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Our move is getting really close! Only one more week until the movers come and pack us up! I think this will be the last journal update until after we make it to Missouri and get everything unpacked and settled.
The blog will still be updated so check us out there!
Contact us for a link or google our names!
Best Wishes,
James and Stephanie

We've been staying busy! With our move getting closer and closer everyday we are trying to just keep our mind preoccupied with fun things to do! We went back to ChuckECheese this week and spent the rest of Kayley's birthday tokens... then we headed to the Phoenix zoo to hang out and look at the animals. It was so quiet at the zoo that Kayley was able to play in the Yakulla Caverns splash park for 30 minutes or more without getting run over by big kids! It was so much fun! Needless to say, Kayley took a great nap that day (as did Stephanie!).

It is hard to believe we are down to only 14 days!! 2 weeks!! until the movers come! The time is flying by so fast!

Another Monday. =) We use Monday's as house cleaning day. It is actually one of my (Steph's) favorite days. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is because Mondays feel so fresh...nothing quite like a clean slate to start a new week. Maybe that is why I always feel like Monday is a day for cleaning?
We can hardly believe it is only 17 days now until the movers come! The time is flying by so fast! We close on our new house this Friday and Gramma comes in 2 weeks to help us clean and make the long drive to Missouri. We are so close now!
Stay tuned!

We have had a busy few days. We can hardly believe we are down to only 20 days until the movers come and pack us up! We are spending a lot of time cleaning and weeding through things we no longer need. Selling some things on eBay...giving some things away to friends...and packing away knick knacks. We are really going to miss our friends here, but we are truly looking forward to this move.

We took a break from the hustle and bustle of packing to hit the zoo one last time. We spent a while playing on the splash pad, and rented a surrey bike to take a spin on the trails. We had a great time, except for the part where it got really hot and we thought we were going to get heat stroke. =) (long story...)

We also decided to take Kayley to the Stuffington Bear Factory and let her build her own teddy bear. It was a lot of fun and Kayley ended up with a beautiful teddy bear she named "Goldilocks."

We are keeping up to date on our blog! Lots of pictures! Lots of fun! Feel free to contact us to get a link...or even try googling our names. I bet you'll find us!

Best Wishes!
James, Stephanie & Kayley

Well, we are getting closer to the big move! Only 24 more days...not that we are counting. Ok, we are counting. =) We are getting really excited to be moving on to the next phase of our lives. Things are going well with our house. It passed its inspections and we close in a couple of weeks! We have been discussing really boring things like, what type of refrigerator to buy...or should we fence the yard...or where should we put the bookcases... It is liberating to be moving into a home that is big...with a big yard. What kind of swingset should we get? Where will we put in a garden? It is so refreshing! And fun!

James is pretty excited to be leaving the life of a hospitalist behind. He will be working as a partner in his own clinic as a Family Medicine doctor. His hours are going to be awesome. Only 4 and 1/2 days a week! No weekends...ever again! Finally making the "doctor pay" that we have been dreaming of for the last several years.

Stephanie is just as excited that she and Kayley can go out and play in the yard! With grass! (We don't have much grass here in Phoenix so that is going to be a nice welcome change). A new zoo to explore, new children's museum, new places to visit and new friends to make.

Yes, only 24 more days...but who's counting. =) Oh, that's right. We are!

It's getting closer! Only 28 days until the movers come and pack up our stuff! We are getting so excited! We have been staying busy just trying to start cleaning through our things and deciding what stays and what goes. So hard! We are moving into a house that is 3x's bigger than what we have now, so it is likely we will try to hang onto everything for now. Once we are settled we will start replacing things as we go.

We have been prayerful that the move will go well, that the transition for Kayley will go smoothly, and that our caseworkers will not get our adoption profile and papers lost in the shuffle of moving. We are so thankful to our Father in Heaven for helping James to get through medical school, for helping us to find this great job in Missouri, helping us to buy a home and especially, that through all this time, allowed Stephanie to stay at home with Kayley. What a blessing it has been to have 1 parent be a consistent presence in the home. We can't wait to add to our family!

