Can you help a little girl with her school project?

Calling all blogger buddies (and stalkers).....

Emily Burns, a 4th grader from Lincoln Elementary School in Illinois, needs to collect a postcard from every state. She has collected one from most states, but still needs the following:
North Dakota
New Mexico
Utah
Delaware
Connecticut
Maryland
Maine
Vermont
New Hampshire
West Virginia
and
South Carolina

If you live in one of these states, would you be willing to send a post card to her at:

Lincoln Elementary School
c/o Emily Burns
501 South Euclid Avenue
Princeton, IL 61356

There is no requirement as to what to write on the postcard. You can write about the weather, some state facts, something historical, etc.

Please leave a comment if you are able to help out. I'll be sending her one from Oregon this afternoon. What a fun project!

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

9 Months Home

Where oh where has the time gone? I can't believe Miss Sabella and I have been a family for 9 months now! She has changed so much from our 6 month home post. I no longer have a little baby, but an opinionated, sweet, stubborn, independent, lovable, kissable, cuddleable (I made that up), ornery, silly, talkative (a language only she knows), smiling, dancing, singing toddler. Sabah brings a smile to my face and melts my heart every single day. Some of her accomplishments/changes from the 6 month post include:

* Her hair is getting SO long. I can put it up in two pigtails now and she is just so stinkin cute.
* She laughs a lot now. REALLY LAUGHS. Again, for those following the blog, you may remember that Sabah rarely laughed. She smiled a lot and did quick excitement screams, but never really just giggled. She does that now. It makes my heart burst with momma happiness.
* She now sleeps in a big girl bed (toddler bed). I had put a toddler be in her room with her crib for her to gradually get use to it because Tina will be taking the crib in a few months for her new baby girl, but Sabah didn't need to be gradually moved to it. She jumped right in (ok, not jumped...she struggled a little at first to get in), snuggled right down and fell asleep. She also stayed put until mommy got her up the next morning. Since then (about two weeks now), she has had no problems. Her crib is now disassembled and waiting for Auntie to pick it up.
* She talks ALL the time and can even say some understandable words. Please, Thank you, up please, down please, more please, Hi, hi kitty, hi baby, What's that, Where it go (she mumbles this all together into one word, and shrugs her shoulders when she says it), all gone, weeeee (on the swing).
* She has developed taste buds...and I don't know if I like this or not. I use to be able to feed her anything, but now, she is definitely getting picky about what she likes and doesn't like. She LOVES all fruit and will eat all the fruit on her plate first and THEN start picking at other things. She use to LOVE veggies, now she tolerates them. She loves wheat bread and that is always the second thing she eats. She HATES salsbury steak...and I mean HATES it (her and thousands of other people).
*She is starting to throw mini tantrums when she doesn't get something she wants, or if I tell her she can't do something. Timeouts work good though and I just sit her down and tell her she can get up when she stops crying. Oh, I so can't wait for the terrible twos. :)
*She walks so much better now, which is GREAT for my back, but it sure slows us down. She walked from the car to the store this afternoon with me, while my sister and her gang of 3 kids waited and waited and waited at the entrance for us to finally get there. Oh well....a slower pace isn't a bad thing.

There's definitely more changes, but I don't need to turn this into a novel (I just need to post more often).

Here is a hodgepodge of pics. I'm too lazy to label each one and put them in any type of order, but they are of her new big girl bed, and a day at the Portland Rose Gardens....oh and a bubble bath thrown in there as well.

Welcome to the World Elizabeth

I'm an Auntie again. And I'm in love! Back in December, when me, my mom and my sister Tina, were in Ethiopia picking up Sabah, my sister was starting to feel the first symptoms of morning sickness. She did not know when she left for Africa that she was pregnant, but started suspecting that she was about three days or so before we left. As soon as she got back she took a pg test and it confirmed that yes indeed she was pregnant. We were very excited, and since she already has two boys, and Sabah was only 6 months at the time, we prayed that it was a little girl (so Sabah could do girly things with her rather than always playing ruff and tumble with her boy cousins). When we found out it was a girl, we were all very excited....especially Tina, since she has inherited all of Sabah's old clothes....which were/are plentiful.

