Mission Impossible

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to get FIVE kids to SMILE and LOOK at the camera at the same time...

Photo A: Sarah sees something amazing in the sky.

Photo B: "We're smiling as HARD as we can, mama!"

Photo C: Jason is the funniest brother Sarah has ever seen!

Photo D: Fifteen shots later and the end of everyone's patience..this is the best photo we got!

We have been wanting to get a professional family picture done for a while now, but it just hasn't happened. So yesterday we found out that we needed a family photo for our six month post placement report (adoption paperwork). After dinner, we made the kids change clothes and herded them out to the backyard (not the most exotic setting, but it was handy!)

Here's the family shot for the report. Surprisingly enough, we only took a few of these and they turned out pretty good. Justin propped up my camera and used the timer, which we have never done before. Maybe the kids were hypnotized by the flashing red light? :)

Dave was going to stand behind the rock, but we had issues with sunlight on the side of his face... so we had to improvise. This photo shows you how tall our boys are now compared to their mama!

Crazy for Cantaloupe!

Home for seven months!

This past month has flown by... here are a few highlights from "month seven."

We finally got all the paperwork submitted and got the green light to go to the courthouse and have a hearing to complete Sarah's readoption paperwork. The adoption was final when arrived home from China, but we had to fill out more paperwork to "register" the adoption in our home state and get Sarah a birth certificate.

OK, so I was a little disappointed with this procedure. I kept seeing really great pictures of readoptions on friends' blogs, but the judge we were given was "all business" and the whole thing took like two minutes and he was outta there... so we settled for a picture on the front lawn!

Oh well... it was the LAST hurdle and the END of the paperwork-- so this in itself is cause for celebration!

Here are some pictures of some of Sarah's favorite things....

She loves Q-tips!!! Give her a box a Q-tips and she's a happy girl! Funny, huh! She doesn't stick them in her ears, nose, or eyes... so we indulge her. She likes to move them from one hand to the other and pull the fluff up on them. It's a fine motor, tactile experience. :)

I took this picture right after her bath, hence the shiny (Eucerin lotioned) face! Sarah has very sensitive skin that tends to be dry, so we slather lotion on her every night after her bath.

She also likes chatting with Daddy on the phone. "Heddo, Daddy!" is about the cutest thing we've ever heard!

We also visited some friends who recently came home with their daughter from China! This little cutie is from Guangxi province. Sarah was being shy and the baby was pretty clingy to her mama and daddy, so this was the best picture we got!

And finally, for your viewing pleasure... yet another picture of Sarah, the climbing extraordinaire. This is the outside of our staircase. It's not very high, and this is Sarah's newest climbing obsession.

So, do you think I am sending the child mixed messages when I tell her "No, no! Get down." ...and then run and get the camera? :)

Sunday visitors

Aunt Jenele (who lives in Ecuador) came to our house with Grandma and Grandpa to visit on Sunday afternoon.

Aunt Jenele with the kiddos. Check out Jason's pose on the back of the couch. I think we need a bigger couch! haha

Aunt Jenele brought all of us gifts, and gave Sarah a beautiful Ecuadorian sun dress. Sarah tried it on right over her other clothes. She loves dressing up and trying on new clothes (note to Daddy-- this hobby will probably get worse as she gets older). Sarah enjoys inspecting Grandpa's pens, drawing on herself, and returning them to his shirt pocket.

The cute Chinese doll is a belated birthday gift from Aunt L in Illinois! Thank you!

The Big Tub!

Last weekend we went to a small family reunion. Dave has an aunt who lives in Ecuador and comes to the States every few years to visit. The cousin who hosted the reunion has a swimming pool in her backyard, so we were all invited to swim!

This is the best picture I could get of Sarah with her swimsuit on. She was not in a posing mood, and only held still long enough to play with the light switch.

Sarah LOVES the water. The first night we had her (in Nanchang), she squealed with delight when we gave her a bath in the little baby tub. While in Nanchang, we took her swimming every day in the hotel pool, and she just loved it. She loves the water so much, in fact, that she thinks she can swim ALL BY HERSELF. So sometimes Sarah and I wrestled in the hotel pool--she was determined to release herself from my death grip, and I was more determined to hold on!

So, last weekend, when Sarah (aka "No Fear") saw the pool, she squealed, "BATH! BATH!" and would have jumped right in if we hadn't anticipated this reaction and had our wits about us. ;)

Daddy played with her in the water for quite a while, and when he tried to get out, Sarah shouted, "Tub! Tub! Bath! Bath!" So he spent some more time in the water. At this point I was kicking myself that we had forgotten her little ring swim float (it has a "built in" seat) and life jacket. They would have made things easier and given Sarah a bit more freedom in the water.

She finally got out to eat dinner, and then it was time again for the big tub!

Justin and Sarah

Logan

Jason and Evan

My favorite shot of the day! Our little goggle boy!

My picture taking was a little sporadic, due to the fact that my eyes were mainly glued to the activity in the pool. Suffice it to say, it was a fun afternoon and good to chat with some relatives we hadn't seen for awhile.