Rolling over!

Fiona just rolled over! She's rolled over from her front to back a couple of times on our bed - but this is the first time she's done it on the floor. I think our bed is easier because it's so soft and has the feather bed topper on it. This time she actually had to push herself over! YAY! It won't be too long before she's going the other way and then crawling. I can't believe how big she is already.

Oh what a day!

Today has been a really big day for us. First and foremost Doug got a new job! YAY! I won't butcher the details of his job, but he'll be working for a company called Impark in Seattle. It's a bit of a commute but he'll be able to take the train in some days. I'm so proud of him! It's been a blessing to have him home. I will definitely miss him when he goes back to work and I know Fi will miss her Papa-Time during the day. But, it's great to be able to get back on track. I know he was starting to get a little antsy here with me all day.

Krystyne had a meeting with a modeling agency in Seattle today. She was approached by a scout at the auditions for the mall fashion show and we made an appointment with the gal. She said she really liked how Krysty looked and thought that she would be great for their agency. We went to the office, they took some measurements and some pictures and she will present Krysty's photos to the group to see if they are interested in picking her up. If they do it means getting head-shots, but that will be the only money we have to put out. They will do the work on getting her promoted and getting her work. I told her not to get her hopes up too high, but I know she is excited. Of course we all think she's beautiful, but we'll see what they say. I am excited for her.

Allie has been working very, VERY hard on her school work lately. She has been asking since last year if she could have her hair pink. I told her that when she brought home a report card with all A's and B's that I would dye her hair pink for her. This has been a real struggle as we have been fighting with getting assignments turned in as well as asking for help and using the resources available to her when she is struggling in something. Well all of her hard work has finally paid off and she was able to have her hair dyed! It was a fun time for the two of us and I know I really enjoyed the whole process. This is kind of a big deal, as she is the only girl in her grade to have her hair this way. My hands are bright pink from rinsing it but thankfully I don't really have to go anywhere that it'd matter. Doug and I are SO VERY PROUD of all the hard work that she has done lately. There have been some long nights, some fights, and some tears of frustrations from all of us. Tonight was the reward for all of it. This was fun!

She looks beautiful no matter what the color!

Adoption

We went to see a lawyer yesterday about what it will take for Doug to adopt Krystyne. It's a rather easy process. All I have to do is find her "biological donor" and get him to waive his rights to her. Hopefully this should be relatively easy. I was able to get in contact with his dad (awesome that he's a Jr so it was pretty easy) and hopefully he will pass my contact information along. If I don't hear something by the weekend I'll make one more phone call and then turn the information over to our lawyer. I really hope that it will remain simple. I can't imagine after all this time that he would want to cause a stir now. Especially since his dad told me he is married with two kids. I don't want to cause problems for him - I just want to be able to get Krystyne adopted by someone who loves her as much as I do.

Fun at the mall

The girls and I went to the mall today and I couldn't help it! It took a little convincing to get Allie in on it but it was SO worth it.

This has to be the funniest thing I've ever gotten for $15!

Finally I have been able to get some pictures of Jane! It seems like it goes in shifts on who I can catch pictures of and who gets left out from time to time. Here she is looking FABULOUS! for her field trip to see a play. She was very excited to go and wanted to look her best! I even got a good smile!

We started giving Fiona bananas this week. It has apparently made for some interesting diapers but she sure loves them! We started with bananas just because it's what I happened to have on hand and she was watching me eat one. So I smooshed a little piece and gave it to her. She just loved it. Normally I would worry about them causing her to be a little constipated but since she only gets breast milk the rest of the time I know she'll be fine. She had a little bite of potato at dinner the other night and liked that too! Maybe we'll try some avocado later. I know babies usually start off with cereal but I would rather start her with whole, "real" foods. Since she's not eating them for any nutritional reasons (all of a baby's nutritional needs are met with breast milk until they're a year old) I don't see any real reason to give her any kind of "filler". She really seems to enjoy the taste and texture and she's learning about new things!

~mmmmm, nanners are goooood!~

~Look how cute I am! More, please!~

Maybe I'm Amazed

Watching Doug with Fiona has been such an amazing experience. He has astounded me with how natural he is at taking care of her. There are still things that he forgets. Like making sure she has on a clean, dry diaper before putting clothes on her - especially when we are going somewhere. But there are so many other things that he does that he is better at than I am. When she's in her swing or her bed and starts to fuss I will start to go to her and he stops me and says "she's just fussing, just give her a minute". Sure enough, she calms down in just a few moments and is fine. He can calm her faster than I can and put her to sleep deeper. He says it comes from spending most of the time trying to keep her quiet so I can sleep or work. I think it comes from more than that. These things come naturally to him. He has almost endless patience with all of the children. Patience I can't even pretend to have. It's been a real gift to share these things with him.

We're back

We had a great time in California. It's good to be back. I've got a lot of work to catch up on from being gone and homework to do. Yuck.



It was so good to see everyone! Here are some of the 500! pictures that I took.
Enjoy!