Apple picking

Last weekend we went apple picking. The girls had a blast and we ended up with 50 lbs of apples. That's a lot of apples!!



So far we've made 14 pints of homemade applesauce and about 3 gallons of apple juice. I'm planning to also make a few pies. I hope the pies last until Thanksgiving. I might have to store them at my moms house to make that happen. Stranger is a big fan of pie! Although my dad likes pie more than Stranger likes pie, so the pies might not be safe anywhere! Poor pies!




EasternStar was much more excited about the apple picking than she was about strawberry picking. Apples are one of her favorite foods! I think she ate two or three right off of the tree. She was not happy about walking on all of the apples that had fallen off of the tree though. All of that uneven terrain was good PT though! 8 )

Success!! Can I eat it now?

RainbowBaby had a good time hanging out in the wagon.

TinyDancer found "the best" apple for pie making

Yum!!

Just waiting to be picked.

1/2 bushel of apples - enough to make 14 pints of applesauce!

A pot full of baby!

When babies attack!

It might be time to retire the bouncy seat soon!

A most inconvenient place to sleep

What do you think would be the most inconvenient place for your child to fall asleep?

On your lap? Maybe.




On your lap while you are going potty? Hmmm......that would be pretty inconvenient.




On your lap while you are going potty in a public restroom?? BINGO!!!!!



On Saturday, the company that Stranger and I work for had their company picnic. Our company is HUGE - over 10,000 employees and the picnic was at a local amusement park. Because of other activities that we had going that day, we let EasternStar skip her nap and headed out to the park in the early afternoon.

After a few hours of walking in the humidity and the excitement of riding the rides, EasternStar was done! I dashed into the potty as we were packing up to go. She climbed into my lap, shouted "Loud!" (not me - the bathroom had those hand dryers that sound like jet engines), put her head down and fell asleep!

That's a cool feeling!

I sat there for a few minutes, dumbfounded. I called Stranger but all he had to offer was chuckles.

She was tired as she slept through the finishing up, hand washing, and the trek back to the stroller and being fastened in the stroller.




Next time, I'm going solo!!

Knock knock!!

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?


Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?


Knock knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?

Orange you glad I'm so cute?

Potty training - Day 1 - Recap

Sooo, potty training today only lasted about 3.5 hours. Our stats weren't too good - 3 hits and 7 misses. At least towards the end, EasternStar realized that she was peeing, so I guess that is progress.

We were going every 10 minutes, so I think what hurt our stats is that the volume wasn't very much. If she's not emptying her bladder, is that a sign that she isn't ready? Hmmm..... Even the accidents were very small volume.

You'd think with a pediatrician for a husband that he'd be able to offer some insight. But, you'd be wrong. Seven years of medical education and I'll be consulting a book - or better yet, my neighbor that's trained her three boys! 8 )

Mommy bliss!

Mommy bliss - everyone sleeping at the same time!!!


Yay!!!

Potty training - Day 1

Today is day 1 of potty training for EasternStar. I don't really know what I'm doing. Potty training for TinyDancer went like this:

- What are those?
- These are big girl panties. When you are ready, you can start going on the potty and you won't have to wear diapers anymore.
- I don't want to wear diapers anymore. I want to wear those now.
- Really? You want to go in the potty?
- Yes. I have to go potty.
- Now?
- Yes!
SUCCESS!!


I'm not sure that EasternStar is going to be so easy. First I have to convince her that she only needs to wear *one* pair of panties at a time!

I've got a timer, a big stack of books, a giant stack of dry clothes and a big glass of water. What else do we need?

A year ago ....

What we were doing a year ago -

Waiting to board the plane home in the airport in Moscow

Passed out in the airport at home. Being up for 17 hours straight will do that to you!

She slept through the entire flight from Dulles to home,

getting off of the plane and into the stroller, walking to baggage claim,

meeting her sister and grandparents,

going into the car seat, and the car ride home!

Our first family photo

A new record!

A new record was set tonight! 51 minutes to get three little faces washed, three little girls changed into pjs, and three little girls to sleep.


Oh yeah!!

Happy Adoption Day EasternStar!!!

