I-800 and a video

I came home from work yesterday exhausted and grumpy. Checked my email one more time and was immediately revitalized by news that our I-800 has been approved! I was hoping for it to be approved next week or the week after, so to have something happen faster than expected for once was fabulous! One more step on the US side, which usually takes about two weeks, and then we can move on to the India side of things. According to our social worker, the India side has been taking about 4 months lately.

In celebration of our I-800, I thought I'd post a video of our little guy, taken by a wonderful family who travelled to get their daughter at the end of May. They took over a photo album of our family and a small blankie like the ones Max Rup carries around with him.

Summer!?

Max's ladybug on Field Day

Madeline taking a sip

Max's classic grin

Isabelle, Madeline, Max, Myles

Myles controlling the hose

Sharing lunch at Field Day

Austin and Max - Red Sox Fans for Life

"Don't pee on the electric fence!"

OK, I usually don't post those pics, but that one is irresistible!

It's the end of June, school is out, we should be spending lots of time at the lake and have lots to tell about. BUT. . . the weather is just not being cooperative. It has rained for what feels like weeks on end. We've only been to the lake once and just for a couple of hours!

The end of Madeline's school year was so fun. On Monday the Kindergarten put on Dinosaur Camp. I brought the boys in and we all had a blast! We dug for real fossils, colored huge dinosaurs, decorated dino cookies, and played ring toss on the triceratops. The boys were well behaved, especially Myles, who fit right into Maddie's class, following all directions and being a big boy. I guess he is ready for school in the fall! Wednesday was field day, and since the boys were so good, they came again. The weather was great, and we spent all day outside on the playground, blowing bubbles, face painting, rockets and planes. . . it was fabulous. Madeline was sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Poat, but is very excited to start next year with her new teacher.

Hopefully we'll have lots of lake pictures soon. For some reason I couldn't move my pictures after they were uploaded. Sorry for the lack of formatting.

3-day walk for breast cancer

My friend, Tia, is trying to get together the donations that would allow her to participate in this amazing event. She has a huge heart, in fact, tonight she and her husband are volunteering their DJ services at a benefit supper for another friend battling Leukemia.

If you have it in your heart and within your means, please consider donating to her cause. This is the link to her sight. All proceeds go to breast cancer research.
http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/BostonEvent?px=2978061&pg=personal&fr_id=1292

Mason Probal Labonte

I just talked to my social worker from Dillon. We are still hoping that we may be able to travel by Christmas. I won't be super disappointed if we can't, since my sister is due with her first child on December 27th. If we haven't travelled yet, I'll be going to Virginia to be with her!

Tami also told me that I could post now, so get ready for a whole bunch of pics covering his first 2 years :) He is super gorgeous, and I love his big old grin. We also got a small update this morning. He is sitting without support if he is put in a sitting position, he can stand with support, he is saying a few words and calls his Ayah "aye." All of this is good news for us. I'm not a medical expert in any way, but watching his videos, his legs look straight and strong, so we're hoping we can get him mobile once he gets home.

OK, the much anticipated pictorial debut of Mason:

13 days old



This was the first picture we saw of him. Love at first sight.


We've heard that he's very attached to his Ayah.

I know he looks sad in this one, but look at those curls!

Those big, brown eyes

There's that grin!

Completely infectious!

He thinks everything is funny :)

I-800A

We have finally received our I-800A approval last night. This is what we've been waiting for since February, but got held up because of needed homestudy changes (that took way too long). This past week was spent being the "squeaky wheel" to make sure that a letter requested by the government didn't take a month and a half to write. It worked, the letter was emailed yesterday, and a couple of hours later, we had our approval! I really expected it to take much longer after they received the letter, so I was thrilled.

Now, we officially sign acceptance papers for Mason. Hopefully this will be done before Monday, and then I will be posting almost two years worth of pictures of our sweet boy :) We still have quite a few steps to complete in the process before we can get Mason home, but I feel like there will be progress now. This step took much too long for my taste.

On the homefront: Madeline is finishing up Kindergarten. Monday I get to go into her class for Dinosaur Camp! She is very excited to dig for trilobite and alomite fossils. She and I are making plans for our annual trek to Broadway. They have started "Kid's Night on Broadway" again (thank you, Rosie O'Donnell). There are special events for the kids to attend, and then a kid's ticket is free with the purchase of an adult ticket. We can't decide which shows we want to see. Myles is as sweet as ever. He and Max are still very close, and play together well. Superheroes remain the best thing ever. Max Rup is talking up a storm. We had a brief foray into potty training, but after two weeks, it seemed clear that he was not ready. We'll try again in the fall (sigh). We are enjoying warm(ish) weather, and spending lots of time outside, and in the woods. We can't wait until it's warm enough to be at the lake all the time. And, of course, pictures:

Madeline, Auriana, Austin

10th annual Lop Hop - a gathering of Indian adoptive families from all over New England

Madeline leading Myles on Sunshine

Seriously, how sweet are these two?! I swear this was unprompted.

Madeline in her new Salwar Kameez

Amazing. . .

Our son looks and sounds simply amazing! Colleen picked up her daughter, Lia Riyani, yesterday and spoiled me big time. She delivered a photo album of Dan, me and the kids, and a blankie that I made (yes, you read that correctly, my first attempt at using a sewing machine). At the end of the photo album, each of the kids drew a picture, and we wrote "I love you baby" in Bengali. The only phrase of the language I know other than Namaste. I wish I could post pics, but I can't for a couple more weeks. If you want to see them, give me your email. The pics Colleen and her hubby took are just amazing. Even better is this message that she sent me:

Kristy-
We met Probal just a few hours ago! What a hoot he is! Seriously the boy cracked me up the whole time we were there. He is a VERY smiley and happy boy. The ayahs there said he is always like that talking and laughing (we went upstairs to see the newborns and we could hear him from there! The ayah said 'Ah, there's Probal again!). We were in the room with him for about 20 minutes talking to the ayahs and he wanted us to look at him the whole time! We gave them the book and they went through it with him while we were there taking pics of the other kiddos. They had him kiss the pictures of Mommy and Daddy and the ayahs loved the Bengali at the end!! They were telling him about his sister and brothers. He kept trying to bite the book! The ayahs said 'Oh very nice blanket!'They said he doesn't stand on his own yet (She actually said 'No, not yet.'). The crib he was in was quite small so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it (I don't know if he's in there all the time though or just today). He had his legs sticking out through the crib slats and was kicking them around. We took many pictures of him (and have at least one great one of him smiling and laughing) and a bit of video as well. We'll get it into sendable form asap! He will certainly keep you on your toes but I think you will have a great time with him!
~ Colleen

He's going to fit in perfectly. My kids are known for their infectious laughs :)

chicks

Madeline loves her critters. Doesn't matter what kind, what shape, how slimy or smelly. She loves them. Today she was able to bring our new baby chicks into her classroom. She chose three: a broiler, a laying hen, and a bantam. She did such a nice job telling her classmates about the differences, and she was so proud. I was a little proud too :)






Madeline and Mrs. Poat showing the chicks. Mrs. Poat is also a huge animal lover. Maddie will miss her next year.

Look at all those kids smiling! I love it.

The Pigs