Aruba

We are back from our yearly trip to Aruba. Gorgeous weather for the entire week and now back to the grey of January in DC. This year's trip was even more challenging traveling with 3 kids. Definitely not relaxing but 80 and sunny with that turquoise water really makes for a nice change of scenery. The kids had a blast seeing their cousins and spending hours bouncing back and forth from the pool to the beach. Lily in her usual fashion stole the show. Even the night she decided to power puke just as we ordered dinner, the people at the next table were telling us how adorable she is! Last year we weren't able to go since our travel call was supposed to come right around Aruba time and Lance still talks about how Lily made him miss the trip! Luca is becoming more and more independent these days and Lance just wanted to be one of the "big cousins." We figure in about 3 more years, Rick and I can actually enjoy the trip lounging with a cocktail without being on constant kid duty. At least there is help from mom, dad and nonna!!

Words!!!

It is so great to see the girly toys just scattered around the house now that Xmas is over. I actually tripped over Lily's American Girl baby doll last night. We received a letter from the agency saying that our update letter was translated into Korean and everything has been sent over to Lily's foster family. Meanwhile, we are nearing the end of the finalization process. Today I am off to the airport to make sure we can travel out of the country with Lily's Korean passport since we leave this weekend. Agency says it's no problem, but the thought of arriving at the airport at 6am with the 5 of us packed and not being allowed to travel really wouldn't be fun.

This past week, Lily began to say my name and screams it out every morning when she is ready to get out of her crib. She also is calling "Luca" and says "goodnight." Ahhh finally a few words that are clear! Here are a few recent pics.