+2 pounds

Ladybug had her second visit to the pediatrician today and we received another good report. The bloodwork that was done the last visit came back and we were able to eliminate a few shots base on those results. Unfortunately, she did have to get 5 shots in those chubby little legs! I almost cried hearing her wail but the nurse was fast and in a blink it was over. Her smiles came back again shortly after that.

She's gained 2 pounds since our visit 6 weeks ago and now weighs 17.3 pounds, still a tiny little thing. I have a ton of the cutest summer clothes for her to wear, but we've got another few pounds to go to fit into them!

Beep Beep

Scrap Happy $

I spent a lot of time this past week organizing and purging my scrapbook nook. This hobby has been near and dear to my heart for at least ten years so I had a ton of stuff. The trends have changed over the years too so it was time to let some go.

The good news is that I sold all of it at our garage sale today! Several of the shoppers made multiple trips and said ours was the best sale in town. Victory! Plus, this was our very first yard sale at my house and between Coco and I we made over $1200!! Woot!

Family Day

It's been two months today that Ladybug joined us and made our happy little family complete. It really does seem like she's been here forever. I look at the pictures from our China trip and love seeing the difference in her little face. She was so apprehensive of us at first and now her face lights up with happiness and contentment.

I've noticed so many little things that have changed from this month to last:

*She's eating cheerios like a champ! She'll pick them up one after another and pop them in her month. I remember the day she did 5 in a row and I was so proud. We still practice this every day.

*She's clapping! I taught her a little clap, clap, clap tune and now I can just sing it and watch her start clapping.

*She will shake her head from side to side when she doesn't want or like something. Wonder who she got this from? Although sometimes it seems she does it just because she can.

*Ladybug will now say bye-bye when someones leaving. It sounds more like bah-bye but oh so cute. She wiggles her little hand in a wave at the same time sometimes as well. Coco gets all the credit for teaching her this one.

*She'll place things in my hand! This started with a little squirt toy in the tub, but now she's doing it with everything.

*She is stretching those legs out to stand every time we put her down. I also caught her attempting to pull herself up one time!

*The words that she can say are: hi, da da, bye bye, .... still no ma ma!

Spring it On

Spring appears to be making a comeback after the snow melted. I'm looking forward to the next two days off to enjoy the warm weather with Ladybug.

She was so excited to see me last night when I came home from work. I needed that.

Snow?! What happened to spring?

Around here

There's a lot going on around here this weekend:

*Chucked the hibiscus that didn't survive the winter and replaced it with some hardy little pansies. Although I didn't read one of the packages and ended up buying one pansie and one petunia. My lack of green thumb-ness is evident.

*Baked cookies from scratch using Coco's recipe. They rocked and were actually quite easy! Perhaps I can pretend to Betty Crocker with these beauties.

*Yard sale tomorrow! Coco is coming over and my parents arrived to help with Ladybug. We are hoping it doesn't rain until at least noon...that's when we usually get bored.

*Highjacked to Coinstar all of T's coins that have cluttered his dresser for the past 5 years. Cha ching!!

Enjoy your weekend,
Deana

Only 2 more days...

I decided one day last week that Ladybug needed to be on a schedule. Of course, I was also thinking about the fact that I have to go back to work on the 21st and that I needed to be back on a schedule myself! I definitely wanted to optimize my time spent with her both in the mornings before work and in the evenings after work. The trial run was this week because every day last week something came up that caused us to either miss bedtime or naptime. This week hasn't gone so well either now that I think about it. In the back of my mind, I really didn't have to get up on time so I didn't. Ha! Schedule Schmedule!!

She's been so cranky today and I thought it was because of that last upper tooth trying to break through. Or perhaps somehow she knows I'm going back to work in 2 days. /sniffle I know that it's definitely affected my mood. I am not sure that I am going to be able to leave her.

I do think it might be easier to go back to work if I felt more confident that she knew I was her mother. It took us so long to get her to smile and laugh...it's taking us even longer to get her to hug and be held. I received a book as a gift called Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child and it talks about every topic from your first hours through the teen years. One of the early chapters talked about "indiscriminate friendliness." I originally liked how Ladybug would go to others freely, but the book actually shows how that is a sign that she will turn to anyone for care because she had been neglected. An attached child would look to the parent first to see if going to another person is okay. After reading that I had to put the book down for a few days. I felt like it was causing me to worry and stress about every little thing. I did pick the book back up to read the suggestions on how to cope with these issues and I feel they have helped us make a few steps forward but we still have a long way to go.

I just hope we don't regress back three steps with me going back to work.

I do have the worries...and the tears.

Just a swingin'

You're coming home with me

Remember how excited I was when I found the Pineapple Upside Down Cake Yoplait Light?

Well, this one takes the cake!

Ole Miss Weekend

The girls trip was so much fun, lots of laughing and chatting. We certainly burned up the road by driving up there Friday and getting back home on Sunday. Ladybug did great, like I've said she is a world traveler.~

I decided it would be instax weekend too! I took lots of little pictures for fun with my instax camera.




