| Saturday, July 12, 2003 I can't believe it has been a year since I've updated this homepage. I'm going to have to rely on the old "everything changes when you have a baby" excuse here. Leslie has definately been keeping us busy! And as I think I've said repeatedly...I'm loving every minute of it! Ok, now for the update! Leslie is now 2 1/2 or "very two" as I like to say. While at times she can be extremely stubborn and loves to reply "NO!", Daddy and I know that it's just typical behavior for her age. She is also extremely silly, happy, curious and of course the most amazing kid ever! (said her Mom!) She watches everything around her, then repeats it to a cheering audience. Luckily we havnen't had her pick up too many naughty things ...yet! In January 2003, Leslie decided to climb out of her crib. This was totally unexpected as I'd never even seen her try to raise a leg in there before. She seemed shaken up, so we hoped that she'd scared herself out of doing it again! WRONG! That night when I put her down, she cried hysterically - afraid, I thought, that she'd fall again. No sooner had she started to fall asleep and I slowly snuck out...when I heard her behind me! She'd done it again! Thank goodness we already had a twin bed set up in her room, because it was now time. It took her (and us) a good month and a half until she'd go to bed without crying and stay in bed. Let me tell you...we jumped through every hoop possible to make that happen. It all paid off. Now she loves her "big girl bed" and adamantly refuses if you suggest that someone else can sleep there! Our newest news is that, in June, Leslie decided she wanted to try on her "big girl panties" that Aunt Kate has given us ages ago so that we'd be prepared. It was a Saturday and I figured we'd try it! Well, that was it. I she's been wearing panties ever since and hasn't looked back. We still wear a diaper/pull-up to bed at night and for naps, but she very frequently wakes up dry. We're almost done with diapers! Yahoo!!!!!! Well, that's enough for now! Feel free to look around a bit. I'm hoping to ad some new photos as well. Please sign our guestbook to let me know what you liked...or what I should add in the future? Thanks for stopping by! |
| Saturday, August 30, 2003 Hello again! I just posted pictures of a recent visit to an amusment park. Leslie had a wonderful time with her "little" cousin, Mario. They rode many rides, enjoyed good food, and even got wet on a water ride! It was a really nice day! Leslie is still doing very well with potty training. During the past few weeks, she's had several "accidents". I'm not sure why. I'm trying not to make a major deal about it. She is little (2 1/2) and this is probably normal. Hopefully it will stop. She does stay dry just about every night, though! Leslie's major source of excitement these days is her new light-up tennis shoes. I've always wanted to buy her a pair, and we found some on sale last week. She loves wearing them, especially at night when you can REALLY see the little red lights. Sure hope the batteries don't wear out quickly! That's about it for now. I'm also making another page with old entries from this page. I wish I'd done it sooner as some of the updates were really worth saving! Enjoy! Oh, and don't forget to sign the guestbook or email us! Good luck to those starting the adoption process! You'll never be more proud of a decision in your life. These girls are absolutely precious...at least OURS is! (Oh, and if you're traveling soon to China - be sure to bring us back another daughter in your carry-on suitcase! Ha! Ha! If only it was that easy! :-) |
| Sunday, June 20th, 2004 Ok, so it's been almost an entire year since our last update! Yikes! Sorry! What a year it's been! Leslie turned 3 in December and is acting like a teenager! She loves to get dressed up, get her nails painted, wear jewelry and is the center of attention everywhere she goes! (Hopefully her head won't get too big for those necklaces she loves!) Don't remember if I wrote this earlier or not, but we mastered potty training a LONG time ago. Probably Spring of 2003. She asked me one day to wear the big girl panties that Aunt Kate sent her. I figured "Ok, we can try it." She did have some accidents along the way, but thanks to Disney Princess undies and this great book about Little Bunny and her potty (complete with potty chart and stickers), she kept her self dry very quickly - even overnight! Yippee! Such a big girl. I'm posting new pictures of a recent trip to NC for Aunt Janet's wedding and our first trip to the beach! Leslie loved playing in the sand, building sand castles with Daddy and looking for sea shells with Cousin Mario. If you're visiting our site while awaiting your referral from China - keep the notes coming! I absolutely lived off websites like this while we were waiting for Leslie. |
| Sunday, August 8th, 2004 Hope you're enjoying our webpage! Our little Angel, Leslie, is the absolute joy of our lives! I'm going to try to add some photos of Leslie all dressed up for Aunt Janet's wedding. Stay tuned for these - as it may not get done immediately. This has been a very busy summer - busy & fun that is! In May we traveled to NC for my sister's wedding and visits with Daddy's sisters. The little cousins got along great and Leslie really enjoyed her plane ride, staying in a hotel and playing with all her aunts & uncles in the hotel pool! Big fun! Then, we even got to take Leslie to the beach for the 1st time! She loved the sand and spent most of the time digging, building castles and hunting for seashells with Daddy. If I can, I'll post a picture of this as well! Next, we're off to a big reunion with all the families that traveled together when we went to China to meet Leslie. I believe there are 26 or 27 families altogether. It will be nice to see how all the little one have grown, and meet new siblings too! Mommy is more excited than Leslie, even though we're all meeting at an amusement park! What fun! |
| Tuesday, June 21st, 2005 Leslie is "four and a half " as she tells everyone she meets. We're very excited that Mommy's new job allows us to stay home this summer together! (Well, Mommy and Leslie are excited...Daddy still has to work! Poor Daddy!) We're planning to do lots of swimming, lots of trips to the library, sleeping in and relaxing together! Yahoo! Leslie started swimming lessons at the local high school last week. We do not have a pool, so she's had very minimal exposure to swimming so far. The first day at swimming was horrible! The teacher, while holding Leslie, dunked her under the water in the first 2 minutes of class. She screamed, cried, yelled for me, and just about pulled every heartstring I had. Daddy was with me and he couldn't stand it. I got a complete lecture about how we're "hurrying" her, "pushing" her, etc. "After this - we're not signing her up for anything else!" He really had a hard time, even though the coach told us that this was very typical and not to worry. UG! Luckily, after many hugs and pep talks, Leslie excitedly went to Lesson 2. We still had a few tears at the beginning, but this time she "remembered to hold her breath" and did much better! Dad leaned over and said "Let's see about signing her up for the next session!" :-) Yahoo! Now she can't wait to jump into the water! Mommy only wishes I could jump in with her! Well, we're going to DISNEY this summer! We're going to brave the boiling heat of the Florida summer and we're going to Disney World with my family. I really can't wait to go! Leslie is going to have so much fun. We just have to work the napping battle and try to not get too hot! Unlike the rest of my little family, I can't tolerate the heat too well. Hopefully we'll all have a great time! Stay tuned! |
| Saturday, July 23, 2005 Disney was wonderful! Leslie had a fantastic time meeting all the Princesses and visiting with her aunt and uncle all week! She stood in line, braving the extreme heat like a trooper, even when we pushed on...delaying her nap! Funny, she was so excited and talkative the whole week, except when greeted by a character. Then she clammed up and barely spoke! |