon as she realizes that she is being watched.