New Design

**Update - Ok, I added a little bit of a girly color to it. :) And OH, this is not good-- if you know me, you know that the fact that I am learning how to change/modify/create new blogger templates is going to be an "addiction". I may be changing this every month, then every week, every day.... my poor children won't be getting fed or bathed, my husband won't get dinner, the house will be a mess, I'm sure that I will end up stinking,..... this may not be good! :)

**Another update - took out the first post because it didn't make sense now. :) I have decided to kind of create my own blog style rather than use the other one. Kept the same "set up" just created a new picture/title and new colors. Its no longer fallish looking, but definitely girly for my girls! I told you this was going to be addicting! :)

Newest member of the family

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the family -- the fish with no name. I tried to ask Isabella what she wanted to name him and she said "I tell you in a minute, I cleaning right now" :) We actually got Isabella a small fish tank and 2 fish for Christmas and they actually made it - until last night. This morning when I woke up, one of the fish had... gone to play with Nemo (as we told Isabella). So after lunch with Daddy today we went by Pet Smart and got a "new friend" for her other fish. If you can't see him, he's the tiny little yellow speck in the bag (actually only his tail is yellow)

And this was Isabella's idea of a fishy face. :)

Apple Picking

Ok, even though I had to seperate this into two posts - here are our pictures from this weekend's apple picking. Hope you can see them ok or at least click on them to make them bigger if not. I'm not sure why blogger isn't let me upload them easily. A couple of these pictures look a little dark, but I am not going to change that right now or I'll never get this posted. Anyway, we had a great time apple picking. Isabella was all excited about picking "apples off of trees" and I don't know how many apples she took bites out of. She was so cute when we got there, gave her the basket and she was ready to go -- of course she at first started wanting to put the apples that were in the ground in her basket, but then Papa and Daddy helped her pick some from the trees. I, of course just wanted to get lots of pictures -- but trying to get pictures of both of my girls looking at the same time and possibly even smiling, was impossible! I liked the one of them looking at each other though I think they were sympathizing with each other that they have a crazy camera hound mama! You can't see it in these pictures since they are so small, but Amelia's shirt has a little apple on it and it says "Pick me, I'm sweet" - so mom and I thought it would be fun to take a picture of her sitting in the tree with the apples. Amelia seemed to enjoy being outside as well and Papa even gave her a little lick of an apple. Then when we were all done apple picking, we took a little ride around the farm being pulled by a tractor and Isabella got to see all kinds of farm animals, and she was especially excited about the turkey who "gobbled" at us as we passed by. All together it was a fun time and we were thankful that it didn't rain so that we actually had beautiful weather. Next stop this fall --- Pumpkin Patch! (More pictures in the post below)

First set of pictures - I'll have to post them in 2 groups even though I am posting them small.

How Tall?

This weekend we took the girls apple picking with my parents. I HOPE to be posting more pictures later -- for some reason I can't get more than one picture to post at a time and even that takes a long time, so I'll post the pictures later. BUT I wanted to post this one because today, Amelia had her 6 month doctor appointment and she was 15 pounds and 27 inches. (Daddy guessed right on for both of these!) The dr said she was around the 40th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height -- that means she is taller than 90% of baby girls her age!!! Then I was looking at this picture we took of Isabella (my poor girl who is in maybe the 10-20th percentile for her height). I put a line above her head to show how tall she is - 34-35 inches (haven't actually measured her lately) and then I put the big arrow to where Amelia's height is. I sent this to Kenny and he said "WHAT? She's only a head shorter than Isabella!" So look at that picture and imagine my little 6 month old darling standing next to her sister. I think we will end up having the reverse around here, big sister getting hand-me-downs from her little sister. Actually, it was kind of funny today because the dr was looking at things and said "Well, she's gotten even higher on the charts for her height" I laughed and he chuckled and said "Yeah, where'd that come from?" Then remembering that both of my girls are adopted he said "Oh, that's right, ..." :) So right now, Amelia is long and lean --- oh what I wouldn't give to be described that way!! And just for the record isn't my little apple picker just the cutest in this picture with her little apple vest, apple boots, apple shirt, apple hair barettes (Ok, I go a little overboard for apple picking - but Noni bought her the sweater so I'm not alone!)

Thankless job?

