My Little Bumblebee...

Carving her first pumpkin - helping Mommy prepare for her Wednesday night message!

Her Fall Preschool Program - Check out the Bumblebee!

Uncle Gunner and Nana came for her program. Lil' Cupcake absolutely loves Uncle Gunner - she even said he could have most of her favorite things, including the Halloween cupcakes :)

Definitely Daddy's Little Girl - using Clorox wipes to clean the pumpkin! After cleaning all of the pumpkins - she decorated one with a lot of Dora stickers and drawing on it. Mommy, Daddy, and Raeghan all had carved pumpkins (Mommy carved Raeghan's for her - but more later, must email Carole before posting!).


There's Mommy and Daddy's Little Bumblebee. This is the costume she picked out! She has good taste - she made the cutest Bumblebee.



Little Cupcake with Daddy!


And, Little Cupcake with Mommy!

p.s. Lil' Cupcake did an amazing job at her Preschool Program. I was immensely impressed with how she sang along with each of the songs. She saw Nana during her program, and lifted up her skirt and hid behind it. It was so cute! Following the program, we went out to eat with Uncle Gunner and Nana. I think she had Uncle Gunner around her finger the instant she met him. She somehow talked him into letting her drink a lot of his Mountain Dew. Before she met Uncle Gunner, she wanted to give him everything - we were making Halloween cupcakes for Auntie Brianna, and she said they were all for Uncle Gunner. She wanted him to have her Ducky, err. Baby, her bouncy ball, and pumpkin.

p.p.s. We were so excited for Halloween - I think Travis and I secretly were super excited about carving pumpkins again. Lil' Cupcake picked out pumpkins for each of us - Daddy's was the biggest (since he is tallest), then Mommy's pumpkin was smaller than Daddy's and bigger than her's (I appreciated my pumpkin it had a nice figure :), and Lil' Cupcake's was small and perfect. We each picked a design we wanted to carve into our pumpkins. After carving the pumpkins, we go the costume on and went trick-or-treating. I think we went to 5 houses in 2 1/2 hours. We had a lot of fun, and I think Lil' Cupcake's first Halloween was a success!!

**I'll give more details on the pumpkin carvings once I have emailed someone the story first!

Bump, Bump in the road...Bump, Bump in the road

Yes, we have encountered a bump in the road (though just a tiny bump)! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we went on a vacation too soon. Lil' Cupcake hasn't been home for a month, and we pushed her progress by going on a trip (new and different surroundings). Lil' Cupcake has regressed a little - she is having horrible nightmares, has wet her pants twice (which going potty has never been a concern-she's very vocal when she needs to go), and is extremely clingy to me (carrying her up the stairs, always having me go with her to the bathroom at home, can't be in a different room than her (except miraculously Preschool), etc.). However, I know a lot of time with Mommy and Daddy will help her out.

Attention all Hope families and adoption families in general, what attachment/bonding guidelines have you used?

First PreSchool Field Trip

Today was Lil' Cupcake's first field trip with her preschool class. They went to the pumpkin patch, and picked out her very first pumpkin! She was so excited to show Mommy! She even called Daddy after showing Mommy and kept talking about her pumpkin to him. However upon arriving at home, we had a slight dilemma. Lil' Cupcake proceeded to get mad at Mommy because she did not cook the pumpkin. Praise the Lord for Google, how else would we teach our kids that pumpkins are for carving and painting and not for lunch? :)

Pierced Ears

Yes, today we had Lil' Cupcake's ears pierced! Aren't I a horrible mother - who pierces her little 4 year old girl's ears? Who pierces the ears of a girl that has only been in the United States for two weeks? Yes, it was me! It was something she has been asking for since we were in Ethiopia. We waited until today since it was her last day of antibiotics (plus, it was the last day I was going to put her in tears for wearing earrings). Enjoy the overjoyed little girl with newly pierced ears!

First "real" hairstyling!

Here are some pictures of my first time doing Raeghan's hair! For those of you that know girl hairstyles - I did the veil style in front with box braids in back! It was "spa night" - we did hair, and then we did toe nails (and even little nail decals).

Award for WORST Blogger - Thank you!

I am a horrible blogger - being first time parents, I definitely feel like I don't have enough hours in the day! I am also constantly on the move with Lil' Cupcake! She doesn't sit still for even a few seconds! I will blog about the trip (hopefully later this week, when we are on vacation!).

Apology!

Alright, I am apologizing on the behalf of my husband who forgot to post while I was gone. My deepest apologies! I promise I will relive the days just as if he was supposed to be posting. In the meantime, know we are home and Lil' Cupcake is adjusting beyond what we could have ever imagined! Here's to an update tomorrow!

Little Miss Cupcake, Here I Come!

It's finally here! I'm on my way to go pick Little Miss Cupcake up!

Here's a quick overview of my itinerary:

Wednesday, Sept 10th - Depart Minneapolis 1:15pm Arrive in DC 4:30pm
Depart DC 8pm Arrive Sept 11th at 8pm in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Hopefully Friday I will get to meet her and bring her back to the guesthouse with me.
Monday/Tuesday, I will be going to AHOPE, HIV+ orphanage.
Wednesday, Embassy Appointment
Go back to her orphanage sometime to drop a mass of donations off.
Friday, pick up her visa
Go shopping sometime for souvenirs and traditional Ethiopian dresses for her :)

Sunday, Sept 21 Leave Ethiopia at 8pm Arrive in DC Sept 22 7:30am
Monday, Sept 22 Depart DC at 5pm Arrive in Minneapolis 7:30pm



Alrighty, signing off - and yes, I will bribe Travis to keep you all posted!

Do you think Lil' Cupcake is taking after her mother?

A gymnast of 10 years - I do believe she is taking after her mother. And to think I began dance and a while after began gymnastics at the ripe age of 4 - Lil' Cupcake's age. This was one of many pics I got today of Lil' Cupcake "hamming" it up. As a protective parent, I'm still concerned about all the pictures with her arms around boys. And let me tell you, she has some pretty good taste :) LOL! I think our first lesson will be that all boys, except Daddy, have cooties. Sounds like a good idea to me :)

God is Preparing me to be a parent...

I was up with our puppy Lily from 3am on because she was throwing up. Once I had cuddled with her and had finally got her to sleep, she would throw up. And I believe dog throw-up may just beat the smell of human throw-up! I don't think that smell will ever leave my nostrils. So, here I am it is only 9am, but I have been up for 6 hours already (pretty impressive for me!).

Off to an eye appointment, and work - and praying that little puppy is feeling better!

9 More Days...

...until I'm across the world picking her up! Jaclyn just got back and uploaded pictures immediately - and i just fell in love with the pictures she took!

Is this not the face of...

an Ethiopian angel! I absolutely love this picture - she is just so stinkin' beautiful! Can't wait to hold her in my own arms! 10 days and counting...

She's Ready to Go...

Lily is ready to go to Ethiopia to pick up Little Miss Cupcake! Only one and half weeks until I go! YAY!!

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Here are pictures of Little Cupcake's almost finished room! (We just need to add pics to the frames, and hang something above her little cubbies) Enjoy!! **We sure hope she likes pink and cupcakes :)

Her Room!


Side View


Her Dresser


Curtains


Close-up of the Curtains


Her little Cubbies (the rest of her toys are in her toy room)


Sweetie Pie detail from border around room


Me with my new color and cut finishing up Lil' Cupcake's Room!

Welcome...

to our new blog! Read the life and times of Little Miss Cupcake as she joins our family very, very soon!