April's Random Cuteness

Hitching a ride with Uncle Cam...

One of Ailee's favourite activities -- choosing songs on the iPad. She can spend an hour this way!

Maelyn started Ballet class...



Our beautiful ballerina...



Enjoying one of Grandpa's famous popsicles...



Carrying one of her best buddies around, Rocky...



Playing 'house' is a daily occurance in our home...

Travel Group Birthday Celebration

On Saturday, we got together with the other families that travelled with us on our journey to Ailee. All three girls that came home have birthdays within a few weeks of one another, so we had a joint birthday celebration and it was a blast!

Pictures of Ailee

When we visited Ailee's orphanage, we brought a memory stick with us and asked if they had any pictures of Ailee that they would be willing to share with us. Thankfully, they did have a few on their computer and we were so happy to receive more pictures of our little monkey.



Earliest photo of Ailee -- what a cutie!

 

 

This little boy was Ailee's best friend. He was adopted shortly before we brought her home -- he now lives in Spain.

While we were waiting to bring Ailee home, we sent her a care package and in the package was a disposable camera. The following are pictures that we were able to print from that camera -- some of the pictures are on funny angles, but we love them!

 



This is my favourite picture of all -- just melts my heart.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a day of wonderful firsts....

It was the first year that Maelyn really understand the meaning behind Mother's Day and she was very excited about surprising me with many special treats. She could hardly contain herself when she came home from school with the presents that she made for me -- but wouldn't let me peek at them until today. :)

This morning, she helped Daddy make breakfast for me and once I made my way downstairs, after being able to stay in bed a little longer than usual, it made me smile to hear the squeals and giggles from her as she helped prepare a delicious meal. Maelyn kept telling me not to peek and repeatedly told her Daddy that making breakfast was fun!

So proud of her creations...

The other important first of the day was hosting Paul's family for Mother's Day. Due to their health issues, they've never been for a visit as a family in our home. It was so important to Paul that his family had a chance to spend time together. They haven't been together since last October and it was heartwarming to see how much they missed one another.

I did my best to take care of things around the house so that Paul could spend time with his family and the girls. He was happy to be able to share our videos of our adoption journeys with his parents, as they hadn't really been able to participate in or watch our journey to becoming a family.

The other first for today was the weather -- I don't think I have ever seen it hail and snow in May!!

The girls enjoyed spending time with their grandparents and it was wonderful to see them connecting with them and the fun they had together.

As the day comes to an end, my thoughts are with two birth mothers -- women whose sacrifice helped to make our family whole. I think of them with love and thank them for the most wonderful gift one human being can give to another -- the love of a child.

Spring is here!

At last! Spring has decided to make an appearance and I don't think I have ever been so happy about the change of season in a very long time.

It has been a long winter, hunkered down with our family and helping Ailee settle into her new home. But, as the leaves are finally beginning to bud on the trees, as the birds now wake us up with their morning song, and as those pesky wasps once again make their nests in the pillars on our porch, our family is also experiencing an awakening of sorts.

We are finally starting to feel like life is 'normal' again. Our little monkey has settled in beautifully with our family and those initial months together, which are so tough, for so many reasons, are coming to an end. We will soon reach that magical six month mark of being home with Ailee and we are all beginning to relax and enjoy our time as a family of four.

I am definitely feeling the shift. I am not forgetting as many appointments, I am starting to return phone calls and emails, I am not feeling like I am just 'getting through' the day anymore, and I am generally feeling more relaxed.

Paul, however, is still dealing with quite a bit of stress when it comes to his parents' health and their living arrangements. Since we have been home, his mom spent months in the hospital and is now living in a retirement home, he is starting the process to sell their family home, and when it sells, his dad will move into a retirement home as well. Generally, he has taken over most responsibilities for his parents -- a big job. I am trying to alleviate his stress by taking over more at home and it seems to be helping.

We are loving the time together as a family and there is so much to update about our girls -- if only I could catch up on the zillion posts I want to get done! I will call that my 'Spring Resolution.' Check back for a catch-up on the past four months. :)