Home Study: Check

Well, we just had our home study yesterday which only took about an hour. We weren't really nervous, which was great, but we weren't quite sure what to expect. Heather, who did our home study, was awesome. She was very comfortable to talk to and helped us with questions. She did a quick sweep of the house to make sure everything was ok but we mainly talked. Owen was, of course, trying to show off by showing her the big rocket he built with his legos. He such a little flirt. Next up, fill out the rest of Love Baskets second application, watch the training video they sent us and Shaun has to get fingerprinted (I was fingerprinted when I helped out at Owen's school last year) as part of the background check. We're getting closer to building our profile and I can't wait. We'll keep you updated. Here's some pictures just because:

Owen the other night after his bath

Christmas 2009

So, back home to St. Louis it was for Christmas - and we chose to drive. . . again. . . that would be the 2nd time of the year. Yes, we're crazy but thought it would be a little cheaper than paying for 3 of us to fly. We will ALWAYS choose flying over driving 1400+ miles (that's about 20 hrs with stops). Owen had a couple meltdowns but I had my stock of $1 matchbox cars to distract him. Anyway, we had lots of fun and we were totally exhausted. We celebrated Christmas with the usuals -

Christmas Ever with my mom side of the family

Christmas with my dad side and Shaun's side

The day after Christmas (and a wedding - Owen was the entertainment) at my step moms

We got a little snow in before celebrating with Shaun's dad and grandma. It was so great that she got to come up.

We also celebrated Shaun's 29th birthday and my 30th (yes the BIG 3-0) which I have finally excepted. They had a surprise party for me which was awesome. My dad took pics (thanks dad) for me so I'll post them when I get them.

Glad to be home. Here's to a great year.

We're ADOPTING!!!!!

We're so excited for the whole process. After 2 long years of trying for another child and extensive lab work only to show we're both healthy and have no known infertility, it was either IVF or adoption, so we chose adoption. We've always talked about wanting to adopt and we feel God is calling us to do it now. We chose the agency Love Basket (christian based agency) who's main office is in Hillsboro, MO (not far from our home town) and they also have offices in Kentucky and Minnesota. We got the best feeling from them and we were actually able to drop of the application in person when we went home for Christmas.

We already have our home study set up for Jan. 20 which is a lot sooner than we thought it would happen. The person doing the home study is already flying out (she's coming from Waco, TX) for another couple who is doing an international adoption so it worked out perfectly. We just sent off all our information for the home study today. That is the most paper work I think I have ever done but soooo worth it. We are doing domestic and will probably do international sometime in the future. We're open to any race so we could have a new baby in 6 months to a year which is pretty crazy. Well keep everyone updated on the process.

Chicago Marathon 2009

Shaun ran his 1st marathon this weekend in Chicago. It was an awesome experience and he ran an awesome race. He ran it in 4 hrs 50 min. Not to shabby for his first time. He had quite the cheering crowd too - Me, Owen, Andrea (Shauns mom), Jenny (my stepmom), Rachel (my sister), & Lisa (my aunt). Here are some pics:

Shaun right before the race began:

Some runners before we saw Shaun - they were running really fast.

Shaun after we saw him between mile 2 & 3

The cheering crowd minus me. It was cold so we had our cheer shirts on over our several layers.

Owen got a little bored waiting for daddy.

Mile 12 - looking good

The Finish line - that's about as much of it as we could see.

Aaarrrggghhh Matey!

Two weekends ago we went and saw the Pinta and Nina replica ships in Grafton, IL. They were a lot smaller than I thought but they were pretty cool. It was raining that day but there were still a ton of people who came out to see them.

The Pinta

The Nina

My little pirate . . . he was not really welcomed on the ships. The crew let us know that - with a smile. They had fun with it.

My little pirate and his aunty Angel

Random pics

Owens a Kickaroo

So Owens had 2 soccer practices so far and 2 more to go. He's a Kickaroo and in the Boomers division (3 yr olds). There just lessons to help them get started in the soccer process. He followed directions for the most part. Sometimes he would wonder down the field with his ball but he always came back. Here are some pics:

Here one of the coaches was playing keep away.

A 45 minute session will wear a kid out. He was so tired the first practice he came off the field 5 min. early.

Family Pics 2009

In June we got family pictures taken in downtown El Paso by a GREAT photographer, Jessica Sandberg. Here are a few of them:

She definitely captured Owen's personality in this one - my nice, sweet, little boy:

Unfortunately, she's decided to close her business so no more family pictures by her.