Baby Brody is Here!

My niece Kayla gave birth to Brody on November 20, just a few minutes after midnight. He is such a beautiful baby, just under 7 lbs and 20 inches long. He is soooo tiny, it feels like you are holding nothing. They Kayla was fantastic and I am so proud of her, she handled labor like a champ! Terri (aka Nana) is over the moon. We were all anxious to see what Grace would think about him, she has been everyone's baby since we came home. We went to see Brody yesterday when they came home. We have been talking about Brody (or as Grace says Bodie) trying to prepare her for the meeting. I was so proud. She didn't even mind when Nanny and Pappy held him and that is a big deal. Congratulations Kayla and Jody! Meet my new nephew...

Kayla and Brody, isn't she beautiful and on the day she gave birth!


My nephew Brody


Nanny showing Grace her new cousin!

Pappy inspecting Brody. This kid has the longest toes and biggest feet I have ever seen!

Whats been happening...

Grace now has a big girl bed. She had absolutely no trouble transitioning from a baby bed to a full bed. She is loving having lots of room.

Constantly amazes me the things she says. She and I were going out the door the other day and she said "Ellie (our dog) stay here." They really do pay attention.

Still working on potty training

School is going well. I have an A in 5 of my classes and 1 B.

Had fun on Halloween. Even though I was running like I had my hair on fire! Didn't feed my daughter until 8pm. Thank goodness we had candy to see us through.

One of Grace's first words was duck. I have no idea why, but it always amazed how she pronounced it perfectly. She likes those hard, definite sounds like k and t. Whenever she sings Old McDonald she does duck over and over. She has many ducks that accompany her in the bath. She has many, many stuffed ducks as well. Well I thought it was appropriate...

Have you ever seen such a cute duck?

She ALWAYS thinks her Pappy is hilarioussssss.

But he was really funny with her duck head on.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took a trip to the pumpkin patch. I had planned to make our annual trip to the pumkin farm last week, but Grace and I both visited the dr last week. So we waited until we were both feeling good. And Sunday was the second anniversary of Grace's referral, so it was nice to do something fun to remember the day.

Just like last year Kristan, Kayla, Grace and I had a fantastic time. Kayla is due next month so we'll have baby Brody with us next year. I figure Grace will try to leave him under a pumkin or something. She has been the only baby for so long and now everyone is going to be playing with this little boy. I am guessing that she won't take that well. Here are some photos from the day...

Fall is Here

Fall has arrived!!! I love fall. Sweaters, football, leaves falling... it just the greatest time of year. Remember how fun it was going back to school in the Fall. You missed your friends. You were bored. My favorite was shopping for school clothes. I miss getting tons of new clothes just because it is Fall. Grace gets that privilege now. I am very proud to say that I have almost all of her new Fall clothes washed and ready to go. I have also been going through last year's things and pulling the things she can still wear. However I DREAD the chore of putting away the Summer things.

People always say this about their kids, but I am so amazed how grown up Grace is getting. She is sooooo tall. She has gone from wearing 12-18 mos clothes this summer to a 2T for fall. She still has a 12-18 butt, however she is just so long. There is no way she is wearing any pants, other than leggings, this fall.

She acts grown up too. She just cracked me up the other day. We were shopping and she had been in the stroller all day and I knew she needed to stretch her legs. We went in Old Navy and I got her out of the stroller while I looked at things for her. I looked over and she was standing at the low racks, not destroying things but moving the hangers like she was shopping. She did that the entire time we were in there. My child likes cell phones, computers, shopping. She is also noticeably partial to men. I could be in trouble.

Here are a few photos of Grace doing her favorite thing. Doesn't she look big?

Quick Update

School is great. I am taking six classes and have all A's. Yay for me. Grace is doing wonderful. Getting more and more spoiled every day. I am looking into child care centers. I think part time would be great for her. She spends so little time with children her own age. We live in a rural area so there are no Mother's Day Out kind of things. She sees her friends at church once a week. I am hoping to get her into the child care center where I am doing my child care practicum. I work there four hours on Wednesday and do activities, lesson planning, etc. The director is the instructor of a couple of my classes.