A year ago, we were in a small court room, standing before a judge, hoping that we would be granted permission to adopt a beautiful little girl. Hoping that we were making a good case for the required 10 day waiting period to be waived so that we could bring our little girl home and start our new life together as a family of four and start getting her the therapy that she needed. I can't believe that it was only a year ago.

.

.

When we started the adoption process, a friend of mine shared with me that two of her sisters were adopted from China and people always told her how "lucky" her sisters were because they were adopted. And she always thought that the rest of her family were the lucky ones. I totally agree. Right after we brought EasternStar home, so many people commented on how lucky she was to get adopted. Truly, without a doubt, we are that lucky ones. We get to raise this beautiful, stubborn, sweet, funny little girl! We're the ones that get to hear "Wuv you too" when we say I love you. We are so so lucky!

.

.

There were so many days during our adoption when we just sat and prayed that we were on the right path. Were we understanding God's directions for us? Did we interpret his calling correctly? After filling out paper after paper after paper and racing to get them notarized, certified, apostilled, would we really end up with a daughter? Did we have the stamina to complete the marathon?
.

.

Looking back now, we were so blessed to have such an easy adoption! Of course, it didn't feel like it at the time. I think that one of the hardest parts of adoption is that you never know when your end date will be until it's there. It would be so much easier if at the beginning, someone could tell you - 'OK, just be patient for 13 months. Good things are coming your way.' Or 15 months. Or 20 months. The not knowing when you will meet your child, leaving them and not knowing how long it will be before you will get to see them again, not knowing when you will get to bring them home.....lose are the hardest things!

.

.

.

Looking back, we were so lucky! The things that were big at the time - 4 months to get our homestudy written after the last visit! - 8 weeks to get our INS approval! - Another chest x-ray! seem so little now! Every little bump happened for a reason. Every little bump lead us to our EasternStar.

.

.

.

I can't believe that it has been a year. The time has gone so incredibly fast. And yet it feels as though she has always been with us. She may have been 15 months old when we brought her home, but I don't think that we've missed anything! I've watched this little girl go from just being able to sit up to running! From not uttering a sound to picking up the phone and saying 'Hi mommy! Hi daddy! Hi puppies! Bye bye!' and responding to 'I love you' with a totally cute 'Wuv you too!'.

.

.

.

We celebrated today with an ice cream cake for dessert. Enjoy the pictures!

Hmmm.... which one do I want?

This one looks good!

MMMMMMMM!

The cake, before the action started.

A year ago, all dressed and getting ready to

leave the orphanage and start the long journey home!

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy is coming to our house tonight!

No, not because TinyDancer lost a tooth - well, not the usual way. About a year ago, we learned that TinyDancer had an extra tooth in between her front top incisors. Unfortunately, the tooth was upside down AND causing one of her permanant teeth to be crooked. Super crooked. Like, turned completely sideways crooked. Bummer!

Today we had her extra tooth extracted. She was not happy when she woke up and she couldn't feel the roof of her mouth! But she is now feeling better after spending the day resting on the couch, watching movies and eating fudgesicles.

Hmmm....I wonder what the tooth fairy brings if you have to have your tooth extracted??

First Food

RainbowBaby started eating cereal last week. This is waaay earlier than we started TinyDancer on "solid" foods, but she has been interested in watching us eat for weeks. So interested that if I was holding her and eating something, she would lean in and open up her mouth as I brought my food to my mouth!

So, last week week we decided to give cereal a try. RainbowBaby was pretty excited to put on her bib - I wonder if she knew what was coming??

I promise, she really was excited!

MMMM a bowl full of mush!

And a disappointing first bite!

.

I bet she was expecting it to taste better than it did! Soon princess, you can move on to something tastier!

.

We settled for just chewing on the spoon!

.

This week went much better and RainbowBaby even started to enjoy the cereal. Next up, sweet potatoes! TinyDancer is going to help me make a batch of sweet potatoes and we'll stick some sweet potato ice cubes in the freezer to enjoy over the rest of the month.

Yum!

Postpartum arthritis

Ever hear of post partum arthritis? Yeah..... me neither! Apparently it exists because after weeks of pain in my hands and wrists I finally got a diagnosis a few weeks ago. I'm so glad to know that this pain isn't just all in my head!

Prayers for this to go away soon are appreciated!