TWO TEENS and a TODDLER

 

....at the end of October Kinz turned THIRTEEEEEEEEN! Aaaaaaah! WOW! How can that be? It really is amazing how time flies - I have completely enjoyed every single minute of her 13 years of life and the AWESOME little lady she is becoming! I am ONE blessed chicka to be her MOMMA!!!  ...She decided this year to have a Halloween/Birthday Party with her entire softball team (that's 11 Crazzzzzzzzzzzy, Screaming, LAUGHING GIRLS that took over our basement)!!! It was a costume/haunted forest/scary movies kind of a night! It was GREAT (okay, besides going downstairs to find SALSA on the walls the next morning - EEEEEKS)!!! ha ha! :) My sis was the HUGEST MOST AMAZZZZZING help EVAAAAAH - Look at all the AWESOMENESS she made!!!! Seriously - some of it looked too darn CUTE you didn't want to EAT it!  THANKS KRIS - YOU ROCK - and helped make Kinzi's party one she will never ever forget. :)

Daaaaang, she is GOOOOOD!!!! ....sure wish she lived closer!!!! It was a super fun night and Kinz felt totally celebrated and special! Definitely a Birthday SUCCESS! YAY!!! I still can't believe she is a TEENAGER!

 

....so now, we have got TWO teens... and a toddler in the house!!!

I gotta say it's is pretty FUNNY... to go from talking about hikki's to caca, driving to diapers, softball to Dr. Seuss, singing 'head and shoulders knees and toes' to jamming out to Lady Gaga, Katy Perry or some other teenie bopper band, teaching basic words to trying to figure out an algebra problem that is WAAAAY over our heads... :)

Well.....WE LOVE IT!! ...and wouldn't change ONE single thing about it! Mihret has been home 3 months and none of us can imagine our lives without her! Madison and Makinzi have been SO GOOOOD with her - They are the best BIG sisters EVER (besides the occasional antagonizing here and there) ;). They try to teach her all kinds of words (the latest are:  'ME', 'POO POO' and 'JUICE' - which is now referred to as 'JUJU') ha, they LOVE to read to her and play with her - they have taught her how to give HIGH 5's and KNUCKLES (which are REALLY crucial hand gestures during softball season ha! :) ....and now Mihret will let them feed her, put her to sleep and take her potty! (the last 3 are HUGE - she really didn't want anyone else to do these things besides her Ma and Pa) ;)  Erik and I have been able to get out every Tuesday night and let Madison and Kinz watch Mihret for an hour or so - while we skip down to the lil Mexican restaurant and grab a beverage and some chips and salsa and get to talk to each other - ya know - keeeeeeping the SPARK alive!! :) IT'S GOOD! :)

I think the first couple months Mihret was home - we were all trying to learn and understand her needs, all of us were trying to bond and attach to her, learn what she likes to eat, when does she sleep, how does she like to play, (we did learn Mihret desperately required a routine and a schedule - if she knew what was going to happen when - she was a happy camper - unlike Kinz and Madison who were kinda go with the flow babes) ....at the same time we were also tying to make sure we weren't forgetting about her sisters needs as well - just trying to figure out our place, our role, our responsibilities and make sure lil Mihret's adjustment is as easy for her as possible - it definitely was a big CHANGE in all of our lives.  An AMAZINGLY AWESOME change!!!! - but it took us just a little bit to get all of our MOJO on the same page (if that makes any sense) :) So, there were a little bit of growing pains at first... but SERIOUSLY - 3 months HOME and Mihret is potty trained, takes a 2 1/2 hour nap starting at noon, and goes to bed at 8 and wakes up around 7 in the morning and she is a smiling, happy LOVING little girl! She REALLY is amazzzzzing! Her little PERSONALITY cracks me up on a daily basis - she has grasped hold of a lot of our mannerism's and LOVES to copy and mimic our behavior - She has definitely picked up some GOOD stuff! ha ha! (...on a side NOTE TO SELF: She is absorbing everything - BE CAREFUL) :)

It has been SO FUN for this Momma to watch Madison and Makinzi interact with her, show her off, teach her things, LOOOOVE on her, care for her... Mihret follows them around, helps them get ready in the morning, laughs with them, cuddles with them, takes pictures with them...  Ha ha ha! :)

