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.

Father's Day

I wish I could say today is a happy day for me, but it is not. I do not have a dad to celebrate with because the wonderful man I call Daddy passed on unexpectedly February 20,2008. I wish he could have been around to see Carina and Eliana, but God had other plans for him. At least he was there for my ultrasound, and shared referral day with me. He loved his grandchildren so much. He read to Abbey all the time. And guess who you got up with her at 6:00 a.m on Christmas morning and played bus driver with her? My dad!!!

I miss you Daddy.

Sue

What is the hardest part of having three girls?

Taking a decent picture of them together.