Party time!!

Refusing to wear her crown ON the top of her head, she stuck it on the back of her head.





Elisabeth with baby J.







Elisabeth with Aunt Alison.




Uncle Blake teaching the kids some tactical maneuvers. It didn't go over so well.



Elisabeth has always wanted a Barbie car...she folds herself into Bella's everytime she gets the chance.





Isabella's party went very well:) My brother Blake and his wife Alison drove up from Maryland...Bella only threw a few fits when I tried to get her to wear a princess crown and tried to get her to go in the pool. The best part of it all-everyone ate all of the food so I had only a little to clean up!!

Guess who is 3 ????

Isabella Rebekah Yen Nhi:) I can't help thinking about her birth parents today, especially her mother. I was always led to believe that birth families are extremely stoic and see their children as 'one more mouth to feed'. When they have to give up their children, it is out of necessity for the survival of the rest of their family. The pictures we received (that I will post later as soon as I get the CD from Bruce) show a mother very much in love with her children. From what my sister saw, both Bella's mother and father adored their kids. I imagine she is thinking about Isabella today and even though she is very grateful that Bella has an amazing life with us, she misses her very much. Thank goodness my sister made contact with them so that they could see and hear how well she is doing :)

Speaking of how well she is doing, here is a short list of her positives....
TALKS all the frickin' time-uses up to 10 word sentences (most containing no swear words)
Runs, climbs, jumps, spins, dances, sings (off tune)
Follows directions (when she wants to do the thing she is being asked to do)
Eats well (when the babysitter feeds her)
Sits at the table (when she is being fed chocolate or soda)
Rides well in the car (when, and only when, there is a music/DVD playing)
Plays well with her sister (as long as they are doing what she wants to do)
Can sit still to get her haircut for up to 30 minutes (when she is being fed donuts)
Goes to bed well (as long as it is after 10 pm)
Sleeps in until 9 am (IF she has gone to bed after 10 pm)
Loves to red stories (as long as they have princesses or water buffalo in them)
Dresses herself (as long as she can wear twirly dresses - ABSOLUTELY no shorts/t-shirts)
Loves bath time (but never agrees to get her hair washed)

Amazing, isn't she?? I do believe I am raising a strong willed child who is giving me a run for my money....I think the police force needs to hire her to help them interrogate prisoners. Set her in a room with a story to tell and she will talk until they have no choice but to admit guilt just to get away from her.

We love you, Bella:)

This is actually a school playground...the kids call it Castle Park:)
Sharing breakfast with Nanny.

Getting a french kiss from Putter.

Elisabeth and her best friend from Syracuse.
Elisabeth and Rebecca.

Me as movie critic....

DO see "The Proposal" - adorable and funny with a happy ending.

DON'T see "The Hangover" - stupid, dumb, would have to be REALLY drunk to find it funny.

DO see "UP" if you want to take a 2 hour nap in a nice, quiet movie theater.

Cat got a tat!!!

The 3rd one, that is! My first 2, pictured above, were done about 5-7 years ago. The first one was a small flower on the inside of the ankle. To say I never did anything on my own would have been an understatement. This tattoo represented my independence-I got on a plane with Elisabeth, who was about 5 at the time, and flew to CO to see Rebekah and Shane. HUGE deal, at the time. I found the flower on a shirt Elisabeth was wearing that day.

The 2nd one, a tattoo of a forget-me-not (national flower of Alaska) when I flew BY MYSELF to Alaska for 2 weeks to see Rebekah. I can't say I was the best companion as every time I saw chicken fingers and french fries, I would burst out crying because I missed Elisabeth so much. Poor Rebekah tried her best to show me a good time and all I did would sit and blubber. I was SO scared to go that I even paid 200.00 dollars extra to take the DOG with me. Ridiculous, I know.

On to my new one---I really wanted a tattoo that represented Vietnam. Eventhough I had Todd with me, it was a HUGE trip. Seeing that I didn't trust the water, I was NEVER going to trust that a needle was clean enough to get a tattoo in Vietnam. I thought about getting one about 20 times since then but never did. Why not celebrate turning 40?? I saw these adorable little dragonflies on Bella's pants yesterday and decided that I would get 2 (to represent my 2 kids) dragonflies (to represent Vietnam) on my shoulder (the only thing on my body that isn't fat or already covered in a tattoo).

More pictures from our first week off....