Oh how we need some curb appeal....

I am actually mortified at posting these pictures of our house. For a long time we have hated how our house looks. We have aluminum siding and the paint has oxidized. Now, these pictures show what the house looks like AFTER hubby has already been power washing the peeling paint off. So, it hasn't looked this hideous all along....just now. We both hate coming home to our house because there is so much work to be done to make it look welcoming. And well, the budget only goes so far when there's gas to pay for..... Hubby has been working very hard on getting the house prepped for the big event---WHEN HE PAINTS THE HOUSE!

He has already purchased a power painter and we are currently doing our homework on quality exterior paints that are going to last for a long time. Our plan is to paint the house in a clay color, have white trim and I really hope to get burgundy shutters next year. Then, of course we will need a new front door, new landscaping to complement the new look to our house and new outside lights. One day, it will be the picture perfect house. I will definitely post pics of the finished product when it is all said and done or maybe even when hubby is in progress. I can't leave the mental picture of the way our house looks now in your head, now can I?

The funny thing about all this is....hubby is NOT the painter of the house. I am the one who has always painted the interior of our house. He has helped in one room on 2 walls during our dining room/kitchen remodel last year. It's just not his thing. Keep your fingers crossed that he will survive the Great Painting Project of 2008.

Allison now---September 2008

Allison---then September 2005

Three years ago today....

Today is a special day for us---three years ago today, we met Allison for the first time. In the adoption world, it is known as “Gotcha Day” or “Metcha Day”. Regardless of what it’s called, it’s the day we became a family of four. I thought I’d try to share some of the emotions and memories from that day in China, three years ago.
It was on a Sunday and the day started with us leaving Beijing to fly to Allison’s Provincial capital of Nanchang, which is located in Jiangxi Province. It’s located in the mid- western portion of China. Allison is actually from a very rural mountain town called Tonggu that is 5 hours away by bus from Nanchang.
While we flew in a few hours to meet her, she rode on a bus with Nannies and several other little girls to meet us and our travel mates at the Civil Affairs Office in Nanchang. We had time to check into our hotel, and freshen up a little before loading on a bus for the short drive to the Civil Affairs Office. It was just enough time to be completely excited and apprehensive all at the same time.
Allison would turn 9 mo. old while we were in China and I was worried that it would take a lot of time for her to adjust to us. I was worried that she would grieve for the loss of her foster family since I had read that can sometimes happen. After all, we were strangers taking her away from the only life she had ever known.
Russ was extremely excited and was tired of waiting. He was ready to go and get her. We had completed months of paperwork and waited—not so patiently—for her. To put it into perspective to what current adoptive families are facing with wait times, we waited a total of 7 months from the time we submitted our paperwork to China. Let me pause for a second and let any other current adoptive families that may be currently waiting and reading this pick themselves up off the floor. It is very sad and hard to believe that families are now waiting longer than 2 ½ years for their referral.
We began our paperchase in April 2004 and finally completed it and saved enough money to submit it to China in December 04. We received our referral July 05 and we traveled in September 05.
When we arrived at the Civil Affairs Office, we were ushered into a large room and looked anxiously to see if the babies were already there. Our guide had warned us that some babies would be dubbed as either happy babies or sad babies because they would just cry and scream. We had to wait a only a short time before the girls arrived--it was a good thing because it was hot. Most of the buildings in China do not have air conditioning. When the nannies filed in with the babies, we quickly spotted Allison. We didn't know if we would be called first or last and all of us parents were trying to juggle our cameras and video cameras to capture the first moment together. As luck would have it, we were called first. Russ sprinted in front of me and grabbed her from the nanny's hands as I handed our camera off to another parent in our group. Immediately there was a commotion about Russ grabbing Allison and our translator rushed over to see what was going on. Apparently in his excitement, Russ failed to present his ID and our paperwork showing we were the right people to be taking Allison. He.did.not.want.to.hand.her.back. while they checked her paperwork and ours. She was finally ours!
We waited for the tears and watched her reaction of us very carefully. She was quiet and curious, and did not cry or utter a sound at all. She went to either one of us without a fuss and just calmly took in everything around her. It quickly became a chaotic scene in that room with each set of parents being called up one by one to collect their girls. Some of the girls wailed at the top of their lungs as they were handed off to these new, strange people.
We took a lot of pictures and tried to find a spot to sit and wait our turn to ask the orphanage director questions about Allison. When did she eat last? When did she nap? How much did she eat? What time did she go to bed?
We were all given some formula for each of the girls which made it easier for them to switch to different formula since we could slowly combine the two. The orphanage director tried to answer our questions as best as possible, but I got the feeling that he really didn't know. It didn't really matter everything would change now. Everything would be just fine.

