Visits with Santa

This was the first year the girls were not too afraid of visiting Santa Claus. Going to see Santa was definately a process. First, we would walk by Santa to get a glimpse of him, then talk about him for a while, sometimes a long while, and then stop to see him before we left the mall. We were able to visit with Santa atleast 4 or 5 times this season. For the top picture, Nate was napping well in his stroller, so he missed out on this photo opp. :-)

Picture with Santa at the Phoenix Zoo Lights

Christmas Cookie Fun

Lots of fun!! We got together with some friends to decorate Christmas cookies. All the kids enjoyed rolling out the dough, using the cookie cutters, decorating and... sampling the frosting! Thanks to Jorgie for opening up her home for this event... very brave. :)

First Haircut

In late November the girls had their first haircut. They have had their hair trimmed previously, maybe 2-3 times, and the cuts just evened out their hair. Well, with this cut, they had about 2-3 inches cut off at a kids salon called Lollilocks. It was very cute, the girls each sat in this pink elephant to have their hair cut. After the cut, they each picked out the hair style of their choice and a lollipop.

Second Gotcha Day Anniversary

On November 19 we celebrated our second gotcha day anniversary. We started the day by having breakfast with Nana and Papa at the Deer Valley Airport Restaurant. This was our first time here, it was really fun for the girls. It is a small airport and the restaurant faces the runways. We saw several small planes and helicopters taking off and landing. Next we visited a preschool that we are looking at for this fall, then to the zoo and to Nana and Papa's for dinner. It was a fun and busy day. I wish we would have gotten more pictures!

New Glasses

In November, Jenna picked out her new glasses. She has had two other pairs before this pair and we've just ordered the frame (a VERY limited selection) at Costco that came in her size. Well, we ventured out to Target for new frames and as soon as Jenna saw these frames... "the light pink ones" there was no changing her mind. Jenna has been wearing her new frames about 3 months now and she is taking very good care of them. :-)

Halloween 2008

Two cute ladybugs and and an adorable pumpkin. ;-) Jadyn and Jenna insisted on being Ladybugs again this year for Halloween... well, their costumes still fit, so all was good.

Picking pumpkins in the desert

In Phoenix, there are not many, if any, real pumpkin patches. The local Botanical Gardens puts on The Great Pumpkin Festival each year and they bring in lots of pumpkins for the kids to choose from. There are other fun activities for the kids to do too, including the hayride to the pumpkin patch, the hay maze, a petting zoo and decorating pumpkins. Here Nana came along for the fun!

Watching our baby brother

In this picture Jadyn is actually keeping a pacifier in Nate's mouth. The girls will do most anything to help out with their baby brother. Nate was 6.5 weeks at this time.

FREE Birthday Dinner at Red Robin

We love the FREE meal offers that come in the mail, or e-mail, around birthdays.
If you have not signed up up for Red Robin's eClub, click here! We have not signed Nate up yet, but everyone else in our family receives a free meal around their birthday.









We were happy to have Grandma Ann in town over the girls' birthday!

Little Cheerleaders

The girls started to wear these cheerleading outfits last fall. "Da Bears" is Daddy's favorite team, NOT Mommy's however. Wouldn't you know it... this is the girls FAVORITE outfit! Well, the outfits were put toward the back of the closet for our ummm... chilly month(s) and made their 2009 debut last week. I have a feeling Jadyn & Jenna will be sporting these outfits all spring!

Happy Birthday to Jadyn & Jenna!

Well, this is the day Jenna and Jadyn were looking forward to. They turned 3!!! We had a fun party at My Gym and then had pizza and cake at home. Jenna really likes Minnie Mouse these days and Jadyn really likes Mickey Mouse. So some of the cake plates were Mickey and some were Minnie.

Three Year Pictures

On October 5, 2008, Jenna and Jadyn turned 3 years old. We can hardly believe that our babies are now 3. Here are some of our favorite pictures.

The pink and purple cheongsams are the ones the girls wore in their red couch photo when we were in China. We love this picture because it really captures the girls' fun personalities. We have the joy of seeing this everyday and love it. :-)



These pictures were taken in the end of September when Nate was 5 weeks old. (He is a bit bigger these days!)

An Update at Last!

In the end of September we took the girls bowling, actually bumper bowling. We never realized there were bowling shoes small enough to fit toddler feet... well there are! Some of the bowling balls were light enough for the girls to carry. The preferred method of getting the ball down the alley was to roll it between their legs. It was a fun time!

