A Blog of Moments I've loved in the last few weeks

We love the spring evenings and our favorite thing right now is to ride bike after
after it gets dark, while mommy sits in the yard and watches.

playing at a park we discovered tonight. She suddenly stops
and stares at this building close by. She looks shocked
and says mommy! That's Russia!!
There's babies in there!!
She insisted she wants to look inside.
I agree it looks like a Russian building.
I wonder what else she remembers from her babyhood. 

A Wistful Moment

She loved the day having her little friend over! They are very close, like sisters.

She loves being wrapped tightly and watching me cook.

Antics with her friend

Yup, my child is one of THOSE CHILDREN who do this

OK, I think we may have an animal lover here!
This was her doing, no one prompted her to
first, let all the chickens out, then catch one and hold it,
then go in the chicken house with her little friend
and procede to throw eggs,  and finally,
catch another chicken and hold it under
the outdoor spigot! Disclaimer- this did not
happen at my house! :)

Her 'long' hair. :)

all dressed up for church in the dress from Aunt Ginny

newest and coolest toy

yum! another reason we love the weather!

This is a BIG deal! She is deathly scared of the loud noise
a sweeper makes, so this is BIG

Loving the new weighted lap blanket

We have a train track within site of our house, that we enjoy watching and hearing
This is not taken from our house, we dont live THAT close, thankfully!

One year ago in April at the park, and this year in April
I don't know what it is about the tongue and taking pics?!
Picture on the left was taken by Nicola Herring Photography
pic on right was just a cell phone shot when we realized it was
exactly a year later!

Fun Times

So, we got a book called. "Lets Talk about being angry:
Now my child is laying in bed trying to go to sleep for a nap and I hear her in there saying,
"I need to calm down. I'm trying to make myself calm down."

A few days ago while giving her a bath, I told her to "lay down, I want to wash your hair out"
She started wailing loudly! "no, Mommy!! I want my hair IN!!"

She can tend to be overly concerned about things that shouldn't be her worry. She saw I was barefoot at the desk and said. "mommy! You need to put slippers on! your feet are gonna get cold!"
and then, later in the day as we were driving to church, "Mommy, did you remember to put shoes on? Mommy, are you barefoot?"
Well, the good side of it is, that hopefully she will tell me if I'm ever missing an important piece of clothing!

Today we went to her very first birthday party other than her own. So many fun and cute things she got to do. It was a cupcake decorating party and she loved the sprinkles and the mini M&M's to put on them. Actually I think she loved every part of it.

 They even got to mix the coloring into
the icing! The big yellow shirt was in hopes of
keeping the food coloring off her dress. 

She chose a cupcake with black icing to eat!!! no idea why!!
She thought her mustache was pretty funny!

She loves painting, so this was great fun!

I about fell over when she went over to the chalkboard all by herself
and drew a picture of 'mommy'!! This is the first time I
saw a real picture from her!!! And she did sooo good for a
first try at a person!! I could almost cry, I'm so amazed! And with no
coaching, she was all by herself over there!! Can you tell I'm a bit overwhelmed? :)

On the way home, we stopped at MCDonalds, they have
and indoor playground. This is her first time using a blow dryer!
She saw another little girl using it when we were washing our hands.
She is usually terrified of the noise these things make.
The only thing I could figure out is
that the wax build up in her ears kept it from sounding so loud.
Thats not a joke BTW. Her hearing comes and goes and I find
myself hollering to get her attention and hoping people don't think
I"m a horrible mom. :(

All the little girls got to take home a beautiful Hyacinth! She was so proud!

