Continuing the Journey

Happy Halloween...and Other Stuff...

Hope everybody had a safe and fun Halloween! As I uploaded the pictures from trick-or-treating (no time to do it last night...too busy having fun!), it occurred to me that this was really NOT Carson's first Halloween.

Remember this pic from last year?
Of course, our little trick-or-treater was stuck in a Hefei hotel full of business people...basically all dressed up with nowhere to go! We put the costume on him, told him to say "Cheese," and took the costume off. Very exciting, I know.

This year was SO MUCH better!

Our fan of all things superhero finally narrowed it down for Halloween...
...doesn't he look awesome?? His trick-or-treat bucket was actually an Easter basket Meggie and I bought, but then decided against using. Glad we remembered it was down in the basement 'cause it totally completed his outfit!

Here, Batman is posing as a "see-wee-us" (aka serious) superhero...
Daddy and Carson headed off for trick-or-treating at exactly 6:00. I had just arrived home from work and was counting on Meggie and her friend, Abbey, to pass out candy for me. But, noooooooo...they were getting dressed up as well! To pass out the candy!! Ugghhh...

Not to be too graphic, but I have an ingrown-toenail-gone-horribly-wrong...I dug at it so much it is now nasty and infected...and I couldn't even get a shoe on my foot yesterday! I had to wear the immobilizing boot that I got when I broke my toe! So, picture this...I'm hobbling out on one good foot carrying two chairs (one to sit on, one to elevate my throbbing foot on), a blanket (it was getting chilly), a TV tray, and a large bowl of candy to give out. Yes, making it a couple of trips WOULD have made sense. However, my foot was sore from walking all day at work...plus the kids were already coming in full force! Good thing I wore my Halloween scrub top to work...I didn't get a chance to change clothes, but at least I was festive!

Did Meggie help? NOT! She and Abbey were busy getting ready...
...at least they looked good for handing out candy to the kids! One little kid asked us if we were "supposed to be Mommies or something." Actually, little kid, I AM a Mommy. Meggie was a blast-from-the-past in her '80s inspired workout gear, and Abbey was a Girl Scout. Duh!!

Carson had no issues with trick-or-treating...never got scared or wanted to quit. Well, he DID decide to come home when they ended up across the street and he saw me sitting in our driveway. He trick-or-treated at our house (again) and then I convinced him to get in the Batmobile (aka our wagon) and get more candy. Daddy wasn't pleased with the extra workout that required of him, dragging the wagon around the neighborhood. Sorry, Daddy!

When Carson finally gave up, he helped us give out candy for the last 30 minutes or so. Then he and the girls started goofing around in the front yard.

Didn't know Batman was a flying superhero...
...or that he liked working out with chicks dressed in '80s inspired outfits! (Yes, folks, his left foot is resting comfortably on Meggie's arm...this kid is SUPER flexible!)
The temps had dropped into the low 40s and Carson finally had enough of the cold (he is SO intolerant of cold weather!), so he climbed onto my lap (and under my blanket) for a snuggle......which was fine with me! (Is that a good angle or what? I feel like I look super thin in that picture!! Great camera skills, Meggie...)

Speaking of "super thin" (which I am not...yet), yesterday at work was AWFUL for my willpower! I worked in the Nuclear Medicine division...notoriously known for their awesome snacking. There were homemade cookies, caramel drizzled cakes, Halloween candy, bakery goodies...whew! When I fought it off long enough and felt like I needed something, I ate my granola bar. When I finally couldn't take it anymore, I headed to the breakroom to eat my lunch. I am proud to announce I did not consume one unnecessary calorie all day at work. Then I handed out candy at our house and ate NOTHING! Weight Watchers is truly doing wonders for my struggle with food! After trick-or-treating, we ordered pizza for the kids...I ate one small piece, then had baby carrots dipped in fat-free ranch dressing to fill me up. (I just pretended the baby carrots were actually crinkle-cut french fries...)

In other news, Thursday evening we had our final visit with Julie, our social worker, regarding Carson. Yes, folks, we have officially jumped through every hoop with this Little Man of ours! The adoption was complete in China (check), we got his Social Security card (check), we had our six-month follow-up with Julie (check), we readopted him in our home state (check), we got his US passport (check) and now we've had our 12-month follow-up with Julie (check)! So good to be finished with document retrieval, etc. Now on to regular life!!

One funny thing did happen during Julie's visit...and it wasn't Daddy's fault this time! Carson said he was hungry. I asked him what he wanted to eat. He said, "I want a one-point snack." Julie looked at me with shock. I had to explain that I just started Weight Watchers and we have talked a lot in our house about how many points certain foods are worth. Obviously, he has been listening. I assured her we are not restricting his dietary intake...he can eat as many points as he wants. She laughed and said that will be another story to add to her list of "Carson" stories...she openly admits she is quite taken with our little guy and is going to miss visiting with him. She said she talks about him all the time and tells people of his antics...protecting his privacy, of course. How sweet is that?!

Oh, and for those of you who keep asking us if he's getting taller...yes, he is! He has grown two inches since her last visit, which was in April! He only weighs a pound more but is really stretching out in height. Amazing...

As I was sitting here working on this blog post, the doorbell rang. Since I'm still in my PJs (hey, it's my first Saturday off in a while!), Meggie answered the door. It was the mail carrier bringing our dossier documents back from the Consulate in New York! Yeah! I hate sending off those irreplaceable documents and always feel better when they are in MY hot little hands! We now have everything ready to ship for our dossier...except for the document that will come from our fingerprints, the I-797C.

Meggie decided that her messages on Carson's dry erase board bring us good luck in the adoption department, so she concocted another one...
Let's hope it works soon!