A warm summer evening with friends...

Thursday turned out to be a beautiful day. It was much too beautiful for cooking or eating in so we met our friends Jeff and Polly and their three kids at a local barbecue place to eat outside. After dinner we walked to a nearby park and had a great time letting the kiddos run off some energy. We had been stuck inside the two days before because of the rain so we were all VERY happy to be out. Here are some pictures of the fun.

We spell cool G - A -B - E.

He is SO cool, he is even a chick magnet. Here he is giving Gina a lift in his side car.

Abby and Eric monkeying around.

Gina following after Abby and Eric.

Ellie has no fear. She prefers to fly with her arms open wide.Ellie LOVES swinging!

Gabe and Luke racing down the slide. Gabe won because Luke didn't actually know it was a race.

The four big kids looking in Silver Lake. And yes we were worried that one would topple in head first. The water is not deep but it is gross!

6 Years Come And Gone So Fast...

Our first born, Abigail Rose Germann turned 6 years old today. It is hard to believe that six years have passed so quickly. As I remember her rather slow painful entrance into the world (30+ hours of labor and a c-section) it seems like just yesterday that she was born. But as I write this I realize that 1/3 of the time that I have with her being a child is already gone.

Abby is such an amazing little girl. I would be proud just to know her so imagine how I feel getting to be her mother. Every day I am amazed by her intelligence, her humor and her kindness.

Some of the things we love about Abby:

* Her energy and enthusiasm for life (even if that means staying up way too late)

* How she will do anything to stop her brother from crying and make him laugh

* That she is a math whiz

* That she can read books well beyond her age

* Her amazing vocabulary that she always uses correctly

* Her faith in God

* Her devotion to Daddy (she is a Daddy's girl)

* The way she paces around when she talks on the phone (more like a teenager than a 6-year old)

* Her passion for bubble gum and blowing bubbles

* Her negotiation skills, especially when it comes to getting snacks or more T.V.

* That she is an awesome big sister to Gabe and Ellie

* Her love for all animals of the stuffed variety, not so much the real ones

* The way she watches herself dance in the reflection in the picture window in the family room

* The fact that she can hula hoop better than anyone I have ever known

Abby's first birthday.

Our big 6 year old wearing the crown from the card her brother picked out for her and showing off the blue tongue created by the ring pop she talked her Dad into. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

Happy 10 Months Ellie!

Abby and Ellie share a birth day but not birth month. Today Abby turned 6 years old and Ellie turned 10 months old. Today also marks 4 weeks that Ellie has been with us. Ellie has made her place in our home and our hearts and we barely remember life without her. Even Gabe has warmed up to her and his new role as big brother. Ellie continues to do new things each day.

When we brought her home Ellie couldn't get from laying to sitting without assistance and now she does that with ease. She is now able to pull up on her knees and even bounces in that position to move across the hardwood floor. Ellie gets up on her hands and knees and really tries to crawl though she is not there yet. She babbles and laughs and smiles. She imitates sounds and gestures and has learned to clap her hands. Ellie is a busy wonderful little girl and we couldn't love her anymore.

Some Assembly Required...

Abby turns 6 tomorrow. We decided to give her a new bike and helmet for her birthday as her old bike was pretty small for her long long legs. On Monday we took her bike shopping so she could try them out and pick out the one she liked. It was a good thing we took her along as she needed an 18" bike and I suspect we wouldn't have gone that big had we not seen her sit on it. Abby and Daddy worked hard to assemble the bike and Abby really loves it. The next challenge will be getting her to give up her training wheels!

First you take all the parts out of the box.

Then add a supervisor to the project. Abby makes a great supervisor. She's even got the stance down.

Next convince the supervisor that the project will be completed more quickly if she does some work.

The finished product.

One happy almost 6-year old girl!

Grandpa and GrandPA G.

On Saturday we had a visit from Grandma Patt and Grandpa Denny (or Grandpa and GrandPA as Gabe calls them). When he addresses one of them directly he gets the Grandma and Grandpa thing correct however when he refers to them jointly he calls them Grandpa and GrandPA with special loud emphasis on the second PA.

This was Patt and Denny's first visit with Ellie besides a brief encounter at the airport. They have been very patient grandparents. They came in the morning and got to spend some floor time with Ellie. They brought us lunch and after lunch Patt and Abby and I also planted flowers in the front flower bed (no more mudpies). Abby was great help and stuck with the project until we were finished. We went to 4:30 Mass and ate dinner at Culvers. It rained on us the entire time we were planting flowers but by dinner time it was nice enough to eat outside.

Ellie and Grandma Patt making friends.

Grandpa and Ellie sharing a toy.

Some special Abby and Grandpa time.

Looking through Ellie's photo album.

