July Update

Things have been going very well in our household...just extremely busy. It seems that nearly every evening has something going on, especially with Jared and his soccer and baseball. Here are some recent photos for you to enjoy!

Jared at the Brewers Game

Jared and his friend at the game

What happens when a very tired Caleb doesn't get his nap!

This is what Jared teaches Caleb in the bathtub. What goofballs, huh?

I did Meghan's hair recently, and Caleb was SO jealous. So...he had to have "pretties" in his hair as well. Isn't he purty?

Here it is - Caleb's FAVORITE outfit. He is the BIGGEST Diego fan in the world right now. It is just hilarious...when he sees Diego, he shouts out "Diego Go Go Go".

The kids love getting their pictures taken with Mariah. Here are a few!

Sometimes shirts say it all. Here's a classic Caleb shirt!

Here is a good reason why 4 year olds shouldn't be allowed to dress themselves. Nice outfit, Meghan! (or not!)
Just Mariah looking cute (the scratches are from a fingernail I must have missed)

And finally, this is what happens with Keith plays with the kids. Yes, they are wearing shorts on their heads and socks on their hands. Obviously, the kids loved every second of it, but I think that someone is going to put us in the nuthouse for this one!

Early June Update

Things are going well in our household. We wanted to share some of recent activites for you!

Meghan recently had "graduation" at her daycare. They recognized all of the kids who are entering or exiting Pre-School. It was SO cute.

Here is Meghan in her cute graduation outfit:

And here is Meghan and her teacher, whom she adores:

Being the dorky mom that I am, I went out and bought matching outfits for the boys and the girls. Here is a picture of the boys. Caleb especially thinks it's so cool that he has the same shirt as Jared!

Not to be outdone - here are the girls. Keith scolded me for putting Mariah in this outfit...it makes her look WAY too old!!!
We recently brought out the exersaucer for Mariah to play in. WHAT A MISTAKE! If you look at the picture, you can kind of see that the 3 older kids were playing with all of the toys, while Mariah is in the middle, petrified, thinking "what on earth are they doing???" The exersaucer is now back in storage, until Mariah is a bit older and can stick up for herself!

I would be remiss if I didn't include another picture of Caleb and Mariah. He is the best big brother a person could ever ask for.

And finally - in honor of Father's Day, I thought I'd include a picture of Mariah wearing her new favorite shirt:

Coming soon....

Pictures of Jared, the baseball and soccer star

Caleb and his favorite Diego outfit

And more....

Have a great day!

Kris

Edited 6/11/08 to add picture of the girls matching shirts

Parenting is SO Entertaining!!!

Ah yes...the joys of parenthood. Below are some recent pictures and stories that finally made it off of my camera. Enjoy!

For those of you with kids out there, you know that sometimes it's hard to get privacy. I forgot to lock the bathroom door one morning, and look what was waiting for me when I got out of the shower!

It's hard to tell, but Jared is holding his Nintendo DS, and fell asleep while playing his Pokemon game. Yes, he's sleeping with his head and knees resting on the couch!

Also another odd place to take a nap...Meghan fell sleep on the chair. How can this even be comfortable?

It's been a very cold spring this year. Here's Mariah getting bundled up for her walk.

Ah, yes, JEALOUSY! What Mariah has, Caleb wants.

Here's Mariah looking cute, as always!

Ah yes, Caleb decided to put his own toothpaste on his toothbrush this time. As you can see, he missed the brush and got his face, instead!

It's hard to see in the picture, but this is just another example of Caleb smearing something all over his face. I'm not even sure what it is!

Meghan decided that she wanted to pout. Trust me, we see this a lot. She's 4, going on 14!

Mariah really loves her brother, Jared. Yesterday, she started crying when he left the room. She just stares at him everytime he's around.

Sorry, I can't get the caption below the photo for this one. The kids really love their little sister! Next time, I'll include another one of Caleb and Mariah...he, too, just adores her!

Another Crappy Adoption Article for You to Ponder...

ABC News has an article on Guatemalan adoptions. You can read it by following this link.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4787761&page=1

There are, unfortunately, numerous articles like this out there. This one, however, really struck a nerve, so much that I wrote back a comment AND e-mailed ABC News, too. I fear that someday, someone is going to meet Caleb and make some comment that he was "bought" or was a "black market baby." THIS IS NOT TRUE! Here is what I said to ABC News:

I am only going to comment on this article (there was a lot of debate in the comments section about what was better - international or domestic adoption. I personally feel that every child, no matter what race or from what country, deserves a home). I find it full of blanket statements and sensationalized nonsense that does not paint a fair picture of Guatemalan adoptions. Here are some inaccuracies that I can site without even doing any research.

1. My child - no child - should be compared to a piece of fruit. To say that children adopted from Guatemala internationally are "the country's second-most lucrative export after bananas" is absolutely insulting. My child was not exported. Shame on you for making such a comparison.

2. You quote Norma Cruz. We did not pay anywhere near $50,000 to adopt from Guatemala (and our adoption was completed in 2008). The fees that we payed to our attorney included foster care for 14 months, diapers, formula, clothes, toys, medical care and immunizations, etc. Additionally, our attorney had to file multiple amparos and even a constitutional appeal for our case, and we did not pay any extra fees for an unbelievable amount of court action that was required to get our adoption case completed. Additionally, we were never asked for extra money, not from the mother, bureaucracy, and as I mentioned already, our attorney, even for the extra legal action that was required for our adoption. Finally, we were never guaranteed a healthy baby. We had to sign documents, understanding that there was a risk that our child was not healthy - that there were no guarantees.

I feel terribly for the women mentioned in this article, and pray that they find their missing children. However, I think that ABC news would be doing more of a service if they could publish pictures of these missing children, to help locate them, instead of casting doubt on ALL Guatemalan adoptions, as I feel you have.

Of course, I can only speak for our child's adoption, and not all Guatemalan adoptions. However, I find it hard to believe that our adoption was the minority, and am appalled that stories like ours aren't even mentioned in articles like this.

I KNOW THAT A LOT OF ADOPTIVE FAMILIES READ THIS BLOG - PLEASE FEEL FREE TO GIVE ABC NEWS A PIECE OF YOUR MIND IF YOU FEEL SO INCLINED!

Okay, I'm going to BREATHE now!
Kris