The minute we arrived from China and set foot on U.S. soil, the strap to our camera bag broke. When the camera hit the ground, we heard a pretty loud crack. The camera turned out to be okay, but the lens broke and the necessary part to fix it was on back order for over a month. We finally have our camera back and can now properly document Ellie's first summer with us.
Quincy and Ellie have become pretty good buddies. Ninety-five percent of the time they love each other and do a great job sharing (the other 5%, not so much). During these times of sibling happiness and love, it is quite common to find them up to no-good. The picture below is a perfect example of this. One night Tim and I heard talking coming from the pantry. When we opened the door they were in there eating stale taco shells. ???? Is this normal?
We went blueberry picking. The girls picked 4 quarts of blueberries and we only paid $2.50 for then all!
Above is our Domestication of the Adoption appointment with the Honorable Henry
Newkirk. This is the last step in the crazy journey of adoption---this is where we obtained the order to gain a U.S. Birth Certificate of Foreign Birth for Ellie. Ellie now has a birth certificate on file with the Office of Vital Statistics; this certificate officially lists Tim and me as her birth parents.
Yay!
On any typical day, nap-time and bed-time is an experience....too much laughing and not enough sleeping. Perfect, huh? We couldn't have asked for anything more....
Quincy has made the next step in swimming: She is doing it without her floaty! She is not the most graceful person in the pool yet---she looks sort of like an amoeba in a Petri dish. However, I have great confidence in her abilities...she is like a fish! There is a great swim team (Dynamo)that feeds our area of the city and I am pretty sure she can become a part of it when she turns four (which is in another year and a half).
Ellie has come a loonnngggg way with the pool since we've been home. She is now fully comfortable swimming along by herself all over the pool (as long as her floaty is on!). Three days ago she took an even bigger step for her: She is now jumping in the pool! This is a HUGE deal for Ellie since four days ago she was adamantly opposed to having any pool water on her face! 
Quincy has always been "One with the Water". 
I love seeing moments like these: Ellie bending down to help Quincy out of the pool.
We went blueberry picking. The girls picked 4 quarts of blueberries and we only paid $2.50 for then all!
Above is our Domestication of the Adoption appointment with the Honorable Henry Newkirk. This is the last step in the crazy journey of adoption---this is where we obtained the order to gain a U.S. Birth Certificate of Foreign Birth for Ellie. Ellie now has a birth certificate on file with the Office of Vital Statistics; this certificate officially lists Tim and me as her birth parents. Yay!
On any typical day, nap-time and bed-time is an experience....too much laughing and not enough sleeping. Perfect, huh? We couldn't have asked for anything more.... 
