The latest adventure sport craze . . .

Little Miss mastered her bike a while back, and now she has moved on to this . . .



Her quote in the beginning is barely audible. She says, "Hi swings! I'm riding . . . my scooter!". The swings may not have been as impressed as Little Miss thought they should be, but this girl does travel at a pretty good clip on that thing!

The joy of "fancy shoes"

As soon as we saw these shoes in the store, I knew there was little chance we would be leaving the store without them. Little Miss loves shoes. One might even say she has a shoe fetish. And she particularly enjoys what she calls "fancy shoes" which are anything from flat pumps to Stilettos. She will randomly comment to women out in the world about how much she likes their "fancy shoes".

When we saw these "fancies", there was no turning back. The smile on her face when I said we could buy them was priceless. Little Miss held that box in the car smiling, giggling, and bursting with anticipation the whole way home. They were on her feet almost before we made it in the front door! Oh the joy cute shoes can bring . . . even at age 2!




Admiring the beauty of such finely crafted shoes!!

Marvelling at how lovely her very own "fancy shoes" look on her feet!


Oh my, when did my baby girl turn 14? Yikes, she looks grown up!!

Two short years ago . . .

August 18th . . . I love this day! I loved it in 2008 when everything I had hoped for came to me in the form of a tiny, 10 pound, 5 month old baby girl!! I loved it in 2009 when we celebrated our 1st Family Day Anniversary together and began some wonderful traditions. I loved it today in 2010 when we celebrated our 2nd Family Day Anniversary together. And I first loved August 18th back in 2006 when my dossier officially went to China (yes, still waiting). Little did I know then just how much more special August 18th would become.

I remember my first day with Little Miss like it was yesterday. I still can't believe that I am so blessed and lucky to have this little wonder girl as my daughter! She has come so far since those baby days, and is ever-changing still into an independent, inquisitive, loving, unique little person.

We had a perfect day today (minus two sizable melt down whine fests, naturally). We went to a fun-filled play group gathering with other ET adoptive families which included swings, slides, water table, ride on toys, etc., as well as some nice adult conversation for the moms too (absolutely lovely women who I would not know if it weren't for Little Miss). Later, we enjoyed some quiet play time together and had a yummy take-out dinner with Auntie. And although just as with our first Family Day Anniversary, this day did not go exactly as I had hoped, it was wonderful in it's own right. In these days of toddler determination, few go exactly as planned and most have their fair share of challenges. But I cherish every single day I have with my Miss! All it takes is that little hand in mine, that scrunched up nose smile, that contagious belly-laugh, or that glorious "I love you Mommy" to wipe out all the tough stuff!

I couldn't be happier, Little Miss, to be your mommy and I love every one of our days together!

Culture Camp and other summer fun

It has been a very busy summer so far, packed full of fun! We recently attended the East Coast Culture Camp and had a great time! What a pleasure to spend time with so many Ethiopian children and adoptive families (some old friends and lots of new friends). Some highlights of the camp were . . . sharing a dorm suite with 5 other toddlers + their families; listening to a panel of Ethiopian-American teens share their experiences on being adopted, growing up in the U.S., maintaining their culture, fitting in, and generally finding their way; shopping in the mini-Mercado; and the Ethiopian banquet complete with Ethiopian food and a live Ethiopian band. The environment was rich with thought provoking conversations and opportunities to share and learn from each others experiences. And the kids had a great time just playing together and having fun, barring the occasional melt down of course! Here are a few of the captured moments:


some soccer fun in the big field



The first annual "Road Race" in honor of the many recent Ethiopian runners winning medals and marathons



and the runners are off . . . now my girl LOVES to run so I was certain this would be a highlight of the camp for Little Miss, but as fate would have it something about the scene at the line up freaked my girl out and she insisted on being held. Okay. Had she simply wanted to be held it would have been odd, but ok. But no, she insisted on being held while running . . . that's right, I had to "run" the race (if you can call it that) while carrying Little Miss the whole time. Now it was a very short, little kid, race course, but that didn't stop us from coming in dead last. Seriously, 2 year olds were blowing past me! My sister managed to capture that on video (note video is conspicuously absent from this post). While it was certainly not what I had expected of the road race, it did give us something to laugh about!

Little Miss holding my, ahem . . . I mean her ribbon for running the race


just having some fun with sunglasses




getting decked out in her Ethiopian dress - ready for the banquet


Little Miss with Auntie enjoying the music at the banquet

Little Miss with her buddy and dance partner - how cute are they!

make it a trio - and it only gets cuter!

Little Miss had a blast dancing to the Ethiopian music. She loves to dance to begin with, but I have never quite seen her like she was this night. In the background of the picture above, you can sort of see the circle of Ethiopian teens and adults dancing together. When Little Miss understood what that circle was all about, she muscled her way passed the outer ring, and the next layer, until she made it into the center, and then began dancing like crazy. Once she made her way in I could barely see her anymore, but what I did see in quick glimpses was a very happy dancing queen. As we watched in amazement, I turned to my sister and said, "She's with her people!". What a hoot!


The campus grounds were lovely and we were very fortunate to have a fellow adoptive mom and friend, who happens to be a professional photography, take our picture!



The other summer fun . . .

Little Miss had her first experience at a big amusement park and she loved it!!











And when time has allowed (and because it has been so hot), we've been doing a lot of this . . .












And there is still more summer fun to come! We are blessed!

"I wanna be a ballerina Mama" - ballet days

Little Miss has always loved to dance, but as of late, she is all about being a ballerina. She asked to wear this ballerina outfit in the morning and refused to take it off throughout the day . . . almost slept in it, but I had to draw the line. She did play outside in it, nap in it, ride her bike in it, and go to the grocery store in it, much to her delight!




We had a chance to go see the ballet of Cinderella recently. Little Miss was riveted! She sat on my lap the whole time and watched the entire performance. During the intermission, she danced her way through the lobby. I tried to get a decent picture, but the girl was in constant motion.




You gotta dance when the spirit says dance!

Dinner time

Little Miss's dinner tonight - prepared by Mama . . .




Little Miss's activity tonight while dinner was being prepared . . .




Little Miss tonight when dinner was ready!!

Some outdoor fun

A little outdoor fun thanks to some lovely spring weather!

Playing bubbles in the yard . . . fun to catch, but an open laughing mouth, yikes!





Hanging (well climbing and hanging actually) at Grammie's house . . .







A visit/fund raiser at a local rescue farm

"That's a cow horse Mama!" - clever observation Little Miss


A farm is as good a place as any for some running!


Playing hide and seek with the big horsey - I think he can still see you kiddo!


A zany, happy girl on the swing.


A relaxed, pensive girl on the swing.


Fun in the sand


Fun in the sand with her buds


More park time . . . this little girl needs to move!!