Livin' La Vida Loca

Well here it is the end of April and I'm just getting around to posting an update. Molly and Aidan are great and continue to grow at warp speed. Sometimes I look at them and just marvel at how big they are. It feels like only a short while ago I was able to carry both of my babies at the same time and now I'm struggling to carry one. They continue to be busy, busy, busy little people and are literally on the go from sun up to sun down.

Preschool has gone well this year and will be winding up at the end of May. Parent-teacher conferences were held several weeks ago and other than not being able to walk backwards on the balance beam both Molly and Aidan are doing great. Molly has blossomed tremendously. She is extremely social and the queen of crafting. She has not had any trouble keeping up with the other kids despite being one of the youngest in the class. All of the children in their class except one will be headed to kindergarten next year. Molly and Aidan will stay at their current school for Pre-K as they miss ourschool district's cut-off by three and four weeks. Its wonderful to listen to Molly explain the amazing discoveries she makes each day. Aidan has enjoyed school as well but has had some difficulties with an environment that has more structure than he is accustomed to (or cares for). He can get easily frustrated when unable do something perfectly on the first try (like zipping his coat). We're working with him on these things and hopefully encouragement and time will help. Aidan is academically and intellectually off the charts (this is a topic for a separate post) and the challenge will be to keep him interested in the curriculum and manage his expectations of himself. Both Molly and Aidan love playing with their friends and we frequently get together with many of them outside of school. Overall, preschool has been a positive and enriching experience for both.

What else is going on....Molly started ballet and tap dancing lessons in January. She loves it and will be dancing in her first recital in June....Molly and Aidan are taking swimming lessons. They've gone a few times and are doing well. They're gaining confidence with each class which is good but makes mom nervous....Molly, Aidan and I flew to Florida in February to attend my Dad's 80th birthday celebration. My whole family was there and we had a great time. We didn't go to any of the Disney theme parks (Pat wasn't there and we think its too much for 4 year olds) but we did spend a day at Downtown Disney. Molly and Aidan had a blast. I would have planned a longer stay had I know how well Molly and Aidan would travel. Next time......The weather has been warm and we've been enjoying the great outdoors- riding bikes, digging in the dirt and going to the park. It's a nice and much needed change of scenery after the winter.

And finally, we've been working on our dossier for our second adoption from Kazakhstan. Our home study was completed in December but our agency wanted us to wait until April to start our dossier. It was hard to wait but now hopefully our paperwork won't get too dated before we travel. The plan is to work on the dossier in April/May, send it to our agency in June for translation and submit it to the Consulate in July. From there who knows. Our agency said we would not travel before the end of this year. I'm hoping for travel the beginning of 2010 but ya never know. The documents required this time around are similar to those we prepared for Molly and Aidan's adoption with several additions including an evaluation by a psychologist, more finger prints to be cleared by the FBI, and copies of professionals licences (home study agency, social worker, physician and psychologist) and a verification of licences from the appropriate licensing boards. All in all there are 30 documents required. We will be compiling two original dossiers so that is 60 total documents (all to be notarized and apostilled). The good news it that we're making excellent progress and a significant part of the work is complete.

Pat and I are also doing well. Work continues to be challenging for Pat but we are relieved that there is still a job to go to. Like so many others, Pat's company has been through lay offs and restructuring. We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best. I blessed with the opportunity to stay at home with our beloved children and I'm truly thankful for that. I'm also training for a ten mile run that takes place this Sunday. Wish me luck because I'm going to need it!!