Laughter

Sometimes, there is nothing better than contagious laughter!

Happy Easter!

Baby Grace

We welcomed a fourth grandchild into our family on Saturday! Jeff and I were able to sneak away and visit Baby Grace at the hospital over the weekend and the kids were introduced to their new cousin tonight. After only seeing pictures of her for the past few days, they were very excited to meet her in person. Amelia commented several times that she "liked her hair" and Graham was eager to help me feed her a bottle. Welcome to the family, Baby Grace!

Just a little bit excited to be holding Grace!

Amelia (Snow White) was extremely gentle with Grace and was most impressed with her "tiny, tiny, toes!"

"Cutie Snow White"

Amelia, more often than not these days, prefers to go by the name "Cutie Snow White". When she says it, it actually sounds like "Cootie Snow White", but we know what she means. Most days, she wears the dress from sun up to sun down. I insist she take if off to sleep (only because I don't want glitter in her bed) and she sadly agrees. Last week though, I put her down for her nap (princess dress'less) and when I went in her room to get her up, she had magically transformed into "Cutie Snow White" all on her own. She knows she's not supposed to play with her toys at nap time, but I guess the temptation to transform into a princess was just too much for her to handle.

Scooter...Part 2

It became obvious very quickly that we needed to upgrade from being a one scooter family to a two scooter family. So, once again... Happiness is riding a brand new scooter...

Scooter

Happiness is riding a brand new scooter....

It's 'Gotcha Day'!

Two years ago, this was the scene at the airport as some of Amelia's fan club waited to greet her after her long journey home...

Graham had NO idea how much his life was about to change. He knew Mommy and Daddy were in Korea for Amelia, but how much can I two year old really understand?

Just after getting off the plane and greeting her waiting fans, Amelia is clearly exhausted!

FINALLY together! Amelia looks stunned here, the poor little thing was so terrified and confused!

First bottle at home! It felt sooooo good to be off the plane and be able to start the transition at home!

Amelia had a tough transition. She wasn't used to our food, she wasn't used to the language she was hearing, she wasn't used to the way everything smelled, and she wasn't used to the people around her. Night time was the most difficult for her. She screamed so long and hard we worried she was going to harm herself in some way from the strain. Through her tears, she would cry out for her Korean foster mother by name. This broke my heart and we spent many hours in the rocking chair while I cried right along with her. It was HARD. But, Amelia is a very resilient little girl and she slowly started to come around. We all started to sleep in blocks of time longer than an hour (thank you GOD!) and her night time screaming fits slowly became a thing of the past.

This brings us to today...the 2nd anniversary of the day we brought Amelia home from Korea, it's 'Gotcha Day'! In our family, we take these 'Gotcha Days' very seriously and make sure we spend the day celebrating how thankful we are that we have the privilege of being a family. We asked Amelia several times over the past few days what she wanted to do today and she would either answer 'McDonald's' or 'Dora'. So, we headed to the Mall of America to let the kids ride a few rides, have lunch at Amelia's beloved McDonald's, and let Amelia meet Dora. For Amelia, this was the perfect way to spend the morning!

I have no idea what these face means, but I love it. Pretty cute truck driver, huh?

We went on a handful of rides and the kids had been warned that the merry-go-round was the last ride of the day. I'm actually surprised they're smiling here. They were not happy to know the rides were coming to an end.

Amelia catching her first glimpse of Dora I am literally holding Amelia back. There were still a few people ahead of us in line at this point and Amelia couldn't contain her excitement!

This will probably be the highlight of Amelia's year. Seriously, Dora (or anyone dressed up like a Princess) is Amelia's dream come true!

And because we wanted to end the day on a high note, I present our dinner....yep, we had ice cream sundaes, chocolate chip cookies, and chips (a last minute addition per Amelia). I got this idea from my cousin who let her kids dine this way in honor of April Fools Day yesterday. It's all about making memories, right! :)

There is no doubt in my mind that Amelia was meant to be my daughter. I am so incredibly thankful that the miracle of adoption allowed our family to come together. Amelia has grown into an extremely caring, nurturing, sweet, funny, smart little girl that I am so proud to call my daughter. Thank you Amelia for being you. Here's to celebrating a life time of 'Gotcha Days' together. I love you forever, and ever, and ever!