We Mailed the Dossier!!!

Mailing the dossier (which is a bunch of legal documents like birth certificates, our home study, medical forms, marriage license, financial forms, letter from the police dept, employment letters, cover letter, etc.. ) is a really big step in the adoption process, and we mailed ours this past week!!!  Yippee!!!  It was actually way easier than I thought, most of the paperwork we had finished in our App 2.  We just had to get new notarized forms of things and get a letter from the local police dept that said we had no criminal record.  I am SO happy we are done, now we just sit back and wait to hear when it's officially logged into China.  It has to go to a few places in the US to get authenticated, then it goes to China and is translated.  We were told it'll probably take 2 1/2-3 months.  A really really long wait unfortunately.  But once it's logged in we'll officially be on the waiting list!   Can't wait!!!

Here I am organizing the paperwork.  Luckily I kind of like doing papework :)

Mailing in the dossier, yay!!!!

Here's a stack of one copy of our paperwork, I wanted to document it for her book.  We had to send four copies of everything when we mailed in the dossier. 

Now we just need to say lots of prayers for a speedy LID (log in date)!!!

Messy

 We've been potty training around here so you'll be seeing quite a few picture probably of Jackson in his undies, or at least a shirt and undies. It's just easier without pants!  :)  One day he was playing in the playroom (I obviously forgot I left the markers down) and he came out to me looking like this...I think he forgot he's supposed to color on paper!

I started taking pictures of him and he was such a ham, going from one side of the wall to the other, posing for me.

So silly!  He definitely has a personality! :)

Our friend Henry came over to play one day and we decided to fingerpaint..another messy project but boy they had fun!  Luckily this table is plastic so it just hoses right off.

I've been trying to do a few of the projects I've pinned on pinterest...I've pinned so many and never do any of them! 

So we did this volcano activity. It was actually super easy, just baking soda and vinegar in a vase, along with food coloring and sparkles.  The boys have seen the reaction of baking soda and vinegar before b/c that's how I clean the toilets, but it was definitely more impressive in a vase.  Plus I didn't have to go buy anything so it was easy to do at the last minute!

I had to include this last picture because I thought it was pretty smart (and funny).  We were playing hide and seek and usually Jackson just follows Cooper and hides where he hides.  Well this time he hid in a completely different room under his bed, and thought of it all by himself!  I keep getting reminded how big he is and how he's growing up.

Home Study Completed!

We finally received our home study this weekend, yay! That means we can send in a bunch of paperwork and are getting closer to officially being  on a wait list.  Yippee!  

Cooper's PK Graduation

It's hard to believe that Cooper had his last day of PK recently!  He had such a fun time in PK and we loved his teacher.  I hope he loves kindergarten just as much.  We of course had to pose for a few pictures. 

Oops, I was having technical difficulties...here is Cooper on his first day of school.  I wanted to compare pictures but I think it's a bit too small for that :).

 The last day of school was a fun day.  They had a bunch of different stations set up to go play.  Jackson and I were fortunate to come up and visit for most of the day.  Cooper was door holder so he was at the front of the line, but I just had to post this picture of Jackson joining in the class.  He thought he was part of the class, did everything they did and even followed all  of the rules.  When we go up to read to the class, he sits with them and gets in line-everything.  I think he's ready for school! 

All of the kids wore their school shirts and for privacy I blocked out the name.  Kind of a pain when all the kids are wearing them so I didn't post many pictures from the day :).  Here's Cooper at a few stations...

Jackson and I took a quick break from the day and met our friend Henry at the park.  Aren't they so cute?? Both smiled with their eyes shut. :)

We made it back in time to watch the kids eat lunch and then say goodbye to their wonderful teacher :(

When we got home I had some really fancy decorating up to celebrate!  :)  Next year I'll do it a bit differently, but it worked for this year!  Our friend Zach came over to celebrate the last day of school with us.

Breaking through, woo hoo!  They each took a turn.

Then we had a little sundae making party...

then got out the bounce house!

That evening Ben had his graduation from PK.  He had a real graduation so we were excited to attend.  It was a little late so Jackson stayed home with Ryan.  Here are the three cutie pies.  Cooper loved Ben's hat.

Laura made these adorable graduation hats!

She also made a cookie cake and put Cooper's name on it too which was so nice.  He loved it.

Next up, KINDERGARTEN!!!  AHHHH!!!   Cooper's ready but I am NOT. 

Swim Lessons and Mother's Day

Cooper has been taking swim lessons this spring and has loved them.  We had his last one a few weeks ago. 

This is what Jackson did while Cooper was swimming, he'd play with the other kids who were waiting for lessons.  This was Jackson's little buddy, he played with him every time.

?????

Hopefully those lessons will pay off this summer and Cooper will be able to swim independently!!

On Mother's Day Ryan had to be out of town for work, and my mom was out of town, so we had a laid-back Mother's Day!  (We celebrated the next weekend-Ryan and the boys brought me breakfast in bed and pampered me a bit :))

Cooper and I made pancakes.

 Then when he heard me talking to Laura on the phone saying "happy mother's day," he RAN to his backpack and brought me a little wrapped present.   Isn't that the best present ever?  He made this with his fingerprints.  I absolutely love it, and I LOVE how excited he was to wait and give it to me.

We had another tea party/ picnic.  They were obsessed for a few days, that's gone now. 

 We've been eating outside a lot lately before it gets too hot.

 So nice not to have to clean up drips from this!

 Watermelon is their absolute FAVORITE fruit.  I don't really know why...it's so messy I like them to eat it outside!

An Award and a Tea Party

Cooper's PK had an awards ceremony and I was so proud that Cooper received "most cheerful."  His teacher said that whenever she was having a bad day she just had to look at Cooper and he would cheer her up :)  Isn't that so sweet?  It made my day.

After their awards we sat and listened to another class.  Cooper and his class just happened to sit behind us and when I looked over, this is what the boys were doing.  SO cute!

Ryan took the day off so he could go to the awards, so afterward we went sunglasses shopping.  J was being hilarous with the glasses!  (Those are only mine, I didn't let him wear any of them ones in the shop!)

Cooper was very excited to help me build another Ikea purchase.  I looked around our house and I'm pretty sure we have at least one piece of Ikea furniture in every room in the house!

 Here's the finished product-just some art supply bins. They hold SO much stuff!  I miscalculated the number of drawers I needed so I need to get one more, then label all the bins.  It has come in very handy so far!

 The boys have rediscovered an interest in their tea set.  I sent them to the playroom to clean while I made dinner and they came back out with the tea set and wanted to have a tea party!

 Yum, even water tastes better in a little cup!

 Cooper was the official pourer.

 Cooper actually had me buy "kid tea" at the grocery store this week.  He wasn't too big of a fan, I thought it was really tasty!   

Cheers!

 They really wanted a group photo, including Lily.  Ryan was at work still.

 We had corn on the cob that evening and I just HAD To post this picture.  This was Jackson's face every time he took a bite of corn! 

 Cooper loved it too, he just wasn't quite so dramatic. :)