More snow on the way??

You always have a concern when a weatherperson says "this is really going to miss us and leave snow in other places" and you wake up to snow on the ground. They say more is on the way and I now tend to believe.

I thought I would catch up on Claire's vocab. She says...some animal sounds, she will repeat anything you ask her to say...sometimes trouble with a big sister. She has come to really love books...will she learn to turn them right side up?? She is beginning to master wooden puzzles...still somewhat frustrating with the whole up side down problem. She loves to "sing" at church...she just doesn't stop when we do. She still doesn't like the nursery, but will stay if Hannah stays....Hannah likes to stay. I would say all-in-all Claire can say about 25-30 words/phrases. She is still so curious about everything...she was really fascinated that you could take a book under the covers and read. She loves to open and close anything and everything..books, doors, dvds, cabinets, toilet lids, zippers (found out the hard way that can be trouble).

Thank you God for continued health and happiness for us and all we know and love.

Check out my Slide Show!

Bangs and Chinese dancing

Below are pictures of Hannah and her bangs. She is proud that she will be able to take care of her own styling now and is happy to have another reason to not need me to help her. I love having a pre-teen in the house. There is also a picture of Claire dancing to her Chinese DVD. This is a DVD that we bought that has Chinese girls dancing and singing traditional Chinese songs. It mesmerizes her..we have to limit it to one time a day.

Enjoy the pictures.

Let it Snow!!!

As of this am we have had 2 inches of snow and 1/2 of ice UNDER the snow. The girls think it is really pretty and Hannah can't stay inside very long.

So glad we have enough wood for the fireplace all weekend

4 months and another baby

We have had Claire for 4 months and she continues to amaze and delight us everyday. She is very two , but still is funny and loving. Her vocab is getting better which makes for less frustration throughout the day. There are times that I am through playing the guessing game and we have to call it a tie.

We have decided to take care of a 7 wk old baby for a friend of Duane's. She is a single mother and who couldn't use a little more money in the bank? She came over today with the baby, because I wanted Claire to see me with another child and see her reaction. Big fat nothing. She was more interested in the toys on the babies carseat than the baby. I guess she has seen many babies in the orphanage, so it really didn't phase her. She doesn't care for our friend's daughter (18mon) to sit on my lap. Maybe she thought the baby today was a baby doll. Hannah has some that move and talk, she could just be confused.

I am on a 2wk schedule to get Claire back in her room. I have been trasitioning this week and letting her go to sleep on her own after rocking. She doesn't care for it but only cries about 30-45 sec. then she realizes she is tired and goes to sleep. Wish us luck.

Hannah has begun Tae Kwon Do. She took Karate a few yrs back, and requested to start again. I informed her that she would have to take the lessons for 1 yr before deciding if she wanted to quit. I got a free membership to the gym,too, maybe it will inspire me to walk on the treadmill while she is in class. I walk on the treadmill at home, but a change during the week will be fun.

We are prepared for the major snow storm that is forcast to hit us this weekend. Everyone stay safe and warm.

Thanks for stopping by

First haircut

First haircut went well, as long as the suckers were present. Now she really looks like a 2 yr old. BOO HOO

I wondered where the cheerios were going

Claire was in the entryway of our home eating cheerios. She was laughing and squealing, really enjoying those ohs. She comes into the bedroom with her cup empty...where did all those go?? I give her some more and she goes back to the entryway and continues. This is what I found....she had fed the dogs all the cheerios. I love having a 2 yr old.

Sisters learning to play together.

It has been a long time coming, but it is finally here....they have found a way to play together.

Our last trip of 2006...our finest traveling year.

This was our last trip of 2006. We ended the year with family and revisited favorite places. By far, our best trip was to China. We received our second daughter there and fulfilled a 2 yr dream of bringing our second child home. She has been a wonderful fit and we couldn't be happier.

We went to the zoo, again Claire was less than impressed with the animals. I, on the other hand, was truly taken with this large gorilla. We have been to this zoo several times. Everytime we go, this gorilla does something amazing and wonderful. As you can see from the picture, he was lookin AT US...I guess he was tired of being on display and wanted to turn the tables. He simply stood there and looked at all of us. Hannah kept saying, "he is looking at me in my eyes mom" That is something we say to our girls to make sure they are paying attention, so him looking her in her eyes was somewhat uncomfortable.

The next pics are of our trip. Both girls got to ride scooters. Claire with help from Uncle Rod and Hannah on an electric one of her cousins. Claire loved her 12 yr old boy cousin (TYLER) just like she loved FORREST when he was here...she loves 12 yr old boys. Everyone had such a good time. I really love the pic of TYLER and Claire watching the cat between the plants. He had so much patience with her, and she loved him right back. Claire opened up with trust and love to her family this week. Even though they were strangers, she let them in and showed them her funny side.

The last two pics are funny to us....Hannah went around the corner and thought this dragon was real...really made us laugh. She was about to ask how they can let that run loose..

Then...Claire, afraid of dogs, but will be fascinated with a 12 foot bronze aligator?? I still don't understand how the mind of a 2 yr old works.

Health and happiness to everyone in the coming yr. Please consider adopting a child if you have enjoyed our journey.