Busy Weekend and SIGN THE PETITION!!!!

This was SUCH a beautiful fall weekend! I am LOVING this weather and hope that it hangs around for a long time. I am not looking forward to the cold but I do love Autumn. Friday we didn't do much of anything since Kris worked a side job at the football game. Yesterday we cleaned and shopped! We also had to take Alec to get a MUCH needed haircut. Then today we headed up to Tony's 5th birthday party. Alec had a GREAT time. The party was at a bowling ally. So much fun! Tony is the big brother to little sister from Guatemala like Alec, and he was at Alec's birthday party back in August. Not going to blog much today but wanted to share all the pictures I took.

I also wanted to call on everyone to please, PLEASE, help us take action for the children in Guatemala. Here is the link of an online petition that I am BEGGING you to take a moment to sign. We need these in process cases to continue. Please, even if you don't know a single person that has adopted from Guatemala but me and my family, take the time to sign this. It will only take a second. Please remember that at this time last year it would have been us in this position and I know you would have done it for me...so please do it for the other families who want to bring their children HOME.
http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html

Are you looking at me?
Well I am looking at ELMO

Yup mom...that's what I said...ELMO

NOT ME..I am running around because I am WOUND UP!

Is there a problem? Am I not allowed to stuff multiple pretzels in my mouth? Isn't that what they are for???
Pretty in my sweater dress (please ignore the floor that once again needs swept..thank God for Dyson!)
I don't stay still long!
Here I come!

Mom....Dad....I WANT A BOWLING BALL!
The Birthday Party
BOWLING!
Hanging out waiting for cake:-)
Watching Tony open gifts...OK..Alec wasn't watching obviously...he did tell us to make sure Santa knew that he wanted everything Tony got today!

Look at those awesome bowling shoes! Why is it that bowling shoes are so ugly?

Mmmmm...CAKE!

A sleepy girl on the way home from the party

OK...I am ready to go now that I am home!

Oooooooooooohhhh..LEAVES. I bet they taste GOOD!

Do you think they do?

Well let me hoard as many of them as I can find just in case!


Here's another one!

I see you mom and dad!

Christian and Mikayla

Today Gina and Christian came down to see us. The kids had SO much fun together today and I took a TON of pictures. They haven't gotten to see each other a whole lot lately and both of their eyes LIT UP when they saw each other today. It was just like they knew who each other was. So adorable those two are. Alec was of course in on ALL the action too! Gina brought down his birthday gift since we haven't been able to see each other lately, and it was a Webkins, the Tree Frog. It's SO cool and he LOVES it. Tonight he told me...you make sure to tell Aunt Gina thank you! So I guess now she is an aunt. LOL. She needs more kids to love anyway's...HAHAHAH! Well Grey's Anatomy is coming up in TEN minutes and I am so excited I have butterflies in my stomach. I am a HUGE Grey's fan and have been waiting all summer for this. So that is why I blogged early.....

Look at how excited they are in these next few pics!

Look how sweetly Alec has him arm around Kayla....so sweet!

Christian and Alec are best buds!

My sweet boy...he had a GREAT time today too!

All eyes on the Backyardigans

Look at this face...pure love people


Yup...pure love with this one too!

Smiling up at at daddy

I SO wish my flash had worked on this picture so it would have turned out. She was playing peek-a-boo with Alec's coveted balnket

I was trying SO hard to get a good picture of the two of them....ummm....didn't happen

Doesn't he just look like a little stud in this picture? Love it and LOVE him!

Kris was throwing him up and he was laughing hysterically! This child is such a doll...he reminds me a lot of Alec when he was this age. He is so laid back and then there is Mikayla who didn't sit or stop moving for ONE second.

Taking a Cleaning Break

I have been "deep cleaning" off and on all day and it's almost 12:30 PM and I am still going strong! But I am taking a break to blog for a moment.

