Saturday, November 26, 2011

Three Months Home

DSC_1407teatime Today marks three months that Gracie Joy has been home.  What a crazy 3 months it has been!!  She is doing amazing!  Both Gracie and Wesleigh seem to have adjusted to their new life.  They have become the best of friends and true sisters.  I am so proud of them both.

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Life has settled alot and Gracie has calmed down some.  Don't get me wrong, she is still full of energy, she just doesn't seem to be so "crazy".  Her decibel level has decreased a good bit too, which is a great relief.  There have been a number of fits that were proof that all she had to do was scream and her China mom would give her what she wanted.  In fact, the first time she tried it, she looked me in the face as if to warn me, "I'm going to scream...you'd better give me what I want".  Her reaction was pretty funny when she started screaming and got no response from me.  Overall, I have not found myself saying "Caaallllmmmmm doooowwwwnnn" near as much.  That is a good thing!
Overall, she is just a hoot to have around.  She is totally speaking English now.  I have to say that I really miss hearing her Chinese :(  She still says her name in Chinese and "bing swey" for cold water sometimes.  She will also say "shi shi" sometimes for thank you.  Honestly, with Wesleigh's articulation not being great, I can pretty much understand about the same amount from each.  I have a feeling that it won't be long and Gracie will be translating what Wesleigh is saying to me!!  I am having a little trouble with Gracie pronouncing words like Wesleigh, but I seem to have been able to correct a good bit of it. 

She is also eating much better.  She will eat at least some version of what we eat.  She loves frozen waffles and healthy choice chicken and rice soup...YAY!!  She still loves her Chinese food best, but we are able to find things she can eat here besides Raman noodles.  She will not touch foods like pizza, hot dogs, and burgers.  She's a pretty smart cookie :)

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Gracie is doing great in school!  She absolutely loves it!  Everyday when I drop them off, she leaps out of the car and hardly looks back.  Everyone there is so impressed at how well adjusted she is and how she just fell right into place.  She still gets super excited when she sees my car in the afternoon.  The teachers have to make sure they have an extra tight grip on her hand because she always wants to run to me and tell me what she did that day.  I'm so proud of her!  They skate at school every Wednesday.  The reports from other moms who have been there is that she is quite the skater.  I'm not surprised.  She is very coordinated and confident.  I'm going to try to see them skate this week.

Gracie and I leave in a week to go to a colo-rectal specialist.  We will have to spend 2 weeks there, but I hope that we will come home with some answers and solutions to the issues she has.  We also are going to be able to visit with some super special friends, so I'm looking forward to that.

There's a book that I read to the girls that reminds me so much of Gracie.  It is called "There's a Princess in Me".  It talks about how God loves you even when you're a mess and that there's a princess in "me".  There's even a mirror on the front of the book so they see themselves.  If you have the book, you'll have a good idea of my life with Miss Gracie Joy :)  If you don't have it and want to take a look, you can find it here.

Overall, it's been an amazing 3 months, that in some ways seems like a lifetime.  China seems like such a distant memory.  I know one thing, for sure.  God has a huge plan for Gracie Joy.  I can't wait to see it unfold!! 
**These pics were taken during our Christmas Card photo shoot.  I love them!  Their outfits are from Georgia Grace which might be my favorite line these days!  They are amazing and made in the US!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

So Thankful!

I know this is a day late...but that seems to be the way I roll these days :( We had a great Thanksgiving with family. I am posting some pics of the girls making turkey cookies the day before too.

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Cade was a big help :) thanksgiving (5 of 41)

Can you believe I didn't take pics of the finished cookies? Geez... Thanksgiving Day, the girls were all about seeing the turkey. I'm not sure it was exactly what they thought it would be, seeing that it didn't gobble or anything, but it is what it is :)

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How many adults does it take to get the kid's table settled??? Probably one more than is shown here :) thanksgiving (28 of 41)

This power wheels was Cade's Christmas about 5 or 6 yrs. ago. My dad fixed it and Cade had a blast riding the littles around. I can't believe it could hold him! thanksgiving (37 of 41) thanksgiving (41 of 41) thanksgiving (39 of 41)

This year, we are most thankful for the 3 new stocking hanging on my mom's mantle...all added through adoption! In fact, the 3rd is being born Tuesday!! It's been a busy year!! thanksgiving (30 of 41)

Don't forget to head over to Diana's blog!  The giveaway starts today!!!


Fill Their Stockings

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Thanksgiving Feast

The girls had their Thanksgiving Feast at school Friday.  They were SO excited and had worked so hard on their songs.  Their school is so amazing and is like a time warp.  It is exactly the same as when the boys were there..I love it!  I actually wanted to find a picture of the boys during their feast, but I'm scared to look for them.  I'm afraid they won't be there :(   (If you didn't know, we lost our house to a fire 6 yrs. ago, so I'm missing a big chunk of my memories.)  Maybe I'll get enough nerve to look next year.  Maybe I'll be organized by next year!  Yeah...right!

