Merry Christmas

I TRIED...

to get a pretty picture of her in the Christmas dress that Grammy bought in front of our tree. Apparently she sensed how much I wanted that picture so the more I stressed my desires, the more ornery she became. SURPRISE!!!

Breakfast with Santa

Last weekend we went to have Breakfast with Santa. Elizabeth continues to surprise me with her love for the big guy in red. As skittish as she can be, I never thought she would be so into him. Santa just happened to be a friend of mine so he immediately called her by name which took her back a bit. During breakfast she must of tried to climb up on his lap a half dozen times. It would have been more if we had not stopped her. It was a wonderful way to spend some holiday family time!

The Wonder of the Holidays

Girls Night Out

Elizabeth and I had a wonderful girls night out. Our friends Leslie and Fin invited us to Polar Express at the Botanical Gardens. After what was an ugly start (aka screaming and carrying on in the car when I picked her up from school), it was a wonderful night. She was in a delightful mood, in fact great enough to do a little shopping after we parted at Chick-fil-a. That is an experience we don't have too often. Since my day didn't go as planned, I never got to go home to get my camera (Good thing it wasn't cold because our blankets, hats and gloves were also at home). You can head over to Leslie's blog (click on the the word blog for the link)to get a recap. Keep in mind when she says the girls listened to the story of Polar Express, that did not in anyway include Elizabeth. We made 2 trips to the bathroom and then had to be contained on my lap. She was just way toooooo excited about the train ride to sit still for a book! Thank you Leslie and Fin for a wonderful night. We had a great time!

You Know You Are Skinny When...

you are 4 years old and you still can't hold up a pair of 18 month jeans!

Having too much fun to worry about her future life as a plumber!

Parent Teacher Conference

Yesterday we had our first official conference even though we chat with the school all of the time. For a little background, Elizabeth is in a class with kids 12-18 months younger. We did that last year because she was delayed in everything from feeding to gross and fine motor skills to social skills to talking ... EVERYTHING. Last year after being in a class for a few months, they wanted to move her up and I refused. She has such attachment issues, I and her Ped thought she needed to be in the same place for as long as possible. Fast forward to summer when it was time to move up. I made them transition her slowly. The school tells me they understand her special needs in this area but I am not sure they really get it. Fast forward to yesterday, the teacher tells me she is doing everything she should be doing. They only thing in the "not yet" column is puzzles. Can you live life without a desire to do a puzzle. We have tried and she just doesn't seem to get it. Then they tell me she is mannerly (ok, are we sure we are talking about Elizabeth?)and then they tell me she is reserved(ok, you have the wrong file, my kid is not reserved!). The teacher tells me that, in fact, she heard Elizabeth laugh for the first time the day before. She just walked away for fear that if she looked at Elizabeth she would stop laughing. Now for the best part~ Since she is comfortable, she should be moved up! Can you imagine how much I wanted to pull my hair out. Do they not hear themselves? Now that she is comfortable, is that not reason to stay so that she can really flourish? In the end, I have agreed that after the holidays she can move up. Not for their reasons but I do need to have her on track to be in an age appropriate class by the time we get to Kindergarten. If she moves up now, then in the summer she can transition to the next class, the winter transition to the pre K class and then hopefully be ready to start Kindergarten in the fall.
That night after school, this was my reserved child!

First Family Pictures

Over Fourth of July weekend, my parents and my sister came to visit. We were supposed to get our family picture done that weekend but my dad got sick so we postponed. We had the opportunity to do it later when we went to their house for a visit. I am so thankful that everyone took the time and energy to make it happen. These pictures could be a once in a lifetime ( I hope not) opporunity to capture our family together and smiling!

This is our first professional family picture. Can you see the attitude!

The Three Cousins ~ Dominique, Gabe and Elizabeth

My very favorite picture of all ~ Grammy, Poppy and their three grandbabies!

Me, my sister, our parents, and our children.

Our family with Grammy and Poppy.

These pictures were done at good old-fashioned Sears, nothing fancy but I am so happy they turned out good and I am grateful to have captured our family in pictures. They are priceless to me.

Thank You

To my husband, my father, my uncles, my friends who have served this country by wearing it's uniform,thank you. To my friends who continue to serve, thank you.
We will say a special little prayer tonight for all those who have lost their lives in defending the freedoms that we all have become so accustomed to. May God Bless the USA and those who serve her with bravery and valor.

What Could Have Been

Had Elizabeth not come home with us, she was set to be enrolled in the new school that Love without Boundries was establishing at her orphange. I was actually able to talk with the folks at LWB and they confirmed at Huai Dong Song was on their list. Since Huainan is a very poor orphange, this is probably one of the best things to happen for the children. They sent me this video of the children screaming, I mean singing.

This is the littel girl that we sponsor at the school. Her name is Chloe. I am not sure if the plan for her is to find a forever family but we are so happy to be able to help her get a good start in life. We would have wanted that for Elizabeth!

Toddler Style Entertainment

Concerts used to mean spending the night sleeping in a line to get the best tickets, an arena filled with people who most likely won't remember much in the morning, the wafting smokey smell of questionable origin, lighters lit in Free Bird style, and music so loud your ears rang until the next day. Now that I am a happy mamma to a toddler, concerts involve popcorn, ice pops, light sticks and lots of blue, purple, yellow and red! Last night we took Elizabeth to see the wiggles. In her style it took her over half the show to relax and to start enjoying it. By the end she didn't want to go home! The best part was watching her dear daddy smiling has he sang along to the songs we hear everrrrrrrrry day! I think he liked it the most!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that my little girl is healthy! Yesterday we took her to the doctor for her 4 year old well visit. She weighs in at 31 pounds which is 10 pounds more than at her 3 year old check which was just about a month after we got home. She is now at 37 inches tall. She is still small for her age but she is moving along the growth chart in a nice arc so that is the most important thing. The poor thing had to have 5 shots! I am not sure the ice pop they gave her will make her more cooperative next time but she was a trooper! This morning she woke up and said her leg hurt. I bet it did! She said "NO NO Mitchell". She knew who inflicted that pain!

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog! We hope to make this blog a recording of our family life.
Since it has been over a month since we posted any pictures on our previous blog, I thought that I would start this blog off with some pictures of my beauty!

Yeah, Joe Biden!! If we must take Obama along then so be it!!

Wild woman!!! After getting her face painted with tatoos, she insited on them every morning! The best I could do was magic markers!

Elizabeth had a great time at a nearby church community day. Phoebe showed her a great time! (as did her sister Grace)

Aunt Katie brought Elizabeth back a beautiful new outfit from her trip to China. She looked so pretty in it!

I LOVE that smile!!!

At the park with our friend "Baby" Anna
So excited for the world to be filled with Pooping Patches (AKA pumpkin patches)!

Grace and Elizabeth at the Fall Festival.

14 months home and she finally found the tupperware cabinet. YUG!

An afternoon with Mommy at Buckroe!

Enjoying the pumpkin patch at our church

Carving Pumpkins with Uncle Max

A Good Time Gone Bad!