Happy Birthday Paul

Life is good!!!
"Dad made me help clean-up after the remodeling."
Audrey's posed smiles leave a little bit to be desired.
Okay Paul, we have pictures of you wearing a dress and now you are riding a pink and purple scooter....is there something you would like to tell us???



Wow!! Paul is 2 now. I know I've said this 100 times but I still can't believe he is home with us now and forever and ever. He is just the greatest little guy you could ask for. We celebrated his birthday by going to Chuck-e-Cheese....where a kid can be a kid and a parent can go insane!! Actually we had fun there. It wasn't too crowded for a Saturday so we let the kids run free.

Our remodeling is almost done. I hope to post pictures of the finished product soon. Ted sure is handy to have around. My next big project is Paul's life book. I sat down this weekend and got the first seven pages done. That may sound great...but Audrey's book is 90 pages long and I plan for Paul's to be around the same length. I know 90 pages sounds crazy but this is the only memory that I have to offer Audrey and Paul of their year to almost two years.

Say a quick prayer for Paul's birth mother tomorrow as it will be 2 years ago tomorrow that he was left at the gate of his orphanage. These abandonment dates are the days that I think of Paul and Audrey's birth mothers' the most.

St. Patrick's Day

Tailgaiting at the parade.
Ready for some thristy runners.

This is the first year that we have ever done anything special for St. Patrick's Day. St.Henry's American Legion decided to bring back their St. Patty's Day's festivities. My brother and his wife were in charge of the 5K. We helped by getting people registered and passing water out to the runners at the half way mark. The kids thought it was really cool to help with the water. Then we stayed for the parade in the afternoon. It was a little chilly but lots of fun. The kids got a lot of candy so to them the parade was considered a success.

Real men wear dresses...and pink sandals too?

Can anyone say black mail??? I think Paul actually looks pretty good in ruffles.
It's a BOY!!
It's hard to believe that Paul was ever a sweet little baby.
We received Paul's Half the Sky report today. It was so great to see Paul at different ages. The report is translated so now I know when he first sat up, crawled, walked, etc. As many of you know Chinese to English can translate a little "strange" sometimes. The written report that went with the lovely dress picture stated "Now he is gaining appreciation for beauty. When he puts beautiful clothes on he is very happy".........hmmmmmm?

I am so thankful for this report. I wish we would have had something like this on Audrey. These reports are just one of the many great things that Half the Sky does for the children in the orphanages..