BTW

Does anyone have an answer to why my first paragraphs are spaced so far apart and then my subsequent ones aren't...or vice versa...I can't figure out how to change it.

Potty Training

I have started my second attempt at potty training with Ellie.  I was going to take a picture of the potty for you but decided to spare you all the gory details:)  However Ellie went pee-pee and poo-poo on the potty today.  Not sure if it will continue but she apparently likes the peanut butter chocolate chips that I give her:)  I figured without the time constraints of preschool why not try it again.  She has been doing pretty well though she still isn't telling me...which I liken to being parent trained and not really potty trained but at least its a start and she doesn't scream every time I put her on it!

Yet another funny thing in the list of funny things Ellie does..she is a HUGE imitator.  She imitates EVERYTHING many people do but especially her family.  I was blow-drying my hair today and she hates the blow-dryer.  So she proceeds to stand on the other side of our room while I dry my hair  but imitates everything I do with my hands.  One of her hands is the blow dryer and the other hand is being rubbed on her head like I do with my hair.  And she tilts her head exactly the same way I do.  It was quite cute and very funny.

She has her second speech appt tomorrow with her new therapist.  Hopefully all the details with insurance will be fine and she will continue to improve and learn new words.  I am going to bribe Ainsley to not be a distraction and hope for the best.

Preschool

Well after two days of preschool, Jeff and I have decided to take Ellie out.  We just haven't been comfortable with the whole process here and just don't feel Ellie is ready for preschool.  I met her teacher yesterday and when I expressed that I wasn't certain if she was ready for preschool, the teacher asked me if they were certain of her birthday.  I just don't think that the teacher thinks she's ready either.  We were originally told we would be able to get her into morning preschool but when they called to let us know of what time she would get picked up it was PM.  Since transportation continues to be an issue and we don't want to drive her all the way to the preschool she has been assigned to and back, we are just going to keep her home.  Maybe next year when she is in our school district she will be ready but not yet.  I need to call the school today and check on how to continue to get her speech services since she won't be there for preschool.  I will probably need to bring her in specifically for speech two days a week but that's ok as I will stay there while she has speech.  Hopefully we can work it out.

That's about it from yesterday.  Oh other than the snowbank I ran myself aground on.  I didn't think to get photos though I am sure you would all have really enjoyed seeing it.  I was so frustrated with the preschool thing that I wasn't paying attention to where I was driving when I pulled around to pick up the mail from the mailbox.  When the plow truck plows the snow, they make a little snowbank between our driveway and our neighbor's driveway.  I thought I missed it but no that was not to be the case.  After finding no males home around us, I proceeded to have to dig myself out for about 30 minutes until I was able to free the car!!!  Oh..and that's not all.  On Mondays I pick Mackenzie up at school and take her to ballet as she has ballet at 4.  I did this and had to hurry back to our house to get Ellie off the bus by 4:20  I arrived back home at 4:10 thinking I had time to spare and the bus was already there!  They seemed quite peeved with me and practically threw a screaming Ellie off the bus to me.  I explained that I was told the bus doesn't come till 4:20 from the bus department and they were 15 minutes early.  They didn't seem to care.  Which reinforced in my head why Ellie must not enjoy the bus ride!!  So yesterday was quite a day:) Unfortunately for you all...no pictures!:)

Monday

Well, I need to catch up with some posting.  Ellie didn't actually have another day of preschool last week as Wed and Fri were snow days and Thurs was an early dismissal.  The bus driver called on thurs to let us know and also to tell us that many parents were opting to keep their preschoolers home since they wouldn't be at school very long.  So I opted not to send her.  I didn't get to meet her teacher due to all the snow days.  However I am going to drive Ellie to school today and hopefully I will get to meet her.  I am going to time my trip and see if just driving her to school is feasible.  I would be able to drive her most days if it wasn't too far so we will see.  We had a good time with my mom here and were glad she could spend a week with us.  We had a nice weekend.  Fairly relaxing with not too many plans.  Ellie also started speech therapy last week at St. Elizabeth's hospital.  I love the therapist and am hoping that there is no issue with insurance covering it.  I think the new therapist will be great for Ellie.  We did have to do a little finagling with it since we thought Ellie was going to be in am preschool.  She now has speech at 8:30 on thurs mornings.  Early but not too bad since we are a morning family anyway!  No new pics for today.