Here is Jadyn, looking like an experienced bowler, watching her ball roll down the alley.

Below is Jenna after a fun time bowling.

Two Years Ago Today...

Two years ago today, it was a Monday, September 25, 2006, we received our referral for our two wonderful daughters. We received a phone call from our adoption agency, around this time actually, with the information that we were matched with TWO little sweeties. The next day we saw their beautiful pictures for the first time. This will always be a very special day for us!

Off to a High Noon Tea Party

Last weekend, the girls and I went to a High Noon Tea Party at a friends house. It was their first tea party. They used real China (happy to report that nothing broke!) and tried tea for the first time. They enjoyed trying some of the little sandwiches, fruit and cookies!

Pretend Play

Jenna and Jadyn love to "pretend" and have good imaginations. Their favorite things to play is making dinner and birthday cakes in their kitchen which is usually followed by a round of them singing "Happy Birthday". It is so cute to watch and listen to them play.

Since their brother has arrived, the girls have taken a new interest in their "babies". They love diaper, feed and take their babies on wild stroller rides around the house.

Good Morning Baby Brother!

The girls can not wait to check on their baby brother as soon as they get up in the morning. Their Dora step stools come in handy again!

Welcome to the World Nathan!!

Our baby brother has finally arrived!!
Three weeks before his due date, on August 23, Nate decided he was ready meet his big sisters. He measured in at 20 inches and was 7 lbs 1 oz. The girls have been anxious to meet their little brother all summer long. The talked to baby brother while he was in Mommy's tummy and gave him kisses too. Here is Nate meeting his sisters for the first time, about 10 hours after being born.






Proud BIG sisters!!

Fun Ride with Mickey

The girls' treat after being so patient looking for a crib for baby brother. We needed a new crib because the girls' cribs were recalled in June... so they are now in toddler beds and loving it!

Playing at the Mall

On many Wednesdays we meet up with friends and find somewhere fun to play. On this day we went to the mall play area.














Tickle tickle Sissy!!

Trip to the Dentist!

What troopers! The girls were so good when having their teeth cleaned and prodded at. It was a good check up... way to go!

These are pics of Jenna who had her teeth cleaned first. There must have been a big distraction after taking these because there are no pictures Jadyn! Opps... we will get some next time sweetie!

Say "Cheese"!

Here the girls are in their beautiful dresses that we purchased in China. These are the dressed the girls wore for their "red couch" picture in China.

Ready for the Olympics!

On your mark, get set, go! Here the girls are in their FAVORITE shirts these days. We picked up these Olympic t-shirts in China. They were wearing them as often as possible in August, but for some reason the red shirt has been, and continues to be, the favorite. We try to keep track of who wore the red shirt last so they both can wear it.

We were hooked watching the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and stayed up late many nights to watch some of the events. The girls took an interest, watched the tv for a couple minutes, during some swimming and gymnastics events.

Nice and Refreshing!

Enjoying a popsicle after swimming. Jadyn on the right.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

We spent several days during the summer at the Children's Museum of Phoenix. It was a great place to go for the girls to play with lots of fun toys, spend time with friends, get a little messy in the arts and craft room and test Mommy's paint removal techniques. :-) (All the paint was washable, so it was not too bad to remove!)

Here the girls are working on a big paper mache ladybug.








Jadyn painting a little house in the arts and crafts room.


















Ahhh... smocks helped stay a bit cleaner!























Scooping ice cream. Jenna is on the right.

First Bandaid

We are not sure how we made it this long, but the girls got their first bandaid in July. It was a hit. Each of their bandaids lasted about 5 minutes max. Jadyn (on the right) was the one who really had a little owie on her foot, however, there was no blood involved, but the bandaid made it feel much better!




















Jadyn's cute little foot!

Important Phone Call

Just before bedtime this phone call just had to be made. Possible stall tactic? Very likely these days. The girls are too funny, we've never seen them move so slowly as when it is time to get ready for bed. They get very concerned about how soon they go to bed once Mr. Sun goes down. Jadyn is on the left.

Fun with Playdough

Playdough is a huge hit in our house these days. We are talking a good hour or more of entertainment! Here Jenna, with the help of Daddy, made a figure to represent "Mommy". The ball on the stomach represents their little brother who Mommy has been pregnant with for most of the summer!

