First Day Of School

Today was our official first day back to school. I say official because we have been doing some school work over the summer but nothing structured. I Love making a big deal out of the first day. I served homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and woke the kids up to some fun music. Then it was off to get dressed and get there chores done. Jonah was super excited to be able to do the file system this year(sorta like work boxes)he couldn't wait to do every task. I hope he is this eager all year. Noah had a good first day but I forgot how hard it is for him when you are not specific with times and details. He is very Type A and likes to have the day layed out for him so he knows what to expect :) I will be sure to cover that tomorrow :) We celebrated with a fun dinner and dessert to end the day. I will take the traditional backpack pics infront of the door on there first day of co-op and then some more on there first day of friday school. So many firsts i gotta make sure I get them all :). As for Miss Hannah she was my TA for the day and kept busy playing playdough, coloring and anything else that would keep her occupied long enough.

Shower, Anniversary Party And Birthday

Yes all these things happened in one day. I hate to miss a good party. So in grand Lietzau fashion we tackled all three and wore ourselves out. The day started out beautifully. I went to a beautiful shower for my friend Sarah on one of the only existing farms in LA lol. It was great to be amongst wonderful woman celebrating another miracle. I came home and we rested before the next two parties that were back to back. The first one. A special birthday party for Hannah's friend Jadie Mei who was adopted six months ago from China. We did not want to miss her special day. It was 98 degrees out and our little monkey spent a lot of time in the bounce house. We think she may have over did it because by the time we went to the other party she was very fatigued and threw up all over Grandma. We were thankful that this Anniversary party was across the street. We got everyone cleaned up and after some Gatorade Hannah perked up. It was scary to see her fatigued it brought back memories of the day we got our baby girl and how sick she was. No more bounce house in the heat for this girl. Sometimes we forget that our baby girl has a heart defect and can not always handle as much as the other kiddos.

Last Week Of Summer

So am I the only one that feels like this summer flew by? I had so many things I wanted to do and sadly did not. I know part of it is I just did not have the energy in me. This makes me very sad at times and I'm daily giving it up to the Lord. This little two year old darling has more energy for the both of us. She has enjoyed the water, playing dress up with her brothers, play dough, eating lots of icecream and mostly being outdoors.

Unscheduled Day

It was nice to have a day to do whatever our hearts desired. No appointments and nothing on the calendar. You have to understand this is not very typical for our family. So Jason let me sleep in a little and even made me breakfast. Did I mention I have the greatest husband EVER. We did some organizing and playing most of the day and then talked daddy into taking us to dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. This is one of our favorites. We like to eat dinner and then watch the trains at the train station. I'm loving these fun summer memories. School starts two weeks from today. I will be homeschooling two this year I can't believe it. So thankful for our co-op classes and friday school at Whittier Christian.

Joyful Heart

My heart has been overflowing with joy as I have been reading some of my favorite blogs. A few of the families I keep up with are either in China or are going. It has been exciting to read there journeys and to see the lords handiwork. I feel like I know these families so well even though we are states apart. I get so encouraged and inspired by each one of them and Love how we share this common bond of adoption. Thanks friends for letting us in on your stories. Life here has been good. We have enjoyed baseball camps, lake trips, swimming, and lots of icecream. We are preparing for school to start back up in a couple weeks and trying to soak in as much as we can of these final days of summer.

A fun And Busy Weekend

Friday evening we spent time with my Brother and sister in law. We went swimming, enjoyed a meal outside and made Smores by there fire pit. It was the perfect summer evening. we had a major breakthrough with Hannah and her fear of dogs. Since we have had Hannah she has been terrified of dogs and screams when she sees one. At first the dog would be a mile away and she would have a fit. She has gotten better at being able to look at them from afar and be okay. Well she finally was okay being in the same room with a dog which is a huge accomplishment. It has been hard for us because we want to spend time with our family but do not want to make our daughter feel scared at the same time so this was so huge for her. Saturday we met up with a family that adopted a little girl from china 9 months ago named Grace. Grace and Hannah are 7 days apart. They share the same doctor and similar heart condition and our doctor thought we should meet(he is so great). We had a great time at the park together. I love how adoption has connected our family with so many great people. we look forward to spending more time with this great family. If anyone is interested in hearing more about international adoption or our story. we will be holding an America World adoption seminar September 10th from 10-12 at 1507 Manhattan Beach Blvd. in Manhattan Beach, 90266. you can register at AWAA.org at there events page.