Today, Isabella and I were watching Mr. Rogers and he showed a little video about people who take care of you - Mommy, Daddy, Teachers, Big brother, etc. And I asked Isabella "Who takes care of you?" Expecting a sweet "you do mommy", instead she said "Daddy!" ME: "Well, what about..." HER: "Daddy does!" (Very adamantly) So I called my husband and told him that although I'm the one who feeds her, bathes her, brushes her teeth, gets her dressed, does her hair, wipes her hiney, etc, etc, all day - 24/7 somehow he's getting all the credit for everything. :) He of course thought this was a great deal for him! Of course, she's too cute for me to actually have my feelings hurt - a little rotten, but cute!

Today is my precious Amelia's 1/2 birthday!!! Yes folks, she is actually 6 months old! I'm not sure how these months have flown by so fast and I'm afraid that the next 6 are going to go just as fast. Isn't she posing so cute in this picture. And for her next big step - this weekend we will be starting her on cereal -- I'm assuming we'll have some pictures to post after that!

Happy 1/2 Birthday My Precious Baby!

Love Thursday

Daddy's Little Girl

She's at his knee
begging to go along
Washing the car together
and singing a silly song.
Riding on his shoulders.
Laughing on his knees.
A pair where love is mutual
And very plain to see.
So like him in a thousand ways,
from her toes to her curls
Cry your eyes out mama
She's her daddy's little girl.

This is Isabella and Briana just a few weeks before Briana (along with her family :) left to move to Ireland. I decided to post this picture because I had to tell you a cute little story about Isabella. I wrote this in an e-mail to Cindy (Briana's mommy) but I had to share it with you all as well. Two weeks ago we ran into Briana's grandma and grandpa at Panera. Well, this sparked an obsession with Isabella talking about Briana again. This is how our first conversation went:
Her: "I go see my friend, Nona"
Me: "No baby, I'm sorry we can't see Nona" (Yes I realize I should say Briana correctly back to her, but its just too cute!)
Her: "I go see Nona friend tomorrow"
Me: "No, we can't go see Nona, she lives far away now.... she had to get on a plane and move far away, but maybe one day we will go see her - Someday"
Her: "I go see Nona - Sunday!" - "Nona has baby like me!"
Me: "Yes, Briana has a baby sister like you, but we can't go see her"
After a little pause, Her (very sad): "Nona ... all gone?"
She made me want to cry with that. Then the next couple days she would be playing with her blocks and playing with Briana "Come on Nona", "Build castle Nona", "No, Nona don't touch that!" I told Kenny I wasn't sure how I was supposed to teach her to share with her imaginary friend! :)
Then today we went out to the store and as we were getting in the car Isabella pointed up and yelled "PLANE, I see plane!" I looked up and realized it was a helicopter so I proceeded to try to teach her that one "Its a helicopter"
Her: "Belicopter"
Me: "Hhh- elicopter"
Her: "Heli- copter"
Then all of a sudden she yelled "I go..... I go see NONA!" :) Poor thing thought she had solved the problem, now she could finally get on a helicopter and fly all the way to Ireland to see Briana!

Modesty

I was looking at Halloween costumes the other day and I was apalled at something I saw. Although, I think I know what the girls are going to wear to Boo in the Zoo - I thought I would look and see what was cute this year. Well, as I was looking, I saw that they had a French Maid costume - yeah, exactly what you are thinking, short little black dress, fishnet hose, etc. And this particular costume had 3 different sizes, 4-6 years, 8-10 years, and 12-14 years. I couldn't believe it --- would someone actually dress up their little girls in that? Then as I was looking online at Wal Mart, I came across another --- this one said it was only available in teen sizes, but this was the description that they added to it "This Handy Candy Teen Nurse costume will start the boy's hearts beating on Halloween. ...." Yeah, that's what teenage boys need - help starting their "hearts beating". And although I won't post a link or the picture of it - it is as bad as it sounds. Its frustrating to look around and realize how much the world, stores, etc. sexualize our girls. And why parents allow it (they must be buying the clothes) is beyond me. Both my girls are still very young - but even Isabella is coming close to the age where clothes may be harder to find that are cute, yeah a little trendy, but LITTLE girly. I've been amazed at the clothes I have seen in sizes as small as 3T. Then I had read other mothers were concerned about it here: (Click on the picture if you want to go there)

**Ok - I could finally get it to work on my sidebar - scan down and you will see the picture with the link. Never could get it to work on this post, go figure, blogger can be so irritating at times.

