Miss Manners

Within the past week, Lucy has started really using manners. In the past she has said please when prompted, but it is all coming without me asking her now. Most of the time when I ask her a question and the answer is yes, she says, "Yup peeeese!" When I hand her something, she says a very excited, "Tank You Mama!" It cracks me up every time.

Another thing that is brand new within the past couple of weeks is that she has all of the sudden developed a sense of being scared of something. Before a week or two ago, I would say that Lucy is absolutely fearless. I had never really come across anything that scared her. She has always been leary of strangers, but I would not say she is scared of them. She was TERRIFIED of a kid at the park today whose face was painted like a tiger. Any time he looked at her she would scream a very real, scared kind of scream. She is terrified of a skunk in this one episode of Dora. I have no idea why. It is not a scary skunk, but if that episode plays, she is horrified for a few seconds - it is on a Dora video we have. She hides her eyes and is genuinely scared. Strange how she all of the sudden got a sense of fear.

This striped adorable outfit is a purchase from VN. We still have a lot of clothes from VN that have not been worn. I am working on getting to them.

This picture is killing me. She was dancing on our front porch and I caught the perfect Elvis move. I mean really, could she be in a more Elvis like stance? I love that she does things like dance on the front porch. I looked over and she was just a shakin her booty - no music or anything. She was just feeling it.

Fun Activities!

Lucy and I have been trying to come up with fun things to do each day since the weather is still so perfect. Last Friday we went to the aquarium and today we went to the zoo again. Lucy has been kind of whiny lately, but she still had a good time. I think she might be working on her 2 year molars because she just seems more fussy lately. Or else we are getting a preview of our days with a feisty 2 year old. Speaking of, yesterday she had a fit for 20 minutes because she could not have 2 vitamins. I could not reason with her, console her, nothing. She stood by the kitchen counter and wailed for 20 minutes. I finally got her distracted enough to get her mind off of it. It was pretty ridiculous.

I got to have a long talk with Sherri (Grace's mom - I am too lazy to look up the link thing) tonight. It was so great to catch up with her and hear all about how Grace is doing. Lucy and Grace have such a special bond that we will work to maintain the rest of our lives. I consider them sisters. We talked about our feelings about everything going on and how it will affect the girls someday. We are both so upset with all of all of this. I need to get all of my Que Son girlies together SOON!

Another article came out today about Vietnam adoptions. Apparently Vietnam is really upset with the allegations that the US made against them. I can't say that I blame them because the article is very harsh and they are claiming that all that the US is accusing them of is not true. This mess continues to get worse and worse. I do think that there are two sides to every story. I think that both the US and Vietnam are at fault for the problems. The blame should not be placed on one country or the other. Both sides have made some BIG mistakes. We all need to take a step back, stop pointing fingers, and figure out a system that will work better. Because the bottom line is, there are thousands of children in Vietnam that are in need of homes and now there is no chance of homes being made in the US after September (or maybe July). Sad. I am still having such a hard time digesting all of this. I truly did believe that the US and Vietnam were going to work out a new agreement and adoptions would continue. To be honest, sometimes I have a hard time knowing what in the world to believe.

Anyway, here are some recent pictures of Lucy. She is the greatest blessing of our lives.

Devastating

So yesterday it was all over the news websites about the corruption in Vietnam adoptions. To those of us who follow this all of the time, it was not new news. But then today the awful news that most of us have been waiting to hear from the US Embassy was posted on their website. HERE is the warning that was issued and the confirmation that anyone who does not have a referral by September 1st will not be adopting a child from Vietnam for a while. For those who don't know (family and friends), the agreement between the US and VN expires 09/01/08 and there is clearly going to be a lapse between the old one expiring and a new one being signed. But then, to make things so much worse, THIS was also on the Embassy site documenting all of the corruption that the US govt. has uncovered in VN adoptions. It is sickening and the most horrifying information. Again, most of this is not new, but seeing it all laid out on the US Embassy website is a lot to take in.

I am left feeling uncertain about everything. I pray that Lucy's adoption was every bit as ethical as we have always believed it to be. But at this point, there is absolutely no way to be 100% certain. I am so sad for all of the families that this is affecting. In my opinion, everyone who has adopted from VN or is in the process somewhere is affected. I know that so many of you have been waiting SO LONG to bring home a child. I pray that you get your referrals soon and get that chance. I pray that only children who actually need homes are placed and most importantly, I pray that any child who was wrongfully taken from their birth family is quickly reunited with his or her family. I pray that those of us with children already home can get the information that we need to continue feeling confident about how our child came to us in the first place.

This is really a horrible situation. What a disaster. My heart is so heavy for Vietnam adoptions.

