Callaway Gardens

Anyone who knows us, or has read our blog, knows that one of the many things we're looking forward to doing as parents is taking our child to museums and parks. Today we went to the beautiful Callaway Gardens (www.callawaygardens.com) which proved to be another great place for kids to explore. Callaway Gardens is truly an amazing place. It's a huge garden that's spread over many acres of land (plenty of open space for kids to play and explore safely in), it also has a golf course and a Butterfly center. It was so nice. The weather, after many days of clouds and rain, was beautiful and it was great to see the azaleas and the butterflies. We started with the Butterfly Center. There were so many different kinds of butterflies; some were at least the size of an average bird. Then we went the to Azalea Trail which had acre upon acre of azaleas. Really beautiful! In the middle of the azalea area was a little man made pond that was full of turtles. They were resting on the shore in groups of five or so. It was neat to see them, as I hadn't really seen that many turtles in one place since I was a small child. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and a place we definitely look forward to taking our little one to some day!

Snow in Atlanta!

We see it as a a great sign for our upcoming ski trip that it snowed in Atlanta yesterday. Having lived here for the last several years it's really strange to see the snow. At our house we got just about three inches of snow, and it managed to last most of today before it melted away. We made snow men, and basically everywhere you went people were excited. When it first started to snow, and the temperature was pretty high so nothing was sticking to the ground or road, John and I drove around town seeing how beautiful the heavy flakes of snow made the world seem. After awhile we called our friend Brady, and had lunch at a great restaurant that sits on the Chattahoochee river. The first picture is of the snow just as it started to accumulate. That's in stark contrast to the second picture of my mother's drive way (where I grew up), where they have had snow storm after snow storm and have had several feet of snow this year. I guess when you have one or two snow storms a week snow isn't quite as much fun to shovel and play around with. I have many, many memories of shoveling snow. You know you have a lot of snow, when you literally have to shovel your way out of the house!

Skiing.

John and I are going to go on ski trip in mid March. We are very excited! Although we both skied a lot when we were younger it has been many years since the last time. We're going with our good friend Brady and her boyfriend David. David found a great place for us to stay... if it lives up to it's description it is literally on the mountain.

Being that we live in Georgia you might imagine that we don't really have that much cold weather gear anymore, and you'd be right. John called his mom and asked her to send some of his old cold weather gear. She sent a few sweaters, some gloves, and a few hats... and at the bottom of the box was this picture of John.

As my mother put it when she saw his photo "he's always been beautiful, hasn't he!" He certainly was a cute child. My mom also reminded me that somewhere in the pile of old pictures she sent me was this photo of me at a young age "skiing." It was more like falling, or sitting.. not sure which. Both of the pictures are a little blurry (they are pictures of a pictures), but I think it's neat to see them.

We can't wait until the day that we'll be able to capture little moments in time of our little one... our little one just can't come to us soon enough!

Thanks for reading.
~W

Working out - a family affair.

I recently joined a new gym (or fitness club as some call it). Having spent most of my exercise life at smaller gyms I am amazed at what this club has to offer. It has almost every fitness activity you could think of! Water slides, pools, weights, spa, basketball courts, and even an indoor rock climbing wall.

It was during a recent trip to the club on a Friday afternoon that I realized one of the neatest benefits to having such a wide array of activities. There were so many families there, it was easy to see that at night and the weekends that families use the club as a family night out! I watched a dad play with his toddler in the pool, I watched 2 families play basketball together, and I got a great laugh as I watched a 10 year old try and keep up with his father on the treadmill. The highlight of the gym is the rock climbing wall. The kids love it, and so do the parents. I've been on it a few times, and it really is quite fun!

As a result of my new found interest of indoor rock climbing, I was doing a little research on line and found this picture of a really cool take on a rock climbing wall. It seems to be a combination of standard rock wall grips, and then some other more creative things to hold on too. (Although it's clearly missing the safety harnesses!)



William doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to be doing some renovations soon to add this into our house!!! (Just kidding)

JOHN

Such a cutie!!

John was going through some website when he came upon this picture and showed me. It's a picture of a little guy with his mom at some sort of event. I'm glad the parents were thoughtful enough to protect the little one's ears. He's just so cute I had to post the picture.




Thanks for reading. We hope you're having a great day!!
~W

The future is here!

One of the many things that John and I do to make the time pass during our adoption wait is browse through the toy sections of stores. During a recent look at some of the new toys that are going to hit the market we discovered that the future is here. Like John and I, many of you may remember the little red wagon you played with as a child. You probably got pulled, or pulled around others, in this little red wagon called the Radio Flyer. The Radio Flyer wagon of our childhood was utilitarian at best... If, even for second, you've wondered whether or not we're in the age of technology take a look at the radio flyer of today. This is not the little red wagon of of our childhood. It comes complete with seat belts, comfort seating, speakers, iPod connection, and - you guessed it - cup holders! Wow. We've come a really long way since the days of lawn darts!

