Summer Fun

Summer around here is filled with lots and lots of sunshine and water. Claire is surely a fun in the sun kinda girl.

We went camping again right around our family day.  Can you believe that it's been three years since our little angel was placed into our arms.  It still brings tears to my eyes when I think about the journey to bring her home.  She did great this year, but we were better prepared.  I think we bought out the entire section of bug spray in the store.  Claire also jumped from the platform at the springs all by herself for the first time.  She knows how to swim now, but we told her that in the springs she has to wear some type of floatie b/c it's so deep.  She listened and had both her floaties and a doughnut around her waist...it was too precious.

We were also able to meet in person a family we met on the net.  Their little girl was also adopted from the same orphanage.  The girls hit it off and played and played despite the rain.  Really it rained and rained...and rained...but it didn't stop these beauties from sporting the barbie jeep and then "washing" it with sand.  Good times...Good times

Summers still not over and in Florida we have many more months...but the next big trip is...wait for it...
We're going to brave D*i*sney for her fourth birthday...that's going to be an adventure, especially since she tells us everyday "I three....when I turn four...we going to D*i*sney world..and see the princess castle, and Mic*key, and G*oofy, and they gonna be big, and we ride on D*umbo...and..and "  Oh she's gonna have a ball.

It's been a long long time

It's been such a long time, but the time just seems to be flying by.  Claire is growing like a weed and it's amazing.  She is a spirited young girl that is always on the go.  We never rest, but it's a good kind of exhaustion.  These past months have brought much growth in her development, skills, and speech. At one point I felt that she was a little behind in her speech, but she has definitely caught up. She NEVER shuts up now.  And she's able to tell us stories about her day and has a great imagination. 

She takes gymnastics and has been for a while.  She had her first Ribbon day which is like a recital.  She was a little nervous at first as there were a lot of people there to watch.  I think Claire had the most family members there to watch her, Grandparents, Aunt, cousins... but she did great and nailed several of her moves.

She was so proud to get her own little trophy and ribbons.  Her Daddy got her her first bouquet of flowers and she was particularly proud of those, telling us "Daddy give me my own flowers...they for me".  Then we all went out to eat in celebration.  So proud of her.

We recently got a small above ground pool in our backyard.  Being a Peds nurse I was a little weary about her inability to swim yet. I see things at work that are so preventable.  So aside from the other safety measures...like taking the ladder out when we're not using it and extra high locks on the exit doors for the house.. we pushed her to learn to swim without any assistive devices like floaties or noodles.  Our little angel learned to swim in one week(now we have had her in the water a lot consistently since bringing her home).  So on Father's day after everyone left our house, she took a huge breath and swam the length of our pool.  Pictures will follow..Like I said...growing by leaps and bounds

A day(or two) late...

More pics from her birthday...was that really over a month ago...

3 years old

Can you believe that our little girl is 3 years old....My how time flies...
I know that I am wayyyyyyy overdue at updating this blog.  So this will be quick and I'll add more pics later this week or next.

This is her "3 year old" pic..from a quick, get the shot photos at the park..Claire was super excited about her birthday party.  For weeks she would sing Happy birthday to herself..so cute.  She had a Dora birthday party and all she asked for was a bumble bee pillow pet...well she got it along with a basketball hoop from her Mommy and Daddy.  I have super cute pics of her playing ball in her party dress.  She is a very energetic child who no longer takes naps..unless she passes out from sheer exhaustion.  It's hard for us because she runs at 90 miles per hour until bedtime.  I am not exaggerating. Really I'm not.  I'm not sure where she gets the energy.  She is potty trained except at night..and lately there are several nights a week when she is dry.  She can count to twenty and sings songs we have never taught her...She loves to play outside, play with doll houses and we've introduced her to board games.  We finally introduced her to Dis*ney movies..her first one is The Little Mer*maid...she tells me it has a scary shark...not the effect we had hoped.  But I will say trying to imagine it through a 3 year olds eyes it does look scary.  She is however infatuated with Annie the movie. 



For Halloween Claire didn't want a costume...we told her that that's not how it worked.  She practiced trick or treating for a month, but wouldn't choose a costume.  On try number three after we looked at every costume..we thought we would just have to pick one for her...when I asked about a princess..no...bumble bee..no..witch...no..bannana(it was cute)..no...Claire they have a girl pirate..........ARGGHHHHH...and the costume was chosen...phew....and it was adorable....This is Claire with her cousin and although I had to work that night(ugghhhh) Jon tells me they had a blast....

