More portraits!

Although not professional ones, these pictures are more recent!  My friend, Annie, bought this adorable dress for Cadence so I had to get some cute shots of her wearing it.  These last few months Cadence either does her "cheesy" smile or gets this faraway, vacant look in her eyes and refuses to look at the camera. Slightly frustrating when I'm trying to get "the" shot.  I guess I have to take what I can get!

She found something interesting to dig

Yep, the "cheese" smile!

This was an outfit from a frou-frou children's clothing store that a friend gave to Sierra when she was born.  I love it, but knowing how expensive it was, Sierra wore it once in public (to her daddy's nursing graduation) and then only for pictures.  This is why I don't buy expensive clothes for the kids!

Cue the "faraway" look

Jeez momarrazzi... can you stop already?!

A few shots with our "first child", Shiloh

This shot, though, this was worth it!

A month of Thanksgiving (all at once!)

I found out about an event called "Thanksq" on Facebook.  It stood for Thanks squared  and you were supposed to use your Instagram or Retrocam on your phone and post a picture about what you were thankful for during the month of November.  I have been excited to use the new app on my phone so it was a lot of fun!  Here they are in no particular order or degree of thankfulness!

Thankful for trees that look like they are on fire

I'm thankful for my job.  I'm amazed and humbled everyday by these kids who have made me believe in miracles. 

Thankful for beautiful moon rises

Thankful for my girl who is growing up and expressing herself

Thankful for a little girl who saves the last piece of candy for her daddy

Thankful for awesome people in my life like my hair dresser who "cuts" Cadence's hair every time we are there, just because Cadence asks!

Thankful for darling daughters daintily drinking tea

Thankful for dry, warm boots that are cute to boot

Thankful for children who delight in the small things (like winding the vacuum cord)

Thankful for my first moderately successful attempt at fondant

Thankful for spontaneous and rare alone time with my girl

Thankful for an amazing speech therapist who does whatever it takes to bring words to my girl

Thankful for early sunsets, longs shadows, and games of shadow tag til you're breathless

Thankful for birthday celebrations and Chandler's cake

Thankful for 3 of the biggest blessing in my life.  I'm one very lucky mama!

Thankful to see maternal instinct in this girl who had no mama for the first 16 months of her life

Thankful for little girls who still want to be little (despite idolizing their big sister)

Thankful for trips down memory lane

Thankful for my husband who works tirelessly for our family but can still be a kid at heart

Thankful for big holes that will create lots of fun & memories for years to come

Thankful for LAF. It's her initials... and it's what I do all of the time I'm with her!

May 14, 2010

After some technical difficulties I am finally able to post pictures of Cadence! I think she is absolutely adorable!! I think these were probably taken around the time of her medical exam and milestones exam - when she was about 5 months old. She looks very healthy!

I am trying to get together a care package to send to her orphanage. Everything has to fit into a shoebox, so I need to be selective. I found some adorable material today and decided to try and make a small lovey to send and then keep the rest of the material to make a larger blanket for when she comes home. Even though I had the expertise of my dear friend Kristi to help me sew it, it didn't work out quite so well! I'm now determined that this has to go in her care package, so I'll get it done somehow!

I have been worried about our fingerprints. Like I had said, Brad had a blister on his thumb and I wasn't sure if his would "pass". I found out that sometimes the prints are "passed" in the office and later "failed" by the FBI. A fellow adopting parent has their fingerprints redone a few days after ours and her approval is already in the mail. So, I emailed USCIS today to see if I can find out the status of our application. Keep fingers crossed for us! If these prints don't work out we don't know when Brad will be able to get back to the office to redo them.

As I try and process all that I need to do for the adoption and getting ready to bring Cadence home, life continues to go on as usual. Today Laurel graduated from preschool! I have been having a really hard time with her growing up. Her 5th birthday in November reduced me to tears! Her tooth was loose in February and I told her I didn't want her to lose her teeth and get adult teeth and grow up. She gave me a hug and said "I know you have a hard time with this, Mommy." She's right! I was teary eyed at her graduation, but knowing that I'll soon have a little one at home eases the growing pains. I wasn't ready to have all my kids out of the house, 5 days a week for 8 hours a day! With Cadence's arrival we'll hear the pitter patter of little feet all through the day... and probably wish for a nap now and then!