Wild baby!

Okay, I swore I wouldn't be "that parent" who's posting the diaper pictures...but are you kidding me....this must be shared. My loyal readers...you have earned a look at Katelyn at her finest...in all her glory....dancing in her diaper.

I know you all want to take her home...and I'm sorry, she's staying here...please come visit and you can be part of the craziness.

And the party's over.

It is not possible to have a cooler kid...I know, I'm biased.

Easter

One of the other women on staff at our church was snapping pictures of everyone on Easter morning and took a cute one of Katelyn and I....now if only the weather would become more spring-like it would feel like mid-April.

On a positive note...I got the taxes done and in today. Every year I swear I'm going to do them before April 15th...and every year I put it off till the last minute. I hate doing taxes....Except this year ROCKS...Yeah for the adoption tax credit and the child tax credit!!!! I should have done the taxes two months ago!

One year

One year ago today Zhang Bi Wan was handed to us in the conference room of a hotel in Nanchang, China and became Katelyn Grace McDonald. She was crying and scared and had no idea who these strange looking people were. I was about to jump out of my skin. I was so excited to become her mommy I could hardly contain myself. The conference room of a hotel is a very strange place to become parents, by the way....but families are formed in many different ways.

Jump ahead one year. Is this even the same child? She has grown so much, learned so much, come into her huge personality as she runs and dances and laughs and plays. Now she trusts and loves me fully, willingly, constantly... How is it possible that she has changed so much in just one year? I didn't even know it was possible to love another human being this much. I can't even remember what life without her was like.

For all of you reading who are waiting for your baby...it is worth every single minute.

I can't imagine having any other child but my child. She truly is the perfect fit.

I love you Katelyn Grace. It's such an honor and privilege to be your mom.

Just a thought...

I read this quote on a personal finance blog and thought it was true...

"I think personal finance has it’s own 80/20. We probably get satisfaction from less than 20% of the things we buy. The other 80% usually is gone without us ever knowing it."

I think this is true. I'm learning to live with less and I'm really not missing it. If anything it makes me appreciate a special treat during the week or lunch out....they're the exception, not the norm. I think living simply makes life easier.

Nothing goes to waste

The week gets really busy around here and I'm commited to Katelyn and I eating fairly healthy on a budget and not just swinging through a drive thru because we're pressed for time. What this requires from me is cooking in batches so that we have a few things around to eat to take for lunch or to heat up in the evening for dinner. My parents bought a rotisierre chicken when they were over last week and there was some chicken left from that and the carcass. So tonight I cooked the carcass and made broth and then pulled off the last bit of chicken. I'm going to throw some stuff in the crock pot tomorrow before I leave for southwest chicken soup (one of my favorites and really easy...I usually have all the ingredients in the pantry). I didn't have a can of black beans though and I am really trying to use what I have in the house instead of going to the grocery store all the time. I did have a bag of dried black beans in the pantry so while the carcass was simmering I cooked the black beans and fed Katelyn some other leftovers (ham and soup beans from a few nights ago.) I had a cup of rice in the pantry so I cooked that up and I bought a bunch of fresh cilantro for 50 cents and 3 limes for $1 the last time I went to the store and I needed to use some of it up. So I took a piece of tilapia out of the freezer, squeezed some lime, drizzled olive oil and sprinkled some cilantro over it and stuck it in the broiler for a few minutes. I ate the fish with a side of rice and black beans with some lime, salt and cilantro over them. The rest of the black beans are going in the soup tomorrow. The leftover rice will be turned into chicken fried rice later in the week. I think I'm going to make cilantro pesto with the rest of the cilantro...or a nice salad dressing. We'll eat the soup tomorrow night when we come home and it will then become lunch a couple times this week. And I have several more cups of chicken broth in the fridge that I'll use in something this weekend (I refuse to buy broth in a can...it's so easy to make.) All our food is taken care of for the week..and it just took a couple of hours tonight of digging through the pantry and simmering.

Here's tonight's dinner!

Aye, aye captain

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day...the PERFECT day to launch the new boat into the lake. My dad and brother went and got it and brought it out. We were all really excited and can't wait for a spring/summer full of activities at the lake. Katelyn wasn't quite sure about the boat...we'll have to ease her into the boating adventures. One day I'm sure we'll laugh at her hesitation because I know that she's going to love being out on the water.

My dad is just a little excited about his new boat. :)

And what would a post be without a few pictures of the sweet pea... Here she is hanging out this afternoon. I taught her to say cheese...

Oh the cuteness!

Here she it hollering and throwing the pillow around. She's wacky.

Katelyn had so much fun at the lake this weekend. She ran all over the yard, throwing leaves in the air, playing in the rocks, carrying around her stick, digging in the dirt and running up and down the road. What a kid!

Enjoying spring...

Only when you are 21 months old is the front yard so fascinating! Katelyn was completely content to run up and down the driveway, race from end to end of the sidewalk, smell the flowers, play in the mulch....we spent a half an hour in the front yard tonight. Fine by me, it was a beautiful spring night. It's SO nice to be spending so much time outside. I have a little girl who is eating and sleeping like a pro these days.

Our little pear tree is in bloom. So pretty.

Look at this big girl. She's getting so tall.

Katelyn's favorite things these days are manhole covers. I know, what's a mom to do? When walking around the block she stops at every single one of them to stomp on them. This one is by our driveway so she had to sit on it, tell me what the letters on it were and stick her finger in the little hole. Gesh...(she did get a good long bath tonight).

And this sums up the night. Kung fu kick to all of you! (And a glimpse of the Katelyn glare...her signature look).

Katelyn spent last night and all day today hanging out with Grammy and Papa. They all did GREAT! My parents stayed for dinner and then headed back out to the lake. We're going tomorrow morning for a couple days. Katelyn loves the lake. (She calls it the ahkey.) Their house is on 2 1/2 lots so there's lots of room to run and play. I got a swing today to hang from a tree. We're pretty much all set.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE SPRING!!!!!!