Joy

"Joy " would be the best way to describe this Christmas. The only thing that could have made it better was if Daddy wasn't working:( We celebrated on the 23rd with Doug's family and had a great time with Grandma Dorothy, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Libby, Aunt LeAnn, KayLee and Jimmy. The girls loved running around the backyard at night and swinging with Jimmy.



Since Doug was working Christmas day, we had our celebration and Santa visit Christmas eve. I made Thai food and Aunt Cindy came over to help us celebrate. Good food, a good friend and lots of love. Jetty had been asking for a doll that looks like her and I just wasn't able to find an asian doll in the style I wanted. I ended up making the girls each a doll with matching outfits. Jetty's with long black hair and Ella's with brown hair and bangs. They turned out to be a hit which makes me so happy! We also pulled my baby doll cradle out of the attic that my Dad made me. I sewed a new matress and pillows and it makes me so happy to see it in the girls room. And after telling everyone "no plastic toys" we bought the biggest piece of plastic we could find. It is a playhouse for the back yard and Doug set it up so cute. He built a wood deck and added landscaping. When I crawled inside with the girls and Ella promptly pushed me back out and shut the door behind me. I guess we need a "no adults " sign for the door.



On Christmas day the girls and I went to my parents house to celebrate. I have such a large family and the always have a great time. Thank you all for playing with the girls and your wonderful gifts. The girls are so lucky to have two families that love them so much. The girls received lots of cute matching clothes that they love and new matching Crocs which are also a big hit. Ella received some great hazelnut tree blocks with little gnome dolls. Jetty was lucky enough to get a real violin from my parents. Since she was two she has put wood spoons under her chin and pretended to play a violin. She just loves to try and play it and it is the cutest thing you have ever seen.



We feel so grateful for our family. Christmas last year was a blur and difficult. We came back from China on the 23rd. We had terrible jet-lag and a very sick baby. Christmas was truly a Joy this year and very merry!

I hope everyone has an amazing and blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas!

We wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!

The drawing is by Jetty and she calls it..."Jetty and Ella Dancing by the Christmas Tree"

Busy, Busy

We have been very busy these last couple of weeks. I had my Studio Open House which was lots of fun. It was great seeing everyone and a big thank you to everyone who came by that night and the following week. I posted a few photos of my studio ready for the open house. I didn't realize how many goods I had until I started pulling things out. I need to give my wonderful Hubby big loves and kisses for watching the girls so I am able to get in the studio once a week to create things. I so appreciate that time. I sent some of the left over items to my favorite Gallery in town
http://www.mosquitomudpottery.com/gallery/index.html

Our little town also had their Christmas parade which the girls really enjoyed. After the regular Christmas parade they put on a boat parade in the evening. We went down to our sailboat and watched the parade from there. The girls enjoyed practicing their knot tying while they waited for the boats.

We also ventured up to St. Augustine for dinner that week to enjoy their Christmas lights. I love St. Augustine in the winter and it is also where I attended college which adds to my fondness of the city.

http://www.flagler.edu/
The tree is decorated and was ready just in time for a little Christmas get-together we hosted with our local Families with Children from China group. It was great seeing all the beautiful little girls and chatting with the
Moms and Dads. I hope we are able to get together more often.

One Year Ago Today

It has been one year ago today (Dec. 11 2006)that sweet little Ella was placed in our arms. She has changed so much in the last year. Ella has gone from a sick, scared and very anxious little baby to a sweet, loving and secure little toddler. She is a little cuddle bug just like her sister and she keeps us on our toes. We are so blessed to have her in our life.

A Walk in the Woods

The other day we took a nice walk in the woods. Jetty was on a mission to collect items to make a fairy house and pine cones to make turkeys for Thanksgiving. It is a nice slow walk when you have a 22 month old and a 4 year old on a mission to pick up anything that looks like a pine cone, acorn, hickory nut, or moss. It is a good reminder to be more observant and enjoy nature. Daddy rides his bike on these trails and we even passed some of his fellow cyclists that were out for a run.

The fairy house turned out fabulous and is now located in our back yard. All 11 sweet little pine cone turkeys have found new homes with family members.

