Next Sunday,Sunday,Sunday!

We are in final countdown mode around here, we have a plan, all there is left to do is execute it! I spent time on Thursday and made the favors. They are chocolate crosses. I made little chocolates for the Grandma's and God Mommy's for Mother's Day. It was a pain, don't get me wrong I loved making them for these wonderful ladies and I am glad that I did, but the prospect of marking 50 crosses, really didn't sound like fun. Well, that was all before I figured out a little trick, my crock pot! I read something about melting chocolate in there. Guess what? It WORKED! I was amazed. It wasn't messy, the crock pot kept the chocolate nice and melted, and I was able to get all 50 favors made in ONE day! WAHOO!

Today, was a fun day... Rdette's (I think that has become her nickname!)Fairy God Mommy and I took Rdette shopping for her dress! One of the very first dresses we pulled out we exactly Lily's! I LOVED Lily's dress, so of course at first glance we both thought this is it! Oops! We went on and traveled around the Mall and we ended up in a JCPenny's. We found a dress that is as prefect for Charlotte as we could find! It is beautiful! She is going to be beyond words precious, not that she isn't everyday, but I think that she is really going to shine!

Also, I wanted to thank Aunt Tracy for allowing me to talk to my heart's content today. I don't get a lot of adult interaction. I told her today that I feel so bad b/c whenever someone calls to check in on us, I just talk, and talk, and talk! I talk to my Mom everyday, but it was nice to have face time with someone. Poor Chris he trys, but he is at work 10 hours a day and the last thing I know he wants to do some day's is talk! It was just nice to talk about adult things! I didn't have to sing to keep her happy, she didn't fall to the ground kicking and screaming b/c I said no to a dress, she didn't spit up on me and the best part of all she could take her self to the bathroom!! LOL I had a GREAT TIME!

While we were out I was able to score some deals one of which being a new bathing suit that fits Rdette's chubblius self much better then her other one! She looks so cute in it! I am also always on the look out for new cheap Princess dresses for Lily. We found the sweetest dress. The problem is that now I like the new play dress better then the one I had already had picked out! It is going to be a game day decision! :-)

As for tomorrow, I am going to be making a trial run on the cake that I want to make for the party. I think that it is going to be nice... but just in case I already have a back up plan in place!

Ohhh one last thing.. I had made mention of us doing a refi on the house in order to avoid an interest rate jump. Chris signed the papers last night! WAHOOO! He really took the bull by the horns and got this done. :-)

Chat's with Lily

This is a new thing I am going to start. Lily has been 'talking' for a long time now. More recently though she has begun to hold conversations with us. It is so sweet to hear what she comes up with. So starting tonight I am going to start Chat's with Lily! Here is the first installment...

Setting in the car coming back from the store...

Chris: Lily what is your sisters name?
Lily: Rodette (she has started saying it with a New York accent!)
C: What is Mommy's name?
L: Mommy!
C: What is Daddy's name?
L: Prince!
C: Oh Daddy is a Prince?
L: Des Daddy Prince! (big smiles!)

I love it!

FFF

This week's theme is Pajama party!

Mommy's heart

During our last stop today, an older woman came over and was making all over Charlotte. Lily smiled up at her with her big brown eyes and said "hi". The lady had responded back and asked her how she was and Lily said "Mommy's heart." I glowed.

We have been talking more and more with Lily about Guatemala. It will never be a secret, we want her to embrace her adoption. I told her a while back that I was a lucky Mommy because I had two special girls. Charlotte who grew in my tummy and Lily who grew in my heart.She looked a little confused, and I let it go and continued to cuddle. This was a while ago and Chris nor I came remember saying more about it. We just talk about Guatemala, and just things in general, ie riding the airplanes home, living with her foster mom, and about her birthmom. We are taking baby steps. We want her to understand that this is a part of who she and don't want her to feel branded "the adopted child"KWIM?

The other day I had asked her where she was born, fully expecting her to say utema (Guatemala), she looked at her chest and said heart. I didn't get it at first and then she said "Mommy's heart". I didn't know what to say at first, I just gave her a big hug and told her that was right.

Could she be any sweeter?!?!?

Travelers

With the gas prices being what they are and our budget being what it is, the girls and I tend to stick close to home during the week. This week though we have been on an adventure everyday! Chris each night loaded the van with things, the first night was for the Salvation Army, and last night it was things for the dump.

