Snowmen and sisters

Giant boxes are the BEST toys!

My little helper

This week we spent the week getting the house ready for Christmas. Ramzie is so excited to have the Advent calander out and she loves to wake up early to turn on the lights before she heads off to school. My tree is a bit candy cane heavy but the girls sure had fun putting them on. Meina is LOVING the decorating and she is obsessed with the snowglobe collection. It is pretty fun to see the excitement in her eyes as she is experiancing this season for the first time.

She has also become obsessive with brushing her teeth. She got a new electric toothbrush and LOVES it.

One night- I gave the girls fun (edible) stuff to build snowmen with. Well...... Meina did not make it to the building stage as you can see, but Ramzie did. It was a fun activity and one I recommend. I actually borrowed the idea from this http://salsainchina.blogspot.com/ blog.

On Saturday Ramzie and I went to her regular gymnastic class and then on to get haircuts. She has been saying she wanted her hair cut shorter and bangs (yes after all that pain of growing them out). I told her the only rule was that it must be long enough to pull it back for gymnastics and swimming. She is getting old enough to make decissions about her own hair right? I must admit when she walked around the courner after her cut- I was shocked! She looks so different. She likes it and it was very easy this morning before school, both good results if you ask me!

Off to get going on the day. May your day be blessed.

Wow- December already!

Halloween= Witches and Bumble Bees

And Mulan.....

Sister's working together to make a scarecrow

Yeah we are through security- ready for San Antonio!

Where IS tha plane?

Before the big trip (to the airport not San Antonio-darn weather)

Kitchen helpers

Meina's first reaction to snow

Wow- time does fly when you are having fun. The last month has been filled with lots of activities. I am not doing a great job of posting to this website as I need to be, but I have been taking pictures, so I will give you a snapshot veiw of our lives for the past little while.

As I keep saying- Life is good.

I do not LIKE snow ! Brrrrrrrrr

Sister time

My baby has blessed our family for five years now!

Waiting for our turn to talk during the National Adoption Day celebration

Re-finalization of Meina's adoption

Five Months- a Family of Four

Geez- did you all think I fell off the edge of the planet? I haven't but we have been VERY busy.

We have had an absolutely great summer and fall. Mike is loving his new job, the girls are growing and thriving. Meina had been such an amazing little girl! Her willingness to trust us and let us love her is simply amazing. Everyday we see more of her personality and what a personality it is! So today's post will be about what I love to "talk" about most- MY GIRLS!

First off, Ramzie is doing so well in school. She comes home everyday laughing with a fun story to tell. She has a great and involved teacher which we are sooooo grateful for. I cannot believe the change in her maturity level in this short amount of time..... Boo hoo she is growing too fast! She has made some new friends and seems to have a new confidence that I am so proud of. She has also resumed her gymnastics classes. She has decided not to return to dance this year, but wants to try some of the YMCA programs this winter. She has been on three field trips with school- one to the fire station, one to the pumpkin patch and one to a local theater to watch a play. She loves to go to plays! Last winter we went to a production of Annie and for this winter, we have The Wizard of OZ tickets already purchased.

She has decided that she is going to be Glenda (the good witch) for Halloween this year. We found the costume at the Cracker Barrel gift shop of all places! To sum it up for Ramz- she is doing really well and THRIVING as a big sister.

Meina has also had a busy and fun-filled few months. She is getting to do quite a few firsts with us. First trip to the Zoo, first trip to Oma and Opa's, and first activity group- she is taking music (and loves it), and last Thursday she had her first trip to the pumpkin patch.

She is growing and fast! She is now 32" tall and 23 lbs. That puts her in the 75th percentile for height and 45th for weight. She will eat just about anything. The two things she is not fond of are bell pepper and lettuce. Her vocabulary is starting to expand. She has the beginning of many many words and says mama, dada, please, yes, no, ball, bus, more, Ram (Ramzie), up, down apple, green, and hungry pretty clear. She will also hold up 1 finger and say "one" when we ask her how old she is. We had her evaluated by EI (early intervention) for our post placement visit and she did very well overall and most areas she scored at 20+ months!

Not bad for a little one who could not pull herself up or crawl 5 months ago!

We have continued to keep contact with the orphanage and Meina's foster family. They are so happy to get updates from us each month.

Personality wise, we are still figuring her out. She is an extremely easy going girl most of the time. She is sweet and sensitive (we barely have to look at her cross and she melts) and really funny. She is falling into the "baby of the family" role well and can sometimes be a pill to her sister if she wants what Ramzie has. She will be a Bumble Bee for Halloween.

As you can tell by the pictures, she still will not smile for the camera- but I promise she is a really happy kid.

As for Mike and I we are both busy enjoying these two sweet girls we are blessed to raise.

Joanie