What have we been up to lately???

We've had a few big things happen since the last post...
Emma had her official U.S. adoption, she got potty trained, and she had her 3rd Birthday party.
Let's start with the party. We went to Chuckee Cheeses today (just the immediate family). She had an absolute blast!!! Her Birthday was estimated to be September 1st, 2005. We celebrated it a day early this year. Her and Ellie were all over that place squealing,clapping, and giggling. Chuckee Cheeses is like kid heaven and grown up hell. I shouldn't say that, it's actually pretty fun to see how excited the kids get. But man does it get crazy in there.
I think Emma must have known she was about to turn 3 because about 3 days ago, she informed me that she did not want to wear diapers anymore, she wanted to wear big girl panties. Now we've suggested this countless times before, but she insisted that she was a baby. Then, out of the blue, she decided she was a big girl. I didn't argue. Her chronological age is about 3, but her real age is closer to 2. According to studies, when children have been institutionalized, you have to subtract a certain amount of months to get their "real age", depending on how long they were in the institution. Eventually they'll catch up as they are nurtured and loved. Every time Emma goes in her little pink potty, she has to tell daddy. Usually he's at work, but she insists on calling him. She says, "Daddy, Emma pee pee in potty!!! You so proud????" And Keith praises her. I often wonder what his co-workers are thinking. (probably thinking, what a great guy! At least that's what I'm always thinking.)
Lastly, I want to tell you about Emma's U.S. adoption. They say you don't have to re-adopt your child in the U.S., but if you don't you could run into some problems in the future. For instance, some states don't recognize the Chinese adoption, so if you move to one of those states it could get complicated. Another good reason to readopt her here is to get her a U.S. birth certificate. This will make it easier when registering her for school... Also if she wants to get a passport someday, she won't run into any problems. It's sort of a pain, but worth it in the long run. I was able to bypass the attorney fees this time and do the paperwork myself. With Ellie, we used an attorney. Yippee for friends like Melissa who are smart enough to figure it out and then graciously turn around and help people like me.
I'll post some pictures of these great events for you!

Best friends at the falls...

End of summer fun!

End of Summer 08!

Well, summer is winding down and school starts next week. Emma had her first Chuckee Cheese visit. (I can't believe at 43 I'm still hanging out at Chuckee Cheeses!) She absolutely loved it! My friend Jenny and I took our girls on an overnight trip to Highlands. We hiked, shopped, and ate! We found a cool waterfall and the girls played for hours. In the photos you'll see Ellie and her best friend, Ali (Alison). She was adopted 4 months after Ellie (5 1/2 years ago) and the 2 have been inseperable. Ali is 7 and Ellie is 6.
Other big news (sad for me), our son Alex moved out last weekend. I know it's his 2nd year in college, but now 2 of our little birds have flown the coup. Drew (our youngest son) will be a senior this year. Time goes by so fast...