Another MK statement

MK: "Daddy, Pop and Gran really want me to come back to their house."

Ryan: "Yeah?"

MK: "Yes, I'm in their heart."

MK stayed for three nights with my parents. She was so excited to visit them! Clearly they are still on her mind! She had a date to lunch with Pop and a "girl date" with Gran shopping. They baked cookies, visited the donut store and decorated the Christmas tree. We were so proud of her for being a big girl....she missed us but she was soooo big while she was away!

Letter Of Approval (LOA)

Tonight, after not seeing Ryan and MK for three days, the boys and I descended upon our home once again to be united with our family! We were all so excited to see each other. Hugs were in order, stories were told and there was a celebration to be had. MK said, "Well, our family is all together again but there is still something missing." I said, "What?" and, as if I didn't already know what she was going to say, she said, "We are missing baby Maddox and I am so sad about that." Well, MK, we are (FINALLY) one step closer!!!! Yep, we FINALLY, after exactly 70 days of waiting, received our LOA on Wednesday, December 1! We proudly present to you Maddox Ren Drafts, born 7-27-2009, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China.

From here, we are thinking (hoping) it will be around 3ish months until we travel!!! Yippee!

Happier Post

This year, my parents surprised the boys with an early Christmas gift and gave them the Polar Express themed train set. YAY! The boys were beyond excited! For years, they have received train cars from my dad at Christmas so they are over the moon knowing that they can now attach their cars to an engine. We had to set the train up immediately and unless the boys are doing schoolwork or we are not home, they are under the tree with the train! It whistles and puffs smoke and provides countless hours of entertainment. The boys have even come up with a scheduled time to trade out the cars for new ones so that each car gets to ride the track. Let the season begin!

Meanwhile, MK is away for her first multiple night sleepover at my parents house. We have never left her for more than one night since she has been home with us. She was excited, we could tell, because she kept asking, "Is today the day I go to Gran's house?" It was a bit sad to hear her on the phone though as she said, "Hey, I miss you momma. My tears are still hear cause you not with me." She quickly recovered and word has it she was allowed to stay awake to watch Rudolph! Who is she going to miss next week I wonder???? I am thinking it will be Gran after all of the extra attention that I am sure she is to be given during the next few days :)

Not A Happy Post

Tis the season to have strep throat, wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah! We are feeling like we are on the movie Groundhog Day and we keep reliving the same old stuff. Much to our dismay, C woke up feeling a bit "streppy" yesterday. Though his throat was not screaming "STREP" at me as it has in the past, I took him in just in case. Sure enough, he was positive. This makes our 4th episode, and our 4th antibiotic for this little guy in the past two months. And, as a precautionary measure, we are treating P as well. P has similar symptoms and is just plain tired all.the.time. He wasn't with us at the dr. so they did not swab his throat but it does seem likely that he is harboring strep as well. Please say a prayer for these two. They will do a re-check in two weeks and we will go from there as far as treatment. That, coupled with our agonizing wait for our next approval, LOA, well, we are not boding well in our home. So many have asked if the wait is hard. Yes. And I believe it is harder the second time around. With MK's adoption we didn't really know what we were waiting on and we didn't know how to track other families who were in the process at the same time with similar timeframes. This time, we know all of the above and it is heartbreaking for us when we hear that there are other families receiving their approvals when they were matched with a child AFTER we were and their paperwork was in China AFTER ours was. No good. MK said just last night, "I am so sad about baby Maddox cause she is not here with us!" So, we wait. Still. And our child waits. Still.

It seems every Thanksgiving in our family brings something new. This year we were able to be with Ryan's family for the better part of Thanksgiving day, eating dinner with them, playing games, and just visiting. Thanksgiving is the one holiday that Ryan's entire family, siblings and all, are together. Though our children are much younger than their cousins, they always love to feel older and be included with the "big kids" at G-Mom and G-Dad's house.

(This is what a child will do for money when prompted by an uncle.)
With our bellies full, we then set out for our second destination - a hotel in SC, in a small town where my parents both grew up and where my grandmother still lives. We checked-in and made a mad dash for the indoor pool. To our surprise, we walked into the pool area to find my great-aunt and three of my second cousins....this was only the beginning. I have a large family. Large. And they were all in this small town celebrating the traditional Thanksgiving that I grew up celebrating on the farm. This year, they all flooded the local hotels to stay an extra night to celebrate something huge - my grandmother's 90th birthday. However, before we could celebrate her birthday, we were to enjoy homemade french fries at the annual Thanksgiving night french fry gathering. I am not quite sure who came up with this tradition but it is sticking. The young, the old, and everyone in between gather together, make homemade fries, talk football, and eat until the heart can take no more. This year, during this time, I was introduced to a food item that I would not recommend - spicy ketchup. EWWWW.

My grandmother was one happy lady on Friday. She had her five children, 11 grandchildren (number 12 was working) and 14 great-grandchildren all in attendance for her birthday bash, not to mention her own sisters, nieces, nephews, their families, cousins - basically everyone you can think of in a family, they were there, all in one room, all smiles, all recollecting the good ole' days, all taking pictures of this occasion, all sharing in my grandmother's 90 years on this earth. It was a perfect end to a perfect Thanksgiving holiday. A perfect reason to be thankful.