My Sweet Little Bundle of Contridictions

I had a BAD sinus headache this evening and she caught me pressing my temples and sinus points to try and relieve the pressure. I had taken meds but was waiting for it to kick in. She said, 'mommy, are you sick? does it hurt? then immediately said, 'I will fix you!" My sweet little girl scurried around finding things to put on my 'cheekies' :) to make it feel better. A can of pickles from the pantry to be held against and make it nice and cool. then a little container with her bands in was gently smoothed on followed by, 'you just wait mommy, I make you feel all better! I get you some water to put on your cheekies, make nice and cool!" She hurries in the bathroom and I hear her stool being pulled to the sink. She runs cold water on her hands and brings it over to put on my face. Of course I encouraged her by sighing and saying how good each thing feels. So she kept on in a very concerned manner. Telling me to stay quiet and take a little nap. Next came a fingernail brush that she used on my face and hair, followed by combs with as much water on as they could hold, to make my face and hair wet. before I knew it, the meds kicked in and I could honestly say I felt better. She was so proud of herself! told me how big she was and how strong! She has this thing she does to make me aware of how big she really is, she starts at her ankles and rubs up her legs and belly and with a swoop up past her face till her hands are stretched high, showing me she is very very big now!
Then I had to make her feel better as she was suddenly struck with the same malady I had.

Why is she a contradiction?
Only a few minutes before we were doing 'time in' for pulling the cats tail till it screamed. I was in the bathroom but heard it on the steps and hollered at her to stop. I heard her giggle and run downstairs so I knew she heard me.
And earlier in the day she purposely got the cat food bag downstairs and dumped it everywhere! Then also emptied the cat dish everywhere too. When she was done she came up and informed me she made a mess. a big mess with the cat food. She wasn't exaggerating!

Her favorite words right now are 'pooch smooch' from a riddle in a Clifford book. What do you call a dog kiss?

Her favorite story is still 'Jonah and the whale'
I tell this story far to often for my liking.

Her little friend had an earache today and when I told her, she was very concerned that there were lots of lady bugs in her friends ears!

She noticed silo's for the first time the other day as we were driving on a back road. She asked if they were water towers. We have a BIG water tower near where we live, so she knows what that is. I explained what the silos were for and she was fascinated and pointed to all the silos we could see as we drove along. We have A LOT of silos in our area!!!! It does help that there are no crops in the field and it's open flat land so you can see far.

How many times a day can you say 'use nice words' before you are nagging your child????
She got in the rut of yelling at the cat. I don't know when she heard this kind of talk to the cat unless it is how I talk to the cat when she gets up on the table. :(
She is also in the rut of whenever I tell her to do something she comes back with the word you pinned on the front of it. I don't think she understood when she started it that it is not nice and very disrespectful to talk like that, but she does now! (she has the tone of voice down pat too!!! )
Me: G, sit down in the cart.
G: YOU sit down in the cart, Mommy!!
When we are at home, I can handle it a lot better, but in public I cringe. I know I shouldn't worry about the people around me and what they think, but I'm imagining they all look at me with eyes of horror thinking I have a horrible child that is out of control.

Then its time to go to bed and I sing to her, 'The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make his face shine upon you, and give you peace, and give you peace and give you peace forever. My sweet, sweet little girl tries to sing it back to me and sings, The Lord bless you Mommy.
And I am blessed. Blessed to have the little bundle of sweetness and naughtiness as my daughter!

Spring Time Firsts

Second time she made it to the top. I was squealing and clapping the first time
and never thought of taking a pic.

Tonight we went to the McDonald's playground and I froze while she played. She was the only child in the playground. (who in their right mind would take their child there in this cold snap??) She has never had the courage to go through to the top up until tonight. She kept trying, going up the steps then turning around and coming back down. Then suddenly, she did. I was standing at the bottom, sipping a Latte, stamping my feet to keep warm, when I saw this! (top Picture) I was so amazed I squealed! My squealing startled her and she jumped back and ran back down the steps! We celebrated her bravery with clapping and hugging. She was so pleased with herself and I was so proud of her! She immediately wanted to do it again. This time I told her how to get to the big curly slide. And She Came Down It!!! Another first for an enclosed slide!! For the last year or more she was scared to go down any of these so it was another thing to celebrate. Again and again, she was soo happy, I was too!

Second time, I was totally shocked that she actually did it
the first time and suddenly there she was, so, yes I missed
it the first time. Her face says it all.

I gave her a little stone with the word Loved on it, "so you
can remember that Mommy loves you very much." 

