Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with many happy memories! It was so fun to watch the girls...here are some pics of the big day.

Santa always comes Christmas Eve and leaves new jammies for the girls...I can't believe Santa found cute little "present bows" that matched their jammies this year!!! I have a feeling Santa (with perhaps the help of Mrs. Clause) may have found them on Etsy...or maybe the elves made them...

The girls on Christmas Eve

The girls (minus Abbie) on Christmas morning..we let Abbie sleep in!

Merry 1st Christmas dear Abbie Grace!

I laugh at this picture because she is surrounded by wrapping paper...but they truly did not have that many gifts!!

After the girls were finished upwrapping gifts in the living room they came into the kitchen for a drink...and look what they saw waiting for them in the family room under the other tree...two horses!!!! They were sooo excited!!

LOVE this picture!!

Family shot at my mom's house...

Abbie and Makenzie's first Christmas!!!

One Word Wednesday...

JOLLY

Christmas tree

Here are some pictures from our day at the tree farm picking out the perfect tree for our new house...I had so much fun this year because we could finally pick out a BIG tree (which I have always wanted) since we now have high ceilings...we finally found the perfect tree!!

How cute is this picture??

"What do you think Ella? Do you see a tree worthy of being a Whitacre tree?"

Mommy and the blob!

The Whitacre girls posing in front of their 2008 Christmas tree!

Wordless Wednesday...

Visiting Santa...

Merry Early Christmas!!!

FINALLY....the girls sat on Santa's lap and shed NO tears!!!! Yay!!!

I love this picture...and how cute are these Matilda Jane peasant tops?? LOVE Matilda Jane!!!

6th month pictures cont...

066, originally uploaded by sophiaandellasmom.

Happy 6th Months, Abbie!

067, originally uploaded by sophiaandellasmom.

Happy first Gotcha Day Ella!

On November 20th we celebrated Ella's first Gotcha day. Words cannot explain how much this little angel has blessed our lives. It's been a year since the very day a scared and sad little girl was handed over to us in Changchun, China. I still remember how emotional that moment was...I thought I was so prepared but I quickly figured out that there was really no way to prepare for that moment. I look back now and realize how sad and scared she really was those first few days. I remember being in the hotel room and she would just cry and cry while pointing to the door. I was too overwhelmed at the moment to understand what she was trying to communicate but now I realize she was pointing to the door so that we would take her back "home"...she wanted her nannies back, she wanted her friends back, she wanted the familiar sounds and smells back...she wanted her LIFE back...

Well the sad and scared little Ella is long gone!! We now have a happy, ENERGETIC, beautiful, and well adjusted little girl! We can't imagine life without her!

Happy Gotcha Day Sweet Ella!

So much to be thankful for...

I am so behind in my posts...our dear little Ella just celebrated her first gotcha day last week and I have yet to post some pictures...they are coming...Abbie turned 6 months today...that post is coming as well...

Today was a very hard day and I just had to post so that I could share how thankful I am for my family. I work as a school psychologist in a very small rural district (650 students K-12) and today I got the news that we lost one of our students...he passed away after a terrible sledding accident...only 14 years old. He was one of four boys and my heart breaks at how much his brothers must be hurting... and of course his parents too...it's a sad reminder that tomorrow is never a guarantee!

I made sure to hug my little ones a little longer when I got home today... Thank you God for giving me such an amazing family...

I kept looking at this picture of Abbie thinking that it reminded me of something...I knew it was a stuffed animal and I knew it was from the 80's because I remember playing with them when I was around 8 or 9...then it came to me!!!

Abbie looks like a Monchichi (with a little less hair)!!!!!

What do you think??

Wordless Wednesday

Not too much exciting going on so I have not posted in a while...still unpacking...it's neverending! We are getting there though...everyday I love this house more than the day before...I think we finally found the house that we will be in forever...it only took 2 other houses in the matter of 3 years but that's ok...this house is a keeper (UNLESS-all of our family would move down to Hilton Head with us...then we would be out of here in a second...although NY is pretty the taxes are a killer...anyway....here are some recent pics of the girls...

I had left the room for a couple minutes the other day and came back to see Abbie looking like this...thanks Sophie!

Abbie has a lot of hand me downs...therefore this justified me buying her this adorable cashmere outfit from Strasburg...she's so cuddly in this outfit!!

Wait...where is Abbie????

There she is!!

Sophie in her new cute pinafore...

Abbie (aka-The Blob)

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Ella

Happy Third Birthday Ella!!!!

My dear Ella turned 3 on Sunday. It was her first birthday with us and it was such an amazing day. I love this child so much...she has such an amazing heart...

On this day it's hard for me not to think back three years ago and wonder about her mother's story ...was she a single mother? Was she abandoned because of her cleft lip/palate? Was she the second child? My mind races with so many possibilities. I wonder how her mother felt when she left this tiny child in the freezing cold outside of the orphanage...how heavy her heart must of felt...and how heavy it must continue to feel. I pray for Ella's birth mother everyday and thank her for this amazing gift we call Ella Irene!

And here are some things I love love love about Ella

-She has the biggest heart of any child I have ever met.

-She loves to help whenever she can.

-She is so polite, always saying thankyou and please.

-She is freakishly strong and we have to laugh as she picks up heavy heavy objects with such ease.

-She is such a clown and loves to make Sophie laugh.

-She gets ready with mommy in the morning and always dips her fingers in my contact case after mommy and pretends to put her contacts in.

-She always volunteers to say Grace before dinner...and her prayer consists of looking around the room and thanking God for anything she sees (ex. Thank God for milk, chicken, Sophie, mommy, daddy, Grampy)

-Whenever I dress her up she has to run and show Daddy

-She has more energy than any child I have ever seen!! From the moment her feet hit her bedroom floor in the morning she is on the go (OK...I admit this trait does get a little tiring for mommy!)

There are so many more...I love you my Dear Sweet Ella!