5 Month Gotcha

She was supposed to be taking a nap, when I checked on her this is what I found

Chillin' out in her chair from Papa

Today we celebrated having Anna for 5 months. I cannot believe it has been 5 months. Time has flown by. Everyday she amazes me more and more. She is learning to sign a number of words which is helping her be able to communicate until her palate is fixed.

We went to Shriners a couple of weeks ago and they are going to do her surgery. They are supposed to call us this week with a date for surgery. I'm ready to know when it is so I can mentally start preparing for this new part of our journey with Anna. I know once she has the surgery her vocabulary is going to take off. She already tries so hard to talk most of which is not understandable but once she has a palate and can form some of the consonant sounds that she is incapable of doing now, she'll just soar.

Our neice Kathryn is here for a few days before Anna's party and she is such a big help with Anna. Anna really loves her and is having a blast with Kathryn. We all are. Happy 5 month Gotcha Anna Banana......We love you sooooo much.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Birthday America!!! This has been a wonderful 4th of July. Our first with Anna and Anna's first as a US citizen. We have so much to be thankful for. We went to a waterpark in the area and had a terrific time! Anna had so much fun. We played and splashed for most of the day. We then came home, grilled out and played with sparklers. Anna thought they were really neat. The only one to get burned was me...........at least it wasn't Anna. It was my fault for grabbing the sparkler on the wrong end. Nothing too bad just a little burn. We forgot to take the camera so unfortunately no pictures from the water park. But here is Anna sporting her new do for Independence Day. Happy 4th Everyone.

Happy Birthday Anna

My little super star

Oooh this is some good stuff

"Thanks, mommy"

"Baba, you should try this. It is good"

"I like birthdays"

"Wow, I'm 2!!"

We are in Chicago and having a wonderful time. Traffic here is crazy, reminds me of China some. We found Lincoln Park Zoo today and went around the zoo. It is a nice zoo. Anna enjoyed it. The weather was very pretty. We then attempted to find our hotel. It took us a while but once we purchased a city map we were good to go. Our room is really nice. It has a kitchen, a living area and then a bedroom.

We went to Gino's Pizza for dinner. We had the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. It was very, very good. We have a ton of it left. Can someone say lunch tomorrow. We then found a grocery store and got cupcakes for Anna's birthday. She loved it. I mean loved it. She gobbled it up. She has such a sweet tooth. We brought a few gifts with us for her to open. She really liked the gifts. She is such a sweet, sweet baby....well I guess I should say little girl now that she is 2. It is hard to believe. She was 13 months old when we got the referral and now she is 2. Time sure flies when you are so blessed.

Happy Father's (Baba's) Day

I cannot say enough about how wonderful a father Scott is to Anna. Anyone who knows us, knows she adores him. She lights up every time she sees him. When he comes through the door, getting home from work, she runs to him and he grabs her up and they give each other the biggest bear hug. My heart is full when I see the love they have for each other. I remember when we were going through infertility and then waiting for the adoption to happen, one of the main things I wanted to see was Scott as a daddy. I knew he would be a good one but he is so much better than I even thought. It is clear he loves his little girl with all his heart. Happy Baba's Day honey. You're the best!!

Summer Fun

We got to go to Florida this past weekend and let Anna have her Pensacola debut. She was a hit if I do say so myself. We had a wonderful, busy, fun-packed weekend. Saturday my family threw Anna a birthday party and a lot of family that hasn't seen her yet got to come and meet her. She had a ball. She loved the cake. I'll get some pics on here soon. Then Sunday we went to my home church and many ladies who have prayed and prayed got to see our little miracle. She had a good time at Sunday School. We then got the opportunity to go boating with my sis and her family. Anna had so much fun. She did great. We boated for a little while and then we found a secluded beach and got out and played. It was so much fun and Anna really loved it. We came back home yesterday just in time to get ready for our trip to Chicago. We leave Sunday. Anna's appointment is Wednesday. It is all day like 8-6. Please pray that it goes well, that Anna isn't too upset from having to be seen by doctors all day and that they can do her surgery and do it soon.

4 Month Gotcha Day

Bike riding

Posing for the camera Haha

Today we celebrated having our sweet Anna for four months. That is hard to believe. In so many ways it feels like we have had her since her birth. She continues to amaze us everyday with how sweet and smart she is. She has now learned to jump and that means jumping on the bed :). While the responsible mother in me says she shouldn't do that she might get hurt, the little girl in me remembers how much fun it was to jump on the bed so I sometimes let her do it.

VBS is this week at church and Anna went to her first VBS today. She had a great time. I peeked in on her once and of course she was doing her favorite thing.....eating. We are enjoying our summer. It is going too fast. But it is a blast.

Picture parade

We got a new camera Saturday and we have been having fun figuring it out. I love it because it takes pictures continuously without pausing in between so I can catch all those Anna moments that she won't sit and pose for. Enjoy the pictures.