Isabella November 2008

Merry Christmas! It's hard to believe another year is over and the holidays are among us. This Christmas will be the first Christmas since John and I met, that we have not traveled to Kentucky for the holidays. Actually, this will be my first Christmas ever not being at "home". I'm so sad to not be able to be with my family (six brothers, all their kids and of course my Mommy) but because I'm not having to plan for the 9 hour drive, Christmas is taking on a whole new kind of magic this year. John and I decided that this is the year will Isabella will really start to remember the traditions we make and we want to make sure that she has wonderful Christmas memories of her childhood, just like our parents did for us. We can't wait to wake up at home on Christmas morning and watch our daughter take in all the magic of the day.

We hope that 2009 will bring another new addition to our family. I've been surprised to see how many people have requested we start a blog for our second adoption so even though I don't have the time to blog as well as this one, I am going to start one for our second child. I will email the link to everyone in my contacts list.

Isabella is doing wonderfully and she is such a joy to be around. She has quiet the sense of humor on her and it's amazing to watch her imagination take off. She has mastered potty training now and we are so glad to be done with diaper duty, at least until #2 comes along. Bella loves to dance, climb, and play any game you can dream up. She's a very tuff and physical girl and I'm thinking she will probably be very good at sports. She still loves animals in any shape or form and she has been begging us for many months now for a pet chameleon of all things. I think she changed to that when I explained to her why we can't have a pet alligator, but she is very persistent about the chameleon. We are not getting one! But it is funny how fixed on it she is. LOL She is super excited about getting a sibling so hopefully that will distract from the whole tropical lizard issue. :-)

Well, that's my little update for now. It's sad how infrequent my post are but you know how motherhood goes. No free time :-) I love you all!

All the "NEW"s- We have survived! What a whirlwind of a year this has been for us. In June 07 we sold our house in Charleston..moved into a hotel for a month...then moved from the hotel to my temp apartment in Kentucky near my family. John left for a five month deployment to the middle east and I'm proud to say that Isabella and I survived the seperation, though it was much harder than I had anticipated. We did get five wonderful months with my family in Kentucky though which kept me from feeling so lonley like I have in past deployments. We welcomed John home on Dec 19th and then spent our Christmas moving into a condo we've rented in Chesapeake, Virginia. We got to spend Christmas morning with my family as we normally do, but I really missed putting up my tree this year and enjoying the memories associated with each of the holiday ornaments that John and I have collected from our travels over the years. We're not sure when our next move will be but we know that we'll be here for at least a year so we're going to enjoy every day of it.

Isabella continues to be the center of our universe and we're still amazed every day by how much love and happiness she brings into our lives. We have always been such a strong and happy couple that we never thought it could get much better than what we already had...but we were wrong about that. Isabella has doubled our joy in life 1000 times over and we are so VERY thankful to God for blessing us so greatly.

Bella is growing so fast and she is currently embarking on the quest to get rid of her diaper! John and I are considering when to move her out of a crib. She is so fearless and we know that she will be a "midnight explorer" once she can get out of bed on her own so we're trying to keep her crib bound until she at least figures out that she can crawl out of it. Her vocabulary is amazing for a 2 year old (don't all parents think this?) and she is obsessed with reading books. She has a great imagination too and makes up elaborate stories to tell John and I about animals, and swimming, and the squirrels she sees in the trees outside her window. It's quite funny to hear how detailed she gets and we really enjoy seeing her imagination grow.

We do music classes and an imaginative play class once a week now because it's right up her alley. She enjoys the social interaction and so do I since I'm starting all over making new friends again. Most of our friends that were here before have already transferred to other bases. We are very happy being back in Virginia though and we're looking forward to some "cooler" summers than what we've had in Charleston the past few years.

Pehaps the most exciting news that we have is that we have decided that we want to adopt from Guatemala again. Right now Guatemalas adoption system is undergoing great changes and our adoption agency seems to think that once things stabilize there the cost of adoptions will be cheaper. We're not sure what "cheaper" means since right now the cost is nothing near what could be considered "cheap" or even affordable, but John and I are praying that we can somehow find a financial path that will allow us to adopt from there again. We would really love for Isabella to have a sibling that she can share her culture with. We're keeping our hearts open to other roads to adoption as well , and we know that the correct road will be made clear to us when the time is right. We are going to start some fundraising very soon though and we will be able to pay off the last of Bella's adoption cost in the next month or so. Please pray that God will open doors for us so we can experience the wonderful blessing of adoption again.

