Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Kids Birthday tickers
Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Sunday, April 25, 2010

WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON? (PART I)

What HAS been going on? Well, I'll tell ya! ~~~ A whole lot of normalcy, lol. Since my last "informational" post, we have pretty much been just hangin' out at the house and driving each other crazy.

During the first part of March the weather was definitely the deciding factor as to what we were doing any particular day. Like on this day it was in the high 70's and Leyna, Logan, Ciara and I decided to kick off the summer early by having a picnic. Not too many times you can say your first picnic of the year started in March, March 11, 2010 to be exact! Ahhhh...nothing says summer is fast approaching like eating lunch on your picnic table surrounded by melting snow! Logan and Ciara were just a tad excited about getting outta the house!

Then of course we blinked and by the next week it was cold enough again to bundle up. Ciara is fast catching up to Logan with her farming and gardening skills. Her major excitement has been going down to the barn with Logan and her Papa to feed the cows or ride on Papa's big tractor, and both she and Logan are fantastic helpers! These next pics are of Ciara helping Roger turn over the garden getting it ready for our next warm spell to plant.

On March 25th, Roger, Ciara and I left to spend a week down in Charlotte, NC with Roger's mom. While there Ciara met for the first time her Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Rick and cousin Bria, her Aunt Faye, Uncle Ron and cousins Ron, Nick, Lydia and Eve, and finally her Uncle Bill and cousin Billy. Ciara proudly claimed ALL of her new family as her very own, for example, My Faye or My Rhonda, lol. Unfortunately her mother can only claim memory loss as I did forget to take my camera just about everywhere on this trip!

Also while in Charlotte we got to visit Jaclyn and Patrick and their four kids, Liam, Neve, Flynn and their newest addition Jemma. Jemma you may remember from THIS POST.Ciara and Jemma are only a month apart and were in the same orphanage in China. Ciara came home in September and Jemma in December. We're not sure if they remembered each other, but we all got to spend the afternoon together comparing life post adoption. I really hated to leave so soon, but as luck would have it (or was it?), I accidentally left Ciara's bag at their house. So the next day on our way to Roger's sister's house, which happened to be only two miles from where Patrick (or Snippy as I like to call him) and Jaclyn's house is, we stopped to pick up the bag. While there Jaclyn asked if I was doing anything the next afternoon, which our plans had just fell through, so Ciara and I got to get together with Jaclyn, Flynn and Jemma for a China group playdate at a park near their home. I think there were about 10 little girls there; most from China, 1 or 2 from Vietnam. Ciara had a great time playing with them all. Pictures were taken...just not by me! Jaclyn is going to send me any pics she gets (Right, Jaclyn?), so when I get 'em, you'll see 'em! I did manage the last day we were in Charlotte to remember to take my camera outta my suitcase and I did take some pictures of Ciara with my mother-in-law's dog Coco, and then some in her backyard :)

Is it just me, or am I the only one that has an unusual amount of pics with my daughter in various cages?

This group of pictures was taken at a park just down the road from my mother-in-law's house.

So this is what's been goin' on in March. April's post will be coming soon!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

FIGURES!

Just when I ask for help, I go to view my post and...wala...the problem is gone, but I didn't do it and I don't care how it happened, I'm just little irritated that I've spent the last 1/2 hour trying to fix it, lol

TEMPLATE TROUBLE!

Does anyone know why all of a sudden my right column is now underneath my left column? And if you do, do you also know how to fix it? Because I sure can't figure it out and it's driving me nuts!!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

SIX MONTHS WITH CIARA!

First off...man, it's been a month since I've posted anything. AND I'll tell you why, it's a very simple explanation really. When I start something new, it just consumes me for about an average of 2-3 weeks, and in a moment of weakness I accepted someone's request of me to...are you ready for this?... PLAY FARMVILLE!!! How ridiculous is that? Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

On a completely more serious and life-changing note, our precious little Ciara has been with our family now for six months!! Six months??!! We certainly can't believe it, and I've heard it said many times, but it is true...it is like she's always been here.

Ten facts about Ciara, or CiCi as Logan and Leyna like to call her, that everyone should know:

Fact No. 1: The girl loves to shop, and her favorite things to buy are still SHOES!!
Fact No. 2: When the referral paperwork described her as being a little obstinate, someone fibbed a little. This girl is bull-headed, but does eventually bend if necessary, lol.
Fact No. 3: She has the best pucker ever and isn't afraid to use it, lol.
Fact No. 4: Ciara loves bling, dressing up and did I mention she likes shoes?
Fact No. 5: She loves going to church and her Bible class with her friend Ella.
Fact No. 6: Ciara does not like cheese of any kind, not even mac-n-cheese, no cheese.
Fact No. 7: She digs chocolate milk, gummies, pork chops (really meat of any kind), Raman noodles of course, gold fishes, Cocoa Puffs and Fruity Pebbles.
Fact No. 8: She loves her family! How do I know? 'Cause she tells us all the time, "I Uv Ou!"
Fact No. 9: She loves riding in Papa's and Ya Ya's big trucks and does so every opportunity she can.
Fact No. 10: Ciara loves to be read to and would do so every minute of the day. If we're not reading to her, she will sit and look through the books herself.

And there are so many other facts I could tell you about this lovable, snuggly, beautiful, wonderful, precious gift to our family that we all just love, love, love, but seriously I just don't have that much time!

Below are a few pictures over the last six months with Ciara. She's gotten a little taller and her hair is a smidge thicker.

8-31-09 Meeting Ciara for the first time!8-31-09 She had been with me about 6 hours at this point. We're at Wal-mart.9-2-09 At the Hefei Zoo9-3-09 In our hotel room in Hefei, Anhui, China9-8-09 We're in Guangzhou at this point, leaving for home in two days.9-19-099-20-099-22-0910-8-0910-23-0910-30-0911-16-0911-20-0912-19-0912-24-091-19-101-20-101-30-102-19-103-1-10