This morning when we got up I was telling them what was in store for the day, I know they don't understand, it just helps formulate my day. So today when I was going over the adventure we were going to take, I told Lily we had to go to the dump. She didn't understand at all what I was talking about. So I told her that we were going to see a 'BIG TRASH CAN!' She got that and was really excited! Then as I was trying to get Gus back in the house Lily was in tears because she thought I meant the big trash can on the back patio. :-)

I got everybody dressed and off we went, thankfully it wasn't busy. I back in tell them I will be right in the back. Lily is looking very nervous. When it is something new (esp a place or thing that is loud) we always make sure we go over it thoroughly with her. I just told her to look at all the big buses (trucks)and I went to the back of the van and started throwing everything. I had forgotten how therapeutic that sound REALLY is! I finished up got back in and start to leave. I started telling Lily to say good-bye to the big trash can. She starts crying! She wanted to get out and really see it... yeah not gonna happen.

So I distract her by asking her to look for school buses, this works. I drive over the BJ's to get Charlotte formula. I am so glad that they have finally started selling her type there. She's a little sensitive (just like her Momma ;-) so she is on Simalac Sensitive. Now we can the Jumbo size and get a little more then a wek out of it.

The neatest thing at BJ's is the cart! I <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">seater on the front basket. I love that the girls can sit next to each other and they are right in front of me. Lily also thought it was pretty cool to sit next to her Rdette! As we were strolling along Lily lifted her hand over Charlotte to put her arm around her, and she starts cuddling her. Now, I say she was cuddling b/c Charlotte had her entire self just about turned around. I told Chris if I didn't know better it looked like she was saying.."fine, ok, you cuddle..I am gonna score a free sample!"

After that we hit one more store.. took out a small loan to put gas in the van and headed home.

Tomorrow we were going to take Gus to the Rabies clinic, but we cannot locate his collar (he and Willie/Bean used to take turns throwing each other around the yard by the collar, so we have just removed them), instead we are going to hit up the food store and stock up for the week.

Thankfully we have only had positive food shopping experiences after the great milk outing! LOL

Picture time!

Now this is love!!

Dance Daddy Dance!!

So pretty :-)

Charlotte soaking up the non-rays!

Lily with our Gus!

Playing in the Dora tent

The bathing suit she is wearing is 12 months, and she WILL NOT be able to wear it again!

Here are just a few pics from yesterday, we had so much fun! The girls were wearing their cranky pants ALL day b/c they were still tired from yesterday.

Weekend Review

There are so many tag lines I could have used for the title of this. We had a fun weekend!

The first title: Reunited and it feels so good...

That is what should have been playing when Juice and Lily saw each other on Saturday! They were both a little shy at first, but once they got past that it was ON! Lily took Juice on a tour of her new room, and then we went outside to play, and play, and play!! They swung on the swings, slide down the slide, found interesting things in the yard, you name it. Charlotte missed a lot of the outdoor festivities b/c it was her nap time. They played all the way up to bedtime when they both PASSED out!

Juice slept with me in our bed, she is more comfortable there. Me on the other hand... it is not like she is a bed hog or anything, it is b/c I have to sleep completely different then normal. Chris and I sleep holding hands. It is just something that we do. Whenever we sleep apart, I have to hold my own hand to fall asleep. Silly I know but it just makes a little harder to get myself comfortable.

On Sunday, Charlotte and I snuck off to the early service at Church. I was only brave to do this b/c the service doesn't have music, which speeds it up a little. Plus, it was nice to have some quiet time with her. She was such a good baby, although while Rev. Cindy was reading the passage from the Gospel, Charlotte let out a very loud, YIP YA and Rev. Cindy lost her place and everyone giggled. I turned scarlet and prayed that she would just keep making happy noises!

I met with Rev. Cindy after the service to finish all the final prep for the big day! I can't believe it is only two weeks away! I told Rev. Cindy that I am enjoying this Baptism experience so much more w/out the influence of pregnancy hormones! At this point last year I cried if the wind blew wrong.

We made it home and Juice was already gone on another adventure with her Mommy :-( Chris and I got to work unpacking all the hand-me-downs that Juice had given Lily and Charlotte. It was like Christmas all over again! Before long it was nap time. We had been letting Charlotte fuss a little. She has been doing the whole scream bloody murder then the minute you pick her up she passes out, only for you to try to lay her back down and the cycle repeats itself. So we have been letting her fuss for a while then we go back in pat her for a few minutes in the crib and then leave again. We had also been napping her in our bed. We made a barrier for her, and she was doing much better in there for nap b/c it is a darker room.

This is where I lose the Mother of the Year Award for this year.... She had been fussing for a little bit, and I was on the phone. Chris was handling it. He stuck his head around the corner to tell me that he was going to put Lily down for her nap and to keep an ear out for Charlotte. No prob, I do this every single day. I could hear her, and she was just making little noises in protest to her having to nap, not crying/screaming. I let a few minutes go by, and go into check her. I go into the room and I hear her but I couldn't see her. I start throwing pillows and I see her legs and feet, she had pushed through the barrier and gotten herself stuck under covers. Her whole upper body was under there. I ripped her out from under there and start screaming for Chris, I could only think that she needed air (there was never a point that she looked in Resp distress ie blue), I ran her out on the back porch and tore off her t-shirt too cool her off, and put her in front of the fan out there. She was ok, just shook up. Me on the other hand, lost my mind, and kept checking her over and over again. Chris stayed with me until Lily came out of her bedroom and started asking "rdette k?, Mommy k?" Chris redirected her back into the living room, nap time was over. We have made other arrangements to ensure that 1) she will never sleep on the bed again, and 2) she still gets a good nap. So hopefully we will never have to have those what if's run through our heads ever again. That was something that I never want to relive.

