Happy Easter!

Easter is one of Adriana's favorite holidays.  She loves it.  She loves dying eggs.  She loves egg hunts.  This year her school sent home the story of Jesus with props so she could tell us the Easter story.  She educated me on Good Friday and I think really understood what it is all about.

This year we had such an amazing Easter!  Hugo discovered egg hunts, wearing sweater vests and peanut butter eggs.   We got to see the Etchepare family, the Smith family, good friends.  Their Aunt Janine came and stayed the weekend with us.  It was very sad when she left.  Both Adriana and Hugo love her!

It was such a great weekend.  I am so thankful for all our friends and family.  

Here is a quick slide show of Easter.   I loved too many pictures to post.  You may think the song is weird.  Adriana and Hugo are big fans of this song.  It is in the Easter movie Hop that we have watched 642 times this season.  So it seemed appropriate for our family.

And then came her brother

After 2.5 years of waiting, we finally brought Adriana's little brother, Hugo, from Haiti.  Since Adriana can remember we have talked about her brother.  We started the process when she was 2.  So all her memories include a brother she was told about but never met.  Adoption is a word that is big in our house.  And Adriana tends to grasp the concept in a very adult like way. Adoption is good and it is a great way to make your family complete.  This is how she sees it.   I can't take credit for it.    We always talked about it and explained it.  But one day she watched the movie "The Rescuers".  When they described Penny as an orphan living at an orphanage, it clicked.  These are words Adriana knew and has heard when talking about her brother.  She realized that he didn't have a family and was waiting for a family to get him.  This made her understanding sky rocket.  And also made her more eager to get him home.  (Luckily she didn't take the whole movie literal or she would have feared alligators and mean ladies taking her brother to retrieve diamonds.  whew)

On January 26, 2013, we brought him home.  And a sister finally met a brother she had only seen in pictures.  It was one of the best moments of my life.  And what is even better is they love each other so much already.  They have fun.  They annoy each other.  They make each other mad.  But through it all, when they see each other, they light up.  And that is the best gift I could have ever received.

First meeting at airport

Adriana First Five Years in video

Adriana is 5!  

Happy Birthday to our beautiful, wonderful, spirited, amazing, determined, independent, loving and funny girl.

You have brought our lives so much happiness.  It has been a gift to watch you grow. 

Here is a look back at the first five years.   We are so proud of you.

First day of Pre K, Being a Big Kid

First day of School.  She refused to do the stand normal and smile pose.  Sassy.

Adriana started PreK this year.  She was very excited.  She has decided herself that this is not actually preschool anymore and she is now with the big kids.  :)  She goes to school 4 days a week in the afternoon and they have a new playground this year, which just confirmed her suspicions that she is, in fact,  a big kid.

She is loving school and having a lot of fun.  She was a little nervous at first, as she is with each new endeavor, but she did great and decided to be brave and has really loved her new class.  She has made new friends, and also have some of her old friends in there too.   Her teacher is great and things are going well.  She is learning and changing so quickly.  Too quickly but I am so proud of her.  Every day.

And keeping in line with being a big kid, at the end of August, her gymnastics teacher approached me and told us she is more than ready to move up to the Advanced Preschool gymnastics class (in this instance, the word preschool is apparently ok with her).  She now goes for an hour and a half and they do activities that are more about teaching technique and getting them on the beam and bars.  Adriana was also somewhat apprehensive about this, but 5 minutes into her new class, she was hooked.

Lastly, in September, Adriana also was moved into a higher level swim class.  So it seems that beginning classes are a thing of the past.  She is moving up and having a great time in all her activities.

Honestly, it is all a bit much for me.  She is getting so big and has been a "kid" for a long time.  But in the last few months has truly become a kid and her own being.  I am in awe of her and how she takes on the world.  She is truly an amazing kid and so funny.  She makes me laugh so much.  Her humor is awesome and right in line with Rob and I.  No doubt she is our kid.  

First time on the beam  

   

Summer in a nutshell

So we had kind of an uneventful summer.  We didn't any vacations.   We stayed close to home.  It was a long summer in many ways but we still managed to have fun and do some great things with Adriana.

The summer started with a visit from all of the non Colorado and Wyoming Etchepare's.  We had a blast with everyone and Adriana loves her cousins so much.  We went to Cheyenne to see them and then they all came up here and we went to a Rockies game.  It was a blast.

Adriana and Sofia

We Etchepare's roll VIP.  

The rest of June kind of flew by with lazy days and trips to the pool.  As well as having our ghetto pool set up in the backyard.

