Crazy Times, I Tell Ya

Crazy, fun times were had by all on this side of the globe the past few days.  On Saturday, Kevin & I whisked away to the fancy-schmancy Hyatt they just build in town.  It was like living in the lap of American luxury for 24 hours--my first workout in weeks (while watching some weird show called The Dog Whisperer on National Geographic), a bath AND a shower with hot water that lasted through both of them (I think I beat my regular weekly bathing quota in the matter of a day), English TV (because who doesn't want to spend their anniversary being further enlightened on the turmoil in Dagestan?), and Papa Johns pizza delivered to my door (and Kevin even got the thin crust because he loves me a lot).  We split the boys and left them in the care of the most amazing, most servant-hearted friends a set of parents could ask for.  It was our first night away from the little buddies, and word on the street was that they both did great.  If this picture says anything at all, I'd say that just about sums it up accurately.

Thus concludes the only picture you will see on this post because the rest is just a summary of the craziness that ensured after departing from our little get-away.  Thirty minutes after returning home, our social worker arrived from Shanghai for our 6 month adoption post-placement meeting.  6 months?!?!  Has it been that long already?  6 months of squishy cheeks & big bellies, 6 months of a lot less free time & a lot more laughter, 6 months of striving to create a home & attitude toward my family that exudes joy in the gospel.  We've loved it so much we figured we'd just go ahead and add on another little person...  

Our meeting with our social worker went great.  We love her, and it's more like spending time with a friend than with someone who has the authority to determine your fitness as a parent.  Perhaps if I was a little more intimidated by this reality, I wouldn't start as many statements with, "I probably shouldn't be telling you this but..."  Because we've all let our children almost fall off the platform at the train station, right?

Monday was another "festive" day for the Peek clan.  Once a year, we have to go to a government office to apply to extend our residence permits.  It really could be worse because lots of ex-pats are forced to leave the country every 90 days.  No thank you.  I'll take a day in a government office over packing suitcases and trucking children to the airport.  And that's exactly what it took...an entire day!  We spent two hours there in the morning, only to find out that what they wanted for the boys did not exactly exist.  I wish I could tell you the details of it all (well, you probably don't wish I could because you'd most likely find it incredibly boring) but I was too busy chasing one baby, entertaining another, and answering questions from curious onlookers such as, "So do you perm your baby's hair?"

But my marvelous husband and our superhero local friend Lynn figured out everything we needed in order to legally remain in this country for another year.  The only downside was that I had to bring the boys back up to the government office later that afternoon by myself.  Can I just emphasize the "by myself" part?  Oh how I'm looking forward to American when I can just walk my little people to my driveway, snap them in a car seat, and zip off to my destination!  No more strapping one baby in the Ergo (over my ever-increasing belly I might add!) and walking the other down a moderately safe alley in order to find a taxi.  Nevertheless, we made it, took care of what needed to be done, and caught the bus home.

Kevin will be gone tomorrow in another city to take his final language exam (go, hubs, go!), so I get to be solo-mama all day long.  As my racing bibs from yesteryear used to read: Go, Beck, go!  

Maybe things will slow down sometime soon...who knows but it sure is a fun & wild ride!