This is finals week for Daddy, which means he has a few late nights so that he can do a couple review sessions with some of his students. Thus, mommy is hanging out with the girls all by herself and having a blast!
When we first arrived home the girls both received some mail from Nana F. They were both so excited to receive something that was addressed specifically for them. What was even cooler was that each card came filled with stickers for the girls to play with however they saw fit. Well, that was all the Butterfly needed to know. She immediately started tattooing her arm with the stickers and had a blast! They may have been a short lived gift, but they were thoroughly enjoyed!
Tonight we made some delicious noodles, salad, and fruit for dinner. The Butterfly decided to help me with making dinner. Specifically, she played with and ate some olives while I cut them up to go in the noodles (yup, I know... big help!). What was so cute was what she did with the olives. She found the perfect spot for them... on her nubbin. Gotta love how this girl can now give me a thumbs up!
After cleaning up we played a few games. We did play a few rounds of Hungry Hippos, but the girls' favorite game was the caterpillar/chopstick game (as they like to call it!). All three of us had a blast playing the game and often giggled along the way.
What a fun night. I love spending time with my girls!
(By the way, I am not really sure why the Butterfly has decided that she needs to squint when she smiles, but it is pretty funny and she is very consistent.)
When I take photos of the girls I just "click" away! These two kiddos move at lightening speed and getting a good photo of them is sometimes very difficult.
Case in point, the evening of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. After the girls donned their beautiful, Chinese outfits, I took them outside to our doorstep to take some photos. I prefer to take photos in natural light since I am able to capture the natural shadows that fall so beautifully across softer faces. But, with natural light comes the possibility of movement in the photos... especially with very wiggly children. Add to that the difficulty of getting the two of them to smile perfectly at-the-exact-same-time... well, you get the "picture!"
Below is the series of events from that evening. Each time I view the photos I chuckle. I love how the Ladybug is doing everything she can to get her sister to smile perfectly, and the Butterfly is fighting it with everything she has to not smile. Then, she looks away, or makes a silly face. The Ladybug, getting a bit frustrated, starts to smile a rather pained smile. Seriously, I only have two children. How in the world do people with several more kids do this and get a great photo? Photoshop, it has got to be Photoshop! Anyway, what am I to do? Just giggle and sigh...
(Note: Don't forget, these are the outtakes from our little photo session. They are not perfect, far from it. They are just some of the photos that make me smile because they captured the moment. They just weren't "perfect" enough for the final cut.)
I just love these girls... silly, grumpy, boogery, snotty, serious, and giggly faces and all! All of these faces are what our days are filled with from morning to night. And I wouldn't trade them for the world!
I recently took Christmas photos of the girls, which included some photos of the girls together as well as apart. The photo shoot proved to be a bit difficult for the Baby Bug... she just doesn't enjoy professional photo shoots, even if they are being done by mommy. Don't get me wrong, she loves getting her picture taken and always hams it up as soon as I pull out my camera. However, she hates being posed, and quickly gets frustrated when she is posed for photos. So, my time with the little one was minimal, but I was still able to get some nice shots.
What was fun to see was a full gamut of emotions: happy, exuberant, sad, serious, frustrated, and more. My favorite photo is one that looks like the Baby Bug is in "Time-out," pouting." Truth be told, she isn't, but I like to think that I got a great shot of my kiddo in trouble.
The Ladybug was just the opposite of her sister. She loves the camera, and is such a natural. I love having a little model in her and thoroughly enjoy clicking photos.
What I love even more is that the two girls are becoming so much closer. When we were in China, the Baby Bug wanted nothing to do with her sister what-so-ever. She only wanted Daddy and I, which surprised us. We figured since the baby had lived in an orphanage for the first 14 months of her life, and because the Ladybug looks a little like the other children from the orphanage, that the Baby Bug would naturally gravitate to her new four year old sister. However, nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact, it wasn't until this last month that the baby finally learned that her sister isn't half bad. And now, she seems to be making up for lost time... she follows her older sister around everywhere.
