Following the Harkness's blog!

Our friends the Harkness's are in China right now. If you'd like to follow their blog, the story is great!

http://cupcakesandhairbows.blogspot.com/

we need help!

we need a catchy title for the blog, but we're not being very creative! If you have any ideas, leave us a comment! thanks!

Happy Gotcha Day, Katie!

Six years ago today, Scott and I became parents! Katie was brought to us on my birthday. What a spectacular gift!! She's been a joy ever since!

it's a miracle!

Katie sitting on Santa's lap, that is! It's the very first time in 6 years that she has willingly gone to see Santa. We have one picture when she was almost 2, but she's on my lap and I'm sitting next to Santa. She even talked to him! Ellie is another story. She hopped right up, and even went back for more! yeah! A picture of our girls with Santa! Hopefully we can continue this as a holiday tradition!

our little angel!

Katie was one of the angels in the church Christmas program. They all did a great job!

One year ago...

On December 7, 2007, we got the call saying our referral was here! This is one of the first pictures of Ellie that we saw (well, she was Ning RongRong back then). In some ways it seems like it was so much longer, but then again, it seems like it was just yesterday. In a year, Ellie has gone from sitting in one place to running amok! She has gone from not being able to hold a bottle to drinking from a real cup (only with close supervision!) She has gone from her buzz cut to a cute little bob! She has gone from constant crying, to letting us know what she wants with words! We still have some of the crying, but it's usually when she doesn't get her way! She's gone from wanting nothing to do with her daddy, to yelling out his name first thing in the morning!
One thing that hasn't changed, is we just love her!!

Tis the season...

That's not our official Christmas card picture, but it shows just how taking pictures with Ellie goes! Katie, Ellie and I enjoyed our first Christmas party Sunday night at Lucy's house. She had a mom and daughter ornament exchange with some yummy snacks to go with it! Katie "stole" a pink poodle ornament for her pink tree in her room, and I got a very cute snowman ornament. Katie loved the idea of stealing! hmmm.... Not to be left out, Scott came and watched football in the basement with Doug and the dog!

Happy Thanksgiving!

No pictures to post, but a lot to be thankful for! We are very thankful that the Randall family is now complete! Hard to believe Ellie has been with us 9 months already! She continues to learn something new just about every day, and Katie is still the best big sister ever! She considers her somewhat pesty sometimes, but that's sisters for you! We are also thankful for a healthy and happy family.

Happy Halloween!

Ellie's first Halloween! She had a great time! She definitely got the hang of putting out a bucket and getting candy! Her favorite request now is for a "pop". (lollipop). It was pretty chilly, so her costume was perfect to keep her warm. Katie ran ahead with the "big kids" so we only saw her for part of the trick-or-treating!

Burt's Pumpkin Farm

This was Ellie's first time at a Pumpkin Farm! She loved checking everything out! It was way too crowded for the hayride, so that will have to wait until next year!

technical difficulties...

We're experiencing some technical difficulties! When I try to download a picture, it comes up in the preview, but shows as a bunch of letters and symbols in the actual blog. If anyone knows how to fix this, let me know! I've searched the help section, but it wasn't much help!

Whhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy???

These are the words we're hearing around our house these days! I'm not sure Ellie quite knows how to use this question, but she says it quite often!!!

Funny Girl!

Ellie now enjoys the "how big is Ellie?" game, and apparently finds wearing Katie's ponytail holder on top of her head pretty fun, too! She won't wear a cute bow, but she'll walk around all day like that! kids!

Potty Training?!?

As we were hanging out in the family room before dinner, Ellie ran over to the baby gate saying "poo poo" and shaking the gate. Just to see what would happen, I opened the gate. She walked into the bathroom and started to lift the toilet seat. So, I took off her diaper and sat her down! She stayed for quite a while and actually did a tiny poop! I handed her some TP, and she "wiped" her bottom! (you have to be a parent to appreciate this story!) After this, we pulled the training potty out of the attic, and she sat on that for a while, and peed! Wheather this will last is anyone's guess!

Feeling Blue?

Not around here! Thanks to the teller at Wachovia, we got blue lollipops! Ellie was extra excited since it was her first!

happy birthday, Scott!

