Happy Father's Day!!!

We had a lovely Father's Day! The weather is absolutely perfect today! I opened all the windows early this morning with the expectation of having to close them part way through the day, but it was just awesome all day.

Elena and I did lots of nice things for daddy, who deserved every bit of it! We started by having a landscaper clean up our landscaping. Usually Sean does it himself and actually enjoys it, but this year he was just so busy and hasn't gotten to it. They are not done with it yet, but so far so good. The rain kept them from finishing yesterday. That is something that I have absolutely no interest in tackling myself. Second, we completely cleaned the garage. It was just me doing the work, of course, but I told Sean it was Elena's idea. I was filthy and exhausted, but it was well worth it. It took me ALL day Friday. I pretended to go to work, but actually headed to the store to get hooks and peg boards and other stuff to organize and clean. Sean seemed pretty happy when he got home from work. He thought I was at work all day! Saturday morning Elena and I made a stepping stone for daddy. See pics below. It was fun; albeit, a little messy. We're going to put it out front once the landscaping is done. It will be nice to see it out there everyday. This morning we made daddy's favorite Nana's Apple Cake. Mmmm . . . mommy and Elena's fav too. Then today, we had Sean's parents and my parents and my sisters and their families over for a cookout. Simple and relaxing. It was a great day to sit and just enjoy being with family. Sean is an awesome father and he deserved a great day!

My niece just got back from NYC where she did some cleanup at a camp and did mission work in the city with her youth group. She was so excited and had so many stories to tell. I'm so happy that she has made some very important personal decisions in her life recently that will really just change her life forever. God is amazing! Both of my sisters have amazing children that I am so proud of!

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day, especially all you dads!! Happy Summer too!

Gotcha and Home Forever Weekend

I can't believe it has been two years! Our Gotcha Day was Friday and Home Forever Day is Monday, so we made a weekend of it. Yesterday we went to Dutch Wonderland. We had a really good time. I was very upset with myself when we got there because I realized that I had taken the memory card out of the camera and so we were only able to take ten pictures. :( Thankfully we had the video camera, but I was still a little bummed. I was hyping up the event a few days prior telling Elena that we were going to see a REAL princess and ride on a REAL train. When we finally saw the princess, Elena didn't want to get her picture taken with her, but once she left, she looked all over for her. Then when we saw her again, she was excited to see her. We took a picture of the Princess, the Castle, and Thomas the Train so Elena would remember the day. She loves looking at them! She's was pooped by the time we left.

Today we also celebrated Sean's Mom's birthday, which is tomorrow. We met his parents at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Elena loves the rocking chairs and the checkers outside. We spent most of the day outside today; the weather is awesome! I'm glad we had a great weekend. I'm assuming that when you give birth, the day is special for your child, but also for the parents. I'm assuming it brings back the memory of the day you had given birth, the days leading up to it, etc. When you adopt, obviously you don't have those memories. But you sure don't forget the day they place that child in your arms forever! Gotcha Day is very special to us and I plan on doing something special and memorable each and every year!

Hope you are all well and are enjoying Spring. Summer is just around the corner! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!!! We hope you have a great day! Love you!

Turtle Sunday

Sean spotted a turtle creeping through the loooong grass in the front yard this morning. Now I have to tell you that I'm not "afraid" of much of anything, but turtles, they give me the heebie jeebies! I would sooner pick up a snake, which I'm not afraid of at all, than a turtle. I know that is strange! Anyway, it was fun to show it to Elena and to watch Sara sniff it obsessively (that would be the dog). Elena loved looking at it, but didn't want it near her either!

This pic has nothing to do with the turtle, obviously, but it was just cute.

Busy Weekend

Hello friends. The Molls had a busy, but fun weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend as well. Two things that we did were we made banana bread and we went to Lake Tobias. For those not from our area, Lake Tobias is a Wildlife Park in Halifax PA. If you don't live too far, you should go; it's awesome. It's so great for children and most of the animals have a much bigger and more natural habitat than a zoo. (Not all; some are much like a traditional zoo.) We really like it and it it super affordable. As for the banana bread . . . yum! I love the recipe I use. Not low cal, but yummy. In an effort to avoid sneezes in the batter, Elena got her own bowl of flour to play in while I made the bread. She loves to help me cook or bake and I love when she helps me (despite the enormous mess!).

