can I get an AMEN?!

oh yeah...

today is a GREAT day!!!

someone got their

EP APPROVAL!!!

I've sent off an email about my I600...

so hopefully that will come soon as well.

we are

ON OUR WAY

and I don't think today could 

get any better!

a nice little pick-me-up

today I got Charlie's August WBC

it was a pleasant surprise as it arrived late in the afternoon

things are looking pretty good

he's definitely progressing, and it made me smile when 

I saw that he is now sitting by himself,

pulling himself up on furniture,

walking while holding onto furniture,

and he's even just starting to stand 'alone'. 

this is a pretty big deal to me as the month before

we was just starting to sit - with poor balance.

he's still a month behind developmentally, which I actually think is fantastic.

when we first looked at his file he was 2-3 months behind. 

so I'm super proud of him.

and the icing on the cake was that there was a photo. 

(I've blurred out our Foster Mom's face for privacy)

this picture cracks me up for 2 reasons:

Charlie totally has 'old man hair'

&

I think they dumped the care package on the table

and then took the photo. 

but regardless, I'm so happy to see that he's doing well.

he's still a small peanut at 16.5lbs

but he'll fit right in with his Noona. 

So keep up the good work Charlie - Omma is coming soon!

ice cream

when I was young I always wanted to live in an area

where an ice cream truck would drive by. 

unfortunately, where I lived, ice cream trucks needed

4-wheel drive.

(not too practical)

and now I live in the suburbs.

but I've never seen an ice cream truck...

until recently.

I was pretty surprised when I heard the mechanical

melody of the 'Entertainer' playing one late afternoon. 

I asked Bob if that was an Ice Cream Truck and he said it was.

Apparently a truck has started to come through our neighborhood...

but at lightening speeds.

no joke, this guy tears down the street

(did I mention that I also live near a stop sign?)

Claire has been wanting to get something from the ice cream guy

so we have tried on numerous occasions to catch him. As soon as we

hear the music, we've ran outside, only to see him turning the corner.

But one day I happened to be near the front door when the music

first started. So I yelled, 'Ice Cream Truck!' and ran out...

to see a kinda shady looking truck passing by.

So I closed the door and when Claire came running

 I told her that he had left 

(which he did, so I wasn't lying).

From that point on I decided to tell Claire that 

we don't have any money for ice cream 

(which again is kinda true as I 

stopped carrying cash in my wallet).

Well, Bob was home the other day and was actually out front 

when the truck came. So he bought Claire a treat.

She was sooo excited as she showed me 

what she got - and informed me that the eyes were

made from 'chewing gum'.

So this was her first

(and mostly her last)

experience with 'our' ice cream truck.

I guess the dream wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

I think I prefer just going to Raley's. 

Wild West

This weekend we attended a 'Wild West' birthday party that was super fun.

I was excited as I got to 'fix' Claire's hair

(normally she wants it 'down' with nothing in it)

we don't tend to roll too 'western-y' in our family

but by some miracle there were pink boots

in my house that were the right size!

(I seriously don't know who these belong to...

maybe a hand-me-down? If they're yours, let me know!)

Claire got a bit high on corn

(I'm KIDDING - just thought this was a hilarious photo)

And what's a party without a mustache photo-op?!?!

(we actually had a 'family portrait' done with us wearing the mustaches, but if I'm being honest, Claire looked cute, I looked like the guy on the Pringles can, and Bob looked like he belonged in jail. So I decided to pass on posting that one.)

I'm DONE - I'm finally FINISHED!

Oh, to be DONE with the order!

NO MORE

sewing

gluing

cutting

folding

clipping

bagging

counting

re-doing

and now I can just RELAX!

(for just a couple of days)

and then I gotta start prepping for my 'feature date'.

On the Adoption Front

there really isn't much to tell

(unfortunately)

No EP approval

(we're over 7 weeks now)

No I600

(was told there's a major backlog)

So I'm thinking that instead of traveling in September,

I'm back to an early October...

or maybe a late September...

Who knows. I'm just along for the ride apparently.

Dear Arm...

I understand that you've been under some pretty severe conditions these past few weeks, but I really can't have you giving out on me right now. The shooting muscle pain that made me gasp and cradle my left arm is coming at a really inconvenient time as I have 85 more Daisy Blooms to make before I can call it a day. And then to make that shooting pain turn into a constant throb was cruel and down right rude. 

I've given you some ibuprofen and rubbed on some Theragesic, but I can only afford to take 7 more minutes of 'break time' before I have to get back to work. 

So please be patient with me, as I only need 3 more hours of your time. (and then I'll start gluing the 1000 clips that I still have left to do)

I'm thanking you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,
-Rachel

ooh. I think my heart is racing...

So I've been getting a bit impatient over my 

EP Submittal

normally, once you've sent in your paperwork

you wait about 4 weeks and then are submitted.

(although they technically quote 1-2 months)

EP's are submitted in batches, and are approved in batches

(as far as I know)

I was hoping to get word on Thursday. 

But instead, I got word today. 

I was submitted in the June 28th batch. 

...WOAH...

that's right, JUNE 28th. 

Approval usually happens between 6-8 weeks.

Yesterday was 6 weeks. 

I could get EP approval any day now. 

After approval, it can take approximately 3-4 weeks

for everything else to finish up before getting my 

TRAVEL  *  CALL

which means it's officially time for me to freak out.

I have so much to do... in so little time... and I'm SO not ready!

Tonight after dinner Bob & I will be having a meeting

to come up with a game plan. 

I hope it's a good one!