Abby and Grandma hard at work. We planted about 100 petunias.

Tuesday with Two

Tuesday was my first day of having two kiddos at home. It actually went very well. Ellie is very entertained by him so I think in some respects having him home is easier. Gabe is, however, very demanding of my time and does not yet seem to understand why we can't leave Ellie alone while I follow him on some grand adventure. When Abby is home Gabe defaults to playing with her and essentially ignores Ellie. This time at home while Abby is in school is going to be great for developing a relationship between Gabe and Ellie.Here they are playing together. Gabe is starting to like this older brother thing because he gets to be the one who knows it all.

Gabe thought Ellie could use some help with her hair. Here he is attempting to brush her hair with a princess brush. Don't worry, I intervened before any damage occurred.

While Ellie was taking her morning nap I let Gabe make mudpies in the empty front flower bed.

I was washing down the front porch while Gabe was making mudpies. Eventually he decided clean looked like as much fun as dirty so he joined in the cleaning efforts.

Ellie continues to make strides toward crawling and pulling up. Yesterday she pulled up to her knees on the stairs for the first time. I am sure she will be attempting to ascend the stairs in no time and we will need to install the gate.

Tuesday turned out to be an incredibly warm day. We had highs in the 90s. And when you get 90s in Minnesota in May there is only one thing to do.....PLAY WITH THE HOSE! The kids got into their swimming suits and got out the hose after dinner. It is amazing how much fun can be had with just a hose and a couple of buckets.

And as a busy day came to a close Big Sister Abby decided to share her latest passion with Ellie....bubble gum! Ellie was duly impressed with Abby's ability to blow bubbles!

A Weekend of Visitors....

We had a very nice weekend visiting with family and friends who have been anxiously awaiting their chance to meet Ellie.

On Saturday Uncle Paul (Phil's brother) and Aunt Tiffany came for a visit. They had a great time playing on the floor getting to know Ellie and spending some time with Abby and Gabe. They grilled brats for us and brought yummy dessert too. THANKS Paul and Tiffany! They even got to stay long enough to play some 500 after the kiddos were all sleeping. Yay!

Kicking back with Uncle Paul. This guy seems alright!

Is that me in your camera Aunt Tiffy? Boy I look cute today!

On Sunday evening our friends Steve and Micki came over with their four kids. All of the kids were very well behaved. You wouldn't have even known we had seven children in the house! They brought dinner and presents for Ellie and even stocked our freezer with homemade lasagna for another day. THANKS Steve and Micki!

Here is Ellie checking out Nate (Steve and Micki's youngest child). He is an older man who already knows how to walk. We are already screening him as a potential prom date so Nate was showing off his moves!

The presents are interesting. Amanda would have been happy to open them for Ellie.

But in the end she just wanted to eat the paper.

Ellie did great meeting so many new people. Allowing her to stay on familiar turf and having the new people come to her seems to work very well. Although Ellie handled her weekend well, she is exhausted. I put her to bed 12 hours ago and she is still sleeping.

Fun with Bubbles!

Ellie LOVES her baths. Because she has had a cold this week we have been using a Johnson's baby bath product with menthol to help with her congestion. The bonus of that particular baby bath is the that it makes TONS of bubbles. Who doesn't love bubbles?

How many MOMS do you have?

How many Moms do you have? This is the question that filled my mind today on my first Mother's Day with 3 children. Since we do not yet have the technology to grow babies to full term in jars, we all have a First Mom. A First Mom is the mom who carried us in her womb and gave us life. For some that may be the only mom they ever have but most of us acquire more Moms somewhere along life's journey. Some of us acquire Second Moms through death, divorce and remarriage. We may also acquire Second Moms through our own marriage, our mother-in-laws. Still others acquire more Moms through pseudo adoption. We adopt friends, neighbors or coworkers with whom we develop a nurturing 'mom' like relationship. All these woman, the many Moms in our lives, should be honored on Mother's Day.

On this day, I realize that I am both a First and a Third Mom. I was blessed enough to be a First Mom to Abby and Gabe. I carried them with me for 9 months and I was there when they took their first breaths in the world. No matter where I go in life or what I do, I will always consider the creation of those two perfect human beings my greatest accomplishment.

