Alexa Playing The Harmonica

She's played with it a couple of times the last 2 weeks, but today is the first day that she finally figured it out. She's a natural!!

Our Anniversary As A Family!

I can't believe it's already here but Tuesday, October 2oth was the one year anniversary of the day Alexa came into our family. It has gone so quickly but at the same time it seems as if we've always had Alexa. I can hardly remember what my life was like before we got her. The last year has been amazing and we just feel so blessed and lucky to be the parents of this beautiful and energetic child. She is so full of joy and life and keeps mommy and daddy quite busy:) Alexa has changed so much in the past year. You forget how much until you start looking back at pictures and videos and then you think, wow...were you really ever that small and that bald?:)

We had a fun day celebrating with Alexa. Daddy of course had to work so Alexa and I went to the library for story time and the weather turned out so beautiful that when Daddy got home we had to make a trip to the playground. Alexa is getting so independent now and loves to go up the steps and down the slide all by herself which of course kinda scares me. After the playground we had planned to take Alexa to this nice Vietnamese restaurant in town and of course when we got there they had a sign on the door that they were closed that night due to equipment failure. We were so disappointed but wound up just going to our favorite restaurant so it was fun. We will take her to the Vietnamese restaurant next week. We got Alexa a small cake which she loved and kept saying her favorite word, "more". She didn't like the icing on her hands though and kept trying to wipe her hands off. That evening we sat down and looked at Alexa book of our adoption journey. Nic took off work the next day and we made a trip to the Zoo to enjoy probably the last day of really nice weather.

Here are some pictures of our day:

Alexa is enjoying her cake very much!

She was not loving the icing on her hands but she kept saying "more"

Daddy's little girl...learning how to use the computer.

Daddy pushing Alexa in the swing...her favorite part of the playground.

Going down the slide all by herself.

Chillin' out on the bench in the play area.

Checking out the pond at the park.

Trying to be a big girl at the top of the playground...scary!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Alexa and her Buddies

I am so excited that we got to take Alexa to the pumpkin patch for the first time! This is my favorite time of the year and we just missed getting to take Alexa last year since we had just gotten home from Vietnam the day before Halloween. It's so hard to believe that we have had Alexa for almost a year this month. A year ago right now we were running around like crazy getting ready for our trip to Vietnam. I still remember thinking last year that I couldn't even wrap my mind around the fact that we were getting ready to fly halfway around the world and meet our baby. It just didn't seem real at all and now I can't imagine my life before we got Alexa. We have been so blessed this year.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a very nasty, dreary day when we went but we had a great time with our friends anyway. We'll still be going a few more times before fall is over so it was worth it:)

Alexa's not so sure about the Hay yet...

Alexa & Daddy watching Mommy Zipline

Alexa looking pretty in the outfit Mommy made her

Alexa having a blast in the Giant Corn Box (so much better than sand!)

Climbing up the Hay Bales to go down the Slide

Having Fun in the Hay

Farmer Alexa on the Big Tractor

Pictures of Alexa - 18months

Hanging out on the front porch.

Enjoying the sun at the pool.

Like father like daughter:)

Checking out the elephants from Daddy's shoulders.

Brushing the animals at the zoo.

Pictures of Alexa on the pier at the lake near our house.

I can't believe Alexa is 18 months old! It seem just like yesterday we were dying to go to Vietnam to get her. It's so hard to believe that we will have had her for a year next month. She is changing so much and is so much fun. She is a very busy little girl and never stops. She loves to go to the playground and climb up all the steps and go down the slides by herself (which scares mommy to death). She is starting to talk a lot and knows her eyes, nose, ears, mouth and knees, etc. She can do most of her animal sounds when you ask what they say but her favorite is "mooo" which is what she says for most things. She can put her shoes on (of course on the wrong feet and can't buckle them but she likes to try). My favorite is when we go somewhere and get out of the car she pats her head and says "hair bow"...she knows mommy doesn't get her out of the car without one:) She loves her bath still and every time we change her diaper she says "bath?". She's turning into a little girl now which is kinda sad but at the same time she is getting more fun every day.

Alexa's 12 Month Pictures...About 6 Months Late:)

Alexa's First Birthday!

Happy Birthday Alexa!!!

It's hard to believe it's already happened but Alexa is now 1. It kinda makes me sad that she is growing up so fast but at the same time she is getting more fun every day. She is now starting to walk. She is getting a lot more confident with it and will now let go of the furniture on her own and take about 7 or 8 steps. She still has her 4 little teeth but she is working on a couple of new ones. We had her one year checkup the other day and the doctor said she was doing great! She weighs 2o lb 2 oz and is 29-1/4" long. She is about 50% for height and 38% for weight. She's still trying to get caught up on her vaccines so that wasn't fun. She knew as soon as the doctor walked in what was going to happen and just started crying. It's so funny how at such a young age they remember stuff like that.

Alexa is just such a joy and is such a fun and happy baby. We've had a string of really nice days recently so we've been enjoying some outdoor activities like going to the zoo and riding our bikes with Alexa in her little trailer to the park. She really loves being outside.

We had a great Birthday party with Alexa and enjoyed celebrating her special day. My thoughts and prayers were with Alexa's birth mother as I'm sure it was such a hard day for her and I just pray that she knows that Alexa is very loved. Here are some pictures from Alexa's party.

Daddy helping Alexa walk.

Alexa's own little cake.

Alexa was trying so hard to get that lollipop:)

Alexa Loves her rocking chair!

I'm still amazed she kept her party hat on.


Alexa's first experience with balloons...she had a blast with them!

Alexa and her cousin Kate.

Time to blow out the candle.

Alexa is sharing some of her cake with Daddy.

"So this is what I've been missing..."

Alexa and her buddy Ava playing


Walking on her own like a "big girl"

Our First Christmas As A Family!

Our First Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas! There were times that we thought we might be celebrating this Christmas with just the two of us but the Lord is good and he allowed us to celebrate Christmas with our amazing daughter. We are so blessed and it's amazing to think back to last year at this time when we were just starting our journey and it seemed like it was going to be such a long road. Alexa is doing great. She had her 9month check-up in December and she is very healthy and everything went great...well, except for her having to get caught up on her vaccines. It will be awhile before she is completely caught up but at least we got a start. She was 17lbs 11oz and 27-3/4" long at that time. She sure feels like she has gained some weight since then:) She has her two bottom teeth and one of her top ones is half out and the other is popping out now. It's amazing how much just a few teeth change the way she looks...she is cuter than ever...and finally, she doesn't have a mohawk anymore:)

Here are some pictures from our Christmas. We had a great time with both of our families!

Alexa's first visit with Santa.

Alexa with Daddy Christmas shopping at the mall.

Alexa and mommy in line to visit Santa.


Aparantly Daddy did something really funny:)

Alexa modeling for her first Christmas card...isn't she pretty?

Alexa is of course having more fun with the box:)

Alexa was enjoying pulling stuff out of her stocking.

Playing in the paper.

Christmas at Grammy & Poppy's house.

"Wow, this present is bigger than me!"

Christmas with Da-Da's family