We Have A Kindergarten Student In Our House!

It's amazing to think how quickly Paige is growing into a beautiful (inside & outside) human being......I swear it was yesterday that I held her in my arms leaving the hospital with her.....I was so proud to be her mom then and I am so, so, so proud of her being brave and so excited to start her "life" outside of mommy's safety bubble.

I snapped this picture from her classroom door window after we all said our goodbyes...my sweet little one being so brave, all alone :(, just breaks your heart, no?

When I showed Paige this picture this afternoon she said, "Mommy, I didn't cry, but the tears were in my eyes, but I didn't make any noise so my teacher wouldn't hear me."

Here she is walking down the hallway with her buddy, aka, Daddy on the way to class.

cute picture no?

The 3 ladies ready to go to kindergarten! YAY!

Lily was ready to join in on the ride to school and scope out her future school! What a little peanut......but a very BUSY & determined peanut :)

WE LOVE YOU PAIGE!!! And look forward watching you learn life's lessons, school lessons, make new friends, and become the person God put you on this earth to be!

post to follow: mommy & paige meet after school and celebrate the day with a visit to Friendly's just the 2 of us. (no worries, Lily was home with Grammy & Pop....so mommy could hear all the day's stories from Paige)

OK, we've certainly been delinquent in putting up new pictures of Lily, especially since she's changed so much in the last few months. Here's one of Paige and Lily together that was taken when their cousins from St. Louis were in town. We'll make sure to put up more very soon.

Paige's Preschool Graduation!

Here is her graduation cap made with her handprints! This preschool is so very creative with things like this.....

Ready to go to the ceremony in her "Burberry" dress, we bought in China.......I think she looks like Alice, from Alice in Wonderland with this pose, no? Lily had her matching "Burberry" dress on that night too :)

Here is the Graduate with her gift from Mommy & Daddy, a book she has wanting for at least 6 months: Pinkalicious! You can tell from the picture she didn't like it at all :)

She brought in the car to the ceremony and started reading it, and finished it in bed with her lantern flashlight that night. She is a reading maniac! I cannot believe how well she reads--I swear she is 10 not 5!

Here she is with some of her classmates ready to perform for all the proud mommies & daddies! Paige's best friends are Madison (standing right next to her in the wine colored dress) and Isabella (the first girl on the right of the photo in the white dress--paige calls her "my little sweety")

And then we went out to dessert to celebrate this momentous occasion, on the menu for the graduate was ice cream with chocolate sauce.......yummo!

Congratulations Paige! Mommy & Daddy are so proud of your accomplishment! We love you all the way to the stars, the moon, Africa, China, & back home again!

happy 40th daddy.......

complete with birthday crown made by Paige!........

90 days!

..........so it's been 3 months since our scrappy little Lily was placed in our arms, and I don't know how it's possible, but we fall more in love with her every single day.

She is doing very well, much, much better than Jack or I had planned and we are settling in as a family of 4.

The biggest change over the last month would be Lily is much more vocal with making sounds.....so I am waiting for her 1st words to come shortly......food wise the child will eat anything! except watermelon......string beans, easymac, eggs, cheese, chicken etc., so very different from Paige at this age.......she is weaning off her bottle nicely, I am doing it slowly because it seems like that was a big comfort to her.

She gives the best kisses ever! I love every drooly, dribbly bit of her kisses! I am just sitting back and soaking in every stinking moment!

Here is Lily at around 6 months, what a change in such a small period of time! Thank You for blessing us to have her (and Paige) as our little one--let her birth parents know she is well taken care of and so, so, so much loved!

PS:paige graduated preschool last night WOW! and Jack's 40th birthday is tomorrow, so give me some time to get up graduation pictures next week!

60 days.....

A mere 60 days ago this miracle was placed in my arms in Guangzhou, China. 60 days just seems too short a time span, I simply cannot remember my life without the two miracles God has blessed me with as a mother. Thank you again God. You Rock!

Now don't get me wrong, the past 60 days have not been filled with butterflies and ladybugs flittering happily throughout our home. But there have been many extremely cool moments, utterly exhausting & overwhelming moments (those would be my moments :)...moms as a group just have too high expectations of themselves when it comes to their families.

But overall, the past 2 months have gone really smoothly, we are very lucky and blessed.....she went through a "velcro baby" phase where she would not allow herself to be put down when Jack went back to work. I think that it was seperation anxiety from her daddy. That was rough on me, as I wanted to give Paige my undivided attention when she needed it, but w/ a 17 pound person attached to you makes that a little hard........now over a month since Jack is back to work my Lily Blu Bird is equally attaching to both of us.....YAY! remind me to post about the flight home from China.....poor poor jackson!

She spends loads of time with both sets of grandparents which she recognizes and enjoys......and when she goes to jack's parents it includes a sleepover with her big sis Paige...it's a nice quiet time for Jack & I once a week. Can you say we are very lucky in the grandparent department?

Paige is loving being a big sister, but will close the baby gate to the playroom or go in her bedroom and say, "Mom, I just need a little quiet time by myself like you do when daddy comes home from work." Which I look at as a good thing, she is over the moon about Lily being home, waiting impatiently for her to wake up in the morning or from her nap....., and cooing over her like a little mother.........I hope it lasts until the end of time and they are both best buds like me and my sister today.

In the past 2 months, Lily has slept in her crib.....since we went to Ikea and bought a new 2 inch mattress so she could stop scaling her crib like a jailbird nightly. Well that thin mattress and footie pj's to stop traction.

Lily has learned to kiss, this kid LOVES to kiss.......we have afternoon kiss sessions everyday!....started by her!

She can now walk-YAY! I like this one alot!

She can say HI! Babbles non stop......

Has figured how to escape 3 strollers after being strapped in.....I turn around and she is STANDING in the stroller w/ the 5 point

harness still clipped! (I found one she can't get out of at a consignment shop and when I put her in it and walked around the store and she started screaming I knew we had IT!) wish there was a way to check her family tree to see if she is related to Harry Houdini........

Her bloodwork and other "samples" came back perfectly normal, she's had 2 shots and due for 3 more next month. Our pediatrician was extremely surprised and pleased with how great Lily's progress is--Yay Gaozhou Social Welfare Institute!

So as far as 60 days goes, 60 down the rest of Lily's life to go!

And the 3 years 8 months 26 days we waited for you was worth every single second! For the waiting parents reading this, stay strong, it will happen, and when it does you won't forget this so difficult time of waiting, you just are so happy to have your little one home, your brain just doesn't let you go there!

Let the games begin!!

I think the videos say it all, but it was certainly an exciting day in our house today. Lily has been standing up and taking a couple of steps here and there, but nothing significant until now. She is one of the flower girls in Cousin Melissa's wedding in 3 weeks and we are hoping she can walk herself down the aisle. This is going to be fun.