So much to say

Hey, y'all. Sorry it has been so long! We've been busy. As most of you know, we are beginning the process of another adoption. It's one of the most exciting and wonderful things that has ever happened to us...the opportunity to adopt Catalina and Gus's birth sibling, a beautiful baby boy named Max. I've been frantically completing paperwork. It's a frustrating part of the process, but we're getting through it.

Besides the paper chase, the kids have been keeping me busy. Catalina had her second gymnastics lesson last week. I didn't even mention her first gymnastics lesson on the blog because she was more of a spectator that day than a participant. She had already had a rotten day (that first day of gymnastics)...I bought her a cupcake after lunch and she guarded it with her life, carrying it very carefully with both hands to the car and smiling the whole way home. Then, as we were about to turn into our driveway, she let out a wretched sound, which I soon found out was caused by a little tiny spider crawling on her carseat. Of course, you can imagine what happened to the cupcake...splattered on the floor of the car. It took her thirty minutes to calm down from the spider. She made me strip her down because she didn't even want the same clothes touching her that the spider had crawled on (or near...I'm not really sure that it ever touched her). Then, once she calmed down from the spider, she realized that she had lost her cupcake in the ordeal. More crying, of course. She was emotionally exhausted, then I loaded her back into the spider-mobile and made her go to a strange place and meet strange kids and play on a bunch of strange contraptions like the balance beam. About two minutes into the class, she decided she wanted no part of it.

Last week, she cried a little as we walked into the class and also when the teacher asked her to take a turn at a forward roll on a the mats. She basically had to force Cati to do it. But, when Cati stood up, she had a smile on her face and from that point on she was pretty much hooked. It was absolutely delightful to watch!! She has another class today, so I'll add new pictures tomorrow.





Baby Gus is a busy, little bee, also. He spends every waking moment climbing and exploring and getting into things he shouldn't...just like the perfect little 17-month-old that he will be tomorrow. Here's an example of his handywork, toilet paper from the kids' bathroom, through the play room, and all the way through the family room! Cati and I turned our backs on him for about a minute and this is what happened. We laughed until our stomachs hurt!





We had a weigh-in last week and (drumroll please)...he finally hit 20 lbs. (and not an ounce more)! Here is the little cutie during his first forward-facing ride in his carseat. He loves being able to see everything that's going on like his Cici can. So cute!



This weekend, I had the wonderful and rare opportunity to celebrate my upcoming birthday with four of my favorite people in the world, the Jennifers, Natalie, and Mary Ann. The five of us haven't been together in the same room for over a year, so it was really amazing to be together. We've been best friends for almost a decade and I sure don't know what I ever did before them. Thanks to my lovely friends for a lovely time! Let's not make the over-a-year-thing a habit.