The Dentist

Kiley had her first dentist appointment.  She did amazing.  No cavities and strong teeth.  She had her teeth cleaned and flossed and then had a fluoride treatment.

She got to wear sunglasses so the light wouldn't hurt her eyes

Big smile after her cleaning!

Exploring Eastern NC

We've lived in Eastern NC for about 1 1/2 years now and haven't really done much exploring.  So the past few weekends we've gone out to experience everything eastern NC has to offer.

A couple weeks ago we went to the Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC with our Sundquist visitors.  The place had beautiful gardens that we were able to walk around and a small visitors center.

  

Last weekend we visited Fort Macon.  I really don't know what it is, just some sort of fort made for the civil war that never even saw battle.

Then today we went and visited one of the lighthouses in the outer banks.  Cape Lookout Lighthouse.  From our house, it took about 45 minutes to get to the boat.  You have to take a boat to get to the island and once on the island, there's really nothing there.  You can climb the lighthouse if you want (we could not because Kiley is not tall enough), and then you can just hang out on the beaches.  They are known for their amazing seashell beaches.  Kiley came home with a huge shell!  We spent about 3 hours on the island.  Great weather today, about 85ish with a nice cool breeze on the beach.

Oh, on the boat ride to the lighthouse we were able to see some of the wild horses that live on the outer banks.

 

Adoption Update #10

Today we met with our case worker, Cameron.  We met in her office in Greenville, NC about 1 1/2 hours away but well worth the drive because today, we signed our last document!

Our foster/adoptive parent license application will be reviewed one final time and submitted to the state by the end of this week. The state will take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to approve (or deny) our application. Cameron said there should be no reason they would deny the application unless there was an error, but she's going to do her best to make sure it is submitted perfectly :)

That basically means that in a month and a half we are eligible to have a child placed in our home!  

In case you don't know, Shawn is deploying again this summer. So we need to make a decision about possibly accepting a child if he's not home. It's a tough decision because Shawn really wants/needs to be home so our family can bond together. But if we get a call that they have a child for us and we turn down the offer, we won't know when another child will come along. Tough stuff to think about. 

But mostly we're so excited and anxious. Yay for us!

The waiting game has officially begun. 

Pre-School Graduation!

 

Kiley graduated from pre-school on May 10th, 2013 from the Child Development Center on Cherry Point, NC.  She was super excited and insisted on wearing a pretty dress.  Her hair didn't get curled like she had wanted because we ran out of time while getting ready.  It's a bit of a wake up call for us with regard to time management.  We aren't used to getting up early in the AM because her pre-school had been in the afternoon, but her graduation was in the AM, hence no curled hair.  We're really going to need to work on this issue because kindergarden starts early :(




But anyway, the graduation was cute.  The kids all got caps and gowns (color was based on their class, her afternoon class wore white).  The kids recited the pledge of allegiance, sang "My country tis of Thee" and received diplomas.


She's a little upset because she's not going to see some of her friends again, but she's excited to be starting kindergarden this August.

Kiley's teachers (left to right): Ms. Estelle, Ms. Stephanie, Ms. Barbara (her favorite)

  

Adoption update #9

Just a quick update on the adoption. As you know our home study/interviews have been completed. We are currently taking our MAPP classes on Saturdays from 9-4 in Greenville. (1 1/2 hours from home).
The classes are actually really great. A lot of people make fun that've have to take parenting classes. They don't understand why we need classes when we're already parents. But the thing is, we are learning how to parent children who have been abused or neglected. These children have all had major losses in their lives and we are learning how to help the children learn to trust again and learn to grow from past experiences.
We both thought going into the classes that we were already prepared for whatever challenges we encountered with our future child, but only now I realize how wrong we were. We have really learned a lot and feel so much more prepared for our future child. Although, we can never truly be prepared because every child is different and there is no exact path to parenting that we can follow. But we do feel more confident in our parenting ability and our ability to understand the emotions that our child is going to go through.
So, just one more Saturday of this class. And we're looking forward to it because it's s panel of adoptive parents who do a question and answer meeting with us.

Also, just want to give a shout out to our new nephew Sinave Aiono. Can't wait to meet you buddy!

Reading

I read a lot and last year I read almost 200 books, but no "Good" books.  The books I read were entertaining, but I feel guilty that I didn't read anything really substantial.  

SO, this year, I am challenging myself to read 1 classic book a month.  

In January I read Mansfield Park by Jane Austin.  In February I'm reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

19th Century English literature seems to be one of my favorite genres, so I'm probably going to stick with that this year.  Maybe next year I'll branch out a bit more.

Any suggestions on classic literature I should read this year?

Adoption Update #8

We had our final home interview for our adoption on Friday 02/01.  Our case worker Cameron completed a final home inspection.  Basically she checked each room in the house and made sure all bathrooms were in working order.  She also checked to make sure we had moved our medications into the lock box and the cleaning supplies were moved to a high shelf.

She sat down with us and we completed more paperwork, mostly related to our MAPP Classes that we will be taking starting this weekend.  She sat down with us individually and even sat down with Kiley alone to ask her questions.

There are a few more things we are required to provide: A family photo, DMV checks for both Shawn and me, Verification of education, auto insurance declaration page, copy of vehicle registrations, copies of our driver's licenses, pet vaccination records, fill out a financial form, and we need to become CPR certified.

We also still need to finish up our adoption profile book and get 20 copies made.  I am about 90% done!  This has been a project.

Our MAPP Classes begin this Saturday.  They start at 9am and end at 4pm.  LONG DAY.  Especially since we have a little over 1 1/2 hours just to get there.  We have 5 classes to attend and then we're almost done with the adoption process!

After the classes, we will have one more interview with our case worker (at her office in Greenville) and from there I think we start playing the waiting game.