It's Spring!

It's officially spring! And summer is approaching, (only 23 more school days, but who's counting?). Today was absolutely gorgeous, we spent most of the evening at the park and it was great fun. I'm so excited for this summer. My girls are both at such a fun age. We are planning on doing a lot of fun things this summer, swimming, lots of crafts (they are both really into shrinky dinks, making jewelry, coloring, etc.) reading, playing at the park, running through the sprinklers (well them, probably not me ;)) and just enjoying the summer. I'm amazed that my little Allie will soon be a 1st grader. It really is bittersweet, she is growing up so fast it makes me sad to see it flying by but at the same time I couldn't be prouder of her. She works so hard in school and has been blessed with a fabulous teacher. She is reading now on a beginning 2nd grade level and she just devours books now that she is able to read chapter books. I personally love to read so its so fun to sit and read the same books with her that I read when I was little. I also can't believe my sweet Hannah just turned 4! While I probably baby her more than I should she is most definately a 'big girl' now and she loves to be independent. She is so her own personality, and she is one of the funniest kids I know. Everyone just loves her. The primary president and I (I am the secretary, which is the BEST calling, I love it!) sit and just crack up at her every week. She is enthusiastic to say the least. She is so friendly and outgoing and knows what she wants. She is in love with Spiderman. Her birthday was complete with a spiderman cake and balloons. I'm not sure where that came from but it definitely has given us a chuckle or two.

So I've decided that this blog is just way confusing, or I'm not computer literate enough I guess, but it is such a huge pain to do text, then a picture, then text, etc. So I am just throwing all the pictures in at the end. Hannah on her birthday, the girls on easter (aren't their sweaters cute? sorry just had to brag, I love making things for my girls and now they actually wear them!), and one or two of Hannah's recent field trip to the farm. Oh yes and if you are wondering about the bandaids on Allie's forehead they are because she slammed into a desk at school and gashed it open. Luckily she got away with glue and not stitches but it was quite the gash!

Christmas!!!

I know it has been a few weeks but I'm finally getting around to sharing our Christmas celebrations. We had a great Christmas, we probably spoiled the girls too much, but they had a blast. I just love Christmas with them at this age. They were both so so excited for Christmas to come. Now, 3 weeks later, Hannah is already counting down to next Christmas. Here are a few of our pictures!

Allie after opening her gifts:

Hannah with hers:

We made gingerbread houses the week before:

Hannah with hers:

We took the girls to sit on Santa's lap, Santa was I think about 17 years old and weighed maybe 150 lbs. And his beard kept falling off. So not the most convincing. Allie walked away and told me that it wasn't the real Santa, so I told her that sometimes Santa sends elves to do his job when he is busy, so she told me 'Mom, next time Santa should send a fatter elf."

Hannah loved him and ran right up to him, I was excited, our first year where no one cried!

Approved!!

Its official! Our adoption application has been approved! Well its been official for about 2 weeks, but I'm just getting around to sharing it on here, I meant to share it yesterday but the ipad was not cooperating with my link posting efforts.

Here is a link to our profile: https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/26284780/ourMessage.jsf

A few people have asked me what it means that we are approved to adopt. It means that we have a current homestudy and we are legally able to adopt a child at any time. With LDS family services, the agency we are going through, the expectant mothers choose the best family for their baby. Because of this there is no specified wait time or list. I know one adoptive couple who had their baby placed with them just 4 days after approval and I know another couple who had their twins placed with them about 2 years after approval, so the time that couples wait really just depends on the situation.

A lot of times the adoptions that LDS family services facilitates are what is called a 'designated adoption' (let me tell you, I have a whole new vocabulary since entering the adoption world!) a designated adoption is where a couple and expectant mom find each other outside the agency but then the agency does the paperwork and everything. One friend made some cards with their picture on it and passed them out to family and friends and one of them got into the hands of their twins' birthmom. Their adoption was finalized today in fact! So really many times adoptions can happen by 'word of mouth' so to say. So, if any of you know anyone who is considering adoption, please pass on the link to our profile.

We appreciate so much all the love and support we've received from family and friends, all of your words of encouragement are definately appreciated!

Fall is here!

It's official, fall is here, finally. The school I work at has no air conditioning so I have been highly anticipating the cooler days, but it still makes me sad that summer is really and truly over. Allie started kindergarten this year and Hannah started preschool. I am so amazed at how much they have both learned in such a short time. We are so blessed that they both have fabulous teachers that care so much about both of them. A few first day pics:

Hannah's First Day of Preschool




Both girls were exhausted that first week!
Allie in front of school on the first day, I have a picture of me in the same place on my first day of kindergarten <3
Before leaving the morning of, I'm already missing those warm mornings!

An announcement...

I'm probably the worlds worst blogger, and truthfully, that likely won't change in the near future, but I am going to try to update at least every other month coming up, so here is a little catch up info on us.

Ricardo just finished his MBA, we are so so proud of him and excited for him to be done with school! He is enjoying all his free time by doing projects around the house, including building one awesome chicken coop (or chicken mansion as my mom calls it) for our 4 new chickens, Harriett, Cubby, Fluffles, and Lady Gaga (yeah, we aren't even fans, but we thought it was a funny name for a chicken.)He is working for IHC in West Valley doing some accounting work for them and he really enjoys it.



