And her baby brother....

This is why I have a tough time saying no...

And one of her little brother...

Time flies when you are going at the speed of sound.....

Can't believe Annie has been home over eight months now! In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that I first saw her in the orphanage yet it's also like she's always been my daughter. I can't imagine life without her. She's grown taller (although she's still tiny enough that it's tough to keep her pants on, she lacks enough bum or belly to fill them out), talking up a storm that I hope to understand 100% some day and her smile lights up the room. Most importantly she's an adapter as her life has been full of change since the day she first saw me. In seven months, Annie was united with her "Momma" (often spoken like she's spent time in Italy), gained a Daddy and as of July 9th had a baby brother added to her life. Yep, just a few changes........ but she LOVES her Daddy, who will be adopting her as a stepparent just as soon as the re-adoption is complete and she is fascinated with (and yes at times jealous of) her baby brother. Yesterday when she came home from day care, she walked right past me and straight to the baby!

To back up a bit, there is no way that I intended to put Annie through so much in such a short time but life had other plans as shocker of all shockers I discovered I was pregnant just as I was bringing Annie home. During the wait for my referral I met the love of my life and amazingly enough he didn't blink when I told him (just as we were getting to know each other) thatI was adopting and that NOTHING would get in the way of it. I'm still amazed that I found such a wonderful man who was willing to essentially wait for me until Annie came home. So the original plan was to get married in the summer after Annie had adapted to her new world (which she ended up doing in less than two months) but then the pregnancy test came back positive and after a brief period of speechlessness life went into high gear. Annie thrived, my belly grew, my love made plans to move in with us and in early April Annie walked me down the aisle in my parent's backyard. On that day, I gained a husband and the man she had already begun to call Daddy became well Daddy! We haven't had time to look back since Annie's brother was born on July 9th. He's mellow to her energetic air, fair to her dark beauty and both are loved beyond belief. Yes, we are tired, I can't really remember a lot of early July and my once wonderful yard is showing definite signs of neglect but really can life get much better??? :-)

Two Months at Home

Today marks the two month anniversary since Annie and I arrived home and I must say that I am so, so blessed to have this child in my life. I can't think of one adoption related issue that I'm dealing with. She's completed attached to me and the family, she sleeps through the night, for the most part goes down for naps without a problem, is willing to try new foods, has begun to feed herself and is just a complete and total entertainer. She's grown, gained weight and has so much more hair, plus she has stopped scratching her scalp when tired as she did in Vietnam. She loves water of any kind (including the dog's water bowl....sigh) and I'm sure once the weather warms up she'll spend many an hour outside picking flowers, looking at bugs and just experiencing life. I started back to work part time two weeks ago and she's even doing great at day care. The other day I went to pick her up and the kids in her class were outside playing. One of her teachers was blowing bubbles, care to guess whose kid was chasing them? Yep, she didn't care what was in front of her she just wanted to catch one.

Yes, I am blessed.......

Tired after a day of play.

New Pics

Adjusting? No Problem

Let me just say that I'm happy beyond belief at how well Annie has adjusted to a completely new life. She's happy, relatively healthy (we all have colds right now) and very active. Thankfully she's also back to entertaining herself, although she's always happiest when she has an audience. Christmas was hectic but fun and for the most part she's a trooper when I try to get stuff done. And yes, now I totally get it when people say you can't get anything done when you have a little one. I get it, I get it, I get it!

Haven't been taking many photos lately but here are a couple.

Annie enjoying the slide with her cousin Randi

Yes, she loves her baths and I love the hair!