We went through the rest of the day with our guard up. Then it was dinner time, Lily has been VERY picky lately. She reminds me of that commercial with Mommy and the little girl. The Mom asks her if she likes waffles, and the little girls says 'I don't think I like waffles'. Lily doesn't like anything that is green, and everything has to either be a hot dog or in the shape of one. On Sunday for dinner we convinced Lily to eat Princess Hot Dogs that were even more special b/c they were in the shape of a Chicken nugget! LOL Chris had left the kitchen while she eating just to come back to waves of laughter, as I egged her on to eat the special "Hot Dogs" or I would and I would be the bestest princess! She loved it... and you know what she ate every bite. We have also recently dined on Princess Peas and Carrots. She will hand one out to Chris and I and then she will take one, she says "1,2,3...ready set go" and then she pops it in her mouth, like we are trying to give her a poison! LOL She will eat anything it just takes a lot of encouraging on our part!

Finally today... it was so nice. Chris has been busting his tail trying to undo all the damage in our backyard. It looks so much better. We are just about ready for the party. Lily and Charlotte love to be out there. We brought out the pack and play for Charlotte. She really liked it in there.
****SIDENOTE**** She is going to start crawling anyday, she has been up on all four's rocking!!!******
We were outside a long time today. We only came back in for lunch and nap. Chris made a great dinner on the grill and he and Lily played the hose. Which is a big deal.. Chris HATES cold water. So to let Lily squirt him and laugh about it was a big deal. Charlotte and I stayed our fair butts as far out of the sun as possible. Lily and Chris both turn this pretty honey brown. Charlotte and I get red just thinking about the sun. Even with SPF 50 Lil still had gotten browner today! I put SPF 50 on Char and STILL keep her under the umbrella just to make sure!

The climax of the weekend happened this evening. We had been seeing a groundhog around our yard, and in our neighbors.... well tonight we got an up close view. Gus (the most wiener of a dog you would ever meet) happily brought it up to Chris tonight and dropped it on our back steps. Chris had gone to go out into the yard, I could hear him trying to get the dogs in. He was more urgent then normal. Then he came back in the house and told me the Groundhog was on the steps, me not thinking that it had already gone to Groundhog heaven told him to get the dogs in. :-) The dogs have one toy that it is a moose, he had at first thought it was that. Until he really saw it.

Now... everyone remember my Attack of the Caterpillar story? So, it is well established that Chris is NOT outdoorsy in the least bit. Ok, he likes being outside, just not the beings that live out there. Now, everyone knows me.... he goes out to deal with removing it. He opens the door, and takes the first little step, and I deeply/sharply inhale, I thought he was going to propel himself into space!! That earned me a "God D&%^*$ it Megan!" ROFL

He handled the removal very well, and I was good the rest of the time :-)

So there you have it... a weekend in review. I will post pics tomorrow. We got some really great ones!

Lily the Explorer

Everyone who knows Lily knows that she should belong to a 12 step program to help with her Dora addiction. This Child LOVES her! Today it was her turn to play explorer in our backyard. Her outfit alone deserves a post! Chris said the only thing she was missing was a back pack!!

Chris and I were out there trying to finish the yard for Charlotte's party. Our dogs have had a lot of fun these past few years! Chris was busy with that and I was with the girls keeping everyone happy. Lily was just all over the place, discovering things. Let's see she found, flowers, a bee, birds, doggie ummm droppings (lots of that was pointed out LOL) and she found a log that she made into a train! She kept climbing on it and was shouting "Choo Choo!" I asked her where she was going and she told me "Elmo", that is where is always goes!! :-) It was so great to see her imagination at work. The flower she found was a "princess wand" and we sang (over and over) the Bippity-boppity-boo song from Gus Princess. That is what she calls Cinderella! I sing the whole thing and she waits for her big part and she sings boppy-boppy-boo!

She was just interested in everything. It was so nice to really get out there to play. When they were napping Chris went back outside to get a few more things done and came to get me when it was time to move the swing set. I ran out really quick to help with that. When we went back outside after nap she couldn't wait to try out the new location of the swings! The slide is now a little more on a hill and she flies now! The first time down took us all by surprise!