...argues with them, climbs up on them like a little jungle jim, gives them the evil eye, kisses them, hugs them... I'm pretty sure she thinks her sisters are 'THE BOMB!' (a little teenage lingo) :)

Mihret is 17 months old now! Almost a year an a half - and I have seen MORE changes in this sweeeeet little girl than I ever thought was possible! It TRULY is AMAZING to ACTUAL SEE how LOVE and a FAMILY can change a little girl... FOREVER! PRAISE GOD! We are SO thankful HE choose her for our crazy family! ♥ 

I ABSOULTELY, POSITIVELY LOOOOOOOVE the DICKENS out of our 2 TEEEENS and our TODDLER!

NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY - Especially SPECAIL to us TODAY!

NOVEMBER 18, 2011 

HOME almost 3 months with Mihret who is 16 months old!! ♥ We got to celebrate NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY re-adopting her!  What made it EVEN better was that we got to CELEBRATE this day with THREE other AMAZZZZZZZZZING Families who also adopted through AGCI and have become such DEAR friends to us!

We were the first ones called up!!!

 Our little Mihret - checking it all out!

Making it all OFFICIAL!

WHAT A CELEBRATION!

YES! YES! We are gonna LOVE her FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER!

She was gifted a BIG, BROWN cuddly bear! ♥ SO CUTE!

We have been SUPER-SIZED to FIVE!!!
(....Okay my GIRLS look great in this picture but Erik is, hmmmm, well, not sure what's go'n on there! ha ha ha ha!  - and I don't know what happened to my neck in this pic - it seemed to have disappeared! ha ha ha!) :)

Whatcom County Officials! - Gave us a great gift bag, our paperwork and announced our FAB FAM of FIVE! :)

 OUR CRAZY, AWESOME Group - Minus Madison (I think she was in the restroom! ha!) :)  IT was a GREAT day - a BEAUTIFUL drive to Bellingham and the reception and our Mexican Lunch afterwards was AWESOME!!

DON'T pass THIS up!

...It wasn't too long ago and my dear friend Lauren was HELPING US raise money to bring home our daughter from ETHIOPIA!  She allowed me to sell her merchandise... her AWESOME POPPIES and her extreme talents of WEB DESIGN... By the way...... if you are looking to create a new web page or start a blog, Just click on the image below and CHECK IT OUT...

To help jog your memory of the AWESOMENESS Lauren shared with us through the proceeds of all the sales that were made in a month see my blogpost :

BLOWN AWAY!!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH LAUREN!!!!

Soooo... now as she sets off on another adoption journey, and understanding the experience of adopting and the expenses involved... I only wish I could do more to help this AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING family who blessed our SOCKS off!!

She has put together the BIGGEST MOST AWESOME basket full of GREAT things for YOU to win!!! Simply... head on OVER to her SITE... Just click HERE!  You will go straight to Lauren's beautiful website! 

DONATE as little as:

FIVE DOLLARS and you are entered to WIN!!! ...Also, absolutely ANYTHING is HELPFUL and COMPLETELY appreciated when you are funding an adoption - every little bit helps!  and YOU are helping bring home an ORPHAN to a CHRIST LOVING family who will cherish and adore this child FOREVER AND EVER!!!

Directly from Lauren's blog...

There are soooo many amazing goodies that total over $350 worth of awesomeness! The very blessed winner of this basket is going to receive so many wonderful things that can either be an early Christmas gift for her/him OR a combo of goodies for them and goodies to give away as Christmas presents! Either way it’s just great!All you have to do to is enter your name into a drawing for this basket when you make a donation of $5 towards our Ethiopia Adoption. For every $5 we will put your name on the list…. so, $10 we will put your name on twice… $25 five times… and so forth. Simple right? Read all the way to the bottom to see how you can get an extra entry too!

GO HERE TO DONATE - GO HERE TO ENTER TO WIN ALL OF THIS!

 

 

 

Last day to ENTER November 27th at 11:59 pm. 

 

 

Then I will draw a winner and announce it on the blog on the 28th! 

