Family Christmas Party

Every year, my sister holds a family Christmas party. This year was the 15th annual party, so to mark the special occasion, she miraculously got in touch with the big guy and arranged for him to come to the party. The kids were SO excited. Sara was absolutely smitten with the big man, and even got to help him turn the pages of the book, when he read, "The Night Before Christmas." It was a magical night. We are all blessed to have each other.

Yay!

I just checked the website for little Marcus (see below a few posts) and am VERY happy to report that he is no longer available as they have put his file on hold. This means that a family is reviewing his file and will more than likely adopt him!!

Woohoo! This made my day!

Just Because She's So Cute...

11 Months Old

Seriously, didn't I just post about Tessa being 10 months old, like, yesterday? I swear, the time goes by even FASTER for the third kid.

Anyway, our sweet baby is now 11 months old. And, darn it, she keeps growing. I swear today alone her arms grew like 6 inches because she is currently reaching and getting into everything. :)

Here's a few pics of her at bathtime tonight. She's such a sweet baby, we love her SO much.

Could this be your son??

I have fallen in love with this little guy, and if it weren't for two huge roadblocks (1. China says one year between adoptions, and 2. husband says no, lol), I'd be all over adopting him. Since I can't, I figure I'd do the next best thing...advocate on his behalf.

His name is Marcus (okay, I'm sure it's not really, but that's what they refer to him on the website). He is 2 years old and waiting in China. He had a heart condition that was already repaired and is now developing beautifully.

Click on this link:
http://www.aacadoption.com/adoption/waiting_children.aspx
Then scroll down to "Marcus." And I'm warning you...you WILL fall in love.

Sara's Family Day

Five years ago, my sweet Sara was placed into my arms...a day I'll never forget. She is our sweet Rosie (her middle name is Rose), our drama queen, our princess, our blessing. We love her more than life itself...happy Sara day baby! Here's a picture of our goofball, she dressed herself for breakfast. :)

Having fun with facials

10 Months Old!

Yesterday, Tessa turned 10 months old. I can't believe she is only two months away from being one. Sigh.

She is now crawling very well, and gets around great. She desperately wants to pull up on furniture, and at this point gets to her knees, but not her feet. She is waving bye bye, and loves to play "so big!" (When we raise our hands in the air and say so big, she puts her arms above her head too.)

She wears a size 3 diaper, and wears 6-12 months clothes. She weighs 17.5 lbs.

She hates being cold. She hates things on her head. Probably doesn't bode well for a winter in northern MI does it? :)

She is firmly attached to mommy and daddy. The other day we were at a playdate and she was eyeing my friend's muffin (the girl LOVES food). My friend offered her up a bite, and she wouldn't take it. Tried it again, still wouldn't take it. So I took a piece of muffin and gave it to her, and low and behold, she ate it. :) Only wanted food from momma.

She is so sweet...I adore being her mommy. :)

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween here...hope yours was "sweet!"

Whoa...I'm Behind!!

Life has been crazy busy, but so full of love and blessed moments. (Well, okay, other than two out of three of my kids having swine flu last week anyway.)

We had Tessa baptized on October 10th. We've been getting out and enjoying fall festivities when we can, but unfortunately it has been SO rainy here the past week. And, now our entire school district is closed for a whole week due to the swine flu (ick) so hopefully it will quit raining!

All the kids are doing really well. I pinch myself constantly because I feel so blessed and lucky. I still can't believe Tessa is home and that she's mine (well, temporarily on loan anyway, lol). She's so, so, so amazing. She's crawling better and better everyday and she is trying her hardest to pull up now. She is sleeping good lately too. Yay!

Well, I'm off to enjoy a pumpkin donut and glass of wine. :) Happy Fall!

Provin' Me Wrong...

Just when I post that Tessa isn't crawling yet, she goes and proves me wrong. Here's my girl in action. :) Can I just say how much I LOVE my baby girl?? She is such a little cuddle bug...she hangs on to me tight and hugs me. :) Pure bliss.

Nine Months Old!

Wow, our sweet baby girl is nine months old already. 3/4 of her first year are over. It's hard to take sometimes...when you miss out on their early months...but it is what it is.

Tessa Mei continues to do great. She is sweet as pie and we all continue to love on her and dote on her like mad. Yes, she will be spoiled indeed. She isn't crawling yet, probably because she's really only happy on my hip, in her high chair or in her crib. :) Playing on the carpet isn't on her list of "to do's". :)

She has the greatest smile and makes us crack up. She does raspberries better than anyone, and we can't stop kissing her sweet face.

She has pretty much shunned baby food at this point, and loves anything we can feed her that's NOT baby food. :) Her favorite though, is definitely rice! Right now she's munching on a Gerber Banana cookie while I type. Don't tell her it's baby food though!

She is sleeping great...from about 7 pm to 7 am, with one bottle in the night. She actually went three nights in a row last week with no night bottle and we thought we were golden, but not so much. We think she's in a growth spurt right now...she went from drinking about 16 ounces of formula a day last week to about 28 a day this week!

We're so in love with our baby girl...and feel so blessed to have been chosen to parent this angel. :)

Portraits!

