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!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Yesterday we took Luci to the pumpkin patch and spent the afternoon with some dear adoption friends. It is so nice to have a group of friends who share this life-changing experience. They know the emotions involved; they understand the wait; they have been through the attachment and bonding phases that are so difficult and sweet at the same time. I cherish our get-togethers and love to see all our kids playing together.

Luci is always a little quieter around groups of people and as usual, it took her a bit to warm up to everyone else. However, with Jason and I she was the wild-child we love! She squealed with delight at the sight of the big pumpkins and tried to climb each one. She loved to slide down them and then immediately try to climb back up. She was content to sit on top and just watch the craziness. What fun! Can't wait to see how she reacts to pumpkin carving...watch for that post in the near future!

Me and my friend, Sophia

Where's Luci?!

Picking out my pumpkin

Carter giving Luci, Liam, and Sophia a ride.

How do you get 8 kids 6 and under to stay still for a group picture?

The answer: confinement! This is the best one we got!