Beach nights~

Baby girl flying high with papi :)

Oh my beautiful water baby !

This little monkey just TOOK OFF for the water !

NO fear !

chilin' & eating a bit of sand...ick.

My beautiful bug :) she would be a dolphin

if she could :)

She loved the beach. I couldnt believe how easily she took

to the sand and the water !

Sweet Boo is almost back to normal ... YAY !!

How cute is she is her little bathing suit ?

Living in Florida allows for easy beach access if you wish. I am NOT a person who enjoys being hot and sweaty and full of sand..but give me a beautiful sunset and a cool breeze ? I'm there ! We love heading to the beach as the crowds are going home, and just hanging out, grilling some hot dogs and letting the kids splash around. Perfect evening :)

~The pulmonologist requested baby girl have a chest xray and a "water view" of her sinuses. eek. they were surprised she hadnt had these already. hmmmm, me too. We have to bring the results with us next Wednesday.

~my hubby took the 3 older kids out on the canoe today to the spring. They had a ball splashing and swimming in the COLD water :) baby girl and mama stayed home and took a nap. :)

~my TMJ was acting up like crazy last night and today so I am not feeling my best. Sucks when it hurts every time you move your mouth. Sucking down the ibuprofen tonight.

~so many prayers for all the families that had court today. A bunch of families have been delayed in their adoptions due to their children having been abandoned not relinquished. The Ethiopian government is being pro-active to avoid unethical behaviors which is good, but bad when you are caught in the middle. So many prayers all these families PASSED COURT, and will be traveling very very soon !!!

Get away pictures and dr appts~

Baby girl always finds a reason to
smile :)



This is how we roll ~Baby girl and
Cookie share the stroller when we walk :)

Cuteness pure and simple :)

A bit of mama lovin on her baby boy

(ignore the fact that we are melting..)

I turned to find Boo just hanging on Peanut

and giving him some love. Oh..makes a mama

happy!

My cheeky baby ;)

The kids LOVE camping & hanging on the dock. Really it is just simple, good family time. Pefect in this crazy world of ours.

~My normally sweet Boo has been going thru ....something. Something NOT fun. I pray it is a stage, short lived. Maybe being 3 is scarier then being 2 ..gulp !!!

~The spot on my arm turned out to most likely be OK. BUT the beauty mark (sounds better then mole..) on my tummy needs to be looked into further so I'm waiting for the referral.

~I took Baby girl back to the Dr again for her breathing issues which now sound more like a snore in and out. She is happy and smiling and doesn't appear sick, but at times the sound is quite loud and I don't know if it is causing her any under lying issues. (Heck its been going on since we met in Ethiopia so I am ready to have it diagnosed correctly! ) My ped agreed to send her to a specialist. FINALLY. We are going to see a Pulmonologist. Prayers he is able to hit the nail on the head :) :) :)

~Last but not least...we are taking a loooong hard look at our finances and our debts. We are so ready to live debt free. If you have used Dave Ramsey's books or cds what did you think? So far my dh is really liking what he is hearing.

Have a wonderful weekend !

Just some serious cuteness~

COULD IT GET ANY CUTER THEN THIS??

(double click on them for some SERIOUS eyelashes :)

Gotcha day ~LUCY LANE ~grab tissues..

My bloggie friend Kristi used the same agency we did. ALL GODS CHILDREN. We love them !! Baby girl was at the same transition house has Lucy Lane at the same time :) Kristi had a wonderful "GOTCHA DAY" video made of sweet Lucy Lane's homecoming. She is sharing it with everyone to open our eyes to the amazing blessing of adoption AND to open our hearts to GOD's word. GOD loves orphans and expects us to do the same. Could you love and care for an orphan?
betcha ya could :) :)
HUGS!!!!

While we were gone~

We enjoyed a alot of these little beauties each morning.

Did ya'll notice we were gone? NO ? Really ?? :)

We had planned to attend our agencies Florida picnic, but sadly my hubby had to attend a funeral. So while he was there we took the rv to our favorite lakeside campsite to enjoy a bit of family time. My hubby even left for work from the campground so we could enjoy a couple extra days. He rocks ;)

Baby girl took her last ride in her swing before I sold it on CL. Actually it was like her 4th ride...she never enjoyed it.

I chased this lil cutie all around the dock, while she tried to escape :)


Would you look at those eyelashes ??