Back to Normal Life

We are back from our road trip. I know I keep saying it, but we just had the best time. I used to really dread a 4+ hour drive in the car with Lucy, but now it is totally fine and this time was even pretty fun. I generally hate road trips. I get very antsy and bored in the car. But we took back highways the entire trip to Fredericksburg and it made the trip quite enjoyable. Lucy watched movies and I took in all of the sights. We drove through a million tiny towns where you would have to slow down to about 30 mph, and we would roll down all of the windows and let the wind blow our hair all crazy. Lucy would hold onto her hair and laugh her little head off. It was really sweet and a special moment for us.

A few things that we witnessed on our trip home that I thought were worth sharing. We stopped at a Dairy Queen in a very small town. Apparently it was prom on Saturday night in this town, and we saw 3 prom couples come in for prom dinner at the local DQ. How funny is that? The guys were in tuxes and the girls were in HUGE, fancy prom dresses. I am talking about Texas country prom dresses - think lots of rhinestones, satin, and ruffles. At the same DQ, the local parameds had driven their ambulance in to grab a quick bite to eat. When they were finishing up their meal, one of their very loud walkie talkie things went off telling them their was an emergency. One of the men (who was massively overweight and trying to finish up his blizzard) said to the other paramed, "Let's just pretend like we didn't hear it." I know my jaw hit the ground. After a few minutes, the other one said that they better go ahead and check it out and they VERY leisurely cleaned up their mess and walked out to the ambulance. So, if I were you, I would not have a medical emergency in small town Texas. Can you believe that? I was seriously stunned.

Here are the last of my favorites from this weekend. You can see all of the pictures if you go to our Flickr account which is on the sidebar. Thanks for having us Liz!!! We miss you guys already.

Lucy checking out baby Reece. She absolutely loved the baby!!

The girls at another creek. Lucy could throw rocks in the water for hours. She does this hilarious little arm swing back and forth several times before she releases the rock. She did not have good aim and I had to keep a close eye on Taylor to make sure she didn't get nailed. A few times Lucy almost hit herself with the rocks because they ended up flying straight up in the air. Luckily, no one was injured in any of our adventures.


This is a door to an adorable chapel.


More from Wildseed Farms








And these are from this evening back at home. I really love a few of these.




This one is so sweet of her precious smile.

Strawberries and Water!

I know you are all going to laugh at me, but I think I could be a country girl. That is, when a big city is only an hour away and you get to do all of these fun things. Seriously, we love it out here. For those of you who have never been to the Texas hill country, you are totally missing out. It is BEAUTIFUL!! No tumbleweed out here.

So, today when the everyone was up and moving, we packed up all three girls and headed to the strawberry orchard. You get to pick strawberries until your little heart is content. It is prime season right now and there are so many berries on the plants. The girls each had a box to put them in. You are told that you are welcome to sample the strawberries, but to please not make a meal of them. Lucy did not quite understand that and ate almost every single one that she picked. Her little chin was totally red when we went up to pay. They said she was the best advertisement for the orchard that they had ever seen! It was a little cold and windy, but that didn't stop us from having a blast. Lucy and Taylor both kicked their shoes off and ran in the mud!! Silly girls.

Then we came home, played in the yard for a bit, ate some lunch and the girls took a nap. Once everyone was awake again, we loaded up again. First we went to the small local airport where only small planes fly. The girls could go right out where the planes are parked and examine them. We saw several land and take off. Then we headed to Elizabeth's parent's house. They live on this amazing land that has a creek running behind their house. It was warm and the wind was gone, so the girls went straight for the water. Taylor was so happy that she just eventually laid down and rolled in the water. It is seriously the most perfect creek for small children to play in. The water is barely moving and is about a 6 inches deep. The shores are sandy. It is narrow and they could run back and forth. Lucy's favorite thing to do was throw rocks in the water. Her and Taylor both "cooked" us a lot of things in the pots and cups with sand and water. So cute.

And then to top it all off, Liz's mom made this beautiful tea party for the girls. She had out REAL silver and all of these cute snacks. The girls wore hats and high heels. Again, Lucy was in heaven because her ideal meal is snack food. We finally headed home, scrubbed the girls down and they were sacked out within minutes. I want to brag on Lucy that she has been so easy with sleep even though we are in a different place. She lays right down in a big girl bed and goes to sleep. I can even leave her when she is awake and she does not get out of the bed. She just wiggles around a bit until she is comfortable and passes out. She is definitely ready to move to a big girl bed. Also, she has been so social and happy. I love it when she shows others how much fun she is all of the time with us!!

Now, when we head back home, this girl is going to be so bored without all of this excitement to fill her days!

The pictures from the creek are some of my favorites I have ever taken. Again, it is so beautiful, peaceful, and fun here.




Barefoot and covered in strawberry juice. Does she belong in the country or what??









This is Taylor. Can you tell she loves the creek?


LOVE THIS!



Heading back to get cleaned up for the tea party.

Lucy was the first one seated. She waited patiently for the other guests to get ready.

Here comes Taylor, the tea, and the food.

Another friend has joined in on the fun.

Ladies, don't forget your hat!


Who knows what fun tomorrow will bring........