Chrissi'ism's

Besides running around the house singing her favorite song "The ABC's", this week she has been going around the house singing: "Five Dowar! Five Dowar! Five Dowar FootWOOOONG's". For those of you that aren't sure what that is, she is singing the Five Dollar Footlong's commercial from Subway. It is absolutely adorable.

And the other day we had the tv on and the guy from Brown and Croupen (local ambulance chaser) was on a commercial. Chrissi got a big smile on her face and said, "Wook, Daddy, Santa Cwaus!!!" I guess any man with a white beard is now going to be Santa (her least favorite guy to actually see in person, the thought of him is great........as long as he isn't any where near her!).

These are things that I don't ever want to forget!!!

Update on all of the kiddos!

Ian - Ian is turning into such a big boy. I am so proud of him for all of his accomplishments so far this year. The start of First Grade was a bit rough for Ian. He had problems with keeping his emotions in check. He would have total melt downs at school when he would lose a game or couldn't do something on an assignment. Thankfully his teacher really worked with me. My mom had an idea to send a notebook to school with him. Everyday the teacher had to let me know how the day was. After 7 good days he would get to go to the Dollar Store and pick out two prizes. When I explained this to the teacher she was completely on board, she later told me that she feared we were setting the bar pretty high since it was difficult for him on a daily basis. Low and behold, it worked! The first 7 days he earned a trip to the Dollar Store. Not to say that throughout the first semester at school there was not the occassional bad day, I still have the broken pencil taped in the notebook. We decided after Christmas break that the notebook was no longer needed!!!! He was doing FANTASTIC!!! I could not be prouder of this accomplishment! He continues to do well academically. He is also quite the "sticker boy" at school. The bus driver gives him a sticker in the morning almost daily and for whatever reason Ian loves to put it smack dab in the middle of his forehead and walk around school all day. My little weirdo! (Just kidding of course!) He has many friends in his class and in the neighborhood as well. Playing outside is not his favorite thing in the world to do, he would much rather be inside playing video games or watching tv. He has forever been our little couch potato. He loves to play with his brother and sister, but lately has been trying to take on the role of "mom" much too often. His favorite board game is Monopoly Jr by far. He requests to play that almost daily. Ian is still my kiddo that likes to cuddle the most and still has the most kissable cheeks in the world! I'll take his cuddles anyday of the week! ***Edited to add*** Thank you, Mom! I DID forget to mention about Ian and his sign language. His teacher started teaching the kids sign language wo help them with their first grade sight words. I guess the response by most of the kids was so positive that she started a sign language club. Ian LOVES it! It is really cool for him to teach us all of the signs that he knows and learns. Whenever he sees his teacher, they use sign for a majority of their conversations. Again, I'm so proud!!!!

Brennan - Brennan has had his own challenges that he's been faced with this year! He has had quite the time with reading this year. There were times that we would both end up in tears while practicing reading at home. I finally set up a conference with his teacher and we both agreed that he did need special reading help. He has really only been with the reading teacher for a few weeks, but I can't even begin to tell you the improvement in his reading. I think it is actually fun for him now. It is no longer a fight to get him to do his homework. And NEITHER of us end up in tears. YEAH!!! Math on the other hand is most definitely his thing. He can complete a math page in the blink of an eye. I have to watch this when Ian is doing his math homework at home because Bren likes to "help" him, in other words do it for him and Ian can definitely do it on his own. Bren is just a bit quicker! Brennan is the more active one of the two boys. He loves to run and play outside and jump and play inside as well. Of course he also does like to play video games and watch tv, but neither holds his interest for too long. He'd rather be "playing". Riding his bike is one of his most favorite things to do. Brennan is not the best at keeping hisself entertained when alone. He really likes to have others around to play with. When I need help around the house, Bren is the one to call on. The kid likes to clean and organize!! He has done really well since having his tonsils out earlier in the school year. Having them removed has stopped him from waking up so often in the middle of the night, but of course there are still the nights when old habits die hard and he ends up between Jesse and I. (And the kid is good.......some nights we don't even realize he's "snuck in" until the morning!) I am so proud of everything that Bren has accomplished this year as well. To know how hard he's struggled with reading and to see the improvement already is just amazing. Keep it up, Brennan!

