Monday, December 18, 2006

Christmas 2006




Hello from Tampa !

This is by far the oddest time of year to be a New York Native Floridian.
Not that you want to hear complaints about endless days of 78 & sunny, But...
Think about how strange it would feel to be stringing up Christmas lights in shorts & flip flops... You get so hot, you need to jump in the pool for a while...
It's very tough living down here this time of year.

Aside from that things are really going well for Clan Cunningham. My job is going great, I really enjoy all the people I am working with. Katy is doing fantastic, she is helping at the boys pre-school as a substitute teacher & at Kyle's elementary school as Class Mom. This has been a great year for her as the boys are old enough that she can just enjoy having fun with them. Another big part of our recent happiness is that Katy's parents have left Allendale, NJ & moved down here full time. They Built a really nice new place just about 10 minutes north of us. They are still unpacking a little (So are we), but have wasted no time getting busy in Tampa Bay. Mr Ryan is now Kyles private soccer coach & the assistant coach for Kyle's soccer team. Kyle is extremely proud of how much he is learning this year playing for the East Lake Arsonel. He is also doing really well in 1st grade & we are amazed at how quickly his focus in school has improved. Sean has some real big news since our last report... He is now riding a 2 wheeler !!! Thats right, a few weeks before his 5th B-day mom took off the training wheels & he hasn't looked back !!! It was not easy for him & he is very proud that he can ride on the grass now. He is doing great in pre school & has been working hard to learn his songs for the big Christmas pagent this Wednesday... We can't wait. Ryan will also be singing his songs at the pagent & he is really going to be a fun one to watch. He is quite the character that Ryan Jameson Cunningham... very fortunate to be blessed with a smile you could never be mad at & very smart to know that he has a smile that you could never be mad at. He is a natural at just about everything & we love our big little man. I know we say it all the time but we hope to get the entire clan up north at some point this spring/summer. Katy's sister Mary is expecting this spring and we are looking into an extended family Road Trip to meet our soon to be new cousin. As far as our baby girl the recent news from the e-mails groups is a little discouraging as the wait time from application to match continues to grow longer. It is very hard thinking about the whole thing & knowing that our trip & match are still so far away. We do however think about her every day, hoping the wait time will speed up, trying to pick the perfect name for her, or finding a cute little outfit for her. The boys are very excited about the whole thing & we just feel that the wait is meant to be. Bailey Cunningham has gotten big very quick... Katy just told me she was weighing in at 40lbs (so much for the small non shedding dog we thought we found). She is however very gentle & somehow puts up with the abuse of 3 very active boys. I think she sleeps deeper than Katy & I after the lights go out.

Anyway, I am rambling now, have a wonderfull Christmas & thanks for reading our update. We look forward to seeing everyone soon... Clan Cunningham

Friday, September 22, 2006

Another female added to the Cunningham Clan...


that's right... For those of you that have not heard the news, we have added a female Golden retriever mix (we think collie?) into Clan Cunningham. The boys have been quietly asking us to get a dog for some time now, and with all the extra hours I am spending at work, we decided a dog would be a welcome distraction as we wait for our journey to China next summer. The adoption process (wait) is still dragging along & the wait is very tough. We have joined a few yahoo chat groups with other families that are expecting to travel around the same time as us & the dailey e-mails help fill some time but provide little distraction. Katy & I both hope that the process speeds up, but feel it is likely going to be late summer '07 until we have any word from the Chinese Gvt. So Bailey Cunningham was found by our local golden retriever rescue a month ago, we just happened to take a look and fell in love. We named her Bailey as she has a nice think golden tan coat with a little bit of white markings. She reminded Katy of Bailey's Irish Cream & we all liked the name. She is 7-8 months old, and must have been trained as she has had very few problems inside the house. She is very mellow & great with the boys, who are anything but mellow. She has been with us for a few weeks now, but I have not had a chance to update the site. We have adjusted pretty well to having her here, but it does create some issues with all the stuff we have going on thru the week. So far she has been very good when Katy has to leave her at home to do her stuff. I think we were lucky & found a nice soul in Bailey Cunningham & she is a lot of fun to have around. Welcome to Clan Cunningham Bailey !!!

