the paper chase continues and my feet are getting tired!

So "today for Shea"...

-monroe county docs complete, have to get to the county clerk this week
-have to make a trip to batavia for one document, hopefully this week
-waiting on one document each to arrive for our wayne and ontario county clerk trips
-we received our homestudy update rough draft today, I sent her the revisions and hope to have that back shortly, as this is a critical piece of the paperchase that a few other steps are waiting on right now like immigration clearance
-started a grant application this week also

Dear paperchase...you are not my favorite hobby, hurry up would ya?  I'm only pretending I like you to get my little Shea home...please don't be offended....but you seem pretty obnoxious and I get the strange feeling I've already done this twice before in my recent history!

Family update... my lovey dovey hubby had a birthday on friday.  I don't think I'll divulge his age!  We had a lovely date night thanks to babysitting from godparents vinny and judy.

Simon ate like a pro at the Kulp family Chili cookoff yesterday!  Grandpa Kulp's Chili took first place in the blind competition.  This was certainly a highlight of our little man's weekend!

Danielle had a play date with one of her classmates at our house this weekend...giggles gallore, lots of fun to be had.  She also had a fun time going to bed at aunt Judy's house and sharing a bunk with her friend Katie...they both actually went to bed, do you believe it??

And my highlight of the weekend....my dear husband realizing that his wifey poo was utterly exhausted got up with the kids this morning when they arose at the crack of dawn (why oh why?? can anyone tell me the answer to why children insist on waking up so durn early?) and gave me the luxery of sleeping in until 7:50 am!  At this time Danielle snuck away and jumped into bed with me, giggling and telling me to GET UP!
Ohhhh just wait until she's a teenager and actually wants to sleep in late....I'll get her back.... (evil laugh inserted here :) 

Back to work tomorrow, it is frigid here, zero without the windchill.....so tomorrow in and out of patient homes all day tomorrow promises to be full of shivers....yet here I am eating a popsicle....can't seem to get enough of these lately....what's up?  Paper pregnancy cravings I guess???!!!

DEAR GOD,
Keep our Shea warm, surrounded with some measure of joy, and prepare his heart and mind for his new family.  Help me to manage the many many plates I'm so delicately spinning right now.  Keep Danielle and Simon safe and healthy, and help us to teach them and help them develop and grow to their highest potential possible, while being happy and full of joy always. Give our little ones communication methods to help prevent frustration.  Help us with those hard parts of parenting that comes along with every typical child, and those little extra challenges that come from their special needs.  Lord if you could convince simon to wear his shoes in the car and out in public while it's so stinkin cold, I would greatly appreciate it!  Bless and keep my husband as he handles his many responsibilities and prepares his daddy heart for our growing family, please energize us as we plug away at finishing the downstairs projects, and ohh yeah, don't forgot about the magically appearing minivan in our driveway....chuckle chuckle.   - as Simon would say BAHMN and as Danielle would say AHHHHHMAN,                 AMEN....