Mail Call

Ava has been delivering letters to Matt and I's room this last week.  It's so cute.  She steals junk envelopes that are waiting to be recycled and then puts drawings or junk mail that she thinks looks cool inside of them.  She then addresses them and leaves them for us in our bed, bathroom, or on my dresser.  It's adorable and totally makes our day!!

11 Months!!

We're closing in on a year as a family of 4.  Honestly, I don't know how that happened!!  In so many ways the year has flown by so quickly and in many other ways it's hard to remember a life before Ella.  A life before both girlies seems a life time ago.  I have no idea what we would be doing without these beautiful girls in our lives but I can say that I don't want to know.  They were worth all the heartache, all the prayers, all the sleepless nights, all the tears, and all the stress.  I would not change a moment of our lives leading up to this point because every moment led us to you.  I know that sound very cliche, but I mean every word down to my inner core.  

Ella, we are so unbelievably thankful that you joined our family almost a year ago...honestly you joined our family from the second we said "yes" we are adopting again.   And then that bond just continued to grow from the time we saw your picture to the first time to our nightly prayers until we saw your face to every step that got us to this point.  We love you more than words.

11 Month List...And it was a BIG month!!

1.  You turned 3 this last month.  We celebrated big!  Not only was it your third birthday but it was your first birthday with your forever family.  This makes me tear up now just thinking about how special that is.  We celebrated with a big party with family and friends over the weekend.  We celebrated with treats with daycare friends.  And then we celebrated again as a family on your actual birthday.  We loved every minute of celebrating with you!

2.  We refinalized your adoption in US court during the last month.  This was the last step in your adoption.  We went to court on your birthday!  Our lawyer is amazing and loves adoption court.  He has 2 children from Korea himself and is awesome to have on your side.  The judge herself was amazing as well and let the girls help with paperwork.  We celebrated twice on your birthday!!  Such a big day with lots to celebrate.  Your birth certificate should be coming any day as the icing on the cake.

3.  You are still a pro at pushing your sister's buttons.  You know just where to push at just the right time to get a reaction from her.  Just yesterday you were coloring alongside Ava and all you had to do was draw a tiny black line on her paper.  Not nice of you but seriously you could hardly see it...sent Ava through the roof.  You know exactly how to get a reaction out of her...

4.  That being said, you adore your sister.  You want to do everything she does.  She is your number 1 always.  If you can be next to her you're a happy camper.  You love giving each other good night hugs and kisses, playing for hours in the tent make-believing all kinds of different magical things, having sleep overs, and laughing together.  I love watching you play with your sister and interact with her.  This is truly the joy of my life!

5.  It's warming up and you are loving life outside.  You love to be in the sand box, at the park, going for a walk, and playing with bubbles.  We eat outside a lot too when it's nice for dinner and you love that.

6.  But as much as you love the outside, you love TV even more.  If we'd let you, you'd be content watching shows for hours at a time.  We have limits for that reason :)  We don't have cable so we watch everything streamed.  Your favorites are Super Why, Daniel Tiger, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Strawberry Shortcake.

7.  You've grown over an inch and a half during the last 6 months.  You are growing too fast!!  You go in spurts where you eat a lot and other spurts where we can barely get you to eat more than applesauce.  But either way, you are growing and are definitely not a toddler anymore.

8.  Your dad and I joke all the time that we need to have an apple orchard and make our own applesauce.  Seriously, I can't tell you how many applesauce packets you eat in a day but we put the limit on about 4 of them most days.  We seriously need to go into business just to maintain your applesauce needs.  

9.  You are talking more and more all the time.  Unfortunately mom and dad can't always understand you which is really frustrating to you at times...I totally get it.  We work really hard in those moments to figure out what you're saying through gestures and pointing.  We're getting there and your determination is going to pay off.  

10.  We adopted a puppy Sammy during the last month.  You were a little slow to warm up and depending on the day you still may have very little patience for his puppy antics but overall you love this bundle of energy.  You still tell us and show us every time you get a kiss from Sammy.  You love playing fetch with him and you love that he sneaks in your bed in the morning to catch a few more zzz's.   You love working with him on sit, stay, drop, and watch me commands.  You three are going to be best buddies.  

                

US Adoption Finalization

Today, May 4, 2016; also Ella's 3rd birthday, was our day in court to finalize Ella's adoption in the US.  This was the final step in Ella's adoption and an important step to ensure everything to do with Ella's adoption into our family is complete.  This final step allows us to obtain a US birth certificate which will make life much easier for Ella in the future.  

Nai Nai and Grandpa made the trip back to Omaha to go with us and witness the account first hand.  We were the first case of the day and got right in.  As we walked out of the court room we were met with of applause and congratulations from people waiting to go in.  The judge was amazing and even let the girls help with the paperwork.  Her and our lawyer kept saying how much they love adoption cases and would prefer to do that all day long :)  Our lawyer was the same lawyer who we used to finalize Ava's adoption.  He's amazing and tears up at each adoption finalization.

  

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella!!

Ella had an amazing 3rd birthday and we all had so much fun!!  Her birthday week was more than I could have ever hoped for.  So many fun memories were made with our sweet girls.

