Hello

Here is a little peak into Rhett's room. At least his room is finished and super cute. What do you think about that new banner design? I'm thinking of making some birthday banners like this.

Those overalls were my favorite on baby Rhett. It is too sad to pack them away. The tree is a growth chart I made for Rhett when he was tiny. I have plans to make a flower for baby sister's growth chart.

We asked Rhett what his baby sister's name should be and he said, "Hela." Interesting...at least he didn't say "Fugulissaloo" or something. Which is usually the kind of name he would make up for one of his dinosaurs or other toys. No news...but, we should be on the wait list in about 2 weeks.

Wait, Didn't I Say It Was Spring?

Rhett: "What jacket is this?"

Mom: "Your Winter jacket."

Rhett: "But it is Spring out."

It's Spring in P-Town

We love Spring. I love all the buds, rain gear, and rainbows. You don't know how hard it was for me to get a couple cute pictures of Rhett. I had to bribe him to get a decent one. I thought he was really cute in his rain gear.

Asking him to do a trick and take a picture is usually not a problem though. He is all about the tricks!

With Dan working really late these days (tax season...ugh) I have been able to work on a few extra projects for the house. I just finished this really long (about 100") table runner for our very long tv stand. I'm proud of how it turned out.

I am no professional binder...I did this by machine. I really wanted to top stitch a little, but since this is one of my first quilting jobs I didn't know you are supposed to stitch it before you bind it. Oh, well.

Next house project...finish the white curtains for the garage. I'm dragging my feet on this one, because it is really boring.

We Are Done!

Our dossier will be sent to Washington DC for authentication this Thursday!

I almost don't believe we are done with the paper work. I thought we would never be done! We started this process at the end of September...it has been 6 months!

Oh, No! The Candy Disappeared!

We carried on a few traditions of Easter. First we went to Jim and Patty's before the big Easter egg hunt. This time we went with our good friends the Browns. We looooooooove Jim and Patty's. They have the best coffee cake in town and some of the best coffee. Jim and Patty created the now defunct Coffee People. Thanks a lot Starbucks! Booooooooooooooooooo!

Elliot and Rhett were really not this still and serious for long. Especially Rhett...that child doesn't sit still for 2 seconds!

Here are the dads waiting for the big egg hunt. There were hundreds of people! It was so fun to see all of our neighborhood friends, crafty moms, and all their cute kids. I'm pretty sure little Dot with her bunny ears and Easter dress was the cutest!
Rhett in action. Rhett looking to see if the egg is a special prize egg. The smiley face eggs won you a prize.

Rhett asking where the eggs are.

Rhett finding out the Easter egg hunt is done.

The Easter Bunny came at 10:30 at night. Those little creatures are Glo Bonz. Rhett's favorite thing from the Easter Bunny were the Easter tattoos. I hope that is not a sign of things to come.

We went to Salem for a little Easter pizza. Here is Rhett having fun with Grandpa.

Easter dinner was at our house. We had a rousing game if Hullabaloo. Here are Rhett and Dan doing the "funky monkey dance."

Rhett and I made our little chocolate nests again.

So, do you think it will work to tell Rhett that the candy has disappeared? Maybe I'll tell him the Easter Bunny wanted it for next Easter, snuck into our house, and put it all in his magic Easter basket. Hey, we already lie to our kids about the Easter bunny, so what's wrong with one more?

Tagged?

So, I'm not too sure of this thing in the blog-world called being "tagged." Lisa "tagged" me...thanks Lisa! Part of me thought maybe I'll just pretend it never happened, but I think there is some sort of unwritten rule that if you are "tagged" you must comply, or I don't know what will happen. Most of all, I guess I should do something out of respect for Lisa for showing interest in my life. So, I decided to write a few things that may be interesting about what we Lapours like to do as a family...

1. I would say our all time favorite thing to do is go to outdoor concerts during the Summer. We go to Krueger Farm, the Zoo, parks in the neighborhood, and The Pirate Festival to watch some outdoor music. Our favorite band...Captain Bogg and Salty!
2. During the winter we love going to Kennedy School to watch the music in the gym. They have music every Thursday. We love the square dancing nights. Do you see a theme here?
3. At home the only toys Rhett will get out every day are his instruments. He loves to bring us instruments and make a band. Rhett is always the singer.
4. Ok, a non music thing we love to do on the weekends is, go out for coffee. We usually order a latte and Rhett orders a vanilla steamer light on the vanilla. Most coffee shops in Portland have an area for kids to play. We love Sip and Kranz and Urban Grind.
5. Another weekend favorite is our "crepe" morning. We love crepes. I eat crepes with nutella and toasted almonds (which I almost always burn the first batch) and Dan and Rhett eat nutella, banana, and almonds. Yummmmm. I wish I had a picture to show you...
6. We love to travel. Dan and I have been to Europe a couple of times and we can't wait to go back. Rhett has been to six different states in his short life. Five of them were on the East Coast. We can't wait for our next traveling adventure! Ethiopia here we come! Yes, Rhett is going with us. How could we let him miss out on the exciting adventure of picking up his sister?
7. If you know me, you know my favorite family holiday is Halloween. It is a holiday, right? I love dressing Rhett up, I love going to the pumpkin patch, I love carving pumpkins, I love the decorations, and I love roasting pumpkin seeds. As a matter of fact, today Rhett was asking me to roast some pumpkin seeds. I told him he would have to wait until next Halloween.
8. We like anything outside. Hiking, going to the beach, camping, strawberry picking, playing at the park...
9. We love hanging out with our friends and family.
10. We also really enjoy a good meal (this link is for you Kathy...famous potpies) with our friends and family. Food=Love

There you have it...

