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Monday, July 27, 2015

She brushed her tooth right out of her mouth.

Brushing your teeth some nights can be more exciting than others. On July 6, it happened. Ella lost her first tooth and all the while she was spitting blood out of her mouth, she was giggling hysterically. (Just when I think I've got this kid figured out, she does something like this!) She ran around upstairs yelling, "It feels weird! Oh my gosh! I need to call Roz! I need to call Grandma and Papa! Let me look at it again!" I, on the other hand, went to the bathroom and choked back tears at this new chapter. 



We are winding down into the final days of July which means that we've got exactly 29 days until school starts, but who's keeping track? I'm not. Really. I am not ready. She is not ready.


Daddy is good.

We've got stuff to do, like this kind of stuff...

...and this...

...and this.

Let's see what kind of adventures we can get into and let's see if Ella enters first grade with more than one hole in her smile!

~H

Independence Celebrated!

Not everyone gets to start off their July 4th having breakfast with one of Toledo's best Americana bands. We did and have the selfie to prove it.

From there, we hopped in a car with my brother and niece to celebrate Christian's independence from Kent State University by way of a road trip to Columbus. He's got a big boy job, a brand new set of wheels and is everything we thought he would be.
Uncle Ken and Aunt Sharon were both in town from Florida so we drug them along too.

We landed back home at dinnertime and by the grace of God, I had enough energy to pack up the car so we could enjoy fireworks downtown with the Harrison family for what appears to be an annual tradition now!
The Mama Heather/Joey selfie.
The kids ran wild. We released lanterns into the night sky, there were popper fights, sparklers and crazy scooter chases.
And when it got dark enough, the first boom released from across the river...and Ella was in our car with the windows rolled up. She may never outgrow the sheer terror that noise gives her. (Never mind she can sit in a small restaurant and listen to live music without hesitation.)

As fast as I put her down in bed, she was out cold. And her little foster baby was right there to keep her safe.
Celebrating America's birthday is hard stuff.

~H

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The magical garden and other stuff.

In spite of the onslaught of rain and larger-than-life mosquitoes that come with living in what used to be swamp lands, we have managed to enjoy our yard this summer. We hosted our family group Kids N' Cocktails and before it was over, had about 80 parents and kids scattered everywhere. It was such big fun. The fact that Larry and some other dads provided live tunes for dancing made it all that much better.



Three nights later, I hosted Ladies Night Out for my FCC mamas. The weather was perfect and so were the extra celebrations.

We fussed over Kendra and Jen a bit. Kendra and her family will be traveling to China in the fall to adopt Seth, and Jen and her husband are in China right this very second with Jia. They will be home in three days. So the circle of extended adopted family continues to grow and grow. It stirs about every emotion and memory imaginable for me as I follow Jen's blog. All of us 'seasoned' China travelers are feeling a bit homesick the last two weeks as we watch what they are experiencing for the first time. Every last bit of it is great and we can't wait to meet a new little one!


This little one spent an awful lot of time with with me at the office. KatieRoz left for a two week vacation in Florida and it felt as though we were missing limbs. No, really. Ella was amazing. For the first time I really saw what Older Ella may look like as she did all her important work on my laptop. (Thank you so much, PB$kids. You saved me that week.) She might be a corker from time to time, but dang is she awesome when I take her to the office.



And by some magical turn of events, it tired her out enough to actually nap for me a few of those long work days. Which means I also could nap. Woohoo!!!

As you can see, Miss Hannigan has upped her game and has
figured out how to sleep with the humans.

And while everyone else in our immediate vicinity was enjoy parties and pre-fourth-of-July fireworks on July 3rd, we had our art museum basically to ourselves.


That was pretty magical too.

~H

Monday, July 20, 2015

June bug.

Dad IS handsome, Ella. Way to put the extra touch on the Father's Day gift this year :) A lot sure did happen in June. 

We are still doing our job in growing a healthy kitty in Miss Hannigan, and Thomas and Mavis are doing a very good job being kind to her, if Ella will let her down long enough for them to interact.

Ella did her third year of the Splash program at the local Y. This was the first year parents did not go in the pool with the kids. We were super proud of her confidence even though she still refuses to get her face wet without her mask on.

We met up with a great group of neighborhood kids for a fun day complete with outdoor picnic at our Museum.



This is Ella pouting because Roz wouldn't dance with her. Yep.





The weather this summer has been a little off. It has rained way more than it needed to, the temps have been unusually cool too. But when it is nice, we take advantage of it. On a work-from-home day these two pea pods played in Ella's small pool (that hasn't gotten nearly enough play) and soaked up sun while I worked at my laptop in the shade. I'm so thankful for that flexibility at work.
And the front porch has had some good stuff too - the band had a recent practice out there and it was awesome!
The cicadas are singing their songs which means this summer is rounding third, so to speak. And I'm not ready...at all.

~H

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Catch up post. Yikes!

This feels like four months ago. It was a month ago. This poor little baby girl found her way to the safe place that is our back yard.




Through the assistance of our awesome Humane Society, we have spent a great many hours doctoring her back to health, carrying her and loving on her, showing her that it is safe to play.
Intermixed, we have been enjoying our first full month being school-free!

Then worked in a major haircut for our girl!






Our Art Museum gave us a great free Saturday night of fun.



And then we introduced Miss Hannigan to Thomas and Mavis. Holy Toledo was it touch and go for a while...



God love them, they have figured it out. If we get our way, Roz will be adopting her once we get her to fighting weight and completely healthy. The thought of not seeing her anymore is more than I can handle, any of us really.
We also got to celebrate the one year anniversary of Addy's Family Day. Yay for Addy! It was a perfect summer night of swimming and ice cream sundaes and sun.


Month one down and it has been such big fun. We can still find Ella up in her room 'teaching' to her class but not at nearly the regularity as before. She hasn't skipped a beat with her good reading either. If we can hog-tie her long enough, she breezes through a book cover to cover. Hello July 4th weekend!! Be safe, Ella-Land.

~H