If you look closely, Jenna has two little braids in her hair. We really like braids these days.

Fun at the Museum

Last week our Wednesday Playgroup we went to the Arizona Museum for Youth. Our girls had a blast playing in the Artville area which is a "hands on" area with lots of toys for imaginative play for children under 5 years old. The picture to the left shows the girls sporting life vests and dangling their feet over the side of a "boat".

After lunch we went back to the museum to play in the sand and with the other activities in Artville, the girls loved it. We look forward to our next trip back, maybe we will check out the rest of the museum!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Daddy and Husband!! The girls enjoyed their first trip to Build-a-Bear. Later that day we had dinner at Arriba's... one of Daddy's favorite places. :-)











There were lots of different animals to choose from here is Jenna and her puppy before it was stuffed.
















Jadyn was thrilled with her elephant.




















Jenna watching very carefully as the voicebox for the puppy was put into his leg.





















Jadyn kissing the little red heart that goes inside the stuffed animals after the stuffing is in, but before they are sewn shut.

Our Little Fish!

We finished 3 weeks of swim lessons in the beginning of June. The girls had lessons every weekday for 10 minutes each. It was a big commitment, but it is paying off... they are loving the pool and can't get enough of floating and swimming! Here is Jenna swimming from Daddy back to the pool steps.








I think this is Jenna jumping off the steps to swim to Daddy.












This was one of our last days of swim lessons and the girls had a test. Each of the girls were dropped into the pool from various angles and had to float successfully. It was a lot of work for them, but they did awesome! Their test was done with clothes on... an oversized sweatshirt, jeans, socks, shoes and if that was not enough, their swimming suit was underneath.

Here is Jenna getting ready to be rolled in backwards.














Here is Jadyn mastering her float.

Flowers and Frogs and Snakes... Oh My!

On Saturday night, after dinner at Pei-Wei's, we took a self-guided Flashlight Tour at the Desert Botanical Gardens. The girls loved holding their own flashlights and we looked for flowers in the dark. We went by the pond, in the back of the gardens, and heard lots of frogs and toads "screaming". We all saw about 4 or 5 frogs in the water. The gardens had stations set up highlight various exhibits. One of the stations had snakes. Each of the girls touched a garden snake (Jenna is in the picture below touching the snake.) They were particularly interested in the snakes tougue and how it goes in and out all the time! Mom did not touch the snake... I do not do snakes or most other creepy crawly things. We passed by the exhibit with the taranchula, mom did not think she could handle that! It was fun, we will probably go back for another self-guided tour before the summer is over.

Cruzin' on the Trikes

The girls really like their tricycles. Over the weekend we took them out so they would have a lot of room to ride around and get the hang of pedaling their new wheels. Jenna was quite the speedster and really got moving. Jadyn was not into riding as fast, but enjoyed running to keep up with Jenna on her trike. What great exercise! (Jenna is really not sleeping on her bike in the picture below. :-))






Jenna needed to take a little break during her ride.

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a fun Mother's Day weekend. We were at the Phoenix Zoo, bright and early, Saturday morning and rented this cool bike. We cruised around the zoo for about an hour. Jenna and Jadyn were up high so we really did not need to take them out of their seats much. The girls LOVE carousels, so our zoo visit would not be complete without a carousel ride. (Jadyn "loves" tigers these days and was very happy to ride the tiger.)
After the zoo, we had lunch at The Farm at South Mountain. The food is great and all the seating is outside, perfect with kids! On Sunday Scott and the girls took their first swim of the year in our pool. At 80 degrees, it was a little too cool for mom. The girls' teeth were chattering toward the end of their swim, but they really did not want to come out.



























Nothing like a BIG fruit smoothie to relax you after a fun weekend!

Lounging

There is something really fun about being on mommy and daddy's bed. This particular morning I was not ready when they got up so they got to watch a TV show. They were probably watching Ni-Hao Kailan which is one of their favs. Another favorite show of Jenna and Jadyn's is Go Diego Go.

Bows like Tika's

The girls and I took Tika in for her first summer grooming of the year. It was a little tramatic for the girls to leave Tika at the groomers for a couple hours, this was new for them. While Tika was being groomed, we did a couple errands and grabbed a bite to eat at one of mommy's favorite places for lunch Paradise Bakery. (Their chicken salad and cookies are great!!)

