Girls Night Out

MK is all girl from the way she talks to the way she laughs to the way she flits her hand about when talking to the way she walks....ALL girl. So tonight we had a girls night while the boys went out to watch a local baseball game. We visited a nearby nail salon and had a pedicure/manicure.....so, so nice. MK was the cutest! I so wish I had taken my camera. She climbed up the the little bunny pedi seat, promptly handed the lady her flip flops, and told her she preferred the color purple. She held her hands out the entire time admiring their beauty. She convinced the lady doing her nails to paint flowers on them as well....you know, so they would match the flowers on her dress....it was so cute to watch her explain this. When we were both all done, MK held her hands up to me and asked for me to hold her. She said, "I can't walk, I no want my toes to get messed up." Loved our time together!

Straight from MK

Today MK had her first nose bleed so I took her downstairs to cuddle and talk. While we were together she said that her nose bleed had scared her. I agreed, it scared me too. Then she said, "...and remember that time you got out of the car and couldn't breathe, you remember?" At first, I didn't. She continued, "Remember, mom? Remember you couldn't walk and you couldn't talk....that was scary to me!" Oh, yes, I remember now....a day, not so long ago, I choked in front of her. It scared me. It scared all of the lifeguards at our pool. It scared my friends. It was scary. Then MK said, "Yep, my nose bleeding was scary to me and you doing that thing with your mouth was scary to me....we both have problems!"

Yesterday, the boys, a friend and Ryan ventured off to do an afternoon science lesson. MK was a bit disheveled knowing that she was not involved in the outing. We drove to the grocery store and as I was getting her out of her seat, she looked at me and said, "I am seriously. I cannot believe you are doing this to me!" Teenage years are sure to be interesting with this one :)

Not long ago, I heard MK cry. I asked her what was wrong and she stated that one of her boys had said something bad to her. I asked what they said and she said, "He told me no and that is bad!"

A Happy Fourth

The Fourth of July is our time to move further inland and be where the weather is much cooler than at home, in our house. My parents, thankfully, have a cabin in the NC mountains that allows us to do just that. Each year we plan something new to do, something that none of us has enjoyed before. This year we chose to visit the Biltmore Estate. The boys have been reading a mystery about the Biltmore mansion. Because of this, they decided that it would be great to actually visit the mansion themselves so that they could see what a house that large looks like up close. They, hands down, declare that the indoor swimming pool and the private bowling alley are "the coolest ever!" We all enjoyed a walk through the gardens and topped off our afternoon with an ice cream cone from the dairy.

From there, we journeyed over to Gran and Pop's cabin for the remainder of our weekend. We were greeted with two ATVs ready and willing to take a spin around the mountain. Being that we had two boys who were willing and helmet ready, they were off in no time. They returned later only to tell me that they had both driven, they had both gone what I consider to be entirely too fast (anything on an ATV is too fast for me) and one son said, "Don't worry mom, Pop is always quick to grab the handlebars if someone is about to crash!".....and then they proceeded to tell me stories of how a lady just recently ran off the mountain because she just got too close to the edge....needless to say, I am more than happy to report that the boys, though they rode the ATVs all weekend long, are both safe. During what little breaks there were from the boys riding, MK decided that she wanted to give the ATV a try. Bow off, helmet on, and off she went and she never looked back....she loved it!

In our spare time, we went on a little hiking adventure to a local waterfall. Once the waterfall was in view, the men/boys took it a step further and decided to climb through the creek for a closer look. Though MK wanted desperately to trudge forward with the men in her life, she hung back with the ladies and waited patiently for the boys to return. Once they did return, she was scooped away to a section of the creek that was safe for her to get her feet wet.

On the Fourth of July, we wanted to go tubing down the creek/river....however, upon learning that tubing would take at least 2 hours to complete, we opted out and purchased our own tubes so that we could enjoy what we anticipated to be a quiet little ride down the river. Never anticipate. Always be prepared. Honestly, I had told Ryan just before this little adventure, that we needed just to laugh at what was in store for us on this particular afternoon. The water was low, the rocks were aplenty so I just foresaw there being some sort of issue, possibly some walking mixed in with the relaxing riding. We put the boys in the water, we began walking down the walkway, watching them like hawks.....Colin lost his tube, Pryce caught it, Colin, who was standing in ankle deep water, lost his shoe and stood there yelling that he needed help from us....meanwhile, Pryce is sailing downstream with a tube on each arm and then he panics a little because the water briefly didn't allow him to touch the bottom. Pryce panics, so Ryan, while holding MK, takes off running to rescue Pryce. I am standing there, torn with what to do.....on one hand I have a child standing in the middle of this creek declaring that he cannot move. On the other hand, I had a child who was scared and needed guidance to get out safely. Pryce gets out safely, Ryan returns MK to me and he sets off to rescue Colin. Upon the rescue of Colin, he looked at me and said, "I am done. Enough excitement for me today." So with that being said, we went to a calmer portion of the creek and the children enjoyed catching minnows and building dams with rocks. We headed back to the cabin for a traditional July 4th cookout followed by fireworks in the valley. I noted to everyone that this is the first year in all of our traditional mountain firework viewings, that I have actually been able to sit with everyone on a blanket under the stars and watch the fireworks. In years past, I have always had a child who was less than thrilled about the noise that came along with the fireworks. The banging and popping began which led MK to curl safely up into my arms. She covered her ears, closed her eyes and fell asleep never seeing the second firework take shape in the sky.

