Just some newer pics, for now . . .

Birthday!

Our baby is two!! Oh my gosh, we can't believe it. We celebrated Elena's birthday on Sunday (actual day was Saturday). We had a lovely party with our immediate family. Elena is doing great. She had been constantly sick for awhile there. Apparently she has cold-induced asthma, but I think our pediatrician has us on a good plan of attack if she has another episode. She's also on Singular daily and she has shown huge improvements with that. I was so sad to see her sick all the time. We are also switching daycare centers and I have a feeling that will be a good thing.

Elena is growing up so fast. I think developmentally she is behind in her speech; however, I'm not worried about it quite yet. She has her two year wellness check-up this week and I'll run it past doc. Hearing check perhaps?? She says a lot of words, but for only a certain period of time and is not building her vocab. Her latest is "Oh Bill" which we are assuming is "Oh Boy." It's hilarious! We keep asking her who this "Bill" character is. She makes us laugh every single day. She is also counting now, but only knows to say one. So as we are walking up the stairs, she says one . . . one . . . one . . . Hopefully "two" will sink in soon!

Elena is finding interest in a lot of new things. Daddy bought her a kitchen for her birthday and she LOVES it! We know that she plays on one at school and loves the one at church. They've come a long way with those little kitchen sets! She also loves dolls now and feeds them their bottles. It's adorable. I just love seeing her develop. She's just now starting to wear 24 month clothes, but barely. She can still fit into her 18 months from last fall. And she can now fit into her Chicago Bears cheer leading outfit (very important)!

We had our very first family vacation in August. Sean's parents invited us to the Smoky Mountains with them where they rented an incredibly beautiful cabin. It was lovely! Unfortunately, we ended up in the ER with Elena (asthma/touch of Pneumonia) our next to last day there. We had an awesome time anyway; we just had to keep Elena calm and in her stroller. Pics are below.

Summer is over, which I'm very bummed about. It went so fast. I like this time of year as well though. I hope that everyone had a great summer! We had a couple of really great adoption group events. Please visit our group's blog: http://circleoffamilies.blogspot.com/ . Our group has been opened up to all adoptive families now, not just Guatemalan. It's so wonderful. We missed the latest event because Elena had strep. Better not to share the love that day! If anyone who reads my blog is interested in joining, please let me know!

I hope that everyone is doing well! I'm still working a lot and still really bad at blogging and keeping in good touch with my e-friends. :( SORRY!! I think about you all! Blessing!

I love this picture. My two peas in a pod. It says so much, doesn' it? Love . . . trust . . . mommy, my shorts are too big. It says it all.

We've been busy as usual (home & work). Elena is doing great. She's just talking away, still pretty much doesn't make sense, but has added a few words to her vocab. She's still just so stinkin' cute. We are having so much fun with her. I miss her every single day while I'm at work. :( Time is flying by so quickly. I can't believe it is July already! Elena will be 2 in October already. She's amazing; we love her so much.

We celebrated our GOTCHA DAY on June 12 by going to the Phila. Zoo. What a great place. We met a couple there who has a most beautiful Guatemalan son! It turns out that they lead an adoption group out of Philadelphia. We traded information. Apparently there are a lot of people looking for adoption groups in this area and can't find the one we are in. We are now called "Circle of Families" and have a blog, thanks to our fearless leader. If there is anyone who reads my blog who is interested in joining our group, please let me know! We are getting together this coming Saturday for a picnic and all are welcome.

I hope that everything is going well for all of you. We continue to pray for all the families who are still waiting for their babies to come home from Guatemala.

Hello friends. Hope everyone is well. We are doing great. Elena is growing like a weed and just blossoming. She is walking now, finally, and does really well. She's talking a lot; however, not sure exactly what she is saying. She does say "yes, no, shoe, fish, dog, Uh Uh (as in Uh Oh, but without the Oh)." She is just doing the cutest things too, like the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider and pointing to her nose and belly. She also pushes our noses and I make a beeping sound. One thing Sean and I love is we group hug and she loves to see Sean and I kiss, so she pulls our faces together, then we kiss her and over and over again. She's so amazing and is developing a wonderful personality. She's a great hugger and kisser (she puckers up so cute). Sean tells her to smile and she shows all her teeth (see pic below). We are having so much fun. She has had a fever for the past two days, but that is the first sickness in a long time. We are blessed that she has never had an ear infection (I should knock on wood). I hear of so many toddlers who have trouble with that. Even when Elena is sick, she tolerates it very well. She's not a cry baby at all. She fell off her little sliding board the other day and I thought it was going to be horrible, but she got up and went right back to it. We don't make a big deal out of things, so she doesn't either, I guess. Great advice someone gave us.

We have been in contact with Elena's Foster Mother on a routine basis since Elena has been home. They are not doing well at all. She has been out of work since the program is closed. Both of her children have had to quite school to go to work. It is very sad in Guatemala; I can't imagine how much worse it is for them now. Please pray for all of the babies that are waiting for loving homes and for all the people living in poverty.

Things are going good otherwise. We have decided to move; although, I have no idea when. I have been more frustrated than ever at work then when I have to make that commute all the way there and home again, it makes it even worse. That's just some of the reason, but is enough for me. I'm not looking forward to moving, but it will be worth it. Just the time and gas money that we will save will be worth it! We are in the car far too much. God has blessed us in so many ways and we are thankful to have the resources to make a move.

Sean is busy right now carving up a turkey that he shot yesterday. Oh yummy, fresh turkey (eeek!). It's actually not bad. It's not the first one he has brought home. He really enjoys hunting and I am happy to say that we eat everything he kills (so far anyway).

I suppose it is not likely that I will be updating my blog before Mother's Day, so HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of you wonderful mommies!!

Just pictures because she's so darn cute . . .

Hello my friends. It has been a very long time. I don't have a lot of time on my hands these days. Unfortunately, my job is overwhelming, but I'm trying to make some changes there. I would appreciate any prayers; I know God will guide me. I try to leave work at a reasonable time, I come home to Sean and Elena and after she goes to bed, I work until very late at night . . . every night. For this, I hope to step down soon, whether I leave the company or step down to another job within. I don't care about the money; we will adjust. I just care about my family and my health. Well, enough about that! More importantly . . .

Elena is doing so great! She is just growing so fast. We can't believe that a year ago this week, we were visiting her for the first time. (Oh, which means HAPPY GOTCHA DAY TO OUR FRIENDS LORI, JOEL AND SONJA!). Today we went for her second haircut. She is napping or I would have given you a before and after. She needed a haircut BAD! You can see that in the pics below that we took earlier this week. We had wonderful holidays with our families and we are having a great year so far. Elena's health has been good; although, the runny nose is neverending. We don't know if that is becuase of constant cold (daycare) or perhaps she has alergies?? It doesn't faze her a bit, it's just messy. She had pink eye (both eyes) a few weeks ago and she dealt with that pretty well too. She's just amazing. She's such a happy child. The only reason she every vomits is because she is laughing too hard. We can't imagine life without her!

We're so happy that a lot of our adoption friends are getting OUT of PGN!! I haven't been very social lately and haven't been keeping up with Guatemala affairs very well, but we are just so happy that people continue to be united with their beautiful babies! We keep in close contact with Elena's foster mother and sister and they are really struggling financially. Please pray for them and all the people of Guatemala who suffer financially.

We hope that everyone is well and are having a great 2008! Blessing to you!