Charlotte, had a great time in her uni-saucer. We have bought a huge umbrella that we can tilt to keep her in the shade. OHH I am going to be posting new pictures of her we took today.. Chris and I both think she is going to have strawberry blond hair. It is looking more and more like that as is grows in! Speaking of today's pictures... I was taking them on our bed.. Char can finally get on her tummy and it loving it! I was getting some really good pics and Lily decided that Charlotte had quite enough of Mommy's attention. She scooted right in front of her saying "cheese Mommy." I think that I took a pic of that. If I did I will post it. It was our first real sign of rivalry!

Tomorrow.... Maggie and Juice are coming!!! Wahoo!

I don't know you can see it good here... but it is really becoming

strawberry blond! Pretty girl!!

FFF

OK..so I am rule breaker! This week's theme was "your favorite picture from the week." Yes there is such a movement for FFF that one kind person gives out each weeks theme. Me trying to pick just one picture just wasn't gonna happen! So out of 118 I took this week I was able to scale it down to these!!

This is why Lily has ice cream ONLY on bath night!

Happy girl!

Sweeties!

Never two girls ever more loved!
Sweet Charlotte....

There are no words

I must have gone through several titles for this blog... there are just no words that can really express this.

For those of you who don't know a man named Steven Curtis Chapman, he is a Christian singer, who along with his wife have 6 children. His three youngest children are little girls who were born in China. He is a champion for adoption. Yesterday, one of oldest children was backing out of their drive way and ran over his youngest daughter Maria, killing her. She was five.

One of my other mommy bloggers actually won tickets to see him in concert and was so moved by him and his family.

Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sweet Sisters

Lily and Charlotte are like two peas in a pod. They really do love each other. They each show it in their own way. Charlotte will get the biggest smile on her face, and gets all excited. The best way to describe Lily is that she just loves on her. Like today for example we were upstairs and I had them side by side on the floor doing a double duty diaper changes. Lily was done first. She got up found a thick book, lifted Charlotte's head and placed the book as a pillow!

That is just one of the sweet things she does. Lily loves to "Do it". I must hear "I do it" a million times a day. So when we are encouraging Charlotte to do something..(this was really funny when we were trying to help Charlotte roll) Lily says "I do it" and proceeds to show Charlotte how to do it. Tonight I was helping Charlotte stand while holding onto their little castle. Lily sees this and says "I do it" I told her that she could. She came over and held onto Charlotte's arms. Mommy kept her hands on Charlotte just under her bib. Lily BEAMED thinking that she was helping like this. So then I asked Lily if she wants to dance with Charlotte like a princess. You would have thought I gave her gold!!! So she and Charlotte "danced" more like a small sway for a while. Lily stopped looked at Charlotte and said "aww Princess Charlotte" gave her a kiss and then went off to play with her baby doll. Of course of all times we didn't have our camera! I am sure that there will be plenty more of these moments!

Lily likes to think that she is quite independent, and honestly I try to nurture that as much as possible. For instance, she loves to help put her lunch together so I have made her a Lily shelf in the fridge. She can have anything on that shelf with lunch, or as a snack. When it is time I go with her, she opens the door and picks out what she wants. Then I get it open, provide the correct utensil while she throws out the trash. Today, I was coming out from changing Charlotte and I asked Lily what she wanted for lunch, she got right up yelling "I do it" gets into the fridge and reappeared with a juice box and a yogurt before I got Charlotte into her uni-saucer!

The best thing was after nap, she always wants juice. So I asked her today and 99% of the time she wants OJ in a sippy cup. Today she wants a box juice ( I love that they makes these Lily sized! Thanks to Grandpa for turning us onto those!!) she trots of to the kitchen brings me back the juice

- as a side note we have taught her so well... :-) every time she gets one of these boxes she reminds herself to "sip and squeeze." Meaning... don't suck it down and do not squeeze it. LOL It is sweet to hear.

Back to the real story... After she brought in the juice box I asked her if she wanted a cookie. "I do it", she runs back into the kitchen.. and I hear grunt, thump, grunt, thump...thump,thump,thump. The grunt,thump was her jumping trying to get the cookies off the top of the fridge, the thump,thump,thump was her running back to me letting me know that she needed help! LOL

I was trying soooo hard not to laugh, she is tooo sweet!

In our world...

It is TGIT! Chris has a much deserved four day weekend this weekend! YEAH!! We aren't going anywhere (gas is just too much for that), and he has lots of yard work to finish for Charlotte's party, but... he doesn't have to go to work! WAHOO!! I am sure he will have time for play too!!