The beginning of July brought a visit with my good friend Kelly.   Adriana and I had so much fun with her.  We spent time at the Garden of the Gods with her and her friends from Tennessee.  We hung out and did nothing.  We went to Boulder and did sidewalk races.   Kelly taught Adriana how to dance and Adriana had such a blast with her.   We really were so happy that she came and had so much fun with her.

Adriana climbed up there all by herself.  She was a rock star!  

Mission Impossible

Running the Bolder Boulder.  Or just down the street.

Crazy girls!

And no summer would be complete without a trip to Cheyenne for Frontier Days.  Rob, Adriana and I headed up to Cheyenne for the last weekend of Frontier Days and stayed with Rob's brother John and his family.   Adriana was so happy to be with her cousins.  We had a blast!!

Adriana and Sofia flying down the slide

Adriana and Katherine 

Etchepare's in jail

We ended the summer with a baseball game with Adriana's cousin Brandt.  It was the last hurrah before school started again. 

So all in all it was a pretty good summer!!!

Want your child to love you? Buy a play set

Ok, I am kidding.  I am pretty sure Adriana loved us before.  About 90% sure.  :)

We decided to take the plunge and invest in a play set.   I have wanted to put one in for a while but Rob has been reluctant.  Highlands Ranch doesn't offer the most spacious of back yards and I think he thought we would have zero room for anything else.  But I finally convinced him we would still in fact have some grass to play soccer or run.

One of my main reasons for wanting one is that our child loves the park, loves to climb and loves to swing.  We go to the park a lot, but sometimes it would be nice if she could do these things and I could still get some laundry done.  Plus, they are just fun and great entertainment.  

Since we are not handy people (and I didn't want to take the last bit of sanity Rob is hanging onto), we had the company install it for us.  So worth it.  They were done in 4 hours.

Adriana watched them out the window for about 3 of those 4 hours.  She was so excited.  She would announce, about every 3 minutes, what progress was made.  And finally when the time came, she went outside and I am not sure, but I think there were tears of joy in her eyes.  She would go test it out and run back and give me a huge hug and tell me she loved me.  I think I got about 10 big hugs an hour that first day.  

It has already proved to be a great investment.  

Swinging with Grandpa 

Great Grandmas

Grandma Tumble Bug, Adriana and Grandma Mary

Adriana is very fortunate that she is growing up knowing her Great Grandmas. These ladies are a huge part of my life and have been since I was little.

We saw my Grandma Smith (aka Grandma Tumble Bug as Adriana has nicknamed her) multiple times a week and she stayed with us a lot when we were kids. She is so funny and crazy (in a good way). My friends growing up loved her. My friends now love her. She is one of the greatest ladies I know. And has become Adriana's favorite. She lives in Cheyenne but comes and stays with us a lot. She is 94, and a spitfire. Her and Adriana have a special bond. I am thankful for her everyda.

My Grandma Mary turned 100 this year. She is quiet and kind and especially in the last few months Adriana has gotten to spend a lot of time with her. Her and my grandpa (who is 93) live in Denver and we are lucky that they are still part of our lives.

Adriana turns 4 (2 months ago)

Very happy birthday girl

Table of Adriana and 12 of her closest friends

Awesome cake pops and cake

Parachute time!

Celebration with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Oscar

Day of her birthday

So I realized I left out Adriana's birthday from this year. Oops. And if I knew how to go back in and put it in I would. Or we can just re celebrate it now, a couple months later.

Adriana turned 4 at the end of December, and as with every year, it turned into a 2 week affair. With having our birthday around Christmas, it makes the timelines of parties, school celebrations and all that always long before or long after her actual birthday. Something that is probably going to annoy her as she gets older. She got to take treats to school and celebrate with her classmates about 2 weeks before her birthday. We actually had a little party with just us, my Grandma and our friend Oscar, the night of her birthday at our house. Then a week after her birthday, we had her friend birthday party, followed by a celebration with our families at our house afterwards. There was no shortage in spoiling around here.

It was all a lot of fun. Adriana had her birthday party at a local gymnastics place where she and her friends got to do tricks, play parachute and jump in the foam pit. It ended with popcorn and yummy cake pops, and it was a success. One of her friends asks me every few weeks if she can have her party at the same place. I think that is the highest compliment a 4 year old can give.

After this party all our family came to our house for dinner and Adriana lpayed for about 8 hours running around non stop that day. I am surprised she stayed upright. By the end of the night she was so tired she couldn't even function.