We are down to only 30 days until we move! We are so excited! There is a chance that our profile will be down on this site until we get moved and settled and our certification papers get transferred to the state of Missouri. It should only be down for a couple of weeks and then we will be found under the Missouri region on the drop down menu on this site. We are hoping to minimize the amount of time our profile will be down by working with the state of MO now to try and get as much paperwork out of the way as possible. Our blog will still be up and running the whole time, and our contact information can be found there as well. Please feel free to contact us to get a link to our public blog! We are also available on MSN Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Skype! We have also added Facebook and Twitter to the list of possible ways to get to know us better. Links can be found on our blog!

We went to the Hall Of Flame firefighter museum in Phoenix!! What a fun time! Kayley got to dress up like a fireman and ride in a mini firetruck! We learned all about fire safety. The museum had fire trucks and other interesting historical firefighting memorabilia that dated back to the early 1700s! We love to get out and go on our favorite "family dates" on Saturdays! Thankfully it wasn't too terribly hot.

Here is a funny story:

The Dead Bug Under the Table: a true story....

Yesterday Kayley looked under the far, dark, recess of the kitchen table and spied something weird. She told me, "Oh no! There is a big dead bug under the table! Will you pick it up, Mommy?!" I was in the middle of something, but I quickly looked under the table to assess the issue. It was actually a dried lump of Playdough. I told Kayley, "Eww! I ain't picking up a dead bug! That's Daddy's job! Girls don't do that! Blechhh!!!"

By the time I finished what I was doing, I had forgotten all about it.

Fast forward to tonight's dinner...

"Daddy! There is a big dead bug under the table! Will you pick it up?!" James said, "Me?! Can't you pick it up Kayley?"

Kayley looked at him and said, "NO...that's a BOYs job!"

Hahaha... What a good memory my little peanut has...She's so smart.

Thanks Daddy for picking up the old dead piece of playdough under the table. I don't think it was posing an immediate threat... =) True Story. Really.

This has been an exciting week. We are happy to welcome another addition to our extended family! James' only brother, John & his wife BreAn just gave birth to their 2nd child, a girl whom they named Abigail. "Abby" is a beautiful baby and a welcome addition into their family. Big brother Elijah is already extremely protective of his new lil' sis.

We hope that we will soon be able to share similar good news with our family and friends...and we already know that Kayley will be a great big Sis. It has been challenging over the last few years watching our friends and families have babies when we couldn't. It has been a struggle as we are now watching our younger siblings have their 2nd child and some of our friends having their 3rd, 4th and even 5th children! Sometimes, it has been hard not to feel left out and left behind...
But we know that God does have a plan for us and that we will be blessed with the desires of our hearts in His own time and in His own way. God does love us...and we do know that he watches over us. And we know that it is often through another person where God will meet our needs and fulfill his purposes. We are so grateful to Kayley's brithmother for being such a willing instrument in Gods hands.

In the meantime, while we wait, we are so thankful for our beautiful Kayley and the joy she brings to our hearts. She melts our hearts and brings peace to our souls.

Well, we did it! We BOUGHT our first HOUSE! We are so thrilled. We are beyond excited!

Let me tell you all about it:

First off, we are moving. Sad, but true. Not just moving into a new house, but moving out of state. We decided to move to Missouri. Let me explain: We have had a great time here in Phoenix. We came here for the great residency program offered to James. We have been here 3 years now, and James finishes up his residency in September. We are so excited that James is nearly done and will be starting in his own practice in the next couple of months. But - it is too hot here for us. We have been frustrated by the lack of seasons, the lack of places for a toddler to play, the lack of a cool breeze, the lack of snow and the big lack of our family. We sure miss our families and really want to get close enough that Kayley can grow up and play with her cousins, get to know her aunts & uncles, and our living grandparents.

(On that note - we hope that any one in Arizona who is considering us as a potential couple will still keep us in consideration. This will not be the first time we have adopted a child out of state...(we adopted Kayley from Colorado). It was a smooth, pain-free process that just involved a few more steps.)

