Coby got his face "painted" at breakfast before we went (don't you love that morning hair!)




Her FAV animal was up close and she was sooo excited. A man offered to take a pic of the three of us and as you can see neither of them was thrilled with looking away from the giraffes for that!



She wants me to print these and hang them in her room : )



My sweeties were happier when it was just the two of them apparently (well, Coby was anyway)LOL



This is the glimpse of Annslee at 13 that scares me ; )



At the end of the morning we headed to their favorite thing and it was all they hoped for!

I have lots of pics from the Zoo to post but thought I'd at least get up these. Annslee and Coby LOVE the new water spray area they added this year!

Our friends just traveled to China to bring home their daughter Emerson and while there they picked up a few goodies for Annslee and Coby. The package arrived while we were outside playing and Annslee didn't even go inside to open it : )

Anna Marie helped her with the box



She had to show me the size in this one (it was 80)



She got a beautiful pearl and cloisonne bracelet



Annslee thought the hat for Coby was pretty funny




Coby woke up from his nap and got his turn with his hat



He was intrigued with the yarn "rat tail"



When we were in China we got a jade animal for each of our Zodiac years and tried to find a jade pig for Coby in Vietnam. Well, let's just say in Vietnam they are very proud of their jade (aka it is overpriced) so we didn't get one. I was thrilled that Tamara found one for Coby at the same place we got ours on Shaiman Island when we were there : )



Thanks again for all the gifts. We can't wait to meet Emerson!!

Get used to seeing a bandage on his forehead as he can't seem to help falling forward!

I know I am his Mama but he has the BEST smile in the world!!



Mia met us at the fountains for some fun



The other day she was eating a poptart and Coby wanted it...no worries, she shared like always



He made a makeshift stool to help him work



Annslee played on the computer too for a minute




This is one of the baby bunnies from the previous post : )

It is no secret how crazy we are about Annslee. She is such a sweet girl and I love that she is so sensitive and tenderhearted. I worry sometimes that she is so sensitive and fear her feelings are going to get hurt a lot but I wouldn't want to "toughen her up" either. I love her just the way she is : )

One of the things I love is how caring she is for and about everthing. Recently we've had these two rabbits in the yard and she named them "Cottontail" and "Sister Cottontail" Well, they are more like mommy and daddy as we found the babies. She looks for them each evening and they let her get really close. The other day we saw a tree that had snapped in the winds we had lately. She kept rubbing the tree and saying "oh, poor little tree" She was so sad about it. Oh, and poor Daddy had to go chasing a neighbor's dog two nights in a row b/c Annslee was so upset about him not finding his way home. I know I have many other examples but these are a few I wanted to remember.

She wanted to hold the bearded dragon at the pet store the other day and LOVED it. I loved watching her talk sweetly to it (just wish she'd had on a darker shirt so the little thing would show up better LOL)



Lately when she says "I love you" she has added "soooo, sooo MUCH!!" Her ideal world is the four of us in one room. She will say she misses any of us when we are gone for even the shortest amount of time.

This is how they were in the car the other day but a lot of the time I look back and they are holding hands or Annslee is making faces or singing to make him laugh. I love the way they adore each other. One day last week she announced "When I get bigger I marry Coby" I told her you can't marry your brother and she calmly informed me "You already marry Daddy and Coby is the only other boy in our house!!"



Twice this week she has mentioned her "China Mommies" Last night as we were cuddling she said "Mommy, I miss both my China mommies..the one I was in belly and the one babysit me (her foster mom)" I don't know exactly what has sparked the sudden talk but I welcome it because I think it is so important to talk about. She asked me if I knew their names and I told her that I did know her foster mom's name but not her first mom(tummy mommy) I asked her if she wanted to "name" her and at first she said "how about Kai Lan" but then laughed and said "No, I like the name Annslee" So I guess her first mom's name is Annslee for now. Wow, hope we are ready for all of this!

Here is a favorite pic from our trip to China in Nov. '05 as she is sitting on the steps of the SWI. This is her finding place where at one time she was left alone and likely afraid and someday we will have to attempt to explain the reasons why.



Sorry, I know this was a rambling post...just needed to get it all down before I forget : )

I can't believe we have only known Paige and family for a year now. Last summer after following each other's blogs for a while Missy and I realized we lived close to each other. We decided to meet up in person for a swim and here we are a year later and it feels like we've been friends forever. Our sweet girls are like sisters and I love watching them together : )




There is a 6 year difference between the two of them but they never let that get in the way of their fun



There was a boy at the pool and Paige kept chatting with/about him. Of course I started teasing her and as we were having a snack Annslee said "he is your boyfriend" and this was Paige's reaction LOL



Speaking of our dinner at the pool (corndogs and fries) when we sat down Annslee asked "where's the decorations?" I had no idea what she was talking about and finally I figured out she meant a centerpiece for the table. Hey, we are at the pool..what was she expecting. No problem~ she made her own and was very proud of it : )



Thankfully Annslee can't read well yet so she didn't realize Mommy was allowing her to break the rules!! She is only 40.5 inches tall but since she could swim to the side without assistance I guess the lifeguard ignored it too





Beautiful girls!



