Where has September gone?

Somehow, August flew right past us and now September is almost gone too! We have had a busy start to the fall like so many of our friends and family. Bryant's schools are keeping him busy, Marcus is enjoying playtime with friends and the weather for playing outside, and I am keeping busy keeping up with Marcus and Bryant!

Last Friday, Sept 18, Bryant had his right knee "scoped" again. This time the doctor cleaned up some damage behind his knee cap from arthritis and repaired a "leak" that was creating a cyst. He told us that Bryant really shouldn't run any more -- ever. Then he laughed and said "I realize that I am talking to a Marine!" He'll do some physical therapy and then can start cross-training -- running only when mandatory! The procedure went well, and the staff at the Munson Health Center at Fort Leavenworth were great. Bryant even made it home about 5 hours soon than he did last time. Marcus has been Daddy's "big helper" -- bringing him things and following him around the house.

I started playing handbells with the choir at church a couple of weeks ago. I have surprised myself at how I picked back up with it after 10 years away. It's a lot of fun, and I am enjoying getting to know my fellow "ringers."

Marcus and I have enjoyed story-time each week at the Leavenworth Public Library. We have heard some fun stories and have made some neat crafts! Next week we will learn about wagon trains!

We are in full birthday planning mode too! Marcus turns 3 on October 12! We are planning a farm-themed cookout/birthday party with some of our new friends here in Kansas. I am trying hard not to go overboard with the planning! It's so hard because I keep finding so many cute things! Bryant is keeping me under control.

Hard to believe summer is behind us and fall is making it's way in. The leaves here are changing and there is a nip in the air at night. We are enjoying our first "real" fall in 3 years! Looking forward to fun fall activities and the holidays that won't be far behind!

Back Among the "Living"

Finally, after what seemed much longer than 4 months, we have internet access at our home! Yeah! I'm finally catching up on some neglected correspondence and updating our blog. We truly feel like we are back among the living! Having internet at the home has also allowed Bryant to be home more. He can do more homework and research from here now and not have to spend time at the library or at school. It is great to have him home (even when he is holed-up in his office)!

Lots has happened in the past month since I last posted! Marcus is still adjusting perfectly. Just a few typical toddler moments, but those truly are short lived. Thank goodness for a short attention span and being easily diverted by something fun!

We had a lot of fun in August when Nana Roe (Bryant's mom) and Uncle Kevin came to visit! Marcus had so much fun playing with them and showing them around his new house and town. We even went to the Leavenworth County Fair (I will post pictures of that soon). It is a true, rural, small county fair -- the best kind! Marcus had a blast! He loved seeing the animals and getting so close to them. He had a hot dog for dinner (one of his favorite meals!). He rode lots of rides (including one that made Mommy very nervous). He finished off the night with a bowl of chocolate ice cream! That same weekend, we went to a cookout for Daddy's small group at school. The best part was Marcus got to feed some horses and go fishing. He even saw a skunk (which he insists was blue)! We had such fun with Nana Roe and Uncle Kevin. Can't wait for them to come back and to bring Papa Lee with them.

Marcus has had fun making new friends. Nathan lives next door. Zach lives at Fort Leavenworth and his Daddy went to the Citadel with Bryant. Will lives up the road and is a fellow USMC kid! His Mom and Dad and big brother Trae are friends of ours from Quantico and Camp Pendleton. Marcus has meet sisters named Grace and Caroline (not to be confused with his cousins Gracen and Caroline)! Their mom Miss Sydney is one of Marcus' favorite people (we are pretty sure it's the M&Ms she gives him!) All in all, he is surrounded by a bunch of fun new friends!

On the horizon, we have First City Festival here in Leavenworth this weekend. We'll be helping with the booth that our church is sponsoring and looking forward to exploring downtown a bit more. Next Friday, Sept 18, Bryant will have surgery on his knee. . . AGAIN! Yes for those paying attention, he had his knee scoped back in January. They are going back in and hopefully finding out what is causing pain and swelling (and fixing it!) In October, we are planning a 3rd birthday party for Marcus (he turns 3 on October 12!). Then Marcus and I will be taking a trip to SC for a visit -- our first trip on an airplane just the 2 of us!

I am amazed each night as we put Marcus to bed at how much I can love someone! He brings us so much joy. I tell people we are "over the moon" in love with him and we truly are!

2 + 1 = Family!!

I can not believe it's been 3 weeks and 3 days since we received that phone call to say we could bring Marcus home! It feels like we have been a family forever!!

