"Johnny ate a Boogie"

We have been amazed at all our princess is learning all of a sudden. We knew the day would come when she would catch up and all of her delays would be a thing of the past. We are not completely there yet, but we have come so long. Leah has a great memory for detail. Her short term is not where it needs to be, but boy does she recall detail. She knows the name of every street we frequent, every store and recalls the oddest things. Like the decore, the colors of the walls, where everything is, etc. She noticed that one of the cashiers at Publix cut her hair, when they changed the menu cover at one of our favorite restaurants, she noticed when our lawn man got new shoes, well, you get the picture. But at school, she sometimes has trouble remembering what she learned. Especially in Math. But today, she had no trouble recalling a chant she leaned in school and told us all about it while we were eating out at a restaurant. It goes like this: "Johnny ate a booger and it tastes like sugar, put it in a pot and it tastes like snot" Well, she actually says "boogie", as that's what she calls them. Needless to say, dinner was a little interesting.

The Flip Side of Adoption....

I found a new blog last night that made me reflect on adoption. This particular post was written by mother of a large family with 6 or 7 little girls, all adopted from China. All seem to be between 5 and 12. I don't know them personally but they look like a loving and caring family and the girls look happy and loved. This particular post was about their most recent adoption and the difficulties they are having. It appears their new daughter (maybe 5 or 6 years old?) is having many issues that are affecting the entire family. Its not my story to tell so I will just say that things are so bad that one of the other children asked why the parents adopted her and are ready to ship her back to China. Most of you reading this are adoptive parents and we know adoption is not for the faint of heart. Adoption is a beautiful way to grow your family and I for one cannot imagine life without my precious baby girl. But if you are not prepared for EVERYTHING you are in for a few scary moments. Those of you who are not adoptive parents, may not even understand. Can you see where I am going with this yet? Well, there was a post in this blog that made many readers really angry, leaving really nasty comments on this family's blog. The family opted to leave the comments up rather than deleting them. One person commented that this is what you get for posting your family's personal details on a public blog. Others made assumptions that were incorrect and some were just cruel. I just have a question for those who made those comments: Who are you to judge? There are blogs for everyone. Some post only the good, some only the bad, some both and so on. In my case, my blog is mainly a place where Leah go and learn about her beginnings when she is older. Something that may help her put pieces together. The first 17 months of her live are a mystery; and may always be, but I will see to it that she loses no more. I don't post as often as I would like, but living life cab get kinda hectic sometimes:) Not to mention keeping up with my busy little bees (yes, plural!) is quite the challenge. As parents, we all want the very best for our children and aim to be the best parents we could be. I read blogs of other adoptive parents because I want to learn to be a better parent. Some of these families have taught me what to expect, what to do, what not to do and so forth. I have also made very dear friends that have lived the good and the bad with us and supported us unconditionally and without judgment. For this I am thankful that you are brave enough to post the good, the bad, the ugly, and the wonderful. (Not necessarily in that order) So, yes adoption has a flip side, for some more than others. Whoever expected perfect lives as parents, whether adoptive or otherwise, is naïve and unrealistic. Parenting all three of my children has been WONDERFUL, but certainly not perfect. I would not change a thing. So, as I continue to go down this path, I am thankful that I have all of you bloggy friends to learn from and with. So keep those posts coming! I need them!

Strawberry Pickin'

First strawberry picking of the season. We drove down south this morning to buy bread and stuff from the Amish, but when we arrived at the farm the lines were all the way to the street. So we decided to go pick strawberries and have lunch while we waited out the crowd a little bit. When we retuned to the Amish the lines were even worse. So we returned home. We'll visit with the Amish during the week one day soon

We even brought our own strawberry plant home.

Sports Grill and Football with Daddy

At the edge pf their seats watching the BBVA Compass Bowl

New Year's Eve

We had a fun New Year's Eve. We went to Li'l Java's for lunch and some play time with David and Lidi. Leah has really missed playing with her BFF David. Lidi and I kept trying to get them together again before the end of the holidays but this holiday season kicked our butts and one of us kept getting sick. But there was nothing going to keep us from Li'l Java's today!