Anyway, on Monday, the doctor finally scheduled an induction for tonight, since the baby was large and already a week overdue. On Tuesday, Elizabeth decided she wasn't going to do anything on schedule, and decided to start her arrival. When Tina got to the hospital, they (her and her doctors), decided a c-section would probably be the safest route since the baby was so big. SOOOOOO, at 2:29 pm on Tuesday, August 18th, Little (errr, make that big) Elizabeth was born. Weighing in at 10 pounds 10 ounces!!!!!!! What is funny is that Tina weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces when she was born (I was a porker at 6 pounds 5 ounces). Elizabeth is exactly TWICE the size of what Tina was. Even though she is a big baby, she still seems so tiny. She's the sweetest little (errr big) thing and has the chubbiest little cheeks. Yes, I'm in love. Tina and I are identical twins, and her children have alwasy been extremely special to me.....after all, if we all did a dna test, I would show as their mother, just as much as Tina would. Since I can't have children from my own body (I refuse to say "children of my own"), Tina's beautiful kids are the closest I will get to seeing ME in them. To see some of my features (which are Tina's features of course) and some of my personality (the good and bad). I'm also thrilled that Sabah has a new best friend and will get to grow up with Elizabeth. Don't worry Janissa and Ruby, Sabah says she can have more than one BFF. Haven is on her way from Ethiopia soon, so there is another BFF as well. Always room for BFF's.

Congratulations to Tina, Ron, Elijah and Ethan on the arrival of Elizabeth Alexsandra Remidios Gaddi (the two middle names are after LizzyB's grandmothers). Welcome to the World LizzyB, Welcome to the World. I love you already.


Meet Elizabeth


Mommy and baby


Daddy and his "little" girl


Big Brother Elijah holding her for the first time


Big Brother Ethan holding her for the first time


Auntie and LizzyB


Sabah meeting Elizabeth


Pure Heaven

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today I was at work, and very unexpectantly received an e-mail that contained the picture of the most beautiful child on the face of this earth. I can't believe how fast the year has gone by....yet at the time, it seemed like every hour was a week and every week was a year....time was just dragging on while waiting for a court date.

The following is part of a post that I wrote a week after referral, titled "referral reflections":

So, it's been a whole work week since I got the referral of my little girl. I can't believe I actually made it through the work week and actually got SOME work done (sorry PTR....maybe next week will be more productive). :) I have so many thoughts and feelings running through my mind and body that it's difficult to sort them all out. Here are the main things I'm feeling
AMAZED
Gracious
Humbled
Honored
Scared
Terrified
In LOVE
Weepy
Anxious
Impatient
Smitten
Unworthy
Ill Prepared
In LOVE (oh, I said that one already)
Longing
Fullfilled
Blessed
Lucky
In LOVE (oh, there it is again, hmmmmm)

This little girl is so amazing to me. And I hardly know her. I look at her picture (about 10,000 times a day...err, make that a minute) and I can't help but smile.....
So, now I sit and wait for the court date, and stare at this lovely little girl. Man how I love her already.

And one year later (8 months home), I feel the same way. Man how I love this little girl. She is growing up to be such an amazing little person. I sometimes look at her and wonder how I was ever so blessed. How did this perfect little child become mine? And all those feelings from that post a year ago, are all still there. ALL of them.

Still Terrified? Yep.
Still Blessed? The world over.
Still Smitten? Every day.
Still Unworthy? Absolutely.
Still Honored? More than you could know.
Still Scared? Oh yeah.
Still Fullfilled? More than I ever thought I COULD be.
Still In Love? I don't think my heart could love her any more.

I won't repost them all....you get the picture. What I love most about my little Sabah is her unconditional love for me. She melts my heart when she wants to crawl into my lap and just have me hold her. She melts my heart when she gives me unsolicited kisses. She melts my heart every time I look at her, and she melts my heart every time I think about her. Thank you Lord for this precious little girl you have sent into my life!

