I know this is long overdue....I'm so sorry! I have a semi good excuse though, I was jet lagged for a LONG time...I'm still not totally "fixed"...I'm staying up way later than normal but I'm getting back into a routine. :) Also, I had to play catch up with my homework. For those of you who don't know, not only am I a stay at home mom, and a homeschooling mom....I also make crafts to sell to raise money for our adoption, I handle all the paperwork/prep/stuff in general for our adoption AND I'm a full-time student! LOL...not a lot of freetime in my little world!

So I guess I'll begin at the the beginning! We went to Russia! (duh! lol) AND WE LOVED IT!!! We had a blast, and Kenzi is perfect! I blogged about our trip but I didn't blog much about our return home, so I'll begin there!

So, our last visit with Kenzi was awesome, she was super tired when she first came in was content to snuggle for a good 20 minutes before deciding it was play time! She LOVES to be tickled, and to play "astronaut" where I count down (3, 2, 1...blast off) and make space shuttle noises and lift her high in the air! We did that for a good 30 minutes until my arms were going to fall off....she's a chunky monkey! LOL

So after playing the blast off game, and tickling her while she rolled from one end of the room to the other and squealed and giggled...she was ready to play with the toys. She is ALL ABOUT toys with animals on them. Her favorites? Ducks, puppies, and pigs....she went to town with them! She was semi interested in a firetruck, REALLY interested in beating David in the head with a plastic hammer (are we sure this isn't my biological child? I think I need to go on Maury for a maternity test....), and she LOVES blocks! The squishy kind that crinkle and rattle...obsessed doesn't even begin to describe her love of all things crinkly. To put it simply....she is a riot! So fun and so bubbly....I would have never guessed she would be so busy!

Clearly she wore herself out because she crawled up in my lap and laid her head down, so I cuddled her up nice and close, rocked her, and she was quickly fast asleep....I have a video of her snoring to prove it! lol Normally the orphanage doesn't want the kids to sleep outside of bed and nap time, but since it was our last visit, and I was a bit sad, and she was knocked out....they let me sit and rock her and cuddle her sleeping, snoring little self for an hour extra. :)

When we left the orphanage, I was a good girl and didn't sob like a baby. We drove around a bit killing time before our notary appt. We went to the bay, the WWII memorial, we took a walk, then we went to sign the OFFICIAL paperwork to make Kenzi OURS! We "Accepted the referral" and now we wait for a court date!

We went to the beach one last time before packing to head to the airport. Our flight left and 1am and was PACKED with students from the university going home for summer. We flew from Kenzi's city to Beijing, China...where we had a 10 hour layover...and where you need a VISA to walk around the airport!!! We couldn't get anything to eat or drink from 1am until around 9am....which made us less than kind to each other lol...we were hungry, and sleep deprived...and sad but we finally figured out where to go to get the visa, and we were on our way to the other end of the airport where there is basically a shopping mall. We ate breakfast at Kenny Roger's Roasters!!! It was SO GROSS, I couldn't eat my food, I wanted to throw up...lol....no really it was WEIRD! So we went to a coffee shop and I had the most AMAZING Iced Hot Chocolate....totally made up for the funky Kenny Roger's food. Then we got our souvenir's for the boys, walked around a bit, got our boarding passes, then we went to our gate and spent the last 2 hours there watching planes take off/land...it was actually a really fun experience! Then...we were off to San Francisco!!

The flight from Beijing to San Fran sucked. There was an obnoxious, crazy, LOUD child in the row in front of us and his mom was just as nuts as he was. They delayed our plane 30 minutes because she REFUSED to sit down with this kid because everytime she sat down, he screamed. It was awful, finally they said sit down or get off, so she sat down. I hate to fly and this just made me all the more freaked out....I kind of wanted off the plane too. :\

San Francisco...back on U.S. soil! I was bummed that I didn't get to see the Golden Gate bridge...so I bought a magnet with the Golden Gate bridge on it. When I"m 80 I won't remember that I didn't REALLY see the bridge so I guess I'm covered now LOL....uneventful...onward to Chicago!

We get HOME (sorta) and we end up having to shell out $120 for a cab to my SIL's because our ride fell through...that sucked but oh well, it is what it is. My SIL had gotten sick while we were gone and was in the hospital so my poor MIL, who is in her 70's, had been watching both boys, by herself, for DAYS...that had to have been hard for her but she didn't complain a bit. :) We stayed a couple days, visited my SIL in the hospital, and headed home.

You have no idea how amazing it was to sleep in my own bed, shower in my own bathroom!!! I was so HAPPY to be HOME!!!! I spent a couple days just hanging out with the boys, enjoying them, and my own house, my own space...then it was time to get down to business...we have a court date to prep for!

I found a pysch for our psych evals, I found someone for our visa's, I gathered some paperwork, I dealt with school stuff, and the best of all....I started planning Kenzi's room!!! It is SO FUN having a girl!!!!

I'll close with pics of the items I bought for her, I can't wait to show you all her FINISHED room!!!

Thanks for tagging along on this journey with us...

PS...we are having a yard sale JUly 13-15, if you are in the Jackson area and have stuff you don't need/want....consider donating it for our yardsale for Kenzi! Thanks!!!! email me at priscilla.morse@gmail.com for more info! On to the pics!