Christina - Oh where to begin with Chrissi! To call her a little spitfire is such an appropriate title. She is such a darling little girl with enough attitude to fill an entire room. She talks in complete sentences and loves to repeat EVERYTHING. She is so cute with her baby dolls. She loves to carry them around like a little mommy and give them their bottles. For Christmas she received lots of baby "stuff"; crib, high chair, strollers, etc. It is such a joy to watch her begin to pretend. She also has become quite the little Lego builder. I don't mean the toddler size Legos, nope not for Chrissi, she likes the little bitty Lego's and you should see the girl build! She is constantly bringing books to us and plopping in our laps semi demanding that we read to her, not that we mind. Usually when she goes off to play on her own she can be found sitting in the toy room reading books. Now as to why I called her a little spitfire. Chrissi girl has quite the little temper on her. She wants what she wants and she wants in YESTERDAY!!!! Yes, in lots of ways she is the typical two year old, but she has begun the hitting and scratching phase........that has got to go. Granted she does have to share her toys three days per week with the other children that I care for, but to me there is no excuse for such behavior. Time outs are definitely not her favorite. She loves to follow her brothers around and imitate everything that they do. If they fall to the floor wrestling you can only guess who is going to end up on top. She still likes to be held, but she loves her independence just as much. One of her favorite things in the world is to go to BaMa and PaPa's!!! She definitely has them right where she wants them. Chrissi is full of energy and has the sweetest smile and laugh. Even through the not so nice stages, she is our sweet little girl ALWAYS!

Our changing country

This is not going to be a political post because I'm not the most political person. But I hope that today does mark the day for change. I never thought we would see an african american as our president. I love our changing world. And I really do like Obama. What a great day in history for us all to have been part of. It doesn't matter who you voted for, you are still part of history. Embrace it!

Time certainly flies

Kind of a weird title for this, I know. But it will forever be debated amongst the "adoption community" what to call this day. Is it Gotcha Day? Is it Family Day? For us, personally we call it Family Day, but we also call it Gotcha Day. Doesn't really matter to us, it's the same meaning! It's the day that we were joined Forever and Ever as a family!!! (Chrissi's special day is March 1st..........stay tuned).

I have this tendancy to somewhat overdo. I think I take after my Dad's side of the family.......hmmhmmm..........Dad and Aunt Theresa are you listening. =) I was kind of nostalgic yesterday and Jesse decided that I should go through pictures. So I did, with the "help" of Chrissi...........and to say that was help is a total longshot!!!

I decided to have "name markers" without names, on the table. You sat where ever your picture was. We invited BaMa and PaPa and Grandma. We were so honored that my mom and Grandma went with us to Guatemala on the pickup trip for the boys. You have no idea how much help they were.

There were also pictures front to back all over the dining room. Sounds gaudy, but really was pretty!!!

Ian decided last week that we should have lasagna, bread and salad. And that's what we had. I made enough for an army, so if you're hungry stop by................I have LOTS of leftovers. The boys are so cool............they get to drink their soda out of special Champagne glasses....ever so carefully. they had cloth napkins that they were so cute about and made a special announcement that they had placed them in their lap.

It was a GREAT day and a GREAT dinner!

If you are not an adoptive parent you can relate to this story like your child's birthday. To an adoptive parent, this is their "birthday". Through pictures and videos we completely fell in love with our boys, but on the day we physically held them and KNEW they would be ours forever, words can not describe.

Ian and Brennan, we are so thankful you were chosen to be our boys!! We love you more than words can say!!!!

Happy Family/Gotcha/or whatever you want to call it day!!!!!

The table!

How SWEET are they!!!?

Jesse, and Grandma.

Chrissi loves to jump on her BaMa!!!

How awesome are my parents??

Playing on their new computer before dinner.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

(Yes, I know this post is way late!!!!)

We always have Christmas with my side of the family before Christmas, in particular when Danny has his boys. None of us mind having it early at all. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. And not because I like to receive gifts (c'mon, everyone likes to receive presents), but I truly LOVE to get other people presents. The only part I don't like is trying to keep what I bought a secret. So as you can imagine, it THRILLS me that it usually works out that we have a part of Christmas before the actual date.

When we first get to my parents (around 11am) we start with appetizers for "lunch".

And trust me, there was enough for a small army. Very good "lunch"!!!

Here are the kids having their lunch before they can tear into presents. Actually, it ended up being a rather calm year with the kids compared to years past. They did not drive us nuts to open presents in the least. The four boys, Ian, Brennan, Bradley, and Dylan all play so very nice together. It's so cool!!!

