First Day of School

Yesterday was my first day back to school and today was our sweet Lily's. I can now join the ranks of moms everywhere as I find myself wondering how on earth did she go from a little baby to a school-age child so quick! It does go by in a blink of an eye.

Lily's teacher seems really great. She's all warm and fuzzy ...just the way you want a kindergarten teacher to be. Yet, she's also very organized and I can see that the kids are going to get a lot of great instruction from her. I have to admit it was a bit startling this morning as a dozen of us kindergarten parents stood in the room, said our good-byes, and were hearded out of the room to eat a doughnut at the "Boo-hoo Breakfast." It seemed like their should be something bigger or more symbolic for such a big step. However, I know Lily is in good hands and she'll do well. Now I anxiously await going to pick her up, get a special snack and hear all about her day :)

Vacation Highlights

All good things must come to an end, and so must our vacation. We had a wonderful time and created so many memories. Yet at the same time, it does feel good to be home! Here are some photo highlights from our trip.

Here's the family enjoying some time on the beach:

Andrew loved digging in the sand and finding shells:


Lily had a blast jumping, splashing and rolling around in the waves:


We enjoyed driving down to Muriel's Inlet and getting some delicious seafood and a taste of the low country. We even saw a wild alligator hanging out in a pond.

Lily and I spent some great mommy and daughter time hunting for shells. In all of my beach visits, these are the best shells I've ever collected. I think that a good part of it was just that special time with my daughter.

Maybe it was the wind or maybe it was the salt water & chlorine. I'm not sure, but one afternoon, Andrew woke up with some seriously rocking hair!

We enjoyed the aquarium at Broadway on the Beach

I think this just might be my favorite picture of all 380 that I took. This was taken our last night out at these great little restaurant in Muriel's Inlet. We stumbled across it after the most popular restaurant had an almost 2 hour wait. The food was great, the view was perfect and it was so relaxing.

Some of the other attractions at Myrtle Beach..........

On a particularily rainy day, Bill and I decided to take the kids to one of the dinner theaters here. Since the Dixie Stampede was sold out, we went to the Medievil Times. I'm not sure why it didn't register with us, but we didn't realize that watching men in full armor, riding very fast on horses, with lots of light & sound effects and cheering crowds would be scary for a 19 month old. Trust me we had about 10 minutes of crying and I thought we were going to have to leave the show. Fortunately, Andrew calmed down and we stayed, but I would not recommend this for small children. Here we are in the silly Burger King hats you wear to "cheer your knight."



The kids are having fun on vacation. Between playing hard at the beach & pools and then doing some of the touristy things at night, we have some pretty exhausted little ones. A quick trip to pick up some postcards resulted in this:

First Day at the Beach

We had a great first day at the beach. This is both of the kids first time at the ocean and like everyone says, it's the perfect vacation for them. Lily loves combing the beach for shells. Now in her five year old world, every single shell is a treasure, which is sweet. However, I do think we'll have to get more selective about the shells we bring home our we'll have a garbage bag size full of "treasures!" She also loves the waves and finds jumping in them. It is jellyfish season though and we've seen a few of those guys...so we'll have to be carefull!




Andrew is in love with the beach. As far as he is concerned, we're at the world's biggest sandbox, which I guess we are. By the time we're done playing at the beach, Lily, Bill and I need to rinse our feet. Andrew, well, he's covered from head to toe in sand and looks like a little doughnut that's been rolled in sugar!



Here's the family, minus the photographer, with our hotel in the background. We are really enjoying The Caravelle, the pools and the beach!



We're having a blast here. The weather is overcast with a few showers. It's nice though because we aren't scorching hot and I'm not frying in the sun! Well, off to another morning of treasure hunting with Lily!

Hello From Myrtle Beach

Hello from beautiful Myrtle Beach. Our first family of four vacation has started off quite well. We took an hour and 15 minute flight from Rickenbacker. Kids did great and enjoyed the flight. I think Andrew did so well because he snacked the entire flight. Getting the car rental was easy and our room has exceeded expectations.

Birthdays and Get Togethers

Yesterday we celebrated Bill's birthday. The kids and I had a "surprise" party for Bill. We picked out decorations, made a cake, wrapped our presents and fixed him a steak dinner. While it wasn't a fancy celebration, we all had a good time.



Today we caught up with some of our friends. Their little guy was born 1 day after Andrew, adopted a week before him and lives in a neighboring community. What are the odds? I have to say these are a couple of the cutest little boys I've ever seen!

tree huggers, tap dance, alligators and adoption

I couldn't think of a cohesive title for this post and I realized that we've just been enjoying the unstructured freedom of summer! Bill and I had a big laugh that our Andrew will be liberal like his Mom and become a tree hugger...



