Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a happy & healthy New Year!

Julie singing at her Christmas program


The boys at their Christmas band concert (Michael w/clarinet Stephen w/drumsticks)


Halloween pics of my Star Wars trio!


I have a sword and I'm NOT afraid to use it!!



YAAA!!!





So tired


Pretty Christmas dress


Yay toys!


Blowing kisses to Mommy

2 months

Two months ago yesterday we held Saige for the first time. It's hard to believe it's been that long already. In two short months she has brought us all so much happiness. When I go into Saige's nursery and pick her up in the morning she gives me the biggest hug, lays her head on my shoulder and pats my back. Heaven.

Saige is by far the best eater of all my kids. Saige LOVES fruit especialy peaches. A common sight in our house is daddy and Saige sitting on the couch watching TV and sharing an apple. So far she also likes corn, peas, broccoli and brussel sprouts.

Saige has several blankets that she drags around with her. One of the hens (Melissa) gave her an angel dear lamb lovie that is a must have. I bought her a bigger pink and white giraffe that she has to have at night. One of my friends (thank you so much Dawn) recently gave Saige a beautiful blanket she made for her. This blanket is a must have for watching TV.

Below is a pic my mom took of her watching her new Wiggles CD. She barely blinked the whole time the video was on. lol.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Pics I found on my phone

I'm outta here!

My mommy loves me!


So tired!


Busted!!


Saige has been doing really well. She picks up on EVERYthing and doesn't miss a trick. She's been saying ma ma, da , here kitty kitty, cow. She knows/recognizes ba ba, blanket, Julie, Stephen, Michael and MiMa even tho she can't say the words yet. She hates the cold and I can't say as I blame her. The kids adore her and are a big help with her. We are all very excited to see her open her gifts on Christmas morning. I'm sure Santa will be very good to our beautiful little girl.

Two posts in one day

Surprise!

It hits you the first day you hold your child how grateful you are to have this precious new little person to love. I still can't believe this beautiful little girl is ours. I cried so hard the first time I held her. I still remember kissing her and telling Carl how beautiful and perfect she is. I wish I could give her biological parents peace of mind and tell them how grateful we are to them for this perfect little angel they gave us. I wish we could tell them how very much we all love her. I know they must wonder about her. For us we wonder about them also. We hope and pray that they know how very loved she is and how grateful we are to have her. She has made our lives complete.

We can't wait to take Saige on her first annual Olinger family tree hunt this year. We can't wait to see her beautiful face as she opens up her gifts.
As I type this Stephen is holding Saige and she is saying ma ma ma for the first time.
I feel like the luckiest person alive.

Aweful blogger

I'm moved up to aweful blogger status. I didn't even have time to do a Thanksgiving post. I used to be such a good little multitasker!

Ok, so Saige has been doing awesome. She sleeps thru the night from 8-8 and sometimes longer and naps from 1-3 or so. She has moved down from a Stage 3 clinger to a Stage 2 clinger..YAY!!! She LOVES our cat Buddy. Her first English words have been "here kitty kitty". No boring ole ma ma or da da for our little girl's first words ut uh!! lol. My mommy brag is that this little girl is brilliant. She picks up on things SO fast. We are amazed at how quick she learns new things.
She absolutely adores her daddy. Carl had daddy duty on Black Friday and he took her and the kids for a long walk to see the cows. She LOVES to go for walks outside. She loved it in VN but it was so much warmer there that I wasn't sure she would like it in the NJ cold but she does.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'm sure all the other AP's (I LOVE that I don't have to say PAP's anymore!) did too. So much to be thankful for this year. We have a wonderful, happy, healthy family. Life is good!
I WILL post pics soon I promise!

Bad Blogger!

I know I've been a bad blogger. I have so many pics and video's to upload but no time to do it. Our latest video is one of Saige in her Horse Jumparoo bouncing up and down, smiling while watching Curious Buddies. Saige LOVES Curious Buddies. I'm all for anything that is void of a certain irritating purple dinasaur who will remain nameless. I promise to make time to post it soon.

Saige has been doing VERY well. We love her very much and so do the kids. She goes thru her clingy phases but that is to be expected. Fortunately, she loves her car seat and falls asleep during long car rides. This works out well for me because I practically live in my car with all the running around I have to do. Best of all our little princess can burp like no other. Coming from a mom who can burp the alphabet I am SO very proud of my girl! God blessed us with the most perfect little girl. I can't imagine a better fit for our family! She already knows so many words. She knows ma ma, da da, ba ba, bye bye, light, no ( of course) and many more. We are amazed at how fast she picks things up.

Today we got a call from her pediatrician that her tests came back positive for giardia. I wasn't surprised in the least. Giardia is an intestinal parasite that many of the children have. No big deal just a round of antibiotics for five days. She also had high calcium levels. It could have something to do with the VN formula she was on so we are going to retest her next month. Other than that she is perfectly healthy.

I just have to say how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and family. The night we arrived home the kids gave us books that every kid in their class helped to make for Saige. Stephen and Michael's class made a counting book for Saige and Julie's class made a picture book. I thought this was the sweetest thing ever! Saige LOVES to look thru the books and point to the pictures. Thank you so much Mrs. VanderGroef and Mrs. Ward!

I have to give a shout out to my fellow AP's. Shannon and Jason Devine's little girl Halle Grace turned one recently as did Mer and Tim's little girl Lulu Belle. Happy 1st Birthday!
Fellow hen Melissa is in VN right now adopting Abby. Congratulations Melissa!!!!
So much good news finally!


I have one more friend that is due for some good news soon on her China adoption. She has been waiting longer than we have for her little baby girl . I think about her all the time and just know that her day will come SOON.

Again, thanks to all for following along.