Updates

Not much to really update on the adoption front- we got our fingerprints taken in Buffalo on Monday and then got a letter from NBC Hague unit that there are two more things they need one from our homestudy agency and one from our international adoption agency before they can process our I800A application. Hopefully the information will get sent and reviewed by the time they approve our fingerprints- per our international adoption agency, people are now waiting 2-3 months (vs 3-4) for approval of I800A and some only 1 month.

On the home front, the kids have their photos tomorrow at school, we haven't had a professional photo of the kids in a year. We need to get one of them together too but I think we'll wait until Noah comes home- until then we have a lot of really great candid shots of them together.
Both of the kids are really getting into drawing/coloring now- Ephram never liked to color, he will if Frances is, but now he is really into drawing pictures of people and flowers- He starts with a stick person and adds LOTS of details including socks, snow suits etc. For me he even draws my engagement ring! Monday he gave us a picture he drew at school of me, daddy, Frances and Noah all holding hands-it is now posted on our cabinet in the kitchen and we are so proud of him.
He is also writing his name and trying to copy other peoples names...big progress considering up until about a month ago there was no way he'd sit down to draw/write.
Frances LOVES to color- she'll stand at the coffee table and color for up to 20/30 minutes in various coloring books, sometimes we are with her and sometimes she'll just color alone if I'm cooking dinner or folding laundry- she even tries to color individual details in a picture- It's very cute to watch because she concentrates so hard and really searches for the colors she wants.
Ephram is also learning to sing a lot of new songs, for those of you who don't know he is an excellent singer and has a very sweet voice- Alan is teaching him alot of Beatles songs and one of the cutest things I've ever heard is Ephram singing "Hey Jude". Frances' favorite song to sing is still "life is a highway" from the Cars soundtrack, she pretty much sings it randomly all day long.
I'll try to post some more photos soon- they are on Alan's hard drive and he's having it "fixed" at the computer repair shop.