I probably won't be able to post for a week because I am getting ready for my annual Studio Open House. I will have lots of handmade goods for sale and the wine is chilling.

Fall

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Doug worked :( and the girls and I spent the day enjoying wonderful food and a great time with family. The weather was actually warm enough for Jetty to take a dip in the pool with her fun cousins.

We are so ready for cool weather by the time fall rolls around. The backyard is calling for us to hang out , enjoy dinner outside, and hang out by the fireplace. We love the cooler weather.

The Fair

We took the girls to the county fair for the first time. I really wasn't expecting to stay long but it turned out to be a big hit. Jetty LOVED the fair. I never would have guessed it. My little girl who doesn't like loud noises and lots of stimulation couldn't get enough. We ended up being there for 4 hours. I really wasn't prepared for that and I didn't even bring the stroller. Doug rode most of the rides with Jetty and poor Ella wasn't big enough for even the kiddie rides. There is a photo of her standing at the gate looking into the ride. She got to the point she tried to pry the gates apart to get in... she didn't get upset she was just very determined. She did enjoy running around and having me chase her since I nixed the stroller. Next time I will bring the stroller:) The last photo is the rush she received from the sugar in the funnel cake. Ahhhh funnel cakes and fairs.

Sea World

This post is about 2 weeks late.. We were lucky enough to meet up with Lisa and Maisie a couple of weeks ago at Sea World. Lisa and Eammon http://babyshanahan.blogspot.com/ were in our travel group when we went to China to get Ella. Maisie and Ella lived together at the same SWI in China. Maisie is doing so wonderful and it was so great to see them both. Lisa never saw much of Ella in China because she spent the whole time bundled up in my sling. She liked it so much that she decided to stay in there for about 4 months:) I can't believe it has been almost a year since our beautiful daughters were placed in our arms.

We also met Lisa's blogging friend http://www.aladyblog.blogspot.com/ . It was so great meeting Rebecca and even cooler was that her beautiful daughter was from the same SWI as Jetty. Their second daughter is still in China and I can't wait to see her home with her family.

Lucky Mama, Lucky Daughters

Jetty and Ella's Daddy finished the rock wall for his girls last week. He did a great job and Jetty is in heaven. He already plans on making it taller which will thrill Jetty. The taller the better. I was also pampered herehttp://www.riverviewhotel.com/spa/ last weekend. It was a wonderful girls day and very relaxing. We are truly some lucky girls to have such a wonderful man in our life. Thanks Sweetie.

We also had the privilege of meeting friends at Sea World on Tuesday. Old friends and new. I will post more about it as soon as I load the photos.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween. Jetty wanted to be "Supremo Girl". Supremo Girl is a superhero that Jetty made up a few months ago. I made her costume about a month ago and she has been wearing most of it for this whole month. I am glad she likes it so much:) I made Ella a cute mermaid skirt but she isn't really fond of it so we dragged out a fairy outfit from the dress-up box she seems to like. It is amazing how they know what they want at such a young age:) The photos are of the girls at the pumpkin patch and our friends Halloween party last weekend. Jetty's pumpkin won for most humorous. She designed the face on paper and Daddy carved it with her help.

Halloween at Sea World

I am a little late with this post. We actually went to Sea World a couple of weeks ago. They do a Halloween thing all month where the kids dress-up and trick-or-treat and there are bands. We went to see these guys http://www.dirtysockfuntimeband.com/main.php but it was too loud for Jett. We still had a great time and always enjoy the animals. My husband also enjoys the Mermaids:) You could wait to get your picture taken with the mermaid and my girls wanted nothing to do with her but as you can tell from the photo, Doug was happy to get his photo taken.

Chicken Noodle Soup

The girls love helping me in the kitchen. The other day Jetty was helping me cut up cooked chicken with a small paring knife. I noticed Ella watching Jetty and then she ran to their kitchen play set and dug through the bins to find a play knife. She then came back over to me with the knife and signed "help". It was so cute and I was so proud of her communicating and not screaming. I promptly pulled a chair over for her to stand on and gave her a cutting board with some cooked chicken. She loved banging the chicken with the knife and then promptly gobbling it up. They are the cutest little chefs I have ever seen.