And I liked what they said:

Moms for Modesty Mission Statement
As a Mom for Modesty I believe in common-sense modesty for girls and young women.
I believe in refraining from sexualizing our girls and young women.
I believe that it is unwise and unfair to taunt boys and young men by permitting my daughter(s) to dress in an immodest manner.
I believe that true beauty comes from within and I strive to teach my daughter(s) this truth.
I will loyally shop at retailers that provide girls' and young womens clothing that is modest, affordable and stylish.

So, in conclusion-- to my dad and my husband, this is yet another reason that my mom and I should be justified in shopping at Gymboree. :) And if my daughters as they get older even think of asking to wear a costume like the one I've described above - This (link below) is going to be the one I buy them instead. :)
http://costumezone.com/item.asp?cID=208&scID=232&PID=8173.

Favorite Pastime

My Isabella is in love with Play Doh! It is actually one of the few things that will entertain her for a long period of time. Every day this past week she has asked to play with it. I know alot of mothers hate this stuff, but not me - I love it about as much as she does. I mean, who could not like play doh - its squishy, colorful, and you can squirt it out to look like spaghetti or make the funny little people have crazy pink hair! Really, what's more fun than that? In the larger picture, she is holding what mommy made for her. We decided to make each other something - she had made a " little tiny potty" for me (oh I wish I could have grabbed my camera quick enough for that one, but she squished it) and she wanted me to make her a.......

....flat circle. Yeah, no great creative project there. So I did, but then I told her I was going to make it extra special for her and I used these little stamps and put some imprints in the circle. Anyway, when I gave her to her, she gasped and said "Oh Thaaaannnnk Youuuuuu Mommy! I LUB IT!" She's so cute! I hope she's this easy to please at Christmas time. :)

Oh the Drama!

I had to post these pictures for the same reason that I had to take them - this is a big part of Amelia's personality. A part of her that cracks us up on almost a daily basis. Amelia is showing us what a girl she really is, so unbelievably emotional. On several occasions we have been out and someone will come over and say something to her, one poor college aged guy was just looking at her and smiled, and Amelia will scrunch up her face, open her mouth, tears start flowing and she does this funny little no sound coming out for 10 seconds kind of cry. I feel so bad for the people who are just being nice to her. She scares so easily even at home. That's what happened in these pictures. Daddy was watching the Michigan - Notre Dame game (Go Blue!) and Michigan did something good and Daddy let out a Whoop. Well, Amelia did her thing... scrunched her face, opened her mouth, tears started flowing and then finally - the squeal. Bless her heart she was so scared! Then when Daddy picked her up and finally calmed her down (the second picture) she was still doing the suck in fast little breaths (whatever you call that) to make sure he still realized she was upset. Oh how I wish you all could hear it because it is so pitiful, yet so cute. And it doesn't even have to be a loud noise or scream, you catch that girl off guard and you better be prepared for the waterworks. We laugh thinking what she is going to be like as she gets older! Kenny and I were talking about what she is going to be like when we are with his family. His family is so loud - and that is not said in a rude way, because he as well as the rest of his family know they are loud. I think it comes with having a big family - you have to fight to be heard. :) Anyway, she is our little emotional baby and I think she is already trying to claim her throne as the Drama Queen!

Love Thursday

I'm so late at posting this! Actually, I kind of lost track of my days this week. But, I love the idea of Love Thursday so I didn't want to miss it. This is a picture from Easter this year of Isabella with her cousins, Tyler, Garrett & Olivia (Amelia was only 1 month old so she didn't get in this picture) I hope as they get older, they will continue to be like this, walking together, learning from each other, and loving each other along the way! Isabella absolutely adores her cousins, so you might see some more of them in future Love Thursdays! :)

