Pictures from Hawaii

The Girls playing on the Lanai at the Navy Lodge in Pearl Harbor. The USS Utah is still in the water about 100 yards to the left of this picture.

The reasons I didn't want to come home!

Lilly was having a blast dancing at Dixie's Crab shack.

Lilly and Rory loved the Lei making at the Luau.

Lilly and I tried our hand at Hula but Lilly got nervous.

Long time

Sorry i haven't updated in awhile. we went to Virginia in May and have been back and forth to the Dr ever since! The only one who has not come down with multiple illnesses is Brandon. We have been through 4 different antibiotics in this house in 3 weeks!

Everyone appears healthy now. We are going to Chicago next week and then we come home to prepare for our 3 weeks in Oahu!!! We are so excited to be taking the girls to Hawaii. There is so much we want to do!
Heidi

Haitian Schools

We have just decided to sponsor a little girl from Haitian Roots. Haitian Roots is an organization started by an adoptive mom that I know. Actually the second person I talked to after finding Lilly! It is ran by finding sponsors for children in Haiti so that they can attend school. Haiti has no public school system. The children there have to pay to go to school. The also have to buy their own books and uniforms. This program matches you with a child and for only $250 a year you can pay for their school. It also may be the only decent meal the kids get all day.
When you are living on an average of $100 a month $250 a year is a ton of money. But in America it is less than adding cream cheese to your bagel everyday.
Anyway here is the website if anyone is interested. The country of Haiti gave us our Princess Lilly so I think it is only right to help the rest of the kids out.

http://www.haitianroots.com/index.php

Heidi

Pocket diapers

I often get asked about our diapers people think it is gross or dirty or time consuming. I must admit that before I committed to this I had all these thought. Someone asked for a descriprion of what a pocket diaper was. I thought I would answer here.

A pocket diaper is a type of cloth diaper. This is mostly what we use. It has a outer PUL (waterproof but breathable) liner. Also an inside layer of Micro flees or suede cloth. There is a sot in it that you put stuffing into. They make liners for this. You stuff them and then put them on your child like a regular disposable diaper. When you change them, if it is just wet you take the liners out and place all of it in a pail or wetbag. If it is dirty you can scrape it off into the toilet or we have a diaper sprayer that attaches to the water source on the toilet. We just spray off the poop (sorry!) and then we take out the liner and place both in the pail or wetbag. I do a load of diapers every other day. I just throw it all in and do a cold rinse, then I wash with Biopac or charlies soap and maybe a spray of bio clean. Thats it they are clean and good as new. We did some searching for which diapers we liked best. I think a lot of this depends on your baby's shape and your own personal likes and dislikes. We now use all Green Acre Designs, Blueberry side snap pockets and berry Plush minkees.
It really is easy and very clean.
Heidi

a few more

A few pics from WDW!

I was tagged

i am: usually in a bit over my head! But I get bored easy!


i think: that we need to pay more attention to the worls around us.


i know: that if people payed attention they would all be nicer.

i want: to open my store.

i have: the best family I could have ever wished for.


i wish: my husband had more free time


i hate: that there are so many children without families in the world.


i miss: my parents, sister, niece and nephew and the rest of me family, they are far away.


i fear: rodents


i feel : mostly happy.



i hear: traffic out front with rain splashing


i smell: nothing actually


i crave: A quiet night with my husband.



i search: for ways to be a better person.


i wonder: when Lilly will stop shouting so much


i regret: A lot

i love: my kids, my family



i ache: for all the babies without families out there



i care: about the world.


i always: like to sleep late.



i am not: happy with my weight.


i believe: in God, the Holy Trinity


i dance: every chance I get


i sing: always. Just watch Lilly!


i cry: at the "save the children" infomercials, when I am frustrated



i don’t always: clean up around here like I should


i fight: for what I believe


i write: on my blog


i win: I always win


i lose: what is losing?


i never: want to do anything that will harm my children


i confuse: my head and my heart


i listen: to country music


i can usually be found: On the computer, at WDW, doing laundry, those diapers don't wash themselves

i am scared: that I will never accomplish all the things in my life that I want to


i need: to travel


i am happy about: my friends and family, my life, all my adventures and opportunities

Updates!