Sweet little Jetty was sick last week but thankfully is doing much better. She has been having recurrent high fevers and last week it lasted longer and she had stiff joints. So far all tests have been negative and hopefully the fevers won't continue coming in cycles. If the fevers come back in a few weeks we will be going to a specialist.

Our Little Animal Lover

Ella has loved our two big dogs since the day we brought her home. We have two amazing dogs that put up with all her loving. Ella loves to tell sweet Hudson to sit so she can lay on him. Oh the joy of having your own little horse.

Monsters

Jetty loves coming out to the studio with me. She has her own little area with her art supplies and usually does her own thing for a while and eventually ends up at my work table trying to help in her sweet little way. The other day when we were out in the studio Jetty came up with a great idea just in time for Halloween. She came to me with a drawing of a monster and she said "He is a good monster that scares away bad dreams." She then asked me if we could make him. How could I resist so I put down my work and we picked out fabric and ribbon and started to create. I showed her how to stuff the arms and legs and she did a great job. I have to say "Henry" turned out to be a cute little monster just right to scare away any bad dreams. I might just try and make some more for my shop. I just need to come up with a cute little poem or something to go with them.

Our Fearless Rock Climber

Jetty always wants an adventure. She has been asking to go rock climbing and we decided to take her to a rock climbing gym. http://www.aiguille.com/home/index.shtml

Jetty is truly the extreme adventurer. No rock wall would be high enough for her. We would be in a store and Jetty would stare at the high rafters and tell me she wants to be up there. The higher the better.

Unfortunately, our little peanut didn't weigh enough to be on belay but she was able to boulder just above the painted line and crash on to the crash pad. She had a great time and we promised her that when she reaches 40 pounds we will go back so she can be on belay and climb to the top. She has gained 2 pounds in almost 2 years so I think it will be awhile. Daddy will probably build one attached to her play set. Ella enjoyed running around and jumping on the crash pads. I am sure she will be climbing in no time. Whatever her big sister is doing she wants to join in on the action.

Snorkeling with Daddy

What a special time to cherish. That special moment with your Daddy. Jetty and Ella are so lucky to have such a patient and loving Daddy who shows them so many adventures.

Two months ago Doug showed Jetty how to snorkel in the pool. She picked it up right away and we decided she had enough practice in the pool. She really enjoyed snorkeling at Alexander Springs http://underwaterflorida.homestead.com/alexander.html . This is such a great spring for kids to explore with a nice gradual sand beach. Now I can't wait to take her to the Keys http://www.fla-keys.com/ where there are bigger fish to see.

Is it Jetty or Lisa Loeb?????

Jetty has moved on from her love of Laurie Berkner to Lisa Loeb.

http://lisaloeb.com/ Mommy and Daddy are both very grateful. Daddy doesn't mind at all watching the "Jenny Jenkins" video. Wink;)Wink;) I personally think she has great style and very cool glasses. Jetty has since decided that she wanted glasses. She started out saying she wanted glasses like Mommy's but then the truth came out. She really wanted to look like Lisa Loeb. She also wants to sing on stage with her. Do any of you have any connections out there?

I am a very lucky Mama of two very stylish looking rock stars. The girls just love the "Catch the Moon" video with Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell. Ella reaches up to the sky to try and catch the moon.

Joining the blogging world

Yes, I have decided to join the blogging world. I am not the best at journaling for my girls so I thought this would be a great way to get a journal in a couple times a week . You notice that I didn't say everyday because I am realistic and I know that most of my days are taken up running around after a 4 year old and 1 year old. We spend most of our days creating art, playing outside, pretend cooking, real cooking, reading books, and cuddling (lots and lots of cuddling). I am also lucky enough to have a wonderful husband that gives me "Mama Time" in my studio so I am able to create something without the girls.
I hope this blog will also let our friends and family, who we are not lucky enough to live close to, get a little glimpse at our girls lives. It is so much fun to go on new adventures with them everyday and I hope to share a little bit of that with you.
Mel