It's been awhile...

We've been busy in the Pendleton household. I just now posted pictures from Ethan's 4th birthday party (8/28). Ethan is in school and the "back to school" cold has run through this house. It seems to linger something awful. I spoke to his teacher on Friday and she said that Ethan is the healthiest one in her class. All of us have been going to bed early. The lights were out and we were all asleep just a little past 9pm last night. Oh my!

We went to a beautiful wedding in September. Karrie and Paul Rudd's daughter, Chari married Brian. The ceremony was lovely. Chari was beautiful. The reception was elegant. Ethan loved dancing to the music and the photographer kept taking his picture. However, Karrie was the most beautiful of the day. She just got her haircut and it was styled in this little bob. She was wearing a stunning dress and the cutest gold sandals. She looked amazing!

The big 40 birthday is coming up for me! Yeah what fun! However, I am looking forward to my birthday present. Matt asked what I wanted for my birthday. I said I desperately wanted to take the Wilton Cake Decorating class at Michael's. I've wanted to take it for a few years now. Well, he gave me my present early! The cake class starts 10/6! I am so very excited. I called Rachel and she signed up for the class too. I can't wait!

Still waiting for Evan to come home. I called Homeland Security about our I800A. She said our fingerprints came back with no criminal record. I said I could have told her that. She said it has not been assigned to an adjudicator yet. Big sigh! She said they have 90 days. 90 days is 10/17! So say she is right and I get the approval by end of Oct then it is 3-5 months to travel... praying the holidays dont impact the travel time. So I guess we are looking at January, Feb, March 2009 for his arrival home. However, it is all up to the Lord. He makes the rules!

Speaking of the Lord, I was praying and talking to Him while driving the other day. I looked up and the car in front of me had a sticker on the back of his window that read... Let go...Let God! That is one of my favorite sayings/scriptures. It truly made me believe that He IS listening!

Coming events in October: Fay's big 40!, Fay cuts off her long hair for charity!, Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival, train ride with the Rudd's to the pumpkin patch... my favorite, Halloween!!!!!

Difficult day today...

Yesterday I sent an email to my adoption agency asking this question... "In your heart of hearts do you think Evan will be home before year end of 2008? It's ok to say no." The response took awhile. It finally came through and read "Never say never, but my guess is that it will be after the holidays. I wish I could be more optimistic." I've been praying and praying that it will be before year end but kind of felt in my heart it would be next year. Her email just really grounded me. I feel so sad and depressed today. I want my son home. We are approved in the Philippines but am waiting on lovely Homeland Security. We have no time frame for them. New form now with Homeland Security. My paperwork has been with them since 6/26/08. After all is done with them then it's estimated 4 months to travel before we can go get Evan. Well, that's the time frame as of now. It's difficult to imagine that Evan is 2 years old already and will be 2 1/2 before he gets home. Time flies so quickly with Ethan. It seems like just yesterday Ethan came home and now he is already four years old! Time is passing by fast and Evan is not even home yet. When we initially began his adoption the agency was saying a time frame of August-November 2008. Carters was having a sale some time back. I bought a few things for him for the airplane ride home and for our time in the Philippines. Unlike with Ethan's adoption I haven't purchased much of anything. I have a running list in my head of the few things I need. I need a dresser, a changing pad, a diaper pail, a baby monitor, and a double stroller. With his and Ethan's disability seizures occur upon waking from sleep. I still have a monitor in Ethan's room. Now I think he might even be potty trained and I wont need diapers or a diaper pail. Will there be anything left of a baby for me? Again, unlike Ethan's adoption I've yet to start Evan's room. I know the scripture I want to paint on his wall (James 1:17) but haven't selected even the paint yet. I did buy his bedding thinking I'd have him in a crib when he came home. Now I just talked to Matt about returning it, forgoing the crib, and just buying a toddler bed. Plus I told Matt that now I have to go return those clothes I bought at Carter's because they are all 24 month size. I dread that! It's not fair! I should be accustomed to this stupid adoption process taking much longer then they forcasted but somehow I get wrapped up in it with my head and heart. I know this time next year I will be making two Halloween costumes for my boys and it will seem like Evan has been home forever. For now... it just stinks! It's not fair! My heart aches!!!!!!!