Then in the evening we went to our local New Year's hang out. We usually do Disney for New Year's but this year had been kinda crazy and I didn't make a reservation or even have time to think about Disney. At the last minute we realized we were not driving to Disney so we went to the New Year's Eve party at Shula's. We love it there because the food is good, its close to home, and its family friendly. DJ, dancing and lots of people take kids. We didn't stay til midnight though. Mimi wasn't feeling well so we came home and rang in the New Year with her.

Dancing in the dance floor.....

Dancing at the table.....

A little too much ginger ale?

A little too much fun?

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

We went to the zoo today. We are squeezing in as much family fun time as possible before Ed goes back to work on the 7th.

After a long line to feed the giraffes, baby girl decided she would let Daddy feed them and hide behind Mommy while Mommy took pictures.

A random woman was looking for someone to ride the seesaw with and no one in her family would, so Leah volunteered, my sweet child!

Young Artist

Young at Art Museum

Happy 24th Birthday, Mimi

My "middle child' turned 24 today. Not sure how that happened and its hard for me not to call her "the baby". We literally called her that till Leah came home. Yes, she was 19 at the time but was our youngest for a long time. For a long time we thought she always would be. It was a nice day. We took her shopping and then family came over to sing happy birthday, eat cake and enjoy some of Ed's famed barbeque.

Christmas Morning 2012

As we know, Leah is still a little afraid of Santa. Last night as we were getting ready she told me to ask him to leave her things outside. She did not want him in her house! When she woke up I asked her if she thought Santa had been here already and she said no, but ran to the living room anyway and started jumping when she saw the gifts and was excited. She knew immediately what gifts Santa brought as they were not there when she went to sleep last night.

The first thing she opened was Bouncy the Dog. She opened her eyes wide and said "I needed this!" Suddenly she climbed over everything and went for the big boxes first. She opened a tiny corner of one box and froze just staring at it. She looked up at me and almost speechless, she whispers, "a helicopter. WHAT?!" Then the Disney Princesses. YES, ALL OF THEM in Barbie size! What was Santa thinking? Highlights include Justin Beiber doll, which she broke out into song right after she kissed the box, Lord help us she is only 5 years old! A furby, a VReader, doll carrier, lalaloopsy dolls, a Dora mermaid that actually jumps in the water and swims. A larger size Merida doll. Those were the things played with before 9 am.

As we were opening gifts, big brother came home from work. Poor thing worked midnight to 8 am.

We made him open gifts immediately but was in no mood for pictures. He them immediately went to bed.

Eventually, big sister rolled out of bed and joined the party.

Santa Picture Success!!!!

We did it! Well, Mimi did it. I hurt my back a week and a half before Christmas and spent a few days where I couldn't get out of bed. But I was determined to get a picture with Santa no matter what it took. Mimi picked Leah up from school early on the last day before Christmas vacation and took her to the mall. It was a struggle with lots of bribing, tears, coaxing, nerves, etc, but Warrior Mimi made it happen. Even if in the end she ended up in the picture. I won because its what I wanted but she had no intention of being in the picture initially. She quickly realized it was not going to happen any other way, so I got a beautiful Santa picture of both my girls!

American G***rl Bistro Christmas Brunch

We paid yet another visit to the American G*rl Store the Saturday before Christmas. I had actually made the reservation for this the day before the store even opened. We were supposed to go with my friend Mary and her two daughters, but both girls ended up with strep. We missed them but had a great time. Leah chose Ivy to take along as Ivy didn't have a holiday dress and needed to get her hair done. After brunch we walked around the store and shopped a bit while we waited for Ivy's hair appointment. It was in the 40's that morning so it really felt like Christmas was nearing. It didn't last, the high for the day was 60's.

Kindergarten Christmas Program 2012

The program was adorable! Leah's class sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rap. I will try to upload the video later

Madeline's Christmas

Leah and Mommy had a wonderful day. We went to lunch at the French Bakery on Main Street and then headed to the Broward Center to see Madeline's Christmas. The musical play was wonderful and we enjoyed it. Leah's face was glued to the stage and she loved dancing along with the little girls. Leah chose to take Ivy, one of her American Girl dolls along.