Happy, Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

On January 15, 2011
  This proud mama sat in a church sanctuary
watching her baby boy get married
with tears streaming down her face.
Across the country, at the very same time,
a baby girl was born.

A few months later,
the paths of those two families crossed 
in a way neither of them would have ever imagined.
A child who was born to one family
was destined to belong to the other. 

As I hold  this precious child
looking into her almond-shaped
violet-blue eyes, button nose
and perfectly shaped mouth
I realize I will have a hard time
doing her story justice.

Most of the story will never be shared publicly.
It is too private. Too sacred.
And it shall remain in that private, sacred space.
The rest of the story will be shared
after the adoption is final.

On January 15, 2012
We celebrated that beloved girl.

that joined our family when she was just a peanut.

Instantly adored, especially by her closest big sister.

The feeling was mutual.

Looking back, it's hard to believe the story is true.

That she was born the same day Justin and Maggie were married.

While the ceremony was taking place.

That little peanut?
Oh, how she has changed!

She is completely mobile now.
Crawling all over the place.  

Transitioning from crawling to sitting with ease. 

The girl that wants to be in the middle of everything.   

And lets you know if she is feeling the slightest bit left out.

The little girl who refuses baby food.  

She wants to eat what everyone else is eating.  

And don't try to fool her. 

She's not having it.

The little girl who is loved beyond measure.

And she knows it.

The little girl who has more spunk at the age of one 

than a lot of people have their entire life.

The little girl that loves to laugh.

And can cry on demand. 

Then she'll turn it off when she gets what she wants.

(Little actress.)

We celebrated her birthday

surrounded by some family
and new friends.

Ladybug style

poor little peanut, she hated this headband

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday Dear Lexi,
Happy Birthday to You!

She was not interested in
blowing out her candle.
Thankfully her sister
was all in.

She loved her cupcake!

Lila loved the cupcakes too!
She ate her entire cupcake like this:

Love her

Lexi had lots of help
opening her presents.

By the end of the night she was so sleepy
we could barely get a smile out of her

Lexi, we celebrate you.We celebrate who you are

and who you will become.

We are proud of your accomplishments

and know that you will continue

to blow us away

We love you to the moon and back.

Blessed Beyond Belief~

Linda

Sick Bay

I'm checking in from Sick Bay.  Tif had a stomach virus earlier this week and she still hasn't fully recovered.  Last night Lila started vomiting around 10:30pm.  Poor little thing.   She freaks out so badly- she doesn't want to get sick so she tries to stop it and ends up choking.  It's pretty scary.

Nick and I both ended up sleeping in her room with Tiffani right outside the door.   Thankfully she stopped vomiting about 6:30 this morning.  She was very weak today but seems to be much better this evening. 

We had lots of down time today.

Thankfully, Miss "I-have-an-immune-system-made-of-steel" is still doing well. 

"Who, me?"

One of her birthday gifts was an inflatable ball pit.  As she is crawling all over the place and getting into everything, I thought we could use it as entertainment/containment.  It worked!  For about 2 days. 

Then this happened:

 

She is one determined little girl.  It's amazing.  She never gives up, she just keeps trying.  After she succeeds, she gets so tickled.  It's adorable.

 

 

In the midst of it all we are still looking for a place to live.  It turns out the temporary house we are living in isn't in the school district we had chosen for Lila like we thought it was.  We found out that we are on the wrong side of the road that divides the districts.  Literally.  Less than half mile from the dividing line.

I cried. 

We thought it would be relatively easy to find another place in the district we originally chose but it hasn't exactly worked that way.  We'll keep looking and the right house will open up.   All in all, we are doing well.   Even though things have been a bit challenging we have no doubt that we are exactly where we are supposed to be. 

The scenery doesn't hurt at all.

photo courtesy of my niece Jaralei

I was working on Lexi's birthday post last night when Lila got sick.  I hope to finish it tomorrow evening.

Happy Weekend Everyone~

Linda

Wordless Wednesday

Preview of the sleepy birthday girl- post coming soon!