This weekend I got together with old friends. We had the best time. These four are true friends. My friend Sandra has a daughter, Kennady, who is a couple of months older than Grace. I wish we could get together more often. Even though we live 5 minutes apart, it is tough with work, school, etc. I am going to make sure I do better about getting these two together more.

Grace almost seemed like she didn't know what to do with someone her size. She was much more interested in playing with my friend Melissa's daughter Claire, who is quite grown up and in school now. Here are a few pictures.

Kennady and Grace were playing nicely. Until they both discovered a keyboard. They were trying to push each other off the ottoman.

Isn't Claire beautiful?

The Smile Award

Thank you, thank you, thank you to my dear friend Melissa for giving me the Smile Award. There is no way I can convey adequately my great respect for her and the fact that she thought of me just makes me smile.

The award was created by Laura. Here is the low down on the award:
Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude.
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

These are the rules for The Smile Award.
1. The recipient must link back the the award’s creator.
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

People I’d like to give the award to:

I could never have gotten through Grace's adoption without Susan. She and I talked on the phone every night. She listened to my obsessing and my ranting. I am so thankful that we are able to visit each other and that our girls will grow up knowing each other.

Melanie is one of the strongest, Christ-centered people I have ever met. She has handled great adversity with grace and optimism. This woman is already a mom and her Kaylee will be blessed with a great mom.

I have always been very touched by Kelly O and her family. I was most touched by Kelly's boys. I, along with lots of other people, prayed that the boys would both join her family. I love seeing them on her blog. God is good.

Traci called me shortly after I brought Grace home. She was researching my agency. This lady has been through alot for her two kids. She loves her family. Her son was adopted from the same orphanage as Grace.

I first got to know Jonathan when we were both waiting for referrals. Then I had the privilege of meeting Jonathan's son Parker when he was just a few days old. He was left at the orphanage just before I arrived to meet Grace. He continually amazes me at the lengths he goes to to insure that Parker keeps in touch with his culture. He is a great dad.

Celebrity Crush

In response to Kelly's post, here's my crush. Justin.

It's been soooo long.

I have been a terrible blogger. Things have been so crazy and most of my free time is spent studying. School is great. I am having so much fun. All my classes are education and are interesting. Now I am going to pat myself on the back a little. I passed all my licensing tests. These are the test normally taken after you have completed classes and are ready to graduate. I took them on the front end, when I was hoping to get alternative licensure so I coiuld go to school while teaching. These tests are what they stress in all my classes and I have them behind me. I attribute my good fortune not to my amazing brain, but to the fact that I have spent my career writing grants for children's programs.

Gracie is doing fantastic. She had a hard day this week. She was whiney and nothing satisfied her. She was back to her old self the next day. Even little people have an off day sometimes. We are still working on potty training. I am happy to say she has not regressed. I was afraid that might happen when I started back to school and was not right there with her.

She is staying with Nanny while I am at school. She is getting so, so, so spoiled staying there four days a week(shocker huh). A recent conversation I had with my mother - "Mother don't pick her up every time she asks you to, she is a big girl and can walk on her own two feet." She replied "I am going to pick her up as long as I am able, I am not telling that baby no." Now who do you think is in charge while I am at school?

I am really, really wanting to get her into childcare part time. However I am having a hard time gathering my courage. Last time was terrible for both of us. She went for three days and I was called to come and get her by 10am each morning. Now you might think I am exaggerating when I say my daughter can scream lounder and for longer than any other child I have ever seen. Hey all kids are loud right? Not like Grace. And she has amazing staying power. But I need to ease her into this very, very, very slowly. At a snail's pace kind of slow.

Visiting Good Friends and Big News

Recently Grace and I went to visit Susan and Petunia! My dear friend Susan is recovering from a very painful foot surgery. My sister Terri, Grace and I had the best time visiting with everyone. Petunia is the most petite little thing. Grace looked like Yao Ming standing beside her and Grace is only three months older.

Saying hello and getting reacquainted.

Looking at books with Petunia's Aunt Lulu. The girls are both standing flat on the floor.

Here Petunia is standing on the stool she uses while playing in her kitchen. Grace is standing on the floor. Grace loved that kitchen.

Grace really loved Petunia's Nana. I am not sure how Petunia felt about that.

