Marlee is 10 months today!

It is hard to believe our little Marlee has been home 5 months now. She has changed and grown so much. When she got here she was between the 5-10th percentile for height and weight. Now she is in the 50th percentile for both. The first few months she was with us she didn't cry much but was very pleasant. She just dealt with everything. Now, she screams when she wants something and when she gets in trouble, yes she does get in trouble. Not that she isn't pleasant anymore but we are beginning to see that she has some spunk in her, that could also be nurture:) Another thing I find wonderful is that when she arrived she didn't really care who was holding her or if you left the room, she just loved everyone. Now when I leave the room she gets mad! She also knows who I am and sometimes is turned off by strangers. This is all good and means she is attaching well.

Marlee is crawling, pulling up, eating solid foods. She likes grilled zucchini, unlike my other two who plug their noses when I make them eat all of it on their plate! She is still very scheduled and takes two naps a day but is generally happy if she gets thrown off a bit. I can't imagine life without her in it. She has been such a blessing to us! When she is napping I think of the next time I will get to see that smile and let me tell you, it is always there when she is in her crib waiting for "Ma ma" which she says well.

As I look at the pictures I can't believe the journey we have taken for the past year and a half. It was the most amazing one! I don't like to push adoption on people because I honestly do not think it is for everyone but if you even have a slight interest in it I highly recommend doing more research before dismissing it. You will never be the same after the experience. You will look at life different, people different and the world different. Not only that you will change your other children's lives as well. There is my plug I guess. Now enjoy the first and most recent pics we have of our Ethiopian Princess! The two first pics are her referral picture and one that was taken in Ethiopia! Enjoy!

Marlee is 10 months today!

It has been a strange two days!

So the past few days have been different or I guess you should say made me feel different!

Lets start with Monday. Della has had 3 UTI's and a kidney infection in the past year so she had to be scheduled for a VCUG and ultrasound. They needed to check and see why this is happening. She had to take a liquid sedative because it is quite an uncomfortable procedure for little ones. Della on a sedative, wow, I was crying I was laughing so hard. The girl reminded me of myself when I have had a few. What a giggler. She looked at me and was an inch away from my face, noses almost touching and says in a shocked voice, "Mom you have two eyes!" I think she met one looked like two but who knows. The nurses were all laughing at her because she was such a cutie. I should have had my video camera because I have not laughed that hard in ages. Then we went to see my mother after the procedure with strict instructions that Della could not walk for two hours. Well she was hungry so my mom pulled out the Cheetos and put the can in front of her and she stuck her hand in, thought she had one but did not, brought her hand to her mouth and took a bite of nothing. We were laughing like crazy and she thought it was great she was so funny!

While I was at Mom's I got a call from Noah's school nurse saying her fell running at recess and has a bump on his head. She said they iced it and he went back to class. I asked if he was OK and she said he was much better than some of her 5Th graders, tough guy. When he got home I looked at the bump and it was quite large.

Then I get a call from Della's Dr. saying that she needs to see a urologist because they think she has a duplex kidney. Of course they didn't give me specifics just said the Urologist would explain. Great, like my mind needs to wander more than it does. I did do research on the Internet and it doesn't sound horrible so my outlook is positive! That was yesterday. Needless to say it ended with a walk with my cuz Kate because I called her and told her she was going no matter what! Thanks Kate for being my stress relief!

Now for Tuesday....On Saturday night while at the lake my friend Brenda called me and told me that a regular member of the church service I just left had lost her battle with cancer and her funeral was Tuesday. She was an amazing woman and so warm. She asked me if I would sing with her, my other friend Lauren and our friend and pastor Carolyn for the funeral. I said yes. That was this morning. What an experience. Carolyn was my pastor for about 5 years before she moved to another church. She is a wonderful speaker and such a loving person. I sang with Lauren and Brenda in a Contemporary Christian quartet for about 3 years. Our 4Th member Emily, flew south to Florida:( Anyway I have not felt so close to God in a while. It was a beautiful service. My friend Richard played piano and he is an amazing musician. We haven't sung together in a year and we picked up right where we left off. I miss them and the worship we create together. Female vocalists are a dime a dozen, I can say that because I am one, but if you put three soloists together and they can blend and sound like one, now that is something. What an experience, that is all I can say! God works in mysterious ways. When we were together as a group we could barely get our schedule to work out for a service months in advance but we had a couple days notice and we made it work. I am thankful for this service, for the woman that was celebrated and for the experience she gave me.

OK, that is as deep as I get now. Tomorrow is a new day and we have Marlee's last meeting with our home study agency! Wow! She has been with us almost 5 months and is really just one of the gang! Yes these past two days have been strange but great! BTW- keep on reading, I did some serious post catch up today!

The long awaited.......

Lake Weekend! The kids have been waiting to go to the lake all summer. We have been so busy that we had one free weekend this summer since Memorial day, I know, crazy. We headed to Grandma and Grandpa's lake house this weekend to play, and play we did. Noah and Della both rode the jet ski. It took Della a bit of time to decide to but she ended up liking it and saying "Wehoo." Noah's whole goal this weekend was to learn how to water ski. He worked really hard at it. He got up for about a second, long enough for me to snap a pic below and then was down. We tried to explain to him that one weekend was not quite enough time to learn but he is quite determined. He finally got tired and took a break. The kids both went tubing with Steve. Della liked it until she fell off the tube and got water in her nose.

Marlee did well. She doesn't sleep great in the car but she is such a happy camper that I guess it really doesn't matter. She had a good time on the boat and even got in the water some. On the way home we had three tired fish but they had a great time. Next year we are hoping to make it more than once!

Lake fun!

More to come!

Fair and school!

Grandma took Noah and Della to the fair and Della got her face painted so I took some pics of that. Noah started 1st grade last week and I captured our morning. He is growing up too quick:(

Final show pics!

I am just catching up on posts. I have a ton of pictures from when we took the kids to the lake and lots of stories to come so stay tuned!

School Started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was Noah's first day of first grade!! He was so excited he woke quite early. We all walked him to the bus and then the girls and I had a peaceful day of running errands and cleaning out cupboards. Sounds like fun, huh? Actually separating Noah and Della makes things remarkably calm. Those two are day and night and they don't have very much in common at this point so it shows in their behavior. It sounds like Noah likes his teacher too. He told me about his day and said they worked on some math and then he said, "Mom it was really easy." Noah does multiplication in his head, he has also done square roots. Yes first grade. Both Steve and I wonder where he gets it. I do have many engineers on my side of the family, maybe that is it. Either way, I am a proud mama!

The show closed Sunday with a big audience. I can't believe summer is over. It went fast. My best friend Alicia and her husband brought their oldest two girls to see the show and they enjoyed it. I will post some pics in the next post, not enough time now. Della stayed with me while Steve took Noah to his ice cream social and she was in all her glory. I took her back to the dressing rooms and on the stage. I think we know now what her calling is. She has been singing "Notice Me Horton" since Sunday and I even heard her sing it during the show. It makes me happy to see her love something that I also love.

Miss Marlee got two shots today. She is quite the talker lately too. Loud, so yes she fits in fine. Everyone in our family has a descent set of lungs. Things are about to get more calm, I think! Well pics to come! I have to go make sure Noah gets off the bus!

Priceless Pics!

Ever since Della saw the show she has been in love with Gertrude McFuzz. She has now started putting a boa in her Cinderella outfit for her tail, just like Gertrude. Can't wait until she is on stage! This is what we have been up to recently!