Happy Birthday Liam!!

Eight years ago I met a little boy that has changed so much in my life. Liam has such a wonderful, unique, and caring personality. He is really smart, fun to be with and always thinking of others. An example of Liam: last night we gave him our gift and he opened it and was so excited. We gave him his own microscope and he couldn't wait to try it out. After a few minutes he came over to Ryan and told him that we spent too much money on him because good microscopes cost $300-400 and he was upset because he didn't feel worthy of that much money. Ryan assured him that it was only around $30 and he would show him the receipt is necessary. Liam went back to enjoying his gift. He loves being thought of, but not in an egotistical way. We all love our Liam and are so happy that he is a part of our lives.

Kids at play

Today I thought that I should take some video of Shella May because we don't have her on video at all. She is usually shy everywhere but home, so I thought maybe I could get her more outgoing side. Well she did talk to me for the camera, but that isn't what I posted. When I went to playback the short video I made, I found a video the kids made one night. I was really surprised that they made the video and I didn't even know it. Lance is the camera man (I think that he sounds just like me) and Liam and Shella May are the stars. You will definitely see Shella May's outgoing side. It is a little long and may be boring, so feel free to just watch the first few seconds.

Halloween

Our Princess

All the kids ready to go trick or treating!

Everyone sorting out their candy Halloween was a big event this year since it was on a Saturday. Our little princess went as Cinderella. My mom made her costume and we bought her glass slippers. Of course we had to layer our princess since it was about 35 degrees out. She had fun being Cinderella. When we were talking about dressing up during the weeks leading up to Halloween she wanted nothing to do with it. Then when we got her costume on her, she lit up instantly. We went to a friends' for pizza and social time before we went out trick or treating. Liam was his traditional Elmo and Lance didn't trick or treat this year. He did walk with the kids and some shared some candy with him. When we got home they all sorted their candy and traded it. Shella May's favorite candy was "the chocolate one".

Liam Wave Skimming at the Water Park!

One of the highlights of Liam's birthday party at the water park last week.

Keep your shorts on, Kid!

Finally a post

Wow! Where does the time go? I sit and think about all the things I should blog, but never make it to the computer to do it. There have been a few firsts lately and I wanted to do a "home 2 months" update also. There was also a birthday party for Liam and so many other fun events around out house. So, without boring you to death, here are a few highlights.

Shella May did Liam's hair one night.

Playing in our second snow of the season.

2 months home and it feels like she has been with us forever. Shella May has adjusted so well to everything. She loves school, her brothers, our routine and even the weather. She still has moments when she withdraws, but they are turning out to be more "I want my way" than anything else. She loves hugs and playing outside. She talks a lot now and we are working on her grammar now. She wants to know everything and we get a lot of why or what questions. She still sleeps and eats like a pro and is beginning to make some friendships. This is the one area she is still having trouble with, socialization. It is good for her to have two brothers to try some different things out on. Oh, she also loves church because they have doughnuts:) She has fit into our family so wonderfully and we are so happy every day that she is finally home.

Playing with all the cousins at our "fall birthday bash"

I went to an overnight conference last week and it was the first time that I have really been away from home, besides going to work or somewhere for a couple of hours, since we brought Shella May home. It was nice that Ryan could work from home and help her with me being gone. She said it made her sad, but she was fine with it and knew I would come back. Now whenever I leave for work or something she says good bye and then tells me that she knows I'm going to come back. Last week was also a week that I had someone babysit for us while both Ryan and I were gone. (I guess it was a really busy week for me). She doesn't mind being with her grandmas or grandpa when the boys are home, but she didn't like it as much when they weren't. She is still bonding with us and I know she will bond with extended family soon enough, so no worries.

Shella May went to the dentist for the first time(wow, that was last week also!) She did great in the chair and they even took x-rays. I was shocked when the dentist told me she had no cavities, but very happy. She now loves the dentist also. We are still going to doctor appointments, but nothing major. She just has a few little things they want to clear up. She is so funny because she always insists that she isn't sick. I have to explain to her that there are things in her that could possibly make her sick that we are taking care of right now.

Last, but not least Liam had a birthday party last week. Poor Liam really has slid into the middle child role. We try not to leave him out or forget him, but it is so exciting having a new little sister in the house and of course Lance being the oldest still gets all his attention. Liam went to a hotel stay/waterpark last weekend for his birthday. (Don't worry, we did it as a joint party so all the parents pitched in, we couldn't afford something that great on our own) The four boys had a great time playing video games and swimming and just plain hanging out together without any siblings.

I promise to try to blog more or at least post some pictures more often. We are all looking forward to Shella May's first Halloween!

Oh my goodness, snow!

That can be read two different ways. I exclaim that because it is too early for winter to start for me. Shella May would yell it because this is her first snowfall. This morning when she got up we had a small dusting and she thought that was pretty cool. Ryan let her touch it this morning and she even put some in her hand. She said it was cold and wanted to wash her hands. She discovered something else about it snow, it melts! On her way to wash the cold snow off her hand, she saw it disappear. It was all pretty neat to watch. Later in the day she went outside and played with Liam in the snow. By late afternoon it was all gone. Too bad later in the year it won't be gone by evening. I really should get around to buying her some boots and snow pants.

Grandma's visit

Grandma came to visit this week from Oregon and we have had a wonderful week doing things and visiting. We went to the apple orchard, the zoo, the Mall of America and the Science Museum. All of those places were new places for Shella May except the zoo. When we were at the apple orchard we went into a corn maze they had there and had fun getting lost. We even had to go up on the bridge to peek where we wanted to go. Of course the kids had to put there faces in every cut out also. We bought some apples and some cider and went home to enjoy some pies and other goodies we made.
We went to the zoo one day also. We saw every animal they had there and had a great day. We even went to the new play place they have at the zoo. The kids got to climb a mosquito and become a turtle family.

We also went to the mall, but I don't have any pictures. She loved looking all the cool rides even though we didn't go on any of them. We also went to the American Doll store and the Barbie store. There was so much to see and do. She had her first ice cream cone that grandpa bought her from Dairy Queen.
Yesterday we went to the Science Museum and I forgot my camera. She loved touching everything and playing with the microscopes. We could get three scientists out of these kids some day. We are glad she is having so much fun learning and seeing new things.