Dead Blogs! Dead Blogs!

This is June 4th, and our last post was back in March! Ooooh, bad bloggers, I suppose. Well, time for an update. After reading this update, you'll no doubt be able to FINALLY get the sleep you've been deprived whilst waiting for news--any news!

Let's start with some continuity material since the last

post: about Grace. Believe it or not, there is still more paperwork required once returning to the U.S. Grace has been added to my health insurance--more paperwork than you'd think. The adoption has been recognized by Colorado, and her "Colorado birth certificate" is on the way (both TONs of paperwork). So is her social security card (still more). And she's a bona-fide U.S. citizen, according to the immigration department. Yay!

Grace has been to the pediatrician, and on his recommendation, to a team that specializes in international adoption. Our doctor thought everything looked good, but that the team really knows what to look for, even based on which province

of which country that a child comes from. So we made the appointment and Kathy and the kids spent 5 hours with a team of a half-dozen specialists poking, prodding, x-raying, and taking blood.

Then we heard: nothing! We did get one letter from that team telling us what the bill was going to be, but we had to call 4 weeks later to learn the results. And they are: Grace is healthy. We had 3 concerns, some of which would have been quite serious, but the PA briefed me that we had nothing to be concerned about. Still, when we go for her 15 month checkup we'll speak to our doctor to confirm that interpretation. But at least we can sleep a little better now.

Speaking of sleeping, her mother commented that Grace has got to be the easiest baby she's ever met. Isn't that something that other mommies say about your children to be nice? I have to agree, however. Of all 21 babies I've ever met, she's the easiest.

You may recall that when we met her about 3 months ago, she wasn't sitting up (very long, that is). She is now standing briefly and just last week began crawling. Woo hoo, go Grace!

Life has not stopped on other fronts, either. Brooks played the caterpillar in the spring play (Alice and Wonderland--Kathy made the costume), the boys completed the school year (Sam's switching out of home school next year). Brooks finished another Upwards Basketball season. Baseball just started. Sam is now a lawn-mowing machine! We've had three birthdays (Grace, Kathy, me) and an anniversary. Mother's Day! My work feels as if it's getting geometrically busier. I sold my "baby" car that I had for 19 years. Boo hoo! Kathy has more cool diabetes technology to play with.

I think we can actually say that we're well on our way to settling in as a family of five and a dog. Speaking of dog, he's feeling a little neglected. If you're looking to lease a dog at reasonable rates, please let us know how we can help.

Oh, the other item that may be of interest to you pertains to my grandfather's 1946 B-17 crash in Italy and France (on the border). It seems that a group of dedicated Europeans is planning to honor the family members of the men who died in that wreck. This is really cool for me especially as I've kind of fallen into the role of (amateur) "family historian", and because of my Air Force connection with him. My sister's family of four, Brooks and I are planning on attending the dedication of a memorial, Lord willing. More on that later.