Here they are last year the first day they met (July 2008)

but I just had to post these pics from the other day. You wanted to play in the water with Annslee but wouldn't hold still for me to put on a swim diaper so don't complain about these when you are a teenager and they "resurface" LOL

We have been at the library twice this week~ Tuesday for storytime and yesterday to watch a ventriloquist (Annslee's fav thing!!) We go often to events at the library and Annslee always sits up front and always raises her hand to volunteer anytime asked. However, she has never been picked and is so disappointed by that. This week she was "on stage" at BOTH events. Yep, at storytime she played the part of the rich doctor's wife to act out the story Potato Soup and she was sooo animated and funny. I didn't have my camera and I was so sad b/c she NEVER gets picked and I couldn't believe I missed my opportunity to capture it. She was soooo excited though and kept saying "finally I was on stage" and giving me the "thumbs up" : )

Well, yesterday we went to see the ventriloquist and met up with friends. We were a little late but you know Miss A marched up and sat in front. She and Sarah had such fun watching the show




Then Crystal (the ventriloquist) brought out a bird and said she wanted to teach it to sing but needed help. Annslee threw both hands in the air and I thought would jump out of her skin trying to get picked. I couldn't believe it..she was chosen and twice in one week!!! Now I was excited for her but a little nervous as Crystal asked "can you sing twinkle twinkle little star?" As a mommy to a girl with a huge speech delay having her up there in front of all those people to sing a solo made my stomach turn as I hoped she could do it.

No worries, my cutie belted it out! She was told to only do three or four words at a time then the bird would "repeat" it



Of course the bird then repeated it loudly and incorrectly which made Annslee cackle!! I am so sorry I didn't have my video camera as the pictures do not do justice to her laughter and how animated she was about the whole thing!





After the performance Crystal thanked her and then said to me later "I definitely picked the right helper~ she was sooo cute"







She LOVED every minute in the spotlight and is still talking about it!! I think watching her yesterday was one of my favorite Mommy Moments ever!! I am so proud of how far my sweet girl (who literally had 10 words at 3 yrs old) has come. I can't wait to see what she will do with all her "personality" : )

Today Coby turned 18 months and had a great check up! I honestly was surprised at his weight as he eats all the time but he is still a little peanut : )

Coby's Stats:

Height~ 31.25 in (21st %)

Weight~ 21 lb, 10 oz (5th %)

Head Circumference~ 19.5 in (91st %)

Just for fun here are Annslee's stats at 18 months:

Height~ 30.5 in (15th %)

Weight~ 23 lb, 12 oz (39th %)

Both my kids have giant heads. I have a true appreciation for their first Moms. He is right on target with his words and developmental skills. His newest thing is blowing kisses and he loves tossing his arms in the air and yelling "touchdown" He is very affectionate these days and mimics everything Annslee does : )

Annslee took this picture of him playing in the waiting room.

I have been having computer issues so I am finally able to download some weekend pics...so I will be playing catch up for a day or so : )

On the 3rd of July we went to a Freedom Fest*ival and met up with Mia so you know that was a good time!!! Don't they look so cute!!



It was very mild weather for July but Annslee still wanted to use her spray fan to cool off and to spray on others : )



We had to wake Coby up from a THREE hour nap to come so he wasn't really that festive in the beginning



Annslee had no problem finding people to hug on and run around with



As it got darker Coby was in a great mood so we decided to stay for the fireworks and we even got a pic with all of us looking YAY!



Annslee announcing the fireworks have begun!!! Last year was the first year she liked them and this year she kept yelling "Go Fireworks"




We weren't sure how Coby would react but he loved them. He sat still for the longest time watching them with Annslee



He then would go sit in Daddy's lap and then mine...and then he started walking all around trying to snag goodies from other families LOL






I finally got a pic of him without his fingers in his mouth (it was late)and you can see how he is smiling



The girls decided to recline on the blanket to watch and of course Coby wouldn't be left out. He crawled over them to try and wedge in between them. Mia said "your brother is crawling on me" to which Annslee announced "I no care if he crawls on me" and then he did just that!



The girls had a blast together and I am so glad we got to spend the evening with Mia and family. After the fireworks ended Coby kept looking at the sky signing "more" : )