Call Me Lynnae

Charlie, (that's my brother in case you didn't know,) just came into my room and told me that he posted to the blog to introduce himself. My mom really has been taking too long to do it. I think Charlie had a great idea, so I'm going to do the same thing too.

You can call me Lynnae. I know most of you know me as Mie Mie. Don't worry, I've decided that Mie Mie is now the name of my tummy and the rest of me can be Lynnae. Actually, since I came to live here almost three months ago, I have been telling Dzana and Andy that I wanted to change my name to either Jayne or Lynnae. Those are two of my middle names. My mom was kind of rooting for Jayne, but I am almost 8 and I can make my own decisions, so I have chosen Lynnae. Last week I told my parents that it was about time that they start calling me Lynnae. Dzana asked me if I was sure. So I told her that I had a whole body vote, and that everyone except for my tummy agreed. That's why my tummy is still Mie Mie. I can't officially change my name until I am adopted, so for now, Lynnae will just be a nickname.

You might not know that my birthday is close. I will be turning 8 on July 13th. I have been talking about how I am "practically 8" for months. I'm very excited. My mom and dad are planning to throw me a luau birthday party in our backyard at the end of July. If you live close-by you will be getting an invite. But I probably told you that you were invited to my party the day I met you. I can't even remember how many people I have invited to my party that way!

I like my new house. It's starting to feel like home. I have lots and lots of friends here and I have done a bunch of stuff here for the first time. I've been to the zoo, the library, a baseball game (Aquasox,) the aquarium, downtown Seattle, a play (High School Musical,) and I've started taking my first class at a college. Actually, I can't believe I'm admitting this... if you ask me tomorrow I will deny it... but I'm getting much better at school. My report card was so good that I actually got $10. It was 100% better than my last one. And... I kind of, actually, unbelievably, like to read. That's the class that I'm taking at the college. It's a reading class that will help catch me up for next year. My favorite series are the Magic Treehouse and Junie B Jones. I also really, really like Green Eggs and Ham and the Monster at the End of this Book.

Well, I figured I tell you about some of my favorite things like Charlie did. I can't wait to meet more of you! I ask Dzana when I can meet my cousins and grandparents almost every day. Later.

....Pictures to be posted after adopton is finalized...

1. My favoritest thing in the world is to make friends. I have lots of new BFFL's since I moved here. (In case you don't know, that stands for Best Friends For Life.) This is Madison. She lives kind of far away so I don't get to see her much, but I wish I did. My other new best BFFL's here are Candice and Kari. Kari lives next door. Candice is actually one of Dzana's best friends. Sometimes I get jealous when they go out without me.

2. Ah, three of my favorite things in one picture! I love being lazy. In fact, Dzana and Andy keep telling me I sleep later than any other kid they've ever known. If they didn't drag me out of bed, I could easily stay there until lunch. I also love Coconut. That's the monkey on my head. Candice gave her to me. (Yes, she's a girl. Practically EVERYTHING I have is a girl.) And, I LOVE Hannah Montana. I get in trouble for repeating the same lines out of the same episodes again and again.

3. I like pets. This tank used to hold my pet fish. Unfortunately, fishy died and we need to get a new one. But I really liked putting the tank together!

4. I love my Andy time. You might notice that sometimes I call him Dad and sometimes I call him Andy. That's because I can't decide what to call my new parents. They told me that I could call them whatever I was comfortable with, but it is hard to make that decision.

5. Dzana made a game for me to help catch up in school. I am going through these Hooked on 2nd Grade workbooks. I get prizes when I hit mega games, and a big prize when I get to the end of each book. I am more than halfway through one of them! (I really want my prize!!!)

6. I love having my picture taken. I like to pose for the camera a ton... so much that my mom has to tell me to just relax sometimes.

7. While I am getting better at reading, I am definitely a math and science girl. Dad and I have been learning about geology. When I was star of the week at school, I took my rock kit, (with the chisel, rock hammer and everything,) one day. Now all the boys like me. And I guess they don't have cooties after all. I even told Chandler he was invited to my birthday party.

8. I have a lot of energy. Sometimes my mom and dad tell me to "run it off." So I go outside and literally do. I like to taste the air when I run. I tell my parents it tastes like water.

9. I really like plants and weeding. I like to go outside with Andy and work on the yard with him. But I get tired after about 5 minutes. Our poor tree lost it's branch in a windstorm, so we had to take it off and throw it away. (But first I begged Dzana to let me pose for some pictures!)

Call Me Charlie

Hi There People!

Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Charlie. That's short for Charles. You might have known me as Nigel. Well, technically that's my name until I am adopted... so for now, let's consider Charlie a nickname. My family had a vote a couple of months ago and decided that Charlie suited me well. Why Charlie? Well, it is one of my middle names... the last of my middle names to be exact. And my mommy tells me that she has an Uncle Chuck that I remind her of. Plus, my sister really thought it would be a good name for me!

For those of you who might not already know, I am two and a half years old. My mommy taught me to tell people that I was 2, and to hold up two fingers while doing it. She said it was real cute at first. Now she tells me, "That's enough!" Do you think it is because I do it at least twenty times a day at the top of my lungs? My birthday is December 9th. I am really excited to turn three before Christmas!