Okay...I know one day soon she will want to kill me for posting this...but it's so darn cute I have to share. We had just shared some frozen strawberries so please excuse the evidence :-) Bella is doing pretty good with her potty training but she is still sleeping in her crib at night so we're not all the way there yet.

While we were cleaning up after the party Bella and her cousin Brennen decided to sneak off and steal some left-over cake :-)

Dancing at The Wiggles Show

A small part of our Group at the Farewell Dinner.

Forever Families Retreat 2007 St.Petersburg, Florida- As most of you know, last year I took on the huge task of planning the First Annual Forever Families Retreat for adoptive families all across the nation. We had over 45 adopted kids and their families this year and there were kids from the USA as well as all corners of the globe. It was such a magical week and we formed friendships that I know will last forever. It was a lot of work for something I'm not getting paid to do but seeing all the children together having so much fun made it worth every moment of my time. We loved the Tradewinds Sandpiper Resort so much that we've decided to go back next year for the 2nd Annual Forever Families Retreat. I know I have a lot of other adoptive families that read my blog so I wanted to post these photos for your enjoyment. If you want to attend next year please join our yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoptioncruise/. The rates and booking contract are in the files section and the dates are July 20-25, 2008. You can also email me at adoptioncruise@yahoo.com but I'm fielding a lot of emails there so my response time may be a little slow. Enjoy the photos!!!!!

Starbuck and a surf board..what more could you need for the beach?
The girls chatting by the pool.
Perfect size waves for kids to play in.
Some of our new friends!
What a beautiful sunset!

A game of ball in the courtyard.
Bella found her new passion for the waves!
Mackenzie teaching her new friend Daniel to jump.
Best Buds
Can we swim now?

We made sure to schedule plenty of downtime for just relaxing. The Tradewinds has everything we needed for a perfect group vacation.

We wanted the kids to experience something relating to their homelands and since we had a lot of Russian adoptees this year we decided to go to a Russian Restaurant called St.Petersburg Nights. The owner Ilona was wonderful and opened the restaurant 2 hours early for us and they had great entertainment for the kids. It was nice for the parents too because we actually got to enjoy our meals while the kids blew off some stream. I love the musical chairs pic!

Here are some action shots from our Pirate Cruise on the Forever Families Retreat. We made so many new friends and planning is already in progress for next year. As you can see we had a LOT of fun!

The kids had a blast hunting for buried treasures on the beach!

This is right before we got soaked to the bone in terrential downpours.

The only way I make it into family photos these days is if I take one of myself. hahaha Couldn't resist posting one of just us :-)

It was SO HOT!

Daddy you're so hooked on me !

Classic bath time shot !

Bella thought it would be funny to wear my big fuzzy socks on her head! I think she looks like a Dr. Seus character. Nov 06

These will be out of order regarding date but I found some more pics I wanted to add. This is from our Disney World trip in November 06. Taken right before a duck snatched that cracker from Bella's hand which she thought was hilarious!

Dance time ?? :-)

Bella and Jaylen

Isabella and her cousin Jaylen at their first slumber party :-) We didn't plan the matching PJ's it just happened. Probably because they have the same grandma ;-)

My Nephews: Mason (born in March) and Hayden born today :-) I have another nephew due at the end of July.

I know...I know... I'm way overdue for a post on here; but better late than never right? Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of our Forever Together Day in Guatemala! Isabella has blessed our lives more than we ever dreamed possible and this first year together has been the best year of our lives! Thank you God for all you've given us.

Our move is in full swing right now and most days I don't know if I'm coming or going. We got a contract on our house around May 18 and we have to be OUT of the house by June 8 !! That falls one month before John can leave Charleston so we're going to a hotel for a whole month. Uggh! I smell flashbacks of my 3 month stay in a hotel during my airline training in Washington DC. NOT FUN It was nice to have someone make your bed everyday though :-)

John is going straight into deployment when he check in at Virginia for a 6 month trip. We're hoping he will be back around Christmas or the New Year if things stay on schedule. (Which never happens in the military...this ship was suppose to be going into the shipyard for maintenance instead of on deployment.) Oh well, we have been very lucky to have a 3 year break with no deployments so I'll just suck it up and count my blessings. There are many many military families in this country who are facing 1-2 year deployments for the 2nd time, so six months would be a dream come true to them. I don't know if that prepares me to stand on the piers and say goodbye to my husband again, but can you ever be prepared for that?

On a brighter note, John and I decided it would be best for me to rent an apartment in Kentucky near my family instead of trying to move into a new house and neighborhood in VA by myself again. So I've got a cute little apartment within walking distance of my brother Jason's house, and Isabella will be spoiled to no end while daddy is away. I will get the joy of spoiling my nieces and 3 brand new baby nephews so all is fair :-)

Isabella is 18 months now and is doing wonderfully. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger and when he's home she's glued to his lap. She is such a little comedian and she is HAPPY all the time. She has 8 teeth now and is getting her molars which really hurt! She has a great vocabulary and knows all her farm animals and the sounds they make, as well as a few jungle creatures too :-) She's nuts about her two Dalmatian siblings Perdy and Bandit, and her favorite pastime is dancing and singing to the Wiggles! John and I swear that we heard her count too 3 when she was stepping down the 3 stairs at our apartment the other day. We've yet to hear her do it again but it was VERY clear when she did it the first time. Are we nuts? She has NO time to stop for the camera these days so getting still shots is near impossible since she refuses to look at the camera even when we hold her down. LOL

Well that's the skinny on us for now. We've got a big Adoptive Families Vacation coming up in St. Petersburg, FL in July. I planned the whole thing and we have over 85 people attending. It should be a wonderful time and I hope next years trip is even bigger. I PROMISE to post photos from it when we get back. In the meantime, I'm posting one of Isabella from her slumber party with cousin Jaylen last week. They had matching PJ's (the result of having the same grandma) and John and I got our 2nd date night since last year thanks to my sister in law Jodie! We luv U!

We hope everyone is great! Blessings, Janine S

Happy Valentines Day! I thought it would be very fitting for me to post another update today on the day of love. One year ago today I was heartbroken because I had just returned home from Guatemala after our 10 day visit and I had left my precious baby girl behind to wait for our return. As I put Isabella down to sleep tonight while singing our normal lineup of tunes, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "Jesus loves you" (with added improv by mommy relating to how much I love Bella), and of course ending with, "You Are My Sunshine," which is the song my mother sang to me each night as a child, I was overcome with thankfulness that this year my daughter is safe in mommy's arms instead of so far away. Now, 1 year after meeting her for the first time I can't even imagine what my life would be without her.

John and I have so much to be thankful for. After such a long and hard journey to adopt, God placed us with the perfect child for us. I am so amazed every day by how perfectly she fits into our lives. There is no biological link between our daughter and us...but she has so much of our personalities, and our love in her that it is only on the rarest occasions that I look at her and think...wow...she's not even born of our blood. Most days I just forget. How can we be so lucky to have this most beautiful and pleasant child as our own? I just can't fathom that anything could be more rewarding than adoption.

Now to move off this sentimental side of things on onto the updates I promised. :-) John and I will be moving back to Virginia Beach this spring. Ideally, I will move ahead of John around the middle of June and he will follow us around July 10th after the completion of his Calculus 2 class. That will be the last class he needs to graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Nuclear Science which will REALLY boost his chance of being promoted to officer next year. John is applying for one of the most competitive officer programs in the Navy (Radiation Health Officer for those in the know) and there are only about 70 positions for the field he wants in the whole entire Navy. It will be tuff but we're hoping and praying that it will work out for us. John will join the flight carrier USS Enterprise after we move which is the oldest flight carrier still in operation. Our house is on the market now so if we get a very eager buyer I may be arriving in VA a little earlier than expected so stay tuned. :-) I'm looking forward to connecting with old friends who are still in VA.

