Happy Halloween

Our Halloween started bright and early with both kiddos awake before 6:00 am.  Lexi was so excited about Halloween that I almost thought it was Christmas.

Around 2:00, I went to Lexi's school for the parade and party.  The place was packed with lots of parents admiring their dressed-up cuties.

At the party, the kids played Bingo and Pass-the-Pumpkin.  I volunteered to do the craft and the kids made little spiders.

 Around 5:30 we got the kids dressed and ready for the neighborhood parade.  Jayvan's lobster costume was a little too hot for him so we kept him in his skeleton outfit.

 Then we went up to the lake in our neighborhood for the costume parade.

 I remember just a year ago she wanted us to hold her hands the whole time.  This year she ran ahead of us like a big kid.  Sigh. . .

We went home and ate the chili that Matt had prepared in the crockpot.  Then he got set up in the driveway to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

 Our neighbor definitely beat us in the decorating department.

 SuperNana, GG the pumpkin, Aunt Ashley the flapper, Spidergirl, Skeleton Baby, and I hit the streets.  Lexi was so excited that it was hard to keep up with her.

 Jayvan had a little snack during trick-or-treating.  No candy for him this year.

We took a few pictures when we got back home.  

 Lexi stopped counting her candy at 150.  She then decided to lay down in the middle of it all.

 I think Jayvan had a great first Halloween.

Hayride at Shawnee Mission Park

A friend of ours organized a group hayride through Shawnee Mission Park.  It was a beautiful night with great friends.  It was Jayvan's first hayride.  All of the kids had a great time playing in the dirt and we all enjoyed some s'mores and apple cider.

Pumpkin Carving

We planned to carve pumpkins with the family in between Lexi's last soccer game and the hayride.  Even though we had been to the pumpkin patch twice, we still hadn't purchased our big pumpkins.  So, we stopped by a local church that sells pumpkins to raise money for missions.  Lexi picked out this little pumpkin for Jayvan.

 Mia really got into the carving and playing with the pumpkin pieces.  She may have even eaten a piece or too.

 Aunt Ashley worked on sorting seeds for most of the time, but she stopped to strike a pose.

 Kyle did most of the work on their pumpkin.

 Josh did most of the work on their pumpkin as well.

 I think Audrey just stuck her hand in to pose for a picture, because I don't remember her actually doing much carving/de-gunking.

 Matt carved his pumpkin and Lexi's.  The only thing Lexi did was pick out her Angry Bird pattern.

 Mom did a great job on her witchy pumpkin.

 Here is Lexi's Angry Bird:

 Kyle & Ashley's traditional Jack-O-Lantern:

 Mom's Witch:

 Josh & Audrey's traditional Jack-O-Lantern:

 My owl:

 Matt's Green Lantern:

 All of the pumpkins together:

Parent-Teacher Conference

We had Lexi's first parent-teacher conference on Tuesday night.  We got her first report card last week.  Her school uses a 1-2-3 system.  1 means that the student still needs a lot of work in that area.  2 means that they are progressing in that area, but still need a little work.  3 means that they have mastered those skills.  Lexi got all 2's & 3's.  One thing that she got a 2 on was "listens in class."  I asked her about it and she replied, "Yeah.  I could probably use a little work on that."  At least she's honest.

That being said, Lexi's teacher had nothing but great things to say about her.  I feel so blessed to have such a kind child and a great school for her to attend.  We looked at her MAP test scores and while she could use some improvement in the Math section, her reading scores were exceptional.  It will be interesting to see how the scores change in the Spring.

I couldn't be more proud of our little big girl.

Second Post-Placement Visit

We had our second post-placement visit yesterday with our social worker.  Some people have asked about all of the legalities of the adoption, so I thought I would explain that a bit.  Each state has different laws and we are finalizing in Virginia (the state Jayvan was born in), so these are VA laws.

1. We must have 3 post placement home visits.
2. The first visit must be within 30 days of Jayvan being placed with us.
3. The first and last visit must be at least 90 days apart.
4. Six months after placement (the day Jayvan was placed with us), we can petition the court for a date for finalization.
5. Then the court sets a date and we call in to finalize and all the paperwork is completed.

So, this was the second of three visits.  The social worker just comes to the house and asks us a bunch of questions, such as:

1. When was his last doctor's visit?
2. When is his next doctor's visit?
3. Does he have any health concerns?
4. How much is he eating? How often?
5. What milestones has he reached?
6. How do you discipline him?  (Yes.  That one took us by surprise too.  Apparently these are standard forms for all ages.  Obviously no discipline is necessary for our three-month-old._
7. Does your family still support the adoption?
8. What outings have you been on since the last visit?
9. How long does he sleep? Times?
10. How is big sister adapting?
11. How are you two (parents) relating to each other?
12. etc. etc.

So, it's pretty painless and quick.  It gives me motivation to clean up the house and time to blabber on about our adorable baby boy.  Our next visit is scheduled for early November and then we will petition the court for finalization after the first of the year.

Reading!

Lexi has wanted to read for quite a while now.  She has a lot of her books memorized, but I don't consider that reading.  She checked out a new book from the school library and with the exception of  a few words she read the whole thing herself!  I was teary. (Ignore the bedhead.)

Rolling from Tummy to Back. . . kind of. . .

We are trying to spend more time on the floor with Jayvan and he [kind of] rolled from his tummy to his back!  He had one arm sort of under his body, so I'm not sure it counts, but I'm sharing anyway.

Also, I thought the video started a second too late, so ignore my disappointment in this video.  I'm happy to say we caught it with the camera!

Pumpkin Patch with the Family