Happenings

Happy Birthday Delylah

A hug goodbye

Lennah, Delylah, & Sheridan

So we have been busy in January and actually had some snow here in GA. Yes! Snow which caused me to be out of work for a week and now I have lost my February break because of it but I did get to spend some great time with the kids so all is well. The kids loved the opportunity to play in the snow and just have a good time. So we had a lot of girls nights and did make your own pizzas which the girls loved to do, have movie night and hot cocoa, and just have fun. We were lucky because we were able to get out of our neighborhood so by the end of the week when most had lost their minds from being stuck in the house we were lucky enough to have a play date with our friend Sheridan. The girls had not seen their friend for a while so we headed to jump for joey's so the girls could exert some energy from being stuck in the house. They had a great time and were super excited to see their friend.

Delylah also had her official birthday on January 20th so my parents came over and we just had a small cake like we had done for Lennah back in December. It is a lot easier since we combined birthday parties but we still want to have a little something special for each of them on their birthdays.

Last weekend we also had a good time at the Disney store. They had a garden party for little girls and they got to come dressed up as their favorite princesses. They had games, crafts, and just a good time. Luckily for Christmas Uncle Billy got the girls princess costumes so Lennah went as Mulan and Delylah as Tiana. They loved it and lucky from me they were very good waiting in line and waiting for their turn to participate because Daddy had to work.

Lastly for news we have been matched with a sibling group. We do not want to get too excited because we had a potential match last month and it feel apart quickly so we have kept all of that info low key. But our social worker said that yes this is a match and the other social worker wants us for this group of kids. We know that whatever is meant to happen is truly in God's hands and he will expand our family when he sees fit. So hopefully we will have more to come on that as the process progresses and we know that nothing is going to fizzle out. For now just enjoy some pics of the kids from this past month.

Oh and I had the girls 3rd and 4th birthday pictures done. I don't know what happened to Delylah but it was like getting teeth pulled that day because she barely smiled and we only got 3 smiles our of like 20 shots. Oh well at least she did great for her Christmas photos. Enjoy.

Birthday Party and Snow

Lennah and Daddy on the ice

Our 2 Birthday Princesses

The Birthday Cake

Saturday we had the girls birthday party. It was the second year in a row that we combined the girls birthday parties. They decided they wanted an ice skating party. Lennah has been asking to do this for a while especially since her Big Ba is famous for watching the NY Rangers on TV. Mind you the girls had never been ice skating before but still wanted to forge ahead with this choice. Anyway it started out as a lovely party a lot of great friends showed up and we had pizza and cake. Then came time for the open skating session. I grabbed Delylah and Keith grabbed Lennah. Delylah had a hard time and freaked out. She counted figure out how to hunch a bit forward so her time on the ice was cut very short. Lennah also freaked out and gladly dashed off the ice. Low and behold Lennah got a little brazen and ventured back out with Keith and my friend Nicole holding her up on each side. Well she loved it. She wants to go back and go ice skating again. I am thinking that if we could go with another couple then Delylah would be able to be held up on both sides like Lennah did and she may actually like it. Which brings me as to why she never got to go back out and give the ice another whirl. Anyway we had about another half hour left on the ice and all of a our friend Lisa took a tumble on the ice. Well it was pretty bad and she had to get rushed to the ER for stitches. So it cut our party time a bit short. You always think it is a kid that is going to wind up having an accident and it turns out to be the adults. All was ok and she just wound up with a few stitches. She felt so bad that it happened but we are just glad she is ok. Good thing open skating was after the pizza and cake (just trying to look on the bright side). Overall we are still thankful the girls had a great party with family and friends.

Anyway, the day after the party we got hit with snow for the second time this winter season. It started Sunday night and stopped sometime during the night. Anyway, I have not had to work since which has been nice. The kids have enjoyed playing in the snow and spending some extra time with us. Keith's job even shut down for two days which is an anomaly. But it was great just spending quiet time together as a family since on the weekend's we have to go go go between errands, church, and whatever else it taking place.

Merry Christmas

Our house in the snow

The girls all ready to go out and play in the snow

Lennah and her giant rapunzel doll

Delylah jamming on her new barbie guitar

Keith ate way too much

Christmas was a wonderful and crazy event at our house. To start off Keith worked late the night before Christmas Eve since he was going to have a 3 day weekend so I had to deliver a cheesecake (occasionally I still take an order or 2) rather than have Keith take it as I originally planned. Anyway so after I deliver the cheesecake I head to the bank and to Kroger to put the check in the bank and whack of course the car got rear-ended in the parking lot of Kroger on the morning of Christmas Eve. No one was hurt but the kids were scared because when the cops had to come they thought they were in trouble for something. So I thought that was going to be the start of a crazy Christmas but all ended well. We headed to church which was a beautiful service and came home and had the annual Christmas eve seafood dinner.