Both girls are so cute together, and always, usually, often, get along without whining, crying, or hair pulling. In all actuality, they really do like each other (most of the time) and enjoy playing together. I am so happy that the baby finally came around to see how awesome her sister is. I can only hope that they will stay close... though I know full-well that they will likely go through the normal ups and downs that most siblings do, so I am not holding my breath. Ahhhh, I am just happy that neither has put the other in the hospital yet!
As can be seen by my lack of posts over the past week, I haven't been at my computer very much to blog and keep you all up to date. But, my lack of computer time has been for good reason. I have either been out of the state at the NCTM regional conference in New Orleans, or I've been working 13 hour days, at meetings, and involved in parent-teacher conferences. But, now that my schedule is pretty much back to normal, I should be able to update more often. Baby I'm back!
I wanted to share with you what has been going on around our house recently... the Butterfly is trying to talk. Just tonight I walked in the door from very long day at work and the Baby Bug met me at the door with a squeal, and a ton of smiles and hugs. As soon as she saw me she started gleefully saying, "Momma, momma, momma, momma, momma..." As can be imagined, despite a very long day, I ended up with a huge smile. Seriously, wouldn't everyone want to be greeted this way when they arrive home?
I grabbed our video camera and was able to capture the Baby Bug and her older sister, the Ladybug, hanging out on the couch together, talking. The Ladybug is finding it a little tough to share camera time, but she is a great big sister who adores her little sibling... especially now that the Baby Bug knows how to say "sister."
Enjoy the video. Just think, this baby girl has only been home with us for four months. What an amazing transformation.
Halloween has come and gone this year, and the girls had a wonderful time. I was out of town for a conference for the days leading up to the day (I will post about my great time in New Orleans soon, but for now I will keep focused on the girls!), so I missed a couple of fun parties that the girls (and daddy) attended, but I did arrive home just in time to take the girls Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood.
While I was away, Daddy took the girls, in their matching Halloween t-shirts, to the park to play. I was so excited because he grabbed my camera and took some great photos (thanks honey!). Below are some of the cute photos of the girls while they played together.
Following the fun at the park, Daddy and the girls went to a couple parties. The Butterfly dressed as a Bumble Bee, with her hair sticking straight up as antennas. The Ladybug went as a sassy Dorothy Gale with sequined red tennies. The girls had a great time playing with friends, bobbing for apples, and laughing and singing the night away.
I finally made it home from New Orleans late Saturday, so I rested up on Sunday, and then it was time to take the girls trick-or-treating. We had an adorable outfit for our Butterfly... keeping with the bug theme she dressed as a Bumble Bee, antenna and all. To finish off the cute outfit, we put some fun little ladybug squeakie shoes on her feet. Yup, a Butterfly dressed as a bumble bee, wearing ladybug squeakie shoes. Gotta love bugs! The Ladybug kept her "cool" by dressing as an Ice Princess, and sparkled her way around the neighborhood the whole night. She looked magical.
Since the Butterfly had never experienced Halloween, she wasn't quite sure what was going on when we started. We walked her up to the path of the first house, then let her sister walk her to the door. As soon as she started walking, the squeakies started squeaking, and people started oohing and aahing. She started grinning from ear to ear, especially when she realized that people were giving her things at each house we visited. She LOVED it!
The Ladybug, of course, also loved her time trick-or-treating, but what made the evening more enjoyable for all of us was watching the Butterfly "float" from house to house. We stayed out for about an hour and then had to call it quits as the baby soon tired herself out with all of the fun.
All in all it was a great night for the family. It will be fun to see what will happen next year.
(As you can tell, this is my favorite photo from our fun evening.)
I am a wife to my best friend, and mommy to two amazing little girls, both adopted from Guizhou, China. We are now a family of four and are loving our adventures with two "Spicy Guizhou Girls."
