Last Days of Summer....

WOW!  It is absolutely insane how fast a couple of months can fly by.  Summer has sadly come to an end and the kiddos are back in school.  Logan started 4th grade this year and Mia is in her last year of pre-school.  Next year she will be in Kindergarten.  I am very grateful for Mia having another year in pre-school before heading off to the "real deal".  Mia has Logan's favorite pre-school teacher ever this year.  Her name is Ms. Kyleen.  We love, love, love her.  Mia does too.  On Friday they get a homework folder sent home.  Mia cannot wait to jump into it.  Mia loves to count.  She loves to sing her ABC's.  She really loves to color and tell me the shapes of everything.  She also LOVES to find matching things.  She seems to be enamored with things that match.  She is always pointing out things like we (Mike, Logan, Mia and I) all have on shoes on (meaning not flip flops) or that her and I match because we both have on dresses and Mike and Logan match because they both have on pants.  She points things like that out to us all day long.  While Mia has her numbers down pat, letter recognition and writing is something that is going to be a main focus this year.  I realize she is a bit behind the curve compared to the other kids her age however given she just learned a whole new language this year, I am honestly not even slightly concerned.

Mia has completely forgotten speaking Mandarin.  In fact, she tells me that she never used different words for things.  I am simply amazed how quickly she forgot- and a bit sad too.  I can still remember her going on and on in Mandarin when we first got her and not having a clue what she was saying but just loving to listen to the words.  I also LOVED listening to her sing songs in Mandarin.  Anyway...after reading lots of other blogs from other people who adopted from China and realizing that almost all of them had their kids in speech therapy I asked her teachers at school what they thought about her going to speech therapy.  They said that she absolutely did not need speech therapy and that she has picked up the language incredibly quickly.  WHOOOOOOOO!  :)

Mia started dance this month.  OH MY GOODNESS!  It is her "thing" for sure!  It almost makes me cry how beautiful and happy she looks in class.  She is razor focused and you can tell it is very important to her to get the moves she is being taught just right.  She is so long and lean and it seems like she was simply born to dance.  It will be interesting to see where she goes with it.

Food is SOOOO much easier with Mia.  She is trying more and more foods and FINALLY starting to like them.  We have found out she likes beef jerky, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, pop tarts - however we have to call them princess cakes, cereal (we just added milk this week) and many other things.  I still think she would prefer to eat bread with ketchup or should I say ketchup with a little bit of bread for every meal however she knows the answer will be no.  She also still loves most fruits.  Veggies are a bit more of a challenge but she likes edamame and salad with ginger dressing.  Regardless, I am happy that eating is getting easier!

Logan and Mia are FINALLY starting to act a bit more like brother and sister.  :)  You know, all the silly stuff like, why does Logan get to go first?  Why did Mia get to get "x" and I didn't?  Occasionally annoying one another etc.  I do have to say that honestly, compared to my brother and I (when we were little) they still get along WONDERFULLY.  Every night I get asked if it is a school night or a family night because they want a slumber party.  Mia also HAS to give Logan a hug and kiss each morning before he leaves for school.  It is very sweet.

Mia still talks about going to China (which she calls "my China") and wanting to see "China Mama" again but that she wants us to go and she wants to stay for 5 minutes and then come home to America with us.  She is very specific about only going for 5 minutes and then coming home to America.  Every once in a while she still talks about her friend Jahn Jahn (the little girl in the crib next to Mia's in China) and says she misses her.  We talk about Jahn Jahn's new family and that she lives in America now too and Mia seems to like that.

Mia's 5th birthday is next month.  She is VERY excited about it and has picked out the theme, her dress, told us where she wants her party, and what presents she hopes to get.  SOOOOOO stinking cute.  Oh, and when Logan does something sweet for her she says "Thank you Logan, you can come to my birthday party".  Oh my....  :)  On another note, it is crazy for me to think about her being in China last year for her birthday and that I was completely stressing out about what to send her.  It feels like she has been a part of our family forever.