We had Ella's birthday party on Saturday, April 30th.  Family started coming in on Thursday night and by Friday night we had a full house!  Saturday night we had a BBQ with about 40 family members, friends, and neighbors.  It warmed my heart to have a house full of our loved ones all together to celebrate our girl's first birthday with us.  This first birthday at home is SO important and very emotional for this mama.  Many happy and thankful tears were shed on my part over the last week.

 

Lau Lau made Ella an amazing Daniel Tiger cake

The boys manning the grill

"Mine?!!!"

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to Ella"

Hugs for all her guests to say "thank you"

Filling their candy bags

Her party was an amazing celebration of Ella and family and then we still had her actual birthday!  We started the day with our US Finalization Court day and then spent the rest of the day celebrating.  See the following blog for details on court :)  

Nai Nai and Grandpa made the trip back to Omaha for court and then spent some of the day celebrating with us.  We went to the zoo after brunch.  It was a gorgeous day to be outside, hanging out together.  The birthday girl fell asleep on the way home from the zoo.  She was exhausted!!  After nap we ordered in dinner...the birthday girl requested spaghetti from Carrabas.   No argument here!  We finished dinner with cupcakes and ice cream and then a few more presents.  She received a scooter from us and we finished the day riding bikes and scooters on the driveway.  What a whirlwind!!  I loved every minute!  You are one special, one very loved girl Ella!!

   

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella!!  We love you so much and can't wait to spend many more birthdays with you...loving on you...celebrating you!!

Ava's School Picnic Day

Today was Ava's all school picnic and parents were invited to join in the fun!  Both Matt and I were able to meet her at school.  She was so excited to see us.  At least 5 times throughout lunch, she reached out and grabbed our arms and said "I love you Mama and Baba".  We even got a few, "this is the best day ever!"  Another reminder that these seemingly "little things" are really big things to our sweet girls and are not to be missed.  

Love this sweet girl so much!!

Meet Sam-I-Am

We are so excited to introduce you to Sam-I-Am, Green Eggs & Ham..."Sammy" for short.

He's as sweet as can be and a ball of energy!!  He's between 3 and 4 months old and is a rescue.  We're so lucky he found his way to our family :)

Holy Cow~~10 Months!!

How is it possible that we are closing in on our first year together?!!  Unbelievable!  This last month has been amazing and the next is already full of exciting next steps.  Time is flying too quickly.  I'd give anything to slow down time, even for just a little while.

1.  Ella, you are fearless especially at the park.  You are climbing ladders and slides and jumping from one obstacle to the other.  You keep me on my toes all the time.  I'm certain you will provide us our first ER visit for some kind of broken bone.

2.  You are full of spunk and vigor!  And most of the time I mean that in the most positive way ;)  You like to shout "no" when I ask you to do something but always with that sweet smile of yours that shows you're joking.  It depends on what Mama's mood is on what my reaction is :).  This attitude is also why you are fearless and don't let anything stop you.  I'm saying it again; the world better watch for Ella!!

3.  You love to eat...seriously you'd never stop if we let you.  It's a good thing you run around like a crazy toddler too in order run all those calories off.  You're favorites are of course candy, ice cream, and fruit snacks.  You also love hot dogs, turkey, applesauce, yogurt, berries, veggie chips, and popcorn.

4.  Ella, you also love TV and would watch all day if we let you.  Food and TV :)  Your new favorite TV is "Super Why".  It's a great PBS show that works on spelling and reading.  You still love Daniel Tiger and Mickey Mouse though as well.

5.  You had your second trip to the dentist for cleaning.  Once again you got an awesome report!  They can't believe how you love brushing your teeth but it is paying off because no cavities and no real concerns.  This is remarkable given your cleft.  Once again you're showing off.  You weren't found of the dentist and hygienist cleaning your teeth but you did open wide and then played with the dental tools with Ava afterwards.   All in all I say that's a great visit!

6.  You have been dry for weeks during the day and rarely are wake up wet in the morning.  We're so proud of you.  Not yet 3 and completely out of diapers!!

7.  You are starting to move up to the Preschool Class at daycare.  I love this and hate it all at the same time.   You are growing up too fast!  But I guess if you have to grow up you're right on track.  You've started spending several days in the "big girl class" and you officially move the beginning of May.  Have I said how proud we are of you!

8.  You love your sister!!  Nothing has changed there since very early on.  Truly a "monkey see, monkey do" scenario.  You laugh when she laughs, you follow her and try to do everything she does.  I love watching you and her together.  One of my biggest joys in life!

9.  We love our family walks and trips to the park in the evening.  You and your sister have a new routine when we're out walking through the neighborhood.  It looks a little like this; Ava is riding her bike and you are riding in the wagon pointing out all the shapes on the houses.  Until we come up on a man hole cover.  You spot them a ways away and get very excited.  You start jumping out of the wagon before we even reach it.  And then, it becomes you and Ava's stage.  You make up songs or sing Hot Dog from Mickey Mouse all while doing the dance motions.  Once a song is done you climb back in and we start all over again.  What we do for entertainment!

10.  Your US finalization court day is set for May 4th...also your birthday!!  This is the last final step in your adoption and it's a big step!  So thankful we were picked to be your parents.  We love you more than words!