15 Months Old Today & Standing

Pulling Up onto the recliner

15 Months Old Today! She LOVES these blocks!

Watching Oswald.

She had just pulled up & was holding onto my knee for dear life!

Standing up to see Duke...still holding on tight!

Caleigh turns 15 months old today! She pulled up into a standing position all by herself this morning & has been doing it ever since. She thinks it's pretty cool! Her knees are still a little wobbly, but she doesn't fall down (until she decides to plop down on her tushy).

She also watched her very first TV Show today: Oswald...she sat on the couch & watched & just laughed! It was cute; she usually doesn't pay the television any attention....I turned it on while she was munching on Cheerios in her high chair & she wanted to keep watching when she was through.

She is saying more 'words'...mama, dada, ball, Bella, & signs "more", "come here". She can point to her hair, head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tummy, shoes and tongue when you ask her. She likes to close doors, turn off light switches and pick out her own shoes for the day! The girl likes her shoes & always wants shoes on...she even naps in them! It's probably good because our tile is cool in the winter. She is cutting her 1 year molars...ack! Not too comfy.

I hope you don't get bored of all of the photos, but I swear, this new camera cannot take a bad pic!!! I'm hauling it to Tae Kwon Do this afternoon & am going to try for some pics of the boys if Caleigh will let me!

Random thoughts...

Despite all of the toys, this cup is her favorite thing in the bath.

She wanted to play in B & B's room with their cap on! She was proud she climbed up the steps!

Figuring out her first puzzle.

Bath-time is still her favorite time of day!

I should have trained to be a tree-trimmer/pruner. We had our front trees pruned & the mistletoe removed this morning (it was bad y'all!) ....let's just say that I could have bought a lot of cute clothes for my kiddos with that little chunk of change. Oh well, it looks MUCH better & maybe our trees won't die now; that's good right?

Blake & Bryce start Tae-Kwon-Do tomorrow. They are SO Excited & we hope that they really like it. For reasons not necessarily important, we have chosen to stay away from team sports at this age. They are ready to be involved in an after school activity though, so we're going to try it! They can go as many days a week as they like for a flat fee & uniform included that is reasonable & it's close to home.....Can't wait to see how it goes! It seems pretty disciplined & I think that will be good too.

Caleigh is climbing up & down off of everything the past few days..in & out of her little bathtub even. She is so proud of herself. It is funny to watch her expressions when she accomplishes something.

She had more immunizations today. We go for her 15 month check up next Friday & will have 2 more; that will almost catch her up! Hooray! I know she is tired of getting shots & I just dread taking her because I know it hurts OUCH!

James & I have our 15 Year Anniversary in May....I want to plan something fun...any good ideas??? I thought about Vegas?!? I've never been but I know he likes it....

Caleigh in My Baby Dress....

This one is my favorite of her peeking over the chair!

My mom recently gave me several of my baby dresses & outfits. This one fits Caleigh right now & I thought I would get a couple of pictures of her in it for my mom & dad. A couple turned out really sweet.....She'll be modeling another vintage outfit soon! She's so much fun!

Who's Protecting Who?

This was the scene at our house on New Year's Eve....Fireworks a-blasting (not at our house by the way) & the Bella boxer was NOT happy. She decided Caleigh needed protecting I think...or maybe Caleigh was protecting Bella...either way, she has never laid across C like this before & I found it cute & kinda pitiful at the same time as she was shaking so....

Pictures in Her Vietnamese Dress

Not too happy in the beginning....

Well, this isn't so bad....

Quite content for the last shots....I just wish I would've made the straps tighter; it bothers me!

We purchased this cute little dress in HCMC for Caleigh. It is a size 1 & will be too small soon, so I had her pictures made in it last month....we also bought her hat in VN. They turned out pretty cute, but as you can see in the first photo, she wasn't too happy to be there. Thankfully the next setting went well because Blake & Bryce were there too! I'm supposed to get those pictures back this week. These are scanned, so the quality may not be great....I have an Aoi Dai for her 2nd year pictures; maybe she'll be happier!

I'm On The Fence....

First of all, thanks for all of your answers about C walking....I will contact early intervention, but I'm not as worried given the wide range of first walking ages....She has only been out of the braces for one month, so I'm not going to press it too much....

