Winter Days...

Today we had a good snowfall. So I bundled Avery up for her first "snow play". She loved packing it and throwing it. We didn't stay out too long. Avery loves books. Her favorite one right now is "The Very Cranky Bear" by Nick Bland. She makes a "roar" sound then says "Anky Bear". When she reads the book, she kisses the bear to make him happy. We are getting a care package to send to Blake. Nana Kathy made a beautiful blanket and Nana R. picked out a cute, soft puppy. We have a picture book of the family to send over, and a little police outfit that I bought 4 years ago. We included snacks for the caretakers and paintings by Avery. Here is the latest picture of Blake, they say he eats well and fast, and when he cries, he waves his arms as if he is swimming. We can't wait to hold and kiss him!

Staying Busy!

January is very cold for us in Indiana. So Avery has been staying very busy inside. She loves to cook with her kitchen, but most times she needs to wear high heals to cook (just like mommy ha ha!). She loves painting and coloring. Anything with Nemo on it, she points out, so here is her Nemo ribblon as a headband. When Papaw and Nana came over Avery enjoyed story time (and Benny did too!). We are ready for warm weather to play outside (with Blake here too!).

What Does Her Sign Say?

Well, we got another call that changed our lives tonight... We got a call from the director of the orphanage where Avery is from, asking



if we would like a SON!!!! We applied in November and we didn't think it would be this soon to be matched. I'll post pictures of Blake Eugene Wei Chen as soon as I get them. He was born 12/22/09, weighing 7.6 lbs. He and Avery have different birthparents, but they are now brother and sister.
Wow... we have so much to do! Oh dear!!!

What We've Been Up To....

It's been a busy month so far. I'm working extra, the house project is coming along, and Avery keeps amazing us. She is such a little princess. She now has a kitchen set from Christmas, and she feels that to properly cook she needs a tiara, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and of course fancy shoes. She is talking more and more... She actully said "Good girl, Mommy" yesterday. We enrolled her in a Kindermusik class, and she enjoys listening to music, and doing different actions to the music. It's a train theme, so we call it "Choo Choo" class.
We also filed for an Indiana-issued birth certificate. This should help when enrolling her for school, applying for a driver's and (gulp!) marriage license. We went before a judge, and in 5 minutes we were done. I was a little intimidated!
And finally, Bentley got neutered. He is doing great, still barking and running through the house, yet he constantly picks at his stiches. So here he is modeling the latest fashion for dogs without self-control.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning!

While Dan had to work on Christmas Eve, Avery and I listened to Christmas music as we (me) made cookies. Avery was entertained by the 8 foot inflatable Santa outside our window (our neighbors put it up just for Avery). She kept pointing to it, saying "Santa". She colored a picture for Santa and we left milk and cookies for him. Christmas morning, we read the Nativity story (Avery's book), then we opened presents. Avery loved her kitchen set, she has many accessories to go with it. Dan wins "Husband of the Year" award for our wedding picture framed to go in our new bedroom, and a TV with a DVD player to go above our new tub (I wanted a fireplace, yet that wasn't in our budget, so he got me a fireplace DVD to play while I soak in the new tub!). We had a very busy weekend celebrating with family and painting the new addition (it's coming along!). Hope you all had blessed holidays and have a safe New Year!

Christmas Pics!

Avery this year.....

Avery last year....


My, times goes by so fast...We had a fun night at my friend Misty's, who took some beautiful pictures of Avery. Things are pretty busy here, we enjoyed our nephew's Christmas program last night (he did AWESOME) then enjoyed some Pizza Hut. Avery stayed awake until 10:00, we had fun making her giggle (she gets really giggly past 7:00). Dan and I would crawl into her room while she was in the crib....She laughed so hard, she would snort!!!

Christmas Tree!

I love decorating for Christmas, and Avery enjoyed helping too. We have a tree upstairs and one downstairs. We have yet to "officially" take family pictures, so I attempted some Avery dressy shots...(I won't quit my day job!). Every day is such a blessing with our little one. We have all been sick this past week, and now are all doing much better. I had the opportunity to speak at our church's Christmas brunch last Saturday, and shared our journey to Avery. We are very thankful for the Fleck family (see link to the right), for their support and prayers along the way.