A Recap

Okay, so I can't believe that you guys haven't called me out on something. I started this post mentioning the boys and only then did I notice that the boys' initials are S&M. Seriously, I can't believe I never noticed this before! So there is no way I can continue to refer to my boys as S & M and from now on S will be known as Chipmunk (a nickname we call him because of his massive cheeks) and M will be Monkey (for those that know him, no explanation is necessary; this kid climbs on everything).
So it's has been 2 1/2 weeks since I last wrote. In between me being sick (2 of the last 3 weekends) we've had a blast. It's amazing how much happier the boys are (and me too) when they can get outside during the day. While Stu and Chipmunk's garden has been suffering from the lack of recent rain, the boys have been making the most of the dry weather, spending about 8 hours outside every day. Seriously. We've been swimming a lot too and Chipmunk is so close to swimming on his own. If he gained a little bit of confidence he would be a little fish. So I think next week we'll start the swimming lessons.
This past Tuesday, Monkey celebrated his 3rd birthday! I can't believe my baby is getting so big! We actually had the party for him 2 weeks ago because the in-laws were out of town on his actual birthday. So Tuesday we gathered several little cousins and headed to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. It was a lot of fun and right up the Monkey's alley. He had never been before and LOVED being able to climb on everything and play the games. That night we had a little party for him with some family members and opened all of his presents. At the beginning of the day he wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole birthday idea. But by the end of the day he was loving it! Whenever anybody told him happy birthday he would tell them "happy birthday to you!" And I think Chipmunk had just as much fun as the birthday boy because Monkey doesn't grasp the fact that the presents were just for him. He would unwrap them and immediately hand them to Chipmunk so he could play with the new toys too. I love it that they are both so good at sharing (most of the time).
I'll add a few pictures of the birthday boy and big brother but you know the procedure - I'll take them down after a day or two.

*Photos removed

Onto the adoption front, we've had some news from our region. There have been some families that have been having difficulties in the region (not region problems, just isolated difficulties) so we've been holding our breath, waiting for some updates. We are thrilled to say that the problems have been fixed and there are several new happy families. However, we also heard that the MOE in our region is going to be virtually closed for July and August. Which means that it will be September at the earliest before we hear about a referral. I find this a bit funny for two reasons. First, when we started this journey we tossed around the idea of holding our dossier so we could get a referral around September but then decided to go ahead and submit to get a referral ASAP, thinking we would travel early summer. Ha! Also, with the Monkey's adoption and this adoption, Stu has tried to plan everything so we would not travel to Russia during winter. We've been to Russia 4 times: October, November, December, January. Stu does NOT like cold weather and tried everything to time this adoption so we would travel during warmer months this time. Doesn't look like that is going to happen. Double ha! (Sorry honey! But anybody that knows me knows Stu's desire to plan everything drives me insane!)
So anyway, I was a little surprised in my reaction to this news. I wasn't the least bit upset or anything. I simply said "okay" and adjusted my expectations a bit. I think at this point the adoption just seems like this distant dream that Stu and I talk about but don't really expect to happen. I think we'll be completely caught off-guard when we do actually get a referral.
Also, I have to say that I'm loving this new plan. We had assumed that we would have HotDog home by August and I would be busy with her. However we're still several months away from that, and I just realized that while the boys are in school (Chipmunk will be going 5 mornings a week and Monkey will go 3 mornings per week) I will actually have 3 mornings to myself!!! I will have time to run errands without them, I can clean my house, I can go to the gym...the possibilities are endless! I don't think I'll know what to do with 3 mornings to myself but I'm sure I can find something to keep me busy;) And I know this will only last for a few months until we bring HotDog home and then I'll be busier than ever.
Now I've got to go and catch up on all of the blogs that I've missed over the past few weeks. That should keep me busy for awhile.