Thanks November

November is National Adoption month, a month set aside to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care.

I sometimes take for granted what an amazing thing adoption is. After all I would not have been able to become a mother and parent such a beautiful blessing. I thank God daily for her as well as trusting me to parent a child I never gave birth to. So many friends I know have had prayers answered because of adoption. Therefore, thank you November for celebrating an entire month to such a glorious thing in which gave both Nate and I the glorious little girl in the photo below.

Halloween 09

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! Nate, Elyse and I had a fabulous and fun Halloween this year. We started by having my mom, niece and nephew over to play and eat lunch.
Then we ended the day with having all our friends over for a night of fun. After many attempts at getting a solid good picture, I was able to capture a few.

Wouldn't you pay money to go to a zoo that had this many cute animals?
leopard:Mari, elephant:Aiden, ladybug:Willow, monkey:Elyse, dog:Mason

Beautiful Sight

I believe one of the most beautiful sights you can see as a parent is walking in on your child doing nothing but happily reading a book :) Picture was not staged, Elyse pulled her books by her horse to read

Sharing

Nate and I have spent the last week working on sharing with Elyse. As you can see from the video, she's gotten pretty good at it. She's beginning to share toys, books and food with her friends and us. Ironically I have discovered her sharing of food tends to be food she doesn't like. She sure is one smart and tricky little girl!

Elyse 1 Year Old Pictures

A friend of Nate and I through church took these 1 year old pictures of Elyse. I just LOVE them all and think she did an amazing job. If you need pictures done I'd recommend her in a heartbeat, "Heidi McDowell Photography"! These are just a few. If you would like to see more, please feel free to copy and paste the link below:
Facebook | Your Photos - Elyse 1 Year Old: "http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=331133&id=508655202&l=1eb74a7370"

H1N1

So I'm so confused with this entire H1N1 epidemic the news is always talking about. I don't know what to do? Should I or shouldn't I give Elyse the vaccine???? I'm so confident in one thing and then tend to change my mind all over again. So I know your opinion isn't going to make my decision, but I'm just curious what everyone thinks about it. Therefore, feel free to comment any thoughts you may have about the H1N1 vaccine. Please also feel free to vote on the left side whether or not you would give your child the vaccine.

All I know is that I can't be afraid of it or hide all winter, both Elyse and I would go CRazY!

Got the Right Idea

Elyse LOVES to take out my dirty underwear from the laundry basket, carry it around and then put it back in the basket. Well today she thought she would put it back somewhere else instead. I guess she figures she sees Mama wearing these on her legs when she goes pee-pee so I bet they go in there too :)
The one time I don't put the lid down, serves me right.