Toadfrogs and Elephants

Today was Alex’s first train ride. We packed our bags and waited in line to board the train from Milwaukee to Chicago:

Alex slept for about 40 minutes of the hour trip to Chicago:

We had lunch in Chicago and then boarded the train for Carbondale. I was a little worried about the 5.5 hour ride, but Alex did great. We both took another nap:

Then we played, had dinner, and got ready for bed:

We arrived in Carbondale 30 minutes late (10 pm). Mom was waiting and happily entertained Alex while I installed the car seat in her car. Then we made the drive to Paducah with Alex snoozing the entire way.

Wade and I have always planned to adopt a child. My preference is an Asian country which leaves us with China, South Korea (for those of us in select states), Taiwan, and the Philippines. We had to wait till Alex was six months old before starting the process. We attended the required information session last week and had our first phone consultation with the adoption agency today. It turns out international adoption is very popular (surprise, surprise) and the wait time for youngest, healthiest children is quite long. When we went to the same meeting before getting pregnant most of the wait times were a little over a year. Now those wait times are over three years. As strongly as I feel about adopting, I also feel strongly about having children close in age. We have decided to add our names to the waiting list for South Korean adoptions in 2010. In March, South Korea will announce how many babies will be up for adoption. Two years ago it was 11; last year 10. We are number 10 on the current waiting list. If we won’t make the cut-off for the 2010 list then we will revaluate what we want to do. We are also considering a slightly older child (2-3 years), but we would need a lot more information before heading down that path.

To sum up: We have put our name on a list, but are basically waiting until February or March before making any decisions.

I didn’t leave the house once today. Alex and I spent most of the day playing. (Note the cute onesie made by Amy and the cute giraffe from Granny and Pop):

I did one productive thing and got my bulbs planted. Alex supervised:

Today we had to say goodbye to Granny and Pop. We made sure to get a picture before they left:

Then I had to hurry back from the airport to get ready for book club. Tonight I am hosting and leading the discussion on When Crickets Cry. I had a lot of fun preparing food and setting the table:

While we ate and talked, Alex was upstairs playing with Naomi. Now Alex is in bed and the house is quiet. Madison and I are getting settled on the couch for a movie.

Today was all about Alex (unlike other days). He had an audience while he ate:

Then he had constant playmates. Alex played with Pop:

Alex played with Wade:

Alex snuggled with Granny:

Granny and Pop are visiting so we had a pajama day. Alex started the day his usual way:

Then he spent the rest of the day playing with his grandparents:

Granny is making Alex a Christmas outfit so we did a little measuring and trying on:

I couldn’t find shelves for the laundry room that met my standards. I definitely couldn’t find a way to hold the ironing board that didn’t include a plastic shelf or hanging something over the door. Wade came to the rescue with custom shelves.

We’ve been enjoying fall weather lately. That means fun hats for Alex: