Lila's Baptism Attire

Before Lila came home I had this dress made for her by a lady named Jen(yet another adoptive parent who makes beautiful clothes). I just loved the fabrics, they reminded me of Fall so I thought this would be the perfect dress for her Baptism. So I've had this dress for over three months now and just tried it on her yesterday to see how it looks and loved it!!!! Her Baptism is November 9th, the day before her third B-Day, so you will have to wait until then to get a glimpse of her in it! I am happy that all my children will have been Baptised in the same church. Did I mention how much fun it is to dress a little girl? or maybe its just the obvious!!!!

Random pics with new camera

Well I am so happy to report I got a new camera for my b-day so I thought I would take a few pics just to figure it out!

Halloween Party!

Our new neighbors Josh and Sun Me threw a Halloween party for the kids and adults. Our kids have been looking forward to it for 2 weeks! We had a great time and made ourselves leave at 11:30 because Scott and the kids were ready for bed! It was nice to hang out with our little community! Of course Jake aka Bumblebee and Cade aka Optimus Prime are mighty Transformers and as you can tell Lila is the fairest princess of them all! I will get her a crown and jewels before Halloween!
And thankfully Jake made it home from the field trip in one piece and had a great time! Oh and made another 100% on his spelling test!!!!

Another trip to the Patch

Today Jake will be going to the Pumpkin Patch without me for the first time! My guy is growing up and maybe it's best that I couldn't go(school rule) with him, I have to admitt I am very protective of Jake. Scott is going with Cade's class on the 31st (upon Cade's request)so I hope to get some cute pics of Cade searching for his great pumpkin! Not much esle going on. The next big event is Lila's Baptism 11/9 and 3rd Birthday 11/10! I have to wonder if this will be the first time in her short life that she has had a b-day celebration though. I am sure she will be so excited by the whole thing!! She already picked out her "Hello Kitty" plates,napkins and party hats. I'm not having a bunch of people over just Gigi & Pop-pop will be here and maybe some friends we will see.

The Verdict Is In!!!

I feel compelled to address what most people wonder about when adopting a child into your family. So here are the most obvious questions....."Do you love them the same as your real kids? Is that really your daughter? Does she think that your her real mom?" These are the most common questions that I am sure that all adoptive parents get often. Since I am now qualified to answer them with experience here it goes.... YES,YES, and yet another YES!!!! Lila is as much a part of me as Jake or Cade and that is that!! When I met her in China I was her Mother and she my Daughter and that is what we will always be, what we were destined to be.I feel no different towards her due to circumstance.Giving birth to a child is the easy part, but nurturing that child is the where you earn the title of "Mommy". Her birth mother had to give her child away for her(being Lila) benefit and if only there was a way to ease her sleepless nights I would wish she could see her and know she will always be cared for,loved and treasured. Her sacrifice ensured our daughter's future and she could not have given Lila a greater gift.
So I can put it to rest because I too had wondered what it would feel like to raise a child we did not conceive physically but in our hearts and minds. Lila is the perfect fit for our family and even Cade is becoming much more caring towards her and made sure tonight that she would be getting a banana split too! Every child is a gift and only reflects the purest meaning of family and love!

The Ole Pumpkin Patch.....

Lila's class was the first in the Stark house to make the annual Pumpkin Patch excursion! She was so excited to go get a pumpkin until we pulled into a parking lot full of people and for the first time in 3 months I saw her getting very nervous. She wanted me to pick her up and wouldn't even hug her teachers which was strange for her. I felt bad that she was a bit freaked out by the crowd and hoped she would ease into the tradition! So we did the corn maze, hay bail jumping, goat feeding and yes the hay ride and topped it all off with picking out her first pumpkin. She picked up the second one she saw and was really excited to get home and show Daddy her prize. All the kids in her class just love her and wanted to sit next to her and one mom told me that her son, Ben, talks about Lila and how he thinks she's the most beautiful girl in the class and says she speaks Spanish too!!!(Spanish Chinese whats the difference to a 3 yr old!). So in the end she fun unfortunately I won't be able to go with the boys on their field trips because they don't allow siblings to attend(not happy about the new rule). Cade went on all of Jake's trips and almost felt like one of the class!

A Sweet Gift

A sweet friend of the family( Ms Christy and her boys, Chance & Cole) brought Lila a welcome home gift. It is an adorable little personalized step ladder for Lila so she can get in and out of her "Big Girl" bed all by herself. The special thing about this step ladder is that it was painted by Christy's mom and she did just a beautiful job.It's hard to see from the pic, but it has a sassy mermaid and sun on top and little fish swimming on the steps. She LOVES IT!! The top step lifts up to a compartment for storage. Lila likes to cram her possession in there for safe keeping. What a great gift she will use for years to come!!! Thanks for being so thoughtful!!!!!

Off to School!

We had a good weekend and another week of school lays ahead. Jake and Cade got some new shirts for good behavior at school. One is a "Transformer" and the other Star Wars with the light up Yoda! I have a feeling Cade will have a hard time leaving his shirt alone at school I only thought of it as he staggered onto the bus with his head straight down looking at his shirt! He is doing really much better at school so and is proud of his reading skills! I can only hope the year gets better as we go! Lila has a trip with her pre-school to the pumpkin patch on Thursday I know she will have a blast for his will be her 1st Halloween after all!! By the way I know you all think that the only pair of shoes Lila owns are black Converse high tops but I promise she has others but only wants to wear them!! Occasionally I persuade her to branch out and choose different pair but I pick my battles. She also only wants to wear jeans! What can I say she fashion sense comes from me!!!

Lila's language explosion

I just picked up Miss Lila from preschool and her teachers said "Lila talked our ears off today". They are so amazed on how fast she has learned English and I must say it is pretty impressive. The sad part is that means that she doesn't speak Mandarin anymore and to me that is such a loss. What an asset and cultural connection that has just all but disappeared. Maybe one day we will be able to find a place to take her for Mandarin lessons and regain that part of her heritage. Here she is before school this morning getting Elmo ready for the drive over!

Another "Great Day"

As all of you can tell by now Cade started his Kindergarten year off a bit rough but things are looking a bit better last week he didn't have any problems and Mrs. B sent a note home the "Cade had a GREAT day!!" so Iam encouraged that we will make it through this year one way or anther. He was very proud of his art work as well and got another %100 on his work at school. I can only hope things can get better from here. Jake has informed me that he would like to be dentist when he get older! Well I was so excited to hear the great aspirations of my 7 yr old who has always said" I don't want to grow up I just want to be a big boy". I am glad we have that college fund started!!! Jake is still doing well in school and can not wait until Halloween!! Lila is still Miss happy go lucky and is learning a lot of new words every day!!Her favorite pet is Ruben but Lao runs a close second. She is always hugging them and telling "good boy"! Here is a pic of the kids eating their 1st Banana Split ala mom. They loved them so much!!!!