It's Strawberry Picking Time!

Today, my sis and I, with kids in tow, went to our local berry patch. We picked 8 quarts each and they were only $1 a quart! Great price!

Abby, Puk Puk, and Little Buddy had fun picking as well. I think Little Buddy picked one or two, Abby picked around 10, and Puk Puk may have picked at least a quart! They did great and had fun running inbetween the rows.

I'm glad we went in the morning, cause it was hot enough and only getting hotter! Can't wait til the pool opens at the Rec.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Remember...

photo taken at Arlington National Cemetery

...those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

Zoo Day

Saturday was our annual adoption agency reunion at the zoo. It was fun to reconnect with some of the people we met when we adopted Abby. We also got to talk to our rep at the agency and ask her some questions about the long wait.

But of course the most fun for Abby was seeing all the animals! Here's a little sampling of the ones we saw.

My sister and her family joined us after the picnic. Once it stopped raining, we had a great time!

In the photo above, Abby is modeling a pair of kangaroo ears at one of the zoo's interactive exhibits.

Wordless Wednesday

Smoooooooooooooothie!

For more WW go to 5 Minutes for Mom.

The Big Day - Part II

Finally it was time to put on the sparkly dress! Doesn't she look beautiful?

Here she is with the Bride, Tabitha.

Here she is with the SEVEN, count them, seven bridesmaids!

Her cousin Andrew was one of the ring bearers. Abby has told me on many occaisions that she is going to marry Andrew when she grows up. She announced it again when she saw how handsome he looked in his little tux.

I did not get any pictures of her during the wedding. I was at the back of the church with her before she went down the isle. She was a litte nervous and was not sure what to do with the flower petals. I think she dropped about 7 or so the whole way. And toward the end, she walked. Really. Slowly. Her Aunt Rachel and the photographer kept urging her onward. It was too funny. But she stood at the front with everyone, and only yawned once. :)

At this point, she was tired. After getting up early, no nap and all the excitement, she was starting to get a little grumpy. The professional pictures of the whole wedding party will show she had a few tears running down her cheeks. Poor baby! She was such a trooper.

Here she is with her Daddy.

She fell asleep at the Reception. She slept through the cutting of the cake, the dinner and the toasts by the Best Man and Matron of Honor.

We woke her up in time to see the Bride and Groom dancing. And she said, "I want cake!" Good thing there was still a piece on the table. Later, the whole Bridal Party did a dance, and she got to dance with Andrew. You can see a video of it over on hubby's blog.

It was a great day that I'm sure Abby will remember for a long time. Especially since we took so many pictures! Hope you enjoyed seeing them.

Up-Do

Yesterday was Tabitha's wedding. Abby was the Flower Girl. To say that she was excited about this honor is a slight understatement. Abby has been looking forward to this for several months!

We got the dress a couple of weeks ago and she has been patiently waiting the day she could put it on. I had told her last Monday that the wedding was "this Saturday." Wow! She did the Happy Dance similar to the "Rainbow Happy Dance." She talked about it all week and kept asking if it was today. I let her know the schedule of events and she committed them to memory and told everyone she met about the plans.

All the activity started Friday evening with the rehearsal, and then the dinner. At a Restaurant. She loves eating at restaurants! You would have thought all this fuss was about her. She was even making eyes at the photographer before the night was over.

She did not sleep well that night because she was so excited and woke up extra early on Saturday morning - 6:45! "Is it time to go to Tabitha's Wedding?"

The first stop on our Day-O-Fun was at the Beauty Shoppe to get her hair done. The Bride and all her "Maids" were getting their hair done, so Abby did too. Don't let these pictures fool you. She was excited about all this fuss.


She watched very intently in the mirror.

Curls in abundance!

Half a can of hairspray later... All done!

Beautiful!!!

Next installment... the sparkly dress!

Squishy Update

I know it's been a while... but I've posted some new fabric "squishes" on my other blog.

So go check it out!! Be sure to tell me which ones you like.

By the way, those of you who still need to contribute to this MOST IMPORTANT PROJECT, please do so right away. Do not delay! The time is now.

