Build-A-Bear Trip

The long-awaited trip to Build-A-Bear finally came today! Sarah is not one to watch much television. This is a good thing...except when I need to get something done and need a temporary diversion! The only thing she really loves to watch on television is her DVD of "Big Bird in China." We have been talking about going to Build-A-Bear for some time. Our good friend Kathi Gilmore has been in town and she wanted to treat the girls to this building experience. Sarah absolutely loved getting her Big Bird! Lily enjoyed the building process, too! She now has a new friend that she has named "Barkley." When we returned, big brother Dane was reading to the girls so I'm including that as well.

Hunting, a birthday and a post-placement

Well, I can't say that hunting has been something I have given much thought to....until the boys got to be a bit older. No one in my family ever hunted so I didn't know much about it. No one hunted in Tom's family either...unless you count killing those pesty groudhogs that invaded the crops every year...they were fair game. I took the boys to a hunter education course several years ago down at Anglers Paradise. I made sure to remind the boys that their mom scored higher on the exam than both of them! As interested as they were in hunting, we just never made connections for them to actually go. Our church started a new outreach this year focusing on several outdoor adventures. We allowed all three of them to go. The first meeting was target shooting. I knew they were in safe hands with this bunch of guys. They paired up the boys with a seasoned hunter for the youth day only deer days. I was out of town visiting friends in Charlotte when I got the first call from Tyler. He was 90 yards out and shot his first buck...a seven point. He was pretty psyched. Me? Well, I was just wondering how I was going to cook venicen. TJ was excited for his brother, but disappointed that he didn't get one. Dane took a shot at one, but missed. I was surprised that TJ decided to miss the Ohio State/Michigan game in order to take one more try at getting his first deer. Well, he got an eight point! He was excited, too! Me? I'm checking out recipes on the internet. Anyone wanting to come to dinner in the next year....BEWARE!!!

On another note, Tyler turned 14 today! Fourteen years ago I found myself overdue and rather uncomfortable. I settled in for what I thought was going to be another weekend of waiting. That Friday night I was enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (with a glass of milk) when I felt something start to happen. I told Tom that I thought it was time. I called the doctor and he recommended that I wait until morning. Tom decided he would just go on to bed. Within the hour I got Tom out of bed and was at the hospital. I went through six hours of labor and an emergency c-section at 6:00 a.m. to welcome....Tyler Dean Alexander! Happy Birthday, Ty!

And finally, we had our six-month post-placement with our Social Worker today. I can hardly believe that it has been six months since we got our hands on Sarah! It seems like we've had her much longer than that. She is truly a joy. She has come a long way since we first came home. I remember the first few weeks she would often look down and fiddle with her fingers as if she was so shy. Well, shy she isn't!

Photos: The one of Tyler is this years (8th grade) photo from school. I've included a picture of the boys with their catches from deer hunting on Saturday.

Noodles and Tea

Well, the girls enjoy sitting down for a little of their favorites....noodles and tea. When things get crazy and I want a quiet moment, it seems like tea time works!

Lily's Celebration of turning three years old!

We had some friends over tonight for a rather informal celebration of Lily turning three. Her birthday is actually this Friday, the 17th, but we have some plans and couldn't schedule a celebration this weekend.

It is amazing to see how much Lily has changed in the two years that we have had her! She brings a great deal of joy to our family. We don't have family close so it is nice to have good friends to share in celebrations like this.

Tonight we looked at pictures of the boys when they were all three years old. It seems like yesterday. We really only have them for a short time, don't we? We are a blessed family.

Jesus Loves Me...sung by Lily

We celebrated Lily's third birthday tonight. After most of our guests left, she allowed me to video tape her singing "Jesus Loves Me." Enjoy.

Lily's Haircut

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

I'm just practicing with this program and thought I'd see how it turns out. These are more photos of our night going Trick or Treating.

Kathy

What a difference two years will make!

Two years ago today we sat in a room with 12 other couples who would be getting their little girls at the same time that we got ours....our Gotcha Day for Lily! It was not a huge fanfare by any means, but a moment that will never be forgotten by either Tom or I. The process of adopting from a foriegn country is an interesting journey. What begins with chasing paper after paper to add to a dossier eventually leads to a referral. The difficult part of the journey is when you know the facts about your little girl..her looks, her birthdate, her location, her size...and yet you can't touch her or hold her. That was a long eight weeks! The room we were in was too small for so many people considering everyone had a camera, video camera and bags! At the moment they handed Lily to us....no one else existed in that room! That was our mement! We celebrate that day today! We love you, Lily!