Monday, December 7, 2009

The holidays are approaching! Here are some pictures of our Christmas tree decorating.
Wil holding his 1st Christmas ornament

The boys holding their ornament





Here is Leo holding his special ornament. I thought it would be fun to compare this year to last years. Orange shirt is 2008, white shirt 2009










When we were visiting Boston, Leo brought out a revival of Uncle Steve's "The Quiet Game." Which basically is to see who can be quiet the longest. A few days ago, Leo came in, after using his precious tape found in the street. He announced that this was the new way to play "The Quiet Game!" We like it! Is it legal to play this with your kids ALL of the time!?!?






This is Wil watching the snow-throwing activities







Wil was not very happy to sit on Jolly Ol' St. Nick's lap this year with his cousins....


Leo was in heaven playing in the snow - his first time. It was really more like ice-balls. He could not believe how fun it was and that we were allowing him to throw it!!
Wil's first Thanksgiving!













Leo building a bird house at a local festival











Some more comparison pictures.....Leo doing the Turkey Trot in 2008 (in the oversized T-shirt) and 2009 (in the red pants)

















Daddy and Leo in their goofy Margaritaville hats













Leo got the chance to learn how to play golf at The First Tee recently. We were hoping he might be the next Tiger Woods.........but not so much anymore. Can't believe he's a slime-ball like the rest of them!
















Honorable mentions of Leo quotes:
I called "Mrs. Claus" one day to let her know the boys were being great....she promptly put them on the Good Boy List. Leo had a clarification......"I'm #1 and Wil's #2 though, right?"
"I just got a text from Santa. I'm on the Good Boy List! I'm going to call him!" (proceeds to have a fake conversation with Santa on his fake cell phone) "Hi Santa, Whatcha doin'? (insert fake laugh) Oh, so you're really, really busy right now? Ok, bye!" "Mommy, he's making my Up movie right now!"
Me: Leo, come here so I can help you zip up your pants
Leo: No, mom, I like to wear them so people can see my underwear!
(that was promptly shut down!!!! Just to clarify when we read this later.... a style some kids have these days is to wear their pants down below their butts, so you can see all of their underwear!)
After being asked why he has a bandaid on his forehead "Oh, I got in a fight with a yak and he scratched me, isn't that funny?"
The truth is, Leo snuck into the medicine cabinet and put a bandaid on each finger, each toe and one across his forehead.
Leo just keeps us laughing!
Wil has been busy growing teeth! He's up to 6. He is also now using his walker hippo thing and still laughing at any moment he can! Unfortunetly, his hair is starting to stay down though :-(



3 comments:

Shana said...

I am with you on blocking the "gangsta look" with Leo! What up wid that?!

Will is so huge and looks like such a big boy! I have to admit, I hate that he is growing up:(

Rydley said...

Your boys are so cute...and yes, getting so big! I love Leo's quiet game, and Wil is just not a little baby anymore! They're both adorable.

Shana said...

Forgot to mention I think Leo taping is mouth shut for the "Quiet Game" is hilarious! Can he teach Haley how to do that? PLEASE!!!! I will fly her to Arizona, really:)

Learn Chinese!

Timeline


January 8, 2007 Attend Adoption 101 Information Session in Mesa, AZ
January 22, 2006 - Apply for preapproval from our agencyand Taiwan
January 23, 2007 - Application for USCIS (I-600A) form submitted
January 28, 2007 - 1st Homestudy meeting
January 28, 2007 - Sign adoption contract with our agency
January 29, 2007 - Approved to adopt from Taiwan
February 1, 2007 - Clearance from state of Arizona
February 6, 2007- Maricopa application to adopt is filed
February 13, 2007 - Clearance from state of Michigan, Medical clearances, and Fingerprint invitation arrive from USCIS
February 24, 2007 - Fingerprinted for USCIS
March 11, 2007- Homestudy Complete and Court Certification from Maricopa County received
April 28, 2007 - Homestudy is translated into Mandarin
July 1, 2007 - Finally receive 171-H in the mail
July 6, 2007 - Get new case manager
July 22, 2007 - Sign adendum to contract
August 8, 2007 - Our lucky day! Referral for Lin Kai-Yi, born 6-3-06
August 8, 2007 - accept referral
August 13, 2007 - Sign Child Referral Agreement
August 23, 2007 - Paperwork arrives in Tucson
August 24, 2007 - Paperwork arrives to us
August 26, 2007 - Documents notorized (How many adults does it take to use a stamp?)
August 28, 2007 - Documents certified by AZ Sec. of State
August 29, 2007 Documents sent to TECO to be authenticated
September 4, 2007 - Documents arrive in Tucson from TECO
September 6, 2007 - Documents sent to Taiwan! YEAH!
September 10, 2007 - Update day! We receive 4 pics and a video!
October 2, 2007 - Receive word from TWCA that our hearing date is October 9, 2007 (this happened extreamly fast!)
October 9, 2007 - Keep your fingers crossed for a quick 1st ruling (even better yet, keep your fingers crossed for a final ruling!)
October 11, 2007 - October updates are here!
October 19, 2007 - Receive more pictures and videos from Ray's visit to Taiwan!
November 5, 2007 - November updates are here!
December 2, 2007 - December updates are here! Can't believe there has been no news all month!
December 13, 2007 - FINALLY! Word of our First Ruling! Yippeee! It happened on Dec. 13th in Taiwan (yesterday here)
January 4, 2008 - January updates
February 4, 2008 - February updates
February 28, 2008 - Leaving for Taipei!!!
February 29, 2008 - Arrive in Taipei!
March 4, 2008 - Gotcha Day! Can you even believe it!?!?!?
March 5, 2008 - FINAL RULING FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! (by the way, our paperwork says the final ruling was issued December 24th!)
March 6, 2008 - First AIT appointment
March 7, 2008 - VISA DAY!
March 10, 2008 - Leave for home!
March 10, 2008 - Arrive home with our boy!!!!!!!!!!!
July 5, 2008 - Find out about Wil's arrival!
March 10, 2009 - Wil Shan-Yi Shaffer is born at 3:38 am 8 lbs. 4 oz. 20 inches long