We found this little gem at the airport in Tokyo where we had a layover before flying back to the states from China. I saw it and had to have it! The only problem was the instructions, they were in Japanese!

I did lug my other camera around too. Here are the Clark's before the wedding:



Uncle James, Mom, Grandpa, Aunt Sue, and cousin Wesley (the groom)

They are a good looking bunch!

I believe in signs

I have been doing a little cleaning and organizing these last few weeks before going back to work. In doing so I found a few toys that my nanny had made for me to give to my child "someday." I also found a doll that she had given me that was still in the box. I remember the year she gave it to me and I am ashamed to say that I also remember thinking that I was too old for a doll. But I have kept it all these years because my nanny gave it to me. When I pulled it out to take a look at it, I noticed that the box had ladybugs on it. Upon closer inspection, the doll itself had brown hair and brown eyes.

my Ladybug....

has brown hair and brown eyes....

and...

this is too much of a coincidence.

I believe in signs, always have, always will. I believe this was her way of congratulating us on our new baby... her way of showering Ladybug with a little love. I'm glad I kept that little doll, otherwise I wouldn't be feeling her love and hugs all the way from Heaven right now. I miss my nanny so much.

Huggles back to you Nanny.

Love,
Deana

Let's Dance

I couldn't resist sharing this little dancing video:



Mimi gave her the little Violet dog for her birthday and she loves to push her paws making her sing. I programmed it to say her name and if you listen close you can hear the dog singing a song while she dances. <3

Girls Trip

We are hitting the road for our trip! It's just us girls headed out for the weekend to attend a wedding in Mississippi.

The weather is beautiful and we are so excited. Secretly, I think we are excited because we left the boys at home and it's just us.

Enjoy your weekend,
Deana

Scrap Happy

I know you're expecting a layout with the bug's photo and that was originally my intent!

This one just evolved on it's own.

I'll share the bug layouts soon...very soon.

***************************************************************

I'm getting ready for an all girls weekend. We're leaving tomorrow for Mississippi to attend my cousin Dee's wedding.

Huggles,
Deana

Auntie Love

Ladybug and I spent the day at Aunt Coco's yesterday. I helped Coco with some work while she played and we both ate yummy food. All day long, I'd hear her squeal with this big smile on her face! She was definitely having so much fun!

I seeeee you...

Bug has started to play this little game with us anytime she finds a blanket, towel, or in this case her little dress. Of course, we have to play along:

"Where's Ladybug?"

She'll peek out from behind the folds.

"There she is!"




p.s. I can't believe I'm going to go back to work in less than 2 weeks. Say it isn't so.

Birthday Rewind

We had a lively weekend in Temple with the other Grands. Ladybug was treated to another little birthday party after spending time with her cousin Alivia.

I just realized that she isn't smiling in any of these pictures, but I assure you she had a fun time!







Huggles,
Deana

Memories of China

I finally finished my little china travel journal that I took with me on our China trip. I had wrapped a big rubber band around it for ease of carrying in my purse and I wrote inside whenever I had a few spare moments. It's mostly my thoughts from day to day, but I did put in a few photos. I'm not going to post my journaling here on the internet, but if you come visit me you are more than welcome to read it!





We've been home from China a month today and it seems like the trip was a lifetime ago. Has she really not always been a part of our lives? I can't imagine it any other way now...

Love,
Deana

The 3 of us

1st year handprint

Love, love, love this little set of handprint tins.

It was an event trying to capture Ladybug's tiny hand! She kept wanting to curl those fingers up and grab the plaster!

I love the way it turned out and it was extremely easy to use. Great gift idea!

This little bug can ride

We left Friday morning for Mississippi in two cars, all of us fighting over who was going to ride with Ladybug. I, of course, and Nanny won most of the time. She did really well during that 7 hour drive so I'm really happy that she can travel well. That means we'll be planning many more road trips in her future.

Friday night was pizza at Grandpa's along with a birthday cake for me. So sweet and delicious! I really had a nice birthday and I'm almost sure I can handle sharing birthdays with my daughter every year.

Saturday afternoon we spent at The Meadows for a shower/meet and greet for Ladybug. Everything was so nice, the lunch, cake, and so many presents and well wishes for her. She loved the attention and being around all of our friends and family. We received some lovely gifts. We are so proud of everything especially the books and clothes. She received her very first bible...pink with her name engraved. It was a special gift from Angie. Oh and I will definitely have one of the best dressed babies this summer!

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the shower:











After the shower, we went outside and took a few pictures. I love this one of all the baby cousins: Marissa, Ryder, Luke and Tate. Luke smiles on request every time...I wish Ladybug would too!



Angie, Rob and Luke. (She wanted to make the blog. Yay, you made the blog!)



We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with more family. I introduced Ladybug to MaMo at the hospital. In browsing through most of the pictures, they both seem to be looking at each other in most of them. Aunt Pat, Aunt Charlotte and Grand-dad are also in this photo.



It was a whirlwind weekend and so very fun being with my family. Love you all and thank you so much!

We are back home now and trying to get ourselves unpacked.

Huggles,
Deana