Ethan's (actual) 4th birthday....

Ethan's actual birthday celebration was on Thursday, August 28th. He awoke to Mommy saying it was his birthday. He sat up and asked if he could wear his shirt. I had made him a birthday boy shirt (see previous post about Bridger and other post about SeaWorld.) He loves one of the shirts because it has a huge #4 on the back with his name. He proudly wears it. He shows other by standing still and pointing to the front of his shirt then he turns around and shows the back. He says, "See?"
We went to Cheeburger Cheeburger for dinner with the Plank family and my mom. Ethan loves Kung Fu Panda. I bought masks and everyone had to wear them. It was fun! Ethan had a good birthday.

balancing crayons on his head....

birthday hat from school....

Ethan.....

Daddy.....

Mommy....

Our waiter...

Tara, manager of Cheeburger Cheeburger

Rachel....

Billy.....

Riley...

Gogo.....

I gave Ethan 4 candles and Riley 4 candles to blow out. They were the kind of candles that re-light and it was funny to watch the boys.

Ethan's birthday weekend...

We took Ethan to Orlando to celebrate his birthday weekend. We went the weekend of 8/22. We stayed at our favorite Radisson. It has our heavenly King Size Sleep Number beds that we love so much. Yes, Ethan slept with us. The rooms are nice, not the typical hotel room. They have a huge, fluffy, white bedspread with tons of feather pillows. It really is nice. Radisson carries a line of bath products called "Asira." I am absolutely in love, love, love with the bar of soap. It smells yummy... like oatmeal, vanilla, and honey. It's kind of gritty feeling with all sort of stuff in the bar. It feels awesome on the skin and smells delicious. I stashed two boxes of it away during our stay and found that you can order it online. Oh hey, great birthday/Christmas idea for me! When I make a million bucks and have the luxury of buying the soap online then I know I will never hear the word "budget" again. (Picture above: eating at TGI Friday's the first night. Ethan is watching his dvd.)


The Radisson we stay at has three pools and two hot tubs. The pools have rock slides and a huge waterfall that you can stand/swim through. Ethan gets a kick out of these pools. Unfortunately during our stay this time, Hurricane Fay had been through. No damage but due to rain there was no sun/warmth and the pools were freezing. Of course Ethan wanted to swim. It didn't matter that the water was freezing cold. Matt took him in for a bit but I stayed in the hot tub. Ahhhh! It felt so nice. Then Matt and Ethan joined us me in the hot tub for awhile. (Picture of Matt at TGI Friday's the first night.)

One of the best parts about the weekend is that I bought and actually read a book! I love to read or listen to books on cd. Reading in the car is nothing for me and the music doesn't bother me when I read. I actually had the luxury of reading for 2 hours in the car to Orlando and 2 hours home. Plus every time we got in the car to go to Sea World, dinner, lunch, etc, I'd read.... well, not every time. At night I had the opportunity to read in the hotel. Plus with my wonderful insomnia I would awake extra early (this morning it was 3am) and get dressed. I'd go to the main lobby and treat myself to a yummy latte from Starbucks. I'd sit in the lobby/foyer/lounge area around the water fountain, with my yummy latte, and read for hours. Then I'd go back to the room around 7ish to have Matt and Ethan complain that it was too early. As if! I read the entire book!!!! What a treat! (Picture: Mommy and Ethan at TGI Friday's the first night. Oh I discovered TGI Friday's makes the best Long Island Ice Tea.... another treat for myself! Yum!)

