Beautiful

I have been wanting to get the girls photo done at one of those fancy schmancy photography places. One thing that has stopped me is Ella's anxiety in new places and there is no way she was going to cooperate and the other is money. I know, from past experiences, that even if they tell me no sitting fees I will walk out of there with a couple hundred dollars worth of photos that I can't afford.

After reminding myself that I took photography in college and I should be able to get a cute shot of two kids I decided to give it a try. I quickly remember that these are my kids and they don't always cooperate for photos. After feeding them and begging Jetty to put on a dress we went out to the backyard for our photo shoot.

So sweet...its the picture that I dreamed of.

This little moment was quickly followed by a bunch of giggles.

Back to the Beach... and Oh Susanna..

Even though we have been enjoying the sand at the beach for the last month we actually ventured into the water yesterday. It was freezing but the girls had a great time. Ella is in her element at the beach and walks away from me easily and plays in the sand. She is usually wrapping herself around me like a little monkey or holding on to my hand. Watching her confidence at the beach is such a wonderful thing to see. It was like a little vacation and my friend Elizabeth and I kept saying what a great place we live in and vowed to meet with the kids at least once a week. I can't believe I didn't take any photos but I will try to on the next beach visit.



Ella has always been a little singer. She is a girl of few words but there is always a song right on the edge of her tongue. Lately, the song of the hour is "OH Susanna". Did I say hour, I meant the song of the minute. She sings it all day long "OH nunana, cry me" usually with some item in her hand for a microphone. I finally got some video in which her microphone is a flower.

Happy Easter

Wishing you a sweet and blessed Easter. Give lots of love to everyone around you.

Go Daddy!

Doug's race season started last month and it has been really good with top 10 finishes and even a third place. Today is his longest race, I think it is about 63 miles. The girls and I are crossing our fingers and our toes that him and his team have a great race. As Jetty would say... GO Daddy GO!

Spring is in the air

We have fully embraced spring and all the lovely pastels, birds, and chocolate candies that come along with the season. The girls have already enjoyed two Easter egg hunts and the big one is coming up on Easter at Grandma's and Papa's. Last Saturday we enjoyed time at the park and an Easter egg hunt with one of the local Families with Children from China and then Wednesday we had a great time at Caroline's and David's for yet another wonderful hunt and party. Elizabeth, Caroline's and David's Mommy always does such a great Easter hunt for our playgroup. I am not able to go the playgroup as often as I would like and I just love the time spent with a group of wonderful Moms.

The little birds scampering around the yard for bits of dog hair for nests has really entertained the girls. We watched a little finch picking up dog hair at the sliding glass while we were eating dinner last night. After dinner Doug brushed Hudson and put the big pile of hair on the back patio. The girls have watched the little finches come back throughout the day until the pile was gone. Now we have to be detectives in the back yard and try to find the nests.

Jetty also wanted to do some baking so we made little birds nest to bring to her class today. It worked out double good for us because the letter of the week was E. Not only was it a little Easter treat to share but it was also a show-n-tell Egg for E. Ella loves helping in the kitchen but I have quickly learned to have a separate little bowl because she eats most of the ingredients. As you can tell from the photos she was enjoying the chocolate.

On another note.... I was lucky enough to meet a fellow blogger and adoptive parent last year. They are in the process of adopting another beautiful daughter. Both of their daughters were waiting children and will need significant medical intervention for the rest of their life. They are an amazing family and I so admire what they are doing and the love that they are sharing. They are doing some different fund raisers right now so if you would check out their blog that would be great. http://aladyblog.blogspot.com/

Final Post Placement Report

Wahoo! We finally had our last visit with a social worker for Ella's post-placement report. It is so nice to have all of those visits behind us. Now I just need to finish the re-adoption paperwork so we can have a birth certificate registered with the State of Florida.

This is the newest thing the girls enjoy doing. They run to the couch and start cuddling each other while promptly yelling to me "CAMERA, CAMERA, PICTURE." Too cute!

A New Car

You know how things don't always turn out like you plan. I planned on keeping my mini-van for at least another year but it seems that the van had another idea. I know that a mini-van is ideal for a family but I was really getting bored with driving a mini-van and I needed (okay, wanted) something a little more hip. Doug soon convinced me that a Mini or Volkswagen bug convertible might not be big enough so I started to look at SUVs. I never realized how small SUVs seem inside. I guess anything is small after a van.
Doug and I always liked the Element but I wasn't completely sold on the idea. I know the Element is one of those vehicles you either love or hate. I have always liked the way they look. But then again, I have always liked boxy vehicles. My friend in high school had the coolest 1970s boxy orange Volvo. He did break down often but I thought it was the coolest car.
Well, I now have my own boxy orange car and I love it. Next to the Mini van it was the most kid friendly vehicle I could find. You can mop the floor, and vacuuming up beach sand is so easy. Another plus is that it came with a good sound system. We are usually rocking out to Dan Zanes and Father Goose but on the rare occasion there are no children in the car I have been enjoying some of my music. I finally deleted some of the kids music on my MP3 and started adding some new music for me. I love some of the kids music out there but I had over a 100 kids songs on my MP3. I couldn't tell you the name of all the kids songs but I bet I know all the lyrics:)