Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend and as a result, I completely overlooked the fact that Naomi arrived home exactly 3 months ago this past Saturday. My how time has flown by. Just look at her now.

She really hams it up for the camera.

This week is going to be a bit hectic for me and on Friday we are leaving to visit family in the Dallas area. This will be Naomi's first 'road trip.' We are going to Dallas via Memphis and looking forward to some Memphis BBQ. Lili is just looking forward to going to the hotel and swimming in Memphis. Of course we're all looking forward to seeing family and meeting the newest family member, Tsegaw. We also plan to see some fireworks on the 4th of July while there. We've not taken Lili to see a fireworks display since she's been home. We really didn't think she would enjoy them the last couple of years, but now she actually seems interested, so we're going for it. Naomi pretty much 'goes with the flow' and isn't frightened easily. Hopefully she'll enjoy them as well.

With a busy schedule on tap and our upcoming trip, this is likely my last blog post until we get back. I hope all my friends in blogland have a safe and wonderful 4th of July weekend!!

FFF - Signs

Is this a sign that someone wants to help with the dishes?
Is this a sign that someone isn't quite sure where her lips are located?
Is this a sign that someone wants more?
Yes, it is. Naomi gets very loud, especially at meal time when food or drink isn't offered in her time. I taught her the sign for more in hopes that her volume would decrease if she realized she would get more when she asks. It worked. She is very happy that touching those little fingers together means she gets more. I just have to make sure that I'm not distracted from her sign or the volume increases once again.

Is this a sign of cuteness or is someone up to something?
Definitely cuteness and I'm quite sure she was up to something as well.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

Friendship

I've been thinking a lot about friendship recently and just how thankful I am to have such great friends in my life. Some friends I've had since elementary school and others have only been friends for a short period of time. What I discovered recently was how wonderfully supportive my friends are and I treasure those friendships more than I can express through words.

Over the last 3 years, I've made several friends via the adoption community. These people have quickly become amazing friends who I consider to be family (and you all know who you are). These relationships began as a desire for my daughters to have friends from their birth countries and I had no idea just how much I would benefit. Now I am witness to that desire becoming reality as Lili builds her own friendships with the children of my friends. I look forward to watching Naomi establish her own friendships as she gets older and hope that my girls treasure their friends as much as I do.

After our visit with Ryan on Sunday we stopped to meet some friends for dinner and I was able to get a few pictures of Lili with her friend Grace. Grace is a couple years older, but it is very apparent that these two are becoming good friends.

Grace and Lili touching up their lipstick.
Aren't they beautiful?
Look, biker chicks!
Hey, look at me. No hands!!!!
Looks like Lili picked up a hitch hiker.

We love our friends!

Brothers and Sisters

Many of you already know that our oldest son, Ryan, has autism. He is with an agency about 2 - 2 1/2 hours southeast of our home and we try to get down to see him every 4-6 weeks. We decided to head down for a visit on Sunday and our other son, Josh, asked to go along. It was very nice having the kids together in one place and Lili especially enjoys spending time with her brothers.

Thanks to autism, Ryan sees the world differently from others. So at 29 years of age he eagerly climbs aboard the merry-go-round at the park and enjoys the ride. Maybe this world would be a much better place if we were all willing to jump on the merry-go-round in our adult lives and take a spin.

In case you were wondering why Lili enjoys spending time with her brothers, here's a clue. (Sorry for the pictures quality. I was on the other side of the park and zooming in to try and capture a shot of Josh and Lili)
Lili pulled Josh all over the park and he willingly followed. What a great big brother!

Naomi's idea of a good time at any park is swinging.

Lots to Share

We've had a busy few days which has given me a lot to blog about.

Let's begin with Friday when I took Naomi in for her 1 year check-up.

- She now weighs 20 lbs which puts her in the 32% for weight
- She is 29" which puts her in the 42% for height
- She is now developmentally on target in all areas

Her pediatrician said he can't find a thing wrong with her. We were both thrilled.

