Buzz Gets A Bath!

It was an uneventful weekend filled with yardwork, washing cars, and working on remodeling our bathroom. Well I guess I should rephrase that and say it was an eventful weekend full of the things that needed to get done and not things we wanted to do!
Kaiden loves the movie Toy Story. He has a Buzz Lightyear t-shirt and pajamas and when he wears either the shirt or pj's he is no longer Kaiden and he magically transforms into Buzz Lightyear. If we call him Kaiden while he is wearing either garment he will say to us "No Mommy(or Daddy)not Kaiden, I'm Buzz."
He was pretty adamant tonight about getting a bath and wearing Buzz pj's. So here are a few pics of our little Buzz.....aka Kaiden (ssshhhhhh, dont tell him that I said Kaiden!)

Happy 18th Birthday Kirstie!

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY KIRSTIE!

It's hard to believe my baby is 18! I remember the day she was born as if it were yesterday. For most first time parents this would be a joyous occassion but this was the most frightening day of my life. My due date was July 5, 1990 and Kirstie decided to arrive on April 3, 1990. I was just under 27 weeks pregnant when Kirstie came into the world. She was born at 11:59pm and weighed a whopping 1 pound 15 ounces and was 13 1/2 inches from head to toe. She was so tiny that when Frank put his hand next to her it covered her head and torso area. We went to Toys R' Us to the doll section to purchase kirstie a couple of outfits.
It was touch and go for the first few weeks at University of Arizona Medical Center and I was a very nervous first time mother but God whispered to my heart and reassured me that she would be fine. My nervousness drifted away and was replaced with confidence and I went to the hospital daily to hold her for hours on end. After a tough battle with an intestinal infection, a little over 3 weeks on a respirator and 90 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Kirstie was strong enough to come home.
We feel so very blessed God brought Kirstie into our lives. She is bright, caring, soft spoken, and a beautiful young woman inside and out. We couldn't even imagine life without her in it. I hope she lives her life the same way as she entered the world as a fighter. I pray she takes that inner strength and pursues all of her dreams and has a lifetime of happiness and love. We love you Kirstie! Happy 18th Birthday Sweetie!

What's Missing?

Take a close look at the picture. Did you notice what's missing? If you guessed ice cream you are absolutely correct! Kaiden doesn't like ice cream but LOVES waffle cones! Whenever I try to get him to try ice cream he creates this very serious look along with shrugging his shoulders and with great conviction says "too cold mommy!" It's funny because he enjoys eating popcicles during the summer. Oh well one day he will probably enjoy ice cream and I wont be able to refer to Kaiden as my inexpensive date.

Summer in March!

Wow, today was absolutely gorgeous with a high of 81 degrees! Love it, love it, love it!!! Oh how I wish it would stay this warm but according to the forcast for the weekend it is supposed to be 30 degrees cooler...whaaaaat? Oh how I want summer to come and stay. I feel much more refreshed when I can open my windows and enjoy the beautiful day.
After running a few errands all of us put our summer clothes on and went outside to wash the cars. Kaiden helped shanna wash her car and when she handed him the hose he started to spray the car and decided to start spraying Shanna instead of the car. Shanna ran as fast as she could but Kaiden just kept on spraying her. I just love it when little ones laugh so hard that nothing comes out. He almost couldn't catch his breath from laughing so hard.
We spent a couple of hours washing cars, playing with sidewalk chalk and watching Kaiden ride his bike. I'm not going to talk about the cold weather tomorrow. Instead I am going to get off of this computer and enjoy the rest of this beautiful summer day in March!




Kaiden thought Shanna needed another shower.



It's always important to keep the antenna ball clean!

A Wonderful Weekend!

We had a wonderfully blessed weekend! The past few weekends have been hectic between doing some updates in the house and having to study for exams and preparing speeches that it was so relaxing not having anything planned at all. The day started with the coloring of Easter eggs and then we decided on the spur of the moment on Saturday to take a drive up to Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg. All of the girls had to work that day but we managed to escape up there for a few hours with Kaiden and Shanna before Shanna had to be at work at 4:00. The weather was beautiful with a high around 74. Gosh, if it could only be 74 every day of the year!
We celebrated our first Easter with Kaiden today. He is such a precious little boy and was so excited to see all of the goodies that the Easter Bunny had left for him. We had a simple Easter egg hunt in the back yard and he ran around calling out all of the colors of the easter eggs he found and was thrilled when he found each egg. I know in my heart that I would absolutely go back to China and adopt again but it's all in God's hands. We will just have to wait and see!

Wonderful Wednesday

Boy this week seems to be flying by! Between Kaiden going to speech therapy three times a week and doing homework, housework and running errands I certainly keep myself busy. Sometimes I sit back and feel guilty that I am not working right now.....crazy that I feel that way huh? My husband reassures me that everything is fine and quit thinking about not working. I see others working, taking care of their family and also going to college and on occasion I feel like I should be doing more or providing more (monetarily).
Why do we as mothers always think we should be doing more? I know at times I look at the lives of others and think that they have it "all together". I then start to judge myself. I know I need to stop doing that and realize how blessed I am to be able to stay at home with Kaiden and work on my degree without the added stress of a job. I need to quit listening to that little voice in my head because I know everything happens in God's time and according to his plan.
Here are a few pics of Kaiden and I playing around the house this week. He has been with us for almost 11 months now and I can't even remember what life was like without him!

Diaper Cake..............

This past weekend I had the honor to attend a baby shower for my friend Evelyn. I couldn't decide what to get the baby and my daughter informed me that one of her teachers had a business on the side making diaper cakes. Huh?????? What the heck is a diaper cake? Of course I was curious so I googled "Diaper Cakes" and I thought they were soooooooooo cute and that they made the perfect baby shower gift!
I was going to order one from Shanna's teacher but I thought "I can do that!" Evelyn's theme was Sesame Street so I went around to all the stores collecting items for the cake......no problem because I love going shopping! Over several hours of work I finished the diaper cake and I think it turned out beautiful! Frank said I should do this on the side. This could be a possibility since I can't work due to the fact that Kaiden is going to speech therapy 3 times a week and I plan on attending college full-time in the fall. Hmmmmmmm, I may just do this!
I had a great time at the baby shower and it was nice getting together with some of the girls from Eastern Virginia Medical School and talking about all of the crazy things we did at work. We had a lot of laughs and most importantly Evelyn had a good time and enjoyed all of her gifts!