Peanuts, hot dogs and Buddy

Daddy got tickets for the River Bats game.    It was Sophie's first baseball game and she enjoyed every part of it, except the actual game.  I don't think she even knew there was a game going on.  

Sophie was obsessed with Buddy Bat and searched for him throughout the entire game.  She would yell for him and ask us constantly, "where is him. Where did him go?"

Our seats were amazing!  We were 7 rows up behind home plate.

Daddy bought her some peanuts and showed her how to open them.  

She had a rough time so he opened a bunch for her because she was getting a little frustrated.

Daddy wanted her first game to be special and I think it was.

We headed over to take a ride on the carousel.  It was a big hit!

Since it was her first game, she had to have a hot dog.

 Finally she got her wish.  Daddy swept her up, ran her to the fence and Buddy came over to speak to her.  She was so thrilled to finally get to see him up close.  As soon as he walked away, the asking continued, "where did him go?"  Luckily Daddy gets free tickets from work so we will be heading to another game real soon and hopefully she will get to see Buddy again.

Revisiting the library

Sophie is really starting to enjoy books so I decided we would dust off her library card from 2 years ago 

and try the library again.  For most children this isn't a big deal but for our family it is very special.  Two years ago I was taking Sophie to a playgroup at the library but decided to stop when it became clear that she just wasn't ready for that type of interaction with other children.  She still had a lot of healing to do and we needed to just be home. 

 When she entered the library this time there was a huge smile on her face.  When I showed her the rows and rows of books she could pick from, she was thrilled.  I told her she could get as many as she wanted but realized that was a little overwhelming so we chose six books.  She was so excited to hand the librarian her card and books and kept talking about, "how many we were buying."

As we left the library, I couldn't help but remember  how far my little girl has come from the scared, overwhelmed baby that I brought home from China.   She is now one of the happiest, sweetest, friendliest little girls I've ever seen.  She loves her family and loves her friends.  Everywhere she goes she has so much fun.   Every time I think about the Sophie then and the Sophie now, I am reminded of this verse in Isaiah 61:3

"........ he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory."

Piggies or pony and everything pink

This spring is bringing lots of new changes for Sophie.  One being that her hair has gotten long enough so that I find myself asking, "piggie or pony today?"  She changes her mind from day to day.  Daddy's personal favorite is the ponytail.  Piggies are too much for him to handle when he does her hair.   Another new thing Sophie is into is the color pink.  She wants everything to be pink.  Pink ice cream, pink sunglasses, pink loppies, she has to sleep with her pink bunny.  Like most little girls, pink is the color of choice.

The Farmers Market

This morning we got up early to see Madison off for another trip to Cincinnati.  After he left Camden, Sophie and I headed to Bardstown Road to the Farmers Market.  We enjoy going and picking up a few things, stopping for breakfast and just walking around to see the sites.

Honor Roll Ceremony

Today was our third time attending the honor roll ceremony at PRP for Madison.  He is such a good student and we are so proud of his accomplishments.  Sophie was excited to pick her big brother out of the crowd and kept making silly faces at him from the bleachers.  

Making silly faces to his little sister.

Waiting for his name to be called.

Toward the end of the ceremony Sophie got tired and curl up with Daddy for some cuddle time.

My Kind of Sunday morning

Once a month we attend church on Saturday night because of Camden's volunteer commitment.   It's hard to stop what we are doing and go but it is so worth it the next morning.  When we got up today it was raining and the temperature had cooled off considerably making for a good day to stay in bed a little longer.  I got up while everyone was still asleep, fixed a cup of coffee and headed to my favorite spot on the couch to read my scriptures for the day.  Sophie got up and we made homemade waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream.   Camden came strolling into the den and assumed his position in the recliner with the Sunday paper.  I took the Target ad.




 Madison for once this week got to sleep in.

  After waffles, the paper and some good coffee, Camden and Sophie began playing hide and seek.

 No hurries, no where to go.  Just me,  daddy and the kids.   My favorite kind of Sunday.

Our few seconds of fame

In a previous post I had blogged about our family taking photos to send to Third Day so they could use them in their concert during the Children of God set.  A few weeks later a friend had emailed me letting me know she had seen our picture during the Dove Awards as the song was being played.  The Dove Awards are the Gospel Musics version of The Grammy's and I was pretty excited to hear this news.  We are only on the screen for a few seconds, about 1:54 mark, but still we were excited.  Camden and attended their concert here in town last week and was excited to once again see our  photo along with other families who have adopted.  It will always be a fun memory.

Happy Mother's Day

For mother's day Camden and Sophie took me to the mall to pick out a charm for my bracelet.  Madison couldn't go because he had to work.  Camden wanted me to also pick out one for Sophie's bracelet that matched mine.  I settled on a Panda Bear.  One of my most cherished memories as a mother was being with my family in China.  We went to the Zoo in Guangzhou.   Everything was so new to Sophie and the Zoo was so different from ours that Madison couldnt't help but be amazed by the strange exhibits like the one of  a dog.   There were so many "firsts" of Sophie's that I missed out on but one that I didn't was her first trip to the Zoo.   I carried her the entire time pointing out all the animals to her.  One of the highlights was seeing a Panda Bear.

 It will always be a wonderful memory for me and one of the more memorable moments of being a mother.  Thank you God for the privilege of being a mom to these two children.

A sweet gift from my soul sister

Becky and I have been friends since our boys were little.  We met in Sunday school class at a Dinner's for Six gathering, hit it off and have been buddies ever since.   Since then she and her family have moved several times and we haven't lived in the same state for quite some time but try to get together when we can.  She truly is like a sister to me.  Along with my friend Jill she put together the most amazing baby shower for me, she was at the airport waiting for me when I got off the plane from China, stayed for almost a week, did my laundry, cooked meals, and kept Sophie one day so I could sleep for 3 hours when I was so sleep deprived and jet lagged I thought I was going to pass out.  We talk everyday (usually 2-3 times per day) and those talks are so important to me.  We can get into some really deep spiritual conversations and fuss about all the things our kids and husbands are doing to drive us crazy or plan the best way to get our laundry under control (that's really more her problem, she has 4 kids I only have 2 :)).  I am so grateful to have this "soul sister" relationship with her.  

This week she surprised me with a special package.  It was a charm for my Pandora bracelet.  A butterfly.  Half of it was sent to me and the other half is on her bracelet.  I love it and I love her.

Happy Derby Day

In Kentucky, the Derby is more like a two week celebration that ends with a 2 1/2 minute horse race and one beautiful thoroughbred being crowned with a blanket of red roses.  It is so much fun.  Our Derby this year was pretty low key.  It was a nice day and we spent it in the yard but Sophie managed to get into the spirit by dressing up Pooh Bear and watching the horses run. working

A beautiful day for the Zoo

Today we headed out for our first trip to the Zoo of the season.  Madison wanted to take Kaitlin so she could feed the giraffe's, her favorite animal.  After what seemed like weeks of rain we finally had a beautiful, sunny day.  We had a great time, although I think Sophie was a wee bit jealous of Kaitlin.  She constantly wanted Madison to hold her and she would wrap her arms around his neck as if to say, "I had him first!"