So after dinner it was time to get ready for Santa and get the kids in bed. It was amazing that we were able to get them to sleep. Everyone finished their last touches on gifts and whatever else needed to be done for the morning.

So the race for gifts began at 6:20 am when the kids woke up. They wanted to wake my parents up and begin opening gifts. So there we were at 630 in the morning opening up presents. All that time wrapping and it was over by 7:15 for the kids. After we had a great breakfast and low and behold a miracle in the south happened (one that has not occured for 128 years) it began to snow. Yep! we had a white Christmas. It was truly a beautiful day. The kids were able to go out and make snowballs on Christmas day so what an extra special present. I was shocked that they didn't want to stay in and play with their toys.

Overall it was a great Christmas and the kids cannot wait for it to happen all over again next year. Delylah has been so cute and asking about when Santa is coming back and how our family celebrated the holidays. I think what made it extra special is the fact that both the girls are old enough to get the idea of Christmas this year.

Pictures with Santa

Well to complete our holiday season photos we had the annual visit to Target to meet Santa. The girls did great and of course were too cute. This year they get Christmas which will make it awesome. They also are getting into the real meaning of Christmas and that we celebrate Baby Jesus's birthday. I just wish they would leave him alone under the tree. LOL.

I guess to just also drop a note about where we are in the adoption is NOWHERE. Honestly, I am more and more frustrated each day because our agency said that we would be very quick to get a match. Yeah! Not happening. I am not sure what to expect at all when adopting through the state foster care system but we have inquired about quite a few sets of siblings and we hear nothing back. The system is so frustrating because there are so many kids in the US that need homes but honestly the system does not seem to work fast enough. We had Delylah's referral quicker and we were out of country. I know everything is in God's hands and timing so we will still wait but who knows when we are going to expand our family. Either way I am very Thankful this upcoming Thanksgiving because I have the most wonderful husband, two beautiful little girls, and great family and friends.

Anyway, my rant is over but enjoy the Santa photos.

It's that time of Year

Yep! Christmas is coming and we get super excited over here. I have the trees up, the outside got decorated yesterday, and we even found time to get the girls formal holiday pictures done yesterday. It is a good thing I got them done yesterday since Lennah and I are both nursing colds. Anyway, we have had a busy past few weeks. Unfortunately the transmission went out in my car (no I was not happy about that large expense so close to the holidays and the girls birthdays), Keith has been working a lot since his company got bought up by another and they have a massive amount of business right now, and I have been plagued with massive school work. But overall I love this time of year and best of all I think the kids get it this year. Lennah has been creating a very long Santa list and Delylah just keeps telling me how much she wants Barbie fashion fairytale from Santa. It is so cute watching them get excited as we talk about Christmas. Anyway, I am keeping it short since I am sick but here are the girls latest photos. This weekend is pictures with Santa so there are more to come so Stay Tuned.

Fall Photos

My babies are growing up way too quick. I had some photos done at Target for fall recently. The girls looked so beautiful and so grown up. Where have my babies gone. Delylah is 2 and looks like a big kids already. It is hard to believe she doesn't turn 3 until January. My goodness Lennah looked liked a kid and not a baby. Hard to believe my big girl turns 4 in December. Time is flying by.

Disney

I was fortunate enough to have a break built into September for our new school calendar. Being a teacher does not pay great but I do enjoy the breaks that so many others out in the work force do not enjoy. Unfortunately Keith is one of these people who doesn't get as much time off but that did not deter me from taking the kids to Disney. So off we headed with my parents and brother to take a much anticipated trip.

The first day my brother and I took the kids to Epcot for several hours. The girls love the finding nemo ride and the boat ride in Mexico. They just wanted to keep going on the rides. Luckily for us it was not too crowded.

The next morning we took the kids back to Epcot and had breakfast in Norway with the Princesses. Every time a princess came to our table the girls were just thrilled.

The next day was the highlight of the girl's week since we hit majoc kingdom. We had breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and just had a blast watching the girls get excited from each ride. THey both loved Dumbo, Magic carpets of Aladdin, and any other ride we stuck them on.

We also hit up animal kingdom which Delylah really enjoyed. She is my museum, zoo, any sort of learning place type kid. She just loves watching animals and seeing new stuff.

We also had a chance to visit Seaworld while we were in Florida. Delylah had a blast feeding the dolphins, Lennah however got a little freaked out and was nervous that a dolphin would bite her. Delylah absolutely loved the shows and Lennah really enjoyed the rides that they had for kids. Overall it was a fun trip.

My little speller

So we have worked very hard with Lennah to get her to know her alphabet (both upper and lower case) and to get numbers and counting down. So since she has mastered her whole alphabet I have been working on words and spelling. Here is Lennah spelling her first 4 words she learned for us in a video. Mind you Delylah has a long name so we are proud of our 3 year old.