We chose Missouri because it is actually where I (Steph) was born and raised. I adore Missouri. It is a fertile land with trees and grass. They have all 4 seasons. They get rain, snow & sunshine. The yards are lush and perfect places for children to play. There are trees to climb and creeks to wade in. I come from a small midwestern town and I was dying to get back to a similar small midwestern town. We really wanted Kayley (and our future children) to grow up someplace safe. Where they could ride their bikes on the street and not worry about getting hit by a car. Where they could play in the yard and we won't have to worry about strangers. Where we could grow a garden and get a swingset.

So when James started looking for a place to practice, we couldn't help but be drawn back to Missouri. I grew up there, he went to medical school there - and we both knew we loved it. He got the perfect job as a partner in a Family Medicine practice in rural Missouri about 20 minutes outside of Springfield. We drove out to the area, fell in love...and bought a house.

Let me tell you about the house! We have affectionately dubbed it "The Harry Potter House" due to the cute "Harry Potter room" under the stairs.

It is:
3300 square feet - HUGE!
5 bedrooms
3 full bathrooms
4 acres - mostly wooded
It sits on a private drive with only 3 other houses past ours.
Everybody knows everybody, and if there is a stranger in the area, everybody is going to notice.
The school district is one of the best in Missouri.
It is a small, safe town
And best of all, family is only 30-45 minutes away!!

The picture of the house doesn't do it justice...the house has been empty for about 3 months and the bushes are overtaking the front windows and the grass is about knee deep.
But, we think it is a perfect place to raise a family!

Here is the backyard of our beautiful new house! We are so excited to be moving to Missouri!

There are tons of pics of the house, inside and out, on our blog! Please contact us for a link or try googling our names to search for our public blog!

Love,
James, Stephanie & Kayley

After our trip, James had to go back to work on Monday, but I flew back to Reno to pick up Kayley and spend a few days visiting with Gram, Gramdaddy, Aunty Mary, Uncle Jarom and Aunt Susan. Kayley had such a good time with them while I was away, but it was such a relief to be reunited with my cutie again. I'd missed her so much!

On Sunday we drove up to Tahoe to go to church and hit the beach afterward...in our church clothes. I figure, going to Lake Tahoe is such a rare thing, I couldn't see any reason why Kayley couldn't just go swimming, dress and all. She had such a fun time, playing, squealing, splashing in the surf.

I ended up dropping my camera in the lake, but it still works and I didn't lose any pictures! Whew!

I have already put in my request to vacation at Tahoe next summer. It was so fun!

One of the great things about living in a small town is the county fair. Missouri is one of those midwest towns where they still have a fun county fair. On Thursday night we went to the Ozark Empire fair with my Aunt Sherry, Uncle Danny & Cousin Pete.

We just had a fun time walking around...looking at all of the exhibits. They even have entries where people baked pie, grew veggies and flowers, displayed art, etc. We went through the commercial booths and walked away with flyers, stress balls, and free pens. Afterward we went and scored a corndog and some Fry Bread (oh YUM!). We went to the duck pond where I won an ice cream scooper. =)

The best part was this huge pink dog I won playing the race horse game. I was so excited. I'd never won a game at the fair before! Kayley really loved this pink dog when I flew back to Reno.

Sunday night James and I had a great time visiting with my family in Missouri. James even got to go out and play on the 4-wheeler with my cousin Pete. They had a blast. We love to visit my aunt and uncle. They have a swimming pool, a hot tub, and obviously a couple of 4-wheelers. We are so excited that after we move, we will live only 45 minutes away!

Kayley had a fun time at Gram's house. She even convinced Gram to jump into the wading pool with her... Gram had a great set-up for her visiting "GramDaughter." She had a big playhouse on the back porch, a wagon and a wading pool. Puzzles, games, baby dolls, movies and what more could a visiting girl want?

Kayley had a ton of fun, and the next day when they dropped me (Steph) off at the airport, Kayley just waved... "bye Mom." As for me, I cried... I had never been separated from my baby for that long and I was going to miss her terribly. Thankfully James and I had a busy week ahead as we planned to house hunt and spend some quality time together.

I actually ended up calling Kayley 2x's a day and checking in. I also prepared 1 envelope a day so that she would receive "mom-mail" from me each day that I was gone.

