Crawling and Cruising

She's crawling and cruising all around now! Her first birthday is coming up so fast. I'm loving every minute of this!

Adopting Two!

I recently realized that I had not blogged about our newest adoption decision. We have decided to adopt two! They will be siblings under the age of five. We are hopeful that this will take place next year, but international adoption is so unpredictable.

We had originally tried to go on "the list" in Colombia as wanting EITHER one OR two, but were told that we had to choose one or the other. This was when we were pregnant with Caroline, so we felt unsure about two! So we went with one. A few months ago, we decided that we did indeed wish to adopt two. Something about actually having Caroline here took away some of the uncertainty. Sibling groups are harder to place in adoptive homes, and there is such a need for adoptive families for them. As such, the wait is shorter (our wait for one infant kept lengthening and lengthening, and would currently be 2-3 MORE years).

So before too long Caroline will have two siblings, and we will be a family of five. We couldn't be more excited!

The Happiest Place on Earth

After our weekend in Miami, we drove up to Orlando for more fun in the sun with the Sumrall family. We met my parents, brother Rob, sis-in-law Michelle, and their kiddos Joshua, Laura Beth, and Anna. We had six days in the park, and we had a blast! We did Disney five years ago with this same group (minus two kids), and we had every bit as much fun as we had the last time! The experience was very different having Caroline with us. We usually go, go, go from park opening to close (including Extra Magic hours). This time we had to head back to the room before the fireworks a couple of nights, although we did see Fantasmic. This little girl actually decided she wanted to nurse and go to sleep with all that racket going on! Caroline absolutely loved all of the stimulation, colors, and characters! And she really enjoyed any and all shows we went to, especially ones with music. It's great having grandparents with you on vacation, though, so we could enjoy the "adult" rides. Everest may have replaced Rockin' Roller coaster as my favorite ride. That important decision is going to take some serious contemplation, though, so I'm not ready to commit just yet.

Meeting Mickey and Minnie

Mimi made matching outfits for all four grandkids

Check out the precious Minnie bow! Thanks for the idea, Steph!

Our FAVORITE princess!

We love Aunt Belle!

Callie spent a lot of time being strolled around...we love our Peg!

It's a comfy napping place...

Fast Pass is key to fitting in all of the rides. We actually had four at one time...that may be a record.

The whole fam on the Boardwalk where we were staying.

The Boardwalk at night

Meeting Piglet at the character breakfast

Callie's first time in the pool. She LOVES the water.

If you ever eat at Whispering Canyon, be sure to (1.) tell them you are VERY thirsty and (2.) ask for ketchup.

Sunny Miami

We traveled to Miami in June to visit with Philip's fam. His brother Daniel lives there, and his parents and we were all able to meet up for a long weekend. Caroline did great on her first flight! We stayed at a nice hotel across the lagoon from Daniel's condo. We got to hang out with Daniel's girlfriend Naty and her two beautiful boys. They are so adorable! Sebastian and Carlos loved reading to Caroline.

While we were there, we went to a Brazilian steakhouse and an Argentinean steakhouse, as well as a delicious seafood restaurant in Southbeach. We also went on an air boat ride in the Everglades and a cruise one evening in Bayside. We packed a lot in to the little time we had together! It was our first time to Miami, and we really enjoyed the city. It was a great place to visit, and hopefully we will get to go back soon!

My reasons for not blogging:

1. Caroline - she keeps me busy!

2. Doctoral dissertation - I think I may actually finish this one day relatively soon! After little Miss C, this is what I spend the majority of my time on these days. Hopefully not too much longer!

3. Couponing - I am officially addicted to saving money. As far as addictions go, it's not a bad one to have.

4. Did I mention Caroline? :)