Farewell to 2006!!!!!!!!

With 2006 quickly coming to an end, I thought it was a good time to do a recap of the year and things we have to be thankful for. The top 10 highlights this year have been..........

1.) Alex started preschool in September, and after a challenging start, is doing wonderfully!
2.) We received very positive news from doctors in NYC regarding Alex's KTS, and her MRI showed NO abnormalities.
3.) Alex is now finally fully potty trained.
4.) So many of my friends brought home their children this year. Congrats to Michelle, Alyssa, Leslie, Molly, Gen and Claire (...sorry, I know I am forgetting someone)
5.) After 12 years...I finally earned my 2-yr degree.
6.) I somehow managed to swing an "A" in statistics! (Thanks to a very understanding and compassionate instructor, as well as a friend who wouldn't let me quit...thanks Teri!)
7.) Our annual Trip to TN, which included the company of my grandparents. What a blessing it is to have them alive and well and all to ourselves for 10 days! And of course, our TN friends: Shane, Jen, and Hannah Grace.
8. ) Our decision to adopt again!!!!!
9. ) We have the best family and friends that anyone coud wish for.
10.) In 4 more days, Shawn and I will celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss. OK, "bliss" might be a bit of an exaggeration....but I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world!

Merry Christmas!

'Twas the night before Christmas


Alex plays with her new vanity


And opens some presents


Such a "Girly Girl"

We have another showing!

Is it me or do opportunitues always arise at the most inopportune times?

It has been pretty hectic here in the Reardon household. Along with the choas of selling a house and preparing for the holidays, my father-in-law took a really bad fall last week. He is still pretty banged up after breaking seven ribs and his pelvis in two places. So....we have been visiting him in the hospital each day after work. Which means....I have completely neglected my house and it is now TRASHED! We also decided that Santa would visit the Reardon household on Saturday morning so we could spend Christmas and the hospital with Grandpa. So I hurry home this afternoon in efforts to finish wrapping and attempt to put my house back in some type of order. Oh, and did I mention that we are also having 15+ people over for breakfast?

And then we get a call. Not "thee" call, but "a" call nonetheless. Our realtor has a family intrested in seeing our house tomorrow...AHHHHHHH!!!!!

So, wish us luck. Maybe we will be the recipients a Christmas miracle!

Happy Hanukkah!!!!

Since there isn't much news on the house or baby front, I thought I would share a bit about what Alex has been up to recently.....

On Friday, December 15th Alex had her first official sleepover. She stayed with good friend Gabi while Mommy was at a party and Daddy was in California. Alex enjoyed celebrating the second night of Hanukkah and learning a few new holiday traditions. I hear she mastered the dreidle pretty quickly! After lighting the menorah....



enjoying a festival meal,



and playing some games,



...it was time for bed. After nearly two hours, the girls finally passed out!

"Hurry and Wait"

"Hurry and Wait" seems to the story of my life.

Ok, so I know you can hardly compare the two....I mean a house versus a baby. But selling this house is a similar ride to the adoption process. Rush to get everything in perfet order and then wait. Wait to be chosen. We had two appointments to show the house last week, which was encouraging. We were really excited hoping someone might be interested enough to make an offer. So excited that everytime the phone rang, I got a nervous stomach wondering if it was our realtor calling. But the call didn't come.

Open houses and appointements are like getting profiled. You wait for "the call". You get excited thinking "this could be it". And then nothing. Back to waiting. You know it will happen, but you just don't know when. And that is the part that drives me crazy.

Which brings me to a startling revelation: I really stink at waiting!

It's official!

Well, there is no turning back now I suppose. We officially put our house on the market on Monday. No bites yet, but we are hoping our Open House on Sunday will bring in some prospects! This is the first real step in the adoption process for us, since we want a larger house before baby 2 comes home. But unfortunately we can't offically start the homestudy update until we are "in" our new home. I PRAY we can sell this house fairly soon!!!!


So the process of "hurry and wait" begins already!

I stink at this already!

Ok, so I thought I was doing well, creating a blog and all. I figured I would document all the things I missed out on journaling while waiting for Alex. Then I tried to post entry number two. But it appears I didn't write down the name of the blog, my username, or my password. Pretty importnat detail I find out now. I thought I would finally figure it all out last night and get caugt up. I made it half way there. I managed to at least ACCESS my account. Now I learn that it doesn't appear I can post new entries from my home computer (a MAC). Which leaves me at the mercy of my work computer!

So I will attempt again today. That is IF I can figure out how to post some pics!

Welcome

Just wanted to say welcome to my sight. As the adoptive mom to an amazingly adorable three and a half year old, my husband and I are eagerly planning the addition of another "little one". Feel free to follow along with our adoption journey.