Paige's Favorite Word

Paige's favorite word is "help". She wants to help with everything! Being an adventurous sort I try to let her help as much as possible. She now helps set the table (napkins and silverware only), folding the laundry (she's great at matching socks), and cooking. Last week we made pie together, but did not get any pictures. Just imagine flour everywhere. Paige looked like she had gray hairs already. We had fun though. Thursday night I was making a cake and she wanted to help. She went to her kitchen and got her rolling pin (we had used it in making pie) and was ready to go. Below tells the story of making the cake.





Adding the water (note the rolling pin at the ready)

















Using the rolling pin. I could not convince her it was not for mixing.















The best part, licking the spoon. Yummy!






Today she had to help me clean the floors. Here she is in the kitchen. I'll hire her out to clean your house. She works for fruit or mac and cheese. I do not make any guarantees about how clean your floor will be when she's done, though.









I'm getting the hang of this.


















Under the table is tricky.












Zooming across the open floor.

A weekend with Anthony

We had our nephew Anthony with us last weekend. We went to the Zoo, Build-a-Bear Workshop, a water park, and an arcade. A good time was had by all! It was also good practice for Scott and I to have two children. It certainly changes the dynamic! Of course Anthony at 6 is much more independent than Paige will be when we adopt her little sister. Speaking of our second adoption, we had our last visit with the social worker last Wednesday and hope to submit our paperwork to the office of Citizenship and Immigration next week. We should have approval in 5-6 Weeks and be ready to send everything to China in September as planned. In the meantime we enjoy having Paige and she
continues to bring us great joy. Below are some pictures of our weekend.

The sign at the Kangaroo exhobit at the zoo (no Kim those are not the real distances)

Here are Anthony and Paige Roaring like tigers

Paige at the Arcade

Anthony at Build-a-Bear with the Monkey he made.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a nice holiday and took the time to count their blessing for living in such a wonderful country. Scott, Paige, and I went to Birch Run to be with Scott's family. We took in the town parade and then had several competitive matches of Croquet in the afternoon. Paige loved the parade, especially all the candy she collected. We shared the wealth among the family. Below are some pictures from our day. Hanging out with my Aunt Michelle before the parade

More candy. Cool!Cousin Cassie twiring her baton.I don't think this duck will fit in my bath tub.

Croquet anyone?

Learning to play by myself

Well Paige is getting much better at playing by herself. The other day while I was putting away groceries she was playing nicely in the living room. When I finished putting away the groceries I went to go see what she was doing. This is what I found.
















She had moved all these toys from across the room into this area and had been neatly setting them up. I just had to take a picture of her hard work. It wasn't until I looked closer that I saw she had swiped the bottle of ketchup from the fridge as I was putting things away.

Today was a beautiful day, not too hot, but plenty of sun. We spent the mornig outside. Below Paige is modeling her sunhat and sunglasses while trying to remain incognito.

Finally, and best of all for us, we have found a babysitter that Paige will stay with. Scott and I are actually going to go out on a date on Saturday. We will probably spend the whole time talking about Paige. While not the whole time since Scott wants to go see the movie Cars.

That's all from here. Smile and have a great day!

Amy

Paige and I have been busy partying here. This past week included a birthday party, a pool party, and a baby shower. We have another birthday party this weekend. I have include some new cute photos for everyone to enjoy!

Amy

Hello,

I have created this blog so friends and family can read and see how our family grows and changes. In case you have forgotten what we look like, here is a family photo.

Of course most of you are really looking at this blog to see pictures of Paige. So here are a few of my recent favorites.

Paige continues to grow and to learn to say new words. She has a vocabulary of over 50 words (most only mom and dad know though) and has about 30 baby signs. She is quick to smile and entertains people wherever we go. She continues to be the light and joy of our lives.

We are still in the process of gathering the necessary paperwork to adopt a second daughter from China. Wendy our social worker came to our home on Wednesday and we will have one more meeting before our homestudy is complete. We then will submit paperwork to Citizenship and Immigration (CIS) and hope to have approval by mid September. If all goes well we hope to have our paper work to China by late September. The we wait. The current wait is 14 months from the time the paperwork is submitted to travel to China. We have been told it could get longer. We will just have to wait patiently (those who know I don't wait patiently can stop snickering). Hopefully having Paige as a distraction will help.

Well that is all the excitement here. Feel free to leave comments and suggestion.

Amy