Talk About Your Alternative Ending...

April. Was my last post really in April? Well, I do have some news to share but its certainly not what I was expecting. I had surgery in June to remove a cyst from my ovary. My old friend endometreosis had reared its ugly head again. And thankfully it did because in addition to the cyst the surgeon discovered a tumor and I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Needless to say we were floored. Fortunately the tumor was earlier stage. Not so fortunately my ongoing treatment includes chemotherapy. I recovered quickly from the surgery and started chemo at the end of July. This week I will have my 6th of 6 cycles. I have been tolerating chemo well. My hair not so much. I have invested in many pairs of BIG earrings in hopes that they will be a distraction from my bald head! And hey, I haven't had to shave my legs in over two months. I have had tremendous support from my family and friends. This has helped enormously. I have maintained a positive outlook and life surges ahead. Really, who has time to be sick with two 5 (almost 6) year olds!

We had a fabulous summer despite my diagnosis. We spent the 4th at Lake Canandaugia with family, visited Aunt Barbara and Uncle Charlie in VA, made annual pilgrimage to visit our dear friends in Welland Ont., and spent a few days at the beach with Mo, Pop Pop, Aunt Eileen and Uncle Ron. We also spent many, many fun filled hours at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom thanks to Aunt Barbara and her gift of season passes.

Molly and Aidan started kindergarten in September and love it. They are in separate classrooms (per our request) and this is working out well. Most importantly they get to ride on the school bus. Big kids. So hard to believe they are in kindergarten already. Molly lost two teeth. Aidan still has all of his and is not happy about that. At the end of October, Molly and Aidan celebrated their 6th birthday in style at Chuck E. Cheese's.

And on the adoption from....sadly we have decided not to more forward with our adoption. Given my diagnosis it probably wasn't an option anyway. Still, it was difficult. After nearly two years and travel on the horizon our journey is finally over. Tough yes but we will count our Blessing. Molly and Aidan continue to be a joy and fill our lives with love and happiness. Who could ask for more?

No News Is.....

....No news. Sigh. I've been hoping to post an update that includes news about travel to Kazakhstan but things continue to move sloooooowly on the adoption front. We've updated a bunch of paper work so that is out of the way and I'm ever hopeful that "the call" is going to come any day. Its been 18 months since we've submitted our application to our agency. Its hard to believe that much time has passed and we still don't know when we'll be able to meet and hold our child. At this point in Molly and Aidan's adoption we were already home for a month. Doing my best to try and remain optimistic.

Life is very good otherwise. Molly and Aidan love school and have a full social calendar. We've had some unseasonably warm weather recently and we've been outside as much as possible digging, riding bikes, tooling around in the new jeep (theirs not ours), playing at our favorite parks and splashing around in the creek. Kindergarten registration was at the end of March and we're all set go. Molly and Aidan can hardly wait. So while waiting for news from Kazakhstan is difficult our life continues at full tilt and is filled with much joy.

Stay tuned.....

A Very Merry Christmas Indeed

Our holidays were merry and bright and spent visiting family and friends. It just doesn't get any better than that. Molly and Aidan truly enjoyed all of the festivities. They were real troopers with many late nights that ended with them passing out in the car on the ride home. Seasoned parents that we are we always made sure to pack their jammies "just in case" (which always ending up being the case). Santa was good to the kids and they were equally spoiled by their Aunts, Uncles and friends. Aidan received the Lego Street Extreme Racers set which he had wanted his whole life. Many, many hundred of pieces and hours of fun. The boy is Lego crazy. Molly received a salon styling station, assorted beauty supplies and a Barbie styling head. Silly me thought she would want to style Barbie. No go. Please call to schedule an appointment. She will find you if you don't. Her college age cousin Craig (who Molly adores) was a good sport and sat patiently for the works. And there were Zhu Zhu pets and accessories for all. Whew.

Pat's brother Mike was married on January 1, 2010. Pat was honored to be the best man, Aidan served as a ring bearer (which he thought was ring bear) and Molly a flower girl. It was a terrific day and we wish Mike and Mary Ellen much happiness and joy.

In adoption news....our dossier was assigned to Taraz in mid-December. We were thrilled to find out that there was a possibility that we might travel in January but dissapointingly things did not work out. We're still hoping to travel in the next couple of months. Praying hard and crossing everything. We are so ready to go.