October 31, Halloween

Daddy made carmel apples and cinnamon pumpkin seeds. They were so yummy. Alaina even had a little taste of apple, as you can see in her net sac she' holding. It was as though she couldn't get enough, she loved it! She eagerly watches us eat and wants to have what we are having, but her little tummy is not ready. Unfortunately, she can only handle a little bit at a time and has issues with solid foods. We will try again in a month or so.
Both girls dressed up for Halloween. Vivian was a Mid-evil Princess. This was the costume I bought for her last year that she couldn't wear because it was too large. This year it fit just right! Alaina was a lion. I bought this costume on clearance last year thinking we may end up adopting a boy! Well it worked fine, we made it into a girl lion (although they don't have manes) by putting, of course, a pink bow on top!

Daddy out trick or treating with the girls. When VIvian got home she said that "It was scary out there." When I asked why, Cory said that she didn't like the sleleton she saw.
Mommy stayed back to hand out the candy.

October 26, Yum...Yum!

Mom was craving chocolate after dinner so we made cupcakes. Vivian didn't like the cake as well as the frosting!

October 26, Adoption Clinic

Today, Alaina had her Doctor's appointment with the Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota. She sure was a trooper after a long day. Our appointment was at 8 am so our morning started at 6 am dropping Vivian off at daycare. Once we got to the clinic, everyone marveled about how darling she was (something her parents already know). We met with Dr. Howard and a 3rd year resident. We were told that she looks wonderful and they really did not have any concerns. We learned that the markings she has on her tongue is called a "geographic tongue." She may have this into adulthood, or it may go away in time. We also met with a developmental therapist that watched how she sat, moved, played and interacted with various toys. Dr. Howard again emphasised the importance of only her parents holding her to reinforce that we are her primary care givers. Dr. Howard said that she can already see Alaina attaching well to us. At this time she said that we can slowly start to have family start to hold her. We will have a follow-up with them to be sure her growth continues and that they do not see any attachment disorders in approximately 3 months. The last person we needed to see was the lab. They needed to draw blood to test for infections, thyroid, hep B, etc. They were having trouble with the patient before us and then they got a STAT request. It wasn't until an hour later that we were able to be seen. After a long morning, we left the clinic around 12:00. Since we did not have Vivian with us, we decided to take advantage of this time and do our fingerprinting for some post-adoption paperwork. We went to Buffalo had our prints done and finally headed home. Again, Alaina was such a trooper. Her only nap was 45 minutes in the car from the clinic to the jail! These pictures were taken after we got home and she got into pne of her favorite places (Chloe's water bowl). She was wet from head to toe! Her second favorite place is near the computer (facinated with the cords).

October 24, Pizza

Cory picked up a pizza after a Knights of Columbus meeting on Wednesday. This is the first time we have gotten Vivian to actually eat pizza like it should be eaten! Had to take a photo to document it. She is expanding her taste pallet. She had shrimp with linguini noodles the other night, although the noodles still had to be plain...dry as can be.

October 9, 101 Market

These photos were taken at a market near our house. For the month of October, they have activities for families. We took part in the shelled corn pit, inflatable pumpkin and the mini maze. The corn pit was about knee high on Vivian and Alaina just wanted to eat it! We passed on the corn maze since it was so cold it was suppose to snow. Let me remind you that three days earlier, it was 9o˚!!!

October 6...Our last day of summer!

This was the last day of the year that it was really HOT. I think it was in the 90's if I remember correctly. Since then, I have retired Vivian's tank tops for the summer. Vivian was dancin' like nobody was watching. Her dancing consists of jumping up and down. She needs some new dance moves, maybe her daddy can teach a new step or two. I again tried to get both girls smiling together for a photo, but as you can see was not too successful.

Alaina's Bath Time

These are some of Alaina's first photos in the bath. She is the exact opposite of Vivian. She loves to splash and crawls back and forth from the front of the tub to the back over and over and over! Pouring water over her head to wash her hair is not even a problem. Hasn't cried yet!