A piece of the puzzle

I talked to Aliya's birthmom today for about 45 minutes!!! This is the first conversation we've had in months. We picked up right where we left off and she shared with me how crazy her life has been recently. I mustered up the courage to ask her about Aliya's birth-father (silently praying she would tell me something, as we know nothing about him, not even his name). She was happy to answer my question and said the I can ask her anything, she has no secrets. I will not post our conversation, that is something we will hold onto for just Aliya. But now knowing it confirms in my heart that we were meant to be her parents! I am so thankful for open adoption!

Princess Kitty

Today my step-mom, Aliya and I had a "girl's day out". We went to a local Starving Artist's event. I hadn't been in years and Aliya was excited to spend the day with her grandma. We walked up and down the tents looking at all the crafts then we came upon a face painting booth. Aliya instantly said she wanted her face painted. So I stood in line while she looked at all the example faces ranging in price from $5-$10. She kept saying she wanted a spider or a green goblin looking face. Thankfully I convinced her that they were too scary for a little girl and she should pick a butterfly or a flower or something. Thankfully she chose the below picture (from the $5 selection).

Now keep in mind, this is her first face painting experience. We tried last October and I ended up with the pumpkin...she FREAKED OUT! But not today, she did ask to sit on my lap, thankfully the artist said that it was okay. She sat perfectly still, I wish I could have seen her face during it. The kids in line after Aliya were two girls I'd say 11 or 12 and they kept commenting on how cute Aliya was. She did so well that the artist threw in pink sparkles for free!! After she was done and had seen herself in the mirror for the first time she turned around and looked at me. With a HUGE grin on her face she said, "Look at me mommy, I a kitty".

The rest of the afternoon people commented on how cute she was. A woman even stopped me and asked if she could take Aliya's picture. We stopped at The Flower Factory after and as we passed people in the store she would look at them and point to her face and say, "look".

Unfortunately she missed her nap today, but did surprisingly well (or I should say Thankfully). We came home and ate dinner then Aliya, Kris and I visited in Aliya's room and she did our hair. She didn't fuss at bedtime (again, thankfully) and was sleep by 8pm! She didn't want to wash her face tonight, so we have a princess kitty sleeping in her big big bed tonight.

Joel's update

Here are a few tidbits on our Bug
* Has two weeks of 6th grade under his belt
* Really likes his Science teacher (we met her, she's beautiful...we can see why Joel likes her)
* Loves to spend as much time outside riding his bike and playing with friends
* Does not like his 8:30p school bedtime
* Hates walking out the door at 6:50a for school
* Is going to play trombone in the band this year
* Rolls his eyes constantly
* Is starting to plan his 12th birthday party (we're thinking a camp out)
* Is so grown up, but is still such a little kid (good!)
* Moved into the Jr. High/High School class at church on Sunday's, he seems to like it so far
* Is obsessed with Axe body spray
* The novelty of his little sister has officially warn off
* Still knows everything about everything...why even bother going to school?!?!
* Walked to the ice cream shop after school with his buddies for the first time Friday
* Voluntarily gives the dog a bath for us!
* Is a pretty awesome kid!

Updates

I know it's been awhile since I've done updates on the kids...so here we go!


