Fun playing outside!

she got up from our bug hunting mission and walked away very unpleased with me. She just looked at me sighed, said "no bug mommy" She had this very serious look on her face. She then stomped away. Look at her little fists....and notice the tough guy walk!!

Eating cookies and taking pictures with daddy!

Who can't love this face?!!

Having lots of fun!!

I LOVE this smile:) it just melts my heart.

Here she is making bug antennas for me! this is what started the bug hunt!

So where are these bugs mommy??

Pictures with the rest of the clan!

I had the camera outside taking pictures while we played. She told me "pictures and puppies mommy" so we had each dog sit while they posed together. As you can tell, they were less than pleased :)

Mugsy, our youngest, is 4.

100 lbs and obviously upset with having to take the picture. Note the tongue sticking out and Olena giving him a lecture (and pointing her figure at him) about how he must "stay muggy"

Laney, the "middle" child, is 5 and as you can tell, Olena does not particularly appeal to her. She is often very annoyed by the ear tugging, eye poking and horse back riding.....great, now picture taking!!!

Luther is the old man of the house, he is 6. He loves her to death though by his expression you would think otherwise :) He is very protective, and follows her all around the house. I am assuming it is because of his undying love for her, but it might have something to due with the fact he usually gets "rewarded" for following her because she often shares her snacks. Or at least leaves them within his reach.

Lord hear my prayer....

On a good note, we had our first family camping trip this past weekend and we had a great time. On the other hand...we are now suffering the consequences of what happens when an adopted toddler has too much fun for 3 days in a row and is completely off schedule. Can you say DEMON?? She has been completely obnoxious and extremely whiny - which I have a real hard time dealing with. I know that toddlers are going to be hard work but give me a break!!! is it really necessary to do nothing but whine for 2 days straight?? I kid you not, everything that has come out of this child's mouth today since the very second she got out of bed had been in the form of whining or crying! ALL DAY!!!!!! I am at wits end, in case you can't tell. I know I will laugh about this later but right now, I am not very happy!
Back to the camping. We had a fabulous time. She was very excited about the idea of camping, though I know she really had no idea what is was, she talked about it and asked me a million times on Thursday if we were "going camping?" it was really cute. then she would precede to tell me "lake.....beach.....camping......bikes.....fishies.....o.k. mommy??" The whole week before I was telling her about the different things we were going to see when we went camping. At least now I know she really does listen to me :) She never did stay up long enough at night to enjoy the bonfire or smores, but she had tons of fun none the less. We spent about 5 hours at the beach on Lake Michigan. She LOVED the sand and spent a majority of the time rolling in it! We rode banana bikes, she got to drive around on her new little tykes 4 wheeler, and she played around the cabin and caught bugs. As you will see in the pictures she had a great time getting dirty too!
We came home Sunday and obviously the excitement of the weekend really wore on her because she hasn't been sleeping good. The past couple nights she has had night terrors, and she is beyond tired. So crabby has been the mood in this household for the past couple of days. All I can do now is just pray for the patience!!

As I sit here typing this I feel that someone has heard my prayers because Olena is walking around the basement pushing her baby around in the stroller and she is getting very upset....see this baby coos and crys, and right now, it is crying!!! and will not stop :) and she hates this!! so I am listening to her run around the basement with this baby screaming "stop baby.....stop baby....."

pay backs are a bitch!! LOL!!!!

AAHHH the beach!!!

she loved the beach and the sand, but swimming was a no no, the water was really cold so she was NOT happy with us when we took her in!!

Isn't camping fun???

Note the saying on the shirt....." I do all my own stunts"

That couldn't be truer!

sporting her new pink cowboy boots....yeeehaw!

As promised!

Things have been crazy busy over the past few weeks so I apologize for the lack of posts, but a least I was able to keep the pictures going :O)
A few weeks ago we had a "baby shower" with Jason's side of the family. It turned out great! She had a great time with her little cousin, whom she had just met and she was really social with the adults. She got a bunch of new summer clothes, some outdoor toys and of course more and more toys!! This kid has her own toy shop over here. What happened to "not spoiling the baby?"



