we've moved!

it's official.  We're going password protected. 

To continue reading about life with sadie come visit us at

http://andbaileymakesthree.wordpress.com

Want the password? 

Leave me a comment or email me at this address. 

Tạm biệt

packing up to move...

OK, despite my Word Press woes, I'm planning to move sometime this week.  What I'll probably do is just start posting there while I figure out how to import everything from here, make it look how I want it to look and password protect it all.  So, in the beginning, expect new posts only.

Anyway, I've only heard from a small group of people about wanting the Word Press password.  I haven't gotten back to anyone but promise to do so before the move.  I know more people are reading though.  This is last call.  If you want to continue reading about life with Sadie, please post a comment or email me at this address.  Just tell me about yourself.  Do we know each other?  Do you have a blog?  Have you adopted?  And if you'd like the password, leave me your email address.  : )

april 6th pic

april 5th pics

Putting with grandpa after brunch

Isn't it just easier to throw the ball in the cup, grandpa?

april 4th pics

Sadie's favorite book

One of Sadie's favorite pages

 

All you have to say is "Stop that this instant!" and Sadie does this!

We found S and Kiki out for a walk.  Sadie proceeded to take the leash

She now notices every bird, plane and the moon in the sky

Fooling around under the table

WordPress hell

Help!  For some time now I've been using Windows Live Writer to post to my blog.  I love it!  It's so user friendly and I like that you can see how the post will look as you're writing it.  It's also so much easier than posting from Blogger.  My plan is to continue using it when I move to Word Press.

I've got a new blog all set up at Word Press.  I've imported this entire blog.  Everything looked great.  Then I went to password protect the posts.  What a pain to have to do each one individually.  Seriously folks...can't I just password protect the blog without making people have to log in?  Why is that so difficult?

Anyway, in the process of password protecting the posts, WordPress has gone and changed the font to this teeny, tiny, almost illegible font.  There is no way to change the font in WordPress.  Are you kidding me?!

I don't know what to do.  Any suggestions?  Any WP experts out there who can help?  I'd actually be willing to pay to get this sorted out.  Argh!

april 3rd pic

april 2nd pics

Chocolate croissant for breakfast...yummy!

Just too cute for words!

april 1st pic

march 31st pics

bathtime fun

march 29th pics - busy sunday

Heading out to run errands.  Barney and Baby HAD to come!

Bagel and cream cheese...a new favorite!

Stopping to listen and dance to every street performer

Dinner at the club with grandma and grandpa

I guess it's no wonder she didn't fall asleep until after midnight.  May have been too much excitement for one day.  Oh well.  At least she had fun!

march 28th pics

Look who got new glasses!

sadie's 1st picture day

Today was picture day at school.  You'd think she'd be used to having her picture taken by now since my New Year's resolution was to take a picture of her everyday this year!  But no.  She looked absolutely adorable in a dress with a pretty little flower in her hair.  She watched a few of her friends have their picture taken and then said to me "I do."  When it was finally her turn, she stood where she was supposed to, put her hands how they told her to and looked right at the camera.  But she would not smile.  No matter what the photographer's assistant or I did.  They make you pay for the pictures before they even take them so I'm going to have a bunch of pictures of her looking cute, but unhappy.  Oh well.

She did smile tonight though, so I could get this shot:

When I got home tonight we went for a walk with my mom and dad.  We were on a hunt for dogs and boy were we successful.  We bumped into my neighbors with their two dogs, Kiki and Jasmine.  The last time we saw Kiki, her owner let Sadie hold the leash.  Now she wants to hold every dog's leash.  It's adorable.  She was in hog heaven going between the two dogs.  She is so sweet to all dogs.  I have no idea why her first impulse is to hit or kick Bailey when she gets up close.  Thankfully, she's never close enough to actually touch Bailey.  And before you think she's a bully, she has had some lovely moments petting and kissing Bailey.

Tonight when she was eating dinner I asked her about her friends at school and she actually said many of their names.  I was so impressed.  She said Mai Mai, Rena, Igel, Uk and JT (trust me when I tell you she was close on the names!).  She also said ice cream clear as day.  That's my girl!

my big girl

Sadie is just two months away from two years old.  I can't believe it!  She has changed so much in the 9 months we have been together.  She is now talking up a storm.  There was a period of a couple of weeks, just a couple of months ago,where I was really starting to worry about the fact that she wasn't saying more words.  Then, it was like a switch turned on inside her.  She says new words everyday now.  Some of my favorites include: down, mine, pocket, wa (walk), da (dog), baby, night night, move, la you (love you) and tank you (thank you).  She's also put a couple of words together like "I do" and "no mine." 

Her motor skills are amazing.  She can run, jump and climb like a monkey.  She LOVES art.  Her teachers are always amazed at how long an art project can hold her attention.  Most of the kids move on after a few minutes, but Sadie will draw or paint for 20 or 30 minutes at a time.  She has a wonderful imagination.  She pretends to cook and eat with her princess tea set.  She also pretends to cook in the car and in the tub.  She loves it when I play along.  She's started showing interest in taking care of her "babies."  She holds them, pats their back, puts them to sleep, feeds them, changes their diaper and wraps them in her blankets. 

She still loves her books.  Some favorites right now include "Good Dog, Carl," "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes," "No, David" and "Good Boy, Fergus."

She's used the potty several times now; the most recent time being last night!  I have to distract her to keep her sitting on the potty and a large basket of lotions seems to do the trick.  She likes to have me open all the bottles and she puts a dab of each scented lotion on her legs, arms and tummy.  Thankfully, she usually goes from the potty to the tub so she doesn't smell like a fruit salad for too long.

