Kate Turns 2 and all kinds of winter fun!

Kate turned 2 on December 16 and it is hard to believe. She is getting so big so fast! She is a fun little girl that's for sure! You can click on the link below to see more pictures!

Kate's Birthday

Here are some fun pictures of Leah & Lauren sledding in our backyard. We have a nice little hill that is the perfect size for them to sled on. You'll notice no pictures of Kate because she loves the snow about as much as I do! In fact, each time I ask her if she wants to go out in the snow she emphatically says, "no!" When asked again, she told me, "no snow, Mom". I couldn't agree more!

Sledding in our backyard!

And one last album of the girls baking icing cookies! They had loads of fun doing it. And Kate had loads of fun eating them all!

Icing Cookies with the Girls!

There now...I think I am all caught up on the comings and goings at our house! The girls are VERY excited about Christmas. I'm sure it will be lots of fun! We hope your Christmas is wonderful!

One last picture...a beautiful snowy day in our backyard. Yes, I'll concede that it is beautiful on days like this but no, I will not concede that it is wonderful! :)

Life at our house...

Well, after seeing my good friend, Kelli, tonight and being prompted by her to update my blog - here it goes...

Life is busy at our house but isn't it busy at every house?? For some who might not know, Leah started Kindergarten this year and I am homeschooling her. We just finished our 10th week and really so far everything is going well. She loves EVERYTHING about school work so it's not too challenging to get her to focus on school amidst the chaos of everyday life with a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old constantly vying for Mom's attention. It is fun to see the light bulb going off in Leah's brain from time to time and it's especially fun to see her reading...this is the kid that after just turning 3 told John, "I wish I could read" because she loves books so much! She is thrilled that we are finally teaching her how to read. Here is Leah in her Egyptian Princess jewelry she made!

Probably the only tricky part of homeschooling Leah is little Miss Kate. She is 22 months old now and is truly just a joy to behold. She has the funniest little personality but can be quite stubborn at times, too, when I'm not giving her the full attention she thinks she deserves. Lauren is great with helping to entertain Kate when I need focused time with Leah for school. Kate is starting to talk so much. She is putting words together and is able to say almost anything when we say, "Kate, can you say..." Which, by the way, has become quite an amusing game for Leah & Lauren to watch Kate try to say things like Mississippi or jingle bells or whatever else they can think of. Kate does always manage to get out something that somewhere way in the depths of it sounds similar.

Lauren is such a bright spot – she really does light up a room with her smile and contagious joy. The other day I was at the grocery store shopping at 7am on a Saturday morning with Lauren (she’s my VERY early bird) and I just had to comment out loud…"well, if I have to be at the grocery store at the crack of dawn there is no one else I would rather be with since you are just so happy to be alive.” She thought that was really funny as she knows her mother is NOT an early bird by nature! Kate continues to be a FABULOUS sleeper so I am so thankful for that! One non-sleeper out of 3 isn't bad, I guess.

So there you have it - how life is summed up at our house this fall...busy, fun, chaotic, never a dull moment, hectic, challenging, frustrating, amazing, humorous, exhausting and exhilarating- sometimes all at the same time! Happy Harvest!

A day at the beach...

Just thought I would share a picture from our vacation. We are on the beach in North Carolina and the girls are having a ball. First of all, they love having their daddy with them 24/7 and they love having the beach as their personal sandbox. Kate is mesmerized by the big waves and is content to stand where the water will lap up over her toes while she watches the waves come in...as long as one of us is holding her hand. We've collected lots of "treasures" along the beach and I'm not sure our suitcase will hold everything. It's been lots of fun!

One more picture of the girls. Such a sweet, serene picture! Ha - if you could only see Kate's face...she's screaming to beat the band and Leah's holding her ever so gently in place! :) That is the beauty of taking a picture from this perspective. I think it might be the new way to take pictures of persnickety 19 month olds!

I'm an Iowa girl now!

Nothing screams Iowa girl like an 18 month old eating sweet corn right off the cob! Kate was digging her first piece of Iowa sweet corn. For those of you who have never eaten fresh Iowa corn on the cob, you really are missing out on the best corn ever! There's a difference...I promise!