Mia's interests continue to be dancing, Barbies, playing with her babies, having tea parties with her babies and stuffed animals as well as dressing up in anything and everything princess!  She also loves to color and do puzzles.  I must admit I love to watch (and listen to) her play.  It is very sweet.  She is so gentle and just sings and sings and sings.  I love to see her sweet happy soul and feel so blessed that God chose me to share her life with.

We are quickly approaching our year anniversary with Mia.  I always knew God had called us to adopt.  I had no idea the road would be so long, have so many twists and turns and yet be so incredibly rewarding in the end.  I thank God for my family and look forward to where he plans to take us in the future.

Until next time please enjoy some recent photos and a video of Logan and his friend.

God bless!

Logan and Mia in front of Qui's for our celebration of her referral

Logan helping Mia.  He is such a great big brother

Mia LOVES ice pops.  She also loves her princess dresses.  She calls this one
her Sleeping Beauty dress.  I swear she would wear these dresses day and
night if I would let her (which I do - A LOT).

OH MY!  Okay, so this one is funny.  This is what I woke up to one morning.
Mia usually gets the fashion thing right but this time.....WHOA!  :)

Celebrating my 37th Birthday

Love my family!

On a pony at the zoo thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Richmond

Loves her grandpa....She is ALWAYS talking him into carrying her everywhere.  :)

My little "sleeping beauty"

Just before bed at the hotel....

....in bed at the hotel

My job at the warrior dash this year.  I was supposed to run it with Mike but hurt my back.  I was
SOOOOOOO bummed - still am.  :(  I am doing it next year FOR SURE!

Me and my goofballs

Mike and I right before he ran the Warrior Dash

Logan and his friend Dante at the Big Time Rush concert.  Below is Logan and Dante making suicides.  

Mia and her panda from China

Mia is always telling me her panda is sad because of the way his mouth is shaped.
Here she is showing me how sad he is.  

My tough little warriors

Another company advertising for their extreme dash - beach theme gave them these pineapple hats.  OH MY!  

My two cute boys and my little beauty

Showing off her new dress.  It is really my tank top!  :)

Logan and Mia

Mike running through fire....

....and crawling through mud

Just finished the warrior dash!  So proud...and jealous of him!  :)

Mia holding hands with Grandma and Grandpa

Our smiley little princess all ready to go on another road trip!

....and she's out.  I guess the mani - pedi was just too much for her.  :)

First day of pre-school (this year)!

Eating corn on the cob thanks to Grandma and Grandpa!

My goofball getting ready for a swim

Always happy to strike a pose for the camera

....and they are out....again!

Playing tea party with her stuffed animals and babies

Sweet, sleepy little angel.  She sleeps like this a lot.  So sweet and cute

Summer Time!

This month has been nothing short of a whirlwind!  We have done so much.  So many summer activities.  Swimming, playing with friends, concerts, road trips, rock climbing walls, sleep overs at the grandparents, fireworks.  You name it and we have done it!  :)

Mia is LOVING to dress up all day.  From the minute she walks in the door, she begs to put on a "princess dress" and her "dancing shoes".  She is ALL girl when it comes to dressing up.  Once she is all dressed up it is on to playing with her barbies.  She cannot get enough of her Barbies.  It cracks me up (especially since I was so disenchanted with my Barbies that I gave them away when I was little).  Anyway, it gives my soul much joy to see all her girly things around the house.

On July 15th we celebrated a very special day.  It was the year anniversary since getting Mia's referral and meeting our sweet girl on paper and getting to see her face in pictures for the first time.  When I look at these pictures I do not even see the little girl who captured my heart.  In the first picture (which is called her take in photo and most likely taken hours after she was found) I see a very scared, sad, and stoic face.  This is so much different than the joy and zest for life I see when I look in her eyes today.  On the next 3 it does not even look like Mia!  She has so many layers of clothing on she almost looks chubby and even her face does not look like Mia to me.  We will blame it on the poor quality of the photos.  :)

Food is getting a bit easier with Mia.  She seems to be trying more things and liking a bit more.  That said, I would still classify her as a VERY picky eater.  This is something I will continue to have to work on patience with.  

