Week 12 of 52

2010: 03/25

Spring has sprung.

Allergy season has begun.

2010: 03/24

Happy Birthday Mari!! 2010: 03/23

Experimenting with icing for M's cupcakes

2010: 03/22
Weather has perked up enough to enjoy our picnic table!

2010: 03/21

Somehow this reminds me of my grandmother...she always wore a sleeping cap too.

2010: 03/20

Cousin Madi came over to play and the girls tested out the bubble machine.

2010: 03/19

Strawberries+flipflops+picnic table=SPRING!

Happy Birthday, Mari!

Mari had a great 3rd birthday! She had a special snack at school, left early to hang out with Mommy, had her first gymnastics class, dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, presents, and a sleepover with ALL her stuffed animals to finish the day. I'll post more pix after her party on Saturday.

I think Mari summed the day up best - during supper, she leaned over to me and gave me a great big hug and said "I'm so happy to see you, Mommy." And below, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I love you, Amari Roza! Happy happy birthday!

Week 11 of 52

Ahh....another week done. Time seems to be flying by. Here is the last week of our exciting life...some of the pix aren't the most thrilling; I've found myself doing more video snippets than snapshots lately.

2010: 03/18

Mari lined all some of her friends up for bedtime, being sure to leave room for herself. I pointed out that the pillow was missing and she told me that was okay because she would use Barney as a pillow. So there.

2010: 03/17

(Sorry, no St. Patrick's Day pix)

My drawing ability is about as wonderful as my singing (gasp!), so when Mari asked me to draw a firetruck, I just laughed. And tried.

She declared it "PERFECT!"

I love my kid!!

2010: 03/16

I really love fruits and veggies but I have a pretty limited palate. I've made it a priority to at least try new foods. Yes, that's right. I'm 32 and never had asparagus.

Mari is not as crazy about this adventure as I am but she did try it.

2010: 03/15
Flip-flop season! What more is there to say?
2010: 03/14

My birthday. A very exciting day - full of laundry and household chores.

I got some great gifts, including some new books and DVDs.

My BFF Juli sent me a little care package - just shows how well she really knows me.

Grippos - the BEST barbecue potato chips ever made - found only in her region around KY.

Archie comics - we grew up reading these together, spending many sleepovers staying up to read Archie.

Amazon - no explanation needed there!

2010: 03/13

Saturday was PlayGroup day and I have lots of great pictures but you can click this link to see those.

Here Mari is patiently waiting on PlayGroup to start. I love how focused she is.

2010: 03/12

My girl and her big brown eyes.

I ♥ Faces - "Bundled Up"

It's been a little while since I entered a photo in the I ♥ Faces weekly contest. I'm totally amateur and the amazing photos on there totally intimidate awe me. But when I saw this theme, I knew the picture I wanted to enter - one of my favorites of all time.

I took this picture just 10 days after returning home from Ethiopia in January 2008. Two weeks prior, Mari and I were sitting in a room in the US Embassy dripping with sweat; I'm sure the temperature in that upper room packed with people was well over 100 degrees. A few days later we flew home to Mari's first brisk, cold winter.

Mari wasn't too sure about the massive amounts of clothes I bundled her in that morning but she LOVED the snow.

Go to the I ♥ Faces blog and check out tons of other beautiful pictures of faces all "Bundled Up."

Week 10 of 52

Did a little better this week with pictures!

2010: 03/11

Tried on Mari's dress for her birthday party (she's LOVES rainbow tie-dye).

I was going to wait until right before her party (in 2 weeks) but I was worried it was too big. Fits perfect and she's in love with herself!

2010: 03/10

Mari asked to wear a hat - this was the best I could find.
2010: 03/09
Mari had some rough days at school and on this day she literally cried from the time I picked her up until she went to bed...it broke my heart.

2010: 03/08

Doesn't she look so different with her hair combed into one ponytail?

2010: 03/07

Wal-Mart deals - turtlenecks, shirts, sweatshirts, 10 for $21.

They all came out of the little girls' section instead of the toddler section. Sniff sniff sniff, waaah!

2010: 03/06

Sporting her new sleeping cap...she doesn't mind it but doesn't leave it on, either.

2010: 03/05

My clinic had a Wii party at my house. It was actually a surprise bridal shower for one of our coworkers...we bought her a Wii (hey, it was on her registwii!).

Mari showing the girls how to sing.

Week 9 of 52

Okay....so I missed a couple days of pictures this week. Just too stinking busy! But not with anything exciting enough to whip out the camera. Too sad. But I'm determined to put up a picture a day and I promise I will not let it (cheating) happen again. Yeah, right!

2010: 03/04

Actually - this is 2008. Home less than 2 months. Mommy thinking she was dying of malaria (just mono!). She was such an itty bitty chunky little hunk of cuteness, wasn't she?

2010: 03/03

Actually - this one is 2009. A little bigger but still looking like a baby-face....loving the Ernie hairbands!
2010: 03/02
Told Mari it was bedtime. She was not happy. Put on my sneakers and decided to take Abby and her groceries to Grandma's house.

2010: 03/01

Not really a cheat on this day - This is our new "unofficial" logo for Playgroup with a Purpose.

I was recently invited by my neighbors to join their church to help start an "orphan ministry." It has been a wonderful experience so far and Rachel and I were able to introduce our Playgroup idea to them. To see our Playgroup's activities, click on the handprint!

2010: 02/28

Another new hairstyle - cornrows in a rainbow pattern.

Very well-received and seemed to stay in a lot better than straight lines - I guess because they followed the natural contour of her head?

2010: 02/27

Mari's prolific artwork was taking over the fridge...put a bulletin board in her room.

2010: 02/26

A sneak peak at Mari's birthday party (in another month!).

Inspired by her beloved "rainbow shirt"!!!!!!

Yup, very exciting week again! Scroll on down to see Week 8, if you haven't already - I posted both weeks in one night! I promise, no more cheats! And the next few weeks should be a little more picture-worthy.

Week 8 of 52

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I'm a couple weeks behind. Sigh. Get over it. We've had some busy weeks and the next few will be busy too. And hopefully more exciting than what these pix make our lives out to be!

2010: 02/25

More puzzles - this kid is a puzzle freak! Mastering a 24-piece straight out of the box.

We had a short lesson in edge pieces and then she took off on her own.

(Yes, her hair was a little busy - fun, though!)

2010: 02/24

Love this for 2 reasons:

#1 This outfit is a hand-me-down from a friend...Mari doesn't usually like to wear anything but blue jeans but she loves this outfit.

#2 The look on her face is priceless....it's her "robot dinosaur" face. Don't ask.

2010: 02/23

A little blurry but Mari was SO proud that she finally managed to ride and pedal at the same time. She got this bike over a year ago and is just now (barely) tall enough to reach the pedals!)
2010: 02/22
Love the hair, Love the shirt, LOVE THIS KID!
But when did she grow up?
2010: 02/21
2 hours of hair time, 1 beader, 120 beads, dozens of failed hair snaps, dozens of black rubber bands, hundreds of mommy tears.
1 gasp of "Mommy, Mommy, look at my beads!!!!"
I'll do it all over again.
2010: 02/20
Trying to keep someone occupied by challenging her more. Dumped all her puzzles and told her to put them together. Kept her busy for 20 minutes but she was unimpressed.

2010: 02/19

Mari discovered a Hoops and YoYo musical card on Grandma's keyboard. I think you can tell by her expression what she thought of them!