In Isabella news....she has now mastered the art of walking and has moved on to running and her latest intrigue climbing stairs. She loves to take a bath in the dogs water bowl which is the one and only power struggle we have as of now. (haha) She is also convinced that her stuffed bunny likes to swim in the dog bowl so he gets a regular bath too followed by a trip through the washing machine. Her favorite pastimes are ; taking every book off her book shelf and spreading them around the room before finding the one she wants and bringing it to mommy to read, and singing Head Shoulder Knees and Toes with all the motions but only a few of the words, and doing a series of random tricks that her uncle Mikey taught her such as blowing kisses, winking, and making funny sounds with her lips to steal the show in any crowd. (This is especially fun to her at restaurants and on airplanes.) I've also discovered that she likes "diva" music because every time Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston comes on the radio she sings along. (Daddy is none too thrilled with her taste in music.) She has also decided that posing for the camera is very low on her priority list and she makes ugly faces every time I try to snap shots of her now. I think I'm going to have to switch camera because she's onto the flash on mine and closes her eyes as soon as I pull it out. I will get some new photos up soon though of our recent trip to Michigan for my grandmothers 80th birthday.

Well that's all from here for now! Hope all is well with everyone and please drop me an email or comment when you find the time!

Blessings,
Janine S

2006 In Review I've been told that when you have children time seems to pass twice as fast as it used to....boy is that ever true. I've been trying to muster up a few minutes here and there to post on this blog for months but a whirlwind of events have kept me from meeting that goal. So this post is too serve two purposes, a catch up of sorts of the last few months, and a year in review of 2006. I did manage to get all my Christmas cards in the mail, but I didn't get to do the letter I was hoping to include, so I'm going to type it here for all to see.

I can only start by saying... 2006 Wow! What a year! This year has been full of so many ups and downs for us. The first month of 06 was for the most part uneventful outside of a whole bunch of waiting for the adoption to be completed. In February we flew to Guatemala and met Isabella for the very first time. We spent ten most amazing days getting to know our little angel and forming memories we'll cherish forever. In June, God blessed us with the homecoming of our daughter...who we are now convinced is the world's most perfect child :-) (Okay I'm biased) Really though it just amazes me every day when I look at her and realize how perfectly matched she is for our family. My heart just overflows with love everytime I pick her up and she snuggles into my chest. John and I have always been very laid back..and Isabella is also a really laid back child...she wake up every morning full of giggles and smiles and it's rare that she fusses about anything. She travels pretty well for an infant and she's definitely earned some miles during her first 8 months as a US citizen.

Isabella is growing so much every day and she is certainly a very determined and eager learner. She loves to go to play dates and adores any other child that will actually take time to play with her. She especially loves her good friends Vanessa & Annalise and we spent our Thanksgiving, which was also Isabella's birthday at their house. (It just happens that her parents are another military family that John and I are good friends with. :-) On December 1oth Bella took her first steps and it was the greatest moment. She took six steps fell on her butt and then clapped for herself. It was so cute and she now continues to practice and gets better each day.

This year has also brought much heartache to our family in the midst of all the joy we've shared. In April we lost John's grandfather to pancreatic cancer. He did not get to meet Isabella which was really hard because he was so excited about her, but he was very peaceful the last time we saw him and he had photos of Bella all over his room to look at. In October, John also lost his mother to breast cancer. She was a great woman and put up a strong fight for seven years but her body finally gave out on her and she passed away at home surrounded by all her friends and family. We are recovering slowly but surely and with God's grace we will continue to heal as time passes.

John and I took Bella on her first trip to Disney World in early December. She really enjoyed the kiddie rides and since she LOVES to dance she got a big kick out of the stage shows. We're looking forward to spending Christmas in Kentucky with my family. We're getting worried about how we're all going to fit into one house now because we've recently learned that there are 3 new babies due in the spring of 2007. Yes that's right I have 3 pregnant sisters in law due in March, May, and July! Add that to my six brothers and their wives and the six grandchildren all ready in the family and we're quiet the pack.

John and I have been in Charleston for three years now and we're schedule to move in June 2007 to Virginia Beach. John's been assigned to a flight carrier there. We were in the gearing up mode and even put our house on the market, when his command called him in last week and offered him a chance at an extra year in Charleston. Of course we'll take it if it all works out and we're awaiting an official decision right now. We've also been talking about the idea of starting the process for our second adoption, but there's nothing official on that yet either. We have a lot of things to consider first, and of course we'll have to do some major fund raising if we adopt internationally again. We shall see what develops. :-)

WE Wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Janine, John and Isabella.