holiday cheer

It's been busy busy around here the last week. We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids got loads and load and loads of goodies. Where will we keep all of this stuff?  No idea. This year was really special for the obvious reasons. But also it stands out from years past because we weren't traveling from London and didn't have to deal with the many suitcases, the jetlag or the burden of trying to squeeze in time with our families in one trip. It's been really special to have this time home and to have quality visits with the ones we love.  

Here are some highlights of what we've been up to and what is new ...

• We had our first post-placement visit with our social worker. We are required to have 3 visits over 6 months. The visit was great. Ruby was a star and we will have our next visits in February and May.
• Ruby is sleeping SO great in her crib now. We are at the point where we can lay her down while she is still awake and she doesn't fuss or cry. She babbles and rolls around a bit before falling asleep. She is also *usually* happy when she wakes up - more babbling and playing. Did I mention that she slept until 9am today?? LOVE her!!
• Ruby has switched to the sippy cup without any issue. I don't even think she noticed it at all, though when you are desperately signing "milk" and grunting you'd probably take it anyway you can get it! We used the born free bottles and are now using their sippy. It's a soft spout and I think that has helped with the transition. So far so good. We are giving her the cup before her naps and at bedtime. She has a different sippy with water. That one has a harder spout and she chugs that throughout the day.
• Kaneu is growing into a big boy!! He is picking out his own clothes and getting dressed completely on his own. Wow. He is pretty impressed with himself and I am too.
• My brother's wife had a baby and we now have a new little member of our family - Nevin Cooper! 

Here are pictures of our holidays ...

decorating cookies for santa

fun at the children's museum

decorating cookies with cousin jordan

christmas eve service

christmas morning

kaneu loves his new duplo set

the kids BOTH received guitars ... santa, i think you forgot my earplugs!

gg, meme and grammy sue with the grandkids

cousins in da tub!

silly boy

baby girl is not happy in this picture, but look how cute the dress is!

(and it's reversible!!)

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!! Any fun plans for NYE??

merry merry!!

road trip

We took a little road trip to Blacksburg this weekend. Brian has been *itching* to go somewhere and so we decided to head to our alma mater since it's a short drive (3 hrs) and we have friends there we've been wanting to see. Plus, it's where we met and so it's like taking a walk down memory lane whenever we go back. It was a short trip but a lot of fun!!

it's never too early to share!

on the road

It is saddening beyond words to see this memorial. So many happy and wonderful memories here, and then to think that something so horrific and terrifying occurred at the very same place.  As we walked around campus I could not think about anything else but what happened on April 16. It's consuming, and so very heartbreaking.

On a happier note - we had our first Wii* experience and I am hoping Santa has an extra for us. I think I would really *love* guitar hero. A girl can wish, right?

week 4

shopping is fun!

and exhausting!

Wow. Four weeks of being a family of 4. Everyday we fall more and more in love with our baby girl. I hope and pray that she is growing her love for us too. She seems to really like us so I don't have big concerns. I am a worrywart sometimes though. One thing is for certain. She absolutely LOVES Kaneu. She giggles at him with such delight and has started mimicing him. It is sweet.

Here is a brief update our our little lady -

Talking
She babbles a lot. She talks and talks and talks. She is saying "mama" and "dada" and trying to say "bye bye". She waves bye and blows kisses and is signing "all done" and "milk".

Eating
Our girl really loves to eat and will eat just about anything anytime. She really loves yo*baby yogurt and bananas. When she sees the yo*baby container she gets really excited. She now eats just about everything that we eat - as long as we can cut it up into small, bite size pieces. She has switched from formula to cow's milk without any problems. She drinks about 16 ounces a day. Our doc would like for us to decrease the amount and to switch to a sippy cup. We're not really in a rush to move her off of the bottle, though it does seem like the ONE thing our doc is firm on. So, with that said I wonder if and how we should plan to make the switch. I don't think that will be a fun few days but we should probably do it sooner while Brian is still on his paternity leave.

Sleeping
She has been sleeping really great. Most nights she sleeps through and will wake up anywhere from 6:30 to 8am. It has been SO nice to have a full night's sleep. She still takes two naps though Brian thinks that she'll soon drop her am nap. Her morning nap is random and is sometimes only 20 or 30 minutes long. The afternoon nap is longer - from one to two hours. This evening she was a real bear to put to bed. She was not at all interested in going to sleep. She was showing all signs of being sleepy - rubbing her eyes and even dozing off but she would not allow herself to fully drift off. She got really upset and it's unlike her to be so resistant. Not really sure what that was about but it was tough. She eventually fell asleep around 9:30. We haven't really strived for a bedtime routine but realized and decided tonight that we really need to do that. When Kaneu was a baby we were really consistent with his bedtime rituals. It's difficult with two kids though and so we have some figuring out to do.

Miss Mischief

I've mentioned before that she loves the bath. She really loves anything to do with water. It seems Ruby is fascinated with the toilet. On more than one occasion she has been up to her elbows in the toilet bowl. Gross-me-out-the-door. We'll soon be purchasing the lid locks so that she can't get in. She also loves the steps and as soon as she sees someone approaching the gate that blocks off the kitchen/family room from the dining room/stairs she makes a beeline to sneak through. She is SO fast.  The funny thing is that she knows she's being sneaky because she has a big grin on her face and once she approaches the stairs she looks back to see if anyone is watching. This one is keeping us on our toes!

Well there's tons more to write about but it's late. Here are some photos I just uploaded from my phone. Enjoy!!

kaneu and simon at their awana concert/party

little miss mischief

first visit to the dr

p.s. This is kinda embarassing ... but Is anyone watching Mama's*Boys? I think I'm hooked.

party time

Over the weekend we had a little 'birthday party for Jesus'. It was sweet and the kids had tons of fun. The kids all brought school supplies that will be donated to an inner-city non-profit organization. They made star Christmas ornaments and decorated crowns that they proudly wore. We had a birthday cake and Diana read a really sweet story. It was a great way to remind the little ones of why we celebrate Christmas. 

story time

the donations!

yesterday ...

It was 72 degrees. And sunny! A little scary given that it's December, but I am not complaining. It was beautiful and we had a great time at the park - picnic and all!! Of course today it's cold and rainy and back to *normal*, but ahhh, yesterday ....

this is my favorite

ruby devouring her korean snacks (we call them "bugles" here in the ol' usa)

dear santa, please bring me botox for christmas (i wish i was kidding)

the guys feeding the koi