Sorry I'm such a pathetic blogger...

What a profile! Look at those gorgeous curls....I can't bear to cut them.

Drooling and teething baby girl!

SO MUCH IS HAPPENING... WE'RE MOVING!!!

I have no excuse except for the fact that at the end of every day I crash. I simply veg. We clean up the house. The kitchen, the family room toys, and collapse in front of the TV or simply go to bed. We clean it up, only to start over again. My favorite thing about the new house is that there is a "bonus room" above the garage. This means 18' x 20' of nothing but empty space for the little rascals to run around. We will be headed south on Jan. 31st.

Time to play catch up....

Owen was very curious!
Yummy cake! She has such a sweet tooth!

It's so hard to believe that she's 1 already!

Must see TV

We are very excited to watch Survivor this season because it was filmed in China. Actually it was filmed in the Jiangxi province which borders Lila's province (Hunan) to the east. We can't wait to see more of this beautiful country. We always say that Sean would make a great contestant on the show. I know I wouldn't make it very long!

Three months!!!

I love the sand!

Such a big girl!

Unbelievably, the summer is over. It really feels like it was a dream. The dream of traveling to China to meet our daughter seemed to be for so long just that, a dream. Every morning I wake up to hear Lila cooing or sometimes crying in the room next to us and I realize that dreams do come true. She is such a little bundle of love. She's very affectionate, especially in the morning and after her naps. It's so sweet-one of my favorite things is when she snuggles up close to my neck and pats my shoulder. It's unbelievable to us that she has only been in our lives for 3 months. It's actually 3 months ago today that she was placed in my arms-she was screaming her head off but I didn't hear a thing. What an incredible moment.


Here are some fun facts about Lila in the first 3 months.

• She could not sit unassisted and now she is days away from walking.
• She sleeps all night in a pack and play in the back bedroom.
• She naps twice a day, just like her big brother.
• She adjusted in just a few short days from her China formula mixed with rice cereal (served hot) to regular formula and pretty much anything that Owen eats.
• She has a wicked sweet tooth and a feisty temper. Hmm, sounds familiar.
• She's petrified of TickleMe Elmo.
• She's starting to hold her own in the daily wrestling match with big brother Owen.
• Her first word besides Mama and Dada was: Bucky!
• She just broke her 4th tooth. Her big toothy grin cracks us up.
• She thinks her Daddy is the funniest thing around.

Owen is growing so fast. His vocabulary has exploded over the summer and he pretty much says everything and anything. We really have to watch what we say now. He's only 16 months old but he seems so much older to me now that he's talking. This weekend Sean taught him to say broccoli. It's hysterical to hear him: brock-o-lee. He's also quite the little climber. He loves to nose dive off of our ottomen/toy box onto the couch. I know that he's doing something that he shouldn't be even if I'm not in the room. I'll hear him mimicking me: "Owen, get down" He's scolding himself. It's so funny!

And not to be left out, here are some fun Owen facts:

• His favorite foods are pickles and bananas.
• The first thing he asks for in the morning is his sister: " Yiah, ya" and then..."Bucky"
• He loves the water and could play for hours in the sand.
• His favorite video is: "Elmo and the Wild Wild West".
• He's obsessed with animals of any kind - especially farm animals. Cows are #1.
• We are trying to break him of his Nuk. It's not going to be easy!
• He's VERY dramatic. He's taken over the title of Drama Queen (of course, I was the previous holder)
• He imitates me ALL the time: "No, Bucky, NO!"
• He loves to knock Lila's bottle out of her mouth. He then takes off running!
• He laughs his head off when I try to scold him. This is not good.

I will try to be a better blogger. Life is so different now and I haven't really figured out how to get things done in a timely fashion!

Lovely Lila

Home at last!!!

I can't believe that we've had little Lila home now for almost 2 weeks! Everything has been a blur and this is really the first day that I've had to sit and digest everything. We've all had a difficult time adjusting to the time changes and jet lag but things seem to be working out. The last 2 weeks were full of family introductions and lots of special time with big brother Owen.

Owen absolutely loves his little sister. He kisses her so hard that she falls over! It's adorable. Of course, he's been having a difficult time with having to share time and toys with her. He's had 13 months of our undivided attention so it's been a little rough on him. I'm not sure that he quite grasps the concept that she's staying.

Lila is advancing quicker than I could have ever dreamed. She's sitting unassisted now, she grabs toys, and she scoots around in her walker. Really, it's amazing to see how everyday she gets stronger. I have to attribute that to her Daddy. Sean is excellent with making her work hard for things. He always has her on her tummy and they do "exercises".

She is such an incredibly happy baby. She greets everyone she meets with such a great smile. She is very content sitting, playing and discovering new things. She's very snuggly and loves to be held. It's hard to believe that we've only really known her not even a month. I feel like I've always known her. She fits in perfectly. I have never had such happy days or felt as content as I do with these two gorgeous babies. Enjoy the pictures. Many more to follow.