Tarik Turns Two!

Today, our littlest girly swirl turned two. If it seems like just about nine months since her last birthday that is because it was... we are moving her birthday up a few months. So this was her first run at a December birthday and all reports are that it went well.

Our family is not spending much time blogging these days but we are doing well. Tarik continues to be a total clown (when she is not teething). She has moved to the big girl bed, which she calls the "good girl" bed. She loves her sisters and they love her. We continue to be amazed at how seamlessly she has integrated into our family. She also sings constantly. Her favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle; Baby Bumble Bee; The ABC's (a creative version), The WonderPets Theme (she sings "Underpants"), Ring Around the Rosy, and others. When we are lucky she mashes all the songs up into one medley.

On a legal note, one of the final hurdles to finalizing the adoption is our Missouri court date, which is set for December 17. No real change should happen, it is just the state recognizing the adoption. Seeing as how she is black, I would think the adoption is already quite recognizable, but maybe not. On that date, however, we are officially moving her birthday and changing her name to Tarikwa Teka (her original Ethiopian name - it is currently Tarikwa Reed).

That is a lot of logistics stuffed into a birthday blog, but our posts are rare enough that we needed to catch you up.

Happy Birthday!

Today was Tarik's birthday. It is just so amazing how quickly kids grow up. It feels like we have only had her for a month and here she is already turning a year old! ...hee, hee.

We had a wonderful, low-key day. Our little Dunn family tradition on birthdays is to wake up and open presents in bed. The girls got her the toy pictured below, Lee Ann got her a polka dot outfit (she gets one for every girl on her birthday), and I guess that leaves me giving her the only other present left -- a couple of sippy cups. Later we got to spend some time with my (Reed's) parents and then it was the birthday cake after dinner (and especially right before bath time). Here are some pictures...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today Jennalee turned 5! We are so proud of her. She is definitely growing up... she is working hard on her violin, she is going to preschool, and she has a crush on Ethan Hawke of all people -- she recently watched the movie "White Fang" as part of her obsession with the poem about Sam McGee.

One of the most intriguing things about this little girl is her mind. On this birthday we thought we'd share a little bit of her perspective with you -- the following are all pictures that she took. Taking pictures with our old camera is one of her favorite pastimes and we must have hundreds of these priceless pictures. She is the consummate observer (one thing she wanted for this birthday was a pair of binoculars).

BIRTHDAY PARTY

We have lot's of pics from Adeline's birthday party. Thought we would share some with you.

On her actual birthday we gave her our present. Just in case you wondered what we got her... She got two fire-bellied toads; they are actually really sweet and both the girls love them (we were shocked to see Jennalee handle them).

Here is Lee Ann's amazing cake. Of course, she did this without anything other than her imagination -- notice the mint for the giraffe's eye! Adeline loves giraffes so Lee Ann did this for her.

She got a lot of help opening her presents!

Here are all the women of the party. It was nice to have all the family together in one place.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Three years ago today, this little girl stormed into our life. At three months old she was louder than the other three of us put together. She is busy, wiggly, goofy, and sweet. This year she is getting pet frogs for her birthday!

She cannot get enough physical touch. In her first weeks of life, she would go on three hour nursing binges. Even now she presses her face against our own or raises our shirt to put her cheek on our stomaches. Her affection is unmatched.

She LOVES to help Lee Ann cook - such that she cries on the nights when we have chicken nuggets or some other quick meal. Once Lee Ann starts to cook, Adeline will drag a chair to the kitchen counter and get to work.

She is the first to apologize, but she is also the first to need to. She is the sweetest little bull-in-a-china-closet God ever made.

She literally believes that it is her job in life to keep our whole family laughing, which she has consistently done for the past three years.

You mean so much to us, Adeline. Happy birthday sweet girl.