Happy Adoption Day, Madeleine!

One year ago today there was this...

a little bit of this...

and a lot of this.

One year later there is still a bit of this...

a bit of that...

and lots of love to go around.

Happy adoption day Madeleine! We love you so much and can't believe that little 4 1/2 month old baby we met in Ethiopia is now a toddling around 16 month old!

You can stop growing up now, okay?

P.S. Your special one year adoption day video is on its way - it just got waylaid with technical difficulties. Soon dear one, soon.

Long Time, No Blog Post

Did you miss us? We missed you! My two crazy busy weeks are finally over, now I just have to get through one more week before spring break. (Of course this week won't be any less busy with several meetings and Jason going out of town, but anyone can make it through five days, right?)

How 'bout a quick catch-up?

Cousin Vilia visited!

"Wassup?"
Isabelle loves her baby cousin...

...but has learned that as the oldest child she will always be the one to have her hair pulled by the babies.

Vilia learned that as the youngest child she will always live in a land amongst giants.

I learned that three against one doesn't bode well for me when it comes to picture taking.

Last weekend Jason taught Isabelle how to ride her big girl bike.

It's her new favorite thing!

Meanwhile, Madeleine watched in amazement as her big sister managed to impress her once again.

Maddy was super excited when it was her turn to walk around the track.

Then Daddy tried to teach Madeleine how to play soccer, which was fairly unsuccessful as Maddy was not interested in putting the ball (or her cheerios) down.

This weekend we pulled out the treasure chest of dress-up clothes and the girls entertained themselves for hours putting on their finery.

Some may say these gowns are tacky but in our house they are considered haute couture. As you can see, accessories are a must.

"Aren't we dazzling?"

P.S. Is anyone else out there totally addicted to Vampire Weekend? They're my new favorite thing!

Just Another Sunny Seattle Day

Seems all we've been getting around here lately is sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. I know all you out-of-towners are thinking, "wait, I thought Seattle was the rain capital of the world." Not so my friends. In fact, we're downright balmy 'round these parts. (And by balmy I mean upper 50's - but hey, it's still technically winter so that's pretty good!)

When the weather is this great everyone wants to celebrate by being outdoors and doing crazy things like hosting birthdays with a beach party theme - yep, attended one on Saturday - pretty fun! The downside of the good weather? I'll be frank. Nakedness abounds! Upper 50's in Seattle means dozens of guys now must go shirtless to play touch football in the park. (Really? It's that hot?) Unfortunately for me there was nary a George Clooney or Brad Pitt in sight. My eyes are still burning from the horrors I saw on the playing field. And yes, I tried averting my eyes.

Isabelle and Madeleine had a great time playing on the playground though. Madeleine is walking so well and is completely proud of herself. She also loooves playing chase!

Look who finally got some pigtails in her hair! And there wasn't even any baby torture device involved to hold her head still. She did protest throughout the styling, having learned the word "oww!" from her sister. (I promise I wasn't hurting her - she started with the "owws" before the comb even touched her head! Isabelle, you've taught her well.)

Isabelle being brave on the monkey bars.

The swing is Madeleine's favorite...
...as is the slide!

Isabelle continues to be a great helper with her little sister.

Wood chips are so interesting.

"This bouncy thing is fantastic!"

Tuckered out and thirsty after a long day at the park.

Guess what else happened this week? As I was parked in the driveway at daycare waiting for the little girl I pick up to get buckled my daycare provider's husband backed his car into the front of mine. Yikes! We must be setting some kind of record because this week both our cars will be in the shop being repaired. The other car is still leaking water so it's in for the third time this winter.

In the next two weeks I have to assess all my kindergarten students, write their report cards, conference with their families, register Isabelle for kindergarten (at multiple schools), write Isabelle's post-placement report to send back to Kazakhstan and present at an early childhood conference on kindergarten standards and expectations. Calgon, take me away!