I came to live at this house almost three months ago. My new mommy and daddy have taught me a lot of stuff. They also take a lot of pictures. All the time. (Literally.) My mommy keeps saying that she has been really bad about posting updates, so I thought I would help her.

I have made a lot of new friends here. I keep telling my mommy and daddy that I am going to marry Natalie. She is exactly two months younger than me and very cute. They just keep laughing at me when I say that though... I wonder why? I also really, really like Gwen... and her mommy, Anna Marie. At nursery in church I like to poke the other kid's eyes out. (Not really, and I have behaved much better since the first time. I was just trying to point to their eyes for them!)

Mommy and Daddy figured out that I stay out of trouble as long as I am learning. So, I have learned a lot. I can count to 10 with ease and recognize all of the numbers. A lot of times I will scare my mommy by shouting "4!" when I am right behind her and she didn't know I was there. It usually takes her a minute to calm down, but then she finds the 4 that I saw and seems real happy. I also have learned my alphabet song and can recognize most of the letters, both upper and lower cases. My new favorite game is to build the letters with my blocks. And, I've started to help mommy when we read at night by saying the words I know, like "it" and "the".

My favorite, favorite thing about me cannot by captured in a picture. It is my voice. My mommy has a video that she took on her cell phone that she says she wants to send out. Maybe someday she will so that you can all hear how well I can yell my numbers. (Especially the number 10, it is my favorite!) I talk all the time. Well, my mommy keeps telling me that I am yelling too loud and says something about an inside voice a lot. Doesn't everyone want to hear my beautiful tenor all the time???

Here are some of my favorite things... Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about me.

............Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized...............

1) This is my dog Boone. He is my best buddy. I like to yell, "Ready, set, go!" Then I run into him at full force. Unfortunately, he usually turns right around and starts running after me.

2) This is one of my kitties, Tiger. (I have a brand new kitty named Ziggy too.) I am a cat person, just like daddy. Tiger and Ziggy are my buds.

3) Coloring is the coolest thing in the world. But... I don't know why there are lines already on the paper before I start coloring. I just draw new and better lines all over them.

4) Okay, I have a secret to tell you. I love to read. I mean, I really love to read. Really. I have a lot of toys, but my mommy and daddy are always catching me with books instead of toys. I like to climb up, grab George, and read a book to him. I will point to the pictures and ask him questions about the story. He never answers though.

5) I also believe that food is not just for eating. You may not know this, but food is primarily for rearranging. For instance, if mommy gives me crackers, I must dutifully stack them before considering taking a bite. I love rearranging my food. That's why most of my meal times are longer than an hour.

6) Ah, the job of running... especially with Natalie.

7) And the best part about running? If you pick your feet up real good, so that you don't trip, you can stick your arms out and pretend to be a plane. I just love that!

8) I also really, really like balls. Not for throwing. Throwing is not my strong point. I love to stick my head on them and roll over them. I also love to kick them. My daddy and mommy keep saying I'm going to be a soccer star. What's soccer?

9) And, of course, I love sticks and rocks. I mean, come on people, I am a boy! I like to pretend like my sticks are walking sticks. Just like my daddy. I like to weigh my pockets down with rocks and other berries and pebbles too. My mommy never seems happy when she finds them though.

Fingerpainting Fun

We learned about journals and the kids were interested in starting their own. So we started a journaling project. I bought 3 ring binders for each of the kids. Once a week, or more often if they want, they are making an "entry". For Nigel, this is usually a page that he has colored on with some writing from me on what has happened that week. For Mie Mie, it is sometimes a drawing, sometimes a collage, sometimes a photograph with a brief explanation of something she wants to remember.

Before we started doing the actual entries I had each of them make a cover page to slip into the front cover. I thought it would be fun to pull out the finger-paints. It was fun... and it was also more messy than I had really anticipated. Mie Mie's picture turned out pretty good. I was especially impressed with her sun. We taught her how to make orange by mixing the red and yellow. Once she had made the sun with yellow and orange beams, she kind of blended them together. It was better than anything I would have done. She remained very neat, especially compared to Nigel.

Nigel started out with some paint on a plate, but we quickly just put some on the paper. He was too confused with how to get it from the plate to the paper! He started out dragging his fingers through it nicely... then, he just started going crazy with it. The important thing is that he thought it was the best thing ever. He was an absolute mess at the end. In the last picture he is on our counter because I had the delusion that I would be able to clean him off just using the sink. Soon after that, he was moved to the bathtub. He had paint in his hair, all down his arms and legs... it was messy!

....Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized...sorry....

Wedding

Andy and I both were eligible for upgraded phones with Verizon a couple of months ago... and I love mine. Not only because it works great, holds a good charge, and has a thumb keyboard... but also because it takes great pictures.

At the end of May we attended a wedding for one of the people I work with. It was held on Lake Washington, and we spent quite a bit of time at the end of the pier. The kids were fascinated with the water. We held on tight to Nigel because he kept talking about getting in! I got a great picture of Andy and the kids looking out at the water from the end of the pier... using my cell phone. And once they're adopted, I'll be able to put it up here for everyone to see!