When we picked up Tika from the groomers she had bows in her fur! The girls thought that was just so funny and could not wait to get home put bows in their hair too; they wanted to "match" Tika! Too cute.



Jenna was pointing out to Tika where the last crumb from her treat was. The girls adore Tika and Tika adores them too... particularly at mealtime.

A Visit to Shamrock Farms

In late April we toured Shamrock Farms, a local family owned dairy. We really enjoyed the tram tour and the girls were able to pet a baby calf in the calf nursery. We saw several hundred cows being milked in their automated facility and we played on their "life-like" cows and with some other kid-friendly farm toys. The tour ended with a sample of milk and an ice cream! The logo for Shamrock Farms is a white cow which is named "Roxie". After our visit, Jenna and Jadyn have been pointing out Roxie either in our fridge or on cartons of dairy products when we are out!





Jenna taking a turn at "milking" a cow!

First time having chocolate milk. Guess what... they liked it! :-)

Washing the Car

Jenna and Jadyn enjoyed helping "wash the car". When we, Ha! I really mean Scott, had the opportunity to do this in the past, it was always when the girls were napping. This time, Jadyn and Jenna got to join in the fun!












No more water fun... time to dry off and get the car dry too!

Easter

We attended our first Easter egg hunt that was put on by a local church. Jadyn was not too concerned about the number of eggs she picked up, but was very curious as to what goodies were inside. Jenna, on the other hand, picked up as many eggs as she possible could. It was a fun day. Later that afternoon, the girls were anxious to help decorate Easter eggs... mainly with markers and stickers. Maybe next year we will be a little more brave. :0)

































It was a good morning collecting Easter eggs. Actually, we enjoyed a hotdog, chips and face painting at the Easter Egg Hunt too!

Bedtime Fun!

Do they look tired to you?? Well, after playing around with Daddy, they were not so tired and could not stop giggling! :-)

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Earlier this year...(ummmm mid February) my sweet husband turned the big 4 0! The girls helped him open one of his gifts, a Margaritaville t-shirt. We celebrated his big day by having a special dinner out at Christo's with family and friends, then back home for cake and ice cream. In the picture below the girls were having fun with a "walker" that Scott's sweet sister had brought for him!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Happy Happy Chinese New Year!

In February, we had the opportunity to attend two Chinese New Year celebrations this year. One was at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix and the other was a celebration put on by our local FCC chapter. It is a fun time of the year.

Happy Happy Chinese New Year is a book that was recently Jadyn's FAVORITE book. I can't begin to count how many days, in a row, at naptime and bedtime, Jadyn wanted this book read... it was probably going on 2 weeks. We have not read this book now in another couple weeks; I keep meaning to ask Scott if he conveniently brought it downstairs and mixed it in with the rest of their large book collection.

Jadyn really likes dragons these days, so she really enjoys being read books about Chinese New Year. Red is a Dragon: A Book of Colors is another very poplular book at our house along with a newer book Bringing in the New Year.

At the cultural center, the girls had their first pony ride. Ha! We were surprised to see the pony rides, but the girls certainly enjoyed it!

Here is Jadyn and Daddy.

Jenna and Mommy on the "train" ride.

At the FCC event, Jadyn and Jenna were patiently waiting for their balloon characters to be completed. The final products below. Jadyn is holding her rooster, they were born in the year of the rooster, and Jenna is modeling her dragon headpiece.

Face/Hand Painting

We went to a birthday party in the end of January for sweet little Mia who turned 1 year old. It was a fun day. Jenna enjoyed having her face painted with a heart, to "match" her shirt, and stayed just as still as could be while it was being painted. It was too cute. Jadyn was not too sure about having something on her face, so she opted for a ladybug on her hand.





























The girls have really been into "matching" recently. I guess I never realized how often I/we made a reference to different items matching. Both girls will point out when the colors they are wearing match almost anything else they see. When wearing bows, the girls see to it that the bows match their clothes. It is cute. When this phase first started the girls wanted the straws in their drinking cups to "match" or "be the same color as" their cups. Well, this did not always happen as many of the colors of the cups, lids and straws are contrasting colors. There were some interesting mornings when I would hear that their straws do not "match" their cups, so most times they did not drink out of their cups until they are thirsty enough, but some days I would cave in and clean a straw that "matched"! :0)