The girls are doing great. Kate is just blossoming more and more each day. I told John just the other day that I feel like about 2 weeks ago Kate really came out of her shell. It just seems like she woke up one day and said, "yep, this is MY home and MY family". She's done great all along with the attachment stuff but it was just something that clicked I think. She is such a fun loving girl and tries so hard to keep up with Leah & Lauren. She is constantly trying to walk around in Leah's shoes. Lauren is smitten with her and insists on giving her a kiss and a hug everytime Kate is going for her nap or for bed. Kate has learned how to say no and likes to say it very much now! She has several other words that she can say but no seems to be the favorite! Well, you can click on the photo below to see more pictures of what we have been up to this summer. By the way, I know it takes me forever to update the blog but I've actually done 2 in one day so check out Lauren's birthday below! :)

Summer Fun!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Our sweet Lauren turned 4 years old on July 2nd! It's hard to believe that she is 4 now. She is such a sweetie and is truly the most happy-go-lucky kid I know! She has such a fun personality and is a joy to be around. She also has a weak eye so the doctor has been patching her right eye to give the left eye a workout! John and I have wondered if they could give us a patch for the right side of our body and that would give the left side a workout! We're sure they could make lots of money on that one! Anyway, hopefully Lauren only has to wear it for a few more weeks...but if anyone can pull off a pink flowery eye patch - it's Lauren.

Lauren had a fun swimming party for her birthday with her sister and 2 little friends. They had a great time in the pool.

What do I do all day?

Well, if you have ever wondered what I do all day I thought I would upload a few of these photos. Not only do they show how big Kate is getting (17 months on Wed.) but it shows you what Kate does all day, everyday...she CLIMBS! So I just basically go from one spot to the next taking her down from where she climbed! For your viewing enjoyment:

I do want to note - I really am not a terrible mother risking my childs safety taking a picture while she stands there. These pictures were taken after, literally, the 15th time of climbing in these spots. Scarily enough - she's quite good at it!

One last picture that is a favorite in our house right now!

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a blessed Easter! We had a great weekend and I thought I would update the blog with some new pics of the girls. They had a fun time hunting eggs this weekend and going to church this morning.

Kate is doing great! She is getting so big. She is walking everywhere now and is babbling a TON! It's funny - the other girls took much longer to start really talking but Kate is saying a couple of words already like Momma, Dadda, and more. She is just the sweetest, little smiley kid you've ever met!

On another very happy note, our good friends, Cathy & Dave, got their referral on Friday of a beautiful baby girl living in Chongqing. We are so thrilled for their family. If you are interested, you can follow along on their journey at http://www.3littlepumpkins.blogspot.com/ I've included one of Maeve's referral photos - it is the cutest referral photo I've ever seen!

Well, we hope y'all had a great Easter. Here are a few more photos from our fun weekend.

Easter Festivities ~ 2007

Happy Birthday Leah!

Wow - our first baby is 5 years old today...how is that possible? It seems like just the other day the nannies from an orphanage in Anhui Province were placing her in our arms and now 4 years later, she's 5! I know we are are biased but what a beauty she is! We can't believe how big and "grown up" she looks in this picture! She is, of course, wearing her "Everyone loves an Irish girl" shirt! And we certainly love her!

Here are a few more photos from the party!

Burrrrrrrrr

Kate is adjusting to this cold weather we are having but she certainly lets me know her dissatisfaction every time we put her coat on! She is getting so big now. A couple of weeks ago she began walking a little! Now she is walking all around trying very hard to keep up with her big sisters!

Life is very busy at our house as you can tell by the fact that it has taken me over a month to get another post uploaded! I'm off to bed now but I wanted everyone to know that we are at least still alive here! Kate is growing and getting bigger everyday. She is sleeping through the night now and even napping most days! We are finally getting all of us into a more normal routine and so that makes life a little easier. Here's a picture of Kate in her Chinese New Year outfit! What a cutie...if I do say so myself! :)

Kate the Great!

I've had some people email and ask where the updates are so I thought I would post some new photos for you all to see. Kate is doing really well. She has started having some sleep issues and we had just about worked through them when she came down with a nasty head cold. Anytime we laid her down she would start crying because she couldn't breathe very well. John and I think we are learning that she is a very calm and content baby BUT might just be a tad bit hot-tempered as well. Because boy, does she get mad, mad, mad when things aren't just as they should be. Meaning when she lays down she expects to be able to breathe (reasonable expectation, really) and when that doesn't happen just right she lets everyone know her displeasure. With the cold, we have kind of gone back to square one with the sleeping stuff. She loves to be rocked to sleep but has a hard time transitioning to the crib after she's been rocked. She can be DEAD asleep and when you stand up to put her in the crib she wakes up and lets it out! So we continue to rock! :) We constantly remind ourselves that she has only been with us for one month so although everything feels back to normal for us she still is transitioning to us!

Kate is doing better with the eating thing so that is wonderful. She is eating baby food and oatmeal with gusto and we've begun introducing a few more "solid" things like carrots, bananas and the all important food group - cinnamon rolls! She still won't pick up anything to eat so we feed her everything but we are making progress. For that we are very thankful!!

Leah and Lauren continue to do great with her. For the most part, they just go about their own business which almost always includes dressing up like princesses. Here are a few new pictures.

01-2007