Snowy Sunday :)

Santa 2009

As you can see, she was not exactly thrilled to be sitting on Santa's lap, but she didn't cry. I think the candy cane he gave her helped :)

First snow!

On Sunday, we got our first snow of the year! Elizabeth, my little San Diego girl, was a little confused at first by all the white stuff, but seemed to like it :)

And, on a totally unrelated subject, Elizbeth has been making huge progress in potty training. She's been using the potty off and on for the past few weeks. But today, for the first time, she stayed dry ALL day :)

She is just growing up SOOO fast, it makes me so proud, but breaks my heart a little too. Last night, I went out for my mom's birthday. Elizabeth stayed home with Maria. I talked to E on the phone and she just sounded so grown up. She amazes me every day. :)

A day late and a picture short...

So, yesterday, 11/30, was our "Family Day" anniversery. That's right, two years ago, 4 month old little Elizabeth came home! I wanted to get a picture of the two of us, and write a great blog post yesterday evening, but somebody (and I won't mention any names...Elizabeth) decided that she she was not going to go to sleep in her crib, no way, no how...She got hysterical actually when I tried to put her down. She never does that. It took forever, but I finally ended up being able to lie her down and get her to sleep after LOTS of rocking and back rubbing. Yikes, hope tonight goes better. This may sound crazy, but I'm wondering if there is anyway she was having a "traumaversery." Does she subconsciously remember that this was the day she was removed from her Foster home to come to me? She was only 4 months old, so I don't know. Any thoughts?
Anyway, my little girl and I have been together for 2 awesome, incrediable years. :)

Fun weekend

Elizabeth and I spent part of the weekend up in Maine at my college roomate's home. We had a great time, and Elizabeth loved playing out in the big backyard, especially on the trampoline!

Why I love facebook :)

I've reconnected with a friend who I haven't seen in 15 years! We got together this morning. It was great to see her again, and meet each other's kids. Gotta love Facebook!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent a fun day at Grandma and Grandpa's :)
So thankful today and every day for this amazing little girl who calls me Mommy...She is the light of my life.

Sunday afternoon

On Sunday, Elizabeth and I went my friend Heidi's Mom's house for a delicious early Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you so much for including us, Heidi! :) Elizabeth had a great time, and had lots of other kiddos to play with. She insisted on wearing the summer dress handed down from Heidi's daughter Julia on over her clothes:)

With Julia, so cute together!

Random stuff

I'll start with my usual apology for my lack of posting. I really do love blogging, but since we moved back east, I've just been slacking, for one reason or another.
Anyway, not too much news here. Just a few tidbits:
- Elizabeth is getting her H1N1 shot today. The Dept of Public Health is actually coming to her Day Care this afternoon and giving it to those kids whose parents are present and want it. I'm nervous about it, but feel like it's the right thing to do. Elizabeth had a cold a couple of weeks ago that luckily didn't turn into the flu.
-Elizabeth LOVES her Grandparents and Cousins. She has so much fun when everyone is all togather. That makes this move all worthwhile. Just wish Aunt Betsy was close by, too!
-Going to be honest here- I am missing San Diego. A lot. I'm so glad to be close to family, etc. But I lived in San Diego for over 7 years. It's a big adjustment. I'm trying, really trying, not to dread the winter looming ahead.
-Elizabeth turned 2 years and 4 months last week. How did that happen???
-I may possibly be somewhat biased, but I believe that Elizabeth is the smartest, funniest, cutest most awesome 2.4 year old girl, you know, ever... :)
That's it for now!!!

Happy Halloween 2009!

I had a nice Butterfly costume all ready for her, but she absolutely did not want to wear the wings. In the end, I slipped on a cute little Christmas dress on her, so she went as "Mrs. Claus." We had fun Trick-or-Treating around our neighborhood, and then handing out candy at home:)

Walden Pond

Today was a beautiful fall day here so after Church I decided to take Elizabeth out to Walden Pond. She loved it, but was not happy that her mean mother would not let her go swimming in the water. I did let her go in up to her ankles, though:) These pictures aren't the greatest, but I was pretty busy chasing her and keeping her from taking a dive into the pond!

One week down

So, I just finished my first week at my new job. So far, so good! I've always worked with just children, now I'm working with children and adults, so it's an interesting change. I really like it, actually.
Elizabeth has been adjusting really well to her new Day Care. She has 3 days a week there, and 2 days at home with Maria, which is also working out great. I feel very lucky! It's also been great to have my mom close by. She was able to pick up Elizabeth early at Day Care for me a couple of days this week while E. was still transitioning. Thank you Mom!!!
I'm very happy to be finally working and getting back into a routine!
I think the move here was a good decision, but I really miss San Diego. Especially when we got SNOW last Sunday night. On October 18th- it SNOWED-aaah!!!! I came prepared for a New England winter, but SNOW in OCTOBER??? Yeah, I didn't sign on for that...:)

Another fun (cold!) fall day

Yeah, breaking out the winter coats in mid October. This can't be good...
Actually, it was a beautiful "brisk" Fall day today. We went for a walk around Mt. Auburn Cemetary in Cambridge. Elizabeth loved it :)

Then, after our walk, we stopped for lunch at Bugaboo Creek.

Tomorrow, Elizabeth starts at her new Day Care Center. She'll be doing a few half days before I start work to transition her in gradually. I think she'll do great, but it may be a little rough in the beginning since we've been together practically 24/7 since we moved here 6 weeks ago. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth transition for both of us.

Some Elizabeth cuteness :)

Today it was a beautiful Fall day, so we went for a walk and a little picnic in some nearby woods. Elizabeth loved it!

And finally, at home with one of Elizabeth's new BFFs- Maria's cat Tom Tom. Elizabeth adores him. I'm not so sure the feeling is mutual...

Bullet time

Yes, I've turned into one crappy blogger! And I've been really bad about taking pictures, too. Ugg!!! This move back east has really kicked my butt. A lot of stuff has been going on, so I'm just going to bust out the bullets. Here goes:

- I will officially start my new job a week from Monday, 10/19. Finally!! I expected to be able to start working much sooner after I got here, but the agency where I'll be employed has a new program manager who had all these concerns about my CA Marriage and Family Therapy license being transferred to Massachussets, because the agency really needs licensed MFTs, blah, blah, blah...Anyway, I took the licensing exam in Massachussets on 9/15. I won't get the results until late this month or early November. I'm just praying I passed. After a couple of meetings with the program director, he agreed to let me start working with the condition that I get licensed within 6 months. If I passed the exam I took in Sept., I should be all set. Anyway, I'm just happy to have a start date, at long last.
- I've been exploring Day Care options. I think I'm going to go with one place I looked at that seems really great 3 days a week, and Maria (my housemate/friend) will watch Elizabeth the other two days.
- A few nights ago, while no one was home, both my lap top and Maria's Lap Tops were stolen. Whoever did it came in through a window in my room that was shut, but not locked :( The Lap Tops were all that were taken, and I'm just so grateful no one was hurt. As far as my internet addiction/adoption blog goes, I still have my handy dandy desk top PC, so I'm good.;)
-I've never lived in an area that has more festivals. It seems like every weekend, there are at least 2 or 3 different festivals going on. Today, we went to the "Honk Festival" in Davis Square, where there lots of different bands playing Cajun music. It was fun. Elizabeth had a great time dancing! A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Fluff Festival. Our town is where Fluff (that gooey marshmellowy stuff) was invented, so there is an annual festival in honor of it. Funny!
-Elizabeth is growing by the hour it seems. In all areas, I mean. Her vocabulary, her fine and gross motor skills, all of it- has just exploded. She totally amazes me every day. Love my girl so, so much.
Guess that's it for now. I'll try to blog more often and get more pictures up (and this time I really mean it!)

Fun with the family

Elizabeth and I have been having the best time these past few days with our family. My sister Betsy is here this week from Colorado, which has been great, just wish she could stay longer:)