An Apple a Day....

I thought this picture of my kiddos eating apples
was too cute so thought I'd post it. I'm fortunate
that they both love apples!

Some Cute Pictures

Rob took these pictures of Aiden today while I was at work.
He said Aiden was in such a goofy mood and was just having
a blast with the dog Sophie, the laundry basket, an old hat and
his sisters gloves. It always amazes me at what kids can
entertain themselves with!

Forever Day Celebrations

Today we took Shaelyn to Cracker Barrel to celebrate
her 10th forever day. Good friends Chris and Kathy joined
us for this special treat. Shaelyn opened up her present
from Mommy and Daddy and of course it was a Nemo Webkinz.
She loved it. Chris and Kathy had already given her a present
earlier but insisted on giving her money to buy something
else! (Yes, they totally spoil our kids!) She purchased a
"Weazle Ball" and bubblegum tape with her money. Tonight
Mimi and Papaw came over and we let Shaelyn blow out 10
candles on a little cake with hot pink, orange and lime
green flowers on it. Shaelyn agrees that it was a very
funtastick (Shae's new word) "Forever Day"!

Happy "Forever Day"

Feb 22nd, 1999 is a day that will forever be etched in my memory.
I had waited for so many years and wondered many nights if I would
ever have a child to call my own. Then on this one special day in
a hotel hallway half-way around the globe, a stranger handed me the
most beautiful baby girl I had ever seen. The most beautiful part
of it all was that she was MINE! Not of my flesh, not of my blood
but MINE! Shaelyn had 11 layers of clothes on when she was handed
to me. She seemed so big but underneath all those layers was a tiny
little baby who needed me just as much as I needed her. The love
I had for her from that first moment is indescribable. It has been
10 years since that eventful day and I simply can not imagine my
life without her. She has been such a blessing to me/us! I tell
her often that SHE made me a Mommy! She just smiles with pride
when I tell her that. Yes, she has had her share of difficulties
but we love her so much in spite of her problems. She has a big
heart and makes me so proud with her consideration for others.
God knew we needed her and we feel so blessed to have had 10 years
with her. Happy "Forever Day" Shaelyn, we love you so very much!

Shaelyn's Scrapblog

Aiden update

It is hard to believe that we are quickly approaching having
Aiden for 6 months. Time has flown by! He has adapted very
well to us and to his surroundings. In 5 months he has gained
nearly 7 pounds and grown over 3 inches. He went to the doctor
today for immunizations and weighed 30.5 pounds and is 34 inches
tall. He is in the 75th percentile for weight and 50th for
height. Other than a "surprise" ear infection they discovered
today, he is very healthy! He continues to drool a lot, but the
Doctor seems to think it is coming from his oral motor skill
delays. Hopefully that will end soon! He is starting to say
words now!! He says "Thank you","Mama", "Dadda", "Dae" (for Shae),
"All Gone", "Hi", and "Night Night". He barks when you ask him
what a dog says, is trying to meow when asked what a cat says,
and does a perfectly cute "roar" when asked what a lion says.
He correctly points to eyes, ears, nose, belly, etc. when asked.
He understands everything we are saying and follows directions
very well! He loves music and attempts to "sing" when he hears
it. He knows we pray when he gets tucked into his crib at night
and will fold his hands before I even mention it time to pray
to Jesus. He is such a happy little guy and is such a joy!
His giggle just warms my heart. Does he have typical 2 year
old tantrums? OH YES! But he quickly resolves them and goes
on his way! He is into everything and is all boy!! We are so
thankful for this little guy! He is a special gift! Please pray
for us as we are beginning the readoption process in NC. This
is required for Aiden to get a NC birth certificate. It is not
a major process but does require a great deal of paperwork and
to be honest, I'm so tired of paperwork!! We also have our
2nd post placement visit by our social worker this Saturday.
This is a requirement for China. I'll be glad when all adoption
related functions are behind us. It has been a long journey
and am ready for an end:)