 

Once I hear back I will ship all the goodies to you! YAY!! This is a WIN – WIN situation! Even if you don’t win the basket you have still helped us bring our baby home AND you have the opportunity to win another basket next month!

After you donate……  post something about this on twitter, facebook ,or your blog (better yet – all 3!) and we’ll add your name again to the list.  Just be sure to leave a comment with the link to your post about it!

If you wish for your name to be put on the list for the basket drawing without donating to our adoption just email me at laurenalexis1@gmail.com for how to do that.

If you would like to send a check just email me.

 

 OKAY, SO seriously.... How AWESOME IS THIS!!! It is honestly the BIGGEST AND BEST giveaway I have ever seen! I LOVE IT!  I LOVE LAUREN AND HER FAMILY!

PLEASE... take a minute to POP on over to LAUREN's BLOG and ENTER! :)

TWO MONTHS HOME

OCTOBER 20, 2011

2 MONTHS HOME and look how much Mihret's hair has grown! hehehe! :)

SLEEPING HABITS:

We have moved Mihret into her own room and she is doing okay.

She still sleeps in the portable crib

She is still waking up about ONCE a night.

She is taking close to a two hour nap now around noon everyday. :)

Won't let Madison or Makinzi put her to bed

EATING HABITS:

Mihret still pretends to eat a lot - she will pretend to feed us too

SHE LOVES FOOD! :)

She has gone from being in the 20th percentile in weight to the 65th!!! WOW!

 She is just now starting to let Makinzi and Madison feed her - she is still pretty particular about that

She is starting to like fruit more - wouldn't eat it when we first got home

She will eat pretty much everything now - even raw onions :)

I still give her rice cereal mixed with apple sauce for breakfast

Likes to feed herself

Starting to drink Soy milk not formula now 

PLAYING:

She is being nicer to Furbee - she doesn't push him away - she puckers up for a big kiss instead! :)

She LOVES to play with cell phones and pretend to talk to people

She likes the older kids a bit more than the little ones

She shares well.

She plays good by herself

She will let you read an entire BOOK to her now! :)

LOVES to stack blocks

Not a fan of TV

Loooooves to open up the cabinets and get her cups and bowls out

Likes to mix and pour stuff

LOVES the water and bathtime

POTTY TRAINING:

Mihret still says caca when she has to go Potty

We are not pushing this though - she is still wearing a diaper

We do give her a treat for going pooooopy

Does not like Madison and Makinzi to take her potty

Does not like her little potty - likes to go on the BIG potty

LANGUAGE:

Mihret's vocabulary is growing sloooooowly

She still says Momma, Dadda and Caca

Calls Furbee GAGA

Kinz taught her to say, GO - so now she says GO CACA :)

We think we have heard her say BYE and BABY but don't hear them often

She jibber jabbers alllll the time

Starting to SING

GIGGLES about stuff

Laughs to herself and at silly things

LOVE HER SMILE!

HEALTH:
Almost all her Mollescum is GONE

Her Giardia is GONE

She is still taking an Iron supplement

She has a nice size belly - she thinks is funny to show us and point to her belly button

OUTINGS:
Kinzi's Softball Games and practices

Kinzi's Volleyball Matches

To the ZOO with her friends Makeda and Skyler

Out to coffee with friends

Getting better in the car no more crying and less throwing up :)

Wagon Walks

To the mall in the stroller

Dr. Visit at UW

Remlinger Farms

1st POST PLACEMENT VISIT

Mihret loved Diane, she sat on her lap or stood beside her and put her hand on her solder. SO CUTE!

It was FUN for her to meet Mihret!

Nice to talk to her about Mihret's development, attachment, etc...

My sweet nephew and his BIG OLE HEART

My sis sent me this - it brought me to tears and just warms my heart... that her little boy thinks about this moment in time as SUPER special to him! 

♥ LOVE YOU TANNER - You are a ONE COOL KID!! XOX ♥

♥ Mihret and Tanner!!! ♥

DARC, I HAD TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU. I WENT TO PICK UP TANNER FROM SCHOOL TODAY AND HIS TEACHER WANTED TO SHOW ME SOMETHING HE HAD WRITTEN.