I have been asked what I am doing to lose the weight by a few people. There really is no secret....I am just eating better and eating less. I started this diet off thinking I would do Weight Watchers again and just kind of did my own thing instead with Weight Watchers in mind. What I have basically done is cut my sugar to almost zero. I mean I am still getting sugar but I am not eating sugar like I used to. I actually have not been eating a lot. Now that I am going strong and used to it my appetite has just diminished. I am cooking healthier meals and eating smaller portions. I am not exercising...I just don't have time although I need to so that I can firm up. So there is not secret...it was just more of a lifestyle change that I made and I didn't just make it for me but for my family. We are ALL eating better and Kris has actually dropped 5 pounds so far as well and is now watching what he eats. I am impressed. We have been eating NO processed foods and eating more veggies. I have been baking, not frying and we grill as well. I have so much more energy and just plain feel better about myself and better in general. I am hoping by Thanksgiving to have off 25 pounds and if I stick to it like I have been then I am pretty sure I will make it:-)

I have also been asked when Alec is going back to preschool and what we decided. Well most of you know we pulled him from that HORRIFIC preschool that he WAS in and next Monday will be his first day at the new preschool. In addition to preschool he will also be starting Martial Arts classes next week. He has wanted to do this for a LONG time and so he is excited...we will see how it goes.

I will leave you with a prayer request. I have a lot of friends that still are waiting for their sweet children to come home from Guatemala. Yesterday our US Department of State issued a dire warning about Guatemalan Adoptions. As usual, I will not go into details because it is confusing to those of you not familiar with the Guatemalan Adoption process but please, please pray. There is a very, very real chance that cases that are still pending (still in process) come January 1st, 2008 will not be allowed to complete. We knew this was coming, all of us did, but what we didn't realize was that Guatemala may not allow in-process cases to continue. We have been under the impression from both the Guatemalan Officials as well as the US Dept. of State that in-process cases would be "grandfathered" and allowed to finish up...but now it looking like that very well may NOT be the case. If this does happen, and adoptions are halted come Jan 1st, there will be thousands of children left in Guatemala. And I do mean thousands. If you would like to step up then PLEASE contact your local congressman, senators, and US Dept. of State to pressure Guatemala into a grandfather clause. These children need to come home to their families. If this was happening at the same time LAST YEAR as it is now, this would have been US. We would not have been completed by the deadline and we would have missed it by mere DAYS. I am sickened at the fact that the children are not at all being thought of by government officials on both sides. What UNICEF has done and encouraged, and trust me I will be talking about UNICEF in an upcoming blog post, is disgusting. But all things aside, we need to pull together as an adoption community right now and fight for those still in Guatemala. Just because many of our children are home does NOT mean that we do not have a voice. I have said it before and I will say it again, I believe that the system in Guatemala has to change, but this proposed way of going about it does nothing but hurt the children and the parents thousands of miles away yearning for them to come home.

OK...I stepped off the soapbox.

BRING THE BABIES HOME...that's what Mikayla says!

Look at her pants...she is such a short thing. Hopefully I can shrink these up.

On the run again....

I am not sure WHAT kind fo face this is!

MOM...WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CAMERA!?

It doesn't get any better then my daddy, my cup, and Elmo on TV. Doesn't daddy look THRILLED to be watching Elmo yet again?

Mommy's Beauty Queen

This is a PBK pink plush pig that my grandma and grandpa got Mikayla for Christmas last year and she LOVES this thing!!!

Daddy said it was time for the princess to get her first pair of Nike's. Are they NOT adorable? Kris picked them out. He wanted ones that had pink on them. LOL.

Her winter wardrobe....what on earth was I thinking....are there even enough days to wear all this stuff and can I be ashamed even more to say this is not all of it. AND...each piece has matching hairbows, socks, and even shoes. OMG...someone get me out of Gymboree!

Hairbow Overload...I can't even get them all on here anymore. I need longer ribbons!

We bought this shirt at the mall on Saturday at Gap. I had to have it. It is the cutest thing and it is Mikayla all over. My girl loves her cookies...and anything else that she can eat.