It's a little late, but hey, better late than never! Scott's birthday was actually on Sept. 7th. We spent a relatively quiet day with the family and friends. We had the Klein's over for lunch and cake, and then a family dinner at Dominick's. Yum! Scott got his set of Topps baseball cards, as always!

Katie's First Day of First Grade!

Our baby is growing up!! Monday was her first day of first grade! Hard to believe! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Randall! (no relation) :) We both started at a new school this year. It's called Puckett's Mill. Scott was dissapointed we wouldn't be cardinals anymore! She loves her class, especially since her good friend, Katie L. is in class with her! Our new school starts a bit early, as you can see from the picture, it's not quite daylight yet!! We'll get used to it, I suppose. Ellie is staying with "Nana" who lives in our neighborhood. She loves it there! Here's hoping for a wonderful school year!

Ellie's first haircut!

Well, we were trying to let Ellie's hair grow out, but she wouldn't leave a barette in her hair, so... as you can see in the first picture, those bangs were hanging down on her nose! Bangs it is! They still tend to go off to the side a bit, but maybe when she's old enough to leave something in her hair we can try again! She wasn't too happy about the whole thing in the beginning, but the hairdresser gave her 2 brightly colored combs to hold, so that helped! We think she's cute as a button either way!

new additions to the family (sort of )

Katie had been begging and begging for a hamster, so we got one. Well, it was very unfriendly, so we opted for 2 friendlier gerbils! Their names are Midnight and Cloudy. If you look closely, you can see that cloudy only has three legs! She manages to climb the tower and run on the wheel just fine!

Katie's date with Dad!

Scott and Katie had a date to the Braves game...or should I say the Cardinals game! They played here in Atlanta, but as anyone who knows Scott knows, he was there to see the Cardinals.

Katie had her face painted, ate Italian ice and cotton candy, ran the bases in the kids area, and didn't even complain about actually watching the game! It seems like yesterday that we took Katie to her first game, and she fell asleep! That was 4 years ago! How time flies!!Scott will go again with a friend on Thursday night. Hope they don't get rained out!

Ellie's 1 1/2 birthday!

Since Ellie spent her first birthday in China without us :( , we decided to have her 1 1/2 party instead! My parents were here from Florida, our good friends from the neighborhood, and 3 of the families from our China travel group (the Damron's, Cryer's and Tyrell's) were able to come. It was wonderful to be able to share this with so many friends! Ellie obviously liked the icing best from her cake. She didn't want to touch it with her hands, so she went in face first! I gave her a spoon, but she still just wanted the icing! The picture of the girls on the couch was our remake of the red couch picture we took in China. Not quite as many kids, and not as many tears! Three of the four girls (including Ellie) are from the same orphanage. We'd like to think they remember each other on some level. We hope everyone can join us again in 6 months for her second birthday! :)

Happy 4th of July!

We had a very fun 4th of July! We went to a party in the neighborhood where we had good food, good friends, and fun fireworks! The host of the party had stocked up on fireworks and put on quite a show! Katie stayed inside (not a fan of the noise), but Ellie just watched in amazement! She even sat on Scott's lap for most of it! That's progress for our Mama's girl!

The only down side to July 4th is the fact that I only have one more month until I officially return to school on August 4th. I'll be in before that to set up my classroom, so summer really feels like it's ending for me!

Our trip to NJ...

We took a trip to NJ for two very important occasions... Our niece, Taylor, graduated from high school, and our other neice, Lauren's bridal shower. While we were there, we managed a day on the boardwalk. Katie loved the games and rides, and Ellie loved the pizza! I think it was bigger than her, but so good! We had the entire Randall family for a wonderful dinner. The picture shows all of the cousins together. Scotty, Taylor, Katie, Ellie and Lauren. We also spent two days at the beach, and one day in NYC. We went to the Central Park Zoo, had a real Italian lunch, went to the M&M store, and did A LOT of walking!! It was great to see everyone, but it's always good to come home!

bathing beauties!

Up and running!

