Arkansas...a whirlwind trip

Why is it that a three day trip, takes three additional days to recuperate? I'm still putting things away, trying to get my pictures organized and trying to catch up on some sleep.

Poor Baby M had been doing so well with the nighttime routine-going to bed by 10:00pm and then sleeping right thru until 7:00am the next morning-and now we're a bit turned around. Crossing my fingers that it gets back to what I had began to think of as "normal" pretty soon :-) I really should have bought some stock in Pepsi :-)

We got some cute pics of Baby M while we were hanging out at the hotel in Arkansas. I just love watching her personality come out! Our G is a follower and K is a leader; not sure which category Baby M is going to fall into at this point but she is definitely becoming quite the lively little character. Lots of eye contact and verbalizing. Of course with G and K around, she'll have to talk loudly in order to be heard.


"Am I cute or what?"


"Yeah, I knew you would think so!"


This is Baby M with her Arkansas sisters. It got me to thinking about how she has two sisters in Arkansas and two sisters in Virginia. How lucky can a girl be to have four big sisters?


Baby M and her Arkansas family


I love this pic of this beautiful lady and Baby M!

"Are you the Grandma or a really, old Mom"

Yes, that is exactly what someone walked up to me and said. You have to wonder if people just wake-up in the morning and say to themselves, "Today, I'm going to say something to a total stranger that makes me look like a complete a**." I most definitely looked like I could have been the Grandma after spending all day traveling to get to Arkansas but then again, I had just had my hair colored so that should have been the give-away that I was the Mom. (or at least that is what I want to believe:-)

Putting that aside, we had a great visit with Baby M's birthmom last evening and are hoping to get together with her and Baby M's siblings this evening. We had our final court hearing this morning and I just want to shout from the rooftops---YEAH!!!!! Paperwork is complete and Baby M is now officially a member of the Jones family. To us, she's been a member of the family since before we ever laid eyes on her beautiful little face but now it is official to the rest of the world. The following pic was taken with Judge Taylor and our attorney, Greg Klebanoff.



This picture was taken of my sweet girls earlier this week. K really steps into the big sister role when G is at school.

So far, so good.....

K has now officially completed her first week of preschool and by all measures it has been a success. There have been no tears, she's received stickers for good behavior, and she answers "yep" when I ask what she did and if she had fun, but I think this picture really sums it all up!

It's Back to School Time

It's that time of year again-back to school and hopefully some type of routine. G went back to school a couple of weeks ago and now K is starting preschool. It's hard to believe that she's starting school--it seemed like only yesterday that she was Baby M's size and we were bringing her home from Majuro.

Preschool for K will be more social than educational this year(and that's how it should be for 2 1/2 year olds :-) She will be going two mornings a week at the same preschool that G attended and will even have the same teacher. She is so ready! She's got her backpack (thank you to our friend A!) and her new Elmo lunchbox (to hold her snack) and she's off and running.

We attended the orientation this past week and I'm hopeful that when I take her on Monday it will all go smoothly. I'll probably be the one crying in the car!


K and R getting ready to go into the school


"Wow! There's a playground here! This is the best school ever!"


K and Grammy


K with her teachers, Mrs. Watts and Mrs. I.