"I can see", continued

Blogger was giving me some issues, so I couldn't post this picture with the earlier post. Wanted to show everyone how beautiful his eyes are and while girls will love his long eyelashes later on when he's waaaaaay older, right now they are making it a challenge to put in contacts!

"I can see!"

Those are the words our son said with lots of excitement as he achieved success in getting one contact lens in his eye. He could see. Those simple words may mean nothing to some, but to a little boy who has been burdened with glasses since he was 3, it means a whole new world is opening up for him. He has very bad vision and is legally blind without glasses. He is terribly farsighted. Playing sports has always been a challenge because he always has to compensate for those glasses.

He's in 4th grade this year and is old enough to play football for the first time ever. We have special glasses for him to play sports in, but these just wouldn't work under his helmet. No matter how hubby tried, the glasses just weren't going to work under a football helmet. Hubby decided we would get serious about checking into contacts as an option. Both hubby and I wear glasses, but neither of us has ever worn contacts. It's a whole new world for us.

They eye Dr. said he really needs hard lenses to be comparable to his prescription but we all agreed that it would be too hard for a 9-yr-old boy to adjust to hard lenses. Ideally, disposable lenses will be best, but it was going to be a challenge to find the right prescription for him. The eye Dr. got him started on a trial pair and we will give it a week to see how it goes. Each day he will get to wear his contacts longer and longer to allow his eyes time to adjust.

He has to learn how to put them in himself and take them out too, but this is something he really wants to do. He was so excited when he called me at work and said he was wearing sunglasses. It's the first time he's had the chance to wear some cool sunglasses. They just don't make cool shades for kids with glasses. He's always had to walk past the sunglasses in the stores. Not anymore. My boy gets to wear whatever he wants.

Pool fun

Thought I'd be a good blogger and add some kids' pics since it's been awhile. The summer flew by and I really wasn't ready for school to start yet. I can't believe summer is over & school started Aug.11 for Cole. He's in 4th grade this year and trying to get adjusted to a new routine with a new teacher. This year will bring lots of new things for him like FOOTBALL! Our school waits until the boys are in 4th grade to start out in football. I took him to sign ups this morning to get fitted in all his gear and it's going to be fun trying to get him suited up in all that gear! That's going to be Daddy's challenge since he's the football guy.

I wish I could say that I've been busy jetting off here and there to all these fabulous destinations this summer and that's why I've been so lax in posting. I check out everyone else's blogs all the time and am a faithful reader of several. I just never get around to posting on my own. Very sad. We've kept busy this summer & the time has flown by, but nothing very exciting to elaborate on. A few weekends ago we cut down some large tree limbs that were blocking the sunlight and view of our house. We are pleased with the way that it has opened up the yard, and has let the light come in. My plants will be thrilled to have more sunlight! But, it also makes our house much more noticeable. This is a bad thing because our house needs to be painted BADLY. We have aluminum siding and the paint has oxidized which means our house looks like it's molting. It's awful and I am not ever happy coming around the corner and looking at our house. It's just depressing to come home & look at our "no-curb-appeal" house.

So, we've been discussing whether to tear off the aluminum, recycle it and put the money towards vinyl siding or painting it. Hubby is not very keen in the construction dept. so hanging vinyl siding was not something he thought he could handle. After talking with a neighbor who is flipping a house down the street, he's decided that he could paint our house. Our plan is to rent a hydraulic lift, purchase a construction grade spray painter and paint the house within the next few weeks. Our weather here has been absolutely beautiful in the mid-80's and no humidity. Hopefully, it will stay that way when we get ready to paint. I will be a good blogger and show the before pics and after so you can all see the progress. Our house is always a work in progress since I am v.v. bad about finishing projects. One of these days...