It's so hard to be mad at this face...

"Mommy, I get your lipstick out your purse. I need to go to timeout?"



"Yes... but hand me my camera first."




Then she literally said, "Take my piture like this!" and INTENTIONALLY made this pose:


D.I.V.A.

Donner, Blitzen, Comet, and...Snowflake?

We met Santa's live reindeer tonight. Well, two of them. Comet {who had a broken antler =( } and... Snowflake. Lol. Try explaining that one to your 5-year-old smartypants. We decided Santa had to have "spare" reindeer just incase one gets sick or hurt, like Comet. So Snowflake must be one of his extras. Ahem, right?

Our friend, April, just told us about it this afternoon so we decided to load up and head that way. April, Aidan, and Ava Lou just happened to be in line a few people in front of us, so that worked out well! The girls loved it, Cale decided he didn't want to particate... again. I didn't even attempt to persuade him.




Don't they look like 2 sets of twins? I have thought that Layla and Aidan favor since they were babies...


It was a really cute idea! I couldn't believe there weren't more people up there to see them!

More yuck.

The stomach flu has reached Kyrgyzstan. We had to Skype with a trashcan between us last night. It was not pretty.

At least we know it only lasts 24-36 hrs.... silver lining?

Christmas Cuties

Random point and shoot snapshots that I've been meaning to post...

The first are the kids pre-Santa disaster:



This is last week when we were getting Layla ready for school on "Grinch Day", when everyone was supposed to wear green. They watched the movie and did all sorts of fun things...
But my kids were very silly with anticpation that morning!




And Layla before her class Christmas party, holding the gift bag she made for her teacher :)
She looks so big here!


Last week, the kids were slightly out of control. Slightly. But the last few days, they have been sooooo good! It's a Christmas miracle! The twins don't really get the cause/effect Santa thing so threats don't work. In fact, I said to Cale at one point, "Son, if you aren't obedient, Santa may not bring you choo-choo trains and racecars..." and he said, "Mommy, look at this smile!" and then grinned as big as he could. Charmer.

I think they just knew I needed a break. I took all three of them shopping for over 4 hrs by myself on Saturday. They were up late Friday night at Nonie and Pap's, so I knew they'd be tired, but it had to be done. They were GREAT. After 4 hrs, loading/unloading at five different stops, including a very crowded mall, Brynn only had two minor meltdowns and Cale only laid in the floor once :) (That's his new thing... when he's not getting what he wants, he falls in the floor and pretends to be asleep, and he will stay there a LONG time! It's pretty impressive actually. He did it the other night while I was Skyping with Nathan so he got to see him in action. Here we are, talking on the webcam, and there's our little boy just laid out in the floor in the background for about 3 minutes. Hysterical.). Back to our weekend... Sunday, we went to church, strait from there out to lunch where the kids were EXCELLENT. They were so well-behaved and well-mannered, and we hurried from there to see The Princess and The Frog- finally! They all sat in their seats like cute little giggly angels, danced when the music moved them, until the little ones fell asleep about 3/4 of the way thru. Layla's eyes were lit up the entire time! Even today, we had to run a few errands, including one last stop at Walmart and the three of them held hands and sang Christmas songs the whole way thru the store! I had a handful of people stop to tell me how precious they were! If that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!!!

Nathan gets to have 1 1/2 birthdays bc of the two timezones :)
Technically, his birthday in Kyrgyzstan started yesterday at noon our time. It's kind of our "thing" that I tell him 'Happy Birthday' at exactly midnight ON his birthday so I can be the first to say it (started when we were youngsters). Since it was lunchtime here and midnight there- and he was working- I text/emailed him at 12:00 on the dot, the best I can do with our limited communication. Sometimes, depending on the post he is working, he can check his email though and I knew he'd be looking for it.

He was on patrol though, with no internet access, but being the sweetheart that he is, he called me a few minutes later JUST so I could tell him Happy Birthday first before anybody over there remembered. How cute is he? After his shift, he was going with the Chief and several others to deliver the boxes and boxes worth of goodies to the children at the school (aweeeesome).

The plan, then, was for him to come back and Skype me. I had mailed him a chess pie (his fav) and saved one for myself so that we could eat them "together" on his birthday. I guess going to the school took longer than expected (must have been FUN!) bc I never heard from him. But today is his U.S. birthday so we get a whole 'nother day to celebrate!! We will try for the pie again I assume (he's off today!) and he promised to take lots of pics with the kids and email those and hopefully get permission to share with you all!

Brynn has sung Happy Birthday to Daddy 237 times already, hopefully he will get to hear that later as well :)
** She sings Happy Birthday 237 times EVERY DAY - it is her absolute favorite song- but yesterday and today she actually has a name to enter in the middle!

