Fun Photo Shoot

FTIA, the agency we used to adopt Kamryn, always does a calendar featuring all the beautiful children they've helped bring home to their families. The deadline for submitting pictures is this Saturday. Tonight I put Kamryn's flower girl dress on and took her outside for a photo shoot.

Oh No! The big 4-0!

Yep, it's here! And thanks to Melanie for these cute liquored chocolates (okay two are missing, the cheesecake one and the chocolitini) that have helped me get through the day! I am trying to think of this milestone birthday as a gift. It's truly a blessing that I have 3 wonderful children, a great husband, great family and friends and good health. But I still can't help thinking that oh-no, I haven't accomplished this or that. I just want to stop time sometimes . . . wouldn't that be nice?

Kevin surprised me with a very cool diamond watch, a Michele watch. I didn't know that they were so "in" but apparently his female reps have been talking about them. I guess that's one good thing about him working with women. I am no longer hip and do not know what's in except for Crocs and Hannah Montana but can still get hip presents!

We went to the Naperville Riverwalk today with Melanie and the kids and my mom and Aunt Bernice and had lunch with them. We then met Tina and her kiddos for ice cream. Yum, I got nice presents like chocolate, lotion and clothes . . . and got to talk to friends who were nice enough to not rub it in that I am getting older . . . isn't that what every girl wants?

Kamryn's Starting Speech Therapy

Kamryn is a very smart girl. She understands everything we say and can follow directions to a tee, but she doesn't talk. She only babbles and will say one word at a time. Her only sentences are "I do" when she wants to do something by herself or "whereareyou" all slurred as one word really when she is looking for something. Other 2-1/2 year old girls are talking full sentences very clearly. So I recently had Kamryn evaluated by Illinois' Child and Family Connections (early intervention) program. They determined that yes, she is delayed by 30% in expressive speech so she qualifies for therapy through their program. It's not free therapy but a therapist will come to our house once a week until she turns three or doesn't need the help anymore. We are glad to be getting her help so that she doesn't get frustrated and start acting out since she isn't delayed at all in any other areas. I know how to talk, but I'm not an expert at speech therapy so the education will be good for me too. I can't wait to really hear what's on her mind and actually have a real conversation with her.

Day at the Farm

Last Friday we met our Indy playgroup friends at Fair Oaks Farms. It was a great day, and we had such a wonderful time. When the girls first saw each other, there was lots of screams and hi's and hugs. It was very cute. It really seems like they remember each other. I was totally in awe at how big all the girls looked and how they are all talking so well in sentences! At lunch, Anna Li says, "This is my water bottle." Okay, I can't even get Kamryn to put two words together! The boys had fun hanging with Gus and Sam, Anna Li's brothers. I brought frisbees, a football and other outdoor toys so the boys would have stuff to do while the girls played on a little slide and blew bubbles.














We were able to take the bus tour this time to see where they actually milk the cows. It was very interesting how the cows lined up to walk into their little "stall" on this circular milking pad and more interesting to see them back up and out when their duty was over. We all shared the first time experience of seeing a cow give birth. Tess didn't like it all and was very distraught over it. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch as poor momma cow seemed in distress when the whole baby head and front feet came out together. One of the staff actually had to help pull the baby out. Amazing though really, and now it makes this guinea pig birth thing seem like a piece of cake. Still waiting for momma Scooter to go into labor.

I'm so glad that this place is a convenient and fun place to meet. Anyone traveling on I-65 should really check it out sometime. They have a restaurant with awesome grilled cheese and homemade ice cream. That reminds me of something funny one of the boys said after watching the baby cow emerge, "I think I'll skip the ice cream." In fact, no one skipped the ice cream and having the real deal at a dairy farm is indulgence.

Friends In China Right Now

I just added a link on the side of my blog for Journey To Rowan. We met this family through FCC here in Chicago and have spent a couple of days at the Lifetime pool with them before they traveled. Rowan is a doll, and we're excited to have another China baby coming home to a wonderful family!

Catching up

Kathleen & Peter's Wedding

We went to Florida last week for Kevin's sister's wedding. We left on Wednesday and stayed with Dad and Dianne. The boys loved swimming in their pool, and I was relieved that Kamryn did so well in the water too. Maybe those swim lessons at Lifetime Fitness helped:) She was not afraid of the water at all and loved sitting in the little ring.

One of Kath's friends and I had a shower for her on Thursday night. It was fun to get together for a girls night before the big event. We had lots of great food and she got really nice presents. For favors I had made little cards up saying how to flirt with fans and then attached them to Chinese fans. (that's why Kamryn had scissors the other week, she wanted to be like me with scissors) I also ordered fortune cookies with custom fortunes inside all about love with Peter and Kathleen's name and wedding date. Kamryn loved eating these cookies and the Asian sesame mix that Lynn had out.

After the rehearsal dinner we went to Margaritaville at Universal. Then Kathleen and I stayed at the JW Marriott for her last night as a single girl. While we were chatting, we noticed these bird sounds and to me it really sounded like an owl. The room overlooked the pools and there were lots of trees too. When we tried to go to sleep, neither one of us could since then we started hearing other sounds too like crickets. I felt like I was camping inside the Marriott. After a night of restless sleep, while I was in the shower, Kath searched for the tv remote and found that our alarm clock had nature sounds on it and it was on . . . all night long . . . what idiots that we didn't notice that at bedtime.

Kamryn was the flower girl and she RAN down the aisle at the wedding to get to Kevin sitting in the first pew. (At least she made it down without me carrying her.) Since she was running so fast, the rose petals in her little basket fell out along the way. During the procession out of the church after the wedding, she walked with me and the best man and we almost tripped over her as she stopped quick in her tracks to pick up every single petal that had fallen out on the way in. Everyone was laughing because she was so cute.

At the reception, it was more like a cocktail party rather than a sit down dinner. Good thing because the 5 of us were sitting at the table eating, and Kamryn took her fork and started running it through her hair. What made her think of the little mermaid movie at that particular time, who knows. Dinglehopper no, fork yes. (anybody know what I'm talking about? The little mermaid finds a fork in the ocean and her friend bird tells her it's a dinglehopper and humans use it on their hair.)

Kamryn loves her Aunt Kathleen and although this was the first time we've met Peter, she really bonded with him too. She loved being held by him and playing with him. We're all so happy for the happy couple, they really are a match made in Heaven. Friends Visit


Two weeks ago, we drove halfway down to Indy to pick up Julia and Sarah and then brought them back home with us for a few days. The boys were very happy to have them visit. We went to the skate park many times, and they all loved it. We went to this pretty cool restaurant all done in trains. The food is even delivered to the counter where you are sitting by a train. Kamryn loved it but I was informed by the older kiddos that it was too babyish. When we drove back halfway to drop off the girls, Sue gave us the book that Julia wrote in 4th grade so we could copy it. It's called "Moving Away" and it's all about the boys and the friendship that they all share. The book made me very weepy as I was reading it, and I just hope that we all continue to get together so that our friendship stays strong.

Guinea Pig Update

Since we boarded the piggies at a local pet shop during our time away from home, I wanted to make sure that Scooter was indeed pregnant and everything was okay before we left. So Matt and I took her to a different vet the day before our trip and he did a very thorough exam on her. She is still pregnant and doing okay. Doing the math now, I guess she got pregnant while in our care by Brendan's piggie Razor. So the pet shop was wrong, they were not both girls. I was kinda hoping that she would give birth while she was at the pet shop, but no such luck. She's back home now, so hopefully everything with the birth goes okay since it's got to be approaching soon.