First time to the park on saturday for this Spring.  My sis
was babysitting and G loved having them along!

We hung the swings in the backyard now that spring is here.
She in very very happy about this, even if it was soo cold
today that we could only swing a tiny bit. 

Another Milestone, and Spring!

 Some people are going crazy waiting for spring. Personally, it was one of the better winters I've had. Lots of snow, cold and a child to enjoy it with.

First time finger painting. She ended up in the bathtub!

Poor Kitty Cat. He gets loved so vigorously! He keeps
coming back for more though.

Mommy's shades are always more fun.

A few weeks ago we went to Ohio with my niece and her husband and child for an adoption seminar. They had several speakers and varying topics. The two that stayed with me the most were

1. Generational Iniquities and The Adopted Child
I don't know that it impressed me more for me more or my child. They explained it in a way that made much more sense than I've ever heard it before. Basically, we are inclined to fail in the same battles that our parents and grandparents failed in. Ever hear the saying 'I opened my mouth, and my mom walked out"? Well, we all know that we are inclined to do the very things we were determined not to do that our parents did. A child with a drunkard father, is much more inclined to have a problem with alcohol.
The bible says it will happen. It does. The point they made, that stuck with me, is, the only reason we have that inclination hanging over us is because no one told it to leave! We as Christians have the power of Jesus to command that inclination or iniquity to leave us alone. I was always planning to have special prayers prayed over my child at some point, but didn't know how to do it myself, and was intimidated by the whole prospect. That weekend they prayed over her for me. I didn't know if I would see any change in her, but I wanted to know I had done what I could for her. They also prayed for healing for her sensory issues and anointed her with oil, setting her apart for God. We came home, and I didn't think about much or any change till I gave her a bath. You need to realize bath time was a dread for me. She was so extremely ticklish it was ridiculous! I could barely touch her with a washcloth. She would scream and squirm and protect herself as if I was deliberately trying to torture tickle her. Drying her off, getting her dressed, putting lotion on, it was all the same. Tiring and irritating by the time I was done, I was tired! That night after we got home, I gave her a bath and she sat perfectly still, after a few seconds, she looked up at me in surprise and said, Mommy! me not laugh!! And she isn't overly ticklish anymore. The lotion, I can even put it on her stomach and she doesn't flinch! She still doesn't like it, she hates that it's wet, but she's not wiggling and screaming. I'm thanking God for healing!!

2. The Power of Blessing your children
I must admit when I saw that title it didn't seem that great. It was a very powerful lesson. The power of our words that we speak about and at our children. They are basically a self fulfilling prophesy. So, why not use it for good and spur our children to greatness rather than noticing the negative. Not saying we praise them to the point where they think every little thing they do deserves praise and notice, but being positive, not belittling them. Some samples given were:
Your such a crybaby
Shame on you
Why can't you be more like your brother
You are just like your dad!

A book was also given, 'The Power of a Parents Blessing' by Craig Hill
If you want this for your child/ren, it's a good read. It also has prayers in it to pray over your children.

Tonight as I rocked G to sleep, she was totally relaxed. The heavy kind of relaxed where they are limp. She fell asleep while I rocked her and I didn't want to stop. I keep realizing how much she is changing. For the first year home, I don't think she ever totally relaxed. She sat on me, laid against me, but was still somewhat stiff, not cuddly.I know about a half year ago I thought she was doing much better, but now I can truly say she can cuddle with me. Another milestone of trust, attachment and healing. She loves giving me kisses and hugs now too, which she didn't do at all for the first year. I continue to marvel at my child and how God continues to heal her, and show me his strength, when I need it most.

Wednesday we went out to Paramount Sports with the kids.
They loved it! So much to do and they used up every ounce
of energy they had. this pic was after they refueled and were
feeling a bit of energy again. I think G may be raising her
hand to testify the truth of that! :)

The Blizzard Of 2014

Well, it happened! we got snow, and a lot of it. I don't know how much because around our house it's blowing so much it's either in huge drifts or bare driveway. We have a huge drift right outside our door that we will need to climb over to get out. G tried it and succeeded but it took struggling. We can see 422 from our place and there is not much traffic. we keep seeing snowplows go by and the road looks passable, but I think most people are enjoying just having a snow day inside.
Last night I was excited, but wanting to make sure the day goes well, so I thought up some things to do with G.

