Formerly "To China For Kelly"

When I originally set up this blog, it was to chronicle our trip to China to adopt our daughter, Kelly; thus the title, "To China For Kelly." But now that I've decided to keep it up as my on-line scrapbook/journal, the title needs updating.
Inspired by my girls, who, despite their ten year age difference, both love lollipops and lip gloss; it is now titled, "From Lollipops to Lip Gloss." This is not to leave my son out, who also loves lollipops, but isn't too big on lip gloss, understandably!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

More Summer Fun with Kelly

Here we are in the backyard, having some fun in the sun.

FYI: Kaya's water bowl is normally a "no-no" for Kelly, but since Kelly had her swim suit on, and I was trying to keep her out of the pool... well, what can I say?
I gave in and let her have at it!

Did she ever have a ball! The girl LOVES water, whether it be in
the pool,
the bathtub,
or even the dog's water bowl!



Kelly poses for Mommy before she's off to have some fun!
Hurry up, Mom! I'm ready to get wet!


But aren't I too cute in my new suit?!


Look at those cute, little legs!

Sweet baby girl - how she loves to get wet!

Kaya says, "I know you don't like us to tattle, Mom, but you do realize she's got my water bowl?"

Let the fun begin!

Why have we never played in this before, Mommy?

This is such fun!

Hey, I just spotted Caleb with something

I think I might be interested in...

Hi Caleb, can I please have a bite? (She's signing "please.")

Sure, anything for you, baby sis...

Wow, Caleb, you really love me, don't you?


Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Beautiful Camryn





Camryn was invited to a tea party yesterday, so we curled her hair and got her all dolled up so she could truly look and feel like a little lady going to tea!
I snapped these pictures before she left. I'm amazed at how quickly she's growing and looking less and less like a beautiful, little girl and more and more like a gorgeous, young lady. (It's kind of scary!)
Later that afternoon, after a swim in the pool, I watched her as she was eating a bowl of cereal (Frosted Mini-Wheats- one of her faves!). I was taken back, once again, by her ethereal beauty, which inspired me to snap a few more pictures!
You can see her playful side in the last shot- just take a look at my lovely daughter!


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Playing Around with Black & White

I was playing around this morning- trying to get our wiggle worm to cooperate to I could snap some whimsical, artsy poses.

Yeah, well, she didn't exactly humor me, but we had fun anyway! I'll keep working on getting some better ones, but here's what I got of my two, precious girls today...















Saturday, August 2, 2008

Polka Dots!

Boy, has summer ever been flying by?!!
Don't you agree?
We've been so busy that I just have not had time to post much and I apologize. Kelly has been doing very well. I have noticed a change in her this past week... a real secure, contentedness. She has a peace about her that wasn't there before.
She is consistently waking up happy now and is just so much more content throughout the days. She continues to be so fun and has such a playful personality. She fits right in with this bunch, that's for sure!
She's a little sponge- learning new things every day. I often see her doing things that I do, just to mimic me. She is now saying and signing "Da Da"! She says "Ma Ma" too, and she can sign it, but she just usually won't. I got a really cute video of her doing "da da" but I kept having problems uploading it. I'll keep trying...
Here are the kids with our sweet little Olivia. She was here for a week and I am so sorry- I was TERRIBLE about getting pictures! Sometimes you just get out of the habit of picking up the camera, and then add to that the fact that the kids were always so busy that it was hard to slow them down long enough to take a picture of them anyway! This was the only shot I got!
Okay, so without further ado, here are some more pictures of our Kelly girl!
She seemed to be in the mood for polka dots over the past couple of days! She sure is cute in them, isn't she?

Blowing kisses!

When you have a big sister who's a pre-teen, it doesn't matter how little you are, you are never too young for a little lip gloss!

Pucker up Kelly, that's it...

Ahh, sooo pretty!

Perfect little rosebud lips!

Okay, how did she know to tilt her head and give her lips that little pout like this?! Might we have a future model on our hands?




She loves her little Chinese drum...

Here are a bunch showing you just what a busy girl Kelly is. Since she started walking, she quickly went from a walk to a run! She goes all day like this... go, go, go... into everything!

Whatcha doing, Caleb?

How about you, Camryn?



Now I'll find Mom and see what she's doing...

Hey, what's that on my nightstand?

Oh, it's that cute sign Daddy's coworker, Nancy, got for me!

See what it says? I'm "daddy's little princess"!

I know Camryn is daddy's princess too, but she's "daddy's not-so-little-anymore princess"!

While I'm in here, I should say hi to Piglet. High Five, Piglet!

Here I am in my other polka dot dress. What do you think? Is pink my color, or is blue better? I think I like them both!

Kaya says she prefers the pink, but she really loves the yellow duckie on the blue...

What a face!

Happy smiles !

More busy girl!

And more Piglet Love!




Busy girls are sleepy girls when they sit still for a minute!