I LOVE these pictures of my kids!! These were taken as part of a Celebrate Adoption program where certain participating photographers give you a free sitting for families home with their newly adopted children along with a free set of proofs!

I LOVE them!! We used Lindsey DeYoung...here's her website.

Here's a sampling of the pics she took of my kiddos.

My Big Boy Turns 8!!

Wow, I have an 8 year old...doesn't seem possible. Cuz that would make me old. :)

Jake had a great birthday...even though most of it was spent at school. He is so sweet opening his presents...he's completely grateful for everything he receives. I love that about him.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy...thank you for making me a momma.

My brilliant baby girl....

I love this baby SO much!

Happy Birthday Sara!!

I can hardly believe it...my big girl is five years old today. She is growing and changing and becoming quite the little lady. We love her so much and can't wait to see what her future will bring! Happy Birthday sweet girl...we love you! She was so excited about her presents...especially her fish tank that she's been asking me to get her for weeks now. Tomorrow we'll go get fish to put in it.

Sleeping at the Great Wolf Lodge

Sara's First Day of School & More Tessa Pics

Sara's first day of school was Wednesday. She's not a huge fan of new adventures, but she did really well. She even rode the bus home for the first time...I was so proud of her!

Tessa has been doing really well. She is playing more (doesn't need mommy to hold her as much) and growing a lot. I'm convinced she's gained a couple of pounds in the last few weeks...most of it in her cheeks! :)

First Day of School! And bonus bathtime pics...

Tessa got a new tub seat from a generous neighbor so we gave it a try tonight. She loves water! I love her sweet, goofy little personality. She continues to make us all fall more and more in love with her every day.

Jake is an official second grader!! I'm so proud of him. He tackles new endeavors with such enthusiasm. I envy him that. :) He was very happy this morning as he got the teacher he wanted, and later this year, they get to dissect a sheep's eyeball! What could possibly be better??

At the Beach

Head Over Heels...

Smitten as a kitten. Head over heels. In love. Ah yes...love does NOT divide, it multiplies. Life is far from perfect here as our family of five, but it is a very blessed life.

Tessa's possible helmet consult went well, and between me and the tech, we decided her head wasn't misshapen enough to do the helmet. So, sweet Tessa is now done (for awhile, anyway) with doctors and tests. Phew.

She continues to do very well. She isn't napping the greatest, but I attribute that to the fact that I've got two older, very active kids who aren't keen on staying home all day so Tessa can take two naps. She hasn't been given consistent nap times, and I hope that will change (at least a little) once the kids are in school. She loves to eat. So far, I've not yet met a food she doesn't like. And she's VERY good at feeding herself...much better than being fed with a spoon in fact. A perfect third child, since she's content shoveling carrots and green beans in her own mouth, as opposed to having mommy do it for her.

She still prefers mom, definitely over strangers and even somewhat still over daddy. She likes him though, and loves to play with him. :) The kids still adore her, and want her here...but I'm waiting for that to change at any moment. I fully expect Sara to ask me to send her back at any time. :) Jacob did have a weepy moment over the weekend when he realized that there are only two parental laps in the house and three kids. :( But, he quickly got over it after some good momma lovin'.

In other news, Jake and Sara start school next week. Jake will be in second grade, and Sara in enrichment (like a young fives program). And, I started back to school today in my continued effort to achieve a degree in social work. This semester I'm taking Social Welfare and Gender & Society. I truly love my classes and taking them helps me to find balance as a mom.

That's all for now! Hope everyone enjoys Labor Day Weekend!

Test Results

Tessa's doctor called last night to let me know that the test results were in. From the echo cardiogram, she has a very small hole in her heart (can't remember where, sorry) that will most likely close on its own. We don't need to do anything now, but will probably follow up with another echo in a couple of years.

Also, her cat scan was fine! Yay! So relieved!! The only thing is, they have referred her to an orthopedic and prosthetic office to have her evaluated for a head shaping helmet due to her misshapen head. It's minor, but we'll follow up with that to see that the experts say. Our appointment is on Monday for that.

We've been crazy busy here between Tessa's appointments and getting the kids ready for school. Hopefully we'll get a couple of warm days before school starts, as it feels like fall here already!

Tessa's Catscan

Today, Tessa had her catscan. It was hard to have the nurse take my baby from my arms, but she did really well. They actually gave her some gas to help her fall asleep and keep still during the test. She was pretty mad when she woke up, but settled down after her bottle. She had an echocardiogram on Monday, and hopefully we'll hear the results from both tests soon. Please keep our Tessa in your prayers that all is well with our little peanut.

Pics from the day...she loves her little swing! And a pic of the three of them...man is it hard to get three kids looking in one direction at once!! Hats off to you moms!! :)

We are all progressing well as a family. Tessa continues to bond well to all of us, but still slightly prefers mom. She definitely knows her family though and isn't too keen on strangers holding her yet. She continues to sleep well, maybe waking once per night to get her diaper changed. This blows me away, since neither of my other kids cared when they were wet, or even poopy. Tessa will scream bloody murder when she poops! What a princess!! We love her to pieces and feel very blessed to have been chosen to be her family.

At the Park