THE ASSIGNMENT GIVEN TO THE KIDS WAS TO WRITE ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE TRIP.

SHE GAVE EXAMPLES OF DISNEYLAND, SILVERWOOD, ETC. OUT OF ALL THE FUN PLACES

WE HAVE BEEN AND THINGS WE HAVE DONE THIS IS WHAT HE CHOSE TO WRITE ABOUT

....HE HAS THE SWEETEST HEART!!!! MADE ME CRY :)

I HAVE ATTACHED "TRANSLATION" - IF YOU WILL - OF TANNER'S WRITING SINCE HE DID WRITE IT ALL BY HIMSELF WITH NO HELP FROM THE TEACHER :)

"WHEN I WENT TO SEATTLE TO MEET MY NEW BABY COUSIN. SHE LIKES ELECTRONICS. WHEN WE GOT TO THE AIRPORT MY OLDER COUSIN SHE STARTED TO CRY. WHEN WE WERE AT THE AIRPORT I WAS A LITTLE SHY CAUSE A LOT OF GIRLS WERE THERE. NOW THAT'S WHEN I MET MY NEW BABY COUSIN!"

P.S. TANNER ASKED ME.....DID YOU SEE THE BIG BOW I PUT ON MIHRET'S HEAD :) YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL FROM THE SCANNED COPY, BUT THE "DARKER, SMALLER

PERSON" ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE IS MIHRET WITH A BIG BOW!!

Soooooo sweet!!! I loved it!!! Mihret will adore this as much as we do one day!!!! 

LOOOOVE YOU SO MUCH TANNER!!!

ONE MONTH HOME

September 20th, 2011

ONE MONTH HOME

What we have done and how Mihret is doing

Mihret is 14 MONTHS old

-Mihret is sleeping in our room in a crib - she is waking up about 2+ times a night

-Does not like being told, 'no' -plays with her fingers to process

-She says Caca when she has to go potty - we sit her on the potty and she GOES!

-She is saying Dadda, Momma, Caca and calls our Yorkie (Furbee) GAGA

-She is being treated for Giardia

-She is anemic and is being treated with Iron supplements

-She SMILES with her WHOLE BODY

-She is still warming up to her sisters Madison and Makinzi

-Not a FAN of the carseat

-She gets CARSICK - she has thrown up about 4 times in the car :(

-She likes to pretend to eat

-She does good playing with her toys by herself

-LOVES to be held

-LOVES baths

-Touches her BOW in her hair and SMILES :)

-Not a FAN of baby dolls

-Likes to stack things, even her food

-Getting up and down the stairs really good

-Is understanding more what we are saying

-LOVES to play with BALLS

-Likes SWEEETS

-LOVES to play in rain puddles

-Waves good bye and says, GA

-Can give ya a HIGH FIVE

-Does not like to look at the camera and smile

-Still drinking FORMULA

-She has been to softball games, volleyball matches and the zoo

-She still has a lot of the mollescum. Her body is starting to fight it though.

-Likes the wagon and the stroller

-Won't let you read an entire book to her - is good for about 30 seconds :)

-Takes about an hour nap at noon

-Definitely does NOT like it if she CANNOT see you 

-Cries and throws a fit for no reason sometimes

-TOTALLY tickleish and has a GREAT BIG belly laugh :)

-Got her EARS PIERCED

-Seeing MORE of her funny lil personality

-PUCKERS up and gives the BEST kisses EVER!! ♥

 

We are ENJOYING every single second with HER! She is SUCH A BLESSING! 

LOVE YOU MIHRET!

M♥RE L♥VE for MIHRET ♥

My dear friend Tiffany threw me a TOTALLY FUN shower at the Edgewater Inn restaurant - right on the water - it was beautiful... she decorated the table with adorable cupcakes with lil brown babies on them! ha ha! I LOVED IT! and we played little games and HOLY SMOKES... all of them - Crystal, Sonja, De, Tiff, Diana, Carol and Jan were SO SO thoughtful and soooooo incredibly generous... I couldn't wait to get back home and try on all Mihret's adorable outfits, play games with her and read books to her... THANKS LADIES!!! I had such a BLAST! A few of my buds couldn't make it - but BLESSED the SOCKS of Miss Mihret with a little BARBIE car and AMAZZING little outfits and books!! WOW!!!!

