Happy 17 months!!!

Today our baby is 17 months old. Last week while out running errands I turned to the backseat and this is what I saw...our baby girl looks so grown-up!! I don't know if it was the haircut or the fact that she is drinking from a regular straw but it is definitely something! I immediately told Paul to look at her, we actually have a toddler now and not a baby. Oh, times flies by much too fast!!!!

Catchin' up.........

I am trying to get all caught up on the blog before we leave for Florida. Not only do I use this blog to keep family and friends up to date on our lives but I also use it as my personal journal. It has a been a great source of memories of our lives. Thanks for taking the time to check in on us and follow along on this crazy thing we call life.

Don't miss the 3 previous posts, they have some very cute pictures of Avery, and some memorable "firsts"!!

We leave for Disneyworld in only 40 more hours!!!! I will be taking my computer so be on the lookout for posts from our trip!!!!!

Happy Tuesday!!!!

Avery's first carnival....

Saturday afternoon we found a carnival in town. Since the weather was pretty good we decided to go over and check it out. We thought it would be a good preview of what's to come when we travel to Disneyworld this week. Kiesha and her girls joined us and they took as much pleasure toting Avery around as they did riding the rides. Our little daredevil will try anything, she was great when we would put her on a ride but if it was something that we could not accompany her on she would get upset when the ride started to move.

She jumped right in the little boats and started twisting the steering wheel, however when the boat moved she wanted mommy or daddy to get her out!

Mekarlie and her friend Kirsten enjoyed going through the funhouse.

The carousel had all sorts of animals on it. For Avery's second time on we chose the monkey for our little monkey. Paul looks very enthused doesn't he?

Mekenzie spent her time texting her friends so Kiesha decided to go over and try to get her involved.

This was the little caterpillar roller coaster for the little ones. Once again Avery got on with no difficulty but once the thing took off she was fit to be tied!

Avery really does enjoy the carousel. She would wave every time she saw us as she passed by.

The carnies were calling us the paparazzi because every ride we put Avery on mom and I took multiple pictures. In this one even the carnie worker wanted to get in on the action.

Mekarlie and Kirsten loved the slingshot ride.

I took this picture just to show how safe the carnival rides are: notice the rope serving as a seat belt on these boats.

All in all it was a good time, we rode a few rides, ate snowcones, played a couple of games (all the girls came home with balls or stuffed animals), and enjoyed each other.

I think Avery is definitely ready for some ride at Disney World!!

Weekend Recap.....

We had a very busy weekend with ball games, haircuts, packing for our upcoming trip, and a girls night out. Of course I had to capture it all in pictures. I love that this blog serves as my journal and helps me to remember what was going on in our lives at any certain time.

Anyway, on to our weekend.

Avery accompanied me to the doctor and was the proud recipient of not 1 but 2 suckers and a bouncy ball. This girl will never have fear of going to the doctors office when she gets treats like this.

Friday morning Paul and I both had appointment to get our hair cut. I decided that Avery needed to have her bangs trimmed too. This would be the first time she has had her hair cut since we became her parents so it was definitely picture worthy.

Sitting in the chair like a big girl!! Notice how her bangs come in her eyes.

Being very still as Jessica cuts her bangs for the first time.

The finished product. Yes, it is still long on the sides and back we just trimmed the bangs but for some reason this shot makes it look like a bowl cut.

I just had to memorialize the occasion and keep all the hair that was trimmed off. It will be going in the baby book.

Friday afternoon we met with our social worker for our 6 month post adoption visit. Hard to believe it's really been 6 months. We had a great visit with her and she was very enamored with Avery. After our visit I had big plans for an M3 night with my girls. It has been way too long since we did a "girls only" night. We had dinner at a great Italian restaurant and then went over to Valerie's house for a few hours of laughs!! It is so funny to listen to our conversations now. I would have to say that 80% of them now revolve around kids. We have come full circle girls!! This group of women in so awesome and I am so lucky to have met them on this journey!!

Cheesing for the camera!!!

Valerie got out whipped cream to fancy up our coffee but Christie, Erin, and I found that we didn't need coffee to enjoy it. Christie sprayed it on her candy bars while Erin and I enjoyed it right out of the can. Do you think Val will offer us whipped cream in the future?

I love this shot of the 5 of us!! We have come a long way girlies!!

And last but certainly not least I wanted to give you a glimpse of what my beautiful baby looks like in the morning. As evidenced by many pictures giving her hair 2 little "dog ears" has become my favorite hairstyle. This gives a whole new meaning to bedhead.

With her hair sticking up and her newly trimmed bangs!!

This was after the carnival when she had sweated quite a bit and her hair dried while up. We like to call this her "horned" look.

Thanks for checking in us!!

Camping trip.....

I had uploaded these camping pictures last week but never got a round to posting or putting captions on them. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again. We were visited at the lake by Kiesha and her girls, my parents, Paul's parents, Paul's grandparents, and Uncle Larry and Aunt Kay. It was 4 days of sun, water, relaxing, fun, good food, and just a great little get-a-way. Of course the ladies also had to have our traditional pedicures, so we all came home with cute little toes. The pictures are in random order (because I am too lazy to move them all around). Enjoy!!

