The winds of change are a blowin'

June was a very crazy month.

Jennifer turned 41. It was my first father's day. My mom came to visit. Ella turned 2. And, Gannett eliminated my position at the paper.

Life changes, and changes fast which is even more of a reason to stop and smell the roses.

Ella seems to just grow and grow. Not only in size but in maturity also. This past month or so, she has just been more fun than normal. She is very giddy, smiley and giggly.

My mom flew in for Ella's birthday, which Ella was so excited about. She talks about mamaw a lot. On her actual birthday, we went to Potters Park Zoo in the morning. Came home, ate lunch and then Ella went down for a nap. Once she woke, that's when we opened her presents. She got a bicycle, dollhouse, sand/water table, a recliner and so much more. Jenn had decorated the house with balloons and Ella LOVED them.

Here are some pictures from her day:

Yesterday, Ella's school (EC3) had a little parade for the 100+ kids for the Fourth of July. Ella waived the American flag the entire time around the block. It was hilarious.

Today, we went to Saugatuck before Mamaw leaves for home. We enjoyed the ArtFest and walking around downtown. After that, we went to Oval Beach where Ella had a BLAST in the sand and water. She didn't want to get out! Jennifer said, and I quote, "I think Ella needs to live somewhere on the water." So, I am putting it in writing for when I want to buy a house on a lake or something so she will never forget!

Below are some photos from the past month!

Off topic and full of accomplishments...

Wow! Has it really been more than two months since we posted?

We have been extremely busy, but I'm not exactly sure what we've been busy doing. Life happens, I guess.

This blog has, mostly, been about Ella and our experience during the adoption process. From time to time, however, we have veered away from the original subject. So, today we will veer a little off the beaten path but, I promise, we will retun.

May will forever go down as one of my least favorite months... As most of you know, Larry had a profound influence on my life. He entered Kevin's world when I was seven. This past week was the year anniversary of his death. For the first year, I have gone through the sadness phase. I think I'm entering the anger phase now. I really don't understand why as there isn't anything I can do about it. But I am. I am angry.

At his death bed I was able to tell him everything he meant to me. Everything. One for not being sentimental, that made him uncomfortable. But I didn't care. It was about him realizing the type of man he was. The role model. The mentor. The father. The man.

What I am so angry about right now is the fact that he never met Ella. He isn't here to take her to Indiana Beach. He isn't here to take her boating. He isn't here to mess up her hair. He isn't here to teach her to ski. He just isn't here.

Knowing him, though, he probably did meet Ella. He is probably the one that helped bring the most wonderful gift anyone could ever bring to me. For that, I will be forever grateful.

Okay, enough of that. Let's return to our regularly scheduled subject...

Ella continues to amaze. The biggest question I get is about her speech. Does she understand English? Does she speak? Well, you are all invited to spend 10 minutes in our home and you will quickly understand why I just said that. Today, in fact, I was screaming inside my head... "shut up. Shut Up. SHUT UP!" she just never stops talking. NEVER! Yes, I'm grateful. No, I'm not complaining. But Lordy! Did my mother feel like this with me? Surely not.

She is combining words... mostly three and four word sentences. I'm sure most of it is due to her voracious appetite for books. She just LOVES to read.

She is running now and learning to hop. Really? You have to learn to hop? Yep!

Ella graduated from Early On last month. She no longer needs their services. Which is fantastic! They are just amazed at her progress. Need I remind everyone? She's a genius.

But she is screaming... a lot! It's quite annoying.

She knows her animals and their sounds. But when you ask her what daddy says... she responds with "I love you."

She knows all the parts of her body.

She says yes to everything, except food.

She mostly knows her ABCs, can count to ten and picks out colors.

She better! That Harvard tuition is nearly $60k per year! She sure is going to need a scholarship, though.

Jennifer and I did the thing we said we would never do... So never say never. We bought a mini van. I'm sure Larry is up there laughing his ass off screaming 'I told you so.'

Below are some photos over the past two months.

Be kind. Be safe.

Ella, the toddler years...

Ella is officially a toddler and challenging her parents every day. Regardless, it's still fun.

She loves to throw things out and wipe up the messes she makes. Seriously, any piece of lint she finds, she will throw them out. Yesterday, we found her taking tissues out of the Kleenex box and throwing them away one-by-one. The Kleenex box has officially been put up.

Related, she is completely loving the trash and where it is. Putting things in; pulling things out. A lock has been installed.

She is really trying to find her boundaries... which are very close together. She is saying "No" a lot now, which, I can only assume, is because that's the word she hears the most! HA!