(Mihret pictured here in her new lil JUICY outfit from her Grandma and Grandpa riding her BARBIE car from the May's and the Bate's) :)

(Ooooooh LOOK I'm wearing the SAME outfit that I did at Niki's SHOWER!! ha ha ha!) :)

...The BLESSSSSSSSSINGS just kept on COMING!!!! My ACER Momma's all got together and surprised me in between Kinzi's SOFTBALL Games - They had a picnic table ALL set up with BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS Cupcakes, Strawberries and Cream, drinks, sandwhiches!! WOW!!! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Surprised!!! It was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Mihret got SOOOOOOOOOOOO many DARLING outfits... and MORE!!! I LOVE these Softball Mom's... I honestly cherish their friendship... and are REALLY a lot like FAMILY - since we see each other SO much, cheer on each other's kiddos together, travel together - LOVE THEM!!!  

Here is a pick of some of my AWESOME ACERRRRRRR BUDS

Mihret LOOOOOOOOOOVED the CUPCAKES!!!! Mmmmmmm mmmm!!! 

 

...Then last weekend we went to EASTERN WASHINGTON (Mihre'ts first trip to our HOME TOWN) to go to another SHOWER that Erik's SISTER - Angela had arranged with ALL our family that live there!! Erik's Mom made YUMMY Spaghetti, garlic Bread, Cider - we had cake and ice cream - YUM! It was soooooooooooooo nice to see all our family and share this time together and Mihret got SOOOO many adorable things - from a little rocking horse, a winter coat to darling outfits and a sweet knitted hat!! SOOO FUN!! SO THOUGHTFUL! Thanks Ang!!! XOX ♥  We had such a GREAT time sharing Mihret and spending time with everyone! :)

(I think little Mihret was all PARTIED out at this point and  ready for a nap... ) :)

....it seemed like every time I saw FAMILY and FRIENDS - everyone had a little something for Mihret ♥ things came in the mail - things were left on our doorstep!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! It was SO FUN! I am so GRATEFUL for the AWESOME people GOD has placed in our lives!!!!  We REALLY ARE BLESSED - way more than we deserve!

This AWESOME book was dropped off on my door step by my dear FRIEND Shannon!!! I read it to Mihret EVERY night - SHE LOVES IT - so DO I!!!

and my friend JANET S. and her AWESOME fam - gave Mihret this book - ANOTHER one of my FAVE'S!!!

...Not to mention Mihret's lil closet is FULL of FUN! I'm telling ya... this MOMMA is having such a blast finding outfits for her to wear everyday and bows to put in her hair, books to read to her, sippy cups, diapers, blankets, cute bowls to eat out of, bibs, shoes, toys... :)

My sister-in-law, Mikayla - had plans to throw me a BIG OLE shower and we kept needing to reschedule or move it to a different location... She made the most BEAUTIFUL invitations and put a lot of thought into it! We decided to turn it into a FAMILY FUN dinner - just down the street at Red Robin...

...It was just perfect... Beautiful FLOWERS - in a HOME MADE GIANT Jar, Personalized Cupcakes for Miss Mihret, a UW JERSEY!! COOL! UGGS!! A couple adorable outfits... A Rahel Ethiopian Dolly! LOVE HER!!! So does Mihret!! SUPER DUPER CUTE!!! Love the story behind her and the support that goes back to World Vision!! AWESOME! Thanks MIKAYLA for planning such a FUN time on YOUR birthday!!! :)

To top off an AWESOME night... - Mihret's Uncle Zach WON her a little Green and Blue Monkey Dude from the 'BIG GRABBER THINGY' game!! ha ha ha!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!! He tried it a couple times - had a goooood grasp on it, it slipped away... then we all decided to leave and just give up... Zach ran back in to try it ONE more time and GOT THAT CRAZY LIL THING!!! ha ha ha!!! ...Then he CHASED our car down and gave it to MIHRET!!! ♥ SOOOOOOO FUNNY!!!!