It's February!!

I made it though January. Go me.

The past couple of days have been sunny and beautiful and spring like. Then today we got two inches of snow. Bleh. That's OK, at least I know we're headed into the home stretch. Winter can't last much longer. February is short and by March it starts to feel springy.

I attempted to shake the end of the January blah's by redecorating our bedroom a little. Shawn and I picked out new bedding and a new picture for the wall above our bed. It was just a little change but it brightened it up a little and made it feel fresh and new in there.

Today I've been tracking down info about schools for next year. They held the lottery for Clarissa's school at the end of last week and I called and confirmed this morning that she got in. Yay! That's a load off my mind.

Now we just have to wait to hear about Josh's school. The woman I talked to this morning said that they currently have 260ish applications for 210 spots and applications are still open though the end of the week. His chances are pretty good, but we won't know for sure for a few more weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! They had a student meeting at his school last week for 8th graders who are interested in attending that high school and after the meeting he was even more sure he wants to go there. He's really got his heart set on it, so I hope it works out!

The other thing I'm focusing in this week is Clarissa's birthday! She turns five tomorrow, can you believe it?! She has been very impatiently waiting for her birthday pretty much since Christmas, lol. "Is it my birthday yet?" has been a daily question in our house lately. Tomorrow is finally the big day. We'll do presents in the morning and then take treats to preschool and after preschool I'm taking her out to lunch and to Build A Bear to make a My Little Pony, which she will go crazy for. She doesn't know about it yet. Then tomorrow night we'll have her favorite dinner and cake and ice cream, which honestly I think is the thing she is most excited about. I'm pretty sure we could just eat cake and ice cream and call it a day and she'd be happy, lol.

I've been thinking about her birth mother today. Clarissa's birthday is always a little bittersweet because while we're celebrating I know there is a mother in Korea who is missing all of these special moments. I wonder about her a lot. I hope that she is doing well and is happy. I pray for her and hope that she has found peace with the situation. I'm so grateful to her for allowing me to raise such an amazing little girl. Clarissa is such a light in our family.

I'm hoping to do a birthday photoshoot with Clarissa tomorrow if we have time, so check back and hopefully I'll have some photos to post tomorrow!