Jenn purchased those wonderfully delicious Robin Eggs and we weren't going to allow Ella to have any due to choking hazzards... however, Ella found them and ate two of them before we knew what she was up to. After we moved the basket, she found it on the desk in the office, stood up and took it down so she could have ANOTHER one.

I was giving her a bath the other night and she stood up and took the wash cloth from me and began washing her private, personal parts. When I asked Jennifer if she had taught her that... Jenn said "No."

She is the nosiest little sprout I've ever known. I remember when Ryan/Emily visited us when we lived in Freeport... they had to be around 5 and 3... anyway, they went through the entire house and looked in every drawer/room/closet. Ella is worse... she pulls everything out and asks what it is and then repeats it before she's satisfied. Of course, she's only 20 months.

She just wants to do what she wants to do in the time that she wants to do it in... sound familiar, mom? ha ha

But nowadays, she is just changing so fast... there are times when we look at her now and compare to last week and she is just learning so fast! We love watching her develop and grow and learn and...

Below are a couple of videos we shot today... one of her making animal noises and the other is of her with her Froggy, aka "soggy".

Enjoy!

Iwuvu... funny stories...

It's been a month since we last updated and it seems like so much has happened.

The most wonderful thing is that she now says "I love you", or "Iwuvu". That just melts our heart.

Here are a few funny stories...

- One night after work/school, Jenn and I were in the living room playing with Ella and we started singing the Hokey Pokey. When we got to the part about "turn yourself around", Ella started, well, turning herself around. We had no idea, but it was hilarious.

- She got into her first scuffle with a boy at school. Apparently, she was on her favorite rocking toy and he wanted on it. So, he grabbed her nose and she just sat there and looked at him, planted her feet and just stood her ground. Then the teacher pulled her off to see if she was okay and she just started sobbing because she didn't do anything wrong.

- One morning Ella pointed her purple ball and grunted. Jenn asked her what it is she wanted and she replied with "ball" and then signed "please". She is a very considerate little girl (when she wants to be).

- Ella received a sippy cup from a friend and it has Ella's name on it. The other day she pointed to it and said "E-L-L-A Ella". She's a freaking genius. And, no we didn't prompt her.

- Ella had her first snow dive! Daycare had taken the kids out for a buggy ride and when they got stuck in the snow, Ella went face-first into the snow. She was not happy.

Aside from the funny stories, she did have her first emergency room visit. I stayed home with her one day as she was sick and had a high grade fever, which spiked very high around 4:55 p.m. Jennifer and I ended up taking her to the local hospital and learned there was a pediatric ER. VERY NICE! We were out by 7 p.m. and the diagnosis was pink eye and nervous parents. She is all better now.

Ella is also walking now. She still crawls, but the majority of the time she is walking. It's hilarious. Check out the video below:



Our sixth month post-placement visit was two Mondays ago. We drove to Grand Rapids after a snow storm to meet with our Michigan social worker. We had to provide 16 photos of Ella. They could not be photos of Ella by herself and must be labeled on both sides. Our visit went just fine as Jennifer did all the prep work to save us time. (Yes, she is THAT organized!)

That Friday, Jennifer and I took Ella to daycare and then we had a date day... we even saw a movie! It was very nice to "play hookie" from parenting for a few hours.

Ella has really begun to love the outdoors. She loves riding in her red wagon and get some fresh air. We just cannot wait for this weather to break! At daycare, the teachers take them out for a few minutes every day. She, apparently, laughs every time the buggy gets stuck in the snow... except for when she does the face dive.

The biggest downfall as a parent right now is the fact that Ella is ALWAYS sick. It's like she gets over one cold and then the next one is right there. It is so annoying. Everyone tells us it's normal, but we are hopeful that when the weather breaks, so will the colds. If this isn't true, just lie to us and tell us it is.

Love to all...

新年快樂 Happy New Year!

It's the year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese calendar. TheHolidaySpot.com says this will be a "temperate year with unhurried pace. For once, it may seem possible for us to be carefree and happy without too many annoyances."

I like that!!!

We celebrated yesterday at our first Chinese New Year with FCC Lansing. Ella had a ball, and as you will see in the photos below, she was all decked out! She was so excited and got to see dragons and rabbits and eat all sorts of Chinese fare.

Ella's daycare celebrated the New Year on Friday with decorations, red envelopes and cake. The teachers were teaching the kids how to say "Happy New Year" and talked about Rabbits a lot.

Below are many photos... Enjoy!