Thinking ahead

I've started thinking about Halloween and came up with a few cute ideas.  This is so fun to think of ideas!

Handy Manny Theme.  Me - Kelly. Chris - Handy Manny. Cooper - Pat. Charlotte - Squeeze.

Charlotte as Cleopatra, Cooper as Caesar, Chris and I will be the slaves

Cooper as a lion, Charlotte as a lamb.  Chris and I as ??

Flintstones theme:  Cooper as BammBamm, Charlotte as Pebbles, Chris as Fred Flintstone, Me as Betty Rubble, Scout as Dino

Disney theme:  Cooper as Mickey, Charlotte as Minnie, Chris as Goofy, Me as Daisy

Cooper as Peter Pan, Charlotte as Tinkerbell, Chris as Captain Hook, Me as Wendy, Scout as Nana

Cooper as a caterpillar, Charlotte as a butterfly, Chris as a bee, me as a flower

Cooper as Ace of Spades, Charlotte as Ace of Hearts (Two of a kind), Chris as a Vegas card dealer, Me as a Vegas cocktail waitress

Nintendo theme:  Cooper as Mario, Charlotte as Princess Peach, Chris as Luigi, Me as Yoshi

Farm theme:  Cooper as a pig, Charlotte as a cow, Chris as a Farmer, Me as Farmer's wife

Wizard of Oz:  Cooper as Cowardly Lion, Charlotte as Dorothy, Chris as Tin Man or Scarecrow, I can be Wicked Witch or Glinda, Scout can be Toto

Cooper can be mustard, Charlotte can be ketchup, Chris can be a hotdog, I can be a hamburger

Chess pieces:  Cooper is King, Charlotte is Queen, and Chris and I are the pawns

It's summertime!

Finally it's summertime here!  I know for the rest of the country summer starts winding down, but in CA it really just gets started around this time of year.  It's the hottest time of the year and most of the tourists are gone.  We took advantage and enjoyed the weekend outdoors, well except for these cute moments.

The beach was beautiful day.  The water was nice and cool and it was hot - in the high 80's/low 90's.  Perfect!

(I hate these hats but they are the only ones they will wear!)  Cooper played in the sand for most of the time, while Charlotte couldn't get enough of the water.

       

Scout's Lovey

We bought two Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Puppies because Charlotte loved hers so much we though Cooper would love it too.  Turns out it just woke him up and annoyed him all night instead of soothing him, like it does for Charlotte.  So we've left the second one in their toy box.  Looks like Scout found a new lovey:

Is neither an option?

Some funny stories....

When I was in Denver last week I went out with all my closest girlfriends.  I had one beer and then right before going to the dance floor I decided I needed to go the bathroom.  I had never been to that particular bar and I didn't closely look at the signs, I just chose the bathroom to the right.  When I walked in there was a GUY at the sink washing his hands.  I turned beet red, did a 180 and turned to walk out just as another GUY was walking in.  My girlfriends were all laughing at me as I managed to get out of the men's bathroom.  I guess I ignored the TWO signs for the bathroom.  The little stick man definitely wasn't wearing a skirt and the W was definitely an M.

At the airport when we arrived back home an older woman came up to me to tell me how cute the kids were.  I was tired and ready to be done, so when she asked if they were twins I thought the easiest answer would be yes (it often is).  Boy was I wrong! 

I tell her yes and she says, 'How exciting!  Here are my twins...although they are grown women now!'  Oh, dear, these women are identical twins and here I am claiming my non-twins are twins.  She proceeds to ask me if I knew I was having twins.  I think to myself, nope, definitely did not know I was having twins especially since I only pushed one of the babies out of me!!  I tell her no and she tells me she didn't know either and then says 'it's quite a surprise isn't it?!?'....uh, yes, yes it is quite a surprise. 

She asks where Charlotte gets her beautiful hair from and I say that it reminds me of daddy's hair since it's dark and wavy...um, there is no way she actually got his hair!  Lesson learned:  Maybe my easy answer of 'yes they're twins' isn't as easy as I originally thought.

