Chicago Christmas 2011

Guangdong Girls in Colorado

On the 3 year anniversary of Elizabeth's Gotcha Day we were blessed to be able to spend it with five other families we met on that wonderful day. Our vacation plans usually include travel to Colorado every other year so it was actually quite convenient for us. We spent several days relaxing and catching up while the girls spent the days running from room to room playing with each other and having a great time! We were sad for it to end, but look forward to the next time!!

July 28, 2008

Miss Ellie

One Year with Isabella!

Final Post Placement

Isabella's final post placement visit was yesterday and I think we are good to go! Our wonderful social worker is retiring soon so she brought along her replacement. We really like her too which is good since there will be many more post placement visits for Abbie. The new requirement is for visits at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and 5 years. That is double the former amount.

Fun with Playsilks!

Ella helped her sister open her presents and then they both had a blast playing dress up! Okay, Sami also had a great time and came up with some totally awesome ideas!

4 Years Old!

Yesterday we took our traditional trip to Chinatown to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday. As has been the case the day we celebrated also was Mother's Day. That just made the day even more special. We walked around a bit, ate some delicious lunch and ended the day with presents, a very chocolate cake and Elizabeth's grandmas.

The Beps

Someone didn't want to be left out!

Ellie Benellie

She can smile! Every time I bring out the camera to take pictures of the girls together, Elizabeth smiles big and Ellie looks pretty unhappy. I guess she doesn't like to share the spotlight!

Reading

It is crazy but around the age of 2.5 or so Elizabeth was able to recognize all of the upper case letters of the alphabet. She has since not only learned to identify lower case letters, but she knows the sounds that the letters make. I think that in itself is pretty remarkable for a girl not even 4. None of this was done because it was taught to her, she has just picked it up on her own which is in my opinion the best way to learn at a young age. She will get no formal training from me yet but if she asks questions she will get answers. The funny thing is, she knows quite a few words by sight and yet she prefers to read them by sounding them out herself. In this photo she is "reading" a David book to her little sister mostly by memory and they both enjoy it!

Happy Easter!