Callie's Adoption

We are officially a legal family of four. We adopted Callie on December 17, 2010 at 8:45 a.m. in Judge David Clark's court. The adoption went well even with me doing it pro se. I was terrified that I was mess the whole process up and the Judge would be upset. The whole thing went great and all the paperwork is filed. Now we are on to the last step of filing for Certificate of Citizenship for our youngest daughter. Attached are a few pictures from the event.

Thanksgiving and Start of Christmas Season

Callie celebrated her first Thanksgiving with her forever family! She loved all the food and attention. We went to my parents' house for Thanksgiving and had a real small attendance. Only my parents, my family and my brother, his girlfriend and her daughter showed up. As usual, Jenny ate very little-some mac and cheese and a whole piece of chocolate pie. Callie made up for what Jenny left behind! I posted pictures that help describe the day.

I bought the cutest Christmas outfits for the girls this year. Callie has a cute tulle red skirt with white tights that have penguins, a penguin top and cardigan and the best part boots that have penguins on the toes. For Jenny, I bought red and white striped tights and red and white striped cardigan (the Olivia the Pig look). I paired that with a cute top that said "smitten with daddy", blue jean skirt and red boots. I was so excited to dress them up and take their pictures to create Christmas cards. No luck! Both of the girls cried and carried on and refused to be merry! So, I've posted the pictures that made it to the Christmas card. However, the girls are wearing those outfits for Christmas and will be MERRY!!!! (I figure I will lose that battle, but I'm still going to try.)

Royal Night Out

This past Friday night, we had A Royal Night Out. It is a fundraiser for Community Connections which sponsors activities for special needs children. Community Connections allows Jenny to participate in soccer and dance. This was also the event where Jenny got to dance with Travis on stage. They danced to "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. It went fantastically! Attached are a few pictures from the event. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many good photos.

Halloween

The girls didn't really like dressing up for Halloween, so we didn't go trick or treating. Jenny liked seeing the other kids come to the door. Callie got real upset that I was giving the candy away! She even yelled "no, no" at a few kids. Life has been hectic, but we are glad that our final post-placement visit is this week. Then we can start the work of making Callie ours legally! Attached are a few pictures from Halloween and miscellaneous.

18 months old

Callie is officially 18 months old today. Unfortunately, she has been under the weather and is home with Dad. Callie is amazing! For English not being the language she heard for the first 13 months of her life, she is picking it up quickly. She has a long list of words-momma, dada, more (mooe), eat, jump, I stinky, nana, pop, jenjen, go, night-night. . .the list could keep going! She is learning to jump, dance and go up and down stairs. We love her so much and are lucky to have her in our lives!

GO HOGS

Arkansas plays Alabama this coming Saturday! It is a huge game and my girls are ready to support the Hogs! A friend of ours made these adorable tutus and tops. I wish Jenny would have let me get a better picture, but maybe this Saturday.

Dance Class

Jenny had her first dance class last night. We are so fortunate to live in an area that has an "I Can Dance" program. It is a non-profit organization, Community Connections, that creates dance classes for disabled children. The program is called "I Can Dance." Jenny was the only student there until the last 15 minutes. She adored it. There were six "buddies" there to help, so Jen got all the attention. She actually will get to perform at "A Royal Night Out", the fundraiser for Community Connections. I love to see her happy and this makes her happy!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend was a nice break from the real world. I actually got laundry caught up and the house mostly clean on Saturday before my friend, Jenny, came for a visit. We had a nice time catching up and she kept me company while Trav was at the station. On Sunday, we went to Marshall to visit Travis's family and friends. That night our friends' daughter delivered their first grandson! It is so funny that we are on the front end of kids while they are on the back end! We might actually wind up with a child younger than their grandchildren! That is just crazy. Matthew Austin Glen weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and is just perfect. We spent a nice day Monday. We took the girls to Toad Suck Park and let them play. It was such nice weather and fun to watch them. Then we visited the new baby. Neither girl was in a very good mood about being at the hospital, so it was a short visit. Later that night, I went to dinner with a friend that also adopted from Korea. It was nice to share stories of the kids without them there! Now we are back in the day to day real world. We look forward to Jenny starting dance class this Wednesday and a welcome home party for Callie on Saturday! I attached a few pics from our weekend.

Visiting Daddy at work

The girls and I loaded up and went to the firehouse last night. We needed a family photo to finish our picture requirements for our post-placement visit from August. The one that was taken wouldn't turn out. The girls love going to see Daddy at work. Jenny begins to kick in her carseat when she sees the station and yell "Daddy!" That is quite a big deal for a child that is mostly non-verbal. Also, Jenny likes to go to sit with "Uncle Fred" (Travis's captain) and watch Sesame Street videos on the computer. This was the first visit for Callie to get to climb on the firetruck. We got lots of great pictures! I've attached a few to share! Life is good.

August Update

Work has been controlling my life so I haven't even thought about the blog lately. Callie turned 16 months old on the 12th and started daycare on the 16th. She is still crying everyday when I leave her, but I have people go check on her throughout the day. They assure me that she is doing great and not crying. Jenny moved into a new daycare class and loves it. Travis started back to class. This is one of the hardest times of the year for me. I miss Travis and hate getting back in the routine of taking care of the girls alone again. Last year I only had Jenny, the addition of little Miss Callie has made it hard. I haven't figured out how to go out in public with two kids alone. Also, it makes for long nights without adult conversation. I will be so glad when he finishes school! Also, I will admit to being highly insecure and knowing that he is surrounded by 20 something females three nights a week doesn't help my mindset!

As soon as the temperature drops, we are going to put the girls new swingset up! I can't wait for them to see it the first time. I also secretly hope that I can get them to play after dinner each night to promote a good night's sleep! I could use one as well!

Attached are pics from August!

Six years and two months

Today marks two big events in our lives-I met Travis for the first time six years ago today and Callie has been home two months! I couldn't imagine my life without either of them. I'm a very lucky person to have found someone that is not only my spouse but my friend. We still love sitting and talking to each other for hours but everything and nothing. We have also been fortunate to create a fabulous family. Our two daughters add new dimensions to our lives each day. Jenny is a gentle spirit that makes us both better people. Callie is adapting more each day and showing us her charming personality. She is so smart and her presence fills a room.

I always love this saying because it describes my life so well-"my cup runneth over."

Jenny is 4!!!!!!

I can't believe that I have a four year old. Where did the years go? Jenny officially turned four on Saturday. I took cupcakes to her school on Friday and then we had a family party on Saturday. She is a truly amazing child that I'm so lucky to have in my life. It is hard to watch your child go from a baby to a toddler to a little girl.