Christmas Joy

Can't believe Christmas is winding down, but here we are almost in the new year. Little Miss had a fantastic Christmas thanks to our wonderful family and friends! We started the day with not 1, but 2 rounds of "Happy Birthday Jesus" much to my girly's delight. Then it was off to the presents! It took us about 3 days to get through her gifts because she opened and played with each one at the moment of unwrapping. It was so sweet, and a nice way to savor the process. Someday Christmas morning will probably be a 20 minute whirl wind of torn wrapping paper. Fortunately at least for this year, we enjoyed each gift with care. Little Miss is so excited about her new things that in the few days since Christmas when we have been out and about she tells me, "Mama, home, toys!" Here are a few pics of our days of Christmas.

"Presents are fun!"

"Um, what do I do with these?"

"I think I like this!"

"When is the next American Idol audition?"

"Is that a baby I see?"

"Rock on baby doll!"

Mama, Little Miss, and Auntie in our Christmas PJ's

preparing a Christmas meal on the new, amazing kitchen set

"A chef's work is never done!"

"Alright, maybe it is too fun to call it work. Soup anyone?"

A Dora (or "Deeda" as she is known in our house) play tent

"Bet you can't find me in here."

My Christmas Dancin' Queen

laughing with her cousin

A few weeks before Christmas, we had our annual cookie decorating day with friends. This year something new happened. Little Miss discovered . . . FROSTING!! A little frosting miraculously did make it onto a few cookies rather than into Little Miss's mouth.

a sample of the finished products

post-decorating release

some of the gang

We hope everyone has had a peaceful and joyous Christmas season. Thank you to family and friends for making ours so special!

Halloween in December

Now that it's December, cold, snowy, and dangerously close to Christmas, I figured I really should wrap up the fall photos . . . better late than never.

Little Miss . . . the fairy

looking out the door and calling, "Kids? Kids!" in an effort to beckon more children to our home

I wasn't sure what Little Miss would think about the trick-or-treat process as costume clad children came to our door. When she reached into our candy bowl, grabbed a piece and handed it to our first little trick-or-treater I was a proud mama thinking, "that's my sweet girl". It was in the next few seconds when I watched her hold tight to that candy and nearly wrestle said trick-or-treater to the ground to get that candy back that I realized she didn't quite get it after all! It was quite comical and she did get the hang of it for the next kiddos.

Little Miss . . . the pink poodle

Halloween party with local Ethio-adoptive families . . . what a great time we had!

part of the clean up crew

first attempt at carnival/fair games

planning a course of action

Success!

My little pumpkin!

Officially Official . . . again!

November 10th was readoption day and Little Miss officially became a U.S. citizen (and my daughter again)! While she was already legally my daughter, the readoption here is needed in order for her to become a U.S. citizen. It also allows for her official name change. Judge W. was wonderful, and we were fortunate to have some of our family sharing the day with us.

the official moment

Little Miss admiring Judge W.'s Sesame Street computer screen and telling her who's who

Judge W. celebrating with us and introducing Little Miss to the lollipop (thank you Judge W.)

Mama, Little Miss, and the lollipop!

the star of the day


A beautiful day, a treasured moment, a blessed gift! I love you forever, baby girl!!

Fall Festivities - tons of fun, tons of pics

Fall in New England is a beautiful time of year, chock-full of seasonal activities. We have been filling every sunny moment with fun while the nice weather is here. Had trouble deciding which pics to include in this post so here are a few of the millions I've taken lately. My poor girl says "cheese" every time she sees a camera even if it's not in use. Someday when she's all grown up she'll thank me, right?

playing in a corn box - this was a first

first jumparoo experience for Little Miss

getting the hang of it . . .

really enjoying it!

hanging with some "punkins"

another of those many faces

my little "punkin"

apple picking with the cousins

a big apple for a little girl . . .

no problem!

Making Strides against breast cancer walk (second annual for little Miss)

a playground break during the walk . . .

gotta keep all parties happy!