On top of that my big little sister and my niece are coming up this weekend! We are going to hang out for a while on Saturday and then Juice (Lily's nickname for Jewel) is going to have a sleep over with us! Lily is sooo excited to see her Juice. She keeps saying "awwww Juice, huggie!" They are so sweet with each other. Lily has already picked out the swing that Juice can use on the swing set! Jewel is really good with Lily and Charlotte. When Lily came home Jewel didn't really get it that she wasn't a tiny baby, and that Lily didn't want to be held that way. Now though she loves that Lily follows her around like a little baby duck! I love to see them together... the way Charlotte is going she isn't too far behind!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

A whole new level...

Today I reached a whole level in my Mommyhood, today as I was talking to Chris on his way home from work I found dried spit up in my ear! YUMMO!! You just never know where you are going to find these types of things LOL!!

Moving right along... We have been doing really well. The girls spent the night with Grandpa and Grandma on Saturday. I don't know who had more fun!! It was so sweet to see them together. The girls have become little social butterflies these past few weeks! Chris and I love to share, and, are so happy that they have so many people who want to love them!! Plus.. he and I will take all the quiet time we can get!! :-)

During our out time on Saturday we stopped and picked up three blue balloons. On Sunday morning we got up and spent a quiet moment in the yard. Of course, it is Chris and I trying to have this moment together, so when we let the balloons go, they drifted right into a tree. Sigh.. After a few minutes, and one by one they all dislodged and went on their way. We decided that we would do this every year and include the girls as they get old enough to understand...but... we would only get one balloon. Hopefully, we can get at least one off w/out getting stuck!!

The girls have been just so good, and FUN lately. I don't know what is going on with them but we have been having a blast during the day. I think that it has a lot to do with the good sleep they are both getting. Good sleep=happy momma opps I mean baby!! It has been a LONG time since we have made the walk to the time out spot! Lily is just getting so big. I am going to be post soon about her ever growing imagination, and just some of her funny Lilisms. She cracks me up daily...

okkk you twisted my arm... one of the most recent Lilisms happened this week. Chris and I do not flaunt our bodies around the girls but we still get dressed in front of them, esp me during the week. A few days ago, Lily was in our bedroom while I was getting dressed in the morning. I was putting on a sports bra (so much more comfy for around the house). I was getting everything adjusted, Lily with her big brown eyes looked up at me and informed me that these were Mommy's boobies. I said yes they were. She took her little hands put them on her shoulders and said "lilys boobies". I told her that when she was a Mommy she would have boobies too. Later in the day she was putting her 125th princess ensemble on, she was getting frustrated. She kept saying Mommy. I took a closer look at what she was trying to do... she was pulling one of Charlotte's (big headed baby) hand bands over her waist and trying to cover her boobies. LOL!! I couldn't believe it!! I finally convinced her after a while.. that she could use it as a headband too!

There are so many more of these moments that have made up this week!!

Ohhh How could I forget... Charlotte.... is just about ready to crawl!! She can get both hands and a knee in the right position. When she gets the other knee where she needs it she rolls really fast onto her back!! The great news the baby who HATED, we are talking blood red faced screaming HATED tummy time, is now rolling all over the house!! Better yet she is spending significant time on her tummy! WE have even found her sleeping that way during the night! WAHOO!

Today

One of the many reasons why I didn't post much this week, is an intensely private one. We have buried this deep inside because it brings with it intense pain, but today isn't about us. Today is our son Matthew's 3rd birthday.


For those who don't know Matthew was our first baby. We were able to choose him, he was such a special boy, he was our boy. Chris and I never got to hold Matthew, his adoption suddenly and w/out reason stopped about 7 months into it. The loss was so sudden, it literally took our breath away. I have been dreading this day, today every year is the day I mourn his loss. I think about Matthew and miss him more then anyone could ever really know everyday, but his birthday stings the most. This year has been much more intense for me... I have asked myself why all week, and the what I keep coming back to is that now with the having the girls we really know what we have missed with him. Chris and I agree that there is a missing piece, he and I both feel it.





For Mother's Day I asked for a family of 5 pendent. It is of 2 parents that are holding the hands of their 3 children. In a shape of a heart. It holds two meanings for us the third child represents our baby boy we lost and the baby boy we plan to adopt in the future.





This is for you Matthew....

Today


Today we wish we could kiss your face

The pain of never feeling your touch time has yet to erase

Today we should be commenting on how time flies
Not still asking God why

Today we hold on tighter then ever before
And pray that wherever you are you soar

Today we hold your sisters close and know that one day,
we will tell them stories of our sweet boy
In time they will know that you brought us such great joy

Today we can only imagine where you are
Wonder what is your favorite color race car
Or how big you have gotten
We hope that your heart knows
That we have never forgotten

Today we love you, as we always have, and always will
Ours was a promise to you that we were not allowed to fulfill
We will love you, and carry you, where you were born to us from
Until our time to meet has come.

Happy Birthday Mattie

Love, Mommy and Daddy.

FFF Fun in the Sun!!

