Happy 8th Birthday

 Happy 8th birthday to Jodi! We feel like we just turned around and there is this tall beautiful 8 year old. She is now officially 4 feet tall... ! One of these pictures is from her piano recital and I attempted uploading a video of her playing but with my limited knowledge, I'm afraid you won't be seeing it. The picture of Jodi in her floral skirt was taken at school. During circle time in the mornings, those who are celebrating a birthday get to stand out in the middle so they can sing to them. Jodi has her "I'm really embarrassed to be out here but I also secretly like the attention" face on. At her request, we went to Waffle House for dinner and you should see that child put it away! She ate grits, toast, eggs, bacon, and part of a waffle and that is why she is growing so quickly. :) I'm afraid she's going to think of Waffle House as a gourmet dinner since that is now one of her official restaurants of choice for special occasions. I guess her future husband will appreciate that!! It has been a good year with a few ups and downs but she remains a optimistic and loving little girl. We are blessed every day by her!!

Happy Gotcha Day 2012

Wow! What a transformation! Fred and I look at Jodi every day and can't imagine where the little girl went. It was 3 years ago that we got the honor of bringing home this precious child! She has been nothing but brave, joyful, and loving ever since. (Now don't get me wrong... she has her moments as we all do!) She is such a genuine blessing to us and it has been an incredible journey. We did our annual tradition of going to McDonalds on our special day to have a feast of chicken nuggets and french fries. It was so fun to reminisce and Jodi really understands the significance of this day now. We thank God for our beautiful daughter every day and pray that we can be the best parents possible. Hopefully it won't be as long until our next post but I'm definitely not promising anything!!

More Pictures!

Here are a few extra pictures of recent events! Don't you love Baba's new 'do?? Jodi was a fairy for Halloween and loved celebrating with her superhero cousins. The picture of Jodi in the sand cracked me up! She saw other people being buried and really really wanted to do that as well. I covered her up and laughed so hard when I saw the contrast of her dark hair and skin against the white sand. Hilarious!!

Finally

Wow have we got some catching up to do! If you actually still read this, so sorry for the delay. Seems as though life is always in high gear and by the time I have a chance to look at the computer I'm too tired to do anything... I think you understand! Jodi is doing well in school and really loves the other kids and her teacher. We had an amazing vacation this year. We started out in the North Georgia mountains with wonderful friends. Our weather could not have been better and we spent alot of time catching up, eating, playing, and napping (OK... that was me on the napping...).

We then headed down to Mobile, AL to see Aunt Julie and Uncle Mal who spoiled us rotten (no exaggeration). We had a blast with them and Jodi loved that they had their own pool. I didn't mind that too much either! The water was cold but we were determined to get in. Once you've swam in mountain lake water you can take it. We also got to visit with Jodi's friend from the orphanage and his family. We loved every minute with them and it was so exciting to see how far our children have come. Just wished we all lived closer! We headed down to Gulf Shores for the remainder of our week. Jodi got to enjoy the ocean for the first time. She loved it from the minute her feet hit the sand. Again the weather was picture perfect for us every single day. It wasn't too hot or too humid and our condo was right on the water. It was truly a blessed week!

First Day of First Grade

Wow! What an incredibly fast summer! Jodi has had a ball with swimming, childrens programs at the church run by her Baba, and visits with both Nye Nyes. She recently went to Atlanta with me so that I could attend my high school reunion. (Thank you for not asking which one.....) It was fun to show her our old house, my old elementary school, and walk through my old high school with her. Who would have guessed that #$ years later I would be getting to show my daughter where I went to school! ?

Mom and I also found out that Jodi loves jazz music. We went to a restaurant near Mom's place where a small jazz ensemble was playing. After Jodi finished eating, she stood next to her chair and started dancing. She then asked if she could stand across the room closer to the band. Mom and I laughed as she slowly inched her way to the band and by the end of it, was high fiving them and whispering to them what a great job they did. It was so so precious and no way to capture that on film!

