{Black & White Wednesday} Bedtime Rituals

 There's nothing sweeter than crawling into bed with your little one and doing your secret handshake before drifting off to sleep; double high fives, double fist bumps, a hug, and a kiss! 

{Sunday Snapshot} Faces!

My sister wanted me to post this series of pictures because it really captures the expressiveness of Cadie.  She is so much fun to watch, and has come so far in the mere 7 months since we brought her home.  And that mop of hair...I think it gets longer every day!

Quietness....

I was on-call this past weekend so we spent a lot of quiet time around the house.  Since it was too hot to be outside for most of the day, we spent some time cooking...

 

 

And cleaning.  Cadie loves to pretend to be just like "mama" and roll out the vaccum or fire up the stove to cook something, usually soup that she spoon feeds to the "babies" and daddy.  

On Monday, we went to the county courthouse to file papers to get Cadie registered with Orphan's Court so that we can get a birth certificate with us listed as her parents.  Cadie was a trooper while I talked to the kind lady helping us.  She just sat in the chair "drawing" and snacking on apples!  She greeted everyone that came in with a "Hi"  and everyone that left with a "bye bye" while we were there.  She's getting to be quite the charmer....

We decided not to have a formal ceremony with the judge, since we feel Gotcha Day is really the day we want to celebrate with Cadie.  So, a few photocopies, some paperwork, and several signatures later, we are finally done!  Well, until our next China update is due in December.  At least we can check this one off this list!

Bumpin' Up & Down In My Little Red Wagon...

How is it that we've come this far in the adoption process and have been a family for 7 months, but we don't own a wagon?  What were we thinking?!  How could we have overlooked this?!  Luckily, while attending a Luau at a friends house, Cadie spotted their wagon in the back yard and after a few "runs" with Daddy at the helm, we're putting this at the top of her Christmas list!

The Lake House

Cadie, Mommy, and Emily swimming in Raystown Lake

The whole gang: Cadie, Christine, Ethan, Lisa, Evie, Elliott, Dean, and Emily
Thanks Christopher for getting this shot!

Cadie practicing her stroke!

Enjoying the sunset cruise

Back at the dock: a GREAT day on the water!

Feeding the carp- the BIG carp!

Dean & Elliott, Christopher & Cadie at the Carp feeding station

Lisa, Elliott, Evie, and Emily

L to R:  Ethan (7), Elliott (20 mos.), Evie (3), Emily (7), Cadie (2)

This past weekend we spent with our friend's, Lisa and Dean, at their vacation home near Raystown Lake.  We had beautiful weather, wonderful meals prepared by Lisa, and so much fun boating and swimming in the lake with all the kids.  Cadie surprised us by spending so much time in the water, swimming and floating and playing with the other kids.  Even with shivering, blue lips, she still refused to get out of the water.  But we took a break for lunch and to feed the fish at the docks before we headed out for an evening cruise and swim.  We rounded out the evening with a fun family meal, discussing what our favorite and least favorite parts of the day were.  My favorite was swimming in the lake with all the kids, my least favorite was the day coming to an end!  Cadie was so spent, she fell asleep in record time: less than 5 minutes!  Thank you Lisa, Dean, Ethan, Emily, Evie, and Elliott for the hospitality and great memories.

GardenBug!

Daddy showing Cadie how to fill her watering can from the rain barrels

Cadie filling her watering can

Cadie watering the tomato's

It's easier just to dump the water out of the can!

Referral Day 1 Year!

 Every one remembers the day they saw their child's face for the very first time.  For birth parents, it's the day their child is born.  But for many adoptive parents, it's the day they first see a picture of their child.  I didn't know my daughter when this picture was taken, but I knew she was my daughter when I saw this picture!  I was at work when I received a call and email from our agency about a 1 year old girl with a missing left hand.  Could we look at her file and think about it?  I opened my email and immediately fell in love!  There was no concentrating on work after that.  It was a race against the clock to get our

paper work filed and get our unfinished house put together!  One year later and I still can feel it in my gut the way I felt when I first saw her picture on Friday June 25, 2010.   I feel so lucky to be this little girls Mom, and often wonder, "why me?"  We've been a family now for 6 months, 1 week, 5 days, and 7 hours and I still marvel at how this all happened!  When we're not in awe of every little thing she does, we are just enjoying every day together.  I've seen other adoptive families take a picture of their children with their referral picture every year as they get older and thought that would be a nice tradition for us too. For Cadie's first picture, we happened to be going to the beach, so I took a picture Friday night before we left home and one at the beach too! We can't wait to see the pictures in years to come.