handsful

The night before Lainey turned 4, I was joking with her that I wanted her to stay 3.  She laughed her “oh, you’re so silly, mommy” laugh and said “no!”.  I asked why she couldn’t stay 3, and she said “Lainey wants to be a big girl!” 

Well, Lainey girl, you are…

Good morning, sunshine!  So, how old are you today?? 

Oh!!!!  FOUR!!

Dressed up for July 4th…I mean, her birthday!  Same thing.  She’s ready for church!  (She looks so OLD here!)

sometimes those eyes do disappear when she smiles!

A birthday-girl sandwich.  heh heh

Middle and little sister share a hug

More posing with the birthday girl.  (ignore my goofy grin)  There’s no shot of Abbey with Lainey because most of us were already out the door when Abbey came downstairs.  She’s got her daddy’s “late” gene.  :)

After church, we headed out to lunch.  Fast forward to dessert.  Before the other kids got theirs, a bunch of waitresses came over and sang a VERY LOUD birthday song to Lainey.  She got very serious and tried hard to ignore it.  Then, they planted this in front of her and she wasn’t as serious anymore…

must. get. every. last. drop. 

Back home and time for presents…one from mommy and daddy, and one from big sister Abbey.

A blow up pool with sprinkler!  Awesome!

It’s all she asked for…

A little mechanical hamster.  She named it Tashu, same as one of Marley’s hamsters.  She made it a little bed in her wardrobe :)

Time to try out the pool.  The big kids do the hard work. 

Lainey had the easy part!  She loved it. 

Yes, that IS a taco with 4 candles in it.  Lainey requested her birthday dinner be from TB.  She absolutely adores the place, wants to eat there EVERY time we suggest going out.  So, we sang to her and she blew those candles out!  It took a few tries, but she did it.  In fact, for each taco she had (3), she put the candles in again, we sang again (in triple time!), and she blew ‘em out again! 

It’s hard to believe that she’s 4 years old.  I look back at the pics of her when we first received her at 19 months old and think how little bitty she looks.  She’s so growny and independent, loves helping me out with whatever I’m doing (I know, that eventually wanes a bit…), and simply can’t wait for her brother to join us.  Oh…Dylan.  That’s right!

He turned THREE on July 4th.  We sent a cake to him using the in-China organization called www.ladybugsnlove.com  We’re waiting for pics of his celebration (the company takes the money we send and gives it to the orphanage with the instructions to buy the cake and provide digital pictures proving that the money was used for that purpose)  We’ve seen many birthday celebration pics, and were fortunate that Dylan was in a few of them!  I hope he enjoys having his own party :) 

In the meantime, Abbey bought a birthday present for him, too.  We’ll have it here, waiting for him. 

Thanks, Abbey…he’ll love it. 

Next stop…Marley, Payton, and Ethan’s birthday on the 7th! 

No, not her first SPOKEN word…that was “eye”, in case you’re wondering.  She made the long “i” sound and pointed to her eye.  Hence, her first meaningful word spoken in English. 

No, I’m talking about her first written word.  Not that she KNEW she was writing a word.  She just loves to write letters and run up to me and ask “what that say?”. 

This time, she was making a Father’s Day card for her daddy and just started writing letters.  My jaw dropped when I saw what she’d done.  GOD.  Clear as day (and G is usually not this neat and easy to read!).  Lined up straight, in the dead middle of the page.  I know it could just as easily been “bug”, or “cup”, but I thought it was super cool that her hands made the name of our Creator instead. 

She looks a little smug, don’t you think?  You go girl…keep proclaiming the name of our Lord :)

Lainey has been asking for quite some time (with encouragement from her siblings) to have her ears pierced.  Since Marley was 4 when she had hers done, I wanted to wait till Lainey’s birthday.  Well, we were at the mall last Friday and figured a week early would work :) 

We told her it would hurt a little, so she was aware.  She said “okay” without any obvious concern. 

Waiting…Payton let her watch a cartoon for distraction. 

We went to one place, and there was another little girl having hers done.  The kids said “Quick!  Get her out of here so she doesn’t hear that girl scream!!”.  The lady working there didn’t give me warm fuzzies anyway, so we found another place. 

Randy held her hands, while I manned the camera.  This was maybe a second before the dreaded “ka-click” sound. 

Did she scream?  Cry?  Whimper?  No.  Nothing.  The girl didn’t blink.  Didn’t flinch.  Randy said her hands didn’t even jump as he held them.  She’s a rock, our Lainey. 

As hard as I campaigned for the little diamond-like ones, she chose the blue :)

Sparkly blue earrings AND a lollipop?  Does it get better? 

Admiring her new look. 

We did have some drama the NEXT day.  We were sitting down to lunch after church and Lainey came up to me.  She motioned to her right ear and there was NO earring.  Yikes!  We did a quick search and found it.  Then, spent the next 15 years minutes trying to get it put back in.  It would go in about 3/4 of the way and then didn’t budge.  We called the store and they said to aim it at the back hole (which was extremely hard to see!) and push fairly hard.  So, after Randy and I each took turns trying, Randy managed to get it through.  There were definite tears this time around, but she was so brave to let us work on her so long. 

One part was funny, though.  I’m in desperate need of an appointment with an eye doctor.  My close up vision is quickly going down hill, so when it was my turn, Randy stuck his reading glasses on me!  Ah, growing older is such fun. 

Happy almost 4th birthday, Lainey Q!

Mom…can we use a roll of toilet paper?  Lainey and I wanna do something. 

Uh…sure.  I guess.  Have fun :)

They’re all fun,

silly,

sweet,

and beautiful. 

And, they’re all mine.  I am blessed.

How sweet.  Ethan is teaching Lainey how to play his guitar!  I love it when the big kids share their lives with Lainey.  I’m sure L will give him a big hug and kiss for this privilege. 

Or, maybe she’ll just steal his guitar pick.

inside and out.

Matching game…classic, preschool task to learn.  Lainey digs it big time. 

And, Payton is more than happy to set aside his school books long enough to play a game. 

Afterall, school is more than just books.  It’s learning to take turns…to match pictures…and, to celebrate when the other person finds that perfect match. 

This little preschooler is learning her lessons well.

Yesterday (computer was down, couldn’t post!) was 2 years with Lainey!  We celebrated with dinner out at Al’s Pizza and she received a new book.  I started that tradition last year, giving her a special book for each Gotcha day anniversary. 

I took the above picture yesterday.  Here she is a year ago…what a difference!

See the changes?  She’s lost the “baby” look.  Sad, but I do love seeing her grow into a “big girl”. 

Here are more shots from yesterday! 

I told Lainey I wanted to take some pictures of her.  I think she misunderstood. 

belly laugh!  Abbey was tickling her…she’s a great assistant photographer. 

At the restaurant.  Obeying mom’s request for a smile…cheesy. 

Oooh, a present. 

She likes it.  I read it to her right after she opened it.  After finding out that the rabbits were both boys (she’s a stickler for needing to know gender), she listened intently.  What a sweet story. 

A squeeze from Lainey.  Slightly painful, but totally appreciated. 

Dada’s turn…

Big kids get goofy.  I’m sure the noise level wasn’t bothersome to those around us.  Nah…

We weren’t THAT loud.  Right?

After getting kicked out of …leaving the restaurant, we came home and took a shot of the special girl with her sibs.  Happy 2 years with us, Lainey!  We love you!