Dossier Watch...And the Love of a Big Brother

Our Dossier is officially on it's way to St. Louis. I'm hopeful, but will be ecstatic when we hear at the end of the week that it is ok to send to Ethiopia. Please, please, please be ok...

Here is Rhett during our "orange juice party."

Rhett is getting excited to be a big brother. I think he is going to be the best big brother a little girl could ever have. Here are a few ways Rhett is thinking about being a big brother...

To a Goodwill employee, "My baby sister is in Ethiopia."

Today, Rhett came to me and said, "When I'm holding my baby sister I will sit on the little white chair and cuddle her."

In the car Rhett announced, "When my baby sister is sleeping I will check on her." This was especially sweet, because I "check" on Rhett when he is in bed at night before he falls asleep. I believe it is a special thing and that it makes him feel safe.

Out of the blue Rhett said, "I will hug my baby sister, so she won't cry."

When Rhett found a small toy on the ground he said, "I need to put this on the table, so my baby sister doesn't put it in her mouth."

Yikes

Rhett called me in to show me his hot air balloon! Cute, huh?

What is Rhett watching right now? Yes, Rhett, there is always a party in your tummy. Thanks, Uncle Ryan for introducing us to Yo Gabba Gabba.

Ok, I feel like I should get it all out...

I did something today that I have wanted to do for months. There is a pro-life group that hangs out on busy street corners in Portland. They hold the typical signs and others are holding very disturbing images of babies after they were terminated (there are also children holding these signs). These posters are very, very, very graphic and are about four feet tall. When I see these posters it brings on instant tears, sweat, and shakes in me. Fortunately I have been successful at distracting Rhett when we are at these intersections. My main concern is Rhett seeing the very disturbing images and asking questions that a three-year-old shouldn't have to ask. And trust me, Rhett will ask a lot of questions. So, I pulled over and had a little talk with one of the ladies. I asked her if the images were really necessary. She told me that the creator of the posters thought most people didn't know what an abortion was (?). I basically told her I didn't agree and that the posters were not acceptable for young people. She advised me (!) that I should tell my three-year-old son that the picture is of a baby that was killed from an abortion(!). A three-year-old?! Children that young only need to be thinking about playing with their friends and lollipops. In the middle of our conversation someone started yelling at someone else holding one of the signs. It was getting really heated until three cops drinking coffee at Starbucks ran over. During this drama the woman I was talking to started chanting, "Please, God, don't let anyone get hurt...." She repeated this about 15 times. I know I didn't accomplish anything, but I got it out and I will probably just do my best to avoid the disturbing images.

An Important Day in Early March...Photo Montage

We went to Salem (our wonderful state capitol and once our hometown) to state authenticate our Oregon documents. Thankfully our favorite friends live there, so we were able to see Sarah and Elliot at the Children's Museum first. Here they are in the bubble room.

Next stop...Secretary of State.

Rhett got bored fast and the circus began.
Again with the picking...

Rhett loves to do tricks and hear the praise!

Good news on the last document! It was sent out yesterday! We should be getting it tomorrow!

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

Here is the tent that has been in the works since September! It is done. We were in Bolt the other day and Rhett spotted the fabric he picked out and asked me about the tent. So, I thought it was about time I finished it. By the way, Rhett told me the other day, "I really like the Bolt fabric store, but I don't really like to go to Joann." He has really good taste!

The door stays open with this vintage button.

I blame Monica for my new knitting obsession. She taught me how to knit over a delicious latte (that she made) the other day. Thanks Monica! As if I needed another craft obsession!

We are waiting for one more document!!!! We will be celebrating the completion of our Dossier really soon! It will be a really big celebration!!!!!!!

Thank You Kris!

Here is a picture of Rhett with his birthday present from my mom...

We have been waiting for the third document to come in the mail for almost two weeks now. I decided to call California to find out if it had been processed. The lady on the phone told me that they probably won't be looking at the documents from my delivery date for a couple of weeks!!!!

Dan to the rescue...he called and was lucky to get a really nice lady named Kris on the phone. Dan was able to express to her the urgency of the document and she quickly found our document, hand delivered it to be authenticated, and put it in the mail today! There are really great people out there! Thanks, Kris!

My First Pair of Rain Boots

Rhett is modeling my new birthday present that came in the mail today.

Yes, I live in Oregon and have never owned a pair of rain boots. After ruining a pair of leather boots last year at the corn maze I decided I needed a pair of rain boots. There is nothing like a cute boy and cute boots to put a little smile on my face.

These boots came at a perfect time...we are having yet another document set back! This will probably delay us two more weeks. This is very upsetting since we are done with the rest of our dossier! I was hoping all the papperwork would be out of our hands this week and on the way to Ethiopia...