Lots of Faces

On Saturday evening, we were at a wedding and Jada started to have a reoccurrence of her stranging issues.  I wondered why and it continued into Sunday.  As I downloaded pictures on Sunday night from our weekend, I think I may have discovered the reason!  We had a weekend full of visitors and a wedding!  It may have been a lot for the girls, but we were so glad for each visitor.

Aunt Kris came on Friday.

We went to the park and the girls used Aunt Kris like a jungle gym.  Adia found her leg particularly appetizing and amused herself for more than 20 minutes by blowing loud bubbles on her leg. 

She did a great job of holding still, I am too ticklish for this.

Adia comes up for air…

On Friday night, a wonderful family came over for dinner.

They are starting an orphanage in Southern Ethiopia for Mingi children.  We were so encouraged in their work and our hearts broke for the plight of the mingi children.

Their daughter is a day apart in age from J & A.

We also have great neighbors!

and the kids love babies!  So fun!

To wrap up the weekend, we had more visitors! 

Jon and I actually went out for a date!  I was kind of nervous, but we got something to eat while we had 4 very willing babysitters. :)

Sculpture Saturday

 

Oh wait!  That isn’t a sculpture, it is just some creepy mannequin that the antique shop has let out on the square all summer.  

“But wait Officer, we weren’t double-parked!”

Where the Wild Things Are…

Yes, that is right, we tried the zoo again!  Our best zoo day, yet! The weather was cooler, the girls are a little older and better at finding the animals and we started with good naps!

 

Tiff met us and we began our trek in the African Journey, where the animals were up close and personal!

 

They may be little, but they both want to drive!

 

Giraffes are may favorite animal, but I must admit…

This one came out of nowhere and completely startled me!

The girls were unfazed, both Jada and Adia tried to get him.  We kept our distance as the giraffe-keeper said he could be aggressive in swinging his head.

The girls could find the animals this time and loved watching them!  Adia was enamored with the zebras.

  

Both of the girls liked the drums.

I am amazed how brave the girls are.

We maybe would have stayed longer with the goats if…

They weren’t trying to eat us!

Whew! I am feeling much better now that I know the girls just might be zoo lovers after all! We just need to go when it is below 87 degrees.  :)

Just Like Christmas

I heard a quote the other day to which I gave a hearty “AMEN”.  “When parenting, the days are long, but the years are short.” Yesterday, kind of out of the blue, Jon said, “You know, having the girls is like having Christmas every day”.  I smiled, agreed and thought about all the sweet, endearing things the girls do day-to-day.  I also thought, “Jon isn’t home with the girls everyday!  It isn’t just all giggles and sweetness around here”! 

 

I woke up this morning, remembering the line about Christmas and prayed that God would give me the grace to just enjoy the girls and chuck my to-do list (that I never get done anyways) out the window. 

 

We blew bubbles, read, sang, ate an extra serving of fruit (they think it is candy), cuddled and and I stopped to just bask in the delightfulness of two babies discovering the world..

I enjoyed the way Adia kisses herself in the mirror and blows bubbles…

And the killer way that Jada’s hair is coming in…

And their delight with a new toy…

And the way that Adia is catching up to Jada in her mobility, both on the verge of crawling away…

And the way they interact…

And the way that Jada always finds that blue ring and tries to put it on her head…

And the way Adia has started to tilt her head when she smiles…

And the way I hear Jada say, “dad” and Adia say “bob” all day.  (We are still working on making “mama” their go-to noise)…

When Jon was done with work, we finished the day with Blueberry Pomegranate Swirl Chocolate Chunk ice cream cones and enjoyed the beautiful evening. 

As I rocked them, I looked deep into their big, dark brown eyes and thought, “I wouldn’t trade this for the world”.

I guess it did feel a lot like Christmas. 

Bathtime!

We LOVE our bathtime!

Highlighting an Adoption Resource:

I realize that a majority of our blog readers are families who are interested in adoption.  I have decided to highlight some different and helpful resources that we have found. Celebrating Adoption (http://www.celebratingadoption.org/) is a great organization that donates a free photo session for familes that have adopted within the past year.  We were already gifted a photo session from Jenna Stoller (http://andyandjenna.com/blog/) and we are so excited! 

 

If you go to the celebrate adoption website, you can find a link with photographers from your state who will donate a photo session for your family.  There is also a link where photographers can join the force to become one of the state’s photographers.  A really cool organization!

It Felt Like Vacation

Yes, we are back and that is the end of our vacationing for awhile.  :(  We went to Wolf Lake with Jon’s family and it was a great week.  It felt like a vacation!  Jon was able to be there the whole time and through the whole time with my family at Lake James, the girls apparently decided that they LIKE people.  Which, I am so thankful for, it makes it so much easier to be in group settings!

Jon also gave me a “night vacation” meaning he took care of everything girl related in the night, the pack-n-plays were on his side of the bed and I slept uninterrupted for nights in a row.  It. was. blissful.

Some snapshots from our week:

The girls loved the water and the sand!  Unfortunately, they loved the sand a little too much and wouldn’t stop eating it.  Lots of it. 

 

The girls also had 3 cousins to play with and their toys!

and there were many willing hands to help out…

I probably should break this post up into two, but here are some more fun shots: