Happy Birthday, Maddox Ren!

Three years ago today, our baby girl was born.

As we celebrate her special day, I am reminded that in her three short years of life, she has lived away from us longer than she has lived with us though I can't remember a day without her.

I am currently holding on to my baby, our youngest child, wishing she would always stay little.  She, however, runs around saying, "I baby in China.  I big girl now, not baby.  I sit in Mei-Mei's seat?!"  She wants so badly to be big, yet she is our petite little miss.  At 22 lbs, she is full of spunk, spice and spirit.  

She has the sweetest little face that I cannot resist kissing over and over when she is in my arms.  And those lips so round and pouty yet when she smiles, she lights up the world around her.

Adoption has changed us - her story has changed us, her life has changed us.  Though she is our baby through and through, we are reminded on this day that a special lady on the other side of the world gave her life; she gave us our daughter.  I often forget that I wasn't a part of her arrival in this world, a phenomenon that can sound odd but is so true.

At the age of three, Maddox is showing us a bit of her sassy side.  Some days she chooses more to obey than not to obey, sometimes not; she is silly and she knows it; she is our little monkey and even scales  our refrigerator when we have our backs turned - true story; she loves to play with her baby dolls; coloring is a favorite pastime and she believes one can color paper and/or skin:)....

she LOVES to sing, her favorite song to date is Tomorrow from the movie Annie;  she is obsessed with her pink flip flops; she will come to our bed in the middle of the night with her pillow pet in hand and ask to "sleep with mommy?" - I love that she comes prepared! - she will climb in and search for my hand to hold as she drifts off to sleep; food is not her love language but offer her some "chocate milk" and you are golden in her book.

Maddox Ren, we are blessed by you, your smile and your happy little spirit!  Happy birthday, little one!

NC Mountains - 2012

A day in the life of the mountains.....

 where everything is peaceful.....

 where you can hear yourself think.....

 where one can take in nature at its best.....

where the world begins to take on a different look with the ideas of Gran, a special bag to collect rocks, a bucket for washing found treasures and a little paint.... 

 where purchasing a leather jacket can be inexpensive or maybe lucky-luck????

 where boys can be boys.....

 ahhh, yes, the mountains, always a celebration for our family.....we love our time there each year.....this year Gran and Pop planned a little pre-birthday celebration for our little one....

 and they had coordinated a family picnic by the river too....

 tubing on the river, always a relaxing way to spend an afternoon....

 cruising along, leaving behind the busy-ness that awaits us at home.....

 yes, mountain life is good.....

 and rest, rest, rest.....

thanks, Mom and Dad, for a great get-away weekend!  

 Last week we jumped right in feet first after our return from vacation!  Beyond swimming, we had C's summer basketball season come to an end....

 basketball has become C's favorite sport yet.  Not sure exactly what drives him on the court but he LOVES the game.

 Summer league presents differently than regular season in that the teams consists of both males and females....they all meant business on the court and it was a great growing experience for C.  

 On Sunday, we celebrated MK!  Finally, she is officially 5 AND a half!!!  She is one amazing little girl with a comment for everything.  My favorite MK quote of the week - "Mom, I am so sorry when I diserupt you but if I wait to tell you what I am thinking, I lose everything in my mind!"

Our sweet tooth girl was very happy this week with her choices to dine on....I am thinking there was a cupcake offered to her almost every evening for one reason or another and this, my friends, is how she chose to eat said cupcakes!

Summer Swim League

Summer swim.....

 Our first year in back in Georgia occurred in 2005.  That year, our neighborhood began participating in the local summer swim league.  Colin was 5.  And he could swim.  We decided to give the team a whirl.  First day of practice, the coach looks at all of the many excited children and says, "Ok, show me what you can do!"  And with that, children jumped in one by one and swam to the other side of the pool - except C.  C chose to hang out on the sidelines and tell the other children how to swim, how to jump in, he told them everything they were doing wrong.....he was quite the assistant coach:)  However, there was no way C was going to jump in the water and swim to the other side.  No way.  So we quit.  It is honestly the only time I have let my child just quit yet it was a wise decision.  

 These days, swim team is not an option in our house....it is a must.  It is good for them.  Good for us.  Colin and Pryce have done summer league for four years; MK is on year two.  

 MK - our determined little one:)  This season she learned to stream line, dive off the block, perfected her back stroke, smoked in her free style and even competed with the 8 and Under crowd in Breaststroke....my favorite comment from her was when I asked her one morning if she wanted to go to practice and she said, "Well, I don't care.  I mean, you can throw me in there if you want to!  I like it!" 