It was a fun week, but I am really glad it is over and I have my baby back home with me.

The time was rapidly coming where we would be moving. While our stay here in Arizona has been pleasant, we are tired of the heat. We are frustrated with the hot temperatures, lack of places to play, and the hustle and bustle of the big city. We miss our families. So, we are moving.
We are thrilled that James got a job as a family medicine physician working for Sisters of Mercy/St. John's out of Springfield, Missouri. Now, I know you may be wondering - "WhAt?! Missouri?? Have they lost their scruples?" But, the truth is, Missouri is back home for me (Steph) and back to where James went to medical school. We LOVE it there...and miss it.

Missouri is awesome. All 4 seasons, grass, green, places to play. And the town we are moving to is outside of the Springfield area, in the country, and we are so excited.

Anyway, we knew that this time would come. James will be starting in his practice the first part of October, and we would be moving in September...so we set out on an adventure to BUY OUR FIRST HOME!

I flew with Kayley to Reno, NV to drop her off with Gram & Gramdaddy, since I can't imagine house shopping would be any fun for our busy 3year old....

Kayley enjoys flying, this is actually - let me think - her 8th? 9th? Plane trip? She is well traveled... Kayley spent a week with Gram & Gramdaddy while we house shopped.

Kayley just being goofy with Papa. She really thought they both needed to wear sunglasses. Then she likes to sing this little song about how, "we are the same...we are the same!"

Another fun road trip this week with Gramma & Papa found us all "Standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona."

You can always count on Papa to climb up into the tubes with Kayley. Here they are goofing off at the Chick-Fil-A playground. It always impresses me that my (Steph's) dad is never too old to get silly with the kiddies. He was that way when I was little...and he hasn't changed. In fact if anything, he has gotten even MORE willing to be silly. We love him bunches. Thanks to Papa for being so fun.

Gramma & Papa hanging out with us at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa AZ. That place is incredibly cool. The "Mighty Wurlitzer" Organ WOWs us every single time. We enjoy pizza & ice cream and super fun entertainment. Bubbles come from the ceiling, birds chirp, kitty puppets dance, and dogs bark. There are video's all over YouTube or I have some cool videos posted on our blog. Just incredible!

My Mom is so patient with Kayley. We have been in the terrible two's and Kayley can really try your patience, but MY Mom is amazing. She will get down on the floor and play with Kayley for hours. We love you Gramma, thanks for being such an awesome example of motherhood to me.

We had a fun time this weekend hiking Walnut Canyon National Park. This park in northern Arizona boasts 244 stairs to get down into the canyon...and yes, you DO totally have to hike all the way back up.
We had a fun time and the temps were much cooler up in northern AZ so it was definitely worth the visit. We had a great time taking my (Steph's) parents up there...and we were able to get a stamp in our National Park passport book.

So, we had to hike back up those 244+ steps. Poor Kayley, she was so pooped... Poor Daddy...he actually carried her up the majority of those stairs. Me and my Mom could barely walk the next day our legs were so sore... But, it was a gorgeous hike and we looked at the ruins of the Havasupai. It was incredible...you could actually climb through many of them. It also rained on us a bit, and there was some lightening. The ranger at the top of the canyon just told us, "Weeeellll, I just don't recommend hanging on to the hand rail and ya'll be all'right..." Comforting isn't it?
What were we thinking?

When Gramma and Papa come to visit, we can almost guarantee some kind of seriously fun road trip. One of our trips on this visit was to Walnut Canyon National Park, Montezuma Castle National Park & Meteor Crater! What an adventure! We always take the "customary self-timed portrait." Here we are ready to hike down into Walnut Canyon. Thanks to Gramma & Papa for keeping us on our toes and taking us places we didn't even know we wanted to go! Meteor Crater was really amazing! And learning about AZ History was also fun!

