Goings On

This is traditionally one of the hardest weeks of the year for our family. Doug and Sara are at band camp (from 7 AM to 9:30 PM), and work is picking up for me quickly. On top of that, Lauren is at camp with her friend Amelia. SO, the little ones and I are home with lots to do.

It seems I am always inspired to begin a project this week - maybe it's a good bit of time at home; maybe it's trying to hold onto the calmness of summer. Not sure. This year is no exception, as we are FINALLY re-doing (well, just doing) Lauren's room. You see, she moved down to the guest room in our basement just before we left for China last December. With the whirlwind of getting ready for a trip to China, a new daughter and Christmas, she was pretty much just dumped into the basement.

Now it's not all that bad. She has a BIG room (16' x 16') and her own bathroom and a blank slate of a room (we had never really decorated it). She had gone through several variations of what she wanted "her room" to be and it evolved into a zebra and hot pink/lime green theme. GREAT! Looks cool - just right for a tween, almost teen, girl. She and I had shopped for a few room things, we found a zebra comforter set on ebay and had a plan. The problem seemed to be finding the time to put the plan into action. She was planning to go to camp in June, but things changed with that broken arm she had! My plan was to surprise her with her new room when she got home from camp. I had promised her that we would do her room this summer - before school starts back. Of course, she didn't know my intentions of surprising her, so all summer she has "reminded" me of my promise. I have been buying time with her and she has been OK with it (or has given up on me!).

SO this was the week. She went to camp on Sunday and we started the new room. I began by moving the furniture out and sewing. Sunday night we had the walls painted. Monday (yest) I did a little more sewing and painting. Last night after band camp (mostly outside in the not-so-forgiving GA sun), Doug trimmed out the paint one more time (I'm the roller, he is the trimmer).

Today I put a coat of paint in the bathroom, finished the curtains, made 2 initial towels and plan to paint a bookshelf after A and A are in bed. Tomorrow the carpet man is supposed to come. Honestly, I'll be surprised if he comes. Each time I call, he needs a reminder of what we want. Who knows what he will show up with or if he will show up at all! This (the carpet) will be the biggest surprise for Lauren. We told her that the dark red carpet was only a few years old and didn't need to be replaced. Now (6 years after finishing our basement) I wonder "What WAS I thinking?" with that carpet color!!!! Oh well.

Assuming the carpet guy gets it installed tomorrow morning, we'll move her furniture back in and get things set up. A few months ago, she drew a diagram of how she wanted the room to be arranged, so I know what goes where. She will (hopefully) be surprised and pleased with the things I have bought that she hasn't seen. She has no idea there were plans to "do" her bathroom either...

Before (well, not really a true before pic, but close enough)

Dash checks out Lauren's new STUFF!

Today is the 4th day of Ally NOT taking a nap -- intentionally. She is at that inbetween stage of sort of needing one, but when she does nap, she cannot settle down at night. I'm trying to get A and A back on the 8 PM bedtime for school, so I need her to transition. Boy, does that do the trick - she has fallen asleep within 2 minutes of laying down. AND, the best part, she is not that grouchy in the late afternoon or early evening! I just have to watch her carefully if/when she slows down to make sure she doesn't collapse! I don't dare put her in the car after 3 PM or she will snooze quickly!

I took A and A to Walmart to get Alaina some of her school supplies. One of the items on her list is a water bottle. As we rounded the corner of the lunchbox aisle, we saw 4 designs that caught their eyes (yes, Ally "needed" one too). Alaina waivered between 2 bottles - a pink one with Sleeping Beauty and Belle, and a light blue one with Tinkerbell and Ariel. She chose the pink one. Ally immediately knew the water bottle for her -- Spiderman. That just cracked me up - their personalities are truly showing through.

Anyway, more on the room as we progress (no, she doesn't have internet at camp - I don't think Lauren reads the blog all that much anyway!)...

Millers are Meeting Gabriel

Our friends Chad and Melissa are on their way to AFRICA to meet their newest son, Eyob, soon to be Gabriel. He is 3 years old living in an orphanage in Ethiopia. They should be on the plane right now from DC to Africa. If you have followed our blogs since the "beginning", we had planned to travel with them to China for our first adoptions. Things changed a bit when God brought Ally our way a few months before He brought their little girl, Sarah Beth, into their lives. We joke about the days we used to go out with them and get a table for 4 ... pretty soon, it will be a table for 13!

Also on a plane as I write, is my friend Darcy who is returning from China with Michael. Just the thought of being on that LONG flight with a new 2 year old with no help is so much to take in... hopefully, he will do well and won't be too upset!

2 more little miracles happening right now..

Happy Weekend!

"Watch Me, Mommy!" and a Favor

We have been thrilled to have a small reprise from the heat of a typical July in Altanta. It's actually been cool in the early morning and evenings! Such a welcome change from the daily upper 90's!

Despite our cool snap (highs in the upper 80's), the girls have not slowed in thier pool time; however, my pool time has become limited to the deck. I'm a very picky swimmer - only get in if it's bath temp! Because of some much needed rain, the pool temp has dropped too.

A few months ago, I got a call from a lady in Houston waiting to travel to China to adopt a 6 year old girl. I shared a few things about our experience with Alaina and wished her well. She and I exchanged blogs and I have been following along (she is in China now). She is a journalist and was invited by the NY Times to write a feature article for a parenting column about her adoption.

