Fourth of July continued
We are still having lots of sleeping issues this week. I even asked her teachers to let her read quietly during naptime rather than sleep in hopes that she would be good and tired at bedtime. That does seem to be working so hopefully we are on the way to a better bedtime. I was not ready for her to give up her nap just yet but many kids do at this age and Abby has been showing signs of giving it up for several weeks now.

Anyway, on to the Fourth. Abby and I went to the zoo that day. It was very hot (97 degrees) and very humid but this must have kept a lot of people home because we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was a really fun day despite the heat.



On one visit to the zoo we found out that one of the elephant's name happened to be Dotty. Now Abby always looks for Dotty.



Abby loves these things and will now pose anytime we come across one.



Watching the panda in his air conditioned area.



It was incredibly hot but nothing some dippin' dots wouldn't cure. Neither of us had ever had dippin' dots before. In case we are not the only novices, dippin' dots are little dots of ice cream. A bit odd I guess at first but not bad either.



The petting zoo portion of the zoo has different little "tools" for the kids, like these back scratcher things for the goats and sheep.



And these tractors. Over the years, they have acquired different models of tractors. Problem is, as Abby is indicating here, this model doesn't have any pedals. To make it go means pushing it with your feet.



We rode the carrousel. About 95% of the time, Abby chooses to ride on the bench. The same bench that is generally reserved for senior citizens. Most kids like to ride the animals but Abby definitely prefers the seat.



Abby's view from the senior citizen bench.



That evening we went to the Decatur Fourth of July parade. This is one of the sweetest, funniest, and most endearing parades in the whole country. Pretty much, if you want to be in the parade, well, you just jump in. It is made up of families and kids, a couple of little "bands", a few local policitians, and a few people throwing candy. It lasts all of 22 minutes. We ran into our dear friends the Joyners, or, as Abby calls them, Honey and Grand Doug. Here she is having a water break with Honey.



Snagging candy while standing with Grand Doug. Abby didn't even want to eat the candy. She just liked the collection of it.



Part of the parade. It reminds me of parades we used to watch when I was a kid. Goofy, yes. Fun, yes. Memorable, yes.

Fourth of July
Ok, so I'm a little behind in posting. :-) Between vacation and a very rough transition for bedtime/sleeping through the night/sleeping in one's own bed since we returned, I haven't been able to update. I will write more about the sleeping problems later but I'm hoping that tonight we turned a corner back to normal. I will say that when you have a kid who is normally a great sleeper, it is something that is easy to take for granted. I will not make that mistake again.

Anyway, we had a very fun Fourth of July weekend!

Monday, Abby's school was closed so I took a vacation day. We met my mom and Bryan for lunch.



Later that afternoon we did some serious playing in the backyard.



Drawing with sidewalk chalk.



Playing a litte baseball.



And, of course, hanging out on the swingset.

Back from vacation
We just spent an absolutely wonderful week of vacation in Ocean City, New Jersey. I have lots to write about and lots of pictures to post. It's just not going to happen tonight because a certain little girl is having a rough time adjusting to post-vacation and I just now (at 10:07) got her to sleep. To say it was a rough night is an understatement!

Hopefully she will be back on her normal bedtime by tomorrow. Hey, I can hope, right?

Park and pizza
Two favorite words in our house - park and pizza. Add friends to that and you have an ideal afternoon. The Sunday before the Fourth of July Kris and Avery and Gerri and Corre met at our house. After the girls played for awhile we went to the park. It was (officially) 97 degrees that afternoon in Atlanta although the temperature on the way read 103 degrees and I can attest to the fact that it certainly felt more like 103 degrees.

Anyway, the kids had a great time. I'll let the pictures speak.



Check out that balance!



She loves to climb.



Avery checking out the climbing possibilities.



Corre climbing the wall.



Another way of sitting "on" a bench.



Hot and hungry but still smiling. . .



and dancing. :-)

Finally a rain day
The first 3 weeks of June were totally dry here. As in no rain at all. As fun as it was to be able to be outside every day, the grass and flowers were beginning to beg for any kind of water. Finally on the last Sunday in June, it rained. All day long. The kind of day where you just want to take a long nap. Fortunately, after never going to sleep at all for her nap on Saturday, the rain was just what Abby needed to sleep too. She slept for 2.5 hours!!! She woke up my happy silly girl and we got out the playdough for the rest of the afternoon.



Some friends gave her the barbershop playdough set and we spent a lot of time cutting "hair". I must say it really is fun!



By the end of the afternoon, the playdough was all just a lovely shade of gray. :-) That's what happens when you mix every possible color together many times over.

Library Visit
After breakfast, Abby and I went to the library. Our local library has a pretty nice selection of children's books. Abby likes to look through the books while I select several. Before we left, Abby was dancing and skipping by the door. One of many photo opportunities in any given day.