Over the weekend I was asked if the kids were identical or fraternal twins.  A million things came to mind as a response:

Laughter - I somehow managed not to make the person asking feel like a complete idiot by answering the question with laughter.

Identical except she has girl parts and he has boy parts - again I managed to hold in my snarky comment to avoid making the person feel like an idiot.

Actually they're virtual twins - this would have required a lot more explanation that I didn't feel like giving

Is neither an option? - this is what I really thought, but didn't say because I didn't want to make the person feel like an idiot for asking the question.

Q:  Are they identical or fraternal?  My A:  Yes.  I think that worked because she seemed satisfied and I could just keep going.

Denver Trip - Take Two

For more pictures and a different perspective, go check out the Faris blog!

Also I forgot to put pictures up of Charlotte running through the fountain at Southlands.  She LOVES water so this was perfect for her!

Once the Dey's and Hunt's get the pictures up from our visit with them, I'll let you know!

(I'm working on getting pictures uploaded to shutterfly in case anyone wants to order them.  I still haven't uploaded July!)

Denver Trip - Aug 2009

We had a wonderful time in Denver last week!  Although the kids and Christopher ended up sick for most of the week, which meant very little sleep for anyone.  Mikael and Che were so kind to make us feel like we were at a home away from home and took care of all the sickos!  Thanks so much to both of them!!

We arrived okay, but the airline lost Cooper's carseat and my breast pump.  They gave us a loner carseat and then delivered our other one later in the evening so it all worked out okay.

Sunday was our 6 year wedding anniversary.  We went to our favorite restaurant, Hops.  All of the Hops restaurants are closing!!  There are only two left and we really hope neither of them close!  In honor of our anniversary, here are some of the wedding pictures I actually have on my computer (mostly un-edited because I still haven't gotten around to creating wedding albums or printing pictures!):

Make a Smilebox photobook

My class was really good, very helpful for my job.  It was a really long drive across town though!  One day it took an hour and a half!  It was also a bit complicated to fit in pumping in the car and eating my lunch within 1 hour.

It was wonderful to see family and friends.  My dad came over 4 or 5 days out of the week.  He helped Chris and Mikael take the kids to the museum and just hung out for several afternoons.  By the end of the week Charlotte was giving him hugs and kisses and Cooper started to pull on his beard.  They were also calling him Bampa.  So wonderful to see them bonding with him!

We also visited Christopher's grandma and the kids LOVED running all around.  I think everyone at her elderly home really enjoyed having the little ones around that day.

The other big visit was with Charlotte's between family, Michelle and Tiffany and their daughters.  It was really great to finally meet them.  I think a lot of closure took place and I look forward to spending more time with them as a sort of extended family.

Che and I planned a girls night out (GNO) on Friday and went out to Lodos in Highlands Ranch.  I had never been to that Lodos, but it was a  ton of fun!  An old college friend showed up, and then by best friend Raeann came out.  Of course I was so happy Mikael's sister, Nicole joined us for the fun night too!  Besides my foot being stomped on my super spiky stiletto, I had a fantastic time!

As the three toddlers, Charlotte, Cooper and Maile, get older there seems to be less and less of an age gap between all of them.  Maile is the oldest by 6 months, Charlotte is next, and Cooper is the youngest.  Here are some great pictures of them all playing together.

Teamwork will get giant Cooper into the dolly sized high chair

Cooper was obsessed with carrying this chair around

We lined them up to eat.  They proceeded to pass food and drink cups down the line.

Maile stole the sippy cups

All of them loved to play in the tent

The outdoor slide was a big hit

Charlotte tried to shovel as much sand out of the sandbox that she could

This is Katie's (the dog) ramp that Cooper loves to climb up.  Anything dangerous attracts this little boy.

Attempting to close the table umbrella.

And when he couldn't get enough leverage - pole dancing!