So far the age of 4 has treated Adriana well. We started off with her first ever ear infection. Double ear infections. Followed by another bout with double ear infections and strep last week. We have had some firsts. First ear infections, first time with strep, first time with croup. But none of it keeps her down for long. She still goes to preschool, gymnastics and we have added in swim lessons. We have an activity every day of the week. It seems like a lot but she really enjoys it and is mad that I don't have her in ballet and soccer. She seems to never want to stop. During Christmas break we put her in a 3 day gymnastics camp and she loved it. I think if she could go to gymnastics every day, she would be a happy girl. She wears both Rob and I out. We need to get her brother home so she can run him around. :)

The New Room is Complete!

At the beginning of the year we started the process of room rearranging to get ready for Hugo t come home. He will not be home for a while but since many things are not in our control, we decided to work on something that was. We painted the exercise room and moved Rob's office down to the main floor. We then began turning the old office into Adriana's new room. We let her be a big part of the process. Picking out paint, helping paint, picking out furniture and decor. Truly it was a lot of fun.

She moved into her new room in the middle of January but we finally got the last picture we ordered on backorder tonight. So I feel that now it is complete. I am not sure if it is Adriana's dream room, but it definitely is mine. ;)

We are taking a break but soon will start turning Adriana's old room into Hugo's. Rob is sick of painting so I am giving him a little break.

Snow Day!

Bundled up and ready to go

Snow dog

Digging in the snow

On the Sled! That alone is a victory

Throwing a snow ball at Daddy

Daddy retaliating

The creation of Steve

Daddy, Clyde, Steve and Adriana

So a couple weeks ago we got our first big snow that canceled school. It is really the first big snow of this year and the first time this season we could actually get Adriana out to enjoy it. I am pretty sure she gets a little of my distaste for being cold and I am not a lover of cold, wet, snow type activities. I am working on it so she will too, but she is a lot like me in too many ways.

We got her bundled up and headed out. She was really excited to make a snow tunnel. Her and Rob worked on that and we also talked her into trying to sled in our front yard. It doesn't make a big hill, but since the sled incident of 2011, we just wanted to get her to try. (we took her sledding last year and she freaked and refused to even sit on sled. We came home about 10 min after we left. No sledding occurred but a lot of crying and screaming did, it was traumatic for all of us). She actually got on the sled and really enjoyed the ride. So there is hope!

Later that day Rob and Adriana worked on a snowman. He was short, had a strawberry nose that fell off and was replaced with a carrot and edamame mouth. His name was Steve. He was awesome.

Christmas 2011

Christmas Eve cookie making for Santa

Her new apron

Thank you Santa!

She wrapped this present all by herself for Daddy. She was very proud.

Thank you Cousin Maddie for feeding the Raiders fire in this house. :)

This year we had a really fun holiday season. Adriana was very much into all of it and it made the holiday more fun and magical.

Firley, our Elf on the Shelf, visited each day and every morning she woke up early just to look for him. We enjoyed a lot of Christmas movies, times with friends and families and a lot of time discussing Santa and his trip to our house. Lots of holiday crafts and far too many yummy holiday treats.

Adriana is definitely beginning to understand and buy into the commercialism and marketing of Christmas.. I am not sure how to truly combat that as it is everywhere. And Rob and I are big gift givers and love to buy for the holidays. We talked a lot about what Christmas really means and I am thankful for preschool for teaching the story of baby Jesus as it kept her asking questions and kept the true meaning of the season in our discussions and minds. We also had many discussions about giving at holiday time and that it isn't just about presents. It is about time with family and giving to others. There was a lot of talk about her brother and where he lives and how we are very fortunate to have the house we have and able to have the things we do. Did it all sink in? I am not sure but we shall see and won't stop trying. Hopefully we planted a seed.

This year Adriana asked Santa for a pet hair salon. Not a dollhouse, a truck or even a Wii like a normal child. She went with pet hair salon. Very random and kind of a hard order to fill as I am not sure they have ever built one in Santa's workshop (nor found one on amazon.com which is what I am sure modern day elves do). But Santa is pretty resourceful and brought Adriana a toy vanity and while at first she was not sure of it, she quickly learned that she can not only do her pet's hair with it, but her own and her dolls. It was a success!

We truly did have a great Christmas this year. We had a hard time as Hugo is not yet home with us and we feel that huge piece missing. We feel it daily but the holidays seem so much harder. Time with family and making memories just feels off when one of the biggest pieces of us is missing. We hope it is the last Christmas we have to endure this. But are thankful that Adriana had a great holiday and we were able to give that to her.