Miss Aliya


Is amazing! We can't believe she will be three in three months! Here are a few of her newest
* Only wears a diaper at night!
* Will frequently ask me, "mommy are your panties dry?" (yes) "good job mommy!"
* If she is eating, will ask if others are hungry, then offer to share her snack
* LOVES to have company over
* Loves to show people her new Big Big bed!
* Sings all the time
* Still loves Sherk II (she watches it everyday)
* Can use the van's CD player better than I can!
* Says, "hello ____" when she answers to phone, or walks into a room
* Is doing much better talking on the phone
* Loves to play outside
* Loves painting her own fingernails and toenails (thanks Grandma Kris)
* Grabs our faces and gets these huge big eyes and makes the strangest sounds (it's really funny)
* Prays each night at bed time
* Lead our dinner prayer for the first time the other night it went something like this: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, God bless my friends and family thank you Jesus for food amen". It was SO hard not to laugh!
* Has loved our pool this summer
* Is taking Gracie on walks with us, she holds the leash and does great!
* Is doing more puzzles lately
* Loves looking at pictures and identifying the people in the pictures
* Prays for me when I have a headache (she puts her hand on my forehead and says, "now I lay me down to sleep mommy's head all better, amen) (do you notice a pattern of her prayers?)
* Loves to help in the kitchen
* Is VERY independent "I do it myshelf"
* Likes to do my hair and make me beautiful
* Washes herself in the bath
* Scarlett (our neighbor girl who's 6)is still Aliya's best friend!
* Thankfully still loves to snuggle!

...stay-tuned for Joel's update...

New Room Pictures (finally)

Sorry it took me so long to post pictures of Aliya's new room!! It's been done for about a week now (finally got a bed skirt).

Here are a few before pictures...






And after...

The rug Jon made at work. We love to lay on it and relax!


The bed is a lot bigger than I thought, it takes up so much room! We had to put her rocking chair in the garage!! She loves to color at her desk and look out the window.


Please don't mind the stuff in the closet. I shoved a bunch of stuff in there to take the picture! (the closet is my next project!)


Jon moved her toys up to her room. She plays with them a lot more now!


We were SO blessed with this bed! Joel's Aunt Stephanie GAVE it to us! I still want to paint the canopy white, but for now it works!

Not sure how to feel

We heard from Aliya's birthmom yesterday for the first time in three months. We found out through her mother a few months ago that she moved... I tried to call her on Mother's day, but her phone was disconnected. I'm not sure how I feel right now, and I hate that I'm even a bit frustrated. I don't even know exactly how I'm feeling. I mean, this woman gave us the most amazing gift and I know she is still grieving over her decision, but this is the third time in 2 1/2 years that she's moved and not told us. Who knows how many pictures and letters have gone unopened (or opened by random people). I am not in her shoes, but I guess if our contact was too much for her a simple, "I need some space" would be nice. And it would be respected. I suppose this just goes with the territory of open adoption.

I haven't returned her phone call yet. We were in the middle of dinner when the phone rang and we didn't recognize the number so I didn't answer. I guess I'm just waiting for the right time to call her back. I'm collecting my thoughts. I mean, I really have no reason to be upset with her, just frustrated. And is that even warranted? I think I was so excited back at Christmas to finally meet her face to face. I thought this was the beginning of something really good. Was I wrong? Was I setting myself up for disappointment? Was I setting Aliya up for disappointment?

All I want is the best for our daughter...I hate second guessing myself.

"Big Big Bed"

We are being blessed with a new (new to us) twin bed for Aliya this Sunday!! For awhile now Aliya has been talking about wanting a "big big bed", as she sleeps on a twin bed for naps as the sitter's. I've been searching for the perfect bedding online and finding that bedding is expensive!! I found two adorable ladybug sets, but alas, they were WAY out of our price range. I've been to every store under the sun and ended up on Wal Mart this morning and found the one that is perfect for our little ladybug and very much in our price range! I went on line to email it to Jon to find out it's $9 cheaper on line than priced in the store (plus free site-to-store shipping)!!! My day keeps getting better and better!! THEN I find out the curtains that match are $2 cheaper in the store! We were hoping Wal Mart would match their internet pricing, but they won't :( That's okay, I will order the comforter tomorrow and have it within a week or so!!! Below is the picture from Wal Mart's website!!! Aliya is really excited!!




Jon was able to get his hands on some free white shag carpet at work and made her a nice 7x6 rug! It's really soft and super cute! The bed we are being given is a twin canopy bed (minus the canopy) so we picked up a misquote net that with colorful butterflies on it that I will hang from the ceiling and make my own canopy! (cross your fingers I can get creative with it)



I plan to take before and after pictures, so stay tuned!