Olivia is 3 today!!!

A friend of mine made her cake for her and Livi had friends and family over for her third birthday party today. She was SO excited. She has been talking about it for two weeks. It was so fun this year. Last year she had only been with us for two months and she didn't really know what a birthday was. This year by the time her birthday came around again she had been to a few birthday parties and she was waiting for HER cake. And in the words of Olivia..."It is beautitul!" (PS: that is not a misspelling on my part for beautiful.)

BTW

Update...
My kitchen is totally done now. When I get the chance I will post a picture of it (gotta clean it first) :)

Also, Livi is doing great on the potty issue. She hasn't wore a diaper since she "went" in the toilet a couple weeks ago and she hasn't had an accident either. She is also VERY self sufficient. She goes all by herself and wants/needs NO help.

Our New Toy

Here are a couple pictures of our new toy.....

We got a really good deal on a used camper so we decided to splurge and get it. We are going on our first camping trip this weekend. If I remember to take my camera there will be more pictures to come.

The evasive poo

We finally have accomplished the last potty training hurdle. We have conquered the "poo" issue. Livi was doing great with staying dry but I believe she was having a mental block on the poo issue. A couple days ago she was caught in the act and was rushed to the bathroom and FINALLY had made an accomplishment! YEAH! Ever since then she has been dry and poo free. Just like that. Day and night. She is so proud of herself. Now if she could just get over having to tell everyone. I am sure all the people we passed in Menard's the other day were not as impressed as she was that she had "pooped in the toilet and now wants a treat". But she thought it was her duty to tell them all anyway. I am sure this too will pass. *sigh*

Living in a mess

Well after wanting to tackle this project for quiet a while I finally dove in and decided to redo my kitchen. Not MAJOR renovations. Just new paint, countertops and flooring. Well you know how those things go. One thing leads to another. Hee, hee.

Okay so Spring Break week I start by stripping wallpaper and I repaint the kitchen.

Then this last weekend we have to tear the old flooring out to make way for the new flooring.

Well it didn't go so well, and we ended up having to take all the base cabinets out too (to repair the toe kicks that fell apart). Also, the old flooring went underneath the old cabinets so they really needed to be taken out to remove the old flooring. NOT what we had planned on doing at all.

Also, the countertops came in....problem is the one that the sink goes into was damaged. That means we had to reorder it. Fine, BUT we had to take the old sink out cause we had to get that cabinet out. So now I will be without a kitchen sink for 1 1/2 weeks while we wait for the new coutnertop to come in. UGH!!!

On the bright side, my new flooring is being put in today. Soooo, tonight all the rest of my cabinets, fridge and stove should be put back in place. (God willing!)

My husband HATES my projects. I always say.."But honey, I am ONLY gonna do ______." He says it NEVER turns out to be an only anything.

By the way...this is what my dining room looks like right now.

More pictures to come. :)

Not to be outdone by her little sister.....

Morgan decided to get 5 inches cut off of her hair last night.

Before.....

After....

Easter Morning

Morgan was our "Easter Bunny" and hid the eggs and treats for Livi. She had a blast looking for the eggs and really got into the fun. (Because of 30 degree weather and snow, we had an indoor egg hunt).

Doing the Easter Egg thing....

This is the second year Livi has gotten to do Easter Eggs but by far it is much more fun. Her enthusiasim is awesome and contagious. Everything she does is a whole new adventure and one to totally cherish. It almost makes you feel like a little kid again.

I said I wouldn't do it......

Before....

During.....

After...

Livi's Curls

Livi wanted her hair curled for church today.....

Gotcha Day Celebration

We celebrated Olivia's Gotcha Day by going out for a Chinese

Buffet. A great time was had by all. Livi was in heaven....she got to have her favorites: noodles, rice and ice cream.

Gotcha Day Anniversary!!

One year ago today our sweet little Olivia Guan was placed in our arms. WOW! What an amazing and powerful day that was. Olivia was sooo, upset cried and cried when they handed her to me. She was dressed in a snowsuit and a couple of layers of clothes and was sweating profusly. After about 10 minutes she quit crying but little did we know at that point she pretty much just shut down for the next couple of days and only went through the motions of surviving. It took several days for us to see some of her personality start to poke through. Within a week of us getting back home she was a totally different child and almost had an attitude of "It was about time, I had been waiting for you for almost two years!"

I read so many books on adoption and attachment before our trip to China and Michael and I were really unsure of what to expect and what exactly we were getting ourselves into. We have been so blessed! After one year we have had no attachment issues with Olivia and no problems. We have been amazed beyond belief. She has totally fit into our family and blossomed into a beautiful toddler that delights all that meet her.

This morning I walked into the kitchen where she was eating breakfast with daddy and I said "Happy Gotcha Day Livi!" and I gave her a big kiss. She said "Thank you for gotcha me, mommy."

The pleasure has been all mine kiddo!

PS: Click here for our actual gotcha day.

Ready for Church

Newfound picture of Livi

I belong to a yahoo group that is made up of families that have adopted from or are in the process of adopting from Olivia's orphanage. There is a really neat woman (LeeAnn) on this list that has adopted from Guilin and is in China NOW adopting a son from a different orphange. She is however the coordinator for the foster families for Olivia's orphanage so she is visiting Guilin first. She was there in May of 2005 (Livi was just turning one that month) and she took a bunch of pictures of the kids that were there. She just recently posted these pictures on the group for all of us to look though. I was clicking quickly through the pictures ooohing and aahing over the cute kids not expecting to see anyone I knew.I opened this picture and my heart did a double beat. I quickly grabbed the couple other pictures I have of Livi close to this age and I am 99% positive it is Olivia. I emailed LeeAnn, and she even remembers Olivia. She said she was in the baby room and was being moved to the toddler room the next day. She said she was quiet but VERY observant to everything and everyone. It just seems so surreal to me to find this picture and then to chat with someone who got to meet Livi 10 months before we did!

My Baby Boy is Legal!

Evan turns 21 today. Does that make me old? Heck no! I have a two year old at home. I felt older when he turned 18. When he turned 18 I thought "Oh no, now anything he does he can be tried as an adult for" now that he is 21 I think "Thank God he is now legal." HAHA!

Realization

This morning I went to our small town post office. I had Olivia with me and we were standing in line. Okay, I was standing in line and Olivia was kinda dancing around. Another woman came in behind me and was standing in line. I noticed she had a little girl with her, about 4, who was also from China (I knew she was Asian, the mom did tell me later she was from China). Anyway, Olivia was be-bopping around and when she caught sight of this little girl she stopped and just started staring at her. After about 2 minutes she looked up at me and said "Mama, like me. Like me." as she pointed to the little girl. I was shocked. That was the first time she had ever taken notice that she looked different and that she noticed someone else that looked like her. Now we have another little girl at church from China and we have gone out for Chinese food many times but this was the first time she really took notice of the similarities. (The other little girl was facinated by Olivia too and even gave her a piece of gum.) It was a pretty cool morning and more proof that little miss smarty pants (I say that lovingly) is growing up.

Dinner with Livi & Dora

I was reading a magazine the other night and looked up to see this setting. Olivia had set up a little "table" for dinner for her and Dora. These days not much happens without Dora being involved one way or another.