Warning! It's Contagious!

Today I had a sneezing fit, and Selah just burst out laughing. She is not one to really belly laugh much, so obviously I had to grab my camera and fake sneeze about a hundred times to get her to keep laughing!

Zoo Pictures & Video Clips

There was quite a wait to see the cubs, and then you could only stay for 3 mintues!! But, they were adorable - it was worth it.


Elianna wanted to ride the "Zeeba"


Checking out the giraffes


Ride 'em Cowgirl! (Okay, it's a warthog, but she insisted!)

At the Children's Zoo


In this video it looks like she touches the goat and it dies!



The Fisher Price Exhibit

One favorite, the pop-up camper


Another favorite toy - you write with light


She didn't quite understand how to use the virtual guitar - she just held it and danced.

Potty Success

Elianna has been doing so great with her "Big girl" panties. A couple weeks ago, she managed her first poopy on the potty, and she has not had an accident of any kind since!!! (Up to this point, we had to put a diaper on her when it was time to do her business. She flatly refused to use the potty.) We had also been putting diapers on her when she went out somewhere, took a nap, etc... Going back and forth between diapers and panties was confusing her, though, so we made the decision to ban diapers. We should have tried it sooner! But, you never know what will work from one kid to another. She has been accident free, even on longer trips out (like the zoo) and all through nap time! Phew! That was easy enough... let's see if Selah is this easy to potty train!!!


Chad thought it was too funny the way she demands a Readers Digest if she has any serious business to do on the potty.

Another Art Post

Oh, this was just too cute. Elianna was scribbling away on her "Doodle" and she kept doing that little growl she does when she's frustrated. I asked her what was wrong, and she says, "I can't draw the eyes! Can Mommy draw eyes for my face?" I asked, "What face?" And she showed me this:

Budding Artist

Elianna has this habit of singing to herself all the time, and generally she makes up both the words and the tune to go along with whatever she is thinking, feeling, doing, or has recently done. Well, she was painting merrily away, and I was sitting at my counter working on taping a book back together that had been ripped to pieces. Now, this is tedious and detail-oriented work, so I wasn't really listening to her or paying attention to her. I would hand her a different painting implement when she asked, but didn't turn to watch her work. I could hear her singing one of her wandering tunes about the bridge she was painting, whether Allysann was coming over, how much she loved Papa, all the usual topics... until something caught my ear. She was singing, "Ooooh, I like to paaaaaaaint, and I paaaaaaaint on the waaaaaallll. With my paintbruuuuuuuush, on the waaaaaall." I turned around and sure enough! She had covered a section about 2' by 3' of the wall. I have no idea how long she was painting the wall instead of her paper!!! I guess I will have to pay more attention to her singing - who knows what else I'm missing! (It would be nice if she didn't outgrow this. I can just hear her as a teenager singing to herself, "Oooooh, I stayed out laaaate last night, but Mom didn't noooootice. I scratched the caaaaaaar, Dad will be maaaaad.")

Trip to the BIG Zoo

It was a spur of the moment decision, which generally does not bode well when you're dealing with small children... but we nonetheless planned a trip to the Toledo Zoo. Elianna immediately dubbed it the BIIIIIIG zoo, since it is much bigger than the smaller one we went to a couple weeks ago. The highlight of the trip for Elianna was riding the carousels. I honestly think we could have just rode them all day and she would be happy. We got to see the new polar bear cubs, who were just too cute for words. The first time through the line, we saw a male cub. Then we decided to get in line again later at the end of the day, and this time rather than a timed (only 3 minutes!!!) viewing we got to stay as long as we wanted. To make it better, this time the cubs that were out were twin girls. You should have seen the way they played and carried on!! I held Elianna up to the glass, and one swam over and tried splashing her. We were excited about her nose-to-nose encounter, but she started screaming and ran away. (I don't think she fully understood the glass was between them.) She really loved the Children's Zoo, where she got to brush a guinea pig and chase goats around. Also, there was a HUGE Fisher-Price exhibit there that day. It was a giant tent with what looked like every Fisher Price toy available - including a racetrack with all the different powered toys. Elianna thought she was in heaven, and once there we had a heck of a time getting her out! (Selah slept through it all.) Elianna found a toy pop-up camper and that became her favorite. She really became engrossed with it and glared at anyone who came near her. We did manage to pry her out of there to look at more animals, but only after assuring her we would find some hippos. She also saw an elephant do some tricks, scoured the aquarium for "Nemo" (clownfish) which Daddy managed to find, and got to see a hippo playing with this huge ball. She was in a great mood all day, only really getting mad at me once for (I am not making this up) not letting her ride the rhinoceros. She even tried to climb through the barrier and get into the enclosure, and only when I told her the rhino would eat her would she let go of the idea. Selah just rode around in the stroller all day, singing and waving at everyone. At nap time, she zonked out right in the stroller, so miraculously our spontaneous trip turned out to be a really great day.