Lily has been participating in a dance camp this week. She was sure she wanted to take ballet, but after hearing the clickety-clack of tap shoes she's hooked. We still have jazz, hip-hop and pom-pom. It'll be interesting to see what class she ends up taking in the fall!


I had to laugh that my parents saved everything, and I mean everything from my childhood. While enjoying some time at the inflatible pool they set up just for the kids, my dad brought out an old toy. It's an inflatible alligator that's over 30 years old and it still worked!


Finally, related to nothing (I tell you this is one random post), I have two friends about to embark on the trip of a lifetime. They are going to China to get their precious daughters. We couldn't be more thrilled for them and we can't wait to meet their sweeties! Safe travel friends!

Fun in the Sun

There's not much new to post about. We're enjoying some quieter weeks in the middle of our summer break. The kids are doing well and enjoying the various benefits of summer. Yesterday, I snapped this picture of them laughing on the swing. I just love seeing the joy on their faces.

Our Family of Four

This picture was taken our Familversary. We didn't do anything spectacular, but we had a great day together. This picture makes me happy for so very many reasons.

1 Year Ago Today..........

We became a family of four! At 7:15 a.m. Bill, Lily, Andrew and I all met together in the Delta Terminal. It was a beautiful, emotional moment and one I will cherish forever. Our day will be spent together, hanging out, looking at some pictures and just enjoying some family time. I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating. One of the things the long and challenging road of adoption teaches us parents is to never forget how lucky and blessed we are to have our beautiful children in our lives. I have to leave you all with one my favorite pictures of all time. It's the first moment Bill held Andrew. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.............

Happy 4th of July

Hi,

I hope everyone is enjoying/enjoyed their holiday weekend. Ours was a really nice mix of low-key relaxing and fun family times. On Thursday, I took the kids down to Bill's office for a picnic and to pass out some brownies. The kids always get a kick going to the "big city" and being in "Daddy's" skyscraper. Plus, all of Bill's co-workers treat them so well that they are like little celebrities when we visit and you can imagine how well they love that.

On the fourth we had a great cook-out at Bill's parents new place and then caught the local fireworks. Both activities were a blast. Admittedly, we didn't try to take Andrew to the fireworks because the thought of Mr. Busybody getting seperated from us in a crowd was overwhelming. Plus, we think the fireworks would have scared the bejesus out of him.

Lily and I even had the chance to have a little "girl time" together. Even at a very young age, Lily has enjoyed the "girlie girl" things like shopping, nail polish, fancy hair etc. If it glitters, sparkles or is princess-y, Lily is all about it. One thing Lily has always longed for is curly, curly hair. While browsing a side-walk sale, we found a faux pony-tail with tons of curls, Lily was in heaven! It's a litte OTT (over the top) but she's so happy and I figure what the heck. Here are a few pics of us enjoying the holiday weekend!

Catching Up!!

We've had 3 weeks of summer break and what a crazy, busy 3 weeks we've had. In that time, we've had 2 car repairs, 3 rounds of illnesses, father's day, rescheduled anniversary celebrations and a new patio put in. Squeeze in a few playdates, a photo session and a trip to the zoo and we are running on full tilt!

The kids are doing well and we've had a lot of sprinkler and popsicle evenings. Bill and I actually spent a night away from the kids and found that very refreshing. Like all parents, we really don't do a great job at taking time for us as a couple.

This week our schedule is quieter and we are looking forward to celebrating the 4th. We may even be able to have a cook out on our new patio! Life is good and summer is going by way too fast!!

Happy Anniversary

Ten years ago today, Bill and I got married. We have such fond memories of our wedding day. We can happily recall how perfect the day was with the beautiful weather. More fondly, we remember all the friends and loved ones who shared our day with us. It just seems impossible that it all took place 10 years ago. Time really does go by quicker the older you get :)

I can honestly say that 10 years ago, I married my Prince Charming. I feel so very fortunate to have Bill in my life and I look forward to spending many, many more happy years together.

Sprinklers and Umberellas

Yesterday was my first official day of summer vacation....aaaaahhhhhh. Due to a series of illnesses for poor Andrew, we've been staying home a lot. For entertainment yesterday I broke out the sprinkler and a a bunch of umberellas. Who knew that combination would result in such fun! I highly recommend it. I'm so glad summer is here and I'm looking forward to spending it with my two sweeties!

What was I thinking!!!

Today the kids and I were having a good time running some errands. I filled up the car and earned a free car wash. I thought "Oh, I bet the kids will think this is fun." Everyone say it with me........"What were you thinking?" To make matters worse, I was afraid of the car wash as kid and I should have known better.