Jesse stealing a bite to eat off Bren's plate.

My mom and dad always set the table so beautiful for us! The table runner is from Guatemala. My mom bought that on our pick up trip with the boys.


And so the kids didn't feel left out at dinner time she hooked them up as well! They thought they were so grown up with cloth napkins and everything!




Baby Dani is getting so big. She is such a doll!





BaMa with her sweet litl' Dani. I think I had to make my mom stop talking for this picture. It's an ongoing joke that whenever we take a picture of her she looks like she's crabby because her mouth is usually open. Much better this way, Mom!!!




A bit blurry. Anyway, the kids figuring out which big stack of presents is theirs! They all go sooooo much. Rotten little things! =)

Everyone HARD at work opening their presents. Look at the concentration!

Whatcha got, Bradley??

"I love my new watch!!!!"

"Yeah a piano that I can drive Mommy and Daddy nuts with!"

"A new Wii game just for me!!!!"

Dylan was probably the most gracious this year. He absolutely adored everything that he received.

Chrissi loves her Barbies!!!!

Another boyfriend for Barbie.

"Quick, quick let's see what it is!"

Rock-a-bye baby.

"Wook, Daddy!"

Aren't they just the cutest couple!!

Definitely a story here. This little doll/statue that Greg is holding has created lots of memories for our family in the last year or so. This statue is kind of creepy. When Jesse and I were cleaning the basement over a year ago we came across it. Jesse's mom got it for him when she went to Mexico years ago and he hung onto it. We were going to get rid of it when an evil idea entered our minds. "Let's scare the hell out of Greg with it." You have to understand that Greg is pretty easy to scare and he HATES to be creeped out. Thankfully Greg also has a GREAT sense of humor! So anyway, we ended up putting it in Greg's bed unbeknownst to him. Just as we had hoped, it scared the hell out of him!!! For over one year this little statue has kind of followed Greg around. It's been in his shower, his truck, on the boat, on the back of the toilet to be found in the middle of the night, the condo at the Lake, etc. The statue had been put away for quite awhile, but it was time for it to reappear. We stuffed it in a box, wrapped it in pretty paper, put to Greg on it, and anxiously waited for him to open it! He did not let us down. Unfortunately, my camera let me down, I missed the facial expression for when he first opened it. But this picture says it all!!! Definitely not super amused to have the "creepy doll" back in his life at that moment. Somehow it did end up coming back home with us. Stay tuned, this won't be the last that's heard about this subject!!!

My mom looks scared to open this.......you never know with my dad what might be in there!! (After she got past the firewood, see below!)

Here's my dad explaining about the first part of the present. A box filled with firewood, matches and newspaper. The perfect makings for a fire. Only problem.....my mom is not such a fan. I guess the aversion started because of hot flashes. My poor dad has not been allowed to build a fire in years. He decided to surprise my mom this year with a romantic weekend at the Lake coupon. That's what my mom is getting ready to open up above, but first she had to get past the "fire".

This was the most hideous nightshirt Erika and I had ever seen. When we were shopping with my mom and Trish the day after Thanksgiving, my mom found this at Target. It said something about a "tree farm" on it. She asked us girls what we thought and we all busted out laughing so she didn't buy it. That is why when Erika and I went shopping with my dad we KNEW that was a definite on the list. She LOVED it!!!

Danny acting like Cousin Eddie (from the vacation movies)!

LOVE this picture of my parents!!!

Daddy's little girl!!!

Danny is so in love with this little girl!

Truly happy!!!

Erika, Cousin Eddie (I mean Danny) and Baby Dani relaxing after opening all of those presents!!

Typical photo shoot?

Our Sweet Ian






Our Sweet Brennan






And Our Sweet Chrissi






"Ewwwwwwwwwwww........kisses!!!!!!!!!"




Seriously, someone farted in this picture. Gotta love 6 year old little boys! (Yah, I know that is not the "PC" word for it, but I think little boys sound absolutely silly saying someone "tooted", so we let them say the "old fashioned" word for it.)






My mom went with me to have the kids pictures taken. While we were in the waiting area she questioned why she was needed. About 2 seconds after we walked into the photography room she knew exactly why she was there!!!! To say that Chrissi was upset is quite the understatement. I LOVE the picture. She is definitely my little spitfire!


I am so far behind and have so much to post, hope to catch up this week!