Yearly update

So I just sent in Claire's yearly update.  That is such a difficult thing to do.  How do sum up a year in a letter and 16 pictures?  You don't, well actually I didn't.  I sent a pretty long letter, several pages and I think something like 40ish pictures.  I just couldn't help it.  It's such a hard thing to do...to sum up the past year of your child's life.  I want them to see that she's doing well and see what kinds of things we do.  So 40ish pictures it was...
I've really been trying to talk with Claire about adoption, although she doesn't grasp it at all.  I just don't want her to have never heard the word.  I was looking through her baby book with her and talking with her about it.  In the back of her baby book is an envelope that closes.  I have her birthfamily pictures in there that way when she is older she can choose what to share.  But, we were looking through the pictures together and there is a picture of her birthmother holding her.  Claire looked at it and said "mommy"......now she often will see women and say mommy or men and say daddy, but that was like a stab through the heart.  I know it shouldn't have been because no matter how I feel or how I want to clarify or label the relationship, it is her birthmother.  But I wasn't sure what to feel.  One one hand I know I shouldn't be hurt by that and I should want to be open and all..but on the other hand I'll be honest I don't want her to be calling her Mommy. I just don't.  I know it's not politically correct and I know that I should feel other wise, but is it wrong?

164 pictures..

So in one weeks time I took 164 pictures...really? And the sad thing is that I won't print any of them out...I gotta get better at that.  So as you can see we have an apartment of a tent, which like I said before, Claire thought was great in theory...until she had to sleep in it.

I really don't know what happened or how this picture jumped to the top, but this is the result of my "sweet" girl.  The bugs just loved her at camp no matter how much bug spray we sprayed on her.

After a couple days of camping, Claire and I headed to my BF's house for another couple of days. There we relaxed, swam, hung out, found an old school playgroud(with merry go round and see saws). We also took the kids to a place called Birthday World, which is like a Chuckie Che*se except there are rides...awesome place to hang with the kiddos.
  In the olden days, when my friend and I would hang out, we might go to a club or a bar...the funny thing was that on a Friday night, we were at a place with rides and our kiddos were running around screaming...and the strongest thing we were drinking was a Dr. Pepper.. man...are we getting old....But if you snuck off to the glow in the dark minature golf room,  closed your eyes, screaned out the screaming kids, and listened carefully to the DJ(yes...they had a DJ) play the latest dance music, you might feel your hips start to move, maybe for just a second...until that is Claire found me..screaming "MAMA!! MAMA!! MAMA!!....awww such bliss in that little voice...screaming at me!!!

We got kicked out.....

The camping trip went well...Claire on the other hand didn't fare as well.  She loved camping and the idea of the tent.  She loved swimming in the "cold pool", which is the natural spring that stays 72 degrees year round.  She loved hanging out and riding bikes with her cousins and helping them build a fire.  The bugs on the other hand LOVED Claire.  When I say loved I mean LOVED!!  Despite using two cans of bug spray on Claire in two days, she came home looking like she got beat up in a Tyson fight.  We seriously sprayed bug spray directly on her face, but it didn't help, she got bit so bad that we felt like horrible parents...she looked like she had two black eyes and had bites everywhere, even under where her clothes were.(I'll post pictures later of that).  She was great during the day(typical 2 year old stuff), but the first night she fought us tooth and nail to go to bed. The second night she was soooo exhausted that she fell asleep easily, but had a night terror.  Don't know if anyone has dealt with these, but the cure is to wake them up.  She was basically asleep, but screaming.  I'm sure all the campers around us loved us.  So here I am in a tent, it's pitch black, with Claire screaming and  writhing, my nephews are right next to us, it's steaming hot and I have a flashlight in Claire's face trying to wake her up, prying her eyes open to see if that would help. She started screaming for her mommy, who by the way was holding her.  Imagine...it wasn't fun.  Anyhow after that night and Claire waking up looking like we beat her, we decided to head out a day early.  She loved the day, but we think she might not be ready to sleep in a tent....Anyhow, despite what it sounds like we did have a great time.
     Claire and I have been kicked out of our house so Jon can paint the outside. We are headed to Orlando to hang with by bestie from high school.  I'll post pics when I get back. 
   
**For Claire**
     It's been two years since you were placed in my arms.  It was a day that was filled with so much anticipation and visions of love.  But nothing compares to the reality of being your mother.  I tried to imagine what it would be like.  I tried to imagine what that love would feel like.  But no one could adequately  describe it.  I can't even describe it.  I am truly blessed.  Everyday you amaze me and I love watching you become who you are.  --love, Mommy