Mom and Avery taking a stroll just as the sun went down.

Our little beach baby wading in the water.

A very happy family of 3! Don't worry Rowdy also joined and he loved being outside and surrounded by all these people.

For some reason Avery has started doing this pose where she crosses her fingers and sticks our her arm. Uncle Larry lovingly started calling it her "gang sign". Now if you tell her to show you her gang sign this is what you get.

Somehow I don't think the manufacturer of Daddy Sonny's walker meant for it to be an amusement ride for kids but Avery doesn't seem to mind.

A great sunset picture of my dad and his granddaughter.

Paul pulling Mekenzie around on the Superfly.

Catching a few waves!!!!

Mekarlie had to have a turn too.

Kiesha had to show her girls how it was done. We loved having Paul as our designated driver to pull us all around the lake.

Kiesha and Mekarlie take the Tigershark our for a spin.

And yes, here is "yours truly" going for my ride. I think I wound up getting on that tube at least twice everyday!! It was so fun!!

Avery is going to take after her parents and love being adventurous. She loved riding and would cry whenever you would try to take her off.

She also enjoyed using the bike trailer. This is the first time we had gotten it out and Avery loved it!!

Poppy, Avery, and daddy strolling along the shoreline.

I know I have said it before but this girl is so freakin' cute!!!

The superfly gave us many hours of fun on this trip. Can't wait to break it out again next summer!!!!

So that's a typical camping trip for us. Avery was officially initiated into camping (Paul and Robyn style) and seemed to really enjoy herself. Every event is a new adventure since Avery came home. We love experiencing new things through her.

Happy 6 months baby girl!!!

6 months ago today our lives changed forever. We held our little girl in our arms!! Sometimes it seems as if she has always been with us and sometimes it seems it was just yesterday that we were boarding that plane bound for China. The last 6 months have truly been the best of times and the worst of times but never have we questioned that Avery is our daughter and we have been tremendously blessed to have her.

We have seen this little girl blossom and grow from a timid, 10 month old who couldn't even sit up to a rambunctious 16 month only who runs everywhere and never wants to sit. The changes we have seen in her are truly incredible and we can't wait to see how she changes and grows in the futures.

Avery on Gotcha Day. Holding our little bundle of joy for the first time.

Avery now. What a difference 6 months makes......

We love you baby girl!! You are the best thing that ever happened to us. You bring such joy to not only daddy and mommy but also to your entire family!!

End of Summer bash....

According to my calendar tomorrow is the first day of Fall. That means summer is officially over. We definitely wanted it to end in a bang and we accomplished that!! As mentioned previously we went camping this weekend. We returned home this afternoon after 4 wonderful days of fun, family, and friends!! I took a ton of pictures (of course) and will post more later this week but until then I will give you a sneak peek of some of our weekend activities...


Our home away from home, right on the water a beautifully shaded!!


Bike rides around the campground and Avery's introduction to the bike trailer. She loved it!!!


Of course tons of time spent on the water!!


And who could resist a lakeside pedicure??


And finally last but not least homemade orange ice cream!!

Like I said this is only a small portion of our activities we also have some great pictures of the "Superfly"!!!!

We had a wonderful relaxing weekend and arrived home today to unpack and regroup, it's back to work very soon but best of all we leave for Disney in only 10 days!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed the last few days of summer!!

Now this is the life.....

We left yesterday and are currently initiating Avery to the world of camping (Paul and Robyn style). The weather has been perfect: 80's during the day and 50's at night. We got out on the lake today and rode the Tigersharks, I even rode the tube!! Sorry for the lack of pictures, for some reason I am having trouble uploading them to the blog. I am sure when we get back home we will have a ton. The best part is the campground is deserted. We are practically the only one's here. I am sure that will change this weekend but for now it is oh, so nice.

Gotta go for now......I have a lakeside lawn chair and a good book calling my name!!

I can't believe I haven't posted these yet....

A couple of weeks ago "the girls" got together for lunch to celebrate Erin's referral. We definitely missed Christie who was in Cali at the time but we will be making it up by having another get together later this month. So in the midst of dad's hospital stay I stole away for a few hours for some good catching up, a few laughs (or maybe more than a few) and just an overall relaxing lunch with my posse. Of course the main topic of conversation was Miss Meisey and Erin proudly displayed her picture at our table throughout the meal. Mia was the only little one to join our lunch and she definitely received some good lovin' being at the head of our table.

The new mom of 2 proudly showing off her daughter and a couple of goodies I brought for her!!

Erin and Kelley

Me and Valerie

Mia just cracked us up because as soon as I requested her to pose for a picture she leaned into Valerie just as the others of us had done for our photos!

Mia enjoying her dessert of chocolate pie with loads of whipped cream!!

The obligatory group shot after lunch.

I had a great time girls and can't wait to do it again!!!!