Blogging for Books!!

I recently signed up for Blogging for Books which provides free books to review!! I was so excited and today received the first book in the mail: Little Star by Anothony DeStefano with illustration by Mark Elliott. This story reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas and is a good way to teach children this true meaning. The author also does a good job at including simple messages such as not ignoring others and not giving up on people. In the end, the author brings the story together by explaining why the star is put on the top of the tree....a wonderful tradition that many kid do not know the true meaning behind! Mark Elliott has beautiful illustrations which kept my daughters attention. This will surely become a story which will be read many more years at Christmas!

I'm off to select my next book..how exciting is that!! Yeah!!

Christmas Week

This past weekend we were able to celebrate Christmas with my brother and his family. We celebrated by opening gifts saturday afternoon after the kids took naps....which was followed by a jaunt in the snow. This was Leahs first time playing in the snow. Last year she was too little..and the snow was too high. She had loads of fun...and didn't seem to mind the cold! We all enjoyed spending time together and alas the weekend flew by without a blink of the eye. Tomorrow is my last 1/2 day of work before a 11 day stretch off at Christmas. These are the days when working in academia truly pays off. Of course I will checking my email and voice mail and making sure my students are all geared up for their fieldwork placements...but I am thankful I can do that at home in pajamas!

On the adoption front we are in the process of getting our homestudy started and I have begun filling out the 7 applications for all the agencies we are working with. We have taken a much different route this time...and it entails a lot more paperwork...but hopefully a shorter wait. I am so excited to find out who this next addition to the family is....but am also cherishing the time with Leah as an only child. She is so gentle and sharing with other children....I think she will make a perfect big sister. Hopefully her demeanor won't change too much as she ages and her will becomes stronger.

So...here they are...the long awaited pictures from this weekend!


Dad...I'm not so sure I know what's going on?

Forget the sled Tanner....lets go!

My brother trying to cheese his way into the picture!

Hmm..how did I get here?

All of us minus my mom who stayed nice and toasting inside.

Hey...dont forget me!

Once again..not to sure...

Okay...I get this...rip off the paper...
(what you dont see is her trying to put the paper back on the box!)

I'm hoping for socks....yep...I was right!

Merry Christmas Everyone!
Enjoy this blessed season!

So Long ... But Not Goodbye

Yes....it has been soooo long since I posted. I haven't officially left blogger land, despite that it seems I have. Instead I stalk everyone else's blog. Craft blogs, home decor blogs, adoption blogs...I am guilty of reading all of them. Then I never have time to post because they give me ideas of projects and agencies...oh my. In truth this blog only partially functioned as I thought anyways. When I began blogging I had no idea the extent of the blogging world. At the time, I started the blog to keep everyone up to date on our adoption journey. Which I did...but then I would post about all sorts of things. And in the end....there were more things I wanted to blog about...but never found the time. Now here I sit ( in the wee hours of the morning)...and I ponder what I want to do with this blog. But first....let me show you a few of the things I have missed blogging about in the past few months.

What a cutie...already learning to pose and look good!

She turned one on Oct 20, 2009! We had a BIG party....with LOTS of people. The theme was Ladybugs....she even got a ladybug pillowpet. It was nice....but kinda big and crazy. We dubbed it a finalization party as well...but unfortunately still had not finalized by then.

She got hives from the red icing...splendid!

She was a pumkin for Halloween. We went to Nana and Papas where she enjoyed watching all the Big kids...and raiding there candy basket! On Halloween night we trick-o-treated to 4 houses on the cul-de-sac and that was enough for both of us!


She loves taking all her books off the shelve! What fun!

As you can see....we have been busy! We also finalized her adoption in November so I will write another post about that event. Now...where do I go from here with the blog. Well...our big announcement is that we submitted the paperwork for adoption #2 this week!! So....I think we need a new name to this blog....a new layout...and I need to get motivated again to keep track of this second process. I like that I have documented the process....the memories...the emotions. I like how someday they will get to read this unedited...when they are old enough. So thats that...I will continue..hopefully more often...as we begin the next journey towards becoming a family of four!!