I had titers done on her when she came home and they came back showing no immunity. It was as if she hadn't gotten any of her shots in Ethiopia. Who knows if she didn't get them or if what she got wasn't any good. Regardless, we had to start from scratch. This means she's behind schedule so 4 shots later we left the office. She went into the office smiling and left crying. Poor baby!

Because Dave had to work late and we've had a hectic schedule this week, we hadn't had Naomi's birthday celebration. I realize that there are a lot of parents who really enjoy celebrating baby's first birthday with a party and that's great. I just happen to be one of those parents who feel that a party for birthday #1 is much more for the adults than the child. They really don't understand the significance and the gift wrap and bags are much more fun than the actual gift inside. I do, however, enjoy seeing the face of baby as she digs into her first piece of birthday cake. And what a great photo op,so we had a small celebration with just mommy, daddy, Lili and of course the birthday girl.

The birthday girl as we were signing Happy Birthday to her.
And with her first birthday candle, which she apparently though should be extinguished with her fingers. Don't worry, no flame was touched by little fingers. Then her first taste of icing. Yeah, this birthday cake is good.
I love my cake so much I'm going to give mommy and daddy the cute look. Did you know that birthday cake is a great moisturizer for the face?
And hair.
Yes, I do love seeing a 1 year old dig into their first birthday cake.

Stay tuned for Part II of 'Lots to Share.'

Kids Are Funny

Lili really did not like her crib, ever. We tried numerous times to get her to sleep in her crib, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She would fall asleep and as soon as her body hit the mattress, she was awake and screaming. Patting her, singing to her, talking to her while in her crib did not soothe her at all. I soon realized this was an attachment issue and had nothing to do with her crib at all. Shortly after I started co-sleeping with her, she began sleeping through the night. Unfortunately, she still prefers to sleep with mommy, but that isn't what this post is about. It appears that while her crib was taboo, Naomi's is not.

I never saw her smile while in her crib, but when in Naomi's crib, she's all smiles.
Yes, I realize this is not about the crib at all. This is all about Naomi!

Also, please ignore Lili's wet shirt. She loves to get her own drink out of the sink. As you can see, the drink tends to find its way to her shirt as well.

And Naomi had just woken up from her nap and was very ready to get out of bed. Poor baby! I made her suffer through some pictures.

However, Naomi wasn't suffering through these pictures at all.

Being pushed around by her big sister is great fun. She could care less that she was being pushed into the walls or the big swing set box that has taken up residence in the basement. She was having a blast!

Kids are funny!!!!

3 Months Later

Here is the baby girl that we took from Le Toukoul orphanage 3 months ago today. And here is she is today.

Our Baby Girl

Three months ago today, we held Naomi in our arms for the first time and today we celebrate her "1" year birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!!!!!!

(Pictures will be posted soon)

FFF - Random Pictures

Planned a FFF post, but Lili has decided she's tired so I'll just share a few photos.

Body art!

Lili decided that playing in the basket of blankets was a good place to keep her cards away from Naomi.
Then Naomi started pulling herself up to standing. LOL!!!

Lili was several months older than Naomi when she figured out the doggie door. Hum, I think we're in trouble.

Milestones

With two growing girls, there seems to always be something new happening on our house.

Naomi has been practicing and can now pull herself up to standing.

Not sure what is up with the crazy face, but she was very proud of her accomplishment.

We bought the girls a swing set and both think it's great fun.

Sorry the pictures are a little dark. I forgot to change my camera setting and the sun was going down. Oops!

I've started working with Lili on writing her name.

I thought this was pretty good for a first attempt.

Look Who's Crawling

Naomi started crawling a couple weeks ago. At first it was much faster and easier doing the army crawl, but within a week she was getting around on all fours with ease. This little girl is on the move and she means business. Now she's trying to figure out how to pull herself up to standing. She pulls herself up to things staying on her knees because she's a bit too scared to pull herself all the way up to standing, but it won't be much longer I'm sure. And she's such a great helper in the kitchen.