Hugs~

Linda

At least Santa looks good!

Here are a couple of photos from our Down Syndrome Holiday Party in Virginia.  (And perhaps one of the many reasons we didn't send out Christmas cards this year.)

Exhibit A:  Lexi's famous "Look, ma- I don't have any teeth" face.

Exhibit B:   Lila's equally famous "I want to hurt the photographer" face.

 I hope to get cards out by February- at this rate they will probably be "new address" cards.  Or we might wait until March when the adoption is final and we can announce Miss Lexi as an "official" member of our family.  It feels like she already is.   But in March the waiting period will be over, papers will be signed and we will have much reason to celebrate!

I will update soon- we have been very busy getting settled.  It hasn't all been pleasant but it will all work out!

Much Love~

Linda

Thoughts rolling around in my head...

I'm trying to get better at updating my blog.  

(I have so much catching up to do!)  

For now, an update on things in Colorado.  

We are still settling in. 

Tif and Lexi are both sick right now- 

thankfully Tif is on the mend 

and hopefully Lexi will be soon.  

As far as we know 

it's the first time she's ever been sick 

and she's not taking it very well.   

She's very congested 

so sleep isn't really happening for her. 

Last night I tried to sleep 

sitting up in bed while holding her

so neither of us slept very well. 

Poor little thing. 

She's pitiful.

In other news,  

Lila had her first "dance cwass" this afternoon

She loved it.

After dinner she played

her own version of cornhole 

until bedtime.  

She rocked it.   

Proof positive 

that we probably need to get out more!

 

I love how she's playing by the rules we set up for her 

using Lexi's cabbage patch doll

  as the line she had to stand behind.

 

 

 I've never had the pleasure of living by the mountains before.  

I totally get it now. 

I seriously doubt this will ever get old.

Yesterday it was so beautiful outside we didn't even need jackets. 

Snow on the ground and all. 

It's a little weird but awesome at the same time.

 

Lexi has been busy

refusing to eat baby food

pulling herself up from her tummy into a sitting position 

and learning to crawl. 

 Lila's just trying to get out of her way

Absolutely no idea what's going on here but 

this picture cracks me up

All in all, things are good. 

We have a meeting tomorrow 

with the assistant director of special education

to decide Lila's school placement. 

It looks like she will be headed to kindergarten

instead of preschool.   

We will take things one day at a time 

and see how things go. 

Last but not least

a very happy birthday

to my  silly son. 

 

 

Justin, you have brought so much joy into my life.  

So much adventure.  

You always keep me on my toes. 

I love your beautiful heart and 

the love that you have for others.  

Happy 24th birthday!  I love you!

Hugs from beautiful Colorado~

Linda

Hello, Colorado!

We are on our second full day of living in Colorado and we are loving it!  OK, so  I admit that we are still in the honeymoon stage.  We currently have no school, no work, no therapy sessions, no early intervention.   Nothing.  That means we have been doing a whole lot of relaxing.  Just what the doctor ordered after the stress of moving.   ( A bit of free advice: don't move during the holidays.  It's really not a good idea.  Just my opinion.)

It is beautiful here, and that has helped soften the blow of adjusting to the huge difference in altitude-Ashburn, VA is 274 feet above sea level and Colorado Springs is 6,035 feet above sea level.   Not to mention that we changed from Eastern to Mountain time! 

The  Colorado sky is stunning at sunset.

We rang in the new year by watching the fireworks that were set off at the top of Pikes Peak from the front porch of our rental house.  I don't have any pictures but trust me, it was awesome!

Happy New Year Everyone!

(Pardon the dirty faces)

 

Hugs and Kisses from Colorado!

It's a new year, a new location, a new beginning.   Unfortunately, the thing about a new beginning is that it requires something else to end.   A post about saying goodbye to our loved ones in Virginia coming soon.  

Until then, I hope the start of this new year brings amazing new beginnings for you and yours.

Hugs~

Linda