So thankful for my hubs and his 28 years :)

P.E.A.C.E.

~Christmas Card 2009~

comfort and joy

Nathan finally has internet in his room! And it is awesome.
He's plugged in, so our conversations aren't cut short by a dead battery; I don't have to watch him sit out in the cold and shiver. In fact, he's chillin' on his bed in his new PJ pants Beth, William Carl, and Amy sent him!



It's sooo nice and EASY. Way more comfortable for him and less frustrating for us. LOVE IT!

Also, for those we haven't had a chance to talk to... he has gotten all of the packages we have been sending for the school (he has all the ones that I know of that were mailed) and there are SO many! Seriously... a ridiculously incredible amount (so cool!) that he is going to have to have a separate vehicle JUST for the packages his family and friends have provided! Is that not amazing?! AAANNNND Nathan gets to take them to the children himself (with help)! How cool is that?! He is really, really excited. You all are so awesome to done so much for these kids. Nathan is blown away by your kindness. I know he has at least attempted (or is attempting) to get in touch with those as he can to say Thank You...

This is amaaaazingggg.

Santa FAIL

I realize the picture is very blurry, but everything happened so fast! I whipped out my phone and this was as close as I could get to portraying our Santa visit, lol. It was quite comical! ALL DAY Cale talked about going to see the Big Guy. He was pumped. I was going to skip the whole thing this year bc I know my kids. But poor Layla just knew if she didn't go see him and tell him personally what she would like for Christmas, then he wouldn't get it to her. So... off we go. OF COURSE, we arrived during Santa's break and OF COURSE, we waited in a 40 minute line after his return. By the time we got up there, one had to pee, one was starving, the boy had never napped and it was a disaster waiting to happen. Whatcha gonna do, really?

So the girls jump up on his lap with pretty little smiles, ready and waiting. Cale.... yeah. Not so much. The lady picks him and sits him in a chair in front of Santa. You see how that went. He was flailing about- "I not do it", "No piiiicccttuuuuress." The people in line waiting were CRACKING UP. Then he realize he had their attention... He finally sat up, but he tucked his knees to his chin and covered his face. They all laughed again so he turned and growled at them. This BOY.

We finally told him it was over and off we go. Then he panicked. "I not tell Santa I want a choo-choo traaaaaiiiinn!". So I told him to hurry and he RAN back to Santa with those big brown eyes.... "I sorry, Santa! pwease I want a choo-choo train and racecars and my tisters want a tiana barbie. Tank you!" And he walked back with THE biggest grin on his face. Ha. Silly little man.

The upside?

Being depressed is depressing, so even though our house has been hit with ANOTHER string of bad luck- particularly Layla, who can't seem to catch a break- I'm trying to find the positive side of it instead of let it beat me back down.

Layla started yelling for me at 3:30am Friday morning. When I got to her room, her exact words were, "I think I accidentally threw up in my bed." Poor thing. It was her bed, her hair, her pjs... it was everywhere. I got everything cleaned up and (cautiously) moved her to my bed with our standard "puke bowl" in between us, some Pepto, a glass of water, and a warm rag. She wore that bowl out every 30 mins. And within 12 hours, victim#2 was under attack... me. Lovely. In between timing my own sickness, to care for her's, Brynn & Cale start saying, "My tummy hurts, I need to hold you", "My tummy hurts, I need Sprite", "My tummy hurts, I need to sleep in Mommy's bed"... I was pretty sure they just wanted what Layla was getting, but as quickly as it went from her to me, (and they weren't eating which is HIGHLY unusual) I'm still keeping a close eye on them to see if any of those statements actually come true.

So, bottom line... This sucks. Having a child this sick, sucks (especially her, after everything else she's been thru in the last month), being this sick sucks when you have three other people depending on you. We had a whole weekend planned that I was REALLY excited about- I was going to shop BY MYSELF yesterday, which I really need to do since I have purchased about three gifts so far, we were going to see The Princess and the Frog after school (we have been waiting on this movie forever! I had a photo shoot this morning that had to be cancelled, Sutton's bday party this afternoon that we DO NOT want to miss, Titans tomorrow; and I really just want to shut down and cry.

But that's going to make for a really long two months if I just wait for Nathan to come rescue me (even though that's all I really want). So I'm pretending that something good is going to come out of this crap. I did get some good snuggle time yesterday. Layla napped on me, twice. We slept together, with her on my chest and that was really, really sweet (this was before I was sick myself or else I probably would have thrown her in the floor in a rush to the bathroom when the need hit me). The twins were respectfully quiet when she and I were both sick on the couch, and would come cover us up and rub our legs or kiss our heads, SO sweet. I've lost 4 lbs. in less than 24 hours so far... that's good. Um... I have been drinking a ton of water, which I need to be doing anyway. ??? Yeah, that's all I've got. I guess it's something, right?