Today is Elli's 1st day of preschool

Ellie first day of preschool was a mixed bag.  I didn't get to meet her teacher ahead of time as it was a little last minute when I found out she was starting.  We decided to let her ride the bus as the drive is about 20 minutes from our house.  However she was terrified to get on the bus and I felt awful.  I was not here when she got off the bus so my mom got her off the bus.  Apparently the bus driver said she cried the whole way home and that she is still a baby.  Isn't that the whole point of sending her to preschool??  To try to catch her up with her peers??  And of course she doesn't like the bus.  She doesn't have enough English for me to try to explain what the bus is, where it is taking her and why she is going on it.  Alas...we are still thinking of options on the bus.  I think it would be easier if they had restraints on it but they don't.  I didn't get any really good pics but I will post a couple anyway...their is one good one of Ellie and my mom.

What does the outside world look like again??

So I usually go to Wendys on fridays and meet with some friends in the adoption world.  However today I am still at home.  Ainsley is finally feeling better but I am still not top notch so I opted to stay home.  I am beginning to forget what the outside world looks like other than the glimpses from our windows!  My mom flies in tonight so that should be fun and hopefully I will be up to going to the airport to pick her up.  

Visiting with my mom and relaxing are our plans for the weekend.  Jeff has off on Monday and we may take the girls somewhere fun if we are all well.  Hope everyone has a wonderful extended weekend.  I am sure if we are all well it will be wonderful!:)

Sick!

Well...looks like the two older girls are on the mend.  Ainsley seemed to be sick only briefly and Mackenzie is finally after four days starting to perk up.  Now however I am sick.  I think I will be better in a few days but feel pretty gross right now.  You can pray that we don't infect my mom, who is flying in on Friday and my brother and his family, who have tentatively planned on driving up from SC for the extended weekend.

Lysol is my friend.

We also had yet another snow day today.  Too much of being in the house is making me stir crazy even if we aren't well enough to go anywhere!  After reading a few of my other blogs that I follow looks like there are other sick people out there too.  Hope we are all feeling better soon!

3 Month IAC Appointment

Here are two pictures of Ellie from yesterday before her IAC appointment.  We had her 3 month follow-up appointment at the International Adoption Center and it went well.  The 3 month follow-up is only with OT to see how well developmentally she is progressing.  She has made progress in all areas from her initial visit and they were pleased with that.  I think she is making amazing progress.  She finally has enough hair to get two little sprouts in it and I wanted to take a few pictures to mark this momentous occasion:)  I also had her transition meeting from First Steps to Boone County last friday.  It went well and we are happy with what will be provided for her in preschool.  She will be starting preschool at New Haven Elementary the day after President's Day in the AM preschool program.  Next year she will be going to Burlington Elementary for preschool but they didn't have any openings right now.  She will be transported on the school bus.  We shall see how it all goes and how she does.  I am hoping that preschool gives her opportunities to interact with her peers as most of the kids she is around are older than herself.

Mackenzie Montana..

Mackenzie singing with her new Hannah Montana doll

Mackenzie's 7th Birthday

Mackenzie celebrated her 7th birthday on friday night and I thought I would include a few photos...she still isn't feeling well but hopefully by tomorrow will be able to go to school. They had a snow day because of ice but she is still laying on the couch, not showing much improvement.

Trampoline

The girls received a trampoline for Christmas. They all love it but it was bought primarily with Ellie in mind as her physical therapist recommended it for her for her gross motor skills.

Here are just a few pics of her jumping on it.





Here is a video of her jumping. Enjoy!

Bath Time!

Here are a few pics of Ellie at bath time. My bible study group purchased a very cute duck bath set for Ellie before we left for China and we use it at every bath time She has mow moved from absolutely hating bath time to actually enjoying it. She still doesn't like having the water poured over her head but it is so much better now than it was before. She now will splash and play in the water, scrub her body with her washcloth and attempt to clean her hair. Here are some cute recent pics of her in the bath tub and afterward.

