Warm days are welcome here...

It's just not warm here at all... The playground pics below are from the week before spring break... and we are treasuring each warm day as it comes, even if all we get to do is go outside and blow bubbles. But to get out to the park is paramount. However, spring break didn't allow for much fun during the week - it was cold and damp.

Seems Spring is going to be coming in spurts, with several days of cold, wet weather in between. Waaaaah! (Yes, I'm whining a bit... but don't tell Kenzie. She's my whiner and I tell her all the time I don't like whining, which I don't, but if she knew I did it, it would be all over with trying to teach her not to.)





During Spring Break, we went downtown to eat lunch one day and to walk around. We stopped at one of the bollards downtown and the girls posed for pics... with a pic of the courthouse (and the fast traffic) in the background. They insisted on getting on top of the bollard - and I don't think I want them to do it again - it was just too scary for me as the cars rushed past. Quite frankly, the worst that could have happened was they'd fall off onto the sidewalk - they've taken falls from higher up than that.



Then, Richelle had her 6 year old well child checkup. Uh.... 50th percentile in height, 75-90th percentile in weight. She now officially weighs more than Kenzie, even though big sis is a year older. Let's just say the kid loves to eat.

Last year, she got 5 shots... and then I thought she was done for a long time. Turns out she had to get 4 more shots. That was a hard sell... I had to hold her down and man! Did she fight it and scream bloody murder. But prior to that, the girls were goofing off at the doctor's office. Oh, turned out Kenzie needed a shot, too. She just cried so pitifully. I felt so bad for both of them.



I have to say, the last picture here tells me what a beautiful young woman Kenzie is going to grow up to be... I took a long, hard look at it and I can see the young woman she is becoming. Richelle... there's still so much of the baby in her... I don't yet see the young woman yet.

Here's to hoping the warm weather will be here to stay soon. But even this weekend looks like it will be rather cool and damp. C'mon April - it's just got to get better.

What a great day!

First, I want to say congratulations to John and Lisa for their new referral! Their long- awaited referral for their daughter Lucy came today - and it looks like Anna is going to be a big sis after all!

Lucy is just precious! You can see Lisa's blog HERE.

Next, Jia got her first dental exam. When Kenzie went, all she wanted to do was sit in that chair and have the dentist examine her teeth. We made her appointment for today, but had to try to find a way to explain to her that we weren't going to have the dentist look at her teeth right away. We got a calendar later that day, and told her it was hers. I circled the date that Kenzie had had her appointment on, then the date she would be having her dental appointment on. I showed her how many days had to pass before she got her appointment.

That didn't quite work... so I explained how many nights we had to go to sleep before we woke up and went to the dentist. That did the trick. She could recite "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep .... DENTIST!" We left one "go to sleep" off every day, until by the 3rd day before the appointment, she could figure it out for herself. She did a great job. They tried to do an xray of her full mouth, but she is so short that they couldn't get a good xray. What they saw was that there appeared to be four teeth buds missing for her permanent teeth. For what her age is supposed to be, they should be developed by now. In 6 months when we return, we'll have them do this again to see if they can make some determination of her actual age - if she really is five, or is she younger.


Then (for a treat) I took them to a local park. The weather was very warm today for the time of year. Normally, we'd see temps in the 30's to 20's... but today must have been about 50 degrees. The kids were incredibly excited to be able to play outside. I found out Jia can swing herself once she gets going. But for a kid that seems to be unafraid of a lot of things, she was petrified of some big stepping stones that were on the playground. This is where Kenzie became Super Sister to the rescue! She helped Jia walking across the stones... I wouldn't exactly say Jia overcame the fear, but she was more assured as Kenzie held her hand and helped her go from stone to stone. And the kids were loving the outdoors. I can't wait for spring and nice weather. I want them to get out every nice day we can. Here are pics from the day.

Another architectural masterpiece

For Christmas, Kenzie asked Santa to bring her a "pretty castle".


Well by the time Santa got his marching orders - there wasn't a pre-made "pretty castle" to be had. So Santa had to start looking at alternatives.


Luckily Santa found a nice elf online who makes these beautiful wooden blocks so children can make their own pretty castles. The really neat thing is that these blocks are so versatile... and Kenzie can create to her heart's content. Too bad we don't have a doubled set.


So - I have here her latest masterpiece.

I can understand how Kenzie is - she's not really tomboy-ish at all. She's very girly and feminine in her own way - but what interests her isn't the strictly girly things - she simply has her own interests - and we are not going to do anything to squelch her desire and drive to be creative in her own way. I was always more interested in what was at one time considered "boys' toys" - microscopes, minerology sets, pup tents, cameras, etc.... they were far more fun to play with than any number and kind of dolls. I never understood how anyone could get a big kick out of arranging furniture in a doll house - but that was just me. I preferred every time we took a trip to look for new rocks to add to my rock collection. Kenzie has been talking about going somewhere to look for rocks to create a collection as well.... and she wants to give me "pretty rocks".

I think she's a lot like me - and it's not just because she lives with us... this is just who she is. With adoption, you always wonder how much is nature and how much is nurture. But there are times when you know 100% that it is just who the child is and not from any undue influence of the parents on the child - other than allowing the child to pursue her/his own interests.

And to be sure - gotta love that cocky little smile. So sure of herself. I hope she stays that way even in her teenage years.