10 More days until we go to WDW!!!!
Lilly is very exited. We watch the WDW sing alongs all day it seems!
We can't wait to see Mickey!

THE RANGERS WON!!! Game 1 of the playoffs is over and Brandon got to go. They beat the Devils!!! Go Rangers!

Lastly we have settled on our favorite diapers finally (I think) Heehee!

Our winners are
Green Acre Designs! Awesome diapers!!!!
Baby Kangas! We love that they are snaps and easy to take the liners out of!!!
Blueberry snap Minky's SOOOO CUTE!!!
Tiny Tush, Good solid diaper!

I think I may sell off the rest of our stash. I already sold most of what we started with for just about the same as we paid for it.
Heidi

here are some more recent pics of the girls

These are of last week when my sister and Niece and Nephew came out to visit. We went to NYC and Alexei got to join us. It sure is nice being so close!

New headbands!

I got these from my friend Janet's fund raiser to bring her third daughter home from PAC! The girls love them.

If you want some yourself the site is

www.headbandsforhaiti.blogspot.com

They are only $3 a piece!

Heidi

Reviews so far of the dipes!

I am brand new and I am trying out new Pockets. This is what I have tried this week. I Love this so far.

I LOVE KELLY'S CLOSET! They sent out my new order the same day when I sent her an email stating that I really needed them! She is GREAT!

The girls look so cute running around in them. We got all pocket diapers.
Here are my reviews

Fuzzy buns
works good, No leaks. Fit both girls well. The snaps are a little weird at first but not bad. Very thin looking on. Easy to deal with. I ordered 9 more of these.

Kanga baby

I like the front pocket. It seems a bit more secure. The rise in front is a little lower. No leaks here either! Very cute! The snaps were very confusing at first but once we figured it out were easy. I ordered 3 more.

Bum Genius

We love the Velcro! These are easy to stuff and to get on and off! They are low rise in back but they fit the girls. They fit Rory better. She has a little Bum and chunky legs. They were a little tight on her legs but they are easier to adjust. No leaks here either. I ordered 6 more.

Tiny Tush

We LOVE these
These also had no leaks. However Kelly's only had butter, red and black so we only ordered 3 more. We will order more pink when they come in. These seemed to have the most coverage. They were great on Lilly's teeny tiny legs and were easiest to get on. Not flimsy at all. A little thick. But they could hold a flood I think!

I did order 2 Thirsties as well. I am sure we will need more diapers eventually but this is what I am starting with. I am so happy I did this. The goal of the experiment was to find a brand I liked for each girl. Well I liked them all. So I got a few of each!

I have also ordered 4 Blueberries, so we can try out side snaps and 2 Rumparoos. They are really cute.

I Love them and so do the girls. They are so happy in them. We all love the soft cosy feel of the cloth diapers! I dread that I have to put them in disposables while I wash the CD's until the new diapers get here and we have enough to get by!

We are also seriously considering opening a natural baby store here on LI. We would sell Cloth Diapers, Organic baby clothes and toys, baby wearing items and mommy stuff. Also we would have classes on being more earth friendly. There is nothing of that sort that we can find out here. We really loved the one in Salem. We are going back to see Jen at Granola baby in a few weeks. We have found a spot here in Port Jeffs that would be perfect. Things are really happening here. I am really excited about it all!

Heidi

I guess it's good that I am trying out all these diapers! I can figure out what we want to sell!
Also

Cloth Diapers!

This week we made the switch to cloth diapering.
This wasn't a quick switch. I have been researching for a long time! I feel so great about this though. I only bought a few to start but the girls LOVE being in them. They are so soft they feel like panties!