Help out another AP with travel expenses

Adoption is EXPENSIVE. No two ways about it. Unless you are independently wealthy, raising the funds for an international adoption can take years. I always try to help out other adoptive parents reach their goal. I can't give much, but when I see an adoptive parent selling something to raise funds, or doing a raffel, I try to buy. Here is a link to a single momma who is getting ready to travel to ET to get her precious daughter. She is raffeling off a 32 inch LCD t.v. $10 for one ticket, $25 for five tickets and $50 for 15 tickets. It' a really good cause, so if you have an extra $10 to spare (or more), then head over and enter to win. Good Luck.

Click here to check out her blog

Busy Weekend

I love weekends (don't we all). However, they seem to be getting shorter and shorter lately. Sabah is at the perfect age to be able to take her out and about and have her really enjoy it. We just got a new bike and she LOVES going for bike rides. I got the Weeride Kangaroo child seat.....it's the one where the child sits in front of you (between your legs) opposed to the back. This allows her and I to have interaction with each other as we ride. She loves to point to things and I love being able to see her. Though I love this new bike, I QUICKLY realized how out of shape I am. WOW. I live in a neighborhood called highland hills...so as you can imagine, there are HILSS. UGH. Even the smallest incline gets me huffing and puffing and wanting to give up and go home. But both yesterday and today, I pedaled on (while Sabah just sat there enjoying the ride....oh how I wish I could be a kid again). It's great excercise and a fantastic way for us to get outside.

After our morning bike ride on Saturday, we went to the Saturday market with Tina and Eli. Tina is ready to give birth ANY DAY NOW, and so she decided she would walk around the marked with me trying to induce labor. No such luck. She's still waiting for little Elizabeth to make her grand enterance into this world.

After an afternoon nap, Sabah and I were back outside and going for a walk. It was the perfect day to be outside. The weather has cooled down significantly. In fact, on Thursday and Friday, we didn't even make 70 degrees. Today was a perfect 78!

This morning Sabah and I went to our new church. We both had a lot of fun. It is always nerve racking being the new person and not knowing a sole, but I survived. Of course, Sabah makes friends wherever she goes and was the hit of the nursery.

After church, I again met up with Tina and ran a few errands and she and I watched a movie (at home) while Sabah took her afternoon nap. Then a few more errands and some time spent with Ethan and Eli at Tina's house. Home in time for some dinner, play time, bath time and finally bed. And now the weekend is winding down. Where oh where did it go?

Sabah in her "Sunday Best" (this expression is her new thing...she LOVES to crinkle her nose)






At the fountain. Sabah is so tall that the 18 month swim suits don't fit her well...they aren't long enough. Oh well. It doesn't stop her from having fun.





Our new ride. I LOVE it!

A Day at the Lake

The Pacific Northwest has been hit with a heat wave this last week. Normally, in the summer, we get a few really hot days....up into the 90's, but this entire last week, we have been in the hundreds (106 on Wednesday) or near hundred...and let me tell you....WE ARE NOT USE TO IT. And many of us do not have air conditioning, so for all of you who are laughing at us because 107 in "normal" in your neck of the woods, try turning your air off for a week and you will know what most of us are feeling.

Anyway, it got down to 98 here today, and Tina, her husband Ron, there two boys,Eli and Ethan, and Sabah and I packed up and headed to Hagg lake for the day. It was a perfect day. There was lots of shade at the picnic tables and the water was super warm. A bit muddy, but that didn't stop anyone from jumping right in....especially little miss Sabah. This girl LOVES the water and she was constantly trying to go out further and further. The only unpleasant part of the trip is that the yellow jackets seemed to LOVE our picnic table....I think it must have been over the nest or something because we seemed to be the only table having such issues with them. There were literally no less than 10 bees at a time on us, our food, or flying near us. So totally annoying. But, we didn't let it spoil our day. We all had a wonderful time, and can't wait to go back.

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