Fall Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I think after my last post, or shall I say rant, I just didn't have it in me to say anything else. But in doing so I realize I've neglected to share some of the good things going on in my life.

October was lots of fun and started with a trip up to Parrish Pioneer Ranch and the other fruit farms near there. I had taken the kids up there with the hopes of picking some fresh fruit, particularly apples, but discovered that the farm that we could actually pick fruit on was the last farm not on all the little farms or stands that we stopped at on the way there. But we had a great time and really enjoyed the trip.

The Halloween season was upon us and it was fun to enjoy that with the kids who were old enough to have fun with it. We picked our pumpkins from the Cal-Poly Pomona pumpkin patch and enjoyed a day painting them. Then we had a superhero themed event for Halloween, and Joshua was Spiderman (originally going to be Superman but the outfit was chintzy) and Samantha was Supergirl, and our friend Sarah was the Flash. My bow to the event was to wear a pair of Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland. We went to our church's Harvest Festival and did some Trunk or Treating and collected lots of candy and played some games. We didn't stay long because everyone was just getting over being sick, but it was fun.

November was a fun month too, with nothing too specific. I enjoyed lots of time with the kids and enjoyed taking them on walks and playing outside. They are both growing so quickly and I love to watch them trying out new activities and skills. Samantha, I have discovered, is incredibly clever and bright, but also amazingly stubborn. I really have to work hard to handle her misbehavior or misadventures, because she's so adorable and cute with them. She's so quick to say, "Sorry Mommy." and come over to give me a hug and kiss. She's in the process of potty training, and is just starting to wear training pants at school while still in diapers at home (although we do training pants too) and is doing really well. Joshua is growing and doing well with fewer and fewer major outbursts. He's really enjoying school and learning a lot, although his usually comment when I ask what he did at school is, "markers!" We had a little trouble with the teachers using his name (due to it not being legally changed just yet) and they were calling him by his name, Joshua, but having him learn and write the letter S all the time and writing his middle name (Samuel) on all his artwork. It was pretty frustrating for me and sad for him, but we're getting to the end of that now. He LOVES to take pictures and whenever I have the camera out, or even if I don't, he'll stop and pose and ask me to take picutes of him. He is pretty amazing in his posing abilities and I get some really cute shots of him. He's such a love and a joy to have.


The adoption process is moving right along and I found out this past Tuesday that the paperwork is back from Sacramento and on Monday I'm signing all the adoption paperwork and they will be submitted for finalization, ordering new birth certificates, and finishing up what has been an amazingly long and stressful and joyful process to became the mother of my two beautiful children. I am both so excited and overjoyed, but also a wee bit scared. I was near tears on Tuesday when I got the call and absolutely cannot wait for Monday. I can't believe in a few short months I will be legally and completely the mother of these two little ones, although I know that I have already been their mother even if not legally. We will certainly be celebrating and I'm really looking forward to that too.

I was going to add pictures, but some reason, they wouldn't upload, so here is the update for the past two months anyway.