Thanks for reading.
~W

Happy Holidays!

We just wanted to wish everyone a very happy holiday season!!!! We also want thank all of you for reading our blog and spreading the word about our hopes to adopt. Our adoption journey has already been one of the most amazing experiences of our lives and we don't even have a child yet! The amazing support and love shown by our family, friends, readers of this blog has been more then we ever could have hoped for.

This year we really lucked out, as we get to celebrate the holiday at three different places. That means dessert on three different nights!!!! But, most importantly we are lucky to be able to spend the holidays we people we love.

Below is an old story (1998) we read on CNN about an adoptive family that is finally together for their first Christmas.

Wishing you all the best!
John and William

Adopted twins see their first American Christmas
Two little girls and their new parents
December 25, 1998
Web posted at: 8:59 p.m. EDT (0059 GMT)

(CNN) -- On October 30 at the Miami airport, John and Robin Zarrella wondered whether they would ever see this day.
Nearly six months had passed since a video arrived from Los Ninos, a U.S. agency specializing in international adoptions.
On it were two little girls. identical twins. Based only on the tape, some basic medical records and a leap of faith, John and Robin decided Anastasia and Angelina, orphans half a world away in Russia, should be theirs.
"It was hard to imagine the suffering they had already endured," said John. "Our road was nothing like theirs."
At 2 months old the girls were taken from their mother. They recovered from abuse and malnourishment in a hospital and spent a year in an orphanage.

To protect orphans from falling into bad homes, the governments of Russia and the United States required extensive paperwork. The Zarrellas were fingerprinted, and their backgrounds were checked by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. They took physicals and AIDS tests, and met with a caseworker who evaluated their home and interviewed their sons, 9 and 11. Then came a big break. The Zarrellas could go to Russia to see the girls. Adoption was likely, but not guaranteed.
"After six months of paperwork and a year waiting, we couldn't get there fast enough," said John.
Flying to Russia, they brought three boxes and a suitcase filled with donations of clothing for the orphanage, and another suitcase with diapers and baby clothes for the twins.They touched down in Moscow, where they piled their luggage in two cars. Suspicious of the packages, a police officer stopped one of the vehicles briefly, looking for drugs. They then flew east over the Ural Mountains and at midnight arrived on the edge of Siberia in the town of Chelyabinsk. John and Robin had gone through 10 time zones in 21 hours.

"Our first glimpse of the city came ... through the double-paned glass of the apartment (of) our host," said John.
"Somewhere in the distance beyond the tenements was an orphanage and two little girls who were about to change our lives."
The next afternoon the family held the twins. A caretaker brought Angelina Kseniya first. Awoken from her nap, Anastasia Marie came next. There was some confusion over who was who. A red string tied around Anastasia's wrist told them apart. Tamara, an adoption agency employee in Chelyabinsk, and Mila, an interpreter, told the couple they would sort them out eventually.
"You will see. They are different. When you take care of them every day, you will see," Mila said
"We held them and played with them. Somehow they just seemed to know Mom and Dad were here at last," John said. "It was just meant to be."John and Robin spent an hour with the girls but then had to leave. The children wouldn't be theirs to take until the Russian court approved the adoption. That afternoon they had an early celebration. Their first stop was a local food mart to pick up vodka and pickles, a Russian tradition. They went to the dacha, or summer home, of their driver Victor.

The next day the Zarrellas spent 2 1/2 anxious hours in court. Snow fell as they left the building, but inside they were warm. They were officially the parents of Angelina Kseniya and Anastasia Marie.
"We didn't get much sleep that night, or any other night for that matter," Robin wrote in her diary.
They spent the following day going from agency to agency to complete numerous documents like adoption certificates, birth certificates and passport applications. By the time they finished, it was too late to pick up the girls. They spent one more night apart. The next day on the way to the orphanage, they stopped at a church to buy pictures of the Russian saints for whom the girls were named. At the orphanage they took part in one final event. With champagne, cake and candy, they celebrated with the staff. The gathering served as a symbolic birthday for Angelina and Anastasia.

On Friday the twins celebrated Christmas, still enjoying the gifts of November: a new country, a new home and a new family.

Super Star

One of John's co-worker's daughter had a piano recital a few days ago. Here is his daughter at the piano, and to quote her very proud father "here is the next super star in training!" We very much look forward to the day when we'll be able to support our future little one in any and all endeavors she takes on!

Thanks for reading!
~W

How cute are these two!?!

