Christmas in Apex 2010

So once again I procrastinated with scheduling Christmas pictures (happened last year, too) and the photographers we wanted to use were booked. So I was left with few options when I had an “Aha” moment last night and remembered that Downtown Apex does Christmas pictures (a little 5 minute photo shoot) with Santa in front of an old fashioned fire truck and they take them high resolution and then give you the disc for $10. I stumbled on it last year. They also do a pancake breakfast.

Well, this year the line was 2 hours long so we missed the pancake breakfast. Bummer, but we got the pictures so I will be able to create Christmas cards. The pictures turned out really nice. The kids were amazingly good considering it was freezing cold and we stood outside in line for 45 minutes before we made it into the warm building. M cried as soon as I tried to put her on his lap and has qquite the expressions in the dozen images we got.

Since we missed the breakfast we decided to go to lunch and we hit Tyler’s Taproom. The server was awesome, the food was good and they give Wiki Sticks to the kids to play with during the meal. C was so happy and entertained. I definitely think we will go back. They customized his kid meal to noodles and grilled chicken and he was so happy.

Here are some of my favorite pictures.

M is not so sure of Santa, but C is smiling big for the camera:

Santa made her laugh:

A Family shot:

C telling Santa that he wanted a digital camera for Xmas:

Tis the Season......for Christmas Cards

It is that time of year for Christmas cards again. I love creating our family cards and we usually get really into making sure we get a family picture for the card.
I have ordered from Shutterfly in the past and will be ordering from them again. It is super easy. You upload a picture (or two or three or more) and pick a design, then choose the layout, add a greeting and then preview. Once you decide it is super easy to order.
Here is a sample from a card from a previous year that we ordered from Shutterfly (all your projects can be saved and shared on their site). This one is from 2008. It remains one of my favorites because I love the picture with Santa reaching out his hand to C. Although, he told us and everyone who mentioned that picture that it was “Arvey’s hand” the assistant that was helping take the picture.

Christmas 2008:

Winter Snowmen Winter

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

So far these are my choices for this year:

Love Hope Faith Religious

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

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Joy Sky Story Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

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I really like the “faith hope love” card because it seems so appropriate this year. This year has been so big for us with getting M placed with us in January, then adopted in August. I saw this card and thought it was “perfect” for our Christmas cards this year. I love the “joy and magic” one, too because it also sums up how the year was for us, joyous and magical.
I will probably end up doing a combination of the two so that our Jewish recipients get a holiday season one vs. more Christmas-y and we usually try to stick with a more “holiday” or “happy new year”.
All the grandmas are requesting calendars again this year, they love seeing the pictures of the grandchildren throughout the year. And I need a new mug for my desk because mine is a family picture from 2006, pretty outdated. I have gotten the grandmas mugs, also, in the past but I think they will just get calendars this year.

p.s. I got 50 free cards for writing about Shutterfly, but I would have ordered from Shutterfly without the promotion and the card preview from 2008 was the actual Shutterfly card we sent out two years ago. They have a very good product.

How the kids enjoyed Mexico

Here are some pictures of how the kids enjoyed their time in Mexico.

The kids in the pool, one of my absolute faves. They really do like each other and make each other smile all the time. Makes me realize that I am so happy we were able to finally give C a sibling:


Me, my mom, and Miss M in the pool:


Miss M lounging on the chair under the Tiki Hut (Did I tell you how much I loved the Tiki Huts and chairs on the beach?)


We got to see and hold baby Sea Turtles. They had hatched at the resort so they gathered them up for the governement to come and get and deposit in less populated areas. They were so cute and small. You can also see in this picture that Maya had her hair braided while we were there. A lady on the beach did it and it was super cute!


A great picture of daddy and the kids in the pool:


We went to the Mexican Fiesta night at my mom's resort and the girls paid a lot of attention to C. She gave him a kiss and left lipstick on his cheek that we were not allowed to wipe off.