Hanging on for dear life (not really, he just was being goofy with the edge of the table):

And since what one of them does, the other must try:

We attempted family pictures.  We now have toddlers, so needless to say a picture with all four of us never happened.  We did manage to get several super cute pictures though!!  My sincerest thanks to Che for not only managing her own toddler while photographing our family, but also for somehow making my family appear anything but sick, tired, and cranky!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Another tidbit we learned during this travel period?  The kids are adjusting to plane rides rather well!!  The don't fuss all that much, do okay sitting on our lap, and are even willing to fall asleep.  However, both are getting a bit big to sit in our laps, especially Cooper (who loves to kick the seat of the person in front of us).  Also, the $6 charge on Frontier for DirecTV is money well spent for toddlers who love Handy Manny.  Charlotte even dances at the right times, despite refusing to use her earphones to actually hear the music!

And sorry for the limited pictures...I got lazy with the camera.

Dangerous Bouncy Ball

Cooper went running after the big bouncy ball, flopped on top of it to 'tackle' it, then rolled to the side and scraped is face.

Beware of the dangerous bouncy ball.

Bird Dog

Chris came down stairs after putting the kids to bed for nap.  He noticed Scout was laying outside on the patio with something gray next to her mouth.  Chris went outside and gently asked what she was doing out there.  He noticed the gray thing was a little bird that was hopping around by Scout's mouth!  Scout was sort of nudging it with her nose a bit, but mostly just entertained by it.  When Chris tried to get close Scout started growling and got really maternal!  What a cute little bird dog we have.

Catching Up

I'm tired.   All.the.time.  Cooper was doing so well, then teething hit again for the very last I-tooth.  Now it's a growth spurt.  I want to go back to co-sleeping, I got way more sleep that way.

It's been a busy week so far.  One of my employees quit so work has gotten busier and more stressful.  I like when it's busy though...makes my day go by so fast!  We are also finally getting a new boss at the end of the month--I wonder what he'll be like.

The kids have started freaking out about cars honking, sirens, and car alarms.  At the end of bath time a car alarm started going off and they both FREAKED OUT.  It was my turn to give them a bath and I tried to get down at their level, speak calmly and give them both hugs.  They latched onto me and climbed out of the bath!!

So here I am sitting with two hysterical, dripping wet toddlers on my lap and Christopher peeks his head in.  I don't think it registered for him, because he casually says 'Everything ok in here?'  I gave him the well.obviously.everything.is.not.ok look and asked him to help.  Silly men!

Now they cry and get really scared any time they hear car alarms, honking or sirens.  We try to just tell them it's okay and then distract them so we don't make it a big deal.  I'm waiting for them to go back to saying 'oowhoo....oowhooo' when they hear those noises.

Last Friday we finally got to meet the big Hunt family!  They were on vacation in Newport Beach, so we met them at Fashion Island for a snack at Pink Berry.  It was so much fun!  They have 7 kids who are all beautiful, thoughtful, and full of personality.  Chris and I got enjoy meeting with Joshua and Ambyr while the older kids watched Charlotte and Cooper for us.  Charlotte had a blast with all the extra attention, but Cooper wasn't so sure about Kaidon following him around the entire time.  As soon as they are able to post pictures I'll let you know since I forgot my camera that day.  (Been really bad with the camera lately.)

It was also nice to talk to other adoptive parents.  It's amazing how many different ways there are to adopt and to hear other people's adoption stories.  It makes us feel more normal when we get to discuss all the things that come with adoption with someone who has been there.

(For those who don't know, the Hunt's are are part of Charlotte's 'between family' before she came home to us.  Michelle Dey was her between mommy, Tiffany Hunt is Michelle's roommate and Charlotte's between aunt and babysitter and  Joshua Hunt is Tiffany Hunt's brother.  Clear as mud?)

Just Pictures

Breakfast on the patio, Aug 2009

Coloring pictures for Grandpa Walter and Grandma Toni, June 2009

Moving day, June 2009

Tarheels girl, June 2009

Good morning, Aug 2009

Pretty girl, May 2009

Happy Gotcha Day!

One year ago today, Charlotte came home!  To celebrate we went out to dinner, but mostly enjoyed a lazy day.  Here are some pictures of how they've grown!

Aug 1, 2008

Aug 20, 2008

Mar 19, 2009

Aug 1, 2009