September 11, 2001

I just want to take a moment to remember all those who lost their lives, or were affected by this tragedy.

It is a reminder to always tell your loved one's "I LOVE YOU" because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Fashion Feux Pas

I do admit that I took great pride in dressing Abbey. Whether it be dressing her in Hanna Anderson, Gymboree, Baby Gap, or a surprise find, Flapdoodles brand, that I purchase at Macy's and TJ Maxx.

Now, with three kids, I am lucky if I can even keep them dressed. Abbey is going through a "nature girl" phase in her life (ok at 4, not ok in 10 yrs) and the babies are so messy with food that I have had them in diapers most of the time due to the warm weather.

The weather certainly doesn't stay warm here very long, and it has gone from the high 80's to the very low 60's. And even colder at night. The time has come to get out the winter clothes. I am in dire need of pajamas for Cari and Ellie because all the hand- me - downs are looking pretty tattered. It has been my goal these past few weeks to get shopping for warm pj's, but my good intentions were shot down.

So what does a mom do? While going through the girls' winter clothes, I stumbled on Some holiday pajamas I bought on clearance for the girls last January.... Before Ellie was born and before Carina's referral came. I normally don't feel it is fashionably appropriate to put kids in Christmas attire until after Thanksgiving. Then again, if some of the stores can put their Christmas stock out with Back to School supplies, then I can put my girls in Christmas Jammies in September.

PS.. I have just about given up trying to obtain a decent photo of all three girls together. Cari is saying "Cheese", Ellie is being her cute self, and Abbey has her eyes closed. What can I say? After taking 12 photos of them together with no success, I just took separate photos.

How quickly they grow......

...............Raspberry bushes that is! When Mark and I first moved into our house, I hoped that we would be here long enough to see our black raspberry bushes grow. One small bush was planted in the summer of 2002. As you can see they really have grown, and so has Abbey. The pics were taken in in 2006,2007, and 2008.

Words out of the mouth of a 4 year old

The other day Abbey was sitting at the kitchen table singing as loudly and as off key as humanly possible. These were the words out of her mouth: "There are three girls in my house. One is bald, one has hair and the is spikey." Can you guess whose who?!

Happy 1st Birthday Carina

My baby turned one on July first. Her party was a true celebration of life. She is a joy and I feel so lucky to be her mama. The festivities were kept simple this year, but no less special. Mark and I thought an Elmo cake would be in order. But my girl had other plans. We sat in the bakery searching their book of cakes. Every time the Winnie the Pooh cake page was in sight she squealed with delight and pointed. My girl knows what she wants. The birthday girl enjoyed her cake, and turned blue from frosting. Jie Jie Abbey helped her sister blow out the candle, and unfortunately Mei Mei Ellie was grumpy that day, so she got swaddled and sent to bed.

I still can not believe that the frail and scared baby who came home in April is adjusting so well to her new home. She is meeting all her developmental milestones on time. She just started standing on her own July 24Th. I can only assume walking is coming soon.

We love you Carina, and are so lucky to have you as our daughter and sister.

Who took the nuk?

One of many firsts

Seeing things through my daughters' eyes is one of the greatest things about being a mom. It makes up for all the sleepless nights and melt downs they put me through. Today the girls and I went to Memorial Park which is just a great place to play, and they have some beautiful botanical gardens to look through. Cari loves to point at things, so I thought it might be fun to show her the flowers and trees. She found the American flag much more exciting....That's my ALL AMERICAN girl.

Within about ten minutes Abbey was whining that the gardens were boring, so we made our way to the park. The first thing she headed to was the sand. Our turtle sandbox got condemned over the winter, so there is currently no sandbox at our house. This is not a bad thing from a mom's perspective. Cari was interested in what Abbey was doing, so I just put her down in the sand and waited for a reaction. Let's just say it's time to get a sandbox at home. She was loving every minute of it. Abbey loved it too because she really likes to be the "big sister" when she can show Cari how to do something.

We all had a great time, but the girls were tired and ready for a nap when we got home.... The picture says it all. Luckily on my part the big sister did not start melting down until after the babies went down for a nap.