I'm wearing big girl pants now!

Yep, she did, she is now potty trained with no accidents for the past 3 days! Yea!! I believe I'm more excited than she is although she does like her new Elmo and Princess big girl panties. I took the week off to work on this new skill and we had lots of fun. While we were stuck in the house, she drew, painted and we had water fun in the backyard. By Wednesday Sarae was asking me to go bye-bye and I was more than happy to comply. Saturday our adoption facilitator had coordinated a picnic with past and present clients. It was great seeing everyone. I feel so much for those parents who are waiting on their referral as the time has gotten even longer since Sarae and I were matched. We saw two families that were on the same trip to China as we were. Both their children were also doing very well. Sarae had a great time playing for 4 hours straight. I'm not sure which of us was more tired by the time we left. To celebrate her great job at potty training, Sunday we had breakfast with Elmo at Sea World. We had a wonderful time. We went to the 8:30 a.m. breakfast and it was not crowded at all. The characters actually come to the tables and since there were not that many people they stayed and the children got to play/hug them quite a bit. The whole experience from the characters to the food to the wait staff was excellent. Sarae was nervous with Ernie and Bert and they were wonderful with her. They came up but let her initiate contact (high-fives) until she felt comfortable. When we left the breakfast we went over to the Pets Ahoy show where the Elmo and Abbi show is playing so we also got to see a show and after the show she got to pose with Elmo again. After that we went to her favorite - the dolphins, the sting-rays, manatees and penguins. By that point I thought I was going to melt in the heat so we came home, napped and then hit the pool. She absolutely loves being in the water this summer which is great since it is a great way to keep cool. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Happy Spring!

Sarae seems to be changing every day. She loves to walk around in my shoes, especially my heels and loves to wear a bathing suit skirt that she believes is her "dancing skirt". She also likes to walk around the house with my panties on her head, no picture of that posted on the blog though! : ) She has been earning time-outs lately both at home and in daycare. She likes to climb and kick walls (enjoys the sound I think). She is definitely an outside girl and will ask often to go there. We just got an annual pass for our local zoo and have been twice already. Sarae had a blast feeding the goats. She seems to be growing up so quickly - just yesterday she was saying "Otay" and today she is able to say the K sound for "okay". I miss hearing her say "Otay Mama". Sarae is definitely the best part of everyday! Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Birthday Sarae!

Monday, March 3rd Sarae turned 2! We celebrated at Monkey Joe's on Saturday and I believe everyone had a great time. The kids played hard and I think were all ready for a nap by the end of the party. Big thanks to my mom for watching Sarae so I could bake the cake and cupcakes and Tia for planning and decorating! As usual, everyone was extremely generous and we spent Sunday cleaning out her bedroom to make room for the new toys/books/clothes, etc. I have to say, she received some really neat books that we have enjoyed reading each night. I gave her a tricycle for her birthday present. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it and prefers to push it as opposed to ride it with her feet on the pedals. I'm thinking I'm going to have to borrow a little one who knows how to do it to role-model it for her.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Gotcha Day Anniversary!

It's hard to believe it's already been a whole year since Sarae and I became a family! I took the day off today so we could celebrate and met our friends who also were celebrating one of their daughter's Gotcha day. It's amazing how much Sarae has changed as you can tell from the pictures. The first picture is just a few minutes after they handed her to me and the rest are recent pictures. Sarae is definitely the best thing to happen to me ever. She made her first batch of brownies (with a little help) and is walking about 1/2 mile a night with Buddy and I. She even tried out the treadmill one night when it rained and we weren't able to make our normal walk. She put her shoes on the correct feet for the first time today (probably just lucky, but I'll count it anyway)! Her birthday party is this weekend so I will try to post pictures from that as soon as I can. Hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are hoping everyone has had a great start to 2008! January was an incredibly busy month for me at work so I wasn't able to blog for that month - sorry! Sarae is doing well. Since the last blog, she has learned to climb up on the barstools and like Cody, she has climbed up to the kitchen counters. She is attempting to get a writing pen. I keep these up high since she will draw on furniture, walls, etc. Cody goes up for food, but they both are unable to get down on their own once they climb up. Sarae loves to play in the laundry basket and to walk around in my shoes. She loves music and listens to anything from 70's music, to Jazz. Currently her favorite songs are Girlfriend and Hooked on a Feeling. She will put her sunglasses on (usually upside down) in the car and will clap and nod her head to the music. Unfortunately I can't get a picture since I'm driving, but trust me it's very funny. Sarae seems to learn new words on a daily basis and thanks to Ms. Iris at daycare, she is learning her numbers, colors and shapes. I can't believe it will only be 12 more days for our one year anniversary of meeting and becoming a family!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Today was Sarae's first Christmas and the best one I've ever had. Family and friends were so incredibly generous, that at one point this morning she refused to open any more gifts. The pictures show the desk that Santa brought her and the "laptop" that I bought her. I'm hoping this keeps her off of my computer - we'll see! This year I decided to make Christmas dinner from scratch instead of doing my usual Boston Market run. Let's just say making Christmas dinner with a 1 year old and two dogs who refuse to leave the kitchen (due to the good smells coming from the oven)was a bit challenging. I am exhausted so I'll sign off here. We are hoping that you all had a wonderful Hanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza or any other holiday you may celebrate!

Getting ready for the big day!!!

Sarae is starting to talk more and more. Dec. 11th she told me, "Mama, I wu yooouu" (translated - Mama, I love you)! Very exciting day for me. She also says "Ho-Ho-Ho nary ismis (translated - Ho-Ho-Ho Merry Christmas.) While she absolutely loves seeing pictures, ornaments, etc of Santa, she sobbed hysterically when we attempted to take a picture with him. She still cries when she initially sees men and as you all are aware - Santa is a man. : ) Hope everyone is managing to get ready for the holidays (if you celebrate Christmas) without getting too exhausted. Love to you all!