Nina is Home

A while back I had posted about our friends who were going through lots of adoption craziness to get their daughter Nina home from Kazakhstan. Well, Saturday we were able to join the crowd at the airport to welcome them home with their little cutie! And I must say she is BEAUTIFUL! Another friend, Jan, had brought red, white and blue balloons and Nina's big brother Nick was showing her the balloons and she was just squealing and laughing like they had been playing together all along. It was super sweet. They do have their blog up and open to all again. You can see posts from this last time in Kazakhstan. They haven't posted pictures from home yet, but it sounds like that is because Nina was catching up on some peaceful sleep in her forever home! http://thelockwoodladandlassies.blogspot.com

Adley goes to the Dentist

We scheduled Adley to make her first dentist appointment. She was not really wanting to go. But, thankfully her big sister Jaylyn (who has now finally settled into the whole dentist thing) was brave and helpful! Jaylyn showed her how easy the x-rays were and all of the cleaning stuff. Then, it was Adley's turn. She did the x-rays fine and Jaylyn held her hand in the chair for the cleaning part. What a difference it makes when there is a big sister there to help you out. Then they were even patient waiting on my turn and keeping Leighton occupied. We did find out that her thumb sucking is starting to shift things in there (as if we couldn't have guessed) so we really need to help her with getting rid of that habit. I'm sure that will be fun! :-)

Ten-month Comparison

Just for curiosity sake, here is a little comparison between the girls. 

 

Leighton 10 months

Our smiley cutie pie has grown some more! She is as fun as ever and learning new things every day.
*Eating "real" food in small pieces - in fact, definitely eats a lot just like her sisters, yet still tiny.
*Enjoys LOTS of foods including: animal crackers, cheese, turkey deli meat, peaches, BREAD,
*Drinking more from a cup
*You will often hear her "copying" what you say pretty closely
*Makes dog "woof" sounds when around dogs.
*Continues to enjoy waving "hi" and "bye-bye"
*Says, "hi" really well
*Still does her hilarious scrunched up nose smile at everyone
*Crawling and pulling up everywhere
*Claps
*Still enjoys "So big" and saying "Uh-oh"
*Still a ham!
*Still loves her sisters, but has become quite talented at shoving them out of her way when they annoy her. :-)
*gives nice and slobbery kisses
*so much more snuggly than the other girls - I LOVE how cuddly she is.
*She likes to dance and sing when she hears music, especially when someone is playing the piano.

Enjoy her many faces.  :-)

 

Easter Day

We alternate with holidays. This year was Easter with my side of the family. Family holidays with my family have changed a bit in the last few years. We have quite a few little ones now and that certainly adds some extra fun to the celebration. We went to church with my parents (skipping the Sunrise Service of course) and enjoyed catching up with some "family" I don't get to see any more. The girls really enjoy going to their church too. In fact, Jaylyn talked about it the whole week before. She was ready to go! After church we always go to my grandma's house. My precious Grandma has been under the weather off and on this last year, but was in great health and spirits to have us all over for lunch. We had a great time with her! (Especially she and Leighton!) Thanks for a great day, Grandma! So, with such great weather too, it was a super resurrection day!

Here are some pics from the day: (**Just discovered that after I spent all of my time editing around 100 photos in Photobucket, they have changed their program and now I have to pay if I don't want my photos down sized. So, a lot of these are not the greatest quality- Ugh!)

Some quick snapshots before church

The kids

We snapped some pictures with Hailee before lunch

A group shot was a little more difficult. We set Leighton down by an interesting porch decoration and a train could be heard, so it was impossible for Eli to look at the camera while listening to the train. But, they are all cute anyway. :-0

Hailee and Jaylyn in back with Leighton, Eli, Adley and Mylee in the front.

Fun with Cousins

Playing Around

Perfect twirling dresses and perfect twirling weather

Grandma and Leighton having a good time

Bubbles!

Grass!

Flowers!

Easter presents!

Egg Hunts!

Eggs!

Eggs-ellent Fun!

Oh, how egg-citing it is to dye Easter eggs!

Dunk!

Hi! Next year I will be ready to join in!

Dipping (I just heard this brilliant idea this year to use a whisk! Perfect!)

Big church egg hunt

And they are off!

Adley needed a little prodding at first

Can you tell she is already eating candy?

Egg!

He is Risen

Easter can be filled with bunnies and chicks and chocolate and eggs. But, to those that know the son of God who gave His life and defeated death, it means much more. My hope rests firm on such a Savior. Hope you all enjoyed your Easter celebration, but most of all I pray you my also rest firm in a relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ.

"My Hope Rests Firm"
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Richard Creighton
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway's Thankyou Music/MCPS

My hope rests firm on Jesus Christ,
He is my only plea.
Though all the world should point and scorn,
His ransom leaves me free;
His ransom leaves me free.

My hope sustains me as I strive
And strain towards the goal;
Though still I stumble into sin,
His death paid for it all;
His death paid for it all.

My hope provides me with a spur
To help me run this race:
I know my tears will turn to joy
The day I see his face;
The day I see his face.

My hope is to be with my Lord,
To know as I am known;
To serve Him gladly all my days
In praise before His throne;
In praise before His throne.

Mondays

This picture kind of sums up how I feel on Mondays. . .

Field Trip

Shannon invited us along for a "field trip" to Suson Park. We weren't really thinking about the nice weather and Spring Break bringing EVERYONE else there. Oh well. We had lunch and visited with the animals, but there was not one inch of free space on the playground.

Leighton really wanted Mavery's juice

No juice - Oh well. . .

I'm happy anyway!

Science lesson - Jaylyn apparently told them something about ants eating leaves so they spent a good while "feeding" the ants.

The walk to the animals, but where could Mavery be?

Way ahead of ya girls!
Yes, Sawyer and the girls. He rocks. :-) (Mavery on left, Sage on right)

Mavery, Malaine and Adley

The miniature horses were probably a favorite. I know Adley wanted to stay there longer. Yes, that is Sage hanging in the rails. Where else would she stand to pet the horse????

Makenna was along with us too. She also rocks. :-)