CIRCUS!!!

On April 19th we took Brady to the Ringling Bros. circus!!! We talked it up ahead of time so Brady was very eager to see the clowns, elephants, and tigers. However, when we went to our seats (unbeknownst to me, I bought 4th row seats!!!), Brady seemed a little scared so Alan asked him if he wanted to go outside and he said, "yes". So we all went and walked around the concession area for a bit before heading back to our seats. I started to think we had wasted too much money when Brady started saying, "outside" again, but we managed to get his focus on the action and that seemed to work, but as soon as the acts were done he'd say, "outside" again. Soon enough though, "outside" changed to "more" after each act!!!!! And then he even started clapping after each act, so he definitely enjoyed himself!!

clapping for something good!

these "bouncing guys" were really cool....we all liked them!!

excited about something!!

the opening "parade"

studying something fascinating!!

NATIONAL ZOO

Today we ventured to the National Zoo in DC. The cool thing about this zoo is that it is part of the Smithsonian, which means it's FREE!!!! Unfortunately, that also meant that it was crowded today! It was a beautiful day, and actually got quite hot. It's hard to believe that 2 days ago we had our heat on and today we were sweating!!!! Anyway, back to the zoo....we had a great time and Brady really liked seeing all of the animals. I'm not really sure that he had/has a favorite per se, but I should note that he also really liked watching the construction that was going on!! LOL. Enjoy!

waiting to get on the "train" (the metro)

A sloth bear

the otters...always a favorite!!

Brady and his new friend!!

The male Giant Panda. They are apparently keeping the female inside because they are not sure if she is pregnant or not. Did you know that pandas only have ONE day a year that is optimal for getting pregnant?? YIKES!!! ( and I thought it was hard for us!!! LOL)

BRADY'S REFERRAL DAY!!!

WOW, it's been 2 years since we saw Brady's cute and adorable face for the first time!!!! I will never forget that day, it was a dream come true!!! I was at work and NO ONE was with me in customer service so I had to walk around the building looking for SOMEONE to keep me from bursting at the seams!! LOL I found Dawn and she listened to me on my cell phone as I wrote notes for myself (and her). Those notes are pretty funny, but I understand everything I wrote down even though others may not!!! Of course Dawn and I both cried!!! I then called Alan and we were going to open our emails together so we didn't have to wait til we got home, but OF COURSE Alan couldn't get his to open, so like any new mom would do, I opened mine anyway!!! LOL Boy that was nerve wracking because everyone at work was now hudled around my computer looking at the pictures for the first with me!!! Needless to say I didn't do any work for the rest of the day and for all I know I left early, I really can't remember!!!

Brady has brought us nothing but joy in those 2 years and we couldn't be more proud to call him our son!!!!

Brady was just over 2 months old in these photo's!!!

Easter Eggs

Today we decorated some eggs for Easter! Brady really enjoyed doing this, although he doesn't like it when he gets "messy".  I have to give a shout out to Kathy from Journey of a Lifetime because if it weren't for her pictures I don't think I would have been smart enough to think of putting newspaper down!!!! LOL

Brady and Daddy "working"

More work!

Someone is VERY proud of himself!!! 

Deciding which sticker to put on which egg is serious business!!! LOL

Again, someone is VERY proud of himself!!! HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

Sand Fun

We got this sand table for Brady quite some time ago, but the weather has not been good enough to get it out.....until Thursday!!!  Brady really seemed to enjoy playing with/in the sand so I'm pretty sure we'll be using this often in the coming months!!!

MORE FROM DOWNTOWN

Just a few more shots from our great day spent downtown with friends!!

cute!

The Washington Monument/National Mall

we let the kids ride the carousel at the end of the day. Of course, they LOVED it!!!

We weren't in the car 5 minutes before Brady konked out!!!

CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Yesterday Brady and I joined our friends and went downtown to see the Cherry Blossoms! It was a BEAUTIFUL spring day here, so it was great to be outside. I had NO IDEA it would be as crowded as it was though, so that was a bit of a surprise. The Cherry Blossoms were very pretty and to see them all in bloom together was really cool.  By the way, I apologize for the "quality" of my pictures....you see a few weeks ago one of Brady's sippy cups leaked in my diaper bag, so my camera doens't flash or zoom anymore!!! GRRRRRRR! However, since I have a birthday coming up I'm hoping Alan is getting me a new one, otherwise I will be buying myself a birthday present!!!

The Captitol Building

some pretty tulips

The Washington Monument with the Cherry Blossoms

Another Monument shot

the Cherry Blossoms

WAITING

On Wednesday March 25th we received our I 171-H from USCIS which is basically our "golden ticket" that says the government approves us to adopt from Taiwan. Now that we have this, our agency considers us "paperwork ready" which means they can now present us with a referral!! By my estimation we are either at the top of the list or near the top, so a referral could realistically come any day now!!! We have again said that we are open to either gender so while we are assuming we will get another boy, we won't be sure until we get THE CALL. Interestingly we received Brady's referral on April 19th so I keep thinking it would be kinda cool to get Baby #2's referral on the same day!!! With any luck, I will be posting about the newest member of our family VERY SOON, so stay tuned!!