She has made some really good friends at school.  There is one little girl and one little boy that she really loves.  They play together a lot and the girls are often found hugging each other.  It's adorable!

She sleeps with me every night now.  She falls asleep with me downstairs, and when I'm ready to go to sleep, I just take her to bed with me.  It's not ideal, but she sleeps through the night with me so it's worth it in the end.   She hasn't set foot in her crib, other than to jump on the mattress, in a couple of months now.  Oy.

She still loves music and will dance when she hears it.  Her new dance involves shaking her tush back and forth.  I'll try to get a video this weekend because it is beyond cute!

She's totally growing.  She outgrew the shoes we bought her at the end of the year.  Many of her 12 month pants are too short and some of her 18 month shirts are getting a little tight around her Buddha belly.  She doesn't seem much bigger on her growth chart, but when I'm carrying her, she seems so long to me.  I want to take a picture of her in the carrier I used in Vietnam so I can see how much bigger she is now.

She's still a very good eater.  Favorite foods include: pasta, cheese, yogurt, m&m's, ham, hot dogs, raspberries, blueberries, apples, rice, green beans, tomatoes, corn, fried things (egg rolls, chicken tacos, taquitos), fruit roll ups, Pinkberry, waffles, oranges, dried cherries, dried cranberries, pizza and applesauce.

She's getting very independent.  She wants to do more and more things herself and I'm sure that will continue as she approaches the big 2!

That's my big girl!

to password protect or not?

Many of my favorite blogs have gone password protected in the last few months.  Thankfully, they also chose to share their passwords with me so I can continue reading.  I totally get why they did it.  Would Sadie want her life out there for all to see?  Now I'm torn about whether I should follow their lead.  I started this blog as an adoption journal.  I didn't give the address to anyone, not even my folks, for a long time.  Then I gave it to a few families with my agency, then a couple of friends, then more friends and now I get visitors from all over the country every day.  I really have no idea who is reading these days.  Very few people actually comment.  I'm flattered that anyone would care to read about life with Sadie, but it also kind of freaks me out a little when I really think about it. 

I've got a new blog all set up at Wordpress and I'm ready to go password protected at anytime.  Before I do that, however, I'm wondering who is out there.  And do you want to continue reading?  I'd be happy to share the password with most people, but I want to know who you are.  You can either post a comment or email me at this address..  Tell me about yourself.  Do we know each other?  Do you have a blog?  Have you adopted?  And if you'd like the password, leave me your email address.  : )

shoes on

Sadie has a new bad habit.  She will not keep her shoes and socks on at school.  No matter what they do, she takes them off.  I bought lace up shoes so we could double knot them; she just pulls them off - still tied.  Her teachers have started taking them away and putting them in her cubby when she takes them off so they don't get lost.  (She's come home in another kid's socks before.)  So I've gotten used to finding her socks and shoes in her cubby when I pick her up.  Last night I told her that she needs to keep her shoes on at school.  I told her again this morning and said that if she keeps them on, we'll get a treat. 

Well imagine my surprise to find her in her shoes when I picked her up tonight.  She had kept them on all afternoon!  So, we celebrated with a trip to Pinkberry.  Let's hope it wasn't a one time thing!

Here is Sadie walking down the street to Pinkberry.  She's wearing my work badge, carrying my Williams Sonoma purchase, and waving hello to folks on the street.  When a bus drove by, she waved and said "bye bye."  How stinking cute is she?

She found this door hanging that says "Shhh....Princess Sleeping" in a bin in her room recently.  Because it has a handle, she thinks it is a purse.  She carries it on her arm all the time.  She'll put it on her shoulder and say "bye bye."  This morning she grabbed it on the way out of the house so it came to work/school with us.  What a wackadoo!

march 24th pic

I totally blew it on the picture taking today.  We got home from work and grandpa came over and took Sadie for a walk.  When they got back I fed her dinner then we changed into jammies, read some stories and got ready for bed.  I just didn't think about taking any pictures until she was already asleep.  So, here is today's pic.  Not very exciting...but pretty cute!

Tomorrow Sadie turns 22 months old.  I can't believe how fast time is flying by.  The birthday party plans are coming along nicely.  I've reserved the location, ordered the invites from Tiny Prints (the same company that did my adoption announcements), ordered all of the paper supplies and everything for the goody bags for the little ones and older kids.  I'm having so much fun planning.  Most of my friends have said they'll be able to attend.  I hope the kids from her class will be able to make it.  It will be so much fun for her to have some friends her age to run around with!

march 23rd pics

march 22nd pics

Sadie just started playing with this little baby doll that one of my volunteers gave her months ago.  She calls it "baby" and she carries it around, wraps it in her blanket, kisses it, pats its back and changes its diaper.  The cutest thing is when she raises its legs to change its imaginary diaper and says "eee uuu" (her version of p.u.).

Do you have any idea how hard it is to say "no" to this face?!

march 21st pics

march 20th pics

holy poop part deux

Yep, it happened again.  This time she felt the need to announce it.  She was in the bath, said "poo poo" and then there it was.  Ugh.  I'm not digging this part of motherhood. 

When I dropped Sadie off this morning her teacher told me that they were all talked to about my complaints yesterday.  I was really happy to hear that the director took it seriously and went to the teachers.  Now they know what my expectations are so hopefully it won't happen again.

I've started planning Sadie's 2nd birthday bash.  I think I've found the location now I need to find some invitations.  The search will start this weekend.  I can't wait to celebrate the big day with our family and friends!

Now some pics from today:

Too cool for school!

Check out all the paint on her shirt!  The girls loves her art!