LIBRARY!!! Here we come!



All ready to go.



Abby and Lucy - both smiling.



The library has a park next to it so we stopped by after checking out our books.



She always wants to climb the rock wall.

The Toddler Wears Pajamas and a Bathing Suit
I was cooking breakfast last Saturday morning. Abby was still in her pajamas and disappeared into her room. After a few minutes she came out wearing a totally self-styled fashion. She found the new bathing suit I had bought her and had decided to put in on (backwards!) over her pajamas. She also went in her closet and put on her sandals (over socks, of course!) The pictures pretty much say it all. She looked so cute!!



Looking so cute in the new pajamas/bathing/sandals/socks combination.



Big hug for Lucy. These girls are the best of friends.



Abby holding her doll named Baby Jack. He is one of her favorites (even though I think he is supposed to be a girl doll, Abby proclaimed him to be a "him").

Celebrating at Saigon Cafe
I have not officially posted it here yet, but in January I began the process to adopt again. This time I am adopting a baby boy from Vietnam. I loved the month I spent in Kazakhstan adopting Abby and would have returned there in a heartbeat if I could. Unfortunately, though, the trip to adopt from Kazakhstan has gotten longer and longer and families are now typically there from 7-8 weeks or they need to make 2 trips. So I began to research other countries and when I found out Vietnam had just opened back up again for adoption, I instantly knew it was where we were meant to go.

For those who don't know, adoption is not for the faint of heart. It is the most incredible experience in the world. The actual process is also one of the most difficult. Very little is in your control and you have to put a lot of faith in others you probably don't even know. But it is hands down the best thing I have ever done. Because of adoption, I am mom to the most incredible little girl in the world.

One of the first major steps required to adopt is the home study. I am working with the same home study agency I worked with for Abby's adoption. I met with the social worker the required 3 times, took all the required training, and completed the first very detailed round of paperwork which included items such as police clearance, medical reports, financial background. This is just a tiny part of the paperwork required for the home study. Once all this first round of paperwork is completed, it makes up the home study. I also had to be fingerprinted by the FBI. Then the home study and the fingerprint results are sent to USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) for approval. For Abby, this approval took about a month but for #2, it took 6 days short of 3 months. The Atlanta CIS office recently moved and replaced 2 officers and were months behind. The wait was a difficult one because up until March, cases had been approved in Atlanta in about 2 weeks.

I finally received approval on June 23!!! When I opened my mailbox and saw that very important envelope from Homeland Security, I was so excited it had arrived! It is a little piece of paper, but a very important piece of paper. This means I am offically on the waiting list for the referral of a baby boy. When my agency (Children's Hope International) tells me, I will have to begin the next round of paperwork which is called my dossier. This is the part of the paperwork that will go directly to Vietnam. I will begin this when I am closer to receiving my referral.

Abby is so incredibly excited about becoming a big sister. She tells everyone that she has a baby brother and that he is in Vietnam right now. She can't wait until we can bring him home. But for now, we have to celebrate the milestones so last Friday night we went to the Vietnamese restaurant near us called Saigon Cafe. We have eaten there before and the food is just delicious!!!

Eating an egg roll at Saigon Cafe. You can see the happy face stickers on her shirt. She decorated her shirt while we waited!

Cheese!!!

So excited to be a big sister!!

More fun with water
Since Abby had so much fun with the water and our yard still needed watering, I decided we would do it right and got Abby dressed in her bathing suit the next night. Meredith was coming over for the evening and she brought her bathing suit too. It was 97 degrees that day and they had so much fun with the hose and then the sprinkler.



Watering the grass a little



Aiming at Meredith



It really is just about the simple things in life.



Two silly girls



Running through the sprinkler.



After the girls were dressed, they went in the playroom to play. It looks like they are beginning a game of poker. Actually Abby is wearing the free Atlanta Journal Constitution visor she got at the Braves game and they are putting together puzzles.



Abby loves puzzles and is pretty good at them too. These puzzles are great for 3 year old kids. They have 25 pieces and are just challenging enough.



While I cooked dinner, Meredith read books to Abby.



Meredith also read bed time books to Abby. Two sweet girls!

Finding a way to keep cool
Georgia had an incredibly dry June. As in we went a solid 3 weeks without so much as a drop of rain. I finally got out the hose so Abby and I could at least water our flowers before they died. I also let Abby water the grass a little. While we were outside, our neighbor Pete came over to chat and while he was over, Abby managed to get herself really wet with the hose. So I just took off her shoes and and let her get completely wet. She had the best time and was laughing and giggling the whole time.



Ready to make another run through the water.



Somehow it is even more fun getting wet in clothes.



Not only singing in the rain, but dancing too!



Water, water everywhere...



She just kept running around and around. Pure, blurry happiness.