I had a very very bad work week. One of my very great friends was displaced from his job, on top of some other personal things he is going through. He was offered a job within our area, but it still just really stinks; he's an awesome person and a loyal employee. Nobody is secure and I know that now more than ever. So works stinks as usual, but for now I have a job and we have income and I do realize that is a blessing that I thank God for each and every day.

But then I get home and Sean and Elena brighten my day! I was whistling a tune earlier this week and Elena started making some fun sounds. When I looked over at her, she had her lips puckered and was singing "Hoo hoo". It was priceless! It was her version of whisling and I loved it! Everyday is new. She's so amazing.

Potty training is still going well. She has had one pull-up on all day and we even at Lake Tobias today. She's still not telling us when she has to go, but I just get her there often.

Hope you are all well!

Day at Lake Tobias

We think Elena's favorite attraction was the coy in the pond . . . figures . . .

This animal has a better do than me! I just thought he was funny.

On the Safari bus!

Daddy is so brave! This elk loved his crackers!

Banana Bread making!

Time to clean this mess up!

Poor Sara was showered with flour . . .

Yum, warm banana bread!

Oh my gosh, can it be true?! Two posts in two days??? It must be a holiday, right? Happy Memorial Day and thank you so all the Veterans!

I just wanted to post some more pictures and give a shout out to Matt, Leah, and their awesome family! Looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well. Elena is doing great; she's just as amazing as ever! We are very pleased with how she is starting to play with other children. I guess that comes with age. We can't believe in a few months she will be three! Since I have last posted, we have had two addition to our family (two new cousins for Elena). My SIL had a beautiful little girl to give my nephews a baby sister (woo hoo) and my sister had an amazing little boy. He came a month early; she was due June 1. He's a tiny little guy!! I just love them both. I had the most distinct opportunity to literally witness my nephew being born and to cut his cord. What an awesome experience! My BIL wanted nothing to do with cutting that cord, so I quickly stepped in! Elena loves both of her new cousins!

Otherwise, Elena's speech is not progressing. In fact, she started speaking fairly decent about a year ago and has since digressed. However, she now has two speech therapists who are just amazing. They each work with her once a week. It is a free service provided by the county. How awesome to have such a service available.

A few weeks ago, Elena wanted to read a Christmas book and she handed it to me and said "Ho Ho Ho"! It made us laugh so hard. She must have learned about Santa at school. We spoke about him minimally around Christmas time, but I don't recall teaching her Ho Ho Ho. Her daycare is amazing too! She has the best teachers and she loves them soooo much. I thank God for them.

She has been healthy over the past few weeks (knock on wood). Her asthma shows its ugly face now and again, but we know what to do now. Potty training is going really well too, thankfully! I just wish I had more time with her. They are great with her at daycare, but there seems to be a disconnect. She goes on the potty all the time here, but not at school. Hmmm . . . we'll get there!

I don't have a lot of time, so I'll end here. I'll let the photos tell stories. Blessing to you all!

It seems like Christmas was so long ago, but I'm going to post the pictures anyway since I'm so far behind. Elena had a blast around the holidays!

Christmas morning and the never ending game of ducks. She still loves this game. Daddy and I just wish it had a mute button. Hehe!

This was her favorite gift which we refer to as "fat cat." She won't go to sleep at night without him. He's a pillow pal, so he doubles as her pillow. Really soft!

Her second favorite thing . . . the boxes . . . . of course.

We play prince and princess all the time now. Her imagination is so wonderful. This was a gift from grandma.

Elena had her first Christmas show this year with her daycare classmates. Apparently the first year that not one child in her age group cried. Woo Hoo! Glad we didn't spoil that! You can see from this picture that she wasn't about to go back up on that stage once it was over!

Hope your holidays were as good as ours! We survived a few more asthma attacks and another round of pneumonia since then, but otherwise, Elena is doing well and so are we! Sorry I'm just now getting things posted. Busy as usual. More to come . . .