We haven't had Pool time temps yet... but we have had lots of fun in the sun!!

Swinging Sisters!!

Playing in the tent

Big Smiles!!

These are from last year Memorial Day!

This is one of my all time favorites!!

Picture time!!!

Lily knocked out after the Zoo!

Charley napping at the Zoo!

Lily and her Doat friend!

Lily Turtle

I was quacking at the ducks in the pond

A big nest in the Children's part of the Zoo

I love this picture!!

Her Ohhh face when she first saw the Daddy Elephant

(now her new favorite animal)

Charlotte wasn't impressed :-(

We saw this on our way to the Zoo, ya never know what you are going

to see in Downtown Baltimore Hun!

This picture was taken a little while ago... Lily has her dress up crown on. She put it

on after she was put to bed!! We found it when we went to check on her.

Charlotte got smashed!

No... not in another automatic door! This time it was ALLL Daddy. Wednesday evening we were getting ready for dinner. Chris and Charlotte went down first, I stayed behind while Lily said her good-byes to everything in the playroom. I had finally convinced her to go the down the steps when Charlotte starts screaming. I know that scream all it means is pain. All I hear is Chris saying over and over her was sorry and trying to comfort her, I am yelling from the steps asking what had happened. Lily and I go double time down the steps to get into the kitchen and he has the panic look on his face. He tells me that he got her finger caught in the tray of the high chair. She is on his shoulder I start looking at her hand, he tells me it is her index finger.

The minute I saw her hand I yelled "OMG you have broken her finger!!" It looked soooo swollen, and red. Chris was devastated. Charlotte calmed down a little bit so I had him out her in the high chair, I started to really inspect her little hand, she is still pretty upset, but she is letting me touch her.

I put both of her hands together and I noticed that no her hand wasn't swollen it all it was just that chunky!!! Her other hand looked just as "swollen" if not a little more so! Finally she started to calm down completely and we went on with dinner. Chris hasn't turned that shade of white in a long time! During bath time I overly washed that hand to see if I got any response and she was fine. The next day I noticed a small scratch on her still "swollen" index finger.

It is events like this that I have to remind myself that the U.S government has deemed us suitable parents so we can't be too bad at this!!

My Happy Day Mommy

I had a wonderful Happy Mommy Day! Chris got up with the girls on Sunday went to work finishing all the final details. The funny thing is that because of the girls I cannot sleep much past 630. I was able to hear him trying to get them together. It was really sweet. Then as soon as I could tell they were ready to make their grand entrance I turned off the TV and pretended I was sleeping. Lily ran right in yelling "Happy Day Mommy, Happy Day!!!" She was so excited that she threw her card at me! Everyone was pulled into the bed. A real treat for Lily- we haven't let her be in our bed at all for almost a month now! She was more then excited to sleep with Mommy! I opened my wonderful gifts and cards. My favorite is one of those cards that you record a message with. It is Lily saying in a very matter of fact manner... "Hi Mommy, Pause Love chew, pause happy day mommy" I loved it! Chris signed it 'love your 3 amigos!' He had been trying to get Charlotte to make some sort of noise for it too but of all times she clamed up!



After we all got ready we were off to the Zoo! It was such a nice time. I think that Lily really didn't think that the animals that we read about were real things. We saw Rhinos first, then we went to the Penguins and it was breakfast time!! She was so excited to see them swimming, and eating. She kept signing eat over and over again! Then we walked on to the elephants. Our Zoo has a new baby elephant named Samson. He was out with his Momma. There were lots of people looking at him so we walked down a little to see the male elephant. I have a great picture of Lily seeing the elephant drinking. It is a perfect ohhhhh face! Charlotte my sweet baby was less then impressed with the Zoo. She spent much of the day with a 'what is the big deal?' look on her face the after lunch she slept for about 2 hours! We ended up staying at the Zoo for 5 hours! Lily was sooooo tired. We had let her/she insisted on walking a good portion of it, if you think about it one of our steps are at least two of hers. So her poor little legs were worn out. Plus she had to blow a kiss and say good-bye to everyone of the animals! She is such a sweetie! She was out before we even got out of the city! The best part of the day was the fact, that even though it had been cloudy most of the day, the rain held off until we got home. So I got to enjoy my day in full!

All in all it was a wonderful, I got exactly what I wanted a day with my two favorite girls, and my hubby! I told Chris that I would like to make the Zoo trip an annual tradition.

Update time!

Ahm, I have been gently reminded that I haven't posted in a little while.:-) I will tell you it isn't for lack of not wanting to. I must "write" a dozen posts a day in my head, but by the time I have time to sit and actually write it out I would rather read others then write my own! Plus on top of that we have been working on getting the house refinanced... that is much harder then it used to be... we tried a while ago and the deal didn't work out, so we are trying again. We are one of those families that need to do something soon before our rate goes up (fun times). This one does look more promising but I will relax once the papers are signed!

