Bragging Rights

I've waited for a long, long time to have children to brag on and this is my blog, so here we go! Consider yourself warned!  : )
Little Miss Flora Lin is a puzzle master!  Since she's been home I've been amazed by her ability and quickness at putting them together.   It gives me a lot of encouragement in the harder times as it shows me there's quite a brain up there!
This morning she put this one together, 95% by herself (I took the G out of the Q spot).

This puzzle has a lot of pieces.   Some will fit in the wrong place, most don't fit perfectly in the right place and they fall out easily.

But she did it!   Quickly and easily!

I asked/signed to her if I could take her picture.   She nodded and posed like this:

And this:

Aaaand this (yes-totally her own doing!):

And a little eye rolling thrown in since she's 2 going on 16:

She did another puzzle soon after and signed for me to take her picture when she finshed:

And then she posed!

And posed again (with her leg up - crazy girl!):

She's something, isn't she? !   Made me proud and made me laugh!   :)

Rainy Days on the Farm

We've had A LOT of rain over the past few days, which has meant that the girls and I can't have our usual time to play outside in the morning and evening each day.  It makes us all a little stir crazy!  Luckily, the girls just recieved some rain boots from their MeMe and Grandpa and we were able to test them out when the rain stopped!!!

"Um... Mama, can you please take the tags off now?  We're ready to go!"

When it rains in the winter here that usually means we have warm air coming up or cold air coming down.  This time, we had warm air, so it was a nice break from the cold!  

I was supposed to be making a grocery list and preparing to go shopping, but I had to stop and have some fun with the girls!  So, in my Leaving-the-House clothes, I pulled on my own boots and got C and FL ready for an adventure!  It was one of those spur of the moment times that I am thankful for.

I wasn't sure if either of them had ever played in puddles or gotten muddy (in fact, I'm pretty sure neither had - they are both neat, clean and particilar), but it was TIME!  

They were a little unsure at first, and had to learn to walk in rain boots!  They did really well - I thought someone would topple over inthe first 30 seconds, but they did fine!

"So, you're saying you WANT us to get wet and muddy, Mama?!"

"You really want us to jump up and down and splash?!  For real?!"

The picture says it all! : )

They were doing some silly exercises of some kind here.  

(A side note, I really, really like these shirts they had on, but this may be the last time they wear them - they've grown or the shirts keep shrinking!  I'm glad I got some pictures in them.  Kids grow FAST - wear the cute clothes and don't worry about the mess!)

Papa walked them through this BIG puddle since it was near the electric fence (no casualties, yet, y'all.  I think I've pointed to it and said "HOT" and "OUCH" and "NO" a miliion times!!).

They so enjoyed going through it again and again, as you can see!

They also love spending time with their Papa!

Mama was in on the fun, too, believe me!  I have always been a huge fan of mud and puddles!  I was either taking pictures or having fun! 

There were a few falls and mishaps on our adventure, but that was one of my goals.  I wanted to show them that it is OK sometimes to get dirty and fall in puddles.  In fact, it can be fun!

We took a break from puddle jumping and went fishing under the deck - Flora Lin caught a leaf!  She was thrilled!!!

Charlotte was not about to be outdone by her sister, so she tenaciously tried to get a leaf on her stick for about one minute. : )

...and then gave up and went back to being her cute, prissy self!

I showed them the water in their playhouse and told them to put their hands in it.  FL was a little disturbed by the outcome and my suggestion...

...but in the end thought it was a pretty cool idea!  

(Pictured are their little buckets that we use for everything and take everywhere!  Also pictured is the little playhouse that some friends handed down to us - thank you, R family!)

"Charlotte, our Mama is a little crazy and makes us eat lima beans sometimes, but she does have some really fun ideas!!!"

C learned to set her "prissy" to the side and dig for some rocks! (and thank you for overlooking the weeds and clutter on our deck!!!)

Don't they look like they've been country girls their whole lives?  They just fit right in here!

I think these two little girls are having a great time being Southern Alabama Mudbug Belles!  You can wear a bow AND have fun in the mud and rain, too!!!!  : )

It was a fantastic morning, even if I was really late (and a little muddy) running my errands!  Time well spent!

