Hintons 2015

Hintons 2015

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Matt's birthday, Happy Birthday to the world's best daddy & husband! We love you, Your girls.

I also want to give a few birthday shout outs to a few other with birthdays this last week: Izzy, Michelle, Janay, Travis- Happy Birthday to you!!!!



Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Today we headed to the State Fair for Maddy's first. She must have really been excited because she decided not to sleep from midnight to about 4:00 am (ugh!). Needless to say we got to a slow start with a very crabby mommy & daddy.

We met up with Tracy, Adam & Charlotte & got to meet another local RQ family which was fun. The 3 girls ranging from 18 months to 3 were very excited by the animals in the Birth Center. Maddy knows the animals by what they say more than their actual names. (Ba, Moo, Neigh)

The 3 proud daddies



Maddy also got to go on the Giant Slide (aka 'Weee') & the Merry Go Round (which she calls the Neigh).



Of course no state fair visit would be complete without eating some of the favorites. Maddy tried her first deep fried cheese curds & seems to really like them. Here she is tasting her first Sweet Martha's Cookies (still in business after 30 years):

And finally one photo each with mom & dad:

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Random pictures

I haven't had much time to blog lately, so here are a few random pictures from the last week or so. Stay tuned for State Fair pictures this weekend....

Daddy still loves the mad face

Here is Maddy w/our friend Suneet


The newly found 'cute' face that dad taught her

Monday, August 18, 2008

First Haircut

Maddy got her first haircut today. Here are a few pictures.....


Sunday, August 10, 2008

Our triple 8 weekend

We had a busy weekend that actually started on Thursday. A good friend of ours got married Friday so Thursday we were busy helping with the rehearsal and decorating for the reception. The wedding was beautiful, our family got to do the opening prayer and Maddy contributed her 'Amen' at the end.

Here are a couple of wedding pictures:





We also DVR'd the opening ceremonies in Beijing so we spent a lot of time watching that late Friday & on Saturday. I have to say that it was spectacular & I am so excited for China to have been chosen as the host country. All politics & human rights violations aside- it's really a honor to see Maddy's birth country able to be given such a privilege & to see the pride of the Chinese people.

I was so touched by Team China's entry and the little boy (Lin Hao) that walked with Yao Ming. He was a survivor from the May earthquake & a hero at that saving the lives of 2 classmates.

Here is a photo I found of that:



Lastly (GEEK ALERT)- we went to the Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum. It was ok, but I was a bit underwhelmed.


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

18 months old today




Today Maddy is 18 months old! Here are a few things that we love about her....

1. How she adds 'ooo' or 'eee' on the end of words- park is parkoo or parkee, out is outoo, bike is bikee

2. How she loves her dolly & teddy and has one on either side of her when she goes to sleep each night

3. How she has really come to love Hi-5 & says 'five' with her hand in the air when she wants to watch the show. Also how she does the sign for more when the show is over to watch another episode (thank God for On Demand & DVR).

4. How she has gotten lazy with her 'all done' and half the time it's more like ay-ya.

5. How much she seems to love dogs & squeals 'dog-dog' in delight everytime she sees a dog of any shape or size.

6. How she goes up to something she's not supposed to touch & says 'no, no, no.' (Recent she did this while sitting on our poor cat).

Friday, August 1, 2008

Announcement



We officially started paperchasing for our 2nd adoption from China in June. Many of you know that already, but some do not- so it's official. We had our home visit with our social worker, Julie, yesterday. Julie was with us through our adoption with Maddy so it's nice to have her doing it again this time around.

Our biggest hurdle (besides the long wait) this time around will be getting the paperwork thru USCIS (aka Immigration). There are new forms & a slightly different process and we are essentially only the 2nd family from our agency to go thru it since all the new rules started this spring. From what I hear they are much picker now & have gone back & forth many times with various agencies.

We will keep you updated as we go thru the process, but pretty much once the paperwork goes to China it's anyone's guess as to the length of wait. We are preparing for 4-5 years but praying for a little less time. So, buckle in for a long ride.