So hang on tight... it is update time!!!

Happy Day Mommy!

That is what Lily says when Chris asks her about Mommy's special day. The girls and I have been busy getting everything together for the special ladies in our lives (Chris too, he gets to see our progress every night!). I can't say what we have/will be doing b/c I know that most of them read the blog.... Sorry ladies. ;-)

I will say that the Lily hugged and kissed each card before it was sealed up! Oh and today I was putting the finishing touches on one and I was making curls out of ribbon. In that moment I was Lily's hero. She gave me one of those "Wow, Mommy" looks!

As for the weekend.. we are headed up to PA for a wedding on Saturday. My cousin is getting married. I have been telling Lily all week that we are going to get to see a real Princess and that her name is Shannon. Lily has told everyone about Princess Annon. She is super excited to go.

On Sunday (weather permitting) we are heading to the Zoo! It is the only thing that I wanted.... OK, ok I told Chris that something shiny goes a long way too LOL! I really wanted to go last year, but it was too hot and I remember that I was feeling very pregnant, so we scrapped that idea and just hung around the house. This year they have a brand new exhibit that allows you to feed a Giraffe! If everything goes well I will be spending Sunday evening posting pictures!

Other then that the girls are doing great. Lily is talking up a storm, she wears her princess dress from sun up till sun down. On a very happy note tomorrow we will be celebrating 3 WEEKS of Lily sleeping in her own bed! WAHOO! She even naps again (sometimes). She is so proud of herself, each morning she comes out and proclaims... "Dora Bed" meaning I did it again I slept in my Dora bed! Lily is doing a great job of being a big sister. Charlotte is into pulling hair now, she just narrows in and WHAM she's gotcha! Well, she does this a lot to poor Lily. Lily doesn't miss a beat, she will calmly tell her clearly "no no, Rdette, baby food." She is just so sweet to Charlotte, brings her toys, and runs to get her a wipe the minute there is a hint of spit up.

Charlotte is just talking up a storm too. She has started the sounds Mamamamama, and Dadadadadada. No meaning to her yet, but I will take sweet mamamas all day! She's board with sitting and now scoots on her bottom. She gets so excited, to cute. We are trying to get her to crawl, but she just goes back down to her belly and rolls over. She is eating very well, she is now wearing clothes that Lily was wearing at 12-15 months! At least we have lots of 18 months things. Lily is still wearing 18 months on bottom for most things! At least for right now Charlotte is shorter then Lil. Although, I think in the weight department they are closer then 5 lbs apart!

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Buzz Buzz

That sound makes me break out in a sweat. I don't know how many of you know this but I have an allergy to bees- makes summer time super fun! I haven't been stung for over 20 years (thankfully). The last time I was stung my foot swelled to twice it's size, and I wasn't able to walk for a week (fun times for a nine year old). Since then I have been super careful, don't go outside w/out shoes, don't wear lots of perfume etc. It has been so long that I don't know what a sting would really do. It is a 50/50 shot that I really don't want to take. My Dad is extremely allergic as well.

On Monday I was taking the girls to the playroom in the afternoon. We got upstairs, I was putting somethings away, and I heard what sounded like a weed-wacker. It was a loud buzz and it sounded really close. I didn't think too much about it... until I saw it. This bee was huge. I only saw a shadow of it in the window. At first I thought it was on the outside.. oh no, it somehow got it, and it looked mad that it couldn't get back out. My heart lept into my throat, I picked up Charlotte and started trying to get Lily to come to me to go back downstairs. While I am begging her to come to me, I have Chris on the phone telling about the huge killer bee. He misunderstands and thinks I said it looked like it was 3 FEET big. To which I told him that if this thing was 3 feet big, I wouldn't be on the phone with him I would have called the police! LOL I restated that the bee was 3 inches, which for a bee I think is still really big.

I got the girls downstairs and calmed Lily down, she thought she had been naughty and that is why I brought them down. I did what Mommy's do best and distracted her with a new activity and everything went back to normal.

After dinner, Chris went to go play great bee hunter. I heard things being thrown around, I am thinking OMG he is being attacked!! I opened the door, and he said everything was fine but he couldn't find it. Lily was of course wanting to go back upstairs, so I told her that Daddy had to help a bee. Here is the conversation:

Me: no we can't go can back up Daddy is helping a bee
Lily: Bee home? (bee going home) Mommy and Daddy
me: yes daddy is helping the bee go home ( me thinking: yes the bee is going to the great honeycomb in the sky!)
Lily: Bee irthday?
Me: Yes baby it is the bee's birthday
Lily: Aww bee!

She spent the morning yesterday drawing pictures of the Bee's birthday!