I love discovering life all over again with you, Lin Lin and Lottie Pie!!!!!

Our First Christmas

First off, let me say that we wish you all could have been here as much as you wanted to be here, but we so appreciate you respecting where our girls are right now in their attachment and how they are handling all of the new things and BIG change that has taken place in their lives (and ours, too!).  That being said, I will warn you that there are a lot of pictures ahead!

Our morning followed the routine, with a few new and special foods for the day and "present opening" for our morning activity.  When we stick to our schedule, that sets up our girls for success for the day!  They don't have to worry about what surprise might be around the corner and whether or not they can handle it emotionally.  Routine is safety for them right now, and it gives them a sense of "control" over their day.  In their lives, they have been feeling overwhelmed and out of control for nearly two months since they met us, so predictability and stability are their security blankets.  Please know that we MISSED all of you and our traditions SO MUCH today.  You have been on our minds and in our thoughts constantly!  However, this Christmas Day has been so special, as God has already given us two of the most wonderful gifts we could ever hope to recieve! : )  I've had some presents wrapped up for them for nearly two years, and they got to open them today - it has been really, REALLY special!

Ok, on to the pictures!  Warning - there are a lot! : )

We satrted off the day getting special hair-do's as a way to pass the time while Papa made a special breakfast (an Adams Family tradition!)

Charlotte's Miao haircut is finally growing out into bangs!

This little cutie doesn't have much hair for a topknot, but we got some Cindy Lou Who pigtails out of it! : )  (neither hair do lasted very long, BTW, but we had fun and some laughs!)

After breakfast, we got dressed and took some pictures together.  The girls love to dress up and they are growing out of everything, so I let them wear these Spring dresses I bought when Charlotte's file was released to us last April.  Kind of special to me! : )  I had forgotten until I put them on!

Yes, we dressed up nice with no place to go, but believe me I did not put on makeup!

Papa's girl!

Mama's sidekick 

 

Ok, ok, ok, I know you want to see them open presents! : )

Flora Lin and Charlotte's first presents:

Two little shirts!  They are about to grow out of these already, as I bought them before I ever met the girls!  C's has stars on it and a little girl, neat because she loves the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," but I didn't know that at the time.  FL's has a fox, which is also neat because she likes to sign "fox" whenever she sees a picture of one and is particularly proud of that sign. : )

"Thank you, Mama and Papa, we really like them!"

A side note about our bows here, because I know all you northerners are wondering how they can even hold their heads up!  We've been talking a lot about BIG vs little these days, and compared all of the bows that they have.  Today, C announced that she wanted the "BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG BOW!!!!!!" and even after a word of caution about whiplash, etc. she was still insistent and FL backed up her decision.  So there you have it.  They are full Southern Belles! : )  No talking them out of it!

C had to help FL open hers, and C loves to do anything that makes her feel like the girl that is just "in the know."  She took charge, but that was the last time FL let that happen! ; )

"Yay, more puzzles!  And on sale, too!" 

C  LOVED being the one to find and pass out the presents.  FL loved having them delivered to her! : )

I told you there were a lot of pictures! : )  

They recieved five presents each today, four from us and one from our pastor and his wife.  We kept them fairly simple, as everything in our house is practically a new toy, and, truthfully, we have everything we need!  We left out one new toy each for the girls for today and will rotate the others in and out since that's what we do with everything else to keep it from being overwhelming and overstimulating.  They didn't mind at all. : ) I think I even heard a "Fank you! (thank you)" from C!

So that was our Christmas morning.  After a little while, the girls played outside and we ate a fantastic spaghetti lunch, and the sweet ones are now down for a nap and here I am talking to you.  : )  Hope your day has been as beautifully simple and quietly joyful as ours has!

Here's a few pictures of what Sam and I got for Christmas!

All thanks be to God!!!!

Carrying around those big, beautiful bows on your head will just plum wear you out!!!!  ; )

Merry Christmas, again and again!  And thank you, to all of you who have been such a big part of this special journey!  We've been giving thanks for you, too!