I'm just a little sad tonight. My girlies are growing up.... Tonight I decided to clean out/reorganize Amelia's clothes - getting ready for the change of the seasons. I really hadn't put any of her clothes up that she's outgrown. So I was putting up her little newborn sleepers and her cute little 0-3 months outfits (most of which I had used for Isabella) and it made me sad that she has grown out of those and for some reason I got this sad feeling like I've missed something. A few outfits, I would look at and say things like "She wore that to bed the first night in the hotel" or "I should have gotten a picture of her in that" (As if the 100s of pictures I have of my girls loading down my computer aren't enough, I should have one of them in every outfit :) Why is it that time goes by so quickly? I honestly can remember so vividly the night we held Isabella for the first time and that's been almost 2 years and 8 months ago. And now Amelia - less than a week away from being 6 months old -- how is that possible? I don't want to turn back time both of my girls are in cute stages right now. Isabella is acting so grown up and way too independent, and we love to hear the things she comes up with and watch her little inquistive mind thinking (and the fact that she's been totally potty trained for almost 2 months is a pretty good perk too!) And Amelia has the funniest little giggle and she has been so cute trying to explore things around her, and every time I get close to her, she puts both of her hands up to touch my face and it melts my heart every time. No, I don't want to turn back time, I just wish I could slow it down just a little. I'm so afraid that I'm going to blink and they will be in school, it just happens that fast. To make things worse tonight, it hit me, this may be the last time I'm putting these little clothes up. Yes, someday we hope to adopt again, but who knows if and when that will definitely be possible (well, obviously God knows, but you know what I mean.) And if so, I'm sure my husband will be hoping for a little boy so he's not totally outnumbered. :) Not that any of that matters, it was just an extra little boost to send me crying - that my babies are no longer tiny babies, and I can't squish either of them back into those sweet little newborn clothes! So if I've missed anything, if I "should have" taken a picture of either of them in one of those outfits - I've missed it. But in the midst of my "mommy sadness", I'm very grateful. I honestly have been blessed more than I could ever truly express, sometimes I think more than I even realize. My girls are growing up, but they are healthy, happy, sweet little girls. And I love them more every day!! And although, time will continue to go too fast, I am going to continue to enjoy them every day and continue to enjoy every little stage they go through!
And I'm sure that in another 6 months when I'm putting more clothes up, I'll be back so have some tissue ready for me!!

Are you ready for some Footballlll?!

Here's a salute to my favorite football player - my nephew Tyler. We were able to go see his first football game today, actually they played 2 games today and we missed the first, I guess it was actually his second.... Anyway, thought I would share a few pictures from today. He's #41 which was his dad's number in High School.

The picture to the left is of his friend Cole, #12. And don't let Tyler's height compared to some of his other team mates fool you, he can hold his own and is a pretty tough 10 year old. Here's a picture to prove it. Wish I would have gotten him as he was knocking this guy down, but you get the drift - and no, he really isn't standing over the guy gloating, he was headed for the guy to the left getting ready to knock him down as well. I'm seeing a bright future here, maybe his Uncle Kenny will convince him to look at playing for the Michigan Wolverines.....

Love Thursday

This is my favorite picture of Isabella and my dad and I just had to post it for Love Thursday!!
My dad doesn't play favorites with the grandkids, but as for Isabella - she shows her favoritism without making any apologies for it. We've all had to forget about having our feelings hurt because when Papa is around the rest of us pretty much don't exist. I'm thinking this love probably started at this picture. She was only 3 weeks old and we had only been home from California for 5 days, but somehow she already knew... I can almost see it in her eyes like she is either saying sweetly "I like this guy we're going to have lots of fun" or as she would probably think now " I am SO gonna have him wrapped around my finger!" Take your pick, both are true. Isabella loves her Papa and of course he loves her right back.

"Not just grandpa, but a special friend, unconditionally loving from beginning to end. "

It's Official!!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above"

Yesterday morning, I got up having plenty of time to get out of the house early because our hearing was at 10:15. I got ready, got the girls up and fed, then dressed the girls in their adorable little outfits that daddy had spoiled them with. Got everything ready with time to spare, then picked up Amelia, she had spit up on her blanket and her arm, had a very nasty diaper as well, then I had to search all over the house to find her little hat because Isabella had taken it...... and got out of there later than I had planned - how does this always happen?! :) Thankfully, the rest of the day was much better!! We drove out to daddy's work because to do the adoption hearing telephonically we had to have a notary present and one of the secretary's is a notary. As soon as I got there, we called the court, were sworn in by the judge and Christina (the notary) and actually had a sweet adoption finalization. No, we didn't have the great videotape of us in the courthouse, no pictures with the judge afterwards, but still I got choked up. The whole finalization lasted maybe 15 minutes and we were done. I took the pictures below of Amelia next to the phone with a little headset on -- we wanted to think of a cute way to remember this "phone" finalization! Then I tried to take some pictures of the girls outside and this was the only one where they both were looking, of course daddy was doing something funny to make them laugh and I guess the sun was a little bright in their eyes. We'll have to have another little photo shoot with these cute outfits on!



