This post brought to you by the letters "Q" & "T"!

Cousins and friends...

What a pair of cuties!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Here are some pics of recent going on's around the household! I hope for next post I can show you all their Christmas pictures-they turned out wonderful!
Caught eating chocolate chips while baking cookies-that's flour on her face

Getting the tree ready

This was crawling on our carpet while we were decorating the tree....Hmmmm......

Big brother helping little sis put "bobs" on the tree. This is a family joke-"A" man calls the balls-"Christmas bobs" and it's just too cute to hear him say it that we don't correct him yet

Ta-da! It's a Steelers ornament

The finished product

Taking her first train ride at the mall with her brothers and LOVING it!

The view outside our living room windows-lotsa pretty white stuff

Mixing the flour

Caught with her hand in the chocolate chips bag-again!

And again!

Wow, is it cold here in PA! We've also gotten alot of snow the past couple of days. Of course, the boys were raring to go sledding. I had to buy Chloe snow bibs and boots, so we are waiting a couple of days until it warms out so she can go sled riding! She is SUPER into singing and dancing-her favorite tune these days is "Jingle Bells" I hope to capture her on video one of these days and post it. I'm talking about full-fledged Broadway singing and dancing-it's hilarious!

She's also taken a HUGE liking to Dora and Diego-she could care less about Ni Hao Kai Lan these days...she loved helping decorate the tree and putting up the decorations.

We have been super busy here-hence the lag in posting! We have been remodeling our dining room, been doing some Christmas shopping, had Christmas pictures taken, did some more Christmas shopping, put up the tree, baked cookies, ugh, I could go on and on!

One year ago today...

we saw this sweet, sweet face for the first time on our computer screen! I can't believe it's been a year already that we first saw our beautiful daughter...she looks like she's grown so much in only a year...to think we traveled around the world to China, the countless plane rides, the hotels, the enormous amount of paperwork...to think how far we've come in the past year....amazing....

AAAHHHH...

Gymboree....you had me (and my credit card) at hello.....

Fall Family photos

Loved this pic even though I then realized "A" was clutching a Nerf ball in his hands

My kiddos

Ok, so "A" has the goofiest smile sometimes ;), not fake or anything...

Love me some black and white photos

Even though it was 70 degrees outside, we forgot how cold the water was, as the expression on Chloe's face





So, it's no secret that I love to take pictures, and that's why I am such an avid scrapbooker. I took charge of our BEAUTIFUL, WARM Sunday afternoon, rallied the troops and told them we were headed outside for some pictures. It wasn't the easiest of tasks, but we manages to get a few that are able to be developed...

For my daughter....

Many of you in the adoption world have heard of the book "Motherbridge of Love". This is one of my all time favorite adoption books, and I wanted to share this special poem to those who might not have heard it. I came across the book while cleaning Chloe's room the other day...



Once there were two women who never knew each other
One you do not know, the other you call mother.

Two different lives shaped to make you one,
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first one gave you life, the second taught you to live it
The first one gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it.

One gave you a body, the other taught you games,
One gave you a talent, the other taught you aims.

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.

One found a home for you, that she could not provide
The other prayed for a child, her hope was not denied.

And now you ask, of course you do, the question others ask me too,

This place or your birth place-which are you a daughter of?
Both of them, my darling-and two different kinds of love.