Gingerbread Houses

Here are a few pics of the girls working on gingerbread houses at Christmas. Jeff's mom brought out kits for the girls to use to make their own gingerbread house. Ellie chipped in by eating the frosting:)

A few pics of the girls at Chuck E. Cheese

Just trying to get caught up on my photo posting!

Pics of Mackenzie's school performance

Here is some not so good pictures of Mackenzie's first grade performance for the dance and drama class called Eeba Streeba. I didn't get any truly great shots but thought I would post a few anyway!

Mackenzie's teacher is in the last photo posted.  She is wearing a light blue shirt.  I think with my amazing photography skills, I should apply to work professionally somewhere. I would be a shoe in don't you think:)?

Ellie's Dedication

Hopefully I have figured out the computer issues and am now able to post pics. I finally found the cord to transfer pics and have found where my pictures go on the Mac when I transfer them. Now I just hope blogger allows me to upload. It hasn't on my Mac since I bought it so not sure if it is operator error or just blogger issues.

But here are some pictures of when we had Elliana dedicated at church. She is wearing a Chinese vest that we got for her in China while we were there. I think she looks adorable in it:)

The random picture in the middle is of Julie Flanagan, our fearless Children's Ministry Director and the back of Wes Sebree, our pastor.

The Jesus I Never Knew

One of my New Year's goals is to read a Christian discipleship/growth book once a month. The book for the month of Jan was The Jesus I Never Knew. Though I have started to read the book before I just haven't made it though. I am happy to say that I have finished the book though not completely in Jan. I thought it was amazing and challenging and convicting all at the same time. It really challenged my thoughts and perceptions of Jesus. How I view Jesus of the Old Testament is vitally important to how I see Him in my life today and how I should be living my life for Him. If any of you have not read the book, I HIGHLY recommend it to you. My book for next month, which is actually the current month, is Parenting the Strong-willed Child. I am looking forward to reading it and seeing what helpful parenting advice I can glean to be a more effective and loving mom to all of my kids.

I have a sick girl today. Mackenzie is sick with some kind of stomach virus. She has only thrown up once this afternoon but is running a fever and just not feeling well. I will be keeping her home from school tomorrow since she has yet to keep food down. However I have two appts for Ellie. Yikes...I guess if Jeff can't be at home, we will be rescheduling those appts.

It is also Mackenzie's birthday today. Happy Birthday to her! Poor girl sick on her b-day. However she did happily celebrate with a few friends on Friday night. The girls had a blast. I will post some pics soon but I am still uncertain how to post pictures on the Mac. There's no place to transfer photos directly from the SD card and I can't find the cord to hook the camera up to the computer. So until I find that or come up with some other solution...there won't be any pics posted. Hopefully I can solve the problem soon.

We went to church this morning and then to an open house for a Montessori school that we are looking at for Mackenzie for next year. She didn't start feeling poorly till after church and since we really wanted to check out the school we ran by right after church. Jeff went in to talk with the teachers, check out the school and get some more info. I stayed in the car for most of it and then went in quickly once he came back out. It seems like an amazing school but I think we have ruled it out due to distance and cost. Our options are dwindling, which is a bummer. But if God wants her elsewhere next year, He can work it out. Nothing is to big for our God. So I will continue to pray and trust that what is best for Mackenzie will work out.

Coming soon...a post on my opinions of our new Mac computer..you won't want to miss it!

Weight Watchers

One of my New Year's goals was to lose weight. Isn't that seriously 80% of people's New Year's goal? Now I have been trying for a while and the thing is I don't have that much to lose. 15 pounds max. But I haven't been able to take it off since Ainsley was born. I have tried the eating healthy thing but my issue seems to be portion control. I am not sure how most of you out there grew up but I was always told to eat what was on my plate and that there are starving kids all over the world...or was that what I used to say to my mom when she was praying too long at the meal..hmmm. I can't really remember now but the point it, eating everything on your plate is great IF you don't have too much on your plate. Which leads me to my next issue in weight loss. I eat too much! In the past, it hasn't been an issue because I have always been able to burn off all that I eat with all my exercise. I still exercise quite a bit but apparent my metabolism has gone on strike. So in an effor to meet my New Year's goals, I have joined Weight Watchers. Most of my friends, and I can tell this, think I am just plain crazy. You don't have any weight to lose, why would you do that..and on it goes. Though I know I don't have much to lose, i just feel much more healthy with 10 pounds off me. This Saturday will be my third meeting so we will see what I have lost. But I am able to say that I have lost 4 pounds already and have lowered my portions sizes and increased my fruits and veggies. So I am feeling successful already. And if I accomplish nothing else than that's is good enough...or so I say now:)