I started with a box and cut holes in it. put a bunch of rice and dry macaroni in it with spoons and bowls. Ummm, I was hoping she would play with it longer than she did. :(

The Ipad and coco puffs for breakfast was a happy thing while I tried to get work done on the computer.

Mim gave us an early valentines gift of chocolates! She couldn't let the box out of her sight! She is a total chocaholic!

In case you are worried, no she did not eat the whole box!

We did laundry and cleaned up and swept the basement. She used her swings for a while.

We ate a breakfast lunch of eggs, fried potatoes, little sausages, and toast.

And then she went outside for a bit while I stood at the door. I did not feel like getting all wet!

After her nap, we did another little project. Baking soda and colored vinegar, It was pretty cool! She loved it..... as long as I was right there with her. When I went to sneak in some work time, she lost interest. sigh

And then, more snow play, this time with mommy and mim too. Her first big snow man!

After supper, Mim took her downstairs and they ran off some energy playing tag, swinging and jumping. Thanks Mim!
While they were down playing I baked a cake for Mim's birthday which is tomorrow, on Valentines day.

Gabriella is in bed now. Time to get a nice bubbly drink and relax.
All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Funny Girl

What a funny little girl! It's bed time, so of course she needs to go potty after she is in bed. Of Course!! Even though she went right before bed which was about 10 minutes ago. No sooner are the lights out than she needs to go REALLY BAD!! If I say no, she says, "shall I go in my panties?" "shall I go on the bed?" "Shall I go on the floor?" and then she laughs like she told the best joke ever.
So, I quit saying no, it's faster to just let her go and get it done with. She's gone for a while and comes back with only a shirt, one sock and sunglasses on. She can't get her one sock back on. I help her, well, actually I just put it on, she doesn't really help except by holding her foot in the air. She runs back to get the rest of her clothes. Soon I hear frustrated crys coming from the bathroom and she comes again, holding her underwear. I put them on her. She runs back and instead of even trying she comes back with her pj bottoms, pretend whimpering so I will put them on her instead of making her try. She runs back, she's dressed now, "hey, where are you going?" I need to flush, mo-mmy'! I think I'm wrong, it's not faster to just let her go, instead of calling her bluff.

She says mommy with a british accent. She's been sick with strep throat this past week and so I've been letting her watch entirely tooooo many videos on the ipad. She has several favorites and I realized after I started hearing Mommy being said with that adorable accent that most of the videos she watches are with a british accent. I love it! I really need to record that before she looses it again.

We got a cat. Yup, a great big pretty tom cat. He's very gentle and laid back. She can pick him up, and try, try, try to pick him up. He's totally patient the whole time, even when he is half way suspended as she tries hard to heft him into her lap. He's downstairs most of the time. It's supposed to stay that way. We don't want to be hairy cat people, even though G and I both love cats and dogs and fish and .....
Earlier this evening the cat was mewing and I told her to go down and tell him he can come up for a while. He hadn't been up yet. It took a few times of her going down, but eventually he did follow her up. She jabbered at him a mile a minute and fed him some pretend tea. She pretend medicated him, and said "he does NOT like his medicine! It was blue medicine and he no like it!!!" (blue medicine is some cough syrup she had once that she detests!)

Uhh! How to get her to stop saying "naughty Mommy"! She says it for anything she is displeased with me for. I am in front of her on the steps, going up or down. "naughty mommy"!! Of course! I'm very naughty, I should always remember that she needs/wants to be first on the steps, or coming in the door for that matter!!!

She's a riot! My little spit fire that forgets nothing. That can have me laughing so hard one minute and sighing in frustration the next. I don't, I really don't know how I wasn't bored to death before she came home.