I hate to break it to you...

My friend Carol from church shared this story, and it was just too funny to keep to myself. She picks up her 4-year-old granddaughter Bella and brings her to church. One day, as Bella was watching her get ready, she announces, "Grandma, you have a big butt." It was a simple, matter-of-fact statement. Not meant to hurt feelings, just stating a fact. She then lifted up her grandma's skirt and examined her legs. "You have really big legs, too!" Carol decided to ignore it. Later, she announced she was going on Weight Watchers. Bella asked what "Weight Watchers" was, and Carol told her, "You'll be happy to know, if I join Weight Watchers it will make my butt and legs get smaller." Bella seemed satisfied with this answer and went on her way. The next time Carol went to pick her up, Bella ran over, grabbed Carol's skirt and jerked it up almost to her waist. She surveyed the view, then turned to Carol and said gravely, "Grandma, it's not working!"

SOOOO Cute!

Don't you just love all those little tricks we teach our children? I guess it's our way of making them perform in front of other people in the hopes that someone else will be awed and amazed by how adorable/smart/creative our child is. Well, Selah has a few of those, and our favorite is when you tell her, "You're SOOOO cute!" she will tilt her head to the side and grin. What can I say? I can't help it - I think she's adorable.

Busy Busy Busy...

I haven't had a chance to post lately... last week was "Neighborhood Bible Time" at our church. (Our church has been doing this program for over 20 years! It is an amazing outreach, both to introduce kids to church as well as encouraging Christian kids and teens to dedicate their lives to Christ.) It's a lot like youth camp, you just don't have to go out-of-town. I worked with the junior high age group as both secretary and counselor, and although I enjoyed the week immensely I am just plain TIRED. I will try to catch up on all the momentous occurences on our life. (That shouldn't take long.) I just got scolded today for going too long without posting... so I figured I'd let you all know what's been going on!!! I will be back soon with pictures in hand - I promise.

Modesty coming back in style?

Check out this video on women who want to return to modest styles:

Girls Gone Mild
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=3408737

I was really impressed with this news story about women wanting to return to a more classy, stylish look instead of the trashy, sleazy fashions on most young celebrities. Think Audrey Hepburn instead of Paris Hilton. I was so saddened by the little girls talking about how they want to look and dress like Britney Spears. What are their mothers thinking?!? I fully believe in embracing your femininity and looking attractive, but flashing your thong and bra straps - EWWW!! I am so tired of seeing bra straps, it just screams "TRAILER TRASH" to me. Now, I have to admit, the models they show at the end with the "modest" fashions all look pretty dorky to me. I don't like jeans so low you have to wax, but at the same time those high-waisted jeans on the model just don't look good on anyone. MODERATION people. And that Burberry dress. Well, EW. But, even though I didn't personally care for their examples of modesty, I am glad to see this movement. We just don't see the classic style icons anymore - women who, like they mention on the video, were just classy and never showed their underwear. It breaks my heart when I see parents tossing their little girls' innocence in the garbage can in the name of fashion.

Beach Video Clip

Okay, Chad will howl at me for posting this, but it's too cute! Here they are splashing in the waves together...

That baby was WHAT?!?!

Elianna was paging through a Lifelines magazine, a publication of Bethany Christian Services, our adoption agency. I notice she is studying a picture of a family with their new baby. I am trying to familiarize her with adoption terminology, even if she is too young to grasp the concept... so I casually say, "See their new baby? See how happy they are? They have adopted that baby!" She whirls around and looks at me with this horrified expression. "They 'DOPTED the baby?" She asked incredulously. "Oooooh, pooh (poor) baby!" It took me a second to understand why she was so upset... and then I realize my little princess can't say her "R's." So when she says "Dopted" what she is really saying is "Dropped it." Naturally she was upset that this family was happy about dropping their baby... I guess she may be a bit too young for this concept!