Anyway...the girls were adorable and were so excited to see Richard and I at school...so cute!
This was not my first choice of outfit, but I think they turned out cute.  I had to put some major bling bows in their heads though to add a little "somethin, somethin".
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I just have to say that I despise taking pictures in a gym!!  I am so glad that my boys haven't chosen basketball as their sport of choice :)
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I love the way her headband is around her bow and not her head.  Poor baby woke up feeling yucky and looks it...she is still struggling.
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It was very stratigic that Gracie was right next to a teacher :)  I have to write an update on Miss Gracie.  It is amazing the strides she has taken in every way!
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Shooting her bow and arrow.
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Saying the blessing.  How cute is that??
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Are these not adorable???  I would like to say I'm just not that ambitious because I'm an old mom, but the truth is...I don't think I was that ambitious when Bryce was little either!!  They sure are cute though!!
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It was a great day.  I am thankful for these two precious girls who fill my life with all things pink and shiny!!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Fill Their Stockings!


Fill Their Stockings
You absolutely MUST check out Diana's blog today!! What an amazing opportunity to help these amazing charities who give so much to the orphans in China. AND maybe win something for yourself too!!

I have supported two of these charities for quite a while.  It is such a small price to pay to help a child who doesn't have a family.  In fact, if it weren't for Pearl River Outreach, I doubt very seriously that I would have Miss Gracie Joy.  They have a very special place in my heart.

Make sure you visit the blog and then help spread the word about this amazing opportunity!!

I have Thanksgiving feast pictures to post and Superbowl pics to post (although the outcome wasn't what I was hoping for :( )  Both girls are sick and have been needing some extra TLC.  I'll try to post them tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Just Plain Adorable!

I have stopped taking so many pictures of the girls. Life just takes over. A few days ago, though, they told me they wanted to take pictures. Boy did they ham it up for the camera. There are alot of pics here, but they were just too cute not to post. Here's 5 minutes in the life of my girls :) November 2011 (6 of 19)ps November 2011 (12 of 19)ps November 2011 (13 of 19)ps November 2011 (14 of 19)ps November 2011 (5 of 19)ps November 2011 (8 of 19)ps November 2011 (9 of 19)ps November 2011 (11 of 19)ps November 2011 (19 of 19)ps November 2011 (16 of 19)ps November 2011 (15 of 19)ps

I just love every single one of them.  They were having so much fun...and it shows.  Did you see their nails?  That super chic color looks so cute on them :)

Sunday, November 13, 2011

On to the Superbowl!!

I'm just going to warn you ahead of time....there are lots of pics and I'm an extremely proud mama!

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Cade's football season has been amazing.  They were undefeated until 2 weeks ago when we lost to the Prairieville Broncos.  It was a tough loss, made tougher that the officials were completely one-sided.  (I won't get into that....just know that it's been documented).  We also lost last week's game.  But we made it into the playoffs, which were yesterday.  Guess who we played?  Yep...the Broncos!  We wanted this game so bad!  (So bad that I bought Cade new cleats 3 days ago.  His were not gripping anymore and we were not going to lose this game because I was too cheap to buy new cleats!!)

Going into halftime, we were down 14-0!  I was worried, and thought we might not be able to recover...but we did!  We won the game 20-14.  Our last touchdown was scored with 30 seconds left on the game clock (a pass from Cade).  It was amazing!!  I am so proud of the entire team for working together for this comeback win.  Of course, I have some highlight pics of my favorite #12!!

Bare with me...I took over 500 pics at this game! I guess that's what happens when I don't have 3 yr. olds distracting me :) playoff-0650ps playoff-0802ps playoff-0794ps playoff-0982 playoff-0792ps playoff-1020

Watch this next series of 3 pics.
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He really smoked this kid.  Do you see what he did after?  He tapped on his helment like a drum :)  When I saw it happen, I knew there must be a story behind why he did it.  I asked him last night, but he said he didn't know why he did it.  A part of me didn't like it because it comes of cocky, but he has boys cussing him out there and doing very ugly things when they tackle him.  This was an amazing hit and the energy was definitely shifting our way.  If that's his way of "retaliating" a little...I'm good with that.
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PATRIOTS WIN!!!  20-14
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I love this. 
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My sweet baby boy.  Everything he does, he does with all his might.  This game was a sweet reward for all the hard work he has put in!  (and for mama shelling out $30 for new cleats!!  lol...)
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Now it's time to get back to work preparing for the biggest game next week.  This team is tough, but I can guarantee, they won't work harder than we will this week!!

BTW...I already have a sitter lined up...NO distractions :)
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