Easter Saturday

We had a beautiful Easter week-end. We spent Saturday morning with Gan Gan (my Mom) shopping for shoes for the kids. Little Miss Iz got cute sandals that squeak when she walks. She loves them!!! And Jackson acts like he's at the doctor getting shots when we try to get his foot measured. When I say he screams I'm not exaggerating. Soooo dramatic! Mom ended up bringing shoes out to the car and trying them on his little feet while he was sleeping. How pitiful that?
We spent Saturday afternoon at Nana & Granpa's (Kevin's parents) with cousin Michael & his wife Melissa. They live in Atlanta and wanted to meet the babies. Melissa even made us Easter baskets. So incredibly sweet. And the best was the bubble machine for the kids. We all had a wonderful time. I got to see pictures from their recent trip to Thailand. Melissa's brother and wife are missionaries and have been living there for almost 2 years if I'm not mistaken. They are in the process of trying to adopt a beautiful little girl. They have had her since she was only 3 days old and she's 18 months now. Things are never easy in the adoption world so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Here are some pic's from our day:

Cousin Melissa and the with the kids and the bubble machine. She could no have brought a better gift for these two!!!

Thank you so much Michael & Melissa!!!! Please come back and visit soon.

An update on the lack of updates

Hi all. It's been a week since my last post. For those of you that I have not complained to yet, here goes: My laptop has a virus. It has rendered my poor little computer completely useless. The good news is that I should have it back to normal Saturday night (keep your fingers crossed please). A friend at work (Shane - thank you!!!) who knows A LOT more about these things than I is helping me out. He has saved all my pictures (the only thing I was worried about) and had me purchase an external hard drive to keep all the important things seperate from those nasty viruses out there. So he says that Saturday night I will think I have a brand new computer and if the kids cooperate I can share our wonderful Easter week-end with you all. The kids had a fantastic time!!! Their Easter Egg hunting skills need LOTS of work so we're keeping our fingers crossed for next year. Maybe we should have practiced first???
Anyway, check on us later this week-end. I think I took (this is no exaggeration) 140 pictures of the kids during the 2 days. I won't bore you with them all just the really cute ones!!

Babies meet the Easter Bunny

My Mom and I decided to take the kids to meet the Easter Bunny at the mall on Wednesday. I wasn't brave enough around Christmas to try Santa Claus and I figured why not start with a 7 foot rabbit.
If I had to guess which child would flip out I, without a doubt, would've put my money on Jackson. Isabel is usually much more outgoing and social and well, just easier.
I would have lost my money.
We let them get out of the stroller to check things out and Jackson was running around smiling at everyone while poor Isabel clung to my Mom (her "Gan Gan") for dear life.
Jackson let me pick him up and put him in the E. Bunnies lap and sat there without crying. I made the mistake of stepping away from him and the crying did begin but nothing like what I had expected from the little guy. I was so proud!!
My Mom suggested we get in the picture with the kids. It didn't calm Isabel down but we get a picture.
I don't think I traumatized her too bad because when we got far enough away from the Bunny she waved at him saying "Bye Bye". (He even waved back) :)
So overall, I think it was a good day.

A Beautiful Sunday

We only have one day together as a family of four and that is Sunday.
I love Sunday's!!!!!!
We went to Pottery Barn Kids to get the kids Easter baskets (they were already sold out of the one I wanted but better luck next year, right?).
Next to Target for goodies to fill the "second choice" baskets :)
Next, the "Tot Lot" . It is my new favorite park. It is big enough but not so big I'm fearful of losing a child.
Jackson spends almost all his time swinging which meant Kevin spent a long while pushing. Isabel is a bit more adventurous. She likes to climb and slide and I love that as well. We slide holding hands. Too cute!!! They also have started collecting acorns. They tasted them today and judging by their expressions did not enjoy. Anyway, it was a gorgeous day. Enjoy the pic's

Saturday

I had planned on staying in with the kids today because I was exhausted. Little Miss Iz woke up at 3am and wouldn't go back to sleep until 5:45. And guess who woke up at 5:50am! If you guessed Jackson you win!!! I did get them to sleep in until after 8:00. Their timing is amazing. The good news is that Isabel is over her virus. Kevin let me nap for a couple of hours before he went to work so that saved the day. The only toys that Jackson wanted to play with today was whatever Isabel had in her hand. So after an hour or so of fighting, screaming etc. I packed them up and headed for the zoo. It was great day for it until the rain hit. It didn't last long so we then went to our favorite park to let them play and hopefully wear themselves out. I think it worked because they were both asleep before 9pm. (That is good for us) (Maybe I shouldn't be jinxing myself) That's all for now!

Do you want to ride a pony?

The answer from both kids was a definite no. Kevin's parents, Nancy & Bernard, took us out to see dear family friends last week (thank you Jeannie & Patrick!!!) who happen to have many horses including "Freckles" the pony. It was colder than we had hoped but the kids were going to have their first horse experience. I wish I had a picture of Isabel's face the first time she caught sight of a horse. The best way to describe it is sheer and utter terror. :) We hung out around the barn for an hour or so and while both of their little tushies did actually touch the back of "Freckles" I don't think they will be asking for a pony anytime soon. It was a great experience though. One of Nancy's oldest and dearest friends, Sena, was with us and it was great to see her and to let the kids get to spend some time with her. The highlight of the day for J & I was chasing the barn cat. They loved it!!! Here are some pic's:

My sick little girl

Well, this has been a really hard week. Isabel was sick and we got what seemed like no sleep for 3 days. Monday night she had a fever so I took her to the Dr on Tuesday. He said that she had a virus and it would probably last 3-5 days. Her ears and throat looked good she just had a fever. She did vomit 3 or 4 times. The first time she was sitting in her highchair. I had my back to her and I heard her say "Uh Oh". I turned to see and the poor little thing had gotten sick all over the place. She is even adorable when she feels awful :) No fever for the last 24hrs so I'm hoping tonight will involve sleep for all of us. My wonderful boss sent me home today to sleep and I feel like myself again. I has to sneak in the house so the kid's wouldn't see me and I stayed in the bed for 4 glorious hours. I needed it!!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Jackson doesn't come down with it tomorrow. I'm hoping for a beautiful week-end.

Our first family photos

This was taken at the orphanage just minutes after we first held our children in our arms. The date was April 16, 2007.

The next was taken at our G&R (Giving and Receiving Ceremony) just an hour or so later.

First post!!!

I have finally done it. I've been bloging in my head for the past 6 months or so but now I can actually share my thoughts and keep everyone updated on how my incredible kids are doing. We had such amazing support through our international adoption journey and I want to thank you all. I think I'm going to try and, as briefly as possible, recap the last 11 months to bring everybody up to date. I also don't want to forget one moment with these babies!! The journey to Isabel & Jackson was a long one but the best experience of my life. I want to thank our local agency, Villa Hope, and our international agency, World Child. Thank you for helping us bring our children home!!!