Sunday, March 13, 2011

March 12, 2011


Chelsea Meagan models her pretty new prom dress. The prom dress place was a ZOO, but the dress is a great find :)




Congratulations, Chelsea Meagan, on your induction as a 2011 Ohio State 4-H Ambassador on March 12, 2011!!

March 10 and 11, 2011


Emmy with fellow cast and crew members of "The Trial of Goldilocks" at Morrison Elementary on Friday, March 11, 2011.




Emmy, Carson, and Ishan sell "stars" before the show-- March 11, 2011.


Emmy-- March 11, 2011


Ellie-Kate on March 8, 2011

Week of March 6, 2011


Ellie-Kate loves to play on the foam objects during Wee-Wigglers-- March 10, 2011.


Ellie-Kate had a blast on the bikes during Wee-Wigglers on March 10, 2011.



Dr. Seuss Week at preschool was so much fun. Ellie-Kate models her "Cat in the Hat" hat on March 8, 2011.


Ready for my close up!! March 8, 2011

Week of March 6, 2011


Ellie-Kate plays on the foam objects during Wee-Wigglers on March 10, 2011.


Ellie-Kate loves to ride bikes during Wee-Wigglers :)




Dr. Seuss Week at preschool was so much fun!! Ellie-Kate models her "Cat in the Hat" hat on March 8, 2011.




Ready for my close up!! Ellie-Kate on March 8, 2011 :)

More family fun!


Chelsea (with friends Danielle, Hannah, Rachel, and Jonathan) before the AHS "Bootie Mixer" on March 5, 2011.




Hannah, Danielle, Chelsea, and Rachel


Ellie-Kate before her second day at First Friends Preschool-- she loves it!! March 2, 2011


Ellie-Kate adores the bikes and the big gym at her new preschool. She gives a big smile on March 1 before we leave her for her first day.



Special moments...


Ellie-Kate poses with her new backpack and lunch box before her first day at First Friends Pre-School on March 1, 2011.


Emmy celebrates a great basketball season with her fellow "Upward" basketball teammates on Monday, February 28, 20110.


Cooking is so much fun!! Ellie-Kate helps Emmy with her special pita recipe (part of her 4-H food project) on Sunday, February 27, 2011.




Emmy (bottom right) exhibits her "passport" for the Girl Scout World Friendship Day event on Saturday, February 26, 2011. We chose the Phillipines as our country.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Happy 23 month anniversary, Ellie-Kate!!

Hi Everyone--

Today, we celebrate 23 months with our beautiful little girl!! I continue to marvel at how much that she fits so well into our family, how much that she has grown and developed, and how very, very easily that we have bonded. Two years ago at this time, I was anxiously awaiting our travel plans, dealing with the delay due to a massive snow storm on the East Coast and hoping that everything would work out with timing for traveling to China and for my conference in St. Louis. I should never have worried-- God had everything under control-- and still does!!

Twenty-three months ago, we put everything on hold and focused on coaxing our 13 month old baby to smile, eat, sleep, and stand. Today, she's well integrated into the daily blur of our lives. She always wants to know where we're going, who we're going to see, and what we're going to do. As the little sister, she's most often along for the ride as we go to Emmy's basketball games, pick Chelsea up from track practice, or drop the older girls at dance or school. However, she's now the one that gets "dropped" at pre-school on two mornings per week. We're careful to let her know who will be retrieving her and when, and, although she enjoys the experience, she eagerly probes to make sure that Mommy or Daddy will come and get her at the end of the morning.

As Emmy attended a school dance (and sold concessions as a student council member) and Chelsea Meagan went to dance class, Roger and I took Ellie-Kate to dinner at the China buffet and then to the indoor playground in the mall. As she jumped off of objects in the playground, laughing and rolling on the ground, I recalled how hard that it was for her to even sit up after we held her for the first time. Because she was delayed physically, we got to watch as she stood for the first time, crawled for the first time, walked for the first time. Thinking about her effortless movement around the playground tonight, I praise God for allowing us to see all of those firsts AND, most importantly, for allowing her to catch up and to heal so quickly. The little girl with her hips out of place and a hole in her heart can now dribble a basketball better than others years older and dash across a room. If people didn't know, they would never realize that she had been labeled as a "special needs" baby with issues that sounded quite scary on paper.

Thank you, God, for the gift of Ellie-Kate! I think that the month between February 23 and March 23 will always be a time of special reflection for me as I celebrate the precious miracles that happened to allow our safe travel to China and as I praise the addition of this amazing girl into our family.

Hope all is well with everyone! Thanks for caring about our family :)

Christie