Merry Christmases

We have had an incredible time this Christmas season!  It is amazing how much joy Luci can bring to an already joyful celebration!  As I look back on the past year, I am simply amazed over how our life has changed...not only does our house look different (several family members have commented on this fact...toy explosion), but our whole focus is different!  I won't talk on this for long, but I do feel the need to mention it as I know several families playing the adoption waiting game this Christmas.  Last year was...difficult...We had been on the waiting list for a referral for a little over 6 months when Christmas rolled around.  This was about the average wait at that time and I was starting to get anxious/high-strung/depressed/testy/fill-in-your-own-adjective.  A teddy bear under the Christmas tree to "Jason and Heather's baby" was enough to send me into hysterical sobs and that just isn't like me!  I write all this to say...for those of you waiting, just when you think you can't take it anymore, good news arrives!  A mere 2 weeks later, we had a referral for our precious baby girl!  I couldn't help comparing this Christmas to last...we were no longer missing a member of our family!  She is here and she fills our lives with such joy!  She is our perfect gift and I am so thankful that God picked me to be her mommy!

On to the details of our Christmas celebrations...

We began the season with a Christmas date, just the three of us.  We went out to dinner and then took Luci down to the square for a pony ride and cupcake.  It was such a fun evening and we found out that Luci LOVES ponies.  The pictures speak for themselves...check out the absolute delight written all over her face!  She squealed and giggled the whole time.  Other parents weren't even watching their own kids...they were fixated on our joyful one!

  

excited to be riding my pony

  

close-up of the excitement

The next weekend, we went home and had Christmas with Jason's family.  It was so much fun to see Luci open her gifts and play with all her cousins.  Allie's birthday was also that weekend so we had a double dose of celebration!  Since the pony had been such a huge success, her Uncle Kerry took her to the barn so she could ride the mule.  She loved it as well!  The girl is fearless!

 

LOVE my new frog!

 

Betsy helping Allie open presents

 

The movie basket was a hit with Grace and Dylan

 

Allie and Luci resting on the frog

 

riding the mule

We had Christmas at our house a few days before the 25th.  It was fun with just the three of us too!

  

unwrapping presents with daddy

 

reading in my new chair

 

As soon as she opened one of her new books, she rushed over to my lap to read it 

Our last Christmas celebration was with my side of the family.  We spent the holiday out at my parents' new cabin.  It was very relaxing to get away and just focus on our family!  We were so pleased (and surprised) to find that Luci had 2 big boxes of gifts from Korea!  A friend of my Uncle, who lives in Seoul, had sent Luci some beautiful gifts!

 

modeling my new coat from Korea

 

really getting the hang of this unwrapping stuff!

 

I'll even help everyone else unwrap their gifts!

 

vacuuming up our mess...they should figure out how to make a kid-sized vacuum that really works.  The owner of that patent would be rich!

We came home the day after Christmas to find that we had gotten a little snow...it wasn't the 6 inches the weather forecasters had promised but it was enough for us to get out briefly and play around in.  Luci loved to walk in it but it was so cold and windy that we couldn't stay out for long.

 

exploring...so cold and crunchy Luci's feet won't even sink!

 

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and will have many more blessings to come this New Year!!!  God has most definitely been good to us in 2009!

Luci LOVES Cleo

Wanted to share a series of pictures that depicts an almost daily occurrence in our household.  Luci absolutely adores our bulldog, Cleo.  Cleo loves Luci too...in her own way.  Poor Cleo.  The first 11 years of her life were very peaceful!  Don't worry...no babies or animals were harmed in any of the following pictures!

 

  

 

It's OFFICIAL...

Luci is legally a Kindall!  We finalized the adoption this morning in court.  The process only took a few minutes; Judge Martin signed the papers and then we went out to celebrate!!  (Interesting to note: both our lawyer and the judge have adopted children so the process was painless.)

 Waiting for The Judge...don't really know what's going on!

Luci had an entourage this morning, which she thought was funny!  Grandpa, Grandma, Pops, Nana, Grandad, and Nanny all came to cheer us on! 

 

 Luci's entourage

 

Mr. Morrison, Jason, me and Luci, Judge Martin

 

Is is almost over?  I'm so tired...5:30 a.m. was very early!

Following the ceremony, Luci went to Wilson Park, one of her favorite places.  She swung; she slid; she climbed; she thoroughly wore all four grandparents out!  (They said they went home so Luci could take a nap but I think they went home so THEY could take naps!)