Mexico

We took the kids to Mexico last week for a family vacation. We originally had planned to go for Spring Break, but because of M's adoption we had to postpone the trip. Pesky little things like birth certificates and passports kept us in the country.
So we booked the trip for November 6th through the 13th. I hadn't been to Mexico since I was 20 and hubby and the kids had never been. We didn't know what really to expect on the vacation, but loved it and would definitely go back.
We went to Puerto Vallarta which is on the West Coast. It is surrounded by mountains and has very pretty beaches. The water was a little chilly but we did go in the ocean swimming some. C and I even snorkeled while hubby and M sat tight in the boat. The flight from NC was really easy about 2 hours 20 minutes to Houston and then another 2 ½ hours to Puerto Vallarta. It seemed easier than or just as easy to get there as it is to get to West Coast of US.
We booked our vacation at Paradise Village which is just north of Puerto Vallarta in Nuevo Vallarta. The resort was great for families. You can do pay as you go or an all-inclusive package. We opted out of all-inclusive since we had a kitchen and would be spending some time with my mom at her resort, Villa Palmar de Los Flamingos. The food was pretty good at the resort, but glad that we were able to cook some as C wasn’t a huge fan of the food. M loved having guacamole every day though. Paradise Village had great kid activities like pool volleyball, beach soccer, pool basketball, bingo, water polo, bocce ball tournaments, and dancing lessons. C loved playing with the activities staff. I played the pool volleyball, too. The pool was great, it had two large waterslides lots of area to swim, a kiddie section, and nice hot tub. The beach was great and the resort has a ton of little Tiki Huts to sit under while you relax on the beach, very nice for me since I burn so easily so it was nice to sit in the shade while M napped on the beach. There was a market, dominoes, McDonalds, café, and Starbucks a very short walk right outside the gates of the resort. The resort also had Tigers on site and a few exotic birds. Our building had a pool and hot tub right outside. The room was really nice, too, it was a 2 bedroom, 2 baths with full kitchen and washer/dryer.
My mom’s resort seemed a little stuffier, but also had a fantastic pool. Our resort had a bunch of kids and there were hardly any kids at hers. But the rooms were really nice, too. We did do a theme dinner night, Mexican Fiesta, at her hotel and that was so much fun, the staff was very entertaining and the food was great.

Happy Girl

I made this outfit a while ago and being it was summer, I wasn’t ready for her to wear it. It is not quite Fall, but cool in the mornings so I finally put it on her. It was super cute on her and I set her on the bench outside day care to snap a few pics.

She was so stinkin adorable. I asked her to say cheese and this is what I got:

Then I eventually got the “I am tired of you taking my picture” eye roll:

She is such a happy girl in the morning. She is bouncing by the time I get to her crib and then jumps into my arms where I am greeted by huge hugs. She fusses for her diaper change if I take too long to get to her bottle. But, after she relaxes during her bottle, she just sits up and is so happy and ready to go. So much fun! My spunky little girl.

In Love with my new Canvas

In June, we got our family pictures taken by Katie McAnally. She was wonderful with the family and took some great pictures of the whole family and of the kids and even a really cute one of hubby and I. I bought her package with the CD and then she even added one more in there that I specifically could make into a canvas. I loved working with her, she was so great and gets back to you quickly.
I finally took that image and ordered a canvas from Canvas on Demand. It is a local company, but they ship all over the country. I talked with the customer service rep and she assured me that the canvas would turn out perfect and they would center the family picture on the canvas. I was very nervous just uploading the image and not getting a "preview" box. They do all the editing after you upload and decide how the picture will look best. Wow! I was so impressed when we got the package. I am so happy with it!!!!!

If you click on the canvas picture of us, you can get a coupon for Canvas on Demand. I will also have to post some more of the pics Katie took of us. She took the one on this post of me holding Maya that is black and white.

So frustrated

I am beyond frustrated right now. We received our adoption decree and our Social Worker told us it will take 1-2 months to get a Birth Certificate. My mom had been planning a trip to Puerto Vallarta that I had been telling her that we need to see what the timelines for adoption are before we confirm that we are going. After we got our decree and found out from Social Worker it would take just 1-2 months to get a Birth Certificate, we told my mom we could go.

Well, I went to Vital Records on Friday and they hadn't received word from the Adoption Review Unit that reviews adoptions after final decree and before it goes to vital records. What?!?!?! I was never told about such a thing. Adoption review Unit received it August 8th. So, they gave me the number for the adoption review unit and told me to ask for the supervisor and ask to get my adoption review expedited. Simple enough, right? I was optimistic calling. I left a message for the lady who does it for our county and she called me back that day. She said they are working on a 4-6 month timeframe to review and approve adoptions and get them to vital records to obtain a Birth Certificate. She said vacation is not an important reason to expedite and to call her at the end of September to see where they were. I was so mad but stayed calm on the phone, explained that this was a big family trip, we really want to take Miss M with us and need a Birth Certificate to get a passport issued. She blew me off and said I could contact her supervisor who is on vacation until the 13th and plead my case with her but realistically we are looking at getting it maybe by the end of the year. It is not like I asked for it tomorrow, I asked if I could have it by the beginning of October, a MONTH away. The trip is in November.

I don't see what other alternatives we have. I don't see not taking Miss M as an alternative. I am so mad, had we been told this up front we wouldn't have gotten excited and said we could go. I am mad. I got my hopes up and was excited about this trip.

I understand that we jump through a million hoops for adoption, but I thought we were done once we had the decree and now it is just a new set of hoops where these people don't care about us and she made it very clear. I hate that we are going to miss an opportunity to see my mom if we don't go and that means we wouldn't get to see her until next year.