OK, so this is not a pressing matter or anything, but I have been on the fence about it for a while now: To Pierce or Not To Pierce....Caleigh's ears that is! My neighbor & I have had good conversation about this & many friends & relatives have made their input too, but I just cannot make up my mind. Or, maybe I am just chicken. I have carried around the most beautiful diamond earrings she was given by my sister-in-law for almost 6 months now in my purse....they're just waiting in their cute little box. I know some little girls' ears are pierced before they ever leave the orphanage; heck, one of my boys' ears was pierced to tell the twins apart! I think they look cute on other little girls, but on mine? Will they make her look older? Will they get infected? Will it hurt? (This is my major hang-up I admit it!) Maybe I'll just wait until she's 2 & then decide...but then there's the argument that the younger they are, they won't remember it...or do I want her to remember it; do I want it to be her choice? Oh, the choices just drive me crazy!!! So, faithful blog readers, what do you think???? Not that it will make my decision any easier, I just need to know!!!

Home 6 Months Today....

Ready for bed...the finger in the ear & a big yawn are a sure sign!

She will still wear the braces for 12 hrs. each night until she is 3 or 4 years old. I personally do not see how she sleeps in these, but she is a great sleeper! She's been sleeping until 8 over the holidays...I will hate to have to wake her in the morning to take the boys to school!

Home 6 Months...Age 14 1/2 months. Cutting some more teeth :)

We have been home with Caleigh 6 months today. We arrived home on July 4th & she became an instant US Citizen upon crossing the US Border. Independence Day has taken on a new meaning in our family!!! It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks it will have been 1 year since we heard about our little girl. Time has flown & we are enjoying every minute as a family of 5. School starts back tomorrow & James goes back to work; she will surely miss all of activity during the day!

Question:

What age did your child start walking? If adopted from an orphanage, at what age did they come home? I'm trying to get an average & see when/if I should be concerned....Caleigh has had some setbacks that would cause her to be delayed & she's only 14 months, but I'm just curious what the average is for children in an orphanage setting....if it makes a difference...Our boys walked in the orphanage at 15 months...Thanks! :)

Daddy's Girl

She always seems to be crawling away these days!

She goes to the back door & bangs on it to go outside! She loves it out back...

Laughing at the dogs playing....

She has become a Daddy's girl for sure....

....she has figured out he will give her whatever she wants...oh, it's love....DaDa Rules!
We worked out in the back all day yesterday burning & cleaning....she slept for two hours, but wanted to go back out right when she woke up...the boys were off playing so I didn't get to practice my outdoor camera skills on them...bummer! Got some cute ones of Caleigh & Daddy.....

Happy New Year!

May Your New Year be BEAUTIFUL...

....Full of EXCITEMENT....

....may you make new DISCOVERIES about yourself....

....and not have too many UPSET moments!
From our house to yours...HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2009 bring you many BLESSINGS!!!!! I'm not sure how 2009 can top 2008, but I know that God has many things in store for our family....and yours!

How I Spent Caleigh's Naptime today:

Done with picture taking...

You can see why we're getting braces next month!

Trying to look sweet!

In deep concentration.

The boys did pretty well...they were done with the photo session after about 10 minutes! Here are my favorites. I think I may very well have a new addiction!!! My poor house & laundry will have to wait!!!

New Camera...

Sitting Among the Gifts.

Playing with the new toys!

Blake & his new skateboard!

Checking out the cat...we don't have one at home.

Carefully opening her gift...

Me & My Mom...

Blake & Bryce playing

The Cutie!

So, it wasn't on my wish list officially, but I must have griped about the quality of my old digital & Santa brought me a Canon Rebel. It's awesome, but kinda difficult to figure it all out! I have a lot of manuals downloaded & some serious studying to do, but I think I will like it. We tried it out at my Mom & Dad's on Saturday & I just now figured out how to download & edit a bit...here's the first round; hopefully the quality will improve as we go..... Christmas at my parents :

Christmas Cookies

We had fun making cookies & frosting from scratch on Christmas Eve. The frosting color turned out a little orange because we added too much yellow to our red food coloring...they didn't care & they sure were yummy! The boys really got into the rolling of the dough & cutting out the shapes. Caleigh enjoyed the warm frosting fresh on a cookie!

Christmas Morning....

Christmas morning was so nice....all of the kids were excited & got into the unwrapping adventure! The boys helped Caleigh & showed her how to play with all of her new things. They were very excited that Santa brought their pump up scooters & the Wii! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

I spent the afternoon in the ER with a Brown Recluse Spider Bite on my thumb. I had never been in the ER in my 38 years of life! It was bad...too much pain to wait until Friday, but they 'fixed' it there; I'll spare you the details & I'm on some good drugs & feeling better today.

Above are my favorite pictures from Christmas morning at home. We are heading to my parents home today.

Enjoy Your Christmas Eve!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning! We're getting busy making Christmas Cookies today & I hope they look as good as these!