 

sliding with Grandpa and Pops with Grandma looking on

After the park, we went to our favorite Fayetteville establishment...Hugo's and then home for some celebratory cupcakes!

 

Yummy!

 Feels so good to have this step out of the way!  As of today, it is official...she is, and forever will be, Luci Kate Da In Kindall!  Just a few more pieces of paperwork to file and then we are FINISHED!!!

so happy!!!

 

Thanksgiving and the First Christmas of the Season

I know Thanksgiving was over a week ago, but things have been a little crazy around here!  So it took me a while to recoup from our trip and find time to go through our pictures to pick out the ones I wanted to post on the blog.

As is our tradition, we went to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving.  We always have Thanksgiving on Thursday and Christmas on Friday while we are there.  This year, we didn't know how it would go since we were planning to drive (11 hours) and Luci isn't the biggest fan of the car seat.  We weren't too excited about the possibility of her screaming for hours on end (she doesn't cry herself to sleep) so we decided to try driving through the night.  Yes, we would be exhausted, but if it was easier on her then it would be easier on us!  We left Wednesday night right after her bath.  She immediately went to sleep as we had hoped.  She didn't wake up until Kansas City and then it was only briefly.  She woke up for good about 10 miles away from my grandparents house!  SUCCESS!!!

Luci helping Grandma cook

We arrived about 7:30 Thanksgiving morning, ate some breakfast, turned Luci over to all the willing and waiting babysitters, and went to take a nap.  Luci was such a trooper!  She entertained everyone and found some new favorite toys.  She absolutely loves her toys and stuffed animals, as you can see from the following pictures.  Grandma and Grandpa have a giant stuffed bear that Luci absolutely adored.  She could be found often lounging in the arms of the bear. 

Hello everyone!

 

 Riding my trike

As I mentioned previously, we had Christmas on Friday...Luci's first one of the season.  She had a blast tearing open the paper and seeing what was inside!  She also had a great time playing with her cousins Kyle and Kaitlyn.

 

Tearing into my presents

Had to immediately read the books!  A girl after my own heart...makes a Momma proud!

 

Fun with Kaitlyn!

Reading Outdoor Life with Kyle

We left Saturday night around Luci's bedtime again for the trip home.  She did even better the second time around.  Driving through the night is definitely the way to go until she gets a little older.

I absolutely love this time of year and it is going to be even more fun sharing it with Luci this year!  Enjoy the pictures of my favorite holiday season!  We all have so much to be thankful for!!!

Playing with Daddy at the park

We see these faces often after she touches Cleo...she LOVES her dog and squeals with delight!

Telling Uncle Ryan good-bye...he headed back to Arizona

First overnight away...

Well, this week marked another milestone in mine and Luci's lives (Jason's too).  I had a business trip that took me to Washington DC for 2 nights.  I have to be honest...the closer the trip came, the more I didn't think I could do it.  It wasn't that I didn't trust Jason...I knew he would take super care of our precious girl.  I just didn't think that I could stand it!  What if she thinks I've abandoned her?  What if she forgets who I am?  What if...?  You get the picture.  I was a neurotic mom!  But, I decided to act like a big girl and just do it.  So, Monday at noon I took Luci to daycare and boarded a plane for DC.

It was my first trip to our nation's capital and I got to see some amazing sights!  The hotel I was staying in was within 5 blocks of all the monuments, the capital building, and the White House, not to mention all the Smithsonian museums.  So Monday evening, a friend and I took off on an exploration of the monuments by night.  Beautiful!  We walked to the Lincoln Monument (always been my favorite in pictures) and it was a spectacular sight at night!  We looked out over the reflecting pool and saw the Washington Monument and the Capital Building lit and glowing in the night.  Then we walked through the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.  We saw the Nurses Memorial, glimpsed the White House and saw the Capital Building up close.  The light was still lit at the top of the Capital Building and the flag was flying on the House side indicating that the House was still in session that evening.  Wonder what they could have been talking about at 9:00 on a Monday evening?!  We saw the Supreme Court Building and caught a glimpse of the houses on Capital Hill.  The historical significance of all these sights was overwhelming!