She made the Allstar Team which consists of the top 20 times in her age group (6 and Under) in our entire area, a total of  21 teams with, I am guessing, somewhere close to 100 swimmers....she was one of three five year olds to compete in this event - everyone else was 6.   A pretty substantial accomplishment.

 P - the swimmer who always could.  Pryce is an all-natural water boy.  He loves everything about a pool.  He is our child that will ask in January when the pool is going to open.  The year after C walked away from the swim team, P decided he wanted to join....and with this, C wanted to try it again as well.  Pryce is quite the relay racer....always the encourager, always pushing his group forward.

 And then there is C.  C began the summer swim season in a foul mood.  He was quite unhappy with me because I basically did not give him a choice in whether he was going to swim or not....so, he joined with a long face.  One week into the practices, and he was coming home laughing and telling me the stories of practice.....and I knew he was having a good time.  Then, he was asked to race on a relay team that was full of top scoring kiddos....C was all in and he hasn't looked back!  Not only did he come out all smiles at the end of the season, he has asked to participate in the year round swim program - LOVE this idea for him!

We are so proud of all three of our swimmers!  And our team. 

The Beach - Part 2

On Monday afternoon, our much anticipated visitors arrived and the fun continued!  The children all took less than five minutes to get acquainted and then we did not see them again unless we were eating, applying sunscreen or saying goodnight.

 The girls were amazing together!  I suspected that MK would be a bit shy or slow to warm up to C but, oh my, was I wrong!  It truly was breathtaking to see these two together....they did not miss a beat.

 And the boys?  Well, when the boys were not absorbed in the crafting of Mindcraft, they were busy throwing the coolest little ball ever across the ocean....

 and there was the boat....one afternoon we rented a boat and explored the waters surrounding Seabrook Island.....

 one seaman was a bit hesitant about our adventure but thankfully he warmed up quickly to the idea and soon enough he was kicking back with the rest of us and enjoying the ride....

 we ventured off into a cove and spotted a lot of dolphins....the two most impressive dolphin sightings were seeing a mother and a baby dolphin jumping side by side, simultaneously - very cool; and then we observed dolphins tossing fish ashore and then the dolphins would flop up on shore to eat the fish - again, very cool.

 At one point, I decided it would be a great idea to jump out and swim - hmmm, note to self, must check current before doing this one again!  Maddox, myself and K all jumped overboard without really giving this act much thought....laughter was key as we drifted further and further away from the boat:) 

 Shell finding was a key activity for the girls....and once you find the special shells, one must wash said shells - a perfect activity for two perfect little girls.

 And our littlest one....well, she hung in there....I told Ryan she now yells quite frequently, "Hey! Stop! Wait me!"  

 And keeping up can be quite a tiresome job so when she wasn't full speed ahead, she was all zonked out!

 We were able to pry ourselves away from the beach for a short trip into Charleston for dinner....Bubba Gump was on their minds though I am thinking Bubba would be quite offended that both of my boys ordered PIZZA (and for the record, there was no shrimp topping!).

 Our week together could not have been more pleasant.  From the weather to the dining to the discussions and everything in between - just perfect!

 And to think it is all because of the lives of these two beautiful little girls!

Beach - Part 1

This year we decided to change things up a bit and head south for Seabrook Island versus our usual jaunt north to the NC mountains to celebrate the July 4th holiday.  

 A huge thank you to our sister/sister-in-law, Rachel, who willingly went to pick up the boys from Camp St. Christopher located at Seabrook on Friday.  Ryan, the girls and I arrived late in the afternoon on Friday and we could not have been happier to have our family together again after one whole week of sleeping under two different roofs!  The boys had many stories to share....their favorites of camp were undoubtedly the food and a new game called Capture the Flag.....so proud of them for showering each day, brushing their teeth and using their sunscreen! :)

 Mason-Kate did not waste a bit of time getting settled into her oceanside groove....she was quite the princess with her legs up, feet soaking, and water sipping.

 Meanwhile, Maddox had other ideas on how one is to relax by the sea.

 Either way, the girls had no qualms with the sand bathing they took turns taking part in....it was quite the mess yet they had so much fun!

 This trip to Seabrook began with friends and ended with friends.....

our former neighbors in Massachusetts made a side trip to Charleston on Saturday to be with us for dinner that evening.  What a fabulous way to begin our week at Seabrook!