Cousins!!!

Mandy Rose got to spend the morning with her cousin, Olivia, today! Olivia is 5 years old. Even though she is only 9 months older than Mandy Rose, she towers over her! They had not seen each other in quite some time, but dove right in to playing like they were the best of old friends! They spent alot of time playing "Big Sister/Little Sister"! They are both only kids...suppose they are hinting?

It was fun to see the girls play together! There were no fights....just some dragging of feet when it came time to pick up toys! LOL! We need to have more playdates in the future!

New Tricycle!!!

This week, we bought Mandy Rose a tricycle. I was starting to feel like a bad parent! Sheesh, she's 4 years old and doesn't even have a tricycle! We thought about skipping the trike and getting her a bicycle. But since she is still such a little munchkin, a tricycle fits her better.

Today was a gorgeous, spring-like day, so we ventured out to the park in search of a good area to practice on. We found an awesome concrete pad at Sedgwick County Park with lots of room to maneuver. Mandy Rose jumped on and with a little forward shove, took off pedaling around! It was so precious! Such an iconic moment for a parent! I snapped as many pics as she would let me!

Okay, Momma, enough pictures already! I want to ride! Mandy Rose chose this tricycle. It came in red, but she insisted on the pink and purple! All girl!

She abandoned the trike to make some new friends! She LOVES dogs!

After our tricycle practice, we headed to the playground with some new sand toys! The park was jam packed! Everybody is on Spring Break and we have bad weather (in fact, maybe snow!) heading in tomorrow. I think all of us parents had the same idea! We played for an hour and a half, soaking up the warm sun!

Days like today are what I dreamed of for years. I wanted to share warm, sunny days with a child of my own. I ached to be able to experience the world through my child's eyes. I hungered for the opportunity to delight her with swinging, rides down the slide, and new tricycles. I am blessed beyond measure! I love this beautiful little girl that God gave to me!

Wild Hair!!!

Mandy Rose and I went down to Attica today to help celebrate her cousin's birthday! Carlene is turning one year old and lots of family and friends gathered for the shindig! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I have no pictures :(

Mandy Rose's hair has gotten long enough that I pull it up into pony tails on each side, braid them, and then twist them into buns with scrunchies. I think she looks absolutely adorable!! (I DID NOT have enough baby dolls as a child, so Mandy Rose pays the consequences, Ha!) She posed for a few pics with her hair all done up! When we got home and started getting ready for bed, I took her hair down. Oh My! What a wild hair do!

For having such stick straight hair, it is interesting to me how well it curls! I think she kind of looks like an Asian Diana Ross!!! She thought the bounciness of her hair was hilarious and ran laps around the house flinging it back and forth!

Wonder what she will look like in the morning?

~Chinese New Year~

Yesterday, Mandy Rose and I went to Hutchinson to join with other adoptive families in our area to celebrate Chinese New Year!! I love this occasion! I love getting her all dressed up in Chinese silks and I love her having the opportunity to play with other beautiful kiddos from China!!

This is the last set of silks we purchased while in China. At first, I wasn't sure if I would like her in the yellow (she looks so striking in red), but she was just adorable and gots lots of compliments! She even grudgingly stood still long enough for Momma to put a few curls in her hair!

She still challenges me by not smiling naturally for my picture taking!! But this one isn't too bad. I don't know about you, but when we were growing up, there seemed to be a particular place where our parents would place us for picture taking time. Gary has numerous pictures of he and his brothers all lined up along the wall outside their farm house. In our home, it is in front of the hutch!! Year by year, we can tell how much she is growing by her height in comparison to the hutch! Ha!! Not the most exciting back drop, but, oh well. She makes any outfit look good....but I am her very biased Momma!

Of course, the highlight of Chinese New Year, is the food!! Mandy Rose thoroughly enjoyed noodles, chicken, crab rangoon, and, the very authentic Chinese chocolate icecream!!!

We had alot of fun and got to visit with lots of friends! A perfect way to celebrate the holiday!!

She Is Just So Stinkin' Cute!!

Every day I fall more in love with this little girl! She is so funny, affectionate, bright, and beautiful!! I am blessed to be able to be her mom! So, I think preschool is rubbing off on little miss Mandy Rose! We found her having reading time with her "babies"!! Too cute!!

Baby Waylon!

This is the newest addition to my side of the family! He is the son of my baby brother, Matt! His full moniker is Waylon Adam Loesch! Isn't he just beautiful? My dad, aka Papa Ron, says, "No, he is handsome!!" Anyways, welcome to the family, Baby Waylon!!!

Long Time No Talk!

I have been meaning to make a post to the blog for quite some time! It has been a very challenging few weeks since Christmas and I just haven't felt like writing. I had gastric bypass surgery three days before Christmas. At first, all went very well and I got released to come home on the evening of the 23rd. Christmas Eve found us at the ER and me not being able to stop getting sick! So....I spent Christmas in the hospital. Ugh! I felt so bad, I didn't really even feel like it was Christmas. I finally got to come home on the 26th. The next 4 weeks were very difficult. I struggled with constant nausea and pain. I ended up in the hospital one more time, this time with dehydration, on the 22nd of January. I definitely had moments of regret about what I had done to my body. But, after I got rehydrated, the nausea subsided and I began to be able to get in my daily requirements of fluid and protein and I felt MUCH better!! I am now learning day to day what my body handles food-wise and losing weight. Yea!! I have been overweight most of my life, with it just becoming more and more of a problem. When we were in the process of adopting Mandy Rose, it was a constant concern, until we got final approval from China, that someone would nix our attempt because we were too fat! Actually, if we had waited just a few months more, that is exactly what would have happened when China changed its requirement policies! I have pondered and researched GBS for the last 2-3 years. I made the decision that it was the right choice for me early in '09. I worked very hard the rest of the year meeting all the insurance and pre-surgery requirements. It is not a decision to be made lightly. But, I want to be healthy and I want to live as long as I possibly can for Mandy Rose. I also, frankly, want to feel better in my own skin! Anyways, fast forward to today. I am feeling really good! I am happy that I made this decision for myself and for my daughter. I look forward to being more active with her. I look forward to being around for a long, long time!!