I was rewarded with this beautiful smile each time I caught her. Seriously how could you NOT enjoy chasing this baby ??

we enjoyed the 96 degree weather....with 100% humidity

Finally strapped her in for a bit :)

Hubby and the kids did a bit of this ...and alot of fishing

~Had someone ask me if baby girl was picking up the language pretty well since coming home :)

Ummm, I guess, if you consider baby babble at 10 months old to be a language !??! I cant tell you how many people asked me if Boo spoke Spanish when she came home ! At 6 months old ??! too funny :)

~I will share a wonderful coming home video of my friend Kristi and beautiful Lucy Lane with you guys tomorrow, it'll make you cry so grab a tissue first :)

~I have an early dr appt and I'm pooped.Have to have this weird sunspot looked at. Sun in florida is nasty :(

Have a wonderful Friday :) :)

Amazing~

This beautiful child leaves us in awe. I am her mommy. She is our daughter. *Wow* All because we followed the word of GOD. He whispered in my heart. He softened my husbands heart. We listened. He blessed us.
AMAZING.

BABY GIRL IS 10 MONTHS !!

11 WEEKS OLD

HAPPY 10 MONTHS BABY GIRL !!!!! WE LOVE YOU :)

BABY GIRL IS OFFICIALLY 18 PDS

~We are so honored to be your parents.

~you make our family so much better.

~love love your little tiny face :)

~Love you !!!!!!!!!!

BEAT the DRUM ~

BEAT THE DRUM check it out on amazon this is the dvd description ~

"A young, orphaned boy sets out for the big city to find his uncle after a mysterious illness strikes his village. Driven by his determination to survive and his growing social awareness, he finds a way to make an honest living and returns to his village with a truth and understanding his elders have failed to grasp. An emotional and timely drama reminding us how one small voice can be the brave start of colossal change –uniting a village, a township, and even a nation. "

This movie has won 30 international awards and the scenery is just beautiful! It takes place is south Africa. If you have read the book 28 -STORIES OF AIDS IN AFRICA ,which is about the HIV/AIDS crisis in all of Africa you will see so many of the points in this movie. So much of the AIDS crisis is preventable....The little boy was so sweet and strong, with a will to survive which I think reflects our children from Ethiopia. He travels down from his village into the big city after his father dies and the village elder leads his grandmother to do something she didnt want to , and he is crushed (i dont want to give it away so I'm being vague). He finds answers that all the adults around him refuse to see. In the end his desire to survive and be happy and loved is beautiful. It reminds me of all the older children who have been orphaned & ache to find love and security after tragedy. A must see I think :) The only icky part is a short animal sacrifice scene, which I dont think is graphic, but honestly I walked away because I cant handle that stuff. if you want to borrow my copy & I know you a bit, send me an email, and I will send it off to you if you promise to send it back ;)

First Post Placement Cuteness !!

Hiding under her blankie with the binky

Oh how I love this sweet child :) ~we are in the process of weaning the "binky" :( we have gotten it down to only bedtimes but lately she is sneaking off and hiding under tables or behind the couch w/ them ...

Oh my !! How beautiful is this little face ?

What a sweet spirit this child has. I am so blessed to be her Mama.

judging from these pictures I found when I down loaded
CLEARYLY I'm the big "Wow wow wubbzy" fan :) :)



~We had a long night tonite...baby girl and Bug are both feeling yucky. Baby girl threw up 4 times in an hour then (so far) not again. Hate hate it when a baby is sick :( Bug was on my bed most of the day with a tummy ache and Boo was cranky, so she isnt feeling good. Prayers that this cootie ends tonight and everyone is happy in the morning would be sooooo wonderful :)

~We had our first post-placement visit with our social worker last night. It went so wonderful. We love our sw. She handled our adoption homestudy for Boo from Guatemala and now Baby girls adoption. For those who dont know, Ethiopia requires a post placement report to be done by a sw at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months home. After that parents are required to send a report yearly, until the child reaches 18. Our agency also required a deposit that will be refunded after the first year of reports are done. I dont mind and actually think the reports are a wonderful idea. Countries deserve to know their children they have trusted to adopting families are doing well. It shows that adoption works :)

~Our sw was so thrilled to meet baby girl and agreed she is just beautiful :) Baby girl showed off by being extra cute an smiley and standing up whenever she had the chance :) She said all the kids she has met from Ethiopia have adjusted so well and are just so happy. I have to agree :)

~I watched an awesome movie tonite about Africa and the HIV/aids crisis. It was really a beautiful movie, I'll share about it tomorrow.