Later that afternoon, Kenny got off of work and we headed over to Build a Bear. Isabella picked out a cute little dog to make and then we had her help make the bear for Amelia. Our main reason for doing this was because at Isabella's adoption finalization the court gave her a little teddy bear, so we thought we would get one for Amelia to remember this day as well. I have to give a shout out to the guy (I never looked at what his name was) that helped us. He was very nice in talking to Isabella and then when we made Amelia's he asked how old she was (he might have been thinking we were a little crazy to be spending money to make one for a baby) and I mentioned to him that this was also her adoption finalization day so we were here to celebrate. Then he said "Well, in that case, why don't all of you get a little heart to put in the bear" So we each got one, he had Isabella hold it over her heart and close her eyes to make a wish. (I was waiting to hear Isabella start praying instead) Then we kissed the hearts and put them all in the bear. We then of course gave the animals a "bath" and took a couple cute pictures. Then the guy again came over and asked if since this was a special day, did we want him to take a picture of us with their polaroid camera - I guess they have their own "film" because the picture says Build a Bear on the bottom of it. I think they do this for birthday parties. We didn't pick out any clothes (we figure we will hold off on this one until Isabella figures it out for herself) but they did give them a little box full of bows for the animals' ears. It really was a very special time - and it may seem silly, but just the little extra special attention we got made it even better.

After that, we went out to eat with my parents at Bonefish Grill. We had never been there before, but YUM! It was so good! We had thought we were going to try to get family and friends together to celebrate, but with it being on a weeknight, kids having school the next day, etc. - it was just us and my parents. Which is actually, what it was like for Isabella's as well, but we were in California. All together we had a great day full of lots of memories and best of all Amelia is officially ours!!

Tuesday's Treasure

I just thought I would throw in a quick and rather last minute Tuesday's Treasure. Tomorrow I will be posting actual pictures and tell a little more about today, but I didn't want to let the day go by without saying that today our little Amelia officially became ours!! Even though it was just over the phone, it was still a sweet moment knowing that everything is official. The judge and the lady (I'm not sure if it was our attorney, the clerk, ??) that we talked to were both so sweet and I know that our attorney with Isabella told us that this is the one part of their job they truly enjoy. To see families adopting children is encouraging especially when a lot of sadness occurs in family court. The reason I'm not posting pictures from today is because we are getting ready to head to Build a Bear to have the girls both make bears in honor of today (well Isabella will actually get to help with her baby sister's). Isabella's excited about this - although we keep telling her she is not allowed to make another Cookie Monster. :) Then we are going out to eat with my family.

Its also really amazing to look at this finalization as a picture of our adoption in Christ. Today the court declared that Amelia is legally in every way OURS and that she has a "new name" - ours. Just as we are made new in Christ. Its a humbling thought to think and I can't even put in to words how grateful I am for what God has done for us and how He has shown Himself through the adoptions of both of our girls.

Visit Faith for more Tuesday's Treasures

Since I know I have a huge following in the blog world.... just thought I would tell you all that I will be gone until Monday (not that I normally blog every day, or even on the weekends.) Actually, I'm just telling you this because Woo-Hoo am I excited about getting away for a couple days. Since yesterday was our anniversary we decided to take a couple days and go somewhere by ourselves. Yes, 10 years does seem to warrant some big trip like Jamaica or Alaska, but we've decided on Chattanooga instead. :) Might not sound like the most romantic trip, but we don't care, we're excited. We had actually thought about going to the beach and now I'm glad we didn't with Ernesto passing through. I'm slightly nervous about leaving my girls - they will be with my parents, so I'm not worried, just nervous about the fact that I've never left them before. Kenny said it must be a "mommy thing" because he's not worried at all (Yeah right, tough guy, you'll be the one trying to find presents to bring home to them!) Anyway, if you start humming the tune to Chattanooga Choo Choo - think of me!!