I ordered a bunch more yesterday and I hope they get here fast. I am washing as soon as they get soiled so they can wear them as often as possible!

Does anyone else here cloth diaper? What type do you use? I now have a mixture because I liked 4 different kinds! None of them leaked. In fact last night I had to put Rory in a disposable and Lilly in a Cloth and Rory's leaked! So much for that.
I wish I would have started doing this from the beginning. It really is great. It is not hard at all. The pocket diapers are so much like disposables except softer and so much cuter! I should take a picture. They have little pink bums now! Little pink Bubble bums!

Sorry I had to gush a bit.

Heidi

I have a new blog

We are getting out more in NY and we are traveling a lot now. I wanted to start a blog that told of our travels and of how the girls are received at the various restaurants we visit. It is not always well! I thought this may help some other paying parents to avoid the bad people! As well as give them a heads up on the great establishments out there.
The new Address is www.2highchairsplease.blogspot.com
Heidi

Update

I am in Chicago again! Sorry I have been so quiet lately. I am in Chicago now Picking up the girls. Brandon and I went on a little get away Cruise this past week. We get home on Monday and then I FINALLY get to settle into my New House on Long Island. The Movers Brought our Stuff From Storage 3 days before we left on Vacation! But soon we will be all settled in and will feel at home again!!! YEAH!!!
The rest with Brandon was Much needed and was so nice but it was COLD! We went on a California Baha Cruise and it was FREEZING! Well freezing for a Heidi vacation anyway. Oh well, we had a fun trip. We met some great people who we hope to keep in touch with and we got some much needed rest. We did miss the girls so much though.

1 year ago today!

It has been exactly one year since Brandon and I arrived in Haiti to pick up our precious Lilly. Life has never been the same since. She was 12 lbs of pure delight. Now she has doubled her size and NEVER stops moving. She is such a joy to everyone she comes into contact with. We are truly Blessed to have been given the gift of being her parents.
Little did we know that at that same time a half a world away our little family was becoming complete in Hunan Province, China with the birth of a gorgeous baby girl.
This is a day we will always celebrate as the biggest day in our lives.
Tonight we are going to celebrate at a Caribbean restaurant here on LI.
Oh what a difference a year makes!
Heidi

Rory Turns 1 on January 6, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY! WE LOVE YOU!
We are so happy that we could share her first birthday with her. What a great time she had with that cake!

Pictures from the Holidays!

We are finally in NY and I thought you might like some pictures of the girls from this past month. Here are the Beauty Queens!
Lilly trying on Grandma's Earings

The girls with Daddy at Rainforest Cafe

Aunt Kathy with the girl's

Lilly puttin on the ritz!

Why is Chicago so COLD!

Rory's new Pooh Ride on toy

Lilly thinks this is the best part

Madylin and Lilly at American Girl Place

Going Home from American Girl Place

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

The Girl's first trip to Michigan

My Dad and I took the girl's to visit Papa anPad Grandma Dotty in Michigan during our trip to Chicago. The girls really had a great time meeting them. They spoiled them with chocolate pie! They loved it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! From the Smith's

http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/MWFAI71qF0I2w4f5BPkTamaH

Please click on the link above!
Have a happy holiday!
Heidi

Still in Chicago

We are still at my Mom and Dads. I am looking forward to seeiong some old friends this weekend. Then it's Christmas and Brandon will finally be coming back to Chicago with Alexei! The girls are learning so much with the help of my family. Lilly has learned a bunch of new tricks from Poppy. She is having a blast with her cousins and thinks Rye rye is the funniest thing ever! Rory is standing now and can almost walk. I am hoping she waits until her Daddy is here to see her! We have an offer on the house in Utah so that is a good thing. Also we should be in the new house the first week of January.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Remember to be thankful for your Family and Friends everyday. They are the true gifts of the season!
Heidi