July 26th marks Kayley's birthday. This year we had our first-ever birthday party, and boy, did we go all out! We had the full, fun-filled, ChuckECheese birthday party!! Wow! It was super fun! We had lots of tokens to spend, we won a gazillion tickets which we cashed in for prizes...we had not-so-yummy pizza, really yummy cake, and we even met ChuckECheese when he came out to shake the kiddies hands. We have a TON of fun pics on our blog! Feel free to contact us to get a link! Or just google our names...I bet we will turn up. =)

July 25th marks my birthday. I can't believe another year has gone by. Time just flies so fast. Since Kayley and I share such a close birthday, I hadn't had much time to think about my birthday. I was surprised when my family presented me with my very own cake at Kayley's ChuckECheese birthday party. It was a yummy hershey's chocolate cake. I even got 3 candles to blow out. I wonder if my wish will come true?

We will be so sad to have no more preschool for the rest of the summer, but we do have some playdates scheduled! We have plans to go to ChuckECheese...play at the BounceY House...ChickFilA Playground...and library story times. Kayley is such a social bug that it is important to provide her with a lot of opportunities to play with her friends. And, it is fun for Mommy too!

Having fun at Red Robin. We go out on a "family date" several times a month. It is such a good opportunity to just be together. We keep an incredible blog that chronicles all of the things we do. It has been a photographic journal of the last 2 years. I (Steph) update it nearly every day. It is therapeutic for me and an awesome way to keep in touch with our family, friends, and Kayley's birthmom. Please feel free to contact us to receive a link...or....

To learn more about us, just google our names! I bet you'll find us! =)

James
Stephanie
& Kayley

This adorable Kayley-made snow globe came home with her from preschool yesterday. She had a blast looking at the warped world through the glass and water. She was so cute I just had to snap a photo of her. We love to make things and do "projects." We are so grateful that Kayley had the opportunity to go to summer-preschool this summer...it has been really fun. We are really looking forward to starting regular-preschool in the Fall!

It is always so fascinating to see what kids find interesting. For Kayley, it is those dead dandelions. She loves to pick them up and examine them...then blow their fluffy's all over. I'm sure the gardeners love us...we keep them in business trimming down the dandelions all year long.

Kayley and Mommy have birthdays super-close together. To start our birthday festivities (and we are starting about 4 days early...) we went to Red Robin for a Bday Burger and free ice cream sundae! Hot Fudge! Happy Birthday to us! Stay tuned...we have a fun fun bday party coming up!

Kayley's preschool has been wonderful. It is a cooperative preschool so the Moms (and a few Dads!) work at the preschool each week to help out. It has been a lot of fun! We've learned a lot, made a lot of crafts and a lot of new friends. We are so sad that she is soon to be done. There are only a couple of more weeks until they are done for the rest of the summer. They have water day every Wednesday and Kayley has a great time running through the sprinklers. We will miss our summer friends but can't wait to start Preschool again in the Fall!

We love to play playdough! We get bored sometimes in the afternoon, but luckily we keep a pretty impressive "bag of tricks" to keep us entertained. Playdough is a favorite, although Kayley will often ask to be able to to a "project." Projects include, painting, coloring, stickers, playdough, beads, and other interesting crafts. Children learn by playing and we want to provide as many opportunities to learn and have fun as we possibly can...

You might notice...the first thing Kayley does with her playdough? Takes all the colors and squishes them together. My (Steph's) and James' type A personalities used to cringe when she did that... =) We wondered how she was going to pick them back apart again. hahaha.. We are so funny... We just pinch off the playdough, and shove it into whatever container has space. Kayley loves her colors mixed together, and we love Kayley...and it is just FUN.

Lunch at Sarku. Oh, yummm! Kayley was learning to use chopsticks, thanks to Daddy's help. She even managed to get a piece of broccoli into her mouth!

My (Stephanie's) Mom, also known as Kayleys "Gramma" is one of Kayleys bestest friends. We love having Gramma come over to play. My mom is so special to me and to Kayley. She has so much patience and has been such a support in all of my parenting questions. Kayley and Gramma love to play together. My mom will sit on the floor and just play whatever Kayley wants to do for hours and hours. Dollhouse, Tea Party, and reading books are a few favorites with Kayley. We love you Gramma!

My (Stephanie's) dad, also known as Kayleys "Papa" is never too old to get down on the floor and play with her. I love to watch them together. Kayley can convince Papa to do just about anything. She can ride him like a horse, she can climb all over his lap, she can jump all over him like a trampoline and Papa just loves it all. She even convinced Papa to climb through this log at the playground. I love that my parents are young and fun....I love that my dad loves Kayley...and that Kayley loves her Papa.

