Happy Halloween!

From our little spider to all you ghouls...
Happy Halloween!

Final Adoption Anniversary

I can't believe it's been a year since Kevin, Isabella and I stamped the final adoption decree at the Summit County Courthouse. Time moves way too fast!

I heard my mom say all the time while growing up how quickly the time goes. I always thought she was just being sentimental, but now that I'm a mom , I know what she meant each and every time she said it.

A year ago Isabella was barely talking, was just starting to get her bearings as she ran around the house, was not even feeding herself. Wow-what a year changes!

Today, my chatter box keeps me on my toes running from room to room, moving from one game to her favorite toy. She tells me when she wants lunch and when to change her diaper. She takes off her own clothes and brushes her own teeth. She soothes herself to sleep and swims like a fish.

I long for the days of spoon feeding my princess and rocking her to sleep; of bathing her in the sink and feeling for the newest tooth; of running for every peep and soothing every whimper.

But, now I love the days of talking about zoo animals, coloring in her books, reading her stories, singing nursery rhythms, baking cakes and just being together. I love when she asks for hugs and when she kisses my nose for no reason.

I can't wait to see want this year brings (but I do wish the time didn't go by SO fast!)!

Carving our pumpkin

Isabella carved her first pumpkin on Saturday. She helped draw the face on the pumpkin and helped carve out the eyes and nose with the kid-safe pumpkin carving knife. She had so much fun pulling the guts out and finding the "nuts". We baked the seeds and ate them up. For some reason, Isabella continues to call the seeds nuts but whatever she calls them, she loves them!

My Painted Pumpkin

Isabella is SO proud of her painted pumpkin from her friend Nicholas's birthday party. She wanted to share these special pictures with all of you!

P.S. Good luck to friends Laura (and Josh) as she delivers baby, Ally, tomorrow!

And Another Party

The brithday party for Nicholas was a blast! You'll see in the photos how much fun everyone had. And Isabella got to paint her very first pumpkin! And Bella and Daddy matched from head to toe!

What a weekend!

We had a full weekend!!!!!!!

Friday night we met Kevin's parents for dinner at Rocknes' and then they came over to our house to play with Isabella.

Saturday we headed to Kevin's parents to celebrate the "older" girls -Tiffany, Melissa and my- birthdays since they are within weeks of each other.

Sunday we had two more birthday parties - one for Courtney, Isabella's friend from across the street and one for Nicholas - the son of our longtime friends Rick and Chelsea.

I've got tons of pics so I'm going to focus on Saturday's party!

Boo at the Zoo

Isabella tried out her "Charlotte" costume for the first time last night at Boo at the Akron Zoo event.

Charlotte, you ask? Well, when asked what she wanted to be for Halloween, Isabella smiled and said Charlotte's Web, after her favorite movie. "You mean Charlotte the spider?" Yep!
So after searching the Internet, I found an adorable spider costume at Pottery Barn Kids. And it fits perfectly.

We originally planned to go to the zoo event today, but when I received an email from a fellow adoptive mom who was organizing a Guate-adoption night, I said we'll go then! Eleven families with Guatemalan beauties graced the sidewalks at the zoo last night and their costumes were adorable! And it was great to meet face-to-face so many of the moms and dads we read about and talk to in the blogosphere.

Along with us, Grandma and Papa G and Aunt Julie and Uncle Chris joined the bunch. What a great time!

Szalay's Harvest Festival

Sunday, Kevin, Isabella and I went some friends - Tessa, Michele, Maya and friends-at Szalay's in the valley for a fantastic Corn Maze. The maze is in the shape of Frankenstein and really appears as Frankenstein in ariel shots. It's huge and was a lot of fun to go through, for both Isabella and the kids and us adults.

After the Corn Maze, we enjoyed shopping for fresh produce in the open air market and taste-tasting the roasted sweet corn, warm apple cider and veggies. Isabella and Kevin ate ice cream and pet every dog at the event.