Well, HI there! I'm new here too.

So, some of you have found me via http://www.taylorkid.com/, our adoption website, and some of you are wondering who the hell I am and why you are even here. Not sure I can answer the last part for you, but I can try to answer the first.

I am April. A chronically sleep deprived mother of 3 adorable monkey dumplings who wake up too early, never stop talking and really make me laugh. I am also the wife to one very sweet and handsome man who is deeply funny and has the added bonus of being handy. Our house is consequently in a permanent state of renovations, but since I am not a planning on entering it in Architectual Digest any time soon, it's all good. Plus, ya know, free labor and a cute guy with a tool belt. How can you go wrong?

Some things I love (in no particular order):

coffee, books, travel, knitting, sewing, cooking, baking, skiing, horses, The Obama family, hiking, Nina Simone, clean teeth, my family, clean sheets, my friends, my husbands family, swimming naked, Thanksgiving, outdoor concerts, Paris, people with funny accents, the Huffington Post, Vermont, weddings, cheese, births, birds, the ocean, snorkeling, the word "snorkeling", my town, David Sedaris, new sock wool, Christmas, the Caribbean.

Some things I hate (again, in no particular order):

cleaning, getting bumped from flights, electric stove-tops, Caillou, migraines, bigots (does it make me a bigot to hate bigots?), the politics of the far right, dropped stitches, not knowing where my car keys are, burned coffee, capers, laundry, flat tires, pimples.

My older two kids were born in the same town in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the baby is from Kyrgyzstan, 6 hours from where the other 2 were born. Yes I saw Borat. Yes I think it's hilarious but I couldn't get through the whole thing because I get really embarrassed for people and have to turn away. I couldn't even get through the Palin/Couric interview because I felt bad for Sarah Palin, and she is not someone I would normally EVER feel bad for. I am a screaming liberal, just so you know. Just in case you care.

Anyhoodle, I am in to adoption, but am an advocate for adoption reform and will post some stuff about that another day. It's a whole topic unto itself. Hell, it's a whole blog unto itself and there are blogs dedicated to the topic. I would love another baby, but it ain't gonna happen. We don't have the money or stamina for a 4th. Although that could all change. For now, we have tied the adoption tubes.

Kai, the eldest, came home in '04 at 8 1/2 months. He is sweet and smart and funny and ridiculously athletic and deeply sensitive. He is really into guns. I have given up that fight. I don't actually think he is going to shoot anyone, mostly because he hates hurting anything so much he gets hysterical when he does. He is a great big love-bug. He's 4.

This is Grace. She is amazing. She is loving and head-strong, and opinionated and sweet, and beautiful and graceful and gets really embarrassed if she thinks she has done something wrong. She has been saying "I HATE you" to me when she is mad since she was 2 years old. The teenage years are going to be long, very long with this one. However, she is also the one who tries to make everyone feel better when they are sad. We have nicknamed her "Kofi Annan" for her superior mediation skills amongst her peers. She will be ruler of the world someday. Just do what she tells you to and you'll be fine. She'll be 4 on Friday.

And this is Noah. Born at 6 weeks early at 3 1/4 lbs, he now weighs 19 lbs at 8 months old. He is super mellow and loving and has the sweetest smile. We call him "HH" for "His Holiness" because he looks like the Dalai Lama. I would not be surprised if he is the next incarnation. Basically I am expecting a bunch of Tibetan monks to show up any day now and ask to take him to a monestary. They'll have to wait. I haven't had my fill of snuggles yet. His siblings worship him and he is well situated to be the proverbial spoiled youngest child who can do no wrong. He is the third, so things are pretty laid-back in terms of his care. We feed him and give him naps, don't get me wrong, but we are not slaves to the schedule like we used to be. Thankfully, he just goes with the flow. He is AWESOME!

So, this blog will be mostly about our life, parenting, travel, crafts, adoption, basically whatever I feel like writing about on any given day. I will attempt to load all of www.taylorkid.com onto this blog and archive it, but that could take me a while. In the meantime, if you are curious about our actual adoption process, you can still head over there and check it out.

Welcome! I will start adding new posts later today.