I Didn't Know Grown-Ups Could Be Puppies!

That's what one of my trick-or-treaters said! How cute is that?!

Next year we will have a little one to dress up in a cute/funny costume! (Much easier than borrowing other people's kids!) We can't wait!!!!

We will probably still dress PP up in his BatDog costume. Believe it or not, he LOVES it! Every Halloween for the past 3 or 4 years he's worn the same costume and when I get it out he acts all excited and sits very still while I tie it on him. Then he prances all around the house with a big goofy doggie grin on his face! Halloween is pretty much the most exciting night of the year for our pooch. Three to four hours of nonstop doorbell ringing and strangers in weird clothes...it's like Doggie Heaven! He's more than happy to keep watch all evening and let us know when the goblins are getting near.

On another note, I want to thank you for your prayers and good thoughts for my father-in-law. He did finally get to come home from the hospital a couple of days ago and is doing OK. He's still awfully weak and isn't able to do a lot of moving around, but he's much happier at home and that counts for a lot!

We were able to find out that Odin is doing well at SLC. Judy, whose son Eric is also at SLC, was in Taiwan last week. Unfortunately they were not able to bring Eric home with them yet, but they should be able to return for him in a month or so. While she and her husband were there she was kind enough to not only check on Odin for us, but to HOLD HIM and CUDDLE HIM and PLAY WITH HIM!!!! How awesome is that??? I have it from an actual friend (and make no mistake, internet friends are REAL FRIENDS!!) that Odin is doing well and that he is a real baby!! (What? Sometimes I still have trouble believing that there's a real baby at the end of this process!) Judy says, "He is such a sweet baby. very mild temperament. It is going to be hard to say good bye to Odin." Awwwww....what more could a Mama ask for??? I am forever in Judy's debt for this information. She is such a sweet woman to take the time while she's visiting HER son to also check on ours. (Oh, and she also did this for MANY other families whose babies are at SLC! She's amazing!!)

We do expect an official height/weight update with new pics sometime in the next week or so. I'm also hopeful that we will hear that our case has entered the courts. If this has happened, it's a pretty big deal. I mean, you can't get OUT of the courts until you go IN, right!? Time frames are quite varied, but we expect the court process to take at least 3 months. So if we went into court in late Oct. the earliest we might get out would be late Jan. Then we *might* could travel 2-4 weeks after that. So, I'm hopeful to have Odin home by his 1st birthday Feb. 24th. Things could get fast tracked and THAT would be GREAT but I'm not exactly counting on it. Things could also hit a sloooooooow track. We also need to keep in mind Chinese New Year, which I think pretty much shuts down the government for 2 weeks. Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 7th next year. For now, let's all just hope and pray for a SUPER SPEEDY COURT PROCESS and maybe we'll have Odin home way sooner than we think!!

In the meantime, we've just mailed out Care Package #2 to Odin at SLC. It's pretty difficult to decide what to put into a 1-gallon ziploc bag. And we can only send him stuff once a month! Pics of both care packages are in the slideshow above!

Also a bonus pic....that's me the first time I washed BABY CLOTHES!!!!!!! It was seriously a momentous occasion at our house...I admit I cried a little. I just couldn't believe I was actually holding and washing baby clothes....finally.....