She is starting to talk in sentences and is doing really well with her pronunciations. She still refuses to say her ABCs or count but I am determined that she knows both. There is NO possible way that one child can hear something so many times and NOT know it by now. If she can memorize the songs on Annie after watching it 10 times, I know that she can count and say her ABCs. She got this leap frog toy from the shower, and it sings the ABCs, she hits that button at least 100 times a day!

No luck with growing lately. Though she is much taller and is now about 3 inches taller than when we got home, she is not gaining weight. She is perfectly healthy and doesn't show any symptoms of mal nutrition so we're not going to worry about it. She eats really well and loves just about everything we give her! Just a good metabolism is guess - lucky girl! The bad part is now for the summer all of her 12 months clothes are falling off so I had to resort to going to Target and buying some new shorts in 9 months so that she can run without her shorts ending up around her ankles! I even went to the thrift store to buy her some cotton elastic shorts to play outside in and I bought a pair of 3 month and several 6 months, they all fit her like a glove!

This past Monday was her first day at "school", and she LOVES it. There is a great day care center near my work and it is really structured. She is in a class of 12 other 2 -2 1/2 year olds. They have a lesson plan each day and follow the same schedule we do at home so it is great. She is going there 2 days a week for about 6 hours. I felt so bad when I dropped her off on Monday because I was so worried she would think that I was leaving her at another 'desky dom' (aka orphanage) she told Jason the other day "NO desky daddy" - it broke my heart. I dropped her off at 9 am and lasted until 11 before calling. The teacher said she was doing great. When I got there at 3:30 to pick her up she was so mad because she didn't want to leave. I ended up staying for about 30 minutes while she played on the play ground with the other children. She was definitely in her comfort zone!

Behavior at home has been going good too. We have been working on a few things, and they are slow coming but we are making progress. She likes to play games when we call her to come to us, so we are practicing to come the first time she is called. She hears us and does not ignore us but she "teases". Laughs and giggles with delight at the thought that she is being mischievous. Little turd. The fact that she is so darn cute, doesn't help. She also grunts a lot instead of talking to us or answering our questions, this drives me nuts!!! So we are working on "using our words" We have established a schedule for the day and we have done our best to stick to it and it really makes a huge difference in her behavior. She knows what to expect throughout the day and I think that really gives her a piece of mind. She has a hard time when she is over stimulated, so we try to keep things simple and stay on schedule. The naughty chair is also working well. I will admit I was never a fan of the naughty chair but she really HATES it, so it works well. She sits there until she stops crying and can compose herself properly. It usually takes about 1-2 minutes. We are trying to get her to understand saying "sorry" is necessary when she does something wrong or she is mean, but she down right refuses to say it. I have no idea why? she just grunts! Guess that is sorry in Lana language.

She will be starting gymnastics in a few weeks. This will be perfect for her. She loves to climb and swings from everything, and she is really strong. I am sure that she will be a natural. I would really like to get her in ballet too, she constantly walks and runs on her tip toes. Besides she will look so darn cute in a tutu!

Well looks like my time is up, Jason is being a nerd and is sitting here waiting for HIS computer time. I will update in a few weeks.

I have noticed that there is a big flux of families traveling in the upcoming weeks, so please keep them and all of those beautiful children in your prayers. Granted we are going on with our lives, but we cannot forget those we left behind. They are all still there waiting for thier mommy and daddy. Take care everyone, and good luck to all of the families waiting to travel.

check back tomorrow.

I promise that by tomorrow I will update with a new post. I have lots to share but the hubby is sitting here patiently awaiting his time on the computer. These pictures take so long to download. Sorry

some things will never change!!!

At least the choice of headwear has improved! :)

Yup, she can still scream in disagreement!

why is it necessary to stick out your appendages while mommy takes pictures?

what a difference 6 months make...

6 months later.

Posing in her favorite airplane PJs.

This picture was taken on 12/1/06, the day after court. These three little girls didn't know it, but their lives were about to completely change.

Angelina White, Olena and Lyra Kissack.

Looking at everyones blog, you can really see what a difference there is just in these last 6 months. It is amazing!!!