And on another note...I am still not over my Pats losing on Sunday. This has been a sad blow for me but I love how Bill Simmons, who write for ESPN has summed my feelings up. Jeff came home last night and pulled up this article and as Bill Simmons so aptly does...articulated my feelings in the perfect way. If any of you want to read it, here's the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080204

Disappointed...

Well of course we are disappointed that the Patriots lost last night. They played horribly so who could really expect that they would win but all the same, a disappointing end to an amazing season. To shake off the blues I am folding laundry. Not really helping shake the blues though..neither is the gray, overcast day that is outside our window. However I am going out to dinner tonight so that should help:)

Anyway Ainsley and Ellie are playing on the trampoline and Ainsley skirt keeps falling off. Most skirt type things are difficult to keep up as Ainsley has a tiny waist so that isn't the funny part really. The funny thing is that Ellie is wearing some of those tight pants that are more like tights than pants so there's no way they will fall down. But in order to copy Ainsley, she will jump and then try to pull her pants down. Pretty cute and funny.

Not a lot happening today but want to try to keep consistent with posting so here I am. We will be filing our taxes here very soon so I guess that's pretty exciting! Or the tax return is at least:)

I will try to get some pics posted soon!

A very odd thing. I haven't been able to spell check the last two days. I am not sure if it is a blogger issue or an issue with the new computer. So if you see spelling errors, please extend some grace!

Happy Superbowl Day!

Unfortunately we do not all have Tom Brady jerseys...or even all have patriots garb. But Jeff has a Brady jersey and I was able to scrounge up a t-shirt from one of the last superbowls they won to wear to church today:)
So we are spending our day waiting for the time when we can watch the big game and hopefully see some serious football history in action! But until then, we watched the The Gameplan with Mackenzie and Ainsley while Ellie pretended to nap. Actually I put her down for a nap but when Jeff went upstairs to get ready to go for a run he heard her "talking" and went in to check on her. She was sitting up in bed just talking away. Pretty sure she hasn't yet napped. Oh well. Guess she'll be tired for the big game. She doesn't yet understand the importance of today but someday she will...someday.

Speaking of Ellie, she cracked me up at church today. I was helping out in the infant room because we were short staffed today. The infant room is right next to the toddler room. Since we are a mobile church and set up and tear down after every service, our area is open. So each room is a fenced in area with white picket fences that are attached together. I should take some pics and post them as I think it looks cool. But I digress. I was in one room with Ellie right next to me in the next fenced in area. They had just finished having a snack and apparently Ellie didn't feel she was done. I saw her walk over to the table that had the snack container on it and point to it, point to the teacher and then sign please. I had to laugh because although it was great effort..she just wasn't going to get any more snack! But it was really cute:)
Then of course on the way home, she fell asleep which leads to the current lack of naptime. She falls asleep in the car and sometimes it doesn't seem to matter how short the catnap was...she just won't go back to sleep. We'll see if daddy's encouragement of sleep helps.

Hopefully soon I will get a few pics of Ellie posted. We just had her dedicated and we did get a few photos though not a whole lot. And soon I will do a post on how I like my new Apple Macbook Pro. We decided it was time for a new computer and that we wanted a laptop so that I could take it anywhere in the house. From the reccommedations of lots of people, we decided on a Mac. The Macbook Pro was a great deal since I got a refurbished one. Or great deal comparatively speaking since the Macs cost about an organ more than a PC. I sure hope it is worth it but I will let you know what I think after I get some time so use it! So far so good...or at least for the most part but I will save that for a later post.

So on a great sunny day here in KY, may the best team win...or the best undefeated team win...GO PATRIOTS!!!