So far our friend still seems to be gone. It has been like Wild Kingdom around here lately.. we also have seen a Groundhog roaming around outside! At least he is cute! :-)

More Pictures

Here are the promised pictures... sorry for the delay. I honestly forgot oops!

Sleep over!

Both girls had sleep overs this weekend! Lily went and stayed the night with Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Jeff, and Charlotte stayed with her Fairy God Mother better known as Aunt Tracy (don't worry Bri we will think of a cool name for you soon!! :-)

The reason for the sleep over was for Chris and I to use this time to finish the backyard for Charlotte's Baptism, and for the girls to have a little fun too. Well, the girls had a great time.... I think Chris and I failed terribly with our plan to get things done. It was tooo inviting to play! Thank God I have a hubby that likes to shop heehee!

We did work in the yard.... for maybe 45 mins or so ( I am so ashamed, can't you tell ;-)! Then we went shopping. We did buy a few things for the yard... that counts right?!?! Chris had cleaned off the grill Saturday morning, so we enjoyed yummy steaks for dinner. Chris is one of those touchy feely grillers but he was good and left it alone and it turned out wonderfully! Then we spent a nice evening in front of the TV! By 9:30 we were ready for bed! We are some party animals!

We could tell that the girls had a wonderful time! Lily can "talk" more to us then Charlotte. Her face would light up every time we asked her something about the day. Almost to say "how did you know that?" It was good that they went to separate houses. That way they each got one-on-one attention. Whenever we are alone either in the house or car w/out the girls it is sooooo quiet. I can't believe that at one time not too long ago we lived in that quiet all the time. When we were driving back home after picking up Charlotte, Lily was in the back seat singing, and Charlotte was cooing away. I looked over at Chris and told him that this was more like it.

Thanks to the two coolest Aunties (and helpers!) two little girls could ever ask for. Chris and I really thank you as well!! :-)

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

PS: I have some really nice pictures that Aunt Lizzie took on Thursday. I will post them tomorrow!

Today was the BIG DAY!

This morning we woke up bright and early got dressed and we were off. The drive was interesting to say the least. We didn't appreciate how many people drove to Annapolis in the morning. Oh, my! We all made it and in one piece. Then came Lily's favorite part... the train ride (shuttle bus/trolley) to the court house. The shuttle bus made several stops on the way around the parking lot to pick people up. It was the final stop that I realized that I had left our camera in the car. FANTASTIC! I knew it was going too smoothly. Once we got to the court house, my Mom offered to ride the shuttle back to the car to retrieve the camera. She rode back and we waited. We were still doing very well on time so we waited for her in the vestibule.

After a few minutes it was decided that Chris would take Charlotte, himself and my Dad through security and find our room, and Lily and I would wait for my Mom. Thankfully the shuttles were running at a good clip and she was back in no time at all. We then went through security and met back up with the rest of the group. Aunt Lizzie made her way just a few more minutes later. We all hung out until the room opened.

It was only three groups of people today so there was plenty of room to spread out. We were the last group to be called. Everything went very smoothly, thankfully, because we had done this all on our own without a lawyer. At the end when he read the order stating that we were changing her name it was a full circle moment. Lily has been our daughter since the first minute we laid our eyes on her when she was 13 days old. Today was more about pomp and circumstance then anything else.. or so I thought. Today, really marks an end of this chapter. Now with a full heart we can begin the next. It is all done there are no more 'well the adoption in finished' buts... It is done. It is good feeling!

Just to be clear that Lily has been an United States citizen since the moment we landed in Miami. Her adoption was considered final at that point. We chose to re-adopt her to change her name, and to make her life easier by obtaining her an US birth certificate. We have been asked that a lot lately.

The Judge and other officials were extremely accommodating with pictures, and Lily was even given a pencil in the shape of a gavel! I had been telling Lily all about today for about a week now, so when it was our turn I asked her, what she should say to the Judge. She said "thank you honor." He told her she was very welcome, with a huge smile on his face! We got some really nice pictures of just the three of us, and then he allowed us to take a few more with Charlotte! Thanks Aunt Lizzie and Mom-Mom!

After we were done in the court room we had to go the main Adoptions portion of the building where they copied all of our original paperwork for their file, and gave us the second most important piece of paper. The legal signed court order with her brand new name! Lilliana Catherine!

We went to lunch then home for much needed naps. The afternoon has been wonderfully quiet, and I am sure that we are in for more of that this evening. All-in-all it was a wonderful day! I did well with everything and didn't become emotional except for one time first thing this morning while I was getting her dressed. I was thinking to myself (while trying to wrangle a 2 year old still for pig tails!) that the next time I help her get dressed like this to change her name she will be getting married.

I just wish I could keep her little forever... although maybe not two! :-)

Proud Family of 4!

All done!

Cheesin' it up!

Waiting to go in!

Our Big Girl!