Allie just finished preschool, she turned five in January and she will start Kindergarten in the fall. Where did all that time go? I swear just yesterday she was a baby. She will be attending Gramercy where I work so I am looking forward to being able to see her during lunch and have her with me before and after school. She is such a smart kid (though I am a little biased) she is already starting to read, which makes her school teacher mama proud. She is also taking ballet and will have her first recital next week, and she played soccer this spring and kickball this summer.




Hannah just turned 3 in April, she is our bubbly bundle of energy. She makes friends with everyone she meets and makes them laugh. She will start preschool in the fall, which is really hard to believe, she is so so excited to go to school just like her big sister.




As for me I am home for the summer, which is fabulous! I'm loving spending time with my girls, and having a break from getting up early and the school year rush. I'm also enjoying the extra time to work on my yarn and knitting business a bit.

And now for our big announcement! We have put in our adoption application with LDS Family Services. We are hoping to have our adoption application approved by mid August, and for now we are just working on paperwork and getting ready to attend the required classes. We are so excited and also nervous for the road ahead of us.

Once we are finished with our paperwork and approved we will have an adoption profile on itsaboutlove.org. With LDS family services there is no wait list and no set time frame to wait for an adoptive placement. The expectant mothers choose the family that they feel will be best for their baby. We would like to ask for your prayers during this process that has so many ups and downs, we can really use them! We are so grateful for supportive family and friends, your thoughts and prayers are really very much appreciated!

Spring is here!

Wow, I'm really great at updating this blog huh? I wanted to update a little on what is going on in our lives. The biggest event right now for us is that Ricardo is graduating on Friday!!!! I think that I am more excited than he is. I am unbelievably proud of him and how hard he has worked to get here. It hasn't been an easy road for either of us but we are glad we made it!

With graduation comes hunting for a job, what a wonderful time to be looking for work huh? We've been lucky though that Ricardo does seem to have one company so far that is interested in him. The bad news is that if he is offered a job with this company it would be out of state. The good news is, a job is a job. He has had one interview so far and will find out on Friday if he gets a second interview. We are keeping our fingers crossed!

I'm surviving the last few weeks of school (is summer really almost here?) Its been an interesting year, and I've learned a lot. Although they are cute and often quite funny (they wanted to name our betta fish 'pie' today, but settled on the name Rylee) my little kindergarteners are wearing me out. I am hoping for a change next year, although nothing is definate yet.

As for the girls, they are getting so big. We survived the terrible twos and are now on to the threes, which are not as terrible in some ways, but challenging in others. Allie is such a smart little girl she amazes me. She is learning to write her name (yeah can you tell she has a kindergarten teacher for a mom?) I am, of course, very proud, and probably the only one who can actually read it.

Hannah turned one on the 14th (I can't believe it!) she had a great time on her birthday. She got a little ride on pony and she rides on it every day. She has reverse down, but hasn't quite figured out how to go forward. She is almost walking, not quite, but almost. I am actually looking forward to her walking, I'm hoping it will mean she won't get so dirty all the time and I won't have to change her outfits three times per day! Here are some pictures of them as we got to get out today in
the nice spring air. Please excuse my lack of photography skills.






And a few of the birthday girl

Here they come!




Playing with Grandma



MMMMMMMM



Also, my sister Becky is leaving for Africa on Thursday. We are excited for her and hoping she has a great time and is safe while she is gone. We'll miss you Beck!

It's been awhile

I haven't updated in, forever, and it seems that night time is the only quiet time I have to really think long enough to write. So here goes, be prepared for picture overload, and you all know I talk to much so be prepared for that too. First, Disneyland was a lot of fun, thanks again Mom and Dad! Allie has talked about it nonstop since we got back, and asked several times to go back. You wouldn't have known she was enjoying it though while we were there. She has such a funny little personality, once you know her and she is comfortable she is just like me and never stops talking, but until then she is just like her dad, quiet and takes things in from the sidelines. Here are some pictures in a random order because I am still figuring this blog thing out.

Hannah loved the parade in California adventure, that little girl is such a trooper, she was so good the whole trip!

Little Girls in their matching hats

Grandma, Grandpa, Megan, Makenzy, Becky and Carol all rode the carousel in an attempt to convince Allie that maybe it really isn't all that bad, It worked because she did ride it and even asked to go a second time!

One of Allie's favorite's, face painting.

The following picture shows her expression through most of the trip.

We were lucky enough to have my awesome parents who would take the kids while we rode a few of the rides. I went on the tower of terror with my mom and sisters and wow is that a fun ride! Definately my favorite. Ricardo's favorite was Space Mountain, and Allie's favorite was Pirates of the Caribean. Yep she was scared of the teacups, scared of the caterpillar that goes -1 miles per hour, and scared of Winnie the Pooh, but she loved Pirates, go figure.

Well it is getting late and apparently blogger thinks I've added enough pictures for the night, so I am off to get some sleep and I will update with Halloween pictures later.