FOUR!

At four years of age, Emme can do the following:

• State her four names 
• State mommy's full name
• Write her name and "mommy", "mom-mom" (grandma)
• Knows all her letters
• Can count to 50 forward and backward from 20
• Knows all shapes, colors, animals, etc
• Loves to dance and having marching bands (she distributes the instruments)
• Loves her stuffed dog twinkie more than most things
• Has daily tea parties or at least one home cooked meal for all her animals 
• Has an incredible sense of humor
• Is sleeping through the night, though still co-sleeping
• Has strong peer relationships (likes a lot of people but has 3 special friends)
• Will tell you who she DOESN'T like
• Is  great traveler; loves planes, trains and automobiles
• Thinks her mommy looks "gorgeous" in mismatched pajamas at 6am
• Has outgrown the need for physical therapy (at 3 1/2)
• Loves her gym class
• Mastered her trike and likes roller skating
• Has good problem solving skills 
• Uses manners (please, thank you)
• Still likes a good nap
• Got her first library card and loves to check out books about dogs
• Has decided our family vacation this year will be........Disneyland (umm third time in 2 years)

There are probably oodles of other things I'm not thinking of at the moment.  I think four will be a great age.

Farmtastic!

Saturday was Emme's birthday party and today my baby turns FOUR.  It's hard to believe that later in the week it will be 2 years since I first saw her face.  Time has certainly flown by.  Last year she was sick for her birthday and her party and turning three, she was still a bit more shy.  She sure wasn't sick for her party but she is sick today and home enjoying the day with mommy and playing with presents from the weekend.  As always the generosity of others amazes me.  Her party was big and despite the cost and the chance she may not remember it, it was worth it 100%.  She had a blast as did her friends.  Just about everyone there has a special place in our life and it was wonderful they could be there to help celebrate her special day.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Isn't She lovely?

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Macro Fun

I got a macro lens a few weeks ago and it's a very cool lens to have (thanks Kris).  My hope was to capture the perfect snowflake but so far no luck.  Here are a few candy captures at a party we went to yesterday.

Pickle and Ice Cream

A Special Visit

We had the absolute pleasure of seeing special friends today. We haven't seen each other since last summer when Emme had just come home.  We were fortunate they were able to stop by on their way home from a special party and had a nice visit.  It's a pretty mild day so we took the kids to the playground, not realizing the snow hadn't been cleared.  They had fun nonetheless.  It was great to see them and the next time will be with the newest addition; their beautiful daughter who is waiting in China.  We're hoping they get news tomorrow of their travel dates.

Happy Valentines Day

Random Shots

Snarky and Just Plain Opinionated

So there's a top 100 blogs about adoption, infertility and loss. Okay so one of the blogs deserves absolute recognition for the work they do on behalf of special needs kids in China. In fact it was started by moms of these perfect little ones. Some of the others on the list....well it's only MY opinion but, let's just move along. So the real thorn in my side you ask? The brains who created the title for this top list felt it necessary to classify adoption with infertility and loss for what reason? Seriously for many people, adoption is a gift and something to honor, celebrate and smile about. When is the last time you saw someone smiling through a miscarriage or news that they would never conceive children? This truly boggles my mind and pisses me off. Adoption is not or should not be the path of last resort if we truly stand behind the notion that adoption is about finding families for children and not the other way around. I for one chose adoption. I have no idea what my own fertility is like because as a responsible adult I have taken the necessary precautions to ensure that my personal values were preserved to the best of my ability. If I wanted to attempt to pass a watermelon though the birth canal I would have attempted such a feat. Instead I felt like I wanted to provide a forever family to a child who already existed. A true celebration which is now categorized with the horror other families suffer as people like me celebrate. Discuss