Lily loved the experience, but poor Andrew just cried and cried. By the time the big vacuum thingies were drying off the car, he was shaking. If there was a panic button, I would have hit it. Fortunately, Andrew has a pretty quick recovery time but I still think I earn the bad mother award today.

and now for something cute!!

While Lily napped, I took this little video of Andrew. It doesn't really show off his singing ability or mine (I don't think either of us are particularily gifted in that area). It's just him being cute and me finally getting him to do some things upon request....but as you'll see not all the things I request. Enjoy!

Memorial Day Fun

We had a great holiday weekend and hope you all did too. We had the perfect mixture of things to do and down time. Saturday, we hit our local Asian Festival. It's something we've done for years and always have a good time. We are so lucky to have this resource for our children. This year we went with our friends who are just weeks away from their referral. It's so exciting to think that next year, their little one will be going to the festival. I think Lily and Andrew's favorite part of the festival was playing in a little bamboo home. There was this little wooden sushi kit that Andrew really got into.

Lily and I had some mommy/daughter time. We caught the new Hannah Montanna movie and I'm happy to say it wasn't too bad. It's a gentle movie and Lily thought it was very "cool." I have so loved having Andrew in our lives for nearly a year. I do miss the one-on-one time with Lily I had for so long. Yet, it makes it so special for us to have our time together talking, shopping, singing to the radio at the top of our lungs in the car and giggling.

Andrew had a blast walking the mall with Bill's parents. He is at such a stinking cute age. He just gets joy in wide-open spaces. I don't know what's different about 16 months vs. 15 months, but it's definitely fun.

Finally, we had a good cook out with our neighborhood pals. It was so relaxing to potluck it, sit outside and enjoy everyone's company. All the kids, even the littlest ones, sat at the picnic table together. It was so darn cute!

Finished Preschool

Yesterday Lily finished preschool. They didn't do a graduation and frankly, I like that. I think preschool, elementary and junior high school graduations are goofy and take away from high school and college graduations. Anyway, it's still a milestone and I can't believe it's come and gone. We picked up this cute little Aurora cake today to celebrate it. The past year has brought so much growth to our little girl. She went from the shy child, who hung back from the crowd, and needed her "warm-up" time, to a confident, social little girl. During our parent teacher conference at the end of the year, Lily's teachers described her as out going, kind and a leader. Wow! It's so great to see that kind of growth. We are very, very proud of her and can't wait to see what the future holds for our sweet Miss Lily.

dreaming of the ocean........

I saw this digital kit by Kay Miller and just had to use it for my blog design. I don't really have many pirate pictures to scrap, but I do have the ocean and beach on my mind. I think it's partly because I'm ready to for school to be over and summer to be here. I also think it's partly due to the fact that this is the first summer we aren't waiting, planning or saving for an adoption and we can actually take a vacation. Nothing is finalized, but I do think there is some beach/ocean time in our future!


Speaking of the ocean, I have to share my mother's day gift. I have this thing for charm bracelets and actually started a mother/daughter charm bracelet for Lily and myself. I've got into the whole european bead bracelets like Pandora, Troll etc. They make so many adorable charms and they are a blast to collect. So, for Mother's day, Bill started another charm bracelet for me. It's an ocean themed and I adore it. He also got my external hard drive fixed with all my photos and scrapping supplies (whew!) As a result, one of the first things I did was do a little layout of my new bracelet. Here it is:

Happy Mother's Day

I hope this post finds everyone enjoying their Mother's Day weekend. I had several people suggest that this holiday would be difficult because of my grandmother's passing. It's true that we miss her, but it is also the first Mother's day that we have Andrew home and there's much to celebrate. Yesterday we had a fabulous day as we visited the historic M.C Illions carousel and Kingwood Center's tulip fields. It was a very fun day.

Lily opted to ride the panda on the carousel...


while Andrew enjoyed the stationary horse. At first, he wasn't sure what to think, but on his second ride he really got into it. Doesn't he have a "little boy" look in this photo vs. a baby look?


Lily enjoyed all the tulips and wanted to be photographed with flowers that matched her coat.


Andrew couldn't believe how many flowers there were and he had to touch many of them.


Both kids had a blast running, playing and exploring the grounds. Even though Andrew has been walking for months, he still gets great joy out of walking in wide open spaces. I love how he looks so serious here as he marches along and I love how Lily looks like she's out exploring in the jungle in this picture!



One last thing I have to share. We know so many families who are in the process of adopting a child from China and Taiwan. Sadly, right now it's a tough time in the adoption community in general. Wait times are way up, parental restrictions are tightening and the number of children being referred are down. All of this leads to a lot of frustration heartache for all those involved. I've always said that it was ok that adoption was hard, but it just shouldn't be this hard. To all my friends, I'm thinking of you and wishing that this is the last Mother's day without your precious children.