I love autumn!

I always have...and now it's even better experiencing it with Esther. The cool crisp air, the bright leaves falling all around, the wind that takes our breath away...so much to enjoy!

Swingin' on a beautiful chilly afternoon: (A well-placed kick might just ruin some one's day.)

"Better watch out, Daddy!"
"Look Ma, no hands! (Just don't drop me.)"
"My Dad sure is silly."

Taking in every detail:

Action shot:

Sweet face:

Sticks can be so fascinating!

Things that are fun for a 20 1/2 month old...

New vests and flashlights are fun:

See:

Getting into your play shopping cart is fun:

Yahoo!:

Studying this cute face is fun:

Starting chopsticks early is fun:

fun with jib jab

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Just really, really wanted to try this...it's fun...but weird to see Esther with a knife...don't worry tho...it was fake.

Just like "Breaking News!", stay tuned until the end of this post...

...for Esther saying her name.

Luckily, there will be no commercial interruptions, just a cute picture of our cat, Sydney. Esther allowed him to try out her Elmo seat. He seemed to find it adequate.
Having fun with Esther's hair:

"Yes, Mom your handiwork is awesome, now can you stop taking pictures and let me read my book."

I found Esther "organizing" my papers. Of course this is one of those occasions when it got really quiet for far too long. I knew something had to be up, and this is what I found:

OK, this picture is a little unfair to Esther's Nana Marilyn. She knitted an awesome sweater and hat for E and it fit her perfectly. Esther is crying in this picture but not because she didn't like the outfit, it's because Mommy wouldn't give her the camera to play with.

This is the sweater from the back. It is the cutest thing ever! It is a baby doll cut and has pompoms. I love it!

Later on, she was still wearing her sweater but ignoring her mean Mom who still refused to give up the camera.

And here it is, ENJOY: (I was competing with "Kipper the dog" on TV and as you can tell I lost.)

"Hap...peeee"

That was her new word for Monday. Glad it wasn't "mad" or "sad" or "ambivalent". I swear every day she's picking up more and more words. Today was "all done" but said more like "ahh done." Then at bath time we got her to say her name. It is the cutest thing ever! It sounds a lot like "Ehh...doo" and sometimes she can get the "s" in it. If I can catch it on tape I will because, like I said, it is the cutest thing ever. And I know you wouldn't want to miss it.

Today was an eventful day: first thing this morning we went to the King County Superior Court to file the first part of our paperwork for Esther's readoption. (Sorry, Suzi, it's easier to do it here because of all the trips we will make getting the correct forms filed.) It's an interesting process and will take patience on my part. I had all my paperwork together that I thought we would need, but I was only able to file one document. Ugh! Oh, well, life's a learning process, right? We will try again on Thursday and hope to file at least one more piece of paper! It would have probably been much less stressful for a lawyer to do it, but we're cheap and I love a challenge. Actually, we've had great help from a lady in Port Townsend who has adopted many children of her own and is a expert in readoption.

When we got home from the court house there was an imposing red notice attached to our doorknob. It told me in not so pleasant terms that our power had been shut off from non-payment of bills. And low and behold, it didn't lie, we did indeed NOT have power. The only problem was, it wasn't our name on the notice. Apparently the former tenant had not bothered to tell the power company that she had moved and our manager had failed to notify them of the new tenants. I'm very good about keeping up on all our bills, but it's hard to pay one when you didn't know about it. So most of the day was spent in a very silent, very dim apartment today. Esther and I had fun when we brought out the candles. We pretended we were living in the days of yore when people actually interacted with each other. As you can probably surmise by me writing this post, we do indeed have power back on and all is forgiven by the power company.

Sorry for the length of this post, maybe lack of "technology" got to me more than I thought.

Enjoy these pictures of Esther lounging with her bottle in front of the fireplace:
And upside down with her head in my lap:

On a clear day...

