Paris

After a mostly uneventful (but very long) day of travel we arrived in Paris at our apartment in the Etienne Marcel neigborhood which is about a 10 minute walk from the Louvre.

The biggest event of our travel day was when I left my cell phone on the airplane - it took almost 2 hours to get my phone back. The worst part about it was that it cut our visit with my old friend Ralph very short. He did still meet us at the St Pancras train station but we only got to say hello and have a quick hug before we had to check in to the eurostar train headed for Paris.

The apartment is great - nothing super fancy but very functional and clean with really comfortable beds. There is a small grocery about a 1/2 a block from the front door of our apartment building and several restaurants within a few block radius (including a Subway right across the street.)

Amazingly the kids actually slept almost through the night. They woke up once right about 4 AM and went right back to sleep and didn't wake up until almost 11 AM this morning.

They have had a pretty great 2nd birthday today - after we left the apartment (around 1 PM this afternoon) we bought crepes - Sam especially couldn't get enough. We carried them in our Mei Tai's on our backs and walked to the Jardin du Luxemborg. There is a beautiful very clean playground for children there (it is pay admission). We played there for almost 2 hours and then they got to ride the carousel and to top it off they got to go for a real live pony ride.

Chelsey & Lindsey took the kids from the park and Darin and I got to go for a stroll by ourselves. We went in a few shops and both bought some shoes and then went to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame was just beautiful - so cool to see things in person that we've only seen in books before.

Being in Paris is so amazing - we are just really soaking it in. The architecture, sidewalk cafes, shops, and people - soooo much fun.

Here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure!


Sam & Syd still asleep - we thought it was so cute that they were sleeping in the same position.




Sydney woke up first - happy as usual!





Giving sleepy Sam some big loves.




Sam & Syd exploring our balcony




Our family at the Seine River near the Palais du Justice




Jardin du Luxemborg




St Michel



Playing at the playground:








Riding Ponies - Sydney wasn't nearly as much of a fan as Sam!








Hotel de Ville - maybe we should have stayed here!



Notre Dame Cathedral:

Our Adoption is final!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!


Samson & Sydney are officially ours as of Tuesday the 22nd at about 11:45 AM. It is such an amazing feeling and definitely the BEST Christmas present ever!!

Here are a few photos for you:

Alot to be thankful for!

We will be finalizing our adoption on either December 22nd or 29th (depdending on confirmation of court availability).

We will be having an adoption party on January 9th with an open house reception from 4 - 6 PM.

Let us know if you'd like to come and we'll send you the info.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy October

I do hope you are sitting down...otherwise it may come as too much of a shock that I have finally managed to sit down and post an update.

We are so thrilled to report that as of Monday, October 12th the twins are finally legally free for us to adopt and we have started the adoption paperwork process. Our adoption home study has been updated and as soon as our adoption case worker gets back from her Hawaii vacation we will complete the "disclosure" paperwork (this is basically just saying we know their background and yes we want to move forward with the adoption). Once that paperwork is completed it will be submitted to the regional office for processing which takes about 3 - 4 weeks. It will then be sent to our attorney who will finalize all of our paperwork and set the court date. We are hoping to be able to wrap everything up by the end of the year but it may slip in to January. Either way - we are well on our way to becoming a "Forever Family"

Sam took his first steps to me on Mother's day and hasn't stopped since! Sydney has been a bit slower to walk but started about a month ago now and is cruising around at a pretty good clip already. She has had some gross motor skill delays but has Occupational Therapy every other week here at home. We have seen a lot of progress in a short amount of time!

They are saying several words now and know several signs - they can sign "more", "thank you", "please", "water, Please", "dog", "all done" and Sam signs "shoes". They say Mama, Dada, baby, Bobpa, Nana and shoe and others. They love to read books - Sam is especially fond of reading to anyone who will listen. They are learning some animal sounds - "ruff ruff" and "meow" are the current favorites. They are also quite eager to point out their nose, eyes, mouth, hair, and especially belly buttons! Another favorite activity is tickling - not only do they like to tickle Mommy and Daddy - they will tickle themselves and crack up laughing.

They have also really started to play together quite a bit - especially peek-a-boo! It is pretty funny to watch them crack each other up. Tonight we had some music playing and Sam went over to Sydney and took both of her hands and started dancing with her - sure wish I had been fast enough to get a video of that!

Here is a photo album with a taste of what we've been up to for the last 6 months. I will try very hard to not let so much time go by before the next post.

Click here to view these pictures larger

At Long Last - warning mega-post

Finally a post....with lots of pictures! We've been pretty busy around here with the babies gaining mobility rapidly. They aren't quite walking yet but they are definitely getting around - and FAST!!

Things are progressing with their case and the state is changing their official plan to "adoption". That change will go before the judge on May 6th but is expected to be approved. The process for adoption will still take several more months but we have been encouraged to begin calling them the names we have chosen for them. Drum roll please......

Samson Robert Elijah and Sydney Anna Peytine are their names. We call them Sam & Sydney (or Sam-Sam & Syd-girl!)

So - I haven't posted for so long so this goes clear back to early February. We had 5 month old Akeshia with us for 2 nights while her foster mom attended a class.



Trying to fill Dad's shoes:


One of my favorite pictures - a Sunday afternoon in early February. Darin, our niece Leah with Sydney and our nanny Chelsey with Sam having an afternoon nap:


Sam being extra cool:




And Sydney with her sweet smile and cowgirl hat!!:



A playdate with our friend Hannah who was born the same day as the twins!


Reading bed-time stories with Auntie Suzette:


Sam helping Daddy build a fire:


Visiting Mommy's best friends from HS - Jill & Kari on March 9th (yes, they are twins too!!). It was so fun to spend time with them - the first time in MANY years to just hang out and visit.


March 20th - riding around in a box:


We stayed in a hotel for 5 days during our bathroom remodel (will do a separate post on that once it is completely finished - hopefully will be done this week). We used our moby wrap to tie the twins into a chair for feeding:


The hotel stay was quite an experience - our niece Leah was with us as well as our nanny Chelsey. Sydney found a piece of a snickers bar and had consumed most of it before we noticed what she was up to:


Cousin/Niece Leah feeding both babies at the same time in the hotel:


Here we are back home again wearing our jammies from Nana Shirley:


Sydney with Auntie Bonnita on Easter with her pig tails:


Our little family with Lily the lamb at Uncle Jeff & Auntie Bonnita's place on Easter:


Sydney & Lily:



Sydney & Sam with Lily:


April 16th - our first swimming experience - WE LOVED IT!! Sydney and Chelsey on the left and Sam & Mommy on the right:


Shopping at Fred Meyer:


Playing with our favorite toy in our new diaper covers:


Not quite sure what's so funny but something is absolutely hilarious!!


Sam's first haircut






Sydney fell asleep eating breakfast one morning - nice post-pony tail hair!


And just taken today - Sam & Daddy standing in the doorway:

Handmade surprise

I managed to be the 5th person that left a comment on my friend Jo's block which means I get something fun made by her. The catch is that I have to post this on my blog too....and, just like Jo - have been wanting to "make something" so, here's my chance to do it and be held accountable!!

Lucky you! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

So....who will be the first 5 people?????