My Mom, Marcus, and I arrived in Kansas the evening of Saturday July 18 in time for dinner with Bryant. Marcus was a champ on the long 2-day car trip (975 miles give or take!) My Mom was a huge help both on the ride and getting settled in the first couple of days home. She had to head back to SC on July 21st for the Elliott Family Beach Trip! (we hope to join them for that trip next summer!)

Our new church family at First Presbyterian in Leavenworth has been such a blessing. We are amazed at the number of families there who have adopted children! There are several kids in the church who are adopted and they all get so excited each Sunday to see Marcus. Today was a BIG milestone because Marcus stayed in the toddler nursery rather than staying with us for the service. He had fun playing and is really getting comfortable with the new friends he is meeting.

Marcus loves to go fishing with Daddy! Really anything outside makes him happy -- blowing bubbles, playing in the sprinkler, going to the park, etc., etc. He has a great new wagon that he loves to ride in too.

We are already in a nice routine, and so far Bryant's work schedule has allowed him to be home a good bit. One of my favorite times of day is when Bryant gets home. There is nothing like hearing Marcus squeal "Daddy" as his laughs and giggles and runs to the top of the stairs!

I could write a novel on the past 3 weeks! I will hold off and update with more stories soon. There are 2 bits of good news I will share before closing. First, we received some critical paperwork last week from the Adoptions Office in SC. Our attorney there should be able to file our complaint for adoption in the coming weeks. Then we will be closer to finalizing the adoption. Second, we may finally get internet service at the house!! Yeah! Time Warner has finally decided that they can run the lines across one street to get service to the rest of the neighborhood! Maybe by the end of September. That will make blogging easier! :)

Life is GOOD! No really, it's GREAT, AMAZING, PERFECT!! Marcus is adjusting really well to his new home and family. Bryant and I feel like we are complete (at least for now!!) :) To check out some pictures, go to http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3kgkaqjj.cgqgylxz&x=0&y=dk0s0w&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button. Or you can click the title to this post entry.

We got THE CALL!!!

Finally!! After 14 months of "home study" work and 7 months of waiting since being officially "selected", we finally got "the call" that we can bring Marcus home to Kansas! YEAH!!! Yes, that loud scream you heard around 3:00 pm eastern time was me getting the call!

Needless to say this afternoon has been quite busy as we made phone calls, sent emails, and tried to spread the word. Plus I was busy packing up to get ready to make the long drive to Kansas. Thank goodness my Dad is the world's best car packer because he was able to get everything in my trunk and leave the backseat open for things we will need to travel and things we pick up with Marcus. Most of his toys and clothes we had already packed up. His foster mom Peggy had done that for us and it was a huge help!

On Friday, my Mom, Marcus and I will being the 974 mile trip from South Carolina to Kansas. We hope we can make it there by Saturday night-- our goal for the first day is to make it at least to Clarksville, TN. We have lots of new movies and music CDs as well as some new books and toys to entertain Marcus. Thank goodness he is a good rider and he sleeps well in his new car seat!

We will keep you all posted as we begin this next amazing chapter in our lives. After 4 years, we can hardly believe we are finally growing from 2 to 3! We are so blessed and so excited!

Thank you all for your prayers and support! Keep them coming as the next few months will be filled with new opportunities and growth as we bond as a family!

Making progress!

We finally feel like we are making progress in our efforts to bring Marcus home to Kansas! We found out last week that our Kansas case worker Ruth submitted her report to the Interstate Compact Office in Topeka (ICPC). We were thrilled because some earlier conversations had us worrying that she may wait until closer to her "deadline" of July 24. Thank goodness she recognized our sense of urgency and pushed forward. The even better news is that the ICPC office processed Ruth's report within 24 hours and had the documentation off in the mail to the ICPC office in Columbia, SC. This really is one of the last big hurdles to overcome.

Once the Columbia ICPC office receives the paperwork (which we hope happened on Friday or will happen on Monday), they can contact the Adoptions Office in Greenville. Then they will contact us and we can start making plans. In my "perfect dream world" that would mean my Mom, Marcus and I could leave SC later this week (maybe by Thursday?).

While we are still waiting, we are thrilled to be SO CLOSE to an official placement! Then we can start the process of bonding and attaching as a family as we wait for the finalization hearing.

Bryant has been super busy back in Kansas! He has hosted our friends Jon and Brooke Burgess and their kids Alex and Maddie over night as they make a cross-country trip to their new home in Yuma, AZ. Also, his Uncle Claude and Aunt Lois and their friend Shirley arrive today for a visit as they do some sightseeing across the US. I wish I could have been home with Marcus to see our friends and family as they visit, but we know Bryant has been a wonderful host! (Plus Brooke said the house is super clean!)