Logan and Mia are definitely settling into the role of brother and sister.  They still get along WONDERFULLY and we are really lucky that they both love each other so much.  That said, we have discovered that sweet Mia has a very big competitive streak and so does Logan.  This has proven to be a bit of a challenge.  Everything is a competition and it can be REALLY annoying!  Mia has also started to tattle on Logan.  Of course Logan is not a huge fan of this especially when he really is not doing anything wrong.  I have heard this is just girls but I have really worked hard to nip this one in the bud.  I have let both of them know they MUST work things out on their own unless there is blood involved (and if they kept it up) mama will be VERY GROUCHY and nothing ends well when mama is grouchy!  :)  It seems to be working so CROSS YOUR FINGERS!  Every night they ask to have a slumber party in each others rooms.  It is very cute.  They both have great beds however they choose to sleep on the floor on a sleeping bag so they can sleep next to one another.  I dread when school starts again and I have to break up the party but there are always weekends.  :)


This month Mia got to see her first fireworks.  She liked them and told us that she wishes she were in them.  Hmmmmm.....  We explained to her it would be hot and ouchy but she did not care.  She wanted to go up in the sky and poof!  Um...okay!  :)


We also went to one of Mike and my favorite places, the climbing gym in Indy.  The name is Climb Time if you are interested.  Mia did pretty good for her first time.  She was a bit scared a couple of times but she kept wanting to try again so we are proud.  Logan did great!  It started out shaky and I know I sounded like a crazy mom when he was SCREAMING to let him down and that the rope was going to break and I kept telling him to dig deep and it was all mind over matter and to get up the wall.  After several tries of psyching himself out he totally got up the wall and felt amazing about himself.  That was it, Logan is now officially hooked just like Mike and I!  :)


We also took the kids to their first official concert in Indy.  It was Florence and the Machine.  First of all, if you have not heard of this band, you need to stop reading my blog and go check them out immediately.  Here is a link where you can listen/check them out /buy them on Amazon.  http://www.amazon.com/Lungs-Florence-Machine/dp/B001PB3RU8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1310851615&sr=8-6    Anyway, they are AMAZING!  The way she floated around the stage like a little fairy and her voice - OMG and SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!   Her voice was more incredible in concert than on her CD's - which is saying A LOT.  I was already a true fan but I am now a forever fan for life!  Mia kept calling her Belle (yes Disney Belle) because she had this AMAZING yellow flowing dress on.  That and her singing....makes sense to me, not to mention she is stunningly beautiful!  :)  So needless to say, the concert was wonderful.  Mia and I danced and she did my hair in different hair styles over and over until she finally fell asleep.  Logan barely left Mike but danced and rocked out with the best of them.  It was super fun to see him enjoy it so much.  He is growing up so fast.  


This life is truly a journey.  It is not always easy, comfortable or perfect but in the end, I welcome the journey and all that God has in store for me and my family.


Until next time....God Bless!

One of her forth of july outfits!  Thanks Grandma Krisher.  

Playing dress up as Captain Hook at our neighbors house.  Notice the pink
high heels.  Hook meets princess.  Priceless!  :)

Always ready for a pose and wanting her picture taken.  :)

Mia was done swimming and wanted to get dressed but could not help but get
back in the pool.  She did not want to get her dress wet so we tucked it into her
lollies.  Super cute!  :)

On the way to Indy for the weekend!

Logan ready for the trip!

My cute view!

And....she is out!  :)

Chillin....

Standing at the window in our hotel.  We had a great view of the city!  

Daddy helping his little princess climb the wall!

Just doing it!  :)

Dad and his two little cuties

Yep!  I love, love, love to climb!  :)

Again, my cute climbing view....  :)

SOOOOOOOOOO Proud of this boy!  LOVE HIM!

A much better climber than me.  

Me and my little loves!

At the Florence and the Machine Concert

Handsome Boys

Yep, she is out again......

New friends!

Me at one of our fav places in Indy.  A Spanish restaurant called Barcelona.  Do not
be fooled, that is wine in the glass.  It just LOOKS like a beer.  Sorry.  :)

Grandpa and some cherry pie - at Logan's baseball game.  Talk about
all American summers!  :)

Proud of her brother!  She was SOOOO good during all his games!  :)

Helping mama make cinnamon rolls!