Feeling Better?

I think Rubie might be feeling better. No fever in 24 hours. She actually ate a piece of cheese and some grapes today. This is huge because she hasn't eaten anything in a week. We aren't out of the woods yet, coughing and labored breathing are still with us.


Here she is watching the Little Mermaid. Rubie doesn't watch much TV, so we don't have very many movies. In order to keep her breathing calm, we have been watching a lot of TV. I have seen The Little Mermaid 80 million times in the last week, in addition to Backyardigans, Olivia, Sesame Street, and many others. As you can see, Rubie is afraid of Ursula - and doesn't like to watch when she is on...

Tonight at dinner (when Rubie wasn't eating), I asked her to write some letters. She said, "r - u - b - i - e." I had no idea that she could spell her name, so I asked her to write it, AND.SHE.DID. I was shocked! Here is the very first time she wrote her name with no help. Please ignore the "n" that you see, it was her first attempt at the "u"...

Sickie Poo

My poor sickie poo has been sick for over a week now. Yesterday, her doctor told us she has pneumonia. She is doing pretty well for having pneumonia. She has good times of the day and bad ones. Here is a picture of her when she woke up (in mommy and daddy's bed)...

Here is a new project that I just finished for her room. I cut out pictures of her, then painted them white, backed them onto pretty paper, and framed them...

Here she is on Sunday, when she was feeling a little better...

Life

Time goes by so fast. I can't believe that the 4 month old baby girl that was placed in our arms is now 3 1/2. This is just a glimpse into our life. I know it will change, and I will miss it.

The treasure map...

Here is a picture of the pirates after they found the treasure...

The rest of these pictures just show backyard craziness...

Mother's Day 2009

Rubie wanted me to use the flat iron on her hair today. Most people don't realize that her hair is this long - and actually, her hair isn't completely straight here, it's really longer than this...



Ramon took a few Mother's Day pictures for me...

Rubie, remember that time...

when you told your entire school that I talk too much? Let's revisit it here...


Well, you totally made it up with your mother's day card (sniff)...

There were aliens in our backyard, so...

Ramon and Rubie had to get on their spaceship and shoot them...

After the battle was over, she did a victory dance...

Still celebrating victory...

Then, daddy shot her...

There is nothing reserved or shy about my child...

Rubie returns fire...

One day she will be too big to hug my leg, and I will be sad...

Need Help - Photo Contest!

Last year, you guys helped me pick out the right photo to enter into the Adoptive Families Photo Contest - and we ended up in the magazine as a runner up. I need your help again. There are 15 photos here - and I need you to pick out your favorite for this year's Adoptive Families contest. I think I can enter more than one in the contest - but which one do you like? You can vote in the comments section, or send me an e mail. Thanks, friends!

P.S. If there is a photo that you like, but I didn't put it here - let me know!

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Disney Celebration

Tonight, Rubie and I went to pick up some take out from a Mexican restaurant. While I was ordering, I watched Rubie go sit down next to a woman waiting for her to go order. As soon as I ordered, I walked over and the woman told me this:

"I know that you went to Disneyland, and I know that she didn't like the Pinocchio ride. I know that she likes Ariel, and I know that she doesn't like Ursula. Ursula took Ariel's voice. And, I know that Donald wasn't there."

I swear I was only ordering for less than a minute. That sounds about right.

We did go to Disneyland yesterday to celebrate adoption day...


First time on the tea cups...


Waiting in line for Minnie can get boring...


2nd time on the tea cups...



After Disneyland, we went to Goofy's Kitchen. It is a restaurant in which the characters come to your table and play/take pictures with you, and there are little dance parties/audience participation activities for the kids to join in on. Rubie loved it. She met Pluto, Goofy, Minnie, and Chickenbell (Chip and Dale). First she saw Chip, and said, "Chickenbell!" and then she saw Dale and said, "Mommy, there's two Chickenbells!"...