Already December

Nia loves the Christmas tree. So far she is leaving the ornaments alone! Trying to get a picture of Grant and Alex in front of the tree where no one is sticking a tongue out!

Ready to bring home the Christmas tree!

Grant at Thanksgiving, looking so innocent.

My silly post it note boy

I had to post this picture of a cake I made. I saw the recipe on another blog and decided to try it. It was alot of steps! It was good but I'm not sure if I would do it again. It took me a good two and half hours.

Grant and Alex with their blankies doubling as super hero capes. Love it!

Nia has pigtails!!! Too cute!

The boys like to help feed Nia. Jessie our dog likes it when they help too! Alot of food ends up on the floor.

I can't believe it is already December! Where did November go? I have so many things I would like to post. Including pictures from a mission trip that Mark went on to Haiti at the beginning of November. But I can't figure out how to get his pictures to load. He had a great time and a new appreciation for things like roads, homes (not made of sticks and mud) and electricity.

We had a great Thanksgiving filled with lots of food and family time! We've got the house ready for Christmas (except for the outside lights, waiting for Mark to do that) and a good majority of my shopping done. One thing on my to do list is to get a family picture of us and get the Christmas cards out. We send out so many!!! I REALLY need to learn how to make the address labels on the computer. I dread addressing them each year. And each year we send out more and more. In ten years I may be up to 300! Forget it! Anyway, like everyone else things are busy with parties and get togethers.

One very important appointment will be on the 17th. Nia's court date for the finalization of her adoption! Yeah!!! Finally!!! Of course that is also Grant's party day at school of which I am helping with and then that evening is his Christmas program. It will be a busy day to say the least!! Busy but BLESSED!

Carving our Pumpkins

One of our favorite fall traditions is to carve our pumpkins. And we always cook the seeds afterwards. Grant's job is washing the seeds. Nia was too tired to stay up so she went to bed. So daddy carved hers.

Pictures!

We had a great time at the Korean reception in Bensenville! It was so good to see dear friends and meet new ones! And it was wonderful to see Ms. Lee who was Nia's social worker in Korea. The picture below is me and Nia with Katie and cutie patootie Paul. We were together in Korea when we picked up our kiddos. We love to get to catch up!

It's Been A While!

Trick or Treating Fun!!!!

Well, how do I catch up? Let's see, August, September, October and now it's November! It is crazy how fast time flies! We have been busy but everyone is doing great! Halloween was alot of fun with our super cute kiddos. Nia was really into going up to the door and sticking out her bucket for candy. Grant loved being Mr. Incredible and Alex, while he liked dressing up was unsure about the trick or treating. He was very happy to down the chocolate though. Me too!!

A Great Weekend With Great Friends

What a fun weekend with our dear friends the Marchik's and Craney's! We traveled to Korea together in March to bring home our sweet babies! What a bond we have! Mark and I know how blessed we were to be able to meet such awesome people! And what a great time we had hanging out, catching up and watching our very cute kiddos play! Nia loving the sprinkler!

Katie broke out the watermelon and the kids went crazy! They were eating it up!! Paul was chilling out in the swing and enjoying his snack.Hey Joseph, you gonna share any of that?

Joseph loved the water! He went right into the pool and the sprinkler! No fear!

Joseph and Grant in the sprinkler. Check out Grant's goggles, an essential when running through the water.

My cute little Alex. He like his goggles too!

Our Saturday night dinner. Craney's couldn't join us until Sunday so it was just the Lipic and Marchik crew.

On Saturday we went to the zoo and then let the kids play in the water park. This was the best picture I could get of Nia and Paul together. They move fast!!

A Busy Summer!

I can't believe that August is here! The summer is flying by!! Even though we have been busy it has been good. Nia is officially walking! She took off on July 13th and has been running ever since.

Grant did 4 weeks of T-ball and 4 weeks of soccer which he really enjoyed. It was alot of fun to watch him learn and play with the teachers and other kids! Alex didn't mind going either since there was a playground close by.


This summer we took several trips to the zoo, many friends, new and old have come to visit, we went to an airshow, Grant turned 4 in June, we've had dentist and doctor check ups,
and now we are gearing up for school to start. Grant actually won't start until September but he'll get to visit his classroom and meet his teacher in a few weeks.

The three kiddos seem to be getting along pretty well. Occasionally, I do have to tell them to stop rolling Nia across the floor (they think that is really funny) but for the most part they are doing great. Thank goodness! I have to say that the first couple months were WAY harder than I had anticiapted. I knew there would be adjustments but I don't think I was fully prepared. Hence, the numerous pounds of chocolate and junk I ate, hence the extra 10 pounds I am trying to lose. But, my babies are worth it!! I am so blessed with truly amazing kids and an awesome hubby! I have nothing to complain about!

Pictures