WE HAD A VERY VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Oh My Christmas!!!!
Presents left by Santa Claus

Gabriella loved her presents from Santa

Caroline made a neat little pile of her gifts (typical Caroline)

Gabriella and her new Baby from Aunt Amy

Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve - Dad and his girls

Wow, the girls loved Christmas this year. Caroline was totally into it and Gabriella understood a lot more than we thought she would. Santa of course was very good to them and they got a lot of wonderful gifts. Christmas Eve was at Dad and Kathy's then Nonnie and Amy came to our house to spend the night and watch for Santa. Santa snuck in without anyone hearing him and left the girls their presents inside the front door. They were so excited when they woke up and saw the presents and the cookies and milk that Santa had enjoyed.

Here are some pictures of the festivties and lucky Silverio girls.

Happy New Year to All!

CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS

Sister Love

Gabby helping decorate the Christmas tree

Caroline putting the angel on the top of the tree

Sweet Caroline

We are getting ready for Christmas and are very excited. Caroline can't wait! Gabriella doesn't quite get it yet but she does love the decorations around the house. The other night we went out to dinner and all of the sudden Gabby jumped up on her seat, pointed to a man across the restaurant and said "Santa Claus". When I turned and looked she was so right - there was a man with a white hair and a great white beard and he looked just like Santa. It was so cute how she spotted him and pointed him out. Of course, at the mall she will have nothing to do with a picture with Santa - she is scared to death.

We will spend Christmas Eve at my Dad and Kathy's as we always do and then Nonnie and Aunt Amy will come to our house to spend the night so that they can wake up with the girls on Christmas morning. Santa will certainly be making a stop at our house - we have a new plate for his cookies and cup for his milk. Caroline has asked Nonnie and Amy to keep an eye out for him during the night since they will be sleeping in the living room. Christmas Day we will spend at home - we want to make this our family's holiday tradition. Stay in jammies all day and let the kids play with their new stuff. We plan to have crab legs for dinner and will enjoy a nice day at home.

I love the holidays and having the girls make it so much more fun. Here are some pics of our holiday preparation (sorry for the red eye).

TANGLED - CAROLINE'S FIRST MOVIE AT THE THEATER

Caroline went to her first movie at the theater yesterday. We saw Tangled and it was a very cute movie. She loved it. It was a special date day with Mommy, Daddy and Mel from across the street. We had special snacks, soda, and popcorn. She ate way too much and had a tummy ache but it was worth it. Fun was had by all. She sat through the whole movie (with a few bathroom breaks) and loved it.

Tangeman Visit

Gabriella and Bo riding the Barbie Jeep
Gabriella and Gunnar

Caorline and Gunnar

Wella with Gabriella and Gunnar

Nonnie and all her grandkids (her pride and joy)

Pictures from when my sister Julie and her two boys came to visit in early October. So much fun was had - 4 kids under the age of 4.

Enjoy.

Halloween Fun

The girls had a blast this year on Halloween. Caroline was an old pro (and so polite when getting candy) and Gabriella caught on very quickly - especially with candy involved. They were so cute. We had our good friends over with their twin boys (they are 10 days older than Gabby) and the kids had a lot of fun.

Caroline continues to wear her Snow White costume daily and I have to admit she is the most beautiful Snow White I have ever seen. She gets prettier every day.

Gabriella loved her bumblebee costume and won the cutest little kid at a Halloween Party out at the lake with Papa and Nana Kathy.

We are looking forward to the holidays - this time of year gets so busy. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house which should be interesting. We will have about 20 people here - I need to get on the ball with this.

XOXO

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

Once there were two women
Who never knew each other
One you do not remember
The other you call mother
Two different lives
Shaped to make yours one
One became your guilding star
The other became your sun
The first gave you life
The second taught you to live in it
The first gave you a need for love
And the second was there to give it
One gave you a nationality
The other gave you a name
One gave you the seed of talent
The other gave you an aim
One gave you emotions
The other calmed your fears
One saw your first smile
The other dried your tears
One gave you up,
The other prayed for a child
And was lead straight to you
And now you ask me the age old question....
Heredity or environment...which are you the product of?
Neither my darling neither
Just two different kinds of love.

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY - GOTCHA DAY

My Dear Caroline,

3 years ago today I first held you in my arms and my world changed. You are the beginning of my dreams come true and you have filled my heart with love. We are so proud to be your parents. Each day you bring new joy and new challenges. You keep us on our toes but you have taught us so much about love and patience. You are an amazing child and we thank God every day to be blessed with you as our daughter. I also thank your birthmother for making this such a special day for us - she had the love and strength to know that by giving you for adoption your life would be better than what she could provide. I know in my heart that she loves you and misses you every day but I thank her with all my heart as I know God's plan was for me to be your mother.

We love you so very much.