Simple enough, right? I thought so. I enjoyed reading her articles; however, when I began reading the comments, I couldn't believe what I read. SO many nasty things that people had the nerve to put in writing. It caused me to loose sleep and to just be plain out disappointed in people.

So, I ask you a favor -- take a few minutes to look at her articles and leave her a comment of encouragement. My comment is on the second one. I just couldn't believe the things that people would say.... (copy and paste each of these links into your browser)...

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/bringing-home-an-adopted-girl-with-special-needs/

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/meeting-an-adopted-daughter-in-china/

Thanks!

Celebrating Ally!

Two years ago, our dream came true - again! We became parents again; but no weight was gained, and there were no labor pains.

We were so excited as we walked thru our hotel lobby, climbed into a van and drove to meet our new daughter! We stood outside of a cinder block building as her van drove into the parking lot. I could hardly breathe! When her nanny stepped out of the van holding her, I remmeber saying to myself, "that's a baby!" She was so tiny; smaller than I ever imagined!

Ally, on the other hand, was not so thrilled. She had been contently sleeping in her van from the 1 hour ride from her orphanage - the only home she had ever known. She would be awakened to the site of me taking her from her nanny! What a scary site, I'm sure. She held onto that cracker until she fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel.

Those moments are etched in my memory. I know she doesn't understand the significance of today; not yet, at least. I sure do. Even though we missed her first 2 years, she was certainly meant to be ours!

In a few weeks she will turn 4 years old. She has now spent more than half her life with us. It's just hard to imagine or remember our lives before Ally joined our family. Let's just say that things are never boring - and that is a good thing.



Ally - we love you so very much and are so thankful to have been chosen to be your parents (and sisters)! Happy Gotcha Day!

Back from the Beach

Lauren being herself!

Drew won the pretzel decorating contest!

Sweet little sisters!

Sweet big sisters!

Sara

Sara, Brandi, Lauren and Emily

Lauren

A yoga lesson with Emily

Ally needed a kiss from Daddy after a big wave knocked her down.

One of many trips to the water with this bucket that Ally made.

Neither of their bottoms ever touch the ground - they are still both "squatters"!

Uncle Will found some "special shells" for all of the little kids --

Ally, Alaina, Zane, Madison, Drew

Reading "Brown Bear" with Mema

We returned from our yearly venture to Folly Beach, SC. We had 23 people this year and had a blast! The girls had so much fun in the water and sand! We did our little photo sessions and got some cute shots. Ally's favorite thing was to dig in the sand; Alaina loved the waves with Sara and Lauren!

Alaina lost another tooth.

2 years ago today, we left for China to meet Ally! 2 years... amazing.

Take a moment to jump to Darcy's blog - she is in Beijing and is planning to meet her little boy later today!

More Big Fam Thoughts

We do some chore sharing, but not enough (in my opinion!). S and L switch each week with dishwasher duty and dog/cat/trash/recycle duty. They will fold laundry when asked (or told), but what I don't see is them "stepping up" to offer their help! I have told them how nice it would be to, every now and then, hear, "Hey Mom, what can I do to help?"; but usually it's "Can I wait until a commercial?"

A and A are very eager to help; however, as you may guess, their help usually ends up being more work in us! At least they like to help, so I let them. Maybe I didn't encourage S and L to help when they were young and willing!

We are ALL quite excited about our beach trip that is approaching. Alaina is so funny about her tan. She does NOT like her tan at all. She says, "I don't want to be brown. I want to be white." Too bad, kiddo, you are looking pretty tan! It's funny -- I'm guessing she was told that being brown is not a good thing. Here it's a different story! Wish I was that tan, that easily! Ally likes her tan because she is beating Sara!

Lauren's cast is off and she is wearing a wrist brace a few hours a day. So glad we are "cast free" before the beach -- I know, knock on wood...

Last night I joined Ellen, Darcy, Donna and Katie for dinner at PFChangs. It was fun to have a GNO! It's been a while since I've gone out with just the grown-up girls!

I Guess We Have a BIG Famliy Now

I have mentioned several times how I would have never imagined that we would have 4 kids, but here we are. The addition of Alaina to our family has actually made most things easier. Despite her being somewhat bossy at times and a bit of a tattletale (I know, it goes with being 6), she plays pretty well with all the other girls, especially Ally. She also is constantly asking questions. I understand that this is part of learning, but at times, it wears me out!!

Anyway, on to my original thought. I have noticed a few things since becoming a family with 4 kids. We go through a lot of paper towels and potty paper very quickly! Since the girls have not been in school for over a month, that usage has increased dramatically. This June was the first time in a very long time that we didn't go anywhere for an entire summer month! I feel like I am buying paper towels and potty paper everytime I go to the grocery or Walmart. I suppose that is part of it, but it has become so noticable recently!

Another thing that has become staggering is the laundry. I realize that this too is directly related to the girls being home "full time" and having a pool. We do "air dry" our towels several times, but occasionally, they too have to be washed. I am washing swim suits out numerous times a day.

In short, I have never really felt "on top of" household chores, but now it seems farther out of reach than ever. I know many of you that follow along also have "big" families, so how do you do it?