Ok, ok. I'll give you a couple more weeks. But I really do want to get started piecing the quilt soon. Or at least try to figure out what pattern I want and your "squishes" are crucial.

Thank you. Now go! Look! Comment!

Craft Time!

Abby loves to do crafts. You may recall that we got her a paint set for Christmas and she had to start using them right away - even before opening her other gifts. She asks to paint almost every day.

Here she is inside the cabinet in which we keep her stash. (I also have my picnic supplies in there.)

Lately, she has added glue, scissors, and construction paper to her supply list. Great pools of glue are poured in all sorts of artistic shapes. "It's a pig, Mommy!" I'm starting to think a glue stick might work better for clean-up.



Here is a sample of her work. She cut out the black shape after "drawing" it out in white paint. I cut out the clown's face parts. She glued them on.
On this one she painted the face and then glued on the balloons that I cut for her. Then she put yarn on for the balloon strings.
I can't wait til she starts pre-school. Then we'll have LOTS of artwork for the frig. I think we need to come up with a new display solution. Any suggestions?

WW- Garden Princess

One must be properly attired to attend to gardening duties!

For more WW go to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Why Wait?

Abby is entering the stage in life where she is exploring what she wants to be when she grows up. Mostly she tells me she wants to be a mommy which makes my heart glad.

Today she said she wanted to be a "car fixer" just like the man who fixed our truck. How glamorous!

She has also said she wants to run like "Belle" when she gets bigger and be in a track meet.

When we first started talking about going to school, she said she was going to be the teacher in her class. That's why this "Help Wanted" notice in the paper the other day caught my eye.

Christian Day Nursery School is looking for a Three-Year Old

teacher for the upcoming Fall semester.

Abby will be perfect for that!!! It's about time she started pulling her weight around here. Hee Hee!!

Faces!

Abby has always been so expressive. I have wanted to catch her faces on film, but it's so hard. One morning she was being silly while we were snuggling in bed and I snapped these few pictures. She's so fun.

Success!

On Tuesday morning, I made an important decision. After talking and discussing the various pros and cons, asking the experts, and lots of praying...

I started potty training Abby... AGAIN.

Now this isn't the first time, or second, or third... in fact, I've lost count how many times in the past year or more we've tried the "put the panties on, sit on the potty every 20 minutes, nothing happens, she's wet 5 minutes later." It had really become a source of frustration and insecurity for me. I ended up trying to avoid the subject wishing it would just go away. I thought it was my fault she wasn't getting it.

I am now a firm believer in "when they're ready, it will happen."

Apparently she is ready. Cause it happened!

I put the panties on her and sat her on the potty. Nothing. Then later, "OH, I need to go potty!"

And she did! Wow, did we throw a party!! The Lord knew I needed that success early in the day to get me through the next few accidents.

But then, after naptime, again, success!

Wednesday, more successes! Thursday, she was dry all day! And even dry in the morning and after naps. I am so proud of her! She's such a big girl.

So now I'm sad that my baby is growing up but so happy for her at the same time. She is amazing.

A funny side note: I had told her that she had to be potty-trained before she could go to pre-school (she's signed up for the fall). And after the first time she peed in the potty, she said, "Yeah! I can go to school tomorrow!"

Seven Months Today

Today is the Seven Month mark for being logged in at CCAA for our second adoption.

I'm trying not to think about the fact that with our adoption of Abby, we already had our referral and our Travel Approval.

The current wait is 18 months. The CCAA has referred LIDs through November 1, 2005. The last couple of months have only had a few days being referred at a time. If this trend continues, we'll be waiting a whole lot longer than 18 months.

We're still praying that things will speed up.

But in the meantime, we are loving on Abby! She makes the wait bearable.

So now we'll get back to postsing about her!

WW- Dancin' with Balloons

I do not know why her eyes were closed. Maybe she was imagining herself at a fancy ball with her Prince Charming (a.k.a Daddy).

These pictures were taken at Doodle Bug's birthday party which was right after the Egg Hunt. Yes, I do put different clothes on my daughter besides this blue dress. :)