Kerry had a wonderful first Christmas home, and we had a wonderful first Christmas with our girl. She got way too much stuff from everyone (including Mommy and Daddy) but she's had a blast playing with her new things, especially her new kitchen. I had so much fun just watching her. And to think, last Christmas, we didn't even know that there was a 9 month old baby girl in an orphanage in southern China, who this year would be calling us Mama and Daddy, and making a wonderful mess of our living room =).

She was so into her kitchen we had a hard time persuading her to open anything else for the longest time, but she finally did, and quickly decided that this classic FP cash register (remember those) was pretty cool, too.

and this rocking horse...

and this doll stroller..

She got an art easel with a chalkboard on one side, and a marker/magnetic surface on the other side. She had other ideas for what to do with the little magnetic letters that came with it. I don't know where she comes up with this stuff...and, no, I don't use toe separators when I paint my toenails.

Kerry got her first real taste of Christmas tonight. We spend Christmas Eve with Dougs parents, his sister and her husband, and their daughter, Sydnie, eating dinner together and opening gifts.

a little pre-dinner piano music

Nana and Papaw got Kerry this beautiful, Amish-made rocker. She has a big rocking chair in her room and she loves to climb up into it and make it rock with all her might, so this smaller one was a big hit.

Of course, there were lots of other presents for her, too. I think everyone wanted to spoil her a little for her first Christmas home.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Christmas goodies with Grandma and special guests

The past few years, my Mom and I have gotten together to make Christmas goodies. One of the things we make are super simple white chocolate covered pretzels. We melt almond bark and white chocolate morsels, dip pretzels in them, then spread them out on wax paper to harden . This year, I had a little helper =). This is one of the little things that I am so grateful to finally be able to share with my own child.

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You may remember my looooong time friend, Jessica, and her little boy, Jamey, from previous posts. She and her husband came up to visit with Jamey and their newest addition, 3 month old Joshua. This was my first opportunity to meet Josh and their first time meeting Kerry. It was pretty special to finally have our three little ones together. One of the highlights was piling our three and their carseats into Jess's new Niss*an Quest and driving around looking at Christmas lights until they fell asleep, then going home to tuck them in to bed . We did the same thing last year, with only Jamey, and talked about the day when we could add mine to this little tradition. Jess learned soon after that she'd have another to add to the mix, this year, too.

Yes, those are matching pajamas (we couldn't resist) =)

We took whatever photos we could get from two little imps and one unhappy baby.

isn't he adorable?! He's as squeezable as he looks, too.



He's not thrilled with the bath, but looks like he's resolved to just accept it,anyway.

They shared their toys pretty well, for the most part =)

6 months ago today

6 months ago today, our lives were changed by the bravest, most beautiful, most amazing 15 month old girl. Looking back, I can see how stunned and bewildered she initially was by her new situation. She didn't cry, though, when she was given to us.

It took no time at all for her personality to shine through, and today she is fiercely bonded to us, and we to her. She is our silly, sweet, smart, stubborn, spicy, happy little girl, and we have never been so blessed as the day she was placed in our arms.

We recently had some professional photos done by local photographer, Laura Chism. We are very happy with the way they turned out. Definitely Christmas card worthy photographs.

The child I love more than life itself..

With cousin Sydnie






Our happy little family



Hmmm..It's funny how much taller I look in photographs than I actually am. (I'm just under 5'2)

How is it that all little girls seeem to be born knowing how to play "tea party". Even at 21 months, Kerry does the fake sip accompanied by "mmmm". It's so funny.

This wooden table and chair set was mine as a child. It was a gift from my Grandma for my third christmas way back in 1977.

As you might be able to see in these photos, she has her Daddy wrapped securely around her tiny little finger.

She is such a little monkey.

She makes me nervous sometimes with her little stunts...

This past Saturday we went downtown to the Louisville Science Center with our wonderful neighbor Amanda and her son D J. Kerry adores them, in fact "D J" was the first name she learned to say, besides "Mama" and "Dada" at least. Amanda and I wanted to see the new Titanic exhibit and for the kids they have KidZone.



This has been in front of the building since I was a child

Kerry loved this interactive water exhibit.

She was soaked in no time. Luckily they had little warm air hand dryers set up so I just took her shirt off and put it under the dryer for a few minutes and she was good to go.

She loved "driving" the city bus. Just look how far her little feet are from the pedals.

Kerry and DJ playing at the grocery checkout stand

This was a demonstration of the immune system's response to bacteria and viruses. She loved the moving graphics.

Bubbles are one of her favorite things in the world, so she was tickled to death to be inside of one.

Even when it popped and splashed her face a bit

D J is always so good with her.

The museum is right on the river. Notice how she just had to climb the cables like D J. She's really into climbing everything and also likes to use anything as a balance beam. I see gymnastics classes in our future.

Sound asleep on the ride home.