Now through the beauty of adoption I also get the chance to be a Third Mom. Somewhere in Korea is a courageous young woman who loved Ellie enough to give her life despite the fact that she was probably shunned by family and friends for being a single pregnant woman. Ellie's First Mom also placed her for adoption hoping to provide her with the things she couldn't. That decision had to be one of the most difficult decisions of her life. I hope that on this day celebrating Mothers that Ellie's First Mom is at peace with her decision and I hope someday she will know how much we love the little girl she brought into this world. Ellie also had a Second Mom, Lee Mi Sook. Mi Sook took on the difficult task of caring for a new born day and night knowing that someday she would leave for another family. She loved Ellie as her own until the day we brought her home. Ellie could not have had a better Second Mom. So that leaves me in position number three. It is a position that I am happy to have. I didn't hear Ellie's first breath. I didn't see her first smile or hear her first laugh but I get so much more. I get to be there for her first steps, her first word and her first birthday. I will be there for her first day of school, her first aced test and her first broken heart. I get to be her forever mommy. Yes, third place is just fine with me.

We had a fairly quiet Mother's Day around the Germann household. We went to Mass and ate lunch at Subway (Abby's choice). Who knew a five year old could eat a whole meatball sub? We spent a quiet afternoon at home with all three children napping (that is a gift in itself). We then went out for Mexican food (Mommy's choice). We had hoped to capture some pictures of our Mexican dinner but we were too busy surviving eating out with three kids to remember to take pictures. Here are some pictures we took after church of me and my beautiful children on Mother's Day.

Muffins, Mass and the END of Paternity Leave

Today was a busy day for the Germann Household. First we had muffins. Gabe and I headed off to his daycare for "Moms and Muffins" in celebration of Mother's Day. It was nice to have breakfast with him one on one and spend a little time playing in his room. He will continue to attend this daycare all of next week and probably part of the following week to allow Ellie a little more adjustment and bonding time. After that he will be at home with mom. Then in July both Gabe and Ellie will start at a brand new educational daycare center just opening next month. We have been at our current daycare center, Knowledge Beginnings for nearly 6 years so it is hard to make the change but we are very excited about the new school, Primrose. They seem to have great curriculum and the directors there were formerly the directors at Knowledge Beginnings so we are very comfortable with them. Still transitions are hard and this is another one. Here are some pictures of "Moms and Muffins."

Phil was left home to get the girls ready and Abby to school by 9:00 because Mass was next on the agenda for the day. On Wednesday Abby has school Mass and today was the Kindergartners week to 'plan' Mass. Abby read a petition the last time the Kindergartners lead Mass but this time she sang in the choir. I met Phil and Ellie at school for Mass. Nothing beats Kindergartners belting out Mass music!

Abby is on the top row in the middle. She is wearing a yellow shirt.

Today marks the end of Phil's two weeks of paid paternity leave so after Mass he headed back to work. Wow - where did those two weeks go? We spent the first one traveling and the second on recovering. I will miss having Phil home. Ellie is fun but she is not much of a conversationalist yet.

I should note that Ellie slept for 11 hours last night and only got up because we had to wake her to start our busy day. We missed her afternoon nap yesterday so she fell asleep at 8:30. We were so afraid that she would be up in the night or very early in the morning. I was quite surprised when I woke up at 6:00 and had not heard from her. We finally woke her at 7:30 so she could eat before going to school with Abby. It appears that our little Ellie may be a good sleeper. YES!

Jet lag has lifted and Ellie sits up

I think we are finally over the jet lag. Woo Hoo! Ellie slept last night from 9:30 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. At 4:30 she was only up for 45 minutes took a bottle and went back to sleep until 8:30. We slept through the alarm and were awakened by Abby at 8:00! It was a mad dash to get everyone fed and Abby to school on time but we did it and we were grateful for the extra sleep.



Ellie is settling into the family so nicely. I have heard and read of so many struggles with attachment in adoption that I keep waiting for something bad to happen but each day gets better and better. Ellie takes bottles easily for us now (though she still won't look at Phil when she takes her bottle at least she drinks all her milk). When we first came home she would arch her back and scream when we tried to put her to sleep. I just put her down for her morning nap and she just snuggled in my arms and drifted off to sleep without any fighting or crying. We feel so blessed that she has such an easy going disposition.




Abby and Gabe have been struggling a little bit with all the changes. There is no outright hostility toward Ellie or anyone else but there are more temper tantrums and tears. They are both really sensitive and a small injury that wouldn't have phased them two weeks ago is now a terrible tragedy. We are working hard to find some individual time for each of them each day (no easy task). I know in the long run their lives will be richer and fuller for having another sibling but it is hard to see them struggling now. In a month it will be as if Ellie were always here. Gabe is already rewriting history in his story telling to include Ellie in things we did before she came.



Ellie's newest trick is getting from laying to sitting on her own. She is very proud of herself when she does it and looks to us for praise. She gets herself in some pretty funny positions and she appears to be incredibly flexible. Perhaps she will be a gymnast. This is usually the last developmental milestone before crawling so our house will get even busier soon.



Almost there...


Look at me sit up. I am so proud!

Ellie has also become an avid reader of any book containing pictures of babies.