Saturday, July 14, 2007
CLUBB FAMILY UPDATE

We cannot believe another month has already passed! Time is flying by! This past month included more visits from family and friends and our first ever road trip as a family of four! We loaded the kids in the car and headed down to North Carolina to visit our extended family - grandmas, grandpas, cousins, aunts, and uncles - the whole gang! Since we drove at night while the kids are used to sleeping, they did great in the car and slept the whole way both directions.

While in NC, we were spoiled by one of the “traveling grandmas,” David's mom, who hadn't seen the kids since right after returning from China. She had all the essentials for our stay, which meant we didn't have to lug along every item most parents have to take with them when they travel. Ainsley did great adapting to her new surroundings, which was good to see. And Griffin, as always, just took it easy and was laid back the whole time. We got to go to the swimming pool with their cousins, eat lots of good Southern food, play outside, and have lots of good family time. While we were there we also got to celebrate the kids' first Fourth of July - well, Ainsley's first in the United States. They didn't quite make it to fireworks, but we enjoyed the day decked out in red, white, and blue!

One of our other highlights this past month was taking Griffin and Ainsley with us to our first summer concert at Hartwood Acres, one of many huge park areas within five minutes of our house. Every summer, Allegheny County brings in various bands to perform on Sunday evenings at various parks, including Hartwood Acres where there is an outdoor stage/amphitheater area set against the backdrop of beautiful trees and hills. The concerts are FREE! Some groups are pretty well-known, like Blues Traveler - coming again this year! This concert series was always a favorite “pre-kids” event, so we were excited to start the tradition with Griffin and Ainsley a couple of weeks ago. Since there was a great Latin band playing, we took a nice picnic with enchiladas and margaritas! The kids wore their Mexican theme outfits from the other “traveling grandma,” Shannon's mom. The outfits were being saved in hopes of a Mexican getaway this fall (which we still will likely do!), but we broke them out in advance. Senorita Ainsley still shows a preference for Mexican food, which is alright with Mommy as it is one of her favorites too. We were also happy to share the night with the Haynes' family, including twins Anna and Ellie who were adopted from China (read their story). We'll be at Hartwood again this Sunday, July 15th, for the Reggae band, Rootz Underground, if anyone wants to join us!

Despite our short trip to NC and our fun times staying on the go to events like the summer concert series, David's return to work a few months ago has definitely had an impact on the quality and quantity of his time with Griffin and Ainsley on a daily basis. After spending those first couple of months together as one family every single day in April and May - functioning as one cohesive unit, playing, interacting, and building those relationships day in and day out - it has been challenging to have to leave every morning (usually before the kids are up) and not get home until the kids are almost ready for bed. This, of course, is a part of life as we all have to manage and balance our lives and set priorities for family. And we realize that many people do not have the blessing of being able to take any time off like David was able to do. But this is a new experience for the newly formed "Clubb family of four." And the challenges are particularly critical in our situation with a 4-month old who is still adjusting to life outside of the womb as he changes every day (he can now roll over by himself!!) and loves his Daddy and craves his attention! And all the more challenging with a 15-month old as well, who just three months ago left everything that she has known all of her short life and is still adjusting to life in the US and in the Clubb family (both major culture shocks - not sure which is greater!).

So…before things at work get even more hectic in August, David has decided to take some more leave from work - tentatively for about a week, starting July 18th and going possibly until the end of the month. David will use this time to bond more with Griffin and Ainsley and to engage in the important work of building a strong foundation for our family. We are all excited to have this extra time to just pour into Griffn and Ainsley and to enjoy the Clubb family! And one of the great things is that we have decided to spend this important family time in God's beautiful creation on a gorgeous, unspoiled island in the British West Indies - Turks & Caicos!! This was kind of a last minute decision, but we are very excited to go on our first trip to the Caribbean with Griffin and Ainsley for some bonding in the sun! We will be staying at the Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa July 18th-25th ! We'll send a postcard!
 

Before heading out to Turks & Caicos in a few days, we had a very special day just two days ago on July 12, 2007. This was our court date in Allegheny County for the re-adoption hearing for Ainsley. This process was necessary to facilitate obtaining proof of US citizenship for Ainsley since David traveled to China without Shannon, though sometimes people choose to do a re-adoption in their home state even if both parents do travel together (there are many reasons for this).

This was a special day, especially since Shannon did not get to participate in any of the events in China. Ainsley's grandma (Shannon's mom) came along for the event too. The attorney for our case told us that these adoption hearings are the most fun for them and the judges and that the setting would be quite relaxed. We didn't realize how relaxed, though, until the judge jokingly insisted the attorney pronounce Ainsley's middle name for the record (Xia'an) and allowed Ainsley to run and play around the courtroom with her squeaky shoes and all! And now Ainsley is officially re-adopted under PA state law!

So, it has been a full and exciting month! We look forward to sharing our update with you next month and letting you know how we survive our big trip!
 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

• First Father's Day - June included David's first Father's Day! We spent the day with Shannon's Aunt Kathy who was visiting. We went hiking at North Park in the morning, enjoyed a Chinese lunch, had some relaxing time around the house, and celebrated with one of David's favorite dinners. It was a great family day!