Obviously, fashion is not that huge of a deal in the big scheme of things but I am always amazed at the role that fashion plays in our world today. I always enjoy seeing the new looks that come with each season. With that being said, I found this picture as a looked through a few of my favorite fashion blogs. These two are clearly a little tired (hopefully, after this picture was taken they got to go home and take a well deserved nap!) but they are just so darn cute, and oh so fashionable! I give them the 2008 best dressed under 3 years old award! Hopefully, these little guy's parents engaged them and made getting dressed something fun and creative to do.

Hugs and stickers.

One of my favorite parts of my job is when I get to hand out stickers to the kids while their parents are waiting. Often, right when they walk in the door they start running to the desk to get their sticker! Today I realized that everyone of those kids always say “May I please have a sticker?” and “Thank you!” Small stuff like that will go along way with those kids, so a pat on the back to their parents! Today I gave one of my favorite clients children a sticker and as they were leaving he walked over to me (he is about two and half years old) and said “Hug.” He then put out his arms for me to bend down and give him a hug. Made my day!!! Such a cute little guy.

I just can't wait to be a dad!!!

JOHN

Thanksgiving

Nearly every Thanksgiving we spend the day with my aunt Sue. Even before Sue moved to Atlanta we would go to her house in Connecticut, or Omaha. It has always been such a fun and relaxing day for everyone. Like many families, we spend the day cooking, chatting, and watching the Macy's parade on TV. So much fun, and so relaxing! Some years lots of other family members will join us, and others it will just be five or six of us.

Last night, in preparation for Thanksgiving, I pulled out a few CD's for the annual "John Petersen Holiday Hot Mix". I like to think of myself as the DJ for the holidays. So, as I was going through our CDs, I found an Elton John album that I used to listen to pretty often. There is one song called "blessed" on the album and I remember hearing it for the first time about 6 years ago. AMAZING!

This morning, I played the song again in my car and it just fills me with so much hope. I know that our adoption journey has had some ups and downs, but hearing this song again helps to remind me just how excited I am for William and I to be dads.

For those of you who haven't heard the song, here are the lyrics:

Hey you, you're a child in my head
You haven't walked yet
Your first words have yet to be said
But I swear you'll be blessed

I know you're still just a dream
your eyes might be green
Or the bluest that I've ever seen
Anyway you'll be blessed

And you, you'll be blessed
You'll have the best
I promise you that
I'll pick a star from the sky
Pull your name from a hat
I promise you that, promise you that, promise you that
You'll be blessed

I need you before I'm too old
To have and to hold
To walk with you and watch you grow
And know that you're blessed
And you, you'll be blessed
You'll have the best
I promise you that, promise you that, promise you that
You'll be blessed


Thanks for taking the time to read our blog!
JOHN

Just a great picture!

We posted this picture this picture of John and his cousin Katie's daughter back in October of last year. I was looking through some old pictures and just couldn't not post it again. I love how she just seems to fit right into John's arms. It's amazing to think that in the year since this photo was taken we've had two matches with potential birthparents, and John's cousin has had two more children (TWINS)!

Lots of visitors!

Although we're not exactly sure why, we've had a lot of visitors to our adoption website recently. We have link to our website from several other sites, but those have been there for sometime, so we can't track the increase in visits back to anyone particular place. We wouldn't be at all surprised if our good friend Bridget has started some sort of online campaign for us. She's been great (we posted about her some time ago) and continues to be one of our biggest supporters. It's great to know that our name and website is getting out there. We've been flooded with good wishes, and even a few college students have asked us for interviews so for papers, etc. This is a great sign! I guess it goes without saying that the more people we have looking at our website and learning about us, the more likely that the "our" birthmother will find us.

Thank you to everyone whose taking the time to read our blog, spread the word of our adoption hopes, or just sharing your kind thoughts!


~W & J

Books, books, and more books

William just posted a blog about one of our favorite books being turned into a movie (I hope it comes out well!), so I thought I'd add a quick little post to point out a few of our other favorite books. Here's our current top five favorites:

1. Where The Wild Things Are (we've both loved this one from when we were kids)
2. The Giving Tree (makes me cry.. but I just love it!)
3. This Is New York (one of our favorite places to visit, and neat book)
4. Tell Me About The Night I Was Born (This is a great book about adoption)
5. And Tango Makes Three (The story of two penguins who adopt an egg)

JOHN

Where The Wild Things Are.. the movie

Many of you may have noticed that since starting the adoption process we have collected a pretty large library of children's books. One of the very first books we bought was "Where The Wild Things Are." It's been my person favorite book for some time, and I've pictured myself reading it to my child for as long as I can remember. John also really enjoys the book - it's a close second to his favorite book "The Giving Tree."
We were very excited to find out that the book is also going to be a movie. The movie actually finished filming in November, but hasn't been released yet. From what we can tell there's been a little disagreement between the studio and director. I REALLY hope they get their issues resolved soon. We can't wait to see how it turns out!

Thanks for reading.
~W