You know...We believe that it doesn't take much to make a little girl happy. And on a rainy day...why not let a kid kick off their shoes and jump in puddles? Clothes can be washed and dirty feet can be cleaned. It makes us so happy to watch our little one squeal and have fun...and something so simple brings so much joy. =)

We had another opportunity to go to the Childrens Museum today. Kayley is really getting the hang of this little scooter. I (Stephanie) was getting pretty good too, sorry no pics of me on the scooter though. We might have to buy a couple of these. They are fuuuun!

Happy Birthday to Daddy! We made him this special Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich and took the opportunity to sing Happy Birthday. Don't worry, he did actually get a cake, but we ended up celebrating with cake later after we had some friends come over. PBJ is one of his favorites so we thought we would surprise him with a special birthday lunch after church. He looks surprised don't you think?

We took advantage of a library program here in the area called the "Culture pass." It was nice, it allowed the 3 of us to get in for free at the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix. The Heard Museum showcases Native American art and history. James and I found it to be very interesting...Kayley...not so much, but they did have some great interactive exhibits for kids. The highlight of our trip was when we were chosen from the audience to "shake a rainstick" with a bell choir. Let's just say Steph & Kayley can shake a rainstick with the best of them. There is a funny video on our blog, contact us for the link... Kayley ditched Steph up there and left her shaking a rainstick all alone. It was pretty funny.

We had a fun family date this week! We went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus. We had a ton of fun. Our seats were terrible...we were way up in the nosebleed section...but at least from there we had a view of the entire arena. It was Kayley's first time at the circus and she loved it! We bought a 7.00 box of popcorn that tasted like it had been popped the weekend before and a flat soda. But, it sure was a good time. =)

Father's Day is such a special day. It is a day where we can reflect on the love and kindness our fathers have shown us. A daddy is a special person in a childs life and we are so grateful to have such loving examples of Fatherhood in our home. James' Dad and Steph's Dad are both wonderful men and our home would not be complete without such happy and loving Grandfathers to spoil our daughter senseless.

James is such a good daddy and we are so blessed to have his love. He is never too busy to get down on the floor and do puzzles, play horsey, and run & chase Kayley until she squeals herself breathless. Kayley loves her Daddy with all her heart. She made him this awesome pink tie in nursery at church today. It warms my heart to see, that even though it is a hot-pink tie-girly-colored tie, he made an effort to wear it. Kayley was thrilled and I couldn't help but snap this picture of my two favorite people.

Steph

Kayley loves to hang around with her Gramdaddy (James' Dad). They have a blast... He pushes her around in the stroller, and when she says "faster" he goes faster... =) At the Desert Botanical Garden they had a great time exploring all the flowers and plants.

Kayley loves her Gram (James' Mom). It was so fun to have her visiting last week. We are so grateful for a loving family that views adoption as a beautiful way to create an eternal family.

We are so excited. This marks the week of James' graduation from residence! While he has been officially "Dr." for a few years now, graduation from residency means we are one step closer to finishing up all training and embarking on a new adventure! We are excited to be looking for a job where James can begin his own, private, Family Medicine Practice. We'll post an update on here as soon as we know anything!

We were also grateful to have James' parents visiting with us over the weekend. Kayley adores her "Gram and Gramdaddy" and had a blast with them. We ate pizza and visited the Desert Botanical Garden where Gram snapped this great picture of the 3 of us!

We can't believe it is summer already! It gets so hot here in AZ that we are always looking for something fun to do. So far this summer we have already visited the Childrens Museum of Phoenix, we went to the movies and saw UP, we have played with our sand/water table, had a couple of playdates, went to The Sugar Bowl for ice cream and visited the library! We have lots of pictures on our blog. Feel free to contact us to receive a link!

We have an awesome blog that chronicles our day-to-day. It has pictures and videos. It also includes link to our adoption story, photo collage and letter, and a link to our birthmothers blog. Please contact us to receive a link!