I made Ethan two shirts for his birthday weekend. Both said "I'm the birthday boy" but two different designs. He wore them Saturday and Sunday. Every where we went people would wish him a happy birthday. He was sung to at dinner or breakfast on both days. He was loving it! (After we came home I washed the shirts and he wore one to school a few days later on his actual birthday. He was so excited. He said, "Is it my birthday again Mommy?")

While eating lunch at Sea World, Matt had spotted a little boy out the window of the restaurant. He told me to turn around and see an adorable little Korean boy. I turn around and quickly jumped out of my chair and ran outside. It was the Ryder family (Eric, Kelly, and Barratt) enjoying a day at SeaWorld. I could kick myself for not taking a family picture of them. Barratt is from Korea and will be three in December. They are part of my adoption group. They are currently waiting for baby number two from Korea. They live north of Tampa so I haven't seen them in awhile. It was great to spend a little time to catch up with them.

Ethan loved Shamu! He especially loved when Shamu splashed all the people in the audience. We didn't sit in the "soak zone" as I didn't want to smell of fish all day. Matt took a gazillion pictures of Shamu's show. They turned out great. He is a good photographer. We also saw the Shark Encounter which Ethan enjoyed. We went to the Artic on a helicopter and saw polar bears, whales, and walrus. We watched the pearl divers up close. The weather wasn't the best due to Hurricane Fay. We got rain bans off and on throughout the day. Last time I checked we don't melt in the rain.



Sunday we went to Downtown Disney. We went to the Lego store where Ethan got his first set of Lego's. He picked out a garbage truck... his favorite! He also got a set of blocks for ages 2-5.... they are bigger in size but not huge. Matt and I were concerned if we got the regular blocks that Evan might choke if he puts them in his mouth. We saw the Lego people outside (life size) holding their dogs on leashes.... a sea monster... a crab.. a shark... a fish.... all made out of tiny lego's. Pretty cool. Matt video taped it so no pictures. We walked through the Rain Forest Cafe. I told Matt I wanted to eat there for Ethan to enjoy the experience. I got a menu then gave it back. It was about 28.00 for an entree and the hamburgers were something around 15.00 which seemed to be the least expensive. Ok no. Let's just look. We like Downtown Disney and walking through the shops. Ethan rode the train twice. Other than the Lego's and soda we didn't buy anything else. I'd love to go to Cirque De Soleil one of these days but, again, price. For now, I will just watch it on tv.

After wandering around Downtown Disney for a few hours we left and went to lunch. Then we drove home. Upon walking in the front door Matt and I both agreed we had a great time but the weekend went by too fast. Ethan was still asleep from the carride home.


Pictures taken 8/22, 8/23, and 8/24.

First Day Of School 2008/2009....

Ethan began his second year of ESE Pre-K at Braden River Elementary on Monday, August 17th. He was really excited to start school again. He has the same teacher as last year, Mrs. Dunn. She is a great teacher. Last year there were two teacher's aides in the class, Mrs. C and Miss Joy. Due to lovely budget cuts there is only one aide this year.... so far. (Don't get me started on this topic of one aide. Now is not the time or place.) Ethan was also excited to see his friends that continued in his class this year. We have a neighbor that has a boy Ethan's age, Max, that was in class with Ethan last year. This year Max brought along his 3 year old brother, Sebastian. We can't drive to our house without passing Max and Sebastian's house. Ethan points their house out every... every... every time. I do have to admit that leaving Ethan at school this year was nothing compared to last year. Last year Ethan was 2 years old, turning 3 in a few weeks time. He just seemed so little. He had been at home with mommy or daddy for the year prior. He cried and didn't want us to leave. It was rather difficult and heart breaking. I couldn't wait to return at 3pm to pick him up. Well, our little boy is growing up as he couldn't hold still long enough for the pictures to be taken. He couldn't wait to get in his classroom and see his teacher and friends. There was no tears this year instead there it was replaced with big smiles.
Pictures taken 8/17/08.