***Note: I had to type out the above story for the future....it will be one that makes the list of memories made though we don't have pictures.

Our weekend was full of more memories in the making. Because I have our next adoption on my mind, I found myself wondering what we will know of our next little one this time next year....will we know who she is, will we know her face? I am so grateful to my parents who provided most everything for us to ensure that our weekend was perfect. It was a lovely, extended weekend getaway.

All three of our children are swimmers. They love the water on their face. They love the games that can be played with friends in the pool. They love to splash. They love to do handstands or the many other "tricks" that can be easily done in the water yet harder to do on land. This summer was our third year of participating on our neighborhood swim team. Always lots of fun for all involved! Pryce moved up an age bracket and was introduced pretty swiftly to the 100m IM - this is a tough race for a newly turned 8 year old, one that he was NOT wanting anything to do with yet during the last meet on Tuesday, he admitted that he now gets excited when he is about to swim the IM, no big deal after five meets! Colin, though he enjoyed participating in the swimming part of the team, he also enjoyed hanging out with his buddies from the neighborhood and was all about meeting his teammates at McD's for an after meet snack. Never a dull moment with 12 or so 10 year old boys hanging out together under one big tent with a DSi. MK, well, she is all about swimming. Gone is the life jacket, we don't even bother taking it to the pool with us anymore as she just simply doesn't need it. She jumps in, does this little diving underwater maneuver, comes up for a breath, swims to the ladder and repeats over and over and over....and then, she comes home and takes a long afternoon nap!

"Hey mom, one day, you guys got married and I was still in the heavens" said Mason-Kate. I said, "Oh, you were in the heavens when we got married?" MK responded, "Yes, then I got borned and signed up with you guys." I love the mind of a three year old!

Let's Go Gamecocks! The South Carolina Gamecocks are currently in Omaha, Nebraska playing in the college world baseball series championship. The boys in our home are torn....they love baseball and the state of South Carolina yet they are having a hard time cheering for the Gamecocks as they are wishing it were their Clemson Tigers instead. However, the girls in our home are cheering away for our team! MK even asked me if she could sleep in her little Gamecock skirt. Last night as we were watching, we noticed some familiar faces on the screen....my dad and uncle decided to re-establish their youth and drive 20 hours cross country, without stopping, to see the Gamecocks play! Amazing. There they sat looking as happy as two little larks cheering on a team that means so much to the two of them. Let's Go Gamecocks! Hoping for another win tonight!

YAY! We have officially finished the first big step in our next adoption journey. On Thursday we received an email stating that our homestudy had been completed and approved by our agency. Next up, fingerprinting with the USCIS! Our family loves to celebrate so off to the movie and dinner we went. Great fun and lots of laughs for all of us! Many ask how long the adoption process will take or if we have to do the SAME things we did for MK. We hope our paperwork will go to China by November, we expect our referral to take 9-12 months based on the age and needs we are open to, and then we expect our travel to take place 6 months following referral....these are all, of course, what we expect to happen all the while knowing that a bigger hand has His own plans. We expected MK to be a healthy infant girl and we expected the entire process to take up to 14 months - fyi, we would still be waiting for that healthy baby girl now, almost 4 years later....unbelievable! As for the process, yes, we are having to do everything ALL.OVER.AGAIN. The biggest difference this time has been simply the fact that we went into the process with open eyes. With MK, admittedly so, we wanted a baby yesterday! This time, as excited as we all are, we are comfortable knowing that we will wait.

Going back, we have two boys who LOVE baseball and one little girl who spends a lot of her time cheering them on at the field. MK was often heard repeating us by saying, "Wait for it Colin!" or "Keep your eye on the ball Pryce!"....both boys had winning seasons and look forward to chasing the little white ball in the Fall.

Pryce had a great time during this particular game. One of his best buddies from school was the catcher. Pryce would get up to bat and the two of them could be smiling and chatting away....whatever they talked about must have worked, Pryce hit the ball everytime!

A common site from behind the scenes....MK was always right up at the fence talking to her boys about swinging and keeping a good eye on the ball.

Colin was one his team could always count on to hit the ball this season. No more Mr. Nice Kid for this guy, he was in it to win! Pop and Gran made a special appearance to see the boys play....always nice to have special people watching in the stands!