I have been busy spending time with Marcus. He stayed for 6 days with me while his foster parents were out of town. We had a lot of fun and are definitely making progress in bonding.

I'll update as soon as we have more news to share!

More waiting. . .

Well, I hardly know where to start this entry! It's been almost 3 weeks since I last posted and while a lot has happened, not much has changed! We arrived in SC on June 8 and had a great week together with Marcus. Bryant went back to Kansas on June 12. He reported to Fort Leavenworth on June 15 and officially checked in. He then started a LONG "honey do" list around the house. Turns out that the case worker in Kansas keeps coming up with things we have to do (or re-do in some cases since we have done some of these things multiple times in multiple states!) We had to have a fence installed in the backyard, a gate put on the stairs off the deck, cabinet locks, etc. etc. So Bryant has been a busy bee taking care of all of that. Today, the case worker came back to the house and gave her "OK" on that, but then proceeded to give us MORE paperwork to do. The most frustrating part is that on June 5 when she first visited, she said she had never seen a family so "ready" and that there wouldn't be a lot of paperwork to do. UGH!! Does anyone out there know anyone in Kansas that may have a clue about how we can move things forward? The folks in S. C. are ready to send Marcus home with us once Kansas gives the "OK".

In the meantime, I have been enjoying my time in Clinton with my family. I currently have no return date to KS! Since we are so close to getting permission to bring Marcus with us, I am staying until we get the approval. I am not leaving without him this time! We need lots of prayers that the folks in Kansas can get their act together and move things forward! I have been able to spend a lot of time with Marcus thanks to his wonderful foster parents! Even went on a little weekend trip to Charleston with him! He got to meet our dear friends James, Barbara, and Rebecca Bowers one night. Then he met my best friend Valerie Glessner, her husband Dave, daughter Ashleigh and her parents Donna and Ed the next day. Marcus loved playing with his new "cousin" Ashleigh (my god-daughter). We even were able to have dinner with my dear friend Mary Aquino. Marcus was perfect and such a good traveler. It was a fun trip! This past week, Marcus and I joined my sister Lauren and her girls at Vacation Bible School at 1st Presbyterian Church in Laurens, SC. What fun! Marcus had a great time and talked about "bible cool" every day.

So now we are waiting. . . again. I could go on and on about my frustrations, but I want to keep this positive! We are trying to jump through all these hoops, but each time we think we are done, a new batch is thrown at us!

Bryant will take all the relevant paperwork to the case worker in KS on Monday morning. Hopefully she will actually do something timely and get her report in ASAP. In the meantime, I'm missing Bryant but enjoying time with Marcus and my family!

Waffle House and Sweet Tea -- we are almost 'home'

Bryant and I left this morning for Clinton, SC. We are driving! Not quite 1000 miles from door to door. We had a great drive today -- made it to Lebanon, TN (over 600 miles down!) It was fun to drive through Missouri (saw the Arch in St. Louis from the road), then Illinois, Kentucky and into Tennessee. Amazing to see this beautiful country! Of course, Bryant's favorite part of the day was stopping for dinner in Clarksville, TN at a Waffle House! I would have bought a gallon of their sweet tea if I could have -- yummy!

The main purpose of this trip is to spend time with Marcus. We can't wait to see him. Here's a quick update on the adoption process: On Tuesday, June 2, we received a call from Ruth at Child and Family Services in Leavenworth. We were thrilled since we didn't think we would hear from anyone until later this month or even July. Ruth will be our case worker in KS. She was wonderful! She is the first person in this whole process to say "Marcus needs to be placed with you ASAP so he can start attaching and adjusting to his new family and new life". That was music to our ears! As soon as all the legal proceedings/rulings are completed in SC, he can come home with us. Still not 100% sure when that will be, but we are starting to see the faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. We are so excited that we even put Marcus' new car seat in my car for this trip to Clinton! We figured he can try it out and get used to riding in it -- and I guess I have to admit that we have a slight hope that we may be able to bring him home to Kansas by the end of this visit. We'll see!

Bryant will fly back to KS on Friday. He has a fishing invitation for the weekend, and he has to report to Fort Leavenworth on Monday the 15th. I am staying in Clinton until the end of June. My Mom may make the drive back to KS with me.

Stay tuned for highlights of our trip! We look forward to seeing friends and family and hopefully introducing Marcus to some of you during this trip.