Weekend Bliss

It's no secret that spring/summer has been a long time coming this year. It has been so cold and windy and Makenna asks nearly daily if it is summer yet. This past Saturday it was beautiful out and the kids were out playing in the yard. It started out fine, but soon I had two nudey-patooties in the yard. I guess that is one of the perks of living in the middle of nowhere! :)

Here are the results of a a beautiful almost summer day. I can't resist trying to capture these sweet moments with my two beautiful girls!

Look at this face, it is SO Makenna. You can see the mischief hidden behind those sparkling eyes!

Oh, and Makenna picked this flower for me from the woods, which is a trillium. Soooo, we had to have a little chat about not picking the state flower, but it was SO sweet when she brought it to me for my hair. Ahhhhhhh....the sweet things they do when they are trying to avoid going in to take a nap! :)

Dance Recital

Makenna joined a dance class last October that is once a week. So, for the past 8 months every Tuesday night we do dance class for an hour. There were weeks that I know Makenna didn't do even half of the routine, even though she knew. So, the thought of a dance recital with two shows was terrifying to me.

Well, as usual, she proved me WRONG! Makenna had her dance recital this past Saturday, and did wonderful. She showed no hesitation to go out an perform, and actually seemed to do better in front of a crowd. Apparently all she need was a stage, some lights and some fans to do her best...little diva! And, all with no nap that day!

I am glad it is over until fall, and we will see if she wants to do it again. Here are some pics from the recital, and a few from class when they rehearsed in their outfits. Even a couple of the whole family. They aren't fabulous, but it's what we have. Kya has taken to not looking at the camera recently, so.....

Now, don't judge me when you see them. Normally, she doesn't get to wear make-up, but she did get lipgloss and a little eye shadow for the big event. She was really happy to "be pretty like mommy". How could I resist that right?

Makenna's First Concert

This was Makenna's face when I told her where we were going...

Last week my friend Shonna and I took our girls (Makenna and her daughter Birtukan) to their first concert---drumroll please----ALICA KEYS! The girls (and the moms) loved it!

Now, you may be thinking we are crazy since the girls are 3 and 4, but they did so well. And, it was a long concert, almost 4 hours total. They both LOVE Alicia Keys, and we figured it would be a pretty tame and clean concert to bring kiddos to.

We met for dinner at a cool Irish pub, and then took the girls to Starbucks for coffee before the concert. I am sure people thought we were crazy, but they were going to be staying up late anyhow, so who cares right?

Jordin Sparks

Jordin Sparks opened the show, then Neyo, and then Alicia Keys. The girls both love the song No One by Alicia Keys, which was of course one of the last songs of the night, so I think both Shonna and I said it was coming soon about a thousand times that night. The girls know the other songs too, that's just one of their favorites!

Makenna got her groove on and truly let loose during Neyo. It was so funny to see, and I wish I could have captured it on video--it was true unadulturated joy in just shaking her booty!

And, the girls got along so well. They are so sweet together, and really are good friends to each other. I am so glad that we got to share this experience with them. It was a wonderful night and I would take them again in a heartbeat!

Here are a couple pics of Alicia Keys performing as well.

One

Sorry for the absence again, but we had a laptop crash! I hadn't backed up my pics forever, and I was SO terrified that I would lose them. But, most were recovered-YEAH! I lost just about everything else though. So, I have been "unplugged" whether I wanted to be or not. :)


This past week Kya turned 1! I can't believe it and it still doesn't seem real. She has changed SO substantially in the time that she has been with us, that it blows me a way. To look back at our first 6 weeks or so together, you would never know she was the same kid. She was so scared, and confused, and greiving and just plain old miserable. It hurts so much to think of all that she has been through in her short year on this planet, to think of all that she had been through before she met us that she reacted that strongly to another change.

And, I didn't help. I was so taken aback by her reaction to us(me in particular), and so unprepared for it that I just struggled to make it through the day. I was clobbered by a case of Post Adoption Depression (similar to post-partum depression) that took me so by suprise. I knew that she had every right to go through all that she was, but the reality of living with it was very different. So, I couldn't give her all that she needed in that moment, and I am so sorry for that. It has taken us some time to really fall in love with each other, and I am so happy to say that we are finally there.

I have thought so much about her birth family and just wish there was someway that they would know she was okay. I wish they could see the amazing little girl she has grown into. It is something I struggle with each year as my girls have gotten older. It's bittersweet, because I love getting to see them grow and flourish, but my thoughts are never far from their birth families.

But, Kya has really grown into a sweet little girl. She is sensitive and loving, smart, curious, determined, obedient, and a great compliment to her big sister. I truly am humbled by the amount she has changed in our time together. I have no idea how she has been this resilient, but I am thankful she is.

She says Da-Da, Hi, Nenna (for Kenna), Nigh-Night (for sleep), Uh-Oh, and is starting to do some animal sounds. She knows how to say mommy, but won't do it unless she is hurt. She will actually shake her head no when you ask her to say mommy and then will turn and smile at me-little turkey! She is close to walking and is very much a toddler already. Can't wait to see where the next year takes us. :)

Oh, and she knows how to use the potty already! If we put her on the toilet and tell her to go potty she does!! It is crazy and I just discovered she could do it by accident. This gives me hope that maybe she will potty train early and there will be no diapers even sooner than I hoped! It is wonderful, but I don't expect it to stick around. She looks so hilarious sitting there though.