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Big news for the Clan Aug 2006

Hi all,

I had hoped to update this blog a bit more frequently but.........
We have had a very busy month and there is lot of new things to let you all know.

I have a feeling the Steelers will repeat as world champions... Woohoo!!! Very glad football is back. On that note Fall baseball will be starting up in the East Lake Little League. Kyle is very excited as he is moving up to coach pitch & I am glad that I will once again be able to throw some "lefty" BP to help the team prepare. I will not be managing the team this fall as I am unsure of my weeknight work schedule, but will help coach & plan to return to manage in the spring.

The boys have been back in school since the beginning of August so we are getting settled into the regular routine. Kyle is in 1st grade & has been doing real well.
He seems to have quite the following, we are also signing up for the soccer season & Grandad is excited to see that. Grandad (& Grandma) love their soccer & After some brief work in the yard last fall with Grandad, Kyle's 1st soccer season turned around & now he loves it. Sean is in the 5 day a week pre-K 4 program & he is doing great... He wishes he had school on Saturday & Sunday (Much like his mom & dad used to???). He really enjoys getting to see all his buddies. Ryan is in 3 days a week & all we can say is God bless his teachers. He is a handful, we will leave it at that.

Katy continues to uncover new baby girl names, for our little girl in China. I think it is safe to say that there is typically 5 or 6 names a week that we have to "discuss". As all of you know she likes to stay busy, she is having fun helping out in the boys schools & working out at the YMCA. Sean & Ryan also join her there at the Kids Gym or in the Rookie sports programs they offer.

As far as our little girl... Unfortunately there is really nothing new to report.
We continue to track the "anticipated" wait to match, but it still seems like we are very far away. Our best guess at this point is that we will be traveling to finalize everything about 12-14mths from now (Fall 2007). Here is a link to our adoption agency if you want to take a look see: http://www.chinesechildren.org/
Still we are very excited & working on getting everything in order... time always goes a lot faster than you expect.

We all hope you are doing well... The Cunningham Clan

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Cunningham Clan 2006

Summer 2006

Realizing that it has been over 3 years since we have been up north with the boys, I thought this would be a nice way to stay in touch with everyone. I am just starting to figure this whole blogger thing out, but I hope that I will update everyone at least monthly going forward.

All is going well down here and we are enjoying the slow pace of our fifth Florida Summer. It is hard to believe that we have been down here so long, but we no longer feel like we are on vacation. Katy, the boys & I really enjoy living down here & all the outdoor play that comes with it. We have a lot going on but I will try keep this condensed. We have settled into our new house & our main focus is keeping busy as we wait for our adoption paperwork to be processed in China. We have done everything we need to do at this point until we hear from the Chinese government, are given word of our approval & referred a baby girl. We are expecting for this to happen in the summer or fall of next year :( - And we thought 9 mths was a long wait.

In the meantime we have already enjoyed our big summer trip. Katy's sister Mary was married on May 28th up in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Her husband Ron & her rented out a campsite just a little north of Asheville. We spent a lot of time with the entire Ryan family, and enjoyed our river front cabin, some horseback riding, some lake swimming, and of course Mary & Ron's wedding. We stopped in a bunch of southeastern cities on the way up & down making it a long rode trip. All I can say about long road trips & kids is Thank God for DVD players !!! On the way up we stopped in Atlanta & visited the Georgia Aquarium & met up with my little brother Jose & his family. It has been a few years since we have seen each other & it was really nice to catch up. He is all grown up now & doing great... I am very proud of what he has done with himself.

The boys are doing great, Kyle is now 6, Sean 41/2, & Ryan 3... We are outside every day & they are really getting big quick. Kyle will be starting 1st grade in a few weeks, Sean will be in pre-k 5 days a week, & Ryan will be in pre-k 3 days a week. With all her free time??? Katy is going to volunteer at the pre school. We really feel lucky to have found this preschool & like all the teachers and families a lot. She feels it would be nice to be around the little guys. We are prob not going to make it up north this summer, but continue to think about all of you. We hope everyone is doing well & we hope we can figure out a trip up north soon.