...I can see up your nose forever.
Wearing Mom's headband (this is the "messy" look):

Our little tomboy (she put this on herself):

Reading to Mommy:

This one's for our niece, Halie. Esther's in her "skinny" jeans. (& eating her new favorite food: raisins. How many raisins can one little person eat? We're still trying to figure this one out.)

The Red Thread is alive and well...

Can you recognize Esther? (hint: dark green sweater) Can I just say, I love the internet and message boards and blogs!!! I belong to several online adoption groups, one happens to be the Guiping girls group and this picture was published there. Thanks to Neila (fellow traveler in our great adventure) for seeing the pictures and forwarding them on. Wow, what an amazing blessing to get a little glimpse into our daughter's life before us. I also need to thank the with-it moms who actually sent a care package to their daughters at the orphanage with a disposable camera in it. I didn't send one and really regret it (read: feel like a bad mom).

Anyway, my daughter's life now is very well documented. (Can you tell I need a little encouragement?) Here is her first ever shopping cart car ride. She doesn't look too sure in this picture but she absolutely loved it! She would steer and honk the horn, and wasn't very happy with us when she had to get out.

"Beep, beep! Dad, get outta the way!"

Two things amuse me about this picture, first: she looks like an adorable shaggy dog, second: she wanted to wear her "dressy" shoes with her PJ's.

"If I could see I would find the ice cream that's supposed to go on this cone."

Don't they look so comfy? Dad's resting his head on the stairs and Esther is laying on the new security gate. My family is weird.

Practicing her opera. (Ignore the filthy mirror.)

Have I mentioned we started using time-outs...

and I don't mean for myself, though those come in handy, too. Our expert climber has discovered new and uncharted territory. I had moved my pens and permanent markers up out of Esther reach...or so I thought. Oh, the joy of having a toddler!
When I was little, I always wanted the grocery store set-up, you know: fake food, grocery basket, cash register with fake money. So we had to buy Esther two out of three of those. OK, maybe not had to, but really, really wanted to. Here she is rolling her baby around in the basket with her yummy plastic food:

Does this bode well for the future?

It's a non-working phone, but still....

She's teh awesome!

You'll have to excuse Daddy's annoying girl like voice and just focus on Esther. Trust me...she's cuter.

Warning! Lots of photos ahead!

We spent a four-day weekend in southern California for our nephew's wedding. Fun was had by all, especially by Esther. She loved being doted on by all her cousins. She was a champ with all the traveling, except for the flight home which was way past her bedtime. We finally got home last night at 11:30 and she was very happy to see her crib. In fact she giggled with delight when she saw it. I think she was tired of sleeping in between Mom and Dad (the feeling was mutual).

Uncle Gerard is saving Esther from Hobbs, the dog. Although Hobbs was sweet and very friendly, his kisses and swift tail-wags were a little too much for Esther.

Jonny was great at entertaining Esther. She giggled with glee playing with him.

At the wedding, we had "fun" trying to follow our girl, she was always moving. I love the look on her face..."good luck, Dad, trying to keep up with me".

Running away from me:

This is one of my favorites, Esther looks so pleased (in actuality, she was having a great time). She is with her three cousins (Robby in the tux, Tommy holding E, & Jonny standing next to them) and Landon (the little brother of the groom).

Jonny and Tommy were great at chasing after E and keeping track of her.

At the reception (with Jonny):

Dad's feelin' the music and Esther's finally calming down. She got scared of the loud clapping, loud music and the DJ's smarmy voice.

Swimming with Nana in the Lotero's pool:

Doesn't Gene look hot? I have to get him one of those "rash guards" to wear around the house:

Nana and Papa helping Esther drink her juice. How cute is the umbrella straw?

"Playing" video games with the cousins:

Aunt Vivian and Esther got some bonding in the last day we were there. (Thanks for letting us sleep in!)

Safety is the # 1 priority in our house, so we made sure Esther read through the airline safety guide and understood it completely.