Our Valentines Day

To
Today was a fun day for us as we celebrated Valentines
Day. Thankfully it was a much better day than yesterday!
I was not having a very good Mommy day yesterday and felt
like I needed a trip to a tropical island ALONE! :) Anyway,
we gave Aiden and Shaelyn their valentines treat bags this
morning. Shaelyn was tickled with her black bear Webkinz
and Aiden was all but impressed with his blue hippo Webkinz.
He threw it down and dove back into the treat back for the
CANDY! When Daddy went to bed (he worked last night)
Shaelyn and I decided to make him a Valentines cake. Rob
sacrifices a lot for his family including a ton of sleep!
So, we made him a red velvet cake with red icing. Well,
the red icing ended up being pink but oh well, we knew
Daddy wouldn't care. Shaelyn had a fun time helping
to decorate it and was proud of the end result. When
Daddy woke up he was surprised by the cake:) We then
went to an Italian restaurant for supper and then came
home for some cake! We were amazed by the number of families
that were eating out on valentines day WITH their kids. I
guess we're not so weird after all. It has been a fun day.
I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day today too:)

Valentines Cards!

Shaelyn and Aiden were so excited today when the mailman
brought them Valentines Cards! Two each! There is a
wonderful elderly couple in our church (Mamaw Helen and Papaw
Alvin) that has always remembered Shaelyn on special occasions
by sending her cards. Well, they have now included Aiden in this
tradition and he gets one too! They are so sweet to do this as
they have a big family of their own with lots of grandchildren
to send to. It means a whole lot to us! Then of course they
each got a card from Rob's parents in New York (Grandma and
Grandpa Roberts). We can always count on a card for EVERY
occasion (Including Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc) from Grandma
and Grandpa. These are memories that Shaelyn and Aiden will
always have and we are so thankful for the special people in
their lives who make them (and us) feel very special!

Sophie Thinks She's a Person

I truly think our dog Sophie thinks she's a person! I
came in the bedroom and found Shaelyn and Sophie asleep.
I quickly grabbed the camera because I thought it was
so cute. Shaelyn may not like me much when she sees this
tomorrow but I couldn't resist.

A Warm Sunny Sunday!

It was in the upper 60's here today and I just
couldn't help but take some pictures of the kids
outdoors. My daffodils and crocus are in full bloom
and just beautiful! The kids played in the back yard
for quite a while this afternoon and had a blast.
It was a warm, sunny, Sunday! Ahhh...Makes
me kinda wish Spring would just come on and get here:)

Principals Award

We are happy to report that Shaelyn was awarded the
Principals award for her 4th grade class. We are so
proud of her achievements! She has worked really
hard to overcome some difficult struggles. Schoolwork
is a necessary evil for her but she is learning that
hard work pays off!

Winter Fun!

They were calling for a "trace" of snow and we
surprisingly got more than that! A whooping' 1 inch!
Oh well, a little is better than none at all. The
kids had a blast in it but Rob didn't let them stay
out too long. It was very cold and quite windy!
Aiden's little cheeks were so red in most of the
pictures Rob took of him. Rob is such a good Daddy!
He was off last night so of course was home with them
today. Shaelyn didn't have school so he had his hands
full with both of them. He let them play outside in
the snow two times and even made snow cream with them.
The house was cleaned up with I got home from work and
he had started supper. He is so good to us and we
love his very much!

Our Handsome Little Boy

As promised here are some pictures of Aiden in his
Chinese outfit. We got this outfit in Aiden's hometown
of Chongqing, China. I tried it on him for the first time
tonight and realized we had waited too late. The top was
too small so we made a vest out of it and just added a
t-shirt underneath. Aiden was born in the year of the
Golden Pig. We thought this was so fitting as he eats
everything in sight! :) We think Aiden is just the most
handsome 2 year old on the planet!!