Hurry up, Nath.

Had I realized last year...

that I would be putting up our Christmas tree alone this year with not-quite-3-year-old twins who can't stay out of trouble and a 5-year-old who thinks she knows everything, I would have packed a bottle of wine in the tree box to get me thru it.

I had visions of a magical night with the kids, us watching Polar Express and drinking hot chocolate, while we laughed and decorated our tree with memories of Christmas past. Polar Express was on in the background, but the sounds I heard were more like tree branches swinging at Brynn's head and ornaments being thrown across the room. All four of us did manage to survive somehow (the same can't be said for three of my ornaments-so far), and the tree is up, albeit a little wobbly I think. I did the lights, but the kids did pretty much everything else (note 90% of the ornaments are on the bottom third of the tree, and I lifted Layla for the higher ones). Between the broken ornaments and the heavy, glass ones I didn't even bother to get out, it's looking a little naked this year but it will have to do.

Pre-tree skirt.


Cale's mad hanging skills...

Nathan and I made a plan last year to start collecting ornaments from all the places we went as a family. We got off to a great start by buying ONE (which I can't even find! lol). Awesome. He is, however, bringing two handmade ornaments home from Kyrgyzstan. He didn't buy them, someone specifically made them for us =)
Pretty sure I'm going to leave the tree up until February. Not necessarily so he can see it. Mostly so that he has to take it down!

60 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nathan will begin his journey to come HOME 60 days from today!!!!
4 months down, baby!!

We know, as of right now, that their replacements will arrive Jan 31. He will be released on Feb. 5, it will just be a matter of when their plane comes to get him and bring them back and where they stop in between. But he should be here sometime around Feb 10-15 and very well could be home ON my birthday (12th)! Yay! Wouldn't that be the greatest day ever?! Ok, so a lot would have to happen for that to work out but still... a fun little daydream for now.

I see a nap in our future.

Layla had her very first sleepover last night! She's slightly hungover.



Her dance Christmas party was last night, and all the little girls dressed up in party dresses and exchanged gifts. She looked adorable, but I got no pictures of her bc I was so rushed to get everything ready for the night that we got all the way there and realized we had both forgotten her gift. So instead of taking pictures of her and all her little friends all dolled up, I had to fly the 25 mins home and back for her gift. Yeah, I stink.

Anyway, after the party, little girls 5 and up (if parents thought they could handle it...) got to stay and sleepover at the dance studio. There were little girls EVERYWHERE. She had the best time. They had PJ contests, watched movies, made cards for sick children, painted each other's nails, danced (with a disco ball, apparently!). The whole room was covered in popcorn this morning, I'm told they had pizza at some point late last night, there were xmas donuts and chocolate milk everywhere when I got there! She said she went to bed at 1:30a and had to be picked up by 8am this morning, lol.

What a memory this will be, huh?!

Piggyback braids!

Watch out... I'm getting pretty brave over here :)
I attempted piggyback braids for the first time! (Holly... that YouTube site you posted was SO helpful, she is GREAT! Everyone should check this lady out. She is another adoptive mom who has taught herself how to do her daughters' hair and started posting videos with tips and instructions on how to do different styles and they are awesome. I am nowhere near as good as her, her braids are beautiful, but hopefully with LOTS of practice, I will get better! Thanks, Holly!)

Anyway, this was my first attempt at piggyback braids. Again, B's hair still isn't quite long enough in some spots but I think it came out ok? And it didn't take that long, which I like! I STILL cannot get my parts strait... but a lot of that has to do with a wiggly 2-year-old, I'm sure... at least that's what I'm telling myself.

Here she is being silly right after we finished (glad to be out of that chair!):



And in better light after sleeping on it two times:

Merry Christmas to Nathan!!

Yaaaaaay. He got his Christmas present! Now he just has to wait three more weeks to open it =)

I'm as impatient as he is....
I can't wait!

Just wanted you to know it had arrived! Nonie and Pap, he got his tree too!! He's getting off early today, so I bet it's up by day's (night's) end!

Now the season can begin. The kids and I have FIVE parties this weekend, so the holidays really have started for us, this is what they look like every year around here! I'm exhausted just thinking about it. However... we are going to have to borrow someone's ladder in order to get our tree and decorations out of the attic to make our house as spirited as our weekend. Any offers?!