Update

Rogan is on the move, he has started to turn over and I know that it is all down hill from here. Next thing I know he'll be crawling. It seems like he is changing every day. He has started to coo and try to "talk" to us. He laughs out loud, which is my favorite! He is very ticklish and laughs while you change his clothes, it is really cute.

Brice surprised us both this year by actually helping decorate the tree and keeping it decorated! Last year I spent a lot of time picking up ornaments that he ripped off the tree and hid strategically throughout the house. I was finding ornaments under beds, sofas, in closets... Now he's every one's big helper. He helped his dad get out all the Christmas stuff and carry it into the house. He had to have a hand in carrying every box. I am also amazed that he is beginning to actually follow directions. It is mind melting to ask him to pick up his toys and he actually does it! Brian and I both almost collapsed the first time it happened. After eating dinner the other night he got down from the table and carried his plate to the sink. Brian asked, "Have you seen this?" It's shocking. Of course, he still has his wonderful 3 year old moments.

We're headed to Neosho for Thanksgiving, but will only be up there for the day. Brian is working on Friday and a half day on Saturday. It will be a quick trip, but we'll get to see most of Brian's family.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Decorating

We got a jump on our holiday decorating this year. I'm always the last one in the neighborhood with pumpkins and mums still on the porch. So this year, we decorated a week early. We usually decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, but Brian generally has to work Friday and sometimes a few hours on Saturday. This year we decided to decorate the weekend before then we would actually get a day of rest on Sunday! We'll see if that pans out. It sounds like a good plan.Every time we go to Wal-Mart, or anywhere with inflatable displays, Brice is in awe. He just looks at them, wants to touch them and keeps saying, "Oh, wow!" We decided he needed one, so this year we have a huge inflatable waving snowman in our front yard. He had so much fun helping his dad put it up yesterday. He kept saying, "wow", patting the snowman, and jumping up and down. He loves it!

Rogan was his usual helpful self! He slept throught it all.

My birthday

On the advice of our friend Val, we decided to visit Arkansas this weekend. We took the boys over to the Gentry, AR Wild Wilderness Animal Park. It was a lot of fun. Val blogged about it a week or so ago when she took her girls there and had a great time. We decided we'd go for the day for my birthday on Sunday. It is only about 85 miles from Tulsa, so we made a day of it.

Brice had so much fun. He got to sit on the console in the front seat so that he could see all the animals as we drove through and he even sat on his dad's lap for a little bit and drove. The petting area at the park is huge and Brice chased turkeys, goats, pigs and even kangaroos. Of course, you are supposed to approach the animals calmly and slowly but they made those rules before they met Brice. Calmly and slowly is not in his vocabulary. He went up to the largest kangaroo and patted him right on the nose. All the other kangaroos had pretty much cleared the area when they saw him coming.

It was a fun day and of course after we finished at the zoo we headed to a Mexican restaurant in Springdale and filled our bellies. It was a great birthday!

We're almost done

We had our next to last post placement interview today. We have one more on December 6th then we are off to San Antonio, TX to finalize Rogan's adoption on December 19th. After that, it's official he's stuck with us forever!

It's a long process and we're happy that it is almost finished. Brice's finalization took one year, we are fortunate that we are able to finalize Rogan's in 5 months. Rogan's birthmother signed paperwork that is allowing us to finalize early. We're traveling to Texas this time because the court system is much friendlier and faster. What a wonderful Christmas present!

Rogan is 4 months old

Rogan is 4 months old now. He went to the doctor today and he weighed 14 lbs 14.5 oz and he is 25 inches long. He is in the 50th and 55th percentiles. Rogan is smiling all the time and has started to laugh out loud. He loves to watch his big brother and smiles and laughs at everything Brice does. It is fun to watch Brice entertain him and Rogan react to it. Brice is my big helper and I sure appreciate it.

We're in Business!

Brian's store finally opened today. He, his partner, and their store manager have been working late nights the last couple of weeks to get the doors open. Today is their first day of business and I hope they do well. It has been a long road with licensing, build out and other unexpected delays. I know that Brian feels like a ton of bricks has been lifted from his shoulders. He's realized his dream of owning a business, now let's hope there are a lot of wine lovers and alcohol consumers living nearby who will become regular customers!