The big news is that I start school tomorrow!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!? I have wanted to do this for years and on Thursday I decided to go back to school. Friday I registered. It has all happened very, very fast. A degree in Early Childhood Education will take about 50 hours for me to complete. I am so excited and nervous. I graduated from college in 1991. Things are very, very different now. Fortunately my niece Kristan (Grace's beloved former nanny) and I are going to the same university. She can help me get up to speed with how things work these days.

Up to this point my career has been in Resource Development, almost exclusively for nonprofits dealing with the education of young children and at risk children. I hope to finish up my degree in summer 2009. Please keep me in your prayers. As a grantwriter I am very aware of the educational needs of children and the obstacles they face. That is why I want to teach.

What will she eat next?

Grace is a great eater. I have always been very thankful that she will eat anything and I don't have to coax her during mealtime. Grace loves salads, tomatoes, grapes...all the stuff that is good for her. Grace also loves cookies and ice cream. She isn't crazy about meat but she loves bacon. She has a very diverse diet. Today Grace did some eating. After her nap she had watermelon. We were outside and had a great time. Later in the afternoon she had another snack. Crayons. She will be pooping a rainbow for the next couple of days.

What's been going on?

Today we had a glorious day! Temperatures were in the high 80s with a nice breeze. What a relief! Grace was thrilled to spend lots of time outdoors today. She would play on the gym set, run and swing in the gazebo and then run to the glider to sit. She did this over and over and over. She discovered the big girl swing and thinks that is the way to go.







While on one of her infamous indoor climbs Grace bloodied her nose. You can't really see it (even though she was trying hard to show it off) but she has a cut on her right nostril and a puffy lip. Do you think it stopped her from climbing? NO. But bless her heart after a bloody nose she still smiled.


We have also been working hard potty training. Grace has had several successes but she made me so proud yesterday. I was running her bathwater and she walked over and picked up her little seat that fits on the toilet. She laid it on the toilet so I asked her if she needed to potty. She lifted her arms up and when I sat her on the potty she immediately started peeing! Isn't it funny how the little things mean so much.

Hot, Hot, Hot

It has been in the high 90s here with 90-100% humidity. I was in Vietnam in December/January so temps were mild. However I can't imagine it is much hotter in Vietnam than it is here. I have no new pictures. When I walk outside my camera lens fogs up. When the sun hits your skin it feels kind of like it does when you first realize you are getting a sunburn. Saturday I was out with my sister and she said it was hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell.

Grace really misses playing outdoors. She has all this energy she needs to run off and she gets upset that Ellie gets to go out and she doesn't. Grace will do her best to escape when I let Ellie out. She will stand at the door and cry "OUTSIDE!!!!" Ellie takes care of her business and runs back to the door to come inside. She isn't a very outdoorsy dog.

The proofs from Grace's two year pictureswere FINALLY posted. My child doesn't smile for posed pictures. I tried all the little stuff that makes her laugh and she just looked at me like I was crazy. It occurred to me later I should have let her hold my car keys. If she gets her hands on a set of keys she will push the panic button over and over again. she thinks it is hilarious that she controls the car horn. We got one, little smile. And it is not one of the better shots. Even though there is no smile she looks so sweet and very grown up. I put her in one of the hand embroidered, smocked dresses I bought (for $5) in Vietnam and she looks so pretty. Yellow is a good color for her. The only smile came from a photo taken while chasing the photographer's dog.

It's Here!

A Party for Gracie

We had a very low key celebration on Thursday. Pappy brought her a tricycle that she loves, especially the fringe on the handlebars. She opened a few toys. Last night we had a big party for the two year old. My house was packed with friends and family. We had Grace's favorite for dinner - corn on the cob. Then came the presents!

The Dora tent was a BIG hit.

The Dora ball pit was a REALLY BIG hit. She jumped into it as soon as she got out of bed this morning.

She loved all her new Little People toys especially this house.

Kristan was shopping for books and look what she stumbled across.

Grace and her cousins Josh, Ryan, Crystal, Kristan and Kayla


At the end of the evening she was a sleepy little girl.


Her big present didn't get here yet. There was a delay and it just didn't make it for her birthday. But it should be here tomorrow...