Top 5 Best Things About Being An Adoptive Parent

The top five best things about being an adoptive parent:

5. The travel-we've had the opportunity to see China, the Marshall Islands and parts of the United States that we wouldn't have otherwise considered visiting.

4. The experiences-we've gotten to see and do things that wouldn't have been in our realm of possibilities if we'd had a biological family. Russ and I got to spend a lot of quality time together each time we made that 2 1/2 hour drive to Norfolk to renew our fingerprints!

3. The people-we've met people, made friends and became family with people that have become so dear to our hearts that it is impossible to imagine life without them. We can now proudly say that we have friends and family from all over the world!

2. And occasionally I get to gloat when someone says, "you look wonderful-how did you keep the pregnancy weight off?"

1. And the number one best thing about being an adoptive parent :-)

We've got another baker in the house!

K and I made our first batch of "bookies" (also known as cookies :-) together last evening. Now mind you, they were only pull-aparts dipped in sprinkles, but my girl was ecstatic about the finished project. She was so happy with the end results that she wanted to keep the entire pan to herself (a girl after my own heart!)


Did I really make these "bookies"?


Can I eat the "bookie" yet?

Two Cute Girls!

Maddie went for her first well-baby visit this past Tuesday. She weighs 9.3 lbs and is now 21.5 inches long. She's grown 2.5 inches since birth and gained almost 3 lbs---she's growing way too quickly!

You can see in these pictures how round her little punkin' is getting--cheeks have filled out and a little double-chin is now present. We've also officially switched over to the next clothing size-scary to think that she only wore those things for five weeks!

Still Catching Up.....

I'm still trying to catch-up from when R and the big girls were sick over the holiday :-( I had gotten the girls matching July 4th t-shirts so that I could get a group picture and then when everyone got sick, my plans were put on hold.

This past weekend was Grammy's birthday, so it was an excellent time to get my July 4th pic and to catch some family shots.


July 4th 2011


Grammy and Maddie


Helping Grammy blow out the candles


"Okay, enough pictures! Is it time to get in the pool yet?"


K and D-daddy


"How's this for cheesy?"

Post Script to the Bug

Okay, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water......R has the virus that the big girls had. I'm going to need some hair color and possibly a strong alcoholic drink by the time this is over!

Maddie had her newborn pics taken yesterday by one of my friends, who happens to be a wonderful photographer. You can see her work here, Receveur Publishing at http://receveurpublishing.smugmug.com I wanted to make this an active link but my sleep deprived brain can not make it work this morning :-(

Not too many new pics taken by moi to post because yesterday was tied up with newborn pics, dentist visits for the big girls and R being sick but I did get a photo of that beautiful blanket that Mimi made for Maddie.

It came, it made the big girls sick, and then it left-THANKFULLY!

I think there was a holiday in the past week but somehow it managed to escape me. K woke up with a fever this past Friday and by Saturday morning, I was certain she had strepthroat, so off to the doctor we went. It turned out to be a virus--you know the kind I'm talking about, the go home and just suffer thru it kind. Poor K had such a sore throat that she wouldn't eat anything and then in all my infinite parenting wisdom, I gave her ibuprofen on an empty stomach and so she proceeded to "decorate" my bed in the middle of the night. What a mess (and a valuable learning experience)!

If all that wasn't bad enough, by Sunday afternoon G had a fever. I was terrified that Maddie was going to get it, or even worse than that, would have been R-hehehe, but thankfully, it ran it's course and both big girls are now back up and running at full speed. Mucho thanks to Grammy for keeping G overnight while she recuperated!

While G was at Grammy's, K had a little "sister time" with Maddie. I love these pics of my two baby girls.





Everyone has been so generous with visits, offers of help, meals and gifts since we've been home. Thank you notes will be forthcoming but it just may take me a little time :-) My Aunt J sent a beautiful christening gown and handmade hat and blanket. It's hard to see in the picture but the dress has beautiful lace and beading on the front.


Thanks Aunt J for the beautiful gifts!


Modeling our new hat

Yesterday, Mimi and Papa stopped by to bring a handmade knit blanket that Mimi had made. I don't have pictures of it yet, but it is soft, the most gorgeous shade of pink, and beautiful. I did manage to catch a pic of them with the girls.



Along with the gift of the blanket, was some tissue paper. Who would have guessed that tissue paper could be so much fun. These pics bring to mind, visions of the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz :-)





And finally,is this baby growing or what?

Recap of our last couple of days in Arkansas

It's hard to believe that it's been a week since we left Arkansas! The time seems to be flying by very quickly and Maddie is growing and changing daily.

I held off posting the last couple of days we were in Arkansas so that I didn't ruin the surprise of coming home early but want to go back and make a couple of notes so that I don't forget as time goes by.

Our last two days were bittersweet to say the least. Our birthmom was feeling much better and was able to spend a good amount of time with us those last couple of days. We knew at that point when we were leaving and had communicated that to her and we were working to finalize rental cars, etc. At that point, it was almost like a countdown in which no one really wanted to talk about.

When she was in the hospital, we had talked about going to visit the Marshallese stores in Springdale so that I could find some guams (Marshallese dresses) for the girls and some handicrafts (specifically the handwoven baskets). Wednesday evening we all got in the car and she took us to several stores and then as we were driving thru Springdale, she showed us where she worked and some of the places/things that she and the kids like to do.

Even though I was crazy homesick missing my girls, I really wanted to spend some more time with her and her kids. Our last night, we went to dinner at the OK Chinese Buffet and she gave us some gifts. Earlier in the week, I had given her a locket engraved with Maddie's name and birthdate and a small engraved box to keep it in. She gave us the most beautiful handmade picture frames with pictures of Maddie and us in them. What made the gift more meaningful was that these were things that belonged to her that she was now gifting to us--being the strong, silent type that I am (hahaha)I was in tears when she handed them to me. I'm hoping you can see the detail in the close-up picture of just how intricate the frames are. We were in the Marshall Islands for a month and I didn't see anything like these the whole time we were there.