First Trip to the Zoo!

Sooo... after a busy weekend of camping, beach bumming, picnicking with Colombian friends... we decided to go to the zoo on the way home! Well, it wasn't exactly on the way, but close enough to make it worth it. Plus, with our zoo membership, we got in free!! (Free is always a plus...) This was Elianna's first trip to a zoo, and she just loved it.


Chad and Elianna took a camel ride, which I tried to take a video clip of... only to find out 2 seconds into the clip that I was out of memory!!!!! GRRRR!! So, here's the 2 second clip I got anyway, plus a couple pictures. (That's what I get for not clearing out my junk pictures before they started their ride!) After the ride, when Elianna saw the other camels in the zoo she said, "Now I want to ride that one!"




Okay, where are the monkeys in these pictures? (Sorry, I couldn't resist...)



There was a huge kid's area for "training" young explorers. Elianna liked trying out the saddle and LOVED the wooden train play structure (which we had to pry her off of - she is such a train fiend.)

Elianna's favorite part was the petting corral. She especially loved brushing the animals with all the different brushes that were available.

Michigan Scenery

A couple more shots of the beach. You have to actually climb down these dunes to get to the beach!! It's worth it, though, to have a beach without tons of people. Oh, and loads of fun for Daddy pulling our wagon full of stuff. (Well, getting down is easy... it's climbing back up that's the hard part!!!) Fortunately Elianna is big enough to climb back up on her own, so I could carry Selah and Daddy didn't get a hernia pulling the wagon back up again...

Then and Now

I thought these were cute... pictures of Elianna from last year's camping trip compared to this year.

Lovin' the Beach!!!

Every year we take a camping trip to Northern Michigan and stay at our favorite state park. The best part of this park is the miles and miles of beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline beaches. Elianna loved it as much as last year, and her tan just got darker and darker! Poor fair-skinned Selah was relegated to the cabana the entire time, but she didn't seem to care. I have hundreds of pictures, but here are some of my favorites.

Say Cheeeese!


Heading to the beach in style!


Selah was happy to spend her time in the shade of the cabana.


Catching waves with Daddy


Just relaxing and listening to the waves


The little adventurer climbing the dunes


The best picture of Mommy... very far away!!!


Making shapes with sand molds


Sharing some special Daddy/Daughter time


Our little beach headquarters


Walking with that purposeful stride of hers...

Colombia Connection 2007

This is an event we look forward to all year! Several years ago, there were only a couple Michigan families that had adopted from Colombia. Now, we have been thrilled to see our numbers grow by leaps and bounds. We especially thank the Z family for hosting this picnic at their beautiful lakefront home, and all the other families that work so hard at making this such a fun day for everyone. We love to talk with all the other families, all with their own amazing experiences and at varying stages in the process. There are the old veterans and those just filling out the first of their paperwork - and it is great spending time with them all. Some of the new families we especially liked, and we really look forward to seeing them at future gatherings. The children are all just so beautiful, from our gorgeous Colombian children to our adorable little blond haired surprises! (...and there were quite a few at this gathering!) It was a special time renewing old friendships and making new ones.
Elianna is getting old enough now to have fun playing the games and meeting all her new "Fens" (friends). Due to poor time management on our part, Elianna went without a nap that afternoon. (Ooops!) So, she was a bit emotional, but for the most part had a great time. She really loved the pinata (her first time seeing one). Any chance to beat on something and get rewarded for it was a great idea. She got a real sugar buzz from her prizes during the fishing game, but she did a good job running it off chasing (or being chased by) all her new friends.

The group shot is always a challenge with all those little munchkins... and of course our little nap-less angel just flatly refused to be in the picture. This is the best we could do. (Last year she was the one screaming her lungs out... this year they both were!!)

Elianna loved beating the pinata....

... and "fishing"for cool prizes.

Enjoying yummy picnic food!

Mr. Z took groups out for boat rides, a highlight of the day for Elianna.

We can't wait for the next gathering!!!