Look who's turning 5!

Christmas Eve Ivy turns 5! I can't believe it! She loves to go to the American Girl store at the Grove in Los Angeles. She never gets anything there. Haha. I always tell her that it is more of a special occasion store and since it isn't your birthday.... Well, today was the day. I took her down to the Grove and she picked out a little dog named Honey to give her American Girl doll, Emily, for Chritmas. She was so excited. One thing I will say about Ivy is that I tell her no alot when she wants something and she (almost) always says,"Yes Mom". So I was really excited today when I told her that Daddy said she could pick something out. It was really special to see her eyes get big as she walked around the store to pick something out. I will have to add a picture later of her and the dog since she put him in her room and Lulu is sleeping. I heart Ivy Elliott!

Gingerbread Men

Kate and Ivy decorating.

The finished product. Jaden named his Gingerbread Man "David the Shepard" while Ty named his "Hairy Chest Man".
Playing dress up
Lucy with one of her "big brothers". These boys are so good with Lucy. They entertain her, play with her, make her laugh, but as I watch them they are always gentle with her. I love that. They told me that they wanted a baby sister (yeah Wendy! Haha) until Lulu took a nap upstairs and they had to be quiet and couldn't go in their room. I think it was then that they decided that seeing Lucy was enough. :)

P.S. The pictures were taken with my phone. Not the greatest.

Busy Weekend

Lucy's Baby Dedication at churchIvy and Lucy waiting for Mom and Dad while we do sound checks for the Christmas concerts.
Matt conducting the PBC orchestra
I sang a song with Dan Waldeck and sang a solo, "I Believe" by Natalie Grant.
Aunt Hollie came to watch. Yeah!

Encino Estate Sale

I went with my favorite shopping partner (a.k.a. Ivy E.) to an estate sale in Encino this afternoon. It was really spur of the moment. I was on my blog and clicked on estate sales to the right of my blog. (Tiffany, I thought of you!) I hadn't been to one in a while so it was so fun to jump in the car. We found some treasures. It was a fun one because they had a lot of vintage Christmas decor. (Kirra, I thought you would love it!)I LOVE this snowman. It might be my greatest treasure. It says 1949 on the bottom. They are both candles that I won't light but just enjoy. I turned down a mirror like this one before and regretted it. This one has two chips that I need to fix but otherwise, it is a nice one.
My girls have a Christmas tree in their room and I have always wanted one in my room. This little cutie was $5 and the perfect size for Matt to not get upset. All the ornaments you see are ones that Ivy picked out for her tree. She really had a good eye. I begged her for the little red bulb for my tree (after I told her she needed to use her own money, but decided to just buy them for her.) She said no but I could maybe borrow it for my tree next year. That little stinker! I really wanted it so I tried to guilt her into it but she wouldn't budge.
Hi little ornament that Mommy wants but can't have.....sigh
I got 2 jars. One is Kerr. I thought they would be cute with Christmas candy or something. Ivy was gracious enough to let me "borrow" her red ornament for this picture.

Ivy+ estate sale + Christmas = success!

Avila Beach

Adoption has given me and my family so many special blessings. I am learning that if I let go a little bit and allow God to work then He shows me gifts that I didn't even think about. Over the last year, through facebook I have gotten to know Ivy's birth grandma. I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous at first. Even before we adopted Ivy, I had a friend tell me to be careful what kind of information I gave out because once you give it out, it is out there so you can never get it back. Since I am more of an "open book" I took that advice and was very guarded. After all, Ivy has AMAZING grandparents who have always loved her like I had given birth to her. They celebrate every birthday, Gotcha Day, visit and celebration. Ivy has a very full life. But Matt and I decided that we would be Facebook friends and through that I gained a beautiful friend. The thing about "Mammo" that I love is that she is so respectful of Matt and I. She is genuinely happy that we are Ivy's parents, I know that she loves us, and we never feel pressured by her/them. She is not pushy and if we can't meet her (which happened once before) she is fine with that (although I am sure disappointed). Mammo's respect of Matt and I as Ivy's parents won me over.

We got together and we felt like family right away. They had a birthday party for Ivy with birthday presents, her favorite cake, and a spagetti dinner that Ivy requested. Then we all got Christmas presents. The other thing that meant so much to me is that they treated Lucy like Ivy. Lucy got presents. Auntie Jennisah wanted to hold Lucy, I felt that Lucy was important and loved and I can't wait to see what that relationship will be like in the future. Lucy has no birth grandparents to love on as she grows up but she has a Mammo and Pappo.

The last thing that I loved is that their names are Mammo and Pappo . Haha. Not Grandma and Grandpa. Even though they are Ivy's grandparents too, I feel like they are set apart a little bit. She has two women that she loves to call Grandma and two amazing men that she loves to call Grandpa. Now she has two more people called Mammo and Pappo.

We went away loving how much our little girl was loved. She had a great day! Thank you Mammo and Pappo for a wonderful visit.

P.S. Pictures shared with their permission. :)
Getting $5 in her birthday card , plus $1 to grow on.
Opening matching PJ's for Christmas.
ALL of the Disney princess barbies. (she has played with them non stop ever since!)
Lucy getting her baby Snow White for Christmas
Watching the seals
Mammo explaining to Ivy
Mammo and Pappo with Ivy
Building a sand castle with Auntie Jennisah
Getting ready to blow out the candles on her cake. 6 candles for 1 to grow on.
Ivy in her new PJ's with Aunt Jennisah
Getting ready to say goodbye after a wonderful day.

Happy Sunday

Christmas Gift Idea

Here is another cute gift idea that my friend Kayce gave me. I made them after I sent packages to all the grandparents. Sorry rents,maybe next year! I painted Ivy's hand and had her place it on the Christmas bulb. The fingers became snowmen when I used a sharpie and drew on the scarfs and hats. She signed her name at the bottom. It comes with this poem:
These aren't just 5 snowmen

As anyone can see

I made them with my hand

Which is a part of me.

Now each year when you trim the tree

You'll look back and recall

Christmas of 2010

When my hand was just this small.