 

The next day I sat through a workshop (the real reason for the trip) on how to write accreditation reports for our college...fascinating (but seriously, I did learn what I needed to know...I think!).  As soon as the workshop was finished, we set out to take in as many Smithsonian museums as possible.  We had 2 hours until they closed so we made a run through the American History Museum and saw the ruby slippers from one of my all-time favorite movies, Julia Child's kitchen, an awesome Lincoln exhibit, and the famous soda fountain where an integral part of the civil rights movement took place!  There were other things too as we ran through the museum but these were the highlights!

 

 

We then headed next door to the Natural History Museum.  Here I saw enormous dinosaurs (felt like I was  in the movie Night at the Museum), fossils, life-size mammals from all over the planet, the Hope Diamond (I'm asking for that for Christmas!), and a gigantic crystal from Crystal Springs, Arkansas.  This crystal was head and shoulders taller than me.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, at home, Jason and Luci were taking care of each other.  They played.  They chased.  They wrestled.  They read all her favorite books.  And, she ate like a little pig...so I'm told!  I am so thankful that Luci has such a caring and doting father!  I am also very thankful for my wonderful mother-in-law and my fantastic mother!  Nana came and stayed with Luci on Tuesday and Grandma stayed with Luci on Wednesday!  This way, Jason didn't have to worry about driving Luci to daycare and leaving work early to pick her up.  She has never stayed there past 4:00 and we didn't want her to have to this week when her life was already going to be different.  It completely set my mind at ease to know that Luci was being loved and taken care of here at home by some of the people that love her most! 

We all survived; it was a good, productive trip and now things are getting back to normal!  Hopefully I won't have to be away overnight too often but at least now I know I can do it!

Halloween and Luci things

We love Autumn around here...normally.  This autumn has been a little wetter than we usually like it so we haven't gotten to spend as much time outdoors.  We get out as often as possible but I think we only had 7 sunny days in the month of October so outside activities were at a minimum.

We have experienced a lot of firsts!  Luci's first hike where she did most of the walking, first egg collection from our very own chickens, first Halloween, etc...She is such a happy girl and genuinely LOVES life!  She wants to try it all and can't wait to show you that she can do it on her own!

 

Here is a list of things Luci is doing lately:

• Dancing, non-stop -- even if there is no music (music in her head...should I be worried?!) She has started incorporating hand-moves into her dances as well.  Yes, this girl has rhythm!
  
• Loving and cuddling her teddy bears.  She must pick each one up and rub noses with them first thing in the morning.
• Toting around a blanket.  She has become Linus from Peanuts; except she isn't picky on which blanket.  She has about 5 she chooses from.
• Chasing and harassing our chickens daily.  She loves to try to catch them and pet them...screaming "bok-bok" the whole time!  She also loves going down to the chicken coop to see if we have any eggs.
  
• Waving WILDLY to anyone around, including cars that pass us on the road from the backseat.
• Says "dos" for dog, "da" for Daddy, "ma" for Mommy, "na" for nose, "bok" for chicken
• Shakes her head for no and nods for yes.  Also says "uh-uh" for no.
• Loves going to the park to swing and slide.
  
• Backs up and sits in your lap with a book when she wants to read.  She can turn the pages herself but sometimes her pace is faster than yours.  :)
• Walks backwards.  She is quite good at this, even stopping and looking over her shoulder to see how close she is to objects before continuing backwards.  Amazing really!
• Tries to dress herself.  She knows where everything goes and how to get it on, she just can't quite get it done without help yet.
• And...drum-roll please...is sleeping THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!  Yes, I feel it is safe to announce this bit of wonderful news.  She has done this consistently for about 2 weeks now so I think we have arrived!  She will go to bed around 8:30 and sleep through till about 6:30.  Its a miracle really and a day I wasn't sure was ever going to arrive.  The first night she did this, I woke up at our usual 2 am, worried that she wasn't breathing! She even puts herself to sleep now...after our night-time ritual, she lays down in her crib, rolls over, pats her bear, and closes her eyes.  So sweet! 

We count our blessings each day that Luci is ours!  She couldn't be a more perfect fit for our family!

Without further text, I give you what you have been reading this far for...recent pictures!  Enjoy and Happy Fall!

 Luci's first independent hike.  She wanted to do it all by herself!

 

 She has definitely become an outside girl!

 

Our happy little pirate...somewhat deceiving seeing as she slept through her first Trick-or-Treating Experience (see picture below)

The Kindall kids (aka Marilyn Monroe, the Cutest Pirate, Elvis, and Tinkerbell)

Luci's true reaction to Trick-or-Treating.  Poor girl had a big day and she was zonked!