Almost five years.

I should probably be doing some laundry or finishing our last minute preparations for going on vacation, but instead I am sitting here thinking back to nearly five years ago.  It was on September 19th that we received our formal acceptance from our agency.  They had told us that the average time for adoptive parents to wait was 7-9 months.  This was a very short time compared to other agencies we had spoken with, which was part of the reason we chose them, but that was only a small part.  Anyway on October 3rd I received a call at work from the agency.  We were gonna be parents, that day!  I was so overwhelmed with joy I was shaking and crying.  I could not wait to meet my baby girl.  I will never forget the moment I held her for the first time.

When Kassi was 18 months old we had this and much more made into a book for her.  She loves to hear her story and we love to tell it.  We always want her to be proud of who she is and never let anyone tell her any different.  

Next week my baby girl is going to turn five.  Happy birthday baby girl!

Preschool

Kassi has started her second year of preschool.  It is still amazing to me that they have to go to preschool for two years before they go to kindergarten and then kindergarten is a full day!  The things they are expected to know are just crazy.  I never went to preschool and had half days of kindergarten and I think I did okay.   I don't have any worries about what she will know and how she will do in kindergarten though.  As she is sitting here reading me a book right now!

The other day I picked her up from preschool and the teacher stopped me and said she needed to talk to me.  Of course my instant reaction is to think uh oh what did she do and I start to feel defensive.  So as everyone else is leaving I wait to hear what she is going to say.  She leans over and quietly says "I have to tell you...Kassi has a couple of kids who actually fight over her.  They fight over who gets to sit next to her, who is line by her, etc."  "So I asked her if she needed her upcoming vacation just to get away from these kids and she said yes, yes she did."  This was so not what I was expecting to hear.  I just kind of laughed and said "yeah she kind of has that affect on people."  Last year when she was out for her tonsils the teacher said some of the kids cried because she was out so long and when she got back they kept hugging her and telling her not be gone anymore.

I am not sure what to think of all the attention she gets, most kids and adults just adore her.  She makes friends wherever we go and people are always complimenting us on her.  Wes says it is a good thing he has a few shotguns for when she gets older.  I love how confident she is and how she is a leader and not afraid to  get up in front of a crowd.  All of these things I was not, and am not so it makes me really proud to watch her.  God truly blessed us five years ago!

Just a picture...

I just wanted to share one of my favorite pageant pictures of Kassi.  She was so cute in her 50's wear.  For her talent she danced to and sang "Rock Around the Clock".

No turning back now...

Well it is official now.  We signed a year contract with a Realtor so there is no turning back.

Here it is!

I am so nervous now.  We know what we want to do and we know that if everything goes as planned it will happen.  I think I am just scared of the unknown time, that time frame between selling our house and our new one being ready.  We have not decided on a firm plan for what we will do, and some of it depends on the time of year.  Our original plan was to stay in our camper on the lot we had found until our house was built, but due to covenants we aren't able to do that.  Now to decide if we try to park our camper somewhere else or just try and find somewhere to rent.  Where in the world are we going to find somewhere to rent with two dogs and a rabbit?  As a backup plan we have been looking at other houses and have decided that we do have lots of options, we just really have our hearts set on one specific place and house.

It is funny the realtor said that the average time a house is on the market is one year.  The last time someone told us the "average time" for something was when we were accepted by our adoption agency.  They told us the "average time for most placements was 7 to 9 months".  Two weeks later we got a call and were told we were going to be parents, that day!  I wonder if this "average time" will work the same way?