Mom & Dad

1ST DAY OF PRESCHOOL FOR CAROLINE

What a big girl she is! Caroline started preschool today - she is a big 3 1/2 year old. Mommy can't believe it. Today was "meet the teacher" day and Caroline was very shy - probably because I was there - hopefully she will loosen up when she goes back on Thursday and I drop her off and leave. The teacher is awesome and her classroom is so cool. She was a kindergarten teacher for many years and now does preschool out of her home - she is right around the corner from our house and I loved it. 3 year olds go 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours each time and then when she is 4 she can go 3 days a week.

Here is a pic of Caroline this morning on her way to school.

SUMMER FUN

Wild Child
Abulea and all her grandaughters (except Caroline - she would not get in the picture)

Caroline milking a fake cow

Rock Star

Running to keep up with her cousins

Gabriella and Naomi

Eating Cold Stone - happy girl

Trying to keep Gabby entertained on the airplane

Summer is coming to an end.....Caroline starts pre-school on Sept 9th, Junior and I are both back at work after our trip to KC for my reunion, the last of our company left this morning and Carmen is settling in.

We had a great trip to KC visiting family and friends and showing off our girls. My 20 year high school reunion was a lot of fun and it was great to see some old faces. Carmen has successfully moved here and we are loving having her here. The help is much appreciated with our wild little girls.

Work is going well for both of us and though it is nowhere close with the AZ heat we are looking forward to fall.

Enjoy the pics of our summer events.

xoxo,

The Silverios

4th OF JULY

Our Little American Girl
Enjoying the Fireworks

Love this pic - she was ready for bed - no fireworks for this one.

Nonnie and Gabriella

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July

We had a nice holiday weekend. One day at Amy and Brian's enjoying pool time and bbq. On Sunday the 4th we had friends over to our house for a cookout and fireworks. Actually, Gabriella and Junior did not make it to the fireworks but me, Caroline and Nonnie made it with some other close friends. Caroline loved them. I thought that she might be scared but she just sat in her little lawn chair and enjoyed the fireworks. She named all the colors as they went into the air - it was a fun day.

We head to KC on the 24th for a week in Kansas City and then to Topeka for a few days for my 20 year high school reunion (I cannot believe it). It seems like Junior and I just went to my 10 year reunion. Junior and his mom will then drive the long drive from KC to Phoenix for her move here while I fly home with the girls. We are ready for Wella to be here. I'm getting the house ready and making room for her stuff and making her room comfortable. The girls will be so excited to have their Wella here every day and the help will be greatly appreciated.

Hope everyone is well. We are great - Junior is loving his new job and it is well deserved.

OH, The Mouth on Her

Caroline and her comebacks............Memorial Day at Nonnie's house Caroline was sitting on the couch with her TV tray and her dinner. I kept reminding her to have a bite of her hotdog, after the 3rd time that I said it she replied, "Mommy, you say that one more time and I NO have a bite of my hotdog!" I couldn't believe it, well actually I could. Of course Aunt Amy and Nonnie almost peed their pants because they thought it was so funny. They of course are not spoken to like that all day long like I am. It is pretty funny when you think about it but I can only imagine what it will be like when she is a teenager.

I better stock up on some soap because she may need her mouth washed out a few times.

Gabriella has also started saying "NO". She says it so cute but likes to do a little hit along with it.

Oh, children!

2010 Adoption Guide

Check out page 29 on the below link. This is the 2010 National Adoption Guide and Caroline and I are on page 29. Amy took this wonderful picture one of the first moments Caroline and I were together at the orphanage. It clearly captures our instant love. It brings tears to my eyes. Thanks to Christian World Adoption my dreams all starting coming true at that very moment.

I hope that this guide will lead many to adopt. It is a great resource. CWA is a wonderful agency and I would highly recommend them to anyone thinking about adoption.

Yes, I do believe in love at first sight. My Sweet Caroline, I love you so very much.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newhope/adoptionguide2010/#/28

Caroline's 3rd Birthday

Happy Birthday to You.
Where's my cake?

Good Morning Birthday Girl!

Our Sweet Caroline turned 3 on this past Saturday! I can't believe it, she is such a big girl and growing into such a nice little girl. We are so VERY proud of her.

Her Aunt Grace came in from Kansas City for the party so that made it extra special (she is here all week and we are having a great time).

The party was in the park by our house. As you can see from the pictures we rented a Princess Jumper and white tables with pink chairs. The kids had a BLAST with the jumper. All of Caroline's little friends from the neighborhood were there. We have had fun bday parties but this is the first one that was really a "kid" party and they had so much fun. The past two parties have been more about the adults.

I'm afraid we have set the expection for fun parties and of course we spent more $ than we should have for a 3rd birthday party. Oh well, she deserves it!

We love you baby Girl!

EASTER

We had a fun Easter with multiple egg hunts. We had a neighborhood hunt on Friday which the girls really enjoyed and then a hunt at Papa & Nana's on Sunday. The girls found a total of $19 in their eggs at Papa & Nana's. They had fun putting it in their piggy banks when they got home.

They wore their heart dresses that Abuela bought them and they looked so pretty. They were exhausted on the ride home - barely made it out of Papa's neighborhood before they were both asleep.

The holidays are so much more fun with little ones.

Thank you Easter Bunny!