Jodi started her first day for first grade on Monday. We saw her eyes get bigger and bigger as we walked through the doors of the school. There was alot of chaos with all the parents taking pictures and all of the excitement. She burst into tears just sobbing and not wanting us to leave. I was trying to do the "right" thing and cut it short so we left fairly quickly. As you can guess, I felt terrible and did the big "no no" of going back in after we had already left. The teacher just looked at me like, "Great.. one of those moms who's going to have a hard time letting go...." After I left for the second time, Jodi pulled it together and had a great first day. The teacher said that Jodi is well liked and really tries. We're so proud of her and she's had no problems since. She continues to bless us every day!!

Happy 7th Birthday

We survived, I mean enjoyed Jodi's 7th birthday party....! We rented out our local downtown theater for a party and movie which really worked out perfectly. Jodi's favorite movie is "Tangled" so that was the feature of the night. We had a great turnout of her friends from school and church. As you can see, Jodi's special friend brought her a rose which he picked out himself! Fred is out buying a shotgun as we speak.....

We learned alot about hosting a party for alot of kids with alot of energy. Let me share my insights after the fact! Since we went with the Tangled theme, I decided to get some crowns for each of the girls to decorate as they arrived. I decided I needed something for the boys so I invested in a dozen blowup swords. Those of you who know groups of little ones better than I are already shaking your heads. What was I thinking, right?? I thought that the girls would want the crowns and the boys would want the swords. The girls did get their crowns but then proceeded to knock each other over the heads with the swords, running up and down the aisles chasing each other. The boys of course went crazy with the swords, knocking each other around. Then child after child came up to me asking where their sword was! Who knew??!! There were a few tears as a child or two got hit the wrong way but no casualties thank the Lord. I think I probably have a reputation now with the other moms who I was hoping to impress.... "Don't go to her parties... she's new at this..."!

We then played some games which the kids really seemed to enjoy. We served corndogs, popcorn, cake, and cupcakes. My friend Jackie put together the cake for us which turned out to be beautiful. Our other friend Caroline made some cupcakes that looked like Paschal from the movie. Really cute and good! The theater put together a CD of pictures we provided which was shown before the movie. We were tearing up as we saw pictures of little Jodi as she evolved into the beautiful girl she is now. That was a special moment for us! After we sugared up the kids (correct... that was the second mistake), the movie started. Jodi was sitting next to her special friend so Fred somehow ended up sitting behind them. After about 45 minutes, we started seeing some movement in the crowd. That's all it took and most of them were down in front chasing each other and you guessed it, hitting each other with the swords. All of that being said, I think the kids had a good time and I know Jodi was elated to have all of her friends in one place. The only thing missing was you all!

If you've seen the movie, Rapunzel's parents send up floating lanterns every year on her birthday. It's really beautiful in the movie so we decided to do it ourselves! We went over to the school's playground and sent up 4 which we kept tied to some yarn to keep them within safe range. I have to say that they are absolutely beautiful and very easy to use. It was very special and fun. We got a little too confident when we sent up our last lantern which of course has a flame to send it up. I let go of the string a little too early and we watched in horror as it sailed away from the playground, over the school, and way off into the distance. We never heard of any fires so we think it's all good! Live and learn, right???!! Love to you all.

Graduating Kindergarten

Jodi has officially graduated kindergarten. It was a bittersweet day for me and Fred as this time has gone so quickly. She is growing up very fast before our eyes. You could tell how much she and her classmates love each other! They were running around laughing and playing, giggling at each other as they performed... so cute. We hate that they are going their separate ways next year though we hope to stay in touch with many of them.

Jodi had her dance recital on Saturday night and really did well. She kept saying how nervous she was but she didn't freeze on stage and really looked like she was having a great time. We were quite the proud Mom and Dad. She made a special friend in class this year who said Jodi was his girlfriend. He is pictured with her at the recital. He fearlessly performed a solo performance of "Bad" during the recital and told his grandmother that his dream is to be on "So You Think You Can Dance." The last day of kindergarten, she said she found him lying on his bed looking sad and he said,"You have no idea how hard it's going to be not seeing your girlfriend every day.... no idea." Wow... I couldn't help but tear up because of how adorable that is. Tomorrow we celebrate her birthday so more to follow!