Well, sort of... Ellie has begun the task of walking! She can get about 4-5 steps and then she falls. She tries to run, so she tends to get ahead of herself.
Since our summer has begun, we've been to the pool about 3 or 4 times. Thank goodness Ellie loves it! Unfortunately for me, the water is cold (which I don't like) but Ellie can't go in without me! Katie has a great time swimming without her floaties!
We finally have the yard cleaned up. Now we just need to get the fence fixed and a new playset.
That's about all we have to report for now! We'll have pool pictures soon!

Backyard remodel?

Well, the storm we had on Sunday night left us with a new look for our backyard! I heard a loud noise around 3 am, but I figured either the grill or table had blown over. Boy was I surprised when I went to let the dog out! We don't have an estimate for the damage yet. I never was very fond of the playset, anyway!

Ellie's Christening Day

Ellie's Christening was on Sunday, May4th at the First United Methodist Church of Dacula. Reverand Matthew Mitchell did the honors for us. Scott and I first attended FUMC when Katie started going to preschool there. We have met so many nice people at this church! Scott's parents came down from New Jersey for the special occasion.

We enjoyed brunch at Lil' River Grill afterwards. Yum!!

God has blessed us with two wonderful girls.

We couldn't ask for more!

Field Day!

Katie enjoyed her first field day! She did very well at the games and centers. She especially liked the rope climbing and hurdles! Scott and I were able to spend part of the morning with her and her classmates. It was a beautiful day!

new accomplishments..

Well, Ellie continues to surprise and amuse us with her new accomplishments. Here are a few:

she is now crawling on all fours, sitting up from a laying position, pullling up to standing using the couch or our hands, trying to stand up in the middle of the floor, and standing up by herself (if we put her that way) for about 10-20 seconds. I know most 15 month olds do this anyway, but considering she did none of these things just 2 months ago, we're quite impressed! The PT came this week, and said Ellie has made 3 months worth of progress in the last month. WooHoo!

The biggest amazement happened yesterday, when I was on the phone with my mother. I was glad to have a witness! Ellie appeared to be saying "poo poo" and pointing to her bottom. Well, she had actually gone poo poo! I figured it was a fluke, but then she did it again a few hours later! I can't wait to see if she does it today! Whoever thought we'd look forward to changing a poopy diaper!

As you can see in the picture, Ellie decided she needed to eat her cereal today by herself. She used her spoon pretty well, but really liked getting her hands in it!

Oh, and she is also getting a new tooth! It's a back one, so we can't see it, and you have to be quick about feeling it or she may bite you!

Katie and I are winding down to the last month of school! :) She has done such a fabulous job this year! Kindergarten sure isn't what it used to be! Katie is reading and writing close to a second grade level. I love seeing the work she brings home! Even though I teach, I'm still amazed at what these little ones can do. I still think they should play more, but that's another soapbox for me to get on at another time!

It's been a while!

Well, life has been pretty quiet around here, so there hasn't been much to report! I guess that can be a good thing. Ellie is doing great! She wakes up very happy in the morning, but not so happy after a nap. I know I'd be happy with a nap! She is starting physical therapy next week, although she has gone from lying down to a sitting position by herself, and she is pulling herself up while grabbing onto the couch. New progress! Her crawling is more like an inchworm move, so we'll be working on that, then moving to walking. They say they don't like to skip crawling because it develops the right/left brain function, and can lead to problems with handwriting later. I'm a stickler for neat handwriting, so we'll be working on the crawling!

I go back to work tomorrow :( Ellie will be staying with a friend in the neighborhood, so I know she's in good hands! That helps a lot!

Ellie has attended two birthday parties in the last couple of weeks! The first one was with EllaKate at build a bear. She is also from China, and turned three. The next one was with one of her friends from the orphanage, Harper. She turned one. Quite the social butterfly for only being in the US for 7 weeks!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter! The weekend started with the neighborhood egg hunt, which was a lot of fun. Ellie had a couple of eggs handed to her, but she'll get em next year! Katie loaded up her basket in no time! After that, Scott and Katie went to the airport to pick up our niece, Taylor, from New Jersey. How sweet that she wanted to spend her spring break with her little cousins! Taylor and Katie colored easter eggs together!

On Sunday, we went to church, then had brunch at our house with our friends, the Kleins. After that, Katie, Taylor and I went to see Horton Hears a Who. Very cute movie!