Go M's!

Last week was LDS night at the Mariner's Game. My parents had bought 3 tickets, 1 for each of them and 1 for Kaylee. I had a concert the same night and talked Kaylee into going with me so Kaiya was the lucky one to take Kaylee's ticket. This was her 1st Mariners game. Kaiya had fun from what I hear and didn't get bored. She took her camera with her so that helped and gave her something to do. My parents and Kaiya got a free t-shirt and hat and were even lucky enough to meet the Mariner's Moose (Kaiya has worn the hat every day since). The M's played the Orioles but the Orioles won.

The last couple weeks...

this is what we have been up to...

Kaiya playing school or house with her stuffed animals. One day they are all her students...the next they are her kids.


Ella being the dare devil she is. She has been crawling onto the chair under the table, she gets stuck, then screams for help.

Ella found the swing in the spare bedroom/office and wanted to swing in it so Cirdan brought it out to the living room. I caught her doing this on it...surfing!!

The other night we were playing with Ella in her room. She climbed up on her zebra toy which she has been doing lately but this time she took her hands off of her crib or toy and was standing on the seat hands free! I didn't get a picture of her doing it cause I didn't want her to get hurt!

We have been helping Casey learn how to walk...he has been taking steps here and there. One of these days soon!

Kissing cousins...

We have been making crafts. This was a stepping stone that Kaiya made for the front yard.

Playing on the slip and slide and in the little baby pool...

Kaiya playing dress up with Ella...

And last but not least...playing on our swing set and trampoline...

Cirdan has been working hard with his moving company! He has been booking jobs like crazy!!! He is such a hard worker. WOO HOO!

Dance! Dance! Dance!

Kaiya took a tap, jazz, ballet combo class this past year. We put her in a combo class so that she could see what style of dance she liked the best. A week before her big performance they had a rehearsal which parents could attend and take pictures (since we couldn't take pictures of the performance). I was very surprised at how well she did! There were only 5 girls in the class but Kaiya was the star! After rehearsal her teacher came up to me and said that Kaiya did really well and that she was the only kid in the class that would be ready to advance to the other class. She said that she was a natural. Here are some pictures of rehearsal.

The performance was on Father's Day. Kaiya did so well! I didn't know how she would react dancing in from of all the people there but she was awesome. We were so proud of her. Her class was the 1st class to start the show and they had 2 other dances within the recital.

The day we have been waiting for...

I am not sure even where to begin with this post. 4 years ago Cirdan's daughter was born. VERY LONG story short....his ex (Sarah) wanted her then boyfriend to be Ava's daddy and didn't let Cirdan see her. He took her to court and after a DNA test he was able to meet his little girl when she was about 8 months old. They fought in court and after spending over $20,000 in fees he just couldn't fight any longer. He could not compete with Sarah's dad and the money he was forking out. The last time he saw his little girl was around Sept 2006 when Ava was about 15 months. He has been in contact with Sarah over the years trying to be a part of his daughters life...but each time she has an excuse. Now's not the right time...Ava is too fragile...she has all the love she needs....etc. There is a lot more to the story but that is the basics....

WELL...

Sarah is trying to move. She wants to move with Ava thousands of miles away so they can live with her boyfriend. To do this she has to go back to court and adjust the parenting plan. This has been a huge blessing.

Another long story short...Cirdan got to see Ava on June 20th for 2 hours. This was the 1st time he has seen her in about 3 years. It was also the same weekend as Father's Day which made this Father's Day one of the best. Their visit was at the mall so they played in the toy area, ate pretzels and opened presents he had brought her because her birthday was on the 18th. He also was able to see her this past Saturday. The visits are going extremely well and Ava has definately warmed up to Cirdan.

A court date is scheduled for July 23rd to see if the court will allow Sarah and Ava to move. We hope and pray that the court will not take Ava now and they will see that all these years Sarah has withheld her from all her dad's family. Ava has yet to meet Kaiya, Ella and I. That is supposed to happen on July 18th (a week before they are supposed to move!!!). The good thing is that whatever happens Ava is now apart of our lives. If the court does allow them to move they will have to redo the parenting plan which means that Ava will be flying here a few times a year to stay with us. That isn't what we hope for though. She needs to be here for at least another year to get to know us and to be able to meet her Grandparents, cousins and all the people that have been anxiously waiting for all these years to see this sweet girl.

It has been a very stressful month but hopefully this will all work out for the best...either way we are thrilled at the opportunity to have Ava part of our family.

Last Day of School...Finally!

School is OUT! We've been having so much fun this summer now that I am home and not working. The last day of school was both sad and happy for Kaiya. She enjoys going and seeing her friends everyday but she definitely needed and break and is looking forward to getting a new teacher (even though on the last day she said she wanted Ms. O'Donnell again next year....??? Weird since she didn't like her...). It's been nice to be able to sleep in, go to bed late, and not have to be home at 3:10 to pick her up from school.

On the report card Kaiya brought home her teacher had nothing but good things to say about her. The report said that Kaiya was reading above 1st grade level and her current fluency rate is 90 which is significantly higher than the 50 they are looking for. We are so proud of her and can't believe she is going to be a 2nd grader soon!!

The last day of school was a half day and we decided to celebrate and go to Chuck E Cheese. Stacey and Casey also came with us to P-A-R-T-Y. Kaiya had a fun time running around gathering tickets and Ella and Casey had a blast and tired themselves out.